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marcus — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:50:02 +0000

After seeing this, I’m not sure I should let me kids watch Sesame Street.

Count the FCC Violations – Watch more free videos

No life.

marcus — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:23:39 +0000

So, I got this quiz on myspace that said if you had seen more than 75 movies in my life then you didn’t have a life. I had seen about 80 of the movies on the list. Then I started to make a list of all the movies had seen. Apparently I really have no life, because I’m over ~~450~~ 500, and I know there are still many more that I haven’t listed yet. I’ll keep updating the list as a see new movies, or remember ones that I’ve seen, but so far here’s my list.

Sixth Sense
Unbreakable
Signs
The Village
Lady in the Water
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Star Wars — A new hope
Star Wars — Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars — Return of the Jedi
Star Wars — Phantom Menace
Star Wars — Attack of the Clones
Star Wars — Revenge of the Sith
Indiana Jones — Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones — Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones — Last Crusade
Pirates of the Caribbean — Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean — Dead Man’s Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean — At Worlds End
Back to the Future I
Back to the Future II
Back to the Future III
Oceans 11
Oceans 12
Oceans 13
Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
X Men
X2
X Men: The Last Stand
Spider-man
Spider-man 2
Spider-man 3
Superman Returns
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python the Life of Brian
Monty Python the Meaning of Life
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Movie
The Muppet’s take Manhattan
The Great Muppet Caper
Labyrinth
Disney’s Robin Hood
Fight Club
Most of Mel Brook’s stuff
Shawshank Redemption
Dead Poet’s Society
Animal House
A River Runs Through it.
Schindler’s List
A Beautiful Life
Office Space
Lord of the Rings
The Usual Suspects
American History X
Toy Story I
Toy Story II
Monsters Inc.
The Incredibles
Cars
Gladiator
Glory
Almost Famous
Henry V
Dead Again
Groundhog Day
Breakfast Club
Say Anything
The Blues Brothers
Dances with Wolves
Labyrinth
Cable Guy
Amistad
Shrek
Shrek 2
Shrek the Third
Charlie’s Angels
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Lost in Translation
Rushmore
Wild Things
Ed Wood
Groundhog Day
What about Bob?
The Man Who Knew Too Little
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters II
Scrooged
Stripes
Caddyshack
Sin City
Corpse Bride
Charlie and the Choclate Factory (Original)
Charlie and the Choclate Factory (Remake)
Sleepy Hollow
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Don Juan DeMarco
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Benny and Joon
Edward Scissorhands
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Platoon
El Mariachi
Desperado
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Nacho Libre
King Arthur
Love Actually
Quills
Shakespeare in Love
Elizabeth
Les Misérables
Mystery Men
Meet the Parents
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Dodgeball
Zoolander
There’s Something About Mary
Keeping the Faith
Zero Effect
Happy Gilmore
Reality Bites
Reign Over Me
Click
The Longest Yard (Original)
The Longest Yard (Remake)
50 First Dates
Anger Management
Mr. Deeds
Punch Drunk Love
Big Daddy
The Waterboy
The Wedding Singer
Billy Madison
Spanglish
Tommy Boy
Pearl Harbor
Loser
Grosse Point Blank
My Girl
Sneakers
Spies Like Us
Trading Places
American Pie
American Pie 2
American Wedding
Saving Silverman
The Whole Nine Yards
The Whole Ten Yards
One Fine Day
Good Night, and Good Luck
The Perfect Storm
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Three Kings
The Big Lebowski
Fargo
The Hudsucker Proxy
Raising Arizona
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
Batman and Robin
Batman Begins
The Prestige
The Illusionist
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Kingdom of Heaven
The Italian Job
Death to Smoochy
Fight Club
The People vs. Larry Flynt
Primal Fear
Rounders
The Score
The Brothers Grimm
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
Finding Forrester
The Legend of Bagger Vance
The Majestic
Dogma
Saving Private Ryan
Good Will Hunting
Chasing Amy
Courage Under Fire
Field of Dreams
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Bruce Almighty
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Me, Myself & Irene
Man on the Moon
The Truman Show
Liar Liar
The Cable Guy
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Dumb & Dumber
The Mask
Heavenly Creatures
Hideous Kinky
Titanic
Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh’s Version)
Harry Potter I
Harry Potter II
Harry Potter III
Harry Potter IV
Frakenstein
Much Ado About Nothing
Henry V
