I'm a fan of the CD revivals of childhood favorite TV shows from Big Finish. I'm not a huge Dark Shadows fan, but I like the idea. I really liked the short-lived prime time revival series in the 90s, but find the original series a bit too slow and dull to actually sit and watch. But the idea of supernatural soap opera really appeals. (This is why I enjoyed NBC's Passions so much until I became too busy to watch it every day.) So this news is certainly of interest...

Dark Shadows audios? - Outpost Gallifrey: "Big Finish will indeed be releasing a series of Dark Shadows audio dramas on CD. These are officialy licensed from Dan Curtis Productions and will star members of the original series cast. An official announcement from Big Finish will be released shortly.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dark Shadows, it is a gothic drama TV series that was broadcast in the US from the mid-Sixties to early Seventies. It is the closest equivalent to an American Doctor Who in the sense that it attracted a dedicated pre-teen following on its original broadcast that has grown in to a massive, and very enthusiastic, cult following. The series has spawned many fanzines, newsletters, websites and conventions and it seems only natural that Big Finish should step in and continue the rich legacy on audio as it has with the likes of Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People and Sapphire and Steel. We feel certain that Dark Shadows fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this latest addition to the range of audio dramas available from Big Finish. "

BBC America seems to currently be in the midst of trying to appeal to viewers with pulses. In addition to the shows in the article I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, they have some new stuff coming next week that I’m interested in.

First, in their “Mystery Monday” slot, they’re showing the third series of Sea of Souls, just a few weeks after its conclusion in the UK. Having seen the first two series on DVD, this has become a favorite of mine--doesn’t hurt that, starting with the second series, the cast featured Dawn Steele--and it’s nice to know I’ll get to see the third series right away. This series departs from the earlier format of three two-part stories over the six-episode series, instead telling six single-episode stories. I’ve read reviews that say the quality almost as good as the second series, so I’m excited.

It’s followed by something called Murder Prevention Unit, about which I know nothing, but I’ll check it out.

And on Tuesday, there’s the premiere of Rocket Man, a drama starring Robson Green. Again, read about this on the BBC UK site and it sounded like something I wanted to check out (been a fan of Green’s since Touching Evil). Now I can, without having to buy the DVDs.

BBC America - Sea Of Souls: "Driving on a curvy road, you suddenly know what is around the bend -- and there it is, exactly as predicted. The phone rings and you know who is calling. Coincidence? A fluke? Or are these glimpses of powers beyond our knowledge? One man's truth is another man's hocus-pocus, and that is where Dr. Douglas Monaghan (Bill Paterson, Lie With Me) and his two researchers Justine McManus (Dawn Steele) and Craig Stevenson (Iain Robertson) come in. They make up the fictional Parapsychology Unit at Clyde University that is at the heart of the gripping drama Sea of Souls.

Over six individual one-hour stories, the Edgar-nominated Sea of Souls confronts dark, unanswered questions of the supernatural. What others find terrifying -- deathly seances, powerful premonitions, vivid night terrors, sinister hauntings, demonic forces, and macabre black magic-- the Sea of Souls team finds mesmerizing."

And because Heist has been canceled, I've stopped watching it immediately. I liked the first two episodes I saw just fine, but I don't need to watch it until the bitter end, particularly if it's not going to tell its complete story.

Goodbye Heist - TV Squad: "Heist, the stylish NBC robbery drama, has already been axed by the network, Michael
Ausiello is reporting at his site ..."

A little bit of home on my parents mantle.

Hospitals do indeed suck. But @ least this one has a nice view.

See the plane @ the end of the jetway? That means ill b flying 2day after all!

It’s midseason, and the networks are springing new shows on us like there’s no tomorrow. These, of course, would be the shows that weren’t considered strong enough to handle fall competition, but enough money was spent that they get an airing anyway.

There’s two shows about thieves, Heist and Thief. Heist is pretty much the TV series version of Michael Mann’s Heat. If it was better, it would be Hustle, but it’s watchable. Thief, starring Andre Braugher on FX, is serious as a heart attack. But it’s only six episodes, so I’ll try to stick it out.

Also decided to sample a couple of new comedies. NBC has Teachers, which looked pretty atrocious in the commercials, but stars Sarah Alexander from Coupling, Green Wing, and Worst Week of My Life. And, indeed, it was atrocious, and did star Sarah Alexander, acting comedic circles around her costars. But between here and one scene that did make me laugh, it gets a second chance from me this Tuesday.

And last night, I recorded VH1’s So NoTORIous, Tori Spelling’s new sitcom about herself. And it’s not fantastic, but it was funny, particularly the second episode. So I’ll probably keep watching it.

(Really, all I ask from a sitcom is it makes me laugh. That’s all it takes, and so few still manage to do it.)

So I’m trying to hire someone to trim my two trees (pine tree in front; palm in back) and clean up my very neglected back yard. So far, I’ve had two companies out to give me estimates. One estimated higher for the trees, the other would charge less for the trees, and more for the cleanup and weeding of the back. So, six of one, half a dozen of the other. The third company is supposed to come out tomorrow. It may come down to who has complaints filed against them with the license board, if any, or it may come down to me just picking a name out of the hat.

We’ll see.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Robin Hood returns to British TV: "Legendary folk hero Robin Hood and his Merrie Men will return this autumn in an BBC One series, with newcomer Jonas Armstrong in the title role."

Really looking forward to this. It's already been announced that it'll be coming to BBC America, and if that channel is indeed contributing financing to the show, hopefully it won't be too long a wait.

I watched last week’s episode of Smallville last night. It’s felt like a while since we’ve gotten new episodes, but frankly, I hadn’t really minded not having to watch it. Part of it is the fact that, after five years, nothing seems to have really changed or evolved on the show. (How many other shows could kill off a supposedly major character without a single ripple?) But part of it is just an increasing dissatisfaction with another aspect of the show.

A few episodes ago, we got a story dealing with Lois and Chloe being menaced by the spirit of a murdered girl out for revenge. It was a truly pedestrian episode, and could have come from almost any supernatural TV series: Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer... Take your pick. But in talking to a friend about it, I realized that it really brought to the front a problem that, sadly, I had only been registering subconsciously.

