Brrrrr

[cleolinda]

Freezing, freeeeezing-ass cold. Actually, the only reason I mind is because I have to take the dogs outside and because I'm going out to dinner tonight; I like the cold if I don't actually have to be out in it. So I'm wearing my giant Queen Susan coat (no wools harmed in the making of it), which is a pretty medium slate green color and is v. v. warm.

Linkspam:

Deaths: Ian Richardson. One of British acting's three great Ians; very sad.

The Anna Nicole Smith tragedy snowballs: Report saying it was a drug overdose; Anna Nicole's cause of death still a mystery; Anna Nicole Smith's mother blames drugs; final Footage of Anna Nicole Smith Sells for Over $500,000 (final as in "her final moments"); ANS DNA wanted so that Dannielynn cannot be switched with another baby during paternity case; Zsa Zsa Gabor's Husband Claims to Be Baby's Father (wha?); Smith left tangled legal web.

NBC's Russert: Witness stand unpleasant. What I loved was the nightly news report I saw on--Wednesday?--where they talked about how the jury's body language visibly changed--for the worse--when they went after Russert.

Gore rules out 2008 US presidential run.

Head of Cartoon Network resigns over Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident.

Ex-NBA player Amaechi comes out publicly.

John Walsh doesn’t think Dahmer killed his son.

Norway Reveals Doomsday Vault's Design. And what is the Doomsday Vault, you ask? It's a "Noah's Ark"... for crop seeds. Which is an excellent idea, really.

EMI in talks to sell unprotected MP3s. Well, it's about time.

Clint Eastwood against Iraq war, but admires Bush "tenacity." My irrational annoyance at Director!Eastwood is trying to suppress a WHO ASKED YOU? here.

42answers, a nifty community where you post "answers" and commenters try to come up with many possible questions.

sound_of_bells: "AMC is doing an all-day Best Picture marathon on February 24th from 9:45 am to 11:00 pm in all of its theaters. It's $30 for an all-day pass. I am so, so going, even though I've already seen three of them. *slightly rabid* Anyway, I thought you (and everybody, really) might like to know." Unfortunately, I don't think we have AMCs down here, so y'all go for me.

(Y’all, I just saw a commercial the other night for 300. In IMAX. I actually said the other week that that would be one of the worst movies to put in IMAX ever. My God. </td>)

From psammead: Who really made Babel? and Benicio Del Toro as The Wolfman.

Best name for a movie ever.

From skyblade: Bridge to Terabithia filmmakers say that advertising is grossly misleading:

The filmmakers behind Disney's upcoming fantasy film Bridge to Terabithia disavowed any connection with the movie's ad campaign, which they told SCI FI Wire was deliberately misleading. The ads show a boy and girl entering a fantasy world; the scene actually takes place at the end of the movie.

"I believe it's a stretch, and it's a very difficult decision on Disney's part, but we the filmmakers had nothing to do with that promotion," said director Gabor Csupo (The Wild Thornberrys). "We don't really think that it's an appropriate way of selling the movie, but they're convinced that that's the way to get kids interested, and hopefully they will be positively surprised. If they are anticipating a Harry Potter movie, then we are in trouble. It is not a Harry Potter kind of a movie."

The film is based on a book by Katherine Paterson, which tells the story of a friendship of a boy and girl who are bullied at school and escape into their own fantasy world of Terabithia. The book was published 30 years ago, and it took 17 years for Paterson's son, David, to co-write the screenplay and produce the project. Director Csupo said the novelist was happy with his vision: "She was very pleased from the beginning, because we did not want to turn the movie around or do a movie like the ad campaign is suggesting. We didn't want to do a movie like that."

So basically, there's going to be a lot of angry parents and sobbing kids next weekend.

