The Art of Pumpkin Carving

With Halloween coming up, I thought it would be fun to have some relative posts. For those of you who don't know, I dabble in the arts recreationally. I love painting and sculpture but really don't take as much time to do it as I should. That makes Halloween extra fun for me - I like being creative with my pumpkins and try to push the skill and nerdy limits each year.

I have no idea what I'm going to do yet but you better believe it will be amazing and probably have some sort of geek cred. Here are some of my past masterpieces:

An ode to my favorite team and Alma Mater

I clearly like Portal...

I think anyone can make fun pumpkins if you take the time to be thoughtful about it. Here are some of my tips for easier pumpkin carving:

• Be mindful when picking your pumpkin - get one that is big enough to easily fit your image and has a flat face.
• Make it easier on yourself - when cleaning your pumpkin, do extra scraping on the inside wall of the side you are going to carve. You can easily thin out the wall which will make carving a lot easier. 
• Have your image ready. Print out or rough sketch your image and then try to trace it over to the pumpkin. It's pretty tough to free hand on a round surface, especially if you're not artistic. This will give you a better idea of how it's going to fit too.
• TOOLS - I can't state this enough. Pumpkin carving kits can be helpful but it's likely that the tools are cheap and will fall apart. Get a variety of pumpkin specific kits. Amazon is a good spot to look since people leave reviews. Also don't be afraid to think outside the box here. I often use kitchen knives, pottery tools, regular tools - anything I can get my hands on to make the job easier.
• Be creative - scary faces are fun but I love that my pumpkins were unique. More and more people are changing up their pumpkins from using multiple pumpkins in one piece, painting, or using glow sticks to incorporate fun colors. If you're not creative but want to do something fun - search around the web for fun ideas.

I really loved last year's pumpkins, but I know I need to step out of the box this time. Any suggestions for me? With certain video game releases this month and movies that I loved this summer, I have an idea or two...

Some of us Cinnamon Geeks are going to get together to carve our pumpkins later this month. Something tells me you'll be hearing about it. 

Recap: Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed is a game I always wanted to play and knew I would love. However, I never felt a huge urge to play it as I had seen a lot of the story already. Then - I saw the trailers for Assassin's Creed III/Liberation and was incredibly excited to play the new games. I decided to try to play the preceding games by the release date of the new one and document them here as a recap for anyone else who's planning on getting the game(s) this fall. Spoilers will be in italic. 

Story 

When the story starts, you are instantly throw into the game as an assassin with a multitude of commands being thrown at you. It's almost impossible to keep up and you die quickly. As it turns out, you are actually a guy named Desmond who lives in current times but has been hooked up to a machine called an Animus. The Animus allows you to relive the memories of your ancestors and Desmond comes from a long line of assassins. He is being held against his will and sent back to the Crusades era to unlock a memory of his ancestor, Altair. 

Altair is a very prominent assassin but after failing a mission and causing the death of a colleague because of sloppiness, his rank and tools are taken away. Altair needs to start from the bottom and assassinate nine targets in three cities (Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem) order to have his rank restored.

As you begin to assassinate your targets, you learn that many of them have reasons behind the things they are doing and Altair begins to question his mission. The master of the assassins tells you that they are all part of the Templars and their mission is to create a new world order. This reinvigorates Altair and brings him more in line with the Assassin Brotherhood than he ever was before.

Meanwhile, in Desmond's world, he learns that the company that has kidnapped him is also part of the Templar group. They use the Animus to discover the location of ancient treasures and secrets that give them power in modern times. In between Animus sessions, Desmond also begins to be able to snoop around the area he is being held. He is able to find access codes and read the emails of one of the people holding him, Lucy.

Back in Altair's time, he finally takes out the last Templar only to learn that there is a tenth - his own master. When he goes to confront him, he finds that the master has taken the treasure for himself - a Piece of Eden - which allows it's owner to control minds. The artifact only partially works on Altair so instead of succumbing to the control, he is able to fight his master. This Piece of Eden, is one of many hidden around the world. Once the master is defeated and Altair gains control of it, the other locations are revealed.

