Monday, September 29, 2008

Ebert Gives McCain Two Thumbs Down


Guess who's not coming to dinner

BY ROGER EBERT / September 28, 2008


I do not like you, John McCain. My feeling has nothing to do with issues. It has to do with common courtesy. During the debate, you refused to look Barack Obama in the eye. Indeed, you refused to look at him at all. Even when the two of you shook hands at the start, you used your eyes only to locate his hand, and then gazed past him as you shook it

Obama is my guy. If you are rude to him, you are rude to me. If you came to dinner at my house and refused to look at or speak with one of my guests, that would be bad manners and I would be offended. Same thing if I went to your house. During the debate, you were America's guest.

What was your problem? Do you hold this man in such contempt that you cannot bear to gaze upon him? Will you not even speak to him directly?
Do you think he doesn't have the right to be running for President?
Were you angry because after you said you wouldn't attend the debate, he said a President should be able to concern himself with two things at the same time? He was right. The proof is, you were there. Were you angry with him because he called your bluff?

During the debate, Jim Lehrer repeatedly called upon both candidates to speak directly to each other. Obama looked at you. He addressed you as "John," which as a fellow senator is his privilege. His body language was open. You stared straight ahead, or at Lehrer, or into space. Your jaw was clinched. You had a tight little smile, or a grimace, or a little shake of your head.

I had to do two things at once while watching the debate. I had to listen to what was being said. And I had to process your rigid and contemptuous behavior. If you were at a wedding and the father of the groom refused to look at or speak to the bride, how would that make you feel? Especially if you were the father of the bride?

You made a TV commercial showing the moments Obama agreed with you.
Everybody knows he did. Did his agreement show honesty, or weakness?
It is significant that you said it proved he was not ready to lead.
What is the better leadership quality: (1) Willingness to listen to your opponent, and keep an open mind? (2) Rigidly ignoring him? Which of the two of you better demonstrated the bipartisan spirit you say you represent? Was there anything he said that you agreed with? Could you have brought yourself to say so?

I'm not the only one who noticed your odd, hostile behavior. Just about everybody did. I'm sure many of your supporters must have sensed the tension. Before the debate, pundits were wondering if you might explode in a display of your famous temper. I think we saw that happen, all right, but it was an implosion. I have instructed my wife to exclude you from any future dinner parties.

One for Mandy

Some Thor Movie News

[Movies] Branagh Likely To Direct Thor
Posted by Ashish on 09.29.2008



Kenneth Branagh is the frontrunner to direct Thor. Branagh is best known as Professor Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as well as for his Shakespeare adaptations. If he gets the gig, it would continue the trend of non-action directors getting to helm super hero movies (Christopher Nolan, Gavin Hood, Jon Favreau, etc.).

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Best Magazine Cover Ever

Fact Checking Last Night's Presidential Debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some facts got lost when Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain confronted each other over the financial crisis, Iraq, the oil industry and more in the first presidential debate of the 2008 general election.

Here are examples:

OBAMA: "Senator McCain mentioned Henry Kissinger, who is one of his advisers, who along with five recent secretaries of state just said we should meet with Iran — guess what? — without preconditions."

MCCAIN: "Dr. Kissinger did not say that he would approve face-to-face meetings between the president of the United States and (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad. He did not say that. He said there could be secretary-level and lower-level meetings. I've always encouraged that."

THE FACTS: Obama was right that Kissinger called for meetings without preconditions. McCain was right that Kissinger did not call for such meetings to be between the two presidents.

In a foreign policy forum Saturday, Kissinger said: "I am in favor of negotiating with Iran." He went on to say "I actually have preferred doing it at the secretary of state level" and the U.S. should go into the talks with "a clear understanding of what is it we're trying to prevent. What is it going to do if we can't achieve what we're talking about? But I do not believe that we can make conditions for the opening of negotiations. We ought, however, to be very clear about the content of negotiations and work it out with other countries and with our own government."

OBAMA: "John, you want to give oil companies another $4 billion" in tax breaks.

THE FACTS: The $4 billion in tax breaks for the oil companies is simply part of McCain's overall corporate tax reduction plan and does not represent an additional tax benefit. In other words, the corporate tax reduction applies to all corporations, oil companies included. Both Obama and McCain have proposed eliminating oil and gas tax loopholes.

MCCAIN: "I've been criticized because I called for the resignation of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange commission."

THE FACT: McCain did eventually call for the resignation of SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. But he first said that if he were president he would fire him, a step a president cannot take with the head of an independent regulatory agency. This is what McCain said on Sept. 18 during a rally in Iowa: "The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president and, in my view, has betrayed the public's trust. If I were president today, I would fire him."

OBAMA: Said he would make sure that the health care system "allows everyone to have basic coverage."

THE FACTS: If that sounds like universal health coverage, it's not. Obama picked his words carefully — stopping short of claiming outright that his plan provides health care for all. He promises to make health insurance affordable but would only require that children have coverage, not adults. Estimates of how many would remain without insurance vary. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said during the primaries that Obama's plan would leave 15 million people uninsured.

MCCAIN: "We had an energy bill before the United States Senate. It was festooned with Christmas tree ornaments. It had all kinds of breaks for the oil companies, I mean, billions of dollars worth. I voted against it; Senator Obama voted for it."

THE FACTS: Obama did vote for a 2005 energy bill supported by President Bush that included billions in subsidies for oil and natural gas production. McCain opposed the bill on grounds it included unnecessary tax breaks for the oil industry. Obama voted to strip the legislation of the oil and gas industry tax breaks. When that failed, he voted for the overall measure. Obama has said he supported the legislation because it provided money for renewable energy.

