Carefully planned randomness

posted by Tygrrius @ 5:43 AM

There was a time when, with rare exception, I only listened to Elvis music. My faulty logic was why listen to anyone else when you can just listen to the best all the time? While I still think Elvis is the greatest, I finally came to realize that variety is the spice of life.

I often refer back to a quote from Harve Bennett (producer of Star Treks II through V) in which he said, if you eat turkey every day, Thanksgiving doesn't seem so special anymore. Bennett was referring to the effect of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series on the success of the Star Trek films, but I find this actually applies to many situations in life. With music, I've found that I appreciate Elvis even more by also listening to the work of others.

In anticipation of an iPod I'm hoping to get for Christmas, I've lately been organizing a lot of my music on iTunes. I'm not transferring my entire collection over, by any means, but as it stands, I have 908 songs loaded, 365 of which are Elvis. (Hey, that's one Elvis song for every day of the year.) Elvis released something like 750 different songs in his lifetime, and I've got at least one version of all of them. Once you include multiple live versions, alternate takes, and rehearsals, you're talking thousands of tracks.

I've found over the years that I most enjoy my music played in a random fashion, especially when mixing artists and genres. Almost like owning your own personal radio station that plays only music you like, but at the whim of an unseen DJ. I just think it's more fun that way than playing straight through on every album.

If I just play those 908 songs on random, then, this means Elvis still comes up more than 40% of the time (and that's going with the very big and wrong assumption that iTunes shuffles them in some kind of even fashion). I wanted to cut Elvis back from 40% to about 15 to 20% without having to delete Elvis songs (or having to add tons more non-Elvis songs).

I started researching playlists and found an incredible, if complicated, solution by Code Monkey. In a nutshell, it involves nested smart playlists. It took me a couple of tries to get it to work right (at least on iTunes, I may have to tweak more once I get the smartlists over to an actual iPod), but it was definitely worth the effort. I've now "programmed" a much better random experience (and no, the irony of that is not lost on me).

Right now, I have iTunes set to play 20% Elvis music, 16% Blues music (excluding Elvis), 30% Country music (again, excluding Elvis), and 24% for all other non-Elvis and non-Christmas music, which includes Rock, Standards, and Oldies. The remaining 10% is for whatever specific songs I definitely want to hear in the rotation, currently Christmas music. To do all of this, I created a total of 23 smartlists.

Since it's my job to point out cool stuff to you, here's a link to Code Monkey's documentation (PDF format) on how to create a similar kind of smartlist system:

Managing Your iPod With Smartlists

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And as long as I'm pointing out random cool stuff to you, be sure to check out this music video of Elvis singing "Blue Christmas" in duet with Martina McBride, which promotes the new album Elvis Presley Christmas Duets. Find out more information here.


Source: Sony/BMG

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I'll have at least one more post this weekend, I hope! Happy Friday!

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Questions? Comments? Contact The Film Frontier.

Checking in with a boring post

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:17 PM

It's funny how a song you don't normally like can suddenly sound good. Since my wife is asleep right now, I've got my headphones on and decided to play some Elvis music from the 1960s. The first song that came up is "A Little Bit Of Green," a track I normally skip. Yet, tonight, it sounds like a great song to me for some reason. Just a random thought to start out a random post.

Playing now is "Don't Cry, Daddy," always a favorite. Maybe it's the headphones, not that they're anything special. Even this one sounds better than normal, though.

Anyway, I can hardly believe that summer is nearly over. Oh sure, I guess there's another month or so, officially, but I'm back in school again starting Monday night, so that means summer is effectively over.

"Power Of My Love" is up now, another winner that sounds even better tonight. Maybe I'm just in an Elvis mood.

I've been taking one class a semester, but this semester I'll be taking two. Actually, one of my classes was canceled as of yesterday, so I had to pick another one at the last second. Even one class a semester was an awful lot of work, so I can only imagine how bad two classes are going to be.

I've liked my recent update routine for The Film Frontier, confining my work on the site to Friday through Sunday. I'll try to keep that up as best I can, though I'll no longer have every Friday off effective September. I should be able to sneak at least one post in per weekend, I would bet. I actually miss this place when I'm not able to post. This blogging thing can be quite addictive.

When it comes to movies, what a summer this has been. My favorite film this summer was The Dark Knight, putting me on the same page as most other bloggers out there - but sometimes the majority can be right, you know. My next favorite was Get Smart, which was actually the one I was looking forward to seeing the most. A fine movie it was, but not a masterpiece like The Dark Knight.

We even had a decent Indiana Jones movie after a 19-year wait, not to mention a minor league Star Wars movie. I wish they would just re-release one of the live action Star Wars movies every summer. They would make plenty of money, I guarantee it. Especially if they didn't tinker with them too much.

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Ah, well, this post kind of turned into a dud. I got distracted reading some other web pages, not to mention listening to the music.

