House Rules!

When One Door Closes...

2012-01-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

I was going to make this announcement last year, but ironically enough, I just didn't get the time to do it. But the first day of the year feels like the right time to do it, anyway.

Long story short, I'm closing up shop on "House Rules!".

True. We've had a pretty good run here on the home site. But it's been a long while since I've been able to devote the time that I wanted to spend keeping up with the blog. A handful of revivals have been tried, but they kept seeming to fall short. So I've decided to turn the page on this blog.

Did I say this blog? Yes, before you start to shed too many tears (and seriously, you better not have been close to doing that...), I should elaborate and explain what my real plans are. Starting with... well, right now, my main blog site for all things everything will be Planet Houston.

I admit, that it's a short move.

So why am I bothering? It's a silly idea, but I've decided to make an upgrade to how I present things on the old interwebs. I wouldn't necessarily call it a branding, but I've decided to push a site name more personal (and more connectable) to me.

What This Means

It means that effective immediately, Planet Houston will be where I post my news, reviews, rants, and other assorted ramblings. It goes without saying that the plan is to be a little more proactive with the posting of said items. Facebook and its convenience has made me a little lazy when it came to updates, but I'm going to try my darnedest to produce actually worthy content on a regular basis.

I apologize for my harsh language.

What This Does Not Mean

This does not mean that the horrifically inactive Planet Houston Podcast is dead forever. It is still in hibernation, but the new usage of its page does not mean that it can't return. It just means that if it does, it will be sharing space with other articles.

Also, House Rules! is not going away, either. I have no plans to erase this website, and it serves as a nice archive of everything that has come before. In fact, I'm about 99.9 percent positive (maybe more) that the House Rules! name will remain around in some form or other no matter what I do. I'm that attached to it.

So that's that. I'm not going to get overly nostalgic when the truth is that there isn't a tragedy occurring. Still, this old bird has had an adventure or two. And the small handful of friends that I've had supporting it have been pretty worthy company. More than worthy, really.

So thanks for all of the kind words, laughs, tears, and most important fun that we've shared over the past few years. But believe me when I say that it's not quite over yet. I'll see you over on the Planet.

On to the next big thing...

A Very Odd Lot Christmas...

2011-12-19T06:40:00.003-05:00

I remember last year around this time. I was just barely getting my feet wet with the Odd Lot Comedy Troupe. I wouldn't describe myself as a nervous wreck, but I was still "the new guy" in the group. Well, one of the new guys, anyway. I wouldn't say that I lacked confidence, but I definitely was less sure of myself as a performer then. Still, the gang was always more than supportive and even accepting of me. And I think that because of that, I was able to relax more and over time, become a better asset to the group in general.

Christmas is a special holiday for the troupe for several reasons. For one, the holiday represents a marker of sorts for the group. One of the original performances of the group proper was an improv rendition of A Christmas Carol. We recreated the self same tale (more or less) for last year's holiday show. I still have fond memories of the occasion. Me as Ma Cratchet. Gabe as my disturbing, substance addicted daughter. The unsettling, rather itchy wigs that glued the whole thing together. Eventually, we both died.

Good times. Good times.

For another thing, the show forgoes the standard format of a regular show and includes as many members of the group as possible. Something really special always happens when all of us are together. Seriously, I think something mystical might actually happen when more than six of us are near the stage at one time. Some rogue demon of mirth and/or merriment may well appear, sending forth flames of joy and gnashing bones in the spirit of comedy in its truest form.

Happy Holidays.

This year, we are forgoing the official retelling for a more traditional holiday special. Well, maybe "traditional" isn't the right word for it. It's hard for us to do anything that's truly traditional. But the theme of holiday cheer and frivolity will still ring true. There's guest stars, there's music, and there's bound to some huge laughs along the way. I daresay that within the first five minutes of the show, you'll be more than reminded just how diversely funny and talented a group of people the Odd Lot are. To say more would be to give surprises away, and that's best served for the time that they are set... to... surprise you. Yeah, that makes sense.

And I wouldn't be surprised to see that old familiar Christmas tale rear its head at some point. I don't think we'll be able to help ourselves. But we'll see.

And if you bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots, you can get in for free. You give a gift to someone else, and receive laughter. It's the third greatest gift (shame on you if you don't get that reference).

The Odd Lot Comedy Troupe presents its final performance of the year: The Odd Lot Christmas Special. Monday, December 19th (that's tonight) at 8PM at Muse Arts Warehouse. Admission is a $5 suggested donation or a gift donation to Toys for Tots

Women in Comics - Part 1: "What a Girl Wants..."

2011-10-01T09:53:00.001-04:00

So I got to reading Laura Hudson's commentary on the... ahem... interesting new turns that took place in several of the "new DC universe" comics this past week. The stories in question involved two female characters, Starfire (in the pages of Red Hood and the Outlaws) and Catwoman (in the pages of... well... Catwoman) and have been the source of considerable buzz for the company.

I'm not going to go and rehash every single point that Hudson made in her article. Her points stand fairly strongly on their own, and I think her perspective gives them that much more impact. I can't possibly speak for female readers or fans myself. I can only speak as a male with what I'd like to think is a firm (if limited) understanding of what women might appreciate from their fiction.

I've heard the arguments concerning this, and I figured I'd address a few here. Forgive me if this gets sporadic, but it covers a few more points than the Superman article I wrote a few weeks ago...

"Women should be able to be portrayed as sexual beings. And they should be allowed to express that sexuality freely."

Hell, yes. I am more than in favor of that. But before you start reaching for the high five or making your pig noises, let me elaborate. This should be done as a further enhancement of characterization, not at the expense of it.

I have fought countless net wars defending She-Hulk's validity as a character and her honor versus the dreaded "s-word". Why must a woman be considered a slut simply because she chooses to have sex - and you know how the rest of that argument goes. Aside from the double standard, it's just a cheap, senseless joke to imply that being "easy" makes her less of a character.

But along similar lines, sexual freedom needs to be explored in a somewhat respectful manner. Dan Slott chose to cover She-Hulk's perceived promiscuity from a realistic angle, having her (and others) occasionally question her freewheeling activity as a sign of a potential problem. Of course, in the end, she still allows herself to engage in sexual activity, but within the context of the story(ies), there is a certain level of accountability. And really, it never even came up as much as people act like it did.

But my main point is that at the end of the day, the character isn't defined exclusively by their sexuality. You know, just like how it works in the real world.

RE: Starfire "Starfire is an alien. Why can't an alien have an alien view of things like sex?"

Again, yes they can. And I'd welcome a new, fresh, or even inventive take on a character.

But there should still be a character there. In particular, re-envisioned characters should have enough cues to appeal to their old fans while still offering something new to new readers.

What then is this new Starfire offering us in Red Hood and the Outlaws? T&A? All due respect, but that isn't a new thing. But on top of that, we get... well, very little else. What we were shown was a cold, detached, functionally disinterested woman whose only primary interests are wrecking people's #&*$ and having sex with the nearest available target.

That's nothing like the character that we have come to know and love. In fact, it misses one of the key elements of Kory's existence: passion. She has always been a passionate person. She fights ferociously, yes, but for her friends and for causes that she believes in. And yes, said passion translates into physical affection as well. But not as some half-interested, recreational tryst with the nearest appendage with a pulse.

To clarify this further, I'll cite the example of the Teen Titans animated series. The show made the choice to display the characters on the team as actual teens, most likely to be relateable to their target audience. But what's funny is that their version of Starfire still feels like Starfire. The core of the character, a positive, passionate, alien girl, remained and was, heaven forbid, entertaining. Heaven forbid any of the kids (or adults) that watched that show try to check her out in this new incarnation. They'll probably be left wondering what on earth happened to the character they thought they knew.

Remember that one ep where she bagged everyone in Titans Tower? Yeah, me neither.

To add insult to injury here, this new comic version of Kory is literally a shell of how we remember her. According to the story here, Kory barely remembers her old teammates in the Titans as anything but a blur of memories, and looks at humanity in general as just a flash of sights and sounds. So she dehumanizes all of humanity, and then goes so far as to treat these unimportant, unmemorable life forms as sex toys. Man, that's compelling characterization.

If you really had to have an alien character fit a bill like this, why not use a new alien? Or heck, dig up Starfire's sister, Blackfire? She is literally the @-hole version of Starfire, and retooling her for this "team" would have made some sense. It would still be an empty, piss-poor character that I didn't care about, but at least it wouldn't be a mischaracterization of someone I do care about.

RE: Catwoman "Catwoman and Batman have 'done the deed' before. What's the big deal?"

An argument like this ignores the bigger picture. The issue of Batman and Selina's relationship isn't the problem here. It's more or less a matter of the presentation.

Unlike Starfire, I do see Selina as a bit more of an impulsive or sexual creature. So, in theory, if they wanted to "spice" her book up a little, then so be it.

But did we really need this? It's one thing to imply that Bruce and Selina have a sexual relationship. It's another to hint that it's a little kinky here and there. And it's another entirely to show them going at it, costumes and all, as the climax (pun intended) of her first issue. This isn't the time or place for this kind of explicit imagery. Especially not in a book that isn't specifically targeted to mature audiences.

I mean seriously, people. I usually have to turn off my Safesearch to find an image like this. But it's actually the last page of the book:

At least they were tasteful enough to leave out the prerequisite grunting noises...

I've learned to overlook some of the larger oversights of the past decade. The killing and subsequent razing of the corpse of Sue Dibney comes to mind (again, all done without any sort of mature content warning). But as you continue to target older audiences, you alienate an entire younger generation that you could be reaching.

And that's to say nothing about the image you set in your books about females in general. It's like you either don't understand or don't care about the female demographic. What is a young woman... heck, any woman supposed to think when faced with what you present them with as an idealized female hero?

And forgive me, since I know there are likely many examples of less controversial and better rounded females making the rounds in some of your titles (more on this soon....). But are they being talked about right now? Are you even pointing to them as part of your press spin? Or are you trying to milk the "controversy" for as much publicity as you can?

"A new universe means characters should be allowed to be reinterpreted in new ways."

This is a reasonable point to make in some cases. The problem with this argument when used as a blunt force hammer is that it becomes a blanket statement for defending bad decisions with character choices. "It's a new world, so why can't people be empty, vapid shells of their former selves?" See? doesn't sound so logical and sensible when you put it that way.

I think the main issue that has come from the way females have been presented in several of these new titles is exactly what Hudson states: the women are not women. Yes, they've got the lady parts to prove it, but you know what I mean.

Let me speak on behalf of at least myself (if not what I would hope was a majority of the men on the planet) when I say that the oversexualized, free ranging image of a woman portrayed by so much of mainstream comics world (and specifically by DC in these titles) is not what I want in a woman. Not even a fantasy woman. And even if I did, I wouldn't necessarily want or expect that image to be displayed as the mainstream theme of a major publishing company.

At the end of the day, these are your characters belong to the company. They can and will do whatever they want with them. The readers, however, do have an attachment to them, and you as the writers, editors,etc. have an obligation to show them a level of respect.

There is a fine line between making things intriguing and making a spectacle of your stories just for the sake of doing it. All of the people touting how cool and great it is to see your characters whoring themselves out and mounting each other mid-page should not be the group you're attempting to reach in this new, dynamic universe you've been pitching. They will either get bored and abandon you or eventually force you to raise the stakes to the point where you alienate every other type of reader. Even if that remains profitable, wouldn't it be that much more profitable if you could appeal to both groups without completely abandoning one of them?

That's about all I have to say on the matter. For now, anyway. When I revisit this in Part 2, I'll talk about one of my favorite female characters, and why she somehow never seems to get the respect that she deserves. Seems to be a lot of that going around lately...

Where Have All the Cowboys Gone...

2011-09-07T02:00:00.006-04:00

I'm briefly reminded of an episode of Greatest American Hero. In it, Ralph Hinkley is excited to find that the actor that played the Lone Ranger on television is coming to town. He excitedly tells his friends and his students about it, going so far as to arrange a field trip to hear the Lone Ranger speak at the local mall. Ralph, unable to properly express what he loves so much about the Lone Ranger, ends up blindly repeating the same statement over and over again: "I grew up on this guy."

Over the past few months, DC Comics has been talking about rebooting its comics continuity (or in simpler terms, starting again from the beginning). Along the way, this means new tweaks and origin stories for many of its characters. And among the most directly affected is the Man of Steel himself, Superman.

Now bear in mind, we haven't seen a ton of what this new Superman is like. Most of our information at the moment is a limited appearance in issue one of Justice League, and a few previews and interviews connected to the upcoming Action Comics #1.

Action in particular will spend time covering the history of Superman and his early crimefighting days. The reaction to this new version of Superman appears to be polarizing. People seem to either love or hate the changes, which involve having Superman be a brasher, more direct, and cocky hero (at least initially). I've heard the reasoning behind why someone should be excited about these new changes, so I decided to list out some of the more popular "pro" arguments and my reaction to them.

PRO: "In Grant we trust..."

Probably the simplest and most easily understood of the pro arguments. With Grant Morrison running Action Comics, he no doubt brings with him a solid fanbase of supporters. Said supporters (I refuse to derivatively call them "fanboys" since every artist has them...) will follow the title simply because they love Morrison's work. And no matter how different or even controversial a story might seem at first, they will stick with it, because they know eventually he will pull it all together in a way that they will enjoy.

Here's my singular issue with that: I don't fall into that category. I respect Grant Morrison and the massive body of work he has accumulated. But for me, I've always been 50/50 when it comes to liking his work. For every really enjoyable creation or story he's created, there's one that leaves me scratching my head. And no matter how many times people tell me that they make more sense on multiple readings, I just can't find the drive to reread his stories more than once. That's just not the kind of storytelling I'm looking for in my comics.

PRO: This Superman is more "relatable."

I've heard this one a few times. Basically the argument is that this new Superman that doesn't always play by the rules and isn't a "boy scout" is more human. People can find a connection to him easier because he acts "like they would if they had the power of Superman."

What this argument neglects, however, is that part of Superman's character strength is that he is beyond reproach. He is above the corruption and moral ambiguity that most of us would suffer from. And this is good. Because a person running around with that much power and not enough restraint would be horrific for so many reasons. And really, they wouldn't be the hero that the world would look up to, and they certainly couldn't become the icon that every hero in the known universe aspires to be more like.

On top of that, you lose the impact of one of Superman's greastest enemies: Lex Luthor. A core element of Lex's character has always been that he harbors an inborn jealousy of Superman. Not just of the raw power that Superman possesses, but of the incorruptible moral fiber that Superman has. Lex resents that such a being exists, as it contradicts everything Lex has learned or been taught about the way of the world. If nothing else, Lex secretly wonders, "Why him? Why not me?"

Creating a flawed Superman presents a chink in the armor. It's a glaring hole that Lex can use to turn the entire public against Superman. Heck, half the world will be against Superman right off the bat, because Superman is not the walking paragon of righteousness that he normally would be. And to me, that's kind of a shame.

PRO: This Superman will grow into the hero we all know and love. And it will be fun to see that happen.

Don't get me wrong. It's a timeless story, and when well told, it's an enjoyable one. A hero, initially well intentioned but misguided in their actions, learns to overcome their own personal flaws and become a better person. And by doing so, they become a better hero.

It's a good story. Very Greek. I'd even say I love to see that journey in a hero. Problem is, that isn't Superman. It's not his story, and it doesn't fit him. On top of that, I've actually seen the story done with a guy that has an 'S' on his chest. His name is Superboy. And given his background and history, it does fit him.

The thing is, you don't tell a good Superman story by making him human and then finding a way to make him great. You tell a good Superman story by letting Superman be great, and then finding a way to bring out his humanity. There's a subtle, but important difference there.

And if you must tell a story where Superman shows his mortal failings, then it's just that: a story. A single arc or standalone that highlights that he's having a bad day/week/whatever. You don't give him an "I used to be an ***hole" phase that he will never be able to live down.

PRO: This version of Superman is more like the way he was when he originally premiered.

Ignoring that the character premiered virtually a lifetime ago (and that's considering good luck and healthy living...), there's nothing that inherently says that reverting a character to its original form is the most logical course of action. Exploring it is always an option, yes, but implying that it's somehow the natural thing to do - a logical evolution of a character - makes no sense.

Otherwise, why have we seen a relatively untouched Batman as opposed to a "reversion" to the gun-toting, villain killing hero that was part of his early days? If that had happened, no doubt the Bat-fanbase would go ballistic to screams of, "Batman would never do that! That's not what Batman is!" Which leads me to...

PRO: This new look will probably bring in new readers and increase sales.

Sales are an important factor in any business. And it would be crazy to expect a company, even one in an artistic medium, to trade potential sales over some sense of artistic integrity. Obviously, if you think you can make more sales, you make a change.

The question then becomes what happens to sales once the flash and sparkle of the initial issues wears off. Will older readers who were turned off by the new changes come back and help support/boost sales? If you decide to change Superman gradually back into the more noble, "less relateable" character that kept your new readers away, will they stick around or jump ship? No one can say for certain, but it's been my perception that the end result of dramatic changes for the sake of creating new interest is usually a return to the status quo, both story-wise and sales-wise.

**********

So what does all this mean? Well... nothing. At the end of the day, I'm just one 30-something guy with an opinion and without a crystal ball. For all I know, a decade or two from now, people will be whimsically talking about Superman's Boy Scout phase in the same breath as they do the period that Superman juggled planets and constantly antagonized Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. And whether the world will be a better place (or DC will be better off financially) because of that, I can't say.

But for me, I kind of feel the way that Ralph Hinkley did during that episode of Greatest American Hero. I'm just staring off into space, trying to explain to a bunch of kids why it should even matter at all, and finding that the only argument that matters to me is, "I grew up on this guy..."

"... in twice the time Jack Bauer has..."

2011-08-21T01:34:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had the good fortune to check out the showing of the submitted projects from this year's 48 Hour Film Project. It was interesting to see what the various participants came up with in just two short days. In truth, the most difficult task I found myself with was reminding myself that these films were produced in that short a time span.

It was easy to get lost in the moment and want to be overly critical of some of the submissions. Weird camera angle here, dangling plot there. What was the point of that shot again? But then, I found myself reminded of Midsummer Night's Play Festival. Yes, it was fun. Sure it was chaotic. But in the end, the challenge (and overcoming it) was the thing. In just twice the time that we had to put a stage show on, these people created a film.

I won't argue which was harder to do. Both have their specific quirks and requirements. But I have to believe that, all things being equal, there's a certain level of security that the stage provides. People are (I think) far more willing to suspend their disbelief when they know the magic is happening right in front of them. And I have to believe that the triangle of writing/filming/editing is probably slightly more hectic than writing/directing/acting. If nothing else, filming certainly holds more potential for chaos.

So I have to tip my hat to everyone that successfully completed the challenge (even those that might have crossed the finish line a little later than they should have). With the small mountain of things that could have gone wrong along the way, it was definitely an accomplishment to have created anything, let alone a legitimate short film feature. And each and every one was entertaining in its own way.

All in all, it was a great experience. It's the type of thing I could definitely see myself getting involved with next year.

"Bloggus Resumus!"

2011-07-12T10:37:00.006-04:00

I don't normally talk about my adventures with the Odd Lot Comedy Troupe, but after last night's Harry Potter show, I felt like sharing a small snippet of the insanity that transpired.

Being based on a wizard school, you can imagine that spells flew fast and furiously in last night's show. And of course, not all of them would be Hogwarts approved. Here is a short list of several of the spells cast by me during various points of the show, along with a brief explanation of why said spell was cast:

"Admittus the Truthus!" (as the bad cop half of a wizard interrogation)
"Police Harrassicus!" (when said interrogation went bad)
"Winnus Snackus!" (to the lucky winner of the Odd Lottery, teh brave victim of said interrogation)
"Needus Paternicus!" (I need an adult)! (while being held by Lord V)

Note the list might have been longer, but being cast as Ron for most of the show meant that my wand was repeatedly taken from me for safety reasons. Speaking of which, here's a brief list of incantations that I didn't get to use, along with a brief explanation for why they were never spoken:

"Logicus Prevailus!" (because really, that spell would never work)
"No more cryus, Pantsus Dryis!" (because Ron kept getting his wand taken before he could cast it)
"Arvydas Sabonis!" (not used because I'm likely the only one that remembers a forward from the 1990's Portland Trailblazers)
"Coffee-us Hottus!" (because the bad wizard cop never needed a cup of coffee)
"Ala, Peanut Butter Sandwiches!" (simply because I forgot; and the world is a worse off place because of it)

And note, this is just the stuff that I was responsible for. You can imagine that the rest of the gang got just as crazy at various points in time.

So if you haven't been to a show yet (or just need an excuse to show up), make sure that you find the time to stop by. Next week is our audience participation show, and it goes without saying that the more, the merrier. So Audience Returnicus! Or Checkus UsOutis! Or... you know, I'm just going to stop now.

"...are all that I'm taking with me..."

2011-05-01T03:05:00.003-04:00

I've been getting a mad crazy amount of sleep this week. That's not the update, but it's more of an indicator of how much of my life was being taken up by the prep and subsequent performances of Bay Street Theatre's production of Boys Next Door. The wrap-up of the show last week was every bit as bittersweet as I expected (although the cast party this Tuesday was truly epic... who knew Bill Cooper had such an epic Buddy Holly in him?).

"Bittersweet" would be the word of the day for this story. I'm really happy to hear that so many of the people that came out to see the show enjoyed it. I even ran into someone randomly tonight that told me I had done a good job. I wouldn't have expected that (the getting recognized by someone on the street, that is; I'm slowly learning to accept praise as a good and normal thing.).

It reminds me, though, of what so many others have said with regard to the show. Until we actually got feedback from the performances, I don't think that the word I would have attributed to the show would have been "bittersweet." After all, there are plenty of humorous moments to be had with the characters. And while there are quite a few sad or even tragic moments, I'd like to think that they are outweighed by the positives.

And yet, so many people have said how sad parts of the show have made them. Many people, my friend Tina included, have mentioned how they were moved to tears at points. I wouldn't have expected that. I guess somewhere along the way with all the repetition of lines and movement, it was easy to tuck the overall emotional impact of the show into my back pocket. And while I may have joknigly said so at one point in the production, it wasn't my goal to make people cry.

But it's nice to know that so many people were able to be touched by the show. It's really, refreshingly surprising, and a wonderful thing to take away from the end of tough, but fulfilling production.

Still, "bittersweet" is the word of the day. Bittersweet that our success came at the expense of so many tears. Bittersweet that what became such a heartwarming experience could not be shared with more people. Bittersweet that it will likely be a while before I attach myself to a project like this again.

But remember, even in the bittersweet, there is still some "sweet". Perhaps I'll try to take more of that with me as time goes on.

