Han Shot First

I'm a nerd. My husband's a nerd. My kids are nerds. We all come from a long line of nerds, actually. It's part of our heritage. We're proud of our nerdiness, actually.

This is all just a set-up for the premise that follows.

Riding in the car over Thanksgiving weekend, the family (just the nuclear family -- the lineage of nerds was present only in spirit), the four of us began a discussion about Han Solo and Greedo. You know -- that fateful meeting in the Mos Eisley cantina. Greedo is a rather crappy bounty hunter who makes it very clear to Han, his intended bounty, that Jabba the Hut wants his money back and failing that, that Greedo is there to kill him.

Surely you remember Greedo's famous line, "Kuna to chuta, Solo?" (Going somewhere, Solo?) No? *taps mic* Hello? Is this thing on?

Anyway, back to the conversation in the car. Along the way I mentioned Han shooting first. The kids were as of yet unaware of the "Han shoots first" controversy, as they've only seen the altered 2004 DVD-version of the scene. I know. We're terrible parents. Don't judge us.

So, Joe and I explained that George Lucas altered the scene, and that it was a stupid decision because, while we understand that George was trying to make Han's character morally superior to Greedo and to offer Han no choice but to shoot back, that this weakens the eventual change of heart for Han's character, that we want him to be morally ambiguous, even somewhat dark, so that his conversion to the light is more significant.

Anyway, as these sorts of conversations often do (at least in our family), we began to extrapolate other possible Han-Greedo scenarios. Naturally, in each future George Lucas re-release, Han becomes increasingly less culpable.

With apologies to Hyperbole and a Half, I present to you ... Han and Greedo in the Mos Eisley cantina:

1977 original theatrical release: Han shoots. Greedo doesn't fire a shot, but dies in an overly-large explosion.

1997 theatrical re-release and 2004 DVD release: Greedo shoots and misses as Han dodges, then Han shoots Greedo

2014 straight-to-flash-drive release: Greedo rapid-fires all around Han, missing him entirely. Eventually, Han fires once and kills Greedo.

2022 holographic release: Han doesn't even bring a gun. His threatening presence is enough to scare Greedo to death before he can fire a shot.

2042 bio-neural gel pack release: Han sits and watches as Greedo spontaneously combusts.

2052 direct-mental-download 75th anniversary Special Edition: Han doesn't even show up. Greedo thinks about meeting him and spontaneously combusts. Roll credits.

Yeah, my kids actually came up with most of these. Heh. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.


--End--

Cutting the Cord, Part VI: Fail!

Well, we now have a lot of electronics to box up and ship back to their various vendors.

*sigh*

We got my new PC up and running and swapped my old PC over to its new PVR duties (the last week or so of my free time has all involved formatting archived media files' metadata and properties files). We bought a MCE-remote and IR-receiver combo (this one from Amazon for $15.95 ... we're pitching the remote just to use the USB IR-receiver) and got our Logitech Harmony remote talking to our TV, Xbox 360, and DVR-PC. We looove this remote.

Today we put the antenna up in a temporary configuration up on the roof and even went out and bought a compass to aim it properly. We set up the tuner software on the PC and set SageTV to scanning for stations. And ... FAIL! We can't get FOX-29 to tune in better than 40%, which results in Sage not displaying it at all. Fox and CBS are the stations we most wanted to receive over the air. In any grading scale 50% success is still a failing grade.

Joe's on the phone right now with Comcast attempting to re-negotiate our rates. We're also pricing out DirecTV.

*sigh*

I feel like I've wasted SOOOO much time on this project. "At least now we know," Joe says, pragmatic as always.

So, I've cancelled our Hulu-Plus subscription. Playon's cancellation is in progress. We're going to box up and return the following components: Antenna to Best Buy, USB tuner stick to New Egg, Pre-Amplifier to Amazon, 100-feet of ethernet cable to Home Depot.

Right now we're thinking we'll keep the remote because it consolidates several other remotes, the IR-receiver (so the remote can still talk to the PC), and possibly the HD HomeRun tuner (we can save $ by using our DVR instead of Comcast's).

If Comcast is a pain about lowering our rates, we may switch to DirecTV, which would include a DVR for free. If we go that route, I don't know if we'll keep the tuner or not. We may just use the PC for storing archived media and not for DVR-ing (or is PVR-ing the preferred abbreviation now?).

*sigh*

So irritated.

--End--

A Flibbertigibbet, a Will-o-the-Wisp, a Clown!

