Robert Meyer Burnett, Viceroy of Verisimilitude

When Sigourney Weaver was sent the script of "Aliens" (1986), she had no idea that a sequel was being made for "Alien" (1979) as the studio didn't inform her. After reading the script, Weaver thought it was "Magnificent" and "The Greatest script" she had ever read. She was blown away by the humour, humanity and action. Cameron was initially afraid to meet Weaver as he feared she would be as stern and intimidating as her Ripley character. After their meeting he was relieved. He said, “She was just this wonderful person, and I was so relieved that she saw some value in the script and where I was proposing to take the character.” Cameron was open to some of the changes to the script mentioned by Weaver. However, on the first day of the shoot, there was one hiccup. The shoot was in England and the sets were built. When Weaver arrived, she told Cameron that she was Anti-Gun advocate and she wasn't touching a gun. Cameron asked her, "Did you read the script?". She replied, "I read it. I understood there were guns in it, I just didn’t think Ripley had to pick up a gun except for a flamethrower.” Realizing that the script would require a major rewrite if he couldn’t convince Weaver to use the machine gun, Cameron took Weaver behind the studio and had her fire off the weapon a few times. Cameron said, “I’ll never forget her blasting away with this thing. And then there was this kind of sly look over to me, like ‘This is fun.'”. Weaver said, “It just shows how addictive guns are." while noting that she felt ashamed of the pleasure she took in shooting the rounds. ("James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver on Their 40-Year Collaboration", Jim Hemphill, Indiewire, 2025) P.S: On this day, 40 years ago, "Aliens" (1986) premiered at Westwood, California, USA.

SpaceX’s thirteenth Starship test flight on Thursday is going to be a big one. The gap since the last flight will be about 55 days, which one of the quickest turnarounds so far. SpaceX is aiming for a monthly Starship launch cadence. They’re getting close. During Flight 13, for the first time ever, @SpaceX will deploy actual Starlink V3 satellites (the video below shows simulators being deployed on the previous flight). These satellites will enable higher bandwidth, faster speeds, and expand global coverage. V3 has improved antennas, deployable solar arrays, and high-capacity lasers, and is also much bigger thanks to Starship. Thursday will be an important day. It’s also the first launch as a Public Company.

Sam Raimi at a screening for his film ‘DARKMAN’ at the Laemmle North Hollywood 7 theatre in Los Angeles last month!

Here's how THE ODYSSEY screening was for me: Dude in front kept scrolling his phone. I warned him & he tried to intimidate me & husband afterwards. Security did nothing. Woman to my left TOOK A PHONE CALL during the film. Dude to my right kept flashing his Apple watch. 🤦🏻‍♀️

It's kind of hilarious how the regime in Iran is firing missiles at the entire region EXCEPT for Israel, because they know Israel will simply kill them all if given a reason.

Houston, they’re on their way!

Nice.

You cannot swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, and be affiliated with a group whose stated purpose, repeatedly and loudly, is to dismantle the Constitution. This isn't a big secret. It's not a conspiracy. They say it themselves over and over and over again. We need to start litigating the oath and the legal weight it carries, and disqualify all DSA members and affiliates from holding public office. It's really that simple, and the sooner we start the easier it will be. Every DSA member should be removed from office immediately, and no future DSA member should be allowed on the ballot.

Field test! Using a helicopter to simulate a slow fall through Venus’ atmosphere, the DAVINCI team confirmed that their probe’s descent imaging system can read the landscape below & deliver results. Here's what happened and how it's preparing us for Venus: go.nasa.gov/4f1TqpB

🚨BREAKING: Dwayne Johnson condemned the Hamas terrorist attacks, saying he is heartbroken and deeply saddened by the murders and abductions of Jewish civilians. Second time He contributed $1 million to Israel.

I am not aligned with any particular political party. But I am aligned with being an American and defending the kind of government we have here that has made this country possible. The DSA platform is treason.

Among his many other virtues, Sam Neill's exemplary life is a signal to actors that they don't need to mess with their hairlines. Can you imagine how silly he would have looked with some Turkish hair transplant instead of the look he had his entire adult life?

Here’s something else that make me happy: Coming soon to #4K #UltraHD... John Carney’s SING STREET (2016)! “Did the Sex Pistols know how to play? You don’t need to know how to play. Who are you, Steely Dan? You need to learn how NOT to play, Conor. That’s the trick. That’s rock and roll. And THAT takes practice.” @thedigitalbits

Happy Birthday, Harrison! Love ya, brother. Hope you raise a little hell today.

Annette Bening remembers Sam Neill: "What a lovely man." "He was a wonderful crafstman as an actor, but he was also just a decent guy."

Vincent Price and House of Usher premiered June 22, 1960

Homer didn’t write the Odyssey, he didn’t write the Iliad. In fact, there was no person ever called “Homer”. This is not a conspiracy theory but the considered conclusion of Harvard’s Gregory Nagy after a lifetime of research. Professor Nagy is the most respected Homerist alive and his defining contribution is to uncover the 3000 year old mystery of who (or what) actually produced the epics. This interview will examine two of Professor Nagy’s radical claims: 1. The Homeric epics were not written, carefully edited, and memorized for performance. They were created on the fly while being sung! That is to say the Greeks somehow developed a method to create amazingly intricate, 12-15 thousand line poems in the middle of a performance. 2. The Homeric Epics were not composed by an individual but cumulatively by countless poets over a millenia. There was never a person called “Homer”.

Worth noting that Ro Khanna spoke at ArabCon where they laughed about October 7th. 47 Americans were killed that day…

“The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.” — Aldous Huxley

California politicians love chasing businesses out. The state is just going to be a nature preserve of wild mountain lions eating a handful of low testosterone letterbxers.