TV. alice

every year or so the syfy channel has a special movie event where they reimagine an old classic but with a new sci fi twist. last year they gave the update treatment to 'the wizard of oz', it was called 'tin man'. i gave it a try, but after about the first hour i realized that i didnt care for it that much, so i gave up and didnt bother with the other five hours. when the syfy channel started promoting this years offering, i didnt really give it a second thought, but diana saw the ad and thought it looked cool. so, needless to say, we watched it! this reimagining of 'alice in wonderland' takes the original tale and imagines what it would be like 150 years later in wonderland. now, i must admit, i am at a bit of a disadvantage here, i've never read the book and i dont think i've ever seen the old disney movie either. to be honest, i have no idea what 'alice in wonderland' is about. i just know the characters but have no idea what they do in the story. so i guess i am not really the ideal audience for this two part movie. as we were watching it diana had to explain a few things and she kept pointing out how something that was in the movie was a twist on the original story. i'm glad she did, because i would have had no idea at all! even though i didnt know the story at all, i still enjoyed it quite a bit. many of the characters were very well done, especially the white knight, he was my favorite. they did a good job of creating some interesting visuals- especially the city with its high views and grassy walkways between skyscrapers. the fun for me was in recognizing many of the different cast members and placing them with the syfy shows they are usually on!

WEBSITES. exergian tv art

jeffry lee showed me this one, its a graphic artist who uses simple shapes and colors to represent different television shows. he takes a bunch of tv shows and boils them down into the simplest image he can in order to convey the ideas of the show. its very minimalistic, and awesome! as someone who actually took a bunch of graphic design classes and majored in art in college, i've got to admit that these are really impressive! its one thing to try and create art that portrays and idea, but quite another to be able to get that same idea through such simple shapes! some of my favorite are 'stargate: sg1' (of course), 'kojak', 'home improvement', 'monk', 'knight rider', and 'mad men'. the simplicity is what really makes these images so powerful- and accurate! check it out here.

TV. robin hood season 3

looks like i was right last year. in the climactic final episode of last season, robin hood and his men went to the holy land to find the king and let him know how poorly the sherriff has been doing. the episode ended with maid marian dying. at that time i was frustrated (as you can see here) and wondering where they could possibly go from there. it was obvious to me that the show jumped the shark at that moment, and it turns out i was right. all this season has been pure crap. they have really been grasping at straws, as far as story goes. they introduced another love interest, which is not nearly as interesting as maid marian, they killed off the sherriff (which i'm certain is only temporary), and now guy of gisbourne is working along side robin and his merry men? stupid stupid stupid. the writers wrote themselves into a corner last year, probably assuming that they wouldnt get picked up for a third season, and it turns out that they shouldnt have been picked up! every episode this year has been in stark contrast to the two previous seasons. no one is acting like themselves, and the main plot has been long since lost. it really is a shame to see a good show go so horribly wrong. there's only about three or four more episodes this season, lets hope that they finally put this dog out of its misery and dont have a fourth season- please! either way, i'm done watching it, thats for sure!

BOOKS. diary

this book haunts me. ever since i've read it, it haunts me. the book follows the life of a woman who lives on a little touristy island where she works at the local hotel. her husband is living on life support in the hospital and she and she must try to make sense of all the strange things that have been happening and why everyone has been acting so weird. sounds pretty basic, huh? i expected a lot when i read this, it is, after all, written by the same guy who write 'fight club'! as i was reading it, the whole thing just seemed disjointed and not very interesting. i got to the end and was confused by it all. i set it down and a week past. thats when it happened: i kept thinking about the book, the little details and the parts of the story that didn't seem to fit right away. i couldnt stop thinking about it. then it hit me! the whole picture suddenly came into focus, all the odd parts and all the confusing parts, they suddenly melded together and i saw what palahniuk had done! when it hit me i actually had to sit down! the sheer power and brilliance of the tale he wove took me a while to process, but now that i had, i realized the sheer genius of it! i would love to give examples of it, but i would never want to give away anything to someone who might read it- i wouldnt want to steal that moment of revelation from anybody.
still, all these months later, it haunts me...

TV. V

diana and i were really excited for this show. well, we werent excited until we spend a day watching the old V miniseries (as i write about here), but after investing in the old show, we got really pepped up for this new one! turns out we got our hopes up for nothing. after watching the pilot episode i was really disappointed. many of the moments i was excited to see recreated were just quickly glossed over. when the aliens arrive in the old series it was a major event, it had impact. there was speculation of what might come of it and how to deal with that first contact- there was some real drama. on this new version the arrival and contact are whipped through before the first commercial break! so much for drama... the old one was poorly written and poorly acted, but it was riveting. this new one has the same writing and acting, but there is nothing there to draw me in. there is a new twist thrown in: the idea that there have actually been aliens living among us that have been lying in wait. unfortunately it isnt very interesting, or well done. we watched the second episode, but neither of us really cared at all by that point. its too bad knowing that juliet had to die for this. (that was a 'lost' reference). we never bothered with the third or forth episodes, and now with it off the air until march, neither of us will miss it in the slightest. disappointing, really.

