Dollhouse Poster

I really liked what FOX did with the marketing and promos for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles before the first season with the mechanized, half-body of the beautiful Summer Glau and character shots over the white background. I've been waiting to see what the studio would do for Dollhouse. As far as I can tell, this is the first official promotional poster-though there have been quite a few images released over the past few months-we've seen for the show premiering in just over a month and I like it.



Click to see it bigger and read the tagline: "She can be anyone, except herself."

TV spots are beginning to air on FOX as well.

Seattle Under Threat

If there were ever a horror movie that would freeze my blood, this would be the plot.


And it's real. And happening in my neighborhood.

The Stranger's Dan Savage posted the note along with accompanying police information on the SLOG yesterday evening. Other than the fact that the eleven letters were picked up from the clubs involved, details are scarce at the moment. As would be expected, the Seattle Police Department and the FBI are involved and it is likely Homeland Security will aid in the investigation as well.

From The Stranger's SLOG:

A letter also arrived in The Stranger's offices, addressed to the attention of "Obituaries." The letter's author said the paper should "be prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals all of whom were patrons of the following establishments on a Saturday in January." The listed bars are: the Elite, Neighbours, Wild Rose, the Cuff, Purr, the Eagle, R Place, Re-bar, CC's, Madison Pub, and the Crescent. "I could take this moment to launch into a diatribe about my indignation towards the gay community," the letter concludes, "however, I think the deaths will speak for themselves."

That is perhaps the most chilling thing I have ever read.

It is unfathomable to think how a person could be so vile and hateful-regardless of whether or not he intends to follow through on this threat. Although I haven't been going out a whole lot lately, it's hard to think about doing so now in the face of this threat. I am even more inclined now to have dinner parties and game nights at home instead of having a drink at any of those establishments-most of which I have visited with some regularity. What it comes down to though is the fact that this is terrorism, pure and simple. The question we have to ask ourselves here in Seattle is whether or not we let it be successful. Of course, the community of Capitol Hill and Seattle at large will continue to support its members, but these happenings are tremendously frightening nonetheless.

To those in Seattle, please be careful and stick together.

UPDATE: From the Seattle PI; According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, ricin – the poison the writer was said to have 67 grahams of – can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid.

If made into a partially purified material or refined into a terrorist or warfare agent, ricin could be used to expose people through the air, food, or water, according to the CDC.

So does this mean that simply breathing at a bar could be potentially dangerous?

UPDATE 2: Dan Savage hypothesizes the letters were written by an embittered gay man.

One of the Quirkiest

PARADE magazine has just named Slayage Conference 3-at which I presented this summer-as one of its quirkiest news stories of the year.

It's cool that the conference made the news and that I got to be a part of it, but quirky?! I'm more inclined to call SC3 awesome and one-of-the-best-times-of-my-life!

Thanks to David Lavery for the link.

And thanks to Ryan and Nikki-to the right and left of the picture respectively-for helping make the conference so great in the first place!


Good times!

Said: Nathaniel & David Fisher

Nathaniel Fisher: You hang on to your pain like it means something. Like it's worth something. Well, let me tell you - it's not worth shit. Let it go! Infinite possibilities, and all he can do is whine. 
David Fisher: Well, what am I supposed to do? 
Nathaniel: What do you think? You can do *anything*, you lucky bastard - you're alive! What's a little pain compared to that? 
David: It can't be that simple. 
Nathaniel: What if it is?

Six Feet Under Episode 51

September 12, 2004

Programming

2009 has come and within the next few weeks we'll see the continuation of favorite shows as well as some promising new entries.  A few of these shows ended the first part of their season run several months ago so their return is much anticipated, while others took a shorter break-though some longer than others-for the holiday season.

Nip/Tuck

Season 5, Episode 15

"Ronnie Chase"

January 6, 2009

30 Rock

Season 3, Episode 7

"Senor Macho Solo"

January 8, 2009

Battlestar Galactica

Season 4, Episode 11

"Sometimes a Great Notion"

January 16, 2009

The United States of Tara

Season 1, Episode 1

"Pilot"

January 18, 2009 

*A dark comedy, starring Toni Collette, about a woman with multiple personality disorder who tries to keep it together for her family. Created by Steven Spielberg and written by Diablo Cody of Juno fame.

Lost

Season 5, Episode 1

"Because You Left"

January 21, 2009

*This one I plan on adding to my Netflix queue soon.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Season 2, Episode 14

Title Unknown

February 13, 2009

And a few moments after Sarah Connor Chronicles ends that Friday evening on FOX comes the show we've all been waiting for:

Dollhouse

Season 1, Episode 1

"Ghost"

Written and Directed by Joss Whedon

February 13, 2009

It's going to be a good night.  And I'm not at all thinking about how that was the date five years ago that Angel was cancelled.  Nor the fact that it's FOX.  Nor the production delays.  Nor the script rewrites.  Stopping now.

