Wednesday, July 30, 2008
And God Wept...
Cheech and Chong reunite for comedy tour
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two of the most famous pot smokers of the 1970s, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, unveiled plans on Wednesday for their first comedy tour in more than 25 years following their acrimonious split.
"Cheech & Chong: Light Up America ..." will hit 22 cities in the United States starting with Philadelphia on September 12 and ending in Denver, Colorado, on December 20. In between they will play Los Angeles, Miami, Washington, D.C. and other places.
"This is a moment that I've been looking forward to for many, many years because we have such a legacy and history together that we couldn't escape it, even if we tried," Chong told reporters at a news conference to announce the tour.
Cheech and Chong were one of the most successful comedy teams of the 1970s with hit movies and chart-topping records based on their brand of marijuana-influenced humor.
They were potheads who appealed to a youth generation steeped in personal freedom spawned by 1960s-era hippies.
Marin said their humor about doing stupid things while being stoned on marijuana should still appeal to today's youth, as well as Cheech & Chong's older fans.
"We've had the younger audience all along. Every time they get to that certain age, they go through that Cheech & Chong period of watching the movies, listening to the records. So, it's almost like a rite of passage," Marin said.
The comedy duo said the tour will be theatrical and will rely on the sizable budget that Live Nation -- the company behind the tour -- can muster. When they toured early in their careers, the duo's props were a bag of used clothes, but the new tour will have large video screens to flash images on.
As they discussed the tour, Cheech and Chong relied on some props in the form of synthetic marijuana plants to win some laughs, as Chong "watered" the plants with bottled water.
Marin, 62, and Chong, 70, spoke about the tour to reporters at the Troubadour, a fixture on the Southern California club scene. Marin said as budding comedians, he and Chong waited in line outside the club for hours for the chance to perform.
Cheech and Chong gained notoriety in nightclubs in the Los Angeles area in the 1970s and released their first album, "Cheech and Chong," in 1971. "Los Cochinos" in 1973 won the Grammy award that year for best comedy album.
In 1978 their first movie, "Up in Smoke," proved to be a blockbuster, raking in more than $100 million at box offices.
They performed together onstage for the last time in 1981, but continued to make movies and records.
The pair split following the 1985 release of their album "Get Out of My Room." Chong said that their break-up -- which was well-publicized and bitter -- was caused by success.
"What happens if you don't have big problems, like trying to make it -- when that's cured when you've made it -- then your little problems become your big problems," he said. "So you start fighting over stupid things."
Marin carved out a career as a television actor in shows such as "Nash Bridges" and "Judging Amy." Chong also did a lot of TV work, including appearances on "That '70s Show."
Chong has long advocated the legalization of marijuana, and in 2003 was arrested and later imprisoned for selling drug paraphernalia.
The Man Who Laughs (1928) Part One
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
"Heroes" Spoiler
Tim Kring showed the Season Three premier of Heroes at the Comic Con this week. Read on if you want to know what's on tap for the first episode.
The episode is titled "The Second Coming" and penned by Kring, and is the first entry in the show's fall book, which is "Villains."
At least one character without powers will gain a power. And at least one character presumed dead is not (yes, there's still a bit too much of that in this show).
Hiro, in the episode's best-received scene, is given a new quest. The premiere will also introduce a new “speedster," whom Kring describes as Hiro’s nemesis.
Maya is back, looking as if she had a makeover. She's a minor part of the episode.
In a show that's offered a few brain-related gross-out moments, there's a scene in the premiere that out-grosses them all.
Perhaps it's just the enthusiastic Comic-Con audience, but the episode seemed to regain some of the clever wit that marked the show's first season.
Overall: Fan favorite heroes are quickly launched into urgent new storylines. Within about 20 minutes, it's clear the episode is much better than the season two premiere.Gimme Some Sugar, Baby...Again
At Comic Con today Raimi announced that Evil Dead 4 is "in the wheelhouse. He even went so far as to say that he and his brother Ivan would be getting together this weekend to work on it-- that is, assuming Raimi can get past the hordes of excited fans.
Some Terminator News
Comic-Con: You've been warned -- 'Terminator Salvation' is 'not for pansies'!
