Slayed: Five reasons why "Buffy" may be the best show on television
[via Slayage.com]

there are some toys you just have to have.
[found at Mefi]

this sounds familiar to me, but i can't see that i've mentioned it before.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. take a look at the trailer, and, if there's anyone out there who still can't decide on a gift for me for Christmas, i want one of these (heroes).

i was mistaken when i said that a middle school choir would be singing here at the office today. it's a fourth grade choir. and they're about to begin.

feh.

tonight on the syndiBuffy double feature: have you been wondering why Tara's been hiding spell ingredients whenever Willow tries to cast 'Locate Evil' or 'Find Demon' spells? discover Tara's terrible secret tonight on "Family"

see the scar on Spike's eyebrow? want a long black coat like the one he's got? find out where he got them in "Fool For Love"

BBC has opened up their Angel Guide (first season only. i guess the UK is a little behind us) to go along with their Buffy Guide.

eeg! look at the Drusilla action figure (at the bottom. check out the detail to the hair)!

OED Seeks SF Terms: Editors of the authoritative Oxford English Dictionary have launched a project to identify and collect words associated with the field of science fiction. The effort is the first by the editors to include all words that are frequently used in a specific field of endeavor.

bloody hell. the company is having a big holiday festivity thing in the Tulsa office tomorrow. they're gonna serve lunch (BBQ, the traditional Christmas feast), have a middle school choir sing just a few yards from my cubicle (i'm glad i have headphones), carolers wandering around singing crappy christmas songs (again, yay for headphones), and a karaoke contest in the afternoon (because that's what the Trio of Magi did while standing at the manger) the only bright point is there will be an email trivia contest (i have a tendency to win those. i'll participate in anything that awards the winner a day off).

yes, i'm all for humbuggery. i don't like christmas. some say it brings out the best in people, but seven years in retail showed me that it brings out the worst. people suddenly forget what manners are and they all get short-tempered and violent (shoving matches over Tickle Me Elmos and fist fights over parking spaces come to mind). plus, they get stupid and cause car accidents. holiday cheer? fuck that. i'm no grinch. i'm not trying to steal anyone's holiday. go ahead and have it. just leave me out of it (unless you're buying me a gift, then please, please include me! i'm not ashamed to admit that i'd only get into it for the materialism).

we saw Scary Movie 2 last night. it's just as dumb and as tasteless as the first one, which is to say that we enjoyed it. stupid movies are fun, plus, after a few shots of Rico, they're damned funny. the DVD also comes with plenty of extras, unlike that stupid Angel Eyes movie (lots of deleted or alternate scenes and such). i may add this one to my collection for the Mindless Humor Film Festivals i like to have every so often (not strangely, most of them are Wayans brothers' movies, including the classic I'm Gonna Git You Sucka).

tonight's syndiBuffy double feature, "Out of My Mind" and "No Place Like Home"

from Sci Fi Wire:

the headline alone cracks me up. i'm simple, i know. Head To Play Who --- it's been announced that "Anthony Stewart Head, who played Giles on UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will voice Doctor Who in three segments of the BBC's radio series, coming in February." we actually talked about a few months ago, but i think it was still in the rumor stage then.

Whedon Confirms Iron Man --- "wow," you think, "Joss is directing Iron Man!" uh, no. the headline's misleading. Joss has "confirmed for Cinescape Online rumors that he's under consideration to make his feature-film directing debut with the movie version of Marvel Comics' Iron Man series." he adds "I'll probably end up doing another series before I do a feature... I'm looking to do a hard science fiction show. I am looking to do some spaceship action. Something very different from what's gone before, but ultimately it will exactly be the same as everything I do--women posing with fisticuffs." chicks kicking ass rock!

Frank Miller says he's still developing Batman: Year One with Aronofsky.

and Pfeiffer Advises Judd's Catwoman "make sure they give you a place to go to the bathroom, a little something. They don't think about that." Judd responded that she felt confident that she, "unlike Michelle, could just hold it for the entire length of the shoot." Pfeiffer asked, "What? You think you're a tougher Catwoman than I am?" to which Judd replied, "Honey, it ain't about toughness. It's about the fact that you ain't firm in all the right places anymore. You couldn't get into the suit with a shoehorn and a jumbo sized tube of KY." Pfeiffer signalled her disagreement with a quick (but visibly slowing) roundhouse to Judd's head.

