“DAD!” has been lettered and passed onto proof readers and editors. The game plan now is to get back corrections that need to be made to the art and lettering. Once that happens there will be several more rounds of proof reading before ARC (advance reading copies) will be printed for marketing purposes. So as of now, it looks like we are still on schedule for an October ’08 release!

Let the death speculations begin (beware spoilers)… (Read on …)

I was only going to watch the re-airing of last year’s season finale of “Lost” so I could have on some background noise, but once the episode started I was glued to my TV. Just like the old “pop up videos” from the 90’s the whole two hour episode of lost was stuffed with random facts. Sometimes they were jokes. Sometimes they were odd facts. Sometimes they were just weird. But I totally enjoyed it! For those of you who didn’t watch here is a nice example:

This episode is entitled “Through The Looking Glass” a reference to the book by Lewis Carroll, his sequel to “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland” and a story that explores the theme of mirror opposites. Currently, Jack is in great despair, a mirror opposite of Jack, the leader on the island that we have come to know and love.

My only question about it was “Who wrote these?” Were these written pre-strike? Were they done by some marketing or PR person who isn’t a WGA member? I mean some of the pop-ups were so anal you’d think only a hardcore fan or writer of the show could have actually written them.

With all the discussions about the strike negations, I thought now would be the perfect time to check back in with the “Why We Write” blog. The except below was written by Jaime Paglia the co-creator and executive producer of “Eureka” (man I miss that show).

Plus, let’s be honest, it’s just a damn cool job. And fun. Okay, fun as in painful. Often, like getting root canal. Like writing this essay, which given that I’m on strike, is all I’ve written in over two months, and I’m convinced is pure crap. Honestly, I hate every word and will regret having written it the moment I send it out for public viewing. But that is the life I’ve chosen. I’m one of the few, incredibly fortunate, deeply pathological people who actually gets to make stuff up for a living.

I know. I know. It’s pathetic that I’m actually writing a post to bitch about “One Tree Hill” but the TV landscape has become so empty that I can’t help watching it. However, after seeing how they handle the publishing world… well it just pissed me off.

So Lucas, one of the main characters, who has no writing experience nor has he ever taken a writing class writes a novel. He submits it to a billion publishers and gets back a billion rejections, but then magically the only large publisher that hasn’t rejected him calls and says that they read his manuscript and want to publish it.

First off… you don’t submit to publishers. You submit to agents. Even then you don’t ever send a full manuscript you send a query letter (sometimes you send the first three chapters of a novel depending on the agency’s policies). If the agency liks your query letter they will ask for the first three chapters and if they like the first three chapters they will ask for the full manuscript. Then, once you have an agent, that agent is the one who submits to the publishers!

Since there are actual writers working on “One Tree Hill” (though seriously who gets paid to write this crap) you’d think at least ONE of them would know how things work in the “publishing” world as opposed to the film world. Idiots!

Just finished the most recent Cornelia Funke’s book, “Inkspell,” and I really enjoyed it. However she over uses the word “Incredulous” wayyyyyyyy too much. I mean the word shows up easily more than 50 times (at least once a chapter). This may not seem like a big deal but the word, which is too big for her target audience, is like a huge zit on someone’s face that is so huge you can’t help but looking at it. So whenever you come across the word it pulls you out of the story and you can’t help but think “DAMN she used it again!”

Oh and for those who don’t know, “Incredulous” means unwilling to admit or accept what is offered as true. Also the pic above is a screenshot from the movie adaptation of “Inkheart.”

Joe Quesada appeared on last night’s “Colbert Report” to hype the skrull invasion and to talk about Captain America’s return. There was no mention or hard pressing questions about Peter Parker’s and Mary Jane’s divorce, but Joe Q did announce that in the Marvel Universe Colbert is still running for president and is polling extremely high.

If you missed it, don’t worry. You didn’t miss anything, plus we all know that someone will eventually post it on You Tube. Besides the Conan/Jon Stewart bit was a billion times funnier and more interesting then Joe Quesada talking out of his butt.

Just got word that Th3rd World has half a booth for the NYC-Con. The convention, which was previously held in the winter, will be from April 18^th-20^th. As long as things align that should be the perfect time for some big announcements (damn you lawyers and legal paperwork).

