Hello students,thank you for your patience.
Your essays are graded and ready for pick up in envelopes with your names on them, in a box just nside my cubicle (9th floor Ansin Bldg). Email me if you have any questions.
Have a good weekend.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Papers ready for pick up...
Hello students,thank you for your patience.
Your essays are graded and ready for pick up in envelopes with your names on them, in a box just nside my cubicle (9th floor Ansin Bldg). Email me if you have any questions.
Have a good weekend.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Best Episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?
In no particular order, as it would be too hard to decide, here are what I find to be some of the best episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? for people who might have forgotten how good it was.
The Tale of The Dark Music
This is the one wherein a kid finds out that in his basement, behind a creepy locked wooden door, lives some kind of creature. Whenever a certain music is played on the radio, the door unlocks and the creature emerges. They never actually show what it looks like, but at one point it takes the form of a giant porcelin (spelling?) doll that glides out to the boy, asks him in a creepy doll voice to "come play" with it, and is sent back shrieking when the boy shuts off the music. Eventually, though, the boy finds out that all the creature wants is food, and so he feeds a bully to it by tricking him into the basement. After the bully is gone, the boy finds a new bicycle, and a new way of getting things he wants: feeding the monster.
The Tale of Apartment 214
A girl moves into a new apartment building, and because she doesn't have any friends, befriends an old lady who lives there too. I can't remember all the details, but the girl promises to come over one night and instead hangs out with new friends, leaving the woman alone. Later, the woman appears and yells at the girl for abandoning her, saying that the night was special, because IT WAS THE NIGHT SHE DIIIIIED!!!
The Tale of the Dead Man's Float
A nerdy kid helps a hot girl with science, and together they discover a pool behind an old shelving unit (!) that has been abandoned for years because people kept drowning. The school reopens the pool, but the kids discover that the ghost of a boy who drowned there has been drowning people since, and that he's back and wants to pull more people under. The ghost is invisible in the water, and so the nerdy kid uses his science to throw some kind of chemical onto it that makes it visible, and if I remember correctly, it looked a bit like the mud monster on the cover of the "You Can't Scare Me" Goosebumps book.
The Tale of the Super Specs
A girl is given a pair of novelty "super specs" from Sardo's magic shop, and finds that when she wears them, she can see creepy black figures standing around in places that they can't be seen normally. Sort of like They Live, but a good episode nonetheless.
The Tale of the Silent Servant
Two kids on a farm find that the scarecrow can be ordered to do anything, so they order it to build a fence, and the next morning - fence! But then they order it to build something else, and it pulls apart the fence for wood. So they leave the scarecrow alone, until one of them accidentally orders it to kill someone by saying they wish they'd die. Then of course, they have to stop it.
The Tale of The Dark Music
This is the one wherein a kid finds out that in his basement, behind a creepy locked wooden door, lives some kind of creature. Whenever a certain music is played on the radio, the door unlocks and the creature emerges. They never actually show what it looks like, but at one point it takes the form of a giant porcelin (spelling?) doll that glides out to the boy, asks him in a creepy doll voice to "come play" with it, and is sent back shrieking when the boy shuts off the music. Eventually, though, the boy finds out that all the creature wants is food, and so he feeds a bully to it by tricking him into the basement. After the bully is gone, the boy finds a new bicycle, and a new way of getting things he wants: feeding the monster.
The Tale of Apartment 214
A girl moves into a new apartment building, and because she doesn't have any friends, befriends an old lady who lives there too. I can't remember all the details, but the girl promises to come over one night and instead hangs out with new friends, leaving the woman alone. Later, the woman appears and yells at the girl for abandoning her, saying that the night was special, because IT WAS THE NIGHT SHE DIIIIIED!!!
The Tale of the Dead Man's Float
A nerdy kid helps a hot girl with science, and together they discover a pool behind an old shelving unit (!) that has been abandoned for years because people kept drowning. The school reopens the pool, but the kids discover that the ghost of a boy who drowned there has been drowning people since, and that he's back and wants to pull more people under. The ghost is invisible in the water, and so the nerdy kid uses his science to throw some kind of chemical onto it that makes it visible, and if I remember correctly, it looked a bit like the mud monster on the cover of the "You Can't Scare Me" Goosebumps book.
The Tale of the Super Specs
A girl is given a pair of novelty "super specs" from Sardo's magic shop, and finds that when she wears them, she can see creepy black figures standing around in places that they can't be seen normally. Sort of like They Live, but a good episode nonetheless.
The Tale of the Silent Servant
Two kids on a farm find that the scarecrow can be ordered to do anything, so they order it to build a fence, and the next morning - fence! But then they order it to build something else, and it pulls apart the fence for wood. So they leave the scarecrow alone, until one of them accidentally orders it to kill someone by saying they wish they'd die. Then of course, they have to stop it.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Lost? No just drunk
So I saw that their was already a lost drinking game, which was almost identical to what I was thinking off but hey lets make this work, if anythng you can combine the two to get a good buzz going, or maybe puke. The beer of the game is Foster's in light of the flight leaving from Australia. Or if you know the episode you are about to watch is about Desmond, honor the man and play with a Bottle of J&B Scotch Whiskey. You'll have more fun and lets face it the Desmond ep's are the bet anyways.
Arbitrary rule, Harmonize the Lost sound at the Title sequence, cheers then drink.
1. To start off the game when the episode starts the first person to prank call a person using only the numbers within the Vantezetti equation 4-8-15-16-23-42, and quote your favorite lost line, everyone is exempt from shotgunning a beer.
example (815) 416-2342
Hello?
"I looked into the eye of the Island....and it was beautiful"
What?
"WHOOOOO" (hang up)
2. Every time Juliette stares blankly, a staring contest becomes in affect, who ever breaks the stare first needs to drink.
3. Every time Sawyer uses a nickname (freckles, Chewy, Doc) drink. (If you wanna kick it up a notch take a shot of Jim Beam).
4. Every time Sun speaks Korean or Jin speaks English Take a drink.
5. Once Hugo says dude for the first time in an episode, everyone in the room must refer to anyone else watching with you as dude until Hugo says dude again. If you break the rule take a drink. Same goes for desmond and his go to phrase "Brotha".
6. If Sayid or Jack skeptically raise their eyebrows, everyone in the room must do so as well. First to drop their brows takes a drink.
7. Anytime there is a reference to the hatch, everyone one in the room places a hand on the ground. Last to do so takes a drink.
8. All sarcastic comments. (if made by a male character men in the room drink, if made by a female character, well ladies it's your turn).
9. If anyone see's a Dharma Logo Everyone must bow and say "Namaste", referencing the ending of the Dharma Training video. Last to do so takes a drink.
10. Anytime Ben weirds you out, and he will, Drink.
11. If John Locke says something that doesn't make sense, later in the episode where you find out what he was talking about, drink.
12. Anytime we flash back (or forwards) drink. If you wanna make it intresting again, due to the shows possible issues reguarding being stuck in time, last person to make a Back to The Future quote drinks.
13. If you have a "mindfuck" ending, and you probably will, chug a beer.
Enjoy kids.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sylvia Brown Juice
Looking for a way to spice up your daytime talk show then this is the game for you. Now I'm
fully aware, Montell Williams, hardly supernatural television... But every once in awhile he has the "psychic" Silvia Brown on the show and she counts. So the rules of the game are as followed:Everyone has their own full cup of beer and then there is the community cup that is filled to the brim with hard alcohol.
Now every time Sylvia uses an affectionate term to refer to someone ie: honey or sweetie, one person takes a shot from the community cup and passes it on to the next person who will have to take a shot under the same circumstances and pass. At the end of the show if there is any alcohol left in the community cup, whomever is in possession of the cup must chug the remainder.
Every time she tells someone that their loved one is dead everyone takes a drink.
Every time she tells someone that they will have a baby everyone takes two drinks.
Whenever she starts gnawing on that skanky claw she calls a fingernail every o
ne drinks till she either stops or the camera cuts to someone else.If she rolls her eyes take a drink.
Every time Montel overreacts (completely up to your judgment) the last person to throw something at the television must take a drink.
If Sylvia begins playing with the crucifix around her neck the last person to touch their nose must take three gulps.
If Sylvia somehow manages to pull her face muscles tight enough to squeeze a smile out, take a hit of crack and shoot yourself. The first person to do this wins!
This clip is uncomfortable :
By the way take a drink!
Drunk Like Me
Sorry this is coming to you so late. I almost forgot about this entirely. Yikes! But without further ado I present my:
Dead Like Me Drinking Game
(This game could use addition/revision later on for improvement)
This is a game that requires lots of different alcohols, but is sure to be a lot of fun at your next Dead Like Me viewing party.
The game begins with everyone choosing their favorite reaper as their character. Choose between George, Daisy, Mason, Roxy, or Rube. Next everyone takes a bet on how they think the victim(s) of the episode will die (try to keep these vague such as shot, hit be an object, fall off something, etc.). Now with the characters chosen and the bets made mix the following drinks and pour the following shots, and distribute them according to the contestants chosen characters:
For George:
Drink: White Russian (Vodka, Coffee liqueur, Light cream)
Shot: Vodka
For Daisy:
Drink: Blazing Fire (Ice, Vodka, Gin, Light rum, Triple sec, Pineapple juice, Grenadine)
Shot: Tequila
For Mason:
Drink: Screwdriver (Orange Juice, Lots of Vodka)
Shot: Whiskey
For Roxy:
Drink: Green Scorpion aka The Jealous Bitch (Jack Daniels, Vodka, Blue Curacao, 7-Up, Ice)
Shot: Jack Daniels
For Rube:
Drink: Mystery Beverage (have a friend mix 3 assorted shots of liquor into your favorite fruit juice or soda. [note: you dont get to decide which liquors go in the drink])
Shot: Gin
Put this aside and don't touch them till the end of the game. Now grab an additional drink of anything you want (beer, wine, mixed drinks, hard liquor - keep it alcoholic!) and start the episode.
Character drinking:
If your character does one of the following actions at any point through the episode, take a drink of your beverage:
George:
says something incredibly cynical
Daisy:
reference having a sexual encounter with a movie star
Mason:
comes up with a clever scheme or con job
Roxy:
threatens to physically harm someone
Rube:
uses metaphor to explain something
Combos:
In certain circumstances two people can drink at once if the following action happens during their interaction:
George/Rube: Rube calls George “peanut”
Roxy/Mason: Roxy threatens/attempt to kill Mason
Mason/Daisy: Mason hits on Daisy
Ending:
Now with the episode ending the winners and losers of the bet should be determined.
If you're one of the winner: Take the shot. This shot represents your character.
If you're the loser: You have to do the shot and the finish the drink! The drink represents the way in which your character died! Make sure YOU don't die from alcohol poisoning
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Twilight Zone Drinking Game
You are now entering a dimension of alcohol and intoxication.
- Chug a beer every time Rod Serling appears.
- Sip a beer anytime a character smokes a cigarette.
- Chug a beer anytime the story takes place in the future.
- Take a shot if William Shatner is in an episode.
- Chug a beer if the episode was shot on video as opposed to film.
- Sip a beer if the apocalypse happens.
- Sip a beer if an episode involves airplane travel.
- Sip a beer if there is time travel.
- Chug a beer when any military figure is shown.
- Take a shot if Burgess Meredeth is in an episode.
- Chug a beer if there is an ironic twist.
- Sip a beer if there is a fictional government in place.
- Take a shot any time aliens are seen or mentioned.
- Chug a beer if a human is inappropriately suspected of being an alien.
- Shot of whiskey when some one drinks whiskey.
- Chug a beer if a monster is seen.
- Chug a beer if the devil appears and tricks someone.
- Sip a beer when robots are seen.
- Chug a beer if a person is not a person.
- Sip a beer whenever a planet that isn’t earth is mentioned.
- Chug a beer when children are evil.
- Chug a beer people refuse to believe the main character that knows the truth.
- Take a shot every time the theme music is heard.
With these rules you are sure to be drunk by the end of nearly any episode. Just be careful on New Years and Fourth of July when there are 3-day marathons!
TP does not stand for toilet paper: what about Bob?
Here's my fourth blog, a tad bit late but better late than never.........
So this semester has been pretty awesome. We have watched some interesting shows, some awesome, some scary, some humorous and some downright
SUCKY.
What I enjoyed and appreciated the most this semester was being re-introduced to Twin Peaks. I've seen most of the 1st season a few years ago, and I truly enjoyed it, but I never got around to finishing the series. The murderer of Laura Palmer was intentionally prematurely revealed to me by a malicious friend of mine (he showed me "Fire Walk With Me" before I had even started season 2. What a dick), and out of frustration I pulled the plug on watching the rest of the show. As we watched the pilot in class, I remembered the quirky little details and brilliant character traits which impressed me so in the first place. This resulted in me going to Newbury comics and spending 80 bucks I don't have on the deluxe Twin Peaks Golden Box Set. I spent a whole weekend in my pajamas, drapes pulled shut, phone turned off, and had a red wine and pizza date with the dreamy Agent Dale Cooper.
This show is fantastic. It goes from lightly eccentric, humorous events to downright terrifying circumstances that seem to have leaped from the depths of hell. I'm not one who gets easily scared, but after BOB magically appeared in the Palmer household and ravenously climbed over furniture to attack cousin Maddy, I spent the night on the phone with my boyfriend until I fell asleep from the Tylenol PM I took to weaken my terrified BOB anxiety.
