I’m writing about this here simply because I have nowhere else to put it: In the course of writing about alternate energy sources for autos, I’ve found (what looks rather obvious from the outset) that the much-reported-upon nuclear-powered “World Thorium Fuel” vehicle from GM is not a real concept vehicle but merely a 3D rendering from this fellow.

Somehow numerous outlets have convinced themselves that the “WTF” (red flag, IMHO) was “unveiled” at a 2009 auto show, that a laser-and-thorium-powered car was “introduced” at said show, and that it means that “nuclear cars [are] not science fiction any more” (that from a New York Times contributor!).

They’ve all been duped.

It’s just amazing how reportage feeds upon itself. It’s like a game of telephone. In the beginning someone probably noted that a guy that’s really good with computers mocked up a highly implausible Cadillac. Somewhere along the way the facts got lost, and by the time it hit the mainstream the WTF was a real prototype that you could tool around with and which would last for 100 years without a fill-up. I have no idea how the detail about the Chicago Auto Show came into the picture, but hey, what’s a good lie without something that sounds legitimate to back it up?

Here’s what Cadillac said in response to my query, just for the record:

We did not produce that concept. It was rendered by a freelance designer as a creative/visionary exercise. I don’t have a lot of details on the how’s and why’s of its creation….it just sort of appeared. We’re pleased that our Art & Science design was inspirational…..but outside of that, we don’t really have a view on it.

Posted in abject failure, delusions of grandeur | No Responses »

The Power of the Movies

Friday, August 19th, 2011

JOE BERLINGER AND BRUCE SINOFSKY IN COURT TODAY TO WITNESS THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR HBO DOCUMENTARY PARADISE LOST

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Filmmakers To Change Ending As Decision Is Handed Down

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Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols And Jessie Misskelly Set Free

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Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Set To Air On HBO Jan. 2012

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JONSEBORO, ARK., Aug. 19, 2011 – Critically acclaimed HBO documentary “Paradise Lost” filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky were in court today to witness the stunning conclusion in which, after 18 years in prison, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly, known as the West Memphis 3, were set free.

The award-winning HBO documentary series “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” (1996) and “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations” (2000) spawned a worldwide movement to free the West Memphis 3 for wrongful murder convictions. Set to debut on HBO in Jan. 2012, “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” will have its theatrical premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, with a number of prestigious festival dates to follow this fall. This film tells the entire story, from the arrests in 1993 to the growing movement, through the entire appeals process and the uncovering of new evidence, concluding with their release.

As Damien Echols notes in the film, if not for the “Paradise Lost” documentaries, “…these people would have murdered me, swept this under the rug, and I wouldn’t be anything but a memory right now.”

On May 5, 1993, the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were found next to a muddy creek in the wooded Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Ark. A month later, three teenagers, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly, were arrested, accused and convicted of brutally raping, mutilating and killing the boys. Fraught with innuendoes of devil worship, allegations of coerced confessions and emotionally charged statements, the case was one of the most sensational in state history. The films sparked a national debate regarding the innocence or guilt of the West Memphis 3.

With the support of HBO, the filmmakers have stuck with the story over an 18-year period, making these compelling films in order to continue to shed light, raise awareness and spur debate about the events that transpired at that time and in subsequent years after the convictions.

“Eighteen years and three films ago, we started this journey to document the terrible murders of three innocent boys and the subsequent circus that followed the arrests and convictions of Baldwin, Echols and Misskelly,” said director and producer Joe Berlinger. “To see our work culminate in the righting of this tragic miscarriage of justice is more than a filmmaker could ask for.”

Posted in delusions of grandeur | No Responses »

Oblique Strategies

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

While everyone else is panicking and stuffing money under their beds, I’m investing in mattresses! Ha!

Posted in delusions of grandeur | No Responses »

The Long and Winding Road

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

How my new ThinkPad made it to my doorstep in 5 days…

07/21/2011 2:36 P.M. Delivered To Customer

San Francisco, CA, United States 07/21/2011 3:56 A.M. Out For Delivery

07/21/2011 1:15 A.M. Arrival Scan

Oakland, CA, United States 07/21/2011 12:57 A.M. Departure Scan

Oakland, CA, United States 07/20/2011 9:14 P.M. Arrival Scan

07/20/2011 8:54 P.M. Departure Scan

07/20/2011 6:57 P.M. Arrival Scan

Louisville, KY, United States 07/20/2011 5:45 P.M. Departure Scan

07/20/2011 11:52 A.M. Import Scan

Louisville, KY, United States 07/17/2011 6:07 A.M. Arrival Scan

Anchorage, AK, United States 07/16/2011 8:23 P.M. Departure Scan

07/16/2011 6:46 P.M. Arrival Scan

Shanghai, China 07/17/2011 2:20 A.M. Departure Scan

Shanghai, China 07/16/2011 7:08 P.M. Export Scan

07/16/2011 7:02 P.M. Origin Scan

China 07/16/2011 9:48 P.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Posted in delusions of grandeur | 1 Response »

Smaller Than Life

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Courtesy Sculpteo

Posted in delusions of grandeur | No Responses »

The Rumor Mill

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Four years on, iPhone rumormongering is still big business. Isn’t anyone tired of this yet?

Posted in delusions of grandeur, paranoia | No Responses »

How Big Can I Dig?

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Configuring a new 15.6-inch laptop. Torn between the 1600 x 900 screen vs. the 1920 x 1080 screen (an extra $200, yikes). Agony!

Posted in delusions of grandeur | 1 Response »

Null Media – Content Creation, Editorial Strategy, and All That Good Stuff

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

My new baby is called Null Media LLC.

For the time being, you can find my upstart editorial strategy, editing services, and writing services company located here.

Posted in delusions of grandeur | No Responses »

Vacation Ending

Saturday, May 28th, 2011

After a week in the South, it’s going to be tough to go back to all those surly, big-city folk. I see why people like it here… but they need to do something about the heat, stat.

Posted in delusions of grandeur | No Responses »