XKCD - so true

Indy 4 - Latest Trailer

The new Indy film has finally got a full length trailer. It can be seen over at www.indianajones.com and can be downloaded in quicktime here (be aware that the download is 112mb, so it is fairly hefty). This will more than likely be the last trailer as the film is due out in less than 3 weeks. Enjoy.

American National Day of who gives a crap.

Looks like the fundies are out in force in the good ole USA today - its apparently the National Day of Prayer. A day when everyone stops working towards the greater good, and starts sitting down muttering to themselves. Cause thats going to do some good apparently. Yes, instead of feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and helping the weak, they are going to pray for their sad asses.

I was walking to work today and got bugged by the sight of the Salvation Army out collecting...again. They always seem to be standing around with their hand out, and as a religious organisation, begging for my money seems a bit hypocritical. Don't they collect enough from their parishioners every Sunday? Either way, I will never give money to a religious organisation, especially one that reckons everyone should follow their wacky rules, or believes some mystical figure created everything.

I think PZ Myers has a pretty good understanding of this supposed National Day for Americans - fuck the National Day of Prayer.

Henry Rollins : Air Raid Vehicle at the Theatre

After making a concious decision to get a bit of culture in 2008, I was striding purposefully through the streets of Wellington, wondering exactly how I was going to accomplish this. Inspiration in the form of having to wait at a corner for the lights to change struck me. Well, it was more the coincidence of having Low Self Opinion blasting through my headphones, and seeing a poster for Mr Rollins on the lamp post in front of me. Aha! I thought - just the ticket. So I spoke to my bro, and we booked some tickets to see the angry Black Flag front man doing his spoken word tour through Australasia.

He was the front man for the punk band Black Flag, from 1981 to 1986, and after that disbanded he formed his own band and record label 2.13.61 (his birthdate). He also began doing spoken word tours, based on times when the mic was free during gigs and they needed someone to fill the gaps. As he said himself, it wasn't long until he was doing all the talking with some musical interludes, with the bands he had been supporting, now doing support for him.

Having turned 47 recently, Henry says he feels like an old bastard. But that hasn't changed his outlook on life or his enjoyment of new experiences. He frequently tours some rather odd places around the world, introducing everyone to Henry's brand of investigative tourism. He usually hears of a place that everyone says he shouldn't go to, and immediately books a ticket. After going to these far flung, and often dangerous areas of the planet, meeting the local citizens and makin new friends, he returns to the States and tells everyone about it. Its "my way of fucking with the man!"

We spent an enjoyable 3 hours and change listening to Henry Rollins explain his world, and many of his life experiences. It was fascinating, funny, poignant, hilarious, worrying and ultimately an excellent night out. But thanks to the Paramount theatre in Wellington, it also took a physical toll. I'm not a massive guy, but my legs are obviously long enough that I'm outside the average leg length for someone in 1812, which is when the stupid bloody seats were put in. My knees are still giving me gyp days later, and I swear my butt lost all circulation for at least 24 hours after the show.

But it was worth it - he's a great person to listen to, and as stream of conciousness goes he's the fucking master. He spoke for the 3 and some odd hours it seemed without taking a breath or a sip of water. I reckon if you get the chance, go see him and listen - amazing guy, loves the mic and good orator. He's doing the Edinburgh festival according to his website, 18 Aug - 25 Aug, so if your over there get along and check him out.

Otherwise, check out some of Henry's other stuff - he has released numerous spoken word albums, appeared on many TV shows, and also filmed a TV Series called the Henry Rollins Show for ITV last year.

New Indy 4 TV Spot

Here we go with another Indy 4 TV Spot. A lot of the footage is stuff we have seen before but there are a few new shots of Indy back handing some dude, and Indy and Mut on a motorbike. Needless to say I am very excited about this and I am waiting for the full length trailer due sometime soon. Links to the Quicktime files follows. Have a look.

Quicktime download links:
Small
Medium
Large
trailer
Youtube vid.

Chronic masturbators solve world energy crisis

Yes, wanking for the common good will soon be in vogue once piezoelectric clothing takes off. Seen here on textually via Gizmodo a new fashion article called a Piezing Dress where the wearer generates a charge as they move that is stored in a small battery. The applications are endless as far as I'm concerned.

