Manic Webb

I just read some news that [i]Farscape[/i]'s Ben Browder will be joining [i]Stargate SG-1[/i]'s ninth season. There's no news on what kind of character he'll be playing, although I think he'll be casted as a series regular. This could mean he'll become the [spoiler]4th member of SG-1, what with Jack off the team now that he's a General.[/spoiler]

I'm sure Peter Jackson is a competent director and he most likely won't ruin this movie, but do we honestly need [i]another[/i] remake of this film? I get it, King Kong is a good movie, film classic, cinematic history, ect. I mean, didn't we just have a remake 18 years ago? Followed by a sequel? I still have hopes for this movie, though. I just needed to vent.

Keep in mind that QT didn't direct (or even produce) this movie. He just "presented" it. He sponsored its import to American theatres. I never got around to seeing this movie. I heard the visuals were good, but some people were disappointed with the action, story, and overall length of the movie. You can tell Quentin Tarantino didn't make this movie, because his movies usually take more time to play than a videogame.

There was a time when I couldn't turn the channel away from Comedy Central. I expect that point in my life to end eventually. I have to agree with what everyone has said so far. I can't miss an episode of The Daily Show, Drawn Together is an onslaught of parodies, and Dave Chappelle is rich, b***h! And really, the network does owe a lot to South Park. Not only did its ratings pull the network out of the toilet, but it seriously pushed the envelope. Thanks to South Park, shows like Drawn Together can get away with some of the incredibly raunchy and crude material they show (ie. the entire episode about Clara's Octopussoir).

I admit, I just don't like "Izzo/In The End", and I only recently found out it's impossible to buy this 6-track CD without the "behind the scenes/live" DVD. But the mashed-up songs that I like are done pretty well. It's not often the artists themselves do this type of thing, and they pulled it off better than any fan could've. A few original tracks would've made this album better, in my opinion.

hellfire, I'm going to have to ask you not to type an entire paragraph in all-CAPS. It's very distracting, and even causes some users to [b]ignore[/b] your posts.

We used to play Monopoly all the time in my family. We played by our own "Free Parking" rules. All taxes, bail, and non-property related money paid to the bank instead was placed underneath the Free Parking square. Anyone who landed on Free Parking got to keep it all. Great for getting out of debt. The thing I love about Monopoly is that it lasts [i]forever[/i]. We're all stubborn jerks in my family, so we never stopped at bankrupcy. If you landed on someone's hotel-rich property, and you didn't have enough money to pay, and all your own property was mortgaged out, you had the option of simply being in debt and paying all of your earnings to people you owed. We [i]never[/i] just finished a game. We had to wait until we were all falling asleep at 4am in the morning, pack it up, and decided that whoever had the most money at the time won. Last Christmas, some family had come over from Florida, and we all played some Pictionary. I cannot play with these people anymore, as I felt like I was the only one on my team making any guesses.

As an old-time fan of hip-hop and a budding fan of rock, I encourage as much fusion between the two genres as possible, so as long as they're good. I like this collaboration, and this is an album I'd definitely love to buy. Linkin Park has gotten a little stale to me lately, and a little spice from Jay-Z is just what they needed. It helps that Jay-Z is one of the few rappers of today that I actually respect. However, I know there have got to be plenty of LP fans out there who dislike hip-hop. Much like Reanimation, this is an album they should avoid (although I'd like to point out the irony of a ravenous Linkin Park fan only liking half of their albums).

I don't think William Shatner is entirely serious whenever he remakes a song in spoken-word form. People seem to like his music out of sheer novelty, and that's why he keeps making it. It's also why he only uses good songs. I have, however, dedicated my life to one day (somehow) b***h-slapping Raven-Symone for remaking "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. I usually don't get that upset at bad remakes, but Raven crossed the line. Other than that, I don't have too big of a problem with remakes. I listen to a lot of R&B, and the remakes in that realm usually don't come out too badly. Although that's probably because, half the time, R&B singers remake the songs they grew up with and learned to sing from. If I had a dime for everytime someone remade "She's Out of My Life," I'd have... well, Tom Bahler's money.

Degrassi Junior High came out in, what, the 1980s. The show followed the main characters all the way to high school (Degrassi High) in the 90s, when it finally ended. Years later, here comes Degrassi: The Next Generation. I just started watching it, but it's a really good show. It uses a real teenaged cast, and it goes places you just wouldn't expect a show with a cast that young to go. I think the first episode I saw was when a girl told her friend someone raped her. Her friend tried to avenge her and got his arse handed to him with little effort, but it's the thought that counts. Right? It comes off as a lot more realistic than most other teen shows. I'm surprised with some of the stuff they cover, and how [i]good[/i] those kids are at pulling it off. It's a shame this show is limited to a semi-obscure network like Noggin, because I think 15 year olds would have a much easier time relating to the characters on Degrassi than, say, The OC.

