Hey guys, check out what is at #1 and #3 on the top DVD seller list on Amazon.com. For future reference (and it will likely change), they are #1 Serenity, #3 Firefly Complete Series. BTW, for those of you who own Serenity and haven’t watched the special features … do so. In particular, watch the deleted scenes. One of the funniest scenes in the movie was removed (it involves some Alliance guards, Mal, and a grenade … hilarity ensues). The only thing that I wish the DVD had that it doesn’t was a version with the deleted scenes reintegrated. Oh, and watch Joss’ introduction to Serenity (it’s in the bonus materials section). It was his speech before the airing of the preview of the unfinished Serenity.

Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most cancelled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned, and the story should end there. … [But people] fell in love with it a little bit too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called unrealistic, quixotic, obsessive. In my world, they’re called Browncoats. … This movie should not exist. Failed TV shows don’t get made into major motion pictures … It is, in an unprecedented sense, your movie. Which means…if it sucks, it’s your fault. You blew it. You let us down. But let’s not dwell on your failures … We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty.
— Joss Whedon

Well it’s only a rumour, but here’s hoping. The rude, crude dudes over at www.Aintitcoolnews.com have a little rumour up that the dude who directed Die Hard, John McTiernan, is supposedly set to direct a movie about Admiral Lady Honor Harrington, Steadholder and Duchess Harrington.

By STEPHEN LAUTENS

‘Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the land.
The four major parties were trying their hand.
The voters were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of promises danced in their heads.
And mom with her popcorn, and I with my beer,
Had just poured a stiff one to get over our fear,
When out on the porch there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my sofa to see what was the matter.
Away to the door I flew like a flash,
Looked out the peephole and hid all my cash.
When, what to my wondering eyes should be there,
But an eager young candidate smoothing his hair.
The knock on the door went on most persistent,
From eight of his handlers and one senior assistant.
The eight tiny canvassers were all shooed away,
And I heard him call out to them all and then say:
“Now Gomery!
“Now Same Sex!
” Now Pork Barrel and Chretien!
“On Childcare!
“On Healthcare!
“On Ambassador American!”
Get out the lawn signs, get out the brochures!
We might have a live one — you can never be sure.
Every vote is worth winning, whatever it takes,
Another minority just gives me the shakes.
Stuff the mailbox with literature, the door slot with paper,
If no one’s at home, then we’ll go bug his neighbour.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard pounding and cursing,
Putting signs up in December is not for a sane person.
A bundle of promises he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
I have something for seniors and something for kiddies,
Something for farmers and for our poor ailing cities.
I am tough on crime, but lenient on dope,
A free vote on hanging but you’ll need your own rope.
Evolution in schools, and the war on terror,
Cosying up to Quebec, but that might be an error.
In short I have something for everyone here,
As long as you don’t expect me to deliver next year.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, at my doorstep he froze;
There is nothing worse than a voter misguided,
I’ll mark you all down as still undecided.
Through the mail slot he yelled, ere he went on his way,

“Happy Christmas to all,
See you next Election Day.”

To be honest I should tell you all I stole this shamelessly from the Calgary Sun

Okay, more Nintendo Revolution rumours. Apparently Sega’s CEO is “intrigued by the Nintendo Revolution’s backwards compatibility” … does that mean that Sega will add their games to Nintendo’s for the Revolution? Who knows? He’s a CEO, he’s bound to say he’s interested in the idea if he thinks there is any possibility they will participate. It is, though, much less than the enthusiastic “We’re In” that I was hoping for. However, if the Nintendo Revolution lives up to the hype it has been generating, I’m sure I’ll be getting one on/near launch. My TV is small and ugly, it lacks composite connectors and so very small. I don’t HDTV capabilities. I just want the abilities to play some of the old games I grew up with … kill some time playing Mario Bros or Metal Gear (no friggen Solid or its sequels … the original with the classic line of “Uh Oh! The Truck Have Started to Move!”) Ah, memories. The graphics on these games are horrid by modern standards, but they made up for it with hours and hours of fun game play. Who cares about graphics if the game is fun? Why haven’t these games been modernized? I mean Double Dragon for PS3/Xbox 360 would likely sell as well because it was a good game. Rip out the old graphics engine, build a new one, make some new animated cut-scenes and voila, selling like crazy, especially to people my age who remember the original and like the improved graphics. Too many games lay forgot to the mists of time … it really is a shame.

