My friend Anthony Quinn has been working on a participatory art project for quite a while now, and I want to hype/promote it here. Once a week (give or take a day or two), he creates a piece of art and a 52-word story based on a photo of an object that he is sent. I was happy to contribute to his efforts last month, when I sent him a photo of a Dalek wearing sombrero (which I just happened to have lying around – don’t ask me why or how). Here’s the results:

Check out this and his other (wildly creative and awesome) work here, and tell him Joe sent you!

The main difference between the original Battlestar Galactica series and the remake is in tone. The remake was much darker than the original, and much more "realistic" about how characters would react to the destruction of the 12 Colonies and the loss of billions of lives. In the original series the characters were kinda sad for about fourteen minutes and then, Wow! Look! A space casino! Not to say that the original series didn't have its darker moments (the Count Iblis storyline was pretty dark, in a fairy-tale way) but there was just no gravitas. It was a different type of show, a space opera adventure instead of a SF drama.

The other major differences are the religious and political was much more important in the new series – religion was a huge subtext, and the jockeying for power resulted in elections and an attempted coup. Religion obviously also had a big part in the controversial ending, involving Angels and a frequently criticized "God did it" aspect.

When you start to look at other variations: the different sexes for some characters, the "replicant" Cylons, the Final Five, the introduction of several new characters such as Laura Roslyn and Chief , the loss of original series characters such as Daggitt, Serina and the Imperous Leader… It's simpler to document what was DIDN'T change than what was different.

What was the same (between the two series):

• The 12 Colonies (and destruction of same)
• The original Cylon designs
• The original Viper designs
• The Battlestar Galactica and Pegasus surviving the attack
• The Adama family
• A hotshot pilot named Starbuck
• A ragtag fleet searching for Earth
• A character who betrays humanity named Gaius Baltar
• A fight for survival
• Supply rationing as a plot point
• A kid named Boxey (only in the miniseries)

In my opinion, the remake was the textbook example of  EXACTLY what you want to do when you remake anything – you keep the core of the original, and add depth and your own take on the material. Of course, where the debate occurs is what you define as "core," which is why many people don't like JJ Abrams' Star Trek film (because it changed too many things that were "core" to those fans/critics).

See question on Quora

It was at Dragon*Con 2009, a HUGE convention in Atlanta, GA. One of my all-time favorite filmmakers, Terry Gilliam, was there, promoting his (then new) movie The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. 

 Terry Gilliam had a panel on Friday afternoon, in a HUGE auditorium. Imagine a football field, with Terry Gilliam on stage in the end zone, and me standing behind a microphone on the opposing team's 30 yard line. After talking for an hour, he opened the floor to questions. I was the first person in line. 

I told him how much I loved his first movie, The Fisher King and asked him if he had any interesting anecdotes about the making of the movie. No sooner had I finished speaking, when…

He looked confused, and my heart sank. Oh, crap, I’m one of THOSE guys – asking an obnoxious question the panelist doesn’t want to answer.

But that wasn’t it – “I’m sorry," he eventually replied, "I could barely hear you – the sound system is very bad. Can you come closer?”

“Sure,” I quickly said, and proceeded to walk all the way  from the back of this VERY big room to the front of the stage, skipping like Pied Piper (as I was leading a couple of dozen questioners behind me). Terry then got up from behind the table he was sitting at on stage and he leaned down towards me, hand on my shoulder.

Before the thoughts OMGIMSTANDINGINFRONTOFTHOUSANDSOFPEOPLE WITHTERRYGILLIAMSTARINGATME had a chance to race through my mind my comedic instinct kicked in.

I started yelling, with him standing less than three feet away.

“I SAID I WAS A BIG FAN OF THE FISHER KING!”

He started giggling, and if you have ever seen lengthy interviews with Terry Gilliam, you know he’s a giggler. He repeated my question to the audience.

“HE’S A BIG FAN OF THE FISHER KING!” he screamed, cupping his hands to yell through them.

“IT’S A GREAT MOVIE!”

“IT’S A GREAT MOVIE!” Gilliam repeated, giggling some more.

“YOU SHOULD ALL SEE IT!” I said, turning to the audience. Again, Gilliam repeated me.

Before I spoke again, it dawned on me I was now doing an impromptu comedy bit. With Terry Gilliam. From Monty Python. In front of an auditorium of thousands of people.

O. M. G.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY INTERESTING ANECDOTES ABOUT THE MAKING OF THE MOVIE?” I finished asking/shouting.

“DO I HAVE ANY INTERESTING ANECDOTES! GOT IT.” And at that, he raced back to his seat and his mike and I sat down in the front row.

Because of that, ALL of the people asking questions were then able go to the front of the stage and ask their question to him in person, even after they fixed the mike and sound system. Many of them came over and thanked me for "breaking the ice" and letting them have their own special moments meeting Mr. Gilliam. 

I saw Terry later that evening, and he said, smiling after he recognized me, “that was fun.”

No, it was more than that. It was awesome.

See question on Quora

Here’s a couple of videos I shot – the first is a look inside the Assembly Building:

The second is the recreation of how the launch of Apollo 8 went:

I’ve always wanted to visit Kennedy Space Center and I finally got around to crossing that particular item off my “bucket list” this past weekend. Even better, I was able to tour the Vehicle Assembly Building, where all the Saturn V rockets made for the Apollo program was constructed… and I got really close to the just-retired Endeavor space shuttle, being prepped for retirement. Here’s lots of pictures:

You may have thought I was done when I posted my last post about my book on The Prisoner… Au contraire! A compilation of all things Joe Called “My Life, My Tweets” is now available on Amazon’s kindle store. A dead-tree version will be released soon as well. So, what are ya waiting for! Buy! Buy!

He was crestfallen.

The actor John DeLancie was standing in front of an auditorium filled with hundreds of people. It was August 2011, at the official Star Trek convention. Best known for his role of Q in Star Trek: the Next Generation, he had just name-dropped the TV series Breaking Bad. DeLancie had just appeared on that show in it’s second year, playing the father of a recovering drug addict. He was nominated for an Emmy for this work. It was an amazing performance, on an amazing show.

None of the people in the audience had seen it. Except, apparently, me.

Because it wasn’t science fiction. It wasn’t Star Trek.

“Any of you watch a show called Breaking Bad?” he had asked, and when only one person – me – clapped… he shrugged, and then said, sadly, “You should watch it… It’s a good show.” He then moved on to another topic.

That moment… And the idea that all these people were so obsessed with one thing – Star Trek – make me sad, too.

We are living in a golden age, and available to us in an instant is any number of amazing works. Some of the best television ever is being produced, not to mention the huge library that has come before. We have some fantastic films that are being made… They just aren’t always in your local megatheatre. Writing, art, design… We have a gets of riches available to us, sometimes at the click of a mouse.

So, to come to my core point: don’t limit yourself. Explore, try new things. Open yourself up to things that are outside your comfort zone.

Learn. Live. And love more than just one genre or show. Yes, Virginia, there is more to the world than just Star Trek.

Episode 12, A Change of Mind

Patrick McGoohan himself directed this one. Using a pseudonym, one that I really really like.

“Joseph Serf.”

Give you a couple of guesses why.

This is the most Orwellian episode of the series, with scenes where Villagers are expected to confess their sins by repeating the words of an unseen announcer. McGoohan is also aggressively antisocial in this episode, mocking all that sees before him. He’s part revolutionary, part Grouch Marx.

