apollak

Untitled

2009-01-01T10:06:00.001-05:00

IMG_0175.JPG

Posted via Pixelpipe.

2008-09-27T18:23:00.001-04:00

A&S on the Subway

Posted via Pixelpipe.

a moment

2008-07-08T16:51:00.001-04:00

a moment, originally uploaded by Rudy Pollak.

Check out the cool pic my dad took of my mom. He's good!

ST:TNG Episode Guide Song

2007-11-27T14:08:00.001-05:00

This is hilarious. Very Geeky but hilarious.

Alien in Fall

2007-11-24T13:37:00.001-05:00

Cool shot of me that dad took yesterday in Kissena Park. Check 'em out on his Flickr pages. I shot a bunch too and will post to Flickr when I have a moment to post-process.

Instant Ice

2007-11-17T13:01:00.000-05:00

This is a very cool little science demonstration...

Bying Kids' Shoes That FIT

2007-10-29T08:19:00.001-04:00

Great stuff -more useful parenting info from the DadLabs guys... "Does it feel like you're in Vegas when baby needs a new pair of shoes? You roll the dice and hope they fit. And the stakes are high. Watch this episode and tilt the odds of a perfect fit in your favor. Daddy Brad and Daddy Clay host."

read more | digg story

New Break a Leg Episode!

2007-10-04T15:41:00.000-04:00

Josh Kelley - Scrumptious

2007-09-20T23:06:00.000-04:00

We shot this today at the FYI studio with Josh Kelley. He's Hilarious and made this song up on the spot.

Internet NOT Dead - Just Watch

2007-08-26T14:41:00.000-04:00

I wrote a piece on the For Your Imagination blog today about the alleged death of the Internet. Here's the first bit.

Some people out there might agree with Mark Cuban and say that the Internet is "dead and boring" because today's Internet includes an element of stability and cohesion that the infant 'Net lacked. We must respectfully disagree. Would you say that a relationship has to be "dead and boring" because years together have cemented an interpersonal bond into stable and secure ties like marriage and familial expansion? Of course not. Relationships, media platforms and modes of expression grow more complex with age and continuously reveal new dimensions for exploration. Today, people are only beginning to understand the full potential of the modern Video Internet.

Read the whole story here.

iPhone Copy/Paste

2007-08-09T12:17:00.000-04:00

OMG so funny. Copy/Paste is one of the most egregious of Apple's iPhone omissions. These guys did a great job of showing Stevie J the light...

iPhone Copy and Paste from lonelysandwich and Vimeo.

Iron Warrior Cometh

2007-08-02T21:59:00.001-04:00

So cool.

I feel kind of funny about being so excited about this movie. Maybe I feel like G.W. Bush is going to like it a whole lot and that troubles me.

UPDATE:

Um... ok so here's what I mean - things are getting scary. Cool. But scary...

From a Wired article:

After years of development, three "special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system" (SWORDS) robots have deployed to Iraq, armed with M249 machine guns. The 'bots "haven't fired their weapons yet," Michael Zecca, the SWORDS program manager, tells DANGER ROOM. "But that'll be happening soon."

Footage from Future Weapons

Here's the Wired story that I came to via Gizmodo.

O'Idiot

2007-06-22T09:20:00.000-04:00

Why is this guy still on the air?

Multi-Mulit-Touch

2007-06-22T09:16:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else find it completely rediculous that Microsoft is making such a big deal about their "Surface" and other multi-touch projects while completely ignoring the fact that Apple's iPhone is the first true piece of multi-touch consumer electronics? This kind of denial just amazes me ane what's more the fact that people don't call them on it is just as unbelieveable.

Patrice Oneal Episode 2

2007-06-11T15:20:00.001-04:00

Chasing the Sun

2007-05-30T23:38:00.001-04:00

DSCF3680, originally uploaded by apollak.

Following a post on Gothamist.com Lisa and I went chasing the sun this evening looking to watch it set in sync with the Manhattan skyline in a phenomenon the site called Manhattanhenge. Read more at Gothamist or check out some more of my pix and let me know what you think.

