This would be really goofy if it didn't have a serious cool factor to it -- at least for science fiction and space geeks like me.

May the force be with shuttle Discovery and seven astronauts on an October mission to the International Space Station.

Coming from a galaxy far, far away, the lightsaber wielded by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars will fly aboard the orbiter three decades after the classic movie opened.

"What better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary than to send the original lightsaber into space with the shuttle?" Julie Kuenstle, a spokeswoman for Space Center Houston, said Tuesday.

The lightsaber will be on display at the visitor complex at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston through Labor Day. Then it will be shipped to Kennedy Space Center and packed into Discovery's mid-deck.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said the sci-fi sword would remain stowed throughout the shuttle's 13-day mission.

Yeah -- I guess a lightsaber wouldn't be much good if the Shuttle were to encounter the Death Star.

I guess I'll have to drive down the road this week to see the movie relic before it gets shipped to Florida.

Posted by: Greg at 04:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is this the wave of the future for entertainment?

Now, however, Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker and their bosses at Comedy Central, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks, are attempting to leapfrog to the vanguard of Hollywood’s transition into Web. In a joint venture that involves millions in up-front cash and a 50-50 split of ad revenues, the network and the two creative partners have agreed to create a hub to spread “South Park”-related material across the Net, mobile platforms, and video games.

The deal, signed Friday, begins with a three-year extension of the show and its creatorsÂ’ contracts through a 15th season, in the year 2011, and gives Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker sizable raises, both in their salaries and in their guaranteed advances against back-end profits from DVDs, merchandising, syndication and international sales.

It also creates an entity called SouthParkStudios.com, to be housed in the showÂ’s animation studio in Culver City, Calif., that is intended to be an incubator not only for new applications for characters the likes of Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny, but for new comedy concepts that could one day mature into TV series of their own.

All told, people involved in the deal confirm that it is worth some $75 million to Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone over the next four years. But what is likely to draw the most attention in Hollywood is not the richness of the pact, but the networkÂ’s willingness to share its advertising revenue.

In an age when you don't need a network to be successful in reaching viewers, it seems to me that there will have to be a new paradigm for splitting the revenue generated by network shows. I just wonder if this will give the creators of South Park greater freedom from PC cenosrship like that involving the depiction of Muhammad this spring.

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Michael Vick refuses to admit to his crimes.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick will not admit to killing dogs or gambling on dog fights, as detailed in his indictment, when he enters a guilty plea in a Richmond, Va., federal court Monday, a source close to the case has told ESPN. Instead, the one count of conspiracy that Vick will plead to will admit guilt to the charge of interstate commerce for the purpose of dogfighting.

The source told ESPN that Vick's defense team met with federal attorneys Thursday afternoon to determine the "summary of facts" to which Vick will plead, and that his attorneys believed they had a deal. The source said Vick maintains he never killed dogs and never gambled on a dog fight.

He will admit he was present when dogs were killed, but that he did not personally kill any of the dogs.

The allegations of killing dogs and gambling were part of the picture painted by Vick's three co-defendants, all of whom have pleaded guilty.

Vick, 27, is scheduled to enter his plea agreement Monday and could face up to five years in prison.

Vick's co-defendants said Vick provided virtually all the gambling and operating funds for the Bad Newz Kennels enterprise. Two of them also said Vick participated in executing at least eight dogs seen as underperforming by various means, including drowning and hanging.

His failure to come clean is clear proof of a lack of contrition. And his involvement in this ongoing gambling enterprise is a strong basis for keeping him out of the NFL in any event.

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I’ll admit it – I’m not a fan of Hillary or Obama.

That said, this sort of rhetoric and display are beyond the pale.

I hope my fellow conservatives will join me in denouncing Ted Nugent over this.

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Unbelievable! Looks to me like Vick's father has even less sense than Vick himself.

My son has a fascination with animals anyway. He's a natural dog lover.

Yeah -- and they say OJ never stopped loving Nicole.

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30-3

But it isn't a football score.

It is a baseball score.

Damn.

The Texas Rangers rounded the bases at a dizzying pace and became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record Wednesday in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles.

"This is something freaky. You won't see anything like this again for a long, long time. I am glad I was on this end of it," said Marlon Byrd, who hit one of two Texas grand slams in the first game of a doubleheader.

* * *

Texas kept right on hitting in the second game, too, although at a decidedly tamer pace. Travis Metcalf drove in four runs and the Rangers used a three-run eighth for a 9-7 victory and a sweep.