At this time, Desmond is unhooked from the Animus as the kidnappers have the information they need. They are going to kill him but Lucy points out that they may still need his help in the future so it would be good to leave him around. Desmond has the ability to explore the rooms he's held in again and begins to see hidden markings on the walls and floors. And this is where the game ends... 

Game-play 

The game play is pretty straight forward. The buttons are fairly easy to figure out and there is always a guide in the top right corner of your screen to remind you of what the controls are (they change if you hold right trigger). There are a variety of running speeds and Altair is pretty responsive to the control sticks. I did encounter a few buggy things though. If you are targeted on a person, it's very difficult to control your camera angle which is very frustrating. This happens a lot when fighting a group of guards and I've often had the camera behind some scaffolding or other obstacle that completely obstructed my view. I also found that Altair didn't always go where I was directing him on the climbing missions, even if it was a spot he could go to. All in all, some things were a little clunky. There were a few instances of half-my-body-is-in-a-building but I didn't seem to get "stuck" as I thought I would. I heard this got figured out for the sequel and I hope that's true. 

There are two ways to "level up." The first is by doing the objectives in your mission. If you do a certain number, your health will increase. The second way is by completing an assassination challenge. You will have a skill or weapon restored each time you are successful with that. The game itself moves pretty quickly. You have a minimum you need to do to advance and you can do more on top of that. Since I was trying to play through the game in a short amount of time, this was a nice touch although I tried to do most of the challenges (except collecting items). At first I wasn't going to do all of the "Save the Civilian" challenges unless they were directly in my path but I quickly learned it was a good way to increase your health bar as well as practice fighting. After I doing a few in a row, I could feel the movements getting smoother which definitely nice. Sometimes you get to take out a Templar as well (even though I wasn't intentionally trying to collect things). By the last few cities, I also stopped doing insider challenges. 

I really loved the Bird's Eye View challenges. As a climber, it was fun to climb in the game and look for what would make a good hold. The sweeping shots of the cities were beautiful. I did mess up the leap of faith a couple of times but the game still counted the objective complete which was nice. I also like that there are a variety of buildings to climb within each city as well as various architecture styles. 

Review 

The Taste of Power trope at the beginning was a little painful. It's always hard going from all powerful to novice. However, it was great to slowly learn all of the many skills that Altair has as an assassin. The objectives of the game can be a little monotonous. It's clear that you will have a pickpocket, an eavesdropping, an assault, an informer assassination, an informer flag challenge, civilian saving, bird's eye view challenge, and key assassination in every city area. The differences among each city and little nuances keep the game from getting stale but a little more variety wouldn't have hurt. 

The more interesting part was definitely the bigger story of why these assassinations are important and which side is actually good vs. corrupt. It's also interesting to wonder why such ancient memories are important in modern times and the way clues are slowly dropped through out the game definitely kept me trying to solve the bigger puzzle as I played through the story. 

I really loved the concept of the game as a whole. I thought it was very original and the modern vs. historical aspect of it made it seem relevant. My biggest problems with the game had to do with just the gameplay dynamics. It seems like they had this fantastic concept but then rushed to get it out without doing testing and troubleshooting. My next problem would just be that I wasn't a big fan of the idea of blending in. I know you're supposed to be a stealth assassin but I don't have a ton of patience to tip toe through crowds. I ended up spending most of the time jumping around the rooftops since it was the quickest way to get around without being seen. This paired with the knife throwing (there are occasional roof guards) ended up solving the problem pretty quickly. 

