special effects

Sci-fi can be so much fun. And it's amazing how far special effects have come! Last night I watched Hancock, and there were probably less than ten minutes of that movie that weren't filmed with special effects of some kind. No... five. Cumulative. The story was unique, the acting was superb, and the effects were absolutely stunning.

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Do you remember the special effects from the original Star Trek television episodes? When I first watched those as a kid, I didn't give any thought to how realistic the effects were, since there was no practical way they could make things more true-to-life. But today, technology, techniques and budgets have improved to produce a quality that I could not have dreamed of as I watched the old black & white tube, back in the late 60's & early 70's.

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This photo was my own, low budget, special effect. I placed a toy upside down on a black shirt, and then created a multi-exposure collage with a moon picture from my archives. Neat, huh?

fading flowers

My favorite local bookstore is closing. (sigh) This has happened before. I found a bookstore. Liked it. Shopped there. Got used to it. Then it closed.

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Today I sat in shock as a friend spoke of the erosion of traditional publishing. He also said that when Guttenberg invented his press, that people were afraid of losing oral dialog. (We didn't totally lose it, but I doubt that people today can tell oral stories as well as they did before.) Canadian Marshal McLuhan said, "We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us.

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What's next? How do we roll with these changes? How do you purchase and read books? Do you buy online or at a brick and mortar store? Do you borrow from the library or buy your own. Do you read books cover to cover or skim? How much does Google or Wikipedia change the way you get your information? Have you tried new technologies like Kindle?

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In other words, do you think this flower is fading, and what do you suppose we'll see blooming next?

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By the way, we had some major glare off of that storefront's window, but a polarizing filter made it disappear.