Benji's Dino Cake!

Update-  I mage this cake for my son for his fourth birthday in hopes of giving him something really memorable.  Final Image, then making of.

This was my original design.

 As I was unsure of how it would turn out, this was my practice run a couple weeks before the party.

 I wasn't terribly happy with it, and the clay dried over time, so, I stripped off the clay and started over.  The spots on the frosting are Airheads candy.

 I wasn't completely happy with the frosting job, but my son was thrilled.

Be Sure to Check out my current blog, The Mike-Kate Video Club, where we review a movie a week!  We're currently counting down Christian Bale Movies for The Dark Knight Rises!

Just in case...

The following has been stolen almost word for word from my friend Kate's site, which you can read here.

Introducing . . . The Mike-Kate Video Club!

My friend Mike and I are starting a video club (Mike's idea). The Mike-Kate Video Club operates like a book club. Participants will discuss 10 videos (one per week) at a time. The videos will be selected by Mike and Kate and will follow a theme. The first set will run over the summer and will tackle the pilot episodes of science-fiction and fantasy shows.

Here is the first post AND a link to the blog (it's new!):

The first list includes mostly science-fiction and fantasy shows. There is one exception—Bones—which, although not a science-fiction show, fits thematically with X-Files. The order of the episodes does follow a thematic arrangement (Whedon's shows together; space opera shows together; British shows together), but the arrangement is somewhat loose.

1. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: "Welcome to the Hellmouth," June 4th
2. Firefly: "Serenity" (the REAL pilot, not the aired pilot), June 11th
3. X-Files: "Pilot," June 18th
4. Bones: "Pilot," June 25th
5. Roswell: "Pilot," July 2nd
6. Supernatural: "Pilot," July 9th
7. Star Trek: Next Generation: "Encounter at Farpoint," July 16th
8. Sarah Jane Adventures: 0-2, July 23rd
9. Red Dwarf: "The End," July 30th
10. New Doctor Who: "Rose," August 6th

Feel free to watch ahead, but please save comments about a pilot for that pilot's "due date." The "due date" indicates when a post will appear for that video. Spoilers are accepted (i.e., you can mention future episodes of Buffy in the Buffy commentary). Bad language and asinine comments ("You're stupid if you don't agree with me") are not; such comments will be removed.

The last instruction is from me. I rarely read comments on other people's blogs because I find the adolescent bad language and idiocy so annoying. Call it censorship if you want, but Mike and I are the moderators, and if we don't like it, it goes (which doesn't mean you can't disagree with us, just you have to disagree intelligently).

http://mikekatevideoclub.blogspot.com/

Addendum: #8 has been changed. As Mike pointed out, Babylon 5 has a movie and then catapults you into the show (like Battlestar Galactica). So we changed #8 to Sarah Jane Adventures, Episodes 0-2.

This should be the only change!

Goodbye to Randomness

When I first started this blog a couple years ago, the idea was to have a place to share my excitement for pop culture. Inspired by a friends website, Votaries of Horror, I was excited to examine, study, and straight up geek out about all things media.

Unfortunately, something went awry in the two years since starting. Life got busy, hard times (and happy times) came and went, and for better or worse, I grew up. Don't get me wrong, I still love comics and movies and TV. I'm still a Geek, a hardcore Whedon fan, and obviously I play too much World of Warcraft, as I haven't been writing as much since I started playing.

During those hard times, I would sometimes write on this blog, and while I still tried to keep with the original spirit I intended, those blogs of frustration began to outnumber the fun posts.

I've realized recently that while I still love all the things I did when I started this blog, I've changed. My life is about different things now. When I started this blog, I was still a recently married college student, working part time at a call center and spending most of my free time at a comic shop.

Today I work as a behavioral therapist, I've been married five years and my son recently had his first birthday. And I got him a Batman cake.

Which brings me to my point. I've decided to close Price of Eggs in China. Truth is it has been in semi-retirement for awhile now. I still hope to post something every now and then. but this will may only be on a monthly basis. It's not that I've run out of things to say, certainly the opposite, it's just that those things I have to say are about a different topic.

As such, I will be starting a new site that I hope to make a weekly blog on Parenting for new fathers, especially new geek fathers. Having gone through a year of the experience myself, I feel it's something I have alot to say about, and it's something I'm excited about. The best part is that it will help focus me on positive topics.

Over the years I've only had a handful of readers, but I hope that if they still tune in, they'll follow me over to the new site. I'm grateful for their love and support over the years, and promise to try to be more diligent with the new site than I was with this one. My plan is that if and when I have something Media related to talk about, which sadly is rare these days, it'll end up here. So, check in, and I'll announce the new blogs over at the new site.

UPDATE-
The new blog lasted about tgwo posts before i realized that someone else had the idea first, and did it better than I ever would. I hope to return to posting on this site soon.

Wow Burnout and my Live Blogging Temptations

So, Once again the time of year has arrived where I begin my burnout phase on World of Warcraft. Spring is here (well, depending on the day) and with my main character fairly leveled up and my last guild broken up (again), I don't have a lot of motivation to play lately. The same thing happened right around this time last year, but it was fortunate because we had a baby about a week later.

Now here I am with nothing on the horizon, and my main form of entertainment gone. And so, once again, I begin reading and watching TV. The funniest thing is what runs through my head when I watch TV, especially the commercials. The last few evenings I've spent some time on the couch and spent the entire time laughing at what's going through my head.

The craziest part is that I'm not writing it down. To the point that I'm tempted to Live blog a standard run of the mill tv night just to share my reaction. I know live blogging is usually saved for big events or shows, but hell, even the normal stuff is pretty outrageous these days. So, any one think it's a good idea?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

It Looks fairly cool, but I've always been wary of films that are adapted from 16 page stories. I loved the book as a kid, I hope this is a fun re-imagining of it. I'm also intrigued by the indy feel of the trailer.... Anyone else seen Juno?

