Random things.

[TursiopsAmicus]

I haven't started the process of modeling and animating for Dolphin Haven.  
Normally this is where you expect a stupid excuse about not having enough
time.  I have time... what I don't have enough of is money.  I need a new
computer to run the upgrade to Lightwave 6.5 I recently got.  As feature-rich
as 6.5 is, it is actually to my advantage to wait on all that until I get the
new computer.  I should be able to get my computer later this month.

On reading, I am going to do something I've never done before.  I am putting
a book away without finishing it.  Blue Mars has held me back too long.  I am
putting it aside (perhaps indefinately) while I read other books.  On my
to-read list are: Ishmael; Watership Down; Tales From Watership Down; and The
Dolphins of Pern.  I'll probably get through Ishmael in a week or two at the
most.  It's pretty short, and I am told it is a story I will probably like,
and I want to get back into reading at full speed to get back in the habit.  
Before Blue Mars, I was reading at least about a book per month, but Blue
Mars has held me back for a year.  I just haven't been able to read it since
the scene at the dam... I tried to get interested in the book again, but just
couldn't (the book just wasn't interesting enough after that).  I've never
read a book before where one paragraph was able to so damage my interest in
reading it, and reading in general.  One of these days I may finally finish
it, but not before at least reading two other books from the ones I listed
above.

I got Dinosaur and Contact on DVD (both the collector's edition of course).  
I haven't watched Dinosaur yet, but I did look over the special features.  It
was interesting... also sort of discouraging... I learned that the movie had
less to do with artistry and talent and more to do with technology than I had
previously thought.  I'm not saying they had it easy, building highly
detailed computer models is always a challenge, but the technology definately
replaced most of the animation work.  Animating with the tools they had
seemed less art than a paint-by-numbers.   I know the final product is what
is significant in this world, but it is a little discouraging... I have to
spend days, weeks, or maybe even months doing with my own hands what they did
with a few mouse clicks.  I am also disapointed with their choice to cut some
of the finished scenes from the movie.  I thought a couple of those scenes
actually would have mafe the movie better, and Deity knows that Dinosaur was
not too long to include those scenes (only 82 minutes, and the scenes I am
talking about only added about half a minute each).  I only cut scenes I feel
are detrimental to the story, but they seemed to cut these scenes merely
becuase they were unneccessary to the story.  Like condensed books, cutting
out the extra stuff that enhances the story and leaving only a bare bones
story.  Well, maybe those scenes were a little close to the edge for very
small children, but a lot of scenes in the movie had already crossed over
that edge, so that hardly seems a good reason.

Michael Harney
[EMAIL PROTECTED]