Wed 14
Jul 2010
On my way to breakfast this morning, I passed this tiny little boat with an oversized Corvette engine slapped on top. Amusing enough, and that was before I noticed what was on the passenger side of the dash…
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Tue 13
Jul 2010
In honor of the spy exchange in Vienna over the weekend, I was re-watching The 3rd Man. Somewhere in the middle, I realized that the man playing the lowly assistant to the detective was Bernard Lee, who went on to play M, the head of the British secret service (James Bond’s boss). My first thought was, “He’s done well for himself,” by which I meant his promotion.
The truth is, they’re both bit parts (in fact, his role in The 3rd Man is somewhat larger than his Bond appearances), but for some 
Martin Sheen’s rise from Vietnam-era
captain to President of the United States: the
stuff that(John Kerry’s) dreams are made of.reason I associate his rise in fictional rank with some sort of real-world success. Take for example our forty-third President Martin Sheen. Or four-time General (and occasional private eye) Stacy Keach. These are powerful men. Especially compared to slackers like Marlon Brando, who never rose past Colonel. Or Humphrey Bogart, a Captain at best. And what about that Johnny Depp? He has yet to amount to anything…
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Mon 12
Jul 2010
Avatar is set to return to IMAX for a two-week re-run starting August 27, 2010 (with eight whole minutes of additional footage!)
Avatar:
back in theaters August 27th. While I won’t call it the most intellectually challenging movie of all time, I enjoyed Avatar the way I do a good rollercoaster, and I’m looking forward to one last ride. Moreso, I’m looking forward to laying eyes on those hot aliens again. A combination of super models and cats, James Cameron gives us the most irresistible combo since peanut butter cups.
He wasn’t the first one with that idea, though. In fact, the Na’vi are just the latest in a long line of cat-themed sexys:
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1942 A movie about a Serbian-born fashion designer who transforms into a black panther. Prrrrrr. |
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1966 Adam West’s Batman gets a new adversary: a sexy woman who dresses like a cat, ties him up, and flirts with him. |
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1970 Hanna-Barbera brings the comic book characters Josie and the Pussycats to life on Saturday mornings, giving many young boys new, unfamiliar stirrings. |
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1974 Marvel introduces Tigra, designed to have ‘special appeal to girls.’ Yeah, okay. Them, too. |
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1982 Nastassja Kinski remakes Cat People, adding much-needed nudity. |
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1987 Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman bump the fur in a TV version of Beauty and the Beast. |
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1989 William Shatner’s poorly-conceived Star Trek movie introduced this unlikely creature: the tri-breasted cat-woman from Nimbus III. (wish I were kidding) |
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2009 Teenagers around the globe touch themselves to the digitally-created, perfect figure of Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar. |
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Fri 9
Jul 2010
There’ll be a total solar eclipse over the south Pacific Ocean this Sunday, a rare event. For those who forgot to charter a boat, check out this amazing stop-motion video taken in 2007 by a NASA satellite:
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Thu 8
Jul 2010
Through the eyes of submersible robots, I have watched with morbid fascination as millions of gallons of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve seen poetic photographs of pelicans stained brown, and of waves of sludge staining the deep blue sea. And while I’ve heard a lot of talk about how horrifying it all is, what I haven’t seen is any sign that people are driving less, or even just driving in a more gas- conscious manner.
I live in Northern California, which many would claim is a giant refuge for hippies and environmental nutjobs. And yet the highways here are as packed as ever. And the byways? Nothing but jack-rabbit starts in a high-speed race between traffic lights.
Sadly, burning gas is still America’s favorite occupation. It’s a cheap thrill, dollar-wise, with prices rolled back to 2004. But what about the environmental issues? What about that gigantic spill? The response I’m hearing most often is, “It’s not my fault.”
For seventy-nine days and counting, 4,200,000 gallons of crude oil have been spilled per day. In the meantime, people have blamed BP for making cheaper and unsafe choices in the equipment used to construct the oil platform, and they’ve blamed them for being slow to react after the accident. People have also blamed ‘Big Oil’ for drilling in the seafloor in the first place. Hell, one person even told me the fault lied in, “The British.” All in all, we’ve found plenty of people to blame; pretty much anyone but ourselves. Mind you, this isn’t about dodging responsibility—these are people who genuinely, psychotically, believe in their own innocence.
Oh, and chances are that one of these people is you.
I mean, what do you think BP would be doing out in the middle of the
Now you too can be evil.
Wait, you already are…water drilling holes if you weren’t buying their gas? If you own a car, a motorcycle, or even a gas- powered lawn mower, then you own a chunk of blame for this tragedy.
How large a chunk? That’s up to you. Maybe you could drive less? Or be more conscious when you do. (Yes, you darling hybrid owners, you do pay the same lead-foot tax as the rest of us.)
Since more and more people are thinking about where their food is coming from, then why not their oil? I think a driver’s license should require knowledge of recent environmental disasters. Better still, we should be bringing exhibits around the country.
After all, how many vegetarians were baptised by a visit to the slaughterhouse?
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