Odds and Ends

We watched Sinbad - Legend of the Seven Seas last night, Dreamworks animated version of the Sinbad story (actually a story unrelated to any other Sinbad story I've ever read.) The animation was somewhat stiff and there seemed to be an uncomfortable juxtaposition between the CGI elements and the hand drawn characters. But what struck me as most odd, was the Helenization of the story. No mention of Baghdad, Arabia, Allah, but instead the story plays in Syracuse and characters come from Thrace and Greek Gods pull the mortals strings. Why Dreamworks didn't just animate Jason and the Argonauts, I don't know. If you want to see a good Sinbad movie, rent this one.

Nice piece on Slate on the subject, is their God the same as our God. Worth reading.

A fine review of Return of the King on Salon, get a daypass, you won't regret it. I'm going to a private showing on Saturday. This is a very excited blogger.

This is my new toy...


Canon s400.

I must admit to being a terrible bandwagon rider, but I couldn't let the challenge of coming up with a list of best cover versions pass me by. (Aaron) So here we go with my top 8...

1. The Residents - 96 Tears
2. Patti Smith - Gloria (not really a cover, but she slips in the G-L-O-R-I-A thing)
3. X - Soul Kitchen
4. John Cale - Heartbreak Hotel
5. Indigo Girls - Uncle John's Band
6. Devo - Satisfaction (you're right about this one, Aaron)
7. Pretenders - Stop Your Sobbing
8. Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane