News of the Weird

[SlimPickens]

That\'s the exact picture I was going to post.

[Me!]

SPIELBERG TO FINALLY EMANCIPATE LINCOLN


Steven Spielberg may be very much in need of a prestige project after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull forces a nation of film geeks to re-examine their will to live and the critical community to remember what they didn\'t like about him a couple of decades ago, so scheduling his long, long, long awaited Lincoln biopic seems like a good idea.

According to Screen Daily, Spielberg will get to work on his Lincoln movie after he finishes his TinTin film, sometime in early 2009. That would mean that The Trial of the Chicago 7 remains off the deck for now, and Interstellar remains somewhere in the triple A leagues, waiting for its big chance at the majors. This also sets up the Lincoln film as a possible release during the president\'s bicentennial year.

One of the things holding back the Lincoln film has been a script, so either Spielberg has a script he likes or the confidence that he\'ll get one together in the coming months. I can see why he doesn\'t like the current iteration; someone sent me a copy and I think the epigraph that opens the screenplay shows you the unusual bent the script takes:


I freed who?
- Abraham Lincoln, September 23rd, 1862, upon waking up from a three day bender

http://chud.com/articles/articles/14687/1/SPIELBERG-TO-FINALLY-EMANCIPATE-LINCOLN/Page1.html

[SlimPickens]

Steven Spielberg may be very much in need of a prestige project after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull forces a nation of film geeks to re-examine their will to live and the critical community to remember what they didn\'t like about him a couple of decades ago, so scheduling his long, long, long awaited Lincoln biopic seems like a good idea.

Is this implying that the new Indiana Jones isn\'t very good?  I was just saying to Steve last night that I\'m getting a bad feeling about this movie... based on how they\'re promoting it.  I have no proof it sucks, it\'s just a gut opinion.  But seeing this, makes me think I might be right.

[FrankZappa]

didn\'t see any reviews, but here\'s the synopsis:

When we last saw Indiana Jones on screen, it was 1938, and the world stood on the brink of war as Dr. Jones chased down evildoers to find the Holy Grail. Nineteen years later, he’s cracking his whip again, and many things have changed ... but some have remained the same. Again, the world is at a... [More]
When we last saw Indiana Jones on screen, it was 1938, and the world stood on the brink of war as Dr. Jones chased down evildoers to find the Holy Grail. Nineteen years later, he’s cracking his whip again, and many things have changed ... but some have remained the same. Again, the world is at a precipice, this time caused by the specter of nuclear annihilation, and Indy’s struggle is once again to ensure that a precious, mysterious object remains safe from those bent on destroying humanity.

[booztravlr]

Is this implying that the new Indiana Jones isn\'t very good?  I was just saying to Steve last night that I\'m getting a bad feeling about this movie... based on how they\'re promoting it.  I have no proof it sucks, it\'s just a gut opinion.  But seeing this, makes me think I might be right.

I\'m with you. Everyone keeps talking about how great this movie is going to be. I just don\'t see how it can be any good, especially ~20 years after the last one.

[derickw]

i heard it sucks

[tyzack]

Is this implying that the new Indiana Jones isn\'t very good?  I was just saying to Steve last night that I\'m getting a bad feeling about this movie... based on how they\'re promoting it.  I have no proof it sucks, it\'s just a gut opinion.  But seeing this, makes me think I might be right.

I\'m with you. Everyone keeps talking about how great this movie is going to be. I just don\'t see how it can be any good, especially ~20 years after the last one.

When does it open?

[Gordo]

SPIELBERG TO FINALLY EMANCIPATE LINCOLN


Steven Spielberg may be very much in need of a prestige project after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull forces a nation of film geeks to re-examine their will to live and the critical community to remember what they didn\'t like about him a couple of decades ago, so scheduling his long, long, long awaited Lincoln biopic seems like a good idea.

According to Screen Daily, Spielberg will get to work on his Lincoln movie after he finishes his TinTin film, sometime in early 2009. That would mean that The Trial of the Chicago 7 remains off the deck for now, and Interstellar remains somewhere in the triple A leagues, waiting for its big chance at the majors. This also sets up the Lincoln film as a possible release during the president\'s bicentennial year.