God, I love that man.

Such behavior makes him “Public Enemy Number Six” as his behavior against The Committee (yet another reflection of the power structure of the Village) is “disharmonious” and “unmutual.”

So, this is just fiction, right? A weird SF/spy show from the sixties?

Tell ya what. Go to any social group. A bar, a business meeting, a group of friends. Start being contradictory. Speak openly and without trying to respond to the expectations of those around you. Don’t conform. Be free.

And then see what happens.

McGoohan ends up being declared, formally, “unmutual”, in this episode. He is then completely ostracized from the society he is reveling against… And his life is now truly his own. He is alone.

“The lone wolf belongs in the wilderness!” McGoohan was told in an earlier episode by a New Number 2, and in this episode he sees what that means. He is cast out, like Lucifer from Heaven… And he resists. Always, he resists.

But the system is what it is. He is beaten down by the citizens of The Village and delivered to (another) brainwashing… And, once that “medical recovery” is complete, well, the citizenry are welcoming and friendly to him once more. They have been conditioned to welcome him, and he has been conditioned to act welcoming.

Yeah, just a TV show. Pay it no mind.

-

While brainwashed and drugged McGoohan is interrogated by the Newest Number 2 around the “trivialities” of his resignation… Which was an overreach. The resignation is a core aspect of him, and drugs cannot bury away that core decision that was an absolute reflection of his Self.

It’s a reflection of his Core Beliefs, which you cannot defeat or tame. His life is his own.

As he fights the brainwashing, he returns… To his wilderness training area, one we see he has setup in an earlier scene in the episode. The Lone Wolf. There, he (again) fights Village thugs and this time it is a quick snap to reality… He is who he was, again.

Then, using his own brainwashing techniques, McGoohan connives to have Number 2 declared unmutual… And a small victory is achieved. One of the few that will be won against the power of society… Err, I mean, the Village.

Recently I’ve become quite reflective and introspective about many things, about who I am as a person, about what drives me. About who I am.

I think I’m a good person. I care, sometimes too much. I speak too much as well, sometimes to fill the empty spaces, more often than not to draw attention to myself. I’m still insecure, still trying to prove myself… I still struggle, at 42 years of age, to feel like I belong.

I’m less insecure than I was, though. I’m good at what I do, and I’m decisive. I’m witty, and when I write I play with words to make my point. I’m occasionally charming. One of my favorite sayings is from the Dalai Lama, a saying that rings true for me, in that “my religion is kindness”. I try to be a good loving husband, and I’m not nearly as good as a father as I want to be.

I’m, above all else, human… And I try to be humane.

I also obsessively love the classic TV show The Prisoner. I speak of it often, recommending it to friends and family. I have written hundreds and hundreds of words about it over the years.

Why?

What is it that draws me to the series? Of all the many hundred of hours of content that I have seen in my lifetime, The Prisoner is the show that I’m always brought back to. It strikes at some core part of me… hitting the right note, if I was the instrument. So, why?

What’s it all about?

Escape.

That to me is the essence of The Prisoner. Escape from the trappings of the establishment, resigning from a job that goes too far… running away. The Prisoner resigns because he is no longer comfortable playing the game that he was a vital part of… A game he may have had an active hand in creating.

Is that why I like the show so much?

Again, my life is my own. I have much to be grateful for, but then… I’m not free. I have responsibilities, obligations to me and mine. And sometimes it’s really hard. So the idea of escaping the status quo, it has some appeal.

The Prisoner, as McGoohan played him, never looked comfortable. He fidgeted as if he was wearing an Ill-fitting suit. Obviously, he was a prisoner, not the most relaxed situation to be in. But he never belonged in The Village. And I never feel I belong, either. Hmm.

I’m currently working away from my family, in another country. It has a different culture, and I can’t help but feel like an outsider. Again, that I don’t belong. Yet…

While I miss my family… I am free. Free from that familial routine. Sometimes, it feels good. And that scares me.

So, are these reasons that I love The Prisoner? Maybe. At the very least, it’s part of it. But maybe I shouldn’t ask any more questions.

Because questions are a burden to others, and answers a prison for oneself.

I was at a newsstand here in Sydney last week and was surprised to find a really cool magazine, the first issue of a series that allowed you to build a super-detailed 1/8th scale model of the Aston Martin DB5 from the James Bond classic Goldfinger. Only a couple a problems:

• It’ll take 85 months to get all the parts.
• It’ll cost over $1700 in total.

Suffice it to say, I’m not subscribing. I’m such a Bond fanboy I did pick up the first issue though, and it’s quite well designed and produced. Here’s some pics:

Spoilers, Sweetie…

The obvious answer is “Yes, the suit contained young River, and so young River killed the Doctor in the suit.” And River “missed” because she could not kill her younger self (and her “of course” quote is because she realizes/remembers her killing the Doctor as a child).

But…

That’s an “on the nose”, TOO obvious answer. Stephen Moffat tends to not only avoid the obvious, but to subvert it for dramatic purposes. My opinion?

The person in the Astronaut suit? Well, it’s The Doctor, of course.

Who with the what now? The Doctor killed himself? Why???

Because he had to. The Doctor knows that he has to make sure that River’s timeline “works” because like his her life is a “fixed” moment in time. He can’t “break” that timeline and in that timeline he is killed by River. So…

He frames her.

Yup, he kills himself, by using… himself. Now, of course, The Doctor being… well, The Doctor, he of course has a way out of all this.

Maybe the magic moment when someone asks the Ultimate Question:

“Doctor Who?”

See question on Quora

Well, you have to look at “The Plan” to see how that was possible. But first, to discuss manufacturing capability…

The Cylons being could manufacture themselves continuously, and just because we didn’t see massive construction shipyards in the series didn’t mean they weren’t there. Look at the typical WWII movie – unless the story focused on characters who’s job it is to deliver the equipment to war, the focus is usually on the soldiers themselves. The equipment is secondary and supports the story. Trying to “explain too much” is the death of drama: set up the premise, explain it, and detail just enough to inform the viewer as to what’s going on. Otherwise you’ll do stuff like, oh, explain how “Midiclorians” work…

Now, back to the “The Plan,” which was to infiltrate the defense grid and remotely disable all networked ships. Except for Galactica (and Pegasus) that plan worked. The Plan was also to catch the Colonies by surprise, and they did, so a lot of the ships probably were destroyed in shipyards or on the ground (as we heard of in the Razor story).

And finally, nuking the Colonies didn’t even require a lot of ships – just one Base Star per planet can sit in low orbit and lob nukes at will, as the planet revolved below it (and nukes are fairly “cheap” to make compared to ships). They could adjust their orbit to deliver a full spread to all major population centers within hours. And foot solders? You don’t need that many, and you can always “wait out” a population dying of radiation poisoning…

(A better question is how the Galactica could continue to get Vipers in the air. They didn’t have an unlimited supply, and they kept getting blown up. I think the show’s creative staff tried to explain that with the addition of the Pegasus and their fleet of Vipers that supplemented the ones Galactica had on board…)

See question on Quora

Here's some of the factors that come into play.

A key one: Shatner has lived through lean times in the past (post Trek he ended up doing TV commercials for margarine)… And so when the work comes, he grabs it and does it. Those lean times makes you appreciate the work when it comes. And makes you hungry for more.

