'The Big Bang Theory' - 'The Precious Fragmentation' Recap

(S03E17) This was one of the best episodes of 'The Big Bang Theory' in a while, not because of all of the 'Lord of the Rings' references (I never got into those movies), but because the writers finally figured out a way to get all of the characters together in one plot. Even though Wolowitz and Raj furthered their weird relationship by snuggling during a nap (which was actually only in Sheldon's dream, which raises even more questions), they weren't shoved off to the side in a b-plot. We got back to the season one dynamic of the four guys having a story, while Penny interacts with them on the periphery. Since Penny has become such a big part of the show, this won't work for every episode, but it's nice to see what made us love the show in the first place. Especially since we needed all the happy thoughts in the world to replace the image of Sheldon as Smeagol. Congrats to the makeup crew, but dear God, I never want to see that again. Continue reading 'The Big Bang Theory' - 'The Precious Fragmentation' Recap Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory Permalink | Email this | | Comments

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'Big Love' - 'End of Days' Recap

Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free (S04E09) "I'm Bill Henrickson, and I believe in the principle of plural marriage. I am a polygamist." - from Bill's acceptance speech With those very words, Bill released his family from four seasons of hiding and seclusion and finally brought his lifestyle and faith out in the open in a way very few fans could have seen coming. It was bound to go public somehow someway, but no one could have predicted it would have been on the steps of the state capitol as he accepts the keys to a state senate office. So why did it feel so unfulfilling and empty? Continue reading 'Big Love' - 'End of Days' Recap Permalink | Email this | | Comments

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The 10 Mightiest -- and Nerdiest -- Monster Trucks

​While most automobiles are content to ferry drives and passengers from points of interest, monster trucks perform for the sake of spectacle. The gladiators of the auto kingdom, monster trucks are designed to mete out punishment. Crushing pedestrian vehicles, leaping over illogical expanses, and sometimes battling their own kind, these machines embody many of mankind's most aggressive and competitive impulses. As such, some of escapist fiction's most colorful characters make for suitable monster truck skins, festooning cold beasts with the style needed to give them symbolic power. Continue reading to admire outrageous autos augmented with nerdy aesthetics -- or just to see big cars mercilessly crush little cars. It's fun! Continue reading "The 10 Mightiest -- and Nerdiest -- Monster Trucks" >

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February 2010 Issue

Semper Ubi Sub Ubi readme: Well, there you go. No sooner had I recovered from the craven clam murder attempt detailed in last month’s missive than I was laid low by the Flu from Hell, and I’m still not over it. Bleh. No, I’m not sure what kind it was. We don’t cotton to doctors out here in the boonies. If one of our kin takes sick, we just carry ‘em out into the woods, tie ‘em to a big rock, and hope the coyotes don’t get ‘em afore spring. Anyway, I know it’s March now, but I’m still calling this the Continue reading February 2010 Issue

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GM quickly one-ups Ford with 2011 Duramax diesel ratings, shows off GMC Sierra Denali HD

Filed under: Truck, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, GMC, Diesel 2011 GMC Sierra Denali HD - Click above for high-res image gallery Not even a month ago, at the end of our post on the 2011 Ford Super Duty engine specs, we wrote: "General Motors, there's a big ass ball in your court." Someone at GM has apparently grabbed their big ass racket and said, "Oh, I got this...", then smacked the ball right back into play. The Ford's measurements 390 horsepower, 735 pound-feet of grunt. The General has just announced that its 6.6-liter Duramax turbo diesel has 397 horsepower and 765 lb-ft. of torque, a jump of 32 horsepower and 105 lb-ft. over the previous Duramax. A closer look at the numbers does reveal some give-and-take, however. The Ford's maximum tow rating is 21,600 pounds, while GM's is 20,000 pounds. And while not exactly engine related, the Ford truck also has a higher max payload than the GM twins. Still, the RenCen pickups take the power crown, and the new Duramax is more efficient than the previous one - GM didn't put a specific mileage number to it, but claims 680 miles of highway going possible from the 36-gallon tank. You'll find GM's press release on the new engine after the jump. In related news, GM has released the first image of its GMC Sierra Denali HD pickup, mechanical and sheetmetal twin of the Chevrolet Silverado HD. There's an additional press release after the jump for it as well. So... anyone else want to take a swing at that even bigger ass ball? Gallery: 2011 GMC Sierra Denali HD [Source: General Motors via PickupTrucks.com] Continue reading GM quickly one-ups Ford with 2011 Duramax diesel ratings, shows off GMC Sierra Denali HD GM quickly one-ups Ford with 2011 Duramax diesel ratings, shows off GMC Sierra Denali HD originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Cisco's Speedy New Router Will Take a While to Hit the Bottom Line

