All I Said Was…

Conan O’Brien left the building last night with dignity, style and class. Sadly, I can’t say the same about his predecessor/successor. Go Team Conan!

So it aired a few weeks back, but it’s taken me a bit to try to digest it and try not to immediately dismiss it out of hand or rant against it out of spite or bitterness.  That said, I’m disappointed in it. Once again our new Number Six resigns from his position and suddenly finds himself in the Village. The problem is, where Patrick McGoohan was a walking caldron of rage and defiance to find himself in the Village, James Caviezel looks befuddled, confused and generally disinterested.

Visually, the show looks great. It also has all the nods to the classic series – Rover, the endless dark hallway in certain scenes, a Penny Farthing bicycle, and the clearest indications that this is meant to be an extension to the original series; the old man who is clearly meant to be the McGoohan Number Six and when the new Number Six and Number Two visit the old man’s apartment and we see it’s the McGoohan apartment from the original series. The new Village, instead of a potpourri of architecture types and endless streams of marching band music designed to keep you off balance is replaced with a charming oasis in a desert and Villagers now finally get to drive on their own as there are a variety of classic and classic looking vehicles moving along carefully groomed streets in the Village now.

Unlike the original show, we are also only dealing with one Number Two in this iteration as well, played by Ian McKellen. We also deal with the backstory of Number Two’s whole family on top of this to apparently add some depth to Two and not make him the cypher that the various Twos were in the original series. This family also ties into the conclusion of this new series and while McKellen does his usual fine job, he can’t elevate the production to something inherently interesting. This whole production from top to bottom shows care and attention to detail and every ingredient for success. So why did I hate it?

Well, James Caviezel comes across as a lost office worker who goes into work in his Subaru (one of the sponsors) and resigns – and even his act of resignation (spray painting “RESIGN” in large red letters on the wall) looks half hearted and it almost looks as if he’s about to apologize for the vandalism and volunteer to clean it all up for them. Patrick McGoohan tears into wherever it was that he worked in his Lotus Super 7 and quits dramatically and you knew he meant business in every frame of those scenes. The mind games that the original Prisoner were known for are spun through the new series, but don’t start at the intense level of the original series until around episode 5 and by that time I was already checked out from boredom. There were some good and interesting ideas in there, but they get lost in the shuffle and endless flashbacks to right after his resignation and capture to the Village.

The worst problem I had with this was that in this era of Lost that every mystery must have an answer and the Prisoner here doesn’t fail in spelling everything out for the viewer and practically spoon feeding it to them. This is in direct opposition to the spirit of the original series. Here Number Six really is an office worker and everything you wanted to know about the creation of the Village, why it is there, who runs it, why you can’t escape, everything is explained. In the Patrick McGoohan version, while it is strongly implied that this was a sequel series to Danger Man/Secret Agent Man and Number Six is a resigned secret agent, no questions were answered and the viewer was asked to draw their own conclusions. Having given everything away with pat explanations brings down the original mystique of The Prisoner. Even if you happen to agree with the conclusions drawn by this series, why would they want to do anything to take away from the legitimacy of someone else’s opinions of what the show was about and the meaning behind the Village, Six’s escape attempts, his defiance, etc.?

So, for me it was a letdown, more so since I was feeling fairly enthusiastic about it before broadcast. I wanted it to be good, everyone involved clearly wanted it to be good and to be The Prisoner for the 21st Century, but it’s just going to be a footnote in history. Not New Monkees bad, just…disinteresting and actually a bit full of itself and  having a healthy dose of self-importance, but lacking any strong guidance and vision and clearly no trust for its audience.

It’s been a while…still, that’s why we have Twitter after all. Now that I’ve digested it all, thoughts on the new version of The Prisoner soon. In the meantime, the best of the holidays to you…

So, I updated to version 3.0 3.0.1 (Oh, hey, yeah…could you update one more time, please?) of the AppleTV software for their self-described hobby project/media center device. I do love the end to end, just barely skirting this side of an antitrust lawsuit, seamless integration that the Apple experience provides the end user. It just works, it really does. Before the 3.0 3.0.1 (No, seriously, you’re going to want to update now – we released over the weekend even) software was released however, the AppleTV seemed to lack the polish that the other Apple products had like iTunes, the iPod, etc. The menu system and layout on the AppleTV seemed like it was there as a placeholder, ready to be swapped out at any time for the final, finished product. Functional, but it sure wasn’t much to look at.

