Video of the Day - The Enterprise encounters Miley Cyrus

Captain Kirk and crew don't know what to make of Miley's VMA performance either. This is clever and pretty darn funny. Enjoy.

Somewhere Hannah Montana is weeping.

Cyn

Patrick Stewart demonstrates the quadruple-take

Captain Picard - you are so wise. Just like Professor X - Patrick Stewart is ready to school you and you don't even have to be a mutant. 

Enjoy this acting master class on the single, double, triple and quadruple- take. Then see if you can't put those lessons into action.

Enjoy.

 

Geek FM - The Greatest Song You Are Going to Love

Geek FM - Finding The Greatest Song You Are Going to Love

by Cheryl Lightfoot

We geeks are known for our love of comic books, science fiction TV and movies, and anime. But music? You don't see a lot of concerts happening on the floor at Comic Con. But geeks like me take our music as seriously as our other entertainment loves, if not more so.

For me, music is like air. I need it every day to keep me going. Sometimes music is more important, for although air is a biological necessity, it does not have the healing powers of music. Whether it's a bad day or a broken heart, music can uplift and cheer, each lyric or note pushing sadness a little further away. When I listen to a sad song when I'm sad, I feel the singer understands my pain. 

And on the flip side, when people celebrate, music is a big part of it. Parties, wedding receptions, dances all require a musical score. There are few things more fun than rolling down the windows of your car, pushing the stereo volume up way to high, and belting out a terrific song as you roll down the highway. Music = joy.

Music can manipulate your emotions (next time you see a sad scene in a movie or tv show, pay attention: the background music may be saying more about how you are supposed to feel than the dialogue is.) It's an instant memory trigger, and a single bar of music can throw you back to a school vacation with your parents, your high school prom, your first dance with your new husband. I still remember lyrics to songs I haven't heard in several decades.

I don't remember when I started loving music or why, but I think my mom had a lot to do with it. She didn't have a huge album collection (though my dad did, and his Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel albums -among many others- were some of my favorites). Mom simply loved music. She was the type to sing along to the car radio constantly, and to have a boombox on the patio as she sunbathed by the pool. Mostly she like the top 40 radio hits, the poppy tunes that now populate those CDs that gather the best of the 70s and 80s. I think it's thanks to her that I like to always have music around me. I'll never forget her belting out this song to the car's FM radio.

Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Elton John and Kiki Dee

My musical tastes are a little different than my mom's were; I love a good pop song, but I don't usually follow the Top 40. It just doesn't appeal to me, for whatever reason. When MTV launched, I was 15, and had a lot of free time on my hands that I used to open my mind to music I had never heard before. And while you have to work pretty hard to catch a music video on that channel now, then it was all music. And so much of it was brand spanking new to me. Perhaps, in the town where I grew up, they played the Sex Pistols on some radio station. But I never heard them there and I probably never would have heard them until college if it weren't for MTV.

I discovered two things: I liked finding new music, and for the most part, I was a fan of new wave music and what they called "college rock." Today, all that is lumped together as 'alternative', whatever that means, and those tunes are genuine oldies. But then, it was all so new and exciting. Finding a new song or band to love is like falling in love for the first time: you can't get the song out of your mind, you want to find out more about it, you want to spend all your time with it, and it causes a physical reaction: your heart beats faster, your skin tingles, it makes you want to get up and dance with joy. It's a total rush that I have never gotten tired of.

The first band I really fell in love with was Squeeze, a band from London that had a bit of success with two videos that you would have seen a squillion times if you watched MTV during that time: Tempted and Black Coffee in Bed. I really liked their music and the lead singer was totally dreamy, so I bought their greatest hits album and in no time, they were my favorite band. Here's a wonderful tune of theirs called Up the Junction, which is desperately sad if you pay attention to the lyrics.

