A new reality game show is on CW, called "13-- Fear is Real". It's kind of a combination of the show Fear that was on MTV a few years ago and The Mole with a little Murder in Small Town X thrown in.
I'd suggest that you watch it if you liked any of the above shows, but I'm not here to recap it (plenty of places for that on the web already). I'm writing about it because I just read a post on a message board that annoyed me. The poster didn't like the show, which I didn't have a problem with-- people's tastes vary, no big deal. What I did have a problem with was the poster saying how the contestants were all stupid and young, the blood on the walls was clearly fake, the plants and forest looked fake, how when a couple of girls who were being 'buried alive' in coffins weren't actually being nailed in the coffins because despite the hammering there were no nails....
Gee, really? You mean the television producers didn't smear the walls in an old cabin with real human blood (and you can really tell that? Really?)? And you're really surprised that no crotchety overweight 40 year olds like yourself aren't on the show? Shocking. I mean, you'd obviously be so much more interesting to watch on TV instead of the hot 19 year old blond model who is willing to suspend disbelief enough to react to what the producers are putting out there. It'd be so much better to watch someone breaking the mood by continuously pointing out how they know that they're not alone since there's a cameraman with them at all times and that this is just a game show so they know that it's all fake.
*shakes head*
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Chasing Crichton
Success!!
My copies of Scratch One and The Last Tomb (previously published as Easy Go) came and I also found Odds On and Drug of Choice for about $50 each. That sounds like a lot for 35+ year old books that average about only 200 pages each, but Odds On was usually in the $200 range when I could find it on sites like Alibris or Amazon Marketplace. Seeing as how these are books I thought I'd never get a chance to read and that I could probably sell them again for roughly the same amount it seemed like a bargain. They both were in surprisingly good shape. The spine on Drug of Choice wasn't even creased! These aren't first printings so that's probably why they weren't in the >$100 range but I don't care. I'm just glad I found them. The only one I didn't get so far is The Venom Business (and it's the last John Lange book that I have to get). The cheapest I found it for was $65; that seems a bit high and to be honest it seemed to be more of the same as Grave Descend and Zero Cool (and Easy Go and Scratch One). I can wait and see if a cheaper copy comes along or if Hard Case Crime does a rerelease. Odds On is different because it was his first book and it's got a heist theme. Drug of Choice has a medical theme (and I do enjoy his MC's take on medical culture). Those two seemed worth the higher price tag.
I'm most pleased that I was able to get a signed book. As I was looking over the ebay listings for books MC signed, I was concerned that there was no way to tell if the signature was a forgery or not. I have a few examples of MC's signature verified by experts online and I could compare them with the pictures on ebay. Of course, the whole point of a good forgery is that it LOOKS correct and I'm no expert so that's not foolproof. Luckily, there are Franklin Library editions of his books that come with a publisher certified signature. Even that concerned me a little as in 1993 there was a "Gift Edition" of Jurassic Park that came signed and billed as personally autographed by MC-- but in reality the 'signature' was an autopen signature. That is, a machine programmed to sign MC's name wrote the signature in those JP books (MC's website confirms this. He regrets the decision to do the autopen edition as one he didn't think through carefully). I was concerned that the Franklin editions were autopen signed. But I did compare pictures of the signatures in some ebay listings of the Franklin editions and there is some variation in the signature so it's highly unlikely that they were signed with an autopen (unlike the JP signatures which were all the same, down to the little loop on the "C" and tick mark as the pen is lifted off the page). If they were, they had to have had different machines with slightly different signature programs. I don't think they bothered to do that. And they do state that it was personally signed by the author, after all.
So $65 and careful scrutiny of the ebay listings later, I am now the proud owner of a Franklin Library signed first edition copy of Rising Sun. I think that I got an awesome deal. Granted, my copy isn't still sealed in plastic nor in perfect near mint condition. I can tell it's been read, the gold leafing in the sides show some dings and rubs and the corners of the cover show some stress. It probably rates as a VF or even F copy. But I like it this way. If it were still sealed in the plastic I'd probably never open it and never be able to see the signature; and my whole object in getting it was to draw inspiration from it by thumbing through it. Plus it's a book that I really like. I had a chance to get a Franklin edition of The Andromeda Strain but I haven't read that one yet. Also, I don't view that book as particularly interesting. Yes, it was the first book MC released under his own name and not a pseudonym but it's just about a modern day plague. The premise isn't particularly novel. Robin Cook wrote Outbreak. I haven't read that one, either (hmm, I guess plague books don't interest me...) but the idea is about the same. Rising Sun-- who else would have written that one?
