Indio: "Hard Sun"
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
A House on the Heights
It beats buying the Clutter house in Kansas: Up for sale, Truman Capote's former Brooklyn residence. The asking price is a mere $18M. That price includes eleven fireplaces, parking for four cars, a sassy mural, and a Southern-style garden. Also available: one drunk-ass, toad-voiced ghost.
It's a nice looking place though.
It's a nice looking place though.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
ACROSS THE SEA
Or, Genesis 8:23
Flashback to somewhen, a pregnant woman washes ashore on the island. Another woman, let's call her Mother, because she's so darn maternal, finds her and starts looking after her. The the woman goes into labor. And gives birth to Jacob. Then another baby pops out. "I only picked one name," she says. But it's okay, she doesn't need to think up another name, because Mother brains her with a rock. Damn. Thirteen years later, the Boy in Black (is he ever going to get a name?) finds a box washed up on shore. It's a senet game, which is like backgammon, but Egyptian and favoured by smoke monsters. Young Jacob and the Boy play the game then Jacob narcs on the Boy to Mother about the game which was supposed to be secret. Jacob can't lie. Mother says the Boy is special. The Boy asks if they came from across the sea. She says there is nothing across the sea and there is no one else on the island. Later the kids go boar hunting and see some people. The boys ask why Mother lied. "It's not time yet..." She blindfolds them and takes them into the jungle to a spring cave. Golden light pours from the opening. Mother tells them some hooha about how they have to protect the light from the other people on the island because they will try to steal and will break it and if that happens the light goes out everywhere. Mother tells them she made it so the boys can't hurt each other and that one of them will have to protect the light cave. Later the Boy sees Birth Mom and she tells him she's dead and that the others on the island are his people. The Boy tries to get Jacob to run away with him, but Jacob instead beats the shit out of him. So much for Mother's assurance they couldn't hurt one another. So, the Boy runs off to live with the others but still stays in touch with Jacob. Thirty years later they play senet and the Man in Black tells Jacob that the others are serious douchebags. The Man in Black says this place blows and he's leaving. Mother visits and the Man shows her the well they've dug and explains how they're building a wheel to do something. It isn't clear. But it's that same wheel Ben used to move the island. So she hits him in the head (what is her problem?) and knocks him out. She then visits Jacob and tells him he's in charge of the island now but he can't go in the cave. She says that would be worse than death. When the Man in Black wakes he finds all the others dead and his well filled in. Damn. So the Man in Black returns to Mother's cave and stabs her. She thanks him and then dies. WTF? Jacob comes home to the cave and finds Mother dead and grabs the Man in Black and drags him to the shiny golden spring and throws him in it. The earth rumbles and the Smoke Monster shoots out the cave. Oh, that's where he came from. Worse than death = turning into a smoke monster. Damn. Later, Jacob finds his brother's body in the river. He takes him and lies him next to Mother in the cave. Cut to season one, with Jack and Kate finding the two bodies in the cave. "Our very own Adam and Eve," Locke comments. Damn.
Flashback to somewhen, a pregnant woman washes ashore on the island. Another woman, let's call her Mother, because she's so darn maternal, finds her and starts looking after her. The the woman goes into labor. And gives birth to Jacob. Then another baby pops out. "I only picked one name," she says. But it's okay, she doesn't need to think up another name, because Mother brains her with a rock. Damn. Thirteen years later, the Boy in Black (is he ever going to get a name?) finds a box washed up on shore. It's a senet game, which is like backgammon, but Egyptian and favoured by smoke monsters. Young Jacob and the Boy play the game then Jacob narcs on the Boy to Mother about the game which was supposed to be secret. Jacob can't lie. Mother says the Boy is special. The Boy asks if they came from across the sea. She says there is nothing across the sea and there is no one else on the island. Later the kids go boar hunting and see some people. The boys ask why Mother lied. "It's not time yet..." She blindfolds them and takes them into the jungle to a spring cave. Golden light pours from the opening. Mother tells them some hooha about how they have to protect the light from the other people on the island because they will try to steal and will break it and if that happens the light goes out everywhere. Mother tells them she made it so the boys can't hurt each other and that one of them will have to protect the light cave. Later the Boy sees Birth Mom and she tells him she's dead and that the others on the island are his people. The Boy tries to get Jacob to run away with him, but Jacob instead beats the shit out of him. So much for Mother's assurance they couldn't hurt one another. So, the Boy runs off to live with the others but still stays in touch with Jacob. Thirty years later they play senet and the Man in Black tells Jacob that the others are serious douchebags. The Man in Black says this place blows and he's leaving. Mother visits and the Man shows her the well they've dug and explains how they're building a wheel to do something. It isn't clear. But it's that same wheel Ben used to move the island. So she hits him in the head (what is her problem?) and knocks him out. She then visits Jacob and tells him he's in charge of the island now but he can't go in the cave. She says that would be worse than death. When the Man in Black wakes he finds all the others dead and his well filled in. Damn. So the Man in Black returns to Mother's cave and stabs her. She thanks him and then dies. WTF? Jacob comes home to the cave and finds Mother dead and grabs the Man in Black and drags him to the shiny golden spring and throws him in it. The earth rumbles and the Smoke Monster shoots out the cave. Oh, that's where he came from. Worse than death = turning into a smoke monster. Damn. Later, Jacob finds his brother's body in the river. He takes him and lies him next to Mother in the cave. Cut to season one, with Jack and Kate finding the two bodies in the cave. "Our very own Adam and Eve," Locke comments. Damn.
