Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Number 11

Number 11-The Train Job

There's a reason that this episode feels forced. That's because it was forced. Fox decided that the original first episode, Serenity wasn't going to work as a start to the series, so this episode was mandated and aired first. It isn't a bad story, but it doesn't really do anything to move the main story of the show along. Well, we do get to meet a character that will show up later.

The biggest part of this story is that it shows the motivations of each of the people on the crew. Mal and Zoe are determined to make it right once they learn the truth behind the job they've just pulled. Jayne doesn't really care about the reasons, but he doesn't see the point in giving it back. What this episode is missing (because FOX insisted that it be added to the line up before the actual pilot episode, Serenity) is the rest of the crew. That's why it gets dropped down so far.

My favorite part of this episode, though, is when Inara gets to treat Mal like her runaway servant. It's just a great part of their story.

Top Twelve Christmas Specials (Top 3)

Number 3- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Sure Rudolph is adorable and there are some amazing things going on with the animation here, but there's more to my placement than that. Rudolph is a cute tale and it has one of the most memorable holiday songs out there, but I don't really find myself missing it if I don't happen to catch it. It's still one of the major holiday draws for sure, but it's not the best.

Number 2- Charlie Brown Christmas Special

This is one of the best Christmas specials ever. The story is simple but touching. The characters are familiar and delightful. More importantly, the music is unforgettable. Charlie Brown just can't get into the Christmas spirit. I'm sure most of us have been there at some point in our lives. Thankfully Charlie Brown shows us that it could be worse.

Number 1- How the Grinch Stole Christmas

 Here it is, the number one special of Christmas. Just like the Peanuts special this one has great music and a simple story that delivers. It also has something the Peanuts just can't offer-the voice stylings Boris Karloff and that guy that does the voice of Tony the Tiger. It was a tough choice, but the Grinch wins this one. (Just don't ask me to watch the Jim Carey movie.)

Top 12 Christmas Specials (6-4)

Number 6-Frosty the Snow Man

Yes, this is a classic. Yes, it has a great song that inspired it. Yes, I know you probably won't agree with me on this one, but it's my list. Frosty is a fun little story, but it isn't all that Christmasy to me. Sure Santa comes in and saves the day, but that doesn't really change the fact that it is really a winter-play-time story. There's nothing wrong with that, but it does hurt poor Frosty in my standings.

Number 5- Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

The myopic, Mr. Magoo, takes on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Dicken's immortal Christmas Carol. It's a musical and Magoo does a great job of playing the character of Scrooge. It's pretty close to the original story with the subtraction of Scrooge's nephew. It moves quite quickly, and the musical numbers are cute for the most part. It's a good storyline even though Mr. Magoo isn't a very well known character these days.

Number 4- Disney Christmas Carol

Who better to play Ebenezer Scrooge than Disney's own Scrooge McDuck? The people at Disney did a great job of casting the various characters. It's almost like Scrooge was created to play this part at some point. He's got the nephew and the money grubbing ways. It gets everything from the story and does it in a way that is fresh because it is done with Disney characters in ways that make sense.

Top 12 Christmas Specials- Part II

Number 9-Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

This is the somewhat fictionalized story of how Santa came to be. OK, fine, this one was pulled out of someplace and it doesn't really have anything to do with reality. Some of the story lines are fun to watch, especially the main bad guy that is trying to keep toys out of his town.

Number 8- Jack Frost

Did you ever wonder who Jack Frost actually was and what kind of a story he might have? Well, now you can find out the real story of Jack Frost, the spirit of wintertime that became a man for the sake of love. Well, that's really all there is to say about that one.

Number 7- The Little Drummer Boy

I'm sure you know the song, so the plot of this special won't surprise you too much. It's a very well done adaptation of the song and regardless of your beliefs, you can't help but be touched by a poor small child doing what he can with what he has available.

Top 12 Christmas Specials Part I

Number 12-The Nutcracker

OK, I don't have anything specific with this one. Sure there are tons of interpretations and versions you can watch, but I think that I'm thinking of the ballet performances primarily. Regardless of how you see the story, it's an important part of the holiday. You know you know the songs from the ballet and as soon as you hear them you think of Christmas. It's not an actual special like what the other entries will be, but it is a special part of the holidays.

Number 11- I want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown

I know when you think Christmas and Peanuts, you're thinking about the story where Lucy and Linus' brother Rerun wants Snoopy to be his dog when he wakes up Christmas morning. Yeah, I'm thinking of a much better story too. This isn't terrible, but it doesn't nearly compare to the original Christmas special done with the Peanuts crew.

Number 10- A Year without Santa

 Santa is sick just before Christmas and this puts him in a bad mood about the holiday. Isn't there anyone out there that still believes in Santa? While he's laid up in bed recovering, Mrs. Claus sends a couple of elves to find some Christmas cheer. The elves run into the never ending battle between Heat Miser and Cold Miser. They both have similar songs and it makes sense that they would be at odds. I probably would have put this higher on the list if the Cold Miser song hadn't been a part of Batman and Robin.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 12

Serenity

I know. I was just complaining about stories that are just about future story development, but this one is a bit different. After all, it was supposed to be the first episode before Fox started messing with the show. (I know they started be for the first episode.) As the first episode, you have to expect a certain amount of set up, so you can't complain about how this happens.

The episode does a great job of establishing the main characters and the relationships between them. Serenity picks up several passengers to help cover the costs of living. There's a Preacher and a doctor with a strange package and some other guy. (Sorry, I don't remember the other guy's cover story, and it doesn't really matter.)

It turns out that the doctor has something unusual in his luggage, a naked girl. She turns out to be his sister who was used in government experiments because of her unusual mind. The other guy is a government agent that is trying to turn in the doctor and River for the reward.

Even after all the trouble that happens, Mal shows who he is by keeping the doctor and River on the ship. We get to learn a lot about everyone and it really peaks the interest of the view to learn more. However, there are much better episodes on the way.

