The Spoiler Zone: about that AGT winner

The Spoiler Zone: about that AGT winner

I want to talk about the winning act on

America’s Got Talent

this year so just in case you haven’t seen it yet, have been able to avoid finding out, and want the joy of discovery while you watch, this is a

SPOILER ALERT

My Significant Other and I like to watch reality shows together, and to try to predict who wins or goes home at each opportunity. I’m pretty good at it: one year, for American Idol, I predicted nine of the last ten eliminations…in order…before any of them happened.

When we watched the AGT finale together, I couldn’t do that…because a major entertainment news show had spoiled the winner, right in a headline (leading with the name of the act: “X wins AGT”, or something like that), so that I couldn’t avoid seeing it when reading the news in the morning.

Other outlets were more considerate…I saw things like, “The winner of AGT is…” and then explaining it in the article, meaning I could avoid knowing if I chose (which I had been doing).

I get why media outlets spoil things: you have superior power (knowledge is power), and you can use it to take something away from weaker people, which demonstrates to you how powerful you are.

That’s not why individuals do it; they often do it without thinking about it, with no malintent. Media outlets have thought about whether they want to spoil it or not…they’ve had discussions and made a corporate policy.

It doesn’t give them the scoop any faster, so it doesn’t have to do with that.

There, that should be enough words so you won’t accidentally see the winner. 😉

---

I’ve been interested in ventriloquists for a very long time.

I had Jimmy Nelson’s “Jokes and Riddles” album (Danny O’Day and Farfel the Dog…and “N-E-S-T-L-E-S…Nestle’s makes the very best…chocolate”).

My favorite moment of all time in television came in an episode (Talk to the Snail) of the Dick Van Dyke Show where Paul Winchell (Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff…and the voice of Tigger) appeared…as a ventriloquist.

Shari Lewis, Senor Wences, Willie Tyler…I knew all of their acts. I even tried to learn ventriloquism myself. While I could (and can) do voices and characters, I never really got good at the physical ventriloquism part.

Darci Lynne Farmer is the best ventriloquist I have ever seen.

While her characters are interesting, and her singing amazing (I would argue that she was the best singer in the competition), it’s the way she bring the characters to life that really astounds me.

I pointed out to my Significant Other how her character could maintain eye contact with Tyra Banks while Darci Lynne was looking somewhere else.

When she won, and was clearly crying out of control, I could swear that her bunny Petunia tried to comfort her.

That is on top of her sense of humor (she walked a great line between being the kid she is and being edgy), her technical proficiency (while Paul Winchell was hilarious, you could always see the work he was doing), and again, that singing!

Yes, she appeared to mess up the lyrics on the final results show, but I get that. First, it was a song she probably didn’t know. Second, this self-professed shy child was being asked to work with an unfamiliar adult in a high stress situation. A ventriloquist normally has an extraordinary amount of control over what is happening on stage, literally controlling every side of the conversation, every nuance and gesture. It wasn’t like that with another ventriloquist and another character sharing the spotlight…it had to be scary.

Had I picked her to win?

She had been my favorite for weeks, and one of my top three to win. The other two were: Light Balance, dancers in the dark who listed high tech neon-style lighting to tell stories and create illusions; and Diavolo, a very different dance act that used amazing giant props and death-defying dives.

One of the ways I judge acts on AGT is to ask myself if the act would make a good poster in the lobby of a casino. Diavolo could have an incredible poster, with a dancer flying towards the viewer and a giant prop in the back with other dancers swarming all over it. Light Balance would have a good poster, but it might not be as clear what was happening. You could tell what Darci Lynne’s act was, but not how good it was.

I should have reminded myself more that the audience picks the winner, not the casinos. Still, I picked finalists pretty well. 🙂 I also believe that Diavolo and Light Balance will both get work from having been on the show…maybe both in Vegas.

Congratulations to Darci (and Petunia, Oscar, and Edna)!

Ventriloquist Central

Darci Lynne at AGT Wikia fansite

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This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them

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The Emmys are really geeky this year…but is that new?

