Passage: Majel Barrett-Roddenberry

It was announced today that Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the wife of legendary Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry has passed away at the age of 76 from leukemia. Her son Rod was reported to be at her side.

Barrett-Roddenberry appeared on the original Star Trek pilot, The Cage where she played the role of Number One. That role was not continued into the series when it was picked up, but Barrett-Roddenberry changed her hair color and became nurse Christine Chapel. She also appeared in Star Trek: The Voyage Home, where she reprisesed her role. For Star Trek: The Next Generation Barrett-Roddenberry portrayed the Betazoid Lwaxana Troi, mother of counselor Deanna Troi.

She was also the voice of computers on all the recent series, including TNG, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and the new film, Star Trek due next May.

More rain, more cool weather, more snow in the high desert, more yucky

After a calm, yet cool day yesterday, the huge low off the coast of California pushed further in, giving us a miserably rainy and cool day. Add on some strong, gusty winds and it made the day even rawer. The 15 at Cajon Pass -the main freeway between us and Las Vegas -has been closed most of the day due to the heavy snow. And the 5, the main way north out of LA (also knows as the Grapevine) has been closed as well.

With Monday's rain and today's, one could say that the fire season is over. Still, you can never count fire season out. This could be all we get and by February or March, be back into it. But, we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Still, it looks like when this rain event ends sometime overnight, it should be nice weather ahead. But nice does not mean warm. It looks like this cool, below normal temps should be with us through Christmas day.

"I'm William Shatner, I can score anything."

Christmas at Disneyland

On Sunday, I began my year long annual pass at Disneyland. I had been thinking of this for a while, if only because I've never done something like this and I'm fairly close to the theme park, a short 25 miles (though on freeways and byways of SoCal, this sometimes could take long time). Also, some of the people associated with HF Productions have annual tickets, and I thought I could spend time with them and be less of a loner. Of course, I'm also excited about going there by myself, in hopes of exploring the park alone.

I did not buy the whole deal pass -the 365 one. I went with the 215 SoCal one which has blackout dates (I can still go during those times, its just I pay a fee of $40). It gives me most Sundays and almost every weekday. I'm planning to take sometime off in January just to do this (and because I have plenty of vacation time coming to me).

Anyways, it was a fun day. I do enjoy people watching -which is another bonus about going by myself. I saw -of course - two gay boys (which is oxmoronic, considering that probably half of Disney theme park employee's of guys is probably gay) trying to good by not being open about being a couple. But, as they passed by me, I noticed them. They would touch hands as the walked, one would grab it, or they touched pinkies. I saw one just briefly put his hand in the backpocket of his boyfriend. It was kinda cute.

And I've never been to the park during the Christmas holidays, and they really go out for it -I now want to go next Halloween. I loved the way they took the Haunted Mansion and turned it into the Nightmare Before Christmas. We went on the revamped, just opened It's a Small World which was annoying and yet very pretty to look at.

The Toy Story ride turned out to be a blast over at the California Adventure,Park and I always like the Hollywood Tower of Terror, so a good time was had there. I left just before the fireworks -though heard them going off. It made me wonder what the people who do live around there think of that, hearing them every night, 365 time a year.

Left at 9:40, home at 10:10. Pretty good time, if I say so myself.

Storm Clouds over California

The first -and probably the worst (as in rain) - of supposed three storms hitting the coast of California this week. I spent the day yesterday at Disneyland, on a day that promised (according to the news) to be cloudy and chilly, with sprinkles. It ended up be a mostly sunny day, even though it was cool -temps in the upper 50's to low 60's.

However, over night, it began to rain. And it rained pretty steady all day long. It should put a damper on Christmas shoppers at the outside mall I work at. The rain was bad, but it was also a raw, cool day with temps only in the upper 40's. These dark clouds (above) are from my house (the first 2 going west, while the bottom is facing south) when I got home from work, just before the day grew dark.

More rain, and colder weather is due midweek. Snow levels could drop to about a 1,000 feet, which means I could see some the white stuff on my front lawn, and not the on the foothills and mini-mountains of the Angeles National Forest. This is a very rare thing, snow to this level (my town ranges from 1,000 to 1,700 feet), so I'm guessing snow is in my near future.

So, even though winter does not begin until Sunday, the first big storm of that season is making sunny California rather like the rest of the country, cold and wet.

A 30 Rock Christmas

I do adore this show, and I was rewatching the show online just to get the best line in this past Thursday's episode:

Liz Lemon: "Hey Jack, do you know the Postmaster General?"

Jack Donaghy: "Yes, but we had a falling out over the Jerry Garcia stamp. If I wanted to lick a hippie I'd return Joan Baez' phone calls."

Some passings of Hollywood actors

Odd, that suddenly we lost so many legends in the last week:

Forrest Ackerman, 92, who coined the phrase sci fi.

Veteran Character actors Paul Benedict, 70, Mr. Bentley on the Jeffersons and Robert Prosky, 77 -way too many films and TV shows to remember.

And then the legendary Van Johnson, 92, who's boyish good looks made him a star in such films as A Guy Named Joe, Brigadoon and The Caine Mutiny.

And one final note, of the passing of Pin-up Queen Bettie Page, who left us at 85.

And on a pale horse Corruption rode in, and its name was Blagojevich!

I should not be surprised by the politics in my former home state of Illinois. The Democrats have held the state for some 50 years, and while Springfield is our capital, everything that happens in that state must go through Chicago and Cook County.

