TGIF! Friday, December 5, 2014

cygnet \ SIG-nit \ , noun; 

• a young swan. 

Origin: Cygnet is derived from the Greek word kýknos meaning "swan." The noun suffix -et implies a diminutive force, as in the word islet. 

Salsa Fucked

• This phenomenon occurs when dining at a Mexican restaurant with a large group and the salsa is not distributed evenly throughout the table. The areas of the table that do not have ample amounts of salsa are "salsa fucked."

Jeff, all of the salsa is at the other end of the table, yo. 

I know, we got Salsa Fucked.

History

• Phi Beta Kappa: oldest collegiate honors society was founded as a secret club at the College of William and Mary (1776)
• Gold Rush: President James Polk confirmed that gold had been found in California and triggered the mass move West (1848)
• Prohibition: the 21st Amendment was passed, repealing the 18th Amendment and ending the ban on alcoholic beverages in the US (1933)
• Bermuda Triangle: US Navy squadron disappeared in the mysterious area, as did aircraft sent to search for it (1945)
• AFL-CIO: George Meany led the newly formed federation of labor unions (1955)
• "irrational exuberance": former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the market might be dangerously overvalued (1996)

Birthdays

• Martin Van Buren (U.S.) 1782
  
• Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830
• George Armstrong Custer 1839
• Walt Elias Disney 1901 - Disney movies, music and books
• Otto Preminger 1906
• Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) 1932
• Joan Didion 1934
• Calvin Trillin 1935
• J.J. Cale 1938
• Jeroen Krabbe 1944
• Jose Carreras 1947
• Jim Messina 1947 - Musician (Buffalo Springfield)
• Morgan Brittany 1951
• Brian Backer 1956
• Jack Russell 1960 - Musician (Great White)
• Ty England 1963
• Carrie Hamilton 1963
• John Rzeznick 1965 - Musician (The Goo Goo Dolls)
• Gary Allan 1967
• Margaret Cho 1968
• Amy Acker 1976
• Jessica Pare 1980
• Frankie Muniz 1985
• Ross Bagley 1988

WTF is that?

Thursday, December 5, 2013

commix \kuh-MIKS\, verb:

• to mix together; blend.

Commix is a backformation of commixt which was a combination of com- meaning "together" and the variant stem mix.
go duck yourself

• When you try to type "Go fuck yourself", but you auto correct turned it to that. Also can happen if you have large thumbs, and you type "go fuck yourself"

"Fuck you"
"Go duck yourself"
Trivia

What large strategic island did the U.S. propose buying for $100 million in 1946?

• Greenland, from Denmark. Although the sale of the world’s largest island never materialized, the U.S. was able to establish military bases there.

History

• Phi Beta Kappa: oldest collegiate honors society was founded as a secret club at the College of William and Mary (1776)
• Gold Rush: President James Polk confirmed that gold had been found in California and triggered the mass move West (1848)
• Prohibition: the 21st Amendment was passed, repealing the 18th Amendment and ending the ban on alcoholic beverages in the US (1933)
• Bermuda Triangle: US Navy squadron disappeared in the mysterious area, as did aircraft sent to search for it (1945)
• AFL-CIO: George Meany led the newly formed federation of labor unions (1955)
• "irrational exuberance": former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the market might be dangerously overvalued (1996)

Birthdays

• Martin Van Buren (U.S.) 1782
  
• Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830
• George Armstrong Custer 1839
• Walt Elias Disney 1901 - Disney movies, music and books
• Otto Preminger 1906
• Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) 1932
• Joan Didion 1934
• Calvin Trillin 1935
• J.J. Cale 1938
• Jeroen Krabbe 1944
• Jose Carreras 1947
• Jim Messina 1947 - Musician (Buffalo Springfield)
• Morgan Brittany 1951
• Brian Backer 1956
• Jack Russell 1960 - Musician (Great White)
• Ty England 1963
• Carrie Hamilton 1963
• John Rzeznick 1965 - Musician (The Goo Goo Dolls)
• Gary Allan 1967
• Margaret Cho 1968
• Amy Acker 1976
• Frankie Muniz 1985
• Ross Bagley 1988

WTF Friday: WTF is that?

