Cool Shit 12/10

Fans sometimes can come up with some awesome theories to original entertainment. Take Lost for example. Anything would have been better than the actual reason the island existed. (I really think the plan was for the island to be purgatory until everyone had that theory so early on that the creators changed their minds. Think about it. After the thousand denials about the island being purgatory, the end had some weird, spiritual concept that made no sense. Had they simply stuck with the purgatory concept, it would have pulled everything together. Well, most things together.)

"Line of the Year" as it pertains to skiing. Yeah, I'd say that's about right.



Haven't had time to dive into this yet, but I'm assuming it will be awesome. An oral history of the film, Boogie Nights.

I don't know how much this simplifies things for tasting your wine, but it certainly gives you an idea of what certain types should smell/taste like.

Stories of wilderness disappearances. Some seem pretty basic (people get lost and succumb to the elements) but others are genuinely creepy.)

I love the cold, but even these places might be a bit much.

Trailer for The Walk, a fictionalized account of the documentary movie Man on Wire, about the guy who tight-rope walked between the twin towers. Honestly I'm not sure how this movie is going to play, especially since the first shot of the trailer invoked a not-so-great feeling of despair about the twin towers. Also, the movie has kinda sorta been done, as in the documentary. ALSO, 3-D?

Cool Shit 6/10

What do you get when you mix the mysteries of Lost with the social dynamics of a Survivor? A really crappy conceptual summer series on NBC called Siberia. I especially enjoyed the shots of the garter snake slithering to nowhere...



Sure, some asylums throughout the country operated simply and efficiently and have no stories of woe. Of course, there's a flip side to that coin...

The war between Iran and the United States hasn't happened on the battlefield, but it pretty much has started in cyberspace.

What Nadal did at the French Open this past two weeks may be his greatest accomplishment; after winning the finals McEnroe (John McEnroe, perhaps the greatest Davis Cup player the US has ever born, as well as one of the all-time greats) asked him how much tennis he played during his seven month, injury-laden lay off. And Nadal basically said none. So that means, coming back from injury, playing in a few tune up matches a few weeks beforehand, Nadal won a grand slam simply because he could, and not because he trained particularly hard. Now that's talent.

When the first "Greatest Event in Television History" came out (a shot for shot remake of the opening credits to Simon and Simon) was teased, I had high hopes. I like both Adam Scott and Jon Hamm (an underrated comedic actor in his own right) and also love Simon and Simon and more importantly, opening credit sequences to 80s television shows. And then I saw it and was underwhelmed. The jokes felt a bit cliched and typical - not something I was expecting from the talent behind the concept. So when a new one was announced, my expectations were low. Once again, the original source material had me excited, but that was about it. Well, here it is, and...well you can decide for yourself:



Honestly? It's too much like the first one! Why not make Poehler be obsessively in love with Scott here? Change the dynamic up? Give us something new to chew on? Use more Horatio Sanz? Get weird? It's Adult Swim - get weird and cater to your fans instead of making it so broad.

Sure the NSA is reading your emails, but I'm not so sure that that's as frightening as your local supermarkets creating a dossier on your habits.

Cool Shit 5/24

Look for a whole Arrested Development post coming a bit later today...

Looking for something to do this weekend? How about enjoying a television marathon with these underrated shows you most likely have never heard of.

Seems like Gillian Anderson is having a bit of a resurgence.

Steven Soderbergh, retired film director turned internet entrepreneur? (Seriously, his website is weird, and not what you'd expect from an award winning director. I especially enjoy the "booze" section.)

Oh good lord, this After Earth movie seems WAY too involved to be any good.

Hmmm, I wonder if the location of the next Winter Olympic games will affect my ebay bidding on event tickets.

This look at what former stars of Lost are doing now isn't just interesting to see what the actors are doing, it's fun to try and remember what happened to their characters on Lost. And then you can relive the hatred you had for the series finale.

Cool Shit

I'm a sucker for anything abandoned, so I was thrilled to see someone took eerie pictures of China's answer to Disneyland, Wonderland.

If you were a fan of Lost, I think you'll get a kick out of this. And no, it has nothing to do with the cobbled together ending.

If you have a Kindle, and have 99 cents to burn, why don't you check out the country's highest ranking private detective? Haven't gone through any of these yet, but the price seems right to take a risk...

Speaking of reading, there are few things I enjoy more. And part of that is discovering new books out there that challenge, frustrate, entertain, and satisfy me. The website The Millions is a great place to do that, especially now, with their A Year in Reading series. Check it out.

