IN OTHER NEWS - That's no poodle!

The Japanese are confusing sheep for poodles...The article had us in stitches!

Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles.

Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each. That is a snip compared to a real poodle which retails for twice that much in Japan.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food... Read more at Ninemsn

-ad, jmd

FILM - I Heart Grindhouse

Grindhouse at Union Square here in NYC this past Saturday night. All tickets at the theater were sold out, even our 11:00PM show, which is actually saying a lot considering the double feature is over 3 hours. There's all of this discussion in the media about why it isn't doing very well. The obvious answer is that most American small town folk aren't going to go out in droves for a 3+ hour film that boasts unprecedented gore. Even with critical acclaim, it was silly to think masses of people would compromise three hours of their time for a retro-kitsch gore flick. Honestly, the only people rushing out to see it are art-house and cult horror film buffs and their friends, hence the NYC turnout (1/4 of the film's current revenue came from NYC). Should've gone on the indie circuit Angelika-style as opposed to the mainstream wide release angle.

That said, Grindhouse was AMAZING. AMAZING! It was the best movie-going experience of my life... And I say that with much certainty, general excitement and massive enthusiasm. The double feature structure was executed marvelously, with faux trailers and all the other visual fixings of a vintage double-feature experience. Planet Terror was action packed, overly cheesy, sarcastic, ridiculous and wildly entertaining. Basically an over-the-top B-movie Zombie flick. Tarantino brought it down a notch with an ever-so-slightly more serious sentiment in Death Proof, managing to capture a perfect mix of subtle campiness and shockingly violent realism.

The whole experience was an artistic gem...

It's rumored that the film might get pulled from theaters and re-released as two separate films. Part of what made the experience so exciting and interesting was the pairing of these films, the constructed framework in which they used to do it, and the supplemental material interspersed throughout. Ok ok. I could go on and on...but you get the point.

Ticket sales, however, don't speak in terms of artistic merit, and money talks. So go see it now, before it gets the redux it certainly doesn't need.

Oh, and Fergie's in it. Period.

I like this article: River Front Times
Even the official website is a piece of art: Official Grindhouse Site
-jmd

RANT - Can you read this, Ticketmaster?

Nobody likes word verification codes, but they are an important step in ridding the online world of automated junk...

Here on Blogger, it helps stop automated spam from seeping into the comments, etc... On Ticketmaster, it keeps competition fair, as anxious ticket buyers go for those front row seats alongside other buyers, and not umanned computers programmed to buy out the best seats with speed and precision.

Recently however, Ticketmaster has taken a turn for the worse in regards to those pesky word verification codes. They've switched up many of their images with completely illegible ones, causing panic amongst ticket buyers vying for the best seats possible. Meanwhile, some images are perfectly black and white...giving unfair advantage to some. Furthermore, even when you're certain you've got it right, it seems to often be the case that it won't register accurately anyways, and you'll get a prompt to re-enter a new code entirely.

Truth is, good seats for many popular shows are nearly impossible to score (i.e. Bjork in NYC recently sold three shows out in seconds). Hence, the time it takes to re-enter a code in the word verification can make ALL the difference to die hard fans. In fact, it can mean not getting tickets at all. C'mon, Ticketmaster, get with the program!

Some screen-shot examples I've taken from Ticketmaster in my ticket-buying misadventures:

(above) ok, um??



(above) Is that a '6' or a 'G'? Chances are, you've guessed incorrectly.




and then, some people get:


The whole thing just burns me up.
-jmd

TECH - Go Google Go...

What doesn't Google do? Most recently, they've released a beta version of its free business 411 service to their roster of capabilities. Calling 1-800-GOOG-411 gets you to an automated guide to find your business of interest. It's pretty straight forward and the calm male voice gets to the point quickly and finds results pretty fast (competitor 1-800-FREE411 seems a bit more wordy and less efficient overall). Google will automatically connect your call for you, or text results to your phone for later reference.
[PC World]
-jmd

TECH - iTunes steps it up

Apple added the "Complete My Album" feature to iTunes, allowing users to fill in gaps in their iTunes music library. Smart.

Meanwhile, Apple and EMI have developed a new system of DRM-free downloads...For 30 cents more per song, the entire EMI catalog will be available in higher quality versions without usage restrictions. Apple will also offer a feature to upgrade current songs to the DRM-free versions at 30 cents/song extra. This means legal burning, sharing, etc and most excitingly, better sounding music...a noble attempt..we'll see how it pans out.
Read More

-jmd

FOOD - Whazzup, Peeps?

Ok, I swear this is it on the Peeps front (at least until next Easter), but the Washington Post just released the winner and semi-finalists of their first Peeps diorama contest. The winning diorama was a peeped-out spoof of "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". Check out the photo gallery... Brilliant, brilliant:
Peeps Diorama Contest photo gallery

-jmd

SCIENCE - Better than designer babies...

UK researchers are trying to make human-animal hybrid embryos. Need I say more?
Click here for details [Guardian]

-jmd

FOOD - Sugar Free Peeps! Finally!

So we tried out the new sugar-free variety of Peeps this weekend. First off...they're super expensive in comparison to the sugar-filled variety ($.99 for nine regular vs. $1.29 for 3 sugar-free). They only come in three-packs of yellow ducks (none of those fancy frills in variety like cocoa bunnies or St. Patrick green chicks). That said, we weren't too impressed with the consistency. A little bit too chewy, and lacking that outer oh-so-dreamy sugar shell that truly set Peeps aside from other marshmallow snacks. On the flavor-front however, these Splenda-made goodies were pretty much right on track with regular variety.

Basic jist: We'll get em again, but we're certainly not going to buy out the store or anything. Also, as with any sugar-free snack, it's probably wise to ration your helpings (for your stomach's sake).

Also of interest: Peeps has a VIP Fan Club. Just thought I'd share.

Peeps website

-jmd