OBAMA: "We're also going to have to look at, how is it that we shredded so many regulations? We did not set up a 21st-century regulatory framework to deal with these problems. And that in part has to do with an economic philosophy that says that regulation is always bad."

THE FACTS: Some of the abuses that occurred stemmed from the 1999 repeal of a Depression-era law that separated banks from brokerages. In legislation supported by former President Clinton and Robert Rubin, now a top Obama adviser and Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, this separation was ended — allowing banks and insurance companies to sell securities.

But while regular banks were strictly regulated by the government, Wall Street banks and other non-bank institutions — many of the same institutions whose abuses led to the current crisis — were allowed to operate with less regulation.

MCCAIN: McCain said Obama voted to cut off money for the troops in Iraq.

THE FACTS: Despite opposing the war, Obama has, with one exception, voted for Iraq troop financing. In 2007, he voted against a troop funding bill because it did not contain language calling for a troop withdrawal. The Illinois senator backed another bill that had such language — and money for the troops.

MCCAIN: In a discussion of how the government could shrink spending, he said: "Look, we are sending $700 billion a year overseas to countries that don't like us very much."

The comment echoes one he made in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention earlier this month, when he was talking about money the U.S. spends on foreign oil. FactCheck.org says the U.S. this year is on track to spend $536 billion on imported oil — not $700 billion — and nearly one-third of that comes from friendly nations: Canada, Mexico and Britain.

MCCAIN: "Senator Obama twice said in debates he would sit down with Ahmadinejad, (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez and (Cuban President) Raul Castro without precondition."

OBAMA: "Now, understand what this means, 'without preconditions.' It doesn't mean that you invite them over for tea one day. ... There's a difference between preconditions and preparation. Of course we've got to do preparations, starting with low-level diplomatic talks, and it may not work, because Iran is a rogue regime."

THE FACTS: Obama was asked in a July 2007 debate whether he would be willing to meet "without precondition" with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba and other rogue nations. Obama replied, "I would," adding that it was ridiculous to think that America is punishing such nations by refusing to speak with them. Time and again since then he has been forced to defend the statement, both by Democrats during the primaries and by Republicans.

Obama has tried to draw a distinction between a precondition and preparation. He has argued that he wouldn't demand that a foreign leader give in on some fundamental issue before the two sides met to discuss the dispute. But he has said "preparations" would require diplomatic contacts to gauge whether a formal meeting would be useful and to lay the groundwork for those talks

MCCAIN: Defending his call for Cox's resignation, McCain said the country has lost the sense of accountability exemplified by Allied commander Dwight Eisenhower on the eve of D-Day. He said Eisenhower wrote one letter to be released in the event of victory, which praised the troops, "and he wrote out another letter, and that was a letter of resignation from the United States Army for the failure of the landings at Normandy."

THE FACTS: Eisenhower prepared to take responsibility in the note to be delivered in the event of D-Day disaster but did not offer to resign.

The full text:

"Our landings in the Cherbourg-Le Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone."

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Vortex of Suck that is Brian Austin Green Strikes Again

Rumors are flying that Fox won't give Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles anything beyond it's initial 13 episode order unless there is a major increase in the ratings, which continue to drop each week. As much as all parties would like the show to be on when the new Terminator movie comes out next year, it's too expensive a show to make to only be a mid-level draw

My Eyes! It Burns...It Burns...

chriscrockersextape.jpg

The internet is a buzz this Sunday afternoon with rumors that former YouTuber Chris Crocker has a sex tape.

If you were lucky enough to erase Crocker from your memory, let me refresh. Chris is the little blond boy who I thought was a girl for six months that did the "leave Britney alone" video.

I haven't seen a sex tape from Chris Crocker yet, and I kinda hope I don't. Who would be dumb enough to have sex with him? Much less record it?

However, a sex tape featuring any freak, i.e. Chris Crocker, is like a train wreck. Naturally, I'll share it with you if I see it.


MegatonMaynard says: Pass the freaking eye bleach!!




Wednesday, September 24, 2008

David Letterman Rakes John McCain Over the Coals

Palin Failin' == Round Two: The Couric

Couric: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

I'm Sold

From TotalFarker Josh Anderson

In any civilization, people like to have good guys and bad guys. Davids and Goliaths. Sherrifs and outlaws. Angels and demons. Nowhere else can we see this more so that in the current race for the presidency. Democrats want Obama, Republicans want McCain. Both feel that they can clean up Washington and reform the federal government.

So let’s take these two guys and their sidekicks and see how they line up with another great battle between good and evil: Star Wars!

I’ll get the party started with the first six characters. Then, you submit an entry in which you offer your suggestions for the remaining characters, listed below.

George W. Bush is Darth Vader. Darth Bush is currently in command of the Death Star and runs the day to day operations. It is the goal of the Death Star to crush smaller insurrections that pose any threat to the Death Star’s power over the universe (in addition to fending off the Rebel Alliance). Its defenses are strong, and Darth Bush will use whatever means are necessary to show strength and power. Long ago, Darth Bush used to be quite different. In his “compassionate conservative” days, he desired to use his powers for good, but has now given in to the Dark Side after meeting one of his mentors, Darth Rove. It was Darth Rove who was the apprentice to Chancellor Palpatine and who guided Darth Bush through his Empire training.

Dick Cheney is Emperor Palpatine. Dick Palpatine has had many titles: Senator, Chancellor/Secretary, and secret ruler of the galaxy. While Darth Bush is on the frontlines running the show, it’s really Dick Palpatine who works in the shadows to advance a larger, more mysterious and infinitely more insidious plan for the future. Dick Palpatine relied heavily on Darth Rove to help mentor young Darth Bush. Unfortunately, Darth Rove was defeated by a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in a vicious battle. For now, however, it is Dick Palpatine who Darth Bush serves with unbending allegiance, though few realize the extent of Dick Palpatine’s influence.