Wrapping Up The Boys Next Door

2011-04-22T04:34:00.005-04:00

I find myself going into the final week of performances for Bay Street Theatre's The Boys Next Door, and it has been a phenomenal experience. It's been a silly, stressful, melancholy, funny, crazy ride, and I've loved every minute of it.

When I accept a role in a show, there's always part of me that quietly wonders what I'm getting myself into. I've only been in a few productions since returning to stagework about a year ago. And while I'm fairly confident in my abilities, it's still a little daunting to put my talents to the test.

It's always a strange point in the show's run for me. The desire to finish the final few runs of the show are tempered with the bittersweet realization that soon it will all be over. Part of you wants the show to go on, while the other part of you is quietly planning what, if anything to do with all the extra hours in the week you're about to get back.

But most of all, I find myself really proud of the show that we've put together. I'm usually not one to get all sappy about a show (and I'm still not), but I really find myself wanting to share the experience with others.

(And I'm not just saying that because everyone that's come to the show already absolutely loves it and it's given my confidence a huge boost. Although I'll admit that fact doesn't hurt...)

So if you have a few spare hours this weekend, and happen to find an extra buck or two in your pocket, take the time to check out our last few nights of the show this Friday and Saturday at 8PM. And if you can't make it for whatever reason, try to help get the word out about the show. Your friends and family will thank you for it. I hope.

(What? My confidence can't soar forever.)

I Don't Want to Be "That Doctor"...

2011-04-07T01:56:00.004-04:00

I've thought about this one. I've really put some thought into it. And this is the thing that really bums me out: I think I'd be a dull Doctor.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe that there's a way to play the lead character in the BBC's scifi series Doctor Who without in some way being a little crazy, quirky, and/or cool. But somehow, I feel like instead of being the goofy, madcap Doctor that everyone would expect of me, I'd end up being a little bit flatter.

I'm not sure how that particular Doctor would go off right now. Sure, I liked Eccleston during his run as the Doctor. I'm even in the silent minority that, to this day, still like what he did with the character. But in the shadow of David Tennant and now Matt Smith, it seems as if there just isn't a place for the more serious but still occasionally funny version of the character.

Not to mention that's not the version of the Doctor that I want to be. I want to be the craziest, zaniest Doctor that there ever was. Doesn't that sound like fun? But nope, I just don't think that would be a fit for me. I can't explain why, but it just feels like it would be wrong.

Of course, it's probably all a moot point. Because between the amount of time it would take me to be famous enough an actor to land the role combined with how long it would be before the show's runners would even bother holding an international search for a replacement, I doubt I'll ever manage to have the opportunity. That, or I'll be so old that playing a more subdued Time Lord would be the only thing that makes sense.

Don't ask me why I have thoughts like this first thing in the morning.

Overcoming Obstacles

2011-02-24T06:05:00.001-05:00

If you've heard me talk about my larger scale writing projects or even been around when the topic of writing comes up, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard me utter some form of the following words: I hate editing.

But the thing is that I truly do enjoy writing. So why then would something related to the process bother me so much?

I suppose you could say that it's a few things. First of all, editing is an entirely different beast than simply making a draft. Drafts, first drafts in particular, are made with reckless abandon. The process appeals to my track-skipping, bounce-around, scatterbrain, giving it the opportunity to go down avenues that straight-line, focused thinking wouldn't provide. A longstanding practice of mine when making drafts is to write until I get bored, then skip to the next thing that interests me in a given section or chapter. After all, it isn't really a big deal if a scene or two never gets covered.

Of course, the larger issue rears its head when it comes for editing. Those gaping holes in the story have to be addressed one way or another, leading to the obvious question of whether or not the idea was worth writing about in the first place.

And really, part of me wants no part of this process. No matter how flawed I may know my draft might be in reality, there's still the notion that most of it is pretty good work. The thought of having to go back and cut out huge swathes of words simply because they don't fit the greater vision is a tragedy I hate to face.

Likewise is the time taken reflecting on what needs to be added. There are the gaps in story that I may have skimmed over when writing a first draft, but there are also the extra parts. They are the ideas that came after I had already gone through that particular section, or things that crossed my mind as ideas after the fact. They are the characters that didn't seem important until later, or who weren't even concepts until the process hard started. They, too need their fleshing out and work done.

I realize that the work is a necessary evil. I understand that to reach - truly reach - the next level of my work, I have to get over this hurdle and build a solid second draft. And scarier still, most likely a third, possibly a fourth, and so on.

It's a daunting task, but it's one that I want to do. So in this regard, I set a simple goal, and make an honest pledge. I hereby declare that before the end of March (and the beginning of April and the inevitable chaos of Script Frenzy), I will complete a second draft of at least one long term project that I've worked on. It's the very least that I can do. Well, short of nothing. But I've done that for a while, and it doesn't sit well with me.

Let's Try This Again...

2011-02-05T01:03:00.005-05:00

Hi. I'm Thomas Houston. You may remember me from such strange endeavors as "House Rules!", this very blog page. And of course, a silly little thing called "Planet Houston Podcast."

Both projects were started for similar but differing reasons. House Rules! was my attempt at expressing myself through writing. At the time, I had fiddled with various writing projects and concepts on other blogs and message boards, but I didn't have one that was just me. Heck, even my initial attempts at blogging had fallen short, as for some reason I was locked out of the page I was trying to create. But after a brief while (and after some "gentle nudging" from my friend, the late Sam Johnson), I started the blog in earnest. And while it never quite became what I envisioned it, it was my baby, and I loved it all the same.

Planet Houston Podcast? I guess you could say that was a need to express myself in a different way. Yes, I'm pretty good at turning a phrase or two when I'm writing, but it's not the same as an an active performance. In a perfect world, I suppose I could have tried to do the whole video thing, but honestly, I knew that would be way more work than I wanted to put into it. And really, I couldn't have done a video podcast in my underwear. (Not that I actually did that at any point, mind you. I'm just saying, sometimes a man likes to have his options.)

But for a number of reasons (some of which I may expound on in more detail someday) both projects fell off the radar. I have tried to get the old blog page back to a more regular posting schedule, but it seems like it wasn't in the cards until recently.

So what changed? Let me tell you what changed. It was something very subtle that occurred over the course of the past few weeks. I started to notice a friend or two on Facebook talking about the blog they were starting up. And yeah, I was a little curious about it, but I put it in the back of my head as something to check out later.

But then, it spread. Seriously. All of a sudden, this huge chunk of people that I know were either starting new blogs or reviving old ones. People... blogging thoughts and ideas... and then putting up links on the internet?

"That's my thing. The thing that I do. ...I feel like I'm gonna explode!" (My apologies to Milhouse for borrowing his angsty retort.)

So once again, we're going to give this wacky crazy blog of thing a go. Goodness knows I've got plenty of random thoughts and ideas to tack on here. I just need to get myself back into the flow of updating on a regular basis. So we'll see how that all works itself out.

... or I'll see you in my next post six months from now. One thing or the other will happen.

HouseTV Review: The Event "Pilot"

2010-09-27T12:47:00.002-04:00

After months of waiting, it finally arrives. But after all of the wait and the buildup, did the new show The Event live up to the hype. The answer for now will have to be, "So far, so good."

It's hard to say what the new show has going on. Part of that is not giving away details that might spoil the program in question. But the rest is tied up in the storytelling of the first episode, which bounces back and forth between present and past storylines.

The main storylines revolve around a small handful of characters, but focus primarily on a young man named Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), who gets dragged into a conspiracy that somehow involves an enigmatic woman named Sofia (Laura Innes) and a cover up so elusive that it not even the President of the United States (Blair Underwood) is aware of it at first.

It is here that the episode shows both its strength and its weakness. The sporadic back and forth of the storytelling between the lead characters does work. The unraveling of the initial mysteries behind "The Event " are strengthened by the jerky, but well structured web of a timeline that is created here. But despite enjoying the episode as a whole, I still feel like continuing that pacing for an entire season would be a mistake. It made for a nice hook, but it's not something I'd like to see every week.

What swings the episode into higher favor is the ending, which doesn't answer the big question but does answer a smaller one. It stands to reason that most viewers figured that they may not find out what exactly "The Event" is by the end of the first episode. But the pilot makes a strong point of dancing around the question of what type of event it even is. it isn't until the final moments of the episode that part of that question is answered, along with the question of whether or not there will a scifi element to the show.

Of course, the greatest mystery of the show remains unrevealed. And it is on that note that I've taken a positive, but "wait and see" approach to how I think the show will do. It's all well and good form a small handful of unanswered questions that lead to more questions. But some shows, this one in particular I feel, needs the strength that establishing a clear foundation will bring. I sincerely hope they don't intend to drag out some of the larger mystery points for the entire season, because I think they will lose viewers and their fanbase by doing so.

So if you haven't checked out the show yet, give it a test drive. It might actually be better to pick it up from this week, as apparently this week's episode answers at least a few of the questions presented last week.

Rating: 7.5/10 (It's a solid start, perhaps better or worse depending on how the show continues on.)

5 New Shows That I Am Not Interested In (But Probably Should Be)

2010-09-17T12:16:00.004-04:00

With the new Fall TV season right around the corner, there are tons of new shows popping up all over the place. And while the mad TV-phile (is that a real word...?) that I am will no doubt check out dozens of shows this seasons (some of which I’ve already talked about), there are a few that just don’t dazzle me. Don’t get me wrong; some of these shows I fully expect to be good. At the very least, people will ramble about how good they are. But for me, just looking at what’s available on them so far, I’m not impressed.

And so, without further ado, and in particular but not specific order, here are five shows I expect to lose interest in within a few weeks. Assuming I haven’t lost it already...

Honorable Mention

Outsourced (NBC): I don’t know what to tell you. When I first heard the premise for the show, it sounded much less like a comedy and more like a quirky drama series. Hey, it worked for Northern Exposure. I’ll give it points for originality, but this show will either survive on a surprisingly refreshing appeal or fade very quickly into television obscurity.

The List

5) Blue Bloods (CBS): “Hey! You got your cop show in my family drama!” “Hey! You got your family drama in my cop show!” “Hey!” “Hey!” “...heeeeeeey...”

I know point blank that the show will probably be good. You don’t normally get as many big names together on a show as you have with this one only to have it suck. That still doesn’t mean that I want to watch a cop show. Or a family drama. Or even a family cop drama. At least Cop Rock had musical numbers. For all three people that watched Cop Rock...

4) Undercovers (NBC): On its surface, the premise of NBC’s new spy show appears sound. And if J.J. Abrams hadn’t sold me on his ability to spin a good yarn before, his relaunch of the Star Trek franchise certainly would have. (And then there’s those other shows he worked on before, but it’s not like anybody really watched those, right…? Oh…)

But somehow, I just can’t get behind this show like I want to. The premise of a couple that shares (and subsequently has to balance) their married life and their spy life, while interesting, feels too generic for its own good. Granted, it’s got some star power behind it, and It’ll probably be jazzy, thrill-filled, and tons of fun. But it will also probably be the first show on the schedule that I get too busy to check out.

3) Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC): What? Is there some new rule that says that if a show is really popular, it should not only get a spinoff, but that said spinoff should be based in Los Angeles? Is it just a really cheap way to save on travel expenses? Is LA really that different a place that it warrants its own flavor of L&O?

Still, the California variety of the long-running, Emmy winning drama is prepared to make its entry this fall. But as a longtime fan who has slowly but surely lost interest in keeping up with every variant of the franchise, I’m not sure that a change of venue will be enough to sway my verdict of “wait and see”.

2) Hawaii Five-O (CBS): With regards to this show, there are only two groups of people left in the world. The people who are old enough to remember the original show (and I mean remember as in actually remember plots and characters and the like) will probably find this revamp completely unlike what they saw before. People too young to remember the old show at all may find the show’s premise interesting, but to them it will have nothing to do with the nostalgia factor.

In either case, I expect both groups to do about the same thing: hum a few bars of the theme song, mumble, “Book ‘ em, Danno!” just enough times to make it a short lived internet fad, then promptly forget that this show ever existed. It’s just a theory, though.

1) $H*! Mt Dad Says (CBS): It started as a thoroughly entertaining Twitter feed and has since become a book, and now a television series. Will the net phenomenon about a man and his curmudgeonly witty father stand up as a small screen series?

Probably not. When it’s all said and done, this idea has been done in several... no, a few... sorry... virtually every other sitcom ever made features a cranky dad who mouths off to his kid. It’s a staple of the medium, and hardly something to tout as an original idea. That means that the entire success of the show depends on two things: the ability of net fans to translate into real life fans (which is dicey at best) and the draw power of show star William Shatner (who frankly, I think was the wrong choice for this show).

Let’s face it: Shatner’s only here because they think he’s a draw, and clips I’ve seen of him, while sometimes chuckle-worthy, don’t seem to capture the nature of the actual “Dad” whose quotes were such a welcome diversion from an otherwise dull day. But hey, it is a network sitcom. It’s not like it actually has to be funny or entertaining in order to stay on the air...

So that's that. Without a doubt I'll probably be here again at the end of the year apologizing for doubting at least one of these shows. Then again, I'll probably also be here at the end of the year saying, "I told you so." Such is life. Next time, we cover some of the shows that are returning and maybe even a few that have been around forever (or maybe it just feels that way...)

HouseTV: 5 New Shows That I'm Interested In Checking Out

2010-09-16T12:38:00.004-04:00

The Fall TV season is just around the corner, so it's time to list the five new shows in the lineup that I am most interested in checking out. For rules on the what, whys, and hows of this list, feel free to read this. Without further ado, and in particular, but not specific order, here is the list:

Honorable Mention:

The Cape (NBC): One could argue that it is easier now than it was before to put a superhero themed show on the air, but the truth still remains. Despite some success on the small screen, a hero show is hard to pull off, and can be a dicey prospect at best.

So it’s encouraging to see NBC stick with the genre with their new show The Cape. The show follows a police officer and family man who is framed for crimes that he didn’t commit and almost killed. To find justice and to protect his family from retribution, he becomes a costumed crime fighter. Corny, sure. But I’m a sucker for anything that resembles a superhero show, so I’ll at least be curious to check it out. Assuming, of course, that it actually shows up mid-season and doesn’t fall completely off the radar.

The List:

5) Mike and Molly (CBS): I both like and dislike the premise of this new sitcom. On one hand, both of the primaries look like they’ll deliver plenty of laughs as a pair of average (and above average sized) people who fall in love. On the other hand, what does it say about our culture that we have to be bludgeoned with the point that these are “average joe” type people that we can relate to? Please stop acting like you’re tossing us a bone on this one...

4) Outlaw (NBC): I can’t think of a single person that was sitting around saying to themselves, “Boy, I hope Jimmy Smits will come back to television this year...” And yet, this was how NBC decided to market Smits’ new show. It’s shades of Benjamin Bratt in E-Ring, only hopefully someone will actually remember this show in two years.

But despite the folksy, forced feel good that a Supreme Court justice who resigns from the highest judicial level in the land to fight for the little guy is supposed to bring, I still feel like this could be a pretty good show. Because it’s not like there are a ton of procedural dramas based around courtrooms already out ther... oh, yeah...

3) Top Chef: Just Desserts (Bravo): Yes, I promised that this list would be relatively free of reality shows (who should probably have their own list... hey, there’s an idea...). But after catching snippets of Top Chef here and there and following a mini-marathon or two, I know that I usually enjoy the show when I can. So hopefully this new incarnation, based entirely around everyone’s favorite meal course, should produce some truly sweet (pun intended) moments. Now if only it wouldn’t lead to excessive late night dessert munching...

2) No Ordinary Family (ABC): It’s the show I’ve heard described as a “real life Incredibles” by people who probably don’t realize that that film is pretty much an homage to the Fantastic Four. It’s a much better comparison overall, even if it does end up giving the impression that Michael Chiklis is being typecast.

The show centers around Chiklis as the father of a rather ordinary family (at first) that, after suffering a mysterious accident during a plane trip, all discover that they have developed superpowers. And while I’m usually a sucker for any old superhero story, I feel like this show might have enough quirky humor topped with a dash of heart to endear it to any audience. But good luck winning any big numbers in that Tuesday night timeslot…

1) The Event (NBC): By all rights, this is the show that NBC is banking on to create the same kind of buzz that Heroes did when it premiered way back when. But after months of teasing and buildup, can discovering what “the event” really is possibly live up to all of the hype?

Of course it can’t! But with any luck, the storytelling will manage to hold people’s attention long enough for it to build a fan base. But I swear that I will rage profusely if people start to complain about it “not being enough like Lost”. Or anything Lost related for that matter. Seriously, folks, let the show go. It’s over now...

And speaking of over, so is this list. But stay tuned, because when I come back, it's all about the new shows that aren't giving me a buzz. Although oddly with some, I feel like they should be...

HouseTV: Project Fall Preview: Prelude

2010-09-15T09:39:00.002-04:00

The new Fall TV season is just around the corner, and as everyone knows, I am an avid TV buff.

(Incidentally, it’s probably the only time the word “buff” can be associated with me, but that’s a whole other story...)

So with that said, it is time yet again for a new set of lists. But it occurs to me, in part because I haven’t done a list in so very long (wow, has it been that long...?), that people may have forgotten the rules for these lists. So I figured I’d spend the first part of this feature explaining just what my philosophy on list-making is (at least the majority of the time...).

My lists are, as it should go without saying, my opinion. They are not intended to be definitive truths. In fact, it’s entirely likely that my own opinion on them would change if I gave it more time. Despite this, I will defend my choices, for better or worse, as being valid.

The lists are made in no particular order, although the top listings are generally better than the lower listings. This is generally because I list things based on my general interest, with the shows with the most detailed write ups ending up at the top. Hence, shows that make it to the top spots of the list are (presumably) the ones I have more interest in (or less, depending on the list).

In short, you should just consider any lists I make to be fun items generated for entertainment or possible discussion. It’s hardly a matter of life or death.

Anywho, here are the lists I’ve been working on, which should come out slowly but surely as the week progresses:

5 New Shows That I Am Interested in Checking Out
5 New Shows That I Am Not Interested In (But Probably Should Be)
5 Returning Shows That I Am Waiting For
5 Reality Shows I Know I’ll End Up Watching (For Better or Worse)

Note that reality TV has its own category mainly to keep a huge pile of reality shows out of the other lists. That doesn’t mean that a few wont’ pop up there, though.

So that’s that. Expect those list to filter out through the next week, presumably before the new season starts and makes them less relevant than they already are...

MasterHouse Theater: Review: Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog LIVE!

2010-08-28T12:10:00.004-04:00

As talented as the Odd Lot Comedy Troupe is at improvisation, it's easy to forget that they are quite skilled in scripted performance as well. With Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog LIVE!, the Odd Lot ventures into the world of scripted theater. And what happens is exactly what you'd expect: a "horribly" good time.

(Note: For the purposes of this review, I have limited myself to exactly three uses of puns involving the word "horrible"... So that's one.)

Every geek or nerd worth their salt knows of Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. But even if you aren't "horribly" familiar (that's two) with the details of the Joss Whedon story, the live show presents a similar version of web story.

The tale follows the often musical trials and tribulations of the titular Dr. Horrible (played on stage by Justin P. Kent), a super-villain trying to elevate his status by gaining entrance into the Evil League of Evil. His attempts at notoriety through evil are perpetually foiled by his infatuation with a girl in his apartment (Lynita Spivey) and the perpetual interference of his arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer (Ryan McConnel).

The show also features Gabe Reynolds as Horrible's roommate/henchman Moist and a small, but effective supporting cast (Trish McKay, Tim Reynolds, Megan Jones, Timmy Vo, and Hai Dang) who take on various roles and parts as needed to fill in the gaps along the way.

Kent is truly remarkable as Dr. Horrible. His interpretation of the character manages to convey all of the conflicting emotions of the megalomaniac without ending up a cheap impersonation of Neil Patrick Harris in the role.

The rest of the cast performs admirably as well. Spivey's Penny plays as the sweet, innocent girl-next-door she is supposed to be, and McConnel's Captain Hammer is every bit the strong and sometimes too smug hero that you'll eventually love to hate.

Director Chris Soucy manages to master stage space, utilizing selective props, a small smattering of back panels, and even the cast themselves to convey a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces. Fans of the original Sing Along Blog will be hard pressed to find many venues that aren't covered in some way, shape, or form onstage.

I was particularly impressed with the van scene, as it was something that could have been logistically difficult to pull off without... you know... a van. Or streets. But that and a good many other surprises await in the show. Expect a pleasant surprise or two along the way, including a few improvisational games from the Odd Lot Troupe to help flesh out what is a "horribly" short production (and three... I'm done with that).

All in all, the show makes for a fun, entertaining experience of improv, singing, dancing, and comedy that was completely worth seeing. While I will always enjoy the web production in all its glory, this was definitely an experience that I am glad I had the chance to check out. If you have the chance to see it, it would be "horrible" of you not to.

(... Yeah, I know I said only three. But in true evil fashion, I broke my own rule. You can't get more evil than that. I'll get League membership myself one day, I will. You hear me, Horse!)

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog LIVE! happened Friday, August 27th at 8PM and midnight. It will happen again Saturday, August 28th at 8PM at Muse Arts Warehouse. So you should try and catch it then (or build a time machine).

HouseTV: Stargate: Universe Episode 17 "Pain"

2010-05-21T17:22:00.003-04:00

I have to admit that I was shocked to find that this episode was not about the strange pang of regret I feel at the end of almost every episode of SG:U.

No, this episode revolved around the crew falling victim to a new strange phenomenon. After a gate mission, several members of the away party begin to fall victim to hallucinations. These all revolve around images of an intense nature for each of the concerned parties. Fears, insecurities, even regrets involving loved ones are exposed as members of the crew face the demons inside their own souls. The whole thing ends up being an infection of sorts, with the cure not as easy to come by as taking a few pills. But of course, in true Universe fashion, this concept seems to fall flat just in time to wrap things up cozily.

Don't get me wrong, there are some solid moments in the episode. The opening volley of Lt. McChesty... er, James and her um, intense but bizarre encounter with Scott certainly set the odd bar up there. And Chloe realizing that she was ill but refusing to seek immediate help because she was too attached to the image of her dead father was a novel twist to things. Eli once again breaks a confidence in the best interests of others (namely Chloe) and shows that he'll stand true to form when it comes to certain things.

So really, I don't ahev huge faults with the episode aside form the usual. The pacing gets a bit slow at times, and the resolutions seem a bit conveniently contrived in places. This is nothing new for anyone that's heard me ramble about the show before. But, at least this episode manages to do what the time warp episode didn't do, which is manage to expound on some of the thoughts and fears of the crew and actually leave those impressions with the crew to chew on.

Although ironically, of all of the characters that we get more insight into, it is James' vision that is the most telling. For someone whose greatest character trait displayed so far has been "used to bang the action lead", it was at least an interesting introspection to see that she clearly thought that it was more than a simple fling.

