Desktop Girl of the Week: Amanda Bynes

10 days ago, actress Amanda Bynes announced her "retirement" on her Twitter account. Now, there are two ways to look at this. On the one hand, it's pretty impressive that Bynes has been so successful that she can afford to give up her career and her primary source of income. On the other hand, it's kind of sad that she is so disillusioned by acting (and if you read her tweets, that's clearly what led to her announcement) that she wants to give it up at the young age of 24.

But, either way, for now Bynes is retired, which means now's as good as time as any to spotlight her as the Desktop Girl of the Week.

For those unfamiliar with Bynes, she got her start on the Nickelodeon sketch show "All That" (the same show that launched the careers of Kenan Thompson, Nick Cannon and Jamie Lynn Spears) and eventually earned her own spinoff, "The Amanda Show". That led to the sitcom "What I Like About You", where Bynes co-starred with Jennie Garth. The show wasn't great, but was relatively successful for a WB sitcom.

During the run of "What I Like About You", Bynes starred in a number of formulaic teen romantic comedies, which have varying levels of re-watchability (and it's easy to see how constantly being offered roles like these could have left Bynes wanting to leave the industry). Her last major movie role was a co-starring role in the 2007 movie adaptation of "Hairspray", though she did a pair of TV movies.

If Bynes keeps to her retirement plans -- and at this point, that seems highly unlikely -- her last movie project will be "Easy A", which is described as a modern adaptation of "The Scarlet Letter", set in a high school (yes, the 24-year-old Bynes is still playing high schoolers). Bynes has a supporting role (and based on early buzz, it sounds eerily similar to Mandy Moore's role in "Saved"), but the trailer actually makes me really want to see the movie. Maybe it won't be her swan song after all.

• Amanda Bynes on IMDB
• Follow Amanda Bynes on Twitter
• Watch the "Easy A" Trailer

As always with DGOW, I’ll provide a widescreen (1680x1050) image for downloading. If you want to see past DGOW, then just check the archive album.

Jersey Monday: Deion Sanders (Redskins)

And so we come to the last of my Deion Sanders football jerseys (no, I never got one of his Ravens jerseys, and I truly doubt I ever will): the Washington Redskins.

This should be one of my favorite jerseys. I mean, Deion was my favorite player, and the Redskins are my favorite team. But the problem is that this jersey represents everything that's been wrong with the Redskins for much of the past decade. They've gone out and spent money on stars who were past their prime, which has resulted in the franchise winning exactly one playoff game in the last 10 years.

Deion was only a Redskin for one season, 2000, during which Washington went 8-8. Deion's "highlight" as a Redskin was a 57-yard punt return on which he failed to reach the end zone, but set up a game-winning field goal in overtime. Deion finished the year with four interceptions, and failed to make the Pro Bowl in a full season for the first time since 1990 (he also didn't make the Pro Bowl in 1995, but only played 9 games that season).

After the season, Deion "retired", which continued a sad run of me buying Redskins jerseys only to have the player leave the team within a year of purchase (a streak that finally broke a couple years back when I got my Clinton Portis jersey). Deion's departure also freed up the number 21 for use by much more worthy players.

Jersey Monday will continue every Monday until I run out of jerseys to spotlight. And since I’ve got more than 150 of them, that could be awhile. This is the final entry in the Deion Sanders collection.

In Defense of Dawn Summers: A Character Exploration

When you watch an entire television series alone, years after it originally aired, you sometimes end up with a different view of the series than those who watched it all along. Never was that more evident to me than last Saturday, when at Slay-a-Thon, I witnessed first hand the vitriol toward Michelle Trachtenberg's Dawn. Now, I knew that Dawn wasn't a popular character, but everyone at the event except for me was more than happy to boo her or tell her to shut up every time she spoke. And I think it's unfair.

Now, I'm not saying Dawn is one of my favorite characters, or even in my top 10, but I think the hatred for her is unfair, and shows a misunderstanding of the character.

DAWN'S INTRODUCTION

For the first four seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", the cast was relatively stable, and the comings and goings of characters happened in a natural way that allowed the viewers to welcome new characters in slowly. Then, suddenly, at the very end of the first episode of the fifth season, we were introduced to Dawn. Not only did she come out of nowhere, but we were made to believe that all the other characters already knew her, which made things even harder to accept. She wasn't Buffy's sister who'd been living in LA with her dad, or Buffy's cousin who moved from the east coast, she was Buffy's sister who'd been there all along and knew Buffy was The Slayer and had a crush on Xander and… well, you get the point. It made no sense, and wouldn't make sense until "No Place Like Home", which aired a month after Dawn debuted. That was an entire month for fans to hate her before getting to know her (I, meanwhile, blew through those episodes in about three days, so rather than growing to hate Dawn, I was blown away by the revelation of her true nature).

SEASON FIVE: DAWN AS GRATING LITTLE SISTER

Even after the truth of what Dawn was came out, fans were still annoyed by her because she had a grating personality, a need to scream too much and may have been responsible indirectly for Joyce's death. These are all valid criticisms, but as I see it, they miss the point of Dawn Summers. Think about the end of Season 5 -- Buffy is willing to sacrifice herself, and the entire world, to save Dawn, even though Dawn isn't particularly likable. Imagine if it'd been Xander, Willow, Giles, Tara, Spike, or even Riley in the position of being the key. Buffy's sacrifice wouldn't have meant as much, because she would have been saving a character we WANTED saved. By saving a character who most fans would have easily sacrificed, we learn how much the familial connection -- even if contrived by monks out of mystical energy -- meant to Buffy. The Slayer sums it up perfectly early in "The Gift", after Giles reminds Buffy that Dawn's not really her sister.

"No, she's more than that. She's me. The monks made her out of me. I hold her, and I feel closer to her than… it's not just the memories they built. It's physical. Dawn is a part of me. The only part that I…"

Maybe this is coming from someone that grew up with a little sister, but no matter how annoying they can be -- and sorry Marcy, but little sisters are universally annoying -- you still love them, and you'd still do anything to protect them. That's WHY Dawn had to be the way she was. If she was lovable, then of course Buffy would protect her and the fans would want her to be saved. But that would have lessened the impact of Buffy's sacrifice, which would have been a huge loss for what I consider to be not only the best "Buffy" episode of all-time, but the best single episode of any TV series in my lifetime.

SEASON SIX: DAWN'S DEVELOPMENT (OR LACK THEREOF)

After Buffy returned to the land of the living, Dawn seemed to spiral downward into annoyance, via two primary character traits: abandonment issues and kleptomania. Addressing the second one first, Dawn's kleptomania was less a flaw of her character, and more a flaw of a seasonal misstep in writing. If you re-watch Season 6, you'll discover that every character was saddled with some type of stupid character flaw: Xander's cold feet, Spike's obsession with Buffy, Willow's literal addiction to magic and obviously Buffy's non-humanity. And while the flaws of the others led to incredible on-screen consequences -- Buffy and Spike sleeping together, Xander leaving Anya which led to her becoming a demon again, Dark Willow -- Dawn's petered out without a satisfying resolution.