Jul 26, 2008, 08:04 PM | by Whitney Pastorek
Categories: Comic-Con 2008, Film
The familiar guh-guh-guh guhguh music filled the air at this afternoon’s Terminator Salvation panel, where a giant T-600 loomed over stage right, its red eyes boring a hole through everyone in Hall H, as McG and most of the principal cast members took time out from shooting the movie in New Mexico to stop by and share. (Christian Bale, pictured, was M.I.A., doing Dark Knight press in Japan, but McG left him a message — that of 6,500 people screaming — on his voice mail.)
And it was McG’s show, to be sure, the Charlie’s Angels director running the panel like a car salesman — or, perhaps, the manic preacher of Terminator gospel. But it was the footage we were there to see, and footage we got: a trailer-esque clip that revealed this re-imagining of the John Connor myth is part silvery washed-out Children of Men cinematography, part Mad Max road-warring, and a lot of skull-crushing robot action. Anton Yelchin — as a young, Oliver Twist-styled Kyle Reese — gets to deliver the all-important “Come with me if you want to live” to Bale; Sam Worthington appears to hold his own as new Terminator Marcus Wright. They’ve not yet finished the visual effects, so what we saw was all tactile — crashing trucks, Soviet-style Terminator tanks, silver fingers reaching out to scratch Bale’s sweaty face...
But hey, what’s up with the Terminator franchise, people? We’ve had two James Cameron movies, a third that twisted the story up in knots, a TV show that’s got John Connor dripping around like Morrissey’s younger brother... what more is there to say? Turns out McG thinks there’s plenty, and he’s promised not to bastardize it. After consulting with the three pillars of Terminator lore — James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the late Stan Winston — he’s giving us a look at the year 2018, in the post-apocalyptic future after Judgment Day. (Please do not make me tell you the current date of Judgment Day. At the moment, I think the TV show has it set in 2011, so just mark your calendars there, okay?) In the world of Salvation, Skynet is still rising in power, the T-800 has yet to exist, and the clunky T-600 models are fallible — and therefore fun to fight. They’ve invented exciting new evil machines with names like Harvesters and Hydrobots, and they studied Chernobyl to get the nuclear-winter landscape right. And don’t believe everything you hear about the plot — McG says the studio’s happily releasing misinformation.
Salvation’s multiethnic cast — including Bryce Dallas Howard as John’s wife, Kate; Moon Bloodgood as a resistance pilot; and rapper Common as John’s right hand man — is chock full of acting chops, but they also serve the movie’s new message. While "no fate but what we make" is still in effect, McG is bound and determined to make a point about the way differences don't matter in the future, just the ability to come together to survive. "If the world would get its head out of its ass," he said, "we wouldn’t have to wait for a nuclear holocaust to get to that point." Despite that warm and fuzzy ethos, there will be probably very little hugging and/or growing in the new film. As Worthington put it, this thing's "not for pansies."
Oh, one last thing: Asked if Schwarzenegger would be back, McG was curiously vague. "The T-800 model is indeed a part of the mythology of Terminator," he said, with a glint in his eye. He fielded questions from audience members dressed as T:2-era Linda Hamilton and Robert Patrick (the latter brilliantly holding up a picture of Edward Furlong and asking, "Excuse me, have any of you seen this boy?"), and invited a guy named Tim up on stage because he'd asked his question in a decent Govuhnator accent. Then he hollered at the room to freak the flip out if they wanted to see the trailer again, which they did. Guh-guh-guh guhguh.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wow. Just...Wow.
**UPDATE**
The fine fellows at Fark.com got a hold of this same picture and with the magic of photoshop, made a few changes. Can you spot them?
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii
He was so disturbed at the effect on the nine-year-old that he ordered her temporarily placed under court guardianship so a suitable name could be chosen.
"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," he said.
The girl, who had not had her birth officially registered in NZ, had not revealed her name to her friends.
The judge was stopped talking yesterday by Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier.
Meanwhile, Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages Brian Clarke released a statement today which said a list of unusual names believed to be registered in New Zealand issued by Judge Boshier's office was incorrect.
"The names Fish and Chips, Masport, and Mower, Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit have not been registered," Mr Clarke said.
Names on the list from Mr Boshier's office that were not corrected included: Spiral Cicada, Kaos, Hitler and Cinderella Beauty Blossom.
credit: stuff.co.nz
Nas Runs Down Fox News
Afterwards, this Ranger gave Nas a lift to his video shoot for "SlyFox" on my mega-cycle (always wear a helmet kids, otherwise look at what happened to Skippy). Anyway, here is the Nas running down Fox News in his video.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Dark Knight Rocks!
