I just realized that I put the Norman film in the wrong category, so it showed up on the Angry Robot front page but not in the In Store section or feed. This is just a courtesy post for those who may have missed it because I am taxonomy-challenged. So here’s Norman again and/or for the first time, depending on where you’re reading this!
Broken City Lab's iOS app for psychogeographic walks
about the blowout weekend for Avengers - "I'm discarding my old fans so I can concentrate on fame, Euro-trash guy-jewelry and my precious "Air Bud" reboot. But, dude, don't print that!"
In Store: The Department
Man are we overdue for a new film or what? Here’s one for you, “The Department”, about The Department of Unusual Certainties:
I basically shared an area with these guys. Like Sara French and of course the Broken City Lab crew, we were all there over the whole month. (I wasn’t actually there the whole time, but came down for the first couple weekends.)
I had to decide in the editing how much of their footage to include – I had quite a lot, because of their long stay and also because of the sheer scale of their ambitions. I had a cut that only concentrated on the speed dating event, but I thought there was a lot of interest that got excluded so I made it what you see now, perhaps sacrificing cohesiveness for scope and … awesomeliness, hopefully.
Here’s a downloadable PDF of the Tip Sheet from the DoUC site.
Vacancy. It’s one of the big challenges for Windsor, as it is for any shrinking city. The downtown has been hit much harder – Windsor is a classic North American “donut city” where suburban expansion and downtown decline go hand in hand. (More on this in an upcoming film.) There are no easy responses, and I hope that my use of end titles will not seem like I’m trying to argue that the Department’s activities in Windsor led directly to a decrease in the vacancy rate. But their recognition that there was a lack of communication amongst store owners, and their tapping into some of the energy that resulted from opening the lines of communication, seemed to be heading in the right direction, at least.
Nothing’s set in stone, but I have probably three more films to go, maybe 4. There’s some really great stuff coming up, so stay tuned!
May 10, 2012.
my favourite sci-fi author talks about his favourite games, and Civ (one of my faves) figures heavily. Swoon!
somewhat tortured (as the Hulk should be) but I think I agree in general
"having things in common is overrated. Having each other in common is what's rare." (via Best of MeFi)
"Jobs where empathy and "emotional intelligence" can be considered requirements, often personal service and "high touch" interactive positions, have by and large been immune to the creeping mechanization of the workplace. And here's the twist: most of these empathy-driven jobs are performed by women." This is a sci-fi bro movie waiting to happen.

