Tom the Culture Titan

Farewell

2009-01-05T00:00:00.002-07:00

Well, after ten months of some fairly regular blogging, and some soul searching over the holiday breaks, I have decided to stop blogging for now. After ten months, I have yet to gain a regular readership (beyond family, thanks everyone!) and I find myself having to force myself to write daily, it was becoming more of a chore than a time to have fun.

I have had a ton of fun, but I never felt that I had something new or unique to offer. There are numerous other pop culture blogs out there written by better writers and with much more dedication. I find myself more and more wanting to go back to being a pop culture consumer, and leave the content creation to those better than me. I am ready to stop taking notes and/or thinking through a post with every bit of pop culture I consume.

I will continue to consider new kinds of blog formats, and may come back in the next year or so with something more defined and niche focused. We'll have to see if I can come up with somthing that I can enjoy doing and will not take up so much of my time (with this blog, each post took about an hour on average, I think I might be slow).

Anyway, thanks for all of my readers and please enjoy the links to the right over there. Those are the bloggers that I enjoy the most and will keep reading. They are well worth checking out.

If you have any comments for me, feel free to email me at Tom [dot] the [dot] Titan [at] gmail [dot] com.

So long, and stay safe!

Holiday Hiatus

2008-12-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm going on an official Holiday Hiatus. Both Mrs Titan and I need some well-deserved R & R and want to be free from responsibilities on our work-enforced Staycation this year. The good news is that this will be my first ever Staycation, meaning I will have a lot of opportunities to explore more future content. Anyway, have a great Christmas and New Year! I will be back with new, more exciting content on January 5th!

PS. Don't lick the pole!

See you 1/5/09! Stay safe!

A Quick Plug

2008-12-17T00:00:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody! Just a quick note today. One of my favorite websites, and one of the most useful for a TV lover like me is the Futon Critic. This website has everything you may ever want to know about what is on, what might be on, and what is no longer on TV.

The site goes into great detail on new shows, cancelled shows, and any press releases from TV networks. Every day on the calendar has a list of all new shows airing on a given night, critical information for someone recording shows on a VCR or TiVoing them with only two tuners. It is nice to see what will be on and when.

Another great feature is the DevWatch section. It opens up the TV pilot season to the public. We can read about all of the comedy, drama, and reality show pilots that are in the works. This is great fun! It is cool to see what might air in the upcoming season and to find out what is going on at each network. I really hope that someday they begin a DevWatch for cable networks as well.

You can also check out the daily next day ratings, which is fun for making sure your favorite show will survive, and probably critical for anyone with a tie to network TV. There is even a great key provided to know what the heck this means: "How I Met Your Mother" (households: 6.8/10, #5, half-hour: N/A; adults 18-49: 4.6, #2, half-hour: N/A). I'm going to assume that's good, based on this quote from the site ""The Big Bang Theory," "How I Met Your Mother" continue to see their numbers surge." And, I would actually understand it if I actually read the key!

I usually use the Futon Critic for making sure my friendly TiVo is really doing what I want him to do. I love this site! Check it out and enjoy!

Step Brothers

2008-12-16T00:00:00.001-07:00

Hey Gang! Guess what? I have a blog, which is something I apparently forgot yesterday. Sorry for the lack of a post. Things have been a little crazy at work and Mrs Titan and I have been getting ready for the holidays, so it kind of slipped my mind. Heh, must be getting old. Speaking of which...

...we watched Step Brothers this weekend, the newest Will Ferrell movie, costarring John C Reilly. There was nothing surprising about this movie, it was pretty much exactly as advertised. It is about two forty year old guys who live with their parents and act like obnoxious and entitled teenagers. Their parents meet, fall in love, and they become step brothers.

From there, they fight (both physically and emotionally), they find a common enemy, and they work together to beat that enemy. It's pretty straightforward, and might have been heartwarming if it actually starred teens or pre-teens. But, it doesn't, it stars forty year olds, which makes it hilarious, not heartwarming. It was a great opportunity for Ferrell and Reilly to act like idiots and make fools of themselves.

I don't know what about watching men almost twice my age act like someone half my age fun, but it is. It is, admittedly, quite stupid, but there's nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone who doesn't like Will Ferrell or stupid humor, but if you want an evening of fun, check this out! Mrs Titan and I laughed quite a bit and it was a good bit of escapism in these troubled times. I would have to say this is the best Will Ferrell movie since Stranger Than Fiction.

I will try to be back with a new post tomorrow, but with work and Mrs Titan's finals, we'll see if I have any time to use the home computer.

Watching Movies

2008-12-12T00:00:00.003-07:00

Hey everybody, on this Friday, I have just one simple question: How do you watch the majority of your movies? I have a suspicion, but I want to confirm it! Thanks everyone! Check out the survey on the right side of your screen!

I know how I will be watching my movies this weekend, do you? Have a great weekend, see you Monday!

A War of Gifts

2008-12-11T00:00:00.001-07:00

This Chirstmas season I decided to read one of the very few Christmas-oriented books on my To-Be-Read Shelf. I picked up A War of Gifts, by Orson Scott Card, which I got last Christmas. It is a tiny book; a novella, or short story, that comes in at only 126 pages. It is set in Card's Enderverse, and features some of the supporting cast from the Ender and Bean series.

It is a sweet little story about the kids in Battle School as they deal with not being able to celebrate Christmas (and/or Sinterklaas Eve). It focuses on Dink Meeker and Flip Rietveld as they secretly celebrate Sinterklaas Eve, and lead a Santa Claus revolution at the school. And, Card shows this story through the eyes of Zeck Morgan, a right-wing, religious zealot.

The story is short and sweet and even includes a chapter which was published as a standalone story called Ender's Stocking, in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. The only problem I would have recommended this book to everyone is that if you have never dipped your toe in the Enderverse and into any Battle School book, you may not have any clue what is going on. Also, what's wrong with you? Get out there and read Ender's Game
.

Discovery Channel: Time Warp

2008-12-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

One of the new shows that premiered on the Discovery Channel this season was Time Warp. Time Warp, starring Matt Kearny and Jeff Lieberman, has a very simple and fun premise: let's watch a ton's of stuff happen in slow motion. That's it. They use high speed cameras to capture some everyday, and some very unique actions.

Not every segment is a must see, but the majority of them are. Watching a Taser be shot, a pole vaulter jump, a car crash, and a man breaking stones with his arms are pretty incredible at 5000 frames a second. Here are some great examples:

And:

It's pretty neat stuff. And they even include some science behind what we are seeing! Check it out!

Showcase Presents Superman: Part 15

2008-12-09T00:00:00.002-07:00

This is the fifteenth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Grand Comic Book Database.

Superman # 126

"The Two Faces of Superman"

Long Story Short: Both Lois Lane and Superman are truly horrible, shallow, and amoral people.

This one is especially weird. Lois gets a phone call from Chet Hartley. Her friend set her up on a date with him as a favor to him if he came to Metropolis. She doesn't want to go, but agrees anyway, even though she has a date with Superman later in the night. Apparently they can date, but they can't marry, why buy the cow Superman? Anyway, Lois makes herself look like a maladjusted eight year old to scare Chet away. They go out dancing and it works, Chet is so embarrassed that he takes her home in time for her date with Superman. However, Clark saw her there with Chet, and felt like he needs to avenge poor Chet, by playing a prank on Lois.

On the beginning of their date, Superman proposes to Lois, but says she needs to know something before she can answer. She agrees, so he takes her back to a fake apartment that he rented earlier that night and shows her some flesh colored Superman masks. You see, he wears a mask to protect his secret identity, who looks exactly like Alfred E Newman. Seriously.

Lois, being the incredibly shallow person that she is, is horrified! She cries, is embarrased to be seen with him in public (so much for a secret identity), and even has a hard time kissing him. She finally realizes that it must have been a rubber mask (they must have had incredibly realistics masks in the '50s), so she agrees to marry him.

Now Superman has to get out of it! He tells her to meet at the Justice of the Peace at noon, and if she is one minute late, he'll call it off. So, he goes about sabotaging Lois, by welding her in her car with heat vision. He is then able to get out of it. He then pulls off his mask and shows Lois what she already knew, that he was tricking her to teach her a lesson. She is upset, but realizes that she can never trick him into marrying her, she'll have to get him to ask when he really means it.

Fred Claus and Radio

2008-12-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

We got to watch two movies this weekend that have been clogging up the Netflix Queue. The first has been on the queue since last Christmas, Fred Claus. Since it's now almost time for presents, I figured we should watch it. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I liked it. It was kind of hard to get a feel for it though, because it was part kids movie and part adult comedy. With Vince Vaughn's rants and wisecracks, it felt like a Vaughn comedy. It was funny and he was his usually charming self, the same character he is in almost all of his films.

Paul Giamatti was a little weird as Santa, and didn't seem to be too comfortable in the role. Although, that might have been the point. Kevin Spacey as the efficiency expert with a vendetta against the North Pole, however, was great. He and Vaughn both led this film and made it fun. It did seem a little childish and out of place a couple times when we got weird cartoon sound effects for the action on screen. It made me think that there were going for a movie like Elf, but didn't quite get there. It was fun, but it won't be making my required Christmas movie list.

The next movie we watched was Radio. Now, before I am berated and mocked, this was Mrs Titan's pick. And before she is berated and mocked, it was her parent's recommendation. Against my better judgement, I put it on the Queue. Ultimately, this was Cuba Gooding Jr's "mental illness film." He plays a "retarded" boy (he was never diagnosed in the film, so we have to stick with that, sorry) who likes to hang around the school and watch the football practice. Plus, collect radios.

Anyway, he is eventually befriended by the football coach/athletic director and becomes beloved to the entire school. All of the cliches are there, he is mocked, the coach sets the kids right, they love him, a parent wants to be rid of him, happy ending where he is loved (at least he never plays).

Gooding Jr is kind of embarrassing to watch in this film. He is hard to understand because of his awful accent and his grotesque fake teeth. (I should point out that this movie is based on a true story and at the end they show a video of the real Radio. He did not have those wacky teeth.) The supporting actors, like Ed Harris, were great, but I couldn't understand their attachement to Radio. The movie wasn't the worst thing I ever saw, but it wasn't really worth watching, avoid it if you can.

Mass Effect

2008-12-05T00:00:00.003-07:00

Well, after about 30 hours of gameplay I finally beat Mass Effect. It is a pretty amazing game, and I have to thank Skoth (aka Mr Little Sis, a name which is apparently "weird" and not good enough, we wanted to be called "my brother-in-law", but that's stupid!) for letting me borrow it. It is the best game I have played in a long time.

Once you choose your sex, appearence, history, and character type, you go on your first, exciting mission for the Human Alliance marines for this innovative action role-playing game. This mission is, obviously, where you learn the basics of fighting and playing, and also where you become very important to the galaxy, by recieving visions from an ancient artifact. It is also where you get the first glance of the main antagonist in this epic story.

Once this mission is completed, you get to see the headquarters of civilized life in the known galaxy, the Citadel. This is your real introfuction to the galaxy. And what a galaxy! This game has one of the most fleshed-out and fully realized universe of any game, and even more so that many books, movies, and TV shows. There are multiple alien species to interact with, and all of them have their own history, culture, economy, religion, military, and alliances. If you spend the time to read all of the detailed Codex logs, you will learn everything you could ever want to know about this universe.

I spent at least six hours on the Citadel, doing different missions, shopping and learning everything I could before finally setting out into the galaxy. Once you take command of your own ship, you can choose where to go and what order to perform the main story missions. I, of course, wanted the broadest experience of the game, so I did every side mission I could before attempting the first story mission. These were great. Basically, you pull up in a solar system, and get to explore. You can survey planets and read details on the history and composition of these systems. Almost every system also has a planet that you can land on and explore in your dune buggy/tank, the Mako. This is great fun! There is a mission on almost every planet as well, and they are not all the same, there are a variety of mission types and objectives.

As you go through the missions, you are able to make choices. These choices generally fall into two categories: Paragon Renegade. For my first playthrough, I went straight Paragon and I had a great time. The characters were believable and interesting, thanks to some fantastic voice acting, and the choices seem to make a difference in the outcome of the game. I have evern decided to replay as a Renegade to see if this is actually true.

I truly loved this game, and enjoyed every moment of it. I only wish that there were a few more story missions (there were only 5, but were about 2-4 hours of gameplay each) and that it was a little longer. This is a universe I would revisit in a second and I can only hope they are making a sequel. Oh wait! I might even consider reading a Mass Effect novel (!). Anyway, check this one out, and enjoy! You can get it for only $25 at Amazon!

Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars Volume One: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh

2008-12-04T00:00:00.001-07:00

This is the first Star Trek book I have ever read. After being a fan of the show for as long as I can remember, and missing it since Enterprise was cancelled, I decided to start checking out some of the numerous books.

That said, I have no idea why I picked this one first, but I am glad I did, because Greg Cox is a great writer. I have never seen a complete episode of the original series (I know, geek blasphemy! Sorry.). I know of Khan from Star Trek II, and that's it. So, it was odd that I picked it up a few years ago.

Anyway, the book is actually all about Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln. After a prologue featuring Kirk and the gang, the book is set in the late twentieth century, spanning almost 20 years. Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln had the use of a supercomputer, transporters, and a "servo" (basically fancy phasers). I didn't understand why they had these things in the 1970s, so I did some research. I found out that these are canon characters from an episode of TOS, Assignment Earth, where the crew heads back to 1968.

I guess Gary Seven had been sent to Earth to keep humans from destroying themselves. In the show he prevented a nuclear missile from launching. In the book, he, along with Roberta and his alien cat Isis, is a super agent in the vein of Bond. Well...the old Bond, you know, with gadgets. And teleporters. Anyway, many adventures are alluded to, and we get to see all those that involve the young Khan.

The book uses real world events, such as nuclear testing under the Indian desert, the chemical plant explosion at Bhopal, and the Reykjavík Summit to frame Khan's development from a sweet super-powerful genetically enhanced kid, to an angry super-powerful genetically enhanced teen. It is neat how Cox was able to tie in real events into Star Trek mythos. The book ended in a cliff-hanger, and after I finish the book I am reading now, I will pick up the sequel. Even if you aren't a Star Trek fan, check this one out, it's a lot of fun!

Discovery Channel: Storm Chasers

2008-12-03T00:00:00.001-07:00

After Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs, the rest of the Discovery Channel shows are all just about on equal footing. Storm Chasers is all about...well...storm chasers. Specifically, Sean Casey and Dr Josh Wurman, and this year we have the welcome inclusion of Reed Timmer. Last season was the first year I watched this show, and last year we didn't have Reed.

The premise then, and mostly now, is that Casey, a filmmaker, travels in his giant eight ton TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle), attempting to get a shot from inside a tornado. He is directed by Dr Wurman from his DOW (Doppler on Wheels), a giant semi loaded with a radar and tons of computer equipment. What makes it kind of fun is that Casey is a nutty artsy type who wants to go go go while Dr Wurman is all about the science. He is much more conservative in his actions and takes his time. His goal is collecting data while Casey's is getting "the shot."

This clash of personalities is interesting, but it can be a little grating. The inclusion of Reed Timmer helps to aleviate this because he is laid back and young. He cruises in his SUV with his friends and is able to move quickly and directly. He is also much more of a risk taker, getting as close as possible to the actual tornadoes. He actually sells the footage he makes and has been able to turn his love of chasing into a business. His enthusiasm is infectious and it is fun to watch people enjoy themselves on these kinds of shows.

The nature of a show like Storm Chasers is interesting. There is only a short filming season where there is not a guarantee of excitement. I imagine much of the chasing season is actually quite boring, waiting for weather to go after. The inclusion of multiple teams (we follow at least five groups as part of the two teams) really keeps things interesting. The action is usually intense and the footage of storms is pretty amazing. It is qute fun to see (as long as I only see it on the TV!).

There is only one new episode left, next Sunday, so check it out, and then watch reruns and watch for the show to come back next season.

Showcase Presents Superman: Part 14

2008-12-02T00:00:00.001-07:00

This is the fourteenth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Grand Comics Database.

Superman #126

"The Spell of the Shandu Clock"

Long Story Short: There is no supernatural, and a Superman story is never as interesting as it first looks.

This short back-up story is kind of dark and gloomy looking, like an old EC horror story. It starts with a "tense" audience watching Shandu, a master illusionist, while he performs a show. Shandu causes a table to burst into flames and begins to float when Superman flies in, exposes his tricks (like that Breaking the Magician's Code guy), and calls him a fraud. Shandu admits he cheated this time, but claims that he will prove it to Supes.

Superman then goes to the Daily Planet and Perry White tells him that Shandu died at sea, and left a message for Superman that he will prove that the supernatural is real from beyond the grave. He then asks Superman to take Jimmy and Lois to Shandu's house for a story. We then learn that Shandu built a supernatural clock before he died. When they get to the house they see a giant, hideous clock, and when it a metal Superman rings a gongs, Superman falls into a trance.

He then flies off into a distant valley and smashes a boulder with his head in front of some shocked cowboys. When he makes it back to the clock he decides he wants to see what's going on inside, but can find nothing unusual about the interior. The metal Superman rings the gong again, and yet again, Supes falls into a trance. This time he burns a hole into a pile of sand (seriously). Jimmy, Lois, and Perry all gather together to worry about what will happen if Superman is in a trance when the Fallon Gang activate their new "crime machine." I don't know what this is, but they "invented" it. Cool. I want one.

Anyway...Superman decides he needs to destroy it, so he makes a giant hammer. I have no idea why he needs that, but there you go. He is unable to follow-through though, due to an invisible force holding him back. Before Superman can figure out how to destroy it, he tells Lois to leave him alone and then the gong rings again. This time the Fallon Gang is watching and they decide to used their "Sonic Vibrator" hi Googlers! to zap Metropolis National Bank.

Superman then shows up, but he is covered in metal. It's the Superman from the clock. The crooks blast him with the vibrator and the metal breaks off. Ah, of course, like all of these old Superman stories, it's just a giant prank. The Superman in a trance was a robot, and Shandu was a fake. They were all working together just to capture the Fallon Gang. Well, that was a lot of build-up for another fake out. Oh well.