Squeeze, Up the Junction

I have seen Squeeze in concert many times and have all their albums, greatest hits CDs and all, and continue to worship them to this day. When I lost my mom, their song Some Fantastic Place helped me through that, though I can't listen to it even today without crying. Though they have fallen to two-hit wonder status on mainstream radio, they have a huge catalog of songs that deserve a wider audience. (Hint, hint!) 

In college, I had a roommate as dedicated to music as I was, and although she didn't really introduce me to Genesis, as they were all over the radio at the time, she played their early, uber-cool albums that had Peter Gabriel as the lead singer. I had never heard those songs before, but really liked them. This song is really theatrical and weird, but only a fraction as weird as the album as a whole. I love it.

Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

I met my husband while I was on a college internship and while we were dating, he introduced me to some great music too. One artist was Billy Bragg, the Englishman who talked with the taxman about poetry. Although Scott's tastes were more classic rock than new wave, he still introduced me to this iconic artist.

Billy Bragg, A New England, Live

I knew I could marry Scott because once he heard my favorite music, he liked it too, or at least he tolerated what he did not love. After college, we moved to northwest Ohio and I finally found those radio stations I was looking for. One was called 89X, which broadcast out of the Windsor, Ontario area. Due to regulations regarding Canadian content, they played a set percentage of music from Canadian bands. For the first time, I was hearing alternative music from bands from the Great White North. I could make this post a hundred yards long if I included all my favorite Canuck bands of the 90s, so here are just two of my very favorite songs.

Grace Too, The Tragically Hip

                                                                 Odds, It Falls Apart

I can't quite explain what is was about this exotic 'foreign' music that I loved so much, except perhaps that it was new and kind of unknown to most of my friends which made me feel that much cooler for liking it. Smug audiophiles everywhere probably know the sensation of discovering and loving a new band before anyone else does, or god forbid, that band SELLS OUT and actually starts making money performing their music. It feels good, is what I'm saying. Or, it could just be that the music was good and just happened to appeal to me. The Tragically Hip put on a damn good live show, too, which helped immensely. My passion for all things Canadian got even worse when I discovered there was a Canadian version of MTV, which I could tune in at the TV station where I worked. Amazingly, the feed was not scrambled! Those were heady days where I fell in love with dozens of bands from up north.

Not that I gave up on good American music. Of course, grunge happened and I loved it, flannel, dirty hair and all. It sounds cliche, but I when I heard Nirvana for the first time, it was an absolute "aha!" moment for me. But there was so much more to love. I got a subscription to CMJ magazine, a college music journal that sent out a free CD with every magazine. Most bands were totally unknown to me, and it's safe to admit that some of the songs were, sadly, not very good. But there were some great discoveries on those discs: Elliot Smith, Mark Eitzel, Sigur Ros, Orgy and so much more. This weirdly titled song is so distinctive and memorable.

Official Ironman Rally Song, Guided By Voices

Movies and TV are great ways to find new music, too. I normally prefer fiction to non-fiction when it comes to entertainment, but somehow I heard about a rock documentary that sounded really interesting. I like a band called the Dandy Warhols, who were featured in a movie called Dig! The movie compares and contrasts the possibly less-talented but more successful Dandies with a rival band called The Brian Jonestown Massacre (really), who are led by a near musical genius called Anton Newcombe. Unfortunately, Anton was unstable (if the movie is to be believed) and seemed determined to sabotage any chance of his band's success, which was really unfortunate. These guys are damn, damn good.

When Jokers Attack, Brian Jonestown Massacre

I've heard conflicting reports on just how accurate the movie is, but it is very entertaining and I definitely took away a love of BJM. They have a huge catalog of music (Anton is both talented and prolific) and the band experiments with a lot of different music styles.

