Epitome Monday: Joe Johnston, First Avenger director

Joe Johnston at the 2010 San Deigo Comic-Con I...

Image via WikipediaSomething different today. Directors! As the slate of summer movies starts, Captain America is a movie that is getting some attention.

The director of the action, period piece is Joe Johnston. The man is a protege of George Lucas. He designed Boba Fett! Heck, he was a stormtrooper on the Death Star!

He is a master of special effects, but also loves to tell a great story.

He stepped in to clean up the mess a previous director made of last year's "Wolfman" with Benico Del Toro.
Before that, he directed the passion project, "Hidalgo."

My epitome movie for Mr. Johnston is "The Rocketeer." Sure he did great special effects in "Jurassic Park 3," still my fave of those dino-movies.

He had a great run with "Jumanji." Did you know he directed "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids?" The man is versatile, but his willingness to tell a great story married to even better special effects is unmatched.

Which movie of his was YOUR favorite?

Slow Death or Rebirth for Myspace?

Are we really watching the slow inevitable death of Myspace? With the integration with Facebook complete and the push towards what appears to be a mobile only function , isn't it time to call this one? One report says that Myspace is making $200 million less this year. They are functionally giving up on Myspace Music , which was always their bread and butter. Without the music tie in, why would people BOTHER with Myspace? I'm talking about it because my wife's band has used every medium known to mankind to promote themselves online and Myspace has been nothing but dead weight from the very beginning. Only bands and their most ardent fans go there. The rest are on Facebook. There is talk of selling Myspace, but who in their right mind would consider it? This will have some interesting implications for bands down the road. Many use Myspace as their de facto website, just pushing their domain name onto the customizable site. Now apparently, Reverbnation , a North Carolin

Check out my appearance on the The Toddcast Podcast

Click and watch the podcast recording of my appearance on the Toddcast Podcast Such a fun time!

New Life

It's weird, sad and slightly freeing. I've been headed towards a completely different life for a lot longer than I even knew. It took me a while to catch up to realize it was happening. Thankfully, I was cognizant enough to see it finally and mostly ready for it. It's amazing when you have the rug completely pulled out from underneath you. The adjustments are jarring. I made mistakes, but like most I learned from them, adapted, and tried my best to do better. The reason you see that truck next to a storage place? That's the sum of my life right now. Never take for granted that you will work hard for something or someone, and it will end up meaning very little. You are guaranteed nothing, owed nothing, promised nothing. Anything and everything can be taken away in a heartbeat. I wrote this to my kids a while back: I tried to be the best father I could be based on what I knew when I knew it and how I could. One of the lessons for your life needs to be: you need to b

Todd Lyden

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