Blog #9: The Lockie Awards For 2011

Blog #9: The Lockie Awards For 2011

 

Hey there friendly reader this is Chris writing his little blog again and in this instalment I am handing out my fictional 'Lockie' awards of excellence for the year of 2011 on a variety of topics. These of course are not real awards, but fake ones I intend to award at the start of every year to commemorate the year that just passed. These topics that the awards are given to are very random, simply cool things I liked in 2011, and a few pans as well. SPOILER ALERT!!! I will be discussing details about the topics I'll be discussing, so consider yourself warned. So here it is: The Lockie Awards For 2011

 

 

 

 

Best Television Drama Series: Breaking Bad

 

This series is easily my favourite series on TV, and it may easily become my favourite series of all time. This show gets better and better with every season, and in 2011 season 4 was nothing short of incredible. Bryan Cranston better get a 4th Emmy for his performance from the 4th season because no one deserves it more than he. Also Giancarlo Esposito, who played villain 'Gus Fring' better get an Emmy for his performance. He may be the greatest villain ever on Television. The entire creative team on 'Breaking Bad' deserves to be awarded for what they accomplished this season on the show. If you are not watching this show you need to be!!!

 

Notable Mentions: Son's Of Anarchy, Dexter (season 6 was a vast improvement from season 5) , Law & Order: UK, Doctor Who, Rescue Me (Great final episode!!), Fringe, The Walking Dead.

 

Notable Pans: True Blood. This series is a guilty pleasure of mine but I just didn't like season 4 in 2011. The story lines were very weak in my opinion and Sookies time with the 'fairies' was very bad and lame. Hoping things change for this series in 2012!!

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Best NEW Television Drama Series: Game Of Thrones

 

This fantasy series was better than I thought it could be. Writing is great, the actors are all solid. The show looks amazing, a little too heavy on the talking and less on the action for my liking, but I'm hoping they'll have more battles in the new season. I tried reading the novels from which this series is based but I got too bored, thankfully this series seems to be cutting the fat from the novels and getting to the point. Having not read the books allows me to appreciate this series more I think. Especially when it concerns the shocking death of a much beloved character!! Check this out!!

 

Notable Mentions: Hell On Wheels, Pan Am (I may be the only guy watching this show, but I'm liking it. Hopefully it does not get cancelled...), Person Of Interest.

 

Notable Pans: The Killing, Terra Nova, The Playboy Club (you cannot have a show about Playboy on network TV!!! HBO or Showtime was needed to make this series work!!

 

Notable To Watch: I have most of the episodes of 'Grimm' on my PVR, just need to find the time to watch them. But the show looks great and all the buzz I have heard seems to suggest that too)

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Best Television Comedy Series: The Big Bang Theory

 

funniest show on TV right now. nuff said!

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Best Actor in Television: Bryan Cranston from 'Breaking Bad'

 

This man may be the greatest actor ever in television. Walter White is one of the most flawed, complicated and sympathetic characters ever created and there is no other actor who could have played him in my opinion. He has won 3 Emmy's already and I am sure he is destined for #4 this year!!

 

Notable Mention: Peter Dinklage as 'Tyrion Lannister' from the series 'Game of Thrones'.

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Best Supporting Actor in Television: Giancarlo Esposito  from 'Breaking Bad'.

 

Notable Mention: Aaron Paul from 'Breaking Bad'

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Best Movie Of 2011 (Theatrical/DVD): Thor

 

This movie was so much better than what I thought it would be. Blending elements from the comic book, elements of sci-fi and fantasy just made for a great film. Chris Hemsworth was an excellent choice to play Thor. Tom Hiddleston was just as excellent as Thor's brother 'Loki' and Anthony Hopkins did a stellar job as Odin.

 

Notable Mention: Captain America: The First Avenger, X-Men First Class, Cowboys & Aliens 

 

Notable Pan: Green Lantern (I had such high hopes for this film. It was not terrible, some parts of it were OK, but as a whole it just did not deliver. They tried to do too much with one film and it just didn't work. I'll definitely give GL 2 a chance because apparently the studio has given the 'green light' for a sequel)

 

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Best Comic Book Series Of 2011: Batman

 

I was sceptical of this DC Comics relaunch that occurred in September, but the 'New 52' has proved to be the best thing that could happen for that company. I did not read many DC titles prior to this now half my comic stack is now DC titles.  Batman written by Scott Snyder with Greg Capullo as Artist has become my favourite monthly comic. Snyders storyline thus far has been amazing and Capullo in my opinion is currently the best artist in the business. Capullo is definitely doing the best work of his career.

 

Notable Mentions: Invincible, Action Comics, Irredeemable, FF, Red Wing, Amazing Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Captain America & Bucky, Daredevil, Hulk, Justice League, Justice League Dark, Detective Comics 

 

Notable Pans: New Ultimate Spider-man (I'm sorry I just didn't like this book.  No offence to anyone who does like it but it was just not my cup of tea)

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Best Podcast of 2011: The Atomic Geeks

 

In the world of podcasting this is a podcast I enjoy and is a must listen to when new episodes show up on iTunes. These group of Canadian dudes are hilarious and their show never fails to entertain. They also have their own website where listeners can interact with these guys and offer suggestions for episodes, like I did myself. If you are into nerdy discussions these guys do it great!

 

Notable Mention: Comic Geek Speak, iFanboy, Word Balloon, Hollywood Babble-on, Jay & Silent Bob Get Old, Smodcast, Breaking Bad Insider, Starbase 66.

 

 

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Best NEW Podcast of 2011: Nerd Lunch

 

I didn't forget you guys CT. Nerd Lunch is a podcast based on the great website 'Nerd Lunch' and is a part of 'The Atomic Geeks Network'. Like the Atomic Geeks these guys discuss a variety of nerdy topics every week and never fail to entertain. And if all goes well yours truly may be making a guest appearance in their rotating '4th chair' in a future episode. This is a great podcast and if you have not listened yet you better!!

 

Notable Mention: I Sell Comics ( a great new podcast from the 'Smodcast Network', recorded in the Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic book store in New Jersey. Hosts Mike and Ming are great to listen to.) Classic Film Jerks (from The Atomic Geeks Podcasting Network)

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Random Best Of The Rest:

 

Best Song of 2011: 'Rolling In The Deep' by Adele

 

Best Celebrity Who Annoys Me: Kim Kardashian. Notable Mention: Charlie Sheen. 

 

Best Book I Read in 2011: To be honest I don't think I read a whole book in 2011. I started a few but never finished any. I recently bought several Ben Bova novels and a couple Kevin Smith books so that will be what i'm reading in 2011. I read some Power engineering books this past year, does that count?? Why am I asking myself a question??

 

Best TV Mini-Series in 2011: HBO's 'Mildred Pierce'. I really like Kate Winslet as an actress and I actually enjoyed that mini-series.

 

Coolest Celebrity Encounter: Meeting my childhood hero Captain Kirk, also known as William Shatner at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo in June.

 

 

 

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New Years Resolutions for 2012: Lose more weight. Get my 5th Class Power Engineering Ticket. Read some books and read my huge stack of comics sitting at home.

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Well that is all for this edition of my Random Nerdness blog. This is Chrisloc1701 wishing you all the best in 2012. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and maybe I'll see you in the future!! Live Long And Prosper!

 

- Chris

 

 

Blog #8: My Take On Star Trek, Part I

Hey there loyal reader this is Chris bringing you the first part of 'My Take On Star Trek Essay'. There is so much ground to cover I have decided to break down the essay into parts, this one focusing on Star Trek: The Original Series. The first time I saw Star Trek I was just a little kid, maybe 2 or 3, I remember my Dad watching the original series Saturday afternoons on CBC. I was immediately hooked and since then have been a life long fan of the franchise. I would consider myself a 'Trekker' and I am very knowledgeable about most things Trek. However I am also a very critical fan of the franchise as well. I'm often asked by people which series are best, what movies are good, etc. So I have decided here and now to break
down the franchise and offer my opinions of each series and movie of the fabled Trek universe.

