To any who read this, please note that as of November 4, 2008 I have started to re-watch all the Thundercats episodes. My intent is to update all summaries, clean-up all the notes and trivia, and fix up the cast lists.

I have been getting many submissions since I became editor of this guide, with items that don't make sense. Much of that is due to the sorry state of repair that this guide is in. While I welcome your submissions while I go through the episodes (there are a ton at 130 after all), please note that I will try to keep the rejection / acceptance of everything consistent going forward.

I will be trying, where time permits, to write recaps as well. If you are willing to write a recap (it takes me roughly 1 hour, plus viewing time) then refer to the first episode's recap as what it should look like.

More information ...

I have been gone a long time from the TV.com blog-o-sphere, but I have been around. I just lost my passion for writing here and I got very busy at work and home. Plus, people stopped being interested in me, so I stopped writing.

My Facebook account suffers a similar fate.

Coming to the site for the first time in two days I was shocked to find this "new" site in its place. Because I have not been paying attention it caught me off guard. After looking around, I find I am not alone.

To this new design I have written in many places the following:

"This looks like something Treehouse of Playhouse Disney would put out. I thought this was a site for people over the age of 4. Geez.

If this layout stays, I won't be."

I think this is all I have to say. This site looks well polished, but meant for children. Yikes.

I'm in Chicago for the first time in my memory. I don't count the time I went through there on my way West when I was a wee kid. I'm here on business, but I'm staying through the weekend for fun. So much to see and so little time to see it all. At least the first two days are on my company's dime.

This does mean that I will be without Internet connection as of Friday night, so sorry if you're looking for me, which you're not anyways. I'm taping Idol, so I'll have to wait a couple of days to see who's out next (Matt's gone ).

---

I'm currently watching Smallville. I'm more than half way through the first season (no spoilers please) and really enjoying it more than I thought I would. As people previously noted (both online and offline) people start to drop off around seasons 3 and 4. I'll let you know how it goes, but that's months away if even this year.

One thing that sucks is retcons. I like to read trivia and notes about shows I watch when I'm catching up. However I had to stop reading them for this show. Some notes are giving away spoilers from future episodes, and in some cases giving away episodes from future seasons. That sucks. I've already heard about two minor characters that die. I think I know one of the major deaths too and that sucks.

Spoilers suck.

---

I have a hankering for re-watching Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. I was missing JL Season 5/JLU Season 3/JLU Volume 2 from my DVDrips collection. I got sick of waiting for the Internet to provide them with me, so I got myself copies of the DVD's (thank you library) and ripped them for myself.

I then realized that I have a few DCAU shows like this so a quick visit to my library's website and I have 5 DVD's lined up. Then once I get them I'll rip them for myself and be content.

For those wondering, this is legal use in Canada and I'm not talking about distributing the files, so it's not even against DMCA or whatever it's called.

Anyways, I have this hankering from just listing to the theme once or twice. There's just something powerful about it that makes me want to re-watch the whole DCAU in reality. If you don't know what makes up the DCAU then read up. Although I don't care about Zeta too much and I've not seen much of Static Shock.

Too much TV to watch right now even though I have just lost a new show.

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Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   47% (+ 3)
Forum Posts: 5430  (+30)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2693  (+22)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  122           People     :    0
Total      : 2815           Total      :   51

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I'll mention only one thing about Canadian Idol, and then I'm moving on.

I heard a quote the other day from Greg. He said he was sad to leave, but because of the fan reaction (shock and anger to him leaving) he felt good about leaving. He intends on continuing on, just not with Idol. Expect to see more from Greg and his band in the future.

With that, I have decided I will continue to watch CI, but only because of Greg's acceptance not mine.

---

In other news, I'm still enjoying Painkiller Jane, although it has it's ups and downs. The majority of the stories are pretty good, assuming you can ignore the quality of the show.

I've still got 3 episodes to watch to be caught up, and only 5 episodes left to be aired.

I was very surprised that they killed off one of the main 5 characters in the twelfth episode. That was shocking and a little unnecessary. I thought it was amusing that people asked if that character died in the comic books. I haven't read them myself, and neither have the vast majority of PKJ viewers. However, a quick read on Wikipedia tells me that the TV series has a similar story to the comic book, only minus the neuro hunting.

My guess is that the dead character (and the other major characters) have nothing to do with the comic book series.

---

I've recently realized that I'm watching a lot more TV on my computer this summer. I'm watching more than I figured I would. At night I'm watching at least and hour at home and an hour at work. That's twice as much as I thought I would.

During the work day I watch 2 episodes of the original Twilight Zone. I'm part way through season 3, so that's working out well. And yes, I get my work done since I watch one while I have breakfast and the other at lunch.

Last year I had downloaded the first four seasons of Smallville, which I've heard much good about. Last night I finally decided to start these so I watched the pilot. It's hard to get used to some of the changes, but the production quality is pretty good.

My biggest issue with the show is that a 24 year-old is playing a 15 year-old Clark Kent. Heck, of the youth in the series, the actor playing Clark is the oldest one there - and that includes Lex who is beyond High School!

Yikes!

---

Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   44% (+11)
Forum Posts: 5400  (+25)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2671  (+10)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  122           People     :    0
Total      : 2793           Total      :   51

---

This to be an incomplete blog, on purpose. It is full of spoilers about Canadian Idol so if you don't know who was voted off, stop reading.

