A Four-Poster Day

Which will probably all equal up to one regular post.

I remembered where I saw the guy from the Magic Fridge ad. As stated in a previous post.

The man is none other than Brandon Keener, who played Lance Brooks, loser older brother of RJ "his physical presence has a penis" Brooks in the season seven episode Him.

"I got a sort of a rumpus room set up in the basement. There's air-hockey and a mini-fridge. We could party!"

Alternate Title For Previous Post

"And this one time, at the Olympics..."

ESPN AGREES WITH ME!

ESPN's Page 2 today (and if you look after today, you'll have to dig through the archives) Says that Emily Hughes looks like Alyson Hannigan.

What can I say, that's one of the reasons I liked Emily to begin with. I started enjoying watching her for other reasons, but that hit me before anything.

What do you think?


















Another part of that that surprises/pleases me is that AH has become enough of a name where she's being mentioned on ESPN. Good times.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Okay, so it's three weeks off, but I just discovered that two games I want for the DS, Tetris DS and Metroid Prime Hunters, are both being released on my birthday. Sweet, I think I know where some of my cash is going.

You may or may not hear from me tomorrow. I'm taking the day off of work and am getting the keys to my condo at about 3:30. Probably will be hauling a load or two that night, so I'm thinking I wont' be doing any writing on Wednesday.

I know, I know. Hold back your tears, it'll be alright. I'll be back on Thursday, maybe with pictures of my new place.

But probably not. Lack of cameras, and all.

Big TF News

Or news of future news.

Casting is goign to commence in the next month for the Transformers movie, and according to TFW2005, at least one big name wants to get on board.

Who? Who knows. All we can speculate is that someone who wants on board of the Transformers movie without being approached is either a closet fan or an all-out nerd.

Here's the nerds we know:

Tom Hanks - Loves Transformers, sang the theme song on a late night talk show a few years ago. Also buddy-buddy with Spielberg.
Vin Diesel - Destroyer of worlds, lover of Dungeons and Dragons.
Freddie Prinze Jr - Comic Book dork, married to a cult icon, created an X-Men character for an acting class. I could see him wanting into Transformers.
Jude Law - Comic book fan, also, with a tattoo of Rorshack (sp?) from Watchmen. An outside shot, but he is a name and a nerd.

Six Pictures

Wow, am I turning into one of those kinds of Bloggers? Six pictures on this page, posted in the last week or week and a half. Spidey/Venom, Rent, Brilliant!, Giraffe, Ligety, and Giggety.

Hey, let's go for ten by the end of the week!

Seven!

Eight!

Nine!

Ten! DINGDINGDINGDING!

EDIT: By the way, my show starts back up tonight, everyone come see it. I would have made this a seperate posting, but I didn't want to lose my ten pictures quite yet.

Veeeenoooom....

VEEEEEEnnnnoooommmm!

From an email I just got for Spider-Man 3, and they make it known that it's not a black-and-white photo, it's a black suit.

Veeeeeee....

nnnnoooooo....

mmmmm....

ooooooohhhVENOM!

Or at least, maybe, a hint that Venom somehow comes from Spider-Man, much like he did in the comic, with Spidey's black-costume-turned-alien-symbiote?

More Buffy Support

So the new hip lawyer show that's been advertised three-quarters-to-death is Conviction on NBC. I would have absolutely NO interest in this show, if it weren't for:

- J. August "Charles 'I have an eyepatch now, no, seriously, read the comic' Gunn" Richards

- Eric "Jesse 'I was Xander's best friend and Whedon's biggest red herring, then I was dust, then I was on 24 and a bunch of crappy shows and even more famous ones' McNally" Balfour

Two Buffy (well, Whedonverse) alum on one show. And they're both playing lawyers. Odd. But I might have to find an episode or two.

Also, the Super Bowl's "Magic Fridge" commercial had an actor who looked really, REALLY familiar. He was on an episode of Buffy or Angel or Firefly or something. But I can't peg it. So if anyone knows who plays the "buddy" of the guy who made the magic fridge, let me know, please?

Pee In My Pants

Well, okay, maybe not, but damn/thank you, CJ, for introducing me to the Whedon/Ellis bearded flame war. Difficult to read at work without busting out.

Alright, insurance stuff is almost done with. I need to mail a check and I'm good.

Six more days.

