A couple great new trailers came out today, showing off some of the amazing stuff happening at work!
Both include Johnny Depp, though in pretty different forms :)
Rango
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Our 826Valencia workshop has been posted!!
Matt and I are getting REALLLLLLLY excited about our first 826Valencia workshop, and I just noticed that they've posted our class info on the website!
http://www.826valencia.org/workshops/2011_01
http://www.826valencia.org/workshops/2011_01
Digital Storytelling
Telling new stories through film
Taught by Matthew Parrot and Mike Jutan
Open to 12 students, ages 14-18
A twelve-week workshop
Have you always wanted to tell your story on the silver screen? Do you dream of combining story-telling, visual art, and technology to inspire others? During this class, we'll explore film-making concepts such as script-writing, non-linear editing, camera work, and composition. We'll use accessible technologies to bring your masterpiece to life and share it with the world. The class will take place in the brand new 826 computer lab.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
My comment to Katie, the Star Wars girl
The story about Katie was so moving that I decided to write a comment on her Mom's blog. For anyone who's interested, here's what I posted:
-----------
Hi Katie (and family)!
My name is Mike, I'm Jewish too and I live in San Francisco and I work at the company that creates Star Wars!
I saw your article today on CNN and came to visit your Mom's site. Your Mom is so proud of you and it made me very teary-eyed to read her story. You have a great family. :)
I came from a little town in Canada, but now I live in the big and awesome city of San Francisco and I get to make movies and tv shows for a living that excite and inspire little girls and boys all around the world (like you!) This is a dream come true for me, but it was never easy to be different for me, either. What I've learned is, the people who are different are the ones who really make a difference in this world.
I grew up in a small town called London, but not the one in England - my town is also called London but it is in Ontario, Canada, near Toronto. I knew I loved Computers from when I was even younger than you! I was totally fascinated with them. I even helped other kids in my Kindergarten class learn how to use the Commodore 64 computer in our classroom. That computer was very old compared to what computer you have in your house now - it didn't even have the Internet or a CD or DVD drive!
My parents immigrated to Canada and they always encouraged me to be different. To this day I still have a poster that my Dad hung in our Computer room when I was growing up that says "Dare to be different." It has a whole lot of green apples on it, and only one red one. Guess who is the red one? Me. My family. And You! Being the "red apple" can be very, very hard sometimes, as you've seen.
It's very tough when you believe in something or are enthusiastic about something you like and other people are mean to you about it. When I was your age, my parents kept encouraging me to be myself, and to ignore other kids who said mean things to me. My parents explained that the other kids maybe were just embarrassed that they didn't like things as much as me, and they weren't as motivated or as hard-working as me. Those good characteristics about me made the teachers really like me, but had the opposite effect on many of the kids in my class. This was always hard and I wanted to be popular and cool and I wanted to fit in. But even more than that, I wanted to be myself. I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I was going to achieve it, and some silly kids making some silly comments wasn't going to change how I felt about myself. I learned to shrug off mean comments, and I learned to follow my own heart and dreams - to "march to the beat of my own drum", like you are discovering. This is an incredible skill but you need to be very proactive to maintain it. You should always continue to improve this skill - your personal sense of your own self-worth - all your life.
The great Rabbi Zusya of the 18th Century said, “The Almighty will not ask me why I was not as bold as our forefather Abraham; He will not ask me why I was not a leader like Moses. He will turn to me and say: ‘Zusha, why were you not more like Zusha?’” What I think he means is that you should not spend your life trying to attain the dreams and successes of others - rather, you should be yourself with all your energy. You should be aware of yourself. You should be confident in your own decisions - like deciding to ignore the bullies and take your favourite Star Wars lunch bottle back to school. Good for you!
Keep up the awesome work :) Remember to always be proud of who you are - a red apple!
Mike Jutan :)
http://jutanclan.blogspot.com
-----------
Hi Katie (and family)!
My name is Mike, I'm Jewish too and I live in San Francisco and I work at the company that creates Star Wars!