Top 12 Christmas Specials-Honorable Mentions

When Christmas time rolls around, there are many things that you can expect-excessive sales pitches for everything in the world, lots of Christmas music, and plenty of Christmas specials. There's going to be something Christmas/holiday related on pretty much every television show you can list even if it's to promote a little-known holiday like Festivus. (for the rest of us.)

Since it is that time of year, I thought it was appropriate to make a fun little list to showcase the best of those Christmas specials. For this list, I'm pretty much going to stick to animated specials rather than television shows. I will make a couple of exceptions, but it won't be for any television show, it will be for a stand alone kind of special.

As often happens with these kinds of lists, I'll start with some honorable mentions.

Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas

This is a special that was put together by Jim Henson and his fellow Muppeteers. It's an interesting take on the popular short Christmas story, The Gift of the Magi. Emmet and his mother are both trying to get by the best that they can. Then they decide to get each other a gift. In a twist, they each use something the other person needs in order to compete in a talent show to get them something better. Unfortunately this also ruins both of their livelihoods. I won't give anything away, but it's a great lesson in giving and receiving.

I don't think this special is shown anymore, which is why it isn't in the list, but it is still a great production and a great story. As with most Muppet productions, the music is phenomenal. (Do do do do do.) Hopefully you'll get a chance to check it out.
That Bing Crosby Special where he sings with David Bowie

I know, this doesn't really fit well with the rest of the list, but I had to include it just for the part where David Bowie shows up and Bing's 'house' and they have a moment where they sing 'The Little Drummer Boy." It is probably the most surreal moment in music. The conversation before the song starts is especially odd. Definitely check out the song if you haven't heard it before.

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Honorable Mentions

The best and worst thing about doing a Top 12 list of the episodes of Firefly is that there are only 14 episodes to pick from. On the plus side, you don't have to leave out any episodes that you love just because there aren't enough spaces for them, but on the minus side, it's harder to pick those two episodes that get left out of the list because there are so few to choose from.

Regardless I've got my two episodes right here for your perusal. I picked these episodes because to me they lack immediacy. What do I mean by that? Well, these stories seem to be more about preparing the audience for the future of Firefly. This is all good and fine, but while it is certainly important, it isn't going to make for an exciting episode. So let's get to our honorable mentions.

Safe

In an attempt to hint at the unusual nature of River's existence, we are treated to a backwater world filled with superstitious locals that take River's unusual abilities and ways as a sign that she is a witch. It's a good episode, but it's really just there to feed us information. We also get to find out more about Preacher's past. He's got some kind of background that gets him the medical attention he needs at an Alliance medical facility even though the rest of the crew was turned away without any consideration. We never really learn much more about Preacher's background, which is a bit disappointing.

Bushwacked

This episode would have been one of the most significant of the show if there had been more than one season. You get hints and whispers about the Reavers, but it isn't until this episode that you actually get to really see one.  If the show had continued and we'd seen lots of episodes featuring the Reavers, this would have been one of those episodes people always referred to as the one that started it all. Sadly it is relegated to just being a somewhat confusing tale. (Although the movie does help justify the concern about a single Reaver.)

Top 12 episodes of Firefly-Not quite qualified, but I'm writing about it anyway

Serenity-The Movie

I was a little torn about what to do with Serenity. After all, it isn't an episode. It's really a desperate attempt to bring some closure to a show that was cancelled way too soon. Firefly was only just starting to figure itself out and there were so many great things already started. Joss Whedon was lucky enough to get a chance to bring a little closure to his show thanks to this theatrical release.

I was unfortunate to see the movie before the show. You don't lose anything by not seeing the show, but it does make it hard to see the show after you've seen the movie. The movie jumps far enough ahead that you miss out on the key elements that make the movie so much fun.

When I went to watch the show, I kept looking for Mr. Universe and the Reavers. I never found the first and only glimpses of the second. It doesn't detract from the show and certainly adds to the movie.

This movie is definitely worth watching even though it really creates at least as many questions as it answers. Sadly, there isn't much more to explore at the moment. Maybe Firefly will come back some day and we can see what happens to the crew.

Top Twelve X-men- Number 4

Storm

Ororo Monroe has had an interesting existence as a character. Just like any other character, she has grown and changed over the years, but some of the key elements have been there from the beginning. Storm has lived many lives (most of them happened early on so it isn't just because she's been around for over 30 years.)

Storm the orphan thief

There's something about the early days of the X-men and the leaders of the team. Both Cycolps and Storm lost their parents and spent a good portion of their lives as orphans. Storm lost her parents during the Suez Crisis in Egypt and became claustrophobic after being trapped in a pile of rubble after that attack. After this, a six-year-old Ororo was trained as a master thief before she wandered off into the Serengeti.

Storm the goddess

When Storm's powers manifested, she was revered as a goddess by the tribal people. She provided them with the rain they needed as well as the sun to help their crops grow. She didn't really let that life go to her head too much, but she certainly enjoyed the title. This is where Professor X found her for the second time because she picked his pocket once when she was a small child.
Storm the X-man

The new team of X-men was a larger group and a stronger group in many ways. Storm was especially important. Her power to control weather was probably the biggest asset of the new team. Because of her time as a goddess, Storm had confidence and extreme control of her powers. There were few occasions where she lost that control, but they were generally when she was trapped in a small space. My favorite instance is when the team faces Doctor Doom and he turns Storm into a statue and her unconscious mind creates a storm that threatens to destroy Latveria.
Storm the powerless punk-rock leader

I don't know who it was, but somebody came up with the brilliant idea of taking away Storm's powers. In the storyline, Forge accidentally shoots her with a gun he's been working on that will take away mutant powers. Storm has already been struggling with her rebellious nature. Prior to losing her powers while in Japan, a ninja reminds her of the girl that she used to be. Storm ends up getting a Mohawk and sporting lots of leather which causes a rift between her and Kitty.

