So we have been sitting down periodically to check out how things are going with "The War", but so far there has been nothing exciting and as Nikki pointed out it's "pretty boring". And of course, the lack of meaningful activity means we have to put up with CNN's nonending diatribe about "nothing", in fact this evening I sat for a good ten minutes while Aaron Brown went on and on about the trials of covering a war from a journalistic aspect only to end it all by saying "...but we're not here to talk about ourselves..." So what else is there. The most excitement so far is watching all those drivers going through the red light on that static street shot of Bahgdad, hoping for a decent collision.
I sent off the tax returns last night and now will start the wait for the cheques, which according to the CCRA website should be within two weeks. Should be a good refund, I'm looking forward to a new camera....perhaps.
I've been playing around with a little freeby 3D modelling program called Anim8or which gives you an idea of what goes into computer generated animation or CGI and definitely gives you an appreciation for the amount of work that goes into some of the special effects we take for granted in most modern day movies. The learning curve is pretty steep even for a fairly basic program, nowhere near as complex as something like Alias Wavefront or Maya, but it still takes a bit of getting used to. The results are quite astounding and if I managed to generate any decent images I'll post them on the site.
Last night I had the opportunity to watch a terrific movie that I hadn't seen for a long time, The Neverending Story, directed by Das Boot's Wolfgang Pederson. Shot mostly in Germany by Film Bavaria, the film stands up pretty well as an all around super fantasy flick, at least for the kids, with the underlying message that "reading is cool!" Everytime I see it I swear that part of it is shot in the Gastown section of Vancouver but I have not been able to confirm it. The Movie Database says it was shot in Munich in 1983, one of the hottest summers on record in Germany.

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