Tiny Houses & My Unhealthy Addiction To HGTV

Don’t ask me why, because there really is no good reason for it at the moment, but The Keeper and I (more I) have become completely addicted to HGTV. It started with the House Hunters series. Especially House Hunters: International. It was just so cool to see living spaces in other countries. And so cool to see living spaces that we could probably never afford. And so much fun to yell at people being stupid or ridiculous in their expectations or overly picky about things that really should not matter. But it didn’t stop there.

We started watching My First Place, Property Virgins, Holmes Inspection, Room Crashers, Holmes on Homes, Yard Crashers, Curb Appeal, and now All American Handyman. We’ve also watched a couple episodes of Design Stars, though neither of us is really all that interested in it. That one has mostly just been background noise once it gets too late for us to want to switch the channel and get invested in something. However, the most recent episode of Design Star introduced me to something that I think is super fun: Tiny Houses.

 

Apparently, these itty-bitty homes are a new trend among individuals and couples who want to live more of a green, small carbon footprint lifestyle. And they can be SUPER CUTE!

On the aforementioned episode of Design Star, the three remaining contestants each had to design the interior of one of these types of homes. The idea was to see who could use the minuscule space best while also making it aesthetically pleasing. 

They all did a pretty good job, but I realized something tonight when this episode was re-run and I had it on in the background. Every single one of them used the space just above the rafters as a sleeping space. They each had a carpenter assigned to them who could make anything they wanted to put into the space, but all of them chose to put the bed in the rafters. How did this show get down to the final three with such uncreative people?

The rafter space could have been some truly awesome storage. I’m sure they could have figured out some kind of drop down drawer configuration that would have been totally unique. And all of them missed the PERFECT opportunity for using Murphy Beds. They could have made a single person Murphy Bed that had a fold out table on the bottom so when the bed is up, a table could come out. Or, they could have made a two person Murphy Bed in two sections. One section could serve as a couch when the other section is folded up against the wall, and that other section could have the table underneath.

And that is exactly what I’m going to do if The Keeper and I ever decide we want a vacation home.

Dancing With The Stars?

A few weeks ago I convinced The Keeper to subscribe to Hulu so that I could watch the most recent season of Bones. Being unemployed, it didn’t take me long to get through Bones and then I needed to find other things to watch so as not to waste the free trial period. During my search for other things to watch I found a clip of Penn Jillette talking about his experience on Dancing with the Stars.

Now, I’m not big on reality TV. Especially the shows that compile a hodge podge of amateurs and have them compete. I tend to prefer the skill shows, like Top Chef or Project Runway, where professionals or people who are talented and skilled in a specific area compete and are judged by other professionals in that area. But, I LOVE Penn Jillette and the thought of him on a dance floor was just too much fun. I had to see it. And I really didn’t expect to watch past his elimination. But I realized during the first episode that Penn wasn’t the only celebrity on the show who would have caught my interest. The same season as Penn there was also:

Adam Carolla, of The Man Show fame.

Cristian de la Fuente, who I know from the USA show In Plain Sight.

And Marissa Jaret Winokur, who despite my doubts did a fantastic job as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.

Not only were there lots of fun personalities on the show, but the dancing itself was a lot of fun to watch. So, basically, I think that as long as there are at least 3 people in the cast that I’m interested in I’ll probably be watching a lot more of Dancing With The Stars.

And since coming to that realization I’ve been thinking a lot about what celebrities I might want to see on the show. Here are some of the celebrities I would most like to see on Dancing With The Stars.

Troy Polamalu
Peyton Manning
Drew Brees
Bruce Campbell
Michael Weatherly
Jamil Walker Smith
Robert Carlyle
David Blue
Michael Shanks
Dennis Leary
Erik King
Michael C Hall
T.J. Thyne
Daniel Sunjata
Dean Winters
Alan Doyle
Josh Turner
Kelci Bryant
Elena Hight
Heidi Klum
Pauley Perrette
Cote de Pablo
Kat Dennings
Julia Benson
Mary McCormack
Lauren Velez
Michaela Conlin
Mariska Hargitay
Lisa Lampanelli
Florence Welch

And I’m certain there are more, but I can’t think of them right now.

Dungeons and Dragons, Make Way For Pathfinder

I got into tabletop role-playing games when I was about 15. My older sister had been playing them and painting miniatures for them for what seemed like ages. One time when she visited from college she brought minis and paint with her, and my younger sister and I painted them. So by the time I was in high school I knew enough about RPGs to know that I was interested in trying one.
Then came my first serious boyfriend. He was a gamer of all sorts. He played RPGs, miniature war games, video games, board games, collectible card games. And he had friends who did those things too, so all of a sudden there were multiple people around who played these games that I’d been wanting to try.

Unfortunately, being high school kids, people never seemed to be able to commit to a regular game session. That’s not a big deal with some games, but an RPG is an ongoing thing. So we ended up playing a few sessions of one thing before it disintegrated, then a few sessions of something else with a slightly different group of people, and so on. I think the first game I ever played was Vampire: The Masquerade and it lasted maybe two sessions. My high school boyfriend ran a few sessions of a game based on the Dragon Lance (I think?) book series; and later a short lived Cthulu game with myself and one other player. We found an awesome little gaming shop and played some strange wild west flavored game. And, of course, there were numerous attempts at D&D games.

D&D is the only one I actually stuck with once I got out of high school. During my one year at college I tried to join a gaming club, but I didn’t really feel like I meshed with the people very well. So, I took a break from gaming for a while and got into another scene. But it didn’t take too long before I was in a relationship with another gamer geek. And, moving to a new area notwithstanding, it wasn’t much longer after that before we found a D&D group to play with. I’ve been with that group (or, well, that game master since he and I are the only ones left from the original group) for six years now. And until a month or two ago we had been playing D&D the whole time.

But ever since the fourth edition of D&D came out it seems like everyone, everywhere wants some kind of change. For those of us who hate the way fourth edition has turned D&D into a cross between a collectible card game and a video game, there is an alternative.

Pathfinder.

Pathfinder is the natural progression of D&D 3.5. It takes the overall system from 3.5 and tweaks it to make a little more sense, then takes the classes and does an overhaul to them to make them more interesting. Pathfinder is for the player who wants their fighter to just fight and leave the magic to the spellcasters. Pathfinder is for the player who wants their cleric to actually be useful in regard to healing, instead of being pushed into the background by fourth edition D&D’s decision to let EVERYONE just heal themselves. Pathfinder is the new D&D, and D&D has become a game for small children.

Super Villains, The Little Engines That Might of Comics

                      

I love super villains. Most villains aren’t supposed to be liked, much less rooted for, but that’s what I do on some level for many of the classic type of villains. Good always triumphs. It gets boring. Sometimes, as much as I love Batman, I really just want the Joker to win. And not just the battle, I want him to win the war. I want to see a world in which the Joker has somehow set himself up as a mad dictator. Then, after the Joker has lived out his life ruling over an anarchic society and died peacefully allowing a successor to take over, then perhaps a new incarnation of Batman can come and kick the new dictator’s ass.

