IN WHICH the King of Pop is enjoyed in three dimensions, and James very much enjoys a certain web site.
Briana’s pick: Captain EO
Science may have proved that 3D movies hurt your brain (more info here), but hot damn they sure are fun! And since it’s human nature to love what’s bad for you, there’s a whole slew of 3 dimensional films coming to a theater near you (i09 kindly posted a whole list of them in this related blog). Back in the 20th Century, 3D films were an anomaly, and I won’t forget the first time I donned a pair of magic glasses to view one.
Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson was open to the public in Disneyland in 1986 and viewed later by me in the Imagination Pavilion at Epcot Center (Disney World in Orlando). The film was executive produced by George Lucas, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and reportedly cost $30 million to make (quite a bit considering it’s only 17 minutes long). I won’t give away the plot; just know that it involves outer space, flying robots, lasers and yes, quite a bit of dancing and singing. But it’s in 3 DIMENSIONS!
The film closed in the late ‘90’s due in part to Michael Jackson’s marred reputation. But now, upon his death, he’s more popular than ever! And to celebrate, Disneyland has reintroduced the film via their “Captain EO Tribute” attraction. But in case you can’t make it out to Disneyland, you can check the videos out on YouTube below. Don’t forget your magic glasses!
Captain EO in 3D (part 1 of 2)
Captain EO in 3D (part 2 of 2)
James’ pick: MetaFilter
So, if they told you that the Internet was being taken away from you, but you could pick one website that you could continue to visit, what would you choose? I know for a lot of people it would be Wikipedia, but for me, hands down, it’s MetaFilter.
Dubbed simply “Community weblog,” it’s a relatively free-form discussion place where conversations can happen about any imaginable topic. Big deal, right? That happens all over the place, but nowhere does it happen with so much signal and so little noise. The site has four full-time moderators, ensuring that discussions stay on topic and (relatively) civil.
But more than anything, it’s the intelligence of this community that astonishes me. This is a great bunch of people. And you combine that bunch of people (over 100,000 registered members, although the number of active participants is much lower) with the amazing functionality of the subsite Ask MetaFilter, in which you can pose almost any question and have it answered by the group, and you have the single most useful site on the Internet.
[podcast]http://archive.wfpk.org/Podcasts/20100226-nerdy.mp3[/podcast]