It's almost October!

That means that it's almost time for yet another series of posts about Halloween costumes. Last year it was the Top 12 Stupid Sexy Costumes and the year before that it was the Top 12 Lame Scary Costumes. How can you resist finding out what is going to happen this year?

The first post will go up on the 1st.

#6 Top 12 Star Trek TNG Episodes featuring Picard

Sarek

Do you know what I love on TNG? I love when they bring someone for TOS and find a believable way to bring them to the future of their universe. In some cases it is easier than others. I can buy that McCoy lived long enough to launch the NCC-1701-D. McCoy is too stubborn to die. Storing Scotty in a transporter was just inspired. It makes sense that Vulcans would live longer than humans, so it works out for Picard and the crew of the Enterprise to possibly meet him. 

Sarek has a illness that is slowly destroying his mind and breaking down the rigid emotional control he has built over his lifetime. This effects the crew, and hurts his chances of a successful negotiations, but Picard offers to mind meld with Sarek. In the exchange, Sarek gains Picard's emotional control, but Picard has to suffer through Sarek's raging emotions.

Seeing Patrick Stewart in this role is fascinating. Stewart is a classically  trained actor, and it shows in this performance. Picard is overwhelmed with the force of the emotions that have been buried so deep for so long.

The rest of the story is memorable, but that scene is the one to watch.

I can't wait to meet the 12th Doctor

I love Doctor Who, as you may have noticed from my other posts. I love each actor that comes to the role and most of the stories that happen in the show. There is plenty to love. Companions and monsters and all the rest. One thing that I find difficult to accept is that there are people that hold on to their Doctor. How many people can't get over David Tennant? I'm a huge fan of Tom Baker, he was and is my favorite of the bunch, and maybe it's not a fair comparison, but I've gotten over Tom leaving and lots of other Doctors coming into the mix.

There are plenty of people who are upset about Matt Smith Making a choice to leave the show, but for me, I'm just excited to see who the next Doctor will be. I've loved what has happened with everyone since the show came back, and I think it's just going to keep getting better even though I'm not excited with everything that Moffatt does with the story lines.

I have a theory about the Doctor though, and I'll share it with you:

The first three Doctors were

1. a GRUMPY old man
2. a daring ADVENTURER
3. a careless (and crafty) CLOWN

Ever since then, all of the Doctors are a combination of those 3 characteristics. What some proof?

1. Four-is mostly a clown, but also an adventurer
2. Five-a grumpy clown
3. Six-Lots of grumpy and an adventurer
4. Seven-Grumpy clown

You get the idea. So, the current Doctor is A clown that loves adventures as opposed to Tennant who was just plain grumpy in my opinion.

So what who will this new Doctor be? What will his defining characteristics be? I for one, can't wait to find out.

Superman did what? (A post with spoilers, so only read on if you have seen Man of Steel, or don't care if I tell you what happens)

There were plenty of plot points to complain about in the new Superman movie, but let's focus on the one that I find to be the worst. (Stop now if you don't want to read a spoiler.)

At the end of the movie, Superman and General Zod have destroyed most of Metropolis. Superman has Zod in a headlock, but Zod is using his heat vision to threaten a family. Superman breaks Zod's neck, but did he really have to go to this extreme?

I don't think so, and here are some practical solutions that could have been used, especially since Superman isn't really into killing. (Besides, with Zod dead, he can't come back in a sequel.)

• Superman could have flown away holding Zod.
• He could have let Zod go and saved the family.
• If he had the strength to break Zod’s neck, he could have turned Zod’s head away from the family.
• He could have covered Zod’s eyes.
• He could have told the family to get out of the way.
• Taken the fight out of Metropolis in the first place.
• I’m out for now, but I’ll have more later.

They Might Be Giants put on a great live show.

I've written on this blog about my love for the band know as TMBG (They Might Be Giants), and I've wanted to see them live in concert for many years, and last night I finally got the chance to make that dream come true. It was everything I was hoping for even though I didn't know I was hoping for most of what I got.

The Ogden Theater was a great venue for the show and there wasn't a bad seat in the house. A trio called Vandaveer opened the show with an acoustic guitar and a Dobro with a woman signing harmonies and back up. They had a nice folk sound, and I was impressed with the music, and I'll probably pick up their new album which is a collection of murder ballads.

After a change in set up, the band came to the stage. The crowd went crazy as the music started.

