Hi Everrryyyboooody!

Everybody: -_- That joke is almost older than you are.

Me: :(

Foookin' 'ell, I haven't blogged in hackin' ages. It's time to right that wrong with one of the best blogs in the history of blogs.

-_-

Fine, it's just a regular blog.

Propah Crimbo.

So, it's almost Christmas. Kinda. With the way everyone is spending lately it might as well be. I thought this country was facing economic crisis?! I've never sold so many 32" LCD's, PS3's or Wii's. Tis madness.

I'm getting two things this year. I'm getting the Friends complete box-set from my brother since it's only 60 euro right now, which is madness. Sure, it's on the TV everyday, but I'm a completest like that. I've also been enjoying it a lot more lately, and I never watched the first season, and there are all of those extras to enjoy.

I'm starting up a credit union account so I can put aside money each week for my trip to China in the summer. I'm also going to Barcelona so any money I do happen to come across this Christmas, I'm throwing it into the kitty for what should be an amazing summer.

In work we actually started a drinking kitty for the holidays (how Irish of you). It's so we don't go overboard with rounds like some of us did last year. Our wallets had never felt lighter.

Game time! FIGHT!

I've been waiting for this game for quite some time. I grew up on Mortal Kombat and the thought of facing off against some of my fave DC characters with the likes of Scorpion was just too good to pass over.

It's not a perfect game, mind. I wasn't expecting one, but I also wasn't expecting everything to be prepped from the get-go. There are only two unlockable characters and the rest are all ready for the waiting. It's pretty cool at first, but there's no real incentive once the gimmick fades. There are no new levels to unlock; no costumes to vary the looks, nothing. Pity.

Having said that, it looks great, especially if you have a nice big telly to play on. When you beat the crap out of someone it shows - by the end, both characters are bloodied and battered. It's a nice little touch. The combos could have been beefed up a bit, but each character carries their own signature moves and there's no overlapping as far as fighting is concerned.

The story mode is actually pretty inventive. All of the characters are there, and the cut-scenes blend really well into the fights. The dialogue is total cheese, but it's hella fun watching Sub-zero and Scorpion line up to take on Lex Luthor. There are nods to both franchises, too, which is a hoot. Pity the story modes aren't that long, and the characters you unlock from said modes don't even have their own finishers.

Which brings me to the hardest part of the game...if you have an Xbox360. The Fatalities are so hard to pull off. The joy-stick is just too awkward to perform them. You need a character to walk backwards, and he or she will jump back instead. Grr. I haven't had the chance to see more than two - scorpions and Catwomans. Hrrmph.

While I am disappointed by such a slim roster, what we do get is great: Captain Marvel is the Ken of this game, his moves are the easiest and most devastating. The Flash has the best group of combos, and his super speed attacks really add to the experience. The Joker has the most attacks, and Scorpion and Batman are the best hand-to-hand. It's a nice mix, which could have been much better if the roster was bigger.

All in all, if this is the first in a long run of crossovers, then as a preview, it kick-ass. There's a lot of replayability if you enjoy the histories of both franchises - Superman VS Marvel like in "Clash" and so on, plus the VS mode is fun with a few friends. There are a few additions which work really well (Klose Kombat and Free Fall) and a few that don't (Rage attacks); but the good generally outweighs the bad.

Strong character design, a decent story mode and a solid, if somewhat slim roster make MK VS DC a pretty good stab at an unusual mash-up. More, please!

7/10

TV watchage! Hurrah!

I'm not watching that much as of late. In fact, I've cut A LOT of shows. I'm gonna wait for Supernatural on DVD; I've stopped watching Heroes cos it sucks; I'm also gonna wait for Chuck and SCC on DVD. I'm much more of a DVD person.

I've started watching Deadwood on DVD and it's pretty darn good. Great, even, and extremely vicious. I've finished the first season of Oz - one of the best first seasons ever produced. I have just started Dexter's third season and will hopefully catch up with that soon enough.