SPOILERS Abound

Tonight, it was revealed that the bottom 3 were Carly Rae, Brian and Greg. Even given the fact I don't like Carly Rae I can say that the best three performances of the previous night were those three.

In the end, Greg (my favourite and the best potential Idol winner this season) was voted off. Unless CTV announces (even if they have to lie) that the results were flipped by accident and say someone else is gone, I don't know if I can continue to watch this show.

Yes, me .. the CI fan on this site is ready to stop watching. I've have favourites lose before (e.g. Rex Goudie) and I've had people I did not like win (Melissa O'Neil and Kalen Porter). I've never before wanted to stop watching though.

With the combination of the best three tagged as "worst" and Greg being tossed, plus crappy performances by Matt and Jaydee, I just don't know.

I enjoy Jaydee's performances, but he's not Idol material. Matt needs to come back in a few years and he'll be awesome. Greg learned a lot between last year and this year and is ready for prime time.

I'll have to think about this and sleep on it. If I decide to stop watching I'll drop my editorship. If there's even a glimmer that I might still watch I'll hold on to the guide (once retired, always retired).

My only hope is that Greg signs a record deal ASAP and starts writing stuff, and once the Idol embargo is lifted he immediately releases an album. I'm sure it would sell better than any Idol record from the remaining Top 6.

Signing out before I explode .... 2C

Canadian Idol Forum on TV.com
I'm sure some of you are getting sick of my Canadian Idol talk, but that will change soon. The general apathy on this site for this superb show is dragging me down.

In the meantime, I have created a poll in the CI forum that I would ask everyone who refers to the guide or is a fan to respond to. I would appreciate votes, comments are not required.

Continuing with CI there was a nice quote from Brian May (of Queen Fame) released last night. He said:

"Roger and I were both surprised. They're wonderful artists, all seven of them. I actually have to tell you that I have a different feeling about the Idol thing after this. Perhaps things are evolving more [on Canadian Idol] towards the singer/songwriters and the really talented people who really should be on TV. God bless them."

Which I interpret as meaning they agreed to do the show for the exposure rather than the interest. It's nice to see that he can be honest and admit he thought it was a bunch of hooey, only to find out (this season especially) that talented people make it on the show.

I really believe that this year's Top 22, in general, were much better than any previous season of CI or AI. I'm not saying it to be ignorant or arrogant, but I honestly believe that the people that made it to the Top 22 this year are better as a whole. A lot of people this year are more than just singers (most are musicians and/or song writers) and it shows in the quality.

I am sad that CI gets a bad rap because the first two years were really just knock-offs of AI, but CI has been an innovator in the Idol franchise world wide, since the third season anyways. But enough of this, I can tell no one other than me really cares about this.

---

I've been forcing myself to watch a bunch of movies I had sitting in a pile over the previous two weeks. I saw several movies, most of which were from last year. I want to talk about two in particular.

No Spoilers Contained Below

The first is the Illusionist. This was about one magician that does all he can to obtain the love of his life, and the story around it. The second is The Prestige. This is about two magicians that get into a rivalry due to the lost of a loved one by one of the magicians, and the ensuing story about them.

Both are period movies that were made about magic. Both had Ricky Jay as one of their magicians for training and reality training. (Ricky Jay plays a very bit character in The Prestige) Both start at one point in time, then quickly move back in time to where it all started. They both end up back at the scene that the movie starts in and then finish the story with the surprise ending.

I saw the Illusionist first and it blew me away. It was wonderful. I didn't see the ending coming ... well, actually I did figure it out about 10 minutes before the detective. It was a good story with a good twist ending. I got what I expected from that movie and I was happy.

Almost a week later I watched The Prestige and it blew me away in such a way that it made the Illusionist look like a "nice story" instead of the wow it gave me the week before. This even though I figured out the ending 30 minutes before the reveal in the movie. Even though I saw the twist coming, it was executed so well I was WOW'ed over. The surprise ended is actually given away very early in the movie, if you know to look for it, which you cannot on first watch.

In the end, I would recommend them both to anyone, but I would insist they watch them in alphabetical order.

---

I haven't run into any further submission issues in the last week. You may of noted that submission count jumped higher this past time. It was almost 100% due to work on the CI guide. I have gone through and "corrected" both seasons 4 and 5. Now, all summaries are spoiler free, all on-screen items are in Trivia (like songs sung and people booted) and that Notes do not contain Trivia items. I also cleaned some of the quotes that were in the wrong format, but that was minor.

I feel better now. Thank you.

Canadian Idol Forum on TV.com

---

Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   33% (+ 9)
Forum Posts: 5375  (+40)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2661 (+132)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  122           People     :    0
Total      : 2783           Total      :   51

---

Canadian Idol Forum on TV.com
As the editor for Canadian Idol I feel the need to "spread the word" about the show. I will say that those able to download off the web, but don't live in Canada, should attempt to watch some of this season. A really great episode is the Top 9 from last night. It was better than last season and much better than the last two seasons of American Idol. This is my opinion.

