Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

Certain sectors of my office were abuzz following the announcement of Apple's latest piece of iCandy, the iPad. The fanboys were salivating all over their keyboards, barely containing their gadget lust. Other were less impressed. I texted youngest son and his reply summed up the skeptics' point of view: "It's like a giant iPhone that doesn't have a phone, is more expensive and less portable." My take: they'll probably sell a bunch as soon as they are available, and then sales will drop off dramatically. Smart things Entry level price point is about right, though you are still paying the Apple tax. Keyboard dock is a smart move, given that touch screens suck for much more than lightweight typing Uses iPod/Phone apps right out of the box, at least most (what are those mystery apps that won't work?) Does a lot of stuff Not so smart things These are going to be fragile devices. Think of all the cracked iPod/Phone screens you see walking around....

Okay -- Apple has finally announced what the fan-boys have all been waiting for: their new tablet. gdgt.com live blogged the event and my comments are based largely on theirs, so I could turn out to be completely full of crap. However, that's never stopped me before. They call it the iPad. Cute. It looks a lot like an oversized iPod touch or iPhone. Apple claims up to 10 hours of battery live. We'll see about that. My iPhone does well to make it through the day with a full charge unless I do nothing but use it as a phone, and what's the point of that? It's got a 9.7 inch display, is 1/2 an inch thick and weighs a pound and a half. Since it strongly resembles an oversized iPod/Phone, my first question would be: will we see the same sad cracked touch screens that about every 4th iPod/Phone seems to be cursed with?  Maybe it's time Apple rethought the notion of Real Glass (which Really Breaks) and go with an alternative. Other specs: comes with WiFi/Bluetooth...

Thanks to my friend T-Dawg who tipped me off to the Adventures in Music Online series over at BoingBoing, guestblogged by Stephen Worth of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive . Lots of embedded YouTube videos, so the page is a little slow to load, but definitely worth the effort! Here's the video from Adventure 15 - The "Boffo Finish" , which will hopefully whet your appetite. The Nicholas Brothers will astonish you! Stephen Worth makes an interesting point about the cultural illiteracy of today's entertainment consumersm, which he refers to as "pop culture amnesia." I ran into that the other day when I mentioned to a 30-something co-worker that I was going to a Django Reinhardt festival. "Who?" was their response. My youngest son won't bother to watch a movie if it's in black and white, on what I can only assume is the theory that something that old will have nothing to say to him. Complaining about it makes me feel like an ol...

Author Robert B. Parker (who died yesterday at age 77) was one of my father's favorites. Parker's best known character was Spenser (no first name), a tough Boston detective with an appreciation for the finer things in life. In all, Parker wrote over 60 book -- 37 of them Spenser novels. "Spenser: For Hire," the 80's TV series starring Robert Urich left him unimpressed. I went with my dad to hear him speak at Bass Hall in Fort Worth about a year and a half ago, and captured the following pithy observations ( see the full post for more ): On writing "It's never fun to write a novel." On inspiration "Inspiration is one of the most vastly overrated things there is...If you wait for inspiration, you'll end up teaching night courses..." On editors "They catch a lot. I'm capable of spelling dog C-A-T if the spell checker doesn't catch it...Just don't let me make a fool of myself in public." On mentoring "I just say...

I caught a talk by Matthew Weiner last night at Casa Manana. This was sponsored by the AdClub of Fort Worth . Weiner discussed himself, creativity and his AMC hit show Mad Men . Interesting stuff -- Pegasus News has a good recap if you're interested. One thing I was struck by (and I guess I shouldn't have been) was how completely self-absorbed most of the people were who the asked questions during the Q & A session. At one point, Weiner interrupted one particularly long-winded speaker and said, "Are you pitching me?" Afterwards it struck me -- oh yeah, these people are all in advertising . I spent the first 10 years of my adult worklife in advertising, for which I'm undoubtedly going to hell. Mad Men pretty much captures the vibe I experienced, even 15 years after the show is set: the drinking, the smoking, the sexism, the ambition and absurdity. I was hooked after the opening credits. Season 3 concluded November 8, 2009. Weiner said his team is about to e...

Saw in the news that Art Clokey passed from this veil of tears on Friday, Jan 8, 2010. You may be more familiar with his creation Gumby, the green clay character with the lop-sided head ( modeled on his father's distinctive hairstyle ). In addition to Gumby, Clokey created the claymation series "Davey and Goliath," which was underwritten by the Lutheran Church. I remember many a Sunday morning watching while preparing to go to church with my family. For more on Clokey (as well as some interesting clips) see articles on the Boston Globe and New York Times .

Sarah Palin has reportedly signed a multi-year contract with Fox News as a "contributor," according to Politico and other sources. Her wacky high-jinks, malaprops and (dog-gone it) weird takes on reality ought to provide hours of entertainment to viewers. The self-proclaimed hockey mom displayed her tongue-in-cheek sense of humor by quipping, "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news." Fox went on to say the Divine Sarah will offer up her plan-speakin' commentary and analysis for Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FoxNews.com and other Fox owned outlets. This ought be funny as hell. Read more at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31364.html

I didn't do much over the holidays (alas) but I did see movies. More movies than in all of the rest of 2009. It was all mainstream fair, but enjoyable nonetheless. Read on: no spoilers. Sherlock Holmes Holmes and Watson as action heroes. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law star. Early on, Holmes (Downey) does some bare-knuckle fisticuffs which were sufficiently violent that Spousal Partner decided she'd had enough. By the way, Rachel McAdams (as Holmes' love interest Irene Adler) is freaking gorgeous. Needless to say, this was " based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, " and not part of the Holmes canon. Purists may turn up their noses but it was rousing good fun. Avatar (3D) I wasn't initially planning to see this (it registered a bit high on the hype-o-meter) but Youngest Son saw it with friends and said he'd see it again with me.  I find that I tend to enjoy movies a lot more if I've previously lowered expectations.What I'd r...