FILM TERM: Gaffer

WHAT: In motion picture and television production in the United States, the head of the lighting and electrical department is the Chief Lighting Technician, most commonly referred to as the Gaffer.

WHY: The Gaffer is one of two department heads responsible for light and shadow that report directly under the cinematographer, or Director of Photography. While the average citizen knows the term "grip," they often falsely attribute that name to all the people they see moving any equipment on a film set. The Gaffer's equal and head of the Grips is the Key Grip. Both the Gaffer and the Key Grip have their own respective "Best Boy" (yes, females too are called "Best Boys") who usually keep their equipment orders and personal in order.

It's not really that difficult to understand: to light a film or tv set, light and shadow is used to define objects that expose and are captured on film. Anyone on set you see moving a light or running power is a Set LIghting Technician (a.k.a. electrician or juicer) - they deal with light and answer to the Gaffer. The grips operate similiary, but tend to provide support equipment and deal with shadows - cutting the light with opaque materials, gels, or some sort of diffusion - they in turn answer to their boss: the Key Grip.

By the way, the photo is misleading: that guy wouldn't be a Gaffer: although films tend to be run slightly differently, on professional Hollywood film and television productions, the gaffer and key grip rarely move equipment. Just one of the perks of being boss.

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TECH: Real Time Rome

WHAT: Real Time Rome is MIT's SENSEable City Lab's project that collects and tracks real time cell phone data, bus, and taxi information in Rome with the hopes of helping individuals better plan their time by knowing congestion conditions on foot or vehicle.

WHY: Simply put, it's a way of mapping information how many people are where at any given time. By using cell phone technology - which the majority of people now have - the plan is to help curb Rome's congestion by mapping the pulse of the city.

Using your phone or kiosks displaying maps placed throughout the city at bus stops and the like, individuals can see how busy it is at a major plaza, which roads are congested, or what night clubs are the most popular.

It's really a simple idea that is pretty cool; it's using exsisting technology to help people be more efficient with their time. In a dynamic scenario, it may even allow buses to alter their routes as necessary, and by providing information to riders, help lessen stress levels by answering the unknown variable: when exactly is my bus going to arrive?*

http://senseable.mit.edu/realtimerome/

* In London, the transit authority conducted research that demonstrated that stress levels were reduced when riders knew the arrival time of late trains versus waiting without knowledge, hoping - yes, praying - that sometime their train would in fact arrive.

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SHOPPING: Costco

WHAT: The largest "membership warehouse club" chain in the world based on sales volume, Costco offers low-priced, bulk packaged goods aimed at larger families, businesses, and filmmakers...

WHY: According to my brother, Costco doesn't carry crap. I'd confirm this if I had a Costco card, but that's probably a few months away. I do remember that in the past, though, yes, in fact, most of the products I've ever eaten or bought with somebody else's card were actually good.

Now, while I'm not a big fan of building large corporate chains that may treat their employees poorly or that drive away family owned businesses, Costco seems to have built a solid, reputable business: in 2006, they were ranked number one by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Besides some electronic items, customers can return any item - or their membership - for a full refund. This place is crazy: they sell more wine than anyone else in the United States, are the third largest pizza chain, offer travel services and insurance, and will even change your oil. Oh, yeah: they even have an optometrist!

www.costco.com

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DRINK: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

WHAT: From the north valley of California comes a variety of remarkable, award-winning micro brewed beers. The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, established in 1979 in Chico, California, brews over 700,000 barrels of world-renowned beer a year, ranks consistently on BeerAdvocate.com's Top 25 list, and has been featured on television shows such as FRIENDS and SEX IN THE CITY.

WHY: I usually only drink beer on special occasions, and last week was one of them. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is the second best-selling "craft beer" in the United States - behind Samual Adams - yet it's exceeds the competition. I write this as unbiased as I possibly can, having spent my secondairy education in Chico, where the brewery also has a very nice restaurant that was opened in 1989. More recently, they opened "The Big Room," a venue for live music that has featured bands as diverse as Huey Lewis & the News and Steve Cooley Band.

