RIP John Cooper

The death has occurred of John Cooper at 73. He was a British comic book artist from West Yorkshire that was most famous for his work in the '70's and '80's. Chances are if you read any British weekly comic books around that period, you'll likely have seen his work as he drew strips for Valiant, Action, Starlord, Tornado, Battle, Eagle and one of the first Judge Dredd strips for 2000AD.

While he's known for Johnny Red and One-Eyed Jack - what I'll remember him for is the hundreds of pages of Action Force which he drew for ICP's Battle: Action Force in the mid 80's featuring all the G.I.Joe characters from that period, long before anyone in this neck of the woods had ever heard of G.I.Joe.

As he wasn't bound as his American counterparts were by the Comics Code Authority, Cooper had free reign to draw everything from realistic bullet wounds to suicide bombers in a comic book based on a child's toy. - And it was fucking awesome! May he rest in peace.

Commie alien star threatens freedom!

...or at least the freedom of Neanderthal man who shambled the planet 70,000 years ago.

A team of international astronomers led by Eric Mamajek at the University of Rochester, New York and supported by SPEARHEAD say that Scholz's star, a red dwarf, travelled through a region at the edge of the Solar System filled with trillions of comets known as the "outer Oort Cloud" and passed within 0.8 light years of the Sun. No other star is known to have approached this close to us - five times closer than our nearest neighbour - Proxima Centauri.

The researchers determined the trajectory of the star by analysing the change in distance from the Sun to the star and the star's motion across the sky. As Scholz's star now lies 20 light years away but it showed very slow motion for a star as close. This indicated that it was either moving away from us or worse - TOWARDS a future close encounter with the Solar System.

Once the panic that this generated among the senior scientific community and world governments which began working on ways to prolong the human race away from the doomed Earth had died down: the velocity measurements of the red dwarf confirmed that it was in fact speeding away from us. However after tracing its movements back in time, the astronomers found its close shave with the Sun occurred some 70,000 years ago.

While it was theorised that a star passing through the Oort Cloud could potentially play gravitational havoc with the orbits of comets there, sending them on trajectories into the inner Solar System. Dr Mamajek believes the effects of Scholz's star on our cosmic neighbourhood were "negligible". 

Director of Scientific Research,  Dr. "Quantum" Pataal cautioned that just because Scholtz's star will unlikely be the object of our doom "it won't be the last time we're threatened by rogue celestial bodies that we may be ultimately powerless to defend ourselves against.

Source: BBC

2014 - The Year in Review

We say goodbye to 2014, the 70th Anniversary of D-Day and 75th for Batman, a year of Ebola, ISIS, The Ukraine, Frozen, Ferguson Missouri and where Colbert "won" Television.

Where the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Germany won the World Cup and Luis Suárez was hungry. 

When Boko Harem were prompted to Bring Back Our Girls. Crimea was annexed by Russia. Israel and Palestine fought again and the Syria crisis worsened. 

A year of the Ice-Bucket Challenge, the Pistorious verdict, Irish Water charges, when Scotland is united yet divided, MH370 is lost, MH17 is shot down and QZ8501 crashed.

Kim Kardashian's huge oiled ass didn't break the Internet, but we landed something on a fucking comet [which you can even listen to] - there is hope! 

It is time to remember those we have left behind in 2014...

General Carl E. Mundy Jr, former USMC Commandant, former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, outspoken Northern Irish Unionist politician Ian Paisley, Shirley Temple the child actress who would grow up to be come a U.S. ambassador, Ralph H. Baer engineer, inventor and pioneer of video gaming, author Maya Angelou, artist H. R. Giger, announcer and movie trailer voiceover artist Hal Douglas, TV producer Glen A. Larson, actors Eli Wallach, Mickey Rooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, James Garner, Bob Hoskins and Lauren Bacall. Comedians Joan Rivers, Harold Ramis, Rik Mayall and Robin Williams. They changed the world and our lives.

Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden both starred in the British ITV comedy series Two's Company from 1975-1979, both legends passed away in 2014 only 8 weeks apart

We also lost the following people from the world of entertainment:

Elaine Stritch, 89, American award-winning actress (30 Rock, Two's Company)
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE FRSA, 90, English actor (The Day of the Jackal, Two's Company) Roger Lloyd-Pack, 69, English actor (Trigger in Only Fools and Horses)

Hal Sutherland, 84, American animator (Star Trek: The Animated Series), co-founder of Filmation

Sarah Marshall, 80, British actress (Janet Wallace Star Trek: TOS, "The Deadly Years")

John Cacavas, 83, American television score composer (Kojak, Hawaii 5-O, The Bionic Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)

Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk MBE, 85, English clarinetist ("Stranger on the Shore")

Campbell Lane, 78, Canadian actor (Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Richard Bull, 89, American actor (Mr. Oleson in Little House on the Prairie, The Doctor in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)

Ralph Waite, 85, American marine and actor (The Waltons, NCIS)

Cliff Bole, 76, American television director (MacGyver, T.J. Hooker, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Christopher Malcolm, 67, Scottish actor (The Empire Strikes Back, Highlander)

