Something's brewing at Tor.com

Looks like my source was correct about what Tor is up to. According to Patrick Nielsen Hayden, in addition to a blog, the site will...

"...feature new original fiction on a regular basis, illustrated under the supervision of art director Irene Gallo, and that these original stories—free of DRM, offered as part of the blog feed and also Available For Your Convenience in a variety of other formats—will have their own associated open comment threads, just like everything else on the blog. We know that there will be lightweight “social networking” features for registered users, including the ability to form mutual-interest groups through tagging and the ability to create journals and/or discussions of their own. Most of all, we know that the real point of the exercise isn’t to create yet another blog, but rather, a place and a context for the lively, ongoing, wide-ranging, and profoundly self-organizing discussions that have characterized the science fiction subculture since its earliest days."

So basically, it's the fanzine meets Web 2.0. Sounds pretty good to me.

"But don't talk back to Dawth Vadew, 'cause he'll getcha!"

Meet the most adorable Star Wars geek ever:

But before I go...

I think I've got enough nephews now to assign them all Borg designations. So from henceforth they shall be referred to in the blogosphere as 1 of 5, 2 of 5, and so on.

Yes, that's probably the nerdiest thing I'll write all day.

Important Fangirl Reminder

Best not be forgetting that Teh Marsters is on Torchwood tomorrow night on BBC America.

That link takes you to a TV Guide interview.

In other loosely 'verse-related news, Episode 6 of The Guild is up. Poor Codex.

10 Things I've Done That You Probably Haven't

Per Scalzi's request:

1. Had a gerbil give birth in my hand

2. Broke into a parking garage to have a romantic picnic on the top level because it had a spectacular view

3. Got thrown out of a parking garage by security

4. Managed a rock band

5. Almost killed myself on a trampoline

6. Caught a peeping tom watching me and my then-fiance through the window while we made out

7. Had my feet stalked by a foot fetishist

8. Been a first-round interviewer and backstage PA for a beauty pageant

9. Performed data entry for a televangelist

10. Made the front page of the local paper for getting my leg stuck in a public pool (I also once got stuck on a public water slide. Clearly, I have water park issues.)

What ten things have YOU done?

I totally feel you, Megan.

I miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer too.

Is it still slash if it's canon?

Did I say posting would start yesterday? BWAH HA HA!

But seriously. I watched a lot of movies on my break, and read a lot (that's part of the problem right there--I'm still in more of a mood to read than I am to write), and reviews are coming...sometime. I am gradually getting my blogging act back together, though, so that's something.

Here, have some man candy.



The slash writes itself.

Nobody truly outgrows fandom.

Substitute "Fred Thompson" for "Ron Paul" and this is totally me.

Hi there! Actual blogging will commence tomorrow.

Guh. *thud*

Dear Heroes writers, producers, et al:

Can the next showdown between Peter and Sylar please, PLEASE happen completely sans shirts?

Pretty please? I'll bake you a pie.

Better yet, I'll buy y'all some (more) pencils!

Lustingly,
Jean

Cloverfield

Oh noes! The LOST Monster's loose in NYC!!!1!

But seriously... I can't wait for this movie. JJ + Ultimate Drew = HAWESOME!

Darth Izzard

I finally have a break in my day long enough to eke out a few NaNo words. Which means there won't be much in the way of content today, folks. And so I leave you with this (via Scalzi), which made my whole day:



The only thing missing is cake.

Dance Trooper

Reason number 3,987 why I love the Japanese:

There are no vikings here.

Sugar Shock! Part 3: The Greatest Story Ever Blogged.

If you need catching up on this awesome and hilarious web comic by some guy whose name I forget...something like Josh Sweden? Anyway. Here's part 1. And here's part 2.