While I am a bit surprised at today's criminal complaint against Governor Rod Blagojevich, I sit back and wonder, should I? After all, Illinois and Cook County have a long history of fraud.

He's been accused of conspiracy to defraud the State of Illinois and violation of Federal Funds. Plus, he seems to be putting up the soon to be vacated senate seat of incoming President-elect Obama up for sale.

Plus, the wire taps. Oh the wire taps, where he uses the F word like Halloween candy, handing it out on almost everything and everyone. I had rumors after he was elected in 2002 (and where I voted for him) that he was a prick and an idiot, but after I moved away, I sort thought little of him.

Like some, I'm hoping he resigns. Still even if he sets in his heels and lets them impeach him, all the dirty laundry of what he's done is going to come out. It's going to be worse than George Ryan (and will probably make Ryan's stuff look like grade school bullying. Hey, I voted for him also).

I mean, there's his attacks at the Tribune Company (who just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy) and his unwillingness to help them unless he got something out it; trying to get a Tribune employee, a critic of him, fired.

Yep, politics as usual in Illinois. And you know, the Daley's, both Richard J and Richard M, have had control of the Office of Mayor of Chicago for 40 out the last 55 years. Both have had their critics and rumors of corruption. Still, like any good politician, you let others do your dirty work. Rod was bold, it seems. He did it himself.

Dick Durbin is right when he says the state needs to act fast to have a special election to fill in for President-elect Obama's senate seat. Because while Rod "Fucker" Blagojevich still has the power to put someone in that seat, it will not be credible.

Weekend stuff

On Saturday, we finished work on episode 2.01 of The Helena Chronicles. It's my second episode (and fourth story) I've directed for the series. While we had Ben, who is relocating in the near future, making his availability in 2009 questionable, we filmed all his sequences for 2.02 and 2.03. In theory, the stuff he did for 2.03 could not actually get released for next 8 to ten months!

It was also the last filming for for 2008. We should resume sometime in mid January on the season opener of Odyssey.

In some ways, I'm glad we're done. We've done filming on almost every weekend in October and November (and the weekend before Thanksgiving, we filmed on both Saturday and Sunday). As much as I complained to myself of not doing something on the weekends before I joined HF Productions, too many weekends filming is also tedious. Being a loner can be a bitch sometime, I guess.

On Sunday, I did what I have been wanting to do for a while, which was to bake cookies. Not for the holiday season we are in, mind you, just because cookies are getting expensive, and I'm bound not to give them up. It's cheaper thank cigarettes, I guess.

Beyond that, it was a typical Sunday, though cool and cloudy here in SoCal.

Storm Chasing

Over on Discovery airs the program Storm Chasers that I like. As the title implies, it’s a series dedicated to people who chase storms in the Midwest, searching for their Holy Grail, the tornado. If I had the money, I would not mind spending a vacation chasing storms. It looks intense and a blast.

Now Storm Chasers could be the “real life” version of the movie Twister. It has the same dichotomy with one group of people, led by renowned scientist and tornado expert Joshua Wurman (played by Bill Paxton in the movie), who do the chasing in hopes of developing better warning systems for areas where tornadoes frequent.

Then there’s Reed Timmer, who is basically the Cary Elwes character in the film. Now Timmer’s a scientist, but he also see’s no harm in making a profit off what he does. So, he’s got his own web site, tornadovideos.net where people can see and networks can buy his footage.

Now, I don’t have a real issue what he does, after all that’s capitalism for you. I just find him annoying in many ways. Yes, he’s attractive in that post graduate-frat-boy-man-child sort of way. He’s fashionable and hip, wearing his cargo pants around his ass and flip-flops on his feet. His T-shirt he generally wears is a size to small for him. He’s got the dimples and perfect cheekbones and perfect teeth. He’s the guy dumb blondes fall for, even if he's losing his hair.

Now he’s a geek for this, I get that. But he is way to self aware that he’s got cameras on him. And he tries, oh how he tries, to make himself sound important. That somehow, what he is, and what he does is so much better and neater than what Wurman does.

He’s one of those guys that when he gets killed by getting too close to a tornado, family and friends will say at least he died doing what he loved.

Oh, such a Lifetime moment we’ll have for him.

Personally, stop trying to show the world how smart you are, because we get it. And its obvious that you think your beautiful, but please stop preening in the camera like some 13 year-old girl who just met Robert Patterson from, like, your all time favorite movie, Twilight.

More tornado footage, less Reed Timmer (and why do I get this flash that young Reed grew up with money, that this whole meteorologist thingy is just a goof, a lark for him?) trying to impress people, or maybe just Joshua Wurman, of his vast knowledge.

27 Days of Christmas Music, Part 8 -Little Drummer Boy -David Bowie and Bing Crosby

A Measure of Terror

December 7, 1941

Candy Everybody Wants

27 Days of Christmas Music, Part 8 -Frosty the Snowman -Cocteau Twins

27 Days of Christmas Music, Part 7 -The Christmas Song -Nat King Cole

Dancer?

You Are Dancer

Carefree and fun, you always find reasons to do a happy dance. Why You're Naughty: That dark stint you had as Santa's private dancer. Why You're Nice: You're friendly. Very friendly.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

27 Days of Christmas Music, Part 6 -Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas -Judy Garland

27 Days of Christmas Music, Part 4 -Suzy Snowflake

27 Days of Christmas Music, Part 3 -Hardrock, Coco and Joe

Is it just me, or is...

Criminally stupid Boy George morphing into

James Bond villain Ernst Blofeld?