Interesting little problem and a simple fix: videos won't play because of a green screen

Just had this happen with my dad's laptop. He was trying to watch a video on Facebook and while the audio played, the screen was almost as green as the ones they use in movies nowadays. Now, I'm no techie, but I went through the usual procedure of checking to make sure Flash was up to date and that Flashblock wasn't behind it. Yes and no on both of those. Then I checked YouTube to see whether it wasn't anything more than a Facebook problem and yup, videos on there wouldn't work right either, even after a good ole CTRL+F5. After that, I went for the tried and true method of diagnosing any computer related problem: I googled it.

The answer was pretty mundane and the fix simple: right click on the video, go to settings and disable hardware acceleration. Refresh and boom, it's fixed. Tip of the hat to Lifehacker for having the fix.

Pictures via thewinterarcher.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Field of Fire" is a locked room mystery mixed with psychological thriller

(via Memory Alpha)

For most people, Star Trek is probably the last place would one look at for mysteries. Trek, after all, is more concerned with social commentary and adventure than whodunnits. But there have been occasions when writers have dipped into that particular well and given us a mystery set in the 23rd or 24th century. Two episodes that come to mind are "A Matter of Perspective" from The Next Generation and "Field of Fire" from Deep Space Nine. I'll save the former for another post and talk about the latter here.

Before we start, though, I'm going to provide a bit of an info-dump for the benefit of anybody who has never seen the latter show. Deep Space Nine ran from 1993 until 1999 and differed from all of the other Star Treks in that it was set on a space station situated near an important wormhole. In a nutshell, the latter seasons of The Next Generation (DS9's predecessor series) featured episodes focusing on an alien empire called the Cardassian Union. There was quite a bit of friction between the Federation and the Union do in part to the Cardassian's occupation of the homeworld of another alien species called the Bajorans. It's stated that 50 years prior to the start of DS9 that the Union had conquered the Bajorans and used them as slave labor to strip mine their planet (the Cardassians were incredibly resource poor and apparently just had crappy luck finding good planets in their part of space). The Union eventually agreed to leave the planet under pressure from the Federation, which of course rushed in to provide aid to the Bajorans as they tried to piece their civilization back together. The Cardassians left behind a space station called Terok Nor and the Bajorans, not really being capable of maintaining a station, handed it over to the Feddies until they could. Starfleet renamed it Deep Space Nine and crewed it with whoever they could find that didn't much care about being sent to what was essentially a backwater posting.

"Hasta la vista, baby!"
(via Memory Alpha)

Then they discovered the Bajoran wormhole. You see, in Star Trek, wormholes are rare and stable ones even rarer. This one was not only stable, but led to the Gamma Quadrant, a part of the galaxy that had never before been explored. Needless to say, Starfleet relocated the station to the wormhole in order to manage traffic.

Yadda, yadda, yadda, then the Dominion War broke out, pitting the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans on one side, and the Dominion and Cardassians on the other. I won't go into detail on that because we're getting off track, but yeah, the good guys won.

Anyways, back to "Field of Fire". The premise of the episode is that someone is going around DS9 and murdering Starfleet officers. The catch: each of the three victims were killed in their quarters with a ballistic weapon at long range. It was initially thought that they were killed at close range until Odo, the constable of the station and an aficionado of 20th century crime novels points out that the first victim didn't have any powder burns consistent with a close range shot. It becomes a locked room mystery because there's no evidence that anyone else was in the quarters were the victim at the time of the murders. The psychological thriller element comes into play when one of the characters, Ezri Dax calls upon the memories of a prior life.

Hold on, let me explain. Ezri is member of an alien species called the Trill. A very small percentage of Trill have the ability to "bond" with a weird slug-like species called Symbionts. When the latter is surgically implanted into a host Trill's body, their minds and personalities blend. Ezri is still Ezri, she just has the memories and experiences of every previous host of the Dax symbiont. Every time a host died, Dax would be transferred to a new host. It ended up in Ezri because its previous host, Jadzia, was killed in a very violent manner and it almost died while being rushed back home to Trill. Ezri being the only compatible Trill (or possibly the only Trill) on the ship at the time, became the new host. It's actually one of the coolest things in Star Trek.

That prior life that Ezri calls upon is that of Jaron Dax, the one personality that all subsequent hosts had suppressed because Jaron was a murderer, having taken three lives before he was caught and the symbiont was removed.

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. Let's go back to the murders and examine the weapon used. It's quickly determined that the murder weapon is a TR-116, a prototype rifle developed to operate in environments that phasers couldn't due to shielding or radiation. Starfleet dropped the weapon before it went into production after somebody figured out how to make phasers work in those conditions. But, for reasons unexplained, the rifle was included in the database of things that a replicator can create and that's the route the killer went. Oh, and it turns out that the only people who can access the plans for the rifle in the database are Starfleet officers.

(via Memory Alpha)

Now the solution to the locked room mystery aspect of this episode is really interesting. Miles O'Brien, DS9's chief engineer, figures out that the killer is actually beaming the bullet into the victim's quarters using a doohickey called a micro-transporter attached to the rifle's muzzle. Additionally, they deduce that they're using another piece of technology called an exographic targeting sensor that allows them to see through the station's many walls and bulkheads and right into the victims' quarters. In other words, all the killer has to do is scan through station until he finds a target, aim, fire, and the mini-transporter beams the bullet a few centimeters in front of the victim's chest and the bullet whizzes right into their heart like any regular bullet. The killer doesn't even have to leave their own room!

Well, with the "how" out of the way, Ezri has to determine the next two important questions: who and why? After the second murder, she performs a ritual to bring Joran Dax's memories and persona back from its hidden depths to help her gain perspective on the act and art of murder. As I said, this is the psychological thriller aspect of the episode and its pretty good. Throughout the episode, Joran constantly tries to tempt and persuade Ezri to put herself in the role of a cold-blooded killer in order to catch the one she's after...and he almost succeeds twice, which would have resulted in her taking an innocent life in the first incident. Not surprisingly, since she was one of the main characters of the show, she resists and does "get her man".

Who was the killer? A Vulcan! Yes, someone from the same alien race as Spock was committing the murders. Ezri and Joran determined that the killer was likely a doctor and scientist. They also found a single connection between all three victims: they each had a picture in their quarters of them laughing with friends or family. This leads Ezri and Joran to suspect that the killer has suffered some kind of emotional trauma and those pictures are somehow triggering a violent response. Just to cut to the chase a little, they discover that a Vulcan science officer named Chu'lak had previously served aboard a starship that recently been destroyed during the war, with him and only five others being the survivors out of a crew of 1250. Ouch, that's bound to screw even a Vulcan up. Indeed, when Ezri asks why he committed the murders, his response is "because logic demanded it." Wow. For a Vulcan to twist logic - something that they prize dearly - into something that "justified" their acts of murder shows how traumatic the Dominion War was.