Since the whole point of this recap series is in anticipation of ACIII, I've also been watching and reading all about that. I recently saw a video that talks about how they used old maps to recreate Boston and New York. I thought this was really interesting so I went on Google maps and looked up Damascus, Jerusalem, and Acre and compared them to the maps in the game. Each city, although much larger and different now, definitely had an "old city" that closely resembled those in the game. The Google map couldn't zoom in too closely and the cities obviously have shown some deterioration throughout the millennium but it was a nice touch that I will look forward to exploring further in the future games (which take place in cities I've actually been to). 

Now time to start AC2 - anything I should keep in mind? I'm excited to see if they've fixed the issues I listed above.

What We Read This Month - September Edition

In addition to our other geeky pursuits, the three of us also love to read. Two were English majors and one worked at a bookstore so you can only imagine how much reading takes place in our free time. Becca had the great idea that we share a little bit about what we've read each month. We will keep it to 1-2 of our favorites in case we're exceptionally prolific in any month. Becca and Nikki are also on Goodreads if you want to stalk our literary interests.

Nikki's Reads:

For some reason I read a lot of books this month. In case you're curious a lot equals six. That's definitely some kind of record even though a couple were short reads. In any case, I'm just going to highlight two of the books that I read since they left a pretty strong impression on me.

The first was Gone Girl. I'd heard some hype about this book before it came out and then started seeing it around the city (I live in San Francisco which is quite literary so it's incredibly common to see people reading everywhere. It's a great way to see what book is popular at the moment.). The book was suggested to me as part of a book club challenge so I was excited to give it a shot even though I was very unclear on what it was about. The novel is about a married couple who are getting ready to celebrate their 5th anniversary when the wife suddenly goes missing. All signs point to a kidnapping but as the book goes on, it becomes much more complicated than that. I really liked the way this book unfolded. I went from completely identifying with one of the characters to not really knowing what to think. I also really enjoy mysteries and this one gives you a few opportunities to figure out what's going on.

Another book I loved this month was The Princess Bride. I'm sure you've all seen the movie that came out in the late 80's. It's a hilarious classic and even though I usually read the books that movies are based on, I was very hesitant this time. I had assumed the movie was a funny adaption of the book and that the novel wouldn't have the same humor that the film does. Well, that was completely incorrect. It has all of those jokes and inflections in addition to more in depth back stories for many of the characters. I really love how it says that Westley and Buttercup immediately start bickering once they are reunited. True love conquers all - except for snide remarks and arguments. The author also employs a literary technique that I hadn't seen before. I'm not going to ruin it for you because I think it's one of the things that makes this book so special... just read it. Please. For me.

I'm going to give a little honorary mention to Tuesdays with Morrie. It was definitely suggested to me at a time I needed its message most.

Will's Reads:

I have a condition which I will call...Squirrel Syndrome. It is where I will start reading one book, then see another book which I've been meaning to start, and begin reading that one. So I end up with 4-6 books of varying depths of reading. So...I haven't finished any books this month, but I am currently reading The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (great book if you haven't read this classic),  Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

I will of course give you updates on these and many other books once I reach the authors picture.

Becca's Reads: 

I'm in much the same boat as Will. September has consisted with me starting 6 different books, but so far, I've only finished one. Of those 6, here are my top 2:

My first September pick, and the only novel I finished, was John Scalzi's debut novel, Old Man's War. A recent sci-fi classic, Hugo award nominee, this was a book that I was ashamed to admit that I hadn't read prior to this month. For those unfamiliar with the work, Old Man's War follows the recruitment, training, and early career of John Perry, a 75-year old retired advertising writer and newly minted Colonial Defense Force recruit. Scalzi's future is one where the protection of mankind's far-flung colonies is entrusted to these aged recruits, who at 65 become qualified to join the CDF and receive restored youth in exchange for their service. How these senior citizens are transformed into soldiers is one of the work's best moments, and while the protagonist is predictably portrayed as the best and brightest soldier in the CDF, the novel grabbed me and I found myself compelled by Perry's story. Scalzi has written three other works in the Old Man's War universe, all of which I plan on reading in the near future, and the work was optioned by Paramount last year for film adaptation.

