Michael Offutt's Blog, page 128

These Batman Sengoku era images could belong in any home right next to the fine China

Artist Scott Wade is selling prints of some fabulous Sengoku Batman images. For those of you not in the know, "Sengoku" refers to a period in Japanese history referred to as the "Warring States Period." As its name implies, during this time Japan was embroiled in nearly constant social upheaval, political intrigue, and constant military conflict. It lasted for two-hundred years (between the 15th and 17th centuries) and eventually led to the unification of political power under the Tokugawa Shogunate. A lot of beautiful silk screen art pieces such as the one below are typical of this era:
Being half-Japanese, I love Japanese artwork and have a few prints and silk screens in my home. However, I'd love to get some of the following Batman prints simply because they're both beautiful and show that special geekiness that is "oh so me."

In a gist, these Batman Sengoku era images could belong in any home right next to the fine China. Wouldn't that be a cool dinner conversation? Have a great weekend.

Samuel L Jackson reprising his role as Nick Fury in Agents of Shield proves how Disney and Marvel can make the impossible possible.

The cameo of Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role as Nick Fury in last night's Agents of Shield just proves how Disney and Marvel can make the impossible possible.

When I make this statement, I'm talking about continuity. The ability to pull together an actual superhero universe and not have to go looking for new actors and actresses every time they need to cast a character. As one caveat, I would never have thought what they did to bring the Avengers to life could have been done. I mean...come on. Make an Iron Man movie, a Captain America movie, a Thor movie, and then intertwine them with the stars from each to balance one huge blockbuster? That just makes me shake my head. I think it's lucky if a director can keep the same actors together for a trilogy, much less an entire universe of films spanning half a decade, different writers, and different directors. Usually something happens--a death, an actor dispute, a director quitting in rage, an artist expressing personal license--to screw that up in the years that it takes to film such a project. Harry Potter had to recast Dumbledore and Hogwarts always looked different to me (that's just one example). How many times has Batman been recast before Christopher Nolan stepped in to put a stop to the madness?

Somehow, Marvel with the bottomless pockets of Disney seems to be able to bring back the same actors and actresses with a higher chance of success than I have observed anywhere else. They even get the girlfriends right (Natalie Portman as Thor's girlfriend for the sequel, Thor: The Dark World). Not even Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg could manage that feat with the Back to the Future sequels.

But is money the deciding factor here? Is the reason why we get different actors and actresses standing in for characters in sequels all related to the pocketbook? Or is Disney/Marvel just incredibly lucky? Whatever the answer may be, I like it. And I see it will be no different with Whedon's Agents of Shield and that makes me happy. If Iron Man, Captain America, or Red Skull (for example) are ever called upon, I'm going to expect Robert Downey, Chris Evans, or Hugo Weaving. If we need to see Black Widow, let's celebrate Scarlett Johansson's return to television.

Bravo Disney! Bravo Marvel! I salute you on your ability to avoid breaking my suspension of disbelief. Casting a new actor in an old role is as jarring to me as coming across blatant spelling errors and grammar errors when caught up in a story that I'm reading. The machine Disney has created with its Marvel franchise is almost perfect. Sure, there are still some improvements to be made. However, I don't honestly believe any other company or individual could handle this better.

It makes me salivate in just thinking about what's coming down the pipe for Star Wars. If the Marvel movies are any indication, they will bring continuity to the Lucas legacy in every way possible. I'm thinking the same actor for Boba Fett as in the movies for just one example. Any "lesser" company would just cast whomever they want. But not Disney. They'll do it right. Are you listening D.C.? You could learn a thing or two from their efforts. Stop recasting Batman. Pay Christian Bale whatever he wants to come back. Don't ever recast Superman. If Marvel can do it, it's not impossible, and these characters which are beloved by everyone deserve the best treatment. If you can't do it, then stop making those films. Admit that you suck and just give up on making craptastic movies.

That is all.

