I love Futurama. Its best doesn't quite reach the Simpsons' best, but it's more consistent (even during the earlier, good Simpsons seasons) and it's more creative. It sucked when it was cancelled, especially since it was Fox's fault for moving it all over creation. I was a devoted fan for the last season or so, and I couldn't figure out when it was on half the time.
Anyway, that's all in the past, as Futurama is coming out with movie-length dvds. The first offering, Bender's Big Score, was excellent (although with a different tone from the episodes). I eagerly await the next release, The Beast With A Billion Backs.
Look! A trailer!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Good News/Bad News
The good news is that Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams, the creators of two of my favorite TV series (Firefly and Lost), have new shows coming out next fall. The bad news? They're on Fox, the channel notorious for cancelling shows quickly after FUBARing the marketing. The most notable examples being Firefly, Futurama and Family Guy, all of which have had some form of post-cancellation life.
So on the one side I hope they're good. On the other side, I'm a little afraid of really liking them only to have them cancelled out from under me.
Here's a preview for Abrams' Fringe, and here's a preview for Whedon's Dollhouse.
So on the one side I hope they're good. On the other side, I'm a little afraid of really liking them only to have them cancelled out from under me.
Here's a preview for Abrams' Fringe, and here's a preview for Whedon's Dollhouse.
Hillary Clinton is pissing me off
Yes, I am an Obama fan. But that's not the reason. The race was pretty much decided when Obama won NC big and lost IN small, but I have no problem with her staying in until SD, MT and PR have voted (by the way, isn't it weird that US administrative holdings like Puerto Rico, Guam, etc. vote in the primaries but not in the general? I think it's weird). She might as well, at this point.
What's pissing me off is the Michigan and Florida thing. This used to be a non-issue, until Hillary got behind. Then she suddenly changed her mind about the great injustice that the DNC had perpetrated on the poor states. Here's where I stand on that.
Fine, I get it. FL and MI are two big states come November that the Dems could really use. They don't want to piss them off too much. But for Hillary to seriously suggest that the delegations should be seated according to the voting results is idiotic to the Nth degree. It's dumber than a bag of lombotomized emus. It's dumber than playing golf in a thunderstorm. It's dumber than the movie It's Pat. It's offensively stupid.
Let's look at the facts: the DNC pulled the delegates after MI and FL moved up their primaries to get more national media attention. All the candidates knew it, and no one protested. Neither Hillary nor Obama campaigned in either state before their primaries. The only names on the Michigan ballot were Clinton, Kucinich and Gravel, as Obama and Edwards pulled theirs at the request of the party. This meant Hillary, with one of the biggest brand names in politics, had a massive advantage over Obama, especially among older and lower-income voters who would have limited (or no) access to the internet to research the candidates themselves.
Both races would have been much closer had the candidates actually campaigned and had Obama's name been on the ballot in MI. Hillary would have stood a good chance of winning both states, but since the delegates are proportionally allocated the margin of victory is all-important. Hillary's assertion that the results should stand as they are is lunacy. Declaring victory over an opponent whose name wasn't even on the ballot is about as un-democratic as you can get.
What's pissing me off is the Michigan and Florida thing. This used to be a non-issue, until Hillary got behind. Then she suddenly changed her mind about the great injustice that the DNC had perpetrated on the poor states. Here's where I stand on that.
Fine, I get it. FL and MI are two big states come November that the Dems could really use. They don't want to piss them off too much. But for Hillary to seriously suggest that the delegations should be seated according to the voting results is idiotic to the Nth degree. It's dumber than a bag of lombotomized emus. It's dumber than playing golf in a thunderstorm. It's dumber than the movie It's Pat. It's offensively stupid.
Let's look at the facts: the DNC pulled the delegates after MI and FL moved up their primaries to get more national media attention. All the candidates knew it, and no one protested. Neither Hillary nor Obama campaigned in either state before their primaries. The only names on the Michigan ballot were Clinton, Kucinich and Gravel, as Obama and Edwards pulled theirs at the request of the party. This meant Hillary, with one of the biggest brand names in politics, had a massive advantage over Obama, especially among older and lower-income voters who would have limited (or no) access to the internet to research the candidates themselves.
Both races would have been much closer had the candidates actually campaigned and had Obama's name been on the ballot in MI. Hillary would have stood a good chance of winning both states, but since the delegates are proportionally allocated the margin of victory is all-important. Hillary's assertion that the results should stand as they are is lunacy. Declaring victory over an opponent whose name wasn't even on the ballot is about as un-democratic as you can get.
Flag pins are stupid
They are. They really, really are. I honestly can't believe so much time and energy has been spent paying attention to this ultimate non-issue.
CNN's Roland Martin, who I find consistently astute and insightful, has a Swiftian solution.
