Random Thoughts: Year Ender, Part III: The Saga Continues (and Ends!)

Oh, what up readers? Cool, cool. Me? Oh, I'm chillin', draped in my Batman blanket (I seriously am). It's the final day/afternoon/night (depending on when I actually post this) of 2011 and time for me to end this charade of Year Ender blogs. I can't guarantee any of those lists I did last year or mentioned just 2 weeks ago, but I promise I'll instead give you tidbits about my life you don't care about, things that entertain me, and things that bother me. So pretty standard Random Thoughts, then. Except it's about to be our last year on earth, 2012! Which makes this all the more thrilling.

—Thursday night, Ridley Scott released the first teaser for his next movie, Prometheus, which, let's be honest, is a prequel of sorts to his 1979 masterpiece, Alien. You know the drill (but I'll repeat it anyways): Watch it so we can discuss it:



Wow, is this tinged with elements of the Alien trailer. The title, the beats, that giant chair, the horse-shoe ship...It all looks grandiose. It looks like it belongs in the world of the xenomorph. It doesn't feel nearly as claustrophobic as the Alien trailer, but instead more open. Which would make sense, as in Alien, the threat was inside, while in Prometheus, it may well be from outside. After this trailer (and working my way through the Alien Anthology on blu-ray), I'm keeping an eye on this one, with hopes it turns out better than Robin Hood.

—Well, I made the switch to Sprint last week. Got myself an iPhone 4S and my own cell plan/bill. It's about time, frankly. I'm like a small child, diving into this world of smartphones. The simplest things make me giddy. Words with Friends sucks, because "qi" is not a word and I refuse to accept that any of these words should count. So if I'm taking forever to respond to your game, it's because I'm being petulant about it. Other than that, and the far-too-often-occurrence of the phone forgetting I'm authenticated, this thing rocks. Oh, the future. So crazy.

—Since work has decided to treat us like high schoolers during "training," I've decided to act like a high schooler and ignore the "training" and read instead. I blew through The Hunger Games on Wednesday and Thursday, and have started book two, Catching Fire. I definitely enjoyed it, as it was a captivating, easy read. My one complaint is that a lot of the descriptions felt more like the author, Suzanne Collins, telling me how everything looks than Katniss seeing all of this for the first time. Which I'm willing to forgive because first-person present is a bitch to write in. And Catching Fire already seems better in that regard. I still question the naiveté of Katniss, since she seems an incredibly observant girl in the woods. I want to know what happens next, which is something I've only been getting from TV lately.

—Speaking of TV (not that again), NBC can suck it. Community, regardless of its ratings, is one of the best comedies on the boobtube. Put them on a hiatus for Chelsea fucking Handler? Really? Really? REALLY?! I just...I don't understand. This season has been a little back-and-forth from my eyes, but it's also provided some of the best of the series in Remedial Chaos Theory (who wouldn't love Evil Troy and Evil Abed?) and Regional Holiday Music (I love spoofs, kinda hate on Glee a lot now, and a horror Christmas story? Heck yes). This show grabbed me by my cajones two years ago and hasn't let up for 2 and a half seasons. Everything about it rocks. Support it however you can, friends, because it may well go the way of Firefly, Arrested Development, and the freshly cancelled and forever awesome Bored to Death.

—For those of you I'm friends with on facebook, you saw that I lost a dear companion right before Christmas:

It's a cliché, but they really don't make them like they used to. That Game Boy lasted twenty-two years. My first generation Xbox 360 lasted...four? Five? That's a badass piece of gaming history I don't intend on tossing out, even if it is gone. Worst of all, I'd just bought a few games on ebay and was so very excited to play them. For the curious, they're two Jurassic Park games I never got the chance to play as a child. Now I'm a child with money, so it only makes sense that I'd spend it on childish things. 

—Wondering what movies I loved this year? Me too! I don't remember all the movies I saw, but I know only a few stuck out. Maybe more than a few, but we'll see. Of what I've seen, the best of the year can be nothing but Drive. Words cannot express how much I loved this movie. Such a shock, as it was marketed as another heisty, driving type of movie. What we got was a noir, plain and simple. A long look at a character and his interactions. Brillant.


