Learning is Fun!

As I mentioned a few days ago, I finally got Gargoyles: Season 2, Volume 1, and I'm still watching a lot of Gargoyles. Still, the best cartoon Disney ever produced.

And, thanks to the running commentary, I'm learning new hidden things about the show that I never knew before.



Take, for example, the Weird Sisters. Ever since Shakespear's MacBeth, these three witches have become a popular archtype in all kinds of fantasy works. Now, while I knew that these three actually did have individual names in the Gargoyles universe, I didn't know that they were supposed to be symbolic.

The golden-haired one is Phoebe, and she is the Sister of Grace.

The raven-haired one is Celene, and she is the Sister of Vengeance.

The silver-haired on is Luna, and she is the Sister of Fate.

God, I need a life.

Latest Targ's Up!

This week's episode of The Targ is up! This week, we've got Episode 12: Glassware. Even though I don't drink, I've amassed quite a collection of beer glases. Here's the tale of how I got them...and I play some Smash Mouth and Nelly Furtado.

Give it a listen!

Superman and King Kong on DVD

So, with Superman Returns in theatres, and doing quite well, all of the classic Christopher Reeve Superman movies are currently undergoing massive restoration, and are all getting new special editions. And...the stats for those special editions have been announced! Let's get to it:

Superman: The Movie - Four Disc Special Edition
Wow! 4 discs! I will point out that some of these bonus materials are recycled from the Y2K 2-disc special edition, so I'll mark the recycled stuff with a *. On this four disc set, you get:

- Both the original 1978 theatrical version and the 2000 director's cut that was prepared for DVD.

- The original trailers and TV spots*

- running commentary with director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankewickz*

- running commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya Salkind.

- Music only track*

- 3 featurettes about the making of the film*

- deleted scenes

- screen tests*

- the original 1978 TV special The Making of Superman

- the 1951 film Superman and the Mole-Men starring George Reeves as Superman!

- The first 9 Fleisher Studios Superman cartoons from the 1940s, beautifully digitally restored!

Superman II: 2-Disc Special Edition
Ah, the film that introduced the phrase "Kneal Before Zod!" the geek lexicon. You get:

- New running commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya Salkind.

- The original The Making of Superman II TV special from 1981.

- The original Superman's 50th Anniversary from 1988.

- the trailer

- the featurette First Flight: The Fleisher Superman Series, all about the making of the Fleisher Superman cartoons from the 1940s.

- the remaining 8 Fleisher Superman cartoons

Superman III: Deluxe Edition
Just a single-edition version for the one with Richard Pryor. You get:

- running commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya Salkind.

- the original The Making of Superman III TV special from 1983.

- deleted scenes

- the trailers

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Again, only a single-disc edition. You get:

- running commentary by writer Mark Rosenthal

- deleted scenes

- the trailer

Now, before I continue, I should mention that all of the above DVDs will be in a big boxed set called The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection. Got it? Because what's next isn't in the boxed set.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
For those just joining us...Superman and Superman II were originally being filmed at the same time, with the goal of the two films coming out wihtin a year of each other. Well, when Superman was 80% filmed and Superman II was 60% filmed, it was decided to focus all their energy on finishing #1, and going back and finishing #2 later. So, #1 was finished, came out, was a giant hit. But, original director Richard Donner was not brought back in to finish #2. He and the producers had massive conflicting interests. Richard Lester was brought in to finish #2, and geeks the world over were left wondering, "What would it have been like had Richard Donner finished it?"

Well, now you're going to find out. Using Richard Donner's orginal notes (and with the final film getting final approval from Richard Donner), and lots of footage that Richard Donner shot that Richard Lester didn't want to use, Superman II has been completed that way Richard Donner wanted it done.

SEE lots of scenes with Marlon Brando as Jor-El that were filmed, but long since thought lost to the ages!

SEE the massive subplot of Lois Lane figuring out Clark Kent's true identity and her many attempts at unmasking him!

SEE much more threatening and serious Zod!

For bonus materials:

- new running commentary with director Richard Donner and executive consultant Tom Mankeiwicz.

- the featurette Superman II: Restoring the Vision, which is all about the controversy I outlines above and the efforts to create this edit

- even MORE cut scenes that weren't used.