But then, any diversion related to Scott that keeps us from actually having to see or hear him do anything is welcome to me. Maybe one day they'll finally make me care about him. Or half of the other characters on board. We'll see.

So I trudge on and keep on trudging, taking the good with the bad and hoping that things will pick up. And just in case I was thinking about giving up on the show, they decide to give me the promise of not one but two SG-1 cameos next episode. Here's hoping it's not some lame dream sequence like last time.

Rating: 6/10 (Yeah, yeah, I know...)

HouseTV: Stargate Universe: Episode 16 "Sabotage"

2010-05-14T18:20:00.001-04:00

Do the writers of Stargate: Universe take their plot point resolutions from old 50's film serials?

After setting up a small handful of situations and obstacles for the Destiny crew to overcome, this episode pretty much walks all over them and finds the quick and dirty solutions to everything.

Take, for example, the primary point from the past few episodes. The crew has still been reeling from the fact that they've had to permanently abandon Scott, Chloe, and Eli on a planet, since they were left behind and the ship is now jumping between galaxies. They've just started to accept this fact when a new problem presents itself. Destiny apparently won't have the power to make it across the void between galaxies. Then, of course, is the titular sabotgaging of the FTL drive, leading the crew to procure the help of an engineer whose intellect rivals Rush's, but that provides its own set of challenges and difficulties.

I want to say primarily that while the sabotage itself was a novel idea, it would help if the act didn't magically solve every other problem the crew was having. The ship conveniently drops out of FTL just close enough to the planet Eli and company were stopped on, allowing them to gate back to Destiny. On top of that, the one engine that blows up just happens to be the least efficient one in the drive, meaning that if they bypass it, the drive will actually become more power effective and be able to make it to the next galaxy. The latter I'll excuse as it made for the foundation of the episode, but the former was cheap writing at best. Don't make a big deal out of an issue at the end of an episode only to completely gloss it over in the next one.

That said, there were a few bright spots to the episode. The notion that bringing in the tech specialist required a member of Destiny to sacrifice time on Earth in her crippled body was an interesting twist. Interesting also was the fact that Camille would volunteer to take all of the time just so that she could spend time with her significant other. These led to a handful of well crafted scenes that taught us a little bit about all of he characters involved.

But still, despite the high points, the story feels like a drag at points. And much like it always does, yet another convenient plot twist swoops in at the end and saves us from dealing with a two-part episode. If the folks at SGU learn anything, I hope that it will be this: pacing, pacing, pacing. Stop dragging your heels in the interest of "dramatic exposition." The drama will find itself even if you speed the plots up a little.

Rating: 6/10 (Good character development, but the show should be doing better at this point.)

A Note to Highway Drivers...

2010-04-25T20:05:00.003-04:00

The right lane for slower traffic. The left lane is there to allow faster traffic to pass slower traffic.

If you are driving 73 miles per hour when the posted speed limit is 70... you are slower traffic. Stay in the right lane.

If your attempt to pass a vehicle in the left lane takes more than 10-15 seconds, you weren't going fast enough to actually pass them. You are slower traffic. Stay in the right lane.

If you find yourself actually traveling side-by-side with the traffic in the right lane, you had no reason to be in the left lane in the first place, and you're holding up people with places to be. You are slower traffic. Stay in the right lane.

If there is a line of cars trudging along trying to get by in the left lane, and someone (an astute someone who doesn't think he's in a NASCAR race) decides to leave a car length or two between him and the car in front of him, this is not your signal to slide in. Especially when there is nothing but open space behind said vehicle. Stay in the right lane.

If you decide to pull in behind the above astute driver, especially when there is no traffic behind him, remember that there is no traffic behind him, that you can, in fact, wait a few seconds before pulling behind him, and that you will not receive any sort of point bonus for driving up another car's exhaust pipe. You know what to do...

Seriously. I haven't really been on the highway in a few years, but I swear that drivers there have actually gotten worse, which I didn't think was possible. And I didn't even get near the Atlanta area. Yikes...

Things I've Slept Through on Cable: West Wing? Again?

2010-03-24T09:18:00.001-04:00

So I watch a lot of West Wing. Leave me alone. And as I am wont to do, I occasionally talk about the episodes that come on while I'm sitting around at home.

Today's episode, particularly well timed and titled "The Stackhouse Filibuster", is a good example of how a singular event can tie the entire Oval Office gang together. The episode centers around a senator, Howard Stackhouse, and how he holds up what everyone thought was a done deal of a bill by performing the ancient rite known as a filibuster.

Of course, it takes the gang (and of course, the fairly astute aide Donna) a while to stop pondering why a 70-something year old man would stand around for hours reading anything with words on it to stall a bill and to instead figure out exactly why he's doing what he's doing. And the why of it all and how the Wingnuts respond to it make for a truly feel good ending.

Granted, there's all other kinds of subplots floating around, but the filibuster itself is at the core of the episode. And while it has been given a bit of a stigma in recent history, it's nice to see the filibuster here is being used to press an agenda that anyone could really fall behind. The fact that it spotlights another essential truth - that sometimes government can be so busy trying to do business that they forget to pay attention to the details - isn't lost on me either.

(Note: This article is here because I happen to enjoy this particular episode of the show. It should not be considered a commentary on any particular government issue currently taking place. If you happen to think it shows how I feel about said issues, you'd probably be wrong. So there. Nyah.)

A Special Message to You Know Who....

2010-03-10T21:59:00.003-05:00

Dear jackasses,

No one cares about your spam. No one is fooled by your half-cocked, pointless, and poorly written spam notes with links to more spammy goodness.

But congratulations. Thanks to you, anonymous posting on my blog is now over. Because I've been gone long enough for somebody to think they can just take up permanent spam residence here. They are mistaken.

Daddy is home. And it is time to clean house.

Abstract Thought of the Day

2010-01-21T18:55:00.003-05:00

Congratulations, Anonymous A-holes. You have prodded my page just enough to warrant me going to comment moderation. I hate to do it, as it inconveniences me, but then you're inconveniencing me by making me waste time sorting through your lines of crap that have nothing to do with whatever it is I want to talk about.

Thank you, in advance, for giving me one more thing to sort through while trying to get the site back up to speed. Much obliged.

A simple pair of lists...

2009-12-31T23:38:00.002-05:00

What I did this year:

Reconnect with old friends
Make new friends.
Say goodbye to some friends far too soon.
Finally say a few things to certain people that I never thought I would get the chance to say.
Start my own podcast (for better or worse).
Keep up my blog, despite some dry spells (for better or worse).
Continue writing, most notably completing my Script Frenzy and NaNoWrimo goal (mostly for sheer insanity).

What I plan to do next year:

Continue to learn from the mistakes of my past.
(As always) try to be a better friend, a better son, a better brother, and a better person in general than last year.
Try to have more of what resembles a social life, despite sometimes just liking quiet evenings at home.
Finally get around to publishing something.
(As always) try to have a better year than the last year.

The Companion's Guide to Doctor Who - Part One (Rose Tyler)

2009-12-29T17:41:00.003-05:00

(In honor of David Tennant's last days as the tenth Doctor, we look back at the supporting cast that helped make him the man that he was. Needless to say, there are some minor spoilers for already aired episodes.)

A Rose by any other name... etc., etc. Some might recall that when it was announced that Billie Piper would be the first companion, it wasn't exactly met with open arms from longtime fans. In their defense, though, they were probably nervous to begin with. This was, after all, the revival of a classic scifi show, and the much vaunted role of the Doctor's companion was being played by a pop star? Blasphemy!

You see, Rose's adventure actually began with the ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston. And while he was his own brand of kooky and quirky, this Doctor had a bit of an edge to him. See, he's the one who came from the aftermath of the Time War and the loss of his people to the Daleks. So naturally, he got a bit... "cranky" at times. He wasn't even really sure that he wanted a companion to begin with, so Rose was both a welcome find and a minor nuisance.

Rose witnesses the Doctor regenerating...

What does this mean for the tenth Doctor, though? Well, right off the bat, he starts with a companion that is actually familiar with him and what he does. On top of that, since Rose helped bring the No. 9 back from the brink, No. 10 is quite appreciative of her and all of her efforts.

Rose helped to set a trend that would continue with the newer companions. While the main purpose of a companion has normally been to provide the audience with an everyman perspective and to give the Doctor a sounding board to explain things to the audience, the newer generation is a much more direct partner to the Doctor. Not necessarily an equal, but certainly a worthy and formidable ally in his adventures in time.

But moreso than all of those other things, Rose was the Doctor's friend in a time that he truly needed one, She helped him get his bearings and really get "groove" back (but not like that, you pervs). Whether you agree with Rose's portrayal being good or useful, the fact remains that she was the first, she was the longest, and she certainly made an impact.

They still like each other... aww...

Film Review: Sherlock Holmes

2009-12-29T16:51:00.004-05:00

I would say that this isn't the Holmes you know, but let's be honest here. While there is a "traditional" view of what the master detective should be like, there have been a countless number of treatments of the character over the years. We've gotten versions where the detective is a sham and his assistant Watson is the genius (Without a Clue). We've even had versions where the titular detective was a puppet who hung out with a young boy and a talking dog. (Oh, Sherlock Jones... what fond memories I have...).

Still, this new film from director Guy Ritchie feels like a new treatment, or at the very least a fresh take on a character that hasn't gotten much of a spotlight in recent years. In this tale Holmes (the suddenly resurgent Robert Downey, Jr.) and Watson (the always bankable Jude Law) take on a case that involves murder, deception, and the dark arts. To say more would be to give away details that are best left witnessed for oneself.

And witness you should. The film takes you into historic London and completely wraps you up in its world until its conclusion. The story told here is a complete, entertaining tale told within a reasonable time span. The film runs exactly as long as it should, and when it ends it leaves you wanting more, but thoroughly satisfied with what you have. More films should try and do that...

Downey's performance as Sherlock, a tortured genius who is as hindered by the workings of his mind as he is aided, is inspired. Mind you, we've seen tortured, socially awkward genius roaming around for a good while now in various venues (that curmudgeon House comes to mind), but Downey's portrayal makes Holmes annoying, but in a manner that's almost charming. Almost.

Law's Dr. Watson is the perfect foil for this character. Unlike some iterations of the story where Watson is simply a sidekick or narrator, here Watson is both the mental and physical equal to Homes (who is himself quite the brawler). And while he spends a good deal of time remorsefully enduring Holmes' abuse and dishevelment, it is obvious that he truly enjoys their friendship and the work that they do. He is a perfect partner to the detective.

The rest of the supporting cast puts in solid performances, so much so that it doesn't feel like a single character is wasted. The allies are supportive, and the villains are as entertaining as they are antagonistic.

If I have one complaint about the whole thing, it would be that at times the visuals suffered. Although the only real thing that bugged me was the same thing I see all the time now: excessive quick cuts/unsteady cameras during fight scenes. It's a shame, because all of the fighting appears beautifully choreagraphed, and would have been better served with just a slightly slower visual treatment. At least Holmes gets to showcase his disturbing, bullet-time like fight scripting at various points of the film.

I don't really have much else to say. Except that I can't remember the last time I thoroughly enjoyed a film as much as I did this one. Granted, I don't hit the movies that often, but the packaging here is brilliant, the story is solid, and it barely misses a beat. You might as well go ahead and pony up the bucks to see this one now, or at the very least be ready to buy it on DVD. You really don't want to miss it.

Rating: 9/10

I'm Back, Baby! I'm Back!

2009-12-13T18:39:00.002-05:00

... well, sort of. I've been pretty much gone for the past month and a half. And while the past month was due mostly to not having much time for updates between work and NaNoWriMo, the last half was due to me getting a little lazy. Seriously, I had time for the page before, how could I not now, right? Right?

Okay, so it's going to take me a little time to get back into the swing of things. But don't worry. Before you know it, you'll be ready for me to go on hiatus again... er...

HouseTV Review: "V" (2009) Episode 1 "Pilot"

2009-11-06T10:59:00.008-05:00

I'd be hard pressed to think that there's anyone unfamiliar with the concept of "V". You've either heard of it loosely, or no doubt checked out all/part of the original mini-series (and series) as they were aired over the start of the weekend.

But just for the sake of argument, here's the loose rundown: the world is thrown into turmoil as a group of seemingly friendly aliens visit the planet under a flag of peace. Of course, the true nature of the aliens, and their actual agenda for being here, would seem to be much more sinister.

First, let's talk about what's different and good. The effects are obviously better than the original series. Twenty-five years would give you a little time to update things. So yes, all of the ships views (inside and out) are very well put together.

The Visitors themselves are also a plus thus far. The show forgoes the "pull away skin" effect from its predecessor and replaces it with a layer of human clone flesh. So revealing an alien is no longer as simple as getting a good grab of face and pulling. You need something that can cut past a layer of pseudo-tissue to get to the reptile on the inside.

And this show gives us a more novel (and some would say more relevant) twist on the alien invasion. Instead of just appearing out of the sky and having won over most of the planet in short order (which does still happen, by the way; more on that later...), the Visitors have also infiltrated society prior to their official arrival with sleeper agents. Which means that anyone on the planet could possibly be an alien agent with an agenda to cause chaos and cover their true agenda. It makes for a slightly more paranoid resistance movement.

Now for what's different and not necessarily better. It's only a minor detail, but I don't particularly like the Visitors being referred to as "Vs". If nothing else, the letter V and the tagging and such that went along with it became a sign of the Resistance in the original series, and it just feels weird for it to be used by the aliens in this particular incarnation.

Also, I find it a little unbelievable that the people of earth would be so easily accepting of an alien incursion in this day and age. It was a stretch back then to believe that it would go over so well, but at least they had the metaphor of German occupation to help mask it. Now, in an age where people still question the veracity of the duly elected President ... well, I'm not getting into all of that here, but my point is where is the Glenn Beck of this world to break into tears and love his planet... sniff... so very much?

Maybe that's supposed to be the role that Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) plays in the whole equation, but he seems very much like a second string fluff reporter. Still, his moral dilemma over reporting it straight versus "playing nice" and becoming famous does come over well.

And going back to what works, Anna (Morena Baccarin) works well as the Visitor's leader. Having spent the latter half of the weekend balking at how alternately vicious and bullheadedly ignorant Diana could be way back when, it's nice to see a new take on the alien leadership. Who's to know where this calm, reserved demeanor that the Visitors currently portray will take them? It's uncertain, but Anna definitely shows a lot early on (and I don't just mean those Amazon legs of hers... hello! Ahem...). The way she deftly manipulates Decker and his interview, initially feigning a naive misunderstanding of Earth journalism, then showing that she has a full grasp of just what it's all about, makes it clear that the cool alien exterior still has some teeth.

All in all, I have my reservations about the show. The first half follows the script (somewhat literally) that its predecessor did. What little twists and nuances that were there only serve to agitate an already unsteady foundation. It's not until the latter half of the pilot, with the introduction of the sleeper elements and a few other decent twists, that the show really starts to show itself off. Hopefully it picks up from there, and continues its momentum into the next few episodes. The show certainly has the potential and the early buzz to be a stand out series.

Rating: 7/10 (A solid start that hopefully builds better on its foundation.)

HouseTV: Review: Stargate Universe Episode 6 "Water"

2009-11-05T20:12:00.002-05:00

Remember how I've said that the only person on the ship I like at all is Eli? Well, guess what happens this episode?

Okay, so I still like Eli. But goodness knows they are trying their hardest to make him just as annoying as the rest of the crew.

The problem du jour for the Destiny and her this week? A shortage in the water supply for the ship. Making this even odder is the fact that the ship's recycling systems make the water supply a closed system. I found it amusing that more than half the crew didn't seem to understand that "closed system" means that there's no way the water supply should be dropping off like it was. Still, they had nothing better to do than search for possible hoarding among the crew.

Or most of them had nothing better to do. After the Destiny stops in range of an ice planet with a hostile environment (presumably sensing that the crew needs more water), Young and Scott go on an expedition to attempt to procure some usable ice. Of course, the ice breaks, Scott gets trapped, and hilarity ensues.

But if that wasn't bad enough, the Destiny crew figure out the source of the water thieving: an alien life form (seen in episode 3) that's beyond thirsty. The crew, of course, eventually finds a way to overcome all of the adversity, although it's unclear whether or not the crew's water supply is back to normal when it's all said and done.

But of course, the crew continues to be an irritant. What does it say about the crew that there are only two people I really care about? Eli is irritating as he complains about how the others are all engaged in lies and double talk, but he's still the most sensible person on board the ship (and the only one that seems capable of thinking outside the box, as his floating pallet idea showed). And while everything seems designed to make you hate Greer, his consistency in the a-hole department has to be respected. Who else besides Greer could seem genuinely impressed when T.J. admitted that she didn't trust him?

The rest of the crew tends to flop as usual. I'd assume that we were supposed to be impressed with Young's stubbornness over not abandoning Scott. But Scott manages to remind us how dense he is when he blindly accuses Rush of only caring about the water and not the people (which is the second time in as many weeks that he's made an accusation against Rush not backed up by any evidence.

Chloe is useless as always, only showing up to play cheerleader to Scott's quarterback and to complain on cue. And while Rush still has the best sense of perspective of anyone on the Destiny, he still tends to lose his temper and come off as condescending at the worst possible times. Although he did seem to be willing to mentor T.J. through her temporary command.

Oddly enough, the show still works for me, though. Although I am still waiting for a bit of a ramp up. Next week's preview seems to show that the game may be changing. And at least I'm pretty sure that I know who I'll hate most of all then: Telford's back in the saddle. God help them all.

Rating: 6/10 (This rating will start to drop if I don't see some progress made soon).

As Time Goes By...

2009-11-04T20:51:00.002-05:00

Okay, color me stupid here.

I don't think that a month has gone by when I haven't actually thought to myself in idle passing, "What are you going to do for the one year anniversary of House Rules?" I was probably thinking about it after the first few weeks, the first few months... heck. Two months ago I was trying to figure out if I was going to make a compilation book of some sort.

So it comes as a shock to me as I pondered what I was going to post this month and how to squeeze it in between bouts of mad writing sessions, that I would stumble across fellow blogger Ivan celebrating his six year anniversary (and congrats to you again on making it this far... your site rocks). And as it reminded me of what I should do when I achieve my meager but still impressive goal of one year in, it also reminded me of yet another thing...

That happened two weeks ago.

October 19, 2008. The first post at Casa de House (albeit a repost of a previous post from another page. Still, it was the start of this whole thing, and even if it wasn't, the first post after that would still have been in October. So I missed my 1 year anniversary this year. I'm sorry, baby. Do you forgive me?

Anywho, I'd be a lot more formal about this (and maybe I will later), but the truth is I just don't have the time to spare on it right now. But thanks to the many people, here and there, near and far, gone and yet to come, that have made the creation of my little corner of cyberspace worth the effort by checking it out from time to time.

Once More Into the NaNo...

2009-10-30T19:53:00.003-04:00

It's my (pretty much) last chance attempt to talk anyone into getting on board the NaNo train. And because they can tell it much better than I can, here's the penultimate promotional mail from the organizers of NaNoWriMo, including a useful (but probably slightly exaggerated timeline):

Dear National Novel Writing Month Author,

Hi there! NaNoWriMo Program Director Chris Baty here. It's so great to have you writing with us! Before we get rolling, I wanted to send you a quick guide to our upcoming month of literary abandon.

Here's the plan:

Today: If you haven't already, please make a tax-deductible donation to help us pay for National Novel Writing Month and NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program. NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit, and we've spent nearly half a million dollars getting this swashbuckling adventure ready for 150,000 adults and 35,000 kids and teens around the world. Our goal is to pay off this year's expenses and set aside enough to expand and improve both programs next year. With your help, we'll do it! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far!

Tomorrow: Make sure you've set your time zone correctly (it's under User Settings). Some word-count features appear and disappear at midnight on November 1 and November 30, so dialing those in now will save you stress later. Join a local region, and find out when and where the first novel-writing get-togethers (called "write-ins") for your city or town will be held.

October 31: Get your first pep talk email. You'll receive about three of these a week; one from NaNo staff and two from our panel of esteemed celebrity pep talkers. Spam filters love to eat pep talks, so if you don't get yours, just drop by the pep talk page (under Fun Stuff) where they'll be posted as soon as they go out. Our first guest pep talker will be Jasper Fforde; he'll be parachuting into your inbox next Wednesday.

November 1: At midnight, local time, start writing your book. You need to log 1,667 words per day to stay on par. The website will be very slow for the first few days of the event, but with patience you can update your soaring word count in that box at the top of our site. Watch your stats graph fill. Send a link to your author profile to your friends so they can follow your progress. Revel in the majesty of your unfolding story. It's November 1! You are an unstoppable novel-writing machine!

November 2: Stop writing. Wonder if you should start over. Keep going. Feel better.

November 8: As the first full week of writing comes to a close, you will be at 11,666 words. This is more fiction than most people write in their lifetimes, and you did it in a week. Go, you! This is also Municipal Liaison Appreciation Day, a raucous international holiday that celebrates NaNoWriMo's volunteer chapter-heads (the folks who organized the write-in you went to last week). Chocolate, flowers, and gifts of expensive electronics are appreciated.

November 13: Nothing really happens on November 13.

November 15: After the second week of writing, you will be at 25,000 words. This is the approximate length of such legendary works of fiction as The Metamorphosis, Of Mice and Men, and Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion. You're halfway to winning! Attend a Midway Party in your town.

November 16: The second half of NaNoWriMo dawns. Writerly confidence builds. Your book comes to life, and characters start doing interesting, unexpected things. Nice. Weird.

November 22: After the third full week of writing, you stand at 35,000 words, the NaNoWriMo milestone universally recognized as The Place Where Everything Gets Much Easier. This is also when you fly out to San Francisco and join us for the Night of Writing Dangerously Write-a-thon, where you'll help us set records for group noveling and candy consumption.

November 25: Novel validation and winning begins, and Word-Count Progress Bars turn from blue (under 50K) to green (over 50K) to purple (over 50k and a verified winner!). Check our FAQs for details on uploading your manuscript and winning. A limited number of 2009 Winner T-shirts will appear in the store. These will make you smile, and will feature a squirrel.

November 26: American Wrimos celebrate the true meaning of Thanksgiving by gathering together with friends and family, wolfing down a huge meal as quickly as possible, and then ditching those friends and family to hide in the bathroom with a laptop.

November 30: By midnight, local time, we will all be the proud owners of 50,000-word novels that we barely could have imagined on October 31. Plan to attend your local NaNoWriMo Thank God It's Over Party, where grins will abound, champagne will flow, fives will be highed, and wrists will be iced.

You did it. We all did it.

December 1: Sleep will fall heavily across NaNoLand, as 150,000 writers close the book on a crazy, oversized dream.

