Pharm animals, The Prisoner and Caduceus Cellars
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Today we’ve got science, art and technology . . . to the seventh degree.
1. Pharm animals
Would you like some therapeutic drug milk? Here’s an interesting story about another controversial FDA approval: “F.D.A. Approves Drug From Gene-Altered Goats.” They are producing drugs in the milk of genetically engineered goats, rabbits, hamsters and more. The world is our playground. Animals are human life-saving machines! This is only the beginning. This is pharming! Read more news articles.
2. Television: “The Prisoner” remake, “Lost” and Towelie
AMC is currently remaking “The Prisoner,” starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen. Huh. I wonder what impact that will have on Christopher Nolan’s desire to create a The Prisoner movie in the near future. Fail? Maybe Nolan will work on the Howard Hughes biopic he shelved five years ago when Scorsese made his own Hughes movie, The Aviator. Christian Bale as Number Six in the year 2015?
That reminds me. “Lost” seems quite inspired by Patrick McGoohan’s “The Prisoner” (and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five) . . . and after the plane crash in the first episode of season four, “Heroes” looks like it could be turning into “Lost.” All they need to do now is time-travel into each other and merge into one show.
I have one final TV note. If you were a writer for “South Park,” how strong would the urge be to create a swimming-themed episode so you could pair Michael Phelps (including party bong) with Towelie the stoned talking towel? Before swim practices and meets, Towelie could say, “Don’t forget your towel.” Comedy gold, or maybe not?
3. Another Watchmen viral video
This new viral video was of interest to me: The Keene Act & YOU (1977). I hope the Watchmen movie ends up being as good as the promo stuff.
4. Weird art
Here are three creepy/interesting art pieces, some purchasable, from Gizmodo: skeleton Bio-Cycle, trilobite fossil clock and Triceracopter sculpture.
5. Human speech markup language
Scientists at IBM have developed a computerized voice that is almost indistinguishable from a human. The new technology is called “generating paralinguistic phenomena via markup in text-to-speech syntheses.”
6. NIN PowerPoint
This YouTube video is interesting. It’s a 15-minute presentation, titled “How Trent Reznor and NIN Represent the Future of the Music Business: A Case Study by Michael Masnick.” 280 slides in 15 minutes!
7. Caduceus Cellars
I don’t like wine, but I am contemplating trying to check out Maynard James Keenan‘s winery, Caduceus Cellars and his Merkin Vineyards, when I’m in the Sedona, Arizona area next week. Keenan says:
This is a prime spot for vineyards. An untapped resource. But the master plan is to have the Merkin Vineyards Bed and Breakfast set up for when California drops in the ocean. Beach front property and the New Napa Valley. You got it.
See you in Arizona Bay?