Box office

From ew, Shrek Forever After is still the winner of the weakest Memorial Day in years. But now a drop-off from Sex in the City 2 has propelled the PG-13-rated Prince of Persia into second place for the holiday frame. The Jake Gyllenhaal-starring actioner grossed $37.7 million for the four days while Sex earned $37.1 million for the four days. The R-rated romp starring Sarah Jessica Parker has been unable in its five day opening weekend to outgross the $57 million earned by the original Sex and the City movie, which bowed in 2008.

Shrek Forever After wins with $55 million for the weekend for a total of $145 million while Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood round out the top five with $20.6 million and $13.5 million respectively.

Unanswered Lost Questions

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Happy Memorial Day!

Awesome T-shirt on Tee Fury today

Get one.

pz myers on patriotism

this is by no means an american issue, as i see it in greece as well, where there is, unfortunately, no separation of church and state, where one often hears the motto, πατρίς θρησκεία οικογένεια, translating to country, religion, family.

here's pz:

'i usually complain about religion here, but today i have to add another target: patriotism. it's the same thing, opening a door to unthinking authoritarianism, and it always leads to oppression. quite contrary to the claims of fanatical christians, the heart of a thriving democracy has to be constant questioning of the operation of the government — to marry religion to our government is antithetical to its founding principles, and even to regard those founding principles as inviolate and somehow imbued with godly authority is a betrayal.

when i was growing up in the 60s and 70s, there was a common slogan thrown around by defenders of the status quo: "my country, right or wrong." even at my young age, that always seemed insane: if my country is wrong, shouldn't i want to change it?

question religion. but also question your government. it wasn't founded by gods.'

read the entire piece here.


©2010 toomanytribbles

Large Crane Is Large, Lifts Korean Warship

From geekology, There are cranes, and then there are CRANES. This is one of the all capital ones.

This warship is the [South Korean] Cheonan, which has an interesting history. The 1,200-ton vessel was split into two after being struck by a North Korean torpedo. It sank into the Yellow Sea on the March 26th, 2010. 46 of the 104 members of the crew perished.

The rear section of the warship was recovered recently, on April 15th. The bow, which is pictured above, was lifted out of the water on April 24th

Hello, South Korea? This is the GW. I know it's the third time in a month, but I was wondering if maybe I could borrow your crane for a little. My penis is on the floor again.

hot spot

athens is a hot spot, by any definition.


like it? click it!

i went to pendeli mountain a day earlier to stake out a position for new year's eve 2009... and i couldn't resist shooting a similar shot to the one below.

athens circle, athens square:



i wasn't as happy with this shot compared to the previous one. it needs a different angle. i can see that i'll have to try this again.

©2010 toomanytribbles

my favorite photographers: .betina.

click!
.betina. is a master of light and sensuous form. her portraits dig to a person's core... and she has the most enthralling stamp collection you've ever seen.

for the insatiable:
.betina.'s photostream


©2010 toomanytribbles

Grean Lantern plot revealed

From slashfilm [excerpt], In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

a new view of us

NASA GOES-13 full disk view of earth may 28, 2010, in the tradition of a pale blue dot.


click pic to source


thank you, mark.

the front line

like it? click it!

i went to the local mall today and saw these on display -- i had to shoot'em!

another view:



©2010 toomanytribbles

Sex and the City 2 universally loathed?

From slashfilm, Every now and then, a movie comes around that receives nearly universal derision and spawns a wealth of delightfully vicious, brutal film criticism (Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen comes to mind). This week, that film is Sex and the City 2, whose creatively written reviews seem like they’re much more fun to read than the leaden 2.5-hour film is to watch. Sure, nothing will stop this movie from making over $70 million this weekend, but the wordsmithery demonstrated in the pieces below almost make Sex and the City 2’s success worth it.

