I was watching The Closer the other night, and I was observing again how much I like the character of Lt. Provenza, and the actor G.W. Bailey who plays him. …
Roger Ebert on ‘death panels’ and the power of a phrase
If you don't read Roger Ebert's blog, you probably should. In recent years (and probably before that, but before blogs) he's been writing some of the most thoughtful posts I've…
Catching “The Wave”: still relevant
Watching crowds of lunatic extremists attempting to shut down any reasonable debate about healthcare by shouting down politicians at town halls and even bringing firearms to protests is reminiscent of…
Nice interviews with Richard Garriot and Lyn Evans on Vice/VBS.tv
A few months ago, I got a nice email from the folks at Vice Magazine/VBS.tv pointing me to a video interview they did with Richard Garriot (aka "Lord British"), the…
Biltmore Estate… and Rick Springfield!
This weekend, the wife and I took a trip up to Asheville, NC, to see the historic Biltmore Estate… and see a Rick Springfield concert! The trip was an absolute blast, and I thought I’d share some pictures of the Estate grounds, as well as of the concert itself.
Biltmore consists of a massive home of some 250 rooms and grounds of some 8,000 acres , and it is the largest privately-owned residence in the country. It was built in the 1890s for George Washington Vanderbilt, who had inherited a fortune from his railroad tycoon father and grandfather. Vanderbilt was a celebrity of his time, and built the home in part to escape from the chaos of New York City and the attention he received there. Vanderbilt died in 1914, leaving his wife Edith the master of the estate. In 1930, at the height of the Great Depression, daughter Cornelia opened the estate to the public so that the tourist draw could increase the area’s local revenue. The house remains in family hands, and is now a wonderful tourist attraction.
Hollywood: Now officially out of ideas
Okay, now I think we can make this official: Hollywood is completely out of novel ideas. We started to suspect that this was the case when they started remaking very…
Happy birthday to Ray Harryhausen!
It's a good time of year for birthdays: today is Ray Harryhausen's birthday! If you don't know who Ray Harryhausen is, you should be ashamed of yourself -- he's the…
Happy birthday to Bruce Davison!
I'm out of town for a few days, and likely posting light, but I had to put in a short "happy birthday" to actor Bruce Davison! Davison, who has a…
A happy birthday to Brian Cox!
I couldn't let June 1 go by without acknowledging the birthday of one of the coolest character actors around: Brian Cox! Brian has had a remarkable career and done many…
“Sherlock Holmes” is a real film? Really?
I've known for a while that a new version of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson, has been in the works. Via The…