John McCain is Obi Wan Kenobi. He is old and battle-worn, but can still kick some major ass when needed. Obi John Kenobi is known for his valiant battle and subsequent capture in the Clone Wars. Another notable battle was that of Obi John Kenobi and Darth Rove, in which Kenobi seemed to rise almost from the dead to defeat Darth Rove just prior to Kenobi taking power. More recently, Obi John Kenobi and Darth Bush have cut their once-amiable ties and are now mortal enemies.

Obama is Luke Skywalker. He’s new to the fight, and he’s eager to topple the Empire. Don’t mistake his naivete for a lack of courage or skill. To him, it’s just like killing womp rats back at Beggar’s canyon where he served as a community organizer. The force is extremely strong with him, but his elders worry that he hasn’t been properly tested. Obama Skywalker’s mission is nearly impossible: break through the Death Star’s defenses and explode it from the inside out. If he succeeds, he’ll forever have the gratitude of the Rebel Alliance.

Joe Biden is Han Solo. Reluctant but capable, this smart-alec with a quick brain and even quicker reflexes is an old pro at the uglier side of life in the galaxy. Joe Solo is a master of speed and can get from his home in Deleware to the US Capital in twelve parsecs. Initially, Joe Solo’s goal wasn’t to topple the evil Empire, but somewhere along the way, he gets a dose of morality and put his talents to good use. Joe Solo is haunted by his on-again, off-again relationship with the credit industry (like Capital One in Willmington, Deleware; or Jabba the Hut in wherever he lives).

Sarah Palin is Princess Leia. Beautiful and smart with a quick tongue to match, it is Princess Palin’s singular goal to infiltrate the Death Star and expose its weaknesses. First, though, she must pass along her battle plans to Obi John Kenobi - and it took Obama Skywalker to do it, otherwise Obi John would never have paid much attention to her. Unfortunately, Princess Palin was held prisoner by the evildoers who sought to silence her.

Ok, so here’s the contest. Take the following characters and find their real-world campaign equivalent. A full entry will have at least three comparisons. Post your entries by 6:00pm (central time) on Thursday, September 25th:

1. Chewbacca

2. C3P0

3. R2D2

4. Boba Fett

5. Yoda

6. Admiral Ackbar

7. Lando Calrission

Good luck!! Check back frequently to see everyone’s entries.

http://joshanderson.wordpress.com/

Monday, September 22, 2008

Best. Obituary. Ever.

James William "Jim" Adams

Monday, September 15, 2008 2:05 AM MDT

DOUGLAS -- A celebration of life for James William "Jim" Adams, 53, will be held at a later date.

He died Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 at Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas.

Jim, who had tired of reading obituaries noting other's courageous battles with this or that disease, wanted it known that he lost his battle. It was primarily as a result of being stubborn and not following doctor's orders or maybe for just living life a little too hard for better than five decades.

He was born June 8, 1955 in Garrison, N.D. the son of James William and Ruby Helen (Clark) Adams.

He was sadly deprived of his final wish, which was to be run over by a beer truck on the way to the liquor store to buy booze for a date. True to his personal style, he spent his final hours joking with medical personnel, cussing and begging for narcotics and bargaining with God to look over his loving dog, Biscuit, and his family.

He would like to thank all "his ladies" for putting up with him the last 30 years.

During his life, he excelled at anything he put his mind to. He loved to hear and tell jokes and spin tales of grand adventures he may or may not have had.

He is survived by five sons, Jeremiah Adams and his wife, Nicole, Mica Olivas, Wade Olivas, Brice Simpson and Cole Adams; sister, Jerri Giegerich; two ex-wives, Vickie Harrison and Marilyn Williams; four grandchildren; two nieces; and two great-nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother-in-law.

In lieu of flowers, he asks that you make a sizeable purchase at your favorite watering hole, get rip roaring drunk and tell the stories he no longer can.

Gorman Funeral Homes - Converse Chapel of Douglas is in charge of the arrangements.

XMen Origins: Wolverine

Looks like we get Gambit and The Blob.

movie trailers and clips

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The RNC REALLY Needs to do Background Checks on their Speech Writers

Palin and Pegler

Among the trite bromides delivered by Sarah Palin to the Republican National Convention was this: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honest and sincerity and dignity." Wow, these sure are powerful words, certainly not the verbiage of ordinary people or even ordinary speech writers. Palin certainly didn't write her speech, and even her distinctly dismal assembly of words in her ABC interview with Charles Gibson were probably not hers. Apropos the wisdom about small towns, her staff also did not trust themselves to do a sentence approximating the thought. So they went to... well, not a treasury of great quotations. It is, after all, a rather banal thought, banally expressed. They went to Westbrook Pegler.

You have to be pretty old to know that Pegler would be a treasure house of right-wing populist jargon. The fact is--and I've been checking this all day--no one under 65 with whom I spoke had the slightest idea who he was. So who, then, would know to breeze through the writing of Westbrook Pegler, of all people, in search of what is, after all, just a cliche? Surely only someone knowledgeable (and sympathetic to?) native American fascism.

There were many native American fascists around during the thirties: Father Coughlin, Senator Bilbo, Charles Linndbergh, just to mention a few. And, of course, Pegler himself. A popular journalist, he was syndicated by the Hearst chain, which in those days shared the kind of patriotism articulated by fascists. I knew Pegler as a child from my mother's curses, although she did not read the Journal American which was the Hearst outlet in New York. He was also published by The Washington Post. (For liberals and for Jews "Pegler" was a symbol of everything truly hateful, a not inappropriate approximation.) Pegler was so bad that, when already in his dotage, even the John Birch Society refused to be embarrassed by his writing and pushed him out the door.