There comes a point where Professor X is in space with Lilandra and Scott should probably stop being the leader of the X-men and go take care of his wife and child. Storm challenges him to one-on-one combat in the Danger Room for leadership of the team. Even though she is powerless, she manages to win that fight. Storm proved her leadership skills frequently as she faced many challenges.

She killed the team (well made it look like she killed them) in order to find a bit of safety and to let the X-men be a little more active rather than reactive. This didn't turn out very well, but the X-men came back with Storm leading one of the two main teams.

More recently, Storm married the Black Panther in an overblown event that included the Watcher talking about their future child. They have since broken up. Storm sided with Cyclops during Schism and is now part of his proactive team. We'll see how that goes. I think she would have been better off going her own way, but that's just me.

Top 6 Thanksgiving Foods (The Top 4)

Number 4-Pie!
It doesn't matter which flavor you choose, pie is one of the greatest things ever created. (I don't care what Jim Gaffigan has to say on the matter.) You may be stuffed as far as you think your stomach can manage, but as soon as you hear the word 'pie' you're ready for a little more. It's Thanksgiving, so feel free to indulge a little bit.

Number 3-The Bird! (however you like it.)
It may be a turkey or a goose, or even a tofurky, but whatever it is, that bird is going to be the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal. A Thanksgiving turkey is great because it last forever. Leftovers galore, and then some. It can last so long that you think you're never going to eat turkey again, but it's still on your mind the following November.

Number 2-Potatoes!
Potatoes are an amazing food. You can fry them or boil them. Mashed potatoes are pretty great too. The great thing about mashed potatoes is that you can eat them any and all of the time. Think about it. You probably had some form of potato recently, and you'll probably have potatoes right after your Thanksgiving dinner. How can you go wrong with a food like that?

Number 1-Stuffing!
I don't know about you, but this is what I really look forward to when it comes to Thanksgiving. Stuffing is one of my favorite foods ever. There's something about the taste and texture combination that I really enjoy. I'm not particular about the source either. It can come from the bird or from a can. It doesn't really matter that much to me as long as there is stuffing when I sit down for Thanksgiving.

Top 6 Thanksgiving Foods

Thanksgiving has a pretty long history. Go back to the Pilgrims and then to Honest Abe and all the way up to today, but what is the deal with Thanksgiving. So Abraham Lincoln made it an official holiday on the last Thursday of November, but it has become less about being thankful and more about being stuffed like the turkey you are about to carve in a couple of days.

So if Thanksgiving is going to be all about the food anyway, why not talk about the food for a bit? There are plenty of foods to talk about, but I'm going to limit this list to 6 rather than 12 because I'm almost out of time, and I don't see much point about writing how awesome cranberry sauce happens to be. (I'm not actually a fan of cranberry sauce, so that's even more pointless.)

I'm going to give a couple of honorable mentions and then move on to numbers 6 and 5. Tomorrow, I'll finish up the list with the top 4 Thanksgiving foods. So here are the honorable mentions!

Assorted varieties of bread!

Bread is awesome whatever form it may take. It really is one of the greatest things ever invented. If there aren't rolls or some kind of bread at your Thanksgiving it probably means you have a gluten allergy. (I'm so sorry for you if this is the case.)

Corn!
Corn is an integral part of Thanksgiving. It was one of the foods that was brought by the natives and it's a major part of pretty much everything you eat these days. I'm a big fan of corn and I love it during my Thanksgiving dinner.

Number 6-Gravy
I was at a Thanksgiving dinner for the AmeriCorps members in the Denver area recently and it was an awesome meal, except for one thing-no one made gravy. There were plenty of great foods to enjoy, and I'm not a huge fan of gravy anyway, but it definitely reduced the enjoyment of the meal for the people around me. This more than justifies gravy getting a place on this list.

Number 5-Green Bean Casserole
First a quick confession that I've never had green bean casserole for Thanksgiving, but I always see that commercial where everyone brings it to dinner. That is just about enough to make me put it on the list. Green bean casserole is a great dish and something I would appreciate on my Thanksgiving table.

There are four more dishes to go, and I'll get to them tomorrow.

Remember the day!

It's not that I have a problem with our Veterans, but November 11th used to be more than a day to remember the Americans that have served our country. Back in 1918 on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the first World War came to an end. Sure the "War to end all Wars" didn't quite accomplish its goal, but it was still a very important event in the world.

America isn't the only country to change the name, and we aren't the only country to celebrate Veteran's day, but I'm still disappointed that we don't think about that historic event when the world came together to try and create peace.

Today, I recommend that you take some time to think about the reason this day was made a holiday in the first place. In seven years, it will be the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Maybe we should do something about that.

Thanksgiving themed-top 6 list (coming soon)

Hey everyone, I've been busy working on National Novel Writing month so I haven't had much time for posting so far in November, but I am planning to do a list of the Top 6 Foods for Thanksgiving. I was going to do a longer list, but I decided that having an entire post on pickles would be a little silly. (I may do that post on its own at some point but not as a part of the list.)

I'm tempted to do a carnivore and herbivore listing, but we'll see how it goes. For now, send me some comments on what you think is the top food for Thanksgiving dinner and I'll consider your opinions, but of course, I'll keep my own advice.

