During the (dreadful) MTV Video Music Awards, Shia LaBeouf revealed the name of the new film as being "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." So ignore anything that talks about 'the City of the Gods' and get the official info from IndianaJones.com.

The Lame Show: Episode 18

If you'd like your questions answered on an upcoming episode of The Lame Show, post a comment to this blog or send an e-mail.

We've Got Mail!

Noah and Eddie respond to reader mail regarding Windows vs. Mac OS X and whether or not Apple's iTunes Store is consumer friendly. Then, of course, it's time to rate and debate the new iPod models.

NBC/Universal tops the Lame List, followed by the HP Blackbird (or at least the reactions to the Blackbird). Picks of the Week include "Wincing the Night Away" by The Shins and the Google Earth Flight Simulator.

The truly burning questions are asked: Should people complain when prices drop? How much should a TV episode cost to download? Why are there less Easter Eggs nowadays?

Episode 18.m4a (44:57)

The Lame Show on iTunes

San Francisco photos

Follow the linked image below to see some photos of our day trip to San Francisco (yes, we're nearly a month late uploading them). The Giants lost in less than two hours and Barry Bonds hit his record-breaking home run days earlier, so the game wasn't too great. You'll also notice that someone else took a worse photo than I did.

San Francisco 8/12/07

'300' director inks for Bradbury tattoo tales

"300" director Zack Snyder is sharpening his pencil for "The Illustrated Man," a project based on the Ray Bradbury collection of short stories.

Nice to see Bradbury's work will come back to the big screen, especially since Mel Gibson's long-gestating version of "Fahrenheit 451" never came to fruition. And if Snyder delivers with the adaptation of "Watchmen," he'll supplant Bryan Singer as comic fandom's favorite director.

The Lame Show: Episode 17

Noah's got a new computer (it's a Mac!) and it seems to have improved the quality of his audio recording considerably. We also didn't have any lag/delay during our conversation, so this episode is completely unedited! OK, fine, there's one edit...

Unedited Return

Noah and Eddie return in an unedited episode with improved audio quality to talk about all (or at least six) of the Apple events that occurred since the last episode: iPhone, iLife, iWork, iSafari for iWindows (ah, you get the picture).

Picks of the Week include Wikipedia edits from interesting organizations and a way to transform yourself into a Simpsons character.

The truly burning questions are asked: Should movies really have anything during the credits to watch? Is a transparent menubar even worth making? Is another spreadsheet application necessary? Does Engadget owe somebody money?

Episode 17.m4a (1:06:06)

The Lame Show on iTunes

Geeks to Hollywood: We Want Wonder Woman! (We Want Her Bad)

In a recent poll of 1.6 million geeks… er, subscribers, TiVo asked which comic book character and/or classic cartoon they most wanted to see given the Transformers treatment. The results: In the comic book category — with Joss Whedon on board or not — the nerds want to see Wonder Woman take flight in her invisible jet like there's no tomorrow — she won 29 percent of the vote. Shockingly, the Green Lantern (I'm sorry, who?!) came in second with 26 percent.

I'm not sure what's more telling, the result of the poll, or the condescending attitude of the writer.

It's a new beginning for movie end credits

The scene fades to black, the movie is over, and the credits begin to roll. But wait! Don't leave just yet. You might miss some of the great custom-made artwork being cooked up by today's filmmakers.

Sadly, too many people are getting up and leaving the moment the first credit appears on screen. When we recently saw one of the movies referenced in this article, Superbad, some of the audience actually started getting up to leave before the credits appeared, apparently trying to beat everyone else out. Of course, when they realize there's more fun to be seen, they just s-l-o-w-l-y walk out, still drawn inexorably to the exit, trying to peer over the railing on their way out the exit hallway walking backwards. Sad, really.

MySpace Dark Horse Presents

At the San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse and MySpace announced a partnership to revive one of the most celebrated comics anthologies ever with the launch of a new online comic book, "MySpace Dark Horse Presents . . . " The online series features original content by top creators and premiere artists, all available exclusively on MySpace and free of charge to users. A new installment of MySpace DHP will be made available on the first Wednesday of every month at www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents.

If this doesn't interest you, what if I said Joss Whedon was involved? And there's a mention of GWAR?

Handlebar

For those of you who are unable to see The Music Man, here's how I look as Salesman #1:

'Music Man' ready to ring out summer season

Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" is the final offering in the Stockton Theatre Project's third summer season. Staged at Atherton Auditorium, the show is filled with good laughs, tuneful music, touches of vintage Americana and a simple but pleasing storyline that continues to stand the test of time.

