Author: Toren

A little birdie (or was it a shuttlecock?) told me that Bubba Ho-Tep starts playing this weekend at my favourite, comfiest, not-expensivest* cinema, Tinseltown. And..oh my god! The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is also playing there RIGHT NOW! Why aren’t I there? To quote Cinnamon J. Scudworth: Dammit!!!

* For your reference, here are theaters in town In order of most expensive to least expensive, compiled by…me:

THEATER/REGULAR PRICE/TUESDAY NIGHT/MATINEE PRICE

Fifth Avenue/12/7/9 (10 weekend)
Park/12/6.5/9 (9.75 wkd)
Capitol 6/11.25/7.5/7.5 (9 weekend)
Granville 7/11.25/7.5/7.5 (9 weekend)
SW Omnimax/11.25 (double bill/11.25 (double/11.25
CN Imax/11/11/-
Oakridge/11/7/7 (8.5 weekend)
Tinseltown/10.5/11.5(fri-sat/7/7 (6 first show mon-fri)
Varsity/10.5/6/-
Dunbar/8.5/6/7
Vaneast/8/5/3.5
Pacific Cinem/6.5 + membership/6.5 + membership/-
Denman DT/6 (double bill/4 (double bill/-
Ridge/5(double) 7(premiere/5/-
Hollywood/5 (double bill/3.5 (monday/-

One more reason not to believe what you see on TV

Medicare: GAO Investigates HHS-Produced TV News Segments On Law
The General Accounting Office is investigating the legality of HHS [United States Department of Health and Human Services AKA the White House]-produced videos intended for broadcast on local television news programs in which actors were paid to pose as journalists “praising the benefits of the new Medicare law,” the New York Times reports. The videos, which have been broadcast in Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states, feature people who identify themselves as reporters and were paid to read government-prepared scripts, according to officials at Home Front Communications, which produced the videos. Several of the videos feature President Bush receiving a standing ovation as he signed the bill into law. One segment features an exchange between a pharmacist and a senior; the pharmacist says the new law “helps you better afford your medications,” and the senior says it “sounds like a good idea.” HHS also prepared introductions to the segments for news anchors. GAO officials last month discovered the HHS-produced television news segments while examining the legality of federally funded fliers and advertisements publicizing the Medicare law. While GAO determined the fliers and advertisements were legal despite “notable omissions and other weaknesses,” it is still investigating the prepared television news segments. Critics say the segments might mislead viewers because they conceal their source; federal law prohibits the use of federal funds for “publicity or propaganda purposes” not authorized by Congress, according to the Times. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said, “These materials are even more disturbing than the Medicaid flier and advertisements. The distribution of these videos is a covert attempt to manipulate the press.” However, HHS spokesperson Kevin Keane, said, “The use of video news releases is a common, routine practice in government and the private sector.” Government agencies have produced such videos “for years” on subjects such as teenage smoking and steroids, but the Medicare materials “wander into more controversial territory,” the Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 3/15).

This one’s for Yvonnough:

slough (sloo, slou) also slew (sloo)
n.
A depression or hollow, usually filled with deep mud or mire.
also slue A stagnant swamp, marsh, bog, or pond, especially as part of a bayou, inlet, or backwater.
A state of deep despair or moral degradation.

WORD……………………..CORRECT PRONUNCIATION….WAY FUNNIER INCORRECT PRONUNCIATION
through/slough………………..throo/sloo……………………..throf/slow(rhymes with plow) : “lets go throf the Drive-Throf”
rough/tough/enough………..ruf/tuf/enuf………………………….roo/tof/enoo : “Enoo is enoo!”
dough……………………………….doh………………………………dof : “mmmm…now with real chunks of cookie dof!”
plough……………………..plow (rhymes with cow)……………ploo
cough/trough………………………trof/kof…………………………koo/pudenda

I finally got a “sales” page up on my website for original Toren “MacBin” Atkinson art. http://members.shaw.ca/tatkinso0/sales.htm

Sedna – is it a planet? And if it isn’t – is Pluto a planet?

Krispy Kreme Kapers

James drove me, Marlo, Janet and Yvonne into Delta today for donuts. I went more for the road trip than because I expected the donuts to be a life-changing experience, and it was a lot of fun. Waiting in line was like waiting in line at a fair or an amusement park except the ride (James’ mad driving) came before and after the actual KK experience. They had a large tent set up and the line was like a who’s who and a what’s that of Delta & Vancouver. There was a young boy in front of me who had the flaming Converse All-Stars just like me, and his father had mismatched colour Converse on too. I had a pretty good time, the one and only drawback was that there was too much loud music drowning out conversation in the backseat. Yvonne brought up Hawaiian doughnuts and none of the rest of us had ever heard of such a thing. She claims that doughnuts with the coloured sprinkles are known as Hawaiian. I brought up the fact that we could have Hawaiian pizza later if we brought along a shaker of said sprinkles. Good times were had making fun of the other people in line, and reminiscing about games we had as kids like Hungry Hungry Hippos, Mister Mouth, Perfection, and Sorry. We watched the donuts travel along little conveyor belts on their exciting journey from conception to consumption, and Janet noted she wanted to go through the glazing machine. I concurred and emphasized with a Homer-like “mmmm…glazed me.” Two of the poor little buggers didn’t get flipped over on the flipper and so were undercooked on one side. They passed through the glazefall (waterfall of glaze) but it was obvious that they’d never get through quality control. I watched one of them get tossed out. It was so sad. He never had a chance. Or, actually I guess he did have a chance – but he blew it.