So I'm happy with what I found. Now if inspiration to write would just strike....
My copies of Scratch One and The Last Tomb (previously published as Easy Go) came and I also found Odds On and Drug of Choice for about $50 each. That sounds like a lot for 35+ year old books that average about only 200 pages each, but Odds On was usually in the $200 range when I could find it on sites like Alibris or Amazon Marketplace. Seeing as how these are books I thought I'd never get a chance to read and that I could probably sell them again for roughly the same amount it seemed like a bargain. They both were in surprisingly good shape. The spine on Drug of Choice wasn't even creased! These aren't first printings so that's probably why they weren't in the >$100 range but I don't care. I'm just glad I found them. The only one I didn't get so far is The Venom Business (and it's the last John Lange book that I have to get). The cheapest I found it for was $65; that seems a bit high and to be honest it seemed to be more of the same as Grave Descend and Zero Cool (and Easy Go and Scratch One). I can wait and see if a cheaper copy comes along or if Hard Case Crime does a rerelease. Odds On is different because it was his first book and it's got a heist theme. Drug of Choice has a medical theme (and I do enjoy his MC's take on medical culture). Those two seemed worth the higher price tag.
I'm most pleased that I was able to get a signed book. As I was looking over the ebay listings for books MC signed, I was concerned that there was no way to tell if the signature was a forgery or not. I have a few examples of MC's signature verified by experts online and I could compare them with the pictures on ebay. Of course, the whole point of a good forgery is that it LOOKS correct and I'm no expert so that's not foolproof. Luckily, there are Franklin Library editions of his books that come with a publisher certified signature. Even that concerned me a little as in 1993 there was a "Gift Edition" of Jurassic Park that came signed and billed as personally autographed by MC-- but in reality the 'signature' was an autopen signature. That is, a machine programmed to sign MC's name wrote the signature in those JP books (MC's website confirms this. He regrets the decision to do the autopen edition as one he didn't think through carefully). I was concerned that the Franklin editions were autopen signed. But I did compare pictures of the signatures in some ebay listings of the Franklin editions and there is some variation in the signature so it's highly unlikely that they were signed with an autopen (unlike the JP signatures which were all the same, down to the little loop on the "C" and tick mark as the pen is lifted off the page). If they were, they had to have had different machines with slightly different signature programs. I don't think they bothered to do that. And they do state that it was personally signed by the author, after all.
So $65 and careful scrutiny of the ebay listings later, I am now the proud owner of a Franklin Library signed first edition copy of Rising Sun. I think that I got an awesome deal. Granted, my copy isn't still sealed in plastic nor in perfect near mint condition. I can tell it's been read, the gold leafing in the sides show some dings and rubs and the corners of the cover show some stress. It probably rates as a VF or even F copy. But I like it this way. If it were still sealed in the plastic I'd probably never open it and never be able to see the signature; and my whole object in getting it was to draw inspiration from it by thumbing through it. Plus it's a book that I really like. I had a chance to get a Franklin edition of The Andromeda Strain but I haven't read that one yet. Also, I don't view that book as particularly interesting. Yes, it was the first book MC released under his own name and not a pseudonym but it's just about a modern day plague. The premise isn't particularly novel. Robin Cook wrote Outbreak. I haven't read that one, either (hmm, I guess plague books don't interest me...) but the idea is about the same. Rising Sun-- who else would have written that one?
So I'm happy with what I found. Now if inspiration to write would just strike....
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
John Lange, I presume
With Michael Crichton's passing, I found myself perusing eBay looking at the signed books listings and getting interested. I stopped collecting 'things' (comic books, autographs, baseball cards, that sort of stuff) about 5 years ago and that's about the time I think I lost the old me. I wouldn't say that I got depressed, though dysthymia has been a part of how I've felt these last few years. But the interest I had in a lot of things just sort of stopped. I stopped playing video games (as I type, Metal Gear Solid 3 sits on my shelf unfinished. The old me would have finished it in the first week I got it). I sold all of my CD's after ripping them to my computer. I have a few boxes of comic books that I honestly don't know what to do with (they hold some sentimental value so I don't want to just throw them away or even sell them but they take up a lot of space also).
But Michael Crichton's passing has shaken something inside me. Despite knowing better, I had thought that I'd have a new book of his to read every 2-3 years for the rest of my life. It never occurred to me that he would pass at a relatively young age. Now I know that only one more book will be published next year and that's it. No more books from the author and person I hoped to emulate.
