Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
A Jones for Spike?
Were you, like me, wondering why the Internet was created? Well wait no longer, here is why: To download only the very best Spike Jones songs! Yes, well, maybe not quite. But in case you've never experienced the magic and bizarre humor that is Spike Jones, now's your chance. I invite you to visit your local iTunes terminal and download some Spike!
You may know his most commonly known hits:
All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
Der Fuehrer's Face
But try these on for size:
Holiday For Strings
Cocktails for Two
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
Chloe
But the best song I found is actually not on iTunes! It's here, on this site. The song the poor old beggar plays is classic Spike.
Now if they just had his version of Liebestraum somewhere, the internet just may be able to finally shut down.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Live Action Star Wars TV Series News
Producer Rick McCallum has spilled the beans to both the BBC and Empire magazine on the upcoming Star Wars live action television series. He told BBC Radio 1 the writing team would soon be meeting to start on the project, which would begin filming in 2008 and be ready the same year, running a minimum of 100 episodes. It would cover the first 20 years in the life of young Luke Skywalker.
"That's not going to happen probably for another year and a half while we develop scripts and everything else. But it's fantastic; we've got some incredible writers. It's going to be much darker, much more character-based, and I think it's going to be everything the fans always wanted the prequels to be. They'll be one-hour episodes. It takes place between Episodes III and IV. It's going to be all-new characters, maybe a few bounty hunters in there to start the series off."
"Hopefully if we can make it work and everybody's excited and watches it we will keep on going," said McCallum.
Great to hear that they are really committed to this project, but why young Luke's story? I thought the idea was that his life was really boring before he hitched a ride with Old Ben to Alderaan. How many stories about Biggs, Fixer and Camie in the desert can they come up with? Better yet would be a series about young Han Solo- his life with the Wookies, getting in trouble with his buddy Lando, encounters with bounty hunters, and the story of the Falcon. The possibilities are much more exciting and endless!
Stop the Robot Uprising
It's a common theme in Science Fiction; our robotic helpers get wise to the realities of their enslavement and turn the tables on their human masters- attempting to enslave us, turn us into batteries, or eliminate us altogether.
If you worry about this scenario becoming a reality as much as I do, there's now a glimmer of hope for us! Daniel H. Wilson (Ph.D. from the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University) has written How to Survive a Robot Uprising
to answer our questions, assuage our fears, and help us prepare for this unavoidable event by giving us the tools we need to make it through the onslaught unscathed.This quote from the Robot Uprising Website says it best:
So take no chances. Arm yourself with expert knowledge. For the sake of humanity, listen to serious advice from real robotics experts. How else will you survive the inevitable future in which robots rebel against their human masters?
Buy it, read it, learn it! I'll certainly be keeping a copy by my bedside to help me sleep better at night...
Edit:
Oddly enough, around the same time as I posted this, BoingBoing posted something similar, and then later was appended with a link to the Robot Uprising book. If I'm recieving this from the zeitgeist, the uprising must be imminent!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Plan 9 This Weekend at the Castro Theater!
... and for the first time ever: In Color!
It sounds like this will be quite an event for B-movie fans, not just for a "restoration" of Ed's Magnum Opus, but also for the other rare Wood projects being shown. Saturday is the red carpet premiere!
March 11–12, 2006
ED WOOD FILM FESTIVAL
Featuring Plan 9 From Outer Space NEWLY RESTORED—AND NOW IN COLOR!
Starring Bela Lugosi, Vampira, Tor Johnson and Dudley Manlove.
Sa: 7p WORLD COLOR PREMIERE Su: 2p, 4p, 6p, 8p
Come to the Castro for the biggest movie event of the year—the World Color Premiere of director Ed Wood’s utterly preposterous 1959 masterpiece of poorly executed film-making—PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. The most extensive restoration to date and in color for the first time, Ed Wood’s unintentionally hilarious cult classic of aliens who attempt to conquer Earth by reanimating the dead has been hailed as the “worst movie ever made.” With string-powered flying saucers, laughable dialogue, shrewd alien logic and “priceless” special effects, the aliens’ invasion plan can’t go wrong. (Hint: It does.)
In addition to PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, the film festival also includes never-before-seen Ed Wood home movies (see Ed model his famous angora sweater and fishnet stockings!), rare Ed Wood commercials and Plans 1-8, narrated by Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Mike Nelson, and much more.
The Saturday, March 11th World Color Premiere will be a wild red carpet affair with lots of celebrity guests including stars from the movie (subject to availability.)
