Edshugeo The GodMoor

There are a number of blu-ray discs in the sub twelve dollar range on Amazon these days. 2001 is a must own in my opinion. I bought it early last month for about eighteen bucks and don't regret the recent price drop. I first saw it in the 1970s when it returned to theatres for a while (wasn't unusual for movies to stick around for more than a year, and then return periodically back then). Marvel Comics also had put out a comicbook version by Jack Kirby. I recall there was a tabloid sized "treasury edition", which I'd never gotten. I did get the first issue of the regular series, which I think I brought with me when I saw the movie.

I was having a discussion with a friend at work about the role of aggression not only as an integral part of history but in nature itself. That nature does not exclude humanity seems obvious, but always requires mentioning for some reason. Anyway, that talk colored my perception of the film (I watched the disc the next day) and I feel that I understand HAL in a way I hadn't before.

Also, has special effects ever been better than this? I'm not sure that it has and that movie's forty years old.




Price subject to change without notice, of course.

Labels: comics, DVD, good deal, movies, nostalgia, online retailers, The Sell Out?

More relics of my childhood gone. Farrah Fawcett, ex-wife of the Six Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors and one third of the original Charlie's Angels. Though a seventies icon, I feel like her hair ruled the 1980s along with David Bowie's, whose hairstyle evolved into moderate (early Howard Jones) to ridiculous (later Howard Jones and Billy Ray Cyrus) mullets. Fawcett's hair found it's place primarily in the realm of metal bands and the women who populated their videos.

Her death, like Shek Kin's a little while back, will be overshadowed by a larger celebrity death (which could work to the favor of her family/loved ones - Less papparzi scum).

Michael Jackson's passing is gonna be felt around the world. Allah is smilling on the hardliners in Iran, cuz the news media is distracted big time. I consider myself a fan of his (and his brothers) work up to about 1980 (or whenever Off The Wall came out). Most of the world prefers the Michael Jackson of Thriller and Bad, obviously, and that's fine. Any other time, and I might have something to say about that.

I worry about the circus that's to come, though. A fight for custody of the kids? Creditors laying siege on his estate? The final fate of the Beatles publishing catalog, or is that already taken from him? I see myself not watching CNN for a while.

Labels: death, media, music, nostalgia, tv

Last Year At Marienbad - This one I can have in a couple of weeks. After reading this glowing review of the disc's picture and audio quality, I went ahead and pre-ordered it. I'll be watching this one over and over. I'm glad that Criterion got to handle this. The region 1 DVD by Fox Lorber was horrendous. Somehow I was still able to get more than a hundred bucks for it on eBay (even mentioning how bad I thought it was).



Pootie Tang - Louis C.K.'s masterpiece starring Lance Crouther (strange, I thought it was Carruthers or something). Not many people appreciate the brilliance of this film, yet, but they will. Or maybe their kids will. Crouther used to be in a comedy troupe called Mary Wong. I remember a great kung fu movie skit they did back on Comedy Tonight, a late night show hosted by Bill Boggs back in the day. Always loved him for that. Oddly enough, I did not like the Pootie Tang skits on the Chris Rock Show.



Nowhere - This movie is currently nowhere to be found. Not on Netflix. Not on DVD in the U.S., which is why I had to get a French DVD off of eBay a few years ago. I had a couple of region free DVD players, but neither of them is hooked up anymore. I can rip the disc and stream it to my 360 or PS3 if I feel like it, though. Nowhere is sorta a gayish sci-fi film which stars the guy who wore the rabbit suit in Donnie Darko as a Keanu Reeves looking kid named Dark. One day I'll figure out what the intended connection between the two films is supposed to be. Someone I used to work with saw both films together (in a film class) and said Darko alludes to Nowhere, but I'm not sure I know what the fuck that means. I believe this movie was introduced to me by another co-worker on VHS years and years ago.



Daughters Of The Dust - So beautifully shot, it doesn't really matter what this movie is about. Something about a family reunion of Gullah people who are about to move from their island home (off the Carolinas, if I recall correctly) a hundred years ago. I've only seen it on PBS, I think. I had a tape but I don't recall if I copied a rental or taped it off TV. Gave it away in anticipation of getting the DVD, but now DVD won't be good enough. I dunno if anyone but Criterion can do the film justice on disc.



The Manchurian Candidate - Not the Denzel one. The Sinatra one.



The Yellow Submarine



Quilombo - Brazilian movie I used to watch on Bravo about a community in that country formed by escaped slaves who fend off the Portuguese, mostly through the efforts of their leader, who can channel the spirit of their god for protection. Only at this writing did it occur to me to look it up on Netflix. I can watch it on my 360 anytime I want. Woot!



Macross: Do You Remember Love? - retells the story of the Macross (Robotech in the U.S.) TV series, but cuts out all the bullshit and animates it better. You will believe that a pop song can save the universe.



Vanilla Sky and Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) - Somehow, I feel my collection of Matrix films is incomplete without these two. Vanilla Sky is a U.S. remake of Abre Los Ojos, but both movies are wonderful, due in no small part to Penelope Cruz who plays the same part in both realities/movies. I also consider I, Robot, Dark City (both by the same director) and Groundhog Day to be Matrix movies as well, but these are all on Blu and of course I have them.



Bullet In The Head - John Woo's Vietnam epic about wannabe drug dealers. Preferably including both endings (via seamless branching).

Labels: Anime, Anticipay-yay-shun..., DVD, HDTV, movies, nostalgia, youtube and other video

Kidney Failure at the age of 96.

Shek Kin is most known to westerners as the villian Mr. Han from Enter The Dragon. Older Chinese probably remember him as the antagonist (did he always play the same guy?) opposite Kwan Tak Hing in many Wong Fei Hong movies. I never saw any of those (from 1950s- early 70s). The Ain't It Cool article states that he appeared in later Wong Fei Hong movies like Drunken Master and Once Upon A Time In China. If so, I don't recall.

I used to think that Mr. Han was played by a white dude. He looked more like a made up (Dr. No) Chinese to me than actual Chinese. It was many years later when I found out who he was.
He was great in a couple of 80s TV dramas like Legend Of The Condor Heroes and Demi Gods And Semi Devils with Leung Kar Yan.

A Couple of demonstrations from 1984:

Labels: death, kung fu, movies, nostalgia, tv, youtube and other video

Why is Billy Crystal turning into Jackie Mason? It felt weird enough seeing Tom Hanks on Letterman last week. It almost feels like a whole world that I know is dying before my eyes. Of course, part of it is that I haven't seen Crystal in anything since... I don't know, Saturday Night Live? And Hanks in Saving Private Ryan Charlie Wilson's War, which wasn't too long ago, though I still can't help but think of him as the guy from Bachelor Party, or Splash. Letterman has done a crap load of aging, but since he's been on nearly every night since the eighties, it's a gradual change that occurs like that of some one you've known and grown up with. Not the type of thing that puts you face to face with your own mortality. Then again, contrasted with Leno, he really has gotten really fucking old. He had some heart problems a while back that may've been a contributing factor.