Second, he's a driven personality. I've known people who works with the Shat and when he works he works really really hard. He gives it "all he's got, Captain." He and I share that – the idea of "relaxing"… well, other people do that. He can't stop working. He'll stop when he's dead.

Third, he's a pro. He shows up, hits his marks, does his lines, and will draw an audience just because of his history and what he has done. The industry knows that and they respect professionalism (as well as the "draw an audience" part).

Finally, he has changed over time. Once a leading man, he has transitioned into a character actor as well as (as needed and when appropriate) a semi-characture of himself… he does what he thinks is necessary to keep working, to keep moving forward. He's a smart talented man.

See question on Quora

When I returned to the states for a while last month, I put aside time to catch up on some movies. It being summer, this means I mostly watched superhero and action films. I’ve already wrote up my thoughts on Transformers 3, and didn’t have time to properly review the other two films I caught, Green Lantern and X-Men: First Class. Green Lantern was so dramatically inert that I couldn’t muster the energy to even consider responding to it with a review. To the contrary, X-Men: First Class was quite entertaining but I thought spent too much time in slavish fan service sub-plots rather than focusing on Magneto and Xavier’s story.

So, with a batting average of .500 (I also thought Thor was quite good) I approached, with some trepidation, the Captain America movie. Cap was never my favorite super hero (those tend to be Spider-Man and/or Batman, depending on my mood), but I’m also a sucker for all things World War II, so I was keenly interested. The story of Captain America is one that, in the wrong hands, could go really really wrong… He’s the superhero version of Horatio Alger, who never forgot his roots and loves his country with a whole heart, warts and all. If that love of country was played to heavy-handed it could come off as jingoistic, and if moviemakers try to change the core of the character then they will lose the essence of what makes him work.

So… did it work? Absoultely. Far far better than I expected it to. In fact, it may be the best Marvel superhero movie yet, as you could take the superhero aspects out of the film and it would still be a rousing piece of entertainment. It’s the spiritual sequel to director Joe Johnson’s earlier superhero movie The Rocketeer – when Captain America comes out on video I plan on a personal double feature. It has heart to spare, powered by a starmaking performance by Chris Evans. It has a hyper-real version of WW II, powered by technology stolen from the world of Thor. It has great character moments, especially between Evans and Hayley Atwell who plays love interest Peggy Carter. It has the Howling Commandoes, Marvel’s ragtag fighting unit that in the comics were lead by Nick Fury. It has a rousing score from Alan Silvestri, his best since Back to the Future. It has a fantastic performance by Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull. It has amazing effects and action sequences. it has…

OK, have to stop now, otherwise I’d be gushing for another 1000 words. Just see it. If you love solid entertaining filmmaking, you won’t get a better example of it than Captain America.

One of the ways that software development has changed over the years is the way that developers are considered “good” at what they do. In the early days a good developer was a productive one – if you produced over 2000 lines of code in a day, you were good – quantity was more important than quality.

Things – and times – changed. As the personal and business computer world exploded, the lack of quality became a concern to organizations and consumers. If the code was malformed, or had lots of bugs, it didn’t matter how prolific you were – you produced inferior work. Additionallt, efficiency became a factor. If you could produce functionality with less lines of code, then you were a “better” programmer than those who wrote a hundred lines to execute a simple validation function. Tight, efficient “well formed” code was better…. and developers who did that were deemed superior… most of the time, at least.

Which brings me to a parallel I see in the writing profession, as well as Twitter.

For professional writers, there’s two types of opportunities – the “paid by words” type of job and the “contractual obligation” job. In the former, the more you write the more you are paid… and the temptation to “pad” is one that many fall prey to. I’ve found this is usually a short term gain, long term loss – you may be prolific, but the weighty bloated tomes you produce block opportunities that exist in the “contractual obligation” space… where you are contracted to write a book, of a certain length, but one that is expected to be appealing to readers and sell in significant numbers. You still have a “threshold” to meet, but you have some wiggle room – though if you produce too many purposeless words you end up winning the battle and losing the war… you may sell one book, but never another.

Thus, I believe a focused prose should be the goal… Writing as tight as efficient as the aforementioned well-formed code that separates the good developer from the great one (I consider both creative endeavors, by the way).

Which brings us to Twitter. In Twitter, you have a fixed constraint. 140 characters. It’s democratic, it’s simple, and it’s in-the-moment. It focuses the mind, in the same way that a hangman’s noose focuses that of a condemned man. Of course, most people don’t look at Twitter as a “writer’s medium.” Understandable, when most tweets are about inane observations and statements of the egocentric moment.

I obviously disagree. I love Twitter, and I think it is a great communication medium, giving us the opportunity to exchange ideas and share at a visceral and pure level. It’s real and honest and true, and lets us capture our reactions and lives in the Now.

So, I tweet. It’s my ongoing diary of what’s going on. I’ve done it for a long while and I think I’ll keep doing it for the foreseeable future. I’m also capturing my tweets with automated tools and saving them to my blog, in my hopes that I can keep them as an archive of where I was and what I was doing in my life, to look back on and reflect. Like pictures… frozen moments.

Tweets from an earlier time.

So, tweet. Share. Communicate. And let Twitter be a tool to help you focus your prose and your mind.

So I finally got around to seeing Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.

It was definitely a movie. it certainly exists in that form. And it does a great job… existing.

If that response comes off as an extremely generic one, I apologize – but that’s the reaction I had. I was entertained… somewhat… by the visuals and the last 45 minutes definitely threw a lot of stuff at the audience. Whatever the movie cost (probably more than the GDP of Guatemala) it certainly wasn’t spent on catering or luxurious trailers. The money is there, on the screen. I gasped at a couple of shots, I’ll admit.

But, kinetic energy aside, the movie is… just… meh. I didn’t hate it (that reaction was reserved for the second film, which is an abomination against all right-minded and free people) and didn’t love it, flaws and all (which was my reaction to the first film – sorry, I’m a Transformers fanboy). I just… didn’t care.

There’s a tactic in screenwriting and movies called “raising the stakes”, when you ratchet up the threat to the protagonist – it’s a by-the-books approach that when used well really really works (Best example in my opinion: Die Hard). This movie “raises the stakes” in such a way that, well, the sheetrock that covers the screenplay falls off and the framework of rotten wood is clearly visible. And I won’t even mention the number of times that Shia Labeouf’s character is about to die when, OUT OF NOWHERE, someone comes to save him. I think it was 4 times… I lost count.

I could spend some more words describing the plot and the details of Transformers 3, but why bother? My reaction is muddled indifference. If you like the movie, good, I’m glad you had an entertaining experience. If you hate it, nothing I can write will feed your anger.

Like the fourth Indiana Jones and many other sequels/remakes/sequels/retreads before it, this movie is an unambitious product of a studio system afraid to take chances and create new, interesting (and financially risky) films. This is what happens when multinational corporations play it safe, and the only anger I can muster against it is that so many other better films could have been made for the 40 quadrillion dollars that Transformer 3 cost.

Sigh.

My pal Anthony Pascale from Trekmovie.com asked me to do a quick video review of the new Star Trek PADD app for the iPad and, since I’m on holiday, I was able to put together one. Here it is:

Many many moons ago, My friend John and I went on a quest, a sacred trek to see… well, costumes and props from a show made before either one of us were born. It was 1992 and the Smithsonian had a special exhibit showcasing Star Trek. Here’s some of the photos of the day we spent, almost 20 years ago…

Had the great chance 11 months ago to attend a private party celebrating the launch of The Intergalactic Bartender beverage guide, based on the notorious concoctions that were once served at the Star Trek Experience. My friends John and Mary did a promotional video for the party, and here it is.