My second favorite, though currently unfinished, September read is (predictably) J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy. Published a whopping three days ago, Rowling's first published novel since the end of the Harry Potter series is a stark departure from the Wizarding World,  but the work is no less compelling and shows that Rowling is truly a master story teller. Focusing on the run up to a parish council election being held in Pagford after the unexpected death of council member Barry Fairbrother, Rowling's latest work is a darkly comic social commentary on the seemingly idyllic English country town. I'm only 175 pages into The Casual Vacancy, but I'm already recommending it to anyone and everyone who will listen to me.

Also reading: Foundation (Asimov), Cloud Atlas (Mitchell), State of Wonder (Patchett), and Boneshaker (Priest).

Hunger Games Catching Fire: Thoughts on Casting

So - the whole crew here at Cinnamon Geek has been pretty terrible about writing posts this month. The goal was to have a post a week and clearly we haven't been too great about that. I apologize on my behalf. I've had some personal things going on that have really distracted me from writing. I do have some ideas in the works though and I've been trying to put those down but they've required some extra research or follow up work. Hopefully the groundwork I'm doing on those comes together soon so I can finish those up and post them here. As for the other two - well, I'll let them make their own excuses. For now - here's a post I should/could have put up weeks ago on The Hunger Games Sequel. 

SPOILER FILLED POST

I am ridiculously excited for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Not only was the second book my favorite of the trilogy, but I think the clockwork arena is extremely creative and I'm excited to see it come to life. Catching Fire also introduces us to 22 new tributes and several characters from the Capitol so there are a lot of new roles to fill. I've been watching the Hunger Games Facebook page very closely for any casting news and I wanted to give my thoughts on who's been cast. I had written up a summary on all of the tributes, but I realized it was a little too long and some of the actors were a little obscure. If you would like all of that, I can do a follow up with the rest of the tributes.

Character: Plutarch Heavensbee, Head Gamemaker
Book Description: "Just then Portia appears with a large man who looks vaguely familiar. She introduces him as Plutarch Heavensbee, the new Head Gamemaker" (80).
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman
What You May Know Him From: Moneyball, Ides of March, Doubt, Mission Impossible III, Capote, Cold Mountain, and a million other things. His IMDB page is huge and he has an Academy Award so I'm sure you've seen him in something...
Thoughts: I love this casting. I think PSH is a fantastic actor and that this character gives him an opportunity to show that. When I was reading the books, I pictured someone taller and fitter, but that's the thing about a character with almost no physical description - your mind can do whatever it wants to do (although Haymitch will always look like Hagrid to me and I still can't fit Woody Harrelson in there..). Anyway, I have no doubt that PSH will do a great job with this role.


Character: Enobaria, District 2
Description: "Enobaria looks to be about thirty and all I can remember about her is that, in hand-to-hand combat, she killed one tribute by ripping open his throat with her teeth. She became so famous for this act that, after she was a victor, she had her teeth cosmetically altered so each one ends in a sharp point like a fang" (224).
Actor: Meta Golding
What You May Know Her From:  The Chicago 8, Leslie Seale; Dark Blue, Melissa Curtis; Criminal Minds, Jordan Todd; CSI, several guest spots; Day Break, Jennifer Mathis
Thoughts: I pictured Enobaria as Zoe Saldana when I first read the character. I haven't seen Meta in anything, but looks-wise she sounds perfect. The only exception would be the pointy teeth - she's so beautiful that it will be a frightening contrast but I believe that's also fitting for the character description.



