LXD: Legion of Extraordinary Dancers

I love this show. LOVE. Despite the title sounding like another bad reality dance competition, and despite the beginning-of-every-episode narrator that makes me roll my eyeballs, this show has turned out to be creative gold. There is an actual plot here that has the potential to turn cheesy at a moment's notice, but the writers handle it well. I can't get enough of it.

Besides, even without a plot the show is worth watching just for all the pop-n-lock man candy.

(And if you notice, Glee kid Harry Shum, Jr snuck his way into this cast!)

The writers, directors, and choreographers keep this show fresh every episode, adding new spins or different viewpoints. No two episodes are the same. In fact, I think I may have to make a new playlist on Spotify specifically for all the music I've heard so far in this show.

The third episode is really what got me hooked, and since Hulu is nice like that, I'm going to embed it for you here:



I'm currently in the middle of season 2. It's a full on creepy-scary sick effects visual adrenaline fest. It's original. It's addicting. What are you waiting for?


~Sass~

Battlestar Galactica

First, the Ramen noodles were awesome (see previous post).



Second... OMG. I got on the BSG wagon a few years late but holy crap. Drama! Politics! Space battles! The human race is going to destroy itself... no, maybe it's not... oh wait, yes it is! Ahh!

I finished all 4 (new) seasons within a few weeks and it was one hell of an emotional roller coaster. I gotta give kudos to those writers for the way they manipulated those characters. There had to be a psychiatrist on that writing team having a psycho-gasm with all the bad shit people did to each other in that show. Baltar was a freakin' head trip, and although my friend thinks he should have been thrown out an airlock early on, he was actually one of my favorite characters. It was amusing seeing the desperation on his face at certain points, especially when number six would randomly appear to mess with him even more. And then I always wanted him to do the right thing, but half the fun was waiting to see what he would do wrong...

Now, I didn't see the original Battlestar Galactica. I've only seen the new one. One of my fellow geeky coworkers was all up in arms about the changes they made from the old one. It took my good review to get him to get past the first episode. His biggest beef?

Starbuck? Originally a guy.
(But she still smokes and sleeps around.)



My coworker likens Starbuck's gender change to rewriting Star Wars so that Han Solo is a girl (while that's actually an amusing thought, I get his point). Since I haven't seen the original I can't comment. He keeps bitching about Starbuck every time I ask him where he's at in the series, but he's still watching, so clearly it doesn't bother him as much as he says it does. So what else changed?

Boomer? Black dude.
(Not even close.)



Cylons?
(From Toaster to Titillating.)

Centurion gets a face lift...


And then we have skinjobs!


There are a lot of other changes from what I hear, but the writers gave themselves a valid reason from deviating so far from the original. I call it the Star Trek plotline escape.

Seen the new Star Trek? That whole oops Spock created / went through a wormhole and messed up the space-time continuum so that everything changed but the same players are still there thing? Yeah. It's kind of like that in the new BSG. There's a line repeated through most of the series (although a lot more often in the later half): "This has all happened before, and it will all happen again." Yes, yes, we get it, history repeats itself. But wait! There's more. At the very end, in the last episode, there is a conversation going on in which this statement is given (I won't spoil anything for you by saying who said it etc etc... it's non spoilery on its own):

"Let a complex system repeat itself long enough, eventually something surprising might occur."

(Fair warning, the following assessment is slightly spoilery in concept.)

Put those two quotes together and BAM! There's your reason for the changes. This is NOT the same Battlestar Galactica. It wasn't meant to be. This is history repeating itself. The old BSG happened, yes. Starbuck was a dude, the cylons were toasters, etc. But now it's happening again. It's the same, but different. Starbuck is a girl. The cylons look like hot chicks. Why all the changes? Because the complex system is creating surprises on its most recent repeat. Oooo. Some of you may think this is a cheap way to bring back the awesome show to end all awesomeness, but you lore sticklers gotta admit it's a good way (or at least an acceptable way) for the new writers to justify their adaptations.

And someone said they didn't like the ending to the new one, but I actually thought it was good. It resolved the storyline in a satisfying way. Plus it was a much happier ending than I expected compared to all the pessimistic build up (maybe that's why people didn't like it?).

My recommendation? If you haven't watched it, go seek it out. Netflix, your local rental place, a friend that has the DVDs, maybe even a library, whatever. Get your hands on that series and go watch.

I'll even see if I can find the original BSG and watch it while you watch the new one.



~Sass~

Bitches!

... on TV!!!!!

