Day Of The Triffids Vs. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Holy crap did I do a whole lotta NOTHING the last handful of days, so forgive me if this one is nothing short of

RANDOM CRAP!

- I finally, FINALLY, got through David Tennant’s last Doctor Who episode EVER, “The End Of Time” (***** out of 5 Stars). Exceptional, that’s about all I can say. I wasn’t completely sure after the first part. Not saying the first part was bad, it was just a tad uneven and a bit all over the place, but ‘hey’, Rachel Nichols shout out, it’s Doctor Who so I know what I’m getting into. Part two redeemed anything and everything I didn’t care about for the duration of the Russell T. Davies “Nu Who”. Just brilliant, poignant, and if I might be so bold as to say I got teary eyed. Yep, that’s right it was emotional. And just when Davies brought it all to a close, we got the NEW Doctor regenerating, the show taking a very different tonal feeling, and the Moffett era as show runner has begun, “GERONIMO!”
- We spend New Year’s Eve with M&C as is customary, and as always it was a hoot! I got to see Christina get smashed, and Cassandra get chatty drunk. Mary and I both had a series of good laughs at their combined expense. I also have to point out the food. OH THE FOOD! We made deconstructed buffalo chicken sandwiches (Thank you Iron Chef Bobby Flay), sliders, and a marinara mozzarella dipping sauce for crusty bread. I knew our stuff was good, but as always I underestimated the culinary might of our esteemed hostesses. The krab, yep crab with a ‘K’, dip was masterful, as were the shrimp puffs, the dips, and I thoroughly enjoyed the pasta as well. I do so enjoy the fact that we have a tradition, and I couldn’t imagine spending the eve of a new year with anyone else.
- I’m doing up some baked chicken tonight, and along with some peas, & mashed potatoes I’m hoping it’ll be rib sticking good. Especially with it just being brutal outside. YIKES!
- Banana Bread, I can’t wait to devour you…
- I never thought I’d ever utter this let alone write it, but I rooted for the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I did. They gave the Vikings the 2nd seed in the playoffs. NOW I need those same said Cowboys to get their overpaid, smack talking asses handed to them by the Eagles this coming weekend. I HATE THE COWBOYS!
- Dates where assigned in February (2/6/10) I believe for “WHEN REPTILES ATTACK!” Movie-A-Thon & for March’s (3/6/10) return of BUZZ! Trivia Challenge. I’m hoping that we have a good turn out for both. Oh and Christina, shine that Trivia belt real nice, because it’s 2010 and I aim on FINALLY bringing it to rest on my mantle.
- I have WAVES OF MERCURY in hand, sans artwork, and am going to give it some time to marinate before I give it a rating, but c’mon it’s Dave, I know it’s TITS!
- While on the subject of M-E-T-A-L I started DVRing “That Metal Show” on VH1. It’s highly entertaining.
- I finally finished Brian Lumely’s The Burrowers Beneath (***** out of 5 Stars) and began The Transition Of Titus Crow this weekend. I must say it’s an interesting take on the Cthulhu Mythos. The main two characters Titus Crow and his faithful friend Henri-Laurent de Marigny are sort of a Holmes and Watson duo with a little bit of Doctor Who thrown in. I read that Lumely’s had said that the main difference between his Mythos protagonists and those of Lovecraft where that his don’t “run”. Well that’s for certain. I’m enjoying it so far, and my only real criticism is that Lumely really likes to tell you something worthy of a couple of paragraphs in a few pages, dude is wordy. That’s fine though because he’s got my attention and I’m enjoying the ride.
- Speaking of Lovecraft, I found an interesting 3.5 adventure for D&D involving the ubiquitous King In Yellow! I’m thinking of running it for Halloween this year seeing as it appears as if I’ll NEVER get to run anything remotely tied to Castle Ravenloft. On a side D&D note, I tried painting this weekend, and I’ve been having an inordinate amount of issues with my right arm. I lose all feeling in it from elbow to fingertips. Now I’ve had this issue since my arm was surgically reconstructed, yes I am a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster, but it’s gotten progressively worse over the years. I’m incredibly frustrated by it. Maybe one day the Stars Will Be Right and things will ‘improve’. Anywho, I’m hoping to lay the ground work for this as well as looking forward to a Paragon tier trip into the Underdark where I think the PC’s will learn that those Drow they ran rough shot over in the bowels of Moradin’s Monestary were A) in bad shape & B) in no way shape or form indicative of the danger Drow present.
