Thursday, December 21, 2006

Deathly Title

Not sure if it is a bad sign but Harry Potter book seven is entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. What is a hallow? To me, it sounds like a place but it is actually a verb. From the American Heritage Dictionary:

hal·low (hăl'ō)
transitive verb

  1. To make or set apart as holy.
  2. To respect or honor greatly; revere.
No release date as yet.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

How much fun is this?

Okay, I was not a big fan. I had a few of the major characters and had fun crashing them around. But my brother loved them. This looks pretty impressive.

Trailer

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

2006 Midseason TV

Ala Matt Roush's Top 10, I decided to subject others to my own commentary. I agree with a lot of what Matt said but 5 out the 10 shows I do not watch. Mine are in no particular order.

24: Old news as season 6 starts in one month.

Heroes: My new favorite show. Intrigue, comic book-like format, people with amazing powers, sex, drugs, and Hiro, this show has it all. The only problem is that it moves too slow. I need all these people to be together and fast. I like that the writers are not afraid of killing heroes but I wish they would kill off Niki. Her story line is so detached from the others. Finally, Hiro, the genuine, time warping, all-believing poster boy. He is probably the coolest thing about this show. The minute he gets that sword and slays the dragon, I am going to jump for joy.

Prison Break: Not my favorite show but certainly an entertaining one. Plus, Wentworth Miller is very hot. I like that this show went in a different direction this season and that Scofield loses it several times. The new bad guys are a plus too. I just wish the story would center around Michael's intelligence a little more and not creep me out as much with T-Bag. Killing off a lot of the escapee's has kept my interest piqued to see what happens next.

Supernatural: Speaking of brotherly love, this show holds near to my heart. Any show revolving around the metaphysical and family reminds me of the Joss Whedon Buffy and Angel days. The relationship of Dean and Sammy is heart wrenching at times and touching at others. The death of their father has taken its toll and they are still after the big baddie, whoever he is. This show also has a very cool relationship with classic rock and a chevy impala. The bad boy image works oh so well.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: This show does not grab you but sort of eases you into its characters. It has taken a while to warm up to most of them and they finally stopped spouting political garb enough to have some fun episodes. The writing has only become better as it has matured and finally I question what will happen next.

Grey's Anatomy: I still tell myself I am a sap for watching this type of show. It has no real production value and I can not say the acting is anything special. It is mostly just eye candy on a dramatic scale. Still I can not help but cheer for Izzie and feel for George. I do not really like Meredith and only tolerate Cristina. It is just so interesting to watch the relationships grow and die on every new episode. It is hard to believe it is the third season.

Lost: Even though I have been frustrated to no end with this show, I still come back for more. They never answer any of our questions and this season they decided to separate the main characters. This is a recipe for disaster if you ask me. But major changes are in the making and hopefully we will have our castaways together again.

Ugly Betty: How can one not like this show. Betty probably represents a little of all of us, struggling to find herself in a world full of perfect people only to find out they are certainly not so perfect on the inside. Maybe it is the colors but it is a bright spot in my week when Betty shows up.

House: I told my mom that this show makes me uncomfortable and that is why I like it which is strange because I hate feeling uncomfortable. The only problem I have is that most of the characters are contradictory and inconsistent. It makes for a lot of drama but difficult to watch most of the time. It was harsh to see House so vulnerable in the last episode this year but from the premieres he looks like he will be back in top form after the break.

Veronica Mars: It satisfied with its sophomore season and now moves on to be a more mature series when Ronnie enters college. The format has changed slightly in that it is separated into three major crimes to solve and Veronica is up to the challenge. Now that she has suffered through uncovering the rapist she moves on to the murder of the dean. Let us hope she has help from Mr. Mars because they make a splendid team. Let us also hope Logan gets back to his snarky self.

Battlestar Galactica: I heard rumors that NBC was going to air this show rather than its sister network in the conglomerate, SciFi channel. But it seems that this was truly a rumor because this show is back on its parent channel in full force. Like Lost, it took the separation route putting half of our crew on the ground. Starbuck was a prisoner and Apollo grew fat. It was an interesting plan but was resolved more quickly and much more satisfying than Lost. Now we are all back together again, searching for food and fighting amongst ourselves. Here's hoping there is a big ass cylon battle soon. With production values through the roof, it is easily the best show on television.

