I'll be in Las Vegas this week.

Here is a random picture I drew this morning.

Almost as random as the trip I'm taking to Las Vegas this week. To hang out with my mother and sister, who don't drink or gamble or like doing anything fun. I expect a lot of time spent in a hotel room, nobody agreeing on what they want to do. How many arguments will I have to referee? How many stony silences will I have to endure?

FUN.

I "love" my "family"!

I am bracing for the worst in the hopes that I will be pleasantly surprised.

To be honest, I haven't even left yet and I can't wait until I'm back.

Butterfly Suicide GIF

As permanent as the internet is supposed to be, it's very easy for history to get lost. I just spent a little too much time trying to recover an animated gif (pronounced "JIFF") I made from this old Banksy piece years ago.

Finally found it on an old Photobucket account.

Here it is at 300px:



Here it is at 640px:

"Dorks"

Submitted for your approval, a picture of Matt Monaco and his idol Chris Hardwick at the New York Comic Con.

Interstellar Oculus Rift

I've been dying to try out the OCULUS RIFT virtual reality device for a while now. Videos of people using the device have made it seem miraculous.

I've played primitive VR games in arcades from the mid-90s/early-00s and been underwhelmed. The graphics were obviously far cruder than what's capable today but the visuals did not immerse me in a different world. It looked like I was staring at two video screens up close.

So, I was excited when I learned that Chris Nolan's INTERSTELLAR was getting an Oculus Rift demo that would be touring different cities. In NYC, it was docked at the Lincoln Square AMC (IMAX) from October 6-8. Free of charge.

What a perfect time to not have a day job.

11am, they started the demos.

First off, the seats moved in time with the audio-visuals which really complemented the effect. You did not control forward movement but you could look every which way as you floated through this spaceship. You could see outer space through the windows. There were little objects floating about -- a pencil, a notepad -- that you could also gawk at as you floated by. There were parts where it seemed like my torso/legs were going to bump against obstacles -- but when I looked down, I HAD NO LEGS! That was probably one of the most surreal things.

So... how did it all look?

It looked pretty great. But it still looked like I was simply staring at two tv screens. The resolution was not nearly as high as I expected. You could see the lines on the screen, like you would if you sat close to an old CRT tv screen. There was text on objects that I couldn't read because of the lower resolution. The whole thing looked really cool but it still looked computer-generated.

Still, glad I got to try it out finally. I've heard the newer model Oculus Rifts are higher res, which would make sense -- though, why wouldn't Paramount shell out for those?

Worth trying out if it's in your area.

I Love Movies! (I Hate Boxtrolls.)

Between Friday and Sunday, I saw FIVE movies.

In order...

GONE GIRL: Awesome. Starts off problematic (Fincher is not great at the "meet cute" routine) but I love where this goes.

THE EQUALIZER: Outstanding. Denzel is great at playing the unkillable monastic killer who helps out white folks and has no romantic interests. (He also helps out Hispanics.) Crazy fun. Hope this turns into a franchise.

ANNABELLE: Disappointing, as expected, but it still had a few good horror ideas in it. It's hard to do horror really well. This is a firmly mediocre effort.

A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES: Awesome. Like Denzel in Equalizer, Liam makes a great unkillable hero. Since Scott Frank wrote and directed this, it's not as aggressively brainless as the TAKEN series.

THE BOXTROLLS (3D): Repellent. I did not expect to loathe this movie as much as I did. The aesthetic is grotesques. Was this supposed to be for kids? Because none of the LARGE GROUP OF KIDS in the theater with me enjoyed this movie. (Vocal review by random girl as the end credits played: "THIS MOVIE IS SO BORING!!!") None of the humor lands. A lot of the characters are simply ugly to look at. The titular boxtrolls are far from endearing. (Watch WALL-E: the Pixar folks take great care in meticulously establishing the character of the protagonist, through very simple, precise actions, making you care about him. They do not simply assume that you will love this character because he does quirky things.) There is one musical number in BOXTROLLS that is so completely unpleasant to listen to and look at: the movie is filled with unpleasant scenes to suffer through. And the messages it tries to bludgeon you with are not convincingly argued: about how class systems in society are bad, about how you can be anything you want to be, about how BOXTROLLS ARE NOT MONSTERS! All the adults are completely illogical morons. The two children are not much better. This is an awful, charmless movie and should not be getting positive reviews. B+

Requiem for a Metrocard

My monthly Metrocard expires today. Last filled it when I was still on the job. I only keep an unlimited Metrocard when I'm on a regular gig; doesn't really make sense to have one if I'm not on the train every day; but I love having time left over on a Metrocard at the end of a gig. This one, I've used to keep hitting up the swankier New York Sports Club venues down in the Financial District. This morning, my last time hitting the uber-swank one down on Wall Street. I'm gonna miss it.

I fucking love not having a day job. Still a lot of writing to try to churn out before the next one fires up...