Weird Vision's World

Seriously? Well, it’s true I don’t normally follow TV series, not unless they happen to be on, I can’t fall asleep and there’s nothing else being aired beside football or politics. Hell, I haven’t followed a series week by week since the X-files, and even then it didn’t last more than 3, or was that 4?, seasons before getting bored and giving up on it. But, since Dean admitted that his guilty pleasure was hospital soaps, I guess I can also confess I have a soft spot for Supernatural without looking worse than he does doing it. I mean, he watches it for the cute nurses and I watch it for the hot guys in it, or at least in the beginning I did, which is understandable, but I still think I get better entertainment value by doing so.

I was vaguely aware of Supernatural thanks to a couple of friends who are fans of the show, or the actors/characters, whatever, but I haven’t bothered to watch it until this fall. One late night a Supernatural episode was on, the remote was running out of batteries, so I thought to leave it on until I fell asleep. It wasn’t even a good one, Metamorphosis from the 4^th season, it was unusually gory for me and that usually puts me off. Still, I stoically watched it till the end and the last scene kinda paid off and made up for less enthralling parts. The second episode I watched was Monster Movie, the one shot in black and white. Very good direction and photography, but again not exactly my cup of tea especially since it had vampires and none other than Dracula himself. At this point I decided it was not worth losing my good night sleep over it.

Moving on to a few days later… this time it was the two parts angels episodes, quite a change from the previously watched ones. I watched them and I was hooked. That caused a logistical problem because it was already middle of season 4 and I came to the realization that I missed a lot and it wasn’t going to work. So this led me to following steps to fix the problem: 1. find all seasons’ episodes and 2. watch them. I’ve gotta say I was very busy the entire month of October, but with a lot of stubbornness and determination, you know me, I managed to catch up with the show, including the new episodes recently aired.

As a general conclusion, season 1 & 2 are rather average and not exactly memorable, though the quality of the show is increasing as we go until things start to heat up by the middle of season 3 and sky rocket from there. Season 4 was quite, let’s quote Dean, awesome actually, the best so far. Season 5 still hasn’t had me convinced as it seems to have returned to the monster of the week routine, which I don’t appreciate at all, but it does have two of the best episodes ever. And this brings us to the reasons of this post… this was one long introduction, I know.

Episode 8, Changing Channels. Now this episode is somewhere at the top of the best comedy episodes list, probably as good as Yellow Fever. It spoofs several TV shows, some old, some new, and since I said I don’t follow TV series I don’t doubt I missed a few things, but I was familiar enough with them to enjoy the experience as a whole. Enjoy is not the right word for it really. The whole thing was absolutely hilarious, from the bright green set of a sitcom filmed in front of a live audience, to the opening credits, the Incredible Hulk mention, the hospital drama, Japanese game show, false medical commercial, criminal procedure and KITT’s appearance. The list of funny moments, facial expressions and spot on delivered lines could continue for a long time because there is no pause, no stop to breathe… until one point towards the end when things get serious again so much that it makes you wanna hold your breath and see what happens next.

But let’s not forget that this is a Trickster episode, the playful demi-god introduced in Tall Tales, in which he makes the Winchester brothers fight with each other, and who reappears in Mystery Spot, where he kills Dean again and again… and again. So no wonder the boys remember him and they don’t do it fondly at all. Like we’ve learned in the previous two episodes, things start by being lots of fun, well, maybe not for the boys but definitely for the viewers, only to turn dramatically serious, and close to deadly towards the end.

The revelation regarding the Trickster being the archangel Gabriel was totally unexpected and possibly a bit too much. It’s hard to imagine Gabriel being the playful hedonist guy with a sweet tooth who can bend reality in any way he wants. I initially found the character annoying, but after repeated appearances I sort of got used to it and disliked it less. He certainly keeps the boys on their toes and the verbal confrontation between him and Dean at the end was very powerful. Some truths were said there, and I especially liked the way Dean commanded the whole thing and his determination not to let the powerful ones have it their way but make his own destiny. It remains to be seen if he made any impression on Gabriel with his speech and if he managed to get him on their side.

