Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Ltd.

• RT @digitalkitty He did has cheezburger http://twurl.nl/4v05l4 #
• Although I didn't know it at the time, Robotech was my introduction to anime. #RIPCarlMacek #
• RT @Heritage Must Watch Video: Journalists chased away from covering public protest outside White House. http://bit.ly/aQH0yY #tcot #
• "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton #
• RT @FakeAPStylebook infrastructure: to be used for public works projects and government property if no one knows what they're talking about. #
• The Gamer Mentality: Objects in Mirror are Losing: Bob's House of Video Games http://bit.ly/az5d33 #
• RT @digitalkitty I can tell that I am supposed to go to sleep now, because the day star is coming up. #
• RT @DLoesch This breaks my heart: Homeless hero dies in the street and no one helps him: http://bit.ly/bOIz86 #

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• "I"m the Doctor; I'm worse than everybody's aunt." – The Eleventh Doctor #
• Favorite quote from a podcast today: "We don't live in a world of government sugar fairies and welfare unicorns." #
• @severanced I think it would have to be a movie based on a Philip K. Dick story; _Next_ with Nick Cage comes to mind. in reply to severanced #
• From Jen: "Disney's Oceans: rated R for 'hot smokin' whale sex.'" #

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• Get those #PowerPoint presentations on YouTube, fast! http://www.authorstream.com/ #
• @AshleySuperfly The best level. in reply to AshleySuperfly #
• "It looks like one of those Chinese crested dogs, but I think it's some sort of root." – my wife, Jen, while watching Food Network #
• RT @DLoesch: A must-read on the persecution of @ewerickson : http://bit.ly/daWHTv #tcot in reply to DLoesch #
• RT @MikeStackpole: Great moments in Invisibility: http://tinyurl.com/ycuk34h (I'm still giggling.) in reply to MikeStackpole #
• Saw iPad and Kindle commercials one after the other. The iPad may be the more compelling device, but the Kindle commercial is cooler. #
• Okay, either my phone is possessed or my Zune has figured out how to use a touchscreen (which means it's also possessed). #
• RT @Heritage: Obamacare Side Effects: Indiana might have to dump insurance program for low-income residents. http://bit.ly/c4TI3K #hcr #tcot #
• @severanced That may be, put for some reason I still like Maison Ikkoku. in reply to severanced #
• @digitalkitty Probably from the French tendency to put the adjective second (e.g. Attorney general) in reply to digitalkitty #

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Note: I thought I had already written this up and posted it, but apparently I never got around to it.  So, this is now a month out of date as I first saw Alice in Wonderland on opening day.  Oh, well, here it is anyway.

Alice in Wonderland brings together three of my favorite creative people: Lewis Carroll, Tim Burton, and Johnny Depp, so I was understandably excited about this movie.  So much so, in fact, that I went to see it on opening night, which is something I rarely do because of the crowds and smelly teenagers (both of which were in force Friday night).  Until I can see the movie again on DVD, I can’t really write a full review, but here are my quick thoughts on the movie having just seen it last night.

First, the design, music and performances were great.  It is true (but no surprise) that Johnny Depp’s Hatter steals the shows; in fact, that’s generally true of any adaptation of Carroll’s books.  I have been involved in two productions of play adaptations of the books (my wife and I directed one together, and I later directed it on my own), and in each the Tea Party was my favorite scene.  Hatter, with the March Hare and Dormouse, is just such a crazy character that toning it down would, I think, miss the point.  While some people have criticized the amount of screen time Depp gets, I have no problem with it.

Second, I love that this movie recognizes that some of us are big Lewis Carroll nerds.  There are in-jokes throughout that only someone who’s actually read the books (rather than just seeing the film adaptations) would get.  For example, in the opening scenes, Alice has to dance a quadrille with her potential fiance, a nod to the Lobster Quadrille in the books.

Finally, the movie is not entirely even.  I feel like things move a little too quickly once Alice gets to Wonderland; I think there should have been a few more things happening before the Red Queen is introduced.  Also, the whole dance the Mad Hatter does was, to my mind, entirely useless.  Yes, I understand that this sort of nonsense (in the bad way) is meant to appeal to children, but I think it breaks the feeling of the film, especially the modern dance music.  This sort of thing should be put out on some separate DVD that’s used to gouge parents rather than thrust upon us in the theater.

