Oh the things in my head…

Hello everyone!  I know it has been awhile.  Hope you don’t mind that instead of just posting a random video clip today I actually write some words instead.  Now, I know what you’re thinking.  “Mark’s actually writing . Should I be afraid?”  Fear not kind readers, I would say that you have little to fear from this blog post.  Now, that being said I’ve got a few topics I wanted to toss out and give my two cents on today.

On Star Trek

So this past Friday I had the pleasure of watching the new Star Trek film.  It is really good and I enjoyed the movie greatly.  I even brought Finch along with me for her virgin Star Trek experience and she enjoyed the movie as well.  (Shhh…don’t tell but we might have made a new Trekkie on Friday night.)  I’m not going to go into too much detail here about my reactions to the movie, as we’ve devoted a good portion of our next podcast episode to discussing the film.  (Remember I co-host a podcast called “Across the Nerdaverse”)  One thing that I did want to discus was some of the new cast choices for the film.  In our discussion of the film the general consensus was that the new cast filled the roles admirably.   Providing the audience with characters that simultaneously felt fresh in their new time line, but also hit upon the individual character notes that have keep audiences entranced by these personas  since the 60’s.   It was however agreed amoung our panel that of all the characters in the new film, the recasting of Sulu with John Cho (Perhaps best known as Harold of the “Harold and Kumar” series.) was the weakest.

First thing I do want to clarify is that I actually didn’t have much of an issue with Cho’s performance, and I do generally enjoy him as a performer.   Also, it should certainly be noted, that the part Sulu had to play in this film was for the most part limited to one major action scene where John carried himself admirably.   However, of all the recasts, Cho seamed to be farthest afield in capturing that  quintessential element of the character.   Mr. Sulu as originally portrayed by George Takei was one of the smoothest dudes in space.  A quality that was ether missing from Cho’s performance or not truly allowed to germinate due to the constraints of the script.  

So after our Star Trek debate I got to thinking about who might have been a better choice to sit in the Helm’s Men seat in the place of John Cho.   I wont lie.  There is a fiendish part of my brain that is really obsessed with acts of meta-casting and this part of my brain really really wants me to type the name Masi Oka as my choice.  

I must admit that while the allure of stunt casting Masi Oka (a actor who portrays the son of George Takei’s character on “Heroes”) in the part that made George Takei famous makes my nerd heart flutter a bit, sadly I think Masi would actually be a worse choice for the part.   As it is far harder to conceive his baby face at the helm of the Enterprise then Cho’s.     However, I can not resist the temptation to play with meta-casting a bit when I make my selection for the man I think would have best portrayed Sulu in the big screen reboot.   Hiro, (the character played by Masi Oka on “Heroes”) would be very disappointed to know that the person I would put into the driver’s chair of the Enterprise plays his side kick Ando on “Heroes”.   Ladies and mentlegen… my Sulu… James Kyson Lee

How I Met Your Mother

Why is Sarah Chalke back on my show?  Don’t get me wrong, I have a soft spot in my heart for her as an actress, but why, why why is she back on “How I Met Your Mother”?  She’s not going to be the mother.  I swear she won’t, and I will print out and eat this post if I am wrong about this.   I still firmly believe that we’ve yet to meet the mysterious “Mother” that we’ve been waiting for 4 seasons.  

Lawn of the Dead

 

If you buy one game in the next few weeks make it Pop Cap’s “Plants vs. Zombies”.  This game is wonderfully addictive, and super fun.     In the game, the expanse of your house’s front lawn is all that stands between you and an army of the undead.   As the undead swarm shamble across your lawn it is up to you to defend your home by constructing defenses out of a variety of plants.  

“Plants vs. Zombies” is an interesting game for me, because I feel like it fills a game niche that I’ve been searching for for quite sometime.   PvZ combines elements from tower defense games with a little bit of basic RTS type resource management.   Where the game really shines though is that it requires very little micromanagement on the player’s part once you have put your plants into action.  Allowing the player to focus on what has always been my favourite aspect of the RTS genre resource management and unit building.   This game would be very hard to deny.  Especially since it is priced at very affordable $20.   (It may even be cheaper through Steam.)    If you are a fan of zombies, I think you will find this light hearted little game a pleasure.   It is full of laugh out loud moments, and has such a charming visual appearance to it.  Buy it now.