MORE ON BATMAN BEGINS 3... Back in July, I wrote a Blog talking about which villains and actors would be cool to see in the next Bat flick, if Chris Nolan ever decided to do another one. I still stand by having Bane and Azrael in the second sequel, but I’ve been thinking that a third (even more important?) player should be included in the movie: Talia al Ghul.



Those of you who read the comics (or watched the classic Batman: The Animated Series on TV back in the early 90’s) will know that Talia is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul...the main antagonist played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins. As stated in the journal entry I mentioned at the beginning of this Blog, Bane would become the head of the League of Shadows after Ra’s death...and finish what Ra’s couldn’t do in the first Nolan Bat flick: Destroy Gotham City and Batman. I was pondering that it would be interesting to have Bane and Talia working in tandem as they sought the destruction of Gotham and the Dark Knight, when I found this page and noticed that there was an actual storyline between the two! Scroll down the page to read what’s under "Bane".



Ra’s wanted Talia to marry Bane??? What a great story that could lead to for Batman Begins 3! After Ra’s dies in Batman Begins, Bane wanted to win Talia’s heart by avenging her father’s death. And Bane goes to Gotham City to do whatever he can to punish the Dark Knight for the loss of Talia’s father. And succeeds. (Of course, this is where Azrael comes along and takes over as the Caped Crusader.)



As stated in my July blog, Bane would wear a gas mask instead of that, um, gimp mask that he wears in the comics. And a perfect reason for that would be that he uses tear gas filled with some kind of fear toxin to stun his victims before he (and his League of Shadows followers) attacks them. And who would be the person who supplied Bane with this fear toxin? THAT’S RIGHT: Dr. Jonathan Crane. A.k.a. the Scarecrow. I think it would actually be interesting if the bad guy played by Cillian Murphy showed up throughout all of Chris Nolan’s Bat films. Two-Face is dead. The Joker is alive...but we’ll never see him again...at least in a Nolan film (Rest in peace, Heath). And the Scarecrow is still alive and well...but most likely back in Arkum Asylum. That is, until Talia helps Bane break him out so Crane could manufacture more fear/tear gas that Bane could use to preemptively strike his opponents. Crane can also be responsible for inventing the Venom that Bane uses to increase his body size before he does some spine-snapping. (Did I also mention Azrael would be the one to finally put the Scarecrow out of his misery? *Breaks neck*)



And now...the most important question: Which actress should play Talia al Ghul in The Dark Knight sequel? I was thinking Megan Fox...but she is currently much too popular for the role. Lacey Chabert? She is TOTALLY gorgeous...but would seem pretty short when standing next to Christian Bale or the tall muscular dude who would most likely play Bane. Kate Beckinsale? Naw, other people online have already suggested her (too lazy to provide links...but they have). I wanna be original. So who do I have in mind, you ask? I’ll give you a hint... This Random Babe Blog was all about her:

Minka Kelly!



Like Maggie Gyllenhaal before The Dark Knight came out, Minka is relatively unknown...unless you watch the NBC TV show, Friday Night Lights. From the artwork I posted above, Minka would look totally suitable (and of course, gorgeous) in those attire worn by Talia. And Minka looks like she would have great chemistry with Christian Bale in terms of Talia having some kind of romance with Bruce Wayne (since Rachel Dawes is now obviously out of the picture)...despite the fact she wants him, or at least his cape-wearing alter ego, dead. And this role would probably blow Minka’s stardom through the stratosphere! Presumably. All that matters is that Ms. Kelly gives a great performance as the woman who helps Bane break Batman’s back. That’s all.



Oh...and one more thing: Talia lives on to see Batman Begins 4. 'Nuff said.

Ferrey / Getty

USC: 21, Oregon State: 27...

"The Trojans are gonna ravage the Beavers tonight!"

"The Beavers will need to loosen up if they have any chance of handling the Trojans today."

"No one sees the Trojans going down on the Beavers."

"If the Beavers come out spread the Trojans will certainly blitz it."

"The Beavers will be pummeled over and over by the Trojans sack."

"I hope the Trojans don't blow it this soon. But that tight Beaver defense might make them blow it sooner than expected."

"Don't worry. The Trojans will pound the Beavers into submission."

"The Trojans may be able to lay it on, but the Beavers are known for taking a licking."

"The Trojans will take them easily. The Beavers are a bunch of pussies."

"The Trojans should have things wrapped up, but the Beavers can be hairy at times."

"The forecast isn't looking so good. There's going to be a lot of wet Beavers tonight."