Jimmy Murakami, 80, American animator and film director (The Snowman), co-founder of Murakami-Wolf Films

Malcolm Tierney, 75, British actor (Lieutenant Childsen in Star Wars, Braveheart)

Aaron Allston, 53, American game designer (Dungeons & Dragons) and sci-fi author (X-Wing)

James Rebhorn, 65, American actor (Independence Day, Homeland)

David A. Trampier, 59, American fantasy gaming artist (Dungeons & Dragons)

Arthur Smith, 93, American musician and songwriter ("Duelling Banjos" from Deliverance)

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., 95, American actor (Alfred in Batman: The Animated Series and related shows/video games)

Terry Richards, 81, British actor and stuntman (Arabian Swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, James Bond movies)

Casey Kasem, 82, American radio jockey (American Top 40) and voice actor (Shaggy in Scooby-Doo)

James Shigeta, 85, American actor (Takagi in Die Hard)

Patsy Byrne, 80, English actress (Nursie in Blackadder II)

Bob Hastings, 89, American actor (Commissioner Gordon in Batman: The Animated Series and related shows/video games)

Joe Viskocil, 61, American visual effects artist (Independence Day, Star Wars) Oscar winner (1997)

Cassandra Lynn Hensley, 34, American model (Playboy Miss February 2006)

Arlene Martel, 78, American actress (T'Pring in Star Trek: TOS "Amok Time")

Stephen Lee, 58, American actor (The Negotiator, Chorgan in Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Vengeance Factor")

Brian G. Hutton, 79, American actor and director (Kelly's Heroes, Where Eagles Dare)

The Rt Hon. The Lord Attenborough [Richard Samuel Attenborough], CBE, 90, English award-winning actor, producer and director (Gandhi, The Great Escape, Jurassic Park)

Buster Jones, 71, American voice actor (Blaster in The Transformers, Winston in The Real Ghostbusters and Lothar in Defenders of the Earth)

Polly Bergen, 84, American singer and actress (Rhoda Henry in The Winds of War and War and Remembrance) Emmy Award winner (1958)

Geoffrey Holder, 84, Trinidadian actor (Baron Samedi in Live and Let Die)

Jan Hooks, 57, American comedienne and actress (Saturday Night Live, Batman Returns, 30 Rock)

Carol Ann Susi, 62, American actress (Mrs. Wolowitz in The Big Bang Theory)

Richard Kiel, 74, American actor (Jaws in the James Bond movies)

Christine Cavanaugh, 51, American voice actress (The Critic)

John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE ("With a little help from my Friends", "Up Where We Belong")

Maximilian Schell, 83, Austrian-Swiss Oscar-winning actor (A Bridge Too Far, Cross of Iron)

Elizabeth Peña, 55, American actress (The Incredibles, Modern Family)

Mike Nichols, 83, German-born American director (Catch-22), Oscar winner (1968)

Don Pardo, 96, American radio and television announcer (Saturday Night Live)

Menahem Golan, 85, Israeli director and producer (Operation Thunderbolt, The Delta Force, Masters of the Universe), founder of Golan-Globus and the Cannon Group

Edward Herrmann, 71, American actor (Nixon, The Lost Boys, The Aviator)

The Ultimate Warrior, 54, American Hall of Fame professional wrestler (WWE)

Warren Clarke, 67, British actor (Firefox, Top Secret!)

Dennis Lipscomb, 72, American actor (Under Siege, Wiseguy, In the Heat of the Night)

Jimi Jamison, 63, American musician (Baywatch theme, Survivor "Burning Heart")

Lee Marshall, 64, American radio personality, professional wrestling announcer and voice actor (Tony The Tiger)

we appreciate the legacy of their talents and creativity.

Jackie Healy-Rae, charismatic former Fianna Fáil politician who left the party to become an Independent TD and founded a political dynasty.

We also acknowledge those who died in 2014 who devoted much of their lives to military, scientific, industrial or public service:

Vicente T. Blaz, 85, American USMC general and politician, delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Guam (1985–1993)

Captain John J. McGinty III, 73, American Marine Corps officer, recipient of the Medal of Honor

Major-General Patrick Guy Brooking CB CMG MBE DL, 76, former Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin [1985]

John Carty, 63, Irish politician, FF TD for Mayo (2002–2007), Senator (2007–2011)

Captain Dale Gardner, 65, American naval officer and astronaut (STS-8, STS-51-A)

Valeri Kubasov, 79, Russian engineer and cosmonaut (Soyuz 6, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project/Soyuz 19, Soyuz 36)

Lieutenant Walter D. Ehlers, 92, American World War II soldier, recipient of the Medal of Honor

Major Kurt Chew-Een Lee, 88, American military officer, first Asian-American officer in the Marine Corps, recipient of the Navy Cross

Staff Sergeant William Guarnere, 90, American World War II non-commissioned officer and author, key figure in Band of Brothers

Leutnant Hermann Schleinhege, 98, German Luftwaffe ace during World War II [97 aerial victories]

Colonel Ola L. Mize, 82, American army officer, Korean War recipient of the Medal of Honor

James R. Schlesinger, 85, American government official, Director of the CIA (1973), Secretary of Defense (1973–1975), Secretary of Energy (1977–1979)

Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton, 89, American politician and naval officer, Senator from Alabama (1981–1987), recipient of the Navy Cross

Colonel James H. Kasler, 87, American Air Force officer, three-time recipient of the Air Force Cross

General of the Army Vladimir Popovkin, 56, Russian military officer, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency (2011–2013)

Avraham Shalom, 86, Austrian-born Israeli security official, Director of the Shin Bet (1980–1986), commander in the capture of Adolf Eichmann and the Bus 300 affair

PFC Chuck Tatum, 87, American WWII Marine, Iwo Jima combatant, provided source material for The Pacific

Denis Lyons, 78, Irish politician, FF TD for Cork North Central (1981–1992)

Colonel Henry Hartsfield, 80, American air force officer, NASA astronaut and test pilot (Columbia), commander for Discovery and Challenger missions

Major Theodore Van Kirk, 93, American military officer, navigator and last surviving crew member on the Enola Gay

Sergeant Major Jon R. Cavaiani, 70, American NCO and prisoner of war, Army Special Forces, recipient of the Medal of Honor

Yitzhak Hofi, 87, Israeli general, Director of Mossad (1974–1982)

Colonel Anatoly Berezovoy, 72, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz T-5)

Lieutenant General Lincoln D. Faurer, 86, American air force officer, Director of the National Security Agency (1981–1985)

Flight Lieutenant Bill Green, 97, English Battle of Britain RAF fighter pilot

General Ramsey Muir Withers, CMM, CD, 84, Canadian army officer, Chief of the Defence Staff (1980–1983)

Jackie Healy-Rae, 83, Irish politician, fmr FF, IND TD for Kerry South (1997–2011)

Ariel Sharon, 85, Israeli politician and general, Minister of Defense (1981–1983), Prime Minister (2001–2006)

Karl Albrecht, 94, German billionaire grocery executive, co-founder of Aldi

Brian Farrell, 85, British-born Irish broadcaster and journalist

we thank them for their service to their respective fields.

I must also mention the passing of Angalifu, a Sudanese-born American rhinoceros, and was one of two remaining male northern white rhinoceros, Julia O’Donnell, “Ireland’s most famous mammy” mother of singer Daniel O’Donnell who died at 94 and O Sang-hon, a 50 year old North Korean deputy security minister in the Ministry of Public Security, who was bizarrely executed by flamethrower in the political purge. May they rest in peace.

And now we look forward to

2015

Happy New Year

81 million views and counting...

Happy Xmas 2014

Coming to the end of a 3 month classified training operation on the moon, but I wish you all a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.

Fact: Santa is actually a USMC 1st Sergeant

Shatner and Nimoy in new Star Trek III?

Zachary Spock Quinto confirmed recently that the third new Star Trek movie will be released in time for the 50th Anniversary of the franchise in 2016 and thusly will go before cameras within six months. That's great!

What I don't think is great however is that Robert Orci who "has the conn" for Star Trek III [2016] is more of a Trekkie than J.J. Abrams and is apparently planning on having both Spock prime [Leonard Nimoy] and Kirk prime [William Shatner] in the new universe! That's right, William Shatner could once appear canonically in Star Trek III [2016].

Now I'm sure that to some people this is great news, but I'm on the other side of that fence entirely. As much as I love the Shat, I think he's done all he can/needs to do with Kirk including a somewhat flat death scene in Star Trek: Generations, that despite not being the "best" way to say goodbye to the character, it has been accepted for 20 years now [Fuck, is it 20 years!!!???] as Kirk's endgame.

I didn't mind Spock prime's appearance in Star Trek '09, it was a successful passing of the baton, but Star Trek Into Darkness' Spock prime cameo served a pointlessness and a cheapening of the contribution of Nimoy's famous character to the franchise. While I adored Into Darkness, many saw it as just a poor rehash of the original Star Trek II and in turn rejected it's majesty without truly opening their minds to it's genius.

The character development we saw in Into Darkness could only have happened if we didn't have Spock prime there once again being all mystical and armed with future knowledge. His cameo threatened that but in the end it wasn't major enough to do character perception damage. I fear if both Shatner and Nimoy's characters are injected into the third new Star Trek movie it will considerably stunt that same character growth which was on schedule to be even more than evidenced between Star Trek ['09] and Into Darkness.

Also I loved the original Kirk and Spock et al when they were in their prime and maybe a little after, but Shatner is much to bloated now and poor Nimoy looks like he's about to drop dead any minute now (and how many fucking times is he going to declare retirement anyway?). We've got new actors now and a new timeline for them to work in. This is Trek for a new generation. Not ours. It's a timeline that doesn't need more goddamn time travel and alternative universes. They'll risk alienating any new fans they've picked up by delving into this misplaced nostalgia.

Having Nimoy and Shatner around will be like having your parents present while you're getting to 3rd base. No, put the new crew into space Robert and let them do what their counterparts originally did a generation ago without interference from future / alternate selves and give us something more original than a rehash of a classic or the Star Trek franchise will be exiled and lie dormant for another few years.