This will never happen, because on some level people need to believe that good will triumph over evil. It’s the same basic reason that religion exists.

 

Nevertheless, I enjoy a well constructed villain character and even when I’m cheering on the hero, I’m also cheering quietly for the villain. And there are some really great villains in classic comics. I’ve mentioned the Joker already, but a lot of the core Batman villains are fantastic and probably some of the most recognizable villains in existence. Even people who aren’t into comics at all have some vague idea of who the Joker, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and the Riddler are, just to name a few. Superman’s Lex Luthor is another that most people will recognize, and he doesn’t even wear a funny costume 99% of the time. And the XMen have Magneto, who I think might be the most pragmatic villain I’m familiar with and who is probably my favorite super villain.

Magneto is a great villain because if you really think about it, he isn’t necessarily evil, just militant. He provides a really good example of how good and evil are fluid concepts based on individual perception. I’ll go ahead and admit, I haven’t read all the old XMen comics; but from what I can tell from what I have read and from the cartoons and movies based on the comics, Magneto wants, or at least in the beginning wanted, the same thing the XMen want- fair treatment and equal rights for mutants. Magneto is just the Malcolm X to Professor Xavier’s Martin Luthor King Jr. And the fact that he can make people really think about the meaning of good and evil in shades of grey instead of black and white is what I like best about him. Well, that and the potential for amazing sex that I explain in the FAQ section of this blog.

The Duke vs. The Dude

  

A week or two ago The Keeper and I watched the original 1969 version of True Grit with John Wayne, Glen Campbell and Kim Darby. Last night we went to see the remake starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfeld. We were expecting it to be easy to find seats. We were wrong. The movie has been out for three weeks and the theatre was packed.

There were quite a few differences between the 1969 True Grit and the 2010 True Grit, and I’m about to outline and compare as many of them as I can remember. So, just in case anyone reading this hasn’t seen either version, here’s your spoiler alert.

 
The first difference I noticed was that the new movie had a narrator, an older Mattie Ross, who explained the events which led to her hiring Ruben ‘Rooster’ Cogburn to pursue her father’s murderer. In the original version they actually show her father saying goodbye to the family, Mattie doling out cash for his trip and then the murder. While the narration isn’t bad and it moves you on to the action a little faster, I kind of like the opening couple scenes from the original better. Seeing Mattie with her father makes it a little easier to relate to her and root for her even though the character is a socially inept, abrasive little bitch.

There were a few minor changes once Mattie gets to the city, including her passing her first night in the room where the undertaker prepares bodies and her cornering Rooster for the first time in an outhouse. But mostly the story moves along in the same way and no important details seem to be changed. The next big change, in my opinion, comes when Mattie and Texas Ranger La Boeuf chat for the first time. In the original, La Boeuf stops Mattie in the dining room of the boarding house they’re both staying in and explains that he’s after the same man she’s just hired Rooster to go after. In the new movie, Mattie wakes up with La Boeuf sitting in her room staring at her and smoking a pipe. This makes La Boeuf’s comment about how he’d considered stealing a kiss especially creepy in the new movie, which I thought was kind of unnecessary.
 
Another big change comes directly after that conversation. In the 1969 True Grit there is a scene where Mattie walks in on Cogburn and La Boeuf commiserating about the upcoming manhunt they intend to embark on. Mattie gets upset because she’s paying for Cogburn’s services and doesn’t want Chaney, her father’s murderer, to be taken back to Texas to be tried, which is what the Marshall and the Ranger intend to do. That scene doesn’t happen in the new movie. They make up for the lack of exposition later with a conversation between Rooster and Mattie once the three of them are on the trail, but it still threw me a little that they left that part out of the new movie.

Once they all get on the trail the story progresses in roughly the same fashion in both movies, except for three glaringly huge differences. In the new movie La Boeuf and Cogburn get into an argument about their respective services in the Civil War, which leads to La Boeuf parting ways from Cogburn and Mattie. The argument happens in the original, but La Boeuf doesn’t leave. Shortly after the split, Rooster suspects that La Boeuf is following them in an attempt to use them to flush Chaney out, but it turns out to be a really weird Grizzly Adams lookalike who points them toward a dugout shelter they should be able to use for the night. In the original they never meet any such man, and Rooster already knows about the dugout. And finally, La Boeuf ends up rejoining the other two but then they all run into a dead end and Rooster gets all emo and decides to call it quits, which prompts La Boeuf to leave them yet again. None of this happened in the 1969 version.

As far as I can tell the scenes that were added, the three above as well as some other minor ones, do nothing to advance or really change the plot. All they really do is add some humor and a bit of conflict, which I found unnecessary. Not that I don’t like to laugh, I just never really felt this was supposed to be a comedy. Overall though, I don’t think that changing a few of the details and adding a few things is bad. When I walked out of the theatre, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the changes, but after thinking about it I can’t say that I dislike the new movie. Perhaps that is partially due to the acting.

Hailee Steinfeld was a perfect Mattie, aside from the fact that she’s very cute and Mattie is supposed to be plain if not downright ugly.

Matt Damon plays the somewhat cocky Texas Ranger better than Glen Campbell probably ever could have, which may be why his character was given so much more depth in the new movie.

And Jeff Bridges is the most worthy successor to The Duke that I can think of. To kick off the final gun battle of the movie, he delivers the line “Fill your hand, you sonuvabitch!!” better than Wayne did in the original.  

But even so, I have to say I liked the original just a teeny, tiny bit more. It’s a close call. If I had to rate them I’d give the 1969 version a 9 out of 10 while the remake would get an 8.5, but that still means The Duke wins. Though I will say, I did like the wardrobe in the new movie far, far better than the old.

Note: I found out during the credits of the remake that these movies were based on a book by Charles Portis. I haven’t read this book, but from what I can surmise from Amazon reviews of it, the new movie actually follows the book far more closely than the original movie did. I intend to read the book eventually, and if the new movie really is as close to the book as I’ve been made to believe, I may change my ratings to be equal, since I hate when a movie is based on a book but doesn’t doesn’t follow the book well.

The Anti-Hero, The Most Awesome Kind of Hero

To be honest, I’m a little hesitant to continue my 15 Days of Nerd posts since I seem to have personally offended my friend over at my time on terra firma with my assessment of Spiderman, and with my lack of in depth knowledge about the classic superhero I chose to use as my favorite. The truth is there are characters in books, normal novels, that I like better than any of the “classic” comic book heroes. There are comic book characters, such as Shi, that aren’t as well known that I like better than many of the “classic” heroes. But, I decided to focus on the classics because I thought it would be easier. Now I kind of wish I hadn’t. But I’m not going to go back and rewrite the post. I’m too lazy for that. Instead, I’d just like to point out that I’m not trying to attack anyone and I don’t intend offense when I describe fictional figures that you may love in an unfavorable way.



