random bits

[cellio]

While we were in Sears waiting for Dani's new tires, he noticed a "bilingual tire gauge". Yes, it talks to you (in English or Spanish). It also has a decent-sized digital display. So I went looking for one that has the display but doesn't talk, because I have a lot of trouble reading a conventional gauge and thus do not check my pressure as often as I ought. Alas, there is a hefty surcharge for silence. So I got the noisy one and will hope for minimal annoyance.

Erik (the underweight cat) has developed a voracious appetite (for him) in the last several days. I'm happy to oblige, but I wonder what the difference is. I did buy a new type of food to try out on him on spec, but he's also chowing down on the food he had previously shown little interest in. Maybe he just needed some new flavors to jump-start his appetite. It's probably pretty boring (culinarily, at least) to be a domestic dog or cat, getting the same stuff day in and day out. Think back to childhood and those "tuna casserole again?" moments, and that probably wasn't daily. :-)

Dani and I finally saw The Incredibles this afternoon. Fun movie. They probably should have included a family pet, who would exhibit absolutely no powers but keep you wondering. But maybe I'm being influenced by The Crossovers. :-)

We saw a matinee and all the previews were aimed at kids. Is that because that's what's attached to this movie, or because you get different previews at matinees than at evening shows? There was also a short feature -- haven't seen one of those since I was a kid -- and it, too, was pretty clearly for the kids. Well-done technically; insipid artistically. (I didn't catch a title.)

Comments

[kayre]

I saw that tire guage... wanted to buy it as a gag gift for a relative, but hubby nixed it (and I let him, since it was his relative). I wonder if it isn't possible to perform voice-silencing surgery somehow?

[geekosaur]

It's probably pretty boring (culinarily, at least) to be a domestic dog or cat, getting the same stuff day in and day out.

Supposedly cats prefer it that way. I've never been quite convinced. Then again, I've had my share of cast-out cats that learned to eat anything placed in front of them.

[sekhmets-song.livejournal.com]

Is that because that's what's attached to this movie, or because you get different previews at matinees than at evening shows?
I can speak from years of experience of being the monkey behing the window (behind which lies the projector in all of its annoyingly deafening glory):
The previews get spliced to the movie when the movie arrives. They don't come off until the movie gets torn down to return to the distributor. It is actually a bit of an arduous process, involving an entirely different piece of equipment from the projector. That is why, if you see a movie late enough in its run, you can sometimes see trailers (the industry term for previews. Actually, in the industry, a preview is an advance screening of a film. Stupid jargon) that announce an already-opened and -bombed movie "Coming soon."
Some day, someone will come up with a way to make it as easy to change trailers on a movie as it is to edit a digital file. But even when they do, with the cost of a new projector being astronomical (most "new" theaters buy their equipment used from now-defunct theaters, as new ones can run, easily, into the six figures), it will take decades for it to reach most theaters. Heck, many theater still run reel-to-reel, even though platter systems became the industry standard in the 1970s.
More than you wanted to know, huh?
And I thought I was gonna talk about kitty food.

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

So I got the noisy one and will hope for minimal annoyance.
Set it to Spanish--then, either you'll learn Spanish, or you'll stop noticing it because it's just background noise.

[jducoeur]

Hadn't thought about comparing The Incredibles to The Crossovers. Knowing Hollywood, someone's probably optioned the latter solely based on the success of the former. Which wouldn't be a bad thing -- it has just enough silliness that it might make a good movie.

As for the short: yeah, I was very disappointed. Normally, Pixar makes the most delightful and wicked little shorts -- subversively slapstick like a good Warner's cartoon of latter days. It's strange that they chose to couple their most "adult" film to date with their most childish short...

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

There was also a short feature -- haven't seen one of those since I was a kid -- and it, too, was pretty clearly for the kids. Well-done technically; insipid artistically. (I didn't catch a title.)

I was also disappointed with the Incredibles short-- I thought the one attached to Monster's Inc was much better.