TV. the prisoner

i have never seen the original tv series, nor did i know anything about it when i began watching this reimagining of the concept on amc. i just saw the cast, jim caviezel and ian mackellen, and i knew it would be worth the ride.
the story is quite confusing, but i think thats part of its appeal. we are dropped in, along with our hero, named number six, into a desert. he eventually stumbles upon a small town filled with people who have numbers for names. everything seems normal at first, but soon he realized that this town, run by number two, has no way out. as six tries to find ways out, he remembers more and more little bits of memories about life outside the town. over the course of the six hour miniseries, six has many things to distract him. first he spends all his time trying to get out, he is side tracked by a man who claims to be his brother. later he strangely finds himself an agent working for the very man who he is trying to escape from. also, he is continually distracted by a woman who tries to help him (or is that hurt him?).
the story played out very well as six claims he doesnt belong here and does everything he can to get out. it sounds so straight forward, but there are so many strange things that happen along the way. sometimes we are uncertain if a scene is real, or just part of a hallucination, which makes it much harder to put all the pieces together. having finished the miniseries, i'm not sure that i know exactly what was going on, but it was really fun to watch. the story just drags you in and mesmerizes- i didn't understand it, but i really liked it!

BOOKS. the terminal man

i had read this one before, back when i first discovered michael crichton back in junior high, but i didnt remember it very well so i thought i would revisit the story. its a fairly short novel about a man who suffers violent blackouts that lead to him doing terrible things. he is a prime candidate for a new medical procedure that would try to cure him of his violent behavior. the blackouts happen when he starts to get mad, he then goes on violent rampages that he doesnt remember and cant control. the procedure involves putting something in his brain that would trigger his pleasure sensor when ever he started getting too angry, which would cause a happy and peaceful feeling to sooth him down and stop the attack before it got started. the problem is that he soon becomes addicted to this pleasure and tries to get it whenever he can. well, something happens to the sensor and he breaks out of the lab. a pretty interesting story that follows the addictive quest to find pleasure. the story isnt very deep, but the implications of addiction, rage, and identity are thoughtfully discussed. another great book by crichton!

TV. V original mini-series

with all the hype and hoopla around right now with the relaunch of 'V', i kind of wanted to watch the original mini-series. low and behold, the syfy channel must have read my mind! the sunday before the relaunched show premiered, syfy was showing both original miniseries' in a row. i tivo'ed them, planning to watch them at some point. sunday afternoon diana took poco out for a walk, so i started watching the first one. when she came back i kept watching. she picked up a magazine to read, but after about ten minutes she put it down and instead was just as hooked on the miniseries as i was!
syfy actually rebroadcast the original miniseries as well as the second miniseries. it ended up being a little over ten hours of 'V', but i was really fun to take it all in at one time! the story is a killer one: aliens come to earth, they promise us peace and try to get us to work with them. as the story unfolds, we begin to see that their motives might not necessarily be as pure as they had let on. the amazing this about the original miniseries is just to see how bad it really was. the acting is stiff, the writing is clunky, and the effects are laughable. but for some reason, it still really good! i think its just such a great concept and starting point, that it succeeded in spite of itself! now, after watching the originals, we are ready for the undated version!

TV. stargate universe

i am a huge stargate fan, so when i heard they were making a third show i was very excited. this new entry into the stargate cannon is quite a bit different than the last two, stargate sg-1 and stargate atlantis. this one doesnt feel like its a syndicated show filmed in vancouver, which can be good, but can also be bad. its bad in that its leaving the old formula that has worked for over a decade, but its also good in that its leaving the old formula that has worked for over a decade! the style of the show has definitely taken its cue from battlestar galactica, giving it more of an intimate handheld camera feel. the story follows a random group of people who unexpectedly find themselves on an ancient spaceship traveling the farthest reaches of the galaxy. they dont have any control over the ship, and they dont know where they are. the crew (if you can really call them that) is lead by colonel young (justin louis), but is often at the mercy of the only man who is able to figure out how to work things on the ship, dr. rush (played by robert carlyle). these two guys are at odds because young wants to run it like a military operation, but rush cant be bothered with such protocols. the people stuck on the ship are made up of half military soldiers, and half regular civilians, which leads to a lot of problems. so far the season seems to be taking its time with setting up the characters and their relationships as they try to cope with the fact that they may never return home again. its a promising start, even though they have really only used the namesake of the show, the stargate itself, only once or twice. its quite a bit different than i expected, but i think it is a worthy addition to the stargate family. i look forward to the rest of the season and what lies ahead (which will hopefully include some aliens!!!)

COMEDY. ricky gervais

ricky gervais is a really funny guy. in this special he goes all to the wall and rips apart americans and all the stupid things we do. he doesnt just give us a go, but he turns it back on himself quite often. pretty funny, but nothing very memorable. he can tell a great story, but i think his stuff is better when its situational, like in the british 'the office', or his other show, 'extras'.

WORDS. the interrobang

i'm not entirely sure how or why i came across this, but i recently found this strange little grammar anomaly. its a punctuation mark that is meant to be an exclamation point and a question mark. strange. in the official rules of grammar it is not allowed to have more than one exclamation point at the end of a sentence. so when ever anyone ends a sentence like this: 'he said what?!?' it is improper grammar. instead, you are supposed to use the interrobang. huh. will the wonders of the english language ever cease?!?