Routers are crucial Internet traffic cops that direct data along its congested main arteries. And Cisco's super-hyped super-fast router promises to help network operators keep up with ever-increasing demands. But those big customers won't be too quick to take out their checkbooks. Continue reading Cisco's Speedy New Router Will Take a While to Hit the Bottom Line Cisco's Speedy New Router Will Take a While to Hit the Bottom Line originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:50:00. Filed Under: Company News, Technology, AT&T, Cisco Systems Inc. Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

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It Continues! 'Iron Cross' Filmmaker Sues Variety For Negative Review

If you read Cinematical every day and/or keep close tabs on the morality of our industry you might have seen a big scandal arise over on Hollywood's stalwart trade paper, Variety. Scott Weinberg brought you the news that Variety had reportedly pulled a negative review of the film Iron Cross once the film's director and producer, Joshua Newton, spent $400,000 on advertising banners. Gawker never could get a response from Variety, but the LA Times did. Variety put Robert Koehler's review of Iron Cross back up, and claimed they had taken it down in order to investigate "factual inaccuracies" after Newton complained. This investigation included Variety's editor Tim Gray actually sitting and watching the film, and deciding that the trade could stand by Koehler's review. Gray declined to give his own opinion on the film to the Times. But Iron Cross' Newton isn't satisfied. According to the New York Times, Newton has now filed a lawsuit against Variety accusing the paper of "contractual breach, negligence, fraud and deceit, and unfair business practices." He believes he was betrayed by the paper that suggested the film as a potential awards contender and approached him two months later with the advertising package. They formed an "exclusive media partnership" which included print and online ads, 40,000 DVDs, and inclusion in an awards screening series sponsored by the paper. Newton spent an additional $800,000 to finish the film for its brief theatrical run in Los Angeles that would allow it to qualify for the Oscars. The producer claims this partnership and Oscar campaign was undermined when Koehler ran a negative review of the film. He's asking for "general damages, punitive damages, restitution of funds paid and an injunction to prevent Variety from further comment on the movie" but has not specified a monetary amount. Filed under: Awards, Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, Movie Marketing, Oscar Watch Continue reading It Continues! 'Iron Cross' Filmmaker Sues Variety For Negative Review Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Customers rely less on credit cards when buying online

Filed under: Shopping, Technology, Credit CardsIn spite of the recession, online purchases have held up remarkably well. According to a new study from Javelin Strategy & Research, Americans spent $205 billion online last year, a rise of 10.8% over 2008. What's interesting, though, is that we're relying less on credit cards to make those purchases. While credit cards are still the most popular form of payment, debit card usage is on the rise. This reflects both our desire to better control our spending by avoiding "buy now, pay later" scenarios as well as the economic reality that's made credit tough to come by for many Americans, according to Beth Robertson, director of payments research for Javelin. Advances in technology to make online shopping faster, more flexible and more secure also helped the trend along, she added. Javelin's research indicates that 63% of Americans are comfortable with shopping online, adds Robertson. "It really shows that consumers are continuing to get more and more comfortable purchasing online," Robertson told WalletPop in an interview. "Security features are helping consumers feel more confident." The convenience of online shopping is another big selling point, Robertson told us. Despite a move toward other forms of payment, we're still using credit cards for bigger-ticket purchases. Javelin's research showed that the average credit card purchase online was $45.34, which was 22% higher than the average purchase price in the next category. Overall, debit cards were the second most popular method of online payment. Continue reading Customers rely less on credit cards when buying online Customers rely less on credit cards when buying online originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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New Old News: Olivia Williams on Her 'X-Men 3' Cameo

On Thursday morning of last week, I spoke to actress Olivia Williams about her participation in Roman Polanski's film The Ghost Writer. Although I would have been happy to digress into a lengthy discussion on the finer points ofher performance as Miss Cross in Rushmore, this writer's favorite film of all time, we mostly spoke about the new film, Polanski and her career in general. Towards the end of our time, however, I did take a moment to ask about her cameo in X-Men: The Last Stand, which she explained she did as a favor for director Brett Ratner. "Brett Ratner was a big Rushmore fan growing up," she explained. Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom Continue reading New Old News: Olivia Williams on Her 'X-Men 3' Cameo Permalink | Email this | Comments

