the future is digital?

On Saturday Kathy and I went to The Grove (official site) for dinner and a movie. We ended up seeing Once Upon a Time in Mexico, a movie which I enjoyed, though I thought it was a bit disjointed. That's not what ended up being most interesting to me, however. Unintentionally, this ended up being the first end to end digital film I've seen.

I first suspected something was up during the previews. Sharp edges looked a little off. I thought they must now be running previews off a cheap digital to save some movie. Instead, this was the digital projection for the film. Even the DLP Cinema trailer had pixelation issues, showing that the technology is the culprit here, not misuse of it. During the movie itself there were probably 8 - 10 times where pixelation stood out to me, mostly when all or part of the screen made heavy use of white.

Afterward, while walking back to the car, I asked Kathy if she noticed anything different about the image quality. She's not at all a technical person, and to her the DLP trailer might as well have been the THX trailer, but even as someone completely unaware what was going on she imediately mentioned the issue with whites. To me it seems pretty simple that the problem is a simple one of resolution. HD resolution is simply not enough for a cinema screen. Sure, new DLP projectors double your horizontal res, but they're simply masking the symptoms. The problem is still there.

Practically, for now I think that if I'm aware a movie is digitally projected I'll make an effort to sit significantly farther back from the screen. Digital projection's day might come, but I really hope it's not soon.

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new work in verbal

I finally got around to putting some papers new and old up in verbal intercourse. Of note, Franklin, Poe, and the American Dream and Gender and the Internet. Neither of them are my best work ever, but both have their charms.

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Collard Greens

Buying collard greens is not a bad idea, but get someone else to fix them (at their house). I love eating collards, but you don't really want to be in a house where they're cooking.

Good job on the okra, though.

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A&TW

Hi! I love this group. I've been following Live for a few years now and had the privlege of getting to hear Adam perform a lot of his stuff doing only accoustic in little clubs before he brought the guys in to form The Weight. I just saw them open for Jimmy Gnecco (Ours) at the Viper Room lastnight. It was a great show and Adam's voice has really come a long way. Well take care. Tres cool thang you got going on here.:)

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expanding my culinary horizons

Well, not too far... A couple days ago I was at Ralphs in the frozen vegetable aisle, and happened to notice that they had breaded okra. Growing up in the south, I'm quite fond of okra when it's fried, so I bought a bag to try it out. Yesterday for lunch I made it, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Lacking a deep-fryer, I fried them in oil in a stir-fry pan. That worked out fine, though I'd cook them a little less next time. The breading was a bit on the crunchy side, but the okra inside was perfect. I was quite pleased. Between okra and butter beans I can put together a reasonably southern meal, though you won't ever find me buying collard greens.

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