A Very Merry Muppet Christmas (AVMMC) was a made for TV movie that aired on NBC in 2002, and is terrible. When you read this article don’t misunderstand and think I am recommending watching AVMMC or not watching The Muppets. I really feel quite the opposite. However when watching this I found a surprising number of similarities between it and the new movie. I am not accusing Jason Segel of ripping off this horrible TV movie. He would be better off never watching this unless using it as an example of what not to do. Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen either movie.

1. The main story is about losing the theater if they don’t put on a show.
   In both these movies there is a greedy evil corporate CEO that wants to take over the Muppet Theater if they cannot raise enough money by a certain time. The only way for the Muppets to raise the money is to put on a show!

2. Kermit doubting if they are going to make it.
   In both of these movies Kermit doubts himself and whether they are going to be able to make it. In AVMMC he takes it to a ridiculous extreme. When it seems like all is lost Kermit wanders out into a snowstorm and sits down to wait to die.

3. Both comment on the meanness of current television
   In The Muppets no one wants to put them on air because they aren’t as edgy as newer shows that are just downright mean. And I have to agree, there isn’t a lot of feel good comedy on TV right now. However, on AVMMC during an “It’s a Wonderful Life” sequence Kermit sees that if he was never born Rizzo would have to be on a negative show like Fear Factor. On a sidenote I think that it is great that on NBC when they show how bad the world is, they use their own show as an example.

4. In the end Kermit realizes it’s not the theater that is important, as long as they have each other.
   In both movies they don’t get the money in time and lose the theater. But then they realize that it’s not the place that is important as long as they have each other.

5. Both use a goofy human guy as a framing device.
   Both movies have a human who gets the story going and helps out the Muppets. In the new movie it is Jason Segel and in AVMMC it is David Arquette.

6. Both have chickens singing a popular song.
   In AVMMC a group of chickens cluck to one of the songs from Moulin Rouge and in the new one they do Cee-Lo Green’s “Forget You”.

7. Whoopi Goldburg.

Resurrection Man
What I think is going on: Every time this guy dies he comes back to life with a new super power somehow tied to how he died.
Will I keep reading it: Yes, I liked this one a lot.

Savage Hawkman
What I think is going on: A guy doesn’t want to be Hawkman and burns his armor. The armor is like “screw you, I’m going to make you Hawkman even harder”
Will I keep reading it: No. Not very interesting.

Static Shock
What I think is going on: I’ve heard this is supposed to be the DC version of Spider-Man
Will I keep reading it: No. I don’t really understand his powers.

Stormwatch
What I think is going on: Martian Manhunter and a couple other guys form like a space Justice League.
Will I keep reading it: Yes. I read that Apollo and Midnighter were brought in from another comic label and I want to see where they go with it.

Suicide Squad
What I think is going on: The first rule of this terrible Thunderbolts knockoff is that you don’t talk about this terrible Thunderbolts knockoff.
Will I keep reading it: No, even though it does have Harley Quinn.

Superboy
What I think is going on: They’ve grown a Superman clone in a tube who totally strolls by people in danger.
Will I keep reading it: Yes. It was a good introduction issue.

Supergirl
What I think is going on: Supergirl arrives to Earth.
Will I keep reading it: Yeah. I need to read a few more issues before I can pass judgement.

Superman
What I think is going on: Superman fights a fire monster for short periods of time in between boring dialogue.
Will I keep reading it: No. Every time I started to get into the action the page would turn and there would be a dense piece of dialogue with Lois at the Daily Planet. If I want to read about Superman I’ll stick with Action Comics instead.

Swamp Thing
What I think is going on: A guy is Swamp Thing or something, I don’t remember a lot.
Will I keep reading it: No. I’ve always heard how great Swamp Thing is but this comic was boring.