Politcal Posturing and why I hate Fox News

Fox news and Bill O'reilly are the devil. I wish I had a well thought out, detailed and strongly defended argument to present in regards to that, but I don't. Political propaganda annoys me, as does anyone who is pompous enough to believe that there are no other truths in the world besides the jaded information they themselves spout off.

I'm going to be plain here, one, becuase no one reads this damn blog anyway, and secondly, I've been rather fed up with politics and people's attitudes lately in general. So, I'll be honest.

I did NOT vote for Obama.

But I wanted to. I read the man's books, researched his politics, and in the end really liked and respected him, and I felt a lot of the things that people were saying about him were either misunderstood or just plain mean spirited and unfair.

In the end, My wife and I voted Republican because of our feeling on abortion. We're not big fans, and while we're very anti-war (and Obama seemed anti war at the time), we decided that abortion was more of a religious issue, and we decided to vote with our conscience.

It was hard, because I didn't like the McCain that had been appearing on the news for the last two years. He was arrogant, stuck up and in full support of a war that never should have happened.

And so, he got our vote. And a couple hours later Obama won, and McCain was giving up. And it was in THAT speech that I actually saw a man I might have voted for. He was honorable, fair, and classy about his defeat. He encouraged his voters to support the new presidency and work together to help the country back on its feet. When some decenters tried to boo, he silenced them and moved on.

Then Obama gave a speech again asking for people to put aside their politics and come together to fix things. And I vowed to do just that.

In the weeks that followed Obama researched, got guidance from numerous people ( even McCain) and prepared to take on a great responsibility. And he is continuing to do what I can only assume to be the best job he can do.

Living in Idaho, a largely Republican state, I've been continually heart broken and angered by peoples attitude towards the new president, his efforts and the state of the country and government. They're bitter. They're angry. And they refuse to support anything that comes out of the man's mouth.

Here I am, hoping for a better tomorrow, trying to be supportive and optimistic, and these folks are basically BEGGING for revolution. and the Man's been in office barely a month. maybe two.

I spoke with a long time friend recently who is very right wing (by the way, if you're wondering, the wife and I appear to be moderates with both some right and left leaning ideas, depending on the topic), and I was saddened and appalled by his rage toward the government and his complete unwillingness to dare to hope and put some faith into some, our president, who I fully believe has the best intentions in his heart for this country. My friend is a fairly religious and god fearing person, and here he was dreaming of revolution and barely shying from outright hoping for something terrible to happen to Obama.

WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE?!?!?!

I don't care what your beliefs or politics are. I don't care who you voted for. I don't care what grudge you're holding. But LET IT GO. Because we are in serious trouble folks. and only by putting aside our differences and working together are we going to be able to fix things. Fox News and Bill O'reilly are obviously going to spend the next 4 years complaining. And that is not going to accomplish anything productive. Stop complaining. Start supporting.

Obama may not have been who you wanted, but he's who we got, and lets get behind him and work! Let's get things to a place where is can actually support the weight of violent disagreement. Wait for things to get better first. Cause truth is, the country can't handle it right now.

And you right wing folks. Please. STOP. You know what... we've tried it your way for eight years now. Yes, Bush was a warmonger and an idiot, and while that may not have been your fault, you had your way for awhile, and things are at the worst they've ever been. Obviously, SOMETHING had to change. I know you folks HATE change, especially big change. But if we stayed the course we would have been destroyed. Please understand that. the people, especially the young people (your children), may have selected a change more dramatic than you expected or wanted, but it's over.

Instead of spending time and resources moaning about, let's make life better. When things are back on an even keel, THEN go back to tearing things apart.

I realize this plea has probably fallen on deaf and offended ears. And you know what? I DON'T CARE. I'm tired. As a country, we have a choice, support or decent, hope or despair. I'm choosing to Hope. If you can't do that, then leave me alone. I want nothing to do with you. I'm tired of misery and despair. We just ended eight freaking years of that. Please people, let's hope and work together for a new and better future.

Sorry for the hiatus

So, we've had some family issues in the last few weeks, and truth is, no one has been commenting on the posts I've done in the last couple months, which probably means no one has been reading. But alas, me and my audience of me with keep writing whenever I have a spare moment and a subject to complain about.

The Secret Lives of Kid Show Stars

Being in my line of work I watch a lot of kids shows. Handy Manny, Imagination Movers, Barney, the Wiggles, you name it I watch it, an use it to the beat of my ability for educational purposes. But as I watch I can't help but be occasionally stumped and thrown into deep and introspective thought about some of the motivations for the characters that populate these kid shows. As a writer I have a hard time accepting that what we see on the surface is all that is to these characters.

For example, I can't get through an episode of Barney without wondering if the reason Barney sings and entertains kids is to ensure that he has and endless and easy source of food.

My imagination simply will not allow me to accept what I'm seeing without providing some sort of back story that believably explains the actions of the characters.

I'm sure that Smile Time, an episode of Angel that features a band of demon puppets using their kids show to steal the souls of children, is at least partially to blame for this.

I'll times wonder if there is some sort of government agency that regulates such creatures as Barney, waiting to take them down if the indulge in munching more children than their contract allows.

Picture it, the children entertainment control agency sends their top agent to check up on Barney, as there seems to be a lot of cast rotation on his show lately. The agent enters the studio late at night, and hesitates when he hears a cry and a crunching noise. He draws his weapon, creeps forward... to find Barney in a corner with the kicking feet of a child sticking out of his jaws.

While the kids I work with are enjoying themselves with wholesome edu-tainment, I'm in the corner laughing my head off.

While Bear in the Big Blue House was a great kids show and seems to have been canceled, I still wonder just how those animals came into possession of said house. What horrific fate befell the human owners of the house ? I shudder to think. Those animals are clearly deranged, as they sing at the moon every night. It may have even been the moon that told them to bump off the owners of the big blue house.