I don't like people telling me my work is unsatisfactory and that's just the truth

Yesterday, one of my coworkers was asked to make a sign that directed people outside for our Open House. He drew it on paper and was happily going to hang it on the wall for our event. Before this could happen though, I suggested that we try a different approach. I suggested a PowerPoint and using a large screen television that we have, connecting it with an HDMI cable to a laptop, and having this slide show direct people instead. My reasoning: it would look great and go with our agency's focus on using technology to solve problems.
My boss asked me, "How long would it take to set that up?"
I replied, "I can do it in ten minutes."
It actually took me around twenty to get everything set up, however I was happy with the result.
Well a little while later, I saw former co-worker on the floor in the hallway modifying my PowerPoint presentation. He basically said it wasn't satisfactory and felt the need to change it without even asking me if that would be okay.
I know this isn't a big deal, but this is the same guy that a little while before would have been happy to tape a scribbled piece of paper on the wall directing people outside. So yeah, he felt the need to "edit" my work. I have to say, I was a little miffed.
Conclusion: I don't like people telling me my work is unsatisfactory or "this could be improved" unless I'm soliciting for an opinion. Maybe I'm a tad bit arrogant? I don't know, but my feelings on this made me acutely aware that I may have some issues with insecurity.
Here is my point: I think that I've come to the conclusion that I will never be secure in myself as a person or as a writer. With regard to this last part, i.e., my writing, I thought I'd grown relatively secure based off of my reaction to reviews. One stars no longer made me feel like I was some species of sub-human wasting my time at a typewriter pounding away at keys to tell a story that no one wanted to read in the first place. But I think that I was just lying to myself. What changed my mind you might ask? Joining a writer's group here in Utah.
We meet once a month on the second Thursday. My friend, Charlotte Louise Dolan (she writes Regency romance and is a well-respected author in the genre) hosts the group at her home. I discovered that when it came for me to read from something I wrote, that it raised my blood pressure, made me hot under the collar, and made every error leap off the page. It's like I was suddenly made aware of how abominably long a single page of prose happens to be. The sentences appeared to stretch on forever. I remember thinking "how could one person write this much?" and then realized...oh yeah...it was easy.
If that's not a sign of insecurity, I don't know what is.
I don't know if a writer's group is for me, but I think I'm going to limit my exposure to reading stuff that I've written and putting it up for critique to about two pages per month. Everyone in the group is going to have an opinion, and I'm not sure if I like having all of those opinions resonating in my head. It's difficult for me to find my own voice again after hearing from other people how they think the story should go or how a character should act or whether an info dump needs to be cut, disseminated, or eliminated entirely. I hate info dumps too. About the only thing I know when I'm called out on my info dumps is that I need to do something about them. I guess my head is filled with big ideas, and I need to work on it or risk the dreaded "eye glaze."
Have any of you participated in writer groups? What do you do in order to get the most out of them without exposing too much of yourself to be cut open by sharp pens and eviscerating opinions? Or do you happily embrace flaws that people seem so ready to point out in something you've created? 
As for me, I've said it once and I'll say it again. I don't particularly like people telling me my work is unsatisfactory and that's just the truth. But it seems to happen all the time. The fact that I've not gone postal may be all the validation that I need to realize I've the chops to be a real writer. I guess the proof will emerge in the years to come.
*****
The Insecure Writers Support Group is a monthly blog fest started by Amazon best selling science-fiction author Alex J. Cavanaugh.

This two-minute short will make you believe the world is ready for a Wonder Woman movie

Click to EmbiggenI own the above issue that came out in the eighties. If you can't tell, it's Wonder Woman #1 featuring a full reboot complete with origin story of the iconic character. I mostly bought it because George Perez moved from The New Titans to launch Wonder Woman and give the character the sendoff she deserved (Perez is my favorite comic book artist).

What led me to this little rant today is a post I found on io9, which caught my eye. It was a two-minute short created by amateurs featuring Wonder Woman (albeit with some artistic license), and I absolutely loved it. This makes me question, why hasn't Wonder Woman been greenlit for her own movie? They gave one to Green Lantern (which still makes me cringe) and Wonder Woman's origin story is way better than Green Lantern's. Just look for yourself at the above spread. Doesn't that panel just hint at the awesomeness contained within? You have Hercules holding Diana in chains (where her bracers that deflect bullets and her strength come from) not to mention all of her other cool magic items. In a nutshell, this origin story is pretty darn amazing.

It's immersed in Greek mythology. You can't tell me that Greek mythology doesn't make money, because it totally does. Think of Percy Jackson and all of his adventures. Want another example? How about the two Clash of the Titans remakes. Sure they're terrible, but they ring the register every single time.

