Saturday, June 26, 2010

SciFi Air Show

scifiairshow.com/ is the url of this must visit site.

From their website:
The SCI-FI AIR SHOW’s purpose is to preserve and promote the rich and varied history of Sci-Fi/fantasy vehicles. Through display and education we seek to celebrate the classic design and beauty of these ships and the rich imaginations that created them. When the cameras stopped rolling, many of these proud old ships were lost and forgotten. Please join us in working to keep these rare and beautiful birds soaring!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Watch Darth Vader's Younger Brother Chad in Action in Hit Web Series

Received this Press Release today
www.babelgum.com/chadvader.

BABELGUM ACQUIRES ENTIRE LIBRARY PLUS ORIGINAL EXCLUSIVE EPISODES OF HIT COMEDY SERIES “CHAD VADER”

Content Live from Today on the Digital Broadcast Network’s Comedy channel
www.babelgum.com/chadvader.

LONDON / NEW YORK (June 24, 2010) -Independent web and mobile video content platform Babelgum announced that it has acquired the complete library of Blame Society Productions’ original, hit comedy series’ “Chad Vader.” Producers and directors Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan will also be creating exclusive original episodes to air monthly on Babelgum’s Comedy channel starting today.

“We are very excited to add ’Chad Vader’ to our Comedy library. The series itself has been an internet phenomenon, receiving more than 80 million views. Now it can continue to grow through our vast global network of rabid comedy and sci-fi fans," said Amber J. Lawson, Publisher of Babelgum’s Comedy channel. “We look forward to supporting Blame Society Productions as they continue to create hysterical new content that will evolve the show’s brand.”

“The fan response to ‘Chad Vader’ has been amazing and we're happy to be working with Babelgum to be able to reach an even wider audience,” said Aaron Yonda. Matt Sloan added, “This partnership is giving us a great opportunity to expand the world of Chad Vader and create some exclusive new content that you can't find anywhere else.”

“Chad Vader” features the adventures of Darth Vader's younger brother and his comedic struggles as the Day Shift manager at the Empire Market grocery store. He clashes with customers, tries to earn the respect of his employees, and occasionally incorporates dialogue and concepts from the historic franchise.

Since it was first created in 2006, “Chad Vader” has become a viral sensation, quickly becoming one of the most viewed series on YouTube. In addition it has won more than a dozen film festival awards, including the "George Lucas Selects" award from the 2007 Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge. It has gained huge popularity from a global audience and was translated into 6 languages, including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Chinese, Hebrew and Lingua Franca Nova.

Both Yonda and Sloan also appear in the series as the lead characters. Sloan provides the voice of Chad Vader, which led to other voiceover roles, including providing the voice of Darth Vader in the LucasArts’ videogame “The Force Unleashed.”

In addition to “Chad Vader,” Blame Society Productions will also be rolling out episodes of the show “Celebrity Bric-A Brac” on Babelgum.

Starting June 24, viewers can begin watching “Chad Vader” on www.babelgum.com/chadvader. “Chad Vader” will release an exclusive episode each month on Babelgum.

X Men Blah

I had never seen the first X-Men movie until today. (The only one I ever saw was, I think, the 3rd one.)

And, I appreciate that it's a 10 year old move and was a success at the time of its release, but I thought it was terrible. For one thing - the costumes were lousy. Why make them all wear black leather instead of blue and yellow, to brighten up the screen?

WHy was the screen so damn dark all the time. Now - that might be my TV, but I susspect it was intentional by the fimmakers. Trying to give a "dark cast" to the film by using actual darkness instead of in other ways.

And the characters. Blah blah blah.

The problem with this film was the problem with most super hero films - instead of putting the teen age students in actual situations, they are plunged into a plot where they have to save the world. Too overbearing. (Frankly, considering how many films pander to the teenage audience - for example the live action Thunderbirds film, I'm surprised that the X-men weren't portrayed as teenagers, but rather as adults in sexy black leather uniforms.)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Psycho celebrated its 50th anniversary release date...

Roger Hall allowed The Thunder Child to reprint his article on the 50th anniversary of the release of Psycho: June 16, 1960

http://thethunderchild.com/Music/PsychoAnniversary.html

Roger Hall is the editor of the Film Music Review, and wrote this article. It appears here:

http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/Psychofilmscore.htm

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Drunk, speeding and texting

I live in what I've always thought of as a sedate town home housing area in York County, VA. This morning at 9.30 while I was making my first bike ride of the day, I found this scene of carnage.







