Freelance Copyediting
Posted by: j_john
While perusing the CNN web site yesterday I noticed a typo in the title to the article Mars rover begins descent from summit--the word "descent" was missing its "s", and it was really weird and obvious to me.
I decided to see if I could take care of this mistake, (utilizing an inside connection of mine), and sure enough, 5 minutes later "decent" was now "descent"--small work, but fairly gratifying.
Film Notes
Posted by: j_john
Yesterday I wrote about how I recently watched a lot of tv shows, and today I have some film notes.
Since it was the beginning of my weekend, I decided to check out a few different titles, starting with something I hadn't seen in over 20 years-- Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. Nostalgia is a pretty pointless thing to base your appreciation of things on, and I was anxious to see if this film lived up to the fond memories of my youth. I remember being grossed-out at the crazy things they had to eat, and how scary the guy who could rip your heart out was. Well, inevitably I was let-down, as it had too many implausible moments, especially when everyone's favorite inventive Goonie starts dishes out karate kicks to the bad guys. Fun when you are 8, kind of boring when you are 29.
Next I went out to St. John's to check out the (somewhat) newly opened non-McMenamins pub-theater combo. You can find it here. The people there were super-friendly and let me in for free since I'm "one of them", and I watched an excellent film--The Constant Gardener. The director, Fernando Meirelles, crafted an incredibly energetic and deep prior film in City of God, and he's managed to create a diverse type of genre-avoiding brain workout. You can see more (though, not much more) of my thoughts on Cinema Scope. Cinema Scope is back!
Finally I ended my night with my first-ever viewing of another Spielberg film, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, which I liked quite a bit more than I expected to. It didn't hurt that one of my favorite directors, François Truffaut was in it (a great surprise!), and it was way more 2001 than say, E.T.. I also watched the full-length documentary on the production--which features Spielberg on the set of Saving Private Ryan and star Richard Dreyfuss talking while crew members awkwardly assemble a set behind him. It shed some light onto why I enjoyed the film, especially when I found out that special effects were handled by Doug Trumbull, who worked on both Close Encounters and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The End
Posted by: j_john
Phew! I made it to the end of the blog-a-thon. I am quite ready to have a break from writing, but I must admit that it challenged me to create content I might have avoided. Here are a few things I learned over the past week:
1. Writing about music is tough. I have a new appreciation for what Zac and Steve do on GBOAT, since it took me way too long to come up with one article about The Verve.
2. Films are next in the difficulty department. This is why I watch a lot of documentaries but only blog about a few on MNP.
3. Video-games are probably the easiest topic to create content for--I'm not entirely sure why this seems to be the case, but I think it has something to do with the culture that surrounds them--there isn't much pretense about gaming, so I don't necessarily have to try so hard to describe why I like or am interested in this subject. I should write more for Game Thumb.
4. Photo-blogging is still blogging. Even if it feels like I cheated and made it easier by not writing so much, I tried to post photos with a story and personality.
Well, I am going to start watching some more of Ricky Gervais' new show Extras. Ben Stiller gets made fun of in the first one, which is pretty damn rad.
My Stache And I
Posted by: j_john
Apparently I can't get enough of the mustache--I had way too much fun "trying on" different styles with Photoshop for my post last night, then I found out about this application that let's you try out default styles--classics like the Hitler, the English Gentlemen, and the Ben Affleck. It was also incredibly fun, even if it wasn't quite as customizable as I'd like it to be.
However, it does serve its purpose, which is to decide which styles look best on your face--so these are the ones I'm thinking of aiming for:
I guess I find this subject legitimately fascinating, as it makes me question the general assumptions behind wanting to grow facial hair above one's lip. There is probably too much association with a blue-collar, tough-man vibe, but I think it represents an opportunity to be expressive in a way I've never tried before.
Stache Day 2 (plus)
Posted by: j_john
Whoa, check out the progress I made over the past 5 hours:
You other competitors are done for!
Stache Day 2
Posted by: j_john
There's a new competition happening. Check out the details in this pdf. Here is my mug after two days:
Game Thumb entry--Dragon Quest 8 demo
Posted by: j_john
Two video-game related posts in one day! Check out what I have to say about this highly anticipated upcoming title over on Game Thumb.
I ♥ Wikipedia
Posted by: j_john
Found recently on the front page:
GBOAT
Posted by: j_john
I finally wrote another Greatest Band Of All Time entry.
Digest entry--English Breakfast
Posted by: j_john
I wrote about satisfying my craving for the Traditional English Breakfast on Digest.
A Day In Pictures
Posted by: j_john
I had a nice walk in the wonderful fall weather today, and this is what I found:
I've wanted to take a photo of these ads to post to the turtle times forum--I kind of like the campaign (it's certainly eye-catching), but ultimately it seems a bit too silly.
What the hell are these things?! They are everywhere, and are annoying. Anyone?
These shoes were found in the middle of the sidewalk on W. Burnside (by Jackpot Records). Wonder what happened to the owner...