Source: Bruce Russel via Nerdist

Robin Williams 1951 - 2014

Last night I learned of the sad news that comedian and actor Robin Williams passed away yesterday at only 63. To add to the shock of losing such a master craftsman we learned that it appeared that he took his own life. I hope that I will never truly understand the terrible disease that is substance addiction and the depression he sought help with but I cannot condone his choice which I regard as an act of utter selfishness.

Nevertheless, one cannot deny the contribution that Williams gave to the entertainment industry and the world of comedy over the past 40 years. Williams was firstly a stand-up comedian and performed on stage every chance he got all throughout his professional career. His big break was in 1978 when he portrayed the alien Mork in an episode of Happy Days. The character was such a hit he soon had his own spin-off TV Series Mork & Mindy which lasted four seasons and made him a household name.

Williams made dozens of movies throughout his illustrious and prolific career. He made family favourites like Hook, Jumanji and Mrs. Doubtfire. He delivered 4 Academy Award nominated performances including Dead Poets Society and won for his performance in Good Will Hunting. Like most actors who have worked as long as he did, he also made some monumental disasters like Popeye and Cadillac Man. He explored his darkside in Insomnia and One-Hour Photo. He lent his voice to dozens of animated characters from Aladdin to Happy Feet. Two of his final roles will be as U.S. Presidents - Eisenhower in The Butler and Roosevelt in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

Everyone who watches movies has their own favourite Robin Williams movie. Mine is Good Morning Vietnam. Despite what I think is Williams' greatest performance for which he received his first Oscar nomination, the movie taught me about censorship [and why it's needed] and that no matter how shitty the job is, even if it's against your personal beliefs - if you're the best at it, you have to do it.

In life, Williams was a D&D and tabletop RPG player and an avid video gamer playing Battlefield 2 and and World of Warcraft. He named his daughter after Princess Zelda and it's believed his son Cody is named for the character in Final Fight.

There have been many tributes on TV, online and in the press today from actors, comedians, writers, directors and even President Obama but one that I was most surprised to see was when I read today's Press Releases from the Pentagon and among the usual DoD and military announcements issued daily was official note from the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE     No. NR-424-14
August 11, 2014
Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the Passing of Robin Williams

The entire of Department of Defense community mourns the loss of Robin Williams. Robin was a gifted actor and comedian, but he was also a true friend and supporter of our troops. From entertaining thousands of service men and women in war zones, to his philanthropy that helped veterans struggling with hidden wounds of war, he was a loyal and compassionate advocate for all who serve this nation in uniform. He will be dearly missed by the men and women of DoD - so many of whom were personally touched by his humor and generosity.

I know other entertainers who have died in recent years have done USO shows but I honestly can't say I recall reading an official DoD press release for someone who has not served in uniform or in office for the Department of Defence, so this is truly special, just like he was.

RIP O Captain! My Captain!

Skellig Michael becomes alien world

There's a 54 acre 715 ft high unpopulated rock off the coast of Co. Kerry that's about to become one of the most famous places on the face of the planet.

Apparently J.J. Abrams, the custodian of my religious beliefs has been given permission by the OPW to film scenes for Star Wars VII on Skellig Michael of all places.

I'm hoping that it will be where they find the crazy old hermit Jedi Master Luke Skywalker living because that would be class and Hamill is sporting a beard [left] that would not look out of place amongst the locals down that direction.

But of course anything they doe will bring an influx of tourism to the island is it has to places like Tunisia and as it also contains a 6th century monastery, part of a UNESCO world heritage site, they may come away with more knowledge than they could possible imagine... ...as well as see some puffins.

Godzilla

Since last year, due to increased responsibility elsewhere, I stopped jumping to the cinema to see absolutely every movie that may have a hook for me. This policy shift has for about 80% of the time, saved me from [according to trusted sources] wasting my valuable time. However the final 20% seems to be split unevenly between movies that I perhaps should have gone to see [4%], and movies I should not have gone to but did [16%]. Godzilla is one such movie in the latter case.

This new Godzilla, apparently an homage to the old Tohiro movies is easily one of the best examples of lazy, pointless, unstructured, maddening, vacant, unentertaining film-making of the decade. For some unfathomable reason, Warner Bros. gave $160m to Gareth Edwards, a completely green first-time director whose only previous work of note was some monster effects for something, I know I read it somewhere but can’t recall now. It’s obvious that the man does indeed have some skill in that field as I’m unable to fault the overall quality of the special effects, pyrotechnics, CGI, modelwork and art direction. However everything else that makes up a movie was almost entirely missing, and sadly it’s a big part.

Edwards quotes three major influences on his career that’s only several years old now – George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino, three of the most successful film creators in the world. Sadly Edwards captured almost none of what these men are known for. The movie has action, without sense of adventure and thus displays none of Lucas’ influence on him. It does have a plot but it’s without story and it’s soulless which is not how Spielberg would have influenced him, and despite having some of the screens’ more competent acting ensembles as Tarantino often does, Edwards wastes their talent with uninspired direction on top of already bland dialogue. There was one moment where Ken Batman Begins Watanabe reveals the creature’s name as Godzilla, it’s supposed to be a dramatic movie-defining moment to send chills down everyone’s spine but instead elicited shrieks of laughter from the audience. I’m glad some people had something to enjoy anyway, but this wasn’t overall a “so bad it’s funny” effort, this was just “bad.”

