The Meaning of Life Stuff

huh

2007-11-27T23:08:00.000-08:00

I have the same blog layout as Joseph Mallozzi. Go figure.

2006-09-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

Playing the part of Jesus will be Alan Rickman.

New Drawings 7/06

2006-07-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Enjoy!

Elrond

2006-07-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

12/05

His face is so much fun to draw.

Balian of Ibelin

2006-07-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

12/06

One of the best jobs I've done on hair yet. It often gives me a lot of trouble.

Drawing - Lost City

2006-07-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

3/06

This is one of my favorites in my book so far.

No Angst?!

2006-01-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

Okay. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with last night's CSI. Or at least I was, but I'm sure I'll get over it and start to like it once it wears off. The promo got me all hyped and really led me to believe it would be a Nick-centric episode.
Not really.
Stalker was more Nick-centric. I at least expected a healthy dose of angst! Okay, maybe there was a little bit. But Nick seems to have gotten over the worst of it. Good for him. Not so good for me. I at least hope he's still claustrophobic and wary of bugs. Give me that much! Well, we know he's always been the woobie and hopefully will continue to be, even if it takes a while before the next "incident." This stuff has been happening since episode six (though mostly seasons 1 & 2). There's no reason to think it will stop now (I must keep that in mind with Stargate as well). I'm sure someone will think of some other way to torture poor Nicky, and when that day comes I'll be there for every second. I know, I'm horrible. At least I know I'm not the only one. If we're really lucky, maybe Tarantino will be back! I'm probably hoping for too much. If not Tarantino, I want Raimi. He really likes screaming, so that gets us somewhere. At least Nick still has cute hair. I think my favorite part of the episode was when David had to grope the dead guy.
I'm kind of excited about tonight's SG-1. We finally, finally, finally get to see an alternate version of Daniel! That has never, ever happened before. Moebius didn't count: it wasn't an alternate reality, it was an alternate timeline. When they went back the second time, they were in the same reality. Robot Daniel doesn't count either because he was essentially Daniel in all by materials. He was a copy, not an alternate. I wonder what he'll be like! Perhaps another chance for Shanks to show how good he is at being evil? In every other reality they've been to, he's either been dead or just not there. Won't they be surprised to see Janet again! As well as another old favorite... I'm not telling who.

This picture is from Conversion, although he really looks the same in all of them. Except Epiphany and part of this one, which isn't the part I drew. Who knew he would still look hot when he was all blue and scaly?

Hey, CSI guy...

2006-01-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

This week looks like another 'poor Nicky' episode for CSI. I swear everything happens to that guy (not that I mind at all!). Well, except that one thing that happened to Greg. But everything else happens to Nick. During an IM with a friend I put forth the thought that although I was hoping for some very fine angst (and owies, if we're lucky), I didn't think they could top off being buried alive. Then we started brainstorming. Ideas became wackier and wackier until I won the Best Way to Torture Nick contest by bringing up the movie Cube. Put him in there, and it's all over. Not many things can top that experience. I got kind of excited at this point and started brainstorming for a possible story. I threw in Charlie Eppes from Numb3rs (because of course, we need somebody who knows math), and my friend suggested Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis (David Hewlett, duuuuh, Cube alumnus). I was also toying with Jack Shepard from Lost, Fox Mulder, that Sentinel guy, and possibly the Carver from Nip/Tuck to make it really interesting. But I'll probably never write it. And even if I do, I probably won't post it anywhere. I mean, who watches all these shows? I don't even watch them all! My X-File days have been sadly over for quite some time, and I never did watch that much Sentinel. I just thought he'd be good at detecting traps. Besides, this was just supposed to be a Nicky-whumping exercise. Ever since I found out the title of this next week's episode, I've been hoping that 'Daddy's Little Girl' was referring to Kelly. And I sure noticed the way Nick was keeping his distance from her when she showed up at the lab. I have also noticed how cute his hair is this season! It looks like his first season hair which I always loved. I never imagined (wished, but not imagined) that he would go back to that style. Yay Nick! I'm also waiting for the breakup with Yoko -- I mean Tina. They have totally set it up. And besides, Warrick is Catherine's bitch. So there.

Where's the Whumping?

