Poetry: "Hit the Ball"

Poetry:  "Hit the Ball"

 Hit the ball right out the park
 Play the game until it's dark
 Catch the ball inside your glove
 And the fans will show you love... (tbc?)

Recent Poetry in the Works

Recent Poetry in the Works:

    "Paige" A work in progress

A writer named Paige
Flew into a rage
When her publisher failed to publish
THe drivel she wrote
Couldn't keep her afloat
To even pay her rent
She couldn't even make a dent
So she worked like a slave
For a bad boss named Dave
She lived a life of regret
That is one thing to bet
Live your dreams
Or live out life at the seams
Of regret and unhappiness... (tbc?)

"I'd rather blog..."   A work in progress

  I'd rather blog that jog
  I don't like to sweat
  My mind it will let
   Creativity take me much farther... (tbc?)

Sc-Fi Bri's Television Picks for Fall 2013 Part 2

Sci-Fi Bri's Television Picks for Fall 2013 Part 2

    "Ironside" (NBC)  starring Blair  "L.A. Law" Underwood has apparently been cancelled. Similar to the '70s namesake series starring Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr,  Underwood plays an AFrican-American version of the former series updated to the 21st century. Mr. Underwood plays a former vice cop who ends up in a wheelchair and is now a head detective of the NYPD investigating homicides. Although perhaps a cynical way to weasel out of originality, I really enjoyed this show while it lasted.

"The Tomorrow People"  (the CW) is about a subspecies of humans who appear psychologically troubled, but who in fact have powers such as  "telepathy, teleportation and telekinesis". The main character, Stephen Jameson (Robbie Amell) inherited both his powers and his supposed problems from his father. Jameson has been in and out of psych wards and takes powerful psych. meds. He just wants to be normal, but almost every night he teleports into the bedroom of a nieghborhood couple. After awhile he comes across three others with similar powers, one of whom can hear his thoughts and can communicate with him telepathically. Jameson's uncle Jebekiah is a genetic scientist who is part of an organization called Ultra, which captures and sometimes eliminates those who are  'Tomorrow People' with powers that are considered a threat to the powers that be. Jameson is coerced to work for Ultra, but  he is actually there to save and protect others with paranormal abilities. I really, really like this kind of show.

"Reign"  (the CW)  Costume drama set in the Middle Ages about Princess Mary of Scotland, who is betrothed to the prince of France. She will eventually become Mary, Queen of Scots. I like the dialogue and how it basically has a contemporary soundtrack, but a show such as this will mostly appeal to girls, women and those who regularly attend Renaissance Fairs.

Poetry: "Phonin' It In"

Poetry: "Phonin' It In"

       Phoning it in in a job I don't like
       Desperate for money, to work I do hike
       Wasting my hours near the turnpike... (tbc?)

Poetry: "Crash Airlines" A work in progress

Poetry:  "Crash Airlines"  A work in progress

           Don't you board that plane.
           Don't get on that jet.
           For once you are aloft
           You just might meet your death.
            You'll likely become slain.
             Exhilarating flight
             Taking to the skies
             Is it worth the hassle
             Once you know you'll die... (tbc?)

Poetic Fiction: "The Sniper(s)"

Poetic Fiction:  "The Sniper(s)"

      Twas a sniper
      Drove a Viper
      Stole a child, was still in diapers
      THe child became a sniper too
       Killed his fam. and he might kill you
     THere was a lawyer
      Was a voyeur
       Spied on women
      Near the foyer
      When he got caught
       He lost his profession
       But he never lost
        His sick obsession... (tbc?)

Poetry: "Behind Bars"

Poetry:  "Behind Bars"  [Note: I have never been in trouble with the law, so this poem is merely speculation based on tv shows and movies I have seen.]

         Lawyers and judges and weights in the yard
         Boredom and violence and long games of cards
         Riots and tear gas and corruptible guards
        Unhealthy repasts and meals cooked in lard
        TVs and toilets and shanks in the neck
        "Noone saw nothing", just shuffle the deck
         Gangs and young killers and lifers resigned
         To a life behind bars, a world in a bind... (tbc?)

