2012 Wrap Up

I'm having a hard time saying that 2012 was a great year. It was a year. It had its ups and downs and made me really sick of it sometimes but it could have been a lot worse in many ways. So on this, the very last day of the year, while I sit here in my office I am very thankful for the benefits I have received this year and that for the most part, I have made it out of this year and into the next healthy and ready for more. 

In November, I tried to play catch-up with the blog and write about all of the things I have consumed but not wrote about this year. Turns out, I got distracted and didn't get around to everything. So here is a end-of-the-year wrap-up so that I can move into the new year with a clean slate. So here, for your consuming pleasure, are some mini-reviews of things. I guess I can consume a lot more media that I can create.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

This is the superior Tim Burton project to come out this year. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and wouldn't mind owning it. I know a lot of people didn't like this movie because they said it was offensive to remember such a great man in this awful, false way. Come on, it's a movie! It's supposed to be totally ludicrous! Don't get your panties in such a bunch. I'm all for it.

I didn't read the comic books. I didn't see the original movie. I'm pretty sure my sweetie just wanted to go to hear the line, "I am the law." I wasn't a huge fan. Way too much gore and meat sounds. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The action was great. The discussions on time travel were fantastic. The acting was wonderful. The little kid was creepy as hell. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's fake nose was distracting. I am ready to watch this one again. 

This movie was funny. This was not the best movie of the year as some unknown source liked to claim.  This isn't an "instant classic" or anything like that. It was funny once and I will probably forget it exists by this time next year.

This was a really fantastic movie that I never got around to writing about because I didn't want to have to write about the shooting. That event terrified me. It also led to six months where I really didn't feel safe anywhere. (Actually, still not over that.) A good villain in a movie makes me really happy and this movie packed a great punch in the villain department. The one thing I wasn't a huge fan of was how glossed over Catwoman's story felt. I REALLY REALLY wanted her roommate to be Harley Quinn. In my head-cannon, she was. Eventually I would like to marathon all three movies... Especially after listening to John Hodgeman talk about the first one on a recent episode of the Nerdist podcast.

I liked the other movies better. This was still a good action film but not the best of the series. I admit I'd rather watch the Mission Impossible movies any day.

This was delightful and well worth the wait. The movie was both heartfelt and yet still light and silly. I really enjoyed where they took the story. I am curious to see if we'll get another one. I wouldn't be against it.

No brains, all big hair. If you went into the theater hoping this movie would cause more than two brain cells rub against each other, you're doing it wrong. This is pure cinematic cotton candy. All sugar, fluff and hairspray.

This is another remake that I have not seen the original of. Unlike Dredd 3d, this movie actually made me interested to see the original. The technology within the movie was really neat. I was really digging on those "Place Hand Here" phone screens. Super cool. I loved the ambiguous ending. I'm kind of happy in the pain of not knowing what was real and what wasn't. Oh, and yay for the alien with three boobs. 

Cinematically stunning. Absolutely beautiful to watch. It was so enthralling that when the tiger finally did spring into action on the boat, my sweetie lept out of his seat, arms flailing and yelled, "Oh shit!" and then I laughed at him. If Ang Lee doesn't get all of the awards, it will be a damn shame.

Get Drunk and Sugared Up with The Doctor

Okay, so you've done your best to keep the peace in your  family during this crazy holiday season. You've played LEGO with your little cousin, you've reprogrammed all of your Grandma's electronics and vanquished the flashing 12:00 of doom and now it's not for some "you" time. It's Christmas Day and you've managed to lock yourself in a closet with the tv to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special. It's time for a bit of a treat.

The Sonic Screwdriver

Makes 6 – PREP 5 mins plus chilling – NO COOK -Easy

Ingredients

3 cups orange juice

3 ripe peaches, peeled, stoned and pureed

4-5 cups lemonade

few mint leaves

few handfuls ice

Directions

1. Chill the juices, peach puree and lemonade for at least 1-2 hrs before serving.

2. Divide ice and mint leaves between glasses. Mix the juice and puree together and pour over the ice. Carefully top with the lemonade.

