‘Buffy’s’ Giles Gets His Own Movie

Good news for all you Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans out there.  A made-for-TV movie is headed to BBC about our favorite watcher — Rupert “The Ripper” Giles. 

Joss Whedon announced at Comic Com that he is closing  a deal with BBC to make “Ripper,” a 90-minute television movie about Giles in his pre-Buffy days.

It was always alluded to in the Buffy series that Giles had a sordid past.  We know he was quite a hellion in his younger years.  Known then as The Ripper, Giles dabbled in black magic and ran around with the less than desirable crowd than included the troublesome Ethan Rayne among others.

Although Joss didn’t reveal the plot of the BBC special, I bet we can expect to see Giles in his prime as the Ripper.  Maybe the plot will cover his transition from bad boy to watcher.  Who knows?  What’s important is that we are getting a movie from the Buffy-verse.

Joss confirmed that Anthony Stewart Head is on board to reprise his role as Giles.  I’m assuming since this special is suppose to be about Giles’ life before he became Buffy’s watcher that we won’t be seeing any members of the Scooby Gang.  But that doesn’t rule out an appearance of Robin Sachs as Rayne.

Also there’s no word yet on when this new movie will air and if it will make an appearance on BBC America.  Still, I can’t wait.  I’m very excited just to know that this prequel to Buffy in the works.

Should Some Degrees Cost More?

I remember when you could go to college and choose a major because that’s what interested you most.  Apparently, that’s not the case anymore — some majors cost you more.

According to a recent New York Times article, some universities are actually charging students more per credit hour for some majors than for others.  They cite the inability to raise tuition as the need for these “premium” feeds.

These premiums would actually make more sense to me if it were for the same majors across the board.  But different universities are applying the premium to different majors.  The universities are attributing the need for the premiums to higher professor salaries and more expensive equipment.  But wouldn’t those be the same issues for all the universities.  Instead, one college is charging a premium for an engineering degree and another is adding it to journalism majors.

In addition, the premiums aren’t correlated with salaries.  In other words, you aren’t paying a premium for a major because that’ll get a higher paying job.  Some of the majors being charged a premium, such as journalism, actually have some of the lowest salaries.

But my real concern is that these premiums will pigeonhole which students take which majors.  The choice of a major will no longer be based on the student’s interests and strengths.  Instead, students will be limited to selecting a major from those that they can afford.  As if college isn’t expensive enough with tuition, books, lab fees and supplies, now students have to worry about premiums.

I hope this trend will fizzle out before my kids get to college.  I’m already worried about how I’ll be paying for two tuitions at the same time.  I don’t want to limit my children’s opportunities because of some dumb premium.  Guess I’d better save a little extra just in case. 

Simpsonizing My Family

I had so much fun simponizing myself last week, that I can’t stop playing.  So now I’ve simpsonized my whole family. 

Here are the twins:

And here’s my husband:

And here’s the whole family

My Blog Interview

I was recently interviewed by BlogInterviewer.com regarding this blog.  Here’s the interview if you are interested.

The Lazy Man’s Guide to the 2008 Presidential Election

If you are like me you can’t stand sifting through all the propaganda the candidates for the 2008 presidential election are spewing just to find the candidate that bests supports your issues of concern.  Now, there’s an easier way.

I’m a firm believer in exercising my right to vote.  It was a hard earned right and I intend to use it so that I won’t lose it.  But the sheer thought of listening to all the candidates’ speeches just to find out who supports what is enough to send me running from the nearest media outlet.

However, my friend Marc recently shared a site perfect for lazy voters like me.  This site lists many of the key issues.  You just select where you stand on each issue and how important that issue is to you.

It’ll show you a list of the candidates that match your interest and it’ll also show you which issues you differ on with each candidate.

I tried it and thought the results were pretty accurate to where I planned to vote.  While I’m not sure I’ll be voting for the first person on my list, I can say that the Top 3 are all under consideration for me.  And most importantly, Hillary Clinton didn’t show up anywhere near my top choices.  In fact, she received negative points for me. 

So, if you need help filtering through all the candidates comments to find what’s important to you or if you are just a wee bit lazy, check out Pick Your Candidate to find the candidate that best addresses your concerns.

Become a Simpson Character

Think the guest stars are one of the best parts of The Simpsons?  Wish you could be one yourself?  Now you can.

