Saturday, January 05, 2002
Hilarious letter that's part of a campaign by steely dan to be inducted into the hall of fame...they didn't get in at the time, which was 1997, that oversight was finally corrected last March. Outright bribery, you go guys, I can't believe those jerks didn't induct them the first year they were eligable. A Most Generous Offer
Dolly the sheep has developed arthritis at a very young age, raising the issue of the dangers of cloning among opponents.Cloned Sheep Dolly Develops Arthritis
Friday, January 04, 2002
Life imitates art: In what could be a scene lifted directly from the Woody Allen movie "Take the Money and Run", a crook's bank robbery attempt is thwarted when the teller can't read the writing on the note he passed her demanding cash. Sun-Sentinel: News Local
An elderly man smashes his car into the DMV office while taking his driver's test in Saanich, B.C. National Story - canada.com network
Talk about your moronic criminal element...five kidnappers face life in prison over a kidnapping in which they demanded $400 dollars...or $80 apiece, U.S. Newsday.com - Facing Life in Prison for $80
Thursday, January 03, 2002
If you know me, you know I hate psychics....here's an enlightening article concerning that most obnoxious of all psychics, Miss Cleo. New Times Broward-Palm Beach | newtimesbpb.com | News : Feature
An open letter to George Lucas:
Dear Mr. Lucas,
It's come to my attention that the members of the band 'N Sync will have a cameo, albeit brief, in the upcoming Star Wars movie "Attack of the Clones". As reader(s) of this blog will note, up until now I've been fairly quiet on the subject of the Star Wars trilogies and it's recent descent into the frothy sewer of pop-cultural swill, however, at this point, I feel I must step forward and say a few words on the subject.
First, after many years of hoping and praying and crossing our fingers in hopes of the Star Wars prequels, the long-suffering fans, nay, disciples, of your original movies were treated to the ultimate slap-in-the-face letdown that was "The Phantoom Menace". Jar-jar binks...what the HELL were you thinking...how could you have sat there, in your darkened screening room, watching the dailys from that film and smiled and patted yourself on the back on a job well done and not realize what kind of crap you were preparing to foist upon an unsuspecting public, a public that worshipped you like a god? It wasn't bad enough that you tainted an otherwise good movie, "Return of the Jedi", with those stupid ewok shenanigans, which, by the way, we forgave you for...grudgingly, because we refused to accept our Hero could do wrong. No...you decided to push the envelope a little further. While I and my contemporaries will always remember "Star Wars" as a watershed event, a cherished part of our childhood, the children whose first exposure to the trilogy was your latest installment will simply file it away in their heads along with such fare as "Batman and Robin", "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and the like, if they recall it at all.
I don't blame you for all this, not completely...you're older now, you have a family and children and perhaps you've just lost your hunger to make movies. I think that years of dabbling in your other endeavors, ILM's effects dept., merchandising, the various production companies and toy companies and videogame lines...all of these are well and good but in the process, I think you've lost that spark, that driving, burning, eat-at-your-guts NEED to put your blood and sweat and tears onto the canvas of the silver screen. I understand.
I imagine if Van Gogh (whom I'm not really comparing you to, that would be a stretch, however good "Star Wars" and "American Graffiti" may have been) had made a billion dollars from his first painting, the rest of his work probably would have been crap. Also, it's pretty much a given that most great artists, not all, but most, peak in their early twenties, this is true for physicists, musicians, pretty much any media. Orson Welles was 21, I think, when he made Citizen Kane, for instance...what was he doing when he was fifty? Making lame Nostradamus documentaries and lending his voice to the animated non-classic "Transformers: The Movie". Do you see where I'm going with this? I think the best thing you could do at this point would be to just distance yourself as much as possible from the next two movies and go play golf somewhere until you're ready for the old-folks' home. One last thing, it's been said before but I'll say it again, kill the hell out of Jar-jar, that would go a long way towards redeeming yourself of your horrible misdeeds. Better yet, leave him out of future pictures entirely, him and the rest of the Gungin race and let's just pretend it never happened.