I don’t understand fully at what point in the process a story from David Callaham who competently penned the story and screenplays for both Doom and The Expendables could be so damaged by Max Borenstein and or further incompetently handled by Edwards. Neither Borenstein nor Edwards have such credits to their names so logically the fault must be with one or both of them. Not at fault were the actors who did their best with what they got. BAFTA nominated Aaron Kick-Ass Taylor Johnson took the lead as Lt. Ford Brody, a Naval EOD technician who for some reason could execute a perfect HALO jump? [but if I started listing all the military issues I had with this movie, I’d be here all day], the aforementioned SAG, Golden Globe and Oscar nominated Ken Watanabe as the obligatory scientist who ‘understands’ Godzilla, Brian Breaking Bad Cranston who has been nominated or won every TV acting award for the past 10 years is the scientist who speaks the truth but no one listens until it’s too late and of course we must mention Godzilla himself, except he’s really only a supporting character in this shoddy flick.

One major issue I must address was that the sound quality was horrendous. In all my years, I’ve never had such a terrible aural experience in the cinema, and I include the few times I’ve been in the back row far corner with some now-forgotten female conquest, away from the true surround experience in the centre area I insist on today. It was like as if they resampled the sound into 128kbps MP3 with some points sounding as tinny and warbled as 96kbps! It may have been an issue with the cinema sound itself [but I've since been in that cinema without issue] but it’s more likely the movie, and it suits me to blame the movie as I’m hating on it anyway. The sound issue certainly did not help Alexander Desplat’s music score but considering it was only marginally less droning, derivative, uninspired and toneless than the rest of that talentless hack’s other efforts, I don’t think it would have made much difference.

A few weeks back I read and subsequently tweeted that the USMC Hollywood liaison office decided to stay well clear of this. I should have followed suit.

Whopper Rating: *

Tonight on the main evening bias....

I'm so genuinely appalled at the news coming from the Israeli/Gaza conflict that I'll have to turn off the news. While I acknowledge the loss of life is indeed a tragedy and the war crimes on both sides of the conflict will continue, I'm fairly desensitised to that now. No I see the near global media bias against Israel as just as worrying.

Many news outlets have their own narrow-minded agenda like Fox News, Russia Today or The Guardian but thankfully they can be switched off/ignored, but when I see bias on this overwhelming scale that it can't be avoided it makes me sick. This reprehensible media bias is turning people who likely don't even know what the conflict is even about towards anti-Jewish hate-crime that make Mel Gibson at his drunken worst look like a moderate humanitarian! Many of these crimes are being committed against people of Jewish descent who may never even have ever been to Israel.

For the past two years during what was supposed to be a ceasefire, Hamas have been figuratively prodding the Israeli tiger with sticks, provoking it but to no avail. Finally they kidnap and kill three of the tiger's cubs and then they cry foul when the tiger gets pissed off and retaliates? Bollox to the media and anyone who can't see through it.

My words are full of wisdom but why not read from a holy man, a Rabbi who lives in Berkley [the cesspool of liberalism] and blogged to the normally leftist bastion of commentary The Huffington Post.

I won't miss him this time.

One can count the number of live appearances of one Hans Florian Zimmer on their fingers even if they're missing some. Needless to say it's a pretty rare occurrence. He has done a select few live events over the years usually as publicity pieces for movies he's scored. 

In 2000 he did a live concert at the Flanders Music Festival in Ghent, Belgium which was deemed quite remarkable for the lucky folk who attended. That event was captured on "Wings of a Film" an album made from the performance.

I was pretty shocked to see him on Saturday Night Live earlier in the year with Pharell Williams who worked with Zimmer on his Amazing Spider-Man 2 score and Zimmer did another live event with whom he dubbed The Sinister Six, the musicians who helped create the songs and sounds of the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack including The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

I believe I have a CD or MP3 copy of every commercially available piece of music that Zimmer has scored on as well as plenty that's not publicly available so I'd be considered a true fan. He's without a single doubt the living musician I most admire.

So when he announced a concert series to debut in London in October, I vowed not to miss him again and I already have my ticket for his first performance.

Star Wars VII: Original Trilogy trio return

I don't think that just because I'm young and handsome that it somehow gives me the right to criticise the appearance of others, especially celebrities who are ageing naturally. No human being looks exactly the same after 30 or 40 years [unless you're Patrick Stewart]. Sure some folks look great for their age but there are others who do not. When some move out of the spotlight for a while and re-emerge like Val Kilmer, the result can be a shock.

Last year Mark Hamill was seen really dying for a fag and he rummaged through a public ash can to get a few puffs of sweet nicotine. This act was almost as reprehensible as the paparazzi who photographed him doing it after coming out of a burger joint which as Hamill's neck and waistline could attest to, he visited quite frequently [left]. 

