Over on the Twitter, Ken Plume posted a link to this great mash-up of Wall-E and Watchmen. I don't know who saw the great Watchmen trailer and thought "Hey, I could add Wall-E to that", but I'm glad he did.
International Talk Like William Shatner Day
My friend, and purveyor of at least 22% of the awesomeness on the internet, Mark Evanier, has a video on his blog about today, which is International Talk Like William Shatner Day. The day is being proposed by Maurice LaMarche, who's an absurdly talented voice over actor. You'd know him from Pinky and the Brain, or just about every impression on The Critic.
Check the link out here. Today is also the birthday of Mr. William Shatner, who all kidding aside, I think is just wonderful. The guy is 78 today, and I think he looks great. His Kirk is legendary, and his Denny Crane was just as fantastic. He's got a tremendous ability to try new things and look like he's having fun. You may not like his interview show (I haven't caught it), or his Has Been CD (which I think is just brilliant), but you've got to admire his willingness to, well, explore strange new worlds.
Happy Birthday, Bill!
So Say We All
So, back in December of 2003, SciFi Channel started their new Battlestar Galactica series.
I watched that miniseries more out of my love for science fiction than anything else.I had a fondness for the original Galactica, mostly stemming from reading the Glen A. Larsen novels more than the actual show. But I wasn't looking that forward to a reboot. Starbuck a girl? Really? Bryan Singer, who at that point hadn't done Superman Returns was supposedly going to work on it, and that sounded interesting. But then he left and we got Ron Moore, whose work I loved loved loved on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But still, Galactica? Seriously?
But, like I said, I like science fiction. And I was rooting for the show a little bit, because of my love/hate relationship with Sci-Fi Channel. These were the people who cancelled Farscape, which is still one of my favorite shows of all time. And they cancelled it after announcing a two-year commitment. The famous quote that went around was that they wanted "less spaceship shows". (And then they cancelled The Invisible Man, which was a non-spaceship show.) Well, BSG was a spaceship show, and I wanted to see it succeed, if just to mess with them.
The first miniseries was, well, okay. It didn't sing to me. I left it on tape for a while before I actually watched it, I was so not into it. I had a lot going on, and trying out the new miniseries wasn't just on the top of my list. And when I did see it, it suffered from that NBC Universal miniseries glacial pacing. I knew I'd watch it if it became a series, but I knew I wouldn't love it. The miniseries just wasn't that special.
Except…
There were two moments in that pilot that still stick in my mind. When I saw them, they kept me going. They were the little hints that this new Battlestar Galactica wasn't just going to be any show. I didn't know if they'd be able to capitalize on it, but there were these glimmers that jumped out.
First, in the first few minutes, the Cylon we'd come to know as Six was sauntering down the Caprica street. She came up to a baby in a stroller who was crying. She was fascinated. In retrospect, it doesn't just sell the alien qualities of the cover, but it's the first hint of their obsession with procreation. And Six looks at the baby, who's unattended at this point, and reaches out. We don't see it, but we know she's touching it, almost exploring it. And then she snaps its neck.
You could tell she didn't mean to. She was just examining it, and didn't realize its fragility. But still, she killed the baby and then went on her way.
I'm a writer, and I appreciate craft. You want to interest an audience in those first few minutes. Maybe get them on your side. And you know how not to do that? Infanticide. A character we're supposed to be interested in enough to follow just committed one of the most horrible acts one can think of in the first ten minutes. That was brave storytelling.
Second, there's a scene where some old Vipers are doing a flyby over Galactica. It's an airborne military parade. During it, they play the Colonial Anthem, and it's the old Battlestar Galactica theme song.
I've always loved that score. But on top of that, it spoke to the Galactica purists. It was a quick and maybe too subtle way of saying: "Yeah, Starbuck's a girl and so's Boomer, and Tigh is now a drunken Irishman. We changed a bunch of stuff. But we did it for a reason. We know the old show, and we kinda liked it too. Just give me a little trust."
And I did.
So I checked out the later premiere and I don't know what they did, but it rocked. Seriously, it was just two of the most intense hours of TV I'd seen. I was in love with the show. Over the seasons, it's only gotten better. A couple years ago, I made the joke "If they announced they were going to find Earth and do the last season as their remake of Galactica 1980 I wouldn't gripe. I'd just watch it." Except it wasn't a joke. I've just come to trust this writing team so much.
They've rarely missed a step, and sometimes when they have, it was just me being impatient. Yeah, I would have liked the reveal about the Chief's kid earlier, since I wondered why everyone thought Hera was so special and not his kid. They got to that. They've shocked me, surprised me, made me laugh and even made me cry.
