Give me back my ticket money, you damned dirty apes!

Things I loved about Rise of The Planet of the Apes:

1. Andy Serkis - the man is the Laurence Oliver of motion capture. He invests humanity into every character he's asked to bring to life. Which is more than I can say for James Franco in this movie.

2. The CGI effects. The apes are beautiful and realistic. If only that effort had gone into the dialogue.

3. The set-up.  A great approach explaining how the apes got so smart, so fast.

4. John Lithgow - A wonderful performance.

5. Caesar's face. They gave that chimp Roddy McDowall's Planet of the Apes face - only more animated.

6. Nods to the classic films. Plenty of them. The most enjoyable part of the movie is looking for them and there was one that (although I saw it coming ten miles away) made me hoot and holler.


What I hated:

1. The dialogue was stilted and hard to sit through. Unworthy of the caliber of the cast. It's as if the director gave them the same direction George Lucas did the cast of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - "Act like a block of wood! More wooden! More wooden!" Convey emotion by shouting! Shout! Shout!

2. The cardboard villains. If you've got good actors to play your bad guys, why waste them? The antagonists are unnecessarily one-dimensional.  What a waste of David Hewlett, Tom Felton &David Oyelowo.

3. The evil drug company plot. It's been done and it's cartoonish in this movie. I'm not even sure why it's necessary as the experiment could have gone wrong either way. I find Hollywood's holier-than-thou attitude towards other forms of big business hypocritical. Apparently showbiz is the only biz that should be for profit. Despite that fact that they've never developed a life-saving drug or put a gallon of fuel in a vehicle.

4. James Franco. I know the man can act, I've seen it. But not in this movie.

5. The complete lack of a sense of humor. It's just not any damn fun.

All I can say (paraphrasing Tom Felton in one of the movie's few flashes of humor) is "Give me back my ticket money, you damned dirty apes!

On the other hand, my husband LOVED this movie. His effusive praise will be posted shortly.

Captain America, @#$% Yeah!

Chris Evans stars in the new film Captain America: The First Avenger as scrawny Steve Rogers, who just wants to do his part in World War II against the bullies of the world. Evans takes to the role of Captain America as if he was born for it. The origin story plays out as it should and is a fair adaptation of what comic book readers for decades know and expect to see as the origin of the iconic Super-Soldier and Patriot.

Hugo Weaving (of Lord Of the Rings fame) is terrific as Johann Schmidt, the evil Red Skull, head of the Nazi super science division, Hydra, and Cap's arch-nemesis. He has outgrown Hitler and schemes to rule the world alone.

Tommy Lee Jones is great as Col Chester Philips who works to turn a scrawny kid from Brooklyn into a good soldier. Hayley Atwell (awesome in the Pillars of the Earth miniseries, about the 12th-Century building of a cathedral) plays Agent Peggy Carter, Cap's love interest, a gun-toting dame working to make the Super Soldier a reality.

Marvel is pulling together a great continuity in its films and Captain America: The First Avenger gives us some great geek-tastic moments. Howard Stark (Tony "Iron Man" Stark's father) appears with his prototype anti-gravity car. Can a floating SHIELD Helicarrier be far off in future Marvel films? I think not.

Several of Sgt. Fury's Howling Commandos and old pal James “Bucky” Barnes show up in great dramatic moments and are a nice introduction to these classic Marvel characters.

In the background of one scene I gleefully found the Synthetic Man, AKA Toro, Marvel's 1940's Human Torch, who in the old-school comics often teamed-up with Namor the Sub-Mariner, and is a nod to Evans previous role as the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four films. The original Human Torch is also a precursor to one of the Avenger's most feared villains Ultron.

Captain America’s return to the present, also a mainstay of comics lore was well-handled and fun, setting the stage for good things to come in future Marvel films.

I grew up with Captain America cartoons from the ‘60s playing on TV after school daily with other Marvel cartoons starring The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Namor, and of course Spider-Man. I am one of the few people out there who fondly remember the short-lived '70s CBS Captain America TV series starring Reb Brown as Captain America. We also grew up with a live action Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, and Wonder Woman TV series too.