—Rango was also a ton of fun. Excellent animation, a fun, if classic, story, and great voice acting. For all the hate it may garner, Fast Five was good, too. It wasn't a racing movie as much as it was a heist/action movie. It delivered and managed to not take itself too seriously.


—Hugo was the sort of film you want to see again and again, but probably sans 3D. I had a bad headache by the end of the movie, which was a first for me and 3D. That kept me from fully loving it, but there was a lot to appreciate: it was a child's story, but at no point did it feel childish. As a hater of children in movies, I realized it was the lack of respect for children in films I hate. In Hugo's case, the children were treated with the utmost respect and I didn't think twice about it.

—What music did I like this year? blink-182's Neighborhoods. "Ghost on the Dance Floor" gets me excited and pumped up (I put it on my cardio mix). Florence + The Machine's Ceremonials has some amazing pieces of music on there. Absolutely worth a listen. So is Drive's soundtrack, now that I think about it. I listened to and enjoyed a lot of Johnny Cash's American Recordings albums. The man only got better as he aged.

—Remember how I told you I was in the middle of reading Catching Fire? Well, between the time I wrote that and now, I finished it. My criticisms stand: the descriptions don't impress me and either does Katniss's obliviousness. This was definitely a stronger book, but it felt much more like a piece of a story than a stand-alone. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just wish it didn't end as it did, relying on the reader to get Mockingjay to have a complete tale. Still worth checking out.

—Brock Lesnar retired from the UFC. He had a short career there, with more ups and downs than most athletes see in a lifetime. He went from UFC Heavyweight Champion to getting diagnosed with a nasty bit of diverticulitis, to pummeling opponents in no time to getting pummeled in no time. Let the pro wrestling fans among us (myself included) begin speculating on a potential return to the WWE.

—I got my hair flat-iron straightened today. It feels weird. Really strange...like it lacks volume. I don't know that I like it, but I don't think I dislike it, either. My hair is an odd thing for me: I love it long, and want it under a bit of control, but don't want to do anything to it. Doesn't really make sense, does it? Either way, I've entered a new chapter in my hairs existence, and we'll see how it goes.

—Sooooo, what are you guys doing tonight? Something baller, I hope. Me? I'm heading to a classy place with some classy folk to drink all night and eat delicious food. Even my little sister will be there! Unfortunately, I've gone and screwed up the trimming of my beard (I blame the trimmer), so I'm going to have to do something to distract from it. Maybe face paint. Probably nipple clamps. We'll see. Sometimes, dressing to the nines, getting shitty, and distracting from a poorly trimmed beard is just what you have to do. And whatever you do, be safe and have fun. I expect all of you to make it to the new year, if only so we can face the impending Mayan apocalypse together.

I don't think there's anything else I wanted to mention. As such, enjoy tonight, tomorrow, and forever on until I blog again!

Random Thoughts: Year Ender, Part II: The Fire Rises

Welcome back to my year end celebration! It really isn't so much a celebration as much as it is a bunch of blogs in rapid succession. And there really isn't much tying them together, except for the "Part I" or "Part II" in the title. Heck, there may be a "Part III" but I bet it's still only loosely connected to the first two (aside from my raving wit, charming sarcasm, and undeniable good looks). Get on with it, I hear you exclaim, and so I shall! (Oh, and if you've just come for talk about The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit trailers, just skip down past the clip from The Daily Show.)

—Last week, in a shameless, cowardly act, Congress passed the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, which has a few provisions causing a bit of unrest. What provisions, you ask? Sections 1021 and 1022, which make it a-OK to detain anyone, including American citizens (why the big stink over Americans and not anyone else? Because! That's why!), without trial, indefinitely. IF they get themselves caught as part of a group associated with, or maybe might've supported terrorism. We don't get specifics here, which is the scariest part. I'm not one for conspiracies, but we've seen a metric shit-ton of liberties taken away since 9/11. This has happened under both Presidents Bush and Obama. Who'd have thought that Barack would have as bad a record on civil liberties as Dubya? For more info on the NDAA, check this out and read up on it yourself (always, always, ALWAYS research!).

