What did you all think of HBO’s new series Rome?
Rome
by John Cole| 25 Comments
This post is in: Popular Culture
Rome
The Tinkerbell Strategy?
Alright- I know what the Chewbacca Defense is, but I have no idea what the ‘Tinkerbell Strategy’ is…
Fill me in, please.
Live and Let Die
Pierce Brosnan is no longer Bond:
A single, surprising phone call and it was over. That’s how Pierce Brosnan says he learned that his services as James Bond would no longer be required.
“One phone call, that’s all it took!” the 52-year-old actor tells Entertainment Weekly magazine in its Aug. 19 issue.
Brosnan starred in four Bond films. He says that before they stopped negotiations, the producers had invited him back for a fifth time.
“You know, the movie career for me really started with Bond,” says Brosnan, acknowledging that by the time GoldenEye premiered in 1995, he was already 42.
He then starred as 007 in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).
Personally, I thought he was a great Bond. Connery was still the best, though. Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton were abominations.
Diversity Bookbags
And then you read stories like this and understand completely why Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council are so popular:
Massachusetts law provides that parents must be notified when children are going to be taught about sex and specifically homosexuality, so the parents may pull the kid out of that class if they choose. Seems reasonable.
Well, five year olds were given “Diversity Bookbags” which included a book showing some families having two mommies and two daddies. Parents were not informed.
The school takes the curious position that depicting same-sex coupling is not, in fact, any sort of mention of homosexuality that would trip the law. So they refused to notify parents.
One parent showed up to demand to know if he’d be informed of any future such non-mentions mentions of homosexuality for his kindergartener.
He wouldn’t leave until he had that assurance, which they wouldn’t give. They were nice enough, however, to have him arrested for criminal trespass, and thoughtfully arranged for him to spend the night in jail.
More here.
*** Update ***
Well, score one for the wingnuts- they fooled me and Ace. This isn’t as cut and dried as the two news stories make it- this guy is clearly an activist with an agenda.
Personally, any way you slice it or dice it, I don’t think the schools need to be sending home ‘diversity bags’ with reading material that may offend parents. Especially not with kindergartners. But there is more to this than meets the eye. I will try to have a summary of what is going on later.
Dana Reeves
This is terrible news for a family that has already gone through a lot:
Dana Reeve, who spent nine years caring for her paralyzed husband, Christopher Reeve, until his death last year, announced Tuesday that she has lung cancer.
Reeve, 44, said she decided to disclose her illness following rumors about her health in the media.
“I have recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, and am currently undergoing treatment,” Reeve said in a statement. “I have an excellent team of physicians, and we are optimistic about my prognosis.”
I still agree with Gary Farber. I am really angry with death, and I hope Dana pullsthrough ok.
Being a Geek Can Be Expensive
Someone bought Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber- for $200k:
The force is evidently still strong with this one: Luke Skywalker’s lightsabre from the original Star Wars Episode IV has sold for $200,600 (£113,000), three times its estimated price, at an auction of movie props and costumes in Beverly Hills.
Also snapped up at the Profiles in History auction was Darth Vader’s lightsabre from Episode V, which carried an estimate of $40,000-60,000 and went for $118,000 (£66,500).
I am overwhelmed with the possibilities and can’t come up with any nerd jokes.
Wasting Time and Money
Also via The Hill, something we can thank Hillary for:
Two weeks after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) called for enhanced government oversight of video games, House Republicans passed a bill aimed at scrutinizing the $11 billion industry.
The 355-21 vote on Rep. Fred Upton’s (R-Mich.) bill, which calls for a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation on a controversial video game called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, suggests that both political parties are jockeying for position on the issue.
On July 22, Upton became the first congressional Republican to introduce legislation on video games. The measure passed Monday.
After Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, Republicans said there is a need to reduce sex and violence on television. But until recently Democrats have taken the lead on cleaning up explicit video games.
I hope we make sure Toommy Chong isn’t selling anymore bongs, too.