TV. 2009 emmys

the emmys were on last night, hosted by neil patrick harris. i'm always a sucker for award shows (and love nph on 'how i met your mother'), so i tuned in hoping it would be good show and barney would do a good job hosting. i was not disappointed! there were a few changes this year, including the fact that almost no one expected to win won, which always keeps things lively. nph started things off with a little song and dance number about how everyone should make sure they watch and 'put down the remote'. it was a fun intro and played to nph's strengths. they also started with the best categories, in my opinion: the comedy awards. there were quite a few surprises here with not all the awards going to '30 rock', as was expected. unfortunately, my favorite, jim parsons from 'big bang theory' did not win. maybe next time.

one of the best additions of the show was the color commentary from john hodgson, the daily show's resident expert. as the winner walked up to accept the award he would briefly speak about that person making random comments about them that werent necessarily true- very funny! another bit that i really loved was when nph would introduce the presenters he would not reference their most well known role, but rather cite a very random bit role that they had played in, for example when jon cryer came on to present an award, nph referred to him as 'photographer number four in 'my two dads'.' or something equally absurd.

my big question for the night, though, is this: why do they have so many awards for the movie/mini-series category?!? who really cares?!? no one watched those! why must we waste 45 minutes of the telecast to that stuff? oh, and that 'dancing with the stars' tribute was completely worthless. good thing nph did such a great job of keeping it moving that it was easy to overlook such timewasters. in fact, the whole show was only about five minutes over their time- amazing!

anyway, hopefully there were enough people watching this year for cbs to renew its contract with the emmys to show it again next year, because if not, it will most likely be banished to bravo or lifetime i'm sure...

BOOKS. the shack

this story follows a spiritual man who recently lost his daughter in a while camping. the family was playing in the water when a man came by and kidnapped her. since the event he has struggled with forgiving himself for not being there to save her, and also questions God about why it happened. while trying to deal with a spiritual crisis of faith, he decides to find some time alone and goes to a cabin his friend offers as a way to get away for a while. while there he has the most amazing experience: God shows up. now he can ask God directly why did this happen. the book deals with these conversations in an interesting manner, but it quickly becomes apparent that the 'God' he talks with is not the traditional God of Christianity, but rather some sort of 'spiritual' god that bares little resemblance to the God of the Bible. the story is well told and we really feel for what this man is going through, dealing with the loss and guilt of a dead child, but the doctrine is far from Christian.

TV. you are what you eat

diana and i recently came across this little british gem. its a show on bbc america, hosted by gillian mckeith, that tries to help overweight people get healthy again. it starts with showing how badly the people have been eating, in fact they make a list of all the foods that person has eaten in the last week and then puts all of it on one table for them to see. usually the person is rather disgusted by it because it always contains much more terrible food then they would have thought- and not much fresh food at all. gillian then gives them an eight week regime of healthy foods and exercise. we peek in on them a couple times over the eight weeks, and at the end of the episode we see the results. almost without fail, the person looses 30-50 pounds!
the show was on twice a day over the summer, so diana and i tivoed all the episodes we could! after watching them for a little while we got motivated to eat healthier foods ourselves and are in the process of loosing weight as well. one little thing about the show that i really loved was the british weight measurement they would use: they measure their weight in stones. apparently a 'stone' equals 14 pounds, and every time they would talk about their weight it would always be in stone. for example if someone weighted 300 pounds, they would say that they weigh 21 stone 6. cool! well, diana happened to look at the back of our scale and found that it had a setting to measure in stone! awesome!!! we have been weighing ourselves in stone ever since!

TV. eureka

ah, a fun summer diversion. this series on the syfy network is loads of fun, it follows a small town sheriff as he tries to deal with the little problems that arise in eureka. the only problem is that eureka is a small town filled with scientific geniuses who are creating crazy futuristic stuff and doing the strangest experiments ever! each week there is a new experiment gone haywire that they have to deal with, everything from a landing space ship, to a haunted piece of ice. the great part of the show is the fact that it doesnt take it self seriously at all, which helps with the unbelievable situations they find themselves in. colin ferguson plays the local sheriff as he tries to deal with all the nut jobs, government conspiracies, and hardest of all: a teenage daughter. colin does a great job of playing it all off like he's seen it before, making wise cracks the whole time. he's kind of like the jack o'neil of eureka. and if you actually understood that reference, then you are probably already watching this fun show...

TV. warehouse 13

the sci-fi channel (sorry, its 'syfy' now...) tries it's hand at another original series. i gave this one a try because i have been impressed with most of their other shows. ranging from 'stargate sg1', to 'battlestar galactica', to 'eureka', i have typically enjoyed the scripted shows on this network.
this one is about a couple of new agents recently assigned to the middle of nowhere. now they have to work in a place called 'warehouse 13'. its a huge storage area for all things strange, weird, and unexplained. the two of them go out and hunt down objects with powers we dont yet understand. they get them and bring back the objects to the warehouse where they are catalogued and stored until they know what to do with them.
the season started slowly (not necessarily a bad thing), but has since picked up. the two main agents are pretty fun, they have a great chemistry together, playing off each other well. the highlight of the show, though, is definitely the guy who runs the warehouse, he tells them where to go and what to look for. the show does a good job of balancing out the sci fi mythology stuff with a lighthearted sense of humor that all the characters share. each week the show gets more interesting, so i think i will keep watching!

