Rynne

"In His Own Words"

2008-02-19T20:49:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama wrote a book called "In His Own Words."

After his plagiarism troubles, there's a joke in there somewhere.

Film - "Incredible Hulk" Videos Leaked Online

2007-09-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Some intrepid folks in Toronto filmed the final battle scene from The Incredible Hulk and a whopping 23 other videos of the film's shooting. Find a link to them here.

It's not out until June but after the disaster that was the last Hulk movie, we're excited that the new cast looks totally promising. It's hard to beat: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt. We can't wait!

Oh yeah, and get this! Edward Norton actually wrote the screenplay for The Incredible Hulk himself! WTF? Check for yourself on IMDB. We totally approve. He says:

"I came into this and I wrote the screenplay. I was the Marvel kid. I had subscriptions to a lot of the marvel comics. I loved Hulk, the early incarnation of Hulk and then the television show when I was a kid."

We <3 him even more now that we know he's a writer!

16GB iPhone For Germany?

2007-09-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

Will there be a 16GB iPhone in Germany come November?

Leaked advertisements online would have you think yes, but it could all just be an elaborate hoax.

Knowing how Apple likes to operate, we don't think it's at all unlikely that the computer and marketing geniuses will be dropping a new double capacity version of the current 8GB iPhone one the market only a few months later.

The real question is, will Steve Jobs have to issue another apology + partial refund for a whole new group of outraged early iPhone purchasers?

TV - "Bionic Woman" Premiere

2007-09-20T17:37:00.001-07:00

With producers from Battlestar Gallactica and The X-Files, how can NBC's newest Sci Fi series fail?

We're pretty stoked about a new female superhero and what looks like it will be a really neat new show.

Q: What's at the heart of Jaime that made you want to play her? Do you want her to be all science or more of a human being with her pregnancy, her having to take care of her younger sister and the emotions of having to readjust to a new life?

Ryan: I think it is absolutely the human side... Yes, she has these super abilities, but at the core of it, there is a woman's journey of self discovery and her right to empowerment. I feel like I am on that journey. I just felt an instant connection. I know this young character (Vivian), who also has sudden abilities, she comes along farther down the series and Jaime takes her under her wing immediately. She is very compassionate and she questions every step of the way when Jonas and Antonio say, 'We are the good guys.' She questions everything. I love that. She is just this very grounded multi-layered character and person. That's why I felt, yeah, there is so much potential to play with her character, aside from the action sequences. The sci-fi element at the core of it is this human being who has got so much depth. That's the woman I want to be like. I want to find my voice and I want my voice to be strong and confident. I feel playing Jaime is helping me get there.

Check out the trailer above and read more of the cool interview with Michelle Ryan here.

The Bionic Woman premieres September 26th on NBC.

News - Civil Liberties In UK On Decline

2007-09-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

We lived in the UK for a year and were quite disturbed that even in the tiny town of St Andrews, we couldn't go anywhere except possibly the middle of a field without being on one if not several CCTV cameras.

We were a law biding visa holder but being on a surveillance camera all the time tends to make one feel like a criminal or at least like an undesirable.

Now, there is serious talk in Britain about possible "compulsory DNA testing of the entire population and all visitors to the UK."

This article looks at arguments from both sides. We are very decidedly anti Big Brother and very anti the overwhelming bureaucracy in place in Britain as it is. We very much hope that our beloved Brits will shout down these new policies and prospective changes with the righteous vigor they deserve.

We would be super sad if we couldn't visit our favorite country again because of a clash of ideals regarding civil rights.

We would cry, but we would rather forgo ever seeing the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond again than be DNA tested for the privilege.

News Update - PM Abe Denied WWII Forced Prostitution

2007-09-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

We posted about the departure of Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, a while back but we just read that among the many other scandals of his time in office he denied Japan's role in forcing as many as 200,000 women in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea and the Philippines, into prostitution for the Japanese military. These "Comfort Women" are widely recognized by historians and the Japanese government has apologized for the WWII practice in the past.

While the Japanese government apologized in 1993 for its role in trafficking women during the war, it has refused to provide government compensation to victims. In June, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution aimed at urging Japan to take responsibility in "a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces’ coercion of young women into sexual slavery."