But seriously folks, if every affluent country of the world used this clothing for even 30% of its populous, we could save so much energy being generated at our fossil fueled powered generation plants. I forsee a future where air polluting energy generation is replaced by people taking long walks to power the telly, a quick jaunt on the exercycle to charge the water heater, or flicking one off the wrist to keep the monitor going on the PC.

Yes, even the spotty nerds currently sucking up the worlds power on their 15 monitors, 10 PC's, wireless devices, endless chargers and MP3 players could turn the energy crisis tide by simply wearing this clothing whilst having a tap. We would have an energy surplus. People walking to work, going for a run, walking the dog - hell lets coat the pets! Lets get those bloody cats to return something for once!

Trust me - its going to be an energy revolution my friends!

Movie Review : The Painted Veil

Starring : Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Leiv Schreiber, Toby Jones, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
Directed by : John Curran
Synopsis : A young scientist and his reluctant wife move to the interior of China during a Cholera outbreak in the 1920's, and amidst Nationalist revolts against British intervention in the country.
My Rating - 4/5




Right about now you are wandering if I should be checked in for a psych evaluation. Well, sod off is all I can say. I was admittedly a bit hesitant to go to this movie, what with it being a drama, distinct lack of explosions and no snappy repartee during gunplay. But since it was a relaxing Sunday morning with She Who Must Be Obeyed, I thought it would be nice to spend a bit of "quality time".
I saw the review by Kate Rogers on TV3 and I must admit, I generally agree with most of what she says about a large number of movies, so the fact that she enjoyed it meant I went into it with a positive frame of mind.
Edward Norton is a brilliant actor, and while I don't always agree with the roles he plays, he has the talent to be able to pick the roles he wants to do. I didn't really like the Spike Lee film The 25th Hour, except for one scene where Ed does a monologue at the mirror - that one scene blew me away and made that whole movie worth watching.
It will be interesting to see how the new Hulk movie goes later this year.
Naiomi Watts I have never really liked to be honest, but this is one movie I can say she blew me away in. She captures the emotions and motivations of the character incredibly, and projects them so well you'd have to be blind to miss them. Superbly cast, both Naiomi and Edward made this movie entertaining and I got an emotional connection I don't normally get with this sort of movie.
Leiv Schreiber, Toby Jones, and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang also do an excellent job of capturing their roles and help flesh out this movie into a masterpiece.

Overdoing it much? Who gives a shit - enjoyed the movie, recommend you see it, but I don't care if you don't like it - I reckon its excellent.

Cats are evil - I knew it!

Yes its now official - cats are the spawn of all that is unholy. Not only do they defecate frequently on innocent home owners lawns, eat food and provide nothing in return that a robot can't do, but now they make us mental too. Its all their fault.

Clinton Pays for Good Science - Saves Arecibo

Hilary Clinton has stepped into the fray over the funding of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico by proposing a bill that will secure dollars for the facility. Currently it is funded by the National Science Foundation and they have announced that the will cut most of its budget by 2011. A spokesperson at NSF said that the observatory does “good and unique science”, surely this alone would be grounds to continue with the funding. People in favour of the facility have noted that the Bush administration are looking at doubling the NSF’s budget within the next 10 years. Amazing.

I know that the decision by Clinton is more than likely a political driven stunt due to the ongoing Democratic Presidential bid but I welcome the news and hope that the telescope at Arecibo has along and fruitful life. You never know, it may still receive a reply to the message that was beamed from there in 1974 (more below).

Facts about Arecibo:
1968, the discovery of the periodicity of the Crab Pulsar
1974 Hulse and Taylor discovered the first binary pulsar PSR B1913+16, for which they were later awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
1982, the first millisecond pulsar, PSR J1937+21, was discovered by Don Backer, Shri Kulkarni and others
1989, the observatory directly imaged an asteroid for the first time in history: asteroid 4769 Castalia
1990, the first extra-solar planets ever discovered.
2008, detection of prebiotic molecules methanimine and hydrogen cyanide in the distant starburst galaxy

The telescope also had military intelligence uses, for example locating Soviet radar installations by detecting their signals bouncing back off the Moon. Arecibo is also the source of data for the SETI@home project

In 1974, the Arecibo message, an attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life, was transmitted from the radio telescope toward the globular cluster M13, about 25,000 light-years away. The 1,679 bit pattern of 1s and 0s defined a 23 by 73 pixel bitmap image that included numbers, stick figures, chemical formulas, and a crude image of the telescope itself.

