Interesting Bits X

While surfing the interwebs I found these. My weekly (or so) post called Interesting Bits.

"Look, Mummy! The man put up a bunch of links on his blog. How original!"

TV

Still thinking that Lost might have a chance of eventually making sense? I may have found the brightest glimmer yet. Lost: A Theory of Time Travel has an amazingly thought out idea about what the hell's going on. The timeline starts in the 1800's! Well worth a read.

A someone at British school promoting it's Be Healthy Week thought it was a great idea to invite a pole dancer for the kids to learn from. From ABC News.

Movies


Perhaps someone finally told Mickey Rourke that if his is actually gunning for the Best Actor Oscar for The Wrestler appearing in Wrestlemania XXV isn't the way to go. Check out the hoopla at Defamer.com

Heh. Confused book store fans mob Michael Jackson mistaking him as Rorschach from Watchmen.


Comics

The most inappropriate out of context screencap. From Justice League.


Oh, and I found a new blog, Geek Orthodox. Okay, my favourite part are the posts of female comic con goers dressed as characters. Here's someone who I'm guessing is supposed to be Poison Ivy:


News of the Weird

I hear people (generally over 40) all the time lament the passing of actual newspapers. Here's an article I found stating: Printing the NYT Costs Twice As Much As Sending Every Subscriber A Free Kindle. But that would make too much sense, right?


This I found via Warren Ellis. There's a widespread movement in Russia to organize Orthodox-Christian churches in old railway cars:


Sure this one could be filed under Comics, but it's weird to me. I would've got it. Obama Disappointed Cabinent Failed To Understand His Reference to 'Savage Sword of Conan' #24


Can I just say on a personal note how nice it is to have a President who wants to keep his Blackberry so his daughters can always get a hold of him?

Interesting Bits IX or Beware Zombies in Austin

Well, since my knee went catty-wompus on me tonight I'm up and in pain. Thought I'd give it a whorl of trying to kick this out before I had too many thing stacked up.

Beware! Zombies Ahead!

An industrious hacker had a bit of fun in Austin Monday. They apparently reprogrammed construction signs near the University of Texas to read, "Caution! Zombies Ahead!” and “Nazi Zombies! Run!!!” Our Keep Austin Weird slogan never fails to live up to the hype. Don't believe me? Check it out.


Comics

Well, DC Comics Final Crisis came to a conclusion on Wednesday. I know, I know I kept complaining that it didn't make much sense, but since then I've reread: ALL of Jack Kirby's Fourth World stuff, Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers, Batman RIP and the entire Final Crisis miniseries. Well, now it all comes together for me. With only close to 150 comics before you read it, I am completely sure it will make perfect sense to you too. Either that or you could read Grant Morrison's exit interview with Blog@Newsarama. Where Morrison explains how Kirby's Fourth World was ripped off to make Star Wars and most especially that movie of movies He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I shit you not.


In other "scratching your head and saying WTF?" news. DC Comics also released the wrong picture to Previews ordering catalog. (The catalog comes out with "Previews" of what's going to be on the stands or in stores in three months time.) Thereby really fucking up their big summer cross-over Green Lantern:Blackest Night. Now the picture they were supposed to release should have been this:
For those of you not in the know, other Lanterns are now in the Universe. Red (Rage), (forthcoming) Orange, Yellow (Fear), Blue (Hope) Violet (Love) and also forthcoming Black (Death). Now, Black had yet to be unveiled. It had been leaked that the Black Lanterns were all going to be reanimated zombies (wow that is TWO Zombie things), but no one knew that identity of the first Black Lantern. Well, check out the picture that was actually published in Previews this month:
That's correct folks. Earth-2's Superman (Basically the archetype for all the heroes in the DC Universe. The one that came out in 1938) who died saving the Universe (all 52 of 'em) is going to be reanimated to be the first evil Black Lantern for Blackest Night. Sometimes I really think that the editors at DC just Twitter all day and don't really pay attention that much. The fanboys/girls at The Green Lantern Corps Forum were nonplussed to say the least.

While on the subject of GL. How big of a geek are you? Big enough to fashion a wooden replica of Hal Jordan's ring? You can if you go here.

