In what must come as a complete surprise to most of the literate public, it turns out the Saudis aren’t exactly innocents when it comes to foreign fighters mixing it up with American troops. But when you’re addicted to oil, what choice do you have?
Ah, sweet justice. When I read that Lord Black (clearly one of the Sith) had been declared guilty of mail fraud and obstruction I immediately thought of the scene at the end of Goodfellas where the cop dips his hand into a bowl full of coke residue, determines it’s the real deal, and says “see you in Attica, dick” to Henry Hill. (go to about 2:20 in the video)
Yes, Mr. Kotter is back and he’s flogging a new book of shenanigan-laden emails he’s taunted people with over the past few years. The best part about this interview is that Kaplan really seems to have his head screwed on properly….had a hit TV show, and when it was done, he said “well, that was fun” and proceeded to live a normal life and more or less ignore Hollywood. That’s my kind of ex-star. He’s also got some funny insights into the show, his co-stars and the current state of television.
For a counterpoint, see the long, sad decline of Robin Williams.
While I would have preferred a guided tour of the ancient Web 0.5 via Wang Laboritories, this video from DEC brings back a rush of memories of surfing the web on my old Pentium 90 chugging along using Windows 95.
Result: Metaverse. I ‘m not entirely sure Second Life is the coming of the long-vaunted 3-d Internet universe science fiction writers scribbled about in the 80’s and 90’s, but it is an interesting proof of concept to see the real world grafted onto the virtual.
You bet your ass they are. The National Post breaks down how Rogers, the Canadian wireless service most likely to carry the iPhone, gouges the living hell out of their customers with outrageous data rates. Not that the other carriers are any better.
Against my better judgement, I bought into the Hollywood hype machine and saw Transformers tonight. I was never a fan of the cartoon, so I wasn’t walking into the film with a bunch of nerdy demands and false hopes for a second childhood. I have, however, experienced the filmic canon of Michael Bay, which consists of a) explosions, b) boobs, c) more explosions, and d) mindless patriotism.
To my surprise, Bay mostly left his flag-waving at the door, and even took a few shots at George W. Bush. But the boob/explosion quotient was, as always, in place.
Not that I can complain overmuch. When the film doesn’t involve impossibly big robots smashing each other to bits, it grinds to a halt and it’s really, really stupid. But the actual robot fights are spectacular, with effects work by Industrial Light and Magic that easily surpasses anything else they’ve done.
And Bay, despite his failings in the story, depth and character department, has always been a great visual stylist. His films are gorgeous to look at, but it’s like watching Pamela Anderson develop Downs Syndrome. And it’s contagious, because soon you can feel yourself seeping down to Bay’s level of base rock ’em-sock ’em stupidity. Or you can do like I did and laugh at all the silliness, which I’m sure endeared me to the hardcore Transformers fans in the audience.
So I can’t say I liked the film, but I definitely enjoyed it. Once. Worth a download.
I’m still not entirely convinced there needs to be a fourth Indiana Jones movie, but the fact that Speilberg won’t be using CG, and will instead opt for an old-school approach, is music to my soul. The kids may not dig the lack of over-the-top spectacle, but I for one applaud Speilberg’s latest trip back to the woodshed.