If A High life Man Falls In The Forest, You Will Not Hear Him Complain

Miller High Life (full disclosure: totally my brand) has brought back it's "limited-edition fall series" ad campaign, bringing you six packs of tall boys in camouflage printed cans perfect for your upcoming fall sporting event. Read: beer that is specially designed for your hunting trip.

For those of you playing along at home, this means High Life has upped the ante on it's own campaign last year of hunter's vest orange cans sold in 24 or 30 can hunting themed cases. But this time around, you can not only get drunker while firing rifles into dense undergrowth - you can be effectively invisible while doing it.

Now, I didn't grow up hunting, unless you can stretch your definition of the sport to stalking Pink Demons through digital labyrinths, so maybe I just don't get it. I mean, I've been on my fair share of fishing expeditions, and I understand the important role that beer can play in the sporting life. The difference being that I'm not likely to mortally wound a dear friend with a rod or reel, unless, I suppose, I was trying really hard. And I know, that, whether I understand it or not, and whether or not it appeals to my admittedly sissified liberal sensibilities, people are going to discharge high powered rifles while drinking heavily, and thus, beer companies are going to base multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, and even brands, around just that pastime. Fine.

But really, camouflage? Did the deer catch on to the orange cans? Are the creatures of the forest this much smarter than us? Have we fallen so far, that we can't even afford the luxury of being able to see one another while we drink and shoot guns? That can't say anything good.

Gearing Up to Lawyer Up?

I listened to the debate on the radio last night, and thus didn't catch a lot of the facial expressions that McCain was being docked for by analysts. In clips this morning, I see what people were talking about. The Arizona senators aggressiveness was accompanied by an unattractive edginess, something that was especially unbecoming considering the Obama campaigns recent charges of McCain's erratic personality. And that look on TV is something that matters to viewers. Just ask Richard Nixon. That's interesting, because as I listened, I had the thing scored mostly a tie, and it was definitely McCain's best performance - he was on message and on the offensive, and nastiness aside, he did well, though he didn't deliver the game changing performance that common sense says he needed to.

That said, when you base your last month of campaign ads and your entire debate strategy on calling your opponent's readiness and reputation into question, it's hard to put all nastiness aside. I was particularly struck by this startlingly strong comment by McCain that was almost lost in the sea of references to an Ohio plumber last night. (Italics mine)

We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.

Now, we all expected McCain to be on the attack, and he was. But this line seems like it carries something more. It's the sort of thing I would say if I was staring down the barrel of a loss in the November election and was considering challenging vote counts in close states. With the GOP turning all of their guns on McCain's former friends at ACORN, and McCain himself now talking about the threat to the basic fabric of American democracy that the group represents, it wouldn't be shocking to learn that the campaign was preparing the paperwork for a Bush v Gore style contention.

Am I being too cynical? I certainly hope so. But with raids being carried out on registration offices already, I don't think a challenge of at least one close state is out of the question, though that decision may rest in how close the election ends up being on November 4th.

Protecting Us From Ourselves and Each Other

Just about any handgun you can buy these days comes with a safety on it. The safety, as it's name suggests, is a neat little device that, when activated, prevents a trigger pull from firing the weapon. And it's a common feature on handguns because people are, by and large, stupid and irresponsible, which leads to us doing things that are stupid and irresponsible while wielding handguns. And if you have to let stupid, irresponsible people have dangerous things that they probably don't really need, then it's at least a good idea and more akin to a public service to at least include an off switch.

And while firearms manufacturers grudgingly arrived at this idea years ago, other industries are just now catching on to the fact that, regardless of what your local Bob Barr supporter will tell you, we do occasionally need protection from ourselves and the stupid, clumsy or ill advised things we get up to. This is the same reasoning that last week brought us a Gmail widget that makes you think twice before sending that slightly plowed rant to you boss or ill advised declaration of true and undying love to your ex. And it's presumably the motive behind the DriveAssist software system from Canadian tech firm Aegis Mobility, a nifty piece of gadgetry for your cell phone that senses when you're driving, forwards your calls to voicemail and won't allow you to call out while you're piloting a half ton of metal and plastic at sixty miles an hour down the freeway. There are certainly plenty of things to work out about the technology, which will be available as a monthly subscription service in the United Kingdom early next year. For one thing, a pay service will probably wind up appealing only to those responsible drivers who need this respite the most.

And there are bound to be technical kinks to work out as well. Will it let you talk on the phone when you're on a bus or train. What about when you're just riding in a car? And there's the rather creepy matter of it being able to tell callers where you are when they call, a cringe inducing feature that will lead to no shortage of uncomfortable explanations from philandering spouses, to be sure. But just like a safety, it's an imperfect solution to but one symptom of the seemingly intractable problem of humans being, but I'd rather someone have it than not.

