Odds and Ends

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Casino Jack
Release Date: 2010
Director: George Hickenlooper
Screenwriter: Norman Snider
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Kelly Preston, Jon Lovitz, Barry Pepper, Conrad Pla, Christian Campbell, Yannick Bisson, Spencer Garrett, Hannah Endicott-Douglas, David Fraser
Genre: Drama

Plot Summary: Kevin Spacey will play disgraced Washington power broker Jack Abramoff in the true story-based thriller "Casino Jack." The film stars Spacey as the once high-powered lobbyist whose bribery schemes and fraudulent dealings with Indian casinos ultimately landed him in prison.

The movie goes a bit further-

A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.

 

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Nightwatch movie- Nochnoy dozor- original Russian film-

In the world that is modern Moscow, there exists a parallel realm known as the Gloom (kind of like the Astral Plane). Certain humans with special powers can pass in and out of the Gloom. They are known as the Others and have co-existed with humans for as long as humanity has existed. The Others are soldiers in the Eternal War, the struggle between dark and light. Light Others protect mankind from Dark Others, most of whom are vampires. Light Others and Dark Others currently live within a Truce.

Daywatch followed- Dnevnoy dozor

It is New Year's Day of 2006, more than one year after the events of Night Watch. Anton Gorodetsky, the protagonist of the first film, finds himself in the middle of an approaching conflict between the Light and Dark Others, who are still bound with an uneasy truce. Anton is still a Night Watch operative, now working with his trainee and romantic interest, Svetlana. As his son Yegor has now become a Dark Other, Anton is forced to secretly destroy evidence of Yegor's attacks on normal people, which violates the treaty, leaving the Night Watch unable to sentence Yegor.

I wish they had continued the series.

There was so much room in the original concept,
for new events and new characters.

 

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We have the Roomba, that will clean the floor.

We have the Scooba, that will wash the floor.

I need the Washba, that will pick up dirty socks off of the floor!

 

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Just when you think that there is nothing new....

Sproing! Just like a Jack in the Box! :smiles:

 

[TheRealFATANG]

Nightwatch movie- Nochnoy dozor- original Russian film-

Daywatch followed- Dnevnoy dozor

I wish they had continued the series.

There was so much room in the original concept,
for new events and new characters.

They are

 

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A leaf from a tree
A salamander
A frog
A sea horse

What would these creatures, have to do, with an American ship serving the military. And the Russians?

Such a Bad Robot, to puzzle me, like this.

 

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The Social Network-
A film about the people who started Facebook.
Hope that this goes OK for DF.

Really sad about Rendezvous with Rama. :sad frown icon

 

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Who could have guessed?

Some paleoanthropologists have said that when our ancestors made jewelry, for example, it implied the ability to think symbolically - that the adornment represented individuality or status. If the Neanderthals did this, according to the idea, they were just imitating the modern humans who co-existed with them in Europe, sort of like a child playing dress-up. (See a Q&A with Donald C. Johnson, the discoverer of "Lucy.")

But a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences makes that argument a lot harder to sustain. JoÃo ZilhÃo of the University of Bristol, along with several colleagues, has uncovered Neanderthal jewelry from two caves in southern Spain dating to about 50,000 years ago. "This," says ZilhÃo, "is 10,000 years before modern humans arrived. There is no question that Neanderthals are their makers."

The objects in question consist mostly of seashells, many of them pierced, with bits of pigment on them. It's always possible that the pigment was simply present in the soil where the shells ended up - but then you'd expect the coloring to be widespread. In fact, it's specific to certain shells. Beyond that, several shells contain different pigments that were clearly mixed together deliberately. In some cases, the pigments were of a type that is only known to have been used (in ancient Egypt, for example, so we have actual records) for body painting. "There's a sector of the profession," says ZilhÃo, "that's been healthily skeptical of our work in the past. But in this case, the problems of dating don't exist." (Read "CSI Stone Age: Did Humans Kill Neanderthals?")

Thank you Yahoo

 

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OK. Yes. I will admit it. I had a sexual fantasy of being dominated, by Al Franken and Martha Coakley.

But then, it turned into a nightmare. What if it was a Palin zombie and a Brown zombie ?

And they were wearing, really well constructed, Franken and Coakley disguises?

I would have to rip off their masks, and fight them.

 

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Sex androids designed by Disney? Reminds me of some sci- fi stories.

Everyone gets surgery, so they all look like the next person.

Everyone looks the same. There are renegades.

The renegades are hunted down and brain-washed.

They are forced to conform.

One of us! One of us!

Or you are not one of us....

*threatening music*

 

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OK. Found it. Will Palin and McCain patch it up and try again?

