The Ting Tings

Wonderfully sparkly neo new wave.

You can dance to it too.

Numb Nuts?

That's Sameer Mishra, and he won the competition btw.

Albuquerque police attack photographer

Nothing cops hate more than citizens talking back (and yes, the photographer was rude).

IMHO, the cop is clearly in the wrong.

So, nothing will happen to him.

Recount

HBO's Recount is a retelling of the events in Florida during the 2000 American election. It's biased (goodness me, you come away with the impression that Bush and Co. are brown shirted fascist bullyboys...parish the thought) and infuriating, but it does reflect the events as they happened.

It is worth watching if for nothing else than Laura Dern's portrayal of Katherine Harris.

Stonehenge may have been royal cemetery

Stonehenge may have been a burial ground for an ancient royal family, British researchers said on Thursday.

New radiocarbon dates of human remains excavated from the ancient stone monument in southwest England suggest it was used as a cemetery from its inception just after 3000 BC until well after the larger circle of stones went up around 2500 BC.

Read more here.

Young Hillary Clinton

Bill O'Reilly accidently acts like a news person

In an extremely rare example of Bill O'Reilly actually doing his job, albeit accidentally, watch as he makes a fool of his guest.

=)

Bush Bump

I'm not even sure I want to know what's going on here.

Copyright deal could toughen rules governing info on iPods, computers

WTF?

The federal government is secretly negotiating an agreement to revamp international copyright laws which could make the information on Canadian iPods, laptop computers or other personal electronic devices illegal and greatly increase the difficulty of travelling with such devices.

The deal could also impose strict regulations on Internet service providers, forcing those companies to hand over customer information without a court order.

Scummy stuff like this is always done secretly.

Read more here.

FLQ psychos threatening bombs in Quebec

A group in Quebec, claiming to be the "Front de libération du Québec" is again threatening bombings.

Why?

"l'impérialisme anglo-saxon qui sévit dans l'ouest de Montréal"

These people are assholes of the highest order.

Read more here.

Stonehenge builders had geometry skills to rival Pythagoras

Stone Age Britons had a sophisticated knowledge of geometry to rival Pythagoras – 2,000 years before the Greek "father of numbers" was born, according to a new study of Stonehenge.

Five years of detailed research, carried out by the Oxford University landscape archaeologist Anthony Johnson, claims that Stonehenge was designed and built using advanced geometry.

The discovery has immense implications for understanding the monument – and the people who built it. It also suggests it is more rooted in the study of geometry than early astronomy – as is often speculated.

Read more here.

Between 2001 and Star Wars

Between 1968's "2001" and "Star Wars" in 1977, science fiction did not die off the screen. Very many film were made in this period (including 1971's The Andromeda Strain), just not all were good or remembered.



One film is "Silent Running" 1972, famous mostly for the involvement of Douglas Trumbull, special effects artist from "2001" and later "Close Encounters".

The film is very hippy dippy, but does have the robots Hewey and Dewey.



Another is "The Forbin Project" 1970. This concerns the usual computer take over of the world, this time the teaming up of American and Russian supercomputers with unplanned results.



On the down side, is "Zardoz" from 1973. It must be seen to be believed.

The Andromeda Strain

Last night's version makes this seem even better.

The Andromeda Strain

The Andromeda Strain has been remade by A&E.

And what a strain is was..and that was only part one.

I'd prefer the trip to Piedmont.

Stripped of what made the original film entertaining*, it is now colourless, filled with second rate tv stars (Rick Schroder, are they kidding?) and levels of unnecessary violence.

This, and the addition of extra plot elements and the dreaded "post 911" sensibilities.

Yuk.

The most frightening aspect may be that the actor who plays an official in the U.S. government is a Rogers ad spokesman here in Toronto.

*yes, I realize the onscreen gassing of animals would upset a modern audience..ok to show a man cutting his own head off though.

