The final cut

Monday, December 24, 2007

To the song of Hymne des Fraternises, from the very same film's soundtrack, by Phillippe Rombi

Inspired by a true story, which happened on Christmas Eve 1914 during World War I, in many different places along the front line. Various front-line soldiers of the conflict peacefully met each other in No Man's Land to share a precious pause in the carnage with a fleeting brotherhood. This film dramatizes one such section as the French, British and German sides partake in the unique event, even though they are aware that their superiors will not tolerate its occurrence.

"I hear the mountain birds
The sound of rivers singing
A song I've often heard
It flows through me now
So clear and so loud
I stand where I am
And forever I'm dreaming of home
I feel so alone, I'm dreaming of home

It's carried in the air
The breeze of early morning
I see the land so fair
My heart opens wide
There's sadness inside
I stand where I am
And forever I'm dreaming of home
I feel so alone, I'm dreaming of home

This is no foreign sky
I see no foreign light
But far away am I
From some peaceful land
I'm longing to stand
A hand in my hand
...forever I'm dreaming of home
I feel so alone, I'm dreaming of home"

I first learned this song in German. I still prefer this song in German.

Merry Christmas my friends and I hope that you enjoy the music.

Bing and Bowie: An Odd Story of Holiday Harmony

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; Page C01

One of the most successful duets in Christmas music history -- and surely the weirdest -- might never have happened if it weren't for some last-minute musical surgery. David Bowie thought "The Little Drummer Boy" was all wrong for him. So when the producers of Bing Crosby's Christmas TV special asked Bowie to sing it in 1977, he refused.

Just hours before he was supposed to go before the cameras, though, a team of composers and writers frantically retooled the song. They added another melody and new lyrics as a counterpoint to all those pah-rumpa-pum-pums and called it "Peace on Earth." Bowie liked it. More important, Bowie sang it.

The result was an epic, and epically bizarre, recording in which David Bowie, the androgynous Ziggy Stardust, joined in song with none other than Mr. "White Christmas" himself, Bing Crosby.

In the intervening years, the Bowie-Crosby, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy," has been transformed from an oddity into a holiday chestnut. You can hear it in heavy rotation on Christmas-music radio stations or see the performance on Internet video sites. First released as a single in 1982, it still sells today -- to add to its quirky afterlife, it's part of an album that's ranked as high as No. 3 on the Canadian charts this month. How did this almost surreal mash-up of the mainstream and the avant-garde, of cardigan-clad '40s-era crooner and glam rocker, happen?

It almost didn't. Bowie, who was 30 at the time, and Crosby, then 73, recorded the duet Sept. 11, 1977, for Crosby's "Merrie Olde Christmas" TV special. A month later, Crosby was dead of a heart attack. The special was broadcast on CBS about a month after his death.

The notion of pairing the resolutely white-bread Crosby with the exquisitely offbeat Bowie apparently was the brainchild of the TV special's producers, Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion, according to Ian Fraser, who co-wrote (with Larry Grossman) the song's music and arranged it.

Crosby was in Great Britain on a concert tour, and the theme of the TV special was Christmas in England. Bowie was one of several British guest stars (the model Twiggy and "Oliver!" star Ron Moody also appeared). Booking Bowie made logistical sense, since the special was taped near his home in London, at the Elstree Studios. As perhaps an added inducement, the producers agreed to air the arty video of Bowie's then-current single, "Heroes" (Crosby introduced it).

It's unclear, however, whether Crosby had any idea who Bowie was. Buz Kohan, who wrote the special and worked with Fraser and Grossman on the music, says he was never sure Crosby knew anything about Bowie's work. Fraser has a slightly different memory: "I'm pretty sure he did [know]. Bing was no idiot. If he didn't, his kids sure did."

Kohan worked some of the intergenerational awkwardness into his script. In a little skit that precedes the singing, Crosby greets Bowie at the door of what looks like Dracula's castle (actually, it's a set that's supposed to be Crosby's rented London home). The conceit is that Bowie is dropping by a friend's house and finds Crosby at home one snowy afternoon.

They banter for a bit and then get around to a piano. Bowie casually picks out a piece of sheet music of "The Little Drummer Boy" and declares, "This is my son's favorite."