The Emmys are really geeky this year…but is that new?

We are a few hours away from the 2017

The Emmys

broadcast, and I was struck by how geeky it was. I @bufocalvin tweeted

Confusing people from the 1950s: “The show with the robots might win Best Drama @TheEmmys because the dragon show isn’t eligible*.”

😉

That fits my personal narrative that geek-friendly content is becoming more mainstream and more respected. Oscar winning actors have no compunction about appearing in geek-friendly franchises, the box office is dominated (even in awards-friendly December) by geek-friendly works, and streaming companies are investing millions in shows based on comic books and science fiction/fantasy books.

However, I always like to question my own beliefs, so I decided to go back and look. Was it really true that Best Drama Series (that title has changed repeatedly, but I’ll use that for simplicity’s sake) tended to be mainstream, mundane series? I was guessing it might be anthology shows that seemed to almost reproduce Broadway plays, but I wasn’t sure.

Let’s set the comparison: this year, there are seven nominees, and three of them are undeniably geek-friendly: The Handmaid’s Tale, Stranger Things, and Westworld (43% geek-friendly…GF).

We’ll jump back ten years at a time:

2006-2007 (20% GF)

• Boston Legal
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Heroes (GF)
• House
• The Sopranos

1996-1997 (20% GF)

• Chicago Hope
• ER
• Law & Order
• NYPD Blue
• The X-Files (GF)

1986-1987 (0% GF)

• Cagney & Lacey
• L.A. Law
• Moonlighting
• Murder She Wrote
• St. Elsewhere

1976-1977  (0% GF)

• Baretta
• Columbo
• Family
• Police Story
• Upstairs, Downstairs

1966-1967 (60% GF)

• The Avengers (GF)
• I Spy (? I can’t remember for sure if they encountered science fiction inventions, so I won’t count it)
• Mission: Impossible (GF)
• Run for Your Life
• Star Trek (GF)

1956 (there aren’t 1957 nominees…the system was considerably revamped for 1958 to separate shows with continuing characters and anthology shows, since the latter kept getting all the nominations. By the 1960s, they were combined again, and by the mid-1960s, shows with continuing characters were solidly in the nomination process)

• Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre
• Climax!
• Producers’ Showcase
• Studio One
• The United States Steel Hour

So, it looks like my feeling was right, at least based on this methodology. In the beginning (with the exception of the super-geeky 1960s), there were no GF nominees for Best Drama. From the 1970s-through the twenty-oughts, there there were 20%. This year, there are more than twice that…

* I don’t want to suggest here that, if Game of Thrones was in the running, it would automatically win. I have made a couple of attempts to get into GoT, and it just hasn’t grabbed me. I am slowly making my way through it (I feel it is my geek cultural responsibility). 😉 On the other hand, I’m really enjoying Westworld (which I’ve just started watching…we only recently got access to current HBO shows). I liked the original movie, but so far, the plotting on this is solid, the direction is good, and I’m enjoying the acting. This isn’t the actual comparison, but if it was first episode of GoT versus first episode of Westworld, I know what I’d pick…

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The short, somewhat sad history of live action TV sci-fi space spoofs

The short, somewhat sad history of live action TV sci-fi space spoofs

Seth McFarlane’s

The Orville

debuted on Fox on Sunday, September 10th.

I’ve watched it. While I would like every show to be both successful (long-running) and good, that simply doesn’t happen. TV networks are closer to the mouse reproductive strategy (have lots of babies quickly, and hope some make it) than to the elephant strategy (have few babies and raise them slowly, letting them mature and gain the necessary social skills).

The show is a space sitcom, and that got me thinking about the history of that genre.

A few shows came to mind right away…and none of the American series that I recalled lasted more than a season.

