Happy Halloween!!

One of my favorite ongoing comics for the moment has got to be the Walking Dead.

Besides being a comic about Zombies (and EVERYBODY loves zombies, right?), it’s a comic with a lot of heart and plot twists that knee you in the balls till it blows out your brains. I had been hooked on the series since I first saw the tagline (if you can still call this a line)

“How many hours are in a day
when you don’t spend
half of them watching television?

When is the last time
any of us
REALLY
worked to get something that we wanted?

How long has it been
since any of us really
NEEDED
something that we WANTED?

The world we knew is gone.

The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been
replaced by a world of survival and responsibility.

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept
the globe causing the dead to rise and feed on the living.

In a matter of months society has crumbled,
no government,
no grocery stores,
no mail delivery,
no cable TV.

In a world ruled by the dead,
we are forced to finally start living.”

Which self respecting arts student would not love a pseudo intellectual prose like that??

Seriously, Robert Kirkman (creator/writer/Overlord Supreme) of the series ensured that the Zombies are the least frightening thing in the entire series. To me, it’s a study of the human condition – how disgustingly degenerate and how surprisingly noble when we are forced to our extremes.

So now, on Halloween (days of all days), they are launching the Walking Dead TV Series!!

The arts student in me is inclined to point out the irony of how they fly in the face of line one of the tagline (“How many hours are in a day when you don’t spend half of them watching television?), and I probably would have if they put some two bit director/writer into the project.

I am still skeptical about how well they can translate the comic I love onto the small screen, but putting Frank Darabont (Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption, two awesome character drama) at the helms seems like a pretty damn fine start.

Plus, the trailer looks so darn cool!

I might be jumping my guns but if Darabont can match Kirkman’s flair for characterizing the ragtag band of survivors, putting them through the rollercoaster extremes of hope and hopelessness, this just MIGHT be THE TV series of 2010 and beyond.

Most.Awesome.Halloween.Treat!

And Even though You’ve not asked for it… BOOM DE YADA!! redux

Yup, in case you’ve not guessed… Boom de Ya Da’s my song for the moment…

And Discovery happily obliged with a Redux version of “The World is just Awesome”.

Secretly, I think this version is slightly nicer…

And from the failed world of “Revenge of the Fallen” comes this rather nice version of “Transformers are just Awesome”

Lastly, the REAL version of I Love XKCD… because you all know I am madly in love with the quirky and slightly geekish humour of XKCD.

Once more… BOOM DE YA DA!!!

Boom de Ya Da!

I am probably REALLY slow to discover *snigger* this Discovery Channel ad for their “The World is just Awesome” campaign.  But really quite impressed by it.

Apparently, it has inspired LOADS of “imitations”, including this really cool one featuring the World of Warcraft!!

And my personal favorite…

They got Neil Gaiman to “sing”!! Awesome…

One thing to note though… local conspiracy theorist are already staking claim that this whole Boom De Ya Da, or should I say Boomz de Ya Da nonsense is inspired by a local “celebrity” *sic*.. as shown in this badly done video.

I wish I could go on… but this Boom de Ya Da thing is stuck in my head.

Boom De Ya Da!!

Rein in the Fanboys

Smallville used to be a guilty pleasure of mine.

The plotlines were incredibly contrived, the lines – painfully cheesy, the acting – decidedly atrocious and the CGI… not exactly top notch.

But if anything, Smallville had one great thing going for it…   Lana Lang. Haha, I kid. The show was rife with awesome fan references to obscure characters and storylines from the DCU – some of which actually involves Lana Lang!

I was lulled back to the show by the much advertised Geoff Johns (lead creator of Blackest Night)  penned episode of Smallville which will feature *gasp* The Justice Society!

The Justice Society is a big thing on my comics shopping list, especially the Geoff Johns penned ones. The JSA is different from most superhero teams. With the motto of “The world need better good guys”, the JSA went about “collecting” the heirs of superheroes past and go through the 101 of “How to be a Superhero” with them…. Kinda like the X-Men, but cooler. You cannot go wrong with a bunch of old fogies like Wild Cat, Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and the Flash (Jay Gerrick) leading the team.

Because of its premise, the recent roster of the JSA has more than 20 members (or about 1% when compared to the cast of the X-Men) , but Geoff managed to create a personal touch for each of them. He made me care about B-Listers like (these are real superhero code names) the Atom Smasher, Power Girl, Mr Terrific, Citizen Steel, Sandy, etc…. but more importantly, he made it seemed like they care for each other too. There’s a warm and fuzzy feeling I get when reading them.

The original creators of Smallville had a strict “No Tights No Flights” policy. Think it worked in favor of the series as it kept a measure of suspense to the series. It explored possible “influences” that made Clark Kent Superman and hints at the possible future of Clark. There was an aura of suspense in the show… much like the “is it there/is it not” relationship of Agent Mulder and Scully in the X Files.

