Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Z Is for Zapped in the Heart by Cancellation: #SaveAlmostHuman!!

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I was all prepared to create a gif of me getting zapped by all the static electricity around here, until many sites began announcing the cancellation of my favorite TV show, Almost Human! True sci-fi shows are the only shows I truly love, and Almost Human was my absolute favorite. In fact, there have only been four shows in the past decade that I really truly cared about: Firefly (although, that's about a year outside the decade mark, so it's technically three), Stargate Universe, Fringe, and ALMOST HUMAN!! There have been others, such as Lost, that I really liked, but not many that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

So, please help me in saving my favorite show. There is a tweetout tonight, in about 15 minutes from the time I write this, but there will be more of those (details in an image below). There is also a petition to bring the show to SyFy, a Facebook page dedicated to saving the show, and a Facebook group of fans. Below, I'm also posting four gifs I had already created for past recaps. I didn't have time to search for clips to use, so these are the ones that best represent "zapping." Please enjoy them! I've also made them available on this Tumblr post.
This one best represents FOX's decision to cancel the show: utter disaster!

Ouch! This is kind of how I feel right now. Why have you done this to me, FOX?

Is this what the fans are to FOX? Just an MX that doesn't matter?

We need to be like Dorian and zap back the controls on our show!
#Zapped:
#Zap:
#Zephyr:
My families first big TV was a #Zenith. It was huge because that was before flat screens!
#Zulu:
My "Z" for last year was "#Zany #Zzyzx #Zoning":

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Y is for Yellow (and YAY!!)

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Yellow is a special color around here for two reasons: it is my mother's favorite color, and it is the one color dogs can really see. I am not a big fan of yellow when it comes to buying things for myself, but I'm a huge fan of yellow in nature, mainly because my mother loves to garden, and loves the color so much. It makes me happy to think that she would love to see a specific yellow flower, and so I usually snap a photo and send it to her.

Did you know that dogs are mostly color blind? The one color they can see best is the color yellow, and Lulu really does seem to love it! I pulled out three of her favorite yellow toys for this gif. They all make various squeaky noises, with the chicken making the most amusing noise. Whenever she has a choice, Lulu always goes for the large greenish-yellow tennis ball. It has just the right feel, like a tennis ball, it's big enough that she can't choke on it, plus it actually squeaks! She loves it!
I have also made this gif available on this Tumblr post.
YAY!! I love to say yay, because it means I'm happy happy joy joy happy!!
Yes:
Yesterday. As with T, if yesterday had been for the letter "T," this would be recursive! That's because yesterday would be tomorrow, but tomorrow (today) is yesterday! Wait... what did I just say?
My Y for last year was "#Yellow #Yarrow #Yard":