December 2: The "I Wrote A Novel, Now What?" page goes up on the NaNoWriMo site, containing some special items for our winners from sponsors CreateSpace and Scrivener, along with advice on revision and next steps from published NaNoWriMo authors.

December 3: Rewrites begin.

It all starts very soon, brave writer! Here's to a great month together!

Chris
NaNoWriMo

HouseTV Review: Stargate: Universe Episode 5 "Light"

2009-10-24T21:02:00.004-04:00

Kobayashi Maru. For fans of sci-fi (Star Trek, in particular), it is generally a reference to a no-win scenario. In particular, it refers to the notion that how one faces death is just as important as how they face life.

Such is the nature of this episode. With the now powerless ship drifting towards a star, the crew of the Destiny face the prospect of certain destruction. Or most of them do, as a conveniently placed planet and a working shuttle offers the chance of life for a small fraction of them. The events leading up to the selection of that few and the aftermath of the result are what we bear witness to.

There are many minor moments here and there that give us more insight into each character. Col. Young attempts to be fair about how to select the shuttle occupants with his lottery, but at the same time shows he can be coldblooded as he threatens to remove people from consideration in said lottery for various infractions. Greer continues to be rough around the edges with pretty much everyone, but manages to show a "softer" side while talking to Young. Greer even goes so far as to wax poetic at the notion of their impending death, even if "what a way to go" isn't necessarily a calm, positive outlook.

But it's not all positive points. One of the biggest issues I have with this episode is the forced pairing of Lt. Scott and Chloe. Not only do they "hook up" in this episode, but there is little to no explanation about why they are so close. In fact, they don't even try. It's like they start holding hands after a meeting, and we have to just assume that there's more back story there. Or, as is more likely, they're just two poorly put together people.

Let's really look at this for a minute. We have Chloe, who has arguably spent more time hanging out with Eli at this point. She even seems to genuinely like him, even though we know they aren't going to let him get anywhere with her. And despite having a conversation or two with Scott, they have no chemistry whatsoever.

But part of that is because Scott is a virtual loser anyway. Lest we forget, our first view of him is with his pants around his ankles banging what we have to assume was the nearest piece of tail he could find (we note this since he later treats said officer with complete indifference). And now, we are to believe that he not only has feelings for Chloe, but that they are such very deep feelings that we are supposed to care about them, too. I don't generally consider love scenes to be all that wonderful an addition to a TV show (especially a basic cable one that's going to rob you of any naughty bits... ahem...), but I can't recall the last time I saw one and was bordering on repulsed by it. It only served to make both characters that much less appealing, so much so that I can only compliment Eli's restraint in only jabbing at them briefly.

And since I still count it as a character, let's put the ship on my gripe list now, too. It shouldn't come as any surprise that after teasing the ship's destruction at the hands of an angry sun, not only does Destiny not get destroyed, but it actually recharges. It would seem the ship is solar powered. In fact, it is so solar powered that it can actually fly through the sun. Mind you, I spent a few days last week arguing that I could accept that the Ancient communications stones could transfer consciousnesses across the universe seemingly instantaneously. But having said that, I have a hard time accepting that the ship that has been damaged to the level it has can just swoop on through the sun like it was no big thing.

Furthermore, the ship has shown that it's brilliant several times during these opening episodes, stopping at points that would allow itself and its occupants opportunities to save themselves. But alternatively, Destiny's autopilot will up and attempt to screw said crew over. It had to be forced to stay longer than it wanted during the opening mission, and now it couldn't even be bothered to slow down to let a shuttle catch up to it and land. Hopefully, there is a solid explanation for why it has these conflicts. I'd accept "system damage" as flawed as it would be, but I'm still hoping we find out that the ship is actually in a hurry to get somewhere that it needs to be. Otherwise, I'd think it could take an extra second or two to make sure it had all of its passengers before zooming off.

All in all, though, I did like the episode. They took what was an obvious false lead in the end of everything and managed to make a decent character driven story out of it. You genuinely feel the desperation of many of the characters during the lottery sequence, and it was nice to see the leads all having a fun, peaceful moment at the end of the episode.

If only Young hadn't derailed it with his intriguing but completely unnecessary accusation. It's a novel concept that Rush might be that manipulative, but after all but bending over backwards to try to get Rush in better with the rest of the crew, why would Young make a claim like that in public? Right now, it's like the show is trying its best to make sure you don't accidentally like anyone too much. Sooner or later, that's going to start wearing thin.

Rating: 6/10 (Better than the average formulaic episode, but still pretty by the numbers.)

Minor (But Important) HouseKeeping

2009-10-22T22:56:00.004-04:00

Some may have noticed a few... minor changes to the layout of Casa de House (and also to our sister site Planet Houston!). After railing about how indifferent and/or insensitive I thought Cris Collinsworth was being last weekend over many players, coaches and officials wearing pink trimmed accessories, it occurred to me that I hadn't done anything about it myself.

And while I'm sure I would look just dashing in a pink piece of clothing, I'm much more active (and visible) online. So for the remainder of the month (and possibly some time after it since I started so late) both sites will sport pink layouts in support of breast cancer awareness.

Because frankly, I have a mother and sisters, friends and acquaintances, and many have gone through a scare or two in their lives (several of which they probably never even shared with me). A little color change is the very least I could do.

HouseTV Review: Stargate: Universe Episode 4: Darkness

2009-10-22T22:18:00.004-04:00

The new crew of the Destiny can't seem to get a break. They've only just resolved their issues with the air supply when they run into a new problem: power issues. While the rest of the crew pokes around various ship areas, Dr. Rush's obsession with the ship's dwindling power supply results in him blacking out shortly after the ship does. But even as the crew faces an uncertain future, the ship itself prepares to make a last ditch attempt to salvage their existence. But you know what they say about good intentions...

The good news is that I do enjoy watching this show. The overall theme and the dynamics provided are things that I want to see on television. I'll say again that I don't know how much of it is a clone of BSG (I still haven't seen much of that show; yeah, I realize that damages my sci-fi cred...), but I think it stands out on its own merits.

That said, one of the major things that is bothering me right now is pacing. Oddly enough, the episodes don't seem to move that slow in and of themselves. In fact, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching the two hour premiere a second time after thinking that its pacing was slow. But for some reason, when an episode concludes with an open ending, it just feels like they could have made more progress with the story.

Should there be plots and themes stretched out over multiple episodes? Certainly yes. But at the same time, you should feel some sense of resolution as the show moves on. This is the second time in four episodes where you get the feeling that the best part of a story has yet to be told. And while it's nice to have build-up, it feels more like the writers are saving the best parts for the second half, making me wonder just why I wasted my time with the first half.

Which makes it seem like I hated this episode, when the opposite is true. In honesty, it's the characters that drive the story, and they do the job well for the most part. Eli continues to be lovable as the everyman that will eventually be screwed (but not in the way that he'd like to be). Dr. Rush continues to be a pain in many peoples backsides, but at least we do continue to see that he has his reasons for acting the way he does and that he does actually care about them all surviving.

The other leadership continues to be shades of 'meh'. Col. Young is who you think you'd want in charge, but he seems to mishandle Rush just as often as he uses him as an asset. Col. Telford is such a huge A-hole that you can't find one redeeming thing about the way he acts (which means I should probably give a nod to Lou Diamond Phillips for managing to make him that grating). Lt. Scott is supposed to be the heroic action lead, but is far too needy for my liking at the moment.

And everyone else is still drifting aimlessly in the background, with only a brief moment of splendor to speak of. Or possibly two, if I count that one SGC chick with the huge bazooms. And big ups to Lt. Chesty for using her sex appeal to lure Eli into a trap, then acting irritated later while being ogled. Way to raise the standard there, lady...

But let us not forget the most dynamic character of them all: Destiny herself. As intelligent vehicles go, this ship scores right up there with KITT and other transports that are probably smarter than their occupants. The ship has already shown that it's more capable than its occupants by thinking ahead and attempting to provide them with what they need before they even realize they need it. Although as smart as it is, it makes you wonder how it got into the condition it's in, or why it's not just a little better at trying to provide needs.

And I know, as the show progresses, everyone should get fleshed out more. Which is good, because as much as I like this show, I feel like I should like it more. Now if only they don't go full sappy before my gag reflex is properly prepared for it... what happens this week? Aw, crap.

HouseTV: Believe it or Not...

2009-10-18T22:42:00.004-04:00

Many people (presumably my age or older, but perhaps a few retro fans besides that) will remember this show, but I felt the need to revisit it for a few reasons. I speak, of course, of The Greatest American Hero.

See, back before it was en vogue to do projects related to superheros and people were just getting used to believing that a man could fly, there was a man that was trying to embrace the idea himself.

I speak of Ralph Hinkley (played by William Katt), high school teacher and all around nice guy who is visited one night by strange aliens in the desert. No lie, this is how it all starts. It seems that because of his good nature and heart, he has been chosen to be a champion for justice. The aliens provide Ralph with a costume that grants him a wide variety of powers and abilities along with an instruction manual to guide him in the use of the suit. Ralph, as is the case in situations like this, promptly loses the manual, and with it, any chances of ever gaining full control of the super-suit.

And that's the main premise of the show. Ralph would often come to the aid of FBI agent Bill Maxwell (played by Robert Culp) and many times come into conflict in his relationship with girlfriend Pam Davidson (played by the disturbingly pretty Connie Sellecca). And of course, at various points in time, he would help any number of other assorted people and students, all while trying to figure out how to make his suit work.

As you'd imagine, the show is more of a comedy than a true superhero action show. Most of the time is spent showing the antics of Ralph and Bill getting into and out of trouble, with the occasional super feat tossed in at random points. There were two highly notable things about this show:

1) The super suit that Ralph had was awesome. And I don't just mean the design here (which in reality was pretty spiffy). Ralph was granted any number of powers by it, most notably flight, super strength and invulnerability (although since the costume granted the invulnerability, Ralph would end up covering his face anytime someone shot at him. Which makes no sense when you realize the number of times Ralph ran into/through stuff with no facial damage.) But on top of this, the suit also granted Ralph other abilities. He had psychometry, or psychic reading, which allowed him to see images of people by making contact with an object that they had touched. He could turn invisible. And there are no doubt any number of other things that I'm forgetting. If he had actually kept up with the manual for it, he would have been quite the force to be reckoned with. And he wasn't exactly chump change without the manual.

2) The show has perhaps one of the better and catchiest theme songs ever made. The DVD boxset for the show had a button on the front you could press to play the theme at will. And why not? Check this out.

And the show still has many fans floating around out there. There was recently work done on a comic book (which included as part of its writing team none other than William Katt). I stumbled across an interesting (if not disturbingly retro) web series based on the show on YouTube, and Nathan Fillon (you guys know him, right?) mentioned in an interview that he would be interested in playing the role in a feature film (even if he has a few weird ideas about it). So despite being dated as all get out and cheesier than Wisconsin cheddar factory, this show still remains a fond favorite of many, including yours truly.

A Primer on Stargate: Universe

2009-10-09T14:00:00.003-04:00

So you missed the premiere of Stargate: Universe last week. Maybe you slept through it. Maybe you weren't all that interested in a new sci-fi show. Maybe you just didn't have the two hours to check it out any of the 200 times that SyFy will show it this week.

Well, fear not. In this (not so) small article, I will attempt to cover every major point that went down during the premiere episodes and go through the major players this far. With any luck, it will be just enough info to let you dive into the next episode of Universe without the hassle of having to watch the whole thing (although if you have the time, check it out; it's not a bad show, by any means).

It goes without saying that this primer contains MAJOR SPOILERS. If you'd rather watch the pilot, or if you don't want to be spoiled on some of its plot points, please stop reading now.

General Info:

SGC: Short for Stargate Command. The (mostly) military organization that oversees the Stargate Project on Earth. You should know this, but just in case you don’t here it is again. If anything, note that ‘SGC’ gets used as an abbreviation quite a bit of the time, both on the show and here.

Stargate: A device in the form of a big metal ring, the Stargate transports matter over long distances by generating a wormhole that connects it to another Stargate elsewhere in the galaxy. Gates are normally connected by “dialing” in an address that consists of seven coded symbols or chevrons that represent coordinates in space and the gate’s point of origin. In rare cases, gates have been able to dial addresses longer than seven chevrons.

Ancients: Name given to the race of people who originally designed and built the Stargate system. The Ancients are a race that precede most of the known history of most races in the SG universe. In fact, the reason that most of the races that the SGC encounters appear mostly or entirely human is that they are all descendants of the Ancients.

While the SGC tends to use some Ancient technology they have found or scavenged, much of that technology and how it functions remains a mystery to them.

Ascension: The process by which a corporeal being transforms their consciousness into energy and reaches a new plain of existence. Some time ago, virtually all of the Ancients ascended, leaving behind their technology, ships and bases to be discovered by others over the course of time.

SG: Universe-specific Info:

Eli Wallace: Eli is your average joe introduced in the form of a gamer geek. Eli solves a puzzle in one of his favorite video games and finds himself literally whisked away to SGC's offworld Icarus base. He is recruited because the puzzle he solved is actually part of an Ancient equation that will allow the SGC to dial a nine chevron address.

Icarus Base: An offworld base that has been specially built on a planet that has what's required to power a gate that will dial up a nine chevron code found in an Ancient archive. As has been discovered, dialing an eighth chevron sends them to a different section of the galaxy, so where this new gate goes is anyone's guess.

Dr. Nicholas Rush: The lead scientist overseeing the project at Icarus Base. When the base comes under a crippling enemy attack, Dr. Rush dials the nine chevron address instead of dialing back to Earth, sending the survivors of the attack to a mysterious ship in the outer reaches of space.

As evidenced by his first actions, Dr. Rush is driven just as much by his desire for discovery as he is for survival. This puts him continually at odds with the other survivors and the SGC crew in particular.

Lt. Matthew Scott: When their commanding officer is incapacitated during their escape to the Ancient ship, Lt. Scott is left in command of their operation. A seemingly capable leader, Lt. Scott ends up bumping heads with Dr. Rush on several occasions, in particular once Dr. Rush begins to claim that he is in command of the exploration/rescue effort.

Destiny: An Ancient vessel sent out on auto-pilot to explore the universe. The Ancients apparently planned to transport to it via its Stargate once it had gotten far enough out into the universe, but must have ascended prior to getting around to it. The ship is barreling along at Faster That Light (FTL) speed and has been damaged, with many of its systems currently offline or operating in diminished capacity. Of major import is that the air filtration systems are completely trashed and will only provide at best another day's worth of air.

There were several other ships deployed prior to the Destiny, also unmanned and tasked with the purpose of scanning ahead for planets with suitable atmospheres and creating Stargates for them. The Ancients, it would seem, planned their exploration out quite extensively.

Senator Alan Armstrong: A senator and supporter of the Icarus project, Sen. Armstrong and his daughter Chloe have the misfortune of visiting Icarus Base at the exact time that it gets attacked. Dragged with the rest of the survivors to the Ancient ship and suffering from a medical condition on top of a new injury, Sen. Armstrong chooses to sacrifice himself in an effort to seal off a damaged section of the ship. His efforts extend the amount of viable air left in the ship, but only provides a limited reprieve from the current crisis.

Col. Everett Young: The commander of Icarus Base, Col. Young is injured during the escape effort and rendered unconscious. Although still suffering ill effects after regaining consciousness, he reassumes command and attempts to use the Stargate on the ship to dial back to Earth, an effort that even he admits may not work.

When the ship drops out of FTL and the gate dials out to an address on its own, Col. Young forms a team tasked with going through the gate and exploring the world for items that might be able to fix the ship’s defective air systems.

And that’s about the gist of things for now. Check back later for more info and characters as they become more prevalent.

This Job Is Easy...

2009-09-28T19:45:00.002-04:00

A breakdown of the advice given to people with "problems" by "sex experts"

80%: Talk to spouse/lover about this issue.

15%: I wouldn't worry about it unless [name serious medical condition, usually pain or discomfort] is involved.

5%: You should see a doctor about that.

Which means even with my limited experience, I could be a sex expert and still make 4 out of 5 people happy with my answer. Yes. I'm sure that it's that simple. Take that, Anna David.

Random HouseKeeping

2009-09-17T19:52:00.002-04:00

Jeez, even the HouseKeeping isn't on schedule. Anyways...

Just to let you know what's up, I've been busy, but not necessarily with things here. Okay, obviously I haven't been spending time here. Mea culpa and junk like that.

First, Planet Houston Podcast is still running strong. Yes, I've gotten a little... zanier, shall we say? But the fact remains that the show's still being produced. I at least have it worked down to the point where the show can be produced in around an hour. So it should stick around for the time being.

Also, I'm still sort of collecting essays and posts together for a compilation. No, I still don't have a timeline for that. No, I haven't worked on my other book like I was supposed to. I've been busy, and I hate to admit that confidence took a brief nosedive for a second or two. But talking someone else up managed to pick me back up, too, so back to work on that, also.

Also, as a testament to just how behind schedule I've been, this update on how far behind I've been has sat around as an unfinished draft for the better part of two weeks. That makes no sense, whatsoever.

But hang in there. We're still doing what we do, even if it takes us a little while to do it.

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-09-08T20:37:00.001-04:00

Friend: But if it bothers you to see that person's face pop up in your friend's list, then why don't you just drop them as a friend?

Me: ... see, you just don't understand Facebook.

House Rant: RE: Dear {Facebook User}

2009-09-01T10:52:00.004-04:00

So late last week, I made a rant wherein I pretty much went nuts. And while I titled said rant Dear {Facebook User}, which I thought gave it some degree of ambiguity, I've heard enough feedback from various sources that I feel the need to clarify just who the target of said rant was. Or more specifically, who the target wasn't.

So just for the sake of clarity, if you read said rant, or if by chance you are reading this one, you can be relatively assured that you weren't being referenced. If you're one of a handful of people that have spoken to me about said rant, or any rant I've made recently, or any comments I've made at all, you can be pretty sure that you weren't being referenced.

In fact, odds are pretty good that, in general, you weren't being referenced. Especially since I wasn't singling anyone out. I thought I had been clear about that, but before I start worrying or antagonizing people I had intention of doing that to, I want to be clear. This was never about one specific person, several people, or a group or groups. It was, in fact, a generic style rant targeted at several items and issues that tend to annoy me in life, specifically my electronic one.

I guess you could say that this was more of a "me" thing. See, I have this awful tendency of feeling like I'm intruding in other people's lives. And I know, you're probably thinking, "What? No. You? Who wouldn't want you around? You're great and blah blah blah..." but if you are, then that's your perception. Mine is that most people's lives roll along just fine without me, so why would they particularly want or need me pushing into their happy flow? Mind you, this is a perception issue that I fight with on a regular basis, so I do sometimes put myself out there.

Then of course there is the issue of electronic familiarity. It's very easy to let the electronic age we live in temper our view of others, especially those we've had a link to in the past. It's far too easy to run into someone you haven't seen or spoken to in years and feel like they're still the old familiar friend that you knew way back when. And while that may well be the case, the truth is also that they may have drastically changed since then, for better or worse, and that they may not hold the same memories (fond or otherwise) that you do.

So putting the two items together, you have a timid, somewhat reluctant personality trying to reach out to people they feel like they should be familiar with while not necessarily sure if said familiarity still exists or if said people even want to have them around. It's a personal recipe for disaster if ever there was one.

So you can forgive me, if, instead of playing the old classic game of mail/phone tag that I am prone to, a game that can become depressingly one-sided at times, I instead decided to empower myself. Not necessarily Oprah-level, "You go, girl!" empowerment, but I wanted to make sure that I told myself not to get caught up in that sick, sad web where I wonder if I'm good enough to have someone spare time for. I thought about it, decided I was, and then maybe got just a little too, ahem, "vocal" about my feelings on it.

Rest assured, though, that edge aside, I'm not particularly looking to grind an axe with anyone specific here. If anything, I would hope that in reading it you would feel empowered by my position and take your own self-dependent attitude into your life. Although, if you were to see it and feel a little bad about not keeping in touch with anyone (not just me), then just drop whoever a line and be done with it. Or accept that you really don't want to be part of that person's life, and be done with that, too. But enough of that. I don't want to get all edgy again. That's what started this in the first place...

HouseKeeping: The Path of the Writer

2009-09-01T10:29:00.001-04:00

So I mentioned a week or so ago that I would get around to publishing at least one item within the next year. I'm still not sure what exactly will come out, but I have had a few ideas for things that I think might work well.

The first idea would theoretically be the easiest, and that would be to just do a compilation of some of my better rants and essays here. In my head, that would be simpler than any of the editing and rewriting I'd have to do to get my previous work together, even though I would probably end up editing a lot of crap... er, gems of gold before I put them in book form. The con side would be that all (or most) of the material would be available for free on the site. But the pro side (and what I would probably aim for) is that I could include any of a number of items that I may have worked on but never gotten around to posting. A bit of a bonus incentive for all both of you that stop by regular enough to have read all of the stuff I've posted.

That's assuming that I really care about that as an action, anyway. Honestly, I'll probably buy a copy, and then that'll be the end of it. I've thought about doing something wacky like offering up the proceeds to charity. But then I'd have to find a charity, and then I'd have to pretend that someone would buy it. Still, stranger things have happened.

The other option is to throw one or more of my independent projects together and put it out there. That's a much bigger kettle of fish for me to fry, though. If nothing else, it puts me into the position of exposing some of my work to the public (even if the public, in this case, would be a limited capacity). That, and I'm not really in love with my first major effort. And I told myself I was saving my next major effort for my NaNoWriMo project this year. Still, I might just say screw it and put it out there, anyway. It's probably better than I think it is, and if nothing else, it sets up the lead characters for the other stuff I have planned for them.

So that's that. I'll figure out which of either path I'll be taking over the next month and change, and presumably something should be out there by the end of the year (or early next year... I make no huge promise on the timeline).

Adventures in Baking Part 3: Even More Music

2009-08-29T23:35:00.003-04:00

(to the tune of Peanut Butter Jelly Time)

It's Peanut Butter-Chocolate Time! Peanut Butter-Chocolate Time!

o/~Where he at, where he at, where he at, where he at?
Now there he go, there he go, there he go, there he go!
Peanut Butter-Chocolate, Peanut Butter-Chocolate!
Peanut Butter-Chocolate, Peanut Butter-Chocolate!

If you all alone, then quit *itchin'
Just work it out in the kitchen.
If you mull on it, you'll get madder.
So just work it out with some batter.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate, Peanut Butter-Chocolate,
Peanut Butter-Chocolate, Peanut Butter-Chocolate...

Do the Peanut Butter-Chocolate, Peanut Butter-Chocolate,
Peanut Butter-Chocolate, with a mixing spoon!
Peanut Butter-Chocolate, Peanut Butter-Chocolate,
Peanut Butter-Chocolate, they'll be all baked soon!o/~

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-08-28T20:40:00.001-04:00

Twitter is a strange beast. It is odd to see DJ AM become a trending topic as reports that he has died start to circulate. But it is even odder to see Travis Barker trend as well based on the sheer volume of people commenting something like, "That guy that was in a crash with Travis Barker?"