I saw your article today on CNN and came to visit your Mom's site. Your Mom is so proud of you and it made me very teary-eyed to read her story. You have a great family. :)
I came from a little town in Canada, but now I live in the big and awesome city of San Francisco and I get to make movies and tv shows for a living that excite and inspire little girls and boys all around the world (like you!) This is a dream come true for me, but it was never easy to be different for me, either. What I've learned is, the people who are different are the ones who really make a difference in this world.
I grew up in a small town called London, but not the one in England - my town is also called London but it is in Ontario, Canada, near Toronto. I knew I loved Computers from when I was even younger than you! I was totally fascinated with them. I even helped other kids in my Kindergarten class learn how to use the Commodore 64 computer in our classroom. That computer was very old compared to what computer you have in your house now - it didn't even have the Internet or a CD or DVD drive!
My parents immigrated to Canada and they always encouraged me to be different. To this day I still have a poster that my Dad hung in our Computer room when I was growing up that says "Dare to be different." It has a whole lot of green apples on it, and only one red one. Guess who is the red one? Me. My family. And You! Being the "red apple" can be very, very hard sometimes, as you've seen.
It's very tough when you believe in something or are enthusiastic about something you like and other people are mean to you about it. When I was your age, my parents kept encouraging me to be myself, and to ignore other kids who said mean things to me. My parents explained that the other kids maybe were just embarrassed that they didn't like things as much as me, and they weren't as motivated or as hard-working as me. Those good characteristics about me made the teachers really like me, but had the opposite effect on many of the kids in my class. This was always hard and I wanted to be popular and cool and I wanted to fit in. But even more than that, I wanted to be myself. I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I was going to achieve it, and some silly kids making some silly comments wasn't going to change how I felt about myself. I learned to shrug off mean comments, and I learned to follow my own heart and dreams - to "march to the beat of my own drum", like you are discovering. This is an incredible skill but you need to be very proactive to maintain it. You should always continue to improve this skill - your personal sense of your own self-worth - all your life.
The great Rabbi Zusya of the 18th Century said, “The Almighty will not ask me why I was not as bold as our forefather Abraham; He will not ask me why I was not a leader like Moses. He will turn to me and say: ‘Zusha, why were you not more like Zusha?’” What I think he means is that you should not spend your life trying to attain the dreams and successes of others - rather, you should be yourself with all your energy. You should be aware of yourself. You should be confident in your own decisions - like deciding to ignore the bullies and take your favourite Star Wars lunch bottle back to school. Good for you!
Keep up the awesome work :) Remember to always be proud of who you are - a red apple!
Mike Jutan :)
http://jutanclan.blogspot.com
Go Katie!
Just heard about this incredibly sweet girl named Katie and her mother's noble quest to end the bullying that Katie was receiving at school about her Star Wars water bottle.
The interviews are just so sweet, and there is little-to-no chance you'll be able to read her Mom's blog without tearing up.
What a great story and an outpouring of good will and support for Katie and all other kids who face this problem at school. Amazing.
Article here:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/portrait_of_an_adoption/2010/11/anti-bullying-starts-in-first-grade.html
From CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/12/09/katie.starwars.geek/index.html?hpt=C2
The interviews are just so sweet, and there is little-to-no chance you'll be able to read her Mom's blog without tearing up.
What a great story and an outpouring of good will and support for Katie and all other kids who face this problem at school. Amazing.
Article here:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/portrait_of_an_adoption/2010/11/anti-bullying-starts-in-first-grade.html
From CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/12/09/katie.starwars.geek/index.html?hpt=C2
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Home from Singapore
Home safely in SF. It's 12C and raining here, and I haven't been so excited to feel cold air in, well, I can't even imagine how long! The nights in Singapore were even 26-28C, and the humidity during the days was pretty nuts! There were even some days over 32C I think, which was crazy!
Anyhow, home safely and actually already unpacked. I'm keen to look at my photos but I'll leave that for another night. I am pretty tired but still kinda jet laggy so we'll see about when I can get to sleep, but I'll probably try to unwind now.
Excited to see all of these photos, there are gonna be some good ones in the bunch!
I'll start by Facebooking the photo albums and Youtubing the videos. From there I'll write up the blog over the December break and start posting the daily entries retroactively.