All these Superman DVDs come out November 28.

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Let's take a break from Superman now. Who's up for another dose of King Kong?

Coming out on November 14 is King Kong: Extended Edition. Peter Jackson's monster movie epic in a new, extended edition! Don't worry, unlike that 4-hour REturn of the King Extended Edition, the King Kong Extended Edition is only 13 minutes longer than the original version. Let's break down the bonus features by disc:

Disc 1: Part 1 of the Film - running commentary with Peter Jackson and co-writer/producer Philipa Boyens, and 16 deleted scenes

Disc 2: Part 2 of the Film - the rest of the running commentary, 5 featurettes, and the trailers

Disc 3: The King Kong Archives - intro by Peter Jackson, 8 new featurettes, 5 video galleries, 5 pre-viz animatics, 3 motion-capture/animation comparisons, and the 1996 and 2005 screenplays.

Yes, the 1996 screenplay. In fact, a couple of those featurettes are even dedicated to the 1996 King Kong. Now, in case you don't know what I'm talking about...back in 1996, Peter Jackson started work on King Kong, with the intent of having it in theatres by 1998. But then, Disney started doing a remake of Mighty Joe Young and there was that American Godzilla...so Universal thought that the market was getting oversaturated with giant monster movies. And they pulled the plug on Peter Jackson's King Kong.

So, Jackson went and made The Lord of the Rings, became the world's #1 director, and Universal then practically begged him to come try his hand at King Kong again.

So, yeah. Lots of these bonus features are going to get into the kind of King Kong Jackson would have made 10 years ago, had he got to.

Whew. I think this was my longest entry ever.

Guess What's Back?

John Lasetter. Pixar's resident genius. When Disney bought Pixar a few months back, Lasetter announced that one of his goals was to bring back Disney's traditional, hand-drawn, 2D animation.

And today...Disney announced their first (in 5 years) traditional, hand-drawn, 2D animated film.

It's called The Frog Princess. It's still very early in development...no details are ready yet. All we know is the basic premise: a gender role reversal on The Frog Prince.

It'll be written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clemmens. This duo was on the forefront of Disney's resurgance in the early 90s, having wrote and directed The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. (They also did Hercules and Treasure Planet.)

And, Alan Menkin, he who did the music for 3 of the 4 above films, is already signed on to do the music.

As I say about all movies...I just want it to be good.

But I'd perfer 100% kick-ass, leading to a massive resurgance of traditional animation.

A Day of Mixed Blessings

I did something today I really shouldn't have done.

After denying it to myself since December, I finally broke down and bought Gargoyles: Season 2, Volume 1. God, I loved that cartoon. Still do.

So, the good news: I own Gargoyles: Season 2, Volume 1

The bad news: probably shouldn't have done it...should probably save my money for better things.

The good news: I own it!

The bad news: While doing some surfing, I discovered that, at the annual Gargoyles convention back in June, co-creator Greg Weisman announced that sales of Season 2, Volume 1 weren't that strong, so Season 2, Volume 2 will probably never see the light of day.

Looks like I ain't throwing out those videos I made just yet....

(About 5 years ago, when the Family Channel was showing Gargoyles in reruns, I taped every episode.)

By the way...

Oh, I should have said this last night. My Clerks II review is up.

Give it a glance

More DC Animation!

So, the news that's having me geek out today is the announcement that DC Comics and Warner Brothers are finally going to go nuts making straight-to-video animated movies. And not just Batman and Superman! Finally, all the DC universe will be getting its props in STV animation.

And, to top it all off, each one's going to be shooting for a PG-13 rating!

Bruce Timm, the producer and genius behind Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League is the big boss man of the whole project.

So here's the first batch that DC/WB is producing:

Justice League: New Frontier
Written by Stan Berkowitz (one of the writers of Justice League), and based on the graphic novel DC: the New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke.
Story and visual consultant: Darwyn Cooke.
What it's about: set in the 1950s, during the fall of DC Comic's Golden Age and the rise of the Silver Age. All told from the POV of Hal Jordan, who becomes Green Lantern by the end.