This two-minute short will make you believe the world is ready for a Wonder Woman movie. Please watch it. You won't regret it.

Goodbye Breaking Bad. Sundays just won't be the same without you.

SPOILERS AHEAD -- I guess this post is for true fans of the show that tuned into the series finale to watch it along with millions of other people. That doesn't mean that you, my many writer friends, aren't welcome to read it. But I know many of you don't watch television so you may get nothing out of this post at all.

I went to a local tavern/pub last night to watch the series finale of Breaking Bad with other rabid fans. I partook in great conversation while watching a high definition broadcast of it on a 60" screen, eating sandwiches and drinking beer. What a fun time. I told them we should do it again for the Walking Dead.
Anyway, none of my predictions landed where I wanted them. I guess one caveat is that we saw Jesse Pinkman in a flashback to his high school days working on that box I told you about last week. So in keeping with a goodbye dedication, I'm going to reflect on all the ends that got tied up, beginning with...

1) The death of Walter White. I got to hand it to him...pure genius to the end. Rather than succumb to anger over Gretchen and Elliot, he used them and their billion dollar empire to be the best money launderers ever for the 9.5 million dollars that he wants to get to his family. It was great to see Badger and Skinny Pete one last time. I love that Walter finally came clean to Skylar about why he was cooking meth. He admitted that he liked it. He was really good at it, and that it made him feel alive. I think any of us can understand that basic need. When we're really awesome at something, it feels good. RIP Heisenberg/Walter White.

2) The death of Lydia Quail. She got everything that was coming to her. I loved that she got poisoned by the ricin, and it was perfect that she heard it from Walter White, who tauntingly asked her, "How have you been feeling, Lydia?"

3) Jesse Pinkman lived. It seemed to me that at some point, Jesse had nothing left to live for. However, when he drove away from the compound with Walter White standing alone in his rearview mirror, he seemed glad to be alive. Maybe he can find it within himself to move beyond the swath of death created by cooking meth with his former high school teacher. One thing's for sure: Jesse will never be able to forget his high school chemistry teacher. In that sense, Walter White is immortal. Embedded in the video below are all the greatest moments when Jesse says "bitch." It'll be Aaron Paul's greatest catchphrase from the show.
4) The death of Todd and his whole murderous family. This was perfect. I thought Jesse might cook a bomb and that turned out to be totally wrong. I found the reality just as satisfying. Walter White rescuing Jesse and then killing Todd's family with a tricked out M60 was awesome. I like how he triggered it to go off when the trunk popped open. I also thought it was great to see Jesse Pinkman strangle Todd to death. Perfect ending to that psychopath.

I wish I could have known Skylar White's fate. Did she go to prison? I kind of think that even with the bargaining chip of knowing where Gomez and Hank are buried that this would not be enough to keep her from jail. I could be wrong though. However using that as a bargaining chip would probably make Marie never speak to her again.

As series' finales go, Breaking Bad's is the best that I've ever seen. I salute Vince Gilligan, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, and of course, Bryan Cranston who made it all possible. It's been one hell of a run over five years and you finished it on top. Breaking Bad is easily one of the greatest stories of all time. So goodbye Breaking Bad. Sundays just won't be the same without you.

Ben Bernanke you are my hero. May your retirement from the Federal Reserve be filled with joy.

