New TV Season

I grew up watching A LOT of TV.  and as a 20 something, and then an adult I found more and more of TV shows were nothing but crap.  In the last 3-5 years though, I find that scenario shifting in the opposite direction.

Thank gad for things like Hulu+ and Netflix because they let me discover shows I didn't have a chance to watch when they were on.  With that being said, here are some trailers to upcoming shows that look good.  How good they actually are will remain to be seen.

Pure Genius

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Time After Time

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Man With A Plan

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Bull

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No Tomorrow

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Speechless

TV Viewing

So is it just me???  Or has there been a lot of cool TV shows in the last few years.

Now I grew up watching LOTS of TV... too much probably if you ask anyone.  Because of this, I consider myself a bit of an expert.  I know about 5-7 years ago, I pretty much NEVER watched TV because everything was total shit.  Shows like The Real World, Real Housewives of blah blah County, and Jersey Shore... basically everything reality based was all that was on TV and I HATED it !!.

I mean seriously?  There was a show called "Temptation Island"  Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia.

"Temptation Island is an American reality television program broadcast on Fox in which several couples agreed to live with a group of singles of the opposite sex, in order to test the strength of their relationships.

The show was controversial from the get-go, something that Fox hoped would drive ratings. With the four male contestants living in one section with a dozen female models, and the four female contestants living in another section with a dozen attractive men,"

So they touted this as a "reality" show.  Lets take couples who ALREADY have trust and other issues and put them on opposite sides of an island with a bunch of sexy members of the opposite sex and have those sexy singles hit on and try and get the half of the couple to fuck them... never mind the fact that if they ran into these people on the street, they  wouldn't even give them the time of day.... ya, THAT'S reality.

Anyway... that being said... in the last couple years there have been some AWESOME TV shows put on the air.  Some that have been from totally original thinking, and some that have been adaptations from already existing media like books or comics. 

Shows like Game of Thrones, True Blood and Dexter are based on books.  Then there are shows like Arrow, Gotham, The Flash that are based on comic books.  Then you have some shows from completley original minds.  Shows like CSI: Cyber and Forever which are pretty cool.

So going along with that, I was looking at YouTube and found the trailers for some AWESOME looking shows coming up this season.  Not sure if they will be as awesome once they are, but I will certainly give them a shot.  Check out the trailers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Episode VII

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock (quite literally) than you know by now the latest Star Wars Episode VII trailer got released a few weeks ago and the internet has been BLOWING UP !!!

I’m the first one to say that ALL geekdom is equal and no fandom is any BETTER than another.  You can be a “Trekkie”, a “Whovian”, a “Ringer” or a “Potterhead” but ALL nerds and geeks can appreciate the utter NERDGASM that happened when trailer # 2 hit the internet.  In case you haven’t seen it, or you’re like me and want to see it for the 837^th time… here is the trailer.

I personally am a fan of all types of geeky things.  I LOVE 80’s music, big fan of all kinds of sci-fi, I’m a big movie nerd (I try and fit random movie quotes into normal conversation), HUGE Kevin Smith fan…. But as far back as I can remember… the very 1^st thing I ever experienced in my geek life… was STAR WARS. 

I was born in 1977 so obviously I was too young for my parents to bring me to the original when it was released, and even too young for Empire… but I DO remember sitting and watching them on VHS with my family and was just in complete awe.  Then when Jedi came out, my parents took me to see it in the theater.  When the lights when dark and the 20^th Century Fox music came up and almost made me deaf… it opened up a whole new world to me.  Not only did it solidify my LOVE of all things Star Wars (Except Jar Jar), but it  was the 1^st movie I can remember seeing and it started my love affair with movies in general.

I owned a BUNCH of the action figures as a kid.  For Chanukah one year, my brother got a Y-Wing fighter and I got the Millennium Falcon... I even had the Darth Vader carrying case you could only get by mailing away proof's of purchase of money for shipping and handling. (Yes this was before internet shopping, or the internet AT ALL).

Needless to say I am a HUGE Star Wars fan.  Of all the sci-fi and geeky things to like, love, and be part of, I feel my 1st true geek love will always be Star Wars.  Because of this, I fully intend on taking the day off from wok and being there opening day to see Episode VII in the theater.  I'm sure it will be madness... but that's the fun of it.  A bunch of geeks together sharing their passion about how THEIR lightsaber would be designed if they built one... I will take that kind of company any day.