Werewolf dramedy unleashed at Fox

Network gives 'Bitches' a script plus penalty commitment
By Nellie Andreeva
Dec 22, 2008, 01:00 AM ET

Talk about a hairy "Sex and the City."

The Fox network is developing "Bitches," a dramedy about a quartet of female friends in New York who are werewolves.

The project, which has received a script plus penalty commitment from the network, hails from feature writer Michael Dougherty and Warner Bros. TV.

TV writing duo Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts have come on board to supervise Dougherty. The two also will serve as executive producers alongside Dougherty if the project, described as a quirky urban fairy tale, goes to series.

"Bitches" continues the werewolf theme from Dougherty's recent horror flick "Trick 'r Treat."

2009 is shaping up to be a big year for werewolves with the release of the Benicio del Toro-starring remake of "The Wolfman" and the "Twilight" sequel "New Moon."

WMA-repped Dougherty's writing credits also include "Superman Returns" and "X2: X-Men United."

Berg and Harberts recently served as co-exec producers on the ABC/WBTV series "Pushing Daisies." The duo, repped by ICM and attorney Gretchen Bruggeman Rush, also created/exec produced the WB's "Pepper Dennis."

Please, FOX, do this show right and for shit's sake don't cancel it after the first season! I want werewolves on prime time TV, damn it!

I Has a TWENNY FIEV!!1!!one!

Happy Birfday to me! YAY! How shall I spend the day?

1 - Goofing off at work. Oh wait, I already do that...
2 - Drinks for everyone!
3 - Pub Food, here I come. Nyam, nyam, nyam...
4 - Movie? Hmmmmmmmmm
5 - Writing. Duh!
6 - Homework. *grumble, grumble* Maybe I'll do that at work so I don't have to at home. Yes, that sounds appropriately ebil.
7 - Spamming the intarwebz with news of mai birfday!


Some other things that are 25 years old today:

Daniel Booko
Born on the same day in the same year. I don't know who he is, but he's hawt anyway!


... okay that was all I could really find for things that happened on the exact day of the exact year I was born. But here's some other leet people that were born on Oct 17th:

Rita Hayworth was born in 1918



Evel Knievel was born in 1938
... crazy bastid!



Robert Jordan was born in 1948 (holy shit we shared a birthday?)



Alan Jackson was born in 1958
... srsly.



Mr. Slim Shady himself was born in 1972




Sum popular muzak in 1983:



Eurythmics -- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) album released
Nena -- 99 Luftballons (99 Red Balloons) released
R.E.M. -- Murmur album released
Red Hot Chili Peppers wuz born!


What happened in TV that year?

The Disney Channel, CMT, and Spike TV (then known as "TNN" or "The Nashville Network") all began broadcasting.

Webster, The A Team, Fraggle Rock, and Love Connection made their debut.

M*A*S*H* ended. (Yes, it was that long ago.)


Feeling old yet? No? Let's look at what movies were released that year... *evil laugh*

Flashdance
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
National Lampoon's Vacation
The Outsiders
Risky Business
Return of the Jedi
Scarface
Strange Brew ("take off, eh! hoser!")
Terms of Endearment
Trading Places
War Games


And just for fun - I Love 1983


So, what did I forget? What else happened in 1983? What were YOU doing in 1983?

Quote of the Day:

(Strange Brew)
Doug McKenzie: The power of the force has stopped you, you hosers.


~Sass~

Which Hero Are You?

Apparently I'm the young adult. lol

Which Heroes Character Are You?

Created by BuddyTV

Quote of the Day:

(Heroes)
Ando: Every hero is on a journey to find his place in the world, it is a JOURNEY, you don't start at the end, otherwise they can't make a movie about it later.


~Sass~

Ahh, Rebublicans

Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em... or their juicy drama-inducing hypocricisms (is that a word? if it isnt, it is now).

Thanks Tom for the link!



I <3 the Daily Show.

I also <3 Scalzi and his related posts here and here. Grab some popcorn and check the comments. You're in for an entertaining ride!


~Sass~

What do you want to do tonight, Brain?

What better way to celebrate post #50 than by reminiscing about those old cartoons we all used to watch?

Come on, you remember those. The oldies your parents used to watch, the cartoons from the '80s... maybe even some modern day cartoons that you schedule into your week even to this day. Point is, you've watched a cartoon at some point in your life (or I assume you have, since you obviously have internet access and most people who browse the intarwebz own a TV or did at one point in their life... and if you say you've never watched a cartoon, ever, I'm going to assume you're lying. Or you're a serial killer. Either way, you're weird.)

