Month: August 2006

Another meme-type thing stolen from Merrie…

D'Arque Bishop

1. Who is the last person you held hands with?
Er… don’t remember, honestly.

2. If you were drafted into a war, would you survive?
That’s debatable.

4. Have you ever drank milk straight out of the carton?
Not that I can remember.

5. Have you ever won a spelling bee?
Nope.

7. How fast can you type?
I don’t know, though I’m told it’s pretty damn fast considering I’m a two-fingered typist.

8. Are you afraid of the dark?
Nope.

9. Eye color?
Light blue.

11. When is the last time you chose a bath over a shower?
Years upon years ago.

12. Do you knock on wood?
Particle board counts, right?

13. Are you drinking anything right now?
I just finished a bottle of Shiner Bock.

15. Can you hula hoop?
Nope.

16. Are you good at keeping secrets?
I’m in IT. I have to be.

17. What do you want for Christmas?
Books, CDs, DVDs, and games.

18. Do you know the Muffin Man?
Isn’t he the Michelin Man’s cousin?

19. Do you talk in your sleep?
No, I snore loud enough to be heard across the house.

20. Who wrote the book of love?
Whoever wrote the Kama Sutra.

21. Have you ever flown a kite?
I think I was in second grade the last time I did.

23. Do you consider yourself successful?
I’d like to think so.

24. How many people are on your contact list of your cell?
138, though to be fair it IS linked to my Outlook contact list at the office.

25. Have you ever asked for a pony?
Nope.

26. Plans for tomorrow?
Work, work, and more work. (With lunch possibly provided by a consultant.)

28. Missing someone now?
Nope.

29. When was the last time you told someone ‘I love you’?
I don’t remember.

31. How are you feeling today?
A bit overheated, but good. (I had to go into an non-air conditioned area today.)

32. Are you black?
No.

33. Have you ever been suspended or expelled from school?
Nope.

34. What are you looking forward to?
The three-day weekend, and maybe a working vacation in October.

35. Have you ever crawled through a window?
I don’t remember having done so.

37. Have you ever eaten dog food?
I’ve never been that desperate for food.

38. Can you handle the truth?
Yes.

39. Do you like green eggs and ham?
As long as the green isn’t fungal in nature…

41. Any cool scars?
Eh, only if you count the one on my upper lip.

42. Do you like or have a crush on anyone? Do they know?
Possibly, and no.

43. How many kids do you plan on having?
I have no idea. Let me find a wife and I’ll get back to you.

44. What do you do when no one is watching?
That’s my secret.

45. Have you ever been in love?
Yes.

46. Do you talk to yourself?
Yes.

47. Is there something you want that you can’t have?
Yeah, but it’s all unrealistic stuff like my very own TARDIS… :-)

48. Three things about the opposite sex that you FIRST notice?
Their eyes, their smile, and their attitude.

49. Who are you thinking about right now?
No one.

50. Who did you last hug?
Ironically enough, Meredith on Saturday.

51. Where is your phone?
It’s on my desk, charging.

52. What was the last thing you ate?
Dinner, consisting of bowtie pasta in a tomato meat sauce, and garlic cheese toast.

53. Favorite color?
Black.

55. What is the last movie watced?
V for Vendetta.

56. What song do you currently hear?
Some weird techno song on the DirecTV music station.

57. What do you want?
Let me get back to you on that.

58. Would you ever date anyone on your friends list?
Depends on who it is.

59. What TV Show are you watching?
The TV’s switched off.

60. What is your cell phone number?
That information is available on a need to know basis.

An updated Star Trek: The Original Series in the works?

D'Arque Bishop

http://trekmovie.com/2006/08/28/star-trek-tos-gets-redone-with-new-cgi/

Before JJ Abrams gets to bring the TOS era back to the big screen in Star Trek XI, CBS Paramount has a secret plan to get it back on the small screen, but with a makeover. Over a month ago it was announced that CBS was selling a new broadcast TV (not cable) syndication package for the original series. At the time it seemed a bit odd to try selling a 40 year old show to local TV stations, especially after it has just been sold to yet another cable outlet (this time TV Land…home of retro TV). The Trek Movie Report has now learned from trusted insiders, that CBS Paramount are actually offering an HDTV enhanced version of the Original Series with new state-of-the art CGI visual effects.