Superman: Doomsday
Written by Duane Capizzi (Justice League); based on a story by Duane Capizzi and Bruce Timm
What it's about: They're not saying, but with a title like that, I think it's fair to assume it's based on the classic "Death and Rebirth of Superman" storyline.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
Written by Marv Wolfman (veteran comic writer, including the original Teen Titans: The Judas Contract storyline) and Tom DeSanto (writer and producer of the first two X-Men films...producer of the live-action Transformers)
What's it about: The Teen Titans are betrayed to their greatest enemy by one of their own.
Why does this sound familiar?: The Judas Contract was the inspiration for the season 2 storyarc of the Teen Titans cartoon. So, naturally, this one has me the most curious.

Just saw Clerks II

So I just got home from Clerks II. Yeah, you heard me right. One of my co-workers talked me into going right after work today. I didn't need much convincing.

Now, what can I say about Clerks II? What can I say about the one movie I've been looking forward to ever since it went into production?

All I can say is...wow.

I always thought Chasing Amy was Kevin Smith's best. This is at least as good as Chasing Amy.

When I was hunting for my first job in radio, I'd often tell people that I was at a point where I didn't want a job anymore, I wanted a career. Clerks II is very much about being at that point in your life.

So maybe because I'm at that point, I identified with Randal and Dante's struggles a little more. I already know exactly what some of you are going to say: it's cliched and hokey in some parts.

But I throughoughly and completely loved it. And it's funny as hell.

4 Nibs all the way.

"I talked to my pastor about this, and he said that machines turning into robots aren't blasphemous. You know...cuz God created Man, and Man created Transformers...so, Transformers are like a gift from God."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Go-Bot!"

I'm gonna go write a full review now.

On the Fringes

Well, this weekend was the Athabasca Fringe, and, being a part of the station (who was one of the big sponsors, actually), I got me a press pass. I got to go to every show for free, on the condition that I write a glowing news story on it. Of course, the glowing news story is written and I'll read it on the air tomorrow, but sadly, because of the limitations of radio, I can't go that in-depth.

That's why I have I blog.

But yup, let me re-iterate. Athabasca has a Fringe festival. They boast that it's the largest rural Fringe in North America. In years past, performers for the Edmonton Fringe have used it as sounding board...a place to try out new stuff. You know, like how a play will run in Chicago before it opens on Broadway.

This being a small town...a church-going town...there was a lot of religous plays. Conversations with God, one-man Passion plays, stuff like that. Didn't make it out to those ones.

What I did make it out to was really good. The high school kids had a production, which was damn good for a bunch of high school kids, but it was a little heavy-handed in its message.

I saw another play called The Square of All Roots. According to the info, it's become quite a popular Fringe play. It was quite good. I suggest it.

Athabasca's also one of the few Fringes that also has a lot of musical performances and concerts...took in a couple of those. Saw the local piano virtuoso...he's actually in his second year at Augustana, going for his degree in music. He was very good.

I was also highly captivated by Paula MacNeil, a soprano currently working out on the west coast. Yes, you heard me right, I took in some opera. She was very captivating...."spellbinding" is the right word.

But yeah. I had a really good time. Wish I could have seen more shows, but we were broadcasting live, meaning it was a bit of a working vacation.

---

Actually, I mentioned the local pianist who's currently going to AUC...reminded me of one of my happy memories of Augustana.

I always remember the music practice rooms on the ground floor of North Hall. Now, I didn't take any music courses, so I never set foot in one of those music practice rooms. However, I do remember the music.

On those cool, moonlit evenings, when I was out on a sevrun, or just out clearing my head after a long night of homework, I'd always wind up walking past North Hall. And, more often than not, there'd always be some young soul, in one of those music practice rooms, pouring out his or her heart into their music.

I'd often be entranced, and I'd just stop and take a moment to listen to the music. Sometimes I'd listen for a few moments...I think my personal record was an hour.

But yeah. There's something about hearing some music on a cool, moonlit night that just entrances me.

The Targ's Back!!

Yay! The first new Targ in three weeks, thanks to the landlord coming home and flipping the high speed Internet back on!

So, this week is episode 11: Happy Belated Birthday. this is the birthday episode I was going to do three weeks go, but couldn't, so it's kinda anti-climactic at this point.

