Dear Patrick Willis...

Brad Childress says that Brett Favre is starting this Sunday.

Mr. Willis, this is your chance for glory, to lower the average players' age, and to do a tremendous favor for the NFL.

Kthxbye!

Fingers crossed

Dear Hollywood (and Alexandre Aja), please don't screw this up:

Alexandre Aja's Piranha 3-D comes out today, but he's already planning his next project: the roguish Space Pirate Cobra. A precursor of Han Solo and Mal Reynolds, the anime character became huge in Europe, but now he's coming for us.

[....]

According to Deadline's report the other day, Aja wants to turn Cobra into a huge tentpole action film, and he's co-writing the script with Gregory Levasseur. The duo will also produce the film, along with Marc Sessego and Alexandra Milchan. Aja has a solid track record as a horror director, but wants to branch into big science fiction/fantasy action-adventure. He's been trying to get the blessing of creator Buichi Terasawa for years to make a big live-action adaptation, and has finally snagged it.

Here's the synopsis of Aja's film, according to Deadline:

In a future where merchant spaceships and ruthless brigands sail across space, Cobra is a notorious rogue pirate whose refusal to align with the United Galaxies Federation or the Pirates Guild puts him on the business end of a huge bounty. As he tries to keep his identity secret and avoid capture, Cobra teams up with a sexy bounty hunter named Jane, who is out to locate her sisters and decode a treasure map tattooed on their backs. Their goal: to liberate a lost treasure on Mars.

Sounds like the movie will cut from origin story to the latter-day Cobra arc of the Royal Sisters, led by Jane Royal. Interesting...

From io9. Image found on the intergoogles because I own the issue pictured.

Breakfast Granola for 8/20/10

Jordan Carver is what's for breakfast on this odd and mildly painful Friday.

Found on Hollywood Tuna.

So negroidian

Black folk, we got to do better!

Found, sadly, on Jalopnik. SMDH!

Ideological war

Whose side are you on? Choose wisely.

Found on Holy Taco.

Breakfast Granola for 8/19/10

Ugh, why did I drink up all the Baileys?

Oh, right...that happened.

Note to self: buy new bottle.

Courses and karts, oh my!

Don't expect too much of me once November 2 -- and the release of GT5 -- rolls around.

The course count for Polyphony Digital's real driving simulator Gran Turismo 5 is now approaching infinity, thanks to the game's just revealed Course Maker, shown off today at Gamescom in Germany.

Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi demoed the Course Maker feature today, showing that it's not the type of tool that will let players build a custom course from scratch, but something different. A fully featured track editor, Yamauchi says, "really requires a complete CG tool, which would limit the number of users who could use it."

Instead, Gran Turismo 5's Course Maker lets you build a custom racetrack based on a set of parameters. Players can select a theme, choose the number of sections and course type (one way or loop), weather, time of day and length. Two of the themes shown off were Toscany and the Belgian High Fens.

The Course Maker lets you edit that track section-by-section, choosing the frequency of curves, course width, sharpness of corners, degree of topography tracing, and bank angles. Those choices are set by sliders or drop down lists. Yamauchi created a pair of custom tracks, both with the same theme but with different parameters. He quickly took each for a test drive, illustrating how quickly a player could create two very different courses.

Yamauchi also offered a look at Gran Turismo 5's newest vehicle, karts. The Polyphony Digital head honcho said that it was planned to be a feature for the next game in the series, but after the feature was apparently "leaked," the team decided to include it earlier.

From Kotaku, brought to my attention by Jack Naples.

Breakfast Granola for 8/18/10

I'd just like to point out that I predicted this over the weekend.

From Philly, it's hilarious to read the sour grapes coming out of the ignorant and erstwhile charming to read the love from the knowledgeable over Brian Westbrook's acquisition.

Even if he never advances a football during the season, I think the wisdom and appreciation for the game that Westbrook imparts to every offensive mover is worth the $1.25 mil. From Gore and Dixon to Davis -- and probably even Crabtree and Ginn -- they'll all be better for this.

Image made at NFLshop.com.

Mirror mirror

Ever wondered how an evil twin of Denise Milani would turn out? Me neither.

P.S.: Skiing is still for suckers.

Found on Hollywood Tuna.

Breakfast Granola for 8/17/10

If you squint, there is a nightmare in this picture.

Found: more Reef

Having already identified Gilmara Jung from this post, I've just now lifted the veil from another model in the featured image. Wonder no more upon the short-haired brunette on the far left who is being accosted from behind by a long-haired brunette; it's Debora Comba.

You may otherwise find her with long and/or blonde hair, but short and dark really suits her best.

Found absolutely at random while wandering the intarwebs.

Breakfast Granola for 8/16/10

Neatly wrapped and to the point; call it "Cthulhu For Dummies."



Found on io9.