From there, Ezri dons the scanner, picks up the rifle and checks up on Chu'lak, only to discover that he's similarly equipped and taking aim! Fortunately, she fires first and wings him. When she arrives at his quarters, she has to again resist the urge to kill that Joran is trying to push her towards, but she resists and at the end of the episode, performs a ritual to rebury Joran's persona, but with the caveat that she can't suppress it as deeply as it had been before and will have to live with the effects he's left on her psyche.

I've only ever watched this episode once, but it was always one of my favorites because it was so different from the rest of the pack. Ezri was much more inexperienced than Dax's previous hosts and was still, I think, adjusting to being joined. Would Jadzia have called up Joran to help solve the case? Probably not, but that's what makes this episode so good. Ezri went down a different and dark path and nearly succumbed to it.

Spectre, the next James Bond movie

(via Esquire)

So it was announced today that the name for the twenty-fourth Bond movie will be Spectre. For anybody with even passing knowledge of the Bondverse, the title will immediately raise at least one eyebrow. SPECTRE (which, according to Wikipedia, stands for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) was the name of an international terrorist organization headed by...Ernesto Blofield, one of Bond's worst arch-nemesis. Blofield was the one who murdered Bond's wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, so maybe they'll be doing a remake of that movie somewhere down the line?

Hail Hydra...I mean SPECTRE!
(via Wikipedia)

Casting-wise, Daniel Craig is returning as Bond, as is Ben Whishaw as Q. Christoph Waltz is starring as someone named Oberhauser. Ralph Fiennes takes over as a new male M. Dave Bautista from Guardians of the Galaxy of all people is starring too, which could help solidify his acting career if this is more than minor role and the movie is successful.

RIP P.D. James

Well, mystery fiction has one less writer and it's probably all the lesser for it. I'm not going to BS and expound on how great of a writer P.D. James was because honestly, I only ever read one of her books. I hadn't even heard of her until I saw Children of Men in the theaters and later read the novel it based on. Both were pretty enjoyable, but boy were they different as night and day. Aside from that, I've never gotten around to reading her other books, but seeing as how I'm getting into mystery, it's inevitable that I will read her works and if The Children of Men was any indication, it certainly won't be time wasted.

Killing Ground is a pretty intense episode of Adam-12

(via Wikipedia)

Never saw this episode before tonight, but damn, it was one hell of an episode. The episode starts with Reed and Malloy making a stop on a camper truck parked on the street. The driver claims that he's run out of gas and lures them to the back of the camper and that's when the ambush is sprung. The driver yanks the door to the camper open and his partner is waiting with a gun. Shots are fired and the gunman takes a bullet to the shoulder...but Reed is wounded in the leg and Malloy gets decked by the driver. After that, they're both handcuffed and loaded into the camper.

It turns out that the two criminals  (Steve Deal and Norm Landon) are on the lam from a failed robbery that left their third partner dead. Ironically, the police dispatcher was giving details on the robbery when Reed and Malloy rolled up on the camper truck, but they had ignored it. In fact, they were a bit annoyed by the dispatch because it was keeping them from running the license plate or giving their location. That last part didn't stop them from telling their kidnappers the exact opposite and tricking the criminals into thinking that the LAPD was now looking for their camper.

The two criminals are joined by the sister (Susan Danhart) of their dead partner, who is led to believe that Reed and Malloy were the ones who killed her brother. Let's talk about the Norm and Steve for a second. The Norm, the leader, was fairly reasonable and obviously didn't want to cross the line and murder the two cops, knowing what the consequences would be. He's also accused of cowardice by the second man, who also claims that it caused the death of the woman's brother.  Then there's Steve. Now there's a guy who's two scoops of fucking nuts. Unlike Norm, he's pretty intent on murdering the two hostages, especially Malloy, who shot him in the shoulder. As the episode progresses, Steve becomes less and less stable to the point of holding Norm at gunpoint when it looks like he's going to pop Reed.


Honestly though, my favorite part of the episode and this really showcases how unhinged Steve was becoming is when Norm sends him off to steal a new getaway vehicle (believing Malloy that the camper is on the LAPD's radar) and the man comes back with a goddamn school bus. I cannot make this up!

But then, things get real. When the group arrives at the farm of  Joy's father (to escape to Mexico in his plane), Steve takes Malloy to kill him and for an episode of a TV aired in 1973, this scene is intense. He forces Malloy to his knees like he's going to kill him execution-style, but fortunately, Reed is there to save the day. You see, during the scene where they were ditching the camper, Jim was left alone with Susan and he planted the seed of doubt in her head that him and Pete killed her brother. Steve deep-sixed the lie during an outburst on the bus and Susan snuck Reed the key to his cuffs when the two criminals were leaving the bus with Pete. So anyways, Jim  and Pete manage to take Steve down and escape into a nearby field, but are slowed down by Jim's leg wound. Add the lack of a gun to defend themselves and they have to act clever and they do. Malloy has Reed act as a decoy so that he can sneak up on the duo and they both take them out. The episode ends with them driving the bus back to the Susan's father's house as a police car speeds towards them. Jim and Pete share a look, like "What a fucking shift."

Credits:
Martin Milner: Pete Malloy
Kent McCord: Jim Reed
Michael Richardson: Norm Landon
John Chandler: Steve Deal
Joy Bang: Susan Danhart

Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
Director: Lawrence Doheny

My take: Killing Ground was a pretty good episode that manages to convey a sense of dread and fear by not only having the two main characters of Adam-12 kidnapped, but putting two police officers as the victims and in mortal danger. This isn't an uncommon trope in cop shows, but this managed to make you worry for the lives of Pete and Jim, even though you knew that they were never in danger of being killed off. My only complaint is that Jim's leg wound didn't really play into the plot until the end. I mean, he takes a bullet and spends most of the episode with it untreated and you don't see him in pain at all.

What's interesting about this episode though is that it may have been based on a real life incident in 1963 where two plainclothes LAPD officers were kidnapped by two criminals during a traffic stop and later taken to an onion field where one of the officers was murdered while the other managed to escape. A book about the incident by Joseph Wambaugh named The Onion Field was released in 1973, the same year Killing Ground aired. The episode aired months before the book's release, but given Jack Webb's relationship with the LAPD, it's not a stretch that Webb would want to do an episode based on such an infamous incident.