By the time we got back Marlo had eaten six donuts. We rented On the Waterfront “I coulda been a contender” and that was quite good. I was getting Lee J. Cobb confused with Vic Tayback (who played Alice’s boss on the sitcom Alice) but that is wrong wrong wrong. Cobb played roles in Twelve Angry Men and The Exorcist.

Today they (Teletoon) aired the first ten episodes of the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoons. That may sound impressive but the episodes are only 5 minutes long, and each episode contains a minute or so of footage from the last episode so you can “catch up.” Pretty annoying, so when I taped them I naturally edited that stuff out (along with the commercials of course). This series is created by Genndy Tartakovsky, the talent behind Samurai Jack, so the style and quality of the animation is beyond reproach. Ugh, what a clumsy cliche beyond reproach has become.

The characters are not voiced by the original actors from the movies (except for Anthony Daniels), but the talent they got does a fair job of imitation. As might be expected from Tartakovsky and from Star Wars, most of the story is battle after battle. They make some interesting choices, not all of which I agree with. Some things happen too easily and quickly: like vehicles exploding and being cut in half by a light saber too small to do the job; in another scenario a dozen eels pushed around a completely massive vehicle. Even though it’s only a sci-fi cartoon, they pushed the boundaries of believability.

There were also gaffs a la forgetting that destroyer droids had force sheild bubbles. They had lancers on speeder bikes which (even though they were piloted by cool-looking IG-88 droids) just seemed silly given the limited use of the lances. And there weren’t enough grenades or little flying robots that deliver huge bombs. That is all.

If you want to read the post by Monte Cook that inspired this blog entry, go here http://www.montecook.com/lineos.html

Monte, I feel your pain about the social inertia, but over the years I have learned something interesting.

In the past, I’ve spent a lot of time not being involved in conversation that’s going on around me because I, like you, thought that nothing I might have to add would be of any value – that I would be boring. But I discovered that diving into a conversation with a seemingly inane or random comment can have surprising results. Something that sounds as dumb as “I like your shoes” can in fact lead to bigger and better things: shopping habits, viewpoints on consumer culture or corporate crimes, or at least a tip on where to get good, cheap shoes. Occasionally it won’t pan out. Occasionally it will backfire. But I have found that more often than not, a person that I might dismiss as not being worth the effort to start a conversation with (and I think you’ll agree that making conversation can at times be an effort) might surprise me with insights, entertaining anecdotes, and common interests, and all that it required was just the slightest impetus on my part to break the silence or, Yog forbid, interrupt. Rewarding!

Just a bit of news…from Edward Martin III
This is a movie I did the main character’s voice for.

“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384057/ http://www.petting-zoo.org/Movies_Dreamquest.html
This is still selling, and we have news. Diamond Comics has accepted “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath” to appear in their April issue of solicitations. It’ll be noted as a Spotlight Item, which will bring it a little more attention. This is very exciting for us because it’s entirely possible that this single order could wipe out our stock of the autograph edition. This would be v-e-r-y good! So, if you or someone over whom you have financial influence is a comic book fan, be sure to tell your shop you want to nab a copy when the solicitation comes out in April.

More email that annoys as it entertains.

From: “jerry nanni”
To: “lelah bennet” Subject: someone would like to meet you online
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 09:17:06 -0800
Hey Confidant,
did you forget about me, That personalsite kicked me off for beingexplicit can you believe it? So I got someone else to put something up for me, tell me what you think and leave me a message.
I really want to get together with you.
leave me a message here I’ll reply asap
ciao
hispanicgirl
To indicate that you would rather not be contacted by statement:
Please print out a copy of this announcement and include it with your mail.
Suite #186
4-1150 N. Terminal Ave.
Nanaimo, British Columbia
V9S 5L6
Canada
Follow this link and it will direct you to your communication Preference page
where you will be able to manage and control future announcement.

I am going to use that address for something.

7-11 vs. Mac’s: The Hot Chocolate Wars continue

Mac’s has six types of free syrups. 7-11 has only four.
7-11 has four types of hot chocolate. Mac’s has only one.
7-11 has cans of tiny marshmallows you can sprinkle into your hotty choco.
7-11 is closer to me.
Assuming the prices are the same (I didn’t check), I’m going to have to declare 7-11 the winner this time.