2006-01-08T00:29:00.000-08:00

Yay, the gates are back! As well as the much-missed opening sequences! I approve. Of course, I already knew they were coming back because I get the magazine. But I was so excited to see them! The only thing -- and I mean the ONLY thing -- that's pissing me off about SG-1 Season 9 is the lack of the traditional Danny-whumping. I mean, here we are halfway through the season and all he's had are a few fainting spells and slightly roughed up by a Sodan. I hope this is one of those seasons where it's clumped like Season 2 was. He took all his hits in the first several episodes (The Serpent's Lair, In the Line of Duty, Prisoners, Need, etc.) and was basically left unscathed again until around Holiday. Last season alone he was zatted at least five times (two by his teammates! in the same episode!), shot (by Jack), caught in an explosion, zapped by a video game chair, beat up by Claudia Black, and killed for the fifth time (but who's counting?). Not to mention what his alternate went through. Time to pick it up! There are nine episodes left and I want to see some whumpin', gorammit! That Mitchell's taking too good care of him. I do love everything else about the season (except maybe the Ori). I love Cam. I love Landry and I love that he brought basketball with him. I love the new doc, even though she definitely isn't Janet. I love the way Daniel looks even if he isn't getting hurt enough (is it just me or does he look better than he did last year?). I love how Daniel and Cameron seem to have a neat friends thing going and how Cameron gets stuff.
And as for Atlantis: as if Ford is really dead. Whatever. If they don't show it, I don't buy it. It really could be either way, but at least they made a loophole in case they want to bring him back.

Ride With Me!

2006-01-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

Could the music for the Stargate promos be cooler? I think not. I know I've heard that song before. It gets me psyched every time I hear it. I really should stop reading spoilers, though. I've already ruined some stuff for myself that would have been a hysterical surprise. Oh well. Of course, everything else in the magazine is so behind that I missed Michael Shanks' appearance on CSI Miami, DAMN IT ALL!! At least SciFi's playing his movie Swarms(ed?) this month. They're playing it on a Saturday, so it ought to be terrible. But since he is the God of Acting, I'll watch him in anything. Even Sumuru, if I ever get the opportunity. When it comes to my favorite actors, I'll watch them even if they're in a movie on Lifetime.

Isn't he creepy? Very fun face to draw, but I think I liked him better when he was a sweetie.

No 'Stache for Stokes!

2005-12-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

Nicky (on CSI) ditched the moustache! It makes me very happy. It didn't suit him in my opinion; made him look a little too much like Bill Paxton. That fact and the scene with daughter of the dude that buried him made it worth all seven minutes he was on screen.

I'm kind of excited for Narnia and very excited for King Kong. My drawing for today is Adrien Brody!

Drawing #2

2005-12-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

...and here's the other half. The pages in my drawing book were too small to fit both sides of the photograph, but I liked both sides so I had to do them both.

I am very disappointed that there are no new episodes of Lost until January. Oh well. At least they let us know Sawyer's not going to die first. I am very much looking forward to January - not only because of new episodes of Lost and both Stargate shows, but because my birthday is in January! I have learned that Claudia Black is to be a regular on SG-1 for the tenth season, which I was pleased to hear. Her character makes fun dynamics and now that Jack's gone, Daniel doesn't have anyone else to fight with. That'll be really interesting to see. He's so adorable when he gets worked up.

"Alas, poor Cedric! I knew him, Hermione."
-stolen and twisted from a friend, who stole it and twisted it from Shakespeare

Drawing #1

2005-12-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

I have now seen Goblet of Fire twice. My only wish is that it had been about ten hours longer. I absolutely loved it. All of the new people were excellent, many of the old ones are even better, and Ralph Fiennes was just as amazing as he always is. Miranda Richarson is fabvulous. And I liked how delightfully insane that young Barty Crouch guy was. That snake-flick he kept doing with his tongue was perfect. I got to see most of my favorite scenes, like Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret, and the scene with Moaning Myrtle (though I didn't expect it to be quite THAT awkward!). And did anyone notice Cedric Diggory had his head in a boy's lap? Being a slasher is so much fun!

I drew this picture yesterday and it's instantly become one of my favorites. I don't have very many at all from this fandom yet -- most of them are currently from Stargate, but I intend to fix that. I have many more from Harry Potter and loads from Lord of the Rings that I'm itching to draw. Young people are kind of interesting to draw; their faces are pretty smooth and it's hard to include the amount of detail that I usually can with older subjects. Nevertheless I love how this picture turned out, and I intend to post more in the future.

Yippidee!

2005-11-09T22:02:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't heard, Stargate SG-1 will be starting Season 10 this summer! Take that, X-Files!

