September 2010 Archives

Agent Coulson (aka actor Clark Gregg) was on hand to look at a real-life Iron Man - the XOS 2 robotics suit.

Raytheon's second-generation exoskeleton was unveiled for the first time recently during an event at the company's Salt Lake City research facility.

XOS 2 is lighter, stronger and faster than its predecessor, yet it uses 50 per cent less power, and its new design makes it more resistant to the environment.

The wearable robotics suit is being designed to help soldiers with repetitive heavy lifting and then like.

The suit is built from a combination of structures, sensors, actuators and controllers, and it is powered by high pressure hydraulics.

For more Weird Science click here.

What a day!

Just as we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Flintstones, we got the sad news that Tony Curtis had died, at the age of 85.

But here's a memory that seems suitable.

Back in 1965 a Flintstones episode entitled The Return Of Stoney Curtis featured, you guessed it, Tony Curtis!

He became the latest in a series of celebrities to provide the voice for his animated likeness in this episode.

Star-struck Fred hopes to meet the famous Stoney Curtis on the set of the actor's latest adventure epic Slave Boy.

As it turns out, Fred should have been careful what he wished for.

Hired as Curtis' stunt double, our hero learns anew that show business can be brutal.

When asked why he agreed to appear on The Flintstones, Tony Curtis replied that it would make him a "hero" to his kids.

Wonder if a seven year-old Jamie Lee Curtis enjoyed the show?

Other celebs who played themselves in the cartoon series included Cary Granite (Cary Grant), Ed Sulleyrock/Sulleystone (Ed Sullivan), Rock Pile/Quarry/Hudstone (Rock Hudson) and Ann-Margrock (Ann-Margret).

As we celebrate the show's 50th anniversary, did you know....

The Flintstones was the first American animated show to depict two people of the opposite sex sleeping together in one bed.

Fred and Wilma slept together, as did Barney and Betty.

Could they have be the oldest swingers in town?

It could never happen today! This is a commercial from the Flintstones first series on ABC.

The sponsor was Winston Cigarettes. If they tried this today they'd be locked up.

I have just read on the BBC website that Star Wars is to be converted into 3D, all of the films.

Why?

Is this as blatantly geared around money making as it seems?

We all know that LucasArts is a global entertainments beast, but really does it need to keep raping and pillaging the golden goose???

George - you created genius with the original films, certain parts of Revenge of The Sith also suggested that there was life after Jar Jar for you too.

But now is the time to leave it alone. Stop rehashing, tweaking, remaking, remastering, revisiting, regurgitating, revolving and revolting us with attacks on the legacy that is Star Wars.

Leave it alone. It's over.

If you want to revisit the Star Wars world then please do so but lets just leave the originals well alone.

Nobody needs to see any of this in 3D.

Vader takes the weekend off and goes cruising in his Darthmobile. Click on the image to embiggen.

For all those fathers out there who haven't built their young son/daughter an AT-AT bed, I have just three words for ya: Shame. On. You.

Seriously, this geezer deserves some kind of Father of the Year or Dad of the Century medal!

Colour me unimpressed by the whole Potter phenomenon.

Now I haven't read the books so I can't lay into multi-millionaire JK Rowling for half-inching The Worst Witch and then adding words that end in 'uggle'.

I have watched most of the movies though (I fell asleep during one of them), so I can at least give them a good panning.

Horrible, boring, uninspired, a-who's-who of overacting English 'talent' (oh, and could someone please off Helena Bonham Carter) and two kids who are more wooden than Noah's Ark.

I'll let the ginger one off the hook, he has mastered how to act like a teenager. Impressive for a... teenager.

Still, he's head and shoulders above the other leads. One comes across as Tim Henman 'lite' and the other as a Sixth Form prefect who's raising money for a trip to Africa in order to help the unfortunate and 'discover herself'. Where's a good cannibal when you need one?

And now there's two more films to come of Alan Rickman speaking... very... slowly... and, it appears, a group of tiresome toffs battling out with wooden sticks with all the menace of a pre-school production of Peter Pan.

Hurray.

Anyway, at least this cheered me up...

For as long as I can remember I have always thought that Goodfellas is the greatest film ever made, or at least one of them.

Now internet rumours are rife the Warner Brothers are looking to serialize it Sopranos style...

This is a case in point that some things should be left alone, people don't want this.

This will be like Warner Brothers unbuckling their belts and unleashing a steaming pile of excrement on genius.

This is sacrilege of the highest order and it must not happen.

Unless of course Scorcese is involved, if he is then I retract all of the above!

No I had never heard of it either, this is absolutely bonkers, what's more I really really want to watch it!