Because I'm a Frackin' Toaster!

Some friends blew into town for the weekend to geek out with us. Years ago this would have meant a marathon weekend involving D&D books, character sheets, cold pizza and a few gallons of Mountain Dew. We still geeked out. We just did it with better food and more sleep. Our gaming has also shifted from D&D to a combination of Rock Band (Wii) and cooperative board games like Arkham Horror.

This time around, Cainam brought Battle Star Galactica the Board Game. Everyone chooses a member of the crew, fight off toasters & spin up the FTL drive in hopes that our next jump will lead us home.

The game has one twist: Someone may be a Cylon. In fact, before the game ends, there will be at least one Cylon. Who is it? Who's working against us? Is it the Admiral? The President? Boomer?

Last night (actually the whole weekend) I was the cylon right from the word go. Whenever possible, I sabotaged the crew's efforts. Choose the better of two cards? I think not. Add extra support when victory is assured? Absolutely! Anything to throw off suspicion.

And then Cainam got a card that let him check my loyalty. Crap! What do I do? Bluff, of course! In fact, I bluffed us both into the brig long enough for the game to spiral out of control. (My job as the toaster after all!)

Note: I really only pulled this off because of a combination of luck and Cainam's reputation. I'd been the cylon in every game that weekend. So, it seemed unlikely that I would be it AGAIN. Cainam had done a number of things just before calling me a cylon that, put together, seemed suspicious. It's totally in his character to be the cylon and accuse someone else to throw off suspicions. So, he called me a cylon and I called him a lying liar. Can't believe it worked.

At some point in the game, I got officially revealed and disappeared to the resurrection ship - where I wrecked even more havoc - but not before I we able to change my wife into a Cylon too. She proceeded, in a masterful stroke, to lock everyone else up in the brig. Before they could right the ship and kill her off, Galactica was just too far gone. I was so proud!

BSG the Board Game is a total win for people who like long-play co-op games. It requires at least 3 people to play. It really takes 4 or more to make it good. Three people makes it a lot easier to find the hidden Cylon.

Star Wars vs Star Trek

This is a follow-up of sorts to my really negative review of the Clone Wars DvD last week.

First up, the new Star Trek movie trailer is up and it's absolutely perfect.

Official Star Trek Trailer

Once in a great while, a trailer comes along that just gets me jacked up for a movie. The first Spiderman movie trailer, the first trailer for Watchmen with the Smashing Pumpkins music as the background, etc.

I am so jacked up about JJAbrams reboot of Star Trek, words can not describe...

But I digress.

So, what does this have to do with Star Wars? I'll let Scott Kurtz do my talking for me.


Sometimes guys like Kurtz, Johnson & Kovalic are able to say things in comics that we would never dare say and yet they just sum up everything in a few comic panels.

Of course, none of these "titans" of online comics do it better than XKCD.

My Aversion to Horror Movies

I'm in a personal confession kind of mood tonight...

As you all know, I'm a huge SciFi & Fantasy fan. I love just about all of it from modern-day superheroes to Greek Mythology. Give me a well-made Anime show over a sitcom any day. I'd much rather curl up with the works of R.A. Salvatore than Dan Brown. I will re-rent Babylon 5 from Netflix enough that I should just buy the series. When I was 15, I wanted to be Wesley Crusher. I didn't care that he was even more of a dork than I was. (But not by much!) For years I assumed that the SciFi channel was made solely for my entertainment. I just couldn't figure out how they knew!

There's just one problem...

I can't stand horror movies. It may have started when I was 12-13 and a friend showed me Night of the Living Dead. Since then, I've tried all sorts of "Zombie therapy" from killing them in World of Warcraft to listening to John Coulton. Sure, I'm a huge Coulton fan now and I can slay a zombie faster than you can say "Braaaaaains," but they still creep me the fuck out.

Zombies are just the beginning of troubles...

As a teen-ager, I had to practically bolt my shoes to the floor when friends wanted to watch Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street. It's not that I was frightened (although I was) but that my imagination (to this day) does such an amazing job recreating the stuff when I'm asleep. Try waking up just once in an big, old, empty house from a nightmare after watching "the Fog" when your parents are away and see how fast you turn all the lights on.

