It's so very wrong that Billy Livings isn't here to see this day.

The longtime and legendary Vero Beach High School football coach should've had the opportunity to go to Gainesville, take his rightful place in the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame and receive a much-deserved reward for life that touched so many others.

But immortality comes too late for Livings, who died in October, at age 75, after suffering a massive stroke. And the people who allowed this inexplicable and unnecessary gaffe to happen ought to be ashamed of themselves, embarrassed by their failure to pay proper tribute to a beloved man who was denied the chance to attend his own induction.

Truth is, his election to the Hall of Fame he'll be formally inducted Sunday night was long overdue. This honor should've come years ago, when he would've been able to embrace the moment with family and friends and could share the occasion with all of us.

He would've enjoyed that.

Livings was modest. In the folksy, self-deprecating manner that was so much a part of his Southern, small-town charm, he was quick to deflect any credit that came his way in the wake of his teams' success. And when asked about the Hall of Fame, he would downplay its importance.

Privately, though, the Hall of Fame meant more to him than he would ever admit publicly.

"When it happened in Alabama, I could tell he was excited about it," Livings' wife, Rosie, said, referring to his 2007 enshrinement in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, which recognized his championships-filled, 12-year stint at Jefferson Davis High in Montgomery. "The newspapers and TV stations up there made a big deal of it, and I know Billy enjoyed that ... just as he would've enjoyed getting into Hall of Fame in Florida, if he were here.

"He didn't need the Hall of Fame to know how good he was at what he did. And anyone who couldn't see that he was a special man wasn't paying attention. But he would've been thrilled to get in."

For reasons beyond personal glory.

Originally posted here:
Ray McNulty: Livings' honor should have come much sooner

When you think of the word "immortality" it is hard not to feel a tingling excitement, even if those feelings are quickly followed by a sense of something more biblical, almost God-like, and then by something darker lurking in the shadow of the word.

As Western science still has not found the immortality gene, it is perhaps not surprising that in Silicon Valley and on the outskirts of Moscow the eccentric wealthy (and it always is the eccentric wealthy) are now turning their attention and their money to projects that are promising to deliver a new version of the age-old fantasy (or folly) of everlasting life: digital immortality. And this time it may actually work.

For writer Stephen Cave, author of the new book Immortality, digital immortality does not refer to the "legacy" we have left on our Facebook pages. Cave's book explores the quest to live for ever and how he believes it has been the driving force behind civilisations, coming to a climax in modern science. "Digital immortality," he says, "is about there being a silicon you for when the physical you dies" as a kind of "Plan B if bioscience fails to deliver an actual biological immortality".

And of course, he adds, biological immortality would not stop you being run over by a bus.

"So your brain is scanned and your essence uploaded into a digital form of bits and bytes, and this whole brain emulation can be saved in a computer's memory banks ready to be brought back to life as an avatar in a virtual world like Second Life, or even in the body of an artificially intelligent robot that is a replica of who we were."

For Cave, though, this "is not true immortality" as "you physically die" and this new you, "even though its behaviour could fool your mum", is then just a copy. A copy that, he admits, could carry on growing, marrying and even having children.

Currently, however, this is still "almost science fiction", as there are "three big challenges" that stand between us and digital immortality challenges that projects such as Carbon Copies and Russia 2045 already believe they can overcome within 40 years.

"The first is that we have to be able to read all the information that makes up who you are, and this is likely to be achieved destructively by removing the human brain from the body and then preserving, slicing and scanning in the data it contains. Then there is the challenge to store an amount of information many millions of orders of magnitude bigger than the current computer systems. And finally we need to find a way to animate it."

In the end, Cave argues, "theoretically the problems of digital immortality seem solvable, but whether the solutions are practical is another story... Although when it does happen it is simply inevitable that the rich will get there as they have the most power among us."

Others are more positive about the prospect of true digital immortality within a generation.

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Will scientists ever discover the secret of immortality?

Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- Personages of Italy and Kuwait issued statements on April 11 and 15 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung.

Miriam Pelegrini Ferri, president of the Group of Dialectical Materialists of Italy, said that Kim Il Sung is deeply revered by the world progressives for the undying feats he performed in the history of human thought and the history of anti-imperialist struggle.

Colorful significant events taking place in Italy and various other countries to remember him on the occasion of the Day of the Sun indicate that he is always alive in the hearts of the progressives, Miriam Pelegrini Ferri said.

Abdulreda Assiri, rector of the College of Social Sciences of Kuwait University, paid tribute to Kim Il Sung on the occasion of the centenary of his birth, praying for his immortality.

The DPRK is steadily advancing straight along the road indicated by Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il under the wise leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un and is firmly maintaining its position in the international arena, too, the rector stressed.

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Personages of Italy, Kuwait Pray for Kim Il Sung's Immortality

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John Grant Jr. takes aim at NLL title

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 30 : Kerala Chief Secretary K Jayakumar today said Raja Ravi had Varma achieved immortality through his art by opting not to imitate his predecessors.

Inaugurating the 164th birth anniversary celebration of painter Raja Ravi Varma at Santhigiri Ashram,he said his paintings gave shape to Indian mythological characters in popular imagination, he said.

'Painting as an art has had few takers in Kerala. This scenario has to change. To be able to identify with the turmoils of fellow human beings is the crux of both art and spirituality,' he added.

The meeting was organised to comemorate Kerala's most popular painter as a part of Samskarikothsavam, the cultural festival of Santhigiri Fest 2012 going on here.

The paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, who was born on April 29, 1948, are famous for their depiction of mythological figures, modelled on South Indian women.

Reproductions of his paintings adorning visiting rooms, hotels and public places across the country speak volumes for the immense popularity enjoyed by him. (UNI)

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Ravi Varma's birth anniversary celebrated

SEATTLE (MCT) For only a few seconds Saturday, Philip Humbers perfect game bid was out of his hands.

Go get it, Humber said as catcher A.J. Pierzynski chased down an errant slider that pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan was ruled to have swung at. Throw him out.

As soon as Pierzynski retreated and completed his throw to first base to complete the 27th consecutive out, the latest chapter in Humbers amazing ascent was completed.

Just 15 months after Humber had to earn his way onto the Soxs 2011 opening-day roster, Humber threw the 21st perfect game in major league history with an efficient 4-0 victory over the Mariners.

Despite protests by Ryan over home plate umpire Brian Runges call, the Soxs players poured onto the field to mob Humber, 29, who pitched better than his 2004 first-round distinction with the Mets.

I dont know what Philip Humber is doing in this list, Humber said of the list of pitchers who have thrown perfect games, including former teammate Mark Buehrle. I have no idea what my name is doing there. But Im thankful its there.

So are the Sox, who claimed Humber on waivers from Oakland in January 2011 and saw him pitch so well that they went to a six-man rotation last summer because of his success.

As recently as April 10, the Sox skipped Humbers scheduled start after a rainout in Cleveland so they could keep their remaining four starters on schedule.

In his second start of the season, Humber pitched like a bona fide ace. Relying on a sharp slider, Humber tied his career high with nine strikeouts and needed exceptional defensive help only three times, capped by Pierzynskis throw to first.

Humber didnt throw three balls to any batter until he ran up a 3-0 count to Michael Saunders to start the ninth, then came back to strike him out on a 3-2 slider.

Continued here:
Pitcher Perfect!

Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- A Japanese singer Yoko Tooyama, who is a member of the Japan-Korea Society for Music and Art Interchange, was one of the participants in the 28th April Spring Friendship Art Festival.

Noting that she thought of President Kim Il Sung when singing the Korean song, Tooyama told KCNA:

It was after the passing away of Kim Il Sung when I first visited Pyongyang with Mitsuko Okasawara, former chairwoman of the society.

