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Carter and I had lunch with the Nashville KNI crew today. It’s been a while since I’ve seen these guys, so it was cool to do a quick catch up. Although with Carter along, he did most of the talking. The funny thing is, at almost 4 years old, he fit right in with the rest of us. He was talking Transformers (even old school ones), Ninja Turtles, Batman, Star Wars, Ratatouille and everything else. It’s always fun for me to watch others interact with him. I’m so used to the things he does and the mannerisms he has, seeing others react to it, really points them out.

Daniel picked up on Carter’s willingness to talk and was “parenting” right away. He was enticing Carter to eat “one more bite” before he would reveal his favorite Transformer.

I wish I had seen Michael’s Yewknee Redesign before meeting up so I could compliment him in person. It’s a great looking revision that gives the content much more room to breath. Not to be modest, but I think usability/communication is the most important thing that Michael and I learned at MTSU in the graphic communication (now called Media Design) program and I’ve no doubt that it is also one of the key factors (along with Daniel’s illustration skills) that have propelled them both to web rock-star status. Great friends that I should really try to see a little more often.

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After showing Michael the trailer for the new film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This film is getting all the buzz and looks to be great. But here’s my gripe.

IT’S NOT A MATRIX RIP OFF!!! For anyone who doesn’t know, The Matrix is just an American take on a Chinese film style that has been around quite some time. Perhaps it’s similar because all the fights in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger were choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping. When filming the Matrix, the Wachowski brothers wanted to translate this style to the American screen, so why not hire who is considered to be the best.

Also, Charlie’s Angels is not a Matrix rip-off. Guess who it was choreographed by, Wo Ping. So maybe it does look similar, but for a reason. Anyway, if you like that sort of thing, look for this Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon film to be the best over here yet. Be warned, it is all in Chinese, but the film is supposedly so great that it does not matter even to those who care.

In the meantime, if you want some wacky Asian cinema at its best, check out A Chinese Ghost Story or any one of its sequels. And if you want to know where the story of the Matrix really came from go rent Ghost in the Shell and if that excites you, Mamoru Oshii, the director has a new film coming out that combines animation, computer animation and live action. It’s called Avalon. Enough for now, I have lots of other things that really need to be done.