Friday, June 25, 2004
The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Headlines
Deutsche Welle: Science & Technology: Berlin Mutant Boy Extra Strong
Original Article
Brother, has this been bandied about the web a lot. In summary, about four years ago a kid was born in Germany whose body doesn't produce a limiting protein that halts muscle growth. While he looks normal, he's in fact really strong for his age. It's a condition that has never been observed in humans before, which I find interesting because of its implied corollary: that this has been observed in animals.
No, his first words were not "Bam! Bam, bam, bam!"
The way I see it, this kid is in for a life of great sadness. He could have medical problems we won't even have terminology for for years, unless you count things like "Bovine Neuromuscular Disorder." If his name becomes known, or even if it doesn't, you can bet every half-assed journalist from here to Tomsk will write an article about him with "super" somewhere in its title. Jokes running along the lines of "What's Prof. Charles Xavier like, really?" will get old after the twenty-fourth iteration. He comes from a family of athletes, but if he chooses to, will professional sporting organizations allow him to compete?
But maybe I'm just pessimistic. Here's hoping the best for the adorably abnormal little tyke.
World Movie Magazine: News: Disney to Scale Down Film Production
Original Article
Thank you god.
After that lunktacular craptravaganza called "Around the World in 80 Days," I can't help but hope that Disney quietly closes this portion of its conglomerative holdings and gets redoubles its core business: making economical, affordable Evil available to the home and small business markets.
But wait! They're not getting out of the movie business entirely, but just out of clunkers. (And, yes, Pixar films.) Michael Eisner, also known as the Anti-Walt, says by reducing the number of movies they make they'll be more selective about what they make, favoring "franchisable" movies like Pirates of the Caribbean over things like Around the World in 80 Days.
Which, if you ask me, is really stupid. The good thing about Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't it's franchisability, it was Johnny Freaking Depp! If he hadn't been in it, it would have been just another stupid pirate movie. I can't believe Eisner and company are blind to things like this. Do you have to have to undergo I.Q. Reduction Surgery when you get on the board of directors?
Deutsche Welle: Science & Technology: Berlin Mutant Boy Extra Strong
Original Article
Brother, has this been bandied about the web a lot. In summary, about four years ago a kid was born in Germany whose body doesn't produce a limiting protein that halts muscle growth. While he looks normal, he's in fact really strong for his age. It's a condition that has never been observed in humans before, which I find interesting because of its implied corollary: that this has been observed in animals.
No, his first words were not "Bam! Bam, bam, bam!"
The way I see it, this kid is in for a life of great sadness. He could have medical problems we won't even have terminology for for years, unless you count things like "Bovine Neuromuscular Disorder." If his name becomes known, or even if it doesn't, you can bet every half-assed journalist from here to Tomsk will write an article about him with "super" somewhere in its title. Jokes running along the lines of "What's Prof. Charles Xavier like, really?" will get old after the twenty-fourth iteration. He comes from a family of athletes, but if he chooses to, will professional sporting organizations allow him to compete?
But maybe I'm just pessimistic. Here's hoping the best for the adorably abnormal little tyke.
World Movie Magazine: News: Disney to Scale Down Film Production
Original Article
Thank you god.
After that lunktacular craptravaganza called "Around the World in 80 Days," I can't help but hope that Disney quietly closes this portion of its conglomerative holdings and gets redoubles its core business: making economical, affordable Evil available to the home and small business markets.
But wait! They're not getting out of the movie business entirely, but just out of clunkers. (And, yes, Pixar films.) Michael Eisner, also known as the Anti-Walt, says by reducing the number of movies they make they'll be more selective about what they make, favoring "franchisable" movies like Pirates of the Caribbean over things like Around the World in 80 Days.
Which, if you ask me, is really stupid. The good thing about Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't it's franchisability, it was Johnny Freaking Depp! If he hadn't been in it, it would have been just another stupid pirate movie. I can't believe Eisner and company are blind to things like this. Do you have to have to undergo I.Q. Reduction Surgery when you get on the board of directors?
