If you own property in Northern Virginia, then this should scare the crap out of you:

The house in this post (12850 Fleetwood Drive, Nokesville, VA 20181) was built in 2006 and sits on 10 acres in Nokesville in Prince William County. It was featured on this blog when it was first listed for $730,000 on 08/31/07 (13.5% less than its purchase price on 6/5/2006 for $843,920). It was subsequently reduced to $660,000 by 11/05/07, for a 22% reduction over its prior sales price.

The NoVa Bubble Blog reports then on a person who offered $256,400–remember this for a place that sold in June 2006 for $843,920. The place was in foreclosure, and the bank rejected the bid, but was interested in negotiating. The couple who made the offer walked away. As the NoVa Bubble Blog notes,

For those of you who find something you really like, I hope it encourages you not to be daunted by the list prices. This couple initially offered 70% off of the prior sale and 66% off the county’s assessed price, and the bank was willing to continue negotiations.

He’s pretty insightful:

JM: What’s weird is that all the Buffy writers – I talk to them every once in a while – they’re all in hugely popular shows. They’re working on CSI, on Grey’s Anatomy, 24, you name it, they’re all on the big shows, and they all have the same complaints. They say, “God, I’m bored. I want to have a big demon jump out and rip his throat out. I want something big to happen, something special. We’re just sitting here talking about nuclear weapons and it’s boring.” There is something free and liberating about sci-fi and fantasy.

To tell you the truth, when Buffy went down, I had wanted to get into a quality procedural cop show because what had frustrated me about Buffy, and television in general, is that when characters reveal themselves they just talk about themselves, usually near a kitchen sink.

BN: There’s a lot of expository dialogue.

JM: Exactly. That’s the way that you do in television because to do it through action, which is the better way, is too expensive. It takes too long to write, it means your characters are on the move more and you just can’t shoot that in a week. What I like about these procedurals is they don’t talk about their feelings; the writers just rip that part out and trust that the actors will put that into the performance. I think it’s a brilliant recognition of television to realize what they can do and what they can’t, and if the actors know their lines and are willing to reveal themselves, they still get the character stuff across anyway.

M.E. Russell interviews Jerry Seinfeld, and renders it into comics form.

(With a supplemental transcript here.)

Herc has a pretty good roundup of what’s going on at the good shows on TV.

Galley Friend B.W. sends us word that Hasbro has released a statement not entirely concurrent with what Paramount has said the new G.I. Joe movie will be about:

Hasbro’s G.I. Joe Team wanted to take this opportunity to clarify some of the facts regarding the G.I. Joe live-action movie that we are developing with Paramount Pictures.

First and foremost, we are not changing what the G.I. Joe brand is about. The name “G.I. Joe” will always be synonymous with bravery and heroism.

The G.I. Joe brand has enjoyed a successful 43-year history, spanning two key generations. The first was the line of 12-inch “realistic military” figures that were popular with kids in the 1960s and 1970s.

The second generation, was created in 1982, and is based on a cast of fictional heroes and villains that make up the “G.I. Joe vs. Cobra” fantasy. The premise of this fantasy is the story of the G.I. Joe team, led by Duke, and their “fight for freedom wherever there is trouble” against the evil Cobra Commander and his Cobra force. This storyline was an instant hit with kids in the early 1980s, spawning a highly popular 3-3/4-inch action figure line, comic book collection and animated series.

This movie will be a modern telling of the “G.I. Joe vs. Cobra” storyline and its compelling characters that Hasbro created 25 years ago. The G.I. Joe team will not be based in Brussels. Instead, they will be based out of the “Pit” as they were throughout the 1980s comic book series. And, in keeping with the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra fantasy, the movie will feature characters and locations from around the world. Duke, the lead character and head of the G.I. Joe team, will embody the values of bravery and heroism that the first generation of G.I. Joe figures established.

Galley Friend Dustin Rowles, the brains behind Pajiba, has started a new site to cover the celeb circuit in a high-toned manner: Webster’s Is My Bitch. He’s off to a good start with posts like this about Jessica Alba’s dark secret: She’s a nevernude.

It’s worth a read.

So it seems Bear Grylls really is a fraud. It’s only 45 seconds, so watch it all the way to the end.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzxsqkxHDVQ&rel=1&border=0]

Rick Weiss recently had an interesting piece in the Washington Post on how our sleep patterns are affected by artificial light. He then mentions the brain’s internal clock, known as the SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus): “a tangle of neurons in the hypothalamus connected directly to the eyes.

“The SCN controls the ebb and flow of hormones that influence sleepiness, alertness and hunger. Prime among them is melatonin, levels of which rise each evening, easing the onset of sleep, and then fall before dawn in advance of awakening.

“Rats whose SCNs are surgically removed become unhinged from time, sleeping at odd intervals. And when one animal’s SCN is transplanted into another’s brain, the recipient takes on the donor’s wake-sleep schedule.”

Umm, could you repeat that last part? And can we assume that if mad scientists have done that kind of sick experiment, they probably have already done brain transplants involving dead criminals and patients in vegetative states? Or the hands of killers? And what about healthy patients who are intentionally put into comas? And Devlin MacGregor, maker of ProVasic?