Rating: 9/10.

Currently reading: Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising,

(via Penguin)

"Allah!"
With that shrill cry, three Muslim terrorists blow up a key Soviet oil complex, creating a critical oil shortage that threatens the stability of the USSR. 

To offset the effects of this disaster, members of the Politburo and the KGB devise a brilliant plan of diplomatic trickery - a sequence of events designed to pit the NATO allies against each other - a distraction calculated to enable the Soviets to seize all the oil in the Persian Gulf. 

But as this spellbinding story of international intrigue and global politics nears its climax, the Soviets are faced with another prospect, one they hadn't planned on: a full-scale conflict in which nobody can win.

Red Storm Rising, published in 1986 by Tom Clancy is an excellent book if military thrillers are your thing and just a good thriller in general. As the above blurb indicates, the plot centers around a non-nuclear World War III between the Warsaw Pact and NATO. It's more than a little outrageous that the Soviets would start such a conflict just so they can make a grab for oil in the Middle East, but it makes for some exciting action and drama.

The thing that originally caught my attention about Red Storm Rising and led to me buy this book a decade ago was that this book was required reading at the Naval War College, which is interesting. Unfortunately, it took me about a decade - after several false starts - to finally dig into the book, given that my interests rested with scifi and fantasy fiction. So far, I'm realizing how much of a mistake not reading this sooner was.

"I'll give you a left turn, bitch!" - Let's Play GTA V - Crazy Taxi

This was one hilarious LP. This is one of those Team Lads vs. Team Gents videos and the idea is that one of them plays a taxi driver and has to try and pick up and drop off the other two members of their team (one at a time) while the other team tries to kill the driver. Just to make things interesting, only one member on the opposing team can use a pistol; the others are restricted to flying a helicopter and driving a police car. It looks like they were trying to keep points, but that was ditched pretty quickly, since neither team was declared the winner. I have to wonder why anybody gets into a helicopter in this game when Gavin is the pilot, because you know he's going to crash that thing some point soon.

That limo at the end took everything - a helicopter crashing into it, rammings by a police car, being shot repeatedly - and survived it all until the...well, you gotta watch the video to find out.

Mind the dust - blog overhaul in process

The jiggering is getting rejiggered and the polarity is getting inverted! It's like how they redid all the cutscenes in Halo 2, but not as creepy.

Well, the Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter fandoms now know what Gavin and Geoff's pubes look like...

Why god, why? For those who don't want to watch the video: Geoff's wife, Griffon shaves his beard and Gavin's hair off, then they stick the latter's hair to the former's face and the former's to Gavin's head.

Then it gets straight up weird. Both Gavin and Geoff shave their pubes and glue them to Griffon's armpits (Gavin's on the right, Geoff's on the left), then go out for like a beer or something at the end. I swear I am not making any of that up.



So context: Gavin, Geoff and his wife Griffon filmed all of these home videos over the past five or so years and only now have started uploading them to the Rooster Teeth YouTube channel. From what I can tell, I think this video was filmed back during the early days of Versus, possibly episode 13.

People from Rooster Teeth aren't normal, LMAO.

In case you've ever wondered what the Nintendo originally looked like - the Famicom

Then again, every gamer probably knows what it looks like already, but I still think it's worth posting.

Credit: Evan-Amos (via)

I like the holders on the side for the controllers. Those would have been a nice addition to the NES over either just leaving them where they lie or wrapping the cord around them. Speaking of controllers, the one docked to the console is different than the other. No Select or Start buttons, but it has a built in mic, along with a volume control. Apparently this was soon done away with and the second controller became identical to the first. They were both also originally hardwired into the Famicom itself before Nintendo changed that too.

I heard once that the reason why Nintendo designed the NES differently is because they believed that American consumers wouldn't take the console seriously unless it was bigger. No idea if that's true, but honestly, I'm willing to believe it is.

In which I list my favorite Kevin Smith movies

1. Mallrats.

(via)

I like Mallrats because it's just a funny movie with an oddball plot. Brodie and T.S. spend an entire day in a mall and later, an indoor flea market (or dirt mall, as T.S. calls it). In that time they help derail a knockoff of The Dating Game, get several people arrested, meet a fortune teller with a third nipple, and win back their girlfriends. Not bad for a day. The cameo by Stan Lee is nice, as is the comic book references. The running gag with Silent Bob constantly crashing through things while Joey Lauren Adam's character is trying on clothes in dressing rooms always gets me laughing.


2. Dogma.

(via)

I could have easily put Dogma at the top spot instead of Mallrats, so consider this a tie between the two. What's not to love about this movie? You have Chris Rock as a forgotten apostle, Alan Rickman as Metatron, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as fallen angels trying to destroy existence by creating a contradiction in the infallible Word of God. Also, Jay and Silent Bob are prophets, while Alanis Morissette is God. Fucking fantastic.

One of the things about Dogma that is so interesting is that at the time, Kevin Smith was a lapsed Catholic and beginning to question weighty things like religion and faith. You can see that in the movie with such things as the last scion (Linda Fiorentino) working at an abortion clinic and a woman playing God. I think Dogma is a heavier, deeper movie than the rest of Smith's movies, at least the ones I've seen.

3. Clerks.

(via)

I picked up the 10th anniversary edition of Clerks up 10 years ago, fittingly enough. It's a good movie that was funny, but not in the same way that Mallrats or Jay and Silent Bob were. The humor here was more absurd and in the case of what happens with Dante's ex-girlfriend, black. Speaking of Dante, the original ending to the movie where he's killed in an armed robbery is interesting, but I'm glad Kevin Smith didn't go with it. My favorite part though will always be Dante and Randall's debate about the culpability of the contractors working on the Second Death Star in Return of the Jedi and whether they deserved to die or not.

4-10. Everything else. It's not that I dislike the rest of Kevin Smith's movies, but simply because I like the above three more or haven't seen all of them, like Chasing Amy, which I want to.

Someone created a 3D model of Milo Manara's Spider-Woman pose...and it is the stuff of nightmares

Credit: imgur/reddit/the darkest pits of the abyss

That's um...that's pretty fucking terrifying, dude. Can you imagine being a supervillain and seeing that crawling towards you? You'll never be the same again.

I really am a profound idiot

In which I realize that knowing how to sew, I could have been mending all of those socks instead of throwing them away. I have trashed I don't know how many pairs over the last few years and wasted money buy more to replace them, only to repeat the cycle.

I am not the brightest, comrades, that's for sure.

