Just after the Summer solstice, a post!

On June 23, 2016June 23, 2016 By StevenIn Life At Home9 Comments

I’m borrowing this post idea from Bevchen. I don’t usually do a lot of meme-inspired posts, but lately I haven’t been posting much at all. So here’s the “What’s New With You” format… here’s what I’ve been up to just lately.

Reading. I haven’t had much time for the Kindle lately, but I did start Jen Bradley‘s novel “Virago,” along with the fascinating “Cleaning Up The Kingdom, which is written by people who are former members of the Disneyland custodial staff. Really interesting stuff here!

Watching. Summer is upon us, which means there’s not as much new television to be seen. I’ve nearly completed a re-watch of Star Trek: Enterprise, which I absolutely despised on the first run. I find it considerably less revolting now, and I’m not sure what changed. I’ve also nearly completed a re-watch of Leverage, which was a delightful and fun show that could easily have run another season without losing steam.

I also watched the first episode of the new Dangermouse, and it’s definitely got flavor of the original ones, even though some of the new voices completely take me out of the show. The new Silas Greenback voice is particularly terrible. I’m rather surprised they didn’t try to get Sir David Jason back… after all, he was the original voice of Dangermouse. (And Count Duckula!) Maybe he wants to retire from acting, since he’s 76 now.

It’s also the summer movie season. I haven’t had time to watch everything I want to see, but I can say that “Finding Dory” was exceptionally adorable, and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was super entertaining. It was basically a two-hour live-action movie version of an episode of the 90s cartoon.

Fascinated by. This news that the Earth has picked up a second moon. Basically, an asteroid got caught in our gravity about a hundred years ago and it never managed to break free. It’s tiny, about 150 feet by 300 feet, and it has a weird orbit. It’s still technically a moon, though. We have two moons! Next up, Jedi Knights!

Cooking. I’m not much of a cook, but I’ve been using the slow cooker for the occasional moist fall-apart-y chicken breast. (Amelie’s Salsa Chicken recipe: Put a chicken breast in the slow cooker with mild salsa for a bunch of hours, then shred and eat with rice or something. It’s super delicious!)

I’ve also been taking advantage of the meats that they sell which have already been prepped/seasoned/marinated- Target sells a garlic and herb roast that is absolutely amazing after about six hours in the slow cooker. I’ve also been making more easy-prep foods like spaghetti at home. I want to eat out at restaurants less frequently, because I enjoy having money.

Exercising. I’m still probably going to talk about exercise in more detail in another post down the line, but I’ve been trying to go to the gym several times a week. When I lived in Germany, I walked most everywhere, lived upstairs, took the bus to work, and walked all over creation whenever I traveled. My life in Florida is so much more sedentary, and I needed to get up and move. So, the gym. I just use the little gym at my apartment complex, because paying for one that I would never drive to is just a waste of money. I do some of the weight machines, some Couch-to-5K stuff on the treadmill, some time on the bike, and as little time as possible on the Devil’s Elliptical. I hate every second of it, but so far I keep going.

Buying. Since I’ve been doing the gym stuff, I got myself a new Fitbit. The Fitbit Charge HR is a wrist-worn step counter that also checks my heart-rate and tracks my sleep. It’s great for being reassured that I am, in fact, terribly unhealthy and in need of drastic lifestyle change.

I also recently bought an install-it-yourself basic alarm system for my apartment, and the little SD card that activates the maps in my car. The Mazda 3 model that I drive had the GPS built in already, and just needed the maps to activate the navigation. There’s an SD card slot in the console.

Traveling. Not so much lately. I did the Germany/Switzerland trip a little while back, but there’s nothing else on the near horizon, except a planned Disney trip in late August. Orlando is only about a three hour drive from me, so I tend not to think of it as travel.

Thinking about: Speaking of Orlando, I won’t get into the Pulse nightclub shooting very much, except to say: Orlando is my second home city (Regensburg is my third,) and some of the victims were friends of my friends. I love Orlando, and I want to live there again some time in the future. The attack was brutal and insane and it saddens me greatly. It also makes me very angry. I won’t say more about this, because the logical thread here gets into religion and politics, both of which are not topics I can be calm or cheerful about right now.

Listening to. Mostly Pandora at work, but I’ve been working on an upbeat playlist called Jim Rhatt for the iPod while I’m on the aforementioned treadmill or Devil’s Elliptical.