Like drawing? Like cars? Like checking out other people's drawings of cars? Well, you don't have to have such specific interests to enjoy this site, but if you do have them, I definitely recommend you check it out.

I recently finished Everyone Loves You When You're Dead, by Neil Strauss and found it to be a fascinating look into the many different personalities of popular music. Specifically:

• Courtney Love is cheap
• David Pirner is insecure
• Orlando Bloom could be perceived as not the sharpest guy in the world
• Ludacris is exactly how you'd expect
• Bo Diddley is bitter
• Chuck Berry is smarter than you think

And it goes on and on. A great book to pick up when you want and find out not just about these individuals, but also how fame and celebrity can affect a person.

Your Favorite TV Shows...Miniaturized!

Pretty cool video depicting famous tv shows (though I don't see how Dirty Sexy Money got in there) miniaturized. Actually, if I had to guess, I think this is a promo for some foreign television show that grabbed up some American repeats. Enjoy!

PRIME BIG SERIES - SMALL SCREEN from steven huybrechts on Vimeo.

The Secrets of Lost...Ignored Some More

Not sure how everyone felt about the series finale of Lost. To me, a lot of people simply tried to convince themselves it was good. To a degree, they were right; as a season finale, it was strong.

But a series finale? No.

Look, I realize it was impossible to answer all the mysteries of the island. There were way too many loose ends that couldn't be tied up. And, besides, answering all the mysteries wouldn't have been as much fin. However...

I think the major flaw of the end of Lost was that the storytellers (whoever you think them to be - producers, writers, etc.) "lost" many of the ideas that they set up in the seasons before the final one. The last season almost seems to completely ignore all of that in order to force itself into the ending they created. Which is kinda of a copout and insults the dedicated viewers a bit.

I mean they set up Charles Widmore so early, and to discard him so casually seemed a bit cavalier. I realize they continually said the show is about the "characters" but that wasn't the case in seasons' past. That mantra started coming out later in the show's run, and conveniently enough to help explain the last season.

Anyway, because there were so many unanswered questions, news came out that there would be some unaired extra footage that would at least fill in a few of the blanks. The first of this extra footage has been released on the Internet.

So if you couldn't sleep at night because of your burning desire to know about the Dharma airdrops, here you go!

Movies Ruined By Their Third Act

Over at the A.V. Club, the question today is this:

What movies are ruined by their third act?

Some are obvious, perhaps - Vanilla Sky (totally agree), A.I. (is there a word stronger than "totally?" Because if there is, put it in front of agree and that's my opinion), some I don't agree with (Office Space? That's the only way it could have ended really, unless Mamet had directed it, and then we would have had Peter being hauled off to jail amidst a lot more swearing) and some I've never taken a moment to think about (The Fly).

Regardless, off the top of my head, if I had to come up with some, I'd go with pretty much every Mel Brooks movie (I give Blazing Saddles a pass I guess, simply because they certainly go all out to try and sell it). And while not a movie, I'm still not willing to return to Lost (a light cave? really?)

So anyway, what are yours?

Links of Interest 2/25

Alec Baldwin isn't just an award-winning actor. Apparently he's also an expert on nuclear power.

The new Karate Kid movie sounds interesting.

Athletes are people too. People who screw up.

When you're ready to grow up, start ordering some of these at your local watering hole.

A cool concept in my eyes, though the trailer really doesn't do much for it, it my eyes.

If you're hungry why not mosie over to A Holy Sandwich, and see what people enjoy in their way of a sandwich.

Seriously, what the fuck is up with Claire?

I'm all for the "batshit insane" strategy when it comes to sports, war, heck even life. So were these guys. And look how it worked for them.

So, what does it take to be a border police officer in Afghanistan?

The Chuck Klosterman tribute to the band Pavement.

Links of Interest 2/5

Pictures from the Tough Guy Competition held in England every year. You have to see it to believe it.

This guy may like Jaws more than me. I stress may. For if I were to try to recreate scenes, I'd at least give some effort to wardrobe choice. If nothing else, an awesome blazer or two like the mayor has. Regardless, any Jaws fan should click on this link.

Care to take a look back at all the Superbowl commercials that have aired over the years?

An interactive timeline of the happenings in Lost. Not sure if it helps anything at this point. But it's cool.

Sometimes the extras on a DVD are underwhelming. But sometimes, they're all sorts of cool. Check out this list to catch the cool ones.

Guessing where the Internet is headed in the next year.

