I kept searching IMDB, and I found this: The Magic 7.

I won't comment on the film as a whole, other than one fact: this cartoon has two of the greatest comedic actors of all time voicing parts... years after each died. There are also plenty of others in it, but, c'mon, John Candy and Madeline Kahn voiced major characters!

Oh, Madeline Kahn, light of my life, fire of my l...

I remember back in the day when I was in Y Indian Guides. I knew a brash little kid who was very well known to the rest of the Guides. He was the star of 1993's Dennis the Menace. We hung out on occasion, playing the random run-from-the-girl-with-cooties game. I remember my dad and his dad didn't really like each other.

And so I searched IMDB today for him. And also found his official website.

Of course, that was back in the day, when we were kids. I don't know him at all anymore, since we were never really friends... just a couple kids thrown together. We weren't even in the same tribe (I was Fox... I don't remember his). I'm not even a blip on the radar to him anymore, and he'll probably laugh if he ever finds this entry through Google/blog trackbacks. I would, too.

Eh.

Dactylic Rhythm, they call it. Check out the rest of that site, too.

Again at Waldheim

And for those that don't know, Waldheim means Forest Home, and it's a cemetery in Forest Park where many important members of the old labor movement have been buried (the Haymarket Riot monument is there).

Edit: Here's a website full of Chicago cemeteries... specifically Forest Home.

A glimpse of discussion on WoW's forums:


Question: Why are mere mortals killing gods? Seriously, why? C'Thun is a god. Rag was a god. Even in their weakened states, they should have no trouble killing off 40 mere mortals. They arent even heroes.

Answer: Hubris

What the hell? They changed its name to... what?!?!?!

Rumsfeld Compares Iraq War to WoW

Nerf roadside bombs!

Warbears, go!

(Frustrated by Pancho)

I wonder if I missed out on anything by skipping that free screening of Mission Impossible III?

Tom Cruise exploding possibly? Decapitation? Gouging his eyes out with hypodermic needles? I shouldn't think about it, 'cause then I'll really feel like I missed something.

Also, Happy Earth Day!

Happy CIF 2006!

Horrible, horrible list.

However, a highlight (for me, at least):

Hun:
Germans
When the Europeans united to crush the Chinese boxer rebellion, Kaiser Wilhelm II said something like "let the Germans strike fear into the hearts, so hell be feared like the hun!" Europe laughed, name stuck.

Labels: Language

I think the videogamers of the world will rise up someday... we will not be denied. Videogames are art. Perhaps not all of it... but there are some pretty trashy novels out there, too. But play Starcraft, Diablo II, Warcraft III, Knights of the Old Republic... you can find amazingly complex storylines. Warcraft III questions what humans have done to orcs. Corruption, greed, racism... all our questioned in a grand race to save the world. Like in any fantasy, you can find connections to our world, even when you're connecting a corrupt paladin to an evil dictator.

Ebert Videogames Debate

Labels: Gaming

I would disagree, but it's so damned catchy.

(Poached from Wired News)

I find it odd that National High Five Day and this day coincide.

X-Files, Millenium, and Monk screen capture captions, since I still love my X-Files oh so much.

Posting my articles here and the forums until the website gets fully up-and-running:

El Pez Bonito on Your Shoe

I recently went deep sea fishing on the idea that deep-sea fishing is fishing, just like any old canoe trip. I’ve been fishing. I catch gobies in the Chicago River on a consistent basis. I’ve fished from a canoe or two in my day, which, if you’ve never been, involves balancing yourself on a craft about the size of my keyboard. When you’re balanced, you may finally have a shot at catching fish, once they stop laughing at you. One time, I even caught something: a good-sized small-mouthed bass in the Kankakee River. Actually, it leapt into the canoe on its own, and I incapacitated it with my paddle. I have pictures.

I discovered that deep-sea fishing is nothing like this. It is a fast-paced sport, full of hooks the size of dinosaur teeth, bait bigger than that bass I once caught, and a boat much bigger than your average keyboard. It also involves the sea, which is a nasty, rough place, full of animals that would prefer your arm over your relatively puny bait. It is open to only the most fearless of anglers who can pay the $35 fee.