And this is what happens when you hire an artist know for his erotic art to draw a variant cover for Spider-Woman

Maybe it's a parody of Nicki Minaj's Anaconda album cover?
(via Bleeding Cool)

There is nooooo way that Marvel didn't expect this to happen. Milo Manara is pretty famous for giving his art a sexual bent to it, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he did the same with Spider-Woman. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking his artwork in general, because it's pretty damn good. I just don't like his variant cover. The comic industry needs to stop sexualizing and especially over-sexualizing female characters just because they think it'll lead to more sells. Stop treating your female characters like masturbatory aids, you dumb fucks.

Here are some links to articles on The Mary Sue that can do this more justice than I can.

SummerSlam 2014 predictions

Rob Van Dam vs. Antonio Cesaro: Why?

Prediction: Cesaro if there's a god. Getting reeeeeeal tired of WWE waffling on Cesaro.

Bray Wyatt vs. Jericho: Second time in a row for these two because WWE doesn't have anybody else for Bray to feud with.

Prediction: If Bray doesn't win, then they're burying him like they buried Ryback. Seriously, the man cannot continue losing PPVs and still be seen with a credible threat. To say nothing that a victory does nothing for a part-timer like Jericho.

Rusev vs. Jack Swagger: This feud is pretty boring and only barely kept afloat by Lana and Zeb. Even then, I could care less.

Prediction: Sylvester Stallone shows up and KOs both of them. Failing that, it depends on how much longer they plan on keeping this thing rolling. Swagger should win in that case, but again, who cares?

AJ Lee vs. Paige: If AJ wins again, then does the feud end and if not, what's keeping it going?

Prediction: No idea.

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins: Will they finally get to fight? God, I hope so.

Prediction: Dean to end the feud and Rollins to continue it.

Dolph Ziggler vs. 80s gay pornstar Miz (Champ) for the Intercontinental Championship: Bad News Barrett got injured months back and had to vacate the IC title. For reasons unknown, they decided to give the belt to Miz. Not having anything for him to do after that, they put him in a feud with Ziggler, who likewise had nothing to do.

Prediction: FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY, LET ZIGGLER WIN FOR ONCE.

Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella (or should that be Brie Bryan? Brie Bella-Bryan?): In a nutshell, Brie "quit" WWE months ago so that her injured husband could keep a title that he was stripped of anyways and this started a feud between the two women, with Steph putting Brie's sister Nikki in one handicap match after another. Eventually the two confronted each other on an episode of Monday Night Raw where Brie was attending as a fan. This led to a face off and Steph slapped the ever loving shit out of her. This, in turn, led to Steph being arrested for assault.

When Steph got out of jail and hardened by her experience like only prison life can (those must have been some tough few hours), she tried to convince Brie to drop the charges. The latter did in exchange for getting her job back...and a match at SummerSlam. Yada, yada, yada, Steph ended up giving both Bellas Pedigrees (which was fucking awesome) during the contract signing, but not before Triple H got dropped by one hell of a slap from Brie.

Then it all turned to shit with WWE's writers stealing one of the stupidest storylines not just in TNA, but all of wrestling history by having Steph troll Brie with the "revelation" that Daniel had been carrying on an affair with his physical therapist. TNA did something like this that involved a woman named Claire Lynch claiming that AJ Styles had knocked her up. It was a terrible, terrible, shitty storyline, but WWE decided to use it.

Prediction: I keep seeing rumors that Nikki Bella is going to turn heel on her sister and that'll set up a feud between them. I hope not. I don't have a prediction for this one because all I want to see is Brie using a Knee Plus and the Yes! Lock (both finishing moves of her husband) and Steph using the Pedigree.

Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton: I'm assuming that they're building towards a Reigns vs. Triple H match at some point in the future, but Roman has to go through Randy first to finish their feud.

Prediction: Roman Reigns.

John Cena (Champ)  vs. MY CLIENT BROOOOOOOOOOCK LESNAR CONQUERED THE STREAK AT WRESTLEMANIA for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: I wonder who Lesnar's opponent is going to be at the next PPV? Please let it be Cesaro!

Prediction: Brock Lesnar. All the hype and rumors have him winning, but WWE could easily swerve us, but I doubt it. I've seen rumors that Cena is going to take time off to do movie commitments.

I actually like Wonder Woman's movie costume

The only real complaint I have - and I've seen others say the same - is that the colors are too muted.

(via ComicsAlliance)

I can understand that they didn't want to go with vibrant colors, but there is a spectrum out there aside from brown and red dark enough to be confused with brown. I've also seen complaints about the pseudo-heels on her boots, but I'm not bothered by them. I like that they went with a leather skirt thing instead of star-spangled tights. It invokes the Greek hoplite vibe that Wonder Woman and the rest of the Amazons invoke. Speaking of warrior women, I don't see why people keep joking about the costume looking like Xena's.

In the end, the only complaint I really and truly have is that this isn't for a Wonder Woman solo movie. DC can kiss my ass and continue puckering up until the character gets her own movie. Their argument that making a WW movie would be "too difficult" or whatever is complete and total bullshit. She's part of their "Trinity" in the comics alongside Superman and Batman, and is probably the most well known female superhero out there, so they have no excuse.

How did my predictions for Battleground go? Not so well

I got exactly one right. ONE.

Legend
Italics: Who I thought would win.
Bold: Who actually won.

Naomi vs. Cameron. Whhhhhhhhhy?

The Usos vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatts. This was a disappointment, but my guess is that they don't want Harper and Rowan to get straps until Bray does. Meh.

AJ Lee vs. Paige. Didn't actually predict a winner, but AJ winning makes sense because it set up Paige turning on AJ the next night. That heel turn was pretty epic, by the way. Paige gave AJ an ass whoopin' that you normally don't see from the Divas outside of PPVs.

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. Match ended in a forfeit because this match up deserves to be done at SummerSlam.

That battle royal with too many damn names to type out. Miz. Yes, The Miz won, last eliminating Dolph Ziggler.

I only hope this sets the stage for Ziggles to win the title later on. The two did have a real damn good match on Raw, with Ziggles winning, so maybe that's the road they're on. Of course, I mentioned the possibility that they might put the IC title back on Bad News Barrett when he comes back, so there's that.

Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho. Dear WWE, please stop booking Bray to lose at PPVs. You have periously close to Rybacking the guy. I keep hearing stuff about some guy named Kevin Dunn - a brown-nosing lackey of Vince McMahon, from what I understand - trying to sabotage Triple H and his rising influence in the company. If the stories are true, then he's apparently responsible for some of the bad booking and burying of talent in WWE.