And finishing up with Prince Week:

jessica_dwg: "Dave Grohl Gives Thumbs Up to Prince." Heh. My initial thought Sunday night was, "Dave Grohl must be wetting himself right now," but apparently he didn’t hear about it until afterward and had to go watch video of it. I do kind of love the idea of Dave Grohl sitting in front of his computer on Monday, frantically searching YouTube. “Prince did WHAT?” Trufax:

The subsequent buzz — and news that Prince had covered the Foo Fighters' recent hit ''Best of You'' — prompted lead singer Dave Grohl to seek out the show on YouTube the next day. "Having been a massive Prince fan my whole life, I was flattered beyond words," says Grohl. "What an honor to be covered by one of your heroes!"

....But let's get back to that downpour. How in the world did Prince avoid becoming a small fry on that slick stage? Some dangerous off-camera heroics helped, for one: After an electric cable was accidentally severed moments before the show, a stage hand channeled a scene straight out of Back to the Future by manually inserting the exposed copper wires into an outlet and holding them in place for the duration of the nearly 12-minute show. It's a wonder he wasn't injured, which is why Mischer says he wants to find out the guy's identity, because ''I think I should give him a medal.''

Downloads:

Extended version of "Thieves of the Temple" from jessica_dwg;

Two versions of "P. Control" (original; remix, also from Jessica), one of the most awesome Prince songs ever (warning: not for the children. No, really. Includes hilarious scream sound effects for the schoolyard catfight verse). And I'm still looking for the first version I ever heard: it was the VH1 Fashion Awards, and they opened with Prince performing live, models striding cheerfully down the catwalk, and the background chorus, "I don't know if you been told, but [word they totally didn't bleep at all] got you in control";

"Thunder," off the Diamonds and Pearls album;

"Cream," also from Diamonds and Pearls, and still one of my favorites, mostly because it has one of the few decent videos Prince ever did and the line "You're filthy cute and baby, you know it";

"Little Red Corvette." If you don't have this in your '80s collection, you need to seriously reevaluate your life. If you don't have an '80s collection, well, then... carry on;

An eight-minute version of "Purple Rain";

"Darling Nikki," the original version of the song the Foo Fighters covered;

"I Would Die 4 U," another favorite;

"Scandalous," off the Batman soundtrack (it actually runs over the credits of the movie);

And two songs you can hear Prince doing backup on, if you listen closely: Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life" (the other song that got me through "Titanic in Fifteen Minutes") and Martika's "Love, Thy Will Be Done," both of which he also wrote.

Comments

[skinheadskippy.livejournal.com]

Thunder is a song that I can crank up to top volume, blow the windows apart and bounce on my floor until the people in the apartment below me start jabbing the roof with a broom. Have also made mistake of holding wine glass whilst dancing. Room now smells of Jacob's Creek which gives the impression that i'm a pisspot. Which is correct.

Has anyone been able to put Prince's cover of The Best Of You onto the interwebs, in mp3 form?

[skinheadskippy.livejournal.com]

Scratch that. Found it.

[anonymisty.livejournal.com]

"We don't really think that it's an appropriate way of selling the movie, but they're convinced that that's the way to get kids interested, and hopefully they will be positively surprised."

Yeah, well, maybe not so much. I'd never read the book, but I decided to after seeing the ads. I thought "Hey, here's a fantasy book I've missed along the way."

Oops.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

While I look forward to the insanity that will be 300 and I wouldn't mind Gerry popping out of the screen at me...holy mackeral you're going to have to have a strong stomach to get through the insanity of that movie IN GLORIOUS 3-D. If one flinches at the thought of Sin City being big and bold, one has to think twice about 300 coming right at you.

[t4-flirt.livejournal.com]

you are an angel for finishing Prince Week with such download goodness. now i'll be occupied for the night with my new toys. LOL

Yes, indeed

[miss-clawdy.livejournal.com]

I would also like to add my thanks. I knew next to nothing about Prince before this week (shameful, I know), but thanks to to Super Bowl and all the download-y goodness this week, I really want to hear more. :)

"P Control", BTW, is just made of awesome. Can't. Stop. Listening. I'm sure I looked ridiculous to everyone who saw me out walking today, "P Control" blasting in my earphones, mouthing the words and grinning like mad.