This is big, folks. This is like if today the German president denied there was a Holocaust. "Comfort women" aren't just a rumor; their existence is an extremely well documented fact.

Like many things of this nature, it is believed he denied it because to this day the Japanese government has refused to pay these women - its victims - reparations. (The same thing is still kind of happening with the German government and the Romani or 'Gypsy' survivors of concentration camps from WWII.)

PS. The image above is from the Wikipedia article on the subject.

Halo 3: Ready, Set, Release

2007-09-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

Halo 3 New Trailer - The most popular videos are a click away

The highly anticipated next step in the Halo franchise - Halo 3 is set to be released on September 24th. That's only four days away, nerdboys.

Although we've never been a Halo fan, even we have to admit, the site is pretty neat, the video kinda rocks, and hell, we even like the music.

So if you like pretending you're a - tee hee - "space marine" and fighting aliens, get in line early. This Bud's for you.

News - Student Tasered For Questioning John Kerry

2007-09-18T18:03:00.001-07:00

Bringing back strong memories of this incident, John Kerry has released a statement about the University of Florida student who was tasered for vigorously questioning Kerry during a speech at the university on Tuesday.

Police used excessive force on the unarmed 21-year-old man who was heard to yell, "Don't tase me, bro!"

Most of the audience sat still and watched as police tasered him and dragged him from the room. We would have thought liberal college students would have yelled or protested the use of excessive force the way students in the library at UCLA did when a student who'd forgotten his library card was tasered by campus po-po there.

We are in fact, very concerned that they did absolutely nothing. In fact, many members of the audience aplauded when the man was carried away by the police and were laughing as he was tasered. One woman in our posted video called the man "an idiot" - how sad to think that we're viewed as idiots when we try to change our world.

The guy was asking a lot of questions even heckling Kerry, but he was not violent and he was exercising his right to free speech - something that is often made a joke out of (like the guy at our school who wanted to post homemade porn on CCTV that was piped into patients at the local hospital,) but when freedom of speech regarding political opinion is violently repressed like this we freak and rightfully so.

John Kerry was heavily criticized on MSNBC's Tucker and elsewhere online today for his lack of outrage on the student's behalf and on the behalf of free speech. We aren't surprised - this is a man who has committed war crimes. Like a little taser action is going to bother him?

Kerry was heard to ask the officers to let him answer the student's question; we think totally knew how bad this was going to look for him.

The student has yet to release a statement.

Click here to watch the disturbing video of the incident. Six officers were on one guy. Amazing.

PS. Did you know John Kerry is from one of those dynasty families that are what's wrong with the world? Again, we're so naive but it was total news to us. "His first cousin Brice Lalonde, a future Socialist and Green Party leader in France...ran for president of France in 1981." We are so sick of familial nepotism. And not just in Hollywood and in politics - it's everywhere!

PPS. This article on Kerry in CounterPunch is amazing. We think it's a must read.

PPPS. The moral of so many of these lessons is 'Don't go to Florida.'

Heidi Montag Is Delusional, Epileptic

2007-09-18T16:48:00.001-07:00

Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ that was bad. Has someone lost control of her arms?

We just can't like The Hills' Heidi Montag. Videos like this don't help.

Emmys Worst Dressed: Kristen Bell

2007-09-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Heroes has several of its blond beauties on our list - and at both ends of the spectrum. Unlike Ali Larter's to-die-for red ensemble, newcomer Kristen Bell's sky blue dress looked exactly like a terrycloth shower wrap my mother used to own.

Emmys So-So Dressed: America Ferrera

2007-09-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

We are totally still on the fence about Ugly Betty herself, America Ferrera. We think the show is one of the absolute worst on TV and she was awful in the craptacular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - but America the actress is pretty cute.

Her face looks great here but the dress...good color, poor execution. And too much tummy on display. It would be cute if that was a baby bump - but it's not. When people say, "You look beautiful; are you pregnant?" it's time to go a size up in the dress. It's not a huge deal - just one size up.

We also just read on Wikipedia that her smile is insured with Lloyd's Of London for $10 million. We were shocked. We could see it if it was Betty Grable's legs or Celine Dion's voice. Ferrera has a pretty smile but almost everyone in Hollywood has a pretty smile.

PS. Here are some fun videos of her from the Emmys and other award shows. Famous people always think 'things happen for a reason' because they happened to them.

