This Is Heavy Duty, Doc!

Today's a red letter date in the history of science!

54 years ago today, Doctor Emmet Lathrop Brown had a vision.

A picture in his head.

A picture of this:

This is what makes time travel possible. The Flux Capacitor!

Happy Flux Capacitor Day!

Swiss Watch Found in 400-Year Old Chinese Tomb

Oops. I really need to be more careful.

(via Weird Asia News):

"How did it get there? This is the question haunting the archaeologists who discovered the Swiss watch in an ancient tomb in Shangsi, southern China, they believed had not been opened since its occupant’s funeral, which occurred during the Ming Dynasty (15-16th centuries).

The miniature watch, which is in the shape of a ring, is thought to be barely a century old. The mysterious timepiece was encrusted in mud and rock and had stopped at 10:06 am. On the back of the watch, the word, ‘Swiss’ is engraved.

Its presence raises more questions than answers… like: Where did the watch come from? Could the watch/ring have been planted at the tomb, but if so, why and by whom?"

An Open Letter from Doc Brown to Marty McFly

And I thought I was an bitter, old Doc Brown...

An Open Letter from Doc Brown to Marty McFly:

"Dear Marty-

Having recently reviewed the surveillance footage of the events of the night you went back to 1985, I couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback by your spurious reasoning of only allowing TEN FUCKING MINUTES to SAVE MY GODDAMN LIFE. Ten minutes??? Really. You actually thought that you could get from the Courthouse to Twin Pines Mall (I’m sorry, I mean LONE Pine Mall now–way to run over a tree, fucknut) in ten minutes."

Read the rest over at Nerdist.

Back To Clam Future

And I thought I was the worst Doc Brown...



(hat tip to Ken. I think.)

Why Marty Didn't Invent Rock 'n' Roll

And I thought I overthought this stuff...

(via Overthinking It):

"Everyone is familiar with the classic “Johnny B. Goode” scene from Back to the Future and the accompanying controversy: how dare the filmmakers insinuate that a white kid (Calvin Klein/Marty McFly) actually invented rock & roll instead of a black guy (Chuck Berry)? Haven’t white people stolen music from black people enough already?"

The Profile Picture Debate Continues!

So last month, based on a suggestion from Samantha (one of my darling and loyal readers), I posed a question to you, my (well-dressed and intelligent) virtual audience.

Namely, should I change my profile picture from this:


To this?


My original rationale for the current profile picture was that it was just so god-awfully bad that, when people saw it, they would (hopefully) want to stick around to see what this little blog was all about. Also, I liked that the blue backdrop matched my blog's color scheme. Finally, I was hoping to build some sort of "cross-platform brand recognition" so that I could eventually feature that picture prominently in the submission packet for my book. Heck, maybe even use it as the author's photo. And for future driver's licenses.

I pointed all of this out to Samantha and her response was that "Doc Brown - though interesting - is not as hot as 'not Doc Brown'". A good point, and one I did not take lightly (especially considering I don't want to drive away my key, core demographic: sexy ladies).

Anyway, I ended up getting a surprising amount of feedback (surprising to me, at least) and the overwhelming answer so far is: neither.

(Sorry, Sam. Sorry, Matt's Cuban-Style Roast Pork Sandwich. Sorry, bad Doc Brown picture.)

Several reasons were given. (My favorite being from a reader who thought that, while my new picture looked good, it was an odd way to hold a slice of pizza.) But, overwhelmingly, people still wanted to see me as Doc Brown. Just not a Doc Brown that was so - as Shannon (a ravishing and provocative new reader) put it - "poopy pouty face".

Faced with the task of finding a new profile picture, I couldn't help but think about how much easier the whole process would be had I performed in a country heavily populated with high-tech, top-of-the-line camera-toting shutterbugs who would take pictures of me several times a second from every possible angle and then frequently present those pictures to me as gifts.

And then I remembered I'd worked in Japan.

So, I busted out my massive box of fan pictures and started searching. Some of the fan pictures were, quite literally, "fan pictures":

These, while humorous (and useful on hot days), would not make very good profile pictures.