Palin, the former Alaska governor who was McCain's vice presidential running mate last year, will campaign for McCain's re-election bid as a senator from Arizona, the senator said in a statement on Wednesday.

Palin will be in Phoenix for events on March 26 and 27.

There has been plenty of sniping between the Palin and McCain camps after they lost the election to Democrat Barack Obama but McCain and Palin themselves have remained on friendly terms.

"I'm looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail with my former running mate, and I know my fellow Arizonans will welcome her as well," McCain said. "Sarah energized our nation and remains a leading voice in the Republican Party."

Palin said on her Facebook page that she will also be campaigning for Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Republican, and Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann.

Thank you, Reuters

Why do I feel as if I should watch the dvd or read M. Atwood's Hand Maid's
Tale, again.
Yikes

 

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When I was a teen I used to play around with a pal's shortwave radio.
I would find all kinds of strange and odd channels.
Radio Prauge. Raidio Cairo. The USA Service Broadcasts.
BBC Broadcasts. Odd music from the Balkan countries.
Odd music from all kinds of places.
Hard to identify languages.
And Vlad Posner on Radio Moscow.
Mr. Posner gave me the giggles. His speeches were outrageous.
The USA was the Evil Empire, in his eyes.

I was really surprised when he became known in the USA,

on popular USA radio, and popular USA TV channels.

I am not sure what jarred my memory.

or what brought him to mind.

n 1980 he called for arrest and extradition of Andrei Sakharov, an act for which he apologised in his 1990 autobiography Parting with Illusions.[6] He also wrote Eyewitness: A Personal Account of the Unraveling of the Soviet Union, the introduction to the Bantam Classics edition of The Communist Manifesto. Posner also worked for the Institute for US and Canadian Studies, a Soviet think tank.

Mr. Andrei Sakharov-
Between 1980 to 1986, Sakharov was kept under tight Soviet police surveillance. In his memoirs he mentions that their apartment in Gorky was repeatedly subjected to searches and heists. He remained isolated but unrepentant until December 1986 when he was allowed to return to Moscow as Mikhail Gorbachev initiated the policies of perestroika and glasnost. There, in secret, he met and worked with Western scientists such as Eric Fawcett[citation needed].

Sakharov was named the 1980 Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association.
L-to-R: E.Bonner, A.Sakharov, S.Kalistratova, 1986

Later, in 1988, Sakharov was given the International Humanist Award by the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

He helped to initiate the first independent legal political organizations and became prominent in the Soviet Union's growing political opposition. In March 1989, Sakharov was elected to the new parliament, the All-Union Congress of People's Deputies and co-led the democratic opposition.
Thank you wiki

Maybe, it is because China and Google are having a fight over the freedom of internet information?

I did not remember anything about Posner VS Sakharov!

 

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It's Pudding Pot time again, in Harvard Square. I have not been there,
to see the commotion, since a certain dreamer left the scene.*sigh*
I will venture to guess that it has not been the same,
since all the in-security entered the picture.
Take good care, Anne Hathaway.
We have snow squalls, here in MA.
And we are hitting deep freeze.

 

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Mars Opposition

Roughly every 26 months, the sun and Mars are on opposite sides of the Earth.
Mars will not be this bright for few years, according to the Boston Globe.

Skywatch at the Christa McAuliffe- Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, New Hampshire.
14 inch Celestron computer guided telescope in use.

Christa McAuliffe was the pride of the East Coast.
She was born in Boston. She was teaching in New Hampshire,
when she won the right to go on the Challenger Shuttle.
It was exciting to see her on the morning local news.
Her training to get her ready. Her plans. Her talks with young students.
I sincerely wish that someone had listened to the engineers.
She would still be with us.
And the other members of the Challenger crew would be here, too.

Thank you, Boston Globe

 

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The colour of some feathers on dinosaurs and early birds has been identified for the first time, reports a paper published in Nature this week.

The research found that the theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx had simple bristles – precursors of feathers – in alternate orange and white rings down its tail, and that the early bird Confuciusornis had patches of white, black and orange-brown colouring. Future work will allow precise mapping of colours and patterns across the whole bird.

Mike Benton, Professor of Palaeontology at the University of Bristol, said, “Our research provides extraordinary insights into the origin of feathers. In particular, it helps to resolve a long-standing debate about the original function of feathers – whether they were used for flight, insulation, or display. We now know that feathers came before wings, so feathers did not originate as flight structures.

“We therefore suggest that feathers first arose as agents for colour display and only later in their evolutionary history did they become useful for flight and insulation.”

The team of palaeontologists from the University of Bristol, UK, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing, University College Dublin and the Open University report two kinds of melanosomes found in the feathers of numerous birds and dinosaurs from the world-famous Jehol beds of NE China.

