The Lady of Wonder Returns...

When talking about DC comics, the two characters that get the most publicity and attention are, of course, Superman and Batman, in that order. There is a third flagship character in the DC universe, who came in and broke up the DC boy's club. I'm talking about Wonder Woman. For the past 70 years, Wonder Woman's been kicking butt and taking names right alongside Bats and the Boyscout and looking good doing it. Yet, for all her fame and huge fanbase, Wonder Woman has been somewhat ignored outside of comics.

Recently, she was brought to media attention when DC decided to modernize her look a bit and step away from Wonder Woman's trademark bustier and star spangled underwear. DC got a huge amount of heat for that, but personally I like the new look. Didn't like the changes to her storyline, but the new look is good.

Last week, the Lady of Wonder made it back into the limelight as the creator of Boston Legal, David E. Kelley, finally got a network to bite on his pilot script for a re-launch of a Wonder Woman television show. At first, the pilot was passed on, but with Kelley's new series Harry's Law giving NBC one of their best audiences for a Monday in a year, they decided to give Wonder Woman a shot.

Today, it's rumored that "Terminator:Salvation" director McG is going to be helming the pilot. While not doing well on the big screen, McG has developed a strong presence on the small screen, serving as executive producer on "Human Target", "Supernatural", "Nikita" and "chuck". And while speculation is still running wild as to who will play the Lady of Wonder. I have my own personal list of favorites!! This list takes into account that in this version of the show, Wonder woman is a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. who is also a successful corporate executive (a.k.a Diana Prince).

 5) Shannon Doherty - Yes, I know she has a bad rep. But, she has a long career in television and I believe she has the capacity to play both sides of the role.

4) Serinda Swan - She is a relative new comer to the television, but she has built up a huge fan base with her portrayal of Zatanna on Smallville. So she's already in the DC universe, and it's possible that her fans will come with her if she is "promoted" to Wonder Woman status.

 3) Valerie Cruz - She has a proven track record in television being on shows like Nip/Tuck, The Dresden Files, Dexter, and True Blood. Yes, she is currently starring in Off The Map, but she would be MUCH better suited as Wonder Woman.

2) Charisma Carpenter - Again, long career in television, and with her appearances on shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, she has proven herself no stranger to action based shows.

1) Sienna Guillory - I have to admit, I did not consider her in my initial list of actresses for the role. But in arguing my list with some of my friends, her name came up and she quickly became my favorite. Here is a clip of her in Resident Evil: Apocalypse to show you why:




Odds are none of these women will get the part, but wouldn't it be AWESOME if they did?? Who would you cast as Wonder Woman?

They Shouldn't Have Gone After Our Women...

The impossible has happened. Yes, dear readers, the IMPOSSIBLE has happened!!! There is a release date for Duke Nukem Forever!!! This is the ONE FPS even I would buy just because of the Duke!! According to this article on GameInformer's site, the game we've all been waiting over a decade for, will be released in the US on May 3rd, 2011. The rest of the world jumps in on May 6th! To tide you over, here's a trailer for the new game!!

Television Romance...

I don't know about you, dear readers, but I am getting really sick and tired of the "will they/won't they get together" romance aspect that is seemingly so prevalent in tv shows these days. Mind you, I don't watch relationship drama shows like Gilmore Girls or Desperate Housewives. Shows like that make me ask the simple question: Why should I give a rat's ass about which girl is crushing on what guy? How is this in ANY way interesting? No, I go for a different type of show. My shows tend to be somewhat action heavy, and overly scientific. Shows like House M.D., Lie To Me, CSI, Numb3rs, The Forgotten, Fringe, Castle, Nikita, Supernatural, and V. These are the types of shows I watch and this hyper focus on romance is STILL pissing me off!!!

The biggest offender currently is Bones. I loved watching this show until the beginning of this season. Season 6 of Bones has not very slowly devolved into nothing short of a soap opera. The already limited forensics, and the solving of crimes (the actual point of the show, and the reason the team got back together at the beginning of season 6) has taken more of a back seat to the question of whether or not Dr. Brennan ("Bones") will get romantically involved with her FBI agent partner, Seeley Booth. And after 5 years of dealing with this issue, I'm frankly tired of it. I lived through this with Moonlighting, when Maddie and Dave held off for so long the sexual tension had taken over the main storyline of the show. Once that tension was resolved, the show collapsed and was cancelled.

I also lived through this with the X-Files where despite the explicit statements of the producers of the show negating the possibility, the fans kept clamoring for Mulder & Scully to get involved. Then it started to creep into the story lines with a slew of near misses. Thankfully, David Duchovny (Mulder) left the show before the story went the way of Moonlighting. In the last two seasons, they actually did get together but by then the storyline had been so mangled any romantic complications couldn't possibly make the show any worse.