Mini Chocolate Dalek Cakes

Makes 6 – PREP 35 mins – COOK 20-25 mins – Moderately easy

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

1 cup light brown soft sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup self-raising flour

½ cup ground almonds

1⁄2 tsp baking soda

5 tbsp cocoa, plus a little extra for decorating

½ cup milk

To Decorate

4oz bar dark chocolate, chopped

4oz bar milk chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

6 marshmallows

1 – 2 cups chocolate drops

few thin sticks licorice or Japanese chocolate pocky sticks

Directions

1.  Heat oven to 350F. Grease and line the bases of 6 dariole moulds or individual metal pudding basins with baking parchment or grease-proof paper. Put the butter, sugar, egg, flour, ground almonds, bicarbonate, cocoa and milk in a mixing bowl. Beat together until lump-free. Divide between the tins then bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then remove from tins and cool completely – upside-down.

2.  Mix the two chocolates in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream to just below boiling point, then pour over the chocolate and stir together until melted and smooth. Chill until thick enough to spread.

3. Use a small dot icing to stick a marshmallow to the top of each cake. Completely ice all the marshmallow-topped cakes. Dot with chocolate drops to look like the outside of a dalek, and add small sticks of licorice or pocky sticks to be the guns, arms and eye-sticks.

Special thanks to the BBC America website for these recipes! Find more here: http://www.bbcamerica.com/doctor-who/photos/doctor-who-dish/#4088

Peeta's Stuffed Cheese Buns

Peeta's Stuffed Cheese Buns

While Peeta ran hot and cold throughout the entirety of the "Hunger Games" trilogy, the one thing that always remained consistent with him was his baking. In a lot of ways, I can identify with Peeta in this regard. When all other forms of communication fail, sometimes the easiest way to say "I love you," is with hot, steaming carbs covered in cheese. Instant heaven, instant understanding. I'm all for it. Show your loved ones you care this holiday season with some cheesy, melty goodness. 

"These cheese buns are delicious. Real or not real?" Totally real, Peeta. Totally real.

1 cup warm water (probably somewhere between 105º and 115º. I just get it hot from the tap. Don't get it too hot or it will kill the yeast.)

2 tablespoons yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup olive oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

-At least 8 oz. of cheese, the more the merrier (I used chunks of mozzarella for the inside and a mixture of shredded colby and swiss for the top. I was just trying to use up all the forgotten chunks in the hidden corners of the fridge)

-Parmesan cheese

-A few tablespoons of melted butter mixed with a sprinkle of garlic powder and some fresh herbs if you want. 

Mix together the yeast and water and let it sit for a couple minutes. Add the sugar, garlic powder, melted butter, and oil. Add the flour a little and a time, mixing in your stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the salt. Knead for 10 minutes, in the stand mixer or by hand. Let the dough rise in a greased bowl (I used the same bowl) covered with a wet cloth for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375º. Divide the dough into about 20 pieces or so (you can make them as big or small as you want). Put about a 3/4 inch chunk of cheese in each one and make sure you pinch all the edges back up tightly. Put the pinched side down on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle the buns with more shredded cheese and some parmesan cheese. Bake at 375ºF for about 11-15 minutes until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Brush with the melted butter and serve warm.

Special Thanks to FoodGawker.com for this one!

Go and check out Yammie's Noshery for the original recipe. This lady has some great pictures!

http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2012/08/peetas-stuffed-cheese-buns.html

Ruby Sparks

I know I've been really behind on my movie reviews recently. I'm not really sure why with most of them. I love movies which means I watch quite a few of them and I guess maybe I don't want people to think I just gush all the time and I feel like sometimes I should be more critical? I don't know. If you want me to be really critical, I'll review "The Campaign."

Today I have to gush some more. I watched "Ruby Sparks," at home last night with the sick boyfriend while we ate grilled cheese and tomato soup. (Homemade grilled cheese has healing powers, at least the way I make it.) When we renting this movie, I prefaced it by saying, "This is probably going to be really silly and dumb but I have to see it anyway. This is every writer's dream."

This movie met all of my expectations and exceeded them. From her first appearance, I fell absolutely in love with Ruby. She was smart, quirky, adventurous and did a wonderful job of getting the young writer out of his comfort zone a bit. But gradually, I began to hate the writer. He took her for granted. He just assumed that because he had created her, she would always be there waiting for him. But he had managed to create a whole human and as a result, she had her own opinions about things and she wasn't content to wait around his house all day while he wrote... or tried to write... or didn't write and just brooded.

At the point when the writer realizes once again that he can play God and make Ruby do whatever he wanted, my heart broke. (I'm tearing up right now at work just thinking about it.) She was so perfect in her imperfection. I loved that she looked at the world in a different way and thought that if you named your dog after your favorite author, you were subconsciously killing your idols. See her as a puppet was devastating. I don't know know why she crawled under my skin so much. It could be that I know that if the same situation happened to pretty much any writer in the world, we'd all manage to screw it up. It is so severely dangerous to get exactly what you want.