Kung Fu Panda

2008-12-01T00:00:00.001-07:00

We only watched one movie on this long and relaxing weekend, Kung Fu Panda. This animated, Jack Black film didn't look all that interesting to me when I first saw the previews for it. It kinda looked a lot like a lot of other animated movies and Jack Black hasn't really had a ton of appeal for me since School of Rock.

However, once the movie started, I was hooked. It opens with a dream sequence with Po the Panda fighting along side his heroes, the Furious Five, and kicking butt. He is "bringing the awesomeness" to his enemies. You know, just like I do here on the Titan blog! The sequence has a really stylistic design. It was part anime, part hand-drawn animation, and part CG. It was really unique and very cool.

Then...we get the rest of the movie. We see that Po actually works in his dad's noodle shop, and idolizes the Furious Five, he is no Kung Fu master. In fact, if you have seen the trailer, you know that he is fat and clumsy. He tries to get up to the see the ceremony where the Kung Fu masters choose the next Dragon Warrior. It is pretty obvious from the get-go that Po will be chosen, but when he is, things start to get a little more interesting.

You see, Po is the ultimate fanboy. He recalls with awe the battles that the Furious Five have fought like a comic book geek can recall all the first appearances of their favorite villains. He interacts with the FF (hmmm...coincidence?) as if they are heroes, and it is kind fun to watch them get annoyed at him and then slowly warm up to him. And, the FF aren't unknown actors either, they are all A-listers: Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Seth Rogen (!). Dustin Hoffman even voices their master.

Ultimately this movie is great fun, if a little predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed it the whole way through and I thought the fight scenes were a lot of fun. I can't stress enough that I loved the opening sequence. This is definitely one to check out!

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

Well everyone, I am going on a little Thanksgiving hiatus here. I will be back next Monday with a bunch more content for you to waste your time with. For now, enjoy this pretty picture of a turkey and wants you to be happy while eating him. Stupid turkey...

A Little Old...A Little New

2008-11-24T00:00:00.001-07:00

When Paul Newman died back in September, I realized that I had never seen a Paul Newman movie (well, except for Road to Perdition and Cars, but really...). So, I decided to remedy this by checking out some of his best-of movies. Starting with...

Somebody Up There Likes Me

Somebody is about the true story of Rocky Graziano. Rocky is a young hoodlam in NYC. He and his gang steals and cheats and robs from everyone they meet. He doesn't have any respect for his parents or any other authority figures. He is arrested and continues to get in trouble in jail. Immediately after being released he is drafted into the army. He goes AWOL and begins to do a little boxing for some easy money. The army eventually finds him and it's off to prison, where he begins to realize his potential when he starts boxing.

Paul Newman is pretty great in this movie. Early on, you really get the sense that the doesn't care for anyone but himself and trying to get by. He really seems like a thug. The way he grows throughout his life is organic. He doesn't go from a jerk to a great guy. It takes big changes in his life for him to even begin to change. It really is a fantastic movie.

It's not a boxing movie at all, it's all about Rocky and his life, boxing is just what he turns to to get by. Mrs Titan and I were both glued to this film. It didn't feel slow like many movies made before 1990 can sometimes feel for me. It was a great two hours and worth it for anyone, Newman fan or not.

Quantum of Solace

We also got out to see the new Bond movie this weekend. I'm not really sure what to say about it. It was good, but a lot like Casino Royale. There was plenty of action, and all kinds of world hopping excitement. Daniel Craig is the model of ice-cold killer/secret agent. He will do whatever he needs to to get the job done.

It's a good movie, but reminds me much more of a Bourne movie than a Bond movie. It has the same jerky-camera action shots, which is not my kind of thing. I kept wanting the camera to pull out so that I could actually tell what was going on. I also misss the light-hearted goofiness of Bond. I want gadgets and girls with silly names (although Strawberry Fields ain't bad). I want more witty banter and wild evil minions.

Overall, it's a very good movie. I know the Bond series is growing and changing, but it still takes some getting used to.

A Message From My Past

2008-11-21T00:00:00.003-07:00

A couple of days ago I got an email from someone I knew years ago. I haven't talked to this person in three years, but the message was clear. It was from me! Yes, Tom the Titan, before he was Tom the Titan sent me a message through Forbes E-Mail Time Capsule. So what did Tom the Titan from three years ago have to say? Here is the email in full, honest. The text in red is my modern day responses:

Hey You,
Boy, you are a great guy! I am aren't I? You sure know how to pick a winner past me!
What have you been up to for the last three years? I graduated and I got a job and I got married and I bought a house and I started a blog!
Really? Yeah, seriously dude! Huh. That's odd. No, it's not, it's great, you're odd.
Anyway, hope things with [future Mrs Titan] are going great. They are, it worked out great! I told you it would!
She's a great girl huh? Duh, and I totally love making her read my blog and probably embarrassing her! Yeah, I know!
Anyway, you are probably all busy now with work and stuff right? Yeah, totally, and blogging, and all the crazy pop culture that we always loved!
You are working I hope! I am, and thank goodness you learned how to use question marks and commas. Idiot.
You better be, I'm counting on it! I know, cause you wasted too much money!
Are there any good shows on there in the future? Well, yeah, some. You would love HIMYM dude!
Are you still watching them? Duh, that's part of what this blog is all about. Not as many as you though, what were you at, like 40 hours a week?
At least the good ones, right? Yeah, I'm pretty much down to just the good ones now.
Do you even care about TV anymore? Yeah, but not as much as you.
Man, you've changed man, I don't even know you any more. True, I'm way cooler now.
Or maybe I do, who knows, guess we'll just see in three years. Good
luck! Things have been awesome, way to not suck it up dude!
Your Friend,
[Future Tom the Titan]

Geek Alert!

2008-11-21T00:00:00.001-07:00

If you are a hardcore geek or if you have been to the new Bond movie already, I'm sure you have seen this, but for all of you softcore geeks (that sounds dirty) or wannabe future geeks, the new Star Trek trailer is out!

Now, this may be geek blasphemy, but I have never seen a single episode of Star Trek (the original series), so I don't much care about Kirk, Spock, and the original Enterprise. I plan to remedy this at some point, I promise, and I will talk a little more about this sometime soon. Anyway, because of this, the trailer looks pretty awesome. I just hope it gets more people interested in more Trek!

Click Here to go see the trailer and enjoy!

Discovery Channel: Dirty Jobs

2008-11-19T00:00:00.001-07:00

Last week I discovered that the Discovery Channel is apparently my favorite channel. I also talked about Mythbusters, my favorite Discovery Channel show. Today I get to tell you about my second favorite show on DSC, Dirty Jobs.

At first glance, Dirty Jobs looks like a show I would hate. It appears to be about a guy who goes around to try different gross jobs and show off the ick factor at each one. And, I guess technically, that is what Dirty Jobs is all about. But, it's also more than that. It stars Mike Rowe, who is one of the most literate, intelligent, and witty TV show hosts that I have ever seen.

Rowe got his big start narrating some of Discovery's earlier shows, and still does narration on a few. And he makes the show. He is the show. He is able to make anyone he visits like him almost instantly, from hippies building their homes with poo to hunters who clean and package their animals. They all take to him instantly and he gets along with almost everyone. The back and forth teasing is one of the best parts of the show, and is tons of fun.

I, personally, do not think I would care about Dirty Jobs if it weren't for Mike Rowe, it would get mundane quite quickly. Rowe, however, brings to the table his comedy (he was on an episode of one of my favorites, Dr Katz!! I have to look that up), and his cheerful (most of the time) attitude. He was even an opera singer for a while!

Anyway, I love this show and you should see it. Also, if you work a dirty (or semi-dirty) job, go let Mike know so he can keep making this show!

Just Blame Mr Lil' Sis...

2008-11-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

...cause if it wasn't for him, you would have a full post. But he had to lend me this:

Now I am hooked unitl I can stop Saren and his evil plans. Then I have to stop Mr Lil' Sis from his evil plans to stop me from ever being productive again. Darn you!!

Zack and Miri Make a[n Adult Film]

2008-11-17T00:00:00.007-07:00

One of the first "adult" comedies that I ever saw was Kevin Smith's Mallrats. When I say adult, I mean that it was a comedy written for adults. Unlike the moves I was watching at the time, which were kids movies, things like Blank Check and other kiddie fare. I loved Mallrats when I saw it and soon got my hands on Clerks and Chasing Amy.

I became a Kevin Smith devotee. The movies spoke to me, even thought they were full of cussing, drugs, and nudity. I enjoyed the witty banter back and forth, I liked the kooky scenarios, and I really enjoyed the slight inter-connectedness of the films. I have seen every Kevin Smith movie in theaters since Dogma. Heck, Mrs Titan and I went to see (the very underrated) Jersey Girl on our first date (when she liked it I knew I had a keeper).

So, it was inevitable that I had to go see Smith's new movie, Zack and Miri Make a Porno. If you have seen the trailer you know the plot: best platonic friends Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) can't pay their bills and they determine the best way to make some money quick is to make their own homemade porno. It is a fun film, and not nearly as raunchy as I was expecting (that's a good thing).

The biggest problem for me is that I think I have (gasp!) matured since Smith's last films. I no longer find his kind of comedy as funny as I used to. I enjoy a more subtle humor that goes beyond the cussing for cussing's sake and the nudity and the gross-out humor. Now, don't get me wrong, there will always be a special place in my heart for Smith's movies, but now that we have entered the age of Judd Apatow and his crew, I just don't think comedy can ever be the same.

The one other small thing that disappointed me was the lack of any appearence (or reference) of any of the characters or events of any of Smith's other films. I know Smith wants to get away from the adventures of Jay and Silent Bob and the rest of the New Jersey bunch, but it would have been nice to have him throw his long-time fans a bone.

All-in all, this was a good movie. My expectations were very high, and they were not quite reached. If you are looking for a good, and kinda dirty, comedy then check this out now or rent it when you get a chance.

The Discovery Channel: Mythbusters

2008-11-14T00:00:00.001-07:00

Well, after yesterday we learned that I have an undying love for the Discovery Channel by regularly watching nine of shows on that channel. And that's not counting the shows we watch just when they're on, like How It's Made. And the min-series, like Planet Earth.

So, what got me addicted to the Discovery Channel? Well, I would have to say that was Mythbusters. It was the first Discovery Channel show I watched regularly, and it led to my ongoing love of the channel. I started watching it 4 years ago when there was a marathon on while we were staying at the in-laws. For those of you not watching Mythbusters: what's wrong with you?! This is a show for everyone! I want you to set up a Season Pass or VHS cassette now so that you can watch it! I'll wait...
..., back? Okay, the show is really about Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, two special effects wizards who decide to test all kinds of myths to see if they are confirmed, plausible, or busted. After the first or second season they picked up some helpers, Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara to round out each epiode. These five have the coolest jobs ever. They get to build, blow up, destroy, and test everything!

There have been seven seasons and there don't seem to be signs of slowing down yet. They have moved on from pure urban myths to: movie myths, a ninja special, pirate special, the moon hoax, and other event episodes. Some of the more recent, and fun myths are: exploding fire extinguishers, catching an arrow in mid-flight, beer goggles (!), and sobering methods.

Even if the myths seem a little boring at first, each episode is a lot of fun, with Jamie, Adam, Kari, Tory, and Grant really adding to the fun. They really know how to have fun with each myth and really bring that excitement to the show. And, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the great narrator, Robert Lee. He brings a little bit of additional fun to the goings-on.

Anyway, if you have never seen this show, you really need to find it, and watch it. You will not regret it. It's fun for the whole family and you might even learn something too!

I think I will try to talk about some more of the Discovery Channel shows and why I love them over the next few weeks.

Where I Watch What I Watch

2008-11-13T00:00:00.001-07:00

So, this afternoon I was going through my TiVo Season Pass Manager to get rid of a show. For those of you non-TiVo people, this is where I can set my TiVo to record every episode of a show so I don't miss it. And, so you don't have to ask, the show was Fringe, another "sci fi" show that just isn't living up to its potential. Darn you JJ Abrams for getting my hopes up!

Anyway, before I start ranting, I was looking at all of the shows that I have a Season Pass for and decided I was curious to see which channel I watched the most of. So, I made a list. Just to be clear, not all of these shows are on right now, and some of the obscure cable shows might have been cancelled already. Also, HGTV, TLC, and Bravo shows are Mrs Titan's. I swear...don't look at me like that. Without further ado, the list, from least to most:

ABC Family

Cartoon Network

The CW

VH1

Bravo

AMC

TLC

Animal Planet

HGTV

Comedy Central

History

Scifi

Fox

CBS

ABC

NBC

Discovery

Yeah, I'm as shocked as you are. First, holy crap, that's a lot of shows! Remember, not all of them are currently airing new episodes. But also, Discovery wins! A non-network show is our most watched channel. I love what Discovery is doing right now. I will have to write a post about them tomorrow. In the meantime, what's your most watched channel? And, do you have any questions about what the heck I am watching on some of these networks?

The Best Show...That You May Never See

2008-11-12T00:00:00.001-07:00

In 2002 Fox released one of the best shows I have ever seen, Andy Richter Controls the Universe. This was a goofy sitcom starring Andy Richter, Conan O'Brien's longtime co-host. The show was all about Andy, a technical manual writer who aspired to more. This was an office comedy, but kicked up a level.

Richter narrated his thought process and there were numerous imagination scenes, leading to some great laughs. One of my favorite scenes is when Andy fantasizes about what he will do with a large sum of money. He wants a new TV for his bedroom. You see...he already has one at the foot of his bed, but he wants one on the left side so he can flip over and watch that one too. But then, he realizes that that might not work either, because he would need one on the right side too!

It's great stuff. There are all sorts of great clips on YouTube, but it has still not been released on DVD. It ran for two whole seasons, and only 19 episodes, but it's a travesty that we can' watch this show whenever we want! Darn it!

Here is a Best of YouTube Clip, watch it and enjoy:

Also, go to Amazon and sign up for the Alert so you'll be notified when it is finally available. Plus, the more people to sign up, the more likely it will actually come out someday.

Showcase Presents Superman: Part 13

2008-11-11T00:00:00.001-07:00

This is the thirteenth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Grand Comic Book Database.

Superman #126

"Superman's Hunt for Clark Kent"

Long Story Short: Super-amnesia!

Once again the story starts with Clark Kent taking off for a two week vacation. His plan: spend the vaction trying to find an antidote to kryptonite. Fun! I'd rather do Hawaii. He is in the middle of an experiment when, due to a "queer twist of fate" there is an explosion and Superman awakes with amnesia!

He is soon attacked by a polar bear which forces him to realize that he has super powers. He makes it back to Metropolis ("instinctively") where he overhears someone call him Superman. So he heads to the nearest Superman Museum (seriously, he calls it "a" Superman museum, not "the" Superman Museum) where he studies posters of all his powers. He also learns he has a secret identity.

As Superman is wandering around he realizes that he wants a secret identity again and since he can't remember his old one he becomes a blonde Brit named Clarence Kelvin. He then gets a job at the Daily Planet and is assigned Clark's desk while he is on vacation. Two things: everyone at the Daily Planet is an idiot and Metropolis is a small, small place. Kelvin has to run off to save some sailors from a whale and when he returns Lois immediately claims that he must be Superman (again, idiots).

He has to get his memories back, so he goes to a scientist who 1.) explodes a bomb with him in a shatterproof bell-jar, 2.) shoots him headfirst from a cannon into a steel plate, and 3.) dips him in liquefied hydrogen (that's really cold for you non-sciency folks). Still no memories.

Then...out of nowhere...a solution! He will "fly at super-speed," overtaking "light rays that left the Earth long ago" and see things with a "collecting lens" Yeah, I don't get it either. Anyway, he sees that he is Clark, which makes him remember everything, then he fakes being Clarence Kelvin one more time so he can reveal himself to Lois. Kelvin leaves and is never seen again, Clark returns, and no one has a clue.

Whoa.

Princess Mononoke

2008-11-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

Princess Mononoke was the first anime I ever watched. This was back in the early 2000s when I was in college. I had no idea what was going on. Since then Mrs Titan and I have watched Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and a few others. I decided to get it again to share it with her and to see it myself again.

The story is about a young man who teams up with the forest Gods and creatures to fight back against the human "Iron Town" exploiting its resources. I think.... A whole lot more is going on. The woman who runs the town is kind to women, hiring them from brothels and arming them. There are sentient wolves, boars, and gorillas who are often at odds witrh each other. There is a crazy monk, and samurai. There is a lot going on in this film, and, like most of Hayao Miyazaki's films, it doens't always make sense to Westerners (or maybe just me).

Now, don't get me wrong. I have loved all of the anime that we get. It may be a little confusing at times, but these movies are magical. They are incredible creative and unique. They are action-packed and funny. And, most of all, they are beautiful. The animation in these films is incredible and really make watching them a great occasion.

I really only had one complaint with Princess Mononoke. I got distracted by some of the voice acting. Because of the popularity of this film they signed some famous actors to so some of the voices. Billy Bob Thornton and Jada Pinkett Smith were the two worst offenders in the sense that they didn't fit. Thornton's southern drawl made no sense in the historic Japanese setting and Smith's sassy black woman style didn't fit the white woman she played. I really like Thornton and Smith, but not when they are in anime. It would have been much less distracting if they cast unknowns in these parts.

If you've never seen an anime, check this out. It will open your eyes and your mind and it should be a lot of fun in the meantime!

Miscellany

2008-11-07T00:00:00.001-07:00

Just a couple of quick notes today:

It looks like I'm not the only one who feels the same way about Heroes. Dr K feels the same way that I do, but as an English professor, he sure has a better way of saying it. Thanks for being a better writer than me Dr K!
The new Futurama movie was released on Friday. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it's great. Don't forget to buy your own copy so they will keep making them! I love Futurama and you should too!
One last reminder: Don't forget to watch Whale Wars tonight. Or, at least record it so you can watch it later. It is well worth an hour of your TV time!