I'm hoping that Y2J simply drew first blood in this feud and Bray will prevail. Man needs to start winning PPVs or else he'll be tag teaming with Heath Slater a year from now.

Jack Swagger vs. Rusev. Well, the match didn't end in a clear victory for Rusev, but rather a count-out after sending Swaggie into a ring post. Oddly, the next night on Raw, Michael Cole either misspoke or tried to retcon it into a win by submission for Rusev. He did lock Swaggie into the Accolade (the camel clutch) and made him tap, but that was after the match.

John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kurly Kane vs. Randy Orton. The one match I actually got right. Yay. Now he gets to go on to SummerSlam and drop the title to MY CLIENT BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK LESNAR CONQUERED THE UNDERTAKER'S STREAK AT WRESTLEMANIA.

Another infographic: 75 years of Batman

75 years of his cowl, anyways.

(via GeekTyrant)

Created by Salvador Anguiano as part of something called the "Poster Posse" for Caped Crusader's 75th anniversary. It gives us a nice tour of how Batman's mask has changed over the decades and even includes the non-comic book iterations and Two-Face in his bat-costume for some reason. By the by, the Batman Unlimited one at the end is the title for a new toyline and maybe a new cartoon. Maybe. I think DC's probably filling too burnt right now to do another Bat-show on the heels of Beware the Batman being canned. Maaaaaan, that show didn't last but a minute, didn't it? I watched one episode and that about did it for me. I really wasn't feeling the whole thing with Alfred being about the same age as Bruce and Katana as the latter's sidekick didn't make any sense. Next time, DC should look to the old DCAU (Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League/Unlimited) for a reliable blueprint for a good animated series.

h/t XombieDIRGE.

WWE Battlegrounds 2014 predictions

I forgot that the PPV was happening tonight, so let's get this thing out real quick.

Pre-show match: Naomi vs. Cameron: They used to be in a tag team called The Funktadactyls, then split like a week ago. Naomi can wrestle. Cameron, not so much.

Prediction: Naomi and hopefully they send Cameron back down to NXT for training or she becomes a manager or something.

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family vs. The Usos for the Tag Team titles: A rematch from the last PPV. Rowan and Harper won a tag match for the right to another shot at the titles. Well that, and WWE isn't exactly bursting with tag teams at the moment.

Prediction: Rowan and Harper because as much as I like The Usos, the former need a run with the titles.

Speaking of Wyatts: Bray Wyatt vs. Chris "The Man of 1004 Holds" Jericho: Y2J came back for another one of his runs in-between touring and recording Fozzy albums and while it looked like he was going to start a feud with a returning Miz, he instead got into one with Bray. Ought to be good as both guys can bring it in the ring.

Prediction: Bray because Jericho is the perfect part-timer in that he's just there to help put over the new guys.

AJ Lee (Champion) vs. Paige for the Divas Championship: Paige made her debut the night after WrestleMania 30 during AJ's promo about retaining the title at the PPV. Paige then proceeded to beat AJ and win the title, which she held until June 30th, when AJ returned from hiatus (and her honeymoon with CM Punk) and won it back. Interestingly, they've been acting sort buddy-buddy with each other. Not exactly friends, but not like enemies either. I think the term is "frenemies".

Prediction: No idea. It would interesting if they traded the belt back and forth until it culminated in a ladder match. Either way, I just want them to form a tag team called Team Besties and go on the road, solving mysteries with Zack Ryder, Alicia Fox, and Dean Ambrose.

That bigass battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship with way too many names to type, so fuck that noise: Wade Barrett was stripped of the title after Swaggie threw him into a barrier and dislocated his shoulder bad enough to require surgery.

Prediction: Depends on WWE's plans with the title and Barrett.
If they plan on putting the belt back on Barrett after his return: Probably Dolph Ziggler.
If they don't plan on putting the belt back on Barrett after he comes back: Hopefully Cesaro because he could use whatever boost the IC title could give him.
There's a third option here - title unification. Sheamus is in the match and he's already United States Champion. This would be a chance to unify the two and bring back the Light Heavyweight Championship (as advocated by Okori in these two posts over at The Wrestling Blog). I don't think it's likely because WWE is too smart to let a title unification happen in a battle royal when it would be more of a draw as a singles match.

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins: They've been feuding since Seth betrayed The Shield (and broke our hearts) and join The Authority. Dean has vowed to cockblock Seth every time the latter tries to cash in his briefcase. Both of these guys are excellent in the ring and are two of the brightest stars in the post-CM Punk era of WWE, especially with the absence of Daniel Bryan.

Prediction: Not a clue. I want this to end in a DQ so that their feud can continue.

Jack Swagger vs. Rusev: WWE finally got around to putting the "Real American" against the anti-American, pro-Russian brute.Swaggie and his manager Zeb Colter are now faces and it looks like the xenophobia and racism has been swept under the rug. I gotta say, I'm liking this feud because it has a bit of an epic feel to it. It isn't on that level yet, but it could be. Seeing Swaggie standing toe to toe with Rusev is just cool.

Prediction: Same as the Dean and Seth match, I don't want there to be a winner. I want them both to be counted out because they're too busy throwing bombs at each other outside of the ring to care. If I was booking this, I would have the next two matches between them end with no winner, with second to last match being a last standing match, which ends in a draw after they both lay each other out and can't make the ten count. The final match would be an "I Quit" match that ends up Rusev giving up while locked in Swagger's Patriot Lock.

John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Cena would play ball with The Authority, so they pit him in a Fatal Four-Way. Boy, they're really pushing Roman to the top pretty quick, aren't they?

Prediction: Cena most likely so that they can set up a match between him and...MY CLIENT BROOOOOOOOOOOOOCK LESNAR CONQUERED THE STREAK AT WRESTLEMANIA. *ahem*. Paul Heyman offered a Plan C to The Authority in the event that Plan A (Cena losing to either Orton or Kane) and Plan B (Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank contract afterwards) both fail. It's obvious that Plan C is Lesnar. My guess is it'll be at SummerSlam and Lesnar will win the WWE title.

On the other hand, it's entirely possible that WWE could pull the trigger on Roman and put the belts on him. He's pretty damn popular right now and they might just decide to bypass secondary title runs and put him on the main stage. The problem here is Lesnar. Does WWE really want to put the belts on Roman if they plan on crowning Lesnar at the next PPV? Then again, who's to say he'll even win. Winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and then defeating the guy who ended The Undertaker's Streak would be a pretty goddamn big feather in Roman's cap.

