New episode up...

And here is the "Paranormal Goat" YouTube video we talked about during the show.

Adventures in Austin part two

One of the main reasons for my travel to Austin was to check out The Alamo Drafthouse.

The Drafthouse is a chain of theaters in Texas that are known for being unconventional. For starters they are a full service restaurant and they show movies... at the same time.

That alone is worth the price of going to Texas. But, they also show films that you might not be able to find anywhere else.

For instance, the night I arrived they were showing "Ghostbusters" in something they call a "Quote-a-long" where they encourage the audience to speak the lines along with the characters. Sort of like a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" late night showing, just for normal people.

But, the main attraction that was showing when I was available was "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Not just the movie though. There was live comedy with the movie. Think back to "Mystery Science Theater 3000," just without the robots and instead of outer space it's in Austin.

The live comedy track was done by the comedy troupe Master Pancake. And they do all sorts of shows every week.

I was very excited when I got to the theater and stood in line to get inside. Once they started letting people in we were led up a staircase into the theater. The theater looked almost like a normal theater, but with bar counters in front of each row of seats.

As I sat down I was treated to 45 minutes of trailers playing on the screen. And not just any trailers, but old school, foreign horror movies. Really creepy ones from Japan and Italy. Stuff that nightmares are made of. Near the start of the show the trailers took an odd turn with an old Halloween safety instruction video made by the Norfolk (I think) school district. It was super cheesy and went through all the Halloween problems like sticking together, not talking to strangers etc. So cheesy that it was extremely funny.

The screen went black then a warning came on screen. If you talked once, they would ask you to be quiet. Talk again and you get thrown out, no refund. That alone made my night. The warning ended with a creepy whisper of "Shut the F**** up!"

Master Pancake took the stage and talked a little about the film and talked about a drinking game for the film. At the same time the food that I had ordered had arrived, chicken tenders and fries. In a movie theater. Awesome.

The film experience was beyond great. The live comedy was hilarious and I was laughing almost non-stop throughout. I was even one of the only people in the audience to get a Tasha Yar joke.

Nerd pride right there.

I wanted to get a total experience out of the theater, so I ordered some popcorn and a orange cream shake halfway through the film. The popcorn came in a big metal bowl, which freaked me out a little bit. I am so used to either a paper bag or a paper bucket. Saves the environment at least.

Here are some more pictures of the night. And yes they didn't come out too well.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38594757175

http://www.drafthouse.com

Adventures in Austin part one

I had the unique opportunity to spend a few days in Austin, Texas last week. Ever since I got back I have been trying to put into words how to explain Austin.

"Interesting" comes to mind. I saw a lot of logos and slogans for the city that said "Keep Austin Weird" and nothing makes that clear more than Sixth Street.

My hotel was two blocks away from Sixth Street, which is said to be the music capital of the nation. I made sure to take several trips to the street to check it out and see what I could find.

Music, of course, is a big part of the area. But, not just one type. It was a mash up of all sorts of different music clubs in one (relatively) small area. Think of it like The Grammys being held in a clown car.

As I walked down Sixth Street I passed a club playing rock music, right next door was a place with country music. Directly across the street was a hip hop club and next to that a jazz club. One would think that would create this giant mess of combined musical sounds, but it works.

In between the clubs are hole-in-the-wall pizza places (I counted five) including a "Death Metal" pizza place blaring death metal music and looking very dark and scary. Even my super brave journalistic curiosity couldn't get me to go inside... or take a picture of it in business.

If you love live music, drinking a lot or maybe a nice mixture of both then Austin seems to be the best town to do it in.

It's like a dinner buffet of musical choices.

Box Office Monday

Halloween weekend is usually a time for horror films to rule the box office, however, with very few big releases opening, "Michael Jackson's This Is It" was able to grab the No. 1 spot with $21 million. Its current total stands at $33 million with $101 million worldwide,

This news has made Sony make the unsurprising announcement that the film will stay in theaters until the Thanksgiving weekend.

"Paranormal Activity" continued its Cinderella story with a strong $16.5 million second place showing. "Law Abiding Citizen," "Couples Retreat" and "Saw VI" rounded out the top five.

"Saw VI" has had the poorest showing of all the "Saw" movies, could it be that we've reached our torture porn limit.

The only other new release of the weekend was "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" which only brought in $462,000 on 68 screens. Its per screen average was just under $6,800 which tells me that the cult following of the first film is not rubbing off on the second.

New episode up

Coming up next week is Tim's look at the entertainment of Austin, TX. Including Sixth Street, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and Halloween in Austin.

Scream awards tonight

Here are some clips of the Scream awards, airing tonight at 10 p.m. on Spike TV. Video clips courtesy of Spike TV.

New day, new show

"Viewpoints On..." is no more.

Long live "Inscaped!"

Seriously though, for the past month we have been working on an update of "Viewpoints On..." to bring better quality and make it a part of the Inscaped brand. Now the show and the site are one big happy family.

We did this for two really good reasons.

