Two Gentlemen Of Lebowski
Thusly The Dude doth abide.
A brilliant adaptation of The Big Lebowski, including couplets to end each section. Can't wait for the zombie version...
THE KNAVE
Good sir, speak plain. I know not these villains, surely would I ne’er traffic with this man of Orient birth who so abused my rug. I have not the facility to present him with the rate of usance and demand money in kind for that which he has spent upon’t; so I entreat you, speak plain.WALTER
I speak the truth; my words are straight and true.
The man of Orient birth is not the issue.DONALD
The Orient, Sir Walter?WALTER
I speak, old friend, of truths in desert land.
The hour is nigh to draw line in the sand.THE KNAVE
Deserts? I had made it plain that he was Orient-man.WALTER
Though words in haste be only human nature,
‘Orient-man’ is not preferr’d nomenclature.THE KNAVE
Give me no further counsel; my griefs cry softer than advertisement.WALTER
I speak of this other man, Sir Geoffrey of Lebowski. Is not thy name, sir, Geoffrey of Lebowski? To be or not Lebowski, that is the question; I see we still did meet each other’s man. Shall we not make amends? A gentleman of high sentence ought to be of unsequestered location, possessed of resources fit to restore a thousand rugs from vile offence. He’s not well married that lets his wife a borrower be, such that men gravely offended bespoil another man’s rug. Be I wrong?THE KNAVE
No, but verily—WALTER
Be I wrong?THE KNAVE
Yea, but verily—WALTER
That rug, in faith, tied the room together, did it not?THE KNAVE
By my heart, a goodly rug.DONALD
And in most miserable tide did this rogue besmirch it.WALTER
Prithee, Donald! Thou too eagerly hold’st the mirror up to nature.THE KNAVE
My mind races; I might endeavour to seek this gentleman Lebowski.DONALD
His name is Lebowski? Verily, ope thine ear; that is thy name, Knave!THE KNAVE
On good authority; and his nobleness must oblige. His wife taketh up quarrel and borrows, and they bespoil my rug.WALTER
Marry, sir, my heartstrings do you tug;
They urinate upon thy damnèd rug.[Exeunt severally]
Going West Brings Paper To Life
Incredible, haunting stop-motion animation of Maurice Gee's Going West, produced for the New Zealand Book Council.
(via Daring Fireball)
Diamond’s 1968 Camaro
Diamond's fully restored 1968 Camaro.
My friend Diamond has been rebuilding a '68 Camaro for somewhere around three years now. We've given him a hard time about this phantom ride that no one had ever seen, but apparently it does, indeed exist. And man is it sweet.
Says Diamond:
After nearly 3 years of quite a roller coaster ride, the ground up build of my 68 Camaro is nearly complete and will debut at the GoodGuys Autumn Get Together at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton on Sat/Sun Nov 14-15.For those who have not been to the Fairgrounds, it's a massive venue and this show fills it up with muscle cars of all years and types, has good food vendors and beer, and some live music. I will be there both Sat and Sun so you can stop by pretty much anytime.
More pics of the entire build process here.
Use The Camera You Have
Remember Chase Jarvis? I linked up his excellent iPhone photography back in April. His mantra was, and remains, that the best camera is the one that’s with you.
He’s taken it to the next step and released his own $3 iPhone app, The Best Camera, which lets you apply various useful filters to the photos you take on your iPhone.The app also lets you upload to various web sites (but, alas, not Flickr). And, if that’s not enough, Jarvis has released a book of his iPhone photography.
The Fruity Tree
The Fruity Tree
Meeting Inspiration
I had the rare opportunity to meet Dave Eggers today, one of the great writers and advocates of my generation.
More directly, Eggers was the first person I'd ever known who found a way to express the daily frustration, anger, despair and isolation associated with being part of a challenging family.
He was signing copies of his latest book, Zeitoun, at Green Apple Books and, because he only advertised via the McSweeney's newsletter, there were only a few people there.
As the line was short, Dave took the time to chat with just about everyone, and he was as humble and open as his writing leads one to expect.
Inaugural Poem: Praise Song For The Day
Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander.
Written and recited by Elizabeth Alexander.* Transcript via the NY Times.
[Update: Formatted in much more authentic fashion here.]
Praise song for the day.Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."
We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."
We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.
Critics are already voicing their opinions.
I loved it.
*More about Professor Alexander:
Alexander, a 2006 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for her work, American Sublime, will become the fourth poet to read a poem written especially for the occasion. (Robert Frost was the first at the Kennedy inauguration in 1960).Alexander, who teaches in the African-American Studies Department at Yale University, recently told School Library Journal that as students and teachers watch the January 20 inaugural ceremony, she’s delighted that they’ll also reflect on the poem. “As a teacher who works with students daily, I think that it is wonderful that I will be contributing something to assist other teachers,” she says.
