A Funkaoshi Production

Besides producing their own films in Singapore, the brothers imported foreign movies and built up a string of theaters. Their business boomed until the Japanese invaded the Malay Peninsula in 1941 and stripped their theaters and confiscated their film equipment. But according to Run Run Shaw, he and his brother buried more than $4 million in gold, jewelry and currency in their backyard, which they dug up after World War II and used to resume their careers.

That’s before WWII. This guy lived quite the life.

To ensure that his films were amply distributed, Mr. Shaw’s chain of cinemas grew to more than 200 houses in Asia and the United States. “We were like the Hollywood of the 1930s,” he said. “We controlled everything: the talent, the production, the distribution and the exhibition.”

A reminder to vaccinate your god damn children. Your craziness isn’t doing them any favours. (This lady has suffered with measles, mumps, rubella, a type of viral meningitis, scarlatina, whooping cough, yearly tonsillitis, chickenpox, and precancerous HPV.)

What!

On Sunday, Industry Minister James Moore was asked how Canada should address the fact that one in seven children currently live in poverty: his answer was to spout platitudes about how wealthy a country this is, then let out a chuckle while asking “Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.” It’s not hard to figure out the real priority of Conservative motions on the unborn – and ensuring that the country’s fetuses grow into healthy babies and happy children is not it.

It’s easy to forget if you aren’t paying too much attention that the Conservative Party in Canada really is staffed by a bunch of full-on assholes.

Andrew Coyne writes about Rob Ford.

Many sources, including Playing at the World, assign to Dungeons & Dragons an initial release in January 1974. Our best evidence comes from contemporary notices like the one above, a letter written by Gary Gygax late in 1973 that foretells the imminent release of the game. Now, with the fortieth anniversary nearly upon us, a burning question arises: when exactly should we celebrate?

Some serious comeuppance. I love it.

The art assets, writing, and much of the code for Glitch are now in the public domain.

The Nelson Mandela of the 21st Century is right here, right now. We just can’t see it. We’re too busy spitting on him and calling him a terrorist.

This is incredible. It’s like everyone in Kiev is protesting.

Also, Prepared to Die by the one and only Ice-T.

It’s down the road form my old high school.

This is some heavy stuff.

The time has come to ask: What are the differences between these men? One thing the transcripts make very clear is that Ford was, by far, the least intelligent person in the room at the crack house. He was also one of the least honest and most easily frightened. He was also white and rich.

Mayor Rob Ford’s habit of doing drugs with gang members led to him being targeted in an apparent extortion plot related to the crack cocaine video and possibly a series of photographs of him in compromising situations, newly released police documents say.

Yep, that’ll do it alright.

An interview with Roseanne Barr and Mindy Kaling. Lots of good stuff.

MK: I think Roseanne looked like Kurt Cobain four years before Kurt Cobain. I mean that as a compliment.
RB: He credited our show.

If you aren’t watching the Mindy Project you should be. That show is amazing.

“The funny thing I’ve noticed is that it seems like each pro is also its own con.”

Interesting thoughts on the suburban / urban divide in Toronto.

Giroux, a top homicide detective often tapped for sensitive cases, was asked to look into criminality in the mayor’s office. He was told to follow his instincts and go “in the direction it takes you.”

He handpicked his small five-person squad out of headquarters, not local divisions where police had interacted with the mayor and his family on several previous occasions.

How is this not a TV show?