Let’s set some parameters for inclusion:

• The space sitcom has to be the whole series, not a sketch on a show. That lets out Muppets in Space and Waldo Kitty (although I think the latter’s Star Trek parodies are amongst the ones I’ve enjoyed the most)
• It has to be live action…not pure cartoons
• The show has to be a comedy (although there may be some more serious elements). The original Star Trek has some great comedy episodes (The Trouble with Tribbles; A Piece of the Action; I, Mudd…) but doesn’t count for this
• It has to be TV, not a movie. Galaxy Quest and Spaceballs were successful space spoofs in theatres, but that’s different
• The show has to largely take place in space, not just have an alien in it. I’m not counting what I call “mermaid out of water” shows (like “fish out of water”, but including a geeky element)…letting out ALF, Mork & Mindy, and My Favorite Martian, for example). I debated including Salvage 1, an Andy Griffith series that included a rocket for salvage in space, but it doesn’t take place primarily in space

Okay, let’s take a look at some shows:

Far Out Space Nuts
YouTube search

• 15 total episodes
• 1975-1976
• CBS

One of the shortest-lived of the Sid & Marty Krofft series, it’s worth noting that this series was on before Star Wars was released. Chuck McCann, who starred along with Bob Denver, was one of the creators. Two NASA employees are actually launched into space, and we see their adventures on different planets. It lasted one season.

Quark
YouTube search

• 8 total episodes
• 1978
• NBC
• IMDb popularity 4,112 at time of writing
• One Emmy nomination

“On paper”, this should have been a good series. Buck Henry created it, who was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and had won an Emmy for co-writing an episode of another spoof, Get Smart. The series starred Richard Benjamin, who was successful in comic parts and had geek credit, having been one of the leads of the original Westworld. However, this series about a space garbage truck only lasted eight episodes (including the pilot).

Homeboys in Outer Space
YouTube search

21 total episodes
1996-1997
UPN
No IMDb popularity rating
No award nominations

Series Executive Producer Ehrich Van Lowe had been a producer and screenwriter on The Cosby Show. There were some great guest stars, including Burt Ward, Natasha Henstridge, and James Doohan. It lasted one season and was on TV Guide’s list of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time.

I think that’s about it. An argument could be made for Mystery Science Theater 3000, in which case that would certainly be the most successful of the American series.

If we turn to the UK, there are more entries (including Come Back Mrs. Noah ((6 episodes…starring Mollie Sugden)), Astronauts ((13 episodes…created by two of The Goodies)), and Hyperdrive ((12 episodes…starring Nick Frost))).

The UK produced

Red Dwarf

which has a strong fandom and which I’ve enjoyed, has had 67 episodes. In particular, series (season) 1, episode 4 is both funny and has social commentary.

So, based on this, The Orville does have an uphill climb in front if it…but Red Dwarf proves it isn’t impossible.

What do you think? Did I leave anything out? Why aren’t space spoofs more successful on TV? Is it just the odds generally against TV series? Feel free to let me and my readers know what you think by commenting on this post.

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* This blog is named after a quotation of Charles Fort’s. One key element of Forteanism (Fort would not have approved of that term of the concept) is that things having finite existences, being separate from each other, is inaccurate…”One measures a circle beginning anywhere”. True Forteans know that everything blends into everything else…but of course, that include “true” and “false” and Forteans and non-Forteans. 😉

2017: The Year the Laughter Died

2017: The Year the Laughter Died

We memorialize the deaths of geeky celebrities: at the time of writing, there have been over 100 this year alone:

2017 Geeky Good-byes

Geeks embrace everyone who has helped produce geek-friendly works. However, that often crosses over into mainstream, and at The Measured Circle*, we do not divide and define.

2016 was noted in the mainstream media for the number of musical celebrities who died, and it was remarkable. David Bowie, Prince, Merle Haggard, Maurice White, Leonard Cohen, Glenn Frey, Paul Kanter, George Michael…if you polled people to name their favorite singers and groups, it’s likely that these people would have been included.

2017 is showing a different unhappy trend: a loss of comedians.

Broadly speaking, a comedian is a performer whose intent is to make their audiences laugh.

I also tend to think of a comedian as someone who both writes and delivers the material. They can do it in character (some of them do it in multiple characters in the same set), and they may also perform in scripted material (such as traditional movies or TV shows). In the case of several of the people on this list, they may also have released records (or the modern equivalent) of their comedy.