Went to see The Dark Knight today. It was every bit as good as I was expecting and then some. Bale once again nailed the Batman role while the supporting cast of Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were top notch. Hell, even Maggie Gyllenhall kept my interest enough to not fall asleep. Even the cameos by such named actors as Anthony Michael Hall, Cillian Murphy, and Tiny Lister were well done.
Heath Ledger dominated the screen when he was on. His Joker may be the best ever and there was not too much funny about him. His performance was extraordinary and is a fitting swan song to a brilliant career. By the end of the film Jen was demanding more Joker!
The one guy I was not sold on was Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent but I couldn't have been more mistaken. He totally sold me as both Harvey and Two-Face.
The film truly is epic and is the most mature comic book movie I have ever seen. I was never disengaged from the movie and the pacing made the near three hour experience well bearable. All in all, Maynard gives it two thumbs up. Check it out if you can. That includes you Squid.
How Much Lower Can a Right Wing Shill Lower the Bar?
"They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron," Savage went on during his July 16 broadcast. "You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. ... Don't act like a girl. Don't cry."
"It was just horrible what he said," stated Steve Davenport, president of Telesouth Communications, in explaining the cancelation. "When you talk about people in politics, business people, that's one thing. But when you talk about defenseless children, that's another."
Some parents of autistic children want Savage to be fired entirely. Evelyn Ain, who organized a protest outside the studios of WOR-AM in New York on Monday, explained, "That isn't just freedom of speech, it is hateful speech." Wendy Fournier of the National Autism Association called Savage's remarks "over the line and cruel."
"It's heartbreaking," one protesting parent told CNN. "The whole lives of families change in raising a child with autism." Martin Schwartzman's 15-year-old son Robbie is moderately autistic. "It really hurt my feelings," said Robbie's twin sister Allyson.
However, law professor Nate Persily cautioned, "The Constitution protects your right to be a jerk sometimes. ... Jerky speech is protected."
Savage was previously fired by MSNBC in 2003 over anti-gay comments. At the time of writing, an online petition calling for his firing over the latest flap had already gained 1600 signatures.
However, a statement posted on Savage's website Monday offered no apology but insisted that autism is being overdiagnosed by greedy doctors, a statement with which Persily disagrees.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thomas Jefferson's Cut and Paste Bible
Jefferson Bible reveals Founding Father's view of God, faith
Making good on a promise to a friend to summarize his views on Christianity, Thomas Jefferson set to work with scissors, snipping out every miracle and inconsistency he could find in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
In a letter sent from Monticello to John Adams in 1813, Jefferson said his "wee little book" of 46 pages was based on a lifetime of inquiry and reflection and contained "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."
He called the book "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth." Friends dubbed it the Jefferson Bible. It remains perhaps the most comprehensive expression of what the nation's third president and principal author of the Declaration of Independence found ethically interesting about the Gospels and their depiction of Jesus.
"I have performed the operation for my own use," he continued, "by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and arranging the matter, which is evidently his and which is as easily distinguished as diamonds in a dunghill."
The little leather-bound tome, several facsimiles of which are kept at the Huntington Library in San Marino, continues to fascinate scholars exploring the powerful and varied relationships between the Founding Fathers and the most sacred book of the Western World.
The big question now, said Lori Anne Ferrell, a professor of early modern history and literature at Claremont Graduate University, is this:
"Can you imagine the reaction if word got out that a president of the United States cut out Bible passages with scissors, glued them onto paper and said, 'I only believe these parts?' "
"He was a product of his age," said Ferrell, whose upcoming book, "The Bible and the People," includes a chapter on the Jefferson Bible. "Yet, he is the least likely person I'd want to pray with. He was more skeptical about religion than the other Founding Fathers."
In Jefferson's version of the Gospels, for example, Jesus is still wrapped in swaddling clothes after his birth in Bethlehem. But there's no angel telling shepherds watching their flocks by night that a savior has been born. Jefferson retains Jesus' crucifixion but ends the text with his burial, not with the resurrection.
Stripping miracles from the story of Jesus was among the ambitious projects of a man with a famously restless mind. At 71, he read Plato's "Republic" in the original Greek and found it lackluster.
Ever the scientist, he inoculated his wife, children and many of his slaves against smallpox with fresh pus drawn from infected domestic farm animals, according to Robert C. Ritchie, W.M. Keck Foundation director of research at the Huntington Library.
