Monday, May 30, 2005

Doctor what's his name?

Rose Tyler: Really, though, Doctor, tell me - who are you?
The Doctor: D'you know like we were saying, about the Earth revolving? It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it 'cause everything looks like it's standing still? I can feel it. The turn of the earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour, and I can *feel* it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... That's who I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home.

Doctor Who- 2005
Episode 1 "Rose"

I insist. I need my Doctor Who fix.

The end is coming. Ms. Mysterious is NOT happy.

IwanttoseedoctorwhoIwanttoseedoctorwho!!!!!!!!!
I' m addicted. I need a fix. Now. Give me my doctor who!!!! WAHHHHHH!!!!!!
The ending is coming. The date: June 18th. The Doctor will die and regenerate. Again. The thing is I'm not very good saying good-bye. I want Christopher Eccleston! I want the leather jacket and his big ears! I want Billie Piper! I want the chemistry, the drama, the cheesy effects, the not so easy to comprehend accent and the perfect moments with the deep phrases! I want it all, damn it! Okay. I promise I'll write something a little less emotional and more objective post about this show. But not tonight. Tonight I'm just a crazy fan crying and cursing. And you want to know the worst part? I'll be backpacking Europe and I'll miss the last two episodes! Damn damn damn!!!!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Who said the first time is always better?

Noon, on a working day, watching Star Wars: Episode 3 for the second time. The movie theater is basically empty. There are only five of us watching the movie; but it feels they're showing it just for you. There, in the darkness, you watch again the opening credits as you hear John Williams spectacular music on the background. It feels like if it was the first time. It always feels that way.
Life's good.

I took my parents to watch Episode 3( Yeah, it was one of those generational "bonding moments"). Now, I got a confession to make. Even though I complained quite a bit about the movie the first time I saw it, this second time was different. For a couple of moments I could feel what had been missing; The mysticism. Yoda's words of wisdom reached me. I felt again the connection with the Jedis and to what they believe. I felt despair when I saw the Republic falling to pieces. I grieved when the Jedis were being killed.
I just remembered that when I was a kid I prayed and hoped that Obi Wan would come for me and take me to far away places, where I would learn the ways of the force. I guess something woke up in me that made me want it again. Crazy, you might think. It is.... Almost impossible. (hey, I like to think that nothing is impossible. Improbable, maybe. Never impossible) . Anyway, it's great to feel again :)

And tomorrow: Episode 3. IMAX.

Oh, yeah.

Big Barda kicks major butt


image courtesy of Wikipedia.org

I know, people will mock me, but I've always thought that Big Barda was kinda cool, and now I know that I'm in good company! Michael Chabon agrees! Which of course makes me wonder as to why DC isn't asking him if he'd like to write a New Gods title... I'd buy it! And who to illustrate it... hmmm.. choices, I would have to nominate someone with an angular style, something with a bucketload of energy. So, if I had the supreme decision power in the DC offices, I'd nominate Darwin Cooke, Ty Templeton or Cameron Stewart.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Repent Sinners... for we are divided.

I see that Mrs Mysterious has decided to support the stupid foolish thanagarians... My heart has been broken into pieces, for I know that her support lies with the hawks... Oh, what am I to do? how will this dilema be solved!
I know! I could try to convince her that Rannians are sexy and cool! I mean, who wants some silly wings and a stupid bird helmet? we want Jetpacks!!!
Besides, my original challenge hasn't been met, how would the foolish thanagarians deal with the Living Tornado?
My guess as seen from this cover would be, that they would fare... poorly.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Read this post you must!!


After 28 years the saga is complete. Episode 3 is the last Star Wars movie we'll EVER watch on the big screen (okay, exclude the anniversary re- releases) That's it. It's the end of an era. Sadly, it's not a very good ending.
It all started back in 1977, the beautiful year when I was born. I guess you don't know this story, but the real reason why Lucas released A New Hope that year was to celebrate my birthday. Birthyear. Whatever.
(Hmm...I guess you're not buying it)
Okay, I'll rant about the movie. Yes, I'll have no mercy and include spoilers. And it will be long. No one's reading this blog anyway.


