Reclining your seat is a "known dick move"? Not necessarily

The two separate incidents this week involving passengers fighting over reclining seats are problems that have been a long time coming.  I fly frequently and yes, it's annoying when the person in front of you reclines their seat but I understand trying to get a modicum of comfort from an uncomfortable situation.  I don't mind when someone reclines their seat when they do it slowly.  The ones that lean forward, winding up, and then slam their seat backward unexpectedly, knocking everything off your tray table is a "dick move".

http://gawker.com/seat-reclining-wars-escalate-as-second-flight-is-divert-1628328481/all

These 'knee defenders' are also a "dick move", because they prevent someone from attempting to grab a quick nap, while still allowing the offender freedom to relax.

Flying, a necessary evil these days, is becoming more and more uncomfortable and dangerous, and not because of terrorism.  On a recent flight from Baltimore to Denver, there were several toddlers on board.  They took turns screaming.  When one would stop its tantrum, we had only a few minutes silence before the next one piped up.  Even noise canceling headphones could not completely drown out the noise.

Southwest Airlines boarding procedure is slightly better than the cattle-call it used to be.  But now, we have to check in exactly 24 hours in advance to keep from getting in the dreaded "C" group (C stands for Center Seat).  I haven't seen any of their "No fees for changing flights" commercials probably because that was a blatant lie. Their flight attendants are not as funny as they think they are.

I ignored my mantra that 'No good deed goes unpunished' on my trip to Idaho last week on United Airlines.  At BWI, they post signs for all 5 groups in a Southwest-ish style so people know where to line up.  Since my seat was at the BACK of the plane, I was in the LAST boarding group.  Like Southwest, United boards from the front of the plane to the back.  Those of us in the last boarding group were encouraged to check our bags for free, since the overhead storage space would probably be taken by the time we boarded.  Being a conscientious flyer, I volunteered.  The very last person boarding was a large woman with a large suitcase, but they found room for it.

It's no wonder we lose our patience so quickly when flying.

Godzilla vs. Gigan

Released in Japan in 1972, American audiences didn't get to see Godzilla vs. Gigan until August 1977. Giant cockroaches have come to Earth and have taken over human bodies. Of course, they need Godzilla out of the way so they summon Gigan to get rid of the pesky monster.  Unfortunately, G-Man had to face King Ghidorah as well, but Anguirus (sometimes foe) comes to his aid.  The Godzilla Tower is destroyed and the bug creatures as well.

Check out Anguirus' unique fighting style:  http://youtu.be/-GxHA94_BMs

Kristen Chenoweth auditions for Star Trek!

Hilarious!  But I think we can see why J.J. Abrams went with Zachary Quinto instead.

http://youtu.be/5wyFPi5F960

Murder at the Green Lantern gets 10 out of 10 at Rainbow Gold Reviews!

Check out the review of Murder at the Green Lantern by Rainbow Gold Reviews!

http://rainbowgoldreviews.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/murder-at-the-green-lantern-by-alex-morgan-lgbt-review/

Anniversary of Godzilla 2000's USA release

Today marks the 14th anniversary of the USA release of Godzilla 2000, bringing relief to those of us still stinging from the insult of 1998's Matthew Broderick film.  According to IMDB.com, the 1998 version was to be the first of three movies from Tri-Star, but since it got such terrible reviews, Toho abandoned the idea and brought back the original Godzilla.

The discovery of a huge, unique rock under the sea grabs the interests of scientists from all over the world, wondering about its origin.  Until it begins to behave  strangely.  Exposure to the sun reveals it to be a flying saucer buried under the waves for millions of years.   Its intentions become clear as it begins taking over Tokyo by siphoning off its energy with invisible tendrils.  It's up to the G-Man to save Earth once again.

 Godzilla vs Orga

It was good to see Takehiro Murata in a lead role, when in some movies he's relegated to a walk-on part.

