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Monday, July 18, 2011

Most Adorable Movie Remakes EVER.

Arthur Recreates, a new blog by literary blogger Emily Cleaver, oozes cuteness.  Emily puts her son Arthur into photo recreations of famous movies, often using his Bumbo, his crib or his favorite stuffed giraffe.  Very creative way to document your baby.  I can't decide if my favorite is 'The Godfather', or the 'Shawshank Redemption' recreation, so I'll post both.  Awww.



Something tells me he going to have a hard time getting to Zihuatanejo.

Video: 'The Book Of Mormon' - 'I Believe'

I see this video and two things come to mind.  1.) I need to get to New York City to see this show on Broadway, because it looks amazing.  And, 2.) Maybe Jehovah's Witnesses aren't that crazy.

Performed at the 2011 Tony Awards:

Hope, Solo

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Video: Leaked 'Avengers' Trailer Posted On Web

The trailer isn't supposed to debut until the previews are shown before 'Captain America: The First Avenger' premieres on July 22nd.  Fortunately for us, a private screening of C.A. was being shown this evening for members of the armed forces abroad.  Someone in the audience recorded the trailer and uploaded it.

Considering that it was taken with a cell phone, the video quality isn't the best.  It's dark, and a bit grainy.  But, you'll at least have an idea of what to expect next summer.

Update:  Marvel took down the original video I had showing on the site.  This one is of the same clip, at the same showing, but from a different spot in the theater.  The quality isn't as good as what was here originally.  Sorry.

Christian Dating Site Forbids Same-Sex Smiling


The photo above is a screen capture from ChristianMingle.com, a major online Christian dating website.  As you can see, "you cannot send a smile to users of the same gender".  I think "smiles" on this site may be similar to sending a "wink" on Match.com, or other "heathen" dating sites.  We all know what winking leads to.  Right fellas?

Seriously though, I can't even smile at another guy on that site?  It's not like I'm sending the dude naked pics of myself or anything.  It's a damn smile.

Getting High On The Holy Spirit?

John Crowder, a U.S. preacher, and self-proclaimed mystic and "Youtube Prophet", goes around the world literally getting people high on Jesus.  He stands on stage and pretends to shoot up heroin or smoke a joint, starts acting high, and then encourages the audience to start shooting up as well.  He's telling people to, and I'm quoting here, "Take a toke of the Jehovajuana".

What?!?  People take this seriously?!?  He's making a living pretending to be a "tweaker for Christ"?  Current TV did a half hour piece on this guy and his followers.  It's amazing to see what people will be desperate enough to believe these days.

Video: Active Duty Troops March In San Diego Pride

This is HUGE!  Never in the 30+ year history of any U.S. gay pride event has a contingent of active duty LGBT servicemen and women walked the parade route en masse.  Yesterday, a group of approximately 250-300 individuals marched during San Diego Pride.  Many of them wore t-shirts displaying the branch of military service they represented.  Most held little American flags.  It was certainly a historic sight.



With the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell in the final stages of being completed, our gay and lesbian soldiers are now able to participate with the rest of their community without fear of being discharged.  What a proud moment for our nation.

Fox News Focuses On Real Victim Of News Corp. Scandal: News Corp.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock with you fingers in your ears, you have heard something in regards to the News of the World phone hacking scandal.  That is, unless you've been watching Fox News.  Even though the UK tabloid closed it's doors on July 10th, after 168 years in business, Fox didn't air their first story on the scandal until July 13th.  The nature of that story, by Gretta Van Susteren, was more along the lines of, "The British government is forcing News Corp to give up on it's purchase of BSkyB."  All of the other details regarding the illegal and unethical practices News Corp has been involved in was secondary.

Fast forward to Friday morning, July 15th.  Fox and Friends airs a segment with a "PR expert", saying that "the problem isn't with News Corp, but with hacking itself".  The story takes a decidedly "stop picking on us" turn when they talk about how this was something that happened "over a decade ago", and that hundreds of people are now unemployed because of the actions of "1% of their workforce".  Just watch:



This is not opinion.  This is not editorial commentary.  This is the blatant, intentional misleading of the American public.  I guarantee, GUARANTEE, that if MSNBC were accused of hacking the email and personal phone accounts of 9/11 victims in order to get leads, Fox would have a fucking field day.  It would be the only thing they would talk about, 24 hours a day, for weeks on end.  They would be calling for the FCC to shut them down and their Democratic supporters in Washington to be arrested on accessory charges.

