DITMTLOD Special: Robot Ladies of Interest Part 2

So... looks like we got derailed with the whole Matrix discussion last week. That's all right. It's probably an important movie in a lot of ways, and the discussion it engenders is probably a sign of the movie being better than I give it credit for.

But we're not here to talk about the Matrix today. We're here to puzzle over that oddest of topics: The Robot Ladies of Interest

Alice Krig as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact

I'm sort of on the fence with this one. ST; First Contact isn't one of my favorite movies, and I think Krig's character was more interesting as a special effect than as an actual character. But if you were a fan of the Trek series, her character added a new dimension to both The Borg and Data.



Technically, Borg aren't really robots. They're organic beings being piloted by robotic intelligence in a hive mind. I figure there's enough intersection on the mental Venn-Diagram that it's okay to cover our friends, The Borg.

But, really, if we want to talk Borg, we want to talk Seven of Nine.

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine on Star Trek, Voyager

ST: Voyager was struggling in the ratings on the fledgling UPN network (now defunct). The show was a bit dull, from some perspectives (mine), as its primary conceit was leaving behind the very rich environment of the Star Trek corner of the galaxy. This was problematic. Star Trek: The Next Generation was the best rated syndicated show in history, and UPN executives had expected their new show to carry their network until other shows caught on.

Producers seemed to have decided that the primary reason the show wasn't doing well was that the show was missing a certain element.


Three guesses what they thought the show was missing prior to Ryan's arrival.

I can't talk too much about Voyager, Ryan, Seven of Nine, etc... I didn't watch the show and saw the move to drop in a character in a shiny, skin tight suit as suspect at best (no, seriously). But Ryan's arrival on the show did, in fact, boost ratings. So say what you want about Sci-Fi audiences, I guess. They're an easy enough read.

Battlestar Galactica Reboot

In college I became nostalgic for a show I remember watching as a very young kid, Battlestar Galactica. For its time, and certainly for 1970's TV, it was a pretty awesome show. However, by 1997, when I watched it again... not so much.

After decades of attempted reboots, about five years ago someone finally re-did BSG and added what the original had been sorely lacking: really attractive Cylons.

Enter: Tricia Helfer as "Six". A robot seductress who tricks a top earth scientist into helping the Cylons wipe out the outerspace colonies.


an understandable error

Well, apparently that wasn't enough.

The show went on to introduce several models of humanoid Cylons, including Grace Park as Sharon, and Lucy Lawless as D'Anna.


If this is the doom that awaits me by steely, robot hearts... I am okay with that.

BSG is a surprisingly smart show, and unlike your average syndicated sci-fi program, there's a point to the Cylons' human appearance. I came in to the show too late to keep up, but what I have seen, I've really liked.

Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell

Yes, she's animated, but Motoko Kusanagi is a terrific character in a phenomenal movie. Just don't ask me what the hell's up with the ending.

It's a dark future in Japan (is there any other kind?) and the Japanese military/ police force has created a cyborg unit to keep up with the level of crime their having to deal with.

I saw this one on my own in the theater one night in college at The Dobie. It's a hell of a movie, visually, if the story is a bit muddy. I guess they've turned it into a whole franchise, but I haven't kept up.

The manga and anime of Ghost in the Shell would go on to be highly influential to the genre. It's tough to point to specific examples in American film where they've managed to evoke the same design, exploration of AI, etc... If anything, I'd say Blade Runner had a huge impact on the look, tone and issues of this movie.

Here's some music video that used Ghost in the Shell animation. Beware, non-sexual nudity is included.





Terminator 3 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

I'm, like, legally obligated to mention Terminator 3, because it did star a woman as the base form for one of the shape-shifting sort of Terminators you saw in T2. But I really didn't like T3, so I don't want to talk about it (can you tell I was a little disappointed?).


I don't care

The lady Terminator was played by... you know what? It doesn't matter. She's gone on to be in a bunch of really goofy and forgettable stuff I hope you haven't seen. The producers felt T3 was so irrelevant that they used a neat narrative trick in the pilot of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to render T3 completely irrelevant.

Speaking of T:tSCC, remember 90's band Garbage? No? Well, you guys missed out. They had some good tunes. Anyway, their singer, Shirley Manson, has hung up her mic and moved on to play Catherine Weaver, a cyborg who has taken the place of a millionaire industrialist in order to further the evil, robot agenda.


Only happy when it rains...

The Sarah Connor Chronicles demonstrates the richness of the Terminator franchise once its been divorced from the star wattage of Governor Arnie. Look, I love Arnie as much as the next child of the 80's, but if he was attached to the franchise, the promise of time travel + robots just wasn't going to be fully achieved.

And now, we have Shirley Manson creeping me out.

PLUS, we have Summer Glau as Cameron Phillips/ Baum, a Terminator unit reprogrammed by future John Connor to go back in time and protect modern-day John Connor. Glau might be recognized from her work in Whedon's Firefly series where she played "River Tam". She was also in a spectacularly bad Sci-Fi original movie "Mammoth".


Wouldn't be Terminator without a steely stare and a messed up face

The show is using the long format of a weekly series to look into the actual character of a Terminator as it continues to learn as it lives among humans. The cast is very good, even the younger players.

Plus, the show features lots of robot fights. Nigh weekly. And, also, Glau is foxy.

That's it for this post.

If you guys have any robots I might have missed, pipe up. We'll do a Leaguer special!

Call for End of the Year Lists

I actually do like End of the Year Lists.

Part of why I like end of the year lists is that it gives the writer time to really realize what stuck with them. It's not just the immediate enjoyment or dislike of whatever's in the list, its been a few months, and maybe the writer has had an opportunity to put things into perspective, or realize "hey, maybe that was a good idea at first blush, but now... I dunno."

Take a song you hear and like when you're out, or you hear it in a movie or on TV, and you decide "that song is awesome!" and maybe that song is good, but maybe it just really, really worked in a particular movie.

Anyhow, the point is, it isn't marketing hype or initial reviews that determine what's going to endure. It's time. And I sort of think the year end reviews and lists are the first step toward figuring out what might stand a chance at being remembered.

I often use End of Year lists for non-DC or Marvel comics as a bit of a shopping list. By then, we're past the buzz and people are maybe pushing something they believe in rather than something they happened to like.

So, I'm going to go ahead and throw this out there:

Send me your End of the Year Lists

I will publish them as they come in.

Here are the rules.

1) Keep it clean. Sure, I'd love to work blue here at The League, but my mother-in-law reads this blog and I have to continue to make a good impression.

2) Try to use a good number, like The Top 5 or 10 movies of the year.

3) It's not enough just to send a list. We need a sentence or three on why.

4) Send as many lists as you like!

5) It can be on pretty much any topic. Media is usually a pretty popular topic, but whatever...

That's it. Send 'em in.

We'll get back to that Robot Thing On Monday

I noticed that Carla and Simon both hit my post from Pre-Turkey Day about Robots and Robot Toys. Carla pointed out that Fisher-Price, maker of beloved children's toys, has introduced "Spike" into the mix of robotic toys. Apparently a large robotic dinosaur with some sort of remote control. What struck me as really odd about Spike wasn't just his size for kids, but that he's part of the Imaginext playline of toys. Each of those toys is about 2 - 3 inches high. Which makes me wonder if Spike is supposed to be in scale with those, in which case, I have a whole new respect for Spike at 10x the height of helpless and delicious characters of the Imaginext line. All I'm saying is that Spike + Imaginext toys = awesome dino-laden destruction.

Simon, on the other hand, accused me (in good fun) of cribbing from The Matrix.

Others often find this surprising, but I'm not a fan of the Matrix movies. I saw the first one and didn't like it, so I didn't bother seeing parts 2 and 3. Even on cable, all I've seen is a car chase from one of them that seemed to go on a really long time and which reminded me that I felt the Wachowski's might be all flash and no substance.