Thursday, May 19, 2005. 10:00. Ms. Mysterious and her loyal friends arrived to the movies. Rebels were already making line for us since 7:00. The place was crowded. Stormtroopers, jedis, siths, and humans gathered together inside the compound. There were a couple of battles. You could breathe the excitement. The hope. Man, I felt like home.

I promised myself I wouldn't expect too much of this film. That I wouldn't get too emotional. But, dammit, I'm weak. In life, you can be lucky to have a couple of perfect moments and to keep them in your mind and heart for the rest of your days. My dear sinners, one of those perfect moments it's watching Star Wars opening credits in the movie theater at the same time you hear the fanatics scream, shout, applaud and even shed some tears of joy. Come on, admit it. It's just absolutely glorious to be part of that.

So, to be clear, I love Star Wars. I love to watch my Yoda poster hanging on the wall. I've played so much with my lightsabers that they're total wreck. (Hey, Zdex and I made a pretty good choreography based on a Obi Wan's duel with Darth Maul on episode 1) My shelves are filled with SW's toys and books. My two SW t-shirts are really worn out but I refuse to throw them away. Hey, sometimes I even talk like Yoda without knowing it. It may sound silly, but these movies (the original trilogy of course) changed my life. Even though I was raised catholic, THESE movies were the ones that gave me what I needed to hear. I don't know, the combination of religious beliefs and moral teachings made me feel more ... Balanced.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people feel the same way. If that wasn't true, if it was just a movie, Star Wars would not be so important and transcendent in our modern history. Fans wouldn't be so loyal. There's much, much more besides cool costumes and lightsabers. Star Wars guided a lost generation into things that matter.

What happens then when everything that was so perfect in so many ways, gets reduced to a high-budget film, with tons of special effects but no soul?
Let's face it: The Star Wars universe hasn't been the same since the new trilogy was released. Lucas almost destroyed everything that we loved by delivering bad dialogues, flat performances and poor storytelling. Yes, he had eye-catching, ground breaking special effects, but got so lost in the looks that he forgot to include the heart.
But what's more impressive is that even though we all know how bad Episodes 1 and 2 are, Lucas, the bastard, still manages to get us inside a movie theater, make line for hours (and actually enjoy it) and watch Episode 3 at least twice on the first week.
Damn you.

The truth is that loyal fans are hopeful. In the bottom of our hearts, we truly want and believe Lucas will make things right.
And well... After watching EP3 I just can say that he made things better, but still, he wasted a lot of time, effort and money, in a trilogy that was pretty much... Lifeless.

Lucas mistake #1:
Starting this trilogy with Anakin as a kid. Who cares if the meanest SOB of the galaxy was a little annoying kid that said "Yippee" everytime he got excited? Who friggin cares??!! And the stuff about midiclorians? Lame. There's nothing on Episode 1 that really interested us. It presented us with an arrogant jedi council and annoying characters such as Jar Jar and well, Anakin.

Lucas mistake #2:
Anakin as a grumpy teenager. If I want to deal with teen hormones and mood swings I just stay home and listen to my annoying thirty-something year old brothers and sisters. Okay, Anakin falls in love, Clone wars begin. Do I really needed to watch two movies to get to this? Besides, Jedis fight for the first time and they suck big time. (With the exception of Yoda, Anakin and Obi wan , of course). By this point, Lucas has wasted millions of dollars and thousands of hours working in a stupid story that could easily been told in 20 minutes.