With The Simpsons Movie opening today in theaters, fans can’t get enough of the Simpson.  But now you can become one yourself.  This site let’s you Simpsonize yourself.  You’ll need to have an photo you can upload.

It was kind of fun to do.  The photo here is my Simpson self.

Here’s more Simpson fun to enjoy before or after the big movie.

Simpson Trivia — How well do you know Homer and company?

Simpson Quotes — Vote for your favorite Homerisms.

Simpson Personality Test — Which Simpson are you most like?

Tour Springfield — Visit all of Homer’s favorite places.

So sit back with your favorite donut with sprinkles and enjoy.

Disney to Ban Smoking in Family Movies

Disney announced Wednesday that it plans to ban all depictions of smoking in its family-oriented movies, according to Reuters.  I think this move is a powerful one by a company whose name is synonymous with children.

Since I live in a state that depends on a tobacco company, I might be a minority.  However, I’m glad that someone in Hollywood is finally stepping up to the plate to help discourage kids from trying smoking.  And I think they are most definitely targeting the right films, those aimed at children viewers.

As an adult I have no problem with films that show people smoking.  At this point I understand the dangers associated with smoking and have no interest in them.  At the same time, I understand that there is still a large portion of the population that smokes.  In fact I have several friends that do.  I respect their decision just as they respect mine to not smoke.

However, as a teenager and even a pre-teen, I was fascinated with smoking because characters in movies I found fascinating looked cool and sexy smoking.  Add those images to peer pressure and you have a recipe that encourages teens to try this vice.

I’m not saying teens smoke because they see it in the movies, but it’s hard to promote smoking as a bad habit to acquire when it looks so cool in the movies.  And like it or not, teens (and even some adults) are influenced by what they seen on the big screen.

Disney isn’t banning smoking in all their movies, just those released under the Disney label.  And that’s okay with me.  I think when you get to movies aimed at adults, that the adults should be mature enough to separate reality from fiction. 

Let’s hope makers of other movies aimed at children follow suit. 

10 Reasons to Watch the Tour de France

Before I met my husband, I’d never heard of the Tour de France.  Now it’s a tradition every summer to tune in to the hottest cycling event in the world.  Not yet a fan?  Here are my Top 10 Reasons for you to give it a shot.  Remember this list is from a non-die hard cyclist.

10. The Team Names
What other sport has cool team names like Liquigas (pronounced Leaky Gas) or Rabobank (which for about a year I though was pronounced Rob-a-bank)?  The names are so much fun to say.

9.  The Team Cars
The team cars leave even the best pit crews in the dust.  C’mon, they do their work while following their cyclists on the road.  Watching the team cars mesh with their team is like a work of art.  They pass food and water to their bikers while on the move.  Team directors communicate with the team, often in several languages, from the car. 

And the cars look like a rolling parts store, carrying wheels, chains, pumps and more.  I know my husband would love a car like that following him on his rides, especially when he blew a tire last weekend three miles into his ride. 

8.  Bob Roll
While Bob might not be the world’s best cycling commentator, he is colorful.  Yes, he does make my teeth grit every time he mangles the event name by pronouncing it “Tour-D-France.”  But he makes up for that little quirk with all the other entertainment he provides.  A former American cyclist, Bobke provides some interesting insight. 

Personally, I love the non-commentary things he does best — his commercials and his promotions for the Tour and Versus.  My husband’s a big fan and I’ve even bought him Bob Roll’s guide to the Tour. 

7.  The Liggettisms
Phil Liggett, one of the announcers, has some of the best lines ever.  These lines are called Liggettisms.  Where he comes up with some of the phrases  to describe the competitors performances still leaves me flabbergasted. 

My husband has two favorite.  My poor children will probably hear these phrases every time they compete in a sport.  Here they are:  “He reached down into his suitcase of courage” and “He must’ve been wearing a cloak of invisibility because he came out of nowhere.”  Obviously, Phil’s a Harry Potter fan.

6.  The Fans
The fans are fanatical.  C’mon many of them camp out for a week ahead to get a prime spot on a mountain stage.  Others bike the route themselves.  But there’s no doubt of their of their dedication when the cyclists come flying by.  They line up for miles, they cheer, they wave flags, they make signs, they dress up, they even streak.  Some fans, themselves, are famous like the legendary DiDi the Devil.

They run along the routes cheering on their favorite riders.  They get so up close and personal that the fans are often the cause of some of the wrecks.  But that doesn’t deter the thousands upon thousands that make the annual pilgrimage to the Tour.  My husband wants to join this elite group for his 40th birthday.