This is a little something I wrote up for a blog I working on with a friend to encourage fellow NaNoWriMo people. You can check out the whole blog here: nanowrimos.tumblr.com

Plotting the plot

Plot is both the most complicated and least complicated aspect of a story. Take any story and try to tell me what the plot is for that story. Now you have to stop and think about that don’t you? Why? Because the plot of a story runs on multiple levels.
Back in school, you were probably taught that the plot is what happens in the story. That is very true, but at the same time, it doesn’t say nearly enough, does it?
On the most basic level, the plot might break down to boy meets girl, boy and girl like each other, boy and girl get into a fight, boy and girl go different ways. Does that really tell you what happened in the story? Actually, it probably tells you what happened in hundreds of stories.
On the other level, the plot is all about those intricate details. How did the boy and girl meet? Who are their friends? What did they eat for dinner? But how do we make this deeper level work for us?
I don’t know how you work with your plot, but for me, I like to focus on something other than plotting. I like to focus on my characters. How well do you really know them? If you’re doing your job, they should be like close friends, maybe even more than that. Remember, as the writer, you can look inside their heads and snoop around. They are your characters, so you should have a pretty good idea of what makes them tick.
Now that’s you’ve become better acquainted with your characters, think about the places where they are going to take a stand. In the novel I’m working on, the male character made a decision to never work at a job where he couldn’t just walk away from it when he wanted. I think that calls for a situation where he really has to think about that decision. Can I work my plot so that has to happen?
Your plot should continually challenge your characters beliefs and opinions. Sure there will be down times in the story, but always use the time to explore who your character are.

National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month is about to start. November first will hit the East Coast in about 43 minutes depending on how long I work on this particular post. It's a crazy idea. Spend one month cranking out a novel. (For NaNoWriMo purposes, a novel will be at least 50,000 words.) This means you're going to have to average 1,667 words a day. It also means that you have to have a pretty good plan in place.

NaNoWriMo is in it's 12th year and growing bigger every year. I'm not even sure how many people are trying it this time around. I'm one of them, and I'm not sure if I'll do any better this year than I did last year. My niece being born messed things up a little bit, last time, and I'm not expecting any nieces or nephews this time around, so maybe I'll do a little better.

If you're interested, you can still get involved. Go to nanowrimo.org to sign up and try your hand at it. The site provides lots of useful tools including a great stats page that shows you your daily average output and what you need to write to finish up on time.

If you're interested in seeing how I'm doing, you can check out my user page. I also started a Tumblr to help struggling writers that you can check out here.

Top Twelve X-men-Number 5

Shadowcat

Once there was a young lady named Katherine Anne Pryde, and when she turned thirteen, she started getting headaches and had some strange experiences like laying down on her bed and finding herself on the living room floor. She was recruited to go the Xavier's school and quickly became one of the X-men.


Kitty in her first appearance

I was trying to decide where to interrupt myself for a moment, and that time is now. If this list were my personal favorites, and not combined with significance to the lives of the X-men, Shadowcat would be at the very top of the list. I have always been a huge fan of her character. When I first started reading the X-men, Kitty was an older woman, but sadly those days are gone. I've always appreciated her resolve, determination, and intelligence. Now back to the rest of my post.

Kitty may have started off as a goofy teenage girl (with some serious fashion sense problems), and that is because that's who she was, but she grew up pretty quickly and became an important part of the team. Her powers may not seem very impressive at first, but there is more to Shadowcat than passing through solid objects. With concentration, she can 'walk' on air and her power disrupts electrical circuits. Her powers also allow her to get places many others cannot with little or no trouble.

Kitty is a big part of some important story lines. She is the main focus of Days of Future Past. Her future self, Kate, travels back in time to try to stop the sentinels from taking over. Kitty is one of the founding members of Excalibur. Kitty has the attitude to make up for her lack of super flashy, planet destroying powers. Oh, before I forget, Kitty also phased a giant space bullet through the planet that would have killed us all. I think that in itself deserves a little respect.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 1

Number 1-Ghost

Here it is, the worst of the worst. Yes, with effort, you can pull together a decent ghost costume, but you're never going to be scary with this costume. (Don't worry, Tricia, you're going to be a great ghost.) Where does the lameness of ghosts come from? Check out this picture for the Halloween special "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." There's a couple of reasons that Charlie Brown was dressed like a ghost. First, it shows how much effort goes into the costume-get a sheet and cut a couple of eye holes. Second, you get to see what can go wrong with the costume.

Before I wrap this up, I need to make a clarification. My friend Austin wanted to see the Scream costume. I will agree that that costume is lame, but I wasn't aware that the Scream movies were supposed to be scary, at least I didn't find them that way. It works out though because when I looked up ghost costumes, I found the Scream ghost costume, so I guess it works out anyway.

So, here it is. The lamest of the lame costumes. No one, and I mean no one, can make this costume scary.

OK, someone might be able to make this scary, but I had to use this image for the epicness of Barney Stinson, so maybe you want to accept the challenge too.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 2

Number 2-Vampires
Here we are down to the last two costumes. This is where it gets really bad. This is one of the top costumes for the lazy and/or indecisive. Before I tear into this one, I need to make a confession. I was usually a vampire for Halloween. A lot of the time, I just didn't pick a costume until it was too late to do anything else. Don't make the same mistake that I did. Yes, a vampire costume can turn out quite well if you play it up, but you won't get anywhere if you just grab a pair of plastic fangs and give yourself whatever kind of cape you can scrounge up.

This is one of the quickest costumes to put together if you're desperate, just make sure you at least give yourself a little fake blood to add effect. Take it from a fellow slacker, you're better off going for something creative even if no one gets your concept. Take this example as a guide. Here we have UberNerd Sheldon as the Doppler Effect. Sure most of the people he's hanging out with have no idea who or what he is, but at least he's got something better than a last-minute vampire costume to explain.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 3

Number 3-Witches
This one is a little tricky. At first I was feeling a little sexist by mostly focusing on male dominated costume, but honestly, with the exception of some of the gender-neutral costumes, there aren't a lot of options for girls to dress up scary. (Also, most costumes for girls are going the sexy route anyway. That's right, you too can be a sexy skunk this Halloween.)

Now I'm not here to hate on witches, just the scary movie stereotypes of them. You're typical Halloween witch that is going for the scare will have the pointy hat, the broom stick, and hopefully a long nose with a wart on the end. However, Nobody will be scared by this combination. After all, it's what you see in every movie and children's book you've ever come upon.

