The promo site for Metallica's new album is up and running: Mission Metallica.

The live clips you can hear of them recording is promising - it at least sounds like Metallica again instead of whatever that noise on St. Anger was.

When are people going to finally stand up to schools that enforce bad rules like the too skimpy prom dress that shows as much skin as you'd see at a girls volleyball practice.

Its not like the school can fall back on the whole "its distracting attire" claim - this is for the prom. Girls are trying to get attention with their dresses.

Congrats to Richard Morgan for winning the 2008 Clarke Award for best Sci-Fi in Britain for his novel Thirteen (released as 'Black Man' in the UK).

I haven't had a chance to read Thirteen yet, but his Takeshi Kovacs novels are great.

Related:

• Altered Carbon
• Broken Angels
• Woken Furies

I have way too many distractions and hobbies at the moment to deal with a book about Slayer's Reign in Blood. But I'm going to have to find the time to read it.

Bret Easton Ellis is writing the screenplay to Downers Grove.

Amazon: Downers Grove

A custom Quentin Tarantino action figure along with turorials to help you do it yourself.

I'd like to see these fishing cats work in some more open water.

The Cloverfield DVD gets released today. Don't think its something I want to own, but it you missed it in theatres, its worth picking up.

I'm currently making my way thru the 3rd book of the Cassandra Kresnov series by Joel Shepherd. I've always liked sci-fi, but until recently could never get into any sci-fi books. They always seemed to forced full of made up terminology without an interesting enough story to hold my attention.

Crossover
Breakaway
Killswitch

Judas Priest has put the title track to their new album up for download.

The new album is called Nostradamus and gets released June 17, 2008.

How to make your own 'Magic Shell' ice cream topping.

Care for some Cigarette Tea?

The perfect length for a pop song? 2:42. via bb

It delivers that psychedelic vibe and a coda but then gets the hell out of your life.

MetalKult has some Exodus riff videos up. Very under-rated thrash band.

The finalists for the 2008 Hugo Award have been announced. Here are the novel category nominees:

The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Halting State by Charles Stross

I haven't read any of these yet, but I've had Halting State on my to-read list for quite a while now. I'm currently reading River of Gods by Ian McDonald and am not liking his style too much, but I'm not very far into it yet - so hopefully it improves.