Besides this, there was another huge factor that made this code works – Tights just look ridiculous on normal human beings… eeeesh…

Anyway, a lot has apparently happened since Kristin Kreuk left the series. Besides using star writers like Geoff Johns to continue to lull fanboys in, the creators of Smallville  had been using lots of guest stars and super heroes appearances to boost ratings.

They were apparently so desperate, they recently resorted to the use of… The Wonder Twins…. ooooooh….

Back to this episode of Clark Kent….  to summarize it in 2 words – IT SUCKS!

It seems even Geoff Johns cannot make comic book dialogue work in real life. Some decidedly witty one liners just does not come across right… Perhaps it’s the comic book to video conversion, or maybe… just maybe, the producers should channel their funding to acting classes for the cast.  The plot for the episode was ok, but the acting made the show a pain to watch.

Actual lines from the show include such gems as:

Jo’hn Jonzz (aka: Martian Manhunter): I hope it’s not too late to say, “We come in peace.”

Green Arrow: Drop the mace, Conan.
Hawkman: I will… on your head.
Green Arrow: Bring it, big bird. Just for the record, you started it.
Hawkman: I’ll finish it

Oliver: What are you–my chaperone?
Hawkman: Think of me as your parole officer but with a mace.

Green Arrow: I’m thinking we should regroup with the others before we go after Icicle Junior.
Hawkman: You go back to Sherwood, Robin Hood. I’ll turn the Icicle into slush myself.

TOTAL Schumacher’s “Batman and Robin” Deja vu.

Hmm… maybe I shouldn’t be that hard on the actors… It seems impossible to deliver lines like these with a straight face… unless you’re Kristin.

Beatles 101: And then Some

The Beatles are cool… Charts are cool.

So some genius decided to mix the 2 together and came up with charts for Beatles Songs. We all know the Beatles have an almost unhealthy obsession for Walruses, and Lucys, an Strawberry Fields and “Yah Yah Yahs”, the charts let you see where they appear in each of the songs.

It’s an ongoing project. Charts that have been made so far include one that shows the keys of the songs that the Beatles have played. Trust me, it’s cooler than it sounds. Kinda like Emma from “Heroes”… for those that are still watching. It makes for really cool visual effects on TV, but if you ask me, it is a pretty useless power… personally of course..

You want to know the amazing thing?

Being able to see sound might not be as far fetched as you might think. Scientists (who are, surprisingly, not quite mad) have actually been able to do it for some time. Who knows? In the not so distant future, we would have a new way to experience the world.

On an not altogether unrelated note, I heard you can achieve the same effect from ingesting certain not so legal pharmaceuticals…

Rumor has it… of course… all from hearsay

Garbage in, Garbage Out

So the story goes… I decided to give the local TV programs a chance after watching the Network’s anniversary celebrations over the weekend.

The anniversary gala was surprisingly good and really took me down memory lane. It is quite amazing how much of my memories thus far are tied to these local TV programs. Amazing and to be honest, totally terrifying that so much of my life revolved around the idiot box.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

As I was saying， I was watching this show on the local TV network that features 2 hosts going around visiting “less fortunate” families in the community with the aim of “bettering” their lives by “revamping their living conditions” through an hour of blood, tears and shameless exploitation for all to see.

I think that television is a good form of entertainment. And the impact it has on our lives in its short decades of existence is nothing short of phenomenal. At some point of our lives, we’ve lived with, laughed at, cried on, loved and hated one thing or another that had been presented to us in that little window to another world.

I believe that all of us have a selfish “I’m better than thou” mentality deep inside of us. Coupled with a morbid curiosity about the lives of others that are like us but not so like us, we developed this need to see people suffer and humiliated. All the better if it is in a public arena. Schadenfreude…

Enter the Television.

Over the years, the television had evolved with us, changing itself as far as the censorship board allows to quench our thirst for knowledge and to satisfy our deepest voyeuristic needs.

It should come as no surprise that television appeals to the lowest common denominator among its audience. After all, it needs to reach as many people as possible. It cannot afford to discriminate against people who are too stupid to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not.

Now is probably the time for me to get off my pedestal.

I have to admit that I enjoy my fair share of exploitative entertainment as much as the next guy. Cut throats trying to get each other off an island? Cool. Seeing how much garbage people are willing to swallow (literally) for money? Sign me up. Watching top models wannabes humiliated and cat fighting each other off the show? Yabba Yabba.

To be honest, I am pretty sure Houshun Takami’s “Battle Royale”(Live) would be coming to a small screen near you… it’s just a matter of time.

But the thing about all these shows is that they are blatantly exploitative and they bill it as such. There’s no pretense of exploiting all these people for any “greater good”. It’s just a matter of how much shit someone is willing to go through for money and/or fame.

