Minions, Firefly & Starships

I came across a few geeky topics today that I wanted to share with you all. First up a is a shirt from ShirtPunch, if you don't know what Shirtpunch is it's a 24 hours $10 tee website. I've been really trying to resist buying any shirts. Though they are only $10 they can add up pretty quickly. But when I saw this one and it combined two of my favorite things I couldn't resist and had to purchase it. It combined Minions from Despicable Me and The Big Bang Theory. And a plus it wasn't a black shirt. I try and avoid black shirts unless I can't live without it.

Sample Page 1 (click to enlarge)

Even more exciting news.. I reported this news last month but there is a bit information about the upcoming Firefly comic book series. According to Comic Book Resources, Dark Horse Comics is launching a "Firefly" comic book series called "Serenity" that will take place after the events of the 2005 movie. Better yet, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" artist Georges Jeanty will be behind the comic.

Sample Page 2 (click to enlarge)

The writer of the comic book series has not been announced yet, but for now fans can tide themselves over for the anticipated release with a first-look at the story's art, courtesy of CBR.

The new "Serenity" comic book series will begin with Mal and his group recouperating from their attack on the Alliance. CBR writes, "With River Tam in the co-pilot chair and a very pregnant Zoe reeling from the death of her husband, Wash, Mal is finding himself and his ship in greater danger than ever."

And the last thing I wanted to share was this AWESOME poster someone created with a comparison of scifi/fantasy ships (yes I know not all of them are there), but there are plenty of them from movies, TV and video games. I've seen many posters like this but not one so extensive. You can check out the full size version HERE. Just click on the image on that page and get the full 3985 x 4442 version. It's pretty amazing.

Lots of cool geeky things to check out!!

Are you excited for the new Firefly comic book as much as I am? Leave your comments below.

Random Geek Questions x 2

Today I asked two Random Geek Questions. First one was "What is your favorite Disney movie and why?"  I got a wide range of answers, I wasn't specific on what "Disney" I as talking about. When I talk Disney I normally mean animated cartoons, from the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Princess Frog. But Disney encompasses so much more. They have their live action movies, they purchased Pixar, Marvel and Lucas Film and have so many more amazing movies from them, so when I started to get answers they were all over the board.

Some folks picked classic Disney animated movies, some choose Marvel movies like The Avengers and I even had someone choose Star Wars Episode VII which isn't even out yet. It was interesting to see everyone chooses.. it just goes to show me that I need to be more specific in my requests and that Disney is well loved by everyone.

As for my favorite Disney movie it would have to Beauty and the Beast. I love the animation, the story.. I'm a suck for the hopeless romantic.
 

My second Random Geek Question was "Remakes are big business.. what movie would you like to see remade today and why?"

This question was like throwing a match onto gasoline. I got a handful of answers but this question started a debate on the lack of creativity in Hollywood. There were lots of arguments going back and forth. I stayed out of it online since I work in Hollywood but this is my blog so I'll give you my thoughts on the topic.

I'm not a huge fan of remakes.. but I understand why they are made. Hollywood is a business, yes it's job is to entertain but it's main job is to make money. Movies cost millions and millions of dollars to make. There is no guarantee that it will be liked and watched. Remakes have a built in audience, a built in fanbase.

Now most remakes aren't a word for word remake. So I like to think of them as re-imagined instead of remakes. Technology is advancing in leaps and bounds. You can take an old classic sci fi / fantasy movie and with today's tech make it look amazing. And I'm not suggesting CGI is better then "actual" models.

I can't imagine them remaking a classic like Star Wars but if they do it's not going to diminish my love for the original movies/story. Look at Star Trek, they rebooted/re-imagined the series with the same characters and personalities but slightly different. I still love the original universe but I'm enjoying what they are doing in this "new" universe. 

They have re-imagined Superman and Batman many times. Spiderman was barely a few years old when they "re-booted" that series. Am I upset that they did this.. no as these re-imagined movies have been pretty amazing and have done big bucks a the box office. It does go to show you that these "Remakes", "Re-Boots", or "Re-Imagined" movies work and that means they will keep making them.

My philosophy has always been if you don't like something then don't watch it... it's that simple.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Webseries & Babylon 5

I found a companion series for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. called "Declassified". Of course this is only the first episode so there isn't much content but what they say they will be including in each episode sounds pretty good. I look forward to watching each week. Here's Episode 1

Besides the awesome companion series today is Wednesday so that means TV night with my best bud Robert. We are continuing our first time viewing of Babylon 5. Tonight we watched Season 2 Episodes 7 - 11.

First up for the night is S2 Ep 7 "Soul Mates" Visitors to the station include Londo's three wives and Talia's ex-husband. Delenn has a bad hair day.