You might not be able to tell by the headline, but this is actually a review of the show, not a preview. And a good one, at that.

'Music Man' of all seasons

Buzz Halsing prefers the complexity of modern musicals to the chestnuts of American theater, and there's no denying that "The Music Man" falls into the latter category.

Indeed, Meredith Willson's tale of Professor Harold Hill and his efforts to swindle the good people of River City, Iowa, is marking its 50th anniversary in 2007. The musical is regularly staged by everyone from professional companies to high schools and certainly qualifies as an unabashed warhorse.

In the main picture for this story you can see the intricacy of the backdrops. In the secondary picture (above) you can see me on the right.

Eddie and Megan Simpsonized

As part of the promotional blitz for The Simpsons Movie, there is a Simpsonize Me site (sponsored by Burger King) where you can upload a photo of yourself and have it transformed into a Simpsons version of yourself (tweaking is required). Megan created versions of both of us, which I think are pretty impressive.

Graphic novel captures 'Heroes'

The hit NBC series Heroes is full of characters that could be torn from the pages of a graphic novel. The odd thing is, except for artwork on the show and a series of online adaptations, there has never been a Heroes graphic novel.

That changes this fall, when DC Comics offers a hardcover collection based on a series of 43 comic-book vignettes that appeared on the Heroes website last season.

You might remember that I mentioned the online comics back in October. The weekly series is up to Chapter 43, since they keep publishing them even when the show isn't airing.

'The Simpsons Movie' Hometown Premiere Contest

Cast your vote for the Springfield video that best represents "Simpson Spirit" and is most-deserving of hosting the hometown premiere of The Simpsons Movie, which hits theaters July 27. Voting ends July 9 at 11:59 pm PT. Please note that to view this presentation, you need a broadband Internet connection and the latest Flash plug-in (version 8 or higher).

The Springfield, Oregon video is pretty entertaining. Watch the credits, too.

Taco Bell using ripoff of Eels song?

I'm a fan of Eels (the band), and a recent Taco Bell commercial for "Fourth Meal" caught my attention because it uses music that sounds suspiciously like the song "Souljacker, Pt. 1" from the Eels album Souljacker.

First, listen to the song.


Next, listen to the commercial. It took me a while to track it down online, but you can see it if you follow these directions. Go to FourthMeal.com, then click on the "Theatre" link on the bottom. After the Theatre has loaded, click and drag off the "World Stops" ticket and it will begin playing the commercial.

You might be thinking that this is no big deal because musicians routinely license their songs or re-workings of their songs for advertisements. But the singular force behind Eels (Mark Oliver Everett, or "E") absolutely refuses to license his work for commercials (see FAQ). So either E has changed his stance or Taco Bell is doing something untoward. Because their commercial's music is way too similar for it to be an accident.

Marriage of Convenience: 7-Eleven, 'Simpsons'

After months of speculation, the convenience chain has revealed details of its "most massive and complex" monthlong promotion for the July 27 release of "The Simpsons Movie." Starting today, the marketer will remodel overnight a dozen stores in the U.S. and Canada into the Kwik-E-Marts of the cartoon family's fictional Springfield, USA hometown.

Check out this Flickr photo set of a converted store in Burbank, CA.

Big bats back dominant Lincecum

SAN FRANCISCO -- There were a lot of zeros in Sunday's game, mostly under the Diamondbacks' run column, but the biggest zero of all for starting pitcher Tim Lincecum was the one next to the number of walks issued.

We saw this game today and it was exciting despite the fact Barry Bonds didn't hit any homers. Really, how often do you see a 13-0 game? Plus, after it was over, the All-Star lineup was announced.

Guitar Riff

It's been noted by some that the central guitar riff in Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is very similar to that of Boston's "More Than A Feeling." But there are actually a couple of other songs I've noticed that use a similar riff (though it took me a long time to make the connection). Play the file below (requires QuickTime) to hear them and tell me if I'm just crazy (or if there are others I'm unaware of.

Update: It appears that due to Apple's DRM restrictions, that 23-second sound clip cannot be played by anyone else than myself. Good job protecting us all from my pirating ways, record labels!

So try this one instead:

Half Moon Bay photos

Follow the linked image below to see some photos of our weekend visit to Half Moon Bay. As an added bonus, they're the first pictures of me with my new glasses.

Half Moon Bay

London, How do I Hate Thee? Let me Count the Ways, 1, 2… 2012

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games ... unveiled the identity of their 2012 games ...

Designed by Wolff Olins at an expenditure of £400,000 (almost $800,000) the logo has been met with expected ambivalence, and, in some unavoidable cases, hatred — actually, so far, in 11,550 cases.