January 3, 2007 by Omar Khudari
My kids got Katamari Damacy for Christmas. So now, my wrists are killing me and I can’t get that song out of my head. Last night we went to a furniture store. Katamari fans will understand that I caught myself staring at a sea of dining room sets with a silly grin on my face.
I think the last time I had it this bad for a video game was Snake Byte on the Apple II.
Title: Katamari Damacy; Platform: Sony Playstation II; Publisher: Namco; Rating: E (Everyone); I highly recommend it.
Posted in Katamari Damacy, Video Games | 2 Comments »
January 1, 2007 by Omar Khudari
One of the highlights my vacation was seeing three live shows in the space of eight days—a record, I think, since having kids.
The best of the three by far was The Onion Cellar—an experimental collaboration between The Dresden Dolls (a rock duo), and the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The point of the experiment is to produce a cathartic emotional experience for the audience.
There is no main plot in The Onion Cellar—only a handful of short dramatic vignettes. But that is okay. It is basically the Dresden Dolls’ regular “brechtian punk cabaret” show, plus a bit of story and some world-class acting talent.
The music combined with the dramatic vignettes definitely add up to a more powerful whole than the sum of the individual parts. Bottom line: the experiment works.
Now through January 13, Zero Arrow Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tickets $15 (student rush) – $50
Posted in American Repertory Theater, Bands, The Dresden Dolls, The Onion Cellar, Theater, Things To Do | Leave a Comment »
December 29, 2006 by Omar Khudari
I have just returned from a memorable vacation. The family car broke down, so we had to leave it at a mechanic in Connecticut and continue in a rental. Then the family dog became so ill, she ended up in an animal hospital in New Jersey. 
But while I was away, some nice things happened. Mass High Tech published a nice story about The Act by Christopher Calnan. And Harry McCracken, Editor in Chief of PCWorld, wrote a really nice review of The Act on his blog. 
Perhaps I should go away more often! Or…not.
Posted in Cecropia, The Act, Vacation | Leave a Comment »
December 22, 2006 by Omar Khudari
The Portland Press Herald reports that one of my favorite places, Baxter State Park in Maine, has just expanded its borders by acquiring a key, adjacent parcel of land. The puchase was funded by the charitable contributions of hundreds of individuals, corporations and foundations.
The 200,000 acre park is unique among state and national parks in the United States. Most other parks, including all National Parks, are managed with the express purpose of enabling human enjoyment of the land. Baxter State Park is managed under the guidelines of a trust written by the late Percival Baxter. The rules are clear: the park is for the wildlife, and human visitors are barely tolerated. The trust keeps the wilderness pristine, and the experience of visiting it difficult and humbling.
Attendance at the park has been declining steadily since 1996. Studies have shown that all wilderness recreation has been suffering, due in part to gasoline prices, but also because of—God help us—video games.
Despite the fact that making video games has been my livelihood for the past 24 years, I think it’s a shame that the appeal of video games has taken away from people’s desire to experience the wild. The human race has been around for 250,000 years—human civilization only 13,000. I enjoy Baxter State Park, because there I can be in touch with what the world was like for the first 237,000. It helps me keep things in perspective.
Posted in Baxter State Park, News, Things To Do, Video Games, Wilderness | Leave a Comment »
December 21, 2006 by Omar Khudari
An article in today’s Hollywood Reporter says that the Director’s Guild of America has announced a one-year ban on the practice of sending out DVD copies of movies (called “screeners”) to DGA members in advance of the 59th Annual DGA Awards.
Film distributors send out screeners to judges in hopes of increasing a film’s chance of winning awards. The practice has had a controversial history. Proponents say screeners level the playing field and give low-budget films a chance against highly visible big-budget films. In 2003, screeners were briefly banned for Academy Award contenders, until a lawsuit overturned the ban.
Posted in Movie Business, News | Leave a Comment »
December 19, 2006 by Omar Khudari
Wow. The old Peerflix is gone. The new one is…not so appealing to me.
With the old Peerflix, I felt I was buying DVDs for $1.50 each (99 cents to Peerflix plus 51 cents postage)—much less than the cost of a rental at Blockbuster. The Peerflix trading currency, “Peerbux,” was like Monopoly money. Perhaps that was an illusion, but it worked for me.
The new Peerflix is all about real money. You buy DVDs for real money. You sell DVDs for real money. I never did that before. I don’t think I want to do it now.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Peerflix, Web Business, eBay | 3 Comments »
December 17, 2006 by Omar Khudari
DVD swapping site Peerflix (which I have written about before) just announced a major new feature: you can now get cash for your old DVDs instead of just Peerbux (trading credit).
I am guessing this new feature is in response to a number of vocal critics who have built up a large backlog of Peerbux. These tend to be people who started off with a large library of DVDs in the first place. I am not one of them. I started off with a half dozen. I am constantly bumping up against a zero Peerbux balance even as my library grows. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in News, Peerflix | Leave a Comment »
December 16, 2006 by Omar Khudari
New England Cable News did a nice story about The Act last night. It will be on their web site for a limited time.
P.S. Here is a direct link to the story.
Posted in Cecropia, News, The Act | 1 Comment »
December 15, 2006 by Omar Khudari
Animation fans have been buzzing since July about The Frog Princess, a 2D feature film rumored to be in development at Walt Disney Feature Animation. A casting call went out in November, but Disney still won’t officially comment.
Posted in Animation, Disney, Movies | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday, my neighbors goaded me into calculating my household’s “carbon footprint.” This is an estimate of the carbon dioxide emissions generated directly at the household level (based on utility bills, car mileage, etc.).
