Tuesday, March 31, 2009

THEY SHOULD HAVE SENT A POET.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.

OMG.



... i love you, nic cage. and now our love is clearly requited.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMGOMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. See full post

Advice for the Idols: iTunes Week


So apparently tonight's Idol theme is something along the lines of iTunes downloads - either the top 100 or any song that's been in the top 100 since it started mattering in 2005. For today's Idol installment, we're gonna go with the assumption that's the theme is iTunes' current top 100. Sound good?

When was the last time you looked at the top 100? Cause...there is a lot of crap out there. A lot of really popular crap. Don't get me wrong, I LOVES me some good pop music for the working out and the dancing around like a moron in my apartment. I don't consider Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Rihanna or Britney Spears to be "crap". I do however, consider pretty much everything else on that list to be a total and utter embarrassment to us as a people.

That being said, I still thought it would be fun to think about what type of music on this list the idols should tackle tonight.

Kris - Maybe this is too obvious, but I think a little Jason Mraz, Matt Nathanson, The Fray, All American Rejects or Plain White Tees would work for him. Mraz's Im Yours (can someone sing that again?) stripped down, done acoustic style, or Lucky, somehow not as a duet, would best show off his voice and still have that cute, young, heartthrob vibe. Upon playing the 30 second preview of Here Comes Goodbye by Rascal Flatts, I've decided that too could work for him. But it's a little schmaltzy.

God there's a lot of bad music on this list...

Allison - The obvious choice here is any Pink song, as Allison sounds A LOT like her. But she might sound so much like her, that choosing her could be a bad choice. I'm not sure how the judges would react. She would obviously sing the shit out of it, but...just might be too on the nose. Not that I have ANY CLUE what else she could sing. Not Britney, not Rihanna, not Gaga, not Katy Perry, not Miley Cyrus, not Demi Levato, no rap, not Jai Ho, not Taylor Swift...what the hell is wrong the public that this is the top 100?! fdsgifsjdhg

Megan - Easy. Chasing Pavements by Adele. If Megan doesn't pick this song (assuming someone else doesn't pick it first) she is straight up an idiot and deserves to go home. This song could actually make Megan sound awesome and prove that she belongs in this competition.

Danny - Nothing on this list works for him. Cause he pissed me off last week and left my good graces. The only thing he could pull off would be one of those crappy country songs. Rascall Flatts, Keith Urban, etc whatever blah blah blah

Adam - Adam's one of the few who could really pull off anything on this list, because you KNOW he is gonna make it awesome. DEFINITELY the only one I could see doing a dance song, but I hope he doesn't. Ooh he could do something cool with that Muse song. Oh god what if he does Single Ladies and does the whole dance? What IF? Dude, I could so see him rocking Hot N Cold by Katy Perry. I love Adam. Please be awesome, Adam.

Anoop - This is Anoop's chance to bring back the magic of My Prerogative. He could pull of a Britney song, sing it amazingly well and have a little bit of that tongue in cheek humor. But he's gotta be careful. If Adam does a similar thing, Anoop's performance will fade to the back ground.

Matt - Matt has a VERY cool opportunity here to strip something down and piano it up. With JUST the piano. He could also sing the crap of something by Taylor Swift or Demi Levato or something totally random and weird that would sound amazing when he touches it. He does soul best, but I don't know if I see any on here. So he has to soulify something on his own. Unless he does the Matt Nathanson song. He could rock that, though it might be too...vanilla for what Matt needs right now. Hmmm...you know Don't Stop Believing is randomly on this list. What if Matt does it Tim Mahoney style? P.S. if you don't know what I'm talking about, go on iTunes and search for the Tim Mahoney cover of Don't Stop Believing.

Lil - This is a HUGE week for Lil. She needs to prove she can take the judge's advice or she's gonna be going home very soon. But I also have NO idea what she could sing with this theme. The guys at Idolatry were saying she should try going the Duffy/Amy Winehouse/Adele route in the coming weeks, but Chasing Pavements is literally the only song Megan could pull off and Winehouse & Duffy aren't on the current list. She could sing Beyonce's Halo, but that could be too obvious? And the song kinda sucks, so I don't know if it would do Lil any favors. Man. No clue.

Scott - He will some country song and go home. The end.

Final verdict:

Who will be awesome: Adam.

Who will either be awesome or called "obvious/boring" cause the Top 100 contains their niches: Kris (Jason Mraz) Matt (Matt Nathanson...sort of), Allison (Pink)

Who MUST pick the right song or it's curtains very soon: Lil, Megan

Who will sing something stupid very well and make me angry cause he ignored Smokey Robinson's advice and proved his ego is too big: Danny

Who will sing something stupid not so well and even though he is a better person than Danny Gokey, will probably go home: Scott

Absolute total wild card, will suck or be way awesome: Anoop

That about does it, folks! The show is an hour and a half tonight instead of two hours, which is sad times, but there's no mentor and only 9 contestants and the Osbournes need to do something blasphemous at 9:30. So I guess that's just the way it goes. See full post

OHMYGOD CAT TOWN [Silly Fun]

Finally I bring you possibly the greatest entry into ATF's Silly Fun in the history of life. It was recommended by Felicia Day via her Twitter account and...it's on par with Kittens Inspired By Kittens. It's called Cat Town. And it's not a web series. Not a...filmed web series anyhow.

Here's an example of what the "show" is: (Click to enlarge)



WHAT?! AHHHHHHHHHHH!

OH MY GOD

I typed What?! Ahhh! as a response to that part of Cat Town. Then I scrolled down and saw this:


Cat Town and I were MEANT TO BE TOGETHER. Clearly.

Also, there is this,


I..I...I have to go. I have to read every episode of Cat Town and die happy. Thank you Felicia Day for this holy grail. See full post

It's Bunneh! Time for BSG & Superhero Cliches! [Silly Fun]

Remember how I renamed the days of the week?

Well, today is Bunneh. So. Deal with it, Cate Blanchett.

