Well.... dude! There are so many details about Stargate: Atlantis Season 5 in this page that I don't even know how to respond.
On the personal front, classes are going well for the most part--I am loving the reading and discussion, and our house gets ever closer to being on the market. I'm looking at my calendar for February and March and trying to take deep breaths. A lot.
At work, we finally got migrated to Outlook as our new email client, which is a welcome change... now if I could only ever finish a single day's to-do list, I'd be more ahead than I have been in months.
And then there are taxes to file... such is life!
But the huge, big, awesome news is... well, actually, I don't know how many people he's told yet, so I'll have to sit on this one a bit. But it's juicy!
Showing posts with label scifistuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scifistuff. Show all posts
2.05.2008
8.31.2007
Weekend O' Fun
It's hard to describe how awesome it was, but I'll try. (I should have allllll the photos up on Flickr at some point this coming weekend.)
Jared drove in from Abilene Friday night, and for once we all went immediately to bed. This is how you can tell how important Star Wars is to us--we all went to bed shortly after midnight on a Friday, voluntarily!
We got up early-ish Saturday and picked up Claire, another friend who just happens to be my GovDocs student assistant, at her home. We all sang along--loudly, if not well--to oldies, thanks to the glories of the Siruis Satellite radio in my Awesome New Ride. (Which, btw, I've named Dreamsicle. It doesn't fit in with my previous car-naming scheme, but sometimes things find their own names, y'know?)
We arrived in Ft. Worth at the Museum of Science and History for their Star Wars exhibit... only to find that the adjacent Will Rodgers Auditorium was hosting a gun show the same day. No parking. Less than no parking. We ended up parking on the grass, crossing our fingers that we wouldn't get a ticket.
Inside, we found... a huge, long line. Because, really, that's what Star Wars geekery is all about. Fans may tell you it's about the imagination or the effects or the really hilariously bad dialog--but when you come down to it, Star Wars is about two things: merchandising, and lines.
Luckily, though, the line moved quickly, and soon we were near the front, where we discovered that the "Special Effects" move at the IMAX was already sold out--primarily because "Harry Potter" had been contracted for four time slots that day, and there weren't enough seats to go around. We groused about it, quickly recovered, got our tickets, and made our way to the exhibit--but we had fifteen minutes before they opened it to our time-slot.
We wandered through an exhibit of the last hundred years or so of the museum's artifacts. Some were neat, some were silly, and some were just plain disturbing. Like the huge display of odd-things-preserved-in-jars. Or the bureau that had a drawer full of neatly-lined-up rodents (aka, my mother-in-law's worst nightmare, neatly encased in the same kind of place that she keeps her socks). We all made appropriately-grossed-out noises and took photos to prove just how inhumane, disgusting, and creepy it all was. I was nostalgically thrilled to see they had a case of phosphorescent rocks with a lightswitch, so you can view them in the dark (well, under blacklight) or the light. When I was five years old, a similar phosphorescent rock exhibit was my favorite thing in the entire San Diego Museum of Natural History. I mean, even more than dino bones, and that says something. (It says something about how extremely nerdy I was as a kid.)
Then, it was the magical time to enter the Star Wars exhibit. It was, all told, a really nice exhibit. It was so gorgeously lit that I hardly used my flash, which made for a few blurry photos, but the atmosphere was worth it. The exhibit blended current/upcoming technologies with the Star Wars equivalents that "inspired" them. They were very hands-on (and therefore fun): build your own levitating Lego car, build/program your own R2-like droid, and this fantastic RTS-like (real-time-strategy game, for those of you who don't Speak Geek--think of Age of Empires) interface. The RTS-like thing had an optical sensor that recognized patterns on cards that you laid out in a table, which represented portions of a city (sanitation unit, water plant, housing, eatery, etc.), which you then laid out to make the citizens "happier" in areas like social, health, etc.
The Star Wars paraphenalia was incredible. There were lots of original costumes, props, and--most fantastic of all--the original models of the vehicles. For all intents and purposes, the "real" Star Destroyer, X-Wing, Millennium Falcon. All four of us had this mouths-open, eyes-wide kind of moment when we saw them. They are simply huge, and so detailed, and... just wow. If you're a Star Wars geek, then you went to this exhibit and therefore you understand. If you're not a Star Wars geek, you wouldn't understand anyway, so I won't bother describing it.
Hours later, we finally pulled ourselves out of the exhibit--and then another hour later, pulled ourselves out of the gift shop. (Remember that second facet of Star Wars culture I mentioned--merchandising?) Alex and I managed to come out only one t-shirt, one bib, and one onesie poorer, which is a tad bit of a miracle (I was sorely tempted by the entire "Infinities" trilogy of comics, though--that is sooo on my wishlist).
We drove back and grabbed some Taco Bell, being starved after all that geeking about. We stopped in downtown McKinney, where we'd planned to attend the Killis Melton Ice Cream Crank-Off... but sadly, they'd already ran out of ice cream and were shutting down. No jalapeno ice cream for us.
Claire and I headed off to Walmart to procure some more traditional ice cream, and other snacky foods to sustain us through the planned Firefly marathon. We all made it through half of the season, but by the end of "Jaynestown" sometime after midnight we had to crash. Claire, the Firefly newbie, was just as enthralled as I'd hoped she would be--the first thing she said after the pilot episode was "Next!" --always a good sign. Then on Monday at work, she informed me she'd already ordered the DVD and soundtrack on Amazon--another browncoat recruited!
And thus was our grand weekend. Rather less ice cream was consumed than was planned, but all in all it was a tremendously geeky good time.
Jared drove in from Abilene Friday night, and for once we all went immediately to bed. This is how you can tell how important Star Wars is to us--we all went to bed shortly after midnight on a Friday, voluntarily!
We got up early-ish Saturday and picked up Claire, another friend who just happens to be my GovDocs student assistant, at her home. We all sang along--loudly, if not well--to oldies, thanks to the glories of the Siruis Satellite radio in my Awesome New Ride. (Which, btw, I've named Dreamsicle. It doesn't fit in with my previous car-naming scheme, but sometimes things find their own names, y'know?)
We arrived in Ft. Worth at the Museum of Science and History for their Star Wars exhibit... only to find that the adjacent Will Rodgers Auditorium was hosting a gun show the same day. No parking. Less than no parking. We ended up parking on the grass, crossing our fingers that we wouldn't get a ticket.
Inside, we found... a huge, long line. Because, really, that's what Star Wars geekery is all about. Fans may tell you it's about the imagination or the effects or the really hilariously bad dialog--but when you come down to it, Star Wars is about two things: merchandising, and lines.
Luckily, though, the line moved quickly, and soon we were near the front, where we discovered that the "Special Effects" move at the IMAX was already sold out--primarily because "Harry Potter" had been contracted for four time slots that day, and there weren't enough seats to go around. We groused about it, quickly recovered, got our tickets, and made our way to the exhibit--but we had fifteen minutes before they opened it to our time-slot.
We wandered through an exhibit of the last hundred years or so of the museum's artifacts. Some were neat, some were silly, and some were just plain disturbing. Like the huge display of odd-things-preserved-in-jars. Or the bureau that had a drawer full of neatly-lined-up rodents (aka, my mother-in-law's worst nightmare, neatly encased in the same kind of place that she keeps her socks). We all made appropriately-grossed-out noises and took photos to prove just how inhumane, disgusting, and creepy it all was. I was nostalgically thrilled to see they had a case of phosphorescent rocks with a lightswitch, so you can view them in the dark (well, under blacklight) or the light. When I was five years old, a similar phosphorescent rock exhibit was my favorite thing in the entire San Diego Museum of Natural History. I mean, even more than dino bones, and that says something. (It says something about how extremely nerdy I was as a kid.)