I liked this episode, it really didn't deal with any of the overall story arc. This was "fun" episode, a filler episode. Londo's wives storyline was my favorite. I liked seeing how different his three wives are. One is harsh and to the point, one is power hungry and will do or say anything to get what she wants and the third is young, beautiful and drawn to powerful, even ones that are not her husband. In the end Londo has to choose one wife to keep and two to kick to he curb. And of course he picked the wife I liked best, the hard nose, tell it like is wife. She asks him why he picked her as she will never love him and barely tolerate him and he says... "at least I know where I stand with you" and walks away. The camera pans to her face and you can see that she actually has feelings for
him.

We then watched S2 Ep 8 "A Race Through Dark Places" Bester has Talia investigate an "underground railroad" of telepaths escaping the Psi-corp.

This was a good episode, this one dealt with they Psi-corp which I know are going to be a larger part of the story at some point. It seems, though we don't know forsure" that they are in control of the Earth government. This was a good Talin story, is she or isn't she good/bad/working for Psi-corp. In the end I'm glad she turned her back on them and tricked Bester. This story is far from over.. can't wait to see more of it unfold. I also liked the sparks that were flying between Captain Sheridan and Delenn, possible relationship between these two.. guess I'll have to wait and see.

Third episode of the night was S2 Ep 9 "The Coming of Shadow" The Centauri emperor visits the station, leading G'Kar to attempt to assassinate him. Lord Refa and Londo conspire to expand their power on Centauri Prime.

I really enjoyed this episode as it kind of ties in with the main story arc. I have to say I'm really not liking Londo, he continues to go down this very dark path. He alone starts a new war between the Narn and the Centauri. I'm actually liking G'Kar more. I was not a fan of him at the beginning as I thought he was "the bad guy" but he's more of a victim. I mean his plan to assassinate the Centauri emperor was not good, but it was understandable and when the emperor sent a message of apology to G'Kar through the doctor, G'Kar took it to heart and really began to heal until Londo pulled his stunt and started the new war.

Our fourth episode was S2 Ep 10 "GROPOS" A task force of ground troops led by Dr. Franklin's father is assembled at B5, leading to some friction.

This was an enjoyable episode, again more of a filler episode. We got more background story for the doctor. We meet a few new characters who interact with our main cast but of course by the end they are all dead, which was very sad as one of them "Dodger" would have been a cool reoccurring character to Garibaldi. 

And our final episode of the evening was S2 Ep 11 "All Alone In The Night" Sheridan is kidnapped onto an alien ship, Delenn pays for her actions and General Hague makes an unofficial visit to the station.

Again this was just a filler episode but a good one. When this alien race (who looked very much like aliens that we think as alien, big eyes, big bald heads) is discovered instead of surrendering, they jettison their prisoners into space... that was harsh. Luckily for us the Captain and a Narn prisoner were able to make it to an escape pod before they destroyed the ship. Delenn is thrown off the Grey Counsel which I expected but they keep her on as Ambassador to B5, which again I expected.

Overall some really good episodes but not a lot of progress in the over all story arc. Lots of character building, that one of the things I am loving about Babylon 5.

Dice: Affecting Sportsmanship...

So why have an article talking about dice and the role they play in a game. I am not talking about how they affect the game or how the dice roll. I want to address how they affect the mood and sportsmanship between the players. See years ago when I was a lad I grew up playing a bookcase game call Squad Leader. Started playing when I was in elementary school. Played a variety of other games through the years since. It quickly became apparent that we needed house rules for rolling die. As dumb as it may seem it actually took care of a ton of arguments and made for a smoother game play. Crock die was addressed which meant any die that was not flat was re-rolled. The dice could not be leaning on something nor could it be on two different surface levels. If a dice rolled off the table it was re-rolled.

So let us leap forward to today. You have table top gaming systems that use six, ten and twenty sided dice or more. The larger the number options the more room for error and controversy. Have you ever been playing someone and they roll a dice up against a building on their side of the table? Then they picked it up to show you that it is a successful roll or even worse it is a critical score? What runs through your mind? Then through the progress of the game the other player becomes more successful when they roll the die where you cannot get a good look at it. They roll those unbelievable rolls when the game is on the line and so on. Then you get the crock die syndrome. It is arguable when the die is successful for the roller or unsuccessful for the other person when you have a dice that is not perfectly flat. All this leads to tension in the game and an unpleasant gaming experience.

So what is the solution. Go buy a box of some kind to roll the die in. Have that box near the center of the table for both players to roll in. Or you can have two. Don't touch your die until the other player can see the results. Have a friendly rule that if the die bounces out of the box you need to re-roll it. If you have to manipulate the die to win then I won't game against you. Gaming is just that… a game. It is designed to have fun within the confines of the rules and outlines. Don't make dice become a larger part of the game than what the creator of the game had in mind.

Cheers,

John…

New Series: Dads, S.H.I.E.L.D. & Fangasm

Super excited for the new TV season, there are several really cool sounding scifi/fantasy series coming out.  Ones that I'm really looking forward to are Almost Human, Reign, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fangasm, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland and The Tomorrow People. Other non-genre shows I'm looking forward to seeing are, We Are Men, Dads, Michael J. Fox Show and The Crazy One.

