Quote of the Day...

From a list of rules for young photographers:

"Talent is not when your friends tell you they love your work, but when people who don't like you have to admit it's good."

Hip Hop I Can Handle

It's no secret that I'm not a huge fan or rap or hip hop (or Justin Timberlake,for that matter), but this little history of hip hop is masterfully done by Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon.



via kottke

No. Dear God, NO!!!! Not Star Wars, too!!!!!

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Sources indicate that George Lucas is set on rereleasing the "Star Wars" franchise in new 3D conversions beginning in 2012.

Starting with "Phantom Menace," Lucasfilm would use several higher-end conversion houses to work on the project.

Fitting that the suckiest of all the movies is due up first in the suckiest way to watch a movie ever. I'll be so glad when this current 3D fad is over.

PS- if you're not familiar with The Phantom Menace, be sure to check out the best review of it ever. It will convince you to save your money.

True Grit

This is the trailer for the remake of the John Wayne classic, True Grit. This is the movie they were making in Blanco earlier in the year when I was out on a photo trip.

I know what I'm doing this Christmas.

SamSung Is Gonna Get Sued

The Evolution of Chewbacca

From BinaryBonsai:




Fascinating article. I love this, especially:

Kiel Bryant: I’m dismayed by the cult of originality — it sets up impossible, false expectations which fail to grasp what art is. Innovation is good, exploration is to be encouraged — they build on what’s gone before — but more often than not it’s enjoyable to simply experience an idea well-conceived, regardless of that idea’s source or its “originality.” And in the final analysis, were Star Wars or [Raiders of the Lost Ark] ever intended to be wildly original? No, they’re pastiche — valentines to the swashbuckling genres of yore. Kids, especially millennials, make a simple and honest mistake borne out of youth: they see Star Wars before they’ve seen its inspirations and assume it came that way fully assembled, direct from Lucas’ head. They witness result, not process. Then, growing as artists or cinephiles, their awareness gradually enlarges, the supporting armature begins to show — and because the film wasn’t what they’d originally dreamt (a total creation, which is an impossibility), they decide George Lucas isn’t worth the praise they originally foisted on him. Absolutely circular, and absolutely pointless.

It is far easier to destroy than to create.

On the Texans Loss to the Cowboys...

It's not that they lost (we Texans fans are pretty used to that). It's who they lost to.

You said a mouthful, kid

Ain't that the truth.

Joke of the Day

Why doesn't San Antonio have a professional football team?

Because then Dallas would want one, too.

That's right. Mexican Pepsi.

Re-elect Obama in November

From Democrats.org: [note: don't bother clicking on the link. The story has been removed from the site for some reason.]

African Americans came out to the polls in record numbers to support President Barack Obama’s campaign and ultimately Democratic candidates across the spectrum in 2008. The upcoming midterm election is an opportunity for the community to again voice the needs of the collective electorate by bringing those same numbers to the polls in November. An active electorate will solidify African American support for the President and guarantee that he will have the support to continue passing the reforms benefiting Americans throughout the country. One effort towards that goal is the barber shop and Beauty Salon program--which is a means to reach out to those voters; garner interest; register voters and solicit new volunteers to support the President.

There are a lot of things I find wrong with this, but the top three are:
1. This is just blatantly condescending and stereotypical of the Democrats toward the black community. I find this offensive. And the fact that they have the nerve to conduct a "barber shop campaign" seems downright stereotypical. If the RNC conducted a SportClips campaign, there would be hell to pay.

2. Barack Obama isn't on the ballot. It's not a presidential election - it's a midterm Congressional election. The Democrats seem to be genuinely trying to confuse that fact and misrepresent the election. In portraying the election as being about Barack Obama, they are at once painting him into the victim's corner - in a position where he must be personally defended - and again as the savior of us all. All we have to do is vote for him, apparently. They're trying to gin up the idea that he's running again. They're even using the "O" logo in "Vote 2010" to make it seem as if he'll be on the ballot in November. Shameful.

3. Does the pose on the poster look sorta... familiar? Remind you of anything? No? How about this?


It's subtle, but they're trying to make a martyr out of Obama and to stir emotions of sorrow, loss and desperation. Just remember, with Obama, everything - especially imagery of him in campaign literature and posters - is very deliberate. Remember the "Hope" and "Progress"posters?

And then check this out, from the Denver Post:

On black radio stations in cities such as Philadelphia, Cincinnati and St. Louis, it sounds a lot like 2008. It's not the music; it's the message.

Aiming to tap into President Barack Obama's off-the-charts approval rating among blacks, the Democratic National Committee has dusted off the presidential campaign's logo, lingo and grassroots strategy to get black voters to the polls this November.
Democrats are betting that if the midterms are a referendum on Obama, they'll like their odds with African-Americans. So in print and radio ads airing in urban areas in battleground states, they have made the midterms all about Obama.

Surely the black community is smarter than that, right? Surely they'll realize that it's Congress that's on the ballot and won't make the same mistake they did last time by casting a ballot simply on the basis of skin color. And surely they'll realize that they, as a group, are being stereotyped and manipulated by their own supposed "black leaders," right? Skin color doesn't make anyone more qualified for office than their sex or what kind of hair color they have. Most black people I have ever known have been very down-to-earth and practical people with a good deal of common sense. How can the "black community" as a group possibly continue to support a man and a congress that tell them that they can get everything - that all their wildest dreams can come true - and that we can spend our way out of the recession, all for nothing? Surely they realize that this isn't a game, right? We're talking about things that will affect us for the rest of our lives and beyond!

There is no free lunch. You can't get something for nothing. You get what you pay for. Sayings like that exist for a reason. They were handed down to us from generations before that had a lot of common sense and wisdom and that suffered - a lot - for what they had. And now, in the hope of getting everything now, now, now we're going to throw all that knowledge away, again?

We're not that stupid, are we?