Oakfairy

 This one is surreal.

 In a stunning display of corporate cowardice, Regal, AMC, and  every other major theatre chain in the United States have cancelled their plans to show the new Seth Rogen/ James Franco comedy THE INTERVIEW, because of -- yes, seriously, this is not a SOUTH PARK sketch (though I expect it soon will be) --  threats from North Korea.

Not familiar with THE INTERVIEW?  Here's the trailer:



 I mean, really?  REALLY??  These gigantic corporations, most of which could buy North Korea with pocket change, are declining to show a film because Kim Jong-Un objects to being mocked?

 The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me.  It's a good thing these guys weren't around when Charlie Chaplin made THE GREAT DICTATOR.  If Kim Jong-Un scares them, Adolf Hitler would have had them shitting in their smallclothes.

 Even Sony, which made the movie, is going along.  There are thousands of small independent theatres across the country, like my own, that would gladly screen THE INTERVIEW, regardless of the threats from North Korea, but instead of shifting the film to those venues, Sony has cancelled its scheduled Christmas rollout entirely.

 I haven't seen THE INTERVIEW.  I have no idea how good or bad a film it is.   It might be hilarious.  It might be stupid and offensive and outrageous. (Actually, I am pretty sure about the 'outrageous' part).  It might be all of the above.

That's not the point, though.  Whether it's the next CITIZEN KANE or the next PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it astonishes me that a major Hollywood film could be killed before release by threats from a foreign power and anonymous hackers.

For what it's worth, the Jean Cocteau Cinema will be glad to screen THE INTERVIEW (assuming that Sony does eventually release the film for theatrical exhibition, rather than streaming it or dumping it as a direct-to-DVD release), should it be made available to us.  Come to Santa Fe, Seth, we'll show your film for you.

POSTSCRIPT: DECEMBER 20

Not content with pulling the film, Sony has now pulled the trailers as well, so the YouTube video I embedded above no longer works.

Here's a replacement from YouTube that's dead on point:

linrenzo:

malformalady:

Naomi Elishuv had played for a number of orchestras, including Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, but was forced to stop performing professionally two decades ago when she began suffering from a condition called essential tremor. During the procedure which was performed under local anaesthetic, surgeons asked Elishuv to play so her brain was active. The footage shows Elishuv shaking and struggling to play the violin before she is wheeled into surgery. Surgeons are then seen operating on her brain behind a huge plastic curtain. As soon as the procedure is complete, the violinist’s hands become steady, and she is able to play unhindered for the first time in 20 years.

God

Science.

micdotcom:

Australians fight Islamophobia amidst hostage crisis with #IllRideWithYou

In the midst of the ongoing hostage crisis in downtown Sydney, Australians are showing the world they’re not caving to racism or Islamophobia. 

On Monday, an armed gunman stormed a cafe in Martin Place, entering a tense standoff with police. After the hostage-taker displayed an Islamic flag in the cafe’s window, many of Australia’s Muslims are understandably anxious about facing retribution. 

But instead, Australians have banded together on Twitter with #IllRideWithYou, a hashtag showing their solidarity with fellow countrymen scared of being attacked on public transportation. 

There have been more than 150,000 Tweets so far

And now I’m sad.

According Danny John-Jules, planning for another season of Red Dwarf continues apace. "All I can say is that Doug Naylor is slaving away writing scripts and we've got lunch next week. That's as far as I can tell you!" [Digital Spy]

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kellyangel:

Read the next comic | Support the comic

lizclimo:

good luck with that

sketchamagowza:

Inspirationimals 

[Patreon]

Yep, totally accurate.

[Source: Wrong Hands – John Atkinson]

If you're unfamiliar with the Hydra, it was a multi-headed beast in ancient Greek mythology that grew two heads for every one cut off. By creating a system of modes or mindsets for yourself to always fall back on—like the heads of a hydra—you'll never feel like you're not making progress toward your goals.

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By DauntlessDS
How... how did you two get those costumes? I don't... what even...

With punctuation!

Have a lovely Friday, everyone.

Hiker Tomas N. walked on a frozen mountain lake in High Tatras Mountains in Slovakia and capture the moment on camera. Check it out! It’s just like he’s walking on thin air!

[Tomas N]

As the holidays get closer, it's about time for another tradition: frustratingly wrapping gifts. As the above YouTube video demonstrates, though, there's an easier way.

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This one’s for me:

Bloody hell.

thatbadadvice:

Dear Abby, 10 November 2014:

DEAR ABBY: May I have some advice about a touchy subject? One of my boyfriend’s close friends is going through his third bout with cancer and the prognosis is not good. He is married with a healthy 3-year-old son. So imagine our surprise when his wife announced she’s pregnant. This is a decision we do not support. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but if you are facing the reality that your spouse will not be around much longer, we don’t feel it is wise to bring another child into the world who will never know his or her father. Some of her close friends want to throw her a “sprinkle,” and although I am only an acquaintance, I have been invited. How do I handle this? Should I attend and keep my thoughts to myself, decline and/or send a small gift in my absence? I have a hard time making small talk about subjects I don’t agree with. Did I mention she does nothing but complain about how hard her life is now? I’m afraid if I go and get involved, I’ll be on the hook down the road when she wants to complain about how hard it is to raise two children alone. — ISN’T MY CHOICE

Dear Isn’t My Choice,

My heart goes out to you in this difficult time. How crushing it must be to deal with the fact that another human being made a decision to carry a pregnancy to term without your express permission.