[misachan.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one scratching my head over this new Adam Walsh theory? This doesn't fit Dahmer's profile at all; he killed adolescents/young adults, and his MO was to lure them into his home. None of that matches the Walsh case, so even if they don't think Toole's the guy, I don't get how they're jumping to Dahmer.

Changing subjects, it probably makes me a bad person, but I think the Terabithia advertising is one of the greatest swerves I've ever seen. The end to Terabithia is supposed to be a shock.

[nohara-megami.livejournal.com]

Omg, so much icon love.

[theatre-angel.livejournal.com]

Terabithia was one of the saddest books I ever read. Those poor kids. :-(

[morganwolf.livejournal.com]

1. Leave it to Norway to come up with some great invention and give it a totally metal name like the Doomsday Vault. I love you, Norway.
2. Last night my fiance and I had a 15-minute discussion on whether or not Gerard Butler's 300 abs were real or not.
3. The whole Terabithia advertising debacle is exactly the reason people need to read some damn books. As soon as I saw those previews I thought, "Oh, spit, there are gonna be some seriously traumatized tots out there once that comes out." That's a classic of young adult literature and if you didn't read it in school, or on your own, you should at least know enough to be outraged that they're selling it as a fantasy film appropriate for young children.

[misachan.livejournal.com]

Is Terabithia really considered YA literature? I was eight or so when I read it, and most of my friends were in the 8-10 range when they read it. It's one of those books that got passed around because it's so sad.

I'm kind of WTF at how over the top the ads are, too, but I can't help but like that they're hiding the ending. Most trailers give the whole movie away, and this is an ending that (like in the book) you really shouldn't see coming.

[bigeyedrabbit.livejournal.com]

Eeeeee! "The Glamorous Life!" I don't think I ever knew Prince wrote that one, but I should have guessed. It's a little bit ridiculous how much I love that song. :) Thanks as always for sharing the musical goodies with us folks on the Internets.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hee, no problem. I LOVE that song. Seriously.

[elisa0984.livejournal.com]

Of all the bizarre things to come out of ANS, Prince Whatshisface was not one of them.

Wanted to let you know that The Feb 12 issue of The New Yorker has a pretty lengthy interview with Cate Blanchet. And that I'm having fun with your wiki.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Ooo, Cate!

[frodosgoosegirl.livejournal.com]

The Bridge to Terebithia trailers totally confused me because it was not like the book I remembered reading. I read it when I was very young, but every time a see a trailer I'm just like (spoiler) wait doesn't she die...? I just remember them playing in the forest a lot, less of the whole fantasy world part. So I guess I'm not crazy after all.

[trede.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I read this book maybe 8 or 9 years ago, and when I saw the trailer I just assumed they'd taken a lot of liberties with the story and turned it into a fantasy movie.

[chocolat-violet.livejournal.com]

My french teacher told my class about one of her former university professors, a guy named Taylor Mali, who was a crazy slam poet. This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU) is him performing his poem, "What Teachers Make." This poem is so freaking good and please PLEASE add this to your next pile of linkspam because anyone who has ever has gone to school needs to watch this.

[chocolat-violet.livejournal.com]

Pardon my grammer, Taylor Mali IS a crazy good slam poet.

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

Head of Cartoon Network resigns over Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident.

Oh, for...

EMI in talks to sell unprotected MP3s. Well, it's about time.

So very true. When I saw the headline I thought "this is in response to the Steve Jobs speech, isn't it?" and sure enough it is. Hopefully this leads to more good things, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. Still, death to crappy DRM!

Lastly, I don't know if you've heard (I just found out today myself) but Elie Wiesel attacked by holocaust denier (http://www.examiner.com/a-556256~Author_attacked_in_S_F__hotel.html). The attacker then went on to post an account of what happened online:

The online posting states that the writer intended to “bring Wiesel to my hotel room where he would truthfully answer my questions regarding the fact that his non-fiction Holocaust memoir, Night, is almost entirely fictitious.” Later in the posting, the Holocaust is portrayed as a “myth.”

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Good God.

