Thursday, December 31, 2009

Posted via web from "Here's to plain speaking and clear understanding."

Labels: monkeys, robots, science

16:03 cdogzilla

ESPN's Top College Hoops games of the decade: The 2004 win over Duke on the way to the National Title, and the 6OT loss to 'Cuse in the 2009 Big East Tourney were the first to leap to mind and they're in there.

Labels: Lists, sports, uconn

15:54 cdogzilla

Monday, December 28, 2009

First caveat:  there are a lot of movies that I wanted to see this decade and didn't.  I suspect, of those well-reviewed unseen movies, too numerous to list, many would be on this list.
Second caveat: I only saw Sherlock Holmes once, yesterday, and loved it.  I may be riding high off the buzz.
Third caveat:  I'm a fanboy buffoon.  Barely, if even, more credible than the AICN commenter.

1. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
2. "Serenity"
3. "Memento"
4. "Fellowship of the Ring"/"The Two Towers"/"Return of the King"
5. "Brick"
6. "Michael Clayton"
7. "Traffic"
8. "Legend of the Drunken Master"
9. "Erin Brokovich"
10. "Snatch"
11. "Star Trek"
12. "Sherlock Holmes"
13. "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"
14. "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle"
15. "Iron Man"
16. "The Bourne Identity"/"The Bourne Ultimatum"/"The Bourne Supremacy"
17. "The 40-Year-Old-Virgin"
18. "Casino Royale"
19. "Spider-Man"
20. "Batman Begins"/"The Dark Knight"
21. "Ocean's Eleven"/"Ocean's Twelve"
22. "Inside Man"
23. "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"
24. "City of God"
25. "Fahrenheit 9/11"
26. "Hotel Rwanda"
27. "Shaun of the Dead"
28. "Juno"
29. "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
30. "Gosford Park"
31. "The Departed"
32. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
33. "The Royal Tenenbaums"
34. "Kill Bill Vol. 1"/"Kill Bill Vol. 2"
35. "Hot Fuzz"
36. "An Inconvenient Truth"
37. "The Prestige"
38. "War"
39. "The Transporter"
40. "The Illusionist"
41. "Ghost World"
42. "Love Actually"
43. "Ali"
44. "District 9"
45. "Sexy Beast"
46. "In the Loop"
47. "United 93"
48. "The Constant Gardener"
49. "I Heart Huckabees"
50. "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior"

Labels: 2009, Lists, movies

20:56 cdogzilla

Facial Recognition, If This Is Any Indicator, Is Not Reliable Technology
I mean, c'mon.  This celebrity matcher thing didn't notice my resemblance to Tom Baker or Mark Knopfler?

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Labels: feeling old, pictures, science

17:30 cdogzilla

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

I know we here love us some Jackie Chan, but the trailer for the new Karate Kid remake makes me all kinds of dyspeptic. First of all, I don't think the original needs a remake. It holds up really well. Secondly, remaking movies that I saw in the theater makes me feel all kinds of old. Thirdly, Will Smith Jr. seems like he has some of his dad's charisma - never seen him in anything - but also looks about three years too young. Can the sexual tension/love triangle that sets the plot in motion be anything but creepy?

And finally, Jackie. Maybe this will work. He looks admirably run down in the trailer. I assume the movie gives him some Miyagi-esque back story to explain why he would take in the foreign kid. Jackie could use a good role for an older martial artist, but I suspect this will be too cute, too filled with winking at the audience. I fear half-hearted bullying and heart-and-a-half mugging for the camera. End cranky old man rant. (Link via Ghost in the Machine)

Labels: feeling old, martial arts, movies, youtube goodness

10:39 bone daddy

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Why is Sports Talk Radio Never This Interesting?

Labels: sports

19:47 cdogzilla

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Mal-feasance: A Little Fun on the Firefly Set

Labels: sci-fi, TV, youtube goodness

17:00 cdogzilla

It's the Holiday Season

Don't forget to get your aluminum pole up for December 23rd!

Labels: TV

00:00 cdogzilla

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com - My Friend the President: "In other words, the Leave-Obama-Alone protestations posted by Sullivan are fairly representative of the genre. How far we've fallen from the declaration of Thomas Jefferson: 'In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.'