I've asked kids that are in the target market here why they watch AI but not CI. Really it sums up to "Zack tries to be like Simon too much". While I can see that as a valid cause to not watch CI, I have two responses to that.
1. It turns out they haven't watched last season or this season when they make that comment. I must say that Zack started that way, but has naturally moved back to just being Zack. Zack knows what he likes and what he doesn't. He doesn't like Country music (nor do I) and so he says so. Zack is not nasty like Simon (who is nasty because he's supposed to be), Zack is just honest.
2. If it bothers you that much, then fast forward through his part or all of the judges, and enjoy the music.

I keep meaning to ask the kids, "do you watch AI for the music or the judges?". If they watch for the music, then they'd love CI and should skip the judges. If they're just watching for the judges then they need to turn off the TV because then it's just another useless reality show.

Whether you like CI or not, it still is the highest rated Canadian show on Canadian TV, just not in Toronto.

Oops, I went a little off-topic there.

My point was supposed to be that the Top 9 show was super! My point was that next week is a potentially stronger Top 8 performance show. The show's guest will be Enrique Iglesias and the theme will be "Unplugged". That's a simple way of saying acoustic instruments only, and likely most of the Top 8 will play instruments themselves.

Although I don't have the readers that I once had, I would ask that you help support CI if you are willing. Either post the above banner, or copy one of the links to the forum, or link to this blog entry. Last year the CI community was bigger, now it is about 3 people on this site. At this rate I won't keep editing this show due to lack of interest from the community.

It seems people are going to the CTV forums to talk and not here. That's there right, but why should I continue to care about the show on this site if I'm the only one.

---

The submission system has made some major bug fixes since my last blog post. This is good. But it is very bad that it still has problems.

Currently, my biggest problem is that I added the CI Top 10 at an episode level instead of at the show level. If I had of added them at a show level I would have avoided the bug by just importing them with the rest of the stars. I didn't and so now I'm at a loss of what to do.

The bug is that once you create a person with this new system and want to add them to other shows/episodes they won't appear in the search results. For example, if you search for "Bixby" in the above search you will find several Bixby's including Jaydee (he's in the Top 9). But if you go to the Top 9 episode (or any episode) and search on "Bixby" you get results with all but Jaydee. No Jaydee means I cannot add him to the show.

I keep bringing up this issue, but it is being ignored.

Arggg.

---

Those of you that have been around awhile will remember that I'm not fond of all of the emblems we have. I even asked to have less. Just as a place holder I decided to include my current list of emblems and the list of emblems that I think I should have.

How they are:





How I'd like to see them:



There's no point, I'm just saying.

Canadian Idol Forum on TV.com

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Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   24% (+ 5)
Forum Posts: 5335  (+35)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2529  (+56)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  122           People     :    0
Total      : 2651           Total      :   51

---

Canadian Idol Forum on TV.com
As people in the know are aware, this is the last week of pre-Top 10 performances for Canadian Idol. Here is my opinion about the guys last night:

- Brian and Matt will likely be gone tonight
- I want Liam gone because I just don't like him
- Greg has gotten way better than last year and I actually like him now
- Tyler, Jaydee and Dwight should be in the Top 10 with Greg

Next up is the girls, and I cannot help but think they will suck (compared to the guys) for the third week in a row. While the four guys for the Top 10 (as indicated above) could potentially end up in the Top 3, I just cannot name a single female that I see being n the Top 3. Traditionally, the women are stronger than the men (in the Idol shows around the world), but not so this year for this Idol show.

I am attempting to get tickets to Wednesday's taping, but I think I'm out of luck. I would have tried earlier, but while I was on vacation I found out I'd be able to go to a show this week, but I was absent from the Internet.

There's always next year.

---

My vacation went well enough. I pulled my back last Friday so the end of it rather sucked. I'm still feeling the effects of it today, especially after an hour commute in the morning/afternoon.

On Saturday I went go-karting because it had been promised. I had a great time even though it hurt, although by the end of it my back was numb. Just for fun I did the last lap with full gas, no break and didn't drive on the corners. Super fun!

Thank you to all the the well wished in my previous thread. This is my response to all that commented there

---

When the **** did this happen and when the **** are they going to fix it? I posted this question here, but I don't expect I will get a response. This is going to seriously affect by submission quality to all my shows, which currently just means CI.

Grrr

Canadian Idol Forum on TV.com

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Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   19% (+ 3)
Forum Posts: 5300  (+50)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2473  (+20)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  122           People     :    0
Total      : 2595           Total      :   51

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Hi all,

This is just a short note that I will be away from the Internet from June 29th (once I finish this) until July 9th. As a result, I will not be able to process submissions during this time.

Happy Canada Day!
Happy Independence Day!

Cheers,
2C

Yes folks, it is that time of year. Canadian Idol starts its 30+ episode run to crown the next Canadian to get a record deal from a TV show.

[Ed: Eva was crowned after Lukas Rossi became a Rock Star only because CTV bumped the CI finale show from Tuesday to the Sunday after.]

I know I'm excited to see the audition episodes because of the inclusion of instruments into the process. This is something they tried in Australia last year and the CI folks wanted to give it a try in Canada since fans and contestants alike have been asking for this. Unlike in Australia where they did it to try and pump up ratings.

The other noticeably new thing is that Elena didn't make it past her first season as "roving reporter". Jon was a comedian and you either liked him or not, but he was at least funny. Elena missed the start of the season due to almost failing out of university and when she did show up, she wasn't funny.