The first modern Captain America Film for the big screen (1990 – look it up), not counting movie serials from the 40’s and ‘50s, just sucked, and if you ever have the misfortune to see it, please do see it, for it will reinforce how GREAT the new Captain America film really is.

Oh, and stay through the entirety of the end credits, you won't be disappointed.

Next Summer, The Avengers Assemble! Can't wait!

In conclusion, enjoy this blast from the past:

Link-a-palooza - Doctor Who Fall Season Trailer and more!

Here's a round-up some fun links that should would a nerd's heart. Up first, the fabulous Cake Wrecks offers up some non-wrecked Harry Potter Cakes. Dig the flaming Hogwarts. I'm something of a baker and I could probably pull that off in about 100 years.

Then we have this video of everyone from Greg Gruenenberg to Jorge Garcia auditioning for the part of Peter Bishop on Fringe. Wait until you get to the last one. Is it a sign of things to come on season 4?



And this tasty bit of Whovian awesomeness. The trailer for the Fall 2011 season:



Let's see: Hitler, weeping angels, a minotaur, what appears to be Charlie McCarthy plus River Song with an eyepatch? And no, we haven't figured that one out yet. Or have we?


The folks at Comics Alliance visited a protest at Comic-Con against the reboot of DC Titles. Looks like they were the only ones who showed up. Not that I blame the haters. Lois Lane with a new boyfriend? Say it ain't so. I'll just have to watch the last scene of Smallville over and over to feel better.

Entertainment Weekly sat down with George R.R. Martin to talk about some of the strong reactions to the plot twists in A Dance with Dragons. This is chocked full of spoilers, so if you haven't read the book, you probably shouldn't read this article. You'll hate yourself afterwards.

Just saw Flight Day 12 Highlights: Atlantis undocking from ISS

In the view of the Space Station from Atlantis as Atlantis moved away the commentary from Mission Control described other ships currently docked with ISS, apparently at the same time as Atlantis was docked there.

There were 2 Russian Soyuz ships, the one that brought Mike Fossum, one of this mission's space walkers, and one that had brought Ron Garon, the other space walker,  and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. Each of them also brought some Russian astronauts. I think there might have been another ship too, I'm not sure. One of the docked ships had also brought supplies.

Suddenly looking at the cylindrical shape with all the solar panel arrays and the docked ships sticking out, it was a vision straight out of Deep Space Nine, or maybe Babylon 5, of a busy space station, a functioning spaceport. It's real. It's here now. It's not just science fiction anymore!

Wow!

Why Harry Potter 7 part 2 left a big fan feeling let down: A review by Maria

Warning: SPOILERS ABOUND!  So don't read unless you know how it all ends and want to know how the movie differs from the book. Again - SPOILERS!  We sent our magical contributor Maria to a midnight show (and by we sent, I mean she paid her own way) and here's why she's not too happy.



I saw the midnight show of Harry Potter 7 Part Two. I go to the midnight Harry Potter shows more for the experience than for anything else. You are amongst the biggest fans at midnight. It will be the most fun. I was not disappointed with the pre movie 'experience'. There were all kinds of people dressed up. There were Deatheaters and Hogwarts students, people with Harry Potter Snuggies on. I had my 'Muggle' shirt on. I felt underdressed. I should have gone all out Bellatrix LaStrange. Even the Chick fil A cow was dressed as a Weasley!

There was a feeling, from the beginning that the movie just started out of nowhere. It would have made good sense to show parts 1 and 2 together. From the beginning of the movie, I was disappointed. The film moved so quickly, I felt like hitting pause and rewinding because I thought for sure I missed some things. After the second viewing, I felt the same way because too many important things were missing.

The first major disturbing part of the movie was the break in at Gringots. Hermione as Bellatrix was played wrong. While Hermione took a minute or two to get the hang of being Bellatrix in the book she got it by the time they got to the bank. It's ridiculous to think she can't walk in heels and wobbled through the lobby. We shouldn't have been sure they were made right away. It took a minute or two in the book. Hermione HAD Bellatrix's wand. Why was she arguing that she didn't have to show it? Her having it was the giveaway in the book since it got around she lost it. The Imperious Curse, overplayed by the goblin at the desk.

