Chessboxing

Brains Meets Brawn
Inspired by the comic book by Dutch artists Iepe Rubingh (aka "the Joker"), this new sport is making a splash in Cologne, Germany. Competitors face each other in 11 alternating rounds, 6 chess, 5 boxing. The match starts with a four minute round of chess, then the gloves go on for a two minute round of boxing, and so on.

You can win by way of old fashioned KO, checkmate, referee's decision, or if your opponent exceeds the allotted total of twelve minutes for an entire match on the chessboard (or a "nerdout" as I like to call it).

The European chessboxing champion is Frank Stoldt, a 36-year-old riot cop and former kickboxer from Berlin. Chessboxing is slated to make its American debut in either LA or NY in early 2007.

Germany Advances

Germany beats Argentina 4-2 PSO
2006 World Cup hosts, Germany, beat a tough Argentinian team to advance to the semi-finals. Argentina were among the favorites to win it all, but thanks to a game- tying goal by Germany's Miroslav Klose in the 89th minute, Germany held on and prevailed in the deciding penalty shoot-out.

Klose is a leading candidate for the Golden Shoe, which is awarded to the leading goalscorer in the tournament. This is the second consecutive World Cup he has scored at least 5 goals.

Germany's semi-final opponent will be Italy, who defeated Ukraine 3-0 earlier today.

Blade: The Series

Get Ready For Some Serious Sucking
Spike TV will unleash Blade: The Series on hapless cable subscribers this month. Kirk Jones will play the Wesley Snipes role in this story of a half-man, half-vampire battling other vampires.

Consider yourself warned. Or perhaps you're looking for a guilty pleasure this summer. If so, bombs away!

Back To The Futurama

The Futurama Will Once Again Be Now
"Good news everyone! Straight from a one-eyed alien's mouth - 13 new episodes of Futurama have been confirmed by Katey Sagal on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show. All the original actors have signed up too."

[from Slashdot]


"Futurama is to return for four feature-length, straight-to-DVD movies, it has been confirmed.

The cartoon series was axed by broadcast network FOX more than two years ago amid lacklustre ratings but has since performed well in syndication on the Cartoon Network and has sold well on DVD.

Earlier this month it was speculated that the show could follow in the footsteps of Family Guy and come back for a new run of TV episodes but production studio 20th Century Fox TV has now decided to resurrect it via a different medium.

'This Futurama project is a done deal,' confirmed Billy West, the voice of Fry, in a post on his website. 'Everybody is excited to get back together - as I am!'

Production will begin July or August for a likely release early in 2007."

[from Digital Spy]

Picks for June 2006

movie pick
Nacho Libre - in theaters June 16, 2006

Jack Black + Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) = comedy gold

music pick
Hot Chip: The Warning - in stores June 13, 2006

Latest indie dance sensations. Imagine, if you will, a couple of pasty Brits trying to sound like downtempo Timbaland or Prince.

Dylan Moran Rules

My buddy Jay turned me on to this Irish comedian. You may know him from the "classic zombie rom com of 2004" Shaun of the Dead.

The picture above is from the pilot episode of a Britcom he starred in called Black Books about a miserable drunkard who runs a book store. He hires his best friend whom he enjoys torturing, such as when his friend comes into the store looking for "The Little Book of Calm" and instead our hard drinking hero offers him "The History of Screaming" and a book about tanks. I'll have to check that one out on DVD.

Here are some random stand-up quotes from Dylan:

"Kids, they are always hurting themselves. It's like, "Quick, get me to casualty quick!" while your doing something important like sitting down picking your ear."

On drugs: "I don't do drugs. If I want a rush I just stand up when I'm not expecting it."

On the song 'Funk Soul Brother': "If you covered a broom handle with oil and shoved it up my arse, then put me on a trampoline, in a lift, I could write a better song on the walls."