Thursday Thirteen #7: Fangirl Edition

Thirteen Fannish Obsessions I've Had Throughout Life, in Chronological Order 1. Star Wars (at four years old, seeing this movie pretty much sealed my geek fate) 2. Freddy Kreuger 3. Star Trek 4. The Vampire Lestat (the anti-Spike!) 5. Batman/The Joker/Harley Quinn (no, not like THAT! Ew. Although I'm sure there's fanfic....) 6. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (Sigh and swoon!) 7. The Phantom of the Opera 8. The X-Files (...movie! Yay!) 9. Gargoyles 10. The Entire Whedonverse 11. Farscape (Swoon and sigh and SOB!) 12. A Song of Ice and Fire 13. Supernatural, Heroes and Dr. Who are all contenders for my newest obsession, but none of them are quite there yet. Header graphic by samulli Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Impworks 2. Angela Klocke 3. Lynne 4. Qtpies (See more in the comments!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

A Quiz of Ice and Fire

The Song of Ice and Fire House Test

Your Score: House Stark
27% Dominant, 45% Extroverted, 72% Trustworthy

Responsible. Respectable. Dour. That’s not shit coming out of your ass--it’s honor. You are clearly of House Stark.

You are a submissive personality, meaning that you are more than willing to relinquish control to someone more qualified; you will unflinchingly accept any responsibility that is thrust upon you, including servitude. Unfortunately for you, your unending patience and accommodating nature often make people look to you for a leader. In essence, you are the perfect leader: someone who has no desire to lead, yet is substantially well-qualified to do it.

You are also introverted, which means that people sometimes have difficulty understanding your thought process. Your dependable nature makes you predictable, but you’ve probably got all sorts of emotional dysfunctions when it comes to more intimate relationships. There are very few people whom you trust unwaveringly, and you’re not the type to confide in other people. So cold, so aloof--so Stark.

Finally, you are trustworthy--the very definition of the word. All secrets are safe with you. All of your vows are unbreakable. True to your name, you world is a stark place; there is black, and there is white. Your rigidity tends to undercut your overall value as a friend and ally. Honesty such as yours is hard to come by, which is easy to understand when you consider how easily manipulated you are by less decent individuals. Essentially, you’re the nice guy, and you’ll always finish last.

Representative characters include: Eddard Stark, Jon Snow, and Sansa Stark

Similar Houses: Frey, Lannister and Tully

Opposite House: Baratheon

When playing the game of thrones, you play it with one sword in your hand and another up your ass.
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 7% on Dominance

You scored higher than 21% on Extroversion

You scored higher than 65% on Trustworthiness

Does this mean I get to make out with the Hound?

Buffy fans recognize! Plus: 'Ripper' movie news. TV giveaways, and more

I have a lot of busy-work to catch up on today, which makes for a slow blogging day. Instead of coming up with content of my own, here's what's loaded in all my Firefox tabs at the moment, most of which is Whedonverse related, natch:

@ Physics of the Buffyverse author Jennifer Ouellette reviews Allyson Beatrice's book Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? True Adventures In Cult Fandom. Which, I gather, is more memoir than expose. I avoided The Bronze, so Beatrice never made it onto my BNF radar, but I still think I need to check out this book.

@ Lots of juicy news bites coming out of Joss Whedon's Comic-Con panel, not the least of which is an announcement that the Ripper movie is a go! Yay! Also touches on plans for Angel: Season Six and Buffy: Season Eight (and Nine!!!), including "casting" spoilers for the latter.

@ Nothing But Red is seeking submissions for an upcoming anthology, to be published through Lulu.com, the proceeds of which will go to benefit women's rights organizations (most likely Equality Now). Their mission statement:

The purpose of Nothing But Red is to bring attention to the issue of violence against women worldwide, as well as the continuing need for equality, through art—both written and visual—and by raising money for a charity that strives to help women of all faiths, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, with the support of dedicated volunteers who share a desire to promote equality.

This project was inspired by Joss Whedon's now-famous essay about the televised "honor-killing" of Dua Khalil, who was stoned to death by the men in her family after she had been seen in the company of a man from another faith. I'm still trying to decide whether I'll submit anything, but either way I want to spread the word.

@ On a happier, and non-Whedon-related note: 5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a TV! All you have to do for a chance to win a 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, courtesy of Best Buy, is go comment and then spread the word. Done and done.

@ Finally, one for the Potter-maniac knitters on my list: This Dark Mark Illusion Scarf pattern is made of cool and dipped in awesome sauce. I only wish there were more Harry Potter fans in my inner circle of family and friends, so I'd have an excuse to make one for somebody for Christmas. Hmm, looks like I'll just have to knit one for myself instead. Tragedy!