Now that’s taken care of, on to the next nerdy topic: Anti-Heroes. These are the heroes who act in ways that Superman never would unless he was high on some fucked up bit of the geology of his home world. These are the bad guys who through some twist of circumstance have found themselves on the side of good. Or the good guys whose methods and motives are less than noble. Dexter Morgan is a good example of the former.

From what I understand, The Punisher is a good example of the later.
But there’s one more kind of anti-hero. The bad guy who isn’t really doing anything all that good but he’s still the hero of the story. That is the kind of anti-hero that one of my favorite anti-heroes of all time, Hannibal Lector, happens to be.

Don’t let the picture fool you, I don’t just like him because Anthony Hopkins played him (though I’m sure that helped). I love Lector because he is fascinating. When you first meet him in Thomas Harris’ novels, and in the subsequent films, he seems to just be a charming, intelligent monster. The more you see of him, the more you realize that he’s not just intelligent, he’s staggeringly intelligent. Genius level intelligent. And he’s not just a monster, he can make human connections and care for people. Then you learn his origins, and everything snaps into place and it all makes sense in a sort of twisted way that makes it difficult not to like the character at least a little bit.

Fictitious Heroes, The Cornerstone Of Geekdom

Heroes. They’re the one thing all geeks have in common. We read comics and novels based around them, watch TV series’ and movies about them, and play as them in video games and tabletop role-playing games. And even if we’ve moved on and prefer the villains or the anti-heroes now, we all started out as the kid who wrapped a towel around our shoulders and chased our evil siblings around the house pretending to be one caped crusader or another.

Because of this shared genesis, we can usually find at least one thing to talk about when we find ourselves in social situations with other geeks. Heroes. Which one could kick the other’s ass? Who’s your favorite? Which has the best nemesis?

I think my introduction to superheroes was probably She-Ra.

As I got older I learned about the more classic heroes, like The XMen, Superman, Batman and The Hulk. Mostly because my Mom loved the cartoons, TV shows and movies featuring all these characters. Eventually I started seeking them out on my own and found various classic and newer heroes to love. My older sister introduced me to Shi and my ex introduced me to Deadpool. All of the superhero movies that have come up over the past few years made me aware of the Fantastic Four and Spiderman. The Keeper got me interested in the Green Lantern and Green Arrow.

But I think my personal favorite out of all the superheroes I’m familiar with might just be Iron Man. 

 

He’s not some whiny victim of fate like Spiderman or The XMen. He’s not a holier-than-thou boy scout like Superman or a brooding ball of angst with too much money on his hands like Batman. He wasn’t chosen by a higher power like the Green Lantern. He’s a resourceful genius who, despite having been a prisoner of war, is upbeat with a witty and sarcastic sense of humor. He’s the guy who is a hero because it’s kind of fun, not because he feels obligated. He’s the hero, out of all the heroes I’m aware of, that I would most enjoy sitting down with and having a drink.

Johnny Depp Is Seriously Awesome

I have always been a HUGE fan of Johnny Depp, and now I have yet another reason to love him. In addition to being a spectacular actor and hot as hell, he also does random cool shit like visiting children who have written him letters at school in full pirate garb.

And the girl who wrote him the letter is pretty awesome herself. She addressed it to his Pirates of the Caribbean character and requested aide in staging a mutiny at her school. If she’s the type of person who thinks to do something like that at 9 years old, how ridiculously kick ass of a person is she going to be when she gets older?

Everything about this story just makes me happy.

Two Movies and a Concert

Alright, I said I would try to update once a week and I failed last week. But I have a good excuse! I was busy consuming blog worthy media! I saw two movies, went to a friend’s housewarming party (which is not media but did kind of distract me from blogging) and went to a concert. This is a great deal of activity in one week for me. And it has provided a great deal of blog content. This is going to be a long one, you may want to get a drink.

Anyway, first up is The Expendables.

Holy. Crap.

I could just leave it at that, but I’ll elaborate. Aside from the MASSIVE concentration of man-candy in this movie, the acting was also surprisingly good. I mean, I know the cast is mostly comprised of guys who tend to be categorized as good actors so it shouldn’t be surprising; however, given the fact that the previews make it very clear that this is a movie shaped entirely around the concept of getting Stallone, Willis and the Governator all in the same scene, I was kind of surprised that they wrote enough dialogue into it for there to BE good acting.

I was specifically impressed with Mickey Rourke and Dolph Lundgren.

My crush on Rourke developed when I saw Iron Man 2, so I hadn’t really experienced him being a laid back good guy. I remember his character from Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and that was a laid back role, but it wasn’t nearly as… I dunno, friendly? amiable? as his portrayal of Toole in The Expendables. So he did a good job over all, but there was one specific scene that was really just amazing. I won’t ruin it for you, but he has this monologue where the character is waxing philosophical in this awesome tough guy who isn’t used to sharing deep emotions kind of way. It is amazingly well done.

And Lundgren! Before this movie the only other thing I had seen him in was Rocky IV! Before I IMDBed him to make sure I was spelling his name right just now I wasn’t even sure he had been in anything besides The Expendables and Rocky IV! Hence, it was extremely surprising to find that he can indeed act. I mean, you wouldn’t know it from Rocky because all he does is stand there and look mean. He barely says ten words in that entire film. But in The Expendables he has to play this slightly psycho, drug addled, sarcastic merc. He was gritty and slightly disturbing and fantastic! I really want to see him in other things now.

So those two impressed me most I think. I’m not a huge Jet Li fan. He was ok, but nothing spectacular. There’s some UFC guy who plays a mercenary who has a therapist. This would be a fantastic concept if they had elaborated on it a bit, but they didn’t. The black Expendable had absolutely no character development whatsoever, so he was kinda shrug worthy. Stallone was Stallone, enough said. And Statham is just sort of generally spectacular, so there’s not a whole lot to say about him either.

Overall I do think it was cast fairly well, with just one little exception. I am sorry, but David Zayas is NOT A GENERAL. Holy crap, I swear I almost pissed myself laughing when they introduced the oh so sinister General Garza who is supposed to have staged this big coup to take control of this island somewhere in Latin America, feared by the populace and respected by his soldiers… and oh my god it’s Angel Batista from Dexter!! Seriously, Angel Batista is the LEAST INTIMIDATING man that could have possibly been cast for this role. I love David Zayas, but no. He is not a believable general AT ALL.

The plot was pretty much crap, as you might expect. Very simple, lots of action and violence, an attempt at throwing in a twist or two, but overall pretty predictable.

