Missing Mary Road

speaking of galaxies,  here is a map of the entire united federation of planets. i never realized cardassia was so small.

An incredibly detailed description of the eight different timelines in the three Back to the Future movies.

Since the beginning of time, people have created myths to explain things that we can not understand. Modern psychology now explains a phenomenon where our brain will even create its own images, theories and even memories to fill in blanks and complete a ‘story’ in our mind.

There is a scene in the Wizard of Oz (when Dorothy and Scarecrow meet the Tin Man in the apple woods just before they all set off towards the emerald city) whereby a shadow is seen below one of the trees. Myth holds that a munchkin committed suicide on set and the original filming captured this. MGM have always maintained the shadow seen in the frame was a bird. Over time, the quality of the film had deteriorated such that the shadow is no longer visible on most dvd/vhs copies sold in the past few decades.

However, the legend of the munchkin suicide has persisted, most recently highlighted by Irvine Welsh in a play called Babylon Heights which tells the ‘story’ of the dwarves who played the munchkins – it follows the main story of unrequited love but also the victimisation the dwarves felt at the hands of the remaining crew. The play is very much in the theme of Gregory Maguire’s Wicked which retells the story of the witches in the movie.

The munchkins were dwarves recruited from various worldwide casting agencies but Judy garland herself was reported to have said the small stature actors were billeted away from the rest of the cast due to their indulgences in “sex orgies, drunken behaviour and general dwarf debauchery.” Despite this, it is generally accepted that the myth was exactly that, a myth. Possibly the cast in their mystification of the dwarves created the myth. Logically any suicide would surely have been spoken of by other crew members. Rumour has it, CSI might make a visit to archives to uncover the story. Then again, rumour has it the whole hype was resurrected to coincide with the 50^th anniversary video release of the movie in 1989.

Next week sees the general re-release of the Wizard of Oz in its restored format. Each frame has been “cleaned” pretty much as one would take a layer of varnish off a master. Only people who saw the original cinematic release in 1939 will have seen the film as intended by the director, in all its colourful glory. As for the shadow scene… yes you can see it much more clearly but it does look more like a bird, a plane or even a UFO! Not a hanging munchkin…

I’ve just come back from a special screening and as someone who has seen this film more times than I can possibly count, I guarantee you, that until you have seen this version, you have not seen The Wizard of Oz.

view the so called scene – watch the middle of the screen and look into the woods. please comment – and if you see the re-release, do let me know what you thought!!

i love the wizard of oz :)

Since the beginning of time, people have created myths to explain things that we can not understand. Modern psychology now explains a phenomenon where our brain will even create its own images, theories and even memories to fill in blanks and complete a ‘story’ in our mind.

There is a scene in the Wizard of Oz (when Dorothy and Scarecrow meet the Tin Man in the apple woods just before they all set off towards the emerald city) whereby a shadow is seen below one of the trees. Myth holds that a munchkin committed suicide on set and the original filming captured this. MGM have always maintained the shadow seen in the frame was a bird. Over time, the quality of the film had deteriorated such that the shadow is no longer visible on most dvd/vhs copies sold in the past few decades.

However, the legend of the munchkin suicide has persisted, most recently highlighted by Irvine Welsh in a play called Babylon Heights which tells the ‘story’ of the dwarves who played the munchkins – it follows the main story of unrequited love but also the victimisation the dwarves felt at the hands of the remaining crew. The play is very much in the theme of Gregory Maguire’s Wicked which retells the story of the witches in the movie.

The munchkins were dwarves recruited from various worldwide casting agencies but Judy garland herself was reported to have said the small stature actors were billeted away from the rest of the cast due to their indulgences in “sex orgies, drunken behaviour and general dwarf debauchery.” Despite this, it is generally accepted that the myth was exactly that, a myth. Possibly the cast in their mystification of the dwarves created the myth. Logically any suicide would surely have been spoken of by other crew members. Rumour has it, CSI might make a visit to archives to uncover the story. Then again, rumour has it the whole hype was resurrected to coincide with the 50^th anniversary video release of the movie in 1989.

Next week sees the general re-release of the Wizard of Oz in its restored format. Each frame has been “cleaned” pretty much as one would take a layer of varnish off a master. Only people who saw the original cinematic release in 1939 will have seen the film as intended by the director, in all its colourful glory. As for the shadow scene… yes you can see it much more clearly but it does look more like a bird, a plane or even a UFO! Not a hanging munchkin…

I’ve just come back from a special screening and as someone who has seen this film more times than I can possibly count, I guarantee you, that until you have seen this version, you have not seen The Wizard of Oz.

view the so called scene – watch the middle of the screen and look into the woods. please comment – and if you see the re-release, do let me know what you thought!!

i love the wizard of oz :)

The first five episodes of Arrested Development are now streaming for free on MSN.com, with the rest of the series being added over the next 12 months. I highly recommend watching it.  Tost gave it to me as a wedding present. One of the best gifts I got.