Author: Roger Ebert
Site/Outlet: Chicago Sun-Times
Excerpt:

The movie’s visual style is arthritic. Director Michael Patrick King covers the sitcom dialogue by dutifully cutting back and forth to whoever is speaking. A sample of Carrie’s realistic dialogue in a marital argument: “You knew when I married you I was more Coco Chanel than coq au vin.” Carrie also narrates the film, providing useful guidelines for those challenged by its intricacies. Sample: “Later that day, Big and I arrived home.”

Read the rest here

Dennis Hopper dead

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dennis Hopper, the high-flying Hollywood wild man whose memorable and erratic career included an early turn in "Rebel Without a Cause," an improbable smash with "Easy Rider" and a classic character role in "Blue Velvet," has died. He was 74.

Hopper died Saturday at his Venice home, surrounded by family and friends, family friend Alex Hitz said. Hopper's manager announced in October 2009 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The success of "Easy Rider," and the spectacular failure of his next film, "The Last Movie," fit the pattern for the talented but sometimes uncontrollable actor-director, who also had parts in such favorites as "Apocalypse Now" and "Hoosiers." He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, and in March 2010, was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

After a promising start that included roles in two James Dean films, Hopper's acting career had languished as he developed a reputation for throwing tantrums and abusing alcohol and drugs. On the set of "True Grit," Hopper so angered John Wayne that the star reportedly chased Hopper with a loaded gun.

Gary Coleman Dead at 42

From LATimes.com

Gary Coleman, who soared to fame in the late 1970s as the child star of the hit sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" and whose post-TV-series life included a stint as a shopping mall security guard and an unlikely run for California governor, died Friday. He was 42.

The diminutive Coleman, whose adult height was 4 feet 8 inches, died at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage earlier this week, according to a statement from hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank.

Link.

This is a good tune to start the engines of the body on a lovely Friday morning as such! Hybrid's "Marrakech" ♫ http://blip.fm/~r5vvy

VOTD: GARY LOW - YOU ARE A DANGER

You only need to see the first bit of this:

jesus&mo on NOMA

click to embiggen and read at source

HHD: Things I Suck At, results are in!

Horrorthonner’s don’t disappoint! Reading through your haikus I concluded that I’ve never known a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.* There was a lot of suckage to wade through and I learned a lot (things perhaps I didn’t want to know) about my fellow bloggers.


In no particular order I learned that 50P hates babies,

i'm good with kids, but
i'm no help when they're infants
can't change a diaper

(could probably learn
but the smell of baby shit?
insurmountable)


I learned that most of us suck at sports,

Stan,

8th grade little league
Not one hit. The whole season.
Stick to wiffle ball

I feel your pain, brother.
JSP,

I also can’t bowl
Ball always drifts to gutter
As do all my thoughts

Octo,

Nemesis baseball
Can't catch flyballs in movies?
I so was that kid

AC,

batting-handicapped
throwing, catching, kicking fine;
can't hit ball with stick

DCD,

I suck at all sports.
Did gymnastics in my youth,
growth spurt ended that.


I didn’t learn anything about Catfreeek because I concluded long ago that her home must look like that of a hoarder,

I suck at cleaning
just can't get motivated
I dust once a year

Big pile junk mail
I throw it on the table
knowing that it's junk

My bedroom's messy
I do vacuum often though
a must with 5 cats


The runner up is JSP with this little gem,

Horrid singing voice
When singing “Happy Birthday”
I just mouth the words
Me too, little brother.


The winner is AC for revealing a number of personal insecurities,

i just don't sleep well
of all the things i suck at
this for me is worst

it's hard to say no
bites me in the ass daily
will i ever learn

admitting i'm wrong
incredibly difficult
fortunately rare



My favorite of AC’s,

i've no fashion sense
don't do "outfits" or "shopping"
but you all knew that

AC, I’ve struggled with this my entire life. My solution? When I buy clothing I just buy whatever the mannequin is wearing in Old Navy, he can’t be wrong, right?
Congratulations, AC!