You’ll see a ruggedly handsome man dressed like a hipster doofus around the 1 minute mark you may recognize…

Rest in peace classic comic artist Gene Colan, who produced some legendary work on Tomb of Dracula, Daredevil, Batman – you name it, he drew it.: Link.

I’m an unabashed fanboy of the classic 1960s spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. which starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. It was a huge sensation for a while, with teenage girls swooning over McCallum’s character Ilya Kuryakin. Along with that success came merchandising, and lots of it. It never had as many tie-ins as the more popular James Bond spy series but it did pretty well for the studio and the merchandisers.

With the recent news that George Clooney will be starring in an upcoming big-screen U.N.C.L.E. feature, the collector/hoarder side of me salivates at the chance to buy more and new U.N.C.L.E. stuff. But that’s a year away, what am I to do in the meantime? Cafe Press to the rescue. This store has memo books, T-shirts, messenger bags, and more. It’s not authorized, but it looks like the quality of the products are top notch. I especially like the coffee mug.

And, if you’re a true die-hard fan, you can also get a replica of the famous U.N.C.L.E. Gun from this dealer on eBay. My order is on the way…

Now, when I say “open Channel D” I will have the equipment to say it with authority…

This post discusses the mid season finale of Doctor Who that just aired in the US. If you haven’t seen it yet, go away and stop reading because this article contains SPOILERS from that episode, specifically regarding the true identity of River Song.

…

Seriously, don’t get spoiled, guys.

…

OK if you are still here you obviously want to be spoiled or watched the episode, so here goes: in A Good Man Goes to War it was revealed that River Song is actually Melody Pond, Rory and Amy’s daughter, AND is also a Time Lord (because she was conceived inside the TARDIS) AND is also the little girl from the first two episodes of the season. In the episode the Doctor rolls out a crib that, when asked, he claims was his.

The Doctor is right – but its not JUST his crib. It is also River/Melody’s, and I think it will also be the one used by his daughter. The one he had/will have with River. The daughter that eventually becomes the mother of Susan, The Doctor’s grandaughter we saw in the very first episode of Doctor Who.

Heres the clues: when the Doctor is told to look at the inscriptions on the crib’s side, I think he realizes more than just Melody is actually River: The crib is telepathic, and I think it not only details who the inhabitant is but also (using Time Lord technology) the inhabitant’s FAMILY LINE. Which would say something like “River, daughter of Amy, wife of The Doctor, mother of NAME OF DOCTOR’S DAUGHTER, grandmother of Susan, etc….”

Now, The Doctor knows what he has to do. He has to get/produce his daughter. The Doctor can’t return River as a baby back to Amy (because her timeline is fixed and he’s crossed it too many times), but maybe he can do the next best thing. He can give Amy and Rory his daughter (and their granddaughter) to take care of. And then, at the right time, he can go back to the beginning, back to meet HIMSELF. Not just an earlier version, but his first incarnation… to give himself his child’s daughter, Susan, to take care of. It’s a heck of a way to explain who Susan is… and it would be a great way to end the last season before the show’s 50th Anniversary.

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey, indeed…

Let’s go to the clues in the show, shall we?

In the first episode Arrival, the Prisoner (I will call him the Prisoner because that is what his character is named in the scripts) is told by the New Number Two that “I believe you, that it was a matter of conscience.”

So what does that mean? I refer you to this link and suggest you consider the implications of the content there (and think of the many religious subtexts throughout the series): http://acharlie.tripod.com/consc…

Did the Prisoner realize that he was living a life that contradicted his beliefs? If so, then that is a reason to change – to resign, as it were.

Then we have the penultimate episode “Once Upon a Time” where the Prisoner answers the question directly: “Because too many people know too much.” Enigmatic, of course, but think about it. Governments use spies to spy on people, to know things about them. The Prisoner was a human camera, spying on other people just like the hidden cameras spy on people that are in The Village.

People knew too much. He saw the Village in the making, and he saw he as a spy was having an active hand in it’s creation.

Prisoner: “The whole world, as the Village?”
Number Two “That is my hope.”
-The Chimes of Big Ben

So he resigned, and was, ironically, trapped in a world of surveillance, wiretapping, interrogation, and control – The Village. Where too many people know too much.

A world he wanted to destroy because he, directly or indirectly, had helped create it – and this (guilt?) caused him to resign.

The ending of the show is the beginning – it shows Prisoner in the same car, the same shot as the beginning of the first episode, the shot of him in his car driving towards… Where? Why, to resign, of course.

Again. Forever.

See question on Quora

Working on a long-term contract in Australia has some benefits. Besides the temperate climate, fantastic people, and copious amounts of top-notch sushi and beer, we also sometimes get some movies before the rest of the world does. This was the case this week with Marvel Studios’ newest release Thor, which had it’s world premiere last Sunday at a downtown Sydney theatre that is just two blocks away from my office. I didn’t go (found out about it as it was happening) but I made certain to see the movie as soon as I could… which was today.

Before I tell you what I think about it, two things you should keep in mind. The first, and this should be obvious to anyone who knows me and reads my ramblings here, is that I’m an unabashed and unapologetic geek. I make the guys on Big Band Theory look normal in comparison. The fact that I appear somewhat normal in public (and also speak to attractive women without being drunk) I credit to good genetics. Add my inherent geekness to a second fact – that I am a big fan of the Thor comic book, especially the work of Jack Kirby and later Walt Simonson on the title – and, well, you may sense some perceived bias in my take on the film. End of disclaimer.

Thor as a movie is far far better that I expected, though my expectations were dramatically lowered by a subpar marketing effort. The movie is being marketed as… well, I don’t know what it’s being marketed as. Is it a fantasy-adventure? Is it a super-hero movie? I don’t blame the marketing department, because they really have a tough job because Thor is kinda… well, it’s Thor. He’s an Asgardian God who is banished to the land of mortals and has to learn lessons in humility and responsibility before he regains his power. Try and package THAT idea to the world.

The thing is, as a movie, it works far more than it should. For that I credit the fairly simple linear storyline, the exceptional directing of Kenneth Branagh and a great cast, especially (Captain Kirk’s dad) Chris Hemsworth. He’s an Australian actor who is very well known for his TV work here (that, and the fact that it opened just before a big five-day holiday weekend, is the reason the premiere was here). He’s very very good in the title role, and it would have fallen apart if he wasn’t so strong. Anthony Hopkins is also fantastic as Odin but the real standout for me is Idris Alba as Heimdall. He was fantastic in the miniseries Luther and steals every scene he is in. If Hemsworth had his start-making turn in his small part in Star Trek, then Alba has his here. He’s an actor I will watch in whatever he does.

Visually, the film is a real treat, and the scenes in Asgard and the world of the Frost Giants are just beautiful. To see the Asgard of Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson come to life… well, for a fanboy like me it’s just fantastic. I felt the same feeling of awe and wonder as I did seeing The Lord of the Rings movies years ago – the world I imagined as a child vividly brought to life. And that’s the thing – this movie is really Lord of the Rings meets Marvel comics… as it should be. There was always a touch of Tolkien in the best Thor stories, and some of the worst Thor stories are where he’s stuck on Earth… Much like Superman, when you have a character of such power that he can do, well, ANTHING… it’s far better to pit him against a cosmic threat than an earthly super-villian.