My crew and I, made up of Sam, Dan, Danny, and myself, picked Blue Heron Drift Fishing for our trip, getting up at an ungodly 7 a.m., Spring Break Time. We sat on the bench encircling the cabin area, toward the middle section of the vessel. We looked on as more fellow fishing enthusiasts got on, dodging the herds of pelicans eyeing the bait buckets. Most of them sat down more toward the back, so there was plenty of room to stretch out.

You learn quickly who the out-of-towners are on deep-sea boat rides. I wondered why the crew had strapped on raincoats, as well as why there were so many empty seats towards the bow (the boat’s front, to those unacquainted with nautical terms). There were a few people sitting slightly more toward the bow than us, but besides them and us, most passengers looked like there would be a hurricane up there. Unfortunately, there would be one.

You also learn on deep-sea boat rides that waves splash a lot. I received a drenching, but I held onto my stuff due to the lack of room in the back and the cabin. I, however, shouted how nice it was as I was splashed by salt water, live flying fish, and marlin sperm. My glasses were cloudy.

The waves were unusually rough. I knew I could handle it though. I’ve been on plenty of watercraft before in Lake Michigan, including the Odyssey II and the Seadog, a gigantic yacht and a small yellow powerboat, respectively. It’s not like I could ever get sea-sick.

By two hours in, I was yakking off the other side of the mighty vessel, where few people dared (besides the out-of-towners). I think this side was the sea-sickness side. Sam had puked before me, and eventually Danny would, too, though more nonchalantly than Sam and me. He had to tell us later that he did though our lack of noticing may have just been the dizziness and unconsciousness Sam and I experienced.

Dan, the self-proclaimed couch potato, was the only one not to enjoy the pleasures of sea sickness. He also would end up being the only successful angler in our crew. Of course, as we were told, successful is relative. The fish Dan caught was in fact inedible (meaning he could not keep it, according to some odd contract of the sea we hadn’t heard of). The fish was a “bonito,” named after the Spanish word for “in the process of gushing blood” (masculine). And bonito it did, all over the deck, our bags, and my white angling hat. It was a kind of pretty thing, silvery white with a bit of dark gray lining it in certain places. It was actually bigger than I expected. The only remains of it are part of a dumpster in Miami and a somewhat low-quality picture of it on my now very wet and bonitoed camera.

By the end of the four-hour trip, Sam and I were stuck in the cabin, attempting to not dry-heave up our lungs. Every time the boat rocked, if you don’t understand simple biology, the stomach feels a bit better due to a complex series of gaseous releases that I did not need to know to take the any biology tests. So, every time the boat sped on to a different fishing hotspot, there would be a gaseous sigh of relief issuing from the cabin.

Our trip was called “unsuccessful.” Only one person was allowed to keep a catch, a kingfish. The four of us, along with a large crew of other cabin-dwellers, hobbled off the boat, shooing away pelicans from the pier. After the ride, I was feeling sick.

“Hello, doctor. I’m having cramps, mood swings, and I’m throwing up regularly.”
“Let’s have a look.”
“Well?”
“Um… congratulations… you’re pregnant with a marlin.”
“…”

This is a much more serious link.

In soccer-related, non-Scientology-based news...

Is it bad that when the media began announcing that Tom Cruise announced Katie Holmes had stayed silent during the birth of their new daughter, my first thought was an image of Katie bound and gagged?

(A reference link for you, in case you've been living under a rock.)

Now for some literary goodness...

This book is from the pages of Prof. Frantzen, the expert on Old and Middle English at Loyola. It's Bloody Good: Chivalry, Sacrifice, and the Great War, a book linking World War I to the Middle Ages. I want to check that out.

Another book: Finding Serenity : Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly, which is just what I needed, some literary criticism on Firefly/Serenity. I'll be picking that one up for certain.

And now, an essay to enjoy.

So I watched the Colbert Report... and heard about something very odd... so I looked it up, and surely enough, I found it. I present to you: Housefly Gets Glasses Made With Lasers.

The most beautiful expression of freedom ever to exist is the Internet, but it doesn't hold a candle to mad, inane science.

May not be suitable for children or most mathematicians.

(Seriously!)

The nerds are with you.

Also, Passover. Enjoy it.

Happy Easter, hoppy readers! I have, for you, a poem written by David Lobes in 2nd grade:

Easter bunny,
Chocolate bunny,
Yummy, yummy, yummy!

And now, for the ridiculous picture of a bunny blowing a raspberry:



(Stolen from cuteoverload.com)

GrossCooooool.