The arrival of the internet meant a lot of things for music lovers: finding an obscure album on e-Bay, connecting with a group of like-minded music lovers and finding a community that didn't exist in your offline life, and finally knowing all the lyrics to It's the End of the World as We Know It by REM. While you could also steal music using illegal peer-to-peer sites, that wasn't cool and not too useful for discovering a new favorite band. (As an aside, the Brian Jonestown Massacre offered up their whole catalog for a free download during this time period.) Fast forward some years to the mid-2000s and the birth of iTunes. Not only would they give you free songs every week (usually pretty good, sometimes great,) but I discovered the single greatest thing about the service: the Song of the Day podcast. 

I found several different radio stations or online communities that offer a daily podcast which consists of a single song, no commercials or DJ blather, that you could download and have and even put on your iPod. Completely free and legal! Were they all great? Of course not. But they were new songs, some from bands I knew and some from artists I'd never heard of but grew to love. The thrill of discovery and the satisfaction of ownership were tied up in one 4 minute podcast. I have probably heard thousands of new songs this way, and heard many tunes that would (much, much later) hit it big on alternative radio. But I heard them first. (Said the smug audiophile!)

The Thermals, Now We Can See

                                           

Rogue Wave, Lake Michigan

Want to get in on this free awesomeness? Do an iTunes search for KEXP, KCRW and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio. You can subscribe to the podcasts and depending on how cooperative your computer is, those songs will automatically download to your device as soon as you power it up. You can also stream their radio stations and hear more great tunes. MPR's The Current is a particular favorite of mine; their music is so eclectic (Miles Davis, Loretta Lynn and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes in the same set!) and they have no commercials. It's a public radio station, and last year I caved in during a pledge drive and became a sustaining member.

I actually had heard the Rogue Wave song around somewhere, and when it appeared as my daily download, I was so happy, because I liked it but didn't know where to find it. And there it was! I found Rogue Wave when a song of theirs appeared in the TV show Heroes. I hadn't heard of the band yet, but a Google search for the lyrics helped me figure out the name of the song. (It was Eyes, btw.) That's another cool way to find a song - the song you hear on the radio but don't catch the name of. I was driving back to Ohio from my parent's house and I passed through Angola, Ind. where there is a college radio station that plays cool music but never tells you what it is. I heard a great song but had no clue how to find it again. I memorized a bit of the lyrics, got home and hopped on the internet and voila! I found it.

Bell X-1, Rocky Took a Lover

I love Bell X-1 now, and I'm so glad I drove past that station on that day, and that I was able to figure out who they were. But if you don't want to just trust blind luck in trying to find your new favorite song, here are some ways to seek out new music.

The internet has a lot of great music features now, like streaming radio. I know a lot of people are in to Pandora and Spotify, but I like SoundCloud. I subscribe to a few bands and labels I really like, and I just make a list of those songs I want to hear. There's no logarithm-based software trying to convince me that because I like one 90s band (Better Than Ezra,) I must also really want to hear Counting Blue Cars. Because I don't. SoundCloud just plays what you ask it to play. You can favorite all the songs you love but can't afford to buy just now, try out a new album before you commit to buying it, or explore the music offerings of labels, bands, or individuals who seem to like the same stuff you do. I follow SubPop records on SoundCloud, and they have hundreds of good songs to enjoy. I recommend you try it and see if you can find something you like. (This would be a good site for lovers of different music genres; unfortunately I am no expert on where to find the next great country or rap artist you are looking for.)

Low, Silver Rider

So that's me, seeking out and geeking out to new music. What music do you like, my fellow geeks? Where do you go when you want a new music fix? Or do you prefer the oldies? I'd love to know, so post something in the comments! Until then, I'll be the chick in the corner with earbuds plugged in, finding solace in sound.

Coming Attraction - Geeky Goodness is Headed Your Way

Ready to take a look ahead at some coming attractions?

First, gaze upon my pretend boyfriend Chris Hemsworth and the rest of the gang in Asgard. I am very excited for this sequel to Thor.

I liked Kenneth Branagh's Shakespearean take on "Thor" better than most, but I can't wait to see what Alan Taylor's "The Dark World" will look like. He's directed several episodes of "Game of Thrones." No Red Weddings, please.

