A Trail of Trailers

So there's been much raving about the awesomeness of the Iron Man 3 trailer and I agree; some called it "emotionally scarring" and I agree with that, too ("PEPPER!! NO!!!") --> making an exception with the caps and multiple exclamation marks, just for you, Marvel. Please make everything all right again come April 2013.

I've been thinking that the Skyfall poster I've been seeing at bus stops is also very cool. So are the TV spots. I admit that back when Daniel Craig first assumed the role, I'd shared the opinion of those who thought him rather too short, but looking at the list of all Bond actors to date, he is sorta the coolest-looking in my opinion, heh. That said, I've never had the interest to watch a Bond movie -- the female-objectification image from the old-time Bond movies kind of ruined this series for me -- and I'm not going to start now. Out of interest, though, anyone can tell me how the Craig-verse is on the subject of women?

Since I've decided that this post will be about trailers (and URL dumps), here's a link to a Honest Trailers clip for The Avengers (spoiler warning!) that I've recently enjoyed, by DIsk's recommendation. (When I said I liked deep voices, I didn't mean it quite like that one, but it's awesome anyway. And in case that put you in the mood for more lols as it did me, have some crack!vid.)

And, why not, a quote involving trailers that actually has nothing to do with a trailer:

%
<Meuuh> pleasehelp : are you trying with a dolby trailer ?
<pleasehelp> no... using windows

  -- #videolan

Um, yeah, that's an IRC channel quote taken from VLC's fortunes.txt. I confess to downloading VLC source code just to get updates on the amusing fortunes, even though I'm no longer using it for work. =P Besides, I'd definitely want to know if and when they reach "Vetinari" with the releases.

Huh. That made me Google Jeremy Irons' Vetinari, who's a pretty good fit with Kidby's, i.e., the canon (at least until I find Kirby's, if he ever drew him). But I should stop now before this leads to a Discworld trailer, as I'm really most content just worshipping the purely textual manifestation of m'lord. (For that, I do have The Discworld inspirational p...rintout on my office cubicle wall, in hope to net a fellow fan to squee together, but alas, it's yielded nothing so far. The colleague with the Angry Birds plushie sure has it easy! Maybe I should get me an A'Tuin plushie.)

Gold in Them Hills

Give the world a chance to say
A word or two, my friend
There's no telling how the day might end
We'll never know until we see
That there's gold in them hills
There's gold in them hills
So don't lose heart
Give the day a chance to start

-- Ron Sexsmith, "Gold in Them Hills"


Discovered via Katie Melua, who covered it in her latest album, "Secret Symphony". Fabulous choice for the opening track of the album: in Dorothy Boyd's words, it "had me at hello".

Soothing melody, soothing voice, soothing words -- I have quite a lot on my mind these days so these hit right home. Do listen for yourself in this gorgeous live version.





Side interest: The phrase "There's gold in them thar hills" is supposedly a cliche -- though one I didn't know before and had to Google -- related to the historical gold rush. But in this song I'm guessing Sexsmith uses it as an allusion to hope, in a "silver lining" way rather than a "California Dream" way.

Vista Wireless Connection Problem and Solution

Sharing this, as I've long been bugged by this problem and so glad to have stumbled on a setting that fixed it (internet searches had not been fruitful). Thought there might be someone out there who could use this.


Problem: Computer does not automatically get connected to a wireless network. "Connect to a network" dialogue is not responding. Applicable to computers that have seen some mileage.

Platform: Windows Vista (I didn't check if it's applicable to others)

Cause: The system keeps an ordered list of wireless networks to attempt connecting to. Any wireless network that has previously been detected and tried is automatically saved to this list. When the list is overpopulated (mine reached 100+ after 3 years of usage at various locations), with obsolete networks at the top, the system gets stuck in an endless string of failed connection attempts.

Solution: Open Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Manage Wireless Networks. Clean up the list, and put your preferred wireless network on top. That is all.

ただ

好きって、こんな感じだな。
ただ君の顔を見る。
ただ君が笑って聞く。
ただ君の存在を知っている。

Eloquence Cometh in Many Forms

Just a few things that got me contemplating recently.


Megamind (2010) revisited

TITAN: "This town isn't big enough for two supervillains!"
MEGAMIND: "Oh, you're a villain all right, just not a super one."
TITAN: "Yeah? What's the difference?"
MEGAMIND: [makes a grand entrance] "Presentation!"

So, my dad and I were choosing something to pass the afternoon among my movie collection.
DAD: "What are these about?"
ME: [look over the list of Batman and Marvel movies] "Oh, mostly movies made from comic books."
[after we decided on Megamind]
DAD: "Is this from a comic, then?"
ME: "Eh, no, it's an original movie, but I'm guessing a comic has been made out of it."

DIsk and I have had a few discussions regarding story adaptations from and to books / comics / manga / anime / movies / etc., and the level of purism involved. We generally agree that each medium excels in a different aspect and should be exploited accordingly (presentation!), and that while introducing plot changes could sometimes ruin the adaptation, staying strictly true to the original material at the expense of readability / watchability may not be a good thing either. Well, I myself might still be a purist about certain works, in which case I just stick to the original form, no trouble. =P


Carl Sagan, "Cosmos" (the book)

[Dedication page]

"For Ann Druyan:

In the vastness of space and the immensity of time,
it is my joy to share
a planet and an epoch with Annie."