It was a bit surprising to discover that Sam still doesn’t realize how wrong he used to be with his behavior towards Dean, and that’s also underlined during the Japanese game show and possibly that’s why he got hit in the nuts as punishment, and he also doesn’t care for morals and wants to sideline with the enemy in hope to win the war and stop the apocalypse. One would think he should have learned something by now. On the other hand I saw people commenting on the answer given by Dean during the same Japanese game show and concluding that he resented his brother for their parents’ death. I think things are much simpler than that. It’s an undeniable truth the fact that if Sam hadn’t existed there would have been no reason for their parents to be killed and Dean is not known for hiding around the bush but telling things the way they are, so he did. It doesn’t mean he holds a grudge against Sam for something he’s not responsible of. Of course, hearing Dean starting to speak Japanese out of the blue was one of the highlights of the show for me along with Sam operating procedure in the surgery room.

Random giggle or ROFLMAO moments:

* Dean: I’m gonna need a bigger mouth. (while looking at the giant sandwich he’s just made for himself)

* Dean: Son of a bitch! (that was priceless)

* The boys riding the tandem bicycle.

* Actually the entire credit sequence and the soundtrack used were hilarious.

* Dean watching a medical soap opera while dressed as a FBI agent. Sam asking when he hit menopause.

* Dean asking the woman they were interrogating, and who claimed she saw the Incredible Hulk, if it was the one from the Bana or Norton movie and her replying that those movies were terrible.

* Dean going all fanboy inside the medical soap and knowing everything about everybody.

* Sam: This show has a ghost? Why! (probably because they paid Jeffrey Dean Morgan better to play the ghost in Grey’s Anatomy than the boys’ father in Supernatural, I’d say)

* Sam repeatedly getting slapped and being called brilliant, brilliant doctor.

* There actually was a Dr. Sexy whose look reminded me of Patrick Dempsy.

* Dean having a man crush on Dr. Sexy. (not sure that was a good idea to put it in the show, now we’ll never hear the end of it.

* Dr. Sexy: Doctor.
Dean: Doctor.
Sam nods and Dean slaps him from behind.
Sam: Doctor.

* Trickster: Heelloooo! (points at his face)

* Dean: It’s a guilty pleasure. (after having previously stated he’s not a fan of the show)

* Sam: I don’t know how to use any of this crap.
Dean: Well, figure it out! (lying on his stomach on the operation table with a bullet in his back)
Sam: OK, I’ll need a pen knife, dental floss, sewing needle, and a fifth of whiskey. (it worked!)

* The lady doctor touching the window with her hand and mouthing “I love you” after Sam is done operating on Dean’s back.

* Sappy elevator music used during the entire hospital segment.

* The use of seriously up to nausea. Seriously!

* The faces Dean makes during the Nutcracker Japanese game show, especially when Sam gets kicked in the nuts.

* Castiel bursting in and being sent away in a flash with the Japanese host commenting that Mr. Trickster doesn’t like pretty boys angels.

* Dean speaking Japanese. The face he makes when he realizes he’s won the game.

* The faux genital herpes commercial. Enough said.

* Return to the sitcom with the same “Son of a bitch!”

* The boys wonder how long they have to keep doing this. Sam says maybe forever and that they might die in there.
The audience laughs.
Dean: How was that funny?! Vultures…

* Castiel getting his ass kicked again. (frankly his presence was pretty much unnecessary during the entire episode, dunno why he bothered)

* The boys show up at a crime scene wearing black suits, blue shirts and dark sunglasses, at night.

* Dean: I'm wearing sunglasses at night. You know who does that? No talent douche bags.

* Dean: I hate that we're in a procedural cop show, and you want to know why? Because I hate procedural cop shows. There's like 300 of them on television, and they're all the freakin' same. It's like, 'Oooh, a plane crashed here.' Oh, shut up!"

* The boys taking off their glasses and putting them back on and crossing the police line are hilarious. The rest of the scene is so cheesy it’s hard not to laugh. I didn’t recognize the shot with the stake stabbing the heart, it didn’t seem to fit, so I’m assuming it’s from CSI: Miami. If that show is anything like this then it’s one crappy show.

* Day-Z motel sign.

* Sam and the Impala merging together to produce the KITT car.

