26 Days of Christmas - Almost Human

Maybe networks are finally realizing their never going to have the market share they used and are taking more chances. This year is the most I've watched network TV since Angel and Friends went off the air in 2004.

Almost Human is basically a rip-off of the Will Smith version of the motion picture I, Robot. But any other comparison stops after the pilot when it turns into an almost-typical buddy-cop series. I'd be happier if there was a little more fleshing out of the secondary characters, more issues of Kennex's memory loss from the ambush were he lost his leg, and a season-long story arch dealing with the very bad girlfriend who betrayed Kennex.

Why I'm hooked: Frankly, Alter Ego would like to be the middle of a Karl Urban/Michael Ealy. Pervy thoughts aside, Karl and Michael take a preposterous concept and manage to throw enough heart and humanity into the mix to make it work.

The 26 Days of Christmas IS Interrupted for the Mother of All Rants

Well, I made it to December 9th before someone (or in this case, more than one someone) did something really stupid. I tried to be positive this holiday season.

Really. I did.

1) Posting links to your blog on someone else's is rude. Begging me more than once to let you write a guest post is rude. Here's the deal at WWW: if I don't know you personally, get involved in the conversation and leave a few comments. If you have no idea what's going on here, then you shouldn't be asking. Once I get to know you, we'll talk.

2) If you want something from someone, say 'please.' It's not begging. It's not a cultural thing. It's called common courtesy. If you can't use 'please' when requesting a favor from me, I'm not going to fucking do another thing for you. Capice?

3) If you leave a comment here on a post that's over a week old, you will get a message saying "Awaiting moderation." That means the comment won't appear until I check and release it. And frankly, I work full-time, so that means, when I get a chance. I've had enough problems with spambots, so fans OF OTHER WRITERS probably should not leave repeated messages.

I mean, seriously, dudes? That's insulting.

4) If you're an indie writer, I can no longer recommend Draft2Digital as a distributor. Frankly, the issues I'm having, above and beyond the Kernel Pornocalypse, need their own post for the details. And since the matter has yet to be resolved, the full details will have to wait for another day.

Rant complete. Please resume your holiday merriment.

(And yes, I will fucking say, "Happy Holidays," if I damn well feel like it!)

26 Days of Christmas - You Need the Four Essential Food Groups

There are some movies that the whole family watches as part of the household tradition. The one flick we agree on is Elf. In fact, we saw it twice in the theater when it was released.

Why I love this movie: This is the one film where Will Ferrell balances ribald humor perfectly with the innocence of his character, Buddy the Elf, an orphaned human adopted by the denizens of the North Pole. My favorite scene is Will's duet with Zooey Deschanel of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" while Zooey's character is taking a shower. (It's not as pervy as it sounds.)

26 Days of Christmas - Jingle Bell Rock the Brian Setzer Way

Brian Setzer has been around for thirty years and never fails to entertain! I have a few of his CDs including his Christmas album.

Why I love Brian: He resurrected swing and rockabilly for my generation, and he continues to do so for my kid and the nieces and nephews.


Check out samples of his Christmas album at Amazon!

26 Days of Christmas - The Smell of Christmas

Even when you're not baking, you can fill your house with the smells of the season. For me, I like burning candles while I write. It keeps the senses engaged, and it does translate to the words I use.

Why I love Yankee Candles: First of all, their scent is strong, and the candles last forever! Yankee Candle doesn't use metal core wicks, which set off my allergies. However, they do use essential oils which may trigger an allergic reaction. (I can't do pine or fresh grass.) But the food scented ones? HEAVENLY!

26 Days of Christmas - Bannon and Clare Save the Day!

What do you get when you cross the Wicked Witch of the West with Sherlock Holmes in a steampunk Britain, solving murders and serving the Queen?

You get Lilith Saintcrow's latest series, the Bannon and Clare Cases, a rollicking damn good time!

Why I love this series: Saintcrow turns gender expectations on end with all her protagonists, but never more so than with Emma and Archibald. Emma is prickly, powerful and believes her mentath needs to be protected. Archibald believes in cooperation to achieve their goals, but can hold his own in a fight better than Emma assumes. In a world where clockwork dragons rule and gryphons dine on unwary sorceresses, Emma and Archibald combine her magic and his logic to guard Queen and Empire from the forces of chaos.