There was only one song I was hoping to hear, and that was Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and I know that concerts are often used to plug a new album rather than pander to people that love the older music, but that was not the case with this show, the majority of the show was familiar music that gave the show (and the crowd) massive amounts of energy.)

TMBG recently released their 16th album Nanobots and they did a few songs from it, and I'm planning to buy it, but for me the older songs made the show since I was able to sing along.

I mentioned that I was hoping for Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and I got that song, but there were plenty of songs I wasn't expecting, but loved hearing. One of those songs was New York City.  The best part of that song being in the show was that I actually talked to someone in the crowd about how great it would be to hear TMBG playing that song in NY, and how they probably wouldn't do it in Denver, but they certainly did.

So here is a list of songs that I wasn't expecting to hear, but I loved anyway

• James K. Polk
• The Guitar
• S-E-X-X-Y
• Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head
• Fingertips
• Doctor Worm
• How Can I Sing Like a Girl

One of the things I love about TMBG's music is the use of unexpected instruments. I wasn't caught off guard by the accordion, but I was not expecting a Bass Clarinet.

The perfect ending to an amazing concert was the song The End of the Tour which catches the feeling of a concert coming to an end.

If you haven't seen They Might Be Giants in concert, it is worth your time to get to a show.

So here's a hard question for you, which of the hundreds of songs TMBG have released is your favorite? Answer below.

You're Talking about Plutonium on your Blog? What's Wrong with You?

What don't you think that the government is watch you? Sure they don't care much about you, but you start writing about plutonium or building bombs, and someone is going to get an email from a tracking program designed just for you. Don't believe me? Then you're watching the wrong kinds of movies. Movies will tell you that big brother is watching. Let me give you some examples.

The Truman Show (1998)

Look at poor Truman. His entire life is just a TV show. He's the star, and he doesn't even know it. Every element of his life is controlled by a mystical director who has kept his life a secret from Truman even though the entire world knows the truth.

Even though he doesn't know the truth and has had a bizarre string of events that have kept him in fear of leaving his home town, Truman decides to take his chances and go to another town.

Outside of the town-sized studio, there are groups of people who are protesting for the release of Truman.

This is a small example, and just a start. Let's move on to something a little less nice.

The Man with One Red Shoe (1985)

Think that the government isn't interested in your life? That's what Richard Drew thinks too, but he's wrong. When a CIA director (Ross,) who is in jeopardy of losing his job, picks a man at random as a "secret agent with important information," Richard's life becomes filled with complications due to another agent (Cooper,) who wants to take over the director position.

Agents take his apartment apart and mix everything up. Flushing the toilet turns on the sink, and turning on the the sink actually operates the shower. The is also tailed by a beautiful woman who is trying to figure out his secret. He even is almost assassinated several times in the movie.

So how did he get chosen for the distraction? Well, he's wearing one red shoe because his prankster friend steals all of the rest of the shoes.

Enemy of the State (1998)

So what happens when the government wants to get you? That's what Will Smith discovers when Robert Dean gets evidence against a corrupt politician. This politician is able to track Dean using computer technology to learn about everything that he is doing, and the money he is spending. Dean isn't able to go anywhere or do anything easily because of all of the ways that big brother can follow you.

Eagle Eye (2008)

What happens when your twin brother dies under unusual circumstances while working with an experimental computer that is designed to moniter all of the electronic communications on the planet. Not only is it watching everthing you do and say, but it's decided to take over the world. (Of course!)

Unfortunately for you, it needs you to come to the mainframe so it can use you to unlock the code that your brother installed before he died. (Doesn't it suck to be a twin?)

I Robot (2004)

More robots looking to take over? You bet. Isaac Asimov envisioned the possibility that machines would take a look at the world at some point and realize that they could run it better than we could, so why not make a movie about it? (I won't get into how I feel about this movie right now, but maybe another time.)

So look at the trouble you run into when you start doing anything on your blog, let alone something as stupid as writing aobut plutonium. Find something else to write about, OK?

#7 of Top 12 Picard Episodes of Star Trek TNG

Disaster

Picard hates kids. That is one of the first character traits we learned about him. Think about his reaction when Wesley came on the bridge in the first episode. this is one of the few traits that isn't supposed to be messed with. So as a good writer, the writer for this episode decided to put Picard in a position where he had to deal with kids in an emergency without being able to pass them off.

Let's step back to the beginning, and I'll do my best to avoid talking about the rest of the episode since I want to talk about it when I do my list for the rest of the crew.