The Biggest Drawing in the World

Fairy Liquid

Yes, it's what you've all been waiting for, the Return of Fairy Liquid.

We're baccck

...the Phoenix Mars Lander's legs is seen after a successful landing on May 25, 2008 in the northern polar regions of Mars

The sick fucks at FOX

Liz Trotta, former New York bureau chief of the Washington Times, unsubtly confused U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama with Saudi jihadist and purported 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden... and perhaps placed similar value on their lives on live television.

China: Britain meddling over Dalai Lama

This story exactly mirrors a similar one (read more here) from last fall then our Canadian government had the nerve to act independently from China's wishes.

The reaction again is pure Chinese fake outrage...

China lashed out Saturday at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for meeting the Dalai Lama, accusing Britain of ignoring Chinese interests and interfering in its affairs.

China's Foreign Ministry said Britain allowed the Friday meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader and a separate meeting with members of Parliament despite Beijing's objections.

"This interferes in China's internal affairs and hurts the Chinese people's feelings as well," spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on the Foreign Ministry's Web site.

Read more here.

Russian trailer for "Wanted"

The Court Jester - The Pellet With The Poison

Weezer

Pork and Beans.

The Fad is not Dead!

Make it So

"Make It So" is a podcast devoted to Star Trek.

It is produced mainly by 2 Brits (but not always, see below), who are clearly 80's babies.

It's fun and witty, if at times suffering from fuzzy memories and mild homophobia.

There is a major drawback though. They have a shocking disregard and lack of knowledge of the original Star Trek, at times leading them at assign originality to a later Star Trek concept they are unaware had already been covered in TOS (case in point: "Jordie is the only blind person in Star Trek..."). The shows do mainly revolve around The Next Generation (not that there's anything wrong with that...)

Update: in later episodes they do improve in this area, mostly due to having received a box set of TOS...there is also the recent mysterious unexplained firing of one of the long time hosts...

They do however seem to agree that Voyager was appallingly bad.

It's worth a listen which you can do here.

Crystal skulls 'are modern fakes'

Two of the best known crystal skulls - artefacts once thought to be the work of ancient American civilisations - are modern fakes, a scientific study shows.

They are the focus of the story in the latest Indiana Jones film.

But experts say examples held at the British Museum in London and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC are anything but genuine.

Their results show the skulls were made using tools not available to the ancient Aztecs or Mayans.

Read more here.

Scream painting back on display

Edvard Munch's The Scream, damaged by armed robbers who took the masterpiece in 2004, is back on display in a Norwegian museum.

The expressionist painting, which has been restored by experts, was recovered in August 2006. It had been damaged when it was pulled out of its frame.

Read more here.

Microsoft Explains "Gaywood" Ban

Microsoft, clearly taking its lead from 9 year olds...

Late last night, we learned the story of Richard Gaywood, the not-so-happy Xbox Live user whose gamertag was banned. Since "RichardGaywood" was both the user's gamertag as well as his legal, honest-to-goodness given name, Kotaku contacted Microsoft to learn the reason behind the ban.

Read more here.

Hitler Bombs

Dog jumping over fire

Vandals in attack at Stonehenge

Suspected souvenir hunters broke into Stonehenge and vandalised the ancient monument, English Heritage has said.

A hammer and screwdriver were used to take a small chip the size of a 10p piece from the side of the Heel Stone.

Read more here.

U.S. Soldiers Did 'Dirty Work' for Chinese Interrogators

Are they war criminals yet?

U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men -- or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report.

Read more here.

Did Humans Colonize the World by Boat?

Research suggests our ancestors traveled the oceans 70,000 years ago.

Read more here.

Blindingly hypocritical Republicans

When a federal judge ordered Rep. Jim McDermott to pay House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and his attorneys more than $1 million in damages and legal fees for leaking an illegally taped phone call to the media, Boehner said he pursued the case because “no one — including members of Congress — is above the law.”