Until next time, try to enjoy your daylight. . . .

Elvis: Viva Las Star Wars

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:12 PM

"I'm the only human who can do it."
--Anakin Skywalker (on podracing), Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace

Could Elvis Presley have been a Jedi? We may never know, but he sure raced one like one. A few weeks back, I told you about a fun article over at the Elvis Today blog listing connections between Star Wars and Elvis Presley. That article reminded me of something I noticed about a year ago.

When I first saw Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace back in 1999, I remember thinking that the podracing sequence on Tatooine seemed a little familiar. At the time, there were rumors that it was based on the chariot race in Ben-Hur, so I chalked it up to that and moved on with life.

I'm a huge Elvis fan, so I'm not sure why it took me so long to figure out why the race seemed so familiar. It didn't hit me until I was watching 1964's Viva Las Vegas, Elvis' fifteenth movie, one day last year. Though some of these connections are admittedly a stretch, several of the similarities between the two races are quite striking.

In Viva Las Vegas, Elvis Presley stars as Lucky Jackson, a down-on-his-luck racecar driver who enters the Las Vegas Grand Prix race. The event takes place in the Nevada desert. Much of the Las Vegas economy is based on gambling.

In Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace, Jake Lloyd appears as Anakin Skywalker, a young slave who enters the Boonta Eve Classic podrace. The event takes place in the Tatooine desert. Much of the Tatooine economy is based on gambling.

The beautiful Ann-Margret appears as Elvis' co-star and love interest, Rusty Martin. (Incidentally, happy birthday to Ann-Margret today!)

The beautiful Natalie Portman co-stars as Anakin's eventual love interest, Padmé. I say "eventual" because Anakin is only nine-years-old in Episode I. The real romance for them doesn't start until Episode II.

As a variety of cars take their places on the starting grid, Elvis is a late entry.

As a variety of podracers take their places on the starting grid, Anakin is a late entry.

Elvis' main rival, who is favored to win the race, drives a red-orange racecar.

Anakin's main rival, who is favored to win the podrace, pilots an orange-red podracer.

Elvis' supporters take a helicopter to watch the race from the air above the desert.

Anakin's supporters take a viewing platform to watch the podrace from the air above the desert.

In his silver and blue racecar, Elvis concentrates as the race across the desert begins.

In his silver and blue podracer, Anakin concentrates as the race across the desert begins.

Elvis tries to catch up to the leader.

Anakin tries to catch up to the leader.

Elvis checks to the right, wearing a lightning bolt on his helmet. (This actually looks a lot like the TCB lightning bolt that Elvis would use as a personal emblem about ten years later.)

Anakin checks to the right, while a lightning bolt helps power his podracer.

Elvis' supporters watch the race with mounting dread.

Anakin's supporters watch the podrace with mounting dread.

Elvis finally begins to close in on the leader.

Anakin finally begins to close in on the leader.

Elvis pulls alongside the leader, who has a much bigger racecar than he does.

Anakin pulls alongside the leader, who has a much bigger podracer than he does.

Elvis' supporters can't watch, for they fear he will crash out of the race.

Anakin's supporters can't watch, for they fear he will crash out of the podrace.

Elvis' rival crashes and the rest of the field passes by.

Anakin's rival crashes and the rest of the field passes by.

Elvis' supporters celebrate as he takes the lead.

Anakin's supporters celebrate as he takes the lead.

Elvis wins the race!

Anakin wins the race!

And Elvis gets the girl! (Lucky marries Rusty.)

It takes another ten years, but Anakin eventually gets the girl, too! Anakin (Hayden Christensen) marries Padmé in Episode II.

So, there you have it. Evidence that the Force was with Elvis Presley. As for Anakin Skywalker, sure, he may have been one of the most powerful Jedi ever, but could he belt out songs like "Viva Las Vegas" and "What'd I Say"? I don't think so.

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How To Spend An Extra Day

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:05 AM

"The only thing worse than watching a bad movie is being in one."
--Elvis Presley

Finally, February is over and spring is almost here. Now that we've made it to another month, it's time for me to once again apologize for neglecting this section of The Film Frontier. I've had a hard enough time keeping up with all of the news lately, much less add in reviews and my idiosyncratic thoughts on life.

Though I'm no fan of February, it does have one redeeming factor: Leap Day. I spent part of 2008's extra day watching Superman Returns. February 29 is Superman's kinda-sorta birthday, after all. It's been nearly a year since I last watched this movie and I continue to be impressed by it. I hope that both Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh will return for a sequel within the next two or three years. I've seen rumors on both sides, but no confirmation either way.

I also watched some Star Trek episodes on Leap Day. No real connection there, I just felt like watching. I watched the original versions of "The Apple," "Mirror, Mirror," and "The Deadly Years." Turns out that "The Apple" is also this weekend's episode of Star Trek: Remastered. This means I won't be watching, though, because "The Apple" isn't an episode I could watch twice in the same weekend.