What's amazing to me is how many people who hear I didn't like part 1, so I didn't go see part 2 or 3 address the issue this way (a) well, you should really see them, (b) no, they're not as good as the first one, and (c) they get kind of dopey.

It's never been a strong sales pitch.

I've also never seen most movies people think I should see, but most people won't watch "This Gun For Hire" or "The Killing" with me, so they can stick it in their ear.

I'm going to go read my new "Superman vs. Brainiac" collection. You're on your own.

No Robot Post Again

hey all.

Sorry about the lack of a robot post again this evening. I left work late, and then met Jamie, Jason and Nicole at Havana down on S. Congress.

I'm a little tired and after staying up late last night to work on a post for Comic Fodder, I'm not going to stay up tonight making sure we're all agreed on the topic of Robot Ladies of Interest.

Speaking of the Comic Fodder post... We got a link from Newsarama over the weekend based on a post I did on Batman comics. We saw a massive spike in hits, which was pretty cool. I had an idea for a post (actually, suggested by Randy, which I forgot to mention, so RHPT, I apologize) that I wanted to capitalize on while people might be coming by from that Blog@Newsarama link. Looks like that post is also getting a lot of hits. Anyway, that post was on Superman comics.

I don't know if I'm all that fascinating, if I'm hitting buttons with people, or what... but I've also seen a little bump in comments and e-mail sent directly to me, by-passing the comments section. Including from a gentleman who is pretty high up at Fark.com who somehow stumbled across my Superman post.

Sure, its a cardinal sin of blogging to talk about blogging, but when you're writing stuff all the time, its nice to see when you get even a smidge of buzz going.

Anyway, I also gotta go write a Christmas Card letter, so if anyone out there can remember what the @#$% I've been up to this year that doesn't sound kinda moronic, let me know.

and you accused Jake Lloyd of making Star Wars cheesy...

Donnie + Marie + Dilution of Brand = Awesome

Just FYI: The first video's audio track is really, really far off from the picture. I don't even know what would cause this and I used to work with video equipment for years.





I also want to say: Redd Foxx on Donnie & Marie as Obi Wan has filled a special place in my heart I didn't even know was empty. Thanks, internet!

really, the thought of Redd Foxx as any kind of mentor to Donnie Osmond sort of blows the mind...

Tip o' the hat to Journalista

A DITMTLOD Special: Robot Ladies of Interest (Part 1)

I'm going to go ahead and put a disclaimer on this one:


1. I find this whole enterprise kind of embarrassing for reasons I cannot begin to articulate.

2. Ladies, if you value your own sanity, it might be best if you sat this one out. You're not going to like this post one bit. Any reading you do below, you do at your own risk.

3. This whole thing is pretty spoiler-laden. I wind up accidentally giving away a lot of plot on all movies/ characters discussed.


On to the pain.

Historically, the first robot lady of interest that we can probably trace back to in Western Culture is probably Galatea, the woman brought to life by Pygmalion from a statue. There are all sorts of contexts in which the story is reviewed, some more flattering than others, and most certainly influenced by both the intention of the teller of the tale's vision (romantic tale, tale of hubris, etc...), and certainly the popular view of gender relations in which a tale is told. In today's society, it may seem difficult for readers to get past the easy reads of Pygmalion's misogyny that the story hinges on.

But more to our point: Sexy Lady Robots.

The first of which I can probably think of in film would be Fake-Robot-Maria from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis".



Basically, it's the future and all the rich folks live in palaces miles above the Earth, while everybody else toils below. Maria is a community organizer of sorts who is giving the worker bees hope (and a rich dude falls for her). An evil scientist guy has built a robot to take the place of his lost love, but disguises the robot as Maria, who he's kidnapped.

Anyway, instead of whining about the poor, Robot Maria ruins Human Maria's credibility as she ascends to the towers of the rich and parties it up. Actress Brigette Helm plays both roles (evil and good Maria) exceedingly well, and sets up Evil Robot Maria as a Robot Lady of Interest (RLI) as early as 1927.


I don't know how hard you have to party before you wind up in this situation, but that robot is programmed to get her crunk on.

Keep in mind, the term "robot" came into the parlance as late as 1921 thanks to Czeck playwright Karel Capek's play "Rossum's Universal Robots". It's generally thought to be the first appearance of the word "Robot", although "automaton" had appeared previously.

Depending on your definition, one could also include Elsa Lanchester as "The Bride" in 1935's "Bride of Frankenstein". I'm mostly including her because, due to the hair-don't the Bride sports, Lanchester is often overlooked.


Made for each other?

I'm not as familiar with pulp science-fiction as I should be, so I'm going to leave a big old gap here that could certainly be filled with all kinds of paperbacks and magazine stories about robot love.

1973's "Westworld" featured life-like robots which would join in all sorts of adult shenanigans with the tourists. Yeah, I found that a little yicky, even as a kid when I first saw the movie. But if you make it through that portion, the movie gets really awesome really fast.

The 1975 film "The Stepford Wives" is a bit of weirdness we can all enjoy (I've not seen the remake). A movie that's a refelction of its time, the Stepford Wives big reveal is that the reason the wives seem so perfect in the Stepford enclave? When the wives become problematic, the husbands replace them with robots.

So, basically, yeah, it was a horror movie for NOW-era feminists, with a less abstract threat to represent the specter of the lives many felt would be foisted upon them if the push for women's lib wasn't successful. Just, you know, in a cheesy way, with robots. But there's a reason the term "Stepford Wives" is ingrained in our vocabulary. Worth checking out.

The 1980 film Galaxina seems to include a robot who is intended to be eye-candy in what seems to be a comedy. The titular character was played by the lovely, but doomed actress/ model Dorothy Stratten. I've never seen the film, so I don't have much to say about it.


I haven't seen the movie, but here's a pretty strong pitch for checking it out.

We've already covered Sean Young as Rachael in Blade Runner.

As I write this, I realize Blade Runner should really get it's own post, but what are you going to do?

Blade Runner features several androids, including Rachael, Pris and Zhora. If you don't know the plot, (a) I pity you. Get a DVD player. (b) It's about a detective who must track down several renegade "replicants", basically flesh and blood robots with pre-programmed minds and a four-year lifespan. One of my favorites of all time.

Pris was played by Darryl Hannah, who... well, who did all kinds of crazy film work in the 1980's, but whose profile dropped a bit in the 1990's. I'm not sure why she isn't used more. She's lovely enough without a mermaid tail, and I always liked her. But what do I know? (answer: nuthin')


We don't know why it works. It just does.

Joanna Cassidy played Zhora, some sort of former soldier-droid, I believe.


Your mileage on naked robots covered in glitter and draped with snakes may vary

Zhora doesn't get much screen time, and viewers may note that she looks particularly weird during her death scene. Well, that's some stunt-person in a fright wig and plainly not Joanna Cassidy. According to sources I've read, documentaries, etc... nobody was happy with how that turned out. But when you're watching the scene, she looks so weird during her death, its kind of disquieting.

Before that sequence when she's talking to Deckard... maybe less disquieting.

Kelly LeBrock as Lisa in "Weird Science".

I'm not sure if she's a robot, but she is some sort of computerized artificial construct, right? Anyway, kudos to John Hughes for one of the weirdest and oddly non-skeeviest teen comedies (that, from its premise, should have been in there with "Hamburger: The Motion Picture").

"Lisa" (probably named for Apple's early-era personal computer) was the result of two nerds' hacking back in the 1980's when computers were about as accessible as atom smashers. Thank God for icon-based interfaces, says I. Back then, it seemed entirely reasonable that two motivated teenagers might accidentally create Kelly LeBrock on their computer while their parents were out of town.


What couldn't you do with a 2400 baud modem?

If you've never seen "Weird Science", it's a teen-classic. We'll revisit this movie some other time, because, darn it, I love "Weird Science". And Kelly LeBrock. Who unfortunately was married to Steven Seagal for a while. What must that household have been like?

