Recently in Entertainment Category

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Truer words where never spoken. The Red River Exhibition, a Winnipeg tradition going back to when my parents where kids, and likely further, ended tonight, and my parents and I decided to go out there, just to see what it's like these days. When I was a kid, the Ex was down at Polo Park, which is right by the Winnipeg Stadium, and the then Winnipeg Arena, since torn down. Now it is on it's own property, a place called Exhibition Park, out by the perimeter in the west corner of the city. Back when I used to go as a kid, the Ex was well known for it's mini donuts, which where just becoming popular back then. They are still there, and in abundance. I counted 5 or 6 vendor locations of those cursed and delicious donuts.

I walked all around the Exhibition Park, checked out the look of the rides, and had a chance to see 2 bands I enjoyed when I was just getting into country music back a few years ago now, Little Texas and Blackhawk, and enjoyed both of their shows. It was a nice night, making me wish I had brought my camera, if it was working, and was overall an enjoyable occasion, but it reminds me that the price of food and drinks out there is really, really high. $4 for a small slice of pizza, $3 for a 600ml drink, and more are examples of the exorbitant prices, but I guess if you can afford to go to the Ex, you usually bring enough cash to enjoy yourself and splurge a little.

I hesitantly classify this under 'Entertainment' because neither is really entertaining to me. There is only one show on right now with new episodes that I actually find entertaining, and it is a death run show. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was cancelled by NBC after they yanked it for a tasteless and worthless show, and only brought back for a last gasp to fill slots after the end of the 'real season'. The rest of the stuff on is repeats of shows, and the dreaded reality shows. I do not wish to disrespect the audience for reality TV, though I likely will anyway, but it is the furthest thing from reality and the worst kind of crap that Hollywood puts on the air. It is a waste of bandwidth and airtime when shows like Firefly, Studio 60, and others get cancelled because people want idiots on the tube instead of real creativity.

@#$%! Heroes Season Finale spoilers ahead!

I am told by rather informed sources that there are a lot of podcasters in Second Life. Because of this, I decided to sign up for a new account. There is only one problem. I can't seem to get it to run. I know you will say 'but Dwight, it's an online game and you have no net access' and while I will agree this would be an issue if it where getting stuck on a web based aspect, or if this hadn't dated back to the before I lost my net access. I have next to no applications running anymore, AV is off, firewall is off, browser is closed, etc, but yet I launch it, and it says 'detecting hardware' and then freezes. It has done this since first install. It is getting annoying. I even let it run all night, and it was frozen when I got to my PC in the morning. Maybe, if I still care about it, I will try to get it to work by trouble shooting when I get back online. My name, by the way, is Medros Hax.

I was listening to the CNet News.com Podcast for Thursday a few minutes ago, and they had two straight stories about 'terrorism' online. The first was one country accusing another of a DDoS attack in retribution for the dismantling a physical memorial to the second countries people. The second was one of political terrorism, wherein a couple of political parties in a European country alleging the other has performed acts of defacement and terrorism on each other's offices in Second Life. First off, I think this is the major problem with the term Terrorism. It has morphed from a descriptor of a violent attack meant to destabilize a political foundation, to a descriptor of any act of violence, be it a single death or many.

Too many media and political groups use the term as a way to strike fear into the hearts of people, and make people feel fear. In 1999, a shooting that took a life would have been local news, maybe, depending on the area. Now, it's enough to earn national coverage in a day of 24/7/365 news channels desperate for stuff to report. People die all the time. I didn't see my grandfather on the news. I didn't see my nephew's father on the news. I am sure that the Israelis would have a few things to say about Terrorism.

The second thing I wanted to point out is that while there may be the ability to be 'violent' in a game like Second Life, it isn't terrorism. It's pixels on a screen. Applying real world titles to activities in an online or in game action plays into the hands of people like Jack Thompson. People like Thompson, who constantly try to blame video games for any bit of violence in the world today. Calling violence in second life, which costs no lives, only pixels, Terrorism is a disservice and pretty much complete crap.

Well, lost .2 lb this week. not much, but it will do I guess, and hopefully will be a catalyst to getting back on track for next week and beyond. Was cleaning while listening to Heroes podcasts earlier. With only one more episode left in the first season of Heroes, I am quickly finding it one of my favorite shows. It's not slow and full of wasted airtime like lost, and doesn't take forever to get to it's points. A definite improvement. 1 plot, which some thought would take the entire season to wrap up(and it would have if it where Lost) wrapped up before the midseason break, and another, perhaps the biggest, will either be resolved in the next episode, or early in season 2.