"For a lot of people, taking scissors to the Bible would be such an act of desecration they wouldn't do it," Ritchie said. "Yet, it gives a reading into Jefferson's take on the Bible, which was not as divine word put into print, but as a book that can be cut up."
Jefferson, a tall vigorous man who preferred Thucydides and Cicero to the newspapers of his day, was not the only 18th century leader who questioned traditional Christian teachings.
Like many other upper-class, educated citizens of the new republic, including George Washington, Jefferson was a deist.
Deists differed from traditional Christians by rejecting miraculous occurrences and prophecies and embracing the notion of a well-ordered universe created by a God who withdrew into detached transcendence.
Critics of the time regarded deism as an ill-conceived attempt to reconcile religion with scientific discoveries. For rationalists in the Age of Enlightenment, deism was one of many efforts to liberate humankind from what the deists viewed as superstitious beliefs.
Jefferson was a particular fan of Joseph Priestley, a scientist, ordained minister and one of Jefferson's friends. Priestley -- who discovered oxygen and invented carbonated water and the rubber eraser -- published books that infamously cast a critical eye upon biblical miracles. Jefferson was particularly fond of Preistley's comparison of the lives and teachings of Socrates and Jesus.
Discussions and letters between Jefferson and another friend, Philadelphia physician Benjamin Rush, led Jefferson to compile his "wee little book." In a letter to Rush on April 21, 1803, Jefferson said his editing experiment aimed to see whether the ethical teachings of Jesus could be separated from elements he believed were attached to Christianity over the centuries.
"To the corruption of Christianity I am indeed opposed," he wrote to Rush, "but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself."
Therefore, Ritchie said, "for Jefferson, the Bible was a book that could be made and unmade."
The Jefferson Bible remained largely unknown beyond a close circle of relatives and friends until 1904, when its publication was ordered by Congress. About 9,000 copies were issued and distributed in the Senate and the House.
Today several editions of the Jefferson Bible are available through booksellers. A few online versions exist, including one on the website of the Jefferson Monticello, www.monticello.org/library/links/jefferson.html.
It is hard to say whether Jefferson would have objected to publication of the book.
"Say nothing of my religion," Jefferson once said. "It is known to myself and my God alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life; if that has been honest and dutiful to society, the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one."
Dark Knight Kills Em All
1 The Dark Knight $158,411,483
2 Mamma Mia! $27,751,240
3 Hancock $14,040,178
4 Journey to the Center of the Earth $12,340,435
5 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army $10,117,815
6 WALL-E $10,070,396
7 Space Chimps $7,181,374
8 Wanted $5,072,805
9 Get Smart $4,125,021
10 Kung Fu Panda $1,860,854
You Just Wait. Pretty Soon They'll Say That He, Willie Horton, and Angela Davis Killed Jesus
"Don't hope for new energy, vote for it," a new ad for the McCain campaign advises Americans, which blames Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for the rising cost of gas prices.
According to CBS, "The campaign says the spot will air on cable and in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, (northern) Virginia, and Wisconsin."
In the ad, a female narrator almost whispers, "Gas prices - $4, $5, no end in sight, because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America," as the camera focuses on a solitary gas pump, and the murmurs of a chanting crowd can be heard in the background. "No to independence from foreign oil."
A closeup of numbers skyrocketing up on the gas pump is then inserted.
"Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?" the narrator asks as a picture of a smiling Obama materializes next to the pump and in front of the numbers which are still rocketing out of control. The crowd has been chanting Obama's name, the ad reveals.
The video then disrupts and turns to black, before turning to shots of McCain: "One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets."
The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz calls the ad a "stretch," but adds that it "might have some appeal."
"John McCain may try in this ad to blame rising gas prices on Barack Obama, but after seven and a half years of the Bush administration, that's a stretch," Kurtz writes for the paper's The Trail blog. "McCain himself said last week that America's 'dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been 30 years in the making'; Obama has been in Washington for four."
Kurtz adds, "It's a bit audacious for McCain to charge that 'some in Washington' still oppose offshore oil drilling, since that was his position, most notably in his 2000 presidential campaign, until he reversed himself last month and called for a lifting of the 27-year federal ban on such drilling."
"Nor is there any evidence that Obama opposes 'independence from foreign oil,' although his energy plan is very different," Kurtz continues. "The Illinois senator has called McCain's plan for a temporary gas-tax holiday a gimmick."