Then, it was the magical time to enter the Star Wars exhibit. It was, all told, a really nice exhibit. It was so gorgeously lit that I hardly used my flash, which made for a few blurry photos, but the atmosphere was worth it. The exhibit blended current/upcoming technologies with the Star Wars equivalents that "inspired" them. They were very hands-on (and therefore fun): build your own levitating Lego car, build/program your own R2-like droid, and this fantastic RTS-like (real-time-strategy game, for those of you who don't Speak Geek--think of Age of Empires) interface. The RTS-like thing had an optical sensor that recognized patterns on cards that you laid out in a table, which represented portions of a city (sanitation unit, water plant, housing, eatery, etc.), which you then laid out to make the citizens "happier" in areas like social, health, etc.
The Star Wars paraphenalia was incredible. There were lots of original costumes, props, and--most fantastic of all--the original models of the vehicles. For all intents and purposes, the "real" Star Destroyer, X-Wing, Millennium Falcon. All four of us had this mouths-open, eyes-wide kind of moment when we saw them. They are simply huge, and so detailed, and... just wow. If you're a Star Wars geek, then you went to this exhibit and therefore you understand. If you're not a Star Wars geek, you wouldn't understand anyway, so I won't bother describing it.
Hours later, we finally pulled ourselves out of the exhibit--and then another hour later, pulled ourselves out of the gift shop. (Remember that second facet of Star Wars culture I mentioned--merchandising?) Alex and I managed to come out only one t-shirt, one bib, and one onesie poorer, which is a tad bit of a miracle (I was sorely tempted by the entire "Infinities" trilogy of comics, though--that is sooo on my wishlist).
We drove back and grabbed some Taco Bell, being starved after all that geeking about. We stopped in downtown McKinney, where we'd planned to attend the Killis Melton Ice Cream Crank-Off... but sadly, they'd already ran out of ice cream and were shutting down. No jalapeno ice cream for us.
Claire and I headed off to Walmart to procure some more traditional ice cream, and other snacky foods to sustain us through the planned Firefly marathon. We all made it through half of the season, but by the end of "Jaynestown" sometime after midnight we had to crash. Claire, the Firefly newbie, was just as enthralled as I'd hoped she would be--the first thing she said after the pilot episode was "Next!" --always a good sign. Then on Monday at work, she informed me she'd already ordered the DVD and soundtrack on Amazon--another browncoat recruited!
And thus was our grand weekend. Rather less ice cream was consumed than was planned, but all in all it was a tremendously geeky good time.
8.23.2007
Jayne Would be Proud
You know you want to go read this entire week's arc in Unshelved. Just go. Now.
Unless, of course, the strip above made no sense at all. In which case, I pity you. Greatly. Here's some help.
Unless, of course, the strip above made no sense at all. In which case, I pity you. Greatly. Here's some help.
6.23.2007
DC Day Three
ALA is intense. Or perhaps it's just all that walking, combined with the 15 lbs of laptop/backpack I'm lugging around that makes it seem that way. Every time I get back to the Tabard Inn, I just crash with exhaustion.
I'm not going to be at the Facebook party that starts in fifteen minutes--even if I wasn't dead-tired, I have a GODORT thing to interview for at 8:15am tomorrow. Isn't that a spectacularly cruel time to schedule an interview?
So, this morning, I awoke with great hopes of trying a different breakfast at the Tabard--maybe bagels this time, or granola with homemade yogurt. Only--they serve breakfast at 7am on weekdays... and 8am on weekends. I only had time to frown with sadness, then rushed off to my first session, ERT's Digital Natives. The presentation wasn't really anything I hadn't heard already, but there was an interesting, lively discussion afterward, and the room was jam-packed with people. (The link above also provides some notes taken on the discussion, if you're interested.)
Dreanna Belden from UNT went with me to that, so we then got some much-needed coffee and a delish cranberry-orange muffin from the obligatory 'Bucks kiosk, and sat down for some good chat about life, the universe, and everything.
Then I had to run off to the GODORT Update at the Renaissance Washington, where I pulled up a chair and my laptop to Julie Linden's corner (near an outlet, thank goodness). I briefly got to chat with Kris Kasianovitz, who I met in Oakland through NDIIPP, and then met Amy Stewart-Mailhiot F2F for the first time--she's been generously donating some govdocs for some digitization projects of ours.
I met Dreanna in the hotel lobby, and we wandered off to Chinatown, eventually settling on the "Wok and Roll" where Dreanna had some gorgeous-looking sushi, and I settled for an uncharacteristically less-adventurous beef lo mein. I took some fun, colorful photos as we left Chinatown, and we got the giggles as we passed a tableaux at Hooter's. Four orange-clad buxom gals were outside, taunting a slightly-inebriated male librarian with, "Well, we never went to library school." He was amazed that they knew he was a librarian--until they pointed out that he was still wearing his enormous ALA badge. Sigh.
I went back to the Renaissance for GODORT Leg. II. It's not that I'm a glutton for attending meetings for committees I'm not on, but they were discussing a response to the recent CRS report legislation being considered, and of course that's particularly relevant to my work archiving those reports. It was an interesting meeting, and I learned that editing resolutions isn't nearly as boring as it sounds--or else that's the old English major in me, but I found it fascinating.
And afterward, I wandered in the general direction of the LITA Meet n' Greet, but along the way... I met Meredith Farkas in-person! (And sorry, but you'll have to read that link for the story.)
The LITA Meet n' Greet was... well, not as lively as I was hoping. I was mildly interested in the interest groups on Digital Library Technologies and Distance Learning... but if I become more involved in GODORT like I hope to and only increase my courseload in the future... I don't need one more committment. Unless I find a compelling reason, I probably won't renew my LITA membership next year--I can read their articles, blog, and attend their sessions without being a member, after all.
Coming out of the hotel, I ran into Valerie, Kevin, and Brooke--whom I met for the first time, having of course heard glowing things from Val. Which all turned out to be completely true, as Val went back to her hotel to write a CRS letter for Leg., and Brooke and I whisked through the Exhibits Hall for an hour. During which, I witnessed an amazing performance of female flirting that on her the coveted, swag-filled and quality-stitched Oxford UP tote bag. Clever girl, that.
We parted at 7th and L, and I headed once again toward the Metro and the Tabard. I lugged my technological burden upstairs, changed out of professional and sweaty clothing, and briefly hopped out again to traipse up and down the block with the Digi-Lab camera, capturing the gorgeous architecture.
I came back to have some more of the Tabard's lite fare--this time a mozarella-and-roast-pepper salad that really was lite, but had enough protein to keep me going. I dragged myself back upstairs at the ridiculous-for-one-under-30 hour of 6:45, and promptly spent a few hours in blissfully decadent, useless novel-reading and a half hour nap (finished Deboarh Crombie's Dreaming of the Bones). Suzanne Sears called and we arranged to share a cab tomorrow to Cathy's party, and then we sent awhile chatting and giggling.
I called Alex, but he and Jared were watching "Invincible," so I started being productive, and then chatted with him when he called back awhile later. He and Jared watched the last SG-1 today--completely with my full knowledge and permission before-hand--and said there's a possible second spin-off series in the works, as well as some TV movies. Well, there's hope, then! And, of course, I only let Alex watch the episodes without me under the strict understanding that he has to watch them with me Tuesday night, as well.
And now I'm here, having fully intended to go to bed an hour ago, but being sucked into that novel and my blog/wiki/flickr/Facebook ate up several hours of my life. Ah, well. Thus is the life of a digital semi-native.
Now, I think I'll spend a little more time ignoring my headache, uploading some photos, and looking at the GODORT website in preparation for tomorrow morning. And then to bed, to bed.
I'm not going to be at the Facebook party that starts in fifteen minutes--even if I wasn't dead-tired, I have a GODORT thing to interview for at 8:15am tomorrow. Isn't that a spectacularly cruel time to schedule an interview?