The original plan had been for Bowie and Crosby to sing just "Little Drummer Boy." But "David came in and said: 'I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?' " Fraser said. "We didn't know quite what to do."

Fraser, Kohan and Grossman left the set and found a piano in the studios' basement. In about 75 minutes, they wrote "Peace on Earth," an original tune, and worked out an arrangement that weaved together the two songs. Bowie and Crosby nailed the performance with less than an hour of rehearsal.

And that was almost that. "We never expected to hear about it again," Kohan said.

But after the recording circulated as a bootleg for several years, RCA decided to issue it as a single in 1982. It has since been packaged and repackaged in Christmas compilation albums and released as a DVD.

It's still the most played Christmas duet on WASH-FM (97.1), airing once or twice a day when the station plays nothing but holiday music, said Bill Hess, WASH's program director. Hess likes how the two men blend their voices. The real clincher, he says, is Crosby, who has been associated with holiday music for generations. " 'White Christmas' really helps sell it," he says.

Also among the song's fans is Roger D. Launius, who remembers watching the original Crosby TV special while he was a graduate student and the parent of two children, ages 1 and 3.

"It was a very hectic time in my life, and the song was very peaceful and beautiful," says Launius, chairman of the space history division at the National Air and Space Museum. "I don't remember anything else about the special, but I remembered that song."

Launius hadn't given it too much thought until about seven years ago, when his now-adult daughter sent him a Christmas CD. Among the selections was the Bowie-Crosby duet.

The other day at his office, Launius checked the hard drive on his computer. Yep, there it was. With a couple of clicks, Launius let the warm harmony, and the memories, come flooding back.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

OMG this was funny. The Korean History Channel.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Why I will not vote for Ron Paul in 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t let the absence of tact, polish, logic, and stability fool you: Ron Paul slithers like a true pol

Please don’t take this as a reflection on my personal life, but perhaps because I’ve lived in Nevada, Korea, and Washington, D.C., I have only mild moral objections to voluntary exchanges of sex for money between adults. I’d think that this would be a rare point on which I’d agree with Ron Paul. But when asked if he was ”shocked” to learn that the Moonlight Bunny Ranch had contributed to his campaign, Paul missed the chance to defend social libertarianism by saying, “Of course not. I don’t believe it’s government’s role to regulate personal morality.” Instead, Paul slithered through a muck of: Hey, how should I know who’s sending me checks? (Because the reporter just told you so. Now answer the damn question.)

I can live with honest differences of opinion with anyone who means me no harm, but I question the judgment of people who assume that Ron Paul is more sincere than other politicians because Paul dares to be wacky. And is it just me, or when Paul is giving his answer, does he really seem to be defending his decision to keep the spigots open on that white supremacist money he’s taking? I wonder if Paul thinks those people “believe in freedom,” too.

Paulbots love to rail at the media for ignoring their candidate. Maybe they should be thankful the media really haven’t called Paul on this and let him share a stage with candidates with the discretion to refuse neo-Nazi money. I don’t want to overstate this. Ron Paul takes David Duke’s money, but he isn’t David Duke. But if Ron Paul were (a) as smooth and polished as David Duke, or (b) stealing oxygen at Democratic debates instead of Republican ones, I don’t think as many pundits would do him the unjustified charity of giving him national air time and dismissing him.

Their long national nightmare is over

Following record low voter turnout, Yonhap has Lee Myung Bak winning by a landslide with over 50%. This is unbad. I always root for a lying stock manipulator over a lying abettor of genocide with untamed abandon. I can hear the celebratory gunfire all the way out in Centerville. I’m also pleasantly surprised that the video proving that Lee fibbed his way through the BBK scandal didn’t mush up the prospect of any one candidate getting a mandate.

The best news of the election? Comrade Chung, the poster-boy for propping up Kim Jong Il and slamming the furnace door on his wretched subjects, has now led two leftist parties to record-breaking beat-downs. He drew just 26% of the vote. Chung also led the Uri Party to defeat in the summer of 2006, and that defeat eventually destroyed Uri. There’s a good chance that this lopsided defeat will destroy its successor, the United New Democratic Party. Chung had a well deserved reputation for shallowness, but let’s not forget that he was also a conniving, black-hearted demagogue (three links) whose mouth emitted words of breathtaking stupidity whenever it wasn’t otherwise occupied in fellating Kim Jong Il.

