September 2003

Stewart on Frasier tonight
Submitted Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 1:27:58 PM by Klaitu

Not that anyone actually cares, but Patrick Stewart will be on Frasier tonight. Stewart plays a gay opera guy. Here's some of the lines he has in the episode:

"You smell fantastic!"
"You turn my head, sir!"
"How lovely to meet you, Martin!"
"Niles, love the tie."

News Nuggets!
Submitted Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 1:21:54 PM by Klaitu

The audience for NBC's "Friends" season premiere was down by 28 percent from last year's season

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/30/sprj.caf03.tv.newseason.ap/index.html

TV Executives are so completely stupid, so I'm going to rant about them for a minute here. First, what the heck is the deal with Jake 2.0? I saw it the first time when it was called "The Sentinel" and it FAILED then too. What about this show made someone think "hey, this will catch on!"? Secondly, what the heck is up with the WB? They have Smallville, and.. err.. um... nothing else.. that is unless you like girl power, wolves, witches, or werewolves.

They need to give me my own network. There would be a Wing Commander TV series. It would rock.

Next summer, Coca-Cola plans to use satellites to find U.S. buyers who happen to purchase special cans of Coke products.

http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/6/078419-4506-031.html

That's right! The MAN is watching you because of your choice of beverages!

Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy is on a new vocation as a photographer. And is being helped by former co- star William Shatner in his endeavour.

http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IE420030928133617&Title=Features%20-%20People%20&%20Lifestyle&rLink=0

Yeah, so Shatner is buying nude shots from Nimoy.. but I really included this article because they call him "Dr. Spock" when in fact he is actually "Mr. Spock" (he never went to vulcan medical school)

An Iranian official has acknowledged traces of highly enriched uranium were found at a second site in Iran, but he says the material must have come from elsewhere.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=B1DCB69C-A8BA-40AF-9158211781623F55

Okay, let me see if I can figure this one out:
"A local stoner has acknowledged traces of cocaine were found hidden in his toilet, but he says the powder must have belonged to his roommate."

It's a stanrard excuse sheet, just fill it out.

Big Daddy Ice Cream has agreed to give plaintiffs free ice cream as part of a settlement of a class action lawsuit with weight-watching consumers who ate the desert believing it was low in fat because of an erroneous label.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/6870321.htm

"Curse you, your Ice Cream is not low in fat, and we gained weight!" "Oh, what's that, you're offering us more fat-gaining ice cream? hmm.. okay!"

More Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Submitted Monday, September 29, 2003 - 12:01:32 PM by Klaitu

Apparently, the new Final Fantasy VII title will be a full-length CGI movie that takes place 2 years after the end of the original game. No word on any american release.

For those of you who don't know, Final Fantasy 7 is the best-selling video game of all time (the second is The Sims). In fact, a site called gameFAQs keeps track of how popular games are by seeing how many people look up information about said games. FF7 has been in the top 20 for 1,813 days straight. Today, it's number 10 on the list.

Final Fantasy VII was released in November of 1997.

Will Ferrell in Curious George
Submitted Monday, September 29, 2003 - 11:55:50 AM by Klaitu

This past Monday an anonymous source told Yahoo Movies! that comedian Will Ferrell had inked a deal to play the Man in the Yellow Hat in the CURIOUS GEORGE movie set up at Universal. Today vindication arrived in the form of an announcement in The Hollywood Reporter that Ferrell is indeed signed to star in the film

Wow. Nice pick!

http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Movies&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=270338&obj_id=39754

Monday's News Nuggets
Submitted Monday, September 29, 2003 - 11:50:22 AM by Klaitu

When bridal shop owner Nancy Owen found ants in her store, she had two choices: relocate the critters or relocate her shop. Extermination was not an option.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,98180,00.html

It just goes to show you.. PETA is completely nuts.

Yukichi Chuganji, a retired silkworm breeder documented as the world's oldest man, died at his home in Japan at age 114, his family said Monday.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/6885703.htm

Worlds oldest man AND retired silkworm breeder. The man had it all.

For the past 12 years, Balfour and his custom-made vacuum have rumbled across the West, sucking up prairie dogs like so much lint from a sprawling shag carpet.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0928prairiedogs28.html

No joke, a guy invented a giant vacuum to suck up prarie dogs. Why didn't I think of that?!

A five-year-old Territory girl shocked teachers when she showed her class how to make a bong out of a Coke bottle during a "show and tell" session.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7404304^26462,00.html

Austrailians are born naturally with all the skills neccessary to party. It's genetic.

My mom gave me a touch lamp for Christmas, and I've been wondering how it works. Why doesn't it light when my cat touches it with her nose or paws?

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtouchlamp.html

Not technically news, but cool nonetheless!

And finally, I leave you with this:

More News Nuggets!
Submitted Saturday, September 27, 2003 - 4:15:02 PM by Klaitu

Yum!

A major earthquake occurred IN SOUTHWESTERN SIBERIA, RUSSIA, about 245 km (155 miles) north of Altay, Xinjiang, China at 5:33 AM MDT,

http://gldss7.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_zfak.html

Crazy earthquake action going on.