R2's Artichoke Spread

Make yourself a dip or spread that's just as frisky as everyone's favorite droid. Also, it has been found that if you tell a kid that a robot made it, you can get them to eat just about anything... (I mean cool gourmet robots, not processed snack robots.)

R2's Artichoke Spread

Ingredients

• 28 oz. artichoke hearts (not marinated), chopped
• 1 C. mayonnaise
• 1 C. grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• Paprika for garnish

Directions

Using a food processor, combine all ingredients until coarsely chopped. Pour into an oven-proof casserole dish and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until brown and bubbly. Sprinkle with paprika and serve hot with crackers. This spread can be prepared the day before and stored covered in the refrigerator. Warm in a microwave at 80% power for 3 minutes before serving.

Yield: 3 1/2 cups 

Once again, thank you to Pinterest for pointing me to the Star Wars Cookbook.

The recipe can be found also here: http://www.recipe4living.com/recipes/yummy_artichoke_spread_recipe.htm

Princess Peach Surprise Cupcakes

Even if your Mario still can't seem to figure out which castle his princess is in, you can console yourself with these amazing cupcakes while you're waiting. If he's lucky, there may be one left when he finally figures it out. ;)

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peach extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup peach puree
• red food color

Filling:

• 2 cups fresh or frozen peaches, pureed
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Frosting:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• yellow food coloring

Crown:

• fondant
• yellow food color

Directions

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together using an electric mixer until it looks creamy. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and peach extract until the mixture is smooth. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until almost combined. Add the buttermilk and peach puree and stir again until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour and stir until all the ingredients are mixed in.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Filling:

Place small saucepan on the stove top and put on medium heat. Put the peaches and sugar in and bring to slight boil. In a separate small bowl, mix the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water until no lumps. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and keep on medium-low heat for about 1 minute. Cool completely before use.

Frosting:

Beat butter with mixer on medium-high speed about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until smooth.

Fill the cupcakes with the peach filling and then frost with the buttercream frosting.

Once again, I found this recipe on Pinterest. Thank you Pinterest!

And thank you When Geeks Wed for the recipe! http://whengeekswed.com/blog/2012/10/11/pink-peach-cupcakes/

Hot Nerd Friday: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Big brains are sexy. This is a fact. Therefore, this man is a sex god. He could do whatever he wanted, as long as he was talking to me about space while he did it. It is so hot to find a man who knows so much about the universe who is also approachable and willing to explain things to you if you don't understand. I really appreciate a man who is so excited about the things he is studying that there is no air of aloofness concerning his knowledge. No! He is smart and he wants you to be, too!

Thank you, Dr. Tyson. You sexy, sexy scientist you...

Arya's Lemon Cakes

If you're an internet weirdo like me, you are aware that there is currently and official and at least one unofficial cookbook based on the epic book and television series, "Game of Thrones." This series for some reason inspires people too cook. I guess with all the back-stabbing and wolves howling and dragon snatching and king slaying, eventually you could probably corner a Stark into saying, "Dinner is coming."

So here are a recipe to eat while you read, watch or just to unknowingly feed to your loved ones. More to come!

Arya's Lemon Cakes

Makes 10–12 small cakes
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon lemon verbena oil or lemon extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dried lemon verbena, crushed

1. In a large bowl, mix milk, sugar, and yeast. Set aside for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Mix in egg, lemon verbena oil, 1 tablespoon of the butter, salt, flour, and dried lemon verbena. Beat together 5 minutes until a smooth dough is formed.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and rise in a warm spot for about 11/2 hours (until doubled in volume).
4. Heat griddle over high heat. Test by sprinkling on a little water. If griddle sizzles and water evaporates, it’s ready.
5. Lower heat to medium-low. Melt remaining tablespoon of butter on the griddle. Place muffin rings on griddle and fill halfway with batter. Cover loosely with foil and cook until cakes are browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
6. Using spatula or tongs, flip over each small cake and ring. Cover and cook another 5 minutes. Serve warm.

A Word of Wisdom: Muffin or crumpet rings will keep your cakes thicker and compact. If you don’t have any handy, you can cut open both ends of short, metal food cans—like those used to pack tuna. Remove the labels and wash them very thoroughly. When you’re ready to make lemon cakes, flour the inside well then use them instead of muffin rings.