As I was saying, while looking at the books that he signed, I felt a stirring somewhere that I hadn't felt in years. I feel like I have goals again-- things I want to accomplish. I don't know where the desire to set and complete goals went, but it's starting to come back and I want to fan the flames and stoke the fire. I plan to get a signed copy of one of his books and put it next to my computer for inspiration (not as an 'investment'). It seems silly, but I'm to the point of not questioning why I feel it would provide inspiration so I'm just going to get one and see where it goes. In addition, I found a couple of beat-up copies of the books MC wrote as John Lange used and fairly cheap (these can be expensive if in good condition given their age and scarcity) so I ordered those. I was hoping that Hard Case Crime would re-issue all of them (as they did with Zero Cool and Grave Descend), but I read somewhere from the publisher that with John Lange's passing (they still wouldn't acknowledge that MC and JL are one and the same, though they said it was a 'co-incidence' that Mr. Lange passed at the same time as MC) the plans for releasing more of his works are in the air and may not happen. Scratch One and The Last Tomb should be here by the end of the month. The rest are going to be a lot more expensive.
But Michael Crichton's passing has shaken something inside me. Despite knowing better, I had thought that I'd have a new book of his to read every 2-3 years for the rest of my life. It never occurred to me that he would pass at a relatively young age. Now I know that only one more book will be published next year and that's it. No more books from the author and person I hoped to emulate.
As I was saying, while looking at the books that he signed, I felt a stirring somewhere that I hadn't felt in years. I feel like I have goals again-- things I want to accomplish. I don't know where the desire to set and complete goals went, but it's starting to come back and I want to fan the flames and stoke the fire. I plan to get a signed copy of one of his books and put it next to my computer for inspiration (not as an 'investment'). It seems silly, but I'm to the point of not questioning why I feel it would provide inspiration so I'm just going to get one and see where it goes. In addition, I found a couple of beat-up copies of the books MC wrote as John Lange used and fairly cheap (these can be expensive if in good condition given their age and scarcity) so I ordered those. I was hoping that Hard Case Crime would re-issue all of them (as they did with Zero Cool and Grave Descend), but I read somewhere from the publisher that with John Lange's passing (they still wouldn't acknowledge that MC and JL are one and the same, though they said it was a 'co-incidence' that Mr. Lange passed at the same time as MC) the plans for releasing more of his works are in the air and may not happen. Scratch One and The Last Tomb should be here by the end of the month. The rest are going to be a lot more expensive.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Lions fan jinx on Crosby
Look here first:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Detroit-Lions-fan-jinxes-Pens-by-touching-Cup-c?urn=nhl,121348
Classy.
OK, I don't quite understand the outright hate that people have for Sid. You get a pass if you're a fan of any Atlantic division team-- fine, I can understand why a Flyers, Rangers, Islanders, or Devils fan would actively hate Sid.
But a Red Wings fan like this guy? I don't get it. Um... dude? You realize that your team already won the Cup, don't you? And to wear a Lions shirt while posing with the Cup? What does that say about how much of a fan he is?
Ok, so he's vacationing in Traverse City (that alone sounds like a joke, but I'll leave it alone) and the Cup happens to be on display there and-- Red Wings fan that he is-- he has to go see it. Oops, except that he doesn't have any Red Wings clothes with him, just a Lions shirt. His excuse for wearing a Lions shirt is "I didn't pack any Red Wings gear, I just happened to have a Lions shirt in my suitcase because it was clean when I packed." Awesome, dude. You don't have any gear of your CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM on you, but you happen to have packed a shirt for the local horribily run, joke of a football team that (amongst other indignities): 1) hired Matt Millen for GM on the basis of his color commentary work and didn't figure out that he didn't have a freakin' clue how to run a football team until EIGHT YEARS later and 2) Barry Sanders was so embarassed to play for that he decided to retire instead of risking further pounding just for the chance to finish last in his division again-- even though he was on pace to break Walter Peyton's rushing record. And you evidently don't do laundry before you leave for vacation. Your house must smell like a rose.
So anyway, somehow this Red Wings fan thinks that chanting Crosby's name while wearing a Lions jersey and touching the Stanley Cup will jinx Sid. This is analgous to me wearing a Pirates jersey while posing/touching the Lombardi trophy and chanting Matt Hasselbeck's name.
Right.
Oh, and by the way-- the Wings blew a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period and lost in OT. Crosby had a goal. Sir, I have one thing to tell (show) you:
So much for jinxing Sid. Maybe you jinxed the Wings with some Lions mojo (it would actually make more sense. But who's talking about making sense here...). BTW-- Mr. Selke looked awesome in the final 2 minutes of OT. Maybe you'd have been better off wishing good luck to your own team than bad luck on one player. If the Wings choke and get hit with injuries the rest of this year, Hockeytown will know who to thank. Be sure to stand up and take credit. Dick.