If you want to do the witch costume, try to go for something a little bit different. Maybe pick a specific character. (Like one of the witches from Hocus Pocus or The Craft.) That will help a lot and make you less of a cliche for the holiday.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 4

Number 4-Zombie
OK, this is where the lameness really kicks in. I know that zombies are popular. I know that they are all over the place. This is part of the reason that they are so lame as a costume. I'm sure there are some creative ideas on how to pull off a zombie costume, but they are few and far between. If you plan to just paint your face white and give yourself a few scars, you're just part of the cliche-zombie pack.

Actually, that's a good idea for you. Get a bunch of your zombie pals together and wander around together with your arms out. Put together some moans and groans to add to the effect. After all, a lone zombie isn't scary at all. The main thing that makes zombies scary is the mob effect.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 5

Number 7-Jason
OK, I'm not here to down play the scare factor of Jason or Friday the 13th, but I am here to tell you that your choice to dress like Jason isn't going to get you very far in the scare department. I know, you're wondering what Jason has that you don't have. That is really simple. Jason has music, he has lighting and camera angles. You're just a guy in a hockey mask.

Let's be honest, there are NHL goalies that are scarier than you are. At least they have a hockey stick instead of a plastic knife. This one will never work for you no matter how hard you try. Strangely enough it's still better than some of your options.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 6

Number 6-Death
This is pretty much the last costume that requires some effort in order to work. Sure you can put some effort into the other costumes, but that you can still put those costume together with minimal effort. To be an impressive Death, you're going to need to do one of two things. You're either going to need to figure out a way to pull off some realistic bones or your going to need to find a scythe.

If you go to that extent, you'll get some respect, but if you just pull on a black cloak and hope no one notices you're going to be disappointed. Remember, if you're going to play Death for Halloween, you need to put in a little extra effort.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 7

Number 7- Freddie
For some reason, I had this one switched around with number 5. There really is no comparison between the two no matter what the movie franchise people would have you believe. (That may give away who #5 is, but oh well.

When it comes to big scares, Freddie is the one to watch. (At least he was before the remake happened. I'm not really sure how that turned out, and I have no intention of finding out either.)

This costume does have some scare potential, but you have to play it right. The biggest key to making this costume work is stealth. If someone actually sees you before you get the chance to make your scare, you're not going to get it, but if you can sneak up on them and get your clawed hand in place before they realize it, you can probably get the scare you want.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 8

The Mummy
We're only 5 costumes in and we're almost out of costumes that require an effort. We'll talk more about this later, but further up the line, costumes become easier and easier. I was reminded today by a friend of mine who is actually wearing the top lame costume, that even the lamest costume can get a rebirth if the person working on the costume is willing to put in some effort.

OK, back to the mummy. Here we have a very uninspiring costume. Sure it will take some effort to mummy yourself up, but a roll of toilet paper or some ace bandages won't actually make you scary. I'm not even sure you can act it out like some of the previous entries.

If you want to use this as your costume, then give up on trying to be scary. There isn't much chance you're going to have any success.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 9

Number 9-Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster, seriously? This one can be interesting, but you've got to step out of the box in order to make it work for you. Frankenstein's monster is not going to be scary no matter what you do. I'm sorry, but it just isn't going to happen. You've got to step it up if you want to make a splash. Yes, you're still going to need to get some impressive shoulder pads and a dress jacket big enough to fit over them. You'll also need to figure out those clunky boots too. I'm not sure how you'll give yourself the hardcore flat top either.

So I guess there's a lot of work, but again, this costume isn't scary, even if you pull out all the stops and give yourself over completely to the character. If you can't outrun this guy, there's something wrong with you. Instead, you're going to have to find a twist to make it more interesting. Last weekend I was watching the horrible movie "Spooky Buddies" with the kids at my Boys and Girls Club and they had a guy that was dressed up as Frankendude. He had a surf board and was dressed like a surfer, but with all the get up for Frankenstein's monster too.

*note* Some of you may be confused by me calling him Frankenstein's monster. You need to know that Frankenstein was the guy that made the monster and he never got a chance to give his creation a name so technically this creature should be referred to as Frankenstein's monster rather than just Frankenstein.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 10

Number 10-The Wolfman/Werewolf

Here's another costume that can go either way. It's either going to be a few extra days without shaving and some shredded old clothes or else the person is going to put some actual effort into what they are doing and put together something really impressive. There is no middle ground.

As far as being scary, the werewolf has it's share of successes and failures. Actually, I should say that while there have been some scary moments, most stories involving the werewolf/wolfman have been a pretty big scare failure. Probably too many writers taking the idea too lightly and not setting up situations that are scary.

Guess what, the same thing goes for the costume. Let your hair grow a little long, and your beard too. Put some hair on the back of your hands and put on some ripped clothes. That's all it takes, right? Wrong. It's going to take more than a bad hair day and some grungy old clothes to make this thing scary. It's going to take some acting chops as well. If you're going to go for this costume, you'd better make a commitment or your just going to be another lame character at the party.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 11

Headless Horseman
This one cqn also get a little bit of a pass because there is a possibility that someone might put a little extra work into it and make something special, but that isn't usually the case. As a general rule, the average headless horseman is just a guy with his shirt pulled over his head. I don't think I need to point out how lame that is.

Even worse are the people that don't even bother to put on more than a t-shirt. I guess you could be trying for a headless surfer dude or a headless homeless bum, but You're still going to need more in the way of props to convince me on that one. This is the standby for the guy that didn't actually know he was going to a costume party. If you're lucky, it might get you through the night. Fortunately, the shirt you've got pulled over your head will keep you from seeing the shaking heads and all the people looking at you.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Number 12

Evil Robot

At least trying to put together an Evil Robot costume takes a little effort. It may not look scary when you get done, but at least you had to do a little work to make it happen. Yes, there are plenty of movies with 'scary' robots, but they usually fall pretty flat too. Classic movies and remakes certainly don't hit the mark. I was also extremely unimpressed with I, Robot, but that probably had more to do with my disappointment with the translation of the book into a movie.