Thank you to Pinterest for pointing toward this recipe!
the recipe above was found at: http://www.flavorwire.com/275253/5-delicious-recipes-inspired-by-game-of-thrones
If you are interested in the "Game of Thrones" inspired cook books they are "A Feast of Ice and Fire": http://www.amazon.com/Feast-Ice-Fire-Official-Companion/dp/0345534492/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354825467&sr=8-1&keywords=game+of+thrones+cookbook

And "The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook": http://www.amazon.com/The-Unofficial-Game-Thrones-Cookbook/dp/1440538727/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354825467&sr=8-2&keywords=game+of+thrones+cookbook

About Decemebr

(I began this post on December 1st. sorry it took a few days to see the light of day. It was a long, terrible weekend.)

Today is December 1st which to me, means a lot of different things. First, it means that no, there really isn't a chance I'll "win" National Novel Writing Month this year. I didn't even come close. I believe I finished with 12,500 words. I know I didn't come anywhere close to reaching my full writing potential. What can I say? I found myself getting really distracted all month. First I went down to LA to visit a bunch of my friends. No writing happened that week. I had a bunch of scarves that needed to be knit. Unfortunately, knitting doesn't count as writing. Thanksgiving? No writing done. And then the last week of November I got entirely engrossed in a quest to bring a Nerdcore show to Emerald City Comic Con next March. It really didn't matter that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I wanted a thing! The thing I learned from this experience is that it pays to know people who know things, if you want something to happen sometimes you are the best person to make it happen, and even if it doesn't go exactly as you want, good things can still result! While there will not be a nerdcore show at ECCC next year, they had already started planning a nerd rock show. So yay!

With the holidays fully on top of us and potentially rubbing its butt in our face, I would like to do something special here to celebrate. For the remainder of the month I will be posting nerd culture-inspired recipes to bring a little bit of joy to your family gatherings. So starting this afternoon, I will be posting fun recipes and I hope you will all try at least one.

Happy Holidays from Mega Nerd Queen!

MC Lars TEDx Talk

This may be relevant to your interests.

Mockingbird Lane

I few months ago, I started hearing that Bryan Fuller, the creator of the severely under-rated show, "Pushing Daisies," was going to be creating a new show based on "The Muensters," I was at first very excited and then filled with dread because I knew it wouldn't last. I thought it would be a marvelous surprise if the show ever even made it on air. Much to my surprise, just before Halloween, people started telling me about this weird new show with Eddie Izzard in it that they were all sure I would love. Miracle of miracles, they were talking about "Mockingbird Lane" and I couldn't have been happier. But then things got complicated for me. NBC announced that instead of bringing back recurring favorite, "Community," they would instead be bringing out new shows to promote their new line up and the other shows would have to wait until a then-undetermined date. Now, we know that time is mod-February. So instead of getting the shows we've been waiting for in October, we got new shows which were not destined to live long. Our shows were in jeopardy and that made both the actors and the fans very nervous. It would be so easy for NBC to just never bring those shows back at all.

All of this run-around with NBC made me very hesitant to even watch "Mockingbird Lane," despite my appreciation for short-lived Bryan Fuller shows. I recorded the show and it sat on m DVR for at least a week. It was hard for me to think about NBC spending money on this show, which I now knew was only going to have one episode see the light of day, when they could be bringing "Community" back that much sooner. It pained me to think that we wouldn't get a chance to see what Jeff and Britta would be up to this Halloween,

Eventually I got over it once an official air-date for the new season of "Community," was announced and watched "Mockingbird Lane." On the whole, I really liked this show. I loved the fact that they just let Eddie Izzard be himself and didn't try to make him act normally. He's such a wonderful character, it would be a shame to see him do anything else. I also enjoyed that the show was both light-hearted in its humor and also very, very dark. This show never would have survived on a traditional television station which is really unfortunate.

A few things bothered me but for the most part, I was pleased. I mean, it isn't really necessary for them to use expensive CGI to put a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge in every shot of the house. It would have been so much easier to use a less specific background.

I wish this had been a Bryan Fuller project that had made it at least one full season but there really never was any hope for this show.

The Cabin in the Woods

I don't watch scary movies. I can't. I have a really over-active imagination and I get nightmares. This is a fact of life. I wish it weren't so but I'm a big ol' wimp. So when I told my boyfriend I wanted to see "The Cabin in the Woods," he stalled. I rented the movie and it it just sat next to our tv for at least two weeks. It wasn't that he didn't want to watch the movie, he just didn't want to have to deal with me tossing, turning and fighting monsters in my sleep. I can't say I blame him. It's dangerous to date a violent sleeper. But I'm a Joss Whedon fan so I wanted to see, "The Cabin in the Woods." I knew that this wasn't going to be a typical slasher thriller and I would find some way to handle it.

