The Fame Bubble

Whenever I try to think of posts for my blog, I often muse on different fantasy & sci-fi topics. I'll often scan the news trying to find some sort of real-life story as a tie-in on my blog. Those are some of my favorites.

But I realized I have probably missed one of the most obvious fantasy tie-ins ever in my year-and-a-half of blogging.

The Fame Bubble.

That's right folks. If you haven't heard of The Fame Bubble, then you don't watch enough Kathy Griffin.

The Fame Bubble is a term that Kathy has given to the strange little fantasy world that celebrities live in. You know what I'm talking about. The world that somehow convinces celebrities that they can give their kids names like Apple or Banjo and somehow the fame they enjoy will insulate their children from all the insults any child of a lesser person would experience.

The Fame Bubble must be a happy place, don't you think?

Imagine for a minute if you got to live in The Fame Bubble............

You would never have to consort with the common rabble ever again. If you need new clothes, the store will shut down for you-- and probably give you most of your clothes for free! You want to to to Magic Mountain, they'll close the park for you so you never have to wait in line. (Just ask Mariah Carey) Never will you have to watch a movie that doesn't have a red carpet and an entourage-- at least as long as your Fame Bubble is big enough that is.

Having children in the Fame Bubble is a totally different experience than that of the rest of us plebes as well. Naturally every part of the pregnancy will be covered with appropriate reverence and if you're a first time mom, no problem; the doctors will be more than willing to schedule you a C-section so you don't have to go through any unnecessary pain, or messy labor. Of course, once your perfect child comes into the world, appropriately named Huckleberry or Credenza, he or she will be on the cover of every magazine on the planet-- scoring you no less than $6 million a picture.

Working in The Fame Bubble is something completely different too. I do hear from time to time that the hours are a bit long and that the hard working celebrities may have to lounge around in their opulently appointed trailers, while suffering through manicures and hair extensions, while waiting for their scenes to be shot. But I suppose the $20 million dollar paycheck does compensate one a little bit for that hard three months of work.

Normal rules of decency can be completely ignored in The Fame Bubble too. It is perfectly acceptable to flash one's privates in any venue and clothing may be see-through for most major events.

Getting into shape need not involve too much work either. Regular visits to the doctor for regular liposuction will keep those pesky love-handles at bay. And if the personal chefs, trainers and lap-bands don't do the job, air-brushing will be used liberally.

In The Fame Bubble, you are the center of the universe. People do hang on your every word. Whole legions will be devoted to the perfection that is you. You will have fan clubs and blogs that follow every significant event of your life. No one will fail to notice that new hair-do, I promise.

Maybe I'm being a little hard on those who live in The Fame Bubble though. I mean, the fame bubble does come with all the annoying paparazzi. I mean, who needs to deal with all those cameras while you're stumbling drunk down Sunset Blvd six days a week? Jeez, some people are so judgemental. And if one wants to have a tirade on a talk show and tell all the women in the world that they're evil for taking anti-depressants for postpartum depression, shouldn't one be able to do that without all the little people thinking they ought to have an opinion? I mean really, Scientology does have all the answers.

The Fame Bubble says so.

To Be or Not to Be SUPER

This is another old post I put up ages ago but it was such a popular one I thought I'd pose the question again....

If you could be granted super powers, but had to use them to benefit mankind, would you accept? yes no view results

Imagine you had the opportunity to be Superman, would you take it? Sure, you'd have the ability to fly, but what about all the baggage that goes with it? Say some omnicient being (think Q in the Star Trek TNG series) makes you this offer. I'll give you virtually unlimited power, but you must use it for the benefit of mankind. What do you choose?

Me? I'm not sure how selfless I am, but then again, I wouldn't mind being able to fly.

When contemplating this question a couple of things come to mind.

We've recently discussed Superman's ability to procreate, so one must keep this in mind before deciding whether or not to accept.

And even if you can have a relationship with a person who doesn't have super powers, just look at Spiderman. Talk about conflicted.

Would it be worth it?

I suppose on the plus side you'd have the admiration of most of the world, minus the super villians that would likely show up to challenge you. I mean, you'd probably be like a rock star times ten! If you're someone who isn't into long term relationships, this might be just the ticket.

But remember the old tale about the monkey's paw, be careful what you wish for.

I've heard of "getting a life," but this is ridiculous...

Or maybe it's not.

Apparently "millions" of people don't think it's ridiculous anyway.

What am I talking about? I'm talking about the net phenomenon called "Second Life." To be honest, I don't know a whole heck of a lot about it. I first became familiar with it while watching a Dr. Phil show. (Don't judge me) All I remember is that he had a teenage girl on the show who was obsessed with Second Life, to the extent that she was neglecting her life offline.