Fed Reserve Chairman Ben BernankeI'm sure most of you guys have heard the term "taper tantrum" that has been bantered occasionally on the news in reference to recent pullbacks in the stock market. But for those of you who are left confused by this term, it refers to speculation over whether or not the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back its monetary stimulus program known collectively as "Quantitative Easement." QE3 started about a year ago, and is the third phase designed to nurse an ailing economy back to health through the purchasing of $85 billion in bonds per month. To feel its effect, just look at your savings account. Mountain America Credit Union (my bank) pays .10% on a savings account. Our current inflation in the U.S. is 1.5%. This means that if you're keeping any money in your savings account, it's basically the same as stuffing it in your mattress. In other words, your money is getting eaten alive by inflation. Welcome to the new reality.
The Federal Reserve Bank has an impressive facade.Why would the Federal Reserve do this? That's a big question, and it comes with a lot of hitches. The idea behind it is to stimulate the economy and grow the middle class. It's resulted in one of the most profound bull markets in history, and I have to say, the going has been pretty sweet. I stopped fighting the Federal Reserve in May. I likened it to a raging river threatening to sweep us all over the falls. In my metaphor, the falls is really a stand-in for "fear" that the stock market will crash and that I (along with anyone else that puts their money into the pot) will be broke and penniless. Sure that could happen. But I could also get hit by a bus crossing the street tomorrow. In the movie, "The Thirteenth Warrior" a Viking tells Antonio Banderas (who's playing an Arab) that "Fear profits a man nothing." I take that saying to heart. So to return to my metaphor of the river, there I was holding onto the branch of a tree being pummeled by the force of this huge river that wants to pull me over the falls. Hanging onto other branches with me are more middle-class Americans. However, here's where the metaphor ends. In May of this year, I let go.
The team of Fast Money talking the taper. When will it rear its ugly head?
Stocks will drop the day it does, but they'll recover. And any drop in stock
prices is just a chance to buy more. It means everything's on sale. And I
love a good sale.I allowed myself to get thrown over the brink and into the pool at the bottom.

I didn't drown. I haven't lost my savings. In fact, my liquid assets have increased by quite a bit in five months with some shrewd investing that I did all by myself (I paid no financial advisor and I suppose I think I'm smart enough to be my own advisor).

Color me optimistic, but I don't think the U.S. economy is going to crash again for a long time. I encourage all of you that are afraid to invest to grow some balls and put some money in the stock market, whether you choose to do it through your 401K, a 457, a Roth IRA, or through the purchase of a mutual fund or carefully chosen equities. With the Federal Reserve pumping money into the economy, I think it's immune from crashing (unless the government defaults on its debt at which point we're all screwed whether or not you have stocks). And it won't last forever so ride the gravy train while you can. Sure, there will be setbacks, there will be pullbacks, and not every day is rosy on Wall Street. But if you invest for the long term (years and years) then you will reap the rewards. It's better than sitting back and watching your savings account devalue in front of your eyes. I have to say, I was sick and tired of doing that.

In retrospect, I think Ben Bernanke has been an astounding chairman for the Federal Reserve given the challenges he's faced. I think he was truly looking out for the middle class, no matter what people say about him. Sure, QE may not have worked like he intended and that's mostly because the middle class is so underrepresented in the stock market. But I have to ask myself, what other than that could the Fed have done to help the middle class? The economy is a tricky devil, and just handing out money to families might have made them put it into savings. For an economy to pull itself out of recession, there needs to be spending and not hoarding. The complexity of it sometimes boggles my mind, and I understand why there are people whose entire career is spent to try and understand the idea of money.
Will Obama nominate Janet Yellen for the job of Fed Chair? If he does, Janet
will become the first woman in history to sit in the esteemed position. That
in itself is very exciting. I think she'll do a fine job.For the record, I think Ben's replacement is going to be Janet Yellen. She's touted as the small woman with a HUGE I.Q. Her Alma Mater is none other than U.C. Berkeley, and she served as president of the Federal Reserve bank in San Francisco. She's also one of those people that believes in keeping their thumb firmly on the print money button. Lots of people like to scoff at the Federal Reserve and say, "Ben's just printing money." Well...that's what the central bank is SUPPOSED to do. It's SUPPOSED to print money. Money is good. Liquidity is good. When the economy is flush in money it makes things work smoothly. People can get money to buy houses and to buy cars and to buy the things that they need. That's how economies work. So yeah...I hope Janet slams the "print money" button as often as she can.
Nancy Pelosi. Yeah I know you Republicans out there
absolutely hated her. For the record, I'm not a fan of
Speaker Boehner so I get it. However, I still think you
should read her op-ed on USA Today and try to
imagine how you'd react if you were told over the phone
what got said to her five years ago.We live in extraordinary times. This is our parent's economy. We can go and blame the past generation; democrats can blame republicans and vice versa. But the fact remains, we are here and this is the way the world works right now. Extraordinary times require extraordinary messures. I don't think a lot of people understand the depths of how close capitalism came to utter destruction in 2008. Recently, former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi wrote an op-ed for USA Today. In it, she said something that scared the shit out of me (you can read the full article located HERE):

Five years ago Wednesday, when I was the speaker, I gathered the other Democratic House leaders in my office to discuss the latest financial news. I told them that, as a matter of course, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson briefed me on the state of the markets and the financial system, but had not done so that week.