Today I bring you a few fun things that should kill, ohhh, five-ten minutes?

First, from Io9 on Friday, "I Love Battlestar Galactica", a song by a guy named Jonathan Mann who writes weird songs and sings them while wearing tiny shorts. Io9 warned me that if I watched the video, the song would be stuck in my head. And Io9. Was right. WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK!



Now that you are fully mad at me for doing that to you, I bring you a cool shirt I discovered on ohsuperheroine's Twitter (who I definitely recommend following) that I WANT. WANT THIS SHIRT. So, follow ohsuperheroine's tweet to her blog and we find this glory, designed by Joshua Kemble for Threadless.


Yes. I Want. Oooh which cliche do I want to be?! I want to be....Good Mutant! Even though I'd rather be Bad Mutuant, but Bad Mutant lady not on there. Hardened Doctor. Bwhahahaha. WANT. Oops. My brain essplode.

The next part of Bunneh is so great, it gets its very own post. Stay tuned! See full post

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Spike Spiegel plus Lee Pace equals Space

Courtesy of Morph Thing.




That is all. See full post

Oh, Dharma Initiative [WANT]


I've seen the Dharma smoking ad everywhere, but I never knew that there were FIVE other vintage designs lying around here! So I'm finally posting about them. Cause, man, these are too effing cool.

How did this dude make these?! Why are they so awesome?! Can I have one please, for my wall? I'll take any! What the hell! Okay, new goal: Find a way to have one of these ads printed as a poster for my room. I don't know how to do those things, but I'll figure it out. See full post

Robert Pattinson is Mine [You Tube Strikes Again!]

I'm sorry, did you expect me NOT to post this?

WHAT IS HAPPENING



I'm so disturbed right now. But also can't stop laughing. Is this guy for real or is he fucking around? Is he drunk? On some other drug? I repeat WHAT IS HAPPENING.

Thanks to Dave Chensky's Twitter account for bestowing this glory upon me See full post

Last Week on All Things Fangirl


So this past week was a little crazy cause I randomly had a lot to do and there wasn't too much I felt inspired to blog about. As a result, most of the posts are about random silly shit instead of anything that actually matters, but hey - we need those weeks sometimes, no? Next week I'll be bringing back my Idol posts that I couldn't get to this week (though I may have actually predicted correctly for once, grrr). Is it true they are doing the top 100 iTunes songs? Cause...that's one hilarious list. All crap, then randomly Don't Stop Believeing and Tracks of my Tears. And a song by Muse. Should be an interesting show. P.S. Did anyone watch the Streamys last night?

Let the round up begin!

- Knowing poster giveaway! I have tons of Knowing posters and nowhere for them to go. Enter our contest and take some off my hands!

- The results of my Top 5 TV Shows of all time poll on Twitter

- My choice for the Audience Choice Streamy award. They didn't win :(

Games (by Stealth Bear!)

- Batman: Arkham Asylum video of actual gameplay. Can't wait!

- Write up on Settlers of Catan. I wanna play!

Weird/Cool/Silly Shit

- Custom My Little Ponys that look like The Joker, The Bride, Slave Leia and more! WANT. One day when I'm crazy rich, Harley Quinn is mine.

- A stick figure version of Lee & Kara's final scene together on Battlestar Galactica

- I got some Lolcats magnetic poetry and essentially went insane for a short period of time.

- Caturday Cool Shit: Compilation of Pixar characters as humans, an awesome David at the Dentist shirt, a link to Erik Lundegaard's blog where he counted down his top five most used movie quotes, and a link to sign the petition to reunite the Saved by the Bell cast.

- Muppetstar Galactica. It's only 20 seconds, but it's an awesome 20 seconds. See full post

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Arkham Asylum Gets All Stealthy

So, this past week was GDC (the Game Developers Conference) out in San Fran, and is arguably (since the disgusting mutation of E3) the biggest US game con of the year. This means lots of developer networking, panels, and, of course...new footage! Check out this vid of Batman: Arkham Asylum's challenge mode. Still looks promising...



Check out the full-sized vid at Kotaku. See full post

Caturday Cool Shit [Woot!]

As some of you may know, I renamed the days of the week a couple days ago. So Saturday is now officially Caturday. On this Caturday, I am randomly watching Brand Upon the Brain with david and it may be the strangest movie I've ever seen. But we had to pause it so he could watch the Rangers game...gar....

So to keep myself entertained, I am posting the coolest things I found on the web today and I'm calling it Caturday Cool Shit.

First up, from Slashfilm, first discovered on 4chan (p.s. I randomly spent a chunk of last night explaining what 4chan was to various folks) - what the Finding Nemo & Wall-E characters would look like if they were humans. I'm OBSESSED with these.


Look at how cute Wall-E is!!! He is so dirty and goofy and adorable and sweet!! And Eve is so hip and pretty! I can't deal with these. They're brilliant! Moar Moar!


Oh look! MOAR! Finding Nemo, this time! I love these. I don't know what to do with myself. Someone make more please! Thank you, Slashfilm, for discovering these. Because Pixar characters as humans > Rangers game.

Next up is oddly also connected to a conversation I had last night. Chatting about 4chan led to looking up the Internet Meme Timeline, which led to talking about David at the Dentist. Which brings me to this, from Think Geek, via Geekologie,


Yes please. Yes I will take that. Is this real life?

Finally, a link to Erik Lundegaard's blog. He's been counting down the movie lines he quotes the most. For each quote is an explanation - what about the line secures its place in Lundedaard's arsenal and in what context he busts it out. I absolutely recommend checking it out. Hrmm...maybe I'll try to figure out my own list one of these days...

Okay, ACTUALLY finally, go to Jimmy Fallon's website and sign the petition for a Saved By The Bell Reunion. Just scroll down a bit. What? You don't CARE about a Saved By The Bell Reunion?! Well...watch this and then see if you are able to spout such blasphemy.



Okay. End Caturday Cool Shit. Time to drink coffee! See full post

Friday, March 27, 2009

Muppetstar Galactica [Video of the Moment]

Thank you for showing this to me, Topless Robot. Thank you.