If you go to the Second Life website you will find out that you can live your own virtual life online. For a price.

Yes. For just $9.95 you can start your life in the virtual world.

Thousands of new residents join each day and Create an Avatar

Those avatars Explore the World and Meet People

These people discover the thousands of ways to Have Fun

Some people decide to purchase Virtual Land, which allows them to open a business, build their own virtual paradise, and more!

Linden Lab creates new land to keep up with demand. What began as 64 acres in 2003 is now over 65,000 acres and growing rapidly.


Now $9.95 might not seem like much. But apparently there are "land use" fee as well. If you go here you can get the whole rundown on what it costs to use their virtual land. And if I remember correctly, you can also spend your hard earned, real world, money on things like virtual cars, homes, clothes, etc....

But hey, I suppose it's a small price to pay to have such a full virtual life. According to the site there's all kinds of fun stuff to do...

In the Second Life world, there's something new around every corner.

The world is filled with hundreds of games, from multi-player RPG's to puzzles and grid-wide contests. There are also dance clubs, shopping malls, space stations, vampire castles and movie theatres.

To find something to do at any time of the day or night, simply open the Search menu and click on Events. You'll see a listing of Discussions, Sports, Commercial, Entertainment, Games, Pageants, Education, Arts and Culture and Charity/Support Groups.

Regardless of your mood, there's always something to do...


What the hell is a "vampire castle?"

Maybe I'm just too old to "get" the whole Second Life thing. Maybe living a virtual life is the next wave of existence where we get to make up the rules to our own, real life, video game.

Or maybe some people need to go outside once in awhile.

Laaaaaazy

I am so bad. We went on vacation and I can't get out of "time off" mode.

Our Disneyland trip was a mixed bag. Disneyland was great, my husband's food poisoning wasn't. My husband is a trooper though. He was down only one day (I would probably still be bedridden) and he drove home. Actually, he isn't a trooper, he is strong beyond belief.

Anyway. I know I should be thinking fantasy-like thoughts but I am still indulging in my Mother's Day. Mimosas are a good thing. I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes precisely because I knew I was going to indulge myself something awful today. But there just aren't that many guilt free days a year to spoil myself, so I'll take what I can get.

But I do want to thank Stewart and Jon for posting while I was gone. It's nice to know my blog can function without me.

So I'm dipping my toe back in, albeit a bit reluctantly. Laziness begets laziness doesn't it? But I will have to be up early to take the kids to school in the morning, so my vacation time will be at an official end. No more excuses. I must force my brain to work despite it's natural inclinations.

But I have half an hour of Mother's Day left.

I think I'll go have some strawberry shortcake.

Happy Mother's Day

I'm taking it easy today. Hope you are too......

Winners! Omega Sol by Scott Mackay

Okay. I am so late on this giveaway and I do apologise. I enjoyed my vacation way too much and just wasn't willing to give it up until I had to.

But I am happy to say that I have randomly picked winners for the 5 copies of "Omega Sol" that I had to give away and they are:

Shade 53
A Book Worm
Shosh
Buddy T
Aaron Wilson

Congrats!

If I don't already have your addresses, be sure to get send them to my so I can make sure your books get mailed off to you asap.

Thanks to everyone who entered and as always, be on the lookout for more contests.

Killin' the Villain

It was 1989 and I was bringing a date to see Batman. It was opening night and the buzz about the movie, as you may recall, was incredible. As we went into the movie theater, I joked to my date that when leaving it, we should say “Wow, I can’t believe Batman killed the Joker like that” in front of the lines of people waiting to get in. I didn’t think for a moment that it would actually happen because I was thinking in terms of the comic books: Joker and Batman were always enemies and would always fight. Joker does something crazy, Batman beats up his goons and sends the clown back to Arkham Asylum. I was thinking comics, but I wasn’t thinking movies.

It seems that in the movies, the bad guys always get it in the end. Somehow, someway, the hero triumphs over every obstacle in his path and the villain gets his comeuppance. Emperor Palpatine gets thrown down the bottomless shaft of the Death Star, Auric Goldfinger gets sucked out of the window of his plane, and Jaws (the shark, not the assassin) gets blown up after he bites off a little more than he can chew.

OK, maybe Jaws isn’t the best example, but have you wondered if the villains really have to die? I guess that I can understand it in a thematic sense, the villain did something evil, really evil, and so the hero has to stop him. If the villain dies, then you don’t have to see some sort of anticlimactic jail sentencing. Nobody wants to see a summer blockbuster full of action and explosions end with the antagonist being thrown in prison (Except Superman the Movie, I guess).

