It’s interesting that, eight years after it was cancelled, MST3K still gets mentioned all the time. For example, this week Trevor Snyder of 411mania.com put together a list of “Top 5 Television Sidekicks,” and of course TV’s Frank makes the list. Check it out at:
http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/53302/The-411-Top-5:-Week-57.htm

And Cracked Magazine recently put together a list of “The Top Ten ’80s Robots (We Expected to Exist By Now).” A certain wise-cracking pair comes in at number 4. See the entire list at:
http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=1825

On a sadder note, another mention comes from the press coverage of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. The Boston Globe highlights shooting victim Ross Alameddine, VT sophomore and MSTie. You can read the article at:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/18/sophomore_from_saugus_called_funny_and_flirtatious/

MetroActive, a weekly in California’s Silicon Valley area, discusses the IMDb “Bottom 100″ and MANOS, THE HANDS OF FATE, and includes comments from an expert on the subject, Kevin Murphy. Check it out at:
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/03.14.07/cult-0711.html

Most MSTies are already familiar with the story, but The Wisconsin State Journal has a piece about Jim Mallon’s college prank partner Leon Varjian. The piece includes a few comments from Jim. You can read it here:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=118518&ntpid=3

And, several fans have alerted us to this odd MST3K connection to the Anna Nicole Smith tragedy–her last film, due out in April, was directed by David “Time Chasers” Giancola and Edgewood Studios. Read more about it here:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/24hour/entertainment/story/3550292p-12770583c.html

Oakland, Calif.-based filmmaker (and longtime MSTie) Erin Gleeson has made a short film called Tina and Frank, and she managed to snag Trace Beaulieu as its narrator. You can download it, and other stuff Erin has done, here:
http://www.eringleeson.org/download.html

The “secret fun” link on that page is a little outtake from Trace’s recording session.

We recently heard from Bamse, a reader in Hamburg, Germany, who said that we were wrong when we wrote that the German release of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE contained only a German soundtrack. So we ordered a copy, and we’re happy to report that Bamse was correct. The German DVD *does* contain the complete, original English soundtrack recorded by Best Brains. You just need to select the “Englisch” setting in the “Sprachauswahl” menu. As an added bonus, a second disc contains the unMSTed, uncut version of THIS ISLAND EARTH, also with a selectable English soundtrack.

So if you’ve got either a Region 2 or region-free DVD player that can handle PAL format, and want an official copy of MST3K:TM for under US $40, then you might want to check out the following URL:

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0008FMHIU/302-3094660-2405615?v=glance&n=284266

Our thanks as well to John Worrall, who also pointed out our error.

The Comic Review Weekly podcast has posted a 20 minute interview with Mike Nelson. It runs the gamut from his early days in entertainment, through MST3K, his books, RiffTrax and The Film Crew. He also breaks one little bit of news–Mary Jo Pehl will soon be guest riffing on a RiffTrax session. You can download the podcast, or listen to it online, HERE.

SyFy Portal has also posted an interview with Mike. While no new ground is broken, it does give a nice and tidy summary of Mike’s background, his work on MST3K, and his current RiffTrax duties. You can read the interview at:
http://www.syfyportal.com/news423314.html

Our pal (and long-time MSTie) Ken Plume posted a lengthy and fascinating interview with Mike for Quick Stop Entertainment. Read it at:
http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/?p=3300

The SciFi Zone Radio Show, a syndicated radio program that’s heard on radio stations in Orlando, Tampa and Kansas City, interviewed Mike on its Nov. 11 show. Although co-host Meghan Moroney revealed herself to be a major MST3K fangirl, she also broke some news: Mike is mulling some sort of Rifftrax live show college tour. He didn’t give any details and it was clear this was an idea that is in its early stages, but we like it!
You can download the show here:
http://www.scifizoneradio.com/podcast/SFZ111106.mp3

Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka, of Something Awful did a phone interview with Mike, using the net phone program Skype. The result is not much of a commercial for Skype. Despite the quality issues, there are some interesting comments from Mike, especially some details on the nuts and bolts of the Rifftrax creative process, and musings on obsessive fans. Also, note that Mike discusses an upcoming Rifftrax, slated for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, of a big famous movie, one he says he actually likes, and calls “the Mt. Everest of this endeavor,” but the title is mysteriously bleeped out…. But we have the scoop. See below.
Listen to it here:
http://downloads.somethingawful.com/mp3/misc/mikenelson-64k.mp3

Finally: You kids today, with your fax machines and your hula hoops and your myspace pages, may want to know that Mike now has a myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/michaeljnelson