I'm only reviewing Dexter and Smallville this season. I have been so impressed by the latter this year - who knew the 8th attempt would be the charm? Smallville has humour now; it has actual dilemmas that aren't over and done with in ONE EPISODE; it has actual character development this year and, by the gods, AN ACTUAL ARC! A consistent arc! I'm done.

Actor of the blog: Sam Witer

The new star of Smallville, this guy has been around the block in terms of sci-fi/fantasy. He's been on Angel, Dark Angel, Battlestar Galactica and he's appeared in the new movie The Mist, as well as being the main character of Star Wars: Force Unleashed (a top quality game, I'm almost finished!). Oh, and he was brilliant on Dexter, too! I haven't seen him in something I didn't like, he alwas gives a strong performance.

Hookay, I'm outta here.

So it was Halloween recently (really? where?).

BOO!

Did you do anything (or anyone? Oooerrr!)?

I haven't blogged in a while. Or commented. And for that, I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry!

VOTE OBAMA!

(who the **** is obma?)

I've been hanging out over at that **** JD's site. Those folks over there - Jd aside, of course - are terribly addictive. Like smack - especially that Greta one. OK, I take it back: if that site is like my new drug, then JD is like my new little fie-dolla slut (sorry auntie :wink: ). Yeeah, that feels about right.

So why did all the fans hate S3 of Alias? It frickin rawked. **** all you nay-sayers. Not really. Jusst kidding.

I clearly thought this blog through...

And I'm just loving these smiley things.

LOOOOOOOOOVE

If you can, who are you voting for? If you can't, who WOULD you vote for?

Well, that's all from me. Xena S4 was pretty mad. MAD, I tell you. And Smallville is really good this year. Heroes sucks, but it has pretty cast members. And, er, I tried to get my glasses today but SOMEONE from this very site wouldnt stop with the chattering GRRR!!! (You know who you are!)

This is what you get when I hate this site, but love the people!

~ Mark!

PS.

Not really mad at this someone. But just a heads up...Im coming for your babies :D

PPS

I watched all the halloween-y type Buffy episodes over a nice smoked-cod and chips the other day, twas great! VOTE OBMA!

PPPS

PS.Ilove you is a load of balls.

Hello.

I'm in a bit of a pickle.

A pickle?

What does that even mean?!

Y'see, I just finished S3 of Supernatrual!

Starts off a bit slow

But it soon picks up the pace.

And what a cliff-hanger!

Didn't he say like a blog ago he wouldn't, ya know, blog?

Totally. And what happened to that blog anyway?!

What a drama whore!

Sue me.

(Don't actually sue me)

Sooo, I just finished S3 and am wondering if I should watch S4. I mean, it's not coming out over here for quite a while, but I want to watch it in good quality, ya know, and not the crappy quality the interweb has to offer.

But I REALLY want to watch it!

What should I do? Wait till Jan for it to start over here, or what!?! Bah. I watched the season in 2 days, so Im leaning towards "unconventional methods" to keep the steady stream going.

Reviews:

Heroes

The latest episode has confirmed my suspicions that the writers have no idea what they are doing at all. But it's great all the same - loads of cool powers, loads of random violence and such. I miss when the show was interesting, but I'm in the need of candyfloss viewing and this fits the bill perfectly. I mean FFS - that moment with Hiro and Ando...SO stupid and so clearly a set-up, but it was entertaining, too. Pure Guilty Pleasure stuff.

Smallville

I honestly cannot believe I'm typing this, but S8 has been really good. Even the latest episode -Saw on a TV budget - kept me entertained. It may have taken 8 seasons, but the show looks to be maturing, and it's all the better for it.

Medium

I'm only on the first few episode of S1, but this show is hella-fun. It can be extremely dark, but it's always quirky and manages to play with its premise rather well (take that, Ghost Whisperer!).

Xena

S4 is a lot better than I remember it - and to think I bought this season for 3 specific episodes: the premiere and the finale. Thankfully, though, the season has been solid thus far. Hurrah!

Sorry I haven't been "active" on this site as of late. Haven't commented. Haven't blogged. Haven't really done much of anything.

This is a bite-size blog.