Emmys Best Dressed: Ali Larter

2007-09-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Best and Worst Dressed lists abound online but our personal fave was Heroes' Ali Larter.

The girl owns red.

This looks stunning. There is nothing about this picture of her that isn't gorgeous.

Emmys Bomb Big Time

2007-09-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

Proving once again that nobody likes Ryan Seacrest except maybe his mom, the ratings for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday were abysmal.

"Preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research put the audience for Sunday's show, aired on Fox, at 13.1 million viewers. That's 3 million fewer than for last year's telecast, on NBC, and less than the record low 13.8 million three years ago on ABC."

The big excuse being offered is that the Emmys were aired against a big football game (the San Diego Chargers got creamed by the New England Patriots - including Bridget Moynahan's baby daddy, Tom Brady) but we prefer to blame Seacrest. The man is proof that execs don't listen to the public. He gets made fun of all over town for his over-the-top corniness and big phony TV personality but we still see his face everywhere.

Sightings - Rwandan VP

2007-09-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

The Vice President of Rwanda (and gi-normous entourage) is shopping in the men's department of the University Town Center Nordstrom in La Jolla, California -- right now.

America's Next Top Model Season Premiere

2007-09-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

The new season of America's Next Top Model premieres on The CW tomorrow night at 8. We have to admit that despite not having cable (and never watching the two channels we do get - 8 & 10) we're shamefacedly excited about this show.

We're only human and, yes, despite the raging debate over body image, on and off the show, we occasionally like to watch the pretty. (Well, sometimes it's pretty; and sometimes we like to indulge our catty side and pick apart already fragile egos - albeit in the privacy of our own home.) One reason we're especially excited about this season though is that they have a bona fide plus size model in the mix of underweight minxes. And - a little clarification on plus size models - there are several different types (like weight classes in boxing;) it usually means still slim just not emaciated, although there are more full-figured plus size models as well. We can't wait to see how she competes and what the judges and other contestants comments are. Juicy.

PS. Click here for vid clips from the show.

Music - Jane Lui

2007-09-16T16:19:00.001-07:00

We're just a little obsessed with artist extraordinaire, Jane. If you haven't been lucky enough to see her perform live (we've seen her live more than once and each time is an experience in auditory beauty), check the above video out or make sure you grab hold of her upcoming second album, Barkentine - due out on September 25th.

This is the video shot by our friends Steve and Will (check out their amazing talent at their respective sites) for Jane's "Freddie Goodtime".

We love all of her music but our absolute favorite song is "Phaedon". The song is about a fish who falls in love with a prince (the titular Phaedon) - to hear Jane explain it in her softly melodic voice in the melty darkness of an intimate live venue before her fingers find the piano keys and her voice glides up through the stage lights and out through the audience specifically to you -- is a bit like we hope heaven will be.
We <3 her!

News - Actor Chris Langham Jailed

2007-09-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest heroes in the fight against international child pornography, Operation Ore, has caught yet another celebrity by tracing the credit card numbers used to purchase online images of child sexual abuse.

British actor and comedian, Chris Langham, most noted for his roles in Monty Python's Life of Brian, The Return of the Pink Panther, and ironically multiple episodes of The Muppet Show, has been "sentenced to ten months in jail for downloading 'horrifying' child pornography."

Operation Ore has already cited musicians Gary Glitter and Pete Townsend (of The Who) for accessing similar illegal sites. Gary Glitter is in prison in Vietnam until August 2008 for the sexual abuse of children. Pete Townsend was "entered on the Violent and Sex Offender List for 5 years."

Both Townsend and Langham claimed that they were doing research on the illegal sites. Langham claimed that he was molested as a child. After he was convicted, a woman accused him of having a sexual relationship with her from the time she was 14. Langham admitted to having relations with her when she was 18. Langham is married with two children of his own.

Oprah Talks OJ's New Book

2007-09-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

OJ Simpson's creepy pseudo-confession book, If I Did It, hit all major booksellers' stands on Thursday. We're not pleased but at least most of them aren't promoting it, just carrying it due to the almighty dollar, er, customer demand. (Who are these customers - sickos?)

