Retrograde

Soon these letters will be gone-- and so will I.

This stop in Cali has been important for many reasons. One of which, of course, is the almost certainty that I will be returning here in a year or so.

But even as that seems like more of a likelihood, the person who arrives here next time will certainly be different than the person who drove across the border last February.

The time here has made me a lot more confident, washed away a lot of bitterness from my first year at grad school, and has encouraged me to explore things outside my comfort zone. In fact, I will spend most of my thesis year discovering if lighting design is what I truly want to do, as I have a growing interest in being a full out Imagineer.

Time will tell, and it may be a long strange trip, but it will be fun.

Speaking of which. the trip back east begins Sunday (I hope), tentative itinerary:

San Fran --> Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City --> Kearney, Nebraska
Nebraska --> Chicago
Chicago --> Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh --> Massachusetts

Its very much the same trek that I took out here. As much as I'd like to explore a different route, there's something special waiting for me at the other end, and not much time to get there.

In the balance [sheet]

In the June 14th post, Theme Park Update, I mentioned that InBev had submitted a takeover bid for Anheuser-Busch. Today, A-B agreed to the buyout. This is NOT good news for the theme parks, so we'll see what happens.

The biggest worry comes from the fact that there are currently no companies properly aligned to take them over. The only logical choice, Six Flags, is already strained by massive debt.

What this likely means is that InBev will be forced to hold onto the parks for a while until a suitor comes along, possibly meaning years of idleness.

Some analysis from Screamscape:

Busch Entertainment - (7/14/08) In a frightening move that most fans of the Anheuser-Busch Theme Parks will find utterly devastating, Anheuser-Busch has agreed to accept a new $70 a share cash offer from InBev to buy the company. The plan is to merge the two companies into a new bigger company called “Anheuser-Busch InBev” that will still push Budweiser as the flagship brand. The current St. Louis AB headquarters will remain as the companies North American HQ and the “global home’ of the Budweiser brand and the press release states that all 12 of the US Breweries will remain open. Unfortunately, there was no mention about the fate of the Busch Entertainment Theme Parks, though many analysts have long agreed that InBev was likely to attempt to sell them off at some point in the future. Currently they expect that the deal will be finalized by the end of the year, though I believe I read that the deal is still subject to stockholder approval, which means in the event of a stockholder revolt I suppose the deal could be turned down, but somehow I doubt that will happen with every stockholder being paid out $70 in cash for every BUD share that they own.


In other theme park news, Disneyland turns 53 this week (either on Thursday or Friday, long story...)

Also, I've made a minor update to my blog, which now includes headlines from some of the major theme park news sites on the net. So all the normal people can have a taste of my obsession.

Font Lust

I worry about myself sometimes...

I just watched the documentary Helvetica and found it absolutely fascinating and surprisingly well produced.

Reccommened for anyone, particularly the intensely opinionated, design-minded group that I tend to be friends with.

Citizen WALL-E

Put on your Sunday clothes there's lots of world out there...

Review of Disney-Pixar's WALL-E

I've just come back from seeing WALL-E for the second time in as many weeks. Pixar has grown up. This is not a great animated film, its a great film that happens to be animated.

I wanted to wait to see it again-- because my initial impression of the film was so uncharacteristically glowing that I thought it must have been a fluke of perception.

But no, on the second go round, this film stands up. So many elements just work so well. The sound design is absolute perfection and some imagery is hauntingly beautiful. The sequence when WALL-E leaves earth and glimpses the beauty of space is one that comes to mind. A robot built to be earth-bound and achieving so much more works on both a visual and emotional level, and its capped by one of this film's signature visuals, the rings of Saturn moment.

I own up to being a bit of a sap and I'll admit to having a bit of a tear form during the WALL-E, EVE "dancing" moment in the third act. The sound design that I mentioned earlier starts the film off brilliantly, and never ceases to be communicative, efficient, and beautiful.

But the ultimate stand out is the story. There's so much of the story that's perfectly told that it's impossible to recall all of it without blogging as I watched. But a robot who learns about life threw the trash of humanity is one of the smartest conceits I've ever encountered.

As someone who considers himself a bit of an engineer-artist (insofar as I'm very structural and deliberate in how I create) I have an appreciation and admiration for so much that was done during this film. There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when you see the progression of captains of the Axiom. And though what's immediately obvious is that they're getting fatter, what's also happening is that they're morphing from fully photorealistic to fully CG. This is brilliant.

Though it never feels incongruent while watching the film, there is a bit of a disconnect when you first think about how the president of BNL is photorealistic, played by the perfectly cast Fred Willard, and all the other humans are CG. But really this is a solution to a problem... how else do you explain the photorealistic humans seen in the Hello, Dolly! footage? By having this quick camera pan and the morph into CGness, the solve a problem and added to the story at the same time.

This is indicative of the smartness of the entire film. I can't remember the last time I felt so trusted as an audience member.

Every art form has its golden age, and right now computer animation is enjoying its time. Its an artform that includes so much, and I can honestly say that some of the absolute best lighting happening right now exists inside a computer.

So, if you can't tell yet, go see this film. You owe it to yourself to see it on the big screen while the print is still fresh. You'll enjoy it immensely while you're watching it, and the message and imagery will stay with you all week.

Somebody call the AFI, and tell them that Orsen needs to get pushed down a spot.

Bravo.

Side note, Sigourney Weaver as the voice of the ships computer is a bit of a trip, all I could think of is the countdown from Alien, kind of a reversal of fortune.

pixar_nerd_moment

For those watching closely, WALL-E's trash sculpture of EVE includes a Luxo Jr. Did anyone spot the Pizza Planet truck?

/pixar_nerd_moment

Robin Williams at the Throckmorton

Last night was my parents last on their week-long visit to see me out here in Sunny California. Some highlights included 3 days in Napa, a day at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and some amazing restaurants (Le Garage in Sausalito, and Bleaux Magnolia in Napa being standouts). There should be pictures soon (I just need to figure out a good way to share them), as I just bought a swanky new digital SLR and managed to fill my 2GB card far too easily... what can I say, Cali is photogenic.

We decided to end the trip by having dinner at a classic California-style Pizzeria: Pizza Antica, and then head down to the "142 Throckmorton" theater for the weekly "Mark Pitta & Friends" comedy show.

I've been about three times to this Tuesday night event, one of the few exciting night-time activities in sleepy little Mill Valley.

The show was great, as always, showcasing five comics, four of whom were great and one, well...

So the show ends as it does some times with Mark Pitta singing popular songs with rewritten lyrics with one of the guitar-playing comics. During his second song however, he started a rhyme meant to end with the phrase "Robin Williams."

20 or so slightly awkward seconds pass before Mark leans back and says "that was your cue" to off-stage left, and for the shortest time possible the entire audience glimpses Robin Williams lean from behind the masking and immediately erupts into applause.

The 300 or so of us in the charming little theater in the middle of nowhere were then treated to about an hour of unedited, fresh material that Mr. Williams is trying out for his upcoming HBO special (as I understand it).

It was an incredibly special way to end my parents visit, and will be a story that I'll get to tell forever.

To pay $15 and expect some unknown, though highly talented comics makes a great night out. But to unexpectedly get to see one of this generation's kings of comedy, on the fly, was beyond incredible.