Thursday , March 28 2024

Leo Sopicki

Writer, photographer, graphic artist and technologist. I focus my creative efforts on celebrating the American virtues of self-reliance, individual initiative, volunteerism, tolerance and a healthy suspicion of power and authority.

Music Review: Christina Friis – ‘The Quiet of Knowing: Joni Mitchell Unknown’

Christina Friis

My wife and I were standing on a corner in New Orleans admiring some items in a shop window. Then we heard a voice singing. Memories from my youth flashed through my brain – Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Joan Baez – and I was sure this was a recording. Then we looked toward the source of the sound and saw Christina Friis strumming on her guitar and supercharging the New Orleans air.

Read More »

Film Review: ‘All the Marbles’ Looking for an Oscar

All the Marbles

'All the Marbles' is in the running to be nominated in the Academy Awards short film category. This film that has so much going for it, it’s a shame there are not a full slate of Academy Awards for short films. It would be in contention for all of them. The writing is perfect and delivers a surprise twist at the end. The acting is charming and just over-the-top enough for the fantasy genre. The technical work is superb on many levels.

Read More »

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Jabberwocky’ Takes on the Establishment

Jabberwocky

The Criterion Collection will release a special edition of Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky next week. The film, based on the poem by Lewis Carroll, takes us on a satirical adventure with medieval every-man Dennis Cooper, played by Michael Palin. Cooper is mistaken for a knight and finds himself defending the kingdom against a dragon – the Jabberwock – bent on destroying whatever lays in its path.

Read More »

Tax Reform: Seven Political Spins You Need to Know

tax reform

The debate on tax reform dominates cable news. If you care about your future taxes, you need to understand how politicians are spinning the truth, abusing the language, and corrupting basic economics. It’s time not only to simplify the tax code, but to de-weaponize it. It should be a means of raising revenue not a sword to limit your freedom.

Read More »

Adobe MAX: Creativity, Software, Hardware and ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Adobe MAX

Besides classes, workshops, and presentations, a key element of Adobe MAX is the Community Pavilion. It’s a trade show for companies that make Adobe related hardware and software, and other products that make things easier for or inspire users. It is also a lounge for attendees. They have walls you can draw on and, no, your mother does not yell at you. You can watch web podcasts being created live, read and buy books, get your social media portrait taken, hang out in a simulated campground next to an Airstream RV, and party.

Read More »

Adobe MAX: Can a Keyboard Make You More Creative?

Adobe MAX

A keyboard may seem like a rather mundane part of a computer system, especially when using software with which you can make Hollywood feature films. This keyboard, however, does amazing things for your productivity with Adobe and Microsoft software and provides an entirely new keyboard component: The Crown.

Read More »