TV: virtuality

its too bad that fox dumped this one, because this is a really good story. fox aired this two hour 'movie' recently, but its not really a movie, it was a pilot for a new television series by the creator of the 'battlestar galactica' reboot on sci-fi. fox must have paid for the pilot to be made but then canned the show, figuring they wanted to get something for the money they spent, they aired the pilot even though there is no show coming. the story is that of a crew on a deep space mission that has recently left earth, it is filled with many different types of people and each of them has an interesting story to tell. the crew is, apart from being on a mission to find a new inhabitable planet, also on a reality show. the company behind the mission used that as a way to pay for the trek. so we get to see these crew members going about their ship activities, and we also get to have interviews with them explaining what they are thinking, like a reality show. also, in order to allow the crew members some r and r, each of them has a virtual reality helmet that they can wear which takes them to a holodeck type fantasy. as they crew gets closer and closer to the point of no return, bad things keep happening. the vr helmets start to have mysterious visions, the doctor is diagnosed with an incurable disease, and the captain is mysteriously killed. with no way to turn back, the remaining crew must do the best they can. all this makes for a really interesting premise for a continuing show, but unfortunately, instead we get a great start with no chance of ever seeing where their stories will lead. way to go fox, you totally ruined another great sci-fi show that could have been.

TV. hollywood's best directors

i recently came across this show on the reelz channel. after watching a half dozen episodes, i must say that i really enjoy it! the format is pretty standard, a well known director talks about his films. but here's the part that makes it so special: its only the director talking about his films. there is no reporter or journalist trying to look smart by playing off of them, its just the director reminiscing about his work on the films during his career. the only form of structure that is placed on the show is a few themed headings such as 'first film', or 'pre production', and at the end 'last thoughts'. it allows the director to talk about whatever part of the process, or whatever part of their careers they choose to. watching such directors as chris columbus, jan van bont, rob reiner, george lucas, and others, one of the interesting aspects of these guys it how they honestly talk about their hits and misses. for the most part, they are honest about their work and acknowledge where there may have been missteps. the only drawback to the show is the obvious lack of production money, which doesnt have any baring on the interviews themselves, but is apparent when they try to show the movies the directors are talking about. reelz channel obviously doesnt have enough money to pay for the rights to show clips of the films, choosing instead to just show still photos from the movies being discussed. other than that, though, the in depth exploration of the directors about their own career and craft is really very interesting!

DVD. true blood

diana suckered me into seeing this. i had no interest in it, but she got a copy from her friend, so we gave it a try. on a friday night we watched one, figured we had some extra time, so we watched another. by sunday evening we had finished the whole season! the story follows a southern town as they deal with the fact that vampires are real. sookie, a local waitress, becomes entangled with a vampire who is traveling through. over the course of the season we follow their relationship as they try to make sense of their differences as well as everyone elses opinion of what's going on. also, there happens to be a slew of murders going on in this town and some people are pretty curious about the vampire's involvement.over all the series is pretty good, there is a strong southern dirty style to the show and an interesting premise at its base: if vampires no longer need to feed on humans, could they be accepted and live among us? this question is just one of many different layers that the show deals with, this question in particular is used as a metaphor for the plight of gays in america. there are other deep issues as well, but the show rarely takes time to linger on the issues, the depth does not bog down the action. i enjoyed the twists and turns, the murder mystery, and the relationships between many of the different characters. with that said, this show falls into the same problem that so many other shows succumb to: the characters are not even remotely believable. they act one way during one episode, and then change completely to suit the story told in the next episode. and worst of all- almost all the problems they face could be solved with just a little clear thinking and a good honest discussion. i always think that its a bad sign of writing to contrive a conflict instead of dealing with any real issues. sookie, the main character is one of the worst culprits of them all. she's about as clear headed as a bowl of mud. most of the time i didn't really feel very sorry for her, she brought it on herself! oh, but even worse then her is her brother jason! what a complete idiot! he life is terrible and falling apart because he just does whatever others tell him to do- grow a pair already! but back to the good: the quality of the show is very high, it looks great. another aspect that i really enjoyed, which is easily noticeable when you watch the episodes back to back, is that each episode starts off immediately after the last one like its one big giant movie with no wasted time to slow down between episodes.

TV. philanthropist

after watching a couple episodes of this show, i've got to say: i'm hooked! the premise is simple, its about a billionaire who realizes that he can use his money to help others so he does. its a scripted show that follows teddy rist as he travels the globe helping out those he meets along the way. the first episode found him meeting a doctor in africa who desperately needed medical supplies but kept getting stopped by crooked government workers. rist takes it upon himself to make sure the supplies get to where they need to be, he bribes people who stand in his way, he even buys a motorcycle off a guy and delivers it as far as he can himself while being shot at by the ganglord's own men. the show is able to keep a high level of excitement through out and we quickly begin to care for those who are involved. using the plot device of rist retelling the story at a bar, we are able to flash back to the story and see how he got to where he is now. its really cool because this guy is basically batman but without the costume- a rich bruce wayne who decides he must help those around him. the show includes some of his coworkers as well and even shows how rist is able to do all this good stuff while still making sure that his companies are turning profits.
this is a summer show and is limited to only an eight episode run for its first season. unfortunately i am getting a strong feeling that this is going to be all we see of 'the philanthropist', so i'm making sure i enjoy it while i can!

