Pop 'n' Fresh

My dranaei shaman led to my divorce!

Most people seem to get divorced in this day and age at the drop of a hat, though often it's due to serious issues like fighting, abuse, a partner going astray, alcohol and drug addiction, etc. Well, add another reason to the compost pile of holy matrimony - video game addiction.

It seems a 28-year-old California woman is dumping her hubby of 6 years due to his extreme addiction to the online roleplaying game (RPG) World of Warcraft. Wife Joeclyn said of ex-husband Peter:

“He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he’d play until 3 a.m. Weekends were worse — it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night. It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life.”

She goes on to explain that she would try to schedule "together" time for the two of them and he would never participate because he was in the middle of a raid. Afterwards, he just couldn't understand why his wife was so upset. Hmmm...

Feel sorry for her? Try this: she bought him the game for Christmas. Still have sympathy pangs? It gets better: she literally helped make the game!

Joeclyn is a former employee of Blizzard Software, the company who created the behemouth videogame, and actually helped develop it for a short period of time. In the article she says:

"[Blizzard] built it in such a way that you have to keep putting more and more time into it to maintain your status. I remember thinking when I was married that it was downright exploitative to people who couldn’t control themselves in that way. It’s set up like a drug.”

Really? You knew this and gave it to your husband???

Now, before every female who reads this blog decides to gut me alive (and I'm talking to both of you), let me say that by no means is the husband blameless. Seriously, 6 pm to 3 am? Wow. And when your wife sets aside "together time", you sure as hell better be there! (Guys, take notes).

But why would you buy your spouse something that you know that people are getting hooked on? Did you try to talk about counseling or get him help? 'Cause if there's one thing this man needs now, it's help. He's addicted and, while videogame addiction is still a sticky subject amongst professionals, this guy obviously needs some intervention.

I'll admit that I played this game a little at one point (shut up, Mariah). Absolutely nowhere nearly this bad, but I graduated college with a friend who became a background artist for the game and passed a copy on to me. It's fun for awhile, and I can believe how people would become addicted. Like anything else, it needs to be played in moderation. Now if only you could convince the average gamer of that...

What do you think? Are videogames a justifiable reason for divorce? Was she right to do what she did?

And guys: when you get home tonight, give your wife a kiss before plopping down in front of the TV or videogame console. She needs to know she's loved and appreciated.

Also, if you don't, you'll never hear the end of it ;)

- Jason

CSI: Columbus Part I

 

Three murders in one building and one of them was solved by my 10-year-old daughter.

That's right. My little girl is a scientific phenom.

Fine, I'm biased. In truth, she was one of many amateur crime solvers who were the first to go through the new CSI: The Experience exhibit at the Center Of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus.

With Toledo COSI closed, Columbus is the place to go for the new exhibit that was welcomed by reporters, VIPs aka select families and executives from certain companies and two amazing actors/researchers from the television show that started it all.

David Berman, left, brother of CSI producer and writer Josh Berman, and Jon Wellner were on hand to answer questions, sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Wellner and Berman are researchers for the show which is why their presence was so important. Yes, the show is exciting and has Hollywood ties, but these are the men who bring the science to life and that's really what the exhibit is about.

COSI has brought children and adults alike a chance to walk into the world of forensic science through the doorway brought out by pop culture. Pulling people into the scientific world is vital as our economy moves toward technology and away from industry.

Wellner plays the part of Henry Andrews, one of the lab rats who keeps things moving while Berman plays the part of David Phillips, the man in the morgue who gets the task of washing the bodies and doing initial exams.

These men are not amazing only because they can act and they have the brains to do the scientific research needed to make this show a success, but because they are truly down to earth people.

Berman and Wellner, right, talked with my daughter about shows she liked and general things that little girls like to talk about. There was even a topic of baseball brought up with my husband.

To top it all off, Berman's father was there. I couldn't even speak to him. I was in awe of the fact that this man was there to support his son. Yes, they're people, too, but let's face it, we all tend to think actors live in a bubble and were hatched from eggs. Nope, there was a great sense of family there and nobody had any problem relating to my family.