* Sam: Um, Dean… that’s really uncomfortable. (while Dean has his hands in the trunk… sigh, I wish the producers didn’t listen to a certain part of the fans and stopped inserting hints like this. We’ll never hear the end of this either.)

* Sam: Should I honk? (while Dean is calling the Trickster)

* Dean: Nobody's going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs.
Trickster: What's the difference? Satan's going to ride his ass one way or another.
Sam gets out of the car and rubs his behind.

* Dean: You might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass. (referring to the holy oil they used to trap the Trickster in a circle)

* Dean: Well, call it personal experience, but nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family.

* Trickster/Gabriel: You don't know my family. What you guys call the Apocalypse, I used to call Sunday dinner.

* Gabriel: How’s the search for Daddy going? Let me guess, awful. (asking Castiel)

* Dean: Don't say I never did anything for you. (then he pulls the fire alarm which turns on the sprinkler and releases Gabriel)

* Dean: Right about now, I wish I was back in a TV show.

Hat off to the leading actors, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, and the guest star, Richard Speight, Jr., they did an awesome job here.

Ending on a less optimistic note, dunno what to think about that, but Gabriel’s confession that “it's just gonna end bloody for all of us” got me a little concerned. Maybe there is no riding off in the sunset at the end, and I would really hate that. Too bad they’re doing the much anticipated body swap earlier in the season, as a writer I would save it for the big finale. At this point Dean is the only one capable to stand up to Lucifer and he’d have more chances to do it if they were inhabiting the same meat suit, Sam’s. And with a little luck, we can hope that Castiel did some improvement to Dean’s body when he pulled him out of hell so he won’t be too damaged by Michael, or maybe Sam can fight Michael off. Oh, I’d like that!

OK, I’m done, unless something outstanding happens I won’t comment again on the subject until the end of the season, and hopefully show.

Seriously!

PS. Here's a visual recap of the episode... sort of:
http://community.livejournal.com/jensenated/75020.html

Later edit: I'm still puzzled how they could come up after this brilliant episode with something such lame like the Supernatural convention one. I'm almost embarressed I took the time to comment on Changing Channels for a change. Maybe next week things will pick up again. Sigh.

Friday, November 6, 2009

2009 Cup of China

2009 Cup of China
Beijing, China
29.10.2009 - 01.11.2009

Men

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Nobunari ODA

JPN

239.58

Evan LYSACEK

USA

232.17

Sergei VORONOV

RUS

220.39

Samuel CONTESTI

ITA

207.85

Yannick PONSERO

FRA

195.12

Stephen CARRIERE

USA

195.08

Chao YANG

CHN

189.99

Kevin REYNOLDS

CAN

188.47

Jinlin GUAN

CHN

187.95

Denis TEN

KAZ

182.63

Armin MAHBANOOZADEH

USA

176.53

Ming XU

CHN

163.57

Ladies

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Akiko SUZUKI

JPN

176.66

Kiira KORPI

FIN

163.27

Joannie ROCHETTE

CAN

163.18

Rachael FLATT

USA

157.71

Mirai NAGASU

USA

155.38

Carolina KOSTNER

ITA

154.18

Fumie SUGURI

JPN

145.99

Diane SZMIETT

CAN

144.28

Yan LIU

CHN

132.80

Beatrisa LIANG

USA

131.39

Bingwa GENG

CHN

121.20

Binshu XU

CHN

Pairs

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Xue SHEN / Hongbo ZHAO

CHN

200.97

Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG

CHN

186.49

Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Stanislav MOROZOV

UKR

170.79

Meagan DUHAMEL / Craig BUNTIN

CAN

157.60

Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA / Nodari MAISURADZE

RUS

153.30

Huibo DONG / Yiming WU

CHN

146.49

Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG

USA

140.32

Vanessa JAMES / Yannick BONHEUR

FRA

134.77

Ice Dance

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO

USA

194.51

Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI

RUS

180.57

Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI

ITA

179.92

Anna ZADOROZHNIUK / Sergei VERBILLO

UKR

158.09

Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI

ISR

156.86

Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE

CAN

151.87

Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG

CHN

151.40

Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN

USA

149.17

Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG

CHN

137.76

Sunday, November 1, 2009

First Step of Getting Published

So I'm getting published. No, it's not a novel. As it happens I haven't written that one yet. It's a short story, really short, called "The Souls of the Trees".

