Bakersfield CA, City of Bigots

I’m listening to NPR and they don’t like gay marriage in Bakersfield.

I’ve talked to some Bakersfield residents and they really are ignorant bigots. NPR interviewed a couple such bigots, Mary Kaufman and Mike Jones. I don’t think that’s slander, right, since they’re proud of being bigots. Non-specifically, Bakersfield strikes me as a town of dumb honkies.

Jones is ignorant (also not slander). He’s happy gay marriage will be on the CA ballots this fall, because he thinks he lives in a state of bigots who will vote against it. Last I heard–last Bill O’–effing–Reilly heard, CA (as a state) was for gay marriage.

So screw Bakersfield. Too bad they’re inland, otherwise they could fall off into the sea.

Muppet mix and match

Back in the wee days of DVD, before reasonably priced TV season sets, Time Life released The Best of the Muppet Show. There were, eventually, fifteen volumes, each containing three episodes. So, in all, forty-five of the one hundred and twenty episodes… a solid thirty-seven percent.

Time Life, not being cheap like Disney eventually would, licensed the music (Disney’s been cutting numbers from their “Muppet Show” season sets).

I have the fifteen volumes and I have the season sets. Obviously, I’d rather have the longer versions, but the idea of switching out discs every episode ruins the fluid sitcom marathon (Best of is hardly in air order… one disc will have season 2, 4 and 5).

The solution wasn’t obvious in 2005. Even though I had a media player, it worked best with AVIs, something we Mac-folk don’t play nice with (at least in terms of creating them). Now, as I dream of a Blu-Ray-enabled AppleTV, it’s clear… put “The Muppet Show” in iTunes and mix and match.

I can give the Best of episodes the season set cover art (it shows up lovely on my Xbox 360, I have no idea about how it’ll look on an AppleTV).

It’s unfortunate Disney doesn’t license the music (they don’t have the money, I’m sure) and it raises the whole DVD-as-conservation, which is a depressing conversation. But it’s a workable solution, one the elgato Turbo.264 makes almost civilized… almost.

Today, June 18, 2008

Today at the Stop Button

Today at Comics Fondle

Today, June 17, 2008

Today at the Stop Button

Today at Comics Fondle

Stan Winston died yesterday

Winston did a bunch of great make-up, created almost everything memorable in the last thirty years.

I just watched Predator 2 a week ago, which Winston did a great job on.

Strangely, Winston’s one of the few guys who CG never replaced. He did the costume in Iron Man, for instance.

He was 62.

Today, June 16, 2008

Today at the Stop Button

Today at Comics Fondle

Is Robert Downey Jr. just going to suck from now on?

I understand, Iron Man was a hit, Downey’s got a kid, he needs to pay some bills.

First, a Hugh Hefner biopic.

Now a “tentpole” called Cowboys and Aliens and then maybe Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.

And, of course, Iron Man II.

Hopefully Ed Norton won’t sell out. I don’t think he will, but then… I wouldn’t have thought Downey would have either. I suppose I should have remembered U.S. Marshals.

Stupid Meritline

I used to get the two drawer CD/DVD cases from Mertline (the Merax variety).

Except Meritline no longer has them and the Merax site offers no hints as to anyone else who might have them in stock.

So it appears I’m stuck with Vaultz, which is a “name” brand. At least they’re an Office Depot “name” brand.

The problem? Vaultz has their own sleeve system for the discs and none of the sleeves come with the drawers (I got the 4-drawer one, holding 600+ discs).

The Meritline/Merax sleeves, which hang, will probably not fit. So I’ll probably have to figure something out.

The real problem is Vaultz’s cost. $13.50 + shipping for 100 sleeves.

Why not buy HD-DVDs on sale?

inetvideo.com, who I’ve never heard of but I guess HTF people buyer from them, is having a big sale on Universal HD-DVDs. $6 a piece for lots of titles.

There’s a bunch of good stuff, from Erin Brockovich to 12 Monkeys to The Sting, but as I opened everything in tabs to look at it… I realized the only (at least I think it is) Panavision title was Dante’s Peak. I’ve never seen Dante’s Peak, but I figured HD wouldn’t be a bad first way… but then common sense took over.

Why buy a 1.85 or 1.78 HD-DVD release if it isn’t rare? I mean, it does look better, but it just seems like… I don’t know… a waste of money.

The thing about Rockstar

(energy drink)

It looks the same coming out as it does going in