Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Prince's Word of the Day: Lucubration

No diatribe today. Just a word that really doesn't seem necessary.

Today I was sent "lucubration." This word is defined as "the act of studying by candlelight; nocturnal study; meditation."

Does that really need its own word? Would you really say "Oh hey sorry, man. I was lucubrating in my room. I didn't hear you." Or would you maybe say "I was studying by candlelight."

Who the hell studies by candlelight anymore anyway? No one, that's who. I propose that this word be stricken from the books. We don't need it. Plus its a waste of paper to put words like this in the dictionary. We all need to do our part to save this big blue ball we call Earth. Even Merriam-Webster.

Guess What Came Out Today

So Dan Brown's latest book came out today and I you may have guessed my mother bit the bullet and bought a copy. This was surprising to me because Moms hasn't been much of a reader lately. She's been into audiobooks and I figured she would go that route.

In any event, the book is now in my family's possession and I imagine I will get around to reading it at some point. The exciting thing about a new book is that sometimes you really don't know where it will take you.

Lets see what The Lost Symbol is about from the product description:

In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he is the world’s most popular thriller writer. The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling--a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown’s most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale.

As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object--artfully encoded with five symbols--is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon--a prominent Mason and philanthropist--is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

As the world discovered in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown’s novels are brilliant tapestries of veiled histories, arcane symbols, and enigmatic codes. In this new novel, he again challenges readers with an intelligent, lightning-paced story that offers surprises at every turn. The Lost Symbol is exactly what Brown’s fans have been waiting for . . . his most thrilling novel yet.

Wow! Sounds exciting doesn't it? I guess if I were to hazard a guess I would say that Robert "Tom Hanks" Langdon will decipher some crazy symbol which leads him on a wild goose chase. Along the way he will meet a smart, sexy young woman who will become his love interest and help a former mentor. But wait! The mentor is in on the plot and is setting up the protagonist! Oh the horror! But don't worry. Langdon will come through in the end and he and his new lady will live happily ever after until the next book.

Now I could be wrong about this little plot synopsis, but I doubt it. I'm confident in my prediction because that is exactly what has happened in every one of his other books.

I don't get this whole literary sensation. The books are formulaic at best. There are finer works of literature than this. But that doesn't mean they aren't entertaining. Reading a Dan Brown book is the literary equivalent of a Michael Bay film.

Like I said, I will get around to reading this at some point. If I'm write -- or wrong! -- I will let you know. Also, if I inadvertently ruined this book for you, I apologize. What can I say? I'm passionate.

Now back to my It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 4 DVDs.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Hardees Releases Big Hardee


Oh boy. I'm in trouble now.

Apparently Hardees had to outdo sibling fast food chain Carl's Jr. The other chain just released the Big Carl, which was there answer to McDonald's Big Mac. That girly sandwich only had two patties, making the Big Hardee the clear winner in the Kill-all-the-Fatties contest.

I'll let you know how it is if I survive it.

EDITOR'S AWESOME BURGER TANGENT: The other day I stopped by Columbia's Fatburger to try their delicious Maui Banana Milkshake. Of course I got myself a little snack too. The cool thing was when they yelled "Fatburger" back to the grill, this huge dude turned and acknowledged it. It was none other than Orlando Brown, former Baltimore Raven and current restauranteur.

Brown, seen here smacking the shit out of Jeff Triplette while with the Cleveland Browns.

I was going to say something cool like "Thanks Zeus!" but I'm a total chicken shit.

R.I.P. Bodhi

In case you had not heard, Patrick Swayze passed away this evening after a long bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

Sway is responsible for a ton of awesome roles, including Dalton in Road House, where he ripped out a dude's throat. Despite that I will always remember him for his work in what is quite probably one of my favorite movies of all time. I'm referring of course to Point Break. Sway starred as Bodhi, the Zen surf guru and bank robber who takes a young, dumb and full of cum Johnny Utah (played by Keanu Reeves in what is by far his greatest role) under his wing and teaches him how to surf... and live.