House Rant: Dear {Facebook User}

2009-08-28T09:00:00.004-04:00

(And for once, this is a true rant about something wherein I tend to go off a bit. Be warned that I don't pull punches here, and please, please consider this was more about me than about any specific person in my life. Do not take the sentiment presented here personally. Although, if you can glean some kind of insight from it, more power to you...)

Dear {Facebook User}:

I've been pondering this for a while now. And now that I really think about it, no one has a really good excuse for not keeping in touch with me. Sure, life, blah blah, lost track of etc., etc. Whatever. I spend way too much time and waste way too much brain power trying to generate valid reasons for people not to contact me. You know what? I'm sick of it.

I get it. Your life is full of other stuff, and it is a little tricky getting back into a flow where you can bring people into (or back into) your life. I completely understand. I'm there, too. Which is why I can say this with absolute clarity and sincerity. I don't care what your excuse is.

This is not me blaming you or chastising you or even calling you out (and I know, it seems like that's what I'm doing, but I'm not). This is me clearing a vent in the old pipes of self-regret, and you are, unfortunately, just a little too close to the exhaust. Just close your eyes and straighten your hair up afterwards.

This is less about trying to dig into you as a person (which frankly, I wouldn't do; that would be shortsighted and just a smidge mean) and more about me getting myself out of the funk that is feeling like someone, anyone, or maybe even everyone should want to interact with me. Mind you, I'm not a lonely hermit, living in the shell that is his house who barely sees the light of day. I have activities. I have outings. I have friends and family and all of that stuff, too.

Which is why, again, I can say with a somewhat clear conscience that if you wanted to dig a few minutes out of your day to drop a line or a buzz or a poke or a tweet or a zonk or whatever the trendy thing is to do these days, you could do it. I know it's possible, because many people manage to do it. I manage to do it. And considering how anti-social I can be at times, that's saying a lot.

But I understand. You can't really be everyone's pal, after all. I just got done saying that earlier this week. And while this is a bit heavy handed, it's pretty much the same sentiment.

So know this. I have no problem with occasionally chasing someone down to touch base or whatever, but I will not do it indefinitely. As much as I might like to see you, I will not beg to spend time with you. As much as I like talking to and hearing from you, it will not kill me if that does not occur. And as much as I might like to keep you somewhere in the web that is my life, after a set period of time I will cut you off. I have no choice. I have neither the time, patience, or emotional fortitude necessary to maintain a one-sided relationship of any sort at this point in my life. I'd wager that I never could. And to be perfectly blunt, I'm not sure that I'd ever like to be.

You deserve better than to be pestered by me when you could be spending time on something more relevant to you, and I deserve better than to lower myself to hounding you like some... well, hound dog when I could be spending time on people and things that might appreciate it more.

Sincerely,
Thomas Houston

P.S. Please accept my apologies if, by some odd turn of fate, one of any of a handful of things has occurred that might take precedence over keeping in touch (you or a family member in a coma or something like that). I'd feel like a pretty big ***hole if I tore into you over your priorities and then found out that you really had the weight of the world on your shoulders. Although... talking to a friend can help shoulder burdens. Hey, I'm just saying...

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-08-26T21:40:00.000-04:00

I don't know who to be more pissed off at: the idiot in the truck going 20 MPH that decided to cut in front of me, or the jerk behind me in the SUV with his freaking high beams on.

Words of Impact: The L-Word

2009-08-24T21:25:00.002-04:00

(Part of an ongoing essay series involving the impact certain words have on our life. Although really, it's not all that serious...)

I've reached a point in my life where I've decided to openly embrace the L-word.

... No, not that L-word. I'm referring, of course, to "like". Much like I feel that friendship is an overused and underappreciated term, I think that the concept of liking someone or something is underrated, too.

Let's face facts here. The other L-word, "love" gets a lot of the spotlight in life. It's the glowy, sparkly beacon of all things great in the world, and the experience that makes it worth rolling out of bed in the morning (or into it, if you are one so inclined... but that's a whole other discussion).

It's pretty easy to get so sidetracked with the love issue that you end up oblivious to other factors. I've fallen victim to it many times. It's very, very easy to become wrapped up in a new love, the potential for love, a lack of love, or even the wistful memories of a love from the past (requited or that kind that I tend to end up with...).

But what tends to get lost in the shuffle is the simple notion of like. Generally, most people have someone that likes them. Quite a few people, in fact. Friends, family, coworkers, even random and assorted associates and strangers can like you as a person, whether they say so or not. And while we tend to take that for granted, it is no small thing. Having people that prefer you and enjoy your company far exceeds having people that couldn't be bothered to care or that outright hate you.

And most people in the world simply aren't going to love you. It's a fact that you might as well learn to deal with. Even if they say the words, even if you achieve sainthood, even if they write a song about you... you will not be universally loved. Which isn't to say that you'll be universally liked, but you have a better shot at that than the other thing.

And while it sucks to love someone and not have that love returned, the fact remains that more often than not, the person in question does still like you, just not necessarily the same way that you like them. In some cases, that may not even be true. They just may choose not to want to alter the state of your relationship the same way that you do. And while it can be very hard (and sometimes impossible) to get past your own sense of being scorned, you can always take consolation in the fact that they do have some measure of affection for you.

And if, in fact, someone does love you, you better darn well hope that they like you. Because despite what people might believe, it is possible to love someone but not necessarily like them. At best, it's some fringe relative that you feel obligated to because they're family. At worst... well, it's the stuff of Dateline specials and Lifetime movies.

So I'm choosing to embrace the "like" in the world. Which isn't to say that I don't want more love in my life. Quite the opposite. But while I don't have a small army of women chomping at the bit to love me (unless they're just really, really quiet chompers...), I have quite a few people in this world that like me. And that can be just as much, if not more fun and way more important in the long run than having the ever glorious love.

(... Except of course when you're missing that one thing, but like I said, that's a different discussion altogether...)

Words of Impact: The F-Word

2009-08-24T00:00:00.001-04:00

(Part of an ongoing essay series involving the impact certain words have on our life. Although really, it's not all that serious...)

Life's a strange thing. We have all of these words that define who and what we are, but when it's said and done, we really can't define certain things.

Take the word "friend" for instance. We toss it around all the time to describe people we know and meet in life. But really, don't we toss it around a little too much? Or at the very least, a little too freely?

How many times have you ever called someone a friend not because you really felt that way about them but because you didn't want to imply that they weren't a friend while they were standing there? Or maybe you were talking to someone abut that person, and you felt like it would be more awkward to say anything other than "my friend' when referring to the person. We've all been there at some point or another.

One of the main problems we have with defining our relationships with others is that we tend to oversimplify the nature of those relationships. When it's all said and done, we only have the three categories of relationships to refer to people normally: strangers, friends, and "more than friends" (using whichever word we feel comfortable with to describe that type of relationship).

Yes, there are acquaintances and associates and coworkers and all those other words you can toss around. But we all know the truth about those, which is they essentially mean nothing. If you aren't at least a friend to someone, you're just a different class of stranger. Not that being unfamiliar with someone is such a huge crime. You can't be pals with everyone.

Really, we shouldn't take it so personally. It's only society's impression that everyone should love everyone that perpetuates the notion that every person in the world should be friends with everyone else (Barney the Dinosaur might have played some small part as well...). There's nothing inherently wrong with someone not being your friend and vice versa, but it does make one ponder the nature of friendship.

Granted, calling someone you aren't that close with a friend isn't a terrible thing, but it does set a bad precedent. Calling any random person you spend more than a few hours with a friend devalues the word for the people you really care about. Not to mention the fact that it subconsciously sets you up with the notion that the person is more important or trustworthy than they may be.

I've seen tons of cases where people claim that someone they've known for a few years from school or wherever are their best friends. This is generally followed by some event wherein the person then feels utterly betrayed or deceived by said best friend. This inevitably leads to someone shouting the phrase, "You're supposed to be my best friend!" or somesuch, when the truth is that the offended party really doesn't know the person well enough to be shocked by their behavior. And no, this doesn't just happen on Jerry Springer or Maury Povich.

I guess my point here is to say that friendship is in fact a pretty important gift to give and to receive. Try not to trivialize or underestimate the power of true friendship. And also, remember that only a small handful of people you meet in life will ever truly meet the standard of being called one.

F***ed Up: Fast Food Edition

2009-08-22T03:48:00.000-04:00

I thought this was a joke at first, but apparently this is being tested in certain areas:

http://www.foodgeekery.com/reviews/double-down-with-kfc/

Why on earth would anyone think this was a good idea? I barely can convince myself that a single fillet is worth eating, but two as the bread? What did your arteries ever do to you?

This Week's Housekeeping

2009-08-17T12:36:00.003-04:00

... which shouldn't imply that this will become a weekly thing.

What to say, what to say... there is so much going on these days. First of all, Planet Houston Podcast is still going strong and will continue to do so for the near future. There will probably be a few more Tuesday evening broadcasts before it's all over, but the desire remains to keep doing it. Thanks to everyone who has and continues to offer support.

Also, I have to announce that I am now on Twitter. Yes, I gave into the darkness within, but it does seem to have its uses. If nothing else, it could provide more access for some of the other things I am working on.

And speaking of that, you may have noticed that I posted several excerpts from a former writing project of mine (items that all one of you commented on... grumble, grumble...). Well, I've been bouncing around the idea, and looking at this Lulu.com thing that a few people I know seem to be utilizing, and I've decided... why not? So sometime in the not so near future (probably early next year at the rate of progress I seem to move at), I will publish... something. Whether it's going to be a previous project, some new project, or some compilation of old items, I can't say. But at some point, I will need some support... the moral kind if not the financial kind.

So that's what I'm up to. Unfortunately, it means a somewhat major commitment for me, but the end result should be a pretty good thing. I hope. At least I can always say that I did it.

House Review: GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra

2009-08-17T12:24:00.003-04:00

As noted in the film's credits, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is based off of the Hasbro toy line. But much like its rival film, Transformers, you may as well credit the animated series and comic book for the characters' popularity. In fact, I'd wager that most people would remember the cartoon as the primary source of the characters.

As characters go, you already know the primaries. Despite the potential depth of both the Joe and Cobra teams, the on screen rosters consist mainly of the characters you have already heard about or seen. This is actually a good thing, as it lets the characters have some chance to have some focus.

The film itself has a relatively straightforward plot. When Conrad "Duke" Hauser (Channing Tatum) and his pal Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are ambushed during a military escort mission, they stumble into a world of global terrorists and the specially trained force that combats them.

Okay, so that sounds really formal and all, but it's just a pretense for the heroes to fight the bad guys. Seriously, this film is not an intricately laid tale of espionage and intrigue (although there may be an odd twist or two tossed in at points). It is, at its core, an action adventure flick based around a toy line. In that respect, it does a decent enough job with storytelling.

That isn't to say that there aren't problems with the story. There are plot holes that you could drive a Mack truck through, and the only way you can truly enjoy the film is if you're capable of shutting off the part of your brain that asks sensible questions. Trying to wrap your head around why either team's base is built the way it is, for example, will melt your mind into pudding.

But to its credit, there does appear to be some work done to keep the story gelled. Some items are contrived, but they are at least contrived in a way that keeps the story elements together. There are points where both the hero and villain teams meet with partial success, and most of the primary characters have at least a few moments where they step out of their cookie cutter molds and become more than just generic toy soldiers.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that no one character(s) truly stands out as an exceptional performance. Christopher Eccleston's performance as McCullen/Destro might have fit the bill if I wasn't constantly dragged under by his bonus deep accent. And while I wanted to like Tatum and his portrayal of Duke, I couldn't get past the notion of him being a "new" recruit, even if it was shown that he was an exceptional and experienced soldier. Dennis Quaid's Falcon was pretty solid, but lacked screen time (even if he actually had more scenes added to the film than he originally was supposed to... he was that good). And everyone else falls just above or below adequate.

I will note, though, that despite some people's apprehension, Marlon Wayans does put in a solid performance as Ripcord. Sure, he does get played for laughs at times, but you know going in that it was going to happen, and he still manages to give the character some heart. And despite being trapped in yet another masked/non-speaking role, Ray Park manages to breath life into Snake Eyes (who gets just enough action scenes in the film to satisfy any fan).

Aesthetically, the film... well, it is an action flick, right? Stuff blows up. It does get a bit effects crazy at times, but again (and let's beat this drum one more time) it's expected. There was a point where I started to wonder why they didn't just make the film completely in CGI for all the effects that were going on. And I swear, if I have to sit through one more shaky-cam action scene... We get it, Hollywood. Combat is chaotic. That doesn't mean that I want to have a seizure while watching one.

And speaking of the fighting... yikes. I remember saying that the violence level of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was disturbingly high, and while this film may do a little better, there are still some rather rough moments along the way. And not just a "no parachutes" kind of rough. The fact that a certain Joe seemed to have a preoccupation with headshots (even if the end results were conveniently masked most of the time) might be a little unsettling for the younger crowd.

All in all, you'll take from the film what you put into it. If you want to trash it and pick it apart, there is more than enough fodder for you to pick at. If you can sit around and enjoy a little mindless summer popcorn flick, then you could do worse than checking out GI Joe.

Overall Rating (out of 10): 5.5 (Just average, but it gets a slight bump for having to deal with being an origin flick.)

When Revengance Goes Wrong...

2009-08-12T13:06:00.002-04:00

Long time, no see, mi compadres.

I just figured I'd stop by and leave this commentary, since I posted it elsewhere concerning the item and I got long-winded to actually fit here.

Apparently what happened was some guy by the name of Ryan ran into comic artist Rob Liefeld at a convention, and decided to... "get his revenge". He recounts the details here. I hear people saying that this Ryan guy was genius or a hero, and that Rob somehow mishandled the situation, and to them and others, I say this:

This Ryan guy was an idiot. And to anyone saying that Rob handled it badly... what exactly was Rob supposed to do in that situation? Actually apologize? Confronting some guy that shows up and demands an apology for something you did over a decade ago as if you somehow personally injured him would only cause more of a scene. I don't know if a thanks and a nod off was the perfect way to go about it, but it certainly was non-aggressive and bordering on polite.

But instead of letting it go at that, Ryan decides, "Hey, let's be more of a douche than we were before," and gives Rob a "gift". Note that despite what he claims Rob's reaction was, Rob appears to be relatively unaffected in the short clip he posted. If anything, I'd imagine he might be slightly concerned that some passive-aggressive geek loser was going to stalk him for the rest of the day. Which honestly, Rob doesn't deserve.

I feel horrible siding with Rob on this one, but there's really no reason to do something like this to someone. Especially when it's less about you being an injured party and more about trying to harass an artist that was paid to do a job and did it (whether or not it was liked). I don't mind someone being critical of an artist/writer, but no one put a gun to anyone's head and forced them to buy Rob's work.

But I do fault Rob for one thing. He didn't manage to go the extra step I would have and laugh at the situation. Because really, how much more deflated would that attempt have been if he and whoever it was at the table with him just shared a short laugh over someone wasting that much time and effort and then went right on back to earning a paycheck?

Some Minor HouseKeeping

2009-08-06T11:30:00.003-04:00

Minus all that soup stuff that my bud Ivan talks about. Mainly because he took the only can of soup that I'd use...

So the blog has gone a bit... absent the past week or so. I've been working on stuff, for reals. Granted, I've mostly been working, but I've done some writing, too. In fact, I'm working on a series of short works/observations that I'm tentatively calling "Words of Impact".

It's a closer look at a few words that we may tend to overlook or take for granted at times. I guess my "Perspective" essay could be considered the opening volley of that exchange. I have a handful more that I'm working on, but I still need more time to refine them, lest they all end up sounding like they're just me babbling about same thing over and over again. And nobody wants to be Bill Cathcart.

Oh, snap! WTO-see you later, dawg! handle that burn.

Anyways, expect to see those in some way shape or form starting this weekend. I hope. One can never tell for certain.

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-07-28T19:38:00.001-04:00

I had a dream last week that some odd woman told me that she couldn't share her face with me because I wouldn't open my heart. Then I told her that she seemed like a cool enough lady, but I had no idea what on earth she was talking about. Then she went into a corner and cried, and all of our other roommates started yelling at me for being insensitive while I tried to explain that I was just being honest and didn't anything by it.

And the weird thing is that I haven't watched any Real World in almost a year.

Revisionist History: Part 2c

2009-07-26T21:58:00.002-04:00

(The final chapter, wherein we actually go back to earlier in the story to see how Edith and Lake socialize and interact. They're really the best of friends, they are. Here in one of the opening stanzas, we get a look into the inner workings of what a clan meeting for the city's Hunter's Guild looks like. Although arguably, you probably wouldn't call this meeting typical...)

“Abernathy.”

“Here.”

“Anderson.”

“Here.”

“Andrews.”

“Present.”

Roll call. Arguably one of the single most annoying periods of time in the history of creation. It begins at childhood, and proceeds to be a nuisance until death. Or at least that’s how some would view it.

“Barnard.”

“Here.”

“Laraby.”

“Yeah, I’m here...”

“Kendricks”

“Here.”

“Montayo.”

“Uh, he’s dead.”

“Really. Cripes, that’s a shame. I already wired his pay for this week. That’s gonna be a pain to get recalled.” Edith Fortunado was always the first to display her own special brand of sympathy. If she remembered, she’d probably use part of the recalled wages to send a wreath or something else fitting. Roll call continued for the ragged bunch, missing names being skipped over and recalled again until the wary midget of a woman just couldn’t stand to do it anymore. “Aw, screw ‘em. Let’s get the meeting started. Any old business to resolve?”

Barnard was always the first to chime in like the teacher’s pet he most assuredly must have been throughout most of his life. He caught himself just short of raising his hand for attention before coughing it up, “Well, Montayo had that one thing you were supposed to look into, but uh ... well, he isn’t here.” His shoulders bobbed in a brief shrug before glancing back over his contact sheet.

Edith gritted her teeth at the smattering of murmurs and chuckles that protruded from the crew. If nothing else, she hated the lack of order that always presented itself during these meetings. Heck, she hated the meetings altogether. But they were a necessary evil if she wanted to keep the guild in a state that remotely resembled solvent. Not that she always cared about that, but like most people she appreciated when the lights and appliances worked. Edith waved a hand dismissively. “All right, pipe down you yahoos. Anything else?”

She took the momentary lapse of comments as reason enough to move on. “Okay, then. We can move on to new business. We’ve had a drop in our capture rate over the past quarter. This coincides, surprisingly enough, with an increase in our hunter injuries and fatalities. I don’t have to explain this to any of you, do I? Now I know there have been things going on in the guild, and far be it from me to get bent out of shape by a few of you bums getting put into the ground, but it’s affecting business. The bottom line is the bottom line, and right now we’re leaning more towards red no matter how you look at it.”

Edith gave her small play on words time to hit some of the slower witted members over the head a few times before continuing. “The important thing to remember is to be careful. I know half the city thinks that we’re expendable, but we are actually providing a service here. Contrary to popular belief, if we don’t do our jobs right, the city does suffer. But enough with the pep talk…” The woman had to resist the urge to smirk at the notion before continuing, “On to other business. We have a walkabout today.”

The statement drew more attention than any other one in the morning had. Just about every head in the assemblage perked up and directed its attention to the front. Even a few of the sleeping folks snapped awake at the word. It had been a while since there had been a walkabout in the guild. It had been long enough that some people had never encountered one in their entire career. For anyone familiar with the process, there was the usual mix of emotions flowing through the room. There was the standard order of idle curiosity. There was a sprinkle of novelty. But mostly, there was the fear. The horrible, all enclosing fear of the words that would next be spoken.

“I need a volunteer.” Edith timed the comment for the appropriate mix of drama and amusement. The amusement was mostly hers, of course, but there were a handful of people masochistic enough to find potential joy in the outcome. She brushed her hand in a dismissive fashion. “Aw, don’t cry, ya bunch of babies! I’m not stupid enough to expect any of you putzes to actually volunteer. In fact, I’ve come up with a method that’s more than fair. I think I’ll just consider the lucky victim to be the next person to walk through the door. Yep, that’ll do it. The very next person to walk through that door will be our lucky volunteer.”

There was a certain anticipation in her proclamation that had eluded some of the guild, but like a wave the realization of what was happening was starting to become apparent. A low-based murmuring linked itself to a pattern of individuals checking the clock that hung over the door. Anyone that checked saw that it was clearly twelve minutes after their meeting start time. Anyone with even a trace of sense knew that it was Wednesday. And everyone that knew a certain individual knew that by some manner of habit or heavenly decree, a certain member of their guild almost certainly showed up exactly thirteen minutes late for any Wednesday meeting. So it was with great revelry and a modicum of satisfaction that the group welcomed its tardy compatriot into the room.

Lake O’Bannon strolled into the room in matter of fact fashion. Neither his demeanor nor his appearance would indicate that he was in any rush to get inside. On the contrary, nothing that Lake did gave faintest hint that he was on the verge of either sneaking to his seat or apologizing for being late. It had already been well established that the time that Lake reported in on Wednesday was pretty much his own prerogative.

The popular theory was that Lake had some mystery rendezvous on Tuesday nights that kept him preoccupied, but his general lack of a good mood on Wednesday precluded them from associating him with the usual pleasantries that a “secret rendezvous” would entail. Others carried the popular theory that Lake had some early morning regimen on Wednesday that made him late, but again there were no outward signs that he was exhausted from workout, peaceful from meditation, or (as previously mentioned) in a pleasant mood from any other unsavory activity. A few guild members had bothered to attempt to track him on Wednesday morning to see just what the deal was. The few that remained intact long enough to report to anyone else brought the dismal news that Lake was late simply because he was, and it seemed to just be a matter of fate conspiring to make sure he was never on time on Wednesday. Whatever the reason, today it was bound to provide some much needed entertainment for the meeting.

Lake paused after entering the doorway, adjusting the cuff of his leather jacket as he mumbled something best left incoherent under his breath. It took him a handful of seconds to notice that something was out of sorts… more out of sorts than usual in the group. Too many people seemed pleased to see him. He had found in general practice that too many people happy to see him was rarely a good thing.

“Mr. O’Bannon. So lovely to see you today. And at such an appropriate time, too. “ Edith Fortunado grinned an impish smile that her lack of stature made appear even more so. A few of the guild members reflected the same mock enthusiasm that Edith did, and that was when Lake truly grasped how screwed he was.

Lake let a short huff of air slip out of his lips before starting his query. “What? Am I getting docked? Am I getting written up for that ganger I cracked last week? Am I getting docked for cracking that ganger last week? Am I getting cracked for docking that ganger last week?”

