Just forget the words and sing along

Sunday, September 07, 2003

[Note: I originally wanted to post this on Saturday morning, but either to Telus' incredibly slow, crappy Internet or the blog website just being down, I couldn't get through to blogger.com]

Yay! I finally found the Tokyo Mew Mew opening credits theme! It's like Saturday morning in Japan all over again, only I don't have to go to work when the music ends.

Let's see what's in the news...Alberta premier Ralph Klein is going off on a rant because, at a recent business function, a visiting Japanese banking official turned down the roast beef at the buffet. "When are they [the Japanese] going to realize that Alberta beef is perfectly safe? I hoped he would look at the facts and not succumb to the fear gripping his country," Klein said (or words to that effect. I'm paraphrasing, as I read the article 10 minutes ago). Uhh, Ralph, I hate to break this to you, but did it ever occur to you that maybe the guy just doesn't like beef? I mean, sadly, that's where the article is a little biased. It doesn't say if the Japanese businessman said, "AHH!! ALBERTA BEEF!! MAD COW! MAD COW! AHH!!" or if he just went, "Beef? No thanks. I'll have the chicken instead." It's not all about you, Ralph.

And in sillier news, in a recent interview, William Shatner revealed that he was approached by Star Trek big boss Rick Berman about making a guest shot on Enterprise. The gimmick: Shatner was to play Captian Kirk's grandfather. Shatner said he'd do it if the script was right, although he later lamented that he thinks Star Trek is getting too overcomplicated now; it's strayed too far from its roots.

[Another note: The following was written on Sunday night]

Went down to Red Deer this weekend. On Saturday, my siblings and I threw a big 30th anniversary bash for my folks. Sunday was my nephew's 5th birthday. I swear, someday I'm going to lift my self-imposed "no talking about the family" stipulation and, when I do, I will suddenly make so much sense to you readers....

Anyway, while watching TeleToon on my brother's TV, I managed to watch the new Duck Dodgers cartoon. Remember those one or two Looney Tunes shorts, where Daffy Duck was cast as intergalactic hero Duck Dodgers, and he did battle with Marvin the Martian over Planet X's supply of yo-yo polish and such? Well, the US Cartoon Network has resurrected that as a regular series. And I finally managed to catch an episode. In this one, Duck Dodgers made the plea to management that he couldn't do his latest mission unless he had a robot to help him out. So, he got his robot, Mr. Roboto, and sadly, Roboto was so good at his job that Duck Dodgers got jealous. The episode degenerated into some good ol' Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote mayhem as Duck Dodgers tried to dump Mr. Roboto.

The end of the episode.... Dodger's latest attempt to off Roboto resulted in the destruction of their ship's engines. And, a comet was headed for their ship, about to destroy it all. Dodgers and his sidekick (Porky Pig) hugged each other as they knew the end was coming. Porky turned to Daffy and said, "Shouldn't we get to a shelter?" Daffy replied, "It wouldn't matter." And I thought to myself, "Hey! That's the exact same exchange that Annie and Dean had at the end of The Iron Giant when the nuclear missle was coming to wipe out the town." Then, Daffy walked up to Roboto, who was looking whistfully at the heavens. Daffy said, "Roboto?" Roboto woefully looked at Daffy and said, "I go. You stay. No following." And that's when I yelled out, "Oh my God. This IS the end of The Iron Giant!" The rest of the episode was, then, this gigantic rip on Iron Giant as Roboto sacraficed himself to save the rocket. And as Iron Giant and Looney Tunes are all Waners properties, they were using the Iron Giant music and everything. Instead of saying, "Superman," Roboto murmered, "Dodgers...friend." I thought it was bloody brilliant parody.

You know, those are the kinds of spoofs I like. Sure, something like Spaceballs is funny, where the characters go, "Hey! Look at us! We're spoofing Star Wars and all these other movies!" But I really do prefer the ones where the characters don't wink at the camera or anything like that, but just subtly slide into it, like it just naturally popped up. Futurama was good for moments like that, and the Clerks cartoon.

Speaking of the Clerks cartoon, I was reading at some Justice League websites that an upcoming episode of Duck Dodgers features Daffy Duck getting his hands on a Green Lantern power ring and becoming the new Green Lantern. Special guest voice Kevin Smith as the REAL Green Lantern.

Oh, while at my brother's house, I also managed to catch a documentary about the Alien movies. Did I tell you this? The first one, Alien, is getting a huge 25th anniversary theatrical re-release this fall. In theaters in time for Halloween! It won't be a special edition or anything like that, just digitally restored.

And, after 10 years of rumors or so, they're finally making Alien vs. Predator. It's being written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, the same hack behind such cheezy sci-fi/fantasy films as Mortal Kombat, Soldier, and, most recently, Resident Evil. His tale is set in present-day Antarctica, which most are already loathing, because the original A vs. P comic (and video games) were set in Alien's future, on a desert planet. Or was it a jungle planet? I forget.

Next issue...Da da da da da da My Sweet Heart!

No comments: