Seems like the only thing that I missed was the ONLY snow my area has had this entire winter!!
Ahhh well, after the past few years' worth of ice and blizzard, a little respite may be a good thing.
This one is definitely from way back. For one thing you can hear Mr. Hooper (the actor who played him passed away in 1982) and for another, there's no way that a sketch like this would be broadcast on Sesame Street today. Ahhh those were the days...
So here is Bert and Ernie in "What Time Is It?"
So I'm gonna pitch the case to y'all that in my opinion, Addy Miller deserves to win a Shorty. Because she's an incredibly talented young actress who is also immensely sweet and nice in real life, and she always takes time to interact with her growing number of fans.
In case you forgot who Addy is, here's a reminder...
Yup, she's the "little girl zombie" that Rick Grimes shot down in the very first scene of the very first episode of AMC's megahit series The Walking Dead. And word is that she's gotten involved in a bunch more great projects since then!
Here's a pic from a few months ago, when Kristen and I got to meet Addy at Woods of Terror near Greensboro...
Now ain't that the most precious-lookin' little cherub who ever played a flesh-eating undead ghoul?? :-)
Anyhoo, if you've got a Twitter account (which all the cool kids have these days) here's the link to Addy Miller's nomination page at The Shorty Awards. I'm asking all my online peeps to click on over and give her some support! She's doing very well so far, but every little bit helps.
And thanks!! :-)
It must also be noted that in the past week or so a significant number of Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostals, Seventh-Day Adventists, and members of many other denominations have rallied support behind their Roman Catholic brethren.
It should thus be noted that Barack Obama has pulled off something that has not taken place in about nineteen hundred years of church history:
He has unified the body of Christ, and found them to be of one accord.
Okay, scratch that... 'cuz there's now a new heavyweight champion of the hot pepper scene!
(I am already determined to find some of this stuff. No I'm not suicidal...)
New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute performed quantitative analysis of a variety of superhot peppers from around the globe. How powerful is the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion?
During harvesting, senior research specialist Danise Coon said she and the two students who were picking the peppers went through about four pairs of latex gloves.Read more about this potent pepper here. I'll no doubt be purchasing some seeds in the near future. Expect some YouTube'd hilarity to ensue shortly afterward (much to my girlfriend's chagrin :-)"The capsaicin kept penetrating the latex and soaking into the skin on our hands. That has never happened to me before," she said.
It was like an instant of enlightenment for me. Something I had known, but didn't know how to express it, suddenly became crystal clear. Matt didn't have to go any further, I could see it so vividly: the "conflict" between left and right, in reality, always takes away from individual liberty and gives more and more power to the government!! The only thing the "left" and "right" are fighting over is who gets to control the government. Neither "side" will ever admit that what they seriously want is control over We The People.
Chuck Baldwin is a commentator who I have enjoyed reading for quite some time, and in his essay this week he writes about the fraudulent "conservative vs. liberal" paradigm. Here's an excerpt...
There may have been a time when the words “conservative” and “liberal” meant something, but that time is no more. Today, “conservatives” in government are doing as much to promote Big Government, as are “liberals.” In fact, if one were to honestly evaluate the twelve years of the George Herbert Walker Bush and G.W. Bush administrations, one could say that “conservatives” even eclipse “liberals” in promoting Big Government. Under the two Bushes, the federal government expanded (and even exploded) to levels that for-real liberal Democrats could only dream about.It's one of the finest pieces that I've read in awhile, anywhere. And I'm gonna tremendously recommend that it's worth your time to read it, too.Let’s get realistic. Just because a politico says he or she is “pro-life,” or “pro-family,” or “pro-marriage,” etc., does not mean that they are going to do anything to help save the country. Come on, folks; think! “Conservative” Republican administration appointments have dominated the US Supreme Court since the infamous Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions that effectively legalized abortion-on-demand. And we are no closer to overturning Roe and Doe after almost forty years of electing “pro-life conservatives” than we were the year after the Roe and Doe decisions were rendered. And for the first six years of the 21st Century, “conservative” Republicans dominated the entire federal government, and still the Roe and Doe decisions stand.
(snip)
Both “conservatives” and “liberals” look to the federal government to establish and enforce their parochial agendas. “Liberals” look to Washington for the establishment of “social justice,” while “conservatives” look to Washington for the establishment of “military justice.” The net result is the federal government keeps getting bigger and bigger regardless of who controls the White House, Congress, or Supreme Court.
“Conservatives,” whether Christian or not, are just as culpable in the expansion of Big Government as are “liberals.” In fact, when it comes to the expansion of military adventurism, “conservatives” are the most culpable. And when it comes to the ever-burgeoning police state that is currently taking shape in the United States, “liberals” and “conservatives” are equally to blame. Let’s face it: both “conservatives” and “liberals” are in the midst of an intense and illicit love affair with Washington, D.C...
I mean, I remember going to school every day with a lunchbox packed with a sandwich, a small bag of potato chips, a thermos of lemonade and sometimes a brownie or slice of cake. Around the holidays Mom would also usually throw in a bag of Chex snack mix (we've always called it "trash" because "there's all kinds of good junk in it!). So did millions of other children around the country. And we certainly didn't seem to suffer from malnutrition, rickets or plague.
In 2012 however, those individually-prepared meals packed with love would almost certainly have had our parents taken away in handcuffs by Department of Social Services. That seems to be the general direction we're headed according to this story from Carolina Journal Online, which reports on government run amok in the schools of the little burg of Raeford in the eastern part of this state...
Preschooler’s Homemade Lunch Replaced with Cafeteria “Nuggets”I think every parent in that school should pack the same identical sub-nutritious menu in their children's lunchboxes for a solid week, and make these government ninny-nannies' heads collectively explode from frustration.
State agent inspects sack lunches, forces preschoolers to purchase cafeteria food insteadRAEFORD — A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because the school told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.
The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the person who was inspecting all lunch boxes in the More at Four classroom that day.
The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs - including in-home day care centers - to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.
When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.
The girl's mother - who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation - said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a "healthy lunch" would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.
"I don't feel that I should pay for a cafeteria lunch when I provide lunch for her from home," the mother wrote in a complaint to her state representative, Republican G.L. Pridgen of Robeson County.
The girl's grandmother, who sometimes helps pack her lunch, told Carolina Journal that she is a petite, picky 4-year-old who eats white whole wheat bread and is not big on vegetables.
"What got me so mad is, number one, don't tell my kid I'm not packing her lunch box properly," the girl's mother told CJ. "I pack her lunchbox according to what she eats. It always consists of a fruit. It never consists of a vegetable. She eats vegetables at home because I have to watch her because she doesn't really care for vegetables."
(snip)
John Hayward at Human Events has some more thoughts about this ridiculous situation.
Having a designated person inspecting each and every lunch brought from home? Seriously?
In the weeks since Lucas announced he was retiring from blockbuster filmmaking (time will tell about how serious he is about that) I've been led to consider his magnum opus anew, particularly the prequels. And at last, I'm wondering what the chronological first half of the Star Wars would have been like had it been... well, different. For the first time I'm finding myself agreeing with a lot of observations: that the prequels are too heavy on politics and too light on action, that we don't come to know and love Anakin enough to sincerely care when he falls to the Dark Side, that there is no character analogous to Han Solo a'la the "regular working guy" that we feel that we can relate to. I could also go into the written dialogue, the over-emphasis on origins and Jar Jar Binks, but those dead horses have been beaten enough already...
I have to concede however, that Sexton is making a lot of good points here. Particularly about how the prequel trilogy is increasingly relevant in light of the culture of our time. And I'm feeling compelled and ready enough to offer up my own theory about the prequels.
Here's what I think really happened: once upon a time, there really were going to be nine or even twelve Star Wars films. In retrospect I think that twelve would have been too many, but a "trilogy of trilogies" sounds better, and has a nice operatic ring to it. Following The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, I do indeed believe that that was the plan.
But one thing happened which threw those plans into turmoil: Marcia Lucas left George.
Look folks, I know what kind of a blow a divorce can deal. I've experienced it firsthand. It's something that you wouldn't wish for anyone to have to go through. Three years later and I'm only now beginning to be able to really pick up the pieces and move forward, hopefully toward bigger and better things that God might have in store. More than anything else, divorce crippled me creatively. I'm working on two new film projects now, the first in a long time. But even with smaller gigs like that, it has been a massive struggle.
I can only begin to imagine what kind of a blow that was to George Lucas: a man who not only has been creative his entire life, but has built a multi-billion dollar empire upon it... along with all the responsibilities of creating industries employing hundreds, if not thousands of people.
Many people argue that Return of the Jedi was the weakest installment of the original Star Wars trilogy. If it was, considering what George Lucas was going through in his personal life at the time, then we should be thankful that Return of the Jedi came out as good as it did. Personally, I think it's a powerful and fitting conclusion to the saga... but had Lucas not been hit hard with the divorce, I would bet good money that there would have been an Episodes VII, VIII and IX. Eventually.
So how does this relate to what we got with the prequels?
It was almost a dozen years after Return of the Jedi before George Lucas sat down to work in his office to begin writing Episode I. And during that span of time two other things happened in his life. The first is that he became older, wiser as a person. The second is that he became an adoptive father. He now has three children. When a man becomes a father, however that comes about, his thoughts begin to turn toward "What kind of a world am I leaving my children?"
It's not a far hop at all from that to "What kind of a world am I going to leave behind, at all?"
Lucas' love of history is well documented. The dude gets the meaning of works like Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In the lead-up to Episode III Lucas was quoted a lot for remarking that "all democracies eventually become tyrannies".
And that is what drove the prequels to become... what they are. A cautionary tale about decadence and corruption. A warning, against the folly of forsaking wisdom and patience for power and control. A tragic morality play about how even those things with the best of intentions can and will fall because of all-too-human frailties.
It takes the better part of two whole movies to set the board for that, but by the time Episode III comes around, there is no denying that the creator of Star Wars... has a message, for all children as much as for his own.
Think I'm wrong? Well, stop for a moment and think back to all the times in the past number of years that Padme's line has been quoted: "So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause." I've seen that line used in more than a few places just during the last few weeks, in regard to any number of matters.