Have a great weekend! Don't do anything I wouldn't do and be safe!

Break Up Time!

2008-11-06T00:00:00.002-07:00

That's it, it's over...I can't do it any more. I have tried and tried and given it multuple chances, but that's it. I just can't bring myself to watch Heroes anymore. I realized this when I was much more interested in an article in a financial magazine about the LA Real Estate market than the show. I live in Colorado. 'Nuff said.

It started out as such a good show. Normal people get super powers and have to deal with them. The first season had a variety of powers, a super-villian, action, and even a decent mystery. I enjoyed the show even if it got a little tedious near the end.

The second season went downhill fast. The "mystery" wasn't resolved well, the super-villian was never defeated and character interactions and motivations began to make little sense. We get even more paintings about the future and more inane and boring plots. But I waited some more. I sat through it for more episodes than I should have.

Well, I just started watching the first episodes of the third season a week ago. I was watching alone because Mrs Titan had given up on the show half a season ago (I always knew she was smarter than me). I sat through three episodes. And what did I get? More paintings of the future, more time travel for no reason and with no consequences, and more pointless character interactions.

It saddens me. I love sci fi and feel that I almost have a moral imperative to watch all the sci fi I can on network TV so they will keep making it. But I just can't do it any more. I have given up on the show, deleted all of the other episodes on the TiVo and called it quits. I know someone could do this kind of show really well and I hope someone will someday, but I can't keep waiting for Heroes to live up to its potential. It has let me down too many times.

Whale Wars

2008-11-04T19:00:00.002-07:00

Recently, Animal Planet sent me a screener copy of the first episode of Whale Wars, a new show premiering on Friday, November 7, at 9 pm. This show is all about Paul Watson, a co-founder of Greenpeace who was kicked out of that organization because he was too radical (!) so he forms his own organization, the Sea Shepherds. They have one goal: to harass the Japanese whaling fleet and keep them from whaling for as long as possible. We learn fairly early in the show that there is a law allowing around 1000 whales to be harvested for scientific research, but none of the meat can go to waste. So, the Japanese harvest these for "research" and are then able to turn around and sell the meat for up to $1,000,000 per whale. Big business, as you can see.

The show starts out quite dramatically, with the Steve Irwin (Watson's boat), pulling up along a Japanese boat. The Sea Shepherds begin throwing things at the boat and the whalers begin to throw something back. These things explode in a flash of light, flashbangs. There are soon load bangs, gunshots, and a shout, "The captain's been shot!" Then we get a little fade to back and a title card: "3 Weeks Earlier." Whoa. I was hooked...or at least quite intrigued.

The Sea Shepherds technically have the law on their side (in terms of not breaking it flat out). They use non-violent techniques and in this first episode we get a nice little overview of their tactics. They use stink bombs to get the Japanese off their decks and if there is meat on deck it will be tainted and ruined. They use a helicopter for reconnaissance and filming, and a Zodiac to get in the way of harpoons and run distraction maneuvers.

The Sea Shepherds, and there are at least 30 of them on board, consider themselves the only enforcement of the whaling laws. The are technically non-violent, but they are willing to die for their cause, and they use some pretty extreme tactics. In fact, they consider themselves a kind of modern pirates, which you can see from their logo:

This show really has a little bit of everything. There is some beautiful footage of Antarctic scenery and wildlife. It is much more dramatic than I expect these kinds of shows to be, with a major accident that puts crew life in jeopardy (seriously, not like most "reality" shows). There is even crew dissension, which could hurt their mission. This show is truly different from anything I have ever seen. The people have a clear mission that they are zealous for. They will do anything to accoplish their goals and how far they are willing to go is a little scary.

I do agree that whaling at this point in the evolution of our civilization is a little silly. I don't particularly agree with the Sea Shepherd's tactics, and I think they could even be considered eco-terrorists. However, the show is pretty great. I can't wait to see what happens next, and the drama and excitement is genuine, and not manufactured like in most reality or documentary shows. Check out this quick preview:

Seriously, it is as exciting as it looks, I promise. Also, if you get a chance and want to learn more, check out the website by clicking here. And make sure you watch it on Friday!

I have to say I have been impressed with Animal Planet lately (and not just cause I got to see Whale Wars early, although that helps). They have began to make shows that are about people and their relationships to animals, instead of just being animal documentaries. With Grizzly Man Diaries, Living with the Wolfman, and now Whale Wars, we get to see unique people with unique relationships to animals and the world around them. Keep it up Animal Planet!

I Voted...

2008-11-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Did you? If not, you better get out there. This is an incredibly important election and as a (semi-)non-partisan blog I say get out there and vote, no matter who it's for. You owe it to all those who came before us. And that ends this special election message. More pop culture tomorrow.

Iron Jawed Angels

2008-11-03T00:00:00.001-07:00

This weekend we decided to get all civic-minded, so we got HBO's Iron Jawed Angels. This movie is all about the women's suffrage movement in the 1910s. It stars Hilary Swank as Alice Paul and Frances O'Connor as Lucy Burns. These women were strong independent women when strong, independent women were considered hysterical or mentally ill.

It is amazing to see what these women went through to get a constitutional amendment passed. You see, they didn't want it to be an issue left to the states, they wanted more than that. And to get a constitutional amedment passed, they had to turn away from the old guard women in the suffrage movement and start their own political party. This means they not only went against established social norms and the men in power, but also against their own leadership.

Soon after splitting off, they begin to picket the White House. They decide to keep up this picket line even after the US enters WWI. They are picketing a war time president, which is "akin to treason." (Oh how things have changed.) They are soon arrested for obstructing traffic and over 200 women are thrown into prison. There they are tortured and even forcefed after they begin a hunger strike. We get to watch eight years of these womens' lives and it is really great to watch.

The really interesting thing is that this movie doesn't play like an historical drama, but like a modern film. The soundtrack is made up of modern pop songs and the women act with modern sensibilities (probably even more than they really did). However, this really worked to the film's advantage because it helps viewers to truly relate to the women in the movement. These aren't historical characters, they are just like us (or, like the female version of us, right Mrs Titan?).

This was a great film to watch right before the election and it should make us all proud that we now have universal suffrage, and even women in serious contention for the top offices. If you're a woman, you owe it to yourself to check this one out, and if you're a man, you definitely need to watch this to appreciate this country.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T00:00:00.003-06:00

Have a Mario-rific Halloween! Be safe and eat lots of candy! See you on Monday!

Courtesy of Walyou

Rollback

2008-10-30T00:00:00.001-06:00

Rollback by Robert J Sawyer is one of the first sci fi books I have read in a while. It's set in 2048 and follows a couple in their old age. Don and Sarah Halifax are celebrating their 60th anniversary when they get a phone call. It's a grad student calling to tell Sarah that there has been a response. You see, in 2009 Sarah was a member of SETI and they received a message from Sigma Draconis. Sarah decoded it and sent the official response. A dialog has been started.

The message back from the Draconians spurs the interest of a billionaire who feels that Sarah is key in decoding the second response, which has an additional layer of encryption. He offers her a new procedure, a rollback. The rollback is intended to rejuvenate the elderly and essentially de-ages people. It is incredibly expensive and only the richest of the rich can get the procedure. Sarah agrees on one condition: that Don can get one too. The billionaire reluctantly agrees.

The book then continues in a series of real-time events and flashbacks. We get to see Don and Sarah as their relationship grew. Soon we realize, however, that the rollback worked on Don, but not on Sarah. He becomes physically 25 and she remains 87. This is where the book splits into what are essentially two different sci fi stories that are interconnected.

The first follows Don. How does a man who is physically 25, but mentally almost 90 get by in the world? He has no employable skills as he has been retired for over 20 years and has a hard time even understanding youth culture. The second relates to the alien contact and decoding another message. Both are very interesting, but combined, they create one key flaw. The relationship between Don and Sarah that is so important to the book is sort of dropped temporarily and then picked up again later. I think I would have enjoyed it more if they had been separated chronologically in the book.

I really liked Sawyer's writing. It was very easy to care for the characters, they were some of the most relate-able I have read in recent memory. I also really enjoyed the inclusion real history, pop culture (duh), and products. This really helped to ground the story in reality. It was also quite Canadian, which I enjoy, even if I didn't understand all of the details (Who was the Prime Minister when you were born? Yeah, thought so).

All-in-all this was a very enjoyable book. One of the two story components had a very predictable ending and the other had quite a unique twist. I was able to finish it in just a little more than a week and occasionally had a hard time putting it down. Check this one out! You won't be disappointed.

It Was Funny Sixteen Years Ago...Right?

2008-10-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

Can you name a few timeless TV shows? I think, of thinks like I Love Lucy, Mr Ed, and even Star Trek as timeless shows. These are shows that you can appreciate even now, years after they were created. These are the classics, the shows that everyone knows about and many people love.

Well, Mrs Titan and I recently came across a show that was way more topical than anything I can think of in recent memory. We wanted something to replace 3rd Rock From the Sun so we went for The Ben Stiller Show.

Every skit in the first episode was like a time capsule of the early nineties. There were U2 jokes (and not about the charity stuff), Calvin Klein cologne skits, and other bizarre flashy colors, akin to the opening theme of Fresh Prince. It wasn't bad comedy, it was just hard to find too funny.

I had fun seeing a young Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Bob Odenkirk, and Jeneane Garofalo (back when I thought she was funny), but this fun just wasn't enough to watch more than the first episode. Half of the references and jokes made no sense to me (I was only 10 when this first aired), so that was it. We quit after only one episode.

If you love the nineties and long for very out of date jokes, then check out this show, you will love it. If not, skip it. I'll be watching sketch comedy made this century (well, or SNL or Kids in the Hall or Monty Python...huh...)

Showcase Presents Superman: Part 12

2008-10-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

This is the twelfth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Grand Comic Book Database.

Action Comics # 247

"Superman's Lost Parents"

Long Story Short: "Superman can never be happy and never be reunited with either of his sets of parents."

For once this story starts in Clark's apartment instead of at the Daily Planet. Clark is reading a paper in his apartment when his adoptive parents Ma and Pa Kent, long thought dead, appear in a bubble, right outside his window. They tell a story about how they were sent from the past into the future (while little Clark was at school).

He decides to talk them to his Fortress of Solitude where he shows off by riding a dinosaur, playing tug-a-war with a dozen "atomic-powered robots," and his creepy lifelike dioramas (seriously!). He then takes them back to his apartment for dinner, when Lois shows up! They scare her away so Superman can save the day and as soon as he takes off...

...Well, it turns out they aren't really Ma and Pa Kent, but Millicent and Cedric, a couple of crooks who have to recap everything with a tiny pen projector as soon as Clark is gone. They found out his secret identity so that they can sell his secret to the underworld. They quickly trick Superman into getting them some kryptonite so that they can make an antidote. They then roll away in their bubble, right behind Clark's back (again, seriously!).

They then blackmail Superman repeatedly so that he will bring them things. You know, like ancient artifacts. Anyway, Millicent takes off to buy some mink coats, so Superman moves in with his plan! A Ma Kent robot that super-hypnotizes Cedric and a Pa Kent version for Millicent. He then returns all of the stolen goods and mopes. Poor sad Superman.

The Squid and the Whale

2008-10-27T00:00:00.001-06:00

What happens when you are a selfish parent? When everything you screw up is your kid or your spouse's fault? Well, The Squid and the Whale is about the most dysfunctional family ever, with two parents, played by Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney, who are the most selfish people ever.

They are both literature professors who compete between themselves for their kids attention and for literary greatness. These are the "academic elite," where something is only good if it is "dense" and hard to understand. They teach their children only to value "dense" academia, and not follow any other goals. It is a sad thing to see.

The parents split up early in the film,and everything ultimately becomes a competition. Which kid wants to be with dad and which with mom? The kids are messed up as well, with neither of them being able to function socially.

This is ultimately a hard movie to watch, there are many awkward, and real-seeming, moments. It was really interesting to see, I think both Mrs Titan and I enjoyed parts of it and were glad to have seen it, but will never want to watch it again. It was just a little to quirky and out there for us. If you want a quirky and weird movie, check this out, but be prepared to be grossed-out and saddened.

It is Coming!

2008-10-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

Just so you all know, I'm having a movie made. You can buy it on VHS or...well, just VHS. Check it out:
source

Low Content Week Continues...

2008-10-23T00:00:00.002-06:00

...with the most disturbing and yet appealing thing you will see all week. Enjoy!

I'm sorry. Truly...

Ever...or EVAR?!

2008-10-22T00:00:00.001-06:00

Monday night both Mrs Titan and I were suffering from a pretty nasty cold. WE were tired and wanted to go to bed. But we knew we had to stay up for How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). We did, and thank goodness! It was amazing as usual. It is the one show that every week I have very high expectations and every episode exceeds my expectations. I have yet to be disappointed with an episode. I love this show, and, as my in-laws are still here and I don't have time for much of a post, I just want to profess my love:

BEST.
SHOW.
EVER!
It's Legendary. Seriously.

It's Time For Us All to Embrace Change

2008-10-21T00:00:00.001-06:00

Well, it's time. Whether we like it or not things are going to change. We will have new people in these power. They want to save us and the planet. They will cure diseases, give us a solution to our energy crisis, help feed the hungry, and bring stability to our government.

So, who will lead us into this bring new future?

No, not them.

No, not even these two.

Yes, the skrulls. I, for one, look forward to the benevolence of our shapeshifting overlords. Plus, isn't that little girl cute?

Movie Mondays...Uh Oh

2008-10-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

Well, it's Monday...already. I didn't have the opportunity to watch any movies this weekend, what with some visiting in-laws. Well, unless you count about an hour of Terminator 2. "Come with me if you want to live." Heh! Anyway, I should have a little more to talk about tomorrow, but they are here until the end of the week, so expect light posting.

Anyway, back to T2. I saw it when I was about 11 at a friend's house, and I still have the image of the T1000 stabbing people in the head burned into my mind. It was quite the childhood trauma/defining moment. Do any of you have a defining/disturbing movie moment from when you were a child?

See you tomorrow!

It Could Be Worse Week

2008-10-17T00:00:00.001-06:00

Well everybody, it could be worse out there. We could be stuck with crappy pop culture, we could be living in a comic book with insane criminals EVERYWHERE, we could be livining 100 (or even 50 years ago), or we could be stuck in the Sahara as slaves to nomads. But...guess what? We're not, we live in amazing times and, no matter what happens on the stock market, we are blessed.

Thanks for all you readers out there, and I hope things get better for you. I know pop culture doesn't ultimately mean much, but I think we can use it to better understand our place in life. You all enjoy your weekends and I will be back next week. In the meantime, I'm off to play Mass Effect! Thanks Mr Lil' Sis!

It Could Be Worse Week: Skeletons on the Zahara

2008-10-16T00:00:00.001-06:00

For the last couple of weeks I have been reading one of the most amazing stories of survival that I have ever read. You see, back in 1815, just after the War of 1812, an American trading brig shipwrecked along the west coast of Africa, just along the Sahara. They were captured pretty quickly by the natives and sold into slavery.

Dean King extensively researched this event, and wrote the book Skeletons on the Zahara by focusing on two critical books published right after the events. Both the captain, James Riley, and one of the crew members, Archibald Robbins, published accounts of their experiences, and both of these books because best sellers in their time. These books were read by people as powerful as Lincoln, and it is assumed that they helped to support the abolitionist movement.

What of the best parts of the early chapters of this book was the discussion of international relations at the time. America and Britain had just ended a war that saw the White House burned down. No one was sailing commercial or trading ships at the time due to the war, so this was one of the first trading vessels sent out after the war.

It is amazing to see how the nomads of the Sahara lived in the early 1800s. They lived off of very little, just some camel milk and rancid water for weeks at a time. It seems like a large part of the local economy came from shipwrecks, allowing the nomads to get plenty of gold, cloth, food, and other goods. The nomads roam and trade and occasionally join large camel trains to make very large deals in and around the large local cities.

What struck me the most about this book is what the American sailors actually went through as slaves in the Sahara. They went without water to the point where their tongues were swollen and brittle and their bodies were poaching joint fluid just to keep them going. They were beaten and forced to work. They were starved to the point that they they lost over 100 pounds in two months. They were forced to drink their own urine and camels' urine. It amazes me what these men went through. Every time they were on the verge of giving up something would happen to bring their hopes up just a bit.

Captain Riley was an amazing man. He was able to convince one of his masters to buy up four other men so that he could bring them to freedom. He told his master that he had a friend in Morocco (where the Americans and the Europeans had embassies) who would be willing to buy their freedom. This was a lie, but he never gave up. He pushed it and pushed it, assuming he would figure it out when the time came. Ultimately, obviously, he was able to make it out, but not all of his men were so successful.

This is a fantastic and incredibly interesting piece of history and you should check it out.

It could be worse, you could be a slave on the Sahara, forced to drink your own urine and starving to death while being beaten by people you are terrified of and do not understand. (See? That's pretty bad huh?)

It Could Be Worse Week: The 1900 House

2008-10-15T00:00:00.001-06:00

So, lets tell a long, rambling story to get us to our point. Back about five years ago or so I was sitting in a hair salon, waiting patiently for the future Mrs Titan to have something or other done to her hair. Anyway, I was desperately searching for something to read that wasn't about celebrities sleeping with other celebrities, or the 50 Best Ways to Satisfy My Man. I ended up picking up the manliest magazine in the joint, O Magazine.

It it was an article about Oprah herself, or maybe her friend or something, going to visit the set of a PBS reality show called Colonial House. The first thing to catch my eye: PBS reality show. Wow, what was the world coming to? Then I read a little about the show. Since then, Mrs Titan and I have seen three of the "House" series.

This weekend, however, we watched the first of these, 1900 House. So, what is the House series? Well, they set up a house (or in later cases a village or community) with period accurate items, and then a family (or multiple families) live there for three months. The 1900 House was filmed in Britain in 1999 and featured the Bowler Family. The Bowlers, made up of a mom, dad, three daughters, and one son, had to deal with 1900 living for three months, and their adventures were fascinating.