Phoenix ComiCon 2015

This will be the first year I'm actually going to Phoenix ComiCon.  My fiancee went last year and said she had a blast.  We both were incredibly lucky enough to score tickets to San Diego ComiCon International back in 2013 and it was AMAZING.. especially considering it was the first "Con" either of us had ever been to.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to attending my 2nd one up in Phoenix.

When we went to SDCC back in 2013, I got to meet and take pictures with people I never thought I would see.  I'm a huge fan of 80's movies so I was thrilled when I got to talk with Martin Kove (The Cobra Kai sensei from the original Karate Kid).  I also got to meet Taimak who is the Martial Artist and actor who played Bruce Leroy in "The Last Dragon"  Also I got to meet Yaya Han who is a TOTALLY awesome cosplayer who makes all her own outfits.

Some of the panels we'll probably check out are ones about cosplay because that's something we are both wanting to get more into.  As it gets closer and they start adding more panels to the schedule of events, I'm sure we'll find others.  Also, I love just walking around and seeing the creativity people have. 

I DO know that already a couple of people I would love to get photo ops with are David Morrissey who played The Govenor in "The Walking Dead" as well as Lou Ferrigno who played the Hulk in the 70's TV show "The Incredible Hulk"  This is a TV show I grew up watching with my family.

Needless to say, I'm totally sicked about this and I'm sure I'll have other people I want to get photo ops with and things to see.  After the Con I'll be sure to post an update on the blog to let you all know how it was with plenty of photos.

M.A.S.K.

Who remembers the TV show M.A.S.K. and the toys that went with them?  

I LOVED this show.  Even when I was a kid, I was very picky about what cartoons I liked.  Basically there were 3.  GI Joe, Voltron (The lions, NOT the spaceships), and M.A.S.K.

For those that don’t know, let me borrow an excerpt from Wikipedia.

“M.A.S.K. (an acronym for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) is a special task force featuring an array of characters, led by Matt Trakker, with transforming vehicles engaged in an ongoing battle against the criminal organization V.E.N.O.M. (an acronym for Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem), with an emphasis on super-powered masks worn by the characters on the show.

It is never made clear what sort of criminal organization V.E.N.O.M. is, exactly. They were not the typical world-conquering villains and their schemes mostly revolve around profiting from illegal activities and doing mercenary services.”


Each character had a vehicle that would turn into something else… and they also wore a mask that had some kind of special power.  It might be a laser beam, or a beam that could lift heavy objects, or the ability to project holographic images.

The show was KICK ASS and I wanted to collect ALL the toys.  The very first one I got was Condor, which was a motorcycle that transformed into a single person helicopter.  It was ridden/piloted by Brad Turner.  

I remember going to my friend Stevens’ house in Highland park, NJ where I grew up and playing with his M.A.S.K toys because he had a LOT more than I did.


I highly recommend watching at least an episode or two of the show if you grew up in the 80’s.  Here is the intro to the TV show also. (How is it that 80’s cartoons had such killer music intros?!?)

 
For more info and to reminisce, here is a link to an AWESOME webpage dedicated to the show and toys.

http://www.albertpenello.com/mask/

Next Issue - an App Review

Every once in a while I like to gaze at the magazine covers while waiting in line at Fry's (supermarket).  They're really only a few magazines I look at.  People, if there's an issue of Men's Health I might see what the cover articles are, sometimes Popular Mechanics is there.  Even though I love reading books. (Especially since I discovered epubs on my IOS devices) I will pick up and read almost anything.  I'm one of those people that if I'm on the toilet and stuff isn't happening right away, I'll pick up something to read if it's there just to pass the time... even if it's the back of the shampoo bottle.  I used to keep magazines in the restroom for this very reason.

Like I just said, I've been using my IOS devices a lot more for reading latley.  I have an iPhone 5 and an iPad Mini and I LOVE them both.  :-)  Yes, I'm an apple fanboy but thats besides the point.  I was getting annoyed at the fact I wanted to read a few different magazines but they are sooo friggin expensive.  Even if you subscribe, a lot of times you're not saving much off the cover price.  Then I discovered this app called "Next Issue"

So here's the deal.  They have apps for IOS, Windows Phone, and Android.  Right now they have like 115 magazines and adding more all the time.  It's $14.99 a month (plus tax) and you can download unlimited magazines to your device.  PLUS it has back issues also which I think is really cool.  The issues stay on your device as long as you want until you decide to delete them.  Even then, if you want you can go back and re-download them again.

