Movies

First, The Bad News:

You can add Top Gun: Maverick (along with No Time to Die and many others) to the list of movies with release dates delayed owning to COVID-19.  At this time December 23, 2020 is the newly scheduled release date.


Now, Some Good News:

The 2020 SXSW Film Festival will stream this year's films through Amazon Prime.


More Good News:

Thanks to the 13 Days of James Bond marathons in the 90's, my studying for certain final exams took a hit (it's like the jerks at TBS knew I'd rather watch The Man With the Golden Gun than review my notes).   Well, now that I'm temporally distanced from college and we're all social distancing, it's a good thing multiple titles of old James Bond movies have been released on Amazon Prime this month.  There are some bad ones (I'm looking at you, Moonraker) on the list, but we also get From Russia With Love, Thunderball, and Goldfinger in the mix.

A View to a Kill is already on Amazon Prime (for free), and other Bond movies may be as well (you can look for yourself).  While certainly not the best movie in the Bond franchise, it does come with: Christopher Walken as the blimp-loving villain, Grace Jones as a bad Bond girl, and a great theme song from Duran Duran.  If you don't believe me about the theme song, just watch the video.

[note: it does appear these movies will no longer be free after 5/1]

Netflix Party Lets You Interact Over Movies While Social Distancing:

The Netflix Party browser extension lets you watch Netflix with friends (virtually).  You can chat, play/pause in sync, and so forth while drinking at home and maintaining your social distance.  The folks at CNET have an article which will instruct you on setting it up.


And Finally, a Movie Rec:

I have been watching more TV series than movies these days.  Last weekend, though, I watched Collateral (2004).  This movie stars Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.  It was directed by Micheal Mann (Miami Vice, Heat, Last of the Mohicans).  I hadn't seen this one since 2005, and I'm glad I took the time to watch it again.  Tom Cruise plays a very intense hitman who forces Jamie Foxx's cab driver to take him around Los Angeles while he kills his targets.  If you haven't seen it in a while, it's worth a return visit.

Mobile: Mophie Juice Pack Air

Until SXSW, I had never before owned an iPhone case.  I thought they were silly, and that they added needless bulk to the phone.  Then, while watching A Place to Bury Strangers, my friend Emily demonstrated the virtues of the Mophie Juice Pack Air: an iPhone case with an integrated battery.  Considering that I'd been on foot much of the day and concerned about conserving my iPhone's battery power, said case seemed like an exceptionally good idea.  I bought one at the SXSW trade show the next day.

After using the Mophie for a battery boost the following day: I like it!

The Mophie Juice Pack Air doesn't add much size to your iPhone (and it actually makes the iPhone easier to hold), and when your iPhone is low on power you simply flip the Mophie's switch and let it's integrated battery recharge the one in your iPhone.  Furthermore, you can directly charge and/or sync the iPhone while it's in the Mophie.  I'm not sure about charging the Mobile while in your car (you'd need a charger with a micro-USB head), but this is kind of a moot point for me considering that I only use the Mophie when I'm going to be away from a car or wall charger for a while.

While the Mophie was great for SXSW, I've also found it quite useful for cycling.  I've been recording my cycling routes through the Map My Ride mobile app.  As you can imagine, the constant GPS location signals sap power from my iPhone 3Gs.  And, I don't particularly want to end up with a dead phone while out on one of my night rides.   The reserve power of the Mophie is a welcome addition to my collection of cycling gadgets.   And, of course, I'm sure the Mophie will be great for long days of air travel.

You can get a Mophie Juice Pack Air for $50 (iPhone 3G and 3Gs) or $80 (iPhone 4G).  There are some other models available, which you can check out at the aforelisted link.

More Reflections on Catalyst 8 and Philanthropy...

The Long Center for the Performing Arts- Austin, TX

[photo (by WDFloyd): The Long Center  I took this photo right after seeing the screening of The Big Bends, a short film which received a Boost subsidy to be shown in the Rollins Theater and which was in Sundance.] 








