This Budvar's for you!

There was a recent story on Time's website about the possibility of the Anheuser-Busch company buying the Czech Budvar brewery that is government-owned and has been the center of years of litigation regarding the use of the trade name Budweiser. I think I may have had Budvar (sold here inder the import name of "Czechvar") in Germany as a teenager - I'm pretty sure I had Pilsner Urquell at least once, although my favorite beer-based beverage in Germany was colaweissen, which is beer with either coke or orange soda. It's perfect for the unrefined palates of American teenage tourists. This reminds me - Oktoberfest is coming up soon. This makes me kind of wish I could visit Germany again. Actually, the idea of being an expatriot really appeals to me right now, for some reason. I'm in an "anywhere but here" frame of mind lately.

So Ridley Scott has finally come out with an official position on the great "Deckard: Replicant/Not a Replicant" Geek debate that has raged since the theatrical release of Blade Runner. I mean, I know what I think, and I know what most people sort of figured once the director's-cut version came out a few years ago but the debate still rages. Sort of. Harrison Ford says "Not a Replicant". Ridley Scott's determination: "Replicant". To which I say...Nehhhhh! Nyet! He admits to never even reading the entire book!? He didn't even give credit to the author, to whom he owes the basis of the film's plot! Look - I love that movie as much as the next geek, but the book is just better, and he doesn't even give it the due it deserves. He acts like this was his creation, and his alone. From the article, a direct quote: "Blade Runner involved full-bore imagination. Deckard's universe had to be expanded into credibility. That's probably the hardest thing I've done, because there was nothing to borrow from."
What?! Is he an idiot? Let me take out my little list of people to despise..."Ridley Scott: Director and douchebag". Check.
FYI, Ridley: the ending of the book is not clear, it only serves to beg the question raised in all of PKD's best stories: "What makes us human?". The toad (or maybe it was a frog), though...a Replicant, for sure. And Replicant flies to boot.