In terms of the supernatural, BOB is the strongest supernatural element in the series. The show overall is very surreal and peculiar, but nothing is as directly linked to the paranormal/supernatural as BOB (and MIKE, who is essentially the same exact aspect that BOB is). Mark Frost said the inspiration for BOB was inspired by native American mythology, but never confirmed that BOB actually was a ghost/spirit. Lynch and Frost kept to ambiguity when it came to explaining all sorts of aspects of the show.
Due to lack of confirmation, it is sometimes questionable if one could even consider Twin Peaks to be a supernatural show, after researching the subject I found some interesting opinions of the phenomenon that is BOB:
"Some who reject supernatural explanations believe BOB may
be/have been a figment of Laura's or Leland's imagination (a
means of psychologically dealing with the trauma of incest
and adultery), or an alternate personality of Leland. The
caustic FBI agent Albert Rosenfield suggests that BOB is
simply "the evil that men do". The fact that so many TP
characters experience these spirits make such
rationalizations hard to logically support. Events in the
series following Leland's death (the Windom Earle arc) and
in FWWM also continue the supernatural themes."
BOB, played by Frank Silva, was actually a carpenter on the set. He accidentally appeared in a mirror on the wall while they were shooting a scene, and Lynch decided to keep it in because he liked Silva’s look. They eventually created BOB’s character from that moment, adding Silva to the cast. Talk about luck!
Overall, BOB is one scary mother*cker, regardless if he is a spirit or a psychological result.
TWIN PEAKS and WET SHEETS
This one is for all of those nights we decide "Eh, I think I'm gunna get wrecked and pee the bed tonight. Cool?" Yeah, cool.
Here are the rules, the game is played with beer.
FUNNEL a beer whenever someone has sex with anyone else and they AREN'T cheating.
SIP a beer when sex involves cheating.
CHUG a beer when Cooper says something to Diane that is directly involved with the case.
SIP whenever Jacobi freaks you out.
SHOTGUN a beer when cocaine is actually shown, SIP whenever it is discussed.
SIP whenever an owl is shown or mentioned.
SIP whenever you think someone might get killed.
SIP whenever Leland cries.
SIP whenever you don't understand what is going on. (optional)
CHUG HALF A BEER whenever Agent Rosenfeld steals a scene.
SIP whenever Cooper takes way too long to make a normal decision (like order food).
SIP whenever the Log Lady confuses you.
SIP whenever they show a traffic light by itself.
CHUG whenever Audrey does something overtly sexual.
THAT'S IT! Hope it's as fun as the others. Wash those sheets!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The "I'm So Confused, Annoyed, Angry, Tired of this Godforsaken Bullshit I Need to get Blackout Drunk" game
Alright, here we go
It took me a while to come up with something clever because I am a little scared of this concept. The last time I played a television drinking game my friend got alcohol poisoning, and I blame myself because the game was my idea: we watched Jackass and took a shot of rum every time someone got hurt.
Sooooo…….. I was thinking, while watching Lost, chug a beer every time you feel confused, but that’s too easy/deadly. Then I started narrowing down the possibilities of reoccurring Lost aspects. In terms of frequency, the type of alcohol varies.
Types of alcohol:
Beer, wine, whiskey, tequila, vodka, sake, Malibu.
Before the game starts, pour one shot of each alcohol and one entire beer into a giant mug. Also, one person is appointed the task of noting down every character that has a speaking part in the episode. The “rescuers” that just arrived on the island don’t count, because I haven’t memorized their names yet.
The game starts:
-Every time there is a flashback/flashforward: one can of Natty Light (or Coors Light if you’re a pansy) before the flashback/flashforward is over.
-When Sawyer says “freckles” take a shot of Southern Comfort
-When Hugo says “dude” take a HALF shot of tequila
-When Jack gives the stare down with vibrating eyeballs drink a screwdriver and develop daddy issues
-Snort a crushed up adderal whenever Ben’s daughter Alex rebels against him, boarding school-style
-When Jin speaks surprisingly good “broken” English, couple tiny swigs of sake
-When Claire mentions Charlie (this past season) drink two DIESEL malibu-and-cokes ( because she seems to have forgotten about him?).
-When Locke is on screen drink water, for survival
-When Juliette speaks you’re granted a 30 minute pass out because her voice is soooo soooothiiing. That also gives you the opportunity to think about her sweet rack and lezzing out with Angelina in “Gia”
-When Kate looks hot don’t do anything, just stare
-When Desmond says “brotha”, drink a sip of Christ’s blood (Yellowtail cabernet)
-When Sun is in her garden using her green thumb, do a hit off a small bowl (no water bongs or gravity hits people, we have to stay focused)
Now when the episode is over, everyone in the room has to name each character that said at least one sentence throughout the entire episode. The person who forgets the most characters, has to chug the alcohol concoction in the mug, and clean up the room when everyone passes out.
ENJOY
"The 4400" Drinking Game
So I'm a total non-drinker and non-partier, so drinking games are pretty much foreign territory for me. I went with "The 4400", just to be different.
Take a sip if:
-anyone mentions "the 4400"
-anyone spouts exposition
-someone has family trouble
-a demonstration of mysterious powers occurs
(take two sips if it's someone other than Orson, since his problems were more ubiquitous but not as varied)
-Maia says something creepy
-Lily wistfully gazes off into nothingness
-the song "Worry About You" by Ivy plays
-Lily and Richard have sexual tension, despite him having romanced her grandmother
Drink a whole cup if someone actually speaks a well-formed piece of dialogue. Hell, you've earned it for sitting through everything else.
This was created with the pilot in mind, but it would surely work with others as well.
Take a sip if:
-anyone mentions "the 4400"
-anyone spouts exposition
-someone has family trouble
-a demonstration of mysterious powers occurs
(take two sips if it's someone other than Orson, since his problems were more ubiquitous but not as varied)
-Maia says something creepy
-Lily wistfully gazes off into nothingness
-the song "Worry About You" by Ivy plays
-Lily and Richard have sexual tension, despite him having romanced her grandmother
Drink a whole cup if someone actually speaks a well-formed piece of dialogue. Hell, you've earned it for sitting through everything else.
This was created with the pilot in mind, but it would surely work with others as well.
Red Dwarf Drinking Game
Thanks to the good luck of us actually watching Red Dwarf in Class I can share the Red Dwarf Drinking game my brother taught me. He still kept the old game he came up with on his computer and emailed it to me.All of you heard the really odd and funny song that played at the end of the episode. The Lyrics go like this.
Its cold outside,
There's no kind of atmosphere,
I'm all alone,
More or less.
Let me fly,
Far away from here,
Fun, fun, fun,
In the sun, sun, sun.
I want to lie,
Shipwrecked and comotoase,
Drinking fresh,
Mango juice,
Goldfish shoals,
Nibbling at my toes,
Fun, fun, fun,
In the sun, sun, sun,
Fun, fun, fun,
In the sun, sun, sun.
Now you can drink this with whatever you want, but I would personally recommend something light, beer would probably work best. You can do shots of things but considering the rules that might get you messed up allot more quickly (unless thats your intention). At the end of the last episode whoever sings the ending theme song coherently enough wins the game and is crowned king of the Smeg Heads.
What makes this game fun (or crazy depends on how you look at it) is that the game comes with a challenge level on how you go about it. The challenge is how many episodes you watch. There is:
Light - 1 to 2 episodes
Tricky - 2 to 3 episodes
Hardcore! - 5 or more episodes
So with your drink of choice in hand and challenge level figured out you watch your selected episodes and begin your drinking adventure. You take drinks revolving around each character and general things in the show.
Lister (the guy with the dreadlocks):
drink for every time Lister has a Larger
drink when Lister is seen eating a Curry of some kind
drink for every joke that calls Lister barely or not Human
drink every time a reference is made about his underwear (you would be surprised how much that actually comes up)
Rimmer (the guy with the H on his head):
drink whenever Rimmer does something mean to someone (pace yourself on that one)
drink for whenever one embarrassing fact is revealed about him or his family
drink whenever Rimmer mentions a famous general or battle
drink for whenever Rimmer mis-quotes one of the Space Core directives
Cat (the one everyone thought was a vampire):
drink whenever Cat utters the phrase "Old Cat Saying"
drink every time Cat Howls (about 8 to 10 seconds in you will see what I mean)
drink every time Cat praises his good looks (take a double if he mentions he is the center of the universe)
drink every time Cat "Smells" Something
Finish your entire drink if Cats alter ego Duane Dibbley shows up
Kryten (the android with the odd looking head):
Drink every time someone describes his head in a funny way
Drink every time he corrects Rimmer on a Space Core directive
Drink every time he speaks in binary
Drink every time he offers to kill himself for doing something stupid or to try to save the team
Drink every time he goes into a different mode "Smug Mode" "Lie Mode" etc.
General:
Drink whenever something gross happens (this is going to apply to Lister the most)
Drink whenever there is mention of a small furry animal, or a kipper
Drink whenever a hostile life form tries to kill them (take a double that if they can't shoot straight, take a Triple that if one of the crew mentions that!)
Drink whenever someone calls someone else a Smeg Head
Drink whenever they crash a Starbug
By the end of your number of episodes see who can sing the ending song the best. Whoever wins the losers toast to the king of the Smeg Heads and finish whatever drink they have left.
Have fun you crazy smeggers.
Kolchak - like Jaws, but with monsters
Recently my boss lent me the two TV movies that resulted in the Kolchak: The Night Stalker series, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler. And they’re pretty awesome.
Both were written by Richard Matheson, who I’m sure most people know is a hugely important sci-fi/horror responsible for such classic stories as I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, to name a few. Both are fairly similar in premise to the show: mysterious occurrences warrant investigation, evidence of supernatural influence is found but ignored by the authorities, Kolchak discovers the truth, but is unable to prove it. Despite being relatively formulaic, they are worth seeing.
-SPOILER ALERT-
The Night Stalker is set in Las Vegas, which is strange to see in 1972. Bodies are found around town drained of blood. A mysterious and creepy man is caught stealing blood from a hospital. Why would anyone want so much blood? They wouldn’t, probably, unless they were a vampire. This seems obvious to Kolchak, but of course nobody will listen to his outlandish suggestions. For most of the movie, The Night Stalker plays a lot like Jaws: despite the evidence suggesting that the mysteriously strong, bloodthirsty killer is a vampire, the various authorities continually ignore Kolchak’s pleas for action. Ultimately, it is he alone who finds the vampire’s house and brings with him a mallet and a wooden stake. Kolchak’s FBI friend shows up and after getting thrown around a bit, they work together to take him down. The old pull-down-the-curtain-to-reveal-sunlight trick is used, and after being weakened, Kolchak himself stakes the creature as the police rush in.
What’s great about The Night Stalker is that, while it shares many similarities to the episodes we saw in class, it treats its subject more seriously than them. There’s less emphasis on humor, for one thing, and Kolchak is far less willing to take crap from those who don’t believe him. Lots of yelling. It would be pretty awful if there were a real vampire killing people around town, and the movie does a good job of focusing on that aspect. Whereas many episodes of the show end with Kolchak simply losing his film, or not being believed, the end of The Night Stalker is a bit darker: the police do believe the man was a vampire, but tell Kolchak that they’ll charge him with murder if he doesn’t leave town and keep his mouth shut about it. They also force his dancer girlfriend out of town, and he never sees her again.
All in all, for anyone who liked what they saw of Kolchak, The Night Stalker is definitely worth seeing. It’s well written, entertaining, and suffers only from the appearance of the vampire himself; modern make-up techniques would have helped, I’m sure.
The Night Strangler finds Kolchak in Seattle, where his former boss at the Las Vegas paper shows up and gives him a job. Another series of murders begins: this time, the victims are all young women whose throats have been crushed and an exact amount of blood taken from their brains. Strangely, residue of rotting flesh is found on the necks of victims. Again, with little support from authorities, Kolchak comes to realize that the killer this time is a man who has been alive since the Civil War, having concocted an elixir that defies aging – as long as it is taken every 21 years and is made out of the freshly extracted blood of young women. Seeing that similar murders have occurred every 21 years since 1889, Kolchak finds himself unable to persuade anyone to believe him, even his editor who was there for the vampire in Las Vegas. Eventually Kolchak finds the man living in “Old Seattle”, a part of town buried by modern Seattle, and stops him by destroying the elixir. Again, Kolchak leaves town, this time accompanied by his editor and an undergraduate student/belly dancer.
The Night Strangler is more like the show: more jokes, less plausibility. While not as good as The Night Stalker, it is still worth seeing. Everybody in the cast, Darren McGavin in particular, give it all they’ve got, and it really helps what could easily seem silly.
So again, if you liked Kolchak, both of these movies come on one DVD and can probably be acquired on the cheap. Or illegally pirated on the free, whichever you prefer.
Both were written by Richard Matheson, who I’m sure most people know is a hugely important sci-fi/horror responsible for such classic stories as I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, to name a few. Both are fairly similar in premise to the show: mysterious occurrences warrant investigation, evidence of supernatural influence is found but ignored by the authorities, Kolchak discovers the truth, but is unable to prove it. Despite being relatively formulaic, they are worth seeing.