With 3.0 3.0.1 (I’m not kidding, it’s in your own best interest to re-update), that’s changed quite a bit. Somewhat. When you first start up the system with the new software, the main menu now has the start of the high polished, Apple-style experience. Fairly logical left to right menus with the items to select in each menu appearing below when you move from section to section. Above the menu is a context-sensitive display of unplayed movies, TV episodes, podcasts, etc. at the top left and along the top right are the most popular or new from each appropriate category from the iTunes store. All with a little Cover Flow love where applicable. All very nice, all very respectable. Until you select one of those menu items and drill down to choose some media to play. Then it all falls apart. After you do something like say get to a list of your TV shows to watch, it turns into the same old menu sorting like in the previous version of the software. The same thought and touches didn’t get to this level for the user to appreciate, and it’s not like the menu system in use is the end-all, be-all. They could have put in a similar cover flow selection style for the sub-menus, and they may indeed try something like this in a future release, but it would have been nice to see a fully-finished product in 3.0 3.0.1 (Oh, in the name of all that is holy PLEASE DO THIS NOW AND UPDATE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!)  and not a wonderful little tease of what it could be once the software is completely revamped. It’s moving in the right direction, I guess I just want it to move a little faster.

A brief update – and why aren’t you following me on Twitter?

The comic art show at the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is well underway. I contributed something to iFanboy about it that you may wish to read.

Also…meet the new Doctor, same as the old Doctor. Just with an American accent…

Green Lantern #1 - It can make a grown man cry

Some notes for those tuning in late, or wondering if I ever do update on a regular basis (hint – I think about it quite often. Thinking and having time to do are often two separate things). The birthday happened last month and it was really one of the best on record. A new grill (Which has changed my outlook on life in general. Grills = yum), a fistfull of games, a keyboard and mouse for my Sega Dreamcast, and then some friends kicked in to help pay off my Green Lantern #1, which wasn’t cheap. I’ll admit to nearly tearing up there a bit when I opened the box with it. Thank you everybody!

This of course puts me well within targeting distance to completing my run of Green Lantern – all of it. Well, not the Golden Age Green Lantern. That will never happen. But the only issue left that’s going to possibly put the hurt on is #59 – the first appearance of fan favorite, Guy Gardner. We’ll keep plugging away slowly and eventually I’ll have the complete run from Showcase #22 to today. Fortunately I started this crazy idea nearly 20 years ago when back issues were to be had for cheap. If I woke up, say last Saturday and the idea popped into my head I would have had to dismiss it immediately due to the incredible impracticality of such an endeavor.

The greatest movie ever made...

I also decided to finally get this little gem of a poster framed and put on the wall. Lest you think this is some mere reprint bought at Comic Con and thrown into a frame bought at Walmart, this is the real deal – an original Wrath of Kahn movie poster. A very much real and original poster right down to the notice at the bottom that the poster is to be returned or destroyed at the end of the theatrical engagement. I believe the kids these days say “woot” with respect to this. I love this movie, I have always loved this movie, and will always love this movie. I love everything about it.

Well…except the end. But that’s another discussion.

But it is in perfect condition, it was never displayed or used and there were no pin holes, creases or folds in it, and there never will be.

All you need is love...

Finally, we come to this week’s big event – the re-release of the Beatles official music catalog on remastered CDs and the release of the Beatles Rock Band on 09-09-09 (don’t forget that the same day was the 10th anniversary of my beloved Dreamcast too!). It was a no-brainer on getting the CD collection. Rock Band on the other hand I went back and forth on a couple times before deciding to take the plunge. Before I put my money down I decided to try one of these music rhythm games to see what the fuss was about and would I even want to have such a thing in my home.

Answer: yes.

I played a PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s (where I got a 97% on We Got the Beat – which upon hearing, Jane was very proud of me for accomplishing that). No, you’re not really playing an instrument (except when drumming – apparently you are hitting the appropriate drum heads in these games so you could come out of this a drummer if you put your mind to it), but you’re having fun. It’s not brain surgery after all. Not to say that musicians don’t work very, very hard when on stage or in the studio, but for those of us who just want to kick back and let their rock and roll fantasies live and breathe a bit – well, it’s fun.

Side note – this week also saw something of a flap over Guitar Hero 5 and Kurt Cobain and some choice comments from Courtney Love. While I really don’t care for Nirvana’s music, and I suspect that she did sign all the appropriate paperwork giving Activision permission to use Kurt as a playable character when Nirvana songs are played, and when other songs are played, she may not have realized the details of the plans. That’s not an excuse for either side. It’s also the same thing with, say, Johnny Cash in the game. You can have Johnny Cash as your avatar when playing “Hungry Like the Wolf” if you want. Same with Cobain. That doesn’t make it right, and I do understand that maybe she wouldn’t want Kurt’s image on screen performing a rap song and she probably was under the impression that it would be Kurt performing Nirvana songs only within the game. I guess look over things a bit closer next time? There’s sympathy…but just a tiny little bit…

Moving on…

Wednesday I went to pick up my game and the CD box set. I figure this would be easy. I pre-ordered the game at GameStop to get the three extra free songs, and then before running over there at lunch to get it, I’d stop at Best Buy to get the box set. Easy. It’s the Beatles – they’ll have a bunch of box sets, this will be a snap. Wrong…and remember, I’m at lunch, the clock is ticking to get back. Best Buy had all the individual CDs, but not the  box set. I wanted the box set. So I went to Borders – they had one box set left and that was on hold for someone. Maybe I should have pre-ordered. The lesson was being learned (but it’s the freaking BEATLES – they should have ordered plenty of them!).