Couldn't find the clip of Billy Crystal playing Prince on SNL singing "I Am Also The World", so the above will have to do.



And then there's Prince from the same tonight show appearance as Crystal. He's not aging the way anyone would expect. "He's had work done" doesn't cut it, either. We've seen muthafukkas who've had work done and that is not a "work done" look. Prince is fifty, which is only about six years older than I am. He'll probably outlast me, and I can live with that.

Labels: I know I shouldn't even care about this shit, media, movies, music, nostalgia, Prince, tv, youtube and other video

Cool interview about the remastered version of the first Star Trek pilot (pre-Kirk), The Cage, which is airing this weekend. It's probably my favorite episode out of the original series, so it bothered me that it didn't appear on the first season Blu-Ray set just released. Nice to know that it hasn't been left out of the remastering of the original series. I might even be able to download it.



Also of interest in the comments following the article, is the interest showed by some fans who are down for a re-animation of the original Star Trek cartoon from the seventies, which utilized the voices of much of the original cast, and if I remember correctly, had some pretty decent stories. The animation, however, was a bit shitty. Filmation was good for stuff like The Archies, The Groovy Ghoulies, Josie and the Pussycats and all that, but not for Star Trek. I've always thought that new animation (particularly the CGI sort) would be a great idea for the show. I won't watch the old cartoon the way it was.

Labels: Awesome, Capt Pike was a bad MuthaFucka, HDTV, nostalgia, tv

Non-cipher!

Used to hear 5-percenters say that at the mention of any pork product.

Here's a bunch of things I did not know about the 5 Percent Nation (which is to say, just about everything). Knew some in Middle and High school. Didn't seem all that deep. Then again, we were all kids, and none of us were all that deep.

Labels: Anime, Awesome, History, independent film-making, japanese, nostalgia, religion, youtube and other video

As reported on Ain't It Cool News.

Here's the first episode:



Now to find a way to download these....

Labels: Awesome, fun, japanese, Japanese Spiderman, kung fu, nostalgia, That's what I'm talkin' about, tv, youtube and other video

Interesting story about the violent demise of a famous Little Rascal, Alfalfa. I was inspired to look him up after listening to Bobby Jindal's response to the State Of The Union address and thinking how much he reminded me of Alfalfa. I'm pretty sure he won't be the Republican nominee in 2012.

Carl Switzer (Alfalfa) was born in Iowa, and Jindal in Louisiana, so not much in common, I guess. Also, I'm sure natives of both states would probably say that the accents are nothing alike, but whatever.

Didn't know Dorothy Dandridge appeared in an Our Gang short.

Labels: death, History, movies, nostalgia, politics

Imagi Studios, an HK based CGI company that has made a recent version of Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles (didn't see it), and the upcoming Astroboy and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, has produced a proof of concept teaser for a movie they aren't officially set to produce, yet.



Tetsujin 28go is a classic comicbook created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, later animated and shown on U.S. television as Gigantor. Gigantor was one of the first cartoons (and Anime, though I didn't know Anime at the time) I really got into as a kid, along with Speed Racer.



I hope they get to make this one. Though excited at first, I never got around to watching the last attempt at a Tetsujin 28go (Iron Man #28) movie, and will probably continue to avoid it.



One of my favorite cartoons of all time was a 1990s version of Giant Robo, a concept created by Yokoyama that was very similar to Tetsujin. The series had a very old school feel that was reminiscent of 60s and 70s anime even down to the English dubbing, except maybe towards the end. I tend to watch the last episode with English subs, normally my preference except for old Kung Fu movies and most of this series.
Highly recommended, particularly to fans of Gigantor and Anime fans 35 years and older, though I imagine younger fans will like it too just on the basis of it's quality.

Giant Robo on YouTube (Japanese w/English subs)


AICN and Twitch on the T28 trailer.
Official T28 site

Shameless Amazon affiliate link;



Should be noted that the desired "Manga" English dub from it's initial VHS release (In the US) is on a hidden track not on the menu, but accessed via remote.


A Gigantor related prototype (?) - His nemesis, Black Ox.



I almost missed this one!

Labels: Anime, Anticipay-yay-shun..., Awesome, movies, nostalgia, The Sell Out?, Toys, tv, youtube and other video

I should'a known better, but I didn't.

The guy who wore the robot suit, and it never, ever occured to me, there'd be a guy in there, died today of heart failure. Bob May was his name. The voice of the Robot, B-9 was somebody else; Dick Tufeld.

I also tended to think that B-9 and Robbie The Robot were pretty much the same, just with different heads and whatnot. Wikipedia says there's more.

"Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!!!"

Labels: DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER, death, nostalgia, technology, tv

Swiped from Popwatch:

Bettie Page, the 1950s pinup credited with helping to spark the next decade's sexual revolution, died in Los Angeles yesterday from pneumonia. She was 85. In honor of the passing of this treasure from a bygone era, an excerpt from EW critic Owen Gleiberman's review of the 2006 documentary, The Notorious Bettie Page:

"It has often been said that Bettie Page, the legendary '50s pinup with the pert features framed by those famously severe black bangs, was the rare American sex goddess who was equally at home projecting the image of a good girl or a bad girl. Frolicking, naked, in the ocean foam, her leg extended with playful pleasure, she was all dazzle and sunshine: the girl next door who said yes yes yes. In her scandalous underground bondage photos, where she posed as a dominatrix with a whip held high, or as a masochist with a ball in her mouth, she vamped like a pussycat from hell, her eyes narrowing with mean delight — or widening in mock terror. Yet the mysterious alchemy of Bettie Page isn't just that she could turn on a dime from light to dark, saint to sinner, virgin to vixen. It's that she was somehow able to project both qualities at once. In the bondage photos, so shocking for their time, her warm, spirited, peekaboo vibrance doesn't disappear; it's there just beneath the surface aggression of her poses. As for her all-American cheesecake shots, they have a quality of delirious, laughing abandon, as though she were winking at the she-devil inside. What Bettie Page conjured — always — was the promise of pleasure without limits. She was a one-woman orgy in centerfold form."

Good night, Bettie. Although it's a cliche, there really is no truer summation than to say, they just don't make 'em like they used to.

Labels: death, Heroes, nostalgia, porn, Women

When I saw that name I didn't know who he was. The article on Ain't It Cool clarified things by mentioning his role as Mr. Bentley, the odd English neighbor on The Jeffersons. I prefer to remember him for his role as a crazed street artist obsessed with numbers on Sesame Street.