So, this morning, I awoke with great hopes of trying a different breakfast at the Tabard--maybe bagels this time, or granola with homemade yogurt. Only--they serve breakfast at 7am on weekdays... and 8am on weekends. I only had time to frown with sadness, then rushed off to my first session, ERT's Digital Natives. The presentation wasn't really anything I hadn't heard already, but there was an interesting, lively discussion afterward, and the room was jam-packed with people. (The link above also provides some notes taken on the discussion, if you're interested.)
Dreanna Belden from UNT went with me to that, so we then got some much-needed coffee and a delish cranberry-orange muffin from the obligatory 'Bucks kiosk, and sat down for some good chat about life, the universe, and everything.
Then I had to run off to the GODORT Update at the Renaissance Washington, where I pulled up a chair and my laptop to Julie Linden's corner (near an outlet, thank goodness). I briefly got to chat with Kris Kasianovitz, who I met in Oakland through NDIIPP, and then met Amy Stewart-Mailhiot F2F for the first time--she's been generously donating some govdocs for some digitization projects of ours.
I met Dreanna in the hotel lobby, and we wandered off to Chinatown, eventually settling on the "Wok and Roll" where Dreanna had some gorgeous-looking sushi, and I settled for an uncharacteristically less-adventurous beef lo mein. I took some fun, colorful photos as we left Chinatown, and we got the giggles as we passed a tableaux at Hooter's. Four orange-clad buxom gals were outside, taunting a slightly-inebriated male librarian with, "Well, we never went to library school." He was amazed that they knew he was a librarian--until they pointed out that he was still wearing his enormous ALA badge. Sigh.
I went back to the Renaissance for GODORT Leg. II. It's not that I'm a glutton for attending meetings for committees I'm not on, but they were discussing a response to the recent CRS report legislation being considered, and of course that's particularly relevant to my work archiving those reports. It was an interesting meeting, and I learned that editing resolutions isn't nearly as boring as it sounds--or else that's the old English major in me, but I found it fascinating.
And afterward, I wandered in the general direction of the LITA Meet n' Greet, but along the way... I met Meredith Farkas in-person! (And sorry, but you'll have to read that link for the story.)
The LITA Meet n' Greet was... well, not as lively as I was hoping. I was mildly interested in the interest groups on Digital Library Technologies and Distance Learning... but if I become more involved in GODORT like I hope to and only increase my courseload in the future... I don't need one more committment. Unless I find a compelling reason, I probably won't renew my LITA membership next year--I can read their articles, blog, and attend their sessions without being a member, after all.
Coming out of the hotel, I ran into Valerie, Kevin, and Brooke--whom I met for the first time, having of course heard glowing things from Val. Which all turned out to be completely true, as Val went back to her hotel to write a CRS letter for Leg., and Brooke and I whisked through the Exhibits Hall for an hour. During which, I witnessed an amazing performance of female flirting that on her the coveted, swag-filled and quality-stitched Oxford UP tote bag. Clever girl, that.
We parted at 7th and L, and I headed once again toward the Metro and the Tabard. I lugged my technological burden upstairs, changed out of professional and sweaty clothing, and briefly hopped out again to traipse up and down the block with the Digi-Lab camera, capturing the gorgeous architecture.
I came back to have some more of the Tabard's lite fare--this time a mozarella-and-roast-pepper salad that really was lite, but had enough protein to keep me going. I dragged myself back upstairs at the ridiculous-for-one-under-30 hour of 6:45, and promptly spent a few hours in blissfully decadent, useless novel-reading and a half hour nap (finished Deboarh Crombie's Dreaming of the Bones). Suzanne Sears called and we arranged to share a cab tomorrow to Cathy's party, and then we sent awhile chatting and giggling.
I called Alex, but he and Jared were watching "Invincible," so I started being productive, and then chatted with him when he called back awhile later. He and Jared watched the last SG-1 today--completely with my full knowledge and permission before-hand--and said there's a possible second spin-off series in the works, as well as some TV movies. Well, there's hope, then! And, of course, I only let Alex watch the episodes without me under the strict understanding that he has to watch them with me Tuesday night, as well.
And now I'm here, having fully intended to go to bed an hour ago, but being sucked into that novel and my blog/wiki/flickr/Facebook ate up several hours of my life. Ah, well. Thus is the life of a digital semi-native.
Now, I think I'll spend a little more time ignoring my headache, uploading some photos, and looking at the GODORT website in preparation for tomorrow morning. And then to bed, to bed.
5.25.2007
Season's End
(This post's motto is: warning, spoilers ahead!)
Heroes
I liked the last two episodes a lot--particularly the second-to-last episode. But my one beef with the last episode: the blood-dragging path at the end looks like Sylar might not have died after all. Or that someone carried him off. But he should have died--because it looked like he did, with his eyes flickering scenes and going all future-y. I think we're ready for the new villain they hinted at, and in my opinion if they were going to carry over a villain, it should have been Liederman instead of Syler. As Alex says, if Peter would smart up about his abilities, he'd realize that he's tons more powerful than Sylar because just by standing near him, he should be able to manifest all Sylar's abilities... so I think Sylar shouldn't be much of a threat, really. We've outgrown him.
But I thought the way they (presumably) killed off Lieberman was really, really cool and inventive. And gross.
DVD release date: August 28, 2007.
Lost
Ooookay, I haven't commented about the last few episodes; I've been busy reading Geoff Klock's commentary on them and mulling this over with Alex. Jacob opens up a whole new can of worms, doesn't he? I was thrilled to see Walt back in a totally appropriate place. And I commented to Alex (before the season-ender) that what I've perhaps enjoyed most about this season is that it introduced Juliet. We were all wondering what she seemed upset about right in the first episode. Then, much later, we get a flashback for her. And then another. And we finally realize what she was upset about in that first episode--by the end of the season, we have a whole picture of this person and who she is, from this complete mystery at the beginning. It was such a successful character introduction, in the third season of an established show, that I don't think of her as "the new chick" anymore.
Another interesting recent flashback was Ben's--I like getting viewpoints from the Others, and tying in the VW was excellent.
And, of course, the crowning flashback: the flash-forward to after they're all back to their normal lives, post-rescue. My big question? Jack refers to his father twice in this episode. Alex points out that he was probably drunk and high at this point, but I think the helpful new doctor would have pointed out that his dad was dead... if that was truly the case.
So.. who's Naomi? And how does Ben know who she is? And, hello, Jacob?
DVD release date: ??? (Don't care too much; I enjoy the show, but didn't buy the second season--I have enough to watch already.)
BSG
Again, I say: 2008?!?! With four of the five last Cylons (potentially) revealed? And one of them being my favorite character? Arg!!!
DVD release date: ???
Stargate (1 and Atlantis)
Still waiting to hear when the season/series ends. We haven't watched last week's episodes yet; last night we watched the previous week's, and I am happy to see such a fun high-school reunion plot come around before SG-1 goes away. Yes, yes, I am a truly silly sci-fi fan: best episodes always involve 1) time travel 2) alternate dimensions 3) holodecks (or similar technology) or 4) high-school reunions. Two out of four is even better.
DVD release date (Sg-1): July 24, 2007
DVD release date (Sg-A): (Way too far away, I'm sure.)
Eureka
The second season starts in July, but there was a sneak peak of the new season during SG-1, and it looks at least as fantastic as it was last year. WATCH IT. If it's cancelled because you're not watching, I'll never forgive you.
DVD release date: July 3, 2007
Heroes
I liked the last two episodes a lot--particularly the second-to-last episode. But my one beef with the last episode: the blood-dragging path at the end looks like Sylar might not have died after all. Or that someone carried him off. But he should have died--because it looked like he did, with his eyes flickering scenes and going all future-y. I think we're ready for the new villain they hinted at, and in my opinion if they were going to carry over a villain, it should have been Liederman instead of Syler. As Alex says, if Peter would smart up about his abilities, he'd realize that he's tons more powerful than Sylar because just by standing near him, he should be able to manifest all Sylar's abilities... so I think Sylar shouldn't be much of a threat, really. We've outgrown him.