Oddly, real life doesn't scare me at all...

When my old Volvo wagon hit that patch of ice and spun 360 degrees it didn't phase me. I just took a deep breath, re-started the car and drove on my way. The bear in the woods that time? He went his way, I went mine. The time some jerk flashed a knife outside the mens shelter I was volunteering at? Meh, we all lived. Remember, I'm the nut-job who used to draft behind city buses on my bicycle. Real life is not scary. But horror movies...

They don't go away, they just lie in wait...

When I got older, I just assumed I would be less of a wuss about this stuff. Nope! I tried watching Resident Evil two or three times now. Then someone gets zombiefied and it's all over.

It gets rough when really cool-looking stuff borders on fringes of horror. I love Vampire & werewolf movies until they slip over into the realms of horror. Blade? sure! Underworld? Great! 30 Day of Night? Yeah...no! I get cold shivers just thinking about it.

So, what's the problem?

Well, I was staring at the "Add" button for Cloverfield tonight and I just couldn't do it. Which also reminded me that I totally missed The Host. My urge to watch stuff like this is high. The probability is rather low. Sigh!

You win some ... you die screaming.

New Battlestar Galactica Promo Picture Look Familiar?

See the picture here but be warned, a video add will come up. It's definitely a take on da Vinci's Last Supper. I guess they are ramping the religious theme even more (if that's possible) this season.

And Now a few Words About Some of the Recent TV Remakes

Seems like we've had a bumper crop of "old" SciFi remakes recently. Having just watched the opening pilot of the most recent, I thought I would take a few moments to share my thoughts about a few of them...

Battlestar Galactica - Gritty SciFi war epic that's gone to great lengths to make you suspend your disbelief. I love it! Space is silent. Ships actually drift. People die. I almost didn't cancel cable because of it.

Bionic Woman - She could read from the phonebook & then tear it in half and I'd still watch. She's just that damn hot! The special effects rock. Jaime kicks ass! If long-dead Joss Whedon - Wonder Woman project is ever resurrected, I want HER as Diana! The show totally setup it's own "rules" and is attempting to follow it. I really like it. Note: the same folks that made BSG did BW.

Terminator - OK, major geek-technical holes in this every week. When did they get past the whole "only flesh makes it through the time device?" How does "River" keep repairing her skin? But man the action, plot, good special effects and quality acting keep me coming back. "River" does a kickass robot! I love it!

...And then there's the Pony Car...

Knight Rider - Hot Car...ummm...I mentioned the car is hot right? Yeah, that's all I got.

Lord, the cheese factor was higher than the old show. And dude, seriously, I couldn't enjoy it. The whole Nano-Tech car thing? WTF?!? The Vipers at least pretend that the laws of physics apply. Jaime at least breaks before her bionics....

...Rant truncated out of respect for my readers...

...car's nano-body somehow transfers the kinetic energy of bullets & an SUV...AND ONLY when the computer is turned on?!?! But hey, it's SciFi right? NO!!! It's high-gloss crap! It was one bad cliche after...

...Rant further truncated out of respect for my readers...

...Hasselhoff's toupee' looked like it was a little messed up. Well, at least the new KITT uses a "mostly" renewable power system. The Governator will love it!

*SIGH*

The good news is that the writer's strike is over. Jaime will be back soon!

P.S. And what was Val Kilmer thinking? Seriously, did he understand that he'd be doing a bad impression of Mr Spock meets Data? "I do not feel anything." "That is not logical." Seriously Val, I know that your career has tanked since you let them put the nipples on the Bat Suit, but have some dignity!

Steampunk in Real Life

Steampunk is a Scifi/Fantasy version of reality where machines are all stylized steam-powered systems. There's a bunch of books, movies & RPGs that use this version of reality. It's very 19th Century Victorian Era British looking with vehicles and gadgets all powered by steam. I've always thought it would be cool to decorate a home in this style. Slick is a huge fan of Steampunk since she's both an avid lover of the Victorian Era & of SciFi. Anyway, I came across a website where they deck stuff out in the Steampunk style.

The Steampunk Workshop

The cool one is the LCD monitor and keyboard.