At least it’s possible to say that for now, appeasing North Korea and bashing Uncle Sam don’t have the voter appeal they did five years ago. I am not too cynical to deny that one thing will improve, which is the volume of Yankee-baiting cheap shots from the Blue House.

The worst news of the election? South Korea missed its chance to have a national conversation about The Big Issue, unification. The campaign was really about which candidate was the most repellent, and with the abundance of such exquisite material on that question, there wasn’t much time to talk about when, how, and on what terms Korea should resolve that nation’s most fundamental question. There wasn’t even much discussion about the smaller issues that devolve from The Big Issue: refugees, concentration camps, nuclear disarmament, defense policy, conventional disarmament, reconstruction planning, or humanitarian aid policy.
Flashback: The Lee Myung Bak Dossier, from September 2005.
Much, much more: Andy Jackson, bless his heart, semi-live-blogged this.

SO NOW I WONDER, WHAT SOUTH KOREA WILL WE GET FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS?

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Taylor named to Pro Bowl

By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
December 18, 2007

Three weeks after receiving the worst news he'd ever gotten as the owner of the Washington Redskins, Dan Snyder was able to deliver a morsel of good information to the family of the late Sean Taylor.

Taylor made the Pro Bowl at safety.

Snyder called Pedro Taylor, Taylor's father, on Tuesday afternoon shortly after Washington found out from the NFL that Taylor, Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels and tight end Chris Cooley made the team.

"Mr. Snyder was very excited for Sean and for the team," said Pedro Taylor, whose son died Nov. 27 after being shot during a burglary at his home in suburban Miami. "This just makes me feel proud of Sean for all the hard work he put into this, all the film study, the working out four times a day and just wanting to be one of the best players ever at that position.

"He always wanted to be accountable to the other 52 guys on the team, the guys on the practice squad and the coaches. He did that."

Taylor, in the midst of having what many people considered his best campaign, was named to the Pro Bowl after last season and received the most votes at his position from fans this year. Pro Bowl spots are determined by the votes of fans, players and coaches – each of the three counting equally.

"I think it's tremendous that the fans, coaches and players thought enough of Sean to vote him in," said agent Drew Rosenhaus, who represented Taylor. "It's a testament to what type of player he was. I know this means a lot to his family and friends."

Selected No. 5 overall in the 2004 NFL draft, Taylor had a career-high five interceptions in the nine games he played this season. He had missed two games with a knee injury and had flown to Miami to be examined by a doctor there and check on his home before the burglary occurred. He was shot in the leg, the bullet piercing his femoral artery and causing massive blood loss.

After the shooting, Snyder, Redskins executive Vinny Cerrato and running back Clinton Portis flew to Miami. In the wee hours of the morning after they arrived, Snyder received a call from Rosenhaus saying that Taylor had died.

The NFL has since honored Taylor by allowing players around the league to wear the No. 21 – Taylor's jersey number – on their helmets. In their first game after Taylor's death, the Redskins' defense opened the game with only 10 players on the field to honor Taylor.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league was still planning a way to honor Taylor for the Pro Bowl and would likely announce something in the next few weeks. A substitute for Taylor will eventually be named by the league.

Pedro Taylor said he'd welcome a chance to help honor his son at the game in Hawaii. Pedro Taylor and his family have tried to remain upbeat about their son's life in the aftermath of the tragedy.

"It's tough, but we're taking it one day at a time, you keep going," he said.

Taylor was recently honored by the state of Florida as one of the 33 best high school players in the 100 years the state has played organized football, joining others such as Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin on the team.

"Just to be mentioned with guys like that is an honor and a testimony to how hard and how important this was for Sean," Taylor said.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

WHEN MICHAEL OF THE METOPOLITICIAN GETS GOING, IT CAN BE QUITE ENTERTAINING BUT AT THE SAME TIME VERY TRUTHFUL.

