I'm Burning Up the Sun to Say Goodbye.

I'm just now getting on the Doctor Who bandwagon.  I don't know why I didn't get on the ride sooner. I just finished up season two, and I cried like a little girl. So. Sad.  Heart. Broken.

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I know this is a little hypocritical, but the Doctor/Rose dynamic is still a better love story than Twilight. It's a time travel thing. Age is irrelevant.

I'm gonna miss you, Rose Tyler.

JP

Will CW Take an Arrow to the Knee?

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2012 has been the year of Archery.

First, Katniss Everdeen burst onto the scene catching the world on fire and pissing off the establishment in The Hunger Games. Then Hawkeye kicked a bunch of alien ass in The Avengers.  Later in the summer, Merida stole our hearts in Brave.   Now, coming in October on The CW, there's a new arrow slinger on the block, The Arrow.  It's enough to make me want to take archery lessons.

The CW's new show, Arrow, isn't based on the Green Arrow, or is it? According to the CW, it's loosely based on the comic.  This just means that the characters share some similarities, like names, but the story lines will not necessarily run parallel with the comics. I guess they don't want to upset diehard fans if they change or completely ignore a few minor details. Don't look at me that way, fanboys, you know I'm telling the truth.  I know you.

They've really been pushing this series, and I guess I'm buying into the hype, because I'm really looking forward to watching.  The promos are slick, and they've got me reserving October 10 to sit down in front of my TV.  Yes, I'm one of those people who prefers to watch it when it airs rather than wait until it shows up online.  I'm old school that way.

Want to catch a glimpse of Arrow in action? Check out the trailer, and a couple of other clips over at The CW.

JP

What if Carly Rae Jepsen Wrote Doctor Who?

 

This is what happens when I can't fall asleep, and I've watched entirely too much Doctor Who. 

Around the Blogiverse: Wesley Crusher Evolved

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If you don't already know this, I'm a huge fan of Wil Wheaton.  I don't want to sound like a creepy stalker fan girl, but I follow him on pretty much all social media, and I regularly watch his Geek and Sundry production, TableTop.  That's how I came across the internet phenomenon that he coaxed into creation.   He tweeted a request to the interwebs to basically color in/vandalize a coloring page from the Star Trek: TNG Coloring and Activity Book . 

He has since posted lots of these onto a pinterest board called Wesley Crusher Evolved.So  much creativity.  Some are a little, uhm, questionable.  I created one, but it doesn't seem to have found it's way to Mr. Wheaton, yet.  The internet is huge and vast, and it's likely that it got lost in the universe of junk out there. It was sort of a tribute to his work in "The Guild" using some artwork from the comic, crappily pasted into Photoshop.  It's pretty embarrassing.

At any rate, I'm sure he won't mind seeing more of these floating out there in the internets, so create your own Wheaton.  It's a lot of fun, but you don't have to take my word for it.

Keep Calm and Color On.

JP

B-Ouya!

Check this out!  The Ouya, which more than exceeded its Kickstarter goal, is going to be made.  This thing is super cool!

It's an open source console, which means it will bring all kinds of innovation to the table, and give us, the users, something we want, instead of  something the developers and the suits think we do.

Beyond the idea that it can be hacked without voiding your warranty, this is an interesting concept.  I love games.  That's no secret.  All the games that will be available are going to be free to play. With that, I'm pretty much sold.  I get really bored with games quickly, and it's safe to assume that I've never played a game through until completion, unless you count max levelling and being a member of a raid group for WoW (I  don't). This is why I like the free.  I don't feel bad when I just stop playing. 

Will I be buying this?  Absolutely. Especially with the $99 price tag.

Game on.

JP

Frakkin' Interwebz!

This is how I feel when I'm trying to watch Dr. Who on Netflix, and the internet connectivity is acting shady. 

From The Guild

I want to rage quit, but I want to finish ONE more episode!

JP

Game Night: Zombie Fluxx

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JB and I typically play Magic on Tuesday nights, but since I have to work, we're going to try something a little different. It's primary election night here, and I'm being asked to do data entry for election results. Since Magic can get quite consuming, I figured we could play something a little different that would be a little less intense.  Enter:  Zombie Fluxx.

