Look what the Internet did!

Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for pointing the way to this wonderful film on Sacred Harp, or shape note, Singing. You can watch it for free this week by going to this link.

While looking at Japanese manhole covers, I came across a collection of stunning photographs using long exposures and varied light sources. The artist is Hory Ma, a Russian photographer.

NOTE: Ma’s photos do include surreal images of artistic nudes.

From the wonderful mind of Joss Whedon comes:

Go on…click it!

So, here’s what I might look like were I to appear on Southpark.

MASH has always had a special place in my heart. I remember evenings spent at my grandparents’ house with everyone gathered around the TV to watch. Over the years, I’m sure I’ve seen all the episodes, but when the DVDs started coming out I was interested in seeing what the show looked like unedited and, mercifully, without the inane laugh track. Watching the episodes without the promptings of some network noodlehead was a revelation. I found myself laughing at things I didn’t before and pondering others that were meant to be jokes. Most importantly, I saw that the show, generally, allowed the audience to make its choices about such things.

Despite my love for the show, I never really felt the need to own all 11 seasons. I have some specially selected seasons that represent significant transitions in the life of the show, and, as such, I simply had to have season 11.

The first pleasure in viewing season 11 of MASH is seeing how strong the show ended. One of my reasons for not wanting every season is my feeling that the show seemed to start repeating things in the later years. I’m not knocking the show: 11 seasons is a long time for any show, especially one with such a defined and short historical period from which to draw. However, whatever the the weaknesses of previous seasons, the writers and actors pulled out all the stops for the last season and recaptured the zaniness and poignancy of the groundbreaking episodes. In fact, there were episodes which I have long loved that I didn’t know were part of the last season.

The second, and perhaps major, treat of season 11 is the 2 1/2 hour series finale, a show that would become the most watched television episode of all time. It stands on its own as a riveting story, but it also provides a solid emotional ending to the stories of these characters viewers had come to love over the years. We see Hawkeye finally succumb to the madness he’s been fighting the whole war; we see BJ struggle with the inhumanity of the army system; Charles’s own defenses become his enemy; and we see Margaret step out on her own. The only note that rings slightly off-key is Klinger’s speedy romance and marriage to Korean refugee Soon Lee; it felt like the writers were desperate to somehow squeeze a wedding into this sit-com, whether it fit or not.

In the end, it’s hard not to tear up an any number of times in the finale as it reminds us of all that came before and fulfills the themes that had been founded before. It’s one of the few TV shows that figured out a fitting way to say “Goodbye.”

The weather this week has been cool and thundery. Last night, I almost needed a blanket. Click on the above picture to see a full panorama from the balcony of my room. Every morning is shrouded in silent fog; the days end in thunder; sage wafts through the noontime air.

Star Wars: Episode IV | This September: Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD:

“‘Over the years, a truly countless number of fans have told us that they would love to see and own the original version that they remember experiencing in theaters,’ said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. ‘We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD. This is something that we’re very excited to be able to give to fans in response to their continuing enthusiasm for Star Wars. Topping it off with a new interactive adventure makes September 12 a red-letter day for Star Wars fans.’ “

Hmm. I am torn as a consumer. On the one hand, I was one of those “truly countless number of fans” that yelled, screamed, and held my breath till my face was blue that the original films needed to be relased on DVD. For a while, Truffin.com even carried a banner asking visitors to sign a petition to let us see “Han shoot first.” So, in that sense, as in the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory debacle, I am gratified that the voice of the people has been heard. We have said, “We desire to spend our money on Product X,” and the producer has given us what we want. For which he will be richly rewarded. It’s the good ol’ American Free Market at work.

On the other hand, speaking as a person who has owned, let’s see, 5? copies of the trilogy in various formats, George Lucas’s entire approach has been the most craven of the DVD double-dipping that one can name. I’m often accused of being cynical, and, quite frankly, if there be any truth to that, it’s things like this that have driven me to it. When the DVDs of the Star Wars trilogy were being readied for release, the consistent message out of Lucasfilm was that the unaltered versions of the films simply didn’t exist. DIDN’T EXIST. And now, here we are, a year and half later, hearing that “Oh, by gum, look what we found.” In fact, given the time needed for restoration and production, the work on the unaltered trilogy had to have begun less than year after the original DVD release. So, Mr. Lucas, I’ll give you credit for revolutionizing special effects in film. I’ll grant that by some miracle you were able to create a fictional world that has mythic staying power in the popular imagination. And I’ll even say that your work on the original Star Wars trilogy and Indiana Jones had a permanently shaping effect on how I view the world. But I’ll also say that between the dreck of the prequel trilogy and your handling of the Star Wars home versions have shattered any positive image of you I may have held of you.

And yes, I’ll most likely plop down my $50 on September 12 and get the new set. Anyone want to by some slightly used Star Wars DVDs?

After a warm October and some absolutely miserable days of dreary clouds and rain, the trees finally decided it was time to pack in the canopies, show their true colors, and shed. For a few days, the view outside our upstairs windows was wild with red and orange and even some stubborn green. A couple of cloudless days added a dash of blue.

The sights were so inspiring I pulled up the blinds, put away a bevy of boxes, and made the office a bit more livable just so I could spend some time sitting in a chair looking over the trees. The kitties seemed to think the colors were pretty cool too and joined me in appreciating God’s painting. Of course, they couldn’t bear to be in the same window, so Tigger took up a post looking North, and Emma settled on to the West-facing sill.

Now, a few days later, we’ve had some rain, and this morning we were buffeted with >40mph winds, so many of the trees have lost most of their leaves. There are still a few stubborn clumps that won’t admit that winter’s on its way, but I imagine that by the end of the week they’ll be gone too. I expect the groups of kids offering to rake leaves for a few bucks will start making the rounds, and I’ll have to start getting serious about giving the lawn its final cut. When we were in Georgia, I complained that I missed the turning of the seasons. Sure we had hot summer and a lengthy spring; fall was even somewhat lengthy–although living in a pine forest didn’t offer many colorful views. But there was always something missing. The lawn was always green–well, brownish green–and it never got wintery cold. In a month or two, I’ll be looking out my office windows at pure white yards bisected by steel gray roads backed with a greyish sky. The trees will be barren. And it will be that whitening death that will make the wild resurrection of spring so sweet.

The Digital Bits - We Know DVD!: “Also today, consider this Rumor Mill worthy, but we’ve heard from industry sources that Paramount has finally begun preparing their long-awaited DVD release of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Season Two. There’s a LOT of work involved, however, so don’t expect it to hit store shelves until sometime next year.”

I missed TP when it was out on TV, but was intrigued by the film Firewalk With Me. When we caught season 1 on DVD, I was bowled over. I was also extremely disappointed that season two was apparently caught up in a morass so thick even $$ couldn’t cut through it. While the DB haven’t been able to make their announcement “official” yet, any news of forward progress on this front is welcome.