Fannish tidbits

@ Buffy Singalong this weekend! Yippee! I am, however, kicking myself, because I knew about it months ago, but didn't order tickets right away because A) I was hoping I could convince some friends to come with us and B) I was afraid my husband would change his mind about going. And then I forgot about the whole "needing to buy tickets" part. When I finally remembered and went to buy the online the other day, the 10:00 PM showings on both nights were sold out. So we're going to a midnight showing. Husband is most displeased. He still says he's going, though, 'cause he's all wonderful like that.

@ I ordered my copy of Deathly Hallows, and thanks to a free trial of Amazon Prime, it should arrive tomorrow. I'm still going to try to hold out until I'm done re-reading the other books, though. I'm enjoying reading about Harry's early, more innocent days with the bittersweet knowledge of what's in store for him, but without the ultimate knowledge of how it will all end for him. So long as I manage to stay unspoilt. *knocks MDF*

@ I think I saw somewhere that Buffy: S8 #5 actually ships this week, which would mean it's out today and waiting for me at my comic shop as I type this. I should probably look into that.

@ I haven't had time for a review, but I did watch Dr. Who this weekend. Can I just say that I love Ten? Because I do. He's made of awesome.

@ I caught a new TV spot for Moonlight the other day that showed a little more promise than what I'd seen previously. Greenwalt's influence was coming through loud and clear. That can only be a good thing.

@ My mom just agreed to switch back to Dish Network in exchange for two free DVRs, one of which she'll let us have in our apartment. No more having to share the downstairs TiVo and camp out down there to catch up on my shows on Saturday mornings. This makes it very tempting to scrap that whole "moving to Tulsa" plan and just stay put. Yes, we're cramped and we have no kitchen and the commute is hellish and expensive. But my very own free TiFaux! Priorities, people!

Thursday Thirteen: The "Nerdier Than Thou" Edition

Look, ma! I'm participating!

Thirteen Things you might not already know about why Jean's a giant nerd: 1…. I was first chair alto sax in high school, from the day I finally won it in 9th grade until I graduated, much to the relief of the second chair. 2…. I can also play the harmonica, although I'm no John Popper. 3…. I didn't eat my first sushi until about two years ago, when my husband took me to a sushi restaurant when we first started dating. I didn't know how to eat half of it, and I couldn't handle the chopsticks, and even though I'm pretty sure I embarrassed him, he was very patient with me and had a good sense of humor about it, thereby increasing my already growing suspicion that this was the guy for me. My love for both Husband and sushi has continued to blossom to this day. 4…. I once thought I was a fairly hard-core Trekker. Then I attended my first (and only) Star Trek convention and learned that I was but a lowly padawan (wrong universe, but you get my meaning). Since then, I've grown kinda "meh" about Trek, although I still have a warm, squishy place in my heart for the original series, TNG and DS9. 5…. Speaking of me being a giant nerd, I only stood in line for four hours for the first midnight showing of The Phantom Menace, yet somehow I still got interviewed by a local TV news reporter doing a story on the crazed fans. I mean, other people stood in line for like a month. I don't think four hours made me that crazed. 6…. Except that it would have been more like four days if the theater management hadn't barred us from the premises. 7…. I didn't visit a foreign country until I was twenty-five. 8…. I didn't visit another one after that until my honeymoon last year. 9…. I used to be completely obsessed with the Joker. To that effect, I even built a fairly popular (by those days' standards of popularity, which were definitely not today's standards) fan site about him. 10…. But that's nothing compared to the nerd points I racked up in Buffy fandom, in which I attended two fan conventions, wrote several novels' worth of fan fiction, wrote several academic papers, one of which I even submitted to Slayage for consideration, collected action figures, built web sites, moderated discussion forums, and spent countless hours on IM debating the shows' intricacies with fellow fans. 11…. I still have a sizeable Star Wars toy collection. I wanted to decorate our kitchen with it. Husband said please no. 12…. At the end of the month I'm dragging Husband with me to attend the Buffy Sing-a-long, and I'm so excited I just might pee my pants. 13…. And I'm not even going to get into my whole Phantom of the Opera phase. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. The Rock Chick 2. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Expendable like a Red Shirt

In case the color itself doesn't tell everyone exactly where you stand, now there can be no doubt. Too bad I look horrible in red... or is it? Does that mean I get to survive the episode?