Meanwhile, the abandonment issues were legitimate, and frustrating to deal with as a viewer. However, the struggles weren't Dawn's fault, they were Buffy's. The Slayer admitted as much in the season finale, "Grave", when she and Dawn were attacked by Willow's corpse monsters in the graveyard. After surviving the attack -- during which Dawn shows off her battle abilities for the first time -- Buffy breaks down and admits her failures of the past year.

Buffy: "Dawn, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."
Dawn: "It's okay, Buffy. It's okay."
Buffy: "No, it hasn't been. It hasn't been okay. But it's gonna be now. I see it."
Dawn: "You see what?"
Buffy: "You. Things have really sucked lately. That's all gonna change. And I wanna be there when it does. I want to see my friends happy again. I wanna see you grow up. The woman you're gonna become, because she's gonna be beautiful. And she's gonna be powerful. I got it so wrong. I don't want to protect you from the world. I wanna show it to you."

There it is, right there, in bold (though, to be fair, I put in the bold). BUFFY got it wrong, not Dawn, but still, fans blame Dawn.

SEASON SEVEN AND BEYOND: DAWN FINDS HER PLACE

If fans weren't so busy hating Dawn for two seasons, they might have noticed that she had grown up by the time the First Evil started ruining everyone's lives. There were three Dawn-centric episodes that cemented the character's growth: "Him", "Conversations With Dead People" and "Potential". While Dawn seemed to revert to some of her old habits in "Him", in reality she was actually going through some of the same relationship hardships that Buffy herself had gone through early in the series (though her destruction of Buffy's old cheerleading uniform was kind of unnecessary).

Dawn nearly gets elevated (or, technically re-elevated, since she did start life as "The Key) to supernatural being in "Potential", but by the end, she's back to being just a normal person, and, like Xander, is better for being so. In fact, it's her scene with Xander at the end of the episode that really encapsulates her entire character arc.

By this point, Dawn is no longer the little sister who needs saving (though Buffy will make that mistake again at the end of the series, again through no fault of Dawn's). She's a young woman capable of making her own decisions, and learning from her own mistakes (mistakes she'd make and pay for in the Season 8 comic). She's definitely not a woman who deserves to be hated, though I think if Dawn Summers knew how hated she was, she'd handle it just fine.

I'm sure many "Buffy" fans will disagree with me, but I'm not asking you to love Dawn. I'm just asking you to rethink how you feel about her, and maybe hate her just a little less.

This Week in Buffy History: June 27-July 3

June 27
1974 - Christian Kane born (played Lindsey McDonald on Angel)

June 28
1979 - Felicia Day born (played Vi in Season 7 of Buffy)

June 30
1965 - Saverio Guerra born (played Willy the Snitch on Buffy)

July 1
1971 - Steven W. Bailey born (played Cave Demon in Season 6 of Buffy)
2009 - Season 8, Issue 26, "Retreat, Pt. 1", released by Dark Horse Comics

July 2
2008 - Season 8, Issue 16, "Time of Your Life, Pt. 1", released by Dark Horse Comics

Remember, you can always get your Buffy anniversary updates at The Ultimate Buffy Calendar (now featuring the release dates of the Buffy: Season 8 comics)

Futurama "Rebirth" and "In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela" Reaction

Given that the quality of the "Futurama" direct-to-DVD movies declined with each subsequent release, it was entirely within reason to expect that the show wouldn't be as good as we remembered when it returned to the airwaves on Comedy Century last night.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case. "Futurama" was as funny as ever with two new episodes that picked up right where the movies left off, but didn't linger on them at all.

The first episode, "Rebirth", featured the crew being put back together -- literally -- after crashing through the wormhole it entered at the end of "Into the Wild Green Yonder". Everyone was restored fine except Leela, who ended up in a coma. That led Fry to create a Leela robot, which made things awkward when the real Leela woke up. Only, it turned out that Fry was a robot replacement too, and the real Fry didn't get spit out of the stem cell restoration chamber until near the end of the episode. It was just like right level of absurdity to feel like a classic Futurama episode.

In a running subplot, Bender's new power supply fed him excess energy and he had to keep partying to burn it off. Maybe it was just the fact that we haven't had new "Futurama" episodes in years, but somehow this never got old for the entire half-hour. And it led to my favorite exchange of the episode, after Bender got fixed:

Bender: Aww, sweet mercy. My hellish nightmare is over. I never have to party again.
Fry: Well, that's that then. We're back everyone!
Bender: PAAARRRR-TAAAAYY!

As good as that was, everything about the second episode was better. Zapp Brannigan-focused episodes have always been among "Futurama"'s best, and "In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela" was no exception. Zapp's increasingly pathetic confessions over the last seven minutes of the episode drew more and more laughs. I also liked the spoof of the first "Star Trek" movie with the "V-GINY" villain (an obvious reference to V-GER in both name and purpose). And nothing was better than the interspersed newsreel-style clips with the story being told from Zapp's egotistical perspective.

So consider my expectations raised for the rest of this season. "Futurama" is indeed back. PAAARRRR-TAAAAYY!

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds Tonner Doll Review

 

Last week at Slay-a-Thon, I had the opportunity to purchase the soon-to-be released Malcolm Reynolds 17-inch Tonner Doll. The final version is limited to 1,000 pieces and is due out in late August or early September.

The box is painfully plain and doesn't even name the character on the front. It also doesn't have any type of window treatment, which is likely to be disappointing to collectors who want to keep their items mint-in-box while also displaying them. In the case of this figure, you'd just be displaying an oversized black box with the "Firefly" logo.

Tonner Dolls are known for their high quality clothing, larger size than most collectibles (the "Serenity" action figure line is in a 6-inch scale and Sideshow's most popular figures are 12-inch scale). However, their character likenesses tend to be hit-or-miss. When this doll was first announced, the Nathan Fillion likeness was ravaged by most people on the Internet, based on the first photos released by Tonner. I can safely say the likeness is better in person, but it's still not perfect. The thing that hurts it the most is the hair. Tonner appears to have based the doll's hairstyle on this promo photo:

Desktop Girl of the Week: Emma Caulfield

It's time for another long overdue DGOW selection from the Buffyverse. This time the honor goes to Emma Caulfield, aka Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

The time is right for Emma to be the DGOW for two reasons: first, I finally got an autograph of hers (an 8x10 photo I won in a Slay-a-Thon auction) and second, her sci-fi romantic comedy "TiMER" is now available on DVD.