So here’s the problem I currently have with Smallville, and I don’t know if it’s a problem that’s always exisited and I--shamefully--didn’t notice before, or if it’s been something that’s been growing over the past few seasons. But every woman on the show is either a victim or evil. And I recognize that, it being a show about Superman, almost every story is going to involve characters needing to be rescued by Clark Kent. I get that. But it’s not constantly ending up tied next to explosives that makes Lana a weak victiim character--although it certainly helps--it’s the fact that her character isn’t strong enough to tell Clark that she isn’t putting up with his crap any more and walking away. Chloe exists to pass on information to Clark and get tied up. Lois exists to tease about the future, and to get tied up and beaten.

And then I read in last month’s issue of SFX that Erica Durrance, who plays Lois, has a phobia of water. And last season, she was put in a death trap that involved a slowly flooding room gradually covering her with water and threatening to drown her. And this season, she fell in love with Aquaman, a storyline that required the actress to spend lots of time in the water.

And I read this, and I’m thinking the producers had to know of her phobia. And there was no particular reason for her to be the one Aquaman falls for and not, say, Chloe, since the characters are completely interchangeable. And this is complete conjecture on my part, but it almost sounds like the producers made he decision to put the actress in an uncomfortable position. And if that’s the case, and you combine it with what appears to be a mysogynist streak running through the storytelling, and it just leaves an increasingly bad taste in my mouth.

And I’m not quite to the point where I don’t want to watch the show, but it’s bothering me more now than it should.

Woke up this morning, got out of bed, and discovered that it apparently took me an hour to get from the bedroom to the computer.

I hate Daylight Savings Time.

BBC - Doctor Who (David Tennant and Billie Piper) - News

New trailer for the second series of Doctor Who!

BBC America targets younger viewers with new shows - Yahoo! News: "LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A high school drama from
the creators of the U.K. hit 'Footballers Wives' and fresh
takes on Robin Hood and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde are among the new
dramas set to air on BBC America in the next year, the cable
channel said Wednesday.

BBC America general manager Kathryn Mitchell said the
offshoot of the venerable British broadcaster wants to broaden
its appeal to a slightly younger audience, 'but we don't want
to lose those loyal viewers.'"

You gonna eat all that chicken?

Found this on a random blog today, under the title "Showtime's made a huge mistake." Now I was never a big fan of Arrested Development, so I don't much care if it's gone for good or not, but is it really fair to blame Showtime when the article says:

R.I.P., 'Arrested Development' -- critics' fave not given room to grow: "A source close to the negotiations said that creator Mitch Hurwitz had
decided after a lengthy period of debating an offer from Showtime that
'Arrested Development reached its end, creatively, as a series.'"

Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel: "David E. Kelley is writing Life on Mars, a time-travel crime drama pilot for ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show, targeted for fall 2007, is based on the BBC's 2006 drama, which stars John Simm as a 21st-century detective who, following a car crash, mysteriously finds himself working as a cop in the 1970s."

Young Adult Fiction: Wild Things - New York Times: "The 'Gossip Girl,' 'A-List' and 'Clique' series-- the most successful in a crowded field of Au Pairs, It Girls and other copycat series -- represent a new kind of young adult fiction, and feature a different kind of heroine. In these novels, which have dominated the field of popular girls' fiction in recent years, Carol Gilligan's question about whether girls can have 'a different voice' has been answered -- in a scary way."

Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The - Brisco date, art and tons of extras!

BBC - Doctor Who (David Tennant and Billie Piper) - News : "The 2005 series of Doctor Who, starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, has been nominated for Best Drama Series in British Television's most prestigious awards, the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)."

The good news: One of the stars of Hustle, a current fave, will be appearing in the new series of Doctor Who. The bad news: it's not Jaime Murray...

BBC - Doctor Who (David Tennant and Billie Piper) - News : "Highly acclaimed actors Marc Warren and Shirley Henderson have joined the cast of episode 10 of the new series of Doctor Who, working alongside the previously-announced Peter Kay."

John Rogers hits the nail on the head as far as why I won't go to movies in theaters any more.

Kung Fu Monkey: How to Save the Theater Industry: "The number one reason that every single person I know gives for not going to the movies anymore is the annoyance of dealing with people who just don't behave in the theater. Yes, yes, theater owners, your cell phone adds are cute. But how many of us have dealt with the idiots around us who dutifully turn off their cellphones, and then turn and chat -- not whisper, fucking coffee-klatch -- with the person beside them?"

I just read Infinite Crisis Secret Files & Origins 2005. And while it actually seemed to make less sense than the regular Infinite Crisis issues, I did enjoy the fact that, basically, it's about two guys who have done nothing more than sit around reading comics for the past twenty years wishing things could be just like they used to be. Which probably sums up Infinite Crisis' target audience, really.

(Here, I'm not talking about my friends who are reading and enjoying it. I'm talking about the people who post on Internet message boards about how wonderful it would be to see Anarky and Booster Gold get their chance in the spotlight again.)

(Anarky? Seriously?!?)

NEWSARAMA - DAN SLOTT WANT YOU TO PULL HIS "THING": "Dan Slott loves writing Marvel's The Thing, he just doesn't know how long he'll be able to keep on writing it. Early sales on the ongoing series leave something to be desired, and if things don't change ... well, you know the rest."

You see? I decide to stop buying a comic book, and they totally freak out!

Truth, Justin and the American Way - HOSTED BY SPEAKEASY.NET

Did I mention how much fun this comic was? A love letter to TV shows of the 80s, particularly Greatest American Hero, but the characters and story have a life of their own beyond the homage.

Home Page for Gary Reed, writer of Saint Germaine, Baker Street,
Renfield, and many other books.: "RAVEN CHRONICLES
A brand new Raven Chronicles series will be coming in 2006
from
Atlantis Publishing. Atlantis will handle the production but it is
yet to be determined what company will handle the distribution of
it. note: The artist on the book will be TREVOR VON EEDEN. I'm
jacked about that! ALSO- the original series is currently being run on
komikwerks.com as an online comic."

A sentimental favorite from the 90s, and I'm a huge Trevor Von Eeden fan.

Is it possible to eat so much sushi that you have an out-of-body experience?

Okay, so here’s this week’s Magic Moments from Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead:

To tell the truth, before seeing this episode again last night, I was having trouble remembering specific moments that stood out. I mean, come on! The Doctor! Rose! Charles Dickens! Victorian zombies! Any individual moments would just be drowned out by all that wonderfulness, in theory.

But, great as the whole thing was, here are the bits that really stood out on viewing it again, plus one other...

The conversation between Rose and the Doctor, about how moments pass and then they’re gone, except for him. About how it’s no wonder he never stands still if he can relive any moment in history. Once again, too many other shows--including classic Doctor Who just take it for granted, the idea of traveling through time. This show takes the time to talk about the wonder and magic. (Compare that to either Stargate, where stepping through the gate and onto another planet is treated with all the excitement of taking the bus across town.)

