Hurricane Florence Coverage

The Ever Expanding Comic Book Film Industry

If you've ever seen some of the old Batman cartoons or that utterly ridiculous rendition with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, you can appreciate the leaps and bounds taken by Marvel and DC Comics over the last few years in the film world. Developed through a sense of actually-decent film making in the Spiderman and X-Men series--at least in comparison to the large budget, non-thought out style of the last few decades--the two comic book titans have started to boast their4 abilities to fund better movies, and it's most obvious in the choice of actors. Alongside a couple serious movies, an Aronofsky film being one of them, Natalie Portman has signed on to do Thor, which is set for release in 2011.

Liveblogging the All-Star Game

To further integrate ourselves with technology (and qualify for the "cyborg" tax deduction) we'll be having our very first liveblog set up tonight, in celebration of this year's All-Star game.

Weekly Mixup

That indie thing was pretty cool...

Every so often, stagnation settles into areas of our lives that were once vibrant. Let's use a pond as a metaphor for my own excitement over music (or hipster trash, if you want to call it that). Now that's what it usually looks like.

Roland Emmerich makes the same movie.. again.

Watching the tralier for the new movie from the director of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow I couldn't help but notice the parallels between, well, all of these movies.

When metalheads and commentators collide

Only on Fox News can you hear the following... "After this show is over, I'm walking back down to the Rio to kill everyone." "That's awesome!" [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NQ_bE4xujs] Yes, I know it's supposed to be a comedy show (don't worry, I spoke to a producer and the jokes took a sick day during that particular installment) but I think this is still worthy of a collective, "Huh?" or perhaps a group, "But...why?"

Show bum, hump strangers, mock hicks, repeat

The "Bruno" press assault has finally left town (but don't worry, in a few years when Sacha Baron Cohen disguises himself as a Brazilian woman to expose the prejudices against the opposite sex in "Bertha" the same media blitzkrieg will take place) and I can't help but be simultaneously smug and disappointed in its wake. I was siding more with the, "Bruno looks like a massive, counter-intuitive beast" crowd that held their expectations for the film in check while the rest of the world seemed to fawn over Cohen, with the progressively gaudier premiers and increasingly bland talk show appearances (until he gave up the Bruno act altogether to appear on "The Late Show with David Letterman"). But in the back of my head, I held the expectation that despite my snooty disbelief that lightning could strike twice after the brilliance of "Borat," the film would jump out and pleasantly surprise me. But it didn't.

If this isn't the best thing you see online today...

Then you're looking at a much better Internet than I am. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW2qxFkcLM0]

Raise your hand if you remember money

It's a nice feeling when you trump a few media outlets on a story, isn't it? Earlier this year, we reported on how much of a bust Youtube is turning out to be, from a financial standpoint, and now both the Independent and Gawker have reported on the same matter (though the $470 million loss we originaly reported has been toned down to $380 at most). This story has resurfaced around the same time as the record industry settled a long-standing feud with Internet radio and Google's announcement of its jump into the operating systems market. What a wild time for all of the webaholics, no? The feverish proponents of the web's current lackadaisical stance toward copyright protection and apathetic attitude toward things such a money continue to scoff at claims that the current model is broken, it's a seesaw that tilts perpetually toward the consumer.

The MLB All-star game - remember when it didn't count?

Pam Richter The MLB All-star game is quickly approaching. As always there will be interesting story lines to follow, including the Homerun derby. But, let's take a few minutes now to reminisce about the good ole MLB All-star game. Remember when the game actually didn't count for something?

As if we needed any more hype...

I just happened to stumble upon the ability for to transfer my hypemachine account onto the blog, which means that all of you loyal readers get to take a peek into what I'm tuned into music-wise.

Ignored on the Fourth of July

Yes, it's old news that Sarah Palin is unpredictable and, in a move that some would liken to hopping onto a crazy train to Looneyville, will be resigning as governor and starting her run for the presidency in 2012 (well, that last part isn't official...yet). But I have to giver her credit for the brilliance of her timing, tossing a bomb into the crowd right when the crowd scatters to distant lands.

Google and its online library

I've always been a fan of Google's. The company has done an amazing job of predicting the online market and the progression of modern technology, well enough to see its stock remain one of the largest in recent years.

Ellen Degeneres apparently ruined our GDP

UPDATE: Pennsylvania State Senator John Eichelberger, during a radio debate on June 19, revealed his thoughts about his attitude toward homosexuals. "They're not being punished.

Don't stop 'till you get enough (coverage)

It is not the death of Michael Jackson that is being universally mourned by the world. To many, his death occured admist the decade-long period of constant ridicule and allegation of child abuse and bodily reconstruction.

Let’s wait and see with the NBA draft

Pam Richter I sat tuned in. Waiting. Waiting for a big deal to be made actually during the draft. The NBA draft is complete, and there's no more waiting to see who will be drafted where.

Jackson's Farewell

The death of a celebrity is always a tough time. It brings people out in full force, ready to offer condolences to each other and show support for the family, or whoever's left.

Twitter!

We here at the Pendulum aren't immune to jumping on the bandwagon, so take a peek at our new Twitter, I'm sure it'll have all of the wit and brillance of the blog, only ridiculously shortened and littered with tinyurls...

Passing half of the torch

As a good friend of mine said about a month ago, if anyone suggested the idea of a library in this day and age, a sort of communal stomping ground where books and in many cases, DVDs, CDs and even video games (something I've never been able to understand) were available for no charge, with the only limitation would be a system of time limits and fines if said limits are exceeded coupled with the scornful gaze of the librarians when you try and check something out only to find that you owe $5 for renting "Derailed," they would immediately be kicked around by publishing and media companies as a nutcase.

This week in The Pendulum...

For the first issue of the summer, the opinions section will have a nice little balance of that warm, fuzzy optimism that you've grown accustomed to reading in other publications, and the typical grizzled, commentary that tends to dominate the editorial pages.