Recent concerts with Amelie have included Florence + The Machine, Panic at the Disco, and Weezer. The Cure is playing Miami early next week, but that’s the last show we’ve got tickets for until October (Sia) and November (the Pet Shop Boys.)

Regretting. That my car has a manual transmission. Almost all of the cars I’ve ever driven have had a stick shift, but this might be the last one before I go automatic. I’ve always enjoyed driving manual because I feel like I have more control. I’ve always preferred cars that were small and quick and maneuverable, like a White Star or the Millennium Falcon. In fact, whenever I downshift in a turn, I feel kind of like Han pulling this lever, which is obviously the Falcon’s shifter:

falcon-flight-smaller

The problem with driving manual is that I live in South Florida again, and I spend most of my drive time on the highway, especially I-95. This means there’s a lot of stop-and-go driving, and I spend a large percentage of my drive with my foot pushing the clutch all the way down while I coast along at eight or ten miles an hour. It’s very annoying, and I often get out of the car with an ache in my clutch foot.

What’s your preference, automatic or stick?

The Upfronts are coming, the Upfronts are coming!

On May 14, 2016May 14, 2016 By StevenIn Life At Home7 Comments

Next week, the television networks have their Upfront presentations where they detail their new fall line-ups. NBC and FOX will present on Monday, ABC on Tuesday, CBS on Wednesday, and the CW will close it out on Thursday. For many years, going all the way back to my time on LiveJournal, I did a series of posts during the week of the television network Upfronts to talk about all the new shows.

As the landscape of television and the shape of the Internet have changed, those posts have become entirely redundant. Most of the show renewal and cancellation announcements are out weeks or months before the Upfronts, and the new show announcements hit earlier and earlier as each network releases their loglines. The various entertainment blogs pick up the details from there, and then Facebook makes sure that everyone hears about everything. Last year, I gave up the idea of talking about each network in separate posts, and I did one combined post that talked mostly about the new shows that interested me.

This year is no different than last year- the announcements have been coming for several months already, and although we won’t know the new fall schedule until the announcements next week, we do know what shows have been kept, canceled, or ordered as new. The shows that interest me are few and far between, because it’s more of the same- more procedurals, more Shondaland, more fish-out-of-water family dramas. Several of the new show loglines sound like they’re copy-pasted off each other.

Moving on, then. Let’s start with ABC. Remember, I’m not listing every show, just the stuff I watch and some of the more popular ones. If your favorite show isn’t listed here, you’ll need to check elsewhere to find out if it’s coming back.

ABC:

Renewed: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fresh Off The Boat, Dr. Ken, Once Upon A Time, Black-Ish, the Middle, How I Met Your Murderer, The Goldbergs, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Modern Family.

Canceled: Galavant, Agent Carter, The Muppets, The Family, Nashville, and Castle.

I’m kind of glad to see Nashville and Castle getting cut, because I feel like they’ve both lost a lot of steam. I’m sad to see Galavant, Agent Carter, and The Muppets go.

Of the new shows the network has ordered, these three caught my attention. I will probably only watch the first one, and only until it gets canceled:

Time After Time – Based loosely on the novel and 1979 movie (which I loved,) this story starts when science-fiction writer H.G. Wells is transported to modern day Manhattan in pursuit of Jack the Ripper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUubEOWRPi4

Imaginary Mary – Jenna Elfman plays opposite her childhood imaginary friend (CGI’d, and voiced by SNL vet Rachel Dratch)

IMAGINARY MARY - ABC's “Imaginary Mary" stars Jenna Elfman as Alice. (ABC/Ed Herrera)

Designated Survivor – Kiefer Sutherland is the President of the US! He’s like seventh in line for the Presidency and a big attack knocks off everyone above him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGSGMyk8zZU

Still Star-Crossed – The newest Shonda Rhimes show is a sequel to Romeo & Juliet that picks up after the double suicide. This looks like it could be fantastic and horrible and ridiculous. Plus it’s got Anthony Head as a Capulet! I always like seeing Giles in a doublet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAo6RiWWF1Q

CBS:

Renewed: Elementary, Hawaii 5.0, a bunch of NCISes, Blue Bloods, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Madam Secretary, 2 Broke Girls, Mom, Scorpion, and The Big Bang Theory.

Canceled: CBS hasn’t announced many cancellations, but they did announce that Supergirl is moving to the CW, so I’m pretty happy about that.

