Dr. Horrible Is Magical

I can't believe I claimed to be a Joss Whedon fan yet had never seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

That is, until last night.

After reading a recent post where I listed The Guild among my favorite stuff at the moment, my friend and fellow blogger, Courtney, suggested I watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (henceforth to be referred to in this post as DHS-AB so I don't get carpal tunnel). I have no excuse as to why I hadn't watched it. It's been popping up on my Netflix recommendations for a while. It had a whole cast of my favorite actors and writers/directors. I had it in my queue... at number 258. I might have gotten to it. Eventually. Maybe

Courtney insisted I watch it and sent me home with her personal copy.

But until last night, the wonders of DHS-AB remained locked within its DVD case.

Premise: Mad scientist wannabe (less on the mad, more on the geek) Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) vlogs his attempts to gain enough notoriety to be asked to join the Evil League of Evil. Time and time again his nefarious plans have been thwarted by Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), local superhero and all-around megalomaniacal a-hole. Dr. Horrible finally reaches his breaking point when Captain Hammer puts the moves on his laundromat crush, the doe-eyed do-gooder, Penny (Felicia Day).

The metamorphosis of the superhero - or in this case, the supervillain - is fascinating subject matter. The movie Unbreakable (stop making the yuck face) isn't a popular favorite with the cinema-going public, but it ranks in my Top 10.

Oh, and be prepared. DHS-AB has singing. Lots of singing. Some people get scared when characters periodically break out into song. I, on the other hand, wish it happened more in real life.

I was confident in Whedon's ability to pull off a musical number. The musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More With Feeling", is still one of my all-time favorites episodes of the entire series. I knew Felicia Day could sing because of the music videos she'd done in The Guild. Neil Patrick Harris had starred in an episode of Glee and I'd seen bits and pieces of his other musical roles. The big surprise, for me, was Nathan Fillion. I wouldn't have thought him capable of carrying a tune in a bucket. I'm pleased to admit I was wrong.

Where that impression came from is anyone's guess. Maybe his square jaw and ruggedly handsome good looks threw me off.

As far as the quality of voices and the songs themselves, DHS-AB outshines BtVS. Sorry Buffy-Once-More-With-Feeling fans. I was one of you once.

My favorite number was "My Eyes".

As a whole, DHS-AB was brilliant. Mad-scientist brilliant. I laughed, I cried, and I ordered my own copy off Amazon. I am now more in love with Joss Whedon than before, if that's even possible.

Birds in the Backyard - A Moleskine Doodle

Spooky Little Girl - A Book Review

(***This review contains a minor spoiler)

Is it fair to review a book that I didn't even finish? I debated it for a nano-second before I decided it's my blog and I'll review if I want to (review if I want to, review if I want to).

I used to be one of those readers that if I began a book it was a point of pride for me to complete it cover-to-cover come hell, high water, or writing so bad it reduced your I.Q. with every chapter you completed.

Then I decided life is too short and some things are too painful not to avoid if one has a choice in the matter.

Laurie Notaro is on my list of favorite authors for her semi-autobiographical Idiot Girl's Action Adventure Club books, mainly because a few of the vignettes made me laugh until I cried. Humor - I love it. If you doubt me, take a look at the track record of funny, ugly guys that I've dated.

You had me at HarHar.

I awaited Notaro's first foray into fiction with excited anticipation. Spooky Little Girl's premise sounded like reading I would enjoy since I have a penchant for paranormal fiction and urban fantasy. When it arrived on my Kindle, I set aside a portion of a weekend to read it.

After a couple of chapters, I decided to clean house. And you know how much I hate to do that.

Later that evening, I picked it up again, finished another chapter, and went to bed early. Not a good sign. On a free weekend, if I am not up until the wee hours of the morning, clutching the book and chanting "one more page, one more page..." the odds are against the book getting finished.

The writing was clunky and there were chunks missing like roofied memories. I found myself re-reading paragraphs more than once because I lost track of who was speaking, or where they were, or the story wasn't advancing. It didn't help that I didn't like the main character. She was weak. I understand that weakness, foibles, and imperfections are part of being human and establishing a realistic and sympathetic protagonist, but she came across as someone with a victim mentality.

Whiners bug me. Yeah, bad things happen. There are events that occur that are not within your control. Your life goes to crap. Kick a can or two. Call your friends for moral support. Find a shoulder to cry on. But there comes a time when you stop your poor-poor-beleaguered-me moaning and get on with it.

(****SPOILER contained in the following paragraph**** Avert your eyes)

(Seriously?! If I get back from vacay and AssholeBoyfriend has thrown all my crap out on the lawn, changed the locks with no explanation, and is holding my dog hostage, I am going to go all Waiting To Exhale. Lock up my dog, will you?! Dude's going to come home to a kicked in front door and a car that "just spontaneously caught fire, officer.")

Those first few chapters were very muddled. For me, it all eventually bogged down and the whole flow of the story ground to a halt. Even though I read until I reached the major turning point in the plot, I still wasn't interested enough to want to continue.

Since that time, I've thought about the book often. Perhaps I didn't give Spooky Little Girl the shot it deserved. Maybe it gets better in later chapters. Maybe it will get funny. Maybe I'll stop being annoyed and rolling my eyes at the pathetic antics of the main character. Maybe, maybe, maybe... As my life ticks on and the title gets pushed onto the second and third page on my kindle books list I think about it less and less. I'm afraid Spooky Little Girl is destined to finally fade and blow away like a wisp of ghostly smoke.