I just finished watching my 'memory shows' as I call them. The Last episode of The West Wing and Babylon 5, two shows that really altered the landscape of their genres. Debating watching Pirates of Silicon Valley next, but I find that movie has limited rewatchability(is that a word?) before it gets tiresome. I know the history, I know there are many sides, I am just not sure how many time I can see it again. I've caught up on Supernatural last night, and The Tudors as well. All I have left in podcasts are Heroes podcasts and a couple Webnation episodes. To think I ditched several podcasts that had remained unwatched due to lack of time not even a couple weeks ago, and now I have all the time in the world. It's amazing what changes happen.

Still trying to figure out what part of all of this was a lie. My mother is not one to let a company get away with ripping her off, but she doesn't seem to be fighting the phone company over their allegations she didn't make the payment she said she did. After 30 years, I know my parents well, and I know what kind of stuff they pull. Would my mother really have just ignored the payments that she was supposed to make? Wouldn't be the first time. Is it possible she forgot? I know her memory is going. As I sit here, now over 50 hours since my net was deactivated, these are the things I think of. That and about how many of the icons on my desktop do not interact with or require the internet to function. There are not many. Back to editing the 4th episode and hoping that it won't be the end of the month before it's released.

***Spoilers ahead. Do not click to continue unless you wish to be spoiled for episodes recently aired***

I heard via the Buzz Out Loud podcast tonight that SciFi has declared that this, the 10th season of Stargate SG-1, will be the last. I would like to say I am surprised by this, but I am not. I am, though, saddened by this announcement. I liked the Stargate movie that came out in the early 90's. It wasn't until, I think, the 3rd or 4th season when I came across SG-1, due to the fact that, even though it is filmed in Canada, it did not air in the normal fashion. I believe we were 2 or 3 years behind at the time.

In fact It was aired in several European countries before it aired here in Canada. I recall oddly downloading low res versions of the first few years off a site called SG1Archives, which has since become a news site. The world of Gao'uld, Asgaard, Replicators and more drew me in to the series and I fell in love with the world. I watched excitedly as the series progressed, and then branched off into the Atlantis series. I was sad when I saw O'Neill become a General, knowing that behind the scenes they were slowly writing him out of the series year by year.

Then 2 of my favorite Sci-Fi actors, Claudia Black in season 8 for an episode, and then Claudia Black and Ben Browder, who both starred on Farscape, joining the crew in season 9. Add in Lou Gossette Jr and Beau Bridges, who replaced Richard Dean Anderson's O'Neill as the General of the SGC, and season 9 was likely one of the biggest, at least in star power, of the entire run. Sadly, the Ori, a much more powerful enemy, could not rejuvenate the series from the drop it experienced at the loss of O'Neill. I am still excited to see how the last year of SG-1 will play out, and how the Atlantis spin off will fare once the main series falls by the wayside.

I got home from work last night, and I checked. My game time in WoW ended last night. The last few weeks have been rather emotional ones, much of it connected to that game, so I am not overly put out by the fact I cannot play World of Warcraft. As I have said more than once of late in this regard, I need to regain my perspective. This is a common affliction I have found amongst RPers, they get so immersed in the world that they look around and they see blurred lines between the game and the world. I now see I have a mild case, where I took in game stuff and assumed out of game words and actions were not part of the game. I am informed I was wrong. Either way, I need to take a few steps back, need to recharge my gaming batteries so to speak.

I am posting this and two other articles to give you folks some added info about the last of the posts. I was informed a few minutes ago that my World of Warcraft talk show, Know Your Role, will no longer be airing on MMO Radio. You all may recall that back in September of last year, I was let go from the station I had help build from the ground up, WoW Radio. Difference of opinion on what is legal and right for a company meant that it would not be feasible for me to remain employed there. The other stuff I had heard was that the owner gathered all his friend, and ganged up on other staff to convince them that my presence could risk the station, and their reputation with Blizzard.

I went to MMO Radio, and asked if they wanted me and my show to come to their station. After a few days, a lengthy application, and a try out on a test stream in front of god knows who, I was accepted, and my final farewell on WoW Radio was played a couple of hours before my show aired in it's new home on MMO. While I knew immediately that MMO, and it's parent company TMSB, were far different than WoW Radio's fan site flavor, I felt that it was somewhere I could find a home.

