::Thursday, August 22, 2002::

MULDER?! -

You are 38% geek

You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator. Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend. You [to Geek]: We need more than that, Scotty. You'll have to stay until you can squeeze more outta them engines! Geek [to You]: I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain, but we need more dilithium crystals! You [to Normal]: He wants to know if he gets overtime.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

And see if you can figure out this little brainteaser (make sure your sound is on). It took me awhile and really freaked me when I finally got it. Good luck! ;)
:: Posted by Citizen Ryan | 12:28:20 PM| Link This ::

QUOTE OF THE DAY - "When I get out of jail I will grab a sword like Maximus Meridius Demidius and as a Gladiator I will stab people in the crotch." Ohio Congressman James Traficant (D), to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct one week before he was expeled from the US House of Representatives on July 25th, 2002.

Here is a great archive of all of James Traficant's one-minute floor speechs provided by ThudFactor. They are an amazing read full of everything that is wrong and right with America. Traficant's uncompromising honesty comes through like a blazing sun. These speechs are not fluid like Webster, but they are flawless, hard-working, average, ticked-off or glory giving everyday American. They really are a treasure (and a hoot) to read.
:: Posted by Citizen Ryan | 1:34:58 AM| Link This ::

SEINFELD HITS THE BIG SCREEN - Oh man this makes me so happy. Miramax is releasing a "comedy concert" documentary following comedian Jerry Seinfeld through the year-long comedy tour that he went out on in 2000 after his long-running TV show, "Seinfeld", went off the air in 1998, taking the audience behind-the-scenes as Jerry travels from venue to venue around the world. The very funny trailer to the film can be veiwed by clicking here. It is in the typical Seinfeld humour that came to define the entire decade of the 90's.

The film, which is entitled "Comedian", is getting only a limited release in New York City and also stares Garry Shandling, Chris Rock and Colin Quinn. It won't be released until August 30th but I'm going to make sure to get back to NYC to catch one of my favorite people doing his thing. It has greatly intrigued me the way Seinfeld has stayed out of the limelight since he show went off the air. But considering he turned down 5 million dollars an episode to continue the show, his Johnny Carson like exile is not surprising. Seinfeld always said that the only thing he wanted to be was a Stand-up Comedian and that's all he's doing right now. I'm glad this movie is going to give us a chance to see that. I can't wait.
:: Posted by Citizen Ryan | 1:07:31 AM| Link This ::

SNEAK PEAK MOVIE OF THE DAY -

The Players: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis, Ulrich Tukur
The Director and Scribe: Steven Soderbergh
The Producer: James Cameron
The Plot: Based on the classic science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem, "Solaris" centers on a psychologist (Clooney) sent to investigate unexplained behavior of key scientists on a space station orbiting the planet Solaris. Once aboard he, too, falls victim to this unique world's mysteries - as well as an erotic obsession with someone he thought he had left behind.
The Trailer: HERE
The Official Site: Solaristhemovie.com

Anytime you get the likes of Oscar winners James Cameron and Steven Soderbergh together and through in the considerable acting chops of George Clooney you have to stand up and take notice. However the main character in this story is the planet Solaris. Soon after its discovery, it was found to have several unique qualities which made it a hotbed of scientific research. Chief among them was that it was almost completely covered by a semi-gelatinous ocean, and this ocean had properties that led some to theorize that it was, in fact, a living organism and may possess some sort of consciousness.

In 1972, Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky converted Stanislaw Lem's sci-fi novel into a nearly three-hour tract on Communism and inhumanity. Now a lot of people aren't big fans of Tarkovsky's nearly 3 hour, 2001 like opus. I, however, am not one of them. It remains one of my favorite films though I can understand why others despise it's long, still moments and ever so deliberate pacing (think Kubrick on heroin).

The question is can Soderbergh handle this material? He has yet to direct anything close to a Science Fiction film and this is one of those heavy science fiction films more in line with Contact, The Abyss or it's previously mentioned comparison Kubrick's 2001. For me Soderbergh is much too gimmicky for a project like this. The guy is young and very full of energy and desire to go all out. Solaris is an old man's story to say the least. The original film was very, very slow and that was deliberate. It was about going insane in space. It was about having to deal with life and death in the quite of space. It wasn't about glitzy camera work or quick cuts. Soderbergh will certainly have to tone down his style to make this work. This film is not Mission to Mars. It's much subtler. Let's hope he can pull it off and give us one of the great films of 2002. The possibility is certainly there.

20th Century Fox releases Solaris nationwide on November the 27th, 2002.
:: Posted by Citizen Ryan | 5:52:53 AM| Link This ::

BLURBS OF THE DAY - Some quick and interesting articles around the net that I've been reading:

10 Tips to Writing on the Living Web - Great list for all bloggers to read. Both informative and funny.
Bill O'Reilly - The No Spin Zone is always a must read.
Isreal Begins Vaccination for Smallpox - And people say war with Iraq is unneccesary. How many people does this madman have to kill before it is?
Channel Surfing Baseball - Rob Neyer, Direct TV and one great column on a night as common and unusual in all of baseball.
Rocky Week - The wonderful folks over a Movie-List.com have just finished their Rocky Week which included the posting of trailers to all 5 Rocky movies, which also included a contest to win the Rocky DVD set and the films posters. Lots of fun watching these old trailers.

That's it for now. Time for bed. Tomorrow I'm headed to watch the Little League World Series in Willaimsport, PA.
:: Posted by Citizen Ryan | 2:58:21 AM| Link This ::

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