Talking About Stuff, with Mike and Christiana

The music of Jonathan Coulton.

He writes geek songs. Funny ones!

He's a really talented singer/songwriter to begin with, but how many love songs have you ever heard about an evil genius singing to the girl he has kidnapped and is holding prisoner in his secret lair? Coulton's: "Skullcrusher Mountain" is just that sort of love song. It contains the lyric: "I made this half-pony-half monkey monster to please you."

Then there's the bittersweet lament of a sea monster, determined to stop destroying the pretty pretty ships that float above him in "I Crush Everything", which contains the lyric: "The dolphins are all phonies."

Then there's "Chiron Beta Prime", a Christmas greeting from a family in exile on an asteroid, where they sing "where we are working in a mine for our robot overlords... did I say overlords? I meant protectors."

And what makes this all even cooler is that he releases his songs under creative commons, which means you can listen and share them all you want for free. But hey, he's super-awesome, so if you like his songs, make sure you purchase some of his songs so he can keep putting out the awesome.

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I don't know if you have been watching the new Battlestar Galactica or not, but if not, you should seriously make an effort to catch up on it on DVD. It's the best science fiction television show in... Hmm, not sure I can think of a better one. (Firefly maybe, but I don't really compare the two to each other)

Anyway, if you have been watching, then I don't know if you've been listening to Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Podcast. (He's the creator and head writer of the show.) It's an excellent insight behind the scenes of the show, and I've really been enjoying it. (It was one of the first podcasts I ever listened to.)

But the reason I bring it up today is that, in lieu of a new episode to give commentary on, the most recent podcast presents a recording made at one of their writer's meetings, back when the episode "Scar" was in the script stage. I think it's a fascinating example of how effective collaborative writing can be when it's done with a group of talented people who share a good chemistry.

Neat stuff!

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Don't worry, though. They're (much) cooler than me too.

Cooler in fact, than most of the planet. That's because of Spaced, and Shaun of the Dead.

Well, they haven't done much that we've been able to see for a while, except of course for this music video that Edgar directed: Bastardo (Simon has a cameo in it, as does Lucy Davis aka Dawn from the British The Office)

Now, however, they are starting to release a video diary about their next film: Hot Fuzz! (Watch the video and bask in the awesomeness!)

In other media news...

The first footage from Snakes on a Plane is online!

The first new episode of Southpark this season will feature: "The triumphant homecoming of school chef Jerome McElroy. While Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are thrilled to have their old friend back, they notice that something about Chef seems different. When Chef's strange behavior starts getting him in trouble, the boys pull out all stops to save him." (No doubt made in response to Chef voice actor Isaac Hayes's decision to leave the show.)

UPDATE! Is it possible that Isaac Hayes didn't quit at all, but that someone else quit for him?

Alan Moore was apparently so upset with the film (scroll to the bottom) version of V for Vendetta that he asked to have his name removed from the credits.

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See, this explains everything.



I propose that we impeach Paul Haggis.

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I'll have more to say about this when I post show #61 tonight, but I want to clarify my last "announcement" just a little bit.

The harshness of my statement "Crash sucked" was created out of anger, based on my feeling that an undeserving film had won best picture over one that I thought truly worthy.

So, while I will not apologize for disliking the film, (and will go into more detail why in show #61), I will apologize to anyone who felt insulted by my tone. It was not my intention to disrespect anyone who did like the film, only to disagree.

(More detail tonight when I post #61)

*ahem*

Crash sucked. That Best Picture win is bulls#!t.

That is all.

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UPDATE:

Brokeback Mountain was a far-superior film, and like so many years past, the actual winner will fade in people's memories while a losing film will stay powerful.

And if you needed any proof of that...

I present (by linking to them anyway...) The 30-Second Bunnies Adaptation of Brokeback Mountain (WARNING: Contains spoilers for that film!)

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Hey everybody!

Got a couple more films to see before the awards on Sunday, but here's my current Oscar Marathon Status!
(Download my Current Oscar Spreadsheet)

Total Percentage: 69.5%

Best Picture: Seen 5/5. Brokeback Mountain should and will win.

Best Animated Feature: Seen 3/3. Howl's Moving Castle just barely edges out Wallace and Gromit as my favorite, but won't win the statue.

Best Director: Seen 5/5. Brokeback Mountain should and will win.

Best Actor: Seen 5/5. Heath Ledger gets my vote (just barely), and the statue will go to him or Phillip Seymore Hoffman.

Best Actress: Seen 3/5. I liked Kiera Knightley the best, just by a little, but Huffman will win and that doesn't really bother me.

Best Supporting Actor: Seen 4/5. Oscar to Jake Gylenhall.

Best Supporting Actress: Seen 2/5. Michelle Williams will ride the BBM sweep.

Best Original Screenplay: Seen 4/5. Should go to Syriana's deliberately and purposefully overwhelming script.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Seen 4/5. Brokeback all the way, though Munich was top-notch too.

Best Foreign Film: Seen 0/5. I suck. No wait, nominating only films that haven't been released anywhere but film festivals in New York sucks.

Best Original Score: Seen 3/5. I don't often notice film scores, but I kinda liked the one in Pride and Prejudice.

Best Original Song: Seen 3/3. (Why only three?) Hard Out Here for a Pimp had better win.

Best Art Direction: Seen 4/5. King Kong. Gorgeous. 'Nuff said.

Best Cinematography: Seen 3/5. Brokeback Mountain got the colors right for once!

Best Costume Design: Seen 3/5. My vote goes to Pride and Prejudice, but the judging in this category is always weird.

Best Makeup: Seen 2/3. Why on earth is Star Wars Ep III nominated here and not Visual Effects? I vote for it just because it was snubbed for the one thing it actually did really well.

Best Documentary: Seen 1/5. Only saw March of the Penguins and it may win, but Grizzly Man was better and didn't even get a nomination.

Best Sound Mixing: Seen 4/5. I don't even know what the difference is between this and Sound Editing.

Best Sound Editing: Seen 2/3. I don't even know what the difference is between this and Sound Editing. (UPDATE! D'oh! I meant to say "between this and Sound Mixing." That's what I get for trying to be clever.)

Best Visual Effects: Seen 3/3. King Kong, baby!

Best Film Editing: Seen 3/3. This is the other one Spielberg might get for Munich.

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