The chairwoman had honor to be received by the President on several occasions, but I did not.

However, I have learnt a lot about his noble life. I chose to sing the Korean song "The Man Who Remains in My Heart", praying for his immortality.

Thanks to the strong sense of moral obligation the dear respected Kim Jong Un has, the history of the Sun runs uninterruptedly in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Promising is the future of the DPRK in which the cause of perpetuating the memory of precedent leaders has been realized with credit.

I am very pleased to hear that our performance somewhat delighted Korean people in celebrating Kim Il Sung's 100th birth anniversary.

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Japanese Singer Prays for Immortality of Kim Il Sung

CLEVELAND, Ohio When you always manage by the book, the book might as well manage.

The numbers that once defined baseball immortality -- such as 500 career home runs or 60 homers in a season -- were cheapened by steroid cheats. In their place came "sabermetrics," new statistics devised by specialized analysis. Some of the concepts could probably be understood only by Bill James, the godfather of baseball figure filberts, and maybe Stephen Hawking.

All this fomented the information revolution in baseball that was popularized in the book and movie "Moneyball."

But when numbers rule the actual playing of the game, it becomes a kingdom of conformists. The stats enforce a safe orthodoxy. Woe betide the man who thinks for himself or the manager who plays a hunch. He'd better be right, because there is safety in numbers.

It is rare that someone goes with a gut feeling, or risks the second-guessing that comes with independent thought.

Take Indians manager Manny Acta's allegiance to pitch counts. The Indians were in the forefront of the numbers-crunching revolutions, but one must ask whether they have let guidelines harden into boundaries.

"Compulsory figures" used to be a term in figure skating, when numbers actually had to be carved into the ice. Perhaps the "compulsory figures" in baseball today are pitch counts.

In the season opener Thursday, Acta used closer Chris Perez in the ninth inning, and Perez ignited the fireball that consumed a 4-1 lead. The manager basically said Perez is the closer, so why deviate from the normal practice?

All sorts of objections could have been made, including Perez's rehab time in spring training after hurting himself by overthrowing, and the skimpy three appearances he made against big-league hitters after recovering.

But Acta also argued that starter Justin Masterson already had thrown 99 pitches.

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Baseball managers need more guts, less numbers: Bill Livingston

04/16/2012 10:14 TURKEY Bartholomew I: The Resurrection of Christ is the only ark of salvation for a humanity in crisis by NAT da Polis In his Easter message, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople denounces the reckless search for material goods and material well-being, which hides fear of death, killing others. The real "fountain of immortality" already exists and is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians follow the risen Christ and do his work in charity.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) - With a thought to the crisis that is afflicting the modern world, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I celebrated the Easter holidays of the Orthodox Christian world, by sending a message that emphasizes the importance of the resurrection of our Lord as only response of salvation for the world. This world, for Bartholomew, believes that through economic globalization "it has gained eternity'. In fact, globalization is based on a reckless material well-being that denigrates values which attempt to preserve the dignity of 'human existence.

His message emphasized that there is no miracle recipe for eternal life on this earth beyond the saving message of the resurrection of Christ. The mythological search for '"fountain of eternal life" is of no use, said Bartholomew, because "'immortality exists in Christ and is offered to all through Him."

"If the resurrection of Christ only involved Him, it would have no meaning for us," Bartholomew begun. "But Christ is not risen alone. With Him the whole human race is risen.... The message is joyous for all, because the Resurrection of Christ cancels the power of death. Those who believe in Him, confess the resurrection of dead and so are baptized into his death, resurrected together with Him and live to eternal life. "

"The world is far from Christ - he continued- trying to accumulate material goods in which it places all of life's hope. Man inconsiderately hopes that through wealth he will avoid death. And the man who errs in accumulating wealth, as if it could lengthen his life, spreads death to others. He rips their economic strength of survival and often violently interrupts the thread of their lives, hoping that it will save his life".