I can't understand why Gringots had to be a bloodbath. Griphook got away in the book, why kill him? It insults the movie goer to assume they can't understand magic. Griphook took off with the sword, the sword appears from the hat to Neville later. We understand magic. We're ok with it happening that way. Why change it?!

The dragon escape from Gringots was well done. I found it very odd that when Harry, Ron and Hermione got back on land after escaping the dragon, Hermione puts something on all of their hands quickly, they don't talk about it, and they put clothes on without doing any spell to dry themselves, which they all know at this point. I'm guessing it was Essence of Murtlap or something like that but why did they need it? Rough dragon ride or the fact that in Bellatrix's vault, they got burnt by the reproducing gold? We don't know, they didn't mention that it multiplied AND burned.

The landing in Hogsmead, setting off the caterwalling charm was lame. Why would they be apparating all over the place without using the cloak? I know it might be a little more work but it just makes them look stupid that they wouldn't use the cloak. It was significant that the deatheaters tried to summom the cloak and it didn't go. Why is there no mention that Harry's cloak is one of the Hallows?

The scene with Abberforth was rushed and didn't give the info we needed to understand Dumbledore. This was another big disappointment. We needed to hear his story and Arianna's. Abberforth's rant made Dumbledore sound like a jerk and it left a bad taste in my mouth. The mirror that he got from Dung was done wrong. It has a piece missing and it matched what Harry was carrying. That's not how the mirrors worked. Harry and Sirius EACH had a mirror. Harry broke his mirror, throwing it into his trunk. Sirius' mirror should have been intact. If Abberforth got Sirius' mirror, it would not match the piece that Harry carried, stupid mistake.

The fight in Hogwarts, while grand and interesting moved too quickly. I dislike in movies when the scene switches at an almost manic pace and you can't catch anything going on, especially when it's dark. The room of requirement scene also didn't do anything for me. The big thing in the book was that Harry came to Hogwarts to find the Horcrux and they all think he's come to fight. A scene I waited for and was sorely disappointed I didn't see was Percy reuniting with his family and redeeming himself. We needed that time with the Weasleys, especially with Fred and George. The death scene was completely botched. Fred, George and Percy were fighting together. Hedwig got a better death scene. I think Collin Creevey deserved some mourning as well.

The gathering in the Great Hall (which looked tiny to me and took me until the second viewing to realize where it was supposed to be) was so odd. Why were the kids that were living in the room or requirement in that gathering? None of them would have been there as they were hiding in the room of requirement no longer actively participating in school. I just don't get why they did it that way. The books are well written. The story is epic. Why change it? WHY CHANGE IT?!!!

I feel we should have seen the Order and the students fighting more. It was too much of the Deatheaters moving forward. I also want to know where the numbers that Voldemort had came from. It looked like thousands of witches and wizards. The good side got lots of reinforcements. Where were they? Why waste time on the scene blowing up the bridge, also not in the book?

Harry did a lot of running around in the castle looking for the Horcrux and then Hermione and Ron showed up with the Basilisk fangs in the book. They don't tell Harry they are going to go look for them. They also don't kiss there. Hermione jumps Ron and kisses him after he says they need to go get the House Elves and tell them to leave and save themselves. That's important. Hermione was all about S.P.E.W. and treating the elves right. She was moved by Ron's caring. That's a reason to kiss. Harry and Ginny never get to have a good kiss. What's up with that?!

The next scene in the room of requirement should have had Crabbe and Goyle with Malfoy trying to stop Harry. The Fiend Fire destroys the room and the Horcrux. Why change it? Why is Blaze Sabini in there? It's always been Crabbe and Goyle at Malfoy’s side. Why stab the cup with the Basilisk fang? It's already destroyed from the fire in the book. I don't see why they needed to stray so much from the book unnecessarily.

