Travel Bloggin'!

You know, I didn't think the Chase Hotel in Palm Springs could get any better, but here I am, bloggin' away with free wifi while chompin' on a complimentary, freshly baked cookie, having just come back from a dip in the pool. I'd blog outside, but it's about 100 degrees out, and I'm afraid my little iBook might melt.

Alas, I leave tomorrow. The end has come too soon! I have noticed something, though. When the temperature gets to be about 110 degrees outside, it's almost the equivalent of a blizzard hitting, in that you really can't be outside for very long, so instead you're kind of trapped indoors. Not complaining, because the rooms are fab, just an observation...

Hey, look! A dinosaur! I went inside one today, and you'd never guess what dinosaurs subsisted on...

Gone Fishin'

Barring something really exciting happening in the next two days, I think it is safe to say that this here blog is on vacation. This lovely scene will be my view for four days straight. Hallelujah!

Unless, by some miracle, there is wireless access poolside, I don't think there will be much going on here until the beginning of August. I have the deepest faith in you all, and I know you will get through this difficult time with strength and fortitude.

Have fun at WORK, bitches!

I Guess My Invite Got Lost in the Mail

Maybe one of these days I'll be able to partake in this whole "TV press tour" thing, but until then I will have to make do with reports from other lucky bastards. Like this account of a press conference featuring a batshit crazy Mickey Rooney.

Hey Hey Hey!

This week's SFist post is up. Catch it before it reruns!

I Knew Someone Wouldn't Resist

Of course SOMEONE had to make the "Scotty beams up" crack, but I guess it's better than a "He's dead, Jim" headline.

True story: When I was in high school I had dinner with some friends at Julie's Supper Club. (For high schoolers, we seemed to have dinner there a lot. Maybe it was because they'd never card us when we had cocktails with our meal.) And sitting across from us at a looong table of about 14 guests were Tony Bennett, Lee Meriwether, and James Doohan.

I shit you not.

I have NO idea why they were all together that night, but I do remember we did our best to eavesdrop, and we heard "Scotty" tell a story about getting cornered in an elevator by a Trekkie who calmly asked him, after pulling out a sealed syringe, if he could get a sample of his blood, reassuring Scotty that it would completely sanitary. I believe Scotty said once the elevator door opened, he ran for his life.

And that's my James Doohan story.

Orlando Bloom Is Hideous

Someone got to this blog today by searching Google for "ugliest actors," but he made sure that the word "orlando" was removed from the search results.

I'll just let you ponder that one for a while.

Now This, This I Don't Like

Pop Culture Junkies brings a link to a "Lost" promo shot by David LaChapelle. And no sir, I don't like it...

I'm Not Scared

I thought the very idea of it would piss me off, but it doesn't. At least not as much as the whole Charlie and the Chocolate Factory thing. I'm speaking, of course, about the remake of The Bad News Bears. My general disdain for the "Chocolate Factory" remake is largely based on my general disdain for Tim Burton. I think he makes great looking movies (although his set design is becoming a bit repetitive. Must everything have a curlicue at the end?) but he's a crappy storyteller. He knows nothing about pacing and too often gets swept up in his own vision, seeming to forget that he's got a plot to finish.

Unlike Tim Burton, I trust Richard Linklater. I haven't seen a Linklater film I didn't like, at least a little, and he pulled off the seemingly impossible in 2003 with "School of Rock," a movie filled with kids that wasn't too cutesy or sappy. And since the "Bears" remake is also coming from the guys who wrote "Bad Santa," which was hilarious AND sick, I can't help but get my hopes up. I know that having the kids say some of the things they said in the original isn't going to make the cut in these times (and I'm annoyed by that, don't get me wrong), but I still think the movie is going to be funny.

Because watching a kid get hit in the head with a baseball is ALWAYS funny.

Take Me Home

I was a watching a show about "Reel Homes" on some channel (I have too many to keep track of. Maybe it was HG or something) and they did a segment on the Sleeper house. It's also known as The Sculptured House, and it's FOR SALE!

Once my stock goes through the roof again, I'm totally buying it--it comes with all that amazing furniture and everything! Too bad I'll have to live in Colorado, though...Although, maybe it wouldn't be too hard to move the entire thing to Tahoe or something. Who knows, it might even come with its own jet-propelled moving system--the house is THAT awesome.

Do the Emmy People Even WATCH TV?

The Emmy Nominations are in, and while I do watch a lot of TV, I've never gotten very excited about the Emmys. Certainly not nearly as excited as I do about the Oscars. Of course that doesn't mean I can't get annoyed by the nominations.

Like no nominations for "Gilmore Girls" or Lauren Graham. She gave a better performance last season than all of the "Desperate Housewives" combined. Nothing for Vincent D'Onofrio, who has created one of the looniest detectives to ever hit the TV screen. (Yes, even loonier than Tony Shaloub's "Monk," who did get a nomination. AGAIN.)

It's just the same crap year-after-year. Sure, I'm happy about the many "Lost" and "Arrested Development" nods, but I still get the feeling that the voters for the most part just pick what the picked a year ago, regardless of whether the show is still good or not. (Yeah. I'm looking at YOU "Will and Grace"!)

I Just Like Saying "Eye Socket"

This week's SFist post is up, and it's probably all you're going to get from me today, so savor it!

The Most Awesome. Thing. EVER!

Hard at Work
Originally uploaded by Extreme Craft.

This photo set has been making its way around bloggerville for the past couple of weeks and I LOVE it. I immediately looked to see if a copy was available on eBay, but no. So then I looked for it at the library, and they have it! And a reserved copy is now waiting for me!

