Lord of the Rings Online is an MMORPG developed by Turbine. They are having open signups for the beta now. The open beta doesn’t start until April, but they may be accepting more people into the beta before then. Sign up on the LOTRO website.
This isn’t quite new news. We’ve known for a while that more Futurama is coming, and now we know the format. Rotten Tomatoes reports that Fox will be producing four straight to DVD movies. Then afterwards Comedy Central will be breaking up these movies into episodes and airing them.
“I was frustrated when it got cancelled, but Fox, 20th Television is the one who came back and said, ‘Would you like to do a DVD movie?’” Groening recalled. We said, ‘Let’s do two’ and they said, ‘Well, why not three?’ and we said, ‘Well, why not four?’ and they said, ‘Okay, four’ and then that’s it.”
The article also mentions that because the movies/episodes will be shown on DVD and Comedy Central (not Fox), they can be a little more extreme and push the limits a bit. Cable stations don’t have to be as strict about content as network stations. I can’t wait!
All glory to the Hypnotoad!
SoundtrackNet is running a contest for the movie Music & Lyrics. The movie looks like a chick flick, and I’m not really interested in it. But one of the prizes for the grand prize winner is a RED nano ipod, and the contest is free to enter! Enter on Soundtrack.net.
In an attempt to get some people to actually read my site, I’m submitting it to blog sites. Here goes! Technorati Profile
The Houston Chronicle is reporting that One-Third of Students in Texas Don’t Graduate. The article is not referring to college, but high school.
One out of three Texas students don’t graduate, and more students drop out than finish high school in the state’s largest cities, according to education experts.
Statewide, more than 2.5 million students have dropped out of Texas high schools in the last 20 years, and each graduating class loses about 120,000 students from freshman year to senior year, according to the San Antonio-based Intercultural Development Research Association.
The article does say that the dropout rate among blacks, Hispanics and low-income students is about 60 percent. I wonder how many of these are children of illegal immigrants? Regardless, this is really sad… the school system here definitely needs some work!
I redesigned the site a bit today. I wanted to give it a simpler and bolder layout. If you have any problems finding anything or have any suggestions, please let me know!
The Oscar Nominees for 2006 were announced today. My favorite categories are always Best Picture and Best Music (Score). So, here they are!
Best Picture Nominees:
I have only seen two of the five, The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine. Both were excellent. I’m rooting for The Departed to win though… it was just all around very well done. Great writing, great acting, great directing, and a very interesting story. It received five nominations in total: Best Supporting Actor (Mark Wahlberg), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).
Best Music (Score) Nominees:
I have only seen one of these movies, but as my current favorite soundtrack I’m going for Pan’s Labyrinth. Wonderful movie, and wonderful music to accompany it. The melodies are very haunting and beautiful. Pan’s Labyrinth was nominated for six awards: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Makeup, Best Music (Score), and Best Writing (Original Screenplay). I hope it does very well, and I think it has the potential to do so. Check out my Pan’s Labyrinth Review.
One disappointment is that Children of Men was not nominated for Best Picture. Instead it was only nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). Children of Men was an incredible movie, and the Cinematography is some of the best I’ve seen. There are some shots which are continuous for at least five minutes at a time. Combined with other techniques, the filming really puts you right there with the characters.
The Oscars will be held on February 27th!
First impressions last in the world of gaming. It is inescapable. Beta testing can either make or break a game… before it is even released. A good way to build a solid player base for a game is to have a solid beta. The game should be playable for the most part, and large bugs should be mostly ironed out before this time. World of Warcraft is an excellent example of this. Blizzard opted to go through beta testing without an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). This meant that all beta testers were allowed to discuss their testing experiences, both good and bad, post screenshots, etc. It was quite a risk to take, but Blizzard triumphed because the beta made a great first impression.
Before you get too excited, this isn’t an official continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Nor does it include the original cast members. Forgotten Memories is a fan produced 40 minute episode following the end of Buffy season 7. From the production’s web site:
The project “Forgotten Memories” first began its journey in early 2004 when budding scriptwriter Emma Paige Langley penned her ideas for a continuation of the Buffyverse after the series finale “Chosen.” In her words: “these characters don’t just go away. They stay in people’s minds, thoughts and memories. That’s why Buffy is so amazing. Joss doesn’t just create a show or a character, he creates worlds that audiences find themselves drawn to.”
I have not downloaded and watched it yet, but it sounds like a wonderful idea! There are some great quotes on the website, including one from Joss Whedon: “Thank God someone else wrote season 8!”
Download the Forgotten Memories video!
I have put together a list of my top ten most relaxing soundtrack cues. They are individual tracks from various original score soundtracks. Some of these come from soundtracks with many relaxing cues, while others are part of a more diverse score. Piano and string instruments are pretty common here, as well as romantic or tragic themes. If you want some soundtrack music to relax to, these are the cues I recommend.