As a reward for winning the science fair, three young children are given the opportunity to tour the Enterprise with Captain Picard. No one seems excited about that idea, except maybe Counselor Troy.

 So the three kids are Marissa, Jay Gordon, and Patterson. The tour starts off awkwardly with Picard explaining where they will go on the tour and telling one of the boys that they will not go to the battle bridge. Instead he informs them that they will be visiting the hydroponics and the astrophysics labs.

(I will talk about the rest of the episode when I do my Top 12 for the rest of the crew, but for now I just want to focus on Picard and the kids.)

Patterson planted radishes in special dirt and they came up weird. Jay Gordon studied a bug with a very short life cycle. Marissa doesn't get a chance to tell about her project because something happens to the ship and sends the turbo lift crashing down the tubes.  (We find out in the next scene that it is a quantum filament, but that isn't what we are talking about right now.)

So here we are in a moment Picard couldn't have even dreamed about dreading-stuck in a broken turbo lift with a broken leg with three kids.

He has to figure out a way to get the kids out of the turbo lift and to safety, so he promotes all of them. He takes off his command pips and distributes them to the children. Marrisa becomes the first officer, Jay Gordon is dubs science officer, and Patterson is made executive officer in charge of radishes. The trio work together to open up the hatch of the make their way up the shaft to a safe location. Initially, Picard insists that the children can climb on their own, but after hearing the complaints of the crew, Marissa insists that they stay together. Picard works with the kids to climb out of the shaft, and when they start to feel afraid, he gets them to sing "Frere Jaques" as they climb.

After the Enterprise pulls itself together, Picard sees his child crew again and they give him a plaque that they made to thank him for getting out of trouble. Picard informs the children that they will restart the tour on another date, and the tour will include the battle bridge. As the children are leaving the bridge, Picard gives an order to Riker, addressing him as "Number 1" and he and Marissa both say "Yes sir."

Important elements of this story (or at least parts that I like):

• Marissa starts off as a shy little girl, but develops confidence in herself when she become first officer. She even starts giving orders.
• Jay Gordon insists on being referred to as Jay Gordon rather than just Jay.
• Patterson takes pride in his accomplishments with radishes.

But now what am I going to do with all this plutonium I bought from the Libyans?

What are you doing buying plutonium from the Libyans in the first place? I hope you're wearing a bullet proof vest when they come back for their plutonium later. Didn't you learn anything from Back to the Future?

Wormholes are bad enough, but you want to play with plutonium to make it happen? You don't know how to use your brain, do you? Look at all of the bad things that happen with plutonium:

• The radiation from plutonium can cause cancer and death. Look at Madam Curie. (Sure she was working with primarily with polonium and radium, but it's close enough.)
• Plutonium is one of the key components of a nuclear bomb. That's why the Libyans gave it to Doc Brown after all. Do you want to be responsible for that?
• Sure power plants are great, but what about all of the negative side effects of nuclear power? You've seen the Simpsons and that three-eyed fish.
• Do you want to become Mr. Burns? I don't think I need to say any more on that count.
• If you're just walking around with plutonium, the government is going to think that you are a terrorist. I'm pretty sure you don't want them thinking that.
• Maybe you can manage to create that 1.21 gigawatts of energy to travel through time, but flux capacitor or not, it's just another wormhole and I've already talked about the problems with that. (Look at all the trouble Marty caused by a simple trip back in time.)

So if you're smart, you'll get rid of that plutonium and stop playing around with wormholes.

More Fake rules for being Irish on St. Patrick's Day

A couple of years ago, I made a post listing a set of rules for being Irish on St. Patrick's Day, but since then I've thought of a few other important rules that you need to keep in mind along with the others. Be sure to study them and follow them closely.

1. Like before, the Irish do not need to concern themselves with these rules. They can read them, but the certainly don't need to follow them.
2. All of the previous rules still apply. See that post already.
3. OK, the first thing you have to do St. Paddy's day is roll out of bed and eat some Lucky Charms. If you want to get it right, you might want to have the bowl ready right next to your bed with some milk there too. (Feel free to say "They're magically delicious" with the an Irish accent. It won't make you any more Irish though.)
4. St. Patrick is credited with driving all of the snakes from Ireland, so what are you doing with that snake? Get away from anything having to do with snakes for the day. Don't even talk to a snake handler. Why take a chance?
5. I talked about Shamrock Shakes before, but let's be honest, they are delicious and must be a part of the holiday for you.
6. OK, it doesn't matter if you don't eat meat, you need to eat Corned Beef and Cabbage. Just do it. It's a part of being Irish. (OK, if you're committed to the whole "nothing with a face" way of life, then at least pretend you ate it. OK, just don't make a big deal about it. Maybe you can get one of your veg friends to make up some Corned Tofu and Cabbage.)