Nevermind. I don't want to know.




That's it for this installment. More later this week. We'll get to BSG, Terminator and more.

But from the 1980's and earlier, what did I miss? Help a brother out...

On UT's BCS ranking

What are you gonna do?

If UT played Saturday and OU played Thursday, we might have been ranked below Alabama instead of our rivals to the north. Or if one coach had voted one way, and other a different way... you never know.

But it is a lot messed up that its not purely about competition, and requires votes, etc... We need a better system so we don't have this kind of mess to begin with.

Ah, well. It was a great season and the Longhorns have everything in the world to be proud of.

I tend to side with Simon's opinion that play-offs might be the solution.

Thanksgiving Follow Up

Well, it's Sunday. Sunday night.

It's been a pretty long four days, and, in saying that, I'm kind of surprised its only been four days. But that's what happens when you have family coming and going, football on the brain, and the transition from the the Fall season into the Holiday Season.

I had a glimpse of life to come, and holidays to come, this weekend. My parents stayed at their new pad in N. Austin, Jason at his house, Cousin Sue at her place and we at ours. It seems the days of Too Many People in One House have drawn to a close. Which, really, has been most of my life, so I'm not really sure what to make of it. In the past, I was always amazed and confused by friends whose families lived in town and sort of didn't bat an eyelash that the Holidays were coming. If you weren't going to spend three or four nights kicked out of your bed and camped out in some corner of the house not your own, while wondering who kept turning up the thermostat (so you'd start sweating), it just wasn't the Holidays.

Anyhow, sadly, the Steans Family And Affiliated Family is now smaller in number. And we've somehow consolidated in Texas, with the locus in Austin. This is going to make things easier in some ways. And just plain odd in others.

No more sitting up with The Admiral and discussing the news until the wee hours. No more Jason abruptly standing up at some late hour and declaring "I'm tired as @#$%." Then going to bed.

No more shuffling into the kitchen and sorting out what sort of coffee was put in the pot (the parents like to poison me with 50% caffeinated), or coming downstairs at the folks' house to find some of their friends were not just up before me, they're over and visiting when I wander in with my hair standing straight up and peering out from behind my coke-bottle lenses.

Or, at Jamie's folks' house... no more realizing everyone has put off eating while you were sleeping. Or wandering out into the kitchen first thing, walking right past everyone and staring out the window into the backyard until your brain decides to actually wake up.

All that said, I'm happy to trade that for popping in to Jamie's folks' or my folks' house with a 30 minute drive instead of 3 hours.

Its just going to change things, and that's okay. Time marches on.

Jill mentioned on her blog that returning to Spring didn't feel like coming home. I think to a certain extent, I get that feeling. I love my parents, and I love their house, but (a) I've lived in Austin for 18, maybe 19 years, instead of the 3 I lived in that house in Spring, and (b) Jamie and I have worked hard to build lives in Austin. We're also heading quickly into our (gasp!) mid-thirties. While our lives are vastly different from those of our parents, we're not still moving from apartment to apartment like people right out of college. Hell, this spring we'll have been married for nine years. NINE.

And I think my folks are ready for the change.

Jamie's parents are in San Marcos now, so this is going to make the Christmas Holidays interesting. Doug and Kristen are coming into town, and will be hopping back and forth between here and the in-laws.

We're kinda/ sorta decorated for Christmas. I'd managed to get the inside about 80% decorated on Friday while Jamie rested after dialysis (we needed to put ornaments on the tree). Around 12:00ish today, we were just starting to pull exterior decorations down from shelves in the garage when Jamie noticed her fistula was bleeding through her sweatshirt.

Add in about three and hours in the ER (of which, about seven minutes was actual medical attention. The rest was waiting, giving information, and watching "Big" on basic cable), and we were home again by 3:15 and I was trying to get lights strung before the front would go dark by 5:30.

I checked three of our strings of lights before putting up four of them, and, curiously, once up they only half worked. Every single string of lights lit about half-way and then... nada. I tried swapping bulks, etc... but nada. I have no idea what was going on.

Anyway, I decided I just was going to quit and start again next Saturday morning.

The neighborhood will have to wait a little longer for The League's Onslaught of Cheer, '08.

Jamie is totally fine, by the way. What happened requires some a priori knowledge, but really simply: She had a scab on her fistula that fell off. The fistula is a very powerful vein, Jamie's also on blood thinners. Add the two together and you get a mix of Old Faithful and the elevator doors from "The Shining".

We did decorate the tree, and its lovely. We moved it this year, so its no longer out of view from the living room. I'm quite pleased with the change.

I'll get around to the Robot Ladies of Interest column later this week.

Keep it real.

Hey, Ya!

Senior Adult Choir: Hey Ya @ Yahoo! Video

Coming to terms with BCS

Breaking in again for football...

So, yeah, I broke my oath of silence once again. But, look, I just watched a day full of high-stakes college ball. UT played Thursday, Tech and OU played today. All are tied for the Big 12 South. Only one can advance.

Tech came out against Baylor today looking a little mushy, which surprised me. I figured they would come out swinging harder against Baylor, but their recent loss seems to have broken them a bit. Oklahoma had to really fight against Oklahoma State until the end of the game, but wound up 20 points ahead when the clock ran out.

All that's left is a wait for the BCS computers and voters to tell us who will wind up in the Big 12 Championship game next week.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty zen about the whole thing.

1) There's nothing UT could have done better, except for three or four things during the Texas Tech game. Aside from that, they've had a very, very impressive season. If something as small as Gideon hanging onto the ball had happened, UT would be the undisputed Big 12 leader.

2) The Big 12 was a tough conference this season. I'm always pretty impressed with our competition, and as I can't always count on UT to wind up in a BCS Championship game, I pull for the Big 12 as a whole.

3) At the beginning of the season, I looked at our schedule, reviewed what I knew and sort of sweated it a bit. I had serious doubts about our ability to beat OU, Tech and others. We've had such a great season (11-1) that I can't help but feel that no matter what the BCS finally decides: We had a great regular season. Hopefully we'll get sent to a cool bowl game.

49-9

After UT flubbed the last two meet-ups with A&M, I was pleased to see they not only were able to get a check in the win column, but that they got a decisive win. And Colt McCoy played a heck of a game.

For those watching on TV, I have no idea what was up with the field. It hasn't really rained here in months, so I guess someone left the sprinklers on the field too long. What a mess.

As pleased as I am with the win (this game and the OU game are, of course, the biggest games every year) I'll be watching the OU game with terrific interest. It's awful, because I respect the hell out of OU, but if they lose to OSU, it does huge things for the Horns. And OU is playing at Stillwater, so there's as much chance for something to go wrong for them as it did for us at Lubbock.

I am also morally obligated to remind you (and BCS voters) that UT defeated OU 45-35 this season. And, you know, if you're a Hesiman voter and have a vote to spare, Colt McCoy could sure use it.

We now return you to your promised radio silence for the weekend.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving

I'm outta here for a few days.

Sure, I'll be in Austin, but I'm going to take a break and hang out with the family for a few days. So don't expect much more in the way of navel-gazing, complaining, or pondering about robots or Superman until late in the weekend.

Jason is usually pretty good about taking photos and posting them, so I invite you to hit his site.

Enjoy your days off if you have days off. Enjoy the folks around you. Go see a movie. Watch a football game or three. Give some thanks.

Now get out there and eat the hell out of some potatoes.


FREEDOM FROM WANT

My Robot Friend

I DVR every episode of the WB cartoon of Superman from Disney's sugar-fueled kid's cartoon network, Jetix. One of the oddities of networks like Jetix and Cartoon Network is that toy companies are pretty clearly buying up vast swaths of ad-time on these networks and aren't very discriminating about which shows their ads get folded into. Especially the late night ads for toys when you kind of hope the target market is off with dreams of sugar plums in their heads.