It has also featured in the James Bond film Goldeneye as the Villains hideout and it played itself in the film Contact about a message from outer space.

The desire to expand the knowledge of the universe needs places like Arecibo to continue the work now and in the future.

Thanks - Bad Astronomy - Orlando Sentinal - NASA Watch - WIKI

We will remember them

Its ANZAC day here in New Zealand, and for those of you out there who don't know what its about, its the day we remember all the Australian and New Zealand armed forces who have fought for our countries. The ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops fought in Gallipoli, Turkey during World War 1, and is remembered for being one of the worst planned attacks by British and Commonwealth forces in history. Both sides lost over 140,000 men over during the period 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916. The picture to the left is ANZAC Cove in Turkey where we gather every year to honour those on both sides who made the supreme sacrifice.

Personally, I don't condone war as an answer to anything. But I also don't judge those in our history who chose to fight for what they deemed was right. There were thousands of men and women who, in our small nations history, have at some time or another taken up arms in defense of the British Commonwealth, to serve the United Nations in peace keeping duties, or serve as peacekeepers in the South Pacific. These men and women deserve our respect and gratitude for having the guts to stand up when it counted.

The ANZAC website says it best I think :

Although Anzac Day, the anniversary of the first day of conflict, does not mark a military triumph, it does remind us of a very important episode in New Zealand's history. Great suffering was caused to a small country by the loss of so many of its young men. But the Gallipoli campaign showcased attitudes and attributes - bravery, tenacity, practicality, ingenuity, loyalty to King and comrades - that helped New Zealand define itself as a nation, even as it fought unquestioningly on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire.

After Gallipoli, New Zealand had a greater confidence in its distinct identity, and a greater pride in the international contribution it could make. And the mutual respect earned during the fighting formed the basis of the close ties with Australia that continue today.

My Great Grandfather served in the New Zealand army at Paschendale in WWI, my Grandfather served in the Merchant Marines in WWII, my great uncle was in the SAS in Malaysia, and my father-in-law was did two tours in Vietnam. They all deserve to be honoured for the sacrifices they made for their country and we use this day to do that.

Movie Review : Goal ; aka Shite ; aka David Beckham cant act for peanuts

Director : Danny Cameron (whoever he is)
Stars : bunch of footballers and some shite actors
Synopsis : Who gives a shit really.
Rating : Isnt it obvious?

Well, not much to be said for this film really. It starts out with the standard sob story - poor kid crosses border from Mexico with family searching for a better life, is good at football but his father (stereotypical domineering "you'll never amount to anything", tall poppy syndrome bastard) discourages him from playing as it interferes with his ability to bring in the dough.
Travelling ex-footballer sees him playing, convinces him to go and try out for Newcastle, convinces club manager to see him, is generally the fucking king of convincing everyone in the movie to do shit, and lands him a short contract. Blah blah blah blah -if it was any more formulaic, you'd be taught it in Organic Chemistry. "Ok children, heres the formula for the chemical MakeAShitMovieThatMakesPeopleSick."
Has all the standard plot endings, and I mean ALL of them :
boy gets the girl
boy scores the goal to win the game
boy gets girl to watch football and enjoy it (suspension of disbelief went into overdrive with that one)
boy reforms other bad boy who also scores goal in final game
boy gives old father figure type reason to get back into football at management level
boy's father watches him play (on the telly albeit) and finally respects sons ability to kick ball
boys father dies giving boy motivation to play big game (not quiet sure how that works)
boy finds out about father watching game on telly allowing him to make peace with father...apart from the fact that he's dead of course.
boy meets David Beckham, Zidane, and a whole lot of other famous football players, and plays with Alan Shearer.

What a load of tripe. And they made a sequel as well. I had got my grubby paws on both but now I'm not even going to bother with the 2nd one. What garbage.