Sadly, another great moment was lost in this broadcast, to make room for more commercials. (The show was originally 45 minutes, including an extended “next week” trailer because they were running short. Just how much more does SciFi need?) It’s the moment when Rose first steps out of the TARDIS into the past. Yes, we did get to see her taking her first tentative step out into the snow of history. But in the full version, we get to her her tell the Doctor that he has to wait for her to go out first. “This one’s mine,” she tells him, and again, there’s the magic and wonder.

And as much as I love the Doctor’s coach ride with Dickens--and love it I do--it hardly holds a candle to their farewell scene. I feel a lump in my heart every time I see it, when Dickens asks how long his work survives, and the Doctor tells him, “Forever!” There’s nothing I can say, really, except again, fantastic.

(And, again, compare this with the Doctor meeting HG Wells in the 1985 episode, Timelash. Or, you know, don’t, because it’s not any good compared to The Unquiet Dead.)

Thankfully, Mark Gatiss has another episode in Series Two. And in the meantime, while completely different in tone, I recommend his novel, The Vesuvius Club. More Victorian madness, but much more tongue-in-cheek. But not quite as mad as League of Gentlemen. So there you go.

And I have a new favorite CD and musical crush: Under a Shady Tree by Laurie Berkner. Yes, it’s a kid’s album, but it’s like a kid’s album by Suzanne Vega. Totally in love.

So pretty I had to document it before eating it.

Bob Newhart, Button-Down Comic, Is Still Standing Up at 76 - New York Times: "But a comedian craves the sound of laughter, and Mr. Newhart, though happily deep into his golf-playing years, cannot stay away from the stand-up circuit. He does about 30 dates a year, mostly on short weekend trips. "

Final 'Blood Fever' U.S. Cover Art Revealed - James Bond 007 - CommanderBond.net - James Bond At Its Best: "The Blood Fever hardcover will be released in June 2006. Unlike the U.S. SilverFin, it will not be edited for content."

Ironically, I bought the British edition of Blood Fever just because SilverFin had been edited in the US edition. And the US hardcover looks nicer, and is in hardcover (so it would be a matching set) and isn't edited after all. Figures...

This is nice. (I'm the one on the left.)

Having talked about my deep dissatisfaction with DC’s Infinite Crisis, I thought I ought to talk a little about comics that I am enjoying.

I should also point out that, following my stay in the hospital last month, I found that I just wasn’t enjoying a lot of the things I had been enjoying. And it isn’t as simple as just cutting out all the frivolous things, although a lot of the comics I couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for happened to be company-owned superhero ones, like Marvel’s Thing and Hulk. No, I stopped watching a number of TV shows I had previously been enjoying, like The Shield, Ghost Whisperer, One Tree Hill, Close to Home, and NUMB3RS.

So, when I say I’m not interested in a lot of the stuff Marvel and DC are putting out, it’s as much my own changing tastes, if not more, than it is a lack of quality on their part. Unless it’s a comic being written by Geoff Johns these days, in which case it probably is his fault.

Having said that, my favorite of DC’s “One Year Later” comics is probably the new issue of Birds of Prey. Writer Gail Simone, since taking over the title, has really made it feel like a comic about a group of female friends who fight crime. Not to say that series creator Chuck Dixon didn’t do a fine job on his long run, but it was always more of a straight adventure book that happened to feature female protagonists. Under Gail Simone, the character interaction has been about friendship and emotion and support and bonding, and not about romance, the traditional default character development mode when dealing with female characters.

And it’s still a great action series, and good at dealing with the whole superhero/supervillain conflict thing. Mainly because it doesn’t rely on the crutch of bringing back characters and conflicts from 20 years ago, instead creating its own drama and suspense from within its own stories. Cliffhangers aren’t dependent on the shock value of making the reader go, “Oh my God, it’s Doctor Doom!” (Or whoever.) It’s genuinely exciting in its own right, and thanks to the changes that occurred in the unseen past year of story-time, it’s got me even more curious than before.

And I’m really glad to hear that Gail has a creator-owned series, Tranquility, coming from Wildstorm later this year.

Over the weekend, I read the first Rocketo trade paperback, Journey to the Hidden Sea by Frank Espinosa. I had heard about this series when it was published by now-defunct publisher Speakeasy, but--indicative of Speakeasy’s shortcomings as a publisher--didn’t get a real sense of it until several issues were out, and then I couldn’t find any of them at the store. But it’s great. The art is fantastic, in a sort of mix between Alex Raymond and Darwyn Cooke, showing a huge European influence (no coincidence that a major character is named Spirou). And the story lives up to the art. It’s very much in the spirit of old pulp science fiction, all sorts of weird stuff going on, but without trying to ape the style of those old stories or comics. Definitely looking forward to future issues.

In a similar “Pulp Science Fiction” vein, I also bought and read the three existing issues of Hip Flask by Richard Starkings (with dialogue help in the first two by Joe Casey) and Ladronn. I had heard of the series, knew it was somehow about a talking hippo in a trench coat, and that the art seemed really nice in a Heavy Metal sort of way, but that was about it. Then I read an article about a new monthly series, Elephantmen, tying in with the series, and I was intrigued. So I ordered the Hip Flask issues to see if I liked them enough to want to read the monthly series.

And I did. Again, there’s a pulp influence (very noir, investigators in trench coats, talking animals living side by side with humans) but filtered through a contemporary storytelling lens. The setting is much more Blade Runner than Isaac Asimov or CM Kornbluth or whoever (like I know). And it is gorgeous, but the story is pretty gripping and involving, too. Definitely planning on checking out the monthly series.

I recently stumbled across the web site of Ron Fortier, a friend of a friend, and someone whose work I used to really enjoy in comics. On it, he claims:

“A devoted grandfather of six, at 59, I am thrilled to be part of the new web-comic evolution. Part of this joy is in the realization of a life long dream, that of becoming a pulp writer...”

And I can’t help wondering, who wants to become a pulp writer, in this day and age? I mean, I used to read reprints of The Shadow and Doc Savage (Google ‘em) and if I want to read more stories like that, I can track down more reprints. But, just like I don’t want to read new comics by young creators that are just like the ones I read 20 years ago, I don’t want to read a new book that reads just like some pulp adventure that someone churned out in a week back in 1932 at a penny a word. I’d much rather read something like Rocketo or Hip Flask or Fear Agent, something that takes those old stories as a starting point, but uses those influences to create something that feels very contemporary.