We had the best time last night!*

We drove up to Cherry Hill to attend a movie event: The Sing-Along Sound of Music!

The theatre had a pretty good-sized crowd in it, and they were an animated bunch. Somehow the liberty of singing along also gives people the freedom to cheer (the marionettes), laugh (Maria and the children falling in the lake), comment snarkily (the Baroness) throughout the film.

The movie was wonderful, of course. I'd never before seen it on a big screen. It was an amazing and wonderful experience. When the camera finishes swooping through Austria, turns a corner in the Alps, and I finally caught a glimpse of a tiny Julie Andrews, I gasped and actually teared up a little. The feeling was akin to the sensation I got hearing the 20th Century Fox fanfare at the re-release of episode IV of Star Wars. The film's been super mega digitally restored, in both sound and picture. The detail and colors were stunning.

The sing-along words at the bottom were occasionally distracting (in the super close-up of Maria's face during "Something Good," the words were scrawled across her chin), but overall is was a fantastic experience. Matthew has spent all morning singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?"

If ever there's a re-showing of this event in your area, do it, do it, do it!

--End--

*Sadly, the mood is significantly bleaker this morning. It was a late outing for a school night. And, the combination of Joe's head/chest congestion and the humid clamminess everywhere resulting in nightmares,** so it was approximately the worst no-infants-in-the-house night's sleep we've ever had.

** Which included a gasping-startle-awake followed by grabbing Joe and frantically whispering, "There's someone in the house!" Which led to him jumping out of bed like I'd dumped ice water on him. Several quiet and terrifying moments later, he returned to give the all-clear. But his adrenaline-fueled body was miles from sleep and he decided to just stay up at that point (roughly 5:30 a.m.).

Podcasting

It may seem as though I'm coming late to the whole Podcasting game, but this is actually more of a second-go-'round. I've tried Podcasting a few things in the past, but found that I never had even half the time necessary to listen to all the stuff rapidly filling up my iTunes folders.

So, now I'm commuting to Rutgers-Camden once a week for my Master's course. (hopefully in this future this will read "courses," as in plural) On the way up, it's All Things Considered, baby, but on the way home, I just don't have the patience for flipping stations through the songs I don't like to find the songs I do like (Ben-FM out of Philly wins most times, for those of you keeping score at home ... but after years and years of DVR-ing TV, I've lost all patience whatsoever for radio commercial breaks.). I'm also hoping to do more walking/listening to my iPod and less walking/talking on the phone ... kinda trying to wean myself off my cell phone, as that may soon become an expense I can no longer afford, but that's a whole 'nother blog post.

Consequently, I'm back to podcasting. So far I've subscribed to way more than I can possibly listen to. Here we go again. But, I'm in the trying-it-out-and-then-winnowing-out-the-chaff phase. I have mostly NPR: Science Friday, On the Media, The Weekend Edition Sunday Puzzle, RadioLab, All Songs Considered, Only a Game, and the 90-Second Naturalist. Other than that, there are a few from HowStuffWorks.com: Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Tech Stuff, and Stuff From the Science Lab.

I'd love something literature-based (the Master's will be in English lit, specializing in British 18th Century and earlier, generally ... American lit pre-Civil War I can tolerate, as well as a bit of other European lits no later than mid-19th century ... but I'll be focusing, scholastically on the Brits). Even book reviews, though I never have time to read a book these days. Knitting, theatre and travel are other topics of interest.

Anyway, have any ideas for me???? Puh-leeeze? Let me know what's on your mobile media device.

Thanks!

--End--

R.I.P.

Ricardo Montalban

November 25, 1920 - January 14, 2009

Like Riding a Bike

When I was a kid, I helped out with my local PBS station's annual fundraising auction. I started out running bids, then working the phones. Eventually I was actually on camera, selling the items (think QVC, only 8 items at a time sold auction style in 5-10 minutes).

I was hooked! Right then and there I changed my plans from majoring in English and going to law school to ... journalism, communications; being on, in, and around TV!

I majored in Communication Arts: Mass Media at Allegheny and even did a year of my Master's in Film & TV at Temple. But that's it. That's as close as I came. And through several jobs and careers later, I'm thrilled and in love with my career path in teaching.

But, Saturday it all came crashing back. I worked on a live charity auction, broadcast on local cable. The theatre company I'm in is helping to raise money and awareness to restore our local old-run-down theatre, the Levoy.

