Hell's Corner and Rings!

By most mechanical and dirty hand:
Rouse up revenge from ebon den with fell
Alecto's snake,
For Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought but truth.



Went to a great show at Second City last week, featuring an acquaintance of mine the one and only Nug. The show, Rings! is the story of three guys trying to adapt The Lord of the Rings into a one hour comedy show. If you enjoy Lord of the Rings in any form or are a geek, I know for a fact you'll love this show. Plus they let you drink during the show! Win-Win!

Here are the details from Nug himself:

That's right, RINGS!: A FELLOWSHIP OF FOOLS has only three shows left.

TONIGHT @ 11 pm
FRIDAY MAY 26 @ 11 PM
MONDAY MAY 29 @ 8 PM

Only three more chance to see the show NOW Magazine called, "a joy to watch"! If you haven't seen it, now's your chance. After these three shows, it goes away forever... unless there's a sequel.

Don't forget, Monday's show features an improv set FOR FREE!!

Second City Toronto
51 Mercer St.
Tix available at the box office
or call 416-343-0011

Check it out if you can, I highly recommend it.

Now for some random stuff...

What If Al Gore Was President of the United States...?



Oh Saturday Night Live, you never cease to be sporadically hilarious. Gone are the days of Murray and Belushi, Sandler and Farley, Piscopo and Murphy, Ferrell and Meadows... Yes SNL's glory days are behind her, but every once and a while they get it right again. They opened last weeks show with an announcement from the President of the United States... Al Gore. Very funny.

Check out the video at Crooks and Liars.

Dancers Doing The Charleston To B-Boy Music



This video shows a pair of extraordinary gifted swing dancers from some black-and-white TV show set to modern hip-hop with a lot of eerily serendipitous synch-ups between the music and the video. The dancing is nothing short of amazing and set to the contemporary music, it's even nicer. (From BoingBoing.net)



I've got some more embedded videos coming your way!

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

An awesome mashup trailer of the Charlton Heston "classic" The Ten Commandments. Essentially making the film look like a stock 1980's Teen Comedy. If only the real film were like this... And not the over-blown, over-rated ridiculous spectacle it is.



Gold.

Who Shot First Bookends



If I were to ever buy a pair of bookends(DVD-ends?) I would most certainly buy these. So nerdy, yet so cool. Pre-order your own Mos Eisley Cantina Bookends here. Oh geekdom, you never cease to amaze me.

Doings a Transpirin'

And I'm spent, just a few things to note blogwise. I've changed the layout of the site slightly... This is a precursor to a total site redesign hopefully by the end of the summer. My site is approaching its third anniversary, and although I didn't celebrate the second, I will most certainly be doing something special in a few months to mark the occasion.

I'm An Internet Meme



In other news I was the victim/benefactor of an internet meme on a site that I am a member of. It got a little out of control, but was all in good fun for the most part.
Check out some of the pictures on My Flickr Page.
Pretty ridiculous.

Arrivederci

- Will   Monday, May 15, 2006

  Poseidon and What Not To Do While Drinking

When daffodils begin to peer,
With heigh! the doxy over the dale,
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.

REVIEW
Poseidon
6.5/10 STARS


Wow that was a big explosion! Hey what are your names again?

What is it with Wolfgang Petersen and water? The director has given us such ocean-based movies as Das Boot and The Perfect Storm. Now Petersen caps off his soaking-wet trilogy with Poseidon. Poseidon is a big budget remake of the 1972 Irwin Allen disaster flick The Poseidon Adventure. The story is simple. A massive cruise ship capsizes after being hit by a rogue wave and a rag-tag group of survivors must fight to escape from the overturned ship. Like all good disaster movies, Poseidon sticks to the genre conventions - cookie cutter characters, panicky idiots, little or no plot development and as much action as possible. Poseidon certainly doesn't let down in the action department, but it's hard to care about characters you hardly know.

Poseidon will most likely be a breakthrough role for Josh Lucas. Lucas plays a professional gambler traveling on the cruise ship Poseidon, trying to hustle rich people out of their money through high stakes poker. That's all you really know about the character, and then the wave hits. It's not much, but Lucas gives a good performance, the first of many for him, I'm sure. Poseidon is also a second wind of sorts for Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss. Both actors have not starred in Hollywood blockbusters for several decades. They both do well with what they're given. Kurt Russell plays the heroic former firefighter and leader of the survivors. Richard Dreyfuss plays a suicidal man who finds a reason to live in helping the other survivors escape. Again, that is about as much character information as you get from the movie. Lastly, I would be loath to forget the lovely Emmy Rossum, who plays Kurt Russell's daughter in the film. She played Jake Gyllenhaal's love interest in The Day After Tomorrow, so she's no stranger to the disaster movie genre. I'd be lying if I said her cleavage in the film didn't provide a pleasant distraction from all the death and drowning.