Now the CI staff clued into this, so they are providing us with another comedian that most of Canada has never heard of ... Dave Kerr. I understand he's been around the block and if he's half as funny as Jon he will still be twice as good as Elena.

Of course Ben Mulroney is back as host. Say what you will about him, but he is getting a lot less robot-like as seasons rack up. Time for a Canadian moment: I loved when Rick Mercer was interviewing Justin Trudeau and asked if Justin takes whatever gigs that Ben doesn't take. At least I think it was Rick.

[Note: Both Ben and Justine are sons of former Prime Ministers]

---

So TV is over for me until the Fall, for the most part. I have CI (of course) until the Fall season starts. I have the few remaining episodes of Studio 60. Other than that I have some shows I taped during the year that I haven't yet watched (Heroes for example).

This is okay since it might give me a chance to get some work done on the site. Like when I added all of the episodes for CI (once they corrected their typo that "I" got them to correct) and then got no level increase for this work. Of course, I am cool with that since some of you will remember that my jump to Level 50 was unearned in the first place.

I still haven't posted the recaps or summaries for 22 Minutes or the Mercer Report. This is bad an unacceptable. I really hope to get to it, but it takes me close to an hour to write a recap for each show, and there's over 40 episodes between the two. Time will tell though.

---

My dad sent me a link to Facebook last month. I thought, what the heck, I'll join. I ended up getting 6 friends just from my contact list in GMail (Facebook automates this process). So I added a bunch of info and within a week a few more friends found me through them. Then, like my blog here, it sat doing nothing, until yesterday.

That's when I found out a former co-worker had posted her new son's pictures on there. So I added her as a friend. Then I started poking around. Long story short, I spent over 2 hours poking around and wasting my own time. Now I remember why I stayed away from the site in the first place.

What's your Facebook story? I know you have them.

Canadian Idol Forum on TV.com

---

Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   16% (+ 5)
Forum Posts: 5250  (+10)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2453  (+36)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  122  (+ 1)    People     :    0
Total      : 2575           Total      :   51

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I am a fan of Spiderman (my preferred spelling) and I have been since my youth. Some people have become fans because of the movies, but I'm not one of them. When the first movie came out, I had no interest in seeing it.

Then I ended up watching the first movie with a group of teens because of a promise. Wow! Was I ever blown away! I really liked the movie.

when the second movie came out, I loved it. I also wished I had not watched it, but had instead waited until the third movie was released. Why? Because I was psyched and ready for more!

Now the third movie is out and I don't have time to go watch it. Sad but true. Having seen the old Fox Spiderman cartoon of the 90's I already know what is going to happen in the movie, so spoil away. But that's okay, I'm used to be behind in movies.

In the meantime, I saw a poster from Italy that had, what I think is, a neat combined image of the black suit of Venom and the red suit of Peter. Not being able to find a quality source, I found two source wallpapers on the Sony site for the movie. The end result is here:


1024 x 768

1600 x 1200
Now, I am not an artist, but I am teaching myself how to use GIMP. Why? Because I get ideas for images and MSPaint doesn't always cut it for me. 99% of the time, I can do everything I want in MSPaint. This is an example of the 1% of things I cannot do.

This was something that bugged me. I had an idea, but no way to create it. Then last week I had a thought and used Google. The result is that I found a difficult to understand, but workable solution to my problem.

Fee free to grab copies of these files if you like them. I left the Sony/Marvel copyrights on the images since they still own the pics.

Back to the movie: I am disappointed in advance of seeing the movie, because I don't think Sandman should have been part of the movie. If they had left him out and kept it over 2 hours, I think I'd be in love. Instead, I will go watch it and be entertained, but not be psyched for the next movie (when/if).

Feel free to leave your thoughts about this movie in the comments. Spoilers allowed.

---

Coming soon to a CTV station near you
Coming very soon is the next season of Canadian Idol. I don't know when it's starting because I'm getting the standard form letter in response:

"Please visit www.idol.ctv.ca regularly for up-to-date information on show times and ticket purchasing details."

It will start a week or two after American Idol ends. That puts the premiere at either May 28th or June 4th.

The Top 100 (really 198) have just recently finished being judged by the judges. There are now 22 nervous and excited people (plus their families) across Canada that are waiting for June to arrive. Likewise, I too am excited about another new season of the second largest North American version of Pop Idol.

This season, Canada follows the lead of Australia last year and contestants are allowed to use musical instruments in the the pre-Top 22 portion of the show. No details yet on if instruments will be allowed during the Top 22 competition. This makes it both harder and easier on the contestants as they will now be judged on both singing and playing ability.

Please come join me in the forums as the best summer show in Canada gets started.

Coming soon to a CTV station near you

---

Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   11% (+ 4)
Forum Posts: 5240  (+20)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2417  (+24)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  121           People     :    0
Total      : 2538           Total      :   51

---

Coming soon to a CTV station near you
First off, as a recap, I started taping, but not watching, the final episodes of BSG with the intent of watching episodes 16-20 all in one go. Well that time came this weekend.

Friday night I watched 2, then one Saturday, then 1 Sunday afternoon and I just finished the last episode now.



When the tape ended I just sat there for 5 minutes. That is shock. Rarely does my entertainment ever to that for me.

