gdp's Comments

Team Valkyrie FTW : Many Links for a Friday

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:04:24 +0000

Thank you so much for the shout-out! I really appreciate the linkage even if (and especially because) you disagree with me. Thank you. :)

Pink Raygun.com : Today was Pink Raygun's Birthday

Wed, 2 Feb 2011 16:09:36 +0000

Four years?! I can't believe it! :) WOO HOO! Happy birthday! And thank you so much for everything!

Hero Complex - Los Angeles Times : 'Captain America' title will be changed to 'The First Avenger' in Russia, South Korea

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:08:47 +0000

1) Um, Captain America is still going to be Captain America in the film. Changing the name doesn't change that. And he WAS the First Avenger, and that already IS part of the American title. 2) Again, movie titles change for overseas markets ALL THE TIME. Both on our movies going out, and foreign films coming in. How many movies from other countries have you watched that have the same exact title as it had in its home country. Probably NONE as many Americans wouldn't take the time to try and pronounce them correctly. Then again, how many movies from other countries have you seen PERIOD? 3) Believe it or not, other countries don't care as much about America as we do. *gasp* Shocking, I know! So the word America might not draw them into the theaters! Whereas by changing the title, more people will go and GET the message about a fictional American hero than would have had they left the title the same. And isn't THAT more important? Actually getting the story OUT THERE?!

Pink Raygun.com : Fringe: The Firefly

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:38:44 +0000

And how brilliant a guest star was Christopher Lloyd?! The scene where he played piano and was talking about his son broke my heart. And the scene where Walter realizes that his son dying was HIS fault?! Oh, Fringe! Why have you been making me CRYYYYYYY. This has been, by far, the best season of Fringe yet, and I've loved the show from the beginning. Not only have the stories been amazing, but the entire cast is gelling SO well. It's funny, though - Walter's glasses made me think of Spider Jerusalem in the comic, Transmetropolitan. Except his glasses had two lenses that were the same size. :)

Pink Raygun.com : Fringe: Marionette

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:44:12 +0000

The interesting thing that I thought this episode highlighted was that Peter does not, in fact, truly love her. That was the heartbreaking bit for me. I mean, he loves her, but he's not IN love with her, and Olivia called him on it. He loved the idea of Olivia, and when Fauxlivia came along, she had all the stuff he wished real Olivia had, so he could truly love her. Honestly, I can understand that. Fauxlivia - were it not for the fact that she was LYING ABOUT HER INTENTIONS - is cooler than real Olivia. I can't believe you didn't talk about the marionette of the title, though. THAT was heartbreaking (and creepy), watching this guy put this girl back together again and making her dance. I couldn't breathe during that scene, and I cried. This episode was completely intense. I LOVE FRINGE! :)

Pink Raygun.com : Hiatus Movie Catch Up: Machete

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 06:41:18 +0000

Aww, man. See, I wanted to love Machete. I really did. But I didn't. I liked things ABOUT it - like Michelle Rodriguez as a revolutionary leader named She. :) And Jessica Alba as a Hispanic immigration officer. And I definitely appreciated the campy fun of it. It's why I saw the movie in the first place. And it was exploring some really interesting ideas through those two characters I mentioned. The thing is, it didn't seem like it knew what kind of movie it wanted to be. It would be really campy, but then get really serious about immigration. It didn't get its tone right, so I couldn't enjoy the ride. Also, a lot of it was SO over the top that it landed on the other side with a thud. But I did love that Danny Trejo got all those ladies! Because he freaking earned it. However, I'm convinced that I will never like anything that Don Johnson is in. Johnson is my kryptonite. He was in Machete, and I didn't like it too much. He was on Eastbound and Down, and I think that's the least funny show I've ever had the misfortune of watching two episodes of. So my new rule is: if Don Johnson's in it, run the other way! And Lindsay Lohan? Come on. There's just nothing good about that. "Do you have any idea how many people I’ve encountered who insist their families came over on the Mayflower (despite a readily available passenger list)? The Mayflower would have to have been like the TARDIS inside to accommodate that many people. Just saying." THAT made me laugh out loud! :)

Pink Raygun.com : Who Needs a Wonder Woman Movie When There's Lipstick?

