Netflix Gets A Clue & Kills Qwikster

I got another email from Netflix yesterday, the third since late July about crazy changes in the pricing and general service of what was once considered one of the great Internet businesses.  Fortunately, the third email was the charm as it announced that the company was not going to split their DVD and streaming into two separate businsses and websites. It was a change no one wanted...except the company's CEO, Reed Hastings.

Curiously, this email was not signed by Hastings but instead sent by "The Netflix Team".  Hastings got slammed for sending an apology email about the price increase that not only didn't truly apologize but, adding insult to injury, also sprung the horribly conceived idea of Qwikster on customers. I wonder if the fact that there was already an angry dude with Qwikster as his Twitter handle and looking to cash in had anything to do with the about face.

Anyway, though this is great news for customers, it's been bad news for Netflix stockholders.  The stock hit a one year low by the end of the day yesterday.  Basically, Netflix will have a long way to go to regain consumer's, as well as Wall Street's, confidence.

LAST FRIDAY NIGHT DIY Video In ASL

It's been a while since I've posted a fun DIY video....but this one is great!  It definitely takes some knowledge of the original '80s-movie sendup by Katy Perry, which probably cost as much as an '80s movie.  Though this version was probably made for a couple bucks, what it lacks in budget it makes up for in uniqueness and the cute charm of its lead, Michael Chase DiMartino.

DiMartino is a singer-songwriter based in NYC....a dime a dozen right?  Well, not exactly.  His day job is what makes him unique as he is a sign-language interpreter for businesses and for music celebrities too, like Lady Gaga.  So using his skills, he made an ASL version of Perry's catchy hit.  It helps that he is adorable and can dance too.  Watch through to the '80s makeover at the end....awesome!

Steve Jobs Made Computers Cute

There are many obituaries, tributes and bios of Steve Jobs online today after the Apple visionary died yesterday at the age of 56.  Many superlatives have been used to describe Jobs and the remarkable impact he had on the world of computing.  One surprising fact to me was that he held more than 300 patents for everything from the casing for the original Mac to the staircases at Apple stores.  

But despite these remarkable technical innovations, Jobs did something unique.  Simply put, he made computers cute. Until the mid-80s, computers were forbidding machines that mathematicians, scientists and businessman used.  Then he created a Mac which smiled when you turned it on and was guided by a hand-operated mouse.  And slowly the world of computing truly became personal.  Later on, the utter simplicity of something like an iPod served as a sort of gateway drug for technophobes into the wonderful world of personal computing. People were surprised to find their parents and even grandparents online, often using a Mac or an iPad. 

In some ways, Job's remarkable story is similar to that of another industrial innovator, George Eastman. Despite what many think, Eastman did not "invent" photography (though he has multiple patents like Jobs).  What he did was to make it accessible with his equally cute and simple Brownie camera that spawned a similar revolution in the way people used photography.  Through his Kodak company, Eastman took an existing technology and made it friendly and usable for the masses.  Jobs did the same, times 10. And the world will never be the same....in a good way.

The SkyNet Chronicles: Apple Introduces Siri

I've posted a few times before about the increasing intelligence of computers and whether or not they are approaching the sinister capabilities of SkyNet, the fictional computer that became self-aware in the TERMINATOR movies and turned on its makers.  Yesterday, Apple was supposed to announce the iPhone 5 but the real big announcement was of a new app called Siri, which is a digital personal assistant.  It makes appointments on your calendar, it tells you where to find local Starbucks, it will even remind you gently to call your wife.

Of course, it does all of this after you tell it to.  But no matter....the Internets were abuzz with SkyNet freak outs yesterday.  CNN reported on this in a story which mentioned old SkyNet precursor Hal9000 from the 2001 movies.  I didn't even know that Hal has his own Twitter feed but he certainly had some snarky things to say on it about his new rival.  No word from Watson, IBM's supercomputer that beat a human on Jeopardy recently.  But maybe if someone set up Siri (who sounds like a woman, though Apple creepily calls her "it") and Watson and they had a baby it would grow up to rule the world! [Insert sinister laugh here.]  Computer conception, though, seems a little ways off....

Is WTC VIEW A True Story? Here's My Answer...

Since our first performance back in 2003, people have been asking me if WTC VIEW, my play about life in NYC after 9/11, is a true story.  I was recently asked to write an essay for my friend Ira Sach's website about "Art & Autobiography" on this topic.  Ira put together this website over the summer as part of the promotion for his own autobiographical film, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, which is currently in post-production.

I have always found it interesting how people are fascinated by whether or not a work of fiction is true or not.  So I was eager to write about this topic, especially in relation to WTC VIEW.  This was a play (and then film) I wrote about a guy who places a roommate ad on the night before 9/11 looking for a roommate in lower Manhattan.  On 9/10/01, I placed a roommat ad for my apartment on the VILLAGE VOICE website and this was the starting point for this work.  But is the story autobiographical?  Not in the way that people would expect.

So please check out my article on "Art & Autobiography", which posted today. Also, take a look around the rest of the site as well.  Ira has put together some amazing writers and historical pieces about gay life in New York City, all of which are worth reading.

Outdoor Fall Movies On The High Line--TONITE!

One of my favorite NYC things to do in the summer is check out all the various outdoor screenings of movies the city has to offer.  It all started with the famous Bryant Park series back in 1994 and now has spread to countless venues across the five boroughs.  