- It’s Pink Slip day in the NFL as a TON of coaches get the ax. Smell that? That’s hope, hope for next season on the wind.
- As I had a bit of down time during some sleepless hours I must point out a couple of comics I read that got my attention.
o Realm Of Kings: Inhumans – This runs concurrently to the last story in Mighty Avengers which saw Quicksilver make a bid for respectability all based on a lie. A lie that only his daughter, the only person he really even cares about, can see through. It also deals with the dynamic of both Medusa, now queen and leader of the Inhumans, & Hank Pym, now going by his ex-wife Janet’s codename “The Wasp”, dealing with the loss of both of their spouses during War of Kings & Secret Invasion. I also like the fact that Crystal and Ronan are not just a marriage of convenience, but have organically grown to care for one another. It’s a sign of both good writing, but also of natural character growth.
o Guardians of the Galaxy – I can’t remember the issue number, but it was last month’s issue. BRILLIANT! DnA hit another cosmic ball out of the ballpark. Citing the other end of the Rift, the Lovecraftian Universe we’ve seen in other associated issues, as a universe where Life WON; A Cancerverse! My only real complaint is damn do you have to keep getting rid of characters I like? After losing Adam Strange, Mantis, Cosmo, Major Victory, Starhawk, & Gamorra, now Moondragon is housing a Cthulhu-esque entity in her womb & Drax is basically brain dead after being forced to deal with every life he’s taken. It’s good, but if I want overwhelmingly dark I’ll read the regular 616 Marvel Universe which is like a blight on my soul.
o Blackest Night #6 – Speaking of blights, WOW! The crap has officially hit the fan in this one. I can’t even begin to point out all the cool in this one. Barry & Hal literally “out run” their black rings, Mera Vs. Black Lantern Wonder Woman, Ganthet getting a Green Lantern ring, Sinestro emploring Hal to kill Black Lantern Superman, Mera’s beat down of Black Lantern Jean Lorring, Luthor as an Orange Lantern, Larfleez’s dialogue, etc. It goes on and on. Seriously, Johns is KILLIN’ this story. I have no idea where it’s going, or how it’s going to get there, but I can’t wait to find out.
- On a side NFL note; HAHAHAHAHAhahahaha Denver! Thanks for getting my Chiefs to four wins, as I predicted before the season. It always feels good to cost a division rival a playoff spot, especially when you do it in their home stadium. SUCK IT BRONCOS!
- I cut off my hair. Again.
- I was also able to watch the new BBC remake of Day Of The Triffids (********** out of 5 Stars) over the four day weekend, and only two words come to mind; exemplary & creepy! It’s weird to watch Dougray Scott in a film. See from what I remember he was supposed to be Wolverine in the X-Men films (Overall *** out of 5 Stars), but was injured during the filming of Mission Impossible: 2 (** ½ out of 5 Stars), and was forced to pull out. In his place relative unknown Hugh Jackman stepped in and the rest was history. I’ve often thought, “What the hell happened to Dougray Scott?” Now I know, he’s appearing in SUPERB fashion in this BBC remake. The two-part film does a wonderful job of using just enough CGI, and has the right balance of Triffids on camera as opposed to off screen dread. Overall it has the pace, and feel of a VERY good zombie movie. The cast is top notch, and I must point out how much I enjoyed Brian Cox, Jason Priestly (who I hardly recognized), & Eddie Izzard who was marvelous. Suffice to say I was blown away by the entire production. The BBC gets it right again and again! Seek it out, it’s more than worth 3 hours of your time.
- I thought about doing another Year In Review as I’ve done in the past, but for the life of me I can’t think of what to write about. Oh and the fact that anyone who reads this already knows what the year was like….

Well, I’m off to get things done…

“Hopefully we can shut up some of the naysayers…”