Their most popular and widely distributed beer is the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - this is the beer that made the brewery famous. It's great with a meal or straight out of the bottle. While I currently prefer their Celebration Ale, my brother likes their Stout - yet they brew a selection of seasonal, classic, and limited selection beers numbering somewhere between 10 and 12 -- you can search their website for a distributor near you, or visit the brewery itself in beautiful Chico, just 70 miles north of Sacramento.

http://www.sierranevada.com

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HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Slingbox

WHAT: If you've got a broadband connection at home, Slingbox is a piece of hardware that you hook up to your television at home, allowing you to watch your TV while you on the go: from another computer or your mobile phone.

WHY: Alright, so having a DVR is pretty cool: it's the big fad right now, allowing television viewers to basically "mash-up" network programming, effectively creating your own programming channel. Viewers no longer need to decide between two competing shows that are on at the same time; watch one, record the other - and best of all, skip the commercials.

Not so cool for the networks or advertisers, though.

Then came Slingbox. You hook it up to your AV stuff at home, and voila! You can continue to watch what you want no matter where you are. Watch all your channels from your office desk - or on the otherside of the world. Prices start at $129.99, with no monthly costs. Yes, you can also watch your recorded shows that are on your tv. For television addicts, the drugs just keep getting stronger.

http://www.slingmedia.com/

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ENTERTAINMENT: Hulu.com

WHAT: Hulu.com is the soon-to-be release media hub for Fox, NBC, and SCIFI Channel, Bravo, and USA Channel programming online. It will offer a video-on-demand service on regular network series, and is expected to also offer user-created content a la You Tube.

WHY: Currently, Hulu is in a private Beta mode, and I just received my password to join over the previous weekend. While I haven't really had a whole lot of time to browse the site, I have noticed that, so far, it seems impressive: thorough catalogs of the for-mentioned network programming: 30 Rock, Family Guy, Saturday Night Live episodes and clips.

News Corps and NBC Universal have been busy removing their content from You Tube, and are attempting to control the eyeballs that watch their shows through Hulu. However, the next evolution of internet surfing - including videos - means taking it mobile. For example, allowing modules of content to travel safely from one site to next. Liked that clip from Heroes? No problem, take this snippet of code and imbed it on your own page. The rights holder would then be able to retain control, and also control the advertising within the module, as well.

Until then, Hulu looks promising for a safe place to get content while you're away from your home TV set.

www.hulu.com

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ENTERTAINMENT: Google Earth's Flight Simulator

WHAT: Google Earth is already a great program as is. But the Google Earth developers team has added a hidden "easter egg" inside the 3D mapping program. Hitting Ctrl + Alt + A ( + Option + A on the Mac) brings you into the flight simulator mode, and you can fly two planes around the satellite accurate world.

WHY: Is Google taking on retail flight simulators like Microsoft head-on? They've still got a long way to go, but the initial landscaping far exceeds any other out there - it's realistic and exact, culled from authentic satelite photography - so you see an authentic overhead shot of your house.

Where Google will have to make up ground is in flight simulator physics, and model detail - the second half of a realistic flight simulator program. Right now, there is no control panel overlay for controlling the "plane." You fly by using keyboard controls. However, for a free program, Google Earth is just getting cooler every day.

Check out more at http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/flightsim/

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ENTERTAINMENT: EMPIRE Magazine

WHAT: EMPIRE magazine is Britain's numero uno selling, high quality, populist, glossy movie magazine. It was one of my favorite magazines available when I lived in Scandinavia, and continues to cover both mainstream and art house movies, as well as DVDs and video games. It's also expensive to buy in the United States.

WHY: If you're a movie buff, Empire covers it all for you in clever detail. You can find the magazine at Borders, and maybe Barnes & Noble - for around $9.99. Yes, it sounds like a lot for a magazine, but it's jam packed from cover to cover with trivia, buzz, and coverage that you won't find in similar American magazines.