In that time, Lehman Bros. had filed for bankruptcy; Merrill Lynch had faced failure and had been purchased by Bank of America; and, two days earlier, AIG had survived only after a Federal Reserve bailout.

After the meeting at 3 p.m., I placed a call to Secretary Paulson and asked him to come the next morning to brief the leadership. Then came his stunning response: "Madam Speaker, tomorrow morning will be too late."

My conservative friends, say what you will about Nancy Pelosi, but you have to admit that hearing that on the other end of the phone would be absolutely chilling. And of course, you know what followed. Congressional hearings around the clock and emergency measures to approve a trillion dollars in stimulus money because all the facts said that if the U.S. didn't do this, capitalism WOULD HAVE DIED. Our entire financial system would be in shambles. Every single one of us, red and blue, would be destitute. Children would have no future.
Billionaire investor Warren BuffettBut the stimulus alone wasn't enough. So that's where Ben and the Fed stepped in with Quantitative Easement programs to prop up the economy. There are tons of critics (and there should be because that's how democracy works). However, I've felt the power of QE myself, and I've got a new found respect for our central bank. Here's what Warren Buffett had to say of Ben Bernanke's Quantitative Easement bond-buying program:

"The Fed is the greatest hedge fund in history," Buffett told students at Georgetown University. "It's generating US$90 billion a year in revenue for the U.S. government and that wasn't the case a few years ago."

Yes, you heard that right. The math doesn't lie. QE is actually GENERATING MONEY. A LOT of money. How is the Fed doing that? Answer: tons and tons of bonds. Yes, all that bond buying they are doing to stimulate the economy that comes under heavy criticism that the Fed is borrowing from your children's future is wrong. They are INVESTING in your children's future. All of those bonds are increasing in value and paying the government back. In fact, QE may not cost this country a cent if you look at it from a certain point of view. It will make this country money. Neat, right?

It's been five years since Lehman Brothers went belly up, and I'm writing this post to thank Ben Bernanke. I think you've done a wonderful job. I don't care what the critics say. You've made me money, and in a time where scraping by is hard, that makes you a hero in my book. May your retirement from the Federal Reserve be filled with joy.

Today, I'm being interviewed over at Yolanda's blog Defending the Pen . Have a great weekend.

Find out what's at the center of a black hole with an animation explaining some of Stephen Hawking's big ideas

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has a new book out. I read his last one called The Grand Design and liked how it explored the dual slit experiment. It provided some inspiration for one of my stories. Sometimes though, his ideas can be difficult to grasp. I love this cartoon that boils them down and provides answers to some of the hardest questions like:

1) What's at the center of a black hole?
2) What happens at the edge of a black hole?
3) Why is Stephen Hawking our most famous living scientist?


In the least, it's the cutest portrayal of Hawking radiation ever even though some old Disney fans might miss this guy: I sincerely hope I'm not the only one who gets this picture. That will only confirm how truly old I am. Have a great Thursday.

An island rose out of the sea and I instantly thought of Cthulhu

Yesterday, a deadly earthquake in Pakistan caused an island to rise from the sea. Now, I don't mean to make light of such a tragedy by drawing a connection to fiction, but I can't help but think of Cthulhu and his home/prison of R'lyeh.
R'lyeh by Decepticoin on deviantARTFor those of you who aren't familiar with the Cthulhu mythos, R'lyeh is a fictional lost city that first appeared in the H.P. Lovecraft short story "The Call of Cthulhu," first published in Weird Tales in 1928. According to Lovecraft's short story, R'lyeh is a sunken city in the Pacific that makes its appearance for one day every thousand years or so.

Here's how Lovecraft describes it:

The nightmare corpse-city of R'lyeh...was built in measureless eons behind history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the stars. There lay great Cthulhu and his hordes, hidden in green slimy vaults.

