Speaking of mad scientists, if one just happened to genetically splice a typical PBS documentary program with a Saturday Night Live short film in his castle laboratory he might produce something like This Is Spinal Tap the seminal mockumentary about the faux heavy metal rock band. He'd have something just this side of tongue-in-cheek (because it's a fine line between clever and stupid), something created that laughs at itself as we snicker along with it. But it's also something that's obviously satire. But what if our Dr. Frankenstein had a sadistic side. And just happened to be born April 1. He might produce something more like Forgotten Silver.
Brought to us from the brilliant visual mind of Peter Jackson (yes, that's right the Peter Jackson only months before he was the Peter Jackson!) and fellow New Zealander and documentary filmmaker Costa Botes, Forgotten Silver brings us the story of a long lost and hitherto unknown master of filmmaking, Colin McKenzie, who just happened to herald from the land of the Kiwi as well. According to new discoveries by PJ himself, Mr. McKenzie was a pioneer, well ahead of his time, bringing the film world sound before is regularly acknowledged (but making the poor PR choice of recording the film entirely in Chinese for an English speaking public) and color (for which he was prosecuted for lewd public display as the new color film included topless Tahitian beauties wandering into view). It's all cleverly pieced together and the "old" footage is masterfully faked. Even the acting style of silent films was masterfully faked. It was all masterfully faked and if it weren't for the fact that I knew it was faked to begin with (and the preposterous sci-fi resolution of a certain pocketed newspaper) I would have said it was just masterful.
Moving from the history, trials and tribulations of a young artist in a young art to the modern quest for a long lost set he built for his grand masterpiece (his Lord of the Rings if you will) the film walks the rope between taking itself too seriously and winking at the audience, never quite doing either, unlike Spinal Tap or its ilk which spend much of their time winking, nudging and saying "no-whut-I-mean". New Zealand national pride is written all over it despite the fact that the hoax was originally played on the Kiwi public, who according to the extra documentary about the mockumentary (it all gets so confusing) didn't take kindly to being duped.
It was a little long in the tooth, as is PJ's want, particularly when presenting McKenzie's long lost opus Salome but if you consider yourself a film buff, a fan of Peter Jackson or you just like a good documentary, whether it's based in fact or not, you won't want to miss Forgotten Silver. Unfortunately it's a little difficult to get your hands on, unless you're willing to foot the bill for a new DVD, live in New Zealand or (thank goodness) have a Netflix account. Add it to your queue now!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
Cassie Duncan: Mad Scientist
Cassie began her science fair project on Saturday. I'll let her tell you all about it.
What happens at Church Camp, Stays at Church Camp
Well, we made it back from camp and boy (I mean girl) what weekend. Between the nice calm small group sessions and teaching there was pranking going on galore and a Saturday night slumber party that bridged the generation gap like the Bridge over the River Kwai (don't even ask about the metaphor, I've no clue). I will never look at some of our older matrons the same way again!
It all started when the preacher, Jennifer Pasco, borrowed an old bell from 80 year old Dorothy Padgett. She would ring the bell when a session was starting, or when we needed to be somewhere. Well, that soon lost any appeal that it once had. So there were some among us that decided to steal it. And though I don't wan't to mention any names, there were some of them very close to my heart, (Barbara Ann Olson). Not only did they steal the bell, they stole Jennifer's slippers, her clock, her flashlight and short sheeted her bed. My mother stood there through the whole thing!!! Shame Shame!!!
And then they snuck into my cabin to figure out what to do with the stolen ding a ling. Now there was among us a well-known prankster who always manages to do something to someone whose name is Annette Bellis. I casually brought up the coincidental fact that Bellis has the word bell in it. They ran with it. My seed was planted and flourished. In the end a picture of a bell was drawn with a crack in it and a blindfold on it (This was drawn by a 72 year old in our cabin) Around it was written "The Bell-is gone. To catch it you need An Net" Then they gave the bell back to Dorothy Padgett (remember the 80 year old) to hide.
Annette, a good friend of mine, came up to me the next day and asked me whose idea it was to implicate her. I very truthfully said, "Well Missy Greer brought the bell in and told them what to write" Conveniently omitting the fact that I had brought her name up in the first place. She decided to get even. And the next night consisted of us sneaking away from the party with 12 rolls of toilet paper and heading toward Missy and Dorothy's cabin. There were a few rubber snakes, a few fake spiders and one whoopie cushion involved. The next morning blame fell on to Jennifer and then on Annette. BTW - For those of you wondering, it did not give 80 year old Dot a heart attack. She was the one that discovered our prank and shouted "Girls, they've TP'd us"
I, who was involved with both pranks, was never suspected. I am the Queen! Long may I live!!!