Emma is another one of those actresses I saw long before "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" but didn't really know it at the time. She did a one-episode guest stint on the sitcom version of "Weird Science", which wasn't exactly successful, but I watched regularly. At the time, it was just her fourth credited role. She went on to appear on 30 episodes of "Beverly Hills, 90210", but she'll always be remembered as vengeance-demon-turned-Scoobie Anya on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Anya had her good and bad moments as a character, but Emma always seemed to bring that something special to the role. Sure, she was a good eight years older than the character (not accounting for Anya's actual 1,120-year-old age), but she was hot enough that it didn't matter.

Emma hasn't been incredibly active since "Buffy" ended, reportedly turning down the chance to audition for both Six and Starbuck on "Battlestar Galactica" and starring in a handful of limited release movies. While "TiMER" didn't get a huge release, it has been critically acclaimed and should find an audience on DVD. Emma also is one of the co-creators of the webcomic "Contropussy", which you should definitely check out.

• Emma Caulfield on IMDB
• "TiMER" Official Website
• Follow Emma on Twitter

As always with DGOW, I’ll provide a widescreen (1680x1050) image for downloading. If you want to see past DGOW, then just check the archive album.

iOS 4.0 Hands-On Impressions

Back in April, I shared my impressions of Apple's new iPhone/iPod touch operating system based off Steve Jobs's demo but now the OS is finally out, which means I finally get to use it.

There were reports that the upgrade process didn't go well for some people, but I had no problem with it. The download was incredibly fast, and the install didn't take markedly longer than a standard restore. Plus, my phone kept all its apps and media, despite the fact I performed the upgrade on a different computer, so that was a plus.

Immediately, I noticed that iOS 4 had taken my lock screen wallpaper (a photo of Britney Spears from her Las Vegas show last year) and applied it as a home screen wallpaper. While I love the picture, it wasn't particularly home-screen friendly, so I went out and grabbed something else (it was at this point I also discovered that there's no simple way to go back to the flat black background, which is a little distressing). 


The first thing I did with iOS 4? Well, actually, it was update the apps that had available updates, but AFTER that, I started organizing apps into folders. This is a huge thing for me, as I've gone from 6 home screens to 1, which means fewer swipes, and less time spent wondering where the hell I put that one app (while the mini icons in the folder icons aren't huge, in many cases they're good enough to get a sense of which app is there). There's a small learning curve in using folders, particularly in organizing apps. I was a little surprised that you couldn't drag one folder into another. I knew sub-folders weren't supported, but I was hoping for the ability to merge folders, like you can do with events in iPhoto. Also, it's kind of annoying that when you launch an app out of a folder, then go back to the home screen, the folder is still open (meaning you either have to press the home button again or touch somewhere else on the screen to close the folder). Once I had my folders set up, I set to filling them up, downloading some extra apps, including iBooks.

Now, back in April, I'd mentioned that I had no interest in iBooks, but I downloaded it today to give it a shot, and I actually found something I like. The collection of Project Gutenberg books is really impressive, giving users free access to a huge slate of classic novels. I downloaded a bunch of books with the intention of possibly reading (or in many cases re-reading) them, but the iPhone isn't exactly the optimal interface for reading long novels. For example, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" is 1,218 pages long, with each page having about 85 words on it. I'm pretty sure that's not how Doyle wanted his works read.

While iBooks underwhelmed me (again, I'm not much of a book reader these days, so YMMV on iBooks-on-iPhone), the new Mail app impressed me. It's much snappier than before -- as is the entire system on the whole, it's worth mentioning -- and the unified inbox is exactly what I've been looking for. I currently have five mail accounts on the iPhone and have held off on adding two others because the old mail app made it annoying to switch between accounts. Now I can just hit "all inboxes" and I'm good to go. I also like the composing support for MobileMe aliases, since I have one that I use on a regular basis.

Slay-a-Thon 2010: The Aftermath

Now that I'm home and not completely exhausted (yes, there were more travel misadventures on Sunday), I can wrap up my Slay-a-Thon trip posts.

If you missed the plausibly-live blog on Saturday, then I highly recommend checking it out, because the event was a lot of fun. But, more importantly, we raised more than $15,000 for the Make-A-Wish foundation (we won't know the final number for awhile, but the last number that was announced was over $15,000, which is enough to grant three wished).

A huge part of that number was the live auction, which featured some really incredible items, that, in retrospect, I kind of regret passing on -- though my credit card balance is happy I did. My personal favorite, among the items I didn't get, was a laser-etched 12-by-24 Dollhouse Aluminum Graphic. The piece was a 2009 SDCC exclusive, and this particular piece was slated to be personally signed by Eliza Dushku (and by "personally" I mean made out to the winner of the auction, with a message chosen by that winner). As I mentioned in the blog, I think it went for close to $500. There was a also a similar set of "Once More, With Feeling" laser etchings that went for a pretty penny. The only reason I passed on them, aside from the price, was that I have almost no room to hang anything else in my condo.

That didn't stop me from bidding on a framed copy of "Angel: After the Fall" #5, signed by Alexis Denisof (Wesley) and Joss Whedon. It's removable from the frame, so at some point I'd like to get it signed by Amy Acker too, since the cover has both Wesley and Illyria.

Jersey Monday: Deion Sanders (Cowboys)

I was a very conflicted kid in the mid-'90s. Despite being the son of a Steelers fan, I had grown up as a Redskins fan. Those two fan bases don't have much in common, but one thing they do share is their hatred of the Cowboys.

But a lot of times in the modern sports world, individuals trump teams, and that's how I ended up with TWO Deion Sanders Cowboys jerseys. The first was a relatively inexpensive replica, but the second was this high-end Wilson double star model, which I picked up on clearance from Eastbay in 1996.

The jersey was advertised as an authentic, but really it's a predecessor to the Reebok EQT jerseys that are currently available. The numbers and the double stars on the shoulders are all sewn on, but the layering on them is a screen-print effect. Still, back in '96, this was easily the most high-end jersey I owned, and it was frustrating that it barely fit me then (since it was a clearance item, there wasn't exactly a lot of size option available).

Despite the fact that I didn't like the Cowboys then, and my disdain for them has grown in the years since, I still think this is one of the cooler jerseys in my collection, to the point that if Mitchell and Ness offered a throwback of this jersey (whether this blue version or the white version with the blue sleeves), I'd get it, like I did with my Deion 49ers jersey. And yes, I'm aware that they offer Emmitt, Michael and Troy in this style, but I don't care about those guys, I care about Deion.

Jersey Monday will continue every Monday until I run out of jerseys to spotlight. And since I’ve got more than 150 of them, that could be awhile. Next week will wrap up the Deion Sanders collection.

This Week in Buffy History: June 20-26

June 23
1964 - Joss Whedon born (creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)

Live From Slay-a-Thon: The All-Day Blog

I don't really want to call this a live-blog, since I'm not going to be live all day, more like popping in and out. Despite my travel adventure yesterday, and some construction-related traffic on I-290, I managed to get here just in time to see the intro from the Make-A-Wish family.

