Closing in on Isengard

[annathepiper]

Several folks have Friended me lately, so a big hello to logrusboy, iwondery, motherofpearl51, and serenalita. Welcome, and hope you enjoy my posts!

We're in the middle of a three day weekend here at the Murkworks, and so far it's been a fairly laid back and pleasant sort of thing. No particular plans have been made, but that's okay, there's something to be said for an easygoing and stress-free long weekend. solarbird and I spent some time today going through our media library--a lot of our old videotapes are screwed up since they'd been taped on a machine that decided it was going to invent its own format, so now we can't play them on anything else. And several others are things that we don't need anymore, since we've since purchased the same things on DVD. So we've built a sizeable stack of tapes we no longer need; anybody local need a bunch of videotapes? Let us know.

It's been fun looking at the stuff, though, and seeing which things we want to keep. Such as, for example, the movie for the eighth Doctor Who. Now that Ninth and Tenth Doctors have finally sold me on Who fandom, I need to watch this again some time soon and remind myself of Eighth Doctor.

It's also kind of amusing just thinking about how media has advanced so much in our lifetimes that we don't even really need videotapes much anymore. I still have a bit of a need for scratch tapes--as we speak, I've been taping the third season of Digging for the Truth for gerimaple since she's a huge fan and it's not airing in Canada yet, and this is the easiest way I have of getting episodes up to her. But other than that, it's been ages since I've wanted to tape anything.

I've also been poking around online trying to find out where I can buy CDs for various Atlantic Canadian artists' music. There's one more Fables CD I want, and some more Irish Descendants, and I keep hearing over and over that as a GBS fan, I probably will like the Punters as well. None of whom are downloadable on iTunes. Sniff. I have found atlanticcanadianmusic.com; any Canadian folks or otherwise fans of Canadian music out there have any experience with this site? Is it reliable?

On the other hand, I have noted with pleasure that the most recent Paperboys CD, The Road to Ellenside, is in fact downloadable via iTunes. Yay! And I was really stunned to see that there's a small assortment of filk on the iTunes store as well--including some Julia Ecklar and Heather Alexander. Soon as I have some music-buying budget built back up, I'm totally making another sweep through the iTunes store. There's some Seven Nations and Young Dubliners and Captain Tractor with my name all over 'em.

Until then, I am apparently going to be in a huge Carbon Leaf mood, since Ether-Electrified Porch Music has taken over my iPod; it's a very, very strong album. I've also been giving Love Loss Hope Repeat a few more listens--and as I'd expected it would, it's starting to grow on me. Something about it suddenly went click once I started catching the mandolin work in the background. It's a subtler album than earlier Carbon Leaf, but there's some serious goodness there, especially "The War Was In Color".

And oh yeah, it must also be noted that the remastered TOS episodes are kicking serious ass, if y'all haven't managed to catch them yet. We just caught "Amok Time" last night, and enjoyed the new effects and space shots quite a bit--suddenly, Vulcan has ice caps! And the wide-angle shots of Vulcan terrain, including a shot of Spock's hometown that's consistent with the animated Trek series, are really cool. The whole episode got me off onto an amused mental tangent about the story behind how Spock's parents got together; I mean, what possessed Amanda to decide, "Hmm, Vulcan! I want me some of that!" ;)

Hope everyone's weekends are going well!

Miles since the 8th: 26.3
Miles out of Hobbiton: 1773.8
Miles out of Rauros Falls: 464.8
Miles to Isengard: 19.2

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

What? They did a Star Wars on TOS? Oh, no. Guys, Han Shot First. Don't mess with the history of the show! *sigh*

[annathepiper]

They're changing none of the plot points--it's strictly updating the visuals in certain places, to try to make things look less cheesy and in some ways more believable (such as the scale of the Enterprise in space next to planets or space stations). They're doing a very good job with it, actually. All of the changes they've been doing are very much in character with the original look of the show.

You can see a bunch of example shots in the gallery link here.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

The problem I have with doing this much work on the cleanup is that it still destroys the history... part of the point was that the FX really were *this bad* and the series still survived to become part of what defined space travel for our generation... I have six bits that says the first ever real starship will be called Enterprise...

