Thursday, December 23, 2004

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- The Official Movie Website

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- The Official Movie Website

Who was lame and cheered in the movie when they saw the teaser?

::hangs head and raises head::

Check this out too.

Librarians have to know RSS now

Noah Wyle Gets RSS
Dude, I'm totally freakin' out over here. They just said something about RSS in TNT's The Librarian...


Yeah, I caught that too. I didn't bother blogging about it because I didn't think anyone else caught it or cared. I guess I was wrong.

TNT Groks RSS
So, I’m sitting here, watching The Librarian: Quest for the Spear on TNT. The main character, Flynn, played by Noah Wyle, is interviewing for a job as “The Librarian.” When asked about what he knows, the guy rambles off a series of seemingly-random information manipulation skills - inclduing knowledge of the Dewey Decimal system, how to search the Web, and (here’s where I had to do a double-take) set up an RSS feed. I have a recording of the clip here. You know the idea of syndication is hitting the mainstream when pseudo-geeks can rattle off an acronym without batting an eyelash. He even said “feed” in conjunction with “RSS,” which says to me that someone on the writing staff knows what they’re doing with it. Either that, or Noah, himself, is an RSS junkie like the rest of us.



Unreal. Totally unreal. I could be wrong, but I'd say that this is a first. Hearing about syndication in a news broadcast is one thing, but actually hearing it used in dialogue - in CONTEXT - is true legitimacy. To those who initially scoffed at the power of RSS, I say to you: enjoy your next Salisbury Crow TV dinner.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Do we want a Klingon Forehead Explanation?

Enterprise Butts Klingon Heads
An upcoming episode of UPN's Star Trek: Enterprise will address the so-called Klingon issue head on: Why do original-series Klingons have smooth foreheads, while their counterparts in subsequent series and films have bumpy ones? The 15th episode of the current fourth season Enterprise, called "Affliction," is the first of two parts that will deal with the question, the official Star Trek Web site reported.

Mike Sussman wrote the episode, based on a story by executive producer Manny Coto. The second part is called "Divergence," written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. The episodes will air Feb. 18 and 25, the site reported.

In the episodes, the Enterprise heads back to Earth for the official launch of the Columbia NX-02, Starfleet's second warp ship, commanded by Erika Hernandez. Phlox is abducted by aliens and finds himself in the presence of Klingons who tell him the Empire is facing its gravest threat in centuries. Along the way, as Archer and company investigate and pursue, it's revealed that one of our main characters has a secret past, which comes into play, the site reported.


I liked the mystery but it does show that "they" are listening to the fans. I like that!

I'm still unsure about Enterprise and this whole prequel business. Is it a prequel on an alternate timeline or is this show supposedly passing for the present or accepted or Star Trek Encyclopedia version of Star Trek history?
I've watched every show so I guess I wasn't paying attention.

Browder's SG-1 Role Revealed

This is a straight cut and paste from scifi.com
Browder's SG-1 Role Revealed


Robert C. Cooper, executive producer of SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1, told SCI FI Wire that new regular cast member Ben Browder (Farscape) will play a new military member of the SG-1 team. "Ben is playing a military guy, a lieutenant colonel," Cooper said in an interview. "And I can't tell you his name yet. It hasn't been legally cleared yet, so it could still change."

Browder's character, who joins the show in the upcoming ninth season, has a past history with the Stargate program, Cooper said. "The audience just hasn't met him yet," he said. "He's actually played a key role in some major events that went on ... in the Stargate universe and was in fact very instrumental in helping SG-1 succeed in one of their more important missions. And as a result of that, he was given ... his choice posting. And he ultimately chooses to join SG-1. So when he first appears on the show, SG-1 will already know who he is. And we'll see some of those scenes and how he was basically woven into the tapestry of the show through flashbacks."

Cooper said that Stargate SG-1 will embark on a new direction in the upcoming ninth season. "One of the things we've always done with Stargate ... [is] to reinvent ourselves all the time, and ... bring in new villains and anything we needed to do to keep the show fresh," he said. "And yet we still, I think, stuck to the core concept and the core team that started out at the beginning. And so fans of the show will still feel as though things are very comfortable and familiar, you know? We're still going to see Daniel Jackson and Teal'c and Carter and our new colonel going through the Stargate to alien worlds and getting into adventures. But there's going to be some big new dangers as well. We [will wrap] up a lot of storylines in season eight. And I think that, hopefully, fans are going to be very satisfied by the conclusion of season eight, and feel like we've really paid off a lot of the stories we've been building up over the last couple of years. And we're looking at season nine to start fresh with some new stories and a new take on the Stargate universe." The remaining new episodes of Stargate SG-1's eighth season kick off Jan. 21, 2005, in a new Friday 8 p.m. ET/PT timeslot, followed by the new episodes of Stargate Atlantis at 9 p.m. and the new original series Battlestar Galactica at 10 p.m. The ninth season of SG-1 will begin airing in the summer.