Honorable Mention - The Nine: Prematurely canceled, this show had me enraptured from the very beginning. It is too bad it could not garner the ratings to help further quality television.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

All his thoughts are bent on it

Turner Network Television (TNT) is concluding its very expensive purchase of The Lord of the Rings franchise this month. This weekend, they played The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. I must applaud TNT for broadcasting in true HD, even the commercials. It gives me so much joy watching such brilliant film making in glorious 1080i. Even my DVD player does not get that. I guess I need to upgrade one of these days. Next week they premiere Return of the King. How great would it be to play the trilogy at that time.

update: TNT is playing the entire trilogy next Sunday, December 17 starting at 12:30PM EST/11:30AM CST.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

"Enter our hearts and make us fly...

My family has several holiday traditions. From food to gifts, on Christmas eve and Christmas day. It is a wondrous time full of family and memories. However, I have several personal holiday traditions too. Of course, they involve movies and music. Each season, I watch a list of movies with White Christmas the first and foremost. Then it is Miracle on 34th Street (black and white version only) and The Muppet Christmas Carol. On the animation side of things, I have to watch Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is actually a combination of claymation and digital animation and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, a silly little cartoon about a mouse and a clock tower and I watch it mostly for its ending song.

Along with the usual spout of Christmas music, I have to listen to "The Nutcracker" a couple of times and cassette version of The Cabbage Patch Kid Christmas, something you can not find in stores anymore. Then it is on to The Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack and John Williams' glorious score to Home Alone. In this score riddled with holiday favorites, Williams makes my year every year with "Star of Bethlehem", a lovely song with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and sung by a children's chorus. To me, Christmas is not Christmas without repeating this song several times over and feeling the special emotions it evokes in me.

Lyrics to "Star of Bethlehem"

Friday, December 01, 2006

I must be a geek

I sort of want to go to this. Prophecy 2007

Beyond Shirley

Shirley Walker, film and TV score composer, died today. She was 61. I love her score to "Batman Beyond" and "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker". In fact, I was listening to this very score this morning during my cardio workout. RIP, Shirley. You will be sorely missed.

http://www.soundtrack.net/news/article/?id=872

Sunday, November 26, 2006

May they all be white

Nothing says the Christmas season like 75 degrees in Texas. So when Turner Classic Movies aired White Christmas as part of their tribute to Irving Berlin, the DVR was programmed. I have a horrible obsession with this movie. First, it has a great title and the title song is sung by the incomparable Bing Crosby. Then you add Danny Kaye, one of the best comedic actors of his time and, at the time, bringing in just as much money as Bing at the box office. If there was ever poison in the vessel with the pestle, he could bring it to life. His crackly voice when paired with Vera Ellen are some of my favorite scenes. That and whenever he touches his life saving injury. Speaking of Vera, the choreography of her dances are extraordinary and every time she puts on those tap shoes, I want to get up and tap right along side her. Rounding out the cast is Rosemary Clooney. Sure, she can sing but her demeanor in this movie is pretty dull and almost detrimental. I would love to know the history of the cast working on this movie. A personal tradition during and between holidays, I can never get enough.

White Christmas (Paramount Pictures 1954) was directed by Michael Curtiz and was the first picture in VistaVision.

To my sister, a much devoted sister.

Remember me when

I love "Veronica Mars". The teenager, would-be private investigator has some of the wittiest writing on television today. The latest episode, "Lord of the Pi's", was a prime example of the all out, laughing on the floor, pop culture reference comments that the petite blond sprays at her friends and cohorts. I am so glad they had some father-daughter action because that was the highlight of the season. Tops the fake rape storyline by far. The only question I had was why did they dandilate the Dandy Warhols song, a favorite of mine before it was the show's opening song?

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Tony: Something Special

Not much surprises me on TV anymore. Production values for television shows are so high these days that we sort of take quality for granted. However NBC premiered "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" to my great astonishment. Although it is not hard to make Tony sound good, I mean come on, Tony is something special, but the visual impact of this show blew me away. Directed by Rob Marshall, of Chicago fame, this Target sponsored show was soft when it needed to be and sophisticated at all times, the epitome of class. I was happy with the narratives and learned that Percy Faith, a closet idol of mine, was Tony's arranger. Tony represents my favorite time in jazz, the time when melodies ruled and creativity abounded. With concentration on pure instrumentalists and less on electronics, how can one not get up and swing around to Tony's syncopated voice sounding as fantastic as ever? If you missed this one, you missed out.

some Order, please.