Imagination movers is a great show for kids, but I wonder about Uncle Knit Knot, a character that loves boring things and often avoids the movers because they're far too exiting. There has to be more. Perhaps Knittknot is a war veteran, an escaped POW, who escaped his captors using his hand and a piece of jagged metal. A bloodbath ensued, and once escaped, Knitknot stood in the rain, letting it wash the blood and gore off, vowing to live a quiet and boring life to atone for the lives he took. And every once in a while he'll sit in his office, open his drawer and gaze at that scrap of metal, thinking about how he would take out those Movers if be was back in the war.

Now while I am certainly being playful, I'm not trying to be insulting, the shows I mentioned above I use and recommend in my work every day. They are smart and clever and teach some great principles, including problem solving and using your imagination. They may teach it too well, as I watched a lot of shows like that and you can see what happens to my imagination.

But perhaps that's good. As a father I know that I want my son to think and use his mind, especially to understand the world. I want him to question and investigate. Now I don't want him to question authority, or the law, I do want him to be an Independent thinker. And so perhaps watching theses show is good, but tempered with other learning and interactions.

I would be tickled to death if my son were to come to me one day and talk about Handy Manny's days as a Federali before he came to the states to make a living fixing things with his hands and his talking tools that may be aliens bent on world domination.

There's nothing wrong with giving a Back story or using your imagination to try to understand a person's motivations, as long you give them the benefit of the doubt, unlike some of my example above.

Understanding is a gift I want my son to give and receive often, and the ability to imagine will be a great help in making that happen.

But seriously, barney needs to be taken down.

The Best Movies You’ve Never Heard Of

Over the last few years, it seems that some of the best films have been the ones that enjoyed quiet critical and moderate monetary success, but for the most part were missed completely by those waiting in suspense for the next big Tom Cruise or Will Smith blockbuster. Even though not many have heard of these movies, most of them enjoy loyal cult following, and because so many of them were cheap to make, they made a huge profit. These films, more than any big budget summer movies, are why I keep heading back to the theater.

16. Dark City- A sci-fi movie directly responsible for the Matrix and several other movies that followed, Dark City follows a man who awakens in an unfamiliar hotel room to find that he's wanted for several murders. As he explores the mystery of his identity, he slowly realizes that everyone, even the city he lives in, may not be what it appears. Dark and compelling, Dark City explores what really determines who a person is and the hold destiny has over our lives.

15. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Animated Series-While not a theatrical release, nor technically a movie, the Clone Wars was a two season cartoon show commissioned by George Lucas and executed by the creator of Samurai Jack. The first season was comprised of twenty episodes, each three minutes apiece. On the DVD it has been edited into a full hour feature. Original and fun, the first season returned energy and excitement back to the franchise with awesome animation, great action and Jedi that act as powerful as they claim. Apparently they did something right, as it won an Emmy for best animated work an hour or longer. The show was so successful that they commissioned a second season of five episodes each 12 minutes apiece, which leads directly into episode three (one again released to DVD as an hour feature). The show was a little more refined with tighter storyline this time around, and once again brought home the Emmy. I mention these cartoons because amazingly they outshone the new trilogy in almost every way. The script, voice acting, and story were all flawless, and felt more like Star Wars than anything featured in the new movies.

14. Kung Fu Hustle- Best described as a loony tune on Asian drugs, Hustle is odd, bizarre, disturbing, funny, inspiring, sad, exciting, thrilling, and just a hoot to watch. Featuring your basic "chosen one" storyline, it goes places you'd never guess and features some of the coolest martial arts fights you've ever seen.

13. Equilibrium- Another movie that fed off the Matrix, the film features Christian Bale as a member of enforcers in a world where emotion is illegal. A smooth blend of 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and The Matrix, this is the movie that helped me believe that Bale could pull off being Batman. With a killer performance and AWESOME action scenes, including what can only be described as a knife fight with handguns, this movie please both the action nuts and those looking for something to think about.

12. Stardust- A fairly recent release, Stardust has a killer cast, with Michelle Phifer, Clair Danes and Robert Deniro, a rousing storyline reminiscent of "The Princess Bride" and world unique in vision and execution.

11. Sky Captain and The world of Tomorrow- If you don't like this film, you just don't like movies. A throwback to the sci-fi serials of the late fifties and early Sixties, Sky Captain was one of the first of the latest trend of movie shot almost exclusively on green screen. With a wonderful cast, a fun adventure of a plot and
fun and witty Dialogue, this one's fun for the family.

10. Mirror Mask- A quiet release from the Jim Henson Company, the film was meant to form a loose thematic trilogy with "Labyrinth" and "The Dark Crystal." Featuring the classic story of a girl lost in a strange dreamlike world, Mirror Mask is unique in vision, creating a world both familiar and frighteningly alien.

9. Bubba Ho-Tep- The most unlikely story line, Bruce Campbell plays a dying Elvis, still alive in a nursing home somewhere in Texas. When a mummy attacks the facility and begins picking off the residents, Elvis teams up with his best friend, an old black man who believes he's JFK. Unique, hilarious, and unexpectedly inspiring, the movies explores the most ridiculous of concepts with a dignified tongue in cheek approach that will make you wonder if Bruce Campbell may have been born for the distinct purpose of playing this role.

8. Shoot 'em Up- Basically the same idea as "King Fu Hustle," but instead of amping up the Kung Fu movie, this one take your standard shoot 'em up movie and increasing the stunt and classic clichés by about a million percent. Clive Owen may be the coolest action hero ever, carrots and all.

7. Wasabi- Perhaps the most unexpected movie I'd ever seen, Wasabi is a comedic action flick about France's toughest cop traveling to Japan to save his long lost daughter from mobsters. Completely subtitled (probably for effect) and featuring cool fights and down right hilarious situations, Wasabi is an unknown treasure trove of fun.

6. A Very Long Engagement- Another Foreign film, Engagement is the story of a young lady gradually finding the truth about what happened to her fiancé when he disappeared during World War One. A touching love story, engagement basically celebrates the idea that true love will eventually find a way.