They are forced to live as if in 1900, so no electricity, just gas lamps,. No central heating, just a range (kinda like a big cast iron stove). No indoor toilet, but they do have indoor running water (with no hot water heater, just a boiler in the range). They have no dishwasher, no shampoo, no washer or dryer, and are not allowed to eat or use any products that weren't commercially available in 1900 London.

This show (and the others like Colonial and Frontier House) is the best at showing what life was really like in these times. Not only are they only allowed to use items that would have been used, but they do their best to stick to the social and moral norms of the society at the time. The women need to be fully dresses in corsets and dresses at all times. They are not allowed to take jobs outside of the home, and they actually seem to have to work harder than the men.

This show is a fascinating look at history and at who we are now. How spoiled is the average American or Briton (this is the worst in Frontier House)? We take so many things for granted, and I, for one, am very happy that we live when we do. These shows do not glamorize the past, they show the past for what it really was: hard. Anyone with any interest in history and how far we've come should check out these shows, there is a list of sequels at the end of this link. I hope Outback House or Schwarzwaldhaus 1902 (Black Forest House 1902) come out on DVD some day!

So, it could be worse, you could be living 100 years ago and have to work twice as hard to accomplish half as much.

Also, if you're a woman, it could be worse, you could be a second class citizen who is barely recognized as contributing to society.

Nothing has made me more greatful to be a modern American than these shows. Please rent them and check them out. And PBS, please make more reality shows, I like the way they show the best of people, not the worst. Thank you.

It Could Be Worse Week: Showcase Presents Superman: Part 11

2008-10-14T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is the eleventh of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Grand Comic Book Database.

Action #246

"Krypton on Earth!"

Long Story Short: "A 'swindler' wants diamonds more than money."

Jonas Smith a, frankly, crazy real estate promoter creates an island development which is a replica of Superman's home planet, Krypton. A quote: "That atomic plant will heat all homes! We're using all of Krypton's best features, even their clothing! And it will be a community free of slums!" And there will be no criminals! How? Well, "When families buy a home here, each member's fingerprints are checked with the FBI files." You know, all of this sounds very illegal.

We shortly find out that Jonas Smith is actually "Swindler" Smith (gasp!). Superman is invited to attend a ceremony where he is crowned the honorary king of of Krypton-on-Earth (there's that modesty again). A giant statue/lighthouse is constructed in the image of Superman and the light beams from his eyes are suddenly turned to X-Rays, which will melt ships. First, light bulbs creating X-Rays?! Second, X-Rays melting ships??!! Back at the ceremonies, Superman gets choked up when he sees wax figures of his parents. You know, he seems to see them every other issue, and he has wax figures of his own in his Fortress of Solitude, why is he still crying about it?

Now it starts to get really weird. Smith has Superman perform all sorts of feats (remember, this is just to sell property). One of his feats involves creating diamonds from coals, which will be destroyed shortly thereafter. There is then a reenactment of Krypton's destruction, which seems a little odd considering Smith wants people to move to a replica. A fake planet explodes, which means Superman needs to save the crowd from falling debris.

Shortly after that a rocket with a baby is launched. Turns out it was a lead baby full of the diamonds that were never destroyed. Smith asks Superman for an autograph and he recognizes, using his "super-memory," Smith's fingerprints. He is quickly attacked with Kryptonite, but he is able to escape using a flag and some wind (seriously). He then rushes off to arrest Smith and his cronies. The next day he carries a branch of the Metropolis Real Estate Co to the island so that the people who already bought into the community will not be cheated. The community is then renamed Kryptonopolis. Neat!

Let's think about many of the richest people in the world today...how did most of them make their money? Was it diamonds? No! It was real estate. "Swindler" Smith is an idiot!

Anyway, it could be worse, at least our housing crisis was caused by greedy mortgage brokers and spurred on by silly legislation allowing for, and in fact forcing, stupid loans, and not some maniac who thinks he can make more money from diamonds than from real estate.

Also, it could be worse, we could be living in a world with an egomanical super hero with a God complex and who spends more times visiting celebrations and orphanage and trying to keep people from discovering his secret identity rather than actually helping those in need. That would just give us false hope!

It Could Be Worse Week: At the Movies

2008-10-13T00:00:00.001-06:00

All this week, after the stock market crash, and all of the other bad economic news, we are going to be celebrating "It Could Be Worse Week." A look back at why we have things better through the lens of pop culture. First up movies:

The Love Guru
Yes, we watched the Love Guru this weekend. You see, I have like Mike Myers since SNL, and I have seen most of his movies since. I really enjoyed Wayne's World, So I Married an Axe Murderer, the first Austin Powers and the Shrek films. By 2002, the third Austin Powers movie started to feel tired.

So, we were hoping to capture some of the economic excitement of the late nineties by checking out a Mike Myers movie, The Love Guru. It is a quintessential Myers film. Goofy and stupid with lots of silly jokes. The only difference is Myers doesn't play a lot of different characters, only one. There are a lot of cameos, with numerous celebrites showing up to see the Guru Pitka.

I honestly don't have a lot to say about this movie. It was okay, not great. It was a relatively enjoyable 90 minutes. The issue is, Mike Myers is really no longer relevant in the world of comedy. His material was great 10 years ago, but now it is just okay. People have moved on to the world of Judd Apatow and "realistic" style comedies. Myers' goofiness just feels outdated. If you like his older movies, you will probably get a chuckle out of this, but don't expect it to feel relevant. Comedy really has come a long way in ten short years.

So, it could be worse, we could be stuck watching Mike Myers movies instead of the great comedies we have in theaters and on TV.

The Miracle of the White Stallions
This movie is all about the Spanish Riding School (in Vienna) and their famous "dancing" horse breed, the Lipizzaners during World War II. This is a 1963 Disney film, and we got it because of Mrs Titan's love of horses. The film follows the director of the school, Colonel Podhajsky, as he evacuates the horses and tries to keep them safe during the war.

The film is well acted, even by the horses, and the whole thing was done with the permission and support of the Spanish Riding School. Part of the film was shot at the school and the actual horses from the school were used in the film. It was great to see the actual location where these events occurred. Podhajsky escapes to the country side with his stallions, but the mares were relocated across the line of demarcation, to Czechoslovakia. The climax of the movie comes when he must work with the Americans to try to recover his mares. Does he do it?

This movie is fast-paced, exciting, historically relevant, and very interesting. It is worth checking out for anyone who likes war movies, horses, dressage, or just a good movie. Check it out!

It could be worse, we could be trying to ezcape from the Nazi, American, and Russian armies with over 200 horses, representing a historic riding school.

Halloween is Coming Part 2!

2008-10-10T00:00:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! Here are some more costumes that I am sure you will wan to spend your money on for this Halloween!

Don't you want your dog dressed up as a sex slave from a famous science fiction series? I know I do!

You know, this guys actually looks a lot like the Joker! Look at his smug little smile. He doesn't care about anyone or anything, except chaos! It makes me want to put a wig on my dog!

Here's the same dog in a costume that makes him look cool and adventurous. I like the little arms, although every dog I know would spend most of Halloween just sitting there chewing his arms off!

A Playboy Dog! Eww. Just...eww.

Mail Order Awesomeness!

2008-10-09T00:00:00.002-06:00

Well, I finally got around to reading the second volume of Mail Order Ninja by Joshua Elder, Timmy Strikes Back. I don't know why I waited so long (that's not true...I do). The point is, it was great. It was a lot of of fun, much like Volume 1. This story picks up right after the first book, with Timmy living large and ruling the school with the help of his new ninja friend, Jiro.

Timmy's archenemy, Felicity, gets her own ninja, Nobunaga, and gets her hands on a magical statue that gives her amazing powers and turns her into a giant Venom-like monster. The book then jumps ahead a month and turns revolutionary tale, where the kinds fight back against Queen Felicity aka Big Sister.

This comic/graphic novel/manga has everything, disco ninja dancing, MC Nösblëd (aka "Sickest DJ in the midwest" whose "Preferred method of kickin' it" is "old school"), explosive shurikens, a flashback featuring the "Shinobi Academy Science Fair," "Mind Controlling Nutrient Paste," a CNA (certified ninja accountant), a secret underground resistence meeting, an authentic confederate cannon loaded with dirty underwear, kids with grenades, at least three pretty massive and awesome battles, and Timmy's first kiss! Plus, an awesome meta-joke about Tokyo Pop!

So, as you can see, there really is nothing I need to add. You need to pick up this book! It is cheap, only $5.99 and it is a ton of fun! This is something you can buy for your kids (ages 8 and up) and then steal it from them to read it first! It's fun for the whole family.

And a there is a preview of Volume 3, titled Ninjaz in Da Hood! Hip Hop Ninjas! Rapping Ninjas! The return of MC Nösblëd! I can't wait.

Amazing TV!

2008-10-08T00:00:00.001-06:00

I'm feeling a little under the weather today, but I want to say just a little bit about my favorite competitive reality show.

The Amazing Race is consistently one of the best shows on TV. If you haven't seen it, there are 11 teams of two people with a previous relationship, who race from one point to another trying to beat the other teams. The last player to the pit stop will have to leave the show.

The pairings often seem to be done to create tension and drama. This season features a newly dating couple with a super-overbearing guy, a long-distance dating couple, and a long-term married couple trying to get over the devastation of a cheating husband. All engineered to be exciting and dramatic. My favorite couples to watch, however, are the ones who work really well together. Altough, I guess we need bad guys to root against.

Each leg of the race has different challenges that the teams muct get through. On one challenge per leg they get to choose. Often between brains or brute strength. On another, one member has to face the challenge alone. These choices are often the source of fighting on the show and Mrs Titan and I always try to figure out what we would do if we were on the show.

I also love the show because we get to see all kinds of unique places in the world. It is always fun to see how other people live and how Americans react to it. It is great to see these other cultures and many of the challenges focus on some cultural aspect of the places the teams visit.

My only complaint with the show is that the episodes are too short. I would love to see two hour episodes, so they could focus a little more on the locations, and not just on the infighting. This would be especially helpful in early episodes where we have 22 people who we have never seen running around. It is hard to really get a feel for many of the earlier castoffs. UPDATE: Okay, seaching the CBS website I found Phil's Video Diaries. Check them out for some of exactly what I was talking about. (And see Phil Keoghan get whooped by a girl!) Check this show out! You can also rent past seasons on Netflix!

Showcase Presents Superman: Part 10

2008-10-07T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is the ninth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Grand Comic Book Database.

Superman #125

"Superman's New Power"

Long Story Short: "The Man of Steel gets himself another power."

This story starts, as most do, in the offices of the Daily Planet, where Clark Kent spots some "disturbances deep down in the bedrock." He flies to the core of the planet to repair some damage and on his way out he spots a "midget space ship." He touches it and it explodes.

Later Superman chases down a car full of fleeing crooks. They bash right though him, and he learns that he no longer has super strength, but he does have his invulnerability, so he is fine (you were all holding your breath, right?). His fingers then shoot rays at the car, and the crooks immediately give up. So, what was his new power? That's a mystery!

It turns our, he has lost all of his powers except the ability to fly...and his new power. The next panel reveals the mystery. He can create a miniature version of himself. What?! Yeah, that's it, that's his new, fancy power. The rest of the story consists of Superman shooting a tiny Superman out of his hands to solve the world's problems. At the end of the story the tiny Superman sacrifices himself on some falling Kryptonite and Superman gets all of his old powers back.

This may be one of the weirdest Superman stories ever. Out of all the "new" powers that Superman could have been given, a tiny double is just really bizarre. It was a fun read, but I'm pretty sure my mind has been blown. I think this may be the weirdest story in this Showcase, but I'm sure we will have plenty more when I get to Showcase Presents: Superman Family!

Religous Movie Mondays

2008-10-06T00:00:00.001-06:00

This weekend Mrs Titan and I watched a duo of religious movies that had almost nothing to do with each other and weren't really all that religious.

Luther

This five year old movie stars Ralph Fiennes as Martin Luther, the founder of the Reformation. I vaguely remembered the story from tenth grade history, and the movie seemed fairly historically accurate. It was great to see Rome in the Middle Ages, as a place where you could pay for your salvation, and the salvation of loved ones with cash. I have no idea how accurate those scenes were, but it seems like there would have been rebelling priests before Luther if it were as bad as all that. But, I guess he just had the courage and/or naivete to stand up to the church.

I think the think that struck me the most was all the violence in the wake of the Reformation. I don't remember the story being so violent in history class. It makes sense though. I really enjoyed the acting, although some of the characters were hard to understand, because they were German actors speaking in English. I will also say that after the 95 Theses were nailed to the door (about 45 minutes in) the movie slowed down and could get a little boring. Overall it was not a bad film, and quite an interesting historical piece. Check it out!

The Protocols of Zion

Shortly after 9/11 America and the world saw a rise in anti-Semitism. Marc Levin decided to investigate the reasons, and made a documentary of his discoveries. One of the most important documents leading to modern anti-Semitism is The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged document which purports to be the minutes of a meeting of all the top Jews in the world discussing how they plan to take over the world. It has been proven a fraudulent document published in Russia in the early 1900s to stir up hatred of Jews.

Levin finds that many people in the US still publish, read, and believe in the Protocols. These people are able to see "proof" of this hateful document in all kinds of world and business events. They are deluded and filled with hate. Over the course of the film Levin visits a New York newsstand, a mosque, rabbis, the headquarters of a white power organization, the premier of The Passion of the Christ, a prison, a white power broadcaster, an evangelical church, and even a Palestinian rally.

People are surprisingly open with him, telling him they hate him and his people. It's a scary thing, and he had to be quite brave to go to these places and admit to being a Jew. The prisoners and the evangelicals actually seemed to be the most educated of the people he meets. They make the most sense when it comes to their beliefs and they tended to be the most open to him and what he had to say.

I wish the movie was a little more structured, as it wasn't always easy to follow and assumed a pretty broad knowledge of history and religion going into the film. What I ultimately came away with is that the world is a scary place. Hate is easy to breed and propagate and people will grasp onto anything, including a hundred year old piece of debunked propaganda just to validate that hate. It is scary what some people believe and that they will ignore facts placed before them for a foundation of hate. I think this is a movie that every American should see, so we can truly understand the state of our country and the world.

Halloween is Coming!

2008-10-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

Well, it's the first Friday in October, so I figured we could check out some Halloween costumes that you might be seeing around this year. Here we go:

This is supposed to be Isabella I of Castile. Did this historic queen from the late thirteenth century become famous and I missed it?

Here is little Napoleon, so your little (aka short) boy can pretend to be a empire building dictator with a...well a Napoleon complex. Fun!

Now, anyone who has ever searched for Halloween costumes knows that the majority of costumes for women only come in the "sexy" style. Here is the most disturbing of them. A "Sexy" Sponge Bob "costume." Who would wear this?!

Here is another that just makes no sense to me. It's called a "shocker." Am I missing something? What is a shocker? Does this mean something dirty? I bet it does! If anyone knows leave a comment as cleanly as you can.

Here's another women's costume that is a little weird. The "Supa Pimp Mama Plus." You know, so you can slap your gigolo around (Supa Gigolo costume sold separately).

I think this is worst of all and will definitely give me nightmares. Seriously, this is not for the weak hearted. I am not sure why anyone would wear this and, if they did, expect to have any friends come November 1st. If I ever saw this guy I might just have to punch him square in the jaw. By the way this costume is called "Anita Waxin." Clever.

This one may be my favorite. How cute is this little chili pepper? I know what I'm forcing my future, hypothetical ,kid to wear! Lots of pictures!

Here is another one of the guy's costumes. Apparently the "sexy" costumes are becoming the standard for men as well. Although, this seems more pathetic and desperate than sexy. Poor guy. He must have a lonely genie.

When I was really young I watched the Care Bears. I think most children of the '80s did. I was never one for Halloween, but if I was, I would never have chosen Grumpy Bear. He was such a downer. But check out this kid. He is so happy but his hat is so sad or angry or sarcastic or something. Great stuff!

This is the cutest costume ever! The Lil' Stinker. Ha! Here is hypothetical kid's costume at age 2! By the way, I think the costume must come with its own stink smells 'cause look at that kid's face. Pew!

All of these pictures are from BuyCostumes.com, the web's most popular costume store! Check them out and watch out for the sexy SpongeBob on Halloween!

Showcase Presents Superman: Part 9

2008-10-02T00:00:00.002-06:00

Okay, first I have to say, sorry for the lack of a Superman post yesterday. Have you ever felt like the week was dragging on and you thought it was Thursday when it was really Wednesday? Yeah, exactly. Long week. Oh well, here goes!

This is the ninth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Grand Comic Book Database.

Superman #125

"Clark Kent's College Days"

Long Story Short: "One of the earliest Superboy stories."

This is the second of three stories in Superman #125. It begins with Clark getting an invitation to his college class reunion. He graduates from high school and immediately ships off to Metropolis U where he is mocked by the upper classmen for being weak and wearing glasses.

He snaps an oar on the rowing team, and has to blow out a light switch so he can escape his dorm room and put out a burring car. It reminds me of my college dorm, only we had burning couches outside the dorms and everyone would have been too drunk to realize I was Superman.

Clark is then in a class where he sees his professors newest invention. A steam powered robot! It developed a crack in class so Clark repairs it with heat vision. The prof notices and decides Superboy is in his class and needs to be "trapped."

The first test is a lie detector. Every student (I guess they are all boys) gets tested, but the bell rings right before the last student, Clark of course, can be tested. Randomly, he is then distracted, and nearly collides with a plane. So much for super concentration.

The prof then decides to drop two cannonballs off of a replica Tower of Pisa. He decides to fill one of them with explosives(!) to get Clark to use his X-Ray vision. Instead he flies off to dig holes for the balls to fall into. How he wasn't seen I have no idea. Luckily no one was killed!

