Showing you have a spine?

This message popped up on my Facebook newsfeed today (courtesy of a high school acquaitance I've probabaly shared five words with):

Homeless go without eating. Elderly go without needed medicines. Mentally ill go without treatment. Troops go without proper equipment. Veterans go without benefits that were promised!! Yet we donate billions to other countries before helping our own first!!!! 1% will re-post and 99% of the people on Facebook won't have the spine or guts to re-post this to their wall. I KNOW I'm the 1%, what about you?

This sort of "awareness" thing drives me a bit nuts. I hate when people do something as inconsequential as reposting a message (which is inaccurate as well, less than 0.1% of our gross national income on foreign aid) and suddenly they feel self righteous. You really want to make a difference, how about donating your time or money? Trust me, posting something on your Facebook wall won't make a difference.

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Underestimating Cena

Following last Monday’s Raw, fans are more than understandably talking about The Rock’s phenomenal promo that closed out the show. However, in all of the justified excitement, I feel like a lot of people are getting ahead of themselves. I mean, there are some people out there who believe that WWE had no idea Rock would make any comments whatsoever about John Cena. Others think that his interruption of the Raw General Manager was completely adlibbed as well. Let’s look at this rationally.

First off, the idea that the Rock would go on a 15 minute verbal assault on WWE’s biggest star and top babyface is not exactly a compliment for “the Great One,” as it would be an incredibly unprofessional and petty thing to do. Secondly, Rock cutting off Michael Cole and being the only person who commands that he sits back down instead of checking the laptop was an awesome and hilarious moment. And it was planned. Do you really think Cole would react so smoothly (remember, he had his headset off, so he wouldn’t have McMahon or anybody else telling him that he should do what Rock says)? And secondly, if the GM legitimately sent a message that was supposed to be read to the live and viewing audience, why didn’t we hear anything else about it throughout the rest of the broadcast? Why not have Cole mention that he got a text or message on his Blackberry, alerting the viewers what was supposed to be said? It was a great moment, no doubt, but let’s not make it something mythical.

Anyway, with that long intro out of the way, let me get to the topic at hand: Where do we go from here, and are Internet fans underestimating John Cena?

We basically have three options: The planned John Cena vs. Miz, unchanged, the aforementioned title match, but with Rock as a special ref/enforcer, and what many people are hoping for – John Cena vs. the Rock. Chances are we’ll see the second option, but if that’s the plan, they’re treading dangerous waters. Remember WrestleMania XX when Brock Lesnar fought Goldberg, with Austin as guest referee? Well, fans were against both competitors because they’d be leaving after Mania, leaving the referee as the only person the fans actually wanted to root for. As a result, what should have been a huge, epic match was a total disaster. If a returning Rock – who the fans haven’t seen on a consistent basis in seven years – continues ripping apart Cena and Miz, they could end up in that same boat. Except it could be even more disastrous, as Cena and Miz will still need to carry the company once Rock decides he wants to leave again. At least if it’s Cena vs. Rock, although less likely, the fans would be rooting for one of the guys in the match.

Nonetheless, I do have to wonder if the IWC is underestimating John Cena. Check out virtually any blog or message board and you’ll read mounds of people saying that Rock buried Cena and that he would devour him in a war of words. I think people have been watching John Cena as the fun loving hero for children for so long that they forget what he was like back when he rose to the top. The guy is exceptionally quick witted when it comes to his mic skills. Here’s a guy who was able to announce an entire match in freestyle rap. That’s no small feat. He was also once pretty damn edgy, making fun of John Ritter dying just days after his death, and while still a relative greenhorn, making fun of the Undertaker (a rather big no-no) for wearing leather pants.

Sure, the guy wears bright purple, but so what? Internet darling Kurt Angle wore bright red and blue. Hulk Hogan wore bright yellow. Shawn Michaels, another icon, wore red leather. And they don’t come more colorful than Rey Mysterio. Okay, maybe he’s not all clad in black like Rock and Austin, but in a lot of ways I appreciate that. Guys like Randy Orton, Christian, Batista, and Triple H used to vary their looks with different colors, but decided to just settle with black. Now, the tough guy wearing black is a generic look. It’s refreshing seeing somebody who changes it up with different colors.