Character: Beetee (Bolts), District 3
Description: "Beetee, the man, is older and somewhat fidgety. He wears glasses but spends a lot of time looking under them" - CF pg 226 (in addition to the joint description under Wiress).
Actor: Jeffrey Wright

What You May Know Him From: Casino Royale, Source Code, Quantum of Solace
Thoughts: There had been a lot of talk of Tony Shalhoub (Monk) being cast for this role so I hadn't really put my mind around anyone else getting the part. However, this seems like a really great casting. A lot of Jeffrey's parts so far have been small but he's done a great job with them. I could definitely see him filling this role of a quieter but more intelligent character. I don't want to spoil Mockingjay for anyone but as the series develops, you learn more about his character. I think Jeffrey will be able to tackle those new facets as well and show a more complex side to Beetee.




Character: Wiress (Nuts), District 3
Description: "The two tributes from District 3 [...] are small in stature with ashen skin and black hair. The woman, Wiress, is probably around my mother's age and speaks in a quiet, intelligent voice. But right away I notice she has a habit of dropping off mid-sentence, as if she's forgotten you're there" (226).
Actor: Amanda Plummer
What You May Know Her From: So I Married an Axe Murdered, Rose; Pulp Fiction as Honey Bunny/Yolanda
Thoughts: Wiress is a little (read very) crazy, hence earning her nickname, Nuts. If you've seen the two movies above, you know that Amanda Plummer can definitely pull off crazy. Ethnically, she's not what I pictured for the role, but she will nail this character who is on a brink of a complete psychological collapse.


Character: Finnick, District 4
Description: "Finnick, the handsome bronze-haired guy from District 4 who was crowned ten years ago at the age of fourteen" (191). "Finnick Odair's famous sea green eyes are only inches from mine" (208). "I can't argue that Finnick isn't one of the most stunning, sensuous people on the planet" (209). There were about 709,089,009 other descriptions I could have picked from the book, but basically, this guy is good looking and important.
Actor: Sam Claflin
The only thing I saw him in was Snow White and the Huntsman and I thought he was really good in that. Then again, when most of your screen time is with Kristin Stewart, it's not very difficult to look like a decent actor. Looks-wise, he is probably not the most Finnicky person I could picture. His dark hair and pale skin doesn't shout "I spend all of my time in the ocean" but that's a pretty easy fix for Hollywood (the three main actors in this series all have naturally different hair colors than their characters). He definitely is a great looking guy and it will be interesting to see what he does since I'm not sure he can pull off the many layers of Finnick's character. Prince William was a pretty one dimensional role, and off the top of my head, I can think of at least 4 different dimensions to Finnick. I'm not saying Sam can't do it, but the roles I've seen him in haven't given me the background information I need to make a judgement.  He does kind of remind me of James Marsden earlier in his career (when he was type casted as the douche until people realized he was actually a pretty good actor... then again I just looked at his IMDB and I think I only love him because his character in 27 Dresses is exactly the kind of guy I would date), who actually would have been perfect for the role if he was 10 years younger... but I digress. The jury is out on this one.


Character: Mags, District 4
Description: "She's quickly replaced by a volunteer, an eighty-year-old woman who needs a cane to walk to the stage." - CF pg 191.
Actor: Lynn Cohen
What You May Know Her From: Sex and the City, Magda; Eagle Eye, Mrs. Wierzbowski; Munich, Golda Meir
Thoughts: I had been picturing Betty White or Cloris Leachman but I think that's mostly just because they are higher profile actors. I've only seen Lynn in SATC (embarrassing, I know) and she was great in that. I actually had to double check to see if she was American as an accent wouldn't be fitting for this role.