Germans can think of anything.

They're outsourcing drive-thrus.

(And yes, I know this article is popping up everywhere. However, we had a discussion of it in class today, setting me on it).

This just gave much such a sinking feeling in my gut... that my parents could have died just a few years before I was born: Stanislav Petrov - World Hero

This also requires celebration. YTMND and Vodka, anyone?

I apologize for the wonkiness of the comment system at the moment. I'm in the midst of upgrading, which is a tough amalgamation of CSS, HTML, and Blogger-special-made-to-hurt-your-brain code. However, you still can make a few comments.

Also, I'm lazy, and don't feel like fixing the fonts at the moment.

Eaglie's Aviary, where you get the best news FIRST:


Under the CTA's Kilt:
CTA Announces Plaid Line

Capitalizing on the generally positive reactions its new plans for the Pink Line, the Chicago Transit Authority announced plans to extend service. It's new project was the top secret twin to the former 54/Cermak turned Breast Cancer Awareness train. Why plaid though?

"We felt we ran out of solid colors," said one low-level CTA official, refusing to disclose his name. "Plaid just seemed a good way to go. What else would we call a line that runs past the state border?"

The greatest question involves just that: the length of the line. How could the CTA, strapped for cash, begging the city, the state, and several corporate billionaires for money, afford to run trains almost 100 miles? And what will happen to the cost of fares, which has already gone up in recent years?

"This new Plaid Line will run similarly to the Skokie Swift, with trains running every 20 minutes or so. If we We're just finalizing plans for the schedule it'll run on. Hopefully, we will not have to raise fares too much, but this is all for Chicago's benefit. The residents of Skokie will benefit from their new connections to the Brown Line as well as Kenosha... I think we will all benefit."

Another problem the line may face is the battle to build it. The line will likely force many Chicagoland residents to move before the wrecking ball takes their former homes hostage for the construction of the new line. However, some Chicago residents have marked this with joy, wishing Skokie residents much luck in moving as quickly as they can. "It's a great day for Chicago. It's the first step to connecting the El to the rest of the Midwest!" said one excited teenager.

No high-level officials within the CTA or city could be bothered to comment.

-OAP

(Map picture missing Pink Line due to CTA releases, not due to any fault of OAP)

I found a website called MyDeathSpace, chronicling the deaths of MySpace account owners. I suggest not looking too long. It's depressing.

This one's ridiculous.

Now, where's my check?

WOW. Blogger's old code really doesn't like the changes Blogger did. Still working on the kinks (and I may just have to start over and redo the template).

David Wooley from RateMyProfessors.COM (you'll need an account, I suspect)

Anyway, just for your information, this man is also Guido Crescendo of The Swordsmen!

Now taking bets whether it'll rain this year on Good Friday!

30% predicted chance of precipitation + Our Lord's crucifixion = 100% chance of precipitation

Also, more Firefly stuff: they're working on a conversion to a Firefly 'verse in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

George Lucas comments on "Firefly." Kinda.

The Chicago Bulls Old Theme/Animation

If you get nightmares easily, don't click. Really.

Read the review of Curse of the Komodo, then watch the movie clip that comes with it.

I'll prove them wrong when Spore comes out.

In the beginning, there was Napalm. Then the crew went to college.

Then Burdulis choked on a Lifesaver.

Check the RedEye today. There's an article about new TV shows coming out that are set in Chicago, four of them. However, none of them are shot here beyond the gathering of stock footage. And you know what happened because of that on The Loop? Instead of shooting a scene at O'Hare Airport, they shot a scene at LAX. And, clear as day in the backdrop, there were mountains. In Chicago.



All I ask, if producers and directors plan to make their settings "Chicago," is that they get the major topography right.

By the way, it's a good start to the Chicago baseball season!

New interview about The Burning Crusade for WoW.

For the Starcraft nerd on your Easter list this year.

The original article I was gonna do for April Fools' Day can wait. It falls under the category of satire, not prank.

Therefore, here's one for you guys and gals... Andy's April Fools' Prank:

Thunder Is Just Jesuits Bowling

My Little Ponies RPG

(From JPac)

An absolutely gorgeous piece from a dying humorist.

(And yes, I'm reading up on him because of Dave.)

I once thought I had found some of the cutest pages on the Internet. Apparently I hadn't looked hard enough.