Also: hee!

Via Wil Wheaton.

Little Demons

Scalzi started me down a trail of Danny Elfman YouTube goodness, which eventually led me to this: rough recordings of three songs from Little Demons, a Nightmare-esque musical he scripted about a trio of child serial killers. I can't for the life of me imagine why it never got picked up. But seriously, these songs are pretty awesome, in that morbid, comically creepy way of his.

The Cat is Dead

Come Along

Oh Mother Dear

BONUS: Considering I was a Tiny Toons fan right around the same time I first fell into obsession with NBX, I don't know how I managed to miss this:

Blue Sun Propoganda: "Visit Tranquil Miranda"

I would very, very much like to own a full-size, framed copy of this poster. If I can get ahold of one, it will have a place of honor in my living room. When I have a living room worthy of hanging unabashedly geeky yet nevertheless beautiful posters in, that is.

And now for some peace and quiet. With lightsabers.

Colbert, Whedon and Jackson describe the first time they each saw Star Wars. Excuse me, I have to go home now and watch A New Hope for the eleventieth time. Right after I wipe this nostalgic tear from my eye.

The blog is going dark for a few days. I got approved to be on the every-other-Friday-off schedule, and my first Friday is tomorrow, which means I get a whole entire four day weekend. That comes dangerously close to a vacation! Tomorrow's going to be jam-packed with errands and household chores so that I can devote the other three days to R&R. And also possibly to Star Wars.

Happy Memorial weekend, everybody. Stay safe.

Doctor de Carabas

In this lovely introduction essay to a Doctor Who novella, Eye of the Tyger, Neil Gaiman admits that he wrote the Marquis de Carabas (from Neverwhere) as if he were writing his own version of the Doctor.

I can't put my finger on exactly why this pleases me so very much, but it does. I'd never made the connection before, but yes: The Marquis is SO the Doctor.

Weekend Pop Culture Roundup

May is probably not the best time to start a regular feature that mainly focuses on what I watched on TV, considering that the current season is about to wrap up. But summer will bring with it plenty of its own TV goodness, plus we're sure to see more than our usual share of movies, so I'm sure there will still be plenty to talk about once May is over. At any rate, here are brief, single-paragraph reviews of the things that fed my brain over the weekend. All but the first two entries contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen/read them and don't want to be spoiled, just don't read past the title.

In theaters: Hot Fuzz - The reviews were split for this one in the Bauhaushold. It's not quite the laugh-out-loud hilarity of Shawn of the Dead, but even so, I loved it. Matt, however, didn't, and thought it was a major let-down. He thought this movie had less heart than Shawn, but I think it just had its heart in a different place. Where Shawn was, in essence, a romantic comedy, Hot Fuzz is in essence a classic Buddy Cop movie, and I thought it hit every note it was trying to hit perfectly. Also, I laughed. A lot.

From Netflix: Casino Royale - Not a huge fan of Bond movies, but I liked this one. Mostly because Daniel Craig is a beautiful specimen of manhood, and I am a shallow, shallow gal.

On the TiVo: Heroes - First, I was relieved to find out that Sylar, and not Peter, was really the man-bomb--and not just because future Peter was Teh Sexay--until I found out he wasn't, and that he was posing as Nathan, at which point I actually shouted "OH MY GOD!" at my TV, and then I couldn't decide whether I was more sad that Nathan was dead or relieved that he wasn't an evil genocidal hypocrite. The sad thing, of course, is that I totally believed Nathan could turn into an evil genocidal hypocrite. Also: Bennett's still my daddy.

Grey's Anatomy - The part of the show that was actually the show was rather meh. I have to say, I heartily do not approve of this Izzie & George business. This has Marti "Let's make Buffy a rape victim!" Noxon written all over it. Also, yes, we GET IT: it sucks to be Meredith. As for the part of the show that was really a pilot for Kate Walsh's new spin-off vehicle, I'm in favor of anything that heavily features both TimDaly AND Taye Diggs. Did you see the part up there where I'm shallow?