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:31:31 +0000

Amen! Or a new Wonder Woman TV show, even! SOMETHING!

Pink Raygun.com : Awkward Embraces

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 16:15:56 +0000

I'm so glad you wrote about this, Amy! I was going to include it in a "Sex and the Single Geek Girl" column, but never got around to it. And I'm SO glad it exists! :)

Pink Raygun.com : Hiatus Movie Catch-Up: Knowing + A Rant

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 05:06:09 +0000

Also, I don't know if any of you have read The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell, but if you haven't, I'd highly recommend it. It's a first contact sci-fi story wherein the protagonist is a Puerto Rican priest, and the first mission to another planet is funded by the Jesuits. :) Really well done as far as a sci-fi/religion balance, I think.

Pink Raygun.com : Hiatus Movie Catch-Up: Knowing + A Rant

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 05:03:15 +0000

Haven't been around the site in a bit - sorry! Just wanted to clarify that I know, Lisa, that you know about the different sciences! :) I'd never say you don't. I just meant that they should be kept in mind when considering sci-fi. What I was trying to say is that a writer putting a spiritual element into a science fiction script is, in itself, an anthropological/sociological study. The movie doesn't have to be "about" spirituality. By merely putting scientific-minded characters in the face of something unscientific, the writer is trying to do something. Now, Knowing might have been a horrible movie for many reasons - I don't know, I haven't seen it - but it just seems like you're saying that "God being the answer" makes sci-fi bad all the time, and that's where I disagree with you. I think it can be really interesting when done well. Then again, I think that the BSG and Lost finales are examples of that, and I already know how you and Rhea feel about those, so never mind. :) @Kurd55 - spirituality isn't "easy." And science isn't "hard." After all, what people seem to want most from hard science SF are answers. What's more simple than getting an answer? What's more complex than uncertainty? Generally speaking, even in cases of sci-fi where God is "the answer", there are still loads of questions to be wrestled with, and the ending is usually left "open-ended" enough to try and appease both the more science-minded viewer who will probably complain anyway because of its inclusion at all, or the religious person who doesn't see "their version" of God represented. What would be interesting is a sci-fi story that makes a firm decision about who/what God is and how God works in the particular world of that story. I guess I get all in a snit about stuff like this because, to me, God doesn't take away from science AT ALL. Whether there is a God or not doesn't change how stuff works, and it doesn't take away from us figuring that out. I also think that science doesn't take away from God. If there is a Higher Power (and I've always leaned toward that being true), that Higher Power's got quite a machine set up in this here Universe, and science is figuring out what makes that machine go. The two have never been mutually exclusive to me, so I just don't see how that's the case for people on either side of the spectrum. I mean, I don't watch a movie that is all science and no spirituality and sit there going "There should be more God in this!" either.

Pink Raygun.com : Five Fanboy (or girl) Behaviors that Should Earn You a Beatdown

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 03:27:51 +0000

Well, there's a difference between doing rivalries in a fun way, and rivalries as done by the fanboys talked about in this piece - which I LOVED, by the way, and thought was dead-on. :) Patton Oswalt wrote a piece recently for Wired (I think) about how Geek Culture has to die so that it can be reborn again. It kind of infuriated me. Thing is, he was coming from a "fanboy" place where "everyone" being a geek is somehow a problem. I hate it when geeks perpetuate exclusivity. Just because you were abused doesn't give you the right to hit your kids. Know what I mean?