First, about a month ago, we were approached with an idea to bring the show to television. Granted it is public access, but it is television none the less. Stephanie and I were beyond excited with this offer and after an informative meeting we accepted the deal. With the new show we not only get on TV, but upgrades in equipment and quality. Normally the show is done with just Stephanie, myself and a camera on a tripod.

With the new setup we are shooting in a professional studio with really nice cameras, a green screen and an executive producer (Emile Bradshaw) who handles all of the technical aspects of the show. These upgrades are a great thing for us and the show. Stephanie and I can now concentrate 100 percent on the creative aspects of the show and not have to worry too much about the tech side.

The new partnership has already brought forth some great ideas that either have been or will be made to the show very soon. Also a big thanks to Tony Rizo for the awesome Inscaped logo he designed for us.

And speaking of thanks, we would be horrible human beings if we didn't thank all the people who got "Viewpoints On..." to this point in history: Dan Segraves for being crazy enough to like my idea and help create it, Chris Wolf for co-hosting the first episode, Sandra Diaz for co-hosting the second episode and helping out with questions and segments, Corinne Love for "Corinn'ing out of control, Adrian Pascua for helping out behind the scenes and Chris Dietrich for filming a few episodes.

Inscaped Episode 01 from Viewpoints Online on Vimeo.

Worshipping at the church of U2

Going to a U2 concert is a spiritual experience.

Bono is your preacher, with his deacons The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullins. Together they take you on a roller coaster ride through anticipation, excitement and absolute bliss.

On Oct. 23 at Las Vegas's Sam Boyd Stadium I attended the church of U2 and all I can say is : Best. Concert. Ever.

The show was opened by The Black Eyed Peas who literally started the party with "Let's Get it Started" and had 50,000 people jumping up and down during "Pump It" and their show closer and latest chart-topper "I Gotta A Feeling."

Fergie took a couple minutes and had the crowd help her sing her hit "Big Girls Don't Cry" I have to say not only are The Black Eyed Peas an awesome live band but Fergie can really sing and now I have a bit of a girl crush.

After the Peas got the crowd ready and primed it was time for the main event and it was totally worth the wait.

Only U2 could put on a show that featured appearances by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and a Russian astronaut on the international space station.

One of the nicest moments of the show came when the band dedicated their song "Walk On" to wrongly arrested Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. As Bono sang Amnesty International volunteers appeared on stage holding masks of Kyi's face. As they surrounded the outside of the elaborate stage Bono said, "Let her face be our face."

My favorite moment of the night came when the band played my two favorite songs back to back. After they played "One," Bono sang "Amazing Grace" and segued into "Where the Streets Have No Name," a moment that can only be described as breathtaking.

U2 have been together for more than 30 years so at this point their sound is close to perfect. This was never more prevalent than when the band played "Until the End of the World." The tightness of their sound and their talent as musicians was on full display during the last few minutes of this classic.

I really can't say enough about how talented and somehow underrated The Edge is. Not only is he an awesome guitarist, but, his unique guitar playing has become the sound people associate with U2.

From the spectacular stage design to the awesome Black Eyed Peas to the awe-inspiring U2 this was without a doubt the best show I've ever been to and something I will remember and talk about for years.

Geek out!

Sometimes a picture shows how much I am geeking out at this second:

Yes, that's the A-team!

Five word review

*Check out my full review on the new episode being posted tomorrow evening.*

"Where the Wild Things Are" -

1. Beautiful

2. Amazing

3. Stunning

4. Funny

5. Heartwarming

Domo arigato 7-Eleven

With the weather warmed up, I thought to myself "A Slurpee sounds good right now."

Well, that and swimming in a nice, cool pool.

But, for those of us pool-challenged folk (or those with pools who are thirsty) there is a new promotion at 7-Eleven for Halloween surrounding the Japanese character of Domo.

For those not aware of Domo, he is a little brown monster with a wide open mouth with pointy teeth. Some might remember him as the mascot of Target's Halloween promotion last year.

Domo, who is the official mascot of the NHK television station in Japan, is pretty popular. In my trip to Tokyo in 2008 I saw plenty of examples of how much people love him. When walking into a few Riverside 7-Eleven stores, I noticed that Domo isn't hard to spot. He's on posters advertising everything from coffee to brownies to hot dogs.

But, it's the Domo Slurpees that are the main selling point. The flavor of the Domo Slurpee is "Fuji Frost," which is kind of funny considering the character of Domo has a strong dislike of apples.

The taste of the Domo Slurpee is good. It tastes like apples. It is sweet, but not overpowering. Think of it like the Baby Bear from "Goldilocks" of Slurpees... just right. There is a hint of an aftertaste that does stick with you a bit. Not necessarily a bad thing, but enough to think "Hmmm, interesting."

As part of the promotion the stores are also selling special Domo slurpee cups. The cups are $1.99 and come in three different designs. This might seem to be a little pricey, but the cups are made out of a durable plastic. I have a few from the "Terminator Salvation" promotion in May that are still good and have held up after dozens of dishwasher attacks. Plus, at 22 ounces, they are the perfect size for a regular drinking glass. If you don't mind serving killer machine or Japanese monster cups to guests.