DVD. twin peaks

i dont get it. i have heard so much about twin peaks, how great it is, how strange and unusual it is, how it is david lynch at his best. diana and i recently watched the first season and i'm afraid i just don't get it. the show i watched certainly wasnt amazing, wasn't really that strange or unusual, and i thought it was actually kind of lame. the stories arent very connected, they dont really go anywhere of much interest, the dialogue is very stilted, and the acting is, to put it kindly, wooden. the only thing that seemed very interesting to me was the strange dream where a short guy talks backwards and dances. other than that it just felt like a bad primetime soap opera with no resolution. the whole thing is supposedly about the murder of laura palmer, but by the end it seems like no one cares that much and are focused on their own subplot instead of the original mystery.
the thing that really confuses me is that diana and i watched a few of the dvd extras after finishing the season and in the cast interviews they talked about a bunch of things about their character and some of the themes of the season. both she and i were totally confused about what they were saying. one actor was saying one of the themes was 'about how laura was abused by her father' huh? there was never any mention or hinting at the idea that she was abused! either i am loosing my ability to understand films, or they are totally making stuff up that wasnt in the show... diana suggested that maybe if we rewatch it we might start to see some deeper themes. my question to her was why would i want to watch it again? i didn't even like it the first time!

TV. brink

i happened to be scanning through the tv show schedule and saw that there was a show named after me! i tivoed it so i could check it out. turns out that its a british show all about the latest technology and stuff. it was kind of cool, but i just really liked the name of the show!

GAMES. xbox 360 natal

earlier this week they had the E3 conference. its a video game conference where each of the three video game console makers announce what they have planned for the coming year. first up is microsoft, then nintendo, then sony. i, of course, an a huge nintendo fanboy and felt huge satisfaction when the wii outpaced all the others after most said that nintendo should quit after the gamecube. i am such a nintendo fanboy that i actually still own every system they have ever put out (including the rare virtual boy). i have always swore that i would never own any other gaming system. until now. the mircosoft keynote address about their upcoming products introduced this thing called 'natal'. it is video gaming with out a controller! they showed it off and it totally blew my mind! i am still picking up pieces of my mind off the carpet two days later...

i dont know how real it is, but if it actually comes out- i will buy an xbox 360 for it!

check out a little bit about it here.

AUDIO BOOK. our dumb world

an audio book atlas from the guys over at 'the onion'. if you are unfamiliar with 'the onion', its basically a snarky fake news source in the same vein as jon stewart and stephen colbert. in this audio book they give a brief synopsis of every country on the planet, covering 'everything you need to know about' each one. some range from longer entries, such as the entry for america, to just a short sentence about other nations that they say we dont need to know anything about. its a humorous look at each nation and really focuses on the incompetence and apathy most americans feel toward other nations. they report stereotypes and ignorance as fact in such nations as italy where they say everyone is a gangster who just sits around eating their mother's meatballs. over all, the audio book is filled with wit and sardonic insights that are really funny. one warning, the 'book' is covered over three cds, but this type of humor really works best in small doses, so i wouldnt recommend listening to it all in one sitting.

AUDIO BOOK. born standing up

this is an autobiography of steve martin's life as a stand-up comedian. his story takes him to many places and gives a great inside look at this unusual comic. there are some really interesting anecdotes, such as his first job as a young boy working at disney land. he loved magic and performing all his life, and this book chronicles his start in performance theater and follows him all the way through to selling out stadiums with his stand-up routine. the author reflects on the steps that lead him to craft his unique style and some of the career decisions that lead to him being the most popular comic ever at the time. his honesty and candor is surprising as he tells of his home life, his losing touch with family and trying to rebuild the bridges burned, as well has his opinion of what it was like for him at the top. the best part of this memoir is that it is actually read by martin himself, so you get to hear him talk about his life and the events that shaped him. we learn a lot about what he did, but it still feels like he is a bit guarded about himself, glossing over many of the personal aspects of his life, instead focusing on the professional path he took. by the end i better understood and appreciated his comedic voice, even if i didnt feel like i knew the man behind it any better.

BOOKS. congo

i had read this one once when i was in junior high and really loved it. i was going through a stage where i wanted to read everything michael crichton wrote, which isnt a bad goal at all considering most of his stuff is pretty good!
the story follows a scientist who has been taking care of an ape that had been taught to speak using sign language. recently this ape, named amy, has been getting restless and its thought that it might be time to return her to the wild. as he tries to find a way to the congo to release her, he comes across a woman who is trying to go to the same place. she works for a company that recently lost a team in the jungle and must get there and find out what went wrong. eventually, with the help of an african guide, they find the place where the team went missing. they also happen upon the lost ruins of the city of zinj, a once great civilization that disappeared mysteriously. as they uncover the truth they realize that they are in more danger than they realized!
having read the book before and seen the movie (which is about as good as campy fun gets!- check out my review of the movie here), i knew what i was in for as far as the story goes. what i had forgotten since last reading it, was just how good the writing is! the story unravels at a lighting quick speed. crichton does an amazing job of keeping things interesting and the adrenaline racing, he also sprinkles in different tidbits about research and stories of apes and the jungle that enrich the reading so much. how real are these other tidbits and research? well, thats the thing about crichton, he is very good at making up the supposedly 'real' info thats featured alongside the stories he writes. whether any of it is based on fact or just the imagination of crichton does not alter the fact that this book is a page turner that was a blast to read!