So what can be done? I’d let Cena let loose a bit. You CAN change his look a bit so that he’s not so bubblegum in the eyes of your older fans. How about wearing this hooded sweatshirt:

http://www.wweshop.com/item/john-cena-cenation-hooded-sweatshirt/JohnCena/04-00861

And this skull cap:

http://www.wweshop.com/item/john-cena-cenation-skull-cap/JohnCena/02-00686

I’d have Cena admit that he shouldn’t have made comments about the Rock and apologize for doing so. Then have him bring up the fact that he made two or three passing comments years ago, only for the Rock to go on a scathing 20 minute rant about him. And much like how Rock called Cena out on his lameness, have Cena call Rock out on his hypocrisy. The Rock mentioned that he’s never leaving again. Well, have Cena challenge him on this. Will Rock still be here in a year? How about six months? About two months after WrestleMania? The Rock said he’s not here to promote anything. Have Cena point out that not 10 minutes later, Rock’s Facebook page is scrolling along the bottom of the screen. Have Cena bring up the fact that WWE has repeatedly asked Rock to return, but that Rock couldn’t make time. Even when they were in LA or Florida. It seems like the Rock only wants to “come home” when it’s convenient for him. If WWE wants to take it really far – and Rock is really willing to show ass – how about having Cena bring up the fact that Rock isn’t interested in associating himself with wrestling when there’s any sort of scandal. No, Rock only wants to do business when his movies aren’t fairing too well at the box office. Meanwhile, Cena’s out there putting his body on the line and appearing on television shows defending the company. In fact, this squeaky clean image that Rock is tearing apart is what’s keeping this company afloat. While the Rock and the Attitude era were turning away advertisers, John Cena is giving children somebody to look up to. Hell, even bring up the fact that Rock is pretending to be this massive bad ass, while filming Disney movies like The Tooth Fairy.

And that will be the secret – give John Cena the edge he needs to go head to head with Rock behind the mic, but don’t completely abandon the role model they’ve built up over the past several years. Watch some of Cena’s mic work when he was on Smackdown, and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see that he’s up for the challenge of sparring with the Rock (and don’t get me wrong, the Rock is a very special person behind the mic).

Will any of this happen? Almost certainly not. We’ll probably see Cena give one of his rousing, spirited speeches about how he won’t give up. But that’s not Cena’s fault. That’s just how they’re pushing him. If given the opportunity, I strongly believe he wouldn’t be left for dead in a war of words with the Great One.

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LIVE Raw thoughts

11:20 - So that was pretty electrifying -- haha -- stuff. The Rock wasn't unpredictable, but it was the best possible alternative. Shawn Michaels hasn't been gone long enough, Austin appears too often, and Triple H doesn't have the virtual universal appeal and good will with the audience. And while the role of the "WrestleMania host" is vague, he had some fun with it. And they could have played things happy and safe, like they did with HBK and Bret (which I think was the right choice), but they went full throttle with the Rock/Cena stuff. And man, they went all out. I have to wonder if they're going to let Cena show some edge and fire back at Rock, or if he's going to play it squeaky clean. I can't help but feel like the fans will devour Cena if he's up against a cool, hip, funny, returning Rock. Remember, Cena's the guy who's still going to be around in 3 months. And he's the guy you're building your company on. Don't eat him alive.

I do have to wonder, though, whether the fans will turn on Rock when he DOES leave again (after promising he won't).

11:13 - So the Rock goes from saying he has nothing to promote, to having the address to his Facebook page shown on the bottom of the screen?

11:12 - Wait, when did Cole grow back his sole patch?

10:49 - Imagine if I told you a couple of years ago the following sentence would actually be uttered: "The winner of the Elimination Chamber match will face either the Miz or Jerry 'the King' Lawler for the WWE Championship." Said by the biggest heel in the company, Michael Cole.

