Alan Moore is gonna be honked-off angry...

Zack Snyder has confirmed that he has changed the ending for the movie version of Watchmen, which he's directed.

So we will not be getting to see the "alien squid" after all...

In the past few weeks I've found myself wondering what the "squid" might possibly look like translated to screen. And that led me to think that perhaps Guillermo del Toro would have been the "go-to" guy for giving it the appropriate gruesomeness. Now it turns out that the climactic moment of most widely-acclaimed graphic novel has been... altered?!

Snyder did read Watchmen, right? I mean, he knows what the ultimate purpose of the "squid" is, yes?

I am now officially skeptical about how this is going to work. No wonder Alan Moore - the creator of Watchmen - harbors such legendary frustration about film adaptations of his efforts.

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Weird news from overseas

The mayor of Batman, Turkey is suing Warner Brothers and Christopher Nolan over their Batman movie The Dark Knight, claiming that since the movie came out his town has been plagued by a high rate of unsolved murders and skyrocketing numbers of female suicides.

And in Russia, the parish priest of the village of Komarova notified law enforcement officials that he had been robbed. The item in question that has been stolen: the entire village church.

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Are video games becoming a luxury for the rich?

That's the question posed by Matthew Federico on his blog. It's his contention that the rising price of video games (lately hovering around sixty bucks each for games on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) coupled with the current state of the economy means that only those with plenty of ready cash on hand can fully enjoy the latest slate of games like Gears of War 2 and Fallout 3.

On the flip side of the coin, a few months ago Theodore Beale (writing as Vox Day) on WorldNetDaily offered some suggestions for "living lean" and seriously advised that video games were a sound use of one's entertainment dollar, as opposed to spending it on something like movie tickets.

So are video games for the most part now in the province of those who can most afford them? It may be worth noting that even at the height of the Great Depression people kept flocking to movie theaters. When you figure in for inflation, Gone With The Wind is still the top-grossing film of all time, and it came out at a time when going to a cinema was still considered a high-falootin' expenditure.

What do y'all think?

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Ridley Scott to direct MONOPOLY movie

What the heck is wrong with Hollywood lately? This has been one of the best years for filmmaking in recent memory. But alas! It does not appear as if it was meant to endure. Yesterday word came that a remake of The Karate Kid starring Will Smith's son is in the works, and there's also a redo of Footloose headed our way.

But this next item is something that is certainly... different, in ways most of us weren't expecting: The Hollywood Reporter is breaking the news that a movie based on the board game Monopoly is in development and that none other than Ridley Scott has been attached as producer, and likely will be directing it as well. Scott is looking at the project "with an eye toward giving it a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic 'Blade Runner.'"

The story also reports that a movie based on Battleship is also being considered (didn't they already make that a few times, first as The Enemy Below and then The Hunt for Red October?).

Gotta wonder what Monopoly directed by Ridley Scott will be like...

"Do NOT pass Go! Do NOT collect two hundred dollars!"

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This is why a lot of us have been opposing George W. Bush all these years...

President-Elect Barack Obama is likely going to overturn a lot of Bush's policies via the use of executive order and "signing statements".

And here's why Bush's most stubborn supporters had darned well better start worrying up a sweat...

George W. Bush set a horrible precedent with his abuse of executive orders and signing statements (which are how he got around the letter of the law a lot of times, by "interpreting" legislation according to his own whims and declaring that it was his executive privilege to do so). And for most of the past decade, the "Bush-bots" have cheered him on... even when he's grievously violated the Constitution in the process.

And now that very same power is going to land in the hands of Barack Obama.

Can you people who have thought Bush could do no wrong these eight years, possibly be capable of understanding what that means?

I've said it since last week: Barack Obama will not be a good President. But he would not have the potential to wreck so much havoc if George W. Bush had not shown him how to do so in the first place.

In the end, if Obama's tenure as President is a disaster, it will be, quite sincerely, Bush's fault.

And I'm gonna go ahead and tell y'all that beforehand.

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Six new WATCHMEN posters hit the Intertubes

Oh geez... can you imagine all the kids who are now gonna try to "look cool" as they emulate the Comedian lighting up his cigar like this?