Star Trek: The Original Series:
The series that started it all back in 1966. Gene Roddenberry is credited as Creator, but some would argue that it was show writers/producers such as DC Fontana and Gene Coon who really made the original series the cult classic it truly is. Set in the 23rd century it follows the adventures of Capatin James T. Kirk played by William Shatner, as he leads the USS Enterprise on adventures. Leonard Nimoy stars as First Officer Commander Spock, a half human half Vulcan scientist. James Doohan as Chief Engineer Lt. Commander Scott or rather 'Scotty'. George Takei as 'Lt Sulu', Nichelle Nichols as 'Lt Uhura' and Walter Koenig as 'Ensign Pavel Chekov'. Back in the 60's it was rare to see such a multi-national cast of characters, and
with it being set in the future the Writers were able to tackle topics which normally couldn't be done on conventional TV. But with it being a Science Fiction series they were able to get away with a lot. It truly was
an original series. Unfortunately it was made in a time where special effects were in its infancy so by today's standards the FX is quite bad. However they have in recent years released a 'Remastered series' with
updated FX which really is awesome and worth watching. But again it was filmed in the 60's with a shoe string budget so the make-up, wardrobe andacting (at times) is very bad and a direct result of lack of funds, and also a lack of interest shown by Gene Roddenberry, especially in the shows 3rd and last season. Roddenberry by the 3rd year had pretty much given up on the show and their budget was cut even more resulting in episodes being constantly filmed on set and not on location. But if you can get past
all that and watch the show for it's heart and the great episodes they did do it is so worth it. The first season episode, 'City On The Edge Of Forever', written by sci-fi literary icon Harlan Ellison, is my absolute
favorite Trek episode of any series of all time. William Shatners performance in particular for that episode is stunning and proves what a great actor he truly is.

William Shatner for Prime Minister!!!

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My favorite TOS episodes you should check out:

- "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (Great pilot episode of Kirk & Crew)

-  "The Enemy Within" (Kirk separated into a Good and Evil version of himself)

- "The Menagerie, Part I & II" (Seeing footage from the original 'Cage' pilot, we learn what happened to Captain Christopher Pike and Spock is on trial for his life)

- "Balance of Terror" (First appearance of the Romulans)

- "Arena" (Kirk fights for his life against a giant humanoid lizard)

- "Space Seed" (Kirk meets his greatest enemy for the first time, Khan as played by the great Ricardo Montalban)

- "Errand of Mercy" (First appearance of the Klingon Empire)

- "The Alternative Factor" (The same man from 2 different universes threatens to destroy out universe)

- "The City on the Edge of Forever" (Kirk must make the ultimate sacrifice to save the future)

- "Amok Time" (Spock must journey home to marry his arranged marriage wife, but then fights Kirk to the death...)

- "Mirror, Mirror" (Kirk & Co are trapped in a evil parallel universe)

- "The Doomsday Machine" (A machine that destroys planets threatens the galaxy and only the Enterprise can stop it)

- "I, Mudd" (Harry Mudd returns with comical results)

- "Journey to Babel" (We get to meet Mr Spocks family for the first time)

- "The Deadly Years" (Kirk and crew must battle against rapid ageing while a stupid starfleet Commodore almost gets the Enterprise destroyed by Romulans)
- "The Trouble With Tribbles" (Tribbles are cute and cuddly and this episode is funny like no other Trek episode)

- "The Enterprise Incident" (Kirk seemingly goes nuts and the Enterprise is surrounded by Romulan ships. Spock seems to have turned traitor but not everything is as it seems...)

- "Day of the Dove" (Kirk must battle Klingons again while a entity feeds off their aggression)

- "The Tholian Web" (Kirk may have died, Spock is now in command and the Enterprise may be captured by the Tholians)

- "All Our Yesterdays" (It's a race against time as a star is about to explode and Kirk, Spock and McCoy are trapped in different time periods)
If you can get past all the dated aspects of this series it really is good at it's core. Some episodes are very bad, and if you are a new viewer you may want to stick with the episodes I recommend.
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The heart of this series really is the interaction between the characters and the actors who play them. The dynamic between Kirk/Spock/McCoy (Shatner/Nimoy/Kelly) really is amazing, and in the last season they added Scotty in more with that dynamic. If I could point out one glaring issue I have with Roddenberry's Star Trek is that the characters never seem to evolve or be expanded on to a certain extent. They just did their jobs and never really got involved with anyone. No one got married or had families. Sulu had a daughter apparently, but he was never seen to have had a family. Having characters that never moved on seemed not realistic to me. I would like to have seen Uhura hook up with Scotty, or something like that. I never understood the logic of having characters simply married to their jobs. Growth of a character allows the viewer something to relate to, and I feel that some people may not have been able to relate to the characters.

Gene Roddenberry created the series and the characters, but he did not create the heart of the series in my opinion. To make a real world analogy: Roddenberry was a biological father who was responsible for the birth of a child, but that child is raised by another person, and said child becomes the person they are based on the person who raised them, not the person who helped create them. Roddenberry came up with the original concept of the characters and the series, but it was the actors, and producers and writers like Gene Coon and D.C. Fontana who defined the characters and the series. Truth is Roddenberry has been given too much credit when it comes to Star Trek, and most of that credit was self praise he gave himself. Gene Coon died in 1973, and thus never lived to see Star Trek become the phenomenon it has become. He never attended a Trek convention, he never was able to tell his side of things. Had he lived I think Roddenberry would have been forced to share the credit with Coon, rather than take it all for himself. Gene Coon is credited for many creations on Star Trek which include the Klingons (in "Errand of Mercy"), Khan Noonien Singh (in "Space Seed"), Zefram Cochrane (in "Metamorphosis"), and the Prime Directive. Coon also had the position of doing rewrites for scripts, and as such his work touches many more episodes. This Trekker will never forget “The Forgotten Gene”

Gene Coon

Gene Roddenberry

Anyway this last June I got the chance to meet my childhood hero, Mr William Shatner at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. William Shatner was awesome at his panel. Shat came out on stage with a arm full of hot women in the green Orion slave girl make-up, very cool. R2D2 presented the Shat with a white cowboy hat from the Mayor of Calgary. Apparently the white hat ceremony is a big thing in Calgary. A guy behind me said "That's not right. R2D2 should not be giving him the hat. The mixing of universes is not right!"...wow, and I thought I was a nerd... Shat was great on stage and announced a special documentary series he has done interviewing all the Captains of the Star Trek series, I actually watched that last month and it was great. The line up for my picture with the Shat was crazy busy. When we got to get our pic with him I didn't get to ask him anything.There was a little boy who got his pic before us and after the pic the boy didn't know where his dad was and Shat said to me "Who does he belong to?" referring to the kid. That was it. It was very much get in and get out or get tossed by security. Shat just wanted it to be over, you could tell he had had enough at that point. Still very cool to be standing next to him!! The guy is 80 years old and the fact he still does so much is amazing to me.

Chris and his wife Crystal with William Shatner

The only other original series cast member I have met is the late great James Doohan, back at a Trek Convention in 1994 in Edmonton. He was very entertaining on stage and answered all our questions including his dislike for William Shatner. I got his autograph and he was very friendly and kind to us all. Like Shatner Doohan was Canadian. Doohan was also a veteran of WWII. I read his biography a few years ago, co-written by Trek novelist Peter David, Doohan opened up about his life and his military service for Canada. He was truly a remarkable person and a Canadian icon.

James Doohan

Another original series star who I admire is George Takei. One of the reasons I admire George Takei is not for his work on Star Trek or his work on the Howard Stern satellite radio show, I admire him because he took a very difficult step and admitted publicly that he is and has always been gay. He came out of the closet after spending most of his life in it and has become a huge star in the gay community. September 14, 2008 he married his companion of over 18 years Brad Altman. Walter Koenig ("Chekov" from Star Trek) served as Best Man and and Nichelle Nichols ("Uhura" from Star Trek) was the matron of Honor. As a fan of Takei and Star Trek I applaud this man for his bravery in coming out and being true to himself. I'm sure it wasn't easy, he comes from a time when Gay meant "Happy" and not "homosexual". But times have changed and he has changed with them. George Takei you are a great man, I am a fan and I salute you sir for being the great person you are.

Well that concludes my discussion on the Original Star Trek series and it's stars. As I said earlier this is just the first part of my take on Trek with more to come in future blog posts. They break down as follows:

Part I: Star Trek The Original Series
Part II: Star Trek The Next Generation
Part III: The Star Trek Movies
Part IV: Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Part V: Star Trek Voyager & Enterprise
Part VI: The Future Of Star Trek


And that is a wrap for me. Take care and see you in the future!