-SPOILER ALERT-
The Night Stalker is set in Las Vegas, which is strange to see in 1972. Bodies are found around town drained of blood. A mysterious and creepy man is caught stealing blood from a hospital. Why would anyone want so much blood? They wouldn’t, probably, unless they were a vampire. This seems obvious to Kolchak, but of course nobody will listen to his outlandish suggestions. For most of the movie, The Night Stalker plays a lot like Jaws: despite the evidence suggesting that the mysteriously strong, bloodthirsty killer is a vampire, the various authorities continually ignore Kolchak’s pleas for action. Ultimately, it is he alone who finds the vampire’s house and brings with him a mallet and a wooden stake. Kolchak’s FBI friend shows up and after getting thrown around a bit, they work together to take him down. The old pull-down-the-curtain-to-reveal-sunlight trick is used, and after being weakened, Kolchak himself stakes the creature as the police rush in.
What’s great about The Night Stalker is that, while it shares many similarities to the episodes we saw in class, it treats its subject more seriously than them. There’s less emphasis on humor, for one thing, and Kolchak is far less willing to take crap from those who don’t believe him. Lots of yelling. It would be pretty awful if there were a real vampire killing people around town, and the movie does a good job of focusing on that aspect. Whereas many episodes of the show end with Kolchak simply losing his film, or not being believed, the end of The Night Stalker is a bit darker: the police do believe the man was a vampire, but tell Kolchak that they’ll charge him with murder if he doesn’t leave town and keep his mouth shut about it. They also force his dancer girlfriend out of town, and he never sees her again.
All in all, for anyone who liked what they saw of Kolchak, The Night Stalker is definitely worth seeing. It’s well written, entertaining, and suffers only from the appearance of the vampire himself; modern make-up techniques would have helped, I’m sure.
The Night Strangler finds Kolchak in Seattle, where his former boss at the Las Vegas paper shows up and gives him a job. Another series of murders begins: this time, the victims are all young women whose throats have been crushed and an exact amount of blood taken from their brains. Strangely, residue of rotting flesh is found on the necks of victims. Again, with little support from authorities, Kolchak comes to realize that the killer this time is a man who has been alive since the Civil War, having concocted an elixir that defies aging – as long as it is taken every 21 years and is made out of the freshly extracted blood of young women. Seeing that similar murders have occurred every 21 years since 1889, Kolchak finds himself unable to persuade anyone to believe him, even his editor who was there for the vampire in Las Vegas. Eventually Kolchak finds the man living in “Old Seattle”, a part of town buried by modern Seattle, and stops him by destroying the elixir. Again, Kolchak leaves town, this time accompanied by his editor and an undergraduate student/belly dancer.
The Night Strangler is more like the show: more jokes, less plausibility. While not as good as The Night Stalker, it is still worth seeing. Everybody in the cast, Darren McGavin in particular, give it all they’ve got, and it really helps what could easily seem silly.
So again, if you liked Kolchak, both of these movies come on one DVD and can probably be acquired on the cheap. Or illegally pirated on the free, whichever you prefer.
MTV's Fear Drinking Game
Drink for every contestant under the age of 21.
Drink every time a contestant is referred to by their “color”.
Drink every time there is a shot of the sky/moon.
Drink every time you hear from an “expert”.
Drink every time the navigator tries to comfort a contestant on a dare.
Drink every time a contestant on a dare gets mad at the navigator for trying to comfort them.
Drink every time a contestant on a dare says “you have no idea”.
Drink at the end of each dare: once if it is completed, twice if aborted.
Drink every time a contestant sees/hears/experiences anything that cannot be documented on film.
Drink every time a contestant is referred to by their “color”.
Drink every time there is a shot of the sky/moon.
Drink every time you hear from an “expert”.
Drink every time the navigator tries to comfort a contestant on a dare.
Drink every time a contestant on a dare gets mad at the navigator for trying to comfort them.
Drink every time a contestant on a dare says “you have no idea”.
Drink at the end of each dare: once if it is completed, twice if aborted.
Drink every time a contestant sees/hears/experiences anything that cannot be documented on film.
The Hex Drinking Game
Disclaimer:
I don't recommend this game. Depending on the episode, you might die. Just saying.
The Hex Drinking Game:
Take a sip of beer:
-Whenever there is a sexual reference made
-If it’s a lesbian reference, take two sips
Take a gulp (more than a sip/less than a chug) of beer:
-Every time Ella looks scared when she shouldn’t be (since she’s been fighting demons for 500 years, you’d think she’d be used to it by now)
-Every time a Nephelum appears on screen.
Take a shot of Tequila:
-Every time someone dies (to take away the pain, of course)
-Also, if someone misses a drink, this is the penalty (they’ll be punished in the morning)
-If they missed the tequila game, then they must pay the penalty of two shots
Take a shot of rum/whiskey/vodka/whatever:
-If you’re watching season one and Cassie has just used her magic
-If you’re watching season two and Ella uses magic
Hex/Head Slap Game:
-Every time there is a flashback sequence everyone must yell “Hex” and slap themselves on the forehead. The last person to do this must take a body shot from the first person to do it.
-If it’s two females, everyone else takes a sip of beer, as well (to commemorate Thelma, obviously)
Azazeal Game:
-Every time someone says the name Azazeal, everyone must yell “Azazeal” and take a drink of beer. The last person to do it takes a shot of tequila.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Please for the love of god don't ever play this game.
Alright, alright, this may very well get me disqualified since we haven’t watched the show in class yet, but seeing as how I’m not versed well enough in any of the shows to write a game for them, "The X Files" is the only one, but I haven’t watched that regularly in about 10 years, I figured I would do this.
I hope I get extra points for the fact that I was actually drinking while coming up with this game.
I’m assuming everyone is going to begin watching at the very start of the series, and then watch every single episode in a row. If you’re not dead at the end of this drinking game, you win.
Drink for the entire time the word “lost” is displayed on the screen.
Take a shot if someone says “don’t tell me what I can’t do”.
Take a bong rip whenever Claire screams, if she screams “my baby” or any variation thereof, follow the bong rip with a swig of beer before you exhale.
Chug a beer if jack seems to randomly know someone from the past for some reason (ex, when he first sees Desmond in the hatch and he’s all “you” and you can just imagine everyone else thinking “we’re stranded on a fucking deserted island and this motherfucker runs into someone he knows?”)
And finally, if you’ve followed all these instructions and at the end of a few episodes you aren’t confused enough to actually feel like you’re lost on an island, pat yourself on the back and get some goddamn sleep you crazy party animal asshole.
Dont tell me what I can't DO!: the game
This is a Lost drinking game.
Note: proper preparation for this game requires you to buy a six pack of cheap beer at least two months in advance and leave it out and un-refrigerated in order to get that proper Dharma brand skunk beer flavor.
Anyways. Start with a delegation of everyone playing the game to one of the primary characters. draw straws to see who gets first choice of characters. You can choose from:
Jack. Kate. Locke. Sawyer. Michael. Sayid. Hurley. Charlie. Desmond. Claire/Aaron. Sun/Jin.
If you are Jack you must drink every time that: Jack is angry. Locke mentions Faith.
If you are Kate you must drink every time that: Kate runs... from anything. physically or metaphorically.
If you are Locke you must drink every time that: Locke does something unexpected/awesome. Jack mentions Science.
If you are Sawyer you must drink every time that: Sawyer uses a nick name.
If you are Michael you must drink every time that: Michael mentions "my boy" or brings up "my son"
If you are Sayid you must drink every time that: Use/Fix something electronic
If you are Hurley you must drink every time that: Hurley says "Dude".
If you are Charlie you must drink every time that: The song "You all everybody" is sung, heard, or mentioned.
If you are Desmond you must drink every time that: Desmond says "Brotha"
If you are Claire/Aaron you must drink every time that: Claire/Aaron are in mortal danger.
If you are Sun/Jin you must drink every time that: Sun lies or Jin is lied to.
you must also drink if your character sees someone dead.
OK. Now you choose an episode at random and watch. drink the liquor/beer/ soda-pop of choice and drink at aforementioned moments.
However. Everyone must drink if:
The Smoke monster is seen, heard, referenced, or ran from.
the numbers 4,8,15, 16,23,42 are mentioned, either together in sequence or individually.
A hatch is discovered or visited.
Ben reveals something that he has been hiding.
A Book is discussed
If you are watching an episode in which your character has flashbacks, Then everyone drinks when you drink.
The skunk beers:
IF, your character shows up in someone else's flashback, you gotta drink a skunk beer.
IF, your character kills another character, you gotta drink a skunk beer.
IF, your character says "live together, die alone", you gotta drink a skunk beer.
There you go. that should do the job.
My Drinking Game
The X-Files Season 2 Drinking Game
This is only meant to be done should you be able to sit down and watch an entire season in a sitting. Or basically, devote an entire day to getting drunk and season 2 of The X-Files, which is my favorite season (Irresistible, Our Town, Humbug, 'nuff said).
Take a shot of whiskey every time that:
-there is a close-up of the monster's face, in which it snarls, eats something, or turns its head dramatically in a way that seems perfect for a teaser shot for the commercial (relevant to The Host, Humbug)
-every time an animal does something that it is clearly not supposed to be doing, i.e. running amok, attacking someone (relevant to Fearful Symmetry, Die Hand Die Verletzt)
-every time a member of a small religious group issues Mulder a weird sort of warning (relevant to Red Museum, The Calusari)
-every time Agent Scully is captured or restrained in some way (relevant to Irresistible, Our Town, Duane Barry)
Take a swig of beer every time that:
-Agent Scully says something to the effect of "But Mulder, that sort of phenomena is impossible"
-Agent Mulder gives some sort of sanctimonious speech about the nebulous nature of truth in the universe
-Skinner says something to the effect of "if you behave like this again, you're off the force"
Drink an entire glass of wine:
-Every time that an episode ends on a note that goes for poignancy but doesn't explain what actually happened or what, if anything, the proceedings had to do with aliens
-Every time that an episode opens with a murder before cutting to the opening credits, and the first scene after deals with Mulder and Scully examining the body
-Every time that they chase a monster of some kind, and it just barely manages to get away.
For a complete listing of Season 2 episodes:
http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/sf/tv/xfiles/xfiles2.htm
For information on alcoholism and helping those affected by it:
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/?Media=PlayFlash
Carnivale drinking game
The game is played similar to "Kings" for those of you who know the game. What's different is the deck and how you draw. This game will be played with a deck of tarot cards, not a regular deck. There are "reasons to draw" which are cues from the show (listed below). Once you draw you do as the directions say according to what card is drawn (listed below). Drawing is done in a round robin fashion and it is suggested that it's played with beer.
Reasons to draw cards:
Anytime tarot cards are seen (excluding the credits), the next three people draw a card.
Every time Samson says “Shake some Dust” or calls the crew “Children”
Every time Samson is seen going into management.
Every time there is a close up of management curtain
Every time Jonesy mentions baseball
Every time there is nudity
Every time Sofie ‘talks’ to her mother
Every time Apollonia (Sofie’s mother) effects the world around her.
Every time Gabriel breaks up a fight.
Every time Ben uses his powers
Every time Ben resists using his powers,
Every time brother Justin controls someone
Every time brother Justin’s eyes turn black.
Every time Ruthie is seen with a snake.
Every time Iris does something ‘evil.’
Every time Justin acts incestual
Every time someone sees something that isn’t there.
Every time Lodz drinks Absinthe.
Every time Lila (the bearded woman) says something sexual.
Every time a tent is put up or taken down.
Every time we see the tattooed man.
Every time someone says “Every prophet in their house.”
Every time the song “Love me or leave me” plays.
Every time Henry Scudder is mentioned.
Every time Stumpy pitches the cootch show.
Every time someone mentions Babylon.
Cards:
Lesser Arcana:
Cups, you refill your cup.
Wands, choose a person to drink,
Swords: No-one drinks
Pentacles: You drink.
Major Arcana:
O: The Fool: Everyone drinks as long as they can.
I: Magician: Choose one male to drink.
II: The High Priestess: Chose a female to drink.
III: The Empress: All the women have to drink!
IV: The Emperor: All the men have to drink!
V: The Heirophant: The drawer of this card chooses someone to partner with. Whenever one of you has to drink, so does the other.
VI: The Lovers: Anyone who is in a romantic relationship drinks.
VII: Chariot: You and the people to either side of you have to drink.
VIII: Strength: Challenge someone to drink! Try to drink them under the table.
IX: The Hermit: You drink…alone.
X: Wheel of Fortune: Spin a bottle. Whomever is pointed finishes their cup.
XI: Justice: Get out of Jail free card.
XII: The Hanged Man: Guess what kind of card the next card will be (swords, wands, major arcane). If the guess is right, everyone else has to chug. If wrong, guesser has to drink.
XIII: Death: Finish whatever is in your cup.
XIV: Temperance: Everyone refills their cups.
XV: The Devil: Everyone but you has to drink.
XVI: Everyone on your half of the table drinks.
XVII: The Star: Everyone has to drink. Last person to start has to finish their cup.
XVIII: The Moon: Person across from you has to drink.
XIX: The Sun: Everyone throws their hands into the air. Last person has to chug.
XX: Judgment: The person who draws this card chugs, and everyone has to chug as long as the drawer does.
XXI: The World: First person starts drinking, next person follows…can’t stop until the last person who starts stops.
Keep 'Em Coming!
Great drinking games so far, everyone! Keep 'em coming...
I am going to create one, too. I think mine will be for Carnivale...or maybe Buffy...or possibly Invasion!
I am going to create one, too. I think mine will be for Carnivale...or maybe Buffy...or possibly Invasion!