Good discussion topic for a late night bar excursion. Who's your favorite bad ass?

Dirty money - and how it gets into the U.S.

You know, you can learn a lot about life from watching a chicken.

That Lil Wayne sure is crazy!

Links of Interest 2/4

A pro and con look at Twitter.

A look at how conspiracy theories can negatively affect how people think. Or so they would have you believe.

Salt is ok; it's the sodium that will get you.

A new We Are the World gathering for Haiti relief.

I added this review for Kingdom of the Spiders simply because I love this movie.

So what does a military MRE really taste like?

Some of the science in Lost explained. Well, at least an attempt to explain it.

Awesome trick shots in sports.

Just in case you happen to fall out of an airplane.

We like to help people out here at the Popcorn Trick. So, just in case you suddenly come into a large sum of money that you'd like to keep quiet, why not set up an offshore bank account?

Links of Interest 2/1

The Grammys last night were, uh, interesting.

When artists pick a cover and try to kick it up a notch. Sometimes it works. More than not however, it doesn't.

Not a huge hype year for Sundance. Your opinion may vary on whether that's good or bad. Regardless, here's a recap of what happened on the mountain Redford built.

Well this article was a bait and switch. I feel cheated.

The top 10 worst athlete signings of the last decade and no Philadelphia teams? The top 5 alone could have involved the Sixers!

What really goes on at those American Idol auditions?

At first glance, this list of everything John Locke said in Season 5 of Lost seems great. But then, you have to realize (well I think you have to realize) that for the last half of the season, it wasn't John Locke. And so it kind of falls apart. Still, freshen up for the premiere tomorrow.

With the Internet it's easier than ever to find that special someone, regardless of your interests.

Say what you want about Lady GaGa (though honestly, it's probably been already said) but you have to give her credit for spicing up a struggling music industry and succeeding.

A voodoo scholar (one of the better titles I've read in awhile) tries to set the record straight about the religion in the face of the Haiti earthquake.

It's nice to get some heartwarming news like this. I'm sure in the coming weeks we'll read about the bitter custody dispute.

Miramax is no more.

A We Are the World like tribute song may been in the works to increase aid for Haiti.

Chatting with Nick Nolte.

Check out some of these youtube challenges. And who knows? Maybe you can win some money.

Knowing stuff like this is extremely important for when SGD in your office. Don't be a victim. Be a survivor.

The 6th and final season of Lost is right around the corner. Why not check out this cool interactive character map showing past connections and get ready for it?

Very cool time lapse video of the city of Vancouver. Hypnotic to say the least.

Sometimes, a Big Mac just won't translate very well. So you have to get regional.

What happens when you take the director of Zombieland, give him a camera, and send him to Antarctica? This.

Links of Interest 1/15

(Apologies for no links yesterday. Real life creeps in. If anyone has any need for freelance copy work, I'm your guy.)

Marvin Harrison seems like he might be in some trouble.

For the men out there – the hottest American Idol contestants of all time.

The Twilight franchise has inspired some very frightening merchandise.

Who doesn’t like a good snowmobile crash?

If you’re feeling hungry, here are a couple challenges you may want to seek out.

A closer look at Avatar.

One-episode characters from Lost.

Talking to a Facebook employee – and finding out what you don’t know about the site. (kottke)

Know these skills and you will go far.

Links of Interest 11/10

10 movies to look out for this coming winter.

You can spend the night in just about anything these days.

One-season shows from the past decade that may have been cancelled a little too early.

No Tango & Cash? No An Innocent Man? No that other movie with Stallone wrongfully accused and sent to prison and has to deal with sadistic Donald Sutherland (I think)? This list is incomplete!

Did you ever hear about the Rock Critical List?

A look at the top accidental celebrities.

Them Crooked Vultures has a new album out. You can listen to it here. Don’t know about Them Crooked Vultures? They’re a supergroup involving Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, and John Paul Jones.

Elizabeth Mitchell (she of Juliet fame on Lost) talks about her roles.

If you’re on Twitter, there’s a good chance you’ve come across one or two things from @shitmydadsays. Well, the guy (guys? Gals? I havae no idea) have gotten a TV deal out of it. My head is so conflicted.

Movies that might give you pause when you learn they have been included in the Criterion collection. (via kottke)

Links of Interest 5/12

Welcome new people stopping by for the first time. I hope you stick around.

Go inside the head of Andy Samberg and his Motherlovers skit from Saturday.

Michael Emerson, he of creepy Ben fame, is interviewed.

