Valleys and Troughs

Avatar is shaping up to not suck, if you can believe it.

We've been following the discussion surrounding James Cameron's Avatar for a while now, on a personal if not a public level, and in the past few days a surprising trend has taken shape: amazingly, people are reporting that - despite reasonable assumptions otherwise - it's actually pretty good. It's held up with an 84% on rottentomatoes, maintaining its lofty rating well after the oft-skewed early sample-size period has passed. And a couple days ago the people at Defamer went so far as to issue an apology for all the Avatar-bashing they've done over the past few weeks:

Hollywood goes for epic in just about every tentpole it churns out, but somehow the ginormity of a Transformers 2 or a 2012 production, leave them feeling small — with a shrunken spirit and core that quashes their monstrous pretensions. Avatar, while certainly not without flaws, manages to create a sense of true epic scope in which the journey becomes greater than the sum of its effects.

They go on to say that Avatar is not without a certain cheese-factor, but it is overshadowed by the magnificent spectacle of the film. Which defense we can probably get behind. And so we will see it, and approach it with an open mind, as we attempt to do with all things. If nothing else, it will probably be an entertaining diversion, which is something we can all use in times like these.

VALLEY, it seems.

via Defamer, as we said.

UPDATE: Norwegian mystery light show still unexplained.

Not all that long ago we posted about the mystery light spiral that has captured (some) global attention since it appeared inexplicably in the night sky.

A blue light first appeared from behind a mountain, and created a giant spiral in the sky within seconds. Perhaps even more baffling, a green-blue beam of light appeared to shoot from the center. The entire display remained in the sky for a good ten to twelve minutes--enough time for photographers across Norway to shoot hundreds of images and capture video.

At the time it was explained away by some news agencies as a failed Russian missile test, but the Russians, who we're sure are perfectly trustworthy in situations such as these, have denied conducting any such tests. And while that's still the most likely scenario according to most opinions held by the sorts of people who sit around trying to figure these things out, other possibilities include a falling meteor or perhaps the first sign of the apocalypse. Either way, we'll continue to monitor the situation with as much attention as we can spare. Which, believe it or not, is not as much as you might think. Check out the incredibly poor-quality yet still marginally-disturbing video below for an idea of what the beginning of the end of the world will look like, when filmed with a handheld digital camera.

via popsci

TROUGH

Coffee will save your life, as well as your sanity.

We are hardly alone in our devotion to coffee; it is, for all intents and purposes, the lifeblood of this country. It is the one common bond that adheres us (mostly) to one another, the salve that soothes or at least overrides the jangled nerves of an overstressed populace. Coffee. Sweet, faithful coffee. Just saying it takes the edge off a bit. And so it strikes us as particularly heart-warming whenever news breaks of a new health benefit associated with what is already the greatest drink ever. In this case, preventing diabetes:

Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows.
And the protection may not be down to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine.
This analysis revealed that people who drink three or four cups of coffee or tea a day cut their risk by a fifth or more, say researchers.

The best part about this is that the impetus behind this study was almost certainly the attempt by these researchers to vindicate themselves for drinking upwards of four cups of coffee a day. Somewhat disheartening to see decaf getting the glory here, since it's about as respectable a beverage as non-alcoholic beer, but the conclusion is essentially the same: coffee saves lives. So the next time someone tells you they're trying to drink less coffee, tell them you're trying to breathe less air. Then laugh mirthlessly as you walk away, because you get it.

VALLEY

via BBC

Add some catastrophe to your glass with Titanic ice cubes.

We're always on the lookout for a novel way to spruce up an ordinary cocktail, and we may have found just the thing for the holiday season. The above ice cubes - sold as a tray, as ice-cube molds generally are, and shaped to resemble the titanic and the iceberg that sunk her - have been made available by a company in the UK to much hand-wringing and eyebrow-raising, and other things British people do to show they're upset without actually expressing any emotion.

Titanic historian Brian Ticehurst has gone so far as to suggest the product is akin to making light of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

'They are distasteful, hundreds of people died in the tragedy,' he said. 'How long will it be before this firm makes ice cubes of the Twin Towers to commemorate 9/11?'

First: there are still Titanic historians? Hasn't it been pretty much covered by now? Plus wasn't this like a hundred years ago? If James Cameron can move on, the rest of us should be able to do the same, and we personally feel that nothing can quite be defined as tasteless when it's sole purpose is to be consumed with alcohol. As for ice cubes shaped like the twin towers, we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Christ. Valley?

via dailymail.co.uk

A century of broken promises: everything we've never had.

Those of you who have followed us for a while will recognize that we one of our greatest passions is maintaining awareness of the fact that we are still living without so many of the wonders promised us in our youth - summed up perfectly in the idea of the flying car. We almost admire the poor bastards alive in the fifties who looked forward to a glorious future of cities on the moon, food capsules for dinner, you get the idea. All lies. Well, turns out we're not alone. Our kindred spirits at Gizmodo outline author Paul Milo's book Your Flying Car Awaits, which catalogues the shattered dreams of a generation. On flying cars:

For futurists, this one's an oldie but a goodie. By 1909, forecasters believed that soon, someone would combine, like peanut butter and jelly, the newfangled airplane to the equally cutting-edge automobile. For a century the flying car has been one of those perennially just-around-the-corner innovations, and while work continues on a viable prototype, don't expect to see your Honda become airborne anytime soon. Although NASA has done some work on creating a "sky highway," an electronic corridor in the sky to be used by pilots of small craft, the effort is still at a very preliminary stage.

Yeah. If there's anyone we can look toward to fulfill our visions of the future, it's the people who are shutting down our entire space shuttle fleet. That's the kind of forward-thinking that's going to bring us places. Like to Russia, to ask them if we can have a ride to the space station, you know, whenever they get a chance. Christ. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a book to buy from Amazon.

TROUGH.

And just to make you feel bad about yourself: bottled water will destroy the earth.

From the folks who brought the internet infographic:

TROUGH

via onlineeducation