Target Centermass

What? You haven’t seen Serenity yet?!!

Yeah, I saw it for free and loved it. Ah, the sweet perks of a blogger’s life. I also got to take a co-worker friend, already a fan of the movie’s Firefly foundation, free of charge. Steve left his well-deserved gushing praise in a comment here and plans to catch it again with his wife. I have since made it up to the movie by paying to experience it again and dragging the fiancee in tow. By the way, the future Mrs. Gunner also loved it, despite being a Firefly novice like I was.

Go see Serenity. I can honestly say that, for the action, intelligent dialogue, storyline, humor and intriguing characters, it is easily the best film I’ve seen this year. I’ll also go so far as to say that the only sci-fi flick to rival this, in terms of sheer fun on the big screen, is the original Star Wars.

For those who followed the series or caught the movie, there’s the Firefly Personality Test. My results are as follows:

Congratulations, your best Firefly match is …

Mal (66%)

The Big Easy is slowly progressing to rise from its knees as post-Katrina efforts continue.

President Bush got a taste of some of New Orleans’ finest attractions Monday in an effort to showcase progress in a hurricane-battered city. The president dined at a French Quarter restaurant before spending the night in a famed luxury hotel.

The president’s effort to show New Orleans is making progress came even as much of the city remains in ruins.

The historic French Quarter was mostly spared by the storm and is showing increasing signs of normalcy with lights back on and establishments re-opened.

Still, many of New Orleans’ stores and businesses remain closed, relatively few people are on the streets and many areas remain uninhabitable, even if mostly dry.

While I hope for the best for all of the city and all of its residents, I understand the stance of those questioning the value of federal rebuilding efforts of a city so geographically endangered. That said, my selfish personal concerns lie with a handful of restaurants and other establishments I greatly enjoyed during my one visit there to date. Chief among these is the Cigar Factory New Orleans, whose web site has remained unchanged since well before the storm, leaving one hopeful but uncertain of the shop’s true status. Another favorite was Aunt Sally’s Praline Shop. According to the Aunt Sally’s site, they are again open for business, though one is kept from joy at this by the following message:

All Aunt Sally’s displaced employees …we are looking for you.

Contact: Cathy Appling at : 504 349 0950

My best wishes those displaced. Order either the chocolate pralines (abso-freakin’-lutely amazing!) or a combo of chocolate and original pralines. You can rationalize the delicious calories by considering them a personal sacrifice for the New Orleans economy.

The United Nations has selected the next five rotating seats on its Security Council.

U.N. members on Monday elected the Congo Republic, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia to two-year seats on the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, the world body’s most-powerful organ.

In balloting in the 191-nation U.N. General Assembly, four of the winning candidates were unopposed for seats earmarked for Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

In the sole contest — for the seat set aside for Latin America and the Caribbean — Peru defeated Nicaragua, 144 – 43.

The Security Council is responsible for decisions on issues of war and peace, sanctions against nations and peacekeeping. Many of its resolutions are binding on all U.N. members.

The council has five permanent members with veto power — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — and 10 rotating members who serve for two-year terms.

The terms are staggered so that five of the nonpermanent seats change hands every year.

Add those newbies to the five permanent members and mid-termers Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan and Tanzania and you have the group supposedly responsible for driving any global efforts. How confident are you in any decisive action? At least we now know which five countries will have representatives twiddling their thumbs on that high international stage.

By the way, it looks like any council expansion (blogged about here, here and here) is currently DOA. As expected.

Well, this story certainly has one of the stranger headlines I’ve seen in quite a while. Disclaimer: the accompanying picture is a dramatization.

Women danced in mini-skirted military uniforms as North Korea marked the 60th anniversary of its communist party on Monday, while speculation mounted over whether its leader would use the occasion to name a successor.

At an event attended by leader Kim Jong-il and thousands of his military brass and cadres on Sunday, the emphasis was on Pyongyang’s long-standing “songun” military-first policy and its “juche” ideal of self-reliance.

“We should fully embody the party’s songun politics, an all-powerful treasured sword for victory in revolution under any circumstances and conditions, and direct primary efforts to the strengthening of the Korean People’s Army,” the North’s No. 2, Kim Yong-nam, said in remarks carried on the KCNA news agency.

The anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea is a time when the reclusive country revels in mass games and provides its citizens with a few extra bowls of rice to celebrate.

Hey, nothing captures the fun-loving nature of a repressive commie dictatorship like martial trollops flaunting their gams and cavorting for the party. And hey, extra rice. Bonus!

Unfortunately, there is also a serious side to this story.

But for this anniversary, outside attention has been focused on whether Kim Jong-il will name one of his three sons to a key post in the ruling party, which in effect would amount to naming a successor-in-waiting in the world’s only communist dynasty.

The Russian news agency Itar-Tass last week quoted a diplomatic source in Pyongyang as saying Kim may use the event to announce a successor. Analysts said the precise timing and which son he would pick were anyone’s guess.

Alas! The odds are not in favor of the oldest of Kim’s brood.

The eldest of his known sons, Kim Jong-nam, has apparently fallen into disfavour for trying to sneak into Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Hmmm … yeah, I could see how that could be considered a strike against him.