Ain't It Cool News has collected the links to the six new character posters just released for Watchmen. Also in the lot are Rorschach posing with his grapple-gun, Laurie/Silk Spectre II, Dr. Manhattan (in a scene that everyone who's read the book will recognize), Adrian at his Antarctic retreat (with Bubastis in the background!), and Daniel with the Owlship.

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HyperMind: Great gaming store serves the Triad area well!

A couple of weeks ago I had to go to Burlington, North Carolina, about thirty minutes away from home here in Reidsville, on a business errand. I wound up with some time to kill and thought I'd drive around my old stompin' grounds, since I lived there for a few years while a student at Elon. The west end of town in particular has grown a lot recently, what with a new Target Supercenter and a Best Buy and a new movie cinema and all kinds of other good places.

Anyway, it was while on south Church Street that I came across HyperMind...

With a name like that, I couldn't resist going in.

It turns out that HyperMind, now at its second and larger location since first opening in 2006, is a game store. And to the best of my recollection, there hasn't been a place like this serving the area since Cosmic Castle on High Point Road in Greensboro, which closed up a number of years ago. I used to go to Cosmic Castle a lot to buy Star Wars Role-Playing Game source books: even though I never played the game itself, I was one of those Star Wars geeks that bought plenty of the background supplements. I'm glad to have now found HyperMind, 'cuz this store has Star Wars RPG stuff out the wazoo!

Or is Dungeons & Dragons - which for years I've called "Bushes & Orcs" since players hardly ever go adventuring into a dungeon or fight a dragon anymore these days - more your speed? HyperMind is amply stocked with the latest Dungeons & Dragons products, from the basic sets on to the advanced campaign settings. Need more of those fancy dice that Dungeons & Dragons and a lot of other pen-and-paper RPGs employ? HyperMind has plenty of those, too! Just about every role-playing game that I've heard of (and plenty that I never knew existed) can be found at HyperMind.

The more traditional board games can be found here also, like Monopoly (including several themed variants, like Transformers and John Deere) and Clue. While I was there I also found a board game version of Starcraft, several zombie-related games (what is it with zombies lately anyway?) and some longstanding classics like Axis & Allies, which if you've never had the pleasure is a game that lets you act out the parts of Patton and Rommel or any other military genius that strikes your fancy, as you re-create the theaters of battle in World War II on your dining room table. The Starcraft game came out a year ago and I'm told that it has an especially strong following

Are you a fan of the HeroClix system games, like Marvel and DC Universe? HyperMind has tons of that also. In fact, when I was there I saw a coupl'a full racks of the DC Universe Arkham Asylum packs, which word on the street is that they're selling out all over the place. HyperMind also carry the Star Wars Miniatures game, which I also haven't had the opportunity to play yet but lots of people tell me it's a very enjoyable pastime. HyperMind also sells Magic: The Gathering and a host of other collectible card games. And if they don't have it in the store, the friendly and knowledgeable sales staff will be more than happy to order it for you, usually delivered in less than a week.

And HyperMind doesn't just provide the games either: toward the back of the store is a large gaming area, set up with lots of tables and chairs. The store is open on several weeknights for people to come in and play their favorite games, be it a card game like Magic: The Gathering or role-playing.

On top of all that fun stuff, HyperMind also features a wide selection of educational games and toys... and I was pleasantly surprised to find some items in the store that I had no idea were still being produced these days, like chemistry sets. And if you're looking for a puzzle to spend some nice leisurely time with or as a gift for someone, HyperMind has you covered there as well.

So what did I get while I was there?

We used to play BattleTech (now known as Classic BattleTech) a lot at the nearby community college when I was getting my associates degree. I've always loved this game and its fictional universe, and now it's growing in popularity even more. So I got the latest version: the Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set. If anybody reading this is up for a game, write me at theknightshift@gmail.com and we'll work something out! And it's a good thing that HyperMind has lots of miniatures (for BattleTech but also for games like Warhammer 40,000) on sale: I'll probably need 'em as I resupply my Inner Sphere mercenary company :-)

Family-owned and operated, HyperMind (click here for its website) is located at 3396 South Church Street in Burlington, North Carolina. It's practically across the street from West End Cinema, among that group of stores if you're familiar with the Burlington area. I would absolutely recommend checking out HyperMind if you're from anywhere like Raleigh and Winston-Salem and all points in-between. I don't know if there's ever been a place quite like this ever around here: HyperMind is well worth giving your patronage!