10:44 - I miss the dark leather crown Sheamus wore after he first won the King of the Ring. It was cool looking, and unique. This gold one looks cheap and typical.

10:33 - Appreciate the excitement from Ariel Winter. Cole, be nice, though.

10:27 - That was some pretty crappy officiating.

10:21 - You know, it occurs to me that the false hype of the WrestleMania guest host is rather curious. They're throwing out huge names like Brad Pitt and Will Smith, and "pop culture" personalities like Ryan Seacrest and Russell Brand. By comparison, wouldn't pretty much anybody they announce be a disappointment?

10:14 - Miz has the mic. Rock interruption?

10:13 - It was a great match, but I am disappointed that Miz won (cleanly, no less). To give the devil his due, Miz has tremendous chemistry with Bryan and he's not being carried all that much. I also didn't care for Cole referring to Bryan as warm up for Lawler. Sigh.

10:11 - I love how there's clearly a laptop set up on the announce table, yet Cole still needs to go to a podium to check e-mails from the GM.

10:01 - I'd actually hate to see Miz win this match, only because I enjoy it when one competitor always has the other person's number, no matter how much the "loser" climbs up the ladder. For example, Chris Benoit pretty much always had Triple H's number. Virtually every time they fought, Benoit won. Ditto for Batista, who also always had Triple H's number. Did Triple H EVER get those wins back? I'd hate to see Miz get a win back so relatively early in their rivalry.

9:57 - I wouldn't say Raw is going slowly (it's been pretty packed), but it's hard to believe the first hour isn't even done yet.

9:55 - Unless I'm mistaken, and they have, but is there a reason why neither the Nexus or the Corre has approached Michael Tarver?

9:52 - If they put Ariel Winter out there with the live audience, I truly do hope that they're kind to her. She's on my favorite show (Modern Family) and she seems like a genuine sweetheart. Plus she actually responds to my comments on Twitter, so she's already one of my favorite celebrities because of that! She's a little girl, so I hope the crowd doesn't verbally tear her apart.

9:44 - This is why I think Matthews and Cole work together FAR better than Cole and Lawler. Matthews is willing to give Cole his due. If he makes a good point, he acknowledges it. If he says something funny, he laughs. They don't fight for the sake of fighting. And is Maryse dead?

9:36 - I have to wonder why Vickie is so determined to get the title on Dolph BEFORE the Elimination Chamber -- a match in which there is absolutely no championship advantage whatsoever. I mean, if he's given the Championship Friday, he still has to defend it on Sunday, in which he'd have to exert just as much effort to defend the title as he would challenging for it. For what it's worth, I suspect Long returns Friday, keeps Edge as champ, and reveals that he sent Clay Matthews down to ref the rest of the match.

9:30 - If the Rock is the guest host of WrestleMania, the time to interrupt would be during Del Rio's promo. If not his, then the Miz's.

9:28 - Is there any chance whatsoever that Del Rio isn't getting drafted to Raw this year? Ditto for Dolph Ziggler, I'd say.

9:22 - Trust me, I completely understand that the vast majority of wrestling fans are smart enough to know that Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler are playing characters, but I still found it odd that they decided to have Cole, and not Matthews, explain to the audience why Lawler wasn't there. I'm glad they took the sincere route, but why not have Matthews make the announcement? It just seemed odd having Cole say, "I had the chance to talk to King today, and he assured me that he would be at Elimination Chamber."

9:20 - CM Punk channeling his inner Eddie Guerrero tonight. And that's a good thing!

9:17 - By the way, I bought one of those CM Punk Rumbler action figures to put on my desk. They're small and look animated. They're pretty cool looking, actually. They need to make one of Edge. With sunglasses, of course.

9:08 - It still bothers me that the CM Punk/John Cena feud won't be properly concluded due to the WrestleMania build of Orton/Punk and Miz/Cena, presumably.

9:05 - Cena saying that his prediction is "rock solid." A hint, perhaps?

