After the rather lackluster "X-Men: The Last Stand", I didn't think much of the promise for this movie, but the trailer looks intriguing. Especially with the inclusion of Gambit. He's a great character. He was created by Chris Claremont & Jim Lee right around the time I stopped collecting comics. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" opens Memorial Day weekend.
As interesting as this trailer is, it pales in comparison to the Watchmen trailers. Opening March 9th.
For all of you out there with pre-school and school aged boys (and girls!) you probably know all about the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. We at the Roach house are up to our eyeballs in Cars!
As our 3 year old neighbor told us a couple of weeks ago, Cars 2 is coming out in 2011. To keep kids and fans interested, Pixar has keep the toys and merchandising going strong. And suckers like us keep buying it! The latest is the Cars Storytellers book and toys from Target. Starting tonight, "Toon Disney" begins to air a series of short Cars cartoons, appropriately titled "Cars Toon." The first three which air this week fallow the general theme of "Mater's Tall Tales." I'm sure Parker will love these!
Monday, Oct. 27 (6:56 p.m. EDT) Rescue Squad Mater. Mater is a fire truck that rescues Lightning McQueen from a burning building. When McQueen is rushed to the hospital, he discovers that Mater is a doctor, too.
Tuesday, Oct. 28 (6:57 p.m. EDT) Mater the Greater. Mater is a famous daredevil who does all kinds of stunts. And Lightning McQueen becomes an unwilling participant in Mater’s greatest stunt ever.
Wednesday, Oct. 29 (6:57 p.m. EDT) El Materdor. Mater is a famous bulldozer fighter in Spain. He’s so good, he’s able to fend off multiple bulldozers at once. Lightning McQueen joins Mater in this tall tale just as things are at their worst.
I don't know why I've been obsessed with movie trailers lately. I've seen 2 movies this whole year. That's probably why these 3 minute "films" are so great for me! You don't need a babysitter to see them!
This have the potential of being much better than "The Order of the Phoenix" which I thought was a terrible movie.
Pixar's "Up" coming summer 2009
Disney returns to its lucrative musical princess story lines.
Some good movies coming out. Looks like I missed out on "The Incredible Hulk" in the theaters. I can't believe that Bloomington, being a college town, doesn't have a 2nd run theater! Or a decent used bookstore for that matter. These are all from a great site I just discovered, Trailer Addict.
How did I miss the hype for X-Files? Was there any or did it get lost with "The Dark Knight"?
Maybe I'll find a way to see The Incredible Hulk in the next couple of weeks. Until then, here's a new trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, out August 15th.
Some funny ethnic stereotyping from Saturday Night Live.
2008 American Idol winner David Cook performing U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." It was just ok for me. Kind of pitchy. He played it safe.
New Barenaked Ladies kids CD called "Snacktime" is out now. How did I miss this?
Since my last political post, Obama has picked up 10 super delegates. The magic number is down to 46.
The track listing for the upcoming re-master/re-issue of U2's 1980 debut album, Boy, was finally leaked to the web. Most of the bonus tracks have already been released as part of the Compete U2 Digital Box Set on iTunes. I'm rather disappointed in this track list. There's really only 2 unreleased tracks, 1 unreleased mix and 2 unreleased live tracks. I would have liked to have seen more from their pre-Boy demos. Here's the track list for the second disc:
I Will Follow (previously unreleased mix)
11 O'Clock Tick Tock (single, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Touch (B-side of "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" single, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Speed Of Life (previously unreleased track)
Saturday Night (previously unreleased track)
Things To Make And Do (B-side of "A Day Without Me" single, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Out Of Control (U2:3 version, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Boy/Girl (U2:3 track, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Stories For Boys (U2:3 version, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Another Day (single, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Twilight (B-side of "Another Day" single, also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
Boy/Girl (Live at The Marquee, London) (Also released on The Complete U2 digital box set)
11 O'Clock Tick Tock (Live at The Marquee, London) (previously unreleased)
Cartoon World (Live at The National Stadium, Dublin) (previously unreleased)
So, I haven't posted much in the last few weeks. Work and the great, although cool, weather has kept me busy.
I was in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, for 5 days at the beginning of the month for the 100th annual conference of the American Planning Association. Yes, that's right. The good citizens of Bloomington paid to send me to Sin City. This was my first trip to Las Vegas and it may have been my last. The conference was great, but the city was more than I can handle. The conference Keynote speaker was Congressman Earl Blumenauer from Oregon. He spoke about McCain's "Gas tax holiday" and the sorry state of public infrastructure and infrasture funding in the country. I also got to attend a session by Jack Dangermond, founder of ESRI about the future of GIS including consumer oriented geographic data systems, like Google Earth, and the sharing of data and data analysis tools over the web. Of course I had some fun too! I played a little video poker, a little 3-card poker, a little video blackjack, a few slots. In the end, I came out about $20 ahead. I ended up checking out 5 casinos; Paris, Bally's, Bellagio, Planet Hollywood and the classic downtown Golden Nugget. The whole city stank of capitalism to the extreme, unchecked growth and wealth, and conspicuous consumption however. Everything was for sale and had a price. Not really my style. While in Vegas, we made one trip out of the city to Red Rock Canyon. This was the first time I'd ever been in any kind of desert. We were lucky because it was a beautiful spring day in the 60s and the desert flowers were in bloom.