I don't think that George Lucas sold out or "got lazy" or anything like that so far as the prequels go. He simply made the Star Wars movies that he, being the best of the person that he could have been at the time, felt led to make. Three movies intended to give pause and consideration as much as they were meant to entertain.
In the end, the prequels are a product of the evolution and growth of their creator as a person. I don't know if he could have tried to channel "the old George" for sake of his audience... and I honestly don't know if anyone had or has the right to expect that of him.
Or to expect that of any person, for that matter.
Four Arrested After Exorcism Goes Bad - UPDATEDSounds like these folks have been watching Constantine way, way too many times :-P
By: Erika OdellRussellville, AL - Four people in Franklin County have been arrested after what Sheriff Shannon Oliver calls an exorcism gone bad.
54 year old Dianna Brewer, 39 year old Christie Wahl, 36 year old Ginnie George and 20 year old Zachary Bryant are all charged with 3rd Degree Domestic Violence.
According to Franklin County Sheriff's investigators it all started Tuesday morning when deputies were sent to a home on Highway 61 in Spruce Pine on a domestic violence call. When deputies arrived, they found the front door wide open, with a Bible lying on the front porch and saw a scuffle inside. That's when they learned there had been a dispute when George and Wahl accused their mother, Diana Brewer of being Satan.
Officials said that the daughters held a mirror in front of Brewer and told her to look in and see that she was Satan, and that they were going to perform an exorcism to drive Satan out.
Reports show that George said that she was holding a two year old in her arms when Brewer started hitting her and struck the child in the forehead. That's when investigators said that both daughters began hitting and pushing, causing the fight to escalate...
Saint Valentine was a Christian who was imprisoned, gruesomely tortured, and finally beheaded on orders from Emperor Claudius II of Rome on February 14th, 270 A.D. Now's the time to make things right by remembering this fine lady...
Florence Green died on February 4th, at the age of 110. She would have been 111 later this month.
And she was the very last living person who served during World War I.
Born on February 19th 1901, Florence was 17 when she enlisted in the Women's Royal Air Force in September of 1918: just two months shy of the armistice that ended "the war to end all wars".
The last living combat veteran, Claude Choules, passed away in May of last year. And it was a year ago this month that Frank Buckles, the last surviving American "doughboy", departed us.
Read more about Florence Green's long and remarkable life here.
But still... a real hoverboard!! Now we can all die happy :-)
It was an action-packed weekend for your intrepid blogger, dear readers. From the Valentine's party at Kristen's dance studio, then going to the Love For Life Conference at Thomas Road Baptist Church (we got to see Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, AKA the parents of those nineteen kids and counting!) and then yesterday culminating in the mid-season return of The Walking Dead on AMC, I've been a busy dude.
So about "Nebraska", the first episode we got since November 27th's chapter that ended in Barnmageddon...
"Nebraska" began moments after that hella shocker of the previous episode, and was for all intents and purposes a "cleanup operation" of its aftermath. To be honest, not much happened until the very tail end of this one, and I'm wondering if this episode would have been a better one to go into the hiatus with: it would have provided a dramatic "breather" while setting things up to escalate. Which looks to be happening sooner than later.
Not as strong as "Pretty Much Dead Already", but that would have been darn near impossible anyway. Word is however that the remaining five episodes this season are going to be pretty honkin' intense... so in hindsight, we might be thankful for the respite that "Nebraska" gave us.
Ummmm... who do you think you're kidding?!?
George Lucas is now claiming that Han Solo did NOT shoot first, and NEVER did, in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
So in case you've been living under a rock for the past fifteen years: in the original version of the first Star Wars movie that we had for twenty years from 1977 on, Han Solo clearly shoots bounty hunter Greedo at (nearly) point-blank range in the Mos Eisley cantina.
Here's the original scene...
Then when Lucas rolled out the "Special Editions" in 1997, the scene was edited so it looks like Greedo shot first, then Han returns fire. Apparently Han shooting first made him out to be too cold-blooded, or somesuch.
Fifteen years after changing it up, and now... Lucas wants us to think that Han didn't shoot first at all? Say what ya will about an artist having control of his vision, but that kinda revisionism just won't fly.
GeekTyrant has more about this attempted retconning with our minds by the Plaid One.
'Course, y'all know what one now-famous fan of George Lucas thinks about the only gun firing belonging to "cock-a-doodie Han!!"
So I'm going to relent to brute-force attack.
Regarding how President Obama is trying to force Catholic hospitals and other institutions to fund birth control, against that faith's beliefs and teachings:
If this isn't a situation that demands civil disobedience and even flagrant lawbreaking against the government, then I don't know what possibly WOULD be!
I try my best not to judge the spiritual state of another. For the first time, I am inclined to be compelled to wonder about that of Barack Obama. How can anyone of conscience even conceive of mandating such a thing?
Sure, why not.
I first saw this movie in July of 1986 but it wasn't until I was in college a long time later that I found out the title. We were visiting family in Florida and playing a game of Monopoly in our motel room with my cousins and we thought we'd put some TV on. It was a PBS station showing... some very dark and gritty film about nuclear war in England.
I was 12 years old. I soon lost all interest in Monopoly and became transfixed to this film. The image of the young woman chewing through her newborn baby's umbilical cord is something that has haunted me to this day.