It has an extra special resonance after last night's 30 Rock, no? See full post

My Pick For The Streamy Award Audience Choice


Since tomorrow is the last day of voting for the Audience Choice Streamy Award, I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

No doubt, there is lots of love out there for shows like Dr. Horrible, The Shatner Project & The Guild not only because they're great, but because of the well-known people behind them. So I wanted to take this opportunity to pimp out my favorite web series, which has no ties to anyone famous whatsoever, it's just simply and purely AWESOME and deserves more viewers.

The show is called Dorm-Life and from what I can gather, it came about when a group called Attention Span Media gave some uber talented UCLA kids full creative control to develop & star in their own web series. I'm not even entirely sure how I started watching in the first place. I don't go to UCLA and while I know people who did, none of them are involved with Dorm-Life. But however I discovered the series, I'm glad I did, because it makes me laugh out loud more than almost every comedy currently on TV and certainly more than any web series I've regularly watched.

The premise is that a documentary film crew is following the lives of ten new college students who all live on the same floor in their dorm. There's Mike, the all American type, mostly playing Tina Fey to everyone else's Tracey Jordan, the two boys who party all the time, Gopher, who always wears shirts featuring pictures of himself, and Shane, who never takes off his "My Friend Sam is 50" shirt and provides a bulk of the show's laugh with his endless dim-wittedness, the sorority girls, one of whom, Brittany, brinks on normal, while the other, Courtney, brinks on a particularly hilarious brand of insane, Steph, the annoying over-achiever, Marshall, the so egotistical he doesn't know how lame he is RA, Abby, the girl who never speaks, Josh, the weird, artsy drama kid who marks the middle of the first season with his inspired one man show, and Daniel, the dorky kid who is a complete virgin to all Freshman year has to offer.

Dorm-Life has the perfect blend of characters types and even though only two of them (Mike & Brit) are ever really playing the straight man, the show never feels overwhelming. It never tries too hard. The comedy comes to these kids with an odd ease, the kind you expect in seasoned pros, not recent college grads.

What makes this show extra special is the fine line it walks - while it never has and never will have a "very special episode", it still stays grounded enough in reality to avoid ever becoming a straight up farce. You still care about the characters and their relationships to each other, which makes it even more enjoyable to see them go through the usual college rituals including, but not limited to, the first party, the first time getting wasted, the first Halloween, the hook-ups, the breaking up with the high school girlfriend, relatives visiting the dorm, running for school office, pulling pranks, the talent show, staying up all night to study for midterms and more. The show is familiar, yet fresh at the same time. In fact, I find it odd that these guys haven't been popping up anywhere else or that this show hasn't gotten any attention from the television sphere.

Another great thing about the show is that it goes beyond just posting 20 episodes a season. The website is incredibly interactive and lets you get as involved as you want to be. Each character is "required" to record their own web-cam bits as part of the filmmaking process, so if you are a big fan of one character in particular, there's a lot more of their story you can enjoy. There are also photos that go along with each episode, music recommendations (I heard Lady Danville for the first time through the show, who I quite enjoy), merchandise you can buy, a map of the floor, character profiles, and more. And mark my words, these actors are the comedy stars of tomorrow. Just...no one has any clue yet.

So I ask you to please give the show a chance. Head to Dorm-Life.com and watch the first season or at the very least head to the Streamy's site, watch their clip and consider giving them your vote.

Or you COULD check out the first episode of season 2 right here and get a taste of what you're missing!


And hey, just for the hell of it, season one's Halloween episode.

See full post

A Peek Into The Life of LoquaciousMuse...Via LoLCatz [Silly Fun? Or a Sad Day For Us All]

So david's birthday present to me finally arrived and I thought I would share with you all what happens when you give LoquaciousMuse LoLCatz Magnetic Poetry. After forty-five minutes of hanging out in the kitchen, giggling, here's what I came up with:



Pretty self explanatory.



An old calender board that is now dedicated solely to LoLCats nonsense. Here, I explained that Kitteh Winnars, Oh Hai! Nekkids <3, and Choclate Srsly nom nom noms are Hot, while Kitteh Sammiches, Hooman Drool & Emo Fashuns are Not. I'd also really like to see the picture that goes along with the caption, "Oh NOES!!11 Keyser Sosa sausagez NOOOOOO! :( Let me show you them." Wow. I'm easily amused. Am I actually 5 years old, but have no idea cause everyone in my life has neglected to inform me? Not cool, guys. IZ A HAHAHAHAHA!!!11!1!!!1 Hoo UMean Jedi Squirrl? BURNINATE!




Here, on our new calender board, I changed the names of every day of the week. You can't see the day formally known as Thursday in the photo, but in case you were wondering, it's now called Fwend. Today is Puppeh and on this day, david will rescue Hera. On Caturday, david will pilot Galactica into the Sun and my other roommate, Jen, will go to museums. On Santah, she will sleep.

I have to go punch myself now. Have a great Puppeh! See full post

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Settlers of the Living Room

There's a fantastic article up on Wired.com about my favorite board game (and one of my favorite games, period) - Settlers of Catan - and its creator Klaus Teuber, and how it is on track to be the "Monopoly Killer", aka the next great board game. It's fairly long, but for the uninitiated, is an awesome discussion of why the game is brilliant, and a celebration of the game for those who already know and love it. Here's one blurb that summarizes why this game, and many German games in its category, are so incredible:
Part of the reason we don't play much Risk and Monopoly as adults is that those are actually poorly designed games...'Monopoly has you grinding your opponents into dust. It's a very negative experience. It's all about cackling when your opponent lands on your space and you get to take all their money.' Monopoly, in fact, is a classic example of what economists call a zero-sum game. For me to gain $100, you have to lose $100. For me to win, you have to be bankrupt. Gouging and exploiting may be perfect for humiliating your siblings, but they're not so great for relaxing with friends...

