A Spell for Chameleon

On By Michel McDonaldIn BooksLeave a comment

I’ve started reading the Xanth series of novels starting with the very first one called A Spell for Chameleon.  I’m not exactly sure why they named it for “Chameleon” but I’m sure I will figure it out.

It’s about this guy named Bink who never found his magical talent and he has to go to the Good Magician Humphrey and find his magical talent in exchange for 1 year of service.  If he doesn’t find his magical talent he could be exiled forever from Xanth and he doesn’t want that.  He wants to marry his girlfriend Sabrina but he can’t if he has no magic.

On his long journey to find this magician he faces lots of obstacles like Centaurs, dragons, illusionists etc.

I’ve only read 5 chapters so far, the 6th chapter begins with him finding the castle where the good magician lives.  I had to stop reading though because my eyes get blurry after a while.  But this is a very good book.  Unfortunately, it’s a loooong story.  It only shows 17 books in the series in the front of the book but someone told me there are 24 and I’m only on book 1 lol.  I have ways to go.

Wall-E

On By Michel McDonaldIn MoviesLeave a comment

I finally rented Wall-E.  I was at the grocery store today and went to the red box looking for the Dead Like Me movie but it wasn’t there so I rented Wall-E. I actually liked this movie and don’t know why I waited so long to see it.  It was very touching, I know it’s basically about a trash compactor robot but it wasn’t just that, it was about a trash compactor with feelings, a machine who recognized that he wasn’t just a machine but he had a purpose in life.  Like he was alive.

I highly doubt it is possible for a robot to have feelings because they are just nuts and bolts and a program and unless they are programmed to have feelings, even then the feelings won’t be real because a machine doesn’t have a soul.  If we have no soul we have no feelings. But it was cute to see a machine who did have feelings.

I thought it was hilarious that they think that all humans will be that lazy and fat in the future because it’s probably true.  People will probably rely on machines to do all of their work for them and they won’t have to do any housework anymore.  Maybe even have their machines go to work for them and then get paid for the work that their robots will do then just sit back and enjoy the spoils from the work that a robot did for you while they come home from work and continue to work around the house doing things we’re too lazy to do.

Who knows what might really happen in the future but I am willing to wait and find out.

Green Wheel

On By Michel McDonaldIn GreenLeave a comment

greenwheelOk I found this on dvice.com

Green Wheel gives any bike an electric push

I want one of these because when I go on my bike ride on the bike trail I usually go 11-18 miles and sometimes the bike trail has these hills (that they put in intentionally to give you a workout) but I’m so tired that I just can’t make it up.  This will help.

Also I think it would help me get to the bike trail with no effort on my part then get me back home from the bike trail in 1 piece.  Usually by the time I get home from my bike ride 2 hours later I can barely walk, especially if I haven’t been riding in a while so while I’m letting it take me home my legs are resting so I can actually walk to the bathroom instead of using a walker.

Dead Like Me: Life After Death

On By Michel McDonaldIn Movies, TVLeave a comment

dead-like-me-movieI blogged a couple of days ago about Dead Like Me the new movie from the Showtime show and I just wanted to add a couple of things.

If you haven’t seen the first 2 seasons you’ve gotta check it out.  It’s such a good show.  It stars Ellen Muth who plays Georgia “George” Lass who turns 18 and her mother forces her to get her life together and get a job.  So she goes to a temp agency called Happy Time but she doesn’t get very far.  Especially since she gets killed by a toilet seat from a Russian space shuttle in outer space.

Instead of getting to move on and go into the light, the grim reaper who took her soul gets to move on and she gets to take his place.  She is then forced to take souls until she meets her expected quota then she can move on and go to her lights.  But she is very apprehensive about it.

The reapers live among us but they don’t have the same face they had when they were alive to protect them and their families. But like us they have to make a living which means they have to have lives even though they are dead.  As dead George, or Millie, she gets a job with Happy Time where she went when she was alive and she gets the job thanks to her knowledge from when she was alive.

She is in a group of 4 other reapers.  There is Roxy (Jasmine Guy) who was a meter maid but became a cop, Daisy (Originally Laura Harris, now Sarah Wynter in the movie) who is an actress, Mason (Callum Blue) who is well, Mason.  And then there is Rube.  Rube (Mandy Patinkin) is the guy who hands out the post it notes which has the name, location and time of death so you know who to reap, when and where.

That’s basically the story, George isn’t supposed to interact with her family who she left behind but she does like to keep an eye on them and we as an audience get to see how their lives are going as they mourn the loss of George.