So many great innuendos, and USC had to negate them by losing yesterday. Click here for more witty lines regarding yesterday’s unexpected debacle...unless you live in Oregon. Or Ohio. Or Virginia. Or whatever.


I wonder if the Beavers will ever play against the Gamecocks. Just wondering.

The ONE animal I don't mind becoming extinct...is the skunk.

I leave the window slightly open to let the cool air in, and then I wake up in the middle of the night to find my bedroom smelling from this filthy little bastard.



I don't mind if global warming eventually gets rid of this animal, unlike the awesome spider monkey.

PRISON BREAK... Those of you who have been watching season 4 (which has been going well) so far will have probably noticed the sexy receptionist who works at the Gates corporation where Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper) is posing as a salesman. That would be Trishanne, who is played by Shannon Lucio...best known (if you watched the show, which I didn’t. Had to look this info up on IMDb.com) as Lindsay Gardner in the now-defunct FOX TV series, The OC.



You know that if he wasn’t wearing a suit and surrounded by a bunch of corporate stiffs, T-Bag would totally hit that. But hopefully not stab it, like what he’s done with his other women throughout the Prison Break series. That's all.

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... Someone leaked these art concepts online yesterday, and show the possible new vehicle mode for Megatron in Transformers 2. The pic above was leaked onto the Web last Tuesday...and show how the Decepticon leader might possibly look in robot form as he returns to get revenge on the Autobots in the sequel. (However, Revenge of the Fallen can still refer to the revival of Megatron AND the flame-covered character himself.)



Those of you who watched the first Transformers film last year will remember that Megatron lost parts of his legs and his left arm in the final battle with Optimus Prime, the U.S. military and Sam Witwicky...which would explain the spindly appendage that now make up that arm, and the fact his legs contain tank treads that turn him into the odd-but-cool-looking ground vehicle you see in these images.



As you can see, these pics are watermarked...so I’ll let you know if Paramount/Dreamworks send what will hopefully be a polite e-mail telling me to take these pics down. Or else. Hmm... Saying "or else" wouldn’t be very polite at all. Oh well.



By the way, filming for Transformers 2 is still taking place in New Mexico, and principal photography for the sequel is scheduled to wrap sometime in the middle of next month. Bumblebee rocks. I saw that life-size mock-up in Hollywood last year.


UPDATE: Two more pics of Megatron's tank mode were posted online today. Apparently, these drawings are from the instruction manual for the toy...



UPDATE #2: Entertainment Tonight will have a special feature on its show tomorrow called "Transformers Tuesday", where host Mark Steines interviews director Michael Bay, actors Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Co. during his visit to the Transformers 2 set in New Mexico. I'll be at work tomorrow, so hopefully they'll make the show available online after it airs. Here's the promo:

THOU SHALT NOT KILL... When you really think about it, the Sixth Commandment doesn’t specifically say ‘Thou shalt not kill human beings’.

Sure, you had Jeebus catching fish and Old Testament folks killing lambs for sacrifice, but does the vagueness of this commandment mean that all the spiders I flushed down the toilet throughout my life was the arachnid equivalent of committing genocide?

What did you guys squash or spray with Raid® today that will lead you to an Eternity in Hell? Not that I'd know your answers... Just asking.

NASA / Troy Cryder

TWO BIRDS, READY FOR FLIGHT... At 3:59 AM, Pacific Time yesterday, space shuttle Endeavour arrived at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B to begin preps for a potential rescue mission (STS-400) if Atlantis is found damaged during her flight to the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis herself has been at Pad 39A since September 4, and is still on track for an October 9 launch to HST.


NASA / Troy Cryder

If Atlantis is found to be unscathed during STS-125, Endeavour will be rolled over to Pad 39A, and begin preparations for her next official flight, STS-126. 39B will then officially be handed over to NASA’s Constellation program, and will be the site of next year’s launch of the Ares I-X rocket. Ares, in case you didn’t know, is the vehicle that will hopefully launch American astronauts back to the Moon by 2020. Hopefully.


FLORIDA TODAY / Michael R. Brown

So I seriously almost died from taking too much Viagra....

"Sometimes even a pirate needs a little help.

So tonight I was looking for some action with the local wenches, and found that I had consumed too much grog.

Being a pirate, I try to be prepared for all situations and keep a flask of Viagra pills with me at all times.

