3 More Free Films

Marines & Campers

This Is War is a video diary documentary filmed by US Marine Mike Scott on his journey into Iraq. It's ok I guess as a personal testimony but it adds little to our understanding of our latest militaristic folly and for the most part is just footage unthinking jocks reveling in the weaponry to the terrible cost of the local citizens.

Well I've finally seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show and for a musical it was quite entertaining but still a musical. It's hardly worth discussing the plot as it's little more than stitching to hold together some mildly amusing songs belted out cartoon characters in some mad sleazy supercamp stylee. It's certainly got brio though and the cast seem to be having a blast.

My Bindle Smells of Science

First planet from another galaxy found orbiting aging red Sun. Io9.

Tiny water bottle designed to trap a single water molecule. Reddit.

Looking at gravitational lensing in Black Holes might provide proof of other extra dimensions. Physorg.

CERN labcoats have succeeded in briefly trapping anti-hydrogen atoms in electromagnetic fields. Huffpo.

Luminary Sir Roger Penrose thinks he's got evidence of the universe that existed before the Big Bang. Io9

Our coalition Government apologises for secretly performing autopsies on nuclear workers corpses during the past 40 years. Impactlab.

Baffling idea about creating a fibre optic "cloak" that could hide events from space-time. BoingBoing, longer article at Nature.

Hartley 2 was caught throwing off snowballs the size of basketballs as the Deep Impact probe whizzed by. Wired.

China's Chang'E 2 probe orbiting the Moon. BadAstronomy.

The Marionette's First March

Alfred Hitchcock Presents, despite being over fifty years old, is still fantastic entertainment & well worth watching and it certainly makes you think about where TV went wrong with our screens currently packed with reality/talent show garbage. Each episode famously begins with Hitchcock himself providing an introduction usually with dollops of sarcasm and a gentle dig at his sponsors) and the plays themselves cover a wide spectrum of genres, time periods, tones etc. They're all beautifully shot, well scripted and sport talented casts including Claude Rains, Charles Bronson, Lorne Greene & Peter Lawford.

Some of my favourites from the 39 ep first series include Breakdown - about a man paralysed during a car accident, A Bullet for Baldwin - an office worker kills his boss only to find him back at work the next day, Whodunit - a mystery writer is allowed to relive his last day so he can uncover his murderer and And So Died Riabouchinska about a troubled ventriloquist. I've embedded The Cheney Vase for your perusal below, sorry can't find any others.

Three Free Films For Friday Fritterers

Jackie Chan's directorial debut The Young Master is one of his best.


Dennis Hopper stars in Tracks, may as well watch here as it's unavailable on DVD.


Slipstream starring Mark Hamill is a forgotten slice of cheese but it's not all bad.

Goodbye Dino

Sad news about the death of super producer Dino De Laurentis. Here's a little clickable gallery of some of my favourite Dino produced films.

Wonky Westminster

Some Tory shitheel called on the nice Dateline London Muslim lady to be stoned to death on Twitter has now apologised. Update - he was arrested last night.

Students seemed to have had some fun yesterday at the Conservative HQ but Guido's put a grand up as a reward for naming the kid who threw the fire extinguisher. Whoever it was obviously needs a slap but there's no need for the wanted poster.

Another Tory Councillor is in a spot of tech-trouble after more than 1000 images of porn were found on his council laptop - "it wasn't me" is his defence.

While touting his written-in-crayon book has Dubya left himself open to being tried on war crimes? I do hope so.

TalkTalk and BT have forced a judicial review of the Digital Economy Act - the hasty, poorly thought through bill that was aimed at illegal filesharing.


PoliticsHome have cheered me up by polling politicos who they'd think would be Tory leader once Cameron has had enough. The result? Boris Johnson or George Osborne - hohoho what a choice - the creepy Baron or the pretends-to-be-dim Lothario. Surely anyone left of center could beat either of those two in a GE.

Blair is going to debate religion with an ailing Christopher Hitchens. Please Hitch just punch him in the cake hole a lot then ask for his forgiveness.

Space Probings

Double bubble of gamma rays at our galactic center. Via io9

Hubble snaps a disc galaxy edge on. Via APOD

Stunning Nile image taken on board the ISS. Via Bad Astronomy.