This Whole EarthSea Debacle

I'm going to let you know right now that I rarely read books. Not because I don't like to read, it's just that I'm the type of person who has to do at least two things at once. I'll read in a doctor's office or the hair salon but that's about it. I do enjoy audio books. I can exercise, clean up, drive, cook, organize something, etc. while listening to an audio book.

When I saw the first commercial for EarthSea, someone told me that it was going to be based on a book. I'd also heard that the TV movie was going to be true to the book. My thoughts: YAY! another long- winded fantasy book that I don't have to read. Time is valuable. These days we have to cram a weeks worth of duties into two days. If you see a crappy movie, that's only a couple of hours out of your life. Going to the movies or watching TV is a bit more social. Reading a book is an alone thing. A book longer than 400 pages is an investment in time for me because of that, I have an intense fear of reading a crappy book. Jeez, I sound like those maniacs who justified burning books in Fahrenheit 451.
Voice in my head: You read Star Trek novels all the time, you should be used to crappy novels by now.
Shut up!
Anyway...

Prior to the SCIFI Channel's promotion of The Legend of EarthSea, I'd never heard of it. I knew going in that it was A SciFi Original which usually means B or C Movie quality. This one seemed different. The SCIFI paid for ads in movie theatres and magazines. The commercials looked high quality. They were really pumping a lot of cash into this one. There was a chance that it would not suck.

D-Day came, I watched and I was entertained. It looked like a rip off of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Mummy. The story was safe and formulaic. The visuals were AWESOME. It looked really pretty and the costumes were nice. The actors were great. I wasn't that annoyed with the bad guys either. In comparison to all of the other SCIFI Originals, this one was the best. In fact, Earthsea Scores Big Ratings. With that in mind, I'd have to say that EarthSea did a bit of rocking.
Note: In comparison to LOTR and Potter, EarthSea was mediocre.

A few days later, I was forwarded an email about the author of EarthSea complaining about the movie being whitewashed. This is the article I read by Ursula K Le Guin.
-A Whitewashed Earthsea- How the SCIFI Channel wrecked my books
-Le Guin Blasts SCIFI's 'Earthsea'
Personally, I find it kinda hinky that Ms. Le Guin said nothing about this in her SCIFI.com interview on December 9th. Ged had been cast at least by April 5th, 2004 because the cast bios were on the SCIFI.com website by then. It would have been one thing for Ms. Le Guin to have spoken out in April but speaking out now is just too strategic for my taste. It makes her look like a sensational opportunist. She could claim that she didn't know anything about the cast until the TV movie aired but it would make her look dumb. That would totally kill any interest I had in reading her books.

Hell, after reading that article, I really expected her to not be "white". Open my mouth and force feed me crow, she's just a sweet, little ol' "white" lady from Berkeley, California. It doesn't mean that she doesn't have the right to be pissed off but I think that her outburst against the SCIFI Channel weakens her case. In her MSN/Slate article, she made a point to say that race was an important part of her books. I get that. I think it's quite progressive of her to not have typical, demographically correct characters in her stories. The execs at the SCIFI Channel probably read articles like Xzibit Says Aliens Don't Mess With The Hood and figured no one else would watch.

The SCIFI Channel most likely did their casting based on demographics. The main guy looked like a hobbit from LOTR for a reason. They wanted to make the people who loved LOTR watch EarthSea. SCIFI is notorious for making A movie look- a- like TV movies. This time, they wanted to make an epic movie based on a book. LOTR and Potter had them feeling a little left out. They wanted hobbits, wizards, spells, a object like a ring... amulet, a journey, etc. This is where EarthSea comes in. It's close to LOTR and Potter without being them. It had enough elements to remind the viewers of the recent blockbusters. I even I went to Ms. Le Guins website and she had this map on the opening page that reminded me of Middle Earth. Is EarthSea Lord of the Rings with non-white people? I guess I'd have to read the book for that.

It IS bullshit that SCIFI changed everyone's races and I'm pretty sure they know that. Ms. Le Guin should be flattered that she could write a story that was so universal that a person of any race could be cast. That means that the stereotyping fault isn't hers but SCIFI's. THIS is the saving grace of the entire situation. THIS makes me think that someday, I'll want to check the books out. If race was that important to her, she should have made that clear in a clause or something. It is also true that SCIFI should absolutely re-evaluate their target market. I watch, I'm female and I'm green.

Film or TV adaptations of books don't ruin books, books sucking ruin books. If the EarthSea books don't suck, maybe Ursula should have said, "If you like the TV movie, read my books!". The bad press made me find out more about her but I'm no closer to reading, let alone buying her books.

Monday, December 20, 2004

The Angel Gabriel spoketh unto me

That's right folks...
Gabriel Koerner commented on MY blog!

