Missouri

“Real Genius” is a genuine ’80s time capsule, from Val Kilmer’s haircut to Patty D’Arbanville’s giant glasses to the casting of William Atherton (“Ghostbusters,” “Die Hard”) as the villain. But it’s also a pretty good comedy.

Released in 1985 — a year after “Revenge of the Nerds” — the movie focuses on Mitch (Gabe Jarrett), a young science geek who gets a scholarship to Pacific Tech, where his invention is used to develop a secret weapon for the government. Luckily, he also meets an older, cooler brainiac (Kilmer) who teaches him to relax and helps him plot revenge on his scheming professor (Atherton).

(Read the full post about ‘Video Vault: Goofy ’80s comedy has brains, too’…)

When 16-time World Heavyweight wrestling champ Flair steps into the ring at Wrestlemania XXIV on Sunday, he’ll not only be going up against the man he’s mentored for years, he’ll also be putting his career at stake. At least that’s how the storyline goes: If Shawn Michaels pulls out a win over Flair, Flair must retire.

Flair — real name Richard Fliehr — has been a bright light in the sport of pro wrestling since he first took a lesson from Verne Gagne in 1972. The long blond hair (ideal for when Flair splits his forehead open during battle, and “puts on a crimson mask”), the wonderfully gaudy floor-length robes, the brazen attitude, the technical skill, the grasp of in-ring psychology — all of this has earned Flair the respect and admiration coworkers, and the cheers of crowds over the years.

(Read the full post about ‘Ric Flair readies for Wrestlemania with his long career at stake’…)

TIM O’BRIEN “Chameleon” (Proper Records) Grade: A-

It’s been three years since we’ve heard anything new from the celebrated and Grammy-award winning musician Tim O’Brien and with this solo album, we get the man at his most playful, honest and melancholy. “Get Out There and Dance” is a fun little ditty that will surprise his past fans, but it also represents how O’Brien approached “Chameleon.” He doesn’t hold back and because of that, listeners get sounds of bluegrass, country and folk all from one man and whatever instrument he decides to play (guitar, mandolin or banjo).

(Read the full post about ‘CD reviews’…)

Canandaigua, N.Y. -

A few millennia have come and gone since we were slinging knuckle bone dice in the dirt. Remains dug up in Iran tell us the ancient Persians played a game that looked like backgammon some 5,000 years ago. Greek historian Herodotus wrote about nomadic soothsayers who played pickup sticks.

Still, none of those games pack the shock and awe of gunning down insurgents in corpse-strewn alleys in Iraq and seeing it all in high-res, turbo graphics — really feeling the controller quake in your hand as the shrapnel of an IED hollows out a mud pit next to your combat boots.

(Read the full post about ‘The gaming culture, part 2: You say you want an evolution’…)

Casual, cool and compelling in its first hour, “21” adapts the story of real-life college mathletes counting cards at Las Vegas blackjack tables. (It’s based on Ben Mezrich’s nonfiction book “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas For Millions.”)

Reducing gambling to mathematical mechanisms that beat blackjack is an idea clearly illustrated with wry humor from Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb’s script. Also, director Robert Luketic (“Legally Blonde”) glides his camera through Sin City’s glitz with a breezy confidence.

Yet “21” could use a shot of urban-legend oxygen that casinos pump on the floor in its dragging second half.

(Read the full post about ‘When the stakes are high, ‘21’ folds’…)

The P-D profiles Old Hickory Pits of Cape Girardeau, and the overall American fascination with barbecue.  I agree with the last quote in the article.   And that Real BBQ is smoked in these contraptions.

No letting theology get in the way of a good left-wing Chicagograd confab.

Spot the contradiction.

Washington Times:

Rice hits U.S. ‘birth defect’

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the United States still has trouble dealing with race because of a national “birth defect” that denied black Americans the opportunities given to whites at the country’s very founding.

“Black Americans were a founding population,” she said. “Africans and Europeans came here and founded this country together — Europeans by choice and Africans in chains.

(Read the full post about ‘Original Sin’…)

Australia’s Ruddgime has denounced “Fitna,” but can’t seem to gather as much as one-tenth as much condemnation for radical Islamic terrorism.

As he has Australia, the EU, the UN and most of the Muslim world mad at him, Geert Wilders must be doing something right. A certain religious figure told us about two thousand years ago that the more you’re ticking off the world, the better you’re doing by God and the Truth.

USA Today:

Texas’ 10% admission could teach colleges a thing or two

Ten years ago, after a federal court blocked Texas colleges from considering race as a factor in admissions, the state, with George W. Bush as governor, came up with an innovative alternative. In an attempt to make affirmative action colorblind, the top 10% of graduates at each of the state’s high schools was granted automatic admission to state universities.

(snip)

Ten years later, we know a little more about the law: It works.

(Read the full post about ‘At Least They’re Diverse Now’…)