If you asked people to name 100 American comedians, the combined list would likely have included some of the people we have lost this year:

• Antonio Rosato, reportedly died January 10, 2017: Rosato appeared on both SCTV and Saturday Night Live, and did a variety of voice work
• Dick Gautier, reportedly died January 13, 2017: perhaps best known to audience as Hymie the robot on Get Smart, Gautier was a stand up comic earlier in his career
• “Professor” Irwin Corey, reportedly died February 6, 2017: Corey had a unique improvisational style, working in character as “The World’s Foremost Authority”. He would jump from topic to topic, in some ways preceding Robin Williams, and speak in strings of “big words”. Robert Heinlein name checks him in Friday
• Bill Dana, reportedly died June 15, 2017: certainly most famous as his character Jose Jimenez (a bit with Jimenez as an astronaut was Billboard top 40, and he got a window cameo on the Adam West Batman), Dana played a number of other characters including on The Golden Girls and was an important comedy writer (including the “Sammy’s Visit” episode of All in the Family)
• Patti Deutsch, reportedly died July 26, 2017: while some of her most public work was on Match Game, she did a lot of voice work, including for Disney and Nickelodeon
• June Foray, reportedly died July 26, 2017: one of the greatest voice artists (Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Looney Tunes’ Granny) also did comedy work on radio, TV, and record album (including with Stan Freberg)
• Dick Gregory, reportedly died on August 19, 2017: legendary comedian, author, and civil rights activist
• Jerry Lewis, reportedly died August 20, 2017: part of the comedy duo of Lewis and Martin and then a solo success, Jerry Lewis did albums and co-wrote arguably his most respected movie, The Nutty Professor
• Jay Thomas, reportedly died August 24, 2017: he appeared on Mork & Mindy and in the Santa Clause movies (as the Easter Bunny), Thomas also has a career as a radio host
• Shelley Berman, reportedly died September 1, 2017: Berman was a pioneer in observational humor, earning three gold records and a Grammy. He was nominated for an Emmy for playing Larry David’s father on Curb Your Enthusiasm

The world has last some of its laughter this year. While we hope that this completes the list, we know that may not be the case. That may be the stand out trend, despite George Romero and Tobe Hooper, two of the most influential horror directors, both dying this year.

We thank everyone on this list for making life a little more fun.

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When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  

* This blog is named after a quotation of Charles Fort’s. One key element of Forteanism (Fort would not have approved of that term of the concept) is that things having finite existences, being separate from each other, is inaccurate…”One measures a circle beginning anywhere”. True Forteans know that everything blends into everything else…but of course, that include “true” and “false” and Forteans and non-Forteans. 😉

 

A different kind of year for Jennifer Lawrence

A different kind of year for Jennifer Lawrence

Has any actor ever done the movies better than Jennifer Lawrence?

Notice that I didn’t ask if anyone had “done better movies”…that’s entirely a different question.

No, I mean someone who is more successful at the “game of the movies”…or the movie business, if you prefer the more prosaic.

That sort of success is typically measured in one of two ways: box office, and “respect”…for the latter, we can go with award recognition, especially the Oscars.

Jennifer Lawrence has the respect part down, having been nominated for four Oscars since 2011, and winning the Best Actress award.

Now, other people have been nominated (eventually) for more Oscars (although I think four nominations in your first nine years of movie credits is exceptional), but this many this fast and this consistently? That’s at the least rare.

For box office, we’ve been naming our Most Valuable Players since 2011. Basically, they need to be first-billed in a movie which makes at least $100 million dogro (domestic gross) and another movie which dogroes at least $40 million (but they don’t need to be first-billed).

It’s difficult to make it two years in a row. Most movies which make $100 million generally take a lot of time and effort: somebody who is first-billed in a tentpole movie doesn’t have a lot of time to make another movie that year.

