Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 477

December 3, 2012: The Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes! Cookie Monster reviews Superman Returns!

Dis movie more boring den Fozzie Bear’s off-off-off Broadway production of “Old Coronation Street Episodes”.  It so bad dat monster invite friends over and invent Superman Returns drinking game. Everytime someone begin to doze off while watching movie, he have to do shot.  By end of movie, not sure if Big Bird and Grover pass out from Jagermeister or sheer boredom.  Me tink both.

Movie begin wit Superman returning to Earth after being away for five years to visit what left of his home planet: Krypton.  Why he go?  What he find?  Why it take him 5 years?  Dis never explained. Coinsidentally, his alter ego, Clark Kent also return to work at de Daily Planet.  He horrified to diskover Lois Lane did not put her life on hold for him.  She not only have a son, but she be married to X-Men’s Cyclops!

Clark Kent = Super-Creep

Superman prove himself a super-creep by stalking Lois, spying on her and her family wit his x-ray vision, den trying to seduce her by flying her around de city and trying to kiss her on a rooftop.  (Please, do a shot).  She pissed at him becuz he left Earth witout telling her he was leaving.  Why he never said goodbye to her?  Dis never explained but reason be clear.  Superman be utter douchebag.

Uh, she be married, right?

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor have big plans to cause world chaos and grow an island in de ocean blah blah blah.  (Please, do a shot).  Power fluktuates.  Earth shakes.  Planes fall out of sky.  Superman save de day.  Movie plods along.  Someone forget to tell aktor Brandon Routh dat Clark Kent de boring one, NOT Superman!

Lex contemplate de art of de shiv.

Lois and her son somehow end up on Lex’s private yacht where he plot to enact his island-growing plan (yawn.  Please do another shot.).  But clever Lois send stealthy fax alerting Cyclops.  Thug start to beat her up but her son trow piano at him, demonstrating super strength and suggestion dat he be Superman’s son.  Oh, and also suggest dat nice guy Cyklops be a cuckold.  Or dat Lois go to bed wit Cyklops maybe a couple of weeks after sleeping wit Superman in Superman II.

Yacht sinks.  Superman save Lois.  He end up on new landmass dat it turn out be made of kryptonite.  Superman weakened and, in incredibly overwrought scene, beat up and stabbed wit a kryptonite shiv.  Superman plunge of cliff.  BUT he saved by Cyklops and Lois.

Superman pick up landmass and chuck it into space, nature’s cosmic garbage can.

Lex and his annoying girlfriend eskape in a helictoper dat eventually run out of gas, so dey end up stranded on a deserted island – wit nothing to eat but a coconut and a small dog.

Superman rushed to hospital.  He be in a coma!  But Lois and son visit, give him a kiss and make him all better.

Verdikt: Curse of Superman alive.  Dis film confirm: It impossible to make a good Superman movie!

Rating: 4 out of 10 chocolate chippee cookies.

Tagged: comic book movies, Comic Books, Comics, Cookie Monster reviews Superman Returns, film reviews, movie reviews, superhero movie reviews, superhero movies, Superman, Superman Returns

December 2, 2012: Well, that’s that!

Kiss the season goodbye

Following an improbable come from ahead loss in a week in which my Snow Monkeys put up the SECOND most points in the league, eventually losing the the TOP scoring team in the league, my Monkeys were upset this weekend.  The loss, coupled with a win by Steve’s Tebow Sucks means my Monkeys are eliminated from post-season play.  I am beyond frustrated, angry, and bitter.  So much so that I can’t bear the thought of watching another football game.  I’m done.  On the bright side, Akemi is pleased to hear it since it means my Sundays will be free now.

But, before I sign off on this fantasy football league season, I’d like to take a moment to offer some thanks-for-nothings to the players whose under performances and generally crap play in these final few weeks cost my team a playoff berth.

THANKS-NOTHINGS go out to:

Aaron Rodgers (QB, Green Bay Packers) for NOT ONCE looking James Jones’ way during the Packers’ embarrassingly futile effort against the New York Giants last week.

James Jones (WR, Green Bay Packers) for pulling a disappearing act when I needed him most, putting up a staggering 0.00 effort against the New York Giants last week.