*I just love to crowbar that in whenever opportunity presents itself.

toyz

and oldie but goodie

marathon moonrise

like it? click it!
i was looking forward to shooting the full moon again last night and was all set up at schinias, the beach at marathon (yes, it's a place in greece -- the race's namesake) about an hour before moonrise. mr.G decided to have his first swim this year and i looked around, watching some people water skiing against the hazy evening horizon.

as the big moment approached, hordes of mosquitoes descended and started nibbling on me. with all the fuss, i actually missed the moon's appearance over the hills across the water.

when i realized it was rising, i hastily took a few quick shots and ran for my life.

oh well, at least i like the composition.

moments -- and zillions of mosquitoes -- later:



if you want to visit this location, it's on the flickr map -- and bring insect repellent, heavy-duty.

©2010 toomanytribbles

VOTD: You've been GOTH BLOCKED !

VOTD: you mighrt remember BOSSCOCKED.... but this is quite different! (Thanks to Sir Dan Santoni for messaging me with this delight)

Warner Bros Unveils "Sherlock Holmes 2" Details

From worstpreviews, During a Warner Bros presentation, the studio announced that the "Sherlock Holmes" sequel is moving forward and has already set a December 16th, 2011 release date. Shooting will begin in the fall.

Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law and Rachel McAdams will all return, but McAdams will not be the leading lady this time. Regarding the villain, Moriarty will take center stage.

The first "Sherlock Holmes" movie was released during Christmas (December 25th) of last year and went on to gross over $516 million in worldwide box office. The film was developed for $90 million.

Shoryuken: Arguably The Most Impressive Sexual Move To Have In Your Arsenal

Video is NSFW NSFW NSFW due to 360-degrees of penis plus naked chick with bubble butt.

This is a video of some guy about to have the sexual intercourses with a ladyfriend but decides to throw a couple Street Fighter shoryukens in the air before stumbling into the camera and remaining a virgin after all. Smooth move buddy, and you were this close.

See video here

Scientists Discover New Species Of Handfish. Wait -- Fish With Freakin' Hands?

From geekology, I've known about other species of handfish for awhile because I pretty much know everything including most of the stuff the government tries so hard to keep from us. The island from LOST actually existing aside, there's a new species to add to the soon-to-be-extinct list: the pink handfish.

Using its fins to walk, rather than swim, along the ocean floor....the pink handfish is one of nine newly named species described in a recent scientific review of the handfish family.

All of the world's 14 known species of handfish are found only in shallow, coastal waters off southeastern Australia, the review notes.

Even among the previously known species, the fish are poorly studied, the review authors add, and little is known about their biology or behavior.

And we probably never will. Just sayin', these guys are gonna be extinct before I am. Now, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Time to bait your fingers and do a little hairy handfishing! That's nautical talk for sinking your own battleship. Huh? I'm TALKIN' ABOUT INKIN' YOUR OCTOPUS, YO!

VOTD: Beck & Friends cover Never Tear You Apart by INXS

Record Club: INXS "Never Tear Us Apart" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Alice In Wonderland Becomes the Sixth Film To Pass $1 Billion Mark

From slashfilm, On Thursday, Disney’s Tim Burton-directed 3D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland will become the sixth movie to cross the $1 billion at the worldwide box office, and the first Spring release to ever accomplish the milestone.

The film has earned over $332 million domestically and over $667 million in international markets. Wonderland joins the elite ranks side by side with Avatar, Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and The Dark Knight. This also makes Alice Disney’s second highest grossing film to date.

almost summer

like it? click it!
memories from that weekend.
from the aegeon hotel, placed on the flickr map.

i've started a favorite photographers series on my blog -- but most certainly, you know these artists well, already.

©2010 toomanytribbles

VOTD: Boston Terrier Vs. Kitten

Good morning... enjoy these love birds! ( via mylivetube.blogspot.com ) Hope to see you this evening @ Kung Pao Kitty!