Blog #7: Atomic Wedgies

Blog #7: Atomic Wedgies

 

 

*** This & That ***

- Just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my Grandma and Grandpa LaBerge. It was 64 years ago they got married and changed history forever, because without them there would be no me and you would not be reading this blog. Sadly Grandpa Leonard passed away in 1997 so he is not here to celebrate this milestone, but I know he is watching from Heaven. 

 

 

- An 'Atomic Wedgie' is when you give someone a wedgie and stretch their underwear all the way up and wrap it over their face, while the rest of their underwear rides up their ass crack causing both pain to the victim and laughter to the one giving the wedgie. I've never received an atomic wedgie, but I did see it given to someone while I was in grade 7. I felt bad witnessing this but yet I couldn't look away or stop it. I am honestly wedgie free, people have tried to give me one and I've fought them off with my super-strength. Not that I'm trying to brag but the fact is I am a very big and very strong nerd. Beware...

 

- I've heard rumours that they are making a new 'He-Man' movie, based on the cartoon and not the 80's movie version. They better have my buddy Orko in this one. Orko was the comic relief and sometimes reluctant hero of the cartoon. He has no legs and flys/hovers around and is a magician whose magic most times creates more trouble than good. In the 80's movie he was replaced by the character 'Gwildor' who was a technology expert, but he was no where near as cool and funny as Orko. I'm starting a movement here and now: Bring Orko back!!!!

- I recently watched the movie 'Moon' starring Sam Rockwell. It's about this guy who lives alone on the Moon and is working for a company that mines an oil substitute on the moon. It's set in the near future. Through the movie it would seem that Rockwell's character is losing his mind. He's been living on the moon for 3 years all alone with the exception of the moon stations computer whom talks to him and tends to his needs. He can't even talk with anyone on Earth because the company's communication satellite is shot so all he can do is send and receive delayed messages. But all is not as it seems and maybe he is not losing his mind...or is he? I enjoyed this movie, I would give it a 3 out of 5 rating. It's not a great movie but it is good, and Sam Rockwell is a great actor you can watch as he acts alone for most of the film. Crystal, who is not a fan of sci-fi movies liked it too so it really is a movie anyone can watch. Moon is on DVD and Blue-Ray right now.

- I never did talk about Dan Brown's newest Robert Langdon thriller 'The Lost Symbol'. I loved it, it may not be as good as 'Angels and Demons' but it is better than 'The Da Vinci Code'. The villain in this book is the best villain Brown has created and there is a plot twist at the end that I missed completely when reading it. It's a great book and definitely worth a read and Dan Brown is still one of my favorite authors. 

- I also recently read W.P. Kinsella's book of short stories 'The Moccasin Telegraph' which was a hilarious read. It's a book about native people living in Hobbema and I haven't laughed so much while reading a book in a long time. Being a Metis myself and having seen true native culture at times growing up, Kinsella seems to be tuned into natives and how some of them live...which is ironic considering Kinsella is an old white guy who claims to never have been to Hobbema ever in his life. My Mom bought me another of his books of short stories which focuses on baseball, I am looking forward to reading that too.

- Random Thought: I just recently found out that the Canadian Federal Government spent $38 million to promote the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games to Canadians....my thought is that we have homeless people and families living in poverty in this country and that 38 million would have been better spent on them. Government a$$holes! Most Canadians already knew for years about the Games in Vancouver so why spend $38 million to tell us something we already know... unreal...

-  I've always wanted to create a science fiction series. I love to watch science fiction and I have come up with a great concept for a show. It takes place in the 25th century and primarily takes place in space and is a show about friendship, war and betrayal. I would focus on the human drama rather than the special effects. I've mapped out the entire story for the series and who the characters are and what happens to each of them throughout the show. One day I hope to complete my proposal and submit it to television executives.

- The new 'Star Trek' movie on Blue-Ray is so very awesome. I am an old school nerd but this movie is great on so many levels even the people who hate Star trek would like it. My wife Crystal hates Trek and often groans when I watch it, but even she liked the new movie. It was made by JJ Abrams and his 'Bad Robot' production company. JJ and Bad Robot are responsible for such TV shows as 'Felicity', 'Alias', 'Lost' and 'Fringe'. They make great entertainment and this film is no exception. Apparently a new 'Trek' TV series is in the works and I just wish 'Bad Robot' would develop the new series. It's hard to believe its been 6 years since 'Star Trek: Enterprise' went off the air. From 1987 to 2005 there was always a Star Trek show on TV. The problem with 'Enterprise' was that it was a good show but it's previous incarnation 'Voyager' sucked so badly that no one was tuning in to 'Enterprise'. Plus Enterprise changed too much of the established 'Trek' history that it turned off fans from it, myself included. But JJ and Bad Robot proved they could transform the Trek movies into something great again why couldn't they do the same with a Trek TV show? It would be awesome, I know it!!!

- I loved the James Cameron film 'Avatar' but I was forced to watch it in 2-D in Barrhead. Cameron has been quoted as saying they will be doing sequels to the movie. Avatar takes place on a moon called 'Pandora' which orbits a gas giant planet like Jupiter in the Alpha-Centauri system. The gas giant Pandora orbits, like Jupiter or Saturn has dozens of moons. Cameron has been quoted as saying the sequel may take place on another moon instead of Pandora. The question I have: If this take place on another moon is this really a sequel then? What makes the movie Avatar is the blue tribes people of Pandora, to go to another moon and focus on other aliens would not make it a sequel. Hopefully Cameron does not go that route, I want to see the humans soldiers come back to Pandora and the Na'vi (the blue tribes people) fight for their planet again...but I shouldn't doubt Cameron's vision. He truly is a genius and should not be second guessed.

- I really do not understand this on-line gaming thing. I know people who play 'World of Warcraft' or as it is also known as 'WOW', and I just can't get into it. I spend a lot of time on the computer but to sit there for hours on end playing a game is something I just can't do. From what I understand to get started you need to buy software and then pay a monthly fee to continue to play, although they are currently offering 'free play' right now. But from time to time 'WOW' will put out new software that is required to continue playing in addition to the monthly fees, which will come later on I would assume after the 'free trial' ends. To me this sounds like a rip-off. I would much rather buy a game once and play it all I want. People become obsessed with this game and I've heard some crazy stories. One guy I know apparently is so much addicted that he constantly calls in sick to work in order to continue to play. Apparently players go on 'quests' and to quit a quest before finishing is a bad thing, so this guy fakes sick and misses work in order to continue. Another guy I know also calls in sick from time to time in order to continue a 'quest'. But this guy is much more dedicated. WOW released new software known as an 'expansion pack' on a Thursday night at midnight. He sent his wife and children away for 5 days, made a special trip into 'Best Buy' to pick up his expansion pack at midnight, bought 30 cheeseburgers from a McDonald's drive-threw (or is it drive-through??) and went home where he spent the next 5 days playing WOW non-stop while sitting in his underwear and eating the cheeseburgers. He also reportedly never bathed for those 5 days...to me that's beyond being a nerd. I was curious about this on-line gaming thing and Facebook advertised some free on-line gaming games. I was not willing to shell out money to play WOW but other games named 'Evony' and 'Astro Wars' were free so I thought I would try them out. I lasted 15 minutes on each game then I quit, they sucked. If WOW is anything like those games I really do not understand how anyone could game like this. I had tried the 'Star Trek Online' role playing game for 3 months but I just couldn't commit the time to the game. You really have to dedicate a lot of time to get anywhere on that game. I'll stick with my Nintendo Wii, which you can also use to play on-line but I don't. WOW players can also text chat and talk with each other while playing, but I'll stick with Facebook for text chat. No offence to anyone reading this who likes WOW, I just don't get it. Although I may have to check out that new 'Star Wars' online game...

- Another thing I don't understand is cell phone text messaging. People spend so much to buy these cell phones then sit there for hours sending out text messages. To me that's crazy. I understand calling people and talking with them on the phone, and sending E-Mails and Facebook messages to people, and Facebook chat I also use, but to spend hours on a cell phone sending texts just seems silly to me. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but to me a phone should be used s a phone and that's it. Especially when you hear about the rise in car accidents due to people texting and driving...and the people who walk down the street without looking because they are busy texting and bump into people. And the people who cross the street without looking because they are too busy texting...this texting is getting out of control. I remember hearing about a school bus driver in Calgary I believe who crashed her bus (with kids on board) because she was distracted because she was texting and driving. Silly and stupid in my opinion.

