Questions that need answers
In Goof Troop, what was Pete's last name?

What ever happened to Goofy's wife? I'm guessing divorce, but maybe she died. Died like all the women in Disney films.

Keith Loh has been reviewing the Vancouver Film Festival
Since I'm not there this year, it's a great look at what I'd be missing. Check these out. They're well worth reading.

How fucking hard is it to order a graphic novel?
I think that comic shop owners in the North have some sort of deficiency when it comes to customer service. When I moved back to Fort St. John back in April, one of my first orders of business was to set up a box at Encore Books and ask for some trade paper backs. I found out a month ago that although I had made it *very* easy for them to order my stuff (I showed them the page on the order list, showed the specific company, et cetra) that they hadn't even made the effort to get my stuff. Shouldn't this be a priority for Encore Books? If they get my order, I'll be putting more than 200 dollars into their pocket. Since they're a business, one would think that making money would be a top priority, right? Unfortunately, it seems that isn't a problem that was isolated to Encore Books. I had the same problem when I lived in Grande Prairie. What makes it so tough to help a customer out? If they can't order my books, why can't they give me a phone call? They have my number on file.

Right now Encore Books has an opening for a part time position. I'm temted to take it, just so that I can insure that my books are ordered. Either that, or do re-consider my father's plans to open a comic shop in town. Surely it needs one where people actually take the time and effort to get your stuff.

Orson Well's Batman film

Gathering many of his old friends and colleagues together from "Citizen Kane," he proposed "a cinematic experience, a kaleidoscope of heroism and nightmares and imagery seen nowhere save the subconscious of Goya or even Hawksmoor himself." Welles planned Batman to be an adult psycho-drama, but combined with what he described as the "heart-racing excitement of the Saturday morning serials, given a respectable twist and a whole new style of kinetic direction unlike anything ever attempted in American cinema."

More in link.

Grant Morrison on the end of New X Men

"Each of the stories has a different feel which keeps it all fresh for me. 'Riot at Xavier's' was every school story I could think of mashed into one 'comicsclash' in the '2 many DJs' style. 'Murder At The Mansion' was a kind of mutant Columbo murder mystery. 'Assault On Weapon Plus' was a boy's action story with Wolverine and Scott running around blowing things up and being funny. 'Planet X' is my dissolution of the classic X-Men dialectic, and the final arc is a big, biblical future apocalypse epic. Each of these arcs should work like a different drug, each targeting different pats of the brain. I'm hoping readers will go back and read the whole thing at once to see how all the little clues and nuances fit together. I'm very proud of my X-Men graphic mega-novel."

More in link.

Things that I’m looking forward to in October
-Kill Bill: I’m not a huge fan of Tarintino, but I love how this movie looks. It’s a B film on a half a million dollar budget with killer actors and hopefully great dialog. I’m looking forward to this movie more than the Matrix film.

-Viewtiful Joe: One of the five exclusive Capcom games for the GameCube. I really enjoyed the demo during the summer and I’ll probably end up buying it. Gotta love old school meets new school side scrolling beat ‘em up action.

-Castlevania: Yeah, I know, I’m a new convert to the series. From what I’ve read, it’s like Devil May Cry, only better. Another game that I’ll end up buying, if only for the soundtrack that’s included.

-Mid term exams: Well, not really.

So you want to know who’s going to the moon?

Today it was announced that the Europeans are heading to the moon. Add them to the Japanese and the Chinese and you have what seems to be the beginning of a second space race.

Interesting new board game: Zombies!!!

Your heart pounds in your chest and you are finding it very hard to breathe. The zombies are everywhere and seem quite intent on making you lunch. With so many of them, it's hard to tell if the scraping footsteps and moaning are down the hall or just around the corner. One thing is for sure, they are too close for comfort, you are almost out of bullets and your luck seems to have just about run its course!

Zombies!!! puts you in the middle of the action as you try to escape the ever advancing zombie hoard. Players must use a combination of wits and brawn to be the first to the heliport and certain escape. The only problem is, the zombies are everywhere, they appear to be very hungry and your opponents would really prefer if you didn't escape.

My brother will be picking up this game this weekend. Hopefully he'll bring it back during the holidays so that I can partake in zombie killing action.