Some of you may be thinking that what I have written here is hyperbole. So comes to the rescue Sahil Mahtani, one of the new crop of reporter-researchers at TNR, with an a la carte menu of quotations from the wisdom of Westbrook Pegler--ugly stuff, truly ugly:

In her convention speech a fortnight ago, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin quoted an unidentified “writer” who extolled the virtues of small-town America: “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.” (9/3/08) The unidentified writer was Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969), the ultraconservative newspaper columnist whose widely syndicated columns (at its peak, 200 newspapers and 12 million readers) targeted the New Deal establishment, labor leaders, intellectuals, homosexuals, Jews, and poets.

A cursory glance at his oeuvre yields plenty examples of such attacks:


On Robert Kennedy:

He wished in 1965 that “some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies.” (J. Sharlet, “Paradise Shot to Hell: The Westbrook Pegler Story”, in Boob Jubilee, Ed. T. Frank & D. Mulcahey, W.W. Norton & Company, 2003, p. 358)

On the Jewish community:

Jews, he said, could not be the victims of persecution because persecution “connotes injustice…They are, instead, enduring retaliation, or punishment.” (D. Levitas, The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right, Macmillan, 2002, p. 71.)

He advanced the theory that American Jews of Eastern European descent were “instinctively sympathetic to Communism, however outwardly respectable they appeared.” (The New York Times, Obituary: “Free-Swinging Critic,” June 25, 1969, p. 43).

He had a habit of calling Jews “geese” because they, in his words, hiss when they talk, gulp down everything before them, and foul everything in their wake. (Diane McWhorter, “Revisiting the controversial career of Westbrook Pegler,” Slate, March 4 2004).

March 12 1945; In response to the Fair Employment Practices bill of New York State, which forbade Jews and other minorities from being restricted by quota in New York City medical establishments, Pegler attacked the new law as “pernicious heresy against the ancient privilege of human beings to hate.” (R. Kahn, The Era, 1947-1957, University of Nebraska Press, 2002, p. 44)

On the Civil Rights movement:

In 1963, less than 3 months after Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech,” he wrote in a column, “[It is] clearly the bounden duty of all intelligent Americans to proclaim and practice bigotry.” (D. Levitas, The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right, Macmillan, 2002, p. 71)

In 1936, he wrote his famous lines, “I am a member of the rabble in good standing.” Yet that column was written in praise of a California lynch mob that killed two (white) men charged with a kidnapping-murder. (Diane McWhorter, “Revisiting the controversial career of Westbrook Pegler,” Slate, March 4 2004).

On the labor movement:

He once exhorted citizens to join strikebreakers “in the praiseworthy pastime of batting the brains out of pickets.” (J. Sharlet, “Paradise Shot to Hell: The Westbrook Pegler Story”, in Boob Jubilee, Ed. T. Frank & D. Mulcahey, W.W. Norton & Company, 2003, p. 358)

On Homosexuals:

In the spring of 1950, piling on the McCarthy era attacks on the state department, Pegler attacked the State Department for being too friendly to homosexuals. Five of these columns were addressed to Dean Acheson, offering suggestions for changes to make the department reflect “the distinctive spirit and character of so many of the personnel.” He suggested Acheson rename the street adjoining departmental headquarters Grimm Street after the author of the fairy tales; that he rename the smoking room the “Fag room”; and that he replace the standard handshake greeting with a curtsy and the standard mode of address from “your Excellency” to “precious.” Courses in interior decorating, he mused, might provide better preparation for entry into the foreign service than history or political science.” (D. K. Johnson, The Lavender Scare, The University of Chicago Press, 2004, 68-69, quoting W. Pegler, Washington Times-Herald, March 31, 1950, 14).

In 1950, this verse:

“How could [Truman] help it if parties

both unusual and queer

Got into the State Department

which true patriots hold dear?

To hear the dastards tell it

they are true to Uncle Joey

And call each other female

names like Bessie, Maud, and Chloe.

And write each other poetry

and confidential notes so tender

Lke they was not he-men at all

but belonged to the opposing gender.”

(from D. K. Johnson, The Lavender Scare, The University of Chicago Press, 2004, 65)

On Roosevelt:

He wrote that “It [was] regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara hit the wrong man when he shot at Roosevelt in Miami.” (W. E. Leuchtenburg, The FDR Years, Columbia University Press, 1997, p. 316).

On the WWII Japanese Internment:

“[T]o hell with habeas corpus,” (G. Stone, Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime, W.W. Norton & Company, 2004, p. 294).


credit: the new republic

And There Was Much Rejoicing



TRL Going Off-Air In November
Posted by Rebecca Stone on 09.16.2008

The staple MTV Show "ending" after 10 years...

Start the countdown clock on MTV's countdown era: "Total Request Live" will soon shut down after 10 years on the air.

The music video show will conclude in a two-hour special on a Saturday afternoon in November, Dave Sirulnick, executive producer of "TRL," said Monday. He stressed that the show wasn't ending for good, but felt now was the right time to give it a break after an unprecedented run on the cable music channel.

"We want to close this era of 'TRL' in a big celebratory way, and 10 is a great number," Sirulnick said. "And 10 is the number that `TRL' counted down every single day for 10 years, and we hit this 10th (anniversary) and we thought, `You know what? This feels like the right time and let's celebrate it and let's reward it. And let's let it have a little bit of a rest for a minute.' Let it catch its breath! Been working hard — for 10 years!"