FOR THOSE WHO KNOW ME, I RARELY EVER POST LIBERALS COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG, FOR THE VARIOUS REASONS. A FEW TIMES I HAVE THOUGHT THAT MICHAEL DOES NOT HAVE A CLUE WHAT THE FRACK HE IS TALKING ABOUT. BUT THESE NEXT 3 ARTICLES, HE CALLS IT LIKE HE SEE IT AND MAN HE PULLS NO PUNCHES............................................................

December 17, 2007

Applying the Same Rules of Logic...

Here's a mock editorial piece that could have been written by a fictional American paper, if the American public still accepted such racist, jingoist drivel:

Crazed Korean Murders Fellow Students

Cho Seung Hee was the single-most tragic mass shooting incident in American history. It was perpetrated by a Korean, who came to Our Country to benefit from its good schools and openness in allowing those around the world a new life; and this is how Cho repays America?

Korea is the #1 sender nation of foreign students to study in the United States. In South Korea, every year, students kill themselves in droves because of academic, parental, and societal pressures; those pressures obviously do not stop at America's borders.

Cho was one such family; it is rumored that his mother called him "the dumb one," as is typical in most Korean families, which only value their children as study robots, not as real people. The family-based American culture, which looks at children as human beings, rarely sees children committing suicide because of academic pressures, although there are some problems in Our society, of course.

But this is a different kind of danger, one that has the potential to take more of our children from us. How many ticking time bombs sent from Korea are sitting in Our Nation's classrooms?

Jane Doe, an expert on primary educational development from world-esteemed Harvard University, says, "I hear about these children all the time. Their parents give them tutoring, send them to Korean schools, and refuse to acculturate themselves properly. When these Koreans come to our classrooms, they are like little robots. There is something essentially different about them. Who knows when they will crack?"

This is a real threat to Our Nation's children. Without extensive mental screening of all children of Korean descent entering our country, it is only a matter of time before another Cho Seung Hee destroys more American lives.

Why do we allow Korea to continue sending its time bombs to American soil? Is this not just another form of terrorism, not too different from Al Qaeda sending its own bombs to destroy the lives of good, hardworking Americans?

Do we Americans not know that Koreans are also responsible for the worst mass shootings in world history as well? Woo Bum-gon holds that record – another Korean. Even his name suggests "bomb" in English.

What is it about Koreans and mass shootings? Perhaps it is part of what they themselves call the "thin tin pot" culture, which says that the Korean temperament is "quick-to-boil, quick-to-cool." Is this the kind of person you want YOUR CHILD sitting next to in school? A child from a country of gun killers who they themselves say are "quick-to-boil?"

Our Nation should protect Our Children from such Koreans by requiring all Korean children to undergo intense psychological testing before being allowed to continue attending Our Nation's schools and universities.

Our Nation should also prohibit anyone of Korean descent from owning guns, since we have to stop this problem of mass shootings in Our Nation. Haven't we had enough mass shootings? Do we not want them to stop?

In order to stop another Korean time bomb from exploding in the faces of Our children, this unwatched, unchecked "Korean Wave" of students with psychological problems needs to be addressed.

Because who knows when the next Korean will start waving a gun around? And will it be your child who will be next to stop a bullet? Let Korean students kill themselves as they please in their own country. They should not bring such a culture to Our Nation.

If some newspaper published something like that, Koreans would have had a field day of protest. Yet, this is just what has happened in Korea. Because of a single freak – who didn't actually break any laws in KOREA, and wasn't even an E-2 visa holder, so the new regulations wouldn't have stopped him, anyway – and a few cases of standard yellow journalism that passes as news here in Korea, we get these racist, unrealistic visa requirements.

Same logic as applied in the mock piece above. I'm glad I come from a country and culture that wouldn't allow such clearly discriminatory drivel to stand, and proved so by NOT seeing the appearance of any pieces such as the one written above appearing in any major newspapers I have heard of.

If some crazed foreigner went on a wild killing rampage, killing say 20 or so university kids before sticking the gun in his own mouth – what do you think would happen in Korea? Discriminatory laws being passed is the LEAST I would hope for, people. That day, I wouldn't even leave my apartment.