Next, while Clark is cheering on the cheerleading squad (made up entirely of men!) he accidentally jumps too high (again with the super concentration). The prof is using his binoculors and would be able to spot him if not for the cannon smoke. So, he uses his super-speed to gather up a bunch of helium balloons to pretend he floated up there with helium. No, I have no idea why he wouldn't just use his super-speed to land! Wouldn't his chemistry professor realize that fourteen small helium balloons could not hold a full grown man aloft?

Finally, the prof takes Clark to a cave and corners him with kryptonite. He is able to stab the wall with his fingers discretely and releases some kind of gas that slowly poisons his prof and class. Well, not really, it just puts them to sleep. He is then able to rescure them all as Superboy. At the very end the prof is finally able to run his lie detector test on Clark. He passes on the question of "Are you Superboy?" Why? Because he is no longer Superboy, he is now Superman! *sniff* How sweet!

The Curse of Chalion

2008-10-01T00:00:00.001-06:00

About a month ago my mom forced a book on me and said "This has to be the next book you read." Well, I was using a system (obviously) to pick my next book from my huge shelf of unread books after each one I finished and I tried to explain this to her. She told me to quit being silly and to just read this one next. It was Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion. I decided I better do it lest Mrs Titan and I be uninvited to Thanksgiving dinner.

I had never heard of Lois McMaster Bujold before this, but she is a science fiction and fantasy author who has won four Hugo awards for best novel (a Hugo is the most prestigious scifi book award there is). Well, I'm glad that mom forced me to read this, because it really was a fantastic book.

The Curse of Chalion is the first of Bujold's books set in this particular fantasy world. This isn't your standard fantasy world with elves and goblins and whatnot. There are only humans, and there is no magic (unless you count the acts of the gods). The world is fully realized, with its own hierarchies and political structures. The story of the curse of Chalion is all about these courtly politics, but it is a lot of fun.

We focus on the main character, Cazaril, who has just been released from slavery and is making his way back to his homeland. He winds up in a minor province where he earns himself a position as the secretary/teacher of the sister of the heir of a major nation. She the heads to the capital where the entire cast of characters get caught up in all kids of intrigue and adventure.

One of my favorite aspects of Bujold's writing is that the characters actually follow the rules of the world they live in. This sounds obvious, but so often in fantasy and scifi novels, characters act with values and characteristics of modern Americans. Bujold's characters are realistic, believable, and act as if they were raised and live in this world and even though we may not agree with everything they do, we understand them and understand why. It is refreshing.

There is not a ton of action, which is not a bad thing at all, the book was easy to read and felt very fast paced. Some of the theological discussions went a little over my head, but this did not take me out of the story at all. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story, whether they llike fantasy novels or not. I look forward to reading the rest of the Chalion books and more of Bujold's writing.

There mom, I finished it. Now can we come to Thanksgiving dinner?

The Soupiest Week Ever

2008-09-30T00:00:00.002-06:00

Have you ever found yourself watching some awful, reprehensible reality show that you just couldn't stop watching? You know, like some horrible car wreck that you just can't stop staring at? Well, that has occasionally happened to me. I remember about five or six years ago, before Mrs Titan and when I had way to much time on my hands, partaking in things such as Joe Millionaire, Real World, and Road Rules. I thought that everyone on the show was pathetic and watching them made me kinda sad, but I just couldn't turn away. This doesn't happen so much anymore. (So long Big Brother).

There are two shows that Mrs Titan and I watch just about every weekend to help us deal with this issue. The Soup and Best Week Ever are a couple of cable shows that basically take the week's events, with a strong focus on Reality TV, and mock them with no mercy. We get to see the worst of these shows without having to sit through them, and then we get mocking commentary that we agree with and can laugh along with.

It's kind of a guilty pleasure with much less of the guilt. I don't have to sit through an hour of Tila Tequila to watch social retards eat pig penises (hrm...lil' sis). I can just watch them and laugh at them while I sit on my moral high horse and enjoy myself. It's great fun and both of the shows come in their own fun and easy to consume bites. They are both thirty minutes long and are crammed with hilarious clips.

The Soup is by far our favorite, with Joel McHale and his snark beating the kids at their game over at Best Week Ever. Joel is able to step above the fray while recognizing that what he does is silly and, ultimately, pointless. He is able to talk about these reality "stars" as they really are and can make us understand the pathetic lengths they will go to to achieve this "stardom." He also goes above and beyond in mocking his own network almost the worst of these offenders.

Both of these shows air on Friday nights, The Soup on E! and Best Week Ever airs on VH1 and both make for perfect Saturday morning viewing. We love these shows because we can pretend we are staying above the worst, while reveling in them. Check them out and enjoy them the way we do. You'll be a better person for it.

I'll be back tomorrow with the Superman update.

Chekov and Pam!

2008-09-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

First I want to apologize about the low content mode I fell into last week. I had things going on in the evenings and I just didn't feel like writing much. But, I'm back this week with what I hope will be a full week of content!

Charlie Bartlett

It is hard to really tell who the movie Charlie Bartlett was made for. It is all about a very mature and rich high school kid, Anton Yelchin, who's entire reason for being seems to be to make friends. He has already been kicked out of multiple private schools before being forced to go to the local public school.

He is immediately targeted by bullies, but before the twenty minute mark, has converted them to his cause by setting up a business deal. He then begins counselling his other classmates and is even able to prescribe drugs for his patients. Everyone in his new school begins to like him more and more and by the end of the movie they are chanting his name. But, of course, at the climax of the movie, he has to make a decision that could cause him to lose his popularity if he does the right thing.

Anton Yelchin is fantastic. He is able to show a full range of emotions, he can act like a high schooler, and yet has the ability to become someone much more mature. He can even do all kinds of accents. He is going to be playing Chekov in the upcoming Star Trek movie (!) and Kyle Reese (the uncle of John Conner) in Christian Bale's upcoming Terminator movie. I can't wait to see more of him, and I am sure he will put on fantastic performances.

The movie is full of cussing and there is even a quick scene of nudity, giving it a hard R rating. This isn't a film like Superbad, and it seems like the R rating may have caused it to lose a lot of its potential audience of high schoolers. It has a great message and is a lot of fun. Robert Downey also has a pretty sizable role, and is quite good in the film as well. Definitely check this one out.

LolliLove

Mrs Titan and I decided to check out LolliLove because it was written and directed by Jenna Fischer, aka Pam Beasley of the Office. She wrote it in 2004, before her name-making turn on the Office. It is a mockumentary about a rich couple who decides to do something for their community, so they decide to provide lollipops, with inspirational messages on them to homeless people. What an idea! It is played as silly as it sounds, and it has quite a few laughs.

There are also some fun cameos in it. Jenna Fischer stars with her then-husband James Gunn. Judy Greer, Linda Cartellini, and Jason Segal all show up, thereby connecting this movie to Freaks and Geeks and making it awesome. There are also appearences by real homeless people in LA, who I hope knew were going to be in a mockumentary and didn't think it was real.

The production standards of the movie were pretty low. It kinda seemed like a film student's project, with poor sound and low quality film, etc. I couldn't tell if this was intentional or not, but I assume it wasn't. Either way, it was fun, but a little bittersweet what with the breakup of James and Jenna (I think the wedding footage in the movie was genuine). I would only recommend this movie to people who are hardcore Jenna Fischer fans, or just curious to see what she might be able to do with a movie.

Desperate Plea!

2008-09-24T00:00:00.001-06:00

I love How I Met Your Mother. Mrs Titan and I are so happy about the forth season premiere last night. It is a great show. I know I have mentioned it here before. If you aren't already watching it, you should be.

However, there is something that has been bothering me all day. Mrs Titan pointed out that the closing logo, showing that it is a Bays Thomas production, is of Laika aka Muttnik. Yeah, that one. So, two of my favorite things are somehow connected. I have searched everywhere and cannot figure out why. If anyone knows why Carter Bays or Craig Thomas chose this image for How I Met Your Mother, I would love to know. I listened to all of the commentaries on my DVDs and I couldn't even find the image on the entire internet! I had to pull this form a DVD screenshot!

If anyone knows anything, or knows anyone who knows anything, please let me know.

Superman Extra

2008-09-23T00:00:00.001-06:00

I don't have a Superman Update for you today, but check out some history of Superman being a jerk at SuperDickery.com. There is some good, wacky stuff there and it just goes to show that being as powerful as Superman just makes you a big jerk.

Into the Wild

2008-09-22T00:00:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it here on the blog, but one of my favorite non-fictions books lately was Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. It is the story of a young man, Chris McCandless, just out of college who gets rid of all of his possessions and decides to go live in Alaska on his own. The story focuses on his journey there, who he meets and how he touched those around him, before following him to Alaska to explain his downfall.

The movie, starring Emile Hirsch, is a pretty great adaptation of the book. We get to meet many of the people Chris met in the book and even a couple new additions that really fit with the story. The movie also doesn't hint at his death like the book did. I imagine if I saw the movie without reading the book it would have had a larger emotional impact on me. As it was, I knew what was going to happen and it was a meh moment for me.

I thought Hirsch did a fantastic job in this movie. He was incredibly believable as a young kid who was overly philosophical and had more ideals that he knows what to do with. The other actors were superb as well. It was great to see all of these fully realized characters. Even if Vince Vaughn did kinda jar me out of the movie for a couple minutes.

The biggest difference between the movie and the book, as far as I can remember the book is that the movie essentially blames what happens to Chris on his parents. The film made it seem like the only reason he ran off to die was because his parents were terrible people and they messed him up good. The book mentioned his parents and their issues, but did not place blame on anyone.

They also seemed to make his actions seem heroic, which is silly. McCandless was basically just a young, naive, idealistic kid who was very selfish and got himself killed. It was tragic, but not heroic. He abandoned everyone who loved him, including his family and all those who he met and touched on his journey. What was really sad was that right before he died, he realized what he did to those he loved and regretted his actions. It is a tragic, but good story. I would recommend the book over the movie (does anyone ever do the opposite?), but they are both worth checking out.

Now, lets see if I can find any more movies or books about loners who go to Alaska to die. I think I see a trend here. Hmmm....

Content Free or Free Content?

2008-09-19T00:00:00.001-06:00

I am all tapped out of ideas for a post today and I would rather play Medieval Total War 2 then try to think about something. So please, watch the first episode of Arrested Development and then go out and buy all the seasons (or, and this is top secret) just watch them all on Hulu.com.

Laika

2008-09-18T00:00:00.001-06:00

Laika is one of the very best graphic novels I have ever read. Written and drawn by Nick Abadzis, it is based on the true story of the very first animal in space. Laika starts with the Chief Rocket Designer, Sergei Pavlovich being released from the gulags and realizing that he is a man of destiny, ready to change the world. Then we get to see the young mutt, Kudryavka (little curly), born to a high-ranking party official and soon given to the domestic help.

Kudryavka, later named Laika (barker) by the Chief Designer himself, has many adventures, becoming a stray, being taken in by a family trying to give their awful son some responsibility, and running from the dog catchers. Eventually Kudryavka ends up in the care of Yelena Alexandrovna Dubrovsky, the assistant for the dog-training sessions. Yelena and Kudryavka grow very close and it is the first time the little mutt feels safe.

The story then goes through the training that the space dogs had to go through as well as the design of Sputnik II. The entire launch was designed and launched only one month after Sputnik I, the first man0made object in space. This limited time meant that there was no time to design a way to return the orbiter to Earth. Anything launched would not return.

Abadzis takes this story, which is already sad and moving, and makes it even more so. He brings life and personality to this little puppy and is really able to demonstrate how the people in charge of the dog and the launch might feel. The story is hard to read at times, becuase we always know what is coming. Abadzis is able to show the confusion that any animal in this situation might go through, and it can be heart-breaking.

The art wasn't my favorite at first. A lot of it came off as sloppy, but it grew on me and was really expressive. Emotions were displayed really well and the overall experience was made big and important through his artwork.

If you want to check out a graphic novel, or just want to learn more about this amazing animal, check out this book. It's fantastic.

Grizzly Man Diaries

2008-09-17T00:00:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this here before, but one of my and Mrs Titan's favorite documentaries is Grizzly Man, the Werner Herzog film about crazy Timothy Treadwell, the naturalist who spend every summer for 13 years alone in the Alaska wilderness with tons and tons of grizzly bears. It is a great movie that makes you both depressed and a little weirded out.

Well, recently, Animal Planet decided to take it a little further. They put together a show called The Grizzly Man Diaries, which combines a massive amount of Treadwell's video footage and still photos along with excerpts from his own diaries. The focus though is on the wilderness, not Treadwell himself. What he saw and experienced there was amazing and it is great to see what Treadwell was really trying to do out there. The show is really amazing to watch. It has some of the best nature footage I have seen with a really interesting narrator to back it all up.

Here's the Grizzly Man movie trailer.

Here is a link to the offical Animal Planet website with the great music from the show. It fits perfectly with the story. You should really check this show out. Or at least the movie!

Showcase Present Superman: Part 8

2008-09-16T00:00:00.003-06:00

This is the eighth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Comic Book Database.

Superman #125

"Lois Lane's Super-Dream"

Tagline: "Lois dreams that both she and Clark get super powers."

Lois falls off a ledge at the site of the Metropolitan Science Fair, is knocked unconscious, and has to go to the hospital. for some reason she needs a blood transfusion, and she dreams that Superman gives it to her. In reality he just rushes off to Chicago to get her some rare blood type.

So, the first thing she does in her dream is fly away, put on a blond wig, and becomes Power Girl, and she works closely with Superman. No, not this new, disturbing Power Girl:

But a good old fashion Super Girl wannabe. Shortly after working with Superman in the dream, Clark Kent is hurt. He gets a transfusion of her blood, and Clark gets powers too! So now there are three superheroes, Superman, Power Girl, and Power Man. No, not this hip, '70s Power Man:

But a clumsy screw up with glasses and a kickin' 70's porn style mustache (20 years early)!

Clark is a terrible superhero. He continues to mess things up and Power Girl has to fix them. But soon Power Man spots a sinking Mother Goose Excursion Boat shaped as a giant shoe sinking. He decides to go to a jungle, find some rubber trees, squeeze some rubber out of them, and create a giant life-preserver. Right as he makes it back, Power Girl evaporates the river and the kids flee to safety. Who knows why they didn't just pick up the boat and take it to land. Instead they decide to wreak ecological havoc!

Clark also creates earthquakes by landing, and changing into his outfit in front of store windows before Lois finally wakes up and mocks the real Clark Kent for being a failure while he winks at us from the last panel.

Bridge to Terabithia

2008-09-15T00:00:00.001-06:00

We watched a movie this weekend that I had heard good things about, but was hesitant to see because it looked a little silly. The Bridge to Terabithia, however, was as good as many of the reviewers claimed. It is the story of Jess, a middle-schooler who has no friends and a bad family life. He likes to draw and is quite a bit of a loner. He soon meets a quirky, artistic type girl, Leslie, who has an over-active imagination. So far it sounds kinda cliche, huh?

The two kids slowly become friends and soon find refuge from their lonely lives in the woods near their homes, where they create the mythical world of Terabithia, where they are the rulers and can do anything they want. This world is a refuge for them and a place where they can be themselves and finally be comfortable.

They have a few adventures in the woods with some CGI creatures that spring from their imaginations and it is obvious that these kids need an outlet for their lives. Their imaginations run wild, but seem like a lot of fun. Throught the story the kids face bullies at school and deal with them in some unique ways. They even learn that one of them isn't as powerful as she seems.

This movie isn't some Narnia knockoff or anything like that. It is very unique and is about these kids lives. Unfortunately it seemed to be advertised as a kids fantasy movie, which doesn't do this work justice. It reminded me of a nineties film like Radio Flyer or The War. It is a family film with heart and a message. There is a major twist near the end of the film with changes everything and is pretty hard to watch. It brings the kids back to reality and it really can be a lesson to kids.

My wife and I loved this movie. It was one of the best that we have seen in a long time. It was great to see a movie about life, love, imagination, and loss. It was not overbearing or preachy, it was just a great story with some great characters. If you want to see a really great family film, check this out.

The Events

2008-09-12T00:00:00.001-06:00

Reading comics blogs leads me to many complaints about comic events. You know, Infinite Crisis, Civil War, Final Crisis, World War Hulk, Countdown, Secret Invasion, all of those. Most readers seem to really not like these events and complain bitterly about them and then someone will make a comment that if they don't like them they should stop buying them.

Well, the comic book companies are smart. They know that we will buy anything to keep our collections complete, to get the whole story, and out of habit. We are creatures of habit and OCD, and that's okay, it also makes us loyal.

I, for one, happen to enjoy these events. I liked Civil War and World War Hulk, and am still enjoying Secret Invasion. I have fun watching how one event affects all of the characters in the universe. I like watching the characters interact with each other in a way that is not all that contrived. I like the fact that these events are, for the most part at least, world changing events. Now, I have only been reading comics for about two and a half years, so maybe all these changes will be slowly reversed. I don't know yet.

Now, I first started reading modern superhero comics by following an event, Infinite Crisis. I had no idea what was going on and quickly got lost and confused. I didn't know what was happening and I didn't realize that other books were tie-ins. I was brand new to the industry. I also saw a comic covered in characters I recognized, the New Avengers. I liked that one. I understood it even though I missed the Avengers: Disassembled and House of M story lines that came previously (and still, by the way, play a part in the Marvel Universe).

I was quickly hooked with the Avengers and began to see the ads for Civil War. I decided to check it out and tried to pick up the tie-ins, which got me hooked on some of the other characters. It was great fun. I wanted to find out what happened and I enjoyed every bit of it. It was a great introduction to most of these characters.

But then...shortly after, World War Hulk started, which involved all the other characters. And, a few months after that, Secret Invasion! Ah! I like these stories, but they are coming too fast. I understand why, we are spending money on them and buying them. But, I would love to see a break in events so people can recover (both financially in the real world and physically/emotionally in the Marvel U).

I realized these events were coming to quickly while reading the most recent issue of Ms Marvel that I read. A giant skrull was about to knock over a building in Manhattan and people were fleeing and Ms Marvel was trying to rescue them. Have you seen Civil War and WWH? Are there even any buildings left standing in Manhattan? Why would people go back there. Give the poor city a break Marvel. Let us really believe things are recovering or at least make the Universe believable, even though it would be depressing.