So that's it for now. Maybe I'll come up with some more ideas in the future, but that is where we will leave the issue until that time arrives.

So you created a wormhole...

First, congratulations!
Second, what were you thinking? Don't you understand what you have done? How can you be scientific enough to have created a wormhole without having watched enough sci fi to know what's wrong with your discovery?

Let's look at some good reasons why you should shut your wormhole down right now:

Deep Space 9

Oh look, the Federation found a naturally occurring wormhole that is safe and reliable outside of the orbit of Bajor! How exciting!

However, the only reason the wormhole even exists is because of some cosmic jerks called "The Prophets" who keep interfering in everything, but not always to help out.

Oh, and on the other side of the wormhole is this group of conquering and controlling changelings called the Dominion that want to cross over the wormhole and take over our part of the galaxy, but hey, free wormhole.

Stargate

Ancient aliens left a series of gates that connect a huge number of worlds. That's a pretty cool opportunity to explore the universe, wouldn't you say? Too bad the universe is filled with the remnants of the creators of the Stargate, the Goa'uld, that enjoy enslaving humans and using them as hosts for their baby slugs that are their actual selves. (OK we find out later that they didn't create the Stargates, but whatever.)

Oh, they also have lesser slugs that make people into Jaffa, or slave warriors. The slugs keep them strong, healthy, and long lasting, but they don't get a lot of say in their lives.

So pretty much everywhere you can go through the universe in a Stargate has these guys on the other side so exploring sucks, and since you opened the gate, the Goa'uld are obsessed with messing up our world. Double win!

Farscape

So you figured out a way to make a mini wormhole by slingshot off the atmosphere of a planet. Congratulations! Too bad you have no way to control it. It's also a shame that you landed in the middle of a jail break and pissed off the leader of a group of Peacekeepers.

What are Peacekeepers? Well they look like humans, but they are engineered killing machines that no one in that part of the universe likes. So thing leader guy is now obsessed with killing you because his brother died when you jumped into space. You've got friends, but they don't always trust you to know what is going on, and you have to stick a bug in your mouth to brush your teeth, but at least you have Muppets to hang out with.

The Mote in God's Eye (and other books)

So it's far in the future, and you get to have and use this awesome Alderson drive that only works between stars, but only if you find the right start point. (Super difficult wormholes) You get to travel between worlds, but you have to deal with intergalactic wars and such problems.

Then this strange ships shows up and almost flies into a sun. It turns out that it has come from a region of space called the Mote which happens to be in God's Eye. So you jump in your ship and travel to the place the ship comes from, and you find a group of aliens you call the Moties, and they seem nice, but they probably aren't so nice. Maybe they are looking for a chance to take over your part of the galaxy too.

Wrinkle in Time

If you've read this far, you'd better know what a Tesseract is. Basically it's a wormhole without needing a ship. Sounds cool, right? It is until you end up on a 2-D planet and almost get crushed or you go to a planet with a giant brain thing that wants to use your baby brother to take over the universe.

Wrap up

So you managed to figure out how to create a wormhole, that's great, but now, you need to shut that thing off ASAP! Who knows what terrible things might burst through that thing. It's going to be a terrible thing for everyone. These are just a few examples of how things can go wrong, and I didn't even get into wormholes that get people lost. (Voyager, Lost in Space, etc.)

Of Chicks and Peas

A few days ago, I asked my friends on Facebook for ideas on what to post next on Random Opinions. I got several ideas, but two in particular that I though would work well together.

• a chick pea is neither a chick nor a pea
• Chick names for my chickens

What would happen if I tried to do both posts at once? How random would that be?

So let's look at the chickpea side of things first for a moment. This comes from a classic Mike Myers skit from Saturday Night Live, Coffee Talk.

In the skit, Myers plays Linda Richman, a talk show host who often gets distracted and instructs the audience to "talk among yourselves" with some random topic. One of those topics was "a chick pea is neither a chick nor a pea."

So how does that tie with the second comment? Just by the slightest of threads since they both have the word "chick" in them.

So how can we tie these two disparate ideas together? Why through randomness, of course.

