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About Me

Regular Jill. Or Vargas. I go by either one. I cover the tech and entertainment insider's angle from an uninformed, non-insider's perspective. Take from that what you will! :)

Reclaiming the Blade Saturday, April 11, 2009 |

A documentery released by Galatia films exmines the long lost art of Western European martial arts and the cultural importance of the sword. It's called Reclaiming the Blade and it looks like a marvelous piece on the history of the blade. Many of the creators of the LOTR films are also in this documentary, lending their expertise and knowledge. The production values look stunning.

Why make a documetary about swords, you ask? Well, for one thing this documentary is geared for those who love all things about ancient/medieval European culture. It also seems to be the kind of film that can satisfy and interest anyone interested in the history of the sword not only through time but also in film. It examines how and why European martial arts and the secrets to sword making nearly disappeared from history. As I mentioned before, this film not only examines this lost art in history but also examines the importance of the sword and sword play in Hollywood films - and there's been a long line of battles and sword fighting in Hollywood's epic films. Finally a film that examines our facination and romantization of the sword. In the words of - their marketing department:

"The Medieval and Renaissance blade, a profound and beautiful object handcrafted by master artisans of old. An object of great complexity, yet one with a singular use in mind- it is designed to kill. The truth of the sword has been shrouded in antiquity, and the Renaissance martial arts that brought it to being are long forgotten. The ancient practitioners lent us all they knew through their manuscripts. As gunslingers of the Renaissance they were western heroes with swords, and they lived and died by them. Yet today their history remains cloaked under a shadow of legend."

You can find snippets videos of the documetary and the trailer on their website and updates on the project. Directed by Daniel McNicoll and including cast and production crew  members form the LOTR films as well as many experts and historians on medieval and renaissance swords, sword making and martial arts this looks to be a beautiful and information packed film! In fact there will be a two disc version of this film with four hours of extras available  in stores July 7th. It was made available on iTunes for download March 30th. If you are like me and don't want to wait for the dvd you can order the two disc version directly from the website. It is also interesting to note that a second documentary is in the works that begins where Reclaiming the Blade leaves off. it's called Reclaiming the Blade 2: A Call to Arms. Check out the Galatia films site for more information. A seperate soundtrack has been recorded for the first documentary as well. 


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Goodbye Life On Mars Sunday, March 15, 2009 |

A great show that has been canceled by ABC is Life On Mars. It's too bad because from what I've seen it's a very intriguing show. It was one of those shows that I was planning to check out this summer when my regualr shows go on summer hiatus but it looks like I've waited too late.

Life On Mars is actually a copy of a british show of the same name with the same exact premise: A cop named Sam gets trapped in the 1970's; 1973 to be exact. His girlfriend Maya is kidnapped by a serial killer, Sam is knocked unconscious by a car and wakes up in 1973. 

Sam discovers a strange new world full of tough, cigarette smoking, gum chewing, macho men. the farthest things from the modern metrosexual. He’s starting his first day in a new precinct and he’s got to prove himself to his new boss, Gene Hunt. Gene likes to throw his weight around and he acts first and thinks last. The only person in this strange new world who reaches out to Sam is a young woman named Annie Cartwright.

Dazed and confused, Sam finds it difficult to focus on the murder his new colleagues are investigating. Then he discovers a connection between this crime and the serial killer who kidnapped his girlfriend back in 2006. Could solving this case be the key to getting back home to his time period? Could it be a way to save Maya?

The show gets really trippy and crazy but it looked like a really good show. I like trippy - I like crazy so it was right up my alley and the American version looked just as good as the British version. The only problem was that it came on too late and I have too many shows to watch already, but from what I saw, and the fact that Harvey Keitel was in it made it worth checking out. One thing that I will give ABC credit for is that they will finish out the entire first season and release it online instead of simply dumping the show mid season and leaving fans hanging with no closure. CBS gave fans no closure with Moonlight and plenty of other great shows. This has happened time and again on many networks. So this is a respectful gesture from the network to fans. The network didn't want to cancel the show, but it simply didn't get enough ratings. I can accept that, even though it's a loss for quality TV. Too bad some of those reality TV shows can't be canceled. The Unusuals will replace it in April. That looks like one stupid show to me. Wonder how long that will last.

I suppose I can at least download and watch the first season when it comes out this summer.


Information for this post was gleaned from Bestuff.com

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Quotes + shout outs + Commentary Shorts . . . .

  • Favorite Drink of the Month: Vimeo
  • Vimeo is a neat tutorial site that helps you create your own movies and videos. Whether you want to create them for personal or family projects or whether you're a budding video podcaster Vimeo is a great resource for learning. I give props to folks with sites like these that freely help others learn skills that can be used for all sorts of important things - like a career or a home business. Normally you have to pay a lot of money to learn how to do these things. Vimeo's tutorials teach you all kinds of production skills. They don't just stop at teaching you how to turn your little ol' digital camera into a movie making machine. Check them out!
  • Urban Outside
  • Minutiae et Obscura
  • Tango Eternal!
  • Articles + Commentary
  • Have a shout out or a commentary short you want to share? Obscure sites you heard about? Something cool or different that you feel needs exposure? Want to see it posted in this section? Write me an email and let me know and I'll post it along with a link to your site!

    Blogs + Sites = I Like

  • <"">(looking for new, cool blogs. . . )