So far I've only seen Dads, which premiered last week and tonight Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fangasm premiered.

Dads is a 30 minute comedy with Seth Green. Here's a short synopsis: Two successful guys in their 30's have their lives turned upside down when their nightmare dads unexpectedly move in with them.

Seth is really the only reason why I am watching it and he is by far my favorite character. I'm not head over heals in love with it but it's enjoyable. I'll continue to watch for now.

Fangasm on Syfy is a six-part docuseries that celebrates the incredibly unique, often misunderstood, and infinitely fascinating fan girl and fan boy culture. The show follows seven pop culture-obsessed fans (whose passions range from comic books and collectibles to science fiction and fantasy) living together in an LA apartment complex and working together at Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo. The seven must contend with each others over sized personalities and conflicting fandom as they vie for an opportunity to work within Lee's organization. Because when different passions come together, you get a real big bang.

Well I've only seen the first episode and I'm always a bit leery with it come to series like this as you don't know if they are going to make fun of "geeks" or really show them as they truly are. I have to say so far so good. They have a wide range of socially awkward geeks. Some of the things they say makes me cringe but it's true to life. I have some friends who are just like these guys on the show. I hope they continue to embrace the difference in geekyness, I mean you can poke fun at us, as we poke fun at ourselves as long as it's all done in good taste. This first episode had me in tears at the end..  I look forward to watching the entire 6 part series.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Agent Phil Coulson puts together a small team of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) agents to handle strange new cases. Each case will test the team in cooperation and ingenuity as they try to work together figuring out newly emerging superhuman individuals in the world.

This is probably one of my most anticipated new series that I have been waiting for. I'm a huge fan of all the Marvels movies and I've always been a HUGE fan of Joss Whedon. I actually know/are friends with Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, I've been to there house to interview Maurissa.

(SPOILERS) This series picks up pretty right after the events of Avengers. And I have to say it did not disappoint. I loved every minute of this pilot. The humor is so Joss, the action/fight scenes were amazing and the sfx were great for a TV budget. I loved that Cobie Smulders was back as Maria Hill, even if it's just s guest spot. I liked seeing Ron Glass back on a Whedon show. I like how they explained Coulson's return but then have that scene between Hill and the Doctor (Ron Glass' character) about how he doesn't know and Hill says he can never know. I'm sure will get into more on that but I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes. I liked Fit and Sim, the none combat, more scientific team. I liked their chemistry.. now sure if they are more brother, sister or husband, wife. Got some more unknown history with Ming Nan's character.. she's bad ass and can kick butt. So many great characters, I can't wait to see where this series goes. This series lived up to and surpassed all the hype, which believe me is difficult to do.

I'll continue to blog my thoughts on these and the other series when they premiere.

Painting & New Batman Series

Not much happened today other then I finally finished painting the trim on my house and garage... woohoo.  Now I just have to paint he body of the house without screwing up the trim. I think I'm going to rent a paint sprayer to help with that. It's gonna take a lot of taping up trim and windows but I think in the long run it will be fast. I hope to start tomorrow but supposedly we have some wind advisory for the new few days.. so it might be to windy to do anything. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

Got to watch one of my most anticipaed new TV series tonight.. Marvel's Agent of S.H.E.I.L.D.  You can read my thoughts on this new series and others in my next blog post.

I also heard that Fox picked up a new straight to series series called Gotham, which is going to focus on Commissioner Gordon. It's unusual for a series to get picked up without a pilot first. The network must really like the script and concept. Fox doesn't have the best track record when it comes to genre type shows. But maybe this will be different. We don't know who will be playing Gordon, I'm sure it won't be Gary Oldman who played a great Gordon in the recent Bale Batman movies. I'm not a huge Batman fan but I am looking forward to this series. If done right it could be pretty amazing.

Suchard L'Original (le rocher lait) - Kraft foods

Before I munch away on my final packet of crisps and other stuff from France I wanted to try out this chocolate that Mr Travels introduced to me. He likes snacking like me!! Mrs Travels likes snacking too but more with crisps and Chinese snacks.

7 pieces of big chocolates

Suchard l'original

When I saw this I saw the word le rocher and was thinking is this going to be like Ferrero Rocher?

Once I opened it I could smell chocolatey nuts... Maybe it is like Ferrero Rocher...

Chocolate wrapped in red paper

Or maybe not. This is an entire chocolate piece, and it is actually quite heavy for a chocolate piece! There are little bits of nuts inside too.

Massive chocolate!

It's all chocolate inside... a bit like a truffle (my teeth marks are showing here!)

Some nutty bits

If you love melt in your mouth chocolate, and you like them sweet and a little nutty, this is the chocolate for you! It's a bit too much for me but will have another piece before I share it out. :D

Even Evil Monkey wanted to have a bite! (I will introduce Evil Monkey in another post once I've made more 3D origami!).

Evil Monkey wants chocolate!

Cost: €3.86 - expensive chocolate! But this is definitely a must find in France for the chocoholics. ^_^