This no doubt worried people about the original trilogy stars reprising their roles for Star Wars Episode VII. To be honest it also worried me a little, far more than knowing that I'd be losing almost 15 years of post ROTJ continuity begun by Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire. I mean we don't need [or want] 57 year old Carrie Fisher in her gold bikini but we do need to still see Princess Leia in her and the worry is that while active in Hollywood, both she and Hamill have been away from the front of the camera lens for quite some time.

Seeing her in person assuaged my fear somewhat. I was in the audience for a convention panel in Atlanta a few years back and there was little doubt Fisher [whom I share a Birthday with] commanded the love, attention and respect of those in the audience. While she said a couple of months back that she was made lose 30lbs for her new role, I'm convinced that this was something she'd have done herself anyway, to stay true to a character that obviously means so much to so many middle-aged men.

Hamill recently posed with Jedi Micky, a Jedi personification of Disney icon Micky Mouse. It's pretty obvious that Hamill not only aced the treadmill but every other piece of equipment in the gym as well and looks like a wise old Jedi Master which he damn well should be by now.

And then there's Harrison Ford who has had a stellar career on the silver screen with over 25 major appearances since ROTJ. He was considered the safe bet for being great in Star Wars VII but sadly he's turned into a grumpy old fart and broke his leg on set delaying production and causing rewrites.

Well two of of three ain't bad.

The Lord of the Blogs: The Return of The King

The biggest shock I got when I jumped in grade last year was that apparently general officers attached to non CONUS commands are afforded a shitload of vacation compared with the field grades. And if you don't take it, they send around medical personnel to evaluate you if it's deemed that you've been working for too long.

I've been probed enough by both medical and non-medical personnel throughout my career so if they want me to take a month then that what I'll do. To be honest I fucking deserve it. Why? Well you're all still alive aren't you?

So I grew a beard and went off on vacation, in a south easterly direction with some other folks who similarly were forced to take accrued vacation. We went somewhere with sun, sea and sand, well actually not too much sea as we were pretty far inland. We partied hard and it's unlikely the locals will forget us soon. Those that lived. We lost a couple of our own. Well I did say we partied hard. 

Normal service will now resume.

Whopper.

Fred's Dropped Dead! - RIP Rik Mayall 1958-2014

One may think that that first bit is somewhat callous for an obituary, but if you understood - or even believed you understood the comedic genius that was Rik Mayall then you'd agree that he'd find it quite hilarious, at home both as droll satire and schoolboy toilet-humour.

Mayall performed on stage in the early 1980's with long time comedy partner Adrian Edmondson whom he met at Manchester University. He co-wrote the TV cult-classic The Young Ones in which he starred as obnoxious, poetry-writing anarchist Rick alongside Edmondson before they both went on to star in their sitcom Bottom which also achieved cult status. Crass schoolboy humour, explosions, pyromaniacs and severe blows to the skull with frying-pans were the recipe for the majority of Mayall and Edmondson's slapstick comedy and they became famous because of it.

Mayall made some sporadic appearances elsewhere on television at the time. He is widely known as Lord Flashheart from Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder series shouting catchphrases such as "woof!" and "let's do-oo-oo it!". In contrast to his obnoxious and anarchic characters his last great TV character was Alan B'Stard a conservative backbencher MP for Haltemprice in The New Statesman, which ran on ITV for four series.

Mayall appeared in several movies including cult-classic Woops Apocalypse [1986] and in the final film in the Carry On series, Carry On Columbus [1992]. My post title is a pun on Drop Dead Fred [1991] arguably Mayall's most famous film role where he played the title character, an imaginary friend to Phoebe Cates. It was literally one of the worst British movies ever made probably because it was marketed as a children's movie but contained repressively dark black-comedy, profanity and themes of serious mental illness.

Mayall suffered a serious quad bike accident in 1998 and doctors had kept him on a life-support machine for five days. He began to show signs of life just before they were about to turn it off. He said the near-death experience changed his life and "the main difference between now and before my accident is I'm just very glad to be alive."

Mayall died at his home in Barnes, London on Monday from what is understood to have been a coronary event. He was 56. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Below is Mayall as Lord Flashheart in BBC's Blackadder Goes Fourth with Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson and Adrian Edmonson as Baron von Richthofen.

Adrian Edmondson paid tribute to his friend, saying: "There were times when Rik and I were writing together when we almost died laughing... They were some of the most carefree stupid days I ever had, and I feel privileged to have shared them with him. "And now he's died for real. Without me. Selfish bastard."

'Fighting Joe' nominated for Commandant

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said yesterday that he was delighted that President Obama accepted his recommendation to nominate General Joseph F. Dunford Jr. to serve as the 36th Commandant of the Marine Corps. 

Hagel said Dunford is an extraordinary leader who has always been faithful to his country and his Marines during more than 35 years in uniform. His steady leadership as the Commander of the ISAF in Afghanistan and his commitment to the men and women under his command, have lead progress there and remains on track to responsibly bring America's longest war to an end later this year. 

The SecDef said that no one is better suited to write the next chapter in Marine Corps history than Joe Dunford, and he look forward to working with him in his new role upon his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Source: U.S. DoD

June 6th 1944...

