Transformers 2 Sucked

Hey, folks! Mostly links today. I had a fairly productive weekend.

I swam laps on Friday and Saturday, for a total of four swims last week, which means that even though I didn't complete all of my fitness goals last week, I did wind up completing the core one. Good for me! A second attempt at Week 2 starts today.

I composed and tendered my resignation for my parallel writing endeavour. The bottom line was that I no longer have the requisite time to submit high quality work to them.

I ushered at church. Joy.

I spent Saturday night out with men from my church group, whose wives were at a different party. It was a great time, and our ages ranged from twenty-seven (me) to about eighty-four.

So, here's the news, and hopefully I'll be able to write a bit more tomorrow. If you hated Transformers 2, look to the bottom.

BBC: Hamas rocket attacks 'war crimes' argues human rights group - It's a bout time that one of these "human rights groups" acknowledged that Hamas and those of their ilk are doing bad things.

Mystery of death of Taliban chief deepens - According to the BBC article, intelligence officials are tracking bloodletting among Taliban leaders who are vying for Baitullah Mehsud's position in the Pakistani Taliban heirarchy. Brilliant!

Guardian: California company aims to build tattoo-removal empire across the US - I can't stop myself from snickering at this.

Times: Space telescope finds Earth-like planet - Excellent.

Times: Quick climate fixes 'come with huge dangers', £5bn cloud ships 'could conquer climate change'

Obama approval rating plummets to 50 per cent - As if this is surprising. The One is screwin' things up!

Clever rooks repeat ancient fable - This is the coolest story I'm posting today. It's awesome.

Petition fails to save British mascot in Iraq

Harry Patch Funeral - A pictorial of the funeral of Great Britain's last World War I veteran.

Mosul gallery - A pictorial of American troops in Mosul, Iraq.

PKK fighters - Why the Times decided to do a pictorial of PKK fighters is beyond me.

Comic Con Hookups: True of False; Cosplay Cuties Kick Off Comic Con 2009 - Comic book nerds have become good for at least one thing - getting hot women to tease them with scanty cladding. Gentlemen, enjoy.

Two weeks ago, I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I thought it was probably the most loathsome affront to cinema I had ever endured. The Butt Rubber loved it, and Olive Oil is pregnant so who knows what she thought. Unsurprisingly, most of the world appears to agree with me. Along that line, here are some of the best evidences of that.

Roger Ebert: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - "The battle scenes are bewildering. A Bot makes no visual sense anyway, but two or three tangled up together create an incomprehensible confusion. I find it amusing that creatures that can unfold out of a Camaro and stand four stories high do most of their fighting with...fists. Like I say, dumber than a box of staples. They have tiny little heads, although Jetfire® must be made of older models, since he has an aluminum beard." Ohhhh, snap!

Cracked: Storyboards from Michael Bay's "The Great Gatsby" - I posted this before, but it's still hysterical, and tragically true.

The Editing Room: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Abridged Script - Dead on, hilarious, an absolute must-read if you hated this movie as much as I did.

I've defended and enjoyed Michael Bay movies in the past, but there was no excuse for this. He spent the money to get three guys and their computers to spend three months on two seconds of footage - he could have cut that two second bit alone and hired someone to write this movie. There was no excuse.

That's it for today. Have a fantastic Monday, folks, and check in tomorrow.