Musings from the Peanut Gallery

Gapingvoid pointed out this blog post on Twitter. In it, Clay Shirky discusses the social sea change that we are in the midst of, and how it will affect us.
He points out that some sociologists suggest that the critical technology of the industrial revolution was gin.
The transformation from rural to urban life was so sudden, [...]

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The Golden Compass is a movie, based on the book by Philip Pullman, tells the tale of an alternate universe where people’s souls inhabit animal spirits, called daemons.
I found the story fascinating, a good tale. I can understand why some would not like it from the religious standpoint, although in this first movie in the [...]

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Loved this movie. Lots of action. And of course, Jessica Alba! The PG rating on this movie is about right. The action is intense, but no serious blood, and no overt sexual situations. Just a fun movie, with a surprise ending.
Amazon.com:
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is another entertaining romp for the Marvel-superhero franchise. [...]

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This is a truly hilarious take on Douglas Adam’s great masterpiece from the 1970’s. The movie takes from the first three of the trilogy.
Here’s the absolutely hysterical, wonderfully wild, cosmic adventure comedy THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Based on Douglas Adams’ worldwide best-selling novel, and starring an outrageous intergalactic cast, this is one ride [...]

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This is the best Sports Feel-good movie we’ve seen.
From Amazon.com:
There seems to be no end to beating-the-odds football movies these days, and if they all peak with a breathless moment of anticipation during a clutch play, then We Are Marshall, based on a true story, has plenty of (mostly good) company. Matthew McConaughey plays Jack [...]

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This 2007 version of the Transformers is a real kick. The same old characters from the original series all show up, here on earth. They’ve destroyed their home world in the unending war between the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons, and have come to earth looking for the AllSpark, a device that can guarantee [...]

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