Month: January 2007

CNET had an interesting gallery of some Star Wars-related props and artwork at the Industrial Light & Magic studios in San Francisco. Everything was cool until I came upon a simply blasphemous statue of Jar-Jar frozen in carbonite a la Han Solo. Go look at it if you want; I refuse to post an image on this web site… 😛

I came upon this old (1996) The Straight Dope article that finally has a definitive explanation for what Steve Miller meant by “the pompatus of love” phrase in the song The Joker. The answer is kind of anticlimactic, unfortunately…

The video for U2’s new single Window In The Skies (YouTube) is pretty neat, consisting solely of clips of other influential musical artists. The song itself is only so-so in my opinion, though…

Check out this neat tip on how to remember how many days are in each month. I like it because I never learned the mnemonic that most of you probably use… ;-p

I was sad to hear that Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro finally succumbed to the injuries he suffered during his race at The Preakness Stakes last May; he was euthanized this past Monday. The cartoon above made it that much more poignant to me. 🙁

The book Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions was a short novella written in 1884 by Edwin Abbott. The main protagonist is a square living in a two-dimensional world who describes the world as he sees it. His life is thrown into disarray when a sphere from the “three-dimensional world” visits, as he cannot visualize the third dimension at all. The book is a fascinating read, and if you’re interested I highly recommend The Annotated Flatland version, or you can read it in full online here.

When I read on MetaFilter that Flatland: The Movie was in the works (narrated by Martin Sheen), I was intrigued. After looking at the trailer, I’m not quite sure I’m happy with how they’re treating it, but I guess I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt until I see the actual movie.

For all of you Harry Potter fans, I trust Severus Snape is:

a community for those Harry Potter fans who still believe in Severus Snape; for whatever reason, and for whatever theory. If you trust the Potions Master this is the place for you!

We’ve just opened and are adding new features everyday. For now, you can sign up on the Trust List to show your everlasting and undeniably correctly placed loyalty to Snape, and read a few Snape Essays on why we trust the man.

PS: In case you don’t know, this site is full of spoilers. I would suggest running very quickly in the opposite direction if you haven’t read the [Harry and the Half Blood Prince] yet.

I’ve read all of the books and have to say that most of the essays present quite convincing arguments. I suspect that the last book will have some surprises…

A recent appearance by Borat and Martha Stewart on The Tonight Show (YouTube video) was pretty damn funny; even the astoundingly unfunny Jay Leno couldn’t ruin it… ;-P

The Police will apparently reunite to perform at The Grammy Awards on February 11th. A spokesman for A&M Records did have a statement when asked whether this was their only event together:

It is our intention to mark the anniversary by doing something special with the band’s catalog of songs. Needless to say, everyone is hopeful the band will support our plans and while early discussions have taken place, nothing has been decided.

However, a post on Stewart Copeland’s website reveals slightly more information:

The word is out, the medias are waiting for the definitive answer to the same old question: are The Police coming back on stage in 2007 to celebrate their 30th Anniversary since the release of their first single? Nothing’s confirmed by now; A&M will release some new interesting and great items that will see the light during the year: The Police Around The World on DVD, one of the best video release ever The Police released back in 1981, and a second box set, the sequel of Message In A Box (Vol. 2), full of tracks not included in the first box released in the mid-Nineties.

The band is thinking about a special appearance to accompany the releases and the celebration of the 30th anniversary, but as already said, nothing has been officially confirmed yet. Keep on checking the newspage to get the definitive answer that medias and fans from all around the world are waiting for.

I’m excited to hear about those two releases, but a supporting tour would be simply awesome. Stay tuned for more info as I hear about it…

The YouTube video Star Wars Gangsta Rap 2 is hilarious. I marked it NSFW because of some of the language…