Honest opinion, I can't really say anything bad about this app so far.  I've been using it about 4 months now and really happy.  For 15 bucks and change I can get all the issues of the magazines I normally read. PLUS I've found out the e-version of the magazines have a lot more content, plus built in links to go to YouTube videos of the related content.  Plus you can go to the website and look at the catalog of magazines they have.   https://www.nextissue.com/


When you consider People Magazine is like 4.50 per issue at least, multiple that by 4 because you have 4 weeks per month... that's $18.00 just for a month of that 1 magazine.  I would say definitley worth it to try the app.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

https://www.nextissue.com/

"Of course, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong." - Dennis Miller

Arrow - Season 3 Episode 18 - Public Enemy (SPOILERS)

Episode overview courtesy of wikipedia.

During the attack against the mayor, Ray is also shot in the chest and taken to the hospital. As Captain Lance issues an arrest warrant for the Arrow and his team, with shoot to kill orders in effect. Realizing Maseo is the assassin, Oliver uses Nyssa to track his location. Ra's shows and again warns Oliver that not accepting the offer will continue to bring death. The police arrive and Oliver and his team barely escape. To push Oliver to accept the offer, Ra's kidnaps Captain Lance and reveals Oliver's true identity as the Arrow. With this knowledge, Captain Lance announces this revelation in a public address. With his back to a wall, Oliver decides to turn himself in to the police. In order to save Oliver, Roy dresses as the Arrow, stops Oliver's transport van and gives himself up to the police, insisting that he has been the Arrow all along. In flashbacks, Oliver thinks he has found Shado, but it turns out to be her twin sister Mei. A.R.G.U.S. agents come after them, but Maseo and Tatsu arrive to rescue them. Afterward, Oliver tells Mei what happened to her sister and father.


OK.  So I've been a fan of this show since the beginning.  I always had a fascination with Robin Hood as so naturally liked the character of Green Arrow as a kid.  Even though I thought they could have done A LOT worse with how he came across in SMALLVILLE, I didn't realize how much of a bad-ass they could make him until the writers and Stephen Amell took over the character.

That being said... even though I LOVE this show, and overall this was a good episode and I'll continue to watch... I DO have a few thoughts.

#1)  How many people really need to know that Oliver is The Arrow in order to move the story along?  Obviously Captain Lance is one of the last people this is revealed to, but now he's gone on the news and told EVERYONE?!?!  I understand the need for certain people to know, and especially members of your own team.  Ex: Diggle, Roy(Arsenal), Laurel, (and that blond twit which I will talk about shortly.) but really... normally heroes have their real identities kept secret in the story line because it puts EVERYONE in danger.  I will admit, I'm curious how the writers are going to continue this now that the cat is out of the bag. (We're shown that Roy tries to take the blame to take the heat off Oliver, but still.... should be interesting.

#2)  OK, here is my rant for this post.  Everyone buckled up?? good.  WTF is with Felicity?!?!  They took a character who started out really funny, really cool, and honestly a little bad-ass in her geeky way... (us geeks are known for putting our feet in our mouths and yet still doing awesome tech shit that makes us look like super geniuses) and they turned her into a mopy, whiny twit who basically wouldn't understand that Oliver just wanted to keep her safe (ESPECIALLY after she was almost killed on their 1st date).  But nooo, as soon as "pretty boy Palmer" shows up, BUYS Oliver's company out from under him, she gets all wet for him and goes after him.. even AFTER she finds out he is basically doing the same exact thing Oliver is.  If any ting, Ray is more of a dick because he has no problem being with Felicity even though he knows it might get her killed.  At least Oliver is looking out for her well-being and denying himself.  PLUS she goes to work for Palmer?!?!  NICE LOYALTY there blondie !!.  She just pisses me off.  My fiancee and I agree that shes become the most annoying character on the show and she won't even watch it anymore because of her.  I will stick with it.... for now.




OK.  I think that's good for my 1st post for now.  I will see you all soon.  :-)

BTW... NO!! I haven't seen TWD finale yet.  Gonna watch it in next few days probably... don't ruin it for me.