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February 25, 2010

2012 : Will not be the end !!

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That's the very scientifical truth explained by Don Yeomans, a senior research scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Yeomans heads a group charged by NASA to watch for objects whose orbits bring them close to Earth). I just relay the article published in november 2009 on the JPL blog's website.


There apparently is a great deal of interest in celestial bodies, and their locations and trajectories at the end of the calendar year 2012. Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake NASA news release out there… So here is the scientific reality on the celestial happenings in the year 2012.

Nibiru, a purported large object headed toward Earth, simply put - does not exist. There is no credible evidence - telescopic or otherwise - for this object’s existence. There is also no evidence of any kind for its gravitational effects upon bodies in our solar system.

I do however like the name Nibiru. If I ever get a pet goldflish (and I just may do that sometime in early 2013), Nibiru will be at the top of my list.

The Mayan calendar does not end in December 2012. Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period, but then – just as your calendar begins again on January 1 - another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.

There are no credible predictions for worrisome astronomical events in 2012. The activity of the sun is cyclical with a period of roughly 11 years and the time of the next solar maximum is predicted to occur about May 2013. However, the Earth routinely experiences these periods of increased solar activity – for eons - without worrisome effects. The Earth’s magnetic field, which deflects charged particles from the sun, does reverse polarity on time scales of about 400,000 years but there is no evidence that a reversal, which takes thousands of years to occur, will begin in 2012. Even if this several thousand year-long magnetic field reversal were to begin, that would not affect the Earth’s rotation nor would it affect the direction of the Earth’s rotation axis… only Superman can do that.

The only important gravitational tugs experienced by the Earth are due to the moon and sun. There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and Sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.

The predictions of doomsday or dramatic changes on December 21, 2012 are all false. Incorrect doomsday predictions have taken place several times in each of the past several centuries. Readers should bear in mind what Carl Sagan noted several years ago; “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, the burden of proof is on the people making these claims. Where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and all the passionate, persistent and profitable assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.

For more information on the silliness surrounding December 2012, see:

Wikipedia: look under “Nibiru collision.”

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February 22, 2010

Phase in Space - Paul O'Neill

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A very short story found on eastoftheweb.com that reminds me a little bit the hilarious style of Douglas Adam in Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy. This story was classified as scientific-fiction in eastoftheweb.com, but it is more like a funny story. The story didn’t really need to take place on a foreign planet (any jungle on Earth would have done just as well) but the space part got my attention. This story is funny because it shows how males react to a group of females in fur bikinis and what they are thinking about most of the time. It also shows that women arent as dumb as men think they are. Last message refers to a truth that most men need to give more care to their own kids.

Phase was lost. There was no question about it. At first, the jungle had seemed a nice enough place - full of interesting birds and animals, and lots of smokeable looking plants growing all around.
Now, four days later, the plants had all been too damp to light, the birds kept him awake at night and Phase had yet to encounter an animal which did not try to attack him. Scratch that. He had yet to encounter an animal which did not succeed in attacking him.
Now he was lost in an uninhabited, alien jungle on a far away planet in a completely parallel universe and those drums were driving him insane.
The impossibility of drumming in an unihabited jungle hit him about the same time as the spear-butt from out of the bushes to his left.
He awoke to find himself sat in a clearing surrounded by about four dozen young women wearing the sort of fur bikini that would have made Raquel Welch give up and go home.
He very carefully didn't pinch himself in case he was dreaming.
"Hello," he said, still quite dazed from the attack.
Several of the younger ones (aged around 18) took flight across the clearing towards the mud huts that surrounded it. "My God!" he thought "They look almost as good from that angle as they do from this"
The eldest woman there (23ish) looked him up and down.
"You are male?" She asked.
"You can't tell?" he replied, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.
"All our men were killed several years ago in a bizarre accident involving a herd of Tortoise. Don't ask. We have spent the last few years searching the jungle for more men to help with the whole 'having children' thing."
Phase quietly resolved never to pinch himself again for as long as this lasted, just in case.
"So, when do I start?"
"Right away, if you like," said the tall brunette to his left.
Phase rubbed his hands with glee.
"The children are over here." Said a redhead.
Phase was confused. "Children?"
"Yes," informed a blonde, "We have more than enough men for the first bit. This jungle was full of tribes whose males were only too willing to volunteer. But we're much too busy having sex to raise the children ourselves, so any other men are assigned the task of looking after them."
The first girl took his arm. "Don't worry, the rest of your life will just fly by if you concentrate on changing nappies and not trying to escape in any way." She looked puzzled. "Why are you pinching yourself like that?"

Paul O'Neill

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February 19, 2010

Watchmen de Alan Moore en español

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Vengo de descubrir en Scribd esta joya de los comics en español y gratis. Aquí va, para los fans de Alan Moore, o para aquellos que como yo (re)descubrieron este excelente autor a traves de Watchmen. Buena lectura!

