The End of the World Sucks (But Not Like You Think)

I still haven't seen 2012, and I still intend not to for reasons I outlined a few months back. I wouldn't even mention it except that Killing the Buddha has put up a distressingly funny review of the film [link here].

In sum:

Nothing makes a catastrophic polar shift seem overdue like a stylized product placement for Bentley Motors, set against the death of a billion Chinese.

This is a new phenomenon in my experience: A movie being so bad that it makes people want the world to end.

The Jazz Singer at the End of the Universe

You may recall me once ranting about Lady Gaga's music. I, like much of the known universe, ultimately came around to liking her work. I now submit for your consideration two reasons why:

An acoustic rendition of "Paparazzi."



And an acoustic version of Poker Face, which inspired the title of this post.



Whatever else you may think of her, she definitely has talent.

A Video

It's been a while since I've posted here. Apologies, I've been busy. Anyway, I didn't make this, but I like it so much I felt compelled to share.

I see Battlestar Galactica.
I hear Star Trek.
I feel the Butlerian Jihad.



And if you can't see the embedded video from Facebook or wherever else you are, come back to the original post [link here] to watch it. (Unless you want to avoid BSG spoilers. Then don't do it.)

More 2012 Nonsense

I haven't been posting here much recently. My apologies, I've been spending my internet-time writing about other things.

Anyway, another trailer for this "2012" movie came out today. Basically everything goes to hell for no good reason.

What incenses me about this movie is that its premise is utter crap. From the most relevant Wikipedia article:

Despite the publicity generated by the 2012 date, Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, stated that "We [the archaeological community] have no record or knowledge that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end" in 2012.

"For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle," says Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. in Crystal River, Florida. To render December 21, 2012, as a doomsday or moment of cosmic shifting, she says, is "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in."

"There will be another cycle," says E. Wyllys Andrews V, director of the Tulane University Middle American Research Institute (MARI). "We know the Maya thought there was one before this, and that implies they were comfortable with the idea of another one after this."

The Wikipedia article also discusses how the Classical Maya once in a while would discuss events they expected to happen after the date mentioned in the above movie trailer, giving even stronger proof that they felt the world would go on.

I'm a fan of action movies. I have nothing against Roland Emmerich. Heck, I liked Independence Day and even 10,000BC. However, 2012 just reeks of being the single flimsiest, most shallow, and most hollow attempt at making a "lets destroy the world" movie. Doubtless it will make millions of dollars in profits, but I won't be going out of my way to see it.

Amsterdam

Two quick blips on Russia:

1) Russia's presidency is having its term length extended from four to six years. And the Communists are upset with "authoritarianism."

2) S&P's transparency ratings this year are themselves not transparent.

The carnival continues.