CNN's Roland Martin, who I find consistently astute and insightful, has a Swiftian solution.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
War in Lebanon
CNN and the BBC are reporting that fighting has broken out in Beirut after Hezbollah essentially declared war on the Lebanese government. At this point the fighting mostly seems to between Sunni (who back the government) and Shia (oppose the government/backed by Hezbollah) militias, rather than between the army and Hezbollah itself. Roadblocks have been set up throughout the city and the airport has been effectively shut down.
What apparently set this off was the government's decision to sack the head of security at the airport, after he was accused of allowing Hezbollah to install their own surveillance cameras. The government then followed this up by declaring Hezbollah's "extensive fixed-line telecommunications network" illegal, leading Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, to declare war (kind of) on the Lebanese government.
You know, I've heard Beirut is actually a pretty nice city-modern, cosmopolitan, etc. It's a shame that they've got crazy bastards running half their country. Plus, can't the Sunnis and Shias just figure out a way to play nice?
Given amount of control Hezbollah has in the south and east of Lebanon and its presence in the government, this could go one of two ways: one, the government backs down (or "compromises") and things blow over, or two, it doesn't and the country rips itself a new one.
What apparently set this off was the government's decision to sack the head of security at the airport, after he was accused of allowing Hezbollah to install their own surveillance cameras. The government then followed this up by declaring Hezbollah's "extensive fixed-line telecommunications network" illegal, leading Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, to declare war (kind of) on the Lebanese government.
You know, I've heard Beirut is actually a pretty nice city-modern, cosmopolitan, etc. It's a shame that they've got crazy bastards running half their country. Plus, can't the Sunnis and Shias just figure out a way to play nice?
Given amount of control Hezbollah has in the south and east of Lebanon and its presence in the government, this could go one of two ways: one, the government backs down (or "compromises") and things blow over, or two, it doesn't and the country rips itself a new one.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
We're Nazis on the Moon, We carry a Harpoon...
This is a teaser trailer for a movie called Iron Sky. Nazis are a pretty stock bad guy at this point. So they had to jazz them up a little bit. Therefore: Space Nazis!
Primaries
Right now Obama is projected to win NC by a sizeable margin. I'm hoping it ends up at least 60-40, although it's currently 56-42 with 56% reporting. That's good but expected news. At this point Indiana is the story. With 75% reporting, Hilary leads 52-48 with about a 39,000 vote lead which has been shrinking all night. Several of the counties that have yet to finish reporting are around Indianapolis and have been supporting Obama so far. If Obama can manage to pull even it would be a serious victory for him.
Boundarylessness
I just finished applying for a job. This process, as it often does, required me to register with the company's employment website. When I finished, they sent me an email confirmation to let me know my application had been received. Here's the last line, which I guess is meant to list their corporate ideals:
Customer Focus - Valuing Our People - Passion For Winning - Innovation - Boundarylessness
Wow. Boundarylessness. Now that's bold.
Customer Focus - Valuing Our People - Passion For Winning - Innovation - Boundarylessness
Wow. Boundarylessness. Now that's bold.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
"You think you're the only superhero in the world?"
Before the two days of insanely nice weather, frisbee madness and sunburn that was the weekend, I saw Iron Man on Thursday night at 12:01. First things first: seeing movies at midnight on the day they come out is awesome, especially when you're able to haul a group of your friends who have to work the next day along with you. Second things second: I am not an impartial reviewer. I've read Iron Man comics, and I love superhero movies. I am the target audience. However, I also had fairly high expectations of the flick, given the positive reviews I'd read and the fact that the trailers kicked ass. I was not disappointed.
How not disappointed? Marvel has had (by my count) nine origin films: Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider and now Iron Man. One is out-and-out bad (Ghost Rider), two have enjoyable elements but are fatally flawed (FF and Punisher), two are decent (Blade and the director's cut of Daredevil), two are pretty good with minor issues (X-Men and Hulk, which is consistently undervalued) and one, while not perfect, is fantastic (Spider-Man). Iron Man is Spider-Man good. That's how good this is. Don't get me wrong, it still has flaws, but it's so easy to look past them you might not even notice the first time you see the movie.
Robert Downey Jr. makes the film. It's all about Tony Stark, and RDJ does a great job playing a great character. Jeff Bridges makes a great villian, Terence Howard is very good as Tony's friend, and Gweneth Paltrow totally delivers as Pepper Potts (which I was worried about after seeing Sky Captain). The performances are backed up by the fact that Iron Man is probably the coolest-looking superhero yet. The FX are slick as hell, and when Tony finally suits up in the red and gold it is damn impressive.
Iron Man is the first production by Marvel Studios, the production company Marvel started a few years ago when they stopped selling their character rights to Hollywood studios for production. This is important in two ways: first, it gives Marvel creative control over its movies, so presumably we'll never have anything as bad as Ghost Rider of FF:Silver Surfer inflicted on us again. Second, with its charcters under one roof, we can start to see the Marvel Universe as a whole, instead of everyone is separate worlds. If you don't already know, there's a scene at the very end of the movie, after the credits. Make sure you stay for it.