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

agape \ah-GAH-pey\, noun:

1. Unselfish love of one person for another without sexual implications.
2. The love of Christians for other persons, corresponding to the love of God for humankind.

Agape originates as the Greek agapen, "to greet with affection." The term was adopted by early Christians in connection with celebrations. The general sense of "love without sexual aspects" came into use in the 1800s.

Several Joint Liability

• When a party is liable for all of the damage incurred by a third party after becoming excessively high on marijuana.

Jake decided to smoke a pack of joints, and, as all stoners do when they get high, he took a baseball bat to every car window on his block. Jake will be liable for the damage under the Several Joint Liability doctrine introduced by Justice Holmes in the landmark case Marley v. Jane.

Trivia

What Hollywood star, in pursuit of realism, ate a live cockroach in one of his films?

• Nicolas Cage, in Vampire’s Kiss (1988). Cage said he spit out the roach.

History

• Phi Beta Kappa: oldest collegiate honors society was founded as a secret club at the College of William and Mary (1776)
• Gold Rush: President James Polk confirmed that gold had been found in California and triggered the mass move West (1848)
• Prohibition: the 21st Amendment was passed, repealing the 18th Amendment and ending the ban on alcoholic beverages in the US (1933)
• Bermuda Triangle: US Navy squadron disappeared in the mysterious area, as did aircraft sent to search for it (1945)
• AFL-CIO: George Meany led the newly formed federation of labor unions (1955)
• "irrational exuberance": former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the market might be dangerously overvalued (1996)

Birthdays

• Martin Van Buren (U.S.) 1782
• Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830
• George Armstrong Custer 1839
• Walt Elias Disney 1901 - Disney movies, music and books
• Otto Preminger 1906
• Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) 1932
• Joan Didion 1934
• Calvin Trillin 1935
• J.J. Cale 1938
• Jeroen Krabbe 1944
• Jose Carreras 1947
• Jim Messina 1947 - Musician (Buffalo Springfield)
• Morgan Brittany 1951
• Brian Backer 1956
• Jack Russell 1960 - Musician (Great White)
• Ty England 1963
• Carrie Hamilton 1963
• John Rzeznick 1965 - Musician (The Goo Goo Dolls)
• Gary Allan 1967
• Margaret Cho 1968
• Amy Acker 1976
• Frankie Muniz 1985
• Ross Bagley 1988

Review Tuesday: At The Mountains Of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

Anyone familiar with horror MUST be familiar with the name H. P. Lovecraft. His greatest invention was Cthulhu. I always wanted to take a shot at reading his work, but never had a good reason to MAKE myself do so until now. I was told that one director was working on a cinematic version of AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS but gave it up because it was too similar to the forthcoming flick, PROMETHEUS. That's all I needed. I jumped on it.

The story in a nutshell: An early 20th century expedition in Antarctica reveals a horrific truth about the Earth and how life on this planet originated.

While that's the one sentence version, this tome, is a terrifying tale with twists and turns that will keep you RIVETED to the pages. It's extraordinary. It's terrifying. It's suspenseful. It's amazing writing. It IS written in an old world style, so it might be a little difficult getting started, but once you do, you'll never want to put the book down. I highly recommend this book, especially with the opening of PROMETHEUS this week.

NOTE: Based on the rumour mill, if PROMETHEUS is anything like this concept, it should really rock!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

irriguous \ih-RIG-yoo-uhs\, adjective:

• Well-watered, as land.

irriguous comes from the Latin word irrigāre meaning "to wet" and the suffix -ous which turns a verb into an adjective, like nervous.

Speaker Phony

Someone who uses a speaker phone to feel like they’re important or doing some sort of important business even thought it’s for something stupid.

Mike hated talking to speaker phony customers. He couldn’t hear half the shit they said and, because they were only ordering pizza, he thought they could just pick up the phone instead of trying to shout at it from half way across the room.

“That guy was such a speaker phony. He called in to talk about his late fee and was 'too busy' to use the regular phone because he was playing x-box 360.”

Trivia

What country uses about half the world’s production of cloves—primarily in cigarettes?

• Indonesia. Its kretek cigarettes are two parts tobacco to one part cloves.