There is a lot more to write and I'll be adding more, including audio and personal pictures, but first and foremost I wanted to sing the praises of the three wonderful men who gave my little girl the best weekend she's going to have for a long time to come. Mr. Berman, Mr. Berman's dad (LOL) and Mr. Wellner, thank you for being real and for allowing so many people to see that Hollywood isn't a dividing line.

~Chandra

Moonlight Con: Day One

I'm in love.

Yes, yes, with a vampire on Moonlight.

But as of last night, with an executive producer named Harry Werksman. He and his wife, Gabby Stanton, functioned as show runners for Moonlight for the last batch of episodes and he had the good grace to show up and smile, take pictures and generally be a fantastic person (oh, and I'm so stupid, I didn't realize he worked on my other favorite show, Farscape, and he disclosed that the Cleaner character was based on Claudia Black).

Oh, and he brought the sacred ass paddle. Which every woman cradled like a child and many of whom now have photos with (mine will be posted when I'm back to a decent internet connection suck beyond the telling of it and I'm heartsick, but I posted me with Harry instead).

Also in attendance was one of the writers of the brilliant season one (yes, friends, season one, because there will be a season two) finale, Kira Snyder, who was just sweet enough and down-to-earth enough that I had a coherent conversation with her. And she and Harry were both nice enough record a message (Harry did video) for poor Hydriotaphia who is stuck in Tokyo and (despite my pleas) won't call in sick from LA to come play.

Both spent more than four hours in the company of fawning, repetitive, occasionally loud fans. I'm a fan and I don't think I'd have that kind of patience.

Scoop from Harry is that SciFi is the most likely candidate to pick up Moonlight. Hello, Bonnie Hammer!

So, ladies, pick up those pens and start posting snail mail. More to come...

- Mariah

HULK SMASH PUNY (insert object of your choosing here)!!!

We interrupt this string of Moonlight, Supernatural and Beauty & the Geek entries for a special post...

Somewhere in between all the Indiana Jones hype, Iron Man madness and Dark Knight lusting, a small independent film (/sarcasm) called The Incredible Hulk is looming. I'm starting to see more and more hype for this film as time goes on. In fact, some new clips of the film was released by the studio today, probably as a way of yelling "Hey! We're here, too!" amongst the bumper crop of big budget bonanzas being released this summer.

But why are you still reading this? On to the clips!

In this one we find "Big Green" fighting Blonsky, a pretty agile soldier who'll later go on the become the Abomination:

We get a chance to glimpse the more (ahem) "human" side of the Hulk when he makes a point to protect the woman he loves from the army in this scene:

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And here we break into a streetfight between the newly created Abomination and the Hulk:

I want a pair of boxing gloves like that.

So there you go. Whether or not this film will be worth it is still up in the air, though judging by what I've seen this looks like the film that 2003's The Hulk should have been - more smashing to go with the inner struggle. This one is on my list of must-sees this summer, so check back here later and I'll let you know if it's worth the price of admission...

- Jason

Supernatural DVD release set for September

Hey, the complete third season is being released September 2. That's a lot earlier than other years I think and in time for my birthday present to be not too late. ;)

I've heard different reports of how many discs. It's either five or six, but I haven't found confirmation that any one report is right.

The retail is just under $60 which is about right for the season sets so no surprise there.

The cover is beautiful.

The features have also been announced, but I'm not sure if this is all of them or not. As far as I know the details are still unsure, but there are at least these lovely surprises on the DVD.

From Legends to Reality - This will show how Supernatural creates those effects that have us all jumping out of our seats or has us crying for certain characters who are in certain places that we want them out of RIGHT NOW! *sniffle*

Finally a feature about the car we all love to see Dean cherish. The 1967 Chevrolet Impala will have its own feature and it should be fun to discover for ourselves why Dean loves her so much.

One feature will allow creative team members to tell the audience what they liked best about certain episodes and why.

GhostFacers! Confessionals Minifeaturette Gallery - I'm not sure what this is exactly or what it may entail, but that ep was hilarious so I'm sure I'll be impressed.

And what would a Supernatural DVD set be without a gag reel? I'm betting there are some moments on this one that will force me to watch it again and again.

Anyway, I can't wait. I know none of you can wait, either.

~Chandra

Moonlight Madness Continues...

"I forgot how cute you are when you're crusading."