I saw Iron Man on Tuesday. It was phenomenal. They stayed true to the comics story line and Robert Downey Jr. was a perfect Tony Stark. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to stick around in the theater until after the credits. There's a great scene with a new character and major hints about future movies. Also, if you're quick enough, you can apparently catch of glimpse of Captain America's shield in Stark's workshop and the band in Caesar's Palace (Which I didn't get a chance to go into while I was in Vegas) is playing the Iron Man cartoon theme song from the 1960s. In my opinion, this was the second best super hero film that's been made, right behind Spider-Man 2.
We are in full blown potty training mode with Parker and it's going well! He's been using the potty sporadically for almost a year. He's been wearing underwear almost exclusively during the day for about a week. He still doesn't go #2 in the potty, but we're working on it. We bought him a bunch of underwear with his favorite characters on them and we're keeping spare pants with us all the time. I hope he's totally potty trained in time for George's wedding in October.
While I was in Vegas, I missed the highly anticipated Barack Obama rally at Assembly Hall. I was impressed when I heard that 17,000 attended. That's more people than live in Lebanon! This pales in comparison to the 75,000 he attracted in Portland Oregon last week. Cathy didn't get a chance to attend the Obama rally either, or the Hillary Clinton rally 5 days earlier. My parents got a chance to hear Bill Clinton speak to a less than half full Lebanon Middle School gym. Only 750 people turned out to see him. Kind of sad considering this was the first time that a president had visited Lebanon since Abraham Lincoln. The Clintons' visits to Bloomington and Lebanon didn't help much. Obama won both counties, but Clinton pulled out a narrow victory in the state. To all but Clinton, the primaries look like they're all but done. Obama has Clinton the pledged delegate lead and is 5756 delegates from clinching the nomination. November can't come soon enough!
After seeing Iron Man and all the recent hype about future Marvel movies, it's made me nostalgic for the old Marvel Comics characters. I just started reading "Tales to Astonish" a book about Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the characters and industry they created.
Here's a couple of fun YouTube clips of 1960s era Marvel character based cartoon theme songs. Parker loves the Spider-man theme song and can sing all of the first verse. Apparently, the Iron Man theme song made an appearance in the Iron Man movie, but I had never heard it before. These are all really cheesy, but fun.
3: Number of dimensions that the "U2 3D" concert film was shot in. Four friends and I treked to the Indiana State Museum IMAX theater on Saturday to see the "U2 3D." I thought it was great, but I'm a hopeless U2 fanatic. The film featured 14 songs filmed in stunning IMAX 3D during U2's vertigo tour dates in South America. This was my first trip to an IMAX theater and my first 3D movie. The effect of a 6 story tall, 3D Bono coming at you is hard to imagine. It was an entertaining film, although I pretty much knew what to expect, with two DVDs of concerts from this tour already being released, Milan and Chicago. The visuals were stunning. The 3D was more than what I had even expected and almost motion sickness inducing. The best shots were overhead shots of Larry's drum kit and wide establishing shots made from eye level of the audience. The stage filled the screen and your field of vision as the arms and bodied of the concert goers bounced in front of you. The musical highlight was "Miss Sarajevo," featuring Bono's vocals on the Italian parts originally recorded by the late Luciano Pavarotti. The film's editors didn't cut out all of Bono's sermonizing, but did tone it down for the general public. He did get make his usual plea for religious pluralism and peace. Here's a good review from the Indy Star's Dave Lindquist.
7: Total number of U2 concerts seen by the 5 of us that went to the film.
3: Number of points that the New York Football Giants beat the New England Patriots by in the Super Bowl. While I'm not a Giants fan, it was good to see Tom Brady lose and see Eli Manning finally justified to New York fans. The 18-1, nearly undefeated season will have to be a footnote beside the 1972 Dolphins' 17-0. I was, however, looking forward to not ever hearing anything from Mercury Morris again.
14: Number of years since Tom Petty has released a relevant album. I'd say 1994's Wildflowers was probably the last one anyone cared about.
My brother George and I chipped in and got some of my parent's old 8mm movies digitized for Christmas. I was originally going to try to do it myself, but time and energy got away from me. Plus I needed to find a variable speed 8mm projector to sync the 29.97 frame per second video with the 18 fps 8mm. Made my head hurt. George found a company near where he lives called fodeo.net to do the work. I haven't seen the full DVD transfer yet, but he's really pleased with the way it turned out. Now, through the magic of the internet and telicine transfer technology, the Roach Brothers bring you Easter 1977 from the Roach Family Film Archives (also known as a box in my parent's closet). Just don't tell Jim and Tella, it's a surprise.
