Monday monday

Hmmm once again I find myself listening to Iced Earth and wondering what to talk about this morning, so it's likely going to be all over the map again . . . so let's start out with a bit of a point to make . . . the local paper is often thin on stuff to put in it, I mean it's not every week that you can slip in an advert thinly disguised as an article for a local merchant (BTW where's the story about the new candy store in town?) but the March 25 edition went into great detail with an almost daily breakdown of the local OPP detachment's call out stats for the March Break week.

.

Normally the paper won't print anything controversial or negative about the town, but if you were passing through or just happened to pick up a paper and look at it, you would think that was run of the mill and only contribute to the sometimes ill informed perception that many have of this town, but this week they chose to do something a little different I suppose. I just think it's looks bad for the town and the residents of the town, or maybe this is going to be a regularly weekly section in the paper, but I've got my doubts. It was probably a one off because the local OPP detachment sent the paper a press release with the information in it.

.

But that's just me, what do I know . . . well okay maybe don't answer that right now.

.

And for something a little less serious, here's a collection of the most embarrassing photos from last year. The picture of you passed out on the toilet is strangely absent.

.

If you're here you've got a computer and odds are it's a PC, so here's an article with some fast fixes for common PC problems . . . but remember the first to try is always rebooting the computer. Don't ask why, just do.

.

Ever wonder what the Mona Lisa would look like if she were painted by other artists, well wonder no longer, here it is.

.

While we're on the topic of art, how's about a sweet video showing 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art. The music it's set to is Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, performed by Yo-Yo Ma.

.

Everybody who's cool likes comics, and you're here so you must be cool, therefore you too like comics . . . so you're in luck because here's a collection of the 50 greatest WTF moments in comics. BTW here's a definition of WTF in case you aren't in the know.

.

It's no secret that I loves me some cover tunes, so here's a nice collection of some of the oddest on the net. But if you're into covers and think the ring-a-ding-ding lounge lizard rat pack vibe is where it's at check out one Mr. Richard Cheese, trust me, you won't be disappointed.

.

And I will sign off with is possibly the best warning sign ever.

.

Until next time.

Loud & Clear Good Buddy, Loud & Clear

I want my BSG

Morning all . . . what to talk about today, well if you didn't know there's a live action film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are coming out this October. You can check out the trailer for it on the Youtubes here if you're so inclined. I know this is a must see film for me . . . the book was always one of the greats, and I still want a pair of those sweet pajamas that Max had, but after hearing it read at a friend's funeral it became a whole lot more powerful for me.

.

Let's hope the don't Transformers this one, eh?

.

So what's a geek to do on a Friday night without BSG? I'm at a loss, but I'm sure it'll involved sitting in front of a flickering screen of one type or another.

.

For some reason the Teeny Little Super Guy from Sesame Street just popped into my head. Talk about random eh? Well I guess he does just pop right up before your eyes. There's a bunch of videos on Youtube here if you're interested in a little childhood reminiscing.

.

After reading this Calvin & Hobbes comic I've come to realise that they prophets of our age and I think I should look into getting more Calvin & Hobbes books to better prepare myself for the rest of what life might have in store for me. You can check out a 30 day archive of the C&H comics here if you need a little boy and his tiger story fix. Although the comic stopped over ten years ago, it still has one of the finest goodbyes I've ever seen and one helluva a fine piece of advice for life, don't you agree?

.

And finally I think I'll destroy a little bit of your childhood . . . we all know there's a GI Joe movie coming out this summer right? And we're all hoping that it won't be as bad as we think it's going to be right? We'll kids there's nothing left to hope for because now that Cobra Commander has been revealed I don't see how they're going to be able to save this movie. Check it out here for yourself, if you dare.

And the band didn't play on

It was today in 1942 that the Nazis started shipping Jews to Auschwitz.

.

In other related news the original plans for the camp were found in a Berlin apartment. You can read about it here, and see the plans themselves and some words in German here. I think there'd be something strange and powerful I think about holding those plans in your hands . . . and I thought it was pretty cool when I got my hands on plans for the old Catholic school here in town.

