Chad Austin sends along this neat story from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution about a Georgia guy who's a devoted fan of the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit (which was the #2 top-grossing movie that year by the way, after a little art-house film called Star Wars). And Tyler Hambrick not only wound up buying a Trans-Am like the one Burt Reynolds used in that movie, but last year for the movie's 30th anniversary he re-created the epic journey...
Monday, May 12, 2008
A night of John Williams music with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and Michael Krajewski
It all started several weeks ago when Eric Wilson asked if I knew of any concerts featuring the music of John Williams: the composer of music for the Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones trilogy (soon to be quadrilogy), Jaws, some of the Harry Potter films and too many other things to mention. I told him that I knew Williams sometimes conducted concerts featuring his work...
A philosophical problem
What if there was a way to really have physical immortality?Would you want that? Would you choose to accept it?What if you wound up with immortality, and found out too late that it was more a curse than it was a blessing? Would you then spend the rest of your existence trying to find a way to be mortal again?Three thoughts on the subject: the first is that immortality is possible but it's not something meant for this material realm. 1st Corinthians...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
"The Doctor's Daughter": New DOCTOR WHO episode a mixed bag
Usually I post some choice quotes from whatever new episode of Doctor Who (the ones that I'm watching courtesy of good chaps who post 'em for download right after they premiere on BBC One in Great Britain) that I'm reviewing. I'm gonna forgo doing that this week, mainly 'cuz (a) I've a few more projects on my plate this evening and (b) I'm still trying to decide how much...
Friday, May 09, 2008
Devilish coincidence
Today was the day that the estimated world population was set to hit 6,666,666,666.(On a related technical note, today was also the day that available IPv4 addresses were going to number 666,666,666.)So what movie did AMC just start running in the past few minutes? Heh-heh...The original version of The Omen.I honestly have to wonder if someone in AMC's programming division intentionally planned for this ...
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS trailer and why I'm not at all crazy about it
For awhile I've been wondering: is it even accurate to refer to the six Star Wars movies as "Star Wars Episodes 1 through 6" anymore? I mean, the Star Wars saga is now way more than the story presented in George Lucas' original films, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars will only muddle the waters further. Perhaps Lucas should amend the titles of his movies to a scheme like "Star...
Last night's storms, and this week's LOST
Last night north-central North Carolina got severely thrashed by a line of thunderstorms, and that might be putting it too mildly. It was more like a series of supercells that rolled through the region. There were numerous reports of tornadoes that touched down, particularly in Guilford County directly south of us and there's been at least one death reported there. The local television stations were providing live coverage well into the early...
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Prepare for sparse postings
Now's a good time to let everyone know that for possibly the next several weeks, I'm going to be cutting back on writing for this blog. It's not going to be a complete sabbatical: I'm certainly having too much fun posting reviews of new Doctor Who episodes to give that up, and there are a few other things that I'd love to work on for this blog too.But there are also a few other projects beyond the scope of The Knight Shift that I need to focus on...
Mr. Knight's Dark and Twisted Day of Substitute Teaching a Second Grade Class
Today brought an experience that I haven't enjoyed in a number of years: substitute teaching a second grade class at a nearby elementary school. I heard yesterday afternoon that they needed someone to fill-in for a teacher, so I promptly called and volunteered for duty. Subbing is something that I've been doing for a month or so now, one reason is that I'm seriously thinking...
Post-North Carolina primary results: Eric Smith comes in 2nd (and about some other races)
Lisa and I had an unusual perspective from which to watch the returns of yesterday's North Carolina primary election: since I've been treasurer for Eric H. Smith's campaign for statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction, we spent the evening at "campaign headquarters". That being Eric's house.We had a very fun time! In addition to getting to play with Eric's eighteen-month...
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Proof that I voted for Ron Paul in today's North Carolina primary
My precinct is at Reidsville Middle School. I just returned from there. Here is a photograph that I took of my ballot in today's North Carolina primary election. As you can see I cast my vote for Ron Paul for President... and it's been a long time since I've enjoyed having so clean a conscience in voting for a presidential candidate! None of that "hold my nose and pull...
Striking while IRON MAN is hot: Marvel announces 2010 sequel and Avengers movies
Good friend of this blog Crystal is the first to pass along word that Marvel Comics has already declared that Iron Man 2 will hit theaters in April 2010. No doubt that a $100-plus opening weekend helped expedite the matter :-)In addition to the further on-screen adventures of Tony Stark, Marvel has also announced Thor for July 2010 (I was wondering the other day if they'd...
Did CLOVERFIELD's "Roar!" vanish from iTunes?
A number of people have been writing in to report that "Roar!", the track that Michael Giacchino composed for the hit monster movie Cloverfield, has disappeared from iTunes just days after it finally became available for download. Here's my post about when "Roar!" first appeared on iTunes.I did a search on iTunes also, and "Roar!" isn't showing up either in results or on Michael Giacchino's page. However, if you go to the original URL that links...
Monday, May 05, 2008
CHILDREN OF EDEN Update: 46 Days to Opening Night
It was a week ago tonight that I found out that my longtime dream of being in a production of Children of Eden was about to really happen. The cast came together for the first time a few nights later. We've now had three nights of practice and in that time we've done work on many of the major songs from the show ("Let There Be", "The Naming" and a few others).One thing about Children of Eden that makes this an interesting production is that a lot...
Microsoft and Yahoo: Anyone else thinking this?
That Microsoft withdrawing its bid to acquire Yahoo and the subsequent devaluing of Yahoo's stock was a calculated move by Microsoft (I'm terribly tempted to suspect Steve Ballmer especially) to make Yahoo more vulnerable - and far cheaper - for purchase later on?This might go down as the most classic maneuver that Microsoft has ever made, if that turns out to be tr...
Classic SESAME STREET: Bert and Ernie go fishing
It's spring: the perfect time for a lazy afternoon of fishing down at the pond. Bert has his pole and Ernie... has his own methods.Originally aired during Sesame Street in November 1982, here is the Bert and Ernie "Fish Call" sketch...
Television in North Carolina one day before the primary
Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Hillary Obama Hillary Obama Hillary Hillary Hillary Obama Obama Obama Obama Obama Bev Perdue Bev Perdue Richard Moore Richard Moore "Positive Campaign" Andy Griffith ZZZZZZZZZ...