It’s a little easier to see the villains die in science fiction and fantasy stories because they usually have big, grandiose schemes for conquering the land/planet/galaxy. They’re larger than life and typically kill whoever is in their way and so it becomes a little easier to justify their deaths.

There are some where it doesn’t always makes sense though, I think, and you’ll have to bear with me as I step outside the genre a little bit for these.

Breakdown was a pretty taut thriller featuring Kurt Russell chasing JT Walsh across the interstate trying to find his kidnapped wife. I thought that for the most part, Breakdown was a pretty good film and the filmmakers even made the effort to make JT Walsh’s character Red Barr a little more fleshed out. They gave him a wife and a kid and even though, to my recollection, they never adequately explained why he kidnapped the wife he still made a good villain. In the end though, he falls off a cliff and his semi truck crashes on top of him. He died and his death was all the more goofy because of the way it happened. Kurt Russell didn’t kill him as much as he just kind of let the guy fall. We didn’t get to see a scene where he goes and breaks the bad news to Red’s wife either. “Sorry ma’am, your husband kidnapped my wife so I let a truck fall on top of him.”

Ransom was also a decent thriller, I thought. But again, at the end the main bad guy has to die. Gary Sinise plays a crooked cop who engineered the kidnapping of millionaire Mel Gibson’s son. Up until that last scene the movie works, you feel for Gibson and Rene Russo’s characters as they try to get their kid back. Sinise is a good actor with good intensity to even if you don’t necessarily want to see his character as the bad guy, you can buy that he is. At the end, he and Gibson duke it out, Gibson gets the upper hand on Sinise, the police come in and start to haul him away, and he has to make a grab for one of their holstered pistols. No way was he going to walk out of that scenario and it totally felt tacked on to an otherwise decent movie.

Air Force One. Die Hard on a plane with the president? Another movie that was pretty good with Harrison Ford’s President Marshall fighting back against terrorists who’ve taken control of Air Force One. There’s a dramatic rescue scene that the end where everyone left on the jet use a slide for life across open sky to a C-130 flying next to it. Of course, that’s right when that one last secret service agent decides to reveal that he’s the one who sold out to the terrorists. It seemed like the only reason that happened was so they could have the shot of a guy screaming out the open door of a plane as it crashed and burned. I think a better scene may have been to get everyone on the ground and then have the president turn to the agent and say “You’ve sold me out, you’ve sold you’re country out.” Something dramatic that you know Ford has the acting chops to pull of something like that.

Yeah, I know these aren’t science fiction or fantasy movies, but these three in particular bugged me with the deaths of their antagonists. There has to be another way to beat a bad guy, right? What do you think?

"Iron Man" Kicks Butt

It seems absurd to spend any time discussing IRON MAN on this website. One must assume that anyone who visits here has this movie pencilled in as a "must see". However, for those of you who are considering passing this up, allow this to be a gentle reminder--DON'T MISS THIS FILM!!!!

"Iron Man" couldn't have been made before the last several years. The special effects needed to make this happen in a convincing manner just weren't present. Also, the life experience needed by Robert Downey Jr. hadn't yet settled. Downey Jr., a recovering addict, is perfect as Tony Stark, the billionaire arms manufacturer who has a life changing experience that makes him use his brain and the technology that brain makes possible for the good of mankind.

So what? What makes this superhero different? It's edgier than many of the other comic films, with Downey giving "cool" a new definition. His character carries this film. It's clearly about Stark. And the superhero thing is about taming technology. This makes the concept of being a superhero more accessible for all of us. If all we need to do to fly and bat about cars is step into a suit, then sign me up and get out of my way.

Another element of this film that is worth noting is its political overtones. The Middle East is a problem spot. Bang. That's it. I've been begging the producers of the James Bond films to deal with the terrorists realistically for some time. The closest they've come was in "Tomorrow Never Dies" when Bond shows up at an arms bazaar somewhere in Afghanistan. In "Iron Man" the Middle Eastern terrorists are front and center. One indelible image is Tony Stark, beaten, half-dead, tied to a chair as terrorists huddle around him, faces covered, with guns visible and ready. This image is resonant of all those horrible terrorist webcasts that were made of hostages who were beheaded. When Stark lashes out and wreaks his vengeance, it is a cathartic experience for everyone, left and right alike.

And for those of you who haven't heard already, I won't ruin the fanboy surprise....stay until after the credits.

Vacation!

I'm off to Disneyland. Yaaaaaaa! I won't be back until Thursday, so I'll see you all when I get back.

