Prometheus, Serenity, and outlawing bullying, except for the bullies part [I read stuff]

Posted on November 8, 2011 by xxxevilgrinxxx

Wherein I read things, laugh, and pass them on to you…

Ridley Scott dishes on the last eight minutes of his Alien prequel Prometheus:

In an interview with SpeakEasy, Ridley confirmed that the title is indeed related to the ancient myth about Prometheus the Titan who stole fire from the Gods (and gave it to the mortals). Alas, Prometheus was later punished for this deed by being chained to a cliff where an eagle would feast on his ever-regenerating liver daily. On that note, this is how Ridley is spinning his movie’s namesake:

“Fire is our first form of technology,” Scott says, and so by taking fire, the higher being is punished “in perpetuity in a horrible fashion.”

That makes us assume that the xenomorphs are the old “eagle-and-liver” punishment. And according to Ridley, it’s all going to come together in the end.

The last eight minutes of the “Prometheus” story evolve into “a pretty good DNA of the ‘Alien’ one.”

[io9.com]

Continue reading →

Gross Food! Shepherd Book! and the terrifying Poppy Seed Bagel! [I read stuff]

Posted on November 2, 2010 by xxxevilgrinxxx

Wherein I read things, laugh, and pass them on to you…

•READ: Revolting food adverts from the land food-stylists forgot:
I don’t know what it is about those old cookbooks. I’ve got a few here and looking through it will offer a few good ideas, if not overly flavorful ideas. Bland was the flavor of the day, apparently. When that flavor wasn’t ketchup. But there are times when a cookbook or, better yet, a magazine insert, offered something so hideous, so ghastly, that I couldn’t help but find other people to show them and we’d all get the chills, the way we’d normally do with a really horrific scene in a movie. Some of that stuff is just plain terrifying.

The LiveJournal Vintage Ads group is holding a competition to dig out the grossest food advertisements of yesteryear. The competition is pretty fierce. I have to wonder, back in 1963 was it really true that Del Monte Green Beans Pizzarino made America’s mouths water? Or, God help us, 1952′s Del Monte Corn Pie (pre-vomited for your convenience!)?

Vintage Ads

•READ: This week, Firefly’s Shepherd Book finally gets an origin story!:

Derrial Book was one of the most enigmatic characters on Firefly, and almost a decade after the show premiered, we’re finally getting some answers in the good Shepherd’s very own graphic novel. Dark Horse’s Serenity: Shepherd’s Tale is penned by the brother team of Joss and Zack Whedon. Shepherd Book got the short shrift in Serenity, and this graphic novel fleshes out his backstory, including the time he found God in a bowl of soup. Ron Glass dropped some teasers about the character a while back, but it’s good to see the mostly awesomely coiffed guy on the Serenity get a backstory. You can read a preview here.

•READ: Baby seized after mother eats poppy seed bagel :
There is a real fear in the world – the fear that I’m going to be called some sort of drug addled wacko because of a poppy seed muffin. I love poppy seeds but blood tests and poppy seeds are something I really worry about. Supposedly romaine lettuce can trigger it too. Weird damned world. I hope they sue the ass off whoever made that call.

A lawsuit was filed Thursday in Pennsylvania after a mother’s newborn was taken from her by child services after she ate a poppy seed bagel, skewing the results of a drug test. NBC News reports that Elizabeth Mort’s blood work at a hospital tested positive for opiates because she ate a poppy seed bagel before having the baby. Three days after giving birth, Children and Youth Services came to Mort’s home to take the baby away. Little Isabella was returned to her mother five days after, when it was shown that Mort did not take any illegal drugs. “It felt like our heart was ripped in pieces,” she told NBC. “The most important person was missing, and we didn’t know when we would see her again.” The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of the parents against CYS and Jameson Hospital where the blood tests were analyzed.

A Shepherd’s Tale

Posted on March 5, 2010 by xxxevilgrinxxx

Firefly’s Shepherd Book, one of the more enigmatic of the show’s characters, is about to get the graphic novel treatment via Dark Horse.

Ron Glass is interviewed by Optimus Douche, of Ain’t it Cool :

OD: No doubt, since it’s been, what, five years since “Serenity” the movie was in theaters. So, how does it feel to come back to the FIREFLY universe for this origin prequel?

RG: This is a great opportunity for me and I think it will be a thrill for Serenity fans. All of the questions they’ve been asking me at the conventions over the years will finally be answered. I know the fans are going to go crazy because this book will be packed with some really wonderful stuff.

There’s lots more at this link, so please go on and read the rest!

Interview: Nathan Fillion Talks Firefly, Dr. Horrible, and Why Kids Need to Read

Posted on January 21, 2010 by xxxevilgrinxxx

Matt Blum/Wired

Photo by Raven Underwood; used under CC Attribution license.

Nathan Fillion has, in the space of seven years, risen to the status of a geek icon. Beginning with his best-known role as Captain Mal Reynolds on Firefly, his work on several of Joss Whedon’s projects has transformed the former soap opera actor into a huge draw for the geek crowd. But there’s a lot more to Fillion than tight pants and a pistol — and a heck of a lot more than a shirt with a picture of a hammer on it.

For one thing, he loves to read. He grew up with two English teachers for parents, and the love of books that they nurtured in him continues to inspire him today. It was, significantly, that love of books that drove Fillion and his good friend, author PJ Haarsma, to found the organization Kids Need to Read. Kids Need to Read is a charity that concentrates on fostering this same love of books in kids all over the United States by giving books to public libraries and schools, which are all to often woefully underfunded. Continue reading →

Carolyn Fry, Aeryn Sun, River: Most Badass Female Pilots of all time

Posted on January 1, 2010 by xxxevilgrinxxx

Carolyn Fry from Pitch Black.

I don’t know how I managed to forget her — I actually had her on my list, and had grabbed this cool pic of her in advance. She manages to bring a dead ship down in spite of incredible odds — and sure, she tries to jettison her passengers. But she’s just being sensible, after all.

Aeryn Sun in Farscape.

She’s a formidable fighter generally, but she’s also a former Peacekeeper pilot, and some of her best moments involve her taking the helm of a ship — like the season two finale, when Crichton is flying away with Scorpius’ mind controlling him, and Aeryn chases after him in her own ship.

River in Serenity.

Okay, so Serenity’s real pilot is, and always will be, Wash. But you can tell, at the end of the movie, that River is gearing up to be a pretty great pilot in her own right. And in the series of movie sequels that unspool in my daydreams from time to time, she’s piloting the ship all the time.

Read the rest of the list at this link.