Ann Druyan is Sagan's co-author and wife. He'd always had a poetic disposition, I gather, but when you're Carl Sagan, you get to be romantic with astronomical* facts to back you up.

* Double meaning is not really intended but probably works just fine.


Neil Gaiman, "Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions"

[Introduction -- note on "Chivalry"]

"I wrote it in a weekend, a gift from the gods, easy and sweet as anything. Suddenly I was a writer transformed: I laughed in the face of danger and spat on the shoes of writer's block. Then I sat and stared glumly at a blank screen for another week, because the gods have a sense of humour."

Gaiman's stories are a hit-and-miss with me, but his side-notes tend to capture me with his penchant for describing his plot-bunny conception and writing struggles that we all can empathize with ("...staring at a blank screen, occasionally writing a word... Then I'd exit without saving"). Which means he is one of those authors whose book introductions are worth going through; in fact he did hide a story --which happens to fall under my 'hit' category-- inside the introduction of this book.

Signs

She was nine, wide-eyed, holding on to her father's hand as the vast darkness dizzied above.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
He taught her the signs.
"And there Deneb is; summer is coming."

She was sixteen, impressionable, dreaming up romances she and the boy had run out of time for.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
He kissed her goodbye.
"And there Deneb is; they'll meet again."

Summer arrives, and is past, as lovers come to be and to part.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
Time moves stories as it does the stars.
"And there Deneb is; right by the Great Rift."

She is forty, farsighted, having traveled more constellations than legends reach.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
Sometimes things mean simply what they seem.
"And there Deneb is; the sky is clear."

Memento

Let this be a reminder of our common ground,
of how everything is right
even when everything may change;

Let this be a reminder should everything change,
if ever I lose sight of all you give
in the face of what I crave;

Let this be a reminder that above what struggle may come,
with heart and mind, feel and reason
I do love you.

邂逅

坐在對面的女士
望車窗外望人群
目光瞬間碰見了
不好意思微微笑

雖是無名人海中
該也同我有故事
過著某樣的生活
有願有煩有心思

只用臉孔打招呼
面後包含路一程
個個完整的自己
點點滴滴是人生

Evidencing Eureka

An article (a cute one I should say) mentions a press conference from CERN giving the latest update in the search for the Higgs boson, which arouse my interest as, aside of the exciting subject, I've never watched any scientific press conference before.

So here it is. (The embedded streaming didn't work for me, but some browsers should be able to play one of the download links directly.)

I quite like the tone of this one. We get a procedural picture of the real work involved:

"What we have seen today is a fantastic demonstration of how an experiment works, from the operation in the cavern to the data-taking, the data-processing, reconstruction, computing, the quality calibration, all the way to the analysis and interpretation of the result. So a simple plot showing a mass distribution contains a lot of work." -- FG

The romantic touch:

"We are discussing something that is the last chapter, we hope, of a story which lasts 47 years." -- GT

The ethics:

"Those are really preliminary results. They're very interesting, they're intriguing, but really preliminary. First of all, as it is the duty of the scientific community, we will speak more solidly through papers that will be submitted on final results we hope to be able to come out sometime end of January, beginning of February [...]" -- GT

The mild humor:

"It *is* really exciting. I can tell you. But nonetheless, we take questions." -- RH

And apparently a number of excited enthusiasts have added their own opinions into the mix, or reinterpreted the news to make their own conclusions, so the scientists have learned to be carefully accurate with their statements:

"First of all, it's not an evidence. Be careful [to ensure that] we're using scientific words at the precise meaning. We're talking of intriguing, tantalizing hints [...]" -- GT

"Don't believe all the blogs. Okay? Believe only what has a stamp from the scientists and not the blogs. Please." -- RH

It is also pleasant to listen to people who know exactly where they are:

Question: "Is it possible to find the Higgs with the present dataset and improved analysis?"
RH: "A quick answer, Madam?"
FG: "No."

And to close, the inspirational quotes:

"Of course it will be good to find new physics, new things, and we have some ideas of how, for instance, new physics could manifest itself. But we should not forget that we are researchers, and the foundation of research [is] really looking for something that is also unexpected, or something new. So we have to remain open, because we don't know what Nature has chosen. And so we may be soon confronted with some surprises, and this would be, I think, for us, the best reward -- something unexpected." -- FG

Question: "Before, you spoke about the next 20 years, the physics beyond the Standard Model, and then about the rest of-- 96% of the universe to explore. And I want to ask, is there an end to the scientific question, and if not, then why?"
GT: "Because we are-- this is the mankind. I mean, mankind started asking questions, and we will continue forever."
FG: "Remember what Isaac Newton used to say: 'What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean.'"
RH: "Each time we find something new, we have new questions to ask. And that's the fascinating thing of science, yeah? You answer some questions which you know how to pose. And then you find, suddenly, new questions. And that will go on, I'm sure. And it's very difficult to find the moment 'when do I know everything?' That's impossible, at least for me. So, there's a lot to do."

Notes:
The above has been transcribed from the video, with minor edits for clarity.

RH: Prof. Rolf-Dieter Heuer, CERN Director General
FG: Prof. Fabiola Gianotti, LHC ATLAS
GT: Prof. Guido Tonelli, LHC CMS