V is for Victory

YANKEES!!!

Photos from AP.

V : Pilot
They went really fast from nice aliens to evil aliens.
The CGI was good for the most part.

V before V

In 1983 the V mini-series debuted to a huge response. It spawned a sequel then it's own TV series ending in a 2 hour finale.


Sci-Fi channel repeated most of it this Sunday in anticipation of the big remake on ABC this Tuesday.

To recap aliens come to Earth they claim to need chemicals for their world. Soon scientist begin to disappear and other scientists are brainwashed to tell lies because science would reveal the truth. The truth becomes clear that the human-like aliens are just lizards in disguise, they are lying about their mission, and they are using Republican Nazi tactics.

As the aliens slowly takeover and suppress humans a resistance begins to form. Using mostly bombs as a tool the aliens are shaken up but hardly defeated, seriously bullets versus spaceships. Some moderate aliens help the resistance and reveal the full plan. They are on a dying planet and are stealing our water and people to eat.

A side thought that never gets developed after the first series is other aliens. The (V)isitors have another enemy so dangerous that they defeated the V in battle. They Other aliens are also to dangerous for the good V to approach for help against the bad V. Some humans will be turned into soldiers to fight the enemy. Humans send a signal into space to find the Other aliens but it would take years.

Throughout the series humans keep fighting and drive the aliens off the Earth but as V reinforcements come a half-human half-alien super-girl becomes the liaison to both races and takes off to broker peace.

Problems:

• Aliens also have magic powers (mind control, telekinesis, etc.)
• Water is heavy in gravity. Especially since the Oort Cloud around our solar system has thousands of moon size balls of ice-comets free to take.
• Why not cows? Or pigs? Even if humans have some special chemical just modify livestock DNA to produce a viable alternative.
• How much do they need? The V talk of visiting at least a dozen planets and doing the same.

Halloween Results

The Simpsons Halloween episode was dull.

Castle was funny with references to Firefly and Buffy.

And that's all, very weak showing.

Ok a few talk shows got dressed up and some soaps but those really don't count.

I'm Jaded

Went to the STEAMPUNK HAUNTED HOUSE and was truly bored. I won 8 tickets and split them among family and friends. My group was less than thrilled to have actors pop out of every corner yelling and banging pipes on the floor. Granted the other group reported to me it was amusing, not scary, but fun.

Oh well, one to many slasher films when I was three left me expecting more. Either that or the cheesy special effects. Remember the Dr. Who episode The Empty Child, well they tried to do that but on a $2.00 budget.

For those not into the hip new trends Steampunk is a style of mechanizing the present and the past using steam power and gears. Kind of a what-if scenario where electricity never emerged but steam/gears become sophisticated. Sounds cool but these haunted house players left a lot to be desired.

World Series Week

Because of the World Series, GO YANKEES, most shows this week will either be repeated or not on at all.

Still no great loss as most shows have been less than entertaining. So far Glee and Dexter are the only shows to hold my interest.

V is coming on November 3 and it looks crappy. I enjoyed the original but unless they are hiding the best scenes the show looks like another overly written sci-fi mess.

I leave you with a cool image from http://shirt.woot.com/ that I saw a few days ago.

Remember eat all your candy corn before they go bad...real bad.

MMM Candy Corn

Few shows are showing Halloween episodes but lots more commercials about Halloween.

Hopefully I'll get some haunted house tickets soon.

While I Was Out

Apparently the non-NYC part of America was fascinated by a boy thought to be on a balloon floating to Narina? Oz? Boulder, CO? or some other mythical place.

Now while a was in class studying aerodynamics my TiVo recorded many shows in the afternoon, none of which carried that story.

Here is why I'm dumbfounded by the dumbness. A helium balloon of about 20'x5'x3' (the tapered edge and sewn sections does not allow for a cylindrical volume formula) could never hold a boy of about 50 lbs. Simple math available online could have solved this.

20'x5'x3' = 300 cubic feet very low

You need 15.87 cubic feet of helium to lift 1 pound.

50 pound needs at least 793.67 cubic feet to lift, and at least 900 cubic feet very high to really fly freely.


Oh yeah plus MYLAR rips with ease and could never hold a moving child!

Please people a little more science will not hurt you.

What's New(ish)?

Still have not bought a TV but a friend let me have their old 15 inch pre-digital TV. This leaves me more time to buy a proper HDTV with huge discount, maybe on one of those Black Friday sales.