Finally, Kurtz concludes, "Drilling off the coasts would increase U.S. oil production but have no short-term impact on gas prices. While some analysts disagree, an Energy Department report last year said production would not start until 2017 and have no 'significant' effect on prices or supplies until 2030."
WWE Finally Releases a Legends of Wrestling Game
Two questions have haunted the likes of The Coach and I for years. One has been, "Wouldn't it be great if they made a Galactus doll...would you buy one?"
The second has always been a question of when the WWE would release their Legends game. Vince McMahon bided his time and outlasted all the competition in the wild world of rasslin and now outright owns the tape archives of virtually all the major federations with the exception of the AWA and the UWF. As such they make a ton of cash on DVD's and own most of the likeness rights to the biggest names in wrestling except Sting.
Over the past ten years the WWE and THQ have put out on the best wrestling series on the PS2 untill the title began to get stale with dumbass "tweaks" to the game that made it stupid, like fatigue meters and shit. One thing about video games that pisses me off is the bizarre sense that a title needs to stay fresh by fucking around with what already works, namely the controls.
Anyway, these games recently began to feture unlockable legends like Bret Hart and Andre the Giant. Squid and I always thought that the WWE was crazy for not just making a legends only game and making even more money. Well, looks like Vince finally figured it out.
Coming out on the XBox360 and the PS3 is WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania. It appears that THQ has simplifiied the controls back to the easier to get four-button approach that carried that franchise for years. The game also has several legends matches already in the system that you can jump right into, including the Hogan-Andre match in Mania III.
The game will feature about 40 wrestlers, all of whom under legends contracts already. Thus, it looks like we will get the following (based on my own opinion):
Hulk Hogan
Andre the Giant
Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart
Stone Cold Steve Austin
The Rock
Roddy Piper
Ric Flair
Mr. Perfect
The Undertaker
Kane (because they throw his dumbass into all these games)
George The Animal Steel
The Road Warriors
Shiek and Volkoff
Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard
Mick Foley
Rick Rude
Jake Roberts
Junk Yard Dog
Jimmy Hart
Hillbilly Jim
Vince McMahon (because he puts himself over)
Sabu
Terry Funk
Bam Bam Bigelow
Tazz
Jimmy Snuka
Dusty Rhodes
Ted DiBiase
The British Bulldog
Brutus Beefcake
Shawn Michaels (gag)
Sgt. Slaughter
So this may leave about 5 guys depending on whether or not they add more than one Mick Foley. With the remaining five, I would like to see:
Randy Savage
Ricky Steamboat
King Kong Bundy
Demolition
Release is set for next year and no reports on a Wii version yet, though that may change.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
On My Wish List
Alas, but it turns out that they also are now selling likenesses of Skippy himself as the superhero Kid Yeti, as seen here:
But then I saw this....case closed. Zombies it will be.
Check them out for yourself HERE
Friday, July 18, 2008
You Wanna Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Sandals
In all my years of living I have never understood what makes perfectly straight males over the age of 12 wear sandals. And while men wearing sandals is enough of an abomination, men wearing flip flops need to be deported or sterilized. Indeed, even some women shouldn't wear flip flops. You know the ones...those heavy-set lasses who talk to themselves and wander around drug mart or wal-mart at all hours of the day, dragging their little yard ape kids around after them...the incessant clacking of their flops slapping the tiled floor drawing attention to to their pock marked legs featuring three days growth of hair.
But I digress...
Sandals are a fashion faux pas for dudes. The vast majority of guys you see wearing them are morons like this:
Or fellows who by wearing sandals look as though they are preparing for the gay pride parade. That is to say, guys like this:
What's worse, the rampant level of gay within places of higher education is incredible when you consider that dumbass frat boys seem to think that sandals AND flip flops make them look cool. Consider this primitive frat boy ritual and how the addition of sandals in the image turns the 'mo factor up to "fabulous".