"You do not need - added the Ecumenical Patriarch - to destroy peoples to allow other peoples survive. Nor is there any need to destroy defenseless human beings to allow more prosperous fellow human beings live. Christ offers life on earth and the heavenly life to all. He has risen for those wishing to follow the path of the resurrection. In contrast, those who directly or indirectly spread death, believing it to extend or facilitate their lives, condemn themselves to eternal death. "

"Our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ - Bartholomew underscored - came into the world so that all men may have life and 'have it abundantly. It would be a great mistake to believe that the welfare of the human race can only be decided through infighting. We follow, brothers and beloved children in the Lord, the Risen Christ, in all his works. Let us help those who live without means of subsistence, to keep them alive."

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04/16/2012 10:14 TURKEY Bartholomew I: The Resurrection of Christ is the only ark of salvation for a humanity in crisis

It was just one short year ago where the Miz appeared to be on the precipice of immortality. During his now-forgettable run as WWE champion, the only WWE superstar whose exposure to the outside media was comparable to that of Mike "The Miz" Mizanin was John Cena.

With his background/stigma as a reality TV star now well behind him, and in many ways assisting him on his relentless godwill tours for the WWE, the Miz was set to be cemented as a top superstar as he prepared to face John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania XXVII.

Unfortunately, Miz's career may have peaked with what should have been a career-making victory over the WWE's at-times infallible hero.

Maybe it was the Rock casting too large of a shadow. Maybe it was the WWE's quick-trigger booking as they once again abandoned a new champion in progress. Whatever it was, to say that the Miz has fallen precipitously from the ranks of a contender would be an understatement.

The WWE cemented Miz's unenviable status as world champion-turned mid carder by making a storyline out of his drastic fall from grace. There, Miz would cut promos that carried a sharp tone of frustration with possibly facing the biggest year-to-year dropoff in WrestleMania history.

Miz was able to sneak into the WrestleMania picture at the beginning of the month, even picking up a victory for Team Johnny over fellow flame-out Zack Ryder.

Little has been done with the Miz since scoring an otherwise encouraging pinfall. The former world champion will figure to be on the outside looking in for Extreme Rules, which should present an inflated pay-per-view bonus as Brock Lesnar is set to compete in the WWE for the first time since 2004.

To make matters worse, Miz currently finds himself on a RAW roster crowded with stars who need to get theirs before the WWE even thinks about letting Miz have his. Once upon a time, seeing Miz in a new, exorbitant suit was somewhat of a staple on RAW.

Now, Miz is only called upon for brief, filler matches that lead to nothing. Any talking on his part is done quickly before his matches. Such an unceremonious occasion hardly requires a shiny, Armani three-piece.

After going from must-see to hardly seen, Miz leads a generous crop of talent who need a change of scenery in order to revitalize their careers.

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The Miz: Counting Down the Days Until He Is Probably Drafted to WWE SmackDown

VICTORY CHARGE: Shannon Eckstein on his way to winning a fifth Australian ironman title at the national championships at North Kirra. Picture: Michael Ross Source: Gold Coast Bulletin

SHANNON Eckstein has taken a step closer to lifesaving immortality by claiming his fifth Australian ironman title on the Gold Coast.

On an emotional final day of the Australian championships at North Kirra, Eckstein moved to second on the all-time winners' list, while Metropolitan Caloundra's Rebecca Creedy erased the pain of last year's near miss to win the ironwoman race.

Eckstein led the men's race from start to finish to win from Tugun's Hugh Doherty and Mooloolaba's Ali Day and skip clear of Ky Hurst and Grant Kenny on the all-time leaderboard.

Only legend Trevor Hendy has more, with six.

Eckstein battled numerous injuries during a disappointing Kellogg's series (won by his brother Caine), but he was back to his best today, completing successive national titles for the first time in his stellar career.

It was also his first win as a dad after the birth of his baby daughter two weeks ago.

