Like Looking in a Mirror . . .

The Facts Are These . . .

Well, rumor has it that "Pushing Daisies" is gone after the thirteen episodes ABC ordered for this season (I'll forgo the obvious death jokes). That's too bad, it was a really great show, though, admittedly it was probably a bit to quirky to survive on network television. Still, I'll definitely miss it. The good news is that, apparently, creator Bryan Fuller plans to wrap up the story in a comic (so I'll get some closure). The other bright side, if his earlier statements are true, Fuller will return to "Heroes" now that Daisies is cancelled; maybe he can help right the ship over there (though I'd much rather have new "Pushing Daisies").

Oh well, yet another show to add to the "Brilliant, but cancelled" list.

Musical Self-Analysis

I was looking at the Recently Played list onmy iPod and I started to wonder what the songs I listen to say about me. So, let's take a look at the ten songs (because ten is such a nice round number) I've most recently listened to:

1) Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn, and John
2) Very Loud by Shout Out Louds
3) Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez
4) When Did Your Heart Go Missing by Rooney
5) Stolen by Dashboard Confessional
6) Boe by The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
7) Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
8) American Girl by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
9) Maybe Katie by Barenaked Ladies
10) Eyes by Rogue Wave

So, what information can I gleen from this list? Well, numbers one through three speak to a recent fascination with Sweedish indie bands that goes back to an episode of Studio 360 from a few month back. Very Loud was also featured in ads for "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist," a movie that I missed when it was in theaters, but that I very much want to see.

I have an embarassing admission to go along with number four. I, of my own volition, watched "Nancy Drew". And I don't mean just had it on in the background, I actually sat there and watched the thing. For those that are unaware, I'm not, in fact, a twelve year-old girl, yet I still sat there paying attention to this entire movie. As a mitigating factor, I did watch it on TV (going to a theater for it would have just been wierd). The movie ends, the credits start to roll and this song starts playing. It's catchy and the lyrics are slightly inappropriate for a kids movie, and so I make it a point to track it down.

Number six on the list tells us that I'm a gigantic nerd. But then we all already knew that, didn't we? It's a bit of score from Doctor Who, played most notably at the end of the thrid season finale.

Number seven is, of course, the Oscar-winning song from the movie "Once". I've mentioned before how fond I am of this song, so all I'll add is that I highly recommend the movie to everyone. The fact that I still have the song in heavy rotation over a year later perhaps speaks to my obsessive nature.

I feel like I've been programmed to like number ten; it's appeared on so many TV shows that I've watched in the last couple of years. I guess that means I'm highly impressionable.

No He Didn't!

Hah! Okay, they got me. I like this, it even has a nice history lesson embedded in it. Kudos, Marvel, kudos. Now if you can only pick up the pacing on Secret Invasion.

Colbert Wins!

So, apparently over in the Marvel Universe, Stephen Colbert (who's ironic and abortive real-world campaign was for real in the Marvel Universe) won yesterday's election. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Sure, in the moment it's silly fun and I'm sure it'll earn Joe Quesada another appearance on The Colbert Report (making it a great marketing tool), but long term, is this really the best thing for Marvel creatively?


In 2000, DC Comics had Lex Luthor win that year's presidential election (I'd say that a President Luthor would be an improvement over a President Bush, but Luthor did allow Topeka, Kansas to be destroyed by alien invaders, so that's one up for Bush (Oh, and Bush didn't have to be forcibly removed from office by the Justice League, so there's two for him)). I thought it was a great idea story-wise, but that's one of the main differences. DC's fictional president was elected as part of the ongoing story of the DC Universe. Marvel's fictional president is largely a stunt. The other difference goes to the difference between the Marvel and DC Universes. Marvel has always prided itself on trying to tie its world to the real world as closely as possible for a super-hero universe, so the president in the Marvel Universe has always been the same as the one in the real world. Major events in the real world reverberate in the Marvel Universe. Admittedly, it's a silly premise when you think about it too hard (given that the "realistic" Marvel Universe is currently in the midst of an alien invasion story), but it's part of the flavor of environment in which the stories take place. I guess my question is this, do the writers at Marvel really want to live with this long term? Will they or will it be quickly forgotten.

Okay, I'm devoting too much thought to this thing. It's just silly fun, so I'll just sit back and enjoy it.

Good News/Bad News

Good News: President-Elect Obama. I've been an eager supporter of Obama from early on, but I hadn't realized how emotionally invested I was in his candidacy until the networks started projecting him as the winner. I got a real lump in my throat; seriously, this is the most emotional I've ever felt about the results of any election. There's probably more to say about it, but it's so new, I haven't completely gotten my mind around the reality of it yet. But really, how great is this: President-Elect Obama.

Edit: Stephen Fry's response on Twitter sums it up pretty well, "Malagasy people grinning from ear to ear. The world so wants to love America and now they can again."

Bad News: William Jefferson. How does this guy keep getting re-elected (okay, he just won the Democratic nomination tonight, but in this district, the Democrat is going to win). The feds found $90,000 in cash in the guy's freezer and is under indictment for corruption. That old Edwin Edwards quote seems to apply to Jefferson, too: "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy".

Why?

Why vote for this guy? Yes, I understand that he hasn't been convicted of anything yet, but shouldn't we ask our leaders to avoid even the appearance of impropriety? (And honestly, is there any legitimate reason to store $90,000 in cash in your freezer?)

Sigh.

Random Video featuring "Vote for Lando"

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