2007-05-26T18:09:00.000-04:00

SW: Force Unleashed WebDoc 1

Now this makes me want to consider getting a next-gen console that's not the Wii. Well I want the Wii anyway but this gives the XBox 360 a big vote on top of the coming Halo 3. I am a sucker for Star Wars.

Best of Bowie Part II: Could We Be Heroes?

2007-05-09T00:31:00.000-04:00

It's no secret that I'm a comic book fan and a large portion of my comic book reading years involved following the exploits of the genetically mutated, the alien, the gamma irradiated and almost always the orphaned: the Super Hero. Tonight I watched a few television shows that got me thinking about heroes in today's world. The first show, "Spider-Man Tech" on the History Channel, examined the scientific realities and possibilities of the "$130 million dollar opening weekend" web slinger. Fun stuff. Love seeing all of these grown-ups talking about Spidey, Peter, MJ and the fantastic bits that make it all the stuff of legend. Second came "The Amazing Story of Superman" which followed the Man of Steel's history from the teenage mind of two sixteen year old Ohioans to last year's Superman Returns. And finally there came the latest installment of NBC's Heroes which continues to keep me interested in network television for at least an hour a week. (Well Earl is worth watching and I hear good things about The Office and Smallville - but I think they're going to be season rentals/buys - either DVD or iTunes. Haven't decided yet.)

Anyway all this to say that although Heroes is looking to offer us up heroes for the modern era, as are DC and Marvel with their latest movie projects (brooding, illegitimate-father Supes Returns and a darker, and frankly boring, Spidey 3) and in the comics they killed Captain America - I mean really how much more sign-of-the times can you get?

But, much as I love it, there's still something borrowed about it in half a dozen ways - not a bad thing - "genius steals" and all that. I could point to Alan Moore's Watchmen, especially with the recent apocalyptic revelations and of course a bunch of X-Men storylines but that could be a whole essay for a much more devoted student of Heroes. The simple question I have is is Heroes really the representation of what it means to be a hero in 2007? Are these really the models of the pinnacle of humanity? Do these stories tell the tales of values to cheer on and emulate? I am not trying to question the morality of the show, I'm wondering about the creative forces at work in the entertainment industry and wondering if they are digging deep enough or holding up a big enough mirror.

Well, Heroes, Superman Returns, the Spider-man movies, Batman Begins and the X-men flix are striking a chord in the mass market, no doubt. I still feel like there's an undiscovered hero for this age. Someone that causes the same kind of Stir Superman first caused in 1938 when a country on the verge of crisis needed a new kind of hero. Today, we could surely use a hero that could have that kind of effect on people, but what kind of hero could America possibly unite behind?

I'll think on it. You do the same.

Read Me

2007-05-07T07:57:00.000-04:00

I started another site specifically for the posting of my stories. Visit stories.apollak.com and by all means comments are welcome and encouraged.

This is part of a larger effort on my part to cultivate the writing part of my life. In addition you'll see me post here more often and on several other sites online including on the For Your Imagination blog, Mas Macho and on several sites in the GameFlavor network.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2007-05-05T07:54:00.000-04:00

This past friday was my last day as VP of Product and Creative Services at SharedBook, Inc. A very long, strange trip indeed. It was a sad farewell, sad most of all to leave so many talented people who really deserve all the success in the world. As part of the unofficial goodbye activities, we had a fun night out of karaoke on Thursday and a delicious steak lunch at Bobby Van's. I sang my first karaoke in three years and had my first steak in six months. Things are looking up already.

Going through old paperwork and files yesterday as I packed up to leave, I came across a few items from my early days with the company (which were the early days of the company) and I got the impression I had found artifacts from the distant past. On one such scrap, Shawna had written the new-at-the-time 37th street office space address for me to run over and check out before we moved in. Surely that had been written at least ten years ago! What? Only two and a half? Really? Really? Time ticks along and takes pieces of us us with it all along the way.

So begins a new chapter. Here's to focusing on the bits that will fortify me in time and here's to looking back and finding time well spent.

