Books: I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells (2009)

It appears that when I Am Not A Serial Killer was released in hardcover, it was displayed in the Young Adult section of the bookstore. Now out in paperback, the novel is actually in the mystery section. Perhaps, though, it should be in the horror section.

The novel is a sort of hybrid of the Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay and the early works of Stephen King (in particular IT), with the added bonus of teen angst and you get this clever, gruesome, yet boldly written story about 15 year-old John Wayne Cleaver.

John has realized he is turning into a sociopath - his therapist knows he is - who spends his days and nights (while not at school) helping out in his family's mortuary. He is also obsessed with serial killers, which disturbs his mother. He has very little emotion or empathy, and frequently has to stop himself from losing control of his inner demon. He has his own set of personal rules that helps keep the monster that is in him at bay.

But when a serial killer begins stalking his home town, John decides he must find out who is doing it, and sets out to discover what exactly is the killer, all while trying not to let the evil that is in him get out.

I can see why this novel was removed from the YA section; while some teens maybe interested in serial killers, I’m guessing this won’t appeal to a mass audience of teens. His loneliness and alienation from his family and the folks around him could help teen readers relate to him, but the novel is also gory and gives great detail of what happens in a mortuary - you get a great discourse in the art of embalming. More than I really cared to know, to be honest.

Still, Dan Wells has created a dark, very satirical voice in the character of John. He speaks bluntly, even though some of its quite dark. He’s chilling and endearing, and you sometimes could not help but feel some sympathy for the boy. Yet, as I finished it, I wondered if I or anyone else should.

Books: How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper (2007)

In Jonathan Tropper’s fourth novel How to Talk to a Widower, we meet Doug Parker. Doug is 29 and it’s been just over a year since his wife Hailey (who, by the way, was 11 years older than him) of two years was killed in a plane crash. He has spent that year drinking copious amounts of Jack Daniels, moping around the house in his grubby underwear, and generally pretending that he doesn’t exist. He is pathetic. He is painfully vulnerable. And he is undeniably annoying to the rest of the world who, although they “understand his need to grieve,” feel that it’s time for him to buck up and get his life back in order --- especially in time for his younger sister Debbie’s wedding. And then there’s his late wife’s troubled 16 year-old son to add to his misery.

The problem is that Doug is not ready to move on with his life, but that does not stop his wholly dysfunctional family from stepping in and putting him on the right road. There’s his pill-popping mom, who is odd as can be, his twin sister Claire, who has issues herself - she’s left her boring husband, is a pregnant, has attitude and is a huge potty mouth - and his father, who suffers from bouts of dementia after a stroke a few years earlier.

But its Claire who finally kickstarts Doug’s program for recovery and from where we see how things go from bad to worse, all with hilarious outcomes.

Tropper is brilliant at creating hugely flawed, yet loveable characters who circle around ideal backdrops to explore the human condition.

The book packs some emotional wallop, yet even as tears bubble into your eyes, he makes you laugh at the same time. As an example, early in the novel, Doug learns of his wife’s death and calls Claire. As any good sister does, she immediately gets in the car to see her brother.

She says, “You’re in shock. Okay, I’m in the car.”
Moments later, there was a loud , protracted crashing sound.
“Motherfucker!”
“What was that?”
“I just backed through the garage door.”
“Jesus. You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “The whole damn door came down. I’ll just drive over it.”
“Drive carefully.”
“Whatever. Listen -“ But she forgot that she was on her cordless and not her cell phone, and as soon as she turned out of her driveway she was out of range and the line went dead.

Before he calls Claire, you are weeping because the man has to comprehend the death of his wife, and mere moments later, you are laughing at image of a sister trying to get to her brother.

I love this guy. Sad now that I’ve read everything he’s produced now, but I’ll get over it. Not like I got 30 of 40 books sitting around I have not read.

Quote of the Day

"By the way, if you paid to see ALICE IN WONDERLAND, this is your fault. This probably wouldn't be happening if that film hadn't made over $1 billion."

Merrick over at Ain’t It Cool News on craptacular director Brett Ratner’s comments on how he and Relativity Media are making an edgy, updated (as in closer to the original source material) 3D version of the Brother’s Grimm tale, SNOW WHITE.

Books: Plan B by Jonathan Tropper (2000)

Plan B was Jonathan Tropper’s first novel, released in 2000 and is about 5 friends who graduated from New York University and went out into the world, fresh-faced and full of dreams for the future.

And then they turned 30.

I remember when I turned that age, it was 1992. I had been living in Northern California for almost 2 years, and things were going from good to rotten quickly. Part of the reason was my room mate had left the Bay Area to return to the Midwest to continue what he studied for in college, leaving me alone (well, sort of) in a seemly strange land. Then a return trip to Chicago reenforced the feelings of loneliness. A short time after I returned to California, my grandmother passed, followed a few weeks later of me turning 30. All this angsty stuff eventually led me back to Chicago. Oddly, it was the biggest mistake I could make. It would take me 13 years to get back here, but you all know that.

Anyways, back to Plan B. Ten years have passed since Ben, Lindsey, Chuck, Alison, and Jack left college, but turning thirty shows was never supposed to be like this: Ben's getting a divorce; Lindsey's unemployed; Alison and Chuck seem stuck in ruts of their own making; and Jack is getting more publicity for his cocaine addiction than his multimillion-dollar Hollywood successes.

Tropper delves into the heart of what thirty has represented for all of us, which is usually realizing we are past the age when our parents had us; that your older than the current popular actors, athletes and musicians. And what we hoped for at twenty sometimes does not happen by the time we reach that milestone.

With this debut, Tropper would explore the themes that have become his staple; that life never goes as planned, love is messy and that no matter what, you are growing older, and not, in fact, immortal.

In some ways, however, I’m glad I read some of his later works (starting with This Is Where I Leave You and The Book of Joe, which are stronger novels), as the book relies on too much sentimentality and sitcom one-lines, but it’s a cute comic riff on growing up and learning life, like friendship, will sometimes take its time course correcting your life. But I like this guy a lot, anyways, and will now take How to Talk to a Widower, his 2007 release (and last of his current canon that I’ve read).

At 146 minutes, Sex and the City 2 is...

"...an entirely inappropriate length for what is essentially a home video of gay men playing with giant Barbie dolls."

Lindy West

Books: The Kane Chronicles: Book 1: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

A few days before its release date, I was working at the bookstore when this guy asked me if The Red Pyramid, was going to different that Riordan’s previous five-book series Percy Jackson and The Olympians. I like being honest with my customers, as I’ve never been one to say James Patterson is a marvelous author and should be read by everyone. He’s a hack. Plain and simple.

No, I told him, I sensed with this new series, Riordan was not going to breakout of his well established formula that served Percy Jackson so well - a parent disappears, prompting introductions to ancient characters and travels to otherworldly places. There are to be battles with evil forces and a looming deadline by which the child must complete a mission, lest society descend into chaos. That’s gist of the this book and the gist of Percy Jackson. The question should have been whether it was going to be good as that other series (despite the last book being somewhat of a disappointment with its easy ending).

And to somewhat to my surprise, he’s succeeded with this new book. Instead of one, he’s got two protagonist in this new series, a brother and sister (who are bi-racial, which I found very interesting) who’ve been separated since the death of their mother, Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, while her brother Carter has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

While I was distracted by the alternate points of view chapters between Sadie and Carter at first (while Riordan has an ear for dialogue, he needs work creating a three dimensional female hero that does not sound like a boy), the book began to flow a bit better as it progressed. Riordan still has a habit of reminding readers the plot of the book every 20 or so pages which gets annoying after a while, and has outside characters explaining things to the kids instead of them figuring it out for themselves (which was what happened a lot on the final Percy Jackson novel), but its still a highly entertaining book for kids and adults. It is by far no Harry Potter, but Rick Riordan has done his homework on myths and legends of Egypt, making it also fun and educational at the same time.

