More WATCHMEN photos and stuff

"So this blue guy walks into a bar..."

If you've read the book, you know what the above image is about. Looks like instead of toning down the brutality - and let's face it, two decades later Watchmen is still one of the most brutal graphic novels ever - Zack Snyder is gonna ratchet it up even worse.

(I'm warning y'all who aren't "in the know" here and now: if Snyder is at all consistent with the book, during the part of the movie when Rorschach starts talking about what made him stop "pretending", I hope and pray that you have a strong stomach.)

Click here for more new pics from Watchmen, including the one on the left depicting a certain "prophet of doom" who spends his days walking the streets of New York. And if you mash down here you can read an article from a 1973 issue of the Wall Street Post reporting on the deaths of journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Read More

Hatred and stupidity are a terrible combination

The photo on the right was taken during a protest in New York City in late December 2008.

Not as unintentionally funny as Sesame Street's Bert colluding with Osama Bin Laden, but still a somewhat hilarious peek into a heart of darkness.

Read More

Universe is a giant hologram, evidence indicates

So... does the world really exist? Do you exist? Do I exist for that matter? Believe it or not, according to bleeding-edge quantum physics our reality may be a massive illusion. Physicists have discovered that the entire cosmos is structured like a hologram at its most basic level.

Then again, to those who are students of the Bible, this probably comes as no surprise anyway...

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

-- Genesis 1:3

Einstein established a long time ago that matter was frozen energy (i.e. light). So I could see how that would perfectly jibe with the "universe as hologram" theory.

Read More

Google Earth going under the sea

After already putting practically every square meter of the Earth's land surface (sometimes hilariously so) at anyone's fingertips, Google is now turning its attention to the next-to-last frontier. The company is set to announce that its Google Earth will soon include mapping of the world's ocean floor.

I can imagine all kinds of fun that will be had with this. From the comfort of home users will now be able to search for Atlantis, zoom in on Rapture, and even take a peek at R'lyeh without having to disturb great Cthulhu's slumber.

Read More

Obama keeping controversial "rendition" practice

Even though he has pledged to end outright torture (no matter what its supporters have tried to brand it as), is closing the CIA secret prisons and has vowed to empty the camp at Guantanamo Bay, President Barack Obama is going to continue the policy of "foreign renditions" started by his predecessor George W. Bush.

Rendition means that the United States can secretly abduct a "suspect", and have him or her covertly transferred to another country that doesn't have the same official policies against torture. But it's not the United States that will be doing the torture or whatever, see? Officially, our government gets to keep its hands clean.

Some will call that "plausible deniability". I call it "using the letter of the law to defeat the spirit of the law" at its most grandiose.

Still waiting for that "change" that I was hearing so much about...

Read More

Congrats Pittsburgh Steelers!

One of the best Super Bowls ever. And wasn't that an amazing 100-yard touchdown by James Harrison? Don't know if I've ever seen anything like that.

Congrats also to the Arizona Cardinals on a hard-fought game and season!

Read More

Pale horse, pale rider

A Cody, Wyoming man has been cited for "drunk driving" of sorts. Benjamin Daniels was stopped by police for "public intoxication" while riding a white horse on a busy thoroughfare during a blinding snowstorm last week. Apparently the color of his horse, combined with Daniels' lack of sobriety, the heavy traffic and the harsh weather conditions made for a potentially hazardous combination.

Ya just can't make stuff like this up, folks! :-)

Read More

A commercial you won't see during the Super Bowl tonight

CatholicVote.org attempted to buy airtime to run this thought-provoking spot during the Super Bowl tonight. But NBC refused, on grounds that the commercial time isn't for "political advocacy or issues". CatholicVote.org is quick to point out that People for Ethical Treatment of Animals already received approval for a racy and suggestive promo it created.

Here's the spot that CatholicVote.org came up with. I find it to be exceptionally powerful, and well within the bounds of good taste. And in my mind, there is no reason at all why NBC should have refused to run it...

Thanks to Geoff Gentry for the heads-up.

Read More

The Super Bowl spots for UP, STAR TREK, LAND OF THE LOST, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, and TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN!

Today is the Super Bowl, which means that big entertainment studios (among many other companies) will be dropping unconscionable amounts of coin on measly 30-second spots to shill for movies, some of which won't even be coming out 'til August. And thanks to the glorious wonder of the Internet, we can take a gander at them several hours before they air.

