The Edge

The Edge's real name is Dave Evans and guitarist for the Irish supergroup U2. Personally I think that he's the most talented of the lot. On the current tour POP Mart he's sometimes known to sport a k-rad mirrored guitar. Currently he's finishing up going bald. (That's why his head is shaved now - He used to always wear hats). Anyway The Edge recently had a kid with the ZOO TV tour's bellydancer Morleigh.

Also the name of a videogame magazine in the UK, published by Future Publishing.

Said mag prides itself on being rather more highbrow than competing publications, and regards itself as something of an authority on the subject. Still, smugness aside, it's not a bad read, and it's a favourite of those working in the video game industry who are seeking alternative employment, due to it's rather comprehensive job-hopping section.

The main drawback is that it is printed on shiny paper rather than the softer, more absorbent kind, so is of somewhat less prized than a tabloid newspaper when caught short in the toilet.

It is also a type of crust at Pizza Hut. It's thin and has no outer crust. It is promoted by cheesy commercials in which random people go insane, get up on the taple and yell"I have been to The Edge and back"...
I used to work at Pizza Hut, so here is the secret. The Edge is just a cheap version of the thin crust, and it has less topings and cheese. It's ok I suppose, but I am bias towards Pizza Hut pizza, for obvious reasons. I don't eat it.

The Edge (www.theedge.com.my) is Malaysia's Business & Investment weekly, published on Saturdays dateline on the following Mondays. It is a well respected business newspaper, providing very current coverage of corporate scene in Malaysia.

Issue 316 The Week of October 23 - October 29, 2000
Publisher:
The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd (266980-X)
G501-G801, Level 5-8, Block G, Phileo Damansara I,
Jalan 16/11, Off Jalan Damansara
46360 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: tecom@pc.jaring.my
Website: http://www.theedge.com.my

The website provides free online access to archive of articles from the weekly newspaper, after registration.

Also the title of a poem that I wrote my junior year of high school, during one of the toughest weeks of Advanced Placement Biology. We had had to memorize the name and order of nearly every intermediate in the processes of photosynthesis and respiration, and had a test on respiration that was to include 2 AP essays and many multiple-choice questions in a single 85-minute class. I threw up on the school bus coming in, and nearly begged the nurse to let me stay for the test. A few days later, I wrote this.

Another quick note - the "mini-golf machine" refers to a little gambling machine at the miniature golf place in my hometown. Essentially, the player drops a token into the machine, which has a pusher bar moving quickly in and out. Ideally, the token will hit the token-covered metal surface while the pusher bar is withdrawn, so that, when it comes out again, the entire layer of tokens is pushed off the edge of the surface to be claimed by the player.

I would suggest reading the poem in the same manner as I recite it, in a fairly rapid monotone.

The Edge

Living on the edge, ever closer to the edge,
Like the tokens balanced in the mini-golf machine.
Living on the edge, ever closer to the edge,
Someday to fall over, never to be seen.

Some are lured to the edge, ever closer to the edge.
Someone waves a raise, a job, an opportunity.
But it's only near the edge, right by the edge,
Like a butterfly soaring just out of reach.
Almost there! You're the best yet!
All you need is just one tiny step to get
Nearer to the edge, ever closer to the edge
Just give a little - more - a lot.

An hour a day, another, three
Oh so easy it can be -
Just take one step
Nearer to the edge, ever closer to the edge,
The place of success - of impossible dreams.

Some reach for the edge alone, trying to reap
What they find there to take and to keep.
A raise, a promotion, a trophy, a degree.
Something to hold or something to be.
A score, a date, a waistline -
Just give up vacation, forget the beach
(There's a different edge for each.)
Perfect accent, perfect skin
The edge lures and lures again.
Extra credit, extra pain
But what a gain, oh what a gain!
It doesn't show, they'd never know
That's the way school runs, you know

But the edge is for the edge
And only for the edge.
Living, trying, screaming, crying for the edge
And dying for the edge
When the edge is out of reach.

Many give all to
Be the best at one little thing.
A tiny black letter shines brighter
Than the sun can gleam.
Draw a line down the middle of your grades,
At last - perfection - both sides the same.
But are you still sane?
Are you truly sane?

Or are you
Living on the edge, ever closer to the edge,
Towards the tantalizing coins in the mini-golf machine.
Just more on the pile to win everything.
One more little sacrifice, one little step

Closer to the edge, ever closer to the edge, one step -
Don't take it and
You'll never know how amazing you could be.
The rocks of the mesa creek and crumble,
But whatever can that mean?
Success is all and everything.
Just take one step
Nearer to the edge, ever closer to the edge, where
Perfection is a possibility.

It's lonely near the edge, oh so lonely near the edge
But the view is great.

Some return to the plateau -
Running further from the edge, screaming, shying from the edge
Never to know what they might have been.
They won't be anything, but at least they will be.
They will never fall over, never to be seen.
They come, see, and back away.
They won't win one token, but that's okay.

There are other edges, for those who
Are too weak - not too strong
It's cozy on the edge, oh so cozy on the edge.
A stolen car, a cheated company or a chemical dream.
All that's needed is a little step
Nearer to the edge, ever nearer to the edge,
Push others over, but you're closer to the dream.
When a dream is all, the dream is naught,
And it's life that is the dream.

The Edge was an early-nineties TV sketch show starring, among others, Jennifer Aniston. It is largely forgotten now, which is only fair because it was largely forgettable. However, it did have a few memorable sketches, including Dan Quayle frantically trying to open doors, and the cowboy Cracklin' Crotch:

"Hey, what's that sound?"
"Why, that'd be me."
"Where's it comin' from .. on you?"
"Why, that'd be my crotch."

For some of us, pure comedy.

A really good action adventure thriller movie, starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, and Elle MacPherson. Directed by Lee Tamahori and written by David Mamet.

Anthony Hopkins plays Charles Morse, a billionaire who reads constantly. That's the main reason he makes so much money, he's read a small library. I'm sure if he played on Millionaire, he'd win easily, as he is just so smart from all the facts he's absorbed.

He's married to a beautiful supermodel, Elle MacPherson, even though he's much older. They're on their way to Alaska for a photo shoot, with a fashion photographer Alec Baldwin, who plays Robert Green.

To get a better scenery shot, they fly through the wilderness in a small plane. Suddenly the plane crashes and they are trapped in the middle of nowhere.

The woods are dangerous, it's cold, and there are grizzly bears. Hopkins turns out to be the best leader of the group, as he once read a book on surviving in the wilderness, and remembers completely. He fashions a compass out of a paper clip and a leaf, builds a temporary shelter, and kills an attacking bear.

As time goes on, another problem arises. Baldwin becomes insanely jealous of Hopkins, and Hopkins suspects that Baldwin is having an affair with his wife. They must try to get back to civilization, but Hopkins suspects that Baldwin may attack him, where there are no witnesses.

This is a terrific movie in a couple of ways. First, the actors are great, and together they make a great scene of drama, building up tension between the characters. It has some of the best dialogue in a movie, and the action scenes are clever.

I just love Hopkins' character, you'll notice that my homenode has aspirations of reading that much.

Made in 1997, and Rated R for language and some adventure gore/violence. Directed by Lee Tamahori, who also directed Along Came A Spider

Hopkins: You know, I once read an interesting book which said that, uh, most people lost in the wilds, they, they die of shame.
Stephen: What?
Hopkins: Yeah, see, they die of shame. "What did I do wrong? How could I have gotten myself into this?" And so they sit there and they... die. Because they didn't do the one thing that would save their lives.
Baldwin: And what is that, Charles?
Hopkins: Thinking.

Thanks IMDB for the cast info