Month: October 2004

Apparently director John Woo is teaming up with “actor” The Rock to bring us a cinematic adaptation of the classic arcade game Spy Hunter in 2005. This really bothers me. First of all, there’s not much of a plot to speak of in the arcade game, but whatever, I’m sure they can come up with a generic shoot-em-up action movie. More importantly, I’m pissed off that such a cool game would have its name tarnished by being associated with what I cannot see being anything other than a steaming pile of crap. So, do you want to know what I really think? 😉

You may remember my post about the “Ukrainian Snickers Bar,” which is actually chocolate-covered salo, or pork fat. I came upon a fitting follow-up to that post, a BBC report about a salo Festival being held in Simferopil’, Ukraine. Why the fascination with salo? Although I’m Ukrainian myself, I personally don’t see the allure, but I know from friends and family that this is not an exaggeration:

Traditionally, small slices of the white snack are eaten with black bread, garlic and vodka. And, more recently, there is even a chocolate-coated version. [See? :-)]

Many Ukrainians believe salo is good for them and even keeps them slim. They say it contains amino acids that help burn fat in the body.

And they write poems, or sing songs, about their favourite national dish.

If nothing else, stories like this make me feel slightly better about my less-than-ideal dietary habits… 😉

The upcoming movie Team America: World Police, a marionette-based spoof from the creators of South Park, received an R rating ahead of its October 15th release. That in itself is not news. What is news is the fact that several scenes had to be rewritten or cut in order for the movie to not receive an NC-17 rating:

…according to the Los Angeles Times, the MPAA board and the film’s producers were at odds over a scene that depicts simulated sex between the wooden marionettes.

Producer Scott Rudin told the Times that at least nine variations of the scene in question were submitted, each one progressively less explicit, before the MPAA ultimately relented and approved with an R rating.

…

[Co-creator Trey Parker commented that] “It’s something we all did as kids with Barbie and Ken dolls. … The whole joke of it is that it’s just two dolls flopping around on each other. You see the hinges on their legs.”

Parker told the newspaper he was surprised that the MPAA seemed more concerned with sex than violence in his film, which he said includes scenes in which a puppet likeness of actor Tim Robbins is set on fire and a Susan Sarandon puppet is dropped from a high-rise building.

Although it sounded funny, I was fairly indifferent to the movie’s release until I read about this. Of course, maybe the whole point behind this supposed controversy is to get some publicity…

CNN reports that Rodney Dangerfield died yesterday at the age of 82, never recovering from the heart surgery he recently underwent. Although Dangerfield was probably best known for his comic catchphrase, “I don’t get no respect,” I will remember him best for his roles in classic movies like Caddyshack and Back To School. At right is his 1980 comedy album No Respect; when I get home, I’ll post an MP3 of one of the tracks that got some airplay. This is truly a sad loss; his larger-than-life personality and brilliant comedic timing will definitely be missed…

Update: Here’s the MP3 I promised: Rappin’ Rodney  (6MB MP3 file; get it while you can, as I’m only leaving it on the server for a limited time). I was mistaken about which album this track was from; it’s actually from his 1983 album Rappin’ Rodney. Not exactly a classic, but definitely a great example of bad, dated ‘80s rap. 😉

“What do you get when thousands of Dilbert readers put their minds together and design a house? You’re about to find out.” (requires Flash and QuickTime with VR plug-in)

Chocolypse Now is an online comic combining elements of Willy Wonka and Apocalypse Now. Go read it.

Check out The Kleptones’ A Night At The Hip-Hopera, a great “mash-up” or mix that Waxy.org dubs “a fluid blend of classic and modern hip hop with Queen’s epic catalog.” You should probably download the MP3 tracks from Waxy.org’s mirror, as The Kleptones’ site seems to be overloaded.

Rumsfeld sucks.

After reaching space for the second time in a week, SpaceShipOne and its carrier aircraft White Knight have captured the coveted X-Price, winning the $10 million award and, more importantly, the prestige of becoming the first privately funded aircraft to consistently reach space. Congratulations!

Update: MSNBC’s coverage includes some nice video clips of the flight as well as some post-flight interviews.

Well, if you can read this, then I’ve succesfully switched over my web hosting account. I’m still in the midst of republishing everything, so things may look a little weird until that’s done. However, by tonight this should be done, so if you notice any broken graphics or links on the main pages tomorrow or later in the week, please let me know so that I can make sure I didn’t miss something. Thanks for your patience…