i mentioned Everquest earlier. i've been playing it a lot lately too. i've got an Iksar necromancer. the iksar are a reptilian-humanoid race. last night, i had several nightmares about them. in the dreams, some reached from beneath my bed and grabbed at my arms and legs. in other dreams, i could see one standing in my closet, watching me sleep, or see in a mirror the reflection of one creeping about my dining room. in the game, the creatures aren't all that scary looking, but when you wake up thinking there are a couple of them hiding under your bed, it's terrifying.

one of my roommates has been naughtily downloading things and has infected my computer with a virus. doesn't make terrence a happy camper. last week, while one of them was online, i looked over in time to see him accepting one of those Verisign Certificates. 'what was that?' i asked. 'i don't know,' he answers. 'it says i have to have it to see the web page.' 'could you stick to the porn sites that you can see without downloading anything?'

feh.

on Saturday, i started up IE to see that someone had installed Yahoo! Companion on the browser. i already have the Google toolbar, so the Yahoo! only duplicated the functions. also, i now have Yahoo! Messager installed without my knowledge, and keep finding "Sign Up for AOL Now!" shortcuts on my desktop, neither of which i want (and don't those AOL things appear once you've installed something that's sold its little electronic soul to the evil empire?).

when i first decided to get internet access at home again, i asked my roommates about what they'd be using it for (probing to see if i'd need to worry). 'I just want to be able to check my email!' says one. 'I just want to play Everquest!' says the other. and i believed them. bah! now i have to do like i did whenever my mom wanted to use my computer: no downloading anything. period. i don't care if it says it's a photo of cute fluffy kittens. don't do it. if you're even thinking about violating that rule, you'd damned well better ask me to take a look first. and don't click OK for anything without asking me about it first.

plus, i'll be buying some software to make sure they can't do crap with the computer, except check their email and play Everquest.

my current #1 thing that shouldn't exist but does: line dancing to House of Pain.

formula for a really kick ass movie: kung fu-using samurai vampire dinosaurs from outer space.

old news for some of us, but i thought it worth reposting.

"Key episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer--including the critically acclaimed "The Body" and the Emmy-nominated "Hush"--have been withheld from syndication to give UPN a chance to air them first, the Zap2it Web site reported. UPN worked with Buffy executive producers Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon on picking which episodes to air during the show's brief three-week hiatus in December. "Hush" will air Dec. 11 at 8 p.m., followed by "The Body" on Dec. 18 and "Buffy vs. Dracula" on Dec. 25. New episodes will continue airing on New Year's Day."

"Buffy vs. Dracula" is most definitely a Christmas episode. more old news that is definitely worth reposting (because i'm getting hits from people looking for this info).

"Fox Home Entertainment announced the release of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season-one DVD set on Jan. 15, 2002. The set will include all 12 episodes of the fantasy series, which is currently in its sixth season.

The DVD will feature commentary by series creator Joss Whedon, interviews with Whedon and co-star David Boreanaz (Angel), the pilot script, the original trailer, DVD-ROM links, images and biographies, Fox announced. The set will carry a suggested retail price of $39.98 in the United States."

a poster for the up-coming Blade sequel (please, god, let there be lots of swords in this!)

also, Aaliyah Online has one for Queen of the Damned. (please, god, let there be lots of swords in this! or much vampiric biting carnage!)

months ago, i read an article that asked whether or not Angel Eyes was a supernatural thriller. the answer from the director was "The supernatural aspect of it is love. Love is supernatural." (actually, that's just stupid. it's natural. someone send Louis Mandoki an American Heritage please).

anyway, i saw it last night (VSG wanted to see it). i can answer that question now. it is neither supernatural, nor a thriller. this is another of those 'Is it over yet?' movies. BORING! it takes all of 5 minutes to figure it all out. it made me wish i'd had a fifth of anything to pass the time with.

i gave this movie an honest chance. i think Jennifer Lopez is a cardboard actress. though her performance in this was much better than anything else i've seen her in, i still couldn't like her. she evoked no pathos. i couldn't care about her or any other character. there was no chemistry between the two leads, and the backstory was a hokey attempt to get the audience to say 'oh, such pain! and she fixed it for him!' blech. and what was the crap about her and her father? who cares!

btw, the DVD extras suck. nothing worth noting there. geez, i'd rather sit through a Hugh Grant film marathon than see Angel Eyes again.

also saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch. much better! effectively washed the foul Jennifer-Lopez-film taste out of my mouth.

my number one reason for hating co-workers on a Monday morning:

rather than make a fresh pot of coffee when they've taken the last cup of the current pot, they'll turn the coffee maker off. it takes less than 30 seconds to start a pot, and the bastards are too lazy to do it.

today is 'Bonk the Noggin Day' for terrence. i've only been awake for 90 minutes and i've already hit my head three times. mondays suck.