And George Lucas, please take note: THIS is how you create amazing worlds – incredible CGI with real, practical (and gorgeous) sets.

Is it absolutely perfect? Nope. I think the middle dragged and the work of Natalie Portman just left me cold. She’s basically playing… well, Natalie Portman, and comparing the work here to her Black Swan performance and you wonder if they are even the same actress. And can someone PLEASE tell these guys how to shoot a fight sequence? The big fight on Earth near the end could have been SOOO much better (and it was building to be EPIC), but instead it was a quick melange of CGI and visual effects. Oh, well.

Three other highlights (and I’m trying to avoid SPOILERS but this may be percieved as such, so look away now if you want to be surprised): The cameo of the star of a recent Academy-Award Winning Best Picture as the “eye in the sky”, which sets up his performance in the upcoming Avengers? It made me squeal with joy. Yes, it was total slavish fan service, but I still loved it. Secondly, the tease after the credits is not as ‘OMG 11!’ cool as the Thor teaser at the end of Iron Man 2, but it is a nice hat tip to the upcoming Captain America movie AND Avengers film. Finally, the cameos from Walt and Louise Simonson as well as Stan Lee (all of whom I’ve been lucky to meet in real life) was a nice touch, especially Stan’s line. Yes, Stan, it worked.

All in all it’s not as good as the original Iron Man, a film that I think is the best Marvel adaptation ever (save for the final underwhelming battle sequence, which Thor also suffers from). But it’s quite good, and definitely worth the ticket price.

Of course, I’d love to see a sequel, purely set on Asgard, where Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three have to go on a quest to save… or find… well, something. Maybe to destroy the Ring of Power in the fires of Mount Doom…

Disclaimer: don’t work for Pixar, am simply amazed at the creative quality and output of the studio.

One reason you can cite is that animation – whether it’s cel or computer, it takes time. Lots of time.

With cel animation you have a tremendously tedious process to paint each moment to make it match the storyboards and present the characters accurately and timing is everything – it has to be exactly right, otherwise you have a jarring experience. With computer animation you have a tremendously laborious process to render each scene… But the same principles noted above apply. The scenes have to be true to the story and the characters.

And that is the real reason that you have to look to when it comes to the output of Pixar: be true to the story, and focus on telling a great one.

Pixar has revisited and thrown away their own work more than once (the most noteworthy example was making Toy Story 2 a theatrical release instead of a direct-to-video release, and revising the majority of what they had done to date). They do it because they are focused on quality, on producing the best work they can.

They are well aware that quality takes time, and even though they work on deadlines (like all other studios) they go the extra mile to make things as good as they can. It’s a work ethic I try to aspire to and I daresay that a lot of that culture comes from the former CEO of Pixar, a gent who has displayed a similar work ethic at his other company. His name is Steve Jobs, and he is not a man who settles for second-best.

But even more than Jobs, the primary influence on Pixar is the amazing John Lasseter. He lives breathes eats and sleeps Story, and the palette he uses to tell his stories is animation. He is the heart of Pixar and his focus and passion has set a standard that the rest of the company follows. Quality takes time, and so Pixar takes the time to get there. And get it right.

I wish, someday, that I could be good enough at what I do for a company like Pixar. And maybe, if I keep working at it, I will.

See question on Quora

Disclaimer: I’m not anyone associated with the show, I merely obsessively follow it.

The way I see it, there are three possibilities: River Song is either a character we have never seen before her debut on the series, a character we have seen fairly recently in “Who time”, or a character from the classic series. Let’s take those possibilities one at a time:

A character we have never seen before: Silence in the Library strongly suggested that she was The Doctor’s future wife, since she knew his real name and she aggressively flirted with him. I think that is a red herring, but it may be that is exactly the case: the obvious solution, applying Occam’s Razor, is the correct one. She is The Doctor’s future wife.

A character we have seen fairly recently in “Who time”: this is where things get interesting. A very interesting theory is that she is actually Amy Pond, in the future. She will have traveled with The Doctor for a while, potentially after Rory’s death (!) and she adopts a pseudonym… And becomes close enough to The Doctor to know his real name – or The Doctor knew he had to tell her his real name so his past self will trust her when he meets her for the first time – again. You know, “wibbly wobbly timey wimey” stuff… This is an interesting theory which I kinda like.

Another option: The Doctor’s Daughter, from the episode of the same name. This will let them potentially reintroduce the character and at the end of the episode she regenerates… Into River Song.

A character from the classic series: Lots of candidates here…

Romana: companion to the fourth Doctor and Time Lord/Lady. I like this idea, but I also like all ties that they establish to the old series, especially when they tie into my favorite Doctor.

Susan, the Doctor’s grand daughter. This is an interesting notion in that she probably knows The Doctor’s real name, and can add even more emotional resonance to River’s “death” earlier in the new series – we saw the death of The Doctor’s first companion.

The Rani: I don’t think River is a “bad guy” but this theory has made the rounds. I don’t like it.

So, that’s my overlong fanboy answer to this question. And, as I have so often been before, I’m probably completely wrong. But thanks for reading!

UPDATE: OK, we now know that, in the episode A Good Man Goes to War it was revealed that River Song is actually Melody Pond, Rory and Amy’s daughter, AND is also a Time Lord (because she was conceived inside the TARDIS) AND is also the little girl from the first two episodes of the season. I have another interesting theory as to where River’s story goes from here at this link.See question on Quora

In case you didn’t know, the producers of Doctor Who made a 9 minute long “episode” for this past week’s Comic Relief special, and here it is:

Part 1

Part 2

Lots of wibbly wommy timey wimey-ness here, with Pond flirting with Pond… Mmm. I’ll be in my bunk…

Trek Movie is having a video contest to celebrate the upcoming International Talk Like William Shatner day (which is also his 80th birthday), and since I have a hard time NOT talking like William Shatner, I had to post a video entry:

When it comes to James Bond scores, you have to separate the soundtrack (the music that plays over the whole movie) and the title song (which plays over… Err, the titles).

James Bond soundtracks have had many different composers, with John Barry (who passed away in February 2011) and David Arnold the two composers who did the most. John Barry created the famous "Bond sound" with soundtracks to the early Bond films and his best soundtracks were Goldfinger and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, with The Living Daylights an exceptional score later in the series. David Arnold did most of Brosnan's Bonds and his best score was to Casino Royale.

My opinion: Goldfinger and Casino Royale are tied, with OHMSS coming in a close second.

See question on Quora

Some candidates:

Planet of the Apes. Yes, I know, it's a cliche and a punchline now, but the final shot of that movie shocked and surprised audiences and it's still one of the best movie endings ever.

The Godfather. The last 10 minutes are amazing, because it is all about the characters: Michael's rise to power, realized… And how everyone reacts to what he does.

Citizen Kane. What is the measure of a man? Sometimes it's what he's lost and can never get back that makes him who he is. The final reveal of what Rosebud is, and what it represented, is one of the great endings. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

The Usual Suspects. Who is Kyser Soze? Again, a mystery revealed brings a great resolution to a great film.

One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest. Chief's escape from the institution is one of the most wonderful moments of cinema.