But I thought the way they (presumably) killed off Lieberman was really, really cool and inventive. And gross.
DVD release date: August 28, 2007.
Lost
Ooookay, I haven't commented about the last few episodes; I've been busy reading Geoff Klock's commentary on them and mulling this over with Alex. Jacob opens up a whole new can of worms, doesn't he? I was thrilled to see Walt back in a totally appropriate place. And I commented to Alex (before the season-ender) that what I've perhaps enjoyed most about this season is that it introduced Juliet. We were all wondering what she seemed upset about right in the first episode. Then, much later, we get a flashback for her. And then another. And we finally realize what she was upset about in that first episode--by the end of the season, we have a whole picture of this person and who she is, from this complete mystery at the beginning. It was such a successful character introduction, in the third season of an established show, that I don't think of her as "the new chick" anymore.
Another interesting recent flashback was Ben's--I like getting viewpoints from the Others, and tying in the VW was excellent.
And, of course, the crowning flashback: the flash-forward to after they're all back to their normal lives, post-rescue. My big question? Jack refers to his father twice in this episode. Alex points out that he was probably drunk and high at this point, but I think the helpful new doctor would have pointed out that his dad was dead... if that was truly the case.
So.. who's Naomi? And how does Ben know who she is? And, hello, Jacob?
DVD release date: ??? (Don't care too much; I enjoy the show, but didn't buy the second season--I have enough to watch already.)
BSG
Again, I say: 2008?!?! With four of the five last Cylons (potentially) revealed? And one of them being my favorite character? Arg!!!
DVD release date: ???
Stargate (1 and Atlantis)
Still waiting to hear when the season/series ends. We haven't watched last week's episodes yet; last night we watched the previous week's, and I am happy to see such a fun high-school reunion plot come around before SG-1 goes away. Yes, yes, I am a truly silly sci-fi fan: best episodes always involve 1) time travel 2) alternate dimensions 3) holodecks (or similar technology) or 4) high-school reunions. Two out of four is even better.
DVD release date (Sg-1): July 24, 2007
DVD release date (Sg-A): (Way too far away, I'm sure.)
Eureka
The second season starts in July, but there was a sneak peak of the new season during SG-1, and it looks at least as fantastic as it was last year. WATCH IT. If it's cancelled because you're not watching, I'll never forgive you.
DVD release date: July 3, 2007
5.07.2007
More of Our Media Diet
- Smoking Aces: Bleh. What a promising trailer--seemed like a stylish black comedy shoot 'em up--and the only good part of the movie was Ryan Reynolds (for once, he was used not for comedic relief, but was excellent in a serious role).
- Smallville: what, did this show jump back over the shark? It was all so angst-y that I almost didn't want to watch... and then Chloe became a meteor-freak... and Linda "Wonder Woman" Carter was cast as her meteor-infected mother... and then they created an awesome film noir-esque episode that made their awesome "1960" episode look laughable.
- Lost: it's been announced: final three seasons! This gives me hope: an ending for them to work toward.
- BSG: it's over until 2008!!! We watched our last two DVR-ed episodes last night, and were rudely shocked to find that the next season is in a year! Arg!
- The leads have been cast for Time Traveler's Wife: Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. I think McAdams is a great choice; Bana I'm a little nervous about. I'm still having PTSD flashes from The Hulk (aka, "The worst waste of Jennifer Connelly in a movie EVER").
5.04.2007
The 4-1-1 on S-T-A-R-R
- I went to Corsicana yesterday for work and had a great time (read the story).
- I took photos of the library mall renovation (see here).
Our Recent Media Diet (warning: spoilers ahead):
- Smokin' Aces: rented, to watch today... will report later.
- Night at the Museum: fantastic. I told Alex that the CG for once didn't distract me from the story, and he sternly shushed me, saying, "It's not CG, it's magic." I think he was right on that one.
- Children of Men: okay, so the gritty violence is excellently done—but in a “Saving Private Ryan” kind of way, which is to say that I don’t ever need to see that movie again. And I was mad that they never resolved the infertility plot.
- The Queen: it was fine. Helen Mirren was great.
- Dancing with the Stars: go, Apollo! And Joey Fatone is hilarious. So hilarious that I have completely forgiven him for being a member of N'Sync.
- BSG: go, Apollo!—oh wait… we've only got a few DVR-ed episodes left, and I am wondering what's going to happen with Starbuck "dead."
- Lost (the episode from two weeks ago): comic-book chatter! Brian K. Vaughn on the writing team! Woo!!! My apologies to Geoff Klock, I hate to disagree with you, but the conversation definitely did not immediately signal Vaughn’s (or any other comic creator’s) involvement. Finding out about that later on your blog just made me think, “hey neat!” We watched last week's episode about Sun, but not this week's yet--both storms knocked out our DVR, so we're watching online now.
- Heroes: Back in time--very, very cool. And I'm proud of myself for guessing that Nathan was really Sylar in disguise. I haven't watched the new graphic novel episodes online since they series returned, so I need to check those out soon.
- SG-1: I miss Daniel. And it makes me happy that Vala does, too. And happy that she hugged Sam. What the heck are we going to do when this show goes off of the air?! Oh, and the preview for tonight: Daniel one of the Ori?! I repeat: what will we do when this show is gone?!
- SG-A: Um... I forgot what episode we're on (caught up enough that we'll see the new one tonight, though). Lately I've loved McKay even more in this show--and also loved how they tied him into the SG-1 episode with Sam in the alternate universe. Suh-weet.
4.04.2007
It's All Banter
- VOTE for your favorite Star Wars stamp (to be issued on its own, separate sheet). We knew there had to be a reason behind this R2D2 promotion.
- Rex Libris, a graphic novel about a librarian (which, oddly enough, I've yet to read) is going to be made into a movie!!
- Runaways vols. 1 and 2: Awesome. Vols 3-6 now direly needed!!
- Best sci-fi movies of all time: Serenity beat out Star Wars... go figure.
- Here's someone who actually reviewed TMNT. (Lazy me, I just post that we saw it and then go on my merry way.) I largely agree with his assessment... all in all, a fun and gorgeously-filmed movie that seemed like it could have been a bit... "bigger."
- The National Library Service, which records books on tape for the blind, is moving to digital audiobooks.
- Ursula Vernon makes it to the Library Journal list of new novelists to watch!
- Yes, I will.
- Yes, we did.
- Yes, she did.
3.13.2007
Barefoot and in the Kitchen
This weekend I acted completely out of character by not only baking an elaborate dish (it required 5 pots--and a strainer!), but also by baking two different kinds of cookies from scratch. It's like on Sunday I had a little Betty Crocker Seizure... the lesser-known sister of the Grand Mal Seizure.
Here's a link to the main course recipe on my wiki:
Portobello Mushroom Lasagna
For my vegetarian friends, in particular (Kali, Lilly, pay attention!), this would be a great dish. The mushrooms are hearty enough that they provide a lot of protein. It's provided courtesy of your friendly Food Network and specifically The Barefoot Contessa, a show which I will now have to avoid because it compells me to cook tasty things with a cup of pure butter. Yikes.
By ironic contrast, the cookies were quite healthy. I made several healthful substitutions that, oddly enough, resulted in the tastiest, most perfectly-baked batch of chocolate cookies I have ever made. I started with dark chocolate chips instead of the usual semi-sweet; they're tastier and have more of those "healthy" flavinoids (which is the most made-up sounding substance ever). It was a pear upside-down cake recipe that Alex sent me, that inspired me to substitute applesauce (and a dash of veggie oil) for the butter. Then I got reckless and substituted whole wheat flour for half of the regular white stuff. Then I got plain silly and added a few teaspoons of a fiber supplement and bee pollen (which is supposed to be miraculous for energy and allergies, according to my bee-keeping in-laws).
They were the puffiest, most glorious cookies I've ever made. Now I'm pondering another batch, but substituting honey for half of the sugar.
