Zac Efron Talks Jonny Quest Movie

High School Musical” franchise star Zac Efron talked to Moviehole about possibly starring in a live-action adaptation of “Jonny Quest” at Warner Bros. Pictures. Race to Witch Mountain director Andy Fick and star Dwayne Johnson are circling the project as well.

Efron would play the title role, while Johnson would play Race Bannon. The popular 1960s animated Hanna-Barbera TV series revolved around a young boy who travels the world with his scientist father, adopted brother from India, Bandit the bulldog, and a government agent (Bannon) assigned to protect them as they go on their adventures investigating scientific mysteries.

Efron says the project is in its early stages. “It’s a long, long process. It’s so hard when people start leaking tidbits. They’re very, very early on [with it] – not that it won’t happen happen, it’s just early.”

A few weeks ago, Johnson commented on the script. “I don’t know if you’ve read the latest [draft] but it’s awesome and it’s badass… I hadn’t read an action script like that in a LONG time. And that action was unbelievable. That will happen.”

The show, which is owned by Warner Bros. Animation, aired during primetime on ABC in 1964, lasting only one season. It was updated in the late ’80s and ’90s as “The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest” on the Cartoon Network. The property has also been spun off as a comic book from DC.

 

Dr. Martens For Life

Doc Martens are already well known for their ruggedness and longevity, but this takes it to a whole new level. Each shoe in the new Dr. Martens For Life Collection ($130-$150) comes with a lifetime guarantee, including unlimited repairs for life. Of course, you don’t want you shoes out for repair very often, which is why they also feature a thicker inner core for the sole, and a highly resistant leather outer, called Hardlife, to extend their durability.

 

Rapping Flight Attendant

David from Southwest Airlines has a shtick that’s a welcome break from the usual pre-flight instructions.

 

Lookalikes

Aref Adib’s “Lookalike” archive is a remarkable collection of images that are improbably similar, from cauliflower heads and African workers relaxing on cotton bales to Tony Blair and Jack Nicholson.

Was the iPod design based on an eyeshadow case?

New York Times Releases Official iPhone Crossword App

The New York Times Crosswords Daily 2009 has been released on the App Store. Developed by Magmic, the game allows users to play the daily puzzle from the New York Times print newspaper, as well as over 4,000 classic puzzles from the Times archive. Other features include the ability to send messages and compare solve times with friends online, an option to listen to the in-game soundtrack or music from the iPod app, the choice to write in “pen” or “pencil,” and more. The New York Times Crosswords Daily 2009 is available now and sells for $10.

GraphJam

More of these at GraphJam. (From The Presurfer)

Has Hollywood Run Out Of Ideas…Prepare For a MacGyver Feature Film

New Line is using twine, bubble gum and a pencil to throw “MacGyver” into development as a feature film.

Raffaella De Laurentiis, daughter of Dino De Laurentiis, is producing through her Raffaella Prods. along with Martha De Laurentiis and series creator Lee Zlotoff.

Dino De Laurentiis is exec producing.

“MacGyver” was a science-oriented adventure series that ran from 1985-92 on ABC. Richard Dean Anderson, later of “Stargate: Atlantis” and “SG-1″ fame, starred as an incredibly resourceful secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation who frequently would escape from dangerous situations with ingenious and lightning-quick engineering trickery.

Two telefilms starring Anderson aired in the years after the show’s cancellation. The character eventually achieved enough cultural penetration to become a reference for anyone attempting to jury-rig a solution out of household items. “Saturday Night Live” took the concept to the next level with its spoofs “MacGruber,” starring Will Forte.

No writer is attached, but the studio hopes to find a script that can acknowledge how the concept has staked a place into pop culture yet still makes for a serious and fun adventure movie.

“We think we’re a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise,” said New Line’s Richard Brener, who will oversee with Sam Brown and Walter Hamada.

 

Cake of Resignation

W. Neil Berrett  decided to give two week’s notice at his workplace in an unusual way.  He wrote the resignation letter with frosting on a full sheet size cake. The cake apparently was delicious and it was well received.  Here is what he wrote:

“Dear Mr. Bowers,

During the past three years, my tenure at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has been nothing short of pure excitement, joy and whim.

However, I have decided to spend more time with my family and attend to health issues that have recently arisen. I am proud to have been part of such an outstanding team and I wish this organization only the finest in future endeavors.

Please accept this cake as notification that I am leaving my position with NWT on March 27.

Sincerely,

W. Neil Berrett” 

Anthony Bourdain’s Guide to Food Television

Anthony Bourdain provides his takes on various food television shows. No surprises, really: he’s a fan of Top Chef, questions the “douchebag” judges on Iron Chef America, admits that his wife watches Rachael Ray’s talk show (and by default so must he!) but calls her “very nice,” gives due props to Martha Stewart, Alton Brown, Emeril Lagasse, and Adam Richman from Man v Food, calls Sandra Lee’s cooking a “war crime on television,” and calls Toby Young a “useless” “egregious add-on.”  Read more HERE.

 

Jim Gaffigan On Bacon

What If The Watchmen Was A Saturday Morning Cartoon In The 80′s?

Make Your Own Tiny Ice Cream

The next time you are bored at Denny’s and you are craving something sweet but small, try this fun experiment.