The room hung in silence for the reply of their leader. They knew this was just the opening volley in a classic exchange. Edith debated letting the noose tighten a little more before the big reveal, but decided that there was really no reason to drag it out too far. Besides, all of this pleasantry was wearing on her own nerves. Edith propped a hand against her podium. “I was just informing everyone about the walkabout we just acquired.”

Lake fought back a grimace at the mention of the word, a successful effort that he managed to bend into a small smirk. “Walkabout, huh? Haven’t we got enough crap floating around here without one of those making it worse?” Lake had absolutely no qualms about tossing a general insult out in a room of what should be his allies. Heaven knows they would be more than willing to do the same should the opportunity arise. Still, the comment seemed to raise the dander of at least a few of the assembled, many of whom showed their disapproval by shifting in their seats and glaring.

Edith coughed out a monosyllable of disapproval to the question. “Could be.” Edith had the same lack of regard as Lake did in the matter, but at least she had the pull to not be worried about reprisals, “But for better or worse, we’ve got one. And now that I have a volunteer for walkabout duty, I don’t have to worry about it all that much.

“Volunteer?” Lake’s smirk gathered a hint of actual amusement. “What poor fool would be insane enough to volunteer for walkabout du…” It was about that time that he managed to piece it all together. The pleasantries, the general joy he seemed to be bringing part of the room, the fact that he hadn’t been docked yet… there had to be a payoff somewhere for Edith, and there it was. His entire demeanor shifted to one of annoyance. “Oh, no. No, no, no. You are not shackling me with one of those... things for the week. I did my time two years ago and I was done. Find some other sucker with a death wish to do your dirty work for you.”

Edith’s tone took an abrupt shift of its own, “Now you wait just a minute! You think fair play applies in all guild matters? The truth is this has been coming for a long time. Breaking rules, not following protocols, damage tallies way beyond your class level allowance… and every time I try to call you on it, you have some half-cocked excuse or some convenient break of fortune that keeps my hands tied. You’ve slipped through more loopholes and backdoors than I can count, but not today, bucko! I’ve been waiting to screw you over for a long time now, and now you're gonna get what’s coming to you!”

For a brief moment, Lake seemed genuinely taken aback by Edith’s diatribe. His left eyebrow arched upward as he perused his employer’s face. His lips parted calmly as he carefully sorted out his response.

“Say… are you coming on to me?”

The smattering of chuckles from the audience was more than enough to break the tension for most of them. Some of the guild had gotten a bit restless in the brief pause that preceded Lake’s comment. A few foolish souls actually dared to assume it possible that Lake was honestly repentant and on the verge of apologizing for his past actions. They were more than pleased to see that that was not the case.

Edith Fortunado, on the other hand, was anything but amused. Her face began to flare an almost trademark shade of red, and it was abundantly clear to any of the guild members who had seen it occur before that it was not a blush of embarrassment.

“Do you think…” Edith fought to maintain anything that resembled civility as her temper railed against her better judgment, “… for one second… that I would ever… within the confines of my mind… “ Edith pointed towards Barnard, who flinched at the motion despite the lack of flames shooting from her fingertip, “… his mind… or within the very depths of hell itself even remotely consider coming onto you? In what bizarre freakshow of a world does my utter contempt and rage for you possibly translate into anything that even resembles attraction? You… you… you’re lucky I don’t leap off of here and throttle the life out you with my bare hands!” Her body began to slowly tremble, making some fear that she might actually leap from her podium in some kind of suicidal plunge at her contemptuous employee.

Lake, for his part, seemed unfazed by this new found rage. In fact his own demeanor had improved a good deal, though an apt observer could clearly see that he was by no means happy. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he mused aloud to no one in particular, “Well, I can’t say where it came from, exactly. It was just the wording there. ‘Half-cocked,’ ‘loophole,’ ‘backdoor.’ You know in some circles, even the word 'throttle'…”

Edith banged her fist on the top of her podium and pointed an aged finger at Lake. “All right! Not another word out of you! You’re taking the walkabout, and so help me if I hear anything other than rave reviews about your behavior, I'll bounce you out of here on your smug little backside!”

Lake clearly had something else to say on the matter, but he remained silent. Of his many social skills, the ability to know just how far he could push someone before he had crossed the point of no return was probably the most finely honed. It was clear he didn’t love this particular turn of events, but it was also clear that short of getting himself removed from the guild there wasn’t much else he could do to get out of this. With a certain sense of resignation, he turned and headed back towards the door he had so recently entered.

“And just where do you think you’re going, hot shot?” Edith queried to his back.

Lake didn’t bother to turn around, stopping as he reached the door. “In accordance with Article 4, Paragraph 8 of the Provisional Guild Agreement with the Free States, any member enacted into volunteer duty with a walkabout may, at their discretion, forgo standard guild protocols when interacting with said walkabout. Pursuant with this, I’m enacting a special preparatory meeting to prepare for said walkabout. This meeting, coincidentally enough, will force me to miss the rest of this one. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

As the door shut with Lake on the opposite side of it, Edith Fortunado quietly grinded her teeth together. “I am so docking him for cracking that ganger last week…”
...

(Now the one thing that occurs to me as I reviewed this was a rather obvious error I made in the storytelling. Because this is supposed to be the first time that you meet either Edith or Lake, and neither is particularly described in detail. That's a terrible throwback to the fact that I just didn't care about that particular detail when I started writing.

In fact, one of the things I have a bad habit of being deficient about is writing character and location details. If I'm not in the proper zone, I tend to skim over them and revisit them later, focusing more on advancing the story. But both do get described in more detail later, so I suppose I should just go back and drop some in here.)

First Look: Wolverine and Iron Man Anime Trailers

2009-07-25T22:27:00.002-04:00

So finally we get some sweet trailers for Madhouse's upcoming Marvel Comics based anime projects. And they're... well, interesting is the word I'm going to go with.

Wolverine is definitely getting some interesting treatment here...

Iron Man seems to be more in line with the hero we know and love, even if it's not clear what the heck is going on here...

But as always, I'll say that I'm facing both projects with "guarded optimism." They are a good year away, after all, and until we see the complete project, I'd be hard pressed to call either one a failure just yet.

Revisionist History: Part 2b

2009-07-25T20:38:00.002-04:00

(This is the second part of an excerpt of the major huge deal writing project I took on last year. I went back to edit it, but was surprised at how solid the thing was untouched. I still touched it up a bit, though. When we last left our fateful pair, youthful Hunter newbie Dani Brightstar was taking a measure of abuse at the hands of clan sponsor Edith Fortunado. Of course, we have yet to hear Dani's side of things...)

"Mrs. Fortunado," Danielle tried to give her response a tone of civility. "I come from a long line of tribal people. I don't expect many people that live outside of that world to understand what it's like, and I'm sure that given your last comment you certainly wouldn’t fall into the category of the understanding type..."

"Now wait..." Edith started, but was stopped short by a brief hand raised by the still speaking Danielle.

"But what I would expect you to understand," Danielle continued, "Is that in that place, among my people, we have a certain set of beliefs. And among those is the belief that you're chosen for a task, but not necessarily the task that you choose. Now, I'm hardly the first one to say that I believe each and every thing that has been taught to me over the years..." She paused for a brief moment of self-reflection before continuing, "But I certainly do believe that the task that I was given was to come here and attempt to help out to the best of my ability. Frankly, if you didn't think it was at least worth the time to have me here, you could've refused my request like many others did."

"Hmmph..." Edith puffed on her tiny cigar, which now had become all but a useless flickering stub. If she was offended by the last part of Danielle's comment, she didn't show it. Instead, she just spat the nub of half dead leaves in her mouth into the trash can next to her desk and smiled. "Fair enough, lady." She leaned forward into her seat again, the elevated chair creaking slightly as she pressed her weight against the edge of the desk. "Now then, as far as your 'mentor' goes..."

The moment of relief that Danielle had was short lived. She had half expected to be tossed out of the office after the little speech she had made, but even after having gotten away with that, she was about to hear about her least favorite subject of the time. Unfortunately, there wasn't really much she could say about the man. The little that she knew about him had already been covered. He was a bit odd, and he had apparently ditched her. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but frown at the mention of him.

Edith noted the frown and responded with a short, gruff smirk of her own. "Listen, I'm not going to lie to you. Lake O'Bannon... well, the guy's not the cheeriest of sorts. And he's kind of rude at times. And inconsiderate. And he's just as likely to blow your head off as he is to shake your hand some days. And I realize that I'm not making much of a pitch for him right now, but hear me out....

"There's really only two things you need to know about Lake O'Bannon. The first thing is that it's all an act. The rudeness, the not seeming to care who lives or dies... It's all just a big show he puts on so he won't be bothered as much. Somewhere along the way, he figured out that that's how he can get by in life, so that's what he does. Deep down, he's really just a sensitive guy that wants to do the right thing. I know what I told the other guys, but I wouldn't have put you with him if I didn't think he would give you a fair shake."

"Some fair shake..." Danielle mumbled.

Edith smiled again. "Well, see... that's just the thing. You hang around him long enough, and you'll start to understand how he thinks. For example, he acts like he doesn't care about his job, but that doesn't mean that he'd go out of his way to do something that would get him fired. Especially when he could just half-step it and get away with it."

Danielle blinked. "I don't get what you mean."

Edith sighed softly. "Take this little 'test' he's giving you. He called it a 'test', didn't he?" She took Danielle's nod as confirmation and continued, "Now see, he probably laid out what seemed like an impossible task for you, but he knows full well that I'd chew him to pieces if he really did that, so he's probably already got an out. So no matter how impossible whatever he gave you to do might sound, they'll be some way to accomplish it."

Danielle went over it again in her head, thinking aloud, "I don't really think so. I mean, all he said was I had to find him in three hours..."

"Three hours? That's all he said?"

"Yeah, three hours. He said that I had three hours to find him, or else..." Danielle stopped as a thought slowly started to slip into her head. "That's not... that's not all he said."

"It's not, is it?"

"No. He said that pass or fail, I should meet him at Celestial Park at noon. In the food court." Danielle still felt like she was forgetting something, but she also felt like she was right on the verge of figuring something out.

Edith glanced at the ceiling for a second, then smirked as she leaned back in her chair. "I think this might be the most retarded thing he's ever pulled." She paused for moment to glance towards Danielle and offer, "No offense to you, mind you. I might have fallen for it, too, if I didn't have on a watch..."

"A watch..." Danielle parroted. It hadn't even occurred to her before that she wasn't wearing a timepiece. It wasn't the kind of thing that she'd find terribly useful with her tribe, and it hadn't occurred to her to purchase one before she got into town. Come to think of it, she hadn't really concerned herself with time at all until she was given a deadline by... Her face flushed as the last bit of realization sank it.

"Ah," Edith moaned. "I think you get it now, don't you?"

"I didn't even think about it... I never would have thought about it..." Danielle stammered. It hadn't once occurred to her to think about what time it was since she went past the checkpoint at the gate. Once the meeting location got moved to the Gold Harpy, she hadn't worried about being on time. And she had spent so much time running around and checking to see where Lake might have gone off to after he disappeared that by the time she thought to check on the time, it had been a good 10-15 minutes, at least. "Nine twenty..." She mumbled, almost to herself.

"What's that?" Edith asked, seeming to have a good idea of the answer already.

"All the running around I did... it was 9:20 before I checked what time it was. But I couldn't have been looking for more than 15 minutes or so..."

Edith chuckled. "If I had to guess, knowing the man like I do, he disappeared around 9:02."

"9:02..." Danielle repeated again. Which meant, she finally realized, that Lake never had any intention of her being able to find him. As ridiculous as it sounded, he had set the stage so that his "test" would end at 12:02, exactly two minutes after noon. If she had been paying attention, and if she had been patient, it would have occurred to her that all she had to do was meet him at the food court on time and she would "pass". Danielle stared at the floor as she mumbled, "But that's... that's just..."

"Crazy?" Edith shook her head. "Yeah, pretty much. But it's the kind of crap I'd expect from him. He's probably been there the whole time. If you quit, and I made a big fuss about it, he'd just point out how you could have figured it out if you had thought about it. Or if you had even had the guts to face him at the food court." She clucked her tongue a few times before adding, "Of course, the decision is yours now."

"Decision?"

"Yeah. Decision." Edith was the parrot this time. "You've managed to figure out what he was up to, but it's still up to you to figure out what to do about it. It's not like he can actually fail you over a lame stunt like this, but he is one of the people assigned to assess you. It’s probably in your best interest to show up at the food court on time. Assuming, that is, that you weren't just blowing smoke up my ass with all of that 'task I was given' crap before."

Danielle pressed her leg against the edge of her staff. If it hadn't before, it was bound to leave an impression when she finally went to stand up. She truly had meant every word she had said to Edith earlier. Danielle had her reasons for being here, and it wasn't part of her plan at all to give up. She could imagine that someone would look at her and think that she wasn't cut out for the job, but that didn't necessarily mean that she shouldn't do it. On top of that, she had felt more reassured than discouraged by the conversation she had here. She wasn't sure that was what Edith intended, but it made her feel better all the same.

"Yeah," Danielle said. "Yeah, I think I'll go there."

"Good," Edith replied. "Good for you. Now, you better haul butt over there. You don't have a lot of time to make it."

Danielle glanced at the clock on the wall, noting that there were roughly fifteen minutes left before noon. "Right," she uttered as she stood up and picked up her staff. She smiled and nodded politely as she turned to walk out of the room. She opened the door, then paused and turned back towards Edith. "What was the other thing?"

Edith, who had started to relax a hair as Danielle was leaving, perked up her eyebrows. "Huh? What that?"

Danielle turned on a heel so that she could better face Edith at the doorway. "You said before that there were two things I needed to know about Lake O'Bannon. The first was that the whole insensitive thing as an act. What's the second thing?"

"Oh, that." Edith smiled. "The second thing you need to know about Lake O'Bannon... is that he's a very good actor."

Danielle found herself inexplicably smiling after the comment. She turned to head out of the door.

"Brightstar?"

"Yes."

"Do yourself a favor and buy a watch, will ya?"

"Right. Right. Thanks."
...

(One of the things that I wanted to establish after having Dani take the brunt of first Lake's attitude, then Edith's is that Dani isn't exactly a pushover. Yes, her inclination is to approach new things timidly, but she's more than willing to stand her ground when need be. It doesn't hurt that Edith pushed a specific set of hot buttons for Dani, which inclined Dani to snap back a little.

As for Lake's little "test"... sure, it's actually a stupid trick, but it's the kind of thing that I'd be inclined to do in a roleplaying session to see if anyone was paying attention to detail. Dani in this unfortunately represents a large chunk of roleplayers who so readily dive into a task or challenge that they ignore the relevant details.

In this case, though, Edith tosses Dani a clue. This is, quite possibly the nicest thing you will ever see Edith do. She not only steers Dani in the right direction, but gives her a little insight into the nature of would-be mentor Lake O'Bannon. Not that said insight will necessarily help her.

It should be noted, though, that I consider Edith's "two things" comment to be a quintessential definition of Lake's character. That I let Edith say it is a testament to how well she knows the man, despite the fact that she would never admit any of that to him in public.

Which brings us back to Lake. Despite my love for one of my creations, he did need to step back at points in time in this story. And even though it was supposed to be his story, Dani ends up taking most of the spotlight. The story just worked better that way. But that doesn't mean that I won't get back to him very shortly...)

Revisionist History: Part 2a

2009-07-24T21:33:00.003-04:00

(So I've decided to revisit my much ballyhooed NaNoWriMo project, and since I can't manage to find a more reasonable chunk of this particular passage to use, I've decided to break it into parts. In this first part, clan sponsor Edith Fortunado meets for the first time with potential trainee hunter Danielle Brightstar...)

Edith Fortunado settled into the worn seat behind her desk. Having spent the better part of the morning following the weekly meeting completing forms, reports and other assorted business minutiae, she was looking forward to spending the better part of the next few hours sitting in her locked office and acting like she was busy working. It was one of the few perks that her position as clan sponsor allowed her. She was right on the verge of finding a nice section of newspaper to read through when she heard the knock on her door.

"Oh, for the love of..." she mumbled to herself before shouting annoyedly, "What?"

"Um, sorry ma'am." Barnard's weasely voice strained through the wooden frame of the door. "I know you didn't want to be bothered, but... she's here."

"She?" Edith asked through clenched teeth. "Who on earth is 'she'?"

"The blacko... ahem... the, er, walkabout, ma'am," Barnard answered with a bit of a stammer. "I could tell her you're busy if you'd like. She doesn't have an appointment..."

Edith pondered the idea for a moment before shaking her head. "Nah. I might as well get this out of the way now. Tell her to come in." Edith leaned forward in her seat with a bit of a scowl. She took a few moments to scatter enough of the items on her desk to make it look like she was busier than she ever could have been before taking a deep breath and forcing a faint smile. Sociable enough, she thought to herself as the door opened.

The woman Edith saw enter the room wasn't unpleasant on the eyes. She wasn't very remarkable either, but such is the case with some people. The short cut crop of dark brown hair on top of the woman's head wasn't helping her to look any more feminine, but at least she did have some sort of shape to her. The ensemble of a top and skirt, both made of animal skins, was only bound to make the woman stand out in the city in the long run. But truth be told, Edith thought through her assessment, that can be just as big a plus as it could be a minus.

The first thing Danielle noticed as she turned the knob and opened the door was how old the office looked. She understood more than anyone that in this day and age almost any given person could have his or her own sense of style or culture. She herself came from a place where many of the modern conveniences of the world were ignored in lieu of simpler things. But still, she really expected something less... vintage than the room that she was entering.

Maybe it was just that she expected something different from the leader of the clan she had applied for a permit from. She's not sure why she felt that way, considering the reception she had met earlier in the day in her "mentor". Appearances could obviously be deceiving in cases like this. The leader in question, Danielle assessed, certainly had to have something up her sleeve.

As diminutive as Edith Fortunado was (was midget the correct term?), she must have had some interesting history to end up the head of a clan of Hunters. Her lightly wrinkled face gave way to her age, and her black hair had a thick streak of gray along the left side. The staunch little woman couldn't really do much in the line of intimidating someone in a confrontation, but that, Danielle imagined, could have its positives, too.

Edith decided to get the ball rolling by offering a seat to the entering Danielle. "Welcome. Please sit down." Upon noticing the woman's walking stick she added, "Nice staff."

Danielle started to say something with regards to the comment, but decided instead to just simply sit in the seat offered to her across from Edith. The desk itself was a solid oak, worn by time and buckled gently by what had to be the weight of various files and other items. She sat her staff so it rested between the armrest and her leg, then tried her best to get comfortable in the seating. It was an uphill battle.

"So..." Edith shuffled through a pair of files on her desk before finding the sheet that she was looking for. "Danielle, is it? You mind if I call you Dani?"

"... fine."

Edith wasn't sure why the young woman would agree to something in such low spirits, but it's not like Edith really cared that much about it. "So, Dani... how was your trip? It looks like you made it to the city all right."

"Oh, yes. Not much to say about the trip. It was pretty... peaceful." Danielle's answer was guarded but optimistic.

"Get through the checkpoint okay? No hangups with getting your travel passes or anything?"

"Oh, no. That was just fine, too."

"And how was your meeting? I heard it got moved..."

"Oh, that?" Danielle hedged gently as she leaned to the right in her chair. "I guess I'd say that went fine, too."

"Uh huh..." Edith pressed on, "And your 'mentor'? Everything going fine with him?"

"Mr. O'Ban...er, Lake? He's a little... well, he's not what I'd expe... what I mean to say is that I'm sure that he's a nice enough guy, but...."

Edith's face bent into a wrinkled little smile, "He ditched you, didn't he?"

Danielle all but fell out of her chair at the sudden interjection. "Wha? He... I wouldn't say that...I mean, I don't think that he...” Why exactly was it that she was trying to defend the man, again? Danielle let out a small huff. "Yes. He ditched me."

Edith smiled in earnest, leaning back in her seat. "Yeah, he tends to do that. I'm surprised you actually thought to come here first. Most people would have run around the city like a chicken with its head cut off for a few hours."

Danielle forced out a broken chuckle. The last thing she wanted to do was to admit that she had, in fact, spent the better part of two hours running around the city like a chicken with its head cut off. She had checked every business along the stretch of Main Street where Lake had disappeared. She was halfway through the city gate before she figured that there was no real way that he could have or would have gone to the outside. And she had even resorted to going person to person and asking random strangers if they had seen the man. Which, she mused to herself, was fairly deserving of the laughter that she had received from most of the people she ran into.

Edith stared at the young woman in front of her. She could see on the girl's face that she wasn't entirely comfortable with the topic of conversation. Edith hadn't meant to strike a nerve, but at the same time she wasn’t going to pull her punches either. This was as much an assessment of Danielle's resilience as it was her capability, and before it would be over, there would be far worse in store for the potential trainee than a few hurt feelings

Edith leaned forward and opened a drawer on the left side of her desk. Reaching in, she retrieved a small, tight rolled cigar and popped the end into her mouth. Without so much as an ounce of consideration for whether or not it might disturb her office mate, Edith promptly lit the cigar with a match and took a few short puffs.

Danielle wasn't sure if she was supposed to be doing a better job with this interview. In reality, she hadn't figured out why she had even bothered coming to the guild office. Part of her desperately wanted to find a group of laughing comrades there just waiting to let her in on the fact that she had been the butt of an elaborate joke. 'I can't believe you'd fall for something like that!' they'd chuckle. 'Welcome to the Guild, newbie!' they'd smile. There would also be cake.

Having arrived and finding some of the pointing and laughing but none of the prank-worthy camaraderie she was looking for, Danielle had seriously considered giving up. If she couldn't hack the first few hours of the day, how could she hold up for a week? A month? How was she ever supposed to etch out a life for herself in a city full of mages, psychos, robots and everything in between if she couldn't handle the first few hours? This was only the twelfth time she had asked herself that, and it was starting to feel like a personal mantra. She hadn't exactly expected Edith Fortunado to be a heaping pile of consolation, but Danielle couldn't help but think that the woman could be a little more considerate if she wanted to.

Edith took another pair of puffs from her cigar before propping herself back up into her chair. She looked across the desk at Danielle and vented a stream of smoke from her nostrils.

"What you have to understand..." Edith started with a tinge of sincerity, "Is that a lot of the people around here are worthless. Scum, really. All that pomp and glamour they try to put on the jobs we do is just a spit shine on a crap cracker." She took a moment to assess if that was anywhere near a proper analogy before continuing. "What I mean to say is that this is a hard life choice. It's not for everyone, and it's certainly not for someone that can find work doing something safer. Taking this job will put your life in constant peril. Even when you're not on the job, someone... or something... might try to take a shot at you. Yes, you should be well protected, and once you're with a clan, they'll always have your back, but you have to accept the fact that just by signing up for this job, you're probably cutting your life span in half. There isn't much a of a retirement plan because frankly, not many people make it to retirement age."