This is freaky. “Portal” is an inventive and fun game that came out last year and the main villain in it is a psychotic robot named GLaDOS (pic on the left). GLaDOS is seriously creepy and constantly lies saying she won’t kill you and that instead she wants to give you cake. So imagine my surprise when I see that Weathernews HQ in Tokyo created Pollen Robots (pic on the right) that seriously resemble GLaDOS. Freaky!

E! has an interview with “Pushing Daisies’” creator Bryan Fuller who says that even if the strike ends this week we won’t get new episodes till next season.

Lots of talk has been going down this past week. Essentially, even if the strike is resolved in the next week or two, we wouldn’t be back until next season. There was a preliminary conversation that involved a plan to hit the ground running and try to get episodes on the air as soon as possible, but it no longer seems like that’s going to happen. It seems most likely that we will have a very short first season and then come back in the fall for a proper season two.

This sucks but don’t get too downhearted because not all shows are in the same situation as “Pushing Daises” and with most we could possibly get a good 4-6 episodes.

In a radio interview Ellen Muth, who played George on “Dead Like Me” says that a tele-movie has been filmed to wrap-up the show. The series ended two years ago and according to Muth, if the tv-movie does well then there is a good chance the show could come back.

This is so weird. Terry Goodkind’s twelve book “Sword of Truth” series is being adapted into a live action TV show entitled “Wizard.” The final book came out this fall (it sucked and was a massive let down). Even stranger is that Sam Rami is producing the show for ABC/Disney.

“Wizard” — a first-run, scripted, live-action weekly series — has been cleared on Tribune Broadcasting’s owned stations, representing 35% of the country, for its fall launch. Production is slated to begin on the 22 episodes in May.

“We are enormously pleased to be bringing a network-quality product back to the syndication marketplace that will reinvigorate the weekly scripted, one-hour genre,” Janice Marinelli, president of Disney-ABC Domestic Television, said Tuesday. “Tribune’s stations are the ideal home for this series, and we couldn’t have asked for a better launch partner.”

CBS has found a way around the writer’s strike. They just struck a deal with a Canadian company who will produce a TV show for them. Using a foreign production company and then buying the “American Distribution Rights” means they don’t have to worry about the WGA.

In another sign of how the WGA strike is reshaping network TV’s development process, CBS Paramount Network TV is planning to team with Canada’s CTV to produce at least 13 episodes of a police drama dubbed “Flashpoint.”

What the FUCK?! “Celebrity Apprentice” was renewed for another season. I’m not even joking. The ratings are horrible and the show is total crap, yet for some reason NBC is bringing it back. God damn you writer’s strike for making NBC renew it!

I watch “Torchwood” but I’m not really a fan of it. It’s “ok” but nothing great. In fact many of the plot lines just don’t make sense, which is why I busted out laughing when Neil Gaiman posted this on his blog:

Why The People in Torchwood Season One Are All Too Stupid To Live — including the astonishingly puzzling incident where someone in 1941 has written something down on paper with black ink (a medium that will last legibly for centuries if kept out of the sun), and, unaccountably worried that ink on paper will fade and become unreadable in time, first she takes a prototype Polaroid photo of it, and then writes some of it in blood and puts it in a coffee can in a damp cellar, because these media will still be readable seventy years later. Why she didn’t make a model of it out of chocolate as well, I will never know.

The trades are reporting that a new Freddy Krueger movie is in the works from New Line and that Michael Bay is producing the film which will serve as a remake of the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” that came out in 1984.

Sony has killed the 80 gig model of its Playstation 3 and is expected to announce a 120 gig model for the same price. Stinks for all you people who got the 80 gig model for Christmas, though this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since Sony has already canceled a 20 and 60 gig version of the system.

Miley Cyrus who dons the “Hannah Montana” personality in the show of the same name has legally changed her name. The 15 year old changed her legal name from “Destiny Hope Cyrus” to “Miley Ray Cyrus.” The “Miley” nickname apparently came from her father when growing up because she was so “smiley” as a child. I think someone needs to point out to the Cyrus family that there is an “s” in “smiley.”

Conan shaved his “strike beard.” Could this mean the WGA Strike is ending? Does this mean he no longer supports the writers? What does it mean? Can nobody explain the madness?!