As a parting shot, the guy says:
"The funniest part of the story is that my five-year-old son wouldn't touch the Cup. He said, 'My body just wouldn't let me.' Could it be fate?"
I hope so. I'm 36 and haven't touched the Stanley Cup. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, either.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Detroit-Lions-fan-jinxes-Pens-by-touching-Cup-c?urn=nhl,121348
Classy.
OK, I don't quite understand the outright hate that people have for Sid. You get a pass if you're a fan of any Atlantic division team-- fine, I can understand why a Flyers, Rangers, Islanders, or Devils fan would actively hate Sid.
But a Red Wings fan like this guy? I don't get it. Um... dude? You realize that your team already won the Cup, don't you? And to wear a Lions shirt while posing with the Cup? What does that say about how much of a fan he is?
Ok, so he's vacationing in Traverse City (that alone sounds like a joke, but I'll leave it alone) and the Cup happens to be on display there and-- Red Wings fan that he is-- he has to go see it. Oops, except that he doesn't have any Red Wings clothes with him, just a Lions shirt. His excuse for wearing a Lions shirt is "I didn't pack any Red Wings gear, I just happened to have a Lions shirt in my suitcase because it was clean when I packed." Awesome, dude. You don't have any gear of your CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM on you, but you happen to have packed a shirt for the local horribily run, joke of a football team that (amongst other indignities): 1) hired Matt Millen for GM on the basis of his color commentary work and didn't figure out that he didn't have a freakin' clue how to run a football team until EIGHT YEARS later and 2) Barry Sanders was so embarassed to play for that he decided to retire instead of risking further pounding just for the chance to finish last in his division again-- even though he was on pace to break Walter Peyton's rushing record. And you evidently don't do laundry before you leave for vacation. Your house must smell like a rose.
So anyway, somehow this Red Wings fan thinks that chanting Crosby's name while wearing a Lions jersey and touching the Stanley Cup will jinx Sid. This is analgous to me wearing a Pirates jersey while posing/touching the Lombardi trophy and chanting Matt Hasselbeck's name.
Right.
Oh, and by the way-- the Wings blew a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period and lost in OT. Crosby had a goal. Sir, I have one thing to tell (show) you:
So much for jinxing Sid. Maybe you jinxed the Wings with some Lions mojo (it would actually make more sense. But who's talking about making sense here...). BTW-- Mr. Selke looked awesome in the final 2 minutes of OT. Maybe you'd have been better off wishing good luck to your own team than bad luck on one player. If the Wings choke and get hit with injuries the rest of this year, Hockeytown will know who to thank. Be sure to stand up and take credit. Dick.As a parting shot, the guy says:
"The funniest part of the story is that my five-year-old son wouldn't touch the Cup. He said, 'My body just wouldn't let me.' Could it be fate?"
I hope so. I'm 36 and haven't touched the Stanley Cup. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, either.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Michael Crichton 1942-2008
As exhilarating as it was to have Barack Obama win the election Nov 4, it was sobering to hear that Michael Crichton died that day.
Michael Crichton was someone I long admired. He was a true Renaissance man; well educated (it often gets lost amongst his many achievements that he graduated from Harvard Medical school), a critical and independent thinker (not many people would criticize the "Global Warming" theory in our times), and of course a prolific novelist, screenwriter, director, and producer. At one point in time he had a hand in the #1 TV show, the #1 bestselling book, and #1 boxoffice movie at the same time (ER, Disclosure, and Jurassic Park respectively). Not to mention that he directed several movies. Amazing.
I've made my way through his books these past years. I slowed down my reading, intentionally delaying starting his last couple of books as I realized that I was rapidly catching up to the latest book that he wrote. I finished State of Fear last year and just have started Next. I suppose technically I still have The Great Train Robbery and Eaters of the Dead to read but those are historical fiction pieces that he experimented with and I prefer his modern day social commentary works. I'll make my way to those older works eventually (as well as the stuff he did under his John Lange pseudonym once SOMEONE gets around to republishing them-- Odds On, Scratch One, Easy Go, The Venom Business, Drug of Choice. C'mon, you can't tell me that there's no market to republish them. Zero Cool and Grave Descend were both recently republished, after all). And I read that he had a book that was to be published on December 2 but it will be understandably pushed back to May.