Labels: death, nostalgia, tv, youtube and other video

A new trailer for a film I've been waiting half a year for. This one appears to be a different film than the one for which a trailer appeared back in June. Similar dialog and ideas, but different footage. I'm guessing that the original trailer was shot specifically as a proof of concept, to get the financial ball rolling on the actual production. Or maybe we're gonna see a bunch of these, different trailers for different versions of the same concept. Either way, I can't wait for this and I hope this actually surfaces as an actual movie.




As seen on Ain't It Cool News

The official Black Dynamite Site

Labels: Anticipay-yay-shun..., Awesome, funny-ass shit, independent film-making, kung fu, movies, nostalgia, youtube and other video

Spoiler alert! This scene is from the end of the movie.




The two Princes are Ti Lung and Derek Yee. Yee's a fairly well known director nowadays and has an upcoming drama with Jackie Chan coming up, The Shinjuku Incident. I don't know his stuff, though I have a copy of Protege around here somewhere.

This movie, Shaolin Prince is awesome, though I haven't seen it in almost (more than?) a decade, on a VHS tape called Death Mask Of The Ninja. There are no Ninja in this film, though there is a scene of a guy sneaking around dressed in black. Aside from the sedan fight, the highlights are the antics of the Three Holy Fools. Kinda like the Three Stooges but Buddhist, and Chinese. Also a great fight with a bunch of monks with large brass rings.

Labels: Awesome, fun, HDTV, kung fu, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., wu-xia, youtube and other video

From Variety:

HONG KONG – Centenarian film mogul Sir Run Run Shaw has abandoned his plans to sell his Shaw Brothers (HK) company due to current world financial turmoil.
Shaw made an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Tuesday, and blamed "the present tumultuous situation in the financial markets" for the cancellation.
Company has few film interests left, but owns a key stake in Television Broadcasts (TVB), Hong Kong's leading TV firm and one of the world's biggest owners of Chinese content.
Shaw has been in protracted talks to sell his 75% interest in Shaw Bros (HK) and has been actively negotiating with Chinese businessman Yeung Kwok-keung since May.
It appears now that Yeung has been unable to secure the HK$5 – 7 billion ($644 – $902 million) bank financing necessary as shares in his property development company Country Gardens Holdings, have tumbled.
Sale collapse is the second high-profile deal in four days to have been called off in the territory. Sunday saw local telco giant PCCW announce a "discontinuation of the auction process" for its media assets, HKT Group Holdings.

Sir Run Run Shaw is 101 years old.

Labels: China, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., youtube and other video

An old favorite, though I don't think I'd seen that video till I saw it on Youtube a couple of days ago. This song got airplay on local station WLIR, but probably wasn't a hit for the band in the U.S. (which is why it's not on their greatest hits record). I bought the album, What A Life, on vinyl, back then. It's probably in a closet. Can't play it, so I might get the CD, which can be found cheap.

Labels: fun, music, music video, nostalgia, youtube and other video

The story of Hung Sei Quan (Hung Hei Goon)! The fate of Abbot Chi San! Pai Mei (The White Brow Priest) and his receding balls! The marriage and offspring of Tiger and Crane!





I neglected to mention that 8 diagram Pole Fighter was on last night. There's always re-runs.



This bit wasn't part of the broadcast;

Labels: Awesome, feats of strength, HDTV, kung fu, Liu Chia Hui, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., youtube and other video

The schedule

Labels: Awesome, HDTV, kung fu, Liu Chia Hui, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., youtube and other video

The Kid With The Golden Arm, in hi-Def, on Cablevision. 8pm EST

Labels: Awesome, HDTV, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., tv, youtube and other video

I've been waiting for some of these classics to hit the Kung Fu HD channel, since getting this service on Cablevision. This made sense as James Dolan, who was (is?) owner of Cablevision at the time was apparently involved in the Miramax aquisition of a fraction of the Shaw library a few years ago. Miramax eventually gave way to The Wienstein Company and a number of Shaw Bros. classics have been released on their Dragon Dynasty label. A number of movies on Kung Fu HD (and a few other Voom HD channels) still sport the Miramax logo, which again made me wonder when they'd get to some Chang Cheh goodness.

Now.

Tired of whatever was on CNN (last night), I flipped channels to Kung Fu HD. The info bar said I was watching Seven Samurai, but I clearly wasn't.* I was watching The Water Margin, an early seventies epic directed by Chang Cheh. Odd thing about this was that, it isn't among the Dragon Dynasty releases. Image Entertainment put it out. Hmm. Wonder what's going on here?
The picture quality was quite good, but HD cable isn't as good as Blu-Ray for the most part. I compared the picture to the Image DVD and found the cable version to be a significant enough improvement.

According to the TV listings (which may or may not be accurate),* We'll see more Shaw pics on Thursday, Sept. 4th;

Shaolin Handlock



Shaolin Abbot (dunno if I've seen this one, but Lo Lieh is Pai Mei again and something unfortunate is gonna happen to Fung Sai Yuk/Fong Si Yu).



Kung Fu Vengence



The aforementioned Water Margin (aka Seven Blows Of The Dragon) and hopefully more to come.



I don't know if my DVR can take this (assuming there is more to come). I might have some difficulty in erasing some of this content, especially as none of it has been even announced for Blu-Ray, yet (that I know of)
(I can't seem to link to a specific day, so after a while it'll be just the current 4 day cycle after a few days)

*there's some incompetence at Cablevision that causes either the wrong programing, the wrong info, or both. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen often.

Sept. 6th, 2008 - KungFuCinema.com posted the press release yesterday. Sixty movies. Holy shit! Way to go Cablevision.

Films include;

THE WATER MARGIN (1972) - Rated R
U.S. HD Premiere on 9/1 @ 8PM ET

This sprawling affair based on the true legend of how 108 rebel heroes successfully defeated invading Sung armies on their mountain headquarters stars David Chiang, Lily Ho and Ti Lung.

VENGEANCE (1970) - NR
U.S. HD Premiere 9/2 @ 8PM ET

In the first of Cheh’s Blood Brothers movies pairing the deadly duo of David Chiang and Ti Lung, a brother seeks justice against a crime boss who killed his brother. Vengeance was a watershed movie of Hong Kong martial arts cinema that defined Cheh’s cinematic approach for years.

THE BRAVE ARCHER (1977) - Rated R
U.S. HD Premiere 9/5 @ 8PM ET

Following his father’s death, Kuo Ching (Fu Sheng) is raised and trained during the Sung dynasty by a group of kung fu experts. This film, the first in the Brave Archer series, was one of the first to usher in Cheh’s “Venom Mob,” a group of actors/choreographers/weapons experts who would go on to star in many of his films.