Eckstein grew up idolising Hendy and said it was surreal to be on the cusp of dethroning him as the most decorated national champion in history.

"That's the next challenge," he said.

"In this sport you need to find a new challenge to keep getting out of bed at five o'clock in the morning.

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Eckstein's exhibition for fifth title

Image: Illustration by Mark Jarman

Imagine yourself dead. What picture comes to mind? Your funeral with a casket surrounded by family and friends? Complete darkness and void? In either case, you are still conscious and observing the scene. In reality, you can no more envision what it is like to be dead than you can visualize yourself before you were born. Death is cognitively nonexistent, and yet we know it is real because every one of the 100 billion people who lived before us is gone. As Christopher Hitchens told an audience I was in shortly before his death, Im dying, but so are all of you. Reality check.

In his book Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization (Crown, 2012), British philosopher and Financial Times essayist Stephen Cave calls this the Mortality Paradox. Death therefore presents itself as both inevitable and impossible, Cave suggests. We see it all around us, and yet it involves the end of consciousness, and we cannot consciously simulate what it is like to not be conscious.

The attempt to resolve the paradox has led to four immortality narratives: Staying alive: Like all living systems, we strive to avoid death. The dream of doing so foreverphysically, in this worldis the most basic of immortality narratives. Resurrection: The belief that, although we must physically die, nonetheless we can physically rise again with the bodies we knew in life. Soul: The dream of surviving as some kind of spiritual entity. Legacy: More indirect ways of extending ourselves into the future such as glory, reputation, historical impact or children.

All four fail to deliver everlasting life. Science is nowhere near reengineering the body to stay alive beyond 120 years. Both religious and scientific forms of resurrecting your body succumb to the Transformation Problem (how could you be reassembled just as you were and yet this time be invulnerable to disease and death?) and the Duplication Problem (how would duplicates be different from twins?). Even if DigiGod made a perfect copy of you at the end of time, Case conjectures, it would be exactly that: a copy, an entirely new person who just happened to have the same memories and beliefs as you. The soul hypothesis has been slain by neuroscience showing that the mind (consciousness, memory and personality patterns representing you) cannot exist without the brain. When the brain dies of injury, stroke, dementia or Alzheimers, the mind dies with it. No brain, no mind; no body, no soul.

That leaves us with the legacy narrative, of which Woody Allen quipped: "I dont want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve it by not dying." Nevertheless, Cave argues that legacy is the driving force behind works of art, music, literature, science, culture, architecture and other artifacts of civilization. How? Because of something called Terror Management Theory. Awareness of ones mortality focuses the mind to create and produce to avoid the terror that comes from confronting the mortality paradox that would otherwise, in the words of the theorys proponentspsychologists Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynskireduce people to twitching blobs of biological protoplasm completely perfused with anxiety and unable to effectively respond to the demands of their immediate surroundings.

Maybe, but human behavior is multivariate in causality, and fear of death is only one of many drivers of creativity and productivity. A baser evolutionary driver is sexual selection, in which organisms from bowerbirds to brainy bohemians engage in the creative production of magnificent works with the express purpose of attracting matesfrom big blue bowerbird nests to big-brained orchestral music, epic poems, stirring literature and even scientific discoveries. As well argued by evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller in The Mating Mind (Anchor, 2001), those that do so most effectively leave behind more offspring and thus pass on their creative genes to future generations. As Hitchens once told me, mastering the pen and the podium means never having to dine or sleep alone.

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Climbing Mount Immortality: Death, Cognition and the Making of Civilization

Pyongyang, March 27 (KCNA) -- Books and a collection of poems were published in Bangladesh to mark the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung. They are books "Songun international", "The DPRK I saw -- the country centered on the popular masses", "Great man and immortality" and a collection of poems "A hymn dedicated to a great man."

The book "Songun international" was written by M. Jahangir Khan, chairman of the Bangladesh Group for the Study of the Songun Policy, which consists of "1. Kim Il Sung, leader I worship", "2. Kim Jong Il, brilliant commander I eagerly want to meet" and "3. Songun international."