For over a year now I've been a member of Atelier Kult, an on-line literary workshop. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not one of the most active members, I've only got three stories posted there and they are not even my best ones. I received some good advices there, critics and praises, and I got insulted for my own critics. Oh, well... Let's just say it was an interesting experience.

About four years ago a selection of texts was published as a fantasy anthology and now they want to repeat the experience. Imagine my surprise when last month I was contacted regarding one of my stories, which they wanted to include in the new anthology. The title is "Dancing on Mars and Other Fantasy Stories" and mine is just one out of 19 stories. The poor thing will get lost among them, though I've read most part of the others and it won't be in such bad company, considering the fact that they are all new aspiring writers.

The book is announced here on the publisher's blog, and it can be seen and ordered here. No detailed description available so far.

What freaks me out a little is how easily it happened, especially without me having to put too much effort into it. I remember when I turned 28 I promised myself I would give myself two more years of writing whatever silliness I felt like doing, and then I would seriously focus on writing. Two years later I had one story published in an on-line magazine, the same story won an award later on, and now another story is about to be published on paper this time. Who would have thought? Definitely not me. I mean, I've always known I would write and publish someday, but not so soon.

Hmm, I guess it's time to go back to work and start on a new story. The theme is imposed but there's no word limit. Yey, happy me! I'll let you know how it went in three months.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

2009 Rostelecom Cup (used to be Cup of Russia)

2009 Rostelecom Cup
(used to be Cup of Russia)
22.10.2009-25.10.2009
Moscow, Russia

Results

Men

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Evgeni PLUSHENKO

RUS

240.65

Takahiko KOZUKA

JPN

215.13

Artem BORODULIN

RUS

201.55

Johnny WEIR

USA

198.55

Kevin VAN DER PERREN

BEL

189.33

Adrian SCHULTHEISS

SWE

185.02

Brandon MROZ

USA

181.80

Shawn SAWYER

CAN

179.58

Florent AMODIO

FRA

171.65

Ivan TRETIAKOV

RUS

164.30

Ari-Pekka NURMENKARI

FIN

149.91

Ladies

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Miki ANDO

JPN

171.93

Ashley WAGNER

USA

163.97

Alena LEONOVA

RUS

160.06

Alissa CZISNY

USA

158.30

Mao ASADA

JPN

150.28

Julia SEBESTYEN

HUN

148.50

Amelie LACOSTE

CAN

139.39

Jenna MCCORKELL

GBR

134.70

Oksana GOZEVA

RUS

128.52

Katarina GERBOLDT

RUS

117.77

Annette DYTRT

GER

109.74

Anastasia GIMAZETDINOVA

UZB

108.46

Pairs

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Qing PANG / Jian TONG

CHN

191.33

Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV

RUS

180.14

Keauna MCLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER

USA

160.55

Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV

RUS

156.28

Nicole DELLA MONICA / Yannick KOCON

ITA

150.86

Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL

CAN

148.43

Anastasia MARTIUSHEVA / Alexei ROGONOV

RUS

138.17

Maria SERGEJEVA / Ilja GLEBOV

EST

128.62

Ice Dance

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE

USA

201.10

Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE

ITA

168.57

Ekaterina RUBLEVA / Ivan SHEFER

RUS

163.32

Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER

CAN

157.00

Anastasia PLATONOVA / Alexander GRACHEV

RUS

153.22

Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO

RUS

147.92

Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK

CZE

146.95

Katherine COPELY / Deividas STAGNIUNAS

LTU

146.76

Carolina HERMANN / Daniel HERMANN

GER

134.69

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Host - Casting Call

I'm a little behind with the news having found out just now that Stephenie Meyer's novel The Host is going to make it to the big screen. I was never too captivated by her Twilight saga, but The Host is a completely different story. I really liked the book, maybe because it is sci fi and not fantasy and it's aimed at a more mature audience for a change. Sure, the book has its flaws, the first hundred of pages could disappear and no one would miss them, and it becomes quite a tearjerker in places, but as a whole reading it was a pleasant experience for me and the characters haunted me for a while.