I am so incredibly relieved to be right about this movie. This was so much more than a slash-fest. There were deeper themes and and the gore wasn't over the top. I really appreciate a horror movie that doesn't just kill for the sake of killing and has a sense of humor about itself. It is really unfortunate that this movie didn't leave any openings for a sequel because I would definitely watch it. I loved every twist and turn, I loved the characters, I loved the monsters. I don't really have any way to compare this to other horror movies, but I feel like this is a horror movie that just about anyone can enjoy.

Thank you, Joss!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend. I know I certainly did. If you traveled, are currently traveling or if you have family and friends traveling, I hope everyone arrives at their destinations safely and happily. I'm sure a lot of you did some shopping, I hope nobody got trampled while trying to pick up the last Call of Duty and that you all also remembered to support your local businesses.

Let us all be thankful for the good things we have in life and be thankful for the discount comic books we picked up this weekend. ;)

Doctor Who minisodes!

Have you seen this? If you live in the UK, you probably have. As I do not live in the UK, I'm just seeing it now! Pre-Christmas, Doctor Who minisode! (Yes that is a terrible name)

Enjoy!

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is a complicated movie. I like this movie in concept very much and it was a visually stunning film but by the end, I found myself feeling incredibly over-stimulated. For me it felt like standing in the middle of a small, crowded room where I didn't know anyone and was desperately trying to learn everyone's story but I was also drunk and making up stories of my own. After watching this film, I felt the need to sit quietly by myself and read simple books about food preparation. I was overwhelmed.

I would have been very happy to see this movie made into a series of movies with more focus on each individual story line but I know that wasn't the point. It was very interesting to see all of the actors portraying different roles and I'm sure it was a fantastic exercise for them but at the same time, some of the makeup techniques used were very distracting for me. An example would be turning a British man into an Asian man. Just looks funny.

I wanted very much to enjoy this movie as much as other people have but it really just made me uncomfortable. I think I am going to try to read the book and see if that makes the story a bit more digestible for me.

You should all still go see it and judge for yourself.

Doctor Who Christmas Special

In which we finally meet Miss Clara Oswin. And apparently and army of ice...

And now the torture of waiting.

Better trailer.

The Hunger Games

Young Adult Literature is a very special beast. It has to be a very specific blend of wholesome and exciting. It needs to be a quick read to keep teens hooked and it needs to be both simple enough to not frustrate a kid and also sophisticated enough that it makes the kid feel smart. There are very few authors who perfect this mixture and those who do, sell millions. As much as adults like to yell about how kids these days are distracted and no one reads books anymore! This just isn't even remotely close to reality. If teens find a book or a series of books they are passionate about they will scream about it to every single one of their friends, relatives, teachers, bus mates and random people in the grocery store. They will ridicule their friends for not reading the books and generally make life hell until they do. Teens have passion and talking about books that speak to them is far more important than adults seem to remember.

I grew up in a group of severe Potterheads. The only excuse for having not read any of the books was if someone's parents wouldn't allow them to and this was a fate to be whispered about in hushed tones. We would eventually accept that some people could read a couple of the books and just not get into them. We were pretty sure they were secretly actual wizards and just didn't want anyone to suspect. Having a book fandom like Harry Potter was so important to my youth. Instead of being out late at parties in high school, I'd be in costume at the opening night of the newest Potter movie or at the bookstore for the midnight release party for the latest book. My friends and I would call each other to tease spoilers for goodness sake! There is nothing worse than realizing that you were the one person in the group who decided to sleep after getting your new copy instead of staying up all night to read. This stuff is important to kids.

This is why I am thankful for "The Hunger Games." After Pottermania died down, there was a lot of anticipation about what the next thing would be. There were the dark days of "Twilight," which I will not even speak of and then "The Hunger Games" peaked over the horizon. These books are intellectually stimulating, packed with adventure, insight some feelings of rebellion and really make the reader think about their priorities and how they view the world around them. This is a very solid trilogy with an unambiguous beginning, middle and end. I think it is important for teens to have to think about a post-apocalyptic world. Who knows what the future may bring? They are the only ones who can make the world they'll live in. The have to be able to see consequences. I think this should be on every 15-year-old's reading list.