Personally, I enjoyed it a great deal. The acting made up for the crap plot, in my opinion, and there were lots of sexy men running around and hitting each other.

Next I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

This movie was as far away from The Expendables as is probably possible to get, but in its own way just as awesome. The movie’s plot is pretty much summed up in all of the movie trailers. Scott Pilgrim likes this girl and starts dating her, but then her evil exes start attacking him and he learns that in order to date her he will have to defeat them.

 

That’s really just about all there is to this movie. There’s a bit of subplot involving the girl Scott is dating at the beginning of the movie before he meets Ramona (the girl with the evil exes) and the girl who broke Scott’s heart before the beginning of the movie, but it’s mostly just boy falls for girl and then boy fights a bunch of people. Strewn throughout this is some awesome music, fun dialogue, 8bit video game and comic references, and some really spectacular characters.

I think my favorite part of the whole movie might be Scott’s gay roommate who he shares a bed with, Wallace.

 

Wallace might be the only person in the movie who seems realistic, but at the same time he completely fits in with all of the crazy, fantastical, completely NOT realistic people and things that are going on. A be-eyelinered Indian dude flies down from the heavens crashing through the ceiling of a bar and attacks his roommate who was in the middle of playing a set with his band, and Wallace just heckles him like it’s completely normal. Then at a different point in the movie he staggers into the apartment drunk, falls into bed with Scott, has a barely conscious conversation with him and passes out just before Scott gets a call from his sister berating him for something that Wallace has just texted her about, WHILE HE WAS UNCONCIOUS. Wallace is spectacular and hilarious and I wish he were a real person so that I could meet him.

And it is all based on a 6 part series of comics.

 

The comics are a little different from the movie, as tends to be the case. Some things from the comics were cut out or changed to make it all flow a little easier. I read the comics after seeing the movie, so I suppose I have a slight bias toward the movie, though I do wish they had left in sub-space as a real thing rather than mentioning it and then sort of playing it off as though it was a joke or something. Point is, the comic is definitely worth reading and the movie is definitely worth seeing. And Wallace is equally awesome in both.

Finally, the concert. On Sunday I went to a really cool venue here in Northern Virginia called the Filene Center, which is part of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. The Filene Center is this huge open air amphitheatre. The stage and the seats are all covered and then the hill behind the seats is uncovered and people can spread out blankets there to watch the show. It is beautiful.

And I was there, with The Keeper, Dungeon Master and his wife to see Great Big Sea.

 

I haven’t danced so much in ages. It was awesome. We were sitting in about the 5th row, but we were over to the side right in front of the speakers. Very loud, but awesome. And the boys were joking around between (and once during) songs. I could see that Mr. Sean McCann was performing barefoot, which I found quirky and fun. I’d love to know if he does that all the time. And I could see how much fun they were having. The pure, unadulterated joy at performing for all of us. It was incredible.

Here are a couple videos I found on YouTube from Sunday, which for some strange reason I am unable to embed… which vexes me. Oh well, enjoy.

England

Hit the Ground and Run

A Good Read

The Cajun Boy posted about this a long long time ago and I’ve just recently had the time and inclination to sit down and read the whole thing. It’s a fantastic article written by Truman Capote about Marlon Brando in 1957 for The New Yorker. The really amazing part, coming from the perspective of someone who grew up mostly in the 90s, is exactly how honest Brando is in the article. Not to say that celebrities nowadays aren’t ever honest… but there’s definitely a different quality to Brando’s honesty here. He allowed quotes to be printed that I don’t think most of the big Hollywood celebrities now would ever even mutter for fear that some media outlet would get their hands on it. And while they might not paint him in the most impressive light, they definitely make you feel as though you understand him a little better, know him a little better. The article as a whole makes you dislike and sympathize with him all at once. It’s incredible.

If you want excerpts, click the link I’ve given for The Cajun Boy’s post about this. After having read the article, I can’t really think of any better bits to use than what he already did. Or, just go read the article. It’s called The Duke in His Domain.

Iron Man 2 or How Much Eye Candy Can We Fit Into One Movie

The Keeper, Dungeon Master and myself ventured out to the movies this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, there was a nice breeze. We were hoping that since today was Mother’s Day, the movie had been out for a few days and it was the middle of the day on a Sunday, maybe we’d be able to find decent seats. From now on, I’ll have to remember to get to the theatre at least half an hour before showtime when attending a movie that has been out less than a week. But I digress, the point is we were not able to find terribly good seats. We were in the middle of the third row from the screen. Not so close that our necks hurt when we left, but close enough that I sometimes had trouble focusing on things.

Aside from our seating, Iron Man 2 was FANTASTIC. Definitely on par with the first one. Better, if you’re like The Keeper and strongly disliked casting for Rhodey in the last movie. Everything was spectacular. The special effects, the writing, the acting, the cinematography. It was all just fucking good. I was particularly fond of the casting, so lets go through character by character.

First, Tony Stark/Iron Man. Most definitely eye candy.
 

The casting hasn’t changed since the first movie, but I think it bears repeating that Robert Downey Jr is abso-fucking-lutely perfect for this role.


At first glance the character of Tony Stark is just the arrogant playboy. He’s a genius, yea, but he’s also a huge narcissist. From the first movie you know that he probably never would have come up with the Iron Man suit if his life hadn’t depended on it. But once he’d escaped the bad guys and he was, what he thought to be anyway, safe- you can tell by his facial expressions, his eyes that he’s changed even before his words start to give indications. That is why Robert Downey Jr is perfect. He can convey an enormous amount of information with a little bit of body language and a cock-eyed smile or furrowed brow.

Something I found interesting in this movie was the introduction of a rival weapons developer, Justin Hammer played by Sam Rockwell. Not really eye candy, but interesting.

The character is actually very similar to Stark, but whereas Stark comes off as light and casual in his arrogance this guy is slimy and wheedling. He’s actually a really good contrast to Stark and Rockwell does a great job. What really makes it for me is his voice. He just sounds sleazy and underhanded.

Back to the eye candy, at least for some, we have Lt. Col. James Rhodes. In the first Iron Man this character was played by Terrence Howard.

He did an ok job, but Don Cheadle is a damn sight better in the new movie.

Cheadle isn’t a big guy, but the way he plays the part of Lt. Col. Rhodes, you don’t even notice. Despite the fact that Terrence Howard has a bigger build, he was too soft looking to be a military man and his voice just exacerbated the problem. Cheadle looks the part, sounds serious and acts tough. It’s definitely believable when he goes toe to toe with Stark. Howard as Rhodey gave the impression that Stark was in charge. Cheadle plays Rhodey as a grade A badass who is most definitely Stark’s equal.

Then there’s the female eye candy, Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanov played by Scarlett Johansson.


They don’t delve terribly far into this character in the latest Iron Man movie, but they do make sure two things are abundantly clear. She is a badass of enormous magnitude.