Watch Heidi Montag's Transformers 3 Audition Tape

From cinemablend, Heidi Montag is mostly known for being a brain dead socialite, so no one really took it seriously when earlier this week word leaked that she was lobbying to take over for Megan Fox on Transformers 3, even though she’d gone so far as to make an audition tape. Now that Michael Bay has filled the part by casting a Victoria’s Secret model, you have to wonder if she might not have been a seriously contender. Compared to Rosie whatsername, she’s a thespian and she capably fills the only criteria that seems to matter to Bay: She’s hot.

Montag didn’t get the part but the audition tape she sent in to Bay did. Apparently she missed those rumors about a year ago which indicated that Megan Fox originally got the part by washing Michael Bay’s Ferrari in a bikini. If she really wanted the role she probably should have grabbed a bucket and a sponge. Instead the audition video tries to prove she’s credible as an action bad-ass, blissfully unaware that the women in Transformers don’t do any action stuff, mostly they fall down in ways that allow the camera to zoom in on their heaving bosom.

Creepy 'The Last Exorcism' trailer

"Martyrs" Horror Film is Being Remade

From worstpreviews, Paramount Pictures has acquired a script by Mark Smith (Vacancy, The Hold in 3D) and set it up with Platinum Dunes. Now comes word that the new project is actually a remake of Pascal Laugier's "Martyrs" horror film.

"'Martyrs' is a remake of the French horror film that I wrote for Wyck Godfrey (Temple/Hill) who's producing the Twilight films among others," said Smith.

The original "Martyrs" shocked audiences for its unrelenting violent nature. It revolves around a young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child. That leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

Michael Bay Says Megan Fox Was Pale and Underweight for "Transformers 3"

From worstpreviews, Megan Fox recently stated that she quit "Transformers 3" after director Michael Bay was verbally abusive toward her. It now turns out that tensions started when Fox arrived on set of the third film looking pale, underweight and unhealthy (according to Bay).

The director expressed his displeasure and gave the actress two weeks to go from size 0 to size 2 or 4. He was hoping that Fox would have the same curves she had in the last two installments.

Fox didn't feel like tanning or gaining weight, so she left the production and is now being replaced by a British model Rosie Huntington-Whitely, who has no prior acting experience. She is, however, recommended by Steven Spielberg.

The Wrap got in touch with Fox's people, who said the following about the situation: "We disagree with the assessment about her weight. She looks healthy and happy."

It turns out that even if Fox didn't quit, she probably would have been fired anyway. Shia LaBeouf, meanwhile, is not happy that his co-star is being replaced.

LOST Bonus 12-14 Minute Epilogue Will Be Released on DVD

From slashfilm, While the Lost series finale has already aired, the story isn’t completely over. Lost fans can look forward to a bonus 12-14 minute epilogue on the Lost Complete Series DVD set. What might it involve?

Go here for the details.

i got you, babe

like it? click it!
memories from that weekend.

on the outside looking in:

shots of the aegeon hotel, placed on the the flickr map.

i've started a favorite photographers series on my blog -- but most certainly, you know these artists well, already.

©2010 toomanytribbles

johanna blakley: lessons on fashion's free culture

on fashion and copyright



found it via boingboing's embedded youtube.

THE END - Goodnight to Thursdays @ KPK

Hello, I hope you have been well.

This will be the final Thursday party with me at KPK for some unforeseen time.

Due to my schedule and wanting more time for my other endeavors, it is time to end this event at KPK and focus on such future activities as hosting a new late night SPEAK EASY coming soon at a secret Hollywood location.

If you are interested to help with promotions, or you are an entertainer, circus freak, clown, juggler, firebreather, etc. drop me a line. Even if you know someone else who may fit the bill, please fwd to them

I have had a great time these last several months and look forward to the evolution of these parties and adventures.
++++++
++++++


An array of Absinthe, inexpensive drinks, great Chinese Food (til 10),
Late Night Snacks (til2) & Illusions, hot beats for your feet from
Electro to Indie Rock, IndustrialFunk to Shoegaze, Dubstep
to New Wave, Jazz to Tribal.