Lucas mistake #3:
Waiting till Episode 3 to tell us what we wanted to know in the first place. Not showing Anakin's exploits all those years fighting in the Clone wars (the CW cartoon rules by the way).
Next mistake: Making Anakin's transition to the dark side so easy. One moment, Anakin is the good guy, and one minute later, he's all "Yes, Master" with Palpatine. -Now, that's someone with strong convictions-. Also, it was really disappointing to see Yoda running away from Palpatine. He just gave up. He should have fought longer...Almost die... Something. Last, but not least, Hayden Christiansen in the Darth Vader outfit. I'm sorry but it was like watching Spaceballs all over again. Hail Dark Helmet!

Now, having said all this, there are moments in these three movies that approach greatness:
Qui-gon, Obi-Wan- Darth Maul duel. Yoda fighting against Dooku. The chancellor killing Mace Windu and turning into the ugly, scarred man we all fear, the Emperor. The final fight that will ultimately destroy Anakin and turn him into Vader. Watching Tatooine's sunset.

And yes, because of those few moments, I'll watch the movies over and over again. Even though the rest new trilogy is weak, there are some things that survive of it. Some things connect with what we had before. With the honesty and strength that the first trilogy delivered. Maybe it takes us back to that moment in life when things were clearer. When everything was black and white.

And to feel all this is like being home again. I know I might sound too fanatic or dellusional, but everyone need to hang on to something. It might be something big as a religion, or family; A certain political party or social group. Or it can be something that seems simpler. That it might even seem dumb and geeky. It works different for everyone, but in the end we have to hang on to what we have, what makes us believe we can be better persons, even though that thing is a couple of movies of heroes and villains, of a fight between good and evil that takes place in a galaxy far, far away.

Posted by Hello

Rann vs. Thanagar: The war that changed my life.

It is indeed time to choose sides. Rann or Thanagar? Will this be the event that will end my relationship with Mr. Marshmallow man? Will I remember this sole decision as the one that changed our lives?
Oh, cruel fate! It is time to decide.....

My heart, my hopes and my loyalty lies with Thanagar. And yes, even though Adam Strange looks sexy with his new costume, it could never beat a bunch of hot, shirtless, winged men.
I'm sorry my love. The battle has begun.

Rann! pfa! whaaat?

I'm sorry, but it seems as though Mrs. Mysterious is considering supporting Thanagar!!?? What? Is our blogging partnership going to be the first casualty of the war? And why is she choosing Thanagar?

Because the Hawks are hot. Women.

The Adventures of Puedquito and Pulgoso. Part 1


We figure that we'll do these every once in a while, so enjoy :)
(Click to read)

Friday, May 20, 2005

Thanagar? pfa!

I'm sorry, but somehow the fully oppressive nature of the fascist and warrior-like Thanagar (home planet of Hawkwoman and Hawkman doesn't quite appeal to me. Besides, haven't they tried to invade us enough? Sorry, I'm afraid that I must put my support on the wonderfully bizarre and adventurous planet Rann, home of Adam Strange. Sure, the Thanagarians look all fearsome and everything, but how would they deal versus...
THE LIVING INTELLIGENT TORNADO!!!!
*

By the way, I just added The Absorbascon, the host and arbitrer to the blogospheric Rann-Thanagar War, to the sidebar. Wicked.

* yes, I know that he will go on and become Red Tornado, but that's a different story

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Episode III: Return of the political commentary

Yes, it's politics, deal with it.

When looking at any movie, one of the things to consider is the point of view that a good director brings into the movie, whose perceptions are very likely to filter unto the frame. While a great director can do this without you knowing about his politics or life history (such as say, Million Dollar Baby, to name a recent film), the knowledge of such politics can make the film even more powerful. In the case of George Lucas, it is probably important to know that he is in fact a person that would tend to lean towards liberal politics, and someone that, having lived through southern California in the 1960's and 70's was probably fairly influenced by all that happened through that era. So having seen return of the sith, I must say, that while two of the three movies are terrible, at least he has kept a semblance of a coherent theme.

