More MST3k news

This one came out just after the mst3k.com info came out. Joel Hodgson and several former MST3k writers are going to do their own brand of ripping off their own show. It'll be called Cinematic Titanic. Other returning MST3kers include Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff, and Mary Jo Pehl.

It seems like they'll be doing riffing of their own. The first title is being worked on and is scheduled to be released in time for Christmas. It looks like Rifftrax has some competition.


To sum up:

Mike Nelson: Rifftrax.

Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy: Contributers to Rifftrax. They also made four episodes of The Film Crew which were finally released this year.

Bridget Jones: Occasional Rifftrax.


Jim Mallon: MST3k 'Bots cartoon writer and voice of Gypsy.

Paul Chaplin: MST3k 'Bots cartoon writer and Crow #3.


Joel Hodgson: Cinematic Titanic

Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein: Free from AFHV, now working on Cinematic Titanic.

Frank Conniff: Hopefully not working for radio, working on Cinematic Titanic.

Mary Jo Pehl: Occasional Rifftrax, working on Cinematic Titanic.


Beez McKeever: Probably frequently in court for latest restraining order against creepy fan.


And sometime in our grandchildrens' lives, they'll release Dark Star.

It'll be interesting to see how these different groups of Best Brains do.

This Week in Entertainment (10/30/07)

Sorry Spidey, but this week's Pick of the Week is this Three Stooges dvd collection (1934-1936). The Three Stooges DVDs have been scattered at best to this poin, and the last few they released have downright sucked. Finally we get their first three years in chronological for a decent price. This is way better than the VHS years where fifteen bucks gets you three shorts on one tape. I hope they release all the shorts up to 1958.


Also being released is the third Spider-Man movie, which was ok but not as good as the first two films. Honestly, I didn't think it was a huge disappoinment or anything.

MST3k Volume 12 is also out. On any other week this would have been my pick. Sadly I have all the episodes in this set so I'm not in a hurry to pick it up. It has Rebel Set (I can't remember anything about it), Super Agent Secret Dragon (comes with his own theme song!), Starfighters (the refueling sequences are obscene! Also, it started the casts' odd war with Bob Dornan), and parts: The Clonus Horror (AMERICA!)

Here's the fifth Golden Collection of Warner Brothers cartoons.


On the Wii Virtual Console is Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest. I'm glad I didn't have this as a kid because some of the solutions seem random and the translations are really terrible.

On the Wii itself is The Simpsons Game. Early reviews look terrible, but it should be ok. I guess I'm naive but after Hit and Run I though Simpsons games would at least be decent.



Why can't more weeks be like this?

Look Out, Old Bots Are Back!

MST3k is back! Sorta.

The official MST3k website is now going back to its old url, MST3kinfo.com. MST3k.com is now owned by Best Brain Inc., who are going to produce animated episodes of the 'Bots. BBI President Jim Mallon will be a writer as well as the returning voice for Gypsy, who I'm guessing isn't the head of ConGypCo anymore. Returning MST3k writer Paul Chaplin will also write for this series, and is going to be Crow #3. No word on who will be the next Servo, but the article on the front page of mst3kinfo.com hints at new performers.

Presumably the show will just be about some misadventures of our favorite wise -cracking puppets/robots. What I find really interesting is that the old show is now being referred to as "the legacy show" and we may see some vault material from BBI as well. I always wanted BBI to release a tape of all the promos they did. Right now we are being promised behind-the-scenes footage.

I know I've been lax on updating this blog, but I'm going to review each episode they make. Can't wait till November 5th!

Tork's Picks Week 8

I shall take:

Ind over Car
Cle over StL
NYG over Mia
Minn over Phi
Pit over Cin
Det over Chi
Tenn over Oak
-
NYJ over Buf
Jac over TB
SD over Hou
SF over NO
NE over Was
-
Den over GB




Notes:

I heard an ESPN radio show where some guy was interviewing a British guy about how popular the NFL game in London is. Turns out it sold out immediately. Who knew?

Wouldn't it be funny if the people at that game only bought tickets to be snotty and hostile about football? I feel sorry for the Dolphins right now.