So Much Fun

2007-05-03T15:59:00.000-04:00

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri

Socgrrrl sent me this yesterday. Looks like they had a lot of fun making the video and it's a testament to the new creative ethos of user generated entertainment.

Pojects Update

2007-05-02T16:53:00.000-04:00

Here's an update on some ongoing projects:

Lazarus of the Valkyries
Art by Henry Rembert, cover by Randy Pollak with Brian Silak's photography and story and script by me, Alec Pollak. Preview comic produced and distributed to indie publishers at NY Comic Con in February. For an online look at the preview book and for more info visit www.LazarusOfTheValkyries.com

The Eye of Mitera
George Eliou and I have been working on this project for more than ten years now. It all started years before that with the core ideas for the world of Mitera and the boy from Long Island that finds adventure far from home. We are in the process of rewriting the beginning of the book and then we'll tackle the end. The middle, at least for the time being is in good shape. In addition we've got a series of short stories set in Mitera's world that we'll start releasing to the public later this year. Stay tuned.

BodySwappers Inc.
I am trying to sell the first story in the BodySwappers Inc. series to one of the fiction publications. Will keep you posted on where that ends up. Soon I'll post the first chapter for you all to read, If you're so inclined.

2006-10-17T23:18:00.000-04:00

dove evolution

I like what Dove is doing with this campaign and I always love seeing Photoshop or Photoshop-like applications in mainstream media. Fun. And good for you too.

The World's First Time Machine

2006-10-15T17:26:00.000-04:00

"The 2003 BBC documentary "The World's First Time Machine", directed by Ben Bowie and featuring Ronald Mallett, premiered in the USA on The Learning Channel on December 3, 2003. This documentary features some of Dr. Mallett's current time travel research. It has since been shown numerous times on The Science Channel."

Watched this today while getting some work done. Good for getting the mind thinking about the future.

Who are the bridges over our troubled water?

2006-08-14T14:21:00.000-04:00

OK. So. I am starting to understand what's going on. Here's an Associated Press story (via AOL News) about the arrest of three men accused of plotting to blow up a very big bridge in Michigan. (Hat tip to socgrrrl.) Everyday there's another report of some act of terrorism narrowly averted. Everyday this raises our level of fear, paranoia and... well... terror. This will not end. It's, as Billy Crystal said "out there." There's no going back. The ignorance and miseducation that has given rise to fanatic terrorism might someday be conquered if the governments of the world come to understand that their "War on Terror" must be fought by teachers, not soldiers. But the evil that has been loosed on the world will not be unmade no more than we'll ever unlearn the art of atomic warfare or warfare itself. The "War on Terror" isn't really a war on terror at all - if anything it is a "War on Fanatic Terrorism" and again - cannot be won by traditional warfare any more than ground troops can combat a nuke. Different dimensions. Eventually they will figure that out. What we need to realize, we the people subject to the barrage of lies and misinformation flung every which way, we need to take up our own arms in a true 'War on Terror" - a war waged against "fear itself."

Here's the full quotation:

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Sound familiar? Sound like world outside your window? A world of dread and fear? Yes, yes, yes - there's no question any more that the Bush administration is perpetrating "big lie" tactics to scare us and keep us scared for a multitude of reasons. Got that. They are damn good at it. And yes, as Jon Stewart (the man who, according to Will Ferrel, will singlehandedly save American Democracy,) explained to Tucker Carlson, the press has had a tremendous hand in damaging the American outlook. Why must stories like this AP bridge story have to come across sounding so grim? Why, when we read these stories do we feel even more afraid? They caught these guys. They stopped the plot. They saved the bridge. This is a good thing. Just like they stopped the liquid bombers. And the shoe bomber. We haven't won any war against these people. We haven't convinced them to stop what they're doing. But we have learned that in this era of unpredictable violence we must be vigilant and so we are.