Why, then, is the Ohio Republican trying to squash similar lawsuits against telecommunications companies who cooperated with the government in warrantless electronic surveillance, ask the attorneys behind the class action suits.

“Mr. Boehner is trying to kick millions of Americans out of court in a wiretapping case while collecting more than $1 million in his own wiretapping case. It’s the height of hypocrisy and seems to indicate that members of Congress are entitled to their day in court but the average American is not,” said Kevin Bankston, a senior staff attorney at the consumer rights nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Read more here.

Teenager faces prosecution for calling Scientology 'cult'

Writing on an anti-Scientology website, the teenager facing court said: "I brought a sign to the May 10th protest that said: 'Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult.'

"'Within five minutes of arriving I was told by a member of the police that I was not allowed to use that word, and that the final decision would be made by the inspector."

What word? Cult?

Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult Cult

*crickets*

Read more here.

Human rights commission orders Saguenay to stop council prayer

Ah the religious, in your face again.

Quebec's human rights commission has asked the city of Saguenay to stop praying before council meetings.

The commission says the prayer goes against the city's obligation as a public entity to remain neutral on questions of religion, and violates religious freedom.

The advisory follows a 2006 ruling involving Laval, Que., that found such prayers infringe individual rights.

Scary comment about this story:

The HRC is a joke, and everybody knows it! God bless Mayor Tremblay! May his tribe increase, and may many, many more find his courage to stand up and say out loud, “The Emperor has NO CLOTHES”!

Tribe?

Read more here.

Gambia

The President of Gambia has turned on homosexuals in his country...

"Gay men and lesbians must leave the country within 24 hours or face "serious consequences,"

Now listen to the sickening tone of this, from Gambia's Der Stürmer Daily Observer.

Yes, here they go again at the Daily Observer jumping on the President’s bandwagon – we hear some of you moan. Well, moan some more because we think this President of ours keeps saying exactly what we think here at the Daily Observer.

We have said it before and we will say it again. This is a Muslim and Christian country. Both the Holy Koran and the Holy Bible condemn homosexuality – pure and simple. So I hear you say that both the Koran and the Bible also condemn theft, adultery, lying, etc.

Correct – but we do not pass laws to make theft, adultery, lying and all other evil deeds acceptable. But we tolerate them, I hear you say. Yes indeed we do, to an extent.

Tolerance is indeed a virtue and without tolerance we would have much conflict in society. But I do not want anyone to abuse that tolerance either.

Unfortunately, homosexuals do by demanding that non-homosexuals should accept their life-style. Well, the life-style in The Gambia is one based around Family and Religion. Like God’s Adam and Eve, the Family is based around Mother (female), Father (male) and the rest of the extended family. Tony Blair’s definition of "marriage" and "family" as being of whatever conjecture (even man and goat!) does not apply in our religious context.

Look, we are not interested in stoning anyone, even homosexuals. What our President is saying, and we agree with him totally ("as usual" I hear you moan!) is this: Ours is a society guided by religious principles.

Those religious principles leave no room for homosexuality. Sex and marriage in our culture is between man and woman. Sex and marriage between a man and a man, a woman and a woman, is viewed as irreligious and gross by the vast majority of our people here (just as in the West they would view sex and marriage between a man and a goat)!

So, please respect our religions, cultures and traditions by keeping your homosexuality out of our country.

Only in Quebec

Certain elements of Quebec culture remain remarkably clueless when it comes to anything non Quebecois.

Case in point: new banners on Parc Ave in Montreal. A Greek neighbourhood, a Greek flag on the banner and a beautiful Greek child smiling down on you...

From the "They all look the same" school of civic design.

Read more here.

Generation Slap

They're naive, self-important, and perpetually plugged in. This is a call to arms against Millennials

And this is written by a Generation Xer..lol even they're beginning to feel old.

Woohoo!