Now the village chemist we had raided when I grabbed these was not from my hometown, and he proceeded to label the instructions on this bottle in roman numerals. I don't know roman numerals. All I know is that X marks the spot, so when I see it say to take IV pills, I can't remember whether that is six or eleven, so to be on the safe side, I decide I should take eleven, because I wouldn't want to disappoint my ladies.

Then I read further and it says to last all night, take VIII. So knowing that three times five is fifteen, I proceed to take fifteen, because I have a reputation at stake here.

Twenty minutes later I was ready to go and the ladies are loving me.

Another twenty minutes and I can't feel my legs.

Another twenty minutes and the wench steals all my gold and tosses me overboard once she knows I can't move..

Remember that I still can't feel my legs.

So I'm floating there face down and a bleeding dolphin comes along and grabs me by my Long John Silver and starts swimming away with me. Tossing me to and fro. He swam so far, we ended up near an iceberg and he gave a quick flip of his head, and I landed right on the iceberg.

Well shiver me timber, being all wet I was stuck fast to that ice and couldn't get away.

With all my blood flow away from my brain, I was also not thinking very clearly.

I shimmied out of my clothes that were frozen to the ice, but there was one thing I still couldn't seem to get unstuck from the ice. The heat had melted that on good.
I lay there for days not knowing what to do.

Dehydrated, embarrassed, and thoroughly stuck, and still enhanced by the blue pills, I finally decided what I had to do.

I used my pistol to free myself.

All the other pirates are now calling me "peg leg penis" now though.

Its not fair!"

Found this funny post on a message board. Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... Last week was another big week for news about Transformers 2 (TF2), which has about 5 more weeks to go in terms of filming...according to one of the movie’s writers, Roberto Orci. Here is the latest info about the sequel:

-Ain’t-It-Cool-News mentioned that the full theatrical trailer for Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) will premiere in front of J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek...which gets released in theaters next year on May 8.

-The teaser trailer will be released this November...though it hasn’t yet been revealed which movie it will debut in front of. The next James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, is rumored to be the most likely film where you can see the TF2 teaser. Solace will be released in cinemas on November 14.

-The Decepticon ‘combiners’ known as the Constructicons will make an appearance in ROTF, with the main robot that they transform into, Devastator (the M1A1 Abrams tank of the same name in the first Transformers film should’ve actually been called Brawl), having "lots of upper body strength, like a gorilla".

Nice analogy...seeing as how I want to see this bad motha’-shut-yo-mouth go APE-S**T on the Autobots in ROTF!


Unlike the toy and cartoon versions, Devastator will be made up of 7 smaller robots in ROTF...instead of 6. The Constructicons will not just be green. Some of the vehicles will also be red and yellow, according to TFW2005.

-The concept artwork of one of the Constructicons, Long Haul (shown above), is said to be legit. It was created by Josh Nizzi...an artist who is currently on the concept team working on robot designs for Transformers 2. The CGI model of Long Haul, shown below, was made by a fan. I actually posted the artwork above in an earlier Blog.

-Transformers 2 is currently filming at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexcio. After that, production will move overseas to Egypt and possibly Jordan. And that will probably mark the end of principal photography for the sequel.

The Transformers Live Action Movie Blog has a lot more updates on TF2. Click here for additional info (and rumors).

Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

USC: 35, Ohio State: 3... Yesterday, the University of Southern California turned what was supposed to have been the Game of the Year (for college football) into another Trojans rout. USC is still ranked No. 1 in the nation, while the Buckeyes sank from No. 5 to No. 13 in the Associated Press (AP) poll.

Here are the top five teams in the AP Top 25 poll:

1.) USC Trojans, 1,596 points
2.) Oklahoma Sooners, 1,485 pts.
3.) Georgia Bulldogs, 1,437 pts.
4.) Florida Gators, 1,414 pts.
5.) Missouri Tigers, 1,389 pts.
(Source)

On the opposite end of the spectrum (and city) from the Trojans, the University of California, Los Angeles, got whupped by Brigham Young University, 59-0, in Utah (making this UCLA’s worst football loss since 1929). The Cougars were ranked No. 14 after last night’s blowout of the Bruins...and BYU hopes this made the Cougars BCS-worthy. (BCS = Bowl Championship Series. I’ve written about college football on this Blog so many times, and only now I care about letting ya’ll know what these acronyms mean, haha.)

USC’s next game is against Oregon State on September 25. Give the Beavers hell, Trojans. Beavers and Trojans... If you know why I repeated those names, then you're as corrupted as I am.