.

And I can take some pleasure in knowing that I can draft better than the Nazi's Leindraftencorps. Ubermensch mein ass!

.

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, if you haven't read Maus, do yourself a favour and do it.

.

In other sad news surrounding this place Auschwitz Museum is struggling to preserve the site as nature is reclaiming it. You can read more about it here if you're so inclined. I suppose it's too much to expect something hastily built as a temporary facility to stand the ravages of time and nature. I haven't been there but i surely hope that they can pull it off and save this place. Not every museum has to be a happy place.

.

Well that's it for today - I'm sure we'll get back to our more regularly scheduled programing next time.

Things and stuff

I read this article about a couple of deaths that came from someone starting to take apart a construction crane while people were still using it, and it being, well at least partially, blamed on lack of training. You know it's not the lack of training that had this cat taking the bolts holding everything together while it was still in use, it was the over abundance of stupid.

.

Trust me on that one, if you're old enough to turn a wrench and haven't figured out that gravity makes things fall down go boom, fuck you don't even have to know it's gravity, and you haven't figured out that eventually things fall to ground, there's no hope for you.

.

Meh what can you do eh? And all the really stupid people in the world make the rest of us look a whole lot better, don't they?

.

Oh hey are you a fan Jessica Biel (not to be confused with Jennifer Beals)? Are you a fan of Jessica Biel's boobs? Well you're in luck, here you go. She's no Dita Von Teese is she, but to each their own. And well Dita just wanted to be Bettie Page when she grew up . . . not that there's anything wrong with that.

.

Since we're talking boobs, this art project will blow your mind.

.

And moving on . . . if this article is right I'm fucked. Proper fucked. Better wait three weeks until the study showing that high doses of ibuprofen reduces the risk of heart attack. And this one doesn't bode to well either. No well, what can you do eh?

.

After reading this article you can stroke having sex with koalas from that list . . . the dirty STD infected whores.

.

But maybe after reading this you'll be a lot more interested in visiting Oslo than you were before . . . although after checking this out you might want to lay off the drugs a little.

.

And finally here's an unrequested plug for a friend of a friend's tool selling website , go there and buy some shit and maybe if I send enough business their way I'll get me some cool new tools . . . like there's any other kind.

.

PS - Charlie still don't surf.

This about sums it up

Big Bruthah is Warching You, Mate

I don't know about you, but I find this offensive and cause for concern, seems that our laid back, stubby drinking, 'Roo ramming, ute driving mates down under (or at least their elected officials) are planning to censor the entire interwebs for the whole of the country.

.

The whole of the proposed list is supposed to be available online at WikiLeaks but the site won't load up for me. If you're interested in checking out give it a go and lemme know how it is. Apparently the websites on the banned list run the gamut with everything from kiddie porn to online poker to a dentist . .. oh and apparently WikiLeaks itself. To me this is too much, I don't think that government should step in and censor something like this in the name of the children (oh dear Gord won't someone think of the childrens!).

.

If a country who's supposed to be all about freedom of choice and G'Day Mates and tossing shrimps on the barbie wants to join to ranks of countries like China who are filtering the internet for the good of their people, who's next? We're awfully regulated here in Canada, so let's hope the Right Honourable Stephen Harper doesn't start to think this is a good idea and lock down our interwebs. After all we are the true north strong and free.

.

If you've got kids you're likely a parent, act like one. Teach your kids something about something other than pissing and moaning and how everyone gets a gold star. If you instill the right values into them they'll be all right and even if they do come across this stuff on the internet, by accident or on purpose, they'll still turn out all right. Or if you are a parent and you think this is the way to go don't filter out my internet, put some cyber nanny net filetering software on your own computer. The government shouldn't be raising your kids, you should be.

.

I mean if the government came along and mandated what your kids would wear and what you'd feed them and when you'd hit the fucking roof. Unless of course they also paid for it, then I'm sure a lot of parents would be cool with it, whatever, after all WoW ain't going to play itself, bars won't stay open without thirsty patrons and if you don't stuff money in a stripper's cleavage, who will?

.