My question is really "Who can I thank?" Who are the heroes here? Why isn't the bridge article about how the men and women who worked this case averted disaster? Why aren't we celebrating our victories? I am not talking about anyone in the Bush administration that has proven themselves shortsighted and self serving again and again all in the name of the war effort. People are hungry for heroes. Look at the recent resurgence of the superhero in popular movies - from Superman to the X-men and on and on - people are looking for heroes. And although the cinematic super powered fantasies fulfill a need for spectacle people need to believe in real heroes too. I am talking about the people who work tirelessly to protect this country. People, in their own way, like the 9/11 heroes. I have the utmost respect for the men and women who lost their lives on September 11th 2001 trying to save other people's lives. There is no question that they will always be American heroes. We must celebrate their heroism and carry that perspective on with us, celebrating the men and women who continue, every day, to keep us safe. The press, Jefferson's "Fourth Branch" of government, should not be a constant reminder that evil is all around us. That really isn't news. We need to hear about the everyday victories, large and small. The little victories of these as-yet-unsung heroes will carry us over the troubled waters of today and many tomorrows.

P.S. According to the Detroit Free Press, the FBI is now saying there is no immediate danger of anyone blowing up the Mackinac bridge. So were the store clerks that reported the suspicious characters exercising healthy suspicion or paranoid delusions seeing terrorists in every unwhite face. Troubled waters indeed...

What the hell is happening?

2006-08-12T23:49:00.000-04:00

This is insane. Check out this story on a Gallup poll that says "Many Americans Harbor Strong Bias Against U.S. Muslims". Really insane. Like evolution-isn't-real insane. Like re-elect Bush insane.

First Try

2006-08-12T17:53:00.000-04:00

Interesting to see an older fellow getting on the Web 2.0 world of user generated content. The elderly embraced email and AOL years ago to help the Internet grow in its infancy. Considering they are the ones with the most to say, let's hope they are a significant part of the modern user generated Internet.

Fear the Liquid Death

2006-08-11T10:21:00.000-04:00

Liquid is the panic word of the week. Along with the high gas prices, continually escalating battles in Lebanon and Israel and continually inept leadership in this country, we now have to worry about liquids on planes being used by terrorists to make bombs. This is making Snakes on a Plane that much more viable of an option for the terrorists. This could, of course be another SoaP marketing ploy.

What really strikes me as odd about this business though is the similarity of the dastardly plot to the Joker's evil scheme from Tim Burton's first Batman film. In it, Jack Nicholson's Joker poisons the household products we all know and love and sets them to have deadly effect when mixed in particular combinations. I know fiction is a breeding ground for new ideas in technology. I love the story of Leonard Nemoy talking on a cell phone on the street sometime in the early nineties and someone spotting him and laughing and it took him a moment to realize that what elicited the laughter was the sight of Spock talking on a communicator in real life. If the terrorists are looking to Tim Burton films for motivation, perhaps we should keep a close watch on Santa and chocolate bars next...

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Aged 51 1/2

2006-07-27T14:34:00.000-04:00

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Aged 51 1/2

If you are a Mac fan or an iPod fan, or if you hate Macs or iPods or just the man behind them you will no doubt love this mock blog (mocklog?) A daily dose of hilarity.

[The URL has changed to http://fakesteve.blogspot.com and there's all sorts of drma afoot. - Ed. 8/11/2006]

2006-05-04T21:48:00.000-04:00

YouTube - C For Cookie

God, I just love the playground the web is. And what could be better than a Muppet/Moore mashup?

2006-01-13T09:27:00.000-05:00

Vegas Baby! (When am I going to stop saying that?) CES 2006 - whirlwind business conference of whirlwind business conferences. My first time was a crazy day of chasing down seminars and keeping focused with all of the characters from the Adult Entertainment Expo walking around.

Blogger for Word

2005-08-30T11:13:00.000-04:00

Blogger for Word

Now Blogger has introduced this nifty new add-in for word that lets you post right from MS Word.

Widget Post

2005-06-11T10:01:00.000-04:00

Very cool. This Tiger Dashboard Widget lets you post directly to your blogger blog from the dashboard.

2005-06-07T09:48:00.000-04:00

The gang at SharedBook gathered for Caroline's Birthday.

2005-06-07T09:44:00.000-04:00

The sad drowning of "Gertie."