It being a month before Christmas, they're really going for the hard sell on all kinds of toys. Expensive toys. Stuff I am sure that, as a kid, would have flipped my gourd and caused some awkward discussions between me and KareBear as to why Santa couldn't bring me The Very Expensive Toy.

If you have any doubt that kid's toys are far more complex, if not far cooler than what we had growing up, I would point you to this year's line-up of interactive pals your kid can enjoy. We've moved beyond Teddy Ruxpin and his rudimentary/ creepy mouth movements.

Apparently... these semi-lifesized toys will respond to touch, sound, etc...

Here's Kota the Triceratops who will let your tyke sit astride his back, eat a leaf, make sounds, roll his head around...



Jason will frequently point out that as a kid, I was usually more interested in the potential of a toy than the actual toy, and would often wind up disappointed. If they sold a kid's microscope, I was ready to set up a crime lab. So part of me figures these toys aren't as cool as I think they are, but I also have as of yet to see one out of the box.

For people who want the magic of a child and a dog, but also want to not worry about the kid becoming too attached, or learning to love... there's Biscuit, the Fur-Real dog.



Or, for the parent who doesn't have the dough to pay for riding lessons, stabling fees, horse whisperers, etc... but can afford D Batteries, there's S'mores, the Fur-Real Pony.



There are also interactive dinosaurs, lizards, lion cubs, what-have-you out there. And the technology seems to be getting marginally better every year.

All of this reminds me, of course, of Kubrick/ Spielberg's AI. I don't know how sorry I felt for Haley Joel Osmont's eternal boy, but I did worry about his little, stuffed robotic pal, the Teddy bear. Which, by the way, they did try to market to kids. (Nobody seemed to notice the horrible fate the movie states robots are doomed to as humans look at robots as they would any other consumer electronic, despite rudimentary awareness... which... yeah, that's what you want to tuck your kid in with at night).



You have to sort of wonder, as the technology improves and kids are expected to abandon their toys, isn't it a little creepy to begin a societal trend toward creating emotive, responsive objects that can be thrown into the waste? Moreover, I know as a kid I would have read a heck of a lot into my robot dog's responses and been horrified at the idea of tossing it in the dump if it broke. How will we deal with our AI's as they become outmoded, break-down, etc...?

People are pretty wretched with their pets to begin with, so I'm not sure if (as technology improves and these toys begin to actually demonstrate AI) we're reinforcing bad behavior to begin with by teaching kids to shove responsive objects into a corner or expect it to turn off with the flick of a switch. That, in no way, has anything to do with actually owning or caring for a pet. Pets do not simply turn off. Sometimes they wait until you've just fallen into a deep sleep to begin meowing as loudly as possible for no discernable reason. Other pets stick their nose in your eye because they feel you've slept too late and it is time to play with the puppy. And simply "turning them off" is called animal cruelty (no matter how right it seems when the puppy jumps on you on Saturday morning).

Yes, I know... the robot dog is supposed to be a toy, but...

The other part that makes me lose some sleep is what AI and emotional responses we choose to bestow upon our creations. Especially as I consider the work of Dr. Cynthia Breazeal and her emotive robots. She seems to be leading the way for becoming her own Dr. Susan Calvin, building robots which can currently respond to certain stimuli, mimicking what we recognize as an emotive response. The leap hasn't been made yet to actually make a robot feel bad when its chastised, but how far down the road can a matrix of emotional responses actually be? And if we attach that response to an ability to learn, what are we building?

I see no reason to believe we won't see AI's in my lifetime. Or rudimentary robot pets. I don't know if they'll have a capacity to learn, adapt, or merely perform routines based upon certain stimulus or commands. Right now roboticists like Dr. Breazeal seem poised to teach robots to learn. Which, of course, loops me right back to the sad, doomed little teddy bear of A.I., thrown to the junk heap, and still functional.

Oh, and, yes... the MIT labs are working on a robotic teddy bear.

Robots will have no legal rights, its safe to assume. No matter what traits we embue them with, will they ever be a part of the family as many people treat their pets?

Right now Biscuit the Robot Dog is little more than a mass of wires, plastic and fake fur that performs simple functions based upon certain stimulus. I hate to break it to you, but we're basically bags of meat and bone that respond to stimulus, too. Sure, we respond in infinitely more complex ways, but that's basically our deal. We just have a few billions years of leaping from single-celled flagellates to avid fans of "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" behind us rather than 100 years of useable electricity and 50 years of computer engineering.

All I know is that when our robots turn on us, I won't be at all surprised. Especially if their vanguard is comprised of a legion of disposed of Teddy Bears, Fur-Real puppies, and fuzzy triceratops. And if I have to go, I hope its at the hands of an enraged teddy bear.

All that said, if you are looking for a robot for under my tree:


If you have to face down a machine that will turn on you and kill you, it might as well be Summer Glau

Lost my edge. Completely.

I was reading back over posts from the past month or two, and holy @#$%. Whatever edge I once had has been replaced by sunshine and puppy dog tails. I guess that's what happens when you're in a relatively good place. I guess if you have to trade engaging blogging for whatever the alternative was of career flame-out, poor health, what-have-you...

Anyway, I will also try to break it up a little more around here. It looks like I'm only covering a few items, but I also don't know what anyone whose left around here cares about reading (seriously, I haven't got a clue).

That's it for tonight. Jason and Jamie both told me I looked awful tonight (I slept poorly last night). So I'm off to get 40 winks.

Not enough this


Too much this

Ring Ring Ring

What better way to show your Thanksgiving Spirit than donating to the League of Melbotis Red Kettle?

All you have to do is click here to help out that most venerable of institutions, the Salvation Army.

We could really use your help to get the ball rolling.

Being Thankful

I'm delicious

So I saw Meredith has wisely posted her Thanksgiving column before the Thanksgiving madness had begun. And, as much as I am unsure of my own schedule this week, I don't want to write this thing for an audience that has skipped out on me for the annual tryptophan overdose. And while most days I'm unsure of whose hanging about and reading, if I'm going to spill my heart, I ain't doing it for, like, 5 hits.

Anyhow, for me, personally, its been a... weird year. But that doesn't mean I have nothing to be thankful for. To the contrary! Sometimes a sorta-off year pulls things into focus, and you can re-evaluate.

This year I am thankful for Jamie's relatively stable good health. We've had a bump here and there, and we have a lot to think about next year. But it's been a good year, and despite Jamie's many challenges, I think she's doing well.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to work, of course. 2008 did not go at all how I would have liked professionally, and it wasn't much fun. But good people gave me a second opportunity when they could have easily passed on me for contract work. Then, of course, I've landed what I consider to be an enormous opportunity back at the University. And all during a period when many, many other people are in less fortunate positions.

I'm thankful for old friends, new friends, and old friends with whom I've re-connected. For a family who is as supportive as someone could ask for, and who is also physically closer (and/ or is planning to be). I'm also thankful all of you Leaguers out there in Leaguer-Land. You're tops.

It's a tough time out there for a lot of people this year. Perhaps more so than usual. The press is going to have you believing that the future is more uncertain than usual. But we never really know (or we wouldn't be in half the jams we're in now). Be thankful for what you've got. Make sure you let people know how glad you are that you've got them.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving planned.

Gobble gobble.

Now go have some Turkey.



Also, I am thankful for UT's inexplicably high BCS rating, Superman comics, jobs where you can wear jeans, new comics on Wednesdays, good Batman movies and probably a hundred thousand other little things.

"The League" fan film, shockingly, not about me

This is interesting. Here's a short film produced independently about superheroes in a sort of Watchmen pastiche. Actually, it owes a heck of a lot to Watchmen. Nonetheless, it's pretty darn well done from a design and acting standpoint, and demonstrates that even indie fanfilms now look and feel better than most superhero films up until Spider-Man.