Seriously. I don't care how you feel about the New Caprica arc, but watch Adama jump the Galactica into the atmosphere of New Caprica, falling like a rock and covered in flames, and I dare you not to get a damp eye. And then when the Pegasus appears in one of the most beautifully staged special effects shots I've ever seen, you'll lose it again. And while all the actors on BSG have been amazing, special props to Edward James Olmos for selling that "we're all going to die" moment.
Tonight's the last episode of the series. I'll be watching it with some friends. Conventional wisdom says that there's no way it won't disappoint. Expectations are too high, and the movie you see is never as good as the movie in your mind.
Maybe. But if anyone's going to pull it off, it's going to be these guys.
Sweet Baby James
I am a unabashed James Taylor fan. I just love the guy's music. His voice has gotten better over the years, and he gives a fantastic concert. I saw him for the first time at the Paramount Theatre in New York City in 1991 and he blew my doors off. I was a fan before, but after that, I don't miss a concert if I can help it.
Today's the man's birthday. So Happy Birthday, James!
If you're interested in trying out any of his music, I've got a couple of suggestions. I'm not normally a fan of live albums, but his two-disc James Taylor Live is just amazing. He reinterpreted a lot of his songs, and in a lot of ways are now my vision of the definitive versions of his songs. And New Moon Shine is probably my favorite single album of his.
I'm also using this to try out some linking tools to Amazon. So you should see links to those albums below. They're also available on iTunes, but in the interest of full disclosure, I get a little bit of a kickback if you buy from Amazon. And every little bit helps.
Trying to Win Some Equipment
I'm a big fan of the MacBreakWeekly gang, and certainly anything by Andy Ihnatko. Andy's a Geek Like Us, and regularly references comics and Big Bang Theory on the show. Now they've got a new site and coming podcast about Managing Your Digital Life. It's about backups and libraries and stuff like that. Ever since the Big Crash of 2005, I've been a big advocate of backing up, so I'm looking forward to the show.
I tell you all this because they're good people doing things that are good for you to know. But I also tell you because they're giving away a Drobo to people who link to their site. What's a Drobo? It's an awesomely awesome backup system that I covet greatly. So, if you click over to the Managing Your Digital Life site, I get entered to win this gotta-have-it-system. So, if you want to help a guy out, make with the clickety-click.
Torpedoes Away
I just uploaded the print files for Love and Capes #10 to the FTP site of the book's printer. Yay!
It's probably about time to start the next one.
Not a Planet
Last night I saw Dr. Mike Brown at the Kent State Stark speakers series. You may have heard of Brown when he unplaneted Pluto some years ago. I'm the proud owner of a Discovery Store "I Heart Pluto" button, but I have to say, I'm convinced. Pluto ain't no planet.
Don't worry, though, it's still a cartoon dog.
Dr. Brown was also a great speaker. Informative and funny as can be. If you get a chance to see him, I recommend that you take advantage of the opportunity. It's well worth it.
He's also on the interwebs himself.
These Are Not the Hammer
So, the Dr. Horrible peeps are having a contest for the artistically-inclined to design a gift tag for people whose Dr. Horrible Sing-Along-Blog hasn't arrived in time for Christmas. I've decided to enter the contest, so here's my tag design…
Yeah, I know I'm reusing art from that Captain Hammer and Penny illo I did back in Texas, but gosh darn, it came out so well. Besides, it's Christmas and I'm busy with all of that, as well as actually doing work and a little thing called Love and Capes, so I think I'm entitled to a little repurposing.
Besides, I had to write the song parody lyrics myself. That's original, right (except, of course, by definition).
The contest ends today. I'll let you know if I get any love from the judges.
Coming Soon!
More details as they become available. Diane Jenda. Photo by Dave Kemp. www.davidkphoto.com
Reason #1 to Buy the LNC Trade from IDW
First, let's recap the previous answers:
10. If you don’t buy it, Memphisto may erase Mark and Abby’s relationship from existence. Don’t let him win!
9. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have identical positions on Love and Capes.(Neither have read it.)
8. It’s on page 293 of Previews, and you know they only put the best stuff there.
7. Gail Simone says, "A book full of rare delights–bright, lively art, a fun and clever story told with perfect pacing…Thom’s doing great work on an irreplaceable book."
6. Every time you buy a copy, a Victoria’s Secret Angel gets her wings.
5. Kurt Busiek’s one thing, but how many people get the coveted ANN Busiek recommendation?
4. Remember how you said you’d wait for the trade? Wait’s over, champ.
3. No crossovers. No angst. No pointless deaths. No kidding.
2. It’s easily 100 times funnier than that Seinfeld/Gates commercial.
and finally, the number one reason to by the Love and Capes trade.
1. It's a good book and you'll like it. What? Is there a better reason to buy a book than that?
Diamond Previews order code SEP084142E.