Cathy and I don't get much of a chance to see movies anymore, but I think we'll have to make a special trip to the theater to see this one. John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." It's a parody of music biopics, like "Walk the Line," "The Doors" and "Ray." With cameos by Eddie Vedder as Himself, Jack White as Elvis Presley and Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzman as the Beatles. What's not to like there?
More info is emerging on U2's upcoming 3D concert movie, called creatively enough "U2 3D." It's being distributed by National Geographic. The film is described as "the first digital, multi-camera, real-time production" and will open Juanry 25th in 1,200+ theaters around the world, include IMAX 3D theaters. This will hopefully include either the Indiana State Museum IMAX or the Kerasotes Showplace 16/IMAX on Indy's south side.
It was also announced recently that U2 and Wilco are both nominees for Grammys at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. U2's up for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Window in the Skies" from the U218 compilation and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Instant Karma" from the "Instant Karma - The Campaign To Save Darfur" compilation. U2 has won more Grammys that any other band, witha total of 22, the most recent being 2006's Grammy for Best Rock Album for "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." Wilco is up for Best Rock Album this year for "Sky Blue Sky" against Daughtry, John Fogerty, Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen. Wilco won 2 Grammys in 2005 for "a ghost is born."
I saw the Simpsons Movie on Friday. Not too bad. not great either. I haven't really watched the show much the last 3 years or so. It just doesn't do it for me like it used to. I found this on YouTube this morning. Now THIS, could be entertaining. No idea where it came from, but it looks British.
If you haven't been to your local 7-Eleven lately, go now. Run, don't walk. They have a bunch of Simpsons inspired products to whet your appetite for the upcoming movie. I picked up a Squishee last week. They also have Krusty-Os, Buzz Cola and the signature Homer pink frosted and sprinkled donut. I've heard they also have a issue of a Radioactive Man comic, but I didn't see it when I was there. Alas, no Duff Beer. So, why are you still reading this? GO!
Here's another upcoming movie I thought looked interesting. It's called King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters. The web site states that the documentary focus on "a middle school science teacher and a hot sauce mogul battl[ing] for the Guinness World Record on the arcade classic Donkey Kong." It does quite have the political and social relevance of Sicko, but looks good to me! It opens August 17th in select cities.
Found this on YouTube. It's the online trailer to the upcoming U2 3D large format 3D movie. The movie was shot in South America, is 80 minutes in length, and features 15 songs. Unlike U2's previous theatrical release, Rattle and Hum, this will just be concert footage. Look for it at your local 3D theater, like an IMAX 3D, in the fall.
Cathy took this picture in downtown Indianapolis. I don't think any of these R2D2 mail boxes are going to make it to Bloomington, unfortunately. They're part of the new joint venture between George Lucas' Star Wars franchise and the USPS. Also, starting April 25, 15 new star Wars Stamps are going to be released, with the new 41 cent price tag. Maybe they thought people could swallow the high stamp prices if they put some beloved characters on them. Regardless, here's the list of the stamps, available as a single $6.15 pane:
...as well as other favorite Marvel Comics superheroes; Captain America, Elektra, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Spider-Woman, Sub-Mariner, The Incredible Hulk, The Thing and Wolverine. This is part of the 2007 Commemorative US Stamp Program and follows on the heels of DC Comics Superheroes stamps in 2006. These are some of my favorite characters form when I was a kid. Ok, fine, they still are some of my favorite characters. Some of the choices do seem odd to me. Why Elektra and not Daredevil? And why Spider-Woman and not a more well known female character? Why The Thing and not the rest of the Fantastic 4? It is a little disturbing to see commercial characters on stamps. It seems like thinly veiled advertising to me. Is it a coincidence that four of these characters (Spider-Man, Thing, Silver Surfer and Iron Man) are featured in upcoming movies? Regardless, this set is pretty cool. So are the new Hasbro Marvel Super Hero Squad toys for the 3" crowd and so is the fact that Marvel's own Stan Lee will be on NBC's Heroes tonight. Excelsior!
My Apps Are Gone?!
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If you're anything like me, you have quite a few useless icons littering
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Starting at the beginning of the year our Life Group at church will be
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The Indianapolismusic.net Podcast: Episode 330
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And more, much more than this, we did it our way. This is the last one,
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Windows Home Server is on Life Support: Now What?
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[image: HOME_SERVER_web_hero]
On the heels of two major blows to the revered Windows Home Server product
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It's been a very long time.....
From May 2010
I almost don't remember how to post to this anymore. Bad blogger! We've
added more pictures on Picasa. We are ...
" is out now. How did I miss this?
The weekend was full of interesting numbers.