She ought to be remembered as she was. No bloody A, B, C, or D.

[annathepiper]

I totally see that viewpoint and respect it... though for me, for what it's worth, seeing them do this doesn't ping me badly, like some of the changes Lucas tried to pull with the Star Wars movies. Most likely, I think, because they're making such an effort to fit in with the original look of the show. It kind of feels to me like taking an old beat up work of art and restoring it to pristine condition--because that's also part of what they're doing, they're not just updating the effects shots. They're also doing some stunning work with restoring the crispness and cleanness of all the color. Everything, even the stuff they haven't added new shots to, looks so much prettier.

I think I'd have a much more negative opinion if they were indeed trying to change plot points, but they aren't. (Hell, for fairness' sake, I must also note that some of Lucas' work on the special editions of the Star Wars flicks don't bother me either. I mean, adding new window shots to Cloud City on Bespin? Cool. But Han not shooting first, and fucking with the essential nature of the character and the plot? NOT cool.)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I gotta agree with you on liking some of the stuff on SW:SE... The business about putting the scene with Jabba back in was just priceless and (a) fit with the book and (b) didn't mess with the rest of the plot. And I like the comedy bit where they're driving into Mos Eisley and the Bantha driver loses it... they're also careful to preserve the look and feel of the original, even if they're exceeding the available tech. Where I got off was Han Shot First, and with replacing the celebration song at the end of Jedi...

What they did with the Arena in Amok Time looked fine; it preserved the orignal look and feel of the show. The radical change in Vulcan, though, really didn't get it for me.

I liked what the folks who re-did 2001: A Space Odyssey did. They cleaned stuff up but otherwise left the FX alone, and they did some rather amazing things with the original soundtrack masters (the prints that had been in circulation had extremely muddy sound; the new prints were really crisp and clear). I had the pleasure of seeing it when it came out in the Cinerama... a movie done on that scale on a screen that size and with a good soundsystem... wow.

[solarbird]

It's cool. They went to do the HDTV transfers and the sfx shots went from "outdated" to "embarrassing." So they're reshooting them - original designs, original concepts; when there's new stuff, they're sticking very closely with styles and conceits of the era. So far, I have to say, I've been really pleasantly surprised.

They also re-performed some of the original music, but that's even closer to the original - note-per-note duplications, original arrangements, instrumentation, etc. The recording quality was an issue, again, so.

And no plot changes, no line changes, nothing. They didn't even fix the "James R. Kirk" tombstone, tho' they did replace some of the countdown timer closeups with less dumb ones that don't, you know, roll. ^_^

Anyway, you can see some of the updated stills here. One or two of the new shots they've been showing on the web site haven't actually been aired, because they're from full-length remastered versions of the shows, but even those get edited down to 46 minutes for syndication purposes. To get the full length, you have to buy off iTunes. I presume there'll be a new DVD release later.

[logrusboy.livejournal.com]

*quick wave from the new guy in the peanut gallery* I'll try not to be too much of a bother. :)

Oh, and for the record, I'm pro-remastered-TOS.

[annathepiper]

Hiya and welcome. :) And yay, remastered TOS! I'm waiting for them to come out on DVD, I am totally buying them, since we never got around to buying the boxed sets of the original DVD releases.

[logrusboy.livejournal.com]

I want the ones with Shatner and Nimoy's commentaries!

[annathepiper]

Oh, that would be fun listening. :)

[logrusboy.livejournal.com]

Actually, they were just little spots before and after the commercial breaks (I think Sci-Fi ran them)--so you got to look and listen (yay!). As I recall, they were a mixed bag. Some fun. Some informative. Some blah. But way cool nonetheless. Exactly the sort of thing I imagined when I first heard of the idea of special features on DVDs.

[annathepiper]

Ah okay! Cool. :)

[parabasis.livejournal.com]

Ohh, am now excited to see remastered TOS, too. Was a bit iffy before, but you sold me. Icecaps!

[annathepiper]

Yeah, the several shots of the Enterprise orbiting various planets that actually look like planets now are especially cool. In "I, Mudd", they actually gave the androids' world rings. :D

Re: remastered TOS

[annathepiper]

Yeah, "Doomsday Machine" was also quite neat. I really liked the shots of the battered Constellation, too!