The shadow of Zac Efron forces Beastly out of its release date. Srsly.

Okay, so I’ve heard bizarre reasons for studios pulling films from already announced release dates, but even this one has to raise an eyebrow and a What?

On its Facebook page for the film adaptation of the young adult novel Beastly -in itself, a retelling of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast - CBS Films has pushed back the release date of said film from its original July 30th berth to an undisclosed date.

Why?

Because, apparently, the tween universe might have an early preview of the whole 2012 phenomenon. Okay, maybe not. Still, also opening that day is the Universal Film Charlie St. Cloud starring Zac Efron (who's 15 minutes of fame must be striking at 14). Now Beastly, starring a much hotter Alex Pettyfer, also stars Efron’s High School Musical co-star (and alleged girlfriend) Vanessa Hudgens. Theoretically, both films are geared towards the same demographic audience: tween girls (and probably their mothers). And, apparently, these same theoretical tweens, might face a huge “dilemma” when faced with which movie to see.

Thus came this statement from CBS: "We've been hearing from fans, so we know that having both Zac and Vanessa's movies opening on the same day could be a real dilemma for people, so we are moving Beastly."

Got to admit, it’s a pretty creative, and probably unintentionally hilarious, reason for pulling a film. Still, if Beastly is a bad film (which is the usual reason a film gets pulled), at least CBS got ahead of it and can try to save their investment by either retooling it, holding out for a better position later in the summer, or early fall or just wait until January or February 2011 when people will watch anything.

Too bad that could not work for Sex and the City 2.

Final thoughts on LOST

I’ve become convinced now that last night’s series finale of LOST will leave many people a wondering just what it all meant -especially the “sideways-verse.”

It was never real, and only a creation of a dying Jack.

For me, Jack created the sideways universe in the seconds it took him to die. With what ever mysterious powers he was given when Jacob gave Jack the keys to the Island, I think he used that to bring everyone who survived Oceanic 815 together so all of them could leave this mortal coil whole and not the flawed creatures they were when they crashed on the Island in 2004. But in creating this sideways universe, Jack forgot to take care of himself, which was why he could never quite put all of the coincidences together.

The clue to all of this lies with Christian Shepard. He states that “you made this place so you could find each other," independent of the time at which they died, and move on to "the next phase" together, as in that place time had no meaning -i.e. the sideways universe. So Jack died in 2007, passing on the exact spot he woke up on after the crash (and who could not shed a tear as Vincent came by to make sure he did not die alone?). But before he did, he made sure that everyone -no matter when and where they died (because thanks to Hurley, who was now protector of the Island, is told by Ben that he was a “great number one” while Hurley says Ben was a “great number two.” How long that was is never given, but based on Jacob’s tenure on the Island, it could be hundreds of years)- could be together.

To me, there are not plot holes involving the real and the sideways world. Simple fact is that everything that happened, well...happened. The only thing unreal, was the sideways universe. LOST may have baited and switched a little bit, but at the end of the day, the series was about the people, and not about the plot. All the unanswered questions about the Island, about what it is, what it was, really was unimportant, in a sense it was the classic Hitchcockian McGuffian.

But, as always, its what we leave behind that is the most important. Who we leave, how we lived our lives was more important than any of the Island’s secrets.

CBS "Hawaii Five-0" Fall 2010 Opening Credits

Five Years Later...

On Tuesday of this week, I past a milestone in this blog, five years. It was started mostly because I was bored. In January of 2005, I was let go from USG in Schiller Park, Illinois. By May 18, while getting unemployment and working a few hours at Borders to cover what that was covering, I started to write. It was mostly about nothing, really. My first couple of posts were about Star Trek, rants if you will, about the direction the old franchise was going in.

I also mentioned my worries about not finding a new job, as unemployment would run out in July. Eventually, of course, I would end up moving to California a few months later.

A lot of things have happened here in the past five years, with highlights being my association with Hidden Frontier and Frontier Guard. That would lead to what (hopefully) will lead to working on my friend JayTee and Carlos' first indie film.

What could endanger that, sadly now, is my job with Borders. I'm loosing more and more hours, and our new GM has proven not to be trustworthy (as if anyone of them could be really). Borders is a doomed company, and I need to leave before that company drags whats left of my soul with it.

Borders is erratic, conflicted and disorganized. Every decision is debated, every action is questioned. It lacks harmony, cohesion and greatness. It will be its undoing.

So, as I start year six, my goals are just to live, get a new job and find a partner. Simple goals, really. I just don't know how to do it.

Can anyone help?

The CW announces two new shows, confirms SMALLVILLE to end next May

Mini network The CW only has two new shows for the fall, and they’re giving them support by airing them after the networks two biggest hits.

Monday begins with returning 90210, followed by returning GOSSIP GIRLS.

Tuesday begins with the show that seems un-killable: ONE TREE HILL, followed by LIFE UNEXPECTED.

Wednesday starts with the networks biggest hit, AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL followed by the HELLCATS, produced by SMALLVILLE’s Tom Welling, and is a coming-of-age story about a young, pre-law student who’s world gets flipped upside down when she loses her scholarship, and realizes the only way she can stay in school is by reigniting her dormant teen gymnastic skills to win a place on her school’s legendary cheerleading team, The Hellcats.

Thursday brings back it’s other hit show, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, which then leads into the second TV incarnation of the motion picture LE FEMME NIKITA, now just called NIKITA, about a deeply troubled girl who was rescued from death row by a secret U.S. agency known only as Division, who then fake her death and tell her she's been given a second chance to start a new life and serve her country. What they didn’t tell her was that she was being trained as a spy and assassin.

Friday starts with the 10th and final season of SMALLVILLE, followed by season six of SUPERNATURAL with its new direction after its five year arc completed this May.

Only two shows have been announced for midseason, and both are reality programs. Expect some more down the line.

Canceled shows include: MELROSE PLACE, THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE, FLY GIRLS and HIGH SOCIETY.

CBS unveils 5 new shows, cancels a bunch of others

After CBS announced the cancellations of a number of veteran shows, including GHOST WHISPERER, COLD CASE, NUMB3RS, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE, and GARY UNMARRIED along with a few 1st season shows as ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE, THREE RIVERS and MIAMI MEDICAL, the #1 broadcast network unveiled a mere five new shows for 2010-11.

Starting on Sunday, the new CBS schedule looks this way:

Returning shows on that night include 60 MINUTES, AMAZING RACE, UNDERCOVER BOSS and the relocated CSI: MIAMI

Monday brings back the sitcoms HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, and TWO & HALF MEN. MIKE & MOLLY (from creator Chuck Lorrie) balances out their hit Monday night comedy block. The remake of HAWAII FIVE-O finishes out the first week night.

Tuesday remains stable, with returning shows NCIS, NCIS: LOS ANGELES and THE GOOD WIFE.

Wednesday has the relocated SURVIVOR, followed by returning CRIMINAL MINDS, and Tom Selleck returns to TV with the legal drama THE DEFENDERS.

Thursday launches with the returning BIG BANG THEORY followed by the new sitcom inspired by the popular blog SH*T MY DAD SAYS starring veteran actor William Shatner. The original CSI returns next followed by the returning THE MENTALIST .

Friday was a strong night for CBS, as they continued over the course of the season to win one of the most difficult nights on TV next to Saturdays. Granted they are one of the five networks to offer original programing when the rest have reality or just one hour of scripted shows, still with the cancellation of GHOST WHISPERER some wondered what was up. So, just as last season, the network offers three hours of programming, starting with the returning MEDIUM, followed by the returning CSI: NEW YORK and the lone new drama, a family cop show called BLUE BLOODS.