• I recently wrote up a propper blog but haven't posted it. Why? I just don't know. This site is just...[piece has been removed due broken record-syndrome]
• I have majorly found comfort in Youtube. Lovin' it there lately. So much so, I shall be making videos very soon. Sad, right? Hell yeah. But, whatever. I need to blog. Or Vlog. Whatever. I'm in a great mood.
• I just bought a Spongebob Squarepants T-shirt online. Awesome.
• Have re-watched S4 of Angel and Loved it!
• Bought S3 of Supernatural online.
• Bought The Devil's Rejects online.
• I hate work.
• I bought a hooker online.
• Im starting three shows: Bones, Deadwood and 24.
• I'm kidding about the hooker. Kinda.
• I can't seem to please True Blood fans.
• Am having a major JLU obsession. I am major cool.
  
• My new Ytube account is Dingosatemypringles

Second promo for my Season 8. Tis less trailer-y.

She dead. She dead.

*tear*

Watch it Here

1. The general layout needs tweaking - this includes white backdrop, grey font and the overall mapping of the site. There seems to be less variety now; four tracked blogs instead of 10 etc.
2. I shouldn't have to use another site to see this one. Er, if ya know what I mean. Perhaps it's a tactical ploy, in order for us to nip on over to Movietome or Gamespot and stumble upon coverage there, maybe not. Either way, it's very annoying. I can't seem to view "page 2" of people's comments. What's with that?!
3. The great divide - Hmm, as a lot of people have said, users from the UK & Ireland don't pop on here to see what's going on...over here. We come on here to discuss and read about shows that are currently on in the states (most of the time, when not in DOC WHO season). This duplication is not only a wee bit insulting, but what about the people copying and pasting trivia and info from the normal guides into these ones?!Get rid of these threads.
   
4. If there's not a hope in hades of returning to the old look (sniff!) I'd appreciate the ability use a number of different colour modes for the site. The layout looks simple enough for it to happen, and I have seen it done and man different sites in the past.
5. As someone who loves reviewing TV shows, this is a major one - WHY can't we edit our reviews?! We all make mistakes. And it's seriously annoying being unable to fix the error in question - bah!
   

Not long now until the big day.

I'm not going to say much, since, well, I've been blown away by what I've seen and read on this site already. You guys rock, and it's times like these that remind me why I've been apart of this community for three years now. It's a little scary, cos I'm wondering if we'll be heard. And it's not just those of us who are using the avatars and banners (which are brill - thanks TJ!); 300 + people have voted against the new layout. It's scary because, if Angel proved anything, it's tough taking on a big corporation, and if things aren't at least addressed by CBS/TVdotcom, it's the thought of how many users might leave that's so worrying.

But I'm staying optimistic, because it should be a major concern for this very site as well. If we're not heard, and there's not some sort of compromise, this site will lose A LOT of participants who essentially built this site from the get-go. This very serious issue has to be resolved, cause TVdotcom, you are in a very risky position right now, considering the vast number of TV sites out there just waiting for users here to seek refuge at their swish humble la bode.

So Go Dark on Sep 30th and hopefully it'll shed some light on this very serious issue.

What the...!!

There's this rocker bar in town I usually go to with friends every thursday (3 euro a drink, any drink). As you'd expect, it has its fair share of long haired, tatooed rockers, and scantly clad rocker chicks. However, around 2, I was downstairs with some friends on the dancefloor, since it's around the time the DJ will flip to funny songs, as opposed to NIN or SOAD or Pantera and he played one or two rap songs, which is fine. Funny, kinda. But, uhm, then more started to play. Loads more. Some oldies like Gangsta's Paradise and a fave of mine from Blackstreet, but then, suddenly, all of these rockers were gettin' jiggy gangsta-like and I'd never felt more out of place. I mean, I'm not a rocker to look at, although I enjoy the music, but to see these biker types drop it like it's burning their soul is...just...wrong. And they knew ALLof the words, too. I honestly felt like the white girl in 8 Mile. Seriously. It was too scary for words!