I know Marvel makes money, but there has got to be a way to spread these events out a little more. Maybe some smaller events spread out over only a few of the characters every year, and a big, line-wide event every three years or so. It would make more sense in the Marvel U and be easier on customer's pocket-books, while still allowing money-making events to be on-going.

How do you all feel about Events? Are they worth it? Do they add value to the Universe and characters that you love?

Red Rabbit

2008-09-11T00:00:00.001-06:00

I have been reading Tom Clancy novels for probably the last 10 years, and have been reading them in chronological order of publication date. I enjoy Clancy, as his writing is fairly straightforward, simple, easy to follow and usually quite interesting. His writing is my only experience with military fiction, so I enjoy the uniqueness of it compared to the other fiction I read.

Red Rabbit was originally published in 2002 fairly soon after September 11th. I though I recalled that Clancy said he couldn't think of a way to write a new novel based in the real world because of the attacks, but it might have been more because he had tapped everything he thought he could after the attacks that was in his realm of understanding. Either way, this book is set in the past, between Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October.

What I thought was really cool about this book is that it is, in part, based on real events. Mainly, that of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. However, this also made the book a little bit slow moving. I wouldn't call it boring, as I actually enjoyed all 618 pages of it, but not a lot actually happened in it.

We got a good glimpse of the early days of Jack Ryan and Mary Pat and Ed Foley, but setting the story around real world events meant that Clancy couldn't use his usaly technique of building up an intricate plan that is only thwarted at the last minute. In fact, the plan wasn't thwarted at all in this book, the heroes had nothing to do with the failed assassination attempt. That was a bit of an anti-climax.

Ultimately, this was a fun read for me because of my familiarity with the characters and my interest in the cold war. Check it out if you haven't read it before but already enjoy Clancy.

TV: Things That Make Me Sad

2008-09-10T00:00:00.001-06:00

Now, don't get me wrong, I was actually looking forward to Hole in the Wall. Mainly because of clips I have seen on of the Japanese version of the show, and this:

Then I saw the first episode, and it was horrible. The hosts yell and the contestants are some of the stupidest on TV. There is way too much talking and not nearly enough of the funny stuff. It's nothing like Wipeout, which is fantastic. It's not funny, but sad. If you want to witness the sadness, go here for the complete first episode.

Showcase Present Superman: Part 7

2008-09-09T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is the seventh of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Comic Book Database.

Action Comics #245

"The Shrinking Superman"

Tagline: "Superman shrinks because he wants to, not because he has to."

This story starts, like many others, in the offices of the Daily Planet. Lois is dressed in a parka because, you see, Superman has agreed to take her to see his Fortress of Solitude for a newspaper feature. Smart huh? Let's take a reporter to our secret hideout so she can share details with the world. Here are some of the thing Lois gets to see while she is there:

His "Super Tool-Chest" ie a box of giant tools
A bowling alley with 100 pins instead of 10
An "atomic powered robot" that he uses to try to beat the crap out of him
A super-creepy room devoted to Lois Lane, herself. Instead of being creeped out, she is very flattered.

Kandor, the shrunken Kryptonian city that Superman keeps in a jar (ah...I love foreshadowing)

A crystal ball which is really a two-way TV set that can contact Superman

Superman leaves Lois all alone to look around while he goes to some appointements (if I know Superman, it probably has something to do with orphans. While looking at Kandor klutzy Lois knocks the jar over and it cracks open. So, obviously a devious criminal, Zak-Kul breaks out. He is then able to re-enlarge himself (he musta used one of those emails I'm always getting) and use an "Electronic Plastic Surgery" machine with a Superman button to make him look just like our hero. He then takes the clothes off of a Superman mannequin to complete the disguise.

Lois realizes pretty quickly that Zak-Kul is not Superman thanks to a message from the real Supes on the crystal ball. The criminal immediately tells Lois his plans to shrink Superman. He then cuts off another Superman mannequin's head that falls and knocks her out. When she comes to she is able to get the shrinker/enlarger and is faced with two Supermen. You would think at this point Lois would be happy about having another option for marriage, but no, she has to figure out which is the real Superman.

She asks one simple question about some lame criminal and has made a decision, so she blasts a Superman with the shrink-ray. Turns out it was the real Superman. You see, he faked not knowing about a criminal for fear that if Zak-Kul were found out he would start a Super-Fight and wreck his temple to himself. Superman is then shoved back into the jar using tweezers. Zak-Kul, for no apparant reason decideds to assume Superman's identity and begins to save people, and even asks Lois to marry him. Score!

So, they live happily ever after. Well, no, you see, Lois still wants to know his secret identity. Fake-Superman gets nervous, so he decides to kill Lois by making her drive off of a cliff. And then...Superman swoops in a saves her. You see, he shrunk himself down so small that he fit between the atoms of the jar (FYI criminals, now you can all get out of Kandor!). He then re-embiggened himself and rescued Lois, who promply rips up the marriage license that she carried with her at all times. Phew, another marriage averted!

The Brother's Solomon

2008-09-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

Have you ever seen a movie that everyone hated, but you really liked? This doesn't happen to me often, but every once and a while I watch a movie that I don't expect much from and then really enjoy. This weekend it was The Brother's Solomon, a goofy movie written by SNL cast member Will Forte and starring both Wills Forte and Arnett.

They star as brothers John and Dean Solomon who were home-schooled in the Arctic and have absolutely no social skills, but are very good hearted and friendly people. Their dad falls into a coma and they learn that his last wish was to have a grandchild, so they search for a woman who will give them a baby. They eventually find another SNL cast member, Kristen Wiig to carry their baby. Much hilarity ensues.

I loved Will Arnett in Arrested Development, but has not really enjoyed him too much in any other recent films, because he is always playing stupid or arrogant jerks. It was nice to see him trying to be nice and screwing up royally in The Brother's Solomon. Will Arnett has never been my favorite SNL cast member but I enjoy his goofy thought process and really liked seeing him here. Kristen Wiig is one of my favorite SNL cast members of all time, but she was playing the straight role in this movie, and she was surprisingly good. She is good enough to do drama if she wanted to. Thank goodness she doesn't want to.

So, I mentioned I liked this movie but most critics seemed to hate it. How do I know this? Well, thanks to RottenTomatoes.com, I can find out what critics think of movies. So, what did they think of The Brother's Solomon? Well, 16%. That's pretty terrible. A "good" movie on Rotten Tomatoes will be around 80%. So, here is a case where I really liked a movie that critics hated. It isn't too surprising, but it can be disappointing sometimes.

What isn't disappointing is The Brother's Solomon. It's a lot of goofy fun that ought to make you laugh out loud a few times. It's not high brow or classy, but it is a lot of fun, check it out!

Taking Orders From the Pope!

2008-09-05T00:00:00.001-06:00

I've been busy all week taking orders form the Pope and whooping up on the French! It's great fun and way too addicting!

Yeah! Medieval II Total War! Get it and have a great time ignoring your friends and family! You won't regret it. Well...you might, but not at first!

Mad Men

2008-09-04T00:00:00.001-06:00

I don't know how many of you watch Mad Men, but I'm guessing it's not too many of you. This amazing A & E show only had about 1 million viewers in its first season. According to the Los Angeles Times, "After drawing an impressive 2.1 million viewers in the first episode of its second season, “Mad Men” has reportedly lost a cool million in the weeks since. " The second season had a huge uptick in viewers and then they all went away.

This is terrible news. Mrs Titan and I have been watching Mad Men from the very beginning and early on we really liked it. It was so well put together. The sixties really came alive and it was very interesting. The problem for us was that as the first season went on it began to loose it's luster. It kinda got boring for us and let us down. In fact, we were waffling on whether or not to tune in to the second season.

It's a good thing we did. While the first season seemed to focus WAY to much on everyone's affairs, the second season seems to focus a little on those consequesnces and a lot on the buisness of advertising in the 1960s. I had a hard time believing that just about everyone and their mother was having an affair in the first season. It made many of the characters unlikable and it got a little old.

The second season focuses on the business. It's great. How do you advertise for American Airlines after one of the first major crashes? How much should the focus be on TV? I really love seeing real products. Sterling and Cooper ditched Mohawk Air to try to win American Airline's business. These business decisions and the way people react to things in the world of the '60s. New Xerox machine? Might cause infertility. Great stuff. If you are not watching this show, check it out. Go rent Season 1, sit through the boring stuff and enjoy! You'll thank me!

Showcase Present Superman: Part 6

2008-09-03T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is the six of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from the Comic Book Database.

Action Comics # 244

"The Super-Merman of the Sea"

Tagline: "Superman = Aquaman"

This story starts with Clark Kent leaving or a two week vacation of patrolling Metropolis and the world. Fun! Soon he sees a rocket slam into the ocean and when he goes to rescue the travelers her finds that they are mer-people from the Water World (you know, like we live on Dirt Planet). Superman mysteriously decides to stay underwater with them and leaves a stupid note floating on the surface for a sailor to see "AM UNDER SEA EXILE SUPERMAN." A one panel interlude shows Superman telling the merman that he is going to abandon the surface world forever. Is this the end of the Superman we know forever?! No, it's not, don't be stupid.

Jimmy Olsen decides to investigate and can't figure out why Superman is not coming back up, so he decides to go down under water and ask him. Turns out Superman is building an underwater Fortress of Solitude and he includes a big sign " Superman's Fortress of Solitude Submarines and Divers Keep Out". That should work well. As soon as Jimmy shows up Superman waves him away. It appears that Superman wants to be Aquaman as he monitors the seven seas. But, the best part? He uses a Guided Missile Whale (!) to gather deep sea specimens.

Lois ventures underwater next and sees Superman acting like he is in love with a mermaid. She follows them and finds another building "Home of Mr. and Mrs. Superman" with two thrones labelled "King and Queen of the Sea" inside. Again, Superman is incredibly modest.

The nations of the world decide they need to capture Superman and interrogate him to figure out why he ditched them, so they shoot a kryptonite tipped torpedo at him. I think I would have ditched them too! Superman escapes in his Guided Missile Whale and continues to help Vul-Kor the mer-man in his plot against to cover the entire surface of the planet in water using Global Warming!! Vul-Kor beings to weaken and eventually decides to abandon his plan on Earth. Superman had been poisoning him with extra salt in the water. He had to pretend to be on their side so they didn't call for backup. He poisoned them so they would never come back, but he had to abandon us dirt folk so that Vul-Kor would believe him. Genius! And perfect timing, he was done in enough time to get back to work after Clark's vaction!

Surfs Up!

2008-09-02T00:00:00.001-06:00

I was very pleasently surprised with the movie Mrs Titan and I watched last night. We checked out Surf's Up, the other animated peguin movie from 2007. The movie stars Shia LaBeouf as a young, cocky penguin from Antarctica who goes to compete in a tropical surfing competion.

It sounds pretty...well pretty boring and derivative. How many other films have we seen that are exactly like this? Well, as it turns out, not so many. Yes, it's plot was a lot like many other animated movies these days, but it was not like those movies.

It's filmed as if it were a documentary. It looks as if it were filmed with individual standing camera men. No big fancy shots for the action. There are interviews where you hear the producers ask the characters questions, there are shots film as if from mounted cameras on the surfboards. I was really impressed with the direction. I hardly ever notice the direction in animated films, but I did in this one and I loved it. It felt as real as a movie about talking, surfing penguins can.

It is a lot of fun, but it didn't seem as if it would be as fun for kids as it was for us. It was rated PG instead of G, and it just felt more adult than many of these animated films. We really enjoyed it, but then, we watch a lot of documentaries and could see what the film makers were trying to do. The story even had a couple of small (and predictable for me) twists that made the movie fun and gave it a decent message without being preachy. check this movie out and hopefully you will be as pleasently surprised as I was.

Labor Day!

2008-09-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you all get three day weekends and enjoy them! See you tomorrow!

The Darkness

2008-08-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

I want to talk a little about the darkness today. And no, I don't mean these guys:

Although, they do rock it pretty hard!

I want to talk a little bit about a trend in science fiction that is bothering me. That trend is the darkening of all things that should be fun.

For all of the love given to The Dark Knight, it just wasn't for me. I enjoyed the movie for the technical aspects, the writing, and even most of the writing. But boy was it depressing. It may have been a more accurate portrayal of what the Joker would be like if he was real, but the movie made me sad. It was way too dark for me.

And now this: "All DC characters will now be going the dark and brooding direction, thanks to the success of The Dark Knight." So, now any DC movies will be dark and depressing. No fun Green Lantern ala Iron Man. No Aquaman ala Entourage. Nothing I will really want to see. I have made my opinion clear that I prefer Marvel to DC, and if this keeps up and/or transfers to the comics, that will never change my opinion.

This trend is everywhere though. Let's look at one of my favorite series: Star Trek. Here is The Next Generation, 20 years ago:

Now, here is the most recent series, Enterprise: Even ignoring the dramatic shift in quality, there was a much bigger difference in the lightheartedness and fun of the show. At least DS9 had a good reason for being dark. This seems to have happened time and time again with sci-fi though. Battlestar Galactica, while a very high quality show, is also very dark and depressing. I would rather watch a Stargate any day!

I know these dark takes have been around for a while, but they seem to be permeating the mainstream more and more these days. I do enjoy a good tale about a dystopian future, but watching a weekly television series about one isn't as fun as most of the other sci-fi out there. I do think that there is a place for these dark tales, but if they continue to invade my favorite genres, I will likely begin to ignore them. Bring back the fun in sci-fi!

Honestly, who wants to see a dark and depressing version of Superman?

Lost: An Update

2008-08-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

Well, the new TV season is around the corner, but we have to wait until January for more Lost, so here is a quick update of the last four seasons to keep everyone refreshed. Please enjoy and don't forget to watch Lost when it comes back in :

Showcase Presents: Superman Part 5

2008-08-27T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is the fifth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.

Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from The Comic Book Database.

Superman #124

"The Steeplejack of Steel"

Tagline: "Superman becomes a steeplejack."

The first question I asked about this story is what the heck is a steeplejack?! Well, obviously a steeplejack is "is a craftsman who is prepared to scale tall buildings and in particular church steeples to carry out general repairs." In this case, someone who builds sky scrapers.

So, this story starts with Superman flying around Metropolis until he hears some cracks which he traces back to a skyscraper that us being built with "shoddy building materials." Instead of busting the builder right there, Superman decides to disguise himself as a construction working to figure out who is supplying the builder! Like a drug bust!

When Superman applies, as Kirk Brent, the builder realizes he must be a fake due to the lack of callouses on his hands, so he must be the city's building inspector. The builder decides to scare "Kirk" to make him quit. To cover up his abilities, Kirk does "gymnastics" on the top of the building. The builder even throws a hot rivet right at him (!). Superman is able to cover up who he truly is by quickly fashioning asbestos gloves! Don't worry, he can't get cancer.

Superman diverts a train, uses his heat vision, is smacked by girders, and is buried in cement all as attempts to keep his job and continue his investigation. He is then able to catch the builder and his supplier together, apprehend them, and reinforce and finish building the skyscraper all in one page. He then assures us that the two prisoners will have a great view of the newly named "Superman Skytower" from their jail cells. No ego on that guy!

Movie Tuesdays!

2008-08-26T00:00:00.001-06:00

We went to see Tropic Thunder this weekend, mainly due to good reviews and I gotta say, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.

For those of you who don't know, Tropic Thunder is about a movie within a movie. There are five stars, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, Brandon T. Jackson, and Jay Baruchel (of Undeclared, of course) who go to Vietnam to make a movie about the Vietnam War. They end up alone in the rainforest with no one to help them and are left to fend for themselves.

What the movie really does well is show how full of themselves these actors are. They are all self-absorbed and mostly unpleasent people. Ben Stiller plays an action star who is no longer as popular as he once was. Jack Black is a heroin addicted star known only for his roles in fart movies. Robert Downey Jr is a method actor who is so method that he dyes his skin black to get a role in this movie and almost never breaks character. Brandon T Jackson is a rapper-turned-actor who spends much of the movie trying to sell his energy drink, "Booty Sweat". Jay Baruchel is the best (and most likable) of the bunch as a young, new actor (no one knows his name) who is intelligent and not yet full of himself.

While this movie was fun, it was not incredible. There were a few slow parts, many jokes taken too far, and a story that was somewhat forgetable and/or predictable. Tom Cruise, as the movie exec wasn't as mind-blowing as the critics would have you believe. He was funny, but quite creepy looking.

This should have been a Netflixed movie for me, not a theater movie. It was the best Ben Stiller movie in a while, however, and Mrs Titan (as well as myself) was amazed that that really was Robert Downey Jr. It was also great to see Danny McBride again so soon after Pineapple Express. It was fun, but nothing worth swooning over. Rent it!

My Week Off

2008-08-25T00:00:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody, I'm back! This is where I was last week and why I was not posting. Missouri Lakes in the Holy Cross Wilderness, CO. Beautiful, ain't it?

The trip didn't work out entirely as planned, but it was great! We camped, we hiked, we made camp above 10,000 feet and then we camped again. We fished, we built fires and cooked food, we saw some things that few people get to see, and it was amazing. I didn't even get hurt until I got home! Oh well. Anyway, back tomorrow with Superman!

Number 100!

2008-08-18T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is my hundredth post! I had no idea I could keep this up for so long! Wow! I'm surprised. Anyway, no time for celebrations (unless you want to, then take your time), this weekend I saw the last of my 5 Movies I Couldn't Wait to See.

Pineapple Express, the latest Apatow masterpiece did not disappoint. It was full of wild humor and, of course, male arrested development. The story, in a nutshell, is all about a pot smoking slacker (Seth Rogan), who witnesses a murder and goes back to his dealer (James Franco) for help. They get caught up in a violent adventure.

This movie is, at it's heart, a stoner flick. However, it is the best pot movie I have ever seen. I am not a fan of drugs, or drug use, but this movie (somewhat) shows the consequences of drug use. Or, at least the fact that you will not really be able to reach your goals. Pineapple Express is not preachy at all. It's just non-stop action and fun.