Follow along throughout the day - Update #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6

Check back throughout the day for more updates.

UPDATE, 10:45 p.m.: Last update of the night. We're in the middle of "Chosen", the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series finale right now, and next up is "Not Fade Away", the "Angel" series finale. I'm complete exhausted right now and kind of wishing my flight home tomorrow wasn't a 7:50 a.m. departure. Fortunately, I'll be able to sleep when I'm home in Connecticut, because there's no way I'm leaving this event early. I don't know if I'll be back next year (this is my first trip here since 2006) but Slay-A-Thon will always be on my radar.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: The live auction is always a hit at Slay-a-Thon and there were some seriously unique items this year. The auction started with a pre-release Malcolm Reynolds Tonner doll. The retail version won't be out until October, so I had to jump on this thing. I ended up winning for $200, which, honestly, was kind of a steal (retail on this thing is $160). Some of the most opular items were the multi-autographed pieces, including a Dr. Horrible promo poster signed by Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day and Joss Whedon. I wasn't keeping exact records, but I'm pretty sure the highest priced item was a laser-etched SDCC exclusive Dollhouse promo piece that will be personally signed for the winner by Eliza Dushku. I think it went for $475, but don't quote me on that (and no, I didn't win that, though I did briefly consider going up to $500 on it... remember, it's for charity!). OK, on to "Smile Time". The restaurant just brought in more chairs, so stop on by!

UPDATE, 6:30 p.m.: I'm always amazed at how much I can remember from "Buffy" and "Angel". We just did the trivia game, and I managed to survive until the fourth round. Part of it is luck of the draw on the questions, as there was at least one in the first round that I didn't know the answer to, and that number grew each round. Of course, after I was eliminated (on which song Lorne sung in his first appearance), I knew the answer to at least the next five questions. Again, luck of the draw. Still, it's not about winning, it's just about having fun, which it was. It was also hot, since the projector was shining in our eyes. Then again, this whole room is hot, and just about filled to capacity. Still, if you're in the Chicagoland area, come join us -- Dave & Busters on North Clark. "The Gift", my all-time favorite episode of any TV series ever, is up next!

UPDATE, 4:05 p.m.: Well, I have to thank everyone who committed to donating and bought items on eBay, because as it turns out, I brought in the most donations via PayPal for Slay-a-Thon this year. Of course, it's not about me, ti's about the Make-A-Wish foundation, and so far we've been able to grant two wishes this year, with silent auctions and live auctions still to go. Speaking of live auctions, they've auctioned off life-size stand ups of Angel and Spike, and it's clear who the fan favorite is. Angel went for $60, which isn't bad, but Spike blew him out of the water with a $100 bid.

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: Game Time! We just wrapped up the first game of the day, "Buffy's Crypt" (a Buffy-themed version of the $10,000 Pyramid). I didn't get selected (insert "awww" sound here), but all three teams that made it on stage got through all six categories, so it was still lots of fun. Some of the categories were pretty creative too. Much credit to the organizers for not making things too easy or too hard.

(oh, and I'd have better pictures, but I forgot to bring the cable or the SD reader for my good camera, so it's iPhone photos until I get back to CT)

1:30 p.m.: As I write this first update, we're on the second episode of the day, "I Will Remember You" (Angel Season 1, Episode 8) (you can keep up with the schedule here, though right now we're running about 15 minutes behind). We started with "Prophecy Girl", which I like more every time I see it. Yes, the Hellmouth demon does look cheesy, but it's got some of the best Joss-written banter of the entire series.

My Travel Adventure: Hartford to Chicago in 13+ Hours

Since I promised it in the wee hours of this morning, here it is: how what should have been a simple non-stop flight from Hartford to Chicago turned into a 13-hour travel day.

My original itinerary had me on a 3:30 pm flight from Bradley, which would have arrived in Chicago at 5 pm local time. When I planned this trip, I chose the afternoon flight because my only other option (at the price I got) would have been to leave VERY early in the morning and then kill time in Chicago before I could check into my hotel. In retrospect, that would have been a MUCH better plan.

I arrived at the airport at 1:30, which was probably too early even if my flight had been on time, since there was no line at security and I was at the gate by 1:45. When I arrived at the gate, they'd posted that the flight was delayed until 4pm (not bad), so I went to one of the restaurants to have lunch and watch the World Cup.

I left the restaurant around 3:15 and sat around waiting for American to begin boarding (on one of those tiny ass jets that seats like 40 people and ALWAYS feels like its going to fall out of the sky). Well, they started boarding, then, before they'd even got everyone on board, they started un-boarding. Apparently there was some horrible weather in Chicago which had caused a Ground Stop in Chicago, so they didn't know when they'd be able to take off.

After about an hour with no updates, they finally announced that the Ground Stop had been lifted, and we were going to start boarding at 5:30. This time, they got everyone on board, everyone was buckled up and our seats were all in the full upright and locked position and then... EVERYONE OFF!

1(ish) Day to Slay-a-Thon: My One Favorite Buffy Quote

"The hardest thing in this world is to live in it."

There are so many ways to interpret that line, so many deeper meanings it can have, but I think each person who watches "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" takes something different from it. 

I'd love to go into what it means to me, but quite frankly it's a little more personal than I'm willing to get on this blog. Let's just say that whenever I'm down, I think of it and realize that once I've made the decision to wake up in the morning and live my life, everything else is easy.

I loved the line so much that I got it tattooed on my right arm (my first tattoo, helping me overcome my paralyzing fear of needles). It's just a single line in what I think is the best scene in "Buffy" history. So watch and enjoy.

(oh, and as for why this post -- which is actually going up just about 10 hours before Slay-a-Thon -- is SO late, check back later today for a fun recap of how a 2-hour flight turned into a 13-hour travel day)

2 Days to Slay-A-Thon: "Buffy" Spinoffs That Didn't Happen

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ran for seven seasons on network television (5 on The WB, 2 on UPN) and its spinoff "Angel" ran for five seasons. However, we were actually deprived of seeing more of the Buffy-verse, as at least two potential spinoffs were killed before they could reach the airwaves (there have been others, but these were the two that seemed the closest to happening).

1. Buffy the Animated Series

This series was actually green-lit by 20th Century Fox back in 2002 (a year before "Buffy" went off the air), and most of the actors from the series -- save for Sarah Michelle Gellar -- were on board, but the production company couldn't get any network to commit to it, so the project died. The series would have been set in Season 1 (though in a continuity in which Dawn existed), and probably would have consisted of non-canon "demon of the week" style episodes, with a lighter tone than the live-action series. Every so often, rumors pop up about it coming back to life (like a vampire rising from the grave), but it seems the closest we're ever going to get to it is Issue #20 of the Buffy Season 8 comic (which used the style of the animated characters and was written by BtAS writer Jeph Loeb).