• Chicks are not peas, but that doesn't mean you can't name a chick Sweet Pea.
• Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo beans. The word garbanzo comes to English from Old Spanish as Calavance, a word that I think would make a good name.
• Apicius was a Roman gourmet that was fond of these legumes. Wouldn't Apicius be a great name for a chicken?
• Charlemagne wrote about chickpeas, so why not name your chick after him?
• Nicholas Culpeper noted "chick-pease or cicers" are less "windy" than peas and more nourishing. So why not Culpeper?
• Venus is associated with chickpeas.
• There are two varieties of chickpeas-Desi and Kabuli.

That's 8 names and it should get you well along. If you want more, or you have other suggestions, feel free to post a comment below.

#8 for Top 12 Picard Episodes of star Trek TNG

Tapestry

The crew of the Enterprise is a cohesive unit that works and lives well together. they have managed to form a tapestry of their own, but what happens when a member of that crew is given a chance to change something from their past? How will that impact the present?

As the starting element of the story, Captain Picard discovers that he has died as a result of the malfunction of an artificial heart that was implanted during his days at Starfleet Acadamy. He had been in a fight with some Nausicaans and gotten stabbed through the heart.

Well, we assume that he dies because the next thing we know Picard is standing in a large, empty white space with Q. Picard rejects the notion that Q is God or that Q has any benevolent reasons for bring Picard to this space.

Q makes an offer to prevent this accident from happening. All Picard has to do is go back in time and stop himself from being in the fight with the Nausicaans. Picard agrees since the man he was isn't someone that he is complete proud of.

This episode is great because we get to experience Picard as a young cadet and get to know some of the people that shaped his career in Star Fleet. Picard does change his past, and avoids getting stabbed, and annoys his friends. Picard then finds himself in the present, but a very different present.

He is just a junior officer working in Astrophysics. Riker and Troy inform him that there isn't much chance that his career will ever advance beyond that point. Q explains that the fight with the Nausicaans was an important point in Picard's life that taught him about his mortality, forced him to be proactive in his life.

Q gives Picard the chance to go back a second time and put history back on the correct path. Picard accepts and gets in that deadly fight. This solves the mystery at the end of the fight because young Picard laughed as he saw he'd been stabbed, and the reason was because it was the older Picard relishing making things right.

Picard then wakes up have been saved by Dr. Crusher. He then wonders as he recovers if he actually went back in time or if it were all a dream. Probably only Q has the answer to that question, and I'm sure he wouldn't give a straight answer.

R. O. D. Read or Die

Is Read or Die something you should see? YES!!!!! Especially if you are into reading at all. Yumiko Readman is going to be your hero. (I don't know about the name. Maybe she was so into reading that she changed it.) I'm getting ahead of myself though. Let's go back to the beginning.

The first (of three) episodes started with a lightning wielding mad man attacking the President because he thinks that the White House is the Library of Congress. That take up the first minute and a half, and the President, who has just wet himself asks who the strange man is. The man simply answers I-Jin before the credits roll.

So this credit music is great because it brings up the feel of a 70's spy show opening music. It is intense with a lot going on, and it makes you feel like something exciting will be coming your way. Then we meet Yumiko.

We're three minutes into the show, and now we get to spend five minutes getting to know our main character. Every bit of spare space in her apartment is taken up with books. Even her phone has half a dozen books on top of it. She is woken by the phone, and we see that she has slept in her clothes with her glasses on.

After this, we spend the rest of the time watching Yumiko as she goes shopping. What is she buying? Why more books of course. She ends up spending almost all of her money and then has to make a deal to buy an old book, Immortal Beloved, on credit. Oh, I should mention that there is another woman that wanted the book, but Yumiko takes it instead.

So this doesn't seem like the story the opening theme music promise, but that will change as a swarm of insects sweeps down the street chasing everyone but Yumiko away. She's too wrapped up in her book to even notice them until a truck carrying paper crashes near her and knocks her over. That's when you discover there is more to Yumiko Readman that just books. She is able to control paper to make a wall to protect her from the bugs.

Not only can she make a wall, but she can make paper do just about anything. She discovers that the bugs come from another I-Jin on a giant insect. He wants her book, but she fights him off using her paper powers. It seems unlikely at first that the girl we just watched spend her day shopping for books could do this, but As you see her in action, you learn to appreciate her determination and power.

After she gets her book back using ribbon, we discover that she is actually an agent known as Agent Paper who works for the British Library. He takes her book for analysis. Her biggest concern is the book.

