Entries from June 1, 2011 - June 30, 2011
Ask the Ash-hole! Episode I
Eryn Ashley On Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 2:00PM Your burningest questions answered! (hint: use a soothing balm)
If I could shape-shift, should I shift into a cheetah or leopard?
Well, that all depends. Cheetahs are capable of bursts of incredible speed, but can only perform said burst once every few hours. If you were looking to use your shape shifting abilities for a purpose, like say, challenging Jackie Joyner-Kersee to a duel of swiftness, then I’d say cheetah for sure. Leopards, on the other hand, are solid hunters and a lot less fragile than their equally as bespeckled counterparts. In a head-to-head battle, a leopard could probably beat a cheetah, but only if it could catch it. Toss up!
If you are thinking of shape-shifting into a baby cheetah or leopard (is that even feasible according to the rules of Einsteinian physics?), I would go for leopard, without question. The reason being that I could then take you home and cuddle you for hours because you are the cutest thing I have ever seen.
Just please don’t shape-shift back. I don’t know what you look like, I don’t react well to strangers and I highly doubt the miniature set of footed pajamas I plan on putting the cub in would fit you.
My boyfriend just told me he is into water sports. How should I deal with that?
They Live
Rob Dean On Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 12:30PM Double Dip Demands is a column in which I propose films that deserve a re-release on DVD/Blu-Ray with more special features, better transfers and other nerdy bits. Some of the films have no DVDs out there for Region 1 viewers, and some of them have a really crappy version that's bare bones or poorly put together. Who speaks for these films? I do.
The Film: They Live (1988)
Cast & Crew: John Carpenter (writer/director); Ray Nelson (based on his short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning"); "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster
Plot Synopsis (from IMDB): A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.
Is It Out on DVD Currently?: Yes - but in a bare bones release with no extras.
Why Does it Deserve Special Features?: Discarded and derided at the time of its release, They Live is a clever and profoundly prescient movie that arrived in theaters wearing the trappings of a dumb B-Movie. They Live has since gone on to influence many other films and filmmakers, as well as graffiti artists, video game designers with its stylish simplicity and biting social commentary. A forerunner to 21st century cultural memes, They Live lambastes consumer culture and the vapid selfishness that defined Reagan-era America and is just as relevant in today's world of Weapons of Mass Distraction.
What Should be on the Disc?
Verbiage - June 7, 2011
Rob Dean On Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:00AM Today's word of the day is Antagonistic:
Via 4GIFS
- acting in opposition; opposing, especially mutually.
- hostile; unfriendly.
"It's a Fat Baby, Melissa!!!"
Rob Dean On Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 9:31AM The Furthest Anyone Has Ever Put the Cart Before the Horse -- powered by Cracked.com
Zelda Convention - June 6, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 5:00PM 
Quotent Quotables - June 6, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 3:30PM The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.
Talking with Myself – A Debt Ceiling Primer
Keith Doughty On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 2:00PM 
What is the debt ceiling?
The debt ceiling is the legal limit on how much the US government is allowed to borrow.
Why does it exist?
The debt ceiling was originally created to make life easier for congress, not harder. Up until WWI, when the US government needed to borrow money, congress would debate and approve the terms of sale for treasury bonds themselves. During WWI, this proved to be too time-consuming so congress delegated these activities to the Treasury Department.
Not wanting to cede too much power, congress also voted to set a limit on how much the Treasury Department could borrow.
What doesn’t the debt ceiling do?
The debt ceiling itself does not set spending or revenue levels. That is done through the budget process.
But doesn’t spending and revenue levels dictate how much the US government has to borrow?
Therein lies the problem with the debt ceiling. Congress knows how much debt will be incurred when they pass the annual budget. If they didn’t want the Treasury Department to borrow more funds, they would pass a budget that didn’t require the Treasury Department to do so.
Week of June 6, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 12:30PM Every week, we list our recommendations of new music, books, comics, movies and TV to check out. This is Recs in Effect:
New Music
The Book of Mormon
Who's Responsible? Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez
What Is It? The broadway musical by South Park's Parker & Stone and Avenue Q's Lopez focuses on the pros and cons of faith by examining two Mormon missionaries' exploits in Uganda. Hilarity Ensues?
Why's It Worth Noting? Firstly, Parker & Stone have proven their musical chops many times previously (Orgazmo, South Park, Team America) and paired with the more playful (and less dark) Lopez, they deliver a great musical that craps all over religion - but it also highlights the functions that religion can serve; basically stating that religion is dumb but can provide meaning and direction. The album was released on iTunes a couple of weeks ago, but the CD comes out on Tuesday and is definitely worth picking up. The songs are infectious, hilarious and brilliantly vulgar. Here's a sample (semi-NSFW, language):
Verbiage - June 6, 2011
Rob Dean On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 11:00AM Today's word of the day is perturbed:
Via 4GIFs.com
- to disturb or disquiet greatly in mind; agitate.
- to throw into great disorder; derange.
- Astronomy . to cause perturbation in the orbit of (a celestial body).
Parents Just Don't Understand...
Rob Dean On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 9:30AM HBS from Eric Fensler on Vimeo.
Zelda Convention - June 3, 2011
Rob Dean On Friday, June 3, 2011 at 5:00PM 
Via Fuck Yeah Steve Zisso
Let's head on down into that cellar and carve ourselves a witch...
Quotent Quotables - June 3, 2011
Rob Dean On Friday, June 3, 2011 at 3:30PM I began plotting novels at about the time I learned to read. The story of my childhood is the usual bleak fantasy, and we can dismiss it with the restrained observation that I certainly would not consider living it again.
Top 5 Most Disappointing Supervillains in Movies
Rob Dean On Friday, June 3, 2011 at 2:00PM 
Via She Walks SoftlyIt's been said that heroes are only as good as their villains. In order to have an interesting hero, he or she must face an interesting and truly threatening adversary. In genre fiction, this is usually done by one of two ways. Either having the villain be a threat so large that it seems unlikely anyone can stop it. Or else have the threat be of a complimentary nature, the flip side of the coin of the hero (dark vs. light, etc.). In either case, when the villain reveals his or her potential for destruction and true horror, it makes the heroes seem even mightier and their (inevitable victories) that much sweeter.
Unfortunately, that doesn't always work out. This can be especially true when the budget limitations of films are coupled with the imagination limitations of most film producers. Toss in the need to adhere to certain formulas (or to create another line of toys), and suddenly you have an impotent villain who is not the definition of threatening but instead the definition of wasted potential. These are the top 5 worst offenders, the supervillains who seemed cool but were just...just awful.
Beck, "Halo of Gold"
Keith Doughty On Friday, June 3, 2011 at 12:30PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
Beck - "Halo of Gold"
“Have you got a fine place to slip to when you're feeling down?”
Although I don’t think Beck is an underappreciated artist, there is a song of his I’ve always liked that is not very well known. Originally released on the Cold Brains EP, Beck’s cover of the Skip Spence song “Halo of Gold” stands out to me particularly when compared to the original version.
Unlike the Beck cover, the original Skip Spence song sounds sloppy and unfinished (for good reason- learn more about Skip Spence here). Spence’s delivery is halting and out of rhythm; the instrumentation is very sparse, just drums and bass. Beck takes the original melody and lyrics, adds typical Beck instrumentation (while retaining much of the prominent bass line), and performs it in his usual style.