Threads originally aired on BBC Two in Great Britain in September of 1984. That wasn't very long after the network ABC aired The Day After here in America. If you've seen The Day After, well that's mild compared to Threads. And that's sayin' something. I was 9 when The Day After broadcast and it made darn near everybody watching (which was, well... darn near everybody) turn white with fright.
Threads, however, is a far more gruesome beast.
I'm posting this because Threads is a fascinating example of Cold War cinema. That was a very different time for those of us who grew up during it. We were the last of the children who came up scared about nuclear holocaust breaking out at any moment. And it could have happened...
Why didn't it? I've no doubt that history will remember that communism in Russia, could not sustain itself. Its people wanted to be free. An unsustainable economy failing to provide for a citizenry wanting better is a perfect combination for a government's collapse. We can see that in hindsight perfectly. But at that time...
Well anyway, here it is: from British television in 1984, a horrific yet intriguing relic of a world that nearly was: Threads.
This dude is 80 years young... and still composing some of the freshest-sounding movie scoring around!
Of course, since you're already looking at this blog, that kinda defeats the purpose of the QR code to begin with...
I did not know the family, but I know lots of people who do. I have heard nothing but very good things about Doug and Ladonna French. They leave behind two children, including one who was at home during the robbery and barely escaped. As of this writing, no one has been arrested.
In light of this, I'm feeling led to say something that really shouldn't have to be said...
You really are your own best protection. No offense to the men and women serving in law enforcement, but in the real world they can't possibly be a 100% effective safeguard against criminal wrongdoing. Call 911 and it's going to be at least 5 minutes, in the vast majority of situations, before a sheriff's deputy or police officer can arrive at your house. A lot can happen in that time. A lot of bad. Happening toward you.
A person who is breaking into your house will not care about legal niceties. A person breaking into your house will not care about how much money it will cost you to defend yourself in court. A person breaking into your house will not care how many attorneys you will have to hire. A person breaking into your house will not care that you might get arrested for a firearms charge. A person breaking into your house will not care that you might be in jail for a day or so.
And neither should you.
You can always replace money. You can never replace a loved one. You can never replace your own life either.
It sounds cliche, but it's true: an armed society is a polite society. It's a documented fact that places with higher gun ownership by those with property enjoy statistically and considerably lower crime rates.
If anyone breaks into my house, I will defend myself and my loved ones, with deadly force. And I don't give a flying rat's ass how much it will personally cost me.
Remember folks: it is better to be judged by twelve than to be carried out by six.
Can't put my finger on it but... this seems spot-on Spider-Man, in all the right places. Now I love love love what Sam Raimi did with his 2002 Spider-Man flick. But The Amazing Spider-Man already seems darker, more serious a take on the Spidey mythos. Looking forward to seeing this. Along with The Avengers, 2012 is shaping up to be Marvel's year to shine!
Well anyway, no matter who who're rooting for tomorrow or even if you're not a sports fan at all, here's something we can all enjoy: Andy Griffith's classic comedy monologue "What It Was, Was Football", accompanied by George Woodbridge's illustrations from MAD Magazine!
After all, Planned Parenthood became something not wanted or needed... and so Komen gave it an abortion.
What? I thought Planned Parenthood was pro-choice. Komen made a choice. It chose to abort its relationship with Planned Parenthood. Komen has the right to choose, doesn't it?
And now a dozen or so senators are condemning Komen for what it has done to Planned Parenthood. I thought the government was supposed to stay out of people's private lives where pro-choice is concerned. Guess I was wrong.
Personally, I don't see how anyone with a shred of conscience can support Planned Parenthood. Its founder Margaret Sanger was a notorious racist and believer in eugenics. This has been well documented. Planned Parenthood was an organization intended to kill off minorities, the mentally ill and everyone else who didn't measure up to Sanger's ideal of humanity. How could anybody possessing a soul at all defend such a ghoulish group?
But don't y'all think that this place could use some more loveliness from my family? 'Cuz I sure can't offer any of my own!
So then, here is The Knight Shift's new pin-up girl: amazingly sweet, talented, beautiful, and one of the most wonderful young ladies in the Lord that I have had the pleasure of knowing: Rachael!
I know what some of y'all of the masculine persuasion are already thinking... and I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Rachael is taken, fellas. Not only that but her father (I was the ringbearer for her parents' wedding years ago) is like eight feet tall or something. So even if you get past me, you'd have your work cut out for you :-P
Jourdon's letter was subsequently published in The New York Daily Tribune later that same month, and it then found its way into Lydia Maria Child's The Freedman's Book (which is enjoying republication this very week!). And now Jourdon's letter to his previous owner has been published at the Mail Online's website.
Y'all have got to read Jourdon's letter! This freed slave - who had to dictate it to a writer - uses better English than a darn lot of modern-day college students. And then there is the wit and irony that Jourdon employs... along with a considerable amount of great humor. It's not terribly long, but there are some real gems in Jourdon's letter. And the final sentence is a real zinger.
Meanwhile, there are things going on behind the scenes that I've been sworn to secrecy on that... well, y'all will just have to wait and see how uberawesome this is all gonna be! I can tell you that the third annual Popcorn Sutton Tribute is set for Maggie Valley, North Carolina this coming summer and when I know more details I'll be sure to post 'em!
