The cinematic power of lightning.

I had the pleasure this weekend of listening to the movie "Like Mike" as I drove the kids to my nephew's tol. In this movie, lightning strikes a pair of Michael Jordan's old shoes, granting the wearer Mike's basketball powers.

This got me to a-wonderin'. What powers does lightning have, according to the movies?

So far we have:

The aforementioned shoe powers.
Enough jigawatts to send your car back in time. (Back to the Future)
Enables your computer to create living beings. (Weird Science)
Animates reassembled bodies. (Frankenstein)
Kill power-hungry sorceress queens. (Willow)

Top news items- Recent discovery in Arizona condo- BBC finds another group of panicky children- Swedes don't mind strong smell

Quiz me! I got four and Bill 6. It is dismaying that we both can ID Croatioan bird susceptibilites but neither of us know much about Rosa Parks.

Get your history quiz- Two great nations, no filler

Quiz me like you used to! I got a poor showing of 7/12. At least two I realized between the click and seeing the "Wrong."
I got Agincourt, though. Bill did not. He got 10/12

President B. Demented

Makin movies As I was surfing looking for werewolf pics like the excellent "Ginger Snaps" I found this bit on the Psychotronics site. Interesting.

Scientist determine that Elasmosaurs did not keep kosher

Spot the British spelling in P 1 Interesting. Today's key vocabulary builders are:
benthic = bottom-dwelling
bromalite = fossilised mass of food waste
gastroliths = stomach stones

Bill, who provided today's link, also provided today's bonus word
Corprolite = fossilised poop

BBC Weekly quiz- seems to be the ubertalented social freak edition

Quiz me! If you are puzzling over the FatboySlim/David Byrne one, don't do what I did - go with your gut.
I got 4, Bill got the bib 6 because he doesn't know as much as me about the hubbub over prep-school proms.

Bonus Quiz!
Know your geographies?
Thank you Sir, may I have another?
Bill, a reknowned cartophile, says, "It's a hard slog if you're not up on Ordinance Survey maps. I'm a USGS man myself."

Bonus picture of Tarzan!

Remember when guys in space was news?

Taikonauts! If I had known that there were Chinese astronauts in orbit for the last couple of days I might have done things a little differently.
What is up re-designed Star-Tribune? Got a special "old news review" planned for Sunday that was going to hip me to this?

Nothing this week about Jamaican tourism campaigns of the 80s.

Quiz me! Not that there was anything in the news about "Come back, to Jamaica," but I hope this reminds you of that soothing, inviting voice.
This weeks quiz features some fantastic language and the Lagos question alone is worth the trip.
Bil got six, missing only the Al Jazeera question. I was swept up in a Carribean reverie and missed most for a mere three.

Today's hot headlines from my Cubicle-Weetabix from home supplanted by free parmesian cheese bagels- That Jamaican thing-Downtown worker renews driver license in 4.5 minutes on whim while walking through Gov't Center, new passport considered- Interoffice mail brings more of same- United Way Raffle coming up, watch for results-Hyenas considered

Don't blame me, I voted for Chank Song-taek

Know your despots. Lots to see here. Follow the link to the family tree and then click another to find the profile of profligate feudalist Kim Jong-il.
Your assignment; Compare and contrast to this other power struggle from recent headlines.

And when you play it backwards it still sounds stupid

HEAvens to Betsy My niece showed me this. I am glad that kids are still being exposed to these classics even though it's not quite like KSHE-95.
Excuse me now while I go smoke a bowl of hairy fauna and buy a bunch of toys. Hail Stan.

Zod 2008

Zod belongs in the White House Not an album cover.

It's not Nauru. They're pretty happy about their map.

Quiz me! I got a big 5 and Bill was at 6, thwarted by his ignorance of urban affairs.

Did someone say Nauru?

The Physical world

Quiz my physics knowlege! Woo- what fun! And it's got cool drag and drop questions.
Bill got a 5 and I got 8 which makes me a "live wire." By the way, I got the live wire question despite the Anglocentric color code.

Tinned Frog Extravaganza Planned

French Ambassaodr recalled in flap The British want your frogs and toads. I think it's a pretty good idea but mainly wish to point out that Mountain Chicken Frog is the national dish of Dominica.

Your assignment: What does the national dish of Dominica taste a lot like?