~Sweet~

So my buds and I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Cheech and Chong Live last night at the State Theater in Cleveland. As soon as Benchoff and I heard that they were touring we dedicated ourselves to seeing them whenever they came to or close to Cleveland. We were pleased that they stopped over in C-Townb. Of course it was cold as hell.

Afterwards, we were all in agreement that this was one of the best shows we had ever seen. In parge part due, no doubt, to the premise that I (for one) was absolutely convinced that I would NEVER see this show materialize. It seemed as though there had been a lot of, say, bad blood between these two for so long that to see them live was a once in lifetime chance. I am most pleased we had the chance to take advantage.

So I trolled the YouTube today and found a couple of choice bits from their tour to share. They opened the show with their send up to "Up In Smoke".



Then they went into some musical numbers featuring Blind Melon Chitlin:




Space Mexican...



The Dogs: Ralph and Herbie...



And they finished with a sing-along...



All in all, it was an incredible exprience...one that I am glad to have shared with some of my best friends. Check out the Light Up America Tour if you get the chance.

You Have Got To See This

Worth1000.com either sponsored or is reporting on some art contest in which people take familiar art themes or images and give them the Star Wars treatment. Yoda above nearly made me spit coffee on my keyboard.

There are 39 such entries. Be forewarned, some of them are nudes (Leia = yum). Those of us who can appreciate the long and storied history of the nude in art can hack it. Prudes may feel free to navigate your ass on out of here.

Check out the full gallery HERE

Murder my Dear Watson....Murder

68-year-old man found beaten inside Plano home

02:22 PM CST on Thursday, January 29, 2009

By DAN X. McGRAW / The Dallas Morning News
dmcgraw@dallasnews.com

Detectives are investigating the death of a 68-year-old man who was found beaten inside his Plano home this morning, Plano police said.

Sherlock Holmes was found by a friend about 12:45 a.m. inside his home in the 1100 block of Avenue I, said Plano police spokesman Rick McDonald.

Police were interviewing neighbors and friends to determine a motive, McDonald said.

Holmes, a longtime resident of Plano, was a member of the city’s Douglass Community Center.

Denise Likes Kittens

Worth the Wait

Snowed In

Kevin Smith: Akron

An "Actual" Writer

Acclaimed writer John Updike dies at 76

By Mark Feeney, Globe Staff

John Updike, a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, whose jeweled prose and quicksilver intellect made him for decades one of America's foremost literary figures, died today. He was 76.

Mr. Updike, a long-time resident of Beverly Farms, died of lung cancer at Hospice of the North Shore in Danvers, said his wife, Martha.

"He was obviously among the best writers in the world,'' said David Remnick, editor the New Yorker, Mr. Updike's literary home for more than half a century.

A master of many authorial trades, Mr. Updike was novelist, short story writer, critic, poet -- and in each role as prolific as he was gifted. He aimed to produce a book a year. Easily meeting that goal, Mr. Updike published some 60 volumes. The first was a collection of poems, "The Carpentered Hen" (1958). "My Father’s Tears and Other Stories" is scheduled to be published in June.

Mr. Updike combined diligence with brilliance. Few writers have staged such elegant lexical ballets on the page. "The scrape and snap of Keds" fill "the moist March air" in the opening of Mr. Updike’s second novel "Rabbit, Run" (1960). Thirty years later, in "Rabbit at Rest," something as mundane as angina becomes “that singeing sensation he gets as if a child inside him is playing with lighted matches.”

Absoloutely Fabulous Coming to FOX

The pertinent are: Will it suck and will Jen watch it?

Fox picks up US remake pilot

By Lester Haines •

Posted in Entertainment, 26th January 2009 12:06 GMT

Fox has picked up a pilot for a US version of cult comedy Absolutely Fabulous, the Jennifer Saunders creation which ran for five series plus specials on the BBC, but has to date defied attempts to rehash it for the transatlantic market.

Saunders has an executive producing role for the pilot, which is a joint venture between Sony Pictures TV, BBC Worldwide Productions and Tantamount, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The script was penned by Christine Zander, whose previous credits include episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun and work on Saturday Night Live, and who's relocated Eddy and Patsy to Los Angeles.

LARPer Love

Stumbled across this story today on fark.com...

Google Street View Captures Your Shame* (GOOG)

Eric Krangel | January 25, 2009 8:48 PM

By now, we all know if you write something embarrassing on the Internet under your own name, it's your own fault if your missive lives forever on Google's (GOOG) search engine.

But what if you do something embarrassing outside? Should there be a right to protection against Google's roving cameras, integrated into Google Maps?

The residents of 8 Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh, PA may be wondering that.

In case you're wondering, it seems we're looking at LARP ("live action role play"), which is sort of like Dungeons & Dragons. Except instead of sitting around in someone's basement with dice, you dress up in faux medieval armor and attack people with tinfoil swords.

All of which reiterates what we've always felt about Google Street View: Amazingly cool, but also kind of unnerving. Next time, head into the deep woods, fellas.

Check It Out

Any fan of Star Wars or their Battlefront Series of games NEEDS to see this.

Click HERE

Suck It 'vangelists

NASA discovers evidence of possible 'life on Mars'Agence France-Presse
Published: Thursday January 15, 2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Plumes of methane gas detected on Mars could be a sign of geological or biological activity -- and possibly the latest indication that life can be sustained on the Red Planet, according to a study released Thursday.

The presence of methane implies active geological, or possibly even biological, processes on Mars, and the amount of methane observed on the "Red Planet" is comparable to some active sites on Earth, the study published in the journal Science found.

"We believe this definitely increases the prospects for finding life on Mars," principal researcher Michael Mumma told The Washington Post.

"No other discovery has done as much to increase the chances of finding life."

Fascinating

The resemblance is uncanny, though Obama actually displays a personality and Tuvok is just lame.

Don't Think These Ever Were Posted

Classic

Star Wars fan film that was created by Kevin Rubio in 1997. The voicing cast includes Jess Harnell, Cam Clarke, and Bill Farmer.

"Artistic Luxury"

So the CMA has their "Artistic Luxury" show going on. It's been open since late October or so but the event has drawn a lot much needed attention for a Museum that was closed for almost three years.

Tiffany Glass and Faberge Eggs are the big draws for the special exhibit which runs through January 18th is worth a look if you have the time and few bucks to spare.

Just in time for the 2012 Elections

Is a 'Katrina-Like' Space Storm Brewing?

Scientists Worry We Aren't Prepared for Event That Could Zap Government, Cost Trillions

By DAVID KERLEY
Jan. 9, 2009

U.S. scientists worry we aren't ready for a solar space storm that could knock out our electricity, our cell phones, even our water supply.

The chances of that happening are small, but it is a possibility as we move into an active period of solar storms.

How do they know? Well, it's happened before. Back in 1859, a solar eruption resulted in telegraph wires burning up.

Of course, the world is now covered in wires and wireless devices that could be vulnerable.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) gathered experts from around the country to look at the economic and social costs from these space storms. While they didn't make any recommendations, the scientists hope their report is a wake-up call.

"We're not trying to be alarmist," said Dan Baker, who is the lead author of the report, "but we are trying to show how our systems are interconnected."

Fallout DLC

Looks like the DLC pack for Fallout coming in March is finally going to expand the level cap. Good news heroes!