And you thought a movie based on Monopoly was the dumbest idea you ever heard.

This is a weird little thing about The Usual Suspects. Writer and director had two completely different opinions about the movie they made.

I mean if times are really tough, you can haggle at the dollar store.

I predict Google’s great universal library will be come a reality, meet an untimely and unexpected demise, and then future generations will lament the loss of such great classics as The DaVinci Code and The Ruins.

I’ll be honest, I did not wake up today and think I would be typing the phrase, “funeral sex.” But I’m glad I did.

5 people that got the future right. At least somewhat.

Stopping the 2012 apocalypse. And no, the author isn’t suggesting to ignore it. That would be my solution.

Links of Interest 4/15

A list of famous hackers.

A mind numbing article on cognitive psychology and how the human mind and computers differ.

Casual incest…ok. Habitual incest? Not so great for your future generations.

I have stood at the edge and looked down at the process on how judged become judges, but have never jumped in with both feet. So while I’ve seen and heard the occasional horror story, I am unaware of how flawed the system really is. I’m pretty sure I want to keep it that way, though this article is pulling on my ankles.

The positives – and negatives – This Is Spinal Tap unleashed upon us.

With the economy in the dumps, why not start your own business? I mean, I’m sure capital is easy to procure.

Mike Tyson may be a flawed hero, but that doesn’t make him any less interesting.

I have a problem with this new reality show about cougars. Not the concept itself, the idea that it’s men fighting over one cougar. Why not have a bunch of cougars fighting over one man?

Another article promising to reveal the secrets of Lost. Don’t hold your breath.

New Lost tonight!

After what ABC did to us last week, throwing a repeat into the schedule after telling us Lost was going to run uninterupted this season, I didn't know how to act. The week leading up to Wednesday moved tantilizingly fast, as I repeatedly forgot about the no new Lost. After Wednesday reared its ugly head however, the week slowed to a crawl, and only the NCAA tournament held my interest. Luckily, it seemed like it was on 24/7 so I could get lost (ugh - terrible pun) but now that that's on hold, thoughts can drift back to the two islands (reinforced 2 weeks ago).

The image I included at the top is a scan of some of my notes I began jotting down, trying to wrap my head around just what exactly is going on and what has been revealed this season. As you can see, there's simply no easy way to summarize it, and my head started hurting not long after beginning. But hey, in some weird way, that's why we watch this show.

Anyway, on the flips side...ramblings, predictions and lunacies, in no particular order!



Before going on, I will say I have enjoyed the subtle voice shift in the recent shows. They've toned down the mindfucking, and turned up the adventure yarn. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my mindfucked Lost, but it's cool to get a breather before ramping up to what I can only assume is going to be a great season finale. If there's one thing Lost can do, it's throw an end of the season balls-to-the-wall finale.

But now, as we (mostly) amble through 1977 on the island with the Dharma initiative, we get a chance to fill in some blanks the show has alluded to, and a chance to get back in touch with the characters. And Lost has always done a good job with manipulating our feelings with the characters. Remember when we all loved Kate? She was the rogue anti-hero. Now? I wouldn't mind a boulder falling on her. And Juliet was the exact opposite. Her introduction was clunky and her motives mysterious. Now she's a true adventurer and her motives...well they still might be mysterious to some degree but at least now we can get behind them a bit.

The biggest character change we've witnessed however is of course Sawyer. Given a chance to "rebirth" his life, Sawyer has jumped right in. Nowhere has this been more obvious than the chat he had with Jack about their different styles.

Of course, we'll see where this leads.

Other thoughts/musings/sure to be wrong predictions...

Ben bringing the captured Sayid a sandwich. Is that why Sayid seems indebted to him later? Or is there something more? Will Ben help Sayid escape?

The religious symbolism is all abound in this show. My theory is that Jack was actually the Christ figure, with Locke being John the Baptist (JtB was thought to be the messiah at one point I believe) and Ben taken on the Judas role (especially with the recent revelation JC may have asked Judas to bertay him) but I don't think my theory is getting too much traction.

The Egyptian symbolism is almost as abundant as the Christian symbolism. Is the fact that when you "leave" the island by turning the wheel and wind up in Tunisia a clue that the foundation for ancient Egypt started on the island?

Someone pointed this out to me. I wish I was this observant. Is there a reason why some people on the plane shifted back to 1977 and why some crashed in the present? Sun had Jin's ring, and Locke had a Shepherd's pair of shoes on. Is there significance to this?