Sincerely,
Patrick Welch Jar, Jar, Jar: 'N Sync's "Clones" Cameo
Dear Mr. Lucas,
It's come to my attention that the members of the band 'N Sync will have a cameo, albeit brief, in the upcoming Star Wars movie "Attack of the Clones". As reader(s) of this blog will note, up until now I've been fairly quiet on the subject of the Star Wars trilogies and it's recent descent into the frothy sewer of pop-cultural swill, however, at this point, I feel I must step forward and say a few words on the subject.
First, after many years of hoping and praying and crossing our fingers in hopes of the Star Wars prequels, the long-suffering fans, nay, disciples, of your original movies were treated to the ultimate slap-in-the-face letdown that was "The Phantoom Menace". Jar-jar binks...what the HELL were you thinking...how could you have sat there, in your darkened screening room, watching the dailys from that film and smiled and patted yourself on the back on a job well done and not realize what kind of crap you were preparing to foist upon an unsuspecting public, a public that worshipped you like a god? It wasn't bad enough that you tainted an otherwise good movie, "Return of the Jedi", with those stupid ewok shenanigans, which, by the way, we forgave you for...grudgingly, because we refused to accept our Hero could do wrong. No...you decided to push the envelope a little further. While I and my contemporaries will always remember "Star Wars" as a watershed event, a cherished part of our childhood, the children whose first exposure to the trilogy was your latest installment will simply file it away in their heads along with such fare as "Batman and Robin", "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and the like, if they recall it at all.
I don't blame you for all this, not completely...you're older now, you have a family and children and perhaps you've just lost your hunger to make movies. I think that years of dabbling in your other endeavors, ILM's effects dept., merchandising, the various production companies and toy companies and videogame lines...all of these are well and good but in the process, I think you've lost that spark, that driving, burning, eat-at-your-guts NEED to put your blood and sweat and tears onto the canvas of the silver screen. I understand.
I imagine if Van Gogh (whom I'm not really comparing you to, that would be a stretch, however good "Star Wars" and "American Graffiti" may have been) had made a billion dollars from his first painting, the rest of his work probably would have been crap. Also, it's pretty much a given that most great artists, not all, but most, peak in their early twenties, this is true for physicists, musicians, pretty much any media. Orson Welles was 21, I think, when he made Citizen Kane, for instance...what was he doing when he was fifty? Making lame Nostradamus documentaries and lending his voice to the animated non-classic "Transformers: The Movie". Do you see where I'm going with this? I think the best thing you could do at this point would be to just distance yourself as much as possible from the next two movies and go play golf somewhere until you're ready for the old-folks' home. One last thing, it's been said before but I'll say it again, kill the hell out of Jar-jar, that would go a long way towards redeeming yourself of your horrible misdeeds. Better yet, leave him out of future pictures entirely, him and the rest of the Gungin race and let's just pretend it never happened.
Sincerely,
Patrick Welch Jar, Jar, Jar: 'N Sync's "Clones" Cameo
A site featuring free fonts from various television shows, movies, brands, etc. Famous Fonts @ The Elite Entertainment Network
Wednesday, January 02, 2002
i haven't checked this out fully yet, but it appears to be a Neopet type site, maybe a little spiffier, there is a download involved and it mentioned something about 3d rendered environments...Nt-man, ya may wanna pass this on to the sis, looks like her kinda place. That reminds me, I need to feed my Neopet, who, as I write this, is probably scraping the bottom of a dumpster in Neopet world for food or lighting a fire in a trash can to keep warm, assuming he's not too ignorant to light a fire, seeing as he'd been deprived of books, as well as most of the other basic necessities of Neo-life, for ages...think I'll swing by there later and chuck him an omelette or something.... Furcadia - Let your imagination soar!