So, sometime in the last ten years, the Doctor Who Magazine ran an article about “Magic Moments” in the history of the series, moments when you know you’re watching the greatest TV show ever made.

With the arrival of the show on SciFi, I’ve decided to make a list of my own magic moments from the new series.

Rose

The moment when the Doctor introduces himself to Rose, then tells her to run for her life, always brings a smile to my face. That’s the point at which I knew that Christopher Eccleston was playing the Doctor that I had grown up with and loved. Just about every other telefantasy series--or everything else, for that matter--features characters who do what they do because it’s their job. The Doctor has such a passion for doing the right thing, fighting the monsters of the universe, and Eccleston’s grin captures that so perfectly.

Then there’s the Rose/Doctor walk-&-talk, after they’ve fought the Auton arm in her flat. The bit where he talks about how he can feel the earth spinning beneath their feet is mesmerizing, but the part that really sticks with me is much more subtle. It’s when he’s telling her about the Auton invasion, then stops and asks if she’s all right. That moment, so brief, so natural, so human, shows the emotional depth that this show has, that so many others don’t.

It comes up again when Rose enters the TARDIS again, which is part of why that’s another favorite scene. But really, that whole sequence is handled so well. Maybe it was the overfamiliarity you get when a show has been on for decades, but the original series didn’t treat the reveal of the TARDIS interior to newcomers as anything special. Certainly in the last ten years of its history, the whole “It’s bigger inside than outside” became something so quickly brush past. This new series understands just what a big deal it is for Rose to go inside the ship, and her dialogue with the Doctor shows that he understands it, too.

End of the World

One of my favorite episodes overall, but three bits really stick out for me:

I love the whole precredits sequence, starting with Rose’s first trip through time all the way through the Doctor’s short speech about humanity surviving. The time-travelling bit is fantastic, capturing all the excitement and energy that Rose is doubtless feeling. The previous series had made TARDIS travel seem about as exciting as an elevator ride. And then, the Doctor’s speech... Too often, the most reflection anyone does on traveling into the future on TV is, “Ooh, look! Air cars!” In an increasingly uncertain world, the true wonders of the future are probably less the bright and shiny things, and more the notion that there is a future at all. The Doctor captures that, oh so poetically, and I always feel a lump in my chest when I hear it.

Then there’s the cell phone scene, when Rose calls back in time, five billion years, to speak to her mother. Not only has Doctor Who rarely had such emotional content in the past, neither have many shows. Here, we get a gentle, quiet reminder that despite the alien wonders of the future, what’s really important are family and loved ones. The show should be applauded for taking the time for this character moment.

And then there’s the final scene, with the Doctor and Rose on a crowded street, where he tells her about his past. Again, if this were Buffy or Angel or Stargate, this would be treated with tremendous portent, because any sort of big character revelation could only be setup for some big mythology-based story in the future. Here, it’s treated just as the Doctor sharing something of himself. It’s a big moment, yeah, but a big character moment, not a plot one. And, again, Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper totally sell it.

COMICON.com: THE BOYS: ROBERTSON & ENNIS ON NEW WILDSTORM SERIES : "THE PULSE: Who are 'the Boys'? How did they come to work for this 'secret government organization'?
GARTH ENNIS: The Boys are a CIA team assigned to watch, investigate, occasionally blackmail, now and again kick the shit out of, and when necessary kill superheroes. The whole idea is to keep super-people in line. Their leader is Billy Butcher, their newest recruit is Wee Hughie, and the other three are Mother's Milk, The Frenchman and The Female (of the Species). Their talents and powers are simple: they excel at beating people to a pulp. Butcher, additionally, is the sneakiest and most dangerous bastard in the world.Each member came to the team by their own path, which we'll see more of as the series progresses."

YouTube - Wonder Woman

Me, I loves me the 1970s Lynda Carter Wonder Woman TV series, but I recognize that it's pretty cheesy. But compare it to this short pilot for a comedy version done by the folks who brought us the Adam West Batman series in the 60s (another favorite), and it makes the '70s one look like Shakespeare.

Bloggers: Use caution | News.blog | CNET News.com: "AUSTIN, Texas--Laina Dawes and Elaine Liner are pretty sure they were fired for blogging. It's not 100 percent certain, of course, because no one ever told them so officially, but the evidence seems solid."

Just another example of why I don't talk about work on my blog.

LifeStraw : Home: "Recognizing the importance of safe water in
our daily lives and the billions of people who
are still without access to these basic human
rights, LifeStraw was developed as a practical
response to the urgency, and confirm our commitment
to achieving the MDGs."

Sometimes there are things more worth pointing out than comic books.

As with yesterday, I'm not complaining about Infinite Crisis in an "I can't believe it's not better, I'm so shocked it's crap because I had such high expectations sort of way." But what I forgot to mention was that the most recent issue ends with the Superboy of Earth Prime (really, it makes sense if you read comics that were published TWENTY YEARS AGO and not mentioned again until now) showing up wearing the Anti-Monitor's costume.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?

Because now the series has the potential to genuinely surprise me. Because if it doesn't turn out that Superboy of Earth Prime (again, twenty years ago it made sense) is possessed by the Anti-Monitor somehow, I really will be caught off guard. Because this is a story from Geoff Johns, hailed as a fantastic writer for rehabillitating Green Lantern Hal Jordan with a handy "The Devil (or Yellow Fear Alien; same thing) made me do it" excuse. So, y'know, why not go for the old possession thing again?

SERIOUSLY?!?!?

Having said all that, I do want to point out that I'm not saying that all Marvel and DC superhero titles are crap. Or even not of interest to me, which is a more honest evaluation. I'm expecting to keep enjoying Legion of Super-Heroes and Birds of Prey as much as I ever did, because they were good without relying on the crutch of retelling stories from the past, or bringing back old characters just for nostalgia purposes. I'm expecting good things of Hawkgirl because Walt Simonson and Howard Chaykin developed their own voices as storytellers decades ago, and proved back then that, even when working on company-owned characters like Thor, Blackhawk and The Shadow, their own voices would come shining through. And they told stories that, again, didn't rely on bringing back the past.