5. Serenity- The movie continuation of Joss Whedon's "failed" TV show "Firefly," Serenity had the energy, originality, and emotional punch to rival "Empire Strikes Back." Throw in Joss's witty dialog and an amazing cast, and you have a fun space western unlike anything you've seen before.

4. Stranger Than Fiction- This was perhaps the most heavily advertised movie on this list, but still pretty unknown. Featuring Will Farrell in the only performance of his that I can stand, he plays boring IRS agent Harold Crick who begins to hear a narrator telling his life story. When the narrator foreshadows Harold's' death, he begin to search for a reason to live and the writer of his life.

3. Children of Men- Once again featuring Clive Owen, "Children" explores a dark, gritty, and completely believable future in which mankind has seemingly lost the ability to reproduce. When Owen's ex-wife entrusts a pregnant young woman to him, he must fight to keep her and her child safe in a dying world. Intriguing, engaging, and immensely pertinent to the current state of the world.

2. August Rush- A small movie who's biggest name is Robin Williams, the film is about a boy who is a musical prodigy, and feels that if he is able to play music, his long lost parents will hear him and find him. Inspiring, touching, and moving, August Rush succeeds due to an amazing sound track and phenomenal acting.

1. Brick- You know those old black and white detective flicks, featuring the private eye in trench coat and hat tracking down the bad guy? Now picture the same thing, but in a grungy and dangerous L.A. High School and featuring a young detective trying to solve his girlfriend's murder. With dialogue sharp as a razor and dead on performances from the actors, a possibly cheesy concept comes across smooth and engaging.

The Top Things I Love Despite my Demographic.

I admit it- I made my wife a scrap book, and enjoyed it. I also cook most of the meals in my house, although I don't do dishes. I do own a couple stuffed animals, watch random cartoons, and enjoy the occasional chic flick with my wife.

There are many things we all like to do, or in terms of media, watch and consume, that may not exactly fit our place in society. Hell, even Angel of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame loved Barry Manelow (Lorn- "Can I ask a question? Why Mandy" Angel-" I always thought it was kinda pretty" Lorn- "and so it is Big Guy!")

As I've watched TV and such over the last few weeks, I've realized there are several shows that I like, or have always liked even though it completely clashes with who I am- A country raised 29 yr old educated white guy who is actively religious and happily married.

Now, there are some things I like that are outside of my AGE demographic, but I liked them when I was the proper age, and then carried that with me. So that doesn't count. The following items are things that do not match my current demographic, or , if I have liked it since I was young, didn't match it them either.


The Golden Girls- Ok, Ok, I admit it, I love these old gals. They're stinking funny and absolutely dedicated to one another, no matter what they might say. I discovered this one when I was a kid (one of my grandma's favorites) and it stuck. I love the characters, the themes, and the stories, and I'm still at least thirty years from really understanding them.


The Cosby Show-
This one may be cheating, but I'm a white kid from the woods, not a black kid from the city, so logically I shouldn't identify with this show at all. But Cosby has it all- Family strife, sibling rivalry, funny lines and parents you really wish you had. I hope I can be a dad like Heathcliff Huxstable (not sure if hat's right).








The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Ok, I dig SpongeBob. The cartoon came out when I was a teenager (I think) but I didn't see it till I was in my mid-twenties. I saw random episode of the show and thought it was good for kicks and giggles, but then I saw the movie, which, in my humble opinion, may be one of the greatest animated movies of all time. It does help that the movie has been sprinkled with adult jokes, and such jokes are my favorite parts of the movie (The only movie I've ever seen where the villain is defeated when the heroes reenact an 80's rock video). But, this was still a kids movie. But it's brilliant, and the hard work and amazing writing on the film is more than enough to make me ignore the age gap.

Total Drama Island-
OK, so i don't really know if this is in my demographic or not. It's on cartoon network, but it is a primetime show. But, I do HATE reality TV with nearly every fiber of my being. The drama, the bad "I'm being real" acting and the absolute disregard for human decency often drives me away. But when you take those same events and put them in a scripted and animated form, I find it hilarious and enormously entertaining. Go figure.

Well, these are a smattering of some things I love that are really rather odd, and no, I'm not ashamed. OK, not completely ashamed. I have more, but I may save them for another time. What are some demographically inappropriate favorites of yours?

I'm BACK (from time to time)!

SO It appears that my life is in constant motion. Things will calm down for awhile, and I'll decide "hey, I should write my blog again," and then the internet Gods laugh, call up the true God, and life gets busy again. While some of these things are my own doing (ie: world of warcraft expansion) while others broadside me ( my brother-in-law moving in).

Life has been good, though. We had a nice Christmas, work is going well, and I 've decided to apply to get my masters degree. So we'll see what happens. One thing is for sure, my typing skills are definitely in need of some refreshing, so I'm hoping to actually throw some blogs up here as I had planned. I have several waiting, hell, almost begging to be written, so I'll try to bang those out soon.
Take care, and happy new year!

Don't worry, I'm alive, just working on the new WOW expansion

So it’s been a bit since my last post, and to my dedicated audience of two, I apologize. When I started writing a couple years ago this was meant to be a humorous lighthearted blog that basically let everyone know what my topic of the day/week was. As the last month has been a little difficult and tiring, I didn’t feel I was in the right mindset, and, the last thing I want is there to be a publicly accessible record of me dishing on my issues (of which I have so very, very many). Couple that with a new expansion for World of Warcraft, and well, hence my disappearing act. And so, hopefully, I will began posting again soon in the lighthearted tone I love.

With that being said, I leave you to consider this deep thought until my return- If Kitt, Herby the Love Bug and Chittty Chitty Bang Bang were to death match, who would win? Leave your vote in the post, along with your play by play!

Laters!

To Vote or not to Vote- Hamlet had it easy

The thing that frightens me most is that when my son is older he will ask me a question to which I will have no answer. Even worse, I fear he will come to me and ask me what I did during crucial moment in American history and my answer will be "Nothing."

The problem is, such a moment is upon us, and I don't know what the right thing to do is.

