UFO on Mars

Mars rover sees a UFO in the Martian sky. NASA officials say it could be a shooting star or an old orbiting spacecraft falling into the atmosphere. No word on rover abductions yet.

Citizen Kane vs. Maltese Falcon

There's an interesting discussion going on between certain bloggers about which is the better movie: "Citizen Kane" or "The Maltese Falcon." Among the participants are The Forager, David Fiore, and Sean Collins. Each one of those links goes to one part of the conversation, but it goes on in other blog entries, comments and elsewhere.
Personally, I just enjoy reading it and, as I haven't seen The Maltese Falcon in years, I don't have much to add. I've often thought Citizen Kane is the best movie of all time. Lately though, I've been rethinking it. It certainly created many new ideas in cinema, but being groundbreaking doesn't make a great film. I do love the story and I think Joseph Cotten is tremendous in it. I also think Orson Welles is perfect as Kane. Both of them are bigger than life.
At the moment, if I had to say what the greatest film of all time was right now, I might say "Seven Samurai." Tomorrow I'd probably say different. Maybe "Night of the Hunter."
Anyway, it's an interesting conversation, check it out.

Burroughs interviewed

Thanks to BoingBoing I found this interview with William S. Burroughs from Creem Magazine. The interview is funny because he doesn't seem to enjoy the rock 'n' rollers he's talking about all that much. For instance, here he talks about Bowie:
MORGAN: What did you think of him when you met him? Did he seem to be the kind of guy who was bullshitting his way through life or did he seem to be walking the straight and narrow?
BURROUGHS: (laughs) Well, neither one. He’s not bullshitting, he’s very, very clever and I think very calculating. I think he knows exactly what he’s doing and where he’s going and how to get there.
And here is Burroughs' advice to young writers:
MORGAN: Is there any advice you’d like to give to young writers?
BURROUGHS: I have an exercise I learned from a Mafia Don in Ohio: see everybody on the street before they see you. It’s quite interesting actually because, if you see everyone before they see you, they won’t see you.
And then you’ll find that somebody beat you.

Lawrence Block blog

Crime writer Lawrence Block has started a blog for his book tour.
(Found via Sarah Weinman.)

Killer cow

In Idaho Falls, a cow escaped a farm and had to be chased down by police. The cow cut the tendon of an animal control officer and it made its displeasure with police known:
Police Sgt. David Frei tried to herd the cow by driving beside it. The cow rammed into his Ford Explorer, denting a front panel, and then disappeared somewhere south, witnesses said.

But Mikey did wake up in a bathtub full of ice after his organs were removed!

Under the headline Pop rocks did not kill 'Mikey,' the Marshfield Mail corrects a story about stolen UPS uniforms thought to have been bought by terrorists. Apparently, the story was an urban rumor that the sherriff's department picked up and passed along to the local news media. So Mikey is OK and don't be too frightened of your UPS drives. Got that?

Clandestine invasionn of Virginia

Apparently, a group of UFO enthusiasts is suing Virginia's governor because he has failed to stop a "clandestine invasion" of the state. The Smoking Gun has an affidavit a person offered in support of their case. Be sure to check out the alien drawing on page 3.

Raise the bubble wall!

Mississippi is considering using a fence made of bubbles to keep out various types of carp.
Also here's a factoid:
Silver carp, which are nearly as big [100 pounds], have become a safety hazard along parts of the Mississippi because they jump out of the water and sometimes hit boaters, Oetker said.

War of the Worlds

Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise are teaming up to make a new War of the Worlds. I'm hoping they stick closer to the book and include the tripods and red weed and blood sucking aliens.

Amazing Stories to rise from the grave

Famed science fiction magazine Amazing Stories is being relaunched, again. The last time around, they tried to use media fiction (Star Trek stories, etc) to get people interested. This one sounds like they are going to use the nonfiction content to attract readers.
Now re-imagined for a new generation of fans, Amazing Stories launches into the 21st century with both cutting-edge fiction from today’s top authors and the mission to provide the definitive editorial voice across the entire spectrum of sci-fi, fantasy, super heroes and supernatural horror. Amazing Stories will feature reviews and previews of the latest movies, TV, DVDs, books, comics and story-driven electronic games, as well as interviews with the creators of these fantasy stories. Each issue will also contain original fiction works from the world’s top authors, as readers of Amazing Stories have come to expect from the magazine.
Well, I'm hoping for the best anyway.