Texas set an AL record for runs in a doubleheader, surpassing the 36 scored by Detroit in 1937.

The second game, however, will forever be regarded as a postscript to the incredible opener.

It was the ninth time a major league team scored 30 runs, the first since the Chicago Colts set the major league mark in a 36-7 rout of Louisville in a National League game on June 28, 1897, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

That's 110 years, folks.

Some random reflections.

1) What did this do to the ERAs of the various Orioles pitchers?

2) How do you go out and play the second game of a double header after such a loss?

3) I wonder if we should blame this on global warming?

Posted by: Greg at 10:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Vick is accepting a plea deal that will net him prison time. I can't wait to see him behind bars. His actions are sub-human.

Michael Vick agreed Monday to plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges, a deal that leaves the Atlanta Falcons quarterback facing up to 18 months in prison and puts his NFL career in jeopardy.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend Vick be sentenced to between a year and 18 months in prison, according to a government official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms have not yet been made final.

That would be a higher penalty than is usually recommended for first-time convicts, and reflects an attempt by the government to show that animal abusers will receive more than a slap on the wrist for their crimes, the official said.

Speaking as a fan with season tickets, I can tell you that I will be most unhappy if the NFL does not ban this cretin for life.

And I'd like to note that Lucianne.com has the best comment on the subject of any I've seen.

Now, let's see how Michael Vick likes it

Indeed -- and let's hope he spends every day in prison experiencing the same sort of fear that the poor animals he and his fellow conspirators tortured and killed did in their sad,a bused lives.

H/T Tammy Bruce, Captain Ed,

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So the dog-fighting barbarian had better get used to the notion of having the same experience of some of his dogs -- locked in a cage as somebody else's bitch.

Two of Michael VickÂ’s co-defendants pleaded guilty Friday to charges stemming from a dog fighting ring, leaving the Atlanta Falcons quarterback to face federal charges alone unless he to can strike a deal with prosecutors.

At the same federal courthouse where they pleaded not guilty last month, Purnell A. Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach, and Quanis L. Phillips, 28, of Atlanta, accepted one felony count each related to a dog fighting ring the government says was run from VickÂ’s property in Surry, Va.

Both defendants pledged to help the governmentÂ’s case, signing statements that would be included at a possible trial of Vick, who faces three felony charges related to dog fighting. The charges could carry up to five years in prison and as much as a $250,000 fine if he is found guilty.

* * *

According to an individual with direct knowledge of the case, Vick had until 9 a.m. today to verbally accept the governmentÂ’s plea agreement. If he does not take the offer, the government will likely bring superseding charges against him which will subject him to more jail time.

My guess is that there won't be enough of Vick left following his prison stay to resume his NFL career.

Posted by: Greg at 01:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sorry, Matt -- Bond is just more fun than Bourne.

Hollywood star Matt Damon has dismissed James Bond as being stuck in the past.

The actor, who appears in the Bourne thrillers, said: "The Bond character will always be anchored in the 1960s and in the values of the 1960s."

The suave spy was "so anachronistic when you put it in the world we live in today", he said, but added that Bourne was no better or worse than Bond.

* * *

"Bond is an imperialist and a misogynist who kills people and laughs about it, and drinks Martinis and cracks jokes," Damon told reporters.

"Bourne is a serial monogamist whose girlfriend is dead and he does nothing but think about her."

He added that Bourne "doesn't have the support of gadgets, and he feels guilty for what he's done".

Well, Matt -- now you've identified why Bond has been a successful franchise since before I was born. He believes in what he is doing, he is unambiguously on the side of right, he's got cool stuff, and he gets the girl in the end (among other places). I'll take a weak James Bond film (such as Casino Royale, which I watched in Damon's honor last night) over Damon's Bourne flicks any day.

Posted by: Greg at 12:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I know they give away all sorts of crap to fans attending ball games on special days/nights. And i certainly will be out to get my swag at every football game this year.

But I think that the folks in the San Francisco Giants marketing department may have gone a bit too far with this item.

As pointed out by my dear friend at Bookworm Room, it is already on sale on eBay.

Someone does seem culturally challenged here -- that looks suspiciously like a cowboy hat, and since when is a ram's horn square?

UPDATE: Well, now I understand the origin of the thing.

Still...

Posted by: Greg at 03:31 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Now let's all ignore him until it is time for a fan campaign against his inclusion in the Hall of Fame.