All of this being said, I have to admit something. I HATE Katniss Everdeen. She is a cold, whiny, brooding little twit. She doesn't deserve all the help and positive attention she gets and she should never have had the chance to choose between Gale and Peeta. She's an awful person and she doesn't deserve either of their love. Someone should have just let her die. I think Peeta would have been better off that way. The only person she shows any unabashed love for is Prim and Prim is the only person who even begins to make Katniss an almost likeable person. It's really a shame that Katniss was the narrator. I would have loved for her to be killed off in the middle of one of her little pity parties about how the government is using her.

So if you have a young adult in your life or if you need a quick and exciting read, you should definitely check out "The Hunger Games." The problem you will soon have is then trying to read any book after. Reading a book about modern, simple cooking in your Hunger Games Voice gets a little bit weird. No one has ever been that violent toward broccoli before, I'm sure.

World War Z

Do you like zombies? Are you ever seeking things to with zombies? If so, you've probably read this book. You've also probably head that it is being/has been made into a movie that is on course to be a major summer blockbuster next year! If you've read the book and you've seen the trailer, you're probably also kind of peeved.

To start, here is the trailer:

World War Z the book and the audiobook (duh) have a very distinct documentary interview style which appears to be entirely ignored in this movie trailer. Instead of getting something that resembles the book we get... Brad Pitt and oceans of speed zombies... hmmmmm...

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I will probably see the movie anyway.

The Firefly 10th Anniversary Special

It has been ten years since "Firefly" went on and off the air. This is the sad reality of network television in 2002. If a show wasn't the proper flavor of exciting and if the writing was too dark or too smart, the show got cancelled. Anyone who has been to any ComiCon in the world knows that just because Fox pulled the plug on this show prematurely, doesn't mean the fans have forgotten. Even in unrelated protests, no matter what the greater cause, there will always be one guy with a "Bring Back Firefly," poster waving proudly. "Firefly" is still a very large part of our culture. People still say something they like is shiny and and quote lines at each other on a regular basis. It would be no stretch of the imagination to say that "Firefly" is much more popular now than it was in 2002.

The Science Channel's Firefly 10th Anniversary Reunion was a beautiful thing to witness. You could tell that the cast, the writers and Joss all care about each other deeply still. The hugs were real and heart-felt and it really just felt like a bunch of long lost friends getting to meet up and swap war stories. It turns out, as fun as we all thought it would be to be a part of that show, it really was. The actors cared about what happened to their characters as much as we did not only because they wanted to keep their jobs, but because they genuinely liked the characters. What was most upsetting to the cast and Joss and really, the entirety of the fandom is that Fox cut this show off before their stories could be told. There is so much we all would like to have seen and learned about these characters that we may now never know.

One of the questions that the moderator asked Joss and the writers is where the show would have gone if it hadn't been canceled. If they show had been allowed to live out its life instead of getting shoved into a movie, what would we have seen? Joss said that first of all, he probably wouldn't have killed anybody... yet. There is so much more of Wash and Book's story that needed telling that now just can't ever be. The good news is that Joss did say that he is unwilling to close the book on "Firefly." He said he will not declare it dead and that you never know what the future may bring. For now, we have our one season, a wonderful movie and a comic book series. For now that has to be enough.


Here is a link to the Science Channel's page about the even and also the online auction to get a little bit of Firefly history. http://science.discovery.com/tv/firefly/10-anniversary/

Almost Famous

I cannot remember the first time I saw "Almost Famous," but it very quickly became one of those movies that I felt as though I had known all my life. I can't even begin to count how many times I have seen this movie. It is without question, one of my all-time very favorite movies. I feel like I should be embarrassed by how much I let this movie impact life, but I'm not. I saw this movie enough times that I really did think that my ability to write and my deep, passionate love for music would eventually translate into a career as a rock journalist. I thought I would be William and band would find me totally endearing and invite me to go out on the road with them to be their writer while lovingly calling me, "The Enemy." I thought that if I said, "It's all happening," enough it really would be.

Because of this movie I worship Kate Hudson. She is my goddess. I have tried for years to come anywhere close to her radiance and while I know I will never achieve my goal, she will always be the person I strive to emulate. Penny Lane in not a perfect human but I think that is why I love her so much. She is entirely undone by how trusting and open her heart is. If she was even a tiny bit cynical, she wouldn't be as endearing. But her love is entirely honest and pure. It is absolutely beautiful. I think I'm still convinced that if I could perfect those little looks she gives and those little lip pouts, I could have anything I want in life. I tried quite a few times to put together a Penny Lane costume but I could never pull it off. I just have to be honest and admit that I will never be as cool as Penny Lane.