I See Drunk Demons: A Very Supernatural Drinking Game
In honor of the new episode of Supernatural premiering tomorrow night, here is a very Supernatural game to enjoy (if you’re 21+). I would recommend using beer for this unless the condition calls for something else.
- Take a sip every time Dean says “Sammy” (This alone could get you drunk in some episodes)
- Likewise, take a sip every time Sam shouts “DEAN!!!!!”
- Have a sip whenever Sam or Dean does. Make it a gulp if Bobby or John does.
- Take 2 sips whenever holy water is used
- Take 2 sips whenever Dean refers to his car as his baby/some other form of endearment.
- Whenever there’s a bottle of hot sauce, put some in your drink (Beware the mystery spot)
- Take 3 sips when Dean is called “A good little soldier” – make it 3 gulps if he calls himself that.
- Take a gulp every time there is a rack focus involving a gun. Chug your drink if it’s the Colt (note that this gun does not appear until episode 20)
- Take 2 gulps whenever Bobby spikes someone’s drink with holy water. In fact, take a shot whenever Bobby appears.
- Have 3 gulps when Sam or Dean is tied up – then high five your friends
- Finish your drink when bones are burned
- Whenever a Winchester dies, finish your drink. If they come back from the dead, have a shot. If it’s a cliffhanger – too bad.
- Take a shot if Sam or Dean appears less than fully clothed ;)
- Take 3 sips if there’s an exorcism. Chug your drink if someone other than Sam does it.
- Take 3 sips whenever someone thinks Sam and Dean are a couple.
- Finish everything in the liquor cabinet if they actually are
Punishments:
Whenever someone (correctly) guesses a plot twist, put holy water in their drink. If it was a spoiler, try to exorcise them. If it works, you win ^_^
- Take a sip every time Dean says “Sammy” (This alone could get you drunk in some episodes)
- Likewise, take a sip every time Sam shouts “DEAN!!!!!”
- Have a sip whenever Sam or Dean does. Make it a gulp if Bobby or John does.
- Take 2 sips whenever holy water is used
- Take 2 sips whenever Dean refers to his car as his baby/some other form of endearment.
- Whenever there’s a bottle of hot sauce, put some in your drink (Beware the mystery spot)
- Take 3 sips when Dean is called “A good little soldier” – make it 3 gulps if he calls himself that.
- Take a gulp every time there is a rack focus involving a gun. Chug your drink if it’s the Colt (note that this gun does not appear until episode 20)
- Take 2 gulps whenever Bobby spikes someone’s drink with holy water. In fact, take a shot whenever Bobby appears.
- Have 3 gulps when Sam or Dean is tied up – then high five your friends
- Finish your drink when bones are burned
- Whenever a Winchester dies, finish your drink. If they come back from the dead, have a shot. If it’s a cliffhanger – too bad.
- Take a shot if Sam or Dean appears less than fully clothed ;)
- Take 3 sips if there’s an exorcism. Chug your drink if someone other than Sam does it.
- Take 3 sips whenever someone thinks Sam and Dean are a couple.
- Finish everything in the liquor cabinet if they actually are
Punishments:
Whenever someone (correctly) guesses a plot twist, put holy water in their drink. If it was a spoiler, try to exorcise them. If it works, you win ^_^
The Twin Peaks Drinking Game: Let's Rock!
First off: Drink once for every minute the opening credits go on (it’s a few).Drink:
- Whenever Cooper drinks coffee
- (Chug if he says it's “Damn good”)
- Whenever Cooper talks to “Diane” on his tape recorder
- Whenever someone eats pie
- (Drink twice if it’s someone other than Cooper)
- Whenever Cooper says “Harry, you’re alright.”
Drink:
- Whenever someone admits to sleeping with Laura Palmer
- (Drink twice if someone admits they were in love with her)
- Whenever someone talks about how Laura had “a lot of secrets”
- Whenever they show that homecoming queen picture of Laura
- (Chug if you can hear her mother screaming as it's shown)
- Whenever someone gets arrested
- Whenever someone sleeps with someone other than their spouse
Drink when you see:- stacks and stacks of donuts
- a stoplight blowing in the wind
- an owl
- red curtains
Chug when you see:
- the Man from Another Place (the little guy!)
- the Giant
Drink:
- Whenever Nadine talks about drapes
- Whenever the Log Lady talks about what her log saw
- Whenever Sarah Palmer (Laura’s mother) screams
- Whenever Leland sings or dances
- (Drink twice if he gets someone to sing/dance with him)
- Whenever someone has a spooky vision of BOB
By the end of a few episodes, you'll probably look something like this:
Ladies, Just Don't Get Too Drunk and Expose Your Northern Parts
Since Northern Exposure is one of those shows that falls under different genres (drama, comedy, etc.) this game should be played with many different shots of the hard stuff. I suggest: Rum, Tequila, Vodka, and Gin.
To Begin: Players stand/sit in a line. Each player starts with one shot of one of the types of alchohol available.
[Suggestion: Use those disposable bathroom dixie cups as the equivalent of two shots, fill up cups half-way]
Intially, there is also a designated "Bar Tender" who does not participate, but refills shots as necessary.
To Play: Each person takes a drink whenever one of the following events occurs on the show.
If Dr. Fleischman mentions New York or his Judaism, the Bartender takes the place of any player of his choosing, and joins the game.
Drink:
(1 shot) In honor of the moose during the opening credits.
(1 shot) Whenever there is sexual tension between Maggie and Dr. Fleischman.
(1.5 shots) Whenever John Corbett/Chris makes you want to take his/your clothes off and get down.
(2 shots) Whenever made uncomfortable by Holling and Shelly's PDA.
(Pass your shot to the person to your right) Whenever Marilyn shows no enthusiasm.
(3 shots) Whenever something strange happens and no one acknowledges it (with the exception of Dr. Fleischman).
To Win: Be the last to pass out or give up.
Good luck!
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Drinking Game: Are you Ready to Rock?
Ok. First of all, I never drink. Hence my non-existence ever playing a drinking game, well if you count watching those getting drunk playing Beyroute or Asshole then I guess I have some hilarious experience to go by to get this started. So proudly, I sit at my computer watching the hockey finals to write my first and probably last drinking game based on one of my favorite vampire shows. How do I write one of these? I guess I should start by searching the web for a particular format of some kind. Ahhh... here we go, according to the always-trustful Wikipedia: the objectives of drinking games are to either simply drink competitvely for speed or to win via others becoming too drunk. So maybe writing a drinking game will be simpler than previously though. All right, let's give this wacky game a shot. Oh yea, and this game is recomended for beer rather than alcolol due to causing extreme embarrassment.
Rules:
While watching Buffy, preferably in a safely lit place, those playing the game should have pleny of red solo cups filled with beer handy because whenever you see Giles (the watcher/liberian) wiping his glass... you must chug ONE solo cup. Since this event occurs quite frequently and often times when plotting attack plains against the "Big Bads," you will notice it more now that I told you, the punishment is lessened. However, whenever you see Buffy and Angel kiss... you must chug TWO solo cups. Because this occurrence is rare, due to Angel not being able to experience true love or he will lose his soul, the punishment increases.
Having fun yet? I thought so. Be on your toes because whenever you hear/see Willow mentioning or practicing her Judaism... you must chug THREE solo cups. Allison Hannigan's character of Willow is jewish but her heritage is rarely explored within the series, hence the punishment is becoming too much for you now. You can hardly stand up. Already two of your buddies are pased out becasue Giles has wiped his glasses three times and it's an episode in which Angel and Buffy go through one of their many intimate struggles.
Oh the drama. Moving along, get ready because whenever you see Spike running in daylight with his handy blanket in tow attempting to hid his easily burnable skin.. you must chug FOUR solo cups. Not only is it funny, but it's another reason to drink a lot of beer during the game.
All right, I'm being a bit harsh. Let's lessen the damage a bit. Hope you have plenty more solo cups because whenever you hear Faith say "Five by Five"... you must chug ONE solo cup. This is a popular saying by the fellow slayer and is defined as a good situation or positive outcome. Now to slow down the pace for you slow drinkers... every time you hear a character speak in "Slayer Slang" such as adding -ness or -age to any word... you must drink TWO big sips of beer. In addition, anytime a producer of the series appears as an extra, such as David Greenwalt or Jane Espenson... you must chug FIVE solo cups. Since these moments are extremely rare, it's required that you drink more.
This game is not limited to other Buffy-isams, if you can think of more than add them and enjoy! Also, I found this link to another Buffy drinking game. Don't worry though, I didn't look at it until after I've finished writing the rules for my own so you can enjoy both at equal value.
Fill your favorite stein and get ready for...
THE GHOST HUNTERS DRINKING GAME!
This show was made for drinking games. If you're not hammered by the first commercial break, you're doing it wrong.
THE RULES: Take a drink for each of the following...
Special rules listed in parenthesis.
- Someone asks, "Is anyone here that would like to communicate with us?"
- Steve screams because he saw a spider.
- "Lets go dark" (finish your drink)
- Grant says, "What the fedge!?" (frig also acceptable)
- Jason explains what EMF means.
- Anyone explains anything in front of the TAPS backdrop
- Donna starts to get antsy in a creepy room
- Jason says, "Well you know what we did..."
- "Dude" (2 extra sips for "Dude, run!")
- "That's freaky/wild" (extra 2 if followed by "Dude")
- Any mention of plumbing, roto-rooter, etc.
- "No way!"
- "You gotta be kidding me"
- Anytime someone shakes hands
- Brian says, "Dude I just saw a shadow." (extra if its his own)
- Anytime evidence was missed thanks to technical difficulties
- Whenever Brian wants to claim orbs as evidence of a haunting (bonus chug if its legit)
- Jason says "Grant and I..."
- Grant says "Jay and I..."
- Steve makes fun of Tango (2 if Tango is wearing a tiara).
- They freak out over a thermal hit, which upon further review, turns out to be a reflection.
- Jason gets bored and goes fishing.
- Any mention of debunking (chug it if Andy said it).
- Jason says "it's getting late."
- Jason hears a noise and goes into "attack mode."
- Any occurrence of FIST POUNDING (finish your drink).
PENALTY:
If anyone misses a drink, they must drink double the amount (removal of one article of clothing optional)
Enjoy!
Buffy- the drinking game... cause apparently everyone drinks?
Alright so you have everyone choose a character. Depending on the season that is being watched. (More then one person can be the same person)
Buffy
Willow
Xander
Giles
Anya
Spike
Spike
Dawn
Tara
Joyce
Angel
Cordelia
Evil Master (s)
Faith
Any villian (vampire, monster etc)
-Whenever the scene* opens or changes the characters in the scene get to fill the empty glasses.
-When you're character appears you must drink the glass in front of you (if filled).
-If your character appears with a weapon you can give any player two drinks.
*the scene changes when the location of the characters change.
The truth is WAY out there if you're drunk
Settle down, children. It's time for...The X-Files Drinking Game!
This game is best played with beer, wine, or mixed drinks. If you would like to substitute shots of hard liquor, feel free to use the metric of 4 sips = one shot.
- A sip each time Scully comes up with a mundane reason for why something bizarre has happened.
- A sip each time Mulder introduces a laughably absurd theory in response.
- An extra sip if it involves Aliens or UFOs.
- Two sips each time Mulder's theory comes true.
- A sip if Scully still won't accept Mulder's theory, even when there's a startling amount of evidence to prove otherwise.
- Two sips when she finally relents.
- A big gulp if some giant, splashy UFO thing happens and Scully just so happens to be the only person who doesn't see it.
- Take a sip each time Mulder has an excited, expository monologue that explains an aspect of pseudoscience to Scully.
- Two sips if it involves an overly complected metaphor.
- Three sips if Scully responds with a witty retort.
- A sip each time Mulder says the word "truth".
- A sip each time Scully says the word "belief".
- A sip each time Mulder eats sunflower seeds.
- A sip each time there is at least one bee.
- A sip each time the black oil makes someone's eyeballs go milky.
- A sip each time A.D. Skinner scrunches up his face in frustration and begrudgingly allows Mulder and Scully to do something unorthodox.
- Two sips if there's a shot if him later in the episode, alone in his office and looking troubled.
- A sip each time Scully gets kidnapped or abducted.
- An extra sip if she gets knocked out.
- Two extra sips if she's tied up.
- A sip if Mulder mentions his sister's abduction.
- Two sips if there's a flashback to that fateful night.
- Three sips if Mulder says "now I understand!" once he flashes back to reality.
- A big gulp every time the Fox censors replace the word "necrophiliac" with "death fetishist".
- A sip each time Mulder drops or loses his gun.
- A sip each time Cancer Man either lights up or extinguishes a cigarette.
- A sip each time Frohike hits on Scully
- A sip each time Byers references the Kennedy assassination
- A sip each time Langly claims to be the best in the world at something.
- An extra sip if he claims to be the world's best hacker.
- A third sip if Frohike tries to argue the point.
- A sip every time there's a hypnotherapist.
- Two extra sips if a main character is the one to undergo hypnotherapy.
- A sip anytime someone dies.
- Two sips if they're autopsied by Scully.
- Three sips if a main character dies.
- A big gulp if they're somehow resurrected/found not to be dead after all.
- A sip each time Mulder and/or Scully ends up in a darkened forest, basement, or warehouse.
- Two sips if they start calling each other's names in the darkness.
- Three sips if they also have giant flashlights that cast very precise, clear beams of light.
- A sip any time Mulder meets with Deep Throat or X
- Two sips if he tapes the X to his window in order to call the meeting.