And Marvel? Nextwave is still great; a superhero comic that doesn't waste time being anything else than a big, action-packed, explody thing. She-Hulk? Brings back lots of stuff for the sake of nostalgia, true, but manages to tell interesting, funny stories with it, rather than, say, sticking in eight pages of lousy (but gorgeous) Captain Carrot story in the middle of an issue of Teen Titans without capturing any of the spirit of the original Captain Carrot series. Plus, Paul Smith is going to start drawing She-Hulk. (And Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man doesn't really count as a superhero book, does it?)

Beyond that, and the Dini and Morrison-scripted Batman books I mentioned yesterday, it's tough for me to imagine a new Marvel or DC series that would make me want to buy it. DC is announcing one new series after another these days, starring characters I used to love, by creators I used to like, and none of them interest me in the slightest. And I'm going to lay a chunk of the blame squarely at the feet of Infinite Crisis, for so clearly defining for me what I'm not enjoying about the comics these days.

Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel: "Mirrormask director Dave McKean will direct Varjak Paw, a big-screen adaptation of the kung-fu cat series by S.F. Said for the Jim Henson Co., according to The Hollywood Reporter. McKean, an illustrator turned director and frequent Neil Gaiman collaborator, will also pen the screenplay with Said.
"

Loved the first book--illustrated by Dave McKean--so excited to read this. (Haven't read the second book yet.)

A couple of months ago, when I talked about ordering Infinite Crisis, I said up front that I was going into this with my eyes open. Being written by Geoff "Why come up with a new idea when you can just revisit a plot from 25 years ago?" Johns, who produced the silly mess, Green Lantern: Rebored, I expected it to be a lame story, and I only decided to buy it so I could be surprised by the story as I read it, instead of stumbling across spoilers on the Internet. But I said at the time that if I bought it knowing, in advance, that it would be crap, I wouldn't complain.

And I'm not going to complain, but isn't it astonishing how truly lousy it is? How everything in it completely depends on the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, how it brings absolutely no new or original ideas to the table, and at the same time completely fails to understand the point of the original? I swear, after five issues of this, and the constant reminders that we are currently smack dab in the middle of the "Hey, remember this guy?" era of comics, I can't imagine what it would take to get me to add a new DC or Marvel superhero comic to my list (a list that has seen a whole slew of DC and Marvel superhero comics taken off it in the past couple of months).

Actually, I do know what it would take: Grant Morrison and Paul Dini writing the two Batman comics, because I'm planning on getting those. But otherwise, unless it's being done by creators who have proven for a long, long time that they're capable of producing more than crap (and here, I guess I'm really only talking about Walt Simonson and Howard Chaykin on Hawkgirl) if it's a superhero comic from the Big Two, I'm just not interested any more.

Year of Superman

Maybe it's because the Superman movies and TV shows have actually tended to be better than the comics, but I'm looking forward to the new movie, and nice new DVDs of the older ones...

Tod Goldberg: Letters To Parade: The Dumbest Question Of 2006: "Just wanted to make sure y'all saw that. Peter Jones, who is coming straight outta New York, which would indicate a world view larger and more varied than your common genital crab, but which, sadly is equal to or less than said genital crab, has some questions about Ang Lee and homosexuals that he just can't figure out:Brokeback Mountain's Ang Lee is the favorite to win an Oscar for Best Director [And win he did.]. How did a Chinese person gain such an understanding of homosexual American cowboys?This question represents the perfect storm of fucktardedness and therefore I'm compelled to believe that when Ed Klein and his Evil Elves of Fucktardery came across it (or created it) they deemed it the one question that would ruin my day. So much stupidity in one question! So much bias! So much jingoism!

I won't point out the obvious here...oh, fuck it, I will...Ang Lee didn't conceive of the story, the characters, the butt sex, the cowboys (or, as is being argued on Parade.com, sheepherders...really, I'm not making this up...), E. Annie Proulx did, and then Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana adapted them for the screen. But let's just pretend we're Peter Jones and that we're total fucktards incapable of understanding how a Chinese person could think up such things. Here are some ideas:

1. Ang Lee also directed the Civil War film Ride With The Devil (based on a great novel by Daniel Woodrell, incidentally), which is pretty surprising because Ang Lee isn't a Civil War vet and, in fact, lived part of his life in Pinko China, and, I'm fairly certain, never once listened to a 38 Special album and thought about how cool it would be to grow up in the old South, where he would have been lynched. At any rate, the pop singer Jewel co-starred in Ride with the Devil and her longtime beau is cowboy Ty Murray. Perhaps one drunken night on the range turned into a sexual bacchanal. Perhaps Ty rode Ang like a bucking steer. Perhaps Ang woke one morning with a longing for the feel of a rawhide saddle and the touch and feel of a man. Perhaps he read the fucking short story."

EZ Streets - Brilliant But Cancelled - We Agree!

I loved EZ Streets when it was on, so this is a definite purchase, although the fact that they're only putting out a couple of episodes is irksome. (Sayonara, final seasons of Pete & Pete, Once & Again, and probably the rest of Gargoyles.) And it would be disappointing to not get the whole series.

However, I figure they're just testing the waters to see if there is a market for a line of "Brilliant but Cancelled" DVD releases. (And, of course, there is: me.) And since Karen Sisco is another brilliant but cancelled Universal crime drama... yes, I'll do my part to show that there is an audience.

Don Knotts, star of 'The Andy Griffith Show,' dead at 81 - Los Angeles Times: "Don Knotts, the saucer-eyed, scarecrow-thin comic actor best known for his roles as the high-strung small-town deputy Barney Fife on the 1960s CBS series 'The Andy Griffith Show' and the leisure-suit-clad landlord Ralph Furley on ABC's '70s sitcom 'Three's Company,' has died. He was 81."

I rarely get comments posted here, but recently, I've gotten a bunch of spam comments. So I've turned on word verification to cut down on that. Sorry for any inconvenience.

index: "Angry Bond Fans Publish CraigNotBond.com website, Call for Worldwide Boycott of Casino Royale"

How completely sad is this?

index: "Angry Bond Fans Publish CraigNotBond.com website, Call for Worldwide Boycott of Casino Royale"

How completely sad is this?

So I read Rann/Thanagar War infinite Crisis Special and the first issue of Thunderbolt Jaxon today, both written by favorite-creator-since-childhood Dave Gibbons. Neither were drawn by him (he was an artist long before he became a professional writer), and neither featured characters created by him. And Thunderbolt Jaxon, reviving/revamping an old 1950s British comics hero, is so much better than the unfortunately-titled mess that is Rann/Thanagar War that I am now completely comfortable laying the blame for that series completely at the feet of DC's connect-the-continuity-dots editorial policy, and absolve Dave Gibbons of all blame.

news from me - ARCHIVES: "Testifying today before the Senate committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said, 'President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale.'