Oh, Sleepy Hollow, you had me at "Heads Will Roll." 

 

FOX, give me something to make up for the absence of Fringe and the frustration of watching the Keystone FBI agents on The Following. I only hope this show doesn't go the way of New Amsterdam. A show that I still miss.

 

 

I'm waiting anxiously for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special -  10 and 11 together! My two favorite Doctors... Wait, maybe 4 and 5 are my favorite Doctors... I'm still pretty excited. Thank you BBC for keeping my favorite show alive longer than I've been alive.

Speaking of Brit TV, Sherlock! Hurry back to us Benedict Cumberbatch and Bilbo!

 

 This isn't exactly new, but if you've ever enjoyed the Dark Shadows Television series, you must read the current comic book series. Maybe I should call it a graphic novel. Whatever it is, this fabulous book picks up right where the series ended and sets the prefect tone with a compelling storyline. This almost makes up for what Tim Burton did to one of my favorite shows ever...almost. 

 

 

Cyn

 

Cyn Mackley is edits and writes for a tech website, works in a newsroom and watches too much television. You can find her recipes and fiction plus a few craft projects at http://cyndaverse.blogspot.com/

 

 

GEEK TV – 2013/14 Fall Launch Roundup

A guide to the new sci-fi and fantasy shows that geeks should be checking

out this fall!

Cheryl Lightfoot

We are well into August as I write this, and that heralds the beginning of my favorite season...the new TV season! Merely weeks from now, old, dead reruns will fall off the networks branches like so many desiccated brown leaves. And while actual tree branches will remain barren throughout our long norther winter, TV networks will soon start unfurling new programming for you to geek out over.

I'm no math geek, so I'm not actually going to count the number of sci-fi and fantasy concept shows that debuted last fall vs. what the nets have to offer us for this year, but it's safe to say that there are quite a few, quite possibly more than in years past. Certainly within the genres on offer, there is quite a lot of diversity so that there should be something for everyone. What's your poison? Witches? Robots? Mutants? Superheroes? Period pieces with classic monster-movie villains and/or legendary American folk tale frights? Yeah, they've got that.

Here's a list, in alphabetical order, of some of the shows you may want to give a chance this fall season.

ALMOST HUMAN – Fox, premieres Monday, November 4^th at 8pm

Fringe fans, you might be interested in this...J.J. Abrams will be executive producing and Fringe scribe J.H. Wyman will write this futuristic buddy-cop show starring Karl Urban (Star Trek) and Michael Ealy (Common Law, Flash Forward). Urban plays Kennex, your classic not-by-the-book cop with a bionic leg and crappy attitude. It's set in the we-FINALLY-have-hovercars future, so there's robots. Ealy is Dorian, the human-like android companion that Urban must cart around with him to keep him from going rogue again.

Naturally, Kennex and Dorian don't get along, at first at least (going by the trailer), but despite the cliché set-up, the series still looks promising. The settings are visually arresting (pardon the cop pun) and seems capable of some very interesting storylines. The show has great bona fides, at least for Fringe fans. With luck, it will transcend the serial police drama formula the way Fringe did and give us some great character development as well.

(photo (C) FOX Network)

DRACULA – NBC, Premieres Friday, October 25^th at 10pm

By turns sexy and gory, this is not a show for kids, to state the obvious. Starring Johnathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) as the vamp in question, this show reimagines Dracula in Victorian England rather than in Transylvania, and introduces Dracula as American entrepreneur Alexander Grayson, who arrives in society promising scientific marvels. He soon meets Mina Murray (not yet Harker), played by Arrow's Jessica De Gouw, and has an instant connection with her. (Flashbacks reveal their connection has roots deep in a shared past.)