The only midseason show announced is the CRIMINAL MINDS spin-off that has no title but it does have Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker as its star.

ABC announces 10 new shows, V held for midseason

ABC announces the arrival of 10 planned new shows for the 2010-11 TV season.

Sunday remains stable with returning shows AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS, EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and BROTHERS & SISTERS.

Monday also remains stable, with returning DANCING WITH THE STARS and CASTLE.

Tuesday starts the family superhero series NO ORDINARY FAMILY, followed by the DANCING WITH THE STARS results show. The new pseudo documentary crime drama DETROIT 1-8-7 rounds out the night

Wednesday begins with the returning THE MIDDLE, followed by the new sitcom about sisters called BETTER TOGETHER. The night continues with the returning MODERN FAMILY and COUGAR TOWN. The legal drama THE WHOLE TRUTH winds up the night.

Thursday begins with MY GENERATION, which centers on a group of former Austin-based high school students 10 years after graduation. GREY’S ANATOMY and PRIVATE PRACTICE both return with new seasons.

Friday starts with the new reality series SECRET MILLIONAIRE, followed by the Dana Delany, Jeri Ryan led medical drama BODY OF PROOF. 20/20 rounds out the night.

Midseason additions are the comedies MR. SUNSHINE, starring Matthew Perry, and HAPPY ENDINGS, starring Elisha Cuthbert. OFF THE MAP, is another medical drama from GREY’S ANATOMY creator Shonda Rhimes is also being held in reserve for midseason.

With a surprise pick-up, V will not return until midseason.

Canceled shows include: BETTER OFF TED, THE DEEP END, DEFYING GRAVITY, EASTWICK, FLASHFORWARD, THE FORGOTTEN, THE GOODE FAMILY, HANK, LOST, ROMANTICALLY CHALLENGED, SURVIVING SUBURBIA and UGLY BETTY

Daniel Radcliffe for The Trevor Project

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

A fan producer trailer for the LOST series finale

Books: Drood by Dan Simmons (2009)

After his 2007 long novel The Terror, where author Dan Simmons took on a fictionalized look at what might have happened to the Franklin's lost expedition of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror between 1845 - 1848, now takes on a fictionalized account of the last five years of Charles Dickens' life told from the view point of Dickens' friend and fellow author Wilkie Collins. The title comes from Dickens' unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

This is a well-researched novel, much like The Terror, which mixes factual biography from the lives of Dickens, Collins, and other literary and historical figures of the Victorian era with a complex plot, complicated even further by an unreliable narrator. Wilkie Collins, perhaps the first writer to pen a book in the genre known today as mystery and suspense, and Charles Dickens are friends first, rivals later, when it comes to writing. And from there, Simmons draws us readers into a deft plot of horror, mystery, drug addiction, and the enigmas of the mind.

The characters come off the page as real now as they were (hopefully) a hundred and fifty years ago. The story begins with the real-life train accident that Dickens was involved with (which also included his secret mistress) in June of 1865, which seems to change his life forever. It continues with Wilkie Collins assumption that the accident caused Dickens to begin a deadly second life, with trips to the underbelly of London, and his obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, and the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies.

Dickens claims its all research for his next novel, but is this mere research leading to something more terrifying?

So with Drood, Simmons (like many authors have tried since Dickens’ death in 1870), explores the unsolved mysteries of the author's last years and also may provide (again, as many have done over the years) the key to Dickens' final, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

It’s a chilling, staggering novel that shows us that there are still powerful writers in the world who can put out an impressive, totally original work of fiction that is also very entertaining.

NBC releases fall schedule

In an untraditional move, NBC has released its fall schedule on Sunday May 16 to the press before the official Upfronts begin on Monday, May 17.

After a disastrous 2009-10 TV season which saw the last place network placing all of its apples into one bag called Jay Leno, it returns for the 2010-11 season with a high amount of scripted programs.

Monday starts off with the returning CHUCK, followed by new shows THE EVENT, a conspiracy thriller that centers around a huge cover-up that even has the President (Blair Underwood) on a need-to-know basis. Meanwhile, as everyman Sean Walker (Jason Ritter) investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancee (Sarah Roemer), he stumbles across the truth behind the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. The night concludes with CHASE, a drama about a blonde Texas-based U.S. marshal Annie Frost (Kelli Giddish) and her team who track down fugitives.

Tuesday brings the two-hour edition of THE BIGGEST LOSER followed by the returning PARENTHOOD.

Wednesday starts with UNDERCOVERS, which comes from LOST creator J.J. Abrams and follows the adventures of a retired husband and wife spy team (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who are suddenly thrust back into their former lives as CIA agents. LAW & ORDER: SVU returns for a new year, while the next series in the franchise, LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES begins.

Thursday starts with the returning COMMUNITY, 30 ROCK and THE OFFICE. They’ve added another comedy, OUTSOURCED, about an American transferred to India to supervise his Midwest novelty company’s new call center. The night finishes out with LOVE BITES, which is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series, along the lines of the classic late 1960s series LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE, but will feature two single-gal recurring characters.

Friday begins with the returning WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?, followed by DATELINE NBC. The one scripted drama returns Jimmy Smits to TV as OUTLAW, which is about a justice who quits The Supreme Court to return to private law practice.

Waiting in the wings for midseason is the superhero drama THE CAPE, and the David E. Kelly lawyer drama HARRY’S LAW starring Oscar winner Kathy Bates. Sitcoms FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, PERFECT COUPLE and THE PAUL REISER SHOW are also waiting for midseason. Both returning shows PARKS & RECREATION and THE APPRENTICE will be back sometime in early 2011.

Canceled shows include: HEROES, KINGS, THE JAY LENO SHOW, LAW & ORDER, THE LISTENER, THE PHILANTHROPIST, SOUTHLAND (which moved to TNT), MERCY and TRAUMA

Tyler Lambert, son of Diff'rent Strokes actress Dana Plato, dies at 25

The dark legacy left by the late 1970s TV series Diff'rent Strokes struck again on May 6 when Tyler Lambert, the only son of Dana Plato, took his own life at the age of 25. Plato married Lambert's father Lanny Lambert in 1984 and gave birth to their son a year later. The couple divorced in 1990, and boys father was given custody of Tyler. The Tulsa, Okla., office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that Lambert died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

Lambert was just 14 when his mother took her own life at age 34 with an overdose of prescription pills on May 8, 1999. Reports from his grandmother indicate that the young man never got over his mother's death.

The woes of the cast have played out over the years as a horrible example of what happens when child actors grow up and can't adapt with their new realities. When Diff'rent Strokes launched in 1978, it was a huge hit, but by 1984 Plato was being written out due to rumors of drugs and wild parties. She appeared nude in playboy in 1989, and starred in a string of B movies. Legal problems came to her in the 1991 when she was arrested for attempting to rob a video store at gunpoint, followed by an arrest for forging a prescription of Valium. She took her own life by overdosing on Vanadom and Vicodin.

Her two co-stars, Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman also faced legal and drug troubles as they grew. Bridges fought drug addiction, though now he is clean and sober with a new book out and tour on the dangers of drugs. Coleman has had well-publicized money problems along with scrapes with the law.

Doctor Who: 05.06: Vampires of Venice

Following from last weeks episode where Amy tried to seduce the Doctor, the Time Lord crashes Rory’s bachelor party and whisks him and Amy off in the TARDIS on a romantic “date” to get their relationship back on course. They arrive in 1580 Venice, but as is with the Doctor, all is not well in the 16th Century. According to some citizens, plague is running rampant, and the city has been placed under quarantine at the order of the city's patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri. Sensing things are wrong, the Doctor investigates Calvierri's palazzo and discovers vampires are running amok in the romantic city of Venice.