GOLDEN SWALLOW (1968) - NR
U.S. HD Premiere on 9/13 @ 8PM ET

Golden Swallow (Pei-pei Cheng) finds her peaceful life shattered when an unrequited suitor starts a killing spree in her name. As she tries to clear her good name, the two men in her life also race towards a final showdown. Hsin-yen Chao and Lo Lieh also star in this swordplay epic, a follow-up to King Hu’s wuxia classic Come Drink with Me, which was originally known as The Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick in the U.S.

THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972) - Rated R
U.S. HD Premiere on 9/15 @ 8PM ET

After heading to Shanghai for a better life, a boxer quickly gains fame and fortune and falls into a ring of corruption and gang warfare. Ching Lee and David Chiang star in this film, one of the first on which John Woo served as assistant director.

BLOOD BROTHERS (1973) - NR
U.S. HD Premiere 9/17 @ 8PM ET

Blood Brothers tells of one of the most sensational scandals in Chinese history, the assassination of a provincial governor (Ti Lung) by his lieutenant and sworn brother (David Chiang).

THE NEW ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN (1973) - Rated R
U.S. HD Premiere on 9/23 @ 8PM ET

David Chiang and Ti Lung star in this sequel to Cheh’s classic The One Armed Swordsman. Here, the revenge plot which forms the basis of nearly every Cheh film receives particularly vivid treatment, with the crippled Chiang out to avenge the murder of Ti, who has been viciously murdered.

THE ASSASSIN (1967) - Rated R
U.S. HD Premiere on 9/26 @ 8PM ET

Yu is a two-armed swordsman who is betrayed by a jealous rival, but initially seeks a life of simple pleasures until an accidental meeting with another patriot sets him back on the road to bloody, brutal vengeance.

FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS (1974) - Rated R
U.S. HD Premiere on 9/28 @ 8PM ET

Shaolin renegades fight against their Manchu oppressors and traitorous collaborators. David Chiang, Ti Lung, Meng Fei star.

Other Shaw Brothers films premiering in high-definition during the month of September include SHAOLIN HAND LOCK (9/3), SHAOLIN ABBOT (9/4), THE BRAVE ARCHER 2 (9/6), BRAVE ARCHER 3 (9/7), SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS (9/8), THE DUEL (9/9), SHAOLIN MANTIS (9/10), FIVE ELEMENTS NINJAS (9/11), ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS (9/12), CHINATOWN KID (9/14), SHAOLIN TEMPLE (9/16), INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN (9/18), THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (9/19), THE HEROIC ONES (9/20), HEROES TWO (9/21), MEN FROM THE MONASTERY (9/22), THE NEW ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (9/23), THE DEADLY DUO (9/24), LIFE GAMBLE (9/25), FOUR RIDERS (9/27), DISCIPLES OF SHAOLIN (9/29) and THE DELIGHTFUL FOREST (9/30).

As with all films airing on KUNG FU HD, these premieres will all be presented uncut, in high-definition, and commercial-free in their original aspect ratios. KUNG FU HD is available in the U.S. Cablevision’s iO digital cable service (channel 776).

Labels: Awesome, HDTV, kung fu, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., tv, youtube and other video

Didn't notice the similarities til reading the comments on YouTube.

Labels: Awesome, funny-ass shit, nostalgia, odd, tv, youtube and other video

Also features Arsenio Hall and Tommy Davidson as Tasty Freeze and Cream Corn.
I'm assuming this is an indie production.
Can't wait for this.

Busy time for MJW. A role in The Dark Knight, a new Spawn animation, it seems, and also playing a guy named Ali (surely not Mohammad?) in the new Bruce Lee TV series coming out of China. All of which I am looking forward to.

Labels: Anticipay-yay-shun..., Awesome, fun, independent film-making, kung fu, movies, nostalgia, youtube and other video

From The NY Times;

Time Warner is no longer the sole proprietor of Superman.

A federal judge here on Wednesday ruled that the heirs of Jerome Siegel — who 70 years ago sold the rights to the action hero he created with Joseph Shuster to Detective Comics for $130 — were entitled to claim a share of the United States copyright to the character. The ruling left intact Time Warner’s international rights to the character, which it has long owned through its DC Comics unit.

And it reserved for trial questions over how much the company may owe the Siegel heirs for use of the character since 1999, when their ownership is deemed to have been restored. Also to be resolved is whether the heirs are entitled to payments directly from Time Warner’s film unit, Warner Brothers, which took in $200 million at the domestic box office with “Superman Returns” in 2006, or only from the DC unit’s Superman profits.

Still, the ruling threatened to complicate Warner’s plans to make more films featuring Superman, including another sequel and a planned movie based on the DC Comics’ “Justice League of America,” in which he joins Batman, Wonder Woman and other superheroes to battle evildoers.

If the ruling survives a Time Warner legal challenge, it may also open the door to a similar reversion of rights to the estate of Mr. Shuster in 2013. That would give heirs of the two creators control over use of their lucrative character until at least 2033 — and perhaps longer, if Congress once again extends copyright terms — according to Marc Toberoff, a lawyer who represents the Siegels and the Shuster estate.

Wow! That is awesome. Assuming it's not reversed on appeal.

The whole article at the NYT, plus another at Newsarama where I first read this news.

Labels: Awesome, comics, feats of strength, Heroes, nostalgia

Labels: funny-ass shit, music, nostalgia, Songza

Old news, but new news to me. And great fucking news at that.
In addition to the releases by Dragon Dynasty and Image Entertainment (not to mention PC only rentals* from Jaman), Classic remastered Shaw Brothers movies will be made available on DVD in the U.S. by Media Blasters.

The titles;

Five Elements Ninjas AKA Super Ninjas!
Heroes Two
The Master
Challenge of the Masters
Martial Club (Oh, Hellz yeah!)
The Deadly Duo
The Brave Archer
The Ten Tigers of Kwangtung
Black Magic 2
Flag of Iron

Great selection of titles. As mentioned in this interview with Linn Haynes, it's a wonder they hadn't been hoarded by DD or Image. Martial Club (sequel to Challenge Of The Masters) is one of my all time favorite kung fu movies. Certainly the best movie starring Gordon Liu Chia Hui and Wang Lung Wei. "Fei Hong! Use your family's kung fu!"

Apparently they start coming out in the spring and will be released one per month, beginning with Heroes Two. No plans for Blu-Ray yet, despite the using Hi-Def masters.

Labels: Awesome, DVD, kung fu, Liu Chia Hui, movies, nostalgia

Spoilers below.