In a world where people are trying to blow up airplanes using tampons and KY jelly; where donkeys and elephants continue to dance on the head of a pin; and where every crackpot dictator wants his own personal ‘nucular’ device, it’s becoming almost pro forma to call Battlestar Galactica the most topical series on television.

It remains unabashedly unafraid of wading waste deep into the often depraved psyche of our collective humanity.
And the wading continues. Eight episodes into Season Three it’s clear that there’s no let-up in sight. The constant assault on one’s sensibilities; the bombardment of the senses by way of situations few humans can imagine, nor would wish to; the oppressive relentlessness of the Cylon pursuit—it all adds up to nine hours of riveting, yet often exhausting, television. It’s difficult not to tune in to see exactly who will be dropped in the meat-grinder next, and how.

This is not intended as a flippant remark, for the results almost always yield unexpected consequences—unexpected for the audience, anyway. For the series doesn’t just put us behind the camera using its well-publicized cinema vérité style, it often swings that camera towards the mirror, so to speak, and forces us to take a an unvarnished look at ourselves, too, challenging the audience to confront its own convictions and dogmas. It’s a task that the news, no matter how gruesome, is often bereft of accomplishing. With our own beliefs often mercilessly sacrificed on the alter of forced introspection, Battlestar Galactica doesn’t take sides or preach philosophies, rather it shatters preconceptions and leaves a slack-jawed audience to pick up the pieces. Very clever, those Galactica writers.

Keep reading.

Over at Filmcritic.com, Christopher Null has undertaken the grave and important task of ranking the top ten cinematic spaceships. It’s hard to argue with a list that includes the Millenium Falcon, Heart of Gold from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the Nostromo from Alien. But including both the Klingon Bird of Prey AND the USS Enterprise? C’mon. And the Apollo 13? Plus, no mention of Serenity! Still, who doesn’t like to recall the glory of the Gunstar from The Last Starfighter?

via Wired.

It looks like a four-armed starfish, but so far it’s unaware of its own shape. After flailing its arms for a while, however, the robot gets a sense of its design and begins to walk. The real feat comes when engineers remove a part of its leg: The robot senses a change in its structure and begins walking in a different way to compensate. The demonstration is the first proof that a robot can generate a conception of itself and then adapt to damage, a handy skill to have in unpredictable environments.

thanks s.

so one of the rarest things happens. a star wars virgin sits through a 14 hour marathon and watches all six episodes as lucas had actually intended them to be seen. he meticulously documents the sessions here. i’m not saying that there aren’t very many star wars virgins out there. there just aren’t that many who would get out and voluntarily watch all six films in one setting. and then document them.

For me, the biggest problem with seeing these films in their intended order is that Episodes IV-VI offered little surprises. I know who Luke’s father is; I know that the little creature is Yoda. I have to sit through that uncomfortable kiss between Luke and Leia knowing that they are indeed brother and sister. Most of the mysteries and questions that drive the plots of the later episodes are nullified by having seen the first three. I almost envied those who saw them in original order, so I too could have enjoyed the shock and surprise of some of the plot’s twists and turns. Luckily I was never a fan of bellbottoms, so I will indeed stick with the intended order.

Seeing the movies the way Lucas intended us to see them also lets us see how his power and clout in Hollywood have changed over the years. The scripts in the earlier movies are significantly stronger. The dialogue is more mature and smart. They had to be, if he was going to get the funding to continue his saga. For the newer Episodes, you can practically see George sitting at his Mac on top of his pile of money and giggling as he types lines line ”Whoa, that’s tense” and ”How rude!” I looked it up and he was never a writer for Full House, which means he came up with those ditties all on his own. It could be the 4 o’clock in the morning talking, but it’s almost as if he didn’t have anyone proofreading his scripts. And did he even hire a casting director?

did you know that was bart’s full name? well, if you didn’t go read up on wikipedia. anyway, the trailer for the simpsons movie is out. it’s not gonna be that great. actually at this point there’s very little reason to believe it’ll be any good at all. anyway, in sort of related news, alan moore will be showing up on the simpsons pretty soon.