It's about 20 minutes long. Check out "The League" (again, not about me).

round-up for Saturday

Quantum of Solace

We met up with Jason, Andy, Rami, Mandy, Kelly and Ellie Gamble to see Bond this evening at the Alamo South. Jamie and I had stayed in last night to watch "Casino Royale" again on DVD, and I think the continuity really helped. The movies are so tightly wound together that it really helps to have seen both so close together.

We ran into old League pal Laura Ryan-Day, who is (oddly enough) now a very successful hypnotherapist. She married a great guy, Simon, who happens to not just be from the UK, but he's apparently a Meet-Up leader for Brit ex-pats living in Austin. They were gathering, of course, to see the greatest fictional government employee of them all. And, they had invited Jeff and Keora.

I actually really enjoyed Quantum of Solace. It wasn't as good as Casino Royale, and it could have used more of Carla Bruni (who, sadly, died in Casino Royale, but in real life went on to marry French President Sarkozy... so, you know, congrats Mr. Sarkozy!). However, the story was fairly tight, it expanded upon the story from the first film and opened things up a great deal for another sequel. Plus, Judi Dench is just perfect as M.

I feel like after decades of actors playing the roles in Bond movies with a wink and a nod, the movies feel populated with real characters. That may have been at the expense of devil-may-care fun that many associated with Bond movies, but the movies had become parodies of themselves to an extent.

Anyhoo, the movie has drawn inevitable comparisons to the Bourne movies, which I also enjoy. I feel the two franchises differ enough that it's not a distraction for me, plus the plots are divergent enough that I just don't get hung up on it. That said, its a certain genre told in a certain way, so I appreciate the comparisons. More good stuff for me, I say.

Christmas Photos

We headed down to San Marcos earlier today to go and meet up with Judy and Dick and get the family photo taken for Christmas. Luckily, it was a little chilly out this morning, so it was easy to get into the spirit of the thing. Plus, you know, Thursday being Thanksgiving, we're kind of moving into the Holiday Season, anyway.

When we get a copy of one of the digital pics, I shall post.

I also have to pen our Christmas letter this year. So if you want to get on the League Christmas Card mailing list, send me your street address or whatever. 'Tis always a treat.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma

In going to see Bond, we missed the first half of the OU/ Texas Tech game. We ran home with Jeff and Keora to watch the game at their place and saw the score at half-time.

Which... THAT is the Oklahoma UT fans fear and respect. And why we like to play the Sooners in a neutral location rather than in Norman, OK.

geez, man.

But now... how messed up will the BCS ratings be with this screwy set-up?

For those of you who don't follow Big 12 Football, UT, Texas Tech and OU all have one loss. OU lost to Texas. Texas lost to Tech. Tech lost to OU.

Wisely, OU ran up the score a bit to demonstrate to BCS voters how well their team is playing, so I expect OU to have a lock on the Big 12 South.

That said, I will be watching the OU/ Oklahoma State game with terrific interest next week.

My folks' new pad

Here's some pics of my parents' new place in N. Austin. Pretty nice, huh?

We look forward to sitting on their porch and drinking whiskey sours in the summer.

Owen Lowry has himself a blog

Josh and Shannon Lowry are old, old pals of all of us here at League HQ. We've been pals since back in The League's amazing days at Klein Oak High School where we did some plays with Shannon and had a writing class with Josh. And, in fact, Shannon is more or less how I met Jamie as she was Jamie's freshman year roommate (and junior and senior year), complete with Shannon taking Jamie to the hospital as needed.

Shannon and Josh partnered up in our college days, a few months before Jamie and I. And now they're parents to young Owen Lowry. Owen has had some health issues since joining us here on Planet Earth, and its been a tough time for him. He was born in Houston about a week before Hurricane Ike (and about a month before baby Ike), and he's had to already go through all sorts of procedures.

Anyhoo, we're proud of Owen, and we're proud of Josh and Shannon for their A #1 Parenting.

We encourage you to visit Owen's blog to see how he's doing.

Present Idea

I now totally know what I am getting Judy (the mother-in-law) for Christmas.

The Tomahawk Skull Gauntlet.



I can totally see Judy using these. It's good to get something that's both fun AND practical.

Which is totally awesome, because I know Dick (the father-in-law) is really going to enjoy his neoprene skull mask.



tip of the hat to Randy for the website. (How he finds these things, I don't know...)

Movie

You know what movie I am not embarassed to admit I want to see?

Bolt

That cartoon about the dog who THINKS he's a superdog. Yup. That one.



The animation looks very good, and the hamster and pigeons made me laugh during the trailer. It may not be Wall-E, but it looks like a good weekend movie for Jamie and me to take in and eat some popcorn.

I have to learn I can't pout about the fact that not every cartoon that comes out is by Brad Bird and/ or Pixar. And this looks like a good starting point.

But I already have tickets to Bond on Saturday, which I want to actually see more than Bolt. So there you go.

The Limitations of Superheroes

Earlier this week I wrote a post over at Comic Fodder about my disappointment lately regarding the editorial direction at DC Comics (its an ongoing theme. So sue me. Wait. Scratch that idea.).

The next day I received an e-mail from a gentleman questioning why I would stick with comics. He expressed how he had given them up several years ago, and as our conversation continued, I learned he'd experienced terrible family tragedy. And so, maybe, the promise of masked and caped do-gooders righting wrongs and saving the world rings a little hollow.

At the same time, I saw a post from Leaguer Lauren over at her site discussing that most complex of superheroes, Wonder Woman, in light of the animated movie coming to home video this spring. Lauren describes the Wonder Woman she'd like to see on the screen and it sounds very appealing. She also pulls a quote that describes the ongoing issues of gender equality in comics (I kind of flinched at the broad strokes, but it doesn't mean the quote wasn't a little accurate).

Where Superman cannot step from the screen or comic page to save the day in our real lives and personal tragedies, just as much, Wonder Woman may not be enough to carry the weight of expectation put upon a figure who was, in fact, intended to carry a philosophy and ideal of a world in which women were seen as equals. She must be proud of her body, but she must cover it. She must be strong, but serene. She must be able to fight, but peace-loving. I can think of few male archetypes who have that burden placed on them.

The truth is, these very contradictions have gone from being a problem with writing Wonder Woman comics to become the essence of the character. By necessity, she's become an Amazonian, battle-axe-wielding warrior on a mission to "man's world" to preach the values of peaceful co-existence. And, occasionally, she has to go stab a Gorgon or something.

There's also an insinuation in the LA Times piece that poo-poo's the second-class status of the straight-to-video distribution of the Wonder Woman project, ignoring the current home video animation strategies of DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and others (bottom line, Wonder Woman actually made it to video faster than I would have expected from the DCU line of characters). The title does not sell terrifically well on newstands, and DC's prior animated efforts have surrounded tried-and-true material.

But as I've debated for years with friends who are not neck-deep in this thing of superhero comics, these fictional characters wind up fighting "public perception" rather than the actual content of the material in which they appear. Naysayers seem to have never actually lifted a comic or read a single story (at least from the last 20 years of relevant publication). They cringe at straight-to-video releases and, with no context but what success means in Hollywood terms, fail to see what bringing ANY comic property to video as a feature length film might mean. And bring their own definitions of everything from feminism to what it means to save the day to these figures.

It's an odd thing, because the trio of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are American cultural icons. They do, in fact, command a certain power in the popular imagination far beyond their intended purpose as pulp characters. They've expanded beyond their contemporaries of Zorro, Doc Savage, The Shadow, etc... The gentleman I'd spoken with was not the first I'd read about to funnel his tragedy into superheroes. That's sort of the unspoken message of the documentary "Confessions of a Superhero", and I've seen articles on others.

Poor, long-suffering Wonder Woman has had her image co-opted as a feminine ideal by Ms. Magazine and Gloria Steinem, and has had her name co-opted to describe the ideal of the modern woman (particularly, and somewhat oddly, mothers) who feels that they must be busy or appear entirely too busy, but always keeping things in check. Meanwhile, her costume has become a sexy Halloween staple, and the none-too-threatening outfit of her first appearances has become increasingly less modest over the years (though DC has recently made moves on that).