The World Beard and Moustache Championships will take place in Carson City, Nevada, on November 1, 2003.

http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/index.html

Yes, you heard right. Beards and moustaches are now a sport!

The nonprofit library cooperative that owns the Dewey Decimal system has filed suit against a library-themed luxury hotel in Manhattan for trademark infringement. Room 700.003 includes books on the performing arts, for example, while room 800.001 has a collection of erotic literature.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=783752

I want room 730: plastic art sculptures!

Former child actor Stanley Fafara, who played Beaver's pal Whitey on the idyllic family sitcom "Leave It to Beaver" but descended into a real-life adulthood of drugs, alcohol and petty crime, has died at age 53, friends said on Friday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=765&ncid=766&e=1&u=/nm/20030926/people_nm/people_fafara_dc

Who would have thought that?

"Do Not Call" list illegal again
Submitted Friday, September 26, 2003 - 3:32:53 PM by Klaitu

The latest legal ruling could prove more difficult to overcome as it cannot be remedied in Congress and must be decided in the courts.

This time it's a judge in Colorado holding up the works. I don't think these Judge guys are getting the picture here.

- 50 million people sign up for the do not call list (US population is only 250 million)
- After the first judge overruled the list, Congress went back and voted to remedy the situation in a remarkable 492 to 8 vote. It took Congress 1 day. (only one) to pass the entire bill through. When is the last time that ever happened?

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=785149

News NUGGETS!
Submitted Friday, September 26, 2003 - 3:28:40 PM by Klaitu

The home of news not big enough to warrant it's own article!

Fox publicizes CNN commentator's home number

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34789

Okay, this one is far more interesting than it looks. On a CNN show called crossfire, the debators stages this stunt where one of them would demand the others phone number. The commentator stepped up to the plate, stating his phone number.. but it wasnt HIS phone number, it was a Fox News bureau number.

Fox corrected the mistake for him by putting the host's correct home telephone number in the report.

LONDON, England -- Rock singer Robert Palmer has died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 54, his manager said.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/26/britain.palmer/index.html

You might remember his music videos with the 4 nearly identical women.

U.S. District Judge Lee R. West's telephone has not stopped ringing since he sided with telemarketers seeking to block a popular national do-not-call list.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20030925/ap_on_bi_ge/do_not_call_judge&e=1

WHOOPS! I guess that ruling backfired! Stupid people get what they deserve.

Bruce Willis wants to kick Saddam's Butt
Submitted Friday, September 26, 2003 - 3:16:50 PM by Klaitu

That's right.. Bruce Willis is offering a 1 million dollar reward for the guy who captures Saddam. Bruno also mentions that he would like 4 seconds with the despot.

Check out the full story:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3141942.stm

Carson's woman watches Everwood
Submitted Friday, September 26, 2003 - 3:08:45 PM by Klaitu

She calls herself "Princess Carson" but its really more like Mrs. Carson. Shes got a review of that girly show on the evil WB called Everwood. Two episodes for you foiks today!

'The Last of Summer'

I am definitely glad that they decided not to cancel Everwood. It is a good, clean fun show. It deals with real issues and isn't too fake. This season looks promising. It starts with an update on the main characters of the show. Amy and Ephram are starting their junior year in high school, and little Delia is finally bonding with some of the girls in her class. Let's get down to the one thing everyone has waited for. Did Colin Hart live thorough the surgery? The answer is no. At the beginning of the episode though, they make you think he lived by having Amy have visions of him there When you find out he died, they show the funeral, and what I think is one of the greatest speeches I have heard on a t.v. series. Dr. Brown decides to face the town and talk about what happened. The town was very upset at him because of Colin's death. He walks in the door, holding Delia by the hand, and brings her to sit by Ephram. Then he walks up onto the stage and gives his speech. It was great. It made me cry. It reminded me of the first episode when they came to Everwood, and I believe he had Delia by the hand When Dr. Brown was finished with the speech, He got Delia by the hand and left the building and Ephram followed, with one last look at the town people. It was a powerful scene. The town still treated Dr. Brown badly, and it even affected Delia. One of her new friends had invited her to a slumber party, and then had to uninvite her because the girl's mother thought it would be weird to have Dr. Brown drop her off. I thought that was cruel, and why couldn't Ephram drop her off? It ended with Amy telling Ephram that she wished that Dr. Brown wasn't his father. Ephram replied with " Sometimes I do too." Don't we all sometimes wish we had different parents? She also told him she couldn't forgive Dr. Brown. Ephram then asked, " What happens now between us?" Amy replied with " We will always be friends." Poor Ephram, he's just a horny teen and needs to get laid. Come on Amy. Give in girl! Just Kidding.

