Only 362 More Days To Christmas...

Ah, yes - the turkey's been eaten, the presents have been unwrapped - I got socks* this year, as it turned out, a pair with Santa on and seven pairs with the day of the week in case I'm undecided. I always think getting socks marks a person as being 'of a certain age', and now it's finally my turn.

I, however, welcome the socks, although I reserve the right to wear them at a time and place of my own choosing. So there's every chance the Santa socks will be worn at Easter or St. Patrick's Day (but not both), and that the Sunday socks will be seen in public on Wednesday.

I didn't get the world peace I asked for, but it was a big ask, only slightly easier to find than a Nintendo DS Lite, which is saying something. So the socks were a nice consolation...

But I digress. The moment has passed, and I find myself on the edge of 2008, facing the new year with a mixture of optimism and hope. It's something I attempt each year, resisting as long as possible the descent into cynicism.

I usually last until about mid-January, but as I write this the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie has just come on, so I may not last that long. Maybe he'll sting himself...

So what am I looking forward to next year?

Well, among other things (and in no particular order):

Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica - who is the final Cylon? Starbuck? Roslin? Henry, the mild-mannered janitor? Could be...

Iron Man - Robert Downey, Jr. is Tony Stark.

The Dark Knight - Ahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa!!!!!!!

The Olympic Games - because despite it all I believe it to be the among the noblest of ideals - that for a month, the nations of the world take their differences off the boil to participate in competition where nobody dies.

Star Trek XI - I just have to know...

Bond 22 - could SPECTRE be back?

The Rugby Six Nations - could this be Ireland's year?

The 2008 European Football Championships, even though Ireland won't be playing.

The Incredible Hulk - Edward Norton as David Banner? Yeah, okay, I can see that, but I still liked Ang Lee's movie.

Smallville - if only to see whether Lana is finally committed to Belle Reve...

That's just off the top of my head - I'm sure if I sat and thought about it I could come up with a whole plethora of things, but enthusiasm and 'flu don't play well together, so enthusiasm's taken it's bat and ball and gone home...

And on we go...

*not just socks, however - just thought I'd mention that...

Parallel Universes...

I've been watching this show lately called Charlie Jade.

A Canada-South Africa co-production, it's set in a dystopian version of our own universe (the AlphaVerse) where the corporations rule. The titular hero is a private investigator who stumbles upon a plan by Vexcor, one of the major corporations, to build a link to other universes (Beta, Gamma) in order to steal the vital resources that have been exhausted in their own.

When a bomb destroys one of Vexcor's link facilities in the desert, Charlie is stranded in the BetaVerse and has to find a way to get home, but he finds himself caught up in the struggle to stop Vexcor's plan once it becomes apparent what will happen to the other universes if they're successful in bringing the link online.

The first season contains 20 episodes and stars U.S. actor Jeffrey Pierce as Charlie Jade. Word is that a second season has been written but remains in production limbo.

Check out the official site at www.charliejade.com.

Worth a look, if you get fed up with the Christmas specials...

Story Virus - Act IV

Appears i've been tagged by JD over at Joe's Movie Corner to have a go at Splotchy's 'viral story'...

Curious.

Here's how it goes:

If you are one of the carriers of this story virus (i.e. you have been tagged and choose to contribute to it), you will have one responsibility, in addition to contributing your own piece of the story: you will have to tag at least one person that continues your story thread. So, say you tag five people. If four people decide to not participate, it's okay, as long as the fifth one does. And if all five participate, well that's five interesting threads the story spins off into.

The story so far:

I woke up hungry. I pulled my bedroom curtain to the side and looked out on a hazy morning. I dragged myself into the kitchen, in search of something to eat. I reached for a jar of applesauce sitting next to the sink, and found it very cold to the touch. I opened the jar and realized it was frozen. (Splotchy)

My first idea was to put the applesauce in the microwave. Hey, I was still tired. Could I scoop some out and put whipped cream on it? No, too solid. Why was it so damn cold in here? I walked over to the thermostat and saw that the heat hadn't clicked on all night and the temperature had dropped substantially overnight. Now, tired and hungry, I opened the access panel on the heater. There's the problem: why was someone cooking a duck in here? (SamuraiFrog)

Despite the frivolity of the situation, there was only one person who could've been cooking it... me. My sleepwalking had returned! The last time it happened, I woke up in a pool of blood and vodka in Stockholm! I ran to the phone to call my therapist, thinking he should be at his office. But the cold forced itself on me, so I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around me first. I picked up the phone... but there was no dial tone. I placed it down gently, hearing a click. That's when the front door burst open. (J.D.)

All thought of food instantly vanished at the sight of the intruders. Their waving antennae, cloaked against the eyes of ordinary citizens, were no match for my special abilities, and I instantly recognised the carapace markings of the Xylak sect of the Cult of Makros, the most fearsome of their kind in the sector. That they had come here, now, in daylight, on a Tuesday, before breakfast, could mean only one thing -

Tagging Ray and Lee, and the marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Have fun...