I've been thinking about this game since I spied it at Arena Comics on Free Comic Day back in May.  I didn't pick it up until this past weekend, when I was in the vicinity of Barnes & Noble.

Easy to set up. Easy to play.  We could barely play one game, because I was so busy, but we had a good time until I pulled "Larry the Creeper" which is basically "Game Over" when it's only 2 players. Since we didn't get a chance to really get into a game, I'll be bringing it over to our friends' Monthly Video Game Day.  

I'm willing to bet this would be fun, even if you're not a zombie aficionado. This game is standalone, but it's also compatible with other Fluxx decks as well.   The variety of games available is amazing.  Oz Fluxx, Martian Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, and Family Fluxx, just to name a few.

Totally worth the price tag for the hours of use I'll be getting out of this one.

Just remember...Double Tap.

JP

Grimm Return

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I was beyond excited when I heard NBC was picking up Grimm for a second season.  If you'd asked me last year if I thought it would survive, my opinion was, well, grimm.  I suspected it would suffer the same fate as many NBC shows.  I predicted one season, and they'd push it off to SyFy where it would die a slow horrible death.

It survived the Friday night "Death Slot" and returns to NBC, with a prime spot after America's Got Talent.  Season 2 promises to be just as good with more storytime baddies. 

I don't know about you,  but I'm really looking forward to more of Nick's blutbad sidekick, Monroe. This season holds more exciting developments for all of our favorite characters.  Season 1's finale shocker sets up some really great story lines this season.  I can't wait!

This was by far my favorite show of last season, and it doesn't look to disappoint me this time around.

Catch the preview over at NBC.com.

Storytime is over.  Grimm is on.

JP





Edit: I absolutely despise what they did to the opening credits, what is this, The CW?

Using a Die to make Important Life Decisions

The election is coming up.  I don't usually get political, but I thought it might be fun to see how my ballot would look if I let the die take control and make my decisions for me.  I grabbed my sample ballot, and my brand spankin' new 20 sided die.  This would prove effective on all races but one.

Here's how I broke it down.  Races with 2 candidates would be determined by an even/odd on the die.  This is my standard rule for a yes or no when rolling a polyhedral die.  One race had four candidates so I gave each a range of 5 numbers in sequence.  The final race on the ballot had 3 candidates, which required that I use a different die.  So I grabbed a standard 6 sided die, and assigned each candidate 2 numbers in sequence.

It was quite fun to make this decision this way, but I don't recommend taking your die bag into the voting booth.  My die did select some of the same candidates I've been seriously considering, but I still need to do more research to determine where my actual and final vote will be cast.

When it comes to making life decisions for real, I'd probably only use the die method to determine where you want to go for dinner, which movie to rent, or what color shirt to wear.  JB and I used this method of decision making Saturday to determine restaurant to eat at.  The die chose my first selection.  I later used the die to determine which box of Magic cards for him to buy.  He was disappointed in the die roll, so he decided not to go with the die selection.  It's more fun than flipping a coin.

Try it one weekend.  Grab your favorite polyhedral die, and let it choose your adventure.  I promise you'll have a good time.

Keep on Rollin'

JP

PS.  Florida Voters, Primary Election is Tuesday August 14.  Vote if you haven't already taken advantage of early voting.

Apptastic: Radiant Defense

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I love my smartphone.  I love that there are a vast array of games available for the Android.  Some are really great, and some are, well, bad.  Today, I'm going to talk about one of the better ones I've had the pleasure of downloading, Radiant Defense by Hexage, Ltd.

It was a featured free app on the Google Play store, so, I figured "why not?"  Ok, it was also about 1AM, and I couldn't sleep, so the shiny pictures in the marketplace swayed me. It's is your standard Tower Defense style game with a dash of space fun.   I love tower defense style games, so downloading this was a no-brainer for me.  I absolutely love it. There's a paid version which unlocks a few more weapons so you'll be able to better deal with some of the enemies. I'm a huge fan of free, so I didn't get the paid app. It's also available for the iPhone, so all you apple users can get in on the fun too!