Character: Johanna Mason, District 7
Description: "Johanna Mason. From District 7. Lumber and paper, thus the tree. She won by very convincingly portraying herself as weak and helpless so that she would be ignored. Then she demonstrated a wicked ability to murder. She ruffles up her spiky hair and rolls her wide-set brown eyes." - CF pg 214.
Actor: Jena Malone
What You May Know Her From: Pride & Prejudice, Lydia Bennet; Saved!, Mary; Donnie Darko, Gretchen Ross; Suckerpunch, Rocket
Thoughts: Where do I start... I was really hoping Kristin Bell would get this since she's one of my favorite actresses celebrities human beings. I got in more than one debate about she clearly has the range to play someone who can appear weak but is also capable of chopping you in half with an axe and not batting an eyelash. Heroes...hello?!?! Anyways - I sadly had to move on from that dream when I heard about this. I have seen Donnie Darko about thirty-seven thousand times and Saved! was a go-to for a while too and those two characters are pretty similar... and don't shout Johanna Mason to me. Lydia Bennet is closer but there's still no worry about her soullessly murdering you or stripping just to get a rise out of people (actually, scratch that - you translate P&P to modern times and that would totally work). I just don't see the edgy side of Johanna Mason in Jena Malone (fyi - I have not seen Suckerpunch). I didn't see the looks either until I saw this photo. That helped a little, but it's going to be really tough for me to get past that whimpering pregnant teenage hanging out with McCaulay Culkin in a wheelchair. Who was that punk friend? THAT girl sounds more like Johanna Mason to me. I'd really love to see the audition tape for this one and see how that director made this decision.



Character: Seeder, District 11
Description: "The woman, Seeder, looks almost like she could be from the Seam, with her olive skin and straight black hair streaked with silver. Only her golden brown eyes mark her as from another district." - CF pg 214. It's also mentioned that she's one of the few older contestants who has stayed in shape. She's one of the few victors that Katniss half trusts and it seems like Seeder is more thoughtful and considerate than the others.
Actor: Maria Howell
What You May Know Her From: That horrible lady in The Blind Side that tried to get Sandra Bullock in trouble for helping Michael Oher
Thoughts: Physically, the description sounds more like what I might look like 30 years, but I'm don't really have a problem with casting a different race for a smaller role. I'd say that Maria Howell looks a little young for a role that's going silver but then again, I know 20-somethings with a few greys so it's possible. I think Maria did a great job in The Blind Side even though I clearly did not like the character. Based on what I've seen of Maria, she carries herself with an intelligent, quiet strength that I think will play well into this role quite well.

And who's left...

Character: Annie (she might not even be in this one as her small appearances could be edited out until the next movie like they did with Plutarch), District 4
Description: "A hysterical young woman with flowing brown hair is also called from 4" - CF pg. 191. "Annie's the one who went mad when her district partner got beheaded. Ran off by herself and hid. But an earthquake broke a dam and most of the area got flooded. She won because she was the best swimmer." - CF pg. 347.
My Dream Casting: I know it would never happen but I think Natalie Portman or Anne Hathaway would nail Annie. They both can do that shining positive spirit but also play characters who have just completely fallen apart. I keep picturing the scene in Dark Knight Rises where Selina Kyle is pretending to be terrified by a bar fight and thinking "That would be a perfect Annie."

Characters: Morphlings, District 6
Description: "We seem particularly riveting to the pair from District 6, who are known morphling addicts. Both are bone thin, with sagging yellowish skin." - CF pg213.
My Dream Casting: Wouldn't it be great to get some washed up super models for this? I bet Janice Dickenson would nail this. These characters basically just get really high and paint flowers all over their bodies. They don't get names so the parts aren't going to go to two big actors but it would still be fun. I actually really loved the morphlings because I felt like they just had this innocence about them since they were so doped up.


Character: Cecilia, District 8
Description: "The woman from 8 who Effie calls Cecilia, who looks about thirty, has to detach herself from the three kids who run up to cling to her" - CF pg 191.
My Dream Casting: It could be fun to get a TV mom for this part. I'm trying to rack my mind for some in the thirties though... Someone like Lauren Graham but younger? Erika Christensen could work? The part isn't huge so probably not but I like the idea of casting someone that people already identify in a motherly way.