Norwegian sailor Gustaf Johansen, the narrator of one of the tales in the short story, describes the accidental discovery of the city as a coastline of mingled mud, ooze, and weedy Cyclopean masonry which can be nothing less than the tangible substance of earth's supreme terror--the nightmare corpse-city of R'lyeh... loathsomely redolent of spheres and dimensions apart from ours.

TL;DR: An island rose out of the sea, and I instantly thought of Cthulhu. It's eerie how fiction can sometimes show up in one form or another in real life. Crazy, right?

All the wonderful television shows I plan to watch this autumn listed in one place

This Fall, there are a lot of shows I want to watch on television. People have been asking me for my recommendations so I've compiled a list of television shows (and when they air) to keep you apprised of what's on night to night. Maybe from this list, you can determine if there's anything there that piques your interest too.

Mondays:
Sleepy Hollow on Fox (second episode is tonight). Anachronism at its best! Ichabod Crane rises from the dead in 2013 to join forces with a cop to stop the Headless Horseman who just happens to be one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. I'm guessing that the first season is going to be all about getting the other three Horseman of the Apocalypse to join him.
Almost Human (November 4th on Fox) An action-packed police procedural set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. It has Karl Urban in it and is being funded by J.J. Abrams. That's good enough for me.
Tuesdays:
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (premiere is this week) -- You all should know what this show is. If you don't, then consider nerd card suspended.

Supernatural (October 15th on the CW). Last season ended with angels being thrown out of heaven by the scribe of god. This season should be a war between demons and angels on earth. It sounds like the Winchesters will have their work cut out for them.
Wednesdays:
Arrow on the CW (second season premiere is October 9th) -- I love this show. Aside from gratuitous muscle shots, the acting is great and the storyline is awesome.

The Tomorrow People on the CW (season pilot airs October 9th) -- this looks like a spin on the whole Heroes thing using the Smallville formula: great looking actors and actresses mixed in with pop music and great special effects. I love the CW. Greatest line in the trailer: "What else can you do 'cept...STOP TIME?" <== That's f'ing awesome. I'm probably MOST excited for this series.
Revolution (second season starts this week) -- The first season almost lost me with all the weird directions it went in. However, I'm willing to see what they've got cooked up for season two. It seemed like the show likes getting me to be remotely invested in a character just to have it killed off or relegated to a minor role.

Modern Family (new season starts this week on ABC)

American Horror Story: Coven (October 9th on FX) -- Kathy Bates is enough reason to watch this season. That, and I like stories that have to do with witchcraft.

Thursdays:
The Big Bang Theory (new season starts on CBS this week
Elementary (second season starts this week)
Dragons: Defenders of Berk (second season started last week)
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland (October 10th on ABC)
Fridays:
Dracula (Pilot is October 25th on NBC) It's the late 19th century, and the mysterious Dracula has arrived in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. He's especially interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night - useful for someone who avoids the sun. But he has another reason for his travels: he hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan... until he becomes infatuated with a woman who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

Saturdays:
Dr. Who (50th anniversary on BBC America November 23rd and then a Christmas special. Goodbye Matt Smith)
Atlantis (starts on BBC America on November 23rd)
Beware the Batman (has been running for a while now-Cartoon Network)

Sundays:
The Walking Dead (season premiere on AMC October 13th)
Masters of Sex (season premiere on Showtime this Sunday) -- Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan portray the real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The series chronicles the unusual lives, romance, and pop culture trajectory of Masters and Johnson. Their research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a mid-western teaching hospital in St. Louis to the cover of Time magazine and nearly a dozen appearances on Johnny Carson's couch.
Talking Dead (season premiere on AMC October 13th)
Once Upon A Time (new season airs this week on ABC)

So that's everything. See anything you like?

Can Jesse Pinkman build a better box? How will the greatest show on television end?

How will I feel when Breaking Bad finally ends next week? I know I'll be sad, but I think there'll also be some relief. These last few episodes have been hard to watch. Walt's whole family has been swept away by the outreaching effects of being a serial killing drug kingpin, and the one person that he loves the most, his son "Flynn" a.k.a. Walt Jr., absolutely hates him.