I didn't get the Sci-Fi Channel until after the show was cancelled, so I was never able to get into the reruns they air. It's one of those shows that you can't really miss one episode of without getting completely lost. A few weeks ago, they aired [i]every[/i] episode of the show with daily marathons for 2 weeks. I finally caught the beginning of the series, found out who the characters are, and what the 'frell' was going on. Then Sci-Fi aired the (apparently) fan-demanded miniseries to finish the story. I always thought the show was kinda "eh," but that miniseries was one of the best I've ever seen. Okay, so it's no "Roots" or "North and South," but it ranks pretty darn high.

They clearly don't have the technology to be a challenge to the [spoiler]Ancients[/spoiler]. Major Sheppard took out a handful of their dart ships alone, and he had only learned to pilot the puddle-jumper an hour earlier. Honestly, I think the Atlantis team is just assuming the [spoiler]Wraith are the ones who took out the Ancients[/spoiler]. For all we honestly know, the real enemy of the [spoiler]Ancients[/spoiler] could've been some other threat that the Atlantis have either yet to encounter, or have died out, themselves. Either way, I like how the [spoiler]Wraith[/spoiler] are put on the back-burner. It gives the Atlantis team a chance to get into some [i]real[/i] conflict with the other human civilizations in the galaxy. They haven't aired any new episodes of either show here in the States since "End Game" and "The Storm." So I've been waiting since September (and will continue to wait until January) to see what happens after the Genii invade.

Earlier this year, I discovered a science fiction TV series by the name of [i]Stargate SG-1[/i]. For those of you who've never heard of it, [i]Stargate SG-1[/i] is based off of the 1994 movie, [i]Stargate[/i]. [BACKSTORY] Read if unfamiliar. The story centers around an ancient alien device known as the stargate; found buried in ruins in Egypt. The device utilizes some kind of deep-space wormhole technology to send anyone who walks through it to another part of the galaxy-- instantly. The TV series follows a secret United States Air Force exploration team designated 'SG-1', who use the stargate to travel to other planets. What they discover are more human beings-- some transplanted from Earth to these planets to be used as slaves, some transplanted for their own protection. Then come the aliens. Some are good, some are bad. All are ageless, and once posed as the gods in many cultures. SG-1 acquires many things for Earth, including new technology, enemies (Ra, Anubis), allies (Thor, Heimdall), and revelations about the history of the planet Earth. Then comes the recent spin-off series, [i]Stargate Atlantis[/i]. This synop. will be shorter, I swear. [spoiler]An international team of scientists have discovered the whereabouts of the lost city of Atlantis, and it's in another galaxy. Using the stargate on Earth, a diplomatic and scientific expedition is launched, led by a negotiator named Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Upon arrival, however, they discover the city (although functioning) is abandoned. On top of that, the stargate in Atlantis doesn't have enough power to reach the Milky Way galaxy, leaving a team of scientists and a small military contingent stranded. What wonders await them in this strange, new galaxy?[/spoiler] [/BACKSTORY] So, are there any other 'Gaters out there? What do you think of the current storylines? Any favorite... anything? Talk amongst yourselves. I give you a topic: Richard Dean Anderson will most likely leave the show at the end of this season. Discuss. --EDIT-- Added spoilers to the backstory of [i]Stargate Atlantis[/i]. The setup of the series [i]itself[/i] is a spoiler to events that occured in [i]Stargate SG-1[/i].

[QUOTE=Blinky]All I'm hearing is "I don't like things when they become mainstream because it makes me feel superior". Nirvana was [i]very[/i] popular before Kurt's death. From what I've witnessed you seem to be the kind of person who doesn't want her favorite things to be popular. Sucess isn't so horrible. Something you like being cool, isn't bad. Get over it.[/QUOTE] I don't think she was complaining about them going mainstream, so much as she was complaining about them becoming [i]more[/i] popular [i]after[/i] Kurt's death. You know, it's fine and dandy that they were popular, but how come so many people didn't start listening to them until one of them died? I have the same issue with people who didn't particularly care for Aaliyah's music until after she died. How come they didn't realize the music was good until somebody died?

CaptainAnarchy, can you calm it down just a tad? We get that you like Nirvana [i]a lot[/i], but some of your replies in their defense come off as a little... um... hyper.

No, the alien from the start of the book is Ford. Marvin is the manic depressive robot.

I heard about this movie last year, but I wasn't sure if it had been shelved (again) or not. From what I understand, they started making this movie a few years ago, but production got delayed due to Douglas Adams' death. Next time I go to the movies, I have to remember to sneak into National Treasure so I can see this trailer and leave. Or, you know, I can watch National Treasure. Whichever is more convenient.