"Instead of direct conflict, German-style games tend to let players win without having to undercut or destroy their friends. This keeps the game fun, even for those who eventually fall behind. Designed with busy parents in mind, German games also tend to be fast, requiring anywhere from 15 minutes to a little more than an hour to complete. They are balanced, preventing one person from running away with the game while the others painfully play out their eventual defeat.

Check out the full article here, and call me if you want in on a game (2-4 players, 6 or more with various expansion packs)! See full post

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Lee & Kara's Final Scene. As Reenacted By Stick Figures. [Silly Fun]

If you haven't seen the Battlestar finale, be warned, there are spoilers below. So stop reading. And go watch it. I'm ashamed of you.

No clue where this came from, but a friend just sent it my way and I couldn't resist posting.

For the record, I didn't mind the Kara reveal (or...non reveal) and I loved the finale. But this still made me chuckle.



Update! Found the source! Click here for more from Uriah. See full post

Knowing Giveaway!


So for some reason I have a lot of mini Knowing posters in my apartment. I'm not sure how it happened and I don't know what to do with them. So here's the deal - just post in the comments section what about Knowing sticks out in your mind the most (either because you loved it or you hated it), what your favorite moment was, what the stupidest moment was, anything like that. Just something about Knowing.

I have...three poster tubes and two poster boxes, so after you comment, send an email to LoquaciousMuse@allthingsfangirl.com with the following

a. the handle you posted with
b. your mailing address
c. how many Knowing minis you want

The five winners will get as many mini Knowing posters as they want! Cause I have a lot and they are everywhere.

Sweet! Glad we had this talk. See full post

Top Five TV Shows Of All Time


So my question of the day on Twitter yesterday was "What are your top 5 TV shows of all time?" and I got some very interesting answers. Since I'd like to post both the winners and all the shows that got just one vote, I'm deciding to write it up in a post.

First of all, the shout outs. These shows all only got one vote, but it was such a variety I had to post them all. And get this - no one said Friends. I wouldn't put Friends in my top 10, but it was still interesting to me that none of the people who responded hold Friends in any particular high regard. And only one MASH! And one Star Trek! Anyway, here we go,

Shout-Outs: I Love Lucy, Xena, Angel, Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: TOS, Carnivale, Californication, Pushing Daisies, Justice League, Night Court, Attack of the Show, Monday Night Raw, MASH, Due South, BJ & the Bear, Misfits Of Science, SWAT, Lone Ranger, Buck Rogers, Twin Peaks, Texaco Star Theater, The Twilight Zone, Meet the Press, Sports Night, Big Bang Theory, My Secret Identity, M.A.N.T.I.S, Kamen Rider Time Trax, Extras, Dick Van Dyke, Veronica Mars, Mad Men, Million Dollar Man, Salvage One, Land of the Lost, Smallville, 24, Daria, Ugly Betty, MST3K, The Simpsons, Law and Order, The Prisoner, Rome, Ed, Cowboy Bebop, Mary Tyler Moore, South park, Chuck, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Original Battlestar Galactica

Anything you're surprised to see on that list? Surprised that anyone said it at all or surprised that it only got one vote? If david had voted, I know Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks & Cowboy Bebop would have been bumped up one place higher. But moving on to the actual list,

Honorable Mentions: Homicide: Life on the Street, Deadwood, X:Men, the Animated Series, Batman: The Animated Series, The Office, Freaks & Geeks, The West Wing, Spaced

One person specified The Office UK, the others didn't pick one way or the other, so I'm just throwing it up there as one whole thing. Pretty eclectic group here, with TWO animated shows about superheroes. Shows that I adore and are happy to see getting some love :). Also one of my personal favorites makes the honorable mention list - Spaced, starring Simon Pegg & Nick Frost and directed by Edgar Wright, all of Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz fame. The show is MADE for geeks. I've seen every episode three times. Once all the way through with the homage-o-meter on, which explains every single reference. It's badass.

5th Place: Quantum Leap/The Wire/Seinfeld/Dr. Who/Slings & Arrows/Price is Right

Probably the only time we'll see The Wire & The Price is Right on a list together. For that matter, I don't know when else we'd see Quantum Leap & Seinfeld on a list together or Dr. Who and the Canadian show about a Shakespearean theater troupe, Slings & Arrows. Odd. But awesome.

4th Place: Six Feet Under/Firefly

Lots of love for these two shows, much more than I was expecting! Six Feet Under I watched on and off throughout its run and I've seen every episode of Firefly... on DVD, I'm sad to say. Sorry, Joss. I'll never betray you again. Can anyone figure out where this list is going yet?

3rd Place: Arrested Development/Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Now THAT'S a twosome I can get behind. One of the funniest, most original comedies ever produced and the show that molded my fragile young middle to high school mind. Glad the Twitterverse agrees with me there.

2nd Place: Lost

A show that hasn't even been completed yet makes the 2nd place spot! I mean, it's definitely one of my all time favorite shows and I have faith that they will manage not to fuck it up in the season and a half we have left. I hope. Please. Please don't fuck it up.

Which leaves only first place, and I think the pick is fairly obvious considering the events of last week...

1st Place: Battlestar Galatica (2003)

Who knows if we will all still have this show on our list a year from now (I mean...I will...it's Battlestar...there's a Starbuck art print on my wall and mini mate Lee is sitting next to my computer...with my mini mate Six and my Starbuck dog tag...okay I may have a problem) but it racked up the most points, just barely edging out Lost for the win. In celebration of BSG's victory, I'm going to take a shower and go to work. Thanks for participating! See full post

Monday, March 23, 2009

Geeky My Little Ponys [WANT]

In checking my daily blogs, I came across something too bizarre & awesome not to post about.

Courtesy of Topless Robot, a Slave Leia My Little Pony.



He calls it "disturbingly attractive" and says "I figured now was as good a time as any to make the boys feel awkwardly yet sexually attracted to a toy horse." Bwhahaha. Well done, Topless Robot. Well done. I am hoping to aide your mission by posting this picture here too.