A new an even more useless channel has been rolled out. A high school sports channel.

The scroll on the bottom was to inform the viewer that the guide has moved from 14 to 88.

Watched some movies worth noting.
Role Models - Funny but not for the easily offended.
Blindness - Great movie based on the novel of the same name. People go blind and their true nature comes out. Julianne Moore plays the one person who can see and must witness the nature of men.

Flash Forward is a new show about fate and if it can be changed. Starting to get dull.
Accidentally on Purpose is a new sitcom about a woman who gets knocked up and likes it.
Stargate Universe is Star Trek Voyager meets the most boring parts of Battlestar Galactica.

Giants undefeated, Jets doing well, Yankees are incredible.

Emmys Anyone

8:07pm Neil Patrick Harris sung something funny and did some nice jokes about theme songs. Nice to see him hosting since after Doogie Howser I thought he was a goner.

I may switch to the Giants game so I'll keep that in blue.

8:12pm Kristin Chenoweth won for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Pushing Daisies
Damn good she was the best and that show was the best.

8:26pm Jon Cryer won for Best Supporting Actor for Two & Half Men not a bad decision.

Jordin Sparks sung the national anthem, she was very okay. Former Pres George Bush flipped the coin and no surprise the Cowboys won.

8:33pm Toni Collette outstanding actress in a comedy for United States of Tara which is blah at best.

Just in case you think I can't split again I'm also doing an engineering report in another window.

Giants settle for 3 points, by the the way the Jets did win this afternoon.

8:42pm Best directing went to some The Office episode which I don't watch, not funny.

A great shot of Bush and Madden as newly retired. No Jessica Simpson mentions yet.

8:50pm Alec Baldwin outstanding lead actor in a comedy for 30 Rock, blah.

Dang the cowboys scored 6 +1.

9:00pm Jeff Probst won for best hosting, no surprise.

Giants score 7 on an interception, they show the Cowboys owner picking his nose then the Giants recover a fumble.

9:09pm Amazing Race won for best reality-competition, no surprise.

9:12pm TV Movie actors but I don't watch them so back to football, crud commercials, back to the report then.

Giants up by 13 to 7.

9:21pm More Mini-Series/Movies that I never watched.

Dang the cowboys scored 14 to 13 now.

9:30pm Dr. Horrible bit was funny.

9:54pm Writers for variety shows are always funny and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won so good for him.

My word there are a lot of British and Australian actors portraying Americans on our TV shows.

Juggling catch by the Giants puts on top 20 to 14, a 3 pointer now has it at 20 - 17. They keep showing the stadium's 160 feet 4 sided TV, it looks so dangerous.

10:08pm Ricky Gervais just insulted everyone in the room and at home. The Daily Show won again and Stewart wants to go back stage and watch the Giants game.

10:20pm Micheal Emerson from Lost won for best supporting actor. Greatest choice possible. His wife works on True Blood.
Cherry Jones from 24 as the President won for best supporting actress.

In Memoriam with live singing by Sarah Mclachlan.
99% were true stars, so many.

Cute putting the two guys who played vampires together, Stephen Moyer and David Boreanz.

10:40pm Glenn Close won for Damages as lead actress in a drama series. Blah.

10:49pm Bryan Cranston won for Breaking Bad lead actor in a drama series, very good the man is great in everything he does.

10:53pm 30 Rock outstanding comedy series, Weeds should of won or even Family Guy.

Dang gummit Dallas is winning.

11:01pm Mad Men outstanding drama series, ehhh I would have gone with Breaking Bad.

3 minutes over time, Emmys were OK overall.

And with 4 seconds left on the clock the Giants win 33-31.

Happy and Sad

Glee: Acafellas
Slight improvement with the musical track but not as funny as previous episodes. Apparently everyone in that school can sing and dance as the teacher forms an a capella group with other teachers and they're great.

Special appearance by Josh Grobin as a pro-drunken-chubby chaser was cool.

Now the sad,
Henry Gibson of Laugh-In fame also did 4 seasons of King of the Hill and Boston Legal, at the same time, died of cancer at the age of 73.

With over 135 shows and movies under his name he could be funny or creepy.


Well the year is more than half over so hopefully everyone else can stay healthy and alive.

Swayze

Red Dawn
Ghost
Dirty Dancing
and so many more.