Shmee Watches The Last Unicorn!

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My buddy Daniel recently watched Willow, and it made me want to watch a fantasy movie from my childhood, and thankfully Amazon helped me out by having The Last Unicorn on its Prime streaming.  The Last Unicorn was made by Rankin and Bass, and released by ITC in 1982.  It was animated by Topcraft who went on to be the founding members of Studio Ghibli.

The story follows a unicorn (Mia Farrow) who is told that she is the last of her kind by a knowledgeable woodsman, so she is off on a quest to find out what has become of them.  She is joined on her quest by Schmendrick the Magician (Alan Arkin), a cook Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), and later the dashing Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges).

The story of this movie is simple and only ever follows one track, but it is sweet and enduring.  It is also a little more edgy then I remembered it, with a three breasted harpy, and a tree that tries to kill Schmendrick with her bosoms, but those moments pass quickly and return the movie to the charming children’s tale that it is.

The cast they got for this movie was unheard of for an animated movie in the 80s.    Besides the cast I mentioned in the plot description it also featured Angela Lansbury as the witch Mommy Fortuna, and Christopher Lee as King Haggard.  They all bring life to their characters which is good because the animation doesn’t hold up.

The stills in this movie are good, and they created some awesome imagery, as well as cool character designs, but when it is moving it is not that great.  I think the low budget really hurt this movie on the animation front.

The music in this movie is pretty annoying also.  They got America to sing the theme and Jimmy Webb to write the songs, but they all seem to fall flat and distract from the movie instead of add to it.

Despite its shortcomings the good story and amazing actors make this movie great, and it brings back good childhood memories.  It is worth a watch if you are looking for some nostalgia, I am glad I did.

You’re Not Shackled To Your Phone’s Ecosystem!

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One thing I hear regularly is when someone says, “I would love to use a phone on platform ‘X’, but I am tied to the apps and ecosystem on platform ‘Y'”.  It is kind of a shame too because if the phone that person really wants is on platform ‘X’, they are missing out, and they don’t need too.

Most people use about five third party apps daily and of those they probably only paid for three, meaning the apps that are tying them to their phone are worth probably less than five dollars.  Now I know at this point a lot of you are saying “I have way more than five apps!”, and you probably do, but how many could you live without?  And how many could you get for free on your new platform?  If you had to get different ones that did the same thing would that be okay?

I think the biggest thing that bugs me about people thinking they are tied to an old platform, if that if that is the case the company that makes that platform now owns them, and can control their buying habits, and the companies that make phones are huge, and do not necessarily want what is best for you, they just want your cash.  Don’t let Microsoft, Google, or Apple think they have got you for life.

If you are happy with phone you have, and platform it is on, then I am happy for you!  I don’t care what kind of phone you want or have, as long as it is what you want.  I just don’t like the fact that people think they are tied down to something that they may not like.  You can switch whenever you want, and if you ever want to go back the apps you have will be waiting for you.

Enjoy A Good Saga!

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Saga is a comic book written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples.  It is published monthly by Image Comics, but I read the first trade paper back.  It is a mix of fantasy and space opera much like Star Wars, but it still finds its own voice.

The story follows Alana and Marko as they try and protect there daughter Hazel from a war torn galaxy.  Their parents are from both sides of the war, Alana from the techy planet of Landfall, and Marko from the magic using society of Landfall’s moon Wreath.

The story obviously steals from more then a couple familiar classic stories, but there is nothing else like it that I have read, and Staples’ artwork is top notch.  Vaughan mixes up the action and character building quit nicely too, so it is not boring, but you also get to know and like the people you are reading about.

The only real downside to this series is that is defiantly for an adult reader.  Much like HBO, I think they felt they needed make it a little edgier, but that being said it is still a lot of fun, and it is another winner for Image Comics.

My Favorite Game Of All Time Turns 10 Today!

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic turns ten today, and if you haven’t played it you are missing out.  I believe you can get it for cheap on Steam, so there should be nothing stopping you.  On the other hand now I am starting to feel really old!

The Best Upgrade for Your Computer is an SSD!

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I recently upgraded my computer with an SSD, the Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5″ 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD), which is the long way of saying a 250GB Samsung SSD.  Most computers come with more than enough RAM now, so having a fast hard-drive is next big thing to upgrade.

This is a middle of the road SSD, but it is way faster than a conventional spinning drive, and I can tell that my computer is much faster when loading programs.  They are much more expensive than spinning drives, but I think they are worth it, and you can use your Apricorn drive adapter to help you make the swap!