"TRL" debuted in September 1998 and became the splashy center of the teen pop music scene with Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync and other acts. From its heydey until 2008, it's been a destination for musicians, movie stars and celebrities promoting their new music, movies and other projects.

Sirulnick said "TRL" — which airs weekday afternoons from MTV's Times Square studio — lost some luster as it aged. It peaked in 1999 with 757,000 viewers tuning in daily, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Movie News: Spider Man and Avengers

Tobey scores big money deal for more Spidey...

Tobey Maguire has apparently reached a record deal to return for Spider-man 4 & 5, according to the Sunday Times. The deal will allow Maguire to take early mornings and evenings off so that he can spend time with his toddler daughter, and also pay Maguire "a record $50 million" for the sequels. The two sequels will be filmed back-to-back over a six month span.

The Times also says that we will know in the next few days if Kirsten Dunst will return for the sequels.

Eva could be up for the role of Wasp...

Eva Longoria is apparently up for a role in The Avengers. She was recently photographed leaving Marvel offices with a stack of Avengers comics in her hand and now the LA Times speculates that Longoria could be up for the role of Wasp.

IGN offers up a bit on the character:

Janet van Dyne/Wasp is a mutant who can deliver a deadly sting through her hands, and has the capability to shrink her body to insect-size. She flies with a set of retractable wings. In the comics, Janet has been married to volatile scientist Hank Pym (Ant-Man/Giant-Man), and has been close with Captain America.

The Wasp, it's also interesting to note, is one of Marvel's most diva-ish female characters, with her sense of entitlement and penchant for shopping. Point being that it's not that big of a stretch from characters Longoria has played in the past -- except for the superpowers.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

God Opens the First Seal of the Apocalypse

Believe it or not, Karl Rove says McCain's ads have gone too far...

Karl Rove himself told Fox News Sunday today that John McCain's recent ads have gone "too far."

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Rove said McCain had "gone one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100 percent truth test."

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton


SPHC
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Saturday, September 13, 2008

Hey Squid, Someone is Selling Replica "Dancing Jesus" from Clockwork Orange

Turns out the Dancing Jesus piece is calle "Christ Unlimited" by artist Herman Makkink. From drencrom.com:

"The Christ Unlimited figures and the Rocking Machine were not designed especially for A Clockwork Orange. They formed part of my studio work at the time, and, after seeing them there, Kubrick wanted to use them for the film because they probably had the futuristic look he and his wife wanted.

Christ Unlimited was inspired by a crucified Christ statuette that I had found . The left arm and both legs from the waist down had been broken off. I replaced them in a more joyous pose - that of a dancer in the midst of a popular folk dance from the Balkans and the Middle East, known as The Butchers Dance."

He also sculpted the giant "rocking horse" phallus that Alex used to kill the crazy old lady in the movie. From coolhunting.com:

Dutch sculptor
Herman Makkink's works entered popular consciousness after his phallic "rocking machine" was featured in Stanley Kubrick's brilliant and controversial 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.

For the first time since 1969, the sculptor's sexually charged Rocking Machine has been reproduced in limited quantities and is for sale through a private auction conducted by the artist himself.

Cast in fiberglass from the original mold, only six have been produced, each signed by the artist. Even if you're not about to purchase a Makkink original, this site still has a lot of art featured, including animation of the Rocking Machine in action.

Anyhow, onto the links:

Dancing Jesus can be bought HERE
Herman Makkink at drencrom.com can be found HERE

Zoinks

Friday, September 12, 2008

Trixie Loves Cats, But Understands Little of their True Nature

Incredible Application for Nano Technology

Nano-sized 'Cargo Ships' To Target And Destroy Tumors Developed

ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2008) — Scientists have developed nanometer-sized ‘cargo ships’ that can sail throughout the body via the bloodstream without immediate detection from the body’s immune radar system and ferry their cargo of anti-cancer drugs and markers into tumors that might otherwise go untreated or undetected.

Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT report that their nano-cargo-ship system integrates therapeutic and diagnostic functions into a single device that avoids rapid removal by the body’s natural immune system.

“The idea involves encapsulating imaging agents and drugs into a protective ‘mother ship’ that evades the natural processes that normally would remove these payloads if they were unprotected,” said Michael Sailor, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSD who headed the team of chemists, biologists and engineers that turned the fanciful concept into reality. “These mother ships are only 50 nanometers in diameter, or 1,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, and are equipped with an array of molecules on their surfaces that enable them to find and penetrate tumor cells in the body.”

These microscopic cargo ships could one day provide the means to more effectively deliver toxic anti-cancer drugs to tumors in high concentrations without negatively impacting other parts of the body.

“Many drugs look promising in the laboratory, but fail in humans because they do not reach the diseased tissue in time or at concentrations high enough to be effective,” said Sangeeta Bhatia, a physician, bioengineer and professor of Health Sciences and Technology at MIT who played a key role in the development. “These drugs don’t have the capability to avoid the body’s natural defenses or to discriminate their intended targets from healthy tissues. In addition, we lack the tools to detect diseases such as cancer at the earliest stages of development, when therapies can be most effective.”

The researchers designed the hull of the ships to evade detection by constructing them of specially modified lipids--a primary component of the surface of natural cells. The lipids were modified in such a way as to enable them to circulate in the bloodstream for many hours before being eliminated. This was demonstrated by the researchers in a series of experiments with mice.

The researchers also designed the material of the hull to be strong enough to prevent accidental release of its cargo while circulating through the bloodstream. Tethered to the surface of the hull is a protein called F3, a molecule that sticks to cancer cells. Prepared in the laboratory of Erkki Ruoslahti, a cell biologist and professor at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at UC Santa Barbara, F3 was engineered to specifically home in on tumor cell surfaces and then transport itself into their nuclei.