The pony was made by Spippo, who has made a bunch of other awesomely geeky ponys as well. Some of my favorites, My Little Poison Ivy, My Little Bride, My Little Harley Quinn, My Little Han Solo & My Little Crybaby, pictured below:




Be sure to head to her gallery for My Little Jack Sparrow, the awesomely disturbing Chewbacca, My Little Skeletor and much more.

Man one of these would go so well on my Geek Shelf...My Little Bride can hang with my Tarantino as a Crazy 88 action figure & My Little Harley Quinn would go perfectly with my Joker Bobble Head. Which reminds me, I should continue with my Items from the Geek Shelf series... See full post

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Last Week On All Things Fangirl [Weekly Round Up]


Here's what got us chatting this week,

-Triple header of Battlestar posts: Pre-show thoughts and round Up, Post-show thoughts & round-up and a picture of the BSG Crew gathering to watch the finale...the tiny version of the BSG Crew owned by me and EruditeChick.

-I gave the best advice I could on which hotel to pick for Comic Con 2009

-EruditeChick explains how to not screw up a reboot of the Tomb Raider film franchise

-david discusses Benjamin Button coming to his beloved Critereon Collection

-Guest Blogger Brenden recommended picking up Planetary if you're looking for a new comic title

-I freaked out over an Awesomely Geektastic page from Buffy #23

-Video of the Moment: Batman Logo Evolution

-Discovered a website, Geek Force Five, which is holding a geek version of March Madness. Already, Buffy has upset Judd Apatow! Woot!

-I pondered my bizarre obsession with Nite Owl

-david lost his shit over a photograph from the late 70s of the Coppola family, featuring little Sofia and Akira Kurosawa hiding in a corner

-Told ya where you can download the Kings pilot for free

-In my weekly American Idol write ups, EW killed my crush on Danny Gokey, then Danny Gokey himself revived it. Got my predictions wrong because the incorrect person was sent home. Psh.

-I briefly lost my shit when I learned of a Back to the Future Reunion being held in Burbank next month

-MoCCA in NYC has a badass Watchmen exhibit right now, if you want to check it out

-Young Hollywood Recreates West Side Story for Vanity Fair and it's prettyyy

-Bored at work? We found a giant Tetris game

And although this was posted before last week, in honor of Knowing, a worthy addition to the Nic Cage Oeuvre (if you know what I mean), the Nic Cage Movie Plot Generator See full post

Saturday, March 21, 2009

All Of This Has Happened Before And All Of This Will Happen Again [Recap/Round Up]



Happened before when Buffy ended. Will happen again when Lost ends. DAMN YOU, AMAZING TELEVISION MAKING ME CRY CAUSE YOU WON'T BE ON THE AIR ANYMORE.

For the record, I loved the finale. I thought it was amazing. I was satisfied with the answers I got and any answers I didn't get I was happy to read a Ron Moore interview or any recaps to find em out. The shipper in me SQUEEd at all the couples getting to be together in the end (or have at least some time to be loving, relaxed & at peace together, Adama/Roslin), especially Baltar redeeming himself, coming to terms with his roots & winning Caprica 6 and getting to see the beginning of Lee and Kara's destructive and never-quite-fulfilled relationship. Those were some of my favorite scenes, seeing how careless and cynical Lee and Kara (and hey, Baltar and 6 too, to a degree) used to be compared to the leaders & heroes they became.

At first I thought Kara came back as the same thing Head Six/Head Baltar were, but turns out she IS a different entity. She came back in the flesh, literally resurrected, to complete her journey. Angel? Messiah figure? I'm fine with it not being confirmed. How awkward would have that have been? "So, guess this has been my journey since birth and God's plan was always to resurrect me so I could leads humans to their end! Their HAPPY endING. Get it?" So yeah, needless to say, I like that it was vague. And that Lee understood and said goodbye.

Could I have done without the last 3 minutes? Sure. But I didn't mind it. Plus you know if it hadn't been there, people would have been complaining about not getting a concrete answer to the direct connection to our time. And I thought it was cool to see Angel Six & Baltar in modern day New York and I can't disagree that it's pretty stupid of us to insist on creating Artificial Intelligence when we've been consistently warned that it's gonna turn on us one day.

But anyway, what made the show for me wasn't the mythology or the answering of questions, it was all the character relationships & payoffs. Chief killing Tory, Boomer turning coat once more, but for the right side this time, Athena getting her revenge, Starbuck saying goodbye to Anders, Adama putting his wedding ring on his heavenly Roslin, where it belongs, Baltar finally becoming the person he was meant to be, earning the equally changed Six in the process, Ellen & Tigh finally getting to retire for real and be together, and to the tune of the original Battlestar theme, the fleet we've all come to know and love and its leader, the Galactica, heading off into the sun, closing that chapter forever. The dying leader really did lead the humans to Earth. It just wasn't Roslin. It was Galactica herself. When I rewatched my favorite moments of the finale last night, those were the moments I was drawn to, those were the moments that had me in tears even harder the secone time and those are the moments that have always made the show for me.

Before I leave you with some great finale links that should keep you busy today, I posit this question: So how did Frak become the word we know it to be today? Could the natives initially not pronounce "r" and the new word just stuck? And fitting that the dude with the randomly Scotch-Irish first name ends up in Scotland, no?

So here we go,

For the answers to any of your remaining questions head here, to TV Guide's interview with Ron Moore.

Entertainment Weekly
has a recap with their Top 10 BSG moments built in. The answers to their "So what was the deal with Baltar's cult?" and "So why did Baltar get the speech to Cavil?" questions are in the Ron Moore interview. Also the Racetrack sending the nukes into the Colony? Those aren't odds. Safe to say after this finale, that was a greater hand at work. Also, I do think Kara was honored with her ending. She's come a long way. Definitely read the below links after you read this one, friends.

Next up, Alan Sepinwall's write up of the show, which I think is a great read. He has a lot of interesting theories/thoughts.