Drew Brees (QB, New Orleans Saints) for delivering the worst statistical performance of his career in a must-win game against the Atlanta Falcons. 5 interceptions.  0 touchdowns.  Way to want it.

Andy Dalton (QB, Cincinnati Bengals) for ignoring the best player on your team, wide receiver AJ Green, in your match-up against the San Diego Chargers this week.

AJ Green (WR, Cincinnati Bengals) for turning in a mediocre performance the week after I trade for purportedly “the #1 wide receiver in the league”.

Dennis Pitta (TE, Baltimore Ravens) for a truly pitiful effort. 19 total yards? Seriously, dude.  Why even bother suiting up?

I wish you all the worst in your respective attempts to win the Superbowl.

A few pics from what, it turns out, was my last Football Sunday get-together:

Lulu patiently awaits Ivon’s arrival.

Er…impatiently awaits Ivon’s arrival.

Rob brought breakfast: a variety of Belgian waffles (made with pearl sugar).

And Akemi baked chocolate chip cookies.

And these equally tasty cookies that Akemi insisted were healthy because they contained oatmeal and walnuts.

The mains were stuffed turkey thighs, a stuffed pork tenderloin, braised meatballs, and sweet potato mash.

Best of luck to Rob, Steve, Tio and everyone else who made it to the playoffs.  Let me know how it all turns out.

I’m done.

December 1, 2012: Akemi on E.T., Shrek, Elmo and Yoda! Carl’s Disney experiences! Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Disney…

Today, Akemi was surprised to learn that E.T. and Yoda are not related.  ”But they look so much alike!”she insisted.

Separated at birth?

She was further shocked to learn that Yoda was much, much – about 800 years? – older than E.T. “But E.T. moves so slow,”she protested, “and Yoda is so quick!”

“True,”I admitted, “but Yoda was in much better shape.  He was a Jedi Knight and E.T. was just some gangly alien.  It’s like comparing a slim old guy who works out a lot and a young, overweight guy who’s out of shape.”

She wasn’t buying it.  ”But Yoda is all – cha-ping! Cha-ping! Cha-ping!” Jumping around, miming a light saber duel.  ”And E.T. is all – ” Hunched over, index finger pointing, voice shaking: “A-ke-mi…”

“A-ke-mi?”

Apparently, on a trip to Universal Studios Japan, she’d visited the E.T. ride – a bike and basket holding the loveable alien.  After entering her name into a computer, she pedaled away and E.T. spoke to her.  ”But I don’t recommend Universal Studios Japan,”she said. “Shrek is always – ”  And here, she bounded over, doing a fair approximation of the rotund green monster bouncing on the heels of his feet. “Ho ho ho!”

“What’s wrong wrong with that?”

“Shrek is disgusting!  I told everyone I didn’t like Shrek and then he came to my side and tried to hug me!”    Then added: “And Elmo always running away.”

“Running away?  Why?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe he is tired of getting his picture taken.”  Beat. “Did you hear he was arrested?”

“I heard.  Do you think that was why he was running away?  Because he knew the police were on to him?”

“I don’t know but I remember trying to catch Elmo and Shrek chasing me.”

“Why was Shrek chasing you?”

“Not very many customers so dying for attention.  Also maybe he understood what I said in Japanese and was angry with me.”

“And what happened?  Did he catch you?”

“Yes,”she said, reflecting back on the unpleasant experience. “And I had to take a picture with him.”

It reminds me of Carl Binder’s story of his visit to Disneyland shortly after he’d written Pocahontas for the studio.  He was there with his young daughter and wanted to take a photo with Meeko, Pocahontas’s racoon friend in the movie – only to be informed by Meeko that he was on lunch break.  ”I created you!”Carl informed the bewildered park worker.  ”Get over here.”   Meeko complied and Carl got his photo.

And then there was the time his birthday party/trip to Disneyland was canceled when “the hippies took over Tom Sawyer Island”.  But you’ll have to ask him the details on that one.