Probably one of the most surprising things about the second trilogy was the fact that the empire became as it was, not because of a military coup, which at the time of Episode I, was what everyone expecting (o.k. I was), but because it was essentially engineered to happen. And I have to say, that, that was pretty impressive on hindsight, considering what has been happening since 1997. Anyway, suffice it to say that I've been intrigued by all the political controversy focusing on Return of the Sith. So, while browsing, I saw the following at Freiheit und Wissen:

"The Jedi operate as a sort of check on the power of the Chancellor and the Senate, but no one apparently operates as a check on the Jedi. With their completely unmitigated surveillance and police power, never once does a Jedi take a prisoner who will stand trial and go to jail. Instead, they seem to operate completely above the law, dispensing their own justice on the spot wherever they see fit, without any internal checks from themselves or from the Republic."

Now Cntodd (who writes a pretty good review, so please, don't think that I am picking on him) goes on to say that he thinks that this was actually a rather foolish of Lucas to do, as it is just elevating one form of concentrated power (the Jedi) instead of another one (the empire), and (I'm inferring, so I apologize if I got it wrong) that it really doesn't matter whether or not the jedi are for democracy, as they are still a form of concentrated power.

Believe it or not, I was also wondering about this bit, thinking that if the movie was political allegory then it was fairly crappy political allegory. Yes, the empire is meant to be a cautionary tale with Palpatine and the Senate are obviously meant to be an allegory to a presidential system gone wrong and the separatists are meant to be the other, the enemy, the hate, the non-existing threat from orwell's 1984. But what about the Jedi? Are they supposed to be another political party? That doesn't work, as one would assume that the senate encompasses that view, and indeed Bail Organa and Amidala (who utters the only line that actually made me perk up from my seat) represent. Are they meant to be the Judges? That almost works, except that Lucas is going a bit further by making them be policemen at the same time, and that seems a tad fascist considering his beliefs.

Now remember that he probably wrote this movie after the buildup to the war on Iraq. I'm assuming that this is his artistic and subconscious response to that event, the fact that it will make him billions or dollars is just a side issue.

So here is the little secret, here is what I think that he is trying to say (and I could be so far off, that I apologize). The empire rose because it was given its powers by the people, because they were afraid of the threat. The Emperor became who he was because he tricked everyone, and he knew that there was one thing that could stop him, the one thing that could have opposed him, the one thing keeping a check on his power, the one thing that had more credibility than him, the unelected watchdog of society, keeping a tab on the powerful

The Jedi, are the press, and they were seduced to the dark side.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Eurotrip 2005- Ms. Mysterious gets lost

Got a ticket to Europe!! WHEEEEE!!! Soon, the adventure will start.... Ms. Mysterious will be lost, hungry, filthy and poor. But alas! She'll survive.
Places I'll visit? London, where I hope I'll find the Doctor and the Tardis; Paris, where I'll eat a delicious, warm hot dog while I sit on the gardens of Champs Elisees; Salzburg where the Sound of music tour awaits for me; Vienna...Where I'll take a cup of coffee sitting on the same places where artists created their famous works; Venezia where the smell of sewers will fill my lungs... Rome, Florence, Lucerne, Barcelona... So many places, so little time. It will be like Epcot Center all over again :)

The only thing that really bothers me? (I mean besides all the things that can go wrong on a trip) Not being able to go with my Marshmallow man. It really sucks not being able to share something 100% with someone you love. Anyway... Life's not perfect. Yet.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

LOST without it

How many times can you curse a man? How many times do I have to look up to the sky and scream his name?? DAMN DAMN DAMN YOU J.J. ABRAMS!!! First it was ALIAS... Now... LOST. Damn you man, really.

