Like something out of a science fiction movie -- one of those late, great Saturday afternoon monster fests of the 60s -- comes the news of flies that eat the brains of fire ants and plants that can gobble up rats, like yum.

The plant is a newly discovered addition to the "pitcher" family, and all members of that family are carnivores which secrete a sweet nectar to draw animals to their mouths. Then, for most of them, the insects that fall into these pitchers drown in a slurry of acids and enzymes before being slowly digested, Sarlacc style. But this new one, Nepenthes attenboroughii, eats flesh, from such non-insects animals as rats and mice, leaving only the bones behind. Fortunately, these plants are in the Philippines, far away from me.

The flies, on the other hand, are being introduced in Texas to deal with fire ants, which apparently cause a lot of damage to electrical equipment and newborn calves (I know, I don't get the connection either.) Now, the flies are not zombies themselves. Oh, no. They just want to eat fire ant brains! Because brains are tasty! And good for fly larval development! So, these sneaky little zombie-makers, according to the article above, "lay eggs on the fire ants, the eggs hatch into maggots inside the ant, and the maggot eats away at the pest's tiny brain," yummying down Alien style. Meanwhile, the zombified ants wander aimlessly, as if, say, they have no brains, and in about two weeks, tada! Dead ants topple over! New flies crawl out of the carcasses looking for more fire ants to turn into zombies.

So, if you're looking for a cheap and easy way to get rid of fire ants and rats, just import a bunch of zombie-making flies and giant flesh eating plants! Or, you know, call an exterminator.

Blech.

The 1960s era "Dark Shadows" series may rise again as a movie franchise. Yep, two of my favorite movie entities, Johnny Depp and vampires, are reportedly (possibly) coming together again for the first time. With Tim Burton directing, it can't help but be fun.

Or deeply weird.

Probably both.

Went to the movies yesterday, planning to see "District 9," although that's not really true. I'd forgotten that "District 9" was a mockumentary about space aliens, racial profiling and intolerance, and replaced it in my head with the animated comedy "Planet 51," due out in November. You'll understand, then, why I was surprised by the accompanying previews, which were all apocalyptish and futuristic-dystopiany, when I was expecting fun family fare to come. But once I got over my memory lapse, I was sucked into the world of "District 9" and sat wide-eyed through the many scenes of exploding body parts, car/giant-robot/foot chases, and the sounds of popping baby crustaceans. Got to say, almost from minute one, I rooted for the "prawns." Does that make me unpatriotic? Un-earthean?

After that, though, I needed something more light-hearted, so we checked out "Julie & Julia," which was, as advertised, funny, warm and smelled deliciously of homemade bread. Streep's Julia Child is someone I would have loved to be friends with . . . especially if she made me a chocolate cream pie everyday. Though I like to cook (when I'm not in pain), I can't imagine trekking through the whole of Julia's book on mastering French cooking, American style. But I'm glad someone did.

In "Phew! It's done" news, I spent a few hours last night and today updating the list of movies we have with the dates the films were released, in addition to previous info like genre, primary actor/actress, format (dvd or vhs), and whether it's a remake and/or special edition. I don't know why I didn't have that category before, but whatever. But Jeez-Louise, checking 450 titles in the Internet Movie Database took some serious time.

Yep, I'm geeky and proud of it.

John Scalzi writes that, after seeing the latest Star Trek movie, there are a few techie things he never wants to see in his lifetime.

I concur.

Oh, not about the stuff he decries, or not all of it -- I think flying cars are going to be cool, not to mention Transporter Beams'll completely revolutionize the package/food/fuel delivery industry. But I never want to be "plugged in" 24/7 so I can see ads developed just for me, just out of the corner of my eye 'cause of face recog software and my very own personal cookies and purchasing choices.

I'm also not interested in an implanted jack which make cell calls go directly into my ear drum; I don't even have a regular cell phone -- if I'm not home, folks can leave me voice mail, or send me email, which I'm more likely to answer. Oh, and two techs that won't mix: phones like that and flying cars.

I agree with Scalzi about phasers set to disintegrate. That kind of tech would make it too easy for the disreputable to dispose of disruptions to their dishonesty. Too, I have no interest in Minority Report-style pre-crime incarceration, or the technology of far-seeing that can lead us in that direction. (Oh, wait, we already do that.)

Using robots to teach is icky, imo, and puts us that much closer to robot armageddon. Without developing time travel (and the help of John Connor) we'll be sunk.

Speaking of which, while I think time travel might be a bit of a hoot . . . briefly, I'd rather not open that huge can of paradox, thank you very much.

Anything you'd rather not see on our horizon?

All I have to say about "Mamma Mia!" is that, among other amusements, the vision of Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth in platform shoes and shiny, shiny pants is worth the price of admission all by itself.

Hot pants, I love you so!

Fast paced (it'd have to be, wouldn't it, to cover a 17 million page novel in 2 hours and 18 minutes) and full of magic-y things: dementors, sparkling Wizard Wheezes, possessions by Dark Lords, and nasty, kitten-bespeckled collectible plates. Rather dark and angsty, though not as angsty as the book, natch, being as a bunch of subplots are left out or barely mentioned (that darned 138 minute thing again) but fun for all that, and the audience did its fair share of laughing, cat calling, and applauding in al the right places.

Now, just 10 more days till Book Seven . . .

Ugh.

Slightly longer review: I was actually bored during this movie, despite (because of?) the CGI, and the complete lack of plot except that which thrives on idiocy. The main "conflict" of the piece could have been solved by our hero and his girlfriend sitting down and freaking talking to each other for 2 minutes, and boy, don't I wish they had. Not! Talk about an unbelievable coupling. This is what I think of as the "Three's Company" plot, where one character sees another character in a compromising, yet perfectly innocent situation, or overhears the wrong thing, and the rest of the show is about how they try and not let anyone else know what they saw/overheard.

"Hot Fuzz," brought to you by the same geniuses as "Shaun of the Dead," was way more entertaining.