If you've never watched BSG before and are a fan of drama, or a fan of Sci-Fi, or a fan of really good TV, then get a copy of the mini-series, and Seasons 1 through 3 of the show and watch it all.

NOW! Go! Don't read any of the following, just go watch. The rest contains SPOILERS and you can continue at you own risk.

I have to say, that I wasted my time waiting to watch episodes 16-19. They were pretty standard episodes with next to no shocking stories. I figured that Starbuck would go into the storm, and I don't believe she died.

Episode 20 even wasn't special at all for the first half of the show. Then it starts off with Lee's super-speech which I just knew would sway Adama into not-guilty. That was very obvious.

Remember, good TV can still be obvious. A lot of BSG is obvious, if you're paying attention, but it is the execution that makes BSG so very good.

Any one can be taught to play a piano and learn Mozart. But it takes something special to play Mozart, if you get my drift. In the same way, it was one thing to know that Adama would be the sway vote, but another to see it on the screen.

So, in summary, the Gaius trial went exactly as I expected it too, with only a few bumps along the way. It's the rest that had me in shock.

I'll start by saying, final confrontation.

I knew the music thing was going to lead to some sort of joining of the minds. However, I do not think that the four of them are Cylons, or that the Cylons are even involved. I think that this is the work of the god(s) working in them.

They all have a role, unknown to us at this time, in the future of the show/human race. I am glad there are 13 more episodes still to air, although it sucks we will have to wait for so long. I highly doubt that any of them being Cylons makes any sense to me, even if that is the plan and it is explained out.

My hope is that Ronald D. Moore had a plan to end the show/series in a fourth or fifth season and that he will convince Sci-Fi to let him finish. I really hope that he will end the series in season 4 with however many episodes get shot.

How do I want it to end:
- All the remaining 5 Cylon models be revealed
- That none of the four are actually any of those 5
- The humans make it back to Earth and find the 13th colony
- The Cylons are completed defeated
- We never really live happily-ever-after

I have a lot going through me right now, and one of them is fatigue. Fatigue from watching this and a bigger fatigue from being extremely busy and stressed in life, Church and work for the month of March.

By the time you read this, I will be living in the first work days of April (unless you're really late to this blog). I am hoping for a much better April at home, Church and work, but only time will tell.

I really hope I will have time to fully participate in the upcoming season of Canadian Idol. I really hope TAR All-Stars is not going to kill the series, although this season is the absolute worst in 11 seasons - including the Family Edition. I hope a certain life event I am working towards actually happens in a positive way and time.

Now, it is off to bed where a Series of Unfortunate Events awaits my continued reading.

Coming soon to a CTV station near you

---

Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   7%  (+ 4)
Forum Posts: 5220  (+30)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2393  (+ 3)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  121           People     :    0
Total      : 2514           Total      :   51

---

Coming soon to a CTV station near you
A few of you may be aware that I am a fan of the Half-Life series of games. I got hooked to the series rather late in the first generation. Specifically, when I got high speed access at home for the first time I went looking for game demos to try out. I came across a demo for Opposing Forces and thought I'd give it a try.

Wow!

That pretty much sums up my first encounter in the world of HL. As soon as I finished that demo, I found out about the HL demo (Uplink for those that don't know). After finishing both of these demos (in the same day) I actually went to the store and bought the $30 game (included HL, OPFOR, TFC and others).

Long story short, I got about 3 years of game play out of that one $30 box of plastic. How do I know that? Because I fell into my first online game with the TFC add-on, which I know I proceeded to play for 3 years. True, TFC is not a HL game, it's a game based on the HL engine (*cough*Quake2*cough*). It was even a remake of the original Team Fortress for the original Quake engine.

I ended up buying HL2 (when it went down in price) and HL2:EP1 (when it went down in price) and I will very likely buy Episodes 2 and 3 without blinking. Why? Because I got 3 years of fun from a $30 box many years ago.

Of course, this means I keep up with the HL related news. I was very amused this weekend when I saw that they are selling a limited quantity of HL related parking stickers. You know those stickers that allow you to park in a specific lot.


The price? $30 USD and it includes two silly/stupid bumper stickers.

Why am I bringing this up? Because I actually considered buying one. Now that's customer loyalty. I honestly almost bought this little piece of static cling artwork that no one would understand if they saw it. My car spends 99% of its time parked in my house and at an underground parking lot at work. No one is going to see this thing, except me. And I'd only find it funny for the first little while ... definitely not worth it this time.

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I'll admit it. I watch Canada's Next Great Prime Minister on the CBC last night. To summarize, it was a single episode winner takes all reality show. The episode aired as a 1 hour show. It was obvious that it was several hours taping.

The premise is that the 4 finalists (as selected by people running the show) presented a "Why I will be a great PM" speech, followed by a mini-debate; followed by random questions. The questions were asked by 4 former PM's to the 4 finalists.

These kids were aged 19 to 25. It was quite obvious that the youngest, and only female, did not belong on the show, but she was likely the best female available. No, I'm not flaming female politicians, it's just that she forgot her opening 2 minutes speech just before the end of the thing.

It was also obvious that the only son-of-an-immigrant on the show was there for one platform only: "we need to make use of the immigrants we have so that my did who was very skilled at home could have gotten a job in his field instead of working in a factory". Which was hard to take from a 23 year old that currently owns his own hotel, which his previously mentioned factory worker dad likely bought for him when he turned 21.