Oh yeah and if you're a kid who hasn't figured out Google yet, you're hopeless and your parents probably don't need to lock out anything on the net, but just in case this is apparently how you disable the cyber nanny software your mum put on the computer.

.

I didn't grow up with the internet, and maybe that's a good thing. I know it meant I had to go to this building full of things called books to look stuff up called a Library when I wanted informaton on something, and I used to buy things called magazines to keep up on current news and happenings . . . and it really would have hacked the bottom out of the value of those grainy VHS tapes of porn recorded off the big dish that everyone had stashed somewhere.

.

No well, so it goes. Anyway since we're sorta in that vein already, how about some cool old Soviet Union propaganda posters? I'm not quite sure what it is but I'm a big fan of propaganda posters in general, maybe not always their message (when I can read it) but there's something about the style of them, the art, the window into a past way of thinking or the window in the past's way of trying to convince someone to think your way that I really find appealing.

.

And in case you're wondering no I'm not designing my own . . . yet.

.

Until next time Comrades.

I'll get you next time Gadget, next time . . .

Well if you're anything like me, and if you have any hopes of being awesome it'd be in your best interest to be, you have spent and still spend a good chunk of your television viewing on cartoons. If you animate, I'll try to watch it . . . anyway remember Inspector Gadget? And no I don't mean the film with Matthew Broderick or the really crummy sequel with that squinty guy from 3rd Rock from the Sun, the animated TV series with the Inspector voiced by Don Adams of Get Smart fame.

.

Anyway back to the matter at hand I'm sure you recall how in the cartoon you never saw Dr. Claw's face, only his claw and the back of his chair . . . and if you were anything like me you always figured there was some episode of the show that showed his face and you just never caught it. Well that might still be the case, but I doubt it so stop wasting your time watching the reruns and read on fair reader read on . . . seems that in the early 90's a toy company released a Dr. Claw action figure, that after you opened the package revealed his face. Wait wait wait, don't go scouring eBay for it just yet, you can check it out here if you're interested.

.

So now that you've had a look at it, is it just me or the picture of Dr. Claw you had in your head completely different from the action figure? Big ups for packaging the action figure with MAD Cat though.

.

Read more of about the face of Claw here . . . guess I'm not the first geek with an Internet connection to be let down by this revelation.

.

No matter, but that does segue nicely into Cracked's list of 7 Badass Cartoon Villains who Lost to Retarded Heroes doesn't it?

.

Is it just me or is this the coolest business card ever? Yeah you want some now too, don't you?

.

And now for something a little different, how about Kermit the Frog singing NIN's Hurt/spoofing Cash's video for the song? Pretty cool eh? If you know the guy who posted that particular video whack him with a stick for me not realising that Cash covered the tune, albeit his version is way better than Trent Reznor's original in my humble opinion. Watching Cash's video, it's just so much more powerful . . . or maybe I'm just a soppy git.

.

And while we're rocking the amphibian vibe, how's about Kermit covering Radiohead's Creep. God I loves me a good cover tune.

.

And finally, I'd like for you to read this article and tell me that my fear of horses is unfounded.

One more time

Yeah been slacking about putting stuff up here again . . . I guess I've been busier more important things? Yeah I hate to say it, but sometimes it happens. No matter I'm back here today, and after all it's quality, not quantity, right? So let's have at it . . . since it is March Break and I'm not heading down to South Padre Island or anything like that.

.

This video came highly recommended, and all I have to say is what is that kid on and where can I get some?

.

I'm sure I've mentioned here before that the film Hellraiser is being redone, and this time with input from Clive Barker, the man who wrote the novella that the film was based on. So hopefully it will have more of the original story in it than what the first film did, although that movie was pretty cool, which probably had a lot to do with Doug Bradley's portrayal of Pinhead.

.

Speaking of here's a first look at the new Pinhead for the new film . . . different but the similar. I won't pass judgement until I see it in context.

.

From the current quasi-celebrity news file, or obits page I guess, former WWe wrestler Test aka Andrew Martin died just recently, you can read more about it here, but there isn't much info out there yet. But let's see . . . pro wrestler, early 30's, dead in apartment . . . I'm going with the classic heart attack from steroid and coke use that is oh so prevalent amongst his profession.