So I guess my main jibe about this show is its totally pretentious and “holier than thou” attitude. From the hosts’ repeated incredulous snooty “Is this the way human beings live????” exclamations to their condescending attitude towards the “test subjects” to the very notion that they can change a family’s life just by interacting with them for a week and giving their house a makeover…. These ideas make me sick to the stomach that no other reality shows can…

So there…

I guess that’s the chance I’ve given local TV programs…

Today I found out that…

Some aliens out there actually thinks that cigars smoking is an anti social behavior and drives people apart.

CIGAR smoking, not just any type of smoking.

To that, I can only say 2 lil words..

“Denny Crane”

I know that TV is not exactly the best place to find logic to support your case for arguments but I think that a glass of scotch and a cigar might be all some people need to bond at the end of a work day. Of course, I learnt that from Boston Legal. But watching Denny and Alan sit at the balcony week after week makes it easy to believe that the argument is true.

OF course the Girlfriend detests smoking so that rules out one potential cigars and scotch buddy for me.

It proves that romance would always be slightly different from… (wait for it…) bromance.

The Universal Pool of Idea

It’s been said that there is a common pool of idea that all creators draw from. A common consciousness, so to speak where all the good ideas come from.

I have no idea how true that is, but I do know that it seems like a convenient excuse for periods of times where movies/books/music with similar theme seemed to come out at the same time. It easily explains away the fads with dinosaur movies, disasters flicks, zombie munchfests, kungfu sockchops and now superhero romps.

Creative serendipity is normally the scapegoat as to why all these similar flicks come out at the same time… NOT plagiarism, or what a layman like me would describe as “riding on the success of others” or copycat.

Anyway, I just finished watching Futurama: The Beast with a Million Backs! (How wonderfully B-Grade)

It’s been too long since the last episode was out and it was really good to see all the famous and not so famous cast of Futurama returns. I swear, there was a slight tingling down my back when the theme song played in the opening sequence… I could almost understand what fans of Sex and the City felt when the show hit the big screen.

ALMOST.

Not quite… that was a show that’s waaaaay too… *muffled profanities*

Anyway. Loved the show. (NOT Sex and the City, wise guy…) But the thing that got to me when the Beast finally appear was how similar it is to a recent (and ongoing?) Marvel event.

The whole issue of being assimilated into a common consciousness and the “selects” actually maintaining a certain degree of free will… at least enough to hold semi conscious thoughts, and LIKING the experience is an issue that is presented in both scenarios.

It is an interesting idea. And the concept is probably more satirical (yes, I just called Futurama satirical, deal with it!) and thought provoking (Woooo… Thought provoking too…) than I could compute with my minuscule mind right now.

But back to my main point.

If the common conscious thing is true, what do you think it is telling us now?

Things I learned from Television today…

The Good?

It’s true… Much to the horrors of the Girlfriend, I am a new convert to the Powerpuff Girls…

There! I’ve said it! I used to think they were stupid, childish and… well, plain girly…

But a recent episode featuring the ultra cool Amoeba Boys won me over. I mean, come on… any single cell villains that cannot think of a grander scam than stealing an orange is a winner in my books. ( In my defence, I believe I’ve mentioned the power of examinations to make EVERYTHING on TV look interesting…) (Examinations have even made me watch the Titanic… again…) (which is something else I should not be mentioning…) Too many confessions in one post already…

The Bad

Now… Babyfying lead characters in most successful franchise is normally a good idea to win over the people who like their characters cute and cuddly… They did it with Bugs Bunny, they did it with Mickey Mouse, they even did it with the X Men and the Justice League… But I think we should all draw a line at babyfying ugly one eyed sailors with speech impediment. (hmm… a one eye seaman… interesting… *rubs hands together…) And naming they Pipeye, Pupeye, Peepeye and… again, I am not making this up… POOPEYE…

On the other hand, the clip is pretty nice… They sure don’t make cartoons like these anymore… which is a real pity…

Speaking of the Justice League, we come to

the Plain Ugly

From the pilot of a proposed series…

I am still stunned speechless by their masks…

My Reality Show for the Moment…

now that Amazing Race is on a hiatus, is without a doubt…

THE CONTENDER ASIA!!