Signs of the Times

One day, when I am grey and crotchety and nostalgic, I will sit down with my children's children and tell them stories of simpler times, of happier times. I'll tell them about the blue skies we once lived under, about iPhones that were not nestled cozily within our frontal lobes, and about how peanut butter was once made of actual peanuts, instead of orphans and caulk. And I'll tell them a whimsical story about a time when the National Debt Clock in Times Square needed a mere thirteen digits to record the amount of money we owed to other nations.

"Sure, Grandpa," my platinum blond, telepathic descendants will yawn. "Next you'll be telling us that there was a time when humanity didn't live in constant, mortal terror of destruction at the cybernetically enhanced hands of Pacman Jones."

"No, children," I will sigh, my head bowed in sorrow for the thousands lost the night Jones levelled poor, defenseless Tallahassee. "No. Twas always thus."

The Name Game

So on the heels of the less-disatrous-than-it-could-have-been VP debate, the McCain Palin campaign has seemingly come to the conclusion that they simply cannot win this election on the issues, a reading of political tea leaves that coincides with recent electoral maps, including Karl Rove's own. So instead, they are going to go big with every smear they can dig up, starting with former radical leftist Bill Ayers, a fellow resident of Obama's Hyde Park neighborhood who has sponsored a couple of fundraisers for the candidate when he was running for state senate in Illinois. Look for Chicago area developer Tony Rezko to be making an appearance in McCain campaign literature shortly, and even though McCain himself has declared the much maligned Rev. Wright off limits, it's not a huge stretch to think we'll see that ground tread a few more times before the 4th of November.

But just as pepople in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, people who have cast their lot alongsidescandalized S&L bankers maybe shouldn't bring up rivals dealings with less than savory characters. In a refreshing swing back at the dirty politics of the McCain campaign, which is so sadly reminiscent of the same mudslinging that derailed The Maverick's Straight Talk Express in 2000, the Obama camp is releasing a thirteen minute documentary on the Keating Five corruption investigation. And one can assume we'll also be hearing more about Sarah Barracuda's cozy relationship with the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party, of which First Dude Todd Palin was a longtime member. Palin has spoken several times at conventions for the party, most recently earlier this year, and has courted the votes of it's members, many of whom still hold a special place in their hearts for party founder Joe Vogler, who hated America so much that he "wouldn't be buried under their damn flag." Interesting fact: was interred in the Yukon Territory following his death during what has been described as a botched plastic explosives buy. Now, having no overriding interest in the overthrow of the government, I wouldn't know what a plastic explosives buy looks like, botched or not. But I would wager that if it goes well at all...you should survive it?

A Few Words with Animator Don Hertzfeldt

Don Hertzfeldt is taking his latest animated film, I Am So Proud of You, on the road and I got the chance to speak with him a little bit for a feature. As sometimes happens for features, a lot of good interview got cut from the final product, so I'm posting the whole uncut transcript of the interview right here. Enjoy.

Your new film, I Am So Proud Of You, is the second in a planned trilogy that began with Everything Will Be OK. Is it technically a sequel, or a >new exploration of similar themes?

DH: It's the second chapter in a continuing story, but I wanted to make sure that you didn't necessarily have to have seen the first one to understand the second one. It's important for all three chapters to stand on their own two feet as individual movies. So I'm not sure if you'd call it a typical sequel.

How do the films relate to one another?

DH: proud takes place both before and after ok, and sort of plunges into deeper and darker waters.

Are you already at work on the third film in the trilogy, or taking some time off?

DH: probably going to take some time off. i dove straight into proud very soon after finishing ok, but i think i'll need a bit of a longer break this time. i'm still not entirely sure yet if chapter 3 will even be my next project. i had some leftover film so i recently shot a little bit of footage for it, but i guess i'll wait and see how things feel when i get back from touring in december, and what's going to be next.

Your award winning short Everything Will Be OK explores the everyday trials, travails and turmoil of living with mental illness. What compelled you >to take on such a serious subject using a medium that doesn't often get it's due for being an art form capable of tackling mature content?

DH: i've sort of approached the two films as children's books for adults. bedtime stories are there to help kids be less afraid of certain things and to gently let them fall asleep in the dark easier, and in some ways bill's story is there to help adults be less afraid of the things adults are afraid of. they're even fully narrated, like someone's reading them to you. i think there's a kind of innocence the animation brings to what is a sad and difficult story, and bill seems to have become a character that's very easy to relate to. animation can help let ideas slip through the door that otherwise might hit too close to home, people tend to be a little more open-minded watching a cartoon, especially when you make them laugh. it's sort of like slipping the audience their medicine hidden in their sugar.

You're no longer with the Animation Show, which you founded in 2003 alongside Mike Judge. Why not?