Penny Arcade Featured On NPR
Penny Arcade, one of the best comic strips in production today, was highlighted on NPR's Weekend Edition last weekend. I always love it when NPR finds great work being produced on the fringes of any field and brings the story of that work to the wider, more staid and traditional NPR audience.
The simple summary would state that PA is a comic by gamers, for gamers. But it's so, so much more.
A new comic is published online each M/W/F by an artist and writer team. Friends for most of their lives the duo has perservered for the last decade. The comic is paired with blog posts that I enjoy as much as the art in the comics. Topics covered are video game-centric, but that's not the whole story.
Instead, PA is a strip discussing the world as seen through the lens of those of us raised in a world where video games are commonplace. From the terrible state of forum-disccusion grammar to raising our kids to fighting against fear mongers, no topic is out of bounds for the strip.
Our world is completely different from that experienced by people even a couple years older than us. Mike and Jerry, better known by their in-strip monikers Gabe and Tycho, give us voice. Our words are profanity-laced and sarcastic. Yet because their wit, empathy and pathos are unmatched, Mike and Jerry have become leaders in our community.
Instead of sitting on their laurels and playing around, as those of earlier generations would expect, Mike and Jerry have made the most out of their role in our generation. Their ingenuity, innovation and entreprenurial spirit are astounding. They started with a self-published comic strip, and then opened an online store.
Most people would have stopped there and been happy, but not Mike and Jerry. Instead, they organized the Penny Arcade Expo, now an annual pilgrimage to Seattle and the new Mecca for gamers. Realizing that they're living The Dream and doing what they love as a career and also understanding that gamers are not, despite consistent media portrayal, selfish, lazy, couch potatoes, Mike and Jerry also organized a charity, Child's Play, to support children's hospitals around the world. This year, Child's Play raised over one million dollars for sick kids everywhere.
And now the dynamic duo has even produced their own series of video games. They've been their since the Internet was in daipers. Prolific and benevolent leaders -- our generation is lucky to have them.
Street Fighter Reborn
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Masters duel in Street Fighter IV.
I've been playing a lot of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (whew!) on the Xbox 360 lately. It's a beautiful update of the fourteen year old classic.
I first played the original Street Fighter at an arcade called the Gold Mine (later called TILT) at what was once called Fashion Island in San Mateo. My friend Tah'ki was the first person I ever saw play the original -- it had big pads that you actually had to punch with your fist in order to kick or punch, and Ryu and Ken were the only guys you could use.
SFII revolutionized the fighting genre, with incredible graphics, near-perfect gameplay, and tons of characters and moves to use. I wasted more quarters than I'd like to admit at the pizza place across the street from my home when I was a kid.
With art by the Udon crew and rebalanced gameplay, SSFIITHD improves on the game in ways I'd never dreamed when I was a kid. It's still tons of fun, looks better, runs more smoothly, allows for online play and is definitely worth playing for five minutes or five hours in a sitting, even if you're a relative noob like me.
I'm especially interested in the rebalancing, as the original play balance was central to the international success of the classic. Big money tournaments are still played around the world using the different variations of the classic.
Sirlin was the lead developer on SSFIITHD. He's shared a series of articles, one per character, discussing the process used and changes made in rebalancing each character. Fascinating read.
Sirlin's site is a great place to visit if you want to learn more about what's changed in this new version. His tutorial videos are also informative. Also, Offworld has links to a great video interview as well as championship gameplay footage -- well worth watching.
While I love this latest version of SFII, I'm really excited about the upcoming release of Street Fighter IV, due out in February. Udon is again responsible for the art, and it looks like they've really outdone themselves this time.
To top things off, Kristen Kreuk of Smallville "fame" is starring in The Legend of Chun Li. The trailer is in Japanese, but that shouldn't matter much to fanboys everywhere.
Dollhouse: The Best Show On Television
Do dolls dream of electric sheep?
C and I have been watching Joss Whedon's (Buffy, Firefly, the bat episode of The Office) Dollhouse all season. It was slow to take hold, but the most recent episode was so unabashedly brilliant that if you haven't been watching, I can only urge you to spend this weekend catching up. It's the best show on television*.
Dollhouse is available on Hulu and, if you don't act soon, it'll likely be canceled. Smart science fiction, doomed to air on Friday evenings? Go figure.
Once you've watched a little bit, read this analysis of the show. The author has put a great deal of thought into their post, and does an excellent job delving into the depths of the metaphor.