I'm looking forward to this, despite not caring two shits about Green Arrow.

It's Diggle and Jock, man!



Interview:

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=118392

Related posts:

1. Green Arrow: Year One # 03 – # 04
2. Green Arrow: Year One # 01 – # 02
3. Supermax: Green Arrow Script

Man, where to begin.



I'm a fan of 4th wall music experience bands. Not always, but when done well. Early Barenaked Ladies, for example, who's songs were wry and wierd and clever, and the live shows were like Cirque du Soleil but with donuts. Or Cake, consistently. Or Tenacious D, good contemporary example. Where they don't take themselves seriously, but don't phone it in just because they're trying to be funny.



Flight of the Conchords is a project from two Kiwi musician/comedians, Bret and Jemain, who have been doing this deal since around 2002, first as stand-up/variety/musical bits in NZ clubs, then on NZ radio and TV shows, and now have been picked up by HBO and given a mockumentary describing their fictitious attempt to make it in NYC.



It's brilliant.



Brett is the mellower guy, Jemaine looks like Monkeybites + I, crossed together, added to the DNA of Jeff Goldblum (hopefully not the old-fashioned way) and is my personal favorite.



Much like the Tenacious D thing, we follow the droll, slow-burn fictional efforts of the guys to make it, interwoven with musical bits relevant to the story, complete with cheesy 80's low-fi music video effects parodying or homaging the bands who's representative styles are being manipulated. And like good comedy of the contemporary period in general, themes are carried through the episode and reference back again. I'd describe it like the comedy dialog threading of the Office, the style queues of a Wes Anderson production, and the musical efforts of Tenacious D in it's honest goodness... all done with an Extras-style unsettling awkwardness.



The episode in question 'Bret Quits the Band' I've watched maybe 9 times (for brand loyalty, divisible.) The band are so poor that they eat food found on the sidewalk and wear second-hand underwear. Their 'manager' is actually the sad sack Consul for NZ, and due to a lack of gigs, and general impoverishness, Bret sets out to get a day job. That job? Sign holder. He misses a gig (playing at the NZ booth at a World Travel Expo) and is replaced by a tape recording of his own self, which he actually willingly creates. The duo is torn apart, though still roomates. The tape gets caught on Jemaine's pocketclasp, and a suitable Bret-replacement is sought. But when Bret learns an attractive sign-holder coworker prefers band guys to sign-holder guys, he's 'BECK in the BEND!"



Highlights:



- When learning his sandwich had been found on the street in an abandoned sack, Jemaine has a mouthful mini-throwup, heads to the sink to spit it out... pauses... then returns to the table. He eats it anyway.



-'Inner City Pressure' song and video, apeing Pet Shop Boys, BETTER than Pet Shop Boys. passerby lip sync the synthesized refrain. The song lyrics state that they are so poor, all they can do is stay at home and work the synthesizers... after which we witness, and hear, a long lyric-less period of minimal keyboard solos, done in a dank living room.



- Jemaine doesn't get the sign-holding job, because he asks, when asked if sign-holding, per the job description given, is something they think they can do, "Seems like something a... pole... can do..."; Boss replies: "You, Bret, have a good attitude. But you [points to Jemaine] have what i like to call a BAD ATTITUDE." Fired.



-Sign-holding girl is talking with Bret, learns he's in a band, and asks his name.

Girl: What's your name?

Bret: Bret.

Girl: "Bette"?

Bret: Bret.

Girl: ---

Girl: "Brit? Like Britney?"

Bret: No, Bret. B-R-E-T.

Girl: Oh, it sounds like... Brit... you have a cool British accent!

Bret: Uh, New Zealand.

Girl: Ohhh... they have vikings there, right?

Bret: ---

Bret: Uh, YEAH!

Girl: My friend LOVES New Zealand. She's a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan... drones off into segue...



- 'She Likes the Boom' song and video, complete with ragga dancehall kaleidascope backgrounds, multiple opaque dancing silhouette clones, dancing odd-shaped sign-holders, a synthesizer guitar-styled machine, and the occasional Jemaine popping up, holding a virtual set of DJ cans to his ear, and chanting "FAST FOWAHD, SELECTEH!!!"



- When the guys aren't speaking to each other, Jemaine is pissed Bret missed band practice (with him, in the apartment) and refuses to speak to him or engage in further practice. He's 'enjoying his free time. Enjoying his "'leisure activities' which basically consist of sitting on the couch, sulking, and glaring.