One of the things holding back the Lincoln film has been a script, so either Spielberg has a script he likes or the confidence that he\'ll get one together in the coming months. I can see why he doesn\'t like the current iteration; someone sent me a copy and I think the epigraph that opens the screenplay shows you the unusual bent the script takes:


I freed who?
- Abraham Lincoln, September 23rd, 1862, upon waking up from a three day bender

http://chud.com/articles/articles/14687/1/SPIELBERG-TO-FINALLY-EMANCIPATE-LINCOLN/Page1.html

Man, I wonder who\'s going to play Lincoln?  This is really exciting, I\'m obsessed with the Civil War right now.

[Me!]

JetBlue sued for seating passenger on toilet

Well, at least the seat was free.

A man traveling on an employee buddy pass (and thus presumably flying for free) was ordered to sit in the bathroom of a packed JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) flight. He is now suing the company for $2 million.

Gokhan Mutlu claims that the pilot of a JetBlue flight from New York City to San Diego ordered him to sit in the bathroom after a flight attendant claimed his seat. The attendant apparently felt that her jump seat was uncomfortable; since Mutlu was not an employee, he couldn\'t sit in her jump seat. And on a full plane, that left the toilet as the only seating option on the five hour flight.

Mutlu wasn\'t crazy about the idea, but the pilot soon set him straight. According to the lawsuit, the pilot said that "he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command that (Mutlu) should be grateful for being on board." So the bathroom it was. Eventually, Mutlu was allowed to return to his original seat.

Whatever really happened, JetBlue can\'t afford any more bad press. The airline is still trying to make customers forget about trapping passengers on their planes for up to nine hours during bad weather last year.

On the other hand, maybe this isn\'t such bad news. It might just show that JetBlue pilots have a wicked sense of humor. Given the crowds expected on planes and runways this coming summer, that could be a good thing. JetBlue could even build an ad campaign around it: JetBlue - there\'s always an extra seat!

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/05/13/jetblue-sued-for-seating-passenger-on-toilet/

[FrankZappa]

Company to reprint yearbooks after head switching

McKINNEY, Texas - School officials say they are appalled by altered photos — including heads on different bodies — in hundreds of McKinney High School yearbooks delivered this week.

Besides the head and body switching, some necks were stretched, one girl\'s arm was missing, and another girl\'s head was placed on what appeared to be a nude body, with the chest blurred.

A spokeswoman for Minnesota-based Lifetouch National School Studios Inc. said the alterations were "an unfortunate lapse in judgment" by an employee but didn\'t believe it was malicious.

The high school had required Lifetouch to make heads the same size and eyes at the same level in all student photos, company spokeswoman Sara Thurin Rollin said Saturday. The request was "unusual and definitely very particular, but that\'s not to suggest what happened here is acceptable," she said.

Rollin declined to say if the company fired or reprimanded the employee who altered the images. She said Lifetouch is taking full responsibility for the altered pictures, about 30 in all, and will pay to have the publication reprinted before the seniors graduate.

Lori Oglesbee, the school\'s yearbook adviser at McKinney High School, said the yearbook staff would spend the weekend rebuilding the yearbook.

McKinney is about 20 miles north of Dallas.
source

[sallyalli]

haha. I love this thread. people do the darndest things.

[ds673488]

that story is incredible...i wish my school had done a gag like that

[derickw]

that story is incredible...i wish my school had done a gag like that

in my old school they let the students make the year book and they ended up messing with some people sayings and quotes. i don\'t remember anything big coming of it tho

[jocelyn]

that story is incredible...i wish my school had done a gag like that

Doesn\'t sound like it was an intentional gag. From my understanding, the school wanted the yearbook company to make all of the students\' heads the same size, with eyes at the same level, so in order to fulfill that request, someone from the company stretched necks, switched bodies, etc, to make it work. Stupid way of going about it, but not an intentional prank.

[Me!]

A Video Game That Combines Beer and Peeing? \'Nuff Said

The Belgians love their beer, but drinking it in large quantities (as one is apt to do when Stella is on your local tap) means frequent trips to the loo. So, two beer fans out there have created a video game called "Place to Pee," in which players race down ski slopes and kill aliens while whizzing.

The game is the brainchild of software developer Werner Dupont and electrical engineer Bart Geraets, who were deep in their ales when the idea dawned on them. "This thing had to be invented by Belgian people and that\'s what we are," they said.

Belgian police shut down a previous incarnation of the urinal video game last November, calling it indecent.

The "Place to Pee" booth fits two users at a time, and gamers hit their targets by aiming at sensors at either side of the urinal. The makers say that women can play along, too -- using a special paper cone.