Movie critic Roger Ebert hasn’t been able to use his voice since he had larynx surgery in 2006. But the CereProc company has made it possible for him to “speak” with a computer voice designed to sound like Roger Ebert.According to this article from Popular Science magazine, they used samples from the hours of DVD commentary Ebert did before he lost his voice.
Happy birthday to Theodore Geisel, the beloved children’s author known as Dr. Seuss. He was born on this day in 1904.We’ve had a lot of queries in the last 48 hours about his death: variations on, “How did Dr. Seuss die?” and “Doctor Seuss, how did he die?” It’s not clear if this is just standard curiosity, of if there’s a trivia contest out there and participants are on the hunt.
“Here for the first time is the first hard evidence that [John] Wayne volunteered for potentially dangerous service with the equivalent of today’s C.I.A., and the papers are not out of someone’s attic, but official government documents.”That’s the latest public defense of the World War II travails of John Wayne, courtesy of the politically conservative site Big Hollywood.
He had a Harvard Medical School degree, a thriving practice as an orthopedic surgeon, and a nice place in the South End with a Saab parked outside. Then, in the summer of 2002, while performing complicated spinal surgery, Arndt walked out on his patient — who was lying on the operating table, anesthetized and sliced open — so he could go cash his paycheck. The Boston Globe catches up with Dr. David Arndt.
Robert Conrad’s disputed birthday got us reminscing about his old TV commercials for Eveready batteries — the ones that briefly made a catch phrase out of “Go ahead — I dare ya!” He was the Energizer Bunny of his day.(He was also the go-to tough guy of the day, starring as World War II flyboy Pappy Boyington in the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep — part of the setup for the ads.)
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Star Wars, perhaps the most successful science-fiction film ever made, breaks dozens of laws of physics but has been enjoyed by millions. Its more recent prequels break no more and are, to those of us who grew up with the originals, heartbreakingly worse.Actor David Mitchell reflects on “reality” in the movies.Movie crews don’t much care… until they’re filming a scene about filming a scene:
First it was King Tut Thursday — now here’s Woody Allen Saturday. A funny routine from 1965 that begins with the unlikely (for Woody) phrase, “Um… I shot a moose once.”
Apolo Anton Ohno, come on, man: you shoved him. These things happen. Just own up, baby!We’re talking, of course, about the men’s 500 meter short-track speed skating event on Friday night. Ohno finished second, but then was disqualified after judges ruled he had bumped Francois-Louis Tremblay on the final turn.
Today would have been the 78th birthday of singing legend Johnny Cash. He died in 2003 at the age of 71.It’s also the official release date of his latest record, American Recordings VI: Ain’t No Grave.Both National Public Radio and Rolling Stone magazine look back on his long career.
If you’re a Saddam Hussein aficionado with a half-hour to kill, Slate has just published a fascinating five-part series titled “Searching for Saddam: How the U.S. military used social networking to capture the Iraqi dictator.”It’s not about Facebook and Twitter, but about how the Army used similar theories of social networking to work their way through Saddam’s tribal contacts and figure out his whereabouts.Here’s the series.
DNA research has given the experts some convincing evidence as to why King Tut died at the young age of 19.The short answer is in-breeding and malaria.King Tut’s parents, they say, were brother and sister. On top of that, or maybe because of it, he had a degenerative bone disease. He also had a club foot and a cleft palate.
Shepard Fairey has a new exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. Called “Supply and Demand,” it runs through August 22nd and shows about 250 of his works.
Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29Documentary – 2008Viewed on: Saturday night, 20 February 2010Pre-movie meal: French onion soup, fries, and a Dr. Loosen Riesling
A drunk was in front of a judge. The judge says “You’ve been brought here for drinking.” The drunk says, “Okay, let’s get started.” A man goes to a psychiatrist. The doctor says, “You’re crazy.” The man says, “I want a second opinion!” “Okay, you’re ugly too!” The food on the plane was fit for a king. “Here, King!”Happy 12th deathday to the “king of the one-liners,” Henny Youngman.
The newest edition of Smithsonian magazine has a brief feature on author Joyce Carol Oates and her sense of place.In her case, it’s all about rural New York, specifically Lockport, where she grew up.
Slate asks the question, “Can Lil Wayne Bring His Teeth to Prison?”.
Retired NBA star Jayson Williams has been sentenced to five years in prison.Williams today gave a teary-eyed apology to Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman.
From the archives of Pacifica Radio, a 1956 interview with Rosa Parks:
Yes, from the Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, it’s his Twitter account!