The Need to Confirm the Identity of White Foreign Mothers

Oh, this is gonna be good.

I'll channel the two dumbest lines of argument that could come from this case.

Since it's another case of "white foreigners" harming the person and the pride of the Korean race, based on this case, all overseas adoptions should stop!

Or maybe we should just subject all potential adoptive parents to drug and HIV tests, make them submit a criminal background check and their original diploma to the local consulate.

But wait, you say? The requirements are already stringent?

At Bethany Christian Services in Indianapolis, part of a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based not-for-profit adoption service with offices in 30 states, branch director Linda Wrestler said confidentiality prevents her from discussing specific cases.

She said, however, that every client or couple seeking to adopt faces rigorous scrutiny.

The case studies include parents’ written autobiographies, criminal and social services checks, verification of employment and finances, birth certificates, health records and personal references.

Because such checks are going to prevent all bad things from happening in the world, right?

December 16, 2007

FOREIGNERS - DON'T COME TO KOREA! CHOOSE JAPAN OR CHINA!

I give up. You know what we should do, if we want to use the "politics of shame" to show just how stupid these requirements are? A slight affectation of a unified movement to discourage new teachers from coming to Korea might be an interesting proposition.

And in saving some newbies some trouble, and actually filling the Google rankings with advice to avoid Korea, that might result in some interesting reactions from the Korean side of things. Here's my message, which is somewhat affected, but still sincere:

Let me just say right now that the only reason I'm staying in Korea is because I have an F-4 and am not subject to these requirements. But I am ever required to give drug and HIV tests in order to work, or rip out my single original copy of my diploma sitting in a frame in my mother's home in Ohio, it will be time for me to leave this country.

I'm not going to pop a vein and allow my personal privacy to be violated, nor allow some administrative bureaucrat to slide my pristine copy of my diploma around some copy machine when a transcript with a raised seal will do.

If that transcript is good enough to get a job with the CIA, it's good enough for the fucking Korean Ministry of Education.

I've got shit I need to do here, and shit I enjoy doing here. I'm grandfathered in. I've put too much energy into this country, society, and language to quit now. That's why I'm staying. That's the only reason.

But my patience with this country has worn pretty thin, and I'm having trouble right now not going over to the "dark side" and starting to hate this place. I might have to start looking for ruby crystals for my lightsaber soon. I'm struggling with another "dark time", just as I did in early 2003, when I would hear the word "nigger" more times in a week than I had in all the time I had spent in Korea to that point (more than 3 years, actually).

Things are changing, people, and it's for the worst.

My advice for newbies interested in teaching English as a means of living in Asia, I am sad to suggest:

DON'T COME TO KOREA. GO TO JAPAN OR CHINA.

Korea and Koreans, no matter what is said, doesn't really want foreigners here. We are treated like criminals by the law, and in the law. The media represents us as nothing more than drug fiends, AIDS carriers, and child molesters.

If you don't want to be treated as such by the law, required to submit a criminal background check, submit to drug and HIV tests, and have to submit your original diploma just to teach in some unprofessionally-run institute or elementary school in which whatever skills and ability you have won't be respected anyway...

DO NOT COME TO SOUTH KOREA TO LIVE AND TEACH.

Japan is much more urbane and sophisticated, more global and developed, and much more able to be a place where you can enjoy your life as a foreigner.

I'm sorry to have to say this, but I've come to the conclusion that much of my ability to enjoy my life here is simply because I have an F-4, which essentially allows me to be treated somewhat like a human being here, and allows me to survive here.

If I had to have an E-2 visa, I would be giving up my rights to privacy, personal dignity, and self-respect. And I can't, in good conscience, continue to lie about a culture that I do care about, because it has become outrageously racist and xenophobic to the point that basic gestures of respect are ignored in regards to foreigners here.

I've lived here since before it was comfortable to live here (from 1994-1996) and from 2002 to the present. I've studied Korean and defended the culture and its weak points to no end, no matter how much I've offered criticism on this blog.

But I'm going to stop that now.