-paraphrasing Josh Lindsey to Beth Turner, "Love Lasts Forever"

I must be pretty frickin' cute right now, Josh. I'm a woman on a mission and I'm not alone. Thousands of Moonlight fans are up in arms trying to save our beloved show. They're e-mailng, snail mailing, calling and doing anything they can to convince some network to pick up the show and its faithful audience.

Thanks in part to my big mouth and willingness to volunteer other people, the loyal Moonlight fans and conscripted soldiers from the Findlay Publishing Company played a role in Moonlight's inevitable resurrection this week. Leeser and Co. of Moonlightline.com brought up the idea of an ad in Variety, a trade magazine.

Thanks to an afternoon discussion with Hydriotaphia, I decided to jump into the fray of frenzied planning and wrote some copy. Then I volunteered poor unwitting Jason Smith, our graphics editor, to make this ad a reality.

Then Leeser somehow managed to get a deal on the front inside cover of the Hollywood Reporter and we needed two ads. That meant fronting a lot of cash and a lot of talent.

In less than 72 hours, Moonlight fans produced $14,000. And in just a matter of hours, along with a lot of governing by committee, Jason created two ads for national magazines. Because he rocks.

Here were the end results:

Hollywood Reporter ad

Variety ad

There's still plenty to do and we're in need of footsoldiers. So what can you do?

Email/online contact the following networks:

CW: Feedback@CWTV.com, Paul.McGuire@cwtv.com, john.maatta@cwtv.com

FX: user@fxnetworks.com

USA Network feedback at http://www.usanetwork.com/feedback/#Contact.

SciFi: feedback@scifi.com

2. Call these contacts:

CW Viewer Comment Line: (818) 977-6878

FX: (310) 369-1000

TNT: (404) 885-4538

3. Snail Mail these:

Postcards are readily available to download and print at http://www.moonlight-united.com Here are the addresses to use for postcards:

Dawn Ostroff
President
The CW Network
4000 Warner Blvd., Blg 168
Burbank, CA 91522-0002

Peter Roth
President
WB Television
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522

SCI FI Channel
21st Floor
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

USA Network
21st Floor
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

FX Network
2121 Avenue of the Stars
19th Floor,
Los Angeles, CA 90067

TNT
1010 Techwood Dr. NW
Atlanta GA 30318

- Mariah

Rollercoaster of Love (for Moonlight)

So here was my plan for the week:

- Write my column

- Collect entries for the Go! and Get Out! listings

- Say a tearful goodbye to staff writer Stephany Schings who is moving on to bigger and better things, though not as fun a thing as life in the Review Times office.

- Watch Moonlight and wonder how the heck I was going to get through three months without my Mick

Then came Monday.

New plan:
- Weeping and gnashing of the teeth

- All out war for Moonlight.

For those who don't know, Moonlight (my favorite TV of all time now) was unceremoniously canceled by CBS. Commence a collective scream from every single crazy Moonlight fan out there. Fans who were about to head to LA to celebrate our crazy obsession (I'm still going, but now I'll be camped out in front of one network or another).

The news has been up and down, back and forth. The new owner of CW's Sunday nights, Media Rights Capital, might take it. Then it wouldn't. Then maybe it would be a midseason replacement. Then it was dead, dead, dead. Then the CW option rose from the grave, and now SciFi and USA might be interested. The sets were going to be torn down Friday, now it's Tuesday. And I'm sitting here refreshing Moonlightline.com and Moonlight-Detective.com constantly, researching Nielsen ratings and market shares, learning how to be a backseat programmer, writing ads for Variety (thanks in advance for helping me, Jason!).

I was spurred on by the season finale, the best episode the series has had to date with the best of MickBeth, Beth and Josef, vampire politics and quality procedural moments. I'm so sure you'll love this episode, drop me an e-mail and I'll buy it for you (first 10 readers only - I'm a journalist - we are passionate but broke people). The episode kicked my behind into gear and reminded me what I'm fighting for. Sure, it's just a TV show, but it's my show and I won't apologize for loving it. I've done my time on political campaigns, volunteering at shelters and saving the world in my own small way. Let me have this one thing, powers that be, please.