Swing Kids
Primary Colors
Sense and Sensibility
Remains of the Day
Howard’s End
The Crucible
The Last of the Mohicans
Girl Inerrupted
Dracula
Heathers
Beetle Juice
The Rock
Dragonheart
First Knight
Medicine Man
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Highlander
The Hunt for Red October
The Untouchables
Entrapment
Mission Impossible: I
Mission Impossible: II
Mission Impossible: III
Con Air
Rosewood
Striptease
Pulp Fiction
Dave
Lord of War
National Treasure
Windtalkers
The Family Man
Gone in 60 Seconds
Face/Off
Guarding Tess
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek: The Search for Spock
Star Trek: The Voyage Home
Star Trek: The Final Frontier
Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: Generations
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Nemesis
LA Story
Bringing Down the House
Father of the Bride
Father of the Bride Part II
Parenthood
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Roxanne
Little Shop of Horrors
Three Amigos
All of Me
The Jerk
The Man with Two Brains
Boogie Nights
License to Drive
Twins
Wayne’s World
Wayne’s World 2
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: Goldmember
Without a Paddle
American Beauty
While You Were Sleeping
Miss Congeniality
Murder by Numbers
Speed
The Net
Hope Floats
Crash
Garden State
The Grudge
The Ring
Lake Placid
Independence Day
Sleepless in Seattle
Spaceballs
The Pursuit of Happyness
Hitch
Bad Boys
Bad Boys II
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Enemy of the State
Rules of Engagement
Double Jeopardy
Volcano
The Fugitive
Under Siege
K-19: The Widowmaker
What Lies Beneath
Air Force One
Sabrina (The Remake)
Clear and Present Danger
Patriot Games
Little Miss Sunshine
We Were Soldiers
As Good as It Gets
Someone Like You…
Invincible
Planet of the Apes
Renaissance Man
Planet of the Apes (Remake)
What Women Want
The Patriot
Chicken Run
Payback
Lethal Weapon I
Lethal Weapon II
Lethal Weapon III
Lethal Weapon IV
Conspiracy Theory
Ransom
Braveheart
Pocohontas
Maverick
The Man Without a Face
Forever Young
Air America
Hamlet (Zeffirelli Version w/ Mel Gibson)
Mad Max
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Angels in the Outfield
War of the Worlds
The Last Samurai
Minority Report
Vanilla Sky
Jerry Maguire
The Firm
A Few Good Men
Far and Away
Days of Thunder
Rain Man
Top Gun
Cocktail
Risky Business
The Outsiders
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid Part II
The Karate Kid Part III
My Cousin Vinny
Employee of the Month
Thank You for Smoking
Contact
Inventing the Abbots
Armageddon
Stealing Beauty
That Thing You Do
The Polar Express
Road to Perdition
Cast Away
The Green Mile
Apollo 13
Forrest Gump
Philadelphia
Big
The Money Pit
Bachelor Party
Splash
The Man in the Iron Mask
Romeo + Juliet
Igby Goes Down
Home for the Holidays
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Antitrust
Arlington Road
Nothing to Lose
IQ
Twister
Bull Durham
Mission to Mars
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Blades of Glory
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Wedding Crashers
Old School
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Clerks
Mall Rats
Daredevil
The Sum of All Fears
Changing Lanes
Boiler Room
School Ties
Basic
S.W.A.T.
The Red Violin
The Negotiator
Out of Sight
Sphere
The Long Kiss Goodnight
Coming to America
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Jurassic Park
Die Hard
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Die Hard 3: Die Hard with a Vengence
Live Free Or Die Hard
The Fifth Element
The Jackal
Tears of the Sun
The Kid
Swordfish
The General’s Daughter
A Civil Action
Broken Arrow
Get Shorty
Phenomenon
Michael
Butterfly Effect
The Guardian
Dude, Where’s My Car?
For Love of The Game
The Postman
Waterworld
The Bodyguard
Pushing Tin
Runaway Jury
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Fat Man and Little Boy
Say Anything
Stand By Me
Better Off Dead
Sixteen Candles
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Weird Science
Election
Godzilla
The Lion King
Biloxi Blues
Ladyhawke
War Games
Project X
She’s Having a Baby
Hollow Man
The River Wild
Flatliners
Tremors
Footloose
Friday the 13th
Animal House
Accepted
BloodRayne
Annapolis
Ultraviolet
Crank
300
Knocked Up
The Devil Wears Prada
Ratatouille
Transformers
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
The Simpsons Movie
Stardust
Stranger Than Fiction
3:10 to Yuma
Good Luck Chuck
Dan in Real Life
Martian Child
I Am Legend
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
P.S. I Love You
Definitely, Maybe
Jumper
The Other Boleyn Girl
21
Stop-loss
Smart People
Iron Man
Son of Rambow
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The Happening
The Incredible Hulk
Wall-E
Wanted
Hancock
The Dark Knight
Tropic Thunder
Burn After Reading
No Country for Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
Yes Man
Taken
Push
Happy Feet
We Are Marshall