For children (or curious anime loving adults) there are also special Domo straws for sale that come with four different Domo figurines; Hip-Hop Domo, Lucha Domo, candy obsessed Domo and headphones wearing Domo. Each straw is also $1.99. A unique feature of these straws is a plastic scoop at the bottom to help shovel that pesky last bit up Slurpee up.

And for the non-Slurpee loving crowd, 7-Eleven is also selling a small Domo coffee cup for 99 cents.

According to the 7-Eleven Web site, Domo is sticking around until Nov. 15 or while supplies last.

For more on Domo, check out http://www.domonation.com/.

Check out the Domo getting a brainfreeze from drinking Slurpees video, funny stuff.

Saying goodbye to a relationship

Breaking up is hard to do.

Breaking up with a television show seems to be a lot harder.

And sometimes more drama filled than a marathon of "Grey's Anatomy."

First a little background. It was around March of 2005, I was young and hopeful for the future. I met this wonderful television show named "The Office" and it was love at first sight.

I watched all the episodes, bought all the DVDs, played the horrible computer game and ransacked Target's dollar section of all its "Office" pens, papers and magnets.

It was a great relationship. I loved the show's sense of humor and even its kinder side like when Michael showed up to Pam's art show when no one else cared enough to.

And the show loved me watching. It got money out of me and got great word of mouth from me telling everyone how much I loved the show.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was all ready for our big date for the season premiere of the show. I was a little disappointed. It didn't really seem like the show cared anymore. It was reusing old plot points that I have seen before. And the sense of humor that I had grown to love was missing.

As the weeks passed and more episodes were watched I came to a horrific realization.

We were growing apart.

I stuck with it enough to get to Jim and Pam's wedding. That's when I realized I needed to make a change. Jim and Pam have always been the good people on the show. Against everyone else who are basically horrible human beings. But now Jim and Pam were just as bad... and it broke my heart.

At the 35 minute point of the one hour episode I turned the episode off. I then told my friends that I was no longer going to watch "The Office." And they reacted like normal people would, questioning my reasons.

Somehow it even got back to my mother. She kept asking me "Are you sure you're going to stop watching?" and "But you've been watching for so long!" She even cut out an article in the Press-Enterprise with Jim and Pam on it.

As if to point out what I'd be missing. I fear that there is an intervention in my near future.

But there are other fish in the sea of Thursday nights at 9 p.m. I've known "CSI" for a number of years. And that "Fringe" show has been sending me messages on Facebook.

New episode up...

'Buffy:' The Best Episodes

Since I wrote about "Angel" yesterday and I'm all about equality, today I will list my top five favorite episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

1. "Graduation Day: Part 2"-The third season finale gave fans everything they could want in an episode. A huge battle, classic Joss Whedon humor and a heart-wrenching goodbye. I still love watching it.
2. "Chosen"-Buffy leads her gang into one last battle, Willow becomes the witch she was meant to be and Spike saves the world. The ending a show of this caliber deserves.
3. "The Prom"-I know it may sound cheesy, but I get choked up when her classmates recognize Buffy for all she's done to keep them safe. It gives meaning to all she's sacrificed.
4. "Grave"-The season six finale was all about Allyson Hannigan as she effortlessly turned sweet Willow into Buffy's most dangerous foe. And there was the second plotline of Spike going through several trials to seemingly get the chip out of his head, but surprise it wasn't the chip he wanted out, it was his soul he wanted back. Just a fantastic hour of television.
5. "Innocence"-The audience's first meeting with Angelus was everlasting and made viewers sort of hope Buffy wouldn't succeed in turning him back, because everyone loves a bad boy.

Honorable Mentions: "Band Candy," "Becoming: Part 2" and "The Wish."

'Angel:' The Best Episodes

Every morning Tim and I have one conversation about the same topic. What episode of "Angel" almost made us late that day? Since the show is such a part of our daily lives, I've decided to compile a list of my top five favorite episodes.

1. "Smile Time"-Angel gets turned into a puppet, fights demonic puppets from hell and Wes and Fred finally get together. Comedy, romance, puppet fights; it's Joss Whedon at his best.
2. "Hero"-The stunning conclusion of this episode is what proves that Whedon is not like other writers. He is willing to break viewer's hearts to give them what they didn't know they wanted.
3. "Not Fade Away"-It is a rare series ending that can leave you satisfied and wanting more at the same time. This is accomplished by having all the major characters take part in huge battles while setting the scene for an even bigger fight.
4. "I Will Remember You"-This episode gives long time "Buffy" fans what they've always wanted, a Buffy/Angel reunion, but then cruelly snatches it away from them when the greater good must be served.
5. "Orpheus"-Anytime we get to see Angelus, it's a good episode. But here we not only get an inside view of Angel's constant inner struggle, but we also get some great Eliza Dushku fight scenes, so it's win-win.