The Law of Unintended Consequences

In celebration of having six months of work trashed, and being urged to work hard and quickly, I took yesterday off. This time it actually worked out as vacation time. I slept in (to 7:30!), noodled on the Internet, then went for a walk around Tualatin with Jean. Afterwards I went down to Mentor to do strength training in the gym, good for my back.

By the time I got home, it was lunch time, but I ended up skipping lunch, so I could go to see The Tailor of Panama. I knew next to nothing about the movie, but had read the novel by John LeCarre, and liked it, so I decided to take the chance. I was wary because the novel is a somewhat cerebral, downbeat farce of spy stories, and the movie stars Pierce Brosnan of 007 fame. But not to worry. He plays the nasty spy Andy Osnard, and not the eponymous Tailor. That role goes to one of my very favorite actors, Geoffrey Rush. And he pulls it off admirably.

After the movie I came home to an empty house, so I decided to plow through a few episodes of The Legend of Black Heaven, an idiosyncratic anime which will be the topic of my next review. I got through the first four, and will probably take the rest of the week to get through the final three and write my review. I seem to work best under pressure, even if it is of my own making .

P. S.

To be fair, the PHB is doing some good things too, such as mending the relationships with another division which have been broken for a couple of years. So far, the bad experience is isolated, and I hope it stays that way.

Suck It Up

For the past six months, myself and two other engineers at work have been working on a standalone product (it's more complicated than that, but 'standalone' fits the usage), implemented with a library and language we selected after arduous research. We were quite proud of the work we'd done, and eager to show it off and promote it within our division. Really only a couple of weeks work remained to finalize it.

Then two days ago news arrived that my boss' boss had heard of the technology we were using, and had, for want of a better word, an emotional response. My boss cautions me that rational discussion is not an option. So while the product is not cancelled, all our work has to be thrown out and we must start over, because this PHB overrode engineering decisions on the basis of some emotional problem.

To add insult to injury, the PHB held a project review yesterday, and his closing remarks were to urge us to work hard and quickly to beat the competition. It took all my restraint to avoid saying "except for the occasional six month irrational reschedule from above."

I know it is probably not wise to publish this, but since my weblog is really only read by my sister and a couple of friends, I thought I'd blow off steam. I'm mostly over the anger and astonishment. While the disgust and bitterness linger, I'm ready to suck it up and try implementing this thing in the PHB's platform-of-choice. Sometimes life is stupid.

Colors of Imperial Russia

This is just fascinating. Several weblogs have been pointing to an online exhibition of the photography of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, who used a unique camera with three lenses and red, green and blue filters to create 'color' photographs using only black and white film. He then used a corresponding projector to show them when touring.

Folkloric Phrase of the Day

Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs. This link is actually a very good disquisition on the phrase.

<A HREF="http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~keichena/smjvideo/">Anime Music Videos<A>

Anime Music Videos are one of those instances of cultural fusion which result when two popular cultures collide. Briefly, a fan of Japanese animated programs will select a song, often American, and one or more anime. He or she will then edit the video sequences such that the overlaid music will meld with the images to produce a new work of art. Objectives may be humor, the invocation of a particular emotion (wistful sadness seems popular) or even just technical razzle-dazzle.

Over the years I've seen a lot of these 'AMV's, and not through any effort of my own. But if you go to conventions, or attend a club, you will eventually see many of them.. While I've seen a few which I really appreciated, I've mostly found the art form unimpressive. It is a way for fans to participate in the genre without taking the particularly difficult route of becoming an animator (difficult more due to poor pay than skills required, though those are there as well).

This weekend's NOVA meeting introduced me to two more examples. Three members of our club have been creating AMV's using fairly expensive setups--laptop computers, iMovie or Premiere, AfterEffects, totalling in the thousands of dollars. I won't discuss the actual contents of either of these videos, as they'll both most likely be submitted in the Anime Expo 2001 AMV contest. Sure, very few people read this weblog, but I want to respect the authors by embargoing the actual works until after the Con.

But I will name names, keeping to first names only. Terry and Dan have put together a traditional AMV, albeit with high-end home equipment. It is a fine example of the genre, demonstrating flawless techical virtuosity and capturing a mood extremely well. But. It is of the genre, rather than above the genre. It could very well win an award at Expo, as a superior example of a typical AMV. And that's all.

Eric, who's about as self-effacing as anybody I've ever met, is also using high-end home equipment to create his AMV. The difference is that it does more than most AMVs. It tells an original story, seemlessly blending scenes from two anime series such that what we have is a new show. The choice of music is perfect, the blending of scenes is wildly creative and the video effects only serve to move forward the story and the mood, which is anarchy! Once I saw it I knew I would do everything within my power to be there in the audience at Expo when this video had its premiere. I wanna see the applause, and maybe the standing ovation. The folks sitting on the throne of AMV producer had better feel nervous.

Asked how long it took him, Eric replied in his halting quiet voice, "about two months. That's two hours every night and ten hours a day on weekends." By my estimates that's over 200 hours of work that went into this 5 minute AMV! It's possible to fritter away that effort and produce crap, but it makes it easier to grasp the quality inherent in this video. I plan to ask Eric if I can 'interview' him and include his AMV in a review of AMV's post-Expo. Hopefully Terry and Dan will agree as well.

Parable of the Soccer Moms

At least, that's what the title will be when I get around to writing my excoriating diatribe against SUV-driving losers who use the bus circle as their own personal helipad to drop off their genetic mishaps.

You get some perspective. I'm bitter.