The king of the Vampires is a US Marine

Due to its long episode running time (1+ hour each) I've slowly been catching up on the excellent modern war TV mini series Generation Kill. It originally aired about 8 months ago and during that time I've watched quite a few other shows. This has lead to not one, but two instances where an actor I originally saw in Generation Kill is more familiar to me from another series which I'd started watching after GK. So when I watch a new GK episode I have an odd mix of deja vu and the feeling of recognising someone but not being able to remember where from (is there a word for that?).

The following are two actors who I originally saw in Generation Kill back in July of 2008 but have since become more familiar through other shows, namely The Mentalist and True Blood.

Example 1 (Generation Kill vs True Blood): Alexander Skarsgård

Sgt. Brad “Iceman” Colbert from Generation Kill

Eric “King of the vampires” Northman from True Blood

Example 2 (Generation Kill vs The Mentalist vs Sarah Connor Chronicles): Owain Yeoman

Sgt. Eric Kocher (right) from Generation Kill with "Captain America"

CBI detective Wayne Rigsby (left) from The Mentalist (with Simon Baker)

Terminator "Cromartie" from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Pilot episode only)

Hot As Hell: Australia's Worst Natural Disaster

By now you'll have heard of the fires that screamed through Victoria, Australia at the weekend. Currently the official death toll is at 131 with the final grisly number expected to be much higher as emergency workers sort through the rubble making this the worst natural disaster ever in Australia.

One of the towns totally destroyed by the fire was Marysville where I visited only a few months ago. Finding the following photo is what prompted me to write this post as I have an almost identical photo from November last year. What was a luscious green country town is now a smoking heap as you can see here...

Before (November 16, 2008)


After (February 8, 2009)


My hometown of Warragul and its neighbouring town Drouin were both on alert on Saturday but were given the all clear later on Sunday. I'm just thankful that my family is OK even though my brother said burning embers were landing in his backyard in Drouin.

The ABC website has a page where you can ask or offer help. We've given clothes and food and have offered housing if anyone needs it.

It seems to be a time to break records with Melbourne recording its hottest 3-day streak last week with a 43c+ (109.4f) hat trick and its hottest day on record on the day of the fires where it got up to a horrible 46.4c (115.4f). Throw in gale-force winds and pyromaniacs and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.

Today, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that if the Victorian fires had been deliberately lit it would amount to "mass murder". Later, Attorney-General Robert McClelland agreed saying, "Anyone who lights fires deliberately, with reckless disregard for the safety of their fellow Australians, in our view establishes the requisite criminal intent that would sustain a charge of murder." ...so say we all.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? My Drinking?

I may be a little late to the party but I've just picked up Does It Offend You, Yeah's album "You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into" after hearing their track We Are Rockstars in the new Fast and Furious trailer.

Of the band Wikipedia has this to say, "Does It Offend You, Yeah? have been compared to dance-oriented acts like Daft Punk, Justice and Digitalism. NME also compares them to bands like Muse due to their heavier, more "live" sound. The group is known for their raucous live shows, which often end in stage diving and broken instruments."

Personally I reckon they're like Daft Punk mashed with The Prodigy but whatever they are, they rock!


We Are Rockstars video clip (sorry for the bad quality audio but this is the old YouTube here).

Some history...

Band Name
“Everybody thinks the name is some kind of statement but it's a quote from David Brent in an episode of The Office. "When me and James Rushent first started writing music together we decided to put it up on MySpace. We needed a name to put as our profile name so just put what was the first thing that was said on TV, we switched it on and Ricky Gervais said "Does it offend you, yeah? My drinking?" so we just went with that. No thought went into it whatsoever.[8]”

Album Name
“The name of the album was decided just as spontaneously as the name of the band - the album's title is a direct quote from Robin Williams' character in the film Jumanji.”