Want to know who all eight of the “Lost” episodes focus on? Then read after the break. (Read on …)

“Lost” is back for an eight episode run, starting this week and come February you can chill with the Losties on Xbox! So far the plot of the game is being kept very hush-hush. Writers from the show worked on the script and the game takes place during the events of season 1 and season 2. Some major settings include the plane crash, the caves, the beach camp, the shipwreck, and the hatch. After the break I have a full list of all the xbox game’s achievements: (Read on …)

I posted this big spoiler wayyyyyyyyyyyy back in October, but since “Kyle XY” just came back I figured it was fitting for me to repost it.

Remember the clepto from “Breakfast Club?” Well the actress that played her, Ally Sheedy, signed to join the cast of “Kyle XY.” Sheedy will appear in the final three episodes of the current season as Jessie’s mom.

Lionsgate struck a deal with the WGA so that “Mad Men” and “Weeds” can go back to work. This means the next seasons of both shows shouldn’t face any delays since both series have been on their usual hiatus for the past few months. Also rumors are swirling that the strike MAY be resolved by the end of this week, but those are rumors and with the media blackout during this round of negotiations no one really knows what’s going on.

I’ve heard a lot about “Shooting War” so I decided to pick up a copy. The basic summary of the graphic novel is as follows:

The year is 2011, and Jimmy Burns, a young anti-corporate blogger, has just seen his apartment blown to bits by yet another terrorist attack on New York City (he lives above a Starbucks Coffee Shop). He’s recorded the gruesome scene on his new videoblog camera — footage Burns beams live to a freaked-out world and that makes him an overnight media star.

The graphic novel starts off at a decent pace, but it quickly slows as the story becomes more and more preachy. Basically the book attempts to do everything that “DMZ” does, but does it while standing on a soap box. Also, because it’s all about themes and getting political agendas shared there is no real plot or character development— actually you know what? Don’t bother with “Shooting War” just go out right now and read “DMZ.” You’ll get stories with amazing characters plus all that “fun” political crap, except the political crap isn’t jammed down your throat nor is it put forward in such a way that it takes away from the story.

Yesterday was the 50^th anniversary of the Lego. Next to books and 80’s cartoons I spent more time with Legos than anything else. So happy birthday Lego! (the pic above is clickable and I totally stole it from USA Today).

A blob in Lewiston, Maine has blocked the town’s main sewer line.

According to city officials, the stretch of 12-inch pipe on Main Street backed up on Jan. 13, and the city has been trying unsuccessfully to clear the line ever since.

They apparently have no idea as to what the blob is and even explosives didn’t diminish it.

So just yesterday it was announced that Barack Obama would be speaking today at my school. Somehow I missed the announcement and had I known I would have seriously avoided campus today. There were people from the senate, the house, the mainstream press, JFK’s daughter and brother, and tons of secret service. That’s right. Secret Service.

I was on my way to class when I was stopped for “looking suspicious” though I have no idea what I was doing that was suspicious.  The agent asked to search my bag and I let him. While he was doing so I said “Can I just go? All I’m trying to do is to get to class. I don’t care about any of this politics-crap.” ((Let me pause for a second and explain The Patriot Act. The Act made it so that protesters can’t show up at political events and if they do show up they have to be registered and stand in a designated area.)) So apparently my apathy toward politics meant that I was a “protester” and as a result I wasn’t allowed to enter the building where my classes were being held (the building where my classes are connects to the building that Obama gave his speech in).

I hate politics. Plus after missing my first class I went home and a few hours later I went to go to my second class and my car didn’t start. Grrrrrr.

On campus all day so here is your weekly “Halo 3″ pic. The photo above was taken during a shotty/sniper match and the guy there had SIX snipers shoot at him all at the same time.

Getting the rough (keyword is “rough”) lettering done this weekend on “DAD!” so unless there is a big news story, don’t expect updates. But hey, give me some credit, I at least did some posting today when I don’t normally post at all on Fridays.

Make sure you watch today’s “Oprah” or tape it if you want to see some of The King Crew. My Uncle Tim along with my cousins Jessie, Amy, and Molly are all on “Oprah” to talk about divorce. Next to my immediate family (mom, dad, sisters, niece & nephew) I’ve always been closest to Uncle Tim and the girls. In fact, when my parents first divorced, Dad and I lived with them for awhile. So it should be hilarious  interesting to see long it takes Oprah to make them cry.