The problem I am facing is that both candidates endorse something to which I am morally and intellectually opposed. And so, I must decide which evil I find to be the lesser. It's unfair that to do what's right, I have to compromise my morals to do it.

The other challenge is merely my personality type. I am a non conformist. As a result, when I feel pressured into something, or I feel that the majority of the people around me are going in a certain direction, I naturally feel a tug to the opposite. And even more frustrating, the majority of my State favors one candidate only to avoid the other. And usually for stupid reasons based on dirty advertising, mudslinging, a blatant lies created to play on people fears and prejudices.

As a believer in fair play, I cry foul, and hence desire all that much more to vote for the injured party. But that's a not the right reason to vote for someone.

And so, what does one do, when a choice in placed before them, and neither answer is a good one?

There is no other third option... Not if I want to do something that matters. Which is another point of debate. The state I live in has two electoral votes, and the majority of the State will vote one way which is entirely predictable. So why vote?

Again, I think of that day, when my son asks me what I did when faced with a history altering choice. I don't want my answer to lessen me in his eyes. But I don't want to make a choice that will lessen my view of myself either.

DVDs and Me

As a kid, one of the few things my family did together was watch movies. We would rent, record, borrow, and yes, sometimes even pirate video tapes. Since a lot of stuff we liked to watch was on at odd time when everyone wasn't around, we taped our favorite shows and watched them later. We got so used to this, in fact, that when the show we were watching hit a commercial, a favorite joke of my Dad's was to tell one of us kids to go hit fast forward, and then start laughing when we realized we are actually watching real TV for once.

When I first discovered DVDs, to put it mildly, I was fantastically excited. The movies were cheap, easy to use, and usually had great stuff on them. Anytime I wanted to disappear into the fictional world I could put in a shiny new disc and whisp off to my favorite scenes or episode without fast forwarding, rewinding, or worrying about the tape getting eaten. TV on DVD was even better. Best part? No commercials.

As DVDs have conquered the industry and are now leaving us to be eaten by the Blueray, I've become a little pickier about what I like and don't like and I've been pretty annoyed by some of the dumber practices of DVD.

When I was a kid watching Videos, I was always annoyed at the beginning of a movie when they had the black bars on the top on bottom of the screen. Being uneducated in film and such, we kids couldn't understand why the people making the video would cut out the top and bottom of the movie. It was annoying and we demanded to always have full screen. Sometime around my mission, perhaps just before or after, I can't remember, I became savvy to the whole Widescreen VS Fullscreen argument. I realized, to my horror, that my previous beliefs on the subject were backwards, and in fact it was the fullscreen people who were cutting the edges of the movies to make a rectangular image (all the better to fit on a theater screen) into a square television screen. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I had missed scenes and events in my favorite movies that didn't fit into that square!

So today, I do everything in my power to educate people, because most people still ignorantly believe that widescreen cuts off the top and bottom of the movie, or that they're still seeing the movie the director wanted to make when they watch the fullscreen. What annoys me about this is that the industry charges the same amount for the dvds. I suppose it evens out, as fullscreen watchers get 33% less movie image but no dead space on their screen, but widescreen people get the whole movie but not economic use of their TV screen space. Being jaded, I suppose, I think Fullscreen should be discounted, as it is not the entire movie and, since most movies are still shot on film instead of digital, the image isn't as sharp when it's been blown up (as in, the draw a square on the rectangle, cut it out, and zoom in to make it fit on your screen). Most TV these days is also shown in "Letterbox" format, which I think give these shows a much sharper and sophisticated look.

One solution is to include both versions of the film, such as on Finding Nemo, but even then we have a different situation, because the folks at Pixar are, no kidding, movie making GODS. When Pixar made the Fullscreen version of Finding Nemo, instead of cutting a rectangle down to a square, They EXTENDED the rectangle, actually ADDING to the top and bottom to make a square, which I find AMAZING! So in fact, the Fullscreen of that movie is actually the better value. yet they included BOTH versions in a two disc set along with TONS of extras. Today, a two disc version will usually fit on one with room to spare.

The usual packaging for a movie with both fullscreen and widescreen has almost no special features and is a double sided disc, which, my friend leads to another thing I HATE about DVDs. Double sided discs, while economical, is blasphemy for the dedicated lover of movies. The thing looks like crap, is ALWAYS badly labeled (which leads to repeated flipping) and has the durability of toilet paper (which can scratch these dvds; No Kidding, I once ruined a dvd by cleaning it with toilet paper... breath Mike, breath....).

To be fair though, I love, love, love LOVE decorated discs. I always love to open new DVDS (sometimes I can't even wait till I get home... I HAVE to see the disc and open it in the car) and see the design on the disc and the inserts. In the beginning, ALL discs were really nicely decorated, and they had GREAT inserts: booklets, interviews, pictures.... fun stuff. Now, most discs are silver with black font writing and there's NOTHING inside. But yet Slip covers abound, even though IT'S THE SAME IMAGE THAT'S ON THE DVD! Slip Covers falls into the area of dust covers for me.... it's funny, these thing once were supposed to protect the book, now I take mine off while reading a hard cover so I don't damage it, cause without it, the book looks like crap. Same with the dvds.

Today, DVDs are pumped out fast and cheap, which is sad since the quality stuff was coming out as recently as 3-4 years ago. Bluerays seem to be trying to blow people away with nice packaging and nice features, but that's only to woo people to buy them. In five years, it'll be the same situation.

The last thing I want to rant about is the new practice of different "editions," each with a different selection of features and packaging... and then half the time the edition you really wanted comes out 2 months later (unannounced) and you have to decide whether to buy the damn movie again or not. King Kong, Fellowship of the Rings, and Chronicles of Narnia ALL got me on that. I went to the store and bought the "nice" Two Disc Special edition, only to discover that extended editions were coming out with more footage and better features a couple months later. But they didn't start advertising this until a week or so after the release of the first dvd (or dvds.... how stupid is that, to release a one disc and a two disc only to then release the three/four disc a few months later? so stupid I imagine the producers are wondering where the hell all the money in their laps came from, I bet; grrrrrr) .