The trip to the boathouse (as opposed to the Shrieking Shack in the book) was a surprise also. Why do they want us to feel sorry for Snape before he dies? In the book, he's still a jerk to Harry as he's dying. His thoughts leaking out as 'tears' for Harry to view in the pensieve was another strange variation. In the book, they come out of his wounds. He insults Harry and conjures up his own vial to put it in. In the book he just tells Harry to look at him, he doesn’t say anything about his ‘mother’s eyes.’ I also feel that weakening Voldemort with each Horcrux that is destroyed, while kind of interesting, didn’t follow the book. I think seeing him weakened was to get him sympathy, like Snape. We don’t want to feel sorry for that jerk. He was evil and needed to go.

When Harry watched Snape’s memories in the pensieve, it was well done. While I’d have liked to have seen it longer, the way they filmed it and presented it was good. Where were the portraits of the headmasters in the office?

When Harry goes to the Forbidden Forrest, I’d say that was probably the best of the adaptations of the book in the movie. They cut out what they needed to and showed what they needed to. The scene in Kings Cross was quite brief and again we missed a lot of Dumbledore’s story. Dumbledore is important to HP book readers. We love him.

I think the way they did the scene when Harry is carried to Hogwarts was another well done adaptation. I think they should have had the big fight all together in the Great Hall like in the book. Voldemort chasing Harry all over the castle, unnecessary. Neville kills Naginy right there in front of everyone and the fight breaks out again in the book. Everyone needed to hear and see it. Harry should have told Voldemort the whole progression of the Elder Wand. He needed to know it all before he died, not just ‘maybe Professor (it wasn’t lost on me that after seeing Snape’s memories, Harry used his title when speaking of him, as he was regularly corrected when he called him ‘Snape’ in Dumbledore’s presence) Snape wasn’t the master’.

I’d have liked to have seen an epic battle in the Great Hall, where it belonged. When Harry walked outside with Ron and Hermione he snaps the Elder Wand in half. I just thought ‘What the HELL!’ Harry mourned the loss of his wand. He used the Elder Wand in the book to fix his wand and then puts it back in Dumbledore’s crypt. Why change that?!!! I’m sorry but Harry loved that wand. He kept that wand. Why not do that like it is in the book? It would not take a lot of extra time.

I saw some comments online about Harry talking to Lupin (after using the Resurrection Stone) about his son, yet nowhere is his having a son mentioned in the movies. How does Harry know he has a son?

My last big disappointment came in the form of a line that Ron says in the 19 years later portion of the book, but not the movie. One of the kids mentions that everyone is staring at them in the book. (In the movie, no one is staring at them.) Ron tells them not to worry, ‘I’m really famous’ and the kids giggle at him. It was a sweet line and Ron deserved that laugh.

All in all, I can’t get over the complete lack of continuity in HP 7 part 2. I feel violated. I hope the movie reviews reflect the disappointment of the hardcore Harry Potter fans who have read the books and expected better. Shame on you David Yates and especially Steve Kloves.

Freaky Friday Videos

FOX launches the Fringe season 4 campaign by asking "Where is Peter Bishop?"




Meet Lisa, the Mom who wants to teach you how to Potter:




Rap on Potter Mom, Rap on....




Bill Pullman talks about a real change-of-pace role as a muderous pedophile in Torchwood: Miracle Day:




Unbelievable both Doctor Who and Tesla coils are made even cooler by this video:



The Ultimate Villain Tribute by Tim Dunn:






And finally: a special preview of J.J. Abrams next masterpiece:

Rifftrax Live returns; & why you need to see it!

Those who can make movies, do. And those who can make movies, but not make them very good, can expect to end up getting the Rifftrax treatment. And this is why you should care.

First, the back story. The elder readers among us are probably be aware of a strange, funny program called Mystery Science Theater 3000 that started in the late '80s. Also known as MST3K, this was a TV show that took full-length movies of varying degrees of dreadfulness and added the one ingredient they needed to make them watchable: snark. Barely visible at the bottom of the screen were three silhouetted figures: a human host and his two robot companions who, in order to save their sanity, talked back to the movie. (Joel, and later Mike, and their 'bots Tom and Crow, were forced by a mad scientist to watch terrible the absolute dregs of cinema, like "The Creeping Terror" and "Manos: The Hands of Fate" because...you know, never mind why they watched the movies. Just go to the library or your mom's dusty DVD collection and grab a copy and watch.) The show was a scream...Joel or Mike and the 'bots picked on continuity errors, bad writing, and the general incompetence of the filmmakers, with plenty of accessible pop culture riffs, obscure references and other funny stuff tossed for extra laughs.