—To continue with a bit of negativity (I want to get it out early), a television show, All-American Muslim, has come under fire from the supremely bigoted group, Florida Family Association. Lowe's pulled advertising, and more recently, so has Kayak. You see, Muslims are evil and poisoning the rest of 'Murica. Bet you didn't know that (unless you watch FOX News). The AV Club has a good write-up about it, but Jon Stewart and The Daily Show crew really said it best:

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—And for my last politically-tinged bit, we have this letter from America's port truck drivers. See, last week, the Occupy movement occupied Seattle's ports amongst many others. They shutdown business, essentially. The letter is an incredible read that puts on display the underhanded, disturbing, disgusting, profits-first/people-last, mentality of, at the very least, those companies in control of shipping. It shouldn't come as a surprise, because hey, if you can take advantage of people who need a job and can't afford to be unemployed or on unemployment, why not? That's the free market, baby, that's capitalism. No, excuse me, that's corporatism. When those corporations hold the same rights as you and me? I say bullshit. And good on the truck drivers AND the Occupy movement!

—Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get onto the juicy, movie tidbits! First up? Of course, Batman! Where would this blog be without Batman? Rotting in Arkham Asylum, most likely. So, what happened with Bats, besides that prologue? How about the release of the trailer? Watch it now because I'll be diving deep into it:



Let me say up front I feel that this is much more of an extended teaser than a full-on trailer. Maybe my expectations were a bit high for the first trailer (how couldn't they be after this from 4 years ago?).

And again, fair warning: What I say here may be spoilers. I don't know, because I've kept myself as in the dark as possible regarding this movie. It's really all just speculation.

Our old pal, Bruce Wayne, has grey hairs. More importantly than that, he's using a cane in a lot of his scenes (a lot but not all). You all know what Bane did to Batman in the comics? He broke the Batman's back. I imagine one might need a cane after that.

Is there an Occupy Gotham? Selina Kyle seems to be implying a revolution against the rich, in an incredibly sultry, awesome delivery. I can't wait to see more of her.

The football field could stand some polishing. I'm not worried about it right now. Bane's voice doesn't bother me either, as I haven't had much problem understanding him, but I get the criticisms.

Bane's one single line in the trailer: "When Gotham is...ashes, you have my permission to die." Bad. Ass. Intentional or not, I love that his mask, if you squint, resembles the luchadore mask he's known for in the comics. And it's also an inversion of Batman's mask: mouth covered, face mostly revealed.

What is that stair room? At first I thought the Batcave. Then I thought flashbacks to Bruce's training with the League of Shadows, but it can't be, because he's sporting greys. So now I have no idea.

I fully intend on going much further in depth in a later post, which will include the prologue.

—And lastly (for this post, anyways), Tuesday saw the premiere of the first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Take a gander!



Now, tell me you didn't get chills when you heard Sméagol's voice. Wonderful tease there, especially with the addition of The Ring's theme. This is exactly the sort of trailer I love to see: characters introduced, a taste of the plot ("I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure..."), and some serious foreboding. And how good was it to see Gandalf the Grey again? He's easily my favorite character from the movies and was sorely missed in the latter parts of Lord of the Rings. I'm feeling good about Martin Freeman as young Bilbo, especially since, when not watching the trailer, I had trouble distinguishing the transition from Ian Holm and to Mr. Freeman. As an unabashed nerd who just received the Extended Edition LotR trilogy on Blu-Ray, a year is too far.

—Well, this wraps up Part II of my neverending Year Ender! I hope you've enjoyed it, as there will be more to come after the holidays but before the new year. I know for sure I'll be talking about Ridley Scott's debut teaser for his Alien prequel, Prometheus, and I can see a mention of the late Christopher Hitchens. What else have I got? I don't know! I'll surprise you!

Until next time, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Winter Solstice, etc., etc., and so on and so forth!

Random Thoughts: Year Ender, Part I

After a lengthy, unexplainable absence, I'm back! Complete with Random Thoughts, too, in case you were sick without them. If so, please see a doctor. There are side effects, but I'd rather not get into them here. That said, let's get into Random Thoughts:

—The marketing of my pet project with British up-and-comer Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises, has finally moved into second gear with poster number dos:

Let's take a moment to discuss the badassery of this, shall we? First of all, it's badass. Incredibly so. The shattered cowl goes right along with the comic book tale of Bane, the Bat-Breaker. It also reemphasizes this will be the final piece of Nolan's Bat-trilogy (as if the teaser trailer wasn't enough). But it offers something beyond the teaser's text ("Every Legend Has an End," "The Epic Conclusion..."): that shattered cowl. Is this Batman's end, too?