2001-10-22T12:37:00.000-04:00

I found Anthrax on everyone's lips in Times Square. I could walk down Mott street uncrowded on what should have been a busy Saturday afternoon. The bar at Chuhascerria Plataforma had plenty of room for me to waltz in and meet my out of town friends. They had come to see NYC in these crazy days. One of them said that they had a patriotc duty to be NYC Tourists.

2001-10-15T22:57:00.000-04:00

I started the day with a stomach ache - probably brought on by not so fresh leftover Thai food from last night. Got to work and had to deal with unwaranted client panic. Had bad pastrami for lunch. With mustard. I hate mustard. Afternoon client arrived late screwing up my afternoon plans. I found out that the nice folks in Texas who were supposed to be repairing my cell phone have found it unrepairable.I went to the gym and depressed myself with thoughts of unfinished projects amid crunches and machines. I got home and my computer wouldn't work. In attempting to fix it, I toppled the monitor off its perch and caught it by its corner with the fleshy part of my left palm. My left hand has been on ice all evening. Nothing has gotten done on any of my projects. My computer still doesn't work.

And yet, my bad day drizzles in the middle of this storm of buildings and bombs falling and everyone fearing the mail in the latest terror trends.

2001-10-14T18:56:00.000-04:00

It seems we have lost one tourist attraction but have gained another of a different sort. Last Thursday night we were walking around the Theater District at about 10:45 or so and noticed the audiences poured out into the streets after their shows. Many of them joined their fellow tourists on the streetns of NYC eyes wide and drinking in Times Square, Ninth Avenue, The Port Authority Bus Terminal, 42nd Street. Tourism may have dipped but it hasn't disappeared. People still come. New York is still New York. And now there is a new attraction. The firehouses now serve as periodic markers showcasing the new site to see in NYC: the home of the heroes.

2001-10-09T17:06:00.000-04:00

Autumn in New York. The ads have been changing. New bus sides. New Bus shelters. New billboards. New posters. New signs in shop windows. Some make reference to September 11th. Some refer to shock and saddness. Some show flags. Others sell The Gap. Or Coke. Or Zoolander. On the other side of the world we're dropping bombs. Here life goes on as evident in the continuous flow of media.

2001-10-03T14:16:00.000-04:00

Every time I see an ambulance racing down the street with sirens blaring and lights flaring, escorted by police on every side I cannot help but think that every New Yorker that sees and hears that procession go by knows where it comes from and wonders who's inside. One of the faces on the flyers? One of the servicemen lost? An injured rescue worker? And the knowledge that we may never have an answer joins all the other unanswered questions filling our heads these days.

2001-10-01T16:04:00.000-04:00

Met some interesting guys this weekend in the business of astrology that opened up some interesting avenues of thought. Bill Brown and Keith Burke explained that their astrological studies base prediction and belief on patterns of the universe that are refleced in planetary cycles, not controled by them. Interesting stuff that can be checked out on their web site at http://www.thecadentcross.com especially in reference to their thoughts on the WTC attack and our current war/crisis/paranoia/etc.

Bill and Keith's thoughts reminded me of a book I'd read a few years ago called The Fourth Turning by Bill Strauss and Neil Howe which looks at cycles of history froma generatinal perspective. In their view, four generational archtypesI create cycles of history, each fulfilling their role and in so oing, creating and shaping the generations to come. I checked their web site today and found plenty of talk about current events and whether they portend the coming crisis predicted in The Fourth Turning. Very interesting stuff. Check it out at http://www.fourthturning.com.

I think all the feelings of shock and grief and anger and fear that everyone has been feeling are slowly giving way to introspection and careful consideration of our next steps. I don't know whether this is a specific reaction to the careful process that our government is taking (as opposed to a full scale air raid within 24 hours of the Attack) or a natural progression. Perhaps a bit of both.

2001-09-26T09:49:00.000-04:00

Something is up. Traffic in and around the city has become truly problematic. The city has declared all bridges to Manhattan off limits to cars with less than two people from 6 am till noon starting tomorrow. Something is up. They must have found something. They just don't want to panic us. Everyone's nerves have been wrung raw by all the rumors and speculations. Where will they strike next? Something is up.