OK, that rant is done. Let's talk about why robots aren't scary. First, I can't tell if the costume is a robot or the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Second, even the most impressive robot costume is going to look clunky and awkward. Against a robot like that, it won't take more than a little push or a little bit of a run to get you out of harm's way.

Let me make one other attempt to try to convince you to avoid this costume. Wearing this costume may anger our future overlords and hasten their eventual rise to power.

Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes Part I

I won't take a lot of time here, mostly I just want to explain what I'm up to here. So, it's October (at least while I'm writing this) and I thought it would be fun to do a couple of Halloween-themed lists. The first list I'm going to work on writing is this Top Twelve Lame "Scary" Costumes.

I know you've seen them every year. Sure the source of the costume has a scary history, but it doesn't really translate into the typical costume attempt. I won't get into specific costumes for now, but these costumes could be scary if it were for the fact that there are about 50 people dressed the same way on every street in America. (OK, that's a little extreme, but you get the idea.)

This list will focus primarily on the lack of scare factor and the ease of costume preparation. I know that people can put a lot of work into these costumes, but traditionally, they tend to be thrown together at the last minute. (I am well known for such costumes, so I'm pointing the finger at myself too.)

The actual list will be coming out soon and will hopefully be done before Halloween rolls around. Let me know if you think of any I should have on the list and comment below. (I've got 11 so far and I just need one more, but I'll probably get started anyway.)

Top Twelve X-men-Number 6

Colossus

Here we have the X-man that I feel connected to the most. I mean, I'm not Russian, and I never really worked on a farm. I have younger sisters, but neither of them... (I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's just jump to the actual discussion of Peter Rasputin.)

So Colossus is part of the second round of X-men. He is part of the ethnic mix that is a part of this new team. From the start we get to see that Peter is more than just the strong man of the team. Sure he can change his flesh into organic metal which allows him to take lots of damage, but there's also a sensitive and caring side to this man. Sure he's made out of metal and he's able to repel most attacks, but that doesn't make his willingness to stand in harm's way to protect his friends.

As time passed, Peter became a more complex character. Yes, he is a pillar of strength and power for the team, but he is also an artist and it is his determination to help other that makes him one of the mainstays of the team. (We'll get to that in a bit, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.)

Colossus has many advantages what with his power to transform into organic metal, but he also has many disadvantages that were very frustrating to him. Unlike the Beast, Colossus was most likely to rush in and start bashing the enemy. This was a problem if his enemy could get in a good shot. There were many times early on that Colossus was seen flying off into the distance or crawling out of a crater. He was also a liability in fights against Magneto.  This made him doubt his place on the team, but with some help from his friends he was able to find a way to avoid those problems and be a real force in the battle against an assortment of enemies.

Things got complicated when Peter's sister Illyana discovers her mutant power to open teleportational portals that pass through the demon realm of Limbo. One moment Illyana is a little girl, and the next she is a teenager who has spent most of her life literally living with demons. It is tough for Peter to accept at first, but he is quick to accept his rapidly aged sister and love her unconditionally.

OK, major plot points for Colossus that make him a part of the list. (It has to be more than just the fact that I really like him, right?) Well, let's see. Not only is Colossus a mainstay for the team, he's also been involved in a number of major story lines. Colossus gave his life to end the Legacy Virus. He also saved the day during the Proteus storyline and during the epic battle in Dallas where the X-men kept the the spirit of mischief from ending the world. (In both cases it was Peter's metal form that ended those battles. Probably the biggest moment though was when Peter left the X-men to join Magneto for a time. This was a major blow to the spirit and moral of the team because Peter was such a consistent part of the team.

Even though he died from curing the Legacy Virus, that didn't keep him from coming back from the dead. Everyone else had their time, so why not Colossus too?

Buses aren't as bad as I remember.

Before I get started, I want to mention that I'm not talking about school buses or chartered trips. I'm thinking specifically about taking a trip someplace and using the bus to get there.

My first bike ride was when I was in 7th grade. My Mom decided to send me on a bus to visit my best friend down in Virginia. In a car, the trip would have taken about 7 hours depending on traffic and all the unexpected things that pop up from time to time.

I was glad for the chance to take the trip. Sure I was young, but I wanted to see my friend, and I was more than willing to make the trip even if it was going to take 26 hours to get there.

(This is a little disconnected from the trip I was going to write about. Let me finish my positive thoughts and then I'll turn around and complain about bus stations.)

Anyway, those younger bus trips were not back to back and I got to spend a week with my best friend and really enjoy my time in Virginia. However, that didn't make either trip enjoyable. A bus is not a comfortable place to sleep at night, and big city bus stations are not nearly as nice as airport terminals. At the airport, someone keeps track of most of your stuff for you, but at the bus terminal, you have to you have to carry everything with you. (This is not fun, especially in the bathrooms.)

Anyway, I recently took an unexpected trip on the bus from Kearney, Nebraska to my new home in Fairplay, Colorado. It wasn't too bad. I left at 2 am and was able to sleep comfortably most of the night and even got a few things done. I was not as impressed with the last part of the trip. The second bus was a mess and made me wish I was on a regular bus.

OK, now let me complain about bus terminals. I don't know why I expected the terminal to have a wifi signal, but I did. I didn't find one that I could access, so I ended up dragging all my stuff down 7 or 8 blocks of Denver trying to find a place to pick up a signal. I did finally manage to find one, but it was not fun dragging my bags all over the city. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the first person to be stuck there for 6 hours waiting for a transfer to happen.

So, for the most part taking the bus isn't as bad as I remember, but there's still a long way to go.

What is up with Asian Buffets?

So, I've been living a nomadic lifestyle lately and I've earen at a few buffets featuring Asian foods over the last month. There's one little thing I've noticed with these establishments that really caught my attention a few days ago.

