“Beyond the black rainbow” – (110 minutes, Canada, 2010 -NR) How this film came to be is very easy to imagine, as described by the writer/director: a typical awkward teenager browsing video stores in the ’80s, staring at video jackets … Continue reading
Happy New Year! Now is the time to take a minute and look back on this past year, and the ways it affected the JBoD microcosm. We spent much of 2012 watching sunsets and wildlife (fins!) from local beaches, but … Continue reading
In my earlier posts about the California Academy of Sciences, I introduced you to the Steinhart Aquarium, the Osher Rainforest and the Kimball Natural History Museum. Now it’s time to show a bit more of the technology that went into … Continue reading
“Burke and Hare” – (91 minutes, UK, 2010) Funny story. Two Irish guys, both named William, go to Edinburgh circa 1827 and… Well, “Burke and Hare” tells of William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis), scraping by in … Continue reading
My argument is that science often attempts to recreate naturally occurring phenomena by technological means, and that the results often are subject to the “law of unintended consequences”. Over the past several decades, Hollywood has been instrumental in ‘gently’ opening … Continue reading
Regrettably, I need to talk about the passing of two of my favorites… Let me rephrase that: the passing of gas by Mazuzu “Mace” Whang and Jenny N. This is another dimension to the old “fear the cat butt” slogan, … Continue reading
Ed Pollack (Ron Perlman) has a tough job: he flies back to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska from the US on a mission. The small party he has waiting for him at their base camp will be tasked … Continue reading
“Screamers” – (1995, USA/Canada/Japan, 108 minutes – rated R) On a mining colony called Sirius 6B in the late 21st century, the survivors of two warring factions may have to join forces to survive a new threat: self-replicating weapons evolving … Continue reading
“Phase IV” – (1974, USA, 93 minutes – rated PG) The DVD version of Saul Bass’ only feature length film is missing 9 minutes, cut by producers. The cuts were mostly at the end of the movie, surreal images and … Continue reading
3D printing, the process of layering various materials into objects, appears to be moving mainstream, with new applications, such as printing skin cells for burn patients, as the institute of regenerative medicine at Wake Forest University (NC) has been experimenting … Continue reading