So, on my way to GameStop at the mall, I swung finally by Barnes and Noble – they had two in stock, soon to be one. The price admittedly was a little rich for my blood, but remember the clock was ticking, I love the Beatles, and by that point common sense and rationality had given me a warm hug, kissed me on the cheek, wished me luck in whatever it was I needed to do and left me to my own devices. Oh, and I signed up for their discount card while I was at it. I was one of the lost by this point. But I had my box set. After that, going into GameStop to get my game was a non-event. Go in, think quietly to yourself how much the place has really changed, say nothing about that to the people who work there now, hand them the money, take the game and leave. Fortunately, I got back to work in time (barely) after this little adventure.

Oh, and I still haven’t played the game because I can’t get my guitar to sync to my Playstation 3 wirelessly. But the opening into is AMAZING!

Pics are now up (and have been for a couple days…). I hope you enjoy them. It’s taken me this long to recover enough to post and write about it.

San Diego Comic Con, as you’d probably guess from the pictures, and of course last years (arguably…better[?] pictures) it was a packed madhouse. I didn’t notice as many costumes this year, but it may have been the whirlwind of activity that shielded me from that. I did see Adam Savage from Mythbusters in his Joker henchman outfit (and we of course realize this after the fact once his Twitter feed was read). I clearly remember scoffing at the costume as well – Joker-related costumes were SO last year. Jamie S Rich told me there was a gal on the floor in a TARDIS outfit, but the closest I could find was the Dalek Girl. Oh, Dalek Girl…we shall not have the “Exterminate!” jokes. No, no.

The first night I crashed with Jamie and Jöelle Jones, who were kind enough to let me stay with them after I managed to extend my travel plans by one extra day. It was actually five of us in the same room. Four really. One of our party decided to camp out for the Disney panel in Hall H the next day. Initially she was going to pass, but we cajoled her into it. Hayao Miyazaki was going to be on the panel and she wanted to ask him a question in Japanese as she is in the Japanese program at the University of Oregon. We made sure that she was going to be safe camping out overnight, fortunately there were others there for similar reasons, and security was on site. So Jöelle and Terry made sure that she had some blankets and a pillow and in the morning went to collect them and bring her some coffee. She got second row in the hall (and if you know Hall H – you know it’s a vast cavern-like structure that holds…untold thousands…second row is about as good as it gets). Meanwhile, up in our secret hotel room lair, I got to look over some of Jöelle’s artwork for the upcoming Dr. Horrible comic and hang out.

On this same day was the panel that I was fortunate enough to have been invited to attend! A spotlight panel on Mike Allred. It was just an honor sitting up there with Jamie, Jöelle, and Mike, Laura and Han Allred. I also made the horrible mistake of wearing my new Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars that haven’t been broken in yet. Comic Con is not the time to break shoes in. Ever. They will break your feet instead, and that’s just what happened. You don’t need the details. I also got to move to my regular hotel located in…Fashion Valley. Fashion Valley is nowhere near downtown San Diego. So I had a bit of a hike to the trolley station and a 20 minute trolley ride into the convention. This pretty much wrecked my plans to attend the iFanboy/Totally Rad Show part Friday night. Ah well.

Lessons learned for next year: Travel light (keep traveling light). If Jamie wants to split a room – go for it (and thank you again, Jamie!). Stay close to the con to put anything you get at the show away quickly and easily to get back. Don’t bother with the horribly big, bulky and generally unwieldy messenger bag – just use any shopping bags you get on the show floor and walk about freely. Make your plans and be ready to scrap them. Stay an extra day to recover and fly out leisurely. Arrive a day early to get situated and meet up with people you came to see but might not get to spend lots of time with once the show starts up in full swing.

Still – it was a blast! Next year is the third year back – third time is a charm!

I’ve got no words…none whatsoever…cuts like a knife…

Sarah and I have got the install, configuration and tweaking all done, so Team Wiedlin is proud to announce the re-opening of http://www.janewiedlin.com. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed putting it all together!