2. Faith the Vampire Slayer

With "Buffy" coming to a close in 2003, producer Tim Minear pitched Eliza Dushku on a potential "Faith" series, which would see the rogue slayer still living on the run from her imprisonment, traveling the world doing slayer-type things, helping people and discovering herself. Honestly, that sounds pretty awesome, but Dushku passed, choosing to do "Tru Calling" instead. Given that "Tru Calling" was canceled early in its second season, that might not have been the best choice, but I can't begrudge Dushku for wanting to move on from a character she'd already played on-and-off for five years.

There have also, at times, been rumors of a "Ripper" series or TV movie and a Spike TV movie, but it woudl seem like the time for both of those has passed. And now with the proposed "Buffy" movie reboot being dead in the water, it looks like we'll just have to survive on our DVDs for a few more years.

3 Days to Slay-A-Thon: 3 Characters Who Were Better on "Angel" than "Buffy"

One of the things I remember from my last trip to "Slay-A-Thon" was a specific trivia question during one of the contests: name all the characters who APPEARED on both "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" (the key was APPEARED, so characters like Giles and Fred, who were unseen on the other end of phone calls, don't count). Some of them -- like Buffy, Angel and Spike -- were major and obvious. Others -- like Oz and Willow -- don't immediately come to mind, but then you remember that episode they were in. Still others are so obscure they're practically nameless (I'm looking at you, Watchers' Council Black Ops team of Collins, Weatherby and Smith).

But in my opinion (and technically all these countdown posts have just been "my opinion") there were three relatively important -- but still not "major" -- characters who were better on "Angel" than they were on "Buffy" (and when I exclude "major", that means anyone who appeared in the opening credits, so no cheating by saying Angel, Wesley and Cordelia, though I'd at least debate you on Angel, and possibly even Cordy).

3. Chanterelle/Lily/Anne (played by Julia Lee)

I'll start off with an easy one. When we first saw this character, she was going by "Chanterelle" and was part of a vampire worshipping cult in the "Buffy" Season 2 episode "Lie to Me". She popped up again in Los Angeles in the Season 3 premiere, "Anne", which is where she got her new name (from Buffy). It's also apparently where she finally settled, because she popped up again in the "Angel" Season 2 episode "Blood Money", running a youth shelter. Two episodes later, she was back again, enlisting Gunn's help, and she popped up for the last time in the series finale, "Not Fade Away". For a character that only appeared three times, Anne Steele was pretty memorable.

Welcome to the Family, Wanda Maximoff

Once again, I find myself welcoming another member into my Sideshow living room family. This time it's Wanda Maximoff, aka The Scarlet Witch. This latest Mark Brooks Sideshow Comiquette actually arrived on Monday, but I didn't have a chance to take pictures until tonight.

I had mixed feelings about this statue when I ordered it, but it really looks much better in person, plus it adds a nice splash of color to my collection (which has lots of white and black right now). The sculpting on the outfit is very well done, and I really like how it shines.  I still agree with PooZ's assessment that there's just something "off" with the face, but overall the statue is well done. I love the miniature Vision she's controlling with the joystick.

Speaking of Vision, I don't know if it was just my statue or if it's a build thing with all of them, but his head is kind of wobbly, so you have to be careful with him. Also, because of his existence, the base of the statue is HUGE (it also has to accommodate Wanda's flowing cape, which is one of the nicer constructed capes I've seen on a Sideshow comiquette).

That huge base is what's preventing me from finding a permanent place for Wanda in my living room right now. Really, I think I'll move my Buffy Premium Format statues (two Buffys, Angel and Spike) into the hallway and put Scarlet Witch on the end table there, but I need to get something on which to place the Buffy statues first.

For those who are wondering, the other characters currently living in my living room are Rogue, Elektra, Dagger, Black Cat, Jean Grey (twice, both as Black Queen), Emma Frost (four times), Mystique (twice), Mary Jane Watson (four times) and Gwen Stacy. So yeah, it's one big happy Marvel family in here.

(Full photo gallery of Scarlet Witch Comiquette after the break)

4 Days to Slay-A-Thon: Ranking the Whedon Series on Their Re-watchability

My countdown to Slay-A-Thon (this Saturday) continues with the "4" post. As fans of Joss Whedon probably know, he's created four major network television series: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "Firefly" and "Dollhouse". That's 296 episodes (not all of which aired), which means you could re-watch every Joss Whedon created series by watching an episode a day, and still have enough time in a year left over for "Veronica Mars" (which wasn't created by Joss, but was awesome anyway -- and Joss had a cameo on it!).

But which Joss series is the most re-watchable? Well, here's my personal opinion, going in reverse order (oh, and I'm leaving "Dr. Horrible" out of the ranking for two reasons: 1- it was a web series, not a network series and 2- it's only 42 minutes, which means its about the same length as a single episode of the other series, giving it an unfair advantage in re-watchability).

4. "Dollhouse" (27 episodes, including unaired pilot)

Well, one of them had to be last, and unfortunately it's the most recent series. I actually love "Dollhouse", but it's at its most re-watchable when you omit entire episodes. I recommend starting with the unaired pilot, then watch episodes 6-12 of Season 1. Skip ahead to episode 2 of Season 2, then watch through episode 12. Then watch "Epitaph One", followed by "Epitaph Two: Return". That actually comes out to 21 episodes, which is one shy of a standard TV season.

3. "Angel" (110 episodes)

Why is "Angel" only #3? Well, let's answer that question in song:

Oh Jasmine
You came and you killed off our Cordy
You led us astray
Oh Jasmine
Your entire storyline bored me
So please just go away, Oh Jasmine


Not all of Season 4 was terrible, but between the Jasmine stuff and the W&H stand-alone episodes early in Season 5, the show hits a huge lull in re-watchability.

Desktop Girl of the Week: Amy Acker

With Slay-A-Thon just around the corner, I wanted to choose a Whedon-verse related actress for this week's DGOW, but so many of them have already been chosen. However, when I got to looking at the archives, I found that there were still a few good choices left on the board, not the least of which was the incredibly talented Amy Acker.

Acker's one of the many people who's pulled the Joss Whedon double-dip. She was a relative newcomer when she debuted as Winifred "Fred" Burkle in Season 2 of "Angel", but quickly grew into the role and became a major force of a standout cast. She had to deal with a major shift in the role in Season 5, when Fred died and was reborn as Illyria, and she handled it incredibly well. 

Fast forward eight years after her debut on "Angel", and Acker was once again cast in a supporting role on one of Joss's shows -- this time as Dr. Claire Saunders on "Dollhouse". Again, Acker found herself dealing with a shifting role when Saunders was revealed to be a former active with the codename Whiskey. 

5 Days to Slay-A-Thon: Before They Were Stars... They Were on Buffy

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" both launched a lot of careers, and also featured some well-established guest stars. Both shows also had their fair share of appearances from actors who were completely unknown, but went on to pretty big things. Here are my five favorite appearances from that latter category (in order of appearance date).