- I've also heard a statistic that North American Cell phone users pay the highest cell phone rates in the world. It breaks down to this: If my Mom calls me on my cell phone on her cell phone she pays for air time and I pay for the same air time. Canadian cell phone companies double bill on each and every phone call. In other countries, say in Europe for example, if my Mom called me she would be charged for the air time and not me. In other countries you can have a cell phone with no minutes left on it which means you can not place a call. But others could call your cell and you can talk with them because they are paying for the air time, not you. So you could have a cell phone that receives calls but can not place them, with the exception of 911 calls which can always be made regardless if you have air time. We're really getting screwed over in this country in my opinion with cell phones.

 

- This last summer at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo I  got my pic taken with Jonathan Frakes, Captain Riker himself!! He even shook my hand and noticed my USS Titan shirt... awesome!! 40 minutes later I got my pic taken with Battlestar Galactica stars Micheal Hogan and Kate Vernon. I shook Kates hand then Hogan's hand and he even noticed my shirt. Then in his 'Colonel Tigh' character and Tigh voice he said to me "Hello Captain, well lets get this done!" which was awesome. As I left I said 'thank you' to them and Hogan replied "The pleasure was all ours". They were so nice and it was very cool to have met them.

 

 

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Have a great week and see you in the future!

 

- Chris

Blog #6: Bad & Great

Blog #6: Bad & Great

 

Hey now loyal reader(s) this is Chris again with yet another little blog to share with the world. Here is a list of my favorite great "bad guys" from both Television and Film. If you have a great bad guy that I missed be sure to leave a comment below!

 

- Dr Hannibal Lecter (from Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon)
This guy was so creepy and Anthony Hopkins played him so well. The scariest part is that there really are people out there like this...cannibalism is just a scary concept to me, and most people.

 

- Syler (from "Heroes")
He is a super powered serial killer. He takes powers from other super powered people by killing them and cutting their head open and removing part of their brain. He is the main bad guy from the show "Heroes' and is played to perfection by Zachary Quinto. He kills and has no problem doing it and is scary. his man super powers include: healing, tele-kinetics, he can tell when someone is lying, super hearing, he can turn anything into gold, and the list goes on and on.

-  Darth Sidious/ Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars movies)
This guy waited patiently and rose to become the Emperor, created the evil "Galactic Empire" and almost destroyed the Jedi Knights forever...

 

- Stewie (from "Family Guy")
He is a baby killer. He hates his Mom so much he tries to kill her from time to time. His ultimate goal is world domination. Plus he may be gay, which doesn't make him bad just confused which may fuel his rage.

 

- Khan (from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
Ricardo Montalban played Captain Kirk's greatest nemesis and was an awesome baddie. He left his mark as being the villain that caused Mr Spock to sacrifice his life to save his ship and crew.

- Bill (from Kill Bill volume 1 and 2)
This guy was a kung fu master and founder of the "Deadly Viper Assassination Squad", made up of his brother Budd and super babes Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox and Daryl Hannah. Played by the late great David Carradine

- Doctor Zaius (from the original Planet of the Apes film and Beneath the Planet of the Apes)
Played by Maurice Evans. This guy hated humans so much he performed experimental lobotomies and castration on them. He was the nemesis of Colonel Taylor, played by the great Charlton Heston.

 

-  Skeletor (from "He-Man")
He was He-Man's true nemesis. His goal was to take Castle Greyskull and all the powers of the "Elders" hidden within it. He always seemed to lose to He-Man but he definitely gets an 'A' for effort.

 

 

- The Joker (from The Dark Knight)
Played by Heath Ledger. He truly was great and it was the greatest Batman movie yet. It's a terrible shame that Ledger died...he was a great actor who was just starting out.

- Annie Wilkes (Misery)
Played by Kathy Bates. She was the worst number one fan ever!!! She tormented her love "Paul Sheldon" and did everything to him except rape him. She even blew away the sweet old Sheriff who searches for Sheldon. Sheldon after tricking her kills Annie after a hand to hand battle on the floor of her house, she was killed by Sheldon with a metal statue of her pet pig. But she was one sinister bitch played to perfection by Bates. 

 

- Vic Mackay (from "The Shield") 
He was the main character from "The Shield" but he is definitely a bad guy. He's a crooked cop and cop killer. He sold out his friends to save himself and his ex-wife, but he also a loving father and cool character.

 

- Adam Monroe (from "Heroes") 
Now he was a cool character. He was a drunk Englishman in 17th century Japan who was know as "Takezo Kensei". He is known through legends as being a great warrior but the truth is he was far from it. His power is healing which gives him long life and the ability to survive being blown up. In the 20th century he became known as Adam Monroe and wanted to create and release a biological plague on Earth to rid it of the excess human population. He was then locked away for 30 years for it, when he was released he wanted to release his bio-weapon again and was stopped by Hiro. He was then imprisoned by Hiro in a buried grave in Japan. Hiro later released Adam who managed to survive the lack of oxygen through his healing power. Adam was captured by agents of Arthur Petrelli who took him to Arthur. Arthur who has the ability to steal powers took Adam's healing from him and Adam aged 400 years in a matter of seconds and he died.

- Arthur Petrelli (from "Heroes")
He is the father to Nathan and Peter. He also tried to have his sons killed for disobeying him. Arthur was poisoned by his wife after she found out he had tried to kill Nathan. Arthur lay in an almost comatose state for 1 year but was able to get others to do his bidding by way of telepathy communication. He took Adam Monroe's healing power and was cured from his illness. After almost killing most of the characters on "Heroes" he himself was killed by Syler. Seemingly killed, he does have healing powers...

 

- 'Uncle Junior' (from "The Soprano's")
Tony Soprano's Uncle and former Don of New Jersey. Junior tried to have Tony killed at the end of the first season for working behind his back. He later shot Tony in season 6 in a dementia fueled state. Uncle Junior was last seen almost completely out of his mind in a prison hospital.

- Hal 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Hal was a cool intelligent computer assigned to the Jupiter mission. All Hal was was a voice and several glowing red eyes set out in key areas of the ship which allowed him to observe and interact with his human crew. But he begins to malfunction and systematically kills most of the humans on board his ship except for Dave Bowman. Bowman manages to shut down Hal a little too late...

- Darth Vader (James Earl Jones, Hayden Christensen)
He was a good man who became consumed with greed and jealousy and turned to the dark side. A lot of people are like this but he was different because he was a powerful Jedi Knight, he turned against his people and helped the Emperor to hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights. He was the Emperor's right hand man and helped to rule over the Empire with an iron fist. He used fear, intimidation and murder to get what he wanted out of his followers. He was cold, ruthless and evil.

- Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher)
She was a cold hearted bitch who ruled over a ward at a mental hospital. She drove one man to suicide and was responsible for having Jack Nicholson's character receive a lobotomy at the end of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo'c Nest".

 

- Ben Linus (from "Lost")
Ben looks like a little nerd but he can kick some serious ass. He also tells some serious lies all the time. He time traveled his way off the island, is able to communicate with the Smoke Monster and killed John Locke...truly a cool and interesting character.

- 'CSM' (from "The X-Files")
He works with aliens, has survived attempts on his life and may have fathered several of the characters on the show including the main character "Agent Mulder". He also tried to have Mulder killed on several occasions and shot his other son, Agent Jeffery Spender in the face for disobeying him.

- Tony Soprano (from "The Soprano's")
Although he is the main character of the show he is a bad guy for these reasons: He's a Mob Boss, he has killed many people including enemies, friends and family members and he is constantly cheating on his wife. But he is a great father and nice guy when he wants to be.

- Brother Cavil (from "Battlestar Galactica")
He is a sick and twisted cylon who hates humanity with a passion. He also tortured and removed an eye from the man who could be considered his creator/father and had forced sex with his creator/mother. He really is twisted and played to perfection by Dean Stockwell (Al from "Quantum Leap")

- JR Ewing (from Dallas)
This guy like to drink, sleep with women and make money. He also had his wife committed to an insane asylum and survived being shot and his own suicide attempt at the urging of the Devil...

- Mr Burns (from "The Simpsons")
He's old, he's twisted and he's animated. He is constantly the villain on the show.

- Daniel Linderman (from "Heroes")
Played by Malcolm McDowell, Linderman is a rich business man and member of "The Company". He has the ability to heal people with the touch of his hand but that doesn't make him good. His plan was to blow up New York which failed and he himself was killed when his brain was damaged by a guy who can pass through solid objects. Linderman is quite ruthless, cold-blooded and an expert on manipulation.

