Caffeine-Fueled

Well, no, I’m quite obviously lying through my teeth, but you can’t blame a guy for pulling a bait ‘n’ switch now and then. Seriously folks, if the internet has taught us anything it’s that we should know better than to allow ourselves to get hooked by a cheap headline. Let this be a lesson to you all.

Onto the subject at hand, I share some of the reservations fans have over classic properties getting modern overhauls, especially when an abrupt jump beyond the original media or genre is involved. That said, I doubt Warner Brothers and DiCaprio will reach quite this comical height of Hollywood adaption bullshit. It’s not that I expect anything beyond total mediocrity in cases like these, which is pretty damned instinctual at this point, more that I’d prefer to take the high road for once and allow myself the luxury of a pleasant surprise.

A question: why is it always the sci-fi/fantasy anime which gets optioned for live action remakes? Why not mine source material which could be molded into solid critical successes, such as Grave of the Fireflies?

I can only assume that the conspiracy theorists referenced in the last news post were actually correct and that the regular staff of Caffeine-Fueled have all been taken hostage by a surgically grafted combination of Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin hence my appearance here.

So, in really international news from our old friends, the Bay Bay Say, the son of notable terrorist Osama Bin Laden, Omar Bin Laden, has been undergoing something of a world-wide tour as of late. One of his 19 sons, Omar has denounced al-Qaeda and his father numerous times in the past and so has applied for asylum in a number of nations, claiming his denouncement of terrorism has put his life in danger in the Middle East.

Living in Egypt, where he married a British woman, Zaina Alsabah Bin Laden (formerly Jane Felix-Browne), and later applied for the right to live in Britain with his wife, his application was denied, prompting much accussations back and forth. Later, the two took a plane to Morocco and during a stop over in Madrid, Spain, made a request for asylum there. This was eventually denied as the Spanish authorities claimed they had no reason to believe Omar’s life was in any great danger.

Returning to Egypt, the two were barred from there as well, astonishingly, although the reasons why have yet to be revealed. However, the couple were then deported to Qatar, where Omar Bin Laden should be allowed to stay, due to his Saudi Arabian nationality. So, for now, at least, it seems like the peaceful Bin Laden family have a place to live but it’s still in the Middle East which was where Omar was trying to leave in the first place.

The controversey, such as it is, is the question of whether Omar, a metals dealer by day, is being unfairly discriminated against, despite his calls for peace, because he is the son of Osama Bin Laden. Will Omar, and his wife, settle down in Qatar, one of the more progressive Middle East nations (and one in which there is no tax)? Or will this international bouncing around continue in the future? Well, let’s wait and see.

Conspiracy theorists around the world mourn today as one of their most cherished theories, that the US elections are rigged and can only be won by rich white men, is dealt a mortal wound by Barack Obama. Well in excess of the 270 electoral votes needed to become President of the United States of America, Obama has become the first minority leader of the most powerful country in the world.

read more…

10:29 PM: Hello, internet! Some of you may be celebrating Obama’s victory, but not all of us are feeling very happy. Specifically, some of us are terribly unimpressed with California’s proposition 8, which if passed will overturn the right of gay people to marry. I’m queerer than a three-dollar bill so even though I live in Canada this makes me pretty sad. Tonight I’ve been following the results on CNN, which haven’t been good so far (currently 53% in favor with 31% of stations reporting), and quite honestly it makes me want to either drink or cry. And since only one of those things is amusing to other people, I’m asking you to follow me as I drink and report on the status of ballot measure 8.

10:41 PM: Starting up with a rum and coke! I’m a slow typer so it’s only going down the hatch now. No change in the percentage.

read more…

Not fantastic.

I know you’re angry, but please don’t shoot the messenger. Or, in this case… the messenger’s messenger, I suppose. Plenty of other people are posting this story, go shoot one of them! Anyway. From the BBC:

David Tennant is to stand down as Doctor Who, after becoming one of the most popular Time Lords in the history of the BBC science fiction show.

Tennant stepped into the Tardis in 2005, and will leave the role after four special episodes are broadcast next year.

“When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won’t be with me,” he said.

Sorry kids, but we all knew this was going to happen eventually. When William Hartnell became too elderly to continue the role back in the 60s and the concept of regeneration was conceived to explain the transition to Patrick Troughton, I’m sure everyone knew that subsequent actors would all become targets of a “death pool” of sorts. That’s the nature of the beast. Personally, I had Tennant pegged for at least one more year as The Doctor. Oh well.

I’ll miss him. He’s definitely somewhere in my top five of the ten actors who have (officially) played the role over the years… probably somewhere between Tom Baker and Sylvester McCoy. I wonder where the next guy will place? Whenever this happens, the first thing people usually talk after the “who’s next?” speculation is whether or not the newcomer will be able to follow in the wake of their immediate predecessor.

Memo to Auntie Beeb: if you’re going to tap Patrick Stewart for his long-rumoured guest appearance, do it now, as his recent theatrical work alongside Tennant should translate to instant chemistry.