D-Box motion seats - a review

Over at Slackerwood I've posted a quick review of the new D-Box motion seats that provide a new and moving (har) experience at the cinema. Frankly I think this is more exciting than 3-D projection but you'll have to decide for yourself when D-Box rolls into your town. So far only two theatrical releases have been given the D-Box treatment: Fast and Furious and Terminator: Salvation.

Read the review at Slackerwood.

The Fall of the House of Ackerman

Great article remembering Forrest J. Ackerman by Criterion's Brock Deshane. Apparently Ackerman's "Ackermansion" collection will be sold off by his estate a piece at a time.

Sadly, many of Forry’s prized possessions were sold or stolen over the years, and much of what’s left will be auctioned off on April 30 and May 1. Despite his steadfast efforts to do so, Ackerman never found a permanent home for his treasure (a portion of it can be viewed at Seattle’s Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame). The myriad of marvels to be sold this week include a monocle worn by Fritz Lang during the making of Metropolis (1926), prosthetic teeth from Lon Chaney Sr.’s makeup kit, and a first American edition of Dracula, signed by Bram Stoker, Bela Lugosi, and Christopher Lee.

I met Mr. Ackerman in 2002; we traded copies of each others' books. His: an elaborate, color-printed hardback tome. Mine: a small, text-heavy paperback on bad movies and the Hollywood stars who made them. He didn't seem to mind the disparity, in fact he seemed excited at the prospect of reading it. A

Read THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF ACKERMAN - From the Current.

What's been goin' on

It's been a little lonely over here at Blue Glow; developments in my professional and personal life have put some projects on the back burner and brought others to the front.

I'm hard at work on the new book based on Film Festival Secrets -- if you're a filmmaker with burning questions about getting your film out there on the festival circuit, chances are I've got the answers to some of 'em. I've been noodling around with it for a couple of years now. I had to give myself a deadline to get anything done so I told the folks at the Austin Film Festival I'd be launching it at their festival (late October). Add in 3-4 weeks for proofs and delivery and whatnot, and -- ulp -- I need to have it done in the next two weeks. No sweat.

Scott's away from St. Pete to check out this year's Dragon*Con. Hopefully a hurricane won't wash away his house while he's gone. I'm in self-imposed exile while I write and write and write. Stomp Tokyo will return some day, just not in the next few weeks. Maybe in September when Fantastic Fest hits.

We Wuz Robbed

I don't do politics much on this blog, but when Gabe Wardell blogged this I knew I had to share. It's Spike Lee's short film We Wuz Robbed.

We Wuz Robbed


I was a voter in Florida in 2000 and it still hurts. Regardless of your party affiliation, it was a huge mess that led to an even bigger mess. It's a period in our history of which I don't think any American can be proud. Hopefully we can do better in 2008.

The Giant Pool of Money

I'll admit, the sub-prime mortgage disaster was largely a mystery to me -- I understood in vague, abstract terms that a lot of bad loans had been floated to people who couldn't afford to pay them back, and that eventually the whole system collapsed. What wasn't clear to me was exactly why this had happened, or what inspired the lenders to such madness.

Fortunately a recent episode of This American Life (one of, if not the best radio show currently on the air) took a comprehensive look at the whole mess, delving not only into the lives of those losing their homes and the fortunes of those at the top who represent the tip of the iceberg, but at every link in the chain in between. It's a fascinating and depressing story of mass collusion -- hundreds if not thousands of people looking the other way as they aid in certain financial disaster.

I'm no financial wizard but I'm a heck of a lot better informed now than I was before. If you have those same feelings of vague uncertainty about the whole sub-prime mortgage mess as I did, you should give it a listen. You'll probably end up feeling bad, like I do, about Ira Glass' laryngitis, but it's worth suffering through briefly to get to the story.

Listen to "The Giant Pool of Money" at the This American Life web site.

Karl Rove goes all journo on us

Karl Rove recently joined the ranks of the media, appearing on Fox News (duh) and writing for both Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal.

[Newsweek Editor Jon]Meacham said Mr. Rove had been received surprisingly well in the magazine’s newsroom, where he has been a reliable colleague who files his articles on time and works diligently with fact checkers.

“After one editor dealt with him,” Mr. Meacham said, “the editor called me and said, ‘This just complicated my world view. I may like Karl Rove.’ ”

Read That Pundit on Fox News? An Upstart Named Rove in the New York Times.

Wacky divorce video on YouTube

This is apparently really, really big news.



I don't doubt it has divorce lawyers alternately licking their chops or gasping in horror, but I'm pretty sure Andy Warhol is somewhere out there, laughing.

Mr. T performs miracle revival of comatose boy

He tells Britain's Empire magazine, "His family put toys around him and one of them was a Mr. T doll. And whenever my name came up, the boy moved his arm."

"Somebody told the doctors I was in town, so they called me down there. I closed the curtains and prayed. Then, as I was walking down the hall, the kid suddenly came out of the coma and hollered out."

"That was my supernatural moment."

Read Mr. T brought boy out of coma.

(Via John Merriman.)

Better.

I took the opportunity to fix a few things that were bothering me about the old template, and to update the links section. So now I actually point to Scott's current blog, not his old one. Ditto for Ken. Also, I have added a few new links which you can discover for yourself.

Regular updates to resume in 3... 2... 1...

Whoops.

In a fit of distraction I've managed to munge up my blog template -- please pardon the dust while I circle the wagons and try to put the pieces back together. I thought I had a backup copy of that template somewheres around here . . . .