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A Capella tribute to John Williams

Dear friend Jenna St.Hilaire (who was previously Jenna Olwin before her recent nuptials) spotted this video on YouTube and sent it this way. It's a four-way split-screen of a dude who's doing an a capella rendition of several John Williams movie scores, with a Star Wars-ish twist. It's pretty amazing!

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Cal Thomas sez: The Religious Right is dead (AMEN to that!)

A few days ago on this blog I wrote about how conservative Christians bore much of the blame for the election of Barack Obama. That they had let their pursuit of power blind them so much that they failed to see Christ and what He stood for anymore.

And now, writing in Jewish World Review (a very good publication, I might add), Cal Thomas doesn't just echo those same sentiments, he articulates them far better than I could.

From his essay "The Religious Right, R.I.P."...

Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

I opt for trying something else...

Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture. The futility inherent in such misplaced faith can be demonstrated by asking these activists a simple question: Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not. Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government?

The essence of Thomas's piece is of such brilliance, that I sincerely believe that every self-declared "evangelical"/"conservative" church in America would do well to read it from the pulpit... and take his wisdom to heart. Click here to read the rest of his column.

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Theatre Guild of Rockingham County will be performing OLIVER TWIST next month

I had so much fun taking part in the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Children of Eden, that I tried out for Oliver Twist. And I wound up with the role of Mr. Sowerberry (the undertaker who is given custody of Oliver after his pleading for "more").

Taking part means a lot to me personally, because this production is being dedicated to the memory of Gene Saunders, my high school drama instructor and the founder of the Theatre Guild. Gene's signature role was Fagin, and if you were ever lucky to see him play the part of the shifty thief, you already know that he brought an amazing weight and, I'll even say "magic" to the role.

This production, directed by Jon Young and with Jessica Reed serving as stage manager, boasts an absolutely wonderful cast. Tim Wray is playing Fagin and Mike Morrison is Bill Sikes. Jasper Thomas III (who won a wazoo-load of awards at the Theatre Guild dinner a few months back and who delighted audiences as young Abel in Children of Eden) is Artful Dodger. Rob Compton is Mr. Bumble and his lovely wife Donna is Mrs. Corney. Theresa Brown will be making her stage debut as Mrs. Sowerberry. Tish Owens is Nancy and Tony Hummel is Mr. Brownlow. And Nathan Tolodziecki stars as the lovable young moppet Oliver Twist.

The show runs for six performances, December 5 through 14 at the Rockingham Community College Advanced Technologies Building Auditorium. Click here for more information. Definitely worth catching especially if you've got kids in your crew! :-)

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LOST finds Wednesday timeslot again with 2-hour season premiere

Lost is returning for its fifth season on January 21st (two and a half months from now) with "Because You Left", the two-hour premiere. That's according to James Hibberd's The Live Feed. Lost will have the 9 p.m. Wednesday slot for the rest of the season (which will no doubt make a lot of people happy that they don't have to stay up so late... right Geoff? :-)

Speaking of Lost, I have been hearing some weird rumors regarding Season 5. Namely: that when Ben moved the Island it went backward in time and we'll see the castaways who stayed behind meeting up with DHARMA folks like Horace and "Dr. Candle", that there will be a flashback episode for the Black Rock, that "Jeremy Bentham" will turn out to be a clone, etc. What other show but Lost could make such outrageous concepts perfectly logical for the average viewer? :-P

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Obama won... because conservative Christians prostituted their principles

I originally had much more to say about this, but I'm going to dispense with the flowery rhetoric and cut to the heart of the matter...

The so-called "evangelical conservative Christians" had damned well better look in a mirror if they want to see who is most responsible for Barack Obama winning the race for President on Tuesday.

And now there is no reason to be angry, and no rationale for "blaming God" for Obama's victory, as I have seen too many Christians seriously doing. God had nothing to do with Obama winning. If anything, He let the people of America have what they wanted... and He absolutely played fair with many of those who profess Him as Lord.