Oh, speaking of arrests, Rebekah Brooks, one of Rupert Murdoch's top lieutenants at News of the World, was arrested this morning on multiple corruption charges.  London's Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigned this morning in the wake of the growing scandal.  But, I guess they're both victims of this whole thing, too.

Unbelievable.

Palin Documentary Bombs. On All Levels.

In case you were looking for a movie about a witch with a magical plot line, and Harry Potter is sold out at your local theater, you may want to consider 'The Undefeated'.  As you can probably guess by the title, the infomercial documentary paints Sarah Palin in a positive light.  In fact, it's narrated using clips from the audiobook version of Palin's 'Going Rogue'.



The film opened on 10 screens nationwide on Friday.  It isn't fairing so well when it comes to reviews from critics.  At the moment, it has a  0% score on Rotten Tomatoes.  Speaking for myself, in the years I have been following reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, I have never seen a 0% favorable rating.  To put that into perspective, the new Kevin James movie 'The Zookeeper', the one where he takes the talking gorilla to TGI Friday's, has a score of 13%.

A reporter for the Atlantic caught one of the first showings at an AMC Theater in Orange County, CA.
"But inside, the theater was empty. I sat there alone for 20 minutes, at which point an usher stuck his head in the door, gave me a quizzical smile, and said, "How come you're not watching Harry Potter?" Then he left me by myself again, and without any good answer.

It isn't strictly accurate to say that I sat through the whole movie alone. Just as the previews started, two young women walked in giggling together and took seats three rows behind me. Afraid that they'd ruined the only story I had at that point -- What If Sarah Palin Starred in a Movie and No One Showed Up?"
Turns out, the ladies purchased tickets not knowing "The Undefeated" was a Sarah Palin fluff piece, thinking it was an action movie instead.  They left about twenty minutes in.  Another couple came in towards the end of the film and made out in the back of the theater, but eventually got up and left themselves.

If you think about it, the movie should have been called 'Two Weeks Notice:  The Story of the Snowbilly Queen'.

Can't wait to see how Fox News spins this one.

Update:  Early indications show that 'The Undefeated' had an opening box office weekend between $60,000 and $75,000.  Compare that to the $168.6 million that 'Harry Potter' took in this weekend, and the film drew in .0035% of the audience that 'Potter' did. (As best as I can figure out with my calculator erroring out.)  So, for every 30,000 people that saw 'Potter' this weekend, one saw 'The Undefeated'.  I call that "defeated", wouldn't you?

Saturday, July 16, 2011

The United States, As Seen By A New Yorker


"Empty Space Caused By Stupid Shape of Idaho"...LOL.

Have You Seen The New Sexist Milk Ads?

The California Milk Processor Board, along with advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, has debuted a new "Got Milk?" campaign touting the effects calcium has on symptoms of PMS.  The problem is, the ads are some of the most ridiculously sexist pieces of marketing material in recent history.  Take a look:


They've also set up the site everythingidoiswrong.org as a companion site.  It features the "Current Global PMS Level" and "Video Apology Enhancer".  Somewhere along the chain of custody there had to have been someone that said, "Wait a second.  Does anyone else think this might not be a good idea?"  Anyone?  Really?  

Anyone?

What Really Happened To Stonehenge


via Nerd Approved.

"If Rupert Murdoch Hadn't Been Born"

From 1995's 'A Bit of Fry & Laurie'.  Language somewhat NSFW.

Video: See A Once In A Lifetime Shot Of Atlantis' Final Launch

Earlier this week, NASA released video of the final launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, taken from cameras placed in various locations on the solid rocket boosters.  The series of clips run a little over a half an hour long, but provide a number of "Oh, wow" moments.  To see Atlantis pull away as the boosters start to fall back to earth is awe inspiring.  Simply beautiful footage.

Dee REALLY Likes Sponges

Seriously...almost too much.