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[My Gang] Gorillaz - Stylo : Reco of the Week 03 Mar 2010

Track: Stylo Featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack Artist: Gorillaz Album: Plastic Beach (8 Mar 10) Tags: electronic, multi-genre, my gang rotw Video: Click the pic... YouTube, official video The biggest music news of the week, apart from the threat of closure to BBC 6 Music (see also BBC-o-gram and also the full review), is the new album from Gorillaz, due out next week and streaming in full now at NPR. There isn't much I can add to the excitement. Everyone knows who they are and can't have failed to have missed the eager anticipation online and in print. Plastic Beach is my joint number one album of 2010, along with Massive Attack's Heligoland. I was pleased to see The Sunday Times write positively about them: By Mark Edwards, 28 Feb 2010 Next week, the new Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, arrives. Alongside Damon Albarn and his usual cartoon crew, we will be treated to an extraordinary and eclectic line-up of guest stars. Plastic Beach features appearances by Lou Reed, Bobby Womack, Mark E Smith, Gruff Rhys, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, De La Soul, Kano, Bashy, even a reunion of The Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simonon — rock legends, punk legends, soul legends, rap legends and grime luminaries, all brought together under the banner of pop’s most proudly manufactured band. Plastic Beach arrives just a few weeks after the similarly guest-starry Heligoland, the first album for seven years from Massive Attack. Heligoland includes contributions from long-time sparring partners Horace Andy and Martina Topley-Bird, alongside Hope Sandoval, Elbow’s Guy Garvey, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Gorillaz’s (or, if you prefer, Blur’s) Damon Albarn. [...] Therein lies the secret of the success of both Plastic Beach and Heligoland. Both Damon Albarn and Massive Attack clearly have the talent, patience, open-mindedness and musical adventurousness to turn what might be simple guest appearances into true collaborations. When the guest stars become real musical partners, that’s when the album as a whole becomes more than the sum of its guest-starry parts. I couldn't reco the video for my favourite track from Heligoland, Paradise Circus, for its adult content. So to make up for it, I have chosen Stylo from Plastic Beach, which to my mind, is the same difference, i.e. both bands are as good as each other, though they sit at opposite ends of the same table. Source: The Guardian The video is wonderful. If you haven't seen it yet, go and do it now before reading any further. I'll help you - I'll post a nice big picture. Here are the donuts that appear in the video. mmMMmm. Go scroll up, right click on the pic, open the video in another tab, max the screen, and look out for... !! Source: The Guardian Stop peeking. Go scroll up. Source: as before For such an insanely sunny track, the underlying themes in the music and the video are morbidly dark. Bruce Willis looks the epitome of cool driving his 68 El Camino, throwing his trademark looks to camera. Source: as before The video is as funny as it is sunny as it is dark. The spectre of Death, wearing a mask borrowed from The Knife siblings, who takes the fat cop reaching out for the box of donuts, is a wacky touch. As if cartoon characters in a beat up car with real cops chasing after them isn't wacky enough already. Source: as before The music is like Massive Attack at a disco. Damon Albarn's hypnotic, seductive vocals set a tone that doesn't continue when he's blown out of the water when Bobby Womack appears. Mos Def adds to the aural flavour without imposing on it, providing richness and depth. Bruce Willis chases our kids over a cliff and into the sea, where their vehicle morphs into some sort of aquatic fish-like machine, heading for... where?... must be Plastic Beach. Source: as before You can hear an interview with Murdoc on BBC 6 Music in this podcast, which aired today. Stylo, along with Empire ants, is as upbeat as the album gets. The album begins with an orchestral intro, moves on to Snoop Dogg channelling Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - before taking in an unexpected arabic mixed with grime theme. As innovative as the first half is, the second half quietens things down to a more steady and sedate pace, giving music that doesn't blow your mind on first listen then bore you, but the kind that you find yourself going back to, that will eventually contribute to the soundtrack of your life. But I would say that. Babs My Gang Reco of the Week archives Disclaimer: Mines Source: Amazon Admin: Stats as of today: Last.fm listeners of this track - 6,428 No. of plays scrobbled in Last.fm - 30,211 Position in Last 7 Days: 31 / 2,120 Position in Last 6 Months: 93 / 2,079 Video Date Added: March 01, 2010 Views: 475,271, Ratings: 7,889, Comments: 6,162, Favourited: 14,072 times Stats after 7 days: Unique Visitors Page Views .

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