But as good as the show was, it's been over for more than a decade. Mediocre directors like Michael Bay might have felt some relief that their "Armageddons" and "Pearl Harbors" were exempt from the drubbing they would have gotten at the hands of Mike, Crow and Tom Servo. However, you can't keep a good idea down, so three of the actors from MST3K reconvened and formed an outfit called Rifftrax, which was no longer beholden to networks like Comedy Central and Sci-Fi (which aired Mystery Science Theater) for broadcast time. They also no longer had to worry about prima donna auteurs like Sandy Frank (of the Gamera series) withholding the rights to their masterpieces to revenge their hurt feelings. The Rifftrax formula consists of an audio track you download to your computer, which you play along to your DVD of "Twilight" or whatever. Hilarity ensues. There are tons of titles available on the website, and they are dirt cheap. For a few dollars more, there are also some movies you can download (Birdemic!) with the snark already included for your convenience. Check it out and sample some movie-riffing glory at Rifftrax.com. 

But there's more, and here we get to the point of the post: the good folks at Rifftrax, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, have put together a few live shows, where they skewer a movie in front of a lucky audience in some theater and the whole hysterical thing is broadcast live to theaters across our great nation. For the price of a regular movie (which could be really crappy, for all you know) you could watch a live Rifftrax event. In the past, the boys have eviscerated such gems as Plan 9 from Outer Space, Reefer Madness and House on Haunted Hill. They have special guests like Weird Al and Jonathan Coulton and some fun short films as well. All the while, they are onstage, mics in hand, dropping funny remarks left and right. One recent extremely wrong Christmas-themed short (see here: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to pass out. Every time I have gone to one of these, I have been rewarded with more belly-laughs per minute than any other entertainment experience I have ever encountered. Even the slides before the show starts are funny.

Funny thing, though. Each time I have been to one, the theater was nearly empty. No more than a dozen people were enjoying this premium comedy experience. I don't know how much longer the Rave folks will make this available if only a dozen people are partaking of it. So be in the audience this August 17th when the guys turn their best riffs on "Jack the Giant Killer." The show takes place at the Rave 14 at Fallen Timbers. Get a group of your friends and go. Laugh, a lot. You will enjoy yourself, I guarantee it. You may even find yourself downloading the Rifftrax version of "Armageddon" (it's therapeutic) or raiding someone's MST3K collection. Because bad movies will always be with us; Rifftrax just shows us we can fight back, and have fun doing it.

Harry Potter Week begins:

To celebrate the end of an era, we'll be having a whole lot of Potter posts this week. What I'd like to know from our younger contributors is how it feels to have something that's been around for as long as you can remember come to a conclusion. I will tell you that you are lucky to have your beloved childhood books so carefully and successfully interpreted for the screen. I look forward to hearing your reactions to the movie and your experiences at the midnight showings.  First up: Heartfelt speeches by J.K. Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Gint and Emma Watson at the London premiere.

The Best Movie You've Never Seen : Robot Carnival

Robot Carnival is a beautiful 1991 anthology of anime shorts each by a different Japanese director. There is very little dialgoue, only beautiful images and the music of the late 1980s/early 1990s. Sadly, you probably haven't seen it. The movie has never been released in the United States on DVD and you can only find it now on incredibly expensive VHS copies or pricey DVD imports from Japan. Speculation has been that the difficulty of coordinating rights between different directors and all of the varied music rights have made a United States DVD difficult. But due to the magic of You Tube, I can show you some parts of this wonderful movie. Until someone objects and takes them down.

Up First: The Opening directed by Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo



Not that should put you in the mood for a carnival. The second segment is Franken's Gears by  about a scientist trying to bring a robot to life directed by  Koji Morimoto



The third segment is the truly scary Deprive by Hidetoshi Omori



The fourth segment Presence: Directed by Yasuomi Umetsu is a haunting tale of a very lonely man with a great love for a robot.