I did my shows, both my normal Tuesday 'downtime' show, playing music while the weekly maintenance was ongoing, and my Wednesday night show Know Your Role. I met some great people, some of whom I now count as my closest and dearest friends, and, I hope, brought a few people closer to the idea of Role Play as a decent way to experience an MMORPG. Over time, there were... suggestions made about how I could improve my show, and outright orders for me to not express some opinions or play some music, and not just stuff that wasn't PG13.

I sat back, in all this time, over 8 months of it, saw the politics and the way people are. I observed, much as I always do, the people involved. The management, the listeners, the staff and more. I watched how they interacted, how they talked when a subject of conversation was not around, and so on. It was an interesting exercise in people watching without a doubt. Over time, though, I felt like I was not as welcome as I would have wanted. I was a grunt, I felt, not someone who was part of a closely gathered group of friends.

Then came the competition. The management of the company decided to recruit another show to talk about World of Warcraft. The War Room, hosted by Hak 5's Darren Kitchen and Jenn Cutter of OpenAlpha.tv, both popular podcasts, was a show on Sunday nights, recorded live, where the two talked about WoW. I will concede that in my anger over this news, I refused to listen to the show. It seems, though, that both shows got the axe at the same time.

According to this post on the Hak 5 website, the management at TMSB killed the site, forums, and feed for the show immediately after the show was off the air. I had known for awhile that TMSB wasn't happy with how Blizz treated the TMSB staff. I was the first, to my knowledge, but I can only assume by the later information at staff meetings that the management's attempts to bring about a positive resolution were not to be. I was warned by a GM from promoting my show in the game, even though the same brought a lot of cool users to my show.

I feel that this encounter led to the death of my show this week. I could no longer promote my show, nor grow my audience, as I had on WoW Radio. The staff didn't promote it, and if all I could do was throw 'dance parties' where I was the only person there, and could answer no questions as to why I was dancing, I was pretty useless for it. I often tried to get people from the station in game, but when the flow is one sided, it's pretty much a dead end.

Now, where to go from here is the question I ask myself. Podcast? Another station? Can I do something with this whole talk show about a video game idea? I would like to take it to a podcast, but I also want someone as a co-host. I have a few ideas who I could ask, but I suspect all of them would say no, either because getting them on air int he past, in podcast or live shows, was almost impossible, or because of stresses between myself and the person. I also wonder if the other two WoW podcasts, Taverncast and The Instance, aren't enough. Do they need me in the podcast realm? I'll let you know what I decide.

I mentioned previously that the death of West Wing co-star John Spencer and renowned actor from such other productions as L.A. Law, John Spencer. In the wake of his death, there was a great deal of discussion about how the show, which was due to end at the end of this season anyway, was going to death with the death of one of their biggest stars, a character who had taken a major role in this seasons plot of the presidential campaign.

While we do not know yet, I was touched to see Martin Sheen, out of his role as President Bartlett, talking for a few seconds before the actual show began. He said that we as fans, along with the cast, should honor the last few months of John's work, and that he, Martin, was happy to present it to us. I hope the ratings for the last few episodes of the West Wing skyrocket from here, in memory of John Spencer, who played Vice Presidential candidate Leo McGarry.

There are some actors whose presence you immediately notice in any appearance you see. John Spencer is one of those who passed recently. Andreas Katsulas, who I know best as having played Narn Ambassador G'Kar on Sci-Fi hit show Babylon 5, is one of those actors. I recall Andreas for his role in The Fugitive, a role in Star Trek Enterprise, and more across various formats and genres. It therefore saddens me that it took almost a month before I found about his death. Still, though Andreas has been gone for a fair while, I still bid him a fond, and much respected farewell. He will be missed, and the world of the last of the Babylon stations will never be the same without him.

As I suspected in my posting of yesterday, Back 2 the Future 3 was a good show, with relatively few issues and I saw some friends who I see pretty much only when I am doing them. The only bad thing I can come up with in the night was having to rather forcefully escort a person found in possession of illegal substances, or suspected illegal substances. Otherwise, I saw some people I never would have though I would see at a rave, such as a guy from the camera store I shop at who is, I would guess, probably well into his 50's. I look forward to the next Rave I get to work security at, and hope they all are as calm and peaceful, though a lineup past midnight could be done without.