America's Next Top Model - ...speaking of shallow. Man, Brittney was my girl, until she went and unequivocally proved her immaturity to her haters and made a complete embarrassment of herself and anyone rooting for her. Now I think I'm actually kind of secretly rooting for Renee, mainly because I think she's achieved more self-awareness than anyone else in the competition this "cycle," and because I can't help feeling for the girl that everybody hates, even if it is because she started out being a heinous bitch to each and every one of them. But if you ask me, I'll probably say I'm rooting for Natasha, because only the hardest of hearts could remain untouched by that level of naivete.

On live TV: The Amazing Race - Up until last week, I was rooting for Danny and Oswald, so for me it once again came down to trying to decide which would be the least objectionable victory. I actually went with Eric and Danielle, only because they had so much bad luck thrown at them over the course of the race, and managed to get yielded TWICE, and so I thought it would be damned impressive if they won, which they did, so... yay, I guess?

In comics: Buffy: Season 8 #3 - HA! It was Ethan, which also triggered MY "barflex." And triple HA! to Buffy's threesome fantasies. Really, who can blame her? Of course, the big question is, who kissed her? I don't believe it was Xander, as he's obviously moved on to yet another Slayer crush. Also, Warren: Eek! And eew.

Supernatural: Origins #1 - Even wee Dean is a total woobie. I'm sure that comes as a surprise to no one. I liked this... it's an intriguing story, tracing a believable path from how Daddy Winchester went from a stunned and clueless victim to badass vengeful demon hunter. I just wish I could say the same for the artwork. Yuck-o.

Of course, if you're following any of these series, I would love to discuss them with you in the comment thread. Here, let me get you started: Dean Winchester, Peter Petrelli, or James Bond: who's prettier?

"As long as there's, y'know, sex and drugs, I can do without the rock and roll."

We were at Best Buy on Saturday when Matt asked me if I'd seen This Is Spinal Tap. When I confessed that I hadn't (I've seen bits and pieces, but never sat down to watch the entire thing), he decided to buy it, but before we made it to the register, he re-decided that it wasn't something he needed to spend money on right now, and put it back. And then he spent the rest of the weekend lamenting that decision. So when the fates decided to reward him for his financial responsibility by showing said film last night on VH1 Classic, of course we had to watch it. All of which means that I TiVo'd Heroes and likely won't get to see it until Saturday, so please don't spoil it for me.

(We actually had a minor "You love Heroes more than me!" row last week after I got irritated with him for talking over it while I was trying to watch, so I didn't dare blow him and his movie off in favor of my show this week. Spinal Tap was pretty funny, though, so it wasn't that great a sacrifice.)

Sunday morning I woke up with a sore throat, and by Monday morning it had grown into a sore throat with ear ache, headache, everything-else-ache, and absolutely no energy whatsoever. I knew there was nothing pressing happening at work, so I didn't really see the point of dragging myself into the office just to sit there and feel miserable and possibly spread my contagion beyond the borders of my cubicle, so I took a sick day and went back to bed for about five hours. When I woke up again I felt marginally better, and spent the rest of the day (minus the two hours of watching Spinal Tap) camped out on the sofa reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel, which has gotten very exciting in the second half and has become excruciatingly hard to put down. I'm now only about 150 or so pages from the end. I wanted to stay up to finish it last night, but I was just too darn tired, so I went straight to bed after the movie. I also let myself sleep in this morning (i.e., didn't come in early to write). Between all the rest, drinking plenty of fluids, etc., I'm back to functional today. I was a little tempted to call in sick again anyway just so I could finish my book, but I didn't. Obviously.

In other me news, I promised Matt that if he got me strings for my guitar and put them on, I'd start learning to play it again. He bought the strings on Saturday, so we're halfway there. I also started knitting a guitar strap for it. It's punky black and purple stripes. It won't really go that well with my folksy acoustic, but maybe that will encourage me to hurry up and get good enough to earn myself something a little more rock & roll, like the totally girly-punk Hello Kitty! guitar I saw at the shop where we bought the strings. Me wantses.

