Entertainment

Feel like watching a little TV tonight? PBS is showing a new Nova tonight, Darwin's Darkest Hour, which looks to be about his worries about publishing his theory.

Just not a very good one, but you'll see for yourselves. I spent the morning in heaven, which consists of a well-lit white screen in Southern California, trying to master my lines for a future Mr Deity episode. That stuff is harder than it looks. We went through many takes while my brain was freezing up at inopportune moments — there's a reason not everyone is a movie star, that's for sure. Anyway, "Lucy" and "Mr Deity" are actually Amy and Bryan, and they have a nice house with a couple of kids, two dogs, and a cat, and the episodes are filmed in the family room. I hope I haven't shattered…

Richard Dawkins is appearing on Colbert tonight, it should be good. In a near miss, Francis Collins is appearing tomorrow; too bad we couldn't get a collision.

tags: light spectrum, ROY G BIV, music video, entertainment, Here Comes Science, They Might be Giants, streaming video Here is another song from They Might be Giants' new album, Here Comes Science!

tags: sun, music video, entertainment, Here Comes Science, They Might be Giants, streaming video Here is another song from They Might be Giants' new album, Here Comes Science!

The Charlotte Pop Fest '09 is going on right now — it's a music festival that also raises money for charities. You should go. The recipient of the profits this year will be the Richard Dawkins Foundation. What, you say? They're raising money to promote secular science? In North Carolina? Yes, they are. And the organizer, James Deem, says he is doing it to raise awareness for science and science education. I blow kisses his way — what a great idea. Unfortunately, there are problems. Sponsors have pulled out, meaning that they had to cut some bands from the schedule, and of course, some members…

I like it! I know this will set off another round of culture sniping — get over it. You don't personally have to like this genre, just as no one has to like every kind of music out there, and turning your nose up at one form doesn't necessarily mean your taste is better than someone else's. Just recognize that it's different. It's not Mozart or Manilow, it's just its own sound. If it helps you get over the rejection of something that doesn't sound like the music you are familiar with, think of it as a poetry performance instead. As for myself, most rap and hip-hop leaves me cold, but every…

That new Darwin film, Creation (reviews here and here) doesn't look like it will get to my neighborhood theater — it hasn't got a US distributor, for familiar reasons. A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer. Creation, starring Briton Paul Bettany, details the naturalist's "struggle between faith and reason" as he wrote On the Origin of Species. It depicts him as a man who loses faith in God after the death of his daughter, Annie, 10. The film was chosen…

There's a new movie coming out about Darwin that does something different: instead of talking about the science of evolution, it's about Darwin's personal life. Roger Ebert has seen it and offers a few thoughts on the subject matter (it isn't a review, though!), and it sounds interesting — I'll be seeing it if it appears in Morris, which isn't likely, or when it's available on DVD, which is much more likely. I'm not worried that it will provide comfort to creationists, but I am a little concerned that it may Hollywoodize history a little bit. Ebert points out that it focuses on the…

I got a letter from John F — you know, John Flansburgh, of They Might Be Giants — and he says, "We've got this new album coming out that you might like, want me to send you a copy?", and so I nonchalantly type back, "Sure, here's my address," which was really hard to do when you understand that I was dancing jigglety-pigglety in my chair, pumping my fists in the air, and shouting "WOO-HOO!" at the same time. It would have been impossible except for my blogging superpowers. (Oh, yeah…I'm a TMBG fanboi.) I got the album Here Comes Science the other day, and it is fabulous. It's kids' music, so…

Whew, dodged a mistake — the movie is on RIGHT NOW! An alert reader caught me in time and let me know I live in the Central Time Zone. I haven't even touched the hooch yet. It starts with Deborah Gibson, Submarine Pilot, dodging angry whales, and...breaking a giant octopus out of a block of ice? And it then destroys an oil drilling platform? I'm confused. That means I have to take a sip. (No, not a drink. I plan to survive this event. A shark just leapt up and ate a jetliner? What the hell? OK, big drink. Never mind survival. I may not make it through this abomination. It's not just the…

This is one of the best ideas around for promoting better science communication: The Science and Entertainment Exchange forges an alliance between scientists and the popular media. This interview with Jennifer Ouellette shows that she's doing it just right, since it isn't one of these things where surly scientists are invited in to criticize, but where entertainers can tap into the imaginations and weird, twisty brains of scientists to get cool ideas that they can use.

If you've got cable, you'll want to tune in to the "SyFy" (yeesh, could they have made it a little dorkier?) channel for…Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus!!!. Who ever said television was a great wasteland? That's quality entertainment! That's this Saturday evening. We're all nerds together here, I know you don't have anything better to do.

You can listen to it online. It's not bad — I should load it onto my iPod Touch.

In the post below I wanted to have an attractive female headshot, so I naturally looked for something from Megan Fox. A few years ago I probably would have used someone like Jessica Alba. In fact, I did use Alba as an "illustration" a few times in this blog's history. But 3 years is a long time, and Fox is the new thang in the air. But I wanted to make a bit more precise my subjective impression, so I thought Google Trends might be helpful. I think it can be argued that Jessica Alba's "peak" was the mid-2000s, and the trend data goes back to 2004. And so below, the results.... It's rather…

tags: The Magic Behind Harry Potter 6, interview, celebrity gossip, funny, streaming video This is a streaming video of the new Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This special contains cast interviews and exclusive footage of the new movie. [Part 5/5] [5:49] Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

tags: The Magic Behind Harry Potter 6, interview, celebrity gossip, funny, streaming video This is a streaming video of the new Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This Special contains cast interviews and exclusive footage of the new movie. [Part 4/5] [10:13] Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

tags: The Magic Behind Harry Potter 6, interview, celebrity gossip, funny, streaming video This is a streaming video of the new Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This special contains cast interviews and exclusive footage of the new movie. [Part 3/5] [10:15] Part 1 Part 2