History

• Noah Webster: published his American Dictionary of the English Language, insisting on American spelling (1828)
• Abraham Lincoln: was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC; the president died of his wounds the following day (1865)
• J.C. Penney: opened his first store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming, earning a first-year profit of $8,514.36 on sales of $28,898.11 (1902)
• first pitch: President William H. Taft threw the ceremonial first baseball, on the Washington Senators' opening day; every president since has thrown out at least one (1910)
• Titanic: the supposedly unsinkable luxury liner hit an iceberg; it sank a few hours later (1912)

Birthdays

• Christian Huygens 1629
• Antole France 1844
• Anne Mansfield Sullivan 1866 - "The Miracle Worker", famous for teaching Helen Keller to read, write and speak
• Arnold (Joseph) Toynbee 1889 - Historian, author
• Harold Stephen Black 1898
• John Gielgud 1904 - Actor (Movies: "Arthur")
• Mary Healy 1918
• Robert DeVicenzo 1923 - Golfer
• Shorty Rogers (Milton Rajonsky) 1924 - Musician, bandleader, songwriter, composer, arranger
• Rod Steiger (Rodney Stephen Steiger) 1925 - Actor ("Dr. Ahivago", "The Longest Day")
• Gloria Jean (Schoonover) 1926 - Actress ("Copacabana", "The Ladies Man")
• Jay Robinson 1930 - Actor
• Bradford Dillman 1930 - Actor ("Compulsion", "Falcon Crest")
• Buddy Knox 1933
• Frank Serpico 1934
• Loretta Lynn 1935 - Country singer, first woman to earn the CMA's Entertainer of the Year award
• Joan Darling 1935 - Actress
• Marty Keough 1935 - Baseball player
• Bobby Nichols 1936 - Golfer
• Julie Christie 1941 - Actress ("Dr. Zhivago", "Shampoo")
• Pete Rose (Peter Edward Rose) 1941 - Baseball player
• Dick Brooks 1942 - Auto racer
• Ritchie Blackmore 1945 - Musician (Deep Purple)
• Larry Ferguson 1948 - Musician (Hot Chocolate)
• John Shea 1949 - Actor ("Lois & Clark", "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid")
• Dennis Bryon 1949 - Musician (Amen Corner)
• Matimaa Kinuani Mpiosso 1951
• Brad Garrett 1960 - Actor ("Everybody Loves Raymond")
• Robert Carlyle 1961 - Actor
• John Bell 1962 - Musician (Widespread Panic)
• Greg Maddux 1966 - Baseball player
• Barrett Martin 1967 - Musician (Screaming Trees)
• Anthony Michael Hall 1968 - Actor (Movies:"Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club", TV:"The Dead Zone")
• Brad Ausmus 1969 - Baseball player
• DaBrat 1974 - Rapper
• Adrien Brody 1973 - Actor
• Sarah Michelle Gellar 1977 - Actress ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer")
• Vivien Cardone 1993 - Actress ("Everwood")
• Abigail Breslin 1996 - Actress ("Abigail Breslin")

 

TGI Friday the 13th!

Friday the 13th

The widely current idea that Friday the thirteenth is unlucky is a modern combination of two older beliefs: the medieval fear of Friday, and a comparatively recent dislike of thirteen. The latter was first recorded at the end of the 17th century, in the limited context of people sitting at a meal; it became more common in the late 19th century, and especially in the 20th. The two ideas are not found in combination before the beginning of the 20th century, but the reputation of Friday the thirteenth is now thoroughly established, and constantly reinforced by the media.

What would Jason do?

Do you?

Friday The Thirteenth, April 13, 2012

approbate \AP-ruh-beyt\, verb:

• To approve officially.

Approbate stems from the Latin word approbāre, from the root ap- which is a variation of ad-, meaning "towards," and probātus meaning "proved."

Practical Friday

The result of a shortened school week, such as a four day or three day week. The day before the end of the short week is practical Friday. If the week ends Wednesday, Wednesday is practical Friday.

Guy: Wanna hang out tonight?

Girl: I can't, it's Wednesday

Guy: yeah we can! It's practical Friday!

Girl: Ohh... um I had plans.

Trivia

What is the only snake known to build a nest for its eggs?