5.  The Course
The Tour has a little bit of something for everyone on its route.  It has the flat stretches for your sprinters.  It has the team time trial that really showcases a team’s ability to work together.  It has the individual time trial that let’s each rider lay it on the line.  And it has the mountains . . . aaahh the mountains, by far the best part of the Tour.    It takes real stamina to climb a mountain that is so high it is not even rated.  But the climb is just half the battle.  It takes talent to navigate on the descent too.  Personally I love to watch the switchbacks.  They really take skill to maneuver at the speeds these guys are traveling.

4.  The Crashes
The Tour has more crashes that Nascar.  But when a competitor crashes here, it takes a toll on the body.  As if riding hundreds of miles in the July heat for 20 days isn’t enough of a challenge, several riders also ride broken and bandaged.  Where else can you see someone finish the Tour with a broken collarbone like Tyler Hamilton did a few years ago.  Now that takes guts!

3.  The Scenery
What other sport has backdrops like the Tour de France?  The view is gorgeous everywhere on the route.  You have the wonderful scenic views from the mountain tops, the quaint little towns and the gorgeous castles along the way.  You get a full tour of France and never have to leave your living room.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see it for myself in person.  What’s better is that each year you see something a little different because the route changes from year to year.

And nothing beats seeing the peloton cruising down the Champs-Elysees in Paris on the final day.  Talk about a city of love — love of cycling that is.

2.  The Drama
The Tour has more drama than Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears together.  First there was the anticipation as an American who had already won a battle against cancer set an unthinkable record by winning the title that is the pride of France seven years in a row. 

But the excitement didn’t end when Lance Armstrong left.  Last year, the field of the Tour was trimmed at the last minute when a doping ring was uncovered that included many Tour regulars.  Last year’s title is still contested, as is the drug-testing policies of the Tour, as American Floyd Landis battles doping charges. 

Yesterday Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov was expelled for doping after being cheered to his second stage win in Stage 15 despite several crashes during the Tour.    Today, the current yellow jersey holder and today’s stage winner, Michael Rasmussen, was fired by his team Rabobank for missing team drug tests earlier this summer and lying about his whereabouts during those tests.

1.  The Uniforms
Very fit men in tight bike shorts.  Need I say more?  And if the view from behind doesn’t do it for you ladies, there are always those legs.  And for those of you that prefer views more of the female persuasion, there are those pretty ladies handing out jerseys and flowers at the podium.

Are Scooby Doo cases too weird to be real?

Have you ever watched an episode of Scooby Doo and say nobody’d fall for that?  Or think ‘where do they come up with these goofy plans?’  Well sometimes real live is weirder than Scooby Doo.

Think you are smart enough to tell a real case from a Scooby Doo one?  If you are up to the challenge, check out mental_floss’ “Ripped from headlines or plot from Scooby Doo?” quiz.

The quiz consists of 10 questions about bizarre incidents.  You decide if it was a real event or an episode of Scooby Doo.

I hit a perfect 10 for 10.  No, I’m not a newshound, just a big fan of Scooby Doo.  But it was an interesting read.  The answer key gives you links to the real stories so you can learn more about these bizarre events. 

Good luck.

Elmo Heads to Primetime this Christmas

Parents make sure you set your Tivo for ABC this holiday season because Elmo and friends are headed to prime time for a Christmas special with a host of guest stars.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Muppets from Sesame Street have been signed up for their own one-hour holiday special.  “Elmo’s Christmas Countdown” will air on ABC this holiday season. 

Ben Stiller (Night at the Museum), Tony Sirico (Sopranos) and Steve Schirripa (Sopranos) will be on hand to help Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, the Count, Grover and Snuffy count down the days until Christmas.  Stiller, who gets his own muppet — Stiller the Elf, will serve as narrator.  Sirico and Schirripa will play Bert and Ernie.  Not sure how Bert and Ernie feel about that.

Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Hudson, Brad Paisley and Ty Pennington will provide musical entertainment on the special.  I didn’t realize Ty has musical abilities.

It’ll be nice to see the Muppets back in primetime, but personally I would’ve preferred Kermit and Fozzie.  However, my kids will be delighted with more Elmo.  Even if we watch it live, I’ll be DVRing it so the twins can see it over and over.

“Elmo’s Christmas Countdown is scheduled to air on December 23 at 7 p.m. on ABC.