Why is it that all three of the buffets I went o had so much "American" food? If I'm going to one of these places, I don't expect to see rice crispy treats and sliced oranges. Sure they have fried rice and lo mein and all the stuff that goes along with them, but what is up with this? Pizza and mozzerella sticks and all sorts of things that are hard to eat with my chopsticks.

When I was at the last one, there was an old man who I'm pretty sure just ate plate after plate of orange slices. You don't have to go to the buffet for that. Just go down to the store and buy some oranges. What's the point of going to the Asian buffet if you aren't going to at least eat a little Asian food?

Why I love and hate iTunes (and all things Apple)

So I've always had a love/hate relationship with Apple and the stuff they make. It started in school where we had access to Apple computers back in the Stone Age of technology. (With our first computers, we had to use a tape player to load programs.)

There really isn't much to relate about those days. We basically got to play around with really simple graphics and games (that are very similar in content to what you might get from Addicting Games or a site like that.

We loved our Apple computers because we were able to play games on them and pretend to be hi-tech computer gurus. I still remember doing lots of DOS style programming. We were able to figure out all sorts of basic games to play with the computer including a number guesser and the game that locks your computer in an endless loop.


So that makes it sound like I just love Apple, right? Well, that was the early days of computers and we didn't know any better. Later on, we started working with PCs. I found those computers to be more intuitive and easier to use. The other major problem I had with Apples versus PCs was the lack of a right-click button. I love right click. It's one of my favorite things in the world.

Yes, I know there are all kinds of keyboard tricks to get those same things done, but I'm not sure what they are, and I'm not really excited about figuring them out.

So what about iTunes and iEverything? First, I really don't understand the push to put a lowercase 'i' in front of everything. iTunes, iPad, iPhone, and the like are just annoying to me. I want to be able to just type without having to think about my Shift

key.

I do enjoy my iPod and iTunes. I like the easy acces to content without having to worry about dealing with legal issues on the other end. I'm watching the Jim Gaffigan special right now. I also have all the seasons of the new run of Doctor Who available any time I want to see them.

However there is a big downside to  this. My content is tracked by Apple. I can't just put it somplace and have access to it. If I lose the file, then it stinks to be me. I don't think there's much we can do about the situation though. We'll just have to continue out love/hate relationship until something better comes along.

Top Twelve X-men-Number 7





Nightcrawler



The first appearance of Nightcrawler when the X-men rebooted.

I feel a little bad about this one. I mean Kurt Wagner is one of the best characters ever. However, I have to try to stick to my original criterion (Appeal and importance play equal parts.) and put him right here on the list. Nightcrawler doesn't have the most impressive powers and he hasn't been the driving force of any major story lines. He's certainly been around for most of the big stories, but let's give credit where credit is due.



Let's take a moment to talk about Kurt's background and introduction to the X-men. Even though the original team of X-men was pretty good, the book had a lot of problems like lame villains which included Unus the Untouchable and the Vanisher. The book was put on hiatus for several years and also had a segment of time where Marvel just reprinted old issues to keep the book alive. That all ended with the introduction of the New X-men. This was an attempt by the writers and the company to not only create more interest in the team, but also to address the lack of racial diversity on the team. (The book likes to focus on prejudice and fear of differences, but aside from mutant powers the original team of X-men had no diversity.)

This is when Nightcrawler was introduced. He is a German mutant who is also one of the first truly non-human mutants to play the role of hero. Think about the past choices. First you have Hank McCoy who hadn't even become furry at that point. He just had big hands and feet that could hold stuff really well. You could also consider several 'evil' mutants that were frightening like Blob or Toad, but even they weren't as inhuman as Nightcrawler.

Kurt may not look like your average human, but he is probably the most human character in the X-men universe. He has a passion for life and he has a bit of a split personality. On the one hand, he is a swashbuckling hero who wins the girl, and relishes every moment of the adventure. On the other hand, he is a devout Catholic who strives to serve God even though he looks like a demon. It is a strange dichotomy, but one that works well with the character.

While Nightcrawler is a wonderful character, his role hasn't been as significant. He is certainly always the voice of hope and adventure for the X-men. He was the leader of Excalibur and he used his strategic skills to lead the team, almost always with success.

The injury that took Nightcrawler from the X-men and let him become the leader of Excallubur.

So what about Kurt's biggest moments? Well, he is a major long-term contributor to the X-men, but the writers don't really like to give him a big role in the comic book as a whole. We do get to see Kurt being used in a plot overthrow the Catholic church by setting him up to become the new Pope, and he is always a big part of what's going on in most story lines, but that's about all I can offer you besides what I mentioned before. Hopefully You won't hold that against him.

I want to see They Might Be Giants live

I love the band known as They Might Be Giants. Ever since I heard them perform live on their CD, I've wanted to see them in concert. I've heard great things about the show that they put on and some of the videos I've seen on DVD and YouTube have really been entertaining.

I mentioned in my previous post about TMBG that I really love the lyrics of the band. They are smart and a little vague. There is no clear message in most of the songs so the listener can bring themselves into the interpretation. The band is actually on their 30th anniversary tour at the moment. I was a little disappointed to find out that they will be playing two shows within 2 hours of where I live. This is disappointing only because I will be in Colorado when they are playing. Fortunately, they will be playing in Boulder in November so I can see them then and there if I can free myself.

I'm not sure what my schedule will be like when I get to Colorado so I can't be sure I can go, but I think it will work out. Do yourself a favor and check this band out and see if you can see them live too. Check out the tour dates on the link below.

http://www.theymightbegiants.com/news/they-might-be-giants-join-us-2011-tour-across-america/

Top Twelve X-men-Number 8 Gambit



Gambit

Here is one of the first shots we have of Remy in his first apperance in the X-men. Not quite as handsome as they make him later.



I might get some flack for this one, but it's my list and I have my reasons for putting Remy LeBeau a little further down the list than some people might appreciate. Before we get into all the reasons, let's talk about the the man himself.

