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Originally uploaded by Jeff Coleman.

My current desktop as of 23 September 2006.

And then we get a little bitterness.

: " "

"And by the way...

when people like me ask questions about; Does it still make sense to have these troops under fire? That’s supporting the troops. Asking for a plan is supporting the troops. Sitting around and parsing the meaning of civil war…that’s not supporting the troops…that’s supporting the President, and hes not a troop, he just plays one on TV."

Bill Maher on Scarborough Country

Jeff

Nintendo Wii preview video

This is a 5-minute video showing off some of the coolest new games and features of the Wii. There's Wii Sports, Mario Galaxy, Metroid, Zelda, Excite Truck, Call of Duty and a bunch of other games.

Can't wait for November 19 :)

Jeff

"The Black Dahlia"

Saw the new Brian DePalma movie "The Black Dahlia" last night.

DePalma has such talent as a director that even when he makes a terrible movie, he can make it memorable and striking--as with "Raising Cain", which is almost grotesque in its awfulness, but deals palpably with DePalma's favorite themes of identity and sexuality and violence.

Unforunately that's not the case here. "The Black Dahlia" never seemed to draw me in as an actual story--I never began to care about the characters enough to want to follow the convoluted murder mystery plot. The actors seemed like they were saying lines, the locations felt like sets, the clothes like costumes. Something about it just never seemed to work.

On top of that the film was premised on some ridiculous assumptions. Mia Kirshner plays Elizabeth Short, the "Black Dahlia" who was murdered and dismembered in 1947 in postwar Los Angeles. Hillary Swank plays a bored socialite who becomes involved in the case after some friends remark that she bears a strong resemblance to Betty Short.

I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion, because even dressed identically, Hillary Swank is tall, broad-shouldered and mannish. She looks nothing like the gorgeous, petite, and very feminine Mia Kirshner.

Based on the novel by James Ellroy, the story has more than a few points in common with his "LA Confidential": seedy postwar Los Angeles, the world of low-budget stag and porno, two cops, one who's political and ambitious, and the girl who comes between them. LA Confidential even featured the "lookalike" theme in Kim Basinger's character. There, the tall, handsome Basinger didn't look much like tiny waif Veronica Lake, but the story and characters were so compelling that it didn't matter.

In "Black Dahlia", once the characters start digging into the mystery of who killed Elizabeth Short the entire movie begins to unravel, and the layers of truth and untruth become more complex and ridiculous each time they're revealed. Many of the characters involved are introduced far too late in the game or are introduced only in flashbacks or exposition, leaving the resolution with a hollow feeling that doesn't satisfy.

Aaron Eckhart is the only actor who really shines, with his charisma and appeal he is a terrific personality on screen. Josh Hartnett is his usual wooden self. The usually-good Scarlett Johannson fills out her sweater nicely but in this film seems strangely distant from the material, like she doesn't believe any of the words she's saying. A number of set pieces in the film feature some bizarre performances, including the Hillary Swank character's mother, who I would swear was channeling SNL's Molly Shannon at her most extreme and grotesque.

Visually DePalm has a couple of his trademark virtuoso moments but sense of artifice exposes the story as hollow and flat rather than drawing the viewer in. This is disappointing, becase I'm a big fan of DePalma. I quite liked his last film, the ambitious and sexy "Femme Fatale", and in general even his lesser films are stylistically interesting. "The Black Dahlia" may benefit from a reappraisal sometime in the future, but for now I can't recommend it at all.

Wii Dated And Priced For North America

Wii Dated And Priced For North America: "


November 19th. $250. That's what North American gamers have been waiting to hear. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is running a New York Times story dated September 14th. There will be over more than 25 titles available for the Wii this year, and Nintendo plans to ship 4 million of the consoles worldwide. President Reggie Fils-Aime said in a phone interview:

Our goal is to bring gaming back to the masses. You see that in our pricing, you see that in the number of units we plan to make available this year and you see that in how we are positioning the Wii to appeal to every member of the household, including but not limited to the hard-core gamer. We are including all of these capabilities as part of our overall strategy to expand the gaming market. Broadening the market is important because it will breathe new life into this business. Otherwise, this industry is moving down a path of being more and more limited to the hard-core gamer.

Moreover, Nintendo intends to announce that every Wii will be bundled w"

Introducing: Progressions X

Stephen Greenwood-Hyde and I are proud to announce the launch of our
new series, Progressions X, on Joey Manley's www.adultwebcomics.com!

Progressions X is the erotic adventures of the denizens of Minerva
City, a tijuana-bible spinoff of www.progressions.org in which the
only constant is that the clothes will inevitably come off.

http://www.progressions.org/x/

It began as a lark years ago when I decided to draw a pornographic
version of a short Progressions minicomic I had just finished, but it
became a tradition where each new Progressions story would receive its
own erotic version, each more depraved than the last.

Progressions has been running on Webcomics Nation, which has limits on
adult content, but thanks to the newly-launched Adult Webcomics we
finally have a home on the web for the basest and most salacious
stories we can create!

Progressions X will be updating weekly, with new installments of 3-5
pages every Monday.

It is our view that pornography, like kung fu, is best served with a
minimum of plot and an emphasis on action and we hope to satisfy that
requirement with Progressions X! We hope you'll give it a look and
pass it on to your more open-minded friends. Of course, conservative
condemnation and cries for censorship are also welcome, as are
complaints that Progressions X represents solid evidence of the
downfall of civilization as we know it. That kind of thing always
boosts ratings!

Thanks!