A little hard to take.

In the end, the race came down to two guys (aged 23 and 25) that mirror most of the modern PM races in that one is from Quebec and the other is not. The 25 year old (let's call him B) was beating the 23 year old (let's call him J) in the first two polls. Just like real politics, only the final poll mattered.

It was not surprising that B lost to J, although B should have won. B quite clearly gave the win to J when B was asked by the only PM on the panel elected to the job a very tough question, and B flubbed it. I could see his points dropping.

The win? $50,000 was the original hook. But just before the reveal we find out this was really just more political maneuvering by Frank Stronach. The winner was also given some sort of internship at one of his Magna companies. The envelop was delivered by his MP daughter (who I have nothing nice to say about), and the show was produced by Magna's entertainment arm.

My point, for the one person still reading this, is that it was presented as a CBC/Canadian production, but it was really a Frank contest to find youth interested in joining politics with his view point. Not what I was looking for.

I only started watching the show because TAR had ended and Rick Mercer was hosting. It started fun, but ended badly.

Coming soon to a CTV station near you

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Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :   50 
Percentage :   3%  (+ 2)
Forum Posts: 5190  (+10)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2390  (+14)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  121           People     :    0
Total      : 2511           Total      :   51

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Coming soon to a CTV station near you

So I meant to talk about the new show I got on the weekend ... Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels. Something more important came up though.



How did I get the show when I don't really watch the show? Easy ... it was a guide with a retired editor (not a banned user) that I went to in an effort find out more about Chicago. She did a show on Chicago in the first season, but TV.com had nothing about it.

I then found out that half of the first season was missing, and a spattering of the second season was entered, but none of the rest were entered. I used the official Food TV site for the show to add several missing season 1 episodes (I had two of the three required elements) and got the guide.

I intend on adding more to this, but since I don't watch the show, there won't be any recaps any time soon. At least I have made the banner (see above) for the show. This is my first pink banner. You can click on the image to see a bigger banner, one that would work for the show guide.

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Life at level 49 ... what is there to say. I've heard nothing from the staff, so I am assuming I will be keeping this level until I move to the next level.

Which I have already done ... due to the flurry of activity to get the Tasty Travels guide.



I have now joined that exclusive group of people that are Level 50+. Once this meant something, but not any more. I haven't cared about my level in a long time (i.e. raising it), I have just wanted to get what I earned.

Too bad that I made it to Level 50 via a bug that got me to Level 49 many levels early.

I did notice that they changed the emblem for level 50. Instead of the stupid Airwolf helmet, it's not a plaque like thing. Anyone know why?

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I'm still working my way through Voltron and the Twilight Zone. I'm still thinking that when CSI:Miami ends this season, so will my watching of the show.

I should send out shouts about two Canadian shows that are on right now.

Corner Gas had a beautiful season finale this week. It was the single best episode from either season 3 or 4. It had me laughing most of the time, which has been rare this season. I even figured out the punch line of the joke (no spoilers) before the end, and still found it funny.

Way to end the season ... now bring back the humour of seasons 1 and 2 to season 5!

FYI, there will definitely be a season 5 since they are 19 episodes short of fulfilling the deal with the US. 19 episodes is also how long season 3 and 4 were, so it all makes sense.

The second shout out goes to Little Mosque on the Prairie. This is the second best (in my opinion of course) Canadian sitcom on TV today. Yes, they take liberties with Islam, but then they also do it with Anglicanism/Christianity (e.g. they called the Archbishop the Archdeacon instead).

It is interesting that it was created in response to the success of CG, but it's even more interesting that it is doing it's own thing very well.

The biggest shock is that it is being shown on CBC, which is available everywhere in Canada for free. Props to CBC for running it.

Coming soon to a CTV station near you

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Rank       : Airwolf
Level      :  50 
Percentage :   1%  (+ 3)
Forum Posts: 5180  (+20)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2376  (+ 1)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  121  (+ 1)    People     :    0
Total      : 2497           Total      :   51

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Hi All ... I had my return blog all planned out. Instead I will move it down a few paragraphs to talk about something else.

If you're reading this, you already know that Drea passed away a few days ago. In sympathy to her *many* friends on this site, I have put the memorial banner on my profile. To her friends and family, my deepest sympathies.

I was not a friend of hers, although I did run into her from time to time. She was never anything but nice to me, which I can say is her way. I know her memory will quickly fade from my mind, but that will not be the case for a large number of you. For you all, I bring back the following. It will remain with the banner in memory.

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I was going to talk about some stuff now, but I'll leave that for another day. New guides will always be available to talk about, but morning needs to occur to move on.

At that later time, I will also discuss life as a level 49'er.

Coming soon to a CTV station near you

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Rank       : Snufflupugus
Level      :  49 
Percentage :  98%  (+10)
Forum Posts: 5160  (+20)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2375  (+23)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  121  (+ 1)    People     :    0
Total      : 2496           Total      :   51

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Really, I am not a Level 49 user. I should still be a Level 35 user with a higher than 43% score. I have PM'ed Missribs about this and she admits that this is a unique issue.

The issue is that when the level drop last happened, I dropped to Level 3. Then when the "fixed" it for everyone, I dropped to Level 1. Real nice, I think. So I sent a PM to Missribs just to let her know, my Level was restored to 35 and all was well. For a couple of days ...