Click here to have a listen!

WE HAVE A TITLE!!

Well, over at the official "Weird Al" Yankovic" website, you'll find that they've announced the title for Weird Al's new album!

His new album is called....

"Straight Outta Lynwood."

BEST...NEWS....EVER

Forget Shia LaBeouf as Spike Witwicky. Forget Jon Voight as the Secretary of State of the USA. The one bit of casting news that we TransFans have been waiting for is who is doing the voices of the Autobots and Decepticons in Transformers.

And today, they announced who is voicing the biggest, baddest Autobot of them all...the pure model of epitomy and heroism...Optimus Prime.

So, are you ready? Optimus Prime will be voiced by....


Peter Cullen!!

Sadly, some of you are probably asking, "Who the hell is Peter Cullen?"

Well, Peter Cullen did the voice of Optimus Prime on the 1980s cartoon. Cullen is still quite active as a voice actor, doing tons of movie trailers and stuff. He's also Disney's official voice of Eeyore.

Needless to say, I'm happy.

Now, we hope and pray for the announcement that Frank Welker (the original voice of Megatron) will be voicing Megatron.

Behold the Power of YouTube!!

I waste too much time at YouTube.

I finally found one of my favourite Robert Smigel cartoons from Saturday Night Live. Remember, this was one in, oh, January 1998...at the height of Titanic mania, and when Disney animated films still dominated cineplexes.

Turtle Power!!

In my action figure magazine, ToyFare, people began musing when 80s nostalgia would end...ToyFare speculated that it would end when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made a comeback, seeing as to how TMNT was the last big thing to come out of the 80s...action figure wise.

Well, the new TMNT cartoon starts its fifth season this fall, the new comic is still doing quite well for Mirage Studios....

And the new movie comes out in the spring! March 30, to be exact...17 years to the day after the first live-action film.

It's all computer animated, baby! CGI all the way! The director is a guy named Kevin Monroe, it's his first film, and the first product from a studio called Imagi Films.

But you don't want to hear me blather about it.

Go watch the four turtles leaping over rooftops in New York City in CGI glory!

No offence to Jim Henson's animatronics, but these CGI renditions of Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael kick ass.

Want more details about the film? Here we go:

- It actually takes place in continuity with the live-action films, taking place shortly after the events of #2.

- Shredder is not the villain, but he does make a cameo.

- The only announced voice actor so far is Japanese-American character actor Mako, who's voicing Splinter. I'm sure my fellow nerds remember Mako best as the voice of Aku on Samurai Jack.

- Casey Jones and April O'Neil fall in love.

- And yes, there'll be lots of in-jokes and references to the original comics and the cartoons.

This is going to be a little more grown-up, too...they're shooting for a minimum PG rating.

March 30, 2007. Turtle power returns to the screen!

I HAVE A DATE!! (No, not that kind of date) (hey, didn't I do this joke already?)

September 26.

Right now, if you swing by The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic website, you'll be treated to a picture of Weird Al looking all like Kevin Federline along with the date "09/26/06"

We have a release date for the new album!

And now, the news

Two bits of news for today:

- after months of speculation, it's finally official. Peter Jackson is giving us a King Kong: Extended Edition. It's comes out November 14. It'll be 3 discs, and all the bonus stuff is TBA.

- One of the oldest and most influential comic book heroes, The Spirit, is finally coming to the big screen. The movie will be written and directed by...Frank Miller, the comic book legend who gave us Sin City and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Miller made his directorial debut as the co-director of the movie version of Sin City.

DVDillema

On the plus side, I love having a steady job. It means steady income again.

On the down side, I hate having a steady job. It means a constant trickle of everyday expenses that eats into the disposable income.

Of course, I'm lamenting this today because it's Tuesday...the day of new DVDs.

What I'm looking at right now and seriously wondering if I should blow the money on it is Jack of All Trades: The Complete Series. It's one of the funniest action shows ever made.