P.S. I added The Damnation Affair even though Bannon and Clare don't appear in the story, it is set in the America of their world.

26 Days of Christmas - N. K. Jemisin, Not Calgon, Takes You Away

I tried N. K. Jemisin on Tobias Buckell's recommendation. And now, I've got another must-buy author.

Even crazier, I whipped through the first book of The Inheritance Trilogy in three days during the middle of NaNoWriMo. Jemisin's style reminds me of Tanith Lee, but with a harder edge.

In The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Yeine Darr is drawn into her cousins' machinations for the throne as she tries to unravel the plot behind her mother's assassination. To make her already tenuous position deadlier, four imprisoned gods demand her help in gaining their freedom in exchange for the truth and revenge she seeks.

Why I love it: Marvelous book with an incredible, believable heroine! Yeine knows she's doomed, but she tries to make sure her death is worth something to somebody other than her evil family. I didn't know it had been nominated for a Nebula, so I didn't start reading it with pre-set expectations. This is one book I suggest you curl up and savor!

26 Days of Christmas - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The one thing that pissed me off about The Avengers was Joss Whedon killed S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent Phil Coulson. I should have trusted him. He never let me down in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." starts with Coulson's reinstatement to active duty after recovering in Tahiti for several months. Supposedly, the med team of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier resuscitated him, and Fury hid this from the Avengers to push them into facing Loki together.

Except Coulson, and his right hand Melinda May, are beginning to suspect that's not what really happened to Phil.

Joss's brother Jed is the showrunner, and he's definitely got the family talent for delivering rip-roaring action, intense characterization, and a creepy, season-long story arc.

Why I recommend it? Clark Gregg has always rocked as Coulson in the movies as the every man touchstone in a world of superheroes. I always wished he had a bigger role, and had big hopes for him in The Avengers. Seeing a normal looking guy star in a series makes me happy.

Oh, and I've had a serious girl crush on Ming-Na Wen since the first season of "ER".

Monday Movie Mania - Thor, The Dark World

Oh, don't worry, kids! This is still part of the 26 Days of Christmas!

Why? Because even S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Melinda May says, "Thor is dreamy!"

The gratuitous naked shot of Chris Hemsworth for the ladies aside, this is one rare sequel that I think surpasses the original.

The movie begins with a look back to Odin's father Bor and his battle with the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. Of course, this sets up the Dark Elf king's oath of revenge as we jump to the present. Thor and his buddies are cleaning up the rebellions that broke out thanks to the destruction of the Bifrost at the end of the first Thor movie.

Thor's human love Jane gets infected with floating red crap the dark elf plans to use to destroy Asgard. Big battle starts...

And that's when things get really fun. Loki's in prison due to the events of the Avengers movie. And Thor has no one left to help him save his girlfriend and the Nine Realms except his insanely jealous, power hungry, possibly sociopathic, brother.

PROS
1) Naked Chris Hemsworth. (Really? What did you think #1 was going to be?)

2) The incredible Tom Hiddleston making Loki sympathetic and loveable.

3) Zachary Levi playing Fandral was FUCKING incredible. I knew Joshua Dallas, who played the lothario in the first movie, couldn't do The Dark World because of his commitment to Once Upon a Time. But seeing Levi's name in the credits? My estimate of Levi went up a thousand fold.

4) Stellan Skarsgard is incredible as the comic relief.

CONS
Um...uh...not enough naked Chris?

Seriously though, Chris can act. When I saw Star Trek (2009), I questioned why Abrams didn't cast him as Jim Kirk, instead of George Kirk.

I give Thor, The Dark World 9.5 stars out of 10!

Even better, you can already pre-order it!

26 Days of Christmas - P!nk Rocks!

I know P!nk's album The Truth About Love came out a year ago, but the music is so damn infectious!

It's hard to believe Alecia Moore has been a fixture on rock/pop scene for nearly fifteen years now. She's gone from unabashed party girl to devoted mom without losing her edge. Funny how the opening act for N'Sync is still going strong while the boy band has long since disbanded.

Why I recommend it? Because I love her brutal lyrics within both her catchy rock licks and her incredible ballads. Despite the ugliness of her early life, you know she's a survivor, and her career has proved that!