9:03 - With all due respect to Jerry Lawler, who unfortunately just lost his mother, the best thing about tonight's show is that Cole and Matthews will be calling it.

8:51 - Check back in about ten minutes for my LIVE Raw thoughts. Tonight they're announcing the host of WrestleMania and I can't help but ask -- is there ANYBODY truly invested in this announcement? The odds on favorite is Rock, who hasn't truly appeared in WWE for, what, about 8 years? And even with that sort of speculation, all of the excitement is coming from WWE, not the viewing audience. We'll have to see how it plays out tonight.

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Top Ten Cases: Favorite TV Kisses

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

At the moment I can't embed this video, but feel free to follow this link to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rn2GzjmqsY

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-13

“Well in this world you killed my parents.”
“In mine too!”

Great line, and delivered with such perfection.

So I was looking extremely forward to this episode of Smallville, and I couldn’t quite figure out why. It’s not like it was being promoted as a particularly significant episode. And, for that matter, I didn’t even know the details of what would happen. Then I realized, I’m enjoying Smallville so much now for the same reason I enjoyed season four of Lost. With both shows, we knew a semblance of the end game (Clark becomes Superman, the Oceanic Six somehow get off of the island) and the fun is finding out how they get there. Slowly but surely, Smallville is feeding us bits and pieces in the journey from “Smallville” to “Superman,” so without even knowing what’s going to happen in a given episode, I still find myself looking forward to it.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-13"....

That’s not to say that this episode couldn’t stand on its own two feet, because it could. Hey, any episode that features classic characters like Lionel, Martha, and sorta Lex is fine by me. When Martha Kent returned last season and was revealed as the Red Queen, I was slightly disappointed as I felt like it stripped Clark of the one person who was still truly “human.” At that point, Chloe had completely degraded into something you could barely understand or relate to, and Lois wasn’t in the know yet, so while she was a departure from Clark’s alter ego, she wasn’t somebody he could fully turn to for support either. The Kents, meanwhile, were always Clark’s connection to reality and humanity. Through thick and thin, Clark, and the audience, could always depend on Jonathan and Martha to keep things grounded. When we learned that Martha was actually orchestrating some intergalactic war by competing with top secret organizations, it seemed to really cheapen that relationship. Admittedly, they saved face a bit by telling us that Martha had inherited Lionel’s Kryptonian knowledge when he was killed, and she WAS baking and all, but it still didn’t feel right. Thankfully, she was back to her warm, motherly self this go around.

Another thing I really loved was Clark’s heart to heart with Martha at the conclusion of the episode, where Clark talked about the backwards nature of making “Clark Kent” his disguise, and the Blur his actual face. When you stop to think about it, you come to realize how much Smallville has done in making Clark Kent an actual personality. If you used to watch The O.C., you may remember a speech Zach (who would later go on to play Lex’s cloned brother) gives in which he marvels at Superman’s complex lifestyle, in which his every day persona is actually a disguise, while the costumed superhero is his actual self. And for the history of the Superman character, that was probably true. Yet after watching Smallville for the past decade, I can’t help but feel like Clark Kent is a relatable, “real” person. Almost to the point that the idea of Clark Kent becoming a ruse almost feels disrespectful to the character. Instead of brushing this under the rug, the writers rightly acknowledged the point and resolved it, so that this crucial aspect of the Superman/Clark Kent mythos can begin to take shape.

I was also generally pleased with Lionel’s anticipated appearance in this universe. If you recall, I had been critical of the fact that this season, Clark has been pretty harsh in his view of Lionel, since Clark had viewed Lionel pretty favorably by the time that he died. Was Lionel a perfectly altruistic character? No. I still think he got off on the fact that he was working alongside the most powerful person on the planet. But he had developed into a relatively selfless person in his own right. I mean, he sacrificed his life in order to keep Clark’s secret safe from Lex. That’s pretty noble. And like I’ve said in the past, Lionel’s funeral was meant to mirror Jonathan’s. That certainly shows that, to an extent, he stepped into a father figure role for Clark in the absence of both of his parents. As such, I was curious to see how Clark and Martha, in particular, would respond to Lionel’s appearance in their world. To my delight, there was some sense of reluctance to simply write him off as some evil entity. Sure, they recognized that this wasn’t the same man they knew, but at the same time they were thrown off by the fact that this man they once knew is back in their lives. I especially enjoyed Martha’s interaction with him, as she attempted to be steadfast in protecting her son, but also defended her friendship with Lionel as something special, but innocent. And for some reason, I also really loved the fact that Lionel was bothered by Lex’s attacks on her (first when he found out he shot her, and then again when he knocked her out in the mansion).