And she is sexy as hell.

The only other hard and fast information we get on Romanov is that she is a part of Shield. Which brings us to…


…Nick Fury. Pretty much all we know about him from the movies is that he’s with Shield, he makes decisions and gives orders and he has an eye patch. But, he’s played by Samual L. Jackson, which is pretty awesome.

Last, but most definitely not least, is a character and actor that rivals the Iron Man himself in the eye candy department- Ivan Vanko played by Mickey Rourke.

This has got to be the most spectacular casting decision for this movie. Rourke is outstanding. He’s the bad guy, but I LOVE him. The character says little, but Rourke’s body language is enough. He’s confident because has a realistic view of his abilities. He’s a genius just like Stark. But he also draws confidence from the fact that he has nothing to lose. He’s passionate and caring, but also deeply in pain. He doesn’t have to say a word to convey any of this, and he almost doesn’t.

Throughout the entire movie Rourke barely speaks at all. He gives short one or two word answers, all the while prowling through his scenes like a big cat. He’s gritty and dangerous and so, sooo sexy. A perfect foe for Downey Jr’s Stark.

And before I get any comments about it- I did not forget Pepper Potts. I intentionally left her off. I don’t like the character and although I’ve liked Paltrow in other things I do not like her in Iron Man.

Oh Thank Goddess

There will be no Anchorman sequel!! Wooooo!

That is all. Carry on.

More Recommendations

Still unemployed and still devouring media. Unfortunately, this installation of Recommendations will not be including any book recommendations. I finished up the Jenna Jameson book and all the Ender’s Shadow books and just got stuck. I want to pick up something new, and I have plenty of books I haven’t read in the apartment, but nothing seems appealing to me for some reason. I’m sure something will catch my fancy eventually, but in the meantime I’ve been filling the time I had been spending on reading with TV instead. Netflix instant streaming has been a beautiful thing. Here’s what I’ve been watching:

• Bones. I’ve been watching Bones since the first season. I love all the characters and the developing relationships and dynamics. But, after Season 3 I somehow lost track of the show. I think something happened and the scheduled recording of new episodes I had set up on my DVR got erased or something. I tried to stream Season 4 from a couple different free sites online before I got Netflix and I didn’t have much luck with it. Then, shortly before The Keeper and I moved into our new apartment I got Netflix. I didn’t pay much attention to the Instant streaming option at first, but since I’ve been unemployed I’ve been watching more and more on my computer or through the XBox. I recently watched the entirety of Season 4 of Bones. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, so all I’ll say is this- Fucking hell. I didn’t think they could fuck with the fans any worse than they did with the ending of the third season, but by Goddess they managed to do it. Fuck…
• My Name is Earl. After I finished Season 4 of Bones, I kind of randomly decided to move on to My Name Is Earl. I’ve always liked Jason Lee and I have some friends who watch the show. Also, the one episode I had seen was pretty funny. So I decided to give it a shot. Man am I glad I did. I LOVE these characters. Most of them aren’t all that realistic (Patty the daytime hooker who got a 1500 on her SATs and has a Master’s; Darnell the ex-government operative who is happily married to a woman with about half his IQ and works as a cook at a local dive bar/seafood restaurant; etc), but somehow they all gain such depth the further you get into the show. And it’s also got a sweet message/morality about it. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for something light-hearted and funny.
• Justified. Unlike the last installment of Recommendations, this time I do have a new show to praise. FX has a new show called Justified which is currently in the middle of it’s first season. Timothy Olyphant plays a US Marshall with an itchy trigger finger who is transferred back to his hometown and has to deal with old friends and family who he’d hoped never to see again. It doesn’t sound all the great, but there’s a lot of awesome in this show. It’s a smidge of crime drama, but it’s way, way more character driven than most. And there’s Timothy Olyphant. Olyphant makes this show at least worth checking out, in my opinion.
• NCIS. Oddly enough, The Keeper’s paternal grandmother got us interested in this show. In general, I’ve kept away from the crime dramas whose titles are just letters. CSI, NCIS, JAG, etc. The advertisements never caught my interest and if I saw bits of the actual shows the characters always turned me off to the show. But then we were visiting The Keeper’s family for a holiday or something and his Granny turned on NCIS and after a couple episodes we got hooked. For a while we contented ourselves with TV reruns, but then a couple weeks ago we were in Best Buy and The Keeper decided it was time we saw things in order. We took our time with the first season, watching a couple episodes at a time every few days, getting to know and love the characters, seeing them develop and seeing how they all fit together. The characters really are amazing. Gibbs, Denozo, Abby, Ducky, Kate, McGee… they’re all just spectacular. And funny. They’re so funny. Kate and Denozo baiting each other and bickering like siblings with Gibbs looking on like some harsh but lovable father figure. Ducky talking to the autopsy subjects and going off on long winded but very interesting and informative tangents. McGee, a cute pudgy faced little nerd boy who gets picked on and hazed by Denozo and Kate. And last, but my personal favorite, Abby the perky goth forensics expert. The Keeper and I have just finished the first couple discs of the third season. He’s been buying each new season as we finish the last. It’s become an obsession that we share and I think if you give it a watch you’ll share it too.

Recommendations

During my unemployment I have been devouring a great deal of media. None of it is really all that new, I won’t be recommending any of the "new, hot" TV shows or any movies that are out in theatres (since I haven’t been to one since Alice in Wonderland). But you may not have seen or read these things and I think they’re worthy of praise and sharing with others.

• Orson Scott Card. Really, I recommend pretty much any of his novels/series. They’re all brilliant despite the fact that as far as I can tell he’s kind of an asshole and definitely a bigot. Right now though I mostly want to pimp the second half of the Ender series, the books that focus on Bean. Ender’s story was brilliant, but I think the characters in Bean’s story are far more likable. The only thing I wish is that Card could fully develop every character, not just one or two of them.
• Jenna Jameson. Oddly enough, I haven’t actually seen any of her porn. I started reading her autobiography one day in a book store while I was waiting for The Keeper to find whatever he was looking for. It was only out in hardback when I started reading it, and I wasn’t about to pay the thirty-some dollars it cost to buy it, but every time I went into the bookstore I would pick it up and read a little more. It’s finally come out in paperback, so I bought it today and I have to say, this girl is fascinating. I should see if she has a blog… Anyway, yea, I’m recommending her book, because it’s brilliant.
• Burn Notice. The Keeper and I have been watching Burn Notice. We have one disc left of the first season. It’s a USA show, so there’s only so much you can expect from it, but it’s pretty good. The main characters are pretty entertaining and it has Bruce Campbell in it. Really, that’s all you need, but there’s also a lot of eye candy besides Bruce (who looks really, really good for a guy his age) and the show is just fun.
• Demolition Man. An oldy but a goody. Watched this for the first time in ages last night and I have to say that for a cheesy early 90s Stallone movie, it’s really a lot less cheesy than I remember. Plus it has Denis Leary in it. All sorts of awesome.