Oh, and there was some spiritual stuff too.
And our cabin was voted the most musical. We had in our midst (7 of us) 2 snorers, 1 who sang and talked in her sleep (me) and then a woman with sleep apnea who slept with an oxygen machine. It was really quite melodious. We drove one of our roomies into the shower with her sleeping bag. She slept there all night.
It was a truly Godly experience.
It all started when the preacher, Jennifer Pasco, borrowed an old bell from 80 year old Dorothy Padgett. She would ring the bell when a session was starting, or when we needed to be somewhere. Well, that soon lost any appeal that it once had. So there were some among us that decided to steal it. And though I don't wan't to mention any names, there were some of them very close to my heart, (Barbara Ann Olson). Not only did they steal the bell, they stole Jennifer's slippers, her clock, her flashlight and short sheeted her bed. My mother stood there through the whole thing!!! Shame Shame!!!
And then they snuck into my cabin to figure out what to do with the stolen ding a ling. Now there was among us a well-known prankster who always manages to do something to someone whose name is Annette Bellis. I casually brought up the coincidental fact that Bellis has the word bell in it. They ran with it. My seed was planted and flourished. In the end a picture of a bell was drawn with a crack in it and a blindfold on it (This was drawn by a 72 year old in our cabin) Around it was written "The Bell-is gone. To catch it you need An Net" Then they gave the bell back to Dorothy Padgett (remember the 80 year old) to hide.
Annette, a good friend of mine, came up to me the next day and asked me whose idea it was to implicate her. I very truthfully said, "Well Missy Greer brought the bell in and told them what to write" Conveniently omitting the fact that I had brought her name up in the first place. She decided to get even. And the next night consisted of us sneaking away from the party with 12 rolls of toilet paper and heading toward Missy and Dorothy's cabin. There were a few rubber snakes, a few fake spiders and one whoopie cushion involved. The next morning blame fell on to Jennifer and then on Annette. BTW - For those of you wondering, it did not give 80 year old Dot a heart attack. She was the one that discovered our prank and shouted "Girls, they've TP'd us"
I, who was involved with both pranks, was never suspected. I am the Queen! Long may I live!!!
Oh, and there was some spiritual stuff too.
And our cabin was voted the most musical. We had in our midst (7 of us) 2 snorers, 1 who sang and talked in her sleep (me) and then a woman with sleep apnea who slept with an oxygen machine. It was really quite melodious. We drove one of our roomies into the shower with her sleeping bag. She slept there all night.
It was a truly Godly experience.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Hinkel Family Update
Hey guys,
Just thought I'd join in and add my own blog. We've put our house up on the market and now we're just waiting for someone to buy it. I'm already getting tired though of having to leave every day so that people can come look at our house. Its kinda eerie to think people are looking in my cabinets and closets. I'm trying to convince zac to set up some kind of a monitoring system to video the house so I can see what people are looking at and saying. Mike...is that legal? ;) Its my own house...surely it is right? Zac has found a house in Houston he likes but I haven't seen it yet so I'm not sure yet what I think. I've seen pictures and it sounds good, but its hard to really tell until you walk in a house. So that's all the excitement of our move.
Cooper is 1 now and into everything. Still not walking and at this point he has no desire. When we try and get him to walk holding our hands he pulls his knees up. Its quite funny. He's VERY independent and has a mind of his own. He does not want us helping him with anything. He actually took 3 or 4 steps on his own at like 11 months and then just decided it wasn't for him. :) He gets around faster crawling. The guy is developing such a personality...its pretty funny. I'm worried he might be a bit of a bully too! LOL At gymboree he likes to head butt the other boys (and kiss all the girls). That's about our life for now though...I work on mondays and tuesdays and the rest of the week is filled with playgroups and storytime. Its amazing how busy a 1 year old's schedule can be! He's has more social activities than I do by far!
Just thought I'd join in and add my own blog. We've put our house up on the market and now we're just waiting for someone to buy it. I'm already getting tired though of having to leave every day so that people can come look at our house. Its kinda eerie to think people are looking in my cabinets and closets. I'm trying to convince zac to set up some kind of a monitoring system to video the house so I can see what people are looking at and saying. Mike...is that legal? ;) Its my own house...surely it is right? Zac has found a house in Houston he likes but I haven't seen it yet so I'm not sure yet what I think. I've seen pictures and it sounds good, but its hard to really tell until you walk in a house. So that's all the excitement of our move.