Then the story takes a turn for the charming and upbeat with this perfect little slice of the 1980s (even if it was a 1991 movie ) called Star Light Angel: Directed by Hiroyuki Kitazume .  It always makes me smile to watch.



The entire history of the universe and the rise and fall of man is depicted in Cloud: Directed by Mao Lamdo.



A Tale of Two Robots -- Chapter 3: Foreign Invasion: Directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo is a bit of a steampunk/western/giant robot / slapstick comedy type of things. Probably my least favorite segment. I often do not get Japanese humor even though I love their cinema.






Nightmare: Directed by Takashi Nakamura proves that the machines are not out friends. I mean, we all know this is what they are secretly up to.





Ending: Directed by Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo is pretty much self-explanatory. But lovely to watch. I have dream about this landscape.



Now if they would only kindly put this out in a deluxe Blu-Ray edition that I could spend $80 on, I would be thrilled.  I'm not going in-depth about every segment to tell you what you're seeing. I'd like you to watch and tell me what you see.

Enter the Ninth Doctor!

Alright, so here comes my first of six reviews for the new decade's Doctor Who series! Now, I am going to refer to these as seasons 1-6, though I do know there were thirty years of Doctor Who before this, it's just easier to refer to them as such, for convenience's sake.

Okay, I will give a short description of each episode in this season, but first off I will give a "beginner's guide" to Doctor Who, since this is the first season for many people, especially in this generation. It was the first season I saw when I was 14, and I had lots of questions to ask my mom as she, my brother and I watched the series. Questions such as, "Who's that?" "What's that blue box?" "How is it bigger on the inside?" "Why does that alien have a plunger for a hand?" were asked often. A lot of these questions were asked by character in the show. But, for those of you who are rookie time travellers, I will give the lowdown on the basics of the Christopher Eccleston Whoniverse!

First off, obviously, is the Ninth Doctor himself, played by English actor Christopher Eccleston in the first season


The Doctor is his name, just the Doctor. It was a title given to him by his race, the Time Lords. Time Lords were an ancient race from the planet Gallifrey. They can live to be over 1000 years old, and can cheat death through a process called Regeneration (when a Time Lord regenerates, all the cells in their body die and are replaced by completely new ones). The Doctor is the last surviving Time Lord; his race being exterminated during the Time War, which happened prior to the first episode of the season. He has been travelling alone, last of his kind, for a very long time, popping around time and space until he stumbles into saving the life of...

Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper


Rose, 19, was a shop worker in London, living with her mother, Jackie Tyler, and dating her boyfriend, Mickey Smith. She was saved by the Doctor from animated plastic mannequins, and after saving the Doctor from falling into a pit of molten plastic, she was hooked on time travel and joined him in his adventures.

Now that you know the two main characters of this season, now it's time to get you all familiar with the Doctor's trusty Time Lord technology!

First of all, of course, is the Doctor's trademark blue box of a time machine, the TARDIS!



The TARDIS, or Time And Relative Dimension In Space, is the Doctor's means of traveling in time and space. It is a Time Lord ship that he stole from them a long while back. Ever since the first episode of the original series in the 1960's, the ever-sturdy "police box" has taken the Doctor anywhere and anywhen he wants to go, and probably even more that he doesn't want to go. The Doctor accidentally fried it's Chameleon Circuit, making it stay stuck looking like a police telephone box from the 1950's. It is supposed to be piloted by 6-7 Time Lords, which is the main reason there is so much crashing and misguided coordinates. But hey, without that there wouldn't be a very interesting plot, would there?

Next up is his favorite tool, the ever trusty Sonic Screwdriver!



This pencil-sized device is the Doctor's tool of the trade. It can unlock or lock any door, manipulate technology, perform medical scans, fix barbed wire, and tweak and fix things like the TARDIS. It has thousands of settings, and can do almost anything the Doctor needs it to do. Oh, except wood. It doesn't do wood.

The final bit of Time Lord swag the Doctor uses in a pinch is his Psychic Paper!



This clever item that the Doctor carries around looks blank to anyone traveling with the Doctor and anyone with psychic training or an exceptionally strong mind. However, to anyone else the Doctor encounters, it will show them exactly what he wants them to see. Whether he needs to be a chimney sweep or a guest to view the end of the world, to most people it will give the Doctor the credentials he needs to sleuth around.