This year, summer movies are moving into the fall with the advent of the High Line Film Series.  The theme?  Trains of course, in homage the High Line's history as rail freight line that served the West Side until the mid-'60s.  Last week they showed one of my all-time favorites SOME LIKE IT HOT.  And tonight, at the 14th Street passage, they will be showing the Hitchcock thriller STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.  Beforehand, there is a screening of a short film that compiles clips of Hollywood films about trains called ALL ABOARD.  The fun starts at 7pm, up on High.

Branded Networking: PAN AM & THE PLAYBOY CLUB

There has been a lot of anticipation this TV season about two shows aping AMC's hit series MAD MEN and its '60s nostalgia.  But what's more interesting to me about these shows is that they have both have adopted the corporate logo of their respective companies, Playboy and Pan Am, as their main image for advertising and promotions.  That actually harkens back to the 1950s when advertisers regularly sponsored entire programs, like the Camel News Caravan (which featured Edward R. Murrow) and soap operas (thus the name).

Marketing aside, the proof is in the pilot as they say. So I checked them both out over the weekend.  THE PLAYBOY CLUB is an odd show and not at all what I expected.  It seems more interested in being GLEE than MAD MEN, with it's musical numbers, fluffiness and homosexuals (there was even a meeting of the Mattachine Society?!).  With a strange voice-of-God narration by Hugh Hefner, the show just doesn't really make sense in the end.  

As for PAN AM, it was a lot more coherent as a show about 4 stewardesses flying transatlantic Clipper service on the storied airline.  But it also pulls a bit of a bait-and-switch in that it's less MAD MEN and more akin to a flying LOVE BOAT. Not that that's a bad thing....but it's an awfully small boat :)  This show seems more likely to succeed as an actual interesting program as opposed to a 45-minute commercial which is somewhat ironic, given Pan Am is not currently in business.  However there is a newly launched shopping site where you can buy everything from bags to key chains with the company's  iconic blue logo. Given the state of the air travel industry, this approach will probably be much more profitable than restarting the actual airline.

Washington Monument Closed Indefinitely After Earthquake

The National Park Service announced yesterday that the Washington Monument will be closed indefinitely after a survey inside of the obelisk revealed more damage than initially thought from the August earthquake.  Specifically, the top or "pyramidium" of the monument really got shaken around.  On top of that, the elevator is busted too and only can get half way up the 50 stories.

The Washington Post has the full story on this, (and this graphic which shows the problems) along with some video of the inside of the monument with tourists racing for the stairs during the earthquake as debris falls down on them.  Amazingly, no one was injured.  A full assessment of the exterior stones begins this week with man rappelling down the sides of the monument.  

The entire interior and exterior was restored in 1999 and, during that process, each stone was numbered, photographed and catalogued so that they will be able to compare their condition before and after the earthquake. It's amazing that the earthquake wrought such havoc on the monument which has been standing there since 1884.  But, unlike modern office buildings of the same height, there is no steel frame that can sway and counterbalance with the movement.  It's just stones and mortar and, when shaken up, it simply starts to fall apart.

DRIVE Soundtrack Is An iTunes Hit

DRIVE is a stylish new film starring Ryan Gosling as a stunt car/getaway driver opened this weekend to great critical acclaim.  I saw it this weekend and have to say it is one of the most cinematic movies of the year.  The director, Danish auteur Nicholas Winding Refn, knows how to create some beautiful images and truly creates a mood reminiscent of a Miami Vice episode or a Michael Mann movie, with a sleek 80s vibe.

A great deal of that vibe comes from the film's soundtrack which, not surprisingly, is doing even better than the film.  The movie opened in the number 7 position on the Box Office charts while the soundtrack shot to number 5 on iTunes.  The album has a mix of some great new songs, along with scoring by Cliff Martinez that sounds like an update of Tangerine Dream, who did the memorable score for RISKY BUSINESS.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I think I like the music is better than the actual movie, which sorta fell apart about halfway through due to a weak screenplay.  But it's great to see audiences embracing a film which is moody, interesting and a real, old-fashioned movie in that it tells its story visually and with a certain, deliberate pace rare in the Hollywood hyper-editing we've grown accustomed in the post-Michael Bay world. And Ryan Gosling is an actor who can definitely keep your attention, even when he's doing nothing but chewing a toothpick.

Everybody's Working For The Weekender

After years of complaints for the MTA to do something to help people understand the myriad of services changes and disruptions on an average weekend, they finally took some real action. Last week, the MTA reveal a new interactive weekend-only subway map called The Weekender, which takes over the home page of their website now Fri-Sun.

What is really cool is that they've utilized an updated version of the beautiful but damned Vignelli artsy map from the 1970s.  The map, which is similar to the ones in major cities like Boston, Washington and London, takes the disorder of the mammoth system and arranges it in sleek Modernist lines.  The problem was the lines don't really relate to the city's grid and, in the original, some stations were not located in the right spot geographically.  But with the interactive map, the mod map is used to show how the system is altered in a relativity clear manner, by blanking out stations not in service and "greying" out lines not operating.

It's a vast improvement over the previous alternative, which was trying to read the notices posted in the subway which were hard to decipher, especially at a glance.  Now if only they could limit the weekend work.  Unfortunately that's never gonna happen....the blessing and curse of a 24/7 system.