Nirvana were like the Beatles during the beginning of their career. The Beatles were good and changed music for the better, but some of their earlier work just wasn't as good as their later work. Frankly, there were no past influences for them to pull from, so they had to start their sound all by themselves. So while their first songs were good, they got much better as their had time to refine their sound. Nirvana sparked a huge change for grunge music, but they weren't really that good. Had they been around a bit longer, I'm sure they would've come out with something 10 times better than "Smells Like Teen Spirit." A good band? Yes. Greatest band ever created? Far cry. Although they do deserve a good amount of recognition.

There are many mysteries in this universe that may go unsolved, and one of them is how someone can hate rap, but love Linkin Park. Hip-hop plays a huge role in Linkin Park's sound, so it just puzzles me how someone who hates hip-hop can "love" this band; or more specifically, Mike Shinoda. Speaking as a long time hip-hop fan and a budding rock fan, I like their collaboration with Jay-Z. If you've ever heard LP's Reanimation album, you'd know to expect this kind of thing from them every once in a while. Jay-Z, although I don't consider him the "greatest rapper alive," certainly ranks right up there. LP have always been good at blending their genres (I loved "It's Going Down" with the Xcutioners), and this song with the jigga-man adds a little spice to what's otherwise been a bland rut for them. I like "Breaking the Habit," but it's far too frequently overplayed for its own good.

[quote name='DeathBug']Fourty-two.[/quote] Great. Now if we could just build a planet-sized computer to figure out what the heck that question was...

In high school (and today, really) I was the only black guy in my group of friends. Nearly everyone else was Asian. So naturally, quite a few jokes have flown by that concern stereotypes. They were all in good fun, and nobody ever got hurt. I mean, if I had a dollar for everytime I used the "it's so hot, I used to be white" joke, I'd have a few thousand dollars under my money-belt. I think how comfortable you are with your differences has something to do with it. If you're expecting a racist comment to come from somebody, and you're ready to take offense to it, you [i]will[/i] be offended. However, if you know the person you're talking to means absolutely no harm, and you have a good enough sense of humor, then you shouldn't have much of a problem bouncing back and laughing it off. You just have to know where to draw the line.

All I want for Christmas is money. Lots and lots of money. And maybe a copy of City of Heroes so I can stop mooching off of my friend's account. The strangest gift I ever got was a copy of Don Bluth's [i]Thumbelina[/i]. I'm a big fan of Don Bluth and all ([i]An American Tale[/i] is classic) but why on Earth would I want to see [i]Thumbelina[/i]? I didn't like the original fairy tale, I never wanted to see the movie when it was in theatres, and I'm not a girl. I can understand if they gave it to me, thinking it would add to my Disney Features VHS collection, but it was by Fox. Fox!

[quote name='maladjusted][color=darkslateblue']For GUYS it's ok to be a little overweight, but for GIRLS if you're like even five pounds overweight you're viewed as a fat tub of lard by guys, which is digusting.[/color][/quote] Bull, I say. Bull. Show me an overweight male model. Go ahead, look through any magazines you have lying around. I can [strike]weight[/strike] wait. Turn on the TV to E!. Nothing? Okay, now I want the ladies out there to be honest. Have any of you ever been more attracted to a guy who was in shape, as opposed to an overweight guy? Judging by the casts of most TV shows, I'm willing to bet men are held to the same standards as women. You know what the main difference is? Most of us overweight men are comfortable with ourselves. Dare I say, we're proud. It's not that society accepts overweight men more, it's that we don't complain about it... at least not as openly as some women. The majority of us tend to keep our insecurities to ourselves. So if we have any problems with how we look, it might take some coaxing to get us to talk about it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The only thing that keeps me from auditioning for MTV's Real World is that they've never picked an overweight guy, and if they did, everyone else would still be too damn pretty. I like more shapely women, anyway. They look healthier, and run less risk of twisting in the wind during the autumn season.

I'd like to think the spirits of the dead or higher powers have something better to do than entertain a group of 13 year old girls at their slumber party. But maybe I'm just an idealist.

I'm going to tell you a road-kill story so out-there, you're going to think I made it up. However, truth is stranger than fiction, and you simply can't make this kind of stuff up. So my brother and I were driving to church one sunny Sunday morning. Two birds were flying relatively low toward us, but they were still flying high enough to pass over the car. Then [i]it[/i] happened, and I swear on some random deity, I think that bird was homocidal. The birds were flying side-by-side. Suddenly, the first bird smacked the second bird with its wing, causing the second bird to careen out of control, and slam right into my brother's windshield. It then rolled off somewhere into the distance. Whether or not it survived, we don't know. We do know that we saw the first bird fly away on its own as soon as the second bird hit the car.