The weather in Normandy at this time 70 years ago wasn't ideal for the Allied plan, but D-Day began shortly after midnight when 24,000 British, US, and Canadian airborne troops began dropping and infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of france starting at 06:30.

Despite 12,000 casualties and almost 4,500 confirmed dead, the invasion of German-occupied western Europe, led to the restoration of the french Republic, and contributed to an Allied victory in World War II.

Let us hope there will never be a need for so many heroes to do something so brave ever again.

Vaccinations no longer CIA cover operations

Lisa Monaco U.S. Homeland Security Advisor has announced a White House policy change and vowed that the CIA will no longer be using vaccination programs as a cover for intelligence gathering such as the one implemented prior to the neutralisation of Osama bin Laden. The agency has also agreed not to use genetic material obtained through such programs.

The deals of 13 public health schools had written to President Obama in protest over the use of immunisation as a front for espionage. One such program was run by Dr. Shakil Afridi, who offered hepatitis vaccinations in Abbottabad, Pakistan as cover for his CIA-backed effort to obtain DNA samples from children at a compound where bin Laden was later eliminated. Afridi was convicted and sentenced by Pakistan to 33 years for treason. While later overturned, he now faces retrial. Later in 2012 the UN suspended polio vaccinations Pakistan after gunmen killed several health workers. Taliban militants accused health workers of being U.S. spies.

CIA Director John Brennan said earlier that his agency would "make no operational use of vaccination programs, which includes vaccination workers." A CIA spokesman said Director Brennan "took seriously the concerns raised by the public health community, examined them closely and took decisive action." Neither The White House or the CIA have not acknowledged any error in the decision to use the Pakistan vaccine program as a spying cover. The White House statement came three days after Pakistan acted to quell a growing polio crisis within its borders. Pakistan's Health Ministry recently announced that it would require that all travellers leaving the country first get a polio vaccination following the WHO's declaration that polio's spread was an international public health emergency, and identifying Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon as nations that had allowed polio to spread beyond their borders.

SPEARHEAD’s Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Information, Brigadier General “Whopper” Creedon expressed dismay at the decision. The General explained to a closed UNSC session on Monday, that the U.S. programme was one of the easier ways to root out “those not of us”. He explained that because “their” leaders have told “them” to conform to all that humans do so as to blend in, they had unwittingly supplied UNETIDA, now SPEARHEAD with data used to track, monitor and if necessary eliminate “them” for years. “Some of ‘them’ are very good at concealing their outer identity, but advances in science have allowed us to track 'them' from things like vaccination samples later found to be ‘not human’,” he continued. SPEARHEAD’s current intelligence efforts piggybacked off the U.S. intelligence operation for years and now Creedon may be faced with using his own agents embedded with U.S. and WHO efforts to gather such intel unless the operation is scrapped in favour of more conventional intelligence gathering, which is unlikely to benefit those in need of medical care.

Vampire unearthed in Poland

In Kamien Pomorski, northwestern Poland, archaeologists have made the gristly discovery of a vampiric grave. A 16th century body was unearthed during a dig in a marketplace. The excavation team found a number of unusual features which indicated the grave site was somewhat unnatural. The body's teeth had been removed, a fragment of rock had been inserted into the mouth and to be sure he could not rise as undead - his leg was staked deep into the ground.

Dig leader Slawomir Gorka explained: "A piece of brick rubble in the mouth and pierced thigh indicates that it is a vampire burial. This was done not for him, but for the community, who lived here." Gorka added that the same rituals were common in burials in the area between the 13th and 17th centuries.

The origin of the vampire legend dates back to ancient Greece and Egypt. Dr Tim Beasley-Murray, a Slavonic studies lecturer at UCL, told the press that the myth spread up through the Balkans into eastern Europe where it was fertile in the pre-Christian era.

Captain “Barnacle” Strakovski, SPEARHEAD Special Operations Commander said that a counter-undead unit was dispatched to Kamien Pomorski to investigate but they reported no credible threat. Brigadier General “Whopper” Creedon, SPEARHEAD Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Information said that while some legends are apocryphal, "vampires and the undead as a whole are quite real" and it’s one of his department’s "most important tasks to maintain international belief that it’s all nothing but folklore" while simultaneously subliminally preparing civilians for "encounters with the unliving". Creedon has been vocal against "nonsense" like the Twilight saga and The Vampire Diaries as they have served to portray vampires as “sexy and cool” and not the true danger they represent as in "the more fact-based" 30 Days of Night and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Source: The Guardian / The Daily Mail / Kamienskie.info

Happy 70th George Lucas

Movie Mini-Reviews 14-05-14

Non-Stop

Liam Neeson plays the role of a clinically depressed, alcoholic U.S. Marshal who’s career is on a knife edge, but when he receives a terrorist threat from someone on the plane he’s guarding he begins a dangerous and completely unsanctioned game of cat and mouse involving an extraordinarily convoluted and unnecessarily porous plot that is sure to incense and annoy the more intelligent of it’s audience.

Overall the movie is a steaming pile of shit but it’s pacing and acting even through even the most ridiculous of situations coupled with the insane dialogue make it somewhat enjoyable. I laughed in disbelief at how nonsensical some of the twists the story took and in the end I just had to accept it for what it was. Truly enjoyable crap.