As far as I could make out, it had happened only a half hour or so earlier. A young woman (from North Dakota!) had been drunk, and was speeding on this residential road, and was texting, when she rammed at what looks like full speed and did the following damage. (She herself was unhurt, and there was no passenger in the car.)

You can't see the people in the background, but apparently two of the three destroyed cars belonged to them. That'll teach you to park both your cars side by side!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Mr. Limpet on at 10 pm?



In honor of the 100th birthday of Jacques Cousteau, every Friday TMC is showing ocean-themed movies - starting at 6 bloody pm. Big whoop.

Tonight at 8 pm is Around the World Under the Sea, starring Lloyd Bridges, and at 10 pm - 10 pm! - is The Incredible Mr. Limpet starring Don Knotts.

Now, it seems to me that The Incredible Mr. Limpet, with its animated sequences, is pretty much a children's film and should be shown at 8 pm, with the other one 10. Seems silly to me...


Thursday, June 17, 2010

Pipped at the post...again! The Big Bang Theory T-shirts

For a couple of days now I'd been planning on creating a web page featuring the T-shirts worn by Jim Parson's character, Sheldon Cooper, in The Big Bang Theory.

Well, before I could get started, I found this site, which has already done it:
http://www.sheldonshirts.com

And they've done me one better - or, hell, many orders of magnitude better - they provide links where you can actually buy the shirts featured - probably the same places where the warddrobe folks at TBBT get the shirts.

They also have photos and links of where to get Leonard's shirts, which rather than superheros are focused more on molecular design.

There are also quotes from Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

A very fun site - check it out.

Big Bang Theory Ringtones

Only one at the moment...

Someone on YouTUbe posted that they wanted a ringtone of Sheldon saying "No one calls me Moonpie but Meemaw."

I recorded the file, but now can't upload the link there.

So, I'll put it here, even though it wont' do any good for the poor schmuck at Youtube who wants it.

Also, it's a WMA file instead of a MP3 file - anyone who wants it will have to convert it using one of the many applications that allow you to do this conversion.

http://volcanoseven.com/Moonpie.WMA

Monday, June 14, 2010

What I Could Have Been, sung by Lynn Thigpen

A very powerful song, and relevant to minorities and women in the States up until the late 1970s...

Now, the only thing holding them back is themselves...

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Peter Wyngarde narrates Sea Borne Treasure

It's a 6 minute doc, filmed in 1967, about the collapse of the Sea Gem oil rig in the north sea.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=82016

Interesting to listen to.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Friday, June 04, 2010

Gigantic footsteps found in sand at Santa Monica Pier

Surfers, tourists, and local Los Angelenos alike were stunned yesterday morning by a rather HUGE mystery: the discovery of 15 foot long footprints in the sand at Santa Monica Pier!

A local fisherman was perhaps the only person who caught a glimpse of the creature responsible. “Everything started shaking,” he said. “Then I saw this thing. Bigger than any whale…eyes dark and menacing, teeth as big as the poles under the pier here.” Police are cautioning people not to panic, and to be careful not to fall into the deep footprints on the beach. Residents and tourists are wondering what kind of monster could be responsible for footprints so massive.




Some people are suggesting that the footprints belong to none other than King Kong, who has been making his way through Los Angeles en route to his new home at Universal Studios Hollywood. Last week, Kong wreaked havoc at Dodgers Stadium by marking up the baseball field with his gigantic footprints, similar to the ones found at Santa Monica Pier. King Kong will be headlining King Kong 360 3-D, the brand new, revolutionarily interactive attraction designed by esteemed director Peter Jackson, and it’s possible that Santa Monica Pier was just his latest stop on his journey to Universal Studios Hollywood.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Random Thoughts

I see Rue McClanahan died today.

I always liked her. It's hard to say that I liked her on the Golden Girls - I liked her acting in that but I didn't really care for the character...

So Betty White is the only golden girl left....

On another note, just read an article today about the fact that BP is hiring owners of luxury yachts to help clean up the oil spill on the surface, rather than professional fishermen whose livlihoods have been destroyed by the spill. This makes no sense to me, in particular because I would have thought that EVERY bloody boat in the adjacent area would be at work, regardless of whether it was a pleasure yacht or a fisherman's boat or what have you.

But perhaps BP thinks that because they're going to have to pay these fishermen gazillions of dollars in lawsuits, why pay them more now?

I think this accident is going to put paid to offshore drilling on the US coasts, which is a pity, because obviously if the drill had been in closer waters, where it could be gotten to more easily, this leak probably could have been capped long ago. As it is, the result is the same, oil arriving on the beaches - not to mention killing or causing to suffer millions of animals and birds.