Slogging Through Stargate: SG-1

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I've just about finished the first season of SG-1, and so far, I haven't been blown away. The episodes have been pretty good, some of them really interesting, but they have been basically Stargate-planet-of-the-week stories.

I'm still waiting for that feeling that I can't wait for the next episode. I felt pretty much the same way while watching the "Fringe" DVDs. The first season was like that until they started the continuing story of the alternative universe and the almost identical characters over there.

So I'm hoping that there will be some kind of cliffhanger at the end of Season 1 that will make me want to immediately plug in the first disk of Season 2.

I'll keep you posted.

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"Snow White and the Huntsman"

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Went to see the movie yesterday. Thought I was paying for the 3D version, paid extra $2.50. But instead it was just "digitally enhanced for better viewing." That was crap. All it was, was louder.

The movie wasn't bad. Not quite as good as I expected, but I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Not as good as "Thor" or "The Avengers" - all three had Chris Hemsworth in them. (Yes, I have a 'man crush' on Chris.)

Kristen Stewart was pretty good as Snow White, once you got past the Walt Disney idealized version of the clean and helpless Snow White. This is the first time I've seen her in anything, although I do know who she is.

Charlize Theron was very good as Ravenna, the evil queen/Snow's stepmother.

The "dwarfs" had names like Muir, Gort, Nion, and Quert. One got killed so there were only six for the assault on the queen's castle.

And there was the triangle of Snow, William (her childhood friend) and the Huntsman -- who would she choose in the end?

I think I would have rather saved the $7.50 and waited for the DVD to come out.

This isn't to say you shouldn't go see it. The effects were good, and the story wasn't bad. Maybe if I were in my teens or twenties I would have liked it better.

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Stargate SG-1

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I recently bought the 10-season set of Stargate SG-1. I never watched the series until the last season when Claudia Black (the fabulous Aeryn Suun of Farscape) joined the cast. But since it was on for so many years, I figured it had to be a great show. (Plus, the set was offered from Amazon.com for about fifty bucks.)

The pilot episode referenced back to the original movie (which I have on DVD). Some of the things mentioned I had to think about to remember. And it was pretty good as pilots go. All the characters were introduced and the premise of the series was shown.

The first episode took up where the minor cliffhanger of the pilot ended. And you pretty much knew what had to happen. Unfortunately, the second episode was kind of disappointing. It reminded me too much of some of the Stargate Atlantis eps (which I watched in reruns) -- the team went to a new planet where the culture was different, and there were problems with Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) being captured and having to be rescued.

And I really hope the rest of the shows are better than that one.

A few extra comments: In the pilot episode the bad guys were capturing women to breed. One of the women (Daniel Jackson's wife) was captured, then had her clothes ripped off and she was standing there naked from head to toe - full frontal nudity. But since the show first aired on Showtime I guess they could do that.

A lot of people on the sci-fi newsgroup (now Sy-Fy) mentioned their deep admiration for Amanda Tapping, but I couldn't see it. She has a show called 'Sanctuary' which I never watched until the DVDs were loaned to me. And this Amanda (older, long dark hair) is pretty interesting. But compared to the younger, blond Amanda, not much going on. Maybe she will grow on me.

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Thor Versus Everybody Else (almost)

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My last entry was about 'The Avengers' movie and how Thor was weakened so he couldn't be too super compared to the others. But one Marvel Comics hero was left out - Spiderman (or Spider-Man or Spider Man).

Not much Spidey could do against Thor. About his only offensive move would be to zap spidey silk to cover Thor's eyes, which he could easily pull off. Maybe Spidey is agile enough to avoid Thor's hammer, and maybe even a lightning bolt or two, but eventually he would go down.

But there are more superheroes around - the ones in the DC comics world (in alphabetical order) - Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman.

There are probably more, lesser heroes, but these are the ones I grew up with.

Batman and Green Arrow we can eliminate right off. Neither have super powers and would be virtually helpless against Thor.

Aquaman doesn't have enough stuff to throw against Thor. One good lighting strike from his hammer and there would be the world's largest fish fry.

Wonder Woman's biggest advantage, her Magic Lasso, wouldn't be nearly magic enough to stand against Thor.

With his super speed, Flash could probably last pretty long, but being that's his only weapon, eventually he would go down.

Green Lantern would be an interesting foe. His major offense/defense would be his mind's ability to withstand an assault from Thor, whether against Thor's strength, or his hammer's two attack modes - the obvious lightning strike (being that sometimes lightning appears yellow - would it be able to penetrate any shield GL could conjure up?), and its tremendous mass/weight/enertia. (According to Odin in the original "Thor" movie, Mjolnir was forged in the heart of a dying sun.) So, I think eventually GL would be defeated.

And that leaves us with Superman versus Thor. And I have to say I believe Superman would come out on top. He certainly could withstand any lightning bolt Thor could throw at him. I know he would have no problem catching the hammer if it was thrown at him, since his strength is so much more than the god of thunder's.

And even using Mjolnir to fly, Thor could never fly as fast as Superman.

So, Superman against Thor --

Superman wins.

