James Cameron is a fish at heart.

My hero James Cameron is an ocean lover to say the least. He's brought us such movies as The Abyss, Titanic and Avatar, as well as the documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep. Oh, and let's not forget Piranha 2! In 2011 Cameron was named an Explorer-in-Residence by National Geographic for his commitment to discovery, and now he hopes to take us all to the lowest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench, 7 miles below the surface. Not since 1960 has anyone gone down to those depths, and that trip only lasted 20 minutes. Cameron will spend 6 hours at the bottom, and hopes to usher in a new era of deep-sea exploration by showing us what's down there... in 3D! I think it's cool. I mean, it's not like any of us are ever going to swim down there. I just hope James doesn't get eaten by a large whale or something because I'm very much looking forward to seeing Avatar 2 & 3, which Cameron has said will focus on the oceans of Pandora... Maybe going to the bottom of our ocean will spark some creativity, because there's probably shit down there that we've never even seen! Good luck, and bring me back something cool.

Solar Storm hits today.

The strongest solar storm in five years hit Earth today, after a large solar flare escaped the Sun on Tuesday. Although we aren't facing mass extinction quite yet, the storm could potentially disrupt satellite activity or power grids, and there is some risk of radiation for those flying in high altitude airplanes. On the plus side, you may get to see the northern lights much farther south than normal, all the way down to the Canada/USA border. To do so you may have to escape all the light pollution that most major cities produce nowadays, and the full moon tonight could also make the lights harder to see. The storm should pass by tomorrow, and the wait continues for the next Extinction Level Event.

Mars is here.

Mars will be making a close approach to Earth tonight, so keep your eyes open for that reddish yellow light in the Eastern sky. It will get even closer over the next couple days, giving us a good look at the planet's features and poles. Every couple years Mars and Earth align, and this pass brings Mars and Earth within 62.6 million miles of one another. This isn't the closest our two planets have been. Back in 2003 Mars came within 34.8 million miles of Earth, but that won't happen again for another 275 years. I plan on living to see it, but I don't know about the rest of you mortals. If you're interested in seeing Mars, but you're too lazy to leave your computer, you can find some live streams online. I do recommend the real thing though.

Kairuku, the penguin of 26 million years ago.

35 years ago, the first bones were discovered for a giant sea bird, long extinct. It's taken scientists some time to reconstruct the skeleton, using three different sets of fossils, but we now have our first glimpse of what the penguin-like animal looked like. Standing over 4 feet tall, the Kairuku, meaning "diver who returns with food", had a slender build, long wings, and a spear-like bill that would have been perfect for making sashimi. Being a larger animal than modern penguins, this thing would have likely been able to swim farther and deeper, making easy prey of all sorts of fish. No one knows exactly what would have cause the Kairuku to become extinct, but competition for food, new predators, and climate change are likely candidates.

Virgin Galactic test flights in 2012

 
I like Richard Branson because he knows how to use his billions of dollars wisely. If I had that much money I would be researching space travel myself. Alas, I don't even have a fraction of the $200,000 that Virgin Galactic is charging for a flight into space, but 500 other people have already booked their ticket... lucky bums. This year Virgin Galactic plan suborbital tests of SpaceShipTwo, the first of the five ships in their fleet, designed by Scaled Composites. They have already conducted 31 test flights inside Earth's atmosphere, some attached to a carrier aircraft named WhiteKnightTwo, and other glide tests. They hope to start testing their rocket motors later this year, and the plan is to offer commercial flights by 2013 or 2014. Time to start saving if you want to see the Earth against the backdrop of space and join the 68 mile high club.

30,000 Year Old Plant

 
Russian scientists have successfully revived a 30,000 year old plant from seed cells dug up in the Siberian permafrost. Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Maybe they can also revive the little squirrel that buried those seeds... Okay that's a little less likely, but ice certainly has a way of preserving cells. Carbon dating on the seeds themselves came back at 31,800 years. It makes you wonder what other treasures are buried in the vast frozen soil that covers such a large majority of our planet. The plant, once grown, bore fruit and seeds the same as any modern day plant. Interesting stuff... Now let's revive a mammoth.