If I were to criticize anything, it would be Lex’s virtual non-reaction to Lionel being alive. Sure, Lex himself is a clone of a dead person, so I suppose he’s in no position to be skeptical, but how about asking a few questions?

For that matter, I feel like Lionel’s reintroduction into society was handled fairly poorly. The show basically had two choices: Lionel flies under the radar, or he comes back full force and takes over the life of this universe’s Luthor patriarch. I would have been fine with either. They went with the latter, but they didn’t really devote any attention to how Lionel could possibly explain how he faked his death when his body was discovered after being flung out of a 40 story building, and how there could be no legal consequence for such an action. On the contrary, he’s welcomed back with open arms and just given control of his company and fortune? It just seemed a tad….lazy.

And I also have to ask, is this the first time we’ve seen an alternate view of the Luthor mansion?

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-14

So what have we learned about the Gilbert family? That they don’t throw anything out. Ever.

I have to admit, though, that I did laugh at that practical joke when Elena led Stefan to believe that she couldn’t invite him into the lake house. It was a cute, “real” moment amidst all of the supernatural doom and gloom.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-14"....

In all honesty, it was actually quite refreshing to see Elena talking about her deceased parents. The series kicked off with Elena rightfully distraught about their deaths, but the show smartly drifted away from that (as The OC showed us, a perpetually depressed lead female can get awfully old awfully quickly). However, Elena’s relationship with her parents is an exceptionally important part of her character, and it’s also natural for her to wonder what her relationship with them would be like now that she knows about the existence of vampires (assuming, of course, that they knew about them as well).

Anyway, this episode seemed to focus on relationships, and explaining to the viewers why certain bonds exist, or delving into the nuances of the relationships we’re already familiar with. First and foremost, we got a closer look into the Bonnie/Luka/Jeremy triangle. And Caroline even joined in on the fun! We came to understand that Bonnie was intrigued by Luka because he was new and relatable. Meanwhile, Jeremy was somebody who was always there but she never truly appreciated. Overall, I was really happy with how it was handled. I thought their restraint in making it happen was smart, but they wisely decided not to put it off too long. And I’m glad that Bonnie made the right decision.

Speaking of Luka, he spilled the beans on Elijah’s actual plan to kill Klaus, and it involves Elena dying. This is something Elena apparently assumed, much to Stefan’s chagrin. While I understand him being saddened by her decision, I don’t necessarily agree with his general stance. Yes, it’s not fair to compare Elena to him, because as he noted, he already lived a very full life. But the same isn’t true for Jeremy, Bonnie, and even Jenna and Caroline. They all have full lives ahead of them – and most of them can be described as “innocent” in the grand scheme of things. Sure, maybe it’s not fair for her to die in order to save Stefan and Damon, but for her to do it for her little brother and her best friends? I can see her position in that regard.

We also got some justification as to why Tyler would be willing to turn against the people he’s known and cared about his entire life for a bunch of virtual strangers. He’s turned once, and it was an immensely painful and miserable experience, and now he’s got an escape clause. If he breaks the spell, he can avoid ever having to transform again. It makes sense, but I’m also glad they didn’t take it too far. Once he realized Elena’s life was in danger, he did the right thing and allowed Stefan to save her. Oh, and for some reason, I love how nonchalantly the vampires pull out the hearts of these werewolves.