There is a lot to like about this episode, as Toby Whithouse’s (who also wrote season two’s School Reunion) script sparkles with great humor, the actors continue to make themselves appealing and the location work (Trogir, Croatia stands in for 16th Century Venice) is absolutely gorgeous.

But I did get a sense of deja vu with story. It resembles, in so many ways, School Reunion, down to the girl being taken to a higher authority to be helped, only to discover its an alien posing as a human. Its that device, the shapeshifting alien, we’ve see many times in Doctor Who, and I’ll venture an opinion that its becoming dull and overused (and beyond that episode, Whithouse used that same idea for an episode of Torchwood).

But beyond that, and a slight comparison to the Doctor/Amy/Rory triangle from season 1 and 2 (sad that neither Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill have chemistry), I enjoyed the episode, especially the bit of dialogue between Rory and the Doctor in which Rory tells the Doctor that he's dangerous because people want to impress him so, and then the stand-off between the Doctor and Rosanna Calvierri -where she tells the Doctor that her race “saw the silence, and the end of all things...”

As the episode ends, as Rory, Amy and the Doctor get in the TARDIS, everything falls silent. The look on the Doctor’s face seems to indicate he remember’s her words, and he seems a bit unnerved by it.

Doctor Who: Season Five Rumors (SPOLIERS):

Rory, Amy's boyfriend, dies at the end of episode nine, Cold Blood. Amy, apparently, “forgets” Rory ever existed. .

Amy appears also not to remember him during Vincent and The Doctor, the Vincent Van Gogh story, which airs after Cold Blood.

Young Amelia Pond will reappear in the season finale, as she goes to visit the "Anomaly Exhibition" at the National Museum (another hint that there is some paradox going on). And rumor has it all sorts of baddies will turn up, including the Weeping Angels. Also in the finale: Chrissie Cotterill's character from the Van Gogh episode (speculation has it, the Pandoricum is a space where everything that's been swallowed by The Crack goes, and when it's opened, everything spills out).

Despite these paradoxes, Amy and Rory have to marry in the season finale, because time will go boom.

Friends

Doctor Who: 05.05: Flesh and Stone (part 2 of 2)

As the two-parter concludes with Flesh and Stone, we are given the first detailed look at the fifth season’s arc. Since the start of the season, and every episode since, we’ve seen the mysterious cracks in time. What they represented was never explained, until this story. The Doctor realizes now that these cracks are causing time to be unwritten, which explains why Amy could not remember Daleks and the events of The Stolen Earth and Journey's End. The Doctor also mentions (as to what many fans asked when The Next Doctor aired) why the history records failed to record the Cyber-King rampaging over Victorian London.

The question is, how and who is doing this. We also get another mention of the Pandorica (which is part of the title of the penultimate episode of the season), but no clue as to what that means either -though a friend of mine suggests that River Song’s diary is the Pandorica (and did anyone else notice the giant Eye from The Eleventh Hour during the sequence where River and the Doctor are on the flight deck? There is a loud noise, and River turns away from the small view screen, which looks like its vertical hold has gone all crazy. The Eye pops up very quickly and then vanishes).

The episode builds on the tension from Time of Angels, though I found some of the Doctor explanations about the Angels a bit paper tigerish in the sense that he jumped to a lot of conclusions instead of actually figuring things out; especially when he says the Angels could not get Amy because she had her eyes close (and then River beams her out, which strikes me as a bit of deus ex machina, and makes me wonder why writer Steven Moffat had her separated from the others in the first place).

While River Song (and guest star Alex Kingston) gets a bit side lined in part two, we learn that she was in prison for a murder (did she come from the same place as Prisoner Number One from The Eleventh Hour?). While its never said whom she killed, Moffat seems to go out of the way to hint that it is the Doctor. And, there is a great part where the Doctor gets very angry at River, and she reacts as if she’s never seen him be that way. Besides, it was nice to see the Doctor show some anger.

The ending is also a bit odd. I’m unsure what it represents -Amy wanting a one night stand with the Doctor the night before her wedding. It seemed to come from nowhere, as she has showed no signs in the previous episodes that she fancied him. Then again, in conjunction with the cracks in time and the beam out River performed on Amy, could we be seeing an alternate version of Amy?

Random

Poses

Hulu to start a subcription fee this May

According to a Los Angeles Times report, Hulu, the online video site second only to YouTube in monthly video streams in the U.S., will roll out a subscription service as soon as May 24.

The site will continue to allow users to watch the last five episodes of the series they carry for free. If viewers want to watch beyond that, though, they would have to pay $9.95 per month.

Owned by News Corp., NBC Universal and the Walt Disney Co., the site has earned more than $100 million in advertising revenue.

Apparently, that is not enough for these media giants, though. Also, it appears that they feel the recent bouts with collecting transmission fees from cable companies such as Time Warner and Cablevision are making it impossible to justify offering the same programming online for free.

Ultimately, the report says, even the few commercials aired on Hulu will increase to match those of network TV.

The Tea Party of the Misinformed

A recent NYT’s poll showed that the Tea Party people were predominantly white, predominantly male and over the age of 45 and who were more conservative than most people and who made substantially more money on average and were better educated.

I found this very interesting, if only because they have accused, in the past, that President Obama is just too smart for the Average Joe’s of these great United States of America. Yet if the poll numbers are true, then they not just a smart as Obama? So what’s the deal here?

There is also an interesting bit in the poll that seems to indicate to these people that Obama is helping black people over whites, which further proves these Tea Party people are a bit on the racist side, even though they try to deny it (and even though such as a group like these Tea Party people would historically be very anti-black). Take for example, a Washington Post article about the demonstrators who gathered at the Freedom Plaza in Washinton this past Thursday. One of the guys there, Jerry Johnson, 58, a lawyer from Berryville, Va. was asked why he was there by the Post. Johnson expressed opposition to Obama by saying "It's not just because he's black."

So, did you get that? It’s not JUST because he’s black.

These people, while probably well meaning in some regards, wrap themselves in the American flag, claiming they are patriots with roots that go back to the Founding Fathers (as flawed as they were, being slave owners and all). However, much like the Catholic Church I was brought up in, when you poke around their history, when you show their logic has no merits, when you shine the light of truth into the dark corners of their reality, they become nothing more than bullies trying to protect what they’re not really losing (such as this Forbes article on taxes).

I do think my Commander and Chief should be smarter than the average bear. But I fear the Republicans and the Tea Party people want to bait and switch the people of USA into electing a leader -whether it be Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney - who can easily manipulate the less educated into thinking that it does not take brains to run this country, just some good all know-how taken from a Martha Stewart magazine article or a pretend world of the 1950s where black people knew their place, where the homosexuals where deep in the closet, and where the reality never even came through your TeeVee.

I have seen the enemy, and they cannot spell, or think for themselves. It will be a sorry, sad world, if these brain trusts get the keys to the kingdom.

Books: Candy Everybody Wants by Josh Kilmer-Purcell

After the success of his memoir I Am Not Myself These Days, author Josh Kilmer-Purcell takes a left-turn into fiction for his follow-up book, Candy Everybody Wants. The novel, I guess, is a sort of fantasy/alternate universe story about a fifteen-year old boy named Jayson, who is gay, out and proud in the early 1980's, growing up in the Midwest who wants the same fame and fortune that he see’s on TV.

While waiting for that fame, he spends his time writing, directing, editing and acting (along with his neighbors) in short films inspired by his love of such then hit TV shows as Dallas and Dynasty. While his mother is a free spirited, an artist and occasional lesbian, she sends her son off to New York to live with his father (whom he has never met) when one of his antics gets out of hand. It is here, that Jayson goes on some very odd adventures (well, the whole set up is pretty odd also).