Sci-Fi Bri's Television: THe Ax has fallen: Not so Lucky "Lucky Seven"

Sc-Fi Bri's Television:  THe Ax has Fallen:  THe not-so lucky  "Lucky Seven"

         Two weeks into the fall television season and the first casualty of the damned Nielson rating system has already been announced. After a mere two episodes,  "Lucky Seven", about a septet of lottery winners will permanently go off the air.  I saw the first episode, in which all seven winners have bad luck financially or personally. It wasn't a bad show. If it had more time to develop or if it had better publicity, perhaps it could have had a loyal cult following. From what I read, the audience dropped by 50% from the first to the second episode. Unfortunately, it was on Tuesday (I think), when a slew of good shows is on at the same time. Viewers without a DVR machine had to choose between "Person of Interest" on CBS, "Chicago Fire"on NBC,  "Sons of Anarchy" on FX network, and "the ill-fated  "Lucky 7"  on ABC.  If only another network would ignore the flawed  Nielson ratings and continue this show.

Poetry: "Pain Has a Purpose"

Poetry:  "Pain Has a Purpose"

     Pain has a purpose
    Some don't know why
    Touch a hot stove
    And you'll wince or you'll cry.

     Pain has a purpose
     When things get dire
     You don't stick around
     When your house is on fire.

     Pain has a purpose
     If you had a pet otter
     The thing would jump out
      Of boiling water
 
      If you couldn't feel pain
      You'd be constantly hurt
      And perhaps you'd be buried
      'Neath six feet of dirt... (tbc?)

Poetry: "Government Shutdown of 2013"

Poetry:  "Government Shutdown of 2013"

   Our government has just shut down
   And Congress, it seems, is out of town
   Our National Parks have gone dark
  Due to this Republican Lark
  Of  "my way or the highway"
 They (Congress) still get their pay
  While our economy is waylaid
 Compromise is a dirty word
 When your demands are not heard
 Or heeded by the other Party
The poor they will suffer
Some will starve without supper
While politicians and their lobbyists eat hearty
The G.O.P. and Tea Party are throwbacks
Who all ought to be thrown back...
ObamaCAre is now the law of the Land
Though when the G.O.P. lied,
They are mostly opposed to the new Health system out of greed and pride.  (tbc?)

Poetry: "Fields are Fallow, Bees are Dying"

Poetry:  Fields are Fallow, Bees are Dying"

    Fields are fallow, nothing grows
   All crops in their Death Throes
   Bees a-Dying in their Hives
   NOt a one is still alive
   Must be all that pesticide
   Could it be the GMOs?
   Genetically Modified crops they ought to go ... (tbc?)

Poetry: "Paradise of Poison" A Work in Progress and other Poem Fragments

Poetry:  "Paradise of Poison"  A Work in Progress and other Poetry Fragments

           A Paradise of Poison
           Is no place to be
           When the world was Pristine
           That was something to see
           There used to be Privacy
           With a good key
            But with massive surveillance
            Are we still free? (tbc?)


Poetry:  "A  Tell"

           I think I have a  Tell
           That manipulators know so well
           Like I'm ringing a bell
           Or like voice mail on my  cell ... (tbc?)

         "Structure"

          Too much structure isn't good
          It makes your life too rigid
         Being cold can cause great pain
         When the weather's frigid... (tbc?)

Sci-Fi Bri's Television Picks

Sci-Fi Bri's Television Picks:

Note: With the onset of the fall television season, my DVR machine is working overtime so that I can watch as many shows as possible with a machine that can only record two shows at once. Some fortunate viewers have DVR machines that can record up to 5 shows at once. I am considering getting Netflix and HuluPlus, if I can find the time to make the extra expense worthwhile.

 Two excellent shows premiering together on different networks:

"Blacklist"(NBC) [Mondays 10 p.m. Eastern Time] Raymond Reddington (James Spader), one of the FBI's top 5 public enemies, turns himself in to the FEderal headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is immediately arrested, but he has important information about a planned kidnapping of an army general's daughter and a potential terrorist attack by the would-be kidnapper. Reddington definitely has an agenda, and for some reason he states that he will only speak to a rookie FBI profiler named Elizabeth Keane, who just recently graduated from the FBI academy in Quanico, Virginia. Reddington somehow knows a lot about Liz Keane's past as a child with a criminal for a father. The relationship between FEd and criminal is reminiscent of that of Hannibal Lector and Clarice STarling from  "The Silence of the Lambs". A lot of the action of this show is very cinematic. Parents should be aware though that there are some very violent scenes which may be disturbing to young or sensitive viewers. I plan to watch or record this show every week.


