Chez PLJ

Okay, I have to admit when I first heard that they were making a movie version of Maurice Sendak’s picture book Where the Wild Things Are, I winced. I assumed it would be yet another case of a beloved (and short) kid’s classic being turned into a windy, big-budget, embarrassing cringefest (cf. The Cat in the Hat).

Well, Where the Wild Things Are still could be not good. But I perked up a bit when I heard that the director was Spike Jonze, director of a couple of the most interesting (read: totally wigged out, but in a good way) movies I’ve ever seen: Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. Once I saw the trailer, I’m even more hopeful. It’s a wonderful trailer — I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll be a wonderful movie.

Max and his wild things howling in the sunset

1. Take a walk.
2. Play cards.
3. Play a musical instrument.
4. Go to bed.
5. Take a bath.
6. Read a book.
7. Play board games.
8. Look at the night sky.
9. Draw a picture.
10. Play with the dog.

In case you missed it, as somehow I did, shortly before the shuttle Discovery’s launch last week (Misson STS-119, if you’ve scoring on your programme at home), a free tail bat latched on to its external fuel tank, in what to can only be surmised to be an obvious attempt to cut the line in the stringent astronaut selection process. In a way, he did become officially recognized, as his callsign became Interim Problem Report 119V-0080.

Unlike previous bat-attempted stowaways, this one had the guts to stay latched on to the tank through the igniting of the engines and lift-off of the rocket (it may have had something to do with it’s broken left wing and an injured right shoulder or wrist that naturalists noted before the launch). The point is, our mammalian counterpart does have a helluva lot more flying hours under his belt than any of us, and officials do know that he cleared the tower.

From here, we’ll quote the Globe’s Nerd Girl, Dr. Jennifer Gardy:

While in my heart of hearts I had hoped that SpaceBat at least made it out of the troposphere…the reality of the shuttle launch is that he probably only held on for a few seconds past the tower before he lost his grip. After a mere moment of free-fall, little IPR 119V-0080 would have tumbled into the solid rocket booster’s exhaust plume and expired in a blazing hot trail of spent rocket fuel.

As my shuttle-savvy friend bluntly put it, “In all probability, Squeaky McSpaceBat’s body was charred to almost beyond recognition, then swept up with all the rest of the miscellaneous debris that falls on the pad post-launch. But it’s way cooler if he made it to space, so I’m going with that.” Link

We’ll leave you with this, somewhat sentimental and definitely not necessarily accurate, YouTube tribute video:

And then this documdrama. While not entirely accurate, it is based on a true story, which means it’s way more accurate than any horror movie that has used that tagline…

Here’s an interesting little essay about the state of the newspaper world and how the internet is causing major upheavals. It explores various aspects of the crisis, even as North America is suddenly starting to lose some big, established newspapers.

There are some wonderful comparisons with the point in history just after the printing press was introduced, and the immediate societal effects (hint: chaos). New paradigms don’t spring forth fully-fledged, and old ones tend to fall before the new are established.

Historically, newspapers were the most practical way to deliver journalism—that’s the commodity. To defend the printed newsprint itself against a delivery system that is simply more efficient is missing the point of what is happening.

It reminds me of William Gibson’s Bridge Trilogy, specifically All Tomorrow’s Parties, when he speaks of “nodal points” in history: when events and technology come together to change the path of society in some way. The major players of the current day can’t prevent the change; in the end, the new way of working/thinking will likely win out. The question is whether the old players will be left behind, or adapt to the change and somehow retain some measure of their former stature.

Last week, Jon’s junior kindergarten teacher came by his Grade 7 class to ask Jon to come read to her students (I think she teaches Grade 3 now, not sure).

I guess the books she picked (did she remember?) were The Cat and the Hat, and Green Eggs and Ham, which are two of Jon’s absolute all time favourites. By 2½, Jon had these two—among others—committed to memory, though he insisted on turning the pages, as though he was reading.

I gather it was a great experience, and a good time was had by all. I’ve gleaned this from slight mannerism variations in his very adolescent response “It was fine”. And by the fact that he arrived home with a thank you note signed by them all, AND a lovely bee plush animal (who looks suspiciously like the Honey Nut Cheerios bee. Between commercial shoots?)

Oh, there are plenty of these kind of technical hacks on the web. But this one only requires a screwdriver, a pair of scissors and a bag of marshmallows! You’ll see what the marshmallows are for later…

I recommend this video to everyone, even if you’re not technical. You never know what you can learn…

From the folks at Gag Films.com

Adding to my previous post about this terrific animated movie, it is now available for free download at various resolutions at archive.org and other sites. And after you see the movie, please buy a t-shirt or donate as a thank-you to the movie’s creator, Nina Paley.