The king cobra, the largest venomous snake in the world.

Holiday

Friday the 13th - this is the second of three Fridays the thirteenth we will have this year. They are 13 weeks apart from each other!

History

• Edict of Nantes: Henry IV granted freedom of religion to the Huguenots of France (1598); the edict was repealed by Louis XIV in 1685
• Messiah: Handel oratorio premiered in Dublin's New Musick Hall; proceeds went to local hospitals for the mentally ill (1742)
• MoMA: founded in NYC (1870)
• Jefferson Memorial: was dedicated in Washington, DC, on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth (1943)
• Tiger Woods: won his first major golf tournament, the Masters, by a record 12 strokes, at age 21 (1997)
• Sidney Poitier: became first African American to win an Oscar for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field (1964)

Birthdays

• John Hanson 1721
• Thomas Jefferson 1743 - 3rd U.S. President
• Frank W. Woolworth 1852 - Merchant, created the five and ten cent store, head of F.W. Woolworth & Co.
• Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) 1866
• Olga Rudge 1895
• Alfred Butts 1899 - Architect, game inventor (Scrabble)
• Bud Freeman 1906 - Jazz musician, tenor sax player
• Samuel Beckett 1906 - Author, critic, playwright
• Eudora Welty 1909 - Poet
• Howard Keel 1919 - Actor ("Dallas"), singer
• Madalyn Murray O’Hair 1919 - Author ("Why I Am an Atheist")
• Stanley Donen 1924
• Jules Irving 1925 - Actor
• Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy) 1926 - Actor ("Get Smart")
• Teddy Charles (Theodore Charles Cohen) 1928 - Vibraphonist, songwriter, composer, arranger
• Marilynn Smith 1929 - Golfer
• Dan Gurney 1931 - Auto racer
• Lyle Waggoner 1935 - Actor ("The Carol Burnett Show", "Wonder Woman")
• Edward Fox 1937 - Actor ("The Big Sleep", "Portrait of a Lady")
• Lanford Wilson 1937 - Playwright
• Paul Sorvino 1939 - Actor ("Law and Order", "Dick Tracy")
• Seamus Heaney 1939 - Poet
• Lester Chambers 1940 - Singer, musician (The Chambers Brothers)
• Jose Napoles 1940 - Boxer
• Bill Conti 1942 - Composer
• Brian Pendleton 1944 - Musician (The Pretty Things)
• Jack Casady 1944 - Musician (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
• Lowell George 1945 - Musician (Little Feat)
• Tony Dow 1945 - Actor ("Leave it to Beaver")
• Al Green 1946 - Singer, songwriter
• Roy Loney 1946 - Musician (Flamin' Groovies)
• Ron Perlman 1950 - Actor ("Beauty and the Beast" series)
• Peabo Bryson 1951 - Singer
• Max Weinberg 1951 - Musician (E Street Band)
• Jimmy Destri 1954 - Musician (Blondie)
• Sam Bush 1957
• Gary Kroeger 1957
• Saundra Santiago 1957 - Actress ("Miami Vice")
• Joey Mazzola 1961 - Musician (Sponge)
• Hillel Slovak 1962 - Musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• Jane Leeves 1963
• Garry Kasparov 1963 - Chess champion
• Page Hannah 1964
• Caroline Rhea 1964 - Actres, comedian
• Davis Love III 1964 - Golfer
• Lisa Unbarger 1965 - Musician (Toadies)
• Rick Schroder 1970 - Actor ("Silver Spoons", "NYPD Blue")
• Aaron Lewis 1971 - Musician (Staind)
• Jonathan Brandis 1976
• Courtney Peldon 1981

Review Tuesday: Underworld: Awakening

You may or may not have known, but I'm a huge fan of Kate Beckinsale, especially her role as Selene from the Underworld movies. After her absence from the third movie in the series, she's back with a vengeance, literally.

UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING is the fourth installment in the franchise. The movie starts out discussing the purge. The immortal races of vampires and lycans have been discovered by mankind and is being systematically destroyed as a menace to common people. Selene and Michael are captured by the humans and kept in suspended animation for a dozen years. Then Selene was set free by the daughter she never knew she was even carrying.