Overall, a really solid episode, but I was a bit bothered by the fact that it was so easy for John to get into Jenna’s head. Here is a guy she does not like or trust, who quite obviously and open attempts to antagonize her. He makes one extremely vague and accusatory comment about Alaric’s wife, and suddenly Jenna is all suspicious of him. Sure, one could argue that she already suspected that something was up and that John’s comment merely accentuated her insecurities, but to be honest the show hadn’t properly built that up. It just felt a bit contrived. And to be honest, it wouldn’t hurt having just one genuinely happy couple on the show.

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Dive Bar Shirt Club: King Pin

Well, it's that time of the month again -- yep, I received my newest Dive Bar Shirt Club t-shirt. And it might have even been delayed, as our mailman refused to deliver to our house due to all the ice on the driveway (which was impossible to remove). This month's bar comes from New Orleans, making me wonder if I had been to this place during my visit there several years back. Perhaps one of my friends might help me with that.

Oh, and there's another thing I'm noticing about these dive bars: Their websites suck. So, instead of just copying and pasting some information about it, I'm forced tor retype from the bulletin they provide. Here's what it had to say:

This Uptown bar celebrates the sounds that made the City of New Orleans, with special honors to the King of Rock 'N Roll. Imagine Elvis in a bowling shirt. The compact space is crammed with a fearless collection of retro relics that have been battered by time, and spiked with stuff that didn't have any other place to go. Some might call it kitsch but others get that faux leopard walls and straw trim are just more shades of the King. It's a perfect scene for laid-back amusements and a retreat from the Mardi Gras mindset. If you carve a little action you can fork over fifty cents for the long shuffleboard slide or stick it to the dartboard that looks like it's suffered through many years of pointed pricks.

King Pin: Website - Facebook

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

Dive Bar Shirt Club T-Shirt Gallery

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LIVE Raw thoughts

11:03 - Another reason to hate Lawler on commentary: For no reason whatsoever, he lied about Punk having cotton stuffed up his nose.

10:58 - Is it me or does it seem like CM Punk hasn't settled on what hairstyle he wants to go with now that he has short hair?

10:52 - I usually defend John Cena, but I have to say that I didn't care for the end of his promo. He kept saying "Elimination Chamber," except the term was referring to the PPV event at one point, the actual match another point, and I believe was a euphemism for a body part at yet another point. It got a bit confusing.

10:39 - Is John Cena interacting with the same guy every week in those backstage hallway segments?

10:28 - Ah, so the announcers do serve a purpose. It seems that Nexus relayed the message to Josh Matthews, who asked Sheamus about it, who made derogatory comments about Mark Henry in retaliation. In turn, Henry attacked Sheamus, weakening one of Punk's opponents. Clever.

10:24 - That Sheamus/Josh Matthews segment was just awkward. Why have Josh Matthews interrupt Sheamus in the middle of his entrance to report something that the viewing audience never saw? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have Mark Henry talking to somebody backstage? Or talking to Sheamus directly? It just came across as very odd. And since we never saw any of it, it almost seemed like Matthews was instigating. And this whole night, Nexus has really looked weak.

10:16 - It is a sad state of affairs when Ted DiBiase is putting over Jerry Lawler clean, so that Lawler can challenge for the WWE Championship on a PPV. Kyle may be right about 2010 being a highly disappointing year for DiBiase.

10:06 - What that Miz/Lawler segment desperately needed was a video montage chronicling Jerry Lawler's epic career. The vast majority of the WWE audience only knows Lawler as a joke telling announcer who wrestles a couple of short matches a year. I'm pretty well versed in my wrestling history, and that's even how I view him. A video that highlights all of Lawler's title wins and big time matches, as well as his media appearances, would have gone a long way in legitimizing him as a serious competitor. Instead, we had Lawler with his lame one liners. Making fun of Miz's haircut? To push the WWE Championship match? To quote the Miz, "Really?"

9:49 - Cole brings up a good point. Morrison is going to do some crazy shit in the Elimination Chamber match.