"Christian conservatives" paved the way to Obama's historic win because they sold out their values for sake of worldly power.

People like James Dobson and the Focus on the Family crowd: they are the some of the ones most at fault. So too are many of the "preachers" that I have read and found myself listening to on the radio (like WPIP and Ron Baity of Berean Baptist Church out of Winston-Salem). They decided long ago that reaching the lost of this world wasn't their biggest priority. Instead they wanted to "sit at the king's table". Websites like Free Republic (yeah I'm looking at you Jim Robinson, ya first-order hypocrite) became too fixated on obtaining power. They lusted for the power they thought they could have so much, that they didn't bother to ask themselves if they should have had it to begin with. And still others, like Presidential Prayer Team, turned the office of President into a high priesthood of material might: something that would have horrified the Founding Fathers. So it is that in the past eight years George W. Bush - a man of weak character and no sincere Christ-like qualities - became such a paragon of virtue that it became on par with blasphemy to object to his "wisdom".

These and many others became so obsessed with destroying the enemy (like "liberals") that they became the enemy.

They rejected the God of Heaven and instead chose to worship a god of fortresses. They, quite honestly, chose the god of this world and what he was offering them.

They chose against putting their faith in the God of Jesus Christ.

That's not to make a judgment against Obama's spiritual condition at all. But because of the spiritual condition of many of his enemies, Barack Obama is now going to be their President.

They brought this on themselves. And if they have any shred of conscience, the self-proclaimed "Christian leaders" like James Dobson and Pat Roberton and their ilk will stop looking for excuses and already trying to regain power in 2012, and turn their own hearts toward repentance instead. Not for sake of temporal advantage, but purely because they desire God's will... without trying to bend Him to their wishes.

Pastor Chuck Baldwin also has similar sentiments about his fellow Christians...

Across the country, rather than stand on principle, hundreds of thousands of pastors, Christians, and pro-life conservatives capitulated and groveled before John McCain's neocon agenda. In doing so, they forfeited any claim to truth, and they abandoned any and all fidelity to constitutional government. They should rip the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of their Bibles. They should never again tell their children, parishioners, and radio audiences the importance of standing for truth and principle. They have made a mockery of Christian virtue. No wonder a majority of the voting electorate laughs at us Christians. No wonder the GOP crashed and burned last Tuesday.

Again, it wasn't Barack Obama who destroyed conservatism; it was George W. Bush, John McCain, and the millions of evangelical Christians who supported them. And until conservatives find their backbone and their convictions, they deserve to remain a burnt-out, has-been political force. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Click here for more of Baldwin's thoughts.

I have said it many times over the past several months: there is no faith to be had in politics. The Christians of this land would do well to understand that, if they want there to be anything of America at all to bestow to their children.

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So how did I spend my evening?

In line at the local GameStop, waiting to get Gears of War 2.

I figure that if I've done midnight premieres of the Star Wars prequels and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "midnight madness" sales of new Star Wars toys and midnight launches of the last three Harry Potter books, I might as well add doing something nutty for a video game to the list.

Okay, me go play now...

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The hologram that wasn't (is that a double negative?)

There's been lots of commotion about CNN's "holographic technology" that had virtual versions of CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin and rap musician will.i.am talking in the studio with Wolf Blitzer during Election Night two days ago (click here to see what it looked like during Yellin's report). But Don Reisinger of CNET News points out that it's disingenuous for CNN to call it a true hologram...

Don't say it's a "hologram" technology unless it really is. If CNN was truly using a "hologram," it would not have employed a green screen and overlay images. Instead, it would have captured scattered light and then reconstructed it back in the studio.

Oh, and it probably would have bankrupted CNN too.

I happened to catch this gimmick when they were talking to will.i.am and honestly, I wasn't terribly impressed. It looked too much like it was being accomplished "in-camera" (and it was). And there was no reflection from the "holograms" on the studio floor either. I know a few guys who given the challenge, could no doubt have made it look much more convincing with a minimum of equipment. But the meat of Reisinger's essay is that this kind of stunt cheapens the purpose of journalism and tilts it more toward the direction of entertainment. I'm persuaded to agree with that sentiment.