Puzzle Pieces

2005-10-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

The more I watch Lost the more I feel that it is a puzzle that is begging to be solved. And I love puzzles. I've started keeping a notebook with little tidbits I think may be important, or things I've figured out, speculations, anything. Any little thing could be important. Probably most of the ones I pick out are useless and I'm totally missing all the other stuff.
Last week I was doing my math homework while the show was on, so I had my calculator out and added up the numbers in the code out of curiosity. Wouldn't you know it, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 add up to 108. The number of minutes the counter resets to after the code is entered. I have tried and tried to find some sort of meaning in the numbers themselves, but either I'm not looking in the right place or they mean nothing. I have a knack for noticing patterns, but this doesn't seem to have one. I figured out the Fibonacci sequence when I was 13 but I can't break this. (What can I say? I don't have enough homework.)
As a writer, I consider names very important. There are a few in here that stick out to me. John Locke, for instance, was the name of an Enlightenment-period philosopher whose theories had something to do with the utopic society which he believed existed before people became too plentiful and government was needed. (I didn't go looking for this -- I learned it in history class.) It seems to work -- a small number of people on an isolated island, no central government, and Locke seems to be the resident philosopher. There may be no central government, but most people have from the beginning looked to Jack for guidance. Jack, whose last name is Sheppard, probably derived from shepherd, one who tends a flock. When Ethan Rom was around, I tried to rearrange the letters in his name to make them spell something meaningful. I've always been terrible at anagrams and didn't come out with anything good, but fortunately I wasn't the only who had the idea, and I found some better ones around the 'net. My favorite was 'The Roman.' Somehow, it just seemed to fit. Then there is Sawyer, the false name of an impostor. Ana-Lucia, whose last name is Cortez.
All of this may be nonsense and I may be making connections where there are none, but the show makes me think this way.