GAMES. sequence

i had never played this game growing up, but diana said she really liked it, so we added it to our wedding registry. we ended up getting it. recently we pulled it out and diana taught me how to play- and i've got to admit i really like it!
its a card game and a board game all in one. the cards you have in your hand are on the board and when you lay one down you can put a chip on the spot on the board. once you get 2 five-in-a-rows, then you win! its been fun playing with diana because its pretty different each time you play, and can be enjoyed with just two players, unlike some of the other games we got... oops.

BOOKS. the giver

someone at school was giving away old copies that were falling apart, so i grabbed one. having never read it, i remember english teachers in the past saying how good this book is, so i saw this as my opportunity to give it a try.
the premise is very orwellian, its about a colony that must follow all these rules and regulations to make their civilization a great utopia. this means denying themselves of many freedoms, and following the guidelines for living that the society has deemed acceptable. the children only get one toy, they must wear uniforms and wear their hair a certain way, once they are of age they are put into certain training jobs that are dictated to them, etc. our main character, jonas, is given a very unusual job, he is called to be the 'receiver of memory' for their community. this means that he is training to be the only one who will learn the truth behind all the rules. he is trained by the current receiver of memory, called the giver. as jonas learns these truths about life he is forever changed and must make the choice to accept the truth or try to make things right.
its a pretty good story well told. the author does a good job of conveying the joys of the community in the laws they carry out. as we see jonas begin to question things, the author allows us to ask the same questions and find out some pretty unexpected things about what is so different in this society. because of these differences, there really is no way that this book could be made into a movie- it would give everything away to quickly! the ending of the story is a bit confusing though, i understand what the author was trying to do, but the descriptions and telling of it all gets muddled a bit. over all, its a great introduction for young readers into the sub genre of big government style books like '1984' and 'brave new world'.

watchmen

now, i havent seen the movie yet, but just the fact that everyone is talking about it and there are ads up everywhere for the movie makes me very happy. i read the comic book many, many years ago. if all this advertising for it leads more people to read the original book, then that is worth it, even if the movie sucks (which i hope it doesnt...).

DVD. sliders

i recently went to the used dvd shop and traded in some of my more foolish dvd purchases through the years, and got some new stuff. one of the things i got was the first and second seasons (they are both in one box) of 'sliders'. i have had my eye on that set for about two years, but finally found one at a used store so it would be affordable, and with my trade ins, it was free!

i remember the watching and really enjoying the show when it was originally on way back in 1995. it stared jerry o'connell, sabrina lloyd, and john rhys-davies as people who got sucked into a portal that opened up on alternate earths. they would show up in these different worlds that looked a lot like ours, but with an alternate history that would result in differences from the world we know. they would slide into these places, but not know when and if they would ever get to slide back out. they are continually stuck sliding to different dimensions without ever being sure if they will return to their home.

i just rewatched the original two hour pilot episode. i had been fearing the worst, figuring it might be one of those shows that i would regret going back and watching because it would ruin my positive memories of it by being terrible. but i have to say, i was very surprised! it holds up really well! the special effects are very dated (14 years has a way of doing that...), but the story line and the execution are still very good. the different worlds they go to vary in its changes, everything from a world where jfk is still president and red lights are go and green is stop, to a world where russia won the cold war and the united states is run by a communist regime. the set up and possibilities are really exciting, i just hope that the other twenty episodes fulfill that promise!

TV. cleaning out the tivo

i watch too much tv. i know this, but i justify it because i tivo everything and can fast forward or skip whatever i want. but the time has come to say goodbye to a few shows. a couple that are getting the boot:

x-play.

why its good: this is a half hour show on G4 dedicated to video games. it was always a bunch of fun because the two hosts, adam sessler and morgan webb, are usually pretty funny, and their game reviews are entertaining. even the games that i didn't have any interest in were usually pretty fun to watch. also, they often have funny skits about different game characters with a lot of inside jokes that only gamers would get, and i would often be knowledgeable enough to get the jokes.

why i'm done: a while ago they 'updated' the show. now it features in-studio demos of games, interviews with game makers, tips and guides from professional gamers, and previews of games that are coming out. all this sounds good, but it is really boring to watch ten minutes of a game demo for a game i couldn't care less about. the best part of the show was always the game reviews, but they now only have one or two per show. the cut down on reviews means they could go a whole week of episodes without even mentioning a game i care about. and all the stuff with the pros is really lame. its to the point where it takes me about three minutes to watch a whole show- i fast forward through everything and just watch the gamer news update. they have been skipping the update lately, so now all i do is fast forward through it looking for something good, and get to the end of the recording without seeing anything i am interested in. sorry, 'x-play', its been a good few years, but its time for you to go.
numb3ers.

why its good: i've never been a fan of procedural dramas; shows like 'csi' and other cop shows have always bored me. but for some reason, i really enjoy 'numb3rs'. at first i started watching the first season because sabrina lloyd was on it (i loved her in 'sliders' and 'sports night'), and by the time she left after the first season i was hooked and liked all the rest of the characters. the hook of this show is that all the plots are solved using different math theories and equations. its kind of a nerdy premise, but the way they visualize the different math stuff always reminded me of the movie 'pi', which i really loved.