This is one of my favorite television moments. Mandela is questioned (in 1990) about his controversial alliances with the likes of Castro, Arafat, and Qadafi and the possible negative consequences of proclaiming these men to be his comrades. Mandela's answer literally silences Kopell to the point that he has to break the ice to move things forward. Kopell's Adam West like response is a noble, yet ineffective effort to save face, but kinda adds to the hilarity.

Labels: Awesome, funny-ass shit, Heroes, nostalgia, politics, South Africa, Truth, tv, World Affairs

As reported on Kung Fu Cinema;

Online digital download site Jaman.com is currently offering up to three free downloadable rentals on select Shaw Brothers classics such as TWIN BLADES OF DOOM and THE 14 AMAZONS when you create an account.

All you need to do to take advantage of this feature is have a broadband connection, visit Jaman.com, register for free, download the Jaman player, and start downloading up to three digital titles specially-marked “Free Rental” from among 50 Shaw Brothers classics in Jaman’s online library.

Once you’ve finished watching your free rentals, you can continue to rent movies for $1.99 or purchase them for $4.99.

I'm not a fan of watching movies on my computer, but I'm gonna have to try this.

Out in video stores this week are the first of the Dragon Dynasty releases of the Shaw Bros. line; 36th Chamber Of Shaolin (Master Killer), My Young Auntie, King Boxer (5 Fingers Of Death), and The One Armed Swordsman. If these movies contain the original English dub tracks (where applicable), then the time has come to throw away my old supermarket bought bootlegs.

Labels: downloads, good deal, kung fu, Liu Chia Hui, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., wu-xia

Speed Racer movie coming in 2008. Some idiots are upset that this movie, based on a cartoon from the 1960s, is going to be kid friendly.

Labels: Anime, movies, nostalgia, tv

Then Shazam! I'm there. I mean, really. What could be more perfect than that?

Labels: comics, movies, nostalgia

After seeing Kung Fu Friday's post of a YouTube clip from Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, I submit...


this bit from Martial Club AKA Instructors Of Death. A few of my favorite films are sequels featuring portrayals of Wong Fei Hong; Drunken Master 2, Once Upon A Time In China II, and Martial Club which followed another Shaw film starring Gordon Liu Chia Hui, but whose name escapes me right now.

Labels: kung fu, Liu Chia Hui, movies, nostalgia

I kinda don't care one way or another. Not a fan. I defend his right to free speech, of course, and see no difference in how he's been exercising it between now and the last three decades. So, why now?

For me, the issue's the FCC and it's need to regulate speech on the public airwaves. I would prefer to do away with it, but that probably isn't happening anytime soon. Haven't listened to the radio in ages anyway.

I was looking for an old TV ad I remembered from the early eighties that featured Imus and station-mate Howard Stern apologizing to all of the various groups they've insulted, a long list that of course included blacks, gays, catholics, jews, etc., etc.

Couldn't find it, but I did find this one which delivered a similar sentiment.

For the hell of it, an eighties profile of Howard Stern, with a guest appearance from Don Imus on local TV station WOR (channel 9) and another channel 9 broadcast made in the aftermath of Stern being fired from WNBC.

For a recap on the recent controversy (including video), I direct you to Bol.

April 14th, 07 - Oops. FCC's got nothin' to do with this. I've mixed feelings about his being fired;
On the one hand, fuck him. On the other, where does this culture of outrage over bullshit end?

Labels: bullshit, civil rights, hypocrisy, media, nostalgia, politics, tv, youtube

While "Lion" Voltron (GoLion) was the coolest looking of the two robots who sorta shared this series, my preference was for "vehicle" Voltron (Dairugger 15), which had a more mature storyline, even in it's English version, even though it kinda, sorta, ripped off elements of Space Cruiser Yamato (Starblazers).
Media Blasters is bringing the more popular "Lion" Voltron to DVD in it's English form, remastered, of course, sometime in the fall. Sometime in the next year, we'll apparently also see releases of the uncut Japanese versions (with subtitles) of both GoLion and Hundred Beast King Armored Squadron Dairugger XV. I'll skip the English Voltron as I was never much of a fan, but maybe I'll get a volume of GoLion to check it out. Dairugger XV (I always thought it was DaiRaigar XV?) is on my must get list. On the other hand I almost always find anime to be over priced, so who knows? I've yet to pick up any of those Gatchaman box sets. I better work on that.

Labels: Anime, DVD, nostalgia, tv

Cobb echoes the sentiments (and then goes further) of this article on the "romanticization of old school" hip-hop, with an observation which, oddly enough had only recently occured to me. This despite my being old enough to know better;

"The Old School of hiphop was not politically expressive, it was dance music, and those of us who got sick of those annoying talk boxes used by Midnight Starr and Newcleus couldn't be happier. There was no real message in hiphop until De La Soul and Public Enemy around 88. Before that, the'deepest' message from hiphop were the exceptions of 'The Message' and then 'Friends' by Whodini. (Produced by the late lamented Arif Mardin, who also worked with Herbie Hancock at the time). If there was a renaissance in hiphop towards the 'intellectual' it was the now long dead era of 'gods and earths' exemplified by groups such as Brand Nubian, Rakim, Wu-Tang, X-Clan et-al. On the more popular side were Arrested Development and PM Dawn (yes PM Dawn). All of this was done in closer communication with the Spoken Word movement, and if there ever was a golden age of conscious rap, it was right there between 90 and 92. Including Gangstarr and ATCQ, Latifah and the Native Tongues, who through Jimmy Jay started to take rap international and bring non-English speaking rappers into the American fold."

Read the rest, here...

Labels: blogs, music, nostalgia

Labels: Awesome, funny-ass shit, nostalgia, tv, youtube and other video

It's a bird, it's a plane... No! It's ...

Labels: comics, movies, nostalgia

The above image is from The Marvel Try-Out Book from back in the eighties. A comic book presented on 11"x17" 2 ply bristol board. A few pages complete but without color. Next a few complete sans color and inks. The pencils were printed in non-repro blue. These were followed by pages without word balloons (but with a script on an opposite page) and with rougher pencil, and then without words or pencils, but with plot, and finally I think, without even plot.
Since I don't have my penciled pages around, I assume they must've been really awful. I rarely throw my work away.
At the time I thought my inking was okay, though I never sent those pages in either. As with the above image (inked over John Romita Jr.'s blue lined pencils), it's pretty clear (now, at least) that some of my embellishments were a bit heavy handed at times, and at others, maybe a bit too sketchy.
It'd be cool if they kept putting out more of these, but I believe one more was created maybe in the nineties, featuring the X-Men. I understand the penciled pages were printed in black which meant the extra hassle of tracing and transferring.

