Monday, January 21, 2008

My Neighbor

Sure it is in Japanese but who does not love Totoro. I love the fact that someone loved him enough to erect his statue.

http://www.nagasaki-np.co.jp/kiji/20080116/10.shtml

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Persepolis (2007)

I do not know Marhane Satrapi, the Iranian born, French educated graphic novelist and children's author. Her work looks amazing though and this film has already won several film awards including being nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It opened Christmas day in the US with limited screenings. So far, I have not heard whether it will expand but it is on my Netflix list already. Make sure you at least watch the trailer.

imdb link

Friday, January 04, 2008

get lost

The TV show, "Lost", is a piece of work, both artistically and literally. The amount of detail and information in the show is not lost (ha!) on the audience either. The current publicity stunt uses something called a viral technique. Advertisements are placed on buses, billboards, and even commercials which look real but, in fact, represent fake products and services. For example, Oceanic, the airline in which the survivors of flight 815 crashed onto the island, has several commercials and billboards over the US. In fact, they have a website which has been apparently hacked by another fabricated character, Sam. You should visit http://www.flyoceanicair.com/ and then follow the hackers site to continue the game. It leads to some interesting information about season four, which premieres the first of its only eight episodes January 31, 2008. I enjoy the connections and things that people figure out as well as the beautiful images and music that make this show so special. Have fun digging.

quarterly search

I have a few sentimental possessions. I listed a few of them in my horcrux list. Another which fast moves up the list is my state quarters collection. 2008 is the last year for the state quarter releases which started ten years ago. I have been collecting both mints since then. Yesterday I received a quarter (thank you Chipotle) which reduced my number of missing quarters to six not counting the ten for 2008. Collecting them has been a blast because my mother and I would trade every time we traveled to see one another. Also, friends I did not know collected them would vie for the quarters when we paid cash at dinner or the movies. I have a list of missing quarters in my wallet in case one pops up in the grocery. I am currently missing:
  • 2005 West Virginia (Philidelphia Mint)
  • 2006 South Dakota (Philadelphia Mint)
  • 2007 Washington (Philadelphia and Denver Mint)
  • 2007 Utah (Philadelphia and Denver Mint)
If any one has one of these and can spare the $0.66 (a quarter plus the $0.41 stamp), I would be most appreciative to complete my collection.