Now, for the sake of this post, I'm going to include kid/tween/teen oriented anime within the "cartoon" category. It's easier for me if I don't have to separate them. Adult anime has it's place, too, and maybe I'll do a post on that sometime, but for now we're talking about shows aimed at non adults.

First up...



Who doesn't remember this cartoon? This is the only cartoon I can ever remember where no one cared that animated characters ran around with guns and sharp pointy things and tried to kill each other on a regular basis. Especially in such an innocently fun fashion. It was all in good fun... no one worried that the kids watching this cartoon might someday grow up to be mentally unstable from being exposed to such "violence." There were all kinds of maliciously fun characters! Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Elmer Fudd ("kill the wabbit! kill the waaaabbit!"). It was ossim.

To be fair, though, I think the cartoon was originally made for adults. Which actually makes it better, because both adults and kids are entertained by it. I think I really liked Looney Toons simply because it wasn't childish. It didn't dumb itself down for the kids.

Another intelligent show was Animaniacs. We own the DVD of the first season, and even to this day it's still a riot. Soooooo many inuendos and things that were funny back in the day but especially grin-worthy as an adult. I mean, there were college kids who watched that show. It was that good.

And of course, who doesn't remember "Hellooooooo, Nurse!"? Or "Good Idea, Bad Idea"? Hell even the Wheel of Morality was good for a snort of laughter every now and then. God I miss that show. Now I'm gonna have to watch it when I get home.

More old school than Animaniacs were my days spent watching cartoons that were great back in the day, but I'm not so sure I'd like them now. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the OLD cartoon, not that new crap), Darkwing Duck, The Tick (okay, that one is still good), TailSpin, Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers, Gummy Bears (frak, I have that song stuck in my head now... "Gummy beaaaarrrs, bouncing here and there and everywhere"....). Yeah, the list goes on and on. And on.

Now, that's not to say I didn't escape the mindless drivel of some old school cartoons. Most notibly were things like My Little Ponies (shut it) and Rocky and Bullwinkle. What? Why diss the squirrel and moose?



Okay, expirament time. Go out and rent the Rocky and Bullwinkle DVD from the video store (if it isn't available there you could probably get it for like $5-10 somewhere else). Push the play button and set the timer for one hour. I bet you money you couldn't sit through an entire hour of it without feeling like you've lost half your brain cells (I'd actually wager you couldn't sit through an hour, period). We put the DVD on in the background for game night one night, and after three hours all of us were ready to shoot the TV and put the DVD in the microwave, and we weren't even watching it. It was just on as background noise.

I mean, as a kid I didn't care either way about Rocky and Bullwinkle. I'd watch it if it was on (and I still think Boris and what's her name are kind of funny). But God... I mean, there's a reason why I stated that some of the above cartoons might not be entertaining to me anymore. It is specifically because of the events of that game night that I vowed never to watch old school cartoons. I wanted to preserve the memories.

Moving right along then...

There was a magical time in my tweens when we got cable. I was exposed to a much broader range of cartoons. Ren and Stimpy, Rocco's Modern Life, Scooby Doo (no, I had not seen this show prior to cable. It wasn't run on our local channels).

The best of those beloved new cable channels? Cartoon Network. Oh yes. We had...

...Dexter's Laboratory

"Dee Deeeee!"



...Johnny Bravo

"Whoa, Momma!"



... The Powerpuff Girls



... And of course, anime.

I was a sucker for anime. I loved the animation style, I couldn't get enough of it. I'm intensely guilty of watching things like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Digimon, Pokemon (admittedly I was more into the game than the show), Tenchi Muyo, etc. I may have even owned some of the tapes. Yes, video tapes. Shush.

There is one I didn't get into until after it was cancelled. The picture should say it all.

Invader Zim is possibly the best cartoon Nickelodeon ever ran, even if it was only for three seasons. (Ren and Stimpy was good, but I like Zim better.) Everyone is so sarcastic and oblivious. Zim's self-absorbed, spastic self is hilarious, and GIR is possibly the best secondary character I've ever come across. Not to mention all the quippy dialogue, such as this little gem...

Tallest: Weren't you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be... frying something?
Zim: Oh, I quit when I found out about this.
Tallest: You quit being banished?

Yes. I lurves me some Zim.

And, last but not least, America's favorite animated family:

THE SIMPSONS



I don't even think I need to say anything about the Simpsons, other than it's creator also made Futurama (another priceless animated series... srsly, if you haven't seen it, you should).