This first spot is for Disney and Pixar's Up. I know some folks who have seen advance footage of this one, and they cannot stop raving about how good it's already looking. Go to Disney's website to see the commercial in much higher resolution. This will definitely be on my "must see" list this summer...

The next one is for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, due out in May. Another one that I'm eagerly anticipating, for one reason because this looks totally unlike anything that has been done in the forty-some years of the Star Trek franchise. And because I trust Abrams to deliver the goods...

This next one is for Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell. A movie that so far I am remaining very cautiously optimistic for. I must admit though: visually at least, this spot is hitting on all the right chords. Love the shot of the "time/space junkyard", the multiple moons and the Sleestack of course. The music has a great vibe to it also. We'll see this spring how this one fares...

The Super Bowl commercial for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Color me "meh". I'm just not getting this one yet. It comes perilously close to making me understand the whole "raped my childhood" thing that a lot of Star Wars fans have cried out over the past decade. That's supposed to be Destro that Christopher Eccleston is playing (sans the mandatory beryllium steel mask Destro always wears). Looks as outrageous and loud as any Stephen Sommers flick. I doubt I'll be there opening day for it but if word is good, I'll probably check it out, if only out of curiosity. ComingSoon.net has the commercial in multiple high-res Quicktime versions...

And finally, here's the Super Bowl ad for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A movie that I am extremely looking forward to but until now I have somehow remained blissfully unaware of what it's going to be about. And if this spot is any indication, the sequel to 2007's Transformers is going to completely pour on the crazy!

Oh yeah: Go Steelers! :-P

Read More

Yup, more WATCHMEN goodness!

Five weeks from today Watchmen opens in theaters. It's taken more than twenty years for a movie of this book to happen. And from the looks of things so far, it's gonna be done absolutely right (which had long been considered an impossible task).

Check out this new pic of some of the bad guys from the Minutemen era...

TotalFilm.com has even MORE new photos from Watchmen, including Dan's Arctic-conditions costume, the photo of Jon and Janey at the amusement park, and Billy Crudup in a very TRON-like motion capture suit during filming of the destroyed city scene.

And Movienewz.com has up some portraits of several of the characters, including Big Figure and his henchmen, Rorschach's psychiatrist and even one of Seymour! And yeah, Seymour is wearing just what you think he should be wearing.

So... does anyone know where a guy can find one of those cool Operation: Wrath of God patches?

Read More

A friend's intriguing LOST theory

Geoff Gentry is one of the coolest people that I've had the honor of calling not just a friend, but a brother in the Lord. He is also a fellow Lost geek. And Geoff has come up with some very fascinating ideas about what's going on with the island (including the meaning of the Four-Toed Statue that has tantalized fans since the end of Season 2). Click here to read Geoff's "Island Mythology Theory". Of particular interest - and it's one of the more original notions that I've seen floating around - is what Geoff thinks is Richard Alpert's purpose with the island.

Don't stop now Geoff: we want to read more!! :-P

Read More

"National car crushing" sought for inclusion in stimulus plan

You see, this is part of what's screwy with the United States right now. We've got too many politicians like Diane Feinstein and Henry Waxman, sitting on their publicly-funded derrieres all day and doing nothing but coming up with crap like this. As part of the "economic stimulus" now being debated, some in Congress are looking at it as an opportunity to completely gut the domestic industry manufacturing trucks and SUVs. Part of the scheme involves giving cash vouchers - out of the federal treasury - to people in order to help them buy "more fuel-efficient" vehicles.

So as if this country's economy wasn't in shambles enough, Feinstein and Waxman not only want to waste even more of our money, they want to destroy much of what little industrial infrastructure we have left to us.

It's almost enough to make one wonder if some elected officials are not actually the proverbial "Manchurian candidates", if ya know what I mean. They certainly seem hellbent enough on wrecking havoc to this country.

Thanks to John Seilback for the heads-up.

Read More

RED DWARF is returning!

Dang... now there is a headline that I never thought I would ever be writing!

It will have been ten years since they were last seen, but Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat will be returning at last to television this spring. Red Dwarf: Back to Earth will be a two-part special broadcasting in Great Britain during the upcoming Easter weekend (and will no doubt soon afterward find its way to The Pirate Bay, Demonoid and many other torrent-trackin' sites). As the title indicates, the story involves Lister and his fellow crew members finally returning to Earth (and I smell a lot of fun to be had with Battlestar Galactica when they get there).

