Why I like Firefly: Dialog

Reason 102:

Mal -
"Shouldn't you be off bringing religiosity to the fuzzy-wuzzies or some such?"

Shepherd Book -
"Oh, I got heathens aplenty right here."

Why I like Firefly: Dialog

Reason 101:

Simon -
"How do I know you won't kill me in my sleep?"

Mal -
"You don't know me son, so let me explain this to you once. If I ever kill you, you'll be awake, you'll be facing me, and you'll be armed."

A Break from the Norm

I'm oddly chipper this morning. I have no idea why. I am NOT a morning person.

The Tower

By way of the "Skyline Terrace" at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas, Tx.

A View From The Top

Here's a photo I took last week, from the observation deck of the Reunion tower.

The Big Expo

This past Monday through Thursday, I was downtown Dallas at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. You know, the one by the big lighted ball. JCPenney had a major Expo for all the 1,000+ store managers, and it was HUGE! There was also a concurrent meeting for the district managers, so needless to say, there were many people around. This event was a major undertaking, and many people were involved. I mainly had to walk a lot. From the room we were stationed in to the floor of the Expo, many footsteps were required to move between the two. Highlights include certain celebrities, some free swag, and models. Yes, fashion models. Young girls in skimpy clothing...

Speaking of celebrities, allow me to run through the list. I'll begin with Master Chef Martin Yan.
Mr. Yan has been cooking for decades. He has been on countless cooking shows, in countless countries, and has his show on PBS: Yan Can Cook, which has been on the air for nearly 20 years. His own shows/travelogues number over 2,000! He was promoting a new line of cookwear exclusive to JCPenney. And he was cooking. I was very surprised to meet him, and was even more surprised when I was able to eat some food prepared by him. Talk about dancing tastebuds! You can read all about him at his official website here: http://www.yancancook.com/

Next on the list were the fashion designers. First off is Michelle Bohbot, designer of Bisou-Bisou, which is distributed throughout the U.S.A. by JCPenney exclusively. Second is Nicole Miller, a very popular fashion designer, and Nick Graham, of Joe Boxer fame. They all were debuting their new collections to be sold at JCPenney. Also there was interior designer Chris Madden, an Oprah favorite. New to Penneys was Shaun Tomson, a world famous surfer who is debuting a new line of men's clothing. It was cool to talk with him. I wish I had his accent. Another highlight of the Expo was the Superman Returns booth. I'm still not quite sure what JCPenney has to do with the new movie; I think we are going to sell some children's clothing based on it. A replica of the new Superman suit was on display, along with several props used in the film, including some award trophies on display in the Daily Planet newsroom, plus several newspapers. The best part was the video clip they played, along with the sign posted below the monitor prohibiting the use of cameras at the display. Pretty cool. The movie looks to be a great rehash of the Christopher Reeve films. The actor portraying Superman is Brandon Routh, and they got him looking so much like Christopher Reeve, that I think this film is going to be a success. Plus, they've ingeniously cast Kevin Spacey as the bald Lex Luthor. This is going to be a huge summer blockbuster!
This all happened on Tuesday. Wednesday had 2 celebrities.

After the evening's dinner, two stand-up comedians performed. The opening act was Jon Manfrellotti, a regular guest on the hit show Everybody Loves Raymond. A little crass, but funny. The main attraction was none other than Raymond himself, Ray Romano! Getting back to his roots as a stand up comedian, he tore the house down. I was very lucky to get to hear 45 minutes of Ray Romano for FREE!!! He also brought a couple videos, one of which was a gag reel from his TV show. The other was a video he made several years ago when his twin sons were about 2. It basically shows the fun/terror of having twin boys. It was sweet, and very clever.

All in all, it was a huge success, and a boatload of fun. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them uploaded.

Oh, and by the way... MODELS!

In-depth of Firefly

To those who are new to the series, or haven't the slightest idea what I'm talking about, please read this thrilling article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_%28television_series%29.
This article will tell you everything you need to know. I would recommend that you at least borrow the series from a friend who has it, or rent it. You won't be disappointed!

Firefly is such an amazing television series, and one of a kind. When I heard the show described as a "Space Western", I chuckled. I thought it sounded dumb. After watching the complete series, it makes perfect sense. It is set about 500 years in the future. After the apocalypse, Earth is no longer populated, and a new solar system is found; the peoples of Earth traveled to these planets, and terraformed them to be inhabitable. The main, or "core" planets are ruled by a single government, the "Alliance". Those outer planets who refuse Alliance control are like the frontier areas, like the old American west. Plenty of lawlessness abounds, hence the western feel. The Alliance planets take on the feel of Bladerunner. There are many Asian influences all around. It is said that the Alliance is mainly American and Chinese, since they are Earth's two biggest super-powers. Asian dialog is even weaved into the regular English, usually in the form of curse words. It takes a little getting used to, but it grows on you, and is just another accepted part of the new culture.