What inspired all this is my purchase of the "3-disc" special edition of the Incredible Hulk (great movie, will review it soon!). I was excited to get it, but the three discs is only two, as one is a "digital copy." the special Features on disc two are minimal, and would have fit on the first disc with no problem. The only reason the separated them was simplify the production.... see, EVERY version had disc one, which had the bare bones stuff, and then the people who forked over the extra 8 bucks got the second disc that had maybe an hour or so of more features.... Ugh. And the
Worst part? Silver, undecorated discs with green lettering. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Come on, Hollywood. you can do better than this. We the consumers want an attractive edition of the film we loved enough to buy at a reasonable price and with solid special features. We don't want to pay thirty dollars for something we could have bought five years ago for Ten bucks. And for those who don't want all the bells and whistles it's okay to have different editions, but please, announce them and release them at the same time, ok?
Unfortunately, the best we can hope for is that Bluerays will at least stay god-awful expensive and not progress to immorally expensive.
Ah well. Anyone read any good books lately?

Random Blogging> California, Blizzcon, and why I've ignored my daily Blogs

It's been a busy few weeks. Blizzcon, the annual Convention put on by Blizzard, the makers of World of Warcraft, was on Oct 10th and 11th, and our small family flew out to California to attend. As such, it was a busy couple weeks getting ready (my brother also visited for a few days just before we left) and my computer room was being used as a bedroom. So, Blogging was a little hard.

Truth be told, not much has been going on. Blizzcon was great, but crowded. The popular joke was that it was Disny land's latest attraction, "Blizzcon: The Line." It wasn't far off.
The up side was that I got to meet my Mother's boyfriend, who was super nice, and his kids, who were really cool (the fact that they were closet geeks really helped).

The Baby got to meet his grandparents, who immediately introduced him to coffee (I laughed, the wife panicked) , and I got reminded of why I would never live in California.

One highlight for me was getting to meet Felicia Day, one of the stars of "Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog" (if you haven't watched it, I've included it.) She was really nice and sweet, as were the cast members of the web show she was promoting, "The Guild." (Edit: Check the comments for proof of just how cool Felicia is!)

I also got to visit both Joe's Crab Shack (good, but overpriced) and Hooters (friends idea, but not nearly as bad as I feared). I got some souvenirs for my son, and we all survived the trip there and back. So it was a success.

Anyway, I will get back to blogging soon, I have several things on the back burner I'm getting ready to go, such as an Indiana Jones review and a reflection on how one's mind changes as he gets older (if I can remember to do it, anyway).

Anyway, Have fun!
PS> Dr Horrible is below, and it's great. Done as an experiment by Joss Whedon, it caught a lot of people by surprise. Enjoy!

Friday Movie Review- George Lucas owes me another hour and a half of my life

A few years ago now, George Lucas had a good breakfast, got really drunk, was hypnotized, and then was possibly blackmailed into allowing Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory and samurai Jack (BEST. Cartoon. EVER) to do two one hour Clone Wars projects that were then split into smaller episodes for airing on cartoon network. They were, as I've mentioned before in my posts, Brilliant. I include the list of events that compromised Georges decision making abilities because he obviously made a good call.

Sometime early this year I recieved the shock of a lifetime when I found out just four months before the planned release date that Lucasfilm was releasing another star wars movie to theaters. I was shocked that it somehow got by me. Really? and it's animated? and it's a clone wars movie? didn't they already do that? Everything about this new movie was down played, with even the marketing only showing up a week or so before the movie.

Turns out that George has been developing TWO star wars TV series, one of which would be a computer animated Clone Wars show. With further research, I discovered that the "Movie" was actually the intended pilot for the show, and Lucas decided to put it in theaters to heighten awareness of the upcoming show. I had my concerns, among them being the complete lack of reference to the previous Clone Wars, a very odd animation style, and the very odd build up to the film. But, it was star wars, so I went.

I got to the theater early and excited, sat down, and waited for the movie to start. Thirty seconds into it, I knew I was in trouble. The logo showed up, the music began... and it was wrong.... it was as though someone wanted the star wars theme, but couldn't get the rights, so they made something that sounded as close as they could. Grimacing, I prepared to read the crawl.... but there wasn't one...... Huh? The next thing I know, I'm watching the opening to starship troopers, or very nearly. A wartime news report intro? really? The confusion went from there.

I was dumbfounded. When I was preparing to go to the movie, I had complained that it was only an hour an a half. That was the longest hour and a half of my entire life.

The movie was, well, pretty bad. The writing was awful, the plot was bad, the music was weird, and the animation was a little off. The Action was pretty decent, and you could tell the movie makers knew this, as the action made up about 95 percent of the movie.

While watching a tv shoe, you might notice that after a commercial the characters will say what they said just before the break, or will quickly summarize what just happened. Well, while the move had managed to edit out the commercial breaks, they didn't remove the dialog that re-establishes the plot, which means every fifteen minutes or so you get to hear Anakin's padawan (let me just say again... Wha?) recite what they're doing and why.

If you are intrigued with exploring the clone wars, rent the animated season... they make a two hour movie that leads directly into the third movie, and they're REALLY good. If you want to see something that exeplifies beating a dead horse, watch this.
The sad thing is, it's actually not as bad as I make it sound, and if they had aired it on TV, I probably would have thought it was ok. But instead...... ugh.

Watch it on video. score- 2/10

OK, so I lied about not making up missed topics......

As I sit here, feeling used, tired, and near death (I hate paperwork BTW) I realize the thing I'm most upset about was that I missed blogging on the couch potato report, which, apparently, I was really looking forward to. So, at the risk of listing and praising in unsupported monosyllabic stereotypical slang (i.e. "freak-ing awe-some"), I've been watching the following-

Heroes- I like "Heroes" a lot, being a comic guy, that's probably a given. I really enjoy how the story evolves and intertwines at the same time. I also get a huge kick out of reinterpretations of classic comics gimmicks, like the crossover, or the peak into the future. We recently watched the second season, then caught the premiere, and I've got to say, it's gonna be a great season. If you haven't watched heroes, give it a try. it gives you answers a more often than "lost" and it's a great epic story of the coming of an age of heroes.

"I'm a PC"- a while back I commented on hoe much I dislike smear campaigns, and use the "I'm a mac, I'm a PC" commercials as an example. I always wondered what Microsoft would do to strike back, and they've finally done it, but in a way that makes me proud to own a PC. Instead of slamming Mac's, they disprove their advertising by showing the diversity of PC owners. While I do HATE windows vista, well done Microsoft.

"Chuck"- just finished the first season, and wow! Even though the concept is a twist on a fairly stereotypical spy show, I love the actors (Adam Baldwin even manages to slip in some firefly references, which warms my heart), and the show manages to stay fresh instead of doing a variation on the same script every episode. With some fun pop culture references, dang funny jokes and decent action, chuck is a geek friendly dramody that is really fun to watch.

We've watched a lot of great stuff lately, but I do have to run, it's late, and I've got to work early.
Next time!

Weekend Observations- Dealyed Instant Gratification

Instant Gratification is an odd thing. For instance, I love Burgers, especially on the grill. But many a time I have stuck in a microwave burrito, or even worse, gone to McDonald's, just to have something now. It's not what I wanted, but the wait was short and my work was minimal.
I'm much the same way with entertainment. Every summer I swear I'm absolutely done. done, finished, with midnight premieres... but as the night comes closer and closer, I realize just how badly I want to see the movie and realize I can't wait any longer, even if that wait is only 12 hours or so. So, inevitably, come Thursday night there I am at the premiere, listening to the high school age morons shouting and yelling, crammed into seats and wondering if I'm going to be able to stay awake the entire movie. I swore off midnight premiers with Transformers last year, saying it would be my last. Since then, I've been to Iron man, Hulk, Hellboy 2, Speed Racer, Dark Knight, X-files, and, God help me, the animated Star Wars movie, all at midnight.

Obviously, I have a problem.

Which is why I love DVD sets. I don't have to live with a cliffhanger (unless it's the season closer and I'm caught up to the latest season), I can watch as many as I can stand as often as I like, and I can skip, pause, and rewatch to my heart's content.

The Problem is, when there is cliff hanger, I get so caught up in the story, I try to start watching the season week to week, still needing instant gratification, because there's no way in hell I'm waiting a year without a fix of this show. And then, invariably, I get behind one way or another, and then I get busy, and have no choice but to wait for DVD. at which point the cycle starts anew.

It's even worse with comics. These days EVERYTHING is collected ina trade paperback, or a collection of the stories, and they come out fairly fast... every six issues or so, so very six seven months you can have the next batch. Sometimes the spacing or the demand makes the wait even shorter. The only people who collect week to week are me and those who want to sell their comics one day. Now I am not deceived. I know that comics aren't really going to be worth much... probably ever, but I still buy month to month. Trades not only come out fairly quickly, but they're usually pretty inexpensive, at least comparatively. A standard comic will run you three to five dollars a piece these days, but a normal trade will collect four to ten issues for anywhere between fourteen to thirty dollars, so usually cheaper than the actual book. Not always, but usually. So the smart thing would be to get trades, but I still do monthly. Why? because I follow the story. It's funny when instant gratification means waiting a month instead of six months. Go figure.


The companies make money either way, and here I am with a mad on for the story. Do I need to be the first to know? Rationally, no. But internally I'm dying for the next issue. Is there a way to counter this? well, other than never watching tv or only getting comics at a book store (where they only sell trades) the only option is to be extraordinarily in control of your impulses and entertainment needs.

So I guess I'll try to mature,l but until then I'm going to look up prices on Itunes for heroes episodes, then I'm going to see what comics come out on Wednesday. Wow.... I really do need help.

"My attempt to self regulate" OR "My daily cup of Mike (my name isn't Joe, but I'm gonna make the joke anyway... it a free country, dang it!)"

So, in an attempt to make my week a little more interesting, I've devised the following schedule for the week. While I suggested it, my wife refused to make me a sticker chart to motivate me to actually follow said schedule (what? I bet YOU would work hard if offered the right sticker....), so that means that this isn't so much what to expect as what to hope for. But, anywho-

Monday- Weekend thoughts, meditations, or lamentations on practiced boredom.

Tuesdays- Couch Potato Report. What am I watching? Why? What do I think of it? Just think, you used to be blissfully unaware of the answers to these and other questions about my sad life and my overburdened couch.

Wednesday- While this is New Comic Day (praise the Comic Gods), it is also the night before Thursday, the accursed weekly paperwork due date. That being said, I'll probably be weeping over a pile of progress notes and wondering why I ever left my job at the Comic Shop (oh, that's right, it closed.... DAMN YOU, COMIC GODS!) instead of blogging... unless I choose to escape said paperwork. So this may be "Random Blogging Day." We'll see.

Thursday- I usually feel pretty good on Thursdays, except for the nagging reminder that next week brings another late night of tear stained paperwork, paper cuts, and writing utensil phobias
(Belonephobia is the fear of sharp, pointed objects, while Graphophobia is the fear of writing). Anyway, this will probably be the day I comment on New Comic Day (praise the Comic Gods).

Friday- Used to be new movie day, but alas, summer is over and I'm afraid not too much is coming out. But I will still use this day as Movies review day, and wow do I have a lot to make up for, since we just had a great summer. So, old or new, Friday is the day I praise or slam the movies I've been watching.


And that will essentially be what to hope for. I work a LOT, so I'm sure I'll get behind. Rather than try to pick up a lost day, though, I'll just honor the topic of whatever day I decide not to be lazy.
Peace!

Lindsey Lohan is Gay?

