Angels & Demons Vs. Gladiator

* = Family's what are they good for? No, seriously, I want to know...


I figured another blog today wouldn’t really hurt anyone, ok well maybe it’ll hurt you to read it, but then again so few of you do so I’ll take my chances. Last night I talked to most of my family. I try to ‘make the rounds’ about once every month and a half or so. That way I’m showing them that I’m interested, but I’m not badgering them. Not to mention if I didn’t call, then we’d most likely never talk. My brother and I had our normal bizarre stream of consciousness thing. My grandma talked about the weather, and then went into the inevitable subject of my dad. I love my grandma, she’s like another mother to me, but I’m not really in a spot emotionally where I want to talk about my father. It’s just still a bit raw for me. Then I talked to my sister. It’s always an adventure to talk to someone whose belief is that they are rarely wrong. Suffice to say it got contentious, as it’s wont to do. We mainly argued about the fact that I’m not emotionally beholden to family members that I don’t feel I have a relationship with. I get her point that they are family so they get a ‘free pass’, I just disagree with it. If you are an obnoxious asshat whenever we spend time together I don’t have to like you just because we are from the same shallow end of the gene pool. Will I help you whenever you need it? Of course. Will I attempt to be respectful for the sake of my mother? Of course. Will I go out of my way to see you, care about how you’re doing, or be invested in you in a way that makes you more of a person rather than an obscure childhood concept? Most likely not.

Sorry, but that’s just not who I am. I try to treat folks as individuals based on their merits and our relationships, not based upon social morays or some sort of outdated preconceived obligations. When that pisses off certain people I feel bad that they are angry with me, but I’m not going to change over it. The days of my siblings or even my mother having that much sway over my ‘world view’ are long gone. I respect their opinion, the fact that they’ll give it, & that they have one. In the end though, it’s just an opinion so I’ll treat it as such.

Overall it was a decent night of conversing though. I got to hear about my sister's desire to ‘nail’ Robert Kirkman, Earthquakes in Kansas, how my nephew thinks all guns are shotguns, midgets, my sister's on-going war with ALL of her neighbors, how Cassandra & I are spending Christmas in Kansas (!?), Sean & Uncle Beer’s ‘Sausage Fest’, how my divorce wasn’t a ‘real divorce', how if Ant wants to move to Kansas my sister would ‘tap that’, A.T. & Sean’s Iron Chef competition, & more of Sarah’s thoughts on Dave’s podcast. By the by Dave I’d like to point out that you neglected to tell me that you named my sister when you told your fellow podcast members what she thought of your show. In addition you wonder why I don’t like your pal all that much, it might be when he makes some of the responses he did to her assessment. I don’t have a say in anything anyone else does and certainly not what my sister listens to. I would really appreciate it though if you just leave all ‘Ben & Ben’s family chat’ off the podcast, thanks. On an endnote to that she said that she hasn’t been listening as much, especially after they did the episode without you. In fact she’s curious as to why you aren’t just doing your own podcast without those guys. Thus her ‘love affair’ with you via your podcast continues.

Got off track there, sorry. What I’m getting at is it was decent to talk to my family, but it also reminds me why I don’t spend a lot of time around them. At least with your friends you can choose them, and if it doesn’t work out you can end it. With family you’re stuck. STUCK!

Anywho enough of that crap. I was thinking last night while I was waiting for the Advil PM to kick in that I haven’t done a ‘Casting Couch’ lately so without further ado;

THE DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES FILMS
So this would be three to four movies, and I’m not going to go into the minutia of characters, instead it’s just who I think would fit well into the main roles. As always I invite anyone to come up with his or her own lists. As for the books, yes I know they aren’t the high point of literature, they’re ‘Tolkien Lite’. The fact is I enjoy them, and they got me back into the fantasy end of reading, so for that they will always hold a special place in my heart. Without further ado;

