Thus revealed, the creature buried its nose in the tire-tilled soil...
April 25, 2012
Two shows I really like and why

If you're one of the three subscribers to Scary-Crayon's tumblr, you've seen this already -- but I thought I'd post these thoughts here as well since they're also kinda in line with a personal blog entry (in that they're thoughts about things that I like). A cartoonist I know asked about shows people enjoy and why, and encouraged people to explain their reasons in detailed fashion. In response, I wrote about "Doctor Who" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and why I like them so bloody much!

Why I like "Doctor Who":

The show's brilliant premise (it's about a dude who travels in a craft that can go anywhere in space and time) gives it basically unlimited potential and versatility. It's also fascinating how the show's various eras tend to reflect the times in which they were made, though sadly it's currently in the "derivative scifi action show" phase that I'm not especially enjoying. Still, I keep watching because I'm very invested in the universe, and because the premise means that standout episodes or a complete 180 in terms of the show's quality is entirely possible.

(And I didn't mention it in the SC tumblr, but also because Daleks are awesome and those companions are mostly right foxy and THE CLASSIC TV DOCTORS RULE. Except Six. He was pretty terrible.)

Why I like "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles":

Terminator 1 and T2 are films I enjoy very much (I didn't see I as a kid, but loved T2 -- and my old Kenner Arnold fig was one of my favorite childhood playthings), but T3 and Salvation (which admittedly came out while TSCC was already running, but still) were comparatively weak and didn't do much for me. So I love that TSCC essentially acknowledged where the story went wrong -- and that Sarah Connor was one of the most, if not THE most, compelling characters in the franchise -- and revisited the story before it started sucking. (I also love how they did it: they had the characters literally time-jump over the events of the third film.) It's a very good show, too, and ponders many of the tangential questions one might have asked and ideas one might have had while viewing the films or thinking about the premise in general. Among other things, terminators are shown to have (slightly) different personalities and missions beyond simple assassinations; the show suggests that characters can travel back from different future timelines; and even, owing to the terminators' role as thinking machines with the ability to solve problems and make decisions, the suggestion that some terminators might voluntarily choose to side with humanity, or at least to oppose Skynet. Even terminators who remain committed to Skynet are shown to oppose it at times, if doing so will increase their chances of completing their mission. It's very interesting.

And it doesn't hurt that Lena Headey is gorgeous.

-posted by Wes | 5:05 am | Comments (4)
April 15, 2012
Joe Eszterhas is ridiculous.
Category: Current Events … Linkage

So I raaaarely comment on stuff like this (and I'm totally late on this in terms of blogosphere Hollywood gossip), but after having the tab open for days I've finally finished reading Joe Eszterhas's nine-page letter to Mel Gibson.

IT IS INSANE. And also kinda full of shit. I mean, Mel probably did do a lot of that stuff -- while he denies the truth of "the great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to [him]" in his response to Eszterhas, those actions would be in keeping with Mel's personality as demonstrated in the past. But it just seems like bullshit that Eszterhas wrote this as a private communication to Mel with no intention of having it read by outside sources. (more...)

-posted by Wes | 6:44 pm | Comments (3)
April 14, 2012
Just add fava beans and liver
Category: Photo

Carlo Rossi Chianti, 4L jug

Wes, party of one? XD

-posted by Wes | 8:04 pm | Comments (1)
March 27, 2012
*Perpetually* Crushing: Lena Headey (I)

Numbered the first, because I have enough Lena Headey screencaps to post them daily for at least a year! But even that would not be long enough, because I love Lena forever and a day. <3

(These images of The Lovely Lena Headey come from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Seasons 1 & 2.)

-posted by Wes | 4:44 am | Comments (3)
February 21, 2012
People like dogs better than Rihanna.
Category: Current Events … Linkage … Miscellany

It's recently occurred to me that, while I often feel like I'm not doing enough writing, I actually do quite a lot of it! I spend a lot of time browsing and posting at length on various forums, and I frequently leave not insubstantial comments on web articles and blog posts that I read... to say nothing of all of the stuff that I throw out on Facebook and the like. Having realized this, I'm going to stop posting to these places so much and instead post what I would have written here and on Scary-Crayon -- which will hopefully let me keep better track of my writing while adding to the content on my own sites.

To that end, I'm going to kick off by reposting some of the stuff I added to a Facebook discussion last week, since I thought it was pretty hilarious. (more...)

-posted by Wes | 5:35 am | Comments (0)