It looks like fuckers are finally getting off their ass and getting that flying car that was ubiquitous to every ’80s movie set in the 21st century off the drawing board and into reality:

Darpa hopes its “Personal Air Vehicle Technology” project, announced yesterday, will ultimately lead to a working prototype of a military-suitable flying car — a two- or four-passenger vehicle that can “drive on roads” one minute and take off like a helicopter the next. The hybrid machine would be perfect for “urban scouting,” casualty evacuation and commando-delivery missions, the agency believes.

Darpa says its Cessna-sized combo vehicle should be able to cruise at 60 mph on land, and 150 mphin the air. It should be able to stay aloft for two hours on a tank of fuel. “The challenge,” the agency says, “is to define the major components of such a vehicle that would be suitable for military scouting and personnel transport missions, yet are small enough, inexpensive enough, and easy enough to operate that it can be widely used.”

In our continuing series of People Who I Look Like, I present today’s uncanny resemblance of myself to former Big Leaguer Bryn Smith. On a related note: Montreal Expos’ late ’80s jerseys and hats. Great uniform or Greatest Uniform?

Yesterday as Kirty South and I drove back from Olympia WA, HANDS DOWN THE WORST PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES (with a few notable exceptions), I got to select the playlist on his iPod. Between The Shaggs and Deerhoof songs, there was plenty of ’80s pop, with no fewer than three Michael Jackson songs strewn in there. Man, that dude could write and perform a song. Despite child-touching allegations and a two-decade long decline in productivity and popularity, you still gotta give it up for Michael as an artist.

This led me to wonder: so when’s Wacko Jacko gonna release a new album? Apparently, it’s in the works. According to Billboard, songwriter Claude Kelly penned a song for the new Akon album. When Akon played Kelly the track, it featured none other than Michael Jackson. The track “Hold My Hand” will reportedly be released on both Akon’s album, and Jackson’s upcoming release (no release date yet). I for one can’t wait. No, seriously.

Claude Kelly, who can write a hit song, but apparently has no eye for design, is understandably way stoked.

“I wrote the song and gave it to Akon with the intention of it going to maybe Whitney Houston, but Akon said he wanted to cut it himself. I thought, ‘It doesn’t get any bigger than this’,” the 27-year-old New York native tells Billboard.com. “A few months after, Akon plays the song for me and all of a sudden I hear Michael Jackson’s voice. I was literally shaking by the time the song was over.”