Mike Browne’s Blog

Time for all those bikers and rockers to change their tattoos. The number of the beast has been devalued from 666 to 616 after scholars got through reading some crappy old papyrus (aka King Tut’s dinner napkin). Personally I think 666 is way cooler. The Iron Maiden song would still sound okay with 616 as the number, but it doesn’t seem as strong or symmetrical somehow. Uh oh… Mike’s overthinking things again. Another uh oh… Mike’s talking to himself again. Must be the new and improved number of the beast burrowing it’s way into my soul. Yargh! It burns!

Check out Steve’s Home Theater. Holy shit! That’s one amazing room. Honestly this is a little too ornate for me, but I appreciate the time and effort that went into it. I can also relate on the level of being a movie buff. Oh how one would dig having a funky theatre of one’s own to watch one’s own films in. Wouldn’t one? WTF? I sound like a crazy person.

Yes they are real and for sale: Bacon Strips Bandages
Only $4.95 USD for 15 ‘strips’ in the neato tin seen above.

Director Kevin Smith has seen Star Wars episode III, Revenge of the Sith, and he loves it. He’s written a review on his website, but be forewarned it’s full of spoilers. If you don’t care about spoilers but want to know read on: Kevin Smith geeks out on Sith

Thanks to Jackson for the link.

Zombies, zombies and more zombies. This time its from the master! George A Romero’s Land of the Dead has a website and trailer online. On opening weekend you will find me sitting in a very dark theatre. I don’t care if it’s the only sunny day this summer, i’m unavailable that day. Woohoo!

The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster. Yep. Darth Vader even has his own blog now.

Finally, I know that I joked about this hand holding thing with Bush and Prince Abdullah yesterday, but after what I just saw on the news I’m considering changing my post. I won’t change it but I have to talk about this. I saw the photo and immediately saw the humour, but also, I understand that males holding hands is a culturally acceptable thing in the Middle East (and other places in the world). It’s a sign of friendship and familiarity, like shaking hands or hugging here. Also I’m impressed that George Bush would be considerate enough of someone else’s culture to actually go against his own.

What I don’t like is the ‘average american’s’ reactions that we’re seeing. People are outraged. For such a ‘free’ and ‘tolerant’ society that sounds exactly the opposote. ‘Hey pardner, if it ain’t American it ain’t right’. Different bad? Get over it… You’re not the only country in the friggin’ world.

CBC Arts: Bush signs bill allowing sanitized DVDs
You have got to be kidding me. This smacks of Farenheit 451. My bet is that we’ll see a five minute version of Fast Times at Ridgemont High for sale at Amazon before long. Yikes! Is it just me or does the Bush administration not quite get the whole seperation of church and state thing? What’s next? Burkhas at beauty pageants? I think its really the Taliban running things.

Carol suffered through censorship to the extreme when she lived in Saudi Arabia. Imagine magazines with pages torn out or people’s parts covered up with black marker. She saw it. She also had to watch movies and TV shows that had been cleansed. Some were so chopped up they didn’t make any sense at all. The Gary Shandling Show was 6 minutes long for one episode. Carol said when they came back to Canada on vacation she saw the whole episode, she realized it had been cut up due to Gary Shandling’s dancing with a naked mannequin torso. Although wierd, i’m not sure that’s censor worthy. The censor’s appear to be more sexually fucked up than those they accuse. Ironic that.

Carol also told me that even her Archie comics had balck marker over Betty and Veronica’s bare arms and legs. They’re cartoons for shit’s sake.

Oh how we love ‘the religious right’. Thanks for looking out for our interests. I’m far too stupid to be able to determine what I should and should not see. Sheesh.

I have to say it… Fags! Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Carol pointed this out today. Comedy gold. She’s always on the lookout for anything remotely Saudi related. Let the flaming begin. Hey I said flaming… hahahahaha These two look like something out of a ‘goofy powerful men who love other powerful men with beards wearing man dresses’ calendar. Probably what you’ll see when you turn the page to May this year. The caption: “Here we have US President George W Bush (Cuddles) and Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz (Pooky Bear) of Saudi Arabia. They fell in love in springtime and love walks in the woods. A picnic with goat eyeballs, chilled monkey brains and near beer caps a perfect day”