Geek Force FiveCast 230: Scrimgeour

In which ECC geeks out about what exactly Bill Nighy will be doing as Rufus Scrimgeour in the 7th and 8th Harry Potter films, and talks for a second about the December 8 arrival of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on DVD.

Apple - Only the Adjectives

I find this really amusing. YouTube user justanotherguy84 has boiled the September 9 Apple event down to just the adjectives, and the results should provide fodder for Apple haters everywhere. I mean, seriously: shouldn’t the vocabularies of the head guys at Apple be more expansive than this? Amazing, incredible, and great are, well, great, but aren’t there other ways of describing your products?

Sheesh!

Thanks to the fine folks at Fortune for linking this up.

Geek Force FiveCast 229: Kickstarter Again?

In which ECC talks about why he might try Kickstarter again and what his next project might be.

Eye-Catching Vintage Apple T-Shirts

I gotta say that I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that members of the Dharma Initiative occasionally rocked these absolutely fabulous Apple t-shirts underneath their beige jumpsuits. Don’t you think?

Seriously, stupid things like this excite me a whole heckuva lot more than the latest Apple Tablet rumors. I’m not sure why, but they do.

The Ragtime 80s

Here’s an awesome YouTube find for you from the pages of Metafilter: Scott Bradlee playing 1980s pop hits as if they were good ol’ ragtime gems. Songs performed include “Come On Eileen,” “The Final Countdown,” “Axel F,” and “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

The Evolution of the McDonald’s Third-Pounder

BusinessWeek has a profile of the guy who invented McDonald’s new line of third-pounders, the bacon variety of which has fast become my favorite fast food sandwich. Dan Coudreaut, the dude in question, was also responsible for the Snack Wrap, another of my McD’s favorites.

Thanks to A Hamburger Today for linking up this story.

Harry Potter Theme Park Overview

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will open in Spring 2010 at Universal Studios Orlando, according to The Leaky Cauldron and there are two videos (1, 2) up now to show us exactly what the experience might be like. I’ve embedded one of them above. It’s called “Map of Wizarding World” but it’s much more than that. There are drawings and animations demonstrating what rides and experiences in the park will be like. And I, for one, think it looks sweet! Other details, including the news that wands will be choosing guests/wizards at Ollivanders, are available here.

It’s one more thing to check out whenever we finally get the family down to Florida for vacation, something we’ve been dying to do ever since Stephanie and I last visited Orlando together in 1999. I can’t wait!

Geek Force FiveCast 228: Sound Opinions

In which ECC geeks out about Chicago Public Radio’s Sound Opinions podcast.

The MTV VMA Tribute to Michael Jackson

Lost in all the Kayne nonsense surrounding the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards were a number of pretty darned good performances, including the six-minute musical tribute to Michael Jackson, which featured lots of great dancing, and what must’ve been an amazingly carthatic performance by Janet Jackson.

It also featured the Thriller dance, which New Hampshire locals can help recreate themselves this Halloween. For more information on that, follow the exploits of @portthriller on Twitter.

Katey Sagal to Get LOST Again?

Katey Sagal’s Helen was one of the best things to ever happen to John Locke on Lost, both in terms of Helen’s impact on Locke’s life within the story and in terms of how Sagal made Locke-centric episodes bearable to watch for me as a viewer. When we learned that she had died—or had she?—in last season’s “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham,” I was definitely sad. So, the news from DarkUFO that she will be returning in season six was awesome to hear. Apparently, she’s trying to convince Darlton to bring back Julie Bowen’s Sarah too. And more Julie Bowen—I was a huge Ed fan back in the day—is always a good thing.

And, speaking of Lost, there is also news that we’re going to see in-flight 815 action again, we’re going to get more of Locke in the wheelchair, and we might be seeing Jughead again, too.

I fell behind on the Lost rewatch, but I’m catching up. And that’s the only thing that’s making the wait until January anything less than excruciating.