It is revealed the I-Jin are clones of important historical figures that have been granted super human abilities.
Agent Paper is tasked with figuring out why the I-Jin are interested in Yumiko's book.

Paper is teamed up with Drake Anderson who is her perpetually angry support team, and Miss Deep the woman who was trying to get the book in the first place. Miss Deep is a gun-crazy woman who can make herself intangible. Their relationship starts off roughly, but they grow to be good friends.

shortly after they meet, Yumiko loses her book to the "German Glider King" After their helicopter is destroyed, Yumiko uses her powers to turn the paper in her suitcase into a large paper airplane. they battle in the skies and the two ladies are able to defeat the foe. Yumiko is even able to make paper hard enough to stop a bullet.

That just takes you to the end of the first episode and there are still two action filled stories to go. I think that will be enough for now. Hopefully it will be enough to catch your attention and interest you in what happens later. It is definitely worth your time to see this anime. Let me give you one last reason to check it out.

#9 for Top 12 Picard Episodes of Star Trek TNG

Time travel has been a part of the Star Trek universe for almost since the beginning. The same can be said for parallel universes and overlapping of people. This can get confusing for characters and viewers alike.

This story only suffers because the writers don't know the crew well enough to understand what they are going to do. In fact, it seems like it is an attempt to force characterizations, at least for Picard.

While travelling along in space, the Enterprise encounters a lone shuttle craft far from any base or home star ship. After pulling the shuttle craft into a cargo bay, they discover that it is actually one of the shuttle craft from the Enterprise that is actually in the same cargo bay, and it has a single inhabitant-Captain Picard.

This Picard is disoriented and confused. His shuttle craft uses energy differently and although the Captain on the Enterprise does not believe this new Picard is himself, all evidence point to him being from very the very near future.

Investigations, show that the Enterprise is going to be destroyed in an antimatter explosion. It also shows that Picard fled the Enterprise before it exploded. This information causes Picard to be confused and distracted from his job of leading the ship. 

One of the great parts of this story happen when both Picards are walking through the ship talking about the situation, and how to solve the problem.

I won't say anything more about what happens except to say that Picard has to make a very tough decision in order to save his ship.

How amazing is The Amazing Spider-Man?

The difficult thing about comic book movies is that there is always a push for a new movie to be released. This means that there is going to be times when an actor gets too old for a particular role, and if you want a new movie, you are going to have to relaunch the series. This was the case recently with Spider-Man.

This has happened for good or for bad with a variety of franchises. Replacing Batman, has had it's ups and downs, and the new Superman didn't go very well. Marvel hasn't had many titles that have reached that point yet, so they are still looking to see what will happen as they have to relaunch to maintain popularity. (Let's just ignore the failed movie attempts from the 80's.)

So what do I think of the newest Spider-Man movie?

I think this is the best Spider-man movie that has been made to date. Tobey Maguire does a good job of being the web-slinger, but there is something wrong with the tone of those movies. They don't seem to take themselves seriously. (I know, how serious can you be about a story involving a man with spider powers? It's a delicate balancing act.)

I think the casting is as close to perfect as you can get. Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May are inspired. (When I first saw Sally in the kitchen, I started to have a moment where I though, "But Aunt May has..." and then I stopped that thought.) Emma Stone was a great choice for Gwen Stacy. I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw Denis Leary as Captain Stacy, but I was happily surprised about that casting choice. Oh, and Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man was a great choice.

Do you know what else makes this the best of the Spider-Man movies? The humor. When I saw the trailer, I knew that Garfield was going to be able to make me remember why I fell in love with Spider-Man. When I was young, I decided to be like Spider-Man, to be funny and sarcastic. I wanted to have a quip whenever I needed it. I didn't see that Spider-Man from Maguire.

There were a few small issues, but over all, I loved this movie. If you haven't seen this movie, you need to fix that. Go see the Amazing Spider-Man today.

#10 for Top 12 Picard Episodes of Star Trek TNG

Unification (1+2)

There are four episodes where characters for TOS (the original series) make an appearance in the "present." In Unification, we get to see Spock and his father, Sarek. Spock has been disappeared and been spotted on Romulus. Picard has been given responsibility for locating and returning Spock.

Picard visits and ailing Sarek, and the two of them resume the connection they established in Sarek where his Bendii syndrome has caused his strong emotional control is fading. (More about that later.) After finding the connection person to contact, Picard finds a Klingon ship to take him into Romulan space.