Then, I forget the day, I logged on to the site and noticed I had reached Level 49! This is quite impossible with only 12 submissions. I PM'ed Missribs about this new problem a week ago (February 6th for those that cannot count). Her reply: "i gotta check into this and see wha'ts up, OK?"

Very interesting.

Based on other comments I have seen, I believe I am the only one to incorrectly increase my level (since the 2005 issues that is) and definitely the only one to publicly report the issue.

I don't mind being Level 49 instead of Level 35 since there is no difference in my standings on this site between the two levels. I don't think I should stay here though since they are going to be mucking around with the levels anyways.

So, my stats will be screwed up until I know what happens next.

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I have been watching The Tick (the original 90's animated version) and every episode can be rated thusly. It is either a) A really funny episode; or b) A really stupid episode. Seriously, they are truly that black and white.

Because I was in University for the first season, I saw all of those, but I apparently missed all subsequent episodes when I left university. Well, now I'm finding out that I didn't miss much after all.

Next up will be Voltron! More specifically, the 72 episodes of the American Lion Force version of Voltron, not the vehicles version or the Japanese versions. I remember these episodes faintly, but I remember liking them and missing some of them.

Those that have been paying attention will notice that I have made no mention of Thundercats recently. My intent was to watch all 130 episodes and create a proper recap and summary of each episode, and fixing the cast issues.

I made it through episode 1 and then stopped. Partly due to a user that pissed me off with the guide, but mostly due to my change in jobs. I just don't have an hour and a half to watch the episode and then create all of that content. I really wish I did because there are no good sites for Thundercats fans to read about what they forgot or missed. I know because I've looked.

So why am I watching these other shows? Because I want to, and I'm not touching their guides on the site. That means I can spend about 20 minutes at lunch time watching an episode and then I'm done with it. That I do have time for.

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Speaking of shows I don't watch, I'm seriously thinking of adding CSI:Miami to that list after this season. I'm willing to give it to the end of the season, but that's it. What will be my gauge? Sleepiness.

At the start of this season and all previous ones, I stayed awake for every episode regardless of whether I watched at 9pm or 10pm. But since about episode 4, I have noticed that I am passing out on my couch (aka sofa or chesterfield) every episode. Sometimes it's just for a couple of minutes and sometimes it's from the 35 minute mark to the 50 minute mark.

Yes folks, the excitement that leads up to the climax is putting me to sleep! That is not the sign of a good show.

Then last night, they pissed me off with how they handled Delko's time in the hospital. Without giving anything away I can say that the entire hospital scene was bull****. I'd say more, but that would require spoilers.

At one point, a doctor working on Delko leaves the ER OR to get something. No doctor would leave, that's what nurses are for. Then when Calleigh asks said doctor for a status update the doctor gives a vague response (very realistic), but Calleigh demands for the bull to be cut.

Excuse me, but they don't give out that kind of information to colleagues and friends, only to family. Caine is Delko's only family on the show (parents exist but are never seen). Calleigh is not his family and since when does a doctor have time to talk for 2 minutes when "he'll be dead in the next 5 if he doesn't recover".

Now, before you write to say that the "doctor" was actually a nurse just getting something, it's a moot point. If the nurse was sent to fetch something, then the priority is to get it to the OR, not chit-chat with the concerned police officer.

Anyways, CSI:Miami will only end up on my Fall 2007 viewing schedule if they stop putting me to sleep.

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Rank       : ??
Level      :  49?
Percentage :  88%? (+??)
Forum Posts: 5140  (+60)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2352  (+12)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  120           People     :    0
Total      : 2472           Total      :   51

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First I was afraid
I was petrified
...

Sorry ... I have that song running through my head. Since I don't have a copy of it at work ... I'm screwed. Actually, I don't think I even have that MP3 at home. Yikes.

I haven't done much lately due to the drop in levels I had for over a week. Thankfully, that is over now. Speaking of levels, I was using FilmSpot during the beta. I added favs and even made a submission. For whatever reason I am still at level 1 0% after all of that.

Go figure.

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Anyone out there watching Heroes? I was thinking of checking it out, but I know nothing about it.

Speaking of good shows, Ugly Betty is getting a little stupid at times, but is still a really good watch. I was worried about it, but not any longer.

Still with TV ... does anyone have a clue why they showed their Mother's Day episode in January for Corner Gas? How stupid was that.

Battlestar Galatica is blowing my frakin' mind! On purpose I didn't watch episode 11 until I had taped episode 12. Episode 11 was part 1 and 12 was part 2, but there were several months between the two. I was so glad I did that.

IT IS BLOWING MY FRACKIN' MIND.

BSG is so very good right now. They've stopped with the stupid Iraq commentary and are actually working on the BSG storyline again. WOW! I still have to watch this previous Sunday's episode, so no spoilers please.

---

I'm working my way through the general forums, which I working on updating from at least December 22nd. It will take time, but I feel I need to be current on what is happening there before I can start to blop regularly again.

Speaking of blopping, I seem to have lost several friends as regular bloppers due to my lack of updates. Sorry about that.

In that same vein, don't be surprised or shocked if you are removed from my Friends List. It just means that we don't talk enough anymore and have moved on. Regular readers will realize I do that from time to time. Others still will recognize that if I take you off I do add you back when we start blopping regularly again.

