Chriiiistiannnns! Come out and plaAAaayaaay!

So what happens when Jesus returns, and rather than smite the unbelievers, he forgives and loves them?

Just askin'.

Marius the Damned

And the Oscar goes to...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Is it just me, or has this country's obsession with not ruffling the feathers of the ultra-conservative right lead to two of the most boring events in recent memory? The Superbowl was a yawn-fest, and now the Oscars were about as exciting as watching a Bingo tournament on CSPAN. Sure, it was a classy evening, and the stars were all bedecked and beautiful(although I guess Ben Affleck couldn't find a tux), and Ellen Degeneres did a nice job as host. But that word 'nice' just sort of sums up the whole affair. To paraphrase George Carlin, nice is such a flabby word. I was looking forward to Ellen's turn at the podium, and she was pleasant, inoffensive, and...well...nice. She was funny, but not in a 'laugh til it hurts' funny. More like 'quietly grin when she gets Spielberg to take a picture of her with Clint Eastwood for her MySpace page' funny. Admittedly I have seen very few of the nominated films this year, but that's never stopped me from enjoying the show before. This year's show, however, was lacking in any of the over-the-top stunts and political posing we are used to seeing from our American royalty. The most controversial comment all night was when she pointed out that America didn't vote for the woman from Dream Girls on American Idol, but did vote for Al Gore. It was a sedate, refined, dignified, and thoroughly boring night of television. And for the second year in a row they did not do a memorial to the stars who died in the past year. I always look forward to that, not in a ghoulish way, but as a chance to remember those who had worked hard in their lives to entertain us. I guess the stirring up of any sort of real emotion is forbidden these days.

I realize that this is a couple of days late, but around 11ish I could not stay awake any longer, and so recorded the last half-hour of the broadcast, which I only got around to watching last night. Unfortunately the dvr shut off before the end of the show, and it is a testament to my lack of being entertained that contrary to being upset that I had not set the controls properly, I was relieved that I didn't have to watch any more.

So, did Forrest Whittaker win?

Marius

Net Neutrality

If you value not having to pay extra just to view different websites, then you need to watch this, and then pass it along.

Scrote IV: The Return

Last year I ranted over the proponderance of fake testes adorning the trailer hitches of many a pick-up on the roads these days, but bothered though I may be I left it at that...a rant. But Maryland Delegate LeRoy E. Myers Jr. wants to take it farther. He wants to pass legislation that would ban the automotive display of "anything resembling or depicting "anatomically correct" or "less than completely and opaquely covered" human or animal genitals, human buttocks or female breasts." Apparantly one of his constituents was offended by the danglers and made a call. It is quite refreshing to see that despite such pressing issues as Iraq, Global Warming, health care, unemployment, and the heartbreak of psoriosis we have people in the government willing to focus on the truly important and universal.

God bless America!!

Sitting on the Coroner Watching All The Ghouls Go By

Why are a dead crack whore and a washed up mega-stripper news? Why do so-called respected news organizations such as CNN and Fox continue to bombard us with the train wreck that is Anna Nicole Smith, or the comic tragedy that is Brittney Spears? When Chris Farley died, even though I was never a fan, I understood why the nation mourned; he was a talented comic who brought joy to millions. When Robert Downey Jr. couldn't keep his demons at bay I understood the media attention; he is a gifted actor with a loyal following. But what was Anna Nicole Smith's talent? Anyone with a few grand can buy huge knockers. And it's no great feat for an attractive, voluptuous skank to woo and marry an octogenarian. So what about her life was so wonderful that we, as a nation, can't take our sick, sad eyes off of that stainless steel morgue door for thirty seconds? I certainly couldn't care less where they bury her heroin riddled, silicone filled Barbie-bones.

