Category: Not-politics

Ah. Push.

I’ll add an additional reason to Ken Hite‘s observation of why you (apparently incorrectly) decided to give Push a pass:

You may remember Push as the movie whose preview made you go: “I saw that movie already, and it was called Jumper, and it sprang for Samuel L. Jackson instead of Djimon Hounsou, and it still sucked.” Well, this is what we in the rhetoric business call “poisoning the well.”

…the official website is obnoxious as all get-out. I had to go find a copy of the trailer on YouTube.

…It didn’t look that bad, actually. Ken says that it’s nifty, and there’s definitely something to be said for psionic shenanigans in Hong Kong, particularly if they involve a techno beat and a lot of gun fu. Guess Feng Shui‘s going to have to write a new gaming supplement…

“‘Morning, Mr. Lane. Sleep well? Here, have some culture shock.”

The future sneaks up on you when you’re not paying attention. Some highlights from this article (via Fark):

A transplant may enable mom to hold her kids
Sarah Mues could become first woman ever to get two transplanted hands

Well, that’s significa… sorry, “first woman“? “Two“? Continue reading “‘Morning, Mr. Lane. Sleep well? Here, have some culture shock.”

I’m sorry, but I thought that this was cute.

Contra Ed Morrissey, I think that this is just a superstition ritual:

(Originally via The Moderate Voice) Every profession has ’em, and here it’s just two people being goofy together. I wouldn’t post it at all except that any embarrassment from it has already been released into the wild, and maybe they’ll see this and feel a little better.

Pride and Prejudice… and Zombies.

No, really.

510xxfxxxgl_sl500_aa240_Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a real book, and it’s coming out in April, whereupon I will buy it.  They’re making the argument that the original book is actually quite amenable to being updated with zombies added, which makes perfect sense to me: everything is better with zombies added, after all.  The absolutely best part?  They’re talking movie scripts right now.

NO.  REALLY: Continue reading Pride and Prejudice… and Zombies.

DVICE is having a “Steampunk Cylon” contest…

…they think that people can come up with something better than what they did:

steampunk_cylon_contest-thumb-425x727

…which may not be the easiest thing in the world, actually. More here and here, with added picture goodness.

Personally, I think that the BSG 1.0 Cylons were closer to the entire steampunk aesthetic than the BSG 2.0 ones – although in 1978 I wouldn’t have said so, being both: a, eight; and b, utterly ignorant that Powers, Blaycock, & Jeter were going to invent the steampunk genre a decade later.

OK, the real question on the Kindle is…

…not whether I pick up a Kindle 2. I already know the answer to that one: I don’t, for a while (if ever).  The question becomes, do I pick up a Kindle 1? I mean, with any luck the price for one of those will go through the floor and I can think about purchasing one. On the other hand, it may not get that way for a while, so I might as well contemplate saving up my money and getting the better option.  On the gripping hand, I like books.  I also like the way that they work even when there’s no reliable source of electricity around.

Probably one of my readers has a Kindle: what do you folks think about them?

Tragically, the Mole People were not on this list.

The 5 Most Ridiculous Lies Ever Published as Nonfiction. There’s some good stuff on there, but The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City
is completely absent.  This is a pity, since it’s my wife’s favorite “sociology book that turned out to be utter nonsense.”  Look here (via here) for a comprehensive smackdown of the physical aspects of her book, which is actually pretty important in a situation like this.

I guess that’s to be expected, though.  Cracked’s in the humor business, and even with a title like “The Mole People” there’s only so much that you can do…

Moe Lane

PS: No, nothing to do with this. Which is kind of a pity, when you think about it.