Anyhow, home safely and actually already unpacked. I'm keen to look at my photos but I'll leave that for another night. I am pretty tired but still kinda jet laggy so we'll see about when I can get to sleep, but I'll probably try to unwind now.
Excited to see all of these photos, there are gonna be some good ones in the bunch!
I'll start by Facebooking the photo albums and Youtubing the videos. From there I'll write up the blog over the December break and start posting the daily entries retroactively.
Friday, December 03, 2010
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur: Blog coming soon...
Hi folks!
Quick update on this super awesome trip to Singapore. It's been an absolutely fantastic trip so far. I've taken a crazy amount of photos (but maybe not as many as Japan/South Korea last year) :) It's going really well here and we're having an amazing time.
I've been taking notes day-by-day and I'll be compiling and processing my photos after the trip and then writing up the blog retroactively, same as I did with the Japan trip. But for the eager beavers in the crowd, here's a quick highlight list:
- Getting stuck in the Rainforest in Kuala Lumpur in a Monsoon and with no idea how to leave the Malay Tea House we'd wandered to because they wouldn't call us a cab
- Speaking to the Python User's Group of Singapore
- Finding my coveted New Balance Rainbow Running shoes here - this time in glow-in-the-dark Orange and city-light colour
- Making up silly names to remember each subway station
- Hanging out with Matt, Jess, Leila and all our friends here
- Fish Head Curry (it was scary)
- Chinatown Market St at Night
- Chillin' out with some Mint Tea and Mezes in Bugis
- The Merlion
- Amazing architecture
And plenty more to come, I'm sure :)
iMenorah: the new iPhone menorah app - now on the iTunes App Store!
For anyone who hasn't seen our old video :)
Thursday, December 02, 2010
iMenorah article on CNet Crave!!!!!!!!
AHHHHHHHHH AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20024349-1.html
Thanks Greg for the heads up. Sooo cool.
Happy Chanukah to all, and our very best wishes.
Mike and Matt
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20024349-1.html
Thanks Greg for the heads up. Sooo cool.
Happy Chanukah to all, and our very best wishes.
Mike and Matt
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Some recent iMenorah Buzz!!
It's almost Chanukah again and you know what that means... time for lots more exciting buzz and articles in awesome newspapers about iMenorah!! It's so exciting to see all this buzz about our hard work, and we're hoping to make an even bigger donation this year after the sales come in. Hooray!
Here is some of the recent buzz. VERY exciting!!
Here is some of the recent buzz. VERY exciting!!
- New York Daily News (print): Fri. Nov 19th, "Your Home" section, page 8
- NYTimes Blog: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/the-lights-fantastic/
- JewishiPhoneCommunity.org: http://www.jewishiphonecommunity.org/apps/imenorah
- Appolicious: http://www.appolicious.com/shine/articles/941-ancient-holiday-traditions-go-mobile-with-the-imenorah-iphone-app
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Movie Review: Half Nelson
Ryan Gosling was incredible in this role but I found myself wanting to know more about his character's motivations. I thought I was going to LOVE this movie, and I finished it just sortof liking it. Ryan Gosling really carried the role amazingly well and his acting really improved the character (who I think would have benefited from some further dialog explaining his conflicts and perhaps his true feelings about his addiction and intentions to solve it). The ending is hopeful but really open-ended. After that much build-up I think it would have been more satisfying to see a real change in his character's mentality.
I was expecting a lot more growth from his character - the really sharp moment when Drey finds him in the hotel room was really rock-bottom for him - I was really hoping for his character to vocalize his embarrassment and shame, and to make a clear swing towards improvement. It kinda felt like Drey was doing all the work for him, and we get to the last scene where he shaves his scruffy beard and they tell a joke on the couch - I expected at least an apology from him or *something*. For so much hopeful build-up, I would have really expected his character to take a more concerted effort so as to not lose face in the eyes of his student. Rather, he still kept his complacent attitude all the way to the end of the film and it ended on a note that seemed hopeful, but didn't prove it to you.
Definitely an amazing acting job and some brilliant ideas in this movie, I just think Ryan Gosling really made the role, and the character could have been given a bit more intention and change in behaviour by the end of the film. If the intention is to show the benefit of the student-teaching-teacher relationship, I was wishing that the teacher showed that he truly learned something by the end of the film, and wasn't going to instantly fall into old habits in the next situation.