- Dexter Morgan (from "Dexter")
He is the main character but is a serial killer. But he is a good serial killer because he kills only proven murderers and rapists who manage to escape justice. He admits he is a monster but a controlled monster. The fact that he kills people makes him a bad guy even though he is a good guy.

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*** This & That ***

 

I am a devoted listener of 'The Atomic Geeks Podcast', and this last year I had submitted an idea for an episode. As a thank you I got an 'Atomic Geeks T-Shirt'. Thanks again Christian, Digio, Bloom and Downs for tackling this Geek idea from me. Unfortunately the shirt is a little small for my somewhat x-larger frame so that is why I am holding the T-shirt and not wearing it. But it will be placed on my wall-of-geekdom in my house.

 

 

 

End Blog#6. Take Care & Have Fun!

 

- Chrisloc1701

Blog #5: Explode Some Ewoks

Blog #5: Explode Some Ewoks

 

My Thoughts on: 'RETURN OF THE JEDI'

 

I remember it like it was yesterday. My parents rented a VCR from "Entertainment Galore", the local video store, and with the VCR they rented "Return of the Jedi". The vile gangster Jabba The Hutt kidnaps the lovely Princess Leia, it was a scary situation. That is until Leia comes out wearing a gold bikini and I felt something that I had never felt before. My eyes widened and my heart began to pound, I fell in love with the girl on the TV, the girl in the gold bikini. Carrie Fisher looked amazing and the bikini scenes and pictures stand the test of time. I've read that it was in fact George Lucas who designed the bikini and if true let me say to him: Thank you and god bless your brilliance. Not only did George Lucas create the greatest sci-fi franchise of all time but he turned myself and millions of guys like me on to women. He opened my eyes to women and made me realize they truly are Gods greatest creation. Thank you George and thank you Princess Leia, my first crush.

I read an article called "50 reasons why Return of the Jedi sucks" and it opened my eyes. It really is the worst of the original trilogy, and here are my reasons why: F#&k the Ewoks, they suck and their goofball cuteness really wussified the whole freaking franchise. In the previous sentence I made up a lot of words but that's OK, I don't have an editor. The Imperials should have massacred those Teddy Ruxpin wannabes. F^&k cute and cuddly this is Star Wars dammit. One thing I never understood about George Lucas is that this is called 'Star Wars'...WAR is implied in the title. It would have been cool had we seen some Ewoks explode or something during the battle. You'd think with those Imperial weapons and trooper training they would have taken out more Ewoks than they did. I just think if you are going to call your franchise 'Star Wars' you should really make them a PG film. The Wookie battle in 'Revenge Of The Sith' was so much better. Guess that's what Lucas originally had in mind for 'Return' but probably due to budget we were left with Ewoks. Also no matter how hot my first crush was parading around in that gold bikini her acting in that movie was terrible. Carrie Fisher herself later admitted to being all coked up while filming the movie, and I don't mean she drank too much Coca-Cola folks, I'm talking the white nightmare! And if Jabba the Hutt was really such a vile gangster why would his "Crew" be made up of Muppet rejects not cool enough for Sesame Street. Boba Fett was cool but that's it, the rest were all Muppet's. Tony Soprano didn't surround himself with Muppet's....And Jabba the Hutt sucked, a 1500 pound slug may seem scary on paper but in reality he was just silly. Although I did respect Jabba's eye for women. What was up with Mark Hamill's hair? He looked like a guy from the 60's auditioning for "The Beatles". And lastly the scene when Jabba and his crew were going to throw Luke and everyone into the sarlac pit...I'm I the only one who thought it looked like a huge vagina? In later years George Lucas put a computer generated monster in the pit and called it the sarlac...but the vagina pit is still burned into my mind. But either than that stuff it was a great movie.

 

After the events of 'Return Of The Jedi' the Ewok village was nuked... in my own fan fiction...

The best Star Wars movie was 1980's The Empire Strikes Back. Yoda was the only cool Muppet in the original trilogy and the ending, Luke gets his hand cut off and Darth Vader tells him "I am you father", one of the best scenes in movie history. What a great cliff hanger that was. And Han Solo was the coolest dude in the galaxy and he gets Princess Leia....he's the man!

 

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*** This & That ***

 

- I grew up watching Star Trek on CBC, but in 1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered and changed everything. It really was a great show and ended its run in 1994 after 7 seasons on television. From what I heard Paramount had signed a deal with its stars for an 8th season. Patrick Stewart (Picard) and Brent Spiner (Data) reluctantly agreed to an 8th season but no more. Paramount was apparently even considering bringing in other actors to replace Picard and Data for a 9th season, according to a former TNG staff writer. Ronny Cox who had played "Captain Edward Jellico" who took command of the Enterprise for 2 episodes would replace Picard and Elizabeth Dennehy as "Commander Shelby" would replace Data. It would have been interesting but a 8th season should have happened because the 7th season sucked and the show ended on a sour note because of it. Unfortunately it was business that destroyed the proposed 8th season. Paramount was set to launch their UPN television network and they wanted Star Trek to be its primary show, this new network was set to launch in January 1995. Problem was Paramount was already producing Star Trek: TNG and Deep Space Nine for syndication and couldn't put one of them on their network because of all the syndication deals they had in place. So the decision was made to end TNG at the end of season 7 and create a new Star Trek series for the UPN network. TNG ended in may 1994 with a lousy final season and final episode and the worst Star Trek series ever created was launched in January 1995: Star Trek Voyager. I'm sure if the paramount executives could have foreseen the end of UPN in 2006 and the poor ratings and reviews for "Voyager" they would have stayed with TNG for at least one more season.

 

- The following is a comic book movie idea that I would love to see adapted to the big screen: Mark Waid & Alex Ross's mini-series 'Kingdom Come'. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about 'Kingdom Come' was a mini-series set in the not so distant future in the DC Universe where a new breed of out-of-control super heroes have replaced Superman and company. But Superman and Wonder Woman and others have decided to come out of retirement to put an end to the madness this new generation of heroes has created and restore faith and order in the world. This leads to a epic battle between the faction of heroes Superman has created and a faction of heroes that follow Batman (who may not be on the same page as Supes). Lex Luthor has again assembled a group of villains to combat against Superman's quest for order, and Lex even forms an unlikely alliance with Batman!!?? Also there is an epic battle between the elder Superman and the still young and powerful Captain Marvel (Shazam). I recommend this comic book as a great read, I bought the trade paperback. This would make an excellent move and I would love to see 'Mad Men's Jon Hamm play 'Captain Marvel' and maybe George Clooney as 'Superman'. Bryan Cranston ('Breaking Bad') would make an excellent 'Batman'. Michelle Ryan (2007's Bionic Woman) is a prime candidate to play Wonder Woman.

 

- This last June my wife and I attended the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. That Saturday night we had a great supper at the hotel lounge, and while sitting next to the window we seen 'Innerspace' co-host Teddy Wilson walk by. I waved at him, he waved back and must have noticed my 'Shat For Prime Minister' shirt and gave us the Vulcan salute. We asked him to join us but he said he had to go. After I sent him a message on Twitter and he actually got back to me. He and Ajay are very cool guys! Sunday we attended the 'Innerspace' autograph session and got to meet and talk with Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson. I learned that Teddy was actually a child actor who starred on a 80's Canadian kids variety comedy show called 'You Can't Do That On Television', which was actually the show where Canadian singer/song writer Alanis Morissette got her start. I loved to watch that show as a kid!! They signed autographs and took their picture with Crystal and I.

 

 

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See u in the future!!

 

- Chrisloc1701

 

 

Blog#4: Hulk Smash!

Blog#4: Hulk Smash!

I have a long drive to work, I spend on average 2 and a half hours out of my work day driving to and from work. I'm also trying to lose weight so on my days off I try and walk 5 miles at the local walking track. The point is I have a lot of time on my hands to listen to stuff, and thus I bought an iPod and now I've been listening to podcasts. My two favorite podcasts are 'The Atomic Geeks Podcast' and the 'Nerd Lunch Podcast'. Recently the head of 'Nerd Lunch', a great guy known as 'CT' recently sent me a postcard from the USA with the cover of issue 1 of the 'Incredible Hulk' comic book on the postcard. So thanks again CT, the Hulk on a postcard is absolutely awesome.

