It's the coffee, baby, I'm telling ya.

M. Night Shyamalan is in talks to direct "Life of Pi", which has been the "it" book for the last year or so. I was thinking about picking it up, now I might have to.
I hated "Signs," but Shyamalan fascinates me and I want to see him do something good again. Either way, I'm keeping an eye on him.

A dam in a South African town dried up, then started smoking and now sparks are showing up. The experts have been called in.

Interesting survey on people's beliefs in heaven, god, UFOs, etc.
I'm always amused by these surveys that ask if people believe in witches. Yes, in fairy tales, witches are malignant spirits. But just about everyone knows a wiccan, who are most often called witches. Isn't it about time they removed this question from the surveys?
Also, this is a very monotheistic survey. They ask if people believe in God. But they don't ask if people believe in gods. There are thousands of people in this country who follow Hinduism, Jainism, Shintoism and many other polytheist and pantheist religions. Isn't about time we start acknowledging that?

A major political and religious figure suggests blowing up the United States' State Department with a nuclear bomb. Osama Bin Laden? No. It's Pat Robertson.

This set of articles, Rastafari: The Life of Bob Marley, is a fascinating explanation of Rastafarianism. I was always interested in what the religion was about (besides reggae and marijuana). I don't think I could believe in any religion that believes marijuana leads to wisdom, however, it seems to be a peaceful and thoughtful religion otherwise.

People are looking into a possible UFO crash in Shag Harbour in 1967. Apparently, it's well documented. It's a good article, although they quote a Fate Magazine guy as saying he "is also convinced the sighting in 1967 was that of a UFO." That's like quoting a Cat Fancy journalist saying "everybody loves cats." (Link via The Anomalist.)

Remember the story about the kid who snapped a picture of a fiery object in the sky? Well, it turns out not to be a meteorite. At least that's what scientists are saying. They claim it was the Concorde and some really unusual reflections of the sun. Sounds suspect to me. Still, it is a cool picture, whatever it turns out to be.

"So I hate it when rock is used as a responsible tool. Rock 'n' roll should be very irresponsible." Alice Cooper is out promoting his new album, "The Eyes of Alice Cooper," and its stripped down sound. I gotta getta listen to this.

Lou Reed is apparently learning tai chi from a master. Check out the cool pics of Reed in his martial artist get-up. Especially check out the cover of the magazine with Lou wielding a sword.

Toy Vault is making plush Godzilla figures! And they've already come up with a Mothra doll. I must get these -- my wallet cringes in fear. They are also planning Godzilla bobble-heads.

Russian TV reports say the leg of a yeti has been found. They have a picture too. Meanwhile, in Japan a mountaineer says he has disproved the yeti, pointing out that it is a brown bear. Now Reinhold Messner is upset because he said the same thing in his book "My Quest for the Yeti" five years ago. Those crazy mountaineers.
No comment from Bigfoot yet.

Locus Online reviews (well, sorta) Jack Vance's "The Dragon Masters" and "The Last Castle." I have the original Ace Double version of these stories I bought at a tag sale years ago. They are great. Vance always created great, exotic locales and truly alien happenings. Anyway looking for good science fiction adventure, Vance is your man.

Roger Ebert heaps praise on KILL BILL: VOLUME 1 , despite noting "The movie is all storytelling and no story. The motivations have no psychological depth or resonance, but are simply plot markers. The characters consist of their characteristics."
It seems to me that when you go into this film, you have to keep in mind what Tarantino has said about it. He said he has two types of films. The first is his more serious films "Pulp Fiction," "Reservoir Dogs," "Jackie Brown" and "True Romance." Then he has films that the characters from the serious films would watch and enjoy. (Think about the movies the producer in "True Romance" makes or "From Dusk till Dawn.") This is the first time Tarantino has directed one of the second type of films.
This is Tarantino doing huge, operatic, B-movie, comic book action film. I wish I wasn't working tonight so I could go see it.

And while we're at it, this squid story from CNN: "The squid axon is so useful in the general study of nerves that some joke the squid deserves a Nobel Prize for its contributions to science."
Making your life better, with squid.

Finally, more giant squid news. Apparently, they're cannibals. And, really, that just makes them cooler.

Dear God,

What did the 20 young pregnant cows do that so pissed you off? We're all just curious.

Yours truly,
Brian.

Scientists discover what you already knew: "'When someone hurts your feelings, it really hurts you,' said Matt Lieberman, a social psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who worked on the study."

Weird news of the day. Odd rock carvings found in UK.

If I blog myself will I cause a feedback loop?
Figured I'd try it now while blog*spot seems to be taking an hour to load a page. Hopefully this will be cleared up soon and people can get back to my blog-a-liciousness.