SDCC 2015!

My Wife and Me at the San Diego Convention Center

Greetings my fellow 80s-philes! 

For the next week, I'm in San Diego for that great geek Mecca known as the San Diego International Comic-Con (SDCC for short)! You'll catch some of my photos and musings on Twitter (@brainwise), but there might also be posts at the nerdy blog I now co-author with my wife, Dangrdafne: BookendedByCats.com. If you'd like to keep up on the comic booky (and other entertainment) goodness, go give our fledgling blog a try! 

Happy Towel Day 2012!

My Photo from Towel Day 2010

Woolly Krackers! Yet another Towel Day has come upon us!

May 25 is Towel Day, an annual celebration of the life and work of Douglas Adams, the man behind H2G2 (among other stories). You can get great background on the day and the man at http://towelday.org/ or scifimafia.com. Then surf over to asitecalledfred.com to read a lovely compilation of tributes. By the by, today is also Geek Pride Day (in honor of the first Star Wars film, which was released on this day in 1977. Wired's GeekDad reviews the results of the latest Geek Pride Day Survey. It's two years old, but the Daily Caller's summary of the basic rights and responsibilities of geekdom (May 2010) is a good read as well. And, in the best spirit of geeky mashups, ThinkGeek is having a fun photo contest with cool geeky prizes.

May 25 is also, strangely enough, World Tarot Day. My guess is that Douglas Adams would be somewhat amused with this intersection of superstition and intellect. But, hey, I know many geeks who also dig the tarot in one form or another. How about the Lovecraft Tarot, dedicated to the horror writing of H.P. Lovecraft, or the Vertigo Tarot, a limited edition deck with images celebrating the characters of DC Comics' Vertigo line, hmmm?

So, my hoopy froods, don't panic and always keep your towel handy. Who knows, maybe the Force will be with you as well. (If you're not sure about that, just find your friendly local occultist for a tarot card reading).

Oh, and because Towel Day falls on a Friday this year, you have the added benefit of a Friday 80s Flashback!

Happy Towel Day 2010!

It seems somehow fitting that my next post after writing Forty-Two is for Towel Day. May 25 is Towel Day, an annual celebration of the life and work of Douglas Adams, the man behind H2G2 (among other stories). You can get great background on the day and the man at http://towelday.org/ or scifimafia.com. Then surf over to asitecalledfred.com to read a lovely compilation of tributes. I should also point out that ThinkGeek is having a fun photo contest with cool geeky prizes -- just tweet a photo of yourself, with the #towelday tag, to @thinkgeek. By the by, today is also Geek Pride Day (in honor of the first Star Wars film, which was released on this day in 1977. The Daily Caller sums up the basic rights and responsibilities of geekdom. It's not the only place you'll find the writeup, but I happen to like their title for it. So, my hoopy froods, don't panic and always keep your towel handy. Who knows, maybe the Force will be with you as well.

Recent "Theater Lackey" Updates

Here are the latest posts over at my theater blog, Confessions of a Serial Theater Lacky

• A Couple of Quick Updates: The Award of Excellence and my preliminary notes about tech for "Over the Tavern" -- the first production of the 2009 season.
• TAVERN Review: A great review posted in the Philadelphia Inquirer!
• OVER THE TAVERN Song List: The complete list of songs used in the sound design.

The Twilight Zone

Delanceyplace is a free service that provides a daily email with an excerpt or quote they consider interesting or noteworthy. There is no theme other than the fact that most excerpts come from a non-fiction work (usually, but not always, works of history). Today's excerpt is about one of my favorite TV series: The Twilight Zone. And it gives a nice bit of background on host, Rod Serling, and The Twilight Zone's place in American history. Read on:

