I seem to be going through a creative drought as of late. This blog is going unattended, and I just can't figure out how to express myself.
Which kind of leads into the topic of this week's show, Episode 3.09: Little to Do, in which the first few minutes are wasted figuring out what to talk about. But eventually, I settle on the Best Animated Film Oscar and naughty Christmas tree ornaments.
I really haven't been blogging that much lately. It's often been said that blogs are for people with little to say and even less to do. I guess that means I haven't been blogging because I have a lot to say and a lot to do.
Anyway, a movie trailer I've been waiting for for a while now has finally appeared online. As we all know, remakes are all the rage in Hollywood right now. And, thanks to The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, fantasy films are equally big. So, it was only a matter of time before they started remaking fantasy films.
Which brings us to Clash of the Titans.
Clash of the Titans is a much beloved fantasy film from 1981. It was a retelling of the Greek legend of Perseus. We got to see Perseus tame Pegasus, slay Medusa, and rescue Andromeda from the Kraken. And, of course, the Gods of Olympus manipulated the events to curry favour. The film has also grown somewhat dated. With Star Wars and R2-D2 still fresh on people's minds, cute robot sidekicks were all the rage. So, Perseus got a cute robot sidekick in the form of a mechanical owl named Bibo, built by Hephaestus.
The cast was legendary as well. Perseus was played by Harry Hamlin, who went on to greater fame on L.A. Law. Zeus was played by the legendary Shakespearean actor Laurence Oliver. And Aphrodite was played by the legendary Bond girl Ursula Andress. But, where the film gains its true lustre among movie geeks is that it was the final film to feature special effects by the legendary stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen.
With this being a beloved classic, you just knew a remake was a comin'.
The new Clash of the Titans hits theatres this spring. Perseus is played by the up and coming action star Sam Worthington. We saw him this summer in Terminator Salvation and he'll soon be 10 feet tall and blue in Avatar. The Gods play a larger role this time, as well, with the goal of Perseus's quest being to assemble the tools Zeus requires to hold off Hades. Liam Neeson is Zeus, Ralph Fiennes is Hades, and Danny Huston is Poseidon.
And, in a wonderful tip of the hat to the original, Ray Harryhausen, who is now well into his 90s, was brought in to consult on the creature designs.
So, ladies and gentlemen, here's the new Clash of the Titans.
I suddenly had a flashback to 12 years ago. As I was struggling with my dial-up Internet connection, my computer sciences majors were telling me that, soon, people would be able to get Internet access through cable companies, and that you'd be able to download a 5M file in under 5 minutes!.
I was thinking about that as I was uploading Episode 3.08: Hey! That Song! Guess how big this week's episode is? And I downloaded it in under 30 seconds! The future is here!
Anyway, the topics of this week's show are Christmas albums, Sunshine Girl calendars, and some wacky stats about my personal life.
This is Halloween...this is Halloween...nothing like Halloween traditions on the radio! Or, in my case, on my podcast, U62: The Targ! One such tradition, going all the way back to my college radio days, is playing songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
You'll get one of those on Episode 3.07: The Ghost Pumpkin, along with some visiting trick-or-treaters, and a few rants about Halloween!
Being the Batman geek that I am, I occasionally take the time to sit down and watch Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The latest Batman cartoon is a more lighthearted and Silver Age take on the character, providing as many laughs as high-flying adventure. And, taking its cues from the comic book it's named after, each episode features Batman teaming up with another DC character...usually, some third-stringer who had yet to be portrayed in animation. So it can get really geek-tacular.
Recently, they aired an episode entitled "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" The Music Meister is an original villain created for the show. His power is that he can hypnotize people through his song, and is thus out to conquer the world. Naturally, with a power like that, the writers on the show had an excuse to go all "Once More, With Feeling" and do a musical episode.
The mainstream entertainment media has been geeking out over this episode, mainly because of special guest villain Neil Patrick Harris as the Music Meister. Apparently, no one knew that Harris could sing like that. Apparently, no one remembered that Harris was in the Broadway cast of Rent.
I want to take a moment to geek out about the other powerhouse singer in the episode. In order to defeat the Music Meister, Batman teams up with the legendary DC hero Black Canary. On the show, Black Canary is voice by voice actress Grey DeLisle.
Once upon a time, about a couple years ago, I was googling the names of voice actors in an attempt to learn more about them. (Being a geek who loves cartoons, it's how I frequently kill a rainy afternoon.) I entered DeLisle's name into a search engine, and discovered that voice acting is just her day job. By night, she's a country music singer, and had released a couple of indie albums a few years ago. One critic described her voice as a "Goth-infused Dolly Parton," and with a description like that, you could colour me curious. My next online visit was Amazon.com, where I bought her album Iron Flowers. It's a really good album...very classic country music, more bluegrass in flavour, and I still listen to it quite a bit.
So I'm really glad that she finally got this mainstream exposure, and here's hoping she releases another album soon. (Iron Flowers is her most recent, and it came out in 2005.)
Here she is from "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" singing "If Only," a Disney Princess-ish ballad where sings of her love for Batman:
Here she is, singing live, one of my favourite songs off Iron Flowers, "The Bloody Bucket:"
Hey! And here she is on New Zealand television talking about being a superstar voice actress:
I guess all I'm trying to say here is Grey DeLisle is awesome.
Anyway, with a lot less fanfare, A&W introduced yet another long-lost member of the Burger Family...two members to be specific. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Sirloin Baby Burger Twins!
Packed inside this foil bag are two bite-sized cheeseburgers with two bite-sized sirloin patties on them.
Their OK. They're kind of bland. These are basic cheeseburgers. Just cheese on them...no ketchup, no secret sauce, no nothin'.
However, they are small enough that they make a handy snack.
Sadly, though, the Mozza Burger is still not welcome as a member of the Burger Family. I still say we lobby to make the Mozza Burger the "Cute-Cousin-You'd-Sleep-With-If-You-Weren't-Related Burger."
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