Few people know where the name of The A Team comes from.
"A-Teams" are the nickname for Operational Detachments Alpha (ODA), US Army Special Forces 12-man direct operations teams.
This also raises the point of who else was in Hannibal's original ODA. If he was the Colonel, Face the LT and BA the Sgt, there would have been maybe at least one other officer, along with a whole unit of NCOs and troopers.
Murdoch was, of course, their pilot. He wouldn't have actually been a commando, but would have stayed in the chopper, waiting to do the extraction.
Monday 29 March 2010
Thursday 25 March 2010
Monday 22 March 2010
The A Team
The big movie version of The A Team is ready for 2010 summer release.
It is a rebooted story - the Team are now Iraq rather than Vietnam war veterans and the action is set in the modern era.
Liam Neeson is playing Hannibal.
The idea of Hannibal is that he is played by a famous movie star, an action star when he was younger, now settling for being the star of his own show. The part was originally cast for James Coburn, but after he couldn't do it, it went to George Peppard, who made the role very much his own, heavily borrowing from his previous Banacek role.
The part of BA was written for Mr T, playing a version of himself.
The updated BA is played by UFC star Rampage Jackson. Hopefully his fighting skills will be used in the fight scenes.
Face and Murdoch were played by Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz respectively. Face had been seen as Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica, and played the same character in the A Team. Murdoch was virtually unknown.
The new Face and Murdoch are being played by Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley.
There is no Amy, but Jessica Biel plays a female Army Captain who has some relevant involvement in lieu of a reporter looking for a story.
The cast looks as much like the original cast as is humanly possible which makes it look a little like fancy dress. Let's hope there's been some interpretation of the characters by the actors and director.
All the important elements are there:
the theme tune
"I love it when a plan comes together"
Murdoch's hat
Hannibal's cigars
The van
The corvette
BA's mohawk (if not jewellry)
BA asleep on the plane
Personally we wished this had been made about 5 years ago with a far more obvious cast:
George Clooney as Hannibal
Brad Pitt as Face
The Rock as BA
Jim Carrey as Murdoch
Now that would have been a homage, a great new interpretation, and an instant modern classic.
It is a rebooted story - the Team are now Iraq rather than Vietnam war veterans and the action is set in the modern era.
Liam Neeson is playing Hannibal.
The idea of Hannibal is that he is played by a famous movie star, an action star when he was younger, now settling for being the star of his own show. The part was originally cast for James Coburn, but after he couldn't do it, it went to George Peppard, who made the role very much his own, heavily borrowing from his previous Banacek role.
The part of BA was written for Mr T, playing a version of himself.
The updated BA is played by UFC star Rampage Jackson. Hopefully his fighting skills will be used in the fight scenes.
Face and Murdoch were played by Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz respectively. Face had been seen as Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica, and played the same character in the A Team. Murdoch was virtually unknown.
The new Face and Murdoch are being played by Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley.
There is no Amy, but Jessica Biel plays a female Army Captain who has some relevant involvement in lieu of a reporter looking for a story.
The cast looks as much like the original cast as is humanly possible which makes it look a little like fancy dress. Let's hope there's been some interpretation of the characters by the actors and director.
All the important elements are there:
the theme tune
"I love it when a plan comes together"
Murdoch's hat
Hannibal's cigars
The van
The corvette
BA's mohawk (if not jewellry)
BA asleep on the plane
Personally we wished this had been made about 5 years ago with a far more obvious cast:
George Clooney as Hannibal
Brad Pitt as Face
The Rock as BA
Jim Carrey as Murdoch
Now that would have been a homage, a great new interpretation, and an instant modern classic.
Sunday 21 March 2010
Vassago.com
Vassago.com Vassago's Blog Vassago's website Vassago.vassago.blogspot.com vassago-vassago@yahoo.co.uk
Vassago
Vassago was that he appeared "as an aged man riding a crocodile and carrying on his right wrist a Goshawk. His eyes are hollow and see into other dimensions, but he is blind in this dimension."
Vassago Red Dragon
Vassago appears as "a blood-red dragon, extending one slithe (30 feet) long." The creature was observed by this summoner as having large, red wings. It walked on four legs, had green eyes and white fangs.
Vassago - Goetia, the Lesser Key of Solomon the King: Lemegeton
Vassago - Goetia, the Lesser Key of Solomon the King: Lemegeton
MacGregor Mathers (1904) (quoted)
The Third Spirit is a Mighty Prince, being of the same nature as Agares. He is called Vassago. This Spirit is of a Good Nature, and his office is to declare things Past and to Come, and to discover all things Hid or Lost. And he governeth 26 Legions of Spirits, and this is his Seal
MacGregor Mathers (1904) (quoted)
The Third Spirit is a Mighty Prince, being of the same nature as Agares. He is called Vassago. This Spirit is of a Good Nature, and his office is to declare things Past and to Come, and to discover all things Hid or Lost. And he governeth 26 Legions of Spirits, and this is his Seal
Vassago Bicycle Company
Bikes are F-in cool according to the Vassago Bicycle Company.
The Vassago Bicycle Company are nothing to do with us.
The Vassago Bicycle Company are nothing to do with us.
Bikes are F-in cool
Bikes are F-in cool according to the Vassago Bicycle Company.
The Vassago Bicycle Company are nothing to do with us.
The Vassago Bicycle Company are nothing to do with us.
