Even supervillains need a government handout

Funniest thing I've seen in a while:

"Lex Luthor Bailout" with Jon Hamm - watch more funny videos

Kevin Smith and "B-Star-G"

Last night, I was flipping channels and saw some of Superman Returns. That put me in the mood to hear Kevin Smith talk about his experiences with a prospective Superman film (Superman Reborn at the time) .......and a giant spider.

In looking for that, I stumbled across some videos of Kevin moderating a panel about Battlestar Galactica, with Tricia Helfer and James Callis. If you haven't seen them, enjoy:







And of course, if you want to hear the Superman story, you can check that out here:

I'll take potpourri for $400, Alex

I can't believe I forgot to mention the passing of D&D inventor Gary Gygax a couple of weeks ago. There were moving tributes all over the intertubes, and had I not been so busy I would have posted my own. That, and I probably didn't want to appear too geeky (ooops. That ship has sailed, I'm afraid). Let's just say that in between sports, school, girls, hot rods, comic books and normal youthful angst, I spent my fair share of time painting miniatures, collecting multisided dice and worrying about hit points. Here is a funny flowchart (be sure to click on it to see the expanded version) and article related to Gygax's passing. Additionally, a nice article from resident geek Wil Wheaton on the subject.

Solid list of great movie opening credit sequences, with video.

Speaking of movies, how about a list of awful movie titles?

Local interest: I'm discovering that fair number of folks from the pop culture world are from my new adopted home in Maryland. John Locke himself, Terry O'Quinn. Wesley Wyndham Price, Alexis Denisoff. Adorable showkiller Paula Marshall. Author Michael Chabon (which I discovered reading his wonderful essay and the usefulness of superhero costume, which is definitely worth checking out).

X-Files panel, where Scully reveals that she also loves one of my favorite of the "funny" episodes, "Bad Blood."

I don't understand the haters. Here's a cute interview with Juliet's portrayer, the bright, beautiful, modest and charming Elizabeth Mitchell. And she reads comic books, y'all!

Highlights of Sawyer's nicknames.

Speaking of Lost, here's an updated bracket for the Lost Madness Tournament. Some tough calls in round 2: Sayid over Locke? Desmond against Penny? That's not exactly fair, though I voted the same way. In the Sweet Sixteen, voting is currently underway. Here are the matchups, and my vote:

• Jack vs. Sayid. I don't hate Jack for his pigheaded self-righteousness like a lot of folks, but I gotta go with Sayid here.
• Kate vs. Sawyer. That's an easy one. Sawyer is the choice, though he's currently a fraction of a percent behind Kate. Get out the vote, people!
  
• Charlie vs. Faraday. I loved the little hobbit, but Faraday delivers a line like no one else.
• Libby vs. Eko. Eko was mysterious and badass, until he got too caught up in the religious mumbo-jumbo. So Libby it is.
• Ben vs. Juliet. Wow, I haven't been shy about my huge crush on Dr. Burke, but dammit if Ben is not one of the most fascinating characters on TV. Ben.
• Richard Alpert vs. Jacob. I don't even understand what the fuck Jacob is (which is pretty cool). But how can you vote against BatManuel?
• Smoke Monster vs. Desmond. Easy choice, brotha.
• Nadia vs. Rousseau. Another tough one, though I don't think we've seen the last of Nadia, so I'll go with her.

A review of R.E.M.'s new album, which sounds like a return to the form I enjoy. I'll be downloading this sucker today.

Speaking of Athens, thoughts from voters considering UGA to be a preseason #1. But that's gonna be a hard road, with the Nation's Toughest Schedule. And what's the program worth? Check out this list (I assume the #1 program there spends a lot of those profits on the coach's buffet table). Also, on a recent PTI, Wilbon called Herschel "the best college player I ever saw."
For comparison's sake, a Trade School grad kills birds intentionally.

Thoughts about "spoilers."

Remember that link between Obama and Trek's 7 of 9? More sci-fi thoughts: He's the Kwisatz Haderach.

Fucking goddamned cocksucking motherfuckers. Let's spend more on useless pork (and not the good kind, like bacon), spend more on worthless "domestic" programs, and confiscate even MORE money from the people who earn it. Fuckers. And should the donkeys get more control, I'm sure you'll see more of this bullshit. With regard to tax policy, I still don't understand why the gubment gives such a break to the breeders. Shouldn't people who make a conscious, willful and deliberate decision to have kids pay much, much more? They are the ones who "use" much of what the taxes go for? Schools, roads to drive to soccer practice, younguns who will grow old and use social security, healthcare and payments to people too stupid to have a job and/or realize they can't afford a kid? And from a treehugger perspective, don't the wackadoo lefties realize that each urchin they bring into the world will just consume more natural resources and have a "carbon footprint" of their own? Save the planet, and wear a condom! Or just whack off to a chart that shows the taxable rate over 50%.

I'm sure all these fictional characters are getting taxed too much. So who has more money - Thurston Howell III, Montgomery Burns or Jed Clampett?

Bad sci-fi movie physics.

The dude who swung his sausage in a gay strip club was the first to go on Idol. And another Idol stripper unravels. Kids, once you sell your cooze to strangers on a regular basis, it just doesn't get any better, does it? Along those lines, at least have the intellectual integrity to call a spade a spade. "Good person?" Yeah, I've heard that one before.

Wiffleball can get competitive, you know. And how many people remember this schoolyard sport? I was a motherfucking four-square pimp.

Autobiography title makes me chuckle.

No Invisible Airplane for Joss

The wonderful folks over at Whedonesque got the scoop today straight from the horse's mouth: Joss Whedon will NOT be doing "Wonder Woman."

After much speculation on who would be donning the star spangled tights, he decided (or Silver Pictures decided, or both) he just couldn't work the script to everyone's satisfaction.

Personally? I'm a little relived, honestly. I was never a big fan of Wonder Woman as a character (and was much more a Marvel guy than a DC guy, with the exception of Batman). Earlier this week, there were rumors about the studio purchasing a separate treatment of WW, and I started thinking about how hard it would be to ground this character in any type of reality. Once you get past the iconic costume (which translates to the screen rather poorly, as far as reality goes, like X-Men), most of her powers are kind of silly. Superstrength? Okay, that's fine. But deflecting bullets with magic bracelets? A golden lasso that forces people to tell the truth? And don't even get me started on the invisible jet (how do you know where to refuel it? How do you do maintenance on it? How do you know where to enter it? Why can you see WW inside it, and doesn't that look stupid in and of itself?). As a fan of Joss's writing, I would have been curious in seeing his take on it. I would have been interested in the casting (Morena, Charisma or Cobie are my choices). But I don't think I could have gotten past the inherent campiness in the concept, and it probably would have been a big bust commercially.

While I loved Serenity and his other big screen efforts, I hope he decides to return to TV in some form. (HBO? Showtime? FX?) The expansive nature of television, I think, is much better suited to his storytelling, dialogue and character developing gifts.

So, farewell Diana Prince. I hardly knew ya.