Of the new shows that CBS has ordered, these two have my attention:

Macgyver – An entirely unnecessary reboot of the original show, this version follows a 20-something MacGyver (Lucas Till) as he “creates a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening.” In other words, it’s “Macgyver Begins.” I bet Liam Neeson trains him and everything.

The Great Indoors – Joel McHale plays an adventure reporter who has to take over the digital department of a magazine, where he’s the boss to a bunch of entitled millennials. I love Joel McHale, so this could be hilarious.

FOX:

Renewed: Lucifer, Scream Queens, Bob’s Burgers, Bones, The Last Man On Earth, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gotham, The Simpsons, Empire, Sleepy Hollow

Cancelled: The Grinder, Grandfathered, Cooper Barrett, Bordertown

I’m astonished that Lucifer was renewed. It’s a great show, and it’s very funny, but I didn’t think for a second that this one would make it through season one. I’m sad to see Cooper Barrett and Bordertown go, but I’m not surprised at either one. Cooper Barrett was light goofy fun, and Bordertown has gotten progressively weirder and more hilarious with every episode.

Fox is doing a show based on the Exorcist. For real. Other things they’ve ordered include a Lethal Weapon show and a reboot of 24. So far, I’m not really interested in any of their newly announced programs.

NBC:

Renewed: The Blacklist, Superstore, all the Chicago emergency services, Blindspot, Law & Order: SVU

Canceled: Heroes Reborn, Undateable

NBC has the highest count of interesting new shows ordered this year, even if they did jump on the time-travel bandwagon that this season seems to be all about. There are four that have my interest this year:

Powerless – The first comedy series set in the universe of DC Comics, Powerless is about an insurance agency specializing in regular-people coverage against damage caused by the crime-fighting superheroes. The ensemble cast also includes Alan Tudyk and Danny Pudi. I think this is going to be hilarious.

powerless

The Good Place – “When Eleanor (Kristen Bell) has a brush with the afterlife, she realizes she hasn’t been a very good person. So she works to fix that, aided by an “afterlife mentor” played by Ted Danson. I’ll give this one episode to hook me- the tone of the show could be very light or it could be very “Highway to Heaven.”

Midnight, Texas – From the books by True Blood author Charlaine Harris, this show is about a town in Texas with vampires and witches to psychics and hit men. I want to see at least a commercial before I decide whether to watch or pass on this one.

Timeless – From Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan, Timeless is described as an action-adventure series in which a mysterious criminal steals a secret state-of-the-art time machine, intent on destroying America as we know it by changing the past. The team that tries to stop him includes a scientist (Better Off Ted‘s Malcolm Barrett!!!), a soldier, and a history professor who use the machine’s prototype to travel back in time to critical events. Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother giving this a shot, except that Kripke does interesting television and Malcolm Barrett is fun to watch.

The CW:

Renewed: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Reign , Jane the Virgin, The Vampire Diaries, iZombie, The 100, Legends of Tomorrow,The Originals, Supernatural,Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl (coming over from CBS.)

Canceled: Almost nothing. They only cancel shows that nobody watches.

Five of the shows on the CW this fall will be comic book shows. I hereby dub them the DC Comics Network. (And incidentally, I wish that DC comics would stick to television where they get it right, instead of making terrible movies. Let Marvel rule the box office; DC is much better at episodic television.)

The CW has so many renewals that they didn’t order many new shows. They announced three pickup orders, and I’m not really interested in any of them. These two are the more interestong ones:

Frequency – “In this reimagining of the New Line Cinema film, a female police detective in 2016 discovers she is able to speak via a ham radio with her estranged father (also a detective) who died in 1996. They forge a new relationship while working together on an unresolved murder case, but unintended consequences of the ‘butterfly effect’ wreak havoc in the present day.”

Riverdale – Archie Comics characters are set in the present day. The network says it’s “a surprising and subversive take on Archie, Betty, Veronica, and their friends, exploring the surrealism of small town life — the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome facade.”

What do you think about all the new shows, reboots, and time-travel adventures?

The 2015 Television Upfronts

On May 16, 2015May 16, 2015 By StevenIn Pop Culture4 Comments

Every May, the five main American broadcast television networks get together at a big party called the Upfronts to show their new fall shows to advertisers. This is when we, the viewers, get our first taste of the new fall schedule.