GO ANGELS! Last night, the Los Angeles Angels (I’ll be nice THIS time, Arte Moreno) clinched the American League West division title after defeating the New York Yankees, 4-2, in Anaheim yesterday. The Angels currently lead the Major League with their 89-57 record...and became the first team in baseball to lock a postseason berth by winning their division for the fourth time in five years.

Here is a rundown of the most division titles won by an MLB team since 2000:

New York Yankees: 7
Atlanta Braves: 6
St. Louis Cardinals: 5
Los Angeles Angels: 4
Minnesota Twins: 4
Oakland A’s: 4
Arizona Diamondbacks: 3

Now IF ONLY the Angels can repeat that awesome postseason of 2002...and win it all...and change their name back to the Anaheim Angels. Do you think I was gonna stay nice forever, Moreno?



Both images courtesy of Karen Tapia-Andersen and the Los Angeles Times

TAKING SHAPE... Photos were recently released online showing that NASA’s next Red Planet rover, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), is finally becoming a reality as construction takes place at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. MSL is scheduled to launch on September 15, 2009, and will arrive at Mars between July 10 and September 14, 2010. For more information on why the arrival period lasts this long, click here.



As you can see from the photo above, the MSL is gonna be one huge vehicle. If the size of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity can be compared to All-Terrain Vehicles, then the MSL can be compared to a Mini Cooper. Or even a Scion XB, haha.



Of course, the main reason why I’m talking about MSL is because of this. Spirit and Opportunity both carry the names of 4 million people and the Phoenix lander has 250,000 names onboard. And I believe the Sojourner rover that landed with Pathfinder on Mars in 1996 also carried the names of some well-wishers. There’s no reason why NASA wouldn’t allow the public to submit names to be placed on the largest moving land vehicle ever sent to the Red Planet. Or another world for that matter. *Crosses fingers.*


All images courtesy of NASA / JPL-Caltech

MSL Mission Highlight Video on Youtube:

Twentieth Century Fox

MORE ON TERMINATOR... Yesterday, I watched the Season 2 premiere of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and needless to say... The T-1000 is BACK!! Well— Not as Robert Patrick from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, of course, but a female version played by Shirley Manson, the lead vocalist of the band Garbage.


Twentieth Century Fox

I’d like to see Manson’s liquid cyborg (whose human name is Catherine Weaver) go up against Summer Glau’s Cameron Phillips in upcoming episodes. And speaking of Cameron (or Summer. Whoever you prefer), is it just me or is she a lot hotter when her Terminator goes bad? Will we see John Connor get tempted to engage in some human/robot copulation with Cameron in a future episode, after she ‘professed’ her love for him in last night’s premiere? That’s something to think about... Oh, and if 'man-juice' can short-circuit the wiring inside Cameron after she performs— Nevermind. That's the corrupt part of my mind talking, haha.


Twentieth Century Fox

Back to the T-1000, I wonder if we’ll see some cool action sequences with Manson in ‘em. Like her walking through a chain-link fence as she chases after Sarah Connor and Company... Or impale BAG—err, Brian Austin Green—err, Derek Reese with a metallic finger blade... That would also be cool.


Warner Bros.

It’s interesting to see where this new season will lead...and how it will tie in with next May’s McG-directed film, Terminator Salvation (starring Christian Bale). Will Ms. Glau make a cameo in this flick? That’s all I care about. That— And hot liquid cyborg females and other evil robots that go shootin' and stabbin' in the night.

TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES... Tonight is the Season 2 premiere of the hit FOX TV series. Lena Headey reprises her role as the title character, Thomas Dekker returns as John Connor, Summer Glau is back as the cyborg heroine Cameron, Richard T. Jones once again plays FBI agent James Ellison, Garret Dillahunt is the evil Terminator known as Cromartie, and Megan Fox’s beau, Brian Austin Green, is back as Kyle Reese’s brother, Derek. Did I also mention Summer Glau is back as Cameron?



The Sarah Connor Chronicles airs at 8 PM, before Prison Break. Speaking of Prison Break, Season 4 started off on a promising note last week. I thought this season was gonna focus on Michael Scofield getting revenge for the alleged death of Sara Tancredi...which would’ve been interesting but something not worth watching for an entire season. But seeing as this was resolved in the first 30 minutes of the 2-hour premiere (Sara’s alive!!), it’s nice to see what the main story will focus on. The fact that all the convicts have to team up to bring The Company down is intriguing...but you know there will be twists and turns during the season where some of the convicts won’t stay loyal, or not survive. We’ll see.



