Living in the Future

As 2008 closes out, I realize more and more that we’re finally starting to live in the future you’ve seen imagined in sci-fi movies for the last 60 years. Let me count the ways:

• Without a doubt, the iPhone is the most futuristic device I’ve ever used. Apple nailed everything about the user experience to the degree that it doesn’t feel like an abstraction, it feels like you’re actually touching and manipulating your data.
• For a little over $100, you can get a Roomba, your own compact robot vacuum cleaner like they have on the Death Star.
• TiVo’s ability to let you pick programs from a menu rather than being tied to broadcast schedules is great. Devices like AppleTV and Netflix’s streaming initiative are moving in on the idea. Hopefully soon enough you’ll be able to sit down and pick out any movie to watch right then.
• Cars pretty much work now like they’ve worked for decades. You put in your keys, you turn the steering wheel, you use the pedals. GPS is now cheap enough that lots of people can own a car that knows where it is and tells them how to get where they want to go. Unfortunately in-dash units, which we really need to make our cars have that good sci-fi feel, are way too expensive.
• Barack Hussein Obama. Nothing says “it’s the future” like a black president.

Stanley Kubrick's Boxes [entire documentary]

Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes [entire documentary]

Great, great, great film. If you only see one film about Stanley Kubrick, see this one. (Though Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures is fine, too.)

Remembering Bettie Page, the '50s Fetish Fantasy Pin-up - washingtonpost.com

Remembering Bettie Page, the ’50s Fetish Fantasy Pin-up - washingtonpost.com

This is a bizarre article. Stephen Hunter directly admonishes readers for being into the fetish stuff Bettie Page was famous for (“What is wrong with you people?”) while somehow remarking on how important she was to the sexual revolution. Isn’t it a little late to be criticizing the fantasies of American men from the 50s? Did Hunter want to write a longer piece on exploitation and feminism of Page’s time but wasn’t given the word count?

Star Wars: A New Heap - Triple Canopy

Star Wars: A New Heap - Triple Canopy

Great piece on the art direction of Star Wars, how it drew from minimalism and contemporary art and architecture, and more. Well worth the somewhat lengthy read.

Real life Mario Kart

Real life Mario Kart

Christmas Playlist 2008

I’ve been very carefully building a Christmas playlist for the past few years. I only add one song a year, and I only listen to the songs on the list between Thanksgiving and the Epiphany. There are now eight songs on the list.

1. The Fairytale of New York by The Pogues
2. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley
3. New: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland
4. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Dean Martin
5. Baby It’s Cold Outside by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan
6. Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy by David Bowie & Bing Crosby
7. Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade
8. New: Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon

Bending my “only one new song a year” rule slightly, I’m substituting Judy Garland for Blink-182, and adding John Lennon. I like Blink-182’s I Won’t Be Home for Christmas, but I felt like the list needed more classic songs on it and that the punk song was moving too much to being a list of alternative Christmas songs, rather than just really good Christmas songs that I like, which is my goal. I chose Judy Garland instead of Frank Sinatra for Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas because I prefer the slightly bleaker lyrics which fit in better with the first two songs. (Both versions are good though.)

I’ve moved the order of a few songs around to give it a better flow. The first few songs are darker, and the lists gets lighter as it goes, ending with children cheering at the finale of Happy Xmas. Let It Snow! is the most saccharine of the lot, especially compared to Hallelujah, but I think it works in the middle of the list, and it makes a nice narrative to follow that with Baby It’s Cold Outside.

A final note: I’m always happy to take suggestions for next year’s list.