Starting in 2015 (but looking backwards from there), we added the “On a roll” designation. For 2016, for example, only four actors made it:

• Bill Hader
• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
• Jennifer Lawrence
• Simon Pegg

Of those four, only one of them was on more than their second in a row: Jennifer Lawrence, who was on her fifth.

In 2015, the situation was similar: four people who were “On a roll”, and with Jennifer Lawrence the only one who was on more than the second in a row (the others were Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Banks, and Jai Courtney).

Unless something changes, though, this year will be different.

Jennifer Lawrence only has one movie scheduled for release, Mother!

With only one movie, it isn’t possible to make it to our

2017 The Measured Circle’s Box Office MVPs

list. It has nineteen people on it so far, with Hannibal Buress and Jenny Slate being the only two on a roll.

We don’t see this as any sign of a lasting downturn: we expect Jennifer Lawrence will be back at the top of the box office and wouldn’t be surprised to see additional Oscar nominations in her future.

This is just a different sort of year…

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Disney’s next “E ticket”? Star Wars Merged Reality

Disney’s next “E ticket”? Star Wars Merged Reality

Up until the early 1980s (and starting in 1959), the “E” ticket (or coupon) was the latest and greatest ride: the Submarine Voyage, the Matterhorn…the top of the line.

Even though Disney officially did away with the letter tickets thirty-five years ago, people still use the term. Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones…those would all be considered E tickets.

These are the buzzy rides…the ones people would talk about when they got home, brag about, and say, “You gotta ride…”

While Disney works on its Star Wars lands for 2019, this holiday season will bring a different kind of attraction…merged reality.

While that’s not the term that the company making it uses for it, it’s one of my four “flavors” as I defined in my first VAMM (Virtual/Augmented/Mixed/Merged Reality…which I’m tending to simplify to VAM) post:

Welcome, vammers! Our Virtual/Augmented/Mixed/Merged Reality coverage starts here

This is what I said:

“Merged Reality: this is new, and is a term used by Intel for its Alloy headset (YouTube videos). This is essentially the opposite of Mixed Reality. The headset maps the actual location (say, the furniture in a room), and then masks it with a story-appropriate appearance: a table might “change into” a control panel on a spaceship, or into a rock in a haunted forest”

What The VOID calls it is “Hyper-Reality”. They’ve been doing some really interesting things. You do wear a VR headset, and you don’t see the actual environment…but you are in a dedicated space for this particular experience.

If you pick up a light saber, the hilt can actually be a physical object…and then you would see and hear the “blade”, which would react appropriately as it fought another player. The hilt could even be made to vibrate with a hit. I don’t know that these are part of this actual experience…just giving you the idea.

It’s also social…you play with your family or your friends. As they move, you see their avatars move in VR. When I’ve been socially with people in VR, seeing their avatars’ heads move when they look at something makes it feel very real.

You could be interacting with actors or CGI…or a mix. You won’t really have a way to tell…until an actor does something physical.

In this

The VOID post

they point out that it could even involve smells!

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire will open in Downtown Disney at Disneyland (in California) and Disney Springs at Disneyworld (in Florida).

This will be judged on a number of things:

• How does it feel?
• How immersive is it?
• How Disney is it?
• How Star Wars is it?

On the last one, ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) is involved, so that’s a good sign.

We also don’t know enough about the logistics yet…is it a separate charge? It certainly could be…you pay for things in Downtown Disney. How long will the wait be (only so many people can be in there at a time)? How long will you get in the experience (again, it can’t be that long, since people are waiting)?

My guess? People will talk about it…it will be an E ticket. 🙂

Oh, one other thing: this is not going to be dependent on the Disney infrastructure, meaning that they could hypothetically open it in other places across the country…and around the globe.

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Geeky Good-byes 2017 #4: 100 geek-related celebrity deaths in 2017

Geeky Good-byes 2017 #4: 100 geek-related celebrity deaths in 2017

The Measured Circle regularly covers the reported deaths of celebrities with geek-friendly credits.

