KJToo

I made a rare trip to Burger King for lunch this morning in search of the elusive Double Whopper with cheese. The Diane Rehm Show was on NPR and Diane’s guest was author and amateur beekeeper, Holley Bishop. Ms. Bishop wrote the book Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey–The Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World (ISBN: 0743250214). She also sounds an awful lot like Gwyneth Paltrow (at least to my untrained ear).

My father tried his hand at beekeeping some years back, and I came across the remnants of the trade/hobby a few times during my childhood. In a second floor section of the barn not used to store hay bales one might have found a smoker (a smoke-belching, coffee pot–like contraption used to keep the bees docile), the wooden hive framework and various other accoutrements of the beekeeper. Apart from these things, however, I don’t know much about the process or about my father’s experience with it. I’m sure he’s made occasional mention of it in conversation over the years, but I have an extremely selective memory and the chances that I was paying any real attention are quite slim.

I think I’d like Holley Bishop’s book to be on The Bookshelf, for a couple of reasons. First, because the few minutes of conversation I heard between the author and the radio host were far more fascinating than I would have suspected such a topic could be. Second, because it’ll give me an excuse to talk to my father about something he was interested in as a younger man. An excuse I probably shouldn’t need, but which might be good to have in any case.

Posted March 30, 2005 Comments(7)

Partway through my web comics list today, I happened upon Real Life Comics.

Hey, I said to myself. I need to rent Hackers.

Posted March 25, 2005 Comments(0)

Well, it’s been something of a slow news week, so I thought I’d mention that Cartoon Network announced yesterday that The Venture Brothers has been picked up for a second season. Jackson Publick, one of the show’s creators, had this to say.

Posted March 25, 2005 Comments(0)

Here’s a little sample of why The Venture Brothers had me laughing out loud last night. From the episode named “Tag Sale, You’re It!” Dr. Venture is throwing a yard sale and it’s a veritable Who’s Who of villainy at the Venture Compound. The Monarch, who considers himself to be Dr. Venture’s arch-nemesis, is in attendance, as is his girlfriend, Dr. Girlfriend1. As they wait in queue, The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend comment on some of the other bargain seekers, and then Dr. Girlfriend spots a familiar face:

Dr. Girlfriend: Sweetie, isn’t that the guy from Depeche Mode?
The Monarch: Oh, no way, where?! Holy crap, he’s with a girl.
Dr. Girlfriend: Oh yeah, that guy is totally straight. I saw a whole thing about him on the VH1.
The Monarch: But he’s the guy from Depeche Mode. That’s impossible!
Dr. Girlfriend: Straight.
The Monarch: Come on, he’s in Depeche Mode!2

Last I heard, The Venture Brothers was just about to be greenlighted for a second season. This is a good thing, as the first season ended with quite the cliffhanger (in an homage to Easy Rider).

1. I am conflicted with regards to Dr. Girlfriend. On the one hand, she is terribly attractive. In fact, let’s just call her hot. On the other hand, she has an incredibly deep, masculine voice. Imagine Jacqueline Kennedy with Dolph Lundgren’s voice, throw in a bit of a Jersey accent and you should have a pretty good idea of what I mean. On top of the physical/vocal disparity, there’s something Master Billy Quizboy said about rumors of a surgically-implanted baboon uterus. It’s enough to make a man shudder. [back]
2. Dialog snippet snippetted from The Mantis-Eye Experiment, a very snazzy Venture Brothers fansite. [back]

Posted March 23, 2005 Comments(0)

Per an e-mail I received from Spider-Man (yeah, we’re buds), Thomas Haden Church (Wings, Sideways) has been cast as the as-yet-unidentified villain in Spider-Man 3, slated to begin production early in 2006. Tobey Magquire will apparently reprise his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Kirsten Dunst will return as Mary Jane Watson. Spidey did not mention whether J.K. Simmons will return to the role of the ever-irritable newspaper editor, J. Jonah Jameson.

In other Marvel movie news, The Sci-Fi Channel reports that a new director (Matthew Vaughn, Layer Cake) has been tapped to helm the third film in the X-Men franchise. I’m a little disappointed to learn that Bryan Singer won’t be returning, as he’s done an excellent job with the series thus far.

That is all.

Posted March 22, 2005 Comments(0)