I'm going to go fourth grade on you and give a na na na na boo boo.
GIRLIE SQUEAL!!!
::* adhd episode- jump, jump, bounce, bounce, run around *::
It's like geeky sci-fi Christmas!

Not only did Ben Browder join the cast of Stargate, but... wait....
I bet you are lame and don't know who Gabe is.
*glares and rolls eyes*

debacle? This is the worst time you could have called. Go away!? Trekkies 1 & 2?
DUDE!!! I just blogged about this like a month ago. Quit smoking so much, dang!
How about pics.....
gabe
Look at our boy all growd up..... looking all cutie pie and whatnot.
*sniff* It's like watching Cirroc Lofton grow up on DS9.

Anyhoo... according to a comment made on my blog, he was flattered by the Trekkies 2: Electric Boogaloo article.
Completely unrelated to this thread, but this is Gabriel Koerner from Trekkies. I was sent a link to your blog review and was very flattered. Your blog definitely falls in my range of interests...
After his appearance on Trekkies, Gabe has to have a nice pair of nads to not have crawled into oblivion from embarrassment. Being the anonymous, yellow- bellied case that I am, I would have which is why we all love him so. He went on to appear on Drew Carey (which I did not know). He's involved in projects like "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004 Feature, 20th Century Fox)<----you go boy!, "Trekkies 2" (2004 Feature, Paramount Classics), "Battlestar Galactica" (2003, Miniseries, Sci-Fi channel)<----way to go! , "Skechernauts" (2003, Commercial, Skechers Shoes), "Star Trek: Borg Invasion 4D" (2003, Theme Park Ride, Paramount Parks).<--- I went on opening day, it was bad ass! He had the patience to learn Lightwave 3D and Maya. I took a course but that attention span of mine...
Gabe's like a Star Trek Fan hero. He's probably going to have to start signing autographs at conventions now. :) If that ever happens and I'm around, I'll personally slap anyone who asks him to repeat any "lines" from Trekkies.
...and no sex questions either you pervs. It's like listening to your little brother talk about sex. It's traumatic.


Green Space Girl

FYI-

If you didn't know, the green space girl on my profile cums from coopstuff.com. I don't own her or anything. Someone asked me about her so there you go!

coopstuff.com is all original art. Very nice work.

A Quickie...

The holidays gave me a social life that I didn't want. It's not really a social life as much as it is social obligations. I'm a hostage of the holidays. I can't wait to slit the throat of 2004.

There are a lot of movies and shows I caught but didn't have the time to comment on.

The Librarian:
Loved it. Thought it was very cute. Hope it was a pilot. Can't wait for more. Noah Wyle is very good at making "nerds" charming.... hot even. I'm still impressed at his portrayal of Steve Jobs in Pirates of Silicon Valley. He made me feel like Steve was the type of guy I'd hang out with. We're not going to get into how Anthony Michael Hall made Bill Gates sexy in my mind. That's another story all together.
Kyle MacLachlan was the bad guy in this movie. I really want to see him play the bad ass hero like in Twin Peaks.

Blade Trinity:
Girlie Squeals go out to Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds. Ewwws goes out to Dominic Purcell. He was hot but he was just too lame of a Big Bad. It was good to see Michael Rawlins. I remember him from a guest appearance on Earth Final Conflict.
If there is another Blade movie, I want to put in my bet now that Kris Kristofferson will be resurrected. He dies, he lives, he dies, he lives. If not living, he will at least be a flashback.

Enterprise- The Vulcan Arc:
Captain Archer was impressed me with being the first human to do a Vulcan neck pinch. ?
He did something else that I liked but the whole arc was rather blah. Not as blah as the previous 3 seasons but just blah in comparison to the Augment arc. Manny, get it together man. You gotta make up for 3 seasons of suck. Don't start going limp on me yet.

My personal B5 marathon:
Now that it is over, it feels like I'm missing something. That show was phenomenal. I'd seen more of it than I thought during the first run but I did miss key episodes. I'm glad to hear that J. Michael Straczynski is making something new.

Speaking of rumors...
The best news this season is that Ben Browder is joining Stargate. It's like the best news in science fiction TV in a long time. And to top it off SciFriday on The Sci-Fi Channel is going to be as good as it was when Stargate and Farscape was on the same night!
It feels like we, the fans, had a direct effect on him getting that role. It feels like for once, the little people swayed the hands of the big, faceless corporation.
Congrats Big Ben you sexy beast.

Smallville:
I'm actually jonesing for it.
I had been feeling like something was missing for the last week or so. I was shocked when I realized I missed the show. Smells like a Smallville marathon is due.