Pink Raygun.com : Hiatus Movie Catch-Up: Knowing + A Rant

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:32:26 +0000

The thing is, you're talking as if there are no movies that just have aliens or science in them. You're talking as if there's no Avatar, or the new Star Trek movie, or Inception, or any number of sci-fi movies (or TV shows, or books), past and present that do exactly what you request. So you stumble across one or two that have a spiritual element to it and are ready to bemoan the state of sci-fi as a whole for "not staying sci-fi?" I'm sorry, but generally speaking, sci-fi doesn't have a spiritual element. So, acting as if "reasonable, science minded" people are the victims of some kind of pop culture injustice is a bit much. Also, Science isn't just about technology, or chemicals, or space exploration. Sociology is a science. Behavioral sciences, anthropology, archaeology...all science. Removing spirituality/religion or any other of culturally important elements would be removing a scientific element. What makes cultures tick? Why do people think the way they do? Why are these things important? One of the things I like about Ronald Moore is that, both on BSG and DS9, he incorporated the spiritual into very scientific worlds. And examining how THAT would work IS a scientific-minded thing to do. Whenever there are aliens on a TV show or in a book I'm reading, one of the things I care about most is exploring their culture. Learning about their language, their habits, and yes, their spiritual beliefs if they have any. So it isn't about you "agreeing to disagree" or making concessions, it's about you needing to acknowledge that no one's removed any science from your sci-fi simply because they're focusing on an area of science you're not interested in. Did you like The Fifth Element? Because that, too, was a sci-fi film that had a spiritual element. Or maybe that went down easier because "Evil" was a big rock, "Love" was a being named Leeloo, and the God-like being that created the five elements to fight evil didn't make an appearance (but had priests passing down the knowledge)?

Pink Raygun.com : The Shepherd's Tale: Finally, The Book on Book!

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 07:34:56 +0000

Shepard's Tale was SO GOOD! But lay off Zack. That's MY Future Husband you're talking about! ;)

Pink Raygun.com : Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury. How Much Do You Love Reading?

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:25:52 +0000

This is miraculous! :) Thanks for posting.

Pink Raygun.com : True Blood: Hitting the Ground

Tue, 3 Aug 2010 04:21:14 +0000

I have to say, I loved the "Lorena & Bill" montage they did during the True Blood Postmortem. When you see their whole relationship on film like that...you almost feel sorry for her. :)

Pink Raygun.com : w00tstock 2.4

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 22:28:17 +0000

The SECOND I hear that w00tstock is coming to NYC, I am buying tickets. That's just all there is to it!

Pink Raygun.com : True Blood: A Vampire Martha Stewart

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:53:34 +0000

I LOVED THE VAMPIRE FOOD! Also the Vampire King was awesome. I love how Vampire royalty is portrayed on this show - poncey, yet bloodthirsty. :) Sookeh FTW! :) And seriously? Werewolves are WAY cooler than vampires. Sorry. (but maybe I'm biased cause I'm working on a webseries about them) Lastly - Jason is TOTALLY going to be a cop. He's looking for direction, and that's what he's meant to do. I was thinking about it the whole episode!

Pink Raygun.com : Sexy Science Students Sought for Sexy Nerds Reality Show

Thu, 3 Jun 2010 19:42:50 +0000

For all the girls and women in STEM careers, I'm posting this fab video from a faboo guy I know named Dale Chase. This was posted last year, but it's ALWAYS relevant. CODER GIRL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-m6JDYRFvk

Pink Raygun.com : Sexy Science Students Sought for Sexy Nerds Reality Show

Thu, 3 Jun 2010 19:33:55 +0000

Sweet! :) I'm totes following you now. Keep up the awesome work! And I definitely think that the whole reason why Lisa wrote this article was to promote that work, in addition to expressing some squickiness about the casting commercials. We love orgs like yours 'round here!

Pink Raygun.com : Sexy Science Students Sought for Sexy Nerds Reality Show

Thu, 3 Jun 2010 19:17:07 +0000

I definitely see that, and hope that it WILL be encouraging to high school girls to take up these professions. I remember LOVING science when I was younger. Then at around 8th grade, I became less interested in that and more interested in clothes. Also, I became more of an artsy girl - I do better with words than with numbers - so that's something, too. But from about 8th Grade until the end of college, I kind of subconsciously put aside the science-loving bit of myself, because it wasn't really encouraged in the face of other things. I kind of regret that now, which is why I let my geek flag fly so proudly these days! :) Are you one of the Nerd Girls, by the way?