in the news: DEATH

First up: a man killed when his hair is caught in a fairground ride.
Of note: the man owned the ride that rose up and killed him.
Note to self: do not spray lube on ride's tracks while the ride is in operation.

Next up: a man beheaded by a rampant elevator.
Of note: the man had converted to Christianity, only to suffer a deadly ascension.
Note to self: do not pray to Christian God for protection.

Finally: the Pope. No, he's not dead. But he often wears white (see photo). In Korea, white can symbolize virginal purity, but it also symbolizes death. In this article, the Pope decries Europe's values crisis, so maybe this is the death of the "true Europe" we're talking about. I dunno. I just wanted to slip the Pope in.
Of note: the God who failed to protect a recent convert from a hungry elevator is unlikely to protect Europe from converting (as it's slowly doing) to Buddhism.
Note to self: don't be too sure, despite Buddhism's popularity, that Europe won't go Muslim.

[all the above from Drudge]

COMPLETELY UNRELATED: Wanna watch some neat lightsaber fight choreography? Then go to this Star Wars fan site and watch "A Question of Faith." The acting is awful and the script could use some help (which makes it hard to differentiate from a Lucas production), but the fight scenes are impressive. I was fooled, at first, into thinking that the final "two-swords vs. two-swords" scenario was done in Chinese style, but a closer look showed it was almost all European (watch "good Ash vs. bad Ash" in "Army of Darkness" for similar Euro-style moves). The saber vs. quarterstaff scenarios, though, seemed a little-- even a lot-- more Eastern (more Chinese than Japanese, I think). Write in with your thoughts. Mine: the back-spin kicks vary in quality, depending on the actor. One amazing piece of choreography I like is in the final fight between the two brothers: each disarms only one of the other's swords, and it all happens in half a second. Other stuff I liked: active footwork! Keeps the fights moving. And the pace is very Star Wars-ish. The choreography's intelligent and dynamic, and the crew does a good job with saber effects (except when the sabers nick branches & prove they're harmless). What I'd like to know is what kind of material they were using for the lightsaber blades. The Star Wars crew of the second trilogy uses metal (not the old glass rods from "A New Hope"!). I'd use PVC piping, but it's way too fragile, even when padded. Hmmmm...

UPDATE: Watch the bloopers reel. These guys went through a lot to entertain you. The acting lessons at the end are... well, watch & you'll see.

A-HA: In this episode of ArnoldWatch (this comes via Satan's Anus), we focus on a lovely roast of Arianna Huffington.
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