The I.T. Crowd - Deleted Scenes and Outtakes

For those out there that are fans of the comedy show The I.T. Crowd here is a clip from the show. It was cut from the show and shows how real nerds and geeks play football. Funny stuff. More after the jump


Here are some outtakes from season 1

And here is season 2

No Mr Fluffy, I expect you to die!

As mentioned in my earlier post, we need a cat gun to keep the critters off my damn lawn, so I don't have to dodge catshit landmines when I'm taking out the rubbish or mowing the lawns. Well, ask and ye shall receive. New and purchaseable on the interweb is the Mega Sonic Scatter Cat.

Yes, now those pesky animals will fear your lawn, and if I customise it to go continuously in non-predictable patterns sweeping my whole lawn, I can create a no-go zone for felines and other small furry things. Combine that with the paint ball sentry gun then you have an effective anti-cat area, ensuring crap free lawn mowing, and totally avoids that awful squishy feeling between the toes when taking out the trash.

Fan Made Predator V's Batman Film

I came across this today which i though was pretty well done. Its a Predator V's Batman fan-film. I would not usually mention this sort of stuff but I thought that this looked pretty good. Despite the fact that this is fan made I reckon that the costumes look very good and the direction is not bad either.



A couple of things that are not so good were the grey suit that they have Batman in and the way certain characters move (namely when Batman jumps down or the Alien jumps). On the whole i though that this was well done, I liked the shot of batman as he stands up after he has jumped down from the rooftop. The lighting was nice and dark with flashes of light in the rain, nice work. And the Alien looked pretty damn good.

Ancient Russian Technology

It looks like the crew of the Soyuz that just landed had a wee bit of a bumpy ride. According to CNN.com the returning ISS crew hit 10gees on re-entry into the atmosphere and landed more than 250 miles away from the target landing zone. Everyone is well but I bet they were shitting themselves when they were on their way down.... Jeez.

Space.com also reported that they landed short of the target due to a possible ballistic re-entry which is "a steeper than normal descent that can subject the crew to higher gravitational forces". I hate to hear about this sort of thing and it sucks that the manned space missions have to rely on this kind of technology. Fortunately NASA have been involved with upgrading these spacecraft over the last few years which has added to the safety, control and comfort.
Well done to the crew for getting back safely and I hope that this does not deter them from going back.

13 Year Old Knows More Than NASA - Yeah Right!!!

Busted. The story that is knocking around the net at the moment about a 13 year old kid that has recalculated an asteroid impact is complete rubbish. Yes there is an asteroid called Apophis, and yes it will pass Earth, but an no time will it come near any satellites that might change its path causing it to crash. More after the jump.

Both Bad Astronomy and New Scientist websites have posted new articles, here and here saying that the story is essentially not true. The Agence France Presse (AFP) had originaly stated that:

"NASA had told the European Space Agency that the boy's calculations were
correct"

New Scientist reports that NASA have said:

"Contrary to recent press reports, NASA offices involved in near-Earth object
research were not contacted and have had no correspondence with a young German
student, who claims the Apophis impact probability is far higher than the
current estimate"

What has happened here that someone somewhere has picked up on a story an run with it without checking the facts, basic journalism fuck up if you ask me. This is how rumours spread and potentially cause grief somewhere down the track. The fact that this story has made its way all over the net has quite frankly amazed me. I thought people would be more skeptical with this information. Needless to say that the truth seems to be spreading at a similar speed and maybe next time people with think before believing.

Cassini Gets a Second Life

No I don't mean that crapfest that is Sadlife (Second Life). I am talking about the remarkable mission to Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft. The bods at NASA have decided to extend the mission for a further two years, which means that there will be at least 60 more orbits. This means more chances to study the Planet itself, the Saturnian rings and also the moons Titan and Enceladus. This is another major bonus for NASA after the success of the two rovers currently exploring the Martian landscape more than 3 years after they were supposed too have gone belly up.

Not only has Cassini sent back some incredible new pictures of the rings and the Planet itself but but the bus sized spacecraft has also detected three new moons Methone, Pallene and Polydeuces. Cassini's biggest triumph to date would have to be the Huygens probe which landed on the surface of Titan. The first man made object to land on another planets moon. More importantly is the possible discovery of liquid on the surface of Titan. As yet is is not fully understood what the liquid is but scientist speculate that it is some kind of hydrocarbon 'sea'. It is good to see that NASA and the US government is extending the missions of these incredibly successful missions and letting scientists study and learn more about the Solar System that we live in.