Bring on the dolls!

And the month after that, a project featuring another Whedon alumnus:

Castle

Season 1, Episode 1

"Pilot"

March 9, 2009

Starring Nathan Fillion

*I think this was the pilot directed last year by the Associate Artistic Director at Taproot Theatre for whom I have been known to lend a writing hand a few times a year.  She showed me a picture of her and Nathan Fillion on her phone-so envious!

Kings

Season 1, Episode 1

"Pilot"

March 9, 2009

*A modern-day soap about a

 hero who rises to become the

 king of his nation, based on the biblical story of King David.  

I wrote about this with keen interest awhile back here.

Viewings 2008

2008 marks the first year that I have successfully recorded all my movie viewings including those seen in the theatre and those on DVD.

Total Movies Watched: 106

Average Per Week: 2.04

Movies Watched Twice: X2: X-Men United, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Wall-E, Hellboy, Hellboy II, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Movies Seen in Theatre: 27

Movies Seen at SIFF: 11

Complete Trilogies: The Lord of the Rings, Blade, Evil Dead

Partial Trilogies or Duologies: Conan, X-Men, Indiana Jones, Hellboy, The Mummy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Trilogy, Alien, Before Sunrise, Batman, The Chronicles of Narnia

Annual Tradition: A December viewing of all three extended editions of The Lord of The Rings

Television Shows on DVD:

Buffy Seasons 4-7

Battlestar Galactica Season 4
Angel Seasons 1-5

Six Feet Under Seasons 1-3
Dinosaurs Season 3
Nip/Tuck Seasons 5

Total Television Episodes (Approx.): 283

Worst Film of 2008:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The combination of a poorly cobbled together script-as was David Koepp’s task, a silly MacGuffin-the aliens, the addition of Indiana’s son-and the monkeys, the kitschy self-referential nostalgia and far too much CGI made this movie a major letdown, made even clearer on a second viewing.

Top 5 Films of 2008 (First Viewings):

Milk
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

The 3 Little Pigs

Wall-E
There Will Be Blood

Viewings 2008

* denotes theatrical viewing

Transformers

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Hellboy
There Will Be Blood*
Lost in Translation
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Strictly Ballroom The Nines
Beowulf
30 Days of Night
Knocked Up
Battlestar Galactica: Razor
Bee Movie
Stargate: Ark of Truth
Year of the Dog
Enchanted
Babel

Alien Resurrection
The Mist

Serenity

K-Pax
The Life of David Gale
Gone Baby Gone
Dead Alive
End of Days
Cronos
Hellboy
The Orphanage
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Iron Man*
Speed Racer*
Prince Caspian*

Seattle International Film Festival
May 22-June 14th
Battle in Seattle*
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull* (Non-SIFF)

Dream Boy*

The 3 Little Pigs*

Breakfast with Scot*
Casino Royale
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Savage Grace*
Young People Fucking*
You, the Living*
The Island of Lost Souls*
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh*
Chrysalis*
Bottle Shock*

The Incredible Hulk*
Wanted*
Primal Fear
Army of Darkness
Wall-E*
Hellboy II: The Golden Army*

Total Recall

The Dark Knight*
X2: X-Men UnitedCharlie Bartlett
Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
Blade
The Savages
Fight Club
Blade II
The House Bunny*
Blade III
Knocked Up
The Phantom Menace
Revenge of the Sith
Justice League: The New Frontier
The Fifth Element
Cloverfield
The Day After
Batman: Gotham Knight

Appleseed: Ex Machina

The Air I Breathe

Burn After Reading*

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Vexille
Moulin Rouge!
Barbarella
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Dragonslayer
Quantum of Solace*
X2: X-Men United
Conan The Barbarian
Conan The Destroyer
Milk*
Bolt*
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
X-Men: The Last Stand
Star Wars IV: A New Hope
Wall-E
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Mr. Bean's Holiday
Iron Man
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The Break-Up
Speed Racer
Curious George
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Poseidon
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Kung Fu Panda

New Blossoms

I got back to Seattle on New Years Eve just in time to run home, change, buy champagne and head over to a friend's house for a great pork roast dinner with potatoes, squash and caramelized onions accompanied by sparkling shiraz, rosés and French 75s. I'm still a bit jet-lagged and getting myself tired out by bringing in the New Year night after night has added to the fatigue-it's time for a break from the holiday season and a little bit of normalcy this month-and year-with the new job, new friends and academic prospects. Glad to be back "home."

Haiku time...still bringing out the haikus from my creative marathon a few weeks ago.

Do withered flowers
Fear being plucked? Or do they
Pine for human touch?

Artwork by yours truly, May '06