Devin from Chud wrote a great essay on the role of God & spirituality (and Saint Baltar!) that I definitely recommend reading, especially if you were on the fence about the spiritual elements to the show.

LA Times praises the show's graceful exit with their review

LA Times Poll - Does BSG deserve a Best Drama Emmy?

The BSG Space Timeline, explaining all that's happened up until last night's finale.

Finally, say goodbye to the show and read the goodbyes from others at Sci Fi's Memorial.

And now, some Bingostar Galactica boards that got Bingo!



See full post

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Crew Gathers To Watch The Finale [Silly Fun]



.....what? I have made it clear we're complete geeks, right? T MINUS ONE HOUR. See full post

Get Your Final Battlestar Fix Before It All Comes To An End [Round-Up]


In honor of Battlestar Galactica coming to a close tonight, here a whole bunch of links to some Battlestar delight from all over the net.

At the AV Club we have Remember That Thing?: All the forgotten Battlestar Galactica factoids you need to enjoy the finale, maybe. Here you can find a bunch of handy dandy reminders of facts we may have forgotten in the six years since the mini-series first ended. Don't know how much any of these will play into the finale, but it definitely made me realize I have forgotten quite a bit of BSG's smaller plot points.

At Io9, we have 12 Plotholes That Must Be Filled in the Battlestar Finale. They bring some really important questions, some of which we may have even forgotten about. These include, but are not limited to:
- What exactly is the Cylons' plan?
- What is Starbuck?
- Where do Baltar's loyalties actually lie?
- Why do Cylons have to be in love in order to reproduce?

I'd like to add to that with a few questions of my own
- What's the deal with the opera house/Roslin's visions/the prophecies?
- What is Daniel's link to anything? (Unfortunately we know the answer to that one...)
- Where do Boomer's loyalties actually lie?
- Who is Starbuck's soulmate? She's had so many people in love/infatuated/sleep with her, I feel like the answers's gotta somewhat factor into a finale
- It's all happened before and it will all happen again - will we see this played out?

Do I think we'll get answers to all of these questions? Of course not. But it would be nice to get some.

Next up, from The TV Addict The Battlestar Galactica Death Pool. Submit who you think is gonna die and win a big Battlestar Prize Package!!! Similar contest going on at Battlestar Wiki

From The Film Experience Blog, Hump Day Hottie - Battlestar's Beefcake, featuring all the beautiful men from BSG being beautiful...I like this picture in particular...



From the Battlestar Wiki, the BSG Frak Map, detailing who has slept with who. I love this kind of stuff. Roslin fraked Adar? Who is Adar? Did we know she fraked the president? Who is Shevon again? I don't like it when Lee sleeps with anyone but Kara. Speaking of Kara, she slept with Leoben? When? Starbuck's a ho. I love her.

And finally, all of All Things Fangirl's Battlestar posts. We've only existed since November, but we love our Battlestar, so we've posted plenty. We've got posts on merchandise, events, episodes, webisodes, auction, videos, BSG humor and more.

I leave you now with two of our videos from NYCC 2008 featuring three of the final five.


Michael Hogan/Rekha Sharma on finding on they were Cylons

Michael Trucco on finding out he was a Cylon


On a personal note, it really hit me earlier that one of my favorite shows of all time is coming to an end tonight and it made me really sad. I discovered Battlestar on DVD in 2005, subsequently became obsessed and never looked back. I introduced the show to just about all of my friends & my boyfriend who also subsequently became obsessed with it :). I'm happy that so many people, people who don't even consider themselves Sci Fi fans have discovered the show and love it as much as I do. I've always identified with Starbuck and she remains one of my favorite female characters of all time. Though david disagrees with me on that one. I'm so happy I'm hopefully going to the Paley Center BSG/Caprica panel in April so I can properly say goodbye to the show I love so much. I'm also thrilled that I have my BSG toaster, my Lee/Kara minimates, my Starbuck art print, my "I'm the Final Cylon" necklace, my limited edition BSG sketched cover comic book, my BSG shirt, my BSG pins and more. It's been an amazing four years (six years for others) of geeking out to this show and tracking down random merchandise. And it'll all be over in six hours. :(

Hope you all enjoy the episode tonight and get to watch with fellow fans!

So say we all!

Some links that have popped up since I first posted this Round Up:
Think Hero
EW's Recap of last week's episode featuring this bit that I love: "And I loved the silent act of drawing the proverbial line in the sand. Rather, a red line on the deck. A rose line. Roslin. (It all comes around, doesn't it?)" See full post

Thursday, March 19, 2009

GIANT TETRIS GAME [Game!]

If these games aren't keeping you nice and occupied at work, try this! It's a GIANT TETRIS GAME. GIANT. Use right/left to move side to side, up/down to change the shape, space bar to make the piece fall faster.

Check out the awesomeness someone who was clearly very bored created!



To play, just click here and be sure to send in a screenshot if you create something cool.

Oh god that Filet O Fish commercial is on. Now that damn song is gonna be stuck in my head all night. See full post

Young Hollywood Recreates West Side Story for Vanity Fair [Pretty Alert!]


I love West Side Story and I love photography. Sometimes, I even love Young Hollywood. Like when I was 8-11 and in love with Devon Sawa, Leonardo DiCaprio and Paul Rudd. Some things never change. I'm referring to the Paul Rudd part. It's safe to say I'm quite over Devon & Leo. Okay, what was I talking about?

Ah yes, to celebrate West Side Story coming back to Broadway, Vanity Fair and Mark Seliger held a photo shoot recreating certain famous scenes from the show, featuring Camilla Belle as Maria, Jennifer Lopez as Anita, Ben Barnes as Tony, Chris Evans as Riff and Rodrigo Santoro as Bernardo. As background, they've got Minka Kelly, Drake Bell, Ashley Tisdale, Robert Pattinson, Cam Gigandet, Melanie Diaz, Brandon T. Jackson and more. Okay, so J. Lo is hardly young Hollywood, and I'm not particularly a huge fan of any of the names I just mentioned, but whatever, it's still awesome.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the gorgeous photos for yourself. They could have chosen some better people to act as background characters but I gotta say, Belle, Barnes, Lopez and Rodrigo look pretty damn convincing.

