| Vividcon '08 Premiere - Peacemakers |
[21 Aug 2008|02:51pm] |
Hard Times Come Again No More
Music: Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, and James Taylor
Fandom: Peacemakers
Vidders: Jill and Kay (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) klia and keiko_kirin)
Download from our site (39MB DivX file)
Streaming here
Note: Our vids are password protected. If you haven't requested the username and password before, please send a request to vids@pteropus.com (responses are automated, so you won't have to wait for one of us to reply).
Please do not link directly to any of the vids. Linking to this announcement or to our site is fine, though we like it a lot when people contact us before linking to our website. :)
Any and all feedback/critique (to jkl@pteropus.com) is welcome and greatly appreciated!
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| Ornithology 101 |
[29 Jul 2008|06:14pm] |
I've been on a Tom Berenger kick lately, and sat down to watch Sniper. Just in the first minute or two, the camera pans through wet, jungly terrain, then zooms in on a pretty yellow parrot... which turns out to be an Indian Ringneck. Which, as its name implies, is native to India, not Central/South America, where the snipers are crawling on their bellies across the rainforest floor. Then a little later there's an arty-farty flashback slo-mo of the target as he gets shot, and the yellow Indian Ringneck squawks and flies away.
It was just like in Rome, where there were shots of the markets with Australian parrots like cockatoos for sale. Not any number of African parrots Romans could've easily traded for -- Australian parrots! In ancient Rome!
I know most people don't know or care about this stuff, but FFS, how hard would it have been to put the right indigenous birds in those shots? And, yes, I'm one of those people who bitches whenever they put a Red-Tailed Hawk call in a shot when it's clearly another bird.
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| Honoring The Who |
[17 Jul 2008|09:01pm] |
I'm not usually a fan of tribute concerts or albums -- in fact, they tend to stomp on my embarrassment squick -- so I was a little apprehensive when I sat down to watch tonight's Rock Honors show. But luckily, with a few exceptions (WTF Adam Sandler??), it was actually a good show. And I actually loved the little clips of famous people praising The Who, because for a LONG time, when talk turned to British bands, The Who were disparaged, sort of the way Queen were until Freddie Mercury died, and then suddenly they were this revered band -- hmph, and that always pissed me off. Anyway, I digress...
What can I say about Foo Fighters covering The Who? They were fucking amazing! And it was wonderful seeing another band I love playing The Who's music. They really rocked Young Man Blues; Dave Grohl is one of the few guys around with anything like the manic energy of Townshend or Moonie. For their second number, Bargain, they brought out Gaz from Supergrass to handle vocals, though Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins got to sing the quiet, pretty bit in the middle.
Next up were Incubus. I'll admit, I'm not a fan of their thrashy/hip-hoppy sound, so I was ready to hit pause and read email for 10 minutes, but they were fantastic! I never thought I'd enjoy hearing another band play I Can See For Miles or I Can't Explain, but their versions did the originals justice. I actually really liked how they updated I Can't Explain into a fairly hard-rocking song; I'm used to hearing the 1965 mono version, which is VERY different. Anyway, big thumbs up.
Next came The Flaming Lips doing a Tommy medley. Again, not a fan of their music; they weren't terrible or anything, but I wasn't impressed. Note to whoever provided the gong: DUDE, next time borrow one from Roger Taylor or Carl Palmer, so it has a nice, deep, rich vibration, not a cheap, crappy sound that barely reverberates. It was LAME. *clang*
And then we got Tenacious D doing Squeeze Box. They did a decent job, and it was fun, but I kept thinking, "They couldn't get anyone better to pay tribute to a fucking legendary band?"
After that, Sean Penn introduced Pearl Jam, who did two songs from Quadrophenia. First up: Love, Reign O'er Me -- with a string section. Unexpected and pretty amazing. Eddie did a damn fine job screaming out, "LOOOOOOOOVE" in the chorus, but he's no Roger Daltrey. Heh. And then came The Real Me -- with horns. Very, very cool.
I couldn't believe they had Adam Sandler (again: WTF ADAM SANDLER?? WTF VH-1??!) do one of his little jokey songs, this one set to Magic Bus -- arrgghhh -- then introduce The Who! Thankfully, he sort of evaporated as Pete and Roger and their band (Zack Starkey, Ringo's son, is their drummer) walked out on stage, and Pete started the opening synth track for Baba O'Riley...
...which was brilliant. As was Who Are You. For a minute, I thought they were going to do all three CSI themes, but instead they went on to play Behind Blue Eyes -- god, I love those songs SO much. I got all choked up watching Pete and Roger perform them without Moonie and Ox.
Speaking of Ox, it was painfully obvious he wasn't playing bass on My Generation. Pino Palladino just doesn't have Ox's power and depth (few bassists do). They ended the show with a newish song, Tea and Theatre, just Pete accompanying Roger on acoustic guitar. Beautiful and bittersweet, it was the perfect last song.
I can't not mention how incredibly hot Roger is at 64. Just... *thud* Pete's no souch, either, and he's 63. The man's slowed down, but is still a maniac with a guitar, windmilling his arm, doing that bird stance of his, and jumping all around. They're both still wonderful performers and showmen.