Most of the other pictures were scary. A remarkable number had me with my mouth open. But, there were a lot of good ones. So, I picked a nice handful, scanned them and I present them to you now. There are a lot in this post but it's because I tried to include a large variety. These were taken at various stages of my Doc Brown career. Different shows, different wigs, different levels of tolerance for my Japanese superiors.

So, if you don't mind and if you've got a few seconds, take a look and let me know what you think. If you'd like a closer look, click to biggify them. I did touch them up a bit to try to get rid of the dust and the yellow of time but, bear in mind, most of them are scans. Once I have an idea of which ones you all like, I can probably track down the original digital copies.

So, without further ado, let the competition begin!

This first picture was taken by my (ever-so-handsome and talented) brother and I'm currently using in the background of my Twitter page:

Back from the Future

A few suggested that I should be smiling. This one feels a bit forced:

"I love my job. Honest."

Here's one that's a bit more natural:

Smiley Profile

It was also suggested that I use a picture of Doc doing the very-Japanese "peace sign pose". Here are two that I found:

Peace Doc #1

Peace Doc #2

Here are a few shots from the "Doc and Robot" show:

Doc and IB4E
(don't worry, the Japanese didn't find that name funny either)

Doc and remote

This may not make a great profile photo but, I love this picture:

From the look on her face, I'm either being really funny
or I'm sexually harassing her.

Here are a few pictures from the DeLorean show:

Doc's model pose.

"I need fuel!"

Doc considers buying a Mac.

"Great Scott!"

And some from the "In Search of the Fifth Element" show:

He's got the whole world...

Goggle Doc

Conductor Doc

Doc and Megaphone

Two pictures with the Segway:

Segway Doc #1

Segway Doc #2

And finally, a couple of random poses:

"You talkin' to me?"

Can I get a what what?

Doc and Einstein

So, what do you think??

[Special thanks to Ken, Ai, Mai, Yoshiko and Asako for the pictures, the applause and the memories.]

Can't Sleep

So, I killed some time tonight messing around with the fonts and the layout. Got rid of that lined border as well. What do you think? Good or bad?

Also, while I'm thinking about it, a friend recently suggested that I switch my profile picture from this:


To this:


She thinks that, at the very least, I should post a "suave Matt photo" to attract new viewers.

I mean, sure it is a better picture of me. And it would be a free advertisement for "Matt's Cuban Style Roast Pork Sandwich" (available at the delightful New York Deli, located just outside of Kobe! Convenient to BOTH Hankyu Okamoto Station and Settsu-Motoyama Station! Tell Junko I said hello!).

But, considering that I'll be attempting to get a literary agent soon, I think I was hoping to achieve some sort of brand-name recognition. (Hence that Doc mugshot being my profile picture on The Facebook and The Twitter and on the alumni page of my high school). My rationale was that the photo was just so god-awfully bad that, when people saw it, they would want to stick around just to see what it was all about.

When I pointed this out to her, she replied, "Doc Brown - though interesting - is not as hot as 'not Doc Brown".

Stupid logic.

What do you think? Comment below or email me.

(I believe the children are our future) UPDATE:

According to my friend Kate in Portland:

Its funny when I go to FB and my 2 year old sees your profile pics on the wall he says mommy, THAT!

Mark one for old Doc.

I Guess I Can Postpone My Arabic Lessons

Job cuts on the rise in Dubai:

"...Universal Studios in Dubailand have also let go of as many as 50, sources told Gulf News.

Universal Studios was originally scheduled for completion in 2010, but it is now going to be complete in the first quarter of 2012 at the very earliest, a source said."

Shame. How much fun would an Arabian Doc Brown be??

OUTATIME License Plates!

They have "OUTATIME" license plates over at Think Geek.com!


That settles it. I have to buy a DeLorean now.

Shame they're sold out of these.