Project Runway Wall of Weird

In the TV series "Smallville", the editor of the high school newspaper Chloe had a huge bulletin board where she posted all the weird things that had happened in Smallville since the meteor shower (Spoiler alert:  The meteor shower was fragments of the planet Krypton that came to Earth the same time as Superman's spaceship).  The season of Project Runway, they seem to constructing their own Wall of Weird.  I'm no expert on fashion but it seems they choose the ugliest (or one of the ugliest) designs each week.

Check out Amanda Valentine's fringe-crazy winning design.  Based on their past record, I expected them to go for Sean Kelly's disaster, which resembles Sandhya's first win.

Happy birthday, Halle Berry!

Halle Berry, born August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, is the perfect actress to play Ororo Munroe (Storm) in the X-men movies and she's one of the most beautiful women ever!

She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Monster's Ball.

Alfred Hitchcock born today in 1899

Alfred Hitchcock, the undisputed master of suspense, was born on this day in 1899.  Although the violence in his films may be tame by today's standards, his movies still rank as some of the scariest of all time.  "The Birds" and "Rebecca" are two of my favorites.    "Psycho" is listed on imdb.com as #32 of the top 250 movies as voted by viewers.  I still remember being surprised to see Doris Day in "The Man Who Knew Too Much", since I was only familiar with her comedy.

“I'm a writer and, therefore, automatically a suspicious character.” - Alfred Hitchcock

The "Psycho" house

Dame Judith Anderson was deliciously evil in "Rebecca"

Still from "The Birds".  Creepy just to look at!

Lauren Bacall dies at 89

Another tragic loss today as Lauren Bacall passed away.  I considered her the last of Hollywood royalty and a fantastic actress.  Coming on the heels of Robin Williams death yesterday, her passing seems to cut deeper than ever.  We're losing so much talent.

Oklahoma screws it up again.

This gay couple, Grizzly Bear and Teddy Bear, was together for 20 years, longer than most straight marriages in Oklahoma, waiting for the state to approve same-sex marriages.  Oh, the hatred!  Okies, sit in judgment of yourselves, not each other.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage3/couple-together-years-runs-out-of-time-waiting-for-oklahoma/article_7b1fdb08-c123-552e-aaf9-d7b9e523dcce.html

Foss Lake gives up her secrets

Last year, two cars were found submerged in Foss Lake in western Oklahoma, a state park about 13 miles west of Clinton.  At the time, they were believed to be the final resting place of six people who disappeared in 1969 and 1970.

"Police believe the cars ended up in the water due to the way the road narrows into the concrete dock, according to the Canada Journal. Perhaps they didn’t realize that the road ended and the cars continued into the lake."

How do you confuse a boat ramp for the highway?

http://www.examiner.com/article/oklahoma-bodies-found-lake-cold-cases-of-6-bodies-2-submerged-cars-solved

Happy birthday, Gillian Anderson!

Just a few days ago, David Duchovny celebrated his birthday and today is his X-files' co-star Gillian Anderson's birthday, born August 9, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois.  As Special Agent Dana Scully, she was the perfect counterpart, always cynical and forever skeptical, to Duchovny's Fox "Conspiracies are Us" Mulder.  I think she surprised us X-philes when she recognized an informant's story as an episode from a "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show"!  I always thought Mulder should've figured that one out.

She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, Television for her performance as Dana Scully

Project Warehouse 13

Project Runway, Season 13 continues its weirdest season yet.  Designer Sandhya racked up her second win, only because she escaped elimination last week because of her immunity.  This week, the designers were challenged to create a look that could appear on the cover of Marie Claire magazine in the year 2034.

This is the winning design.  So in the future, women will be wearing shifts with pockets?  She looks like Queen Amidala in her underwear, after putting on make-up and before the wig. One of the runner-ups, Kristine put an ugly, quilted blanket over a mini-skirt with combat boots.  If this is the future of fashion, may heaven help us.

Switch Hitter receives another great review!

Nice review from a Top 1000 reviewer on Amazon;

This book is a down and dirty little quickie, but it was much more in-depth and suspenseful than I expected. Be warned, this book involves a sick, obsessed fan and the scenes are a bit graphic. If you have issues with sexual assault, you may want to be wary of this one.