And in the crossover between politics and comedy...
I can't find the link to the clip from Thursday's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but it was ridiculously hilarious, regarding Hilary and Obama in Alabama. Each, according to Stewart, speaking as if a black person imitating a white person imitating a black person. Ah, politics.
And in geekery...
I've had the Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis theme songs alternating in my head all day. This is no doubt due to the fact that we bought Atlantis Season 2 last week, and as a result, can finally finish watching SG-1 Season 9, since they intersect plotlines. And for the past two days, we've been watching a lot of Stargate.
Life is good... until you get to the last DVD of the season (we've currently got 2 1/2 to go in each show).
2.14.2007
As Promised, Geekery
And here's the link to the photos I took at Timothy Zahn's Borders book-signing on 02.07.2007.
So, I never actually wrote about the experience, being as I was busy with a sick Alex, and then busy being sick myself. So here goes.
I walk into Borders a little after 6pm, and immediately upon entering, spot him. Yes, that's Timothy Zahn himself, working at his laptop in the Borders cafe, nobody around to bother him yet. I pause for about thirty seconds, during which he briefly glances up, and no doubt absorbs the goofy "I see a Celebrity of Ultimate Geek" expression on my face. He looks down and wisely pretends not to have seen me. I pull myself together firmly, remind myself that I have been in the same room with this man before, and by golly, I'm not here to make his life a more frustrating experience, and walk off to find a manager or fellow DFWfanforce member.
I find Denise, who's organizing the event, and she shows me where to put my things in the back room--upon which I geek-out again, abeit slightly less so than over Zahn. It's a back room... in a bookstore. Oh, heaven! Then I run out to the bathroom to change into my Pink 7 gear, and come back to find the 501st changing into their armor. Along the way, I run into Helen, one of my fanforce pals from The Line (aka the Bellydancer). Denise gets us to slap stickers on people's books that they brought from home (like my copy of Heir to the Empire). We feel geeky and important.
Jeff, Brandon, and Jonathan from DFWfanforce show up a bit later, and we briefly catch up before I run off to the back room again. Zahn's lining up all the costumed of us to escort him in--I'm placed behind the stormtroopers and in front of Anakin and Vader, who flank Zahn. We all march out to the podium and table that's been set up for him, and all we costumed geeklings form in a V-pattern behind him, like a very, very confused flock of migratory birds.
Zahn talks awhile about what it's been like to write Star Wars EU, then gives a long Q/A session. The length is pretty awesome to listen to, as a fan--but as a gal in a hot costume in a really well-heated Borders, I nearly pass out. Literally--vision starts going and everything. I have to back out of line and sit with my head down while Helen gets me some water--darn that heavy, hot helmet!
I had to leave not to long after that, when the real signing began, and left my books under Helen's protection. I ran by Walmart to get some supplies for the flu-beleagured Alex, and then spent the rest of the evening watching movies with him.
So, I never actually wrote about the experience, being as I was busy with a sick Alex, and then busy being sick myself. So here goes.
I walk into Borders a little after 6pm, and immediately upon entering, spot him. Yes, that's Timothy Zahn himself, working at his laptop in the Borders cafe, nobody around to bother him yet. I pause for about thirty seconds, during which he briefly glances up, and no doubt absorbs the goofy "I see a Celebrity of Ultimate Geek" expression on my face. He looks down and wisely pretends not to have seen me. I pull myself together firmly, remind myself that I have been in the same room with this man before, and by golly, I'm not here to make his life a more frustrating experience, and walk off to find a manager or fellow DFWfanforce member.
I find Denise, who's organizing the event, and she shows me where to put my things in the back room--upon which I geek-out again, abeit slightly less so than over Zahn. It's a back room... in a bookstore. Oh, heaven! Then I run out to the bathroom to change into my Pink 7 gear, and come back to find the 501st changing into their armor. Along the way, I run into Helen, one of my fanforce pals from The Line (aka the Bellydancer). Denise gets us to slap stickers on people's books that they brought from home (like my copy of Heir to the Empire). We feel geeky and important.
Jeff, Brandon, and Jonathan from DFWfanforce show up a bit later, and we briefly catch up before I run off to the back room again. Zahn's lining up all the costumed of us to escort him in--I'm placed behind the stormtroopers and in front of Anakin and Vader, who flank Zahn. We all march out to the podium and table that's been set up for him, and all we costumed geeklings form in a V-pattern behind him, like a very, very confused flock of migratory birds.
Zahn talks awhile about what it's been like to write Star Wars EU, then gives a long Q/A session. The length is pretty awesome to listen to, as a fan--but as a gal in a hot costume in a really well-heated Borders, I nearly pass out. Literally--vision starts going and everything. I have to back out of line and sit with my head down while Helen gets me some water--darn that heavy, hot helmet!
I had to leave not to long after that, when the real signing began, and left my books under Helen's protection. I ran by Walmart to get some supplies for the flu-beleagured Alex, and then spent the rest of the evening watching movies with him.
12.06.2006
Pop-Culture Junkie
Just to show you how sadly DVR- and cable-dependant Alex and I have become, I must relate Sunday morning's crisis. Alex turned on the TV to watch a quick home improvement show before going out to work on plumbing for the building--perhaps this was to psych himself up? Anyway, the TV flashes this message eerily similar to Windows' infamous Blue Screen of Death, in both message and color: Some of the information on your DVR has become corrupted. Please delete all content.
Now, to understand the utter panic this instilled in both our hearts, and the insane shriek of rage I let out, you must first know: we have half a season of Stargate on this DVR. Six episodes of Battlestar Galactica that we have been hoarding for a Real Weekend. And the two last episodes of Heroes. Plus untold scads of DIY and History Channel shows. I suddenly became fully aware of how important cable TV is to my life, and I just wanted it all back, magically!
Luckily, a little of the old power off/on trick and what I presume was a magical combination of buttons that Alex punched, it was restored. But we're suddenly afraid to trust it. And wondering just how soon we can schedule that BSG day.
Speaking of Heroes, we did watch both episodes Monday night. I'm not saying that it's not still cheesy nor increasingly filled with disturbing time paradoxes (Hiro gave Charlie the phrasebook?). But the last two episodes have revealed that as slapdash and predictable as the pilot made this show seem, there was actual forethought given not only to the overall plot, but a mildly complex back-story, as well. I'm not saying it's not incredibly coincidental that everything important happened to all eight characters exactly six months ago, but whatever--it's television, not epic poetry. A point that was brought forth beautifully in one of the lines of the latest episode when the super-villain, a former clockmaker, who says of his power--understanding how other people's powers work--"I know what makes them [significant pause]... tick."
Sigh.
Simultaneously watching Gilmore Girls Season 4, however, produces a weird reaction between persisting in seeing Peter Petrelli as a moody, rebellious teenager, and Jess as a power-mooching hospice nurse. It's disturbing.
After the DVR crisis was averted, we came across MTV's "My Super Sweet 16," which for those of you fortunate enough not to know about, is a reality show about ridiculously wealthy kids and the elaborate shindigs (and tantrums) they throw for their sixteenth birthday. We couldn't decide whether to laugh or vomit when this young princeling of a rap company uttered, "I get everything I want... but I deserve it." He was thrown immediately into a depressed panic when he found out that no, in the state of New Jersey you can't enter your party with two tigers on leashes. That just ruined his whole grand entrance idea, let me tell you. He substituted an entrance on camel-back with twenty African dancers preceding him, but I'm sure it just wasn't the same.
I wonder how many years it will be before he hates his parents for giving him everything he wanted?
Now, to understand the utter panic this instilled in both our hearts, and the insane shriek of rage I let out, you must first know: we have half a season of Stargate on this DVR. Six episodes of Battlestar Galactica that we have been hoarding for a Real Weekend. And the two last episodes of Heroes. Plus untold scads of DIY and History Channel shows. I suddenly became fully aware of how important cable TV is to my life, and I just wanted it all back, magically!