Finally: Hie thee and watch this trailer for Stardust, which is loaded with awesome. I can't wait for this movie.

My Heroes

I used to have this little ritual I did whenever I watched Buffy (and Angel after it, but more to keep up the tradition than anything). My TV stand was on casters back then, so every Tuesday night I would roll the TV right up to the couch, where I would sit with my face about six inches from the screen for the entire episode. It didn't feel right to watch first-run episodes any other way. I wanted to be as close as I could to the action, to immerse myself in that world, with no room for any peripheral distractions.

I haven't felt the desire to do that with any other TV show since.

Until last night, about a minute into Heroes.

I couldn't, of course, because my TV's no longer on casters, and the little armoir I've got it in is hard to move. I considered camping out on the floor in front of it, but, well... if you've seen my floor, you'd understand. So I had to settle for literally sitting on the edge of my seat for the whole hour.

You guys, I think I might finally have new favorite show.

Got some love to share

Firstly, if you haven't yet read Geek Monthly's four-part interview with Joss Whedon, then you are a sad, deprived soul. Of course, if you're avoiding spoilers for Buffy: Season Eight, then you need to stay deprived. Me, I'm not exactly whoring for spoilers, but I'm not running from them, either, and I will simply tell you this: I'm about as excited for this comic as I would be if they brought back the show. It's all I can do not to let myself start writing fanfic again. The article in question can be found here: 1, 2, 3, and 4.

As if the comic's mere pending existence weren't excitement enough, Dark Horse is also teaming with Joss for an essay contest. In 250 words or less, explain how Buffy has impacted your life. Joss himself will pick the winner, who will subsequently find themselves written into the comic. This is the closest to actually getting to become part of the Buffyverse that any of us are likely to ever get.

Moving along to Buffy's lovechild (with X-Files being the baby-daddy), TV Guide has a mildly spoilery (but not really too revealing) interview with Erik Kripke about the future of Supernatural. If you haven't given this show a chance lately, then you don't know what you're missing. Think X-Files as re-imagined inside the Whedonverse with all of its accompanying angst, where all of the monsters are real, and Agent Scully is neither a skeptic nor a woman, but just really effective at stomping monster ass. I haven't seen this week's ep yet (it's on the TiVo), but I hear that this one was more reminiscent than ever of X-F's quirky humor stylings. Also, I have to confess an unabashed love of late 1970s stadium rock (blame my brother), and the minute this show's soundtrack is released on CD, I'm so there.

If I haven't managed to convince you, then head over to the Whedonesque thread where I picked up the link, and read all of the SPN love spilling all over the comment trail.

More fan geekery

Neil Gaiman's been posting pictures from the Stardust movie in his blog. They look gorgeous, and I think it bodes really well for the film that, if you've read the book, you can look at each still shot and instantly recognize which scene it's from.

Marsters and Ackles in one place? *dies* Also: Hi, we're twelve.

My fellow Supernatural junkies might want to check out this interview with the show's creators. It's vaguely spoilery, in the way that they speak vaguely of what's to come without going into any specifics. Here's some non-spoilery highlights:

- Singer would really like for James Marsters to guest star at some point. That might be more pretty all in one place than I can handle. But I'll do my best if it ever happens.

- DC and Wildstorm are doing a prequel comic that will follow Daddy Winchester and how he became a demon hunter.