DH: it started to get sort of muddled during its third year, when MTV came onboard as a financial partner. i can't say that was in itself a bad decision because without them there might have not have even been a third volume, but it sort of changed the chemistry of everything. it wasn't really a simple animation festival that mike and i programmed anymore. and MTV had their own ideas of what the animation show should be, basically they told us the animation show was boring and wanted us to do an all-comedy show. i realized i was being blocked from programming 75% of the films i wanted to bring to the show's fourth volume and i couldn't really get straight answers from anyone about anything. it all just seemed to be drifitng further and further away from the sort of program it used to be. and mike and i were getting so busy with other stuff it was difficult just to get in touch to talk about it all. it was sad, but leaving the show eventually wasn't a very hard decision to make, you can either spend every day arguing with everybody or you can hand over the keys and just focus on your own work. there's that old saying, "when nobody's got your back, it's time to move your back."

You've long been on record as wanting nothing to do with making commercials – crass product placements aside, is there any cause or ideology you >would consider doing animation for?

DH: yeah if i ever had the time i wouldn't rule out doing something for charity, or an organization i felt strongly enough about

Your particular animation style is imitated with a disturbing frequency – is this a situation where imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or do these >knock offs bother you?

DH: when it comes to all the terrible knock offs you see in TV commercials, they bother me because it seems like most people assume i'm reponsible for them.

You also mentioned on your blog that you're working on a project for TV – any chance you'll talk about the details of what that could be?

DH: it's a mini-series and has no relation to anything else i've done, it takes place about 100 years ago. i'm used to leaping right into projects immediately after coming up with them, but the world of funding for television production doesn't quite work that way so we're still not sure how soon exactly it's going to happen.

You work in a disctintly old school style, animating with pen, pencil and a 35mm animation camera, and doing animation, photography, sound, etc on >your own. How does the equipment you use affect your work?

DH: it's huge, i think i've probably talked about this to death but visually my last few movies would've been impossible without my old camera. and working this way is honestly just more fun. i'd much rather build a shot with my hands and paint and lighting beneath a camera lens than sit and stare in front of a monitor. it's more spontaneous and it keeps me on my toes. remember each short can take a couple years for me to complete in solitary confinement, so anything along the way that keeps me improvising and fresh is going to be a good thing.

You've often played with self awareness in animated characters and the nature of animation on the page and screen. Do you feel like you develop >a relationship with the characters you create?

DH: not really. it's strange to think that after all these years bill is the first character i've ever even been interested in revisiting. i think i'm more prone to develop relationships with the films as little capsules from the time in my life when i was making it. it's a weird nostalgic thing. when i see something ten years old now like lily and jim or billy's balloon, i'm paying more attention to all the memories of where i was in my life when the movie was made rather than what's happening on the screen.

Just one I'm curious about – when theatergoers shout along the lines of Ah, L'Amour, does that strike you as…hilarious? Kind of unnerving? Flattering?

DH: i think it's cool, there's all sorts of culty things people do with the films now and i like almost all of it. it can be surreal but i like seeing them take on lives of their own. people in the costumes, with the tattoos - everything will be ok tattoos now - i just like hearing that those connections are being made. it's the main reason i'm heading out on tour now with the new one. eventually putting your movie on TV or the web will bring you much bigger audiences, but you can't actually be there with them to see it working, you know? with a new movie, especially after taking so long to make, it's really important for me to actually see it unfold for people and be there when it happens.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

And sometimes, you don't even get what you desperately need, eve in if you only need it because you made a big deal of needing it.

By now you know that the sound you hear, as of a great roar in the distance, is the world economy struggling for survival as the US stock market drags it beneath the water like a great crocodile, pinning it's already ailing victim in the bottom's silty mud and letting its last spark of life ebb away. After a record 770 point drop on the DJIA, Japan's Nikkeei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index both took might wallops, losing five percent of their respective values within minutes of the start of trading, though the Hang Seng managed to recover during the day, closing up almost a percentage point. European markets are the latest in line for a pummeling, with (prepare your shocked face) banking sectors most hard hit, with recent Lloyd's of London acquisition HBOS losing 12% of it's value, and the Royal Bank of Scotland ended the day down 6%. Overall, most of the major European exchanges fell slightly overnight.

So now the financial scary go round comes full circle, and it promises to be another harrowing week day for Wall Street investors. With members of the House taking some time off for Rosh Hashanah, it will probably be at least Thursday before any sort of new plan even has a chance. Lawmakers on the hill are scrambling to put together a new package, but it remains to be seen if this one will be any more palatable than the one that is so unpalatable to voters across the board that most members of Congress won't touch it, even while the financial sky is falling. And that's really bad news, considering that whether or not this bill's passage was necessary when it was proposed, it certainly seems to have become so for the sake of the global economy being able to once more think the happy thoughts on which it survives.

A couple closing thoughts -

- Though she's being derided as a naysayer (go figure) by House Republicans for her speech before the vote, Nancy Pelosi didn't say anything that most of her colleagues - especially the House Republicans who voted against the final bill by a 2-1 margin - weren't thinking or saying.

- John McCain's staffers were eager to make sure their guy got his due credit for getting enough votes in line to pass a palatable bill. Now that all eight House Republicans from his home state of Arizona voted no, will he get his share of the blame?