Gone gonzo: words of wisdom from Hunter S. Thompson
1/9/2009"...as human beings we are capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience."
Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point.
HE SAID IT: The late great and perpetually bent Hunter S. Thompson said a lot of, um, interesting things over the course of his career as an author, social critic, and chemical experimenter, and some of it could be considered motivational in a twisted kind of way. Our favorite: "I have a theory that the truth is never told during the 9 to 5 hours." (RL)
DVD PICK OF THE WEEK: Covering the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has put me in the mood for a movie about technology. So, for this week's selection might I suggest ... TRON. No, the film's script didn't come close to matching the movie's ground-breaking computer-generated animation, but to most of us who come of age during the '80s video game craze, it really didn't matter. This was the first film about video games and it was made for video gamers. The cast, including Jeff Bridges as a game programmer/hacker who gets sucked into a computer and has to battle against the evil Master Control Program (this is back when software was referred to as programs), seems to be having a lot of fun and it shows. A sequel, TRON 2.0, also known as TR2N, is in the works for a 2011 release.
Besides being a big influence on computer animation, TRON also influenced a grown man to dress like this. (KB)
JACK'S BACK: The intensely addictive 24 returns for another season on Sunday. Want to be brought up to speed on what's happened so far in the series but, like Jack Bauer, don't have much time? Try these 24-word recaps of the previous seasons. (RL)
GIMME BACK MY KIDNEY!: A Long Island doctor wants his estranged wife, who he says cheated on him, to pay him for the kidney he donated to her eight years ago in an effort to save her life and re-win her heart. Seriously. And what's a kidney worth? How about $1.5 million. (RL)
ROCK AND ROLL MOURNING: Trailblazing punk guitarist Ron Asheton, of Iggy and the Stooges, was found dead Tuesday, bringing an end to the original lineup of one of rock's most influential bands. Asheton never strayed too far from his Michigan roots -- he was a major endorser for the Detroit area guitar company Reverend -- and was found dead in his Ann Arbor home. Here he is ripping through T.V. Eye.. (RL)
GET MAD! Is there someone out there who's just gotten on your last nerve? Try sending them an Angry-Gram featuring a tough-talking Whopper from Burger King.. (RS)
TOO MUCH TIME ON THEIR HANDS?: The British newspaper The Telegraph has done some computations to determine what they say Katie Holmes is spending while living in New York. By their estimation, the Toledo-born actress is pretty much single-handedly propping up the Big Apple's economy. (RS)
NOT A DOG'S LIFE: This weekend's blockbuster was heart-tugger Marley & Me, which raked in
$24 million with its story about a loveable Lab who wins over a family and, obviously movie goers. (RL)
\FAR OUT: Remember the hilarity of Gary Larson's "The Far Side" comics? Some people remember a little too well and have a little too much time on their hands. We have the re-enactment pictures to prove it. (RL)
SHAMELESS PANDERING: Let's see, a single dad who lives in Seattle. Check. Give him a 3-year-old son. Check. Now try and set him up with true love. Yes, it's Sleepless in Seattle, only the folks at The Bachelor TV show are
making it work for them. Yes, a whole slew of new realitiy shows is ready to go. (RL)
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