Laurana Kanan - Kristen Bell
Verminaard, Dragon Highlord - Sven Ole Thorsen
Tanis Half-Elven - Sean Bean
Caramon Majere - Jason Momoa
Raistlin Majere - Ralph Fiennes
Goldmoon - Keira Knightley
Fizban - Christopher Lee
Flint Fireforge - Brian Blessed
Takhisis - Elizabeth Hurley
Lord Soth - Voice Of Clancy Brown
Kitiara Uth Matar - Katie Aselton
Riverwind - David Midthunder
Sturm Brightblade - Michael Biehn
Tasslehoff Burrfoot - Jim Parsons
Tika Waylan - Christina Hendricks
Gilthanas Kanan - Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Porthios Kanan - Taylor Kitsch
The Dragon Ember - Voice Of Crispin Glover
The Dragon Cyan Bloodbane - Voice Of Ron Pearlman
Alhana Starbreeze - Olivia Wilde
Duulket Ariakas, The Dragon Emperor - Mads Mikkelsen
Feal-Thas, Dragon Highlord - Dolph Lundgren
The Dragon Sleet - Voice Of Phil Lamar
The Dragon Khisanth - Voice Of Gary Cole

As you can see it’s not as if it’s a list done with ‘Big Names’. There are a few ‘named’ folks on it; otherwise it’s a group of actors that are at least somewhat affordable. This would basically be Lord of the Rings for those that like less running and more fighting. Not to mention there is a fair amount of romance, intrigue, betrayal, and nastiness. Again I think this would be a fantastic set of films. Therefore it will never happen. Thoughts, disagreements, your own cast choices; put ‘em in the comments.

How ‘bout some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- Believe it or not Caramon was the most difficult to figure out and I still don’t feel like that’s the best choice.
- Last night we dined on a plethora of sliders and it was glorious. I would have paid good money at a restaurant for that meal. It was delicious.
- I think tonight while I’m watching Hockey I’m going to be rocking out a solo adventure or three in Legend Of Drizzt.
- Hey Dave, wanna play some Smallworld soon? I want to use it to start constructing a fantasy setting. So we’d need another couple of players. By the by did you pick up the Smallworld Underground expansion yet?
- Hot Browns tonight with that left over grilled/smoked turkey. I can hardly wait.
- I need to sit down this week and watch the new Conan The Barbarian.
- Big Election Day today. The anti-labor law is up for referendum in Ohio & in the south there is a crazy anti-abortion law that looks like it’s going to pass. All this and ‘The Hermantor’ is all ‘bout the groping. I know politics is an ugly business full of lying used car salesmen looking out for their own best interests, but c’mon. The GOP doesn’t have a single candidate that I can even find tolerable as we get closer and closer to the Primary. Obama has been stuck from day one with an antagonistic party who has vowed to make him a one-term president. He hasn’t ‘changed Washington’, he hasn’t fulfilled a lot of his campaign promises, and overall he’s been a disappointment. Sure some of it’s the Bush Hangover, but c’mon man. You were elected as a transformative figure, the modern J.F.K., but it just hasn’t materialized. You’re losin’ me man. This is one of those cases where I wish we had the Jesse Ventura option, a vote of No Confidence. I have NO Confidence in our government, at the federal or state level. It’s like watching low level corporate functionaries bicker over table scraps being given to them by shadowy overlords like the Koch Brothers. It all makes me physically ill. Oh well there is always Canada.

And with that dissident comment, I’m out!

“Can you remember, remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
oh, and cold spirit of ice
All my life
I am the echo of your past

I am returning the echo of a point in time
Distant faces shine
A thousand warriors I have known
And laughing as the spirits appear
All your life
Shadows of another day

And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect Strangers

I know I must remain inside this silent
well of sorrow

A strand of silver hanging through the
sky
Touching more than you see
The voice of ages in your mind
Is aching with the dead of the night
Precious life (your tears are lost in
falling rain)

And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect Strangers”


* = Thank you Ron...