Prince William marries Kate Middleton

On April 29, 2011, Prince William, second in line to the British throne, married his longtime sweetheart, commoner Kate Middleton, in London’s Westminster Abbey in what can only be described as a fairy-tale wedding.

Here are some shots from the ceremony, which I watched later that night since I’m a sucker for all things related to royalty...

Here’s the beautiful bride in her gorgeous dress arriving for the ceremony:

Here she just reached the altar accompanied by her father and, reportedly, William is telling her she looks beautiful:

The vows and the Prince giving his wife her wedding band (he won’t be wearing one):

Now officially married, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge walk down and out of the Abbey:

On the way to Buckingham Palace, surrounded by well wishers:

Saluting the crowd in front of the Palace:

And the long awaited kiss (apparently William and Kate had never been caught kissing in public!!):

It was a beautiful ceremony that went down without a hitch, which is itself incredible given the amount of coordination involved.

I wish them a happy marriage.

Leave it to the Onion to hit the nail on the head

Following up on the news that President Obama was able to bring Osama bin Laden to justice I realized that while he was dealing with tightening the noose around one of the worst terrorists the world has ever known, Obama had to deal with that petulant idiot birther of Donald Trump and his absurd and childish demands to see his birth certificate, to prove once and for all that he is indeed an American citizen and therefore legally the US President.

Reading this on the Onion’s website after Obama finally decided to put an end to the madness by releasing his long-form birth certificate made me burst out in laughter:

Afterbirthers Demand To See Obama's Placenta

WASHINGTON–In the continuing controversy surrounding the president's U.S. citizenship, a new fringe group informally known as "Afterbirthers" demanded Monday the authentication of Barack Obama's placenta from his time inside his mother's womb. "All we are asking is that the president produce a sample of his fetal membranes and vessels—preferably along with a photo of the crowning and delivery—and this will all be over," said former presidential candidate and Afterbirthers spokesman Alan Keyes, later adding that his organization would be willing to settle for a half-liter of maternal cord plasma. "To this day, the American people have not seen a cervical mucus plug, let alone one that has been signed and notarized by a state-certified Hawaiian health official. If the president was indeed born in the manner in which he claims, then where is his gestation sac?" Keyes said that if Obama did not soon produce at least a bloody bedsheet from his conception, Afterbirthers would push forward with efforts to exhume the president's deceased mother and inspect the corpse's pelvic bone and birth canal.

Simply hysterical!!

Obama gets Osama!!

YES!!  Finally, the evildoer known as Osama bin Laden is dead, and not of natural death or ill health either, he was killed in a special operations conducted by the US military and the CIA, under the direct supervision of President Barack Obama:

Mr. Obama said in his national address on Sunday night that it took months to firm up that information and last week he determined it was clear enough to authorize a secret operation in Pakistan. The forces attacked the compound in what Mr. Obama called a 'targeted operation' that left Mr. bin Laden dead. 'No Americans were harmed,' Mr. Obama said. 'They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.'

Here’s a death we can all rejoice for!Much more here.

Hellboy

Another big screen adaptation of a comic book, but one I had never really heard of before.  Overall, the movie succeeds in terms of being interesting and original, but its super hero is neither memorable nor particularly remarkable.

Ron Perlman stars as the titular hero, an alien raised by the scientist who found him as an infant.  Now all grown up, Hellboy is called upon to fight against many evil forces, especially those of a supernatural kind, but his existence is deemed too explosive to be revealed and therefore kept hidden from the public.

Perlman does a good job in a role that seems tailored to his persona but I personally found Doug Jones’s Abe Sapien (the fish like creature) more intriguing.  Both John Hurt and Jeffrey Tambor are very good in their roles and Karel Roden as Rasputin is a sufficiently mean villain.  Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, Hellboy’s romantic interest, is the only main character that doesn’t really leave a mark.

While not as entertaining or engaging as a Spider-Man or a Batman movie can be, Hellboy is watchable and fun.

Grade: 6

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau is a smart and sleek movie adapted from a short story by Philip K. Dick.  The movie is well developed and the stars well cast.

Matt Damon plays a politician on the verge of making the leap to the big league when he unexpectedly meets a dancer, played by Emily Blunt, and instantly falls for her.  Their attraction is incredibly strong but viewed negatively by the seemingly omnipotent agents of The Adjustment Bureau, who consider it a non-starter.  Whose will will prevail?

Besides Damon and Blunt, both giving balanced performances, we are treated to a good turn by the always fascinating John Slattery but we also get a sometimes unfocused Terence Stamp.