“We are now constructing the next generation of smart tumor-targeting nanodevices,” said Ruoslahti. “We hope that these devices will improve the diagnostic imaging of cancer and allow pinpoint targeting of treatments into cancerous tumors.”

The researchers loaded their ships with three payloads before injecting them in the mice. Two types of nanoparticles, superparamagnetic iron oxide and fluorescent quantum dots, were placed in the ship’s cargo hold, along with the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin. The iron oxide nanoparticles allow the ships to show up in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, scan, while the quantum dots can be seen with another type of imaging tool, a fluorescence scanner.

“The fluorescence image provides higher resolution than MRI,” said Sailor. “One can imagine a surgeon identifying the specific location of a tumor in the body before surgery with an MRI scan, then using fluorescence imaging to find and remove all parts of the tumor during the operation.”

The team found to its surprise in its experiments that a single mother-ship can carry multiple iron oxide nanoparticles, which increases their brightness in the MRI image.

“The ability of these nanostructures to carry more than one superparamagnetic nanoparticle makes them easier to see by MRI, which should translate to earlier detection of smaller tumors,” said Sailor. “The fact that the ships can carry very dissimilar payloads—a magnetic nanoparticle, a fluorescent quantum dot, and a small molecule drug—was a real surprise.”

The researchers noted that the construction of so-called “hybrid nanosystems” that contain multiple different types of nanoparticles is being explored by several other research groups. While hybrids have been used for various laboratory applications outside of living systems, said Sailor, there are limited studies done in vivo, or within live organisms, particularly for cancer imaging and therapy.

“That’s because of the poor stability and short circulation times within the blood generally observed for these more complicated nanostructures,” he added. As a result, the latest study is unique in one important way.

“This study provides the first example of a single nanomaterial used for simultaneous drug delivery and multimode imaging of diseased tissue in a live animal,” said Ji-Ho Park, a graduate student in Sailor’s laboratory who was part of the team. Geoffrey von Maltzahn, a graduate student working in Bhatia’s laboratory, was also involved in the project, which was financed by a grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

The nano mother ships look individually like a chocolate-covered nut cluster, in which a biocompatible lipid forms the chocolate shell and magnetic nanoparticles, quantum dots and the drug doxorubicin are the nuts. They sail through the bloodstream in groups that, under the electron microscope, look like small, broken strands of pearls.

The researchers are now working on developing ways to chemically treat the exteriors of the nano ships with specific chemical “zip codes,” that will allow them to be delivered to specific tumors, organs and other sites in the body.

LOL, WUT?

That's Ms. Tron If You're Nasty

Janet Jackson came out workin' the Tron unitard hard at the launch of the "Rock Witchu" tour last night in Vancouver. She and the Tron Guy are like a match made in light-cycle heaven. She's trying for a futuristic space-opera look, but did she pull it off? Check out our full gallery of the 42-year-old queen of the Rhythm Nation shakin' across the stage, and decide for yourself.


io9.com

The Simpsons Go All Transformers for Halloween

Simpsons Goes Halloween on Transformers

It’s about time, give or take a month, for a new Simpsons Halloween episode (a.ka. Treehouse of Horrors)—and, man, have we missed Kang and Kodos. This year, SciFi Wire reports that the installment will spoof the Transformers movie. We talked to executive producer Al Jean about what to expect.

Previously, Jean told SciFi Wire:

What happens is Bart gets a Christmas present from a 99 Cent store, and it turns out to be a Transformer. They take over Springfield, and they’re fighting all over the place. Then Marge says to the Transformers, ‘Why do you have to fight?’ And they go, ‘We agree. We’ll just team up and take over you guys.’

When io9 contacted Jean to expound further on the plot, he would say only:

You haven’t been parodied till The Simpsons parodies you.

We're rooting for at least some attempt to parody that robo-watersports moment in the flick. And of course, it won't be difficult to make something funny-scary out of lying on top of your best auto-friend to make out with your girlfriend.

io9.com

Like a Fist of an Angry God

More Palin Failin'

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I'm talking about somebody who's a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you.


Really? Well consider this.