So you wanna know how to: Write a business plan? Mix a martini? Cure a hangover or convert to Buddhism? This is the place. SoYouWanna.com home
Barry's World is an online gaming site with a nice design that has a definite "first person shooter" bent...I'll have to keep this place in mind when I get around to reinstalling Voyager: Elite Force, or finally get around to getting Castle Wolfenstein. BarrysWorld - the Power behind Online Gaming
Mind-blowing 3-d design gallery at Rhinoceros's (A 3 dimensional modeling program) website. Rhinoceros Gallery
Okay, this is nice, a search engine for sound effects, you can even specify the format, filesize, etc. Yeah! FindSounds.com - Search the Web for Sounds
Anyone who ever read comic books in the seventies will remember those goofy Hostess Snack Cake ads featuring superheroes like Spidey and The Hulk...well, now you can view 'em all (Though I'm not sure why), thanks to seanbaby.com Seanbaby.com - The Hostess Page
All hail the mighty William Shatner, geek hero extraordinairre. You MUST BOW BEFORE HIM. (Personal note: I'm a Ben Folds fan and if anyone reading this is into Ben Folds Five and hadn't heard of the interim album he did entitled "Fear of Pop", go immediately to your Morpheus, Limewire, whatever it is you prefer and download the song by the same name, Shatner does a hilarious spoken-word voiceover on this song and incidentally, Ben himself was seen in one of Shatner's Priceline.com commercials, playing the moraccas, I think it was. William Shatner's Official Website
Here's a link to Lifesavers's Candystand site, since I just don't feel that I've posted enough shockwave games on here...yeah, that's it. Candystand.com Home
Cinematic goofs and gaffes at Movie Mistakes, apparently, enterprising folks with too much time on their hands have already found 50 mistakes in the Harry Potter movie. movie-mistakes.com - welcome!
This one's for you, Jordan...from Uselessknowledge.com:
Well, we can't be 100 per cent sure that some angry baker in medieval Europe didn't toss a pie at a customer and get a laugh first. But there is a written record of a Canadian coming up with the gag we're familiar with today.
Although Canadian Mack Sennett was one of several silent movie directors who popularized the pie in the face, the honor of invention goes to fellow countryman Thomas (Doc) Kelley, who had a popular travelling medicine show in the late 19th century.
The story goes that Kelley was in Newfoundland in 1889 when he saw a hotel stable boy being chased by an irate cook holding a piece of pie. Although the pie hit the boy's shirt and made a few onlookers laugh, Kelley gave the incident more thought. He concluded that a pie in the face would be even funnier.
As he said to a companion, "How about a whole pie, big and juicy, deliberately and carefully pushed smack into his face? How long do you think these folks would laugh then?"
Judging by the number of times the gag is still used, Kelley's invention was no pie in the sky idea.
Is the old pie in the face gag, seen in so many silent movies, a Canadian invention?
Well, we can't be 100 per cent sure that some angry baker in medieval Europe didn't toss a pie at a customer and get a laugh first. But there is a written record of a Canadian coming up with the gag we're familiar with today.
Although Canadian Mack Sennett was one of several silent movie directors who popularized the pie in the face, the honor of invention goes to fellow countryman Thomas (Doc) Kelley, who had a popular travelling medicine show in the late 19th century.
The story goes that Kelley was in Newfoundland in 1889 when he saw a hotel stable boy being chased by an irate cook holding a piece of pie. Although the pie hit the boy's shirt and made a few onlookers laugh, Kelley gave the incident more thought. He concluded that a pie in the face would be even funnier.
As he said to a companion, "How about a whole pie, big and juicy, deliberately and carefully pushed smack into his face? How long do you think these folks would laugh then?"
Judging by the number of times the gag is still used, Kelley's invention was no pie in the sky idea.
Is the old pie in the face gag, seen in so many silent movies, a Canadian invention?