The year is 1801. The always fantastic Bruce Campbell plays Jack Stiles, the best secret agent in the still-very-new USA. Stiles latest mission has him sent to the Carribean island of Palau Palau, where his mission is to sabotage the schemes of the French governor and thus slow the advance of Napoleon across the globe. Stiles decided the best way to do that was to don the guise of the Zorro-like hero the Daring Dragoon. And, of course, he was joined in his mission by the super-sexy British spy Emily Rothschilde, who was a more conventional spy and saboutour.

The show was briefly on in 1999 and 2000. It (along with the sci-fi opus Cleopatra 2525) was cooked up to be the replacement to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. It didn't last long...just barely 2 season and 22 episodes.

And all those episodes are available today, spread over 3 discs.

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Also out today is Amazing Stories: Season One.

Let me fill you in on a little pop culture history. Back in the mid-1980s, when he was arguably at his creative peak, Steven Spielberg had an idea for an anthology show...something akin to The Twilight Zone or even The Wonderful World of Disney. Every week, you'd get something new and different.

Spielberg recruited several big-name directors to do episodes, including Joe Dante, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorcese, Irvin Kirshner, and even himself.

While it was adored by critics and developed a cult following, it never caught on, and ended after two seasons.

But now, season one is out today!

I, personally, am waiting for season 2. Season 2 contains the animated episode Family Dog, which was directed by the one, the only, Brad Bird. Yup, the guy who did The Incredibles and The Iron Giant. It was his first, shall we say, professional work as a director.

It even boasted character designs by Tim Burton.

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And then, for your hit of 80s nostalgia, today is also the release of The Best of She-Ra: Princess of Power.

This is the first wave of the adventures of Adora, twin sister of Prince Adam, as she leads the rebellion on the planet Etheria against the brutal rule of Hordak. And, when the fighting gets tough, Adora calls upon the power of Greyskull to become She-Ra!

The Best of She-Ra: Princess of Power is a 2-disc set. Disc 1 contains the theatrical The Secret of the Sword, which chronicled He-Man's quest to Etheria to find his twin sister and make her face her destiny. Disc 2 contains the top 5 episodes, as chosen by He-Man/She-Ra fans.

Following the pattern of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe DVDs, the boxed sets of She-Ra will begin around Christmastime.

Guess Who's Coming to Smallville?

So, which teenaged superheroes have met up with the young Clark Kent so far on Smallville?

- The Flash
- Aquaman
- Cyborg

Who's next?

Green Arrow!

That's right, the young Oliver Queen comes to Smallville. Unlike those other heroes, who were just 1-episode dealies, Queen will actually be featured in a 7-episode story arc. Apparently, Queen is starting to think about forming an organization of superpowered beings, and he starts snooping around Smallville because of all the superpowered anomolies that town has produced.

Oliver Queen will be played by Justin Hartley, who played Arther Curry/Aquaman on the unsold Aquaman pilot.

And in other news, there's another character from the Superman mythos who'll be popping up on Smallville next season. Jimmy Olson will also be swinging by. Last season, Chloe Sullivan implied that she lost her virginity to Jimmy Olson, so...yeah. Watch for that.

It's Good to be Home

First and foremost, finally got the review of Superman Returns up.

Head to the main site to check it ou!

Secondly, got some big DVD news for all the Trekkies in the house. After months, nay, years of speculation, Paramount has finally made it official. On November 21, we're getting

Star Trek: The Complete Animated Series

Yup. All 22 episodes of the Star Trek cartoon, spread over 4 discs.

And for those who aren't familiar, yes, there was a Star Trek cartoon. It ran from 1974-1976. It was produced by Filmation, the same folks who gave us He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in the 1980s. Critisised for its constant recycling of animation (a Filmation trademark), but still fiercelly debated by Trekkies as to whether it's canon or not.

I'm Home!!

And we're back!

My landlord came tromping home at around 1AM last night, and I wake up this morning to find that my high speed Internet is back! It was almost worth having him wake me up. And this once again adds to my speculation that it was something ridiculously simple, like him having to switch the router back on after one of the power failures.

But, I can start playing catch-up on lots of projects. Firstly, getting that review of Superman Returns up, getting The Targ running again, and catching up on all the naughty websites I wouldn't be caught dead looking at at work.

Like the website for the Alberta Liberal party.