Cheney
- met with dozens of world leaders as Secretary of Defense including Saudi leaders before Desert Storm
Gore - met with numerous world leaders while chair of the Governmental Affairs Senate committee and other congressional delegation trips
Quayle - member of Senate Armed Services committee, on several congressional delegations abroad
George Bush - Ambassador to China
Walter Mondale - spent much of his time in the Senate traveling abroad as chair of Intelligence Committee, met with NATO leaders on a regular basis
Nelson Rockefeller - Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs
Gerald Ford - traveled abroad numerous times while serving as House Minority Leader, met with leaders in Europe, Africa, and southeast Asia
Spiro Agnew - met with Western European leaders on trade negotiation trip while governor of Maryland
H.H. Humphrey - several trips to Western Europe on behalf of his chairmanship of the Select Committee on Disarmament
LBJ - long history of meeting with foreign leaders, most notably while Senate minority leader
Nixon - met with West German chancellor while art of Herter Committee on the Marshall Plan
Alben Barkley - met with Churchill to secure the details of the Lend-Lease Act
Truman - met with Churchill and other Allied leaders while part of the Senate Truman War Committee
Henry Wallace - met with south central Asian and Russian leaders as Secretary of Agriculture
Jack Garner - met with Mexican federal officials during World War I
Chuck Curtis - Met with French, Dutch, and British leaders in regards to defense in the Caribbean as Chairman of the Committee on Coastal Defense
Charles C. Dawes - Met the King of Sweden when awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (among many, many other instances)
Calvin Coolidge - cannot find any evidence he met with any foreign leaders prior to the Vice Presidency
James Sherman - Chair of Committee on Indian Affairs (in 1900, the Indian territories were still considered to be sovereign, and thus he negotiated treaties with their leaders)
Charles Fairbanks - member of Joint High Commission which brought American and British leaders together with Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier to deal with issues of land ownership in the Yukon
Theodore Roosevelt - met pretty much farking everyone
Garret A Hobart - Probably the closest analogue to Sarah Palin, spent most of his time in state government, but hosted "sultans and kings" at notorious parties in his Paterson, NJ mansion.
Adlai Stevenson Sr. - spent time in Ireland, but not sure who he met
Levi P. Morton - Ambassador to France, amazingly popular, secured the donation of the Statue of Liberty
Thomas Hendricks - met with French representatives in New Orleans but it doesn't appear he met with any head of state
Chester A. Arthur - met Robert E. Lee, if you want to count that
Will A. Wheeler - now we're starting to get into an age when international travel was not as easy
Schuyler Colfax - attended John A. MacDonald's inauguration as first Prime Minister of Canada
Andrew Johnson - see above regarding Robert E. Lee
Hannibal Hamlin - Minister to France, negotiated the Treaty of 1831
John C. Breckinridge - Negotiated Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in Mexico City
William R. King - Secretary of Legation (aka Consul) to Italy and Russia
Millard Fillmore - no foreign leadership, but was extremely accomplished regardless
George M. Dallas - Ambassador to Russia
John Tyler - nothing
Richard M. Johnson - Met with Tecumseh, much to Tecumseh's dismay. AKA death.
Martin Van Buren - Jackson's Secretary of State.
John Calhoun - JQA's Secretary of State.
DD Tompkins - Turned down a chance to be Secretary of State.
Elbridge Gerry - Delegate to France. It didn't work out so well, if you remember your history.
George Clinton - Negotiated the 1783 treaty with Britain
Aaron Burr - Went all over Europe, played both sides of the French Revolution
Thomas Jefferson - Minister to France, Secretary of State
John Adams - Hung out with the King of France, obviously

fark.com

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Sarah Palin Gets Pwned by Charles Gibson. Seriously?



Amazing how she parrots Obama on Pakistan....but they say Obama is wrong on Pakistan.



And to top it off, she repeated the Karl Rove battle cry that 9-11 and Iraq are all linked together in her stump in Alaska today. All in all, not a great showing for the "Future of the GOP". A couple more doozies:

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

And...

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

And finally...

GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?

PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?

GIBSON: The Bush -- well, what do you -- what do you interpret it to be?

PALIN: His world view.

It's 9/11. Let's Mark it with Some Nirvana

Savages


An 18-year-old man was shot in the groin on Merrimac Street, between Hudson and Portland avenues, about 10:10 last night.

Two teenagers on bicycles approached the man and his friend and accosted them, said Rochester police Capt. Kevin Costello. They took unspecified property from the victims and then shot the 18-year-old before fleeing, Costello said.

The 18-year-old and his friend went around the block to Hollister Street to call police. The 18-year-old was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital for treatment. His wound was not considered life-threatening, and his friend was not injured.

No names have been released. Police have not arrested anyone in connection with this incident.

Trixie Is Crushed I'm Sure

Kanye West
Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images
Kanye West, Looking a lot like Urkel.

Kanye West arrested at LAX after incident with paparazzi

The rapper and his road manager are accused of confronting two photographers and smashing their cameras outside a security screening area after arriving for a commercial flight to Honolulu.
By Andrew Blankstein and Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
11:47 AM PDT, September 11, 2008
Rapper Kanye West and his road manager were arrested this morning at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of vandalism after they confronted two paparazzi and smashed the men's cameras, authorities said.

The incident took place about 7:50 a.m. outside the passenger security screening area in Terminal 4, said LAX spokeswoman Nancy Castles.

Initial reports said the incident involved "a commercial photographer, 'paparazzi' " and a camera worth more than $10,000, according to Castles.

Have You Been a Bad Boy, Andrew?

Sure, it may a little sexy now. But this is what she'll turn into. Absolute power does corrupt absolutely.

It's Fair Week in Wayne County, Which Calls for a Friendly PSA

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Christina Aguilera Brings Out the Boobage

Mmmm, boobies make me wanna dance.

Because Everyone Loves Baby Pandas (Especially Jen and Mandy)

Pictured: Giant panda cubs that are hand-reared by researchers

By Wil Longbottom
Last updated at 6:34 PM on 08th September 2008

They are one of the most endangered animals in the world, but these giant panda cubs are in safe hands.

The babies are being specially cared for by a team of workers at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, in Sichuan Province, China.

Scientists at the research base aim to increase the captive population of giant pandas and ultimately reintroduce the distinctive black and white animals to the wild, with the help of artificial breeding.

giant panda

Care bear: This little cub is being looked after in an incubator

giant panda

Panda pups: Two sleepy cubs catch some shut-eye at the research base

Some of the panda cubs' mothers had to transferred to the research base after the devastating earthquake which hit the Sichuan Province on May 12, killing 70,000 people.

Researchers carried out psychological comfort on the pregnant mothers who were traumatised by the quake, which also destroyed vast swathes of their habitat.

giant panda

A worker gives twin giant pandas a wash

giant pandas

Endangered: The research base is aiming to increase the population of giant pandas before they are reintroduced into the wild

There are only around 1,590 pandas living in China, mostly in the Sichuan area and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. Last year, the number of captive bred giant pandas was 239.