The book deals with the sacred revolutionary career of Kim Il Sung and the immortal feats performed by General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

Nothing can quell the ardent desire of humankind and strong trend of the times to follow the invincible Songun politics of Kim Jong Il, it noted.

The book "The DPRK I saw -- the country centered on the popular masses" was written by Raymond Ferguson, national secretary of the Australia-DPRK Association for Friendship and Culture. It deals with the advantage of socialism in the DPRK which is shedding its rays all over the world thanks to the peerlessly great men possessed of immensely sublime outlook on people.

The book "Great man and immortality" was authored by Garib Newaz, president of the Bangladesh People's League. It consists of chapters "Brilliant life", "Weight of earth and Kim Il Sung", "The sun is immortal" and "Peerlessly great man and eternal life."

The author praises the immortal revolutionary career of the President, who founded the Juche idea and successfully embodied it to develop the DPRK into a powerful country independent in politics, self-supporting in the economy and self-reliant in defence.

The collection of poems "A hymn dedicated to a great man" written by Bangladeshi poet Chowdhry contains more than 40 poems including "We pay tribute to President Kim Il Sung on the Day of the Sun", "Comrade Kim Jong Il -- happiness for world people", "In memory of Kim Jong Suk" and "Invincible DPRK -- our beacon of hope".

Those poems laud the personalities of the three commanders of Mt. Paektu as peerlessly great persons and depict the real picture of Songun Korea.

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Birth Anniversary of Kim Il Sung Commemorated in Bangladesh

Publicity images from "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour."

In March 2009, Michael Jackson announced a 50-night stand in London. It was comeback time for pop music's biggest superstar, who hadn't toured since 1997.

Sadly, Jackson died just weeks before opening night. While the world mourned, it quickly became apparent this guy was going to be worth more dead than alive. Forbes confirmed it, reporting Jackson's estate brought in nearly a half billion dollars in the two years after his death.

Which brings us to "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour," a revenue-generating collaboration between Jackson's estate and Cirque du Soleil that landed at Target Center on Tuesday, March 27, for a two-night residency, with top tickets ringing in at $175 a pop. Cirque, of course, has long since

But what is "Immortal," exactly? With Jackson's vocals all obviously on tape, it's not a "real" concert. But it's not just a Cirque du Soleil show with a bunch of Jackson remixes playing in the background, either. Instead, it's a sometimes eye-popping, sometimes boring and almost always vaguely unsettling marriage of the two.

Tour director Jamie King does a fine job of cranking up the sound and fury. A native of Verona, Wis., King began his career as a dancer with Jackson in the early '90s. These days, he produces mega-tours for Madonna and Celine Dion. King even has

But with no single (living) personality at the center of the action, King's giant, motorized screens and bombastic live band start to get repetitive and even grating. Too often, the Cirque folks are underutilized as mere backup dancers. Those there more for Cirque than MJ are bound to leave disappointed.

To be sure, there are some terrific moments.

After a glacial opening - look, a mime on a moving sidewalk!

Ultimately, though, it takes patience to get to the good parts of "Immortal." All too often the filler feels like the 10th production number of an Oscar telecast entering its fourth hour. For every breathtaking one-legged breakdancer, there's a guy dressed as Bubbles the Chimp, hugging (and terrifying) audience members.

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MJ/Cirque show falls short of immortality

22-03-2012 11:39 My mum becomes immortal somehow. How will she use her immortality? watch the video to find out. If you enjoyed the video like, subscribe and/or leave a comment. New video soon thanks for watching.

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MY MUM IS IMMORTAL - Video

Publicity images from "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour."

In March 2009, Michael Jackson announced a 50-night stand in London. It was comeback time for pop music's biggest superstar, who hadn't toured since 1997.

