random opinions

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 5

2012-02-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

Number 5-Ariel

This episode is a great chance to get to know almost everyone better. The only character you miss seeing is Preacher, and he wouldn't want to be a part of things anyway.

River just keeps getting worse and worse. Her brother decides that he needs to do something drastic to uncover what the alliance did to her mind. He has a crazy plan, that might just work.

Is the Simon some kind of criminal mastermind? It certainly looks that way. It takes a lot of preparation, but the crew is able to break the Doctor and River into the hospital by faking their deaths and pretending to be an ambulance crew. They are able to steal a ton of medication while Simon scans River's brain. It looks like it is going to work perfectly, until someone throws a monkey wrench in the works.

Let's take a moment before we get there to look at some of the character development moments. It's pretty much a tie between Simon and Jayne as far as who has the most character development so we'll talk about them separately later.

Kaylee and Wash build a medical transport ship out of a scrap yard.
Mal and Zoe struggle with all the medical lingo.
Mal has to make some hard choices about who he supports and how he does so.
Awesome medical scan effects.
River's head is messed up thanks to the Alliance.
There are some crazy, messed-up people after River.
Do not mess with Mal-ever.

Stuff for Jayne

Works hard to learn his lines and gives them just to prove he could.
Betrays Simon and River for the money.
Cares what people think. Even when he thinks he's going to die, he begs Mal not to tell the real reason he is going to die.
When it comes down to it, Jayne is a fighter.

Stuff for Simon

Simon comes up with a great plan.
Simon saves a patient that gets the wrong treatment.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 6

2012-02-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

Number 6-Objects in Space

Do you know what Firefly really needs? Someone to make Jayne look a little less crazy. That's definitely what you get with this episode. Jubal Early is definitely the craziest person to ever grace the decks of Serenity. He even makes River look sane.

It's sad to note that one of the best episodes around what is happening with River, is where the story ends thanks to Fox.

Jubal Early is a messed up bounty hunter who is trying to collect the reward on River. He does a great job of dealing with the crew and company. He does some extremely strange things. Check them out here:

Jubal's path:

Fights Mal and beats him pretty easily. Locks him up in his room.
Locks up Zoe and Wash.
Is really, really mean to Kaylee. (Also suggests he might be Santa or a part of Serenity forever)
(He also threatens to rape her, which is not cool Joss Whedon.)
Knocks out Preacher.
Says lines like this: Doctor: Are you alliance? Jubal: Am I a lion? Doctor What? Jubal: I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well though. I have a mighty roar. Doctor: I said Alliance. Jubal:
Hits Inara.
Has a conversation with River as Serenity.

This episode speaks to so many great components of the show. It's good that this was the last of the episodes, but it's a shame that it had to end at all. "Does that seem right to you?"

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Number 7

2012-02-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

Number 7-Our Mrs. Reynolds

Yes, pretty much every episode of Firefly is all about Mal. You'll just have to deal with it. In the beginning of this episode, the crew is celebrating with the local on a planet where they have just helped eliminate some local bandits (which included Mal in a dress and pretty bonnet.) Mal dances with a pretty girl and that seems to be all there is to tell. Not much of a story, right?

Wrong.

Back on the ship, Mal discovers his new wife waiting to serve him. No, he doesn't know anything about her until they meet again. Sure he enjoyed dancing with her, but that doesn't mean he wanted to be married to her. The crew takes advantage of the situation to give Mal a hard time even though Mrs. Reynolds doesn't seem to enjoy the situation.

However, it turns out that Mrs. Reynolds is not anything she pretends to be. She takes down pretty much the entire crew and sends Serenity on a course to get dismantled for parts. Here are a few interesting points:

Mal breaks down and kisses poisoned lips.
Inara breaks down and kisses Mal.
Wash doesn't break down, but still gets hit in the head.
Jayne is just Jayne, like always.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 8

2012-02-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

Number 8-Shindig

This episode is a lot of fun. Not only to you get to see Mal in a duel, but you also get to see Kaylee in one of the most ridiculous outfits ever. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Let's take a step back and approach this from closer to the beginning.