Teen Titans
What I think is going on: Teenage superheroes are being hunted.
Will I keep reading it: Yes, this was one of my favorite ones. I loved that Kid Flash tries to stop a fire and ends up making it worse. I also like that there are 4 different Robins now so it makes sense that 2 could be in teams. Contrast that with Marvel where there is 1 Wolverine but he is in a dozen different teams.

Voodoo
What I think is going on: Aliens travel millions of miles to work in our strip clubs.
Will I keep reading it: No. Not even pages and pages of near nudity can trick me into reading.

Wonder Woman
What I think is going on: Wonder Woman is part of Greek mythology now?
Will I keep reading it: Nope. I’ve never been a fan of Wonder Woman.

That’s it for my reviews. Here are my final results:

Comics I’ll definitely keep reading: Action Comics, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Green Lantern New Guardians, Justice League Dark, Justice League, Nightwing, Resurrection Man, Stormwatch, Superboy, Supergirl, Teen Titans

Justice League International
What I think is going on: This is like the B squad of the Justice League.
Will I keep reading it: Probably not. I like team books but this one didn’t hook me.

Justice League
What I think is going on: In a flashback, Batman and Green Lantern are investigating this “Superman” guy.
Will I keep reading it: Yeah. I see they are going to drag out this origin of the JL but I’ll stick with it.

Legion Lost
What I think is going on: Total incomprehensible crap.
Will I keep reading it: Definitely not. They didn’t put any effort into introducing this team or these characters.

Legion of Super Heroes
What I think is going on: A super hero team of the future with like a million members.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe. I like the idea of a comic that takes place in the future. But I need to reread the first one to take in all the information.

Men of War
What I think is going on: Army guys go on missions in a world where Superman could stop all conflicts if he wanted to.
Will I keep reading it: No. I’m not a fan of army comics in general.

Mister Terrific
What I think is going on: Is this guy like Magneto? They didn’t really explain how his powers work.
Will I keep reading it: Probably not. It had some interesting moments but wasn’t as good as other titles.

Nightwing
What I think is going on: Dick Grayson took over as Batman for awhile but now he is back to Nightwing.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe, I like the character.

OMAC
What I think is going on: A computer nerd gets transformed into a mohawk sporting Hulk.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe. This issue left me wanting to know more.

Red Hood and the Outlaws
What I think is going on: Another former Robin goes by Red Hood and is putting a new team together.
Will I keep reading it: No. Starfire is a slut and not at all like the cartoon version.

Red Lanterns
What I think is going on: So Red Lanterns are like Green Lanterns, but angry and pointless.
Will I keep reading it: Nah. I would like a first issue to give you some hint to what the title normally be like. And I didn’t get that.

Stay tuned for more reviews!

Frankenstein Agent of SHADE
What I think is going on: Frankenstein and some monsters form a super hero team.
Will I keep reading it: Probably not, but it is pretty fun.

Fury of the Firestorm
What I think is going on: Two guys who don’t like each other get the same powers and can combine to form a fiery Hulk.
Will I keep reading it: No. Seeing the bad guys kill a little boy and his family turned me off from the start.

Green Arrow
What I think is going on: Green Arrow is more like how the character was on Smallville and doesn’t have terrible facial hair.
Will I keep reading it: I think so. I liked this book.

Green Lantern
What I think is going on: I know almost nothing about Green Lantern and didn’t see the new movie. Hal doesn’t have a ring anymore but Sinestro does.
Will I keep reading it: Yes. I like that a bad guy is now a Green Lantern and this issue left me wanting more.

Green Lantern Corps
What I think is going on: 2 other Green Lanterns are trying to find day jobs. I thought each Lantern was for a specific sector. If so why are so many humans?
Will I keep reading it: No. I liked the other Lantern books better.

Green Lantern New Guardians
What I think is going on: Now another human is becoming a Lantern. In fact he gets 1 ring of each color.
Will I keep reading it: Yes. I want to see what happens with this guy getting all these rings at once.

