Archive for August, 2009


The World of MAD MEN, Notated

Filed Under: across the net, tv by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 19, 2009

With the return of Mad Men to television this past Sunday, another of my favorite hobbies returned…endless speculation and research of Mad Men!

And now, it just got a whole lot easier with this new website, The Footnotes of Mad Men.  Essentially it breaks down different references from the series, either elaborating on background detail, character name origins, the real advertising referenced, or any number of infinite minutia packed into the series.  Simply put, for an OCD nerd like myself, this is heaven.

I mean, where else can you find elaborate discussion of a painting showcased for 15 seconds of a TV program?  And what makes this even better is having this knowledge in hand only further illuminates the rich world built around the characters, and underlines how much the creative staff at Mad Men truly “get” their universe.

The website is only credited to “the friends of dick whitman at gmail dot com”, but whoever’s behind it, I’d like to personally salute you.  You do the nerdy legwork, so we don’t have to.

Original Post: The Footnotes of Mad Men.

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Japanese Doritos Are Weird.

Filed Under: across the net, eats by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 19, 2009

Guess the new slogan in Glorious Nippon is…

DORITOS: Like A Gentle Step On The Nads!

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It’s Not the Winchester, But It’ll Do!

Filed Under: across the net by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 19, 2009

Congratulations, Minnesota! You now have a reason to exist.

What is it?

ZOMBIE BAR.

Once an infamous tavern called “Stand Up Franks”, this simple bar has been remodeled and reopened with a decorum that mixes Vegas lounge with undead corpses.  Now called Donnie Derk’s Zombie Den, it’s been serving up drinks to a happy crowd, who probably have an easier time relaxing knowing they’re in a bar prepared for the apocalypse (seen below).

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Their bartenders even dress like a certain zombie fighting slacker/TV salesman from London.

Suffice to say, I think I need to go.

Original Post: Zombie resurrection | StarTribune.com.

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A Taste of WILD THINGS

Filed Under: books, movies by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 19, 2009

One of the most anticipated films this fall has to be Spike Jonze’s adaptation of the Maurice Sendak classic Where The Wild Things Are.

Aside from the rather mature way Jonze seems to be handling the material (based on the trailers at least), one of the more eye opening aspects of the project has to be that Jonze co-wrote the screenplay with famed author Dave Eggers.

Eggers, best known for his psuedo-autobiography A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, evidently became very enamored with the material, as he then adapted the screenplay into a novel entitled The Wild Things.

The New Yorker has just released a portion of the novel (roughly 8 pages of material) in an excerpt titled Max At Sea, viewable online at the link below.  It should give a good hint towards the tone of the film, and has me anticipating now both the film and novel, when they’re released this October.

Original Post: Max at Sea : The New Yorker.

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The Newer, Sleeker PS3

Filed Under: gaming, tech by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 18, 2009

ps3-slim-big-1

For months, it’s been the worst kept secret in gaming.

First, a Chinese factory leaked box shots in May.  Then, Sony swore at E3 it wasn’t happening.  And finally, this morning, K-Mart kind of blew it and let everyone it was coming.

But today, in Germany, Sony confirmed the rumors that a newer, slimmer PS3 would be hitting shelves.

This new PS3 is set to be released the first week of September with a 120GB Hard Drive, consuming 34% less power and taking 32% less space.

Honestly, my PlayStation 3 functions more as a blu-ray player and defacto PS2 than anything else, but I must admit that this new system looks really nice.  Shame that it’s possibly too little too late for Sony to overtake this generation.

Sony’s more svelte PlayStation 3 will sell for $300.

Original Post: Sony unveils slimmer PS3: $300, lands in September.

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Get Ready to Experience AVATAR This Friday!

Filed Under: movies by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 17, 2009

After nearly two decades of gestation, superstar director James Cameron (Terminator, Titanic, The Abyss) is finally ready to drop the curtain on his sci-fi epic, Avatar.

Not to be confused with the Nickelodeon toon, Avatar is set to take viewers to a super realistic CGI world, where a paraplegic solider gets to walk again, via a cloned alien…his avatar.

Unfortunately, that’s about all we know of the project thus far.  The details released have been few and far between, and shy of a few stills, and a San Diego Comic Con screening of 15 minutes of footage, Cameron has kept radio silence about the flick.

This all changes on Friday.

This Friday, August 21st, dubbed “Avatar Day” will give audiences the first public taste of the film, with a three-pronged hype attack.

First, a 15 minute teaser screening will occur in IMAX 3D theaters nationwide, with tickets to be given away at AvatarMovie.com at Noon PST (about a half hour from now.)

Second, a non-3D trailer will be attached to screenings of the Quentin Tarantino opus Inglorious Basterds.

Finally, Apple.com will have downloadable trailers, in a variety of formats.

Will the hype pay off? Is Avatar the next revolutionary step in filmmaking? Is it a 200 Million Dollar experiment gone wrong?  We’ll know more come Friday, and know for sure when the full-length feature hits theaters on December 18th.

Original Post: Official Avatar Movie site | In Cinemas December 18th Worldwide.

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BATTLESTAR GALACTAPATTON!

Filed Under: tv by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 17, 2009

Score one for the nerds!

Fresh off the wire – comedian, writer, actor and general nerd icon Patton Oswalt will be joining the cast of the Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica in a recurring role.

Now, I’m only two seasons deep into Galactica, so my knowledge of the franchise is somewhat limited, but Caprica takes place nearly 60 years prior to the series, and showcases how the Cylons were created, amongst other things.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Patton will be appearing as Baxter Sarno, a popular Caprican comedian talk show host.

Either way, this probably is enough to get me to DVR the show. Way to go, SyFy.

Original Post: Patton Oswalt takes on ‘Caprica’ role.

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Yes Virginia, There’s A New RADIOHEAD Song!

Filed Under: music by Marty Day — Leave a comment
August 17, 2009

You really have to love how the internet, when given an inch, will take it a mile.

Last week, out of nowhere, a supposed new Radiohead song, titled “These Are My Twisted Words” appeared on the file sharing website What.CD.

The song, once downloaded, sounded a lot like Radiohead (sort of a mix of the sounds from In Rainbows and Amnesiac), but what was it? Where had it come from? What was it representative of?

A look at the .nfo file certainly didn’t help, as it contained a release date of “2009-08-17″, and a cryptic message, indicating a “Wall of Ice”.

Combined with interviews in the press these past two weeks about Radiohead moving to more of an EP based format, this lead many fans to put one and one together, and presume that Radiohead was releasing a new EP online today, entitled Wall of Ice.

Well, good news and bad news.

Good news? There’s a new free download on Radiohead’s website.

Bad news? It’s “just” of the new song “These Are My Twisted Words”.

Is it still indicative of something more to come? And where did the mysterious user at What.CD come from?

Those are questions we’ll have to answer later, as in the meantime, “These Are My Twisted Words” is available absolutely free at the download link here, or via bittorrent here. (Or you could click play on the YouTube embed above)

Original Post: DEAD AIR SPACE.

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