An out-of-town friend in the media biz wanted to see my clips, so I edited the four-hour broadcast into just the bits I was involved in (still an hour and a half). You can go here to download a pretty small wmv file. Fileflyer says there's a limited number of downloads, but I don't know just how limited that is.

The Station GM gave me his card and took down my info. Says he's going to call me do to interviews and voice work. He even emailed me right after the broadcast, too. Nice guy. We'll see.... could be a nice sideline.

So, there you go. The TV bug has re-bitten me. Hopefully it can be assuaged with theatre for awhile. :)

--End--

Rest in Peace, Mr. Newman

Love The Sting. SO much. But, love the way Newman looks in the picture. Godspeed, Mr. Newman. 1925-2008.

--End--

Life Soundtrack?

Interesting meme idea...maybe I'm slow for not having seen this one before. :)

Set your mp3 player on shuffle and type the title of the song for each category. Push for the next song for the next category, etc.

Opening Credits: Prologue, Little Shop of Horrors
Waking Up: Sandy, Grease
Theme song: Love Hurts, Nazareth
Falling in Love: What I Did for Love, John Barrowman
Fight scene: Anthem, Chess
Breaking up: Hot Blooded, Foreigner
Getting back together: Overture, Oklahoma
Secret Love: Name of the Game, Mamma Mia!
Life's okay: Shades of Grey, Billy Joel
Mental breakdown: It's Possible, Seussical
Driving: I'll Wait, Van Halen
Flashback: Good Morning, Starshine, Hair
Partying: Be Like the Bluebird, Anything Goes
Happy dance: Runyonland, Guys & Dolls
Regretting: Another Pyramid, Aida
Long night alone: Overture, West Side Story
Death scene: I Happen to Like New York, John Barrowman
Ending credits: If I Were a Rich Man, Fiddler on the Roof

--End--

Olympics are Coming!

Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!

I love the Olympics. I hope to attend one some day. Although I should state here my decided preference for the Winter Games, I enjoy watching all the "girlie" type events at the Summer Games. Read: gymnastics (esp. men's), equestrian. I also like watching the canoeing/kayaking and sailing. And table tennis and synchronized swimming are guaranteed to both hypnotize me and crack me up.

--End--

Double Feature

Joe and I just spent the evening at the movies. Only instead of dinner and a movie, we did movie and a movie. Figured it was about the same amount of babysitter time, anyway. :)

Mamma Mia -- What can I say that hasn't already been said by everyone around? Meryl is fabulous. Absolutely fabulous (and yes, even in the BBC AbFab sort of way). Wonderful actress (which we all knew already, of course) and terrific singer (which I sort of knew, but this was way beyond what I'd heard her do before). Screen presence galore, naturally. Pierce Brosnan barely can carry a tune in a bucket. Actually, his pitch was fine, but there's no power behind it. Still, if Rex Harrison can talk his way through My Fair Lady on screen and stage (winning the Tony, no less), I suppose we can just enjoy looking at Pierce and admiring that he pulls off his role rather well without a giant set of vocal pipes. Rewarding and fun. But, as I'm sending Emily away to sleep-over camp for the first time the day after tomorrow, the "Slipping Through My Fingers" number completely did me in and has me blowing off any theatre work tomorrow to spend time off the computer and hanging out with my kids.

The Dark Knight -- Again, much of what I'm observing here has already been said by lots of people. But, I'm saying it, too, because, well ... it's true. This may very well be the best Batman movie yet. In fact, I'm just going to say it is. Christian Bale continues his dark and deep portrayal of our vigilante (which George Clooney didn't) while effectively pulling off the frothy, dippy public Bruce Wayne (which Michael Keaton didn't). Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman rule, as always. And Mike Baker would be so proud of me for remembering the import of the name Harvey Dent immediately. Heath Ledger. Heath Ledger. Heath Ledger. He was amazing. I love me some Jack Nicholson. But Jack was like "Jack the Joker" the whole way through. Creepy, yes. Nuts, yes. But still Jack. Heath Ledger was the Joker. I can't help but think that playing this part so completely as he did all his roles amplified whatever psychosis and troubled his actor's mind already contained (and all of us have psychoses and troubles...and I honestly believe truly talented actors have more than their share). It was violent and creepy and disturbing, and very, very good. And I cannot believe people brought their kids to it. But, that's a whole 'nother blog post, right there.

So, if you're in the mood for light and wonderful or dark and wonderful, I can recommend a movie for you either way.

--End--

It's Done!

The slideshow for my grandma's 80th birthday is finally finished!

Why the relief? It's been a long haul.

