katharine hearts research (and being cryptic)

i’ve been doing quite a bit of digging around on the internet for information regarding one of my favourite topics. i can’t divulge too much until i see the direction my project is headed, but it involves Sir Walter Scott, the Prince of Wales, and golfing.

i have a number of projects in the works at the moment, some involve updating my web presence and some require me to dust off some of my dormant skills (talents, whatever). there are several craft projects i need to photograph.

while you’re waiting for me to shower you with more thoughts on crafts, design, and shiny things i find on the street, go rent Stranger Than Fiction. it’s the best movie i’ve seen that doesn’t star Dominique Pinon.

katharine hearts closed captioning

i mentioned earlier my distress over American Movie Classics not adding closed captioning to their films. Mad Men is captioned, although not very well which raises the ire of my boyfriend and TV watching companion (last night he shouted, “not roaming candle, roman candle! jeez!”). AMC’s oversight means that i can’t waste an afternoon on Fletch or Three Amigos.

more enemies of the hearing impaired include IFC and Sundance. invariably, when i’ve received one of their films on dvd from Netflix, the menus offer no captioning or subtitle options (sometimes spanish, but this would require learning the language). a lot of indie films either have bad sound editing or the directors/actors favour whispering over clarity and projection. it’s a shame because i really like quirky, independent films. but i find myself favouring foreign films with subtitles over english-speaking films without subtitles to save myself frustration. and i’d much rather have a marathon of Dominique Pinon films over Chevy Chase any day.

i’m equally bothered by the recent trend of songs not being captioned in films. i’d wag my finger at the RIAA, but i suspect it’s a ploy by the writer of those mistaken lyric books (the books were written in the mid-to-late 1990s, so he’s probably looking to make a comeback).