EMPIRE often has themed issues, such as STAR WARS or "Gangster Cinema." Additionally, you'll often find extras such as full-size posters or refrigerator magnets. It's a refreshing look at the entertainment world.

http://www.empireonline.com/

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SONG: Do Not Forsake Me [The Ballad of High Noon]

WHAT: The haunting, Academy Award Winner for Best Music, Original Song, as well as Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedic Picture for 1952, Do Not Forsake Me is the theme from HIGH NOON. It is sung by Tex Ritter, father of the late comedian John Ritter, and was written by Dimitri Tiomkin (music) and Ned Washington (lyrics).

WHY: This is an unforgettable, haunting song - and possibly the start of the movie "theme song" (see article link below). As much as I wrote that Back To The Future was a great old friend from 1985 because it was a complete movie experience, this ballad perfectly suits the tone of a lone man sacrificing himself for the good of the community.

The film is simple: "A retiring lawman about to leave town with his new bride seeks allies among the fearful townspeople when an outlaw he put in prison returns with his gang to take revenge in this classic western (IMDB)." The lyrics of Do Not Forsake Me say it all:

Do not forsake me O my darlin'
You made that promise when we wed.
Do not forsake me O my darlin'
Although you're grievin', I can't be leavin'
Until I shoot Frank Miller dead.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/03/28/ballad_of_high_noon.html

Song on iTunes: Do Not Forsake Me - Tex Ritter - iTunes

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ENTERTAINMENT: Back To The Future

WHAT: This is the complete movie experience: Back to the Future is an adventure of a movie from 1985 starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, with a sharp, twisting plot, amazing soundtrack, and expert directing by USC alumni Robert Zemeckis.

WHY: Of course I was going to write about this film at some point. In fact, I might even be so bold as to say that, as a complete movie experience, it's better than Star Wars, and even more complex with it's societal commentary spanning decades of the American experience and popular culture. Even if you don't agree with the previous statement, BTTF blows away the last three Star Wars films AND the televised Ewok Adventures!

If, for some bizarre reason, you have never seen Back to the Future, or even if you have, go watch it again. It's like visiting a good, old friend. Yes, you'll laugh at some of the outdated references, but Marty and Doc will still put a smile on your face. I guarantee it.

"You built a time machine out of a Delorian?!?"

What better way to spend a lazy holiday afternoon.

http://www.bttfmovie.com/

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HISTORY: H.C. Andersen's The Little Mermaid

WHAT: The Little Mermaid -- Den Lilla Havfrue in Danish -- is a fairy tale that was written in 1836 by Hans Cristian Andersen, the Danish author of The Snow Queen, The Ugly Ducking, and The Emperor's New Clothing, among others. Visitors to Copenhagen, Denmark, visit the tiny Little Mermaid statue, the city's icon -- but also the focus of repeated vandalism over the decades.

WHY: The Little Mermaid statue was commissioned in 1909 by the son of the Carlsberg Brewery after he saw a ballet about the Little Mermaid. Since its reveal in 1913, the statue has been the focus of repeated attacks of vandalism: she has had her head cut off several times, her hair has been painted red, she's been given a bra to wear, she's had her arm amputated and she's been blown off her rock.

Why all this attention? Issues range from simple drunks looking to occupy themselves, to feminist groups against the morality of the original fairy tale. Regardless of the reasons, she has returned time and time again to her perch on the rocks, and tourists arrive daily, digital cameras in tow, snapping portraits of the very non-Disney "Original Gangsta."

One cannot look condescendingly back on H.C. Andersen's stories, as so often happens with old movies. Times were not easier, nor were stories sugar coated for children - and unlike the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, the original version has a complex, heavier ending. You can read the entire original translated story at the link below.

http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html

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FOOD: Archer Farms

WHAT: According to Wikipedia, Archer Farms is "the store brand of premium foods offered exclusively by Target." With their logo Tasty Food, Tasty Price, Archer Farms brand can be found in all Target stores.