And as for the national pity party for poor little Brit, fuck that! Sure she was hot, but then again so are most of the women you can see for $4 in any mag behind the counter at Apu's Gas-n-Spank. When the musical giants of the late 20th century are counted, I rather doubt Ms. Spears will appear in that list, so who gives a shit if she 'couldn't handle her fame' and had a melt down. I am so sick of celebrities being treated like Faberge eggs when the excesses for which they ultimately become famous catch up to them. I shaved my head years ago, and have enough baggage in my addled pate to keep a squadron of therapists in caviar for years, but since I don't have a cute ass that I'll show off on MTV I have to deal with my issues by myself...which is exactly how it should be. If someone has a true talent, like Phil Hartman or River Phoenix, then let us mourn and sympathize. But when some freakazoid B-lister who is better suited for a carnival midway than Letterman's couch implodes, put it in the crawl at the bottom of the screen and then forget about it. That way I can too.

Grumpily yours,
Marius

The Helmsman Strikes Back

Last week retired NBA star Tim Hardaway got in trouble for a ridiculous on-air rant about how he hates gay people, and how they shouldn't be allowed in the NBA, or the country. He has gotten in a lot of trouble for his comments, and though he apologized for saying them publicly, one prominent member of the gay community has come forth to try to help.

As The Bathroom Purrs

Ok, a quick relation of a surreal occurrence. This morning, around 3am, I awoke to answer the call of nature. It was dark, but all was limned in the faint green of the 'indiglow' type night light, and I expected an uneventful completion of my task. Then something odd pervaded my sleep befuzzed consciousness. Purring. Now, as you know, we share our home with the Two Kitties of the Apocalypse(tm), so a nocturnal feline encounter is not uncommon. But search as I might, and limited as I was by the activity at hand, I could spy no critter. The purring grew louder, and louder, and finally grew loud enough to become directional. Looking up my gaze met the self-satisfied visage of Starbuck happily perched atop the shelves over the commode and watching me from the comfort of the towels. This actually tops last night's surreality, a dream in which Soledad O'Brien moved in to become my second wife(no, I have no idea where that one came from), because it actually happened.

To paraphrase a much overused bumper sticker: weirdness happens.

Have a bizarre week, y'all!

Marius

No Wonder...dammit!

In further Joss Whedon news, he just announced that he will no longer be making a Wonder Woman movie. There go my last hopes that the long awaited film won't suck. Details are very sketchy, but rumors are that Warner Brothers is looking at a WW script from a couple of unknowns.

Sigh.

Anyone seen Ghostrider yet? Opinion?

A Sunday Funny

Click on the strip to enlarge.

A Palette Cleanser

It's always good to heal the dryness of the place.

Warm Fuzzy

What is it in humans that drives us to seek validation? Since I discovered blogs, and video blogs, I have noticed a very disturbing tendency in myself to become elated if a comment I made brings forth a response from the blogger, and conversely to become despondent when another comment goes ignored. I would even get a rosy glow if another commenter made a comment about my comment. Two prime examples were Amanda Congdon and Ze Frank. When I first began watching their blogs I commented fiercely, though rarely with anything new or insightful. Usually they amounted to me standing in a crowd, waving my arms and yelling 'Hey, over here! I agree with you!' Then, on one occasion, I recommended a story to Amanda during her Rocketboom days, and she used it, and even thanked me in the list of topics below the picture. You'd have thought I won a prize or something. But then the next day she used a story from another viewer and actually thanked that one verbally. I was crushed. Why didn't I get any real validation from this person whom I had never met? Fortunately, after years of metaphorical wake-up calls equivalent to a wrecking ball to the grundies, this little tap on the cheek was enough to make me realize how silly I was becoming about this whole thing. Now I still enjoy the video blogs, but my comments are limited to when I can bring something new to the table, and if no one notices it's no big deal.

So what, you might ask. I noticed yesterday that my post about the upcoming Firefly mmorpg generated more responses from you, my dear friends, than any I've done in a long time. And I noticed that I got that same warm fuzzy inside that I used to get from the strangers I had chosen to idolize. But the difference is that you guys matter to me in reality, and not just in some strange little narcissistic corner of my psyche. So I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you for coming by The Corner, and thanks even more for leaving your comments. It makes my day when you do, and in a way that I don't have to feel guilty or neurotic about.

