Some Thoughts on Stephen Hunter

Trashwire was just updated with a new item by Jason Mogavero about conservative film critic Stephen Hunter. Jason takes on Hunter's claim that the masculine hero is dead, and he exposes that Hunter is a turd. Check it out by clicking here or go to trashwire.com/hunter.html to read it.

Trashwire Forum Updates

We have lots of new topics on our Trashwire Forum that are just waiting for your comments. We have sections for movies, reality TV, South Park, web junk, and now music and podcasts. Make your voice heard over at the Trashwire forum!

http://trashwire.com/forum
Or click here to go to the forum

Hal Sparks takes the Trashwire survey

Hal Sparks just wrapped up a successful three-night run at the Comedy Works in Denver where he touched on topics like wanting your own theme music, being afraid of a plastic bag on the freeway, and his experience as a stealth paintball assassin. In between his hilarious set, he had time to answer a few questions for Trashwire.

Trashwire: What is your favorite bad movie?
Hal: I disagree with the name "bad". Just because other people don't like it doesn't mean it's not fantastic. I think Hudson Hawk qualifies in that zone. People think it's a bad movie, and it's actually spectacular.

Trashwire: What is your favorite line from a bad movie?
Hal: Probably from RoboCop 2, "Behaaaaaave yourselves!" It's pretty great.

Trashwire: Who is your favorite bad movie star?
Hal: The guy who was in The Phantom and he was in Dead Calm, Billy Zane. He's probably my favorite bad movie star. I like that, once he started losing his hair, he just shaved his whole head bald. He was like, "screw it!"

Trashwire: What is your favorite trashy reality show?
Hal: I don't believe in guilty pleasures, I have no guilt about any pleasure. Just 'cause someone doesn't like my pleasure, doesn't mean I have to feel bad about it. That's a strong, important point with me. That being said, it's hard to choose one because it's "trashy" reality show, which narrows the category. I would go with Flavor of Love or Breaking Bonaduce--or, you know what--I'm with Busey.

Trashwire: Who is the funniest person alive?
Hal: Besides me? That's a tough one. Michael Palin from Monty Python. It's a difficult one because they're all so funny. But Michael Palin, I think, is purely funny. He's good natured and always beyond hilarious. Even if you go to Monty Python's The Holy Grail where he's the Knights who Say Ni, just him going "Now... go!" is fucking hilarious.

Trashwire: What is the first thing you'd do with a billion dollars?
Hal: Well, considering that I do what I love, I'd probably hide the fact that I have a billion dollars. If it was like, "Hey, you got a billion bucks." I'd be like "Oh shit! don't let anybody know I have a billion dollars." I would hide the fact that I had that much money right away. I'd probably get a bank in the Caymans or something, after paying my fair share of taxes, for the record.

Trashwire: If you were stranded on an island with any celebrity, who would you chose?
Hal: That's tough. Do you want to get off the island? Then you might pick somebody like your Jeff Corwins of the world, or your Dirty Jobs dude, or maybe the guys from Mythbusters. If you're gonna stay on the island with one person, I'm thinking Jennifer Aniston/Sophie Marceau. Either one of them would be fine. Actually, maybe Juliette Lewis. Even though I don't think she's a perfect mate for me, it would never get boring. It would always be weird... on the island of lost celebrities.

Trashwire: If you could only hear one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Hal: It would probably be "Master of Puppets" or "Summerland" by King's X.

Trashwire: What would you say is your best movie experience?
Hal: Aside from seeing What the *Bleep* Do We Know or The Secret and having that be life-changing and mind-opening, I think seeing Howard the Duck with a bunch of my friends in high school is my favorite. Our choices that night were Howard the Duck or Platoon and I'm like "I'm not gonna waste my Friday night going home feeling miserable. That's a Sunday afternoon movie." So we went and watched Howard the Duck, and it sucked, and Lea Thompson was in her underwear and she's totally fine. We had a great time.

Trashwire: When you were little, what did you always want to be?
Hal: When I was little, I wanted to be in KISS. That just seemed like home or something. I think it shows in who I am. Bruce Lee, Steve Martin, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are my male role models, so you can pretty much figure my whole psyche out by looking at those four people.

Trashwire: Now we come to the short answers.
Trashwire: What do you like more, Coke or Pepsi?
Hal: I don't drink soda. Well, I don't drink Coke or Pepsi, I drink, like "Ginger Beer" and really light, healthy kinda stuff. There's a South American tea that they make sparkling and it's like the greatest soda ever.
Trashwire: Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle?
Hal: Dave Chappelle because I like his silliness.
Trashwire: South Park or Family Guy?
Hal: Family Guy
Trashwire: Mac or Windows?
Hal: Mac. Does Windows still exist?
Trashwire: Facebook or MySpace?
Hal: MySpace, but if I was Rep. Foley of Florida, I'd would probably say Facebook.
Trashwire: Movies or TV?
Hal: Movies.

Tag

I was lucky enough to catch this short film at the Toofy Film Festival in Boulder and it was super funny. If you get the opportunity, check it out! You can view the trailer here.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1272585902

What Your Wireless Network Says About You

In these days of broadband internet, wireless networks are more and more common as people look for ways to connect on-the-go. Nearly every laptop these days had a built in wireless card and most of us probably use wireless networks around our house, the office, or at school. When setting up a network , most people tend to go with a generic name or just leave the default name of their wireless router. As wireless security became more of an issue, people began getting more creative with their network names and making sure that their internet connection remained private. If you’re like me and you live in an apartment building where nearly everyone uses wireless internet, you can find out a lot about your neighbors from the names they give their networks.

I discovered this phenomenon the other day when I had to reset my router and my computer asked me if I wanted to connect to another network. The computer trying to auto-connect me wasn’t the weird part, it was that it offered to connect me to an open network called “Bitchy McBitch.” There was something that was just so funny to me about seeing a little alert window on my screen saying, “None of your preferred networks are available. Would you like to connect to the open network Bitchy McBitch?” I clicked the little no button, but was intrigued by what other networks might be available in my building.

The names ranged from simple, like “Kristen’s net” or “Jason” to more complex, but still straightforward names like “6th Floor Conference Room” and “Apartment Home”. Then I noticed a slew of more creative names starting with “Go Rockies”, “Vote 4 Pedro” and “Pimp Daddy”. Clearly my neighbors, all primarily younger people, were fans of the Colorado Rockies, Napoleon Dynamite and pimping. Still, I wondered, what could top Bitchy McBitch for best wireless name?

As I glanced down the list, I noticed one particularly interesting network. Someone in my building had bought a wireless router, completed the set up wizard, and titled their network “Balls in Pantyhose”. I was instantly curious about the person who owned the “Balls in Pantyhose” network. I’m assuming it was a guy, but I suppose it could have just as easily been a woman. Still, I tried to picture what this person must be like. Was he really into balls in pantyhose? Was it just some inside joke he shared with his buds? Did the phrase have some special meaning for him? So many questions arose from this very unique network name.

It made me start to think about the entire evolution of technology up to this point. Engineers and scientists had been working for decades, creating computer technology to advance society, with hopes of grandeur about curing disease and connecting distant nations. Then there was this guy who named his network “Balls in Pantyhose.”

Ah, the future is now!