Archive for December, 2009

I participated in a Mind Meld over at SF Signal

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

On the best SF books and movies I enjoyed this year.

Sadly, almost none of those actually came out this year…

Tim Conway Turns 76

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Tim Conway is 76 today, so in honor of his birthday, yep, it’s the elephant story.

It never gets old.

/My lawn. Get off it.

Two Things Dwight Might Like

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

I mentioned one of these to Dwight at the Saturday Dining Conspiracy and chanced across the other.

Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York by William Grimes. This got a very favorable review in National Review (the print edition; alas, the review does not seem to be online).

Shackleton – The Greatest Survival Story of All Time (3-Disc Collector’s Edition). I actually chanced across this Kenneth Branagh DVD in my nearest Blockbuster’s going out of business sale, and was pretty much the only thing there that wasn’t crap, overpriced, or overpriced crap. Alas, the copy had too many scratches on it to take a chance on it even at $3.99, so I gave it a pass. Since Dwight is into Great Age of Exploring books, I thought I would mention it. And Branagh has been great in everything I’ve seen him in. (Then again, that may only be Henry V and Hamlet…)

And now for something vaguely Star Trek-related

Friday, December 11th, 2009

I have a co-worker with a number of Spock sketches up on his whiteboard (which I actually started), with Evil Spock (with beard), Vincent van Spock (one ear), etc.

Today he said he had to erasing some of the more obscure Spocks (like one that was evidently a Babylon 5 reference) with Spocks people would be more likely to recognize.

I asked him: “Who are you going to give the money to?”

Him: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Don’t you know that there’s a hefty re-Spocking fee?”

/True story
//I’ll be here all week
///Try the veal
////Slashies usage blatantly lifted from Fark

Frank Frazetta attempts to steal paintings by Frank Frazetta

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

It’s not every day you read about an attempted $20 million art heist, much less from the museum dedicated to the works of famous fantasy artist Frank Frazetta. However, the real kicker is that the perp (or, technically speaking, “alleged” perp) is Frank Frazetta’s own son.

The main tool of theft seems to be a backhoe rather than a broadsword.

(Hat tip: John DeNardo of SF Signal.)

And speaking of female pop stars and wretched excess…

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

…former CNN movie critic Paul Tatara searches for the worst pop Christmas album of all time, and says the winner is…Christina Aguilera’s “Oh Holy Night”.

“Until Aguilera’s apparently astounding soulfulness bitch-slapped me into the 21st century, I had no idea the word “night” contained 14 syllables…or that every word contains 14 syllables.”

With audio snippet good-, er badness.

Architect Frank Gehry Designs Hat for Lady Gaga

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Like all his other work, it’s a complete and utter piece of crap.

On the other hand, I think her Dali piano is pretty cool:

Lady Gaga’s brand of vapid pop isn’t my particular cup of poison, but in the interest of filling out the rare Lady Gaga trifecta, here’s the music video for Paparazzi. (Skip to about 3 minutes in if you want to go straight to the music.) When it comes to attention-whoring pop stars, she doesn’t settle for half-measures. I mean, just look at the number of costume changes there…

Follow-up: There was something that video kept reminding me of, and I finally figured it out:

J. G. Ballard’s Crash

Christ Turns Down Notre Dame Football Job

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Though more up Dwight’s alley than mine, I found this Onion article amusing.

And as long as we’re bashing Notre Dame, I found the image below on this Fark thread.

Those with no interest in football should know that there’s more science fiction and book geeking coming up Real Soon Now.

Texas Longhorns 13, Nebraska Cornhuskers 12

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Texas barely wins on a (literally) last second field goal.

Either Nebraska has the best defense in the country (very possible), or UT will have real problems in the national championship game against Alabama unless Colt McCoy can regain some of last year’s poise.

Texas and Nebraska: A Cautionary Tale

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Texas-Nebraska is an obvious mismatch.

Going into the Big 12 Championship, one team is a reigning powerhouse with a future Hall of Fame coach not far removed from a National Championship that views the game as a stepping stone for a chance to play a powerful Florida team for another national championship. The other is a former powerhouse, fallen on hard times but on the rebound with a new coach. But everyone agrees the game will be a speedbump on the powerhouse’s way to playing in another National Championship game..

Sound familiar? It should, because it describes not only the 2009 Big 12 Championship, but also the very first Big 12 Championship in 1996. There Nebraska was the reigning powerhouse, far more dominant in the 1990s (three National Championships in the 1990s under Tom Osborne) than Texas, which has just a single National Championship under Mack Brown. (Not that we’re complaining, mind you. We’re very happy to have both it and Mack Brown.) And the Nebraska team UT will be facing Saturday has a better record (9-3) than the Longhorn team going into the 1996 game (7-4). (As an added irony, the Texas win knocked Mack Brown’s North Carolina team out of a BCS bowl.. )

All that said, Texas is still (and should be) the prohibitive favorite. Neither Cody Green nor Zac Lee seems to be as crafty or nervy a quarterback as James Brown was for Texas. And Colt McCoy is probably the best college quarterback in the country right now.

Still, the Longhorns shouldn’t get cocky. If a team coached by John Mackovic can upset a defending National Champion, anything can happen.