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

Maybe Amanda was from Tucson? ;-)

As for the music, they used a technique frequent for movie music in that era. As the conductor worked, he could see the episode, without sound, projected on a large screen behind the orchestra. The timing and emotion of the music were adjusted to exactly fit what was happening.

[logrusboy.livejournal.com]

Dunno if John Williams still does the screen projection thing 'cause he's "old school" or because that technique is still in general use, but I saw some "making of" stuff that showed him doing it for Star Wars I: There Should Have Been Only Three. My point? Not sure I have your back on "in that era". Significance? Some amount immeasurably larger than zero.

[(Anonymous)]

I took a shortcut and left something out. It was common for both movies and television in those days, but not used much for TV now.

[logrusboy.livejournal.com]

Yep. Anytime I take a shortcut, some helpful busybody calls me out on it too. :)

[annathepiper]

*snicker* More like, given that her Wikipedia page says she is considered to be from Seattle, she probably got tired of getting rained on and was desperate to move to a desert planet. ;)

[branwyn32.livejournal.com]

www.freds.nf.ca That would be Fred's Records on Duckworth Street in downtown St. John's...THE music store. You will be able to find every east coast musician that ever existed and then some. And The Punters RAWK!!!

I'd recommend checking out Mike Hanrahan's solo cd (he's one of the current Irish Descendents members) as well, and if you like classic country, The Eight Track Favourites...includes most of members of The Punters, as well as members of Brothers in Stereo. You'd probably like Barry Canning too...he's not Celtic at all, more folk pop, but very talented. Definitely check out The Navigators too, they're Celtic folk rock, and fantastic. As long as your at the Fred's online store, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of the compilation cd, Favourite Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador...any and all volumes, I think there's 3 now...everyone and their mother is on it.

[annathepiper]

Cool, thank you very much for the link. :) I'll have to see what I can do once I build up another budget for a music spree! And thanks for the recommendations!

[branwyn32.livejournal.com]

No prob! I spent $100 in Fred's in about 10 minutes when I went to St. John's.

[annathepiper]

*notes Fred's as Place to Visit in the Future Anna Visit to St. John's* Neat! :)

[ssha.livejournal.com]

1) I am in need of things to put into my VCR, so would be happy to take some tapes off your hands. Especially since I know we have similar taste in these things. Thus, if you have them still, or any of them still, I'd be happy to take them off your hands next time I'm up there.

2) Vulcans are teh hotnezz and everything! Didn't you know?! ;)

3) I got my social security, and will be resuming payments to you once I figure out a budget with my father. He will be my payee now. So, if you want to send an updated balance sheet to me, I'll pass it along. (I may already have one, I need to look.) Also, if I haven't paid you back in full by the time I get my backpay, you'll get the remainder in a lump sum at that point. My dad has already received my first payment, but will not receive the lump sum of backpay until it has been processed by everyone and their mother.

[annathepiper]

Well, a lot of the tapes we're ditching have already been nuked by Dara's tape-zapper, so they don't actually have anything on them. Of the things we haven't nuked yet, I'd not really consider them very watchable quality... both in the sense of "quality of recording", and the sense of "quality of content". ;) I'm ditching the recorded episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea I've got since I've been buying the DVDs, and same note for three or four Elvis movies. So unless you're up for some grainy-quality serious cheese... ;)

Though hrmm, I don't think I've yet taped over my recording of the GBS concert that broadcast on the TRIO channel--which was an edited down version of the concert that later showed up on the Great Big DVD. If you'd like that, it's yours. :)

Thanks for the update re: Social Security; I've mailed you a copy of your last payment update.

And apparently, yeah, Vulcans are The Hotness, or at least Sarek was. ;) I looked him up--I'd forgotten he took a second human wife after Amanda died!

[ssha.livejournal.com]

Yup, got the update. Thanks!

GBS tapes are always more than welcome. ;)

[annathepiper]

I'll set the GBS tape aside, you can have that. See my other comment re: getting a tape to you, though. Probably easiest to mail it unless we can coordinate a time and place next week for a handoff.