A year later when I heard that it was turned into a movie I was not surprised but happy with the news. And then I started to wonder if they could get it right. They need a decent script, which shouldn't be that hard to achieve since the book is providing more than enough material, but they also need actors able to do justice to the characters they're portraying. This made me think. I don't normally see actors' faces when the action plays inside my head while reading a book so this was and interesting exercise.

After doing a bit of research on-line this is what I came up with:

Melanie Stryder - No clue.
I know many people are cheering for Sophia Bush but I beg to differ. Melanie is not supposed to be smoking hot, she is described as a pretty girl with an athletic body, which Sophia Bush is not. It sort of makes me think of the girl in Quantum of Solance only with softer features. Like I said, no clue.

Jared Howe - Jensen Ackles
No doubt about it. I mean, come on, playing tough, conflicted and emotional is just about all he does in Supernatural beside being hilariously funny. If only he could fit this movie in his busy schedule. He needs to get out of that show, enough is enough, and do some real movies.
If you're not convinced check the pic spam bellow.

OK, enough with that, I think you got the idea.

Moving to the next one.

Ian O'Shea - Sadly no clue.
I can't think of anyone tall handsome with dark hair and striking blue eyes. Some people are suggesting Ian Somerhalder, but I haven't seen him in enough movies to make an impression and those eyebrows don't quite do it for me. Johnathan Rhys Meyers also comes to mind but I'm not at all decided...

Kyle O'Shea - Still thinking.
The problem is that the O'Shea brother are suppose to look very similar so his casting will have to depend on who's playing Ian. I would suggest Sam Worthington because he can play a rough brute well, but after staring in Terminator Salvation, Avatar and Clash of the Titans there's slim chance he might want to do this.

Jamie Stryder - Logan Lerman
That was an easy choice, provided he doesn't grow too much before the shooting starts. Come to think of it, he would make a great Ian in 10 years but then we'd lose the rest of the cast.

Uncle Jeb - Kris Kristofferson
I have this image in my head and I'm pretty sure it's from a movie but for the life of me I can't remember which it was or who's playing it. There are great actors out there who could take the part, and while all good, Robert Duval is a bit too cold and strict, Sam Eliot a bit too playful, and Robert Redford way too pretty for it. So I'm still debating, but I wouldn't mind seeing Robert Duval impersonating him. As an image though Kris Kristofferson looks closer to what I've envisaged Uncle Jeb to look like.

Doc - err...
Christian Bale would be my first choice, but unfortunately he's become too big for the part. No way we're getting him and that's a shame.
Another idea, that some might find a little odd, would be a 10 years younger Kevin Bacon which, again, is not possible.

Wanderer/Pet - AnnaSophia Robb
Hands down, she's got the look and the talent to do it.

The Seeker - Christina Ricci
Another easy choice, and no explanation needed.

Sunny - Anna Friel
She's got the perfect face and hair.

Aunt Maggie - Maureen Lipman
Too bad that Maggie Smith is too old for the part, but Maureen Lipman would do just fine.

Sharon - Amy Adams
I'm a bit in two minds regarding this one as I couldn't care less who plays her, just get some obnoxious red head, still I think Amy Adams would make a fine addition to the cast.

OK, so this is as far as I got for now. I'll update when I get more ideas. Suggestions are welcome.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

2009 Trophee Eric Bompard

It's official, Eurosport won't broadcast any of the figure skating Grand Prix competitions this season. Dunno why, everyone seemed to be very enthusiastic last season when it did, but it looks like it was just an exception and too good to be true, especially during an Olympic season. Small consolation, at least we won't have to listen to Yvonne Ghita's rambling, though watching with the sound turned off would be still better than nothing.

Trophee Eric Bompard
Paris, France
15.10.2009 - 18.10.2009

Official Website:
http://trophee.eric-bompard.com/

Entries & Results:
http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpfra09/index.htm

Men

FPl.

Name

Nation

Points

Nobunari ODA

JPN

242.53

Tomas VERNER

CZE

229.96

Adam RIPPON

USA