It's a Wonderful Life. George Bailey, finally appreciating the whole of his life – warts and all – running through the streets wishing everyone "Merry Christmas!" – well, it don't get any better.

Chinatown. The best unhappy ending, ever. The bad guys win… As they so often do.

Vertigo. Hmm, another Jimmy Stewart performance. This time, Stewart is the opposite of where he was when he played George Bailey. Here he is apoplectic and obsessed and… Well, no spoilers, just watch the movie.

See question on Quora

Start with the first episode of one Doctor… But then check the ratings/rankings of the episodes for that Doctor and pick and choose the best to watch. Each Doctor tends to have some clunker episodes, especially at the beginning of each series…

See question on Quora

What is the perfect way to spend a cold and rainy afternoon in Sydney? Why, exploring the joys and history of the Swedish supergroup ABBA, of course! Here’s (way too many) photos of the ABBAWorld exhibit that is currently taking place at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

123►

I just rewatched the fantastic Twin Peaks episode of Psych USA Network broadcast last month with my friend George. George and I are obsessive Twin Peaks fans so we made sure to note all the references we could find. We got over 80 – did we miss any?

• Silent window shades conversation (Nadine was working on that in Peaks)
• “UndertheNail”.com
• “The Great Northern” newspaper
• Dual spires sign
• Music is obviously Peaksian
• “Sawmill” diner
• Diner layout is pretty darn close to being the same as the Double R on Peaks
• “BOB” Barker
• A nickname for BOB’s wife Michelle is “Shelly” – so “Bobby: and “Shelly” own the diner.
• The old sawmill burned down
• Pie!
• Sheriff Andrew Jackson (instead of “Harry Truman”)
• Old mayor
• Owl made of cinnamon
• Owl’s name is Leo
• “Lodge” Blackman
• Under the nail discussion with the Barkers
• Indian deputy
• Wrapped in plastic
• Paula Merrill = anagram of Laura Palmer
• Gus crying at the discovery of the body (like Andy on Peaks)
• Bob has white hair
• The title credits editing and shots are very “Peaksian”
• Julee Cruise sings the title song
• White horse during the opening credits
• Indian deputy talking about the earth being soft and moist – very “Peaksian”
• Donuts lined up exactly like on Peaks
• “Donna” Gooden
• Coconuts in Doc Gooden’s office (like in Doc Jacoby’s Hawaiian obsession)
• “Waldo” in the doctors office held by a Jacque Renault lookalike
• Body bag in the open door – almost same shot as in Peaks pilot
• Paula was seeing a psychiatrist just like Laura
• Log lady!
• Chris Isaak song is a Wild at Heart reference (it was on the soundtrack I believe)
• Covered bridge
• Doc Gooden is a baseball reference – not a TP reference but notable
• Picture in Andrew Jacksons mantel looks to be the same as in Ben Horne’s office in Peaks
• Furniture in Andrew Jackson living room looks real familiar
• Threatening ceiling fans!
• Randy acts a lot like Bobby and James re: Paula
• Sherilyn Fenn is drinking a “cherry” coke
• “Peak” around the library (more a pun but I think it counts)
• “Earl Wyndam”
• Book on reincarnation – Dale Cooper Tibetan reference?
• Old man with thumbs up sign like the old man from Great Northern
• Carlton is dressed and made up just like Dale Cooper
• Homecoming Queen photo
• Moose head lying on the table
• Record player in BOB’s house
• “Magic white rocks” – there were white rocks around the puddle in Glastonbury Grove
• Paula’s room is on the top of the stairs on the right – same as Laura’s
• Secret diary!
• Something hidden in a Teddy bear
• Letters in the diary instead of names
• Sherilyn Fenn closeup on her legs when she enters
• She has “new shoes”?
• Roadhouse!
• Since Jack is blind in one eye he is “One-eyed Jack” (I love this one)
• Bump on the head!
• Circular saw cutting wood
• Comparison of the town to a soap opera (similar to 1st season “Invitation to Love” references on Peaks)
• Randy has the same hairstyle as Bobby Briggs
• “And 4 more pieces of pie” – reference to Cooper dialogue in Peaks
• Hanging!
• “Who killed Paula Merrill”?
• Arson!
• Ray Wise character’s hair turned white
• A cabin in the woods with red drapes
• Jack in the “Man from Another Place” red suit dancing
• Jack’s eyepatch (same as Nadine’s)
• Jukebox in the diner (obvious, but notable)
• David Lynch/Dale Cooper reference when Carlton drinks the coffee “damn fine cup of coffee” (his hand is up like Lynch often does and how Cooper did in the scene in the series)
• Shot homage when Carlton says the above (same angle, props, etc.)
• The Giant – who is also holding up three fingers
• Man in the football helmet beating his head against the counter
• BOB walking backwards (a Fire Walk with Me reference to when Bobby did the same thing)
• Randy barking
• Blonde waitress like Shelly (and they wear the same waitress outfits as the ones on Peaks)
• BOB is dancing with a photo of Paula at the end
• Same layout in the diner behind the counter as in the Double R
• Heavyset guy on the counter is the same “generic extra” you see in almost every scene in the Double R – and in almost the exact same seat…
• Julee Cruise song at the end of the episode
• Pine trees blowing in the wind

It’s been a heck of a year. Highs and lows, peaks and valleys. If you had told me a year ago that I would be moving to Australia, to build a team to work on a huge, high profile project for my company… Well, I would have laughed at you.

If you had told me my father would affectively commit suicide by bottle in 2010… Well, that would have been unexpected, too.

The theme of this past year for me, and I think for many others, is Letting Go.

I see in in our movies and our television… Toy Story 3, Inception, and LOST all had the obvious denouement around walking away from the past, that the protagonists need to move on.

I see that in our news, with a great many Americans giving up on the idea of some One who can fix the world… And this past year I have seen many people take it upon themselves to speak up and make their voices heard. They have given up on the current model of government and governing – they want better. Whether they will get it… Well, time will tell.

I see that in my work, where I have to walk away from the detailed work and attempt, in my own limited way, to persuade, direct and lead. I can’t do it all, and I need to stop trying.

And I see that most obviously and closely in my own personal life… Where an easy trap of accusation and anger and comfortable inaction is a very tempting thing when it comes to things… Especially and specifically when it comes to my father.

I could go there… Or I could let go. And love my family, and do my best, and walk away from recrimination and blame.

Some have a word for that. They call it grace.

So, I welcome the new year with a glad and open head and heart… And hope that whatever comes to pass, obstacles or triumphs, makes me someone better than I am today.

Onward.

