Showing posts with label Blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogs. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

So this is what guys like Joss Whedon do during the Writer's Strike...

Joss Whedon, of Buffy and Firefly fame, along with the lesser Whedon brothers, Zack and Jed, got bored during the recent Writer's Strike. So they wrote a campy B-Movie Musical, staring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day.

NPH plays as Dr. Horrible, an amateur mad scientist, attempting to gain entrance into the Evil League of Evil. He videoblogs his evil schemes, and answers reader mail, you know, the whole blog crawl. Dr. Horrible has no super powers, beyond what he can build himself.

Felicia Day plays Penny, Dr. Horrible's crush, whom he can't get up the nerve to talk to. She volunteers her time to try and convince people to sign a petition to open a new homeless shelter.

Nathan Fillion plays Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's arch nemesis. Captain Hammer dislocated Dr. Horrible's shoulder in their last showdown. He was born with a full head of hair and the ability to bench press 500 lbs.

The show is being released in three acts on the website I linked to above. The first act was released on Tuesday, act II will be released today, and act III on Saturday. It has a surprisingly high production value for a web released side project. It looks just like any other live action TV show. The writing is campy and somewhat uninspired, but the music is well done. NPH does a good job both acting and singing. Day has a surprisingly good voice too. Fillion seemed a little out of sorts and I'm not sure how much of that was him and how much was the character.

It's pretty funny, and worth the 14 minutes it takes to watch the act. There's also a webcomic about Captain Hammer available here. Joss really went all out on this thing.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Peace on Earth.

In World War Z, Israel and Palestine finally set aside their differences and united. All it took was an undead outbreak that wiped out most of life on earth. Hopefully it won't take an event of that magnitude in real life.


I had real hopes for a fairly peaceful resolution when Yasser Arafat died. I thought that his inflexibility was holding back the peace process, and with fresh leadership, significant steps forward could be taken. Then Hamas got elected... Well... shit. Add in the attacks by Hezbollah on Israel, and a chance at a cessation of hostilities suddenly seemed as far away as ever.


I think a lot of the issues that divide the people in that region are overstated and manipulated by a few influential people who want the conflict to drag on until one side or both has been annihilated. It's a real shame.


However, I find my perspective limited to analysis. Unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, I don't know anyone in Palestine or Israel. As such, I have a very limited idea of the perspective on the ground. That's changed a little thanks to this blog. Life Must Go On In Gaza and Sderot.


This blog is written jointly between two people. One lives in Sderot, an Israeli city that is frequently the target of missile strikes from the Gaza Coast. The other lives in a refugee camp outside Gaza. Together they share one common hope, for an end to the conflict that defines existence in the Holy Land.


Please visit their blog, and get a feel for their life. While there, please sign the petition asking for a one month cease fire, to allow civilians an opportunity to get out of the line of fire.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Resolve to Win

Thanks to Blackfive for bringing this to my attention.

There is a group, calling themselves "Resolve to Win", composed of retired servicemen who returned from duty in Iraq, who have decided to march from South Carolina to Washington DC. They have the expressed goal of increasing American resolve for victory in Iraq. They are now in day 12 of their 16 day march, intending to finish in 4 days, in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

I haven't heard anything about them in the mainstream media. But they have a well written and well planned blog that can be found at http://www.vfwwebcom.org/ResolveToWin/.

In my opinion, the possibility of victory in Iraq has never been a question. The American military is orders of magnitude stronger than any other on the planet. The question has always been weather or not the American people have the fortitude to let the military do its job.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

PostSecret

Sometimes, I surf the web looking for something that catches my eye. Today I found a blog called PostSecret.

PostSecret bills itself as "an ongoing community art project, in which people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." It's exactly what it sounds like. It appeals to the inner voyeur in everyone. I actually think it's a very interesting, and the idea of anonymously sharing your emotional burdens with the world seems very cathartic.
The blog has released four books since its inception in 2004. Each filled with the things that people would never say to the rest of us.

The secrets range from the funny...









To the embarrassing...










To the subtly profound...







If you're curious, you can find PostSecret at PostSecret.Blogspot.com. Every once in a while you might find something like this...


This secret just ripped my heart out. For those of you who are separated from your loved ones in the service, don't ever do this. As much as it hurts to confront this situation, we rely on our loved ones back home. Communication with you keeps us grounded, keeps us sane. It reminds us that no matter how bad things are, we still have something to fight for. You are our strength, our reason for service. Please, don't abandon us when we need you.