And Crawling...On the Planet's Face...

Greetings, Fellow Insects. Let's see what's out there today, shall we?

Firstly, Day of the Lepus!! An elderly German man, Karl Szmolinsky, has come up with a unique solution to the North Korean hunger problem: giant rabbits. He has been breeding German Gray Giant rabbits for years, each of which can reach more than 15 pounds, and figured that one rabbit could feed 8 people. Normally he charges 200-250 Euros a bunny, but since hunger is so rampant in North Korea he is only charging them 80 Euros. He has already sent 12 of the fluffy leviathans to NK, and will be going there himself to help them set up a breeding program. You can read the full story here, and even see some pics of these critters. And before you start shouting 'shenanigans!' I checked it out on Snopes.com, and these bunnies are real.

On the geek front, Star Trek XI is moving along with producer J.J. Abrams saying that the first draft of the script is complete, and is now moving into the editing process. He is staying very close-lipped about the plot, although rumors have been flying that it will deal with the first mission that Kirk and Spock share. Sayeth the Lost exec: ''On the one hand, for people who love Star Trek, the fix that they will get will be really satisfying. For people who've never seen it or know it vaguely, I think they will enjoy it equally, because the movie does not require you to know anything about Star Trek. I would actually prefer [that] people don't know the series, because I feel like they will come to it with an open mind.'' I'm actually hoping that the rumors aren't true. I have tried to watch Star Trek: The New Voyages , which is a remarkably well done online recreation of the original series, but it is set on the original Enterprise with different people playing Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, etc. and I just can't deal with it. I will try to keep an open mind, but I really don't know how I might deal with different actors playing Kirk and Spock. I know that there are precedents for such things, such as Superman, Batman, and James Bond, but these characters were all created before any actor portrayed them. No matter what we might think about Shatner or Nimoy off screen, they are Kirk and Spock. The idiosyncratic quirks of each character which were distinctive to both actors have become the defining characteristics of the characters. I fear that any attempt by other actors to mimic those quirks will merely seem comical. But, as I've said many times before, mediocre Trek is better than no Trek, so we'll see. Opinions?

In local news, Mrs. Marius is now working at the same high school as I, so for the first time in our marriage we are getting up, going to work, and going to bed at the same times. It is kinda weird, but nice at the same time. It also means that, for the first time, my time off is hers as well. We had hoped to turn that into a trip to Gulf Wars this year, but our Spring Break is the week after. So we are now looking into driving to Connecticut to visit my family up there, most of whom have yet to meet my lovely spouse. And, as my Grandparents pointed out numerous times during our Christmas phone conversations, they ain't getting any younger. We'll also be going to see my brother in his new South Carolina digs, and hopefully making a stop in Washington D.C. which is always interesting. And what trip all the way up I-95 is complete without visiting that most egregious example of stereotypical touristiness(look that one up, Colbert) South Of The Border. Pedro, here we come!

Ok, that's enough prattle for one day. May your pleasures be many, your troubles be few. Good night, everybody!! (extra credit for identifying the source of that farewell)

Marius