 In my previous post, I made a reference to the 3M matching grant offered to Catalyst 8 last year.   I've copied the text of the press release (issue last spring), which reads as follows:

The Long Center is pleased to announce that 3M has awarded the Long Center’s Catalyst 8 a $20,000 membership matching grant. The membership challenge begins immediately with the goal of 65 new members in just 8 months!

In an effort to promote young professionals supporting the arts, 3M will match all membership gifts to Catalyst 8 dollar-for-dollar until December 31st, 2010, up to $20,000. 3M has been very impressed with the growth and impact of Catalyst 8 and wanted to reward the good work the group does through the “Boost” Rental Subsidy fund, which is where the funds will be applied.

“Cultivating younger donors helps ensure that we will continue to have a vibrant arts community in Austin for years to come,” says Russell Bridges, 3M Government & Community Affairs Manager. “3M congratulates Catalyst 8 on their past successes, and we are excited to be partnering with them to benefit the Long Center and to assist emerging arts groups to have access to its world class facilities.”
Join today and double the impact of your gift!

More about Catalyst 8

Who are we?
A group committed to “making it happen” by spreading awareness about the Long Center and the arts, providing opportunities for social access and involvement, and developing future leaders in the community.

What do we do?
100% of funds raised by Catalyst 8 fuel the Boost Program. Boost awards rental subsidies to Austin area emergent and underserved arts groups. Boost offsets costs so that a wider diversity of performances and audiences can experience The Long Center’s world class stages. Since its inception in 2007, Boost has awarded 24 arts groups more than $40,000 in rental subsidies.

I think you can see why we were very excited about meeting and then exceeding the challenge of recruiting 65 members.  Moreover, it was a lot of fun working to meet the goal, and I ended up learning a few interesting lessons about membership recruiting during the process. 


What impresses me most from 3M's statements is the awareness of the importance of engaging younger Austinites in arts philanthropy, and the importance of said engagement as a foundation for the future of Austin's arts and culture (which I would argue directly impact the larger issues of quality of life and economic development).  Of course, I think the appeal of Catalyst 8 was that it was an active donor group which provided opportunities for real engagement with The Long Center, artists, community members interested in supporting the arts, and peers who shared common interests in helping to build up elements of the Austin art ecosystem.   I think these engagement and participatory opportunities provided a lot of appeal to members (I did a lot of recruiting as membership chair, and this was a major point of attraction).   YMBL and HYP, which offer a tremendous amount of engagement opportunities, are some additional examples of groups which have been very popular and successful (and have done a lot of good work).   I think that they both have the strength of letting members get their hands dirty helping out with the very projects which the members support via fundraising efforts. 

Community and civic engagement is an area in which I have a lot of interest, and I'm working on more postings about the importance I see in fostering opportunities for people to become directly involved with charities, non-profits, and philanthropy in general.   Important not just as a fundraising tool, but also as a mechanism for building communities and the community in general.  Thus, you have my intense interest working on the new arts project to which I alluded in the last post.  

I'd write more, but I'm a little fried from a couple of days of intense lawyering, and I'm very ready to head downtown for SXSW Interactive shenanigans.

Coming Soon: DIVE Bar

[photo (by WDFloyd): NE Corner of Guadalupe and 17th, the Future Home of DIVE Bar]

It's mid-February, and I'm excited about a lot of things. First of all, I can't wait for the Catalyst 8 Mad Hatter Tea Party on 2/22. Second (and only because of the chronology), I can't wait for the opening of DIVE Bar at Guadalupe and 17th (across from the Dog & Duck, right next to the D. Berman Gallery.

DIVE will feature a full bar in a neighborly setting. Located near the Capitol Complex, the Texas Attorney General's office, and the Wells Fargo Tower, DIVE will a great place to walk for cocktails. A couple of my good friends will be taking some shifts behind the bar, and I hear rumors of some pretty awesome entertainment which is currently being lined up. And, DIVE is owned by some good folks who do a lot of good things for the community.

Last time I checked, DIVE will be opening right around SXSW. I plan to be there, giddy about SXSW Interactive.