There is something about boxing that just fascinates me… Call it bloodlust, call it what you will, but I prefer mortal combat over whiney judges lobbing “witty” remarks behind tonnes of security guards anytime. (Humiliating other people should not feel so good… even though some of these people really deserves to be humiliated… )

There is something… dare I say it? “pure” about 2 men facing off with nothing but their fists and legs… (I don’t mind 2 scantily clad ladies in the same scenario too, of course… but that’s another story for another day…)

Anyway, this week’s faceoff pits 2 of my favorite fighters against each other. I think they are easily the strongest among the fighters. The thing is that these 2 are supposed to be the best of friends… I love that when they found out they have to fight each other, they resort to the same defense mechanism most guys employ when in denial… they go to sleep…

All in all, ep 9 was a really sweet episode with the family members and/or close friends of the fighters being flown in to visit the Contenders. Was a big moment for some of them as they’ve not seen/talk to said family members for a long time already… I know the producers are milking these moments for all they’re worth, but I am a big sucker for this anyway…

Another tender moment was when Yodsaenklai, the Thai fighter say to his friend and opponent Naruepol that he (Naruepol) is all about looks and that he will have to punch him hard in his face so that he can walk besides him after the fight.

He commented on what a pair they make…

“I go by luck. He goes by looks.”

Sweet…

Yes! I watched the SuperBowl Just for the Commercials!!!

Because I don’t understand the game. I really don’t.

I tried to watch it on TV today, but I just couldn’t make any sense of it.

For one thing, I am using the empiric system, where “yards”, to me is the place at the back of the house. So, to me, “yards to go” essentially means you’re selling a piece of land. Anyway, now I know better. For other ignoramus-es like me, for those using the metric system “a yard” is roughly equal to 523 litres.

But the main thing that’s stopping me from enjoying the Superbowl is simply because “football” has a different meaning to me. My “football” involves 20 sweaty men (players) running on around on a pitch (field) trying to get the ball (ball) past 2 lucky chaps (goalkeepers) who get to move an average of 20 metres (103 gallons) a match (game). From what I saw in this morning’s games, “American” football (figure skating) involves a battalion of almost 1038 sweaty men running in and out of a field and in between “plays”, communicate complex game plans by touching themselves in ways that would’ve gotten them killed in most Arab countries.

There’s also the problems of the numerous stoppages. While one game flows almost seamlessly for the duration of the 2 halves, the other is stopped constantly by the endless stream of players who flies through the air better than the cast from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I suspect some of them are actually Kungfu Masters in disguise. One player could bump into another, and this other guy would fly 3 rounds through the air from the Secret Unseen Buddha Palm used by the first player. Sometimes, just the “air” from the attacks of these deadly offensive players is enough to make the other collapse into a useless, sniveling heap on the ground.

I know the American Footballers think they are tough. They tackle hard, they launch bone crunching lunges at each other, they stretch various seemingly vulnerable body parts during plays. But “my” footballers have the ability to walk/jog/jump/sprint off what looks like career ending injuries, as soon as the the referee decides to look the other ways. “My” footballers can walk off more than 5 career ending injuries in a match!

So, to prevent further arguments, I’ll keep my interest in Superbowl to the advertisements.

They are generally really enjoyable. And why shouldn’t they? They cost US$2.5million per 30 seconds slot. And that’s just for the airtime. Let’s not forget the production costs and the insane amount of endorsement fee “stars” are demanding these days. That is one 3rd world country beers, colas, cars and the Internet will not be feeding this year

Oh well, since the money is already paid, I’ll do my super phase shift and proclaim: Bud Light makes the funniest ads!!! Yes, yes, I know the company does not produce the ads themselves but their advertisements remain my favorite for pure stupidity and “dude”-ism. This was my favorite ad from last year

and the Higher Power of Unparallel Wisdom over at Bud Light ad central decided to bring back my favorite character…

BOOOOD LITE BOY!!

Genius!

Anyway, for those that are interested, and have too much time to waste (my intended viewership for this blog) can check out more than 1 decade (100 years) of Superbowl ads from this link.

http://www.superbowl-ads.com/

ENJOY!

Everytime I feel I’ve wasted my life…

I watch any one of those random Idol competitions’ audition phase and start feeling good again.

Only on the Amazing Race,

Do you get farewell quotes like this:

“Shana: (referring to Jennifer and herself) Both of us come from very comfortable lives. We have pedicures and manicures and facials, but coming here and throwing all that out the window, it just amazes me at what there is.”

Instant Classic….. And that’s why we love the Race so much

You know you’ve been watching too much TV when…

You start finding meanings in “Tom and Jerry” cartoons and finding yourself looking out for falling anvils when you hear the beep beep of passing vehicles (which there are a lot of here)

Then you realise you’ve sank to another level altogether when you’re researching on these cartoon when there is a big test coming up the next day.

The amount of useless nuggets of information you can turn up with an hour or 2 online is amazing!

This is a site that has abstracts from Chuck Jones’ (the chief director of the Road Runner Show) biography Chuck Amuck.

http://www.squidoo.com/wileecoyote/

The article lists the golden rules the producers stood by in the production of the Road Runner Show….

The one I love the most?

Rule 10. The audience’s sympathy must remain with the Coyote

And it does… I’ve always thought of the Road Runner as a no personality, bimbo fairy.

So There!