Rambling in the morning, so you don't have too...

It's yet another Monday morning, and I love the Lego Asgard ship that someone slapped together and then decided they wished to sell.

Now, if only the beloved wife would allow me to put something that big into my living room. Despite her understanding nature, I doubt I could slip it past her. Plus, I have no doubt that my two munchkins would be more than happy in dismantling it.

Regardless, this past week has been a busy one for SF announcements.

First among these, is the announcement that Warner Brothers and Fox have reached an agreement in regards to WB's Watchmen movie. Which means we will get to see the wonders of this movie on the Big Screen come March 6. And yes, my beloved, that is a less-than-subtle hint that we will be going forth to see this movie. For the record, the following are the movies that I feel I must see at the theater in 2009:

• Watchmen
• Star Trek
• Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
• Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
• Avatar

Not a bad list by any means. Regardless, the second announcment concerns the nominations for the, I guess coveted is the term, Philip K. Dick award. This year's nominees are:

• Emissaries From the Dead by Adam-Troy Castro
• Endgame by Kristine Smith
• Fast Forward 2 edited by Lou Anders
• Judge by Karen Traviss
• Terminal Mind by David Walton
• Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait by K. A. Bedford

Sadly, I'm about to show how little I know about SF books, as I haven't heard of a single one of those. In fact, the only author I recognize on the list is Karen Traviss. I find that oddly, sad somehow.

Now, in the "this is sad" category, this year, the Twilight series has outpaced the Harry Potter series in total sales in books. Which does make a bit of sense, as the last Harry Potter novel came out in 2007 while the last of the Twilight novels came out just a few months ago. That said, having read both series, I still find it disturbing that the one beats the other.

But, something interesting has happened in an effort to get geeks to watch the Superbowl. Apparently, the powers that be have determined that the Superbowl is the perfect place to pitch geek movies such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek and conceivably the Watchmen. Which is something of an odd choice to me, as if not for those previews, I would not have any interest in watching TV that particular Sunday evening. Additionally, if I hadn't heard about it, I wouldn't known to watch. Ultimately though, I know myself well enough that I probably won't watch that night, waiting instead for the trailers to appear online to see them.

On the collecting side of things, and since I can't seem to go a week without bringing up Star Wars, the Official Site has released mock-ups for their new products to tie into season 2 of the cartoon.

I actually like these things. They are bright and colorful and display the character art front and center. I actually think I like them better than the the first set, which was the blue boxes with a giant Clone helmet on the front.

Additionally, the bright, colorful boxes is appropriate for what has essentially become a cartoon franchise. So I'm all sorts of good there, and surprisingly, the cartoon has been well-done.

At least both myself and my children have been enjoying the episodes recently.

Which means one needs to make special note that Jedi Secura made her small-screen debut in last Friday's episode, and she's French. An odd choice for her accent if you ask me, especially since all the Jedi were raised on the same planet. Ah, well, what can one expect of TV after all.

And while we're on the subject of SF on TV, Fox is up to its usual antics in regards to genre television. The start off episode for Ron Moore's Virtuality, has apparently been recut from a two-hour long movie, to a one-hour long episode. But what really gets me is the quote by Kevin Reilly, the Fox Network President, in regards to this:

It could air as-is, and a certain segment of the audience would flip for it. But it's a little dense.

Which of course one translates into: Well, it's finished as per Ron Moore's instructions, but we think the American population is either too dumb to understand it, or we still have SF shows.

Why creators continue taking genre shows to Fox is beyond me. Sure, their network was built on the back of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the X-Files, but every other genre show since then has been routinely squashed and tortured to the point where no one is able to watch it, if they even decide to air the thing in the first place.

Now, all this good SF-ness aside, my eldest startled me in his pronouncements the other day. To be clear, I'm a firm believer in hunting, fishing and other such woodsy things. It was a big part in how I grew up.

Now, we were driving the other day, and my boy speaks up, and says, "I want to go to the woods."

I was startled, but pleasantly surprised, as I have always enjoyed a hike through woods. Then my wife asked him just what he planned on doing in the woods.

To which he replied, "Shoot a deer."

My wife's mouth drops open as I try my best to not burst out laughing; as I'm not certain if he has picked up on my personal feelings regarding hunting or if it's just the fact that we live in the middle of Mississippi that he came up with this.

After a few heartbeats, my wife poses another question to him: "What would you do with the deer after you've shot it?"

My son then sighs, as if my wife had asked him the most obvious thing in the world, an in an exasperated voice responded, "Cook it!"

At which point I could no longer not laugh; that's my boy.