 

 

 

 

Growing up I was a huge fan of comic books and my absolute favorite comic book was the 'Incredible Hulk' written by Peter David. I never missed an issue from March 1993 till January 1999. Peter David is an New York Times best selling author who is probably best known for his 'Star Trek' novels. David wrote the Hulk for 12 years from 1986 to 1998. Much to my disappointment he left the book over creative differences and wrote the best Hulk comic ever in his final issue. The Hulk character was created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby but it was writer Peter David that really defined the character and made him more than just a dumb green savage beast. Did you know that originally the Hulk was grey and not green. His skin color was changed to green because green was a cheaper color to print than grey. Peter David created a fascinating back story to the Hulk.

What every one should know about the Hulk- A Very Brief History:

Robert 'Bruce' Banner is a brilliant scientist. As a kid he was a victim of child abuse at the hands of his father, Brian Banner. After witnessing his father murder his mother in a fit of rage, young Bruce testified against his father at his trial sending him to prison. After growing up and getting a job with the military to develop a 'gamma bomb' Bruce's father Brian Banner received parole. Bruce allowed his father to live with him, hoping that he changed. Brian Banner was still very much upset with his son for having testified against him and sending him to prison, Brian attempted to kill Bruce but Bruce managed to kill Brian in self defense. This was just prior to Bruce becoming the 'Hulk'.

As a Military scientist, Bruce Banner was developing a 'gamma bomb' for the US military. On a dare teenager Rick Jones drove out to the gamma bomb to prove to his friends that he was not chicken. As the gamma bomb was ticking down to it's test detention Bruce Banner noticed the rebel teenager by his bomb facing (unknown to him) certain death. Doctor Banner raced out to the test field and grabbed the clueless Jones and they ran to the safety of a bomb trench. Banner managed to push Jones into the trench and to safety but he himself didn't fall into the trench in time and was blasted with gamma rays. After that when ever Banner became angry he was transformed into a savage giant monster known as the 'Hulk'.

Realizing the threat and potential that Banner/Hulk represented, military General 'Thunderbolt' Ross lead a team of military officers to capture the Hulk. The Hulk spent most of his time on the run from the military and from time to time fighting super villains or super heroes, his sidekick during many of his adventures was Rick Jones. Jones felt he owed Banner is companionship because it was he who helped to create the Hulk in a way. His greatest super powered nemesis is the gamma being who calls himself 'The Leader'. The Leader was a janitor who became exposed to gamma radiation and became green skinned, his head grew in size to accommodate his giant brain. The Leader was pure evil and used his super powered intelligence for his evil deeds. The Hulk often battled The Leader and despite his greater brain power the Leader was always beaten. Eventually Banner was separated from the Green savage Hulk. Free from the Hulk Banner married his girlfriend Betty Ross, who is the daughter of the military General who hunted him. But then Banner when it turned night time, he would transform into the Grey Hulk. The Grey Hulk was not as strong as the Green one, but he was a lot smarter. Banner and the Grey Hulk eventually relocated to Las Vegas where the Grey Hulk became an enforcer for the Vegas mob and became known as 'Joe Fixit'. Eventually the green Savage Hulk and the grey wise cracking Hulk merged with Bruce Banner creating a third Hulk, a larger green skinned version known as the Banner Hulk. The Banner Hulk had the savage Hulks strength, the Grey Hulk's wise cracking attitude and the brains of Banner. The Banner Hulk joined a secret super hero group known as 'The Pantheon' and eventually became their leader. Shortly after the Banner Hulk was visited by Janis Jones, the grand daughter of his sidekick Rick Jones from over 100 years in the future. She was sent to the past by way of Dr. Doom's time machine and her mission was to bring the Hulk with her to the future to help her and her friends defeat a super powered tyrant. The Hulk agreed but unknown to him the super powered tyrant was his future self. Apparently after nuclear devastation destroyed most of the world, the future Hulk became evil and more powerful and eventually made himself ruler of the kingdom of 'Dystopia', which was built over the ruins of old New York City. The future evil Hulk called himself 'Maestro' and the Hulk was almost killed by his future evil self, but the young good Hulk managed to send the Maestro back in time with Doom's time machine. He sent him directly beside the gamma bomb that created the Hulk at it's moment of detonation. The very gamma bomb that created the Hulk, also destroyed the future Hulk too. The Banner Hulk returned to the present but was forever changed by the events of the future, and he vowed never to become the Maestro. Banner Hulk and his wife relocated to the Pantheons secret headquarters, but eventually the Pantheon was torn apart by civil war and Banner and Betty fled. The Leader had been killed, but his spirit lived on through his apprentice who also had a large head with higher intelligence, he was known as 'Omnibus'. Omnibus through the Leader spirits direction tried to create a world war and turn the world's nations against one another. Seemingly the very war that destroyed the human race and created the 'Maestro' was unfolding. The Banner Hulk realized this and was able to stop Omnibus's plans and prevented the war that created his dark future. Thus he would not become the evil Maestro after all. Eventually Banner was once again separated from being the Hulk when he was pulled into a pocket universe created by Franklin Richards, son of the Fantastic Fours Reed & Sue Richards. Separated from Banner the Hulk was a new hulk yet again. He was green and had the savage Hulk's strength, but he was on the same intelligence level of the grey Hulk, but didn't say much. I'll call him Quiet Hulk. Eventually Quiet Hulk and Banner were merged back together. Banner was normal Banner, but the Quiet Hulk would emerge when Quiet Hulk wanted to. Betty Banner died from gamma radiation poisoning and Bruce Banner/hulk blamed himself. Betty's father, General Ross too blamed Banner and Banner/Hulk was once again a wanted man and General Ross once again started the hunt for the Hulk.

(It was at this point when Peter David stopped writing the book and I stopped reading it soon after. Peter David did return for a one shot Hulk special story called 'The End' which takes place almost 200 years in the future)

Despite stopping the war that would have changed him into the 'Maestro' the human race still went to war with themselves. Nuclear devastation occurred, killing almost all humans and all other super heroes. The Hulk fled in disgust and hid from the world by sealing himself (and Banner) in a cave. Decades and decades went by, Banner was able to survive because there was a small creek that ran into the cave. He didn't need food because the Hulk's regenerative powers prevented him from withering away to nothing. Banner was a prisoner of the Hulks disgust of the world. Banner when in his normal form was not strong enough to escape the sealed cave, and the Quiet Hulk wasn't going to let him out either. After decades of being sealed a alien android freed Banner from the cave and informed Banner that he was the last human alive. The android bid him farewell and left. Banner travelled all over North and South America for the next hundred years or so looking for survivors, but the android was correct. Despite his extreme old age Banner was unable to die due to the Hulks regenerative power. Banner tried to commit suicide several times but the Hulk always took over to stop him. Eventually Banner did die from natural causes, seemingly reunited in heaven with his Wife and all his friends and family. Banner's death was the final separation from the Hulk. The Hulk continues to live, the last survivor of Earth...all alone.

* Most of this history was established during Peter Davids 12 year run as Hulk writer. A loved every issue that was written during that time.

* I just recently started following the Hulk currently. I have been reading the 'Hulk' title featuring  the 'Red Hulk', who in human form is General Ross, and as the title suggests the Red Hulk's skin color is red. So far I am enjoying this series and they have just re-launched the Green Hulk in a new 'Incredible Hulk' title, where Hulk and Banner appear to be separated again. I'm going to give that series a shot, still have to read the first issue.

* In an effort to attract female comic readers during the late 70's ad early 80's Marvel Comics created a number of female characters such as 'Spider-Woman' and 'Dazzler'. They also created the 'She-Hulk'. She Hulk was a woman, green skinned and smart. Bruce Banner's cousin Jennifer Walters was a lawyer and was shot I think by the mob. Bruce being a scientist and not wanting his cousin to die decided to give her a blood transfusion. Bruce knew the healing power that the Hulk had would be in his blood and he hoped that that would be transferred to Jennifer. It worked, she was healed and transformed into a green skinned, green haired super powered version of herself. She was known as 'She-Hulk'. She Hulk went on to have her own comic and her own adventures. For a time she was even a member of the 'Fantastic Four', 'Avengers' and 'Heroes For Hire'. Jennifer Walters continues to work as a lawyer and most of her clients are super people. She-Hulk was featured many times in the 'Hulk' comic, she got a new series a few years back. Peter David even wrote for the newer She-Hulk comic but it was eventually cancelled.