Metal Gear Solid 2 and post modern gaming

Mother set the mark for postmodern games. It was obviously postmodern. Mother is a Yoko Ono teacup-cut-in-half. It’s Takako Minekawa's song “Kangaroo Pocket Calculator,” in which the only lyrics are: “47 is a magical number. 47 plus 2 equals 49. 47 times 2 equals 94. 49 and 94. 94 and 49. The relationship between 47 and 2: It's . . . magic.”
We hear this, and think: “Funny. Cute.”
MGS2 is another level of postmodernity. MGS2 is Yasuharu Konishi’s seven-minute remix of the one-minute Son of Godzilla march. For four minutes, we hear a Brazilian woman narrate a Godzilla movie in Portuguese, with ambient sounds in the background. For three minutes, we hear the Godzilla march, techno beats laid down in the background.
We hear this, and think: “What the hell?”

More on this facinating topic in link. I, for the record, think that we need more post modern gaming. More fourth wall breaking like Eternal Darkness, please.

Need I say more?

More rumoured changes to the original Star Wars trillogy
Check the link for the list, but here's a couple that makes me shake my head.

From a New Hope
12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there's a new scene of Yoda's reaction to the disturbance in the Force that is created by all those deaths and then it cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well.


18. The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has been spruced up. It is much more epic and there is much more movement. A modified version of Duel of the Fates is being considered for the scene.


From Empire Strikes Back
08. A new scene was shot in which the stormtroopers, after they capture Han, Leia and Chewie, bring Vader the box containing C-3PO in pieces. Vader orders the stormtroopers to bring the broken droid to Chewbacca's cell so that he can fix him.

And from Return of the Jedi

12. Sebastion Shaw who played Anakin when he was unmasked has been replaced with Hayden Christenson in make-up to make him look older. Anakin has much more dialogue. He apologizes for the destruction he caused, he thanks his son for turning him back to the light, he tells his son to rebuild the Jedi and he says he loves him and his sister. Just before he dies he says, "It is finished...".

I await your rage.

Researchers say that dogs cam predict earthquakes

A Japanese researcher claims that dogs can sense imminent earthquakes and that observing their behavior could improve prediction efforts.

Kiyoshi Shimamura, a public health doctor, said that during years of practice he noticed a jump in dog bites and other dog-related complaints around times that earthquakes occurred.

Shimamura said his observations prompted him to examine the records of such complaints from 12 public health centers in parts of western Japan affected by a 1995 Kobe earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people

More in link.

The Console Wars heat up
Good God, man, the Gamecube is now as expensive as a GBA SP. Pretty bold move for Nintendo. Hope it gives them a leg up during the holiday season.

Canada is a nation of fakers

Nearly half of Canadian lovers fake orgasms -- far more than in most of the world, says a new survey from a condom maker. And a lot of men are among the fakers.

Meanwhile, half of Canadians have had sex by phone or even by sending wireless text messages, whereas those hot-blooded French lovers shun fancy gadgets and prefer, um, face-to-face methods.

More in link

Island of Lost Souls
In the late 90s, Richard Stanley, the cult favorite director of Hardware was to direct the Island of Dr. Moreau. After 4 days of filming, because of clashes with Val Kilmer, he was fired from the set. Since the project was one that he had tried for years to get to screen, he did what any self respecting director would. He suited up as one of Moreau's animal creatures and watched what happened to the movie through the eyes of an extra. This is his story.

My friend Lara is studying photo journalism, but she's staying in Fort St. John due to a broken leg. This is an example of her work.

And interests of fairness, the transcript of Bush's speech to the UN

Bush calls on UN to help rebuild Iraq

U.S. President George Bush has asked the United Nations General Assembly for help in reconstructing Iraq, saying it's time to set aside past differences over the U.S.-led war.

Bush said he recognized that "some of the sovereign nations of this assembly disagreed with our actions" when the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq six months ago. But he said the war was justified by what has been learned about the cruelty of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

More in link.

What do you guys think?

Rumour has it that the Global Frequency will become a television show

A Mighty Wind
Quick thoughts.

-Out of the trilogy of Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, I rate it as second best, right after Best in Show.

-I thought that Eugene Levy his best performance as Mitch. It was like he was channeling the speech patterns of Christopher Walken and putting in Hunter S. Thompson's drug addled brain. Fred Willard was great too, but he didn't have that spitfire intensity that he had in Best In Show as the announcer.

- I don't think so!

-Loved the fact that the Folksmen had all the actors from Spinal Tap. Am I the only one that was put off by Harry Shear's voice?

-The concept for W.I.N.C is too good not to exist.