Master of Cameos

Alfred Hitchcock was famous for making an appearance in all his films.  It got to be such a distraction, he felt,  that in his later films he would make his appearance during the opening scenes.  Here is a montage of several of his cameos.  (My personal favorite being “Topaz”).

The News Goes Ever On And On…

“The Hobbit” movie update: 

Here’s an interesting take on the news from Peter Jackson’s fanclub:  “Of course we do believe Peter would be the ideal man for the project; however we feel that after 11 years engulfed in the Tolkien universe, it is now time that Peter explored new ideas. A new outlook on the book by an enthusiastic director (just like Peter was when he was offered Lord of the Rings) could bring something fresh and original to the project. This is something that a project like The Hobbit greatly needs.”

And from theonering.net about whether or not WETA will still be involved:  “The severing of ties between PJ and New Line did not mean Weta was automatically barred from doing The Hobbit, according to Weta chief Richard Taylor. ‘Peter would not impress that on us,’ Taylor said, adding that he did not know much about the Hobbit project yet and had not had a chance to talk to Peter.”

A Sad Day in Bag End

I just came across this news item from Sunday. This is definitely sad news for any LOTR fans that wanted to see it happen.

Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow

I bought “Battle for Middle-Earth II” for the PC a few weeks ago.  The game is pretty cool if you like RTS games as well as the Lord of the Rings.  It also has a Risk-type turn based game where you can control all of the territories of Middle-Earth.  The game is down to $30 most places, so it’s a great deal.  The best part of the game so far is the “Summon Tom Bombadil” command.  Tom shows up dancing around to the sounds of a banjo, ready for a fight.  His voice also reminds me of Mike Myers’ Scottish-accented dad in “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (“HEAD! PANTS! NOW!”). 

The Children of Húrin

Christopher Tolkien (Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien’s son) will be publishing “The Children of Hurin” in April 2007. The tale was begun in 1918 by his father, but later was abandoned. Christopher has been working on it for the last 30 years. The tale takes place during the First Age of Middle-Earth, so it will read more like the “Silmarillion” (my favorite of Tolkien’s works) than “Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit“. Further info is at the Wikipedia.

Limozeen Coloring Book

Attention all ye Limozeen fans (and Strongbad fans, too), homestarrunner.com has an interactive Limozeen coloring book for your enjoyment.  Where else can you color an authentic picture of a keytar?

…and going

Quick Fact #1: Today I celebrate the 11,323rd day of my existence…

Quick Fact #2: Today I celebrate the 11,323rd day I’ve avoided being stabbed.

“Uh, Jimmy…you might want to take it easy on the bison hunting for a while.”

From Wikipedia:  Photograph from the mid-1870s of a pile of American Bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer.

Something to Ponder

I want you to think about the millions of dollars that were spent on this past campaign season on TV ads, full color mailers, and automated phone calls.

Then ask yourself why don’t we still have a cure for cancer?

Happy Election Day!