Weird animal news

Afghan soldier couldn't afford to get married. He ends up being arrested for having sex with a donkey. Desperate times ... desperate measures.
A kangaroo viciously attacked a woman in her garden. A bobcat viciously attacked a woman in her basement.
Chinese veterinarians are showing a panda American sex ed videos so it will be ready to mate.
Jim Rindhage is a professional dog poop scooper.
Bird poop destroying Norwegian bridge.
Man dies of heart attack and pneumonia, but police launching a murder investigation because his genitals have been removed and may have been eaten by the dog.
And finally, dogs trained during World War II to run under tanks with explosives. Unfortunately, they were indiscriminate about which tanks they'd run under.

Beeswax and pirate treasures

This article on the Treasure on Neahkahnie Mountain is a wild mix of Indian legend, scientific fact and reports of treasure hunters and explorers. There's history, legend and weirdness all mixed together. Good stuff.
Actually, the Web site, Unexplained Earth, looks to have a lot of other interesting stories like that one. Check it out.

Godzilla takes New York!

Columbia University is having an exhibition called Godzilla Conquers the Globe: Japanese Movie Monsters in International Film Art. It celebrates the 50th anniversary of Godzilla and looks at the process of change Godzilla (and other Japanese movie monsters) went through as they travelled from country to country. It also includes a history of Japanese monsters in folklore and books and how those were translated to the silver screen.
The Web site includes thumbnails of many Godzilla posters from around the world. Some of my favorites are in there, like the Polish poster which can be seen here (scroll down). It features a blue Godzilla that's almost smiling as it crouches over a tiny city.
Good stuff. Check it out. And go to it if you're near Columbia. They say this could become a travelling exhibit if it's successful.

May the fold be with you

BoingBoing has been linking to a lot of paper folding lately. Here's a neat one featuring Star Wars vehicles.

Wizardry & Wild Romance

Coming next month, Monkeybrain Books are publishing a revised edition of Michael Moorcock's Wizardry & Wild Romance. "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy" calls the original book (published in 1987) "an impatient and rather patchy examination of fantasy ... and which constitutes as a whole an apologia for his own ironized point of view." I have no idea if that is a good description of the book or not. According to Monkeybrain, the new book will be "newly revised and expanded."
Moorcock is the absolute master of modern fantasy. Things he tossed off in a week are far better than some of the dreck on fantasy bookshelves today. So I'll be buying it in short order. If you're interested in fantasy literature, it's probably an essential volume.

Beware dihydrogen monoxide!

City officials in Aliso Viejo, Calif., nearly banned water. During an investigation of a foam container maker, they found out the company used dihydrogen monoxide (the scientific name for water). A few official looking Web sites did them in, describing dihydrogen monoxide as an odorless, tasteless chemical that can be deadly if accidentally inhaled.

Makes a great birthday present

Hurry, hurry, get your own two-headed calf, bids start at $9 for a limited time.

Rich religious cult leader and her illegal, manmade island

This article starts out talking about an island illegaly built in a protected South Dade, Fla., nature preserve. Apparently, the island was built by the "Supreme Master" of a religious cult. But this isn't your typical cult:

Whether Ching Hai should be considered a ''cult leader'' is the subject of debate among people who track such groups. The group offers no dark doomsday messages but instead practices a form of meditation called quan yin, which taps into some sort of inner music, and stresses vegetarianism along with simple rules against lying, stealing or ''sexual misconduct.''

But apparently, living next door to her wasn't a bad thing.

''She was a very kind person, just very, very strange,'' said one neighbor who did not want to be identified. ''There was just a lot of weird stuff.''
Stuff like this: scurrying minions who always referred to her as ''the master.'' Odd construction projects, often done after midnight, like aviaries or landscaping, fences or screens to shield the property.
De Lamour, said another neighbor, described herself as a designer but talked little about herself. At one home, neighbors rarely saw anyone, only cars. At another, the petite woman was pleasant when encountered -- sometimes to a fault, offering extravagant gifts like expensive designer clothes on a whim.
''You had to be careful what you said. Just mention you were cold and the next thing you know she was coming with bags full of Ralph Lauren sweaters,'' the neighbor said. 'When I made a comment about why she was bringing over all this stuff all the time, she said, 'I have so such money I don't know what to do with it.' ''

Good stuff, take the time to read it.

Christ complex

Well, I hope politicians are aware of the negative influence The Passion of the Christ is having on people. First we hear of an old woman who dies in the theater. Now this: A 23-year-old tried to nail himself to a cross. Obviously, these religious movies are a bad influence. Hollywood should know better. Ban them! Restrict them! MPAA on their asses!

Deep sea robot pictures

A new deep sea robot will be taking pictures of the ocean depths and sending the photos back to be displayed on the Internet. The photos will be available here: www.deepseacam.com