And, of course, being fictional, its kind of hard for superheroes to speak for themselves. Especially when their only mode of speaking up is in a medium 90% of people believe is irrelevant and/ or not as important as "public perception".

My interests lie in those superheroes, so I hear about the tragedies that fall into the very real lives of people who may wind up channeling their own stories through the prism of the comic page. I do not hear the stories of people who were Simpsons nuts, or naval history enthusiasts, or who maybe knew every pro football statistic that was worth knowing. I don't know if that same emotional attachment forms during a tragedy, or if they roll their eyes at the co-option and debate over the "image" of figures in their area of interest, as if the code-breaking of single images were all there was.

What I do know is that there is a strange place in fandom of any sort where an invisible line exists, and you do well to enjoy your comics, but know that to take them too seriously, to put Faith (with a capital F) in the heroes within and the storybook crimes they fight is not a replacement for the world outside the page.

Superman can't stop your loved ones from illness, or stop the everyday stories that make the news.

Wonder Woman can't be the voice of whatever it means to be a woman in 2008/ 2009.

But I do think, if we can agree that they are cultural icons, that there's something there we can see behind the the promise of the characters. Superman's use of his abilities for others, Batman's unbending resolve, Wonder Woman's mission of peace AND strength...

It's just a thought.

Batman + Braniff = Believe It!

I think if I were to tell you that at one point in the hsitory of DC Comics, Batman might hop in a commercial airliner, cape, cowl and all and enjoy a Sprite and bag of peanuts, even folks who never picked up a comic might find the idea sort of cockamamie. But there was a weird period in DC lore when such a thing was possible.

Anyway, the original dialog has been replaced, but there's a comic meme that's started featuring The Dark Knight flying commercial, seated with little-known 70's era, post-Bruce Lee Kung-Fu master Richard "Dick" Dragon.

Here's the first post (recall all dialog HAS been replaced).

Here's the second.

RING THE (DIGITAL) BELL FOR SALVATION ARMY

CALLING ALL LEAGUERS!!!

Do you have a blog, website, etc...? Do you want to participate in a worthwhile cause?

League of Melbotis has started a Kettle Team for the Salvation Army! You can join our team, and/ or give to a worthwhile charity!

Now I'm basically like one of those dudes hanging out in front of the mall raising money for worthwhile Salvation Army charities. All without the actual loitering and bell ringing.



HERE'S THE LINK

Or: http://give.salvationarmyusa.org/goto/melbotis

The 21st Century is truly a grand place for those of us who are lazy, but have an internet connection and wish to make a difference.

This year is going to be tough on a lot of your brothers and sisters in the family of humanity, so if you can spare a little yourself, we'd really appreciate it.

Also, if you want to join the League of Melbotis Kettle Team, please click the appropriate box on the website to sign up. Then publicize the heck out of the kettle! We're trying for only $300, so hopefully we can raise that amount this year.

If you can, please give!

We can watch Heroes, just for one day

So my only exposure to the program "Heroes" was watching about twenty minutes of the second or third episode of season 1. When I publicly said "Meh", everyone insisted I'd caught the worst twenty minutes EVER of the program and that I was missing out. But the whole "save the cheerleader, save the world" tagline made me burst into laughter the first time I heard it. I mean, really, out of context (or even with a bit of cultural osmosis context) it's the worst call to action for joining a TV show I can really think of.

So last night Jason and Jamie had both missed Monday's episode, which was waiting on our DVR, and so I figured I could sit through an hour of super-programming. After all, I made Jamie sit through Starship Troopers.

I have to say, that hour of Heroes was about the worst hour of TV I've borne witness to in quite a while, and I can see why producers are being shed from the show left and right.

Luckily for WB and NBC (and you, the lucky Leaguer!), I am happy to provide my analysis as a student of superhuman fiction.

1. Built in mythology - Sure, I'm coming to the show late in the game, but Heroes is one of the shows left-over from the post-Lost success that already had some multi-year mythology mapped out and is slowly, achingly revealing The Big Secrets. These shows/ comics/ what have you are painfully slow as they spend their energy pacing out the reveals like an antibiotic you have to finish.

Note that almost all of the shows depending on a mythology reveal but Lost have gone bye-bye. The format is unique to Lost. Do not attempt at home.

2. Robert Forrester as god-like corporate exec using business powers to manipulate everyone - I don't know if the "Super Old Man Potter" thing is really a creation of John Byrne and Marv Wolfman in their re-imagining of Lex Luthor as corporate mogul instead of super-scientist, but it seems like you see a heck of alot of this character, who threatens others, but nobody will just punch in the face. Even DC realized this was a tired trope and Lex is back to super-scientist, by the way.

Moreover, Robert Forrester just isn't very good. He sounds like he thinks he's playing a street-wise cop with every line. It's bizarre.

But I think the "evil corporation" bit has been so overplayed in so many ways that its tough to do anything new with it or buy into it at some point.

Terminator sort of has this problem, but they've really reigned it in.

3. The X-Men Internal Conflict Syndrome - What does Superman do? Superman saves the day. He interacts with mere mortals in his guise as Clark Kent. He plays at being one of us, so when the big action happens, we get what the threat is. A giant robot is trashing downtown, asteroids are headed towards Earth, and off he goes to save the day.

A while back, X-Men became a book not about mutants trying to co-exist with one humanity, but became this book where the X-Men were simply fighting one mutant group or another who wanted to kill the X-Men. Their agenda was not a threat to the general populace, it was, pretty specifically, the X-Men (which led to all sorts of questions about being more trouble than they were worth, but whatever...)

If a show is called "Heroes", it seems that the show might want to strive for more than "saving your own skin", which is great, but not exactly the heroic ideal. Heroes get out there and DO something for others. They do not skulk around worrying about magic formulas, etc... They use their blinky powers for the betterment of mankind.

Apparently this season, Heroes introduced some villains, which, you would expect would do the opposite. They would want to use their powers for taking advantage of the general populace. Instead, they spend their time skulking around trying to hassle the semi-heroes.

The bottom line, very little of what happens episode-to-episode seems to affect the world at large, and seems to hinge and circle melodramatically around this tiny group. The show should really expand its world-view.

4. What is the deal? - I could have spent three hours stopping and starting the show asking "what is the deal with this guy?" or "so what's their story?" as the show didn't see fit to fill me in with much in the way of exposition.

I don't want to tell NBC how to run their show, but if you're having a problem with viewership, maybe an impenetrable storyline and characters who are caught up in a bajillion plot lines isn't how you bring in new people to bring in viewers to replace those you lost.

X-Files knew that it had to spend a lot of time with episodic stories and building an audience, but that lesson seems lost on the producers of "Heroes".


Anyway, I probably won't be tuning in. Mostly for the same reasons I didn't tune in when the show started. I still find it derivative, the acting as hokey as any Sci-Fi original. It just isn't my bag.

For Randy

If this will please anyone, it will please Randy.

Jim Parsons interview thing

I'm still getting used to the idea that Jim isn't just appearing on TV, he's actually becoming a bit of a celebrity thanks to hsi role as Sheldon on CBS's "Big Bang Theory". Kind of bizarre, but well deserved, I think.

Here's Jim answering fan mail on the Variety.com website via streaming media. Now here's the weird part:

One of the letters Jim reads from is from Brownie High, who was a drama teacher at our high school my sophomore year. Ms. High actually left at the end of Jim's senior year amidst bad-blood and UIL drama scandal, which seemed like just a super-huge deal at the time. Meredith may recall the incident.

Anyway, I hadn't thought about that in years. And I am sure Jim had not either. But I would love to know what was playing in his mind when he saw she'd written him the letter and he had a camera in his face.