But still worse than the sandal is the flip flop. The toe-thong nightmare that are flip flops haunt me in public at all hours in a variety of places, most notably in cafes, classrooms, and places like BW-3's. No one needs to see that. Truth is I wonder if these assholes got lost on their way out of their bathrooms and wandered into public places by mistake. Flip flops are bathroom wear, beach wear, or fetish wear. Unless you are, say exiting the shower, at a locale consisting primarily of beach and surf, or some secret gathering wear you enjoy having your testicles hooked up to a car battery, flip flops have no place in modern society.Seriously peeps, flip flops are a sign of incredible depravity in much the same way as crocs. Douchebags who wear flip flops are either incredibly disgusting, such as:
Or a complete bone smuggler, such as:
So heed my advice Ranger faithful. Spend that money on some Starbury's or boat shoes or something. Together, we can make a difference.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Metallica's New Album Cover for Death Magnetic
Hey Megaton Rangers, Megaton Maynard here. As you all know, MM used to be down with Metallica untill Jason Newstead left and was replaced by a crab-walking, rock banging cro-mag of a bass player Robert Trujillo. They produced what is largely seen as Metallica's worst album ever, St. Anger. So they rebound with a new album with this rather ambiguous cover.What is it exactly? A crinkly bung-hole or a hairy vag?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
From The Twisted Minds of Broken Lizard
Howdy Everyone. Today's the big day. Today we start shooting the new Broken Lizard movie! (It's about time, right?)
Venture Brothers Season Four is Already Underway!
Man oh man we are busy...
I really haven't posted anything in quite a while, have I?
This is because we are desperately racing the clock to edit each new episode in time for broadcast, and...
THE VENTURE BROS. SEASON 4 HAS BEGUN PRODUCTION!!!
Yup, the character/prop/background design teams and production team started work at World Leaders several weeks ago...and we didn't even have a script for them. I turned in my first script (Ep. 40, "Handsome Ransom," if you're keeping track) a little over a week late, keeping the artists busy in the interim with judiciously doled out spoonfuls of design assignments for characters and locations I was pretty sure would make it into the final draft. And Doc is just now turning in the second episode of the season...which we're supposed to finish designing in like three days. Neither of these scripts, by the way, are for next season's premiere episode. As usual, we probably won't get to that one for a little while...
We have never tried this business of overlapping seasons before, and I must say it is hell on all of us. Nevertheless, I'm quite pleased with what we've all turned out so far on both the art and writing fronts. Episode 40 is already being storyboarded and we're set to record the voice tracks next week, keeping our fingers crossed in hopes of getting a special guest voice to play a major role, which I will not spoil.
Now I have less than a week to get the next script in. Guess who will be late again?
If I hadn't been so busy, I'd probably have written a bunch of stuff about all the episodes we've shown so far. Like about the various songs we tried unsuccessfully to license for the last montage scene of "The Invisible Hand of Fate..."
...Or how all the photos at the beginning of "The Buddy System" are of Doc, me or my brother circa 1977. Because you can't put pictures of other people who were children in 1977 on TV unless you can track them down and get them to sign a release form, no matter how public a place your dad snapped the photos in. So take that, "Josh," you could have been on TV, but Noooooooo...
...Or about all the real and fictitious celebrities hanging out at Jonas Venture's house in the key party scene of "Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman..."
...or how Dr. Entmann in this week's episode was recorded three different times by two different actors, after we were turned down by a third semi-celebrity (who shall remain nameless because he apologized profusely)...
...but I guess I'll save that stuff for the DVD commentaries, which someone is bound to make us start recording soon, because we don't have enough to do. Then they'll bleep it all out for legal reasons.
courtesy: publicknuisance.com
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Looks Like We'll All Need Penicillin Shots Before Watching TV
The above pictured ladies are likely smoldering cauldrons of venereal disease stew. Tila Tequila, the one with the forehead so big it's a fivehead, and internationally famous whore Ashley Alexandre Dupre now have more in common than bi-sexuality, raging vag-crabs, and the dubious distinction of accepting more miles of cock than a chicken slaughter house. Yes, that's right, little Ashley is going (allegedly) to be a reality TV star.
""After bringing down Gov. Eliot Spitzer and becoming the most infamous hooker in America, Ashley Dupre is about to stoop even lower than prostitution - reality television. The former high-priced call girl is hungry to become the “next Tila Tequila” with a dating-type reality show that she is now developing with a Los Angeles-based company, E! News reported yesterday.
Dupre, 23, doesn’t yet have a deal to air the show - but she is set to kick her plans into high gear by moving to the Left Coast from the New Jersey mansion where she now lives with her mom and wealthy stepdad. Dupre only gave a coy giggle and said “no comment” when asked about the reality-show plans. Her mother, Carolyn Capalbo, fueled speculation further when she laughed and said: “You’ll have to follow her out to LA.”