Alan Moore - Watchmen (Spanish)

A descarger urgentemente antes de que la Warner Bros o DC decidan de suprimer el post en Scribd.

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February 17, 2010

Tank Girl : Le 'comming back' en France

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Depuis le 11 février 2010 les lecteurs francophones fans de Tank Girl sont ravis. Et pour cause ! Tank Girl est de retour en France. Je dis bien de retour car en 1996 il y a eu déjà Tank Girl de l'éditorial Vents d'Ouest (maintenant appartenant au groupe Glénat).

Cette fois-ci c'est Ankama Editions qui reprends le flambeau pour nous livrer 3 premiers tomes dans ce premier trimestre de 2010 (tomes 1 et 2 sorties le 11 février, le tome 3 en mars). Bonne nouvelle, cette édition est assez fidèle aux éditions originales publiées chez Penguin.

Qui est Tank Girl ?

Cette Tank Girl est une punkette (et aussi un garçon manqué); mais c'est quand même plus qu'une incarnation de la culture punk, c'est plutôt un produit issu de la contre-culture britannique des années 80. Le mouvement grebo, The The, The Smiths, The Pixies et quelques comics cultes comme X-Force ou Judge Dredd inspirèrent Alan Martin, le scénariste, et Jamie Hewlett, le dessinateur (co-fondateur du groupe Gorillaz) , lors de la création de Tank Girl. De plus, ce n'est pas seulement les héros de Tank Girl qui représentent cette mouvance, c'est aussi le comic en lui-même avec un style désorganisé, anarchique, parfois absurde et psychédélique.

Pour ce qui est de l'histoire, elle est axé autour de Tank Girl (alias Rebecca Buck, une adolescente très sûre d'elle et complètement décomplexée, pilote de tank, chasse-primes) et Booga (un kangourou mutant) dans une Australie post-apocalyptique ou La Mafia dicte sa loi dans un fond de corruption.


Guide pour le collectionneur (liste non exhaustive) :
Prix donnés à titre indicatif pour comics ou TPB en état quasi neufs
  • Tank Girl (1991) : 4 comics de Dark Horse Comics (38 USD chaque un)
  • Tank Girl II (1993) : 4 comics de Dark Horse Comics (entre 30 et 38 USD chaque un)
  • Tank Girl - The Odyssey (1995) : 4 comics de DC Vertigo Press (entre 13 et 20 USD)
  • Tank Girl - Apocalypse (1995) : 4 comics de DC Vertigo Press (30 USD)
  • Tank Girl Movie Adaptation (1995) : DC Vertigo Press (30 USD)
  • Tank Girl - The Gifting TPB (2007) : en 4 parties de IDW Published Comic (entre 4 et 15 USD selon la couverture)
  • Tank Girl - Visions of Booga (2007) : 4 parties, IDW Published Comic (entre 4 et 5 USD)
  • Tank Girl: Armadillo and a Bushel of Other Stories (2008) : Titan Distributing (7 USD)
  • The Cream of Tank Girl (2008) : Art book de Titan Distributing (21 USD)
  • Tank Girl - SkidMarks (2009) : 4 comics de Titan Distributing (entre 4 et 7 USD)
  • Tank Girl - Dark Nuggets (2009) : "One Shot" comic de Image Comics (7 USD)

A venir en 2010 :
  • Tank Girl - Carioca : en 6 parties (dessin de Mick McMahon)
  • Tank Girl - The Royal Escape : en 4 parties de IDW Published

Liens conseillés pour plus d'informations :
  • http://www.tank-girl.com
  • http://www.tankgirl.info
  • http://www.milehighcomics.com
  • http://comicsando.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/tank-girl

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February 13, 2010

Action Comics #1 on Lego

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An awesome Lego representation of the cover of Action Comics No.1 (issue where Superman appears for the first time). Only the torso of Superman is a customized Lego piece. The Superman's pose is not exactly the same but it's due to Lego minifigs limitations.

Lego construction and photo by levork

And the original cover...

If you want to read this magazine without having to spend 317000 dollars, follows this link.

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February 11, 2010

Fluffy Starr is on the air

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Fluffy Starr is not only a gorgeous brune ex-model and makeup artist from Vancouver that turned musician. She's maybe a pioneer. Her music is hard but also soft, she and her synthesizers, electric guitars, and guitar effects pedals moves between the dark side and the light side.

A Starr is born (thanks God!) and is a girl, and is a musician girl, and she makes a futuristic electro-rock... and is everywhere on the Net! I'm not going to talk about his biography, I'll simply tell you to visit her website and take a look at social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to see how Fluffy Starr is much more than just a musician.