Hey, Losties!
Episode Twenty-Three:
The Lostcast
In honour of Liss's birthday, and the impending finale of Lost, this week's show is a collection of songs featured throughout the series. Press the button, download, listen.
Songs: 15. Running time: 1:08.
Here is a link to the podcast blog where you can download the show.
And this is the list of all songs used in this week's ep.
You can also play the show in a pop-up.
The show is available via iTunes, on Feedburner, and on reel-to-reel in the Dharma rec room.
The RSS is here, if you need it.
Monday, May 10, 2010
I Write Letters
Dear Dish Network
You don't know me, but I've been a customer of yours for years. I read today that you lost your lawsuit with TiVo. I guess a jury of your peers decided that your DVR is just a ripoff of their DVR. That sucks. Or, hey, maybe great minds think alike, and it's a big coincidence that your respective technologies are identical. Whatever. I don't really care. What I do care about is the news that you may be forced to disable DVR services for all your customers.
And by forced, I mean you don't want to pay the two bucks a month TiVo is asking for in licensing fees.
Look, I've put up with your half-assed customer service for a long time. I pay for a shit load of channels I don't watch. (Disney Channel? No, thanks, I'll skip The Zach and Cody Show they run on a loop.) I pay for countless sports channels, despite having zero interest in sports. (In fact, if you could accuratly measure said interest, it would read as a negative number.) I pay for Showtime even though, no matter how many times they air Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles, I will never, ever watch that.
You know there are a just handful of shows I watch, and I pay a fairly hefty fee to do so. And I choose to DVR those shows and watch them at my convenience.
I know that spread over seven million customers, the two bucks TiVo wants is gonna add up. I know this is going to put a serious dent in someone's Swiss Chalet habit. I understand that. But you've milked TiVo's golden goose long enough. And just because you fucked up, shouldn't mean I have to suffer.
So, cut back on the lunch outings to Shanghai, and maybe sell off the solid gold fountains in the executive washrooms, and pony up the two dollars to keep me tuned in to Breaking Bad.
Thanks.
You don't know me, but I've been a customer of yours for years. I read today that you lost your lawsuit with TiVo. I guess a jury of your peers decided that your DVR is just a ripoff of their DVR. That sucks. Or, hey, maybe great minds think alike, and it's a big coincidence that your respective technologies are identical. Whatever. I don't really care. What I do care about is the news that you may be forced to disable DVR services for all your customers.
And by forced, I mean you don't want to pay the two bucks a month TiVo is asking for in licensing fees.
Look, I've put up with your half-assed customer service for a long time. I pay for a shit load of channels I don't watch. (Disney Channel? No, thanks, I'll skip The Zach and Cody Show they run on a loop.) I pay for countless sports channels, despite having zero interest in sports. (In fact, if you could accuratly measure said interest, it would read as a negative number.) I pay for Showtime even though, no matter how many times they air Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles, I will never, ever watch that.
You know there are a just handful of shows I watch, and I pay a fairly hefty fee to do so. And I choose to DVR those shows and watch them at my convenience.
I know that spread over seven million customers, the two bucks TiVo wants is gonna add up. I know this is going to put a serious dent in someone's Swiss Chalet habit. I understand that. But you've milked TiVo's golden goose long enough. And just because you fucked up, shouldn't mean I have to suffer.
So, cut back on the lunch outings to Shanghai, and maybe sell off the solid gold fountains in the executive washrooms, and pony up the two dollars to keep me tuned in to Breaking Bad.
Thanks.
Today in Things Robots Can't Do
First, I guess they can't actually fix oil leaks at the bottom of the ocean.
Secondly, robots aren't so good at the stock market.
Someone get me this book, ASAP.
Secondly, robots aren't so good at the stock market.
Someone get me this book, ASAP.