So it's been a long journey, but the series finale is now upon us. In fact, Bryan Cranston teased that fans should prepare themselves for a "holocaust" when he chatted with Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet at the Emmy's (as a side note: why does the whole world now revolve around Ryan Seacrest?) I'm also happy that Anna Gunn (who plays Skylar White) won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress. She deserves it. Just watch her performance in last week's magnificently chilling "Ozymandias." I don't think I've ever talked about an episode so much. Why? There was a lot to say regarding the phone conversation. And well, it's shocking to think that Hank is dead. "You are the smartest guy I know," Hank said to Walter, "and you can't see that he made his mind up ten minutes ago." What a way to go.

So what will happen next week? Walt was all set to turn himself into the police when he saw his old pals at Gray Matter (the company he helped found) basically eliminating all of his significant contributions during an interview with Charlie Rose. And this made Walt very angry. When Walt argued with Gretchen in season one he said, "It was my hard work. My research. And you and Elliott made millions off it." Walter has always felt that his work was stolen from him and bitterly blames Elliot and Gretchen for his lot in life. And here's the thing: we never found out what made Walt suddenly leave Gray Matter Technologies and sell his stake in the company for peanuts.

I expect Gray Matter to come full circle in the series finale. Perhaps Elliot and Gretchen will get poisoned by the ricin? Or maybe, we will come to understand a deeper connection between Madrigal (the company which Lydia works for) and Gray Matter.

The title of the last episode is "Felina." This is an anagram for "Finale." It's also the feminine version of the word "feline" in Spanish. I think this is a nod to Lydia who has captured the eye of Todd. Jesse deserves some payback so killing Lydia in front of Todd would be awesome. However, Vince Gilligan in the show "Talking Bad" dropped one clue near the end. He said that "woodworking" had to do with the season finale.

Here's an interesting quote from earlier in the series. It comes from Jesse Pinkman, and it's about woodworking from the episode "kafkaesque":

"I took this vo-tech class in high school, woodworking. I took a lot of vo-tech classes, because it was just big jerk-off, but this one time I had this teacher by the name of... Mr... Mr. Pike. I guess he was like a Marine or something before he got old. He was hard hearing. My project for his class was to make this wooden box. You know, like a small, just like a... like a box, you know, to put stuff in. So I wanted to get the thing done as fast as possible. I figured I could cut classes for the rest of the semester and he couldn't flunk me as long as I, you know, made the thing. So I finished it in a couple days. And it looked pretty lame, but it worked. You know, for putting in or whatnot. So when I showed it to Mr. Pike for my grade, he looked at it and said: "Is that the best you can do?" At first I thought to myself "Hell yeah, bitch. Now give me a D and shut up so I can go blaze one with my boys." I don't know. Maybe it was the way he said it, but... it was like he wasn't exactly saying it sucked. He was just asking me honestly, "Is that all you got?" And for some reason, I thought to myself: "Yeah, man, I can do better." So I started from scratch. I made another, then another. And by the end of the semester, by like box number five, I had built this thing. You should have seen it. It was insane. I mean, I built it out of Peruvian walnut with inlaid zebrawood. It was fitted with pegas, no screws. I sanded it for days, until it was smooth as glass. Then I rubbed all the wood with tung oil so it was rich and dark. It even smelled good. You know, you put nose in it and breathed in, it was... it was perfect."

So the question in my mind is this: is cooking meth the best you can do Jesse Pinkman? No, I don't think it is. I think Jesse's going to use chemistry to destroy Todd and his family. He's going to create a "better box." Wouldn't that be interesting? He's at his best when his loved ones are threatened, and I think he's ready to die himself to make sure that the deed gets done.

A Reddit user pointed out, the word broken into three syllables spells out Fe-Li-Na, which equals Iron-Lithium-Sodium. The show at its most basic is about chemistry, and Walter White says in season one that chemistry is about "transformation." We know Mr. White is armed to the teeth now, so I think he'll go down in a blaze of glory against the people that he hates the most. Whatever happens, it's sure to be a bloodbath.

I'm thoroughly surprised at the saturation of Breaking Bad in the dialogue of Americans. Mad Money's Jim Cramer referred to it last week in his opening discussion on stocks. George R.R. Martin said that after watching the "Ozymandias" episode, "there's no one in Westeros that's as bad as Walter White. I need to fix that."

Do you have any predictions for the end of Breaking Bad? How will the greatest show on television end? I'm on pins and needles here and Sunday seems so very far away.