While we're confessing things, I chose my major in college because of this movie. I don't know why, but I thought that the beautiful age of rock journalism that was alive in the 1970s was somehow still around when I would be graduated in 2009. It didn't matter that Rolling Stone magazine had essentially sold out years ago and was now allowing the military to buy advertisement space. When you're young and you have a dream, it can blind you to a lot of the harsh realities about your profession. Journalism as I wanted it to exist is dead and even if I were to ever become a successful rock journalist, it doesn't mean the same thing that it used to. No one new actually gets to walk into Rolling Stone all fresh faced and invited to go on tour across the county with Queens of the Stone Age. Really, the best most people can hope for is fuel their habit by living in a large, metropolitan area, diligently tending to a personal blog you probably won't get paid for and accepting that you're going to have a huge "entertainment" budget each month.

Rock journalism is dead just as Lester Bangs said that rock and roll is dead. It will never be the way we imagine was or could be but it doesn't matter. Having the memory, even if it is a somewhat shinier than reality memory, is much better. "Almost Famous," is a past and future that I know isn't possible, but it still warms me inside to know that it maybe could have been if the stars had aligned just right.

Skyfall

I am a late-comer to the wonderful world of James Bond. I adore the British, I adore smart action movie and I adore things that go boom. This means that 007 is my kind of guy. He always gets the sexy lady, he always has the coolest gadgets and if his gal pal doesn't get your heart racing, his choice in vehicles certainly will. Much like The Doctor, James Bond has had many faces and every actor brings a little something different to the character. The Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig James Bond is a very dark and haunted James Bond. Sure, he gets the girls, drives the cars and kills the bad guys but he also talks about the death of both of his parents and shows some sentimental attachment toward M and his agency. It is nice to see some humanity behind his cold, calculated stare. I know I am always the person who wonders how other people got to be the humans they are and it was enlightening to see a small glimpse of 007's past.

The other thing I love about James Bond movies are the villains. They're all intelligent, cunning, resourceful and creepy as hell. There are no mindless killing sprees. Once they have been captured, they usually don't stay captured and most of their aims have more to do with proving a point than recklessly killing everyone. People die sure, but they're mostly casualties to the bigger picture. Silva, played by Javier Bardem (also seen in "Before Night Falls," and "No Country for Old Men.") was no exception. He was brilliant at playing an absolutely mad man whose mind had been severely damaged by chemicals that should have killed him. I appreciate that the Bond villains are evolving technologically right along-side the Good Guys if not even surpassing them. Modern villains don't necessarily fight in person with fists and guns anymore. They fight from remote locations with computers and remote signals. Anything else would really just be garish.

This is why I would like to start the petition to have Benedict Cumberbatch play the next Bond villain. "Sherlock" has already given him plenty of material for portraying a crazy person. Secondly, he could spout off nonsensical strings of words and still sound goddamn brilliant. The has the cold, piercing stare that could either drop a girl's panties or send a cold chill up your spine. He's absolutely perfect! Come on, who is with me on this one?

Bond fan or not, go out and see Skyfall. It is popcorn-munching, bouncing in your seat fun.

Wreck it Ralph

I'm a Disney nut. I would say I'm a huge, mega Disney nut but I have met my mother and comparatively, I am somewhat of a fan. My mom has a little shrine to that cheerful mouse in her home and she spends a large majority of her free time at Disneyland. She is a mega fan. For the most part, I really enjoy Disney movies but I have to admit that in the last few years, the movies that Disney has put out without Pixar have been somewhat sub-par. "Enchanted," and "Tangled" were pretty good but otherwise, a good deal of their movies have just been forgettable. It's really a shame. I recently watched a documentary about how the Walt Disney Studios kind of lost their way after acquiring Pixar because they saw how hugely successful the Pixar style was and wanted to get a piece of the action. they fired all of their regular animators, hired all digital animators and waited for the money to start rolling in... but it didn't. They had lost the Disney heart which is what people were really looking for when they went to the movies. Yes, the Pixar style was impressive because we had never seen anything like it before but in a couple years, everyone would be doing it and how is a studio supposed to stand out then? Substance.