Speaking of J. Jonah Jameson, on one of my recent, barely coherent rants, I discussed some long held ideas I had about Spiderman, but forgot about the publisher of the Daily Bugle. I'd recently read an article at Newsarama.com about some upcoming crap at Marvel. I don't remember the specifics, but some writer or editor stated an intention to cast J. Jonah Jameson in the mold of Rupert Murdoch. Or vice-versa. I don't like what Murdock has done to newspapers and I don't care for the Fox News network. It's also obvious that Jameson's a dick and that little Hitler mustache isn't really doing him any favors. But Jameson is not a Conservative. His concern that law enforcement should be held accountable (not possible with masked vigilantes) is a classic riff of the political left. Especially considering the actual history of the masked vigilante in the U.S. of A.

Speaking of upcoming crap at Marvel, here's a link to a Newsarama article (speaking of newsarama articles) that contains some really cool Dr. Strange artwork. I like the Vincent Price look. In the beginning, Steve Ditko kinda made him look Chinese or something. I'd like to see them do something with that eventually. There's also a new Eternals series by Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. (speaking of JR Jr.). Mentioned a while back on a Jack Kirby newsgroup, this could lead to a compilation of the original series, which would make me real happy.

There's a reprint collection of 1970's Nova comics in Marvel's Essentials line. Those thick black and white phone book collections. That was one of my favorite books, back in the day, though he and I came from different versions of Hempstead, Long Island. His version of Hempstead High School was all white except for his one Black friend, while my version (Nova might've been cancelled by the time I was high school aged - I forget) was mostly Black and I had a few White friends.

Jenny, Jenny, Everywhere....
Jenny Everywhere is a copyright free e-comic character who exists everywhere at once, so any creator can do whatever they will and not worry about pesky things like continuity and whatnot. Some stories are better than others. Here's one I like: Damn Fine Hostile Takeover - part one and part two.

Labels: comics, dead links, Hempstead, non music projects, nostalgia, These pictures will come back to haunt me one day

Couple of nights ago I dreamt Prince was trying to kill me. I don't remember why. I only remember the end of the dream. Prince had a gun, and he was gonna bust a cap upside my head. I manage to get a door in between me and him, but it didn't seem like it was gonna be enough. It seemed hopeless, but I was optimistic that there was some way out. Luckily, the cavalry came to the rescue in the form of "Morris day: NYPD".
End of dream.

I figured it was time I dusted off the Purple Rain DVD I bought in 2004 and give it a look see. I'd watched Graffiti Bridge and Under The Cherry Moon not long after I bought them, and made it a point to watch them first because they would likely pale in comparison to the movie that made Prince a star. Though I took a look at some of the special features on disc two, I hadn't before yesterday, watched this DVD. It's also been years since I watched the film in any form, despite being a huge Prince fan. The VHS copy I bought when it first came out (one of the first films released at a "sell through" price of $19.95) was loaned to someone I barely knew and was never returned. A DVD was released by Warners, but was full screen. While I'd been willing to put up with that shit with video tape, it wasn't happ'nin' for me on DVD, so I avoided that copy.
In 2004 Warners decided to put out some decent editions of Princes movies (except Sign O' The Times - available through amazon.ca) and I bought them all (except Sign*).

Purple Rain stars Prince as the son of an ex-cop turned failed musician (Clarence Williams III reprises his role as Linc Hayes from the Mod Squad, now known by his stage name, Francis L.). Linc spent a short career doling out beatdowns during the sixties and apparently suffered a breakdown of sorts. He retired from the force, settled down with some chick he must've met on a case and moved to Minnesota. He tried to leave the violence behind him, but he finds, not only do old habits die hard, but also that his son may inherit his curse, despite his efforts to raise him as a girly-man.

Visually the film is quite the spectacle (thanks to director Albert Magnoli), with Prince doing what he does best; sing, play guitar, dance and being a complete ass to the people around him. His acting would be easier to criticise if not for Appolonia Kotero and Jill Jones. In their defence, they do look hot (who was the chick next to Jill Jones during Computer Blue?) and I don't remember complaining about them when I saw this movie three times in 1984. Morris Day was potentially a star in the making, but didn't live up to that potential. Ditto Jerome Benton. If Morris had played Christopher Tracey in Under the Cherry Moon, that would'a been the shit.

Yes, this is Prince's film, but to me, this is a standout role for Clarence Williams III, who shows a willingness to commit 300% of his energy to Francis (Linc) Hayes despite an obviously shitty script. Good actors make bad movies all the time. Rare is the thespian who treats every role as though it were gold, and Clarence Williams III is that thespian.

Anyway, I recommend Purple Rain. Get the two disc special edition. The other one is crap.

*January 21st, 2008 - I now have the Canadian disc of Sign O' The Times and it is magnificent. Much better than I remember it being.

Labels: dreams, DVD, movies, music, music video, nostalgia, Prince

Some people are too stupid for words, and in the case of the mother mentioned in the story below, too stupid for comic books, which is just fucked up.

Anyway, I'm glad to see it coming back in some form. I'd even welcome a paperback or something. I used to read this back in the eighties, but never saw it to it's end. If I recall correctly Shetterly may've been from Minnesota, which would've explained his need to include a Prince lookalike among his cast of characters. I'll have to bookmark his blog.


Swiped from Newsarama...

Thanks, in part, to a knee-jerk response such as this by the press to his comic, Captain Confederacy, creator Will Shetterly has opted to put the entire run of the comic series online.

The report that showed up in the California paper, The Record, related the story of a mother who was offended after accidentally buying a Captain Confederacy comic in a dollar store and giving it to her 11 year old foster son.

The comic (which saw 12 issues and two specials published under Steeldragon, and four issues published under Marvel’s Epic imprint in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s) depicts an alternate history, where the South won the Civil War, leading to a very different modern-day world with a vastly different geopolitical world order.

Jeanette Boswell, who bought the comic was more than happy to comment to The Record, saying: “I'm trying to follow the gist of this comic book. It seems to be a racial thing throughout. I really found it offensive…I'd actually like to see whoever is writing this to stop putting out this offensive material. The way they're doing this, it can really warp some young minds."

Historical note - though obviously, a little different from production values today, Captain Confederacy was a well-received book, cited for its intelligent take on an alternate history and deeply political storylines, and counted among its fans a younger Neil Gaiman.

Record writer, Yasmin Assemi, stated that Marvel was contacted, but had no comment on a creator-owned series published 14 years (one bankruptcy and two Editor-in-Chiefs ago), likewise, Assemi stated that Shetterly could not be reached for comment, but noted that he had a blog.

At his blog, Shetterly responded to the article, writing: “I came across Family finds comic book gift offensive and sent the following to the reporter:

I'm surprised that your article mentions my web site, but doesn't mention that my email address is there. If you'd sent me email, I would've happily responded.