I don't think I need to tell you how the rest of the story goes.

The movie is all kinds of awesome and culminates in this truly epic scene. Please enjoy it here and then buy this movie if you do not own it.

Vaya con dios.


Enjoy this too.

The Prince's Word of the Day: Crapulous

So I get a word of the day sent to me each morning from Dictionary.com. Its a fun way to stroke my ego because most of the words they send me I already know. As you may have noticed, I have an exceptional command of the English language, which means I talk and write real good.

Today's offering was a bit of a disappointment. The word was "crapulous." I confess that I did not know this word but had a pretty rad idea as to what it meant. I was surprised to find that it means "given to or characterized by gross excess in drinking or eating." The wonderful thing about language is that no matter how much you know or read or discover there will always be little words that fly under the radar and surprise you. This was one of those.

I totally think crapulous should be the opposite of fabulous. I think the words construction lends itself to that. Let's examine. First, we have the root word "crap" which means doody or shit. Then we have "-ulous" which is the end of fabulous.

Dictionary.com defines "fabulous" as "almost impossible to believe; incredible." I think we should redefine crapulous to mean the exact same thing but only with a crappy connotation, i.e. "We went to the The Prince's party and all he had was a case of Miller High Life and a bag of Utz. It was totally crapulous."

We have the power to do this. Who is with me?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Paranormal Activity: The Supposed Scariest Movie of the Year

So here is something that I thought you guys might like. This new movie, Paranormal Activity, was apparently the bee's knees at Slamdance, the alternative film festival held during Sundance. I was reading online and in my favorite pop culture magazine, Entertainment Weekly, that this movie is one of the scariest films to come out in a long time.

The trailer is kind of creepy but nothing so bad that it will scare the pants off of anyone. But here is the issue. This movie isn't in a position to hype itself up since its coming out of nowhere. All they need to do is tease some film geeks into the theater at a film festival and they win. I don't think that is particularly hard to do. Now that they have established word of mouth they can let the dudes on the Internet (like me!) spread the word and help fill theaters.

My point in all of this is that the trailer probably does not show you anything at all. They save it for the movie. This sounds great to me but at the same time it kirks me the hell out. I was watching the trailer with the cursor ready to close the entire web page. I like a good horror movie but the ones I enjoy the most (ie the ones that scare me) are the ones that give me the creeps.

You can keep your Friday the 13th bloodbaths and your Saw-series torture porn. If a movie tricks me into thinking about it, I'm done because my imagination will absolutely horrify me and keep me from sleeping for many nights. This movie seems like it might be in that vein. So now for a little background: a couple thinks their house may be haunted so they set up cameras to record any paranormal activity (that's the title of the movie so you know they get some!).

From what I can glean from the trailer they find a lot of this shit and the wife is left banging her head against the bed in the end. Presumably because she went insane with terror! Or maybe she just likes to rock out. To each his own. I'm not here to judge.

So anyway this movie could be cool. I shall let you all be the judges. Enjoy the trailer.



Who's coming with me to see it?

UPDATE: The fellaters at Ain't It Cool News are losing their minds over this. The movie's home page says that people are so scared that they are literally shaking in the theaters. They also say that it will leave an imprint on you psyche! That is some serious shit. I would love to see a movie that changes my mental make-up through unbelievable terror. I hope someone goes insane when I see it.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Blatant Video Theft Corner: Polish Yetis!


As many of you know, I am a super-nerd for stuff like ghosts, werewolves, vampires, etc. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this little clip some Polish dudes captured while vacationing in the Tatra mountains.

We've been without good Yeti footage for a very long time. Hopefully this will amount to more than the bigfoot costume those dudes from down south froze and sold to some scientists.

At the very least this is better footage than the "flying man" that MonsterQuest showed us.