A Goddam Sexual Tyrannosaurus... Just Like Me.

Again, not one of mine. But possibly the most awesome custom figure I've seen lately.

Brandon, Mississippi

The town of Brandon, Mississippi apparently loved Marine Staff Sergeant Jason Rogers, who was killed in Afghanistan.

This is video shot from the dashboard of a state police cruiser escorting Staff Sergeant Rogers' funeral motorcade.

Did you notice anything missing? Like maybe some looney-tunes protestors who I refuse to name in order to raise their Google ranking?

It seems that the town and surrounding county organized to handle a certain group of infamous protestors. I won't say that everything was strictly legal, but then, when you place yourselves outside of society, you shouldn't necessarily expect all of society to welcome you with hugs or rush to your assistance when you get in a spot of trouble.

Whip My Hair on Jimmy Fallon (w/Bruce Springsteen)

1/6 Scale Fantasy Tavern

Sadly, this ain't mine. But it is very impressive work.

Say What?

Huh?

You've been out shopping someplace and overheard a family of immigrants speaking a language you just don't understand. It's somewhat disconcerting. You don't know the content of the speech, obviously, but there's something alien about the rhythm and cadence of the speech too.

But have you ever wondered what it must be like on the other end of that? What American English sounds like to native speakers of other languages?

So what is this? Well, according to one helpful commentator on the Internet it's a 1972 song called, "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Calentano with his wife Claudia Mori. Everything is total gibberish designed to sound like American English. In effect, this is what we sound like to "them." Or, at least Calentano and his missus. Although as a hit, it must have sounded like a good approximation to a fair number of other people too.

Maybe they just liked the beat. The song is catchy.

A Blog that makes me LOL

OK, I realize this is going to raise a few eyebrows, but... Bangable Dudes in History is definitely a blog that makes me LOL. The concept is hilarious. And no, I'm not gay. ("Not that there's anything wrong with that...") Someone needs to start the Bangable Chicks in History blog now... I promise to plug them too.

Fallon Friday

Stephen Colbert sings "Friday" on Jimmy Fallon's late night show, with a little help from his friends.

Borders farewell

This is a scene from one of the many Borders stores that is closing. The empty shelves are in the Career Reference section. The quote on the wall reads, "When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food." -- Erasmus

X-Men: First Class

This isn't the real opening credits sequence for X-Men: First Class, but given how well it captures the 1960's / Bond movie aesthetic, maybe it should be.

I wasn't wildly enthusiastic about X-Men: First Class when I heard about it, but the more I see and hear, the more interested I become.

Helmet's View

This is footage shot from a camera mounted on the helmet of a member of the Australian Commando Regiment fighting in Afghanistan.

If it seems a bit chaotic, or ends a bit anti-climatically, chalk that up to the nature of modern war. It's anything but neat and tidy, and it isn't ready-made for narrative drama.

The Black Keys

I sent this around to many of my email correspondents... But it's too good not to share further.

My wife loaded all the Black Keys albums on my iPod. Now I can take Howlin' For You with me on the road.

Paul Vunak's Rapid Assault Tactics & Edged Weapons

I haven't been writing much on my martial arts practice these past few months. I haven't given up, in fact, I expanded my practice. In January 2010, I started regular BJJ classes. My exposure and practice of BJJ had been sporadic up until then. Let me be honest, my taijutsu dojo's owner and head instructor was adding to his own arsenal by practicing BJJ and using us as grappling dummies. We showed enough interest, and his own practice of the art advanced to the point where first his staff started taking lessons and getting ranked, and then classes were offered to the main student body.

In late May-early June, 2010, a good friend of mine started his quest to build a martial arts instruction business and began offering Jeet Kune Do (JKD) classes. His line of instruction goes through Paul Vunak's organization, and he is certified to teach Vunak's Rapid Assault Tactics and Edged Weapons curriculum. "RAT" is a stripped down version of JKD, and was developed back in the 80's as a combatives program for the Navy SEALs. The Edged Weapons curriculum was developed for similar reasons. I'm really enjoying expanding my martial arts practice. I think these two additional disciplines are meshing nicely with my old taijutsu training, and filling in some important gaps. Here's a video of Vunak teaching an edged weapons seminar:

Here's a video of Vunak discussing his philosophy of edged weapons:

Given that my buddy is just starting out, I'd probably be remiss not to post his teaching POC information:

Facebook

Website -- I suspect he's been updating his Facebook page with the most recent information, but this may still be helpful for background info.

Here's Paul Vunak's website for deeper info on the system.

BBC Series trailer: Human Planet

This is a trailer for a BBC series called "Human Planet" which is sort of a nature series looking at the human animal.

Or is it an anthropological series shot like a mature documentary?

I don't know, but it sure is beautiful and breathtaking.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Ladies and gentlemen... The trailer:

SuckerPunch?

So the folks behind SuckerPunch have been releasing animated shorts as teasers and exposition for the fantasy scenes in the movie. I posted the WWI Steampunk Zombie one not long ago. Now we've got a knights and dragons clip:

That's not bad. Not bad at all.

Here's an excerpt from the movie itself:

I dunno... It's fulfilling my expectations, but... I can't put my finger on it, but somehow, seeing this has made me less excited about seeing the movie.

Mjolner!

You know you want the most accurate replica of Thor's Mighty Hammer Mjolner that you can find. And this, apparently, is it.

Googling "Clay Williams" (the artist) and "Eaglewood Sculpts" provides some social networking pages, but no official website. So I can't tell you how much 20 lbs. of oak, aluminum, and leather will cost you. But I'm sure it ain't super cheap to get a semi-custom Mjolner.

Elizabeth Taylor: Icon

What can you say when an icon dies?

Time Out for Art: Gary Gianni

Solomon Kane.

The fan film I posted not long ago inspired me to pick up my copy of the Solomon Kane stories illustrated by Gary Gianni and reread the Puritan swordsman's adventures.

I've heard some surprisingly good things about the recent Solomon Kane movie that was never released in the States. I'm looking to get a DVD and see it sometime soon. In the meantime, I'll revel in the original stories and Gianni's fantastic art.

History shows again and again...

How nature points out the folly of men.

Not surprisingly, internet searches for the term "Godzilla" spiked after the Japanese Triple Disaster. io9 has a wonderful essay on the topic here.

I know I made a few Godzilla jokes in the aftermath, and I wasn't alone. But I'm a firm believer that humor is best when there is some truth in it, and it is a useful tool for navigating some of life's more difficult moments. As the essay points out, there are solid, poignant reasons why people reached out for the familiar big lizard-guy to help cope with the tragedy.

I am sure that Japan will prove just as unstoppable and resilient as Godzilla.

SuckerPunch teaser

I have zero hope that Sucker Punch will be a good story. However, I am prepared to sit back, leave my disbelief at the door to the theater, and drink in the crazy quilt of visuals.

What's not to like? Pretty girls, automatic weapons, wire-fu, mecha, giant samurai, ork stormtroopers, helicopters, dragons... I'm sure I'll be happy so long as the explosions keep coming.

Film is a visual medium, and while I appreciate a great story with all the Aristotelean unities, sometimes a shattering dream- or nightmare-scape can fill the bill just as well.

Here is an animation "inspired" by the steampunk, nightmare version of World War I trench warfare in which dead soldiers are turned into Industrial Age techno-zombies.

You know... those guys have more than a passing resemblence to WH40K Death Korps of Krieg... Where's my epic WH40K live-action movie???