RELATED POSTS:
Chuck Versus The DeLorean
Roads? Where We're Going... We Won't Need Roads
Mr. Fusion, Here We Come

Christopher Lloyd Visits What's Left of His Home

The BBC website has the "Good Morning America" clip showing Christopher Lloyd visiting what remains of his house:

BBC NEWS | Americas | Back to the Future star loses home:

"Christopher Lloyd, the Hollywood actor and star of the Back to the Future films, has lost his home to the wildfires which are sweeping parts of California. Mr Lloyd, who played the zany scientist 'Doc' in the Back to the Future trilogy, showed ABC's 'Good Morning America' programme around the ruins of his former home."

While you can see that video at a couple of different websites, I linked to the BBC because I like that they described Doc as "zany". All the other articles I've found kept calling Doc "crazy". Obviously, that's a personal pet peeve of mine. Doc was eccentric, he wasn't nuts.

Anyway, aside from how much it must suck to have "Good Morning America" tape you catching your first glimpse of the charred remains of everything you once owned, there were two things that really struck me about this video. First of all, despite the terrible circumstances, Christopher Lloyd looks GREAT for a 70 year old, doesn't he? Unbelievable.

Second was the following comment:

...memorabilia, which I kept delaying to go through to store. But, kinda don't have to worry about that now.

As I've mentioned before, I'm what Sam Gosling refers to as a "sentimental hoarder" in his book Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.

I've got so much stuff from Japan in my little apartment, the most invaluable of which being my reams of journals and notes as well as hard drives full of pictures and data, including the first draft of my book. (And don't even get me started on all of the crap I've got boxed up at my parents house in Florida.)

As devastating as I'm sure it would be to lose all of that, I can't help but wonder if it might be pretty liberating as well.

The travel writer Pico Iyer - who I saw give an excellent lecture back in April - starts off his book The Global Soul as follows:

"Suddenly, the flames were curling seventy feet above my living room, whipped on by seventy-mile-per-hour winds that sent them ripping across the dry brush like maddened horses. I tried to call the fire department, but the phone was dead. I tried to turn the lights on, but the electricity was gone. I went upstairs again, to see that the flames, which minutes before had been a distant knife of orange cutting through a hillside, were now all around me, the view through the picture window a wall of flame."

After a few paragraphs describing his escape, he finishes the chapter with:

"I got taken to a friend's house, went across to an all-night supermarket to buy a toothbrush, and started my life anew."

It's tragic, but - and may everyone who lost their home in such a way forgive me for saying this - I'm almost envious.

I'm not saying I'd like a brushfire to rip through the U-District thereby freeing me from my junk and any self-imposed obligations. But, I am realizing that maybe it's time to reevaluate my relationship with my stuff and what I plan to do with it.

Or at least buy a really, really big firebox.

What do you think? If you lost your home tonight, how hard would it be for you to get back on your feet? Do you think it would be liberating? Devastating? What would you do next?

BROWN MANSION DESTROYED

First the clock tower, now this!

Fires Prompt Schwarzenegger to Declare State of Emergency in Santa Barbara County (via SFist):

"Christopher Lloyd's home has been torched to the ground."

I hope he's OK and that it was just a summer home. More details as I get them.


(AT LEAST HE'S SAFE) UPDATE:

Looks like it was his primary residence. Bad news, but it could have been a lot worse.

Stars’ Homes Destroyed & Threatened By Montecito Fire

Access has also learned that Christopher Lloyd, from “Back To the Future,” lost his home to the fire. Lloyd’s realtor told Access she saw the actor’s 4400 sq. foot home engulfed in flames on the news. Fortunately, the actor is safe in Vancouver shooting a film.

I'm glad he's OK.

Here's more from the LATimes:

* Updated: Times Hot Property columnist Ann Brenoff reports a dramatic scene from the home of actor Christopher Lloyd:

The caretaker for actor Christopher Lloyd's house "fled for his life" in a firestorm last night, said Lisa Loiacono of Sotheby's International Realty. Loiacono manages the property for Lloyd, who is filming on location in Vancouver, Canada, and was not in Montecito. Loiacono said the property's 8 acres were all "torched," and the house "at least partially burned, if not totally." Loiacono was unable to enter the area this morning.