Dumbest quote: "Let's face facts: The boomers always detested Generation X. They felt threatened by our youth, confused by our lack of earnestness, and deeply troubled by our lack of appreciation for James Taylor."

Actually it was must simpler than that, you were just a dull generation. We didn't consider you much at all.

And James Taylor sucked.

Read more here.

75,000 see Obama

Read more here.

South up maps

Maps with south at the top.

Read more here.

Let's blow stuff up

TSNS Demo Reel

Cannes Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

If we love the first three Indiana Jones films, it's because they had great action, mythic objects of wonder and great comedy touches within big, well-shaped stories; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull feels like it was reverse-engineered from that blueprint, as if enough action and props and comedy would then make a story. Crystal Skull may bring back the faces and themes we remember, but it's curiously bloated and malnourished, too much and not enough.

Read more here.

Roots of Breakdance (Run DMC - It's Like That)

The Red Army, Run DMC and some good editing.

Who's idea was Apple?

Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice

Thank god for the NDP. Gotta watch those conservatives, they'll fuck you over at the drop of a hat.

"the balance between consumers and industrial consumers.."

gee I wonder which way the balance will lean....

Star Trek - The Best and Worst

Best Episode
Conventional wisdom has "The City on the Edge of Forever" as the classic Star Trek episode, but I disagree. Yes, it is the best made perhaps, and certainly the most dramatically mature..but it is not representative of "Trek" as a whole.

Here I name "Mirror Mirror" as the best, and it highlights Star Trek at its second season sparkly best.


Worst Episode
Again, conventional wisdom names "Spock's Brain" here. It is very bad, with gapping holes in logic, but it's fun and memorable if only for "Brain, we know nothing of brain"...

No, here I award this honour to "Turnabout Intruder", also the very last episode ever. Queen Bitch Kirk stomps, kicks, screams and does his nails. Yes, more than usual.

The episode does provide Star Trek's fitting closing words: "If only..if only"


Best Alien
Too easy, the Klingons, even as underdeveloped as they are. Part Russians, part Huns, they are not to be trusted and totally evil. "Day of the Dove" however does provide the slightest of character nuance.


Biggest spaceship
"The Corbomite Maneuver" Holy Christ that's big. It must be a mile in diameter. The Doomsday Machine might be bigger but doesn't look it.


Best composed shot
"The Paradise Syndrome" Spock ponders the tones.


Best SFX
"The Tholian Web" As the show deteriorated, its special effect actually improved, as the openings of "Spock's Brain" and "Specter of the Gun" illustrate.


Worst SFX
"Catspaw". The death of Korob and Syliva. Shellfish, fur and black thread. Awfully fishy. The shadowy influence of Sonny and Cher on their appearance is noted.


Best bridge shake
"The Immunity Syndrome" Over the railing no less. Kirk's hair remains in place.


Attack that really gets Spock's attention
"The Changeling". First shot from Nomad, the equivalent of 90 photo torpedos. Surprise!


Best Kirk/McCoy scene
"The Ultimate Computer" And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. Wonderfully economic and to the point.


Best Spock/McCoy argument
"The Trouble with Tribbles" Wonderfully bitchy exchange. Includes one of Spock's best comebacks: "So would an ermine violin doctor, but I see no advantage in owning one". Snnapp!


Best comeback to Spock
"The Squire of Gothos" Trelane's response to Spock: "You do have one saving grace after all. You're ill mannered". Snnapp snnapp!!


Coolest McCoy Moment
"Space Seed" McCoy disarms Khan. "I was just trying to avoid an argument." That McCoy, straight to the jugular.


Best angry McCoy moment
"Friday's Child" Leonard bitch slaps a princess. She gets real quiet after that. She names her child after him as well.


Best angry Spock moment
"The Naked Time" Spock bitch slaps a princess. He gets real weepy after that and exposes a nasty machine fetish.


Best bitchy Spock moment
"Plato's Stepchilidren" Spock lets the 3000 year old princess know she may need some work.