And I think that’s all I have for now. Enjoy!

While We’re On The Subject Of Movies/Media

I just learned of a documentary and a movie that are in the works and I will HAVE to see, as well as a movie which might be in the works and if it gets produced I will also HAVE to see.

The documentary is about Bill Hicks, an American stand up comic during the late 80′s and early 90′s. Here, watch a couple bits of his genius:

And this is a bit Bill did on the Late Show right before his death, but Letterman decided not to air it. This is years later, after Bill’s death when Letterman brought Bill’s Mother on and then aired the clip.

Hicks had a short lived, but extremely influential career and I was ecstatic to find out about this documentary. I only learned about the man within the last couple years and that kind of makes me sad. He was so controversial and influential while he was alive, but after his death he seems to have almost melted away. If he were given icon status like George Carlin or Richard Pryor I might have known about him long before I did, but to the general public he seems to have not made much of a mark. Big name comedians know who he is. I saw a piece of an interview with George Carlin once (and I can’t find the damn clip, which is vexing me to no end right now) where he made mention of Hicks. I don’t remember specifically, but I believe he was a fan. George Carlin, one of the most beloved, iconic comedians ever was a fan of Bill Hicks. Yea, so I am PSYCHED for this documentary.

I’m also really interested in this little tidbit at the end of the article I linked above:

"With Russell Crowe rumoured to be planning his own Hicks biopic…"

Now, unfortunately I didn’t find much in a Google search on this. The things that came up seemed to mostly be from 2008, so I have no idea how likely it is that Hicks will get his own movie. But you can bet your ass that if it does I WILL be seeing it. I’m not so sure if Crowe is really the best choice to actually play Hicks, but regardless, I will being seeing that movie if it is made.

The other movie that I will be seeing if the idea doesn’t get completely scrapped is a remake of the John Wayne classic True Grit. I’m not huge on Westerns, but my Mom is and she would watch all the old John Wayne movies on tv when I was growing up. True Grit was one of the movies that my Mom watched that I really liked. And I am extra excited that Jeff Bridges is listed in the role of Rooster Cogburn for the remake. I fucking LOVE Jeff Bridges. Ever since I saw The Big Lebowski I have loved Bridges. I may make a trip home to go and see it with my Mom if/when it comes out. Maybe even rent the original to watch the night before we go see the remake. I really hope they don’t fuck it up.

Obligatory Alice In Wonderland Review

Last night I saw Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland movie in 3D. In the interest of full disclosure, I have not read either Alice in Wonderland or Through The Looking Glass, so please keep that in mind while reading this post. I’m sure there are aspects of the story that were completely ignored or changed in ways that seem unnecessary. There always are when someone makes a movie based on a book. It’s really kind of unavoidable, but it doesn’t, in my opinion, have to mean that the derivative work has no value. So, with that said, on to what I thought of the movie.

First, as many real movie critics have probably already pointed out, this is a visually stunning movie. I was watching it in 3D, but I’m fairly certain that it would have been just as gorgeous without the glasses. The colors are rich, the cgi is beautiful, the costumes and makeup are amazing. Burton does tend toward the darker and slightly creepy usually, but he almost didn’t need to for this story. And while I liked the look of Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter from the pictures I saw before the movie came out, I had some small doubts. I thought that the look was really cool, but maybe a little too over the top. I was completely wrong. When you get the whole package- the look, the lines, the voice, the inflections, the movement, the plot and character background- it all fits together wonderfully. Kind of the same with the Red Queen. I thought the pictures before the movie came out looked interesting, but I wasn’t really sure it made sense. Then, when I saw the movie, it made a lot of sense. So if you’re a little put off by the pictures you’ve seen, don’t necessarily let that keep you from watching the movie.

Now, on to characters and casting. These are some iconic characters. Even if you haven’t read the books (like me) you’ve probably seen the old Disney animated movie or at least heard about the story. I don’t remember the Mad Hatter being a big player in the story from the animated movie the way he was in this movie. From what I remember of the old Disney movie, the Hatter and the Hare were just one stop along the way for Alice and they were mostly just comic relief. I never had a problem with that, but I think that might be because of the way Disney made him look originally. I mean, maybe I’m just shallow, but I feel far more interested in getting to know this Hatter:

Than this Hatter:

The animated Hatter looks, well, kind of like a goofy, old, chinless pedophile. Which I suppose makes sense if Carroll was basing that character on himself… But for most people I think that look would just be kind of off-putting. Plus Depp’s Hatter has so many more interesting details. The makeup and eyes make him look otherworldly, not quite human, which I think makes sense for someone who’s supposed to be from another world. In a world where a mad, bloodthirsty queen is constantly having people’s heads cut off and has the populace living in fear, his slightly ragged suit is pretty realistic. And the new Hatter actually has hat pins stuck in his hat, which I think is a nice touch that makes it a little more believable that he’s someone whose trade actually is hat making and that his name isn’t just a comment on the obvious fact that he’s insane.

So I thought the look was perfect, but they almost could have used the old look of the animation using Depp’s body language and voice and it would have worked almost as well. This was perfect for Depp. Crazy, but on the "good" side and with a very tangible emotional motivation for it all even before the scenes where you learn a little about the character’s background. He makes the Hatter less comic relief and more real person, and therefore more interesting. Honestly, I don’t understand how Alice can bear to look at him at the end of the movie and see the hope that she’ll stay in those big eyes, and then leave anyway. If it were me, I probably would have stayed.

I have a similar gripe with the animated version of the Red Queen as I did with the animated Hatter. She was this dumpy, ugly woman in Disney’s old animated movie. It kind of makes sense for the character, and I wouldn’t have complained if they had gotten Kathy Bates to play the queen. I think she would have been a wonderful choice, actually. But I think Helena Bonham Carter did an excellent job of playing an ugly character without being completely visually hideous, despite the whole big head thing. There really isn’t much to the Red Queen, even with the little bit of extra emotion and background they give her in this movie. There were probably quite a few actresses that could have played the part well, but overall I think Helena Bonham Carter was a good choice.

The only other main characters that weren’t computer generated were the White Queen, Alice and the Knave. Mia Wasikowska and Anne Hathaway were lovely as Alice and the White Queen. Alice is definitely a little more interesting as a 19 year old than as a 6 year old, though to be honest the 6 year old was a bit cuter. The first few times you see her, the White Queen seems to just be a sort of boring, vacuous figurehead. But she gets more interesting and Anne Hathaway, though I haven’t really seen much of her work, was probably one of the better choices for the role. The Knave was just kind of… meh. I think they could have cast him better. Nothing against Crispin Glover, I just wasn’t feeling the performance.