Luckily, a little of the old power off/on trick and what I presume was a magical combination of buttons that Alex punched, it was restored. But we're suddenly afraid to trust it. And wondering just how soon we can schedule that BSG day.
Speaking of Heroes, we did watch both episodes Monday night. I'm not saying that it's not still cheesy nor increasingly filled with disturbing time paradoxes (Hiro gave Charlie the phrasebook?). But the last two episodes have revealed that as slapdash and predictable as the pilot made this show seem, there was actual forethought given not only to the overall plot, but a mildly complex back-story, as well. I'm not saying it's not incredibly coincidental that everything important happened to all eight characters exactly six months ago, but whatever--it's television, not epic poetry. A point that was brought forth beautifully in one of the lines of the latest episode when the super-villain, a former clockmaker, who says of his power--understanding how other people's powers work--"I know what makes them [significant pause]... tick."
Sigh.
Simultaneously watching Gilmore Girls Season 4, however, produces a weird reaction between persisting in seeing Peter Petrelli as a moody, rebellious teenager, and Jess as a power-mooching hospice nurse. It's disturbing.
After the DVR crisis was averted, we came across MTV's "My Super Sweet 16," which for those of you fortunate enough not to know about, is a reality show about ridiculously wealthy kids and the elaborate shindigs (and tantrums) they throw for their sixteenth birthday. We couldn't decide whether to laugh or vomit when this young princeling of a rap company uttered, "I get everything I want... but I deserve it." He was thrown immediately into a depressed panic when he found out that no, in the state of New Jersey you can't enter your party with two tigers on leashes. That just ruined his whole grand entrance idea, let me tell you. He substituted an entrance on camel-back with twenty African dancers preceding him, but I'm sure it just wasn't the same.
I wonder how many years it will be before he hates his parents for giving him everything he wanted?
11.07.2006
It's Election Day...
Did you vote?
I did, and I have the sticker on my cheek to say so. I'll not delve into the wild world of politics here, but let me say: I proudly voted for some R's and some D's, and I fervently hope that Texans never again have to choose between the lesser of six evils.
I hope it doesn't make me a bad documents librarian (or a bad person) that today as I was cataloging CRS Reports, I came across "food as a weapon" -- and my first thought was cafeteria food fights.
Awesome news: I'm going to be writing reviews for FantasyBookSpot! And "They" said that blogging and reading boingboing would get me nowhere... whoever "They" is... Anyway, there are two advance copy (say it with me: ADVAAAANCE COPY) graphic novels and a fantasy novel winging their way to me right now, courtesy of the USPS and FantasyBookSpot. (Thanks, Damon! And yes, Tihleigh, you hate me more than monkeys, I know.)
NPR reported last week that UK citizens are caught on closed-circuit camera on average 300 times a day--and the plan is to extend the cameras to be all-pervasive. I had no idea it was getting that way in England--reeeeeally makes V for Vendetta look timely (again), doesn't it?
I really need to download Firefox 2, and so should you. Speaking of which... Firefox for scholars in the humanities: Zotero.
We leave for Los Angeles in two days!!! Eeek!
Linky-Loos For Your Reading Pleasure:
I did, and I have the sticker on my cheek to say so. I'll not delve into the wild world of politics here, but let me say: I proudly voted for some R's and some D's, and I fervently hope that Texans never again have to choose between the lesser of six evils.
I hope it doesn't make me a bad documents librarian (or a bad person) that today as I was cataloging CRS Reports, I came across "food as a weapon" -- and my first thought was cafeteria food fights.
Awesome news: I'm going to be writing reviews for FantasyBookSpot! And "They" said that blogging and reading boingboing would get me nowhere... whoever "They" is... Anyway, there are two advance copy (say it with me: ADVAAAANCE COPY) graphic novels and a fantasy novel winging their way to me right now, courtesy of the USPS and FantasyBookSpot. (Thanks, Damon! And yes, Tihleigh, you hate me more than monkeys, I know.)
NPR reported last week that UK citizens are caught on closed-circuit camera on average 300 times a day--and the plan is to extend the cameras to be all-pervasive. I had no idea it was getting that way in England--reeeeeally makes V for Vendetta look timely (again), doesn't it?
I really need to download Firefox 2, and so should you. Speaking of which... Firefox for scholars in the humanities: Zotero.
We leave for Los Angeles in two days!!! Eeek!
Linky-Loos For Your Reading Pleasure:
- In case I haven't mentioned it before, Dooce is a comic genius. That, and a big fan of Star Wars costumes.
- PacMan pie chart. Genius.
- Painting of kid riding an AT-AT.
- Motion-capture sketches used to instantly create furniture in liquid plastic. I quote Gareth, "It's something like this which reminds me I'm actually living in the 21st century."
- BSG-themed Halloween comic. Oh, gosh.
- These are the cutest--er, SCARIEST--cupcakes. Ever. (Tihleigh, I want a report back that you already made these.)
- Great costume: going as the Patriot Act.
- Blockbuster's online rental system is now fully integrated with in-store rentals. That way, if you want a new movie that night, just return a movie (either rented online or in-store) to the store, and immediately exchange it for another in-store movie!
- I [heart] the DCAU.
10.31.2006
Links in Lieu of Content Redux!
I'm still catching up on all the posts that Bloglines faithfully aggregated during my absence. This has primarily consisted of quick scans of post titles and a lot of discarding without reading. I think I can live without completely reading one week in the blogosphere. I'll have to--I don't have time to catch up completely!!
- This Library Etiquette post further justifies my career choice, since last year at C3 we both were clad in obscure costumes that not even 80% of the Star Wars freaks in attendance recognized. I was mistaken for Tank Girl more often than Pink Five for some reason--um, hello, Star Wars convention?!--although Alex's Ice Cream Maker Guy definitely got the most delighted recognition.
- CueCat and LibraryThing--what fun! That reminds me, I don't think Alex and I are more than half-finished using the CueCat to enter our DVD collection. (It'd probably go faster if we didn't have the scifi genre subdivided into twelve other categories like "space travel - with aliens" and "time travel.")
- Fun for perfectionists--I mean, English majors: Typo of the Day.
- Amazon.com reviews for bananas: "Ideal for people who like eating bananas or who wish to befriend a monkey." Indeed, my friend, indeed.
- This place looks fun: and a damaged books room! Sigh...
10.10.2006
A Shower of Links
Rain: much-appreciated for my cracked yard.
Same Rain: much-un-appreciated when it completely soaked my pants this morning at work (got a hair dryer?).
Still the Same Rain: much-re-appreciated for its beauty on the window panes, once inside and (relatively) dry with a warm bagel and coffee.
I finally read Ender's Game, after many years of noble intentions. (Thanks, Kali, for reminding me!) I found it very, very interesting--and liked it--although it wasn't exactly what I expected. I'm glad I didn't read it in high school, though; I think the violence would have been a bit much for my sheltered self.
Same Rain: much-un-appreciated when it completely soaked my pants this morning at work (got a hair dryer?).
Still the Same Rain: much-re-appreciated for its beauty on the window panes, once inside and (relatively) dry with a warm bagel and coffee.
I finally read Ender's Game, after many years of noble intentions. (Thanks, Kali, for reminding me!) I found it very, very interesting--and liked it--although it wasn't exactly what I expected. I'm glad I didn't read it in high school, though; I think the violence would have been a bit much for my sheltered self.
- On making up words (a librarian's prerogative, apparently).
- AL Championship Series begins TONIGHT! ARG, why will I be in class??? I think for once, I can't root for the underdog. I'm sorry, I'll normally root for anyone against the Yankees Empire, but it just goes against the nature of the universe for the Tigers to beat the Yankees. It's just... wrong.
- Very interesting take on the season 2 (yes, 2, as in on DVD) opener of "Lost." Those of you who've watched the season 3 opener (Auntie K, I'm looking at you!), read the post and see if the correlation between to two strikes you, as well.