About 5-6 hours of scanning. Then I don't know how many hours of assembling the slideshow...20? Then creating a family tree graphic. Say, 1-2 hours. Then putting it together with music, another 1-2 hours.

Then the fun began.

It refused to render properly. The entire 13-minute show looked great, except for the family tree. It blinked on for a second and then there was 13 seconds of black screen. Again and again and again, regardless of what sort of video file I was attempting to create. Finally, I created a separate 13-second video of just the family tree, and inserted that into the complete slideshow file. Then I finally I rendered the entire video file.

And it refused to burn properly onto the DVD. *sigh* My DVD burner has been taking its time deciding whether or not it's going to die for some time now. Lately it's been working great, so I hadn't yet installed the new burner I bought. Well, last night it was time.

So, after updating my Nero software and installing the new burner (1 hr more), I finally burned a bunch of DVDs for the party guests this Saturday and an additional one to play at the party*.

Now I have to get them to the Post Office and off to my mom in time for the party this Saturday.

--End--

* And it was fassssst, so fast. I'm loving my new software and burner. Makes me want to just burn DVDs all day long.

Joss Whedon Just Gets Better and Better

Just when I thought I couldn't love Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris more than I already do.

Everything Old is New Again (and knitting stuff)

My kids had never once ever seen the Yip-Yips before today. Needless to say this was a serious oversight on my part. Now remedied.

This episode in particular got all four of us rolling with laughter. Mooo-OOOOO-ooooo! I know it's pretty early for such things, but I think I have them half-convinced that Yip-Yips would make the greatest ever Halloween costumes.

Once I finish knitting the various scarves* I'm working on (my small summer not-too-sweaty-on-my-lap projects), I may whip up a few of these for the various smallish children in my life. What's not to love? And I eventually mean to pay for this pattern and make these for every little girl I know out of all the beautiful scrap yarns I have.

But first I have to make a nice set of these Jayne hats for my sis-in-law and brother's DragonCon trip. Once I go buy the perfect yarns for them, anyway.

I other news I'm trying (sort of half-heartedly, unfortunately) to lose back some of the weight I'd lost and found again. Been walking in training for this year's 3-day. But have to get back to watching what goes into my mouth in a more conscious way. Nothing anyone really wants to hear about, I'm sure. But something on my mind nonetheless.

Finally. I've gotten kind of good at whipping up bizarre and slightly-realistic creatures in Spore's Creature Creator software. My favorites would have to be my Donkesaurus and maybe my Girafftypus. Sorry for the tiny images, but that's how the Sporepedia online stores them.

Well, it's tomorrow now. I've been waiting for Joe to decide to go to bed. He said it was too late to start another episode of Firefly when we finished (re-)watching the pilot at 11:30. But now he's most of the way through Tarzan (the Disney animated one), so ... so much for too late. Now it's early, instead.

I intend to get the DC pics off the cameras tomorrow before Wizard of Oz rehearsals, so hopefully I'll have some cleaned up and ready for posting somewhere soon. For now, G'night!

--End--

* Namely this one three times in different colorways and this one because I happen to have the perfect yarn for it. And also a set of these because I rarely make anything that I myself can keep and use.

Local News

Just heard this story on NPR's Morning Edition. I drive right by this preschool every morning. It's the district between the one we live in and the ones I work in.

--End--

Just for Chris

This link is just for Chris.

--End--

This is So True

Stolen openly from Television Without Pity's TWoPlopedia:

A-Team, Implied Combat Rules of

1. The A-Team must be given ample lead time to create complex perimeter defenses and unorthodox traps.
2. When employing vehicles, enemies are requested to secure open-top Jeeps so B.A. can pull them out easily and dramatically. All vehicles should be light enough to flip over when running over landmines.
3. The A-Team must give combatants the opportunity to stop bothering the townspeople, impoverished ranch owner, or whistleblower before fighting begins. Hannibal (but only Hannibal) is allowed to fire a warning shot, but only in the air.
4. When combat begins, one or more enemies are required to hide behind thin wood doors or walls so B.A. can smash through them and grab 'em. Positive consideration should be given to those who pick rooms with both thin walls and large multi-paned windows.
5. The first combatant to encounter B.A. is allowed one free punch before he's tossed out a window.
6. Machine gun fire must track 1.5 feet behind and to the left of the target.
7. Grenades must land 5 feet behind the enemy so they can be launched into the air when it explodes.
8. Murdock is to be left in reserve in case things go poorly and if called for should enter the scene dramatically and employ wacky methods.
9. Enemy henchmen should feel free to run away, but the ringleader is not -- the memory of the A-Team's fighting prowess keeps the gangs from reforming.