Over the past several years, I’ve always talked about the Upfronts elsewhere on the Web. In years past, I would write one post for each of the five networks. In each post, I would list the network’s announced fall schedule and detail the new shows. I would always come up with a big summary post at the end with a grid showing what programs I would watch in the fall.

Over the last few years, things have changed. While I was in Germany, I couldn’t watch American television in real time. My TiVo was back in Florida, and I had to rely on a variety of Internet technologies to keep up with my TV watching.

Another big change over the last few years is the television landscape itself- I loved Community when it started, but now it’s not even playing on a normal network- it’s showing on Yahoo Screen. The idea of an Internet company making television programming blows my mind entirely.

Add to that the fact that most of the new programming that shows up on television is total crap, and you wind up with a very dull screen. Here’s a perfect example: This fall, the networks are producing at least three shows that are either based on or continuing the story from a previous movie: Rush Hour, Limitless, and Minority Report. All three could be good, but I really kinda doubt it.

The days of the program grid and the scheduled television are over. I’m not going to cover every announced new show, I’m only going to talk about the five new shows that I’m really excited about. Only three of them are based on comic books, so that’s something. Oh, and it worked out to one per network.

Going alphabetically, I guess I’m starting with ABC.

The Muppets – Bill Prady is one of the names behind this new television incarnation of the muppets. It’s being set up as a “documentary-style show that, for the first time ever, will explore the Muppets’ personal lives and relationships, both at home and at work, as well as romances, break-ups, achievements, disappointments, wants and desires; a more adult Muppet show, for kids of all ages.”

I was skeptical about the format until I watched the trailer. This looks like it will be a hoot, even though some of the new muppet voices totally take me out of the moment.

Next up is CBS.

Supergirl – “Kara Zor-El escaped her home planet of Krypton amid its destruction years ago. Since arriving on Earth, she has concealed the powers she shares with her (ahem) “famous cousin.” But now, at age 24, she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.”

The trailer for this appeared online a few days ago, and I think this is going to be a lot of fun. It looks closer in tone to Lois & Clark than it does to Smallville, and that’s a very good thing. Unfortunately, we have to wait until after football ends in November to see this one.

Next up, FOX.

Lucifer – “Bored as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the gorgeous, shimmering insanity of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals. Based on characters from DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint.”

Slated for midseason, this is another show that I was very skeptical about until I saw the trailer. Lucifer is a brilliant character, but I thought at first they were going to turn this into just another police procedural. CSI: Hell, in other words. This has potential, but only if FOX executives can keep their mitts off the production process as they move along.

NBC’s best new show is going to be:

Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris – This show has a 10 pm air time, and I saw it referenced once as a variety show. I don’t really know what that means, but I’m assuming there will be singing and dancing because it’s Neil Patrick Harris. I keep hoping he’ll be able to get some How I Met Your Mother gags in, but we’ll see.

I love pretty much everything that NPH does, and I have very high hopes for this one.

Last but not least, The CW has decided to spin a show off of their shared Arrow/Flash world.

DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow – “When heroes alone are not enough… the world needs legends. Having seen the future, one he will desperately try to prevent from happening, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat – one in which not only is the planet at stake, but all of time itself. Can this ragtag team defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known? The cast includes Victor Garber (The Flash); Brandon Routh (Arrow); Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who); Caity Lotz (Arrow); Dominic Purcell (The Flash) and Wentworth Miller (The Flash).”

There is so much awesome in this trailer that I’m kind of amazed that it got pushed to television so fast- it’s a Justice-League-esque show without most of the actual comics Justice League. Add to that a live-action Hawk Girl, live-action Firestorm, an Atom who actually shrinks, and a live-action Vandal Savage… I’m damned impressed. I kind of wonder who they’ll get to play Savage, though.

What do you think about these new shows? Are you getting burnt out on all the comics on television?

Megacon 2015, in Orlando, FL

On April 24, 2015July 23, 2015 By StevenIn Life At Home9 Comments

In the second weekend of April, Amelie and I headed to Orlando to attend Megacon, the third largest sci-fi/television/gaming/anime convention in the United States. I’ve been to many Megacons over the years, and my favorite things about them are primarily the panels and the costumes. They’re pretty crowded.

I love the panels because you often get to hear backstory about the filming of things, as well as bits of interesting life stories from the people on the panel. Plus the jokes… oh, such jokes!