As for voices, I think pretty much everyone did a good job but my favorite was Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar. I wish there had been a live action role for him, because I love Alan Rickman, but if he was going to do a voice the Caterpillar was the perfect one for him to do.

So, I loved the look of the movie and I loved the casting of the movie. To be honest, in the absence of an interesting story, loving the look and casting would be enough for me not to actually hate a movie. But there was a good story here too. I can definitely see how the book will probably be a lot better. There are a lot of areas where I would have loved more detail or more character development, but because it’s a movie and the story only has a limited amount of time to be told they couldn’t include everything. Overall though, the story is well put together and I personally enjoyed the message I saw, which was that we shouldn’t feel pressured into doing something with our lives that we know will make us miserable just because it’s the "proper" thing to do.

In The News

So yesterday when I was checking out GoogleNews I found a few interesting stories, but I only posted about the Crabzilla one because, well, come on now… it’s Crabzilla.

But anyway, I don’t feel like posting three separate times about all this so I’m going to try something new. A multi-platypus post! I’m not sure yet how this is going to work, so just walk with me here… I’m thinking, dialog. Yea, lets try this.

Prime: Alright so this first story is about Barbie. Seems there are a couple new ones coming out. Now, normally I wouldn’t care, but the headline caught me eye: Public votes to turn Barbie into a geek. What do we think about this?

Yemanja: Well I think this is great, actually, and I imagine Cry will agree with me. I mean, it may help little geeky girls to not feel as much like outcasts. When kids pick on her maybe she can say, "Yea, well Barbie likes the stuff I do and Barbie is cool."

Crytia: Yea, I’m diggin how the doll who’s been the quintessential popular girl for most of her history is branching out. ‘Manja is right, I mean being a little geeky has become more acceptable, but I think Barbie going there might make it a bit moreso for really young girls. Hopefully that’ll carry through to when they’re older.

Rupini: Best part is that now little girls who were like me will have a slightly more realistic representation of themselves when they make Barbie and Ken bang… Now all they need is Dom Ken and sub Barbie and we’re set.

Prime: *slight facepalm and little chuckle* Alright… well our next story comes from BBC news. It seems that director Kevin Smith of Jay and Silent Bob fame was heckled on a flight and made to get off the plane because the crew determined he was too big for his seat. Thing is, he claims he was sitting comfortably in the seat and having absolutely no trouble buckling his seat belt. Thoughts?

Crytia: Oh Silent Bob, how I love you. You’re not fat, just a little chunky! Seriously though, I doubt he’s so big he should have needed the extra seat. I really hope something come from the hubbub about this for those of us who are a bit bigger, but not actually so big that we can’t fit in airline seats.

Aspasia: I don’t have any issues with the policy of making bigger people pay for the extra space and such. I mean, the airline is a business and shouldn’t be punished by being required to just give you the extra space for free. And the other passengers shouldn’t be punished either, by having their person space invaded. But if Smith is telling the truth and he wasn’t hanging over into the other seats or having issues with the seat belt then there is no reason for this. It sounds like these airlines need some stricter guidelines on how to determine whether or not a passenger needs the extra space.

Brehon: Depending on all the details he could have a discrimination case against them, couldn’t he? I don’t like the modern idea of using litigation for EVERYTHING, but I could maybe get behind Silent Bob bringing a suit against Southwest over this.

Prime: Possibly, but I got the impression from the article that maybe Smith isn’t really interested in actual legal recourse so much as sending a bunch of bad PR their way. *shrug* Ok, so if no one else has anything we’ll move on. The last thing is a story about a school bus in Arizona. It’s been outfitted with free WiFi.

Crytia: O_O Oh my fucking GOD. Those lucky little shits. Not only do they have the WiFi, but it seems like a lot of them are affluent enough to have laptops to use on the bus! Fuck them. I only got my laptop about 6 months ago! Fuck them!!

*Everyone else mostly just nods, and Yemanja mumbles something about it being a good idea.*

And I think that concludes this little experiment. Let me know if you liked it… I’m not sure yet how I feel about it. If people liked it, maybe I’ll do it again. We’ll see.

Truly Amazing

This is seriously amazing. I’m not sure what else to say about it because I don’t want to spoil it… but basically they test whether a quarterback or an Olympic archer is more accurate. Very, very cool.

And Drew Brees is very quickly becoming one of my favorite people. It’s crazy how magnetic this guy is. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone anywhere say a bad word about him. It seems like he’s had most of the country rallying around him since he joined the Saints and then Katrina hit. It’s just crazy…

Not Always Right

Lenore over at Free-Range Kids linked to a pretty entertaining site a few days ago. It’s called (The Customer Is) Not Always Right and it’s just a huge compilation of ridiculous customer service stories. It’s kind of like F My Life, but with stupid customers. As I was reading through them last week I came across a couple of gems.

The first one is a really good example of why people in other countries kind of hate us.

(A mother approaches me, violently dragging her two teenage boys along.)

Mother: “I demand you call the police immediately and have them arrest those ‘flashers’ at once!”

(She motions to the two topless girls on the beach.)

Me: “Actually, here in Ontario, it’s legal for women to go topless. Are you not from around here?”

Mother: “I am from America where we have morals and standards. You people sicken me! They are far too young to be doing that!”

Me: “Sorry, ma’am, but there is technically no age limit on the law. It applies the same as it does to your sons.”

Mother: “Is there not a family section for decent people to enjoy the beach without these sick perverts exposing themselves to everyone?”

Me: “Again, I apologize, but it’s not about the beach. It’s legal for women of any age to go topless anywhere outdoors they please…same as men.”

Mother: “I will sue this whole country for punitive damages! My sons will be scarred for life!”

(Her sons are clearly scarred, as they are staring at the topless girls with huge grins on their faces. All of a sudden, three more topless girls walk past. She attempts to cover both her sons’ eyes with her hands.)

Mother: “Heathens! You will all burn in h***! Sinners and perverts, that’s all you Canadians are!”

And this one just makes me smile.The customer’s heart is in the right place I think. And I could imagine saying something similar, but mostly joking around.

Customer: “I want to adopt this dog. When can I take him home?”

Me: “He’ll have to be neutered before he can go home. You can take him home in the afternoon.”

Customer: “Wait, why does he have to be neutered?”

Me: “Well, this is an animal shelter. All these animals are homeless and we don’t want to add to that with any accidental breeding.”

Customer: “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! A dog like him could produce some great pups.”

Me: “Well, it’s our policy. He will be neutered before he leaves this building. It’s required.”

Customer: “Will you guys at least put in fake implants? At least then he can keep his dignity.”

Me: “Um…I don’t think we do that sort of thing.”