Sadly, Jackson died just weeks before opening night. While the world mourned, it quickly became apparent this guy was going to be worth more dead than alive. Forbes confirmed it, reporting Jackson's estate brought in nearly a half billion dollars in the two years after his death.

Which brings us to "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour," a revenue-generating collaboration between Jackson's estate and Cirque du Soleil that landed at the Target Center on Tuesday for a two-night residency. Cirque, of course, has long since nailed the art of spectacle and Jackson himself

But what is "Immortal," exactly? With Jackson's vocals all obviously on tape, it's not a "real" concert. But it's not just a Cirque du Soleil show with a bunch of Jackson remixes playing in the background, either. Instead, it's a sometimes eye-popping, sometimes boring and almost always vaguely unsettling marriage of the two.

Tour director Jamie King does a fine job of cranking up the sound and fury. A native of Verona, Wis., King began his career as a dancer with Jackson in the early '90s. These days, he produces mega-tours for Madonna and Celine Dion. King even has experience with prerecorded vocals, as he oversaw

But with no single (living) personality at the center of the action, King's giant, motorized screens and bombastic live band start to get repetitive and even grating. Far too often, the Cirque folks onstage are underutilized as mere backup dancers. Those there more for Cirque than MJ are bound to leave disappointed.

To be sure, there are some terrific moments.

After a glacial opening - look, a mime on a moving sidewalk! - things picked up with a tribal

Ultimately, though, it takes patience to get to the good parts of "Immortal." All too often the filler feels like the 10th production number of an Oscar telecast entering its fourth hour. For every breathtaking one-legged breakdancer, there's a guy dressed as Bubbles the Chimp, hugging (and terrifying) audience members.

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Minecraft: The Fountain Of Immortality: Episode 3 - Video

In "Intruders," director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo explores the ideas of fear and losing control. For his next film potentially his next film, I should say he'll dive into another form of horror: the possibility of living forever.

Immortality sounds glamorous to most, sure, but not to Fresnadillo not in his vision of "Highlander," at least. The "28 Weeks Later" filmmaker is set to pick up the sword and bring "Highlander" back to the big screen for Summit Entertainment, and in his mind, it's the difficulties of everlasting life that's most interesting about the fantasy franchise.

"The idea about immortality as a curse, you know?" Fresnadillo answered when MTV News asked him about his attraction to "Highlander." "Immortality is a very difficult time in your life, if you become an immortal. If you think about that, it's impossible to be in love with anyone you're growing, you're getting old, as a human, but not as an immortal. I think immortality could be a very lonely feeling [worth exploring]."

Still, Fresnadillo isn't entirely sure that "Highlander" is the next film on his increasingly busy plate. "I'm working hard on that project," he offered. "We'll see if finally it's my next movie."

One thing he definitely won't be working on, however, is "The Crow." Fresnadillo was attached to direct a reboot of the James O'Barr graphic novel at one point in time, before ultimately bowing out in October. It's a shame; anyone who sees "Intruders" will agree that based on the opening scene alone, Fresnadillo would have been an inspired choice to breathe new life into "The Crow," if the legendary film even needs to be remade in the first place. (Hint: it doesn't.)

"It's difficult to explain to you," the director said of what his vision for "The Crow" would have been. "When you're working in this industry, you're dealing with many projects at the same time. 'The Crow' was one of them. It was a very cool concept to make some new approach and new refreshment of the idea, but I didn't have the time to explore it too much. I didn't have time to say, 'Here's the vision of what I think would be fantastic for that.'"

Are you looking forward to Fresnadillo's "Highlander" remake? Are you disappointed that he won't bring "The Crow" to life? Tell us what you think in the comments section or hit us up on Twitter!

Tags Highlander, intruders, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the crow

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'Highlander' Director Views 'Immortality As A Curse'

ALLAN MAKI AND SEAN GORDON From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published Friday, Mar. 23, 2012 11:56PM EDT Last updated Saturday, Mar. 24, 2012 12:50AM EDT

It is a delicate balance, one many NHL players face as the games grow more meaningful and the playoffs loom: do they play hurt or do they take themselves out of the lineup for the good of the team?