Supernatural

It's official, I'm a fan. I think if you're going to start with this series, the first season doesn't do it any justice, so maybe get a hold of the first episode, and the last three, and then start with its sophomore year, which has gone from strength to strength.

I recently just watched one of only 10/10 episodes from season two, Tall Tales. What a hilarious piece of fluff. The show can do funny, but it never really aknowlegedes just how silly its setup can be at times. With this episode, though, it does just that. Where to start?

Most surprising had to be Sam - he's spent the majority of the season either whining or crying, so to see Jerard whip out his hidden slapstick talent was a genuine shock. The BEST part, which was a toughie to choose considering the slow dance with the alien to "Lady in Red", had to be Deans image of his brother. "Too Precious for this world!" ROFLMAO!

Heroes

Well, it's back. It makes absolutely no sense, but I thoroughly enjoyed the premiere. Seriously, it was a complete mess at times, but the action and relentless pace made it worth the watch and there were plenty of choice moments that contained that WOW factor.

Plans for today - total, and utter laziness

1. - Catch up on new season of Dexter.
2. - Maybe watch Merlin.
3. - Review Smallville episode "Plastique" (7/10) and True Blood Episode "Mine" (7/10).
4. - Watch two episodes of Supernatural.
5. - Work on new video.

We've all heard from many of our friends complaints and grumblings.

Some of our friends have already left.

Many feel disenfranchised and even more are considering whether to stay or not.

Then it occurred to me that to simply leave the site is the playground equivalent to taking your ball and going home.

If you don't like the way the game is being played, then make your opinion known.

A site like tv.com is dependent upon users.

That user base and support is what makes the site possible. From the user base comes the data that is fed to advertisers ("we can help you reach XX of people by buying ad space on our site...").

CBS has rolled out a new version of tv.com that it seems not many of us are fond of. Blinding white background, small grey text, difficulty posting blogs and comments, the list goes on (and on, and on).

Meanwhile we bleed out users. Some of them have been around (like me) since before this site was even tv.com.

Should we complain about it? Hundreds have, it hasn't really made an impact.

Should we leave? Maybe, but I think we should at least let our voices be heard first.

So, I suggest:

Tuesday September 30 - TV.com Blackout Day!!

For 24 hours, don't log into the site, don't contribute, don't edit, don't post, don't show up at all.

Let those that run the site see just how many of us are not happy with the way things are going and more importantly show those at CBS just how many of us are feeling this way.

The reason? It makes perfect sense that if they see a potential to lose a vast number of users (thus spoiling their ad rates, since who wants to pay a lot of money to reach a small number of people) that they may take our dissatisfaction more seriously and actually do something about it in a more timely fashion.

Of course if general apathy ensues and/or if people don't see the value of a blackout day, then CBS and tv.com can merrily continue on their present course safe in the knowledge that eventually we'll all just resign ourselves to the futility of having an opinion.

So.... if you agree to participate in a 24 boycott of logging into tv.com on Tuesday September 30, 2008

I urge you to repost this blog and invite all your friends to do the same.

I am not some rebel out to cause trouble for trouble's sake. I am a user who feels let down by the way things have gone around here recently and if all the hype about "we listen to you" is true, then by our collectively going silent for 24 hours and showing them in real terms just how many people are dissatisfied I hope that tv.com will find a way to really solicit our feedback about what we want to see improved.

The first step is to agree to participate. If that is well received, then I suggest on Wednesday October 1, 2008 when we return, we post a blog with our top 5 things (more if we have them, less if that's the case) of things we want to see changed.

My feeling is that this might get their attention and actually get something done.

Are you on board with the idea? If so, please repost this and tell your friends.

This is how I've decided to deal with my frustration as opposed to just "taking my ball and going home."

Tuesday September 30, 2008 - I won't be here for 24 hours! Repost if you won't be either.

Greetings!

Aint TV all kinds of great?! I mean, I know I don't have to convince you lot otherwise, but I'm just so glad my shows (new & old) are back! Hurrah!