In the meantime, singer/songwriter Alonzo Pennington has written and recorded an awesome ballad about our favorite Appalachian moonshiner. So without further ado, here is... "Popcorn Sutton the Moonshine Man"!
I thought it was a most excellent and enjoyable read. Maybe not as rich in allegory as it could have been but, I'm willing to defer final judgment on this series until I finish the third book.
In case you haven't had the pleasure of discovering it yet, The Hunger Games takes place in a distant future where what was once North America collapsed into ruin and from the ashes arose a cruel dictatorship called Panem. It's a place ruled by The Capitol: a megalopolis populated by a decadent people who do nothing but eating, drinking, getting plastic surgery and probably getting laid. They live at the expense of the peons of twelve districts who provide all the necessities like fuel, food and power. To keep the districts from getting uppity (and also as reminder of who's in charge following an age-old rebellion) the Capitol makes each district send one boy and one girl to the yearly Hunger Games: a combination fashion show, popularity pageant and gladiator battle from which only one can emerge as victor. It's now the seventy-fourth Hunger Games and sixteen-year old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to play for District 12 in place of her younger sister (picked by lottery, in something of a nod to Shirley Jackson).
That's all I'll say for the book, which I decided I wanted to read before the film adaptation comes out next month. For a young adult novel, it's rife with plenty of plot, grisly violence and budding romance that never gets too mushy. Here's hoping the movie is even half as good!
(I came waaaaaay too close to writing out that full word, folks. Only the better angels of my nature intervened, but not nearly enough.)
Except it's not. This is actually happening.
Why? Well from the story at IGN's Comics News...
"It's our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant," said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. "After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original."DiDio and Lee don't have an effin' clue, do they? Makes me wonder if they've even read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic graphic novel. Me, I've read Watchmen at least 200 times since first discovering it in the winter of 1990. And every time that I re-read it, I discover something new.
This new project isn't a sequel, and "Watchmen 2" isn't even its proper title. It's being called Before Watchmen: a series of prequels, each one focusing on a different character from Watchmen. And none of them are needed or even wanted at all. Looking around the Intertubes today, all I'm seeing is disgust that this is happening. Indeed, I'm seeing some raw hatred toward DC Comics right now over this.
Suffice it to say, Alan Moore is not happy either...
"I tend to take this latest development as a kind of eager confirmation that they are still apparently dependent on ideas that I had 25 years ago... I don't want money. What I want is for this not to happen. As far as I know, there weren't that many prequels or sequels to Moby Dick."Mash here for more about this damnable sacrilege that sucks donkeys balls to no end.
The strange but true tale of raising up the first President of the United States as one of the undead is found on IO9.com's Secret History feature. It's long been known that Washington likely died from waaaay too much bleeding at the hands of physicians who were trying to treat the great man's case of sore throat. Back in the day it was prevailing wisdom that one of the primary causes of illness was "bad blood". Get a flu or fever or something and the village doctor would come over with his bloodlettin' instruments (or in some cases, live leeches) and commence to draining the precious red vino of life from your veins. And that's what happened to poor George, who probably would have survived the sore throat if left to his own devices.
Anyhoo, Washington's body was put on ice until time to bury him (he'd instructed that to wait a few days so he wouldn't be prematurely buried). And that's when William Thornton comes into the story. The designer of the United States Capitol building had the radical idea of thawing Washington's corpse with blankets, then pumping the lungs full of air and giving it a transfusion of lamb's blood (thought at the time to have magical reanimation powers). This would, theoretically, bring George Washington back to life.
Washington's family didn't give Thornton a chance to attempt his experiment. Maybe it was for the best.
(Living or dead or undead, George Washington still has more leadership and intelligence than everyone working in the city bearing his name put together.)
Mash down here for more about the saga of Zombie George Washington.
Okay well anyway, it turns out that back when the movie first came out, Fox News claimed that The Muppets was a front for some devious liberal agenda! Because the film's villain, Tex Richman (played and rapped by Chris Cooper) is an eeeee-vil oil baron out to acquire the Muppets Theater by any means necessary. Seems that Fox News thinks that little kids are going to be turned off from capitalism.
Ehhhhh... whatever. I saw that movie and the only thing "liberal" is a cameo appearance by James Carville (speaking no lines) as one of several celebrities manning the phone banks during the telethon.
So The Muppets is on the eve of its international release and during the press conference the Fox News matter came up. And Kermit and Miss Piggy addressed it brilliantly! Here's the clip!
Might we be seeing a feud soon between Kermit and Bill O'Reilly? Personally, my money's on the frog.
And I think that I enjoyed it even more the second time!
Incidentally, it was literally a sold-out screening yesterday afternoon when we caught The Artist for the second time together. Even knowing what was coming, Kristen and I were still thrilling and reacting to it as if it were last week's showing all over again. It was already my favorite movie from 2011 and the more I see it and think about it, the more it's becoming one of my all-time favorite movies ever!
Here's my original review of The Artist: one of the most captivating and creative motion pictures that I've seen in a woefully long time. I'm so looking forward to owning the Blu-ray of this as soon as it comes out :-)
Anyhoo, it's from the world of 40K which this next item comes from. Seems that Swedish torrent-trackin' site/political party/new religious denomination The Pirate Bay, which has already made a name for itself letting users search for songs, movies, video games and books, has now added 3-D models to its database.