So, Oprah had the representatives of the two families whose loved ones OJ killed (according to the rulings of the civil court.) Denise Brown, Nicole Brown's sister, refused to share a stage with the father and sister of Ron Goldman, with whom she has been undergoing a "moral battle" not to support or receive funds (Oprah asked if they felt it was "blood money") for the sales of the book.

Oprah made it a point to say that although her show promotes books, she didn't want "to be in the position to promote this book, because [she], too, think[s] it's despicable."

We understand the pain and morality behind Denise Brown's opposition to the book (which we would never read, let alone buy) but we also very much have to agree with the Goldman's assertion that since OJ was not convicted in a criminal court, and his huge yearly pension is untouchable, the enforcement of receiving any of the $38 million settlement they received against him in civil court for the coldblooded murder of their only son, is the only avenue they have left in showing OJ Simpson what he did was wrong and that he will in some sense be punished for it. "The Goldman's retitled the book If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer."

If they didn't collect the profits, in a few years they would revert back to OJ, who would then be profiting off of the murder of his wife, and their son.

The thing that would make a lot of people, including perhaps Denise, feel better is if the Goldman's donated all profits they received from the sale of the book to an appropriate charity, or like many surviving parents, set up a foundation with the funds to prevent these kinds of murders from ever happening again.

PS. Just in: OJ was arrested in Vegas on Sunday on suspicion of breaking and entering. Class act.

Oh, I Get It - Sarah SilverMAN

2007-09-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

The guys at The Superficial aren't giving Sarah Silverman any breaks for her charming, witty sense of humor. (I make joke - in English!)

Instead, they posted the above pic of the Z-lister hugging Heroes' pint size, so-so sexpot (really guys only dig cause she just turned legal and is on a comic book show) Hayden Panettiere. Apparently they're hugging it out because they just flew on the same plane - that's true bonding for celebrities when they're surfing the lower alphabet.

They posted, "Somebody just tried to tell me that Sarah Silverman is a chick. Ha, that’s rich. Seriously, I haven’t laughed so hard in my life. Sarah Silverman’s a girl - hilarious!"

We have to agree. Not a great picture. But then I've never seen a great picture of the SilverMan. Not even that one where she posed for Maxim in a gorilla suit. Can you find the banana in this picture?

PS. Here's another pic of her just 'cause we're feeling mean.

Strange Stars

2007-09-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Scientists have discovered a strange new parasitic star. The star was once the small companion of a much larger star. The current distance between the two is less than the distance between the Earth and the moon. When the large star became a supernova it engulfed the other and then became a neutron star. Eventually, the smaller star began to grow and became a red giant whose "outer envelope encapsulated the neutron star. This caused the two stars to draw closer together, while simultaneously ejecting the red giant's envelope into space." The neutron star's powerful gravity now siphons gas from the other star which essentially has only its "helium-rich core" left - the mere "skeleton of a star." Only 8 of these parasitic stars have been discovered.

Whew, that was complicated but we hope we've explained it all right. We <3 astronomy!

PS. We were also shocked to discover that scientists speculate that white dwarfs are made of crystallized carbon - like a diamond. "In 2004, they found that a white dwarf near the constellation Centaurus, BPM 37093, was made of crystallized carbon weighing 5 million trillion trillion pounds. [Or] 10 billion trillion trillion carats." Gives whole new depth to like a diamond in the sky, doesn't it?

PPS. We also loved this article that says black diamonds come from space! We can't get enough of LiveScience!

Questions: Halloween Costumes

2007-09-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

We know it's just a tad early but Halloween is our favorite holiday! So we're asking: What will your Halloween costume be this year? What are you planning on doing?

We're going to take our niece (a mermaid) around Trick-or-Treating and then hightail it with the boyfriend and a couple of other friends to some wild Halloween bash or other.

We're torn between which kind of Xena we want to be though: Classic, Valkyrie, or Samurai?

John Rambo - Trailer WARNING GRAPHIC

2007-09-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

John Rambo - Trailer - Red Band

Posted May 19, 2007

The next chapter finds Rambo recruited by a group of Christian human rights missionaries to protect them against pirates, during a humanitarian aid deliver to the persecuted Karen people of Burma. After some of the missionaries are taken prisoner by sadistic Burmese soldiers, Rambo gets a second impossible job: to assemble a team of mercenaries to rescue the surviving relief workers.