- An extra sip if he tells Mulder to keep his nose out of places where it doesn't belong.
- A sip any time any character actually says the phrase "X-file"
- Two extra sips if it's Mulder, and he's referencing some obscure X-file from 50 years ago that he just so happened to have been looking at last week.
- A sip each time an episode ends without either Mulder or Scully feeling like they got the full picture of what actually happened.
- As big a drink as you want if the ending voice over is so good it actually gives you chills.
The Hex Drinking game
This is a drinking game for beer, and not suggested to be used with Hard Alcohols.
The Hex Drinking Game:
Hex Specific Rule 1: Buffy Comparisons
If an individual can make a comparison between Buffy and Hex, everyone else has to drink. This can be as obvious as "lead character has blonde hair!" to some convoluted argument about the use of color...as long as its a: original and b: not completely stupid, everyone else has to drink. If it happens to be unoriginal (e.g. someone already pointed out the lead character has blonde hair), or just too stupid, the declarer has to drink.
British rule 2: What did he say?
Every time something is said that isn't commonly used here in America, first person to yell what it legitimately means forces everyone else to drink.
British Rule 3: Prime time TV.
Every time some thing occurs that simply wouldn't be allowed in America (*cough nipple cough*), everyone has to chug for the entire length its occurring. This also occurs for things that people say.
Hex Specific Rule 4: So the story line is...
This probably shouldn't be a stated rule...but anytime you get bored / forget the plot is actually supposed to go somewhere, you drink. Just felt it needed to be stated for this show...
The Hex Drinking Game:
Hex Specific Rule 1: Buffy Comparisons
If an individual can make a comparison between Buffy and Hex, everyone else has to drink. This can be as obvious as "lead character has blonde hair!" to some convoluted argument about the use of color...as long as its a: original and b: not completely stupid, everyone else has to drink. If it happens to be unoriginal (e.g. someone already pointed out the lead character has blonde hair), or just too stupid, the declarer has to drink.
British rule 2: What did he say?
Every time something is said that isn't commonly used here in America, first person to yell what it legitimately means forces everyone else to drink.
British Rule 3: Prime time TV.
Every time some thing occurs that simply wouldn't be allowed in America (*cough nipple cough*), everyone has to chug for the entire length its occurring. This also occurs for things that people say.
Hex Specific Rule 4: So the story line is...
This probably shouldn't be a stated rule...but anytime you get bored / forget the plot is actually supposed to go somewhere, you drink. Just felt it needed to be stated for this show...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Twilight Zone Drinking Game
Here's the Twilight Zone Drinking Game:Take a sip:-every time someone gives an insane laugh-every time space travel is involved.-every time space travelers disembark from an alien world -2 sips if they're wearing space suits -3 sips if they actually wear helmets.
Take a big gulp:-every time the episode's protagonist dies. - 2 gulps if it turns out they have been dead the whole episode - 3 gulps if they turn out to be in Hell.
-every time the host appears as a character.
-every time a robot appears.
-every time a woman screams enough to break your speakers.
-every time you get totally lost in the plot line.
-take 2 sips every time an immortal/ageless character is involved.
-4 sips if it's a mytholigical/religious character such as satan or death
-take 6 sips if they die.
-take a gulp every time someone is paranoid about aliens
-take 2 gulps if the aliens are real
-3 gulps if the suspicions of malicious aliens were correct
-if the aliens DON'T win, finish your beer immediately
-take a drink if Nuclear War starts and destroys the world
-take 2 if it already had at the beginning of the episode
-if the world ISN'T destroyed chug your beer and empty it.
-take a gulp every time someone thinks the protagonist is insane.
-take 2 gulps if he really is.
-take a gulp every time paranoia tears 2 or more people apart.
-take 2 if they kill each other
-Chug your beer if they DON'T
and last but not least, empty a six pack if the episode has a happy ending.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Lost: some sources
I don't know if some of you have stumbled upon these already, but after Googling and searching and culling some of the less interesting sites I found, here is a selection that may prove useful.
By the way, this method of doing online "research" is acceptable, although not a replacement for the use of scholarly articles or reviews/articles from professional publications (such as American Cinematographer which often has articles on TV shows). But, for newer shows that have not built up a great deal of scholarly writing, finding fan-based writing may be of some use, provided it is intelligent, insightful and/or illuminating in some way.
A website called "The Spoon" has some character analyses worth looking at.
This guy fancies himself a a bit of a philosopher and writes an analysis of virtually every character in the show. I was not too terribly impressed with his insights but then I did not read all of his posts....probably worth a look, if not for useful quotes at least for study of viewer response/blog-based criticism.
This site contains a number of links to discussions of a death pool analysis which is kinda interesting if you are one of those people interested in real or fictional death pools.
This one will probably require some sorting of wheat from chaff but hey, THE online forum devoted to Lost must be of some interest.
Then there is Lostpedia, which includes among many other things a very useful breakdown of Jung, Vogler and Campbell's heroic myth archetype so check it out...
...and here is a blog post also discussing the heroic myth as it applies to John Locke...
Now this one is interesting: I am not sure how much writing there is on Lost in this blog (you can link to more from this post), but seeing as this writer predicted in 2005 that there would be a character named "Hume" on the show (given the other literary, scientific and philosophical namesakes), this one might be worth a look...
The reviews at Salon.com are always worth reading, though I prefer former Salon critic Joyce Millman's writing to Laura Miller's (Millman has become the Boston Phoenix's TV critic).
I have no idea if this is meant to be tongue in cheek or not, but I don't care. This blog actually provides scientific analysis of character activity in terms of many spiffy, colorful PIE CHARTS. Wow. Or should I say, Yum.
Here is an excerpt from the book Living Lost which looks interesting.
This writer borrows their initial plot summary description from Wikipedia, but then goes into some interesting commentary that seems quite thoughtful and fairly insightful, if a bit esoteric (but then some of us like that kinda thing).
And here is an observation: a blog post/essay/online article that claims to be an "in-depth analysis" in all likelihood, isn't. I tend to distrust people who say they are really good at stuff until such time as they prove it to me (this pertains most especially to musicians, writers, and, well, use your imagination), so, anyway, that's my two cents, be gently forewarned.
By the way, this method of doing online "research" is acceptable, although not a replacement for the use of scholarly articles or reviews/articles from professional publications (such as American Cinematographer which often has articles on TV shows). But, for newer shows that have not built up a great deal of scholarly writing, finding fan-based writing may be of some use, provided it is intelligent, insightful and/or illuminating in some way.
A website called "The Spoon" has some character analyses worth looking at.
This guy fancies himself a a bit of a philosopher and writes an analysis of virtually every character in the show. I was not too terribly impressed with his insights but then I did not read all of his posts....probably worth a look, if not for useful quotes at least for study of viewer response/blog-based criticism.
This site contains a number of links to discussions of a death pool analysis which is kinda interesting if you are one of those people interested in real or fictional death pools.
This one will probably require some sorting of wheat from chaff but hey, THE online forum devoted to Lost must be of some interest.
Then there is Lostpedia, which includes among many other things a very useful breakdown of Jung, Vogler and Campbell's heroic myth archetype so check it out...
...and here is a blog post also discussing the heroic myth as it applies to John Locke...
Now this one is interesting: I am not sure how much writing there is on Lost in this blog (you can link to more from this post), but seeing as this writer predicted in 2005 that there would be a character named "Hume" on the show (given the other literary, scientific and philosophical namesakes), this one might be worth a look...
The reviews at Salon.com are always worth reading, though I prefer former Salon critic Joyce Millman's writing to Laura Miller's (Millman has become the Boston Phoenix's TV critic).
I have no idea if this is meant to be tongue in cheek or not, but I don't care. This blog actually provides scientific analysis of character activity in terms of many spiffy, colorful PIE CHARTS. Wow. Or should I say, Yum.
Here is an excerpt from the book Living Lost which looks interesting.
This writer borrows their initial plot summary description from Wikipedia, but then goes into some interesting commentary that seems quite thoughtful and fairly insightful, if a bit esoteric (but then some of us like that kinda thing).
And here is an observation: a blog post/essay/online article that claims to be an "in-depth analysis" in all likelihood, isn't. I tend to distrust people who say they are really good at stuff until such time as they prove it to me (this pertains most especially to musicians, writers, and, well, use your imagination), so, anyway, that's my two cents, be gently forewarned.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Pushing Daisies and Carinvale's Death-Defying Powers
Pushing Daisies premiered this season to much critical acclaim and worry. It's the type of beautiful, story rich, and quirky show that is usually cancelled one week in. Luckily it found an audience rather quickly and has been picked up for next season. This show is full of many supernatural plot lines and trademarks we've seen in other shows viewed this semester, especially our most recent viewing, Carnivale. However, hopefully it will not repeat the frequent trend of an early cancellation.
Pushing Daisies centers on the story of a boy, Ned, who discovers at a very young age, that he has the ability to bring dead beings back to life. He also discovers that with this great power also comes consequences, if he touches the formerly
dead person (or animal, or fruit, etc) it will instantly die yet again. However, if this being is allowed to live for more than one minute another equal entity will die as a result. These two rules are exemplified when his mother is saved from an aneurism, but a neighbor passes a moment later. Unfortunately Ned learns a little to late about the "no re-touch" rule a little too late and his mother also passes after a goodnight kiss.In HBO's Carnivale, one central character, Ben Hawkins, must handle the ability of granting returned life in a similar fashion to the Pushing Daisies' lead. He has the ability to bring others back to life, but he must accept that someone else has to die in order for this to happen. Unlike Ben, Ned has some control over his gift (maybe Ben just never learned the one- minute-touching/no re-touching rule). While Ned's decisions often lead to tension, they never cause any tangible strain on his relationships or prevent him from using his gift. That is until Chuck discovers the truth, that is. Chuck (the girl next door growing up) is Ned's childhood sweetheart brought back to life, and his allowing her to remain alive causes the death of an funeral home undertaker (granted he was stealing from dead people, so there's no remorse for his loss of life). Additionally, it was Chuck's father's death that allowed Ned's mother to return to life for a brief period of time. Here Ned and Ben's struggle to manage their abilities is most paralleled. Both have been granted an amazing power, that they are often called on to use, for better or worse.
While Carnivale takes a look at good and evil through the power to give some life and take it away from others, generally its more lighthearted on Pushing Daisies. For the most part, this is a love story about two star crossed lovers brought together by supernatural powers. And who could use a little of that in our Sci-fi world.
Tarot Cards & Carnivale
Tarot cards have a rather extensive and complicated history. The first documented painted deck was created in Italy in the 15th century. They were first widely publicized by Alliette, a French occultist, shortly before the French revolution. Tarot cards became increasingly popular in 1910, thanks to the publication of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot. In the 20th century a vast number of different types of Tarot decks were created. Tarot cards continue to be a popular mode of divination.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tarot card readings: the deck is first shuffled by the subject and then laid out by the reader in a ‘spread’ (certain pattern). The reader then turns over each card and interprets its meaning based on the placement of the card in the spread, the position of the card (inverted or upright), and the card’s inherent symbolic associations.
(Visit this site for more general Tarot information)
Carnivale’s opening sequence is heavily imbued with Tarot imagery. It also is really quite stunning. The sequence won an Emmy for “Outstanding Main Title Design,” in 2004.
Wikipedia eloquently describes the opening credits:
“The opening title sequence itself begins with a deck of Tarot cards falling into the sand, while the camera moves in and enters one card into a separate world presenting layers of artwork and footage from iconic moments of the American Depression era; the camera then moves back out of a different card and repeats the procedure several times. The sequence ends with the camera shifting from the "Judgment" Tarot card to the "Moon" and the "Sun", identifying the Devil and God respectively, until the wind blows away all cards and the underlying sand to reveal the Carnivàle title artwork.”
HBO has a rather in-depth explanation of the title sequence on its site.
The opening sequence includes, in order of appearance, these Tarot cards: “The World,” “Ace of Swords,” “Death,” “King of Swords,” “Temperance,” “The Magician,” “The Tower,” “The Sun,” “The Moon,” and “The Judgment” card.
All of the cards, with the exception of the two “swords” cards are from the major arcana. Depending on your Tarot source, or what type of deck you use, Tarot cards can have slightly different interpretations. The HBO site gives a rather general (and Carnivale specific) interpretation of the cards used in the opening. Nonetheless, HBO’s interpretations (which are set apart in quotes) appear fairly accurate in their generality:
The World – stands for “Completion, Perfection, and Eternal Life.” It is the world as imagined by the show— a place where good and evil both exist and battle one another. A world where hopefully good will pervade over evil.
Ace of Swords - “Ardent love, Ardent hate, A vanquisher is born.” Extremes of love vs. hate or good vs. evil are ever thematically present. The vanquisher in this case is Ben Hawkins, perceived vanquisher of Brother Justin
Death- “Transition, Change, Death” The images shown along with this card in the opening credits include scenes with the KKK, Mussolini, and Stalin. Brother Joseph would also be a manifestation of this.
King of Swords – “Powerful commander, a wise counselor, a judge.” I would think Samson or “management” would be what this card most directly refers to.
Temperance – “moderation, balance, harmony” Perhaps the balance between good and evil? That one is a bit tricky.
The Magician – “originality, confidence, skill. Inverted: lack of will” This is said to represent Ben Hawkins as well. Because the card is inverted, he has “lack of will” or a certain amount of unease with the gift of healing that he possesses.