This year, we attended four panels that were interesting. The first is Cary Elwes, best known for playing Westley in The Princess Bride.

The second was a special “Companions” panel which featured three Doctor Who names- Tony Curran, Karen Gillan, and Alex Kingston.

Next, we had an Arrow/The Flash shared panel, featuring Robbie Amell, Danielle Panabaker, and David Ramsay. In this photo, you can see that Robbie is wearing Batman underwear… and David is taking a picture of it.

Next was a Firefly panel, with Summer Glau, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, and the cardboard head of Nathan Fillion.

Lastly, we got to hear a nice chat with Stan Lee. About ten minutes in, Lou Ferrigno crashed the panel, followed by Michael Rooker (not pictured.) I’d like to point out that Lou Ferrigno is in his sixties, and he looks like he’s in his forties.

The rest of the photos in this post are all costumes. I took hundreds of pictures at this convention, but these were some of my favorites.

This is most of the Belcher family from Bob’s Burgers. They were only missing a Gene.

Oswald Cobblepot, at your service.

This gold Lamborghini was parked at the convention hotel, covered in Walking Dead stickers. I’m pretty sure it belonged to one of the Walking Dead cast members who was attending the convention.

Beetlejuice!

Griff Tannen.

A pair of scientists from Veridian Dynamics. (Science. Better.)

He was just killing time!

Run, Geordi, run!

Eddie Valiant and Roger.

Tetris!

A quiet moment between Joker and Harley…

This was one of my favorite cosplays- The Flight of the Navigator. He even had Max’s interface and the Puckmaren.

Jay and Silent Bob.

Bender Bending Rodriguez.

Doctor Strange, pre-Cumberbatching.

A rather astonishingly well done Silence and Madame Vastra.

Lando Calrissian.

Green plastic army men, complete with little foot-bases.

Number 9 from Futurama’s “Into The Wild Green Yonder.”

Anna of Arendelle.

The Arrow, Black Canary, and Arsenal, CW TV version.

I must confess that I’m not sure who this character is. I thought I knew, but when I checked the Internet to confirm, I discovered I was wrong.

Edit: A sharp-eyed friend spotted that this is Bishop, from the X-Men. I was so close!

A nearly full Serenity crew.

A tiny Eleventh Doctor, Rory, and Amy, along with a pint-sized Tardis.

A spot-on (and adorable) Jinx.

Static! I love this character.

Skeletor.

Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham. Yes, this is a real character- he first appeared in 1983.

Gru! (with a tiny Minion)

Chip and Dale, Rescue Rangers.

Jeoffrey and Khaleesi? I don’t know for sure, because I’ve never watched (or read) Game of Thrones.

Hawk-Girl.

The guy in the middle is Kuzco, and he’s carrying a tiny model of his summer home, Kuzco-topia. The lobster’s just a lobster. (Actually, I think he’s Sebastian from the Little Mermaid, but I’m not positive.)

This is a little dragon that I bought for Amelie. He’s super-cute, isn’t he?

Have you ever been to a Con? What was your favorite costume?

Last Weekend, In A Photo Gallery Nutshell

On March 20, 2013July 23, 2014 By StevenIn The U.S.5 Comments

While my inbox was exploding with new friends from being Freshly Pressed and listed in Friday Faves, I was out of the country, and mildly out of my mind. I’m planning on going back through all the comments and likes and follows from the Sci-Fi Expatriates post, but I just haven’t had the time yet. I got stuck for an extra night in Frankfurt last week because of flight delays, but that’s another post. That’s probably Monday’s post, actually.

The reason that I was in Frankfurt in the first place is that I was on my way to Orlando to hang out with some friends at Megacon, a pretty nifty convention for sci-fi, anime, gaming, and so forth. The big highlight of this year’s Megacon was a panel with the entire original cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation- Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Levar Burton, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Wil Wheaton, Denise Crosby, and even John DeLancie. Much fun was had by all.

Panels and friends are only part of the fun at conventions though- one of my favorite things about cons is all the people in costumes! People in fandom can be so creative, and I love to see what people get into. Generally speaking, I don’t get the anime and video game based costumes, but the stuff from comics, movies, and television I usually get right away because that’s my particular geekiness.

Since I only have two days between getting back from Florida and heading off to Frankfurt again (but planned, this time!) I’m going to cheat a bit and just show you guys a gallery of my some of my favorite costumes from the weekend. Make with the clicky to see captions!