In today's excerpt-Rod Serling (1924-1975), his groundbreaking anthology science fiction TV series The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), and the unfamiliar and uneasy loneliness of the suburbs: "During the postwar years, average Americans in ever greater numbers deserted small towns and big cities to embrace the emergent concept of suburbia. Rod and [his wife] Carol Serling made that move, following commercial success, to a notably upscale aspect of the new American paradigm. But like so many other young adults of the 1950s, Serling experienced an uneasy sense of dislocation. "Something essential, however hard to define, had been lost en route; some aspect of innocence, perhaps, that at least to a romantic imagination, once existed in our towns. Each such place had been unique, organically created over decades, taking on a shape and style all its own. Suburbia, in comparison, was defined by Pulitzer-prize winning author David Halberstam as 'the new social contract according to Bill Levitt.' Reacting to rampant blandness, residents began to yearn for the good old days, if less the reality of a bygone lifestyle than what Richard Schickel called 'an imagined past.' Our growing hunger for this mythic America shortly informed 'much of the new popular culture.' What would eventually come to be called The Nostalgia Craze would prove essential to The Twilight Zone from its earliest episodes. ... "On [this dislocation, the myth of normalcy, the dehumanizing effects of commercialism, the angst of the nuclear age, and] other subjects, Rod spoke truthfully and fearlessly. One early observer of TV hailed him as the medium's 'angry young man.' The only other contender: Edward R. Murrow, whose interview show followed Zone on Friday nights (1959-1960). What Murrow achieved in CBS's newsroom--integrity!--Serling pulled off at that network' entertainment arm. "Earlier in the decade, Serling and other top talents openly addressed important issues during TV's brief 'golden age.' Colleagues included Reginald Rose (Twelve Angry Men), Paddy Chayefsky (Marty), and J. P. Miller (The Days of Wine and Roses). All turned out smart scripts for 'live' anthologies that dominated TV drama from 1948 to 1955. Then the price of sets lowered and TV became big business for mass entertainment. Serious drama was out; predictable potboilers were in. From that point on, Serling necessarily presented politics and philosophy in a foxier manner. ... "Casting a seductive smile, Serling alone continued to convey on TV what every other serious writer wanted to say but wasn't allowed to. High-profile sponsors now acted as self-appointed censors, making certain that their products were presented in a context that offended no one. So Serling 'said something' by doing so indirectly, dropping confrontational realism for parable. During The Twilight Zone's five-year run (1959-1964), he employed imaginative/allegorical fiction to comment on (and sharply criticize) postwar America. 'On Zone,' Peter Kaplan claimed, 'the nightmare side of American life was opened up,' ... all the more frightening because stories took place close to home rather than in distant Transylvania. ... What initially seemed to be out-of-this-world dreams of darkness reflected a shadow-world existing on the edge of our brightly lit suburbs." Douglas Brode and Carol Serling, Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone, Barricade, Copyright 2009 by Douglas Brode and Carol Serling, pp. 1, xv-xvi.

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Obama: The Unofficial Commemorative Plushie

OK. Today is historic. I get that. And people are excited about it. I get that, too. What I do not get, however, is the vast and diverse array of "commemorative" items that people are shilling for Obama's inauguration as our 44th president. Just perform a Google search on "obama commemorative" and you will see about 868,000 results. If you want to narrow it down to items you can actually purchase (or, rather, items that include the correct metadata to be pooled under shopping results), click Google's shopping link. Still, it's just under 10,000 (I got 9,778 results). But among the plates, cups, coins, and clocks (yes, clocks!), I did not see an official Obama plushie. Not in the top 50 at any rate. Now, it's not that I actually want an Obama plushie. I just became curious after seeing this particular LiveJournal post. Hence my entry's use of "unofficial" in the title. Seems that at least one LJ user is so excited about President Obama, is so enamored of him, that she created her very own tribute in the form of a plushie doll. Oh, and it comes complete with a Blackberry:

Now, I say she created her very own plushie, but it might be more accurate to say that she created "your" very own plushie. And by that, I mean they put it up for auction on eBay. Starting bid: 99 cents. Oh, and before you go looking for that auction, hoping to get your bid in ... the auction is over. It ended on January 18, with 27 bids. High bidder took the plushie for a capitalist-friendly final bid of $91.00.

[Click for larger image]

Remember kids: This is not a toy. It's a piece of hand crafted artwork (It's fanart! It's homemade!). This is not intended for children. Nor is it intended to make a mockery of the office of the President of the United States. Really, it's not.

[Click for larger image]

Khan is Gone

Today we lose another acting legend. Ricardo Montalban died this morning at his home. He was 88. I remember Mr. Montalban's work with fondness. I loved his portrayal of the civilized Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island and the outlaw warrior Khan from the Star Trek series (and the film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). I even watched some Kim Possible episodes simply because he was voicing the villain. I hope someone was there with him in his final moments, possibly letting out an ear-splitting, "Khaaaaaaaaaan!" just to let them know, over on the other side, that an actor with the heart of a warrior was on his way. From Fox News:

Montalban's death was announced at a meeting of the city council by president Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor lived. Garcetti did not give a cause of death.