What a terrible situation your boyfriend’s thoughtless, probably dying friend has put you in; not only must you disapprove of what this likely widow has decided to do with her uterus, but you must listen to her bitching and moaning about how difficult it is to watch her husband stare death in the face as they try to raise a family together with what little time he may have left on this mortal plane.

This says a great deal about what this douchebag couple’s dumb priorities are—ignorantly doing what they think is best for their family—and what they should be: making sure a near-stranger gives the thumbs-up before a dude with cancer has a kid.

It isn’t your choice, Isn’t My Choice, but it should be. That’s what’s so terribly unfair about this whole situation: here’s a guy in the prime of his life who’s had three run-ins with cancer while trying to raise a family with what’s left of his time on planet earth, and he fails to put your feelings about it first.

The universe has been unduly cruel to you, Isn’t My Choice. But this couple, who are clearly just having a load of bullshit children to piss you, specifically, off, will never understand the depths of the pain they’ve put you through.

(And I loved that the labels were: Filed under death dear abby assholes assholery buttbags buttbaggery bad advice holy shit reproductive health pro-choice leave other people the fuck alone about their reproductive health care decisions cancer dying childrenchildrearing parenting incredible edible douchebags what in the actual fuck happens to people to make them say and do things like this)

Moffat: Gender is Fluid on Gallifrey | Doctor Who TV:

vbartilucci:

'It’s actually only since I took over that we have said it’s actually possible within the logic of the show.'

This is a good conversation.  But this bit may raise an eyebrow or two - 

He adds: “The very first lines I wrote were Matt Smith checking if he had become a girl and then I put some dialogue in The Doctor’s Wife about it and in Night of the Doctor.

Did Steven Moffat just steal credit for The Corsair sometime being female from Neil Gaiman?

I’m REALLY hoping Neil chimes in on that.

Well, the lines about the Corsair sometimes being female were mine (I was nervous, because I thought Steven might cut them), but he actually went in and buttressed them up — the “Oh she was a bad girl” line was his, to make sure people got it. I don’t think he’s stealing credit at all. After all, Matt checking to see if he was a girl in the Eleventh Hour was where I got the idea.

Hey Everyone, After months since the last update, a major update for GC2:CS is finally here! This is a huge step towards making the game ready to be Steam ported, which as of now is planned to take place at … Continue reading →

Like a lot of people, I watched the Orion mission last Friday. I missed the launch (time zones reared their sleepy head), unfortunately. But I did see most of the mission—the capsule completing its first orbit, getting boosted to its second, much higher orbit, then falling back to Earth for a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of Baja California.

Twitter was bursting with live commentary, and nearly every person I follow was breathlessly excited about the achievement.

I myself… well, I wasn’t. Despite the mission going nearly flawlessly, I watched the whole thing with serious misgivings.

I can’t help it. After reading quite a bit about Orion, and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket planned to take it into space in the coming years, I have come to an unhappy conclusion: Both are almost certainly the wrong direction for NASA.

Don’t get me wrong: I want us to go to the Moon, and eventually to Mars. I’ve written about this countless times. But I don’t think SLS is the way to get there.

The cost is a major factor—it’s underfunded, and likely to hobble NASA unless the White House and Congress give a lot more money to the agency—and the politics involved on a more detailed level are very likely to ensure cost overruns and scheduling delays. And even then, I’m just unconvinced that we really need this rocket that will cost many tens of billions of dollars, when far less expensive alternatives are possible.

Orion is figuratively and literally attached to SLS, and carries many of the same problems. Plus, I don’t think building these rockets and capsules is what NASA itself should be doing, anyway.

I’m not just blowing off steam here; I have plenty of evidence, as well as corroboration from ex-NASA personnel and other space experts who are even more skeptical of SLS and Orion than I am.

I put all this together in an article for Slate. Please go read that, and think carefully on it.

This brings me no joy at all to write this. None. I want NASA to be the can-do forward-thinking agency I knew as a kid, the one that put humanity on the Moon and would soon have us kicking up the rusty dust on Mars. I worked at a NASA research center for many years, and I’ve seen the heights the people involved can reach, and the stultifying politics that in so many cases has prevented them from doing so.

I know what NASA can do when it’s allowed to, and that’s why I wrote that article. Not to hold NASA down, but to make sure it has the chance to free itself so we can reach for the stars.

I know that future is possible. We just have to take one small step… but it has to be in the right direction.

mostlysignssomeportents:

Polish jeweler Mage Studio offers a wide variety of extraordinary accessories made from polyhedral dice, a gamer’s accessory that has become very ornamental in nature, perfectly complementing pieces like: the dragon/D20 necklace, the D12 cufflinks, and this pendant D20 necklace.

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By DrMonekers
Hope you like it!!! :)

digg:

They grow up so fast!! (via)

[video]