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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 2: Episode 14 – “Whispers”

Miles O’Brien: Are you nearly finished? I believe you poked into every orifice in my body… and created a few new ones.

Julian Bashir: Any dizziness? Oversleeping? Lack of energy? Euphoria?

O’Brien: Yes! All of them, especially euphoria! Lots of euphoria!

Bashir: Seriously.

O’Brien: Look, if you are determined to keep me here until you find something wrong with me, I’ll see if I can’t grow you a hangnail!

Bashir: Eye problems? Hearing? Headaches

O’Brien: Headache! There you go. In fact, I’m getting a very bad one right now!

Bashir: Short temper…flies off the handle under the slightest provocation. Perfectly normal.

O’Brien: I’m glad you’re enjoying this.

Bashir: Sorry, I know how you feel about doctors.

O’Brien: It’s not doctors I have a problem with

[Together] It’s you Julian.

Bashir: Well, your sense of humor seems normal enough.

O’Brien: I don’t have a sense of humor.

Bashir: Cough.

[O’Brien coughs]

Bashir: How’s the sex life?

O’Brien: I don’t have a sense of humor.

Bashir: Cough!

[O’Brien coughs]

Bashir: Everything all right in that department

O’Brien: That department is none of Starfleet’s business, or yours.

Friday Favorites: Favorite Character – Babe

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

Babe is one of my favorite movies.  And while I love all of the things that everyone else praises, the story of an “unprejudiced heart” who challenges preconceptions, the fantastic music (which will be a post of its own one day soon) and the Oscar-winning effects, my favorite part of the movie is one that is often overlooked: Arthur Hoggett.  Though James Cromwell was nominated for an Oscar for the role, losing to Kevin Spacey for his deserving role in The Usual Suspects, his performance in this Best Picture nominee has been mostly ignored in the 18 years since Babe’s release.  So today, I’d like to highlight one of my favorite characters/performances, who turns out to be deeper than he might seem on one viewing.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Jack Sparrow: It is pronounced ‘egregious’!

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Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Captain Hammer: I hate the homeless– [switches card] –ness problem that plagues this city.

Book Review: The Cuckoo’s Calling

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There was a bit of a stir when the warmly received The Cuckoo’s Calling was discovered not to be Robert Galbraith’s debut novel, but that he was in fact a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling.  The reasons behind the pseudonym seem pretty obvious considering the critical and public reaction to Rowling’s previous novel, The Casual Vacancy.  Using a different name allowed Rowling anonymity, where her book could be taken on the value of its content alone, without the hype, expectations and preconceptions that would have come from releasing “J.K. Rowling’s new novel”.  And, tellingly, Galbraith got some very good reviews before the secret slipped, with several reviewers finding it hard to believe that The Cuckoo’s Calling could be a debut novel.

The Cuckoo’s Calling is a pretty straight-forward detective story, but is relentlessly entertaining and filled with memorable characters.  It tells the story of the death of Lula Landry, a supermodel whose fall from her penthouse apartment was ruled a suicide by the police.  Continue reading →

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Welcome to Night Vale, Episode 19A – “The Sandstorm”

Cecil: Now you listen here, Steve Carlsberg.  You’re not saying anything new, Steve.  Of course the sandstorm was created by the government.  The City Council announced that this morning.  The government makes no secret that they can control the weather and earthquakes, and monitor thoughts and activities.  That’s the stuff a big government is supposed to do!  Obviously, you have never read the Constitution.  Okay, sure, government can be very inefficient, and sometimes bloated and corrupt, but the answer is not to complain about everything that they do.  Without government, we would never have schools or roads or municipal utilities or helpful pandemics or black vans that roam our neighborhoods at night keeping us safe. So please, Steve Carlsberg, I’ve had enough of your government-bashing.

Trailer Tuesday: Carrie

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Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies.

This is the trailer I intended to share and discuss last week while on vacation, until I encountered problems posting it on my phone.  Take a look at the trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Carrie, and read on for a few thoughts below:

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The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling

“Stone dead,” said Howard, as though there were degrees of deadness and the kind that Barry Fairbrother had contracted was particularly sordid.

Book Review: The Casual Vacancy

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The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling’s follow up to the Harry Potter series is a bit difficult to review, or even to classify.  It’s one part political drama, one part small town comedy, while also being largely an ethical fable about our attitudes toward others, the interconnectedness of our lives and the consequences of our actions.  It’s a seedy, foul-mouthed take on a host of issues that can feel both exaggerated and painfully realistic and believable at the same moment.  And while on the surface The Casual Vacancy has little in common with Harry Potter, both stories begin in the same fashion, with death.

The opening of The Casual Vacancy is a far cry from the double murder that began Rowling’s other series, starting instead with the rather pedestrian death of Barry Fairbrother as he collapses in the parking lot of the local golf club on his anniversary due to an aneurism.   Continue reading →

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The Muppets

Rowlf: How come you didn’t use me in the montage? I thought my story was pretty interesting.

[cut to Rowlf snoring in a hammock on his porch surrounded by other Muppets]

Kermit the Frog: Rowlf?

Rowlf: Huh?

Kermit the Frog: You wanna get back together?

Rowlf: Okay.

[cut back to the car]

Rowlf: Classic.