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The 70’s Were Awesome

JesusChristSuperstar Ted Neeley

Because it’s Easter weekend (and I had had a few drinks), H and I watched Jesus Christ Superstar last night with some friends at a BBQ where we had earlier in the evening eaten a lot of steak. The irony was not lost on us.

Based on the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, JCS tells the story of Jesus’ rise, fall and rise again through song and dance. If you’ve never seen JCS, the video below will give you an idea of what it’s like.

It’s not my favorite musical (or my favorite ALW/TR collaboration), but it’s still pretty fun. It’s also directed by the guy who directed Rollerball (the original), so that’s pretty cool.

Enjoy.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3mFBh2z9sc?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

How to Teach Your Unborn Child About ‘Star Trek’

star-trek-enterprise

Geeks/nerds out there expecting a child in the near future, this video is for you: How to Teach Your Unborn Child About Star Trek. That’s right, it’s never too early to start teaching your child the important fundamentals.

Well, you might want to wait until they actually have ears and can hear (about 20 weeks or so). But then, get to it.

If I ever have children (hey, you never know), in addition to Star Trek, I will also be teaching them about Star Wars during the all-important internal gestation period. This will, of course, inevitably lead to many enjoyable Star Trek vs. Star Wars debates.

That does sound like fun. I may have to work on that.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPt9vVYd-oE?rel=0]

(h/t to Dr. Tom Mahoney for the link)

Google Glass Meets Beer Glass

saint-patricks-day-beer

In honor of St. Patrick’s day (on Sunday, you drunks), some enterprising folks thought about what it would be like to use Google’s Glasses during the holiday. Naturally, they made a video. You can see that below.

In other news, I made another step towards responsible adulthood today. There was a lot of paperwork, phone calls and, unfortunately, some harsh language. But in the end, it all worked out and basically boiled down to writing a big check.

To be honest, it was the biggest one I’ve ever written. And yes, it hurt. . . But only a little.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all. Yes, I think I’ll have a beer. I know I’ve earned it today.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GAd1QDcutc?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

A Helpful Coffee Chart for a Tuesday

coffee-chart-1

In the interest of being helpful, I found this handy coffee chart that you can use to determine exactly what you’re drinking and, more to the point, what your drink consists of. Of course, if you like coffee as much as I do, you probably already know all of this.

Still, I kinda like it and it could be helpful, so there you go.

Shakespeare and Joss Whedon? Heck Yeah

Joss-Whedon-Much-Ado-About-Nothing

In truth, this is one film I really wanted to see at SXSW. Sadly, due to other commitments, I won’t be going to Austin this year. Next year for sure. Of course, I said that last year too, so yeah, who knows?

Anyway, Joss Whedon has made an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. It’s got a great cast including Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese, Sean Maher, Reed Diamond, Clark Gregg and Tom Lenk, is in black and white and is based on one of my favorite plays. And yes, it’s Joss Whedon so I, of course, pay attention.

Anyway, here’s the trailer. Enjoy.

Steve Jobs and ‘One More Thing’

CC Apple Macworld

I had the good fortune to be at several MacWorld Keynote events over the years, including the one in 2007 where Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone, so this video was a real treat for me. In it, the enterprising folks of YouTube’s Every Steve Jobs Video channel have compiled pretty much all of the times Steve Jobs had “one more thing” to share.

And his “one more thing” was usually pretty awesome. He would have been 58 this week. RIP Steve.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QQLyS0MnzM?rel=0&w=525&h=394]

Some Useful and Interesting Things For A Friday

alison-brie-ice-cream-1

Hey, it’s Friday. Congrats, you made it through another week! I’ve had a fun week (more on that below) but, as usual, I’m glad it’s Friday and the week is over.

Although, knowing me as I do, I’m pretty sure I won’t be taking the whole weekend off or anything. Much too much to do, especially with the new project and knowing we’re going to be moving again in a few months.

But that’s later. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy another edition of Useful and Interesting Things.

• My pal Matt Raub and I are back doing a podcast for The Flickcast. I’m very happy about it and you can listen to the brand new episode which kicks off season two right here.

• Confused about who’s who and who’s related to who in the Star Wars universe? Perhaps this handy chart will help.

• I know, you’re still sometimes having trouble with well-known punctuation like the comma “,” or the semi-colon “;” but that hasn’t stopped some enterprising individuals from coming up with 8 new punctuation marks to surprise and delight you.

• Feeling anxious or nervous? Lifehacker has you covered on how to beat it. No, alcohol or other controlled substances are not involved, sorry.

• If you make coffee at home and ever do a Pour-Over, you need a Hario V60 Power Kettle. They rock and I’m using one pretty much every day.

• Angry, sad, happy, undecided, indifferent about the end of Downton Abbey season three? Perhaps these tidbits about season four will help you feel better/worse/whatever?

Finally, a here’s a little video I like to call Lego Michael Jackson. Coincidentally that’s pretty much what the person who made the video calls it too.

Plus, in case you haven’t seen it, here’s a little bit of Alison Brie and her freestyle rap skills. This video is here mostly so I can put a photo of her at the top of this post. Yes, she’s eating ice cream, so?

What, you don’t like ice cream or something?

[vimeo 60169112 w=525 h=395]

The New ‘Die Hard’ and Some Amusement for President’s Day

Good-Day-to-Die-Hard-Willis

First off, I finally saw the latest Die Hard movie. This one, called A Good Day to Die Hard, was not terrible. It wasn’t great, by any means, but it wasn’t terrible. It just was.

I won’t get into a lengthy review here, mostly because Nat Almirall does a fine job of it over at The Flickcast. However, I will say I mostly agree with him and his review, but I didn’t dislike it as much as he obviously did.

I also didn’t have as much of a problem with following things as he seems to have had. Maybe it’s because I have a background in editing or have just seen so many rough assemblies of films that jump cuts and poor attention to scene geography don’t really bother me.

Perhaps it was all the coffee I had before I saw the movie? Or, maybe seeing the movie with Matt Raub made me stay on my toes and pay better attention in case of potential discussion later? I don’t know.

The movie did spark one thing, though, Matt and I have a terrific idea of what the next Die Hard movie should be. Maybe we’ll share that with the class if we ever do another podcast. Hey, it could happen.

Now this:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnM_tcDcZLE?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

The Doc ‘Room 237’ Looks Very Interesting

Room-237-Doc-Pic

Even though they’ve already covered this over at The Flickcast, I also wanted to call attention to it here. As you know, I’m a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick. We’ve discussed this before.

So, when I hear they’re coming out with a movie about Kubrick and The Shining, I take notice. The movie in question is called Room 237 and a trailer for it has recently dropped.

Check it out below. Can’t wait to see this.