The effects and action sequences are top notch. (I would expect no less from a movie budgeted at a rumoured $140 million dollars!) When the rogue wave capsizes the ship, it has to be one of the more impressive effects sequences ever put on film. There is really nothing to complain about in respect to the action - it's the character development that falls flat in Poseidon. If you don't know anything about a character beyond the obvious, you're not likely to care when they meet their untimely demise. Main characters drop like flies in Poseidon, and I found myself unmoved by their always gruesome fates. That being said, you're not going to see Poseidon for deep plot and character development - you're there to see a cruise ship capsize and the survivors deal with the aftermath.

If you enjoyed such original Irwin Allen disaster movies as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno then you'll love Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon. If you also enjoy destruction and mayhem on a cruise ship wide scale, you'll like what this movie has to offer. Petersen puts his band of survivors through hell, and it's all for your entertainment. Poseidon is most definitely an entertaining movie. Just don't expect subtle character development and an exacting plot - just a lot of water and explosions.

Moving on....

Original Unmolested Star Wars Trilogy on DVD



Star Wars purists rejoice, the Star Wars you remember from your childhood is coming to DVD. So sayeth Lucasfilm! Free of that revisionist film historian we all know as George Lucas. No more silly dance number in Jabba's palace, the return of the Nub Nub song, and Greedo getting his ass blown away FIRST by Han Solo.

Personally, I don't mind the Special Editions. I would be happy with them if they just fixed the Greedo shooting first bit. I can't have it both ways it seems. It's either the Original or Special Edition... No hybrid edition.

However, maybe some of those hybrid editions will be coming our way according to Wired News' Lore Sjoberg.

From the The Anyone-Shoots-First Edition to The All-Wampa Edition, yes we can only hope that Lucasfilm will release these versions as well.

Wired News Article.

And on the topic of Star Wars

Make sure you see this hilarious parody from the Cartoon Network show Robot Chicken.

Darth Vader phones the Emperor after the rebels destroy the Death Star. Featuring the voice talents of Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane. Genius.



So good.


Mario: Brooklyn Plumber or Marxist Revolutionary?



In an unprecedented investigative report, one man examines the hidden links between everyone's favourite obese, Italian-American plumber with a penchant for magic mushrooms and Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries bent on world domination. An interesting and disturbing read indeed.

To anyone raised in the 80’s, few names have such impact as the Super Mario Brothers do. We played their video games, watched their cartoon show, read their newsletter, bought their merchandise, ate their breakfast cereal, and even watched the piece of shit movie "The Wizard" starring the young, chubby cheeked miscreant Fred Savage because Super Mario Brothers 3 made an appearance.

But aside from the slightly racist stereotyping of Mario and Luigi as food loving, NY fat bodies with ridiculous Italian accents, was there anything really insidious behind the scenes? The staff here at Murderize.com has found something more, something…sinister…lurking behind the mustached countenances of Mario and Luigi. We don't have enough evidence to prove anything, just a sparse trail of bread crumbs to follow. And this trail begins with the game that started it all, Super Mario Bros. Beware brainwashed fools, for this stunning expose will change the way you look at your favorite Nintendo hero forever. No longer the innocent Brooklyn plumbers, it now appears Mario and Luigi are nothing more than communist puppets engineered to program, oh so subtly, Marxist ideals into our impressionable minds!

Read the full article here.

Thanks to Max for the link.

Continuing on the video game theme...

It's That Time of Year Again... E3!!!


Raiden is back... And this time with less lameness!

Yes the Electronic Entertainment Expo is back! Mini-Christmas for gamers as I like to call it. All the hottest new titles and new hardware is unveiled, and gamers drool in collective awe.

I'm most excited about Metal Gear Solid 4 for the Playstation 3. But there are so many amazing games, I just don't have time to list them all.

For all your game trailer needs and latest E3 News check out The E3 Insider and Gamespot.

Go nuts boys and girls, it's Mini-Christmas.

And finally the most ridiculous thing I have read in a long time...

Supermodel Mistakes Bus Exit Door for Bathroom Door



Truly unbelievable...

Leave it to a blonde supermodel to do exactly the kind of stuff you'd expect a blonde supermodel to do. Like mistake the bathroom door for the exit door and step off a moving bus onto a freeway at 40 mph. Russian model Tatyana Simanava did exactly that on Tuesday, and ended up smashing her arm, dislocating a shoulder, and cutting her face and head.

Get the whole story plus hilarious commentary at The Superficial.

Exams are over. Time to drink away my stress!