Odd Couples

Sometimes I find it amusing when poster designers couple everyone up. Sometimes they just leave some odd combinations in the end.

Take the RENT DVD cover, for instance. Which, btw, is now out.

1) Joann and Maureen. Awww

2) Collins and Angel. Awww

3) Roger & Mimi. Awww

4) Benny & Mark.

...

Awww?

Kinda reminds me of the international posters for Goblet of Fire. They had the suitable pairings (Cho & Cedric, Hermione & Victor, Ron & Fleur). Then there was Harry & Moody.

...

Awww?

Hmmm...

Actually, I'm fairly confident I could find you some slash fic for both pairings, if you're interested.

Yuh

I opened this with the intention of saying something. But I really have nothing to say.

So have a giraffe.

Wow

Found this linked from Thinkin Lincoln.

Completely done on Microsoft Paint.

Alright, getting down to the nitty gritty over here for the condo. Trying to get insurance stuff squared away before Wednesday, which is a thrill considering I have to figure out personal vs. association insurance.

Thrilling for me. Even more thrilling for you to read about it.

Huh?

Paraphrasing from Dick Button, in response to a nice, but unartistic, ice dance:

"It's like watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie, where you know there's a bomb under the chair, you're just waiting for it to go off."

Huh? Hitchcock with a bomb under the chair? Does this make any sense, or do I just not knowHitchcock?

Crazy Crazy

I recorded this race. I will watch it again and again after I get it back from a loanee.

She has no one to blame but herself. For being an idiot.

But, hell, the whole thing made me decide that snowboard cross is my new favorite Olympic sport. Second is curling, but that's mostly because of the Bemidji girls.

I didn't get a chance to watch the men's race because of rehearsal, but I made sure to record the entire Friday broadcast, quarterfinals, semis, and the final, which by itself had:

1) One racer go through a cyclone fence
2) One racer carted off on a stretcher
And, of course, 3) The Idiocy

Just a great event. For those who don't know it, it's basically motocross with a snowboard: four competitors going down a track at the same time, complete with ramps and jumps. Just high quality stuff.

Well, the show has opened. And, wow, that was probably the wackiest weekend I've ever had for a show. Our music director's currently in the hospital with a negative reaction to antibiotics. So we had a fill-in director all weekend. Things went eh on Friday, great on Sunday. But, wow, Saturday was a train wreck.

Our normal should be back on Friday, though, so that'll make things better.

Otherwise, a very subdued weekend. Bought a few toys (decided to beef up my Marvel Legends mini-collection with Vengeance and War Machine, the latter of which I should make some money on by selling the Galactus Leg on eBay), slept a lot, and went to a friend's band's concert. Dat's bout it.

Money Well Spent

Well, looks like I made the right choice when I bought the DS. Nintendo Japan today announced their plans for cartridge releases this year, including:

1) Wireless Internet
2) HD TV reception
3) Foreign language translators
4) Penmanship training programs
5) Talking cookbooks
6) Reference guides (encyclopedia? dictionary?)

Brilliant!













I've been pining for something like this for years. The beauty of doing it for the DS, as opposed to a system like the Game Boy or the PSP, is that, with the exception of the antenna for the HD, none of these requires any extra hardware. The touch screen can be used to type web addresses, change channels, scribble your writings, or select step 3 of your bundt cake recipe. And the article says each of these cartridges will be available for only about $30 bucks.

Now they are close to only three more pieces of software that would blow Sony out of the market:

1) Office software. Hell, you could sell a cartridge with a day planner, a notepad, a voice recorder, and a calculator for 10 bucks and be a yuppie's best friend. And it's gotta be extremely simple to do, too, you could probably sell it for $15, $20 bucks and still turn a profit.

2) Movies. Yeah, I'm sure that, right now, the cartridge format probably isn't equipped for it, unlike the PSP. But, for the love of pete, Nintendo was releasing one-hour cartoons for the Advance. The ADVANCE! Give this technology two or three years and you could easily fit a 2-hour motion picture onto a DS cartridge.

3) Satellite radio. The one thing that the DS has going for it right now is it's dual compatability. Beyond the backward compatibility of the PS2 or the X-Box 360, the DS is the only system in the history of the market that has two separate game ports, one for DS, one for Advance. Nintendo, hook up with Sirius or XM, make a satellite reciever that can be plugged into the Advance port, and your customer can listen to the radio as they're playing their games.