Giant pandas are known for being sexually inactive. Their numbers have been dwindling because of of their shrinking habitat.

giant pandas
Snoozing: Two workers remain close by as these panda cubs have a sleep

Captain America News

Well, I'm sure Spike Lee approves.

In an interview with MTV, actor Derek Luke makes the claim that Will Smith has been offered the lead role in Captain America.

"I heard they offered Will Smith Captain America. Just shows you how times have changed."

Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, and Jason Lewis have all been rumored for the role as well.

The film is due out on May 6th, 2011.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Naked Bob Rants

I just don’t get why so many people think that Obama is too much of a risk to be our next President. For fuck’s sake, most of these people voted George W. Bush to TWO terms. The first time Dubya was elected, I was bitterly disappointed, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here was a guy that spent two terms as governor of Texas, was a failed oilman, owned a stake in the Texas Rangers, a previous coke-head, dodged Vietnam, earned himself a DUI, and never left the USA until after he was elected President. He’s slightly less incompetent than his younger brother Neil, who was “a player” in the Savings and Loan fiasco that We the People bailed out from 1986-1996 at a cost of $160.1 BILLION (funny note — John McCain, part of the “Keating Five”, had a hand in the S&L mess as well). Google “Silverado Savings and Loan” and “Neil Bush” and see what you find. While you’re at it, try “Keating Five”, “Lincoln Savings and Loan” and “John McCain”. But I digress.

In my mind, Barack Obama is no less of a risk than anyone else who has run in the last quarter century. Sure, you never know until they’re in office, just like any other job in the world. Nixon had plenty of experience and look how he turned out. And now the GOP has the gall to pick Gov. Palin of Alaska for their VP? Two term mayor of a town of 9,000 and 20 months in office as governor, and they think she’s more qualified than someone who worked as a community organizer/activist, civil rights attorney, law professor, member of the Illinois Senate for 8 years, and 4 years as the Junior Senator from Illinois.

In my honest opinion, the real reason many people consider Obama a risk is because he’s not white. That’s right, I said it. A lot of this country is still bigoted and racist, especially older generations.

Seven Steps to Henching (for my hetero-life mate Andrew)

becoming a henchman

there are many reasons to watch cartoon network’s “the venture bros.” for one, there is the man’s man in brock samson, so mean and rugged that he could break your arm with the clench of his rectum (see “Dia de los Dangerous” season 1, episode 1). no, the venture bros. is not for the faint of heart.

But greater still is the irreplaceable presence of the semi-minor arch villain monarch’s henchmen.

In honor of the pride with which they throw themselves into their “henching,” i provide for you a quick, nonexhaustive list of how to become a henchman.

1. educate yourself in all things comic book.

2. master video games, preferably the role playing type.

3. learn every line and read every critical theory book concerning the star wars saga.

4. live in your parents’ home well into your thirties.

5. provide your own sound effects.

6. never, under any circumstances exercise. rarely shower.

7. develop a ray romano accent (or a pre-puberty screech)

there you have it! seven steps to start you on your path towards henchman-dom.

credit: hungryghosts.wordpress.com


The Day That Never Comes by Metallica

The Force Unleashed Drop This Week

Friday, September 5, 2008

Jesse Ventura Slams American Politics



And Part II...



Part III...

Ghostbusters III? Let's Hope Bill Murray Doesn't Go All Diva and Refuse


The Office producers to write Ghostbusters...

Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, co-executive producers of The Office, are set to write the script for the upcoming new Ghostbusters film.

The script is being written to have original stars Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson all return, though no deal has been reached with any of them yet.

Credit: Variety

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

I've Noticed. Have You?

Experts fear firefly populations are blinking out

By Michael Casey, Associated Press

From backyards in Tennessee to riverbanks in Southeast Asia, researchers said they have seen fireflies — also called glowworms or lightning bugs — dwindling in number.

No single factor is blamed, but researchers in the United States and Europe mostly cite urban sprawl and industrial pollution that destroy insect habitat. The spread of artificial lights also could be a culprit, disrupting the intricate mating behavior that depends on a male winning over a female with its flashing backside.

"It is quite clear they are declining," said Stefan Ineichen, a researcher who studies fireflies in Switzerland and runs a website to gather information on firefly sightings.

"When you talk to old people about fireflies, it is always the same," he said. "They saw so many when they were young and now they are lucky now if they see one."

Come in...Ray...

Ghostbusters is first film to be released on USB stick

Posted at: 6:03pm 3rd September 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Now there’s something you don’t see every day: PNY’s 2GB flash drive comes with Ghostbusters pre-loaded

PNY 2GB Ghostbusters USB key

Are you the USB keymaster? You could be soon if you pick up PNY’s new 2GB USB flashdrive, which comes with Ghostbusters pre-loaded. While the music industry has been playing around with USB flash drives for a few years now, the movie business is still relying on discs, but that may change following this partnership between PNY and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

We don’t know what file format and compression settings are used on the film yet, but a spokesperson for PNY explained to Custom PC that it does come with a form of DRM that prevents you from copying the movie. ‘They have DRM protection,’ explained the spokesperson, ‘so customers can download the movie onto their laptop or PC if they wish, but they have to have the USB drive plugged in to watch the movie, as the DRM is locked in the USB drive.’

PNY’s sales and marketing director for the UK and Nordics, Stefanie Summerfield, says that there will also be room on the 2GB stick for ‘12 hours of video play, 33 hours of music and 1,080 pictures,’ and added that ‘this is all in addition to getting a preloaded movie on the USB flash drive.’

The PNY 2GB USB key with Ghostbusters is available from Argos now. Would you be interested in buying movies on USB flash drives, or would you rather stick with conventional media such as DVDs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Consider, If You Will....