Mitch Hedburg RIP

A Gifted comedian and Minnesota native. Mitch was found dead this morning, he was 37, and early autopsy say it was a heart attack. The St. Paul Pioneer Press collected several of his great one-liners:

I tried walking into a Target, but I missed.

I once saw a forklift lift a crate of forks. And it was way to literal for ME.

I would imagine if you understood Morse Code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy.

I was walking down the street with my friend and he said "I hear music." As though there's any other way to take it in. You're not special. That's how I receive it too...I tried to taste it, but it did not work.

I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, "You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit." As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.

You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something.

I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

I want to be a race car passenger: just a guy who bugs the driver. "Say man, can I turn on the radio? You should slow down. Why do we gotta keep going in circles? Can I put my feet out the window? Boy, you really like Tide."

I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.

This shirt is dry clean only. Which means...it's dirty.

I love blackjack. But I'm not addicted to gambling. I'm addicted to sitting in a semi circle.

One time a guy handed me a picture of himself and he said. "Here's a picture of me when I was younger." Every picture of you is of when you were younger. Here's a picture of me when I'm older. How'd you pull that off? Let me see that camera.

I think foosball is a combination of soccer and shish kabobs.

A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer.

My friend said to me, "You know what I like? Mashed potatoes." I was like, "Dude, you have to give me time to guess. If you're going to quiz me you have to insert a pause."

The Devil's Rejects

Woot! The new trailer for the sequel to Hose of 1000 Corpses is out. Rob Zombie was quoted saying something to the effect that the new movie is so gory and scary that it makes the first one look like a Disney movie.. or something like that. Check out the new trailer Here

Star Wars and Spielberg!

In an interview on StarWars.Com with J. W. Rinzler, author of The Making of Revenge of the Sith, he revealed an interesting bit of trivia for Star Wars fans:

Steven Spielberg was involved in some of the animatic sequences in the film. Can you tell us about that?

As George explains in the book, he gave Spielberg a few scenes to play with at the animatics stage: a bit of the Mustafar duel, and Yoda's duel with the Emperor, along with a couple of others. How much of Spielberg's contribution made it to the final film, only Lucas or Spielberg could say, particularly as George revised and reinvented every scene in the film so extensively in editorial.

A Real Jurassic Park?

(From the KSTP Website)
For more than a century, the study of dinosaurs has been limited to fossilized bones, but now, researchers have recovered 70-million-year-old soft tissue, including what may be blood vessels and cells from a Tyrannosaurus rex.

If scientists can isolate proteins from the material, they may be able to learn new details of how dinosaurs lived, said lead researcher Mary Higby Schweitzer of North Carolina State University.

It was recovered dinosaur DNA - the blueprint for life - that was featured in the fictional recreation of the ancient animals in the book and film "Jurassic Park."

But Schweitzer said there were no plans to clone dinosaurs in the lab.

The soft tissues were recovered from the thighbone of a T-Rex, known as MOR 1125, that was found in a sandstone formation in Montana.

The dinosaur was about 18-years-old when it died.

The bone was broken when it was removed from the site. Schweitzer and her colleagues then analyzed the material inside the bone.

Because evidence has accumulated in recent years that modern birds are descended from dinosaurs, Schweitzer said she chose to compare the dinosaur remains with those of an ostrich, the largest bird available.

Schweitzer said that after removing the minerals from the specimen, the remaining tissues were soft and transparent and could be manipulated with instruments.

The bone matrix was stretchy and flexible, she said.

Also, there were long structures like blood vessels. What appeared to be individual cells were visible.

She did not know if they were blood cells.

She likened the process to placing a chicken bone in vinegar - the minerals dissolve, leaving soft tissue.

The research was co-funded by North Carolina State University and the National Science Foundation.

Oh Poopy!

Drat!
Alas, what started as a wonderful day has turned into something dreadful. Not only did the University of North Dakota lose to Denver, but our illustrious Gophers lost to Colorador College tonight. Making the championship game tomorrow night something that has no intrest to me, and all Colorado game. Poopy! Well I hope the third place game is entertaining.Gophers vs. UND.
Anyways besides that crappy news, we did run into two of the guys we met at the Grand last year. And by guys I mean men in there 50's. Last year they and their families happened to grab a table right next to us at said bar, and we all had a great time. Funny thing is, Kat, Chris, Gooch and I all saw the one guy and thought 'Boy he looks familiar'. Funny thing is, he was thinking the same thing. So finally after we cleaned the place out of Grainbelt Premium, he appraoched us, and we are all meeting after the first game tomorrow. So at least I have that to look forward to. Well, that and the NCAA Hockey Championship. Go Gophers. And with that, I bid you all a goodnight.

WCHA report #1

Well, one game down. And it was at the end of a very long day. JB, Gooch, Julie, and I met at Kierens Pub around 11:00 yesterday. And boy the 1/2 & 1/2's were going down too good. Then off to St. Paul, where several packed to the ceilings bars were enteres by Gooch and myself. All culminating at the Xcel Energy Center for the first night of the WCHA Hockey Championships. Last nights game was between Wisconsin and North Dakota. UND won in a quite uneventful game. First 10 minutes and last 5 were about the only exciting moments aside from a few great saves. SO this afternoon UND will play Denver. And tonight, the big one, #1 Ranked Colorado College vs. our Gophers. Hopefully I will have a great follow up report later tonight.

O'somethin

Top O' the mornin' to you all, and a Happy St. Patrick's Day. Tip O' the Day: Don't drink any green beer. Damned commercialization.... hehe

Revenge of the Sith Trailer

If you have not seen it, or want to watch it a hundred more times, check out the trailers here. I can not wait!

Sin City

Here is the final version of the movie poster for Sin City. Sin City is based on the comic book of the same name by Frank Miller. One of the great writers in comic history. The book has a very film noir feel to it. It is mostly black and white, with splashes of color for effect. The movie looks as though it captures this almost perfectly. Check out the trailer here. One of my most looked forward to movies of the year.

Plot Summary: Robert Rodriguez and comic book icon Frank Miller co-direct "Sin City," based on the series of graphic novels created, written, and illustrated by Miller. "Sin City" is infested with criminals, crooked cops and sexy dames, some searching for vengeance, some for redemption and others, both. The film incorporates storylines from three of Miller's graphic novels including 'Sin City,' which launched the long-running, critically acclaimed series, as well as 'That Yellow Bastard' and 'The Big Fat Kill.'

Rodriguez, along with Miller, translated these legendary stories from page to screen by remaining absolutely faithful to the look, feel and dialogue of the books.

"Sin City" stars Bruce Willis as Hartigan, a cop with a bum ticker and a vow to protect stripper Nancy (Jessica Alba); Mickey Rourke as Marv, the outcast misanthrope on a mission to avenge the death of his one true love, Goldie (Jaime King), and Clive Owen as Dwight, the clandestine love of Shelley (Brittany Murphy), who spends his nights defending Gail (Rosario Dawson) and her Old Towne girls (Devon Aoki and Alexis Bledel) from Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro), a dirty cop with a penchant for violence.

***On a side note, Rodriguez would not do this without Miller. However, since Miller is not a part of the Directors Guild, the guild wasn't going to let the co-directing happen. So Rodriguez quit the Directors Guild!