If Congress Was Your Co-Worker

From the mind of Joss Whedon, here is Chris Pine playing a petulant, useless co-worker that blocks progress and accomplishes nothing - just like Congress! Despite how dissatisfied people are with Congress they always vote to keep the same useless members in office. The average retention rate for a Congress person is 92% despite a popularity rating in the low teens for all of them. Just saying, it pays off to be useless and the only lesson voters keep giving them is to demand more of the same uselessness. Show up, vote, and vote against the incumbent Congress person regardless of party.

Why Chuck Jones Was Such A Great Artist

From Every Frame a Painting here is a great analysis of what made Chuck Jones' Looney Cartoons stand the test of time despite many of them being nearly 75 years old. If you are a film fan I highly recommend checking out their YouTube channel for a fantastic look at the film making process and how ingenuity and often small choices make for memorable scenes and films. If you like their work you can also support the creator Tony Zhou at Patreon.

Jon Stewart Leaving The Daily Show at End of Year

It is a true end of an era as Jon Stewart announced today that he is not renewing his contract with Comedy Central to remain the host of The Daily Show. No reasons have been given nor a final air date of his show provided. After nearly 17 years of shining a comedic light on the failures of the media to do their most basic job and our leadership often refusing to lead to the point where The Daily Show is not just a trusted source of information but often the only source you can go too despite the 24 hours news cycle it lampoons (that such a sentence exists and is true is why no one trusts the media anymore).

His first show aired on January 11, 1999 and I missed that. It was not until sometime in 2000 I started watching. I have not missed a new episode in the 15 years that followed. Knowing that someday soon he will not be there to watch and inform simply makes me sad. It is almost like a favorite celebrity has died.

His legacy will live on. Before him the effort to police the media was lackluster at best, now its a thriving industry. Before him it was a regular thing to make fun of our ineffective politicians but most of the time it was of the pop culture variety. He started the trend to also humorously question their decision making and the often questionable motivations. In effect he often questioned why the media didn't do their job and then turned around and did the job for them. It is too early to predict his replacement but he (or she) has some mighty shoulders to stand on and a true north example to follow. Television and the "news" is losing a great one this year, one that cannot really be replaced but its in everyone's best interest for as many of our best and brightest to try.

From Comedy Central:

For the better part of the last two decades, I have had the incredible honor and privilege of working with Jon Stewart. His comedic brilliance is second to none. Jon has been at the heart of Comedy Central, championing and nurturing the best talent in the industry, in front of and behind the camera. Through his unique voice and vision,The Daily Show has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come. Jon will remain at the helm of The Daily Show until later this year. He is a comic genius, generous with his time and talent, and will always be a part of the Comedy Central family.

My most memorable Jon Stewart moment continues to stick with me after all these years when he opened his first post 9/11 show (I would embed it but it auto-starts) with a message of sadness but also of hope. Its worth watching even all these years later. Other top moments can be found here.

Here is the transcript of Stewart's announcement on 2/10/15's show.

“Dough Herzog and Michele Ganeless of Comedy Central gave me an incredible opportunity 17 years ago to pilot this wonderful franchise,” Stewart said as his audience grew very quiet. “And 17 years is the longest I have ever in my life held a job, by 16 years and five months. The upshot there being I am a terrible employee.

“But in my heart I know it is time for someone else to have that opportunity. Not right away. We’re still working out the details. I’m up in September. It might be around then, it might be December, it might be July — we’re still working out the details. I don’t have specific plans — I’ve got a lot of ideas….I’m going to have a dinner, on a school night, with my family, who, I have heard from multiple sources, are lovely people.

“I’m not going to be here and try and sum up what this place has meant to me over the years. I couldn’t do that and…I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. But this show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host and neither do you. I don’t think I’m going to miss being on television every day. I’m going to miss coming here every day. I love the people here. They are the best, creative and collaborative and kind. I love them, and respect them so much.”

“It’s been an absolute privilege — the honor of my professional life,” Stewart continued. “I thank you for watching it, for hate-watching it — whatever reason you were tuning in. You get in this business with the idea that maybe you have a point of view, and something to express, and maybe you receive feedback. That is the greatest feeling you can ask for, and I thank you.”

Here is to hoping he changes his mind.

Honest Trailer for The X-Men Trilogy

In time for X-Men: Days of Future Past, here is the Honest Trailer for The X-Men Trilogy.