Damn, why haven't they hired me yet?

Ligety Giggity Giggity!

Am I the only writer to use that headline today?

Eh, probably not.

A Potential Mini-Collection

I'm trying to decide if it's worth investing in a collection of six toys in order to get the toy I really really REALLY want.

Marvel Legends, a series that is really nice-looking, but I have yet to buy any of, is releasing wave 13 soon. The wave consists of:

Green Goblin
Loki
Abomination
Blackheart
Lady Deathstrike
Pyro

None of these characters strike me as "ooh ooh, must buy" (except Blackheart, who looks pretty cool). But they combine to form Onslaught, one of my favorite characters from the good period of X-Men history.

Hmmm... yeah, I think they'll be worth it.

Ramblings of the Single Male

Does anyone want to join the Monorail Society? They build monorails for puppies.

Remember: Mono means One, and Rail means Rail.

On today, the most red of holidays, we celebrate St. Valentine, the patron saint of heart-shaped pizzas and $300 lobster dinners.

A few thoughts, if you will:

- According to the NRF, the average male will spend $135.67 on Valentine's Day gifts, while the average female will spend $68.64. For anyone who questions why men hate this holiday, there's one reason there.

- According to advertisements that overwhelm us, well, constantly, the only way to prove your love for another person is to buy them jewelry. The average diamond ring costs $2000 dollars. That can buy you two refrigerators; a plasma TV set with Tivo; An XBox 360, Playstation 2, Game Cube, Nintendo DS, PSP, and $1200 in games; a used car; season tickets for the Minnesota Wild; a trip to Las Vegas; four hundred shirts, pants, and jackets; a living room set.

Or two month's mortgage.

Or a year's worth of groceries.

Remember, if you don't spend your life's savings on a small rock, you really don't love her.

- Finally, a ponderance: if a man shows affection all through the year, is he still required to go all out today?

Another Disappearing Courtesy

I had some chicken stuck in my retainer after lunch. Walking through the skyway, I walked by at least a dozen restaurants. No toothpicks anywhere.

Didn't most joints used to have a pick dispenser at their register, or at the condiment area? Are little bits of wood too expensive, or are they considered weapons of mass destruction?

Thank God for the sushi place, which is apparently upstart enough to not know any better.

It's always in the last place you look. Unless you keep looking after you find it. Then it's not in the last place you look.

I have some decisions to make. I was looking at one show to do after SG, but:

1) I'm hearing lots of negative words so far about the director. Giving preferential treatment to friends, pre-casting, etc. Which is frowned upon in this theatre.

2) I'm going to be moving for the first few weeks of rehearsal.

3) I have three more shows coming down the pipe, the last of which is one I've been looking forward to for years. I think if I take a break now, I should be prepared for a three show run. I don't know if I can do four straight, and I don't wanna miss out on the one this fall.

Vaguaries are fun, aren't they?

But, what I'm learning is that I shouldn't promise people I'll be doing shows, then end up not. Hopefully this wasn't too big of a promise, though. Or even a promise at all.

Two Thoughts Before Sleep

1) EA Sports seems to be making too many video games. Madden, sure. MLB, NBA, NHL, sure.

Boxing. Arena Football. COLLEGE BASEBALL. Too much.

2) I need a cd with the following songs on them, as I don't know how to find them online without buying the full soundtrack:

- "Zankoku no Tenshi no Thesis" from Neon Genesis Evangelion (my previous favorite anime theme)
- "Melissa" from Fullmetal Alchemist (my new favorite anime theme. This is the video, I just don't know how to get it into a wmv audio for my player.)
- The theme song from Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- Inuyasha's theme
- The song from the final episode of Cowboy Bebop (a different version of the closing theme)

Basically, if someone could just make a cd with like the 10 or 15 best anime songs, they would be in my debt for all eternity.

Funny (Depressing)

I'm sure the internet savvy of the world have heard about the Garfield Randomizer, which has been taken down. Basically a website took individual frames of Garfield strips and allowed you to randomly rotate them through, creating some pretty funny comics.

I saw a link on Wondermark that continues the tradition of "improving" Garfield by removing the thought balloons from the comic, making it more about Jon and his miserable life talking with a regular silent cat.

Here's the link.

