Dear America,

You voted Jessica Sierra off American Idol and kept Scott Savol and Anthony Federov. Are you a nation of deaf people? WTF? I'm not even gonna talk about the fact that Nadia was in the bottom three, AGAIN. But voting off Jessica? She hasn't had a performance that was less than excellent in at least a MONTH. Jeez.

Veronica Mars is back, and the world is shinier

Verily, VM kicks all kinds of ass, and it doth rule.

Episode 16, "Betty and Veronica" ruled in all sorts of ways, answered all sorts of questions, and was generally very good. The run-up to season' end has begun.

NBA fantasy blogging - 1st playoffs edition

It's the first week of my league's playoffs. I'm the seventh seed, so I'm playing the second seed. My team's pretty deep, and quite good, whereas his is basically a two man team with some glorified ballast. Sadly, those two men are Kevin Garnett and Dwayne Wade. Yup, I'm playing the guy who had the first pick in our draft, in our first year as a keeper league (meaning he'll get to keep two players). Plus, as the higher seed, he's got a 33 point factor working in his favor, which pretty much equals an extra game.

My guys really came on strong last week, with Marion, TMac, Bosh, and Peja all playing very well indeed. If they can all do that again this week (minus the injury that cost TMac one game), I can win this, and eliminate the scariest player in fantasy basketball. If I lose... well, I lost to KG. There's no shame in that.

Veronica Mars and Lost - season's end run

This, television's two best dramas return for their season ending runs. VM has seven eps left, starting with tomorrow night's Betty and Veronica, whereas Lost has four episodes remaining, starting with Wednesday's Deus Ex Machina.

Expectations are, understandably, high.

On a side note, my attempt to watch the first episode of the new Kojak series lasted about 15 minutes. It is not of the good.

Sin City Reviews start piling up

Rotten Tomatoes already has 12 reviews for Sin City, 11 of which are positive, for 92% freshness. And the negative reviewer's big beef seems to be the morality of the film, to which I say, Dude, it's called SIN CITY. Also, he calls Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, and Michael Madsen "no-talent thugs", thus invalidating any claim to sanity he might have had.

I can't remember the last time I had such high expectations for a film. Maybe the first LoTR film, which met my expectations quite ably. Now it just needs an Israeli release date and a scheduled press screening.

Hugo award nominees announced

The nominees for this year's Hugo awards have been announced, and its a clean sweep for the brits in the Best Novel category.

Looks like a great list all around. I'm reading two of the nominated novels right now, and hope to read the other three by the time voting closes. I'm definitely going to try and read all the nominated short fiction, as I want to make an informed decision when I vote.

I was happy to see a Kelly Link story in the Best Novelette category, as that probably means it'll be available online, and free Link stories online are a blessing unto all mankind. Also happy to see Lost and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in the dramatic presentation categories. And nice to see Whedon getting his props one last time for the Buffyverse. He missed getting his hugo for the Buffy finale, due to competition with one of the LoTR films. This year, with the dramatic presentation category split, I hope he gets his due.

Expect more talk of the nominees after I read them...

See? This is what you get!

On Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers played against Toronto. In that game, Cavs coach Paul Silas benched Jeff McInnis, a member of the Dark Establishment basketball fantasy team, for the entire game.

On Monday, Silas was fired.

Now, McInnis wasn't even in my starting roster for the week, so the bencing was meaningless for me in the short term. However, Cleveland plays more games during our fantasy playoffs than any other NBA team, so McInnis may be a key player for me down the stretch.

Of course, regardless of my own team's woes (3 game losing streak, limping into the playoffs, and that's only if we WIN this week), this firing, along with Don Nelson's decision to quit earlier in the month, is a pretty big deal. Paul Silas was a great coach when it came to teaching and mentoring his players, but a pretty crappy game coach. I think that, assuming the Cavs hire a good coach (current top candidate Flip Saunders is essentially the same coach as Silas), this will be a good move for a team the boasts the best young player in the NBA in LeBron James. These guys need to aim for championships, and they need a great coach for that, as well as a better, deeper roster.

If this move was the first in a series of moves aimed at a title, it was a great move. If it was just a firing to "shake things up" and hire Saunders, I'm not really down with that.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition screws up

I just watched last week's episode of EMHE, which was, as usual, moving and touching and all of that. The story of Kassandra, the little eight year old who beat cancer once, and wanted the team to help renovate her hospital ward was great.

However, the episode hit a very sour note for me when they decided to get help from one of the most repellent people in American politics and law enforcement, Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

I don't have any problem with the show using celebrities, and I usually don't have any problem with it when they dragoon military or law enforcement organizations to help out. But this is no ordinary celebrity or law enforement officer. The mere fact that he IS both should be the warning signal, but if that's not enough, organizations such as Mothers Against Arpaio, and the current attempt to recall his recent re-election should make it clear that this is, at the very least, a polarizing public figure.