"Hostages" (CBS)  [Mondays 10 p.m. Eastern Time] Starring Toni Colette, Dylan McDErmott, etc.

         FBI hostage negotiator Duncan Carlisle (Dylan "American Horror Story" McDErmott) singlehandedly ends a potentially violent hostage situation by shooting what appears to be a hostage who turns out to be a hostage-taker in disguise. THe police who preceded him are none too happy with his actions. Carlisle has a wife in a coma, and he is involved with a bunch of people who plan to have the President killed in a very unusual manner. Carlisle and crew surveilled the family of a female surgeon named  Ellen Sanders (Toni  "United States of Tara" Colette) who is about to operate on the President. THe crew of coconspirators storm the Sanders household, sedate the family dog with drugs, and take the family hostage while wearing skimasks. THe hostagetakers threaten to kill the husband and children if surgeon Ellen fails to secretly administer an untraceable substance to the President that will kill him. THis, like "Blacklist" is a cinematic series involving lots of suspense. THere is also a backstory about the Sanders, with a secretly pregnant teenage daughter, a philandering husband, and a son who deals marijuana and who owes a reputedly violent drug dealer thousands of dollars. I enjoy both "Blacklist" and "Hostages". If I had to choose between one show or the other I would have a difficult time. I don't envy people who don't have a DVR machine.

Poetry: "Lessons"

Poetry:  "Lessons"

      All the Lessons that I missed
      Razed my Dreams like a closed fist
      All the times that I felt  'Dissed'
      Goodbye success, without a kiss
      My agonies, I have a List
      Lack of skills have formed a Mist
      So I can;t help but feeling pissed
      But perhaps my story has a twist
      Most days I sup on Breads of grist
      But I never play a game like whist.


  "Autumn"
 
  The Beauty of Autumn
  It's not falling leaves
  Not pumpkins, Thanksgiving nor e'en Hallowe'en
 Hot as the summer
 Cool as the Fall
 Autumn's so gorgeous
 In Love I could fall... (tbc?)
 

Sci-Fi Bri's Movies: "Here Comes the Boom", etc.

Sci-Fi Bri's Movies:

"Here Comes the Boom"  (2012?)  ON cable and DVD

Characters/Actors:  Scott Voss (Kevin James), Henry Winkler, Salma Hayek, etc.

        A slacker and high school biology teacher named Scott Voss (Kevin James) inspires his students when he gets involved in the potentially dangerous world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting to raise enough money to save the music program at his school and the job of his mentor (Henry Winkler) following deep budget cuts at the school. At first Voss loses all of his fights, but after a while he becomes a contendor.  I enjoyed this film even though it wasn't very funny. (It is supposed to be a comedy and James is a comedian. )

"The World's End" (2013)  Characters/Actors:  Simon "Shawn of the Dead"  Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan, etc.

       Gary (Simon Pegg) is a middle-aged drunk who never really grew up. He persuades three reluctant former teenage friends to accompany him on a massive pub crawl to all the pubs in Newton Hill, England where two decades ago they failed to finish up their quest to make it all the way to the  World's End pub.  One member of their party gave up drinking.  Along the way, they inadvertently discover that most of the townfolk have been replaced with malevolent automatons who may intend to take over or destroy the world.  An homage to drunken road trips and dystopian sc-fi films.  If not for the sci-fi element, this movie would have sucked.


"Riddick"  Vin Diesel (Riddick), Katie "Battlestar Galactica"  Sakhoff, etc. A murderer trapped on a hostile planet with hundreds of lethal, dangerous animals is under more peril when bounty hunters arrive. Some of the bounty hunters want to behead of kill him.  The animals on this planet were really cool to watch. VEry similar to  "Alien".

Poetry: "The Creepy Clown" A work in progress

Poetry:  "The Creepy Clown"  A work in progress


    The Creepy Clown
    Comes to your town
    To see your son or daughter
    If he's alone you know he'll do
    Things he not ought to... (tbc?)