No Star Wars on Friday, but I did sneak in an Elvis movie - Harum Scarum. Definitely not one of his best, but interesting to me as an Elvis fan since I haven't watched it in a long time. Mary Ann Mobley sure made a beautiful princess in 1965. Earlier that same year, she had a smaller role in another Elvis movie, Girl Happy.

When I was a kid, the local UHF syndicated station seemed to show Elvis movie marathons nearly every Saturday afternoon. Coming from a family of Elvis fans, I spent a lot of time watching them. I won't lie to you and tell you that Elvis made the best movies, but most of them do have a quirky fun about them. He had a real gift for comedy that a lot of the mainstream really doesn't know about. Check out Viva Las Vegas, for instance.

Elvis made 31 movies as an actor, but some of them seemed to turn up on those Saturday afternoons more often than others. Harum Scarum and Easy Come, Easy Go, for instance received a lot more airplay back then than, say, Jailhouse Rock or Change of Habit.

When the UHF station wasn't playing Elvis movies, it filled Saturday afternoons with Godzilla and other monster movies instead. I watched a lot of those, too. My favorite of these was Godzilla vs. King Kong-mostly because of the epic nature of such a bout. Elvis never made any monster movies, but it sure would've been cool to see him take down Godzilla with a karate chop and then nurse the beast's wounds with a song in Elvis vs. Godzilla. You know, maybe I watched too much TV as a kid.

Hey, I wonder if Quantum Leap fans use Leap Day to celebrate their franchise? There's even an Elvis connection to Quantum Leap. The last episode before the series finale featured Sam leaping into the body of none other than Elvis Presley, on the brink of being discovered. Though filled with inaccuracies regarding Elvis, it's still a fun episode.

One neat bit of trivia is that when Sam looks in the mirror to see the face of the body into which he has leaped, Elvis is portrayed by Michael St. Gerard - who had also played him on the short-lived but excellent ABC television series Elvis. He also appeared as Elvis in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire. St. Gerard actually looks enough like Elvis that my local paper once accidentally put a small picture of him next to an article about the real Elvis, with the caption: "Presley."

Due to an unforeseen circumstance, I had the day off on Leap Day this year (though I probably would've requested it off anyway), but doesn't it seem that Leap Day should be a worldwide holiday for everyone?

Does your employer or school really deserve an extra day of your life? It's the perfect day to catch up on time, life, and movies. Let's start the Leap Day Holiday movement right here on The Film Frontier. We'll all work really hard on it - every four years or so.

Legends Never Die

posted by Tygrrius @ 5:05 AM

Though I failed to remember at the time, my last Proverbial Galaxies post actually marked the end of the first year of this blog. That made for a total of 29 entries in the course of a year. Hey, I was only trying for 26.

Though I didn't add the blog elements until last year at the suggestion of JS, August 21 actually marks the tenth anniversary of The Film Frontier itself. I actually started it out as a little site on AOL covering the eight Star Trek movies. At the time, the movies were not very well represented on the web, particularly those involving the classic crew.

I actually used Microsoft Publisher to create that first version of the site. I was pushing that program to its limits, let me tell you. Somewhere along the line, I learned enough HTML to be dangerous and also upgraded to Macromedia Dreamweaver. Nowadays, though, focus has shifted to the blogs so Google Blogger does most of the work. That's fine, because I'm lazy anyway.

I was a single, college student back then when I first began the site. Now, I'm married, but about to become a college student again. I guess some things never change.

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We focus on Star Trek, Star Wars, and Superman here on The Film Frontier, though we do branch out to other genre projects whenever possible. I'm actually as big of a fan of Elvis Presley as I am of those three franchises, but I generally don't cover him here since he doesn't quite fit our format.

However, rules are made to be broken. August 16th marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death (one of my earliest memories, actually), so I'm going to indulge myself a bit this week.

My favorite song is "If I Can Dream," recorded in June 1968 for the ELVIS television special on NBC. "If I Can Dream" is as relevant today as it was to those turbulent times.

[Video source: ElvisPresleyCentral--YouTube]

"If I Can Dream" is how I like to remember Elvis, the real Elvis. Not the impersonator buffoons and tall-tale myths that the media likes to showcase.

In addition to his serious side, though, I also like remembering his humorous side, as shown in this collection of bloopers, outtakes, and other fun moments from the same ELVIS special.

[Video source: ElvisPresleyCentral--YouTube]

Incidentally, ELVIS is now known as "The '68 Comeback Special" since it marked the end of an unfortunate concentration on silly movies and soundtracks and the beginning of the best phase of his career. "I'm never going to sing another song I don't believe in. I'm never going to make another movie I don't believe in," Elvis said at the time.

Only nine years later, he was gone. But the music is still here.