Routine Order

The Tintin Movie is bound to be released in 2009. Yes, it is true.

“After 25 years, they finally said ‘OK, let’s go’,” Nick Rodwell, head of Moulinsart NV, said of the protracted talks with Spielberg since the early 1980s.

- International Herald Tribune

The movie will be created by DreamWorks, that outfit headed by Steven Spielberg. Moulinsart Studios, the owner of Hergé’s rights to Tintin confirmed as much awhile ago. So far, we don’t know which of Tintin’s adventures will be featured in the movie, which could be the first of many, if the first succeeds. If I have anything to do with it, it should be a success!!

Let me try this once:) You can get your own free Zune player at myzunefree.com. All you have to do is sign up for one or more of the offers on display after you login, and complete enough offers to get one credit. You could get the one credit for completing just one offer, or, if you choose to try the several free, no-cost offers, you may need to follow through on more than one of the offers to earn your credit.

I’ve long been curious about these schemes, but this Microsoft Zune offer has a great FAQ that addresses the questions I have had in the past. In fact, the first question in the FAQ links to a video from the BBC that explains how these schemes work. Then there’s more:

How can you afford to give away a Microsoft Zune for free?
Our sponsors pay us a commission for users to try out their products and services. That is then used to purchase your Zune MP3 player or other related product.

The basic reason I signed up is because I have been wanting to try Blockbuster’s online video renting scheme for some time now. So I will just cancel my Netflix subscription and give Blockbuster a chance to impress me. What’s really cool about Blockbuster is that you can exchange the movies you get in the mail at any BlockBuster store, and instantly get a new movie! So unlike Netflix, you don’t always have to wait for the next movie to arrive in the mail! So as far as I am concerned, this is a win-win situation. I get the $9.99 for the first month Blockbuster rentals, and if enough of you choose to sign up for the free Zune offer, I might get a free Zune as well. If the blockbuster deal doesn’t cut it for you, try some of the other free, or even $1 offers. You can’t lose, especially with the money-back offers. So sign up for your free Zune now!

Oh man, Noureen DeWulf is sizzling hot in this Maxim Top 100 for 2007 pic.

There is even more! You can see this hot video shoot in which Noureen DeWulf poses for the pics. She’s isn’t wearing anything on top, but it is not really topless. When you are done, go over and see some more of her pics here. Thank you, Maxim, for giving us these extra goodies.

For a little background, here’s where we discovered Noureen’s actually East-Indian and Muslim, and from Georgia.

I am still trying to decide between an LCD TV and a Plasma TV, and so have been doing some research online. Did you know that Plasma TVs have been around since ‘92? Fujitsu invented them in 1992, and Plasma TVs have been available commerically since 1997. Wow, that is a long way going back!

Don’t the Panasonic plasma TVs look great? To its credit, Panasonic has built the largest commercial plasma TV at a massive 103 inches. The Plasma TV Reviews site also goes on to explain why these are better than LCD TVs. Briefly, they offer wider viewing angles and better black levels that drive a much higher contrast. So it makes sense to buy a plasma tv for viewing DVDs and HD tv. There aren’t too many HD channels coming down the pipe right now, so it has to be about the DVDs.

Noureen DeWulf is the hot hot hot lady in Ocean’s Thirteen. It is said that she is part Indian, as in East Indian. Man does she look hot.


Here’s some more pics of Noureen DeWulf.

Here’s what Noureen’s got to say about being Indian:

Well, my parents are from Pune, India although I was born here in the US. I have a strong sense of my Indian culture, I can speak Hindi ,Gujrati ,and Urdu and I cook Indian food! I am proud of my background, I love being Indian. I love playing Indian roles Both dramatic and comedic ones. People ask me a lot if I get tired of playing ethnic characters, they ask me if I want to move away from it, but the ironic truth is, when I play an ethnic character I feel fulfilled on a personal level. I love my heritage both as someone who grew up as a Muslim and as an Indian—it’s part of who I am and I would never deny it.

What is it about South-east asian women that tickles my bone? I will never know. I wish there were more of them in mainstream hollywood. So too Lebanese and Middle-eastern women. Noureen DeWulf is definitely here to stay for a while. I wish I could see her in more movies. Someone please give Noureen an Oscar, so we can see her around more

I love Studio Ghibli movies by Hayao Miyazaki. They are moving, eloquent, childish - yet mature, wonderful, wonderful. Call it anime, or cartoons, but they are really much, much more than that - they beat the Disney movies hands down.

So it’s not without reason that I am excited about a new Studio Ghibli movie, Ponyo on a Cliff (Gake no ue no Ponyo). The movie is slated for a Summer 2008 release. All we know now is that it is the story of Sasuke, a five-year-old boy , and a Princess Goldfish (Ponyo) that wants to become human. The movie will be produced by the traditional hand-drawn method.

Miyazaki’s grandson has been chosen as the model for the 5-year-old boy. About 70-80% of the film, which apparently shares some thematic elements with The Little Mermaid, takes place at sea. Miyazaki and the Ghibli staff have been location hunting in the vicinity of Tomo-no-Ura. — ICv2 News

You can get some more news and gossip here and here.

Via the galactic surf entertainment portal, I came to know that the Saw III movie poster had something unique about it - the lead actor’s blood was mixed into the red ink used for the poster. How much weirder can it get? Saw III wasn’t too well received, but with this blood-thing maybe the posters will become collectors items or something.

Tobin Bell is the star of the movie. Sounds like just another strange plan to attract media attention to the movie. I couldn’t help but recall how in the Red Violin, the varnish used for the violin had the maker’s wife’s blood mixed in. Maybe that was why that violin sounded so good. I have written about why Stradivarius violins sound so good - it might be in the varnish according to research.

I saw this movie Nowhere in Africa, which was a nice movie and all that. What caught my attention was a dialogue in the movie, where the father of the protagonist says, “One always loves more than the other - that is the problem.” I thought that was a very insightful statement.

Now I come across the Passion Paradox. Briefly, it says:

Passion Paradox is a theory about romantic relationships created by Dean Delis in his book “Passion Paradox”. According to Delis, one partner is more in love – or emotionally invested in the relationship – than the other. The more love the loving partner wants from the other, the less the other feels like giving.

The more in love partner is in the one-down position, whilst the less in love partner occupies the one-up position. Men and women can occupy both positions at various times.

I now wonder if the script writer or the author actually knew that there was a name for what he/she wrote down for that dialogue.

A youtube playlist with all the James Bond movie titles (shown at the start of the movie). I have loved each of the ones I have seen at the theater. The latest one was too gorgeous for words, though I must say I missed the Bond Music Theme sorely this time.

Martin Klasch: Video: The James Bond title sequences