Author: Chuck
Johnny Lee is my new hero
There’s a guy at Carnegie Mellon named Johnny Chung Lee, who’s been doing experiments with the Wii remote, then putting his results up on YouTube. The ones I’ve seen take advantage of the fact that the Wii remote is an IR camera, not just a standard IR-output remote, which flips the whole method of interactivity…
Triple Mountain Whammy
Last year when I was stationed at Epcot, I wrote about the promotional video that runs in a constant loop on the TVs in all the Disney hotels. It’s hosted by the annoying and yet inexplicably alluring Stacey, who guides you, talking incessantly, through all the theme parks, water parks, golf courses, and stores of…
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Considering how memorable the stories are, it’s obvious Stephen King and the fearmeisters responsible for The Car were tapping into something primal and universal with the idea of an evil car. I just think that by having the car totally flip out and kill people, they missed out on a prime opportunity for dread and…
My stalker photos, let me show you them.
Last week, Nintendo released Pokemon Snap for the virtual console. (Still no word if they’ll be releasing its obscure sequel, Pikachu, Oh No You Di’nt!) The original game was a brilliant concept — a Pokemon photo safari — and it was presented really well. I’ll never understand why it didn’t go on to become a…
Only Mostly Evil
There’s a new update for GarageBand that adds a “Send to Ringtones” item to the “Share” menu. That’s kind of cool, just because it means I can finally start using “Apache” by the Sugarhill Gang as my ringtone again. But what’s more cool is that it’s a sign there’s still remnants of a soul left…
Crimes Against the Internets: Cartoon Brew
The biggest problem with the internet is that you’ve got to wade through so much crap to get to the good stuff. With this whole “web-logging” fad, that means to see funny pictures of talking cats, or copyright-violating YouTube videos, you’ve first got to make it through reams of text with the blogger’s “personality.” And…
Moai Better Blues
You see what we did there? The trailer for the next episode of Sam and Max is up, and once again the young’uns have done a great job with it. (I had recommended a parody of “In Search Of” for the trailer, but everybody said they didn’t know what that was. Then they laughed and…
Anti-Winter
From what I read on the internet and hear from my family’s Amazon wish lists, it’s close to Christmas time. It’s hard to get really in the spirit of the Most Wonderful Time of the Year when I never really know what time or even day it is. See, the problem is that I get…
For want of double-paned windows, the kingdom was lost
I saw Beowulf in IMAX 3D at the Metreon this afternoon. Anybody who has interest in this movie but hasn’t seen it yet for whatever reason, I’d say that 3D, whether it’s the IMAX version or not, is really the way to go. It delivers pretty well on the spectacle, and that kind of thing…
Targeted
Sometimes I think game companies would be better off if they just dispensed with the marketing, and just mailed the game directly to my house and deducted the cost directly from my checking account. I mean, there’s really no point in even pretending like I’m going to avoid buying Patapon the second it’s released in…
Disorderly to poke by mouse is accepted in fleshe
I realize that fun with Babel Fish translations is old news, but I’m really enjoying how it handled this Russian review of “Ice Station Santa”, the first episode of Sam & Max season 2. The only part that I can read is the reviewer gives a 55% (yikes! whatever happened to glasnost?), but the translation…
Say what you will about populism filmed with stylistic excess; at least that’s an ethos.
No Country for Old Men is about as close to perfect as you’re ever going to see in a movie. Not a single shot is unnecessary. The pacing is perfect; both for the movie overall, and for individual scenes that feel as if they were meticulously orchestrated down to a fraction of a second. Almost…