Steve Jablonsky Appreciation Group on Facebook

Right now I'm listening to the CD of Steve Jablonsky's score for the movie D-War (it was mostly marketed as Dragon Wars when it came out here in the U.S.). It's the third time that I'm playing it and admittedly it's very hard to put movie soundtrack music in context without having seen the movie itself yet. But as a standalone album, the D-War score still rocks the house! I'm going to give it a full review as soon as I've had a chance to check out the film when it becomes available on Netflix.

As for the real reason I'm posting here (amid what may or may not still be my sabbatical from blogging): if you have a Facebook account and are also a fan of this amazing composer, a few days ago I started up the Steve Jablonsky Appreciation Group. So if you enjoy Steve's work on Transformers and Desperate Housewives and the jillion other good things that he's composed music for, come on by and join us! :-)

Finally, a bit of shameful news to report: a few weeks ago I wrote here that I had vowed not to listen to Transformers: The Score at all until I was able to purchase 2 copies at a real store. Well a few days ago I admitted on Seibertron.com's forums that I have broken that solemn vow. It happened this past Sunday, while Lisa and I were on our way to Boone to go cruising on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the peak of the season for fall leaves. I couldn't help myself!! We were on that wide-open road, headed toward the mountains, and Transformers: The Score was begging to be played. So we listened to the whole thing and played "Decepticons" and "Arrival To Earth" each at least twice.

I am hearing that the Transformers score CD is starting to appear in more stores though. Still not as widely-enough as we were hoping for. But that does assuage my humiliation some. I'm still going to buy two copies as soon as I can. Maybe more. They'll make great stocking-stuffers for Christmas :-)

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This so-called "sabbatical"

Guess I couldn't stop blogging after all :-P

Actually, I am still taking a break from "serious" blogging right now. It's only when there's been "cool" stuff to report on - like the Ron Paul and Ron Price Jack-o'-Lanterns - that I've broken in to post about, 'cuz it wouldn't make much sense to show you pictures of them in February, would it? And there's nothing really wrong with doing that.

But the rest of my energies really are being focused on some other projects right now. That's why you won't be seeing any "heavy" essays from this end anytime soon. It's all too easy to write about a pumpkin with Ron Price's mug carved in it. Incidentally, last night we got a lot of trick-or-treaters who are in the Rockingham schools, and they both admired the work that went into the Ron Price Jack-o'-Lantern, and booed and hissed at it 'cuz this is the man who most tried to impose school uniforms on them.

But so far as more head-heavy stuff goes: that's work that I'm pouring into some other things right now.

Maybe in another month or two, I'll be able to return to fresh content like that. In the meantime, I am enjoying being liberated from more intense, regular blogging. And by posting the fun stuff, I can keep it viable too :-)

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Zack Snyder will film TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER for the WATCHMEN DVD!

Dear Lord... I'm finally starting to believe that Zack Snyder is going to be the one who actually pulls off a Watchmen movie!

Not that I doubted Snyder himself, per se. 300 is still the best movie that I've seen all year and after how he adapted that to film, I was convinced that he could "probably" do a good job helming Watchmen too. The problem is with Watchmen itself: it's such a dense book, that there's no way to do all that story in 2 or 3 hours.

But now my hopes are soaring for the Watchmen movie: Warner Bros. is letting Zack Snyder shoot Tales of the Black Freighter, to include it on the DVD of Watchmen!

So if you've never read Watchmen, here's the skinny: inside the alternate-1985 universe of Watchmen, superhero comics were only big in the Thirties and Forties, before the real-life superheroes started turning up (well in Watchmen anyway). In place of the superhero comics, pirate comics became all the rage. One part of Watchmen's story involves a young man who hangs out at a newsstand, who is reading a pirate comic book called Tales of the Black Freighter. So we see the story in Tales of the Black Freighter interspersed throughout much of the rest of Watchmen, like this...

It's an extremely violent, gory story. And it would have been insanely difficult to put it in the context of the rest of a Watchmen motion picture. But by putting it as a feature on the DVD... that really is the way to go with this. In doing this, Zack Snyder is showing everyone that without a doubt, he "gets" Watchmen.

Can't wait to see this movie! Heck, I can't wait to buy this DVD! :-)

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More Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lanterns!

Apparently, Ron Paul is a big theme for Jack-o'-Lanterns this Halloween :-)

Here is one made by im_a_pepper. Look at the amazing level of detail on this pumpkin!

And then there is this one (of two) made by Mustardseed (click to see more photos):

I'm about to go light my own Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lantern (along with that... other thing). They'll be on display on our patio throughout the night. So if you're in Reidsville and are driving around Sherwood Drive, come by and take a looksee!! :-)

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The Ron Paul for President Jack-o'-Lantern!

Tonight I set to work on carving a Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lantern, using the pattern that I came up with a few days ago. I've been a longtime admirer of Dr. Paul and I am definitely supporting him for President in next year's election (as I've said here before: I'm voting for Ron Paul or I'm voting for nobody at all). So I thought it would be fun to do something in keeping with the spirit of the holiday for when the trickster-treatsters in the neighborhood come around for candy on Halloween tomorrow night, and do my part in promoting Dr. Paul.