The crew gets a lead on a transport job, but because of a variety of issues, Mal has to prove to the client that he is respectable enough to take the job. This involves a variety of problems, but Mal manages to overcome each of them.

Inara takes a Companion job with a guy that turns out to be a complete jerk with control issues. He expects her to leave her life and become his Companion full time. She holds off on the question. Meanwhile, Kaylee is overcoming the silliness of her dress the only way that she knows, being an amazing engineer. After she gets put down by the mean girls, she's surrounded by men that are impressed by her knowledge.

At one point, Mal get frustrated by Inara's date and somehow ends up on the wrong end of a sword duel. Somehow Mal survives this and even gets the contract.

One major point for this episode is that it may or may not have the moment where Mal gets stabbed in the place of the pressure point the bad guy in the movie uses against him. I'm not 100% sure that is right, but it's pretty darn close.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 9

2012-01-28T20:20:00.000-08:00

Number 9-Heart of Gold

How can you complain about an episode that tells us a lot about most of the characters and really pushes the limits of Mal and Inara's relationship? The answer is simple, you can't. To make things even more interesting check out the setting of this episode. (Let me step back and make a different approach to this.)

So Inara gets a distress call from a former companion and friend who has an emergency situation. She has a house of unlicensed companions and they are about to be attacked by a man that is convinced that one of the woman is pregnant with his child. Mal and company agree to help the women out and all sorts of interesting stuff happens.

Here are a few major elements to the story that develop character arcs:

Preacher doesn't judge the women for what they do, continuing the character development of him as being nonjudgmental of sinners.
Jayne joins the party because of the sexual favors offered.
Jayne also shows off his love affair with guns.
We get to see deeper into the relationship between Mal and Inara when Mal sleeps with the former companion and we see that Inara is not OK with that.

Even as good as this episode is, there are better ones that happen on either side of this story. Be on the lookout for them down the road.

Top Twelve Episodes of Firefly-Number 10

2012-01-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Number 10-Message

I had to give the whole list another look when I saw this was next. The main reason is because the rest of the episodes are really good, and I'm not sure how I managed to rank all of them. Of the 10 remaining episodes, this is the least, and that's still an amazing place to be.

In this episode, we learn a lot about Mal and Zoe and their experiences in the war against the Alliance.

While checking on their mail, Mal and Zoe discover that they have received a dead body of a former war buddy. He plays the sympathy card and the two decide to take him home to his family.

Unfortunately, he isn't all that dead, and he's just trying to use Mal and the crew of Serenity to steal a genetically engineered heart. There is a group of government agents after him and the crew, and they aren't afraid to do some unsavory things to get what they want.

I won't give too much more away in case you haven't seen this episode. (If that is the case then what are you even looking at the list for? Go watch Firefly now.)

Here are some important moments:

Jayne gets a hat from his mother. The hat explains a lot.
Kaylee gets shot-again. Seriously, why does she get shot so much?
We get to see more of Preacher and his strange mix of characteristics. How does he manage to almost save the day?
"When you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't do that, you get someone to carry you."

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

I know that your resolutions should be specific. I know they should detail the exact changes you want to make, but that's not my style. I don't need all the pressure of trying to reach a specific goal. I don't want to feel like a failure just because I lost 9 pounds instead of 10.

I do have some things I want to accomplish, but aside from a list of writing goals, none of them are specific enough to lead to failure if they don'e happen exactly. Just in case you're curious about my goals, here they are:

Lose some weight. (No amounts or measurements, just get a little thinner by the end of the year.)
Figure out the next year (whether that means an actual teaching job or another year of AmeriCorps)
Win NaNoWriMo 2012
Get a car

I'm sure there are other things I should/could put on this list, but I'm just working off the top of my head and 6 days late.

Top 12 Episodes of Firefly-Number 11

2011-12-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

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)

2011-12-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

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)

2011-12-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-15T19:44:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-13T23:09:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-06T09:23:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-03T18:46:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-23T18:18:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-22T21:19:00.001-08:00

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!

2011-11-11T13:05:00.001-08:00

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)

2011-11-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-11-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

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.