Click here for the rest of the online only spread. See full post

Batman Logo Evolution [Video of the Moment]

Saw this on Topless Robot and had to share. I had no idea there were THIS many Batman Logos over the years. Which one seems the most familiar to you? Gives you that gut "Ahhh home!" feeling in your stomach when you see it? P.S. Why isn't the logo from Batman: The Animated Series in this? Or did I just miss it?

See full post

CRITERION #476 - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

so... this kinda took me by surprise. but i come here not to bury criterion for not choosing a first-run release that more aligns with their ethic (of recent films, blind mountain, man on wire, there will be blood, spring to mind, as do festival pics like hunger, tokyo sonata, the headless woman, etc... and they are releasing revanche later this year after its theatrical run), but to bury other purists who in some way feel this taints the sanctity of the CC. the same CC that released Armageddon, once upon a time.

now, the furor over this one is going to be confined to relatively small, aggressively nerdy circles. but i feel compelled to address this briefly and then move on with my life. criterion is a company. an EXCELLENT company that does the art world a tremendous service, but a company nonetheless. a company that has to weather a recession. and this dvd / blu-ray is going to sell by the fuck-load (note: 1,340 dvds = 1 fuckload). everyone wins. criterion gets to fund a project like their mammoth upcoming release of The Human Condition, which approximately 8 people will buy, but for everyone that triptych will be grasped from the sinking sands of time. paramount wins, cause they get another company to put out a better package of their prestige film than they ever could. and "prestige" is key here, too, cause... yeah, people are going to think benny buttons is a better film just by virtue of that beautiful CC logo on it. i know i do. i'm weak like that. but seriously... it's motherfucking CRITERION.

the only beef i have with this? the artwork. Criterion packages tend to be works of art in and of themselves. sublimely bridging the gap between art and commodity, and then turning the entire dynamic on its ear. but while this package continues the criterion tradition of presenting half-faces on their boxes, it's plain jane to the max. observe:



compare that to THIS:



but, to be fair, that is probably the best dvd ever manufactured. oh well. i guess for benny buttons paramount stipulated that the blockbuster blokes need to be able to quickly spot it on the shelves... and the names of the ACTORS on the box instead of the director... which is absolute BLASPHEMY in the criterion world... must be a contractual thing as well.

eh, i'll be buying it. and i'll be loving it. and the IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES blu-ray will come out and everything will be as glorious as ever. See full post

Kicking Ass Since 1996

So there’s a quiet, benign buzz beginning to hum at the edge of the internet’s metaphorical auditory perception regarding a new Tomb Raider movie in the works. It will reboot the (failed) franchise and possibly contain an origin story. It will not star Angelina Jolie. It has no plot, no writer, no director, no star attached. It will not feature Megan Fox.

Thank God.

Do I support this idea? Yes. Tomb Raider was the second video game I ever played on my very own console, the Sega Saturn my daddy bought me for Christmas when I was in the 6th grade. We would play it together every evening when he came home from work- figure out the puzzles, flail in panic when set upon by wolves, watch the pixilated cut scenes of labyrinthine underground cisterns and say, “That’s so cool!” As history buffs and archeology fans, the original Tomb Raider appealed to both my father and myself on many levels. We followed Lara into her next to games on the Playstation I got in high school to replace my sadly obsolete but much beloved Saturn, and then, just a few years ago, when they rebooted the game franchise with Legend, I would bring that game with me and my laptop when I would visit him from college and in the summer. Tomb Raider: Lara Croft has long been, for me, not just a shining beacon of a Cool Girl Character (because I freely admit that one of the first things I want as an option in a game is to be able to play as a girl) but a sort of sentimental property- something that means a lot to me not just as a gamer.

Then the movie came out. The fact that the casting for Lara was perfect beyond all reason got me all excited. Angelina Jolie was good people. My hopes for that first movie were disastrously high. Because, of course, then I went and saw the damn thing, and what did I get for my trouble? Dog sledding without a sled. Even Daniel Craig naked couldn’t save that movie. What made it so particularly painful to watch was that it seemed they had taken Lara and somehow transplanted her to a world where everything was stupid and nothing made sense. She, separate from the film as a whole, was perfect- a bit overly sentimental about her father, perhaps, as that hadn’t been an aspect of the character we’d been shown in the games at that point- but Jolie’s Croft was a distillation of what made the character amazing. Generally calm and cool, but easily incited to Raging Badass. She took joy in the fighting as well as the historical significance of the locales she found herself in. But at every turn, she was thwarted: By the script, by the supporting cast, by the plot, by the McGuffin. At the time, disgusted, I thought they would have done better to have just translated the first game into a movie but then, at the time, I was sixteen. I no longer think that, and I no longer think that translating the new games, any of them, to a feature will work either. The reason for this being, of course, that the new games seem to have been modeled in parts after the stupid movie.

In what is now Grand ATF Tradition, I give you: How Not To Eff Up Tomb Raider.


1. Lara. Angelina Jolie was great. If she were to reprise the role, she would need to beef up for it again. None of this ridiculous waif crap. She’s older, now, but not too old- at her youngest, Lara should be mid-thirties. That said, find an actress who can play the part, not look like it. Through the miracle of Hollywood anyone can get the body of an Olympian. Anyone’s hair can be dyed brown. Lara is intelligent and dangerous, suffers a severe wanderlust and a thirst not for fame but great knowledge. She doesn’t compromise, ever, and she doesn’t play well with others. That said:

2. Nix the supporting cast. She doesn’t need a tech guy, she doesn’t need a young, snarky butler, she doesn‘t need an art historian or a research assistant. She doesn’t need someone else’s voice in her ear. Rivals are requisite, allies are fine, a ‘love interest‘ COULD be acceptable if done correctly, which as of yet it hasn‘t been. You can’t populate a world with one person. Even Tom Hanks had Wilson. But she doesn’t need an awkward entourage around to be fodder or plot devices, not if the story is written well. Get rid of ‘em.