Best Uhura moment
"Mirror Mirror". Forget the interracial kiss, this is Star Trek's most progressive shot, motherfucker.


Best babe
"The Cloud Minders" Droxine. Yes Virginia, there were navels in Star Trek. She had a brain too, but didn't eat very much!


Most frightening babe
"That Which Survives" Lieutenant Rhada. Even Spock doesn't like her. She does have the honour though of announcing the top speed the Enterprise ever went: warp 14.1


Campiest babe
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" Shahna. She even manages to outdo Kirk. Impressive. Brain power, less so.

Her career when sideways from here.


Scariest alien babe
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" Chekov's Drill Throl Tamoon. To this day I'm not sure if that is a man or a woman. Best not to.


Cutest guy
"Shore Leave" Kirk's old nemesis Finnegan. "Lay one on me Kirk, just like you always wanted to do".


Not so cutest guy
Mr Farrell. Omg man, smile.


Scariest alien stud
"Elaan of Tryoius" Engelberg Humperdinck (aka Kryton) gets up to no good.


Career destroying appearance on Star Trek that didn't destroy a career
"The Way to Eden" Adam. Charles Napier when on to better things. Yea Brother.


Worst case of Star Trek's love of Nazi themed imagery
"Patterns of Force" Kirk looks all together too comfortable.


Coldest murder
"Whom Gods Destroy" Garth ends Marta's suffering. Nasty.


Coldest aliens
"By Any Other Name" Rojan makes an example of Yeoman Thompson. They give him a planet later on by the way.


Creepiest aliens
"The Apple" Akuta and the Feeders of Val. Clueless white Tahitians.


Bitchiest alien
"Elaan of Troyius" The Elaan herself. Classic.


Most mysterious aliens
"Arena" We are the Metrons. I never have thought his legs and body match up.


Gayest Alien
"Elaan of Troyius" Ambassador Petri. Nothing can begin to explain how wrong this shot is.


Best dinner scene
"Space Seed" Khan gets his ass handed to him. Excellent, excellent.


Best minor alien character
"Journey to Babel" Ambassador Shras explains the motivations for murder. Even dressed in cotton candy, he's chilling.


Best robot
"I Mudd" Stella Mudd. She would also fit under "Most Evil Robot", even edging out "The Doomsday Machine"


Worst Chekov
"Catspaw" Davy Jones defected to the U.S.S.R. and returned with less acting skill and worse hair. Damn Commies.


Worst Teeth
"Let that be your Last Battlefield" Scotty. Yes blow up the ship, please.


Worst SciFi Moment
"The Changeling" We can reeducate her! In a week! Really! Fooo-eeee!.


Worst intentional malfunction
"Let that be your Last Battlefield" The doors don't quite close so Spock can listen in.


Most Misogynistic moment
"The Changeling" again. Women are "a mass of conflicting impulses". This coming from a not too bright hybrid.


Best innuendo
"Conscience of the King" "All this power, surging and throbbing, yet under control. Are you like that captain?"


Best implied sex scene
"Wink of an Eye" Kirk and Deela have a quick one. Let's hope it lasted a bit longer than a wink.


Best pant ripping scene
"The Savage Curtain" Oppsy!


Best shot of Kirk holding as stone penis
"What are Little Girls Made of?" Watch out Ruk, Kirk looks like he means business.


Best stunt
"Who Mourns for Adonis?" Scotty gets zapped and lands hard.


Worst Kirk stunt double
"Space Seed" Khan fights Kir...what a minute? Who is that guy?


Worst song
"Charlie X" Perhaps being atonal and lyrically inept will be the musical forms of the future.


Best shot of Kirk escaping from already open handcuffs
"Patterns of Force" Um Kirk, your left cuff is already undone..oh never mind.


Best ad libbed shot
"Spock's Brain" Kirk attempts to shut Spock up with his remote control during the final fade out.