As with most coming-of-age stories, the hero is pretty screwed up, but his family is even more dysfunctional than he is, which is very true here. Then you add on some bizarre plot turns and an pretty predictable, fairly unsatisfying ending and you get a novel that has merits - I could understand Jayson’s fascination with 1980s pop culture - with Kilmer-Purcell’s sharp wit and honesty, but never achieves anything beyond being a quick read that you’ll not remember after putting it down.

I’m not disappointed with it, just worried on how I can juxtaposition this novel between two great memoirs - I Am Not Myself These Days and the forthcoming Bucolic Plague. Kilmer-Purcell could be a great satirist, but his real-life is more fun than this one.

Doctor Who: 05.02: The Beast Below

The Doctor and Amy arrive aboard the Starship UK, a giant spacecraft that's become the post-apocalyptic vehicle for the entire British nation after the planet suffered a catastrophic solar flare. The Doctor immediately sense a police state, becoming suspicious of gargoyle-like "Smilers" that sit inside booths keeping an eye on the population, while Amy discovers a strange tentacle inside a cordoned off area and a peculiar "voting booth" where the horrific secret behind Starship UK is made known to its citizens every five years, before giving you a choice to "protest" - and risk the wrath of the Smilers or "forget" and have the burden of knowledge erased from your memory.

This is an odd-ball episode to be sure, reminding many times of the weakness of Russell T. Davies: grand ideas, with a little bit of moral posturing on the side all wrapped in some rather cheap production values due to the expense of previous episodes.

But, as like the season opener, the story is saved by Matt Smith’s continued growth into the role as the Doctor. Also, in what is perhaps the best part of the story, Amy (the increasingly interesting Karen Gillan) figuring out the solution long before the Doctor.

The Smilers come off more creepy than scary, and what was the purpose of Mandy, the little girl who accompanies Amy and the Doctor?

But at the end of the day, it’s Gillan’s Amy that shines through this rather dull episode, and if Moffat and the rest of the writers continue her growth, she could become the best companion the series ever produced.

Books: I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Long before Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, and his other memoirs, became the “it” books to read and before James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces made the world realize that sometimes memoirs blurred the line between fact and fiction, I understood that some of the stuff that happened in these people lives were not possibly true. Especially Burroughs, as I remember getting about half-way through that book and saying to myself this stuff was too outrageous, that there was a lot fiction in those passages.

Now, thanks to Frey, memoirs come with a caveat, with the authors basically having to protect themselves with notes indicating “names of characters” and other “details” have been changed. That all the characters are “composites” of many people and that this is how the author remembers the way it was, which means some of it I made up to make the flow of the story follow a linear plot.

After reading Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s forthcoming June memoir The Bucolic Plague: From Drag Queen to Goat Farmer, about him and his partner Brent’s take over of a two-hundred year-old mansion in upper New York, I settled in to read his first memoir, I Am Not Myself These Days. This is the tale of his life before Brent, before becoming the Beekman Boys and a no-holds look at his days as an award-winning drag queen at night, and an award-winning advertising man by day. It is also a tale of his relationship with Jack, a high end hooker.

Like Burroughs, like Frey, Kilmer-Purcell’s life is one absurd escapade after another. His tales of being the 7-foot-tall drag queen named Aqua, always looking for the next fella to buy him a vodka, and sometimes waking up in places he doesn’t remember (or waking up on the train on a Sunday morning with a family obviously bound for Church, who stare at him with indiscreet fright and probably curiosity) are sometimes too outrageous to believe in (and I’ve never understood some peoples mind set that they don’t really feel alive unless they’re doing something that could bring them to the brink of death). Yet, we are sort of told from time to time, that this all did happen.

And through 3/4's of the book, you either laugh at the hokey adventures and lessons of Aqua, Josh and Jack, or cry with envy that you (the reader) could never dream of living a life of self-destruction -even though it came with money and a beautiful apartment.

It’s the last quarter or so of the book that becomes even more surreal. Love is messy, and at times, you never see the forest for the trees. While I know both Josh and Jack loved each other, the drugs that Jack took -especially his crack addiction - were bound to cause their eventual split-up. It is here, that Kilmer-Purcell’s life becomes interesting, insomuch as his denial that Jack’s drug use, his high end male escort life, was never going to interfere in their love for each other. It is here, that the fundamental truths of human emotions comes out, and with a lot of wit, sharp and unforgiving, I Am Not Myself These Days transcends the memoir genre to become more than exaggerated story of a drag queen and his hooker boyfriend.

Frontier Guard 1.11: The Ark

Frontier Guard Ep. 111 - "The Ark" from Frontier Guard on Vimeo.

When writers sell their souls

So, it was announced this past week that Stephenie Meyer will release a novella this June called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, a character introduced in the third novel in the vampire series, Eclipse. Told from the point of view of Bree, it chronicles the newborn vampire army's journey as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens.

This seems just pandering in many ways. While Meyer has chosen not to write another novel in her Twilight series for a while, someone threw a lot of money at her to write this what is probably forgettable tale of a minor character who appears in the upcoming third film due this June. This reminds me of Ann Rice, who got stuck writing one vampire novel after another. Every time she tried to write something else, her vampire reader fans turned their heads. So, she just started writing vampire tales based on other characters to make her fans happy. While that's not so bad, it does show that perhaps sometimes its best not to listen to them all of the time.

Meyer, who by the way, has never explained how much money she's giving to the Mormons to suppress gay rights in the US, seems to be heading in that direction. While her adult sci fi novel The Host did well, it never reached the level of her four book Twilight series.

What's next, a vampire tale about an unknown Cullen cousin?

Earthquake

So, while filming our Star Trek fan series on Sunday, we all felt the 7.2 earthquake that rattled Baja, California. It was not severe by the time the wave hit here. It felt like a soft ride on roller skates -this being a "rolling" quake. Anyways, it did not last long -maybe all of 10 seconds, but it was another reminder of where I chosen to live. Like 4.4 earthquake we had here two weeks ago that was just about 10 miles from here, I find them interesting. Sadly, it is also a reminder that if we were to have a strong, damaging quake, this house is not ready for it.

They say we should have water and food stuff, batteries, a radio and what not for several days after a quake. If the water got cut off, along with the gas and power, we would be pretty much screwed. So, in many ways, these two rumbles of the land are telling me to get prepared.

Fun thing is, I was in the foothills surrounding Pasadena when we felt the quake. My house mate -just 25 miles east of me, in a relatively low area of La Verne (well over a 1,000 feet above sea level), did not feel it.

Friends in Santa Monica did not feel it either.

And not wanting to sound like something is going to happen, but only 9 minutes after the Baja quake, a 4.1 quake rattled Santa Rosa -about and hour or so north of San Francisco.

Strange frequencies.

Books: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (2006)

Author John Connolly is know more for his crime fiction than fantasy novels, but with the 2006 release of The Book of Lost Things, he adds his name to the list of writers trying to cash in on the popularity of the genre for young adults. However, I don’t think this book is really a kids book, more a book about childhood.

Set in England during World War II, 12 year-old David is facing changes in his life: his mother has died of cancer, his father has remarried and has a new son with the stepmother, has moved into a new home and most of his friends - well besides his books - have left London due to the almost nightly bombings from the Nazi’s.

But the new house does have a sunken garden and a forest behind it, and it is here one day where David spies something moving around his room. But when his dad and him search the room, they discover a magpie has somehow gotten in. But David, who along with his late mother, adored fairy tales and the Greek legends of myths and monsters, knows something sinister is going on.

Later, while laying in bed, he swears he hears his mothers voice calling to him. Sneaking out, he stumbles into the sunken garden where her voice is coming from. While he explores the garden, he notices lights in the sky and realizes that a German bomber is falling straight towards the garden. With no where else to go, he climbs into a crack in the walls of the garden and into another land - a land that he becomes trapped in.