Okay, now that you are acquainted with the Doctor, his companion, and his accoutrements, now on to give a quick description of each episode in the first season with as little spoilers as possible! See you next time!

Meme Monday!

Every week from now on I will be hosting "Meme Monday." Each month will be focused on a different meme, and every Monday I will put up pictures and some info about said meme.

Now, you may just be wondering: "What in the world is a meme?!" I will tell you. A meme (pronounced meem) is any characteristic of a culture that can be transmitted from one generation to the next in a way similar to the transmission of genetic information. In other words: it's a picture containing hilarious captions that gets passed around on the internet.

This month's meme is "They Told Me I Could Be Anything I Wanted" (sometimes known as "They Said I Could Be Anything"). TTMICBAIW (geez that's long, even for an acronym) is a parody of the PTSD Clarinet Boy*, a different meme based on a teenage boy's awkward high school photo. The phrase typically goes along the lines of, "They told me I could be anything I wanted, so I became X." Here is the original TTMICBAIW:

Well, that's all for now. See you next Monday! :D

*For more info on PTSD Clarinet Boy, click here: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ptsd-clarinet-boy

Weekly Geek Review Schedule!

So, since I am a Geek of all trades, I will be reviewing many different geek media throughout the weeks to come. The schedule will go as follows:

Monday: Sci-Fi!
Tuesday: Video Games
Wednesday: Books
Thursday: Comics!
Friday: Movies/TV
Saturday: Anime
Sunday: Random Requests!

Now that I have the line-up, please feel free to offer geeky things to review in any of those topics! Remember Sunday can be anything geeky at all, so ask away! I already have a few weeks of material lined up, so watch out! It's gonna get geeky in here :P

I Still Enjoy Playing Dungeons And Dragons.

I still enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons.

The first time I played, I was in high school. A friend of mine told me about this cool new game he played with his older brothers with maps and mazes on graph paper, multi-sided dice, monsters, mayhem, playbooks and monster figures. He brought his Players Handbook into school and, over lunch, we rolled up a few character sheets. A few campaigns later I knew I was hooked.

Unlike our Atari Video games, gaining popularity and market share at the time, D and D was enjoyed by a smallish subculture. We enjoyed being able to stretch our imaginations and have the fate of our characters and campaigns decided by the fickle roll of the dice.

Through the years it has been my privelege to play many D and D games with a great bunch of friends. It was fun to help teach my friends kids the value of a good sword or a purple potion.

I've never been much of a dungeon master, so I've always preferred to let others lead our games.

We always have a good time over a pizza or some subs.

This video reminded me of all those good times. I hope you like it too.

Single and Ready to Mingle...WITH CATS.

Meet Debbie, your average online dating contestant. She graduated at Villanova, likes the occasional leisurely run, and has a burning passion for cats. Don't believe me? Take a look:




I am allergic to cats, therefore I have never been too fond of them. But, considering the popularity of cats on the internet, I'd say this girl's a winner (DUH!). And don't you dare test her love for the feline race; she might just cough up a hairball on you.

This video has been all over Youtube, getting almost 12 million views in a week. Auto-tune The News (a Youtube channel who does what their name suggests) made a remixed version of the video:





Ladies and gentlemen, I think we found our next Animal Hoarders star.

My Summer With The Doctor.

Did I ever tell you about the summer I spent with The Doctor?

Back in 1987 when my best pal Bet and I went travelling through time, space and relative dimension?

Along with Tegan Jovanka, a very lovely gal from from Austrailia who worked as a flight attendant.

And the ever faithful K-9. What a great robot dog.

Sometimes the controls were a little hard to understand.

But eventually you figure it all out.

And just learn to enjoy space in your cool 1980s clothes.

Sure - there were scary parts. Nobody likes Cybermen

And who wants to meet a Dalek? Exterminate, exterminate...blah blah blah.

Still, Time in the TARDIS is time well spent.  I wish The Doctor were in the photos, but he was taking them all with his sonic screwdriver. That thing makes an iPhone look like a tin can with a string.