So, I've been hearing about crazy celebrates for awhile, and whenever one went without undies or got drunk and plowed their pink mustang into the side of a building, I've always heard about it no matter how hard I've tried to avoid it. But in the last few weeks I've been amazed at how low key the media is on the whole Lindsey Lohan deciding she's gay thing. And she's getting married! wow! but I only know this because I check a movie sight every day that has made it their mission to chronicle the event.

Sorry, folks, no real point but, but I'm flabbergasted at the inconsistencies of the media... sometimes being gay is huge, but other times it's almost ignored. Kinda like when a celeb does something positive... could it be that going gay is now a good thing, thus NOT newsworthy? Or is it that I just live under a rock?

I'm weird like that... when it comes to a frank and intelligent conversation or debate about current news and politics I usually don't have much to say... I blurt out a few quasi intelligent phrases then sit back and listen to the vengeful wrath of the other person..... but get me started on the latest debacle from the pages of marvel comics and I can rant passionately for hours. I think the sad truth is that I could just never really care as much about real life. Hey, it makes me a bad person, I admit, but guaranteed I enjoy my discussions about comics fantastically more than I would enjoy listening to your mature political debate. and that's all that matters.

For instance, in recent months I've tried to define my politics and decide just which side of the line I agree with... and as I learn about republicans and democrats and right and left, I can't help but know deep in my heart the whatever decision I make, the whole matter will never matter as much to me as deciding between Marvel and DC.

Why does politics matter so much to people? Or the lives of celebrities? Are people's life just that boring, or is there something I'm missing? I care about politics, but the moment I start losing sleep or hell, the moment I start losing personal me time on any level, I'm done and I move on. I wonder if some people just enjoy the conflict, enjoy the debate?

To be fair, I know many politically savvy people do care for valid reasons, unfortunately I can't list them because they make little or no sense to me. Anyway, if you want an intelligent discussion that basically covers my feeling on the subject, check out Votaries of Horror.

One last thought before bed

Anyone else wonder how Charles Shultz Would feel about his characters being used to sell insurance? Doesn't seem to compute for me..... Huh, so much for a legacy.

My Blog Free Year, the evils of World of Warcraft, and why having a kid should be saved for masochists.

Awwwww... Isn't he cute? What you see before you my friends, is NOT the reason why I stopped writing this Blog. The real reason? I'm Lazy and I developed a World of Warcraft addiction sometime last year that didn't let up until recently. But he is cute, eh? So let's blame him.

Last year, right about the time I stopped writing, well, just before, as I'm sure it helped the whole "oh yeah, I did have a blog once" thing, Life took a turn for the complicated. One of my best friends went to jail, I was miserable in my job, my brother was in a near fatal car accident, my grandparents were in a near fatal car accident, and my Dad got married (perhaps the least traumatic, but still, weird). I thus invested all of my time into world of warcraft, playing five or six hours a night, which stopped, oddly, just before the cuddly superhero you see above was born.

A lot has happened, but the last thing I want to chronicle is the last year or so of my life. To be brief, though, friends were made and lost, new jobs were attained, three WOW characters hit level 70 (the highest) I moved, had a kid, and moved on to a career that I really enjoy. And that's that.

If anything, I want to reestablish a couple things. I love Media. Television, Movies, Books, Comics, you name it, I read, watch, endure, and Enjoy, and then complain mercilessly or make fun of it. Unless I like it. Then I buy it, put it on an alter, and worship it, again, till i watch something else.

The purpose of this blog was always to share my love for entertainment and to share what I've found to be an interesting, off beat, and somewhat original view of the world. While there aren't alot of readers, hell, I think I had Eight readers when I wrote religiously, and I'm sure they've all given up hope by now, I'm going to try to write more regularly. I mean, it's either be constructive or spend time seeing just how badly I can emotionally scar my son. Look at that cute face. Which do you think he's pulling for?

Avoiding the Popular

So, lately I've discovered that a lot of people- most in fact- think that I don't like most movies. In fact, they say that I especially hate the popular ones. And While I may shout and holler that this isn't true, I'm starting to see why they might think it.

A great example is "The Guardian." I didn't see it. I don't anticipate seeing it. Why? Because while I haven't seen it, I have seen Bodyguard, Backdraft, Top Gun, and a dozen other inspiring movies about people who risk their lives to save people. They all have a mentor, a struggling and rebellious hero, several big actions scenes, the death of the mentor, and a big court scene at some point for the Young Hero to stand up for his newfound convictions.


So I figure, why bother? I got the point the first time, there's not really much to gain here. And that bothers some people.

Another one is "Pursuit of Happyness" (yes, I know it's spelled wrong). I did see this, mostly because of my wife. But I didn't want to, and even now, I'm not all that excited that I did. Sure, it's well made, and it's inspiring and uplifting and blah blah blah........

But, truth is, this movie has also been made before.

And so, yes, while I realize that I am prejudging, truth is I just recognize movies I've already seen.

But how about the big budget, box office titanic movies that everyone loves? You know what, I'll tell you a secret: I love them too. Yes, I saw Titanic multiple times in the theater. I was there on opening day for Pirates of the Caribbean (both, actually), both Spider-mans, nearly every Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I love big budget blockbusters as much as the next person. I just like them for a different reason. Everyone else loves them because they're blockbuster. I like them when they're good. that's about it. unfortunately, a lot of blockbusters aren't as great as they should have been. But that doesn't keep me from being excited.

In the end, you just need to have your own opinion. Many Blockbusters have a smash opening, and then it becomes a trend to say how bad it was. In the end, it's not that I don't like movies, I just don't like being told what I like.

Serenity personality test

Your results:
You are Wash (Ship Pilot)

Wash (Ship Pilot) 75% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 70% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 65% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 60% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 55% Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 55% Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 35% Inara Serra (Companion) 35% River (Stowaway) 25% Alliance 25% A Reaver (Cannibal) 15%

You are a pilot with a good if not silly sense of humor. You take pride in your collection of toys. You love your significant other.

Click here to take the Serenity Firefly Personality Test

Yeah, that's right, they did it before!

What up now, Marvel?