Favorite Shows

2005-09-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

I love television, I don't care what anybody says about it. It's only stupid tv that makes people stupid. I consider myself a smart person. I read books -- at least when I can find good ones, which is hard in my chosen genre (fantasy), and I love films. I have taken three film courses to date, and now I can actually recognize symbolism now. I tend to watch shows that make me think. And as a writer, I can pick up lots of ideas.
Educational channels aside (which I love, especially the History channel when it's not in WWII mode), about half of what I watch is some sort of crime show. I undoubtely received a love of mysteries from my mother. It's actually her fault I started watching Law & Order. CSI, however, was mostly my own doing. I had heard about it through a couple of friends and decided to check it out one day. The first things that drew me to the show were 1) the interesting imagery, such as diving into bodies, and 2) the handsome Gary Dourdan. Later the other characters started to grow on me and I was hooked on the show very quickly. My other favorite character on the show is Nick Stokes. Everything happens to the poor guy. He's like CSI's Daniel Jackson. That kind of thing ALWAYS gets my attention. Stalker was one of the first episodes I ever saw. Grave Danger had me on the edge of my seat, and then I rushed off to see Revenge of the Sith. I was very pleased that he lived because just before the beginning of the season I had a dream where his character died and so the preview for the episode sort of freaked me out. He wasn't buried alive in the dream though. I think it may have involved a car. I watched the season premiere tonight and I am oh-so-pleased he didn't buzz off his hair this season. I loved Catherine's reaction when she found out Warrick got married! I've been wanting those two to get together for forever. I'm only a shipper in very rare cases, but this is definitely one of them. I definitely hope they can work some stuff out. How often do you see an interracial couple on tv where the guy is younger? Not very often!
Lost: my other favorite show. It and CSI pretty much jockey for top spot in my favorites list when Stargate isn't involved. I wanted to watch it initially because of Dominic Monaghan (I love nearly anybody from Lord of the Rings, one of my favorite things EVER). When I saw the premiere, I knew I was going to be sticking with the show. It kept me glued to my seat and chewing on my lip like hasn't happened in a long time. And it continues to be full of surprises! I have way too many favorite characters in this show, many of them because I knew the actors beforehand. Charlie, of course, played by Dom Monaghan. The guy is good. I don't identify him with Merry at all and when I watch Lord of the Rings now I have to remind myself he's the same guy. Another favorite is Michael. I've liked Harold Perrineau ever since I saw him in Blood & Wine, which was a number of years ago. That was back when he had dreadlocks and I've always been a sucker for those. (The first time I saw Gary Dourdan, he also had dreds.) I'd grow them myself if my hair wasn't so straight. I saw the girl who plays Claire in Beastmaster (the show) when she was younger and though she was cute, I didn't think she was very good at the time. I think she got better. I first saw Daniel Dae Kim, or Jin, in Crusade and liked him immediately, but another thing I'm a sucker for is Asian guys. He's very good at being Korean. And the new people: Jack, Sayid, Sawyer. Sawyer may be a jerk most of the time, but he's still gorgeous. I want Jack to grow out his hair like it was in the season 2 premiere flashback!
Nip/Tuck is another show I watch, though I'm not really sure why. I look down on elective plastic surgery and usually I'm not one for heavy drama. I'm a little bit squeamish where surgery is concerned. Sometimes the characters make me angry. But something about the show has me intrigued. Maybe part of it is the way Christian Troy is adorable when he's in mortal danger. When I watched this season's premiere I was on hydrocordone (also known as Vicodin) so I'm surprised I remember any of it at all. (I don't understand how people can get addicted to Vicodin. I hate the stuff. I've been on it twice, both times for tooth-related pain. It makes me dizzy, sick, and constipated. Yeah, that's what I'd like to feel like all the time.) I do remember I was lucid enough to really doubt that Christian was really dead in the very beginning. Of course, I had it pegged for a faked death. The fact that it was a dream never even occurred to me.
Though I was never able to get into Buffy or Angel, I love Firefly. Never before have I seen a space show where they take into account that there's no sound in space! Normally I disregard it because I like the sounds explosions make and the scream of TIE fighters and X-wings just seem like they belong there. But this show is just wow. It's DIFFERENT. Not to mention it has one of the best opening songs ever. I love the Old West meets Outer Space. I love the cursing in Chinese. I love the characters (most of them). I love that there's already a married couple. I'm waiting very impatienly for Serenity to come out.
I'm an on-and-off Crossing Jordan watcher because of the characters. Mainly Bug, Nigel, and Woody. I've been a Jerry O'Connell fan for a long, long time. Ever since my friend made me watch Sliders. The other character I once liked was Peter Winslow, before he left. They could have at least explained why. I suppose it's better than the way most of the other characters leave the show (scripted deaths).
Although I am severely lacking in math skills, I enjoy the show Numbers (I refuse to spell it with the '3') because somehow, David Krumholtz has become hot. Well he has to me. I have a think for geeks, which might have to do with being one myself.
Assuming I haven't forgotten any, last but not least, I love Stargate. I have a turbulent history with this show. When I first saw the SG-1 pilot I was very angry. I saw the movie when I was twelve and loved it very much, and a lot of things about the show pissed me off. Part of it was because my favorite character from the movie, Daniel Jackson, was not played by James Spader. Another thing was the way some of the names were being mispronounced. It was Sha'uri, not Sha're! The final straw came at the end of the episode when my second favorite character Skaara (whose name they were also pronouncing wrong, but at least it was the same actor) disappeared through the gate with an alien in his head. I had nothing to do with the show for years. Then one day, late at night, I was sitting at the computer half-watching tv and nothing was on but Stargate SG-1. I let it play. The episode was Urgo, and it had a familiar face: Dom DeLuise. I watched the episode and decided maybe this show wasn't so bad after all. For the next several years, even though I told everyone I hated the show, I watched reruns on and off, still mad about the stealing of Skaara but willing to deal with it. I remember hearing about Daniel's character leaving, and then coming back (it was a bit later I actually found out how). Then about a year ago I discovered that Skaara was freed from the alien parasite FIVE YEARS EARLIER. At that point I decided it was okay to watch (this was before I found out about Full Circle, but that didn't kill it). Halfway into season 8 I started watching new episodes regularly along with Stargate Atlantis. By the end of the seasons I was very, very hooked. I was loving every minute of Prometheus Unbound. I was shocked and in tears at the end of Reckoning 2. I was laughing myself to death at the close of Threads. I was bouncing off the walls during Moebius. I now have six seasons of SG-1 on DVD. Maybe I'm just a sci fi geek, but I. Love. These. Shows. The characters are one-of-a-kind. Teal'c may be a bit like Spock, but did you ever hear Spock tell a joke? And then laugh at it? I can get past all the scientific boo-boos for love of the characters and their stories. And that Michael Shanks is such an actor... when he's acting, I only see the character. Ever. In Lifeboat, he's not even playing Daniel. All I see are the other half-dozen characters he plays in that episode.
Now, since I've been writing this blog for an hour and a half, I think I'll either go to bed or do something else. Goodnight!

Stargate Science

2005-09-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are two of my favorite shows. The characters are diverse and likeable, the episodes are well-written, and they have heart. However, as has been the case ever since the original Star Trek series, scientific accuracy has sort of been ignored in favor of character-based stories. This doesn't bother me all that much: I would definitely prefer to have a show with fun characters in tense situations than a science lecture, but every now and then I notice something that they're doing wrong.