Besides, it'll be a long time before real holograms are feasible for broadcast television. Until then, just enjoy Princess Leia crying out "Help me Obi-Wan..." whenever you watch Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope :-)

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Nikola Tosic interviews me for his blog

Nikola Tosic is an Internet consultant and artist who maintains a rather lively blog. He asked me for an interview and I was glad to oblige! In the process he wound up picking my brain about some things that I found I had never taken the opportunity to discuss on my own blog. Nikola described me as "weird yet eloquent"... and that's probably the best description anyone's ever had for me :-P

Here's a teaser (in Nikola's lowercase style)...

q: i am not convinced that video and internet are so dominant in your philosophy. i think you are exploring these mediums only by accident while you try to distribute a message. as they serve this purpose now in future you might expand into more different media. what is the essence of the message that you wish people to hear form you? how would you sum up your message?

the long and the short of it is: people need to think for themselves, otherwise there will always be someone else more than willing to think for them. in that regard, video and the internet are extremely useful tools… but without solid ideas behind them, they are worthless. george lucas once noted that “a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing”. so it is with things like blogs and youtube and such.

right now, i think we’re still getting used to these new technologies. we’re still “stretching our wings” so to speak. we haven’t yet exploited them to their fullest potential. and we won’t at all until we begin to embrace them as platforms for presenting new ideas instead of reinforcing tired *ideologies*. the presidential election we just had in the united states? i thought it was a very frustrating thing because apart from the pro-ron paul movement and a few others, none of the campaigns had a serious vision about using the internet in a fresh way to promote their messages.

Read the rest of Nikola's interview here :-)

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Michael Crichton, author of JURASSIC PARK and a ton of other awesome novels, has passed away

The first time I ever read a Michael Crichton novel, it was Jurassic Park. I bought the paperback version the week it came out, one cold and rainy Friday afternoon following swim practice at our high school. It drizzled hard all weekend and I spent most of it curled up under a blanket in my bedroom, reading Crichton's fascinating tale of outlaw cloning and systems breakdown.

I wound up re-reading Jurassic Park five more times after that, prior to the movie coming out a year and a half later. By that time I had also read many other of Crichton's novels, including The Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, and Congo (which for some reason I enjoyed even more than Jurassic Park).

Over the years I hungrily devoured most of his books as they were released. The Lost World, I eagerly snapped up during my first semester at Elon (and I've always thought that both volumes of Crichton's "Dinosaur Duology" were far better than the movies they spawned). More recently I've enjoyed Timeline and State of Fear, and two years ago I both thrilled and laughed at reading Next, his most recent novel.

I had come to relish the thought of a pending Michael Crichton novel: some bold work of fiction that in addition to entertaining, it would have me thinking about some new concept... or old concepts in entirely new ways. That was part of Crichton's gift to not only literature, but the general public's appreciation of science and technology. Not to mention compelling his readers to wrestle with the same ethical questions that happen every day in the realms of research and commerce. Crichton was a much-needed cipher, who helped us come to terms with the world that we were, more often than not, wrecklessly building.

And unfortunately, his will no longer be that voice of caution that we would have been wise to heed.

Word broke a short while ago that Michael Crichton has passed away at age 66, following a private battle with cancer.

In addition to his novels, Crichton was also a medical doctor who received his degree from Harvard. He was a university instructor and wrote much nonfiction about medicine and travel. And Crichton created the hit television series ER, now in its final season.

He will be sorely missed, by his family and friends and his many legions of fans.

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And on the day after...

...we still woke up. The sun rose again. There was a new morning. Life did go on.

In fact, it couldn't sincerely be said that much of anything changed at all.

This country, this world even, is not made by the grace of a single man or woman. An individual can render it grievous harm however.

But in the end, America - and every other country for that matter - is the result of the diligence of her entire people. And I tend to believe she is only as good as the lengths her people will go to admit that they are not wise enough to govern this land with mere human reasoning.

Acknowledging that much is the beginning of the enlightenment that the Founders prayed we might have. We've lost sight of that, and that has to be said regardless of what "party" we might belong to.

I'm going to have more to say about this election in the coming days. Including some things that may not be very popular, but I think they need to be said anyway.

In the meantime, congratulations to everyone who won his or her respective election.

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