Of course I wish I could find a copy that I could keep, but in the meantime, I will be photocopying the hell out of it. And I just might try a few of the patterns out myself. You know, so I can get in touch with my masculine side.

"The Best of Times"...a TRUE American Classic!

You know! That movie starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell. About football?...What's that? You don't think that's a "classic?" Well AMC does!

And it seems the courts are a little annoyed by their definition of "classic," too. [link via tvtattle.]

Can I Really Handle That Much Excitement EVERY NIGHT?

One of the reasons I got digital cable in the first place is beginning tonight on the Game Show Network. Amazing Race reruns! While the site says they're showing at 9pm, I think my TiVo shows them as airing at 6pm. I hope TiVo is right and I don't come home to an hour's worth of "Match Game"...although, "Match Game" IS pretty awesome.

I think I already know who wins the first season, but no matter. I'm still looking forward to seeing how the game was different when it began (I hear it was a lot more challenging) and I plan to be entertained, dammit!

Look! Over There!....No, THERE.

Look on the right-side nav and you'll see a link to this week's "Musty TV" newsletter. For those of you who aren't lucky--LUCKY!--enough to subscribe to it, it's a guide to the week's best movie offerings on (non-premium) cable. I'll (hopefully) update it every Saturday. Enjooooooooooy!

One Foot on the Floor at All Times

A friend has started a blog devoted to pre-code movies, a pretty awesome topic. It's tentatively titled Pre-Coded Messages for now, but I think he could probably go with something snazzier, no? If you've got some ideas, be sure to visit and let him know in his comments!

Tragedy in London

And by that, I am of course referring to MTV's coverage of the London Live 8 concert last week. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Just kidding....Oh. Sorry. Too soon? (I am only being this tasteless because I do find it kind of amusing how many people in London seem to be taking the bombings in stride. Yes, it was horrible, but I think Londoners just have something in their blood that doesn't make them completely freak out about bombings, what with years of IRA attacks, not to mention that whole World War II thing. So I am in no way belittling what happened. I am only trying to react like a Londoner.)

But back to the matter at hand. I didn't bother watching any of the Live 8 stuff last week just because there weren't any performers (aside from Madonna. Of COURSE!) that I was that keen on seeing. But I've certainly heard that MTV's coverage was atrocious, and it seems they've taken the criticism to heart and will be airing commercial-free (and hopefully, VJ-free) performances this weekend.

I Miss My Feathered Hair

I watched MTV's The 70s House the other night and...kinda liked it. It's pretty stupid--kind of MTV's version of "1800 House," in which attractive youngsters are forced to live like it's the 1970s. The HORROR!

But I have to kind of agree with this article. Who is this show aimed at? I like it because I'm someone who was alive for every single avocado green and mustard yellow year of the 1970s. But what teenager today would give a crap? Once you get past the "Oh my god! The clothes are so ugly!" factor, I imagine the show loses any appeal.

But seriously. What WAS up with the avocado green and horrible yellow colors? Why did anyone think that was pleasant?

Will Anyone Ever Watch the Watchmen?

The other day I was wondering what was going on with the Watchmen movie that was supposedly happening at Paramount, and quickly found this article. Looks like it's back to the drawing board. Again.

I'll repeat that I think it would make a better HBO series (a short one, but longer than a mini-series) than it would a two-hour movie. As for casting, you can find out what other fans have in mind for that here. I like the idea of Bruce Campbell as the Comedian...Just don't let Terry Gilliam get involed again. Please!

Hmmm...I wonder if that promotional "smiley" pin I got at WonderCon is now a collector's item?

Bee's Knees

Remember that headache I mentioned last week? Yeah. I've still got it. But I did manage to put up my weekly SFist post. Can I go to sleep now?

Maybe There Is Such a Thing as Too Much Closet Space

If you've been watching Best Week Ever you've probably been amazed at the clips they've been showing from R. Kelly's Opera, "Trapped in the Closet." I know I was. So if you're just dying to watch all five parts, VH-1 is airing a special tonight. At 5. Or 7....or maybe it's 11.

Or you can just read the insane lyrics here.

TV Land Should Be Tied At the Wrists and Hung From the Rafters

I watched Sybil this weekend on TV Land, which was being run as part of their tribute to Movies of the Week, and was shocked to see it had been edited! Some of the most disturbing images were removed from the film, and remember that this was a made-for-TV movie that aired in the 1970s. I find it scary to think that TV in the 1970s allowed more on the screen than is allowed now.

Of course, I feel kind of creepy complaining that there weren't more images of young Sybil being abused, but part of the power of the movie is just how shocking those moments are. In TV Land's version, Sybil's mother is still pretty crazy, but the full extent of her horrific abuse is gone, and the film suffers from those omissions.

Judging from the TV Land message boards, I'm not the only one annoyed by this, and it sounds like they also cut scenes out of some of the other TV movies they aired, including Helter Skelter. I guess the reverence they have for these films, as demonstrated on their Web site, is just a load of crap. Nice to see they were able to cram almost 90 minutes worth of commercials into the "Sybil" airing, though. Kudos!

That's Love

Yeah, I watched Being Bobby Brown last night, and was kind of...shocked. Of course celeb-reality shows in which said celebrity turns out to be kind of koo-koo are a dime a dozen in these post-"Osbourne" days. But I have to admit I have never, ever seen a reality show, celebrity-centered or not, that featured a husband and wife a talking lovingly about the time he had to reach in and pull some crap out of her ass because it had gotten stuck.

I kid you not.