Not released until July 2007, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix teaser trailer makes its debut on the web today, in high definition. My least favorite of the books and yet still a page turning, all out laughing read, I am still excited about the movie. A basically unknown director and composer leading a highly familiar story and musical series. What could be more news worthy?

I have to say, I am not very happy with the clean cut Harry Potter. His hair is too short for the unruly mess that Rowling describes in her books. But if Harry can have blue eyes instead of green, I guess we live with his portrayal.

HP OOTP trailer in high def

Saturday, November 18, 2006

The Buckeyes and The Blue

In school, we read The Lantern, our school newspaper. During my first two years the paper would publish quotes and their source in the top right of the front page. My freshman year I remember distinctly seeing this:

"Go Bucks!" - too many to name

Ah the memories. Go Bucks, beat the blue.

Texas landscape



I miss the mountains. Every time I would visit my brother in Tennessee I would feel this rush of pleasure at the Smokies. As I would drive, the road was bordered by large forests of pine trees keeping secret the lives on the other side. In Texas, at least in the part that I live, there are no mountains. The scape is flat, teasing with its expanse. Along the road, the earth is spotted with single trees. It is beginning to grow on me, the romantic horizon along the road. But Texas will never fill this void I have for the grandeur of mountains.

Dancing away


My best friend, Diane was married to Todd last weekend. Along with the gorgeous colors and cold weather, the day was savored by friends and family alike. May they have happiness forever.
Posted by Picasa

Monday, November 06, 2006

How many of me?

HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are:
7
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Welcome back, Appa

Yes, Appa is back. Appa is a six legged, 102 year old flying bison on the animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Avatar is a charming show with fully developed characters, intriguing plot, and witty writing. It combines, like many series involving magic, the four powers of earth, air, water, and fire. Aang, the main character and best friend of Appa, is the avatar, the one person who has the ability to control all four. Of coures, he only knows air, water, and now a little earth bending. The fire bending nation, is the enemy and Zuko, the prince of the nation is now an outsider and coming to life as his own person. It is fun to watch. My favorite, along with Appa, is Sokka, who has no powers. He is the life of the party, always after the girls, and continues to make me laugh. This show and W.I.T.C.H., another show about the four powers, are some of the best animated television currently airing in the United States. I am baffled by the amount of animated shows I watch compared with live action TV. It has to be thirty percent. Who knew?

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Final Mystery Project Update


It's finished. I can not believe it is finished. For eight months I have been working diligently for this present. I have to say, the final product is gorgeous. The yarn was amazing to work with and the pattern intricately beautiful. The only thing I have left is to put my tag on it and wrap it. There is only one problem with blogging and that is you can not touch anything. There are no words to describe the weight or softness of this bridal gift. It is a thing to cherish. One of my best efforts by far. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Halloween Galactica

I am not a fan of Halloween. It is way too difficult to figure out what to dress as and me and candy are a dangerous combination. Plus the TV becomes swamped with horror flicks, most of them so stupid that it is better just to turn off the tube for a while. So, glad it's over this year. But while I do not enjoy pictures of those dreadful pumpkin carvings or kids/adults in costumes, this toon is all it took to wash it all away. If you are not a Battlestar Galactica fan, become one. And if you are, this one will keep you laughing for at least a day.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Ben Folds at Stubb's BBQ

Only Austin would provide live entertainment at a BBQ joint. Truly, though, Stubb's is a major venue for bands, rock and indie alike. Ben makes an appearance this Friday. I am a huge fan of the pianist. He, in fact, makes my heart melt although I blissfully ignore the fact that he is from North Carolina. I have never seen him in concert but I am not a big fan of concerts in the first place. While thinking about booking tickets, the price made me frown. With fees I just was not willing to fork over the money for it. It's too bad, I was looking forward to hearing Ben sing to me.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Creative Meetings - Hollywood Style

While skimming my RSS feeds today, I came across this little gem about the minds behind The Lord of the Rings franchise, namely Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, in their first meeting with Miramax and the Weinstein brothers. We've got to kill a hobbit. You pick one

It was then I thought to myself what idiots Hollywood people can be because "the number cruncher" Bob Weinstein made a huge mistake in letting that thing go. The Lord of the Rings grossed almost $3 billion internationally and had about an 800% return (source).

Disclaimer: No hobbits were killed during the making of this film.