Anyways - I'm excited for this!!! It will be interesting to see how the characters adapt to the roles. I did think some of the parts would go to bigger actors but I suppose there are already quite a few big checks to write so I'll take it. I think this has the potential to launch some careers (Meta, Sam - I'm looking at you) and I hope these actors nail their parts - mostly just because this was my favorite book of the series and I want it to be an amazing movie.

And just to keep you entertained - here are some shots from filming. To no one's surprise, Finnick already has his shirt off.

Not So Fast, B-Man!

Will wrote a wonderful article yesterday on Batman and his birthday. Well, today is another very special birthday... Harley Quinn's! As I pointed out in my bio, Harley is my favorite villain so I've taken it upon myself to help celebrate her special day.

Harley Quinn first appeared in an episode of the Batman: The Animated Series and she didn't always start out as a villain. Originally, Harley was Dr. Harleen Quinzel. She was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. She felt she could learn more about Joker's psychosis and eventually cure him. Instead, she ended up falling in love with him and becoming his most faithful follower. The Arkham City video game also allows you to explore this story if you choose to collect the extra items in the game. Harley Quinn quickly became part of Batman canon through her popularity.

Since her introduction a couple of decades ago, Harley has become a beloved and important character. She is fan favorite for cosplays, and has been a leading villain in the Arkham video games. Arkham City even gave her an additional downloadable game: Harley Quinn's Revenge.

So raise a giant hammer, put on your best jester outfit, and fall in love with your favorite clown in honor of Harley Quinn - just don't buy her a drink. Harley only turns 20 this birthday, but I'm sure she'd love to go out next year.

Happy Birthday B-Man!

   That's right kids, if we can even call you that any more, it's Batman's birthday...sort of. It's really the 20-year anniversary of what is arguably the greatest animated superhero cartoon ever, "Batman: The Animated Series." Even to this day, it still is highly praised for maturity, voice acting, artistic merit, and faithfulness to the comics. During it's 3+ year run, it received 4 Emmys Awards and was nominated for another 9!

I grew up watching every episode of this legendary cartoon, and for me, when I think of Batman's voice I immediately think of Kevin Conroy. You throw Mark Hamill in as the Joker, and anyone else that tries to play those roles has some stadium sized shoes to fill. Click on THIS to see these two in action.
"Batman: The Animated Series," was THE cartoon that opened up the world of superheros to me. Sure, Superman was pretty cool and had another great series that would eventually blend into this one, but there is something about a regular guy with no super powers trying to change a corrupt, dark, and neglected city that makes me think I could actually do something good.
Granted, if I was as loaded as Bruce Wayne, it would definitely make things a little bit easier. But I digress...Here are some interesting facts about the "Batman: The Animated Series."

Harley Quinn, The Joker's sidekick, was created just for the series and proved to be so popular that she became a regular villain in the comics. Officer Renee Montoya was also later added.

Mr. Freeze/Dr. Victor Fries 's origin was completely rewritten for the series to portray a more tragic, lovesick character that would evoke more emotion in the audience. Originally, he was a two-bit criminal who had an accident trying to create a freeze-gun.

To create the eerie nighttime feeling, the background painters used dark paper instead of the traditional white. This also allowed them to save time from painting large portions of black color as most of the scenes are set at night. The animators coined the term "Dark Deco" for this art style.

Tim Curry was initially cast as the voice of the Joker. After he recorded four episodes, his take on the role was deemed to be too scary, so the decision was made to recast and eventually the role went to Mark Hamill.

At no point in any of the episodes is the title, "Batman: The Animated Series" displayed. The producers decided that since Batman was an instantly recognizable character that anyone in any language would be able to tell what the show was about. The show's first opening sequence is essentially a remake of the pilot used to sell the show to Warner Bros.
However, in all the Seasons 3, 4, and 5 episodes the title "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" was displayed.

When the series moved to Sunday evenings on WB, it marked one of the first time an animated series created specifically as a Saturday morning cartoon had aired on Primetime.

In most episodes, there is a character reading a Tiny Toons Adventures Magazine.