Which means that through the ever-improving technology of 3-D printing, it is now possible to download physical objects via the Internet.
Here's how it works: you download the model and using a 3-D printer, the computer lays down layer upon layer of plastic or resinous material, gradually building-up a physical object. Right now the technology is still pretty rough, not to mention hideously expensive. But, it's rapidly getting cheaper and more refined...
So only a week or so since The Pirate Bay started offering links to 3-D models and already they're in legal trouble. Lo and behold this first bit o' litigation comes from Games Workshop, the producers of the wildly popular Warhammer 40,000 miniatures wargame. As was reported on the Huffington Post's website, Games Workshop sent a cease and desist order to The Pirate Bay after finding that one user had uploaded a 3-D file from which folks could download a Space Marines Dreadnought.
Lemme 'splain why this is significant. In the universe of 40K, a Dreadnought is a bipedal walking tank piloted by a Space Marine who, though grievously wounded and near death on his own, is given a new lease on life as a cyborg. And the model for this attractive bit of tactical tabletop weaponry costs in the neighborhood of fifty dollars American.
Now you start to understand why Games Workshop is eager to nip this in the bud before it has a chance to blossom. Games Workshop is charging copyright infringement and The Pirate Bay has acquiesced by removing the link to the model's file.
I can see why this will be a problem. And as much as many people complain about the high cost of Games Workshop's models, I for one can understand it. The craftsmanship of that company's artists is top-notch: we're not only buying the models, we're giving compensation to the men and women who come up with these crazy good minis!
But even so, and as many of this blog's readers know already, I have a lot of issues with much of digital copyright law, while at the same time absolutely respecting the rights of the content's originators.
Wanna know what I think? The quality of the finished products are fairly crappy. At least, they are right now. That won't last for much longer though. And when the time comes when 3-D printing is as ubiquitous on our desktops as the monitor and speakers, companies like Games Workshop should not only be ready for it but embrace it as a new market. I can certainly see Games Workshop selling official 3-D models to print via a client application right at your own computer. Need some new appendages for those Tyranids? Just click "buy" and you'll be entitled to one digitally-rights managed set of horrific slashing arms for your gene-stealers! Need more? Simply add to your quantity of purchased product. Easy-peasey, Japan-easy! Games Workshop gets its due and the end user gets official models and parts for his or her army! Hey, that's the model which has worked wonders for iTunes. I don't see any reason why it won't work for 3-D printing either.
There's some exuberant discussion going on right now at Bell of Lost Souls, my favorite 40K-dedicated blog (I visit it several times a day, and they cover a lot of other wargaming mini systems as well). Definitely worth checking out to see what other, more seasoned wargamers are saying about the implications of 3-D printing not only on this hobby but on culture as a whole.
As for how things stack up currently, I don't think Games Workshop needs to worry itself too much. Here's a picture of the printable Dreadnought in question...
Good Lord, that thing is HIDEOUS!! I wouldn't dare bring such a fugly model to the table. Nor would any other respectable 40K player. Even the ones who allowed that one guy to use a Coke can as a substitute for a Carnifex.
Here's an excerpt...
DDG: Many Americans are closely watching Europe and the ongoing debt crisis. Do you believe the situation is under control or are there more surprises to come?Mash down here for more of Danny's interview!Farage: The European Union - not Europe, actually - is collapsing under the weight of its own over-regulation, enormous subsidies (to its supporters) and attempts to rule the world through "soft power" (i.e. money) as well as the implications of its absurd currency-and-customs union. Most of this is not on the balance sheet, for credit-rating purposes, but it is there, in the real world, where the EU-crats do not appear to live. Anyone who believes what these people say is certainly in for some surprises.
And there is more difference between the two than night and day.
There are still some side-missions that I'm working on, but I finished the main story yesterday morning, after starting a new game fresh last week.
Just one word: YOWZERS!!!
Forget it being just the greatest Batman video game ever. Because Batman: Arkham City is... the greatest Batman story ever told, in my book. That you get to be Batman makes it all the sweeter.
That is the ballsiest ending of a video game that I've seen ever pulled off. Not gonna spoil it if you haven't played it yet but, it's something that has been done VERY rarely in the entire 70-some year history of the Dark Knight and this is the first time that it's been done in the scope of a video game... and somehow that made it all the more poignant and powerful.
I don't know WHAT the heck game studio Rocksteady is going to do for a third Arkham game, or how it could possibly top this one, but I've no doubt that it's coming. All the clues are there, especially (SPOILER highlight with mouse to read) the fact that Harley Quinn is pregnant with Joker's baby! Now if that ain't the proverbial loaded gun on the wall, I don't know what is. My guess: Arkham 3 will see all hell break loose on the streets of Gotham City itself. It was a massive mistake to hole up all that criminally psychotic potential within the walls of Arkham City. Maybe the next game could be called Batman: Arkham Unleashed or something...
A good video game is like a good book: the person should go away feeling that it was time well spent. That, Batman: Arkham City accomplished in grand style. Have to give this game my highest recommendation, folks. Also well worth buying first-hand so you can get the Catwoman side-story download included with it.