Every one of them matters. One of the hallmarks of geeks is our inclusiveness: we recognize actors, directors, authors, and more who have connections with fictional works about things that are outside of consensus reality, as well as scientists, technologists, and others.

While we will unfortunately undoubtedly add additional celebrities to our

2017 Geeky Good-byes

we have just done the 100th listing for 2017.

We hope that some people take a few minutes to look at that list, to see the people who have contributed in ways large and small to our culture. Some of them have gotten mainstream coverage; others haven’t. In some cases, I’m able to do a full post (as I did in Adam West has reportedly died). I wish I could write posts for every single one of them, but that’s not possible. In this post, I will make comments on some people I haven’t address outside the listing yet.

I was particularly moved by the passing of June Foray, the legendary voice artist. With a career which lasted more than 70 years, it can’t be said that this was a surprise. However, the range and subtlety of her performances still astounds me. From Granny to Rocket J. Squirrel to Natasha Fatale to Talky Tina, Disney to Jay Ward to Warner Brothers, just her performances alone would be enough. However, behind the scenes, she advocated to get animation the respect that it deserves. That includes being influential in the creation of the Best Animated Feature Oscar, and founding the International Animated Film Society and the Annie Awards. In interviews, she always seemed genuinely nice. I recommend this one Beyond the Marquee interview.

While the mainstream tends to focus on actors, I was pleased to see Marty Sklar get coverage. I love theme parks (I had an idea for one, but I now think it might make a better virtual reality experience), and Disneyland wouldn’t be what it is without Imagineer Marty Sklar. Geeks can appreciate the combination of engineering and artistry, as well as being appreciated by the popular face of the organization.

Many people just think of George A. Romero and his first feature Night of the Living Dead, as just shocking gore, but that’s not the case at all. George Romero and John A. Russo’s script is really sophisticated and why the movie is so disturbing. I particularly enjoyed Martin, definitely one of his lesser-known works…which is really about the writing. It was also clear that he supported the community of amateur and up and coming filmmakers.

We thank them and all geeky creators for giving us a way to experience something which has never existed.

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What do Wonder Woman, King Kong, and Star Wars have in common? Us!

What do Wonder Woman, King Kong, and Star Wars have in common? Us!

I think it’s pretty clear I’m not a sellout: if I were, I wouldn’t spend so much time working on things that I enjoy, but almost nobody else sees. 🙂

Case in point…

I love working on timelines at

The History Project

The site has gotten some significant press, and some big names (both corporate and individual) have gotten involved with it.

Our main timeline,

The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip

continues to grow. It debuted about a year and a half ago, and I’m proud of it. You can watch public domain movies, TV shows, read books and comic books, and listen to Old Time Radio shows through links.

I’m getting close to 1,000 views…almost nothing on the internet, I know, but it’s still significant to me.

I’ve launched three other timelines (and have more in development):

• The Measured Circle’s King Kong timeline (a short history of a tall ape) | 82 views
• The Measured Circle’s Star Wars timeline (a long time ago and everything in between) | 14 views
• The Measured Circle’s Wonder Woman timeline (The Golden Lasso of Time | 8 views

That’s right…eight views for the most popular movie of the year. 😉

Now, admittedly, these are all growing, and they aren’t as robust as TMCGTT.

I do think there are some interesting things already, with more to come.

You can also add to it!

That’s how these timelines may eventually take off, when other people start filling them in.

You can also comment on things…I’d love to see that on TMCGTT especially!

They are really labors of love, and I don’t spend much time on them, but it’s a great thing when I want a break (yep, I usually take a break by creating).

If you get a chance, check them out…I’d appreciate any feedback.

You can let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

Oh, I did write a post recently on my ILMK (I Love My Kindle blog) which readers of this blog might enjoy as well:

What books should a robot read to learn morality?

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AFD News: Disney finds its Mickey Mouse for live action Steamboat Willie: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

AFD News: Disney finds its Mickey Mouse for live action Steamboat Willie: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Note: this is a work of humor. Disney has not announced a live action reboot of the first released (1928) Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie. 