Had the opportunity to visit the really cool Legoland attraction in California with the family last week and I really love the miniature Lego versions of famous landmarks, as you see from the number of shots I took…

Did my annual weekend of high geekery this past few days at Dragon*Con 2010 (also known as Dragoncon) in Atlanta, GA. And here’s some pictures to prove it:

Today, inspired by the Wikileaks story around the conflict in Afghanistan, Twitter was bombarded by a new meme, #wookieleaks (or, more properly, #wookieeleaks). Tweets that referred to the “declassified documents” of the Star Wars films. Being a good and proper geek, I had to join in. Here’s my posts (and yes, I did get carried away – I did start out in journalism, after all…)

• Some Empire officials companied of Imperial dress code, saying that grey, black and white was too harsh. “I’m an Autumn…”
• Claims of segregation of black stormtroopers from white stormtroopers unfounded, Empire officials say…
• Empire officials surprised, thought “the Force was with THEM…”
• Exhaust port manufacturer also produced shield generators used on Endor, officials say.
• Senior Empire officials complained about Darth Vader getting his own theme, leaving them without any background music.
• Industrial designers accused of putting “way too many deep trenches and no guard rails” in Death Star.
• Reports claim that Princess Leia was tortured by Darth Vader by putting her in the “comfy chair.”
• Rumors of an “expanded universe” simply untrue, officials say.
• Princess Leia’s debriefers chucked when she said she told Han “You came in that? You must be braver than I thought.”
• There are numerous reports of stormtoopers abandoning their posts, especially when distracted by slight innocuous noises.
• Stormtrooper armor manufacturer produced helmets that limit visibility, making troopers shoot blindly, hit their head on doors
• Documentary “Loose Empire” claims the destruction of the Death Star was an inside job to inflame anti-Rebel sentiment.
• Empire techs never fixed manufacturing defect in Darth Vader’s breathing apparatus, because, “He sounded so badass.”
• Declassified documents note that Empire officials “analyzed their attack, and there was a danger” before Death Star destroyed.
• Stormtrooper armor manufacturer produced helmets that limit visibility, making troopers shoot blindly, hit their head on doors.
• Nerf herders files defamation suit against Princess Leia.
• Exhaust Port manufacturer implicated in Death Star explosion. CEO blames third-party contracting firm for design flaw.

Thanks to my good friend Televixen for bringing this wonderfully quirky and funny video, which imagines a collaboration between David Lynch and Crispin Glover. It’s well acted, edited, and fantastic. More videos from the guy behind it here.

In my role as a User Experience Architect I have design for and support what users do today, and understand their mental models of how things work. That is challenging enough, and if that was all my job was I’d be pretty darn busy.

Of course, it’s not.

I also have to plan for the future, to look forward… to think about what technological and social changes will do to change future mental models and usage patterns. I have to “future proof” my designs.

So, as part of my process I have defined some key factors that I have to keep in mind, “influencers” that will change things (and in some cases very, very quickly). My soothsaying skills are slightly above average, so here’s my list of things that will CHANGE EVERYTHING!

Ubiquitous Internet Access

This is already happening, though it has not gotten through to “Joe Six-Pack” – the idea that you can be connected to the ‘Net wherever you are, all the time. This is already changing behaviors and the idea that we can keep important information (work files, content, etc.) “in the cloud” is becoming much more comfortable to people. We may yet have that “Internet Computer” yet – with local copies on the device, in case the access drops. And, speaking of local copies…

Cheap, cheap storage

The idea that mobile devices can hold 64 GB of data is astonishing to an old foggie like me. I remember when I was impressed at the Iomega Zip Drive (“It can hold a 100 megs! And it’s only a little thicker than a floppy disk!”). We need to start thinking of smart applications that can fill that storage for the user … I have some ideas in this space, but I’d rather not share them publically ifyaknowwhatimean…

Appliances, not computers

Devices like the iPad is a “computer” but when people talk about it it’s not about how many “GBs” it has or the amount of RAM it contains… they talk about what it allows them to do – how many books, how much music, how many games it can hold, etc. The technology is getting out of the way, and that’s a great thing for people in our profession. And speaking of the iPad…

Touch computing

It’s here, folks, and it isn’t going away. We need to design for these interaction patterns even if we are not designing a UI for a touch-enabled device (because people are going to bring that learnt behavior to your – and every other – design). The iPhone and the Ipad has changed the way people interact with technology, and not in a blue-sky “Minority Report” way, but in a tangible shift in interaction models. With predictions that 25 million iPads will be sold by the end of the year, we need to be ready to support a lot of users who touch AND click…

Increased (and reduced) user freedom

Users will, at the same time, have more freedom around the services they can use to support their lifestyle and at the same time they will be “locked in” to services because they are not alternatives that they can easily migrate to. Facebook is pretty “sticky” for users, because all their friends are there… and Facebook knows it too. When a user’s social circle is all on Facebook, it’s awfully hard to change services. Look for this to become more and more of an issue in the future. And, speaking of Facebook…

Addicting Experiences

I’ve written about this before, and I’ll repeat myself somewhat here: There is a large number of companies making a lot of money by providing addictive experiences to users (they made money from me, too – my son bought $40 of seeds in Zombie Farm without thinking about it… or asking his dad). Right or wrong, we need to pay attention to how these companies are influencing user behavior to potentially “leverage” some best practices in our own designs.

Opportunities Galore

With technology becoming more and more part of everyone’s life, the opportunities for user experience designers to influence and improve user’s lives are increasing. It’s a great field to be in and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Before this latest trip to the land Down Under I got stuck in LA for a day, so I did what all smart people stranded in the land of movies did… I turned tourist, with the help of my lovely friend @televixen. Here’s some pics, including some shots of stuff from the newest Star Trek movie being displayed in the Hollywood Museum downtown (look, it’s the Medical Tricorder!)…

“You made a time machine… out of a DeLorean?!”

In more news to make me feel like an old, old man, I note that today is the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future, a movie that is a perennial favorite of mine (heck, I even like Back to the Future II). In celebration here’s Tom Wilson (who played Biff) singing his Question Song…

Now make like a tree, and get out!

Just got back from day one of the Supanova pop culture convention here in Sydney, and here’s some quick thoughts:

The venue (the Dome at the Sydney Olympic park) was WAY too small for the number of people who came, and if you showed up around the time the doors opened, you were gonna cool your heels for a while – they were trickling people in an many waited for hours to get inside. Thankfully I was very early and got inside less than a half-hour after the event began.

The cosplayers were AWESOME. Lots of manga and amine characters, some great Doctors and Ghostbusters, and a multitude of beautiful women in skintight clothing. In that last point I have no complaints.

The vendors were great, with a nice wide selection of cool geekery to sell. Some great deals to be had, too.

The autograph lines were insanely long… The big guests Eliza Dushku and Summer Glau were surrounded throughout the day and the teeny-tiny areas they did their panels in prevented me from attending.

All in all, I’m glad I went but the size of the venue was a huge issue. The idea that you can do an event of this scale in a building the size of a football field is just ridiculous. It’s like trying to squeeze toothpaste back into the tube.

I have a friend that I adore, a good person who is fun to be around and know. He is also, sadly, a dreamer. He has ideas of making great art, or of creating a million-dollar invention… and I know that he will never make these dreams come true.

It’s not that he couldn’t do it, it’s just that he WON’T do it… because talk is cheap. Doing, well… that’s hard. And he will never do the hard work necessary to make those dreams a reality, because, well… I know him. He just won’t.

I’m not just casting stones here. I see the same aspirations and ideas in myself, and I know that following up on some of my own dreams would take a commitment that I just cannot take… a commitment that would take me out of my comfort zone, that would impact my family adversely… and one that would, in all probability, still fail.

So I don’t do it. I have a level of comfort in my life and I am aware that the years have added some degree of weight to my life, and there is also entropy at play. My reach exceeds my grasp, and I know it.

As I occasionally note in conversation with friends, energy is neither gained nor lost, but merely transferred. We only have so much of ourselves to go around. At some point you have to focus your efforts, and I am at the point in my life where I have to prioritize more and more, and give up some dreams to serve the realities of the now and the everyday. It’s tough, but it’s necessary.