    "Origami"

     My Origami came to Life
     So I cut and ate it with a knife
    This upset my Origami wife
     So she attacked me with a scythe.

Poetry: "Myley"

Poetry:  "Myley"

Myley twerkin' at the beach
Has an itch she cannot reach
To those against her that do preach
Perhaps she has something to teach...

Commentary: Has 3-D Trend Gone Too Far?

Commentary:  "Has 3-D Trend Gone Too Far?"

         This weekend the adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's high school English classic novel "The Great Gatzby" in 3-D is set to be released.  A lot of movies have been coming out in 3-D for the last five years or so. This trend no doubt has much to do with the premium ticket price required to view a movie in three dimensions. Admittedly, I pay to see a lot of these movies, and to be honest, most movies which come out in 3-D are just as good in the traditional two dimensions. It could be argued that when a movie with little or no reason to be in 3-D, such as  the impending  "The Great Gatzby" is just a cynical ploy by Hollywood to make as much money as they can off of the moviegoing public.  In my opinion, only movies with a lot of action, chases or explosions are worth paying the premium cost for the alleged privilege of three dimensions. More often than not, it isn't worth the extra cost. I haven't decided yet whether I will see "Gatzby" in a movie theater, but if I do I certainly won't pay to see it in 3-D.

Poetry: "Coughin' Leads to Coffin"

Poetry:  "Coughin' Leads to Coffin"

       When you puff on a smoke
       Emphasema or Lung Cancer could happen to you, bloke
       You'll sicken others with second-hand smoke
       Where others are near
       And if you smoke long enough
       Perhaps you'll even die
       Ere some friends and loved ones
       Have a chance to say goodbye. ((tbc?)

Sci-Fi Bri's Television Picks

Sci-Fi Bri's Television Picks

        THere are a number of tv shows I watch or DVR religiously. Naturally, most of them are likely to be short-lived, cancelled or condemned by the pro-censorship Parents Television Council:

      "Deception"  A female FBI agent (Meagan Goode) goes undercover among a well-to-do family whose daughter has died under suspicious circumstances. The family are in the process of marketing a pharmaceutical which has killed a large number of test subjects, and such results have been hidden by hush money. It is possible that the daughter's disappearance may have been to silence her on this matter. Similar to   "Revenge", the show which precedes it combined with any number of undercover cop shows.  Also stars  Victor  "Alias"  Garber and  John  "Night Court"  Laroquette.

  "Zero Hour"  An editor of a magazine which debunks conspiracy theories (Anthony "E.R." Edwards) goes on a weekly enigmatic adventure involving Rosicrucian  metaphysical philosophy, Nazis, a ruthless assassin/kidnapper and numerology involving clocks after his clockmaker wife disappears. He chases a ruthless killer who may once have been a Nazi involving a secret message in an intricate clock which his wife has unwittingly discovered. the show is like a combination of  "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and  "the DaVinci Code". Unfortunately, this show was inexplicably dropped from the schedule after a mere three episodes. It is regrettable that crap like the Khardassians, "THe Jerry Springer Show",  "Maury" and similar shows keep going strong while cool shows like "Zero Hour" get cancelled too soon.

 "Red Widow"  THe daughter of a Russian mobster (Radha "Melynda and Melynda" Mitchell) reluctantly gets involved with the mob after her connected husband gets slain after an asssociate of his steals a large quantity of illicit drugs. Upon his death, the wife must pay off that death or else. She unwillingly must become a criminal to save herself and her family.

"Cult"  A show within a show about a cult favorite tv show about a charismatic cult leader (Robert "Prison Break"  Knepper) inspires rabid fans to mimic the horrible things he and his cult do in real life. The blogger/disgraced journalist brother  (Matthew "Vampire Diaries" Davis) of one such rabid devotee of the show who has disappeared discovers a mysterious conspiracy involving the show.

 "The Following"  A former FBI agent (Kevin "Footloose" Bacon) reluctantly becomes a consultant to the FEds on a case involving the Manson family-like followers of a serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) who has taught and is inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. One of the creepiest shows on television.