Wentworth Miller (Buffy Season 2, Episode 20, "Go Fish")

Miller is best known now for his starring role in "Prison Break", which ran for four seasons on FOX, but back in 1998, he was an unknown PA. He was cast as Sunnydale High swimmer Gage Petronzi in the Season 2 episode "Go Fish", which was his acting debut.

Josh Holloway (Angel Season 1, Episode 1, "City Of...")

When most people think about "Lost" stars who appeared on "Angel", the first name that comes to mind is Daniel Dae Kim, who played Jin on "Lost" and appeared in 12 episodes as Wolfram & Hart lawyer Gavin Park on "Angel". However, Kim was well-established (if not exactly well-known) by the time he appeared on "Angel". Not so for Holloway (best known as James "Sawyer" Ford), for whom the series premiere of "Angel" was his first acting role.

AdamReisinger.com Countdown to Slay-A-Thon

As you may know if you've been following this blog, the Make-A-Wish fund raising event Slay-A-Thon is this Saturday in Chicago. As part of my countdown to the event, I'm going to have a "Buffy" related post every day on AdamReisinger.com, linked to the number of days left before the event. As of today, there are five days left, so today's post (coming later tonight) will be a "5" themed post. Rather than keep you in suspense, here's the schedule of posts coming this week:

5 - Stars on Buffy/Angel before they were stars
4 - Joss Whedon shows ranked on their re-watchability
3 - Supporting characters who were better on "Angel" than on "Buffy"
2 - "Buffy" spinoffs that almost happened, but didn't
1 - ...

... well, actually, I'm going to keep some suspense for 1, so check back Friday for that (UPDATE: the #1 post is up. Check it out here). Actually, check back every day for all this "Buffy" awesomeness, then be sure to check in Saturday for my live reports from Slay-A-Thon.

"True Blood" Season 3 Premiere Rapid Reaction

First things first: last night's season premiere of "True Blood" had one of the longest "previously on" segments I'd ever seen and did very little to change my feelings on the disappointing Season 2. And while the ensuing hour was itself uneven at times, it eventually made me feel more optimistic toward Season 3.

"Bad Blood" picked up right where Season 2's finale left off, and for long portions of the hour seemed more like an epilogue to Season 2 than a beginning of Season 3. More frustratingly, there were so many characters in some many different places, both physically and plot-wise. Sookie is looking for Vampire Bill, Bill's off in Mississippi having escaped from his kidnappers, Eric and Sophie-Anne are dealing with the fallout from their selling of V, Tara's still mourning the death of Eggs -- which Jason is still trying to cover up, poorly -- Jessica is confused about what to do with the guy she just killed and Sam's still on his quest to find his birth family. That's a lot to take in, but to be fair, "True Blood" has always asked a lot of its viewership.

There were two stories that did nothing for me last night: Sam's and Tara's. Sam's quest is off to a slow start, so I'll let that slide, plus his dream about Bill was just off-putting enough to be great (especially once it was revealed to be a dream). Tara on the other hand is quite possibly the most annoying character on television, and her entire storyline just drags the whole show down.

Also, I feel like Jason and Andy are just needlessly complicating things for themselves (and I'm not sure why Jason's guilt is manifesting in sexual inadequacy, but I'll give the writers a pass on that one, since it did lead to some girl-on-girl action).

Jersey Monday: Deion Sanders (Cowboys)

As you may remember from last week, I got my first Deion Sanders 49ers jersey while on a family vacation (in Wisconsin, to be specific) and I got my first Deion Sanders Cowboys jersey in the same circumstances -- only this time it was during a trip to Florida.

I considered having my parents get me a Dolphins jersey -- since we were in Florida -- but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to update my Deion jersey to his new team.

As you can see from the picture, the jersey is absurdly faded. It's also missing the Cowboys TV numbers. Both of these were standard characteristics of Logo Athletic jerseys (the third major characteristic being that they were about 25% cheaper than jerseys by other major brands). Also, to be fair, I wore the crap out of this jersey, since Deion stayed with the Cowboys for a while and he was my favorite player.

On a side note, despite being a huge Redskins fan, I really like the Cowboys white jerseys (I can't really call them home or road, since NFL teams traditionally wear white on the road, but the Cowboys wear it everywhere). If they had a player I didn't completely despise, I might actually get a new one (maybe Dez Bryant will fill that role this season).

Jersey Monday will continue every Monday until I run out of jerseys to spotlight. And since I’ve got more than 150 of them, that could be awhile. The next few weeks will spotlight my Deion Sanders collection.

This Week in Buffy History: June 13-19

June 16
1976 - Tom Lenk born (played Andrew Wells on Buffy)

Friday Five - Favorite "Big Bang Theory" Moments

After lifting my Kaley Cuoco ban a couple weeks ago, I caught up on all three seasons of "The Big Bang Theory", a show that had been recommended to me multiple times, but I completely avoided. Well, after watching every episode, I can safely say I enjoyed it. In fact, there were some moments that really stood out, enough so that I could make a "Friday Five" of them (and yes, I'm aware it's Saturday, but it took me longer than I'd anticipated to get the video clips together).

Also, I specifically limited my list to moments involving the main cast. Yes, the guest appearances by Summer Glau and Katee Sackhoff were awesome, and the recurring role by Christine Baranski has provided some amazing humor, but this is really about the moments involving the core characters that shined the brightest.

5. Raj talks to Penny for the first time (Season 1, Episode 8 - "The Grasshopper Experiment")

Raj is probably the character I can most relate to on the show, at least in terms of his struggles to relate to the opposite sex, so this moment was lots of fun for me.

7 Days to Slay-A-Thon; Please Donate!

At this time next week, I'll be well into the 12-hour Joss Whedon-fueled marathon of greatness that is Slay-a-Thon. I just sent in my donation (including the nearly $600 raised by selling off my extra Buffy merchandise) and I've got my plane ticket and hotel reservations all set.

Even though I've already raised a nice amount, I'd definitely love it if some of my readers/twitter followers/facebook friends/etc wanted to step to the plate and make a donation. Just click the PayPal button below. On the PayPal site, enter in your donation amount and then log-in. Before you finish the process, you'll see an "Add special instructions to merchant" link under the "Make A Wish Donation" description. Click on that and type in my name -- "Adam Reisinger" -- so the organizers know which attendee you're helping. Hell, if you wanna donate and don't want to put in my name, that's fine too, because you'd still be helping a good cause. But if you do support me, drop me an e-mail, so I can track you on my donations sheet.

I promise to give every person that donates in my name a personal thank you on my Twitter feed as well as on AdamReisinger.com. Also, you'll be helping a great cause and getting a tax write-off in the process. I know that money can be tight these days, but literally every dollar helps. 