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is the owner of Serenity, a Firefly-class space cruiser that is used mainly for shipping. Of course, Mal is a Han Solo character who is a smuggler. He is at odds with the Alliance, as he was a volunteer fighter against them during the Unification War, a civil war between the Alliance and those who refused their control. As such, Mal and his crew are always dodging the Alliance. During a particularly slow spell, they take on some passengers to help pay the bills. Among these fares is a young doctor who has precious cargo. Over the course of the pilot episode, it is revealed that he is transporting his sister, River, an extremely intelligent young girl who was experimented on by the Alliance, even though her family was not aware of it. Simon, the young doctor, rescued his sister from the Alliance, and in turn, brings on a huge amount of trouble for Mal and the crew of Serenity. There are many mysteries to the show that were never given the chance to be revealed, due to the show's early cancellation. There are two mysterious men who wear blue gloves, in search of the missing River Tam. These two are very much like something out of "The X Files". They kill anyone who comes in contact with River, even Alliance, and they are extremely creepy. There is so much to this aspect of the series that held such promise to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat, waiting in eager anticipation for the next episode.

Aside from the intriguing mysteries, the show's main strongsuit is its characters. There are no less than 9 main cast members, 5 crew members and 4 additions, each of whom is given a great set of quirks and oddities. They interact with eachother in fabulous ways, interjecting humorous one-liners all the while. This show is extremely funny! Joss Whedon has a fantastic sense of humor, and the audience is in stitches, even during the more intense scenes. There's Mal, the Captain, his first mate Zoe, who fought along side him during the war, the pilot Hoban Washburne (Wash), who ended up marrying Zoe, Kaylee is the ship's young mechanic and all around sweetheart, and the mercenary/muscle Jayne Cobb; Inara is the ship's "ambassador". In actuality, she is a Companion, which in the Firefly universe is like a Geisha/Courtesan. The final characters are Shepherd Derrial Book, a man of God who has an unknown and possibly dangerous past, and siblings Simon and River. These characters are so easy to get into that you really care for them by the end of the series, and it makes it so much harder to know that the show was cancelled. Each actor played their part perfectly, and after hearing the commentaries on various episodes of a certain actress who was originally to play the part of Inara, I couldn't imagine how the show would have been had she played the part instead of Morena Baccarin. Honestly, I couldn't think of anyone else who would be better in these roles than the original cast. The synergy present between all the characters and their actors is so apparent, that nothing needs changing.

Another wonderful aspect of the show is the music. As there are several cultures thrown together to survive the post-apocalyptic worlds in the new solar system, there are several different music styles thrown together, such as Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Indian, and even Bluegrass and some Classical. And they were all masterfully done, and melded quite well. Many of the instruments were very real, not just synthesized. Click here to read an interesting interview with Greg Edmonson, the composer for the series. This brings me to mention the theme song. It was written by Joss Whedon, the show's creator, and is a bluesy folk song, meant to give you the feeling that it's sung by a person on a porch. For myself, it took several episodes before I became accustomed to hearing this song as the theme. After I became more familiar with the show and it took its hold on me, I couldn't think of another theme in its place. I can't help but sing along with Sonny Rhodes as he performs his heartfelt rendition of this survival tune. This song would be a perfect campfire song to be experienced on one of those distant outer planets that refused Alliance control. It's brilliant.

All these aspects come together to form a brilliant show that never got the chance to shine. It was hard to place, and the Fox network just didn't give it enough priority. It's sad to know that such clever shows like this are always drowned out by pointlessly shallow garbage like "reality" shows and countless police procedural and courtroom dramas. One can only hope that the DVD sales of the movie "Serenity" can convince the studio hot shots that more Firefly deserves to be made.

The Ultimate Geek Car?

Mercedes-Benz has done it againz.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,69960-0.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

This new sedan brings the world that much closer to Knight Rider. Now all we need is a turbo boost button and that snazzy engine wooshing sound that accompanies the thrilling jump over the day's big obstacle.

They crammed as many bellz and whistlez as they could into this luxury toy for rich folkz. Complete with a radar system, massaging chairs, night-vision cameras, and even tv capability, this is the perfect vehicle for the James Bond wannabe.

Firefly

The Complete Series on DVD, released by 20th Century Fox in 2003.

Only 5 words are needed to accurately describe this short-lived television sci-fi/western series.




1.) Brilliant.


2.) Brilliant.


3.) Brilliant.


4.) Brilliant.


and...


5.) Brilliant.


Stay tuned for a more in-depth review of this sweet little piece of genius.

Shiny.