It’s Friday so I’m on campus all day. But here is your weekly dose of Edit. It’s been freezing lately (though we’ve not gotten any snow) and so now when Edit naps she likes to be tucked-in.

I received an email today and the email was blank but the subject line said “Where did all your spoilers go?” Then earlier in the week I received an email from a girl begging for spoilers on ABC Family’s “Wildfire.”

So I feel it’s necessary to remind everyone that there is this little thing called a “writers strike” that has caused all scripted shows to shut down. So even though some shows have new episodes airing, just about everything (except for “October Road) stopped production work back in December. So the reason I don’t have spoilers is because there is nothing to spoil. Scripts haven’t been written yet, so no one knows what’s going to happen.

Needless to say though, next week I should have some “Lost” “Kyle XY” and “Wildfire” spoilers.

Variety is reporting that if the writer strikes goes on till March it will have cost the industry a total of $3 billion dollars.

The study provided to Daily Variety on a confidential basis has calculated a cost of about $1.9 billion in lost episodic production for the more than 70 broadcast and cable primetime skeins, assuming no more segs are delivered for the 2007-08 season.

There math regarding the film industry is a little confusing but it basically says that so far it has cost movies a loss of $1.1 billion. The article also explains that if the strike does last into the spring it will start affecting non-industry buisnesses like lumber, paint, and odd things like that used for production.

“The Office” is on hiatus because of the strike, but that isn’t stopping Steve Carell from being productive. Starting today, he’s doing jury duty where he’s being paid $15 a day to listen to an employment dispute case where both sides are non-English speaking Koreans. This soooo makes me want to watch an episode of “The Office” where Michael Scott gets jury duty.

Mark your calendars. “Grand Theft Auto IV” will be released on April 29^th (it was previously supposed to come out last October but was seriously delayed).

If you’re an Xbox Live member then make sure you go to the marketplace and download “Undertow.” The arcade game will be free until January 27^th at 11:59p.m. so if you want some free easy achievements make sure you get this.

In a press conference at the Natural History Museum in NYC, Richard Branson shared models of the SS2 (SpaceShip Two) and WK2 (White Knight Two). The interlocking vehicles are what he plans to use to carry rich civilians into space. Even though the ships won’t be built for another four to five years and even though tickets cost $200,000 they apparently already have a years worth of rides already sold.

The way the ships work is that the White Knight Two is considered the “mothership” and will carry SpaceShip Two into a high orbit. At that point SS2 will separate and use a hybrid rocket engine to break orbit and enter outer space.

I’m totally stealing this from “Jim Smash.” It’s a Medusa gear from Oakley. Seriously, who the hell would buy this and why the hell would you buy this? Jim had this to say about it:

Check out this “Medusa” hat and goggles, by Oakley! Perfect for any aspiring urban-villain to battle Spiderman 2099! The hat is $500, the goggles $250

LOL “Spider-Man 2099″ hahaha!

Remember how I was a finalist that “Star Trek” contest last summer? Well six months later, I FINALLY got my prizes. Boy did I clean up:

• Star Trek: The Next Generation - 20th Anniversary Complete Series DVD Set, which has a tons of extras
• The “Star Trek” movie collection, which includes special editions of all ten movies
• An original series 2008 Calendar
• The Voyager “Homecoming” and “The Farther Shore” novels which serve as the real finale of the show
• “Star Trek/X-men Planet X” novel, which sounds dumb but was actually a very pop-corn-fun-type of book
• Q Fan Collection DVD, which includes almost every Q episode
• Time Travel Fan Collection DVD, which includes some of the best Time Travel Episodes
• “Star Trek Legacy” the game for Xbox 360

All together, it’s like $600 worth of prizes!

I hate baking. I think it’s stupid. It’s dumb because I’m not a “sweet” person and its dumb because its like being in a science class. Its not like other cooking where you can really change recipes up or not follow them exactly. Baking is about precision and any tweaks to recipes have to be very delicate-like. So its no surprise that my attempt to make sugar free pumpkin-oatmeal cookies came out looking like fried chicken. It’s really wierd just HOW much the cookies look like fried chicken, but anyway, let me walk you through my baking process.
(Read on …)