The way I see it, the Revolution has two things going for it: Backwards Compatibility and Innovation. I mean swinging the controller to control your characters sword is just neat. The whole phrase “Nintendo Driving” takes one a new meaning with the Revolution. And don’t kid yourself, the controller on the Revolution is ground breaking. Sure, it looks a lot like a VCR/DVD remote, but it’s a complete rethinking of how to play games. And if you don’t like it, well there are the backwards compatibility controllers, which are supposedly like the Game Cube’s controller (which was pretty neat too). Well, that’s all I have to say about that.

Well, I just can’t believe the flaws in the USA’s no-fly list! I mean, this isn’t even Stewie Griffin we’re talking about here! A baby can’t go on a flight, because his (or her) name was on the USA’s no-fly list as a suspected terrorist. Read more here

CNN has test driven the new Nintendo Revolution. The verdict? The new controller is really cool.

BMW has been working on an interesting new sort of hybrid vehicle. They’re using the waste heat in the exhaust, etc. to power what is essentially a steam engine, providing additional power to drive the vehicle. Waste heat is reduced by 80%, and power output is improved by 15%. They call it a Turbosteamer, and I want one!

Alright, it’s official. I am really pissed off. Rodriguez is a god. I worship him. As a result, when Sin City was released on DVD, I rushed out and bought it. I was horribly disappointed because all it had on it was the movie. If I had just wanted the movie, I’d have rented it. What I wanted was Rodriguez. On the DVD for Once Upon A Time in Mexico, he took people behind the scenes at Troublemaker Studios, showing them how the special effects and music were created. On top of that, we gave a cooking lesson on how to make the dish the CIA agent (played by Johnny Depp) kept ordering. I was expected something of the same, but there were no special features (or if there were, they were so abysmal, I forgot them already). Anyway, today I find out they have just released a new “Extended” edition of Sin City. What does it include? EVERYTHING I WANTED IN THE FIRST RELEASE! This type of double dipping is utterly unacceptable! What to know why people are stealing DVDs, it’s because you keep screwing your customers.

What is one this DVD? I’m glad you asked. The first disc includes everything from the original release (nothing special, just the movie). The second disc is the gem though. First off it includes all four story lines broken apart from each other. IE: “The Customer Is Always Right” (the opening sequence and the epilogue), “The Hard Goodbye” (Marv’s storyline), “The Big Fat Kill” (Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro), and “That Yellow Bastard” (Brue Willis’ one). It would be really neat to watch them that way. Worse, it also includes “Rodriguez’s usual ‘flic school’ (among the topics is how scenes were created by merging footage of actors who never actually met), … and another Rodriguez cooking school (this time it’s breakfast tacos).” Moreover, it also includes the entire movie pre-special effects (ie: green screened). This is what I was expected when I bought Sin City for $25 months ago. Now, it’s available with everything I want for like $35. I hate being suckered.

I blame the distributors for this, mostly because I think good things of Rodriguez. They did the same thing with Kill Bill. Release a version, let is sell well, then release a “special edition” version. There was no reason they couldn’t have released both at the same time. One for $25 and one for $35. The die-hard fans would pay more for the extra features and the others would just buy the movie. Or, better yet, if you aren’t done the second disc, let the people who bought the first disc already buy the special edition disc for $10 (just disc two though) … Argh! I’m really beginning to hate every studio. Let Piracy Reign!

This fellow conducted an interesting experiment. He set himself up at a major intersection, dressed like and carrying a sign like the bums in his city typically do, but instead of asking for hand-outs, his sign offered free Linux CDs. The response was interesting.

A driver in France managed to drive for 11 miles the wrong way down the highway, despite hitting several vehicles along the way. Yes, that’s right, he hit several vehicles, and yet continued to go the wrong way along the highway, until he finally slammed head-on into somebody and couldn’t actually continue. /me shakes his head