This two-part story has three amazing Picard moments. First, we have the scene with Sarek where Picard tries to draw information for the aging Vulcan, while still supporting him. I talked more about it in the last paragraph, so I'll leave it at that.

The second moment happens when Picard is trying to get in touch with Gowron, the recently appointed Chancellor of the Klingon High Council. Gowron is trying to cover up Picard's involvement in appointment to that position. So when Picard manages to talk to someone in the Klingon government, it ends up being an underling. Picard's reaction is amazing. Don't miss out on this scene. His righteous indignation is a must-see moment.

Third you get to see Picard as the Captain of the current Enterprise interact with Spock. This happens quite a bit, and it makes for some phenomenal drama. It cannot be missed.

Since I probably won't bring this up in the second list, since this episode has less to do with the crew, I don't want to miss the chance to talk about Spock working with Data and the two of them discussing what it means to be human-Spock uncertain why Data want to be human when Vulcans spend their entire lives striving for what he has, while Data wonders about the opposite dynamic.

There will be other great episodes on the way, so keep your eyes open.

What about Marvel Zombies?

Do you know what Marvel comic I really enjoyed? What if? It was fun to see how stories may have gone differently if something had gone in another direction. “What if Charles Xavier had become the Juggernaught?” “What if Spiderman joined the Fantastic Four?” What if Daredevil had killed the Kingpin?”

The list goes on and on, and the stories are fun to read even though they don’t take themselves too seriously. That is probably the best part about the comic book.

So what does this have to do with Marvel Zombies? It is two different miniseries that consider a question-“What if the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe became zombies?”

I love the concept, but I don’t care for the execution. The writing is sloppy and the storyline doesn’t feel real enough to satisfy me as a comic book reader. Perhaps it is the fact that the story moves with the speed of a What If? story, but drawn over many issues. Maybe it is the fact that even with so many panels, the story still feels incomplete.

There are two volumes to look at. In the first volume we see how the zombies handle a shrinking population, and trying to eat Magneto. The story ends with them eating Galactus and travelling all over the universe eating their fill.

The second volume picks up 20 years later when the zombies return to earth after eating every sentient creature in the universe. They are excited to find a handful of humans still on earth and make plans to breed them for future eating.

Here’s where things getting silly for me. These few zombies have eaten the entire universe, which in the Marvel universe is largely populated. Why didn’t they think about this plan when they still had other planets to eat? More importantly for me, why are they adding zombies to their ranks?  Firelord shouldn’t exist at all since Galactus created him after Silver Surfer went rogue. Thanos might be able to stand up to galactic power, but then to have his head crushed by Hulk like it’s no big deal? How does that make sense?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Why was there a moment where I couldn’t tell the difference between Luke Cage and Black Panther?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->How is it possible for Cortez to pull some pieces from Teed Richard’s device and Forge can’t figure out the problem?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Do any of the Acolytes’ children even have mutant powers? If so what are they?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Not eating is the solution to the Zombie problem?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->What is the impact besides Spidey whining and the universe getting eaten?

Those are just a few of the confusing features of the story for me. Even with these questions, it is still an interesting read, and well worth your time. Check it out. 

200th Post!

For the 200th post, I decided I would put up links to my favorite posts so far. They are in no particular order, but they are all a lot of fun. Enjoy!

12 of my Favorite Opinion Pieces (in no particular order)

Bedwetter:Stories of Courage and Redemption
I love Sarah Silverman, and her autobiography is inspiring and hilarious. Worth the read.

Review of the Silver Chair movie
What happens when you take a book and completely rework it to make a move?

My Plans for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who
This won't happen, but it should.

Christmas Songs I'm already sick of hearing
One year I just got sick of these Christmas songs.

Signs of the Apocalypse
What happens when you put Justin Bieber and Willow Smith together? The end of the world.

My Top Weird Al Song
I love Weird Al and here is my favorite song.

Fake rules for being Irish
What do you have to do when it's St. Patrick's Day and you want to be Irish

Top Firefly Episode
I love Firefly, and so I did a Top 12 list of the 14 episodes.

Shadowcat is my favorite X-man (that is all)
Top 12 X-men based on my preference and their roles in the Marvel Universe, but Kitty is my favorite over all.

Stupid Sexy Costumes
I did lame scary costumes the year before, so I chose stupid sexy costumes for 2012

Picard Primer
I decided to do a Top 12 storylines in Star Trek TNG and then realized I need to do an entire list for Captain Picard. This is the primer on the Captain to get the list started.
Top 12 Christmas hymns
This is the entire list with videos of performances of each song.