I am glad to say that "Wreck it Ralph," is a beautiful Disney dream marriage between the digital style and the Disney heart. The graphics are visually stunning but at the same time, you find yourself getting lost in the story. I absolutely loved the attention to details in each of the video games. Everything within the various games was true to the time and style of that game. Characters from a 1980s game didn't move in the fluid motion that the brand-spanking new game characters did. I loved that everything in the 8-bit games, stayed 8-bit. If someone spilled a drink, there wasn't a big round splash, there was a square splash! It is obvious that a lot of thought went into this movie and also a lot of time spent in the arcade. For research of course!

The voice acting was spot on. Go figure that Jane Lynch could be intimidating, John C. Reilly could play the big doofy guy with the heart of gold, Sarah Silverman could be an annoying little kid and Jack McBrayer could be the simpleton good guy with a hard on for the scary lady in the combat game. I loved the unconventional (for Disney) love story with the lady sweeping the mister off his dainty little feet.

This movie was an absolute delight even if you've never played an arcade game in your life. Although it does help with some of the jokes and references to have a love for the games. Go see it!

Hot Nerd Friday: Harrison Ford

Nerd girls, nerd gay men, you have to admit that one of your very first inappropriate nerd crushes was on one of this man's characters. I was an Indy girl first because there was a "No SciFi" rule in my house and also a "All of the Action Movies" rule. I didn't see Star Wars for the first time until I was fourteen or fifteen. But at a young age, I definitely found myself drawn to the intelligent, nerdy adventurous bad boy who was Doctor Jones. Yes, time for love Dr. Jones! This man is a cultural icon and we should all take a moment out of our day to bow down to him. Thank you, Mr. Ford. Without you, I'm sure they would have found someone far smarmier and far less charismatic to play our favorite space outlaw.

Now I have to take a moment and acknowledge the fact that when I looked Mr. Ford up on IMDB to see what he's working on now, the most recent entry reads "Indiana Jones 5." There isn't a whole lot of information about this yet. Only that both George Lucas and Harrison Ford are connected to this. I kind of feel like if this was really a project that Lucas Films was serious about, there would have been some sort of announcement during the Disney deal press conferences. I am skeptical, I am dubious. Please, please, please don't let the the secret at the end of the movie be aliens. Please let there be some sort of historically significant link instead.

Regardless of potential projects, Harrison Ford is a man I hope children look up to for decades to come and the first roguish man little nerdlets have a crush on. 

Seeking a Friend at the End of the World

This is a movie I really wanted to see in the theaters but it came out in that week over the summer where everything else came out. You remember that week? That was a good week... Anyway, by the time I made my way down my list and got to this movie, it was out of theaters and I was bummed. When I saw this movie out on dvd (I am one of the last dinosaurs who still rents things from Blockbuster. ROAR!) I was super excited! I remembered the trailer and it being super silly and tongue-in-cheek and looking great. I mean, it's a movie with Steve Carell and Keira Knightly! They're both brilliant. How could this movie be anything but awesome?

Okay, before I talk about the movie more, I want you to take a second to watch the movie trailer. Don't remember it? That's fine, I'll wait.

Sure, there are people crying and freaking out in this trailer but it seems jovial, doesn't it? I think I've figured out that the music in this trailer is what makes this trailer seem so deceptively fun. Well, here's the reality of it: aside from that one scene in Friendly's where the waitstaff are all on ecstasy, it's a major downer of a movie. It isn't fun at all. I feel like the movie focuses on the wrong things and that while it is likely that in a time of terror, people will band together, I do not think that total strangers would join up let alone fall in love. Although, I have heard that people who experience traumatic events together tend to fall in love. I think this is a severely screwed up thing but I guess it is a real thing. I also didn't like the ending. I feel like the last decision on earth that Keira Knightly's character makes was absolutely the wrong thing to do. I won't say what it was because I know some people still may want to see this movie even though I say it sucks. I'm going to guess I'm not considered an authority. Rotten Tomato gave this movie a 55% rating. In my own household, Rotten Tomato usually has more authority over movie picking than I do.

While I did not enjoy this movie as a whole, there were a few things that I did enjoy. I really appreciate that at the end of the movie, the world actually did end. There are so many movies where the punch gets pulled and everyone is acting like a crazy person for no reason. Thank you for actually killing everyone like you said you would. The other thing I enjoyed was seeing the various reactions to the news that the world was going to end. I liked seeing the people who decided this was their time to try all the things they have never tried before out of fear, morality or whatever. Also, the people who allowed fear to rule the remaining bits of their lives as apposed to those who just tried to go about their day without noticing that doom is looking over their shoulder. All of the reactions were very human.

So all in all, I give this movie a "meh." If I were you, I'd avoid it entirely unless it is your goal to depress yourself.