It's been a war of despair and hope for me. I prefer hope, but the despair is slowly eating it alive. Frankly, I can't stand the uncertainty for long. I've never been a rollercoaster kind of gal (I spend my Cedar Point days eating Dippin' Dots and riding the swings) and this is killing me softly.

But as long as the hope perseveres, I'm writing letters. Lots and lots of letters, with my chicken scratch, serial killer-esque script begging for help from whatever suit wants to take my money and run.

Want to join me?  Click here for a list of place to write for help.

And listen for a faint wail of despair or explosion of happy from the northwest corner of Ohio during the next few weeks...

- Mariah

They should have stayed lost

People I don't care about won a show I don't care about.

Tommy and Amanda, left, beat out Chris and Cara to win the $250,000 prize Tuesday on Beauty and the Geek. Matt and Leticia were eliminated in an improptu challenge at the beginning of the show.

I'm looking forward to the reunion episode.

I got a preview of it Tuesday when all the eliminated beauties and geeks came back to spend one more night in the mansion. The new looks of Jonathan and Jim wowed a lot of people, but the drama escalated.

Tara and Amanda went off on Kristina for talking about them behind their back and telling Amber that Tara and Tommy had a "thing."

Thank goodness Chris, right, and Cara stayed out of the drama.

But honestly, who cares!?! Amber has made it clear she's only using the guy. She rolled her eyes when he hugged her and even made a point of saying she wanted him to win so he could take her shopping.

There's a word for women like her, but I'll refrain from using it here because, unlike Amber, I have a bit of class.

The last challenge sent the two teams all over Los Angeles to find where their former castmates were. A book of clues helped.

Tommy and Amanda found five people and Chris and Cara only had four.

I'm happy for Amanda. Amber treated her like dirt for the last episode and had Amanda in tears because she didn't want to come between her and Tommy. Thankfully, Tommy stepped up and forgot about nasty Amber to be there for his teammate.

Would someone tell that boy about the things Amber, left, has said????? Never mind. Maybe he'll watch the show and figure it out himself.

Notice how Amber's picture accurately portrays what she looks like on the outside to the person she really is on the inside? Those makeup folk got it right at least.

Either way, Amber was one of the people found. So was Randi. They could have stayed lost. It certainly wouldn't have hurt the show at all. I would have much rather seen Matt, right, and Leticia more since they truly have developed a friendship over the course of the show.

There are rumors that it won't come back next year.

We can hope.

~Chandra

Mariah mourns Moonlight’s demise

Moonlight has been canceled by CBS and so far, no network has picked up the second year of the vampire series.

And the RT’s Features Editor Mariah Mercer is in extreme mourning over the news.

Perhaps the biggest fan ever of a made-for-TV series, Mariah is inconsolable.

Once she gets over the initial stages of grief, she’ll return to blog about the injustice of it all.

Until then, stay tuned.

Say it ain't so, CBS...

UPDATE: CBS has not picked up Moonlight for the fall season, so says the divine Miss N, Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily, but there is hope:

The news just came in to me from my sources.... "They're fighting for a back 13, but Moonlight is definitely not on the fall schedule. But it's not dead, either. Insiders tell me the sticking point is money: that CBS wants Warner Bros to "step up" more financially. But WBTV is saying back to CBS that the network has to step up as well, even though CBS doesn't own the show..."

Check out her site for the nitty gritty details...

Those who read my Comic Con adventures know that I'm a Moonlight fan. I'm crazy about this show. It has far surpassed past craziness (Buffy, Farscape, even Lost).  The ratings haven't been great (they never are for shows I love), but the show has a rabid fanbase, busy organizing blood drives and voting it to the top of every poll ever.

I was fine. Cool, calm, collected. But now I think I'm going to throw up. Many a media source are reporting that the little vampire show that won my heart is facing a stake in the heart. Variety, Kristin of E! and Michael Ausiello all say the renewal hopes for "Moonlight" have slipped and that CBS is looking to renew "The Unit" and move it into the "Moonlight" slot.

Everyone together. Pray, will positive energy into the universe, call CBS (1-212-975-3247) and be a crazy person on the phone like I did about 10 minutes ago.

Off to armchair program and figure out how Moonlight could possibly stay on the schedule...

- Mariah