- Kripke confirms that Tessa the Reaper was indeed based on Death from Sandman. Like there was ever any doubt.

~~~~

I'm about halfway caught up on my filing, no thanks to my dear husband. I should have added "no text messaging" to yesterday's list of no-nos. I killed about thirty minutes this morning with the following exchange:

Him (randomly): Flash! Ah-ah...

Me: He'll save every one of us!

Him: Well I spoke to Flash, and he said he can get me out of this, but he's pretty sure you're fucked. Ha! Ah-aaaah!

Me (more randomly): Juno [from The Descent] was the native princess in "Jeremiah Chrichton" and the meds smuggler in "The Great Raid."

Him: Huh. And I didn't even recognize her.

Me: Your special powers of actor recognition have failed you! Now who's fucked?

Him: Weeeak.

Me: :p

...

It's good that I married a fellow twelve-year-old.

So, Dresden Files.

I'm not permitting myself to form a solid opinion until I've seen at least three episodes. I'm also doing my best to compartmentalize and separate the show from the source material and judge it on its own merits. As long as I'm throwing out caveats, I might as well add that I'm violating my own rule of watching something at least twice before I try to watch it critically, because I simply don't have time to watch it again, which is exactly why I hardly ever write intelligently about TV anymore. But as much as I went on about looking forward to this show, and as much as I tend to go on about the books on which it's based, I can't very well get away with NOT talking about it.

With all of that in mind…

The Good: Paul Blackthorne is indeed a cutie. He has pretty good tragic hero potential. For what humor there is, he has a deadpan delivery that's perfect for the character. He and Valerie Cruz as Murphy had some pretty decent chemistry and hints of the requisite UST. I liked the flashbacks to Harry's childhood and his stage-magician father, and the hints dropped about his mother and his uncle laying the groundwork for a major story arc. Terrence Mann's Bob is so note perfect that I don't care that they turned him into a ghost. Bob is awesome. The end.

The Bad: I know I said I'd try to compartmentalize and not compare, but a certain amount of comparison is inevitable. I'm concerned that people will assume that the show is just like the books, but so far it's a pale reflection of the vivid, imaginative and humorous world in which Harry lives on paper. I've noticed reviewers unfamiliar with the books comparing it to Angel and finding it lacking there, too, which is sad and a little unfair in light of the fact that the creator, Jim Butcher, is such an unabashed fan of the Whedonverse that the books are laced with humorous winks and nods to Buffy and Angel and the obvious fact that he drew inspiration for his world from those shows. Far from ripping them off, though, he used that inspiration as the foundation on which to build a rich and complex world of his own design, peopled with characters that feel every bit as real and worthy of our attention and caring as any of Whedon's.

Yeah. So far I'm not getting that from the show.

I'm sure a lot of it is a matter of budget. The sets, the monster makeup, the effects… all of it left a lot to be desired. The writing wasn't half as witty as Butcher's tends to be, and the actors don't yet feel comfortable in their roles. It feels like it's teetering on the brink of falling into camp – not just camp, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing by itself; but camp doesn't know it's camp and takes itself too seriously. But then again, it could also totter the other way and get better. I expect that it'll have to go through some growing pains to get there, but it has the potential to be something good.

The Indifferent: Harry's waitress girlfriend. Melissa. The diner standing in for McAnnaly's pub. The Jeep standing in for the Blue Beetle. I'm going to wank that the timeline here is some time before Storm Front, and we're building to some of the events of that book, and some of the more charming and familiar aspects of Harry's existence simply aren't yet in place. There was no Mister simply because Harry hasn't gotten him yet, not because he's been omitted. Ditto his signature rod and staff. I hope. At any rate, I'm willing to wait and see.

The WTF?!: The lack of Harry's difficulty with modern technology. That's a fun complication in the book that forces Harry to do things the hard way. He can't simply jump on the phone or a computer to get the information he needs because his magic energy will kill them dead. It's an instant obstacle that always makes things more interesting. I suppose I can understand from a production standpoint why it would be more economical to leave that little tidbit out, but from a storytelling standpoint, it just seems like a really lazy choice.

Murphy's daughter? Why? Maybe they're combining Murphy and Michael into one character and they want her to have a family to serve the same purpose Michael's serves in the books. I can live with that, but still, that made me pause. As for Murphy herself… nothing against Valerie Cruz, but she doesn't have the incongruity thing happening that helps to make Murphy one of my favorite characters. Again, dragging the books back into this, one thing I love about Murphy is how physically unlikely she appears to be for a badass cop. Much like Buffy, she's this teeny tiny blonde woman who by all appearances you should be able to knock over with a feather—but she WILL kick your ass. A big part of her character is that in order to make it as a cop she's had to work extremely hard to compensate for her size and appearance, and has succeeded in doing so. Valerie Cruz has Murphy's bitchiness down, but so far we're not give