'Extra Ordinary'

This episode starts out with Amy and Ephram at a college fair, where a bunch of different colleges come and talk to high school juniors and seniors. Dr. Abbott tells Dr. Brown that he needs to get on the ball about planning Ephram's future. Excuse me, doesn't Ephram decide his future? Dr. Brown responds by making a big chart analyzing every day of Ephram's junior year, including new activities like an SATprep class. Dr. Abbott tells Amy that he set up an interview with a counselor from Princeton. He even tells her what dress to where to the interview. Amy skips the interview with no warning to her parents and they end up very upset, especially Mrs. Abbott. Dr. Abbott tells her to ease up because she had a hard year with Colin's sickness and now death. He explains to Mrs. Abbott that she has the easy part because she just has to be there for Amy. Amy has to deal with the memories and has to realize that the life she had planned on having, will not be happening now, and how to move on. Mrs. Abbott talks to Amy and asks her to tell her what's on her mind. Mrs. Abbott also says to Amy that if she can't talk to her to please talk to someone she trusts. Amy agrees, but it looks as if she doesn't care. Amy also finds out that Colin's parents knew that Colin wrote a do not resuscitate note for Dr. Brown. She gets very upset and feels like they lied to her, or didn't trust her. Bright Abbott finds out that he didn't pass his trigonometry class, I believe that was the class. Anyway, he can't play football because of this and he worries that since he can't play he won't get a scholarship for football to get into college. Dr. Abbott and Mrs. Abbott are upset at him, but more because Bright didn't tell them and they had to find out through someone in town. Dr. Abbott yells at Bright and tells him he needs to get back on the team and get the scholarship, because he isn't smart enough for an academic one, or to get in on his own. Bright was offered to say that he had a rough year because of Colin's death. He said no. He didn't want to use that. He would do it on his own, and study harder. Ephram has a music instructor from Juliard, come to listen to him play. His critique of Ephram didn't go as expected. He tells Ephram that he stinks! Dr. Brown tells Ephram not to give up and to work harder. He believes Ephram has a gift, and he wants Ephram to do what makes him happy and to enjoy doing it. Dr. Brown's father didn't encourage him to follow his dreams, and Dr. Brown didn't want to do that to Ephram. The episode ends with Ephram practicing the piano into the early morning, and Delia and Dr. Brown wake up and Delia says, "What is he doing?" Dr. Brown replies, "Practicing," and Delia responds " I'm glad I'm not a genius, I can sleep 'til noon!"

--By Princess Carson

Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 8:03:39 PM by Klaitu

First Final Fantasy X gets a sequel, now it looks like FF7 will get some sort of sequel as well. I hope you can read JAPANESE!

http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~nanko/news.cgi?id=2003092516

Here's a scan from some freaky Japanese magazine:

http://ds180.net/specialk/ff7ac.jpg

And here's what little I can translate:

* 2004 year sale and schedule
* Complete new work DVD work
* From FF7 story of 2 years later
* Being about something will occur again in the world where it has become peace it is As for the cloud confronting to that or

I'm definately following this story, I'll let you know what I find!

Batman: Dead End
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 2:54:05 PM by Klaitu

So, you guys didn't think I could scoop you! Well, guess again! Carson discovered a Batman movie that I promise you didn't even know existed.

It's technically a short film entitled "Batman: Dead End". It's only 8 minutes long, but it crams a lot in. Did you ever want to see Batman vs the Joker rematch? How about Batman vs Aliens? Batman vs Predator? Batman vs aliens AND predator? You get ALL of this in the 8 minute short film.

So, why have you never heard of Batman: Dead End? Well, here's the scoop: the film was made by Sandy Collora who has worked mainly as a concept artist. Sandy wanted to direct, so Sandy spent some $30,000 to produce, write, and direct the film. Sandy then sent the film off to hollywood bigwigs. You can expect to see Sandy direct something big soon.

So, you're interested, you want to see Batman: Dead End? TOUGH! It can't be legally distributed. You see, Sandy didn't pay licensing fees to use Batman, The Joker, nor the Aliens, nor Predator (nor the soundtracks from those movies which are throughout the film).

Those of you who are clever internet users can probably find a copy out there on the net somewhere if you're really interested.. and I suggest you do, It's worth the effort.

Update: There may be a copy at:
http://www.theforce.net/theater/shortfilms/batman_deadend/index.shtml

I am not sure how long an internet link to this movie will last, so get it while you can. It's 116 megs in MPG format.

The Wonders of Yemen
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 2:26:37 PM by Klaitu

For those of you who don't know, my Uncle works in the Oil industry. He mixes chemicals and whatnot which help in the drilling. He's worked in Alaska, in Russia, in the ocean.. but this time, he's in Yemen.

The first thing you're asking me is "where the heck is Yemen?" It's a country on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. (It was once a part of the Roman Empire, and later the Ottoman Empire. Declared itself independant in 1918 and formed a Republic in the 60's)

Here's a picture of my uncle and a guard dude. I'll let you guess which one my uncle is. The weapon there is none other than the AK-47. That's the Assault Rifle of choice for most Middle-eastern countries.



Besides my uncle, oil, and AK-47's you know what else they have in Yemen? Camels and Sand! I have it on good authority that camels love to sleep in dirty toilet water. Hey man, it's true!