Buffy Videos

I have not one, but two vids for yee. One is, ahem, not completed and it's a very emotional piece about Dawn. Erm, I mean, it's about how bad of a dancer Dawn is alongside the men of Buffy and Angel, while the women get to take all the glory - quality aint the best, but, sure, whatever.

Click here(Very dark...literally.)

This next video will be one of many trailers focusing on my "season eight" - it will also have storylines from the comics. It'll be a cool season :P A LOT of changes, A LOT of new characters...for example the end of the trailer, well, by the next one, will have already happened... It's my first "trailer" so I'm still working out the kinks.

Click Here(Oh, and choose to watch in High Quality)

True Blood

Ahem, my "resources" prevented me from watching the final minutes of the second episode, but already I'm falling for this show. If you like HBO programming then you'll enjoy this one - it's smart, dark, camp and gritty, but oh-so-worth it!

OZ

Speaking of HBO, I've been watching season one on my shiny 32" LCD screen. Me? Bragging? Never! It's such a twisted series and seriously underrated. It should have gained more of an audience. Please, if you can, check this out!

Supernatural

And speaking of my 32", this series looks AMAZING on it. Probably the best set I have that makes the HI-DEF really stand out. It also lends it a cool, epic feel as well, so I'm glad to say I'm enjoying this season. Finally, the show is making its own storylines instead of cribbing from countless horror. Just watched "Simon Says" and it was a really strong hour from the show.

News

My laptop seems to be on the mend, at least for now. I hope it doesn't decide to leave once again...*sniff*

Erm...this site looks so...well, it's...ya know? Like they just pulled someone out of their first week of web-design in college and asked them to give it their best!

Ack! Boo! Hiss!

I deleted a blog by accident. Silly Rabbit.

I actually have a few things to chat about so it won't be an entirely pointless blog. Promise.

Firstly, more DVDs arrived for me today - Supernatural S2 and Oz S1. I started watching Oz in season three and so I have a lot of back story to catch up on. Since I'm netless and essentially new show-less for the time being, I'll be watching these and, as previously mentioned, running kicking and screaming from any kind of spoiled goods.

I have to go to see the screening of Death Race 2moro and from what I read in Auntie's blog it should be a masterpiece of crap. I'm looking forward to it. :D

And on that note I've completely lost the will to review...seriously, I dunno what it is. Even doing episode reviews has me a little headachey as of late. Grr.

So I'm gonna pop down to the net place next week and watch a few episodes here. I started watching new dexter, but when Lila came up onscreen on the "previously on" bit pardoning her t|ts, well, the woman beside me wasn't too happy with it. It's a very cramped place.

Top 20 episodes

(10 - 8 )

Alias

The Telling

An episode filled to the brim with action, emotion, intrigue and, of course, oodles of mind boggling arc-related stuff. There are so many choice moments to choose from: Irina hanging off of the side of a building declaring Syd is the chosen one before leaping off and pulling a Lara Croft; the fight between Syd and Francie, which is up there with the likes of Buffy Vs Faith; the gobsmakcing ending that took the series to a whole new level of WTF madness. Things rarely got better than this on the show.

Angel

Apocalypse Nowish

The Beast is probably one of the best things to come out of Angel - I don't think anyone ever made such an impact on a joss show with regards to showing just how badass they are. I mean Caleb comes a close second, but The Beast just kicks so much more arse. This is a film on a TV-budget. It's a season finale nine or so episodes in. It's one of the biggest episodes from the series and while it may not be the best emotional episode, or even close to one of the best episodes story-wise, it gets the job done and is one of the most re-watched episodes of Angel in my collection.

Xena

The Ides of March

This is one inconsistent show. But, when it wants to, it can strut with the best of 'em and it certainly does that with this episode. Everything just clicks! Just when you're about to groan over seeing Callisto yet AGAIN, she becomes a cracking foe come episode's end. Just when you think Xena and Gabby will have it easy, they're put through the ringer. Gabriel's berserk attack is fantastic, as is the final moment of the show. The scene is up there with Buffy's leap of death! Overall, this is one episode you have to watch if you're even just a tinsy bit curious about the show in its prime.