Personally, I think Arpaio is a man who has abused his power, been shown numerous times to be corrupt, and a man who's record of mistreating prisoners is horrific.

I do not understand ABC's decision to put this man on a prime time, "feel good" type of show. It is, in my opinion, a very political move, and a move that has no place on a show like this. With EMHE and Lost, ABC has won a great deal of love from me this year, but this time, they screwed up.

Everything you wanted to know about Veronica Mars

So you've heard about this show, Veronica Mars. People say it's pretty good. But over two thirds of the season have gone by, and you don't know if you can catch up?

Or

You're a VM fan, and you're trying to convince your friends to watch the show because, well, you want what's best for your friends, don't you? But they have the same problem mentioned in the first paragraph.

Or

You have no idea what Veronica Mars is, but you just realized you don't really like House, and want a new show to watch in that very same timeslot?

Well there is a site for all of you. It's Mars Investigations, A Beginner's Guide to Veronica Mars. It is NOT recommended for people who watch the show on Israeli TV, as it WILL spoil a bunch of stuff for you. But it is certainly recommended for American viewers, who (even if they don't know it yet) NEED to watch this show.

Eonline Save One Show votes are in

Remember when I said Vote for VM, or don't vote at all? Well...

686,323 people voted, and a whopping 56% voted for Veronica Mars! That's about 384340 people, which is just unbelievable. Thank you for everyone who voted who might have gotten to the poll from here (though I no that's just a tiny, tiny fraction of the massive support VM got).

This had better help. VM is the second best show on TV, and the best one is doing just fine in the ratings.

The Bourne Supremacy

When your partner is in another continent, you find yourself with some spare time. So I did something I've been meaning to do for a while, and watched The Bourne Supremacy.

I quite liked The Bourne Identity. It was a very competent thriller which didn't try to be anything other than it was, and worked.

The sequel fits the exact same mold, and is a better film. It is a very competently made film. Matt Damon was an odd casting in the first film, as I certainly never imagined him as an action hero, but he was quite good. He's even better here. Joan Allen is a supreb actress, so it's no surprise that she did a fine job here, as did everyone surrounding her. I will say, in regards to the cast, that it was weird as hell seeing Eomer with short, black hair.

The directing and editing were occasionaly a bit too hectic, with unnecessary jump cuts and a shaky, shaky camera, but that did not really take away from my enjoinment. The action was excellent, with economic motion, nothing flashy, but all quite effective. In that sense, the film is a mirror of it's lethal protagonist, uber killer turned amnesiac guy-on-the-lam Jason Bourne.

The reason I really wanted to watch the film, other than the fact that it was a well reviewed sequel to a film I liked, was director Paul Greengrass, a man whose next project is a much, much, much more ambitious adaptation - Alan Moore's Watchmen. Judging from TBS, at least I know he isn't incompetent. I'll maintain my usual cautios optimism regarding films in which neither Akiva Goldsman nor Paul WS Anderson is involved, and await the casting.

Survivor 10-05

This week's ep was awesomely awesome. There was scheming, plotting, a couple of bad errors, and some brilliant wrenches thrown in by the evil, evil production. In the end TWO people went home. One was the right person, the other? Not so much.

Still, while I'll miss Angie,the process by which the elimination was reached was great. After last season's weakness (I enjoyed it more than most, but it was a BIG letdown following All Stars), this season has been excellent.

Second Sin City trailer - now in Quicktime

And it is even more kickass in this bigger, less pixelated version. This film needs an Israeli release date. Pronto.

Whedon. Wonder Woman. Yay.

Rumor time is over, folks. Joss Whedon WILL write and direct the film adaptation of Wonder Woman.

I'm a big WW fan, and obviously, a huge Whedon fan. I think this film can be all kinds of awesome. Heidi said it best in three images, right here. For the casting, I hope to see a woman who can portray a character that is powerful, physically and mentally. Current thoughts - Alexa Davalos, Evangeline Lily.

Also, I'd like to see the current continuity version of WW, with the mythology and the embassy, rather than Diana Prince from the silver age and the tv series.

Link via Fisheye.

Home alone

Early this morning, Tammy took a plane to NYC, for a weekend of debauchery. Well, actually it was for a one-day seminar followed by a weekend of meeting friends. As fate would have it, several of her best friends live in the area, so she'll be meeting up with them.

As for me, I'm home alone for an extended weekend. It's strange. Tammy works outside the house, where as I work at home, so I'm used to passing the afternoon or evening alone at home. But at some point, I know she's coming back. Now, she's still coming back, but on Monday.