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You're a member of an intergalactic army, and your job is to place your weapons to protect the spiral.  I'm not 100% what that spiral is, but you have to prevent the alien invaders from getting to it.  There's a building phase, where you place modules to adjust the path of incoming enemies, you can add and upgrade weapons.  Next is the invasion.  Sometimes you get messages from commanders, before the battle, which is a little annoying, but usually it gives you tips about the enemy you're about to face. During the invasion, you can add and upgrade your weapons. I don't recommend selling weapons in this phase.


Graphically, this is probably one of the prettier game apps I've seen.  The colors are bright, cheerful, and kid friendly.  There's no blood, when the aliens "die" they explode into bubbles.

I'd probably pay for the full app, but like I said, I like free. This is a super fun diversion.  Give it to your kids when they're being annoying, and let 'em kill some aliens.  I totally recommend it.  I'm super addicted.


Wanna play?  iPhone users go here.   Androids go here.

Defending the Earth until bedtime.....

JP

Curiousity: Touchdown Confirmed.





A great achievement for NASA, Science and humanity.  Curiosity has landed on Mars.  It's not the first probe we've sent out there, but it's definitely one of the most advanced.  It's also the biggest!  It weighs about a ton, and it's equipped with HD photographic equipment.  It's already sent back photos to us.  It's been a successful mission already.



I didn't stay up to watch live, because I had work in the morning, and to be honest, watching a control room for hours on end is quite boring.  However, it's not difficult to find a video replay of the event.  This morning I watched some video of the scientists when touchdown was confirmed, the cheers were as great as an Olympic Gold Medal Celebration. You can follow the continued adventures of Curiousity at Nasa.gov.  I'm sure it will also continue making the news for the next few weeks. 

Congrats NASA.  I'm grateful my Facebook feed is now cluttered with hoorahs for Curiousity, and not political nonsense!

To Infinity and Beyond,

JP

Hobbits are afoot.

Bilbo Baggins, at your service!

Get ready for it, brace yourselves, and please don't throw things at me....


I don't like the Lord of the Rings films. I know, take away my geek card right now.  I was bored.  Very very bored.  I have fallen asleep in my several unsuccessful attempts to watch them.  Call me crazy, but my favorite part of the whole mess was Smeagol/Gollum, despite the fact that he's basically the Jar Jar Binks of this series.

The LOTR trilogy worked better than a tranquilizer in putting me to sleep.  They were so long, and don't even get my started on the extended editions. I will admit, they did make me want to visit New Zealand.  The cinematography was incredible. Maybe part of my problem is that the story is so long and drawn out, it's an epic tale, no doubt, and I wouldn't slight anyone who rank it among the best tales of all time.  Tolkien painted a pretty picture, and Jackson made it real.  It's admirable.

This being said, I'm very much looking forward to The Hobbit in December.  Perhaps the major difference being that I've read the book, which I adored.  Just watching the trailer makes me giddy. I recently finished reading it.  This was my second attempt to tackle this novel.  My first try was as a pre-teen.  My attention span back then was worse than it is now, and well, I got bored.  Maybe that's why I didn't care for the LOTR films.  I remembered how boring old, Bilbo was.  Now that I've travelled there and back again with him, I'm stoked to see how Jackson treats our short friend with the hairy feet.

Since I'd seen the trailer before hand, and I was already familiar with Gandalf, I sort of imagined the characters the way they are presented here.  I look forward to visiting Middle Earth now.


 

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.

 






With the recent announcement that there will be three, I can't help but wonder if that third film is just a money grab, or if it's really needed. Jackson and company seem to think so. Then again he also thought that the original films needed to be well over 3 hours in the extended editions.


And now for the audience participation bit.  Since I've read the Hobbit and I'm looking forward to the film treatments, I'm starting to wonder if I'll be more interested in the other movies if I read the books.What do you think?  Should I read the books, and then give the LOTR another go?  Do you think I'll be a crazy psycho who claims that the books will always be superior to the films?

With that, I'll leave you to your dreams of dragons and treasure.

JP