Captain Confederacy is a science fiction story set in an alternate history in which the South seceded from the Union. The heroes are a multicultural group who ultimately overthrow the racist government. This may not have been clear to Jeanette Boswell because she bought the fourth chapter in a twelve-chapter story.

Epic Comics published the second series, which featured a black female Captain Confederacy.

Speaking to Newsarama, Shetterly said that, unfortunately, this isn’t the first time such misunderstandings have come up, thanks in no small part to those who complain first, read (and understand) later.

“In the past, I tended to ignore misunderstandings about the series; I assumed the work would speak for itself. But this article made me realize that the work isn't available to speak. I'd always wanted to revise it. This made me decide that I'd better do that now.”

The revisions Shetterly said, has nothing to do with the series’ content.

“The big changes are in the word balloons: I'm tightening the dialogue and making people's speech a little more blunt. I was awfully wordy then. I'm also deleting a few panels and pages, and adding some gray tones to Vince [Stone]'s inks.”

For Shetterly, it’s a long-term project.

“The plan from here on out is to post five pages a week, plus the occasional message about related things: comic books, alternate history, the Civil War, the South, or censorship. It'll probably take a year or more to post everything. In addition to the 16 published issues, there's a 20-page short story that was drawn for a book which was cancelled.”

The first 20 or so pages of Captain Confederacy can be found here (note – Shetterly is still working out some formatting issues).

Labels: bullshit, comics, Fucking Idiots, nostalgia

Billy's has been open for just over forty years, now. Never got my haircut there. I always went to a spot closer to The Drive, where I live, that eventually became known as Jackson Unisex. I don't remember what it was called then, and I don't think it's still there now. I should know since I pass it every day, but I don't. I also on occasion got my hair cut by my father. Apparently, that was not always a good idea, but that's another story or two. Anyway, I've lived in Hempstead for just over thirty years, and the face in the window above has always represented an iconic vision of home, kinda. Some idiot vandalized the image earlier last year (I think it was), by spraying yellow paint over the eyes. The paint was actually on the window, and not the image itself, which seems to be on a cut-out board of some sort and not directly on the window. It was eventually cleaned up. Good thing. I'd always wanted to preserve this image, should the barbershop ever go away.

Friends who got their haircut there would tell stories of being coerced into attendeing church by Reverend Boone, who in addition to being a pastor, cut heads at Billy's and also owned (for a time) the apartment complex I still live in. The coercion was subtle and consisted of asking the question "comin' to church on Sunday?" (not an exact quote) in the middle of a haircut. Kids took their haircuts seriously, so the answer was always yes.

I'd gone down to the spot, because I thought it suitable for a cartoon. The cartoon requires snow, which we finally got yesterday, so I went down and took some pictures and managed to get one or two of the head in the window of Billy's Barber Shop.

Labels: Hempstead, nostalgia, These pictures will come back to haunt me one day

I've seen this web series mentioned in a couple of spots here and there, but it wasn't until an article in this month's Wired magazine that I decided to actually download and watch the two available episodes. Fan films have become increasingly sophisticated due to more affordable technology and in some cases the participation of folks who work behind the scenes in television and movies. Batman: Dead End is one such (and great) example. Star Wars: Revelations impressed a lot of people, and while it looked good, the story, the performances, and the performers themselves kinda left me cold.
Star Trek: The New Voyages is based on the premise that since the original series was cancelled early, we only got to see about three years of the "five year mission". The new series continues the original series with faithful reproductions of the original sets with stories, acting and production by a collection of enthusiasts.
The Wired article states that the first episode was done to see what they could do. It's not a bad effort. Not great, but not bad. It isn't until episode 2, "In Harms Way", that the show grabs my head with both hands, smashes it against a wall, picks my ass up and throws me out the window. Holy shit, it's that good! I mean, god-damn! It's got Captain Pike in it, and like I said before, Pike ain't no pussy.
The cast takes some getting used to. The guy who plays Kirk looks more like Jim Carrey, but doesn't do Carrey's exaggerated Kirk shtick. Spock is a little more effeminate looking than I'm completely comfortable with, and Bones isn't quite the borderline racist ("why you green blooded, half-breed, Vulcan piece of shit!"*) who looked like he rarely got any sleep that I remember from the old days. After a while, you sorta get used to these guys. New Voyages nails the old show and I think, maybe surpasses it a little in the second episode. I recommend watching the first episode just to get a feel for what's happening. If it seems too cheesy and you decide to turn it off, YOU STILL HAVE TO WATCH "IN HARM'S WAY"!!! YOU GOTTA!!! Of course, if you've never seen nor liked the original Star Trek, ignore me.

The series can be found here. On the download page, they say the first ep is unavailable, but both shows are downloadable as torrents. I recommend watching the Windows Media files first to see if you like 'em, and then downloading the DVD files if you must (those can take a while).

* Okay, maybe that isn't an exact quote. Been a long time since I caught the show.

Labels: Awesome, bittorrent, Capt Pike was a bad MuthaFucka, downloads, DVD, fun, independent film-making, movies, nostalgia, tv

I don't frequent Trek discussion forums, so I don't know how original these ideas are, but I think they're worth trying.

1) Re-animate the Star Trek filmation cartoon series from the early 70's with CGI, but keep the voices of the original cast. It's been a long while since I've watched any of those, but I seem to recall some decent stories told in the cartoon. The problem with the cartoon is that Filmation animation gags on dick. Acceptable for Scooby-Doo and Josie and The Pussycats, not for Star Trek. I think the cartoon is on DVD, so anyone who wants to keep the show as it was can still have it. You wanna get some extra viewers like me, who won't watch the old cartoon as it is, you gotta re-animate it. A lot of Trekkies/Trekkers are completists anyway. Add a few extra scenes that don't require the participation of dead voice talent, and they'll have to buy this set too.

2) This one's a little weird; Bring back Capt. Pike and have him played by Ray Liotta. Some people think Capt. Kirk was badass. Okay, he kinda was, but he wasn't a bad muthafucka like Pike was. When Kirk took a alien hostage, you knew he was bluffin', but when Pike pointed his laser at one of them ass-headed bastards in the pilot, you knew he might shoot a nigga if shit didn't go down the way it was supposed to.
The pilot was re-edited into some bullshit two part episode of the main series. I don't know if Jeffrey Hunter had already died (he passed in 1969), but they had some dude with his head sticking outta a box play him in the present day, while the footage represented stuff that happened years earlier.
I'm not sure if Liotta is young enough to play him in his prime, but some creative writing could get Pike out of that box and on to something interesting. The image above was stolen from Brian's Drive-In Theatre, where you can learn more about Jeffrey Hunter and other stuff.