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Thor is The MAN!

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After watching "The Avengers" last Saturday (May 19th), and thinking about it this past week, I've come to the conclusion that Thor was somewhat emasculated so he wouldn't seem to be too powerful compared to the the others.

But first let's look at the other members of the The Avengers:

Okay, Black Widow and Hawkeye can be eliminated right off the bat since they have no super powers.

Captain America's only real "power" is in his shield, which I will come back to.

Ironman's power is in his suit and his ability to fly and destroy things with it.

The Hulk is really the only "super hero" whose powers can come close to Thor's. Hulk's strength, his virtual invulnerability, and his ability to "leap tall buildings in a single bound" are his only tools.

Thor's powers include almost total invulnerability, his strength, and of course, Mjolnir, his hammer. With the hammer, Thor can bring down lightning, then direct it wherever he wants.

(A single lightning bolt can travel up to 140,000 mph, with a temperature approaching 54,000° F., with an output of about a trillion watts! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning#Properties ).

He can spin it around until it has the momentum to let him fly. And it goes wherever he throws it, it never misses, and it will come back to him. (Norse mythology says it can cause mountains to crumble.)

In the movie, he did all of that - he directed lightning to strike Ironman (with less damage than there should have been). And he used it to knock Ironman back a few dozen yards, or more. He also grabbed Ironman's armored arm and began to crush it, proving his superior strength.

He also caught Hulk's fist and stopped the punch, so that proves he is stronger than Hulk. In fact, all he would have to do is lay the hammer down on Hulk's chest (as he did with Loki in the "Thor" movie) and Hulk would be helpless to get up: when Hulk tried to pick up Thor's hammer, his feet began to break through the steel decking of the aircraft carrier they were on.

Early in the movie, Thor slammed his hammer down on Capt. America's shield and the result was a tremendous shock wave that felled dozens of trees, if not more, all around them. But neither Thor nor Capt. America seemed fazed.

But even if somehow the shield was able to withstand the tremendous crash of Mjolnir , and not break apart or be crushed, the force of the blow should have driven Capt. America deep, deep into the ground, and should have killed him.

Is Thor really that much stronger than Hulk?

Is there magic involved in Thor being able to wield Mjolnir so easily?

Or is Thor's magic the result of Asgard's technological advances, and it only seems like magic to us?

But like I said at the beginning - Thor couldn't be seen as TOO super-powered, otherwise the movie would have to be called "Thor and the Avengers."

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Joss Whedon's "The Avengers"

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Went to see the movie today, in 3D. and while it wasn't as good as 'Avatar' it was still pretty damned good. It lasted almost two and half hours, but it moved along and it didn't seem that long.

Thor is my fave, even more so than Iron Man or the Hulk. And there were a few times when he should have been stronger, and his hammer (named Mjolnir, but never called that in the movie; wasn't called anything) should have done more damage, but I guess he couldn't be completely overwhelming.

For example, in the beginning he, Iron Man and Capt America were testing each other (fighting). And a couple of times Thor used his hammer . Once he used it to call down lightning and hit Iron Man with a few million or billion volts, and it stunned him, but didn't put him out of action.

Then he slammed it down on Capt America's shield, and it just caused a huge shock wave that decimated some of the forest they were in. Even if the shield was able to withstand the impact, the force should have driven Capt America a half mile into the ground.

I say that because later on in the movie the Hulk, as strong as he is, couldn't pick up the hammer. When he tried, his feet started breaking through the steel deck of the aircraft carrier he was standing on. Hulk did throw Thor around some, but of course there was no serious damage.

Not sure if I'll go back to see it a second time as I did 'Avatar,' but I'll definitely get the DVD when it comes out.

Just as an added thought, since 'The Avengers' has made over a billion dollars so far, I wonder how much of that goes into Joss' pocket.

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Vampires and Vampirism

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I was a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan (still am) and sometimes on the newsgroups or other sites there have been speculation about the creation of vampires, and this is my pseudoscientific explanation.

(Okay, for some reason, when some people see the word 'pseudoscietific' they seem to think it means 'kind of scientific' and therefore - is real, legitimate science. But 'pseudo' means "false."

Pseudoscience is false science!)

Vampirism is caused by a virus, and for a lack of a better name, I call it the 'vampovirus'. These vampoviruses are very weak and are easily killed by the white blood cells we have coursing through our veins.

Most of the time a vampire sucks out enough blood to satisfy his hunger, which also kills the person, but any vampoviruses he leaves behind are easily killed by the white cells.

But what if he/she happens to suck out so much blood that there aren't enough white cells to kill the invading vampoviruses? Three of four days later the vampoviruses have reproduced enough of themselves that a new vampire is created (and that is why so many of them have to dig themselves out of their graves).

But - when vampires DO want to sire someone, they suck out most of the blood, then they let the person drink some of their blood in order to flood the body with vampoviruses (but not knowing about vampoviruses, they don't know why it works, just that it does).

And when they do, there are now more vampoviruses flooding the body than the white cells can kill. And in just a few hours -- another vampire.

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