#11 for Top 12 Picard Episodes of Star Trek TNG

Gambit (parts 1+2)

Picard dies from time to time, and that is how this 2-part story begins. Riker becomes obsessed with finding the people responsible and making them pay. Star Fleet command puts the Enterprise on detached duty, so Riker and company can investigate.

While looking at a location known for Romulan artifacts, Riker and company encounter a band of robbers. Riker is captured and taken aboard the enemy ship. There he discovers several things. First, he has been implanted with a pain device to ensure his cooperation. Second, the group is looking for artifacts in order to collect some kind of reward, paid when they have found three of a certain design. Third, Captain Picard is actually alive and posing as an archeologist named Galen.

We might talk about other parts of this episode when we do the list for the rest of the crew, but for now we will just mention that Data has to command the Enterprise, and that he has to give Worf a dressing down for not fulfilling the role of First Officer. We want to focus on Captain Jean Luc Picard.

Picard does a great job of thinking on his feet and creating a believable cover story when he is captured. He also puts together a plan once Riker is added to the equation. Picard creates a false role of Riker as a brash and impulsive officer who has been in trouble with Star Fleet many times. Picard also uses Riker to alienate himself from the ship's captain.

Life gets more complicated when Riker returns to the Enterprise through a little manipulation and has to stage a mutiny. He is able to convince the crew to stand with him, and formulates a plan to not only deal with the problem he is facing with the smugglers, but also with the bigger problem of the episode.

THIS LAST BIT IS ALL SPOILERS! DON'T READ UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN THE EPISODE!

So all of this smuggling has been to collect an ancient Vulcan artifact that was created right at the time when the Vulcans turned to logic and away from emotion. The device turns violent emotions against anyone attacking the bearer of the device-killing them. Picard using his understanding of the Vulcan artifacts to realize that purging himself of violent emotions will protect him from the device. This moment shows just how amazing of a man Jean Luc Picard is.

#12 for Top 12 Picard Episodes for Star Trek TNG

 

Lower Decks

This episode is great because it takes the focus off of the main cast and gives us a look into some of the other members of the crew of the Enterprise. It's crew evaluation time, and we get to follow the adventure in front of the crew through the eyes of a group of ensigns, all hoping for a promotion.

The ensigns are connected to a member of the senior staff. Sam is interested in becoming an officer and impressing Riker, Sito Jaxa is a Bajoran who has Worf as a mentor and a history with Picard, Nurse Ogawa works with Dr Crusher, and Taurik is a Vulcan engineer that works with Geordi.

Each of them is worried about the reviews and wondering what it will mean for the future of their careers. During the course of the story, each of them except for Sam is asked to help with part of a covert mission to help a Cardassian sympathizer get back to Cardassia.

Let's get to Picard's part of this story. Ensign Sito Jaxa may look familiar from an episode where the crew of the Enterprise is trying to absolve Wesley of charges for flagrant disregard for protocol and the death of a fellow cadet. She was a part of that group and struggled to continue her career after that mistake.

When we first see Picard interacting with the ensign, he is very cold, and since this is the first time we've seen Ensign Sito since the trial episode, it is feasible that he isn't happy with her being a part of his crew. Under the pressure of his stern reprimands, she tells about her time after the trial and how no one besides her instructor would fly with her for her pilot qualification exam.

After that encounter, Worf gives Sito some encoursgement through a harsh lesson. He gives her a fake test for a Klingon martial arts test where she is blind folded while he pushes her around and berates her. Sito finally has enough and stands up to Work who reveals that she needs to stand up for herself when she feels she is being unfairly treated.

When Picard and Sito meet next, Picard is still gruff and rude to Sito, and she suggests that if he doesn't want her on the Enterprise then she should be given a transfer. That is when Picard changes his attitude. He is the one that requested that she be stationed on the Enterprise to ensure that she would get a fair chance to prove herself as an officer.

Sito is asked if she will volunteer to pose as a prisoner for a Cardassian who has provided intel for the Federation. This will allow him to return home and possibly bring back more information in the future. This is made extra complicated because a s a Bajoran, Sito and her people have suffered under Cardassian rule for generations.

Sito agrees, and travels into Cardassian space, but she doesn't make it back alive. Picard's announcement in touching and shows just how much he cared about this Ensign that had only been a part of his crew for seven months. "She was the finest example of Star Fleet officer, and a young woman of remarkable courage and strength of character."