WHY: Yeah, I know: why am I talking about junk food offered from the 5th largest retail store in the United States? I'll tell you why: they've got great deals on pretty tasty snack foods. While I'm not going to delve into their entire line of products - I wouldn't know where to begin, since I'm a fairly recent discover of their products - I will mention their nuts.

Almonds, peanuts, and various trail mixes are offered at great bulk food prices, and something more: they actually taste good. For my friends from abroad, the next time you're in the States and looking for quick, cheap, bad for you picnic food, you can stop by and get yourself some of these produces. I know it may sound strange to find tasty food at a Target store in the United States, but there you have it. Happy Friday to you.

www.target.com

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ENTERTAINMENT: Amazing Stories - Season 1 DVD

WHAT: Season one of Amazing Stories, the Steven Spielberg created television series that ran for two seasons on NBC, is available as a four-disc box set. Running from 1985 to 1987, the show was an anthology series similar to The Twilight Zone. However, Amazing Stories lacked a host, and despite 12 Emmy nominations and 5 wins, NBC canceled the show and said "bye-bye."

WHY: For a kid, Amazing Stories was just that: amazing, but also fun. Whereas The Twilight Zone could be frightening, the Amazing Stories - each episode was a unique, self-contained short story - were generally of lighter fare and more cinematic than the sitcoms or other dramatic series of the time.

Watching the series today, it seems obvious why the show couldn't sustain an audience: most of the protagonists simply reacted to the "amazing" events they became part of, instead of creating, controlling, or making decisions that effected their destinies.

Also, television series rely on a few economic basics, one being the need for a production to utilize set after set from episode to episode. It is expensive to build new sets all the time, so the overhead must have been great. I can imagine that Amazing Stories was expensive to make: each episode was a new director, new story, new characters, and typically had new production designs.

Does Amazing Stories stand the test of time as a great show? Not really, but it's still a good time, and it's fun to go back and view all the episodes that I remember so well. It's a nostalgic time machine that takes you back to the 80's, and just watching the guest stars in each episode is reason enough to add this set to your DVD collection.

Amazing Stories at Amazon.com

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NEWS: The Writer's Strike

WHAT: It's been two decades since the film and television writers went on strike, but huge technological changes have forced them back on the picket lines to negotiate contracts with networks, studios, and producers.

WHY: It won't be long before you start seeing some significant changes on your television set: already late night comedy is missing, and in about three weeks, the networks will be out of their current run of this season's television series. Instead, you'll soon be watching new reality television shows: at CBS alone, they've got 14 reality shows ready in the wings, averting the need for creative, professional guild writing.

That last strike, back in 1988, lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry about $500 million. That's a long time. In the meantime, the studios have stocks of archived shows, and are ready to pump the airwaves with reality television, which may - like it did in the late 80's - erode the real estate for dramatic or sit-com shows. Some of your favorite shows - ER, for example - might not survive a strike.

So what do the writers want? A few things, but the big one is WGA representation in the new media (i.e. internet) world. For example, if a studio wants to develop content for web-only release, they don't want to have to hire WGA writers -- they'd like the right to get anyone they want. Of course, the writers want to be contracted for this original content creation as well - a "new" media since the strike in 1988.

These are tips of the iceberg. For further info, check out:

http://www.wga.org/

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HISTORY: Dealey Plaza, Site of JFK Assassination

`WHAT: Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, is the site of the November 22, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While riding in an open-air limosine with wife Jacqueline and Texas Governor John Connally and wife, crowds heard three shots that killed Kennedy and wounded Connally - with Lee Harvey Oswald becoming the United States' government's official assassin.