Battlestar Galactica:
As if "they" didn't realize that people were going to download it. They should fire the think tank leeches and not take it out on the enthusiastic fans. < OR > The fans are being used to make a big controversy about downloading the show. The show will get some press but so will the lawsuit sharks. There's a fine line between publicity and boycott. Don't get on the bad side of obsessive fans. BSG is good but may not be good enough to survive too much bad press, complaints about character changes and if big boy Hatch gets going again.... whew!
Well..... I can't say that.... Enterprise survived. :D

It's been a loooong time....



I can touch the skyyyyyy.....


::shudders::

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

GIRLIE SQUEAL! Ben Browder on Season Nine of SG1???

I haven't confirmed this nor do I have a source. Someone just sent me an email letting me know. HOORAY!!!!!

More later....

Holiday season is soaking up all of my time!

Monday, December 13, 2004

The Memory of Shadows

Babylon 5 Movie Gears Up?

Production Weekly reported that a feature film set in J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 universe will begin production in April in the United Kingdom. Straczynski wrote the film, The Memory of Shadows, which will be directed by Steven Beck (Ghost Ship), the publication reported.

In Shadows, the technology of the ancient and extinct Shadow race is being unleashed upon the galaxy by an unknown force, and Earthforce intelligence officer Diane Baker, whose brother was recently killed in a mysterious explosion, sets out to find out who is behind the conspiracy, Production Weekly reported. Joining her is Galen, a techno-mage who has been charged with keeping the technology out of the hands of those who would abuse it.


Hell yeah!!!
I just finished a personal Babylon 5 marathon. It was intense. I enjoyed all of it except for Byron. I'll have more on this later

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Holiday Slow Down

The holidays are taking up a lot of my time. I will be sporadically posting this month. Everything should get back to normal in January 2005.

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Enterprise: Mastering the Mute Button

I've really gotten good at hitting the mute button before that wretched theme song comes on. I'm really pleased with myself. It used to catch me off guard and I'd always catch, "It's been a long time...". I'd scramble, all pissed off for the remote before pressing the mute button so hard that it would get stuck sometimes. It would reduce my watching enjoyment of the show because I'd feel like, "Frack! That damned Rick Berman got me again"! I would get all frustrated because not only did the show suck (Pre-Coto) but I had to sit through some quasi pop-country-ish song. It made me feel like all hope that Enterprise was going to get better was hopeless.
I was even more pissed with Crappy Theme Song: The Remix but that is another story.

The good
NOW, boys and girls, when Enterprise comes on, I sit ready and waiting. As soon as the opening act music escalates and then everything fades to black, that mute button is hit! It feels like the quick draw at high noon. Since season four is watchable, that and not actually hearing that theme song has made the show a little bit better. It's the little things.

The bad
To my horror, I realized that somehow I'd learned the lyrics to the song. Even with mastering the mute button, I'd watch the Earth Space History montage and hear the song playing in my head. Ain't that a bitch?

Friday, December 03, 2004

Blowing off guys for TV shows

Because I was in such a rush to get home and watch LOST, I blew off a guy that was flirting with me. After watching this weeks episode, do you know how pissed I am? I'm not going to say that LOST has Jumped The Shark yet but Claire and her baby annoy me. This business about a lone creepy guy who isn't on the manifest seemed rushed. It would be different if he was there from the start. He's in there like some random red- shirt. What happened to Mira Furlan? I'm pissed about her not being even a semi-regular. Though I appreciate the "Giligan's Island as directed by David Lynch" feel of this episode, it just didn't work.

I blew off a guy for this. He was kinda cute. Damn.

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Sometimes Scifi is Stupid



The guys over at stupidscifi.com think so as well. Check them out.

Farscape: Through The Wormhole Trading Cards

Farscape: Through The Wormhole Trading Cards - Rittenhouse Archives


Farscape: Through The Wormhole trading cards will cover all four years of the award winning sci-fi show giving collectors an inside view into the lives of the Moya's crew. Each card in this 72-card series will feature images and insight into the background and lives of John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, D'Argo, Chiana, Zhaan, Rygel, Pilot, Scorpius, Jool, Sikozu, Stark and others.
This series will also provide collectors with the most autograph cards ever gathered for any one Rittenhouse Archives product with 37 different autographers inserted at ratio of 2 Per Box! Another unique feature is that every autograph card will be limited since no one actor/actress has signed more than 500 autograph cards! Signers for this series include both cast members and memorable guest stars.


I'm not into trading cards simply because I don't get the point of them. I've bought some before for Stargate (The Movie) and Deep Space Nine but after I looked at them for awhile I was done. I'm not social enough to actually trade them. I haven't bothered to figure out how it all works. I guess it would be cool to own an autographed card from one of the actors. To be honest, if I wanted one that bad, I'd go to a con.

< thinking >

< contradicting self now >

Dammit. All this talk about cards, now I have to go buy a set.

< / thinking >

< / contradicting self now >

Anyhoo, if it's your thing, you can pre-buy the cards at scifihobby.com