Comcast Doesn't Give a F**k

This video from Funny or Die pretty much summarizes why the merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable is a very bad idea. So of course once money and future job promises are completed, the FCC will happily approve it. The last major merger from Comcast was for NBC and its networks. Shortly after the approval one of the people that vote for and pushed for it left the FCC to work for the company. Considering how well that plan worked last time, I expected a repeat performance. I also think at least one of those that have a vote use to work as a high level executive for the company. The Justice Department also have to approve the merger so that might be a roadblock but only if Comcast does something foolish in the next six months or so (like try to block Google Fiber expansion).

Best News Bloopers of 2013

A little year end funny with a bunch of news bloopers from the year edited together in two parts. Technically NSFW due to language and sexual references.

Man of Steel Honest Trailer, Everything Wrong with Pacific Rim

While I really loved Pacific Rim and Man of Steel, buying both Blu-ray versions on day of release I am more then willing to admit that both movies have flaws. Flaws that the Honest Trailer and Everything Wrong series is happy to use to amusing effect.

Everything Wrong with The Riddick Movies

In time for Riddick, hitting theaters today, Cinema Sins has posted their "Everything Wrong With" take on the previous two movies - Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. As usually the observations are amusing and spot on but in this case I don't mind the multitude of mistakes as enjoyed both films.

Iron Man 3 Honest Trailer

I was considering ranting about Syria, but honestly with how politics work (aka governed by corporate dollars), its inevitable. A dance will be done but the US will bomb and invade at some point because the military industrial complex will want the extra few billion in revenue for doing it. So instead of focusing on that noise, lets just enjoy ourselves with some humor. In this case with the latest Honest Trailer from Screen Junkies that makes fun of Iron Man 3. In addition, the voice in the "Honest Trailers" series narrates what random people are doing in movie trailer speak.

Everything Wrong With Superman Returns

Next week finally brings a new Superman film to theaters with The Man of Steel. So CinemaSins decided to release Everything Wrong With Superman Returns in 6 Minutes or Less. The film, released back in 2006, was a bit of a critical debacle. Which is actually a shame because Brandon Routh actually did a good job in the role of Superman/Clark Kent as did most of the cast (except Kate Bosworth who excelled at looking good but not making a good Lois Lane). Sadly the problem was the story and the inconsistent rules of the story when it came to Kryptonite. The choice to essentially retell the first Superman movie while lathering on the homage in boring ways was just to much for the actors to overcome. A little homage is great but when go so far as to lift the entire story and retell it again, it can be a bit much. Also, no kids. Really, thats just plain dumb.

How Iron Man 3 Should Have Ended

An amusing take on some of the story ideas from Iron Man 3. I especially like the idea of the super powered Pepper Potts replacing Stark on The Avengers.

Linkfest - RIP Roger Ebert

It has been a while since the last linkfest. Sadly this one starts with the dead of a legend, goes to a great Lego creations, then comments about Veronica Mars movie, Google Reader closure, and finally a fan made trailer for Calvin and Hobbes.

R.I.P. Roger Ebert (6/18/1942-4/4/2013)
Today the entertainment industry lost a legend in the form of long time movie critic Roger Ebert. The 45 year veteran of the Chicago Sun-Times didn't have an opinion he wasn't willing to share (about all forms of entertainment), died today from cancer. To say Ebert loved the movies would be an understatement. Probably not words in the dictionary that can describe that love. Even when he hated the movie, I suspect he loved that it existed and added a little bit to the collected culture even if seen by few. Ebert, the other half of Siskel &, rose to fame starting with his review television show in 1975 that eventually morphed into "At the Movies" with its famous thumbs up or thumbs down reviews. Even after losing his lower jaw in 2006 to cancer, the critic continued to share his opinions about all forms of entertainment. Well except video games which he didn't consider art to the consternation of video games fans worldwide. That his opinion on the subject matter shows that even the current generation of kids knew who he was and cared what he thought. There really doesn't exist a critic today of his caliber and fame and in this age of dispersed entertainment, I doubt there will be one again. While Ebert probably didn't influence many of our entertainment choices, I suspect his influence on Hollywood was quite large. So by relation, the impact of Ebert on our day to day entertainment choices will likely never be known. Condolences to his family, I suspect he will be watching from on high, watching ever movie that comes out from now until the end of time.

The First Honest Cable Commercial

For your amusement. Note: Not safe for work.