Great Big Sea

So a while back I discovered Pandora, a site that lets you sort of create your own radio station. You choose artists or songs you like and then they start playing those artists as well as other similar music. And I had already gotten into Flogging Molly, so I tried creating a sort of Irish rock/folksy station for myself. Doing so introduced me to a lot of great music, but specifically it introduced me to a band that I think has become one of my very favorites. The Keeper and I went to see them over the summer (ahh, summer… you seem so far in the past now with all the snow lately….) in concert with Carbon Leaf and they were just incredible. They’re a Canadian band from Newfoundland and they just seem like the coolest guys. If it weren’t for the rain when we saw them (at an outdoor venue) and the fact that I never know what to say to people I admire this way, I would have gone and met them after the show. The two sort of front men, the guys that do most of the singing, Sean McCann and Alan Doyle have two of the sexiest voices I’ve ever heard. They come very close to the sexiness of Waylon Jennings’ voice in my opinion. Waylon being the man with THE sexiest voice of all time according to me, myself and I. And they just really fun guys. They crack jokes on stage and treat the crowd like they’re just a bunch of friends there for a jam session. They are incredible people. You should check them out… like now, by clicking on the videos I’m embedding here. Click. Now. Seriously.

 

And this is from the show I went to. Doyle is a sexy man with facial hair… mmmm, Doyle… He’s going to be in the new Robin Hood movie with Russel Crowe, by the way. Yea, he’s that sexy.

 

Superbowl XLIV

I am conflicted. In two weeks my team, the Indianapolis Colts, will be traveling to South Florida to play in THE game. That one game that every team strives toward all season long. The Superbowl.
 
Their opponent is the New Orleans Saints. Therein lies the conflict. I love my Colts. They’ve been my team since I got interested in football about 5 years ago (yes, I am aware that being a fan for 5 years is nothing compared to the lifetime, born and bred football fans that generally write blog posts about this sort of thing). But at the same time, I know that my Colts have been here before. They’ve been to the Superbowl and won it. The Saints haven’t. Ever. They’ve made it into the playoffs a couple times, but this will be their first appearance in the Superbowl. Their fans have been waiting decades for this. And they have a very compelling story, what with Katrina a few years ago and all. I believe that the Saints fans and the team really, truly deserve this. They’ve been through so much. All the losing seasons, the times they got close but then had it snatched away, the flood, the rebuilding, everything. They just deserve this chance, and it will be profoundly sad if they get there and then don’t pull out a win.

But, if they do pull out a win that will mean that my team lost. It’ll be one more time that Peyton has come so far only to get stomped on. The Colts have been in the playoffs every year since 2002. They’ve won their division every one of those years except 2002 and 2008. They’ve been to the Superbowl twice and won it once, in 2006 playing against the Chicago Bears. Peyton is such an amazing quarterback, but he only has two Superbowl appearances. That’s just not right.

So, I am conflicted. I don’t really know who to root for. I know that I will root for my team, because they’re my team. But I know that if the Saints had made the impression on me five years ago that they’ve made the past couple of years, they would be my team and I would be rooting for them. It’s going to be an emotional game, I think.

My Favorite Serial Killer Has Cancer

*sadface*

That’s right kids, Dexter has cancer! However! he’s in remission and continuing treatment to keep it that way. Personally, I’m not even really sure why he would want to announce this if he’s in remission. I mean, it’s none of our business really. I’m actually more upset that he married the girl who plays his sister on the show…

Borderlands

So I started playing Borderlands and I’m having a lot of fun with it, so I thought I’d type up a bit of a review, but before I get into that I think I should point out that I really don’t play a lot of video games and as such I might have a much different perspective on them than most people who play video games. I have a few PC games, but I haven’t actually played any of those in probably over 6 months (though not for lack of trying, I tried to install the Cthulu game I have but it wouldn’t work). I have a few PS2 games, and I play those more often than the PC games, but I haven’t actually beaten any of them (though I might end up beating Okami if I ever get back to playing it). Before Borderlands on the XBox360 the only other console I had/ had played on occasionally was the Super Nintendo and there’s only one game on that which I’ve beaten, I believe it’s called Yoshi’s Island or something like that. And before I started playing Borderlands I had expressed distaste for the general concept of first person shooters, and first person perspective in games in general.

Now, keeping all that in mind, here’s my "review" of the game.

At first I didn’t play it, I just watched The Keeper play. The first thing I noticed when The Keeper turned on the game was the song that plays during the opening scene. It’s "Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant. I’ve been digging on that song since it hit the radio, so this was a point in the game’s favor.

The second thing I noticed was the sort of jovial but sleazy guy talking with a slightly eastern european accent. His voice, the accent and the content of what he was saying, along with Cage the Elephant, set the tone of the game for me.

Those two things got me to look up from my book while The Keeper was playing, so the next thing I noticed was the art style. The world you’re in is very drab and run down, but I like the way things were drawn. Not quite entirely trying to be realistic, but not cartoonish either. I think the look of the game is very cool.

Then there were a couple little things that amused me. There’s a type of robot which sounds and acts a bit like Gir from the cartoon Invader Zim. I loved that cartoon, especially Gir, so the robot made me smile. The main beasts that you have to deal with, at least at the beginning of the game, look to me like the monsters from the second Tremors movie, the ones that run around and have sort of a triangular mouth that opens into three sort of petals. I dug the Tremors movies for their delicious cheesiness and some of the characters, so these monsters also made me smile.

So that’s what pulled me in. Now for what’s kept me playing.

There are four characters you can play. Each one has a specific power which is at the head of a skill tree.  The skill tree has 3 paths with six skills for each path, but you don’t have to just pick a path and stick with it. You can mix and match. That’s about it as far as customization as you level up. Personally I like that for a premade sort of character like these. I didn’t create the character, and because it’s a video game with a set story I can’t really decide anything about the character’s "personality", so there’s not much point in my mind to make it much more complicated than that. Complicated mechanics, in my opinion, are for games like D&D where you’re invested in the character. For something like this I don’t need things to be complicated.

Most of the game involves shooting people (so far anyway). There’s a bit of a story, but not anything so in depth that you’re required to really do anything besides go out, kill things and then either bring something back to someone or move something from one place to another or just go back and let people know you killed someone important.

It appears that there may be some more customization further into the game than where I am involving elemental powers that you can apply to yourself or your guns or something, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. If you’re looking for realism with the guns, it’s there on a very, very basic level but not really very realistic in application. Yes there are shotguns with a scope, so presumably they have better range than one would normally think for a shotgun. But they don’t have anything near the range of the sniper rifles that are in the game. And even though they have the range, they’re not as accurate the further away you’re trying to shoot. Also, there are guns that you find along the way that already have those elemental powers I mentioned. I think my favorite might be the sniper rifle that has a fire effect, so when you shoot things they catch on fire and continue to take damage. And then there’s also the rocket launcher with a lightening effect that I found…

Basically, I think it probably falls in the category of "fun brain candy" for "serious" gamers.