← The Day The Hippies Took Tom Sawyer Island

Oh, and since we’re on the topic of Disney…

Top 10 Worst Disney Films – Starpulse.com

On The Country Bears: “Anyway, the plot is that Beary, a young bear, is raised by humans. Talking bears and humans are friends in this reality, and he meets a broken-up rock band called the Country Bears. He helps them reunite, and I really can’t continue because a part of my brain just died.”

The 7 Most Terrifying Disney Movie Deaths | Cracked.com

On Shan-Yu in Mulan: “So basically, it’s the ludicrously violent death from Naked Gun, only instead of being played for laughs, it’s the climax of a kids movie. Burning chunks of Mongolian fall from the sky, always kept barely off-camera or behind an explosion, as everyone below celebrates. Happy days, indeed.”

7 Classic Disney Movies That Taught Us Terrible Lessons | Cracked …

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Ugly Guy Never Gets the Girl.

6 True Stories About Disneyland They Don’t Want … – Cracked.com

On Disneyland’s former underwear policy: “Up until 2001, Disneyland workers weren’t allowed to bring their own underwear when they were in character, because normal underwear tended to bunch up and become visible under the costume. Kind of like how some models don’t wear panties on the runway, except less “exotic and sexy” and more “destructive of your innocence and everything the concept of childhood represents.  Instead, cast members were issued company jock straps, cycling shorts or tights, which they had to hand in at the end of every day to be washed with their costumes.”

November 30, 2012: On parental responsibility and time travel II!

Well, a lot of interesting responses to yesterday post about parental responsibility.  The prevailing opinion seems to be that parents should be held accountable only if their child exhibits problem behavior and no attempt is made to address the issue.  But then the question becomes: What do you do?  It’s an easy enough answer if you catch your kid hoarding guns and explosives but, oftentimes, the signs of psychosis are far more difficult to act upon.  Take this article for instance, sent my way by Robert Cooper this morning: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/magazine/can-you-call-a-9-year-old-a-psychopath.html?_r=0.  What do you do if you suspect your 9 year old is a psychopath?  It makes for some pretty chilling reading.  This excerpt in particular:

“She suspected that Michael had been trying to manipulate me and was using similar tricks to manipulate his therapists: conning them into believing he was making progress by behaving well during the hour that he was in treatment. “Miguel likes to think that Michael is growing and maturing,” she said. “I hate to say it, but I think that’s him developing a larger skill set of manipulation.” She paused. “He knows how to get what he wants.”

Psychopaths may lack empathy, but are incredibly good at faking it. They are charming, manipulative, and tend to be very intelligent. From Jon Ronson’s The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry:

“All those chats about empathy were like an empathy-faking finishing school for him: “I did learn how to manipulate better,” he said, “and keep the more outrageous feelings under wraps better.”

Just the other day, a 22 year old B.C. resident with “sociopathic tendencies”, Kayla Bourque, was set to be released on probation after serving several months for torturing to death some animals (including the family dog).  ‘Sociopathic’ animal killer to be released on probation – British …  In addition, she has admitted to having the “urge to kill someone” and fantasized about killing a homeless person.  Shocking, yes, but perhaps even more surprising is the fact that she was, by all accounts, an excellent student at Simon Fraser University where she was studying – get this – criminology and psychology!  Why?  I’m pretty damn sure it wasn’t because she was motivated by her strong sense of justice.  It seems more likely she was looking to educate herself on how not to get caught!

Forget the flesh-eating zombies of AMC’s The Walking Dead.  There are far scarier monsters living amongst us!

Another dark, rainy, dreary day today.  I did finish the bible for that SF series we’ve been working on for…a while.  Sent it Paul’s way, then had lunch with Robert Cooper and discussed one of his super-secret projects.  I read the pilot he wrote and think it’s terrific.  You’ll love it. Trust me.  Interestingly enough, I also ended up fielding a couple of calls to gauge my interest on a few more projects, all three based on established properties: two t.v. shows and a graphic novel.  Again, who knows what, if anything, will go – but it’s nice to be wanted.

Oh, and since you asked, in answer to my own question posed in yesterday’s entry, “ If you could go back in history, who would you want to spend time with?”, I’d say my father and my boy, Maximus (pictured in this blog’s banner).  I’d make them some delicious port-braised short ribs and sweet potato mash.