The house, Lloyd's main residence, had been listed for sale in the spring of 2007 at $11.3 million but was recently withdrawn from the market while he made upgrades. He owns a second, smaller, home in Montecito that is still on the market for $3.6 million.

The property believed lost is one of Montecito's more unusual homes. The 5,500-square-foot main house has one bedroom, and there is a separate guesthouse. The house was built in 1972 from adobe bricks made on site. And the living room and bedroom share an outdoor area with a large patio and stone-lined reflecting pool.

Lloyd personally cared for many of the rare and exotic plants on the grounds. It is also believed that the Mountain Drive home of Eva Loggins, Kenny Loggins' ex-wife, was destroyed by the fire.

Update 2: Here's more from The Times' Louis Sahagun in Montecito:

Buildings located on Christopher Lloyd's property sustained major fire damage, with ruins continuing to smolder Friday afternoon. The property looks out over a panoramic view of a canyon studded with luxury homes, the Pacific Ocean and Channel Islands.

Lloyd is said to personally care for many of the rare and exotic plants on the grounds, some of which perished in the fire. Among the debris was the metallic nameplate for Orphium frutescens, a South African shrublet that grows pink flowers and is commonly known as the sea rose, and Erythrina latissima, a slow-growing South African tree, commonly known as the broad-leaved coral tree, that has scarlet flowers and leathery green leaves. Besides the nameplate, all that remained were ash and a stump covered in blackened leaves.

How depressing!

UPDATE NUMBER TWO:

Mail Online has pictures of Lloyd's house after the fire.

And TMZ has video.

The History of Doc Brown in Music Videos

1985:


2008:


My, how things have changed.

(Not sure how I feel about the goatee.)

A Fitting Tribute

I've obviously watched a lot of Back to the Future-related, user-created content since I started this blog. This means that, not only have I seen a marked decrease in my social life, but I've also had to endure a lot of awful videos (as well as have the "Giga-Giga-Watt-Watt" song stuck in my head for days at a time).

But I thought the following video was really well done:


(Created by Ryan Deffley)

Put that one under the "Actually Good" tab.

Happy "Back to the Future" to you!

Time for some fresh air.

Mr. Fusion, Here We Come

Talk About Your Timing! The folks over at Engadget have given me the perfect way to wrap up my "Back to the Future" reenactment in a timely fashion:

Plasma Plant turns your old junk into electricity, which can then be used to create more junk:

"The transmutation of garbage into energy is a particularly modern form of alchemy. We've seen it done on a smaller scale in the past, but now a company called Geoplasma is assembling the country's first plasma refuse plant in St. Lucie County, Florida. Scheduled to go online by 2011, the plant will process 1,500 tons of garbage a day, adding 60 megawatts to the power grid -- enough energy to power 50,000 homes. The plant works by vaporizing refuse with a 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit stream of plasma. The organic components (food, fluids, paper) create a pressurized gas that is then used to turn a turbine, while any inorganic refuse (metals) that may be present condenses, later to be collected for industrial uses. But will it power a Flux Capacitor?"

Now, if we could just do something about Marty's kids.

To Be Continued...?

This has been a real-time "Back to the Future" reenactment, performed by Matt and his "I really need to get a life" players.

Thank you, and good night.

BOOM!!!

Great Scott!

I forgot to tell Marty, when he gets back to the future, he needs to get DirectTV HD!

Damn! Where is that kid?

Damn!

Damn, damn!

Hey You...

Get your damn hands off... oh.

I think you got the wrong car, McFly.

For The Die-Hard BTTF Fans

OR... You can watch both I AND II tonight, simultaneously, as it happens.

You can't kill a pimp. Man, you know that.

If you don't have time to watch the entire movie tonight, here's the "Sweded" version (a la "Be Kind Rewind").



While I can't say I liked "Be Kind Rewind" (or even had the willpower to sit through the entire film), I thought these guys did a pretty good job.

"Pimps don't die, they multiply."