Some Monstrous Links for Your Friday Afternoon
Pixar's Monsters University is definitely on my radar. It's not a direct result of my affection for Monster's Inc. or its creators. ("Like" would probably be a better description of my response than "Love," and I have some growing concerns about Pixar's apparent drift into sequel territory.) Instead, it is a direct result of their brilliant viral marketing. Like this. Which is AWESOME. (As someone who spends a fair bit of time wrestling with an academic website of my own, let me … [Read More...]
“Ring of Fire” — Capturing Last Week’s Solar Eclipse
Wow. What exactly are we looking at here? The event is known as an annular eclipse, when the moon moves directly between the Earth and the sun, producing a striking ring of fire effect. During annular eclipses, the new moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the visible disk of the sun. Since the moon's orbit is elliptical, its distance from Earth changes periodically. During an annular eclipse, the moon is farther from Earth, so its apparent size is smaller than the solar disk. Today's … [Read More...]
The Man Behind the Booth — Part IV
“It is hard to be human. It is hard to know what to do. It is hard to know how to take care of those we love. It is hard to give up on our fantasies of immortality, or power, or the thought that if we could shape the world to our will everything would be better.” — One of my favorite bits from what has become an extraordinarily long (and endlessly interesting) conversation with Christopher “C.K.” Kubasik, creator and writer of The Booth at the End. Joseph Susanka: The … [Read More...]
Musical Pop Quiz
I've always been fascinated by the aural and emotional differences between "The Big Three" keyboard instruments -- the organ, piano, and harpsichord. The organ's ability to serve as a sort of mini-orchestra is astonishing. The harpsichord's tintinnabulatory clarity is wonderfully suited to the continuios (continuii?) that underpin so many of my Baroque favorites. And my personal experience on the piano has always given it a special place in my musical heart. In fact, the three bring such … [Read More...]
No Commentary Necessary — “First Taste” Edition
This "First Taste" video (courtesy of TEDxSidney) is probably the best thing I've seen on YouTube since Alan Rickman's Epic Tea Time. Take a moment or two, sit back, and watch it light up your Friday like the Fourth of July!(Epic HT chain from Laughing Squid to Good Food to TEDxSidney's YouTube channel) … [Read More...]
Searching for Bobby Fischer – Family Movie Night
The Story: Chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer. The Stars: Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne Release Date: 1993 Rating: PG Our Take: Despite laboring in relative (and surprising) obscurity when compared to many of its "Based On a True Story" counterparts, Steven Zaillian's Searching for Bobby Fischer has stuck more firmly in my memory than most other “real-life” films I’ve … [Read More...]
The Man Behind the Booth — Part III
“There is a notion, popular especially in Hollywood, that people who watch things on the Internet have no attention span. This is, of course, nonsense. People are people. They’ll watch something as long as it engages them. That’s all that matters.” -- From my ongoing conversation with Christopher “C.K.” Kubasik, creator and writer of The Booth at the End. Joseph Susanka: For many, the notion of intentionally limiting oneself to a central character and a single location … [Read More...]
Music From Up On Poppy Hill
Somehow, I managed to fight my way through the weekend's Graduation Insanity. An unanticipated benefit of my (frankly, unexpected) survival was last night's opportunity to sit down and watch my sadly-neglected screener for Studio Ghibli's latest, From Up on Poppy Hill. It was the perfect antidote to the craziness of the past few days -- gently charming, surprisingly humorous, and just the right mixture of nostalgia and hopefulness for my post-graduation mood. Definitely recommendable … [Read More...]
The Man Behind the Booth, Part II
"I like strange things with strong, unique voices." -- The second part of my lengthy conversation with Christopher "C.K." Kubasik, whose The Booth at the End show is one of my favorite "accidental discoveries" in recent memory. Joseph Susanka: From Michael Eisner (who has produced both Booth seasons through his production companies, Tornante and Vuguru), to Xander Berkeley (perhaps the paradigm example of the “criminally underappreciated actor”) to directors Adam Arkin and Jessica … [Read More...]
Chandeliering: The Strangest Thing You’ll See Today
This is amazing. ...and sort of creepy, especially if you watch as many sci-fi shows as I do. (Somewhere out there, Roland Emmerich is screaming "I told you so!" at the top of his lungs.) On a day in which spring made its return to Minnesota with a vengeance, Nadalie Thomas caught Old Man Winter making his last stand with an ice-shattering spectacle known to some as "chandeliering." Meteorologist Jerrid Sebesta was so impressed at the unusual occurrence that he showed Nadalie's video on his … [Read More...]
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