"The reason that those guys out there probably treated you like crap is because... well, they generally view walkabouts as bad luck. ‘Blackouts’ is what they call them. Because for some reason, any time one of them shows up, it seems like someone ends up getting killed over it. And that's on top of the usual nonsense that gets people killed around here."

“What I guess I'm trying to say, Dani, is... have you really thought this through? I'm sure that you could make a nice living selling beaded necklaces or horn jewelry or whatever passes for a safe occupation around your neck of the woods."
...

(It should be noted at this point int he story, Dani shows opening frustration because she constantly runs into people who say, "Nice staff," to her (neither she nor the reader understands why at this point) and is almost always asked if she can be called Dani (which she really would prefer not to be called). And yes, Edith is in fact everyone's dream boss. But fear not. This section is specifically designed to spotlight Edith's edge against Dani's seemingly gentle nature, almost as much as the next section is designed to do the opposite.

And yes, Edith is a little person. Not a dwarf, gnome, leprechaun or any other interesting thing she could be. Don't ask me why I went with that choice. I think it was just simple aesthetics.)

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-07-23T17:24:00.002-04:00

Why is it that no matter what time they reach a corner, no matter how stopped traffic is in the direction they want to cross, and no matter how obviously placed all of the traffic signals may be, pedestrians always pick the half second before a light changes to green as the time to walk into the street and in front of the car(s) that are about to move?

Revisionist History: Part 1

2009-07-15T09:04:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I'm allegedly still rehashing and editing some of the pilot I wrote earlier this year. It still remains the greatest pilot script I've ever written (ignore the fact that it's the only one I've ever written...), but it needs some serious cleaning to get anywhere close to presentable.

That's not entirely true. I could show you the whole thing right now, really. But I'd just as soon not, since my ego is fragile enough when I share complete works that I think are pretty solid.

So in an effort to make forward progress with revisions, to flesh out details that haven't yet been fleshed out, to present some insight into some of the plot and characters, and simply because I can count it as work on editing if I put it in writing, here is the first of several installments of post-first draft observations made by me on the pilot episode of Frak.

I've reread the entire script, and I already know that there are several plot holes that need feeling. Major filling. Perhaps a cream filling, but more on that some other time. The one thing that going back through it convinced me of was that a critical decision I made early on had to be revisited and revised.

Basically put: Chris needed to be more evil.

To explain, Chris is the lead character Charlie's alter ego. He is literally his alter ego, as they share the same thoughts and even the same body. But one thing I wanted to make sure of is that I didn't necessarily fall into the trap of making their relationship a Jekyll/Hyde one.

Chris should be incorrigible, rude, even have a mean streak, but he shouldn't be evil. In some respects he should be likable, but only as long as it takes him to open his mouth and remind you just why you hate him as a person.

The problem with that, though, is that it leaves Charlie out on a limb. He's the protagonist, but by no means is he the nicest guy on the planet. Which means that when Charlie shows his mean streak, the line between he and Chris starts to blur. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but as I expanded on the story, I started to realize just how much both characters started to ride that "middle of the road" area.

So the solution (or a solution) to that is to make sure that Chris' base personality starts far enough down the pipeline of despicable that it's obvious that he isn't on the same page as Charlie. The danger of Chris becoming a caricature (which he shouldn't be) is my main concern there, but I think it's something I can handle.

And on the plus side, making the move lets me fix one of the plot holes from early on in the script. Because it means that Chris isn't above eliminating a witness that might later cause him problems. Which sets up a whole other scene that I haven't written yet, but that helps establish a few extra character traits for a few other people. So double bonus.

I know, I know. You're all, "We want to know more about the plot!" And you will. But not this time. That comes after I make sure that I know just what the plot is myself. Which is probably the nature of Part 2.

A Matter of Perspective

2009-07-14T10:48:00.001-04:00

It's interesting just how different things can be when you look at them from a alternate point of view. Mind you, the first obstacle to this is that one tends to be trapped in their own personal sphere of perception. That sounds all fancy, but all I mean by that is that we tend to get stuck in our own heads.

Let's face it. In the big show that is life, we tend to cast ourselves as the star. And why wouldn't we? We spend every waking moment seeing the world through our own eyes, after all. And no matter how low your ego gets, I'd hope that no one qualifies their existence only through the life of someone else (undying affections to various offspring notwithstanding). Really, you don't have much choice but to put the world into your own sphere. Be it comedy, tragedy, musical, drama or some quirky mix of them all.

But it does have its down side. For one, it's easy to fall into the trappings of being self-absorbed. I'm as big a victim of this as anyone (as any good friend of mine can attest to), and while it can be good to be involved primarily in self for brief periods of time, you run the risk of shutting yourself off so far that you become blind to what's going on around you.

Which leads me back to point of view. One can attest to the principles of empathy and sympathy all they'd like, but they are poor substitutes for a true sense of stepping outside of oneself.

For example, I just recently had an interesting exchange with an old friend of mine (actually, I’ve had several interesting exchanges with several different old friends, but those are other stories…). Back in the olden days (Is high school really considered that now? Sheesh…), I always considered them someone that I enjoyed hanging out with. Of course, from my perspective, I was a burden to be around (which isn’t necessarily untrue), so I valued any time they’d actually break down and hang out with me at all.

The crazy thing is that from their perspective, almost the opposite was true. They were the younger, fish out of water in the group who ended up being grateful to me for letting them into my sphere. Believe me when I say that had I not heard such a thing, it would never occur to me that anyone would even think I could wield enough influence to be excluding, let alone be grateful that I’d accept them into the fold. Honestly, most social subsets I’ve ever been a part of by default have no restrictions. If they did, I wouldn’t be a part of them.

But my point here is just how one’s own perception of self can blind you to what the truth of what the world might be. Aside from bizarre truths like the fact that most people were far more popular in high school than they ever realized (which is incredibly useful to know after you’ve graduated, by the way…), what other things have you overlooked in life? How many times have you brushed off an opportunity to meet someone new, thinking in your head that there’s no way that someone would want to talk to you when the truth is that same person might see you from across the room and think that you’d never be bothered to give them the time of day? Have you ever been so busy trying to figure out the right thing to say to someone in a time of need that you miss out on the fact that someone may just need a sympathetic ear? A hand to hold? Another person in the room?

I’m getting a bit off track here, but my point is this. We will never be perfect people. By default, we will always have our flaws, hang-ups, and imperfections. And no matter how observant we try to be, our focus will almost certainly always be mostly on ourselves. We are, generally speaking, the most important people in our lives. But it’s probably not a bad idea, every now and again, to take a look at the world, and especially ourselves in the world, from another set of eyes. You never know what you'll see there.

Why I Hate Letting Stuff Go...

2009-07-09T22:02:00.003-04:00

(And no, this still isn't the uncomfortable explanation of what exactly went wrong with me last week.)

I've lived in my current neighborhood for going on four years now. I'd like to think that I know the area somewhat well. At the very least, I know it well enough to expect certain things. For example, I know that despite being lined, draped, and otherwise covered with overhanging trees, at least one knucklehead is going to set off every single piece of fireworks they can on the fourth of July. Now even if every single item used was legal to fire off in the city limits (and actually, none of them are), it still wouldn't be legal to fire them off on my block, and for some reason ridiculously close to my side of the street.

But you have to understand, I really wasn't in the mood nor was I so driven insane last week that I would try to stick my head out the door and indicate to anyone that they shouldn't be doing that (especially near my house). And while I'm sure that the police would eventually come if I called them, I'm also sure that since they're probably getting about a thousand reports of fireworks, shots fired, etc. that night, by the time they spun by my block any of the offenders would be gone.

So I let it go. I figure that they probably won't set anything on fire (or at least nothing that can't be put out), and it's just not worth the effort. What's the harm, right?

Cut to this morning as I come home from work (and yes, this is me coming home from work at 7:30 in the morning in light to medium spurts of rain). Since it is trash pickup day, I decide to make sure I roll my trashcan (which I had recently been cited for leaving at the curb too long) to the curb. And since it's also a recycling pickup day, I decided to roll my recycling bin (which wasn't picked up two weeks ago) closer to the curb, since I want to make sure they pick it up. For some reason, I thought the bin felt a little light, and for some reason that prompted me to take a look inside. After all, no point in rolling it anywhere if it's empty.

So imagine my surprise when I open the lid and find an assortment of used and partially wet fireworks containers inside. Yes, the knuckleheads that fired off all of that illegal crap the week before apparently decided to use my recycle can as a trash bin. And what's worse, I'm more than positive that, despite the fact that I've seen people load all kinds of crap that they technically aren't supposed to into their recycling cans, mine would be the one can that someone checked, found all this junk in, and systematically reported to whoever it is that would come out and fine me for improper use of said can (and probably want to try to fine me for illegal fireworks while they were at it).

So I ended up spending a few minutes this morning outside the front of my house, in the rain, transferring fireworks garbage (which oddly also contained a bird carcass) to my garbage can. Not exactly the highlight to my day that I wanted.

Of course, I don't know why it bothered me that much. It's not like I could have done much about it even if I had known about it. But darned if I don't fine it irritating when people go the extra mile to be as ignorant as possible in a situation.

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-07-06T14:27:00.001-04:00

Nothing's stupider than rambling about the small amount of sleep you got for the past week, and then spending the first half of your day wondering to yourself why you're so tired for no reason.

The Story of My Week

2009-07-04T22:47:00.005-04:00

Man, it's been a week.

Mind you, when I say that, I don't by any stretch of the imagination mean to imply that there was a terrible tragedy in my life this week. In fact, I can honestly say that one could consider themselves blessed to have only had to deal with the particular brand of crazy that I have over the past week.

There are highlights to the insanity. In particular, the odd adventure of the apparently deaf/mute man who first borrowed my lawnmower while only half asking, then managed to get 10 bucks out of me (and I'm still not clear on what it was for), then finished it all off by banging on my door at 3AM that same night looking for more money (which I did not provide).

This was one of many different side trips and distractions that somehow left me worn, sleep deprived, and wondering just how I got through an entire week's worth of work without pulling my hair out. It probably helped that I got my hair cut this week, preventing it from being anywhere near grasping length.

But even though I had a few minor additional stress factors, an abnormal amount of physical fatigue, and at one point I entered a state of emotional instability that I hadn't hit since high school (which is as glorious as it sounds like it might be), I really feel like I accomplished some things this week. What, you ask?

1) I learned that, despite what I may have convinced myself over the course of several years, I am still capable of feeling major emotions. Mind you, that sword swings both ways, but it's still kind of refreshing to know that.

2) I learned that I still have a pretty handy set of friends around that have my back. Mind you, some of my friends have an awful tendency to be unavailable when I sometimes think I need them, but I have a fairly stable corps of people of varying backgrounds and experience, and somehow the combination was just enough to get me through some stuff. But then really, sometimes you just need an ear to listen.

3) I think, but I'm not completely certain, that I may have become a better friend myself. Maybe getting more in tune with myself just makes me more likely to do the same with others, but I'd like to think... no really hope... that if I haven't returned the favor of being there to someone yet, that I will at some point in the future.

4) When you fall asleep with your lights on, strange people will see that as an invitation to knock on your door at 3AM. Although to be fair, the last time a weirdo did that, I'm pretty sure all of my lights were off. There shouldn't be a lot of people doing that, you know?

So what now? I couldn't say. Honestly, I feel fairly good for someone that had the week I did. And while I know that I'm always just one rogue event away from entering yet another cycle of self doubt and/or anxiety, I feel like I should have a better grip on it now. And it's very rare to say that in the course of a week, you can actually feel like you may have grown as a person.

(Although I'm inclined to note, strictly for gambling purposes, that the over/under for this new enlightened age of being is 14 days. Man, Vegas will take odds on anything...)

HouseKeeping: More Apologies

2009-06-29T22:35:00.003-04:00

First, apologies for not getting any new updates up at Casa del House. It's been a crazy few weeks, and I haven't had the free time I thought I would, and the podcast blah, blah, blah, no one's missing me, anyway.

But, seriously, I am working on some things. In fact, if I don't get them done soon, they become irrelevant. So I need to get on those.

And also, I'm watching Gundam 00, one of several shows capable of saving any bad to mediocre day and making it into an awesome one.

HouseTV: Webhead Advisory

2009-06-22T14:47:00.003-04:00

I just thought that I'd drop a friendly reminder for anyone that might have forgotten that the new season of Spectacular Spider-Man is premiering tonight on DisneyXD. Two episodes will air starting at 7PM. Make sure to catch the new season, since A) it is awesome and B) a positive viewer response might just get a new season into production. Make sure to check it out.

Planet Houston Podcast eXtra: Episode 1

2009-06-21T11:47:00.002-04:00

What's going on over at Planet Houston:

Sure, you think what you heard in episode 1 was wrapped in the crazy, but are you ready to hear what got left out? Be it cut because of time or possibly content, Thomas somehow feels the need to let you hear a sampling of what fell short of the main podcast. Not necessarily for the faint of heart (but not particularly threatening to them, either).

Check it out here.

Stuff I Slept Through on Cable #4 :Even More West Wing

2009-06-19T07:57:00.001-04:00

I can't explain why I enjoy the final season of West Wing as much as I do. Maybe it's because it brings me the presidential campaign and candidates that I wish we had going into an actual election run. In truth, it's almost what I thought we were going to get this past election cycle, but it was not to be. So then am I forced to look fondly towards this season of the show as an example of the best (or nearly best) of what could be.

Yes, it's yet another diatribe on the show that was West Wing. But cut me some slack here. It just so happens that this week covers the handful of episodes that I missed out on the last time the show ran through on Bravo. I had them recorded on my DVR, but eventually deleted them, assuming that the show's run would come back across them before I got around to watching them anyway.

At any rate, while I'm almost positive that I saw every single West Wing episode in existence, this morning pairing includes an episode that I just vaguely recall and one that I fondly remember.

The first episode, falling into the former category, drew much ire from me. Not the episode itself, mind you, but the fact that some genius at NBC Universal decided to pre-empt their broadcast schedule from 8:00 to 8:10 on pretty much all of their channels to show the opening tee-off of the US Open. Although to a certain extent, my frustration was assuaged when Tiger Woods proceeded to kick off his attempt at another major by shanking the ball almost out of play. His confused look over the matter was delicious.

Moving on, though, we have the glitz and glamour of a White House wedding in the appropriately titled, "The Wedding" (I had to double check that... thanks again, NBC...). The main highlights include President Bartlett temporarily defusing a major conflict by getting the parties to suspend any activity long enough for him to walk his daughter down the aisle. Also in this episode is a big push by some in the Democratic leadership to replace Josh as Matt Santos' campaign manager. Their choice to replace Josh (and Josh's by the by) is the already strained Leo McGarry. Near the end of the episode, an exasperated Leo mutters the line, "You're all trying to kill me...:" a statement that perhaps wasn't supposed to carry the ominous foreshadowing that it eventually did.

We then move into the episode, "Running Mates." Martin Sheen appears before the episode to state what most viewers already know. This was the first episode to air following the death of actor John Spencer. Sheen notes that they can think of no better tribute than to air the last of his work, and this episode provides a great statement of that fact.

This episode focuses on Spencer's character Leo McGarry preparing for the vice presidential debate. Leo isn't really doing so hot... actually, that's an understatement. Leo is doing horribly. So much so that it sends most of the group into a full-on panic to try and get him up to speed. Things aren't helped when news of Leo's poor performance leaks to the media, and his Republican counterpart begins to smell blood in the water.

The whole thing, of course, ends up working out. Leo doesn't soar, but he does far better than anyone thought he would a few days from the debate. As one reporter puts it, the VP debate doesn't manage to cause the campaign any damage, which is about all you can expect from one. And of course, we find out that the leak comes from Leo, who was so panicked by how panicked everyone else was that he took steps on his own to lower expectations.

A second viewing of these episodes really gave me a greater respect for Spencer and his character McGarry. Leo, while generally strong in both action and commentary, also manages to have moments where he seems genuinely worn down or tired, which would be expected given his recent recovery from a heart attack. And while I seem to remember Leo doing well at the VP debate, a second review shows that he simply did better than expectations, which in this case meant that he scraped by as “better than average.” And of course, the notion that Leo is not just computer literate but more so than anyone gives him credit for being is amusing as well. It’s a shame that both the character and the actor couldn’t have stuck around longer.

Planet Houston Podcast is On the Air!

2009-06-16T19:50:00.003-04:00

From the people... er, person that brings you your weekly dose of insanity at House Rules! comes... Planet Houston Podcast! Reviews and commentary on television, film, comic books, and gaming... along with the more than occasional dose of the crazy.

Take a few moments (18 give or take) to check it out, then be sure to provide some feedback. Your voice is important! And your keypresses, too, since that's probably... how you'll end up... doing it.

... just check it out, and thanks (and perhaps apologies) in advance.

The Full Hype: My Dog is Superhero

2009-06-14T17:27:00.006-04:00

It's been said that a good pitch (movie, television, comic, what have you...) should able to be boiled down to a short sentence or phrase. If the premise is strong enough, it can even end up as a title. It should come then as no surprise that the title of Rashad Doucet's graphic novel is in fact as good a descriptor of the book's premise as any: My Dog is a Superhero.

Young Ashleigh Bryce's world is spiraling out of control. Strange alien creatures have appeared, disguising themselves as common (and not so common) animals. Some try to be peaceful, while others have nothing but evil on their minds (go figure). Despite all of this, Ashleigh still makes an effort to live a normal, everyday life. And if things get rough, she can always count on her faithful dog Wolfie to have her back. And of course, it doesn't hurt that her dog just happens to be an alien, too, and a hero at that.

Such is the premise of My Dog is a Superhero. Through four chapters, we get to see Ashleigh try to get through "The Longest Day Ever!" while dealing with all manner of alien beasties. But it's Wolfboy (affectionately call "Wolfie") who does the heavy lifting, springing to action (and a pseudo-humanoid form) in an attempt to catch the alien invaders.

When I initially went through the book way back when, I thought that it was a little light on story. To a certain degree, this is true. But while Doucet's style focuses heavily on action, it isn't there simply for the sake of splash panels. His action tells the story that it's meant to tell. There are a few places (especially when the story skips forward) that you may have to "fill in the blanks" but it's hardly a burden.

Along the same lines, dialogue can become sparse in places, but it effectively conveys the personality of the characters. If I were to have one complaint, it would be that the source of much of the meatier conversations and character moments tend to happen in the latter acts. But to be honest, that's better than just having the entire plot fall apart at the end like some books do.

The art in the book could best be described as dynamic. It's a bit "four-color world meets manga" and the panels and art are designed to accent Doucet's high-impact style. The character deform and aren't in perfect scale, but it's clearly a style choice as opposed to lazy artwork. I'll openly admit that it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it works well with a story like this one. Honestly, I don't think the book would work as well with a more "conventional" style.

I've shown copies of this book to people here and there, and one thing that stands out to me is how much universal appeal it seems to have. People who haven't ever touched a comic or graphic novel find it interesting and entertaining. And while I haven't tossed it at any of the younger generation, I have no doubt that young people would be bound to enjoy it a great deal.

All in all, it's a great package, especially for the price. If it sounds like your cup of tea, then be sure to order up a copy. The book is published by Arctic Wolf and is available at the websites of Barnes and Noble and Amazon, and is also in select bookstores locally. You can also check out more of Rashad's work at his personal web page, Punchboys.

(Ed. Note: I chose to forgo a traditional review with scores and the like since Rashad is a good friend of mine. While most of the article is an honest review of the title in question, I just know I would have bumped his score a point subconsciously. Still, the fact that he's a cool guy, and he does good work. You should check it out.)

Natural Selection

2009-06-13T18:08:00.003-04:00

While I work on putting the finishing touches on the last of my weekend projects (hopefully), and focus on what's next on the agenda, I have a side task that I'm working on. Of course, I've been horribly dragged into the Facebook lately, and one of the apps that I've been goofing around with is one by the name of NetworkedBlogs. Basically, it lets you link your blog to a network available on Facebook. In theory, it can save me a little time and effort if I ever want to link something from here to there (assuming I can get those elusive last few followers I need to get my links properly feeded.

Anywho, one of the things you can do while setting up the profile of your blog is to add a few select posts as sample work. And while I have no doubts I could find some interesting stuff on my own, I figured I'd put it out there. So if there's anything yu've seen or read,r ecently or otherwise, that stands out to you as exceptionally unique, entertaining, or interesting, let me know. But don't stress too much over it. Thanks in advance.

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-06-12T21:18:00.001-04:00

Sure, everyone wants to accuse someone of being the Anti-Christ, but no one wants to point out that Green Day seems to be freakin' everywhere these days. I'm not saying that there's a connection, but... hmm...

IGN Video: Scribblenauts Nintendo DS Walkthrough - E3 Demo

2009-06-11T09:10:00.002-04:00

I stand by my belief that if Scribblenauts even comes close to meeting its potential, it will be an awesome game.

IGN Video: Scribblenauts Nintendo DS Walkthrough - E3 Demo

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5 Animated Shows That any Adult Can Enjoy

2009-06-10T20:51:00.007-04:00

(...and that kids will probably enjoy, too.)

Once upon a time, the world of animated shorts was designed exclusively for adults. What? You think those old Loony Tunes shorts were actually made for consumption by children? Have you seen some of the in jokes in those things? But somewhere, over the course of time, people decided that kids made perfect targets for animated television. So much so, in fact, that it was practically a stigma for an adult to admit that they watched a "silly cartoon."

Fortunately, over the course of time, there have been some exceptions. Shows that, while targeting children, were actually written like the kids had brains and might enjoy some decent storytelling. Not to mention that some adults (with or without children) might be able to enjoy the higher level they present themselves on.

With that in mind, I present this: a hearty handful of all ages animated programming that I feel that any grownup (especially one in my age range) would enjoy. Note that the list is restricted to shows that are currently airing new (or newish) episodes, and that for the sake of not sparking a tremendous level of debate, I have completely omitted anime from this list. It's the only way to keep five different mech based shows from being listed here.

The list, not necessarily in order of preference (although the latter part of the list does contain my favorite of favorites).

5. Johnny Test: This is an odd choice, and arguably the "kiddiest" of the kid's targeted shows on the list. But while I don't watch the show religiously, I have never seen an episode that I haven't enjoyed a great deal. It's in the vein of the Powerpuff Girls and a few other shows of a similar ilk, which may explain why it hits its points the way that it does.

Who would think that a show about a boy who ends up a guinea pig for his two sisters’ crazy laboratory experiments would have legs? Really, the show is eight shades of insane, but within the insanity and gags is a solid foundation of writing. Well, as solid as you can get in a show that does two 10 minute shorts per episode.