It seems for the last 5 months I've been drowning my sorrow by:
a) eating lots of junk food
b) watching a lot of good TV shows

Some of the shows in my list have included Smallville, Alias, Battlestar Galactica, 24, Doctor Who and last but not least, LOST.
(Gilligan's island + Lord of the Flies + Twilight zone + Survivor = LOST)

Is like Alias season one & two all over again. I remember there wasn't a single episode I wouldn't scream and shout and curse Abrams 'till I ran out of voice. He's a great storyteller. He knows how to make you love the characters (I just love Locke). He knows how to make excellent and annoying cliffhangers. And yes, you have NO idea where his stories are going. Everything is a complete mystery; There's absolutely no way you can now what will happen next.

So yes, damn you again Abrams, for making me suffer and worst of all, a certified couch potato.

Sunday, May 08, 2005


Oh yeah....THIS will be fun to watch. Things seem to be improving in the Harry Potter series.I'm talking about the books but also about the films. People are finally getting an idea of what a HP film should be. Better special effects, better acting, better direction (Cuaron made the adaptation so far..Let's wait till we see Goblet..) So, rejoice! Soon we'll have the film and the new book. Yes....This will be a good year. http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/harry_potter/thegobletoffire/ Posted by Hello

Timelords at MIT?

By the way, I read that the Time Traveler Convention held yesterday at MIT was a success. Sort of. People attended, yet no confirmed travelers from the Future. I'm convinced that travelers from other time and space were actually there, but they infiltrated the university months before, to pass as a regular student and avoid altering the time continuity thingy.
Okay, let's rewind for a second. For those of you who have no idea what I'm babbling about, MIT students decided to organize a Time Traveler convention. They started by burying some metal plates on different locations with the instructions on where and when to attend (latitude, time, date) so that if someone in the future with the capacity to travel trough time would see it, he/she could attend the convention. I'm sorry but I just LOVE the idea, and as I said before I'm convinced someone from the future attended but didn't want to be noticed.
Now that this is off my chest, Ms. Mysterious will rest now.

G'nite.

So much to read, so little time

Ms. Mysterious went shopping. Yes, my dear sinners, I was weak. I went to a ugly little town called Mcallen, Tx and I bought comics, ate a lot of pizza and finally got my hands on what will be my savior this summer: My very own "Let's go" Western Europe guide. I think I'm finally getting organized for what will be the ultimate adventure. Yes, believe me that it will be a miracle if I don't get lost and end up in Siberia.
Anyway, this guide seems good enough to help me get through the agony and extasis of traveling through Europe. It has maps of every major city (London, Barcelona, Paris, etc) and their subway routes. It also contains information on major attractions, best landscapes and festivals. Sadly, it does NOT contain the address or telephone of cute guys that live over there, such as Sting and Pierce Brosnan....*damn*
I have to go now. Lots of stuff to read. Yes, it was Free Comic book day and I got like 25 free comics, plus two trades I bought: Superman/ Batman vol. 2 and Green Arrow. So, expect some comments on comics this week.

Later, sinners.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Ms. Mysterious: Hopeless addict

I'm so weak... My life's been slowly consumed by Jack. What has happened in the last couple of weeks? Why haven't I posted hardly anything at all? Well...Blame Jack Bauer. Blame 24. DAMN!
A couple of minutes ago I finished season three, and ladies and gentlemen, it RULES. Totally.
Yup, great action, interesting twists, a tormented and junkie Jack, and not too much of Kim Bauer's stupidity. It's definitely way much better than season 2 (I admit it S3 still has some really annoying inconsistencies) and I might even say than season 1. Yeah, yeah, some of you believe that after season 1 the show was never the same, but things run much more smoother now that the characters are so well developed. Let's face it, season 1 was good, but mostly it was because it was a fresh idea, and because most of people could relate with a guy that made everything possible to save his family.

Anyway, now I'm still deciding if I should start watching season 4 or wait for it on DVD....Oh, decisions decisions...
So, right now I'm watching the DVD extras instead of working on some school papers. Or going to sleep.
Damn Damn Damn. Jack Bauer, you took my life!! WAHHH!!!!!!!