I'm so not gooing to lie to myself and think the Skins have a chance this week. But I'm rooting for them to cover (or whatever. I still don't get gambling so I probably screwed up the lingo.)

My making fun of Norv Turner takes a Bye Week while the city of San Diego recovers.

Denver is a lousy team, so I don't know why I'm picking them over a much better Green Bay. It's like I woke up one day before the season started and decided I just plain hated the Packers and Brett Statpadder.



Last Week: 10-4
Total: 71-32

This Week In Entertainment (10/23/07)

My Pick of the Week is third game of one of the best series to be released in a while. Let's hope this has five trials instead of four like the second game. POIN!


Also out this week is Namco Museum Remix. I have all five Namco Museums released for the PlayStation, so there's probably no good reason for me to get this other than the fact that it's cheap and has a few remakes that use the Wii remote. It even has a version of Pac-N-Roll, a DS game that I still haven't beaten. Maybe it works better with a Wii remote.


Onto DVDs. When I was a kid I loved the first and third Indiana Jones movies. So when they decided to make a television series, I was there when they aired the first episode. Too bad it was really boring. I later watched an episode that had a cameo by Harrison Ford, but that too put me to sleep.


Here's another Super Friends (here dubbed as the Super Powers, which isn't any less lame) dvd set. How many seasons did they air?

Speaking of lame! (These jokes write themselves.)

For 190 dollars, it's the entire I Love Lucy set. I was wondering if that included the Desi/Lucy hour shows, but they wouldn't call it love at that poin. (That's the second time I've made that joke in a This Week post. I'm such a jerk.)

Weird title alert! "Our Hitler", which sounds like a bad sitcom. Maybe it was a Hogan's Heroes spinoff.

BECAUSE THEY CARE!!! It's old style vs creepy new.

As long as the kid doesn't have a Sonic game in their stocking, Christmas will be saved!

Speaking of Christmas, there are several Christmas videos that I'm not listening. Despite what cranky commentators think, the worst thing to happen to Christmas is not renaming it to something neutral, as dumb as that is. No, the worst thing is constantly moving the season up until everybody gets tired of the Holiday season. It's freaken October, people! Patience is a virtue!

Redskins Watch (Oct 23)

The Redskins win, and yet I feel terrible. Are we sure the Skins won that game? (And why was blogger ok with Redskins but gave me a warning for Skins? What is it accusing me of?)

I watched the whole game, unfortunately. This team has a darn good defense, but it's offense needs work. Which is what we had a couple years ago. I don't know if it's the injuries or the playcalling, but I'll blame the playcalling just to listen to my kneejerk reaction side. Frankly, I'm tired of the vanilla offense I keep seeing. This is suppose to be a Joe Gibbs team, so what is up with all these stupid short passes? The interception at the end of the half ticked me off because it was another short pass that was too much trickery for too little gain. I know the offensive line is banged up, but we should just pound the ball like the Skins are suppose to.

Even though our defense was great, we did make Kurt Warner look good, and he was injured. If it wasn't for his interceptions we would have lost the game easily. Still, the defense itself nearly gave the game away on Arizona's second scoring drive. Two REALLY dumb penalties kept the drive going. One was a late hit and the other was a taunting penalty. For the rest of the game I was grumbling about how the defense should taunt after every play just to be sure.

At the end of the game, where it was clear that our offense wasn't going to win the game for us, it made two straight dumb calls. With an eight poin lead, our enemy was the clock, yet on second and third down, the offense threw an incompletion and Portis ran out of bounds. Stupid! If we had just run the ball we could have depleted their timeouts before their final scoring drive.

I have no idea if the Cardinals have a good defense or our offense is just overrated. But I still believe that the Cardinals should be an automatic win, so this poor effort fills me with dread.

Just in time for what might turn out to be one of the greatest teams of all time. Friggen Boston teams.

Tork's Pick Week 7

I'll take:

Hou over Tenn
Bal over Buf
Det over TB
Was over Ari
NYG over SF
NO over Atl
NE over Mia
-
KC over Oak
Cin over NYJ
Dal over Min
Phi over Chi
Sea over StL
-
Pit over Den
-
Ind over Jac



Notes:

I don't know why I'm picking New Orleans or Houston. I should have written them both off by now, but oh well.