Back to The Sarah Connor Chronicles... Cameron is like Wolverine. What with her having a metal skeleton like the X-Men hero (though Wolverine is still human), and apparently healing quickly after last season’s explosive finale. And she’s looking gorgeous as usual.



All images courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

BACK AT THE PAD... After several days of delays due to the approaching risk of Tropical Storm Hanna, space shuttle Atlantis finally rolled out to its Florida launch pad last Thursday. At first, I thought that NASA was being overly optimistic making this move...seeing as how there were two storms, Hurricane Ike and Tropical Depression Josephine, still brewing out there in the Atlantic. Judging from this page as of today, Josephine is gone, and Ike was only (but perilously) going to pass near the tip of southern Florida on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Atlantis is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 9:33 PM on October 9 (California time), on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope one last time. Hubble should last for 5 more years beyond 2008 if the repairs go smoothly on STS-125.


NASA / Kim Shiflett

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Update... As part of the promotional campaign to commemorate this week’s release of Transformers on Blu-Ray DVD, Wal-Mart has posted exclusive video content on its website. One video (the second one on the page, actually), shows how Industrial Light & Magic created the robots in the first film. The other video—which is the first of a series of new videos that will supposedly be posted every week—chronicles the first day of shoot for Revenge of the Fallen, which took place at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in early June.



This video shows Michael Bay displaying the "Bayos" (as in "chaos"...since Bay likes to operate fast on the film set, and stated he's gonna be 'all up on' his crew's 'asses' to get work done on the movie) shoes that Nike made for him, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura showing his excitement for Day 1 of the production, military soldiers on the attack (one troop is using a Gatling gun...as shown above. Pretty cool), and 3 motorbikes that will supposedly form Arcee in action! We also see an Audi R8 going through the motions on set...though we do not yet know if it’s a Decepticon or an Autobot. Though it must obviously be a 'Con if Arcee (an Autobot) is being chased by it...



CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TWO VIDEOS. The code to put at the bottom of the page is AllSpark62609. Can’t wait to see what next week’s video will show! Hopefully some behind-the-scenes footage with Megan Fox in it. Speaking of Fox, here's a sexy photo of her from her upcoming flick, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. Totally hot.


Courtesy of The Sun

PHOTOS OF THE DAY... I don’t have time to type anything as meaningful(?) as the hurricane blog I posted yesterday, so I thought I’d just show these cool pics I found online. Well— They're cool if you’re a warmongering, victory-minded American (which I am...err, kinda), but an extreme turn-off if you’re a no-good, pacifist, non-Yankee beatnik. Which would be anyone not voting for John McCain. Haha, just kidding. I really dug myself into a hole with that comment.


U.S. Navy photo - Chief Photographer's Mate Todd P. Cichonowicz

This image, which is 100% real, was taken during a photo op that kicked off a U.S. military exercise known as Valiant Shield on June 19, 2006. The war games took place near Guam in the Pacific Ocean. The photo would’ve been even better if there were F-22 Raptors in it. Oh well. That’s what the pic below is for.

DESPITE THE FACT TROPICAL STORM FAY put a damper on my plans to go to Cape Canaveral and visit tourist sites in Orlando about 2 weeks ago, I actually developed a newfound interest in tropical storms and hurricanes (but YES, I’m still pissed over Fay). Obviously overlooking the amount of death and destruction they (always) wrought, hurricanes themselves are awesome forces of nature (and NO, I wouldn’t tell that to someone who lived in New Orleans during August of 2005). On the ground, it looks like your average rainstorm (albeit with 100+ mph winds and a 14-feet storm surge), but from outer space, they appear as amazing behemoths. I mean... A spiraling mass of cloud that is on average 400 miles in diameter, with arm bands extending thousands of miles across the eastern United States and over the Atlantic Ocean? Sure beats the dull earthquakes we get here in southern California. Just being facetious.



I’d much rather be caught by surprise by a large tumbler (won’t elaborate on the magnitude) in the Southland than having to worry about boarding up windows, putting my most valuable belongings in my car and getting the hell out of there.



Other than that, hurricanes are amazing. I’m also reading up on levees. That’s how bored I am right now.



First it was Fay, then Gustav, and now it’s Hurricane Hanna looming in the Atlantic, as well as Tropical Storm-most-likely-to-become-a-Hurricane Ike next to it (and don't forget Josephine). If you ask me, I prefer being a tourist in The Bahamas, not a resident...thank you. And don’t even get me started on living in Cuba right now. That’s all.



This journal entry sure is inconsistent.