If you have to come to Korea on an E-2 or C-7 visa, given the ludicrous requirements and the extreme power any organization you work with will have over you, which speaks to the basic problem of a lack of professionalism and even the possibility of being exploited by your employer even BEFORE these regulations went into effect – I would warn you:

STAY AWAY FROM KOREA.

GO TO JAPAN, since you will enjoy yourself more, and not be subject to the increased level of unprofessionalism and exploitation that will be one of many side effects of this visa change.

Or, GO TO CHINA, which has a much richer cultural heritage and history that is obvious everywhere you go, and learning the language will benefit you more than Korean, anyway.

IF YOU ARE A BEGINNER IN THIS RACE, and all other things are equal, why would you choose Korea? In all honesty, right now, I can't give this country my endorsement for foreigners to come live here as teachers, unless you have "Korean blood", which Korea will recognize as your ticket to being treated like a human being.

If you have some other specific skill that will allow you to exist here on a non-teaching visa, perhaps you will also be able to enjoy life.

But if you are a nice kid who just wants to spend some time in Asia after college, or are the kind of person who is truly interested in learning about other cultures, save yourself the humiliation of jumping through these hoops only to be treated to broken contract terms, stigmatization of having to prove that you are NOT a needle-sharing, HIV+, child molester – spare yourself the indignity and frustration.

Korea isn't a country for "nice people" to just come and have an experience in anymore, but a place where only the thickest-skinned survive, those very, very desperate to teach here, or have a clear and specific reason to be here.

If you're just a nice kid from Saskatchewan or Iowa, go to Japan and China. You're much more likely to not end up bitter and cynical, like me.

Seriously.

Agree with those sentiments? Then in your own words, on your own blog, tell the would-be English teachers of the world to "CHOOSE JAPAN!"

What do you have to lose? You get to use the other side of that double-edged sword of Korean national pride to perhaps show just how stupid these regulations are, while doing something concrete to help raise your billable hours in the long run.

Wouldn't that be a hoot? The expat blogosphere trying to put a dent in the supply of English teachers? Korea doesn't seem to want us? Let's help out! Do your part and advocate "GO JAPAN!" today!

A special "Where's WALL-E" edition of Why For?

Jim Hill's back with even more answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, Jim tries to put together a definitive list of where the in-jokes & self references in Pixar's feature films & shorts are located

Bernie W. writes in to say:

Jim --

Can you please help me win a bet at work? A co-worker of mine says that WALL-E makes a brief cameo appearance in "Ratatouille." More importantly, this guy has bet me $100 that I'll never ever be able to find that robot in this movie.

Copyright 2007 Disney / Pixar. All Rights Reserved

I've watch my kid's "Ratatouille" DVD three times now and haven't seen hide nor hair of WALL-E yet. So if I offer you a percentage of my winnings, will you please tell me where I can find this robot in the movie?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Bernie W.

Dear Bernie --

I have to admit that the guys up in Emeryville do delight in doing stuff like that. As in: Bringing characters from different Pixar projects together. Take -- for example -- what happens to the logo for this animation studio in the opening portion of "WALL-E" 's international trailer. Where first the light in the Luxo Jr. lamp blows out and then WALL-E rolls on-screen with a replacement bulb.

Or -- for that matter -- making reference to earlier and/or upcoming productions in the most recent Pixar release. How many of you recall that the title of this animation studio's very first short (i.e. "The Adventures of André and Wally B") ...

... actually wound up being printed on the spine of one of those storybooks that you saw behind Woody in "Toy Story"?

Or how the lamp from "Luxo Jr." (You know? That 1980s-era lighting fixture that's featured so prominently in the Pixar logo?) ...

... also makes an appearance in that John Lasseter movie. Albeit with a bright red paint job.

Even the yellow ball from "Luxo Jr." (With its distinctive red star and blue stripe) ...

... turns up in "Toy Story." It's the ball that Buzz Lightyear bounces off of as he's trying to prove to all the other toys in Andy's room that he really can fly.

"So when did Pixar get started with making all of these in-jokes and/or self references to its own movies?," you ask. My understanding is that this practice actually dates back to 1987. Where -- as staffers at this animation studio were rushing to complete "Red's Dream," the short that they planned on placing in competition at that year's SIGGRAPH -- they realized that the circus center ring that plays such a prominent role in this film's dream sequence was a bit on the bland side.