Behold, the 2003 Yemeneese Guardmobile™! Complete with Kung-Fu action guardman and giant machine gun! You'll notice it's high tech camoflage blends it into the desert sands, making it virtually invisible to everything but casual inspection.



What a happy bunch! Look at them! They're all smiles! And guy number 4.. Peace homie.. right back atcha. These 5 fellows, as I understand it, are folks who work on or near the drilling site. They apparently sent the guy on the right the wrong color camoflage.

Now, I did have some pictures of these 5 guys killing and skinning a goat. There was one where they tied it to a truck, and like all 5 of them were pulling on the skin, trying to peel it off. It was pretty grody, so I'll spare you from that one.

My uncle works 30 days on and 30 days off (theoretically) and right now he's in the "30 days off" cycle, so I'm sure that I'll have more Yemen mysteries to tell you all about soon!

"Do Not Call" list is legal again
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 1:31:03 PM by Klaitu

That's right! Yesterday (as you know because you read Special K) a Federal Court declared that the National Do Not Call list violated the freedom of speech. So, what does congress have to say?

They just give the FTC explicit authority to operate a DNC list.

The House voted Thursday to grant the Federal Trade Commission explicit authority to create a national "do not call" list for telemarketers, and Senate action was expected later in the day.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/25/news/economy/ftc_call/index.htm

General News Bits
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 1:20:09 PM by Klaitu

Yes, the home of stuff that dosen't warrant an actual article!

The recording industry has withdrawn a lawsuit accusing a 66-year-old woman, who says she didn't even have file-sharing software, of illegally sharing hundreds of songs including rap.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/09/24/tech.lawsuit.ap/index.html

The best part about this story is that the old granny has a Mac. As you may or may not know, a Macintosh couputer will not run Kazaa, so it would therefore be impossible for her to download or share anything on Kazaa.

Talk show host David Letterman found a bear in his Montana, cabin over the weekend, and called on the help of a local teenager when the bear refused to leave.

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=135145

I always thought Letterman was a hologram who disappeared when not on TV. Turns out, he's just in Montana.

This day in History:
Christopher Blair drops the Temblor Bomb on Kilrah, destroying the planet. Much of the Grand Fleet, still in orbit, is destroyed along with it.

http://www.wcnews.com/encyclopedia/showrecord.php?name=Christopher%20Blair

Today is the -666th anniversary of the Kilrathi defeat. Tell your friends! I'm sure they aren't aware of this fact.

Grammer, 48, who plays radio-shrink Frasier Crane on the long-running NBC comedy "Frasier," said he's interested in running for office.

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/40578.htm

Senate office to be exact. I don't know anything about his political beliefs, but he really creeps me out.

A London gym has launched a new fitness class that claims to increase the size of female members' busts. Boob Aerobics has been devised by Richard Hilton, the owner of Gymbox in Holborn.

http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=127638&command=displayContent&sourceNode=127637&contentPK=7176076

Don't you find it odd that something called "boob aerobics" was invented by a man. A man named Richard no less.

Carson Reviews Dickie Roberts
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 12:33:22 PM by Klaitu

Here's another one from Carson:

David Spade: Former Movie Star

My wife and I saw Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star a couple of weeks ago, so I'm going totally by memory here. That's an odd thing to say, "going totally by memory", I mean if I saw it an hour ago I'd still be going by memory, Oh well.

The story here is that Dickie Roberts (David Spade) was once the star on a 70's sitcom called 'The Glimmer Gang'. He had a catchy little phrase that he was known for. Get this, the little tike would say, "That's nucking futs!" I mean give me a break. Anyway, after his show is canceled he becomes a valet at a swanky restaurant. Ya know, never mind. This movie was terrible. This films full of 'cameos' (Coughs: lucky breaks) of former television stars.

The one thing that was actually funny about this film is Alyssa Milano's character. She plays his girlfriend named Cyndi. I mean in a movie filled with former child stars why does she get a character. I mean what, does she think she's better than all the other guys in this film. I mean how far a stretch would it be Alyssa Milano dating a loser actor. Ok, how many of you remember the little girl from 'Who's the Boss'? Yeah. Ok, now what's she been in lately? Poison Ivy 2, ummm.Charmed. Maybe some others but they're obviously not coming to mind. Honestly, the nerve of this woman Am I right?

Now I'm trying to figure out why we actually went out and saw this movie. Oh! I got it. See, occasionally my wife and I, before bed, watch re-runs of 'Just Shoot Me'. I mean Spade's in that and it can actually be kind of funny. So, I guess we figured that if he was funny in that, he'd.ummm.be funny.wait. That doesn't even make sense. Ya know, I should've just recorded 4 episodes of 'Just Shoot Me', cut out the commercials and put them back to back. Ohhh, you could release that and I bet it would've made more money than this stinker. Anyway, you should probably wait till video for this one. Maybe use a free rental coupon or something. Or rent a good movie, watch it, take it back and say it wouldn't play or something. Then rent 'Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star'.

"Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" is 99 minutes and rated PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, language and drug references.