In this new world, David befriends the Woodsman who promises to take him to the King, who possess a great object called the Book of Lost Things (ala The Wizard of Oz). With this great book, the Woodsman thinks David can get back to his home. But the journey will prove dangerous and deadly as David is confronted with his fairy tale books come to life.

What is most evident in this novel is the retelling of traditional fairy tales. Anything from Snow White to Rumpelstiltskin is fair game for the author. However, none of the tales are the ones we all grew up on. Snow White is now overweight and mean-spirited and no longer charming; her dwarves are attempting to get rid of her (in perhaps the oddest part of the book, insomuch as it’s the most light hearted section of the it). Little Red Riding Hood is no longer an innocent girl visiting her grandmother, but a seductive temptress who gives birth to the first loup (wolf-human). And figures such as Rumpelstiltskin serve as the inspiration for the most despicable character - the Crooked Man.

Still, this novel is an engaging, often magical, and very thoughtful read.

Doctor Who: 05:01: The Eleventh Hour

I want to say put your fears away, that Steven Moffat has successfully taken Doctor Who into a new era. That he has, in the season opener, put some doubts on how -and if he could- make the show work after the four year, successful run of both Christopher Eccelston and David Tennant as the Doctor. That he could replace Russell Davies as show-runner.

You could say that he has.

With The Eleventh Hour, the fifth season begins just after the events of the fourth season finale, The End of Time. The Doctor, having regenerated, is trying to save the TARDIS, which is plunging towards Earth, out of control and severely damaged by said regeneration of the Time Lord. The TARDIS crash lands in the back garden of seven year-old Amelia Pond in the small English village of Leadworth. Amelia takes him inside and helps him satisfy his strange food cravings before taking him upstairs to show him the crack in her bedroom wall. There the Doctor discovers a crack in time and space itself, and on the other side is a prison run by the Atraxi. The Atraxi deliver a warning to the two: “Prisoner Zero has escaped.”

Pondering the situation, the Doctor thinks this Prisoner Zero is somewhere in Amelia’s house, but before he can help further, the TARDIS Cloister Bells go off, and he warns that if the engines of his TARDIS are not stabilized, it will incinerate. He promises Amelia he will return in five minutes, and leaves. She packs and begins to wait for him. Unfortunately, 12 years pass and Amelia Pond -now known as Amy - is working as a kissogram when she encounters the Doctor again.

Realizing that Prisoner Zero has been hiding in Amy’s house, the Doctor also figures out that he has 20 minutes to save the Earth.

From the word go, Matt Smith’s take on Doctor is familiar -he has the same sort of energy of David Tennant’s version - yet he also makes him a bit more kooky, I guess. There is the mad energy of the second and even the fourth Doctor, but there is some sweet whimsy of the ninth Doctor as well.

Then there’s the near perfect introduction of grown-up Amy, played by Karen Gillan, as the Doctor’s newest companion. The actress brings depth and warmth to Amy, and she never shy’s away from the apparent "mad man with a box" that has come into her life. And while Rose was also pretty much fully realized companion in the first season, Amy’s is done much better here and one hopes they’ll make her even more fully rounded as Rose eventually became.

There are some weaknesses, though. Mostly with the visual effects. The Prisoner Zero in its true form is rather disappointing, and the story itself is rather pedantic. But, perhaps, that was not what this season opener was about. Moffat’s seems to have decided to concentrate of the characters of both the Doctor and Amy, and there he is more successful.

Finally, I must comment on the new opening and theme. It’s a rather jarring difference between the fourth and fifth season title sequence, with a more darker look to it. Gone is the bright oranges and reds of Eccelston’s and Tennant’s eras, replaced by angry clouds and lightening and a huge flow of yellow energy. The score returns back to the early days of the original series, bringing back the ghostly whistle of that era (and reminding me of where The X Files theme came from).

In the end, that is what makes Doctor Who unique: it’s ability to change as the years pass, to renew itself, to be different, yet the same. Its comforting that after 47 years, the show can still surprise you.

Frontier Guard 1.10 "Gallant"

Frontier Guard Ep. 110 - "Gallant" from Frontier Guard on Vimeo.

Borders Book of Games

One persons view that we’re following the rules to the T is another person’s view of a hostile work environment.

The upper management with in Borders -at least in this region - are now beginning to eat their young, much like baby sharks. As the company continues to hemorrhage money, instead of cutting back in the boardroom and executive branch (where bonuses will be paid out for top executives who stay with the company for the rest of the year. Hey, where’s mine?) or even trying to figure out a way to make money for its few investors, it has begun what I called Operation Annoy the Staff Until They Leave By Enforcing Rules We’ve Never Really Enforced Before.

So, the situation is this: they’ve fired as many people as they can, so in what is their ultimate goal, getting rid of the full-timers, they’re enforcing rules -which I’m sure is in the Employee Handbook, but never really taken seriously - that will force those full-time and long-timed employees to finally leave so they can be replaced by -as I’m sure they’ll say - grateful long-out-of-work part-timers who will do and say anything the upper management feeds them, because, well at least they have a job.

Our employee lockers and our availability it the latest salvo. In all the years I’ve worked for them, the employee lockers were never a high priority when it came to decorations. It was a place to put pics of loved ones, jokes and what not. Now, sure, can some be over done? Of course. But to suddenly want to enforce it -especially when there are other things more important to keep Borders going - with subtle threats (“Well, if LP came in and saw this, I could get fired,” says the GM. “And you don’t want me to get fired?”) and no real explanation as to why its become such a high priority to clean them up and it just shows that the company no longer has any real control over anything. Again, as another analogy, they are starting to gnaw off the arm that they need to keep the company afloat.

My availability has been the same since I moved to this store almost 5 years ago. It’s been open, open, open. But because I worked on the now defunct IPT, my schedule was stable, Monday through Friday. I’m still do IPT work, which is all the sorting and the majority of the shelving, so keeping me on the same schedule was logical. It’s a proven fact that more shelving can get done when the store is closed. You could, I guess, shift that around and go back to what it used to be before the IPT was created, but you’ll never get caught up while the stores open. Never, ever. Because they tried to go back to it, and it failed. And they acknowledged that it failed.

Sorting does not have to be done during the days, but it is -again - more logical. I could come in late on shipment days and still do it, but if I have to work register or the floor, sorting gets behind. And with unboxed product sitting in the back that will contain inventory that people want to buy will not help your bottom line, either.

Anywho, the point is for the staff, they want another open availability form so if you complain about working crappy hours, or just not getting anything done, they can pull out that paper.

It’s just another very legal way of getting employees to quit. Hammer them with changes enough times, they’re bound to quit. And with this tough economy, who can really quit. You either do it, or bye-bye.

All their silly changes is what happens to company in this situation. It’s dying like an actor swallowing his last bunch of prescription drug. And like a junkie in need of a fix, it needs money. And like a true junkie, it takes that money from home, from the people who have been through thick and thin with you, through the bad times and the good. Borders is taking the very blood it needs to keep the wheels of this company going. Its taking staff and forcing them now to follow silly rules they never enforced when the company was doing better. It’s eating itself from within.

So, in the end, they’ve decided to ensure obedience by applying rules they’ve never really took the time to, well, apply. And if you can’t do it, well, then your gone. They can higher someone to replace you, but they’ll never find someone as good as you.

Plus since I do believe it is the goal of the company to get rid of all hourly full-timers, what might not be an easy way, but to shove these silly restrictions under their noses?