Right. Washington was sending eels to spy on the British.

No wonder they didn't dare put this guy under oath."

Okay, just to get it out of the way, I have been in the hospital for a little more than the past week. I went in Friday of last week with abdominal pain, which turned out to be kidney stones. Eight days later, stones broken up by lasers, I'm back home. I don't really want to go through the whole ordeal in any detail, because it was unpleasant enough living through it for the first time. But it will probably come up here and there in the coming weeks, so I thought I'd just mention it, to get it out of the way.

I do want to say thanks to all the friends and coworkers who kept me company with phone calls, text messages, gifts of magazines, crossword puzzles, and flowers, and DVDs from the library. A special thanks to Ivan, for loaning me his personal DVD player. The hospital didn't get hardly any TV channels, and at the lowest points of my stay there (Thursday and Friday) it was really nice being able to watch a Fraggle Rock DVD rather than more endless reruns of Law & Order and Charmed on TNT.

And an extra-special thanks to Jan and Pat, literally without whom I could not have gotten through the week. Between stopping by the house to feed Penelope every day, bringing me necessary items like my phone charger and stuff, making sure there was food in the fridge for me when I got home, and making sure both me and my car got safely home from the hospital without my having to drive myself, they were a Godsend. I really hate having to ask other people to go out of their way to help me, but it's nice to know that, when an emergency strikes, I have people in my life I can rely on. (And that goes for everyone who helped me keep my sanity through this whole thing.)

The Muppet Newsflash: "Power of the Dark Crystal" Director Announced

5 teachers balk at posters for gay students / Signs mandated in San Leandro to ensure safety on campuses: "Five teachers at San Leandro High School have refused to comply with a
school district order to display a rainbow-flag poster in their classrooms that
reads, 'This is a safe place to be who you are,' because they say homosexuality
violates their religious beliefs, Principal Amy Furtado said."

Tunnel Found on Mexican Border: "LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26 -- U.S. and Mexican authorities have discovered an elaborate tunnel that stretches the length of eight football fields connecting Mexico and the United States and was apparently used for drug trafficking, authorities said Thursday."

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Homeland Security!

Still feeling a bit like the crap, but have to go to work today for my dinosaur program. (It's not that it's not planned out, so somebody else could do it, but it would actually take too much effort to explain what needs to be done. Easier for me to just go and do it, and as long as nobody has any expectations of me doing much else besides sitting behind the desk and not falling over, I should be okay.)

Yesterday morning, I watched the first episode of Shakespeare Retold, a recent BBC series featuring--as you might imagine--modern-day retellings of Shakespeare plays. This one was Much Ado About Nothing, starring Billie Piper and Sarah Parish, set in a modern-day newsroom. I'm not as familiar with this one as I am with some of the other plays on the set (Midsummer Night's Dream, MacBeth) but it seemed to preserve the pace and feel of a Shakespeare comedy, as well as all the themes, but updated to a modern setting and modern language. Definitely looking forward to the rest.

Oh, and Penelope's vet called today to see how she was doing. Which is more than my own doctors ever do. What does that say?

Britain, UK news from The Times and The Sunday Times - Times Online: "VILLAGERS who protested that a new housing estate would "harm the fairies" living in their midst have forced a property company to scrap its building plans and start again."

So, been home sick two days in a row. First Penelope, then me. She's doing better, by the way. She hadn't started pooping over the weekend, even after coming home post-micro-enema, so we went back to the vet on Monday. She prescribed some medicine, which I have to give to her by filling a syringe and injecting it into her throat, then holding her until she seems to swallow, and then making sure she still doesn't spit it up after that. I discovered this morning that, on at least one occasion, I missed that last bit, finding caked bits of medicine in the living room carpet.

So, basically been watching TV and trying not to pass out, or sneeze so hard my brains come out my nose.

Watched the first episode of Eleventh Hour, the new British TV series starring Patrick Stewart. So nice to see him actually acting again; Star Trek must have been so frustrating for him. And Ashley Jensen, her from Extras, is yet another cute Scottish actress for me to have a crush on. The actual story was pretty entertaining, though the sort of thing that feels sort of slight once it's actually over. What carries it through is the mood of the direction and the quality of the acting.

And, for some reason, I thought it was going to be six hour-long episodes, but it's really only three 65-70 minute TV movies. So a short-term committment, then.

And TV is once again working to thwart my attempts to watch Veronica Mars this season. Fox has moved Bones into the Wednesday 9 pm time slot, which it now shares with Lost and Veronica Mars. I get ABC and Fox in high-definition, not so UPN. And I can only watch, or record, or whatever, two shows at the same time on my HD cable box. Since I pay for the HD service, anything on those channels gets priority over stuff on other channels, if it's something I want to watch. So Veronica Mars gets relegated to the VCR on the upstairs TV. Considering that I have a whole season's worth of unwatched Gilmore Girls on VHS that I don't have time to watch, I expect to fall behind on Mars as well...

Speaking of Mars, I'm really enjoying the new BBC show Life on Mars. While I'm certainly intrigued by the mystery of just how Sam Taylor comes to be in 1973, I'm really just enjoying the juxtaposition between 21st century policing and the 1970s. Between a fairly accessible premise and Patrick Stewart's international fame, I think there's a fairly good chance we'll see Eleventh Hour reach these shores sooner or later. I certainly hope Life on Mars turns up over here as well, although with a less-portable, more-Britain-centric concept, it's probably a more comfortable fit for something like BBC America than anywhere else...

Adventures of Pete & Pete, The - Season 3 cancelled?!

First Once & Again season 3, and now this... Sigh...

NEWSARAMA - DAN DIDIO ON PAUL DINI & RAGS MORALES ON DETECTIVE: "Part of Paul's own agenda on the series is to go in and tell single-issue mystery stories. Every issue is a standalone mystery. There may be an overarching story that runs underneath everything, but every issue has a beginning, middle, and end of a detective mystery. That's something that we haven't seen in a while, and it takes someone of real talent and ability to be able to pull that off on a monthly basis."

And it's entirely possible that DC may have found what it takes to get me to buy Detective Comics again...

CBS, Warner to form new network - Yahoo! News: "CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBSA - news) and Time Warner
Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX - news) Warner Brothers on Tuesday said they will close
their respective UPN and WB television networks and jointly
launch a new network in fall 2006."