The ‘new’ Star Trek
Details are still being finalized, but ccording to sources, the bulk of shows will be as originally shot, with the new effects limited to the space sequences and the opening credits. In addition, TrekMovie.com has learned that some of the music is being redone (presumably for the opening title sequence). There are conflicting reports on exactly how many episodes are getting the ‘enhanced treatment’, but is possible that it is not all 79 original episodes. This also does not seem to be linked to the recent announcement for the Original Series to begin airing on TV Land in November, they will be showing the classic series in it’s original form. No word yet on if or when the enhanced series will be available on DVD, BluRay, or HD-DVD, but it appears that the newly enhanced shows will first appear in broadcast syndication this fall (so check local listings!). So far the Trek Movie Report has not been able to get an official comment from CBS Paramount, but TMR hears that an announcement from them will be coming very soon.

Granted, this is a rumour, but it would be very interesting if they did it. It sounds like all they’re changing are the space FX shots, and not changing anything involving the actors; if they did, I probably wouldn’t mind picking these up on DVD. I don’t mind updated effects shots. It’s when they start screwing with the story (Greedo shooting first, anyone?) that I start getting annoyed.

So who IS the Ultimate MK Fanatic?

D'Arque Bishop

Before anyone starts griping about the formatting of this message, I’m testing out a new version of Postie for the site; I’m writing this post via email.
Anyway, yesterday Midway and GameSpot announced they were going to hold the search for the “Ultimate Mortal Kombat Fanatic”. If you want to take a look at the press release, you can see it here. Anyway, to enter, one needs to submit a short movie describing how they are the ultimate MK fan, and the winner gets to go to GameSpot’s world headquarters in San Francisco and play Mortal Kombat: Armageddon against Ed Boon himself. It should be interesting to see how that goes…
The funny thing is, the two fans I would have expected to win, Jeff Henry/DECEPTION/samus_aran3900 or Bezo, are ineligible. Apparently the contest is only open to entries from within the United States. I also had to send an email to the other MK Online staff members asking them not to enter. The few I would expect to do a good job in the contest actually have already met Ed and played against him, so it wouldn’t really be fair on anyone else.
Still, like I said before, it should be interesting to see who wins. I’m hoping it’s an MK Online member, myself, but then that’s just me. I guess we’ll just wait and see…

Today’s semi-amusing conversation…

D'Arque Bishop

This conversation happened earlier on AIM between myself and CCShadow…

DArqueBishop: Here’s something I don’t understand.
CCShadow: forty….two…
CCShadow: :-P
DArqueBishop: Why does Stargate Command use Dell XPS laptops?
CCShadow: its obvious
CCShadow: Ancients use Windows
DArqueBishop: No wonder their species died out.
DArqueBishop: They do seem to be susceptible to wide-ranging virus plagues.
CCShadow: hahah

(Yes, you do have to be familiar with Stargate SG-1 to get it. Sorry. :-) )

One additional bit of fun from Saturday…

D'Arque Bishop

I knew I forgot something when talking about last night.

Among the festivities for our easily-amused selves was a bit of science-type fun involving, well… mixing Mentos and Diet Coke. :-) Sean and Jinny brought the Mentos and two two-liter bottles of Diet Coke, and before the first movie started we decided to mix it up in one of the bottles. After the second movie was over, we did it with the second bottle too.

I went ahead and took video of the first bottle going up; it’s from my camera’s phone, and keep in mind that lighting was horrible and that my phone’s camera isn’t too stellar to begin with. Those of you having difficulty even opening it might have luck using Quicktime. And, for your amusement… Diet Coke and Mentos exploding…

Ah, well… like I said, we were easily amused. :-)

Another lazy Sunday…

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

Well, here I am on another lazy Sunday. It’s been more or less uneventful for the most part; I’m sitting down in the kitchen having a soda, working on my laptop, and listening to music on my headphones. I should say it was uneventful except for one thing, which I’ll get to in a bit. Right now, though, I’m taking a break from doing some MK Online-related work. There’s an upcoming project I’m getting materials and proposals ready for, and it’s not exactly the most fun thing I’ve ever done. Ah, well…