Holly Golightly Recommends
Truman Capote Encyclopedia
Truman Capote was one of the most flamboyant*, exuberant, self-advertising, and self-destructive figures in American literary history. This much-needed encyclopedia summarizes every item in Capote's oeuvre, including novels, short stories, and non-fictional prose pieces. All of his fictional characters are identified, as well as family members and acquaintances, particularly those who were most relevant to his literary output. Film and television adaptations of his work are briefly addressed. Many entries include bibliographical citations to facilitate further reading of Capote scholarship.* That's code for "faggy", by the way.
Hardcover, 187 pages, $75.00. Sounds like it could be very cool. Except for the seventy-five dollar price tag. Does the author need a new hot tub or something? It's not that I have a problem shelling out that kind of money for a book (okay, I do: I'm cheap) but with that price point I'm expecting something a little more substantive. The Lost Encyclopedia is twice as big and half the price. Plus, it's got shirtless pictures of Sawyer.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Is There Nothing Robots Can't Do?
News from the Gulf:Underwater robots positioned the 100-ton concrete-and-steel box over the blowout well on the seafloor Friday. Crews tried to fit the contraption over the renegade well in 5,000 feet of water.Go, robots!
Now, sew me up an outfit made of star sapphires!
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Lostie News
Okay, first things first, with the awesome news: ABC has agreed to let Cuse and Lindelof expand the series finale of Lost from two hours to two-and-a-half.
Set your DVRs, Losties!
Speaking of DVRs and Gerald McRaney, did you know that McRaney appeared in four episodes of The Incredible Hulk, each time playing a different character?
Greatest. Actor. Ever. But you already knew that. He rocked the mic in Simon and Simon and Major Dad and Touched by an Angel (uh what?). That's why James James Abrams (the guy who invented Lost, as I am sure you know) has cast McRaney in his new spy show (which is soooo not Alias: it stars African-Americans!) for NBC.
Set your DVRs, Undercoversies!
Also on the James James tip, exclusive news (not really): James James's new movie, which hasn't even been made yet, is called Super 8. It is rumoured to be a sequel to Cloverfield and not a prequel to Super 8½. Cloverfield was a movie, I think, about a not-Godzilla destroying NYC. The trailer for Super 8 was secretly included with the Iron Man 2 release last weekend. Skulduggery!
Set your DVRs, Cloverfieldsies!
That's it for Lost news this week. Stay tuned for more, as it happens!
p.s. Dan Akroyd is concerned about (illegal) aliens.
The producers of ABC's hit drama have shot so much crucial material for the show's hugely anticipated series finale that the network has agreed to extend the last episode by an extra half hour.Also note that ABC is doing up another of its enhanced editions of the series pilot to air on the 22nd. Sunday before the show is a two-hour retrospective titled Lost: The Final Journey. And following local news that evening is Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost.
Set your DVRs, Losties!
Speaking of DVRs and Gerald McRaney, did you know that McRaney appeared in four episodes of The Incredible Hulk, each time playing a different character?
Greatest. Actor. Ever. But you already knew that. He rocked the mic in Simon and Simon and Major Dad and Touched by an Angel (uh what?). That's why James James Abrams (the guy who invented Lost, as I am sure you know) has cast McRaney in his new spy show (which is soooo not Alias: it stars African-Americans!) for NBC.
Undercovers stars Boris Kodjoe (Soul Food) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Doctor Who) as married ex-CIA agents who get pulled back into the spy biz.Gerald McRaney and his atavistic moustache star as Kodjoe and Mbatha-Raw's bosses at the CIA. This show is going to be great, like a peanut butter cup. "You got your Gerald in my James James!" "You got your James James in my Gerald!"
Set your DVRs, Undercoversies!
Also on the James James tip, exclusive news (not really): James James's new movie, which hasn't even been made yet, is called Super 8. It is rumoured to be a sequel to Cloverfield and not a prequel to Super 8½. Cloverfield was a movie, I think, about a not-Godzilla destroying NYC. The trailer for Super 8 was secretly included with the Iron Man 2 release last weekend. Skulduggery!
Set your DVRs, Cloverfieldsies!
That's it for Lost news this week. Stay tuned for more, as it happens!
p.s. Dan Akroyd is concerned about (illegal) aliens.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Gabe on Polanski
Gabe at Videogum comments, unflinchingly, on recent statements by rapist Roman Polanksi:
If you ask me, Mr. Polanski has been treated about as fairly as anyone else who has also been accused of and admitted to drugging and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl in Jack Nicholson’s hot tub and then spent more than 30 years living in exile from the United States of America while simultaneously flaunting his special status by continuing to make films, living a life of luxury, traveling freely and unjailed, and beginning a family free from the psychic trauma of having been raped as a child. If anything, up until this point, he has been treated TOO fairly.More here.
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