"The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in my Council District — where the next generations of performers participate in plays, musicals, and concerts — stands as a fitting tribute to this consummate performer," Garcetti said later in a written statement.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479941,00.html

Movie Review | THE DARK KNIGHT

[Cross-posted to my Facebook account] I'm a little late with this (I finally saw the flick on August 2), but I'll throw my few cents worth into the blogosphere. First, you have to know that right after I left the theater, I texted the following to my wife: Movie review = !!!!! Yes, you read that correctly. Five exclamation points. However, over on Facebook, I gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5. How do I reconcile 5 exclamation points with a "mere" 4.5 stars? I will attempt to explain... THE DARK KNIGHT is not a perfect Batman story. For one, it inherits a problem from its predecessor: Rachel Dawes. While Rachel is given a much better portrayal from Maggie Gyllenhaal than Mrs. Tom Cruise could ever evoke, this cannot eliminate the fact that Ms. Dawes has been grafted onto the Batman mythos just to give Bruce Wayne a childhood friend who can double as a potential love interest. Her presence also entices the writers to further the absurd idea that Wayne is somehow caught between his sense of mission and a desire for a normal life. According to all the source material, there is no such conflict in Wayne, at least not at this early stage in his career as The Batman. Another carryover from BATMAN BEGINS --Lucius Fox knowing that Bruce Wayne is the Batman -- is a minor quibble. There have been stories in the source material that imply Fox knew what was going on with Brucie. Besides, an aide who can manage the business while also providing access to high tech goodies is a plus. And it's much cleaner than having to deal with a whole host of experts (as suggested in "The Many Deaths of the Batman" from Batman #433-#435), or having Bruce personally muss with corporate records to hide his Batman purchases and research. Another minor quibble is the Joker's involvement in Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face. In the source material, the Joker and Two-Face were often at odds, but Joker did not help "create" Two-Face. I suppose this compacting is the result of finite time within the movie storyline. After all, in BATMAN BEGINS, we had Henri Ducard doubling as Ra's al Ghul and having a hand in the training/evolution of Batman. In the source materials, we do find Henri Ducard as having a hand in Bruce Wayne's training, but he was not in the employ of (let alone a false identity for) Ra's al Ghul. So, while I originally thought BATMAN BEGIN's collapsing/mixing of characters and storylines was a one-time occurrence, it now seems that Nolan's team has established a trend of mixing character origins for convenience. Now, having said all that, I think the film really works. Minor quibbles aside, this is a well cast, well shot, and extremely well exectuted (no pun intended) production. It seems more real and visceral than any "superhero" or comic book movie to date. Compare the Gotham City of THE DARK KNIGHT with that of BATMAN FOREVER. There *is* no comparison. The Gotham of the former comes off more like NYC in the film WORLD TRADE CENTER while the Gotham of the latter is like an amusement park ride. While THE DARK KNIGHT is a large and loud movie, with its roots in the popcorn blockbuster genre, it has one foot firmly rooted in the tradition of the morality play. Like great art, it entertains but asks uncomfortable questions of us. It has the exhilaration of a thrill ride, but it comes with a serious punch to the gut. "How much of your world is like this?" it seems to ask. "And what, if anything, can you do about it now?" The Dark Knight (2008) Director: Christopher Nolan MPAA: PG-13 Running Time: 2 hrs. 30 min. Release Date: Jul 14, 2008 Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Monique Curnen, Ron Dean, Eric Roberts

Obsessive Fan of the Week (with a Recycling Plug)

Sure, you liked the Transformers movie released in 2007. Maybe you even loved it. Perhaps you purchased various fan-oriented items from the movie. But if you were a true fan, you would recycle your car into a 7-foot statue of Optimus Prime.

But, if you don't have the time, or the car parts, you could purchase this one for a mere $4,838.71 (hey, it's a steal!) from Robot-Models.com.

Worst Jobs in Science

Popular Science Magazine takes a page from Dave Letterman and provides a Top Ten list of the worst jobs in science (bold emphasis added by yours truly):

10. Orangutan-Pee Collector 9. NASA Ballerina 8. Do-Gooder 7. Semen Washer 6. Volcanologist 5. Nuclear-Weapons Scientist 4. Extremophile Excavator 3. Kansas Biology Teacher 2. Manure Inspector 1. Human Lab Rat

According to Popular Science, these are all real jobs. As this was published in the October 2005 issue, I find the inclusion of Kansas Biology Teacher among the entries to be downright ... prescient. Perhaps they knew how this was going to turn out for these poor teachers who are "on the front lines of science's devolution." Do click the link so that you can read the description of each job. Some of them are humorous (for those of us who don't have to do them). But the same distance that makes some of the entries funny actually lends other jobs a more disturbing veneer. Update (8/14/2008): Popular Science moved, or removed, the page with the top ten list. But I found an archived copy via the Wayback Machine.