Wall-E + Eve

• All you need is love.


• Something tells me I will be watching this movie again.


• Is the film preachy? You bet it is.


• Best use of "La vie en rose" since Billy Wilder's "Sabrina".


• This is purely anecdotal, but most kids were not terribly excited by the film. Though they all *loved* the lead characters. But I think they will be watching this film again (and again) in a few years' time.


• At least half a dozen sequences from the film deserve to be on beautiful, glossy posters. Heck, the closing credits of the opening short deserve a poster of their own.


• Fire extinguishers FTW.

Top 10 TED Videos

It's TED, it's their top 10 and in one of the videos, Tony Robbins calls Al Gore (who is seated in the front row) a "sonofabitch". So go watch.

The Action Figure Abides.

More Big Lebowski "Action Figures" available here. (link to Entertainmentearth.com)

Cry Like A Man, Man

Lou Gehrig, Jon Stewart, Abraham Lincoln, Cal Ripken, Walter Cronkite - some famous men who were not afraid to cry in public. (link to www.Artofmanliness.com)

Also click on Page 2 at the bottom of the article for some "dishonorable mentions".

"..ones that will curve your spine, grow hair on your hands"

George Carlin deserves to be remembered for more than just the seven words.

Darwin. Hot Or Not?

A well-written (and short) historical perspective in NYT on Charles Darwin's contribution to science and if he is indeed worthy of all the hero-worship.

Some of the comments on the blog are interesting too. One commenter has said it best: "So celebrate Darwin for the great mind that he was, but don’t stop looking for the truth."

Now THIS Is Soul Music

Al Green unleashes his awesomosity as he jams with Chicago. ("Tired of being alone", YT link, via MetaFilter.)

There's a priceless moment at the very end of the video. The band members lay down their instruments and flash HUGE smiles at Reverend Al.

Such bliss!

Can A Foot Pedal Bestow Greatness?

Who the hell knows? But right now, there's a $15,500 wah-wah pedal on stage at the Bonnaroo festival.

Nobody Steals a Kinkade

Why do museum robbers steal a famous painter's work or a well-known painting? Wouldn't it be practically impossible to sell it on the open market?

Slate answers the question.

(Oh, and everyone's favorite quaint cottages)

Scavengers

Via Digg, this article about India's "Sulabh" and how it is changing the lives of the scavengers. Nothing new, if you are familiar with Sulabh's story.

A few months ago, Tehelka did a superb job at covering a related story about the lives (and deaths) of India's manhole cleaners. That story is a must-read.
***

Sulabh hosts a "Museum of Toilets" website which has a section titled the Aryan Code Of Toilets. Reading it will cure most people of nostalgia about the good old days.

But what I want to know is, why did the Aryans require an instruction manual for performing numbers 1 and 2? (And does that mean even back then "RTFM" was the stock response?)

Mutatin' Bacteria, Batman!

"Over the generations, in fits and starts, the bacteria did indeed evolve into faster breeders. The bacteria in the flasks today breed 75% faster on average than their original ancestor. Lenski and his colleagues have pinpointed some of the genes that have evolved along the way;"

This is a fascinating bit of science research. (Link to science writer Carl Zimmer's blog, The Loom.)

Dirty Deeds Sold Dirt Cheap

At what point in a rock band's career does its distribution channel become more newsworthy than the music?

His Cousin Marvin May Be Undecided

But "Chuck won't sing for Johnny".

Satyajit

Three YT videos featuring the master talking about cinema. His cinema.

That's all.

(courtesy MetaFilter)

Hey Bo Diddley :(

RIP.

Even if he had never played that crazy "hambone", I would still worship Bo Diddley for writing one of *the* all-time great, scary badass songs:

I walked 47 miles on barb wire,
Use a cobra-snake for a necktie.
Got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide.
I got a brand new chimney on top,
And it's a-made out of human skulls.
Now come on baby, let's take a little walk
And tell me, who do you love?