So, there is no judgement here. I appreciate that my friends still have their passions and dreams, and don’t have the heart to be blunt with them and let them know that they have to act to make these dreams happen… they have to practice and plan and sweat and bleed and fail and then get up and do it allover again.

One of those aspirations I have is screenwriting. I have always loved the art and craft of screenwriting and I am reading a great book called Tales from the Script, that features extensive interviews with some of the best and brightest screenwriters in the industry, talking about their experiences.

If you want to poor ice-cold water over an aspiring screenwriter, this book will do it. You’ll hear some incredibly passionate people talk about the hard work, the rejection, the occasional glimmer of hope, and how the screenwriter is at the bottom of the totem pole in Hollywood… well, maybe above craft services, but that’s about it.

The key to any success that these writers receive, and I dare say that anyone in the world receives, is passion. The passion to work after rejection, to keep going after you fail. The people who make it keep trying, practicing and honing their skills along the way. I don’t think I have the energy to dedicate to such an endeavor. I’m aspirational about it, but I’m just not passionate about it. I’m not driven to tell stories.

And that’s fine… if a little disappointing.

I started writing about a friend I has who is a dreamer. I’ll finish by detailing some information about two other friends of mine who are doers. They are currently on route to LA to make a break at working in the entertainment industry. My initial thoughts around this move was that they were crazy, that it was a million-to-one shot, that they had a good life they were walking away from.

Then I realized that they were doing it. They were taking a giant leap of faith and risk and were ready and willing to put in the effort to make a go at it. They were going for it.

I have and will wish them the best of luck, as they are doing what they are passionate about and going to go make it happen, if they can. Good.

In many ways, I am doing the same thing. I’m about to have a big lifestyle change myself, transporting myself and my family into a whole new part of the world. It’s a leap of faith, and has some risk.

But I’m tired of dreaming about doing things – I’m ready to do them.

Wish me luck.

After reading about this on Ain’t it Cool News, I took a leap of faith and ordered it. And boy, am I glad I did.

Knight Rider was one of my favorite shows when I was 12 and it still entertains me whenever I catch a rare rerun. It was just fun, entertaining and cool, with no pretenses or aspirations beyond being a good show the family could enjoy. Not to say that I don’t like today’s dark dramas like The Wire or Breaking Bad – I love those shows too. But Knight Rider, like A-Team, Airwolf, and MacGyver, were simpler shows for a simpler time.

Nick Nugent has done what I daresay is the definitive book about the show, interviewing everyone who was ever involved with the working of the show (save for Edward Mulhare, who passed away before an interview could take place). He’s included promotional material, head-shots, blueprints, an episode guide, a look at the Knight Rider 2000 movie, and more. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) he doesn’t detail anything about the follow-up shows Team Knight Rider or the short-lived 2008 remake/sequel series.

Nick’s focus is on the original and when it comes to that he has created an exhaustive tome, a book that is probably not for the casual fan – there is SO MUCH information that such a reader may quickly lose interest. But for the true fan it’s a goldmine and a must-have, with 680 pages of information about the show, many in full color. Let me repeat that: 680 pages. If THAT doesn’t represent a true labor of love I don’t know what does.

Limited to only 2000 copies, you can order your very own from http://www.knightridercompanion.com.

Because one man CAN make a difference.

The diorama at the Joelanta show is amazing: a full G.I.Joe-scale Nazi stronghold. Look at this…

I recently had the pleasure of attending SXSW Interactive in Austin Texas. This is one of the geek meccas where the techies all gather together in one city for 5 days. SXSW has always had several user experience panels, and (as that is my focus and passion) I obviously checked those out, as well as attended other panels that struck my fancy. Here’s a quick view of my highlights and (some) lowlights:

Highlights

The 10 Commandments of User Experience

This panel from Nick FInke and Raina Van Cleave was fantastic, with a great presentation that… well, here, view it yourself:

Building a Bulletproof Personal-Finance System

The panel, from the writer of the book I Will Teach You to be Rich Ramit Sethi was rich with information and advice for any age (though his speech was targeted at Gen Y). Here’s his site.

Gaming the Crowd: Turning Work into play

A great fun panel about how users are often motivated by the achievements they earn in the games rather than the games themselves. This panel game me a LOT of design ideas I am busily working on right now… Here’s the Twitter feed of people who went to the panel and their reaction in real-time.

Persuasive Design: Encouraging your users to do what you want them to do

This panel from Andy Budd was great, rich with information and his unique character made it very entertaining. Here’s the slides and some video from the event:

The parties

This is one of the great benefits of SXSW – the opportunity to meet, chat and network with like-minded individuals while consuming copious amounts of free booze. Highly recommended (and my favorite party was ServerBeach’ GeekyBeach Party, where I danced my hindquarters off).

Gary Vaynerchuk Keynote

The host of the Wine Library TV podcast, entrepreneur, and author of the book Crush It!, Gary V was a potent force of nature that pumped up, inspired and promoted engagement and following your dreams. Here’s some video (caution: language):

DEVO, The Internet, and You

Yes, DEVO was at SXSW and they talked about how they are using the Internet to do focus groups and changing their band to reflect the wisdom of the crowd. While a lot of it was really tongue-in-cheek performance art, they do look to be doing some interesting research into today’s audience. I also got to ask a question that made DEVO laugh, which I understand earned me 10 Awesome Points. Here’s their website, which has video from the session. And here is the presentation from this panel:

Lowlights

Long Distance UX panel

A panel of smart people who talk about how they use teleconferencing and regular meetings to do long-distance UX. Wow. I also understand that they use this new-fangled thing called The Internet….

Entry-level UX panels

I walked into the panels on user experience expecting a lot… and, in most cases, I was disappointed. While this is obviously not a “core” user experience and design conference, I expected some advanced stuff than I got (and I wasn’t aone – I chatted with a couple of UX’ers that had the same reaction). So after the second day I ended up focusing more on some of the “outside the box” panels that were more focused on innovations and technology and got more out of it.

“Not enough time, Michael…”

There is SO MANY things going on at SXSW Interactive. If you try and do everything you will be a thin husk of a human by the time the conference is over. Because I wanted to take it easy after some recent crushing deadlines, I was not as aggressive this year in my efforts to see everything I wanted to, and I kinda regret that… but not too much (and especially when we have websites like Slideshare and Youtube that allows me to “catch” something I may have missed, as you may note above).

The Austin Convention Center

MC Escher designed this building, I swear. There are three floors, and the building is designed to host two conferences simultaneously. Well, SXSW is so big that it uses up the whole space, and if you have to go from one panel to another that is on opposite ends of the building, good luck. My legs were screaming at me by the time I got home (the aforementioned dancing didn’t help matters, either).

In Closing…

SXSW Interactive is a must-do event in the tech community, and I can’t wait to attend again. Next time, though, I will spend more time planning the sessions I attend to get the most out of it… and hopefully won’t bail on as many panels next year as I did this year.

In case you haven’t heard, Microsoft partnered with houseparty.com to let select individuals host Windows 7 launch parties in their homes. Well, I was one of the lucky ones who got approved for a party and I got my party pack today.

Streamers! Balloons! Playing cards! A free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate edition! And more! Here are the pics:

And here’s a video someone did:

Being a huge fan of Poe’s work (he did create the detective genre) it was a given that I had to visit both his historic home and his gravesite when I was in Baltimore today. Here’s some photos:

Posted via web from josephdickerson’s posterous