With regard to many of the above-referenced criticisms -- as well as ones I haven't included -- there are reasonable disputes over the validity of the critiques, and many Obama defenders voice those on substantive grounds. Obama admirers like the ones featured above are a minority, albeit a vocal one. But far too many have an emotional attachment to him and investment in him that is deeply unhealthy, particularly when it translates into intolerance for the very act of objecting to his decisions and policies, as one sees on vivid display in the responses Sullivan posted."

I expect the Olbermanns, Maddows, Stewarts, and Colberts of the world to hold the Obama administration to the same standard they held the previous administration of crooks and con-men. We should all expect and demand a return to the rule of law.

Labels: Obama, progressivism

20:58 cdogzilla

'Family Ties' Actor Bonsall Facing Assault Charge - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver: Alexander Rozhenko, son of Worf of the House of Mortak, is either letting his Klingon instincts get the better of him or is a meth addict. The real-world money, if you click through to see the mug shot, is on "meth-head".

Labels: crime, TV

18:56 cdogzilla

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Never Saw Or Even Heard Of It But Liking:


Not breaking into the Top Ten or anything.  Still, irritating me that there was a sci-fi show I never even heard of, with Ron Livingston, that was totally off my radar.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

11:06 cdogzilla

Labels: doctor who

09:34 cdogzilla

How Dollhouse Got in the Top Ten



It's on hulu.com.

Labels: sci-fi, TV

07:46 cdogzilla

Friday, December 11, 2009

Best of the Aughts: TV
A top ten for the first nine years of this decade and the last year of the last decade/century/millennium.

1. Firefly - It goes without saying.  This is one where we'll have to agree to disagree, if you disagree. But, can you, really?  I mean, we saw the same show, right?  
2. Deadwood - OMCFG this show rocked my world.  
3. The West Wing - I hoped Obama would be Bartlett.  He's not.  But he's probably the closest we'll see in our lifetime.
4. Veronica Mars - Really, for season one only.  I really grooved on season one.
5. Arrested Development - I'm teaching my kids the chicken dance, that's how much I love this show.
6. Curb Your Enthusiasm - The man in the cape makes me laugh out very loud.  
7. 30 Rock - I want to go to there. 
8. The Office - I like Jim.  The Office would be higher on this list if he didn't keep pulling that same face every time he looks at the camera.  It's funny nearly every time ... but there's a one-trick-pony effect holding the show back, in my mind.  Sometimes it feels a little like Frasier, I don't know if I can put the feeling into words, but sometimes you're just so embarrassed for a character it's not fun any more.
9. The Daily Show/The Colbert Report/Countdown/Rachel Maddow - It was either a four way tie or exclude comedy/news shows all together.  Couldn't have one without the others but didn't want to fill the list up with progressive news over scripted dramas and comedies.
10. Dollhouse - Yes, Dollhouse. Despite it's flaws, it's ahead of Gilmore Girls, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, & Chuck. So why does Dollhouse make it?  Alpha, mainly.  And Olivia Williams is pitch perfect as Adele.  Dushku as Echo didn't work for me until very near the end.  I can't say the series was particularly well structured but when it was brilliant, it was Whedonesquely brilliant.  I mentioned BSG even though I thought it was wildly overrated, not half the sci-fi epic Babylon 5 was. 

Labels: 2009, Lists, TV

23:09 cdogzilla

Thursday, December 10, 2009

ARTICLE VI:
"Sec. 8. Disqualifications for office.

The following persons shall be disqualified for office:

First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God."

Not that I was planning on it or anything but still ... it would've been nice to think I could run for public office in NC if I wanted to.  I guess I'm lucky they let me vote.

Labels: atheism, local flavor

22:43 cdogzilla

Monday, December 07, 2009

Above The Law

Labels: TV

23:15 cdogzilla

Boom-boom-krak-oo - Campbell's monkeys combine just six 'words' into rich vocabulary : Not Exactly Rocket Science: "Many human languages achieve great diversity by combining basic words into compound ones - German is a classic example of this. We're not the only species that does this. Campbell's monkeys have just six basic types of calls but they have combined them into one of the richest and most sophisticated of animal vocabularies."

Labels: monkeys

21:12 cdogzilla