Review: Extinction
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 12:28:00 PM by Klaitu

Alright, this episode is a prime example of both the good and bad of Star Trek today... but before I start I need to mention that they have changed the name from "enterprise" to "Star Trek Enterprise" even on the beginning titles. Starting 2 weeks ago with the season premiere they started playing the new and "improved" Faith of the Heart theme. In my opinion, they should have tossed that theme with season 3, or at least kept the old one. This new one is complete and utter crap. I didn't like voyager, but at least I liked the theme song!

Anyways, on to the episode! Hoshi, T'Pol, Reed, and Archer go down to this planet to investigate the Xindi, but what they don't count on is an engineered virus that turns ordinary humanoids into an alien species. You see, these guys had problems reproducing, so they made a virus that would turn other species into their species.

Well, suprise suprise, everyone gets infected and turns into lizard guys.. except T'Pol who is immune because of her magical Vulcan K cells. She follows them through the jungle as they search for their "home" which, of course, is an ancient city. Along the way the lizard guys fight each other, hop around like monkeys and hiss, and eat nasty eggs.

Theres also another race around this sector in space that knows about the virus. They have these flamethrowers and go around torching people who are infected. This, of course, means that he wants to torch Archer, Reed, and Hoshi.

Well, turns out that the lizards home city is deserted and everyones dead. The alien flamethrower squad is about to toast them all, when Trip and some MACOs beam down and shoot all the aliens. T'Pol convinces Archer to go to Enterprise.

Guess what? Dr. Phlox is able to make an antidote using T'Pol's DNA. I bet you wouldn't have ever figured that one out. What a twist ending!

Pros:
- While you can still tell its Bakula and company in the alien makeup, they do a good job of not acting like themselves, even to the point where you can't tell it's their voices.
- The alien city Archer is trying to get to is an impressive visual.. probably a miniature, but it looks very nice.
- When Trip and the MACO's beam down and shoot everyone, you get a bit of nostalgia. This sort of thing happens rarely on Star Trek, and it was nice to see.
- Levar Burton was Director

Cons:
- The Episode was poorly written, the plot was too predictable, and was not very interesting.
- Director Levar Burton chose to have a scene where the camera super-zooms straight into Archer's body so that you can see the virus doing it's thing. It was well done, but inappropriate for Star Trek.
- The Lizard aliens how around like monkeys while hissing and clicking at one another. Generally, the actors are forced to act like complete idiots, and it detracted greatly from the episode.

This episode is what I have come to expect from Enterprise: ehh. Its okay, but not as good as it should be.

Next week is "Raijin" where Archer picks up a sex slave from an alien bazaar. She apparently seduces the entire crew (including the women). I am hoping that this is a case of "poorly written preview" and that the episode won't suck as bad as I think it will. The original script title for this episode was "Enemy Advances". There are several actors cast as Xindi in this episode, and Raijin is played by Nikita Ager.

Mystery Extra in WC4
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 2:24:00 PM by Klaitu

So, I'm playing Wing Commander 4 (the one I won on ebay from a Norwegian) and about 15 minutes into the game, I see this:

Wing Commmander 4
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 1:26:02 PM by Klaitu

OMG LOL GGLZ!! IT'S HERE!!11!!

My Wing Commander 4 has finally arrived from Norwegia, only 9 days after Bran won it for me on eBay!

Now to see if it will work. I had the Playstation version once upon a time, but I sold it at a garage sale for a crazy 20 bucks. Luckily, this version cost like 10 bucks all together (postage from Norwegia is way expensive)

I will let you know if it rocks as much as I remember it rocking.

Carson reviews Dog Soldiers DVD
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 1:10:07 PM by Klaitu

Another review by Major C:

For my first DVD review we'll be taking a look a writer/director Neil Marshall's horrro/thriller, Dog Soldiers. This movie marks the second film directed by Mr. Marshall, his first being a 1999 film titled Combat. Although I haven't seen it, after seeing this film I'll make the effort.

The film stars Sean Pertwee (Equilibrium, Event Horizon), Kevin McKidd (Nicholas Nickleby, Trainspotting), and Liam Cunningham (Shadow Man, First Knight). The remainder of the cast is even less known than the previous three, well at least here in the states. Regardless of that, the cast in this film is terrific. They accomplished one thing in a very little amount of time that I loved, and rarely see. They make you care for them. I got upset and even a little disappointed when one of these characters got ripped to shreds or mauled.

The story is this, a platoon of soldiers is sent into a heavily forested area for a training op. They find their opponents slaughtered. Except this team wasn't armed with blanks and were carrying containment gear. That wasn't part of the plan. Now the platoon and the surviving member of the opposing unit are on the run. Although now armed with live ammunition, they're unaware that their pursuers aren't even the least bit afraid.

The werewolves in this film are done better than anything I've seen on TV and are even, in my opinion, more frightening than those in the recent theatrical release "Underworld". That's even considering their transformation effect is the character falling to the floor, and off camera, then standing back up as an 8 foot tall werewolf. They don't have great mobility but the attack scenes are directed so fast passed and well that you don't even notice. This film is a riot and I loved it from beginning to end.