Books: The Bucolic Plague: From Drag Queen to Goat Farmer by Josh Kilmer-Purcell

In the 1990s Josh Kilmer-Purcell was a world-renowned drag queen by night and an award-winning advertising creative by day. His partner, Brent, is a doctor working on the Martha Stewart. On one of their weekend trips to the country (as in a few hours out of New York that is not call the Hamptons), they stumble upon an abandoned old mansion and a huge piece of land. And to their delight, the Beekman Mansion, as it is known, is up for sale. One hour later, they have been transformed from uptight urbanites into the 200-year-old mansion-owning Beekman Boys. While being weekend farmers gives them joy, and money as they start making and selling goat-milk soap, things get tense for them as the economy and zombie flies disrupt the harmony of two gay men who do the unthinkable: start over, have a herd of four-legged kids and really get their hands dirty.

There are few ARC’s (Advanced Reading Copy) we get at work that I really want to read. Most are romance or new authors. This book grabbed me from the start, mostly with Kilmer-Purcell’s wit and his honest and enlightening tales that take place in the midst of the most really outlandish scenarios. It will make you laugh until you want to buy something from their web site.

Frontier Guard 1.09 The Aqarii

Frontier Guard Ep. 109 - "The Aqarii" from Frontier Guard on Vimeo.

Final episode titles for Doctor Who: Season Five

The ones highlighted and italicized are the updated ones.

05.01 The Eleventh Hour - The Doctor meets new companion Amy. But what secret is she hiding in her home?

05.02 The Beast Below -Set on board a spaceship. Look out for a brand new nasty enemy. The Smilers!

05.03 Victory of the Daleks.- Set on board a spaceship. Look out for a brand new nasty enemy. The Smilers!

05.04 Time of the Angels (Part 1 of 2) by Steven Moffat
05.05 Flesh and Stone (Part 2 of 2)

The Weeping Angels return. Also The Doc's ''wife'' River Song.

05.06 The Vampires of Venice by Toby Whithouse - A fangtastic romp set in Italy involving some very old blood suckers.

05.07 Amy's Choice by Simon Nye - Two worlds collide. One's real. One's not. And why is Amy Pond getting bigger?

05.08 The Ground Beneath Their Feet (Part 1 of 2) by Chris Chidnall (Torchwood)
05.09 Cold Blood (Part 2 of 2)

This 2-part story brings back the classic Who villains the Silurians (first seen in the 1971 Third Doctor season and last seen in the 1984 Fifth Doctor serial Warriors of the Deep)

05.10 Vincent and The Doctor by Richard Curtis- An historical episode. The Time Lord meets the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.

05.11 The Lodger by Gareth Roberts - The Doctor is trapped on Earth with no TARDIS -this is also based on a comic story featured in DW magazine.

05.12 The Pandorica Opens (Part 1 of 2) by Steven Moffat
05.13 The Big Bang

Books: The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta (1997)

It occurred recently to me that author Jonathan Tropper -I've read 3 of his five books over the last 8 months - could be classified as "guy lit," the male version of "chick lit," which are novels about written by women for women -the collected works of Sophia Kinsella comes to mind. And then there's Nicholas Sparks, who is a male author writing novels that only women like. You know, those Lifetime network novels about strong women and men who do manly things, but all have the heart of Romeo.

Anyways, was reading the priase that appear in Tropper's books and Tom Perrotta (Little Children, Election) was suggested as another author guys might like. Thus, this was how I picked up Perrotta's debut 1997 novel The Wishbones.

After witnessing the onstage collapse of a 73-year-old singer (right in the middle of his deadpan rendition of Madonna's "Like a Virgin"), 31-year-old Dave Raymond - the lead guitarist in a New Jersey wedding band - starts to feel intimations of his own mortality, and he does the unthinkable. He pops the question to his long-suffering girlfriend, whom he's been dating on and off for 15 years.

The next day, of course, he regrets it.

Thus he spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out how to get out of it, all while helping plan the fall wedding. He also stumbles into an affair with a bridesmaid at a wedding, who turns out to be a poet. Adding to the problems include a band that is slowly self-destructing, with each of its members facing a life changing issues.

While its another in a line of coming-of-age novels, The Wishbones is more original and fresh, with its incisive humor and pop-music riffs. Hilariously funny, it also unpretentious work of pure entertainment.

Spoilers for The Eleventh Hour -Doctor Who's fifth season opener

There's a bushel of spoilers, following on from last night's premiere. Let's see... The opening episode is described as "Independence Day on the village green." The new TARDIS console "looks like it has been constructed from items out of a junk shop, including an old typewriter, a telephone, pressure gauges and a Morse code machine." The first episode's villain is indeed a shape-shifting alien.

Steven Moffat says, "At the end of the last story, the Tardis was exploding, so it rebuilds itself around the new Doctor. And because the Doctor is completely mad, it builds itself around his madness." It has hexagonal and circular "roundlets" built into the concrete and bronze walls, and besides the aforementioned three levels, there's a door leading to other rooms. And the junk on the console includes a gramophone speaker, a petrol pump, dials and pistons. The word "steampunk" is used.

The TARDIS, crashing to Earth in the 1990s, nearly hits Big Ben. The little girl he meets after it crashes is named Amelia Pond, and she asks, "Who are you?", hoping that he's come to fix the crack in her wall. Replies the newly regenerated Doctor, "I'm the Doctor. Don't ask stupid questions and do everything I tell you." His main priority is eating as much food as possible. Then the Doctor vanishes and reappears 12 years later, when Amelia (now Amy) is a kiss-o-gram dressed as a policewoman. And it turns out the crack in the wall that young Amy was worried about was actually a doorway to a prison that held a villain, whose escape leads the Atraxi to declare they'll incinerate all human life. There are just 20 minutes left to save the world. At one point in the first episode, the Doctor actually says, "Who da man?"

For the rough cut of episode one, at least, the show still had the same title sequence, only with a different font and a new logo. Matt Smith says "Geronimo" again, early in the episode. And the story is the weakest part of the first episode, which mostly focuses on the main characters. But it's still a great beginning, with some funny one-liners.

The newly regenerated Doctor's first words to Amy are to demand some food item, that's all he can think about. One character asks Santa to send them something unusual. Amy Pond's handy with a cricket bat. The TARDIS swimming pool and library are mentioned. Some familiar faces, previously seen on the show, make cameos, plus Patrick Moore, who thinks Amy's grandma is a fox. People refer to the Doctor as "raggedy," "magic" and "a disappointment." The Doctor commandeers a laptop to save the world using Twitter (!) and comes across something inappropriate. A fire engine turns into an unconventional rescue vehicle. The Shadow Proclamation is mentioned. The Doctor "bares all" to Amy.

It sounds like Amy doesn't jump into the TARDIS the first time the Doctor asks her to join him — she needs a bit of convincing. (Even though the young Amy was all for it.)

Frontier Guard 1.08 "Lab Rat"

Frontier Guard Ep. 108 - "Lab Rat" from Frontier Guard on Vimeo.

When religion is allowed to think

Both of these are real, and not one of those sign generators sites.

The top one is shocking and rather stupid. The bottom sort of counter points

the asshattery of the above.

Corey Haim's death linked to prescription-drug ring

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has said that actor Corey Haim’s death is linked to "illegal and massive prescription-drug ring."

Brown's office is investigating "an unauthorized prescription under the former child star's name that was found during an ongoing investigation of fraudulent prescription-drug pads ordered from a vendor in San Diego."

This announcement comes before the LA coroner has ruled on what exactly killed the 38 year-old actor early in the morning hours of March 10.

"Corey Haim's death is yet another tragedy linked to the growing problem of prescription-drug abuse," Brown said. "This problem is increasingly linked to criminal organizations, like the illegal and massive prescription-drug ring under investigation."

Brown told reporters that this ring uses stolen doctor’s identities to order prescription-drug pads to write counterfeit prescriptions. "The doctor whose name is printed on the form is usually unaware that his or her identity has been stolen for this purpose," Brown said. The AG’s announcement did not specify whether any of the prescription drugs found in Haim's apartment after his death were illegally obtained.