I'm going to be really miserable tomorrow night if the Skins don't win. It's a beatable opponent at home. Come on!

Do the Ravens have an easy schedule or what?!

Philly vs the Bears should be a good game, so I'm sure they won't show it. I would bet a lot of money that the 4 o'clock game will be Cowboys/Vikings.






Last week: 8-5
Season: 61-28

King's Dominion 2007: Part 11

Last time on King's Dominion 2007: I finally got off that tower.








Here's more of the lake with all the lillipads. I guess I decided to get a little arty, except the picture is still blurry. Here's a sprinkler in the middle of the lake.





Ok, I got off my lazy butt and looked at the map. This is called the Country Kitchen and it serves stuff like ribs, fried chicken, etc.





Apparently the previous pictures lacked rocks, so here you go.





Now I get to waste three pictures with this hole that was a little left of the previous pictures I've taken. I want to say I was out of line for the Blue Ridge Tollway, but I remember otherwise. Given the order of the pics, I'll say I was standing in front of a fence looking at the lake.





It looks like a cave from here, but it was probably part of a bridge.





Or a drain. Whatever.





Oh, here is the picture I mentioned in the last update. This is the exit that wasn't for the Flying Eagles. Maybe I took a picture of the Flying Eagles long before I got on it, which I did for other rides like the Triple Spin.





Ah, now onto the swings ride. I must have walked by this several times before I finally got on it. The first few times I walked by I wasn't sure if it was for adults. I didn't want to stand in line and look like an idiot.





Later I wanted to get on but I had just eaten, so I had to put it off.





The swings line wasn't long at all, but I had to climb through the bars because they didn't allow you to cut through them. Which was awkward for me and my large body.

I finally got on a swing that was green. Because green is a great color.





Another shot of the Eiffel Tower. Just because I can.





I think I was on my way back to the locker at this poin. Here's some flower that I saw.





I don't know why I found it so important. It looks like it's wilting.





Here's a ride I alluded to previously. It's a water ride where you get on a raft shaped like a honeycomb. You get into a slide and you end up deposited in this funnel. I think it's called the Tornado.

I would have loved to go on this ride if I wasn't so self-conscious.





Here's a ride you couldn't get me on. Right next to the Hypersonic XLC, you can have bungies cords attacked to yourself and be dropped from real high. Yep, it's just like flying. Of the many reasons why I wouldn't do that, one was because it seemed like the people were flying awful close to the Hypersonic XLC. I get vertigo just thinking about that.







There was also some souvenir shops and a diner over in this area. I believe I was looking for a drink at this poin, and I was still poking around the shops seeing if there was anything interesting.




Did I mention that you can have more than one person go on the ride? Or that they were nuts?





I'm probably wrong, but I think this is the Scrambler. It's not unlike a ride at Ocean City, so I decided to go on it.

This ride is responsible for breaking a tip off one of the arms of my glasses. I was really annoyed when I opened up the case and saw that, but I still haven't replaced my glasses. By now I'm just waiting to see if anybody notices it.

By the way, it's about 4-5 pm, and this was the last ride I got on. Really. It wasn't my intention but that's how it turned out.





I wondered around the kid section and found this. I wonder if anybody could have guessed that Scooby Doo would still be popular long after the park opened.





I took this picture of a sign to the right of the last picture because it made me laugh. You can't see it, but right underneath where it tells you the times and everything, it says, "No shows today." Doh! Those poor kids!



Next time:

Home stretch!

King's Dominion 2007: Part 10

Last time on King's Dominion 2007: I left these people hanging.





Here these people are again at the highest part waiting to be dropped. This is known as "the part where you pray the ride doesn't break." Did I mention that you couldn't get me on one of the rides unless you offered me something big in return?





AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!

I was surprised I was able to capture this. My timing on the other rides weren't so good.




Last one, I promise. Here's a blurry photo of a roller coaster. What a way to end this section of my trip!





Well, guys, looks like its time to pack it all in again.





It always hurts to close it all up,





strike the set, wipe up the grease paint,





napkin up the blood and entrails and move on to another town. (Seriously, where does all the magic go?)