* I really didn't like the 2003 'Hulk' movie. The script was terrible and the movie sucked, but I did like Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly as 'Bruce' and 'Betty Ross'. The 2008 version of the 'Incredible Hulk' was a little better script wise and the special effects were better too. But I didn't like Edward Norton or Liv Tyler as 'Bruce & Betty'. Wish they had gone with Bana and Connelly again. Not sure if they are making another Hulk movie, but the Hulk will be a part of 'The Avengers' movie with Mark Ruffalo taking over as Bruce Banner. The Avengers will be out May 2012.

* Did you ever see the original 'Hulk' TV show? It was very poor quality but a TV classic all the same. Gotta love that green make-up!

 

Well that is all I have to say about my favorite character and favorite comic book.

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*** This & That ***

 

- My Son Bailey and I meeting Levar Burton last March at the Edmonton Comic & Toy Show.  March 20th, 2011 was my first time attending the show and we had a great time, lots of stuff and not enough money. Got an autograph from Levar Burton, aka 'Geordi LaForge' from Star Trek: TNG. I also got my pic taken with him. He was truly a cool guy and extremely nice, considering he spent the whole day signing autographs. WWE's 'The Dudley Boys' were also there and my son who is a wrestling fan was very happy to see them, they too were nice. This was a great afternoon. My only hope is that next year they may extend the event to 2 days and have a Q&A panel for their star attraction. Would have loved to ask Levar Burton some questions. But still it was a Great day!! __________________________________________________________

Well that's all for now folks. Have a great day!

- Chris

Blog#3: Just Give It A Chance

Blog#3: Just Give It A Chance

 

You ever watch something and really like it, and you tell everyone how great it is and everyone blasts you for being wrong? Some movies and TV shows are bad and there is no arguing that, but there are instances where I think people and critics are just wrong. Here are some Movies and TV shows that were panned or cancelled because people just were not watching them.

- Despite the fact that Mel Gibson had a melt down and proved to the world that he may in fact be insane, he has done some great films and among those are the 'Lethal Weopen' franchise. It is one of my favorites with LW 1 and 2 being the best. But 3 and 4 tend to get dumped on as being bad movies but I still loved those films. Granted they were not as good as the first 2 but they were still great in their own ways. 3 was Rene Russo's big debut in mainstream films and she looked so hot in those tight jeans, her ass actually was speaking to me. And 4 was a great final film for the franchise and I loved the final fight with everyman Danny Glover & Mel Gibson fighting super ninja Jet Li. That final fight ranks in my top 10 of movie fight scenes.

- X-Men 1 and 2 are seen by most as being the best, but I actually liked 3 better than the first 2, even though almost everyone says that movie sucked. The first movie was the establishing film so I understand there was going to be more talk than action. 2 was X-Men versus the humans essentially. 3 was mutant versus mutant which I loved, with the exception of them killing off Professor X and Cyclops, that was dumb.I thought Ellen Page was excellent as Kitty Pride (Shadowcat), a character I love from the comic books. There is no doubt the film could have been better, but it was still a great film in my books. Also 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' was a great film too in my opinion even though it was shit on. I especially loved the final fight between Logan/Logan's brother fighting Deadpool, that was awesome although a little short. In fact the whole film was very short. But it wasn't terrible in my opinion, but definitely the weakest film of the franchise thus far. The next movie about Wolverine apparently will take place in Japan, from what I've heard and that will be very cool. Wolverine's Japanese stories are among his best. 

 

- In 2002 a new 'He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe' was launched and I was watching it. They used story and character elements from the original 80's Filmation series but updated it for a modern audience. They did a fantastic job and they created a series that could be enjoyed by both adults and children. It lasted 1 whole season and only half of a second season. I'm not sure why it was cancelled, poor ratings I would assume. The toys flew off the shelves in my area so I'm not thinking that was an issue. Apparently they had some great story arcs in place for the end of season 2 where the Snake Men story arc was to be concluded. Season 3 was to see the rise of Hordak and his Horde army and their take over of Eternia, with the season ending with Skeletor and He-Man teaming up to defeat their common foe, and Skeletor killing Hordak. Then the series was to conclude with season 4 going back to the 'Skeletor versus He-man' storyline. This is one of my favorite animated series of all time, definitely surpassing the original series. I hope one day they go back and finish this series, or perhaps finish it in comic book form. I had also heard plans for a new re-booted live action He-Man movie...

 

I know this is not He-Man, but his sister She-Ra.

- There are 3 comedies on TV I loved that never saw it past season 1. In 1999-2000 NBC had a comedy called 'Stark Raving Mad' starring Tony Schalhoub ('Monk', 'Wings') as a famous yet slightly crazy mad horror writer suffering from writers block named 'Stark', and Neil Patrick Harris as the straight man book editor forced to work with this lunatic by the publishing company because they want a new book asap. It ran for 22 episodes and I loved it. I watched every week then it just never got renewed...Had NBC foreseen both actors later success I think they would have kept it. Great funny show!! Also in 1995 the UPN network had 2 comedies I loved to watch every week but they too never got renewed for a second season: 'Pig Sty' about a bunch of dudes renting a large apartment with a very hot female super. 'Platypus Man' starring the late Richard Jenni in the title role about a guy who hosts a cooking TV series. Both shows were great fun to watch and it was a shame they got cancelled.

- The X-Files spin-off 'Lone Gunman' starring the guest stars of the X-Files who are nerd conspiracy theorists who are friends of Agent Mulder's. FOX gave theses Canadian dudes their own show as a mid-season series and it never made it past season 1. This was a great show and I watched every week. It made its debut in January 2001 and ironically the first episode featured a plot about a sinister group of Government agents hacking into a planes computer system to force the plane to crash into the World Trade Centre.... 9 months BEFORE 9/11!!!!!!!!!!! This was actually probably why their series got cancelled. During that point in American history it was not patriotic to question the Government in the wake of tragedy, and this series was mostly about Government and/or industry conspiracy's.

- Also 'Spider-man 3' may not have been as good as 1 or 2 but it was not that bad the they needed a reboot!! I wanted to see the further adventures of Tobey Maguire as Spider-man, not some young guy and Spider-man back in High School, I am very skeptical about this new movie that is coming...although Denis Leary as 'Captain Stacey' is brilliant casting in my opinion. Sam Raimi built a great franchise with the first 3 films and now none of that means anything anymore apparently.

 

And thats all for "Just Give It A Chance"

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*** This & That ***

 

- Just want to say Congrats to my 'little' sister Brianna and her husband Sebastian on the birth of my nephew Damien. I am a very happy and proud Uncle!

 

 

- We are a little behind sometimes in Canada when it comes to TV, but this last Sunday the final episode of 'Rescue Me' aired up here. I have followed this show since season 1, and although this series has had it's highs and lows I have stuck with it and I'm glad I did. This final episode was a perfect wrap up of the series, although it was a sad one as the story focus on the final episode is on the death of a main character, but it was a fitting end to this show. The last scene actually brought a tear to my eye and was a great connection to the first scene of the first episode... brilliant. I am going to miss this show, but I'm glad they ended in a great way and this final episode was one of the best I've ever seen. I hope Denis Leary & company develop another TV show.

-  I want to give a shout out to my favorite late night TV show, and that is 'Conan' on CTV here in Canada, TBS in the states. I have been a fan of Conan for a long time, but with his falling out with NBC and his move to 'basic cable' on TBS I feel he has reinvigorated himself. Having Andy Rictor by his side as his announcer/side kick is just awesome. They truly are the dynamic duo. 2 weeks ago they shot their show back in New York City and I was laughing my ass off each and every episode. The 'Mastrubating Bear', a recurring character on his former 'Late night With Conan O'Brien' show that was filmed in NYC even made a return appearence. Very fun fun stuff. Conan is my go-to-guy for late night TV.

 

- I'm spreading the word on yet another podcast which I have discovered and now enjoy. Now don't get me wrong The Atomic Geeks Podcast and Nerd Lunch Podcast are my weekly must-listen podcasts but I do have a long drive to work and I do try and put in as many miles as possible at the walking track, so I must listen to other podcasts on occasion. The podcast I m referring to is yet another podcast from the 'Smodcast' network and it is called 'I Sell Comics', and it is a podcast recorded in New Jersey at Kevin Smith's 'Secret Stash' comic book store. A podcast about comics recorded at an actual comic book store during business hours. A very fun concept and the hosts are fun. The guest stars of this show so far have been customers who join in on the conversation. I still have to go back and listen to the first 3 episodes, and I'm hoping that Kevin Smith will stop in. This show may be a companion piece to the upcoming AMC reality series being filmed there, and apparently the hosts of this podcast wil be on that too. Anyway this is a great listen and I reccomend it.