Picture this; A wounded soldier, out of ammunition, is trying to start a beat up pickup truck for them to use to escape. While being predictable, heavy breathing is heard behind him, and a puff of cold breath is seen directly beside his face. Ok, instead of screaming and throwing his hands up, as you've seen in films like Aliens and the such, the soldier spins around and with one hand closes the werewolf's mouth, with the other grabs it's neck and then drives the creature into the back of the truck. The soldier gets ripped to pieces but that's not the point. These guys aren't scared. They're not panzies, and you can take that as an example of the entire film. It's scary, it's gory, and it's probably the best horror movie I've seen in some time.

As far as the DVD goes, it's cheap, but certainly worth buying. It has a crummy main menu with options that highlight incorrectly. It has widescreen and fullscreen options, selectable at the main menu. Two trailers, a US trailer and a much better international version. A short making-of featurette, and a hilarious and very entertaining producers commentary.

This film is a must. You can find it at any Blockbuster Video, but if you want to purchase it, you may be hard-pressed finding it at a reasonable price. The film's achieved a cult-status with horror buffs and previously viewed copies on the internet are ranging from $40 to $60. If you look carefully you might be able to find one, previously viewed, at the aforementioned Blockbuster Video for around $9.99, as I did.

Dog Soldiers is 105 minutes and rated R for strong violence/gore and language.

Carson reviews Underworld
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 1:08:27 PM by Klaitu

Heyya folks, special treat for you! Gabriel Carson (AKA my movie-lovin cousin) has sent me a couple reviews for flicks he's recently seen. This one's for Underworld:

Underworld is director Len Wiseman's directorial debut. Now, this movie is the story of a man who gets caught in the middle of a war that's latest the better part of a thousand years between Vampires and Lycan, or werewolves.

Scott Speedman plays Michael a man who the Lycans are hunting. All in all he does a good job playing a man who is suddenly thrust into a war with creatures he thought were imaginary. Kate Beckinsale does a sensational job as Selene, a death dealer. Her sole purpose is to hunt down and kill the Lycans. Michael Sheen plays the Lycan leader Lucian. Viktor, Bill Nighy, plays the Vampires slumbering leader and Selene's mentor. He also is practically one of the toughest Vampire I've ever seen in a movie.

There are a lot of good things about this movie that fans of this genre will love as well as hate. The action is fairly exciting though disappointing at the beginning of the film. It's mostly just gunplay and shootouts. While well choreographed, I've seen much, much better in the movie "Equilibrium". Underworld does redeem itself during the 'war' at the films climax. This film also has the most graphic and wonderful transformation shots of the Lycans transforming from man to werewolf I've ever seen.

Some annoying things are the fact that the movie never explains the weakness and strengths of both creatures. Practically every movie of this sort will at least dedicate a few minutes of explanation for the movie audience. What we get from Underworld if vague, at the least. Also, the movie is just to long. Watching it in the theater I saw almost a half-hour that could've been cut without hurting the film any. The movie drags, and it's noticeable. Which is unfortunate because it's a good story. This film probably won't be attractive to anyone not a fan of the genre.

Underworld is 121 min and rated R for strong violence/gore and some language.

DOOM 3 not so ominous
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 11:57:30 AM by Klaitu

I have been keeping my eye on Doom 3 occasionally. I am not really into First-Person-Shooter type games, but I played the original Doom when it was invented, so I watched for nostalgia's sake.

I couldnt help discovering that Doom 3 was really going to suck. Apparently the Penny Arcade boys noticed the same thing.

Take a Gander:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-09-24&res=l

Newsbits
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 11:45:40 AM by Klaitu

Some lesser news that dosen't warrant their own articles:

Barbra Streisand says she finds listening to her own songs is so boring that it was one of the reasons she gave up public performing three years ago.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=579&e=1&u=/nm/20030923/en_nm/people_streisand_dc

Thats good, Barb.. we found them so horrible that we stopped listening to them way before that.

Meet cheeseburger fries, a deep fried mixture of ground beef, cheese and breading that tastes, well, like a cheeseburger.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-whatamix24.html

Oh baby, where have you been all my life? I guess its best that I don't partake of these though, I would probably die just by looking at them.

A woman who outlived the inscription on her tombstone died at the age of 101 after a company corrected the monument for free. Gladys Briggs' tombstone in Basswood Cemetery listed her birth year of 1901 and "19" for the century in which she was expected to die.

http://www.local6.com/news/2506974/detail.html

She died on the day Cheeseburger Fries were invented. Coincidence? You decide.

"Do not call" list is illegal
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 11:32:29 AM by Klaitu

That's what the federal court in Oklahoma says. And to think, I live here. Yeesh, I feel like florida. Luckily, Oklahoma already has a "Do not call" list which makes it illegal from out-of-state telemarketers to call you unsolocited.

The Federal Trade Commission intends to fight the ruling, as well they should. 50 million americans (20% of the entire US population) have signed up to the list.