Let's see if I get any right again. I got all but one match right at the last PPV, so I'm hoping for a repeat.

If the coffee scene from Airplane! doesn't make you laugh, then you're Vulcan. Or maybe Data.

Well, if you guys really want to see She-Hulk nude...

Who am I to deny you? Enjoy!

(via Marvel Comics Database)

(via Byrne Robotics)

(via Marvel Comics Database)

Wakka wakka.

(via Talking Comic Books)

:V

The many costumes of Spider-Man, an infographic

Unfortunately, Blogger shrunk the picture for some reason, so head on over to Mashable to see it in all of its glory. My favorites of the bunch are Doc Ock's Superior, Miles', the 2099, the black costume (not the movie version, fuck that), and the Ditko and Romita, Jr. versions. Least favorite is the Scarlet Spider II (too.much.red.), and the two costumes from the Raimi movies. Really liked the movies, but was never keen on the raised webbing details.

h/t The Mind of Morgan.

I like Batgirl's new costume

Soon to be new costume, anyways.

 When I first saw this on ComicsAlliance, I wasn't too keen on it. I think it's because initially it came off as something Batgirl would have worn at the start of her career before moving on to a more "professional" costume. The more I looked at it and the bottom picture more, I realized that I was wrong and really started to dig it.

I've been favoring more realistic, less theatrical superhero costumes lately, so this jives with me now. The cape being attached with snaps is practical, since she can just pop the cape off in an emergency. The note about the top being leather and not spandex gave me a chuckle and a frown, because Cameron Stewart and/or Babs Tarr had to include that note, otherwise a future artist would "sexify" the costume by making the top skintight. I'm also digging Brendan Fletcher and Cameron Stewart's plans for Batgirl when they and Babs Tarr take over in October:

Stewart: Batgirl has really been put through the wringer in recent years – after being attacked and paralyzed by the Joker, her brother turning out to be a serial murderer, the trauma of her family breaking apart and the series of gruesome villains she’s had to contend with, we figured she deserved a break from all that. Just prior to the start of our story she’s pushed to the breaking point and decides that she’s had it with misery and darkness and wants a change. She wants the opportunity to have some fun and live the life of a young, single girl in the city, so she packs up and moves to Burnside, the cool, trendy borough of Gotham, to focus on grad school.

Fletcher: And that’s where we kick off our run – introducing this part of the city known for expensive coffee, fixie bikes, vintage shops and breakout bands. Barbara allows herself to be immersed in youth culture for the first time, exploring the social side of life in Burnside. That’s not to say there isn’t mystery, of course! Try as she might to live a “normal” life, Barbara very quickly finds herself drawn back into the world of crime fighting. Our take on Batgirl mixes the best elements of “Veronica Mars” and “Girls,” with a dash of “Sherlock” thrown in for good measure.

If Barbara doesn't have a Tumblr (or the DCU equivalent), I will be disappointed.

*sigh* And meanwhile, I'll be too broke to buy this comic, like always.

Man I've been posting a lot of wrestling stuff lately

Can't help it, just got a second wind with that particular fandom of mine. It's a great time to be a fan because WWE is filling their main roster with a lot of indie guys and they have loads more down in NXT. The non-indie guys are great too. Bray Wyatt is the next Undertaker without a doubt. Cesaro and Roman Reigns are going to be the next big things. Dean Ambrose is probably one of the best decisions WWE ever made and whoever hired him deserves a bonus, a blowjob, and a promotion.

Don't worry, I'm going to post non-wrestling stuff again. I'm just waiting for the euphoria to fade.

Cesaro is putting the finishing touches on his Sagat cosplay

Cesaro:

(via krevlornswath)

(via gonads-mcelgin)

Sagat from Street Fighter:

(via Street Fighter wiki)

All he needs is the chest scar. Even the Swiss Superman himself made the connection:

Making an eyepatch look iconic #MainEvent #sagat #tigeruppercut #villain @WWENetwork  pic.twitter.com/zVFZVW09Zf
— Cesaro (@WWECesaro) July 2, 2014

Canadians will break your nose, then apologize and paint your house to make up for it

(via Questionable Content)

WWE wrestling Emma arrested yesterday for sixth-degree larceny

The police also booked her for having a concealed weapon without a permit when they discovered her pink snake hand puppet during their frisk.

Via The Courant:

HARTFORD — A female WWE wrestler was arrested on a shoplifting charge Monday, police said.

Tenille Dashwood of Winter Park, Fla. was charged with sixth-degree larceny after she stole an item from Wal-Mart, police said. The alleged theft was reported to police about I p.m.

Dashwood, whose ring name is "Emma," appeared in community court Tuesday. She was told to do community service, according to her lawyer, Hubert Santos.
Santos said outside the courtroom that his client's arrest stemmed from a mistake. She was using the self-checkout machine at the Hartford Walmart when she bought about $30 of items but forgot to pay for an iPod or iPad case, Santos said.

According to the police, it was an iHome Slim Swivel iPad mini case valued $21.14. Well goddamn, ready the gaol! Not to worry, I doubt that she'll be released. I mean, most of the roster has been arrested at some point, usually for DUI or in the case of RVD and Jack Swagger, possession of weed. I don't think they'll punish her because what's the worst they can do to her? She's already paired off with Santino Marella in a godawful one-sided romance angle. Not even Triple H could bury her any deeper.

But on a more serious note: arresting somebody for not paying for a $21 item? Yeah, I get that it was theft regardless of whether Emma intended to pay for it or not, but going to all of that trouble to arrest, book, and arraign somebody for something that cost that little? I'd have just told her what was up, then had her go back to the Wal-Mart and pay for it. Arresting her and everything was just a waste of time and resources better spent going after real crimes.

Stephanie McMahon is the whitest mom walking the face of this planet

(via WWE.com)

I like Triple H is not even looking at his wife. He's just like "yes, this banner of the cover of WWE 2k15 is nice, I shall look at it for a while."

Dean and Dolph are the only good ones

(via What if other Superstars rocked face paint?: photos | WWE.com)

So how did my WWE Money in the Bank match predictions fair?