The movie basically follows the show a few years later.  Unfortunately, Rube has moved on and so they have a new boss who is a corporate type.  I can’t wait to see it and find out what happens.  If you like this story then rent or buy it.

If you buy it they will make more movies or they will continue the series on Showtime.  Trust me, you will like this.

Comic Books

On By Michel McDonaldIn eBook, Nook1 Comment

Wow, I didn’t know there were so many comic books out there.  I knew about the obvious ones, Spiderman, Superman, X-Men etc.  But there are some that I didn’t know about like from tv shows that I watch or used to watch but are now gone.

Here is a list of comic books from tv shows that I used to watch

  • Futurama
  • The Simpsons
  • Eureka!
  • Farscape (I actually missed that show because we didn’t have cable when it was on.  I found out about it way later and by then they were in their last season so I just got to see a few episodes)
  • Buffy the vampire slayer (I actually knew about this)
  • Star War
  • World of Warcraft (from the game?)
  • Angel (is this the Buffy spin off or something else?)
  • Doctor Who
  • Ghost Whisperer

This list is from G-Mart, that page you can order comic books.  I seriously didn’t know that there were that many comic books.  I used to love comic books as a kid, especially Mad Magazine and I wish I still got it or some comic books.  That would be so neat.  I’d love to get the Buffy, Angel, Doctor Who and Ghost Whisperer comic books.  Eureka! and Farscape would be cool too.  Some of them are $2 a month and some are $5 a month.  Too much for me right now.  Plus I’ve missed all the earlier from the beginnings so I’m sure I’ve missed tons of information.  Oh well.

Too Much Reality

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

It all started in the 1990’s with the Real World on MTV.  Then I think Big Brother came out in 2000 or somewhere along those lines.  Then survivor and those shows are OK because they are more like a game.  But now you can’t change the channel without seeing a reality show.

It’s not a game anymore.  Some shows are games but mostly it’s the life of someone I don’t even know.  There is Keeping up with the Kardashian’s.  The father of all these kids except for Bruce Jenner’s kids, is the lawyer from the OJ case.  I really don’t want to see these brats you know?  Then there are the bounty hunter and his messed up family, then there are the family’s who repossess cars and exterminate bugs and rats and snakes.  Come on.

Ok, I realize that without all these reality shows we wouldn’t have 1000 channels to choose from.  I don’t exactly have 1000 channels to choose from because the cable package I have gives me like 200 channels but still.  I wanna see some acting and I wanna see some struggling actors getting their fair share you know?  There are so many actors who are starving who their agents can’t find them work because there aren’t enough shows or movies for their particular look.  I think that these channels should at least do a reality show with the starving actors and actresses.

Every time I change the channel it’s a reality show on either A&E or Bravo or E! or whatever.  There are some channels where you never see reality shows like Sci-Fi (except for their who wants to be a super hero but that is a game show) and Comedy Central (except for Drawn together but that’s a cartoon about a reality show lol funny stuff).  Or TNT and TBS, I never hear about reality shows there, all they have are movies and reruns of TV shows except they also have their own sitcoms and dramas.

Oh, and what happened to MTV and VH1?  They are all reality and no MUSIC!  What’s up with that?  Come on MTV and VH1, show me some music TV.  If you want MTV2 and VH1-2 to have reality fine, but your first channel should still play music dammit.

The Girls Next Door

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

Have you ever watched this show the Girls Next Door on E!?  I wasn’t always a huge fan of Hugh Hefner because I’m not real into looking at naked women in skin mags.  But I do like the show about him and his 3 girlfriends.  In some strange way these girls are kinda like role models for girls.  Huh?  (sound of record being scratched here).  Yes, I said it.

I was watching an episode where they surprise this girl who is just turning 18 and her mother says that there aren’t a lot of good role models on TV anymore but these girls are.  Uh, OK.

Although I haven’t been watching the show from the beginning, I do watch it occasionally and it is very glamorous.  They live in a mansion and get to do whatever they want and never have to work.  They do fun stuff so the “reality” show has something to show.

Unfortunately the show is coming to an end on March 1st because all 3 ladies are leaving Hef.  They have been living with him all these years and the time has come for them to start living normal lives where they can actually get married to someone and have children of their own.

What’s next for Hef?  Will this mean the end of the show or will he continue it for another season with 3 new girls?  I don’t think it will be the same with 3 new girls.  I mean, if these 3 ladies continue to do the show but just have their own homes but still work for Hef then I’d still watch it.  Bridget works on the Playboy Sirius show and Holly works with Playboy to find new girls for the magazine.  What does Kendra do?  Well, I know that she is going to get married to a football guy, I think.  I know Holly is going to be with Kriss Angel.  I wonder what will happen.  I do kinda hope it comes back for a new season, whether with new girls or the same girls, I guess I’ll find out.