The usual gang, Johnathan Harker, Lucy Westenra, Van Helsing and Renfield, are still there, though their characters are variations on the classic versions.  New characters, like vampire huntress Lady Jane are introduced, and judging by the trailer, accents are hit and miss across the board. (Dublin-born Meyers' American accent is a decided miss.) The show looks luxe, and if you have a strong stomach (for both acrobatic vampire sex and gobs and gobs of bloody limbs and appendages) you might really enjoy this show.

                                                                      (photo (C) NBC Network)

MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – ABC, Premiering Tuesday, September 24^th at 8pm

This is the Big Kahuna of Geek TV. Set after the events in the billion-dollar Avengers movie, Marvel and EP Joss Whedon bring superheroes to the small screen. Not-dead Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg; and at least one of my kids owes me something for losing a certain post-movie bet) emerges as the head of  S.H.I.E.L.D's Level 7 operations and sets about recruiting what looks like a sort of junior-varsity team of powered-up good guys who save the day, albeit with less fanfare than the gods, monsters and iron-suited avengers in the movie.

Ming-Na Wen (ER) is Melinda May, a former pilot and fighter who is recalled from desk duty to lead the new team. J.August Richards (Angel) is one of the more recognizable recruits, and Cobie Smulders will appear in at least one episode as Maria Hill, her character from the movie.  It's hard to see how ABC could go wrong with this one, even if some of our fave Marvel characters don't show up (though I hope they will!) Though trailers for the pilot make it look exposition-heavy, once this show gets going it should be action-packed fun for the whole family.

                                                                        (photo (C) ABC Network)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND-ABC, Premiering Thursday, October 10^th at 8pm

ABC takes its fairy-tale drama down the rabbit hole, introducing the character of Alice (Sophie Lowe, a relative newcomer) as a kind of warrior princess of Wonderland. Aching to fight her mortal enemy, the Queen of Hearts, and out to save her true love, Peter Gadiot as Cyrus, Alice is busted out of a sanitarium (!) by the White Rabbit (!!) played by John Lithgow (!!!) In true Once Upon a Time tradition, the spinoff show will mix up its fairy tales, with Naveen Andrews of Lost appearing as Aladdin's Jafar.

                                                                   (photo (C) ABC Network)

THE ORIGINALS-CW, sneak preview Thursday, October 3^rd at 9pm; regularly Tuesdays at 8pm.

In The Vampire Diaries, Joseph Morgan's Klaus is THE original vampire, so it makes sense that he is big enough for his own show now. Accompanied by his brother Elijah (Daniel Gilles), sister Rebekah (Claire Holt) and his werewolf girlfriend, Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin), Klaus decamps from Mystic Falls to The Big Easy in order to put the fear of himself in one of his vampire underlings (Charles Michael Davis as Marcel.) There are more witches and werewolves and vampires ready to revolt, so Klaus decides to stick around and reclaim his title as number one Vamp. If you like TVD, and the prickly yet sometimes decent character of Klaus, give the sequel a try.

                                                                      (photo (C) CW Network)

SLEEPY HOLLOW-FOX, Premiering Monday, September 16^th at 9pm

Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) rides into the 21^st century, pursued by the legendary Headless Horseman. With the cops on his side, old Ich tries to bring the supernatural demon to justice, and along the way, as the trailer unoriginally states, heads will roll. Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones and John Cho also star.

Actually, this one looks pretty good. Although it does not seem to have a sustainable multi-season story, a short season of this good-looking show by all appearances would be great. George Washington himself cameos in flashbacks and Ichabod's flame-haired wife Katrina (Katia Winter) in dream sequences, so the story we learned in elementary school will also be explored, along with the Revolutionary-fish-out-of-water trope of having a Minuteman in today's New York.