I know I've said this a few times before, but now I think it's true: I am in the FINAL negotiations for the condo. The inspector stuff has been dealt with, we're heading towards final closing. As far as I can tell, there are no more roadblocks between now and the 1st.

Also, the show opens a week from today. And we only have four more rehearsals between now and then. They're giving us Tuesday, V-Day off, because we can't get into the school that day. So, good, I have Valentine's Day off. So I can... umm... prepare for 50% off Valentine's Day candy on the 15th.

W00t.

Hey, Look, Kids!

A metric assload of X3 pictures, including first shots of Psylocke (purple girl, plus two others I can't name) & a non-CG steeled-up Colossus.

Edit: Plus I still find it kinda odd that they decided to put Shadowcat in pink trim. Verrrry shadowy.

Editer: Also, are Wolverine and Pyro going to be out of costume for the entire flick?

Editest: And when are we going to see any pictures of Angel with his shirt on?

Holding Pattern

Still waiting... so flippin close!

My work has been keeping me busy the last few days, and my rehearsals have been keeping me busy the last few nights. So here I stand, not having posted in a few days, with nothing remotely interesting to say.

So I'll say this:

Gyllenhaal's rumored to play Harvey Dent.

See me running in slow motion, diving towards the cancel button. "Nnnnnnooooooooo!!!!"

Boy, I really hope that this is just a hype machine report, pegging the hot actor to the hot movie. Because Jake is a terrible choice for Two-Face without absolutely twisting the history of multiple characters.

In the comics, Dent is a childhood friend of Bruce, who grows up to become District Attorney. Jake has a baby-face, which makes him look a LOT younger than 1) Bruce, and 2) a DA.

If this is going to be truth, they'd better remove his connection to Bruce, remove his DA status (possibly as a hot-shot assistant, like Holmes in the first one), and possibly make the Joker trial as his first big case. Because he's just too young, just too soft-spoken for the role.

When Tobey Maguire went down during the filming of Spider-Man 2, rumor was that Gyllenhaal, at the time dating Kirsten Dunst, was going to step into the role. Which would make sense, since he's Tobey's clone. Even after Brokeback, he still plays a college kid better than a grown mature adult.

Yes, Dent is going to be younger than both his comic book and Batman Forever counterparts. But he still has to be able to fit the role comfortably. Liev Schreiber was mentioned, and he's still my favorite for the role. If you want to go hot commodity, Heath Ledger would make a better Dent than Gyllenhaal. Matt Dillon's nominated for an Academy Award, too, he'd be a better Dent.

All three of those actors can comfortably play a friend to Christian Bale.

Gyllenhaal can't.

Hell, if I had a choice, I'd rather see them go nuts and make Holmes the new Two-Face before I want Jake in that role. It would be a shot to the nuts to most fanboys. The sight of his lady as a scarred psychopath with an extreme bi-polar disorder would make Tom Cruise's head explode. But might just be gutsy enough to work.

But casting Gyllenhaal would ruin the Batman franchise. Again. End of story.

Even though I have to say it's still kinda funny to me that Bubble Boy's up for an Oscar.

Also, the article mentions Paul Bettany again for The Joker. I still think I like it. But I'm not sure...

Almost... There...

Inspector's been in and out of the unit. Mortgage person's been contacted. Less than a month to go... w00ts aplenty.

Oh, yeah, and my show opens next weekend. Which is also coming along well. I'm also able to waltz successfully for most of the time, too. Except for the time when I'm the only one waltzing and everyone's watching me suck. It involves waltzing across a stage in four measures, so it kinda turns into a sprint-waltz-thingy. But, hey, week and a half? pph. Gimme something challenging!

A Brief TF Note

I am EXTREMELY behind on my reviews, because I basically decided that no one cares. but I have to mention I just got my first in the Cybertron Defense series, Hot Shot. His vehicle mode is a armored personnel carrier, and his robot mode is armed to the friggin teeth.

I've never seen this much weaponry on a Transformer before outside of your Super Optimi and Megatrons. he has doors on both arms and both legs that open up to reveal... jeez... I dont' know what they're called, missile pods? Each appendage has about 15 missiles. They don't actually fire, but just imagine it. His shoulders also have two big cannons, which are opened by the Planet Key to reveal EVEN MORE MISSILES! Friggin! I wanna see an episode of Cybertron just to watch him wipe out an entire army by himself.