- FaerieChat Session (guess the Shakespearian spoof!).
- Work underway on Clone Wars... Can't say I'm thrilled about the move from 2-D animation to CG, but I'm willing to suspend judgement.
- I [heart] Unshelved.
- What's hard: coming up with meals that are: healthy, convenient, tasty, and cheap. Any pointers?
- I just re-found a poem that I based a painting title on. It makes me feel more than a little silly that, although I remember the painting, I'd forgotten that I got the title from somewhere else. At least I still remember where I got the title for "Tree and Leaf" from.
10.09.2006
Battlestar Fever (Spoiler Alert!)
(My apologies to my non-cable/satellite-connected friends. I have felt your pain; but I couldn't hold out any longer.)
So a reader asked what I thought of the BSG premier on Friday.
...Wow... Um, wow.
So, I did watch those ten webisodes--we saw six before the premier, and the other four afterward, once our extremely twitchy DSL shaped up (don't trust SBC Yahoo, even if your only other option is a semi-reliable wireless connection from a provider that never returns your phone calls and only remembers to bill you every other month or so). Ahem. The webisodes were a little more relevant to the premier than I'd have expected--clearly, you didn't have to see them, but it sure explained the question that immediately leapt to Alex's mind, which was how the heck Duck got into a Toaster-Police grad ceremony in the first place.
Um... about that. We're still wondering how Jammer, standing directly behind Duck, didn't seem to show even a scratch. Um... explosion. So--are we looking at #9 of 12 models, here? Seems pretty fishy to me.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of newly-revealed toasters, let me say that the addition of Quantum Leap's Dean Stockwell to the cast just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside my scifi heart. That, and the lovely Erica Cerra is just popping up everywhere--mom to secretly-adopted half-breed toaster baby on BSG, tough deputy on (now-on-hiatus) Eureka, and a vampire sorority chick on Smallville (in an episode that featured Carrie Fisher, no less)! I half expect that when I'm once again able to tune into new episides of SG-1 and Atlantis, she'll turn up as a friendly alien.
But back to BSG. I'm almost sad that Six is around in the flesh--will we get anymore of that tantalizing what-the-heck-is-up mental version of her (and Gaius, for that matter)? We got a peek of her again when the in-the-flesh Six was shot, so I've got hope. I still don't quite trust either Boomer, although I really really want to. I have to say that Tyrol's still my favorite character in the entire series (love the beard!), and if they've killed off his gal Cally, I'm gonna be really hacked. (And then immediately suspect that all is not as it seems.) And dude, is Apollo in a fat suit, or did they really make the poor guy eat 10-lb. bags of Doritos all hiatus long? And what was in the water over the summer, because everybody got married! I know they've got to repopulate and all, but is the original Boomer's unrequited (I assume) love for Tyrol going to be our only remaining romance?
Oh, wait, how I could I forget about Starbuck holding hands with that rotten toaster. I hope she's faking it, because I've got high suspicions that he pushed the kid down in the first place to gain Starbuck's sympathy.
You've got to love the complicated shades of grey in this show, which is what's made it what it is since the beginning. We've not only got complicated, flawed human beings, but we've got toasters to hate (Doral), toasters to love (Six), toasters we love to hate (Brother Cavil), and toasters we aren't quite sure about (Boomer 1 & 2).
...So, is it Friday yet?
So a reader asked what I thought of the BSG premier on Friday.
...Wow... Um, wow.
So, I did watch those ten webisodes--we saw six before the premier, and the other four afterward, once our extremely twitchy DSL shaped up (don't trust SBC Yahoo, even if your only other option is a semi-reliable wireless connection from a provider that never returns your phone calls and only remembers to bill you every other month or so). Ahem. The webisodes were a little more relevant to the premier than I'd have expected--clearly, you didn't have to see them, but it sure explained the question that immediately leapt to Alex's mind, which was how the heck Duck got into a Toaster-Police grad ceremony in the first place.
Um... about that. We're still wondering how Jammer, standing directly behind Duck, didn't seem to show even a scratch. Um... explosion. So--are we looking at #9 of 12 models, here? Seems pretty fishy to me.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of newly-revealed toasters, let me say that the addition of Quantum Leap's Dean Stockwell to the cast just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside my scifi heart. That, and the lovely Erica Cerra is just popping up everywhere--mom to secretly-adopted half-breed toaster baby on BSG, tough deputy on (now-on-hiatus) Eureka, and a vampire sorority chick on Smallville (in an episode that featured Carrie Fisher, no less)! I half expect that when I'm once again able to tune into new episides of SG-1 and Atlantis, she'll turn up as a friendly alien.
But back to BSG. I'm almost sad that Six is around in the flesh--will we get anymore of that tantalizing what-the-heck-is-up mental version of her (and Gaius, for that matter)? We got a peek of her again when the in-the-flesh Six was shot, so I've got hope. I still don't quite trust either Boomer, although I really really want to. I have to say that Tyrol's still my favorite character in the entire series (love the beard!), and if they've killed off his gal Cally, I'm gonna be really hacked. (And then immediately suspect that all is not as it seems.) And dude, is Apollo in a fat suit, or did they really make the poor guy eat 10-lb. bags of Doritos all hiatus long? And what was in the water over the summer, because everybody got married! I know they've got to repopulate and all, but is the original Boomer's unrequited (I assume) love for Tyrol going to be our only remaining romance?
Oh, wait, how I could I forget about Starbuck holding hands with that rotten toaster. I hope she's faking it, because I've got high suspicions that he pushed the kid down in the first place to gain Starbuck's sympathy.
You've got to love the complicated shades of grey in this show, which is what's made it what it is since the beginning. We've not only got complicated, flawed human beings, but we've got toasters to hate (Doral), toasters to love (Six), toasters we love to hate (Brother Cavil), and toasters we aren't quite sure about (Boomer 1 & 2).
...So, is it Friday yet?
10.05.2006
PC: Definition of the Phrase "It's Personal"
Can someone explain to me how it's even possible for a computer-driven device to have a personality?
I've had my share of tempermental bits of technological equipment before. During the three years that I worked as Dr. Brunner's student assistant, his HP inkjet printer gave me fits. But although it seemed to be infuriating on purpose, it was a logical problem, as the majority of the issues were paper-jam-related.
This printer, however, has a bonafide grudge against me. Several weeks ago, it randomly printed every blessed document I sent to it--but it must have been gracious on purpose because it was Monday, as evidenced by the fact that every print job I have sent before or since, no matter how short, is missing pages. I just sent a print job to it: ten copies of one page each, and it printed nothing. I sent the job a second time, and it printed them--but it had a definite smirk when I retrieved the papers.
Logically, if my computer's having some issue communicating with the printer, shouldn't I get all or nothing? Why do I keep getting only 5 pages printed of a 9-page document, or 3 pages of a 5-page doc? Why did it take me three separate prints this morning to print a 12-page document?
Honestly, if there are any real insights as to a logical solution to, or even a reason for, this problem, I will gratefully listen. I'd like to think that this isn't personal, considering the thing is a mass-produced item of plastic and metal.
Brief Overview, This Week in TV:
Eureka's season-ender (boo!), Lost's season opener (yay!), and BSG's season opener (wild, crazed screaming ensues). I read a quote yesterday from the current season of Gilmore Girls (it's four more seasons on DVD before I catch up) that I thought truely displayed the show's awesome genius:
"Don't underestimate me, Luke. I read books. And I watch Battlestar Galactica."
On a parting note, let me reassure you that my sudden lack in posts here isn't because I've forgotten or lost interest--in fact, I'm regularly making notes for posts, but haven't had the opportunity to post. The few minutes a day I've had for blogging has been spent on my professional blog lately. So, if you're desperate enough for my ramblings to read library-related info, hop on over.