Pretty good, actually. The only one I got wrong was the match between The Usos and the Wyatts. I predicted that the latter would win, but they didn't. That should have been foreboding of how the main event was going to go. Paige won her match, as did Goldust and Stardust. Rusev was victorious over Big E, who I think is turning into a Baptist preacher or possibly channeling MLK. I didn't predict a winner for the Summer Rae - Layla match, but the latter won. Fandango wore a bedazzled referee shirt with his logo on the back. There was a match between Adam Rose and Damien Sandow that I didn't know about and was just filler. Speaking of Paige's match against Naomi, I did finally learn what a Stump Puller was in pro wrestling:

(via monkeychusetts)

Then there's the two ladder matches. I couldn't decide on a winner for the briefcase match, so I left that prediction blank. Seth Rollins surprisingly won that one, thanks to interference from Kane. Bad News Barrett wasn't in the match because of his shoulder injury. Dean "hurt" or for real hurt his shoulder and left for a few moments before returning and almost winning. Kofi proceeded to try and murder Seth after that. Apparently, Seth died three times during that match and rose from the dead each time. We're all absolved of our sins now, I guess. :3

Second ladder match I predicted John Cena would win and I was right. That was a no-brainer, as I pointed out that Cena will only be carrying the belt until he drops it to either a returning Daniel Bryan or, if the rumors are true, to Brock Lesnar at Battleground next month or at SummerSlam in August. In that case, it makes more sense to use Cena as a transitional champion than say Cesaro, Roman Reigns, or Bray Wyatt who are all future world champions. Can't tell the marks and the dimwits who absolutely lost their shit over Cena winning last night with their usual proclamations of no longer watching WWE programming or whatever the crybabies say when they can't see the forest for the trees, but that's for another post.

My predictions for WWE's Money in the Bank

(via Cageside Seats)

The Usos (champs) vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of the Wyatt Family for the Tag Team Championship: This all started during Bray Wyatt's feud with John Cena when The Usos, for whatever reason, started involving themselves by acting as Cena's backup. Harper and Rowan have several non-title victories over the tag champs, so naturally they're going to get a shot at the belts.

Prediction: Harper and Rowan. I think the WWE is keen on at least part of the Wyatt Family walking out of MITB with gold (or in this case, copper. The front plates of the belts look like pennies!). Don't count The Usos out though; they've had a nice long run with the titles and will undoubtedly have more reigns in the future.

Paige (champ) vs. Naomi for the Divas Championship: Apparently all it takes to become number one contender is beating the champ in one match. This really just shows the unfortunate weakness in the Divas Division for which creative and the bookers are to blame. The division needs more competitiveness!

Prediction: Paige will continue her reign. She's the new hotness in the division and she'll probably hold the title for a while long. Who knows, maybe they're waiting until AJ Lee comes back so they set up a match between the two. As for Naomi, I know she is a future Divas champ. I also believe that The Funkadactyls will split after this, if not the same night. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Naomi loses because Cameron interferes in the match and turns heel.

Goldust and Stardust vs. Rybaxel. Stardust is the single greatest thing I have ever seen and I will fight anybody who says otherwise. Rybaxel is enjoyable to watch.

Prediction: Read above. Goldy and Stardust win. Congress launches an investigation into what the hell Dusty Rhodes did to make his sons the way they are now.

Summer Rae vs. Layla with Fandango (Faaaaaaaandaaaaaaaaangoooooo) as the special guest referee: Rae used to be Fandango's dancing partner/valet until he dumped her over Twitter and replaced her with Layla. This started a feud between the two after the former returned from filming the next Marine sequel. Honestly, this is a boring as hell feud. I feel sorry for Fandango, I really do. The guy's got the looks, talent, and mic skills to be a top performer and he's just above Santino Marella on the ladder.

Prediction: Nobody wins. We all lose. Why is Fandango punished like this?

Rusev (with Lana) vs. Big E: Rusev is a monster heel with an anti-American and pro-Russian gimmick. Obviously its a "ripped from the headlines" move with a helping of Ivan Drago and Ludmilla from Rocky IV. Literally, the only way Rusev and Lana could draw more heat is if he formed a tag team with the corpse of Osama bin Laden. The weird/facepalmy thing though is that WWE's bookers keep putting him in squash matches against African-American wrestlers. He's wrestled against like two white guys since his debut, Zack Ryder and Heath Slater. Big E is I guess representing Apollo Creed in this match and we all know how that went down in the movie.

Prediction: Rusev, but really, we're all winners whenever Lana does that slow turn of hers in those skirts she wears. Have mercy! Really, I'm hoping for two post-match possibilities:

1. R-Truth, Xavier Woods, and  Kofi Kingston come out, beat up Rusev and form a new incarnation of The Nation of Domination with Big E.
2. Jack Swagger comes out to save Big E from a post-match beat down by Rusev. The fact that the All-American American whose current gimmick is that he's a patriot hasn't had a confrontation against the anti-American Rusev is a gross oversight. The only thing I can figure is that WWE is afraid of making him and Zeb Colter into faces while they're still running with xenophobic gimmick.

Money in the Bank Ladder match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: John Cena vs. Sheamus vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton vs. Cesaro vs. Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Roman Reigns: Writing those names took a while. Basically, Daniel Bryan was stripped of the championship because he had to have legit neck surgery and couldn't compete. So instead of a briefcase, both belts will be hanging above the ring.

Prediction: Probably John Cena. WWE needs to put the belts on somebody safe until either Bryan comes back or Brock Lesnar wins them, whichever comes first. Because of that, they're not going to give their rising stars like Bray, Roman, and Cesaro the belts for what might be a short run. Orton would be my second choice, followed by Kane, since they're both multi-time champs and both have beef with Bryan. Sheamus would be my fourth choice because he's already U.S. Champion and god knows if him winning would trigger Goldberg chants.

Of the new guys, I'd pick Cesaro since if he has to drop the title to Lesnar, it would be both an excellent match and it wouldn't wreck his momentum. If he drops it to Bryan, then it'll be a five star match for sure. Plus, Cesaro is already 33, so now is about the time he should be starting a world title reign.

Money in the Bank Ladder match for the briefcase: Bad News Barrett vs. Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Rob Van Dam: Goddamn, my fingers are cramping. Anyway, the briefcase contains a contract guaranteeing the winner a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship any time until the next MITB. Winners have waited months to cash theirs in, some have done it the night after. Kane cashed his in the same time he won it. Dean Ambrose got into this match because he threatened to interfere and steal the briefcase otherwise. There's some question as to whether or not Bad News Barrett is even going to be in this match. Apparently he injured his shoulder (separated it, I think) during a match last Tuesday. If he is out, then I wonder who will replace him? Man, imagine if it was Brock Lesnar and he won.

Prediction: I have no clue, really. I know RVD, Swaggie, and Kofi aren't winning it. BNB would be my pick, but if he's really out, then maybe Ziggler? I can't really see Rollins or Ambrose winning it, but that's up in the air.