Kazaa sues RIAA
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 11:28:36 AM by Klaitu

Yep, you heard me right. Ordinarily it's the other way around, but not today! Apparently the RIAA brute squad decided to use Kazaa Lite (an unauthorized and illegal version of Kazaa) to mark their victims. They would also send instant messages to their suspects and harass them.. allegedly, of course.

Associated Press Article

Episode 3 news
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 11:21:26 AM by Klaitu

TheForce.net got busted the other day.

They obtained top seekrit photos of a top seekrit Episode 3 Character. You want to know who it is? Well, I'll let you in on the seekrit: Grand Moff Tarkin is in Episode 3! Of course, he's not a grand moff, and he's like 20 years younger. The guy they got to play him looks very similar to the original actor as well.. it's too bad Lucas busted them and made them take the pictures down, or I would show you all.

There's also been a top seekrit photo of Anakin in Episode 3 garb and whatnot. Want to see? Well, you probably already did. That's him over there to the left. I had some doubts that he looked kinda goofy in Episode 2, but he does look like he could beat the crap out of someone now.

In older news, as you may or may not have heard.. Chewbacca is also confirmed as being in Episode 3.

Matrix Trailer
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 11:08:18 AM by Klaitu

The "Matrix: Revolutions" trailer will start showing with The Rock's new movie "The Rundown". Warner Brothers gave the media permission to show the trailer today, so you might see it on TV. "The Rundown" comes out tomorrow.

Upcoming Enterprise
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 10:59:14 AM by Klaitu

Today's Enterprise episode is "Extinction" where Archer and other crewmembers are mutated into aliens by a virus. the preview does not bode well.

Next week's episode is called "Raijin" where Archer picks up a mysterious alien slave by the same name.

In two weeks, you'll see "impulse" an episode where the crew responds to a vulcan distress call, only to find that the Vulcan crew has turned into Resident Evil-like zombies.

On October 15, the episode "Exile" will run. It's a beauty and the beast story with Hoshi. A telepathic beast offers to help Archer find the Xindi.. for a price.

October 22 will see the return of Steven Culp's Major Hayes (leader of the MACOs) in the episode "The Shipment". Archer, Reed, and Hayes infiltrate a Xindi production facility.

November 5th will bring back Ambassador Soval (Gary Graham) in an episode called "twilight". Archer wakes up in the future, unable to form long-term memories, and T'Pol is captain of Enterprise. Archer also gets to see the result of the Xindi-Earth war.

Navy NCIS
Submitted Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 10:45:57 AM by Klaitu

I checked out Navy NCIS last night.. ordinarily I wouldnt bother, but it was created by Donald P. Bellisario. Now, before I go any further here, let me explain a lil something about Mr. B (as I like to call him). The man is a television genius. He created Kojak, Battlestar Galactica, Magnum P.I., Airwolf, Quantum Leap, and JAG. the man is pure gold. He's like Glen A. Larson, except he didn't tank his career in the 80's.

So anyway, Navy NCIS! NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, so if you take the title literally, it's Navy Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and that's just messed up. The main cheese is played by Mark Harmon, who is a toughnut investigator. He's got an eccentric team of forensic pathologists to help him out.

Is this all sounding familiar? It should if you have seen CSI.

In the pilot episode, a navy pilot dies aboard Air Force One while the President is on board. He keels over and foam comes out of his mouth. Naturally, the Secret Service and the FBI want the body, but nosir, that's a navy guy, so its NCIS's business. If course, those pesky FBI guys want that body, but the NCIS guys manage to sneak it off the plane.

Along the way, you get to meet the NCIS version of Dr. Phlox, who is, of course, a medical genius in pathology. You also get to meet a "tough as nails" Secret service chick.

So, long story short, it turns out that some Al-Quaeida wannabe's had laced his uniform with some sort of natural poison,and that's why he died. The Seekrit plan is to get the President to switch to the backup Air Force One, where the weapons locker is locked with a key instead of a keypad. So, sure enough, a terrorist disguised as a reporter jimmies the lock, and Mark Harmon shoots him.

Of course, the Tough as Nails Secret Sercice chick resigns over the ordeal and joins NCIS.

As much as I would like to say that Navy NCIS is not a CSI ripoff.. that's exactly what it is. Though admittedly, it is a BETTER knockoff than CSI ever thought of being.

Pros:
- Choice actors do their jobs well, no overacting or tripping over lines.
- Good direction and production value, filmed in high-definition, but not letterbox
- Plotline is interesting, and not readily predictable

Cons:
- Zero character development.. at all.. whatsoever
- Secret Service chick's boyfriend dies, but she hits on Mark Harmon like 5 minutes after she learns of it.
- Incontrovertably identical in every respect to CSI

Despite the cons, Navy NCIS is somewhat entertaining. I'll watch it again for a couple episodes to see if it's going to take off or bomb. It certainly has potential.

Gibson Research releases a DCOMbobulator
Submitted Tuesday, September 23, 2003 - 4:48:47 PM by Klaitu

Catchy name there.