Movie Review : The Signal

Have you got the crazy?

Directed by : David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry
Written by : David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry
Stars : AJ Bowen, Anessa Ramsey, Scott Poythress, Justin Welborn
Synopsis : After a bizarre signal is broadcast, a city goes mad and a small group struggle to stay alive and sane.
Rating/5 : ★★★★




I saw the trailer for this one a while ago and was really looking forward to it, in the same way I looked forward to 28 Days Later and the new version of Dawn of the Dead. After seeing their trailers, I had that same nervy feeling when watching either the undead, the infected or insane run amok on the city streets, and society falls apart in minutes.
I finally got hold of a copy of The Signal last night, and I was not disappointed. Its a decent flick with a pretty basic premise, and it keeps you hooked all the way through.
The movie is split into 3 segments (Transmission I, II and III). Each segment was written and directed by each of the three Directors, but it runs together so well, you might not know it.
The story line is pretty simple - a bizarre signal is seen on TV screens and heard on phones that drives people mad. It appears to distort their view of reality and lower them to their base instincts, usually with a violent outcome. It has a similar feel to the movies I mentioned earlier, but with a real twist in that you see some of it from the perspective of the deranged lunatic. It gives a unique feel to the film, introducing an empathy and even some humour into what is a very dark look at humanity's reliance on technology. What if all our appliances which we rely on day to day became the reason for our downfall?

I enjoyed this movie immensely and definitely in the top 5 for the "low-budget horror movies seen by me" category. And considering it was filmed in 13 days on a $50k budget, it shows some serious writing and directing talent.

And as an aside, how about this for life imitating art - during the recent screening in Fullerton in February this year, a man leapt up during the movie and stabbed two others in the theatre. Do you have the crazy?

Robo Seal begs to be clubbed

OK, maybe the headings a bit tasteless, but then fuck - look at the damn thing. Its asking to be made into a pair of shoes and some lovely mittens. What is it? Well its the latest model of therapeutic robotic synth-animal with a $US5000 price tag. Yes, apparently the old folks lap this shit up, and according to the freaky Japanese who keep turning out some of the weirdest products, it increases happiness in the oldies, thereby decreasing stress, need for med's, and less requirement for nursing home staff to deal with cranky old nana's.





I'm not 100% convinced that this sort of stuff works. There have been studies (see here and here) and there is anecdotal evidence to support the fact that old people live better lives with the responsibility and companionship that comes with having an animal. But a freaking robot?

Even though it looks cuddly, do people want some simulcra of life taking up space on the bed at night, all in the name of keeping their nuts and bolts together? I'm sure its soft and all, but wouldn't it have a limited response set, like those toy dogs that you can buy that you turn on, they move half a metre, bark, sit up, repeat. Ok, I'm sure it has more tricks up its.....flipper than 3, but people, even old people, are not stupid. Well, some are, but this is not a product aimed at brain dead or mentally challenged shrieking bed pan hurlers. If it has, lets be generous, 50 different actions, surely anyone would notice after a limited amount of time that it was beginning to repeat itself.

And who wants a bloody sea dwelling mammal for a pet when you are already over the hill and gathering speed? Surely something a bit more independent like an adult cat, or adult dog, or a frickin hamster would be preferable?

Some might say, what the hell is your problem? Its a robotic seal? Build a bridge. But its precisely this waste of robot building talent that rev's me up - why waste million of dollars building something this shitty? Why not build something more useful like a beer retrieval robot that knows when you need one WITHOUT asking? Or a robot that chases the neighbours cats off the lawn so you don't have to dodge cat shit landmines next time you mow the bastard?

I'm all for that - the Catenator Mk1. Comes with optional flamethrower.

Clone Wars - It Has Begun

OK Star Wars geeks, here is the first trailer to the new Clone Wars animated film coming out in multiplexes later this year. I have to say.... Damn this looks good. I was dubious to say the least about this but it looks as though good old Uncle George has done it again. The Star Wars franchise world proves its worth....again. Check out the video after the jump.

Sorry about the quality....