Electronic Glue

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I found this Firefox add-on called Glue.  What it does is when you are searching for a book, CD or movie on say for example Amazon or the Wal-Mart website and you are looking at let’s just say a book, this bar comes down on the top of your screen with little icons which are pictures of people who have also visited that book through whatever website.  You move your mouse over their picture to see what they said about the book.  If there is blue around their box it means they loved it but if it’s yellow then they wrote a review.

I actually like it because it saves me from having to scroll down and read a lengthy review.  This allows you 140 characters so you can leave a short to the point review.  It’s a lot easier and if a person likes the same thing you like then you can add them to your friends list so that you can see if they like other things you like.

For more about Glue  please visit: www.getglue.com/quickstart.html

Edit: When they first started it was always the top but then they changed it to the bottom.

Dead Like Me Movie

On By Michel McDonaldIn Movies, TVLeave a comment

Last night I found out that there was a Dead Like Me movie.  I saw it on Facebook as an ad in the right side.  I thought it was for the tv series that only lasted 2 seasons but it was for the movie.  So I got curious about it and was looking at the Facebook page and saw a video which was a commercial on YouTube.  It looked pretty interesting.

When Dead Like Me first came to Showtime, I saw all the billboards and there were commercials for it on the Sci-Fi channel and stuff but I couldn’t watch it because I didn’t have Showtime back then.  But then one night I was sitting at my desk a few years ago and it was on Sci-Fi channel.  I was finally able to watch it and I watched the entire 2 seasons I think in a couple of months on Sci-Fi.

Now the movie.  I don’t know when they made the movie but it was released on video a few days ago on February 17th 2009.  Why did it go straight to DVD and not go in theaters?  That’s strange.  The sex in the city movie was in theaters.

I for one can’t wait to buy or rent this movie.  I wonder if the Red Box has it at the store?  There was a video on YouTube where Ellen Muth sounded like she was on the phone leaving a message saying buy the DVD, if you download it instead of buying it you are preventing us from making more movies or possibly continuing new seasons.

Ok Ellen, I won’t download it but in this economy I can’t buy it either.  I don’t know how anyone can expect people to splurge on things like buying blu-ray and DVD movies with our economy the way it is.  I mean if you still have your job that’s one thing, go ahead, help the economy out by buying movies.  But mostly people don’t have their jobs anymore so they can’t afford to spend any of their savings on anything but groceries and paying their bills.  I for one am one of the people suffering from this economy so I definitely cannot buy the DVD just yet.

Edit: I just wanted to clarify something.  When I say I don’t know how anyone can expect… I don’t mean any one person in particular.  I mean like the companies who are putting DVD’s out and the companies who are selling DVD’s.  It’s the same with Amazon selling their Kindle 2 for $359.  How can they expect to sell those right now?  Why couldn’t they wait for the economy to get back on track.  They can’t judge how well a movie or tv show is doing by it’s DVD sales because I’m sure DVD sales have dropped 50% or more.

Chimp Attacks Woman

On By Michel McDonaldIn News, PetsLeave a comment

I just read this story on the AOL news page about a woman who has a Chimpanzee who raised him from a baby and this chimp was treated like a real human being.  This woman’s husband died and he basically put himself in the deceased husbands place I think.  When the woman left the house the chimp would be sad but when she left with someone else he took that like she was cheating on him.

Here is the story: Chimp Was Unusually Close to Owner

Here is my opinion.  Chimps belong in the jungle with other chimps.  They don’t belong on TV shows with truck drivers (Although BJ and the Bear was a good show) and they don’t belong with families with children or with lonely widows.  They belong with their own kind.  You don’t see any human children being left in the jungle to be raised by monkeys do you?  There are no real Tarzan’s or George of the jungles or that kid from jungle story.  The 2 species should never intermingle.  Especially considering we “evolved” from them.

Yes it would be cute and fun to dress a monkey up in your childs clothes and put a baseball cap on him and put diapers on him (although it wouldn’t be fun changing said diaper).

“She gave him the finest food, and wine in long-stemmed glasses. They took baths together and cuddled in the bed they shared.”

That’s sick.  A friend of hers came over to the house and the monkey went ballistic and started ripping her face off and this poor woman now has to have surgery to put her face back together.  The widow stabbed her own pet and was yelling on the 911 tape to SHOOT HIM.  How can you deal with that?  Stabbing your own pet and telling the cops to shoot him.  OMG this is why the laws need to change.  This is a wild animal lady.  You don’t keep a wild animal in your house.