The Tower – “sudden change, disruption, downfall” This represents the conflicts that the characters go through in their fight against evil (and each other).
Judgment Card – “renewal, rebirth.” Almost the “who will win: good or evil?” card in its placement with The Moon and The Sun (to the left and to the right).
The Moon – “deception, disillusionment.” Direct link to the devil or evil, Brother Justin
The Sun – “success, joy” Direct link to God, as represented by Ben Hawkins.
Now, I’m by no means a Tarot card expert, but Sandra Thomson is and she wrote a brief synopsis of the Carnivale series in relation to Tarot cards in a post dated November 1, 2003 (the series hadn’t ended yet).
In my search for information on this, I also found a fun “Carnivale” Tarot card game.
Interesting Fact: Carnivale has its own limited edition Tarot card deck. Purchasers were severely disappointed when the expensive cards had very simplistic designs, not the beautiful imagery of the cards shown in the opening sequence.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
But DAMN if she isn’t the most annoying character ever…
Now I generally don’t go for the whole anime “thing,” but I couldn’t resist this one.
Based off the Kirosawa film “the seven samurai” the show is called “Samurai 7”… pretty straightforward. However, it takes the principle of the story and puts it in a crazy universe of giant mechanical bandits, flying warships, and traditional ideas of honor and duty.
The samurai themselves seem to possess superhuman strength and agility. They can jump hundreds of feet into the air and slice through giant airships. The universe itself is populated with many odd creatures and has a strange and intricate history.
Among some of the other characters are a family of water priestesses, who have a magic crystal that they use for divining. The crystal can be used most basically for finding water, but the water also helps them do other things. The crystal can tell the priestess if someone is a good or bad person, or if she is in love. In the later episodes, the crystal seems to take on its own role and plays a bigger part in the story. The only drawback to the priestess family is the younger sister Komachi. Her English voice is the most irritating voice I’ve ever heard, and the character itself is just a plain annoying little girl who never shuts up. I’ve managed to get past this though, except that she has her own summary section at the end of every episode where she sums up whatever happened through her own childish idiotic point of view.
If you can get past this issue though, the show is straight pimpin, HELLA nasty. The samurai own up on all manner of things, and all prove their mettle.
Another thing I find interesting about the show, was what we were discussing in relation to Carnivale about the heroes journey. Each samurai has their own version of a journey that they go through. Katsushiro has arguably the most interesting arc, because he starts out as the naïve young samurai and matures when he comes in contact with battle. But Kambei Shimada has a great heroes journey as well, since even though he’s an all around badass, he is at first reluctant to join the crew. Kikuchiyo on the other hand, is overeager to joint the group, and Kambei allows him to follow them, but doesn’t accept him as part of the crew until he discovers Kikuchiyo’s hidden motives. Even the farmer Rikichi has somewhat of a hero’s journey as he proves himself more and more useful.
It’s a great show, and even if you don’t like anime, it’s just a good story. It’s also only about 25 episodes long, so it’s a very self-contained series, something that I find distinctly Japanese. Whereas in
Here’s some links, just the imdb page and wikipedia, in case you want to check it out.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Night of the Living... aww hell with it...
Of course, that should have been, "Night of the Living Dummy," going back to the good old days of Goosebumps. Yes, I know Goosebumps were books, but it did make it to television for 4 whole seasons between 1995-98. I think it warrants a little discussion, especially considering a great deal of inspiration for R.L. Stine's spooky tales came straight from from past television shows, specifically from my favorite and yours, The Twilight Zone.
Some episodes of Goosebumps are dead ringers for the sci-fi classics from days of yore. Night of the Living Dummy (link goes to the second version) is one of them, paying homage (or ripping off, whichever you prefer) to Night of the Living Dead. However the story itself gains some of its content from another source... an episode the the Twilight Zone entitled "The Dummy." In it, a ventriloquist dummy seems to take over the life of his puppeteer, and they end up doing a little switcheroo, in which the puppet starts working the other man's strings. The Goosebumps version plays right off the idea presented in the Twilight Zone, the owner of the puppet gets the blame for all the misdoings of the dummy.
Another Goosebumps episode in particular is one called "Click" Here, a boy figures out that a remote control he just bought controls more than just the tv and stereo, he can stop, pause, and rewind everything around him. The Twilight Zone version, "A Kind of Stopwatch," a man who gets a special pocketwatch that's able to stop time, starts abusing his gift for all sorts of debauchery, breaks the watch, and is stuck in a world where time is completely stopped, the same fate as the boy in "Click." (Which also happens to be the title of a rather poor Adam Sandler movie, just to mention)
While some may say this is kind of a rip off of these classics, (which in a way, it is) it's also bringing these stories that entertained many a viewer in the 60's, to the kids of the 90's. It got kids to read, and when on TV, brought many fond memories of rushing home from school to a darkened basement with a few good friends and getting ready to be scared. And in my own case, it actually sparked my interest in the Twilight Zone, as I really wanted to know where these stories came from.
Straight Thuggin It
Homeboys in Outer Space. Some of you may be wondering what I'm talking about, others may recognize it as the name for the extremely campy sci-fi spoof on the now defunct UPN. The show starred Flex Alexander and Darryl M. Bell (probably better known as Ron from A Different World) as a pair of odd couple freelancers who trolled several galaxy's looking for odd jobs. The duo flew around in an old beat up car with wings attached to it that they affectionately dubbed the Space Hoopty. The "hoopty" was piloted by an on board computer by the name of Loquatia that had a wild attraction for Darryl's character Morris and a great disdain for Flex's character Tyberius Walker. Loquatia's name comes from the latin word lo-qua-cious, meaning talkative or full of trivial conversation - think of her as the Dee (of What's Happening) of outer space. In the short span of the shows existence it had several notable guest stars including: Casey Kasem, Gary Coleman, George Takei, Little Richard and Tempestt Bledsoe. However, due to horrible, horrible ratings and a backlash from members of the NAACP the show was canceled after only six episodes... Now don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of this show, it relied on heavy racial stereotypes that could work when the premise is actually funny. This show was one of those car crashes that you can see coming a mile away yet somehow those onboard are completely oblivious to it. With that said, here's a clip of the opening theme. Enjoy!
Big Sci-Fi with a Little Budget
Since we haven’t had the time to really go into that great realm that is science fiction, I thought I would bring up a series near and dear to my heart – which very few people around here have heard of. Red Dwarf ran for 8 wonderful seasons from 1988 to 1999 – an excellent run for a sci-fi comedy. Now what makes Red Dwarf different from all others of its kind is that it (for seasons I - VI) was filmed with a live studio audience. That’s right; a show that takes place on a mining ship that is 6 miles long is shot with a live audience. For those who aren’t familiar to the series (which I imagine is nearly everyone – it was a British show that started running when we were babies), Red Dwarf follows the misadventures of David Lister, the last living human on the ship, Arnold Rimmer, a hologram, the Cat, an evolved form of an ordinary housecat, Kryten, an android, and Holly, a computer program who occasionally switches gender. Now, something that really adds to the overall humor of the program is how small the show’s budget was and what they did to work around it. For example, the only thing that distinguishes the holographic people from the living ones is an H on their foreheads. And even though they’re on a huge ship, we only ever see a few rooms. In order to not offend people, Red Dwarf developed a rather catchy language of swear words – all based on the word ‘smeg’.
Despite it all, Red Dwarf has had more than its share of notoriety. An episode from 1994, entitled “Gunmen of the Apocalypse” won an International Emmy Award. The series has also won a British Science Fiction Award and the Royal Television Society Award for Special Effects. Surprizingly, in 2007, the show was voted "Best Sci-Fi Show of All Time" by the readers of Radio Times magazine - despite the fact that there hadn't been new episodes since 1999.
Now, it might seem odd to suggest that a series that ran for 8 seasons ended before it’s time, but Red Dwarf seems to have done just that. The final episode of season VIII does not have a definitive conclusion. Keeping in mind that there were 2 years between the release of seasons VI and VII, it could be that they are just waiting for the right moment to add more to this epic series. Over the years, there have also been many attempts to make a Red Dwarf movie…maybe someday they’ll be able make it reality. Anyway, Happy 20th Anniversary Red Dwarf!!!!
In the not-too-distant future...
What do you get when you put a man and some robots on a satellite and force them to watch awful movies?
Only one of the greatest shows of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000.
First airing on a Twin Cities UHF station in 1988, the show went through multiple channel and schedule changes, but still kept the original idea and spirit. In the beginning, a research facility janitor named Joel Robinson (played by series creator Joel Hodgson) is sent into space by his bosses. He is forced to watch terrible movies, and his reactions are studied. His only companions on the satellite are the robots he himself built. Two of them, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo, join him in the theater to joke about the films. Hodgson eventually left the series in its fifth season, and the head writer, Mike Nelson, was brought in as the new host/victim. The evil mad scientists that ran the game were replaced by one of their mothers, along with an omniscient alien with his brain in a pan and a primate (literally) professor.
Though the outer space setting would definitely seem to firmly cement the show in the “science fiction” column, the connections often were somewhat tenuous. As the theme song says, “if you’re wondering how he eats and breathes, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself 'it’s just a show, I should really just relax'.” The characters constantly flouted the laws of science and physics, doing things like taking sharp left turns in space and venturing outside the satellite without any sort of protection from the vacuum of space. However, many of the movies they were forced to watch had science fiction, fantasy, or horror themes. (A rule from which they often deviated, even in the years on the SciFi channel, who were far more strict about it than Comedy Central had been.)
Part of what makes the show so significant to us is its postmodernist nature. The structure was mostly its own, but the jokes during the movies were PACKED with references. They range from the lowbrow (dish soap commercials and Hagar the Horrible) to the erudite (Mark Rothko and Archduke Ferdinand). It’s difficult to catch everything they say the first time. This makes the show ripe for rewatching multiple times. You always catch something you missed before. Attempts have been made to compile a sort of reference for the sources of all of the quotes, but these aren’t always very thorough.
MST3K was a bizarre concept that somehow caught on. It starred nobody famous or glamorous, had production values lower than some of the films they watched, and every episode is two hours long. However, the intelligence that clearly existed in the crew was able to show through in its own unique way. Unfortunately it ended in 1999, with reruns continuing only for a couple years more. However, its spirit lives on.
For more information, there are many comprehensive website dedicated to the show.
MST3K.booyaka.com
Satellite News
There are also many episodes available on DVD (or on YouTube).
Only one of the greatest shows of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000.
First airing on a Twin Cities UHF station in 1988, the show went through multiple channel and schedule changes, but still kept the original idea and spirit. In the beginning, a research facility janitor named Joel Robinson (played by series creator Joel Hodgson) is sent into space by his bosses. He is forced to watch terrible movies, and his reactions are studied. His only companions on the satellite are the robots he himself built. Two of them, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo, join him in the theater to joke about the films. Hodgson eventually left the series in its fifth season, and the head writer, Mike Nelson, was brought in as the new host/victim. The evil mad scientists that ran the game were replaced by one of their mothers, along with an omniscient alien with his brain in a pan and a primate (literally) professor.
Though the outer space setting would definitely seem to firmly cement the show in the “science fiction” column, the connections often were somewhat tenuous. As the theme song says, “if you’re wondering how he eats and breathes, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself 'it’s just a show, I should really just relax'.” The characters constantly flouted the laws of science and physics, doing things like taking sharp left turns in space and venturing outside the satellite without any sort of protection from the vacuum of space. However, many of the movies they were forced to watch had science fiction, fantasy, or horror themes. (A rule from which they often deviated, even in the years on the SciFi channel, who were far more strict about it than Comedy Central had been.)
Part of what makes the show so significant to us is its postmodernist nature. The structure was mostly its own, but the jokes during the movies were PACKED with references. They range from the lowbrow (dish soap commercials and Hagar the Horrible) to the erudite (Mark Rothko and Archduke Ferdinand). It’s difficult to catch everything they say the first time. This makes the show ripe for rewatching multiple times. You always catch something you missed before. Attempts have been made to compile a sort of reference for the sources of all of the quotes, but these aren’t always very thorough.
MST3K was a bizarre concept that somehow caught on. It starred nobody famous or glamorous, had production values lower than some of the films they watched, and every episode is two hours long. However, the intelligence that clearly existed in the crew was able to show through in its own unique way. Unfortunately it ended in 1999, with reruns continuing only for a couple years more. However, its spirit lives on.
For more information, there are many comprehensive website dedicated to the show.
MST3K.booyaka.com
Satellite News
There are also many episodes available on DVD (or on YouTube).
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
They Be Huntin' Vampires!
As I was scouring the Internet after Buffy week, I came across an interesting article from The Independent, which is a newspaper from the United Kingdom. The article is entitled, “The Real Vampire Slayers”. Alright, are you interested? Here’s a link:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/the-real-vampire-slayers-397874.html
For those of you who have decided not to actually read the article, let me summarize it now. The article talks about the filming of a documentary for the discovery channel, called “Real Vampires”. I had never heard of it before, so maybe you haven’t either. An archeologist, Dr. Timothy Taylor, who studies visceral human behavior (such as cannibalism, or human sacrifice – hey, remember that?), had been studying the culture in the Romanian town of Transylvania (for those who don’t know, yes, it really exists) for several years. He had been drawn there, as many people often are, by the stories of Count Dracula. As many often do, when they travel to this part of the world, they want to learn about the REAL Count Dracula, Vladislav the Impaler. No, folks, that’s not just a nickname, it was also a hobby of his. If you want to learn more Vladislav, here’s a link to a wikipedia article on him.