It has been a long time since I'd been to the "Bert is Evil" site, which has since become even more famous due to it's Taliban propoganda connection. Looks like it's a lot spiffier nowadays, with a flash intro and everything, plus lots of other stuff besides the Bert oriented stories. www.fractalcow.com
Tuesday, January 01, 2002
Wacky B obsessively picks apart details of stuff like yahoo messenger. Everything you wanted to know about Yahoo! messenger, plus a lot of arcane details you probably could live without, but may find yourself poring over as I did, nonetheless, such as the infamous "ghost smiley" of which I'd never heard, which, although included in some earlier builds of messenger, had no command line and hence, just sat there in the smiley folder doing nothing for god knows what reason, only to be reincarnated as the somewhat mysterious "jack-o-lantern" (most people I know online had never seen it and they're pretty diehard messenger users) Wacky B - Messenger - Yahoo Messenger version 5 - Testing 123 - Yahoo's Ghost
A very good site for those who like true crime stories...also features streaming police scanners from major cities like LA and NY APBnews.com: Crime, Justice, Safety
You never can tell when you're going to need a bit of weird clipart, if that day comes, you'll be glad for this. weird clipart graphics and bizarre creepy pictures
Losers.org is a site that simply makes fun of people's websites, for various reasons, be it that they're a freak, a wannabe rocker, a nerd or maybe their page is just a poorly designed piece of crap...I may wind up on there one day and then I suppose I won't think it's so funny, until then though, hahaha. LOSERS dot ORG
Dave Archambault produces insanely detailed black and white portraits using a ball point pen as his media of choice...speaking as someone who has drawn with a ball point, it's extremely frustrating and the ink usually globs on the paper and so I'm very, very impressed. Kudos Dave. Pen and Ink Art of Dave Archambault
I'm stashing this site back in case someone else asks me "Who the hell is Jimmy Olsen?" (No, I had nothing to do with this site, if I had, I would have included some stuff about the really classic issues of Olsen, done by Marvel Comics Pioneer and my personal comics hero, Jack Kirby) JIMMY OLSEN'S MIND-MANGLERS!
I don't recall ever posting this to the blog, Slipups.com. Slipups.com - The Slip-Up Archive: Movie and TV Bloopers and Mistakes and More
Monday, December 31, 2001
A nice little article about Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television. Now this is a guy who got royally screwed by big business. An amazing story though, Farnsworth actually came up with the idea for it at the astonishingly young age of fourteen, although he wasn't able to build it until the age of twenty-one. TIME 100: Scientists & Thinkers - Philo Farnsworth
Here's a couple neato Yahoo Messenger tricks I found tonight....for one, if you type (~~) in the message window, you'll get a little pumpkin with glowing eyes, a smiley that yahoo doesn't show on their list of smileys...also, the guy at this url has a plugin for Winamp (The Best Thing EVER for listening to mp3s) which will change your online status message to reflect the song and artist you're listening to. :) larkington
If you're just really bored and you're out of things to do, you can always poke around here to find easter eggs for your software...like these neat little eggs for Macromedia Flash Eeggs.com - Computers : Applications : Flash (Macromedia)
TechTV is doing a show on the old Mattel Intellivision Console...I can still remember playing this in the local K-mart and ooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the "awesome graphics". My how time flies. TechTV | History and Tech Behind the Mattel Intellivision
Well, The Smoking Gun released it's document of the year awards today, I think my favorite one is still J-Lo's list of insanely overdone diva demands asked of the places she performs at:
Before filming a cameo in a music video benefiting victims of the September 11 attacks and the African AIDS epidemic, Jennifer Lopez had a 2-page list of backstage necessities that included: white couches, white drapes, white tables, French aromatherapy candles, beans, rice, chicken, Cuban food, yellow roses with red trim, white lilies, white roses, VCR, CD player, watermelon, apple pie a la mode, chocolate chip cookies, and music from 43 different acts. Seems reasonable, no?
The Smoking Gun: Document Of The Year Awards
Before filming a cameo in a music video benefiting victims of the September 11 attacks and the African AIDS epidemic, Jennifer Lopez had a 2-page list of backstage necessities that included: white couches, white drapes, white tables, French aromatherapy candles, beans, rice, chicken, Cuban food, yellow roses with red trim, white lilies, white roses, VCR, CD player, watermelon, apple pie a la mode, chocolate chip cookies, and music from 43 different acts. Seems reasonable, no?
The Smoking Gun: Document Of The Year Awards
Sunday, December 30, 2001
A Mirimax site devoted to The Beatles' movie "Hard Day's Night". Some good pics of the boys and a few never-before seen items. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - © Miramax Film Corp.
A couple's baby Jesus is stolen and ransomed, more Christmas grinchery. Herald-Tribune Newscoast Main Stories
Burglarized before AND after Christmas...that's gotta suck. The Seattle Times: Local News: Grinch of a holiday: Family robbed twice
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