The rest of the movie is a series of twist and turns until the TRUE menace is revealed. The special effects are pretty good. The gore reaches new heights. The villains are more evil than ever. It's pretty entertaining and action packed. My only real complaint is that it was too short, only one and a half hours.

Definitely worth seeing if you want to see action, horror and violence.

More at IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1496025/

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***

Scott Speedman did NOT return to play his role as Michael Corvin, the vampire / lycanthrope hybrid. They got a guy, who isn't even listed on IMDB, who looks pretty close yet different enough to make his screen presence very distracting. Luckily, there wasn't much of it.

They never explain where the name Eve for the hybrid child comes from. When asked, she said her name was test subject 2, so what gives?

The whole 3D thing wasn't necessary. I hardly noticed anything that warranted the treatment.

The movie is shockingly short. One hour and twenty eight minutes, ONLY. There was a lot of development that could've made the movie better had they lengthened it. However the movie works fine as it is.

A little more about the coven led by Thomas would've been nice. They made reference to members of the coven never seeing a Death Dealer before Selene. Why not???

For the horndogs, I think Kate Beckinsale accidentally lets a nip slip during her escape from the cryo chamber. Don't expect more. Not even a butt shot. Don't worry, she looks more amazing than ever.

How did the lycans develop the clout to orchestrate the great purge? It would've required infiltration into the government as well as huge resources that the lycans were never in possession of in the past.

The movie is left wide open as the portal to the second Underworld Trilogy.

Friday the Thirteenth

Friday the 13th has been long believed to be an unlucky day.

Phobia

The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatrishtkaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning "thirteen") attached to phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning "fear"). The latter word was derived in 1911[citation needed] and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

Well, if you don't like Friday the 13th, you won't like this. 2012 has THREE of them, and they are 13 weeks apart!

cred: answers.com

Monday, December 5, 2011

frondescence \fron-DES-uhns\, noun:

1. Leafage; foliage.

2. The process or period of putting forth leaves, as a tree, plant, or the like.

Frondescence is from the Latin root frondēre meaning “to have leaves.” It is clearly related to frond meaning “leaves.”

moreplay

• The postcoital acitivities that are performed after sex but resemble foreplay, may lead to more sex.

Who needs foreplay, when you can have moreplay.

Trivia

What was the first war waged by the U.S. outside its national boundaries?

• The First Barbary War (1801–05), which was fought to end piracy against U.S. ships by North Africa’s four Barbary states—Tripoli, Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis.

History

• Phi Beta Kappa: oldest collegiate honors society was founded as a secret club at the College of William and Mary (1776)
• Gold Rush: President James Polk confirmed that gold had been found in California and triggered the mass move West (1848)
• Prohibition: the 21st Amendment was passed, repealing the 18th Amendment and ending the ban on alcoholic beverages in the US (1933)
• Bermuda Triangle: US Navy squadron disappeared in the mysterious area, as did aircraft sent to search for it (1945)
• AFL-CIO: George Meany led the newly formed federation of labor unions (1955)
• "irrational exuberance": former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the market might be dangerously overvalued (1996)

Birthdays

• Martin Van Buren (1782-1862): 8th POTUS and a founder of the Democratic Party
• George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876): general who lost the battle of Little Bighorn
• Walt Disney (1901-1966): animator, filmmaker and the creator of Disneyland; plus, filmmakers Fritz Lang (1890-1976) and Otto Preminger (1906-1986)
• Little Richard (79): singer/songwriter; also, musicians Chad Mitchell (76), J.J. Cale (73), Jim Messina (64), John Rzeznik (46) and Gary Allen (44)
• Joan Didion (77): novelist and essayist, The Year of Magical Thinking; writers Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) and Calvin Trillin (76) share this birth date
• Frankie Muniz (26): actor, Malcolm in the Middle; also, actors Jeroen Krabbe (67), Morgan Brittany (60), Brian Backer (55), Alex Kapp Horner (42), Margaret Cho (43), Paula Patton (36), Nick Stahl (32) and Amy Acker (35)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

bloviate \BLOH-vee-ayt\, intransitive verb:

• To speak or write at length in a pompous or boastful manner.