(Here's Ron Paul's official campaign website and I'll also recommend the Ron Paul Forums, where I hang out a lot.)

I started carving it a little before 7 p.m. tonight, and finished just before 9:30. Like the Jack-o'-Lantern I made of local politician and admitted thief Ron Price last night, a lot of the work in this one related to the extra-thick skin that had to be scraped away. But also on this one, the "RON PAUL" letters that I made on the pattern were not very workable. I ended up having to re-design them on the fly, as I was carving them (had to do that carefully 'cuz I did not want to botch up a perfectly good pumpkin :-).

Finally after two and a half hours, here was the finished product...

What does it look like when it's lit-up with a candle? Feat your eyes on this my friends!

And here's what it looks like on our porch...

So... what y'all think? :-)

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The Ron Price Jack-o'-Lantern IS ALIVE!!

Just as I threatened to do a few days ago, here is the Ron Price Jack-o'-Lantern. Yes, I actually went ahead with my plan to carve a pumpkin in the likeness of Rockingham County's most larcenous, arrogant and condescending school board member! Ron Price is now immortalized in pumpkin... or at least until the thing starts to rot and decay (to match Price's moral principles).

Here's a shot of it on our kitchen table. Note that Monday Night Live on WGSR is playing in the background. Yup, even in our home, I make darn sure that Price cannot escape the scrutiny of WGSR, which Price once said was "bad for the community" (and click here if you want to hear Price say it himself)...

Here's a shot of the "Ron Price Political Protest Pumpkin" on our front porch...

With a bit of the light inside coming out...

And here it is in total darkness, with a wicked, sinister glow...

In case anyone's wondering, it took me a little over an hour and a half to carve this. Most of the work had to do with the fact that this was a robust pumpkin with a very thick (over an inch) outside, so it took some doing to scrape out the excess material. Ron "the Con"'s mouth and teeth were the hardest thing to carve out. But after a little patience, I can now boast that we have the scariest Jack-o'-Lantern on the entire street :-P

So I gotta wonder: now that I'm being summoned for deposition in Price's lawsuit against the Moores, does this thing up my own chances of getting sued by Ron Price? Probably. I mean, any elected official loco enough to sue a private citizen for (a) wearing a t-shirt and (b) practicing the constitutional right to petition, is capable of doing anything. Which makes it all the more important that we do what we can to knock people like Price off their pedestals. "They" serve us... and no matter how much Ron Price insists that he can get away with it because "I was elected", he's to be held just as accountable as anyone else. Price had the chance to do the right thing and step aside when he was caught stealing. He didn't do that. So now it falls to the rest of us to ridicule him and put him to shame... which he'll have to put up with, since he's a public figure by personal choice.

The pictures are nice, but this really is something that must be seen in person to be believed. The Ron Price Jack-o'-Lantern will be on display every night through Halloween (meaning that after tonight you only have 2 more nights to see it).

Next up: tomorrow night I'm going to carve Ron Price's light-side antithesis: good-guy Presidential candidate Ron Paul!

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Company gives iPod battery service that Apple should be providing

I might have to get an iPod now after all.

Numerous times on this blog, I've written about how the biggest thing keeping me from getting an iPod is that they don't have user-replaceable batteries. Which is "bass-ackwards" 'cuz Apple could be making a fortune by selling spare batteries. Because especially with a power-guzzling thing like an iPod (especially in video mode) it makes sense that consumers should be able to slap in a freshly-charged battery during a long plane ride or elsewhere that a power socket isn't readily available. But Apple still seems loathe to take this simple, yet potentially very profitable, measure. Oh sure, Apple does have a battery-replacement program... but it charges around $70 and then they don't even guarantee that you'll get your original iPod back!

Then I happened to find this news story about a company called iPodjuice.com. For $29 you send in your iPod, and the company replaces the worn-out battery. Not only that but you get your original iPod back, along with its contents (that you may or may not have paid for) intact! And supposedly the batteries that iPodjuice.com put in last much longer than the ones that Apple installs. They also service iPhones, and boast of being able to replace the battery and ship the iPhone back on the same day that it was received. iPodjuice.com is so confident of their batteries and service, that they have a ten-year guarantee from the date of purchase.

I won't commit to buying an iPod yet... but knowing that there is a company out there doing what Apple is consciously neglecting to do for its own product, does tantalize me toward possibly purchasing one in the near future. If only Apple wasn't so stubborn about this point: they would no doubt be selling more iPods than they already are.

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Let us welcome Abbey Leigh!

Abigail Leigh Feldman, born two days ago to Kimberly and Adam Feldman.

Congratulations to Adam and Kim! Our prayers have definitely been with them the past week... and will no doubt be staying with them.

May God shower all His blessings on them as they embark on their new adventures with sweet Abbey Leigh :-)

(So many births lately. Gotta wonder when Lisa and I will be making our own little contribution to the gene pool, hee-hee-hee... ;-)

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"And Nicolas Cage as ... Fu Manchu!"