Watch out for Anson Hell on Wheels Mount who is barely recognisable without his Corin Bohannan beard and Lupita Noyong’o who won an Oscar just 24 hours after I saw the movie and seems far too fine a calibre of actress to be anywhere near this nonsense unless you’re playing the Kevin Bacon game - is simply a token black stewardess here.

Not as good as Taken or even Passenger 57.

Whopper Rating: **1/2

300: Rise of an Empire

This is the not really that much anticipated sequel to Zack Snyder’s seminal 300, based on Frank Miller’s masterwork. As stylish as it’s predecessor with extra blood and dismemberment, 300: Rise of an Empire is a sort of parallel story to 300 focusing on everything but the battle of Thermopylae itself.

Sadly we seem to be entering a phase of cinema where the sequel isn’t actually better than the original. Since the 80’s I’ve been watching movies knowing that the inevitable sequel would be far superior to what spawned it. In a rare occasion, some like RoboCop, The Matrix, Transformers, Delta Force remained supreme but 300 is now added to the list.

Strike Back's Sullivan Stapleton is Themistocles and while he shows promise, he's not yet ready to carry the lead in a movie like this. The sultry Eva Casino Royale Green steals the show as the vicious Artemisia, who despite spitting half her dialogue through her teeth and takes part in what must have been an uncomfortable angry-sex scene - still manages to craft one of the most memorable characters of the genre.

If you enjoyed 300 then you'll be glad you saw this, but it's nowhere near as good.

Whopper Rating: ***1/2

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

As you've seen from the trailers this is a mash up of elements of Brubaker's Winter Soldier with some of the old 1988 Nick Fury Vs S.H.I.E.L.D. book thrown in - but the usual movie-universe differences prevail, such as - all of the characters on screen are in those books - they're just the same, somewhat different or completely different apart from their names.

It's a dark movie and almost devoid of the humour we've seen in all the other films, not a lot to laugh about here. While the original Cap flick had it's "mystical" elements with the Cosmic Cube, this is all hyper technology this time round and a lot less about Cap favouring more SHIELD. In fact there's a lot more SHIELD here than in all the previous Marvel movies together! I think if Tom Clancy had ever penned a superhero book, this is pretty much what it would be - more about technology, politics and weapons than a super-powered bad-ass.

 

Chris Evans is now seems completely comfortable in his character - but still projects that he's a man out of time, but adjusting. He's supported by Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson reprising their roles as Black Widow and Nick Fury, franchise newcomer Anthony The Hurt Locker Mackie as Falcon and even Hollywood legend Robert Redford has a role.

Fan service here is monumental, depending on what you've read [or remember what you've read] over the years. You are rewarded for paying attention. Remember, one stinger during the credits - and a small one after all the credits have rolled. It was bit longer than I expected, but thankfully it didn't have the faffing middle bit like Iron Man 3 did. The Avengers is still the best Marvel movie, but this certainly does live up to the hype it's getting. Enjoy.

Whopper Rating: *****+

SPEARHEAD: 'Radio signal threat from space almost certain'

Some 3 years ago, astronomers detected a series of fleeting but powerful radio signals with the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia. While initially unknown as to their origin, or even their existence, the Aricebo Observatory in Puerto Rico confirmed that they're real and originate outside the galaxy. In milliseconds, each of the radio bursts released as much energy as the sun emits in 300,000 years.

While the transient nature of the signals is not the main focus of discussion but instead just how far away they seem to be. Normally, radio waves travel at light speed so all the different wavelengths and frequencies of radio waves emitted by the same object should arrive on Earth in one big batch, but if something is sufficiently far away, this changes. Longer, lower frequency waves travelling through the cosmos have a trickier time getting here. The delay can only be theorised but it's allowing allowing astronomers to estimate that the waves are coming from something billions and billions of light-years away unlike most cosmic radio signals that originate in the Milky Way or a nearby neighbouring galaxy.

Arecibo Observatory By Jerry Valentin

 

There are a number of theories for the origin of the signals including blitzars [overweight neutron stars that resist the urge to become black holes], magnetars [neutron stars with strong magnetic fields], evaporating black holes and gamma ray bursts that involve a supernova. Cornell University astronomer James Cordes speculates that the bursts could be from an entirely new type of high-energy astrophysical event but SPEARHEAD warned the UNSC last week that it could be the result of either a mishap with some alien weapon of extraordinary power, or worse one that's working perfectly.

Lt. Gen. "Knuckles" McKenzie, Vice Commander, SPEARHEAD warned that any fully unexplained phenomenon in space is cause for alarm and that immediate UN funding be siphoned to SPEARHEAD to develop WMDs to defend the planet against from "a threat that we know not more than what we know". Cordes added fuel to McKenzie's concern adding that there was currently no way for use to even see all that is threatening the planet "Typically, telescopes only look at a very small patch of the sky at any one time, so you have to look for a long time before seeing many. This is why we have only detected a handful so far.” Cordes wrote in an article published in Science: "A Population of Fast Radio Bursts at Cosmological Distances."

Source: Mr. V / IO9 / Science