Kinda historic, given that since our governors have had the ability to run for re-election since the late 1970s, that all of North Carolina's governors since have run for and won second terms. Perdue is going to prove to be the break from that.
Wouldn't surprise me if she wound up with a job offer in Obama's second term (providing he's delivered one) but even so: that Bev Perdue will no longer be in the governor's mansion is terrific news. This lady has no clue how much her tax increases have wrecked havoc on this state. Not to mention that she once advocated getting rid of elections (seriously).
As for Governor Perdue, I've only one other thing to say:
Read about Gingrich's plans for a lunar establishment here.
I just couldn't resist having some fun with this...
"There are other worlds. This one is done with me."
The sad word came yesterday that Nicol Williamson, the legendary British actor who will forever be best remembered as giving us the finest portrayal of Merlin EVER, in the 1981 film Excalibur, passed away last month at the age of 75.
Williamson brought his considerable talent to bear whether he was on screen or the stage. At one point he was considered the finest living actor in the world. In addition to Merlin, Williamson will also be noted for his performance as Sherlock Holmes on drugs in The Seven Percent Solution.
Thoughts and prayers going out to his family. Think I'll pop in a DVD of Excalibur this afternoon in his memory.
Here's a photograph from northern Europe of some of the Aurora Borealis resulting from the massive discharge of solar particles hitting the Earth this week:
Looks rather like a great big bird of prey, doesn't it?
Compare that to this painting by Ted Nasmith, titled The Eagles of Manwë:
"...And out of the west there would come at times a great cloud in the evening, shaped as it were an eagle, with pinions spread to the north and the south; and slowly it would loom up, blotting out the sunset, and then uttermost night would fall upon Númenor. And some of the eagles bore lightning beneath their wings, and thunder echoed between sea and cloud.Nasmith's work is inspired by that section of The Silmarillion in which Tolkien shares the tale... and the proud and tragic fate... of the race of Númenor. The Númenoreans were about to break the Ban of the Valar: that they should not sail further west than they could see their own lands. The Ban was put in place so that mortal men would not be tempted to seek an immortality which only God Himself could grant."Then men grew afraid. 'Behold the Eagles of the Lords of the West!' they cried. 'The Eagles of Manwë are come upon Númenor!' And they fell upon their faces."
-- from "Akallabêth",
The Silmarillion
by J.R.R. Tolkien
It does not end well.
With that in mind, this week's natural phenomenon looks positivalutely Tolkien-ish, don't it?
In recent months I have made it known that for the past number of years, I have been observing a correlation between this kind of solar activity and an increase in significant seismic activity. You can read about them here and here and here and most recently from October here. So in keeping with that, I am going to strongly suggest that this latest storm of energy which the Sun is throwing at us could possibly trigger severe earthquake activity.
Just something to maybe bear in mind these next few days and weeks...
It seems to me that there are some people in this land who refuse to acknowledge the right of others to seek after and call out to God as best they can, in sincere and dignified manner. I do not believe that the Founding Fathers possibly had "freedom of speech" or "freedom of expression" in mind when such individuals take drastic action to interfere with and even deprive their fellow citizens of coming together for purposes of solace and worship. In more polite days, such individuals would have been run out of town on a rail, if not outright shot for the publick good. But since the constabulary frowns on that sort of thing lately...
First, I would like to suggest the Racketeering Against Grieving Expression Act, or the RAGE Act for short.
Per this law, those convicted of conspiring among themselves to deprive others of the right to mourn in peace during funeral services would serve a mandatory sentence of one year in prison. Second-time convictions and subsequent convictions would result in two-year prison sentences, accumulative.
Secondly, I would suggest the Racketeering Against Religious Expression Act. It could also be called the RARE Act.
Similar to RAGE, RARE would make it an imprisoning offense for conspiracy to deprive others of the right to peaceful religious worship.
Every person has the right to seek God as best he or she understands Him.. But that right ends where the right of others to do the same begins.
As with RAGE, RARE offenders would serve one year in prison for the first conviction, and two years for all subsequent convictions, also cumulative.
RAGE and RARE are meant to safeguard the rights of all to speech and expression. Yes, even the rights of the idiots at Westboro Baptist Church (and others who I don't care to mention by name). But they also acknowledge that everyone else has the same rights too... and it shouldn't take too much common sense to know when to respect those.
Thoughts?
They just don't make movies like this anymore, folks. And I do not mean anything about how director Michel Hazanavicius chose to make this a (largely) black and white silent film in the style of the late 1920s (including maintaining the era's 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which I thought was truly class). This is... well it's the kind of movie that if you've ever complained about how movies aren't as good and clean and imaginative as they used to be, then you owe it to yourself to see The Artist.
It's just quite simply the most amazing film that I have seen in a long, long time!!
The Artist is about George Valentin (played by Jean Dujardin), an actor enjoying enormous success in the silent movie era of motion pictures. By accident he meets Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), a young admirer who finds herself in a photo alongside Valentin on the front of the next day's Variety. Valentin goes out of his way to give Peppy a role in his next film.
