Oshram Kino

cosplayblog: Blondie from Sucker Punch Cosplayer:...

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:15:46 -0400

cosplayblog:

Blondie from Sucker Punch

Cosplayer: LuceCosplay
Photographer: Florian Fromentin [TW / FB / FL]

Always happy to see good Sucker Punch cosplay.

Photo

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:12:41 -0400

savetheflower-1967: Paul McCartney rehearses with orchestra,...

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:52:42 -0400

savetheflower-1967:

Paul McCartney rehearses with orchestra, 1967.

Perhaps prepping for Penny Lane?

lifeonmars70s: Arnold Schwarzenegger Awesome.

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:10:07 -0400

lifeonmars70s:

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Awesome.

I cannot hear this song and not think of David Warner on the...

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:21:18 -0400

I cannot hear this song and not think of David Warner on the beach screaming “Chickie!” and crying. Thank you, Oliver Stone, for taking a great song and making it unforgettable.

This shouldn’t work, but it does. Brilliant!

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:33:12 -0400

This shouldn’t work, but it does. Brilliant!

theswinginsixties: Sean Connery as James Bond in ‘Goldfinger’,...

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:40:59 -0400

theswinginsixties:

Sean Connery as James Bond in ‘Goldfinger’, 1964.

Now that’s a damn fine pic of Bond.

Best pic of Stan Lee. Ever.

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:57:05 -0400

Best pic of Stan Lee. Ever.

jackdteague: Hudson and me at a couple of early Xena (and...

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:56:32 -0400

jackdteague:

Hudson and me at a couple of early Xena (and Hercules) conventions, I post this for throwback Thursday, and because it is our birthday. (Second Burbank, and a Cherry Hill)

One of the best con guests I’ve ever seen, Hudson was just great onstage and very generous with her time with her fans.

This pic is like a sexy Avengers mash up.

Thu, 09 May 2013 19:16:38 -0400

This pic is like a sexy Avengers mash up.

ofwillgkta: migrated: change the direction of the train if you...

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:32:09 -0400

ofwillgkta:

migrated:

change the direction of the train if you concentrate

Freaky, but it actually does work if you focus.

Sir Paul at the first worldwide satellite broadcast, where the...

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:29:20 -0400

Sir Paul at the first worldwide satellite broadcast, where the Beatles played “All You Need is Love” (Paul’s composition, “All Together Now,” was also offered, but John’s song was chosen).

theswinginsixties: Paul McCartney This would be a great photo...

Mon, 06 May 2013 19:20:37 -0400

theswinginsixties:

Paul McCartney

This would be a great photo of anyone. That it’s Sir Paul makes it even better.

futurejournalismproject: CISPA Is Not Dead Visit Fight For The...

Sun, 05 May 2013 22:14:48 -0400

futurejournalismproject:

CISPA Is Not Dead

Visit Fight For The Future and CISPA Is Back for an overview and actions you can take, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for background on the bill since it passed the House and what happens next as it moves to the Senate.

Meantime, the White House responded to an anti-CISPA petition signed by over 100,000 people with — in part — the following:

The White House issued a veto threat for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) on April 16, because the legislation did not fully address our core concerns (especially the protection of privacy). Even though a bill went on to pass the House of Representatives and includes some important improvements over previous versions, this legislation still doesn’t adequately address our fundamental concerns…

…There is broad consensus on the need for more threat-related information sharing — including among the leading privacy advocates we regularly engage on the issue. The essential question on which people across the spectrum disagree isn’t if we can share cybersecurity information and preserve the principles of privacy and liberty that make the United States a free and open society — but how.

Related: Here’s something to chew on, via Wired:

A secretive federal court last year approved all of the 1,856 requests to search or electronically surveil people within the United States “for foreign intelligence purposes,” the Justice Department reported this week.

The report, released Tuesday to Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader from Nevada, provides a brief glimpse into the caseload of what is known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. None of its decisions are public.

The 2012 figures represent a 5 percent bump from the prior year, when no requests were denied either.

Image: Via CISPA Is Back. Select to embiggen.

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Jimi was so immensely talented. We lost so many people in the...

Sun, 05 May 2013 01:33:22 -0400

Jimi was so immensely talented. We lost so many people in the 60s, but I feel he was one of the biggest losses we suffered.