Anyway, I've rambled on and thrown enough pictures at you for one day. But I want to know... what were your favorite cartoons while growing up? Are there any you still watch?

Quote of the day:

(Dexter's Laboratory)
Dee Dee: Oooh! What does THAT button do?


~Sass~

TrueBlood... again

Okay, so, upon further investigation, TrueBlood *is* based off of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series.



It didn't take much to dig up that bit of information. What can I say? Sometimes I'm a little dense.

However, that little bit of digging turned into a friggin' expedition into the strange land of HBO marketing. You would not believe how much extra stuff I found.

It starts here, at their official TrueBlood page. You follow the links and you end up finding things like a news cast about the post "coming out of the coffin" for the vampires, an entire website dedicated to the Tru:Blood drink, an entire blog about the vampire discoveries and subsequent findings with entries dated back until May (complete with forum, holy shit), and a vampire dating site. There's also a site for AVL, or the American Vampire League, which is a vampire rights group, and also a site for their arch enemy Fellowship of the Sun. There are hours worth of videos to watch, and days worth of reading to do.

I think someone over at HBO had a little too much time on their hands. Not that I don't appreciate it, but just... wow. Wow. If they put as much effort into the show as they did all the marketing offshoots, this will be a great series.

Quote of the Day:

(Buffy the Vampire Slayer - tv)
Willow: Life is a neck. Drink deep.


~Sass~

Tru:Blood

Oh. My. Gawd.

I need HBO. I need it so I can watch this series. This looks like one of those things were even if you don't like vampires, you will like this series. And I like vampires. Oh yes, I do.

(Funny thing... does this seem like Sookie from Dead Until Dark? Hmm...)

In case that video doesn't load for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JYwxafJY7c



Excuse me while I go look up prices for adding HBO to our subscription.

Quote of the day:

(Blade)
Dr. Karen Jenson: You used me as bait?
Blade: Get over it.


~Sass~

Heroes

My fellow howler Pike recently blogged about the return of Heroes. You know, that freaking awesome show about people with super powers and the like? The Cheerleader, Hiro, Peter Petrelli? The show that costs $50 for all of season 1 (eff you, Best Buy)? Yeah, that Heroes.

Some of you may remember a while back that there was a writer's strike going on for forever and a day. It was a legitimate strike, but the unfortunate consequence was no new material for damn near any shows (unless they were made outside the US). This meant that the addiction known as Heroes stopped producing new episodes, and millions of people around the US were suddenly going through withdrawals.

Now it's back.

They're releasing Webisodes of the new season (that is the new season, isn't it? or is it web only? omg, I'm so confused!). It's little bits of episodes as far as I can tell, segments about 3-4 minutes long, just enough to get you excited again and then take away your stimulant. So far, it goes like this:

Part One: A Nifty Trick
Part Two: The House Guest

*** SPOILERS AHEAD***

In part one we were introduced to three new characters. We have Echo, who, appropriately enough, has a rather nifty ability capable of blowing out people's ear drums. And he's a postal worker. (Who thinks this stuff up? Srsly.) The second character is the Constrictor, a hairless, freaky lookin' bastard that can squeeze you to death. (He kind of looks like Voldemort, actually...) Which may not sound scary, but trust me, I would not want that guy touching me for any reason, especially not to give me such a big bear hug that all my bones break and I suffocate. Eeuww. The third character is a replacement for the Horn-rimmed guy, a new bastard that goes around kidnapping people who have abilities so that they can "teach" said people how to use their powers. Which really means they're in for a nice restricted schedule and possibly some expiraments resulting in death. But that's okay, because he died of a brain hemorrage thanks to our nice Mr. Postal Worker. Or he would have if the Constrictor hadn't shot him in the head to end his misery.

In part two we see that Echo has run home and inadvertently led the Constrictor to his house. Echo's girlfriend, Gina, ends up being a hostage, but thanks to the Constrictor who happens to be covering her ears, Echo is able to use his newfound eardrum blowing abilities to save her from possible death. The beginning of his downfall... he holds the Constrictor's head up and says, "Now for the fun part."

Dun dun dunnnnnnnn.

Perhaps this is why season 3 of Heroes has been named "Villains." Did we just meet our new super villain? Won't know until 07/28 when the next Webisode is released. Frikkin' network and their marketing schemes. I don't want to wait another week to see who knocked on that damn door!

I'll reserve official judgment for when I can see the episode in its entirety, but so far it looks like I'd give it four stars.