Cooper is 1 now and into everything. Still not walking and at this point he has no desire. When we try and get him to walk holding our hands he pulls his knees up. Its quite funny. He's VERY independent and has a mind of his own. He does not want us helping him with anything. He actually took 3 or 4 steps on his own at like 11 months and then just decided it wasn't for him. :) He gets around faster crawling. The guy is developing such a personality...its pretty funny. I'm worried he might be a bit of a bully too! LOL At gymboree he likes to head butt the other boys (and kiss all the girls). That's about our life for now though...I work on mondays and tuesdays and the rest of the week is filled with playgroups and storytime. Its amazing how busy a 1 year old's schedule can be! He's has more social activities than I do by far!
Blog #1 (Night of the Blog)
Hokay. Here goes a blogger thing.
Right now I'm listening to Psycho Killer by The Talking Heads via Napster. They have some awesomely good music that I can listen to, but it is a real headache to try and download! Not only do you have to pay .99 per download sometimes they won't let you put in on more than 3 cds. I'm thinkin' "Hey, I paid for the dad gum thing! I can put it on as many cd's has my burner can take!!!" Go figure.
Anywho, lately my head has been swimming with medical references. Tim and I have been watching all of House MD first season (killer show if you've never seen it) and so every little ache and pain that comes along we have to diagnosis every way humanly possible! Tim's finger will hurt and I will yell "Diagnoses, people!" Of course, I don't get paid nearly as much as Dr. House.
Tim and I have decided that it would be a good idea to write down all the pop culture references we use so other people might be able to understand and roll their eyes. So as I think of the phrases we sometimes use I'll write them down.
1. "See My Power!" - Captain America Sega game circa 1991.
2. "Nothing, Nothing, Tra La La" - Labyrinth - Movie - circa 1987
3. "Is your ------- ready for another blast of my spank ray?" - Space Ghost Coast to Coast
More to come.
Right now I'm listening to Psycho Killer by The Talking Heads via Napster. They have some awesomely good music that I can listen to, but it is a real headache to try and download! Not only do you have to pay .99 per download sometimes they won't let you put in on more than 3 cds. I'm thinkin' "Hey, I paid for the dad gum thing! I can put it on as many cd's has my burner can take!!!" Go figure.
Anywho, lately my head has been swimming with medical references. Tim and I have been watching all of House MD first season (killer show if you've never seen it) and so every little ache and pain that comes along we have to diagnosis every way humanly possible! Tim's finger will hurt and I will yell "Diagnoses, people!" Of course, I don't get paid nearly as much as Dr. House.
Tim and I have decided that it would be a good idea to write down all the pop culture references we use so other people might be able to understand and roll their eyes. So as I think of the phrases we sometimes use I'll write them down.
1. "See My Power!" - Captain America Sega game circa 1991.
2. "Nothing, Nothing, Tra La La" - Labyrinth - Movie - circa 1987
3. "Is your ------- ready for another blast of my spank ray?" - Space Ghost Coast to Coast
More to come.
Melissa Goes To Camp
Melissa is off to Camp Egan near Tahlequah, OK with her mom and a slew of women from church for the weekend. They say it's a "Women's Retreat" but I think it's some illicit conspiratorial meeting complete with secret handshakes and decoder rings.
I could just be paranoid.
That leaves Cassie and me to our own devices. We plan on starting Cassie's science fair project (yeah I know, she's just a 4th grader but last week I had to help her with Geometry!) . Hopefully the cats will survive the weekend. Muahahaha!
I could just be paranoid.
That leaves Cassie and me to our own devices. We plan on starting Cassie's science fair project (yeah I know, she's just a 4th grader but last week I had to help her with Geometry!) . Hopefully the cats will survive the weekend. Muahahaha!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Welcome to Much Ado About Duncans!
Hey kids! Thought I'd start a blog - you know, one of those annoying online journal thingeys that self important people with loads of time on their hands post for absolutely no one to read.
"What a great concept!" I thought to myself. "How can I get on the blogging bandwagon?" I thought to myself again.
And here I am! Or at least here we are. Hopefully this blog will include the rest of my family as well - possibly expanding to the rest of the Duncans in the great state of Oklahoma. Haven't actually let them know about it yet. We'll see. Very exclusive club, you know.
Anyhoo, until next post...
"What a great concept!" I thought to myself. "How can I get on the blogging bandwagon?" I thought to myself again.
And here I am! Or at least here we are. Hopefully this blog will include the rest of my family as well - possibly expanding to the rest of the Duncans in the great state of Oklahoma. Haven't actually let them know about it yet. We'll see. Very exclusive club, you know.
Anyhoo, until next post...
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