I extended the "Omega Sol" giveaway again (this time until Thursday) since I won't be here to send off the winner's addresses to the publisher (I wasn't thinking about that when I extended it to Sunday originally). But I promise, I will announce the winners this Thursday for sure.

Have a great week everyone.

Friday Feature, Best Posts Revisited: Who Would You Vote for President?

Well, maybe not a best post. But timely....

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've gotten about a bazillion phone calls this last month from every party under the sun pushing their Presidential candidate. And I couldn't help think that there really hasn't been any candidates in just about forever that I felt any particular desire to vote for.

But how cool would it be if you could vote for your favorite superhero?


What would the best qualifications be? Professor Xavier of the X-Men might be a really good choice. After all, he can read minds so he'd really know if the North Koreans were thinking about nuking us. He could probably even change Kim Jong-il's mind without the man even knowing about it.

Or what about Superman? He could stop a bomb before it even landed on the earth. And if he missed the first time he does have the handy-dandy talent of being able to reverse time if necessary. Though he might be a little to busy saving people to take the job of President.

Batman might be good. He's a no-nonsense kind of guy. Plus there is the intimidation factor of the mask. The other diplomats won't have any idea what he's thinking.

Since I just did a post on Hercules, he does come to mind. He's obviously strong and he does have the ear of his father Zeus; who knows when those lightning bolts might come in handy?

So, who would you nominate?

Mental Constipation Thanks to Walt

I hate it when I can't think of a post. I know I don't have to post here everyday, but I usually want to. And then life happens. I have a good excuse this week though.

We're going to Disneyland.

Yeah, the Magic Kingdom. I haven't been in four years and I am ridiculously excited. Yes, I am a child.

I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to think of a single bad memory of Disneyland. I know I've waited over an hour in line to ride Pirates of the Caribbean before, but apparently it was worth it. I know listening to "It's a Small World" will ensure that I have that song embedded in my brain for a week, but I don't care.

We took my daughter four years ago and she was super princess crazy at the time. Now she could care less. I'd be sad except she's decided Jack Sparrow and Indiana Jones are very cool and I applaud her taste. My son hasn't been before so he isn't quite sure why he should be excited, but he's willing to humor us in the meantime.

So my brain is thinking ahead to the trip. I'm picking the rides to go on and trying to figure out how to keep my son from running off without putting a leash on him. I'm looking forward to not having to cook for a few days and hitting some of the restaurants. And mostly, I'm just enjoying the fact that I feel a little like a kid again.

**QUICK NOTE** Head over to Pat's Fantasy Hotlist and check out his latest contest. He's giving away 4 different series' of books!

More Copies of Omega Sol Available!

I'm so excited! Penguin Books generously offered to contribute more books to my Omega Sol giveaway, so now I have 5 copies to offer.

I am extending the contest until Sunday to give more people a chance to enter.

If you haven't gotten your entry in yet, be sure you do!

Must See in the Theatre Movies of Summer

The summer movie season is finally getting ready to hit theatres and it's about time! It seems like it's been forever since there has been anything worth paying full price for but this summer seems like it's going to be a good one. There are a couple of sequels in the bunch, but many of the new movies headed to theatres are big screen originals; which is refreshing given last year's glut of 3-peats.

However, being a parent means that I can't see every movie that comes out in the theatre as it's released. I have to save up my babysitting miles and try to pick the most worthy movies to spend them on.

Here's a list of what I'm choosing from.

May 2nd Iron Man
May 9th Speed Racer
May 16th The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
May 22nd Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
June 6th Kung Fu Panda
June 13th The Incredible Hulk
June 20th Get Smart
July 2nd Hancock
July 11th Hellboy: The Golden Army
July 18th The Dark Knight
July 25th The X Files: I Want to Believe
August 1st The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

So which one's am I going to cash my babysitting chips on?

Iron Man

I was slightly reluctant to get my hopes up for this at first, but Robert Downey is calling to me. I love that a great actor has been cast in a comic book role-- Christian Bale proved how effective that is. And the previews are making it look as if this one might live up to my expectations.


Indiana Jones

This goes totally without saying. I wouldn't miss what may be my last chance to see Indy on the big screen for anything.



Hellboy

Well, this is one I'd like to see, but I may have a problem getting my husband to go. But hey, if I go alone I don't have to worry about getting grandma to babysit. Yeah, mommy time.



The Dark Knight

This is an absolute no brainer. R.I.P. Heath Ledger



*Special Mention*

James Bond: Quantum of Solace

This isn't scheduled to hit theatres until November 7th, but I will most definitely be seeing it in the theatre.



So what movie would get your hard earned babysitting time?