All this, and new Burn Notice, too. My cup runneth over!
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| Birthday! |
[15 Jul 2008|10:49am] |
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Happiest of birthdays to talking_sock! Hope you have a wonderful day.
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| Who week |
[14 Jul 2008|11:58pm] |
If you're a fan of The Who, this is your lucky week. They're being inducted into this year's VH-1 Rock Honors on Thursday, and to celebrate, the network is also airing Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who, which is The Who's story, told mostly in their own words (using old footage of Keith Moon and John Entwistle). And if you have VH-1 Classic, it gets better: Who's Next on Classic Albums, Tommy, Six Quick Ones: The Who, On Tour: The Who Virtual Ticket, and BBC Electric Proms: The Who. And Turner Classic Movies is airing The Kids Are Alright late Friday night.
I've been a Who fan since I was really young, and can't even articulate what amazing musicians I think they are. Moonie is probably my favorite drummer of all time, and John my favorite bassist; Pete is a freaking genius, and Roger has that incredible voice (not to mention the best scream *ever* in Won't Get Fooled Again). So this is all a real treat for me. I didn't expect it to make me so emotional, though. Seeing footage of Moonie and John, and hearing Pete and Roger talk about them in such loving ways, has reduced me to a blubbering mess several times already.
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| Not even for you, Neal McDonough! |
[30 Jun 2008|04:21pm] |
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I've watched some iffy stuff for BoB actors, but sorry, I'm not watching Desperate Housewives, not even for my beloved Buck. They tried to lure me with Gale Harold, too, the bastards, but I'm standing firm.
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| Surprise, Hollywood execs, women actually do exist! |
[19 Jun 2008|12:53pm] |
I don't know why, but sexism seems to be everywhere these days, and it's really getting to me, but I found this particularly irritating.
Apparently, the success of the Sex and the City movie took Hollywood insiders by complete surprise. Why, I'll never understand, since the series has been in syndication on multiple channels since it ended, and the DVDs sold very well, too. But, yeah, insiders didn't expect it to be a hit and, according to EW, "As the (opening) weekend rolled to a close, news outlets filled their reports with words like unexpected, surprising, and shocking. "What do you know?" they all seemed to be saying. "Women go to the movies!""
I love this quote from Sarah Jessica Parker: "If you build it, they will come. Women are hungry for cinema. They are hungry. What strikes me is that this isn't a cultural phenomenon -- calling it that diminishes it. You can't say our movie is breaking numbers internationally and call that a 'cultural thing." It's women. And women are not a phenomenon. We want to read good books, see good television, and go to the cinema. We want to be engaged. The same has (always) been true."
And in this week's EW, Mark Harris addressed the issue: "Surprise! Women apparently can find a local multiplex without the assistance of men."
Also: "''Surprising,'' in this context, connotes something that isn't supposed to happen, something that, in a business that depends on predictability, may even be undesirable. But calling something a surprise is also a reminder that it constitutes an exception to the rule, and thus provides reassurance that the rule still exists.
"And the rule is: Movies are made for kids and young men who like things that move fast and go boom! When they become hits, it's not a surprise, it's the plan. Studios spend so much money to make and sell those films that they clearly expect a major return on their investment. But if you're not a kid or a young man, you are, in Hollywood parlance, part of a ''niche'' audience. Here are some examples of who the movie industry considers ''niche'': women, obviously. African Americans. Anybody over 35. Christians. Latinos. Gay people. Asians. Anybody who reads movie reviews. Anybody who reads anything. Including this article. A ''niche,'' by the way, is a term that means a recess in a wall. A small recess — like a spot for a knickknack. As far as Hollywood is concerned, you are either The Wall (big, broad, easy to find) or you are a Little Hole in The Wall (confusing, inessential, hard to target)."
Too right.
The rest of the article can be found here.
The sad thing is, most women I know, including me, aren't into stereotypical "chick flicks" like SatC. So, where does that leave us, an even less desirable audience? Nowhere, apparently.
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| Goodbye, Charlie |
[18 Jun 2008|11:07am] |
After airing only 2 eps, Sci-Fi has yanked Charlie Jade from their schedule, and removed every last trace of it from their website. I think that must be some kind of record, even for them.
ETA: Some folks on the Sci-Fi forums claim it's been rescheduled to air Tuesday at 3am but, at least right now, my TiVo and cable guides don't list it at all. So, maybe it'll be added back, or eventually given one of those all-day marathons?
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| RIP Bo Diddley |
[02 Jun 2008|09:23pm] |
Another sad piece of news.
Songs like Who Do You Love?, I'm a Man, You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover and, of course, Bo Diddley, will always be favorites. And who can forget his cameo as the pawn shop owner who's very suspicious of Dan Aykroyd's Louis in Trading Places?
Wow, it's been a really sucky couple of weeks for deaths. No one I know on LJ mentioned Dick Martin, but Laugh-In was really gutsy and groundbreaking in its day. I saw some eps on cable a few years ago, and it was still silly and fun, without being mean or cruel, and gave a fascinating look into the politics and social issues of the day.
