The Supervillain's Guide to Reality vs Fantasy

Here on the left we have proof that even celebrities have bad hair days. Either that, or Alexander Skarsgard had just kissed a taser for a dare & was now deeply concerned about the state of his underwear while the photo was being taken.
But as we all know, bad hair days don't kill your celebrity status or cause you to lose lucrative movie roles.
Skarsgard has been tipped as the favourite to star in Warner Brother's upcoming Tarzan movie, which will apparently start filming next year.
This is good news for Skarsgard fans & fans of The Lord of the Apes stories.
It isn't, however, good news for one DeWet du Toit - a self-styled Tarzan fanboy, whose story was featured on news sites across the world in January this year.

du Toit spends his time playing Tarzan in the jungle near George in the Western Cape - which is rather ironic considering that the George of the Jungle cartoon series was originally inspired by Tarzan. But coincidences aside, du Toit has been immersing himself in the character of Tarzan, living in the 'jungle' for 3 days a week, when he runs around barefoot in a loin cloth.
During the rest of the week, he seems to divide his time between his job as a personal trainer & convincing Hollywood bigwigs that he should be the next Tarzan. His efforts have included numerous hours of self-tan application, sunbed use, black hair dye applied to his locks & the filming of short Tarzan-like movies, where he runs around with shaved legs - who knew that Tarzan invented the lady-razor?
So here's the Supervillain SuperReality Check: in a fantastical world, an ex-security guard from Namibia who runs around in a loin cloth, would be plucked from obscurity to star in a huge blockbuster based on his idol, going on to star in 5 sequels & living in a giant & luxury tree house for the rest of his life.
In reality, big names mean big money & studios will always pick a star that will guarantee them a successful return on their monetary investment in the movie's production.
It's another reason why Robin Hood spoke with an American accent & the studio had no problem with it.
In the words of Abba: money money money, ain't it funny, in a rich man's world...

Telepathic Take Aways

There are some articles circulating about a Pentagon project that involves tons of money, some inventive scientists & so-called 'telepathic helmets'.
The Pentagon has apparently handed over a wad of cash to some neuroscientists at the University of California, to develop a special helmet that can 'read' signals from the brain & then transmit those signals to other nearby helmets. The aim of the project is for soldiers to be able to communicate silently in the midst of the chaos of battle.
At the moment, volunteers are given symbols to memorise. These symbols represent military commands & the volunteers are then asked to think of them while the electrode-fitted cap on their head is hooked up to a computer. The computer then monitors the chemical 'flares' in their brains when they think of the various symbols.
So far the accuracy rate is 45% & is expected to improve. So basically, 45% of the time the guys are thinking "shoot to kill, shoot to kill" & 55% of the time they're thinking "mmmmm pie".
Not bad considering that proliferation of videos on Youtube like this one.

But what a great idea! In fact, I can think of so many practical applications for this technology:
Who needs drive-through when you can just project your order & location to someone at Nandos & have them deliver?
Training your minions with subliminal stimuli will be so much easier & they'll be easier to control in the field.
Inter-species communication could become a reality, meaning that you may just be able to get your dog to retrieve your newspaper without shredding it...

Unfortunately I can also see some serious risks, like how vulnerable a network of soldiers with electrode helmets could be; rolling viruses, electronic surges, disturbing projections that paralyse the 'viewer'.

No doubt, at this point you're reminded of the movie Men Who Star At Goats, staring George Clooney & Ewan McGregor. Me too, since it's a great movie that makes you laugh & leaves you wondering just a little bit...
Which is why the claim that the US military will have telepathic helmets by 2017, is a little far-fetched to me.
I think by then, guys will still be getting confused between the symbol for "drop the bomb & nuke these buggers" & "I need the toilet, where's the bog roll?"
Call me a skeptic, but I don't think that having different guys trying to project the same symbol & using it in combat manoeuvres where heavy weapons, explosives & air strikes are involved, is such a good idea...