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Anywho that is all for now. See you in the future!!

 

-Chrisloc1701 

 

Blog#2: Remember To Remember

In Canada on November 11th we have Remembrance Day. A day to celebrate and remember our veterens of past conflicts and our current soliders who continue to serve our country, defending our freedoms and the freedom of others. A sad fact is that in 2010 it was the first Remembrance Day with no WWI veterans. Although the 2010 events have passed tomorrow there will be another Remembrance day.  Remember to remember on November 11th. Most Remembrance day ceremonies run between 10-12 at most local Legions. The life and freedom we all take for granted was made possible by the blood and sacrifice of our brave veterans who answered the call of their country, and stood against the forces of darkness and tyranny. Anyone heard of the Holocaust?? Don't think for one minute that Adolf Hitler and his sick/twisted Nazi Regime wouldn't have done the same thing to Canadians had they captured this country. Pearl Harbour: We all know what happened there. Imagine if Japanese forces had attacked Vancouver or Victoria.  Our Grandparents and Great-Grandparents and the following generations were spared that evil thanks to the veterens who stood against the Axis Powers.

 Most of us are too young to fully understand and appreciate the sacrifices our veterans and their families made. Parents lost children, children lost parents, all in the name of freedom. My Grandpa Leonard LaBerge served in WWII stationed on Vancouver island. Thankfully he never saw conflict, although I am told that he did see Japanese warships approaching Canada from time to time. I never met my Great Grandpa Ken Lockhart, he died I think before my Dad was even born. I believe he was a veteren of both WWI and WWII. I know he was a P.O.W. in a German camp. My Granny Lockhart once told me a story about GG Ken being on patrol with his friend and was ambushed by a German solider. The German shot and killed his friend but GG Ken shot the German and killed him. My Grandpa Gordon Lockhart served in the army too but thankfully he had been too young to have served in WWII.

As a kid I remember November 11th ceremonies were always important in my family. I remember being annoyed that my parents were making me spend a part of my day off of school to go to ceremonies. Mom and Dad told me it was very important to remember and honor our veterens. The reason most of us get a day off of school or work is because of our veterens. As the years passed I began to appreciate November 11th and honor that day when possible. There have been a few years when I couldn't attend due to my work schedule, at BRL they made us take our November 11th stat at Christmas time. They would put it to a vote and I would vote against it, but time off at Christmas was more important to more people so I was forced to work. When possible I take my children to ceremonies and tell them about how important it is to honor and remember our veterans.

Also as a kid I remember thinking that 'it would be cool to fight in a war' and 'it would be cool to kill bad guys'. God bless Steven Spielberg, his movie 'Saving Private Ryan' really opened my eyes and made me appreciate what our veterens went through, although the movie was told from an American perspective.

 Sadly there are only a few WWII vets left which makes it even more important now than ever to remember and show our respect to all the veterans and their families. As a kid I remember the Legion being full of WWII vets from the Fort Assiniboine area, now there is almost none left. Someone said that our WWII vets are leaving us and like the vets of WWI there will one day be none left so it will be up to us who remember to pass along the stories of our vets. The sacrafices they made must never be forgotten.

 Even today our current troops and future veterans continue the tradition of service and fight for others freedoms and well being. Take the time this year on November 11th to show your respect and appreciation by attending a Remembrance Day ceremony near you. Chances are there will be a veteran there and that veteran will appreciate your presence and respect.  And if you cannot make it to a service, take 2 minutes out of your day to take a moment of silence and remember.

- Chris

Blog#1: Brain Fartlets

- Hey there who ever may be reading this, welcome to my first blog on Blogger. As the title suggests this is a blog about randomly nerdy stuff that I see and deal with in life. Since this is blog #1 why not start out with a little paragraph that may help you, the reader, get to know me a little, the writer. Being a bit of a geek some of my heroes growing up were the following: Gene Roddenberry (creator of "Star Trek") and George Lucas (creator of "Star Wars", Princess Leia's Gold Bikini and "Indiana Jones"). I admired these guys because they obviously had great imaginations and their creations were legendary and inspiring. Now there is a new guy who fits right in with the likes of Roddenberry and Lucas and his name is JJ Abrams. Abrams helped to co-create one of my favorite shows "Lost", which was truly one of the most unique shows in television history. And he also co-created a great show which I also watch called "Fringe" and which he also created the theme music for as well as directing and writing the newest "Star Trek" movie this year, and the sequel to it to be released in a year or two. He co-created another show called "Alias" starring Jennifer Garner which I have just got the DVD's and I recently watched. This guy is a genius and a God to all geeks, he's also a funny guy and I've heard him interviewed on the "Howard Stern Show". JJ you are awesome.

- Just re-watched the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" movie and it was good. It wasn't as good as the other X-Men films in my opinion but it was good. My only criticism is that it was too short. The movie is only 1 hour and 40 minutes long which is quite short considering it is supposed to be a movie that chronicles the life of Wolverine before losing his memory and joining the X-Men. Also the final showdown between Wolverine and 'Deadpool' was awesome but too short. It's a great comic book movie but should have been better. Apparently they are making a 'X-Men Origins: Magneto' movie which could be cool if done right and they are also doing a second Wolverine movie. I also loved 'X-Men First Class' but I still wish they would do a sequel X-Men movie that would see the return of Professor X and Cyclops and maybe introduce some cool X-Men comic bad guys to the movies like the 'Sentinels' (giant telephone pole tall robots that hunt mutants) or 'Apocalypse' (an ancient egyptian mutant who wants to rule the world). Overall the X-Men movie universe is great and it's a great time to be a nerd!

- The great space debate: A lot of people think it is a waste of time and money exploring space. It is true when there are billion dollar launches that burn up in space or space telescopes that don't work it can be very costly and seem to be a waste, but we need to keep reaching for the stars. The main reason being that our planets non-renewable resources are already running low and maybe, just maybe theres alternatives out there to help us. Not to mention the fact that our planet is already becoming over crowded with people, 7 billion now...and we might just need a second home, especially in another solar system. You know the phrase: Don't put all your eggs in one basket, well our race is in a fragile position right now. If our sun were to go super nova (explode) or simply were to burn out we would die. Our entire race would be wiped out and there would be nothing left of us, except for maybe a few man made satellites that have left our solar system. The space program is an investment in our future and every little step we take is a big step for future generations.

- Smoking policies: As a non-smoker I'm loving our Government changing the rules for smokers so we do not have to put up with cigarette smoke in our restaurants, bars and work places. I'm not against smokers and if people choose to light up that's their business, but I don't think I or my family should have to be subjected to a cancer causing smoke just cause I want to take my family out to a restaurant. Some argue that booze is worse than smoking and why doesn't the government ban that from restaurants and bars. If the Government did away with booze altogether I would be fine with that too. Booze and smoking have destroyed many lives and torn apart families and if the Government did away with them that would be fine by me. But the good ol' government that is looking out for our best interests would never ban smokes or booze cause they bring billions into our economy...

- May 2005 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released. At that time George Lucas stated that in 2008 or 2009 there would be a live action Star Wars television series. The series was supposed to take place between movies III and IV and would not feature any main characters from the movies. The series would most likely feature 'other' Jedi that escaped the Jedi holocaust at the hands of the Empire and Darth Vader. Well it is 2011 and I have yet to see anything about a live action Star Wars TV series. Apparently scripts have been written but they are waiting for more technology to be developed before proceeding...  And no offense but the animated 'Clone Wars' cartoon show but it is not the same. C'mon George you told us we were getting more Star Wars so where is it???

- CBC sometimes comes out with a great series and among them is the 80's TV shows about the Degrassi. First there was "Kids of Degrassi Street" then there was "Degrassi Junior High" and finally "Degrassi High". I loved watching this show as a kid and never missed an episode. My parents were cool with allowing us to watch the shows because they really did cover some controversial topics such as: drug use, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, racism, and divorce. Some kids I know were never allowed to watch that show. The Degrassi series really paved the way for shows like "Beverly Hills 90210" since it was also broadcast in the states and around the world. When I was Germany in 2001 I saw an episode of "Degrassi Junior High" on German TV dubbed in German. Pretty good for a little Canadian show on the CBC.


Anywho that is that for Blog#1. See you next time, same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel!

- Chrisloc1701