Will we get any answers tonight? I'm pretty sure we all know the answer to that is "no." But I'm fine with that, as long as they continue the pace, flesh out stuff they've alluded to earlier and continue on the trail toward giving us all the answers we want.

The Lost countdown continues...

Less than 4 hours to go before we all get Lost tonight. For a quick recap of where the characters are, take a look here at my post from yesterday. Or, you can always go here and get a possibly more accurate, yet less humorous recap. Can't wait to get your total Lost fix? Read an Interview with Hurley and an interview with Ben.

An if you really want to dive in, immerse yourself in some of the theories floating around.

Regardless, from everything I've read, tonight's episode(s) should be good.

LOST countdown started...

Ok, so what do we know?

Other than the fact that the television show Lost is a weird cultlike obsession, not much. We think we know stuff about the island, but that "think" so often is far away from the "know." And that is a major reason so many people love Lost.

Think about it. How much fun is it to discuss theories about the island with your friends in the kitchen at work or over email the day after an episode airs? How excited do you get when you spot a clue or an Easter Egg during the show, hoping no one else caught it so you can drop some Lost knowledge on people?

So, let's rephrase it. What do we assume we know?

Read more on the flip side...



Presently off the island (and yes, I realize using a "time" defined word is just silly at this point in the series, but bear with me):

Jack
Kate
Sayid
Aaron
Sun
Hurley

Ben
Desmond
Lapidus


Now, that's obviously if they pick it up from the funeral home. Everyone else is still on the island.

People on the island:

Locke? (it's based on what time period you want to talk about for the show. Let's just put him here as we know we'll see him at some point on the island running around)
Sawyer
Juliet
Miles
Charlotte
Rose and Bernard (at this point there simply one character)
The group of Others
Keamy? (Ok, I just threw that in there because I wanted it to be true.)

In a raft near the island:

Faraday

Quite possibly treading water near an very blown up cargo ship, or you know, dead:

Jin

Still thankfully dead:

Charlie


Right now, that's all we know. And even that is tenuous at best.

The big reveal at the end of last year's finale obviously was Locke in the coffin. I really wanted it to be Jack's dad, but since it wasn't I can at least cling to the theory that he's still alive. So Locke (presumably) gets into some trouble on the island after the group splits and "dies." I'm guessing that season 5 is going to explore that and more.

My initial thoughts?

It's not Locke in the casket. I don't know - I don't want him to be dead. And in the ever increasing murkiness of non-linear time lines, it's possible at some point he's not. And yes, that last sentence confused me as well.

The island? It moves in time, not in distance. Think of it as a hub on a wheel where time radiates outward. It can travel to the different spokes' time lines. Yup, I'm confused again.

Desmond: still awesome and his story while seemingly neatly wrapped up last season, I'm sure has a long way to go. Whenever he's on screen I feel he's 3 steps away from death. Though I still think he's the monk with the wine and Desmond actually ran into himself in the futurepresent. Or possibly a different spoke of time.

Wouldn't it be awesome if Charlotte was somehow Rousseau? Yeah, don't ask me to follow that idea through to completion.

Ok, I have to stop before my head explodes. I will leave you with some goodies however to get you moist for the premiere tomorrow night...

TV Guide reviewed the season premiere and, while it certainly pays for them to up the hyperbole quotient, you still can't help but get excited after reading the review.

This person too have nothing but good things to say about the new season.

And finally, here are some clips from the season premiere. Much like the blogger who posted these clips, I can't watch them due to wanting to be nice and clear of any spoilered information.

Have your own theories? Want to ridicule me? Do it to it in the comments!

Links of Interest 1/20

Don't miss the post about Twitter porn right below this one. Seriously.

This guy knows more about Lost than you do. Because he's paid to.

Like singer Andrew Bird? Than I can't imagine you not liking this profile of him.

The Man shuts down a paper mill and destroys a community Damn you Man!

Want to know what it's like to DJ?

How production companies have dealt with stars suddenly dying during filming of movies.

One of my life resolutions is to witness an actual cock fight. Not because I enjoy watching animals kill one another, but just to say I did. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm one step further away from realizing my dream.

Don’t read this if you don’t want to know who the Stig is (hint: It's some British guy). And don’t be upset if you have no idea what the Stig is.

So seriously, how does one go about pooping in space?

Psychotic leisure music.

Grab your camera and leave your shutter open for a long time and see what you come up with like these people did.

Something that was supposed to be totally cool involving hunting down a fictitious international spy in Seattle went horribly wrong back in 2002.