why i'm done: with some reluctance, i am moving on from this show. its one that i still enjoy watching, but its one of the casualties of cutting back my tv watching. the formula of the show is very repetitive, but the character moments are frequent enough that it made the different episodes worth watching. this one was never one that i eagerly looked forward to, but a good one to have on while i was doing something else. but unfortunately, something has to be cut, and this one fell just below the line.
terminator: the sarah connor chronicles.

why its good: this one is obvious- its terminator! i watched all of the first season and really enjoyed it, they do a great job of adding to the mythology of the terminator series. the first season dragged a bit at the beginning, but once they added john connor's uncle, brian austin green, it was a ton better. one of the best parts of the show is its pacing. i start watching an episode and it moves along at such a good speed, that it feels too short by the time i get to the end of an episode! oh, and summer glau is really cool!

why i'm done: well, i'm not actually done... last year i watched the first half of the season as it aired, but the second half i just stockpiled episodes until the summer and watched them all in one go. this was perfect due to the speed of the show- i finish one and get to move on to the next episode right away, no waiting a week in between! this season i have done the same, i currently have about 15 episodes saved on the tivo which i havent even started to watch! the reason why i'm deleting this from the tivo is because i will just rent season two when it comes out on dvd. the first season came out so early in the summer that it was already out before i watched my recorded episodes. i figure i'll do the same this summer. so, even though i am getting rid of the show, i am very much looking forward to watching it later.

COMIC BOOKS. the dark knight

i recently decided to reread 'the dark knight returns' by frank miller. i had read it a couple times before years ago, but i recently got it back from a friend and couldn't help but page through it again. the book had a huge impact on the world of comics, it brought about 'the dark age' in comics. in the eighties most comic books were light and silly. when 'the dark knight returns' came out, it was a catalyst that shifted the gears of the industry and everything focused instead on dark gritty characterizations. this came to a head in the 90's with the anti-hero, and every character seemed to be willing to kill. the story itself takes place when bruce wayne is in his fifties and has retired from being batman for about ten years. the city has gone to crap and now gangs rule the landscape. all the superheroes have been arrested or disappeared, superman is a neutered lapdog of the government, and there seems to be no hope. bruce has had it, and decides to put the cape and cowl back on. except this time he's angry. the story is a dense tale that looks at corruption and responsibility and how those things are ignored. its a great story and worth rereading every couple years.

after having finished that one, i pulled out the follow up 'the dark knight strikes again'. this one came out around 2001 and is startlingly different than the first one. this one seems to try and be the opposite end of the spectrum. the story continues as batman is trying to bring the world's superheroes back into the spotlight to try and change the growing shallowness and apathy of gotham's residents. the shock of reading this one right after the first one is the stark contrasts between the two. where the first one is dark and moody, this one is bright and electric. the first is written densely and packed with small panels and lots of words, this one is full of splash pages and minimal dialog. the art in this volume seems to be no longer interested in representing the figures, rather just give a vague simplified version of the characters. instead of dark imagery based in darkness, this one has the backgrounds in all white, or generic outlines in light hues. the characters seem to be having fun and relish the role of being a superhero instead of brooding over everything.

just as the first one was in response to the shallow simplicity of the comic industry in the 80's, the second feels like a response to the gritty dark comic industry of the 90's that the first had created.

GAMES. broken ds

it is a sad day. my nintendo ds finally gave out on me- its dead. its been on the fritz for about a month or so, but it looks like it finally kicked the bucket. its a bit sad, a video game system has never died on me before. i bought this thing when it first came out in november of 2004. it was the first video game system i had ever bought when it first came out, and i was totally excited to play it! i spent a lot of time playing it those first few months and had a great time. over the years i had gotten quite a few games for it, but i was mostly drawn toward puzzle games. i haven't played it much for the past year or so, pulling it out for a week or two and playing some puzzle games right before bed. i mostly just loved to play the mini games and stuff. i bought 'super mario 64' when i first got my ds, and i hardly ever played the actual mario game! i think i still have yet to collect more than 5 coins... but i spent countless hours playing the card mini games, maxing out the amount of points you could earn in each of the games.

i guess i'll just have to live without it for now. maybe when the new version, the nintendo dsi, comes out the current versions will get real cheap and i can pick one up. if not, the games will go into my video game bin that houses all the old systems i dont play anymore. sad indeed.

TV. battlestar galactica

it happened. i promised myself it wouldn't, but it did. i became a fan of 'battlestar galactica'. after all the critical praise it has gotten over the years, i gave it a try a year or so ago, but wasn't impressed. the dense storylines and hard to understand mythology were too much for me. i watched about three episodes and gave up.
now with the new season starting my curiosity was peeked once again. seeing all the ads for it during 'stargate atlantis' and 'sanctuary', and constantly hearing of its praises in different magazines and online, i decided to give it another go. this season opener they were going to reveal who the final cylon is. big deal, right? i agree, but it was enough to entice me to give it another go. and wouldn't you know it, the sci fi chanel just so happened to be having a twelve hour marathon leading up to the new episode. i fired up the tivo and recorded them all. i started with the two part finale last season, and then it got me- i was hooked! the intricate stories of the last humans trying to get back to the mythical planet 'earth' sucked me in until i needed to know who the last cylon was! they got me, those sneaky weasels! i blew through the next ten episodes in a matter of days until i finally got to the season premiere where they finally revealed who it was. i was shocked- actually i wasnt, it was more like 'so, who's that?' like i said, the story is dense. but now with only nine episodes to go in this final season, i have to see how their journey ends. i wont be going back and watching all three seasons i missed, it actually adds to the fun confusion by not always knowing what they are talking about...