His hand-held weapon is just a combat knife, a rarity among all Transformer toys. But after all the firepower they gave him in his body, the guy could use a melee weapon.

I picked him up, I'm waiting for CD Scattorshot, and CD Red Alert has been out for a while, just waiting for the inevitable sale.

New Potter People

And, wow, haven't heard of any of them before.

As I'm digging around to find pictures of Natalia Tena, who has been cast as Tonks, she's tough to find. So far all I've been able to find are pictures from play reviews here, here and here. And, um, here (check around the site, there's a few of her). Boobtastic.

Don't know if I like the choice. It might be just because there aren't any pictures of her smiling, but she seems a little, I don't know, dour to play Tonks. But, meh, slap a pink wig on her and who knows?

Evanna Lynch is a newcomer playing Luna. Decent choice, but for some reason she looks like she could pass as Draco's little sister. And doesn't she look young for someone playing as Ginny's age?

Helen McCrory as Bellatrix. Yup, I can see it. Especially here.

Kathryn Hunter as Figg. Hmmm... Looks alright, and this picture seems to show that she's done a movie with Wormtail before. Probably should age her up a bit, though.

Powerpuff Jen

Genndy Tartakovsky's doing Dark Crystal II.

One HELL of a choice of director. He's come up with some of the more original cartoons in the past decade, including Dexter, Samurai Jack, and Powerpuff Girls. And his Clone Wars miniseries was one of the few good things to come out of the prequels.

Now if he could get Craig McCracken to come in and assist the Henson team with character design, we got ourselves a movie, despite the fact that the original gave me nightmares as a child.

Out Of Things

I bought Animal Crossing. I'm playing Animal Crossing. These are now funnier.

However, I must say that, so far, I'm somewhat disappointed with the game. I think most of it stems from the fact that, like my experience with Pokemon, I'm the only one I know who plays the damn thing. AC has a wi-fi connection to go to other people's towns. But, for safety's sake, you can only go to the towns of people you know. Since I'm the only one I know... well, I'm hoping the ACC forum I signed up for might be able to find me some folks.

Also, this is one of the rare games that I've played with no discernable end or goal. It's kinda like a simpler version of The Sims, where you meet others, build your house, buy things, earn money, whatever. But there's no way to "beat" the game that I can see.

It has a real-time concept that's pretty interesting. There's an internal clock that goes beyond things like not letting you into places at night, and says "Hey, there's a garage sale on Saturday!" or "You can see your constellation on March 17th at 7:00 pm" or "I'll meet you at your house at 5:30..." pretty fun that way, but it also kinda makes you pay attention to it.

I just hope whoever I start dating next is a game nut, cuz I could see myself buying them a DS to have someone to play with. So far it appears to be one of my only options.

In other news, The Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday and, for the first time since 1997, I have seen NONE of the movies in ANY of the major categories. Not Best Movie, not Best Director. Not Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor or Actress. Not Best Original Screenplay, not Best Adapted Screenplay.

I've wanted to see a few of them (Walk The Line, A History of Violence, Crash, Cinderella Man, Hustle & Flow, March of the Penguins, Murderball) but I just... well... haven't had the time, money, or company to. Not until Cinematography (Batman Begins) that I can say I've seen any of them, in theatre or on DVD.

Hell, I've only seen one of the three Animated Features, and I've been meaning to see all three of them!

As most geeks can attest to, it's usually the technical awards that have the movies we've seen. Narnia, Kong, Potter, Sith I've seen, War of the Worlds and Chocolate Factory I haven't. But they fill the geek quotient of the program.

What can I say, I probably won't even watch this year. Tough to find a picture to root for, and it's pretty much an assurance that Brokeback's going to clean up anyway. For most of the categories, there's more than a few actors and actresses that I like, but not enough to go "hooray" for.

There aren't even any dark horses in the race this year, like Johnny Depp from Pirates or Marissa Tomei from My Cousin Vinnie. And there aren't any "If you'd told me five years ago..." nominees like a Jamie Foxx, a Bill Murray, or a Queen Latifa. Actors who, looking at their previous careers, you would have never thought as Academy Award calibre. I suppose you make a case for Michelle "Dawson's Creek" Williams or Matt "Wild Things" Dillon, but they've both had enough dramatic roles in the past where this isn't as much of a shock.

We shall see what happens, I spose. I think I can make the excuse that I'll be too busy moving, but whatever...