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| IMEEM stats update |
[14 May 2008|04:08pm] |
I finally got a response from imeem:
Thanks for the links and for your patience as we looked into these video play counts. Due to a change in the way we track user activity and play counts, we had to reset the usage information of most media before 6/16/07 to ensure no bad data was retained. This is why play counts have dropped for your older media files, as all plays from before that date are no longer being counted. We apologize for the inconvenience due to this matter and appreciate your understanding.
So, no fixing the stats, which sucks.
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| The things we watch for actors we like... |
[05 May 2008|08:31pm] |
Yes, I actually watched almost all of Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (I did ff through small bits of the villains' scenes), and I have to say, I've watched worse things for actors I like. At least this was fun bad, not OMG-lean-on-my-embarrassment-squick bad. Barrowman was very cute (maybe it was just me, but he seemed a little grey at the temples, which I thought looked really good), looked hot in a wetsuit, and I'll never forget the way he yelled "Geez!" (and "Shoot!" -- thanks, Sci-Fi Channel censors!) at certain climactic moments. His laugh and funny comment at the end were adorable, too. And, hey, he probably had some fun and got a nice tan while he was filming. (Btw, does anyone know why genre actors always seem to end up in crappy made-for-Sci-Fi Channel movies? It happens so often, it seems like it must be a contract requirement if they're in a genre show, or something.)
And, wow, the megalodon effects were hilarious!
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| RIP Eight Belles |
[03 May 2008|04:02pm] |
What a terrible end for a beautiful filly.
Wow, this day is teh suck.
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| IMEEM stats |
[24 Apr 2008|10:35pm] |
I posted about this to the Vidding comm there, but thought I'd ask here, too.
Has anyone else noticed a drop in their view counts? I check stats on my vids every week or two, just to see if anyone's still looking at them, so I knew roughly how many times each had been viewed. Well, today when I checked, the numbers had all dropped significantly. Dancing With Mr. D, which only had 51 plays last time I looked, was down to 19; Crazy used to have over 1700, but is now down to 1155. I have no idea WTF's going on. At least the comments are all still there, but GEEZ! *scowls*
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| Mmm, coffee |
[13 Apr 2008|08:59pm] |
Even though I've been pretty much caffeine free since January...
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| Chick list |
[09 Apr 2008|12:43pm] |
Here's my FUCK YOU, SHE'S AWESOME list, though I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch:
Emma Peel, The Avengers
Lenore "Casey" Case, The Green Hornet
99, Get Smart
Slim, To Have and Have Not
Mary Kate Danaher, The Quiet Man
Linda Seton, Holiday
Lucy Muir, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Princess Leia, Star Wars movies
Ellen Ripley, Alien movies
Laura Holt, Remington Steele
Annie Porter, Speed
Smilla Jasperson, Smilla's Sense of Snow
Flora Poste, Cold Comfort Farm
Sam Carter, Stargate SG-1/Atlantis
Catherine Winslow, The Winslow Boy
Kat Stratford, 10 Things I Hate About You
Katie Owen, Peacemakers
Barbara Havers, Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Amélie Poulain, Amélie
Paikea, Whale Rider
Rose Tyler, Doctor Who
Temperance Brennan, Bones
Penelope Garcia, Criminal Minds
Vicki Nelson, Blood Ties
Fiona Glenanne, Burn Notice
Bean, The Matador
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| Electric stove help? |
[17 Mar 2008|08:43pm] |
Does anyone know how to remove the heating elements and drip pans from an electric stove so they can be cleaned? And is it okay to immerse the elements in water? I'm not very familiar with electric stoves, and have never had to clean those parts before, so basically I'm terrified I'm going to break something, and then be stuck paying for it. :P
Help!
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| Vid site -- apologies |
[23 Feb 2008|10:29pm] |
Our web host recently instituted some changes, and I just became aware that they apparently wiped out the auto-reply message giving the user name and password for our vids site. I reinstated the message, but it still doesn't seem to be working. *bangs head*
Unfortunately, this means we'll have to send out manual replies for the time being. I don't know how long ago the problem started, either. So, if you've emailed vids at pteropus dot com for the password and never got a reply, please let me know, or try again. I've sent manual replies as far back as Jan. 7, but I don't know if I've covered everyone.
Apologies for the screw up!
ETA: The auto-reply is working again. Finally!
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| Flight of the Conchords won a Grammy! |
[11 Feb 2008|11:11pm] |
From the NZ Herald:
New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords have continued their remarkable run of international success, scooping a Grammy award for Best Comedy Album.
And the award - the first time a non-American has won the category - puts the Wellington pair of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement in auspicious company.
In the past the award has largely gone to stand-up comedy stars including Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Bob Newhart, Steve Martin, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock.
McKenzie and Clement - who were the Kiwi showbiz success story of 2007 with their breakthrough sitcom for American cable network HBO- joined that honours list at the 50th Grammy Awards yesterday.
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| Phew! |
[02 Feb 2008|11:35am] |
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I got my VVC reg confirmation, but thevetia still hasn't gotten hers. *bites nails*
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