                                                                   (photo (C) FOX Network)

THE TOMORROW PEOPLE-CW, Premiering Wednesday, October 9^th at 9pm

Based on the U.K. series of the same name (which had two iterations, in 1973 and 1992), this show sticks with the theme of super-powered mutants who are, of course, hunted by a shadowy government agency and are fighting the forces of evil from a secret lair. Though that seems done to death, and the pilot is quite laden with exposition, this show still seems like a good investment of your time. Not only does it appear after The CW's hit show Arrow (my favorite new show last year), and if you geeks find the lead familiar-looking, that's because it stars the cousin of Arrow's abdo-licious star Stephen Amell, (Robbie Amell, 1600 Penn, Revenge). And there's an interesting twist at the end of the first episode involving the head of the shadowy government agency, played by always creepy Mark Pellegrino of Lost that could give the show legs beyond the X-men style set-up.

                                                                       (photo (C) CW Network)

Of course there are more shows for geeks: Arrow, Revolution and Beauty and Beast (among others) are returning for second seasons, and even more sci-fi goodness is slotted for mid-season, including the return of Josh Holloway of Lost fame as a human supercomputer in Intelligence on CBS. Geeks like me, and maybe you, should find a lot to occupy our imaginations (and free time) this fall!

COLLECTION 7 DISK 4, AFTER WATCHING IT AGAIN

Saturday, May 18, 2013 1:17 AM

I have watched Collection 7 Disk 4 again.

Naomi said something like i used to think about tragedies that you got over them & life went on, but now i know you don't and it doesn't.

About love. In this disk, it's revealed that Joshua loved both Naomi & Barnabas, without them knowing it. He could feel love but he couldn't show it, not in such a way that they felt it. Is that how he escaped the curse? The wiki says yes.

Learning that her husband loved her all this time even though he coiuldn't show it was not enough to stop her suicide. Neither was the prospect of adopting Millicent and Daniel, which Joshua wanted to do and which might have brought them together, had she lived. Would Millicent recover from Lt. Forbes, given enough time? Maybe she would have, if Naomi had lived.

http://darkshadows.wikia.com/wiki/Joshua_Collins

According to the Wiki he lived til 1805. Ten years after chaining Barnabas into his coffin. I'm not sure when, if ever, in Collection 1 the plaques by Joshua, Naomi and Sarah's graves are clearly shown. But the official story seems to be that he survived because he was unable to love Barnabas. At least, he may have felt love, but he coudn't show it.

I think Joshua personifies a kind of love that was rebelled against during the 1960's. The patriarch of the family who provides for them financially, but whose love is not perceived by them. Joshua Collins is everything the 60's generation was rebelling against. He's also the quintessential WASP, lacking warmth. This kind of love was derided by the middle or upper class kids who became hippies as "plastic."

This is a theme close to the heart of the series.

This episode was directed by Dan Curtis himself. 

COLLECTION 7 DISK 4, before watching it a 2nd time

Saturday, May 18, 2013 8:32 PM

Here's what i want from watching the last disk of collection 7 again:

Naomi's speech before she kills herself.

The revelation that Joshua loved Naomi all along after all, though she she and Barnabas thought he didn't.

The last look between Barnabas & Joshua, before Barnabas gets in his coffin expectiing his father to destroy him before he wakes up, so he'll never wake up again. I wanted to see who directed that episode, who directed them in that long, meaningful gaze.

The scene in which he was going to bite Millicent again, the way he looks at her. Then when Vickie gets back to the 20th century, Barnabas looks at her that same way.

He looks at the living, pulsing throat, longingly. He brushes the hair back, almost tenderly. then opens his mouth ferociously.

It's that sudden change from tender longing to ferocious attack that's so erotic. (Lara Parker was probably sorry she never had a scene like that with Jonathan Frid, so she had to write terrible novels imagining it.) (Though there is one erotic scene between Barnabas & Angelique that was never shown, just obliquely referred to, but I imagined it as vividly as if I had seen it, the young gentleman and heir to the estate and the voodoo savvy maid of his fiance's aunt, who imagined that it meant something to him and wrought terrible revenge when it turned out it didn't.)