That Josie and the Pussycats Cartoon Network Groovy

Since Kal posted a bunch of pictures of musical trio on Cave of Coolness, I figured I'd post the short Cartoon Network aired of them back in 2001, as part of their Groovies series. The short features Josie and the Pussycats singing the cartoon's theme song through different genres: disco, punk, country-western, heavy metal, and finally, techno.



My favorite is the punk version, followed very closely by the metal version.

Oh my god, they fired Evan Bourne! You bastards!

Okay, maybe I'm not that upset over WWE firing Evan Bourne along with several other wrestlers today, but dang, he was awesome. My feels are blunted by the fact that he hadn't been on TV since like Batista quit four years ago. He was suspended for violating the company's wellness policy for a second time (literally two weeks after coming off suspension for his first violation), then fucked up his foot in a car accident. After that, he never returned to TV. Others who were fired include:

Brodus Clay: Somebody call...Ernest 'The Cat' Miller and tell him he can have his gimmick back, but he'll have to fight Naomi for the entrance music.
Aksana: I firmly believe that with the proper training, Aksana could have been a power wrestler. She certainly had the physical build for it. I think her termination had to do with her breaking Naomi's eye socket during a match. It was an accident, but WWE probably didn't want someone around who could do that kind of damage by accident.
JTG: Oh hey, he was still employed!
Curt Hawkins: See above.
Yoshi Tatsu: Damn it.
Teddy Long: No wait-a-minute playah...
Camacho: Since Hunico is now Sin Cara, I guess they decided that his tag partner was expendable.
Drew McIntyre: Shame, because he had the talent and looks to be a big deal.
Jinder Mahal: They hindered Jinder.
and a ref named Marc Harris

So probably the biggest effect of these firings is the apparent dissolution of 3MB, the stable McIntyre and Mahal were part of with Heath Slater. Of course, the latter could just get new peeps.

Derp derp

Hey, I just met you and this is crazy
But here’s a Robin costume
Be my sidekick, maybe?

Man of Steel 2: Electric Boogaloo is probably going to be a clusterfuck of a disaster, but at least the new batsuit looks cool

(via ComicsAlliance)

It's nice to see designers moving away from that armored batsuit shit that we've had since 1989. Who knows, maybe Affleck will be able to do something none of his predecessors have been able to do since Adam West and actually turn his head. It's been pointed out that the new suit looks similar to the one Batman wore in The Dark Knight Returns and I see it, but I'm hoping that the suit evolves into something like what he wore back during the Silver and Bronze Ages. To me, it looks like the suit in the picture isn't the finished product because the bat symbol is the same color as the rest of the suit and I'd imagine that you would want that to be more visible for the audience. I'm also hoping that those lines I see on the torso, legs and upper arms are just rough edges from the molding process that will be removed, but I get the feeling that those are designs meant to add detail.

I am not a smart man

My dad couldn't get the webcam on his laptop to work for the past few days. His computer runs on Windows 8 and the camera app kept saying that it needed permission to run (it clearly had it before) and that permission could be given in the apps setting.

I had no clue what that meant and I spent about an hour or so searching the computer and the internet for the permissions setting. All the official help pages and forums did nothing, but I eventually found a video on YouTube from Acer with the exact solution I needed. It turns out that when you go into one of Win8's apps, the sidebar (which Microsoft calls "The Charm" and I don't) has different settings than what it normally does. I have no idea how the setting had gotten turned off, but it did.

It's always the minor things that trip you up.

Just a heads up: imported posts

I just imported about eight posts from another blog that I just deleted, so if you see any that mentions "The Low Culture", then you know what it is.

NBC's Constantine looks hot

For those who don't know, Constantine is based on the very popular DC/Vertigo Comics series Hellblazer, which originally ran from 1988 until 2013. The comic starred John Constantine, who was a magic user and detective who handled occult related incidents. Fun fact: Constantine's physical appearance in the comics is based on that of Sting and apparently he was originally created by Alan Moore because Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben wanted to draw Sting in an comic.

I have to wonder, though, if Constantine will even survive a season. It seems a bit outside of what NBC or any of the networks normally do, but then again, so is Hannibal, Sleepy Hollow, and Once Upon A Time. Who knows, maybe broadcast networks are finally expanding their horizons beyond what their comfort zone in response to Netflix and internet-based entertainment.

Bravo for actually casting a Brit to play Constantine, unlike a certain movie that shall go unnamed.

Black Cat-urday #2, Cosplay Edition

(via Alyssa Ravenwood)

(via Oki-Cospi)

(via ToxicHime)

Thoughts on TV show cancellations and renewals

And yes, I am stealing a post idea from SamuraiFrog. :P

Honestly, I'm not too terribly affected by cancellations and renewals because I've only recently gotten into watching TV more than like twice a week. But I guess I'm lucky in that the shows I watch have all been renewed.

Cancellations: Can anybody on this planet, let alone geekdom be surprised that Fox killed Almost Human? The better question is why do people keep shopping their scifi shows to them anymore? I actually liked Almost Human, but didn't watch because it came on at the same time as Monday Night Raw, and I kept forgetting to catch up on Fox's website.

I'm actually glad to see Revolution go. I really liked the premise of a post-apocalyptic world where electricity has stopped working. What I didn't like was the second season where Aaron gained superpowers because of the nanites that caused the world to go dark. It just got weird after that. Then there's the fact that despite the main characters hating his very existence, none of them would kill Monroe, even though the guy had committed crimes against humanity and was responsible for the deaths of people close to the main characters.

Then there's Community, which I personally think was just too different for broadcast television. Still, I think fans should take pride in the fact that the show lasted way longer than anything probably thought it would.

What I would really like to know, however, is how Two and a Half Men isn't on the cancellation list? I mean, is CBS just trolling us by renewing it every year? It doesn't even have the "Half" part anymore because the kid left. It's more like Two Guys, a Girl, and No Pizza Place.

Renewals: Yay, S.H.I.E.L.D. is getting a second season! I kind of expected it would since Disney owns both Marvel and ABC. The show started out slow, but has really picked up steam lately, especially after The Winter Soldier came out. Also yay for Supernatural and Arrow getting renewed.

Hannibal getting renewed pleases and surprises me. The show itself is a constant surprise as it is so completely different from anything else on television. I mean, a show on a broadcast network where one of the main characters is a serial killer and cannibal? And the goriness? Holy shit, that alone I figured would have gotten it axed quickly. I guess people just want something different and they found it in Hannibal.

New shows: I'm really looking forward to Flash, Gotham, and that Peggy Carter show that ABC has greenlit. Looks like comic book-themed TV shows didn't die with Heroes.