You'll be missed, Dr. Crichton. I don't know too many authors who can shift gears the way you did. Who else can write about genetic engineering dinosaurs to Japanese business culture to sexual harassment in consecutive books? None, I daresay.
Michael Crichton was someone I long admired. He was a true Renaissance man; well educated (it often gets lost amongst his many achievements that he graduated from Harvard Medical school), a critical and independent thinker (not many people would criticize the "Global Warming" theory in our times), and of course a prolific novelist, screenwriter, director, and producer. At one point in time he had a hand in the #1 TV show, the #1 bestselling book, and #1 boxoffice movie at the same time (ER, Disclosure, and Jurassic Park respectively). Not to mention that he directed several movies. Amazing.
I've made my way through his books these past years. I slowed down my reading, intentionally delaying starting his last couple of books as I realized that I was rapidly catching up to the latest book that he wrote. I finished State of Fear last year and just have started Next. I suppose technically I still have The Great Train Robbery and Eaters of the Dead to read but those are historical fiction pieces that he experimented with and I prefer his modern day social commentary works. I'll make my way to those older works eventually (as well as the stuff he did under his John Lange pseudonym once SOMEONE gets around to republishing them-- Odds On, Scratch One, Easy Go, The Venom Business, Drug of Choice. C'mon, you can't tell me that there's no market to republish them. Zero Cool and Grave Descend were both recently republished, after all). And I read that he had a book that was to be published on December 2 but it will be understandably pushed back to May.
You'll be missed, Dr. Crichton. I don't know too many authors who can shift gears the way you did. Who else can write about genetic engineering dinosaurs to Japanese business culture to sexual harassment in consecutive books? None, I daresay.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Pitt shirt spotted on How I Met Your Mother!!!
Marshall (Jason Segal) sporting a Pitt shirt on HIMYM.
Awesome.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Supernatural
This has to be the best show on TV since Buffy (or Angel, since that was the last Whedon show to be cancelled). I know I said Chuck was the best show on TV before. Fine-- go tell the Hyperbole police.
I was compelled to write about it tonight because I just watched the latest episode and was completely blown away. Needless to say it was incredibly well written. It must be the Whedon influence on Ben Edlund (a co-exec producer on Supernatural) from his days on Angel. Mind you, Ben Edlund was the creator of The Tick (remember that one?) so he was no slouch in the creativity department. I don't mean to leave out the other producers or writers; Ben Edlund is the only name I knew. But man-- I was speechless watching the show unfold. The pop culture references were hilarious. I realize that Back to the Future is now a 23 year old movie that the younguns from this generation may not have seen, but the little touches and references to it were light and created some expectation in the viewer that they could play off of. I still can't tell if Castiel's loose-tie and trenchcoat look is a shoutout to John Constantine (not the Keanu Reeves movie-- look at the character as he was originally formed in Swamp Thing from the late 80's) or an unintentional reveal on his character (as he does have that mysterious warrior of the Lord/hidden-agenda conflict). Whatever, it works. And to have the "Hunter" line run through Sam and Dean's MOTHER'S side of the family was genius. The thing that really gets me-- here we are in season 4 and they are coherently paying off a mythology plotline from the FIRST EPISODE. I had thought that we'd never know what came of the yellow-eyed demon's plan but it clearly is a single thread in a larger tapestry.
I can't wait for the next episode.
I was compelled to write about it tonight because I just watched the latest episode and was completely blown away. Needless to say it was incredibly well written. It must be the Whedon influence on Ben Edlund (a co-exec producer on Supernatural) from his days on Angel. Mind you, Ben Edlund was the creator of The Tick (remember that one?) so he was no slouch in the creativity department. I don't mean to leave out the other producers or writers; Ben Edlund is the only name I knew. But man-- I was speechless watching the show unfold. The pop culture references were hilarious. I realize that Back to the Future is now a 23 year old movie that the younguns from this generation may not have seen, but the little touches and references to it were light and created some expectation in the viewer that they could play off of. I still can't tell if Castiel's loose-tie and trenchcoat look is a shoutout to John Constantine (not the Keanu Reeves movie-- look at the character as he was originally formed in Swamp Thing from the late 80's) or an unintentional reveal on his character (as he does have that mysterious warrior of the Lord/hidden-agenda conflict). Whatever, it works. And to have the "Hunter" line run through Sam and Dean's MOTHER'S side of the family was genius. The thing that really gets me-- here we are in season 4 and they are coherently paying off a mythology plotline from the FIRST EPISODE. I had thought that we'd never know what came of the yellow-eyed demon's plan but it clearly is a single thread in a larger tapestry.
I can't wait for the next episode.
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