- The band's number one, and only, fan, almost explodes with lust in the car when giving them a ride home from the Expo, and it's some of the creepiest superfan mouthbreathing you'll ever see.







- The sign-holding employer offers to allow Bret to keep his day job and take time off to be int he band, so he returns to the Consulate and reclaims his position in the band, complete with his hot dog sign.

Jemaine: What's thet?

Bret: The boss gayve us this sign.

Jemaine: "hot dogs"?

Bret flips it around, and it says 'Flying Conchords' on the back of the hot dog graphic.

Jemaine: ---

Jemaine: Thet's really gud!



Not surprisingly,

10/10 Clicks!

Related posts:

1. Flight of the Conchords: Alternative Universes
2. No Mas Flight of the Conchords
3. New Flight of the Conchords Trailer: 70s SF Awesome

Found, somehow, by wifebot(tm)



http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.ht ... _page_id=2



Unacceptable.

Related posts:

1. Mr.T Finishes Jury Duty with ‘J-Team’, Thumbs-Up Thrown
2. Wrong: Ostritch Attacks Child on Pony
3. Wrong: Ship Full of Spiders

Yesterday I almost bought a new Element.







We were driving past a used car lot, and I spotted a nice looking 2006 model on their lot, so I swung home and grabbed CatGirl to go check it out. It was one of those silver oves, so I wasn't really extremely pumped, but it was only $16,000 which is a good price for one considering how much they've gone up. Unfortunately, in course of the test drive I realized that while it was an AWD version, whoever owned it previously had not only bought the cheapest model, it seemed they'd actually somehow gotten the dealer to REMOVE features! It had no cruise, reading lights, CD player, power socket, or pully-ma-jig to adjust the tilt on the passenger side back seat. The plastic lining was beat and scraped to hell, and the glove box opened with the unhinged wild abandon of a double hinged hooker that just got paid a million bucks.



Obviously, we decided to pass.



Unfortunately, driving it instead of my ground scraping, head hitting '96 Mitsubishi Mirage, the Avacado Dreamboat, gave me a MIGHTY NEED to own an Element again, so while test driving this hollowed out monstrosity, we went to the local Honda dealer to see what they had to offer us.



We got there at about 10am, and while I chatted with the garage guy about the one I was driving, CatGirl perused the lot. Strangely, the salesmen completely ignored her, even when she was actively trying to find one and climbing around inside of the 07 SC that they had on display. Yet strangely, 20 seconds after I joined her 2 salesmen swarmed to our sides. Anyway, we ended up with a kind of "green" salesman named Jimmy. We told him waht we were looking for, and told him to make us a list while we returned the test drive and stopped in at our insurance place to find out how much it would be to add one onto our coverage.



When we got back, at about 10:30, they dove right in. after about a half hour, we decided on an '07 model, mostly for reliability and due to the limited selection of used available within 700 miles. Also, it seems with the exellent resale of Element's that a 2005 Element is only about $3000 less than an '07.



We bickered about extras and price for a bit, telling tahen what I could put down and pay monthly, they'd leave and come back with an offer almost always involving $3000 more in down payment and $100 more in monthly payments.... finally, agreed, they filled out the myriad forms, took my bank info and sent it to the money guys to do their part.



In the meantime, Jimmy, who really had no idea what he was doing, and indeed possibly what an element was, decided we should drive the SC out front to get used to the handling. Not suprisingly, it handled precisely like my old one, aside from the annoying center console and gaudy accents. For 15 minutes we made ackward small talk and drove around. When we got back, the most stereotypical Car Salesman I've ever seen (Think that dude from Pity The Fool) came out and said it was all down to the money and final forms. We sat for another 40 minutes. by now, we had been in the dealership for 5 hours. We asked Jimmy how long it was going to be, and he wandered off mumbling. Finally he came back and said we should take the SC out to lunch and when we got back we should know what was going on with the loan answer, and sign the papers. After lunch we returned, full and bored with being there.



Sat around for another 45 minutes of boring small talk with Jimmy, whose idea of a thrilling personal anecdote was about how in Arizona, when it's night time and 80 degrees, everyone there wears coats. This was exciting enough that when, in the middle of telling us this story he had to leave for something, he literally ran back to the desk to finish the story. Finally Smarmy Dickhead came back and pulled us into his office and had us start signing a stack of papers. I stopped after about the thrid one and asked "So... when are we going to get to pick the color?" He just looked at me and said "It's black." I explained that they had asked us, back when we were looking at used, that we had chosen our top three color choices, but we'd never picked one for the new element. He just shook his head and said "Oh, well, this is the one we did the paperwork for. It's the only one you can get."