Tagged: Jon Rons, The Psychopath Test: A Jou

November 29, 2012: Soliciting your opinions on parental responsibility and time travel opportunities!

I just watched We Need to Talk About Kevin, a movie based on the award-winning book of the same title.  The film is told from the point of view of a serial killer’s mother.  It jumps back and forth in time, tracing her son’s troubled childhood, through his commission of a high school massacre, but mainly focuses on the fallout from his horrific actions – specifically, the price his mother pays.  Ostracized, cruelly targeted by the other community members who hold her responsible for what her son did, she meekly accepts the abuse, presumably accepting some share of the responsibility for the tragedy.  Her house and car are splattered with red paint, she is slapped, sworn at, coolly ignored and, at one point in the movie, has her purchase of a dozen supermarket eggs demolished by a grieving mother.  The ensuing scene which finds her eating dinner at home, alone, lining up the eggshell fragments she fishes them out of her omelet is sad, unintentionally comical, and, in my opinion, improbable.  Partly because I couldn’t imagine someone, anyone, passively subjecting themselves to such sustained mistreatment, but mainly because I couldn’t imagine a parent facing such an enormous communal backlash for the actions perpetrated by her son.  Especially given the fact that, we later learn, her husband and young daughter were his first victims. It just struck me as an extreme and wrong response.

I mentioned this to my friend, Bill, who happened to have read the book, and his response was a definite: “Oh, that totally happens.  Are you kidding?”  Really?  An entire community holding a parent responsible for her son’s actions?  Despite Bill’s insistence, I didn’t buy it.  Until I asked Akemi who responded with equal vehemence. Apparently, in Japan, parents are most certainly held accountable for their children’s social transgressions.

I don’t know.  In some cases, I can certainly see a parent having to shoulder some of the blame, but I have a hard time faulting them for raising a psychopath, especially given the fact that I’m halfway through Jon Ronson’s brilliant The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry which makes a pretty good argument for the physiological and untreatable nature of sociopathy.  According to the book, roughly 1% of the general population are sociopaths, cold, calculated individuals incapable of empathy.  Apparently, in addition to excelling at murder, they also make wonderfully successful CEO’s.  The rate of recidivism among psychopaths is an astonishing 80%.  In other words, 80% of psychopaths purportedly “cured” of their condition will re-offend!  Why?  Because theirs is not a behavioral condition.  They are born that way, the result dysfunctional amygdala, a part of the brain that plays an important role in emotional learning and autonomic responses associated with fear.  Now I’m not presuming the average person would be aware of this, but I still find it far-fetched that most individuals would target a parent in this sort of situation.  Maybe if their kid stole a car or bullied someone, but mass murder?

What do you think?  Should a parent be held accountable for their child’s actions?  And what offense-dependent allowances would you make?

On an unrelated topic, this morning, Akemi’s English class was presented with that hoariest of time-travel scenarios: If you could go back in history, who would you want to spend time with?  Invariably, whenever this question gets asked, you’ll hear the usual responses: Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Jesus.  Akemi’s response, which I found altogether endearing: her grandfather who passed away when she was very young.

So, do tell.  If you could go back in history, who would you want to spend time with?

Tagged: Jon Ronson, psychopaths, sociopaths, The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, We Need To Talk About Kevin

November 28, 2012: The supersecret projects rundown!

Amid all of the fantasy football researching, number-crunching, and anguishing (see last issue, ed.), I do find time for other pursuits.  My supersecret projects come to mind.  I know, I know.  You’ve heard very little about them – but that’s only because, well, they’re supersecret. Hopefully, they’ll eventually see the light of day (and, preferably, a t.v. screen) in the not too distant future.  In the meantime, allow me to offer the following cryptic updates:

Project #1

What is it?: Urban fantasy series.

Status: We completed the first draft of the pilot yesterday.

What can I reveal?: At this point, not much.  We’re very happy with the script which offers a nice balance of scares, humor, and character moments.  The trio at the heart of the prospective series and their unique relationships will be a blast to write for if this goes.