July 17, 2017 (AFD News)

At Disney’s D23 fan expo over the weekend, the dominant pop culture company had news about their Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney properties. They saved the first for last, surprising the enthusiastic crowd when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took the stage to introduce the first teaser trailer for Disney’s live action reboot of the first released Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie.

This would continue the collaboration between the two entertainment giants, following Moana and The Jungle Cruise.

Johnson was joined on stage by other cast members: Johnson’s Fast & Furious co-star Michelle Rodriguez as Minnie Mouse, Lewis Black as Pete, Jim Parsons, Paul Reubens, and Sean Hayes as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor, and Rihanna as April, May, and June, Kevin Hart as a parrot, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson as Robert Fulton. While not appearing on stage, Andy Serkis, Kate McKinnon, and Neil Patrick Harris will each play multiple undisclosed roles.

Directors Matt and Ross Duffler (Stranger Things) explained that the seven-minute cartoon will be expanded in part by increasing the passenger carrying element of the original, which explains the presence of Donald and Daisy Duck’s nephews and nieces. “That opens up a lot more possibilities for characters from the shorts to appear, but we can’t talk about that,” said the brothers. While the teaser did not reveal much more, sharp-eyed audience members noted that the steamboat was named “Disney Fantasy”, which is the name of one of Disney’s cruise ships.

The one scene in the clip, while clearly preliminary footage, showed Rodriguez in an update of the famous “panty hook scene”, in which a crane lifted up Minnie’s skirt and tucked into her underwear to lift her on to the boat. In an amusing update, Rodriguez (wearing pants) grabs the crane to swing on to the ship, despite the presence of a gang-plank.

When asked about his interpretation of the character, Johnson responded, “Mickey’s the man! The mouse is a total bad@ss.”

The movie will begin filming when Johnson completes his current commitments, and is scheduled for release to coincide with the movie’s 100th anniversary in 2028.

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As a reminder, this is just a joke…not that I wouldn’t be there opening weekend! Or, you know, in virtual reality…

 

 

 

Microsoft’s new free app, Seeing AI, is a life-changing accessibility tool…and a lot of fun!

Microsoft’s new free app, Seeing AI, is a life-changing accessibility tool…and a lot of fun!

It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun with an app!

That may seem odd, since this is ostensibly designed to help those with visual challenges.

It will do that. I know a couple of people it will help.

Let me link to it first (it’s only currently available for iOS…iPhones, iPads, iPod touch):

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seeing-ai-talking-camera-for-the-blind/id999062298?mt=8

What it does is recognize things: people, text, dogs, a kitchen, a computer…it’s gotten all of those right for me.

It doesn’t just tell you that it’s a person…it guesses at age and gender, and will tell you hair color, if the person has glasses or a beard, and so on.

It also, and this will be very useful for people with autism, will attempt to interpret the person’s expression (happy, neutral, angry…).

Now, it’s important for me to say that it didn’t ever get the age exactly right, although it was often close. A person I know well wasn’t pleased when it interpreted them as significantly older than was true. 😉

I tried it both with photos on a computer screen, and with real life objects, and it was generally pretty good. We had fun when it interpreted a knit blanket as a close-up of a sandwich, but that was not typical.

It can also read text out loud, and that worked for me, too! There was a computer program which wasn’t accessible to the screen reader on the computer…but Seeing AI could read it. It will take some practice for how I hold it, but even initially, it did read what I needed.

I think you’ll have fun playing around with it!

A few tips:

• The “scene” interpreter, which it says is in beta, is how it interprets objects (like dogs, toys, computers…)
• Go to the Settings menu (three lines) to use face recognition…you can teach it to recognize specific people. That will be useful for someone I know who has “face blindness”: they can’t recognize celebrities or even family members in pictures by their faces
• When I was trying to work with it reading off the computer, it worked much better when I went into settings and had it turn off “Manage lighting”…that meant the flash didn’t come on. When the flash was on, there was too much glare for it to recognize things

Okay,

Echo Show (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

Gauntlet thrown! 😉

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When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!