So, overall I enjoyed it very much and will get it on DVD.  I think it works nicely as a modern companion to Carroll’s original works.

• Not only is tomorrow "Early Friday" but a new @filmriot episode will be waiting for me to watch it. Yay! #
• After seeing the #scottpilgrim trailer, I'm still not sure I like Michael Cera as Scott, but given Edgar Wright's direction, I'm excited. #
• Although I do like the picture on the official site; Rickenbacker 4003 for the win! #
• Okay, I'm officially geeking out a the official #scottpilgrim website: There's cubecraft of Scott; I want more characters! #
• RT @edgarwright: I am to direct a film where Emma Peel and Thor team up to save Earth. Behold the 'Double Avengers'. (2D conversion) in reply to edgarwright #
• Today is "Early Friday!" #
• "Fantastic! There's a huge monster gorilla that's constantly growing to outlandish proportions loose in the streets." #
• "Suppose he does come here. What if Philippe does not have the mind of a human but the murderous brain of a fly?" #
• Results of a Google search for Where am I? – http://twitpic.com/1cjcny #
• @fastkarate Canon makes good HD cameras in that range. @filmriot has a good review at http://revision3.com/filmriot. in reply to fastkarate #
• Heading to Post to see Jen in The Rainmaker at t The Garza Theatre. Show starts at 7:30, so if you're in the neighborhood, head on over. #
• RT @ryan_connolly: There are 534 politicians going down in a sinking ship. Who gets saved….??? America!! True…thus, funny. in reply to ryan_connolly #

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This isn’t going to be some long anti-Apple treatise, or even that profound. It just struck me that anyone seeing the iPad as “transformative” (a word I’ve heard bandied around for the last several months) has missed one huge, gaping hole (and no, I don’t mean a lack of Flash support).

When the iPad was announced, many (myself included) were amazed that the starting price was only $499. Most estimates were putting the price at $800-1000, which, given how much Apple charges for relatively underpowered computers was very likely. I believe, however, that this price, combined with the device’s limitations, will prevent it from being as revolutionary as its proponents make it out to be.

The iPad, quite simply, is not a need. This isn’t a new criticism, of course. Even those most wanting one will acknowledge that everything you can do on the iPad can be done on a much cheaper netbook, or a much-more powerful laptop. However, given Apple’s penchant for elegant design, most of us acknowledged that doing those things on the iPad would be a better experience.

The catch, however, is that price. I have a fairly powerful desktop-replacement laptop (a Dell Studio 1735) that I use for the majority of my mobile computing. It’s big, heavy, hot, and the battery life sucks. The iPad would be so much better for so many things. But I can’t do without my laptop. I use it for too many resource-intensive activities: it’s a video editor, a music studio, a game console, and a photo editor. The iPad will be be able to do some of this in a basic way, but it will never replace my laptop.

At $499, I would need something that could reasonably replace my laptop. In fact, I can buy a laptop for that price. Thus, until the iPad comes down in price, the choice is going to be to get the iPad and a laptop, or just a laptop. It’s a pretty clear choice.

• On a bus, heading to Post for OAP. #
• One-Act Play is done. We didn't advance, but the kids did great, even dealing with a set mishap admirably. #

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• Just finished my 2010 census. I found it incredibly uncontroversial. #
• New L.S. Underground album, "PTSD," is out! Check out http://www.myspace.com/lsunderground for info. Yay! #
• Beat Bioshock tonight. A great game; I'm looking forward to picking up Bioshock 2 when it's terribly out of style . #
• Out of morbid curiosity, I'm watching the 1994 Street Fighter movie, which raises an important question: why was this made this way? #
• I mean, the plot of the games is already a staple of martial arts movies: a tournament, colored with personal vendettas. Why waste it? #

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New post, Musical news in my world… at puddleglummusic.com.

• RT @NCPA: Despite similar histories, demographic makeup, low-tax Texas beats big-gov't California with booming economy http://bit.ly/b1JEim in reply to NCPA #
• RT @alexlindsay: I don't mind wasting time… I just don't like other people wasting that time for me. in reply to alexlindsay #
• If daylight savings time lasts longer than standard, shouldn't it be the new standard? Should standard be Daylight Wasting Time? #

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