Today's Snapple fact: A male kangaroo is called a Boomer.

She's home! And the very first thing she did was go to the bathroom!

So Patrick Stewart's new British TV series, Eleventh Hour, premiered in the UK the other day. Haven't seen the first episode yet; been busy acquiring the fourth season of Spooks, since A&E won't be showing it until the summer. But I'm looking forward to it, partly because it's written by Stephen Gallagher, and partly because it costars the Scottish chick from Extras.

(But where are torrents for the new season of Sea of Souls? I needs me some Dawn Steele!)

And just how distracted am I by this Penelope business? I forgot to post today's Snapple fact. Something about how much more vitamin C strawberries have than oranges.

Sorry.

Okay, so this afternoon, Penelope's vet told me that she had pooped twice, so hopefully the micro-enema will do its job. (Notice how I'm throwing around terms like "micro-enema" as if I have the slightest idea of what, exactly, that means.) She'll still be there overnight, so the house still feels very empty. Hopefully, she'll be home tomorrow, though.

So Penelope is indeed all backed up right now. The vet is going to give her a micro-enema, and keep her overnight to see how she does.

And I hate this, and I'm very upset and worried. Without her, the house feels completely empty. Glad I don't have to work tomorrow, because I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep well tonight.

(And yes, she is just a cat. It's not like we stay up late discussing Proust over a nice bottle of red. But through all the changes I've been through in the past 8 years, from jobs and locations and schools and friends and relationships, even apartments and houses, she has been the one thing that's been constant. So if you think I'm overreacting, you can just keep that to yourself.)

Vet sez Penelope feels "gassy" but she's x-raying her to be safe.

--

Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

Not happy 2 b @ the vet @ all. That makes 2 of us.

Latest Penelope update:

She ate the entire can of Fancy Feast tuna, but it's all still inside her. So, I'm calling the vet as soon as they open.

Wired News: How to Foil Search Engine Snoops

So, yes, I will be posting updates on Penelope's condition over the next few days, until I know she is in the clear.

As the photo in the previous entry indicates (assuming Blogger posted it), she did eat some food when I got home. Her bowl of dry food appeared untouched, but I bought some canned food on the way home, to try to grease up her innards a bit. (Normally she doesn't get canned food.) She devoured about half a little can of Fancy Feast Tuna, and will hopefully eat some more later tonight.

When I checked her box, there was some poop to be found. Not the three days worth you'd expect, but at least something. So I'm a little less freaked. Which still leaves me plenty freaked.

The current plan: If she doesn't resume normal service overnight--I'll check her box in the morning--I'm calling the vet first thing. Ideally, the vet will say she can wait until Saturday to see her, because I don't want to call in to work with a sick cat. But, whatever it takes...

Still not eating her dry food but at least she has some appetite for the canned. And there was some poop in the box. Not entirely comfortable but I feel a bit better.

 

My cat's eating and pooping habits have been off the past few days.  I'm very worried that she may be sick, and that's pretty much consuming all my thoughts right now...

 

Hopefully, it's nothing.  But if I get home and discover that regular service has not been resumed, I'm calling the vet tomorrow.

What restaurant doesn't have normal sized ketchup?

Today's Snapple fact:

IN 1926, the first outdoor mini-golf courses were build on rooftops in NYC.

NEWSARAMA - TRANSFORMERS: EVOLUTIONS

Okay, so I have, like, zero interest in Transformers. But the idea of Chuck Dixon and Ted McKeever doing what appears to be a Transformers in the Old West comic has my attention, even if I still won't actually buy it.

Been using yesterday and today to try to get caught up on TV from last week. (And yes, I recognize that if I'm having trouble finding the time to watch it all, I probably should just try to watch less. Thank you. The current backup actually results in my not feeling a whole lot like watching TV last week, so stuff got recorded but not watched.)

Anyway, as previously mentioned, the first episode of Hustle on AMC was pretty nifty. Of course, they premiered it with two episodes, so there's a second one already waiting for me. Don't know if AMC picked up the first two existing seasons, or just the first one, but the first two seasons are out on DVD in the UK, so either way, I'm set. If the quality holds up.

Just finished the "Casting Special" pre-season premiere of Beauty and the Geek. Some of you may remember that I went into this show last year with some pretty serious misgivings, swayed only by a positive review in TV Guide that said it basically was a lot better than the commercials made it seem. They were right. Here's hoping the second season maintains that same level of genuineness. Certainly in the casting of the geeks, they seem to have gone to the more extreme end of the spectrum, perhaps in hopes of even more good-TV Richard moments. We'll see... The season proper premiered on Thursday night, but I haven't seen that yet.

Saturday morning saw the premiere of Cartoon Network's new block, featuring new episodes of favorite show Life and Times of Juniper Lee and new superhero series Ben 10. Cartoon Network previewed Ben 10 just after Christmas, and it's a good kids' superhero series. Easily up there with Juniper Lee and Kim Possible. Check it out.

Just happened to notice a big full-page ad for the first Fiends of the Eastern Front novel, Operation Vampyr, written by Dave Bishop, based on the classic 2000AD series about Russian vampires on the Eastern Front during WWII. And part of the ad reads:

"Black Flame's first novel in a bloody new trilogy, Fiends of the Eastern Front: Operation Vampyr features historically accurate battles and all-out bloodsucking action!"

Well, historically accurate battles apart, one assumes, from the vampires.

And really, Russian vampires during WWII is a pretty neat sounding concept for a story. If you're starting with that, is it really going to be that much more of a selling point if the battles are historically accurate?

Mostly Muppet Dot Com

Check out this short film.

Truth, Justin and the American Way - HOSTED BY SPEAKEASY.NET

New comic I'm looking forward to...

Hustle on AMC - The Official USA Website | The Con is On!

Neither American nor a movie, AMC picks up the BBC TV series from the producers of Spooks/MI-5 and Life on Mars. Just watched the first episode, and thought it was great, though I am predisposed to liking con artist stories. Like I needed more TV to watch...

Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel: "NBC has green-lighted Seeing Red, a drama pilot from writer-producer Graham Yost about an eccentric, brilliant cop who talks to dead victims who help him solve his cases, Dark Horizons reported."

NBC already has Medium and CBS has Ghost Whisperer. Doesn't ABC feel left out? Or do they have a talks-to-ghosts show I'm forgetting about?

I Have Seen Things You Wouldn't Believe

Check out my friend's pictures of her new Tucson home...

