Archive for the ‘Television’ Category

Since the dawn of, well, the 90s, there have been television shows of all kinds incorporating musical episodes into their seasons.

It is not just that these rare and entertaining occurrences are hilarious and if not well sung then at least still enjoyable to watch, but they express something unique about characters’ psyches that might not have otherwise been displayed openly if not through song.

Sci fi and Fantasy television shows are no exception to this phenomenon, and today I am going to go through the many wonderful examples of musical episodes fitting my beloved geek theme. This includes live action and animated examples, so hang on, pop in your favorite show-tunes album to set the mood, and enjoy the show.
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Forgive me if my heart is not quite in this blog entry as I had already completed it to my great satisfaction last week only to have it wiped when a virus attacked my computer at work. But as one of my faithful readers said,

This just goes to show that these new-fangled transistors are unreliable. We need to learn about steam technology as quickly as possible!

And so I return.
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I am torn on this one. With the other versus blogs I had a clear favorite even when most of the time I greatly respected the opposing side, but with this particular debate it is harder to choose. I would say Marvel simply because Spider-Man, Deadpool, and the X-men are some of my favorite characters of all time, but then DC has Batman, and it really is hard to compete against Batman.

There is a lot more to cover with these franchises than with any of the others I have compared thus far, so bear with me. Onto a brief history of each of these incredible comic publishers.
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I once got into a heated debate over how only an idiot would think Harry Potter wins in a comparison with Lord of the Rings because the writing is so superior. Me? I was on Harry’s side.

To some readers J. R. R. Tolkien drones on and on about the details of a leaf when we just want to get to the story, while J. K. Rowling has readership with children barely in their double digits as well as with their grandparents with equal success.

So what is the definition of ’superior writing’ exactly?

As with my previous blog entry, Star Trek vs Star Wars, I do not want my opinion to further cloud this comparison, as I see great strengths in both franchises. Let us begin then, as before, with a quick history.
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I am a Trekkie. I admit that readily, prepared to take whatever teasing and low-blow remarks naysayers might think to throw at me.

My husband, John, is more of a Star Wars fan, however, which would usually mean we were set for a death match. Somehow we still manage to love each other.

The rivalry between Star Trek and Star Wars has been around for as long as both fandoms have existed. Both are science fiction themed, set in outer space on starships and alien planets in some distant future, but their universes could not be more different, and they each have a very unique following of fans.

Allow me to give you a quick history.
 
 
 
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The Sci Fi Channel was launched September 24, 1992, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal cable programming. The name of the network was officially changed to the SyFy Channel on July 7, 2009.

And diehard fans cried.
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“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.” — Gary Gygax, 1938-2008

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson—may they rest in peace in a land where skimpy chainmail really does protect better than full body armor on big-breasted women—created D&D and published its first book in 1974.

It was different from tabletop wargames in many ways, allowing for each player to essentially create and become a single character of their design to embark upon adventures in a fantasy setting. This was all guided by the Dungeons Master or DM.

Besides telling the story the players’ characters live through, the DM’s job is to try and kill the characters off. Hopefully, your DM wants you to succeed, but if they’re not throwing challenging monsters and puzzles your way that could potentially kill your character at every turn then they are not doing their job.
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Tattooing has been around almost as long as human beings, seen in many cultures throughout history for many varying reasons, usually for personal, cultural, or spiritual expression or identification.

In the previous century there was a time when tattooing was seen as something only for the hardcore, scary people like bikers and gang members, or sailors who got drunk one night on leave. In Japan it is still generally thought of as a sign that you are part of the yakuza, the native gangsters.

But these days nearly everyone you run across could potentially have at least one tattoo, even if that one is merely a typical ‘tramp stamp’ on the lower back.

The average person might only have something small and simple, like Woodstock on their hip or a flower on their ankle, but even the unexpected person might surprise you with a slew of tattoos hidden beneath their clothing.

Tattoos with a geeky origin are more common these days than you might realize. All three of mine fall under that category.
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The Movie

It all began in 1994 when James Spader was still hot and especially cute playing a good boy geek for the first time in his life, and Kurt Russell was still one of the go-to men for action flicks (other than being absolutely amazing in Tarantino’s Death Proof not too long ago). It was the first look we had at the universe of possibilities that would be Stargate. The movie was phenomenal, a unique sci fi story with enough possibilities to create over a decade of follow-ups.
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No, Joss Whedon isn’t dead, I just felt like ‘remembering’ him because he has been swept up in successes lately, and I don’t want to forget why I first fell in love with his work.

You see, I am a Whedonite. If Joss Whedon’s name is attached to it, chances are I am going to do everything in my power to at least give that something a chance. For those who may not know Joss well, most will best remember him for having created the movie and subsequent television show, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.

I love Buffy, so I am fine with that being one of Joss’ main claims to fame, but he has done so much more than that. Allow me to take you through my remembrance of a great man’s current body of work.

Joss Whedon created, wrote, directed, or was in some way part of the screenplay processes for a lot more movies and television shows than many people realize, most notably:
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