Man, we are such a tool. But god dammit, we love us some Rambo. This trailer is really violent so we hope (and expect) that it's been toned down for release in theatres.

We know the trailer's gotten mixed reviews but we think it's really well done and even intrigues us in a very Blood Diamond political way. (We will now be researching Burma.) And Stallone actually looks really good here, which totally surprised us. We think it's totally realistic for a bodybuilding, hard ass, war hero to be still hard core and a force to be reckoned with well into his 50s.

We are so going to be watching this in the theatre with our Dad.

PS. Some of our other gory favorites: Predator 1 & 2, Terminator 1 & 2, Rambo 1, 2 & 3, the Alien movies...

News - Search For Fossett May Solve Other Aviation Disappearances

2007-09-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

On September 3rd, American adventurer and record setter, Steve Fossett set out in a single-engine Bellanca Super Decathlon from the Flying M Ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton. He hasn't been heard from since and experts say that at this point the likelihood of finding him alive is slim.

That doesn't keep hundreds of friends and fans of the famous aviator from Tennessee from searching for him in the steep hills and narrow valleys of the Sierra Nevadas. In conducting the search, six new plane crash sites have been discovered and will be logged and investigated properly after the search for Fossett concludes. It is believed that over 200 of these undocumented sites may exist.

Some families who lost loved ones and never knew what happened for sure now have hope that their final destination may be confirmed.

Fossett, 63, was the first man to fly around the world in a balloon alone and the first solo pilot to circle the globe without refueling. He holds 14 world records in airplane flight, two for ballooning, six in gliders and one in an airship. In addition, he holds 11 records for sailing and one for cross-country skiing. He also has set other records that have since been broken.

Cheers to those helping out by joining the search and even looking at Google Earth to try and find Fossett. We think that if anyone can make it through this it's with the highly trained survival skills and clanging metal balls of Steve Fossett. We're rooting for you, dude.

News - Hope For Youssif

2007-09-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

A hopeful update on Youssif, the little boy who was disfigured but miraculously survived when masked men in his home city of Baghdad grabbed him doused him with gasoline and set him on fire.

We are extremely happy to report that he is in the US and has had his first meeting with Dr. Peter Grossman, the plastic surgeon who specializes in treating child burn victims and who will work to reconstruct the burned areas of Youssif's face and body throughout each of the 8 to 10 operations he will undergo.

The operations may begin as soon as next week.

Grossman will cut away scar tissue around his nose and put temporary skin from a cadaver over it. "We're also going to stick a balloon underneath the good skin under his neck and on his face," the doctor said. "The purpose of that is over time we will stretch the good skin, so that in about three months he will be able to go back to surgery, remove the scar tissue and pull up the stretched out good tissues."

"I'm emotionally exhausted," Youssif's dad said. "We went from death to a new life."

We are very proud of and cheering for Youssif, his doctors and his whole family right now as they go forward in this amazing endeavor. In the face of great danger, this family has shown tremendous courage stemming from the one thing that outshines war and violence - love. We support them and will continue to update on Youssif's progress.

PS. To contribute to Youssif's fund, click here.

Film - New Indiana Jones Movie Has Kinda Dumb Name

2007-09-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

Indiana Jones fans are torn but mostly down on the newest name for the fourth installment of the legendary trilogy as leaked by Shia LaBeouf (God, that name...) at the MTV VMAs this week.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull sounds a lot like another popular franchise we've seen around lately (Harry Potter and the Whozit's Whatzit ring a bell?)

Sure, Indy did it first (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) but we've been inundated with Potter lately (much to our enjoyment) so it's on everyone's mind and heavily associated with children's literature and film.

We also like the frontrunner in the Indy name game as picked by fans: Indiana Jones and the City of Gods. It just sounds more epic and less object-based. But we like us an Indy flick and so if we must take the "Crystal Skull", then take it we shall.

So far, we like the idea of Beowulf himself, Ray Winstone, joining the cast but we're less enthusiastic about Cate Blanchett and Even Stevens' own, aforementioned LaBeouf. We'll miss Connery, of course. We dig the idea of Karen Allen reprising her amazing role as Marion Ravenwood though. Great name.

All said, we can't wait for the film, dumb title or not.

PS. This is an awesome photo.