Iron Man 3 (review)

Sat, 04 May 2013 22:23:37 -0400

Iron Man 3

(2013)

I wasn’t a huge fan of either of the first two Iron Man films. The first movie I felt was the very essence of mediocrity and the straw that broke the camel’s back for me as far as regular theater attendance, in that I was furious I had paid $8.50 for a movie worth at most about $4. Iron Man 2 everyone said was weak, and I only saw it in the extended hangover from the Avengers film, which was so good I simply had to see all the Marvel films I had missed (which, it turns out, was only IM2). IM2 was in fact weak, with a dopey ending, but hardly the train wreck I had read about (it was far better than Ang Lee’s Hulk, but then so was Double Dragon). However, my love of the Avengers remains strong enough to carry me through at least this year’s slate of films (I’m anticipating Thor but dreading Guardians of the Galaxy), so off I went like a good little corporate tool to plunk down $5.50 to see a (2D) movie that’s already shattered box office revenues worldwide.

IM3 is exactly what a sequel needs to be, more of the same with slight variations. Downey is back as Stark, who, despite being on top of the world, is somehow so unhappy that he can’t sleep. His relationship with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) is on shaky ground, and his pal Jim Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is worried about him as well. When a scientist, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), whom Tony had snubbed years ago, suddenly shows up with more than a passing interest in Pepper, Tony has him followed, but soon he, like everyone else, is distracted by uber-terrorist The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who keeps blowing people up and filming it for all to see. When Happy (Jon Favreau), Tony’s former bodyguard, is injured in one of the Mandarin’s blasts, Tony issues a challenge to the terrorist, who proceeds to destroy his home (as seen in the trailer). There’s also a subplot with a kid (Ty Simpkins) that at first seems to be going nowhere but actually pans out to be very enjoyable.

The main draw of these films has always been Downey, whose Tony is flawed, egotistical, but brilliant, and quick with the quips. Grafting on a little PTSD after fighting off the aliens in New York (in Avengers), Tony has to deal with a wicked downside that only makes him more interesting because it adds an extra layer of fallibility to him. Paltrow, like Downey, is better than this material, but she’s still very good. The surprise is Don Cheadle; not that he’s good, he almost always is, but Rhodes always felt like extra baggage in these films, but here he really comes into his own, almost sharing the last third of the film with Tony. Simpkins is a cut above most child actors and his scenes with Stark are fun. Guy Pearce mostly just chews the scenery; like the leads he has more skill than this movie requires. I kept getting distracted by his haircut, which made him look more than a little like Brad Pitt.

The action’s all clever and inventive until the end, where it gets a bit out of hand with a bunch of faceless bad guys and about twenty suits of Iron Man armor; you can’t follow the big fight at the end and despite being pyrotechnically enhanced it’s less compelling than the rest of the film (a Marvel formula flaw that cropped up in IM2 and the Avengers). But the acting is fun and engaging, and it was a pleasant surprise that the film touches (no more than that) on the topical hot button of terrorism in a reasonably interesting and intelligent way. This is by far the best of the three Iron Man films, although that’s not saying that much. I didn’t find it quite as good as Cap or Thor, but it’s strong enough to be worth going to see in the movies. I wouldn’t mind seeing another one or two of these, whether that’s likely or not. It seems, at least for now, that Marvel’s strategy is a strong one.

May 4, 2013

He looks a little like Chris Reeve but even more like Mark...

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:07:42 -0400

He looks a little like Chris Reeve but even more like Mark Ruffalo. Who could have been an interesting choice for a reboot. At any rate glad to see the REAL Superman costume.

theswinginsixties: Paul McCartney and Leo McKern in ‘Help!’,...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:39:27 -0400

theswinginsixties:

Paul McCartney and Leo McKern in ‘Help!’, 1965.

This is what happens when they couldn’t get the rights to do Lord of the Rings. Which, I would posit, worked out best for everyone.

Stupid-ass character but that is one great cosplay. I thought it...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:42:42 -0400

Stupid-ass character but that is one great cosplay. I thought it was a still from the movie for a second.

The original Terminator, c. 1966

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:35:48 -0400

The original Terminator, c. 1966