Weird Al and Shatner

I'm watching this thing on Bio that's an hour-long documentary on the life of Weird Al.

yeah. Go ahead and laugh. How many albums has your favorite band put out and how long has their career lasted?

I also have to admit that I've long been oddly fascinated by Judy Tenuta, who keeps showing up in this doc. And I don't know how I feel about having a crush on Judy Tenuta. I guess I just like a woman with an accordion shouting at me and calling me a pig. I guess its an acquired taste.

But to my point, it looks like Shatner is getting a talk show on the Biography network.

SHATNER!!!

The prospect of the minds of our time coming face-to-face with The Shat is, for me, equal parts mind-boggling and gratifying. I was the guy who actually watched Lauren Hutton's short-lived talk show in which I learned each show far more about what a freak Hutton was than anything about her guests (I use freak in the most loving way possible. Let's just say the woman is an enigma). And I hope to get even more of this out of The Shat.

He's named his show "Shatner's Raw Nerve". I am so there.

MUSIC

I FINALLY got around to downloading Girl Talk's "Feed the Animals". Thanks to JAL for the suggestion.

Of late I'm not too sure what I like and don't like in my music. But I do really like Feed the Animals. It may not be your bag, but here's the link to the site.

I'm not sure how they got around paying royalties, or expect to avoid lawsuits. Perhaps the sample used from each song meets some minimum sampling duration, but it doesn't seem like it. I just don't really know.

Comix

May I recommend "Tales Designed to Thrizzle"?

I can't guarantee it will be your cup of tea, but I find it funny.

For free online comix hilarity, try Achewood. And, btw, Chris Onstad will be at Austin Books on December 6th. I think I'm joining the Shoemakers for the signing, if you want to go. (That's "The Great Outdoor Fight" I'll be getting signed)

I checked our hits at Comicblogelite.com, and Comic Fodder did something like twice its normal traffic today following my admittedly negative critique of the state of things at DC Comics these days.

It's not too tough to see trends when you've done this for a while. I meant everything i said, and I certainly wasn't trying to just generate hits (after all, I don't make a dime from blogging). But usually when you go off on a bit of a rant, you seem to see a spike as folks check in to see what the freak is saying.

If you're wondering why there's no post today, I put my energy last night into my Comic Fodder weekly ramblings. You can read my post here.

Not much else to report. I think Jamie has a cold of some sort.

Trek could be awesome

Here's a pirated copy of the new Trek trailer, which I have not yet seen in good quality as I did not see Bond this weekend. Probably next week.

Be prepared for low-quality.



Awesome.

It will be up at the official site by lunchtime.

It seems like Jamie and I have been running around a LOT lately, and with the Holidays bearing down upon us, I think we're going to be pretty crazy until January 2nd, 2009 or so. That's okay. It's sort of what I expect out of the year's end.

For those of you keeping score, Thanksgiving is in only a week and a half, and I have not even STARTED on my Pilgrim suit, nor has Jamie finished her Green Bean costume.


I still think The Addam's Family movies are underrated.

The temperatures cooled a great deal yesterday, and I think it feels more like fall in spirit than a few days ago. All in all, its turning into lovely weather. Anyway, we watched the UT game yesterday and cooked out some nice items we picked up at Central Market (I recommend their chipotle marinated chicken).

UT played very well starting in the 2nd quarter, and pretty much ate Kansas's lunch. I was mistaken, however, that Tech was playing Baylor. A&M played Baylor and it didn't go terribly well. Sorry, Ags. Maybe next year.

Only one more regular season game for UT, and we ARE playing A&M on Thanksgiving, which sounds great in theory, but A&M somehow manages to summon SuperAg strength whenever they play UT. Out only discernible advantage going into the game is home field advantage. Should be a great game, so if your Thanksgiving evening looks like it's going to be a quiet night in, tune in.

Also, if you're a Leaguer and will be in Austin during Turkey Day and are lacking any plans, let me know. We can make room for you.

Today we actually started our Christmas shopping, which I think Jamie had some mixed feelings about. Sure, we're starting early and will hopefully be done with time to spare (which is an illusion. You always forget somebody and have to run out and buy an extra present for somebody you didn't account for). But I also started singing carols to Jamie as we drove around, which is bad enough, but in the past eight years, I've completely forgotten all lyrics to all carols.

I suspect she'd like for me to stop, but, you know, once you're moving into Christmas territory, I think you're morally obligated to squeeze in "Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland" as often as possible. Especially in 70 degree Texas.

Also, Barack Obama takes great delight in bumper cars:

Fireside chats

There's an odd mix of admiration and fear in this report. Speaking to Jason recently, I said I thought Obama should learn from the problems that stemmed from the Bush administration's lack of communication and look to FDR's fireside chats as we face numerous challenges as a nation. I had honestly forgotten about Reagan's radio addresses, even though I have memories of sitting on the floor, playing with Legos and listening to the Gipper circa 1984.

Anyhoo, its kinda funny that you can hear the puzzlement in the report regarding this mysterious tool called the interweb.

Kickin' it up a notch on Smallville

Looks like Doomsday, the living plot device, has made his way to Smallville.

Curiously, it appears that this may be the first (and only) on model representation of a DC villain on the show.



With control of the show wrestled away from the show's originators this season, they're actually making in-roads back to some semblance of the comics and Superman. I'm not saying the show is great, because... Tess Mercer is a ridiculous character, almost nothing ever makes sense on the show, and just get to the Superman part already...

But its something.

In my Element @ 10K

I was driving home the other night in Babar (my light blue Honda Element) and looked down to see my odometer was at 9999. I've been through four cars in my life, and I never, ever saw the odometer turn any kind of significant whole number.

I have hit 10,000 miles without a hiccup. That is all.

Yes, I love Babar. Some days I want to hug him, but that would be weird.

Meatgrimage, Day 3

Jamie's childhood pal and our mutual current pal, Rebecca, returned to Austin today with her mother, Dr. Kinslow, in tow. They took us to Flemings down by the convention center where we all enjoyed a wonderfully terrific meal.

I have always been a steak guy, and while I am a fan of the backyard grilled steak, I am also a fan of the white-table cloth, let-them-work-their-magic steak. I highly recommend this joint. Especially if the Kinslows are taking you out on the town.

There are many good restaurants down by the convention center which cater to folks with an expense account. However, as Jamie and I are rarely in Austin for a convention, we tend not to make our way to those restaurants or some of Austin's other finer establishments.

Places I would like to go:

Lambert's
Hudson's on the Bend
And of the places that opened on Congress during our four year Arizona sojourn

I am scheduled to hit Mesa Ranch this evening, provided nothing goes off-kilter. Which means: even more meat.

If you want to go see The Flyin' A's with me Thursday evening, give me a shout.

UT @ Kansas

I shall be watching with a mix of exhiliration and trepidation. Tech plays Baylor this weekend. Poor Baylor.

UT Basketball

I park about a block from the Erwin Center, so I am pondering going to some UT home games this year. If you want in on that, let me know.

Ghost Hunters

I am increasingly convinced that, based upon the 100 hours or so of Ghost Hunters I've watched, Jason and I could totally do this.

Anyone want to grant us $25,000 in start up funds? We need money for:

-team shirts
-motion detectors
-flash lights
-EMF detectors
-video equipment
-a FLIR
-Ghost Juice (ie: enough beer per ghostly investigation to limber up the mind)
-uniforms for the Lonestar Paranormal Club dancers

Meatgrimage

Today I headed to Baylor for what I thought was a productive and instructive meeting. Liked the guy I met there, and I think its going to be good working with the dance-less folks of Waco.