Sooo ... Hoping to inject a little more color into "Red's Dream," Lasseter & Co. lifted the color, textures and designs featured on the rubber ball in "Luxo Jr." and then made that the floor of their circus's center ring.

As the story goes, a few folks at SIGGRAPH 1987 told John that they thought that it was really clever that "Red's Dream" had referenced Pixar's first SIGGRAPH submission, "Luxo Jr." Which suggested that there was some sort of connective tissue between these two animated shorts.

Which -- let's be honest here, folks -- was NOT what John Lasseter & his team of animators were trying to do when they were working on "Red's Dream." Truth be told, these guys were just looking for a quick-and-dirty way to add some additional color to that film's dream sequence. But given they seemed to get extra points with the people at SIGGRAPH for trying to be clever ... Well, in-jokes and self references then became a way of life at Pixar Animation Studios.

Which is why the gas station that Andy's Mom pulls into in "Toy Story" ...

... then became the racing sponsor that Lightning McQueen was lusting after in Pixar's "Cars."

Or how the crazy old man who's playing chess with himself in "Geri's Game" ...

... could wind up being the toy repair expert that Al calls in when Woody gets his arm torn off in "Toy Story 2."

Mind you, some of these in-jokes go literally by in the blink of an eye. Take -- for example -- those itty-bitty bitchy birds that get their comeuppance in "For the Birds."

Did you catch their blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in "Cars" ?

If not ... Well, I can't say as I'm surprised. These birds-on-a-wiretap go by in a 10th of a second in that John Lasseter film. You can catch a brief glimpse of them as Mac rolls through the countryside in that movie's "Life is a Highway" musical montage sequence.

Mind you, the people at Pixar can be pretty picky about where and when they make these references. By that I mean: Witness how the ball from "Luxo Jr." can be seen in the Parrs' living room during "Jack-Jack Attack" ...

And yet this children's plaything is nowhere to be seen in yet another Pixar project that prominently features a baby, "Tin Toy."

As for Tinny himself, he actually make a quick cameo in Pixar's most recent short, "Lifted." This tender-hearted wind-up toy is located under the bed during the attempted abduction sequence.

Speaking of bedrooms ... Perhaps the most famous set of self references to ever appear in a Pixar picture occurred in "Monsters, Inc." Where -- as Sulley finally returns Boo to the human world -- among the toys that we see scattered around this toddler's bedroom are the ball from "Luxo Jr." (You can see it in the photo below next to the easel) as well as a Jessie doll from "Toy Story 2" (On the white table to the left).

Which Boo now brings to Sulley. And then -- as the icing on the cake -- this cute little girl hands her favorite squeaky toy over to that blue-haired beast. Which (not-so-co-incidentally) is shaped just like that cute little clown fish who'll play the title characters in Pixar's Summer 2003 release, "Finding Nemo."

This particular in-joke launched a brand-new trend at that animation studio. Where the animators would then fold in a somewhat discreet reference to an upcoming Pixar production. Take -- for example -- that "Incredibles" manga that the little boy is reading at the dentist's office in "Finding Nemo."

Or -- better yet -- how about that cameo appearance that Stanley made in "Boundin'" ?

"And who exactly is Stanley?," you ask. Well, Stanley is the Stanley Steamer who founded Radiator Springs. It's his statue that Lightning McQueen winds up pulling off its pedestal when that race car accidentally winds up trashing that sleepy Southwestern town on his way to the Piston Cup.

I know, I know. Not everyone is going to pick up on these somewhat tenuous connections between the various Pixar productions. And that's okay with that studio's animators. Sometimes they actually prefer it when their in-jokes stay in-jokes.

Take -- for example -- how Linguini ...

... is also the unfortunate human who gets brutally bashed about while he's being abducted in Gary Rydstrom's "Lifted."

But then again, there are those pieces of connective tissue that the people at Pixar really hope that animation fans do notice. Like that remote trailer with the deadly bug light in "A Bug's Life" ...

... is also where Randall winds up after he gets banished to the human world in "Monsters, Inc." ?