Grifter
What I think is going on: Sawyer from Lost is being chased by weird monsters.
Will I keep reading it: Nope.

Hawk and Dove
What I think is going on: A guy who is stupid and angry is forced to team up with a girl.
Will I keep reading it: No. I have the entire first run of X-Force so can’t take any more Rob Leifield.

I, Vampire
What I think is going on: Some vampires (or werewolves, I can’t even tell) alternate between being emo and standing over dead bodies.
Will I keep reading it: No. This could be the fatigue of reading all these #1s setting in but I had no interest in this comic.

Justice League Dark
What I think is going on: The regular Justice League falls apart whenever magic is involved. So they have to bring in a new team.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe. I like Zatanna and John Constantine.

Stay tuned for more reviews!

Birds of Prey
What I think is going on: Black Canary and a couple other girls form a chick super hero team.
Will I keep reading it: Probably not, it wasn’t bad, but not really great.

Blackhawks
What I think is going on: A bunch of boring generic fighters go on a boring generic adventure.
Will I keep reading it: Nope.

Blue Beetle
What I think is going on: It’s not easy being a latino teenager going to a latino high school and you have to deal with all your latino problems in an overly latino way. Did I mention that the hero in this comic is latino? Because they beat you over the head with it.
Will I keep reading it: No. I enjoyed this comic less than the Smallville episode that had Blue Beetle.

Captain Atom
What I think is going on: If you give Dr. Manhattan his own comic book it is really boring.
Will I keep reading it: Nah I’ll just use this first issue if I ever have trouble sleeping.

Catwoman
What I think is going on: Batman/Catwoman fan fiction is being published now.
Will I keep reading it: No. I was never a fan of Catwoman before and this didn’t change my mind.

DC Universe Presents
What I think is going on: Deadman is like a depressing version of Quantum Leap.
Will I keep reading it: No, they spend the whole episode talking about how Deadman has to possess people to help them without actually showing him do it.

Deathstroke
What I think is going on: Deathstroke is like the unfunny, unenjoyable version of Deadpool.
Will I keep reading it: Nope.

Demon Knights
What I think is going on: It’s like D&D without having to be in a dimly lit basement.
Will I keep reading it: This is a maybe, it was a pretty good book.

Detective Comics
What I think is going on: The Joker stars in a remake of the 1997 movie Face Off.
Will I keep reading it: I kinda want to see how this first story plays out. but after that probably not.

Flash
What I think is going on: The Flash is a guy who can run really fast.
Will I keep reading it: I think so. There were a couple of action scenes where I don’t know what exactly is happening. But I like the character.

Stay tuned for more reviews!

Action Comics
What I think is going on: This is Superman in his early days I guess. I don’t really understand the jeans and cape look.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe, I liked this one better than the other Superman book.

All Star Western
What I think is going on: Jonah Hex and Arkham solve murders in old timey Gotham.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe, I do like Westerns and this one ties in to Batman in a way.

Animal Man
What I think is going on: There’s a guy like Mickey Rourke that has animal powers. Some weird stuff happened at the end.
Will I keep reading it: Probably not. It didn’t really hook me.

Aquaman
What I think is going on: Aquaman is finally aware of how much he gets made fun of on Family Guy.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe, it was better than I thought an Aquaman book would be.

Batgirl
What I think is going on: Even though I haven’t read any DC comics I did know that Barbara Gordon was shot and paralyzed. In this comic she can walk again and they don’t explain why. Also someone at the end freaks out for a reason that makes no sense.
Will I keep reading it: Probably not.

Batman
What I think is going on: Batman and the 3 former Robins kick lots of ass.
Will I keep reading it: Probably. This was one of the best comics out of the new 52.

Batman and Robin
What I think is going on: This one focuses on Batman and his son. What I liked was that Batman said he was finally going to move on and stop crying over his dead parents.
Will I keep reading it: Maybe not if I am already reading the regular Batman book.