I watched... TAKE SHELTER

We all know that the world is going to screw us over one day, the real question is how... Take Shelter plays on the idea that something catastrophic is on the way, but instead of going all Emmerich on us, it focuses on a single family, and how their life begins to change when the father starts having visions of the impending doom. Played convincingly by Micheal Shannon, the Curtis character has nightmares and visions of deadly storms, and although the movie does a good job of making us question his sanity, the character himself chooses to act on his feelings, and spends his time and money building a storm shelter for his family. Although the movie is a little slow, the storm visuals are well done, and the movie does build some suspense as we try to decide if Curtis is crazy. To find out for sure you'll have to watch the movie. Now I'm all excited to see Michael Shannon play General Zod in Man of Steel. It's clear he's a good actor but it will be interesting to see how he handles playing the lead villain in a huge blockbuster. I think it's going to work out very well. Kneel before Zod!

Facebook going public? Looks that way.

Lots of talk about Facebook going public... Makes sense since 800 million of us use that site. Now you can own a little piece of it too. They are expected to file their IPO this week and the estimate right now is that they'll raise about $10 billion. That will bring their worth to $75 billion to $100 billion, and remind us all that nerds are fucking smart! Also, if you haven't already changed your profile to Timeline, you soon won't have a choice. It's going to be mandatory in the very near future, and remind us all why we shouldn't post shit online. Whatever.

XBOX 720 vs PS4

There have been rumors circling that Microsoft have started development on the successor to the Xbox 360, the tentatively titled Xbox 720. The new system will likely be available sometime in 2013, and will sport hardware for DirectX 11, 3D and multiple displays. Whether or not it will exceed the abilities of new and more powerful PCs will remain to be seen. Remember Microsoft, it's called "next-gen" for a reason. Meanwhile, Sony say they're in no rush to release the Play Station 4, indicating that they're under far less pressure than their competitors to release a console. I'm still enjoying my PS3, having bought it the first week it was released back in 2006. If a new system came out now I probably wouldn't rush out to get it anyway. Take your time and make it great, Sony.

Wii U by Xmas 2012?

Despite seeing a 60% decrease in quarterly profits, Nintendo hopes to get back on track by launching the Wii U for the 2012 holiday season. That's good news for Nintendo, who haven't exactly been keeping up with the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The last Nintendo system I owned was the Nintendo 64, which at the time was a great system. Nintendo lost me as a customer when their games and graphics fell behind the quality products of their competition. From what I've seen of the Wii U, it looks like the system is a great leap forward for Nintendo, and may finally put them on par with other consoles. The wireless tablet style controller is also a nice touch, allowing you to interact with games, and even play entirely on the device if your TV is occupied. Good luck, Nintendo. I hope Santa brings you great success.

2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft

The 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft is now complete, and both sides are sporting some serious talent. I'm cheering for Team Alfredsson myself (Go Canucks!), but it's safe to say that on January 29th we're in for 60 minutes of great hockey. Here are the teams.


TEAM CHARA (Forwards):

Joffrey Lupul
Pavel Datsyuk
Evgeni Malkin
Marian Hossa
Corey Perry
Phil Kessel
Patrick Kane
Jarome Iginla
Marion Gaborik
Jordan Eberle
Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn

TEAM CHARA (Defensemen):

Zdeno Chara
Kimmo Timonen
Ryan Suter
Brian Campbell
Dion Phaneuf
Dennis Wideman



TEAM ALFREDSSON (Forwards):

Daniel Alfredsson
Jason Spezza
Claude Giroux
Steven Stamkos
Daniel Sedin
Milan Michalek
Henrik Sedin
James Neal
John Tavares
Scott Hartnell
Jason Pominville
Logan Couture

TEAM ALFREDSSON (Defensemen):

Erik Karlsson
Kris Letang
Shea Weber
Dan Girardi
Keith Yandle
Alex Edler

Newt Gingrich is loony for lunar.

How would you like to live on the moon? I totally would, and it appears that Newt Gingrich has similar ideas. Of course it's a publicity stunt with the election fast approaching, but Gingrich says that if he's elected he'll work towards building a moon colony by 2020. Personally, I think it's about time that people look at space exploration seriously. It would be a far better use of tax payer money than waring other countries. Richard Branson has the right idea with Virgin Galactic, but an actual moon base would be so sweet. I just hope those creatures from Apollo 18 aren't there waiting for us.

Apple's first quarter earnings is proof we're all in the wrong business.