Being home alone I naturally started the weekend by spending an ginormous amount of money. That's what guys do when left to their own devices. Of course, it was spent on my ticket to Worldcon, which will be combined with a vacation with Tammy, so that's ok. As tickets from Israel to Glasgow are rather expensive (due to the fact that no airline flyes directly from here to there), I didn't actually buy a ticket to Glasgow. I bought a ticket to Prague, where I'll take a plane with one of europe's many, many, many discount airlines and fly to Glasgow. It comes out cheaper that way, and I also gain a morning in Prague, which is one of my favorite cities on the planet. I should be able to squeeze in a quick stroll and lunch at Mala Strana. That should be an excellent start to my 11 day, continent spanning journey (Prague, Glasgow for worldcon, Barcelona with Tammy).

Huzzah!

I see Christopher's Barzak's EEEE!!! And raise by a Whoooo! Kelly Link has a new collection coming out in May. There shall be much rejoicing all throughout the land.

The plan? Get it at Worldcon, and get Link to sign it there. Possibly get two and get the other one signed for for a friend who'd appreciate it. Although, knowing the friend, she'll be much more interested in the stories than in any signature, and rightly so.

Tiny Linkdump

Tammy has a new regular column at a new women's portal/webzine thingie called "Asimon". In her second column, she slams me for being a helpful boyfriend. Oy. (link in Hebrew)

Batman meets Lego meets CGI, starring Adam West and Mark Hamill, and the result is geekastrophic (BIG ass mov file).

Two worldcon links - Hugo award MC's announced, as well as more programme participants, including the afore mentioned MC's (natch).

Finishing a job

When you're a translators, one thing is certain - all books are not created equal. And By equal, I mean equally hard to translate.

Some books are difficult for all translators. Terry Pratchett and Tim Powers, for instance, clearly hate all translators with a great passion. Possibly a translator stole their lunch money at school, I don't know.

Some books are hard for some translators, and easier for others. I have a hard time with books that are heavy on the descriptions. I think I do good work, but it takes longer, as it does not come naturally to me. I know some translators would have a hard time with Steven Brust's Vlad novels, as getting quips to "pop" in Hebrew as they do in English can be difficult. For me, Brust is easy. I couldn't come up with most of the quips and clever bits in his books, but translating them comes naturally.

I just finished a book that is quite description heavy. It was a very good book, and one which I mostly enjoyed translating, but it took a long time and a lot of work. I also had a really long flu in the middle, which completely threw me off my groove.

So it's good to be done with it. And as it was a pretty big book, it'll be damn good to get paid for it :)

Now, a day or two of rest, and it's back to those salty, salty mines.

Amazing Race blogging

Here's the scorecard, folks:
Rob and Amber - smart, funny, can only be prevented from winning this thing by sheer bad luck and bunching. Really nice and loving to one another, while Rob continues to be a dick to most other players. Which I don't mind at all, as it is a RACE. As long as racers are nice to their partners, I don't mind if they lie, cheat and steal (whithin the rules of the GAME) to everybody else. Unless they do it someone I like, and the non R&A competitors? I don't like so much.

Everybody else: Not as smart. Or as funny. Or as interesting. Or as nice to one another. I don't hate the brothers, who ARE funny, and I don't hate the gay guys or Debbie and Bianca, even though they are mui bitchy. At least they aren't complete morons.

I hate Ray and Deanna, who shouldn't even be in the same state, let alone in a relationship.

All the rest are meh at this point.

Idol blogging

Yes. I'm blogging about American Idol. Again. Don't look at me like that. Seriously. Stop. I've taken enough crap about watching it from some of my friends. I don't need it from imaginary readers who haven't even said anything.

So, before the results show, some thoughts...

On the guys side, this week's show simply cemented my position that Bo and Anwar are very good, and everybody else is either meh or bleh. Bo showed versatility, which will help him later on. Also, his band has a website, with some samples. Travis is mega-bleh, and Constantine is the fakest rocker in the history of fake rockers.

On the girl's side, Nadia continues to be a cut above the rest. Great voice, great performance. Jessica won me over this week, and Mikhala was terrible in a song that completely didn't suit her. She took Simon's advice about not being so annoying way too seriously. I hope she doesn't get voted off, and can come back with that personality she used to display. Janay continues to be far and away the worst of the bunch. But then, she was the worst in the last two weeks as well, and still made it. She needs to go, although that would make the show go on longer for me, as I will no longer be able to skip ahead to the end of her song.

Simon was on the money this week in both his compliments and his insults. The other two are blind, deaf, and dumb. No, not mute (sadly). Dumb.