Only 11 days before his death, Haim had gotten a prescription filled for the two powerful drugs -most likely Oxycontin, though Brown only linked the drug to the investigation. His primary-care doctor did not know about the prescriptions and called the pharmacy two days later to find out what Haim had been given, a source told CNN.

Los Angeles County Deputy Coroner Ed Winter did say, however, several prescription-drug bottles were taken from Haim's apartment, indicating they were for Vicodin, Valium and Soma, although no tests have concluded if that was what they were.

It’s been reported that early autopsy shows Haim's heart was enlarged and he had fluid in his lungs. The coroner's chief investigator said a drug overdose has not been ruled out as the cause of the actor's death, however. Los Angeles County Deputy Coroner Ed Winter said. “You can have somebody with an enlarged heart and some other medical conditions, but you don't know if the actual cause of death is from illegal substances, medication or heart failure."

After nearly two-decades of substance abuse, it is possible his heart just gave out. And sadly, it appears his passing comes just as the actor was reviving her career. Now he’s just another reminder of how drug abuse will eventually catch up you.

Books: Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper (2006)

After reading Tropper’s fifth novel, This Is Where I Leave You last year and his second tome, The Book of Joe in February, I picked up his third book, Everything Changes, and once again, enjoyed a hilarious often touching tale about love, loss, and the perils of a well-planned life.

To all appearances, Zachary King is a man with luck on his side. A steady, well-paying job, a rent-free Manhattan apartment, and Hope, his stunning, blue-blooded fiancee: smart, sexy, and completely out of his league. But as the wedding day looms, Zack finds himself haunted by the memory of his best friend, Rael, killed in a car wreck two years earlier--and by his increasingly complicated feelings for Tamara, the beautiful widow Rael left behind.

When Zack's freewheeling, Viagra-popping father resurfaces after a twenty-year absence, looking to make amends, Zack’s life begins to spin out of control. While Norm's overbearing, often outrageous efforts to reestablish ties with his sons infuriate Zack, and yet, he finds something compelling in his father's maniacal determination to transform his own life. Inspired by Norm, Zack boldly attempts to make some changes of his own, and the results are not what anyone would have wanted: fists are flying, his love life is a shambles, and his carefully structured life goes spinning out of control.

As with the other two books I’ve read by him, Everything Changes is filled with intelligence and razor sharp wit.

Corey Haim dies at 38 -why am I not shocked?

Since news broke early this morning that 80's teen star Corey Haim had died at the age of 38 of what will probably be an accidental overdose of drugs, the news outlets have attached the film The Lost Boys as the film some of us would remember him by.

But for me, it was Lucas, the 1986 film written and directed by David Seltzer -his one and only film I can even care about. While the film is predictable -with its end of film football game, its nerdy kid that you know will be beat up again and again - its still a charming due mainly to Haim's performance, along with it supporting cast of Hollywood stars just starting out, like Charlie Sheen, and in their film debuts, Jeremy Piven, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Winona Ryder.

Film critic Roger Ebert even gave the film 4 stars, calling Lucas a film "about teenagers who are looking how to be good with each other, to care, and not simply to be filled with egotism, lust and selfishness, which is all most Hollywood movies think teenagers can experience".

While Haim went onto some moderate success with The Lost Boys, Silver Bullet and other dopey films such as Dream a Little Dream, License to Drive and Watchers (plus a slew of made-for-video craptaculars), along with a stint as a reality star with frequent co-star Corey Feldman on A&E, he appeared to reach his potential with that film.

From his late teens on, Haim went on to have a very public battle with alcohol and drugs, which ruined his good looks and destroyed his realtionship with Feldman (who also had the same battle, but able to get over his addictions) and Hollywood.

While his death is sad, and maybe another odd commentary on how Hollywood eats and spits out the young like Pez, I also still remain surprised Haim actually lived well into his 30's.

Black Thursday at Borders II: Electric Screw You

Borders plans to eliminate more front-line workers on Thursday, March 4. The only thing is how many -rumors suggest its only another supervisor position -leaving a GM and two other supervisors. Others suggest all full-time staff members will be gone, though this is probably not logical. If only because most stores have no one to replace them with.

If the the layoff of another supervisor does happen, this means a GM will have to work a ton of extra hours. And think about this, if this is also true, it means that no one, even a GM can ever take any vacation time. And if one supervisor call out, a GM could put in a 14 plus hour day.

Where is the logic in this?

This is how Borders re-engages with its customers, by cutting staff?

Fifth season of Doctor Who spoilers

From darkhorizon.com

In a press release BBC America has announced that the new season of the British sci-fi series "Doctor Who", with Matt Smith taking over as the eleventh incarnation of The Doctor and Steven Moffat becoming the series show runner, will have its U.S. premiere on the cable broadcaster starting April 17th.

The date means episodes will air two weeks behind the UK broadcasts which look to be kicking off April 3rd (not yet confirmed though). That gap may shrink later in the season due to factors like the Eurovision Song Contest and the World Cup affecting the UK broadcast dates.

Many responses to the recent 3D trailer indicated concern over the series becoming too young-skewed and "Twilight"-esque with yet another romance between the new Doctor and companion. A huge amount of what appear to be leaked story details over on Gallifrey Base however would seem to indicate quite the opposite.

RUMORS AHEAD - SPOILERS AHEAD

In the first episode The Doctor's new companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) has a fiance, Rory Williams (played by "Little Dorritt" star Arthur Darvill), who will become a regular second companion in the second half of the season. It looks as if Rory comes onboard the TARDIS from the sixth episode, the Venice-set vampire story, and stays onboard for at least three further episodes. The Doctor apparently jumps out of a cake at Rory's stag night/bachelor party in one episode.

As previously reported Alex Kingston's Professor River Song character from the fourth season "Silence in the Library" two-parter will appear in the fourth and fifth episode of the new season - the two-parter involving the return of the Weeping Angels from "Blink". Moffat has said in interviews we'll see different and far more powerful kinds of Angels in these episodes as the ones from "Blink" were 'scavengers' and nowhere near the 'height of their power'.

Kingston will also return for the season's two-part finale which looks like it will be partly set in a museum of history and revolve around an object or creature called the 'Pandorica' which many across history have been pursuing including the Sontarans and possibly both the Daleks and the Cybermen. Roman soliders and Stonehenge are confirmed to be figuring into the story somehow.

The first embers of Song's future relationship with The Doctor will likely be laid out this season which should be an interesting mix on screen (Matt Smith is 27, Alex Kingston is 47). Richard Curtis' episode about Vincent Van Gogh (Tony Curran) will apparently have less scenes than an average episode as it's a talk-driven possible bottle episode (ala "Midnight," "Fear Her") albeit set mostly in 1880's Paris. Bill Nighy's guest spot as the Musee D’Orsay's curator Dr. Black will have the actor dressed in some "similar fashion choices" to The Doctor himself.

We may see an aerial dogfight between a spitfire plane and a Dalek saucer in the third episode entitled "Victory of the Daleks" which Mark Gatiss has penned. That WW2-set episode has a scientist using Ironclads (Daleks who don't seem to remember what they are) to help Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) win the war against the Nazis.

The two-part Silurian episodes are said to have a female member of the prehistoric reptilian race romantically falling for The Doctor. That story, set in a future where global warming has had a major impact, has the creatures cannibalising bodies from graves. Events of the Third Doctor story "The Silurians" are apparently directly referenced, but it's explicitly stated that these are different kinds of creatures (which explains the visual discrepancy of no third eye).

Finally, due to the production shooting episodes out of order, filming is currently underway on the seventh episode of the series penned by Simon Nye ("Men Behaving Badly"). Gillan has been spotted on-set with a baby bump, though an insider tells The Sun it's for a dream sequence.