Gambit officially hit the pages of the X-men in the 90s during a period of great upheaval for the team. The Mutant Massacre had mixed things up and sent Shadowcat and Nightcrawler to England to be a part of Excalibur a book set in England and put together by the legendary team of Chris Claremont and Alan Davis. Then Storm and Wolverine had followed up on a plan to 'kill' the team and allow them to work behind the scenes without endangering their friends and family. Later on, the whole team either died (well it looked like Storm died) or walked into the Siege Perilous with some not-so-gentle persuasion from Psylocke. (The Siege Perilous was a fine McGuffin that sent the X-men off in different directions and placed them in different lives for a while.)

OK, sorry that took such a tangent, but it needed to be said in order to get to the next part. You see, Storm didn't actually die, she ended up being turned into a child again and she went back to the only life she knew from that time of her life-being a thief. That's how she met Gambit. They were both in the process of stealing paintings from the same not-so-nice guy and ended up having some adventures together. Eventually all of the X-family gets back together and the entire mutant community gets turned on its head. Gambit ends up becoming a part of it all even with his unclear back ground.



Remy's first cover shot.



Let's talk about powers and abilities now for a little bit. Gambit is a mutant who was born with the ability to transform potential energy into kinetic energy. Not sure what that means? Don't think about it too hard because the idea doesn't completely hold up to scrutiny, but let's just put it this way, Gambit can take an object and fill it with the potential to explode. He usually uses playing cards because the charge quickly, but with enough time, he can use his power on any object. He even blew up his motorcycle in an attempt to defeat a bad guy.



Like any worthwhile anti-hero, Remy has a dark past beyond his life as a thief. He was the man that led the Marauders to the Morlock tunnels for the Mutant Massacre. It turns out that he's also been closely connected to the history of Mr. Sinister (albeit through time travel) helping this menace to the X-men become the threat that he is. (I guess was is a better term since I think Mr. Sinister is dead at the moment. Maybe next week he'll be back.)

Remy also suffers from the typical comic book character syndrome- too many writers.  Everyone wants to work with this kind of character, and everyone seems to want to either add to his back story or just rewrite it. (Wolverine has the same problem.) Some of the changes have been for the better. I'm sure the original plan for Gambit was not for him to be responsible for the Mutant Massacre, but it definitely works for the character and the story. Hopefully no one will decide that Remy's blood can cure cancer or something ridiculous like that.

Why does Doctor Who continue to miss opportunities to draw fans into the old series?

So this will sounds a little petty and pointless to some of you that haven't really seen any of the old run of Doctor Who. I want you to know that I'm mostly happy with what is happening with the show, but like any long-time fan, I have some issues with what is happening, and I want to gripe about it a little bit.

I was super excited to find out that Doctor Who was starting again. I'd seen most of the old Doctors at some point growing up thanks in part to PBS carrying the show on a 7-year delay. I can say all sort of things about the original run, but lots of that can be found under other posts that I've already made here. I'm especially glad that they didn't choose to reboot the show like so many other shows have done. (Battlestar Galactica is an example of where this was a good idea. Doctor Who would have been a bad idea.)

The writers have paid tribute to the original Doctors from time to time, but that usually takes the form of the blurry series of images of the Doctor up to his current form like we see at the end of Eleventh Hour. What about some other homages to the Doctors of the past.

Before I get into examples of missed opportunities, I suppose I should make sure to point out one very valid spot where the writers looked back to the old show. When we get a copy of the Doctor in The Rebel Flesh storyline, we get to see this copy try to adjust to being replicated as a Time Lord rather than a human. We get to see this new copy of the Doctor go through the struggles of figuring out who the Doctor is including some references to older Doctors. ("Reverse the flow" coming from #3 and "Do you want a jelly baby?" coming from #4.)

So this begs the question, why didn't Matt Smith do any of these things when he started as the Doctor? The same question can be used for David Tennant. Christopher Eccleston has an excuse since he didn't actually regenerate on screen. Instead of reminding viewers of the past Doctors, we just get recurring jokes about new teeth.

What about in "The Doctor's Wife?" Sexy sends Amy and Rory to an older copy of the TARDIS control room. Which control room do they end up in? The previous Doctor's control room. Why not do a little searching and go back a little further? I was hoping it might even be the original control room. Sure it's not very exciting, but it might have made viewers take an interest in where that control room originated and go back to see it in action.

What about the very recent episode where the the Doctor is poisoned by Melody Pond and he struggles into the TARDIS and activates the Voice Interface and he gets to see a series of options for people to have for interaction. Sure it is nice to see images of Rose, Martha and Donna, but why not use someone from the older series? It could even be Sarah Jane Smith. That would be worth something, especially with the recent death of poor Miss Sladen. However, wouldn't it have been fun to see some of the other companions ad perhaps spark a little interest in those characters and those Doctors?

Well, that's probably why I don't write for Doctor Who, but it won't stop complaining about it. Leave some comments below.

Being up late at night is a dangerous thing

Why is it that I'm always up so late at night? It's probably because there are so many things I want to get done. I know I'd be able to get just as much done if I were to go to bed at a decent hour and get up early instead, but I think there is a desire in me that wants to stay up late and get stuff done. Unfortunately, the late-night me is also prone to staying up later because I don't want to push myself too hard.

It's really a lose-lose proposition. I don't get enough sleep, and then I stay up even later because I'm trying not to push myself too hard. Perhaps it's just a part of who I am, but I doubt it.

When I was a kid, my parents used to send me to bed at horrible times. (I mean 9pm is just barbaric.) I don't know why they would do such a thing, but I would usually be up 6 hours later raring and ready to go. This came in great for Saturday morning cartoons, but it didn't serve any other point. Well, maybe it helped them to get up in time to do whatever they needed to do, but I doubt it.

So here I am, trying to sort out my life and sleep patterns. I'll probably still be a night owl when it is all said and done, but at least I'm thinking about making changes. That has to count for something.