I still haven’t made much progress on that entry I mentioned the other day, the one about the events of last weekend. (Sorry to be so oblique here — it really isn’t any big secret or anything. I went to my 20-year high school reunion and want to give it a good write-up. But I haven’t had time for good, hence all the lameness that carried us through last week.) In its place, here’s a compendium of random net crap that’s caught my eyes recently:

• First up, in this week’s earlier entry about the newly revealed title of the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie, Cranky Robert expressed his ignorance of crystal skulls. A real-life Harvard archeologist provides some background on these artifacts here. He says that even though the crystal skulls once thought to be examples of some ancient Mayan technology have since been proven to be 19th Century fakes, the stories associated with them are definitely the sort of thing you could hang a good pulp adventure story on:
  

  “It is said that when [High Priest of the Maya] willed death with the help of the skull, death invariably followed,” [Dr.] Zender said. “For anyone who believed this story, then, the crystal skull was a grim and deadly artifact, exactly the kind of thing that Indy would go searching for.”

  Unfortunately, Zender’s thinking about the crystal skulls of myth (as opposed to the actual fake artifacts) doesn’t exclude the possibility that Indy IV will somehow involve extra-terrestrials. God, I hope those are just rumors…

• Via Andrew Sullivan, a new product that ought to raise some eyebrows (and maybe some heart-rates) at Relief Society:
  

  Mormons Exposed is a new brand launching a forward-thinking product – a steamy 2008 calendar featuring twelve handsome former Mormon missionaries who have dared to pose bare-chested in the first-ever Men on a Mission calendar.

  Oh, boy. Somebody’s going to get a talking to about that one. I especially like this bit of copy, from the FAQ section:

  The twelve former missionaries who “bare their testimony” on the pages of the Men on a Mission calendar were hand-selected for their striking good looks and powerful spiritual devotion. They are men who were comfortable enough in their own beliefs, and independent and brave enough to take a stand for what they believe in regardless of what others may think. By slightly stepping away from the Mormon traditions of modest dress, these missionaries show the world they can have a strong faith and be proud of who they are, both with a sense of individualism and a sense of humor at the same time.

  Um, yeah… okay. It should be interesting to see how this is received, whether it provokes controversy or yawns of disinterest…

• After a hunk of beefcake for the ladies, here’s a slice of cheesecake for the men: it’s a video clip of the classic pin-up model Bettie Page dancing, and yes, the music you’re hearing is the same song that the freaky serial killer in Silence of the Lambs was listening to as he played with his nipple rings. Bettie has a much sweeter smile, though.
• When I went to Germany a few years ago, I relied on a guide book by PBS travel guru Rick Steves. I love his shows, and his approach to travel (i.e., go cheap — although I doubt I ever gone as cheaply as he advocates — avoid the tourist traps, be open to new experiences and ways of thinking, and, most of all, try to figure out what the place is really like, as opposed to what it appears to be on the postcards). Here’s an interview with him in which he reveals himself to be a flaming liberal, right up to and including advocacy for the legalization of pot. For the record, I generally agree with his views, especially his idea that Americans need to travel more and broaden our perspective on the rest of the world.
• News of movie and television remakes is all over the place these days, including rumblings of another go at Buck Rogers and either a remake or sequel (I’m not quite clear) for Tron. Just for good measure, the Tron article mentions a remake brewing for Logan’s Run, too. My take on these: Buck, like Flash Gordon, is something I’m comfortable with revisiting every so often, because it is such an old property and has already been updated several times. I have my favorite version, of course, but I’m not categorically opposed to the idea of a new one. Logan, too, could probably be improved; it’s a sort-of classic and I personally enjoy it, but viewed objectively, the film is something of a mess. A remake could potentially be a vast improvement. As for a new Tron, um, no. It is singular and unique, charming in part because of its technological innocence, and a remake could only be a disservice. A sequel may be less sucky, but the movie certainly doesn’t scream out for one. The involvement of Jeff Bridges would go a long way toward reducing the suck factor, but I don’t know if plans include him. We’ll see, I guess…
• Speaking of remakes, looks like The Lost Boys 2 is going ahead with Corey Feldman, but not Corey Haim. Feldman is pretty diplomatic about this latest development, but as best I can piece it together, Feldman was asked to do the sequel but refused unless the producers brought his old buddy and co-star Haim along as well; the producers agreed, Feldman signed the papers, then for some reason Haim backed out, and now Feldman is soldiering on and doing his part. My hunch is that the roles offered these two guys were probably only cameos and that the movie will center around all new characters; Feldman is realistic and professional enough to live with that, Haim’s ego couldn’t take it. And why do I care about any of this? I don’t know exactly, except that (a) I like The Lost Boys, (b) I find “where are they now” stuff fascinating, and (c) “the two Coreys” were pretty much ubiquitous for a time during my formative years, so I’m naturally curious about how they’ve turned out. Probably no one else cares but me, though, so moving along…
• News of the weird: a man recently committed suicide with a home-made guillotine (guess he was really serious about wanting to end it).
• News of the heartwarming: after a high school freshman was bullied for wearing a pink shirt (because some idiots think only fags wear those), a couple of seniors encouraged about half their fellow students to wear pink as a show of support for the put-upon kid. The bullies apparently responded by throwing a screaming-weemie tantrum. If this story isn’t ready-made for a movie script, I don’t know what is.
• And finally, for anyone who’s made it this far… via Boing Boing’s new “Gadgets” sub-blog, here is a picture of a vehicle seen at this year’s Burning Man that was made up to look like a Jawa sandcrawler. Only with the sails from Jabba’s barge on top. Because no one wanted to wear hoods and cloaks in that heat, but the 400 SPF sunblock wasn’t cutting it…