A great post for the Halloween season! Courtesy of its official Myspace page, here is Werewolf Women of the SS. This is the fake trailer that Rob Zombie made for the recent movie Grindhouse.

Werewolf Women Of The S.S.

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"This is my Mecca!" Hilarious :-)

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Final trailer for I AM LEGEND

This is one of two posts that I'll probably be making today. The other will hopefully share some good news. Otherwise, I'm still trying to take a break from blogging.

The final trailer for I Am Legend hit the Internets yesterday...

This is an amazing trailer! And it's really starting to look as if they stayed true to the spirit of the book. Love the music in this trailer: I don't know if that's some of James Newton Howard's score but it evokes a lot of the same feeling as Ron Grainer's music from The Omega Man (which was also based on Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend). And Will Smith here, looks like he's hitting on all the right cylinders as Robert Neville. I'll admit to being a bit taken aback when I heard that Smith was playing Neville (I'll always wonder how Arnold Schwarzenegger would have done with the role) but right now, this looks like it could be one of Smith's best films ever.

Click here to watch it in Quicktime. Or click here to watch it in streaming Flash video.

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eBay auction for Steve Jablonsky-signed copy of TRANSFORMERS: THE SCORE ends today

A friendly reminder in case you've been watching it, that in just less than six hours from now the eBay auction for the copy of Transformers: The Score signed by Transformers composer Steve Jablonsky will be ending.

All proceeds from this auction will be going to benefit music education in Rockingham County (North Carolina) schools.

EDIT 10/26/2007 6:31 a.m. EST: The auction was a great success! The winning bid for the CD was $312.

Thanks again to Transformers composer Steve Jablonsky, and the Transformers fan community which helped spread the word, for doing this to assist with music education here in Rockingham County :-)

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I'm being deposed by Ron Price

Don't have complete details right now, but here's what I know...

In the next few days I can expect to receive a summons to appear for deposition in the lawsuit that Ron Price has filed against Richard and Debbie Moore.

This means that I'll be sworn in and be asked questions under oath.

The deposition is set for November 15th at 10 a.m. at the Eden office of Price's attorney, Douglas Hux.

I'll post the summons when I receive it.

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How about a Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lantern instead?

Okay, this will be the last post I make before getting back to my much-needed break from blogging! Because after making and publishing the Ron Price Jack-o'-Lantern pattern, I couldn't in good conscience leave things dangling with something that scary.

So here's a Jack-o'-Lantern pattern of the candidate for President that I'm backing: Ron Paul. Same basic instructions as the original: Click on the image to get it full-sized and print it out. Use pins or tape to secure it to the side of a pumpkin. Then use a Pumpkin Carving Kit from Pumpkin Masters, and do with this as you would do with any other pumpkin pattern.

Happy Halloween! :-)

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The Ron Price Jack-o'-Lantern

The only time I plan on breaking my sabbatical... but only because this was too funny not to do and share with the world.

Click on the image to get it full-sized, print it out and follow the directions, feeling free to re-size as desired.

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Review of STAR WARS: DEATH STAR by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

It's a great Star Wars book. I liked it a lot.

Just wanted to let y'all know that if you were thinking of buying it. I'll recommend it.

Going to leave for awhile. I won't be back unless it's either (a) major catastrophe (b) Ron Price does something so cosmically insane that I have to step in again or (c) I'm good and ready to return... which may not be for quite some time.

So 'til then... goodbye goodbye goodbye!

EDIT 4:33 p.m. EST: My sabbatical in no way affects the eBay auction for the copy of Transformers: The Score signed by Steve Jablonsky. I'm just stepping away from the blog for awhile, not the Internet entirely. So I'll still be monitoring this until Thursday when the auction ends :-)

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Too much CUJO

It's on right now. Again. This is the seventh or eighth time that Cujo has played on WGSR here in Reidsville during the past few weeks... at least.

After so many times of watching Cujo try to kill Dee Wallace-Stone and that kid from Who's The Boss?, I don't know if I'll ever pet another St. Bernard for as long as I live.

C'mon guys: I know that I've seen Psycho II in there somewhere. Howsabout giving us something new? 'Cuz right now I'm starting to feel like Hawkeye in the "Adam's Ribs" episode of M*A*S*H ...

"WE WANT SOMETHING ELSE!"
"WE WANT SOMETHING ELSE!"
"WE WANT SOMETHING ELSE!"

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Jenna Olwin's terrific take on the "Dumbledore is gay" thing

Earlier today I relayed the news that surely every Harry Potter fan on Earth has heard by now: that J.K. Rowling has announced that Albus Dumbledore was gay.

In the hours since then I've felt led to contemplate what significance that bit of info is supposed to have (and some of that thinking took place while watching a wedding, of all places). And I thought about posting some more about the subject. But it turns out that I don't have to...

In her unique voice, and with profound wisdom, Jenna Olwin has now weighed in on Rowling's revelation. And there's no way that I could excerpt it here and do it any justice or honor. You'll have to click on the link and read it as an entire thought, the way it should be taken in as an idea. It's quite an impressive read, and definitely recommended if you are of the Judeo-Christian ethic and are still wondering what to make of this... thing.

Excellent work, Jenna! :-)

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