Chinese Food served until 10pm
Bar Menu until 2am
$3 beer & sake all night
Music & Singing by Shok & friends. (inc Kevin Venable of EM Sundays)
Prizes, Surprises & midnight shots!

** Check in withhttp://foursquare.com/for extra special offers! **

This week includes a special performance by neo-vaudeville, cabaret outfit,
-=-=-= RED LIGHT DISTRICT =-=-=-

http://myspace.com/redlightdistrictx
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Light-District-Band/314958381708?ref=ts

Kung Pao Kitty (Hollywood & Wilcox) 6445 Hollywood, Blvd 90028
http://kungpaokitty.com/
8-2am

FREE ADMISSION

Tell your friends, neighbors & enemies!
*Share the event, please!*

Blog:http://mylivetube.blogspot.com/
Remixography:http://soundcloud.com/fdaallday/sets/remixed-cooked-reblended-by-shok(FREE mp3s)

FACEBOOK INVITE:http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=110337655677605&ref=ts

LOTD: the world without internet

Cracked's gallery of "The World Tomorrow if the internet disappeared today" http://bit.ly/aYuFoN

HHD: Things you suck at

Confession time; I can’t throw a football. It’s true and it’s just one of the many things I suck at. Over the years people have tried to show me how to properly execute a perfect spiral, however any and all attempts at throwing a football result in sheer embarrassment (picture the ball flipping end over end and you get the picture). One of my greatest fears is walking past people playing football and having the ball land somewhere near me; “Hey buddy, a little help?” No words strike mortal fear in my heart more than being asked to throw a football to someone. For some reason this seems to happen to me a lot. I’ve learned to “walk” the football over and hand it to the individual who referred to me as “buddy” [I hate that, by the way]. To add insult to injury my 10 year old son can throw a perfect spiral and on more than one occasion has asked me to play with him. I do it out of paternal duty but I die a little inside. I picture Ben in a shrink’s office some day saying, “My low self-esteem comes from throwing a football with my father…”

Like I said, football is only one of a multitude of suckage in my life. Despite taking statistics 5 times across 4 universities I still can’t do them. I can interpret an ANOVA table and execute a Chi Square with ease, but ask me to do anything beyond that and you might as well ask me to analyze the dead seas scrolls. This has been a huge impediment in my career because all research requires a sound understanding of statistical principals. If it wasn’t for AC and Mr. AC I’d probably still be in graduate school.

Public speaking? I’d rather be caned in Singapore. The few times I’ve ever had to public speak (mostly in graduate school), it ended abysmally. When I gave an impromptu speech at JSP’s wedding many years ago I was panicking on the inside. Let us never speak of it again. This too has hindered my career. I’m a full-time clinician these days and that’s the way I like it. One on one conversation is my comfort zone.

Oh there is so much more. I can’t drive a stick shift, I can’t wind surf or understand the principals of sailing, I have a terrible memory and cannot recall the details of anything I read or conversations I have (thank god for good chart notes), I never remember names, I forget what people do for a living (JSP, Jordan, 50P? No idea), I don’t how to play chess or poker and to this day I don’t understand the rules/scoring of a football game (“first down”, what the fuck does that even mean?), I suck at all board games and can’t play video games to save my life.

Wow. I’m depressed.

Okay Horrorthonners, I’ve bared my soul to you once again and I expect you do to the same. My favorite HHD topics are those that force people to reveal personal insecurities. Please don’t disappoint me!