As has become the tradition for me new years eve the last few years, I am heading out in a few minutes to the latest, and rumored last, Back 2 the Future show, put on by Crown Productions. Back 2 the Future this year is the third show, and I have had the pleasure of working security for all of them, as well as several other Crown Productions shows. I hope that this one will be just as good as every other one I have worked on, and I hope to see many of the people who have become almost friends through all the past shows.

It is always interesting to see the Recording industry come face to face with a person in the legal system they cannot buy, pressure, or harm in any way. It was recently reported that the record labels Sony BMG, Warner Music, EMI and Universal Music Group have come under investigation by Elliott Spitzer, the Attorney General for the State of New York, over the pricing of downloaded music through stores like iTunes. Steve Jobs of Apple, which runs the iTunes Music Store, has in the past criticized the record labels of greed that will kill the idea and benefit of online music purchases, instead of piracy.

At first I saw this investigation as a good thing from the consumer stand point, I am no longer entirely sure. The investigation is over possible collusion and price fixing between the 4 big labels. However, when I thought for a time on the possible remedies to this situation, only one became very clear, that being the desire of the labels to have staggered pricing, both higher and lower than the current typical price of $0.99 a track. I will definitely keep an eye on this story.

I find myself, interestingly, writing the words I will say on the next episode of the podcast, and find that I am choked up at the thought of never seeing Leo McGarry on the West Wing after the episode that apparently just taped, that of the vice presidential election. I was just beginning to be impacted by TV when I began watching LA Law, the NBC legal drama that aired in the late 80's and early 90's. When John Spencer joined the cast in 1990, it was a memorable character I saw. When, about 10 years later, I saw the same person on West Wing when I began watching, a year or two into the series, a grin broke across my face, and it was like seeing an old friend again.

When his character on the West Wing suffered a heart attack, I was sure this was the producers way of slowly taking him off the air, and I was saddened. I like the character of Leo, he was the one person who had a chance of standing up to the President and not getting sent packing. I am saddened equally by the loss the TV show will face, as Leo was part of the current election plot, running as the vice president, and just beginning to take a major role in the campaign. I know me, for one, I will miss seeing John Spencer, and like it was with John Ritter, who also died mid season into a show that brought him back to the spotlight, it will be sad to see the last episode. John Spencer dies Friday of a heart attack, which unlike Leo McGarry, his character, he did not survive.

Happy Birthday to the amazing MMO World of Warcraft. One year ago this day the game launched and hundreds of thousands of people around North America Australia, and New Zealand rushed out and bought the game that has since hit more than 5 million homes world wide. A worldwide audience of more than 5 million is a clear and resounding statement to the quality and the quantity of in game content. I am not a big fan of recent changes, but overall I must congratulate Blizzard Entertainment for their award and critical acclaim winning game.

It is the night of ghosts and goblins, witches and warlocks(I know at least one person dressing in Dreadmist), batmen and spidermen. 'Tis Halloween, and I still have no plan to actually go out, nor give candy. Of course, there's not much trick or treating here, downtown, in an apartment, but hey. I wish you all a good Hallows Eve, and I wish you kids all much candy, many memories, and lots of scares. If not, well, then you're going to the wrong houses. I know there are many amazingly decorated homes in this city.

I was reading an editorial in the Winnipeg Sun by Lyn Cockburn regarding the impact of the TV show Commander in Chief on the desire of some to see a woman in the White House as the leader of the country to my south. There are some who feel that this show is paving the way for Hillary Clinton to run for President in 2008. While I cannot speak as to the alleged political maneuvering behind the show, as I am not it's creator not Mrs. Clinton, I will say that I think that this show puts and interesting spin on the idea of a female President.

The show displays the impact of the Presidency on a young family, and hot the motherly instincts affect the President. More importantly, I think, it shows that a woman is able to make those important decisions without letting the 'emotional sides of womanhood' from rearing their head. Yes, this is TV. Anything can and will happen, but is it so bad to examine a possibility that is nearly certain to happen, even if a real person might make glaringly different decisions one in office? This is, after all, just one persons views on what it might be like.

Oddly Cockburn goes on to explain that a lack of such shows is the reason that other nations where a woman's role is far less evolved than it is claimed to be in the civilized world. I, like Lyn back in her reflection, do not know a reason why these vast differences exist between the free world and the so called savages, but I seriously hope that her statements in the present are meant to be sarcastic or humorous, otherwise they are misplaced and poorly said, not to mention greatly lacking in tact.