Apparently there's an unwritten rule that lunch is involved in these trips, which is great for me. I get a little annoyed when I've traveled in the past and my boss, etc... decides we don't need to eat because they're on some crazy diet of water and carrot sticks or something. Not going to be a problem with this bunch as we headed to Waco's "Jasper's", a side-road BBQ joint that had all you can eat ribs for $9. Plus, Dublin Dr. Pepper, which I tasted for the first time. And, yes, Dublin Dr. Pepper is completely different and much, much better than regular Dr. Pepper (Dublin uses Imperial Cane Sugar rather than corn syrup). So I can confirm that legend.

Jasper's wasn't screwing around with its portions. Despite the "all you can eat" promise, I ate three ribs and was done. Maybe because I was still reeling from Monday's lunch and then winding up at Threadgill's for dinner.

It turns out that the meat at City Meat MArket in Giddings is supplied by a friend's meat company. I'm going to look into whether or not I can get a map of the place Mikey's company supplies meat to, and see if that isn't one way for this to play out.

Also, Jason and I are already talking about a short trip to Elgin for sausage.

Sadly, I am bypassing food and friends on Saturday. Juan and Letty e-mailed me to see about hitting Snow's BBQ in Lexington on Saturday. Now, here's the weird part:

Snow's was recently voted "best BBQ in Texas" by Texas Monthly, a publication that doesn't screw around when it comes to food. Especially Texas cuisine. But... supposedly they sell out of their meat by 10:00 or so on Saturdays. Which means you have to BE THERE before 9:00 to get a meal.

I love BBQ, but getting up at 7:00 to eat BBQ at 9:00 on a Saturday somehow robs the Meatgrimage of its joy.

Terminator

The Fox Terminator TV show (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) must not be doing very well in ratings. I hear its being shuttled off to Fridays.

I've been enjoying the heck out Terminator. As much as I dig sci-fi, I don't jump on too many sci-fi TV shows. Stuff like the Stargate franchise doesn't do anything for me, or the semi-popular "Highlander" series from the 90's. I think it helps that the Terminator premise is deceptively straightforward. Robots from the future are trying to kill John Connor.

Now you've inserted time travel, plus re-programmed robots, which all hangs from the central conceit of the first two terminator movies.

What really helps is that the rest of the world around our band of un-merry adventurers is very set in reality. Whenever a robot does start shooting, its not as if the populace is aware of what's going on, or would come to the logical conclusion that there are killer robots on the prowl.

Anyhow, I'm a little sad that the show is being moved to the death zone that is Friday night on Fox. But perhaps two really good seasons of a show is infinitely better than the bizarre, slow death spiral that we've seen out of "Smallville" (a show I quit watching for years, but came back to watching to revel in the badness).

Big Bang Theory

The show has taken a decidedly better turn this season, and I liked it last season. The decision not to further pursue the "it's a sitcom" romantic path of Leonard and Penny has been hugely helpful, and its given Kaley Cuoco a much wider range to play with instead of "pleasantly unaware of Leonard's affections".

Anyway, kudos to Jim and the cast of BBT.

One disturbing trend. It seems Jim is becoming a bit of an item of lust for nerd girls on the internet. See the comments on this post at Lady, That's My Skull.

Edit: The Office I should note that I have recently officially quit watching "The Office". As noted above, I do not find the "will-they-or-won't-they" romantic entanglements of sitcoms interesting or funny. They always stink of the suits forcing their way into the process. The Office has managed to drag the concept out, painfully, for several seasons. I was pleased they'd resolved the issue to some extent, and had hopes they were finally just going to @#$%ing move on with it. Last weeks episode proved that was not so.

I feel guilty, because Jamie and I really don't have that many shows we watch together, and The Office has long been one we can agree upon. That is no longer so. Worse yet, I lack the ability to just sit in the room on a laptop and quietly ignore a show. I must make comment upon it, which detracts from Jamie's enjoyment.

Anyway, we have a DVR. I guess we'll put it to use.

Snoopy: World War I Flying Ace

Here's a video game I would actually buy if it comes to Wii:

Pixar's latest: "Up"

Hey, it's like seeing The Admiral in animated form!

Many items

Football Update

Well, we can mark another win up for UT from this weekend. We're ranked #3, which is odd. Of course, we've only lost to Tech who seems headed for all kinds of glories this season.

Colt still looks great, but its clear someone or something is keeping him from running. And something has rattled him and keeps him from attempting passes further than a few yards at a time.

I am still rooting for my Horns, and I think we're set for a great bowl game this year, provided we can win our next two and do well if we're in the Big 12 Championship (if we so land). But I sincerely hope Mack brown has plans to build up our secondary for next year.

Good BBQ in Giddings

Today we met the A&M contingent of our office halfway between Bryan and Austin in Giddings where we ate meat. Leaguers, if you're on 290, I HIGHLY recommend the City Meat Market. That was some top-notch grub served in true Texas fashion.

And, hell, there were honest to god old school cowboys in there. The kind who could choke the life out of you if the notion so took them. Awesome.

It was one of those places where the smoke is cooked into the walls and you start salivating a bit just walking through the door. And the food totally matched the ambiance and first-smell guesses as to what you would get.

I need to use this winter to begin making BBQ pilgrimages around the state. Meatgrimages, if you will. I want to eat Elgin Sausage in Elgin. I want to eat ribs and beef in Lockhart. Shall I go to New Braunfels for Wurst? Or to Kerrville? What meats did our Czech forebears cook up? What about our Mexican forefathers?

So many meats. So little time.


Unfortunateness

Swedish dance bands from bygone eras.
For some reason I think I linked to an earlier version of this, like, four years ago.

Yeah, go ahead and laugh. Then ask yourself: who had better luck with swinging Swedish women, you or the dudes in "The Schytts"?

That, Leaguers, is the sound of the universe having a good laugh at you.


Beat it!
So I employ Technorati to help me track responses to blog posts. They track, somewhat imperfectly, whether or not someone has linked back to your posts.

A long time ago, I used to get linked around the net. When I don't post on comics, those links tend to dry up. But when I write for Comic Fodder, I notice that I get linked to a lot more often from sources of note (in the comics blogosphere, which is like being a big wheel on the island of misfit toys, I guess). Anyway, it gives me a little thrill to see myself linked elsewhere because (a) it lets me know others are going to come read whatever I wrote, and (b) it lets me know people I care about reading have actually read whatever I wrote. And that, Leaguers, is the blogging circle of life.

One of my fave-rave sites for YEARS has been Heidi MacDonald's "The Beat". So, I was thrilled to see in the links of Technorati that Heidi had linked back to a Comic Fodder article I'd written for last week about the economy and what comic publishers could do to save their skin in these troubled times. But at Technorati, when I clicked on the appropriate link... the article was no longer there.

I was sad. Heidi may have had good reasons for either pulling or never posting the article, but my fifteen minutes of Heidi-powered linked fame was gone, and I was left with nothing but a small reminder of what could have been.

Oh, Heidi... why hast thou removed my linky link?

Okay... yeah, the article was kind of weak.

That said, the guy who wrote the article that spawned my article DID link back (it's the line about "longish think piece"). Which is pretty huge in my world. Unfortunately, Spurge wasn't in the mood to elucidate on what he had in mind. Would have been interesting. Anyway, he's been covering comics and the economy for a few days and its good reading.


New Years Party Update

In case you missed it, here's the official flyer for the Melbotis New Years Hullabalunacy:



To see the invitation, go here.

New Year Party Invitation

Hey, everybuddy!

We're officially doing New Year here at League HQ. Consider this your warning/ invitation.

We would love to see all of you. No need to get all fancied-up, but if that's how you want to roll, then I applaud the extra-effort.

The past few years hosting the League Christmas Heckstravaganza has meant a few things:

1) We kind of peak on Christmas cheer about 1:00 AM the night of the party. Getting revved up for actual Christmas again after the party becomes a sort of work-out.
2) We miss other peoples' parties. I know, we're pretty unpopular. But we have received invites in the past.
3) We rarely have much of anything to do on New Year. This year, we will have an Alpha Plan.



Anyhow, consider yourself invited. Expect an electronic invite soon!