Category: Entertainment

Crap! I Guess that I’m Actually Watch this Damn Film Now

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For the 2nd time in my life,* threats of terrorism have pulled a major motion picture from release.

I guess that I

This time it’s for the James Franco and Seth Rogen farce The Interview that has been pulled from screens:

Sony Pictures Entertainment on Wednesday dropped plans for its Christmas Day release of “The Interview,” a movie that depicts the assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after receiving a terror threat against theaters.

 Before that, the four largest theater chains in the United States said they would not show the movie, which has been at the center of a devastating hacking attack on Sony over the last several weeks. In a statement, Sony said: “We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theatergoers.”

 Sony Pictures Entertainment on Wednesday dropped plans for its Christmas Day release of “The Interview,” a movie that depicts the assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after receiving a terror threat against theaters.

 Before that, the four largest theater chains in the United States said they would not show the movie, which has been at the center of a devastating hacking attack on Sony over the last several weeks. In a statement, Sony said: “We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theatergoers.”

Hollywood executives never miss a chance to choose the craven path, I guess.

In a development that should surprise no one, “Senior Administration Officials” have confirmed that the hack originated in the DPRK.

BTW, James Franco had the best tweet about the cancellation:

#Emmastone kills it in @cabaret!!!! #alancumming is so good I started smoking and slapped his ass. 🌲🌲❤️Bye NYC!❤️🌲🌲
— James Franco (@JamesFrancoTV) December 17, 2014

That is so cool.

For the irony impaired, he tweeted this after the film was puled, and he says nothing at all about this.

Epically cool!

*The first time was when the film Mohammad, Messenger of God was pulled as a result of the 1977 Hanafi Siege, where hostages were taken in Washington, DC.

Stay Classy, My Friends

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A bar in Missouri (or is that Misery?) was found to offer a “Michael Brown Special”, 6 shots of Jose Cinge for $10:

A “Michael Brown Special” is now being offered at Mug Shots, a Missouri bar. The six shots of Jose Cinge for $10 drink has sparked quite a controversy both in the town of St. Joseph and around the country.

Mug Shots bar is reportedly known for its “sarcasm is always free” mantra. One of the co-owners of the Missouri bar now regrets his most recent attempt at sarcasm and the creation of the Michael Brown Special drink.

During an interview with WDAF-TV local news, the co-owner who asked not to be identified, said, “[The Michael Brown Special drink] was not meant to cause any harm. I should have thought a little bit more about it before I made it a shot special.”

Gee, you think?

It’s on a par with the Trayvon Martin pistol targets.

Get back under your rock and stay there, you contemptible ratf%$#.

More on That Zeppo Thing

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Basically, I was trying to come up with a way of holding two things together that would allow for simple installation and removal of a payload on top of a mast.

After coming up with a number of rather ugly potential solutions, I remembered that Zeppo (Herbert) Marx had developed a clamp in his post showbiz career as an Engineer and manufacturer, developing the Marman Clamp* (pictured), which found extensive use as a stage separation mechanism in space craft in addition to securing the “Fat Man” inside the B-29 “Bock’s Car” when it dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

The clamp, plus a couple of pins for alignment, and I had a solution that was clean, dirt cheap, robust, and nearly soldier proof.†

Needless to say, I am feeling rather smug about this.

*It appears that Zeppo did not invent the clamp, but rather he was the one to bring it to mass production.

†Nothing can be made soldier proof. It simply can be made somewhat soldier resistant.

The World Just Got a bit Less Funny, and a Lot Less Weird

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Tom Magliozzi, half of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, died today

Tom Magliozzi, the older, taller half of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, died today at 77 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

Tom and his brother Ray Magliozzi first broadcast their public radio call-in show Car Talk in 1977 from the studios of WBUR in Boston.

They offered advice on cars and life, but it was the duo’s sense of humor and Tom’s iconic laugh that made the show so memorable for millions of fans across the country.

NPR began distributing Car Talk nationally in 1987. More than 4 million people tuned in each week, making it one of public radio’s most successful shows ever.

I was actually was on Car Talk once, in 1997.

I asked them about the edibility of automotive fluids, which, come to think of it, may explain how my writing style developed.

There May be Hope for Us as a Civilization

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TLC has canceled Here Comes Honey Boo Boo:

Cable television network TLC on Friday said it has canceled “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” the popular cable reality series, about a rural Georgia family and their precocious beauty pageant daughter.

TLC, owned by Discovery Communications Inc, did not explain why it was canceling the show but said in a statement that “supporting the health and welfare of these remarkable children is our only priority. TLC is faithfully committed to the children’s ongoing comfort and well-being.”

Hopefully this is the first of many cancellations or reality TV.

Also, I really hope that Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson doesn’t end up too screwed up as an adult.

Please! Please!! Please!!! Please!!!! Please!!!! Make it So!!!!

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It looks like Amazon will be relaunching the TV series “The Tick” with Patrick Warburton as a web based program:

Critically-acclaimed superhero parody only lasted nine episodes on Fox in 2001

 “Spoon!” Patrick Warburton may soon revive one of his most beloved, and obscure, characters. The “Rules of Engagement” and “Family Guy” star is set to reprise his role as “The Tick” in an Amazon pilot, an individual with knowledge of the deal confirmed to TheWrap.

 For nine episodes in 2001, Warburton brought to life Ben Edlund’s lunatic superhero parody “The Tick.” Based on a comic book, “The Tick” animated series ran for three successful seasons on Fox Kids in the mid-1990s. It didn’t fare as well in live-action and in prime time, despite near universal critical acclaim.

I so want this to happen!

If Not an Explanation, At Least It Gives Us Some Context

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It turns out that Robin Williams was suffering from early stage Parkinson’s Disease:

Patients with Parkinson’s disease often suffer from depression, medical experts said Thursday, after Robin Williams’ widow revealed that the comedian was in “early stages” of the neurological disease at the time of his apparent suicide.

The same biochemical changes in the brain that cause the hallmark physical symptoms of Parkinson’s — tremors, slowed movement, rigidity, balance loss — can also affect mood, said Dr. Jeff Bronstein, a neurologist in the Movement Disorder Program at UCLA.

“Obviously getting the diagnosis can make people depressed,” he said. “But we also know that there’s a much higher incidence of depression even before the disease is recognized. We think it’s one of the early symptoms.”

I don’t think that anyone can truly understand what was going on in his head, but the fact his limbic system was being short circuited from a lack of dopamine was certainly a major contributing factor.

Saw Blondie on The Daily Show Tonight

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They did a new song, and one of their standards, Dreaming,

The performance was good, and Debbie Harry’s voice is still good, though she’s lost a bit on the high end of her range.

I will note, I just Wikied her, and realized that she is 68, and she is still smoking hot, and still maintains the New Wave attitude that she, and Blondie pioneered.