Ron Mueck

Last Friday I checked out the work of hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck over at the Andy Warhol Museum. It was both fascinating and creepy.

Here are pics of some of his works that are exhibited here in pgh.

Side Note: I still think it's awesome that the Warhol has Happy Hour on Fridays so you can indulge in an adult beverage during your visit to the museum.

Chihuly Nights

Last night, I went and saw the Dale Chihuly Glass Exhibit at Phipps Conservatory again. This time I took my parents as part of their Christmas gift. The exhibit was supposed to end in November but they extended it's stay into the new year. It's a wonderful exhibit and I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't go one more time before it's gone. A few of my photos can be found here.

Light Up Night

I headed downtown last Friday to attend a 'Green Drinks' happy hour at the Bossa Nova club. I was supposed to meet up with my friend and 'business partner' whom I work with in this Environmental Production Company but he was a no show. Not all was lost though since 'Clover', ' Uncle Cracker' and 'the Jones'' joined me down there. (It was definitely more fun this way anyway). 'The Anderson's' and our friend 'Gibb' joined us too. We spent way too much money on drinks and food ... but what the heck ... it was light up night downtown and the city was buzzing with people and we hardly ever party downtown. We even headed over to the Cigar Bar and the Market Square Ale House before the night was over.

Along the way I ran into 3 old friends in each of the 3 bars we went to. Friends I haven't seen in months and years; guys from the old days of DJing. (This is the one good thing I can say I got from working and DJing in a popular nightclub here in the city ... I met and got to know hundreds of people over the years.) The one friend was now married, one friend was supposed to move back home to Turkey but decided not to and the other guy was still doing his own thing, not DJing but still an architect here in the city. It was surreal ... like who was I going to run into around the next corner?

A great night with close friends and good night of catching up.

The Rum Diary

Wow. Just found this out ...

A film version of the 1959 novel The Rum Diary is already in preproduction with Johnny Depp once again possessing the spirit of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson on film.

Bruce Robinson, best known for his classic film Withnail & I, is writing and directing.

Currently Reading: The Joke's Over: Bruised Memories: Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, and Me by Ralph Steadman

Choke

I love me my Chuck Palahniuk books.

It's cool to hear that the movie adaptation of the the novel Choke is going to start filming next week in Jersey. Starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston.

Those unfamiliar with the book; Rockwell will play a sex addict and Colonial War re-enactor who deliberately chokes in restaurants in order to attach himself to his rescuers and con them out of their life savings, all to support his mother (Huston) in a private mental health hospital.

Pirate Parrot Parody

Something for you Pittsburgh folk ...

This was shown on the jumbo tron last night at the end of the Pittsburgh Pirate's Game ... a parody of the last Soprano's episode.

... and as the screen went blank, the lights went out in the entire stadium. It was fireworks night so the sky blast show began as soon as the video ended.

I love the fact that 'Ritter's Diner' was used as the location in the film short.

Battle of the Album Covers

Thanks to 'Vince Deadly' for showing me this classic.

Native Tongue

... and I wasn't even going to go out last night ...

I thought about staying in. I started to watch my BBC Planet Earth documentary on HD DVD that I recently received from Amazon.

One word. Wow.

I only got about an hour into it (it's a 4 disc set containing over 9 hours of material) and was amazed at the filming, the content, the picture, etc. It is truely amazing regarding the shots the filmakers were able to get for this documentary. My brain was certainly teased as to how they acheived some of the elaborate shots ... Crane? Helicopter? and there are some shots of places on this Earth that had me asking myself, 'does that really exist? it looks like something some Sci Fi Nerd dreamt up in CGI!' Again, wow. and the HD quality just knocks it out of the park ... Too bad they didn't give the disc series a 5.1 channel surround sound mix on the audio ... only dolby stereo here. But eh ...

I gave Evil Genius a call so we could do some catching up then I headed out to the Brillobox for a friend's party he was hosting:

Another crazy dance party at the Brillo ... huge attendance. The second floor of the place was bouncing with the weight of the standing room only crowd as usual. Tons of friends , all smiles, singing along and nodding heads to the beat. This party featured music from the Native Tounge Family; De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, Leaders of the New School, etc. All 1990's Hip Hop. The stuff I grew up on back in highschool ... Yo MTV Raps!

Very nice indeed.

HD DVD

I'm thinking of switching over to HD DVD today.
I watch a lot of movies.
I don't have cable.
I'm a Cinema junkie.
Old, new, good, bad, foreign, indie, big studio, documentary, black and white, no brian comedy, horror, action, etc. I'll give anything a chance.

I realize that the HD DVD and Blu Ray battle is far from decided ... and I realize that the HD at-home-player technology is relatively new.

I'm also usually a proponent for waiting until the technology is tried, tested and the price tag comes down ...

but I want to enjoy HD now.

I have the TV for it .. and again, there is that Cinema addiction of mine ... I should be enjoying my movie watching in all of it's High Def glory ... right?

Why HD DVD then and not Blu Ray? I don't really have a concrete answer for that. But here are a a few reasons that sway my opnion ...

Blu Ray is too expensive right now and it seems that most studios are releasing their movies on both mediums (although, for now, Universal is HD DVD only and 20th Century Fox is Blu Ray only)

The Porn Industry seems to have sided with HD DVD for now. Even though I don't plan on buying or watching HD DVD porn, it seems that they were a big decider in the whole VHS and Betamax Battle.

Headgeek over at Ain't it Cool News has chosen to go HD DVD ...

and one of my main reasons for this decision, Circuit City is running a 'No Interest until 2009' offer on all HD DVD players until the end of this week (plus 3 free HD movies included). I already have an account with them when I purchased my LCD TV last fall. The TV is paid off so carrying another balance (with required minimum payments of $10 until 2009) shouldn't be too hard to handle ... and seeing as I want it now as opposed to later ... well ...

But I don't know. I do know that the players will only get better, slimmer, less bulky, less glitchy and much cheaper as time goes by ...

I guess I'll decide by Saturday.

Hello there ...

Welcome to the sound and light show.
The backstory is irrelevant ... you will catch up eventually.