The most eventful thing that happened this weekend was that I went over to a moviefest being held over at Becky’s and Brian’s (dude, if I got your name wrong, punch me out later; I’m HORRIBLE with names :-/) house; apparently they have them every so often, and the theme of last night’s moviefest was Austin Powers movies. Sean and Jinny were there, as well as Merrie and Jonathan (her new husband), not to mention a whole score of people I hadn’t met yet. The evening was quite fun, and I rather enjoyed myself. :-) The only regret was that we couldn’t see Goldmember, but that was perfectly understandable as Becky wasn’t feeling well and it was getting late as it was. Apparently the next moviefest will be a Monty Python marathon; I’ll be all over that one. :-)

Speaking of good movies, I saw a really good one Thursday evening: Good Night, and Good Luck. I’ll probably end up putting that one in my permanent collection. For those not aware, it’s about Edward R. Murrow and his confrontations with Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the early 50’s. It’s a powerful film, and I highly recommend it. The next film in my Netflix queue is V for Vendetta; that’s another one I’m really looking forward to. I’ll likely get it on Tuesday.

And now, I suppose I should get back to work on this MK Online stuff… fun fun…

And now, the answers…

D'Arque Bishop

I’ll go ahead and give the answers to the story list meme, seeing as I’ve given everyone a couple of days… :-)

1) Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor.

2) Battlestar Galactica (new, not old): Kara “Starbuck” Thrace.

3) Mortal Kombat: Shang Tsung, guessed by ACJ.

4) Star Trek: The Original Series: Montgomery Scott, guessed by Sh|fter.

5) Batman: Ra’s al Ghul.

6) The Dark Tower: Eddie Dean.

7) Lost in Space: Dr. Zachary Smith.

8) Red Dwarf: Dave Lister.

9) Gargoyles: David Xanatos.

10) Darkwing Duck: Negaduck.

A followup to the SG-1 cancellation story…

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/08/cooper_isg-1i_will_go_on.shtml

Don’t count Stargate SG-1 out just yet. Though SCI FI Channel has cancelled the long-running series (story), the show’s producers are hard at work looking for a new outlet for the story to continue, executive producer Robert C. Cooper told GateWorld exclusively.

“As far as the future I can’t comment yet because nothing has been confirmed,” Cooper said. “What we want to emphasize is that the franchise is not dying. SG-1 will go on in some way. We’re just not ready to announce how.”

A formal announcement from the studio and the network is expected later this week.

Cooper also emphasizes that, though emotions are running high among Stargate fans who have just learned the news, it is important to keep the show’s ratings strong throughout the remainder of its run on SCI FI. “What’s most important is that fans don’t take out their frustration with SCI FI by not watching,” he said. “In fact, what they need to do is watch both SG-1 and Atlantis LIVE and make sure the ratings stay strong.

“That helps prove to other outlets that might be interested in SG-1 that the show is still as strong as we think it is.”

Well, that’s a good sign, at least. I guess all we can do now is wait and see…

Stargate SG-1 ending its run on Sci-Fi…

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=2&id=37607

SCI FI Channel confirmed that it will not renew its record-breaking original series Stargate SG-1 for another season, but will pick up its spinoff series Stargate Atlantis for a fourth year. SG-1 aired its 200th episode on Aug. 18, and the SF series is the longest-running SF show on American television.

SCI FI issued the following statement on Aug. 21: “SCI FI Channel is proud to be the network that brought Stargate SG-1 to its record-breaking 10th season. Ten seasons and 215 episodes is an astounding, Guinness World Record-setting accomplishment. Stargate is a worldwide phenomenon. Having achieved so much over the course of the past 10 years, SCI FI believes that the time is right to make this season their last on the channel. SCI FI is honored to have been part of the Stargate legacy for five years, and we look forward to continuing to explore the Stargate universe with our partners at MGM through a new season of Stargate Atlantis.”

Well, damn. Granted, an 11th season was already signed by MGM, but there’s no telling whether they’ll just buy out the contracts of those involved or shop the show to another network. Ah, well… maybe they’ll do us a favor and resolve the Ori storyline before they go out…