PREACHER COMES TO HBO

For years, fans have been saying that if Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion’s Preacher were to come to any screen, only HBO could do it justice.

Apparently, DC, Vertigo, Ennis, Dillion and whatever gods watch over Time Warner agree.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Preacher will launch on HBO as a series, adapted by Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider, Daredevil) and directed by Howard Deutch. Johnson and Deutch will executive produce along with Michael De Luca, George Agusto, Chris Bender and JC Spink.

From HR:

"Preacher, which ran from 1995-2000, told the story of a down-and-out Texas preacher possessed by Genesis, a supernatural entity conceived by the unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon. Given immense powers, the preacher teamed with an old girlfriend and a hard-drinking Irish vampire and set out on a journey across America to find God -- who apparently had abandoned his duties in heaven -- and hold him accountable for his negligence.

The series was created by Irish-born writer Garth Ennis and British artist Steve Dillon, who will serve as co-executive producers. Ken F. Levin, who reps the duo, also will serve as co-exec producer.

The series -- which developed a rabid fan base -- was known for tackling religious and political issues, its dark and violent sense of humor and its observations of American culture. It also was one of the series that helped define Vertigo, the adult-oriented line of comics from DC Comics.

There have been several attempts to bring the comic to the screen, whether big or small, but nothing stuck. A movie version, to have been produced by Kevin Smith's View Askew, among others, got to the casting stage, with James Marsden attached for the title role and a reported budget of $25 million.

The project reunites Johnson with Deutch; Johnson wrote "Grumpier Old Men," which Deutch directed. Deutch's directing credits include TV's "Gleason," the pilot for "Melrose Place" and the 1986 film "Pretty in Pink." He is repped by ICM.

Johnson is repped by CAA.

Though the series ended in 2000, after 66 issues, Preacher has consistently been one of DC/Vertigo's best-selling trade collections through both the comic and bookstore market, with each of the nine volumes seeing multiple printings. Like many other Vertigo properties, Ennis and Dillion have a creator participation deal with Preacher, which allows them to continually receive a portion of the revenue generated by the trades and other rights to the property.

While no start date was given, or cast announced, the bar has obviously been set very high for the adaptation of the property, given the reputation of HBO's original series. Given the content of Preacher and the buttons a loyal adaptation of the comic series will push, the network is clearly looking at one of its most controversial series to date."

K, I just wet myself a bit! If only I had HBO! Well, I suppose I can wait for the inevitable DVD release...Oh sweet stocking-stuffer-Christ that would be a kick-ass gift!

"Batman & Robin" Writer Gets $4 Million for "Da Vinci" Prequel

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Click here if you want a good chuckle.

As long as I see Tom Hanks in a suit with nipples! Damn, I love me some bat-nipples!

Seriously though, this guy has written a couple nice screenplays, (i.e. "A Time to Kill" and "A Beautiful Mind"). But he has also farted out some nuggets like "Lost in Space" and "I, Robot," and the aformentioned "Batman & Robin."

The Internet is 1% Porn

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- About 1 percent of Web sites indexed by Google and Microsoft are sexually explicit, according to a U.S. government-commissioned study.

Government lawyers introduced the study in court this month as the Justice Department seeks to revive the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, which required commercial Web sites to collect a credit card number or other proof of age before allowing Internet users to view material deemed "harmful to minors."

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the law in 2004, ruling it also would cramp the free speech rights of adults to see and buy what they want on the Internet. The court said technology such as filtering software may work better than such laws.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law on behalf of a broad range of Web publishers, said the study supports its argument that filters work well.

The study concludes that the strictest filter tested, AOL's Mature Teen, blocked 91 percent of the sexually explicit Web sites in indexes maintained by Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.
Filters with less restrictive settings blocked at least 40 percent of sexually explicit sites, according to the study of random Web sites by Philip B. Stark, a statistics professor at University of California, Berkeley.

"Filters are more than 90 percent effective, according to Stark," ACLU attorney Chris Hansen said Tuesday during a break in the trial. "Also, with filters, it's up to the parents how to use it, whereas COPA requires a one-solution-fits-all (approach)."

COPA follows Congress' unsuccessful 1996 effort to ban online pornography. The Supreme Court in 1997 deemed key portions of that law unconstitutional because it was too vague and trampled on adults' rights. It would have criminalized putting adult-oriented material online where children can find it.

The 1998 law narrowed the restrictions to commercial Web sites and defined indecency more specifically.

In 2000, Congress also passed a law requiring schools and libraries to block porn using software filters if they receive certain federal funds. The high court upheld that law in 2003.
Justice Department lawyers Theodore Hirt and Raphael Gomez declined to comment Tuesday on Stark's findings.

Stark prepared the report based on information the Justice Department obtained through subpoenas sent to search engine companies and Internet service providers.
Google refused one such subpoena for 1 million sample queries and 1 million Web addresses in its database, citing trade secrets. A judge limited the amount of information the company had to provide.

Stark also examined a random sample of search-engine queries. He estimated that 1.7 percent of search results at Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, MSN and Yahoo Inc. are sexually explicit and 1.1 percent of Web sites cataloged at Google and MSN fall in that category.

About 6 percent of searches yield at least one explicit Web site, he said, and the most popular queries return a sexually explicit site nearly 40 percent of the time. But filters blocked 87 percent to 98 percent of the explicit results from the most popular searches on the Web, Stark found.

Stark also said that about half the sexually explicit Web sites found in the Google and MSN indexes are foreign, making them beyond the reach of U.S. law. But he agreed with government assertions that the most popular sites are domestic.

"COPA -- right out of the bat -- doesn't block the 50 percent (posted) overseas," Hansen said. "So COPA is substantially less than 50 percent effective."

Closing arguments in the four-week, non-jury trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr. are expected Monday.

The law, signed by then-President Clinton, requires Web sites to get credit card information or some other proof of age from adults who want to view material that may be considered harmful to children. It would impose a $50,000 fine and six-month prison term on commercial Web site operators that allow minors to view such content, which is to be defined by "contemporary community standards."

The law has yet to be enforced. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a preliminary injunction, ruling in June 2004 that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail.

The plaintiffs, including Salon.com, say they would fear prosecution under the law for publishing material as varied as erotic literature to photos of naked inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Who is up for conducting a field test to verify the accuracy of this report? ;)

Apropos: A Quote in Light of Recent Events

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt......If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake." -- Thomas Jefferson

Let us hope Jefferson's quote proves true.

Trip to Boulder

Tara and I are thinking of coordinating a trip to Boulder on Saturday, November 11th, to check out, amongst other things, the Dunshanbe Teahouse. We were thinking of spending the majority of the day in Boulder, with us leaving Laramie by 10 AM or so. Perhaps having lunch at the Teahouse and maybe having dinner at BD's Mongolian BBQ.

We are open to other ideas and suggestions for the trip. We usually take a walk from the Teahouse through a part of CU and down into Pearl St. Mall.

Who is up for a Boulder trip?

Capital Steps: They Put the Mock in Democracy

Want to laugh? Try these links (MP3s, if they don't work, click here to go to the web site and download them).

"Old Man Rumsfeld"

"Aristocrats Since The Cradle"

"Hang Down Your Head, Mark Foley "

"Addicted To Oil"

"It's Not Easy Being Pope"

Let me know which one is your favorite. I'm partial to "Addicted to Oil" myself. Apparently, these guys are going to be performing at UW on Nov. 29th.