4. Ben 10: Alien Force: When I first heard of this show (which would technically be the in the series Ben 10), I honestly thought it sounded stupid. Okay, to be fair, I heard it pitched as effectively being a version of the old DC comic series Dial H for HERO except that the lead was a kid. So the first thought I had was, "Lame. Why not just do the actual show?" Even I have my weak moments.

But much to my surprise, this quirky little series is pretty deep. There's plot progression, overlying story arcs, and as evidenced by the show's transition to Alien Force, the main characters actually get older and wiser. I honestly like teen Ben and Gwen more than I ever did kid Ben and Gwen. And they finally get Gwen a boyfriend so that her and Ben don’t have that creepy “cousins” vibe going on. Or was that just me?

3. Transformers: Animated: This is one of those shows that took a ton of flak for being too "kiddie looking." Apparently, some people viewed that as a poor style choice for a show targeting... kids? Yeah, geeks are weird sometimes. But overlooking that one thing (made irrelevant by the fact that the style works for the show), this show is well put together.

Sure, it gets a bit goofy at times, but it doesn't play down to some imagined child's story level. And the show manages to forge new ground while paying homage to the shows that preceded it. I'm a big fan of the theme song that throws back to the original animated series. And if that doesn't work for you, the Constructicons talk with New York accents. How can you not like that?

2. Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Oh, the gripes that were heard when this show was first teased. "The art looks bad." "It's nothing like the Timm/Dini series." "Why does Batman have a lightsaber?" But once you get past all of that, what you end up with is a jazzy series that highlights some of the more over-the-top, campy facets of Batman as a superhero. Yes, it draws some very clear parallels to the old Adam West show (the Robin episode, in particular), but some would argue that that show had its serious moments at times, too.

And don't be fooled. Beneath its campy exterior, the show has some very grounded and serious overtones. Even in the middle of a comic moment, the characters still manage to display their personalities and motivations in compelling ways. And the characters... the show makes a conscious choice to go outside the box and pair Batman up with heroes and villains that only the most hardcore of Bat-fans (and even ardent DC comics readers) could ever hope to identify or recognize. Seriously, who would ever think to form an entire episode around the exploits of Crazy Quilt?

1. Spectacular Spider-Man: When what's probably my favorite super-hero of all time gets his own animated show, that's normally all I need to get hyped. But Greg Weissman and company bring something very special to the table with this one. Given the difficult task of trying to balance the early high school life of Peter Parker with a hearty helping of Peter's friends, foes, and supervillains, the crew here manages to bring it all together in a refreshing mix of drama, action, and comedy.

Some might argue that there are way too many convenient characters floating around, but that just makes it more fun to me. The fact that many of Spidey's foes start out as common hoods that he ran into before they had powers actually makes more sense in the long run, and the constant group of references from and to other cast members only serves to pay proper homage to the characters’ history and possibly set up future storylines. What else can I say about a show that makes me actually care about Venom again?

Of major note is that season 2 of Spectacular Spider-Man is set to premiere on DisneyXD very shortly, and that the potential for there being a season 3 may well depend on whether the new season gets good ratings. So make sure to check it out. I've seen most of it already, but I'll be watching it again on general principle. The show is just that good.

So that’s it. There’s a bit of a running theme with many of the shows in that they all seem kiddy on the surface but end up being deeper. They’re hardly the first shows to pull it off, but if you’re going to be stuck sitting in front of the TV with your ki… er, spend valuable family bonding time with your children, or if you’re going to be ragged on by your friends for “watching some stupid cartoon,” you might as well be caught watching a good show, right?

The Mystery of the Persistent Popup!

2009-06-10T13:40:00.003-04:00

...or... why Thomas needs to pay more attention to his life.

So I just had a mini-adventure of epic proportions. I thought for sure that my computer had been reverse-hacked, or at the very least that I had a faulty peripheral. I may be partially right on that last one.

Anywho, I was trying to skip that pesky Facebook page that asks you to send quizzes that you've finished to your friends, when I started to notice something weird. Instead of navigating to a new page, the new page would pop up in a new window. "What the deuce?" I thought to myself. I've run across some strange mojo in my day, but this was a true mystery.

So I go back to the first window, and I try again. But something's not quite right. In fact all of my mouse functions are acting kind of wonky. Menus are coming up crazy or not at all, and simple clicks aren't doing what they should be.

At this point, I'm a little peeved. I'm thinking that of all the things I want to buy this week, a new mouse wasn't on the agenda. I'm halfway into the control panel to try and see if the mouse settings have somehow magically readjusted themselves when I notice that I can't even single select an icon. Somehow, every single icon leading up to that one has been selected, too. And it won't stop.

Now, the technically savvy among you may have no doubt figured out what the problem was at this point, but stupid me had to clue in on a multi-select in progress and actually bother to look down to discover the culprit: a fan favorite of mine, the sticky SHIFT key. Yes, the key that occasionally jams for a few seconds jammed for much longer, leading to my temporary loss of sanity.

So I may well need a new peripheral, but in this case it would be a keyboard, not a mouse. But really, I'll probably just suck it up and deal with this one a little longer. And try to remember that nonsense in case it ever shows up again.

Some Orders Can't be Ignored...

2009-06-09T18:03:00.002-04:00

I heard that this was the fate that befell Stephen Colbert in Iraq, but seeing the sequence that led up to it proved to be funnier than I ever imagined.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Obama Orders Stephen's Haircut - Ray Odierno

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Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Stephen Colbert in Iraq

HouseTV: Overseas Advisory

2009-06-08T20:34:00.002-04:00

Everyone and their grandmother should know this by now, but tonight is the first night of a full week of Stephen Colbert doing his show from Iraq. If you've never bothered to see the show before, this might just be the week to check it out. I'm sure that some rampant insanity is bound to happen (in fact, I think they've already reported it happening or about to happen).

Updated HouseKeeping

2009-06-08T20:27:00.002-04:00

If I do this for one more week, it'll almost be like I have an actual schedule or something. Anywho, the week starts out on a bit of a down note in RL, as my delicious vacation week comes to a close. But hey, at least I am still employed... at least I hope so.

As for the site, things should go pretty smoothly for the week. I have a few major articles I'm working on that should be out before the week is over. And of course, I'll find some more stuff to ramble about before then. And oddly enough, I'm currently debating whether or not I'm going to attempt that podcast thing that all the hip kids are doing. It can't be that hard... right?

Things I've Slept Through on Cable #3: SNL Edition

2009-06-07T11:44:00.002-04:00

And no, I didn't watch A Night at the Roxbury. I doubt I will ever be that bored with my life, and that's saying a lot. No, this edition features two SNL stars, one an alum and another at the height of their popularity. And while technically I was awake for all of the latter film, I was really sleepy for most of it.

The first film featured is a Molly Shannon vehicle titled Year of the Dog. In it, Molly plays a rather odd woman (how can she not, really) who has a dog named Pencil. I missed the first 30 minutes or so of the film, so I didn't get to see Pencil. See, pencil bites the big one at the beginning of the film, an act that sends Shannon's character down a slippery slope of delusion, self-discovery, and activism. Think Robin Williams in One Hour Photo minus the completely psychotic last act and you have a pretty good idea what goes on here.

I wouldn't necessarily call the film enjoyable, but it was far from un-entertaining. Of course, it was 4-5 AM when I was watching it, so it's not like there was much else on. But for some reason, I got attached enough to the premise that I stuck it out to the end to see what happens. It has a bit of a non-ending, but maybe it makes more sense if you see it from the beginning.

The next film is a bit zanier... no, actually it's bat-**** insane. Andy Samberg has certainly established himself as a video genius and a master of the surreal, but the feature film Hot Rod spotlights most of that and takes it to the extreme. Samberg plays young amateur stuntman with a simple dream: to win his step-father's respect. Along the way he hangs with his friends, attempts to win the love of a lady, and performs stunts that would make Super Dave Osborne cringe.

But as crazy as the whole thing is, it keeps a consistent pace, and I found myself actually caught up in the story. The climax provides some of the most hilarious side references I have ever seen, and the conclusion is nothing short of epic.

So all in all, it was an interesting pair of films to stumble across. And it's always nice to be reminded that SNL stars, under the right circumstances, can still be entertaining in film.

Abstract Thought of the Day (with Video Assist)

2009-06-06T12:20:00.004-04:00

If you're going to make a flash mob, then you might as well make one that counts.

And when you're done, make sure you follow it up on the street outside. No one's going to call the cops on you. What would they say to them?

"This mob of people are doing the MC Hammer dance in the streets. No, I am not on any medication..."

Also, where do you bulk order those pants from? Not that I'm thinking of anything nefarious... No...

Random Funny Videos for the Weekend

2009-06-05T21:29:00.004-04:00

First, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart never quite seem to get the end of show toss right, but Stephen clearly shows that he has feet of clay here (and no, I will never get tired of Keyboard Cat).

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Daily/Colbert - Keyboard Cat

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economic Crisis

Of course, Stephen Colbert knows how to scare kids out of having sex. Uh...

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Just Don't Do It

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Keyboard Cat

And any thoughts I had about not enjoying Comedy Central's new show Tosh.0 quickly faded away when I saw one of his recurring segments: Web Redemption. This week, Daniel tracked down the infamous Afro-Ninja and gave him a chance at redemption. Although apparently, it's not like life has been treating him bad.

Tosh.0

Thurs June 4th, 10pm / 9c

Preview - Afro Ninja: Redemption

comedycentral.com

Daniel Tosh

Helen Keller Jokes

Single Ladies Dance Video

"You're hurt..." / "Lady, I'm ****ing dead!"

2009-06-04T17:06:00.003-04:00

Or... why Dead Heat is, in fact, ridiculously awesome.

You may recall my previous commentary on this film, a half-sleeping daze of a remembrance that made me question if such a film actually existed. For that purpose (and also because during a vacation week, I am much less picky about how I spend my time), I not only made note of when it was airing again, but also recorded on my DVR. I was that dedicated to watching it in full.

What to say about this film...? As mentioned before, the plot revolves around detectives Mortis (played by Treat Williams) and Bigelow (played by... Joe Piscopo). The two get dragged into a robbery ring being committed by zombies. Yes, that is the premise, and at no point in time does the film make any apologies over it. The only thing more insane than its premise is its execution (pun, intended). It's a film that both doesn't take itself seriously yet at the same time makes its characters almost seem to care.

The writing leaves much to be desired. In fact, I will add this film to the list of things I think about when I feel like I couldn't be a professional writer. There are any number of moments that look like they came straight out of a first draft. Case in point: there's a moment mid-film where Bigelow, while attempting to enter a restricted area, shorts out a card reader using the plastic visitor's badge he was given at the entrance. No jimmying or anything; he just sticks it into the card slot and short circuits it.

Really, this film is cheese-tastic. It's rated R, but it have to have been skirting the line for PG-13. And someone should have cut the handful of sharp obscenities and graphic (but mostly comedic) violence down so that all the teens could have checked this out... wherever it was shown. I can't believe that it existed in theaters; it had to have gone straight to cable or something. I mean it wasn't Troma Films bad, but it was close.

And yet, there is a certain quality to it. Williams' Roger Mortis, who becomes unfortunately undead, faces his impending doom with a stoic, carefree attitude that eventually gives way to bouts of regret about his life and then fades completely into a delicious episode of, "F*** this!" As a side note, someone should make a TV show called, "F*** this!"

But don't let that last part convince you that the film is there for anything other than camp value. It's clearly in the "so bad it's good" category, and the only thing more amazing than the fact that it was made is that supposedly, someone actually wanted to greenlight a sequel (which, if you ever see the film, you'll know would be highly impossible to pull off). Still, I must convince someone to see this, if only so they can share in my combination joy/pain.

Abstract ThoughtS of the Day (It's a Two-fer)

2009-06-02T16:42:00.002-04:00

You know why Facebook is evil? Because eventually you get bored enough to go looking for old friends and classmates, and then once you find them, you have to debate whether you actually wish to touch base with them again. Was it indifference or emotional trauma that caused me to break contact with you. Hmm...

and...

Motion capture is apparently the next big step for gaming systems. Prepare to look like a spaz (or more like one) in the coming years.

Even More HouseKeeping

2009-06-01T22:16:00.004-04:00

As of this afternoon, I've officially joined the Facebook. I also managed to reactivate my deviantART account, which I had actually forgotten that I had. Of course, it's not like I had added any art or anything. Anywho, I should be updating both over time, although with deviantART it will probably take a good while before I get around to doing anything concrete.

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-06-01T16:18:00.002-04:00

I know it's just showing a change in the status of my newly formed account, but somehow seeing "Thomas is now single." under my Facebook activities makes me feel like people will think I just broke up with someone.

Having a Price

2009-06-01T15:36:00.000-04:00

Someone really annoyed me a while back by making what they thought was an idle observation but for some reason I took personally. The accusation: that I have a price.

... No, it's not a Redford in Indecent Proposal type of price. Because if that were involved in any way, I'd be sitting on some beach somewhere counting my money right now. I never said I'd be proud of myself.

In this particular case, the question was whether or not I'd be willing to sell out the intellectual rights on a story or characters that I had if the price was right. For some reason, the notion that I might be attached to the characters personally and emotionally was insane. There had to be some number, the guy surmised, at which my principle on the matter would simply fade away. I think I ended up settling at somewhere around half a million based mostly around A) my inability to believe that any idea I had would be valued at that high a price to anyone and B) the fact that I could always pull an end around, doctor some names and details, and reinvent the main focus of the concept later. Heck, I'd have a half a million to pull it off with.

But the more I've thought about it, the more I realize it just wouldn't work. Something about the whole thing would just bother me. Now don't get me wrong. I have a ton of ideas (sane and otherwise) bouncing around in my head, and I'd wager that maybe 5-10 percent of my concepts are things that I have anything emotionally invested in. But in that group... there's some beautiful stuff. Life's dream "this is what I'd want to be remembered for when I die at the ripe age of 247 ("Take that, science!")" type of stuff. And for that, I just couldn't compromise.

It's one of the reasons that I figure that I'll never be a big Hollywood writer. I'm sure they have to bite the bullet on a regular basis. I've heard the stories where a TV series or a film ended up gnawed and prodded by its producers to the point where it was barely a shell of the show that it started out as and it makes me shudder. I wouldn't... couldn't do that to something I cared about.

So at best, I'd have to go the long route. I'd have to either establish myself with some unattached works or be financially stable enough that I can produce my own items. That way, no one can tell me what to do with my pure, precious concepts. Granted, I could probably use a little feedback here and there, but the do or die stuff stays in. That's how I feel about it.

Unless you have a half mil or so laying around. Then I just might be your word-whore. Just for one night.

...

I never said I was proud of myself.

Random TV Insanity

2009-05-29T22:25:00.002-04:00

Just a few random clips from shows that I've skimmed over in the past few weeks. Somehow, I forgot to post this clip from the season finale of SNL. Will Ferrel hosting (plus what might be Darrel Hammond's last show) gives them a perfect opportunity to revive Celebrity Jeopardy. As good as it's ever been.

This is a bit of an odd entry, especially if you've missed out on the Keyboard Cat craze. But for those that remember my discussion of it or have bore witness to it themselves, I'm sure you can appreciate Colbert Nation's take on it using an all too familiar injury. And just how much free time did Green Day have while they were at the studio?

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Exclusive - Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat

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Keyboard Cat

And over at Colbert's sister show The Daily Show, John Oliver comes unhinged over the strangest of things. Really, I just appreciate this for the goofball antics that seem to occur between Oliver and Jon Stewart anytime they talk to each other.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Scamalot

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Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

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A Brief Primer on Leaving Comments

2009-05-29T13:58:00.002-04:00

Now, don't get me wrong. I love a good comment as much as anyone. In fact, probably more than anyone. Nothing makes my day more than seeing that a post I've made has a comment attached to it. I almost always try to post a reply (for people that might stop back by), and I'm usually so thrilled that someone's dropped by out of the blue that I will visit their page(s) and even follow them if I so choose. But that doesn't mean that I'm not paying attention to what gets said. As such, I'd just like to make this clear for the official record:

1) Any and all comments are welcome, so long as they are the opinion of the commenter and don't contain any excessively vulgar or offensive language. I retain the right to loosen or restrict this policy as needed (although I doubt I'll need to).

2) I'm perfectly fine with links being provided in comments, so long as A) they are in some way related to the post and B) they are not blatantly obvious spam posts/links. Again, this is at my discretion, but it's fairly obvious when someone has or hasn't bothered to read a post prior to making a comment.

3) Along those same lines, I could not be bothered to care about a ridiculously long rant someone generates over... well, anything. Especially if it looks like they just did a mass search for related topics, then cut and pasted said comment into every place they possibly could. Especially if they do so anonymously.

In fact, while I love a good anonymous post as much as the next person, but it goes without saying that they may come under more scrutiny. I shouldn't have bothered with this, since I know that anyone that bothers breaking any of these rules won't manage to read this anyway, but I figured I'd just put it out there.

HouseTV: Wipeout Edition

2009-05-28T10:39:00.002-04:00

I fought the urge to say "Big Balls Edition", accurate as it may be.

You know, I thought it might be a fluke last year when I took such immense joy in watching the TV show Wipeout. I figured that while I might still check it out now and then, it couldn't possibly be as much fun this season as it was last season. And then... I watched the premiere.

Holy crap. I don't know what primal urge this show taps into, but it most certainly does.

The reality/competition show is all about surviving a series of obstacle courses. But instead of taking the concept seriously (or faux seriously) like overseas hit Ninja Warrior, Wipeout relishes in the failure of its contestants. The course is designed for contestants to fall, stumble, and in some cases be launched into the air with hilarious results. In the end, two dozen competitors get weeded down to one winner, who walks away with the cash and most likely a series of bruises.

The key to the show may well lie in the editing and the bang up job of commentating done by hosts John Anderson and John Henson (with assists from Jill Wagner). Just see how they turn what would be a hilarious course run into a ridiculously hilarious course run:

But enough jibber-jabber. You can check out a rather informative article on the show over on the MSN website, check out the show's website on ABC.com (and watch the season 2 premiere there), and make sure to tune in and catch the show Wednesday night at 8PM on ABC.

(Note: For the net-impaired, ABC is apparently re-airing the premiere this Saturday at 8. Check it out then if you can.)

Yay, Trailers!

2009-05-28T08:09:00.003-04:00

Okay, I know I just went nuts about how trailers give too much away sometimes, but that doesn't mean that I don't still sometimes like them. For one, I wouldn't even know the film Surrogates existed. And I feel like I'd be worse off for it.

SURROGATES trailer in HD

And of course, I don't care if it spoils half of the film or not. My life is fuller for having seen this trailer. The film is seriously not going where I thought that it would.

Sherlock Holmes Trailer

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-05-27T00:13:00.001-04:00

An early one, at that.

Calling Terminator: Salvation the "Number One Action Movie in the Nation", even if true and a standard advertising tactic, still feel a little cheap to me.

HouseTV: Sleestak Advisory

2009-05-25T10:46:00.003-04:00

Holy Shnikes! Sci-Fi Channel is showing Land of the Lost all day long. All. Day. Long. Dinos and Sleestaks and blue screens... oh my!

Although for some reason, I keep expecting some lone Sleestak to elbow someone in the chest. That's right... it's an offhanded dig at Bill Laimbeer. Choke on it, Bill.

And wow... this show is a lot darker than I remember it being. And I love it.

My Brief (Spoiler-Free) Review Terminator: Salvation

2009-05-23T09:10:00.004-04:00

The best thing about the film was the trailer for Sherlock Holmes that played before it. But in Salvation's defense:

A) The film wasn't that bad. Just not spectacular.
B) That trailer was, in fact, that awesome.
C) Salvation might have been okay if the trailers for the film hadn't spoiled what would be one of the largest plot points in the film.
D) In retrospect, the film reminds me of Blade: Trinity. I can think of no worse offense than that.

(Also, the trailer for the film Surrogates looked pretty spiff.)

Abstract Thought of the Day

2009-05-20T13:19:00.002-04:00

Demon negotiation is a tricky business in the world of Shin Megami Tensei. And why on earth are so many demons disturbingly playful children who know grown up things they should not know? If you weren't helping me fight evil, I would totally leave you guys alone...

More Dollhouse, Please!

2009-05-17T17:50:00.002-04:00

In a move that please and surprises me, FOX has apparently decided not to cancel the sci-fi drama Dollhouse and has renewed it for a second season.

While most will view it as a symbolic victory for the Joss Whedon produced show (given the horrifically poor treatment his last show Firefly received from the network), it also may be setting a new precedent for the network. Don't get me wrong; they do still seem to do things that don't make complete sense. But they seem to be showing a little more faith and support for shows that they would have just axed with no thought a few years ago.

But enough of all that postulating. If you're a fan of the show, make sure to show it support by buying the DVD set whenever it becomes available. And of course, make sure to let your friends and associates know about the show, too. And all you slackers that missed it now have a chance to play catch up before the new season. So no excuses.

Things I Slept Through on Cable #2

2009-05-15T21:54:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I'm cheating on this one because technically I was awake the entire time it was on. But I fell asleep right afterward, and I wanted to talk about this thing the last time it was on.

Despite having seen what must be every episode of West Wing, I still myself inexplicably watching a handful of episodes when they air. So imagine my surprise and/or joy when I came in from work this morning and discovered that one of my favorite episodes of all time was on.

The episode in question is the fairly entertaining (and most likely technically inaccurate) "Shutdown". The episode follows picks up exactly where the last left off. President Bartlett, after being faced with Republican Speaker Haflie's attempt to alter the already agreed upon terms of the federal budget, not only rejects Haflie's terms but refuses to negotiate further. With this meeting taking place mere hours before the deadline to either have a budget or establish a continuing resolution (the legislative equivalent of a rain check), Bartlett's refusal to negotiate leads to an inevitable shutdown of all non-essential government.

I know what you're saying, but it's not nearly as crazy as it sounds. It's unlikely that what happens following the shutdown is in any way indicative of what would actually happen during a government shutdown, but it is interesting to see the downward spiral that takes place. Most of the White House staff gets sent home. Government services in general go to crap. The press coverage of it does damage to both parties almost equally.

One of the main reasons I enjoy the episode, though, is that in a series full of continuity and season long story arcs, the story here is fairly self contained. You could know almost nothing about the series, and you can still get the gist of what's going on with this episode. And for long time fans of the show, there are a lot of character threads being dangled around. Josh is on the outs with the administration, the President is on the outs with his wife and most of his senior staff (who can't quite grasp what he's aiming for by continuing the shutdown), and the President is on the outs with his wife (which, if you've ever seen the series, is exactly as bad as it sounds).

This, of course, sets up an inevitable TV land conclusion wherein everything gets neatly wrapped up and fixed by the end of the hour, but it was still a crazy week for them. And there a good handful of iconic images and moments strewn about. If you can't get behind the Commander in Chief strolling down the street towards Congress, I don't know what to tell you.