Linkfest - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

The year is almost done and fortunately the Mayans were wrong as we are all still here. The problems remain but so does hope for the future. In the last post of the year we look at another cool Lego creation, info on data caps being scam, Wal-Mart hell, great Stephen Colbert interview, Google's year in review, and the Man of Steel.

Lego The Legend of Zelda Map
The image is a Lego re-creation of the map for the classic NES game The Legend of Zelda. From Michael Kuroda, the map re-creation really isn't that large with it being 256 Lego studs wide by 88 studs high.

Data Caps are Cash Cows and Unnecessary
Hit the link to read a little bit about how cable companies and telephone service providers lie when they claim tiered data systems are necessary because of a need for data caps. The reality is the cost to move data gets cheaper every year. Also the cost of the transmission remains the same whether 1 megabyte of data is moved or 1000 megabytes. Long story short, the more you use the internet should not cost you more because it doesn't cost the service providers more. They just pretend it does because its an easy way for them to charge more while providing nothing more thereby increasing their profits. The upper management gets their huge bonuses while having done literally nothing for their customers. Its a scam so next time a company or a politician pretends otherwise, don't believe them.

Linkfest - Batcave, Taxes, Time-Lapse, and The West Wing

This linkfest is politics heavy (election coming up after all) but to start things light there is a look at a cool Batcave. After that the politics kick in with look at why tax cuts without strings do not work, the lies of Romney/Ryan and an essay about failings of both parties. If want to skip the politics, after those links to info on the update Nook HD, a cool time-lapse video, and brief reunion of the West Wing cast. Massive Lego Batcave
Hit the link to view a gallery of a gorgeous Lego version of the Batcave. The huge structure was built by Carlyle Livingston II and Wayne Hussey over the course of six months. It took over 20,000 Lego and weighs more than 100 pounds. It has little touches like built in lighting, motors to the Batmobile turntable, rotating costume and weapon walls, and moving Batplane lift. (via Brothers Brick)

Tax Cuts Without Strings Do Not Work
The Romney/Ryan ticket is proposing a 20% tax cut, mostly for the rich, with little means to pay for it. They claim it will boost the economy. They are wrong. The human condition along is why it will fail, even if ignore the failure that the last six tax cuts had on boosting the economy. This isn't to say a tax cut can't work, but it must be done with conditions or incentives. This is not a new idea, the states do it all the time. They offer tax cuts if corporations move their headquarters, build a factory, create jobs, buy supplies from a company in the states, whatever. That has proven to work.

Linkfest - GOP's Legitimate Rape

It has been an interesting week for the GOP. They are coming off of the unexpected press blowup over the term "legitimate rape". A concept the party has quietly supported for decades and often spoken of by the GOP even if not quite such stark terms. Then you have the GOP convention that had the VP candidate get called out for a speech of lies by every news organization including Fox News and a speech from Romney that was remarkable for how unremarkable it was. Other topics include the Samsung vs Apple lawsuit and the end of Nintendo Power.

Legitimate Rape
It is weird how all it takes is a poor phrase to get people to wake up to a truth that has been around for a very long time. GOP's Rep. Todd Akin made the mistake of saying exactly what he thought of the idea of there being exceptions to abortion for rape or incest by saying in an interview "...from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." He later said he "misspoke" for the phrase he used but never apologized for what he meant which is if a woman got pregnant, she wanted the sex and therefore could not have been raped. The idea that pregnancy is proof of no rape has been around for literally centuries. At one time the victim by law would be forced to marry her rapist if she had got pregnant. That thinking is also shared by almost the entirety of the GOP who have made the concept of no exceptions central the the RNC platform for Romney's election and was part of a bill that his VP candidate Paul Ryan write and tried to push through Congress. Below are a few videos that illustrate just how stupid the whole concept is.

Linkfest - Lying Ryan

Been a while since did a linkfest. This edition is about the odd choice of Paul Ryan as GOP VP choice, links to amusing Calvin & Hobbes animated gifs, Lego's 80th Anniversary, Lego Serenity, movies trailers and a disturbing nursery song.