It seems to be all going so well until two years later when the "talkies" burst onto the scene. Valentin derides it as just a passing fad, and to prove it he produces and finances his own silent movie. But audible dialogue has won over the vox populi, and Valentin's days as a silent star are dashed. He must watch in growing despair as the studios go for younger, fresher faces... which includes Peppy.
I'm not going to synopsisize it anymore, folks. Because you really oughtta go into The Artist unawares. It has won a slew of awards already and looks poised to be a major contender at this year's Oscars. If so it owes it as much to the insanely strong ensemble casting as it does to its beautiful cinematography. Look for John Goodman, James Cromwell, and Malcolm McDowell among others. But the real scene-stealer has to be Uggie, the actor (yes, he is!) playing Valentin's dog. I swear folks - and I'm far from the only one in this as it turns out - but Uggie's performance demands that he gets a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. That dog pulls off more sincere heartelt acting than a lot of performances in movies nowadays.
Okay well, I don't honestly don't know what else to say 'cuz The Artist blew my gray matter apart with its style, its story, its acting and its comedy (of which there is plenty). HIGHLY recommended!! And I shall most certainly be adding the Blu-ray of this movie to my collection as soon as it becomes available.
It's the best term that I can come up with to describe what this country has become, after observing what is going on with the Republican primaries this election season. Then it occurred to me that this really is what the United States has devolved into.
What is a "urinocracy"?
Urinocracy (noun): Government of, by, for and determined by adults who engage in pissing matches with each other.
Seriously: Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney? Are either of these two grown men showing us the maturity needed for the most powerful job in the world?
It would probably look just like the poster on the right. And that's just one of the many very kewl "what-if?" scenarios that artist Peter Stults has come up with in "Movies from an Alternate Universe". Stults has brilliantly executed a series that... well, just try not to imagine Christopher Walken as the T-1000 when you see this rendering of Terminator 2: Judgment Day!
Great work Peter! And thanks to Kristen for directing our attention to this great feature :-)
You know you want it: here's the classic opening titles, with that theme composed by Quincy Jones...
But why stop there? YouTube is hosting full episodes of Sanford and Son so if you've never seen the show before (you big dummy!) or you haven't caught it in awhile, here ya go!
Special thanks to Chad Austin for alerting this blog to the day's significance. And beans and diseases to him!
I pledged to not vote for any candidate for public office who runs even a single negative campaign ad against an opponent.
I'm telling y'all right now that the ballot I cast in 2008 had a lot of wide open empty spaces. But the candidates that I didn't vote for, it can't be said that they didn't earn that. Either because I believed they were not suitable for office on their own merits, or because they violated the terms of my vow.
Look folks, seriously: if a candidate spends millions of dollars attacking his or her opponent instead of telling us "This is what I believe and this is how I want to serve you...", why should we trust them with our precious votes?
Is a candidate more interested in being a public servant, or is a candidate more interested in the office, along with the power and influence that comes with it?
How a person conducts himself or herself during a campaign - I believe anyway - indicates the character of that person when he or she gets elected.
If a candidate can't run without running a vicious, nasty negative campaign attacking a candidate, then all that really tells me is that that candidate lacks the creativity, the vision, the leadership qualities to be in an elected position.
I know something of what I speak. I've run for office before, once. I produced three TV commercials on my own. I designed my campaign's yard signs and newspaper ads. Nothing of that material was negative... and I came really close to landing election. Not only that but the campaign earned worldwide attention and praise, so don't even think about telling me that "being nice" won't work.
I guess I just couldn't live with myself if I ran a campaign ad aimed at "the other guy". And I don't see how any other candidate could live with himself or herself either.
We need candidates who will present themselves and what they believe in, nothing more and nothing less than that. If they can't be honest in that much, then they shouldn't be running, period.
But as for the matter at hand...
I know. Some will be saying "But Chris, this is only electing the incumbent! Who is in office is more important than how they play the game, the ads they run, the attacks they make!"
I don't believe that. Because how they play "the game" demonstrates the kind of person that they will be when they get into office.
"We have to do whatever we can to (throw Obama out, defeat Mitt Romney in the primary, etc.)!!"
That's how it always starts. "Get the other guy." It is time for that to end.
There has to be a beginning somewhere. Let it begin with us.
Please keep in mind: This is NOT something I'm associated with or in opposition against any one political candidate or party. What this group is organized about is in regard to something that every political party... and too many politicians within each of them.... is guilty of perpetrating.
It's very simple: a candidate who runs even a single negative ad aimed at an opponent, DOES NOT DESERVE OUR VOTE.
Any political candidate that does this only demonstrates that he or she is after the office for its power, NOT to serve We The People.
Candidates should PROVE to us why THEY deserve enough of our trust to vote for them at the ballot box.
Telling us not to vote for "the other guys because...", ain't gonna cut it anymore.
I am fed up with candidates pulling this kind of crap. They are an insult to me, they are an insult to my community, and they are an insult to the United States of America.
There will be no change for the better in American government until we, the PEOPLE, choose AGAINST the negativity, the anger, the blind hatred that is dominating our political process.
Those who would exploit our baser instincts should be PUNISHED, not rewarded with elected office.
I pledge that if ANY candidate produces and runs for broadcast, print or any other published media even one negative ad or phone call or whatever, then I will NOT vote for that candidate. Ever.