Fluffy Starr in one minute of reading:
  • 1 album : "Come On" (14 songs) - She's actually on studio making the second one.
  • She's the female voice on “Frozen”, “Stars Of Orion” and “Welcome To The End” of Celldweller.
  • Music she likes : Garbage, NIN, Marilyn Manson, No Doubt, Rammstein, ...
  • Press : "...the slink of Garbage, the electro-thrash of Nine Inch Nails, the glam-pop of Duran Duran- you get the idea, industrialized sex rock- she forged a uniquely lustful, soulful kind of industro power pop that's equal parts Blade Runner, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and decadent Hollywood glamour." from Sleazegrinder, New York Waste Magazine.
  • She writes unusual stories, she's very photogenic, she likes Science Fiction !
  • Just a three weak points in her profile : she enjoys fashion, chocolate and shopping ... like all the other women in the world :-)
www.fluffystarr.com


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February 8, 2010

Asterix on new french stamp

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Dear stamp collector. If you like cartoon stamps, don't miss the last one stamp of Asterix. In one or two years you will have to pay much more than 5.20 euros.

Since December 3, 2009, La Poste is celebrating 50 years of Asterix with a 6 stamps block.

You'll find in here:

- The smallest french stamp ever issued, "Idefix";
- The largest and heaviest stamp, "Obelix", with his menhir covered with stone powder;
- But also the stamp where Panoramix distributes the magic potion (you will maybe discover micro-texts, and perhaps the secret of the magic potion!).

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February 4, 2010

A short film of "Rendez-vous with Rama"

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This is not new ... The film "Rendez-vous with Rama" will not happen. Perhaps you do not know that a little film travels through the net. It's a short student film directed and animated by Aaron Ross... Three minutes of real Sci-Fi happiness.


Rendezvous with Rama from Aaron Ross on Vimeo.

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February 1, 2010

The most expensive LEGO set

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If you think that "Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon" LEGO set is one of the most expensive sets you are very wrong. OK, I agree, it's expensive but you look another way this LEGO Star Wars set after checking the following amounts.

Without taking into account customs sets and other very limited LEGO items (without a classical reference number) as the "LECA Automobile LEGO Inside Tour (LIT) Exclusive 2005 Edition" I found the following incredible prices :

For new sealed sets (or almost new, with box, instructions) :

1. 7750 Steam Engine (1980) => 8000.00 USD
2. 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train (1980) => 4174.46 USD (3000 EUR)
3. 1651 Maersk Line Container Truck (1980) => 4000.00 USD
4. 113 Motorized Train Set (1966) => 3757.01 USD (2700 EUR)
5. 122 Loco and Tender (1969) => 3617.86 USD (2600 EUR)
6. 182 Train Set with Signal (1975) => 3478.72 USD (2500 EUR)
7. 1063 Community Workers (1985) => 3000.00 USD
8. 1952 Dairy Tanker (1989) => 2500.00 USD
9. 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion (2006) => 2500.00 USD
10. 6399 Airport Shuttle (1990) => 2200.00 USD


For used but complete sets :

1. 1651 Maersk Line Container Truck (1980) => 2000.00 USD
2. 106 UNICEF Van (1985) => 1500.00 USD
3. 810 Town Plan - Continental European (1961) => 1063.04 USD (764 EUR)
4. 138 Electronic Train (1969) => 1043.61 USD (750 EUR)
5. 310 ESSO Filling Station (1958) => 946.21 (680 EUR)
6. 308 Fire Station (1958) => 946.21 USD (680 EUR)
7. 725 Town Plan (1961) => 866.33 USD (623 EUR)
8. 5563 Racing Truck (1999) => 850.00 USD
9. 1589 Town Square (1978) => 829.59 USD (596 EUR)
10. 726 12V Western Train with 2 Wagons and Cowboys (1976) => 750 USD


If we consider the number of parts of each set, the most expensive LEGO set for new condition is the "1063 Community Workers" (44 USD/piece, including minifigs) and for used condition the "106 UNICEF Van" (27 USD/piece).


So even if you feel that by buying the "10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon" at 500 USD (0,000883 USD/piece) or the "10188 Death Star" at 400 USD (0,10518 USD/piece) you will empty your bank, in fact you'll get a deal and these two sets are clearly very cheaper.

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The Big Pink

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What's "The Big Pink" ? It's about pure electro-rock with elegant melodies and sexy noises. The multi-instrumentalists Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell are The Big Pink (joined by Akiko Matsuura (drums, vocals), Leopold Ross (bass), Adam Prendergast (bass), Jo Apps (backing vocals), Valentine Fillol-Cordier (backing vocals) and Daniel O'Sullivan (multi-instruments)). They first album, A Brief History of Love, remind me Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance... a little bit of The Jesus and Mary Chain.

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