1. Order water. You need two big glasses on the table. Drink all the water. Leave all the ice.
2. Add the salt in layers with the ice.
3. Add creamer cups. Do not open the creamer cups. Just throw ‘em right in.
4. Shake. Hard, but not so hard you make a mess.
5. After 10 minutes, remove creamer cups and wipe off salt water. Open. Add sugar (maybe some jelly too if you’d like to make strawberry) and serve.

LINK with detailed instructions: Indestructibles

Ricky Gervais Meets Elmo

Please enjoy some outtakes from a Ricky Gervais interview on the Sesame Street set. (Thanks Don)

 

Rumor: A Premium App Store for Even Pricier iPhone Apps?

Apple is possibly planning to introduce a premium games section to its App Store where it will sell a range of iPhone games for $19.99, sources tell PocketGamer.biz. However, the initiative will only be open to a restricted number of large publishers, rather than the thousands of smaller developers currently selling their titles on the main App Store. There are no details on timescale, although Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), traditionally held in June, may be one likely launch date. However, it could be announced at a separate games-focused event. From some viewpoints, introducing a premium games section to the App Store makes sense. Apple is keen to pitch iPhone and iPod touch as potential DS and PSP killers, but before they make the necessary investment in higher quality games, large publishers will surely want higher price points and more guarantee that these titles won’t get buried in the App Store crowd.

If I Had To Choose?

Han Solo or Indiana Jones? ‘The Macarena’ or ‘I’m Too Sexy’? Neither? Well, what if you had to choose?

 

The 32 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases

Misusing words makes you look less intelligent than you really are. If you misuse words in your writing, it can damage your credibility and diminish the point you’re trying to make. Even worse, it could completely change the meaning of the sentence.

HERE is a list of the 32 most commonly misused words and phrases.

Rare Superman Comic Sells For $317,200

A rare copy of the first comic book featuring Superman has sold for $317,200 in an Internet auction. The previous owner of Action Comics No. 1 bought it for less than a buck. It’s one of the highest prices ever paid for a comic book, a likely testament to the volume’s rarity and its excellent condition, said Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the auction site ComicConnect.com and its sister dealership, Metropolis Collectibles. The winning bid for the 1938 edition, which features Superman lifting a car on its cover, was submitted Friday evening by John Dolmayan, drummer for the rock band System of a Down, according to managers at ComicConnect.com. In addition to being a musician, Dolmayan is a dealer of rare comic books. The auctioneers said he acquired the Superman comic on behalf of an unidentified client.

Only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to exist and they seldom come up for sale. “Maybe in a booming economy, it would have done a hundred grand more, but in this economy, I think the price is great,” Fishler said. The man who had previously owned the book purchased it in a secondhand store in the early 1950s when he was nine years old. He paid 35 cents.

Stephen King’s The Talisman Graphic Novels Coming Fall 2009

Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced the acquisition of the comic book and graphic novel rights to The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Originally published in 1984, The Talisman is the story of a young teen named Jack Sawyer, who can save his dying mother only by retrieving a magical talisman. To find it he must cross back and forth between our world and the frightening and dangerous landscape of its “twinner” counterpart. The hardcover edition, published by Viking, spent 12 weeks in the #1 slot on the New York Times list. Both The Talisman and its sequel, Black House, are in print with Ballantine Books. Television rights to The Talisman are under development by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy.

“Illustrating The Talisman in the depth that it deserves will involve at least 24 issues of comics, probably more,” said Del Rey Editor in Chief, Betsy Mitchell, who acquired the project from agent Ralph Vicinanza. “It’s a tremendously visual story, filled with images that burn in memory long after the book has been closed.”

King’s Dark Tower comics consistently inhabit the top of the comic book sales charts, and his recent series, Dark Tower: Long Road Home was the top-selling comic book in North America in March 2008.

 

 

If Frank Miller Drew Peanuts

HERE are a few panels of Charles Schulz’s comic strip Peanuts, as though they had been written and drawn by Frank Miller in the style of Sin City. The interpretation is by deviant art user ninjaink.

The Link Urban Scooter System

The ‘Link’ Scooter System is designed as a modular transport solution that can be retrofitted to existing Streetscape Smart Poles.

It allows users to hire a small lightweight electronic scooter from a hub and ride to the desired destination and then return the scooter to another hub, where it is recharged.

 

TapGuard

Save money and the environment with a TapGuard ($16). Made of food-grade silicone, the water bottle filter removes up to 95% of chlorine, iodine, and other bad stuff from your tap water. It fits Camelback, Nalgene, and most reusable widemouth bottles. It’s available in black, blue and orange, and comes with two replacement carbon filters.

 

A Century Of Motoring In America

The first Model T rolled out in 1908. In-N-Out introduced the drive-through in 1948. The first car phone—weighing 90 pounds—was released in Stockholm in 1956. These and other landmarks from our century of motoring in America are featured below. (Click image to make larger)

Minesweeper: The Movie

Best And Worst Used Cars

Buying a used car is often the best choice for consumers. If well-maintained, it can be a good value and later models have many of the newer safety features as well. The models listed HERE have the best and worst reliability history in the 10 years (1999-2008) covered by the Consumer Reports Annual Auto Survey. For more information on how used cars are holding up, see report on the most and least reliable used cars.  Also, see their list of the best used cars under $20,000.

Three Guys, Six Keyboards

Three guys, six keyboards, fifteen hits of the 1980s. All played live.