Must Be Thursday...Could Never Get the Hang of Thursdays

I'm all paranoid right now that I missed my best friend's birthday. I was just deleting spam, when, I noticed one with the subject line "(my best friend's name)'s birthday."

So I'm trying to get ahold of everyone right now, finding out what's what. I promised her I'd do something for her birthday and if I missed it, and forgot, well, I'd be very mad at myself.

---

Meanwhile...this movie news is about a week old, but it finally crossed my desk today.

Disney is planning on doing a remake of Adventures in Babysitting. They've already tapped Raven-Symone to star. You may remember her as that unbearably cute little girl on the final seasons of The Cosby Show. She currently stars on the Disney Channel's #1 sitcom, That's So Raven, and Disney's grooming her to be their next tween idol.

I only bring this up because I have fond memories of the original Adventures in Babysitting. It was one of those movies I watched a lot when I was a kid...either rented it or caught it on TV. It was about this teenaged girl, babysitting the neighbourhood brats, when she gets an emeregency call from her friend, and has to make a perilous journey from their sleepy suburb to the downtown core to save her friend. Not knowing what to do with the brats she's babysitting, she brings them along. And the whole thing turns into a pretty good Ferris Bueler's Day Off clone. Our heroine, the titular babysitter, was played by future Oscar winner Elizabeth Shue, and the film was the directorial debut of Harry Potter director Chris Columbus.

"If you wanna get out of here, you've got to sing the blues."

It's pretty good...I suggest you rent it sometime.

---

And, over in the the "why the @#$% are they making this movie?" department, DreamWorks animation just announced the voice cast of Shrek 3. I'm sorry, it's being called Shrek the Third.

So, here's the plot. Following the events of #2, Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots have to go on a quest to find the new ruler of Far, Far, Away. Turns out the true ruler is Artie, aka King Arthur. Meanwhile, while Shrek is gone, Princess Fiona has to save the kingdom from an attempt by Prince Charming to overthrow the kingdom. Fiona does this by turning some of the more famous fairy tale princesses into a crack commando squad. That's right, it's Prince Charming and an army of fairy tale villains taking on Princess Fiona and an army of fairy tale princesses.

So, for new voices, there's the princesses.

Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) is Cinderella
Amy Poehler (she who does Weekend Update with Tina Fey) is Snow White
Maya Rudolph (also on SNL) is Rapunzel
Cheri Oteri (on SNL a few years back) is Sleeping Beauty

In the bastardizing of Arthurian legends:

Justin Timberlake (Backstreet Boy) is Artie/King Arthur
Eric Idle (Monty Python) is Merlin
John Krasinski (that nerdy guy on The Office) is Lancelot

And, in returning roles

Mike Myers is Shrek
Cameron Diaz is Fiona
Eddie Murphy is Donkey
Antonio Banderas is Puss n Boots
Rupert Everet is Prince Charming
John Cleese is the King (Fiona's father)
Julie Andrews is the Queen (Fiona's mother)

It all comes out May 18, 2007. And I'll be seeing Spider-Man 3 instead.

Cuz It's Been a While Since I've Mused

Ya know, maybe it's a good thing that my high speed Internet is down at home...at least for another week, until my landlord gets home and I can start whining about it. This at least makes me get out of the house more. I go down to work to check my e-mail and surf, and when I don't feel like going back to the office, I go to where I'm at right now, the Athabasca Public Library.

It's a really nice day here today. It's kind of cloudy, but I like Atha-B when it's cloudy. See, Atha-B is at the bottom of a valley, giving the illusion that we're surrounded by hills. On a cloudy day like today, it's easy to imagine that the clouds are hiding mountains and that you're in some deep mountain village. Very cool.

Although, there are some things about the town that still strike me. As you all know, I love trains. And, even though the railway tracks were ripped out some 20 years ago, and there hasn't been passenger rail service here about 20 years before that, Atha-B still has a train station. I've been following the story of the train station at town council, and since I read all this on the air about a month ago as a news story, I feel safe blogging about it.

The town currently owns the train station, and a big question before the council has always been what to do with it. Of course they can't tear it down. It has great historical value...not to mention sentimental value within the community. The town has always been pressured to restore it, but that always leads to the question of what they put in the train station once it's restored.