I have to say I was surprised and pleased by just how much story the authors were able to pack into this little novella. But that being said, I would have loved it if it had gone even further. I really loved the developing relationship between Cap and Jase and would have liked to have seen more between them. As it is though, it's a very good story about two very alpha males who enter into a somewhat forbidden relationship. Neither one can be gay and stay on top of their careers, but they are so awesome together. I did enjoy the way that the story played out especially the climax with Cap.

It was an interesting little story and I would definitely read more by these two.

Happy birthday, David Duchovny!

David Duchovny, the adorkable Special Agent Fox Mulder from one of the best television shows in the history of TV, was born today in 1960.  Mulder never met a conspiracy theory or alien theory that he didn't love.  With the awesome Gillian Anderson as the ever-skeptical Special Agent Dana Scully, Duchovny had top-billing for seven seasons until he was replaced by Robert Patrick playing Special Agent Dogget.  Duchovny made several appearances in the last two seasons of X-files.

He showed his humorous side when he wrote an episode for the X-Files, "Hollywood, A.D." in which his then-wife Tea Leoni starred.  The scene with Dana Scully running back and forth in the background to show how she ran in heels while Fox Mulder is engaged in a conversation is hysterical!  So is the scene with the triple split screen showing Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and Assistant Director Skinner are all taking bubble baths at the same time.

Duchovny showed more of his comedic side in the movie "Evolution" with Orlando Jones and Sean William Scott.

After 10 years, Rosetta catches up with a comet

Launched back in 2004, the European Space Agency's probe Rosetta has rendezvoused with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.  Sometime in November, Rosetta plans to place the lander Philae on the comet's surface! Until then, she's going to observe the comet from about 100 km, the closest a probe has been to a comet, to find the best spot for Philae.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Back in 1978, the International Sun-Earth Explorer was launched, did its job and then was deactivated.  It was reactivated in September 1985 and diverted through the tail of Comet Giacobini-Zinner, over 4700 miles from the core and then Halley's Comet in 1986 at a distance of 31 million kilometers.  In March 1986, ESA's Giotto flew within 600 km, taking the closest pictures of a comet at that time.

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon!

Today would have been Neil Armstrong's 84th birthday had he not died back in 2012.  He has always been one of my heroes, since landing on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission July 20, 1969.  I remember watching the moon landing on a black & white TV, just shy of my 7th birthday.  It was his accomplishment with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins that made me want to be an astronaut in the second grade up 'til now!

Gentle Ben saves a crow from drowning!

Proving once again that bears are gentle people, this bear in the Budapest Zoo helps a crow out of a pool and from certain drowning.  The crow isn't exactly gracious, giving the bear a peck on the cheek, but the bear doesn't shirk his duty.  Watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCnkCG0UZWc

5 Heart review of Murder at the Green Lantern!

My friend Portia de Moncur shared a link to a review of Murder at the Green Lantern on mmgoodbookreviews!  The reviewer Lisa said she enjoyed the paranormal aspect of the book!

"Telepath, telekinesis, teleport, can actually do systematic earthquakes, hover in the air are just parts of what you can see in this story. I loved it and cannot wait to read the next book in this series."

https://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/murder-at-the-green-lantern-by-alex-morgan/

Happy birthday, Joe Elliott!

Happy birthday to Screamin' Joe Elliott, Def Leppard's front man!

Project Runway Weird Season 13

The number 13, since the Templar Knights were betrayed on Friday the 13th, has been regarded as unlucky or having negative connotations.  That seems to be the case with the thirteenth season of Project Runway.  When designer Carrie Sleutskaya got eliminated last night, she said between tears she was confused, frustrated, and baffled by her losing design and by the winning one.  Everyone was surprised by designer Sandhya Garg's win last week. I have to admit I'm confused, too, by the winning dresses, if I can call them that.  

 Dishcloth material?

This is fashion?  It looks more like a 6th grade Arts and Crafts project.

I've never had an eye for fashion and I thought Project Runway would give me an insight to that world, but now I have no idea what fashion is.  Maybe tacky is 'in'?