9.26.2006
Geek-Out Moment
I was working at the service desk last week, which is next door to my office, and about lost it laughing when two guys came around the corner. They were walking past my office window (I had the blinds open), and did a double-take --the first guy stopped midstride almost violently and walked a few steps backward.
I'm guessing it was the electronic Star Destroyer on my top shelf that caught their eye... although it could have been the ridiculously-huge Superman figure mom gave me for my birthday, or just the shelf of action figures in general. (Nancy Pearl is shushing Darth Vader right now while Batman looks on, and Frodo steals some books.)
B...S...G...
(Watched the second half of season two last week. Dying for October 6th.)
I'm guessing it was the electronic Star Destroyer on my top shelf that caught their eye... although it could have been the ridiculously-huge Superman figure mom gave me for my birthday, or just the shelf of action figures in general. (Nancy Pearl is shushing Darth Vader right now while Batman looks on, and Frodo steals some books.)
B...S...G...
(Watched the second half of season two last week. Dying for October 6th.)
9.18.2006
What You Can Do With Half a Weekend
1. Spring Cleaning in Fall
Alex’s computer room now has twice as much floor-space, and he has several additional items on eBay and a nice stack of items still to be listed.And this in a weekend when I worked Saturday! I took two of those 33-gallon trashbags out yesterday, I have several power supplies to somehow recycle, and a growing pile of things to take to good ol’ Goodwill.
2. To Best Buy... And Back Again
Yes, we bought the much-longed-for Star Wars original trilogy set on DVD. And we're going to return it.
No, it's not defective. It's Lucas, in my opinion, who's defective. We decided to read a DVD-Talk review before we burst the shrinkwrap, since they've been reliable sources in the past. Mentions of few new special features, the lackluster look of the un-restored originals next to last years' beauties, the 4.3 format with black bars instead of true widescreen formatting (!!!), and the fact that we already have the sparklingly-gorgeous-but-wrong special editions on DVD all gave us reason to shake our heads with frustration and be slightly happy that we'll be getting over $60 back from Best Buy.
Oh, did you notice that next year is SW's 30th anniversary? And we all know how Lucasfilm loves to profit off of anniversaries. Here's some speculation/rumor/fact about what will be in the confirmed 2008 "saga" release of all 6 movies in one pack. Perhaps this set will include the deleted scenes that were rumored to be included in the special edition DVDs we all bought. But personally, I can't hold my breath that long.
Here's a fun track record of changes made to the Star Wars Saga.
Unrelated Banter:
Alex’s computer room now has twice as much floor-space, and he has several additional items on eBay and a nice stack of items still to be listed.And this in a weekend when I worked Saturday! I took two of those 33-gallon trashbags out yesterday, I have several power supplies to somehow recycle, and a growing pile of things to take to good ol’ Goodwill.
2. To Best Buy... And Back Again
Yes, we bought the much-longed-for Star Wars original trilogy set on DVD. And we're going to return it.
No, it's not defective. It's Lucas, in my opinion, who's defective. We decided to read a DVD-Talk review before we burst the shrinkwrap, since they've been reliable sources in the past. Mentions of few new special features, the lackluster look of the un-restored originals next to last years' beauties, the 4.3 format with black bars instead of true widescreen formatting (!!!), and the fact that we already have the sparklingly-gorgeous-but-wrong special editions on DVD all gave us reason to shake our heads with frustration and be slightly happy that we'll be getting over $60 back from Best Buy.
Oh, did you notice that next year is SW's 30th anniversary? And we all know how Lucasfilm loves to profit off of anniversaries. Here's some speculation/rumor/fact about what will be in the confirmed 2008 "saga" release of all 6 movies in one pack. Perhaps this set will include the deleted scenes that were rumored to be included in the special edition DVDs we all bought. But personally, I can't hold my breath that long.
Here's a fun track record of changes made to the Star Wars Saga.
Unrelated Banter:
- PS3 Downtime Donations: like SETI@Home or Folding@Home, there are rumors that the PS3 will enable charitably-hearted gamers to donate processor time in their downtime. Neat feature, even though I'd rather spend less and have more fun with a Wii.
- Brown: no longer my enemy. In fact, when speaking of my closet color-dominance, you might say that brown is the new black. (Well, okay, not quite; at least half of my closet will always be black. Brown is more like the new plum.)
- How do we know that Weird Al is a genius? Because his new single, "White and Nerdy," is a delicious parody including two insanely hilarious lines:
- "I'm fluent in javascript as well as Klingon"
- "Only question I ever thought was hard, was do I like Kirk, or do I like Picard"
9.01.2006
Am I Delirious?
I'm home sick again for the second day running. Tell me if I'm delirious, or if this music video by the OK Go's is sheer genius on treadmills.
More strange-enough-to-be-the-cough-syrup-talking news: Original Star Trek series being remastered in HD with new music and CG effects. This sounds like the greatest idea in scifi history--or the lamest. Seems to me like they could potentially alienate a lot of original fans--but then, they're probably going for the younger set, eh?
And this morning I ran across an article on Heroes, a new series from NBC. A series about "people with superpowers in the real world." Count me in on 9/25! (Those of you willing to use iTunes can get it free today!)
More strange-enough-to-be-the-cough-syrup-talking news: Original Star Trek series being remastered in HD with new music and CG effects. This sounds like the greatest idea in scifi history--or the lamest. Seems to me like they could potentially alienate a lot of original fans--but then, they're probably going for the younger set, eh?
And this morning I ran across an article on Heroes, a new series from NBC. A series about "people with superpowers in the real world." Count me in on 9/25! (Those of you willing to use iTunes can get it free today!)
8.30.2006
I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up
You know how people tend to exaggerate certain circumstances for the sake of humor, never dreaming that the literal situation could actually take place? Can you tell that I'm about to reveal that some such thing has, in fact, happened to me recently? Do you continue to be surprised that I am so willing to reveal humilating stories about myself for the sake of humor?
Typical exaggerated comment about the ongoing North Texas drought:
"The cracks in our yard are so wide and so deep, you could fall right in!"
Ahem.
Yes. Last night, as Alex and I left my in-laws' house, we stepped into their yard. My right foot stepped down about four inches into a crack before realizing there wasn't any ground to hold my weight. I quickly stepped forward to avoid the void.
And stepped right into a bigger, deeper crack. So far, in fact, that I immediately sank down to the point of sitting on the ground, my right leg over half encased in the crack--rather snugly, I might add.
Although I'd had a good day up until that point, I began to mutter some words of frustration and confoundment that I have rarely uttered, which I think only increased the incredulous laughter of Alex, who was attempting to pull me from my Dorf-like position. He managed to pull me up, but my good work shoe remained firmly wedged in the jaws of North Texas clay, which has a strength and tenacity that would shame a mastiff.
After fumbling around awhile with my entire arm down in the crack pulling at the shoe, I finally dislodged it, so that we could go home and watch Eureka, and I could forget my abyss-mal (oh, ouch) woes.
Typical exaggerated comment about the ongoing North Texas drought:
"The cracks in our yard are so wide and so deep, you could fall right in!"
Ahem.
Yes. Last night, as Alex and I left my in-laws' house, we stepped into their yard. My right foot stepped down about four inches into a crack before realizing there wasn't any ground to hold my weight. I quickly stepped forward to avoid the void.
And stepped right into a bigger, deeper crack. So far, in fact, that I immediately sank down to the point of sitting on the ground, my right leg over half encased in the crack--rather snugly, I might add.
Although I'd had a good day up until that point, I began to mutter some words of frustration and confoundment that I have rarely uttered, which I think only increased the incredulous laughter of Alex, who was attempting to pull me from my Dorf-like position. He managed to pull me up, but my good work shoe remained firmly wedged in the jaws of North Texas clay, which has a strength and tenacity that would shame a mastiff.
After fumbling around awhile with my entire arm down in the crack pulling at the shoe, I finally dislodged it, so that we could go home and watch Eureka, and I could forget my abyss-mal (oh, ouch) woes.
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