9:43 - The Elimination Chamber is actually a fairly interesting and unique type of match, and I'm curious if more people would be invested in it if it wasn't squished between the most popular gimmick match (Royal Rumble) and their biggest event of the year. It immediately feels insignificant in comparison. I wonder if it would find more success if it was in, say, September or October.

9:33 - Actually, let me rephrase. I'd like to see an Eve/Melina one-on-one match.

9:32 - After teasing a heel turn and then aborting them each time, it's refreshing to finally see the Bellas wrestling as heels. And by the way, I'd love to see a Melina/Eve feud.

9:21 - Another reason why I hate Lawler as a face: Truth says the wrong venue and Lawler still defends him. It's okay for heels to blindly follow somebody. They're supposed to be unlikeable and irrational. But when a face does it, they just look like a buffoon. Lawler looks like a buffoon.

9:19 - Question: Why have the GM announcement over the commercial break when you're just going to replay it once we return? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have the announcement on air, and then do Truth's entrance -- which is great for the live audience but does little for those viewing at home -- during the break?

9:13 - I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think it looks awesome when Punk's henchmen lay somebody's unconscious body over Punk's shoulders for the GTS. And I'm shocked that there were so many close up shots of Punk's face with his nose noticeably bloodied.

9:11 - I really hate Lawler as a face announcer. We all JUST watched Legacy attack CM Punk before Orton made his move in 2008, and Lawler actually says, "Then why doesn't Punk attack him? Why have Nexus do his dirty work?"

9:08 - Wow, WWE really just alluded to what happened between Orton and Punk in 2008. Bravo.

9:04 - What a waste of Vince McMahon's return. He comes back to spend two minutes talking about the Super Bowl and saying that the following week he'd be announcing the guest host of WrestleMania? Especially odd since they haven't emphasized the guest host concept in several months.

8:53 - Check back at 9:00 for my LIVE Raw thoughts. And I want to thank those have commented in recent weeks, such as Kyle and Javier, and although I haven't responded (I usually veg out following the show), I have read the comments and I deeply appreciate them. I'll try to respond more often, though!

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-12

Every now and again Smallville does an episode that is uncomfortably close to a movie premise – the two Saw-esque episodes immediately comes to mind – and while they tend to be rather good (and even contain memorable moments or instances of important character growth) there is still an unfortunate feeling of gimmickry. It almost feels like the latter seasons of Sliders, where each dimension would resemble the latest blockbuster movie.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-12"....

This episode, the first one after a multi-month hiatus, bore obvious similarities to The Matrix and a lesser extent Avatar (perhaps only because of the repeated use of the word “avatar,” even though it was appropriate in those cases). It also featured the return of Chloe, one of the most interesting characters in the Smallville universe. For the first four seasons, up until she discovered Clark’s secret, I found her unbearably unlikable. Quite simply, she wasn’t a girl friend. She was jealous and she was disrespectful of people’s privacy, under the guise of journalism. Then once she found out the truth about Clark, she grew exponentially. She looked out for him, she helped him, and she gave him the appropriate amount of space. One of my favorite Clark/Chloe episodes was when Clark lost his memory and Chloe acted as his guide, even though she didn’t fully understand his abilities (one of my favorite moments is when Chloe whispered to Clark from across the room that she shouldn’t trust Lex). However, over the past few seasons, particularly after Jimmy died, Chloe became almost inhuman. Her dialogue and manner of speaking was no longer relatable. And since the show no longer focused on keeping Clark’s secret (virtually everybody knew at this point), Chloe’s knowledge and assistance was no longer enough to make her an inherently interesting character. Unfortunately, she had deteriorated into an expositional character – she merely existed to explain everything to the audience. So when she was written off earlier this season, I wasn’t devastated. And I was somewhat skeptical about her return.

Overall, though, I thought it was handled well enough. She has drifted significantly from the awkward, innocent girl she once was, but they at least acknowledged that fact. And I’m also glad that they brought up the point that none of them have really reacted to the fact that this girl they care deeply about disappeared off the face of the universe. And considering the dangerous world they live in, that seemed unusual. Now, we understand that this was their way of coping with the pain. With Oliver, it was over losing the girl he loves (I’m still not entirely invested in that relationship), and with Clark, it was due to his best friend not trusting him enough with a reason for why she’s leaving at all.