For one spectacular moment, Barry Bonds and everybody cheering him could forget about the controversy surrounding his chase and appreciate the phenomenal feat: 756.

Nobody in the majors — not Hank Aaron, not Babe Ruth — has ever hit more home runs than the San Francisco star.

On Tuesday night, in his home ballpark, it didn't matter how many of them might have been fueled by steroids or performance-enhancers. Bonds has the title of home run king all to himself, ending Aaron's 33-year reign.

"This record is not tainted at all. At all. Period," Bonds said.

Here's hoping that enough evidence of illegal steroid abuse does emerge to result in banning Bonds from the game, the Hall, and any connection with baseball.

Posted by: Greg at 02:37 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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When a coach believes that his athletic program should set admissions standards for a university, he either does not belong at the institution or the institution has no academic credibility.

An embarrassed and angry Steve Spurrier blasted South Carolina's admissions process Sunday, apologizing to two recruits who signed with the Gamecocks last winter and were denied academic entry this summer.

"In my opinion, I still believe we made a mistake in doing this," Spurrier said Sunday.

Spurrier had spoken with university president Andrew Sorensen and the two agreed, the coach said, that things needed to change.

Spurrier was angered that receiver Michael Bowman of Wadesboro, N.C., and Arkee Smith of Jacksonville, Fla., were cleared by the NCAA to enroll, yet were turned down by the university. The rest of the Gamecocks football team officially reported Friday for preseason camp.

"Hopefully, I truly believe this is the last year this is going to happen, because I can't operate like that," Spurrier said. "I can't operate misleading young men."

Spurrier signed a contract extension, which included a raise of nearly a half-million dollars, that ties him to South Carolina through 2012. However, he said if things didn't change on admissions "then I have to go somewhere else, because I can't tell the young man that he's coming to school here," then not have him admitted.

University spokesman Russ McKinney said Spurrier has been involved in talks with Sorensen and other administrators about refining the process of athletic admissions.

"I think the university administration understands his frustration," McKinney said.

McKinney said the goal would be to let all South Carolina coaches know as early as possible whether a prospect would meet the university's admission standards.

The problem is not th school's standards. the problem is that Spurrier is recruiting academically sub-par athletes for his teams. He does both the University of South Carolina and the young men no favors with that practice, for the students will ultimately be unable to perform academically and leave the school without a degree. In the mean time, South Carolina will have degraded its standards, for meeting Spurrier's requirements will ultimately lead to the degradation of admission requirements for all students.

Spurrier was a failure as an NFL coach. It seems to me that he is a failure as an educator as well -- after all, a college coach is, first and foremost, a teacher. Indeed, his arrogant effort to blackmail the administration leads me to conclude that he is a failure as a man. He needs to go.

Posted by: Greg at 06:09 AM | Comments (26) | Add Comment
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No, I'm not making it up or being disrespectful of victims of terrorism -- and screw the jihadis (may pigs piss upon them).

That is the name of a new production going on this year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

Here's a sample.

This is surely a five fatwa production!

Hopefully I'll be able to see it when a touring company comes to Houston.

Posted by: Greg at 07:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Incredible!

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb expressed support for Michael Vick during an interview here Tuesday.

"I'm a supporter of Vick," McNabb said. "That's because I'm a good friend of his and also we're guys that obviously compete to win the Super Bowl. We push each other. Now, I don't know exactly what happened in that situation, and I think for all of us that have read over the stuff that was over the Internet, the report, you look at it as kind of like, 'Wow, you've got your so-called friends and family members turning their back on you now to make their situation better.' They're throwing you under the bus so that they can clean their name. That's unfortunate. That goes to show, I always have a saying that I've always lived by: If you can't trust family, who can you trust? It's an unfortunate situation, and I just hope everything works out well for him where he can get back out on the field."

Actually, trusting family is a big part of why Vick is in trouble in the first place.

McNabb also advocates lighter punishments for NFL criminals

"As a football fraternity member, you just want those guys to have that opportunity to get back out there and maybe put that stuff behind them and change their life," McNabb said. "I think for some of the guys that have made the mistake and now that their season is taken away from them, the question goes out of what happens next? Because when some people get things like that taken away from them, they just continue to go down. You hope nothing but the best, that they've learned from their mistakes to move on where they can get back out on the field and play. Being suspended for a year? That's tough. That's tough.... You just want everything to kind of work out well for everybody, work out well for us as well as work out well for those guys."

Never thought he had any class, and this pretty well confirms it.

Posted by: Greg at 01:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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