News of the Weird

In a Belgian Creche (Daycare) an ass clown believing himself to be The Joker from The Dark Knight movie stabbed 21 infants and 6 daycare workers. Thankfully nine children escaped unharmed, well physically. "Belgian television said that witnesses described the attacker as looking like The Joker from the Batman films." The police also stated that when caught, Mr. Kim "Crazier Than a Shit House Rat" de Gelder would only answer them with Heath Ledger's lines from the movie. Please read The Telegraph and The Copycat Effect Blog for further details.

And yet again in the I Shit You Not category, a British man apparently killed his wife over her changing her Facebook status from married to single. Whole story at Breitbart.com.

Darwin completely forgot that some people's gene pool is shallow and full of piss.

Interesting Bits VIII.V

I've figured out that I may be what I've termed a "Binge-Blogger." I go for almost a month without saying boo, and then I make an "Interesting Bits," post and about 3 or 4 others on the same day. I reckon I need to start spreading these out a bit. Anyway, here's another IB post this week, but not as long as most so it's a .five.

Oscar Nominations 2009

The Oscar nominations came out this week, and there were a few surprises.

Best Motion Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Frost/Nixon (2008) (My Pick)

Milk (2008)

The Reader (2008)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Best Actor:

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor (2007/I)

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008) (My pick, who would think someone who's played both Dracula and Skeletor would be up for this?)

Sean Penn for Milk (2008)

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)

Best Actress:

Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)

Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008)

Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)

Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008) (I'm gonna go with this because I wasn't expecting anything from it)

Best Supporting Actor:

Josh Brolin for Milk (2008)

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)

Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008) (Sentiment plays a big roll in these, look at John Wayne winning for The Shootist a month or two before he died)

Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I) (Pleasantly surprised)

Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)

Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)

Best Director:

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008) (I really liked this movie)

Gus Van Sant for Milk (2008)

Best Screenplay (Original):

Frozen River (2008): Courtney Hunt

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008): Mike Leigh

In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh (Great freakin' movie)

Milk (2008): Dustin Lance Black

WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon

Best Screenplay (Adaptation):

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt (2008/I): John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan

The Reader (2008): David Hare

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy (I think that this will be the only award it wins)

Best Cinematography:

Changeling (2008)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) (My only thought after I saw it was, "Well. It was pretty.")

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Reader (2008)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Toys

At USA Today they had 4 of the new toys coming out for JJ Abrams Star Trek this spring. Must have Communicator!

Also, The Obamassiah has a toy! Holy shit! Who knew the President was such a bad ass??


News of the Weird

Zambia doctors to cut feet of unformed twin from baby Faith Mwampe's buttocks

Wow. I mean, wow. I've heard of people being born with extra fingers and things, but this is just....wow.

Student Decapitated in Cafe

A woman has been decapitated by a fellow student at Virginia Tech, the scene of the worst school shooting in US history in 2007.

They say she was decapitated with a knife. Not a machete, not a broadsword, a knife. This guy had enough time to decapitate a woman with a regular knife and people watching. Our world scares me.

Audio Stuff

Okay, I'll admit I really dig audio books, podcasts and anything I can listen to at my lesiure on my IPod. Now these people at Pendant Productions do radio dramas in the flavour of old radio broadcasts. The really cool things is that they're not bad at all. Kinda fun actually. Considering they do not to my knowledge have a license to do these and make no money besides donations, they're still worth giving a listen to. Their current dramas include:








Superman: The Last Son of Krypton

















Batman: The Ace of Detectives

















Wonder Woman: Champion of Themyscira

















Supergirl: Lost Daughter of Krypton

















Catwoman: Queen of Thieves

















Star Trek: Defiant














Star Wars: Blue Harvest











James Bond: To the End

















Indiana Jones and the Well of Life










Coolest of all, the "Big 3" of the superheroes have had two crossovers.








Imperium

















Vindictatum











All of them are well worth a listen to.

Movies

In the, "Why the Hell Do the Japanese Get Cooler Trailers?" front. Here are the new Japanese trailers for Watchmen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Terminator: Salvation.