You say you want a Revolution

marcus — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 20:23:22 +0000

Last month Steve Jobs called for music companies to open up their music catalogs and allow DRM-less sales. I was at first heartened by his thoughts, but after reading the music companies’ responses (google it if you like, I’m not linking directly) it occurred to me that there was something more going on than just the protection of copyrights. I was finally realizing why the RIAA has been so relentless in its hunt for alleged pirates, going so far as to file suit against 12-year-old kids. The record companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the music that they own, because they know their days are numbered. The digital revolution that’s occurring in music will eventually destroy the recording industry, as it now exists.

While searching for new music to fill a new mp3 player, I branched out from my usual favorites and started looking for new artists. As I searched for recommendations, I found that each new artist had just a few really good songs, generally two or three per album. Not seeing any sense in paying full price for an album with only a few songs I liked, I simply paid for the tracks that I liked and ignored the rest. The only time I found myself buying an album in it’s entirety was when the artist had released several albums with two to three tracks per album that I liked, then they subsequently released a “Best of Album”. I would frequently pay the price of the “Best of” album because it was cheaper than buying all of the individual tracks off of the prior albums.

Record companies make albums much the same way Oscar Meyer makes hot dogs, taking a couple of quality cuts, and mixing them with a bunch of filler. That is, they produce albums, which contain one or two really good songs and 7 to 10 filler tracks. They then rake in the dough having sold an hour-long record with only 10 minutes of listenable music. With downloadable music, though, consumers can get around the filler, and go straight for the quality cuts. The record companies have paid for all this filler though, so they take measures to compel shoppers into paying for lower quality songs. Some of the albums available from downloadable music retailers can only be sold as an entire album. These “Album Only” tracks usually have just one song anyone would want to buy, so the record companies license it as all or nothing. They recognize they won’t make any money off of the sales of the one song, so they protect their profits by not allowing consumers to buy just the hot track. It’s marketing like this that makes it clear that the music industry knows its days are numbered. As downloadable music becomes the norm in the marketplace, the hot dog days of the recording industry will disappear.

With rare exceptions, most people aren’t going to pay full-price for an entire album when they only want one song. As people reject the all or nothing approach to the selling of certain albums, the record companies will no longer be able to profit from inferior recordings. They will have to either adapt or perish.

DRM is a last ditch an effort by the recording industry to prevent the inevitable changes in the marketplace. DRM only effects consumers who download music from online music stores. As such, it is specifically targeting those people who purchase music by the song and not by the album. If you buy a CD from a brick and mortar store, the content is completely unprotected, and the recording industry doesn’t care. They got you to pay for the filler, and that’s really all they were after. By making it inconvenient to transfer downloaded music among various media players, DRM is in essence manipulating the marketplace. To legally transfer your music to more devices than the DRM allows, you either have to pay for additional downloads of the song, or go out and pay for an actual CD. Ultimately, I expect these efforts to fail, and the changes in the music industry will proceed on their present course, only slightly hindered by the DRM movement.

If the record companies choose to adapt, they will need to recognize that people have already begun to change the way they think about buying music. Instead of thinking about music in terms of records or albums, we are making music purchasing decisions based largely on the merits of individual songs. Because people are no longer stuck paying for filler songs, the rest of the money that would have gone to pay for a complete album can now be used to by quality music from other artists. The growing popularity of independent artists is a testament to the paradigm shift that’s occurring.

I am going to make a bold prediction here: I expect the record companies will find it unprofitable to fund an artist recording an entire album, only to be able to sell a few of the tracks. As a result, I think we will gradually see the decline of the full-length album. What I think we will see in its place is record companies signing more artists to smaller contracts based on the recording of single songs rather than complete albums. If this happens, everyone wins, because it creates more variety, and allows the best songs to rise to the top.

Then again, I could be wrong.

Music that defines me

marcus — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 04:08:35 +0000

I’ve been meaning to write something about music for quite a while, but haven’t really been inspired. Lately though, the theme of music has been popping up in my life, so now I am almost compelled to write.