A little more than a month ago, the town took tenders from businesses. The guideline was for the business to lease, restore, and move into the train station. But, out of the 2 tenders received, the town rejected both of them. One tender was to outright buy the train station - something that wasn't in the guidelines - and the other was to move the town's army surplus store into it - something the town council was dead-set against.

So, after all that, the town has decided to restore it after all. But, as one town councillor humbly pointed out, "That still doesn't solve the problem of a tennant."

I have a humble suggestion for a tennant.

How about a Tim Hortons?

Come on! Atha-B is a prime location, as you have Highway 2 slicing right through the middle of town. We're dead centre in the oil patch. And there's thousands of examples of fast food places moving into historical architecture without disrupting it!

That's my idea, anyway. And I would have put in a bid, if I had the half-a-mil that it costs to get a Timmys franchise.

Anyway, that's my dream, if it turns out that I'm living in this town for quite a few years. Put a Tim Hortons - or some kind of fast food place, really - in the old train station.

SUPERMAN!!

Ah, the proud tradition of the birthday movie. Ever since my 11th birthday, I've gone to see a movie to celebrate. Just that simple. Of course, I was working on my birthday this year, and there are no movie theatres in Athabasca, so the birthday got pushed back to today. I slipped down to Edmonton and saw....

Superman Returns

I'm going to have a full review over on my main website once I've got Internet access again, but I'll give you a quick mini-review right here and now.

The plot: Superman's been gone for five years, journeying the cosmos seeking out the ruins of Krypton. He comes back to a world that's moved on without him. That's personified in Lois Lane...who is now engaged to Perry White's nephew and mother to a 5-year old son. Superman, naturally, goes back to doing what he does best and tries to find his place in the world again. Meanwhile, in that 5-year absence, Lex Luthor broke into the Fortress of Solitude and swiped a bunch of Kryptonian technology, which he plans to use in his latest scheme. This looks like a job for...yup.

The good: The acting. Brandon Routh does an amazing job as Superman, and Kevin Spacey is absolutely SPECTACULAR as Lex Luthor. I'm glad he made Luthor less goofy and more sinister. And the special effects are just amazing. We've come along way since 1978.

The bad: This film made TONS of references to the 1978 film. Once the film sank in a bit on the drive home, I started wondering: did I enjoy it because it truly is a good film, or did I just get off on all the referecnes? And plus, there's a big plot twist about 2/3 of the way through the film. I won't get into it here, and granted, it's been done in about a dozen "imaginary tales" in the comics. But those "imaginary tales" were always about the end of Superman...I have no idea how it'll affect a sequel or Superman continuity in general. From what I've read online, this plot twist has divided a lot of people...put me down on the side that thinks it was a bad idea.

Final verdict: Singer delivered the goods. Yes, there's lots I disagreed with, but there's enough Superman specatcle to make up for it.

3 Nibs

Happy Birthday to Me!/No Targ this week

Happy birthday to me!

The big 2-9 this year!

And what better birthday present than being cut off from my Internet access!

Yeah...that's the only problem with agreeing to the landlord's "I'll let you splice into mine" offer. My Internet has mysteriously stopped...landlord's on vacation for the next two weeks and left no emergency contact number...so who do I complain to?

The world, I guess...via blog.

So, for the next two weeks while I wait for my landlord to get back, I guess it's back to sneaking into work and heading down to the library to check my e-mail. Only down side to that is I've got no way to transfer this week's Targ to any of those places to upload it.

Other than that, it's my birthday! Yay!

Feel free to send me a birthday greeting

New Address!

Hey all!

I got me a new address.

No, don't worry, I didn't move. I just saw that my PO Box was set to expire at the end of the month, so rather than renew it, I asked the kind folks if I could start getting my mail delivered to the super mailbox on the corner. And they said yes!

So, my new addres:

Mark Cappis
4913B - 43 Street
Athabasca, AB
T9S 1P6

And there you have it.

Latest Targ is Up!

Dude, the latest episode of The Targ is up! This week is Episode 10: As Seen on TV. I play such classic songs as "that one from that Zeller's commercial."

Go have listen!

Actually, it's been up for about 24 hours now...just haven't had a chance to blog about it!