Overall, I really liked this movie.  This is the type of thriller that usually leaves me very satisfied, so I’d recommend it to everyone.

Grade: 8

Battle: Los Angeles

I watched Battle: Los Angeles as a double feature knowing perfectly well that I couldn’t expect too much in terms of overall quality given the poor reviews it had gotten.

Nevertheless, I was craving a sci-fi movie and this looked like it would fit the bill, which it did, up to a point.

The only real gripe I have with the movie is that at times it gets slow, if you can believe it, given the high octane action involved.  I actually found myself checking my watch on several occasions, which means that whatever I was watching wasn’t fully engaging.

As alien-attacking-Earth movies go, Battle: Los Angeles isn’t bad but it’s not very good either, mostly because it’s quite predictable and because it doesn’t bring anything really original to the plate.

The good, as expected, pretty much stands with the technical department: visual and sound effects, art direction, cinematography, and makeup are all very enjoyable and successful.  The cherry on top though is the always fascinating Aaron Eckhart.

Overall, I’d recommend this movie only to sci-fi lovers on a slow night.

Grade: 6

Bliss for the eyes

This time-lapse recorded in the Canary Islands (where Ray and I spent one of our first vacations...) is wonderful to watch and soothing for the ears as well:

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

From Towleroad.

What’s the life expectancy of a young star?

That’s what I wondered when I saw this side by side comparison of a young and lively Britney Spear and her current performances:

How can she look so deflated, bored, stiff, and annoyed?  More than that, how do her fans still cheer her up and pay good money to go see her when her shows are clearly just a grayed and distant memory of what they used to be?

I was never a Britney fan, since I always considered her a fraud: she’s not a good singer, her songs are insipid, dumb, and forgettable, her dancing is artificial and unimpressive, and her whole image is too heavily concocted.

Now, some of those same adjectives could also apply to Madonna, one of my favorite artists: not a great singer, some songs are very forgettable, her dance numbers are choreographed to perfection, and her image ... well, she’s practically a walking billboard.

However, Madonna is over 50 years old now and still going strong onstage, and she was always fully and firmly in charge of her image, while Britney is clearly told what to do and say by a cadre of handlers that never leave her side, and when they do she usually messes up.

Perhaps she’s tired of it all, and it shows in her live performances, but this video all but confirmed what I think of her.

Link.

Recognizing Mother Nature’s rights

That’s what Bolivia is doing:

Bolivia is preparing to pass a new law that could lead to citizens challenging environmental destruction in court.

A Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra (The Law of Mother Earth) would grant nature the same rights as humans, according to The Guardian.

The country will establish 11 new rights for nature, including: the right to exist, the right to continue natural cycles, the right to clean water and air, the right to be free of pollution, and the right not to have cellular structures altered or genetically modified.

The law will also give nature the right "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities."

"It makes world history," Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro García Linera said. "Earth is the mother of all."

"It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration."

I think it’s wonderful.  Hopefully it’s not just an empty gesture, but an actual, enforceable piece of legislation.

More here.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.

I really cannot find any possible way of justifying such a horrible fad:

Live Animals Being Sold as Keyrings in China

Keyring ornaments are perhaps the most useless item you'll ever carry in your pocket or stuff in your purse -- but now, thanks to an increasingly popular item being sold in China, it can easily be the cruelest, too. For the price you might expect to pay for some kitschy trinket, Chinese street vendors are selling live animals, permanently sealed in a small plastic pouch where they can survive for a short while as someone's conversation piece. Apparently, these unimaginably inhumane keyrings are actually quite popular -- and worst of all, it's totally legal.

According to The Global Times, these keyring accessories containing live animals are widely available and sold publicly in subway stations and on sidewalks. Potential buyers (read as animal-abusers) have the choice between a living Brazil turtle or two small kingfish, sealed in an airtight package along with some colored water. One vendor claimed that the trapped creatures "can live for months inside there" because the water contains "nutrients," though veterinarians have already disputed this claim.

[…]

Despite the fact that the selling of animals as keyring ornaments is a clear-cut case of animal cruelty, it is actually entirely within the law. Chinese law prohibits the sale of wild animals -- a designation which evidently does not apply to the Brazil turtles and kingfish being sold.

This is just sickening.  Besides my adoration for turtles, I can’t imagine any type of animal ending up “living” like this.  How can people be so cruel and heartless?

One customer said “I’ll hang it in my office, it looks nice and brings good luck.”  I seriously wish him the worst luck he ever had and serious health issues.  Someone who thinks so little of other beings’ lives doesn’t deserve any respect for his own.

More here.