--End--

Site Dump

Stumbled Upon this site, and found it rather amusing. Not sure if I'd be amused or kind of ticked off to receive one of these missives. Hard to say.

Also found this shirt which would be perfect for my brother.

Finally, because there are never enough math cartoons out there in circulation.

Enjoy!

--End--

ps. Our free time and movie going is about to diminish radically (this week we've seen National Treasure 2, I am Legend, Sweeney Todd, and Charlie Wilson's War -- fun, excellent and creepy, excellent and really bloody and just plain excellent). We get the kids back from Grandma and Grandpa's house tomorrow.

Movie Review

Last night after we finished decorating the house and gorging ourselves on meatball sandwiches, we took the kids to see Enchanted. And, enchanting it was.

It was far more than just an along-for-the-ride-at-a-kids'-movie experience. It was a full-fledged delightful romantic comedy in its own right.

Milking heavily from classic (particularly the Disneyfied versions) fairy tales such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty -- the movie follows the trials and tribulations of Giselle as she is thrust by her jealous soon-to-be stepmother-in-law from the animated kingdom of Adalasia to the gritty reality of New York City.

The casting was delightful. Amy Adams and James Marsden are faced with the probably more difficult than it looks prospect of playing Giselle and her beloved Prince Edward. That they do so without the slightest bit of self-consciousness or irony makes the movie at all watchable. That they do so with the completely convincing naivete and innocence that fairy tale folk always posses -- pure magic (and very funny!).

There's plenty of slapstick for the kids, plenty of Menken/Schwartz tunes for the musically inclined (the production number in Central Park is rich and wonderful), and sappy romance enough for everyone.

Hope you enjoy it. We sure did. The kids are already asking when we can buy it. :)

--End--

Nifty New Show

Last night, Joe and I watched Chuck, a slightly goofball but novel new show on NBC.

We initially gave it a try because we love Adam Baldwin (of Firefly and Serenity).

The premise is that Chuck, the head of the "Nerd Herd" at the local "Buy More" store (which sits next to the "Large Mart" ... yeah, I know) receives a message from ex-Stanford roommate Bryce, super rogue spy guy. By solving a riddle, the e-mail activities a sort of brain download/upload thing that basically puts all of the government's (read "CIA" and "NSA") most secret secrets into his brain. The original computer housing this info is destroyed, as is Chuck's computer, itself. So ... he's now the repository for everything the government might want to know about clandestine operations pretty much everywhere.

In steps a hottie CIA agent and a grim-looking NSA agent (Adam Baldwin, yeah!) to "take care of it." Mayhem ensues, naturally. The supporting work done by Chuck's Buy More sidekick, Morgan, is pretty funny in a Warren Cheswick-ish sort of way.

Anyway, we weren't sure how it would be, but it was pretty good. The camera work feel somehow different from the pack of shows out there, the casting is nice, since it's not full of giving airtime to a particular big star, and the humor is nicely paced. Hope they can keep it up.

--End--

Support the "Cause"

When we were last up at Chris & Kristin's house, they were watching DVDs of Firefly. Joe and I watched a couple of episodes with them and asked them about the show. It seems it had been broadcast on Fox for not even one full season and network execs had been more than a bit unkind with scheduling decisions, fating the show to an early cancellation. Joss Whedon, the series creator, did his best to resurrect the show, finally resulting in a full-length feature, Serenity released in 2005.

Anyway, long story short, Firefly/Serenity fans (typically called "Browncoats") have been working to get the show reinstated somewhere, anywhere. And I have to say I'm inclined to agree with them. The show is smart, funny, clever, well-thought-out won an Emmy for effects. Definitely done before its time.

Recently I've been browsing around various Browncoat websites and getting some background info on the show and its fanbase. They're reasonably active (particularly for a show which only had eleven of its fourteen episodes broadcast.

I read today that the SciFi channel is going to broadcast a "Firefly Marathon" on August 10. Set your DVRs, please. Who knows? Maybe this is SciFi's way of feeling out the actual viewership for the show. Maybe if they feel there's enough interest ... well, maybe something might happen.

If you're interested in the sci-fi genre AT ALL, give the show a try. I really do recommend it. And ... even if you don't intend to watch it, record it anyway. Or tell a friend who likes that sort of thing. Maybe the SciFi execs will actually notice.

--End--