Back on the ground, I took a picture of the three waterfalls on the other end. Even though Paramount doesn't own the park anymore, we still see the 16(?) stars logo here.







I would complain about how Nickelodeon sucks today compared to when I was a kid, but I just want to ask if any of these shows are still being made. Maybe Spongebob, but did they even make that Cosby show for more than one season? Do they still make that show where the little girl yells at dumb kids?





Seeing how I haven't gone on too many rides at this poin, it was time to go on a ride. What better ride than one that was around since the park opening. I got in line for the Blue Ridge Tollway, and it was one of the longer lines I waited in. This is not me being in front of the car. I was still a couple rows back.





This is basically a ride where you get in old-timey buggies and ride around on a track. I've seen home videos of my parents riding them while my mom was pregnant with me.





Here's me trying to get in a few pictures while on the right side of the line. Here's where the workers wait for people to stop at the end of the ride before the worker slowly drives them to the beginning. They also gas them up here, but I didn't see that at any poin.




Here's a restaurant and a small lake with a ton of lilli pads in it. More of that soon!





See? Told you. Too bad it's so blurry. I thought I had more pictures of these lilli pads because I focused on it for a while.

Anyway, I rode around in my old timey car in between two other people. Unfortunately, the person in front of me was slow while the person behind me was on my tail. You're not allowed to bump or to stop, so I had to pay attention to them. The ride itself has a few sites, the most memorable being fake tombstones. Too bad I couldn't get a picture, but alas, I was alone.




Here's another ride I went on! That's like two in a row! This is the Screaming Eagle. You tilt the thing in front of you left or right to control and you can fly around at sharp angles. I played it safe because I'm a total wuss.

I was surprised that you can sorta brush a tree/bush if you go sharp enough. Given how lawsuit crazy this country is, I can't see that tree/bush being there for long.





After I was done for the ride, I left to go to the exit but it was locked, so I left the way I came. I thought I had a picture of that exit but I don't see it here. Oh well.





I must have still been in the area of the last ride, because I decided to take a picture of this sign. This is the kind of thing that my mom would love, given how into nostalgia she is.





I prefer the previous picture, thank you very much.

The sunlight, of course, was preventing me from telling whether or not the previous picture I took was any good.





DAMN INFLATION! I WANT TO PUNCH IT IN THE CROTCH!





Oh, here we go. More lilli pads. I wish I knew what restaurant was here. I guess I could look at a map, but I'm too lazy. That's why it's a month and a half later, and I'm still not done talking about this trip.



Next time!

Will I stop taking pictures of lilli pads?
Will I make efficient use of my remaining time at the park?
Am I spelling lilli pads right? Probably not, but the Internet isn't helping me.

Redskins Watch (Oct 17)

Packers win despite the fact that they suck, dammit. Brett Statpadder did nothing. (Congrats on the INT record, though. You earned it.)

Jason looked good. Too bad the receivers couldn't catch anything.

Sean Taylor was great, but I wanted to slap him for the lateral he did at the end of the game.

I want to ask who's calling the offensive plays. If it's Joe Gibbs, than he should admit it and stop hiding behind a fake offensive coordinator. If it's Al Saunders, he really needs to be slapped hard. The key play of the game was a end-around or a reverse which ended up with Santana Moss fumbling. My problem with this play is: Who the hell calls reverses or end-arounds? I hate those plays! Those should be ripped out of anyone's playbook. They always seem to lose 10-15 yards far more often than catching the defense off-guard. Also, who made the call late in the game when the Skins had 4th and 2 in GB territory? We need a better play than a dump off nearly two yards away from first down.


And now, for a guess columnist!

This is Troy Aikman, and I'm just impressed by this entry. I'm impressed about how Tork kept it short and to the poin, and I'm impressed by how there's paragraphs and stuff. It's just an impressive effort all around.

This Week In Entertainment (10/15/07)

I didn't watch the show at this poin, but isn't the last season of Roseanne one of the all-time jump the shark moments? For that, I'm making it my Pick of the Week. Yes, it was a very bad week.