Apple released their first quarter earnings on January 24, 2012, for the 14 weeks ending December 31, 2011. Their revenue, $46.33 billion, and a profit of $13.06 billion. That's so damn sexy! Apple sold 13.04 million iPhones in the quarter, 15.43 million iPads, and 5.2 million Macs. I haven't made the transition to a tablet myself, and I've always been a PC guy at heart, but I've been enjoying my iPhone for years. Good job, Apple. I'm sure your shareholders are swimming in champagne as we speak.

Oscar Nominations 2012

BEST PICTURE:

"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

BEST DIRECTOR:

Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

BEST ACTOR:

Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

BEST ACTRESS:

Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

"A Cat In Paris"
"Chico & Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
JC Chandor, "Margin Call"
Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
John Logan, "Hugo"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"
Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource
"Hugo," Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse," John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

"Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS:

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION:

"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"War Horse"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY:

"The Artist"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN:

"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"W.E."

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

"Hell and Back Again"
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
"Pina"
"Undefeated"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?"
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
"Incident in New Baghdad"
"Saving Face"
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING:

"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP:

"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:

"Pentecost"
"Raju"
"The Shore"
"Time Freak"
"Tuba Atlantic"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING:

"Drive"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING:

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Tim Thomas refuses White House visit.

Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins decided that he was too good to visit the White House on Monday, and skipped the visit saying "I believe the Federal government has grown out of control...". Well no shit you asshole, but you're really going to miss a once in a lifetime opportunity (that's right, they ain't winning again) because the government is doing the same thing it's always done? Who cares how fucked up your country is, when the president invites you over to chill, you fucking go over there and chill. Man, I wish my Canucks meet you guys in the Finals again because we're going to run you over! Show some class you jerkoff and send Mr. Obama some flowers. He's doing more than your precious Republicans ever did.

Canadian HIV vaccine approved for human trials.

 
Earlier this month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a Canadian HIV vaccine for human trials. It's called SAV001, and it will be tested in three phases. The first phase will involve 30 HIV-positive patients, the second phase will test 600 HIV-negative patients, and the third phase will involve 6,000 HIV-negative volunteers. There is a risk for those involved on contracting the virus, but this is a huge step towards prevention of one of the worst diseases in history. As if you needed another reason to love Canada.

The Avengers may include... SPOILER.

 
So I came across a rumor today, and it sounds like The Avengers movie may include another superhero not previously announced... Already included in the film are Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye, but in a movie like this, the more super heroes the better right? Well it sounds like there will be one more hero making an appearance... Spiderman. I don't know if the rumor is legit, or how big the role will be considering there is a Spiderman movie coming out this summer. Still, I think it's pretty cool and it sure won't deter audiences from packing the theaters. What do you think about Spidey making an appearance in The Avengers?

One ticket to Kepler-22b please.

There have been hundreds of exoplanets discovered, which is amazing enough, but none as close to resembling Earth as Kepler-22b. Granted, it's about two and a half times the size of Earth, and it's so far away that we'll probably never reach it, but our goal as humans should be to discover what exists outside our solar system. Hell, most people need to discover what exists outside their own backyard. Even Stephen Hawking said recently that the survival of our species depends on us colonizing new worlds. It will probably start with moon bases, and then we'll take over Mars, but once we really figure out space travel, it will be a glorious Star Trek time that I wish I could live to see. I think my best bet is having myself frozen and thawed in the future like Fry in Futurama. What do you think? Will humans ever make it out of the solar system, or will we kill ourselves first?

I watched... CONTAGION

The other night I watched Contagion, which is pretty much an updated version of the movie Outbreak. Let me tell you, it's fucking scary, especially since I've been sick twice in the last few months. It's way scarier than any horror movie. It's directed by Steven Soderbergh, who's usually good at putting a solid movie together. I'm looking forward to seeing Haywire too, but regarding Contagion, we're all screwed! If a disease breaks out like this, we're all going to die. I think sometimes we forget how little we know about this world, and how easy it would be for mother nature to wipe us out. Personally, I'm hoping we all die like in Melancholia, with a giant planet smashing into Earth. That would be sick, and way better than being sick. Also, Matt Damon did a good job in this one, and I don't think I've ever seen Gwyneth Paltrow look so gross. On a final note, Steven, I don't think the final scene was necessary. Who cares where the plague comes from. Isn't it scarier not knowing? That's it, stay healthy kids!