Have I mentioned I hate CG?

So this is what the Beatles look like in the new Rockband game -- Four lifeless, soul-less marionettes:




Jeeze! They looked way better in the old Saturday morning cartoon! God save us from CG.

Mirror, mirror.

In the field of intelligence analysis, the CIA has a concept called mirror imaging: the belief that your opponent will think and behave and hold the same values as you do. It is not far-removed from the psychological notion of projection.

What follows is the most graphic showcase of mirror-imaging one could ask for:


Yeah, Beck -- maybe it is just you.

For the record, the quote they're all freaking out over is: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

What these douchebags fail to mention is that later in the same speech Sotomayor says: "I am reminded each day that I render decisions that affect people concretely and that I owe them constant and complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives and ensuring that to the extent that my limited abilities and capabilities permit me, that I reevaluate them and change as circumstances and cases before me requires. I can and do aspire to be greater than the sum total of my experiences but I accept my limitations." Oops, you can stop freaking out now, boys.

Horrifying Statistic of the Week

In the first quarter of 2009, one in every six books sold in the U.S. was written by Stephenie Meyer.

More proof, as if any was needed, that 14-year-old girls run the universe.

SYFY! WTF??

Nice little logo, huh? Futuristic, sleek, the image of a ringed planet gets the job done. So why am I showing it to you?

Well, the Sci Fi Channel decided their "brand" needed a little "refreshing." So they paid a bunch of geniuses at Landor Associates a few million dollars, and after months of labor, they came up with a brand-new name, and a brand new logo to go with it. Drumroll, please...




That's it?

That's it!?

You have got to be freakin' kidding me.

A name that sounds like a hedge fund, a butt-ugly logo that would look at home in Rhoda Morgenstern's apartment, and a syntactically suspect catchphrase that sounds like it was dreamed up by a copywriter for a Japanese game show, and the guys who paid for this piece of horse puckey are really proud of it. The president of the channel claims "The testing we’ve done has been incredibly positive."

Yeah, right. Congratulations, science fiction -- you finally have your own New Coke.

Of course, the real reason for this change has nothing to do with branding -- it's about the fact that the term "sci fi" cannot be trademarked, while the word "syfy" can because, you know, it's not really a word.

So drink deeply of SYFY! I would have renamed it the Speculative Fiction Channel, myself.

This is my desk.

(Click on images for full-size versions, if you must.)
Stare really hard at the above picture. Then get a knot in your stomach about all the bills you have to pay. Voila! Now you know what it's like to be me! (Don't thank me all at once.)

(Above) On the platform, L to R: Extremely tiny Godzilla; four "Soul of Bullmark" gashapon toys from Japan depicting Ultraman monsters; Star Trek communicator (with phaser behind it); Radio City Music Hall; "Wizard of Oz" ornament that talks, moves, and other obnoxious things. On the desktop, L to R: Red and blue Seagate drives (one has all the video I've shot in the past 10 years on it, the other has my complete music collection); another Ultraman monster; mini R/C K-9; a piece of asphalt from King Philip Road on Cape Cod; a white rock from Chagrin Falls, OH; sonic screwdriver; Italian blue glass doodad from the 1950's.

(Above) The left side of the desk is getting crowded, what with all the Doctor Who stuff, Galactus, a couple of Enterprises, Mechagodzilla, and giant flying turtle Gamera (the friend of children everywhere), etc.

(Above) Yeah, I'm re-reading Salinger. (I'll find a use for the orange hard drive someday.)

Davros sez: "You -- will -- work -- HARDER!!!"