For more step-by-step PayPal donation instructions, follow these directions from the Slay-A-Thon organizers. Also, be sure to check out my pictures from Slay-A-Thon '06. I promise to share as many pictures as I can from this year's event a month from now.

"The A-Team" Movie Review

I just got back from seeing "The A-Team", I movie I wanted to be good but fully expected would be disappointing, if not outright bad. Well, fortunately for me, I was wrong. "The A-Team" was a thoroughly enjoyable comedic action movie with enough callbacks to the original TV series to appeal to those fans and enough twists, turns and explosive scenes to appeal to those who've never seen a single episode.

The plot of the movie is more "A-Team: Origins" than something that would have served as an episode of the original series (though once you got into the nitty gritty, the formula felt comfortably familiar). The opening scene sets up the formation of the team and takes the viewer through their first unofficial mission. The movie then jumps eight years into the future, for what's supposed to be their last mission -- the one that goes wrong and leads to their dishonorable discharge. They then have to escape from prison and work together to clear their names.

The story is a modernized version of the original A-Team origin (which involved a bank robbery and a murdered superior officer), and is well-crafted despite some over-the-top characterizations. Save for one character, it's pretty easy to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are the first time you meet them, even though the story tries to hinge on deception.

But plot isn't what made "The A-Team" great in the '80s (the show ran for 98 episodes and regularly recycled entire stories), and it's not why you're going to see the movie now. It's characters and action. Without giving too much away, I can say the action is great, if not a little unbelievable (in particular, the parachuting tank scene -- seen briefly in the trailer -- is insanely over-the-top, which kinda makes it awesome).

GASP! New Yorker Gives Finger at NY Sporting Event!

Between baseball, football, basketball and hockey, I've been to dozens of live sporting events in New York City (and, technically, East Rutherford, NJ, since that's where the "New York" Giants and "New York" Jets both play) and I can't remember a single one -- from the time I was seven through earlier this year -- in which I didn't see someone giving someone else the middle finger. It's simply a fact of life in New York.

So seeing everyone up in arms about Lady Gaga giving photographers the finger during Thursday's Mets doubleheader is kind of amusing to me.

Let's take a look at the facts:

- Lady Gaga is a native New Yorker
- Lady Gaga was at a Mets game in which her hometown Mets were losing (and apparently its some matter of dispute whether she's a Mets or Yankees fan, but either way, if you're a New Yorker at a New York team's game, you'd like to see the New York team not suck). 
- Lady Gaga is known to be somewhat of an "outgoing" personality

Add all these things up, and I'm actually kind of surprised she doesn't get photographed giving the finger more often. Hell, had I been at Thursday's games, I might have been giving the finger to Johan Santana when he gave up a run-scoring double to David Eckstein, or, more likely, to Ruben Tejada when he GROUNDED INTO A F@(#&$@(& 5-4-3 TRIPLE PLAY!

Google Apes Bing, Adds Background Images

If you've seen the "Bing" commercials on TV that focus on the product rather than the "search overload" campaign, then you know most of them have a person going to Bing.com and saying "Wow, that looks better already." Really, the major difference between the Google.com landing page and the Bing.com landing page is a background image.

At least, that WAS the major difference.

Today Google introduced background images on Google.com. The site allows you to choose from 50 pre-selected images (my default was a desert background), or you can load images from your computer or your Picasa Web Albums. Of course, I picked this one:

MMM... Britney.

What'll be interesting to see from here is if users will create custom backgrounds that make use of the Google logo, the search box and the buttons. I'm sure we'll be seeing things like that very soon.

Desktop Girl of the Week: Katy Perry

I decided on making Katy Perry this week's DGOW selection a few days ago, but it took awhile to find the right photo. When I saw this one, I knew it was the one. I'm a big fan of black-and-white photography in general (I once shot an entire NBA game with high speed black and white film to see how it would look) and there's a certain vulnerability that Perry shows in this picture that gives off a different vibe from her normal photo shoot appearance.

Perry, who's real name is Katherine Hudson, got her start as a gospel singer. She broke out in 2008 with her hit single "I Kissed a Girl" and the accompanying album "One of the Boys". The song was a No. 1 hit and the album went platinum, cementing Perry as a pop success story. Her most recent single, "California Gurls" -- the first single off her forthcoming "Teenage Dream" album -- is currently No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Right now, Perry is probably in the top 10 of musical artists I haven't seen in concert but want to, so hopefully I'll be able to catch her on her next tour. While not quite at the level of Lady Gaga, she has been know to wear eye-catching costumes, which is another reason I think the above picture appeals to me, because it's so different from how she's usually pictured.

• Katy Perry's official web site
• Buy Katy Perry music on iTunes
• Follow Katy Perry on Twitter

As always with DGOW, I’ll provide a widescreen (1680x1050) image for downloading. If you want to see past DGOW, then just check the archive album.

iPhone 4 - Great, Except the "Phone" Part

As long as "everything" doesn't include shitty phone service

I used to work for Apple, so I'm generally loathe to criticize the company, for fear that they'll go back in time and kill me before I ever worked for them "Terminator" style. Also, for the most part, I'm very happy with the products they produce (and since I haven't paid full price for an major Apple product since March of 2002, the price issue isn't really a concern for me).

However, watching yesterday's WWDC Keynote Address left me feeling something I hadn't felt in awhile -- indifference, if not disdain, toward a new Apple product.

As Steve Jobs went through each of the 10 major features of the new iPhone (known officially as iPhone 4, since "iPhone 4G" would have implied something that the iPhone doesn't support), I couldn't help noticing that none of the features actually covered the "making calls" part of the device -- inarguably the most deficient part of every iPhone release since 2007. I think it's telling that Apple dropped the word "Phone" from the iPhone OS (now called "iOS 4.0), since it's the part Apple cares the least about.

Think about it: the new display, the iMovie app, the improved camera, the gyroscope... how do any of these make your calling experience any better? They don't. Nor does sticking with AT&T. When Steve Jobs was having connection issues during yesterday's event, someone in the crowd shouted out "Get Verizon" or something of that nature. Well, that's not happening.

Now, I don't expect Apple to make major changes to the Phone app, since there's really not much you can do with that. However the service is an entirely different story. In the past, I've tried to defend AT&T's service, but let's be honest, it's crap. Dropped calls are a regular fact of life, and there are strange pockets of non-service (for example, previously I had 3G coverage for my entire daily commute. Now, out of nowhere, there's a 3-mile stretch of I-84 in East Hartford/Manchester where I drop down to EDGE, unexplained).

Jersey Monday: Deion Sanders (49ers)

As promised, my Jersey Monday look at Deion Sanders continues today with a double-feature, a pair of San Francisco 49ers Sanders jerseys.