Or -- for that matter -- did you notice the Pizza Planet truck that was parked beside this trailer?

Believe it or not, this particular vehicle (which is modeled after the Toyota HiLux) has appeared in every single feature film that Pixar Animation Studios has produced to date. It's the truck that Woody & Buzz stow away in when they're trying to hitch a ride to Pizza Planet in the original "Toy Story."

This is also the vehicle that Buzz "borrows" in "Toy Story 2," when that space ranger is trying to prevent Buzz, Jessie and Bullseye from being sent to that toy museum in Japan.

You can also catch a quick glimpse of the Pizza Planet truck as Gill is explaining his latest escape plan to the Tank Gang.

The Pizza Planet truck also makes an appearance in the Piston Cup sequence of "Cars." You'll find him to the far left in the photo below, next to the RV that looks like Elvis Presley.

Which brings us to "The Incredibles." Brad Bird's very first feature for Pixar Animation Studios. Given that Brad was something of an outsider when he first arrived in Emeryville, he didn't automatically buy into all of Pixar's oddball traditions. Which is why -- when it came time to insert that obligatory Pizza Planet truck cameo into his picture -- Bird made it part of the Parrs' high speed return to the city aboard that badly battered RV ...

... Which is why all you really get to see of the Pizza Planet truck in "The Incredibles" is a pale blur.

However, by the time "Ratatouille" came out, Brad was finally a true believer in the Pixar way of doing things. Which is why he happily included the Pizza Planet truck among all of the other cars that were motoring around Paris.

Mind you, Bird still didn't make it all that easy for animation fans to spy this vehicle. Given that he had the Pizza Planet truck drive across a bridge that was 'way off in the background while Skinner was chasing Remy through the foreground while riding on that scooter.

Speaking of strange things that you can spy in "Ratatouille" ... Did you see where Brad had Bomb Voyage (You know? The explosives-crazed criminal that Mr. Incredible discovers robbing a bank in the opening sequence of "The Incredibles" ?) ...

... also makes an appearance as a mime who's working in the streets of Paris in "Ratatouille" ?

And then there are the just-plain-silly in-jokes. Like that moment in the "A Bug's Life" out-takes where it's revealed that Woody is working the clapboard on that particular Pixar production.

Or when Flik deliberately blows his own lines, using Buzz Lightyear's "To Infinity and Beyond" catchphrase rather than saying "For the Colony and oppressed bugs everywhere!"

Or how about that moment in the "Toy Story 2" out-takes, when Flik first tells Heimlich how happy he is to be working on "A Bug's Life 2" ...

... only to then discover -- just as Buzz Lightyear's machete comes crashing down on the branch that this ant & the caterpillar are standing on -- that the Pixar sequel that they're actually appearing in is "Toy Story 2."

But for every Pixar in-joke or self reference that are like this (i.e. Really obvious. In your face), there are the really subtle, throwaway ones. Like how the ball from "Luxo Jr." rolls periodically rolls through the background of the menus on the "Toy Story 2" DVD.

Which brings us (finally!) to the answer of Bernie W.'s question. As in: Where exactly in "Ratatouille" can you find WALL-E?

To be honest, Bernie's co-worker seems to deliberately be trying to trick his friend. Given that the title character of this upcoming Andrew Stanton film doesn't actually appear in the "Ratatouille" film. But -- rather -- that cute little robot can be found on the new Pixar short that's included as an extra features on the "Ratatouille" DVD, "Your Friend the Rat."

"And where is WALL-E?," you ask. Well ... Toward the end of the short, Remy & Emile sing a song called "Plan B." And -- at one point in this musical fantasy sequence -- humans & rats are happily seated inside of this futuristic spacecraft, which is zooming along that planet's surface toward a launching pad.

If you take a close look at the driver of that craft, you'll see that it's a very stylized version of the star of Pixar's big release of the Summer of 2008, "WALL-E."

As for cutting me in for a share of your winnings, Bernie W ... Tell you what. Why don't you hold onto that cash for a few days? For sometime late next week, I'll actually be talking about a very worthy cause that I'd like JHM readers to consider donating to.