Melanosomes are colour-bearing organelles buried within the structure of feathers and hair in modern birds and mammals, giving black, grey, and rufous tones such as orange and brown.

Thank you, University of Bristol UK

 

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The younglings will have their dream, come true.
The younglings make wishes, that they hope will come true.
And, what grand and impressive wishes!

I will enjoy seeing what results from this effort.
Looks like a wonderful cast.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

* Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, the film's protagonist, and son of Poseidon.

* Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood, Percy's best friend, a satyr

* Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena

* Jake Abel as Luke Castellan, son of Hermes

* Rosario Dawson as Persephone, Goddess of Springtime/
Queen of the Dead

* Steve Coogan as Hades, Lord of the Dead

* Uma Thurman as Medusa

* Catherine Keener as Sally Jackson, Percy's mother

* Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, trainer of heroes

* Kevin McKidd as Poseidon, God of the Sea and Percy's father

And a huge crowd of younglings, because it is all about them, after all.

 

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James Cagney as Rocco and Humphrey Bogard asking the question, in Key Largo

How do you account for it?

He knows what he wants.

-Don't you, Rocco?
-Sure!

What's that?

Tell him, Rocco.

Well, l want. . . .

He wants more. Don't you, Rocco?

That's it! More.

That's right, l want more!


Will you ever get enough?


Will you, Rocco?

 

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Survivor! Heroes VS Villains? I vote to send them to... :snerk icon

 

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Genetic mutations, cause female babies to be born with 2 sets of legs and two vaginas.
Naughty, Bad Robot! Six legs on one man? :grin icon

 

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And four heads! :grin icon Bad Robot! What a place to hide that!

 

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Rome fell, when it became a Hypocracy. I am guessing, that it wanted to be a Republic. But money changes everything. :sigh icon

 

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I am thankful for video based media.

What if nothing was recorded on film or video?

All we would have is plays and musicals at the theatre.

And my choices would be limited to what appeals to the general public.

I would not be able to watch Michael Caine when he was 40 years old.

Michael Caine's mistress in this movie, looks like Eva Mendes.

But, she has bleached blonde hair.

The Marseille Contract (1974)

(also The Destructors)

Michael Caine ... John Deray

\
Anthony Quinn ... Steve Ventura


James Mason ... Jacques Brizard

Maurice Ronet ... Inspector Briac

Alexandra Stewart ... Rita

Maureen Kerwin ... Lucienne

Catherine Rouvel ... Brizard's Mistress

 

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Farewell, Sir John Phillip William Dankworth. RIP
You looked really chipper, in your top hat and tails.

Thank you LA Times


Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist. He was the husband of jazz singer Cleo Laine.

Some were full-time members of the Dankworth band at one time or another, like Tony Coe, Mike Gibbs, Peter King, Dudley Moore, John Taylor and Kenny Wheeler, while others such as Dave Holland, John McLaughlin, Tubby Hayes and Dick Morrissey were occasional participants.

Dankworth recorded various symphonic albums with Dizzy Gillespie and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and others. Other jazz musicians with whom Dankworth performed include George Shearing, Toots Thielemans, Benny Goodman, Herbie Hancock, Hank Jones, Tadd Dameron, Slam Stewart,
and Oscar Peterson.

Thank you wiki

 

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Avalanche victim survives for 17 hours

Swiss police hail a miracle after rescue of young skier, 21, who suffered only mild hypothermia


Swiss police today hailed as "extraordinary" the survival of a young skier who was buried by an avalanche for 17 hours and pulled from the snow with only mild hypothermia.

The 21-year-old man was swept away by a 50-metre wide snowslide while skiing off-piste in the Evolène region of the Alps yesterday.

But, despite the slim survival chances of anyone trapped by an avalanche for more than an hour, an air pocket enabled the man to keep breathing while buried beneath 50cm (20in) of snow, police said.

The man, an experienced off-piste skier, was reported missing by his family at 4.30pm. Rescuers involved in initial attempts to find him reported seeing the tracks of a skier disappearing into the path of a 50m-wide, 150m-long avalanche.

Thank you Guardian UK

 

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SRINAGAR, India (AP) Heavy snow set off avalanches along the cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, and at least 16 soldiers and a civilian were killed, police said Friday.

At least nine other soldiers were reported missing and dozens trapped in stretches of the Himalayas in northernmost Kashmir, police said. Rescuers were looking for the missing people in areas covered with nine feet of snow.

Most of the deaths occurred in the frontier area.

An avalanche buried six soldiers and a civilian worker Friday in the mountainous Kharboo region, about 155 miles northeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir State, a police officer said on customary condition of anonymity.

In nearby Mushkoh, an avalanche killed five soldiers. Nine others were reported missing, officials said.

News said that it was Kashmir area near the Himalayas.

Thank you weather channel