Today's Snapple fact (taken from the lid off my bottle of Snapple, obviously):

Giraffes have no vocal chords.

Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel: "SCI FI Channel announced Jan. 12 that it will air the first season of the BBC's hit SF series Doctor Who, starting in March. The 13 episodes, starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, will air as part of SCI FI Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT."

In-N-Out Lawsuit Exposes Family Rift - Los Angeles Times: "In-N-Out Burger Inc., the Irvine company known for its Double-Double and its customers' intense devotion, is embroiled in a family feud, according to a lawsuit.

Richard Boyd, In-N-Out's vice president and a board member, has accused 23-year-old heir Lynsi Martinez and others of trying to accelerate her takeover of the popular family-owned burger chain."

In-N-Out is, like, one of the only fast food restaurants I'll even consider going to any more. I certainly hope this doesn't spell the beginning of the end for them.

BBC - Doctor Who (David Tennant and Billie Piper) - News : "Billie Piper will play feisty young Victorian heroine Sally Lockhart in the BBC's adaptation of multi award-winning writer, Philip Pullman's The Ruby In The Smoke."

So I went to a Borders bookstore today, looking for the latest issue of Wolverine (all will be explained later) and because I had a coupon for 30% off a book of my choice. And they didn't have the comic book, and the store was such a mess that I couldn't find anything else. Seriously. I had ideas in mind, but I couldn't find the books.

I thought I'd see if they had any graphic novels I wanted, but the section was in absolutely no sort of order whatsoever, so any enthusiasm I might have had was sapped by having to go through the whole section just to see if they had any of the few I was looking for.

Then I thought about looking for the book I'm reading now from the library, It's Superman by Tom DeHaven, because I have a bunch of other Superman prose novels, and thought I might buy this one with the coupon. But they didn't have any of his books in the fiction section (and this is a new one), and the science fiction hardcovers were in no particular order.

And the store was such a mess, with books falling over on the ends of shelves, the comic books all mixed up and in no order, so I had to look behind each and every one to see if the one I was looking for was hiding behind another one, all that. And I just wanted to get out, because if they don't care to keep their store neat, then I don't really want to spend my money there.

Thinking about my last post, I should clarify that a lot of the problems I mentioned with the sci-fi television series formula don't actually hamper my enjoyment of the shows. TV doesn't have to be completely natural to be enjoyable for me. I think a lot of the dialogue on the acclaimed Law & Order shows sounds forced and melodramatic (and don't get me started on Veronica Mars or Joss Whedon's scripts) but that doesn't make me any less a fan.

Having said that, it's nice to see a show like Battlestar Galactica or Doctor Who that proves that a show in a particular genre doesn't have to look and feel like every other show in that genre, but can instead aspire to something greater.

PvPonline.com ? Hosted By SPEAKEASY.NET : "10 reasons Gay Marriage is wrong:
1. Being gay is not natural. And as you know Americans have always rejected unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because, as you know, a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed. The sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans."

So, this past Friday night brought with it the return of new episodes to SciFi Friday. Stargate SG-1 was a little more enjoyable than I remember it being when it took its mid-season break. Maybe the new characters have all settled comfortably in my mind by now. Maybe it's just that the flaws in the formula, which had seemed so apparent as they approached the mid-season break, have been turned over and over so thoroughly in my head that they don't really bug me so much any more. Whatever. And Stargate Atlantis was pretty much as good as it's been throughout most of the season. Not counting the first half of the mid-season two-hour block, which just felt like a lame episode of Star Trek: Voyager; what's up with that?

And then there's Battlestar Galactica. How is it possible that this show is called Battlestar Galactica, spawned from the loins of the lousy 1970s version? How is it possible that this show is on SciFi? How it it possible that this is a science fiction show, even?

By that, I don't mean that science fiction shows can be good. But I mean that obviously science fiction shows, as in set on a space ship or going to other planets or whatever, so often seem made using the exact same playbook, and they all have a certain stench of cheapness about it. And it doesn't just show in the small casts or limited special effects or whatever, but in the very traditional, unimaginative camerawork, the relatively stiff acting, the humorless writing--and when there is humor, it's because someone has obviously tried very hard to put a joke in--all that. It's like most science fiction shows are afraid to deviate from the template set by Star Trek: The Next Generation almost 20 years ago. And none of it could possibly be confused, stylistically, with contemporary drama on network TV.

But then there's Galactica, which throws the rule book out the window, and dares to be compelling drama that just happens to be about spaceships and robots and stuff. And it sticks out like a sore thumb, because it doesn't have the low-budget feel that so many other shows like that have, and it isn't coy about what it is, like Lost or Invasion, with their real-world settings and focus on human drama and character over the more outre elements. (Not saying that one is better than the other, mind.)

And at the end of the day, the thing I say the most is this: thank goodness it's on.

Grey Matter

Grey's Anatomy has become one of my favorite TV shows, somehow, so this blog by the series' writers is certainly worth my attention...

Strange Horizons Columns: The Art of Entertainment, by Matthew Cheney

More praise for Rocket Science, and Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys, another favorite read this year.

Bookslut | SF for Kiddies: "I don't typically fall for jacket blurbs but when I read what author Jerry Oltion had to say about Rocket Science -- "If the Hardy Boys stayed up half the night reading Astounding Magazine by flashlight, this is what they would dream after they turned out the light" -- well, I had to have this book. Just the mere possibility, of combining the boy detectives with an element of outer space science fiction was enough to pull me in before the book even arrived. Once I started,and found everything that Jay Lake was able to fit into this outstanding book, I was one very happy reader."

I just finished this book myself last week, and very much agree with the review. So now I want to check out the other books the column mentions...

Happy New Year, everybody!

Hellboy Animated

How weird is it that Tad Stones, the guy behind such Disney Afternoon classics as DuckTales, Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers, and TaleSpin is the man behind the pair of upcoming Hellboy animated DVD features (and possible TV series)? It's like finding a rare EC Comics horror story by Carl Barks.

Brian Wood - DMZ 4.04.72

As if I wasn't enjoying Brian Wood's DMZ enough as it is, he has to go and stick a panda in one issue.

Ringing in the new year with sushi.

Glows in the Dark

If I had been seriously into models when these kits were being produced, I'd probably still be seriously into models. (I probably would have worked a lot harder at painting stuff well.) As it is, I had the Monogram reissue of the Dracula model (purchased at Disneyland, I believe), and I'd read about these kids, but they always remained the stuff that dreams were made of. Still do, of course, but nice to see a web site devoted to them...