WHY: Saturday was a sunny afternoon in Dallas, when I found myself staring at the painted "X" marking the spot of the fatal head wound that ended John F. Kennedy's life and presidency. It seemed that not much had changed in nearly 44 years - the images of the historical Zapruder film imprinted firmly in my mind - as a scattered gathering of folks wandered about Dealey Plaza. Small-time entrepreneurs and a few homeless men were selling assassination pamphlets or DVD copies of the Zapruder film, and the museum that now resides in the former Texas Book Depository attracted visitors. Those that were alive and old enough back in '63 know exactly where they were when they heard about the assassination - I remember my father telling me he heard it while driving across the San Mateo Bridge in California.

Standing there today, thinking back on a time when things were supposed to be better - or perhaps they were the end of better days - made me think: the best day is the present, and it's what you make of it. In the film, Kennedy is smiling and waving in the sunshine, just seconds away from the end of his life. As I looked around Dealey Plaza, I thought that there should be something there, a bigger tribute to an assassinated American president, instead of cracking concrete, fading paint, and a few out of town tourists finding something to entertain them. Then I remembered the Eternal Flame at Kennedy's grave, and remembered that this wasn't supposed to be good place. Whether or not you believe in conspiracy theories regarding the assassination - it does seem highly unlikely that Oswald could have been alone - standing at the site of a place you know so well - and the emotional resonance of a nation divided - that, president or not, here was where someone's life ended.

Looking at that footage, being in that place, and reflecting on events of today makes me realize that you must be able to stand behind your thoughts, keep an open mind to the possibilities, and like Kennedy in the moments before those bullets, have a smile on your face.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination

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HISTORY: Sugar Plums

WHAT: Sugar plums, sugar plums, sugar plums... somehow, on my iPod, I have a track of Jiminy Cricket telling his rendition of "The Night Before Christmas." I've no idea how I got the track, but it's there, and Jiminy recites the line from A Visit From St. Nicolas: "as visions of sugar plums danced in their heads." So what exactly are "sugar plums?" Apparently, a couple of things: hard, round shaped candies made of sugar, and one of a few plums with non-bitter skin.

WHY: When was the last time you were at the store or market and saw some sugar plums? Where did these things go? Once upon a time, kids were dreaming of these things during the holidays, but in all my time, I've never seen them.

Or have I? The real question is, which sugar plums were the kids dreaming of, the fruit or the candy? I'm going to guess that they were dreaming of hard, plum flavored candies. I know, I know, plum flavored candies might not sound that great - or do they? Aren't you bored of the same old candy you find at a supermarket: Hershey's Bar. Boring. Snickers. Alright, but still: boring.

Now, hey, wow, yippie: sugar plums! Give me some! Sounds promising, no? The elusive sugar plum does grow in the area I'm from, in Northern California, so I've likely been eating these things my entire life and simply calling it a "plum." Now I know better. You can check the links below for hard candies, fruit, and even sugar plum gels.

Fruit: http://www.mountlassen.com/products/fruits/fruits-dtl-sgrplms.html
Gels: www.sweetpalace.com
More on the history: http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec74.htm

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REFERENCE & ENTERTAINMENT: The Otherside of the World!

WHAT: Today's brick is simple: take a Google Map and modify it. Everyone's doing it. However, this site let's you fulfill that childhood question: "If I dug a hole through the earth, would I end up in China?" The answer is: probably not. You'd more than likely end up in a huge body of water.

WHY: Today's brick is purely a conversation starter, and I suppose a spoiler of adolescence. Truly, it's not really vital that you know where you'd end up if you could accomplish the insurmountable task of DIGGING a hole through the CENTER of the EARTH! Not-with-standing the enormous distance or the nuclear heat that would incinerate your flesh instantly, you know you want to know where you'd end up, right?

Right. The strange thing is this, though: don't you feel that you have some sort of connection with the people that live exactly opposite on the globe than you? What is that fascination? I suppose that, in some metaphysical way, they are your Doppelgänger of sorts.

Most likely, though, you're going to find that your Doppelgänger on the otherside of the planet is a fish. Or maybe a shark. Or algae. Plankton, most likely...

www.ubasics.com/dighole/

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