Batman the Dark Knight
What I think is going on: It’s like they took the same story from the regular Batman #1 and made it crappier.
Will I keep reading it: Nope, this one blew.

Batwing
What I think is going on: This is Batman in Africa. He has a whole bunch of different problems.
Will I keep reading it: Not sure on this one, it was kinda interesting but didn’t blow me away.

Batwoman
What I think is going on: I have absolutely no idea. I don’t know anything about this character and this issue did a terrible job of introducing her.
Will I keep reading it: Definitely not.

Stay tuned next time when I review the next 10 comics.

There was a second back room that had more games and Steve was teaching classes on Donkey Kong. Even through the classes were sold out some people didn’t show up and Goz and I got the last 2 seats. Steve went through each one of the Donkey Kong screens and gave basic strategies for completing the screens as well as tricks to rack up extra points. He did some Q&A as well which was pretty interesting.

Then it was time for the record attempts to start. Earlier in the week Steve’s previous world record was beaten by someone else so there was more on the line in attempting to reclaim his crown. When the first attempt started the place was packed. It was standing room only and they had video projected on the walls for everyone to watch. Lots of people came through not really knowing what was going on. After about an hour people started to leave. I guess watching someone jump over barrels that long isn’t exciting to most people. A couple of hours in Steve was on level 19 out of 21 and got game over. By that time it was after 6pm and Goz and I were ready to go home. I found out later Steve’s other attempts didn’t get as far as that first one. Goz and I arrived home around 1:30 am. It was a long day.

Overall it was a pretty good time. I am glad we got into the Q&A or else the trip might not have been worth it. Also, there was a crew there filming a new documentary (King of Kong 2?). So when that comes out you might see us in the background.

Hipsters!!!

Ok, so let’s look at popular forms of exercise. You’ve got sit-ups, push-ups, running, biking, etc. Most people don’t like doing these things and that is part of the reason the U.S. is so obese. But then, wait a minute, the Wii is released and now games like Wii Fit, Biggest Loser and EA Active are supposed to solve all our weight loss problems. However if you start up any of these “games” all they do are push-ups, sit-ups and yoga poses, the very same activities we already hate doing! The only difference between doing a push-up by yourself and doing a push-up in Wii Fit is having someone to count for you. It’s like these games are trying to make exercise fun… by making it exactly like the exercise you already hate to do.

The thing is, I believe a very successful weight loss game could be made, as long as they focus more on the game aspect. Dance Dance Revolution is probably the best weight loss game made so far. It is a fun game, but also you have to be in pretty good shape to be able to do the hard songs. The new Dance Central on the Kinect might also be a contender but I would have to play it some more. They wouldn’t even have to be music based games, why not make a game like Warioware where you have to quickly do different moves. Make a game where I have to do some physical activity and then give me a score. That way I have something to beat the next time I play. I think there is a huge potential out there in fitness based games as soon as someone figures out how to really make fitness fun.

In the present: Michael trades the gang for Walt and the button doesn’t get pressed. Flashback: We find out the hatch prevents an electro magnetism build up and there is a fail safe.

The big reveal in this episode is that Desmond was responsible for crashing Oceanic 815. The hatch blows up, but it blows up in a “not actually harmful to anyone” sort of way. Then at the end there is a cool scene with a base in Antarctica that detects the island and tells Penny about it. Now on to Season 3!

On the island: Things are building towards a big battle with The Others. Off the island: Desmond gets a boat from Libby so he can sale around the world and piss off Penny’s dad.

This is the first part of the season finale. Michael is leading the main characters into a trap, Locke and Eko are fighting over a button and Sayid, Sun and Jin are sailing around the island. In the flashbacks I forgot that Libby had been married before and that her husband had a boat. Ah yes we also see the 4 toed statue. We never did get an answer on why it only had 4 toes. We also see Kelvin in the hatch when Desmond crashed there. Kelvin was the army guy in Sayid’s back story.