Stuff I Think is Cool - Peg People and The Guild

Now for another episode of "Random Sh*t I Think is Awesome"...

Just when you thought you were too old to play with action-figures and dolls, you stumble across a shop like Randomly Generated. Shop owner and Scotland resident, Jen, paints each peg person with a steady hand and a sharp eye for detail.

Despite the fact that they don't have any discernible facial features other than their button eyes (and maybe some facial hair, as in the case below), there is no doubt who the Peg People are.



One Ring to rule them all...


You have to be flying your geek flag high to appreciate the fact that she re-creates not only entire casts of popular films and television series, but also those only appreciated by true geekdom connoisseurs. 



Now I don't have to be sad that Firefly was cancelled. I have the entire crew of Serenity on my desk! From left to right: Mal, Inara, Wash, Zoe, Jayne, Kaylee, Simon, River and Shepherd

I saved the best for last...

It's the Who's Who of  Dr. Who. All the actors who have portrayed the many regenerations of Dr. Who are represented: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant (my personal fave) and Matt Smith.

I may send Jen a special request for Peg People versions of the members of the web series, The Guild. Which, thanks to that brilliant segue, brings me to the second item on my Random Sh*t I Think is Awesome List - each and every webisode of The Guild.

If you are a geek, nerd, Trekker, Star Wars fan, Comic-con attendee, casual/hardcore/true/role-playing gamer, or just someone who can appreciate scimitar-sharp wit and cutting humor produced with a no-name cast and a so-small-as-to-be-non-existent budget, then you will love "The Guild".  The premise: The RPG members of an online guild, The Knights of Good, meet each other in person for the first time in the harsh light of day, sans their avatars. Hilarity ensues.

Watch them in order to see the gang evolve from shut-ins and loners into friends and frenemies. You can catch all the webisodes on The Guild website and YouTube. I prefer getting them on Netflix because the extras are just as entertaining as the webisodes. Not to mention there are a couple of brilliant music videos included, (Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar and Game On. I found myself humming the tunes for days after.

Felicia Day is one of the unrecognized (but not for long) genius comediennes of our time. She is my hero. Game on, Codex!

NahNahNah I'm Not Listening - A Moleskine Doodle

Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead, is coincidental. That's my story, in case the lawyer asks.

Holly House Diaries - Stooges-esque Disaster Day

Stop helping.

Just stop.

No seriously. STOP. HELPING.

I know you are well-intentioned (Why, hello there shiny, gold-paved road to Hell!), but when you help chaos and destruction follow in your wake. You are like the Four Horsemen rolled up into a single individual. Minus the Famine. But give it time. It's probably just one of your superpowers that hasn't developed yet.

No, the universe is not responsible.

No, it is not just bad luck.

It is a matter of you not listening to anyone, no matter how loud they are screaming "LEFT!!! LEFT!! NO, YOUR OTHER LEFT!!! STOP!! OK, STOP!! APPLY THE BRAKE!! STOP THE F*CKING TRUCK!! OH FOR CHRISTSSAKE..."

CRASH! BOOM! Tinkle, tinkle, tickle, rattle...

This was a functioning water spigot until it was run over by a truck.

It also doesn't help that you always know best.

I get it. I do. It's nice to be right.

You do have a lot of experience, true.

Yes, you have probably forgotten more than I have ever known about anything at any point in time.

But that doesn't exclude everyone else from having an occasional correct statement that is contrary to your own. For instance, when I said, "I checked this out with a stud finder and there isn't anything but drywall behind here. Oh. Oh. You're going to drill anyway. Oh... um, OK. Well. Oh. You're going to try again in a different spot. Nothing? Um... Maybe I should get the studfinder and just... Oh, great. Random giant hole number four. Fantastic. You know that these have to be patched, right? So let's try again shall we? Huh. What a shock. Still nothing? REALLY??!! MAYBE IT WOULD HELP IF I JUST BANG MY FOREHEAD ALONG THE WALL UNTIL I FIND A STUD, SHALL I??!"

CRASH! BOOM! Tinkle, tinkle, tickle, rattle...



Just to satisfy my curiosity, where are these huge piles of dirt coming from? And why do you keep leaving them for me like gifts of dead birds left on the doorstep by my cat? I come home and there is another random pile of dirt. Please, no more dirt unless I can dig in it and find diamonds.

The neighbors think I'm shooting a remake of Close Encounters

Sadly, for most of the recent Holly House... let's just call them setbacks... I have not been home. Pulling up in the driveway after a brutal day at work to see the destruction at Ground Zero when everything was fine and functioning brilliantly when you left earlier that morning is decidedly worse than being present when it actually happens. 

As I got out of my vehicle in a state of shock and mutely waved a hand at what used to be my backyard, you sat on tractor/backhoe/Implement of Destruction, laughed, and said "Man, have I got a story to tell you..."

No jury in the world would have convicted me.



One of the many Implements of Destruction and another Random Pile of Dirt

It will go down in my memoirs as my proudest moment of self-restraint when I simply unlocked the back door, entered the house, went upstairs, laid down on the bed in my work clothes, and waited for you to leave. You cannot fight the Horsemen. You can only wait for them to pass over.

Or you can install an eight-foot, electrified, razor-wire topped fence around the property.

I'm considering it.



 

Serious Lack of Motivation - A Moleskine Doodle

I'm so not feeling it today. I should've stayed home.