Thanks to the Power of the Internet (TM) I was able to acquire a DVD of the documentary Comedian.
Check out the hilarious trailer. I can’t remember if Comedian made it to cinemas in Australia but I searched far and wide (two Aussie DVD web sites) and couldn’t find it. So I had to resort to Amazon.
On the plus side, the U.S. economy sucks so the exchange rate was awesome, and our DVD player handles NTSC and all regions.
The documentary itself is very entertaining and provides an interesting insight into a comedian’s process of getting material (“bits”) and compiling them into a performance (a “set”). Jerry Seinfeld is the main subject as he attempts to build an entirely new show, but the doco also follows a young newcomer who is battling to make it to the big time.
The likes of Cosby, Leno and Rock also make appearances. (Yes, I’m on a last name basis with them.)
I’m referring to the final two deliveries in the recent West Indies vs Australia cricket Test match in Kingston, Jamaica, which “earned” the bowler two consecutive wickets and sets him up for an undeserved hat-trick in his next over.
The batsman played at the ball, missed it, the Aussies appealed unanimously, and the umpire gave it out. Admittedly the bat was close to the ball, and it seems there was a noise that may have suggested a nick. True, we’ve seen worse umpiring decisions, but this one was still poor.
Wicket #2
For an example of a worse umpiring decision we turn to the very next delivery. The batsman half padded up and half attempted a shot, the ball bounced off his front pad, a fielder caught it, and the umpire gave it out. There was enough space between the bat and the ball for a Death Star to orbit through!
Darryn Parker, secretly known as Simon Katich’s #1 fan, has started a blog. Although Daz hasn’t seen the light and turned to C++ yet, I have high hopes for him and am sure that his insights on software development will prove insightful.
Samsung have announced a 256 GB NAND-based solid state disk. It uses SATA II to enable “read speeds of 200MB/sec and write speeds of an amazing 160MB/sec”.
Initial rumours suggest a price in the multi-thousands of US dollars, but it’s only a matter of time before hard drives are replaced with affordable, high capacity flash memory. Bring on the 256 GB solid state iPod!
The Secret History of Star Wars is a new full-length e-book exploring the writing and creation of the Star Wars saga.
Culled from over 400 sources and filled with quotes from people such as George Lucas, Gary Kurtz and Mark Hamill, The Secret History of Star Wars traces all the way back to 1973 to examine how the first 14-page treatment that began the series came to be and was slowly built, draft by draft, year by year and movie by movie.
Covering a period of over four decades, you will discover how George Lucas got his ideas for the original film, how Darth Vader was made into Luke Skywalker’s father in 1978 and forever altered the arc of the story, what happened to the infamous third trilogy in the series and how the prequel stories came to be.
The book also reveals the style and method of Lucas himself and how his personal life affected and shaped the story, for better and worse. This is a book which challenges many legends surrounding the series and places the films in a new light.
For the more casual fan this will be a mesmerising read and for those who think they know everything about the series, prepare to be surprised!
From South Australia, this cab sav tastes of “intense blackcurrant and ripe berries that are beautifully balanced with cedar, licorice and smoky oak”. At least, that’s what the official line is.
It was quite nice but certainly benefited from a good decantation. My first impression was that it was a touch bitter but thankfully that turned out to be a premature judgement.
Based on a true story, The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher) tells the story of Salomon Sorowitsch, a former professional money counterfeiter, who, as a Jew, is put into a concentration camp by the Nazis.
Eventually he and some other prisoners with a professional background in art, design and printing are forced to produce fake British pounds and U.S. dollars in an effort to initially destabilise the British economy but later to fund the Nazi war effort. (See Operation Bernhard.)
Iron Sky will be the second film by the creators of Star Wreck, the most popular Internet feature film of all time, as well as the most popular Finnish film ever.
I have to admit I’d never even heard of, let alone seen, Star Wreck before I came across the Iron Sky teaser. I’m also not sure how you measure the “most popular Internet feature film”.
Nonetheless the Iron Sky teaser trailer is excellent; hopefully the finished film will be just as good.
Posted by neilhendo 
Posted by neilhendo 
Posted by neilhendo 
From South Australia, this cab sav tastes of “intense blackcurrant and ripe berries that are beautifully balanced with cedar, licorice and smoky oak”. At least, that’s what the 