3. Find a stand alone adventure that works cinematically. I would suggest not going to the current Legend/Underworld storyline, as it barely even works for the games. Use Anniversary for a template, if anything. A storyline that begins (ostensibly) when the movie begins and ends when the movie ends. It worked for Transformers, it can work for you. Let her history, losing both parents, exist as motivators for her in the ways that they have shaped her ambitions and her psychology- do not make the films about a mystical journey to retrieve one/both/either parent/s. Let the object of her chase’s mysticism come as a surprise. Don’t have a single fucking scene with techno music or dog sledding, so help me god.

4. Emulate what made the game great. A sense of mystery, suspense, a sense of isolation, and the scope of where Lara fits into whatever epic battle she’s found herself embroiled in. She’s almost always the smallest component, going up against much greater powers or bigger groups than herself. But she’s smart enough, and made of hard enough stuff to do it anyway.

5. Make a genre movie, not an action movie. The first two Tomb Raider movies feel weird and don’t make any damn sense. The ’magic’ sits funny. It never plays, you never buy it. It’s like the difference between the first and second Mummy movies: Something about The Mummy is intrinsically fun and the world, however ridiculous, believable. It feels like a whole universe. The Mummy Returns feels like a train wreck, like Blazing Saddles when the western spills out across the soundstages and starts fights. It has no sense of cohesion, and no charm. Don’t make an action movie with statues that come to life. Create a universe, create the rules of your universe, create an environment that feels like something, that isn’t sterile and generic, and then put your character into it.

6. Nix the fan service. There aren’t enough people out there to appreciate Machine Gun Skateboarding kid if he shows up (although I’d flip my shit. Seriously. Oh my God, it would be amazing). Or Larson. No one would get it (except me, oh my god. You could do it for me). You have interesting source material. Use it. But write the movie from scratch.
See full post

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Danny Gokey Revives My Crush on Danny Gokey -A.I. Predictions 3/18

Wizard, Adam Lambert.


Interesting show last night, no?

Stupid Danny Gokey had to go and sing all sexy like. Ugh. I don't even like that song and I'm considering downloading it. Stupid Robert Downey Gokey and his voice that I think is so great. I should stick to my guns here. I loved him from his audition. And anyone who makes me WANT to download a song with "Jesus" in the title has gotta be amazing. Cause...I don't do that.

Anyway, here's my breakdown,

Favorites: Danny, Anoop, Crazy Ass Adam, Matt, Kris
Liked Just Fine: Allison, Megan
Weren't Great, But Should Stay: Alexis, Lil
Go Home Already: Michael, Scott (Michael Scott! Teehee)

Here's what Dial Idol has to say,

Top Five: Danny, Anoop, Lil, Matt, Kris
Bottom Three: Megan, Allison, Alexis

Yikes. Well I certainly hope that's incorrect. There's no way in hell Michael or Scott deserve to be in the tour over Alexis. She had one bad performance - that doesn't warrant getting kicked off the show, come on.

Entertainment Weekly's rankings,
Top Five:
Kris Allen: A-
Anoop Desai: B+
Adam Lambert: B+
Allison Iraheta: B+
Matt Giraud: B+

Bottom Three:
Megan (Joy) (Corkrey): C+
Michael Sarver: C
Scott MacIntyre: C-

Specifically last night I thought Kris, Matt & Anoop threw down the gauntlet, Adam further proved that he's the one to wait for every week - you never what shit he's gonna pull! I love him! And Paula got it right on the money with the Led Zepplin Kashmir bit. After she said that everyone I was watching with replied "Ahhhh, that's it, yes." But moving on - Allison will always sound and look amazing, Danny will always sound great but he needs to not look like an Eskimo, Lil has an amazing voice, but seems confused right now and Alexis needs to stay smart with her song choices. Or stay dirty as Kara would say.

That Kris is quite adorable, isn't he?

A boy needs to go home tonight. And which boy it is will depend on which audience dialed the most last night. If a girl goes home, I'm gonna be pissed. I need to predict one...so I'm gonna go with Michael. My gut's telling me that the sympathy vote's gonna win out over the Midwest vote. We shall see. See full post

Are You An NYC Based Watchmen Fan? [Event]


Just got an email about an awesome sounding event taking place tomorrow night at 7pm at MoCCA, here in NYC.

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art - MoCCA is pleased to present:
Watchmen in Context: A lecture by Peter Sanderson
Thursday, March 19th, 7pm
Admission: $5 | Free for MoCCA Members


Here's the write up!

The Art of Watchmen co-curator, comics historian Peter Sanderson, will deliver a lecture that will serve as a guided tour through all twelve issues of the original Watchmen comics series. Sanderson will reveal how Watchmen's creators take character types and story-lines from traditional superhero stories and adapt them to convey the book's themes. Pointing out Watchmen's allusions to real world events, Sanderson will show how Watchmen requires the readers to rexamine the proper role of the superhero in fiction--and of America as a real world superpower. "Watchmen in Context" will explore how this classic graphic novel juxtaposes different ways of viewing existence and asks the readers to choose among them.


Peter Sanderson is a comics historian and critic who has taught "Comics as Literature" at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He regularly writes about graphic novels for "Publishers Weekly's" online "Comics Week and has authored and co-authored numerous books, most recently Marvel Chronicle for DK Publishing. He also co-curated Stan Lee: A Retrospective at MoCCA in 2007 and was Marvel Comics first (and only) archivist. He will be teaching a course in comics and film at New York University's SCPS this summer. Sanderson did his undergraduate and graduate work in English literature at Columbia University, and lives in New York City.

The museum has The Art of Watchmen on view though May 2, so I'll definitely have to hit up the museum at some point, even though I can't attend the event tomorrow night. So cool.

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is located at 594 Broadway #401
(between Houston and Prince) See full post