I found this shady and annoying, but as black is a fine choice and what my old one was, I was fine with that.



Then we signed another piece of paper, and he said "Now this is what you take to the credit union to apply for your loan." after a short, tense conversation with this asshole, I uncovered that the only reason we had been sitting in the lobby for SIX FUCKING HOURS was so that we could wait to sign his papers. They'd never contacted my bank or anything. I got up and walked out. Never fucking going back, either.



I dealt with 6 people there, and not one of them seemed to have a fucking clue what they were doing. This morning, I recieved a phone cal from my credit union, sometime around 9am someone from Honda had faxed a loan application to her for me. so after I walked out, they still wanted me to buy a fucking car from them, so they submitted my loan anyway, which is what they claimed to have done yesterday.



Around 3 today I got a call from their Main Sales Floor Manager, who sounded extremely pissed at these yahoos, which is good I suppose, and he swore it wouldn't happen if I came in again, that it should never have happened. No Shit? If he thinks he'll ever hear from me again, he's crazy.







It also turns out that my mom taught the child of, and is friends with, the Owner of the Honda dealership.... I'm not sure how I feel about her plan to call him about this, but if it means someone else won't have to sit through that shit again, I guess I'm okay with my mom calling their dad and telling.



In the long run, we decided it worked out for the better anyway. The money I would have spent on a down payment should go to our honeymoon I suppose. It sure would have been nice to have the Element's head and leg room in the back seat for my HWY 101 trip though....





Oh well. The Avacado Dreamboat still has a few miles on her. If only it had a damned stereo. And I didn't hit my head on the roof when I drive over bumps. Or pebbles.

Related posts:

1. Wrong: Futurecop [1977]
2. Wrong: French Truck Drivers Drive by ‘Sound’, Watch TV
3. Wrong: BMW iDrive Blackberry Texting Integration

Hmmm... it's a start... but still, I'd be wary of dubious handshake requests in dark robotic alleys.



:::



"Japan's Squse looks to be doing its best to keep robots from (unintentionally) crushing anything they get their hands on, recently unveiling a new robotic hand that uses so-called "air muscles" to keep all that superhuman strength in check. Specifically, the hand is packed with artificial fibers that are controlled using air pressure, which makes its movement precise enough to pick up a raw egg without breaking it, yet still no doubt strong enough for it to toss that rule book out the window and go on a five-fingered rampage. While it's one-of-a-kind for the time being, according the the AFP, the company expects to soon ship 50 prototypes to various firms and research institutes, after which it apparently plans to market the hand overseas."

Related posts:

1. Foam Giant Robots Crush, Protect from Shipping Damage
2. Love Those Japanese Robots!
3. as japanese age, robots seen as workforce of future

I got a chance to check out a sneak preview of TF last night at 730, thanks to a friend of mine who works for GM. (All of the vehicles are GMs in this movie.) Alas, WR and I had, and still have, plans to see the movie together, so I will refrain from an in-depth review until that time.



I will, however, note that it receives 6/10 CLANKS!

Related posts:

1. transformers : revenge of the fallen
2. Coraline
3. Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

Seems Joao has been busy on a secret project, over in Portugal!



My favorite robot species?







Of course.



http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/crawling-mac ... 272434.php

Related posts:

1. Robo-Carp
2. Robo-SHARKery
3. Giant Japanese Robo – For REALS!

Not sure if this is the right forum location, but thought WR might enjoy:



http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20070620.html



I like his comment about the Thor clone

Related posts:

1. In Defense of Iron Man, Part 3,043
2. A question for those who don’t like Iron Man anymore
3. The New Iron Manual!

Sight, take heed!



Power Girl, under Ed Benes' hand, so to speak, went from this, in Previews:







To this, on the printed cover:







It's an embarrassment to free speech and decency everywhere!

Related posts:

1. Batman: The Mystery of Chaste Comic Censorship Decisions
2. Wrong: Superman Tower of Power Corrupted by Kryptonite?
3. Supreme Power #12

90% fakery likely, but I appreciated the virtual effort on something this lame.

Related posts:

1. Marvel vs. Capcom 3
2. Wrong: Boba Fett Hello Kitty Tattoo
3. Wrong: Marvel Comics Fitness Guide

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