VOTD: What is this strange LOWWWD noise? 2010 May 25 10:40pm

I heard what sounded like a drugged out psychedelic u2 punk band... after being annoyed for more than 40 minutes, I went to investigate! This video was shot on the Motorola Droid video-2010-05-25-22-39-22.3gp

LOTD: David J speaks about our forthcoming music

David J. spoke briefly about our album together in the LA WEEKLY. I only found out about this just now by googling info for his show tonight... where I should be right now but am too tired.

http://bit.ly/bvhwes

robert picardo at terraformers ii - episode 2

episode 1: marina sirtis at terraformers ii

my first glimpse of him was on that weekend's saturday morning -- we were walking through the lobby of the wonderful aegeon hotel at magical sounion, and he passed by us as he made his way to breakfast. as you can imagine, i almost fell down flat from the surprise.


click!
robert picardo is a great speaker -- funny and insightful, he conveyed to the audience at terraformers ii a sense of the effort and attention it took to make voyager a wonderful series. it was deeply satisfying to get a glimpse of the process with which star trek was transformed into the stories we know and love.


embiggen
i most enjoy star trek for its exhilarating exploration of ideas. picardo's character, the doctor, or the emergency medical holographic program, is one of those jewels, as are mr. spock and data, that help us to reexamine what it means to be human -- a being brought to life with this artist's intelligence and skill. picardo described facets the character's development, the investigation of issues, as well as acting and filming techniques that made it all so convincing and real.



of course, he teamed up with a fan, dimitris psathas, for some impromptu opera!

a special thanks to maria katsiri-devolder and sci-fi.gr for this extraordinary experience.

i've placed this on the flickr page map.

back story and details: marina sirtis at terraformers ii

In answer to "Where the hell was Stan?..."

The beautiful moment


MrsX, pictured here wearing the product of Stan's last few sneaky weeks. (The ring, not the hat.)

Johnny Sweatpants' answer to the title question was "He's up to no good." That's only somewhat accurate. The last few weeks have been consumed with the subterfuge of travelling secretly to Baltimore to ask her father's permission, buying the ring and then finding a place to hide it in our 900 square foot apartment (behind the wrestling DVDs - I KNEW it was safe there), and booking our (first real) vacation (ever) to the Bahamas, which was where I dropped the bomb.

I just wanted to share the news here, because even though there's a handful of you out there I still haven't met face to face, I consider all of you very close friends, and my intellectual peers (who am I kidding - my intellectual superiors :).

We're still figuring out what the heck we're actually going to do for the wedding, as to where, when, how big, etc, but I'll certainly be keeping you all updated.

MrsX has also yet to decide if she's going to keep her blog last name, or change it to MrsStan, or MrsX-Stan, so we'll see.

There's a Human Centipede Video Game

From iwatchstuff, It's a lot like normal Centipede, but with the added challenge of trying not to throw up.

Play it here

Quentin Tarantino's Next is a Dracula Film?

From worstpreviews, Austrian newspapers are reporting that director Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) will soon spend four nights in Vienna to visit castles in the nearby countryside.

Kreuzenstein Castle in Lower Austria – one of the locations for Nicolas Cage's "Season of the Witch" – has been tipped as a possible location for Tarantino's new project. But what is this new project?

According to the papers, Tarantino is scouting locations for a Dracula movie. Consider this just a rumor since the papers are not providing any quotes or details.

'Amityville Horror' home for sale in NY for $1.15M

By Associated Press

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. – The house made famous in the 1979 film "The Amityville Horror" is up for sale in New York — ghosts not included.

The five-bedroom Dutch Colonial went on the market Monday for $1.15 million.

The Oscar-nominated film is based on the story of the Lutz family's brief stay in the house in 1975 after six members of the DeFeo family were shot and killed as they slept in the home. Eldest son Ronald DeFeo Jr. was convicted of the murders.

The crime spawned a book and a series of movies that chronicled various supernatural horrors, including visions of walls oozing slime, moving furniture and a visit from a demonic pig named Jodie. The original film stars James Brolin and Margot Kidder.

Neighbors say gawkers still occasionally come by, mostly on Halloween.