This dream is over: The Associated Press: Home Foreclosures Set Record in First Quarter. More than 1 million homes are now in foreclosure. This, as we watch economic recession claim all equity of responsible mortgage borrowers, while the government attempts to save the irresponsible with a lender rodeo. The association says it expects foreclosures and late payments “are going to continue to go up” in the coming months as housing prices continue to fall… and they’re sending out economic stimulus checks? What kind of fucking joke is this?

Realization: Generation X will see harder times and a lower quality of life than their (our) parenting, Baby Boomer generation. There are naturally fortunate exceptions and unique escape routes, but I find hard not to be cynical. Experts have warned that too many of 79 million Baby Boomers aren’t financially ready for their coming retirements.

Generation X have even less assurance than the Boomers of receiving company pensions and projected Social Security benefits. 1 in 3 aren’t setting aside any money for retirement and on top of that - notably because of mortgage and cost of living expenses drying the well. Perhaps this was inevitable; but all can I wonder now is - will there be any true recovery or relief?

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Netflix Launches Movie Streaming Set Top Box - Mac Rumors Today, Netflix unveiled a Roku designed $100 set top box that delivers streaming movies to your television (as blogged last January).

The Roku box is about the size of a paperback book, has no hard drive, and simply streams video through an ethernet or Wi-Fi connection. For the best possible viewing experience, Netflix recommends an Internet speed of at least 1.5 Mbps. There is no additional monthly fee for use beyond Netflixs usual monthly charge minimum $9/month to have unlimited access to Netflix’s 10,000 streamable movies.

I have an Apple TV and I love it, but it was a gift — and it does things this box can’t, so it’s hard to make an accurate hardware comparison overall. Nevertheless, as I’ve mentioned previously, this presents Apple with a considerable challenge for the movie rental business. Apple has newer releases and the jump on HD content, but has a small library and nothing near as good as a subscription service.

Personally I think this announcement should bring a whole new angle to home entertainment - the fabled shift from material to streaming, if you will. Both Apple and cable/satellite services are going to have to do something to compete with this; hopefully this new addition to the home entertainment market will stimulate competition that benefits the consumer. Add your thoughts below or on the the boards.

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Del Toro Not Right for Hobbit? over at Cinematical. After commenting twice on the blog over there with what I already wrote on the boards here on mikull.com, it was a little refreshing to see a response to the partially negative reactions coming from the fans.

What a unique time in cinematic history, where your voice on the internet might affect the art produced by movie makers… I don’t think all people my age fall into the crazed geek / fanboy category — some of us are simply interested in our entertainment, and share our nostalgic experiences in the hopes of improving any new iterations of said materials.

Once again, I will remind my fellow geeks: The Hobbit stands to be enjoyed right now. For me, this means reading the book every couple of years. I nabbed this lovely hardcover edition at a closing bookstore for an obscene price, and it’s wonderful. There’s also the existing 1977 Rankin/Bass movie, if you will, of The Hobbit - which you can easily pick up on DVD - yet another nostalgic keepsake from my youth. I recommend making your first Hobbit experiences before the movie.

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ASPCA: Ways to Go Orange for Animals. mikull.com celebrates the ASPCA’s efforts this April and encourages animal cruelty awareness all year long. Show your support - and post a comment to this entry. We’re giving away 10 ASPCA bracelets randomly to anyone who submits a reply!*

Every year on April 10, the anniversary date of the founding of the ASPCA in 1866, the ASPCA will be celebrating ASPCA Day and encouraging animal lovers of all ages nationwide to GO ORANGE FOR ANIMALS! Going Orange on ASPCA Day is a tribute to the work of the ASPCA and a celebration of compassion and kindness for all living things everywhere. (Orange is the official ASPCA color and what better to celebrate than our love of animals?)

In our hometown of New York City, many iconic Big Apple buildings light up orange on April 10. Other big cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin and Philadelphia, will be “going orange,” too. Join the ASPCA Grassroots Team and help us GO ORANGE in your home town!

*Bracelet contest: Ten winners will be selected randomly and contacted via e-mail during April, 2008. Bracelets were acquired via donation from the ASPCA.

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Filed under: Pets, Society, Speak Easy

After months of speculation, Warner Bros has revealed officially to the L.A. Times that they plan to split the final Harry Potter book into two films. One will be released in November 2010, the second in May 2011, and will simply be titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I / Part II.

Aware that this looks like a grubby money-maker by cynics, Daniel Radcliffe insists that’s not so.

“I think it’s the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book. There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut — although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans — but the seventh book doesn’t really have any subplots. It’s one driving, pounding story from the word go.”

Producer David Heyman says it was a difficult decision to make for the studio.

“I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons. Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book. You can remove scenes of Ron playing quidditch from the fifth book, and you can remove Hermione and S.P.E.W. [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare] and those subplots . . . but with the seventh, that can’t be done.”

Author J.K. Rowling has given her approval, much to everyone’s relief. Still, I’m not sure I would agree with this direction. I was down with 7 books, 7 movies. There’s been a great screen translation for each novel, and I don’t see why this would have to change. All 5 books after Chamber were long, relatively speaking - and could all have been split into multiple parts easily. Any Potter fan would have loved it too. Of course, we’re talking something upwards of a dozen movies there, so not really plausible.

Frankly, it’s terribly subjective to pick and choose what stays and goes in these novels. After all, lets be honest here: there is a lot of wandering around, camping, and talking in the Deathly Hallows novel. You can see a decent amount of material getting condensed there — whereas events (especially in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince) seem more “split” worthy. For example, plot point would end the first part of Hallows?

Again, the editing sense used when creating the cinematic, audience friendly saga worked all this time… so why break the mold now? It’s hard not to be cynical. Even so, as a fan, it’s difficult to be spiteful. Instead of 2 more movies coming, I now have 3 to look forward to. The nagging question remains for now: even if inspired by creative direction, will the series suffer because of this move? Rumors of Phoenix director David Yates keeping the reigns though series close keeps me optimistic for now.

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