Game Thumb entry--Ape Escape
Posted by: j_john
I blogged about my current gaming love for Ape Escape: On The Loose on Game Thumb.
MNP entry
Posted by: j_john
I wrote about a (somewhat) new documentary Tell Them Who You Are over on the MNP blog.
Sold!
Posted by: j_john
I'm certainly not on my way to becoming a PowerSeller, but I did just sell my first item on eBay. I had previously listed the same video game the week prior and had too high of a reserve price. (This time I set it with no reserve and a slightly lower shipping cost.) Even though it didn't sell for more than I originally paid for (I'm losing a few dollars), it was an interesting experience, and certainly helped by the "sizzle" that Mike helped me add to the description.
Eraserhead 2000
Posted by: j_john
Last week I had the pleasure of viewing David Lynch's Eraserhead for the first time on DVD. I've seen most of his films/shows, but knew little about this first feature of his, which definitely heightened my experience. For those that haven't seen the (somewhat) newly released "Eraserhead 2000" (available only through Lynch's official site and Netflix), you are in for a treat.
The first text that appears on the screen is a prompt letting you know that you will need to adjust the brightness of your television for optimum viewing of the film. After turning the brightness all the way down I pressed the forward button and was prompted to turn the brightness up until I could see the image on the screen. Now I was ready to watch the film in its intended contrast of black and white. (This type of dedication is probably only possible when you have thr rights to release the DVD yourself.)
I won't get into the specifics of the film, but suffice to say it was one of those times where I couldn't believe I'd waited so long to see it. Anxious to check out the bonus features (something Lynch is notorious for not including--the guy doesn't even allow chapter tracks), I was totally amused by the 90 minute documentary, mostly featuring Lynch sitting in a chair and telling anecdotes about people that helped him make the film. A typical excerpt is something like "oh, he was such a good driver--you never were jerked around in your seat when you were in the car with him, because he would feather his braking just perfect."
In addition to these stories you do occasionally hear pertinent tidbits about the production, such as the fact that it took so long to film that there is one shot where the transition between opening the door and walking into the room actually comes from two different time periods 18 months apart.
So, for the netflixers that haven't seen it yet--add this to your queue!
Blog-A-Thon
Posted by: j_john
Welcome to the first entry in the week-long blog-a-thon!
On Friday I was talking to Mike about how I'd like to blog more frequently, if only it didn't take me so long to write, edit, and format my photos. He then challenged me to be more efficient with my blogging--and that is what I aim to do over the next 7 days and 14 entries. I've taken notes about ideas I've been meaning to write about, so hopefully the content won't be quantity over quality (on a sidenote--does anyone remember hearing the opposite of that adage during the lifespan of the Nintendo 64?).
Not only will I be posting to So So Deep, but watch out for entries on Game Thumb, True Fan, GBOAT and MNP (and more?!).
Okay, let's start blogging!!!
PSP Day
Posted by: j_john
Yesterday I awoke to the UPS guy dropping off a package that contained a PSP--I had yet to try this new piece of gaming hardware since its release in March, and I had my doubts about what I would think of it (especially since there are so many good DS games right now that I'm into--Nintendogs, Meteos, Castelvania DOS, etc.). However, one look at the big, bright screen and the allure of browsing the internet and customizing this new toy had me hooked. Also, I'll be honest--I wanted to see if I could figure out how to play emulated games on it. After some frustrating times configuring my airport password (big thanks to these dudes) I was up and running...
And then I came to a screeching halt. So pleased to have found my way online with my PSP I automatically upgraded the Firmware to the latest version - 2.1, which basically makes it impossible (for now) to downgrade to an emulation-ready version. Oh well, I guess my big accomplishment will have to be leaving a comment on Mike's blog that took about 10 minutes to "type" out. Oh, and I figured out how to make a Björk desktop image.
More Shoegazing
Posted by: j_john
After receiving some feedback on SHOEGAZING volume one I decided to take another crack at selecting my favorite and/or defining artists and tracks from the genre. Here's what I came up with:
SHOEGAZING
volume two
01. Spacemen 3--honey
02. The Cocteau Twins--blind dumb deaf
03. Verve--make it till monday
04. Catherine Wheel--ferment
05. Slowdive--crazy for you
06. The Jesus and Mary Chain--some candy talking
07. My Bloody Valentine--to here knows when
08. Slipstream--hearing voices
09. Pale Saints--1000 stars burst open
10. Swervedriver--never lose that feeling
11. Spiritualized--i want you ('feel so sad' 7" b-side version)
12. Lush--sweetness and light
13. Ride--cool your boots
It was fun to find out I did actually have some Pale Saints in my collection, as well as tracking down a Spacemen 3 song that I enjoyed listening to. Highlights for me are Ride's "cool your boots", with its cinema sound bite from Withnail and I ("Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day"), an edited version of the last song on Swervedriver's "Mezcal Head", and deciding I at least like two songs from The Cocteau Twins.