When the movie ended and the lights came on at about 2:30am, my only real problem with Iron Man was that I couldn't watch the sequel right then and there. It's planned for 2010, which is honestly much, much too long to wait. Marvel needs to get its ass in gear on this one.
How not disappointed? Marvel has had (by my count) nine origin films: Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider and now Iron Man. One is out-and-out bad (Ghost Rider), two have enjoyable elements but are fatally flawed (FF and Punisher), two are decent (Blade and the director's cut of Daredevil), two are pretty good with minor issues (X-Men and Hulk, which is consistently undervalued) and one, while not perfect, is fantastic (Spider-Man). Iron Man is Spider-Man good. That's how good this is. Don't get me wrong, it still has flaws, but it's so easy to look past them you might not even notice the first time you see the movie.
Robert Downey Jr. makes the film. It's all about Tony Stark, and RDJ does a great job playing a great character. Jeff Bridges makes a great villian, Terence Howard is very good as Tony's friend, and Gweneth Paltrow totally delivers as Pepper Potts (which I was worried about after seeing Sky Captain). The performances are backed up by the fact that Iron Man is probably the coolest-looking superhero yet. The FX are slick as hell, and when Tony finally suits up in the red and gold it is damn impressive.
Iron Man is the first production by Marvel Studios, the production company Marvel started a few years ago when they stopped selling their character rights to Hollywood studios for production. This is important in two ways: first, it gives Marvel creative control over its movies, so presumably we'll never have anything as bad as Ghost Rider of FF:Silver Surfer inflicted on us again. Second, with its charcters under one roof, we can start to see the Marvel Universe as a whole, instead of everyone is separate worlds. If you don't already know, there's a scene at the very end of the movie, after the credits. Make sure you stay for it.
When the movie ended and the lights came on at about 2:30am, my only real problem with Iron Man was that I couldn't watch the sequel right then and there. It's planned for 2010, which is honestly much, much too long to wait. Marvel needs to get its ass in gear on this one.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Skip Day
I'm skipping my planned post on Iron Man, which I saw at 12:01am this morning, since I spent nearly the entire day in the hospital with my grandma, who had a heart attack on Thursday. Fortunately she's fine (or as fine as can be expected), so things went ok, but I'm still pretty exhausted.
I'll also just say now that I don't expect to post tomorrow, as it's the day of the GOP alumni game down at Carleton. I expect to be drinking quite a bit, along with playing frisbee in what might possibly be snow. In May.
I'll also just say now that I don't expect to post tomorrow, as it's the day of the GOP alumni game down at Carleton. I expect to be drinking quite a bit, along with playing frisbee in what might possibly be snow. In May.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Jib Jab
For my money, JibJab has some of the best comedy videos on the web. Their Shawshank in a Minute sketch is probably the funniest thing I've ever seen online, but they're most famous for their political animated shorts from the 2004 election cycle. Which is why I'm disappointed that they haven't done anything with the Hilary/Obama mess yet. I'm hoping that once the primary is over, they'll come out with some Obama/McCain stuff (yes, I'm fairly sure at this point that Obama will be the nominee). But since '04 they've only come out with one or two animated shorts a year. Their year in review bits are funny, but I'd really love to see more political bits.
Back on the Blogging Horse
Alright, let's try to get back on this blogging thing again. Ahh, blogging.
My last post promised a review of the RSC's production of King Lear that came to the Guthrie. Since that was awhile ago now, I will merely say that I enjoyed the production immensely and that the audience was given a full view of Ian McKellan's Little Gandalf.
For this post all I wanted to do was provide this link to a website my good friend Mr. Bartley has set up so people can follow his progress as he and his wife Jodi hike the Appalachian Trail. They are currently taking a short break to get their finances back in order after a case of identity theft, but should be back on the trail sometime soon (although not too soon, as I just finished picking them up from North Carolina which took two long days of driving).
If you go to the site, you'll find they're not just hiking the trail, but using it as a fundraiser for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, as both Caleb and Jodi have relatives who are breast cancer survivors.
My goal for the blog will be one post a day, on whatever happens to strike my fancy at the time. Let's see how well I keep it up.
My last post promised a review of the RSC's production of King Lear that came to the Guthrie. Since that was awhile ago now, I will merely say that I enjoyed the production immensely and that the audience was given a full view of Ian McKellan's Little Gandalf.
For this post all I wanted to do was provide this link to a website my good friend Mr. Bartley has set up so people can follow his progress as he and his wife Jodi hike the Appalachian Trail. They are currently taking a short break to get their finances back in order after a case of identity theft, but should be back on the trail sometime soon (although not too soon, as I just finished picking them up from North Carolina which took two long days of driving).
If you go to the site, you'll find they're not just hiking the trail, but using it as a fundraiser for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, as both Caleb and Jodi have relatives who are breast cancer survivors.
My goal for the blog will be one post a day, on whatever happens to strike my fancy at the time. Let's see how well I keep it up.
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