I will say this, though: I found the whole “should we trust Chloe?” thing a little shaky. When everybody returned home (while actually still in the Matrix), Oliver had seemingly immediately distrusted Chloe, while Clark repeatedly defended her. Yet when confronted by Chloe’s avatar, they inexplicably did a complete 180. Suddenly Oliver was willing to trust her, while Clark wavered. It’s not that I had a problem with Clark’s reluctance or Oliver’s willingness – I just didn’t understand why they kicked off the episode with them taking the other’s stance.

Overall, though, I appreciated the allusions to the series’ beginnings. From Chloe growing from her dorky early days, to Clark realizing that for his entire life he’s been asking people he cares about to trust him without asking any questions, and that he needs to do that for others as well. And I really liked the frequent interactions between Clark and Lois.

Speaking of which, considering all of the times that I’ve argued that Clark should take flight, believe it or not I had a real problem with the flying scene at the climax of the episode. It was actually a really well scripted moment, building off of a rather emotional and touching speech given by Lois. And that’s part of the issue – it would have made for a nice scene when he legitimately flies. I understood that it once again showed that Lois is the one person that can help him achieve his fullest capabilities, but I feel like it ultimately took away from what will be a supremely important moment. In many ways, the moment the entire series has been building towards.

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A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-13

“I can’t believe that Elena is my sister’s husband’s brother’s daughter…..and her mother is my boyfriend’s deceased wife.”

I love that line.

Sorry this is a bit late, but apparently my driveway is so icy that even the mailman won’t walk on it. I guess there’s a reason why “ice” isn’t included in that “rain, sleet, snow” motto. What a load!

Anyway, last week I suggested that “The Descent” should have been the episode that led into the hiatus, and “Daddy Issues” (this week’s episode) should have been the episode they returned with. After viewing this episode, I stand by that statement. This week’s hour included some great character growth, some exciting fight scenes, some unsettling violence, and a number of intriguing developments. While “The Descent” wasn’t bad, it was somewhat a lackluster way to return from a multi-month break. This episode was far better suited for that role.

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Amazingly, Caroline may very well have been the highlight of this very strong episode. No matter the situation, she kept a level, likeable head. When she was confronted by Tyler about her deception, her argument was convincing. When she spoke with Matt about their relationship issues, she didn’t come across as some twisted chick juggling two best friends. When she was approached by Jules, she played it cool and avoided confrontation. And at the conclusion of the episode, when she was again approached by Tyler, she was incredibly strong and courageous. I actually admired her. And her second discussion with Matt….well, her choice of alibi was just unfortunate.

Above all else, though, the scene in which she was being tortured was borderline uncomfortable. It was graphic and ruthless, and I completely understood how rattled she was afterwards. And her connection with Stefan throughout the entire ordeal was downright sweet. In fact, the juxtaposition between the “vampire family” and the “werewolf family” was great. The former was built on concern and affection, and the latter was born out of violence and revenge.

I did enjoy the fight scene quite a bit, actually. Particularly Damon nonchalantly tearing out one of the werewolves’ hearts. And considering how frequently the show kills off secondary characters – even important secondary ones – there was a sense that there could be a semi-major fatality. And between Damon and Stefan, Elijah and the witches, and John and Katherine, there are so many people attempting to protect Elena – each for their own reasons (and in the first case, those reasons are legitimately thoughtful and selfless), while at odds with the others trying to protect her.

And I’m rather intrigued by John’s return. What exactly is his agreement with Katherine? Ya’ know, the vampire who cut off his fingers and repeatedly stabbed him, leaving him for dead? Methinks Elena may be wise to not trust him.

I did have one qualm, though. So Stefan revealed that Bonnie’s witch friend is working with Elijah. When exactly did they find this out? Later on in the episode Bonnie divulged that Elijah told Elena, but the timeline of the two scenes was awkward.

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