Remember that blaster worm that messed up the internet for 3 weeks? It was one of a whole slew of internet nastiness. Windows XP computers (and Windows 2003, 2000 and some NT computers) are vulnerable to Internet worms. The worm senses your computer is vulnerable, and then downloads itself to your computer, where it sets up shop, and looks for other computers to infect.

All this due to a design flaw by Microsoft. Thanks guys! (sheesh)

If you haven't already, I recommend you go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and download ALL (not some) of the critical updates available.

If for some reason you cant use windows update, or you need a faster solution, check out the DCOMbobulator at http://grc.com/default.htm It will make your computer invulnerable to infection, but it wont cure an infection if you already have it.

The Gibson Research website is also a great read for understanding internet security.. especially for broadband users. They also have a "shoot the messenger" utility that shots down Microsofts built-in ad server in Windows XP. You can get your TCP ports hit in a simulated hack scan too.

JUPITER IS GONNA BLOW!
Submitted Tuesday, September 23, 2003 - 4:36:39 PM by Klaitu

You guys remember the Galileo space probe launched to jupiter in 1989 right? That's the one that got messed up and had to use the secondary antenna. It dropped probes into Jupiter's atmosphere, and also took some nifty photos of that shoemaker-levy 9 asteroid impact.

Well, Jupiter puts out a buncha nasty radiation, and it's been slowly killing galileo, so NASA decided it would dump the craft into Jupiter's atmosphere "to protect europa from biological contamination". (some people think there is life on Europa)

Well, some nutjobs heard about this, and "figured out" that NASA was onto some doomsday plot to blow up Jupiter! No, seriously.. they honestly think that. The idea is that the spacecraft's fuel of Plutonium would cause a nuclear explosion and turn Jupiter into a star, a-la Arthur C Clarke's 2010.

Check out the nutjob's website:
http://www.cyberspaceorbit.com/JUPFULLx.htm

Now, if you read that site, you're going to need a reality check. The guys at Bad Astronomy have already done the legwork for you:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/jupiter_galileo.html

Those of you who keep informed know that the Galileo spaceprobe impacted Jupiter yesterday, and did not turn into a star.. nor did it explode. Furthermore, it never even had a chance of exploding.

So, the real question here is: Why would you even think it would blow up in the first place?

TV this week
Submitted Tuesday, September 23, 2003 - 4:08:36 PM by Klaitu

Some notes for everyone since this week is the start of the "big three" new season.

JAG has moved from Tuesdays at 7 to Fridays at 8. Why they changed it, I cant say (I guess they just liked it better that way). JAG's old timeslot is replaced by "Naval NCIS" which is a CSI knockoff, except with navy people.

JAG's friday timeslot coincides with Stargate SG-1 over on the Sci-Fi channel. That's okay, because new SG-1's won't be back until mid-January. Also, Sci-Fi replays SG-1 again at 10 PM. Note that these are the new SG-1's I am talking here. The old ones still play for 4 hours on Monday starting at 6 PM.

Enterprise faces WB's smallville this week, as the WB moved it to Wednesdays at 7PM. Enterprise episodes will continue to be new episodes until at least October 22. UPN has also announced that the name of the show is now officially Star Trek Enterprise though no word on if the title logos will change.

The WB has also expressed interest in a TV series about The Flash. The DC Comics/WB juggernaut strikes once again. The new Flash would appear perhaps in the 04-05 season.

Star Trek TNG is going strong over on Spike TV. "Yesterday's Enterprise" is coming up on the 26th during the daily run. "Sarek" is coming up October 2.

Fox Newsguy Brit Hume did an hour-long interview with President Bush recently. I watched it last night, and it's interesting to see some of the inside stuff that the pres does. That link goes to a transcript, but if you can catch the repeat of the interview sometime, do so. It's better than a stinky old transcript.

Thats about all I have for now! Stay Tuned!

More updates
Submitted Tuesday, September 23, 2003 - 3:25:04 PM by Klaitu

Alrighty, I've added in the message board, and hooked in some links to interface with ds180.net with the webmail and the like, so folks can use Special K as a portal if they want to.

I'm going to send out some E-mails so that people know that Special K exists, so if you're here, that's probably why.

More Site Improvements
Submitted Tuesday, September 23, 2003 - 2:50:50 PM by Klaitu

I've added some links and a generic FAQ page for those of you who are interested (AKA noone). I've also spent a great deal of time creating some nifty posticons for the news articles. You'll have to guess what they're for!






I'm also going to make a little message board so I can get feedback and whatnot from folks. I havent done it just yet, but when I do, it'll be linked over there on the right.

Enjoy!

Special K hits the net
Submitted Monday, September 22, 2003 - 10:37:43 PM by Klaitu

It's not a weblog, it's not a diary, it's not even a journal. It's more like research notes about planet earth. Why are you here? Why are you reading it? You're probably bored.

That's okay though, I'm here to cure your boredom woes. I'll be making updates to the site periodically, so check back and see if I have anything new. I'm pretty sure you wont find this information anywhere else (without looking).