2001-09-23T18:57:00.000-04:00

Diversion.

Movie Review: The Others. Boring. Saw this already last year. Will not spoil the "big surprise ending" for all you folks who have yet to see this year's contribution to the high quality scary movie. The following comments will be hidden from view unless you highlight the text with your cursor.

SPOILER COMMENTARY

So we've gone from "I see dead people." to "I see live people." Dead people who don't know that they are dead until the end of the movie are haunted by the living. Great concept. I'm still struggling to determine how I would feel about this movie if I hadn't already seen M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense last year. But I do think that it would have been more interesting for me to watch these ghosts being haunted knowing that they are ghosts right from the get go. Even if they didn't know it yet. The surprise ending just didn't surprise me enough to justify the cost: instead of watching the dead deal with a situation we usually only imagine an ordeal for the living I sat there wondering what the hell was going on the whole time. Almost as if this movie was filmed specifically to be viewed twice in rapid succession. Or probably more precicely, so that you would want to buy the DVD complete with director's commentary. When I did theater in college, we used to groan at any play that required a lengthy Director's Note in the program in order to understand what you just watched. Don't get me wrong, I do Love a thriller with an ending that makes you look at everything you've just seen with new eyes - i.e. (more spoilers here folks) The Ususal Suspects and No Way Out. But with those films you thought you had a pretty good handle on what was going on. Not so here.

2001-09-20T13:06:00.000-04:00

No great thoughts to ponder this morning. Back to normal (aside from the crippled internet access, general freaked-out-ness on the streets of New York and the impending war.) Lots of work to do. The Jewish New Year holiday went off without a hitch (aside from the somber overtones.)

Went to the dentist yesterday and finished my recent series of fillings. We talked about the WTC a bit. My dentist has two kids and I was curious about their reactions to all of this. Her oldest is 12 and he's being "very adult about it all" watching the news and trying to keep up. The moring of the attack, before the planes struck, his teacher had asigned the class to write an essay on the most significant historical event in their lifetime. Intense.

Just go tthis URL from a friend. Photos of the world's reaction to the devastation. Also quite intense and really heartwarming. http://www.howie-nica.com/

2001-09-19T17:01:00.000-04:00

Three brief points:

1. The Flyer Readers. This time watching peopl ereading the flyers. Seeing their reactions. Just normal people with no connection just stoppin gto check out who these endless missing were and giving faces to the faceless.

2. Clinton. Interviewed live on TV last evening. So solid. I do miss him. Bush is stepping up and as everyone is saying, we do have to rally behind our leaders but I do miss Mr Bill.

3. The Star Spangled Banner. Everyone keeps singing God Bless America, avoiding the Star Spangled Banner as if its subject matter was suddenly insensitive. I think its kind of odd, our National Anthem born out of conditions such as those we now face.

2001-09-18T11:52:00.000-04:00

The flyers. My God, the flyers. New York has been wallpapered with flyers depicting the missing persons of the World Trade Center disaster. Flyers for fathers, sons, mothers, daugters, brothers, sisters, friends plastered on walls, phone booths, bus shelters, windows, cars.

I took a bus down Lexington avenue and passed by the Armory which the city has set up as a central information center for people looking for survivors. It seemed like the exterior of every building in a three block radius around the armory has been plastered with flyers. Blocks and blocks covered with 8 1/2 by 11 inch pieces of paper. When I saw all those pieces of paper, each with a face and a name the enormity of the tragedy hit me more directly than it had in the week of constant TV news footage and web site reporting. Desperate people hoping against all the odds that someone will reveal some good news amidst all this pain printed and photocopied and scotch taped these simple flyers and in doing so communicate the force of this blow better than any other media.

2001-09-17T11:44:00.000-04:00

First Monday after the attack. All eyes on the stock market. Again its the unity of it all that gets me. As a distraction we watched lots of movies this past week, when we weren't watching the news. We stopped by Union Square for a bit on Friday night when the vigils were held. We donated supplies.

2001-09-15T10:23:00.000-04:00

In the wake of this week's great destruction I begin my daily posts as a record and a comunique to the future.