TV. stargate atlantis

the final episode of the last season has now come to a close. i'm a big 'stargate' fan, but i have to say, that was disappointing. i don't just mean the last episode, i mean the whole show. i came to the whole 'stargate' thing a bit late, but i became a fast fan. 'stargate sg-1' was amazing. each week they would travel to a new world and learn about their society. each place allowed them to examine and comment on an aspect of our society in the form of fantasy, like the best sci-fi short stories. most of the episodes dealt with a part of ourselves exaggerated so it could be explored and commented on through the guise of science fiction. the typical trappings of a science fiction show were usually avoided, no impossible spacey kinds of things, just people exploring and interacting with a new culture and trying to understand it. usually they didn't get bogged down by space ships or transporter type nonsense (well, at least until the last couple seasons, which were admittedly past their prime...).
but this show? 'stargate atlantis'? about the exact opposite. there was always space ships, transporters, ridiculous technology, and lame aliens. in fact, the show would go for stretches of five or six episodes sometimes without even using the stargate itself! come on, thats where the show gets its name! that would be like 'ER' if they never went to the hospital- lame! there were some good parts, mostly the casting of jewel staite, but the bad far outweighed the good. unlike 'stargate sg-1', i am not at all sad to see 'stargate atlantis' go. maybe they will do better next season when the third show, 'stargate: universe', starts up. i'll be first in line hoping that they learned from their atlantis mistakes.

BOOKS. don't panic

a couple years ago, when the movie was going to come out, i decided to read 'hitchhikers guide to the galaxy'. i didn't know anything about it, but i had heard it was pretty funny. i read it quickly and totally enjoyed it. i've since gone back and read most of the other books from the series. the first one was definitely the best, but all of them have their humorous charms.
recently i came across this book, a biography about douglas adams, the author of the 'hitchhikers' books. its written by neil gaiman, which is a name you can always trust. it was quite interesting. i didn't know anything about mr. adams, but was quite enthralled by this account of his life. gaiman writes it in the same sort of dry british wit that characterizes adams writings. it was interesting to learn about how the story started, as a radio show for the BBC. it morphed over time to include a television series, a set of books, and a computer game, each of which tells the story differently. adams was by all accounts a major procrastinator, often waiting until two weeks before a book was due to even begin writing (which explains why the books are so uneven). it seems he was also a man who loved technology. he was involved in creating a 'hitchhikers guide' on the internet which anyone could contribute to, basically creating wikipedia before wikipedia! this book shares his works, which were unfortunately cut short when he passed away eight years ago. a very funny and interesting look at a funny and interesting man.

AUDIO BOOKS. love is a mixtape

a writer for 'rolling stone', rob sheffield shares his life through the music he loved. in each chapter he gives the name of a mixtape he made, lists the songs on it, then shares stories about it or about what was going on in his life at the time he listened to it. many of the stories are about having fun and hanging out, but most of them revolve around a girl named renee, his wife. he shares how they met, their relationship, marriage, and life with her. they were married five years when she had a heart problem that took her life. rob goes on to share how he tried to understand it and deal with life after renee. for a long time he hid behind his music, not wanting to participate in the real world any longer. he explains how things never get any easier after a loss, they just keep going. at the end he shares that he has been able to reenter the real world and lives his life as a memorial to renee, living as she would have wanted him to. he moves to a new city, finds new jobs, and eventually even finds a new wife. its a heartfelt tale of how to grow and love, all through the form of music.

AUDIO BOOKS. never have your dog stuffed

i've often seen alan alda on different talk shows and have always enjoyed his anecdotes about his life. when i saw this on the shelf i figured it would be worth a listen. the book is a memoir of his life, most of it consisting of his early life, growing up with parents who were traveling vaudeville performers, going to school, and starting out in theater. i had heard many of the stories before, so much of it was repeats of things he had shared on different shows. over all though, it was a nice story sharing his struggles and victories over the years. he talks of dealing with a mother who was mentally ill, falling in love with his wife, and little bits of advice for actors ('always tell them you can do everything! can i ride a horse? sure!'). he includes a few stories from his days on 'mash', but i wast that interested because i never cared for that show. even still, a fun listen with some nice insight.

AUDIO BOOKS. the year of magical thinking

this is a moving memoir of loss. didion retells the story of her husbands unexpected death and reflects on its impact in her life. after his heart attack she explains her attempt to deal with his passing and the year that followed as she tried to piece her life back together again. she shares her struggles with accepting his death and the challenges of understanding it. she talks of the days and weeks following it when she would constantly expect him to return, feeling like it wasn't real, or that she could do something to reverse what had happened. how do you mourn? what is the right way to grieve? the author researches the writings on the topic and finds that there is very little written on the subject and tries to explain her own thinking during her time of loss. the realization that it doesn't get easier, it just gets further and further away was an interesting observation. the book is filled with sadness, struggling, and ultimately embarrassing the difficulties of loss.