Category: Bad if it Explodes

Nicholas Cage, a master actor who gives a veneer intellectual group

UPDATE: Just to be abundantly clear, the following is a direct quote.

THE EXPENDABLES 3:
We are preparing the film with the same passion and commitment as the previous two. We have confirmed Nicolas Cage, a master actor who gives a veneer intellectual group. Hopefully we can realize to Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes and Mickey Rourke. That is the great mission of the producer. We will continue with the same narrative scheme, the agility and the frenzy, which are inherent to the saga. What will definitely be the last? I can not guarantee. In principle it would be two deliveries, but the affection of the people encouraged us to work on a third. I guess as long as we amused ourselves by offering fun and people, we can continue playing ‘The Expendables’. For now we are not as expendable as it should and as some critics want.

A Form of Time Travel

Behold!

Not impressed? Well, try on these info pants for size:

The most distant objects here are over 13 billion light years away, and we see them when they were only 500 million years old.

That means this picture looks back in time almost 13 billion years. Click the image for the full article on Hubble’s Deep Field Images.

Why So Curious?

Here is a link to BoingBoing’s link to the live feed for Curisity’s landing today, as well as a few other fantastic links regarding the exploration of Mars.

The picture below will take you to the Wikipedia page for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) otherwise known as Curiosity.

This is the Android You’re Looking For

A simple $950,000 Kickstarter project to develop an Android-based gaming system raised $6 million.

It’s called Ouya. It’s success has landed the developer a major game: Final Fantasy III.

They encourage you to mod, hack, and root.

“Have at it: It’s easy to root (and rooting won’t void your warranty). Everything opens with standard screws. Hardware hackers can create their own peripherals, and connect via USB or Bluetooth. You want our hardware design? Let us know. We might just give it to you.”

This is a system designed by gamers, funded by gamers, and open for gamers to make games, peripherals, and as many other add-ons as they can imagine.

This sounds cool.

The Gamespot article that led me there.

Real Life Redshirts

On July 19, 1957, six men stand beneath an atomic explosion set off in the deserts of the American Northwest. Five of them were volunteers.

Click through for the full story from NPR.

Five Men Agree To Stand Directly Under An Exploding Nuclear Bomb : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR.

Star Trek: TNG on Blu-Ray

In honor of all things Star Trek, but specifically the release of the High Definition Blu-Ray release, we’re dedicating this week Red Shirt week. Since Beard week lasted 143 days (4 months, 21 days), we may be here for a while.

Wil, Scott, and I attended the special screening of the newly scrubbed HD season one episodes “Where No One Has Gone Before“ and “Datalore.” Kosmo wasn’t invited because he loves Texas more than Outer Space.

We could spend a lifetime nitpicking the inconsistent lighting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes and the awful shadows that black out Worf’s eyes, the Traveler’s eyes, and the eyes of any character who has a huge forehead ridge.

“Where No One Has Gone Before” exemplifies the style of TNG episode I dislike that whisks the Enterprise around the galaxy (or galaxies, in this case) like a tin can kicked down the street and the entire focus of the story is getting the ship back to where it was when the show began. (cue the Seymour Skinner episode reference)

You can argue this is a hypercritical complaint specific to this one episode, but how many episodes revolve around the ship or a single crew member stolen away only to fight to get back where they were? Not every episode that follows this mold is dreadful. Inner Light is a wonderful example of this device employed poignantly.

With the exception of Wesley Crusher’s field promotion to acting ensign, what was the point of the Traveler episode? The highlight, in my opinion, is the succinct conference the senior officers have on the bridge about what they should do with the opportunity to gather samples and research the new galaxy. “Think of all the data we could send back,” Picard is advised. “Send it back how? And to whom?” Picard retorts. Other than that brief scene, the Traveler episode lacks any dramatic weight. I’ve always been amazed that the Traveler is so popular. Wesley is the least popular character of the series and the Traveler is Rifiki to his Simba.

“Datalore” is a distinctly different type of episode. A bit of respite between assignments and idle curiosity lead to adventure which begets questions of loyalty, ambition, and self-worth. Lore is Cain to Data’s Abel, Iago to his Cassio, Honest John to his Pinocchio. He only appears in three episodes, like the Traveler, and yet he significantly enhances Data’s struggle for acceptance (internally and externally).

This episode also features the tired, two-part device of Wesley Crusher’ s Cassandra curse. 1) Why is the by the only one who notices something wrong? 2) Why does no one listen to the boy?

 

 

 

It’s rather appropriate that Beard Week subsumed the birthdays of Scott, Dan, and Kosmo. Sorry, Wil.