Getting back to the article, Taylor decided to venture to Transylvania with his partner, Kathryn Denning, and a film crew. They wanted to study not only Vladislav, but also the vampire beliefs that are ingrained in the culture there. You see, the vampire slaying came out a period when there was sickness in the world (there was an outbreak of rabies at the time), and a great fear of dying. Somehow this fear of dying turned into a fear of those who seemed to not die. At the time, not much was understood about death, particularly of corpses. Certainly strange things can occur in a dead body that has not been properly cared for (it can even explode).
They are very ritualistic in the caring for the dead. They may present gifts of food for the dead for up to seven years after a death. If someone is determined to have become a strigoi, which is basically like a demon (or vampire), then there is also a ritual for that as well. The chest of the body must be opened in a specific way, and the heart cut out. The heart is then taken outside of town and burned. The ashes from this are then ground up into a powder and put into water. The victim who is being haunted by the strigoi must then drink this mixture. Ew.
The strigoi are the real world equivalent of vampires. They don’t actually suck blood, but are believed to feast on the heart (in other words, the soul) of the victim. Since this culture has such a strong believe that blood is like the energy or power of the soul, it is not hard to see how the legend turned into actual blood sucking.
The article reminded me about the stories of real zombies several years ago. Apparently the real world equivalent comes from a Voodoo practice. A Voodoo witch would use a substance from a puffer fish, which would paralyze the victim to the point that they appear dead. As is often found in third world areas, bodies are usually buried very quickly, as there isn’t the kind of preservation available, like we have in the U.S. Soon after the body was buried, the witch would retrieve the body and wait for it to come to life. There is the thought that sometimes the oxygen deprivation may have caused brain damage. However, most who have studied the supposed (yet, mostly unfounded) practice think that it was more likely that the when the victim woke up, the witch would brainwash them into slavery. You can check out more information for yourself here.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/the-real-vampire-slayers-397874.html
For those of you who have decided not to actually read the article, let me summarize it now. The article talks about the filming of a documentary for the discovery channel, called “Real Vampires”. I had never heard of it before, so maybe you haven’t either. An archeologist, Dr. Timothy Taylor, who studies visceral human behavior (such as cannibalism, or human sacrifice – hey, remember that?), had been studying the culture in the Romanian town of Transylvania (for those who don’t know, yes, it really exists) for several years. He had been drawn there, as many people often are, by the stories of Count Dracula. As many often do, when they travel to this part of the world, they want to learn about the REAL Count Dracula, Vladislav the Impaler. No, folks, that’s not just a nickname, it was also a hobby of his. If you want to learn more Vladislav, here’s a link to a wikipedia article on him.
Getting back to the article, Taylor decided to venture to Transylvania with his partner, Kathryn Denning, and a film crew. They wanted to study not only Vladislav, but also the vampire beliefs that are ingrained in the culture there. You see, the vampire slaying came out a period when there was sickness in the world (there was an outbreak of rabies at the time), and a great fear of dying. Somehow this fear of dying turned into a fear of those who seemed to not die. At the time, not much was understood about death, particularly of corpses. Certainly strange things can occur in a dead body that has not been properly cared for (it can even explode).
They are very ritualistic in the caring for the dead. They may present gifts of food for the dead for up to seven years after a death. If someone is determined to have become a strigoi, which is basically like a demon (or vampire), then there is also a ritual for that as well. The chest of the body must be opened in a specific way, and the heart cut out. The heart is then taken outside of town and burned. The ashes from this are then ground up into a powder and put into water. The victim who is being haunted by the strigoi must then drink this mixture. Ew.
The strigoi are the real world equivalent of vampires. They don’t actually suck blood, but are believed to feast on the heart (in other words, the soul) of the victim. Since this culture has such a strong believe that blood is like the energy or power of the soul, it is not hard to see how the legend turned into actual blood sucking.
The article reminded me about the stories of real zombies several years ago. Apparently the real world equivalent comes from a Voodoo practice. A Voodoo witch would use a substance from a puffer fish, which would paralyze the victim to the point that they appear dead. As is often found in third world areas, bodies are usually buried very quickly, as there isn’t the kind of preservation available, like we have in the U.S. Soon after the body was buried, the witch would retrieve the body and wait for it to come to life. There is the thought that sometimes the oxygen deprivation may have caused brain damage. However, most who have studied the supposed (yet, mostly unfounded) practice think that it was more likely that the when the victim woke up, the witch would brainwash them into slavery. You can check out more information for yourself here.
X: Japan- Apocalypse Style.
Well, since we've been talking so much about the end of the world, I figured I'd talk about how our neighbors to the east have handled the Apocalypse in their respective media. Probably the best example of Japan's attempt to handle the end of the world is the series Ekkusu, which translates simply to X.X is a manga and Anime series created by Clamp, a creative team made up of four japanese women (a rarity in the manga business). X is Clamp's attempt to push into apocalyptic fiction, something vastly different than their previous titles (they were previously known for creating shoujo manga, which literally translates to manga aimed at young girls). It combines elements from various end of the world scenarios, both secular and religious, with its own mythos.
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The story takes place in 1999, just before the Millennium. Many different individuals with superhuman abilities gather in Tokyo (which is to be the battleground for the End of the World) and choose sides. The series follows the anti-hero Kamui Shirō, a young man returning to Japan for the first time in seven years in order to fulfill his mother's dying wish and protect those dear to him. The two sides of the war, calling themselves the Dragons of Earth and the Dragons of Heaven, are vying for Kamui's strength, as each side believes him to be the one who holds the key to the future of fate of the world. X follows Kamui on his own heroic journey, where the emphasis of the story is placed on his choices and how they affect the world around him, all while he attempts to reconcile his possible roles as either savior or destroyer of the world.
One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the physical manifestation of ideological concepts (that are never overtly stated) in the Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth. The Dragons of Earth represent the belief that conflicts between man and nature cannot be resolved peaceably, and that humans are on an irreversible path that will ultimately lead to the murder of the planet itself unless they are stopped. As such, their mission is to destroy the earth in order to allow it to rejuvenate itself. Conversely, The Dragons of Heaven represent the belief that conflicts between man and nature can and must be resolved peaceably, and that humanity is no less precious than the Earth itself.
X ran as a serialized manga in the publication Monthly Asuka from 1992 until 2003 when the creators put the story on hiatus without developing an official end to the series. It was animated into a feature film in 1996 with relative success in Japan, and five years later it was made into the much more successful TV series which ran for 24 episodes (a standard running time for a two-season anime) and was much more successful at exploring the original mythos and characters' back stories into the narrative, albeit in a much more violent manner.
If you're interested, you can find X on the shelves at pretty much any video store with an Anime section (Pioneer Entertainment bought the American distribution rights and released the series with both English and the original Japanese voices). I highly recommend it if you're looking for a bit of action.
The Many Lives of Sabrina
In 1962, a character named Sabrina the Teenage Witch appeared in the comic book Archie’s Mad House. Readers liked the character, and so she appeared in several Archie Comics throughout the '60s until the publishers decided to give her her own comic book in 1971. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was published from 1971-1983, running for 77 issues. The principal characters from the comic book that later appear in the television series of the same name are Sabrina Spellman, her aunts Hilda and Zelda (who are also witches), the Spellmans’ sarcastic talking cat Salem (who used to be a warlock), and Sabrina’s mortal boyfriend Harvey, who is unaware that Sabrina is a witch.In 1996, Hallmark Entertainment produced a TV movie for Showtime based on the Sabrina comic, starring Melissa Joan Hart, who had gained popularity from her days as Clarissa on Nickeldeon’s hit series “Clarissa Explains it All”. In the movie, Sabrina’s parents send her to live with her two eccentric aunts. On her sixteenth birthday, Sabrina finds out she is a witch. With a point of her finger, she can now change her clothes and her test scores, but as her Aunt Zelda tells her, witches can't interfere with the human heart, because "love is too precious for anyone to tamper with." The movie was a success, and ABC greenlit a series based on it. Despite differences in characters and casting, the TV movie served as the unofficial pilot. "Sabrina" ran from 1996-2003 on ABC and was part of the popular TGIF lineup along with “Boy Meets World”.
The show was clearly influenced by supernatural sitcoms "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie", as well as the 1980s sitcom "Out of This World", about a teenage girl who is half-alien. Like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (which has a very similar title but came first, mind you) was based on a bad movie of the same name and featured a teenage girl with supernatural abilities who was otherwise a normal teen. However, "Sabrina" followed more of a traditional sitcom format than "Buffy" (and Buffy was probably more of a badass). Sabrina deals with being a teenager while learning more about her powers and the secrets of her family. When Sabrina's parents got divorced, right before her sixteenth birthday, they sent her to live with her witch aunts, who they knew would take good care of her and teach her about her powers. Sabrina's father is a warlock, but her mother is a mortal. Now that Sabrina is a witch, she will turn her mortal mother into a ball of wax if she looks at her.The show takes place in the fictional town of Westbridge, located near Boston, MA. This creative choice as well as the choice to name the Spellmans' warlock cat "Salem" are obvious references to the Salem witch trials that took place in these areas of Massachusetts in the 1600s. Sabrina often takes trips to the “Other Realm,” another dimension where witches and other supernatural creatures live. When in the Other Realm, Sabrina often deals with Drell, the head of the Witches’ Council, played by Penn of the comedic illusionist duo Penn & Teller. Barbara Eden of “I Dream of Jeannie” also shows up to play Sabrina’s Great Aunt Irma in several episodes.
In true postmodern fashion, Melissa Joan Hart showed up once in a while playing the character of Sabrina Spellman in other ABC shows in the TGIF lineup, including the television adaptation of “Clueless,” “Boy Meets World,” and the very short-lived series “Teen Angel” and “You Wish”. "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" also spun off two more TV movies – “Sabrina Goes to Rome” and “Sabrina Down Under”. After Sabrina graduated high school, we watched her take her wacky witchy antics on to college. This was when I stopped watching, because the cast completely changed (Punky Brewster and Amber from "Clueless"?!) and it just wasn't the same. The franchise later returned to its animated roots with a prequel, “Sabrina: The Animated Series,” with the younger Sabrina voiced by Hart’s younger sister and Hart voicing the two aunts. Talk about milking a franchise for all it's worth.Regardless, this was a show that was very important to my preteen years. I'll never forget the episode when Sabrina didn't have a date to the dance, and her aunts helped her make a date out of "man dough" (and it was Brian Austen Green from 90210. Sooo '90s.)
Lost Spoilers of Season 4.
To many this topic is too tiresome but I just can't stop thinking about it and what might happen in the rest of the season. This season has been the best by far. The major episodes when finding out who will be the ultimate survivors or why they are even being called the oceanic 6 were the best ones. We know Hurley, Kate, Jack, Sun, Sayid are definite survivors because we have seen their flash forward. As for the last survivor we know Michael and Walt make it off the island but they are undercover and we really don't even know what is going on with them. So, I surmise they are not included in the “Oceanic 6”, because then it would be 7. We know Michael is suicidal but the Island has control over him still and won't allow him to kill himself- yet. Desmond's episode was the best by far. It was so well done with the jumping from one state of mind to another. Whether or not the Island was controlling this, I am not sure. The time change continuum- what is that all about? Will Desmond survive to see Penny again? Faraday-the scientist- writes "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant." That’s pretty intense, it’s like saying he will be eaten by the time continuum also, but apparently it doesn’t affect everyone. Sayid made it out alive.
Alright, so Desmond is saved- for now- and Ben is saved. Ben isn’t one of the Oceanic 6, like Desmond, but he survives it all. It makes me wonder how a man can be so hated by everyone yet never be killed… He must have some power that controls this island and its happenings- though no powers that can make someone love him (Juliet in mind). Anyways, we see him in Sayid’s episode where Sayid is actually working for Ben… that was a shocker WHYY would Sayid ever work for that lying bastard. It really makes no sense unless Ben has something Sayid needs/loves/wants… so maybe Ben is using him. It just shocks me.
The 6th person hasn’t been mentioned, that I am aware of. It can be argued that Aaron is the final survivor, I don’t buy it. Aaron wasn’t on the roster when the plane crash- therefore, could he actually be the final survivor when he didn’t exist when the plane took off? I think that could be swung either way. My guess is that he isn’t. Kate’s episode was predictable, probably one of the more boring of the new season so far (The Other Woman being the worst). The moment we find out she has a kid in the future I knew it was Aaron, it wasn’t hard to pick up on at all, what is more weird about that than anything is Jack’s reaction to her raising Aaron. Does Jack find out he is related to Aaron, and doesn’t want anything to do with him? What exactly is his problem with Aaron? We saw in an earlier season of Lost that Jack and Claire are related by the father Shepard. He appears all over the island at random times, so there is something very fishy going on with this man/spirit. We have seen him this season in episode one (if you freeze frame) when Hurley sees the house of Jacob… there is a flash of Shepard. It really just blows my mind.
As for people who they can now kill off in the show, well we have Jin and Claire. Do we think they die of something horrible? We will find out. In the Sun/Jin episode we see Sun’s flash forward and Jin’s flashback (probably). There could always be a crazy time warp continuum thing going on there. Or, Jin could be undercover/ just not dead. JJ isn’t one to just let a character go- they generally find their way back into the script. Since Kate has Aaron- what happens to Claire, she probably dies. Any number of things could happen; I am pretty excited to see where that leads.