Labels: Capt Pike was a bad MuthaFucka, nostalgia, tv

I was transfering an old video tape of various music performances to DVD when I came across an old MTV special of this group performing in front of Mount Rushmore. I'd forgotten how great this band was. I'd bought that CD with "lump" and "peaches" as well as the singles (which had extra tracks, if I remember correctly). I never got the follow up. I thought it was stupid of them to break up when they did. They got back together if I recall correctly, but by that time it was probably too late for them. I wonder if they're still around (pauses to look for a website)... So they are.
Seal's another old favorite and his MTV unplugged followed on the tape. Really glad to have that one. eventually I hope to compile all of the tv appearances I taped on to one dvd. Ditto for Fishbone. I watched an In Concert 91 perfomance earlier.

The P.U.S.A. special will probably go on an assortment disc with Public Enemy and some others...

Labels: music, music video, nostalgia

I still like this idea, though a columnist brought up a good point; That it took quite a while to get all of that office space (at the original WTC) rented. If that's still gonna be an issue, then the practicality of this project is questionable. Still, the proper response to the destruction of such an American icon, is not to complete the work of the terrorists, but to rebuild and turn their "martyrdom" into empty, meaningless gestures.

Swiped from the Daily News...

Trump twin tower plea

Build a new, taller WTC

BY PAUL D. COLFORD
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


If Donald Trump's "new" design for the World Trade Center site looks familiar, that's because it is.

Engineer Ken Gardner has touted his plan to build new twin towers for more than a year, even displaying a 9-foot-tall model as recently as last week on MSNBC.

Trump, who has dismissed the planned Freedom Tower as "a disgusting design," will now champion Gardner's twin towers concept at Trump Tower today.

Unless Gardner modified his design before today's date with Trump, the proposed north tower would be the world's tallest building at 1,858 feet, even taller than the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower.

Still, Gardner and Trump have no say in the matter.

Howard Rubenstein, the spokesman for Larry Silverstein, the main developer of the World Trade Center site, said: "Donald Trump is both a friend and a respected colleague of Larry Silverstein, and Larry is always interested in what Trump is thinking.

"However, Larry Silverstein's only concern right now is designing a safe and spectacular Freedom Tower in keeping with the well-established master plan for the site."

When Gov. Pataki was asked yesterday if he was upset that Trump was presenting an alternative design, he said: "This is New York, and people do what they want to do."

He added: "Larry Silverstein owns the development rights. The Port Authority owns the land, and we have a public process that has resulted in what I believe is a visionary master site plan that is being implemented intelligently and appropriately."

That didn't stop Trump yesterday from fuming, "Why are we building this monstrous 'skeleton' known as Freedom Tower? If Freedom Tower is built, the terrorists win."

This isn't the first time that Trump and Gardner have hooked up.

For last year's run of "The Apprentice," Gardner told Fox News Channel that he built an architectural model of Trump Tower in Chicago, where winner Bill Rancic went to supervise construction.

His design for the World Trade Center site - done with architect Henry Belton - can be seen at www.makenynyagain.com.

With Joe Mahoney

Labels: nostalgia, solutions?, terrorism, Truth

and I agree. In my mind, the flakey shit they've considered building on the "ground zero" site would seem to only complete the job begun by Osama Bin ladin. I want the towers back.

Here's the story, swiped from the NY Post:

TRUMP: BUILD 'TWINS'

By FREDRIC U. DICKER in Albany and TOM TOPOUSIS in N.Y.
PHOTO DONALD TRUMP
Photo: Getty Images

Email Archives
Print Reprint

May 6, 2005 -- Donald Trump called on Gov. Pataki yesterday to ditch his just-announced "redesign" of the Freedom Tower and instead rebuild the Twin Towers as they were — but at least one story higher.

"I think the World Trade Center should be rebuilt on the site, only stronger and a little bit taller, even if it's only one story taller," the billionaire builder told The Post.

"They should duplicate the World Trade Center and not build something that looks like an empty skeleton."

The Twin Towers had stood at 110 stories.

Asked if he planned to directly communicate his view to Pataki, Trump responded, "He'll know it when he reads this, right?"

Trump also unleashed a harsh assessment of Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind, suggesting the man Pataki has called an international-class genius isn't fit to be, well, an apprentice.

"The design for the Freedom Tower is an egghead design, designed by an egghead, which has no practical application and which, frankly, didn't look very good.

"I've gotten great reviews on my buildings. I'm somebody who believes strongly in great architecture and this [the Freedom Tower] was a design that is just not a good design," Trump added.

A spokesman for Libeskind shot back: "I suppose Trump wants to add an extra floor to make room for his name. That's probably not the kind of iconic symbol anyone had in mind for this site."

Trump, meanwhile, praised World Trade Center leaseholder and builder Larry Silverstein, calling him a "wonderful professional who sort of got roped" by Pataki into having to back the Freedom Tower design.

"I don't think this is something he really wanted," Trump said of Silverstein, who — at least for now — has the responsibility for rebuilding whatever is erected at Ground Zero.

Aides to Pataki have recently suggested privately that Silverstein has been dragging his feet on the building process and has made unreasonable demands for funding.

Earlier this week, reports from unnamed sources claimed that if Silverstein didn't get the project going, the state and city would consider taking control of the site through eminent domain.

A source familiar with the developer's legal strategy predicted that a forced eviction of Silverstein from the project would never happen because the state would not be able to claim his $4.6 billion insurance payout to use for the project.

Silverstein, who recently applied for $3.5 billion in tax-free Liberty Bonds for WTC reconstruction, said he wants additional public funding to help pay for security.

Additional reporting by David Seifman

Labels: nostalgia, solutions?, terrorism, Truth, World Affairs

More nostalgia.

I recently purchased the A&E box set, Benny Hill, The Naughty Early Years - Complete and Unadulterated set one, 1969-1971. It's a three disc set that contains the first 11 50 minute episodes of his Thames television series. These episodes were syndicated in the U.S. as a half hour (24 minutes without comercials) program back in the mid to late seventies. There's also a documentary at the end (from the early nineties?) that includes a few clips from his BBC series from the fifties to the sixties.

The first episode was a bit of a letdown. Yes, I'd remembered all these skits and routines, but they weren't as funny as I recalled. The more I watched, though, the more I enjoyed. Either the show got progressively funnier with each episode, or I was finding myself being drawn deeper into the semi-juvenile mindset which made this nonsense acceptable. Maybe a little of both, but more of the former than the latter, I think. I look forward to future volumes.

There are other Benny Hill sets on the market, but I've not seen them yet. I think they're shows from the eighties, which if I recall correctly, don't represent Mr. Hill at his funniest. I will eventually get that material as well, once I've got all his classic stuff. I'd also like to see his early BBC material.

Labels: DVD, fun, Heroes, nostalgia, tv

Labels: Anime, DVD, japanese, movies, nostalgia