Torchwood Miracle Day Episode 1

Torchwood: Miracle Day, now a BBC and Starz co-production, airing on the Starz cable network, has begun with a bang. When no one on Earth can die, what are the repercussions? (Note: some spoiler moments are included in my review , so be warned…)

Torchwood as viewers previously knew it (or didn’t if you haven’t seen previous seasons – check them out now, really, NOW) is defunct. Gwen Cooper, her hubby Rhys, and baby are hiding out in Wales. She and Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood’s resident immortal hero, are all that remain of the former Torchwood Institute, set up in 1879 to defend the U.K. from the strange and alien.

As the story begins, everyone everywhere stops dying. Those who are injured cannot die, including American CIA agent Rex Matheson, injured in a car accident, and Gwen’s father, who suffers an off-screen heart attack, and death-row murderer and lethal injection survivor Oswald Dane. As Matheson seeks answers to his predicament he picks up on investigating the mysterious Torchwood which he feels in somehow connected.

Matheson ‘jumps the pond’, as He, Jack, and Gwen all collide in a great “getting the band back together” moment. As unknown forces attack them all, Gwen, like a mother protecting her cub, faces down a helicopter with a handgun, then a bazooka!   Awesomeness ensues!

With the advent of Miracle Day, and with no one else able to die, Jack has seemingly lost his immortality and his ability to heal!

What happens to those who are severely injured as time progresses?

The population keeps expanding, daily to unsustainable numbers. Food will run out, Society will collapse.

How will the remains of Torchwood fix everything, and what caused Miracle Day in the first place.

I’ll be watching to find out. Maybe you’d enjoy it too.

Who we are.

Where these circles intersect is where we gather to watch marathons and re-read the same book 1,000 times. We are mostly harmless.

Hi, Hello!

Hi everybody! My name's Kelsey, but on here I will be called by my nickname, Kelsi (that's kell-sigh). I will be putting up reviews of books, music, video games, TV shows, movies, and just whatever I think should be mentioned on this blog.

My first review, of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, should be up around Friday, as I am going to the local midnight premiere (in 3D!) with my cousins. CAN'T. WAIT.

~Kelsi

The Resident Geek!

Okay, I have been invited to provide the "geek" side of How Many Geeks, so I have graciously accepted this invitation and will try to provide fun and intriguing features! I'm tossing ideas in my head, but most of it will involve all of the most recent geek movies (reviews!), sci-fi shows, books, and video games. Feel free to offer any suggestions on geeky stuff to watch, play, read, and review! Thanks and enjoy How Many Geeks!

Sincerely,

-Cam

Do you like Star Trek?

"Do you like Star Trek?"
Those were the first words I spoke to my future husband back in 1987. There could not have been a better pick-up line. I don't think, "Wanna get naked?" could have gone over any better. We'd crossed paths before in college classes. He remembers me as the girl who wouldn't stop asking questions in class. That does sound about right. What brought us together was Darlene Schute using both of us as actors in her class project for TV Production 201. Tim played a geek that I had the misfortune to date. He wore his own pocket protector and Coke-bottle glasses for that role. After we finished the shoot, I was done in the edit suite area of West Hall where students worked on video projects. Tim was copying a VHS episode of the Star Trek : The Next Generation pilot "Encounter at Far Point."

I said. "Do you like Star Trek? I love Star Trek."

And we went on to have a conversation about Max Headroom

The CBS TV show Beauty & The Beast with Ron Perlman and pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton

And the little-know 1970s cartoon show "The Funky Phantom."

I went home and told my college roommate and best friend since age 5 that I was going to marry the guy I was in the video with.
 She said, "You're going to marry Darlene's geek?"
Of course he was no longer Darlene's geek, but mine.
I said. "Yep. He's the only guy I ever met that I liked more AFTER he started talking."
She said. "No way."
I said, "Bet you five bucks."

Here I am on the day I collected on that bet.

I rubbed it in by making her wear a peach satin dress with a big bow on the butt. 

The groomsmen got Star Trek Communicator badges as gifts. I won't say which one is the groom because he prefers not to be identified in photos. (But think: Red Shirt) 

And we lived geekily ever after.