Love all y'all,
Marius

I Wanna Be Jayne!

I wanted to blog this morning, since I've been sick and out of it for a while, but alas nothing inspired. But then, suddenly(as things in print are oft wont to happen) one of the online comics I read dedicated a strip to a soon to be MMORPG based on Firefly. Firefly is something of a phenomenon in the Science Fiction Television world. It was a very short lived series created by Buffy and Angel scribe Joss Whedon and was half Western, 1/4 Starship Troopers, and 1/4 Star Trek. I never saw it when it originally ran, and it only got one season before getting the axe. Then the SciFi Channel reran the series in preparation for the big screen film Serenity. We watched the first episode and were not impressed, and since we already knew the series was doomed we didn't see the need to watch any further. But then several of my friends, and you know who you are, beat me verbally about the head and shoulders for not partaking of this televisory gem. So I was strapped into a recliner, ala Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange, and forced to watch several episodes of this stellar(hee hee) series. It takes a few eps to grow on you. For me the hardest part was reconciling all the frontier talk with blasters and starships, but once you're hooked, you're hooked. The characters and relationships are somewhat reminiscent of Angel, but once you accept that and forget it the show soars. I can understand, with ever growing disgust, why it got canned. It is all things anathema to demographers and studio execs: intelligent, thought provoking, well scripted, well acted, and thoroughly non-prurient. Fans clamored, to no avail, upon it's death nell, and Whedon managed to get a movie made, but that was, for all intents and purposes, the end of the good ship Serenity. Or was it?
A company called Multiverse has reached an agreement with Fox to turn the show into a massively multiplayer online role playing game in the same vein as World of Warcraft or City of Heroes. They acknowledge that they have a tough road ahead, as Firefly fans are even more rabid and picky than us Trek nerds, but then they only have 14 episodes and one movie to memorize. It should be interesting, although I can find no mention of what Mr. Whedon has to say about it. They hope to release it sometime in 2008.

And now, more coffee.

Adios, Partners!
Marius

Turtle, J'acuse!!!!!

Here's a Giggle for You

See more Dork Tower here.

Super...yawn...bowl XLI

Well, what started with a magnificent bang has ended with a snore. The Bears set a new Superbowl record by running the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, but that was the only real excitement in the game. The Colts played well, and consistently through the game, while the Bears started strong, then slowly dissolved over the next three quarters. And the commercials this year were pretty weak as well. Only the Snickers ad, where two bubbas share an intimate, if uninteded, moment was remotely amusing. Ah well, another football season has come and gone. Time to stop caring about sports again for another year.

Marius the bored.

Art...a deliberate act.

So the next show we are doing at school is called 'Museum', which takes place on the last day of a certain exhibit at an art museum. Interestingly enough I was in this show twenty-something years ago as a young college actor, and now I am going to build it for a lot of young high school actors. To that end, as we did oh those many years ago, I took my most advanced students to visit a local art museum. It was intriguing to me to observe that they had much the same reaction I did at the time to some of the art. To summarize their comments, and to echo the ancient me, 'That's art?! Hell, I could do that!' What was different to me this time, however, was a realization that has eluded me for years. Yes, I could have done some of what is termed 'art', but I didn't. Art has nothing to do with level of difficulty. If it did then museums would be filled with cars and computers and other things that are hard as hell to build or create. Instead art is about the deliberate act of doing something no one else thought of. Sure I could take a suit, sew some plastic fringe on it, and do a performance piece at a used car lot, but I didn't think of that. The Art Guys did. Yes, aesthetics are important in art, as is a subjective desire on the part of the observer to accept what they are seeing as art, but in the great debate over what is, or isn't art, the deliberate act must, in my opinion, be given as much, if not more, importance than aesthetic 'beauty', whatever the hell that might be.

Just an observation.

Blessed be.
Marius