Saturday, January 31, 2009

Odd burial sites


When I was still probably in my teens and living on Long Island with my parents we went shopping in the Commack shopping center one day and I saw a nice little picnic area in the middle of a parking lot. I went to have a closer looker and lo and behold, this was no picnic area. It was a gravesite. With gravestones that looked really, really old. I remember thinking that this had to be fake. What were 100+ year old gravestones doing in the middle of a shopping center parking lot?

Well the other day I was on boingboing (http://www.boingboing.net/) and I came across a link to a website all about gravesites in parking lots including a story about the one I had seen in Long Island. Apparently this is not an uncommon phenomenon. People build nice, big family farms and bury their loved ones on it and then hundreds of years later developers swallow up the land and the gravesites are the only remaining sign of the family's having been there.

This particular grave site is actually called Burr cemetery because it is the members of the Burr family that are buried on it. (Although it's really hard to read this off the gravestone itself.) The cemetery was used until 1878 and then during WWI the land was used by the army as an airfield for training pilots (called Brindley Field then). It wasn't until the 1950's when it was turned into a shopping center.

It's really sad to see the gravesite in person. Sad because it seems so disrespectful to the family of the dead and sad to the memory of the buried. It's also sad to think about parking lots swallowing up landscape and shopping malls replacing farmland.

Of course I know there's two sides to this. I'm sure it can be argued that graves are a waste of precious living space. That those sentimental developers should have just bulldozed those silly little headstones.

Also, I find it kind of funny to think about how the planners had to build around the gravesite. "All right Mickey... this should be a straightfoward job, no different from our last one. Just one little problem though...."

Anyway I feel some personal gratification in uncovering the mystery of the Home Depot gravesite. (YAY internet!) For those of you readers in Tennessee take heart. You've got one of your own in Memphis sitting next to a Piggly-Wiggly. (whatever that is.)



For more info:

-Miyo

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Poscript...more on on P & P v.s P & P

I came across these sites the other day that also dissected the differences between the two recent/popular Pride and Prejudice screen adaptations. The first is a blog:
http://ladylibby.blogspot.com/2007/08/pride-and-prejudice-colin-vs-keira.html

One of the points she made that I forgot to mention in the podcast:

3. Bingly was better in the miniseries. They made him a complete doof in the Focus Features version.

Someone on YouTube also did a character by character slideshow comparison:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkqHaF7yEX0

And an interesting mashup that edits Keira Knightly and Colin Firth into the same production:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsapbLKEijc&feature=related

And I'll stop now before this turns into a Jane Austen blog.

-Miyo

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The 81st Academy Awards (As They Should Have Been), Volume One: Best Picture


The nominations for the 81st Academy Awards have been released, and like everyone else, I have some problems with them. This is the first volume of eight that I will do briefly detailing my choices and why I picked them. First up is Best Picture.

The ACADEMY'S PICKS:
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire

MY PICKS:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I loved the idea of this film as soon as I heard its premise and who was directing it, so I may be biased in nominating it for Best Picture. The movie does have some big flaws, such as completely glossing over the end of Benjamin's life, but otherwise it is a beautiful story. I think it has become so successful because it taps into the audience's emotions when dealing with life, love and death, and to be that touching separates it from most of the other films released this year.

• The Dark Knight
I know this probably doesn't belong on this list, and if I was pushed, I would replace it with Milk, but The Dark Knight was a great piece of entertainment. It has a few problems, but I think it should recognized for how it absolutely captured America's interest and love of escapist fantasies like Star Wars. Does it deserve to win? Not at all, but a nomination in a weak year for movies wouldn't have killed the Academy.

• Slumdog Millionaire
Fantastic movie that probably should win the award this year. When I watched it I immediately thought of two movies: 1994's Forrest Gump and 2002's City of God. Slumdog was able to brilliantly take the endearing love story of Gump and mix it with a slightly watered down version of the violence and crime in City of God, which made it entertaining and gripping. Also, using a game show as a narrative device was a nice touch, making it more original than most of its competition.


• WALL•E
This year Waltz with Bashir was nominated for foreign language best picture, making it the first animated film to be nominated in that category. Nominating WALL•E wouldn't even be that groundbreaking since Beauty and the Beast was nominated back in the early 1990s. The first half of this movie was so powerful and beautiful that I think it merits a nomination beyond the obvious Best Animated feature film.


• The Wrestler

The story is fairly formulaic, but the direction and acting elevate this movie into one of the best films this year. You care about the characters and you want them to succeed and be happy, but you also see their limitations and know they can't change, which makes the movie even more heartbreaking and memorable. You leave the theater changed after seeing this film, never wanting to take anything for granted, and to me that means it deserves this nomination.





I did not pick Frost/Nixon or The Reader because I think they both are fairly straightforward and entertaining, but lack any sense of originality or anything that could be considered special. In ten years, no one will even think of these two films when discussing the best movies during this decade, while people will still remember Slumdog or The Wrestler. If Frost/Nixon were to win this year, it would be like Ordinary People winning over Raging Bull, which we can all agree was a huge mistake.



-James

Monday, January 26, 2009

Episode One: BBC Pride and Prejudice vs. Focus Features Pride and Prejudice


Okay kids, it's finally here, the very first episode of Oddcast!




Please give us your feedback to make it better!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Oddcast Promo

We've recorded our first episode of Oddcast and it should be posted sometime this weekend. In the meantime, here is a promotional tidbit for you to listen to.


(Really it's just us testing out the new USB microphone that I got for Christmas. See below.)

-Miyo

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Rejected names for podcast....

Sushi and White Bread
Pop Culture Salon
Sad Panda Podcast
JModcast
Jay and Miyo Make a Podcast