—I'm not sure how long the smartphone has existed, but I'll finally have one this Christmas: the iPhone 4S. What am I most looking forward to, you (didn't) ask? Siri. And hopefully the ability to rename her Jarvis and get her to speak with a male English accent. Also, the ability to grow a goatee and be a billionaire playboy with an ass-kicking iron suit. That'd be the ideal iPhone package.

—No Shave November has transitioned into Don't Stop December. I'm at nearly two months with my beard; I started with a completely shaved face back in October. I'm pretty much OK with it. My only problem? When I wear my hair down, everyone calls me Jesus. Instead of explaining that if Jesus existed, he'd have been brown all around, I'm going to start replying, "Yes, my child?" and ask for your love, devotion, and souls.

—Speaking of Jesus Christo, did you guys see Rick Perry's "Strong" ad? I'm not going to link to it here, but here's the transcript of the 30-second commercial:

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.As president, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.

Do I need to point out the ridiculous bigotry on display here, the absurd, revisionist view that America was founded as a Christian nation when it clearly was not, or can we all just sit back and laugh at the insanity that is Rick Perry? I almost feel bad for the Republican party. They have no one likable enough, smart enough, or charismatic enough to come close to beating President Obama (I'm not counting Ron Paul among them since he's a Libertarian in Republican clothing).

—Appropriately enough, here's Jesus' response to Rick Perry:

Jesus Responds to Rick Perry's "Strong" Ad from DC Pierson      

Should any of Jesus' claims about Rick Perry frighten or disturb you, I encourage you to research Rick Perry and the execution of not just the mentally handicapped, but also of the potentially innocent. You won't have to search too hard.

—You all didn't think I was done writing about The Dark Knight Rises, did you? Of course I wasn't! Because last week, Christopher Nolan and wife/producer Emma Thomas (both of whom I could've reached out and touched on set) showed the 6/7 minute prologue to the film to select filmmakers and film critics (there will also be a free early showing Tuesday night in select IMAX theaters). The response is, as expected, incredibly positive, with one consistent criticism: Bane's voice. Turns out, he's hard to understand (I think this is a theme for the Nolan Batman movies). Hopefully Mr. Nolan hears this criticism (unless it's a point to make Bane hard to hear) and fixes this before release in July. Or before the trailer (hopefully later this month).

—The lady and I just finished watching season 1 of Game of Thrones, or as we've called it, Incest of Thrones, Game of Incest, Incest Thrones, and Awesome. Now, I tend to be the nerdy, geeky one in the relationship, so I wasn't expecting her to really get into it too much. That said, I'd like to share my favorite of the texts I received from her while I was at work and she was watching it: "OMG if you watch 8 you can go to bed, but if you watch 9 you HAVE to watch 10!" Needless to say, if you haven't watched the show, get to it. We'll be reading the books soon, so one day, I'll tell you about them.

—My old home state is stupid and cruel. This is very clearly not a helpful situation. What does killing these breeds accomplish? Nothing. Because the people who train those types of dogs to be vicious and mean will be able to do that with any dog. And what happens when a more cuddly dog starts to pick up that reputation? The problem is not the dogs, it's the people raising and training them. It's sickening.

—But to end on a positive note, and give a big middle finger to Cumberland County, a pit bull saved a woman and her toddler from a potentially violent mugging. In case you're too lazy and/or scared to click the link, a mother and child were leaving a playground when a man with a knife approached her. This dog came out of no where and started growling and baring its teeth at this tool bag, who, like the superstitious and cowardly lot he is, ran off. The lady didn't know the dog, but it stayed with her until the cops came. If no one claims the dog, she plans on adopting it. Awesome.

—I have plenty more to say, and so I will, but in Part II. It'll definitely have more Batman. Maybe I'll have some of those Year End Lists people love. Maybe it'll be more topical, featuring the absurdity of President Obama and Congress passing the NDAA. Who knows?! Well, I do, but soon you will too!