The one criticism I have is that near the end of the movie the violence becomes a little extreme and can pull you out of the movie a little. Mrs Titan thought it went overboard and I heard a woman behind us say "This is too weird." It got a little distracting for me, but was never enough to ruin the movie for me. This movie was tons of fun! Go see it!

Programming note:

Mrs Titan and I am leaving tomorrow for a six day backpacking trip into the Colorado Rockies. There will be a distinct lack of pop culture on this trip, and I will not be able to post (obviously). Assuming we survive, I will be back in about a week give-or-take a couple days.

I Knew I Liked Him For Some Reason

2008-08-15T00:00:00.001-06:00

From an Entertainment Weekly interview with John McCain:

Who controls the remote at home, you or Cindy?

Sometimes I win the arm wrestling contest, but   foolishly she continues to try to assert her control over the   remote. This is a battle that will continue for a long time. But there are shows we agree on. We like the reruns of Seinfeld. I really like Curb Your Enthusiasm. I kind of like Dexter, too, although it certainly has a macabre side to it. I'll tell you that Cindy likes Big Love — I haven't watched it much, but she enjoys that. And I like The Wire a lot, too. That's a great show.

The way I see it:

And that's a vote I can cast! Go McCain! The most crotchety, yet fun, President ever!

My "Company"?

2008-08-14T00:00:00.001-06:00

Okay, so before I begin this post I think we need a little bit of context. I work for a company that is a spin-off from Hewlett Packard (HP). HP used to manufacture all kinds of electronic equipment before getting into PCs and printers. About 8 years ago HP split into two companies, one that stuck with the computers and printers, and the other that stuck with the other, less consumer friendly equipment.

I have been with my company for about two years now, but every other one of my teammates has been there for a minimum of 25 years.! They know HP. They love HP. They are HP. Well, you know...even if they aren't actually HP, and haven't been for almost 10 years. I have heard all sorts of stories about "the good old days" where people were given everything, and had a good healthy fear of managers and upper management. Things were good. Then they got bad with layoffs and everything else that the business world has gone through in the last decade or so.

One of the stories I was told was about a couple of guys who got into a fight about donuts. You see, everyone got donuts every morning at the morning break and one morning a guy took two. Another guy, who was late, got nothing. Therefore, start a fight, right? So, what does this have to do with pop culture?

Well, Company by Max Barry, is a satire about the corporate world dedicated to HP! And, it starts with a story about a man becoming furious over not getting his allotted morning donut! Perfect. I was really excited about the book as soon as I read that early chapter. Then...not so much.

Barry's satire is good, but it's always too over the top for me. There is plenty of opportunity for humor in the office place (see The Office), but Barry's work seems so extreme that it is hard to believe. Company tells the story of a young man, Stephen Jones, right out of business school and starting work at a company called Zephyr Holdings (yup, sounds like me). After a few weeks at Zephyr Jones begins to question what exactly they do, and no one can answer him. HR and Senior Management are shrouded in secrecy and no one seems to know what they really do. they other employees are like sheep and refuse to question anything.

About 100 pages in Jones learns the truth. At this point the story does start to pick up a little bit, and I will admit that it was quite readable til the end. But, it's one of those books that is a quick and easy read but slightly unsatisfying. I was hooked at the beginning do to the relatable story, but after that I couldn't continue to care as much as I should have. All-in all it wasn't the worst thing I have ever read, but not the best either.

A Love Letter

2008-08-13T00:00:00.001-06:00

Dear TiVo,

I have already gushed all over about my love of you. I think you're great and wonderful, but I barely use any of your features. I never search for shows by actors directors or writers, I never use the "if you like that you will like this" feature, and I never allow the you to manage your own hard drive. However, a week ago I found something that tweaked my interest. Guru Guides.

Now, not just any Guru Guide. Again, I don't need someone else to recommend TV shows for me, even you, TiVo. I know what I like and what I want to watch. But, this was an Olympics Guru Guide. I could sign up, tell the you the events I was interested in watching, and you automatically recorded them for me. Awesome!

I live in Colorado Springs and went to college with more than my fair share of Olympians thanks to the Olympic Training Center here, so I wanted to check them out. Well, turns out these aren't the famous guys like Michael Phelps, they compete in some of the more unusual sports like Shooting, Modern Day Pentathlon, and Judo. Guess when those air? Yeah, 3am on MSNBC or noon on USA. I can't watch them live and I want to have to search for them. I just told you want I wanted to see and you just picked them out for me and stored them for me to watch at my leisure. You make life so easy.

Thank you for letting me watch the events I want to watch when I want to watch them. No trying to use NBCs incomprehensible website or trying to use some other guide. Thank you for being so wonderful.

Love Always,
Tom the Titan

PS. Thank you for never laughing at me for my embarrassing Season Passes like Big Brother.

The Perry Bible Fellowship

2008-08-12T00:00:00.001-06:00

The Perry Bible Fellowship is pretty much to opposite of what you think it is. It has nothing to do with the Bible, any kind of fellowship, nor is anyone named Perry invovled. Instead, PBF is a collection of some of the most disturbing, funny, and disturbingly funny webcomics I have ever read. Nicholas Gurewitch, who has recently stopped writing this comic, claims that he chose that name because "'The Perry Bible Fellowship' is amusing to me, as a name, because it's probably the worst name for a comic strip ever."

The comic however, is incredible. Every strip takes some cliche, stereotype, or joke, and turns it on its head. Each strip is only three panels long and every one is self-contained. There are no recurring characters and very few recurring themes, but each strip is pretty hilarious in its own right.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Go check out all of the PBF at their website, or pick up the book, The Trial of Colonel Sweeto here.

Born Into Brothels

2008-08-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

One of the best documentaries I have ever seen is Born Into Brothels. Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman set about making this documentary by taking cameras into the poor slums of Calcutta to teach the children of prostitutes photography. Their ultimate goal seems to be bringing to light the way these kids live as well as helping them get into schools.

The kids are the real stars of the film. They are all adorable and it is great to see their personalities come out in this pretty terrible environment. Prostitutes scream at them, the fathers (if they are still around) are on drugs or selling them, they are all forced to work before the age of ten, and many of the girls are already being encouraged to join "the lineup." It is amazing that these kids can keep such positive attitudes about life and their future.

Throughout the film "Auntie Zana" takes the kids around so they can take pictures at the zoo, the beach, etc, all the while trying to get them all into good schools. The movie showcases these pictures and some of them are truly great. The best photographer, Avijit, is even invited to Amsterdam to participate in a gathering of young photographers from around the world. Briski has to struggle to get him there through Indian bureaucracy and his own apathy after the murder of his mother.

The film ends with a little bit of where these kids end up. Some go to school, but others are pulled out by their parents so they can work. Others give up and continue their lives. We never learn if any of the girls join the line, but it seems almost inevitable. Born into Brothels was completed in 2004, and I was able to find an update on some of the kids.

This is an amazing film. I cried like a little girl at the end, but I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love it!

Red Thunder

2008-08-07T00:00:00.001-06:00

I got some books under my belt now, so lets start checking them out this week:

Red Thunder by John Varley is a pretty high concept book. Basically, what would happen if some average, normal people built a space vehicle?

The book takes place in the near future where the US and China are both attempting to get to Mars. It starts with a group of teens out joy riding on the beach when all of a sudden, they run over a drunk man. He survives by being pushed into the sand and the teens decide to drive him home. Turns out he is an infamous astronaut and the kids (unexplicably) befriend him.

They soon meet his idiot-savant genius of a brother who has invented what is essentially a magical device, kinda like a multi-dimensional bubble that can be resized to compress or inflate matter essentially infintely. This is an interesting concept and I can see how this can lead to amatuer spaceflight. And free energy!

Anyway, the brother also realizes that the American engine sending the astronauts to Mars is defective and will likely not complete the mission safely. So, what's the best solution? Well, build a spaceship and go up there to recue them themselves obviously. And along the way why not stop at Mars to get there before the Chinese?

Much of the story is far-fetched, the relationships are harder to believe than the science, but it's all in good fun. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and had fun with it once I got over the relationships and coincidences that didn't make a lot of sense. John Varley is kind of known for his pop-scif-fi and it shows. It was fun and a quick read. Check it out!

I will be at a funeral tomorrow, so I don;t know if I will have a Friday post, but I'll try. See you later!

I'm Back Baby!

2008-08-06T00:00:00.001-06:00

First, I want to apologize to everyone for the extended outage. I had assumed that I could get a replacement computer a lot more quickly than I really could. So, after waiting forever to get the box from FedEx, getting a non-working montior, and then waiting about a week and a half for a working monitor, I am finally good to go. I have finally moved all of our pictures and music to the new computer, played around a little with Vista (I like it), and played about an hour or five of Crysis.

I am finally ready to get back to blogging, I have missed it! For those of you new to the blog or those just needing a reminder, you can check out my daily plan for posts here.

So, today is a TV day. We're right in the middle of the summer TV slog, and I get by watching reality shows and other kinds of junk saved up on the TiVo. I also have about six weeks of Battlestar Galactica and Middleman saved up as well as three or four Stargate Atlantis's. Mrs Titan got into grad school and starts in three weeks, so I am saving them up for some lonely evenings and weekends. I have only seen the pilot episode of Middleman, but I loved it. If you haven't seen it, check it out!

I am dreaming about the new TV Season, hoping it comes back soon and has some great gems to watch and enjoy. Here are my top five new shows that I am looking forward to in the new season:

1. Crusoe
A retelling of the Robinson Crusoe story? A man shipwrecked and trapped on an island? Awesome! I think it looks fun. It's something different. A period piece with a narrative that is required to move forward. It should hinge on one actor, but the preview makes it look a little crowded. I am looking forward to it because I love tales of survival and Swiss Family Robinson was one of my favorite movies growing up, but I have my doubts that it will last more than 3 episodes.

2. Kath and Kim
This Aussie import looks bizarre. It's all about a mom and daughter who live together and a little too open with each other about everything. It sounds a little disturbing, but I think it will fit in perfectly with the rest of NBC's Thursday night shows. The other reason it looks like a lot of fun? Molly Shannon and Selma Blair.

3. Fringe
The new JJ Abrams show that looks like a cross between Alias and X-Files. That's something I can get behind as long as it isn't too creepy. I'm not all that into creepy shows, but this one looks like it can provide some great mysteries. let's just hope it doesn't fall apart like both Alias and X-Files.

4. Dollhouse
Joss Whedon. Elize Dushku. Sci Fi mindwiping. Can't get much better than this.

5. The Office "Spin-Off"
Well, it is no longer an official spin-off, just a new series by Greg Daniels (the creator of the American Office) and starring Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari. Hopefully this can live up to the legacy of the Office. I, for one, can't wait!

I'm Still Alive!

2008-07-23T14:09:00.002-06:00

This may shock you all, but the computer is still dead and gone. I ordered a new, very pretty, very fast gaming machine from Dell. It showed up last week. I plugged it in, my heart racing in anticipation for the glory that Crysis supposedly is and...well, nothing. The computer started, but nothing showed up on the monitor. After about an hour on the phone with the help desk I was informed that the monitor was bad and they would be shipping a new one right away.

That was almost a week ago and the new monitor is yet to ship. It is scheduled to ship this Friday, and if it does (and assuming that was the only problem) I should be up and running on the new PC by early next week. I doubt I will have any posts until the week of 8/4, what with setups and all, but I hope to be back soon. I miss posting for all my loyal readers (hi mom!) and I hope you haven't given up on me. I will be back with new content as soon as I can, and believe me, I have a lot to talk about!

I'll be back soon!

Bone - One Fat Book

2008-07-09T00:00:00.001-06:00

Just a small programming note: the computer has been acting suspicious lately...I think it wants to die. I have seen this before. I know the signs. Blue screen of death, extra slow, weird random errors, it's all there. It took me about 30 minutes just to get onto Blogger here to make this post. The point is, if at some point there are no new updates for a while it is likely because the computer finally gave up the ghost. I will be back once I replace it. [EDIT: The computer died before I finished this post, I had to post it from work. I can't be making regular blog posts from work, so we may be on hiatus until a new computer has been procured]

Okay, so, book post today. For this post I want to talk about one of the biggest books I have read in a long time: Bone: One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith. Now, I know what you are saying. Bone, isn't that a comic and not a book? Well, sure, it was, but now every issue of Bone has now been combined into the One Volume Edition, a 1332 page behemoth of awesomeness. It reads more like a book than any comic I have ever read. I'm calling it a book.

Bone is broken down into three major storylines, nine chapters, and multiple subchapters in each chapter, but there is really one epic adventure of three small Bone creatures. I assume they are called Bone creatures because they look like bones. They are essentially cartoon characters, but they seem to fall into a more realistic valley.

The Valley is full of all sorts of characters: cute talking bugs and woodland creatures, evil rat creatures, a giant mountain lion, humans, and even dragons. Shortly after arriving in the Valley the Bones meet up with Thorn and her Grandma Ben, who have mysterious pasts. As the story continues the Bones begin to unravel the mystery while they embark on their own journey.

Every character is fleshed out and unique. Each one is fun to read in their own ways and Smith's world feels real. As is normal with most epic stories (ie Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, etc) the action starts out small and inconsequential and becomes more and more meaningful and life changing. Jeff Smith has created a new, epic, masterpiece and it really should be read by anyone who likes comics, epic stories, or just a good read. The story is moving and really touched me. I will say, I wish the One Volume Edition was in color, because from what I've seen Bone in color is beautiful. I also was a tiny bit dissappointed with the ending, but I think with anything that takes over 1300 pages and was read over the course of three months, it is hard to really make the most satisfying ending.

Also, I know Jeff Smith has a new comic series, Rasl, coming out now, and I totally plan to check that out once it his trades. Anyway, check this book out, it may be the most value you can get for your 26 bucks.

Ouch, Let's Laugh at People

2008-07-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, so have you ever seen that show on Spike TV called MXC? You know, the one where some comedians took footage from a crazy 1980s Japanese game show called Takeshi's Castle and redubbed it to mock everyone? You know, this show:

I loved that show! It was great fun watching people fall and hurt themselves while at the same time listening to the announcers mock them relentlessly. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Mrs Titan and I saw some previews for a show on ABC called Wipeout. It looked oddly...familiar. The previews showed people falling down and hurting themselves. Hmmm...

So, we checked out the first episode and at first I got very nervous. The hosts seemed to be taking the competition seriously. If this were a reality show where people competed and it was taken as a serious event, I would have been very disappointed.

Thankfully, once the competition got going, I realized that it was very much in the vein of MXC. The commentary isn't quite as funny as MXC, but the falls are as funny as always. Many of the people on the show were very stupid and/or out of shape. The hosts mock the players and even laugh at them when they wipeout. It's a great mindless summer show, and it is a lot of fun. Laughing at the competitors as they stumble and fall is a great guilty pleasure. If you've never seen it, check it out. It won't change your life, but it may make you smile.

Showcase Presents: Superman Part 4

2008-07-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

This is the forth of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.

Now, this won't be like most comic blogs with scanned pictures posted throughout. Mostly because I don't have a scanner, but the stories should speak for themselves, but also because I want to go through the whole book in the next few weeks, and I want non-comics readers to enjoy the kookiness that us comics readers understand from the Silver Age. While I may mock these stories, I am not making anything up, this is all straight from the comics! While I may mock, I love these stories and the character of Superman. This is great stuff! The cover scans are from The Grand Comic Book Database.

With this forth addition I am going to add my own Tagline for each story, giving a brief explanation.

Superman # 124

"The Super-Sword."

Tagline: Superman fights the Black Knight, who wields King Arthur's magic sword."

Clark and Lois are sitting together listening to the radio and trying to come up with a new story for the Daily Planet when they hear over the radio that a knight in armor was found floating in the north, trapped in a glacier. Clark immediately takes off as Superman when he arrives he realizes that they knight is alive (I know, I was shocked too).

The knight is placed in a cabin on the boat where he quickly breaks out and decides to steal stuff, because what else would a thousand year old man want to do? He is able to break into any vault with his sword. Superman rushes to stop him and is stabbed in the arm and leg by the Black Knight. He is then rushed to the to the hospital. A mob boss sees this on the news and finds the Black Knight, offering him $30,000 to borrow the sword. Superman shows up, is stabbed again and is fine. Well, guess what? As is the norm for these Silver Age stories, the Black Knight is really an elaborate ruse to trap the mob boss. He was played by Perry White and everyone has a good laugh.

"Mrs Superman"

Tagline: Lois and Clark crash land on a volcanic island so, obviously, they get married.

As Lois and Clark are flying back from reporting on a story, a meteor comes crashing down near their helicopter, forcing them to bail out. They land on a volcanic island, where Clark immediately slips away to change into Superman and get help. Turns out he can't. As usual, must be kryptonite. Yup, that meteor crashed into the volcano and is spewing kryptonite dust all over the island, creating a barrier that he cannot escape.

Superman decides there is no way they can ever leave so he reveals his secret to Lois and proposes. He sure gives up easy. She agrees as soon as Superman proves it really is him and some natives marry them. He builds her a house. As she is preparing for the wedding, there is an earthquake and the kryptonite falls so deep into the earth that the barrier disappears. He decides to back out of his proposal (cold feet) and begins to refute all of the proofs he gave to Lois when he proposed, claiming that he was Clark all along, faking Superman's powers with magnets, papier-mache, and a blow torch. He then secretly tosses out a message in a bottle so they will be rescued. Lois is pissed at Clark for lying and trying to trick her into marrying him, but they are rescued, and she pines for Superman even more.

I'll be back next week with more!

Why I Need a New Computer

2008-07-02T00:00:00.000-06:00

So, I have been a computer gamer ever since Warcraft II came out in 1995. Since then I have eaten up everything Blizzard has released. Diablo, Starcraft, Diablo 2, Warcraft III, all of the expansions, and even, to my surprise, World of Warcraft. I never thought I would be interested in an MMORPG, but they hooked me for a little over a year. I had to stop when I got me a job, and I have been tempted to go back, but I could never make that kind of time commitment to a game any more.