'Person of Interest' 3x20 'Death Benefit' GifTweetCap: Machine vs. Samaritan

I've also made the following figs available on this Tumblr post. "Death Benefit" continues from where last week's Person of Interest left off, with Northern Lights (i.e. The Machine) has become public knowledge (for the most part), and Control has "shut it down" with a phone call. In this episode, the Machine basically goes publicly offline, and attempts to use our gang to save "herself."
The episode begins with Reese (Jim Caviezel) turning the bad guys on each other, then beating them both up and calling Fusco to take care of them. Another couple of irrelevants saved... from each other!
But the Machine still has to handle relevant numbers. That's what Root (Amy Acker) is for, now that Control is out of the picture! Root rides up on a motorcycle to take Shaw (Sarah Shahi) up to Alaska to handle a relevant. The two biker babes ride off, leaving Reese and Finch (Michael Emerson) on their own.
The next number is U.S. Senator Roger McCourt (John Heard). Reese decides to shoot at him so he'll know he's in danger, and can step in as one of his secret service agents by stealing the identity of a real agent.
Meanwhile, Old Man Decima -- Greer (John Nolan) -- gets hold of Senator Ross H. Garrison (John Doman), the congressman who had been working with Northern Lights, and tries to convince him that Samaritan is a better Machine because it will find anyone and do as it's told.
Reese spots someone spying on McCourt. The spy takes off after eying Reese, so Reese feeds Finch his license plate. As he does this, he gets sexually harassed by McCourt.
Later, Shaw and Root enjoy drinks in Miami after a job well done beating up militia in Anchorage.
Root takes off for more relevant duties, leaving Shaw to figure out her next job. Then we see that they had just completed a second job in Miami, leaving a trail of sore saps in their wake.
Reese faces more sexual harassment when he breaks into the senator’s office after hearing sounds of distress. Oops! McCourt is just having sex and being a pig.
But then Decima breaks up the party, and Reese has to shoot out a few kneecaps and kidnap the congressman. They can't seem to hide, and Reese learns why: Decima had put a tracker on McCourt's flag lapel pin. Reese throws it away, and Shaw comes to the rescue.
They hit a roadblock when driving away, so the gang pulls McCourt and one of the Decima agents they've captured into a house on a side street. The owners are on vacation.
In questioning McCourt and their captive, they realize that Decima is trying to protect McCourt, not kill him. Finch had mentioned that McCourt has the power to set Samaritan in motion. Reese says this all means that the Machine wants them to kill McCourt!
McCourt may be a dirty pig who takes bribes, but Finch is not prepared to kill someone. He tries to explain to McCourt that Samaritan will get many people killed, but he doesn't want to believe it. He has convinced himself that it's just one of those things that people freak about at first, but then they settle into it, and it will protect them. Plus, he'll make some money off the deal, because he was bribed into it.
Reese and Shaw both want to off McCourt if it means saving the Machine (and themselves), but Finch would rather leave the group than kill anyone. They let him live, but now they are on the run from the authorities. To make matters worse, Shaw gets shot in the leg.
Old Man Wrinkly goes right to work, having McCourt call Senator Garrison to tell him that he'll get Samaritan passed through congress. Garrison OKs a beta test right away, limited to New York for 24 hours. But that's all Decima needs to find their first target: Harold Finch!

Monday, April 28, 2014

X is for 'X-Files' (and Xylophone)

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X-Files was one of the best sci-fi series of all time. Heck, even a few sci-fi haters I know loved it! Sci-fi fanatics such as myself loved the extreme sci-fi aspects of the show, but it also introduced a relationship aspect that everyone could enjoy. Mulder and Scully were one of the best partnerships of any TV series, whether science fiction or not. The fact that Scully thought Mulder was nuts most of the time also helped the less sci/fantasy inclined viewers relate to the show.
I have also made this gif available on this Tumblr post.
I used to love playing with my toy #Xylophone as a kid. Here are some grown-up xylophones:
#Xanadu:
My "X" for last year was "'#X-Files' #XXVI: #X":

Saturday, April 26, 2014

W is for Wind (and Weeping Angels)

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Wind is prevalent in the high desert of California. I did most of my growing up there, during my teen years. In fact, I'm there at this moment, at my parents' house, doing my work and blogging from home. The wind was very strong yesterday, and especially last night. It has died down considerably today, which is why I was able to capture it on a gif. Although not as strong as earlier, you can see how my video slowly tilts, as I tilt to the wind. I also put on a neat filter, which was actually just a way to make the file smaller while keeping the length and pixel size.
I have also made this gif available on this Tumblr post.
The #WeepingAngels are my favorite Doctor Who creatures. Those things are creepy!
#War:
#Wriggle:
#Wiggle:
My "W" for last year was "#Wacky #Wheat #Widens #Waistlines":

Friday, April 25, 2014

V is for Vacuuming (and Vaping)

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Vacuuming never ends when you have lots of pets. I was actually going to write about vaping, but it turns out my dad has completely quit all forms of "smoking," so I waited to see him for no reason. Oh well. Vacuuming is even easier to gif because it happens so often around here. My dog is the biggest culprit because she likes to grab a bite of food, then carry it to the other room. She prefers tiny bites, and ends up leaving little bits of stuff everywhere. Her daintiness is so cute when I don't have to clean it up!
I have also made this gif available on this Tumblr post.
#Vaping:
I tried the new #V, and it was so horrible compared to the original. Well, the original was pretty cheesy too, but in a good way.
#Vicious:
#Vellum is a wonderful thing when doing crafts:
#Voluminous:
#Voltaire:
My "V" for last year was "#Very #Vehement #Vagrants":

Thursday, April 24, 2014

U is for 'Under the Dome' (Which is Unnerving)

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Under the Dome has become a fun part of my TV viewing. It is based on a Stephen King novel by the same name. I have to admit that I used to "hate-watch" the show. In other words, it was so hilariously bad that it was enjoyable to watch. I would just sit and watch it with my family, and we would joke about how bad it was. Then it actually got pretty good. The story is becoming really interesting, and I'm actually enjoying it. It also differs from the book quite a bit, which is a good thing.