I was expecting a lot more growth from his character - the really sharp moment when Drey finds him in the hotel room was really rock-bottom for him - I was really hoping for his character to vocalize his embarrassment and shame, and to make a clear swing towards improvement. It kinda felt like Drey was doing all the work for him, and we get to the last scene where he shaves his scruffy beard and they tell a joke on the couch - I expected at least an apology from him or *something*. For so much hopeful build-up, I would have really expected his character to take a more concerted effort so as to not lose face in the eyes of his student. Rather, he still kept his complacent attitude all the way to the end of the film and it ended on a note that seemed hopeful, but didn't prove it to you.
Definitely an amazing acting job and some brilliant ideas in this movie, I just think Ryan Gosling really made the role, and the character could have been given a bit more intention and change in behaviour by the end of the film. If the intention is to show the benefit of the student-teaching-teacher relationship, I was wishing that the teacher showed that he truly learned something by the end of the film, and wasn't going to instantly fall into old habits in the next situation.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Kinect for Xbox 360 - Kinectimals
Don't think I posted this already. How hilarious and brilliant. Kinect looks completely badass. A friend who's tried it out says pose recognition is pretty darn good. This is absurd that it's this awesome and they're selling Kinect for only like $150... insane. If the games hold up, this could be as revolutionary as the Wii...
Maru the cat
Just came across this HILARIOUS cat from Japan named Maru, he is awesome.
His owner writes this really funny blog about him: http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/ Soooooooooooo awesome!!
His owner writes this really funny blog about him: http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/ Soooooooooooo awesome!!
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Movie Review: Ghost World
Wow, this was great. Really found the "whateevver" Clueless-style 90's attitude both hilarious and tiring (as was the director's intention, I bet!).
What an interesting story on the need for friendship and support. I was surprised that they ...made the main character Jewish, but (given her reactions to a jock who hassles her about it several times throughout the movie), her religion is just another thing about her that makes her different and continue to feel further separated from the crowd. "Always somewhat of an outsider looking in on American culture", as Harry Shearer discussed in a stage show I saw of his at the JCCSF last year. Thought that was an interesting thread.
Interesting as well that she spoke out against Racism when everyone around her wanted to ignore it or pretend it wasn't there. This further separated her from her peers but it seems to be one of the only decisions that she is truly happy about, given that most of her other actions are morally questionable.
What an interesting story on the need for friendship and support. I was surprised that they ...made the main character Jewish, but (given her reactions to a jock who hassles her about it several times throughout the movie), her religion is just another thing about her that makes her different and continue to feel further separated from the crowd. "Always somewhat of an outsider looking in on American culture", as Harry Shearer discussed in a stage show I saw of his at the JCCSF last year. Thought that was an interesting thread.
Interesting as well that she spoke out against Racism when everyone around her wanted to ignore it or pretend it wasn't there. This further separated her from her peers but it seems to be one of the only decisions that she is truly happy about, given that most of her other actions are morally questionable.
Conan O'Brien Presents: SHOW ZERO!
Can't wait to see Conan's new show!!!!!!!!!
It's 11:30, and I just turned off Leno on my TV and headed to my computer to watch this instead...
Let the new wave of late night triumphantly begin...
It's 11:30, and I just turned off Leno on my TV and headed to my computer to watch this instead...
Let the new wave of late night triumphantly begin...
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Where I've been map
Testing this out. At some point in the next year I'm hoping to revamp my website a bit and include a travel section, link to travel journals, and talk about future trips.
This map helps plan out the next area to visit :)
This map helps plan out the next area to visit :)
Monday, October 25, 2010
If all movies had smartphones
haha, I guess future movies will have to justify why everyone doesn't have a smartphone, like how now they keep having to justify why there's no cell reception at the moment in the plot where one character should just call another character. :)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Mumford & Sons show, San Francisco
Oh man it was insane. Super crazy crowd, everyone was freaking out and so excited. The show was really solid, they played a lot of the album and really rocked it out. The new stuff that isn't on an album yet was REALLY AWESOME, in fact a few of them are even better than their stuff from the album. Amazing!!!
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