I don't pretend to know anything about wormhole theory or anything more advanced that high school general physics (which I passed with a D), but I have studied astronomy, both in high school and in college and I feel that, since I'm usually a pretty good sport about mistakes, I deserve this one chance to nitpick. As for the way gate travel works: it seems to me that all DHDs have the same symbols except for the point of origin, and that each planet has a definite address that can be typed in the same from any planet. This flaw seems to obvious to me that I wonder why anybody who writes for the show didn't catch it, but maybe it's just the astronomer in me. The gate addresses are based on constellations. On a different planet, one sees the stars from a different angle, and so constellations are different. I'm not even sure how well that system of selecting a designation would work in a three-dimensional space anyway, since constellations don't necessary have all their stars the same distance from earth, but that was pre-show. The second major astronomy flaw that is obvious to me is the fact that they use the two Earth gates - Egypt and Antarctica - interchangeably. The northern and southern skies have different constellations, almost like being on another planet. Unless the two gates both have an identical assortment of constellations from both hemispheres, it shouldn't be possible for them to be switched. As an aside to that, a base operating in only the northern hemisphere would only be able to visit planets with addresses made entirely from northern constellations. Assuming there are planets with stargates in the other direction (and there probably were if there was a stargate in Antarctica), those planets are never visited.

Also little things that bug me sometimes are slight but definite alterations from the movie - not things like why the characters look different and the fact that Jack's not the same and that his name is spelled different, because I've gotten past all that. I mean things like Abydos suddenly being in the same galaxy as Earth. Didn't it used to be on "the other side of the known universe"? And as for the other planets not working because they're too far away - yeah, the universe is probably expanding, and I may be wrong about this, but I don't think ten thousand years is enough to make that much of a difference. The constellations have stayed the same, after all. In the eye of time since the universe began, ten thousand years is a blink. I also very much miss the language barrier that the movie had. It gave a sense of realism to the whole thing. It may just be because I'm a language enthusiast, but I wouldn't mind sitting through subtitles every exploratory episode (which I wish they'd still do!). If Jackson can speak 23 languages, let him! Or, if the aliens must speak English, I wish they would do it naturally. Most of them sound like robots or Vulcans, and not even very good ones.
While I still love SG-1, I hope they get back to exploring other planets sometime soon. Over the last season or so it seems like half the stuff that's happened has been on Earth, and in the other half they used spaceships. Whatever happened to exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations? I thought that was the whole point of the show!

Well, now that I've ranted about the things that bother me I have to mention things I do like. Teal'c's hair. Colonel Mitchell. The fact that Michael Shanks looks better than last season (woohoo!). General Landry. The new doc (not as cool as Frasier, but beats the hell out of Brightman - not to mention who she's married to!). Multi-baal. Wait, that one's just creepy. I take it back. People etc. I'd like to see again: Nem, Jonas Quinn (PLEASE!!), those guys from One False Step, and Paul Davis when he's not wearing a moustache.

Train of Thought: Hewlett

2005-08-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

Over the last week or so I have developed a sudden and intense fascination of David Hewlett. I saw Cube years ago, back before I knew who he was and forgot all of it, so when I found out he was in it I had to see it again. I think I liked it better this time. It's so much more fun after having seen Stargate Atlantis. And speaking of Atlantis, I am very pleased that it hasn't taken the path of a copycat spinoff the way most of the Star Trek shows seemed to do. The third episode of Next Generation was the same as one of the original series, for crying out loud. Fortunately that's what Atlantis seems not to be doing. The characters are different, but just as diverse and lovable.

Unfortunately David Hewlett movies are tough to come across. The only other one I've come across in video stores is Boa Vs. Python and I'm kind of afraid to rent it. It's isn't a movie I'd want to spend three dollars on, even if he is in it. Then there are a handful of others that I've heard about but am unable to find, mostly the Canadian productions. It doesn't help that Atlantis won't be on next week, but I could always watch the last one again. It was very amusing to see McKay and Beckett "on their own," as it were. Out in the wild chasing a mutated wraith (Kaylee from Firefly!) without an escort. They're big boys now!

Hi!

2005-08-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

This is my first post to my first weblog: let this be a landmark. Most entries will probably have something to do with things I like, such as movies, favorite TV shows (mostly scifi, currently Stargate-related), books and music, and sometimes about things I don't like or are making me mad at the moment. And now, on with the blog.