Project #2

What is it?: Space opera series.

Status: I’m halfway through the series bible.  This week, we review the source material and then, next week, Paul and I get together and start breaking the pilot.

What can I reveal?: Oh, regular readers of this blog will figure it out. Nothing written in stone but things are suddenly looking very hopeful for this labor of love.

Project #3

What is it?: SF series.

Status: Friday night, Paul and I go to dinner with the prospective show’s creators to discuss working on the pilot.

What can I reveal?: Again, not much.  This one is in the early stages – so far as our (Paul and my) involvement is concerned – but what they’ve put together so far looks great and has some kickass potential.

Project #4

What is it?: SF series based on a literary work by a major scifi author.

Status: This one is in the early stages as well.  If the pieces fall into place (and, sometimes, they do), Paul and I will be starting work on the pilot next month.

What can I reveal?: Oh, this one’s the hush-hushiest of them all until a deal gets closed.

Meanwhile, our former Stargate associates are busy with their own projects, supersecret and not…

Brad Wright is working on at least two supersecret projects…that I know of.

Golden Boy Martin Gero completes work on the second season of his series, the L.A. Complex: http://www.facebook.com/TheLAComplexCW

Carl Binder has his own supersecret project under wraps in addition to a not-so-secret project: show-runner for Hallmark’s 

And Robert Cooper has so many things on the go I’ve lost track.

Who knows what the future holds.  Maybe some of these projects?  Maybe none of them?  Maybe a food cart specializing in Akemi’s mapo tofu and okonomiyaki?

 

November 27, 2012: My name is Joe and I am a fantasy football addict!

Depressed.

(http://andyyuill.deviantart.com/art/S...)

I had to take a couple of melatonin tablets to fall to sleep last night and ended up dreaming of risky rooftop ball hockey, precariously perched apartments, and Vegas (for some reason, I always dream of Vegas).  Why?  Did I receive some distressing news? Was I upset by a sudden sad turn of events?  Why, yes and yes.

My Snow Monkey, down 30+ points heading into the weekend, came roaring back to to take a 38 point leading into the Monday night game, all but assuring themselves a spot in the post-season.  Only to lose by 6 points.  The loss leaves us tied for the last playoff spot with one game to play.  Ultimately, it’s partly my fault for believing in wide receiver James Jones, partly James Jones’ fault for not putting in a better effort, but mostly, MOSTLY, quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ fault for not once – NOT ONCE! – targeting Jones.  Instead, the Packers focused on establishing the run game – DOWN 3 TOUCHDOWNS! Rodgers threw to everyone BUT Jones – and ended up losing the game, and possibly costing my Snow Monkeys their season.  If I had played someone else, anyone else – Beanie Well!  Malcom Floyd!  Ryan Broyles!  Daniel Thomas!  Hell, even terminally underperforming Dwayne Bowe! – I would have won!

Rodgers and the Packers have officially supplanted the New England Patriots as my #1 team to root against moving forward.  As a result, the Patriots move down to #2 and the rest of the hated teams slide accordingly – the Eagles to #3, Broncos to #4, Jets to #5, 49ers to #6, and the Steelers to #7.

The fates have truly conspired against me.  I was the second highest scoring team of the week – but had the misfortune of playing the top highest scoring team of the week.  Again!

Take a look at the standings…

I mean COME ON!  There we are, sitting in 8th place – a team that has outscored almost every other team in the league except one!

Seriously.  These are my weeks during the fantasy football season:

Tuesday is committed to researching free agent players to add to my bench.  Tuesday nights are long since I’m up until 1:00 a.m. to learn who picked up what player off the waiver wires and, most importantly, find out if I got the players I selected.

Wednesday is spent researching the match-ups for the coming weekend.

I spend Thursday tweaking my starting line-up in advance of any Thursday night match-ups (this Thursday, my QB, Drew Brees, plays against the red hot Atlanta Falcons!) and putting in any late waiver wire requests.

On Friday, I input the stats from the previous night’s game and try to gauge my chances of holding on for the win/pulling off the upset.

Saturday is spent lamenting the fact that I had to wait over two days for more football – and distracting myself with college ball.