Back in the summer of 1995, Deion was coming off his successful one-season stint with the 49ers and was playing baseball with the Reds. On July 21, 1995, Sanders was part of an eight-player deal between the Reds and 49ers, sending him to San Francisco in both sports. At the time he was technically a free agent in football, but I was convinced that because he was playing baseball in San Francisco, he'd re-sign to play football in San Francisco, so I convinced by parents to buy me this jersey -- the NFL 75th anniversary throwback style -- while we were on vacation in Wisconsin.

Obviously that didn't happen, and Sanders ended up signing with the Cowboys, but that didn't stop me from wearing this jersey out (as you can see in the picture). Finally, a couple years ago, I took the plunge and upgraded to a Mitchell & Ness authentic throwback, complete with the 75th anniversary patch on the front (not pictured, since I take rear-view photos of all my NOB jerseys).

Now, of course, I've ended up with a different problem -- I like the jersey too much to wear it often. When I picked my fave 5 NFL jerseys a few years ago, it ended up #2. So why'd I re-buy the white version instead of trying to get the red version? A couple reasons:

1. I got a GREAT deal on this jersey on eBay
2. I wanted to directly replace the replica I had, rather than get ANOTHER 49ers Deion jersey, since he only played 14 regular season games and 3 postseason games for the franchise.
3. The red jersey was the one they wore in the Super Bowl, and for personal reasons, I have bad memories of that Super Bowl.

Jersey Monday will continue every Monday until I run out of jerseys to spotlight. And since I’ve got more than 150 of them, that could be awhile. The next few weeks will spotlight my Deion Sanders collection.

This Week in Buffy History: June 6-12

June 6
1974 - Danny Strong born (played Jonathan Levinson on “Buffy”)

June 8
1963 - Anthony Cistaro born (played Scourge Commander in Angel Episode 1.09 “Hero”)

June 10
1975 - Nicole Bilderback born (played Cordette #1 in Episode 3.09 “The Wish”)

Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Sandwich Review

On Monday June 7th, Chick-fil-A will officially add the Spicy Chicken Sandwich to its menu, but the restaurant chain has been giving away free preview sandwiches all week to customers who reserve them in advance. Despite not having a Chick-fil-A within 90 miles of me, I made a reservation and picked up my sandwich today at the Northshore Mall in Peabody, MA.

Before I get to the sandwich itself, let me just say that the process was handled very well by the restaurant (or, in this case, the food court stand). They were making the sandwiches fresh, but had them quickly from the time people showed up to get them. In addition, when I was done with my meal, an employee actually came over to my table, offered me a mint and refilled my drink. I can honestly say that's never happened to me at a fast food restaurant, much less one in a food court.

As for the sandwich itself, it was good. I got mine with pepperjack cheese, which really amped up the spiciness (and for the sake of completness, I should also mention that I passed on the lettuce and tomato, and removed the pickles. Your milage may vary, depending on your choice of condiments). Interestingly, the first few bites didn't seem that spicy, but I think that has to do with Chick-fil-A's bread, which is incredibly sweet. However, the sandwich got noticeably spicier with each bite, and retained that spiciness through the end. I'd describe it as a slow burn spicy, so it's nice to have waffle fries to mix in between bites (though, honestly, it's nice to have waffle fries in general).

In the end, I'd say the sandwich was sufficiently spicy to warrant having a drink (which I did) but not so spicy to render it inedible -- or to mask the great taste of Chick-fil-A chicken. It's a good addition to the menu, and a nice change of pace for those that regularly eat at Chick-fil-A, but not so outstanding that it will displace the classic chicken sandwich for those of us who only get there once in a blue moon.

Also -- and this is tough for me to write, given how much I love Chick-fil-A -- I'm not sure this spicy chicken sandwich is markedly better than the one offered at Wendy's. That surprised me, given how much higher I'd rate Chick-fil-A's classic chicken sandwich over ones offered at any other restaurant, but it's the truth. Maybe that just goes to show how much I like the Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich (my style: no tomato, no mayo, add bacon), or maybe I'm just rationalizing the fact that it takes me six minutes to get to the nearest Wendy's, but two hours to get to the nearest Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Sandwich Road Trip

Is a 90-minute drive for a chicken sandwich worth it?

Well, I'm about to find out. For the past week, Chick-fil-A has been giving away its new Spicy Chicken Sandwich as part of a preview before the sandwich's official launch on Monday. Unfortunately for me, the closest Chick-fil-A is in Boston (well, technically just outside of Boston), so when I found out about the sandwich -- which is only available by reservation -- I considering just skipping it.

But this is Chick-fil-A. The restaurant that got me through college (thanks to an on-campus franchise that was just one floor down from the newspaper office). And it's not like I had anything else to do today. So I'm getting ready to drive up to the Northshore Mall in Peabody to get my free sandwich. I know the gas and tolls will cost more than the sandwich would have, but that's not the point.

Once I've had the sandwich and I get back, I'll have a full review of it.

Betty White, the Last Remaining Golden Girl

Estelle Getty in '08, Bea Arthur in '09, now Rue McClanahan in '10. Someone put Betty White in protective custody please.Thu Jun 03 15:34:27 via webAdam S Reisinger
adamreisinger

Rue McClanahan passed away this morning, leaving Betty White as the last of the surviving "Golden Girls". Estelle Getty, who played Sophia, died in 2008, while Bea Arthur died last year (and was memorably snubbed from the Academy Awards death montage).

White is actually the oldest of the four lead actresses who appeared on "Golden Girls" -- one of the few shows I regularly watched with my parents when I was growing up -- but I've discovered video evidence that she'll survive forever... or at least until Tracy Jordan dies.

Ken Griffey Jr. - The Rookie Card Will Live Forever

Ken Griffey Jr. is reportedly retiring. He has played Major League Baseball for more than 20 years, has hit 630 career home runs and still has one of the sweetest looking swings in baseball history (even if it is a little slower these days).

But for me, Ken Griffey Jr. will always be represented by his 1989 Upper Deck rookie card.

For people like me who were born in the early '80s and came of age in the late '80s and early '90s, this card was the holy grail of collecting. Everyone wanted one. Or two. Or three. People invested in them thinking they'd be able to retire on them (like they could with Mickey Mantle rookie cards).

Obviously one of the things that make this card stand out is it was the first card of one of the great young players in the game, a player that completely lived up to the hype. But it was also the first card from Upper Deck, and looked nothing like what we'd seen of baseball cards before. It had the sharp graphics (which look SO dated now), it had the bright pictures and it had a hologram on the back. A hologram! It's like it was from the FUTURE!

Well, now that card, which once sold for $1,000, now goes for about $35 on eBay. Which means I can finally get one. That's right, for all these years, including the bulk of the '90s when I was obsessed with card collecting, I never managed to get my hands on one. With Griffey finally retiring, I feel like it's time to end that.

Also, now with that pesky "baseball" thing out of the way, maybe Griffey can focus on his long-in-the-making run for president.