.

One of the better parts of a great book was when Roddy Piper made dedicated the book to all the guys he used to work with who weren't there anymore, and listed them and there was a lot, maybe more than you'd think. You'd think these guys would figure this shit out, but I guess the ride is good enough that you don't complain about it being short.

.

In music news infamous Norwegian Black Metal icon, former Burzum front man and church burner Varg Vikernes is being released from prison after serving his term for the murder of Mayhem guitarist Øystein Aarseth aka Euronymous. If you're interested you can read more about it here. Several years ago I met someone who had spoken with Varg on the phone from prison and what should come as no surprise is that he's very charismatic. Welcome back to society Varg, try to be good this go around, eh?

.

If you'd like to learn more about the Black Metal scene I'd recommend you read Lords of Chaos, it's a really good read, a little grim at times, but worthwhile.

.

And I'll sign off with another must see movie, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. Take a look at that title and the website and tell me it's not screaming win.

.

And now for some real news . . . check out this article and this one with photos of a suicide bomb blast going off in Sri Lanka outside a mosque while people were celebrating Mawlid, the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. Be warned the pictures although they are frames from a video are pretty grim, and I don't mean the caught the aftermath of the explosion, they got the bomb going off.

.

So was it worth the wait? It better have been. Until next time.

Half assing it

Check out this trailer for what might be one of the finest films released this year, Lesbian Vampire Killers. The title alone screams win, but I've been let down before. Damn you, damn you to hell Vampires versus Zombies, lucky for us the trailer looks great. This film might even be better than Zombie Strippers.

.

Since the Watchmen film comes out this Friday I think it's appropriate to take a peek at The 7 Stages of Nerdgasm: A Fanboy Awaits the Watchmen Movie. And speaking from experience, that list is pretty accurate.

.

Let this article be a lesson to you, don't piss off the Mary Kay Lady - the Avon Lady go right ahead.

.

I totally need one of these, don't you think?

.

And finally RIP Philip Jose Farmer (you can read more about him here), I hope we meet up on the Riverworld.

More Great News Everyone . . .

According to this article Faith No More is (almost) reuniting (read the band's official statement), less guitarist Big Sick Jim, for some shows in Europe this summer. FNM is one of the bands that I've always wanted to see but never had the chance to . . . and since I only won my $20 back in the Millionaire Life draw on the weekend I won't be able to jet on over to see them this go around either. No worries, being filthy rich would have changed me anyway . . . step up from taxi cabs and crack whores to limousines and super models.

.

For something a little on the local, okay regional, side; if you're from Northwestern Ontario you've no doubt heard the expression Nipigon Nylons in reference to your wool socks, well seems that some inspired entrepreneurs have gone out and got themselves a trademark for the phrase and no doubt have a three step plan to getting rich. I'm just not sure what step two is.

.

Step One - Get Trademark

.

Step Two - ?

.

Step Three - Profit

.

You can read more about it here if you're interested.

.

So last night for whatever reason while Sportscentre was flipped to after not watching RAW TSN's Jennifer Hedger came up in conversation, likely because she was on the TV in front of us, one thought that she was on a sex talk show, and for some reason I thought that she had been naked in a movie or TV show. I couldn't find her naked, but here's a vid of her making out with another girl on The Lofters. Not the best girl on girl kiss I've seen, but kudos for trying.

.

Mmmmmmmm . . . girls kissing girls.

.

I'm almost a year late to sign on, but doesn't this look like a great trip? Sure beats the hell of the Front Street Pub Crawl, involving drinks at three establishments and a tubesteak on the way home. BTW the Tavern (to the people using Trip Advisor, please note it is not the #1 restaurant in town, you want somewhere to eat here ask me I'll point you in a direction) is open for business again, so let's hope the rest of the building doesn't decide to topple over on us.

.

And finally check out this sweet recap of the original Star Wars trilogy by a girl who claims to have never seen the movies . . . and you know what she doesn't do a half bad job.