Sunday = the BIG day!  Up at 8:00 am, pre-game shows to 10:00 a.m., and then games, games, games!  I’m jumpier than a squirrel with ADD, hopping from one channel to another, catching a TD pass here, a big run there, a blocked field goal, interception return, occasionally the odd sack.  By night’s end, whether I’m jubilant, despondent, or anxiously optimistic – I am also thoroughly exhausted.

Monday’s are a staggered succession of insignificant make-work tasks designed to make time fly enroute to the big Monday Night game where all is either won or lost.  Depending on how things pan out, I either enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep, content in the knowledge that I am one step closer to that coveted playoff spot, or lie awake at night, analyzing the choices and plain bad luck that contributed to my looming downfall.

I also find time to eat, walk the dogs, and update this blog.

So it all comes down to next week’s game against the Savela Skitters, managed by my buddy and former Stargate VFX Supervisor (and future “that secret project” VFX Supervisor?) Mark Savela.  Win and we’re in.  Lose and my Snow Monkeys are done.  And I’ll be very, very, VERY angry.

All is not lost.  Not yet.  But it’s going to be a loooong week.

Focus!

(Brian Peterson / Zuma Press)

P.S. I was so upset by the loss that Akemi informed me this would be my last year of fantasy football.

Tagged: fantasy football

November 26, 2012: The Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes! Cookie Monster reviews X-Men: The Last Stand!

On de one hand, dis movie not as good as de original or sekwel.  On de other hand, it not make monster want to vomit, kick in his t.v., or punch someone in de nards.

Movie pick up where last one left off.  Jean Grey be dead and X-Men be in mourning.  Cue cornball cliche shot of boyfriend Cyclops single-tear-tracking-shot.

But no time for boo hoo.  Breaking news!  Pharmaceutical giant, Worthington Labs, has created drug dat counteract mutant gene, effektively “curing” mutantism.  Dis, of course, be a big deal and offer up very interesting moral, ethical and philosophical dilemma – dat never really explored.  Instead, movie drop a second major plot onto viewers’ laps.  Cyclops, off on his own, hear Jean’s voice at remote lake. She magikally appear to him and, when dey kiss, she go all darkside on him and…kill him?  Whisk him away to Narnia?  Me not sure.  But one ting for certain.  Cyclops not in rest of movie – which make kind of no sense.  He be team leader and, more importantly, Jean’s boyfriend. His charakter should be at center of dis emotional storyline focusing on her return.  Instead, he simply written out of de movie so dat DIS guy can take over de spotlight role -

Move over Cyclops.

Monster understand dat Wolverine charakter more popular but dis feel like a bad creative decision dat never really pay off.

Magneto gather up his gang of merry evil mutants and camp out like a bunch of nature-loving Occupy Forest protesters.  His plan: get Dark Phoenix. Oh, and scuttle plans for anti-mutant drug by eliminating de source: a boy, nicknamed Leech, who possess mutant-dampening powers.

Magneto and his Merry Men. And some women.

So, we have two major stories – return of Dark Phoenix and introduktion of mutant scare – either of which would have made a great plot for one movie.  Instead, by cramming dem both into a single film, dey lumber and jockey for position like Big Bird and Snuffalupagus during last call at Ye Olde Goldbricker Pub.  As a result, de climactic battle between de good and evil mutants, while visually specktacular, be devoid of any real emotional stakes.  Sure, we don’t want Magneto to kill de kid and, sure, we know it going to be hard for Wolverine to skewer Phoenix, but ultimately it just feel like unsatisfaktory rush-job (Which remind monster.  Do NOT hire Grover’s brother’s company to renovate your home.  Monster slept in for forty eight hours straight until me realize it not night time but just dey painted windows as well.).

Phoenix looks like she rose from the ashes of a tequila bender.

Also odd:

Casting of Vinny Jones as Juggernaut.  He famous for what exaktly? Me guess NOT akting.

Decision to kill off Professor X partway thru movie deny audience great climaktik face-off between him and Magneto.  Dis especially weird since Magneto strategizes final battle like game of chess (ie. sacrificing pawns), someting dat would have made more sense if Professor X was strategizing on de other side since it already be established dem playing chess against each other in  previous films.