---

Sunday is the Superbowl (duh?) and I don't care. The next day I'll download the new commercials and watch them. I'm not big on NFL football (CFL BABY) so it would be rude of me to watch. I'll be aware of the game though since my customers work in the Chicago area.

On that note:

Da Bears!

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Rank       : Beverly Hillbilly
Level      :   35
Percentage :   43% (+11)
Forum Posts: 5080  (+40)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2340  (+ 7)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  120           People     :    0
Total      : 2460           Total      :   51

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Without meaning too, my Christmas and New Year's break was a month long instead of the 2 weeks I thought it would be. To my readers, sorry about the delay and I hope to get back to a weekly schedule.

What has happened since I last blogged? A lot! My boss and technical lead were off for a week, so I had to do part of their job in addition to my own. That was the bad news. The good news is that I'm now doing more because I did well in the that time. The ugly news is that another guy quit so that we need to fill his spot since we were already short staffed. Fun times ... also known as learning time. I'm learning a lot, which is good.

In summary, my new job is now my job (not being new any more). I think I've found my spot, so that is a good thing. Now if only we could get a handle on the work load.

---

The Idol machine is starting again. AI is on the air, which I care nothing about. Meanwhile, CI has announced their audition schedule (always subject to change). This year, all auditions are on the weekend so that everyone can try out (unless they work retail), and the auditions are scheduled so that there's no more waiting in line for ever.

Supposedly.

Also, a North American first is that contestants can now play an instrument during their audition. The caveat being that those who do use an instrument will be "graded" based on both singing and playing ability. So it is not good enough to be a great guitarist if you still cannot sing.

As a result of getting into CI posting I "earned" a new emblem:



I submitted news about the sale of CI DVD sets. They are releasing 3 sets: Season 1 and 2 (#221), Season 3 (#302), and Season 4 (#305). The number in brackets being their sales ranking on Amazon.ca as of writing this. Pretty impressive in my opinion.

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In other news, we finally have user created icons and people have gone wild with the options Too bad they didn't have two emblems though ... one for full res (80x80) and another for low res (40x40). I still want to work on mine so that it looks good in both resolutions, although that might take time.

I noticed Max's Hulk Homer image last week and he provided me with a few samples of the hypnotoad.


I also created a few of my own:


I've picked the second last one for now, but that is completely subject to change. Any opinions on which one would be best is welcomed and encouraged.

Edit: I have created the two new images. What do you think of these?

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I said I wanted to say thanks to Red for helping the Child's Play charity. I thought about this for a while and the best thing I could think of is a tribute image. It includes a summary of the final results (over $1 Million USD raised!) and an icon representing Red's contribution.

Please click to see the full image since it is a bigger image that my usual:

Thank you Red!

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I believe this brings you up to date on things me. Now, the challenge will be to see if I can catch-up with the rest of you and the site.

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Rank       : Beverly Hillbilly
Level      :   35
Percentage :   32% (+17)
Forum Posts: 5040  (+30)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2333  (+ 9)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  120           People     :    0
Total      : 2453           Total      :   51

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A Worthy Cause

I had no intentions of blogging again before the new year, but I had a little reprieve in my workload (i.e. I'm slacking and don't feel like working). So here it is.

What is up with Child's Play you ask? Well you shouldn't, since you should be checking out the site on your own. Of course, I know most of you are not. So I'll update you just so you know.

As of December 15th, the donations total has reached $760,000 USD! That's huge! Their charity auction/dinner proved huge as it raised over $210,000 alone! In fact, Popcap big $50,000 for one item just for the cause! Have I mentioned that it's huge yet?

So, fabulous work to Red for helping add to that bottom line ... your "gift" is still in progress.

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Another cause for this blog is due to two connected events. The first event was that I finished the Canadian Idol cast list changes. I did a mad dash through the fourth season to finish the job. Mind you, there is still more work to be done, but that's minor compared to the work I finished on it.

Part of this work included reporting around 15 duplicate guides for mostly one off contestants that were added by one editor in Season 3 (no clue who).

As a result of this one mad dash, I finally leveled up! Yes, I'm now a recognized Hillbilly.



After a very long 2 and a half months, I finally moved off that nasty level 34. I'm done with that now. Gah!

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Not only do I still have my turkey emblem (I have asked to have it removed and yet it remains), but I now have a new emblem.



This one is for having been in the Community Spotlight. This one actually does have some value, minor though it is. It's a neat/easy way for people to tell if you've ever had the honour of being on the front page of the site.

Specifically, I'm thinking of the staffers that select the users. This will eliminate any chance of the same person being spotlighted twice. Not that it's been an issue, but now it won't be.

While I'm against having tons of emblems (particularly the "at least X contribution" ones when only the highest level achieved is needed) I can live with this. If any staffer happens to read this (ha ha) and can remove my turkey emblem, please take credit and I will thank you

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Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

If any of the above doesn't apply, then please insert greeting of your choice.

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Rank       : Beverly Hillbilly
Level      :   35
Percentage :   15% (+22)
Forum Posts: 5010  (+10)

Submissions                 Reviews
Accepted   : 2324  (+34)    Shows      :    2
Pending    :    0           Episodes   :   49
Denied     :  120           People     :    0
Total      : 2444           Total      :   51

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