- Will   Thursday, May 11, 2006

  Till That The Weary Very Means Do Ebb

Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.

I'm in the middle of exams right now, and thanks to my unorthodox sleeping schedule I'm up at quarter to 5 in the morning. So I figured I would use this blog for what I usually use it for : procrastination. It certainly beats reading about Philosophy and History... Well not really... But at this point it most certainly does.

While every other university in the province is finished exams, good old U of Toronto keeps us for as long as possible. I will not be finished until May 8th!!! *Shakes fist* Oh well, one down, two to go. The year went well, and I can't wait to get working this summer.

And now for the usual stuff...

Stephen Colbert At The White House Correspondents' Dinner



If you haven't seen the videos floating around the net of Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend be sure to check them out. Stephen Colbert has balls of steel! His scathing "roast" of George W. Bush that he delivered mere feet away from the man... Looking him in the eyes on several occasions... was truly incredible. The audience at the gala sat in stunned silence and awkward laughter for nearly 30 minutes as Colbert verbally lambasted Bush and pointed out all the administration's failures and shortcomings. The truth certainly hurts, because Dubya looked very pissed.



Watch the video



Hell, I actually kind of felt bad for Bush.

One site even has a brutal frame by frame analysis of Dubya's reaction to Colbert's jabs... Painful to look at...

For all the reaction to the video check out this interesting Washington Post article.

Canadian Music Artists Take A Stand



A group of Canadian music artists have come together to form the Canadian Music Creators Coalition. The group is dedicated to reforming copyright laws, and wrestling control of their music in the face of new technologies for distribution.
It's very cool what they're trying to do.

We are a growing coalition of Canadian music creators who share the common goal of having our voices heard about the laws and policies that affect our livelihoods. We are the people who actually create Canadian music. Without us, there would be no music for copyright laws to protect.

Until now, a group of multinational record labels has done most of the talking about what Canadian artists need out of copyright. Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies, but let's be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists. Legislative proposals that would facilitate lawsuits against our fans or increase the labels control over the enjoyment of music are made not in our names, but on behalf of the labels' foreign parent companies.

See the CMCC's entire mission statement here.

And on the subject of music...

Video Games Live : Metal Gear in Concert



Tommy Tallarico, host of Electric Playground and noted video game sound and music designer has put together a series of concerts that showcase the very best of video game music. Video Games Live is a pretty cool idea, and the concerts seem right up your alley if you enjoy music from games.

What is Video Games Live?

An immersive concert event featuring music from the world's most popular video games performed by a live orchestra and choir combined with synchronized lighting, video, performers, and more!

Video Games Live will feature the best music and video clips from the most popular games from the beginning of video gaming to the present. Games include:

Mario, Zelda, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Warcraft, Myst, Final Fantasy, God of War, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, Medal of Honor, Sonic, Tron, Tomb Raider, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, EverQuest II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20+ games from Pong to Donkey Kong including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders & Outrun!

Here's a sample of Video Games Live, performing a medley from the Metal Gear Solid series of games. Very cool.

Metal Gear Solid in Concert!

Thanks to Amer for the MGS link.

And now we segue from music to games... See how I did that?

Hilarious Kung Fu Game



To promote the release of the new Family Guy and American Dad DVD's, FOX has created this surprisingly fun Flash fighting game. If you enjoy either show, you'll get definitely get a kick out of it. If you don't like either show... it probably won't float your boat. Don't say I didn't warn you.

American Dad versus Family Guy : Kung Fu

Thanks to Christie for the link.

'Cool' HTML Game

An intrepid website creator has created a game called The Wicked, it's an HTML based detective game. Clues are hidden in the code, and elsewhere... Very cool... or at least as cool as an HTML Detective game can be. Entertaining none the less.

Check out The Wicked HTML Game

Thanks to Johnny for the link.

And now a few new trailers to close it out.

Superman Returns Trailer



The full length trailer for this summers Superman Returns came out yesterday. The Bryan Singer directed movie cost a reported $180 million dollars to make. Hopefully, it will do well and recoup that cost... which I'm sure it will. I'm just eager to see Kevin Spacey ham it up as Lex Luthor. Also the action should be spectacular thanks to the leaps made in special effects since the original movies. Plus Marlon Brando will be back as Jor El... Can't go wrong with Brando!

Go check it out. Superman Returns Trailer

Casino Royale Teaser



Casino Royale is the much anticipated new James Bond film, featuring new Bond, Daniel Craig. I must say the teaser impressed me. They seem to be going for the more hard edged, more realistic Bond from the original Ian Fleming novels. Three cheers for an unrequited bad ass James Bond!

See it here.

Now it's time for a little something I like to call sleep.

- Will   Wednesday, May 03, 2006