In theaters is further proof that the comedy is dead. The Comebacks looks like the awful spoof movies that have been cranked out lately. (I wouldn't be surprised if this somehow descended from the Scary Movie movies. It would be appropriate if the Wayans Brothers were responsible.) I mean, for God's sake, they're spoofing a scene from that Dodge Ball movie. How can you spoof another comedy?!

Tork Picks Week 6

Here are my picks (remember, I avoid the spread like crazy.)

I'll take:

Chi over Minn
Cle over Mia
Was over GB
Cin over KC
Phi over NYJ
TB over Tenn
Hou over Jac
Bal over StL
-
Car over Ari
NE over Dal
SD over Oak
-
Sea over NO
-
NYG over Atl


Notes:

The Patriots should kill Dallas. I think while the Dallas fanbase is trying to convince itself that last week's game was a sign of never giving up (and "hey, New England hasn't played anybody with a winning record either!"), this game will be a wake up call.

If not, and if the Skins lose, I'm going to be really depressed. And if Dallas beats the Pats again during the Super Bowl, I will make it my life mission to wipe out the previous three Pat Super Bowls.

Naturally there was a lot of annoying Dallas hype. I would blame it on the fact that people want something new, but this is the Cowboys we're talking about. The media is glad that they're finally halfway relevant again.

I don't know why I'm picking the Skins other than I think they are a pretty good team. I just hope injuries don't kill them in the long run, because it would be great if the Redskins had a great record going into Dallas.

Last week I was two correct picks away from having my first perfect week. Too bad I was dumb enough to pick the Saints. That won't happen again this year. (Stupid Saints and Bears. Why couldn't it be Dallas who screwed up my week? I wouldn't have mind.)

I probably won't be anywhere as close this week, because I've picked many road teams. We'll see. I think I'm off to my best start since I've been doing this (sometime in 2000. I've got the old notebook somewhere.)

I just remembered that the Packers lost last week, so they'll want blood versus the Skins. At home. My pick is looking dumber by the second.

Hardest game to pick - Arizona vs the Panthers. I just don't trust the Cardinals.




Last week: 12-2
Total: 53-23

More cop outs.

I'm too lazy to type anything right now, so here's a drawing I just made. It's a dragon.

Comic fun!

This isn't what I had in mind when I was talking about chomics a few weeks ago, but since Strong Bad recently made fun of web comics, I'll post this just to fill space.

Yep, this is a cop out, baby! Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some real updates.

Redskins Watch (Oct 10)

I didn't watch the first quarter of the game. I finally turned it on during the second quarter when the game was still scoreless. The announcers were talking about how the Redskins were in the middle of a long drive, which would be their second. Which made me wonder what happened during that first drive. The Redskins did remedy that by scoring on this drive.

Later in the second half I saw a couple opportunities for the Skins slip away. After building a fourteen poin lead, the Skins had a least two opportunities for turnovers that were taken away. That worried me, because karma could kill you in sports. Don't ask me how. Luck is very important in sports.

In the third quarter the Skins missed a long field goal, and that gave the Lions an opportunity to turn the game around. They score a field goal thanks to good field position, then forced the Skins to punt. However, thanks to good field position, the Redskins were able to sack John Kitna for a safety, which was the major turning poin in the game. I felt bad for Kitna towards the end of the game when he started chucking interceptions.

I'm annoyed at Clinton Portis. He's got a bad case of fumblitis lately. Jason Campbell had a great day. It was the day I was hoping he would have against the Giants last week. I think he was named the NFC Offensive player of the week and I hope he keeps it up.

This Week In Entertainment (10/8/07)

My Pick of the Week is the fourth and final The Film Crew DVD. The movie is a Hercules rip off called The Giant of Marathon.


Also out this week is Alfred Hitchcock Presents Volume 3. I'm going to have to sit down and watch Volume 2 now.

Another good one is Whose Line Is It Anyway? Volume 1 & 2. I remember watching this show while working on Calculus homework. Later on they added games I hated and I stopped watching the show until they brought it to ABC Family Channel. This is the American version, so I don't want to hear any whining from British fans.


And that's it.