Slam this smeggin' link for more info on what many have raved is the best sci-fi comedy series ever.

Read More

Handcuffed crooks run right into pole

Two criminals in New Zealand, handcuffed together by the local constabulary, make a dash for it. Too bad for them, they didn't coordinate their escape attempt very well. Even more bad news: a nearby security camera recorded what happened...

Read More

Standard Mode of Dress rearing its ugly head in Forsyth County

Remember the crazy fight that a lot of good folks here in Rockingham County, North Carolina fought in 2007 (at right) against Standard Mode of Dress: the euphemistic term for what are really school uniforms? It took about four months and the Board of Education had previously approved of the policy... but in the end, with a lot of passion and a little creativity, the board then reversed its decision and the school uniforms went down in flames.

Now comes word that much the same is happening to some of our friends a few counties over in Forsyth. Janet Marsh, the mother of a student at Wiley Middle School, alerts us to this story at the Winston-Salem Journal website. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education unanimously voted to implement Standard Mode of Dress at Wiley Middle during its January 13th meeting. But opponents of the policy contend that many parents felt too "intimidated" to rise in opposition because of how the information on those wishing to address the board was being recorded at the meeting and because of this, several parents feared retaliation against their children. There was also a sense of "restless urgency" regarding how fast the board pursued the policy, Marsh said. And in an e-mail to The Knight Shift she shared more of her concerns...

"I am a NOSMOD mom at Wiley Middle School and the administration is trying every trick in the book to push this measure through before anyone can really object. I was denied a request for an open forum for discussion and ended up having to stand outside the school for three days in the pouring rain trying to hand out my "Ten Good Reasons to Oppose SMOD" flier before the final ballot was issued. I won't bore you with all the gory details, but many of the parents at our school who would like to object won't come out as we had to put our names on the ballots and they feared repercussions."

Janet Marsh has asked me to pass along the link at the Winston-Salem Journal to the readers of this blog, and even if she hadn't asked I would have gladly shared it with y'all anyway.

And on behalf of those who have fought this kind of thing before, we wish our brethren in Forsyth County all the best in their own struggle against school uniforms! :-)

Read More

Standard post-LOST episode reaction: "Jughead"

Awright, before I say anything else, I gotta get this off my chest...

That was the cheesiest-looking hydrogen bomb prop that I have ever seen.

It wasn't the device itself that bugged me. That actually looked the right size and shape of the first Teller-Ulam "gadgets". But to have it suspended from that tower, hanging off the ground nose-downward (and test bombs do not look like deliverable warheads, guys) by those cables, as if it were one bad drop away from blowing Lost Island to Kingdom Come...

Lost hasn't done hokey all that much. But that was the hokiest thing on this show to date.

But with that out of the way...

"Jughead" was definitely one of the best episodes of the series yet! Early word was that we would get answers to some hard questions about the show's mythology. So let's see: possibly the origin of the Others, Daniel's mom, a ton of background on Charles Widmore (who had a whiff of sympathy for once), Richard and how he knew to be in Tustin, California in 1956...

Did I miss anything?

One thing I can't help but think: that the young female Other who took Daniel out to the bomb... might her name turn out to be Eloise?

And I'm wondering if sometime later this season or next, after all the time-twisting settles down, if a certain long-buried nuke is gonna be found. Hey, Anton Chekov's rule of drama is: "If a gun is shown on the wall in Act 2 it must be fired in Act 3, if a gun is fired in Act 3 it must be shown on the wall in Act 2".

Jughead is certainly one honking big gun on the wall, yah? :-P

Read More

Final WATCHMEN poster hits the Intertubes (along with more goodies... like Rorschach's mugshot photo!)

I soooooo want this hanging on my wall right now...

And the Warner Bros. marketing department is being very clever indeed. Check out this mugshot photo of Walter Joseph Kovacs AKA Rorschach (played by Jackie Earle Haley) that's just been released. And if you head over to the Flickr account for that radical right-wing fringe magazine The New Frontiersman you can find some "vintage" news photos of Dr. Manhattan during Operation Wrath of God, which took place in Vietnam in 1970. In the world of Watchmen, anyway...

The movie comes out March 6th.

Read More