Vassago on Vassago at Vassago.com
Vassago, in demonology, is a mighty Prince of Hell (see Hierarchy of demons), ruling over twenty-six legions of demons. He can be persuaded to tell the magician of events past and future, can discover hidden and lost things, and has a "good" nature.
He is described in The Lesser Key of Solomon as follows:
The Third Spirit is a Mighty Prince, being of the same nature as Agares. He is called Vassago. This Spirit is of a Good Nature, and his office is to declare things Past and to Come, and to discover all things Hid or Lost. And he governeth 26 Legions of Spirits, and this is his Seal.
Vassago has sometimes been called a Prince of Prophecy.
He is described in The Lesser Key of Solomon as follows:
The Third Spirit is a Mighty Prince, being of the same nature as Agares. He is called Vassago. This Spirit is of a Good Nature, and his office is to declare things Past and to Come, and to discover all things Hid or Lost. And he governeth 26 Legions of Spirits, and this is his Seal.
Vassago has sometimes been called a Prince of Prophecy.
Saturday 20 March 2010
Sexual motivation
Sexual motivation finds it’s expression in behaviour.
In nature, a dog can smell when a bitch is in heat, it has olfactory cues. Although we are told pheromones play a part in human mating, usually by the perfume companies, humans tend to work on more visual cues.
A man sees a woman who is sexually alluring and this arouses him. He becomes physically ready for sex.
Which brings us to the cultural phenomenom that is pornography. Because media is a recent invention, a man may technically know that the image of the girl in front of him in the magazine or on the TV is not real, but his body still responds the way it has evolved to. Which leads us to masturbation, a ridiculous waste of energy and “seed”, but something we know everybody does.
Even if they don’t admit to it.
Masturbation, in particular for the male, is seen as something shameful. It is an insult to call a man a “wanker”. But this negative reinforcement does little, if nothing, to curb the practice.
Perhaps evolution is trying to eliminate masturbation as a behaviour by the social conditioning that it is shameful. Instead of sitting at home wasting your “efforts” on a fantasy, go out and find a real girl to have sex with.
In nature, a dog can smell when a bitch is in heat, it has olfactory cues. Although we are told pheromones play a part in human mating, usually by the perfume companies, humans tend to work on more visual cues.
A man sees a woman who is sexually alluring and this arouses him. He becomes physically ready for sex.
Which brings us to the cultural phenomenom that is pornography. Because media is a recent invention, a man may technically know that the image of the girl in front of him in the magazine or on the TV is not real, but his body still responds the way it has evolved to. Which leads us to masturbation, a ridiculous waste of energy and “seed”, but something we know everybody does.
Even if they don’t admit to it.
Masturbation, in particular for the male, is seen as something shameful. It is an insult to call a man a “wanker”. But this negative reinforcement does little, if nothing, to curb the practice.
Perhaps evolution is trying to eliminate masturbation as a behaviour by the social conditioning that it is shameful. Instead of sitting at home wasting your “efforts” on a fantasy, go out and find a real girl to have sex with.
Tuesday 16 March 2010
Sexual selection and modern day human behaviour
We are told that animals, through evolution, have emerged with physical and behavioural characteristics that maximise their chances of survival and reproduction.
So we can consider that human behaviour is rooted in evolution and has adaptive value.
Consider the issue of contraception. The point of sexual intercourse, from a biological perspective, is procreation, the continuation of the species. Animals aren’t doing it because they want to save their species or pass on their genes.
They are responding to their sex drive.
If it feels good, do it.
Humans, who do understand procreation, and who want to avoid pregnancy, have invented contraception. Sex without procreation.
In our mother and aunt’s day the independent woman had the pill. Like in nature, she could choose who, where and when, and had the “human” choice of avoiding pregnancy. Now, due to STDs, in particular HIV and the death sentence that is AIDS, the modern woman, our sisters and nieces, carry condoms. Same freedom of choice, different level of protection. An example of social evolution.
In the movie Fight Club, one of the characters refers to the condom as “the glass slipper of our generation – you put one on, you dance with a stranger, and you throw it away at the end of the night”.
The modern human male is still driven by the need to spread his seed as far as possible. Every man wants to be “the stud” who has slept with a lot of women. However what he does not want is a series of illegitimate children by a series of women. So he carries condoms.
So we can consider that human behaviour is rooted in evolution and has adaptive value.
Consider the issue of contraception. The point of sexual intercourse, from a biological perspective, is procreation, the continuation of the species. Animals aren’t doing it because they want to save their species or pass on their genes.
They are responding to their sex drive.
If it feels good, do it.
Humans, who do understand procreation, and who want to avoid pregnancy, have invented contraception. Sex without procreation.
In our mother and aunt’s day the independent woman had the pill. Like in nature, she could choose who, where and when, and had the “human” choice of avoiding pregnancy. Now, due to STDs, in particular HIV and the death sentence that is AIDS, the modern woman, our sisters and nieces, carry condoms. Same freedom of choice, different level of protection. An example of social evolution.
In the movie Fight Club, one of the characters refers to the condom as “the glass slipper of our generation – you put one on, you dance with a stranger, and you throw it away at the end of the night”.
The modern human male is still driven by the need to spread his seed as far as possible. Every man wants to be “the stud” who has slept with a lot of women. However what he does not want is a series of illegitimate children by a series of women. So he carries condoms.
Friday 12 March 2010
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