Up next I would love too see Ben’s story, I bet everyone is waiting for it, likewise with Locke. I know people aren’t fond of Locke this season however, we don’t really know why he is being all aggressive towards friends and then easy going with Ben. How does that make any sense? I think everyone needs to give him another chance, but we will really find out what’s going on when we get his point of the story, which I am longing for. Maybe he isn’t going crazy- how do we know. Now, I kind of cheated because I was reading the Lost Magazine at Borders the other day and there was an interview with a staff writer. Spoiler- so they are going to bring back Richard aka Bens lackey or whoever he was. He is the guy that hadn’t aged in 30 years, he was one of the originals on the island or as they called themselves the “hostiles”, during the Dharma times. I love his character, I think we can learn a lot, and I want to know more about them.
This show just keeps me guessing after every moment engaged with it. It’s really obsessive but I just really want to know more- they better wrap it nicely at the end with a bow and cake. I don’t want to be left outside in the dark, alone- with my teddy bear and no food. If that made any sense…
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Ouroboros
While watching Millenium, we talked about the Ouroboros, as depicted to the right. It is a serpent devouring its own tail, and symbolizes multiple things, such as death, but also infinity. I personally knew a few ideas that presented the Ouroboros in other names, and decided to do some research to see where it else comes from.
The Ouroboros has shown up in many religions of cultures, from all over the world. Alongside being a serpent eating its own tail, frequently the story also includes it from being of the sea, or relating to the sea in some fashion. The story also has a lot to do with the combination of death and rebirth, as one may assume from the picture.
One of the earliest stories of this is Tiamat, the Goddess of the Salt Water, which also represents chaos. She's in the Babylonian creation myth, in which before the sky and the earth, there was only the ocean, Tiamat. Tiamat begot all the other gods, and thus was at the head of the chain (for those interested in Matriarchy, Goddess' like Tiamat and Gaia show women may have once been in control of the world). Paranoia broke out among the younger gods, and a bunch of murders likeable to a war occurred. Tiamat was displeased by this, and decided to drown the world (Great Flood anyone?), but Marduk cut Tiamat in two. Her separation became the heavens and the earth, and from her death all life came.
The one I know best is Jormugandr, form Norse mythology. Jormugandr is one of Loki's three children (four if you count Sleipnir), and has a large presence during Ragnarok. Jormugandr is described as a serpent so massive that it lives at the bottom of the ocean where the world is largest and goes across all of it to the point where its biting its own tail. As such, Jormugandr is known as the Midgard Serpent (Midgard = Norse World, so aka The World Serpent). When Ragnarok does finally come, Jormugandr will rise from the sea and poison the seas and skies. Thor will battle Jormugandr, and kills him by separating Jormugandr's upper jaw from his lower jaw to the point that it rips Jormugandr in two (*cough TIAMAT cough*. Unfortunately, in Ragnarok basically every God dies...and in the fight Thor is poisoned, and the stress of tearing Jormugandr asunder lets Thor only take a few steps forward. But, the tale of Ragnarok continues in that a few key Gods survive, and bring out a better world for us all. There are a few other Norse tales that also have large serpents biting their own tails.
While on the concept of Apocalyptic events...lets look at the Apocalypse. Leviathan is the sea serpent, and one of the enemies of man when the end comes. The word Leviathan means "Coiled," and being a Sea-serpent you get an image of a serpent biting its own tail. Some pictures of Leviathan depict him as such. I am actually much less aware of Leviathan's presence in the Apocalypse other than that seas will rise and help drown us out.
Well...so far it looks like Ouroboros is evil. Quetzalcoatl is the opposite, being one of the 4 major Aztec gods. Quetzalcoatl name symbolizes a flying serpent, and is the god of the sky. While not the god of earthly water, Rain (and as such floods) would fall under his domain and control. Quetzalcoatl's story is a little different, in that he helped created the world, and then he departed on a boat of snakes into the ocean (which if we know our American history, Spanish come back and are mistaken for their long lost God). Quetzalcoatl has been liked to Vishnu of Hinduism, who has also been described as Flying Serpent, and seen with the Ouroboros.
There's a bunch more too. Such as Hinduism having a serpent that circles the worlds ocean and helps keep the world at balance. A good amount of various African and Asian mythologies also have presented the concept of the Ouroboros in various forms.
Dead Like Who?
Ok. For those of you who haven't seen the prematurely canceled Bryan Fuller created (2003-2004) Showtime television show, Dead Like Me, just imagine Six Feet Under but the plot doesn't unfold around people who live and work in a funeral home, but instead centers around a group of people who are grim reaper's. Sound confusing? It's quite simple really. The main character and narrator, George (a wonderfully sarcastic young women) died at the tender age of eighteen, by of all things, a flying toilet seat that fell out of the sky from space. Sound bad enough? It gets worse. Upon realizing that she was dead and after getting over her frustration, she quickly learns that she was kept on this planet to fulfill the duties of a grim reaper. Their duties are simple, remove the souls of the living shortly before their death and escort them to the "afterlife."
Almost like Buffy, George has a "watcher" figure named Rube who she meets daily at the local cafe to receive her daily reaping assignments, which includes the first initial of the name (and last name) of the soon to be deceased along with the time and location of his/her death. On top of all this, George and her fellow reapers still have to worry about having a normal job (George is a secretary at a typically annoying office appropriately named "Happy Time Temp Services") all a while making sure that the rent is paid on time every month. Also, although the reapers are still "alive" and people can see them, they are not physically the same people that their family/friends knew. Their appearances are distorted and they look nothing like they did in their previous life.
Throughout her short journey on television, George goes through many personal battles that she must face while accepting her death and new job as "watcher among the dead" alongside those who have lived a longer life than she did and have also accepted their grimly faith. For example, in the first season episode titled "Curious George", George must accept the fact that she might never see her family again. However, it may not be so easy for an eighteen year old to accept on face value. Instead, she returns to her childhood home and although her family doesn't recognize her, she still wants to be part of their lives. Quickly learning that it may not be as easy as she thought, George learns the important lesson of the dead hanging around their past, which goes against all the rules of the reaper guidelines.
I could go into further details about why I love the show, but instead I will explain the reason why I chose to write my blog post on Dead Like Me. Besides its obvious connections to the supernatural, D.L.M is another example of one of those brilliant shows that got canceled way before their time. Just like Arrested Development, Wonderfalls (also developed by Bryan Fuller), and Freaks and Geeks just to name a few. D.L.M is a precious gem among recent crappy television and without the repeats on the SCIFI Channel, I might have never discovered/fell in love with its brilliant character development and dark/twisted story-lines.
It's been recently announced that a direct-to-DVD movie will be released soon, which is set two years following where the television show left off. So unlike some of the other shows mentioned above (Arrested Development will hopefully be made into a movie, YAY!), Dead Like Me will have some closure for the fans and I can't wait to watch more of the reaper's crazy adventures! Ok, now I'm off to watch more television, in the mean time... tell me what you like about the show or other shows that were canceled too early that you thought didn't get their fair run.
More info on Dead Like Me.
Carnivale Bibliography anyone?
For those of you contemplating writing your second essay on Carnivale, I have a bibliography of articles and such that may prove helpful (there is not a whole lot of academic research material available on the show specifically). Email me if you would like a copy and I can arrange to leave a copy for you in my mailbox, or leave a few of them outside my office.
Remember, your abstract is due on Thursday! Please bring a copy of it to class. Email me with any questions.
Your third blog post is due Thursday as well, although for those of you who have not done it yet, you may have until Friday...one extra day.
Monday, April 7, 2008
That black and white image at the top of my last post wasn't supposed to be there.
That's Howard Hughes standing atop the Spruce Goose.
It was supposed to be this.
Lost in Space, Old Versus New
In the late nineties, early oughts, we as Americans were subjected to what seemed like an unremitting barrage of terrible sci-fi(The Thirteenth Floor, Batman and Rpbin, and The Avengers) and based on television (Charlie's Angels, 'nuff said) films, but I think it can be argued that by far the worst film of this entire period was Lost in Space, a film that was based on a 60s television show that mercilessly sucked on all eight cylinders. It was painful. It was unwatchable. It was the movie that finally beat Titanic for the top spot on the weekend chart. I will always defend Titanic, even though I can admit its flaws, but seriously, this is the alternative? Lost in Space?
For those of you who might happen to be one of God's favorite's who have not seen the film, let me explain it to you. In the future, a family gets lost in space. That's about it, but to complicate things, they go through time as well as space, and Gary Oldman is with them. Naturally, the hero is Matt LeBlanc, who spends his time shooting at different things he doesn't understand/disagrees with, and has this metal mask that makes it look like the movie is going to be cool for a second, but of course isn't. They even pick up this big-eyed space pet. Sweet Jesus.
But the real accomplishment (in honor of the Pulitzers, which were announced today) is that they were able to make something worse than the original television show. The plot was essentially the same, save that Gary Oldman's character was in fact a mincing pedophile who never had anything better to do on this desolate planet than hang out with Bill Mumy. There was really only one set, which was pretty lousy, and they never get off the planet.
What's the lesson here, though? That when utter crap takes itself seriously and we don't get to see Dr. Zachary Smith preening about and making weird insults at a big robot, the ability to watch it at all goes way down.
To see Jonathan Harris pretend he didn't make the world a worse place, look here.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Everybody hates John Locke.
... no not THAT John Locke...So I’m in a unique position writing this post because as everyone knows, I have not seen any of the episodes from the new season of “Lost”. I absolutely despise watching shows on television, being forced to sit through commercials and then have to wait a week (at least) to find out what happens. As such, I have seen all the episodes up until this point, but I have watched them on DVD. That being said, I am in a unique position, because I don’t know (nor do I wish to know) what is happening currently on the show.
But getting back on track, from what I gather listening to everyone I know who watches, everybody hates John Locke… everyone but me that is.
I constantly have arguments defending Locke, and while I understand why people hate him, I will qualify my defense of him with the statement that I’m not defending the character, his actions or motivations, I am defending the structure of the character, as a character.
Few people can deny the allure of the villain, and while there are many different types of villains, John Locke is one of the most entertaining types of villains. He is ambiguous, but all knowing. He’s not a mindless brute like a zombie or an “I know what you did last summer” type. He is calculated and mysterious. Just the fact that we had to wait until the third season to find out what the hell happened to his legs meant that we were constantly in a state of wonder, and constantly questioning him. Was it something huge like a train wreck, or perhaps he was paralyzed saving a bunch of drowning orphans from a great white shark. Maybe he was paralyzed drowning a bunch of orphans in a bathtub, or, likelier still, maybe his injury had nothing to do with drowning orphans at all! Like him or not, one couldn’t help but wonder what happened to him.
We also can’t help but wonder generally what his deal is. A great example of his mystery is early on, when he’s walking to the hatch (remember that thing?) with boon (remember that guy?) and he says that it’s going to rain, and then it starts raining immediately. He may be a prick, but it’s hard to deny the fact that he’s in tune with the island somehow.
Benjamin Linus is another great example of a villain in this same vein, and when the two of them get together its villain-tastic.
Admittedly, Locke comes unraveled in the later episodes, but early Locke is a lot of fun to watch. The villains are always the most fun part to watch, even when we look at simple superheroes, the heroes are always defined by their villains, Batman has Joker, Mr. Freeze, Two Face, etc. Spiderman has all of his lame villains, and Superman is just a stupid flying jerk… but I think I’m getting off topic here. Everyone loves villains, just look at this crazy guy’s page about villains, I even found an instructional page on how to become a villain .
You might have to make a metaphorical deal with the devil... and by devil I mean Robot Devil, and by metaphorical I mean get your coat.
So we haven’t really talked about animated shows.
Nor have we talked about one of the finest animated shows ever created… I speak of course of “Futurama”
Amidst the science fiction genre are all manner of supernatural beings and situations. Aliens and robots are standard characters, and we can visit all different kinds of planets and situations that would not normally be possible. The beauty of "Futurama" though, is that all these things are done in a very intelligent way. Listening to the audio commentaries on the DVD, one can see just how much (sometimes unnecessarily complicated) thought goes into a lot of simple decisions. In a first season episode where the characters are on the moon, the animators and directors had long conversations about how to properly depict the moon, what side would be lit, what part of planet earth you would be able to see from the moon, and how the leftover lunar lander would be depicted.
In a later episode involving time travel, the writers and directors deliberately chose situations and events that would be rare, appropriate for the show, and SOMEWHAT plausible for the situation. They made the directorial choice to have time travel be something that could happen, but not happen so much that it could be done whenever the characters wanted.
In addition to the various supernatural characters and events on the show, “Futurama” does what any decent science fiction show does, and it does it very well at that. It comments on present day society. An entire show is dedicated to global warming, for example. Feminism, various prejudices, organized religion, and even issues regarding Native Americans are all fodder for the science fiction institution. Science fiction shows can get away with a lot of things that shows set in the present day cannot. The robot character Bender drinks and smokes cigars and is generally a self centered mischievous troublemaker, but he is a robot, so it’s ok.
“Futurama,” like most shows that were cancelled too early, has a very dedicated fan base that picks apart every episode, discovering all the nerdy in jokes, and techno-speak. There are many of these fan sites, but I stumbled across this one in case anyone was interested.
All in all, “Futurama” was a great show with compelling characters that supported its wonderfully fun vision of the future.
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