Mad Reporter On The Loose!

This made me smile today from Nick's little blog site at madreporter.blogspot.com.

How God Created Man

On the first day God created the cow. God said, "You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said, "That's a kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. Let me have twenty years and I'll give back the other forty." And God agreed.

On the second day, God created the dog. God said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said, "That's too long to be barking. Give me ten years and I'll give back the other ten." So God agreed.

On the third day God created the monkey. God said, "Entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh. I'll give you a twenty year life span."
Monkey said, "How boring, monkey tricks for twenty years? I don't think so. Dog gave you back ten, so that's what I'll do too, okay?" And God agreed again.

On the fourth day God created man. God said, "Eat, sleep, play, have sex, enjoy. Do nothing, just enjoy. I'll give you twenty years." Man said, "What? Only twenty years? No way man. Tell you what...

To get to the punchline, visit Mad Reporter.

Nick's blog is pretty much his notebook for jotting down jokes he's found all over the Web. Expect that its full of humor and wit. It's a very simple blog, regularly updated and uncomplicated. Apparently he's got a penchant for Chuck Norris jokes.

So if you need to humor your blues away, hop on over to Mad Reporter. Tell Nick I sent you... then run as fast as you can!

Gmail Releases Collaborative Video

Some time ago Google's Gmail service invited users to participate in a collaborative video project with the theme "how an email message travels around the world". The rule was to print out the Gmail M-velope and shoot a 10-second sketch with the Gmail-logo-bearing-prop entering the frame from the left and exiting to the right.

After 1,181 YouTube clips from 65 countries, the folks at Gmail finally released the "Gmail: A Behind The Scenes Video".

I so wanted to send a clip myself. My idea was to pay homage to Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather". After all, with all the spamming and phishing and whatnots going on in and about cyberspace, a mafioso figure checking out emails is not so far fetched.

Picture this (in a single tracking shot, no cuts):

Henchman in black suit enters screen left, opens a wooden door, approaches a balding figure behind a finely varnished desk with the back of his plush armchair toward the camera. Henchman moves closer to the "Don" and whispers into his ear, the Don still not visible to the camera. The henchman moves slightly off-cam as the armchair swings around revealing a Brando look-alike staring quizically at the standing henchman. Henchman presents M-velope. The Don smiles a be-moustached grin and nods approvingly as he passes on the M-velope to screen right onto another henchman. Don mouths off "bene, bene" as he waves a traditional goodbye (palm facing himself), as cam dolly's back out of the room, wooden door closes. Fade to black.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get any convincing enough Marlon-Brando-wannabe in my cast. Besides, I doubt whether the Gmail fellas will risk copyright issues when using Nino Rota's "Speak Softly Love" soundtrack theme. Anyway, here is the final "Gmail: A Behind The Scenes Video". Enjoy!

All Roads Lead to "Rush Hour 3"

Martial arts icon Jackie Chan and comic loudmouth Chris Tucker team up for the third offering of the Rush Hour movie franchise. Coincidentally, "Rush Hour 3" is set in Paris as was my earlier movie blog on "2 Days in Paris". What's up with the French nowadays I wonder?

Expect a lot of action and double the dose of side-splitting laughs as the crimebusting odd couple of LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) and Chinese Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) take on the Triad crime ring at the French capital.

Director Brett Ratner once again takes the helm as did he in the first two Rush Hour installments back in 2001 and 1998. It seems Ratner is heavily favored for pushing the limits of last-in-a-series movies of popular trilogies - case in point, his previous project in "X-men 3: The Last Stand".

Reports say that "Rush Hour 3" opened at the box-office displacing Matt Damon's "Bourne Ultimatum" at the top spot. However, do not go looking for award material here. Its an all-too-familiar formula of frenzy fist-fights, funnies and friendship. Just enjoy it with your favorite popcorn with cola fix.

Julie Delpy Returns for "2 Days in Paris"

She's all the buzz again these days, this French-American film artiste.

Julie Delpy, the star of the critically acclaimed 1995 indie film "Before Sunrise" and its 2004 sequel "Before Sunset" re-appears to the delight of fans sans her pet co-star Ethan Hawke for her latest production "2 Days in Paris".

Julie Delpy pulls a one-woman auteurship for "2 Days in Paris" as writer / director / editor / co-producer, and co-star alongside Adam Goldberg (appeared in "Saving Private Ryan" and "A Beautiful Mind"). The culture-clash comedy already won a Coup de Coeur Award at the Mons International Festival of Love Films in Belgium.

Ms. Delpy was captivating in "Before Sunrise" and daring in "An American Werewolf in Paris". Unfortunate though that her memorable performances seems to be typecasted to her "Before Sunrise" character.

Her talent for filmmaking has grown through the years and this particular project is bound to move her career forward towards more notable movie projects both on-screen and behind-the-scenes.