Mitt Romney Picks Paul Ryan as VP
For reasons that confound me, Mitt Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his Vice President. Usually the VP is designed to fill in a voting gap that the candidate can't achieve to help put them over the top be it a state or demographic. Ryan is a far right conservative with a media profile based desperate to make the election more exciting than it is by simply repeating myths about him. Tea Party/Religious right vote is a lock no matter what, after all not like they can explore the alternative of voting for Obama so not sure why make this extra effort to please them. He will do nothing to help Mitt Romney get moderates and undecided. If anything he will send them screaming in the other direction. Paul Ryan deeply believes in the Ayn Rand philosophy that society only functions best when society is geared towards the goal of making rich people richer. This was very well demonstrated with his Budget Plan that would reduce the top 1%'s tax burden to less than 1%. An example being his running mate Romney who under their collective plan would go from paying around 13% to .082%. To pay for a tiny portion of this $4.7+ trillion cost of his plan, he wanted to cut social security by 20% (or privatize it) and turn Medicare into a voucher program. His big claim to fame is a screw you budget proposal that literally takes from the poor and middle-class and gives to the rich. His other conservative thing is supposedly being a deficit hawk. Despite the fact he voted for the Bush tax cuts, two wars, bank bailout and more that added around $7 trillion and counting to the deficit. He supposedly wants less government in your life yet is happy so support laws that would make birth control illegal and, any abortion illegal even in cases of saving mother's life, rape or incest. Not exactly a small government idea. About the only reason I can think he made the choice is money. Ryan will be a money making machine as conservative flood Romney and Super PAC coffers. In general, the more money you spend on an election, the greater your chances are of winning. That is ultimately the Romney plan - simply buy the election.

Calvin and Hobbes Animated Gifs
Hit the link for a selection of gifs that turn certain panels from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip into motion.

Linkfest - Happy July 4th

Happy July the 4th! This week's link fest remains politics free with links to an amusing Star Wars parody music video, Atari's 40th, Snorkisms, YouTube 301 views, and SDCC schedule.

RIP Andy Griffith
An icon died today as Andy Griffith died at the age of 86. For your parents’ generation he was known as the town sheriff in The Andy Griffith Show. For me, I grew up on him as defense attorney Matlock. His 60+ year long career included movies, specials, radio, and a whole lot more. Condolences to his family.

The Star Wars That I Used To Know
Take the Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" music video, and some Star Trek fan frustration and here is the result. Pure gold, if only to hear "George Lucas" sings his response to the complaints.

Linkfest - New Apple, Microsoft Tech

Time for more stuff that grabbed my interest (or linkfest to keep it simple). This week found the cool image of a Lego mini-fig, Apple and Microsoft has new toys that might be worth buying (but not really), some Game of Thrones fun and upcoming movie trailers. What do you know, another week without politics.

Anatomy of a Lego Man
Hit the link to view images and breakdown of how this kind of creepy split section of a Lego man was produced by carving and painting polyurethane foam. The final result from artist Jason Freeny is a little over a foot tall but pretty cool looking. His equally bizarre art of the anatomy of a gummy bear can be found here.

Apple WWDC 2012 Announcements
Last week Apple held a developer's conference to announce a refresh of MacBook Pro and Macbook Air along with an update to OSX and iOS6. Over all it was a ho hum event. The Macbook Air is getting a speedier processor and tweaks but essentially the same product. The MacBook Pro is improved with a much thinner look and Retina display (whose resolution is so tight that it reaches point where can't really read the text). That small size and screen resolution level you will never use or need will set you back around $2200. The iOS6 update, which will not work on first gen iPads and first three generations of phones, is really nothing major. The big changes is Siri to iPad, Facebook integration, phone tweaks, safari update, and removal of Google Maps for Apple's own solution. Most of which jailbroken iOS and Android devices can already do.

Linkfest - RIP Dick Clark

Dick Clark Dead at 82
The legendary TV entertainer Dick Clark died today of a heart attack at the age of 82. Dick Clark was probably known to most as the host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve. For me, he became part of my weekly television rituals as host of TVs Bloopers & Practical Jokes and various versions of Pyramid. He also hosted American Bandstand for nearly three decades. It is his good humor, goof feelings hosting style that became the norm for television and emulated today by the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Ryan Seacrest. His last television performance was New Year's 2011. I watched him for most of my life every New Year’s Eve. This year's New Year celebration will just not be the same without him.

Final Flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery
Hit the link before for a video of the final flight of Discovery as it was given a bit of the red carpet treatment by being allowed to fly low in Washington, DC as it heads to its final resting place at the Smithsonian. Normally the airspace in DC is restricted to pretty much all flights but the President so brief change was a kind of way for the nation to tip its hat for 30 years of service and the end of the current shuttle missions and really the space program for the foreseeable future.