Anyway, I heard some fantastic news just a couple of minutes ago. They are releasing Diablo III. Now, you may have already heard that Starcraft II is coming as well, so now they have the whole gambit of games on the way. I can't wait! These game made me a gamer and I have all faith in Blizzard to make great games. They have never disappointed me, and I don't expect them to any time soon.

Just check out the sites:
Starcraft II
Diablo III

How exciting! I got chills when I heard the news about both of these! Hoo boy, thanks Blizzard!

Two other reasons for getting a new computer:
Crysis
Spore

Yeah! Awesome! I'm not gonna have any more posts until next week, as I am headed out of town to visit family for Independence Day. I probably won't have a post on Monday either, as I will be getting home late Sunday night. You all have a fantastic 4th! Stay safe and have fun! I'll see you all on Tuesday.

Showcase Presents: Superman Part 3

2008-07-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

This is the third of numerous posts on Showcase Presents: Superman. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the stories.

Action Comics #243

"The Lady and the Lion." This story starts, as many others seem to, with Superman performing for orphans. Were there hordes of orphans needing performances back in the fifties? It seems a little weird that Superman is always entertaining these kids. Superman then sees a earthquake taking down a temple in the Mediterranean. He rushes to rescue a temple girl and afterwards it turns out that she is the ancestor of Circe, the "legendary sorceress who could turn men into animals." It turns out, however, that she used to change men into animals with a serum, not magic. The fifties were all about the future, and science, none of that magic junk that they put in our funny books today.

Anyway, the girl then offers Superman a "drink of sweet mineral waters" as a reward. Uhhh...Superman? She just told you her ancestors could change men into animals. You silly, silly superhero. Turns out that he was given the famous serum (duh) and Superman must return to marry her or else he will "turn into the creature [he] most resemble[s] by nature!" Superman assumes it will not work on him. And I say it sounds like magic!

Shockingly enough, he turns into a lion the next day. He then feels he has to prove that he really is Superman to Perry and Jimmy and then takes off to get the antidote. Circe left in her space-ship, leaving a note carved into stone taunting him to guess which planet she went to. She also adds a classy "Ha, ha!" to her note. Awesome!

Superman then goes back to The Daily Planet to pout until Lois shows up and is disgusted. They had a date planned to go to a play, and what do they see? Beauty and the Beast, of course! (It's odd to me that Superman won't marry Lois because she could be at risk from criminals out to hurt Superman, yet he goes out on dates with her. Seems a little shady. Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free, right Supes?) Lois feels guity, so she kisses him, hoping it will break the spell as it does in the play. No go.

Off Superman goes to entertain some more orphans (!) where he lets them put their heads in his mouth. Fun! He then helps out a lion in a circus (who is also dressed as Superman), saves a safari by beating up a lion pride in Africa (awesome!), and considers joining a sideshow.

He soon decides to pout in the Fortress of Solitude and realizes the serum used kryptonite, so he assumes Circe was from Krypton. He then decides to do some research in a Kandor library using his microscopic vision. Of course, there is an antidote right there in a book. He makes and takes the antidote and goes to kiss Lois in payment for her kiss before he flies away into the sunset.

Good News Everyone!

2008-06-30T00:00:00.000-06:00

The new Futurama movie, The Beast With a Billion Backs came out last week, and it was the only movie we watched this week. And, truly, it's Futurama, so it's the only movie you need to watch. The movie was as good as the show always was. There are tons of inside jokes for those who followed the show (Pazuzu is back!), many secondary characters are back either in larger roles or in cameos and they are all a delight to watch.

This story is all about a rip in the fabric of our heroes' universe, connecting it to another, dangerous universe. Soon, tentacles begin to shoot out of the rip and take over the bodies of every living being in our universe. The Futurama crew must come to the rescue. Hilarity, and a bizarre universe-to-universe relationship ensues.

David Cross was great as a new, bizarre character, Yivo. Brittney Murphy played Fry's new girlfriend, and shockingly, she wasn't terrible as she usually is in most roles. I have to say that the movie wasn't quite as good as Bender's Big Score, and the ending wasn't as satisfying. That's not to say it wasn't good, just not quite as good as the last movie.

I doubt any of the movies will end quite as satisfyingly as the end of the very last episode, where Fry learned to play the Holophoner to show his love for Leela. That episode made me tear up, it was a perfect ending for the show.

But, thank goodness for the movies! I love them and I am so glad that Fox agreed to make more Futurama. I would love to see the show get picked up as a series, but that seems unlikely. There are two more movies coming out, the next in November.

For most everything I review, I put up an Amazon widget, but I am just as happy if you rent it to check it out. In this case, go buy it! I don't care if you go through my site, but buy this movie, and Bender's Big Score. It's the only way Fox will make more!

Happy Friday!

2008-06-27T00:00:00.000-06:00

It's Friday and even though I skipped a day I am still running low on material. Work has been crazy lately and what free time I have had has been devoted to a little TV some reading, and helping Mrs Titan study for the GMAT. I even got a little bit of time to play some more GTA IV.

So, I want to talk about something a little different. Not quite pop culture related, but fun nonetheless. I probably eat more fast food than I should. Mrs Titan and I eat out between three and five times a week (counting both lunch and dinner). However, we have one place that is above and beyond our favorite fast food restaurant (maybe favorite restaurant period). Chick-fil-a. Have you been there? There aren't locations everywhere. Only in 37 states. Poor left out 13 states. It started in Atlanta in 1967 and has been spreading north ever since.

Chick-fil-a is the very best fast food restaurant ever. Period. The food is incredibly good. Fresh, warm, tasty everytime. The employees, often high school students (it's fast food duh) are always polite, thoughtful, kind, and fast. Always. I have never been treated poorly. The few times that there has been an error with my order, something as small forgetting to add cheese, all I had to call and a week later I had a hand written apology note with a free meal. Wow! How great is that? The employees are eligible for a $2,000 college scholarship and the company closes on Sundays to allow them to have a day to be with family.

The thing is, the stores are always packed. Even at weird times like 2 in the afternoon there are people lined up to get some fantastic food. The stores are full of happy, smiling kids, adults, and employees. It actually feels good to go there. How many fast food joints can you say that about?

I almost always get the same thing: a regular chicken sandwich with fries and either sweet tea or lemonade. And to top it all off Polynesian sauce for fry dipping. Oh that stuff is good! If you've never had Chick-fil-a, take a trip and get some, it's better than any other chicken place. And, if you have been there before, try the Polynesian sauce for some extra goodness. Alright, I'm hungry now, I'm outta here!

My First TV Memory, A Geek's Tale

2008-06-26T00:00:00.000-06:00

Alright, I'm skipping the book post this week as (this should shock no one) I haven't finished another book in the last week. Instead, I'm going to make up for the lack of a real post yesterday and do a TV post.

One of my very first, distinct first memory of TV was when I must have been four years old. I snuck out from my bedroom, hid behind the couch while my parents were watching TV and saw this:

Yes, the giant black goo monster, Armus. I saw him as he sucked Riker in whole. It freaked me out as a four year old! That dude is scary! I immediately scooted my butt straight to bed.

I know I must have seen some other TV before then, but I can't remember any of it nearly as well as I remember that moment. I find that kind of funny, because as much as it scared me Star Trek: The Next Generation is now one of my favorite shows of all time. I have been a Star Trek fan since late in TNG's run and have watched every series since. In middle and high school I would come home every day to watch the syndicated episode on at 4 every afternoon while doing my homework. TNG helped to shape my morals and values and really molded me as a person in many ways. It taught me to value friendship, loyalty, love, discovery, education, science, acceptance, leadership and many other ideals.

The show has always meant a lot to me so I was very excited when I first heard that they were coming to DVD years ago. My mom and I even bought the first few seasons, even though they cost around $120 each! A couple years ago they released the entire series box set, which my folks got me for Christmas! Thanks folks! I have only one problem with the set. It may have the worst packaging of any DVD box set I have ever seen. It can fall apart at a touch and it is hard to get the DVDs out of the box. This is a shame considering how fantastic the series is.

For the most part the show has aged well and is still really enjoyable. I have been watching episodes while working out on my treadmill, and it may be one of the easiest ways to work out. I take pleasure in reliving all the old moments from my childhood and adolescence and getting to experience the new ones (either from episodes I missed or parts they left out when the series went to syndication). I love this show!

As a bonus, everyone should check out Siskoid's blog. He is has been watching and reviewing every episode of all Star Trek series (including the animated series), at one per day. No breaks for him! he started in December of 2006 and is almost through Voyager. Only Enterprise left and then he is done! I've been following along after my workouts and it is fun to see where we agree and disagree. Check it out from the beginning, from the beginning of TNG, or just read it starting now.

Finally, yesterday I read a post on Star Trek on Kevin Church's blog that kinda got me riled up. You can check it out and check out my comments. It was my first time leaving comments on someone else's blog and I hope I was civil about everything. It was kind of a fun discussion and I thought his readers and he were very fun to spar with. They are definitely good people!

Testing Begins

2008-06-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

Mrs Titan decided that she wanted to go back to school. That's a good thing. The bad thing: we only have one computer right now. She needs it tonight to study for the big ole GMAT. So, I don't have time to post. I'll try to squeeze in an extra post over the weekend.

The test is on Friday, so everyone wish her luck!

The Professor's Daughter

2008-06-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm going to take a break from Showcase Presents: Superman this week to tell you all about a different kind of comic that I read this week.

Back around Christmas time I was looking to try to get Mrs Titan into comics just a little. She's a reader, but hasn't really seen much value in the ole funny books. Valerie over at Occasional Superheroine gave me a few tips and one of the books she recommended was The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert.

What was Mrs Titan's reaction? "That was weird." Did you like it? "It wasn't bad just weird." I, on the other hand, really enjoyed it. I thought it was a lot of fun. Now, in her defence, it is a French book (conveniently translated, of course) about a Mummy and a young woman who fall in love in Victorian England. So, she kinda has a good reason.

Now, I thought this book was great fun! It has mummy's, poinsoning, pirates, murder, jail break, true love, and Queen Victoria gets kidnapped! There is plenty of humor, action, and beautiful artwork. I actually did laugh out loud a few times, which doesn't happen often for me when reading comics.

This was one of my first "graphic novels" that was more art than superheroes or pop work. I must say that I was pleasently surprised. It was quite different from other things that I have read, but it really did feel like its own short little cute comedy. I only have one small complaint. The book is only 80 pages long, 16 of which are sketches. The list price is $16.95. That works out to 21 cents per page. Now, I was able to get it on Amazon for only $13.00 so it wasn't too bad, but it still seems like a lot of money for a little amount of book. I was able to finish it in one sitting, and I truly enjoyed it. I will be looking for more of these independent and arty books.

I'll be back next week with more Superman! Well, unless I read something else I have to write about.

Movie Mondays Triple Play!

2008-06-23T00:00:00.001-06:00

This weekend was a three movie weekend! We watched two at home, Semi-Pro and Tristan and Isolde, and we saw Get Smart in theaters. So, what did I think? And, do you even care? You know you do!

Tristan and Isolde
Another movie for Mrs Titan, gosh, I'm good to her. I was led to understand that this was a romance set in the Dark Ages of England. How romantic! It wasn't quite the romance the wife was hoping for, unfortunately, but it did have some things for guys, and wasn't all that bad. There were beheadings and fighting and warfare and all the fun stuff guys can expect from historic epics. The romance was not as prominent as I was expecting, and there were some fun twists.

There were a couple of small problems that I didn't care for too much. First, I didn't think James Franco was all that good as Tristan. You know I hate to criticise one of my favorite Freaks Daniel Desario, but I just thought that this role did not suit him at all. He does not seen like a Brit and it was hard to believe him in the role. Although, I will admit I was waiting for him to screw up the accent, but he did an admirable job with it. Finally, and this is a personal problem of mine, there were numerous historical errors. I've been trying to ignore these in movies, but they still pull me away from the film every time. All in all, this was a pretty decent film, better than I was expecting.

Lesson: Sometimes a stoner is not the best actor to play a great historic legend.

Semi-Pro
I have loved Will Ferrell since he was first on SNL, so I always look forward to a new Ferrell Flick. Unfortunately, I am not always impressed with his films. Semi-Pro is a different kind of beast. It felt much more like a sports movie than a comedy. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Also, I wouldn't say this isn't a comedy. There were a few times where I did laugh out loud.

Semi-Pro is all about Jackie Moon, the owner/coach/star of the Flint Tropics, a basketball team playing for the failing American Basketball Association. The league is set to merge with the NBA, but only the top four teams in the league can go. Moon is the constant promoter. He doesn't care how his team plays, he just wants them to have fun. However, with the looming merge, he doesn't want the fun to end, so he has to make his team into a powerhouse. Now, as it turns out, the ABA was real and this was almost a real situation (no Flint Tropics and the teams to join the NBA were chosen based on business reasons, duh).

The movie was fun, I thought Will was back to being a slightly more realistic character, with motivations and proclivities that make sense. However, I think I like Will best when he's not realistic, like in Elf, Anchorman, and Talladega Nights. Well, I liked Stranger Than Fiction a lot too, and he was a realistic character in that movie, so maybe there is a fine line for Will and he was just barely over to the unrealistic side with this one. Fun film, but not great.

Lesson: Sometimes it doesn't matter how well you play the game, you still can't win.

Get Smart
We went to see the new remake of Get Smart, the 1965-70 TV show created by Mel Brook and Buck Henry and starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon. We really wanted to see this movie in theaters for two reasons: Steve Carell and the original Get Smart series. I grew up in the late '80s and '90s, so I was lucky enough to be able to catch the original series on Nick at Night. I loved the show and watched it every time it was on. It was one of my favorites right along side F Troop, Green Acres, and Mr Ed. It'll be no surprise when I tell you that I was very excited when I heard the Steve Carell would be starring in the remake.

The movie was surprisingly good. I know that I said I was excited, but I didn't think it would be as good as it was. Steve Carell is fantastic as Maxwell Smart. He is a great at physical comedy and even better when sparring verbally with those around him. He begins the movie as an analyst for CONTROL until all of the other agents are compromised when he gets promoted to agent. He must work with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to stop KAOS. There is obvious friction as Agent 99 has experience and Maxwell does not. However, of course, his skills come in handy. The movie is non-stop fun and is full of thrills and comedy.

I was very pleased with the entire film. I loved Alan Arkin, Dwayne Johnson, Masi Oka, and Nate Torrence in their supporting rolls. There was also quite a few great cameos by random comedians and actors that ramped up the fun. My favorite scene was the war room scene. Not surprisingly, there is fighting in the warroom! This was a great film. I love Steve Carell and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a franchise!

Two Lessons: 1) Nobody likes crunchy pudding. 2) You can always win a fight with a kiss.

Some Other Great Blogs

2008-06-20T00:00:00.000-06:00

Early on when I first started this blog I wrote about some of my favorite comics blogs, the people that inspired me to start this little bit of internet minutia. Well, today I want to highlight my other favorite places to waste time on the internet. Some of these are comics blogs and some aren't, but all of them are enjoyable and keep me from doing things I should be doing. Check these out!

Comics Make No Sense
Adam Barnett of Comics Make No Sense is one of the most consistent, and consistently funny comics bloggers out there. He has perfected the art of pulling a comic panel out of context and showing how bizarre (and sometimes disturbing) some classic comics can be. He focuses on some of the easy targets like the classics Legion of Super-Heroes and Superboy, but he also gets laughs for some of the more serious fare like Daredevil. It's amazing what some writers thought made for good entertainment, and it was, but it's even better with Mr Barnett pointing out the oddness of it all. Check him out for some easily digestible comics goodness.

Bad Astronomy
Phil Plait makes an effort on his blog to point out the things people screw up about astronomy, or science in general. For the most part I truly enjoy this blog. I love getting a daily science update and Mr Plait is one of the best writers for those without a science background. The one problem I have with him are on his political views. I have no problem with people who believe things differently than I do, I'm pretty sure that's almost everybody. I just have a problem with the way he refers to some people he disagrees with. Calling conservatives, Christians, or those with different values evil and/or stupid will not help get your point across and can turn people away from science. I believe that there is a place for both faith and science in the world and to condemn either is irresponsible and narrow-minded. That being said, Bad Astronomy is a great blog with daily updates about all things astronomical and a lot of fun to read. I hope those with values different from Mr Plait's can still enjoy it because at some point the future of our race could rely on this stuff.

Geekanerd
Geekanerd focus on all things geeky (well, duh). These guys talk about comcis, movies, video games, and other random geek-filled fun. They have a weekly update about geeky events going on in and around NYC, which just makes me want to move to NYC, they do some crazy and unique things there. They also have some great comics reviews and video game fun. My only complaint is that they don't post often enough. They just celebrated their 1-year anniversary and I hope they keep it up. Great fun!

Polite Dissent
Scott of Polite Dissent is a doctor who blogs about comics? How cool is that? It's great to see comics (and pop culture in general, he also has weekly medical reviews of House) from the point of view of a doctor. It is amazing to see how ofter comics writers screw up and how they make mistakes. However, it is even cooler to see how they get things right! Scott also highlights medical cliches (psychic nosebleeds) and other medical quirks in comics. One of my favorite weekly updates is his PSA Mondays, examining comic public service announcements from the Silver Age (did you know a library card will allow you to take books home? It's true!) reading this blog makes me look at the world of pop culture in a new light, and that's a good thing.

Neatorama
Neatorama is like some crazy super-blog. It is not a pop-culture blog, but more of a trivia blog. There are numerous bloggers and the site is updated something like 15 times a day. There is always something neat to check out, like new fun videos, links quizzes and odd stories. Their historical trivia is like something out of Mental Floss Magazine (one of their partners), with humorous and unique bits of trivia mixed in. Recently they had a two part post focusing on the histories of some famous board games. It's good ole-fashioned incredible stuff If you read nothing else on their site, at least check out the board game posts. This is what the internet should be all about!

I have a couple more I might talk about in the future, but we'll see. Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see you next week!