[bardintraining.livejournal.com]

Just wondering--does BPAL have anything like this?
http://www.cbihateperfume.com/CBinthelibrary.html
A perfume made to smell like books: "Russian & Moroccan leather bindings, worn cloth and a hint of wood polish."

I don't wear perfume, really, but damn. I could go for something like this. Although, in a perfect world, I'd sit in a used bookstore and just inhale deeply all day and flip through the stacks.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hells yes. I think Miskatonic University is now discontinued, but they have a ton of leather scents--John Dee is the closest one I can find ("His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods").

[jessica-dwg.livejournal.com]

I did a little research on "P. Control" remixes, and I'm guessing that the one from the VH1 awards is on "The Versace Experience," which is a promo cassette (!) from 1995 that has 3 remixes of "P. Control," including a French version. I'm not having any luck finding it so far, but I'll certainly hook you up if I do.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

EEEEE! Excellent detective work!

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

I am THRILLED! I was seriously bent about what looked like the trashing of what I consider to be an important work of YA fiction. If the ads are way off base, there is hope.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I love how they were pretty much like, "This is exactly the movie we didn't want to make."

[xblackrose666x.livejournal.com]

Question!!

I've been looking for the slowed down version of 'Here it Goes' (by Ok Go) from the second part of Six Days, Grey's Anatomy. I don't even know if there's a full version of it, but if there is, and if you (or anyone else) can find it, I would be very very grateful.

[georgie21.livejournal.com]

Oh! Found!

"Last summer the boys did a slowed down version of Here It Goes Again in their basement. Last week it ended up on Grey's Anatomy. Today it can land in your iPod. It's the UK Surf Mix and it's up on iTunes. Buy it right here (http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/browserRedirect?url=itms%253A%252F%252Fax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewAlbum%253FplaylistId%253D213338280%2526s%253D143441%2526i%253D213338281).

I've been looking on the internet for free versions, but it seems like Itunes is the only way to get it. Damn.

[eisoj5]

Ohthankgod about the Bridge to Terebithia thing. I kept bitching about it every time the commercial came on (although my husband was like "Hey, now I kinda want to see that." I'm dragging him to hit next weekend anyway.)

[dramedy.livejournal.com]

WTF on that Cartoon Network thing. SRSLY, WTF?

[ironclad1609.livejournal.com]

Dave Grohl > The artist formerly known as relevant in the 80s :P

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Neil Gaiman's Oracular Instrument of Divination (http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/02/now-we-are-six.html)

Think Magic 8-ball.

"DO NOT GET INTO AN ARGUMENT WITH THE MYSTICAL AND ORACULAR BALL OF ENLIGHTENMENT. It will win."

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Oh for FUCK'S SAKE BOSTON would you just go DIE IN A FIRE ALREADY.

'k, total newbie question.

[xander77.livejournal.com]

Sometimes all the comments and the reply threads appear "spread out" - not hidden, I can read them without having to click through. Sometimes they are hidden. Same comments, same day. Why, and where do I change the options to constantly have them displayed?

Re: 'k, total newbie question.

[dancingxstar.livejournal.com]

It's a matter of numbers...I don't know the exact number where it starts doing it, but there is one. As for changing settings to stop it, I'm not sure if you actually can. I'm sure someone will be able to come along and tell you for sure one way or another, though. =)

[scarletsherlock.livejournal.com]

I am so sad Ian Richardson died. He's one of my top favorite Sherlock Holmeses ever. :(

on a lighter note, hilarity to end Prince week: I just got home from a very strange sports bar in North Carolina where they played a mixture of everything from country to rock to the Purple one. You haven't lived until you've seen a group of hicks and baby thugs doing an actual, honest-to-god line dance to "P-Control." I'm dead serious.

sendspace

[gravities.livejournal.com]

Hey Cleo, sorry to bug you - do you have to have a sendspace account to download this stuff? I am surprised to find that I don't own any Prince, so this would be a good start to zee collection. Anything I can get ya in return?

Re: sendspace

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think you have to--just go download from the links, they don't have to know who you are. : )

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Hey, the Grammy's are on tonight. Just so's you don't get caught unaware.