Decision to cast Dr. Fraisier Crane as Dr. Hank McCoy, a charakter who do next to nothing.

Scene in which army surrounds mutant camp and rush in, only to diskover heat signatures picked up on satellite were all versions of Madrox the Multiple Man.  What de point?

Oh, and why did Jean come back as Dark Phoenix?  Dis never clearly explained.

Verdikt: Too much going on result in confusing, unsatisfaktory turd installment.  Scene of golden gate bridge being extended to Alcatrz pretty cool tho.

Rating: 5.5 chocolate chippee cookies.

Tagged: Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster film review, Cookie Monster movie reviews, Cookie Monster reviews X-Men: The Last Stand, Sueprmovie of the Week Club, superhero movies, superheroes, SuperMovie of the Week, X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand

November 25, 2012: Snow Monkey fury! Jelly in: Nose-licking 101!

Anxious!

With two weeks left to go in our fantasy football league season, my Snow Monkeys are fighting for their playoff lives.  Only 8 of 14 teams will advance to the post-season and, with a record of 6-5, my Monkeys face a near must-win match-up this weekend against Rob Cooper’s Landsharks.  Looking good however.  We’ve built up a nice lead, but anything can happen!  Will Cam Newton have a big game against the woeful Eagles?  Will Manning throw another TD to Victor Cruz?  Will Aaron Rodgers remember that James Jones plays for his team?

Since it was an all-important weekend in fantasy land, I expected a big turnout today for by weekly football gatherings.  Alas, Rob had to bow out on account of work (and, I suspect, not wanting to suffer the humiliation of being crushed by my Snow Monkeys).  Ivon elected to stay home and watch the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League championship game pitting the Moosejaw Maple-Beavers against the Toronto Lumberjacks.  Lawren, meanwhile, said he would come over AND bring pie, but canceled at the last minute – and failed to drop off said pie.  That, of course, meant more sushi for Akemi and me:

And, of course, Sunday Morning Ice Cream.  This week’s flavor…

Akemi’s favorite so far.

A nice, sunny day in Vancouver.  I did manage to take a break from all the football to walk the dogs.

Lulu’s not so subtle way of letting us know she’d really like to go out for a walk.

Got that?

Ever wanted to lick your own nose?  Let Jelly show you how:

November 24, 2012: Stargate lives! Sort of.

Well, MGM may have pulled the plug on Stargate – or, if you prefer, placed it on indefinite hiatus – but it’s nice to see that interest in the franchise remains strong.  A recent google search turned up the following Stargate-related news items…

It was only a matter of time.  Apparently, China has started their own Stargate program:

At a cost of a mere $16 million dollars, 115 foot tall steel gate weighs in at 3 000 tons and includes 12 000 LED lights.

What amazing otherworldly entities will pass through its event horizon? No idea, but some Chinese net users have a few guesses:

What Will Come Out of the Mysterious Stargate in China?

Planning on proposing to a fellow Stargate fan?  Well, guarantee she’ll say yes by springing THIS on her:

The gate’s structure is 14k gold while the chevrons are 18k gold.  And, best of all, the inner ring actually spins!

Order it from WeddingBandDesign

Stargate SG-1′s “Camelot” makes i09′s list of - The 20 Best Cliffhangers Ever Shown on Science Fiction or Fantasy …

Colonel General President Jack O’Neill

Meanwhile, Colonel/General Jack O’Neill makes wired.com’s list of - Top 10 Fictional Characters We’d Like as US President

And for the cat who has everything, how about a Stargate-themed cat bed:

The puddle bottom is a nice touch.  Diy Stargate Cat Bed: Nine Lives, Infinite Planets

Over at blogcritics.org, Barbara Barnett is doing a Stargate: Universe rewatch.  Stargate Universe Revisited – “Light”

Which reminds me – I should pick up where I left off.  This week, I’ll resume my trip down Stargate memory lane with a look at Stargate: Atlantis’s fifth season.  See you there!

Tagged: SG-1, SGA, SGU, Stargate, Stargate Universe, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: SG-1