In the case of Bones, I want the producers/writers to pick a side and stick to it. If Bones and Booth are going to get together, it's been six years, put them together and go with that! If not, then stop with the hinting and go with that. This on the fence crap is destroying everything that makes this show watchable for me. There haven't been any good villains on the show since the Gormagon. They haven't further explored anything further about Brennan's family. I mean they haven't even had any really interesting murders on the show this season!!!

 
Before you start burning effigies of me, dear readers, I do have an example of "will they/won't they get together" done right! And that is a show I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Castle. The producers of this show know how to handle the interpersonal relationships between their two main characters, Det. Kate Beckett & Richard Castle, very well. The show has given no doubt at all that the two were going to get together. And the reason the two of them are not together by this mid-point of season 3? Actual psychological issues! Beckett not trusting the maturity of Castle. Castle having to get to know Beckett. Actual miscommunication, believable bad timing, serious errors in judgment (Like Castle looking into the murder of Beckett's mom without her permission!) And they still manage to throw in interesting murder mysteries to boot!

Producers of Bones, take a lesson from Castle and PICK A SIDE!! If this gets any worse, you will lose this viewer. I've dropped shows before, I can, and will, do it again.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Well, I've completed my sojourn into the depths of the madhouse that is Arkham Asylum. Having finished the story line, I can see why that game is so popular. And I plan to go through and finish getting all the Riddler challenges and earning a couple more trophies. Now, the question is what game do I go to next? When plagued with unexplainable feelings of doubt and dread, who do I turn to? Who ya gonna call??

Ghost Busters!!!

Yes, I purchased this game awhile ago, and even started playing it before I found out that my trophies were all on another user's account and I couldn't transfer them. Then I got into Castlevania and Batman, but now I'm back. Ghostbusters is next on the list of games to play. From the little that I played before, it's fun. The dialogue is hilarious, and as always, I love the music. I can't wait to see what the storyline has to offer.

"Ray, when someone asks you if you're a God, you say YES!!!" 

Doomed to Repeat It...

A couple of days ago, I started emailing a friend of mine with whom I had lost touch. Over the course of these emails, I poured out all the issues and frustrations that have been building in my head recently. Earlier today, he logs in to his instant messenger account and we start chatting away. After spending a few minutes talking about the emails, he tells me that I'm in a much better position than my initial emails let on. This stopped me in my tracks. And I looked back at the last six years of my life.

In Jan 2004, I was forced to move back in with my mother due to not being able to find a job to keep me in the Newark/NYC area. The rearguard action I was fighting after the 2001 "Dot-Bomb" disaster was finally declared a failure. Four months later, I was working at Best Buy barely eking out an existence. Making just enough money to pay for the taxi cabs that enabled me to get to and from work. I was angry, depressed, frustrated, and hopeless. Living with my mother didn't help my mental situation either. But remembering where I was then and looking at where I am now, I can safely say that I have made considerable progress.

I have a job in my chosen industry making at least double what Best Buy was paying me at the time. I am living in my own apartment, and sustaining myself.(I'm even cooking my own food!) I have my own car. More importantly, I've gotten a better perspective on my life. I'm still depressed & frustrated, but I am no longer angry or hopeless. I have come to terms with the errors of my past, and have come to recognize the patterns of behavior that lead to me repeating those errors. I am no longer on a pattern of self destruction. More importantly, I have learned what I want and what makes me happy.

My improvements were such that I was even able to maintain a short term, somewhat romantic relationship with a girl. While it was short lived, the fact that it happened at all is a major step forward! Now, I can't say my life is all sweetness and light, or that I've transformed into an upbeat, happy-go-lucky guy. But, for the first time in over a decade, I can look back on my life and see that I'm better now than I was then. The philosopher George Santayana stated, "Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It looks like my memory is getting better. I'm still not happy by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm getting there. My life, such as it is, remains simply a

And While Jon Has The Floor...

I've been trying to come up with a post about the shooting in Arizona, but I couldn't quite get a handle on it. And then, I was watching the news and suddenly an angle appeared to me. Just when I was about to write it out, Jon Stewart beat me to it...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Veiled Criticism
www.thedailyshow.com

More on the iPhone coming to Verizon...

Yesterday, I put up this blog post about Verizon's announcement that they will be carrying the Apple iPhone in February. The basic gist of which is that while it's a cool idea, my life has not really been changed by the announcement. There are other viewpoints out there, and in the interests of fairness I am compelled to post this video as a counterpoint to my earlier comments. It was... a moral imperative.

And now for the rebuttal, I give you... Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Verizon iPhone Announcement
www.thedailyshow.com