Don't get me wrong. The show still has problems, and I tend to half-watch it while doing other work. The children are the best actors on the show, and some of the characters are so stupid, it's ridiculous to believe they would actually live as long as they have. Others are so horrible that you actually hate them and want them to die badly (and soon) rather than love to hate them. I guess in some sense, I still "hate-watch." I'm just beginning to enjoy parts of the story.
This is the first episode, when the invisible dome first comes down, creating havoc
The Season 2 premiere airs Monday, June 30, at 10 p.m.
I also made the gif available on this Tumblr post.
#Understanding:
#Udon:
My "U" for last year was "#Ugly #Urban #Utilities":

'Elementary' 2x20 'No Lack of Void' Gif-Tweet-Cap: Sherlock Hallucinates His Feelings

The following gifs can be found on this Tumblr post. The “No Lack of Void” episode of Elementary was entirely ordinary and boring when it came to the main plot line. What was going on in Sherlock’s (Jonny Lee Miller) life was much more interesting. This always seems to be the case. It is the rare episode that is fantastic on both fronts, and those are usually premieres, finales, and sweeps.

The episode begins with Sherlock practicing his Derry Irish accent using a recording sent from his good buddy Allistair (Roger Rees).
Later, Watson (Lucy Liu) is called into a holding cell, to check on Apollo Mercer (Brandon Espinoza), a pickpocket who appears to have passed out. He's actually dead, and it looks like Anthrax!
Mercer stole the Anthrax from a man named Charlie Simon, thinking it was drugs. They find his Anthrax lab in a storage locker, but he's dead inside with empty containers that had held 40 pounds worth of Anthrax. It's enough to infect half a million people.
Meanwhile, Sherlock has been holding in his feelings about something, and reveals to Watson that Allistair is dead. He visits Allistair's partner Ian (Ron Raines), and seems suspicious about the death. Allistair was supposedly in good health, and Sherlock seems to think that Allistair's son Jeremy (Dennis Flanagan) is responsible.
Sherlock loses it a bit over held in emotions, seeing hallucinations of Allistair, then becoming careless in the Anthrax case. As such, he winds up getting caught in a truck full of Anthrax, fighting off some bad guys, and getting the stuff all over his face. Now he's got even more to freak out about.
Luckily, he finds that the Anthrax is fake after tasting it. The men who had the fake stuff, however, believed that it was real, and were planning on sending it to government officials. The real stuff is still out there.
They find the prints of a man named Eugene, who is part of a group called the Sovreign Army. They speak with his brother Bart (Garret Dillahunt), but Bart says he hasn't seen him, and that Eugene is crazy. But later, the brothers get into a fight, and Eugene is shot dead. Bart claims that he was forced to kill shoot when Eugene threatened to poison people with Anthrax through milk, by poisoning all of Eugene's cows.
Sherlock still can't get over his emotions, and gets snippy with Watson while arguing about the case. He eventually has enough of the whole thing, and throws a plate on the ground like a child.
Watson throws a plate as well, pointing out that throwing things doesn't solve anything.
Watson then throws out all the milk after her mother freaks out about the possibility of Anthrax-tainted milk. But this gives Sherlock an idea.
Sherlock realizes that Eugene probably just wanted to kill the cows. They would have died before producing milk anyway, and they were insured for 2.5 million dollars. Both brothers would have profited, but Bart wanted it all for himself.
Later, Watson finds that Allistair went back to using drugs, and died of a heroine overdose. Sherlock blaims Jeremy for not speaking with Allistair. He just can't make sense of Allistair overdosing after three decades sober, and after being the one to help Sherlock get sober. Later, Sherlock finally releases a few tears while speaking with Allistair in his mind as he stands over Allistair's grave.