I can blame Hollywood and the TV studios for a lot of things, but the unjustified withholding of such a prestigious office based on ones gender is not one of them. However I am sure that once Jack Thompson is done with his crusade against the gamers and game makers of the world, I am sure he'll have plenty of time to take on the 2008 campaign to elect Hillary, the woman too dull to know or care that her husband was getting some on the side, inside the oval office, with a white house intern.

I am not sure how many of you recall The Screen Savers on TechTV. An awesome show in almost every way, except one issue I had, that being their tendency to bring on the big brains to analyze TV series and movie episodes and point out the flaws in the logic, errors in the formula. Basically, they would point out how the movie couldn't really happen. Now I am sure if this were back when War of the Worlds aired on radio, fooling many, this issue might have been a relevant one. Tell people that aliens couldn't have invaded, that this couldn't be really happening, sure, I can stand by it. However, in this day and age of high tech and special effects, I am not as sure that we need to analyze every little thing and point out how it couldn't be.

I mean would we have the great minds of Sci-Fi if their works had constantly been analyzed for possibility? I thought entertainment was all about the suspension of disbelief! At what point do we call enough and just let it go on? Where do we draw the line and say 'No, I won't let you ruin this movie by telling me before hand that humanity could never travel as fast as light speed or better!' I know, I know, there are those who such would make poor, after all, how often could some of them speak if they weren't the favourite of some shows to come on and debunk that which Hollywood makes? Yeah, sure, they might have written some interesting books, but we all know the big bucks is on screen, be it big, HD ready, or small. Do not rob us of the next Asimov, the next Roddenberry, the next great literary mind.

Friends are good things to have. After I expressed on my show and in game that my headset was no longer useable for doing a radio show, and also that I was going to have issues paying to play WoW once my current game time expires, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from a few friends who offered to fix the issue for me. A friend named Calinthor from the Stormseekers on Argent Dawn in game was kind enough to send me a 60 day game card for WoW. Another couple I know, Lelia and Ven, were kind enough to both send me a new headset and cover several months of game time. I want to send my deepest thanks to them all for their generosity and kindness. None of you had to do this, and it means a lot to me that you did.

Sadly, my time in WoW has expired. I hope this doesn't last long, but either way it will give me a chance to catch up on other things, and maybe even catch up eventually here on Geek Blog.

I need help. I am a World of Warcraft addict, and my time is about to run out. I ask that if you can, please click the donate link on the side and allow me a chance to keep playing WoW, to keep doing my radio show, to keep helping build the WoW community.

Hick Hop. County Rap. If you have ever heard of Big and Rich, you might know they were part of a informal group when they were still struggling in Nashville called the Music Mafia, where the group would help each other out, make sure the people in the group got gigs and such. Gretchen Wilson was also a part of this group. Well, another member of that, a person who was in their Debut video(in a non singing role, mind you) has hit the music scene, and to be honest, I am not entirely sure about him. Cowboy Troy is a rapping country star, and while his music is interesting, and has the backing of one of my favourite new bands, it is still... I dunno, weird.

I mean I am outspoken on the lack of country in much of Shania Twain's music since about her 4th hit, but this is way beyond that. He's rapping. The only difference is that he has fiddles and acoustic guitars, and that he's a black man's version of a redneck, complete with country duds. He is talented, no doubt about it, but I am not sure I would classify his music as country in most accepted uses of the genre. I mean yeah, I have been trying to convince people that country ain't all bad for awhile, but not like this. It ain't all cry in my beer and rings of fire, but it ain't this either. I was worried about 'country' when Big and Rich became a hit with a song containing the word Bling in it, but this... man, this is country???

Wow. No, not WoW. Different thing altogether. First, I want to thank McNally Robinson for such an awesome release party. There was a decent one at Chapters, but by comparison it was a small gathering to the full mall party thrown by McNally, including Harry Potter themed locations and items, including Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, several Treat Trolley's, and more. I had a chocolate frog, an owl, and a package of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, and Cody had about the same. the place, though, was a mad house when we got there, and it took about 20 minutes to get our books and get out, because the mad crush was impossible to work with. While some groups, like KeyCon, where happy to be at Chapters, I wouldn't have given up anything for the McNally launch. Already on page 75, and we just got home.