Kevin Conroy is the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman. It was his own idea.

After every single storyboard, FOX would send the producers a long single spaced list of restrictions about five pages in length, on things they could not do for example; no child endangerment, no open wounds, no blood, no heavy gun violence, no strangling or neck grabs, no alcohol references, and no smoking. The FOX network was really picky, not just about the censorship, but just in terms of content and story. The network had many opinions on what the producers should and shouldn't be doing.

For a long time, the producers wanted to use Firefly, a character that uses fire as a weapon, but Fox said no completely because they did not allow any character to be threatened or harmed by fire. It wasn't until Batman moved to the WB that Firefly was able to be used.

Al Pacino was initially offered the role of Two-Face.












These facts were taken from IMDB.com. I might have changed some of the wording here and there, but they are all taken from the IMDB website and I claim no credit for writing them.

The Positive Influences of Television: Top Chef

It's frequently said that TV has a lot of negative qualities: It sucks your brain out, it wastes your time, it's hours and hours of trash, it's a bad influence, etc. This is all true in some cases. I know I don't get anything positive from watching a Real Housewives marathon, but there is some television that has a positive influence on it's viewers. This is the first in a series on some shows that have had a positive influence on my life and first up is Top Chef.

If you read my last post, you know that Top Chef is one of my favorite shows. I started watching Top Chef on accident. There was nothing on and my ex stumbled across it. The show was well into the first season (which filmed in my current home of San Francisco), but we were interested in the location and the challenge - the palate test. We were soon hooked, finished the season, and I never stopped watching after that.

Before I became a Top Chef addict, I thought cooking meant finding a new sauce to put on the Buitoni pasta that I had just boiled or microwaving steaming Green Giant vegetables. I had no idea what molecular gastronomy, blanching, braising, brining, or julienning meant, and even though I'll probably never be as skilled as the worst contestant to ever be on that show, it got me interested in cooking. No, it taught me how to cook.

My mom had watched a lot of cooking shows when I was a kid (Two Fat Ladies, Barefoot Contessa, etc), but I found these step-by-step instruction shows boring. They made it look like cooking was just chop, stir, and wait. But Top Chef,  with its fast-paced and competitive setup, showed me that cooking could be exhilarating.

I'm lucky in that I can interpret a recipe or pick up tips from television shows. After a couple of seasons of Top Chef, I began experimenting in my own kitchen. A spice rack that my mom had given me was suddenly getting used, I stopped buying frozen vegetables and pastas, and I would emailed my mom for my favorite childhood recipes. I bought cook books while also watching vigilantly as the chefs on TV combined flavors to adapt to that week's challenge.

It didn't stop with Top Chef either. Top Chef was my gateway show, and watching it made it easier to get into Chopped and then the Top Chef Spin-Offs (Just Desserts and Masters). Eventually, I was also hooked on Worst Cooks in America because I loved the tips they gave for the novice chefs (I always pre-heat my pans now). After Around the World in 80 Plates, I realized my DVR didn't have room for any more cooking shows so I cut myself off... but when I was home visiting my parents, I found that I didn't mind watching a few step-by-step shows with my Mom.

Top Chef changed me from someone ambivalent about cooking to  a pretty good home chef. I love making dishes for parties, have a full shelf just for cookbooks, and know how to balance and mix spices to make flavors I enjoy. Now, I really identify as a "foodie" and I don't know if that would be a part of my life if I hadn't found this show. I wonder if I would have found my biggest take away - my love of wine and interest in pairing. The first season of Top Chef featured chef Stephen Aspirinio - who was also a sommelier (master wine pairer). Before the show, I didn't even know that was a thing, and now I've built a wine collection and read books on pairing.

My love for food and wine is a huge part of my life. It has propelled me to try certain restaurants, learn how to cook, go on foodie adventures, taste wines, and I might not have discovered these interests without Top Chef.