Futurama is coming back to our screens!
This teaser will give you a look at ‘Bender Bending RodrÃguez’ in 3D – Interesting…
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This video really appeals to me in a big way. It is very, very clever and has a great beat. Well done to Lasse Gjertsen! I would have to say this is the best amateur video I have seen this year… And there have been a few 
New FUTURAMA! I’ve heard lots of rumblings over the past year about a return for what can only be described as the best show in this universe. Well, over at wizarduniverse.com there’s an interview with co-creator of Futurama, David X. Cohen: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/toyfare/002710592.cfm
Here’s a quote about his favourite minor character:
COHEN: Hypnotoad. By the way, we are looking into producing a full 22-minute episode of Everybody Loves Hypnotoad for the DVD release. I am serious.
I have been a fan of Tolkien and his writing since I was about 9 years old. My year 4 teacher read my class The Hobbit during a school term. Over the years I have read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings several times (it gets better each time). Infact I am almost due to read them again…
Back in 1999 or around then, I remember getting very excited because the man who brought us ‘Bad Taste’ was going to be making three LOTR films back-to-back – In New Zealand. A few years later, Peter Jackson and company delivered what can be only described as three of the most lovingly crafted films of all time. I guess you could say I’m a fairly big fan – I can’t say I wore the cloak and ears, etc… but I did go to New Zealand, walked around the Hobbiton set in Mata Mata and saw the first public session of the Return of the King at the Embassy Cinema in Wellington (After watching both the extended versions of FOTR and TTT).
So like every other fan out there I have been keeping an eye out for news of the Hobbit. I really liked the idea that Ian McKellen put forward which was to do it as a TV series. Anyway, I was told by a friend today that they had announced not one but two Hobbit films – I was intrigued. I go online this evening and what do I find on theonering.net – that Peter Jackson will not be directing! Read the letter from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh here at theonering.net – it explains what’s happening with New Line and the rights to the film…
… or does it?
Over at this site: http://derhobbit-film.de/indexengl.shtml – I found this…
“Producer Saul Zaentz said in an interview with the German movie magazine ‘Cinema’, The Hobbit surely will be made by Peter Jackson. MGM-boss Harry Sloan meanwhile gives 2008 or 2009 as date.
Translation from the magazine:
Q: What is with the long anticipated Hobbit-adaption?
A: It will definitely be shot by Peter Jackson. The question is only when. He wants to shoot another movie first. Next year the Hobbit-rights will fall back to my company. I suppose that Peter will wait because he knows that he will make the best deal with us. And he is fed up with the studios: to get his profit share on the rings trilogy he had to sue New Line. With us in contrast he knows that he will be paid fairly and artistically supported without reservation. “
So, on the 11/17/2006, we have Saul Zaentz saying that Peter Jackson will be making the Hobbit as he will be regaining the rights to the films next year, and then a couple of days later we get the letter from Jackson saying that it’s not happening with Wingnut!
Let’s just hope the Hollywood game playing and positioning pays off for us, the Fans.
Second Life [SL] – The life you have when you’re not having a life… Maybe they should have called it Claytons Life?
For those of you that haven’t heard of Second Life, here’s an extract from secondlife.com: “Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 1,127,733 people from around the globe.”
I first checked out SL about 6 months ago and was completely overwhelmed by its possibilities. My only problem was time and bandwidth – which is still a problem… There has been a rapid fire of news stories regarding SL in recent weeks, even Reuters has appointed a journalist to cover news ‘in world’. The BBC has recently made the move with parties and events in SL, even Ben Folds had a listening party for his new album. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there is alot going on…
Late last year I was involved with a project at the ABC called ‘Everyday’ which we had the opportunity to take to LAMP (Laboratory of Advanced Media Production) run by AFTRS (Australian Film Television and Radio School). AFTRS have made the jump into SL in a big way. I went and had a look at the Island of Esperance where they are located ‘in world’ and I had the opportunity to catch up with Gary Hayes (Gary Hazlitt in SL) who runs LAMP and is currently mentoring projects within SL as part of LAMP. We chatted about SL and watched Birthday Boy on a large cinema screen. One interesting rumour he mentioned was google possibly making a move on Linden Labs (the makers of SL). Now that would be interesting… Could we possibly see a version of google earth crossbred with SL giving us a virtual Earth. That could be interesting from a advertising point of view… let your cursor do the walking and your fingers do the talking!
If you know me and want to catch me ‘in world’ my SL name is Arthur Alphabeta. I don’t know how much time I plan to spend in my second life, will just have to wait and see. And although it is still very early days for this type of community and technology, it is very powerful and is only going to get better, so much detail is possible in SL – I can understand why some people get addicted.
Here are my Secondlife bookmarks in del.icio.us
This is a very clever episode of Southpark… With the help of Blizzard (the people who make World of Warcraft) they have made some very interesting machinima.
I don’t know how long it will stay on Youtube or the WSOGMM but check it out while you can [UPDATE 31/10/06: YouTube Pulls Down Comedy Central Clips]
The White Stripes on the Simpsons – I can’t wait to see this episode!
If you haven’t seen the video for The White Stripes -The Hardest Button To Button – watch it below first…
This is a classic… An excellent music video: The White Stripes -The Hardest Button To Button
This is an extremely clever video remix. The person who created it has nailed the timing perfectly – it’s a LOL moment…
There has been very little activity on this blog due to the fact that I have just been too busy… and yes I am still too busy – but I am slowly getting better at managing it all!
And there is just so much to do!
I have been flat out at work, we are now called Australia Network (formerly ABC Asia Pacific) and we have a new website for Nexus, our learn english, magazine style tv program.
And as for my own projects, well… I got a new guitar and plan to do some recording very soon. I am still writing my first feature (well, I think about it regularly anyway) and I am starting to put together a script for a radioplay that I want to podcast – more on that soon…
Let me introduce you to Chad Vader…
… he’s Darth Vader’s younger brother and he’s working as a dayshift manager in a supermarket… This is a classic!
You can find parts 2 and 3 here at Blame Society productions (Part 4 coming soon)