Hockey, after all, celebrates the courageous, transforms players into legendary figures. Think of Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bob Baun playing on a broken leg. Think of Anaheim Ducks forward Paul Kariya being laid out on the ice by Scott Stevens, only to return minutes later and score a key goal to force a Game 7 for the Stanley Cup. Those images are stitched in time.

What isnt remembered or even known is how many players put themselves or their team at risk by crossing the boundary between bravery and foolishness. Its a quandary with short-term, long-term implications. Playing beyond the usual aches and bruises is an expectation that can inspire teammates, spark a goal, win a game. But Ian Laperriere admitted he went beyond the norm when he hid his postconcussion symptoms from the Philadelphia Flyers for a go at the Stanley Cup.

Regaled for his grit, Laperriere began the 2010 playoffs by taking a puck in the face near his right eye. The force of the shot left him with orbital damage, a reported 70 stitches and a concussion. He sat out the rest of the opening-round series against the New Jersey Devils, missed the second round against the Boston Bruins along with the first three games of the Eastern Conference final against the Montreal Canadiens.

That was as long as Laperriere could bear to sit.

I was in the league for 16 years and never came close to winning the Cup, he said. I saw the team doing so well. I wanted to be part of it.

Laperriere wanted so badly to be part of the Flyers run, he didnt tell anyone he was still experiencing postconcussion symptoms. Before Philadelphia lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, Laperriere was voted the NHLs toughest player by The Hockey News. He tried a comeback in September of 2010, but has yet to play another game.

I really do believe there are guys playing right now with concussions, said Laperriere, who will have problems with his eye for the rest of his life. They dont want to say anything because they dont want to lose their job. Its not like Sidney Crosby who can miss two years and play, especially for the third, fourth liners.

So they play hurt and they lie about it. Canadiens forward Mathieu Darche did for as long as he could with what was later treated as a concussion. Asked about his injury, he replied with a laugh: You mean my really bad flu?

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Stud up or sit down?

Jones (left) sounds like a man ready to hang 'em up and go fishing. Young does not. (AP)

Five years must make a great amount of difference in a Major League Baseball career.

To read the post Tuesday about 35-year-old Michael Young in the Dallas Morning News, you'd swear he was giving reporter Evan Grant the lowdown on where theTexas Rangers kept the Fountain of Youth. It's somewhere in his locker. Young might just play forever, his "competitive drive" is so superior.

Conversely, to read the post about almost-40-year-old Chipper Jones in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, you'd swear reporter Dave O'Brien had just interviewed a thoroughbred race horse who broke his leg and was begging to be put down. Chipper is just so darned beaten up, heck, "tomorrow" might be his last day wearing an Atlanta Braves uniform.

First, Young:

"Father Time doesn't mean anything to me.People who lose their competitive edge or their drive, those are the ones when age starts creeping up. There are a lot of people who have beaten Father Time I feel like I'm competing with myself and my own expectations As far as age or anybody thinking about any magic numbers, that means nothing to me."

Nothing, huh? Jones, 0 for 8 so far this spring and troubled by a sore knee and legs, sounds like he's about to turn 80:

"Tomorrow might be my last day," he said "I don't know. I don't really focus on it that much. The body is starting to tell me every morning when I wake up that it's getting close. I'm signed through the end of this year. If I play in a certain amount of games, I got an option for next year. I don't know what next year entails.

"I don't know if I can make it through this year."

All right, that's enough. In their own way, each of these guy is full of baloney. Enough with the lionizing of Michael Young, who is such a hard worker (and weaker players aren't) that the law of physics don't apply to him. OK, Mike. We all get older, as Larry Wayne Jones will tell you. And tell you. And tell you.

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Michael Young claims immortality, but hasn’t seen Chipper Jones lately