Monday, April 30, 2007

One giant leap in time

Seriously, Heroes took a huge leap in entertainment tonight. I actually love when shows do the whole 180 thing with characters. It was great to see almost every one on the flip side of things. First, Hiro was amazing. Not only a battotsu warrior but clearly a genius when it comes to making timelines. He actually used string as a representation of a person and crossed them at important points in time. And finally, we get to figure out what "save the cheerleader, save the world" means. If Sylar had gained Claire's powers, he would be un-killable. Of course, that is actually what happened but hey, points for answering one question. We will not mention a certain show on an Hawaiian island which tends to just ask more and more questions.

How cool is Peter Petrelli with that scar. I thought he could regenerate like Claire but maybe he did not heal himself on purpose, to remind him of what he did. Man, he had some great powers and pulled out all the stops tonight. The end fight was a little bit of a let down but it was still fun to watch him and Sylar face off. I was worried that Parkman turned to the 'dark' side. He must have been really brainwashed to do so but I guess losing your wife and kid can do that to you. Finally, I find it truly comforting that the two characters who do not have powers, Mohinder and Ando, are the glue that holds these special people together. With all the twists and turns, the unexpected match ups, and the predestined meetings, Heroes has matured into a goldmine of TV entertainment. Congrats and welcome to the big club.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Speaking of witches

I just received something which cements my Potter fanaticism in stone. Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers. Yes, that's right. Harry Potter in French. Time for me to put my years of study to good use.

A tall order of the phoenix

It does this to me every time. Again the new Harry Potter movie gets me all geeked out about the books, the film score, the movies and the hype that surrounds it all. Since book three is still my favorite, you would think that I would not get excited about yet another release of a movie in a franchise seemingly just out to make a buck. But they do it to me everytime they play the theme and this trailer tops them all, clipping flashbacks of previous movies to really pull us in. Also, it is great is it to see it in a great format, up to 1080p.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/harrypotterandtheorderofthephoenix.html

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Confessions of an addict filer

I love to organize and can probably be considered anal to anal retentive. Not only do I keep track of bank accounts and taxes but things like manuals to my cell phone and receipts to large household items like my washer and dryer. I thought this was weird and so did not mention to many people. However today I was reassured that I was, in fact, not a single souled filer. There are others like me and this article mentions the manual thing. I was so ecstatic, I had to share.

lifehacker.com guide to filing

By the way, lifehacker is a great site for picking up great tips on searching the web and using mozilla software.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Not quite an Easter Spring

Texas is making up for the month long 100 degree spout last summer. First, flurries in February and now, sleet in April. How wonderful that I get to experience this craziness.

Carson the Accord

I am now the official owner of my 2003 Honda Accord, Carson. While I had planned for a five year loan, I did it in 4.25 years. Quite a feat since half of that was while I was a grad student. Carson is going strong with no problems on his last checkup and all I had to replace were the front brakes. We are driving to the Hill Country tomorrow as a vacation and congratulatory stroll through wildflowers and flatlands.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Battle for the stars

Battlestar Galactica ended its third season last week and I just caught up on the last three episodes. What a tremendous series. The production value rivals that of a feature length film and the eye candy that comes along with that. There are two things that bother me about this final season. One, there was not enough action. For a large ship in space being hunted by ruthless machines, I expect battles and shots being fired. Instead we are treated to short bursts of cylon ships entering space and the terrans ... er humans running for it. I wanted them to stand and fight as they did in the past two seasons. Two, the show has become too political. I realize that it was a season of change, the humans having been occupied by the cylons for a year or so, but the riots and strikes became a bit much. The one thing it does do, though, is deal with the fallout of said change. Couples splitting, fathers and sons facing off, inner demons rearing their ugly faces. There was just a little too much for my taste and not enough action to balance it all out. Finally, I just don't buy the final four cylons. It seemed a bit contrived and a last minute shock technique. But the reappearance of Starbuck (I knew they would bring her back) was a nice ending. Too bad we have to wait nine months to see it all again.