Tork Picks Week 5

Here are my picks:

Jac over KC
NE over Cle
NO over Car
NYG over NYJ
Pit over Sea
Tenn over Atl
Was over Det
Hou over Mia
Ari over Stl
-
Ind over TB
SD over Den
Bal over SF
-
GB over Chi
-
Dal over Buf




Notes:

TORK PICKS THE REDSKINS ALERT! Possible crankiness Sunday night!


I almost feel sorry for Norv. That's why I picked the Chargers this week, even if Denver is week anyway.

The Saints are awful this year, but I still picked them to beat the Panthers. Carolina is also pretty bad, but I'm still making a dumb pick.

Gus Frerotte is still in the league! I can still remember when Skins fans rejected Congressman Shuler for Frerotte. Seriously, people were chanting "In Gus We Trust." Frerotte went on to start Norv's third year 7-1, before the Skins crashed and burned to a 9-7 record. The following year Gus shared a season with Hostetler, and a 8-4 record became 8-7-1. The year after that Gus quit in the season opener and Trent Green became our man. Yes, the same Trent Green whose hobbling around in Miami. You can see how important Jason Campbell is to us Skins fans right now.

Please note that the Rams are on the right side of the page.

I still refuse to take the Packers seriously, but maybe Dallas will stumble and Green Bay will take advantage. That's wishful thinking, but we'll see.

I still find the Giants to be a pitiful team, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were a game ahead of us tomorrow night. (You can't hear it, but this blogger just sighed.)

One of the more intriguing games this week is the Seattle/Pittsburgh game. I'm willing to bet money that the local networks don't show it. In fact, why can't we gamble on which games CBS and FOX will show? It's because people will make far more money on that than on the poin spread, isn't it?!





Last Week: 8-6
Season: 41-21

King's Dominion 2007: Part 9

Last time on King's Dominion 2007: I was on top of a tower. And I guess I still am. Or was.




Hey look, it's the same photo that I ended the last entry with, only darker. I sure know how to pace these things.





You can see the water rides at the bottom here. More on those later.





There's the Paramount Theater on the left.





I still can't believe how small this parking lot looks. When I was a kid it seemed much bigger, but you know how kids lack perspective.





Here's something new. This is the path you can take if you go in the direction from the entrance towards the tower and keep going that way. On the left is a ride that's been around since the park's opening. This ride I went on later, so we'll get to that one.





Here's the same picture only sideways. It's funny how many trees the park has from above, since I don't notice that many trees while walking around. Here you can't help but notice them, and this is a great area for shade.





Whoa! Don't look down! This is the kind of thing I see before a shock goes through my body, even if I know that there's a gate between me and gravity.






Here's a ride I went on later. You control how sharp you swing around by shifting the thing in front of you to the left or right. I have more pictures of it.






Why am I even bothering to post this picture? Let's move on.





Here's the stuff that keeps you from falling to your death. I had to place my camera between the bars everytime I took a picture, so I was a bit worried about dropping it.





It's a madhouse! A madhouse!

I would like to poin out that the floor seemed a bit loose at the side closest to the entrance. Look into that, guys.





EAT CLOUDS, SUN! One of my biggest fears about going up this tower was baking to death, but I picked the right time.





The Avalanche, Tomb Raider: The Ride, and Volcano all in the distance.





It's that curly cue roller coaster! Have I figured out which one it is? Let me check Wiki.

I think this may be the Shockwave, because the Roller Coaster database says it was painted orange and green. I like those two colors but I don't think they go together.

Edit: NO, this is the Anaconda, one of King's Dominion's most famous rides. The thing that gives it away, if you know to look for it, is the artificial lake that it's over.






I was just looking for any excuse to take a picture while up on the tower.





Oh wait, THIS Is the Shockwave. Then what the heck is the orange roller coaster?

Anyway, here I am using my camera's zoom feature while trying to catch the coaster in action.





Wheeeee! Standing up! Going down! Wheeee!





QUICK! Take a right!





I should have taken a video of this, but I guess I lacked the patience to wait for another group.





Going up!




Next time:

Will those people make it down?
Will I ever get off this stupid tower?
Will I ever finish putting these pictures up even though it's been a month already? We'll see.