Based on the recommendation of a friend, I started using last.fm recently. If you aren’t familiar with the website, it’s a social networking site based on music. It’s main selling point is the software that plugs in to your computer music software and updates your profile with your most recently played music. You can then find friends, share new music, etc. all based on listening preference. It’s a pretty neat service, and while I love some of the features for discovering new music, I realized that a much younger version of myself would have appreciated the friend making features of the service a lot better.

I first ‘discovered’ music in the 4th or 5th grade. Growing up with four older siblings, I had always been aware of it, but had never really considered my own taste in music until the last couple of years in elementary school. By middle school and through high school I pretty much defined myself by my musical taste. If you didn’t listen to the same thing that I listened to, or you listened to music that I deemed unworthy, you couldn’t be my friend. Likewise anyone who listened to music I though was cool was automatically cool in my book.

As high school progressed and my musical taste evolved, I faced a sort of identity crisis. Some of my closest friends, whom I had always counted on to have similar taste in music had begun to listen to music that I hated, and I was finding that they didn’t like the new music that I loved. Some of these friends drifted away, though not completely because of musical taste, I know that it played a role in the growing distance between us. Looking back I realize it was a pretty immature attitude and it took me far too long to open my eyes and see that musical taste was a pretty superficial way to choose friends.

What makes all of this especially poignant for me now, and why I’m writing about it, is another friend recently posted a blog listing his top 10 Albums of All time, the ones you would take with you if you were trapped on a desert island. As I began to compile the list I realized that except for a few exceptions, my musical tastes have evolved so much that I don’t really listen to the music that I thought was so cool that it was worth losing a friend over. More ironic still, some of my favorite music today is music that I hated back then.

Oh, and as for my top 10 list. I found it nearly impossible to pick 10, but finally settled on this list.

They Might Be Giants — Flood (or Apollo 18)
Indigo Girls — Indigo Girls
Barenaked Ladies — Stunt
R.E.M. — Automatic for the People (Life’s Rich Pageant or Fable of the Reconstrustion would also do)
U2 — Joshua Tree (Any of them really except for Zooropa or Pop).
Peter Gabriel — So
The Pogues — If I Should Fall from the Grace with God
Guadalcanal Diary — Jamboree
John Denver — An Evening with John Denver
Pink Floyd — The Wall

It took great effort to avoid “Best of” or “Greatest Hits” Albums, which I think are a cop out for the indecisive on these kind of lists. Actually of the First 5 Artists, I could pick almost anything they’ve ever recorded and be happy with the choice. Lastly, I didn’t even consider classical music, though I’m sure if I actually had to choose 10 albums to listen to for the rest of my life, I would have to consider this genre as well. Now that I think about it, if I ever had to do this for real, the Les Misérables Complete Symphonic recording would have to go, but I have no idea what it would replace.

Fun with telemarketers

marcus — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 03:45:56 +0000

It seems impossible to avoid getting calls from telemarketers. My phone number is on the do not call list. I don’t give out my phone number to any business that really doesn’t need it, yet I still end up getting between five and seven calls from telemarketers every night. My wife and I usually screen any calls from unknown or toll free numbers, because if the caller has legitimate business with us they will leave a message. Tonight was a little different though, I answered one of the calls. Well, I picked up the phone anyway, but I let them listen to my son. He was screaming at having been awakened by the phone ringing. I don’t know how long the telemarketer waited before hanging up, but I hope it was long enough to think about how rude their job really is. I like to think of it as a grass roots effort to drive the telemarketers out of business. If I can convince enough of the telemarketers to quit their jobs it’ll drive up the salaries and cut into the profit margins of the companies engaged in such practices.

That’s my dream anyway.

Hollywood is out of ideas

marcus — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 03:45:04 +0000

I love movies, but have been disheartened by the lack of original work coming out of Hollywood. Take for example the previews shown before a movie I watched last week:

Pink Panther
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Shaggy Dog
King Kong
Superman
Over the Hedge
Happyfeet
Lady in the Water

Of the eight previews listed above four are remakes of other films, and one is,in fact, the sequel to a remake. The three exceptions to the lack of originality rule are two cartoons “Happyfeet” and “Over the Hedge”, and M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Lady in the Water.” If this list is any indication of the trends in Hollywood Film making, and I believe it is, then the only originality in the movie industry is coming from studios making cartoons and an exterme minority of creative film makers such as Shyamalan. What is even worse is the movie I was there to watch was the latest installment of the Harry Potter series. Films based on books get a little bit of a pass, because there is a high level of creativity involved in working a book into a film, but it seems to me if there were good ideas coming out of Hollywood, there would be fewer remakes, sequels, or films based on other books and TV shows.