The governor-loving good-time girl is reportedly working on her reality dreams with Handprint Entertainment, a management company that reps the likes of Nicole Richie and Pamela Anderson. When asked for comment about reports of their working with the legendary lady of the evening, Handprint’s rep hung up on a reporter twice."" -- New York Post
Monday, July 7, 2008
Conservatives Backing Obama
Among the reformed righties now hoping for an Obama victory are free-market economist David Friedman, former Reagan aide Douglas Kmiec, Contract With America co-author Larry Hunter and Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of the former president.
Bush's "view of the legitimate power of the executive branch, including the authority to deliberately violate federal law, I find frightening," Friedman, son of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman tells the San Francisco Chronicle. "Perhaps, if we are lucky, Obama will turn out to be the anti-Bush."
"The untold story of the Bush administration is the deliberate annihilation of the Reaganite, small-government wing of the Republican Party," said Michael Greve, director of the Federalism Project at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "A lot of people are very bitter about it.""I do know libertarians who think Obama is the Antichrist, that he's farther left than John Kerry, much farther left than Bill Clinton, and you'd clearly have to be insane to vote for this guy," David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, tells the Chronicle. "But there are libertarians who say, 'Oh yeah? Do you think Obama will increase spending by $1 trillion, because that's what Republicans did over the past two presidential terms. So really, how much worse can he be?' And there are certainly libertarians who think Obama will be better on the war and on foreign policy, on executive power and on surveillance than McCain."
rawstory.com
Sunday, July 6, 2008
One of These Things is Not Like the Others
- 1975 - Amir-Abbas Fakhravar, Iranian writer, journalist and student leader
- 1975 - Sebastián Rulli, Argentine actor
- 1975 - 50 Cent, dingleberry
- 1977 - Craig Handley, British film director
- 1978 - Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, American actresses
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Pussification of the NHL Finally Ends
It appears Jaromir Jagr's days in the National Hockey League are over.
The Russian hockey team Avangard Omsk announced it has signed the former New York Rangers star and Jagr's agent, Pat Brisson, confirmed the move Friday afternoon.
"Jaromir signed a letter of intent with the Avangard Omsk Hockey team of the Russian CHL on or about 3am EST this morning. I won't comment on the terms of the agreement at this time.It was a very difficult but personal decision to make in light of the many NHL teams interested in his services. He is grateful to the NHL and especially the Rangers in recent years."
The decision to leave the NHL was a difficult one for Jagr.
"It wasn't an easy decision," the forward told The Canadian Press on Friday. "It was the toughest decision in my life, hockey-wise.
"It was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be," he added. "No question about it. I hate making changes."
Local and international media were reporting that Jagr will be paid $35 million for two years. However, in an interview with TSN, Jagr, himself, says the deal would pay him $5 million annually.
Just because he's leaving, doesn't mean Jagr did not enjoy his time in the NHL.
"The NHL gave me an opportunity to play hockey," he said. "And I played with so many great players. Especially in Pittsburgh with Mario (Lemieux) and Ron Francis and Bryan Trottier and Paul Coffey - all those great players. I had a chance to learn hockey from them. I was very lucky.
"Probably the luckiest year was when I was 18 years old and came to the Pittsburgh Penguins," continued Jagr. "It's not only about winning the Cup but it's about the players that won the Cup. They players on that team worked so hard to win that Cup. When you're a young guy and you see how hard the older guys work, you feel bad if you don't do that with them. They taught me everything - on the ice and off the ice."
On Thursday, Rangers general manager Glen Sather said the club could no longer wait for Jagr to decide where he wanted to play and signed former Vancouver captain Markus Naslund to replace him.
"I gave him the information that we are going to move on at this time. I couldn't wait any longer," Sather said in a conference call Thursday.
Nevertheless, Jagr was grateful for his time in New York.
"I'm thankful for the three years I had in New York," said Jagr. "They were great years. I understand that I'm older and the team decided to go in a different direction because they couldn't get the deal done.
"I will never say one bad word against the Rangers organization or Glen. They were great to me. And I'm not lying when I say that, it's really how I feel. They were always great to me."
Despite the Rangers moving on, there had been reports that Jagr was being pursued by the Edmonton Oilers, who were offering $7 million, and his former squad the Pittsburgh Penguins. All of teams are believed to have been offering one-year contracts - something Jagr was unwilling to agree to.
