Nolan actually refused to use 3D in Inception because of the fact that it would potentially detract from the story. He was apparently pressured by the studio to do it in 3D, but wouldn't budge. He also argued that some of the scenes would have been too difficult to shoot on the cameras (hand-held style, for example). While I have to admit the some of those scenes would have been total eye candy goodness in 3D, I also have to admit that he was right; 3D would have been distracting.

I'm glad he understood that special effects are cool, but you have to know when and how to use them to enhance a story, not just to use them because you can.

This story is ++ good.

Never Forget Keanu

I don't see this so much as a Visual Mashup as creating entirely new material and passing it off as someone else's. Music mashups, to me at least, are more or less sampling, a la Paul's Boutique. No one would claim that that sounds like Curtis Mayfield or the Ramones, but it undeniably has samples from those artists. Visual mashups would be more or less fan-made trailers and re-edits (see The Phantom Edit).

I see this more as using an artist's style to trick the audience into the thinking they are seeing 'the real thing'. That's pulling a fast one over the audience and cheating the performer (both financially and morally). Especially if the performer refused to do it in the first place. For example, Tom Waits is famous of refusing to let his music be played in ads and successfully suing companies that hire soundalikes to play music that is not quite entirely unlike his own. [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Waits#Lawsuits%5D

There are laws protecting movies passing off lookalikes of other actors, why would they get a pass if it's CGI?

Well put and good point. My comment was obviously a joke (someone must have picked up on that with the "funny" mod). I don't think I would stay in the US because of Palin, but I wouldn't leave either. I do like this country and there are plenty of idiots in power in other countries I would consider--Palin is not unique to the US.

That said, I have been recently looking to move away from the US, not because I don't like it, but because I hold three citizenships and most of my family still lives in Europe. It'd be nice to live closer to them. Besides, it would make flying to France and England a hell of a lot easier and the TSA wouldn't have to take naked pictures of me--they never want to see the ones I take of me anyway :)

I dunno, he might leave the country. I would.

I'd mod up this AC.

I know many artists too. Many of them do try to market themselves. Shit, how else are they supposed to let others know about their work? They go around looking for exhibit halls/venues/galleries/theaters/bars/whatever that will show their work/play their music.

Of course they love what they do. They also love to have an apartment and eat food. So they need to get paid. They aren't looking to make millions, they are just looking to make ends meet and maybe have some spending money they can set aside.

Seriously, they get into it because they love it, they can only seriously continue full-time because they get paid.

and they are actually really good. They aren't the warmest things in the world, but because of their snug, stretchy fit, they feel like they keep your hands warmer than other loose gloves I have worn.

They are really comfortable too. The fabric is soft and stretchy, it's got a bit of spandex in it. The response using my Nexus One is fantastic. It's like I wasn't even wearing gloves.

----------------

Full disclaimer: I got mine for free in Washington DC. One of the creators, Em, was giving them out at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. That said, I'm definitely buying some as gifts for friends.

Would that shit then be measured in Courics?

What is this nonsense about galaxies?
I thought our world was carried through space on giant turtle. More specifically, the world rests on four great elephants standing on the giant turtle. The giant turtle just swims happily through space. The astrozoologists are still trying to figure out the details.

Have you read Superman Red Son? It's an interesting take on what would have happened if Superman landed several hours later... meaning his ship crashed into Russia instead of the US. How does the power shift? What ideals does Superman actually hold? Is he still the good guy or does that mean that Lex Luthor becomes more of the good guy now? Interesting read.

Yeah, I totally agree with the running/working out. The best sleep I ever had was when I was training for a marathon. I didn't even have to feel totally exhausted at the end of the day, I would just lay down and be able to fall asleep fairly quickly.

As a bonus, when I was training, if I had a night with less sleep than usual I often still felt refreshed in the morning--this was only if I was getting regular sleep on most other nights of the week though. I dunno, I felt that the quality of my sleep definitely improved.

I really need to get back in a running schedule again...

I disagree, it's a very good game, but I think Donkey Kong is the best game ever.

I read this as "rich boy-toy". The rest of the thread got really confusing after that..