Bloviate is from blow + a mock-Latinate suffix -viate. Compare blowhard, "a boaster or braggart." Bloviation is the noun form; a bloviator is one who bloviates.

text-killer

• Phrases and words such as "lol yeah" and "haha ok" that are guaranteed to kill any text conversation.

"r u coming 2 the prty 2nite?"
"no i cant cuz i hav 2 go 2 a family reunion"
"haha ok"
"way to use a text-killer... now wat do i say?"

Trivia

What is the greatest number of Friday the 13ths possible in a single calendar year?

• Three. The last time there were three was last year; next time will be in 2012. This year there will be only one, in August. 

History

• Noah Webster: published his American Dictionary of the English Language, insisting on American spelling (1828)
• Abraham Lincoln: was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC; the president died of his wounds the following day (1865)
• J.C. Penney: opened his first store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming, earning a first-year profit of $8,514.36 on sales of $28,898.11 (1902)

Birthdays

• 
  
  Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695): astronomer, mathematician and physicist; historian Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) shared this birth date
• 
  
  Anne Sullivan Macy (1866-1936): Helen Keller's teacher
• 
  
  Juan Belmonte (1892-1962): one of history's greatest matadors; plus, baseball pro Pete Rose (69)
• 
  
  Francois Duvalier (1907-1971): dictator of Haiti, aka "Papa Doc"
• 
  
  Loretta Lynn (75): country music singer, Coal Miner's Daughter; plus, musicians Ritchie Blackmore (65)
• 
  
  Abigail Breslin (14): actor, Little Miss Sunshine, Nim's Island; also, actors John Gielgud (1904-2000), Rod Steiger (1925-2002), Bradford Dillman (80), Julie Christie (70), John Shea (61), Robert Carlyle (49), Brad Garrett (50), Anthony Michael Hall (42), Adrien Brody (37) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (33)

Review Tuesday: On TV - Merlin

This summer there was a British import on American television: Merlin. NBC brought this popular BBC series as a summer replacement. I've always liked the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table so I was very happy to give this a view.

Okay, the first problem I had with the series is that it's a complete re-imagining of the entire King Arthur fable. In the tales, King Uther Pendragon died leaving no heir. The old wizard, Merlin, drove a magical sword into stone and anvil and declared that he who is able to free that sword would be made King. A boy by the name of Arthur accidentally pulled the sword and was made King. In this television series, Arthur is the son of Uther, the "natural" heir to the throne. Merlin is a boy who is made Arthur's servant to keep an eye on the rash Prince of Camelot. The series has been a collection of episodes that basically throw in about any / every magical reference, as well as anything else that might be considered from that period. Some examples would be appearances by the unicorn, griffin, dragon, Black Knight, and how Lancelot became a knight, to name a few.

If you don't care about the adhering to the original story, the show isn't half bad. It took me a while to stop getting angry at all the period pieces that didn't belong and just enjoy the show for what it is, entertainment through re-imagining the tale.

Most of the cast are okay at best except for Uther Pendragon played by Anthony Head (best known as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He is so great at playing a hateful narrow-minded monarch that you wait for his scenes. He makes the show most worth watching.

The series ran the season finale last weekend. I dunno if there are more BBC episodes to import for the future, but with nothing else to watch against it, I would go for another season.

More on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1199099/

Underworld News

Finally, some news regarding the third installment in the Underworld movies: The Rise of the Lycans. The movie is currently in post-production and we're looking at a release date on January 23rd, 2009. Once again, Bill Nighy will be reprising his role as Viktor, leader of the Vampyre Clan and how the war between their races began.

Good news:

• Michael Sheen will be back as Lucian, as well as the return of the characters of Viktor, Tanis, Kraven, Raze, and Sonja. No word, but Soren should also be back.
• Rhona Mitra will be playing Sonja and she's hot.

Bad news:

• No Scott Speedman or Kate Beckinsale. Likely no Amelia or Marcus either. No one has ever explained how Amelia became an elder. Looks like it'll never be explained.

More here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0834001/

Here's a crappy bootleg of the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATrHoPfYMHM&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veF7AP3M5_M

Friday the 13th

No one really knows the origin of the superstition about Friday the 13th, although in Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, he posited that it started with the arrest of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307.

More here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/friday-the-13th