Credit:www.tsn.ca
Thursday, July 3, 2008
YouTube ordered to hand over user details
In a ruling that could have major implications for online privacy around the world, US District Court judge Louis Stanton granted Viacom access to the records as part of its ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit against Google and its subsidiary YouTube.
Each time a video is played, YouTube's "Logging" database records the user ID and IP address of the viewer, the date and time of the request and the ID of the clip – and includes details of videos embedded on websites other than YouTube.
"While the Logging database is large, all of its contents can be copied onto a few 'over-the-shelf' four-terabyte hard drives," Judge Stanton said, in response to Google's claim that providing the data would be too difficult.
"The motion to compel production of all data from the Logging database concerning each time a YouTube video has been viewed on the YouTube website or through embedding on a third-party website is granted."
Viacom sought access to the database in a bid to prove that clips allegedly infringing copyright, such as scenes from TV shows and movies, were more popular than user-generated videos.
Online rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation said the decision stood at odds with US privacy laws and was a "setback to privacy rights".
"The court’s order grants Viacom's request and erroneously ignores the protections of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and threatens to expose deeply private information about what videos are watched by YouTube users," said a statement on the group's website.
"We urge Viacom to back off this overbroad request and Google to take all steps necessary to challenge this order and protect the rights of its users."
By Andrew Ramadge, Technology Reporter July 03, 2008 05:15pm
Judge Stanton denied Viacom's requests for access to other Google and YouTube properties, including the search engine's source code – including the algorithms it uses to provide search results.
Viacom began legal action against YouTube in February 2007, when it issued over 100,000 takedown notices to the website regarding material in breach of copyright.
In March 2007, the media giant instigated a $US1 billion lawsuit against Google and YouTube, alleging that the video-sharing website hosted over 150,000 unauthorised clips that had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times.
Viacom's media empire includes Paramount Pictures, MTV, DreamWorks and Nickelodeon.
It is not known if Google will challenge the decision.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Apocalypse is Coming!! Everybody Panic!!
Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US
SEATTLE -- Starbucks has announced it's closing 600 underperforming stores in the United States.
The Seattle premium coffee company also announced Tuesday it expects to open fewer than 200 new company operated stores in the United States in fiscal 2009.
The company says it will try to place workers from closed stores in remaining Starbucks.
CEO Howard Schultz says unprofitable stores were identified through a review aimed at transforming the business for the long-term.
The stores are spread across all major U.S. markets, and 70 percent have been opened since the beginning of fiscal 2006.
Schultz said in a statement that Starbucks is focused on improving efficiency, customer satisfaction and shareholder value.
Starbucks says the aggregate pretax charges for the store closures will range from $328 million to $348 million.
Finally, Now I Can Tell if My PC Will Actually Play a PC Game
Worth a Look?
MyGallons.com allows drivers to purchase gas wholesale by the gallon at today's prices onto a debit card. This then allows you to buy gasoline at whatever price you paid for it at the time. Thus, if gas is $3.99 today and you buy 100 gallons, you still get 100 gallons at that price even if you use the card 6 months later and the pump is selling at $4.50. This is kind of like the US Post Office and their Forever Stamps. No matter how high the price goes, the stamp always covers the cost.
Anyhow check it out.
Worst. Sports. Injury. Ever.
As expected, the Diamondbacks placed left fielder Eric Byrnes on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.
Catcher Chris Snyder unexpectedly joined him.
Both players were injured Monday night against Milwaukee. Byrnes strained his left hamstring and Snyder suffered what was diagnosed as a left testicular fracture after he was struck by a foul ball off the bat of Corey Hart.And The Best Boobs in Hollywood Are...
Jessica Simpsons...
Touch magazine ironically had a poll up recently about who has the best breasticles in Hollywood and Jessica won. The list of contenders in order of awesome boobage includes:
1. Jessica Simpson
2. Tyra Banks
3. Scarlett Johansson
4. Carmen Electra
5. Lindsay Lohan
6. Katherine Heigl
7. Audrina Patridge
8. Jennifer Aniston
9. Megan Fox
10. Beyonce Knowles (ANI)
Why Christian Bale is My New Hero
Bale took on the role of the legendary action hero in 2005's Batman Begins and will be seen again in The Dark Knight, which is due for release later this month (Jul08).
But the actor is hoping that the character of Robin is not brought back into any of future Batman movies - because he will resign in protest.
He says, "If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I'll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work."
credit: contactmusic.com
