First off, happy 40th birthdays to Ron J.K. and David I.S., the first of my cohort to pass this milestone! On Thursday, 13 December 2007, we rushed to leave after a mandatory meeting at work. Unfortunately, most other Boston-area employers also released their staffers around the same time, just as an early afternoon Nor'easter arrived.

Heavy snow and traffic resulted in hellish commutes — it took me 3.5 hours to drive 10 miles home, and Owen E. had the worst commute of my co-workers, taking six hours to get from Framingham to Brookline, Massachusetts! Route 9 was particulary treacherous through the hills of Wellesley, and Janice and I repeatedly shoveled our driveway. In addition, we got plowed in a few frustrating times, and several more inches of wet snow fell on Sunday.

To add insult to injury, I took my car in to Direct Tire & Auto in Natick, Mass., because of a loud whine or rattle when I started it up in the cold weather. Although that turned out to be a loose belt, my 1998 Honda Civic coupe also needed an oil pan and exhaust repairs costing $1,300. There's never a good time for such an unexpected expense!

On a lighter note, Janice and I volunteered at an Animal Rescue League event in chilly downtown Boston on Saturday, Dec. 15. We helped serve as crowd control for the 96th Annual Christmas for Horses near City Hall. It was nice to see the fine police and park ranger horses, as well as children dressed as Santa's elves and fellow animal lovers, especially since snow prevented Janice from getting to her regular shelter shift in Dedham on Sunday morning.

Afterwards, we had lunch at Faneuil Hall's excellent, if crowded, food court and walked among the throngs of shoppers in Quincy Market and Downtown Crossing before catching a train home. We also put up our holiday decorations.

Over the weekend, I watched documentaries about classic rock and heavy metal music, inspired by Led Zepplin's well-received reunion concert. (I've blogged previously about music, including the troubled Amy Winehouse.) I was less pleased to learn that in its quest for ratings, the Food Network has had a falling out with chef Mario Batali (and to a lesser extent, with Emeril Lagasse), as the trend toward younger celebrities and competition over informative cooking shows continues on cable television. Yes, they helped create that culture, but I still prefer the quirky personalities of experts such as Alton Brown over the admittedly attractive and more homey newer cooks.

That dilution of brand identity is similar to what I've seen on other channels. Discovery used to be devoted to "hard science," murder-investigation procedurals seem to dominate the so-called Arts & Entertainment network, and even the Cartoon Network has experimented with live-action series. Many genre entertainment fans have been dismayed that the SciFi Channel is still chasing ratings with professional wrestling, schlock horror, and reality shows rather than original quality programming.

The Wild Web is no different, as journalists at CW and elsewhere grapple with shrinking print readership, pressure to maximize "clicks," and shifting reader habits and technologies. On Tuesday, I attended another interesting presentation on this topic by a Washington Post editor who gave examples of sites rising to the challenge.

Speaking of changing newsrooms, one of the reasons I've enjoyed NBC's short-lived time-travel drama Journeyman is how it has depicted a San Francisco newspaper in different periods. At least Pushing Daisies, one of my favorite new shows of this autumn, was recognized with a Golden Globe nomination and renewal.

Although last Thursday's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Holy Steel" teleconference and Sunday's City of Heroes virtual session were truncated because of show shoveling, the face-to-face role-players turned out for a solid D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy game. The announcement of Peter Jackson's potential return to J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth encouraged fantasy film fans everywhere.

Newcomer Sara F.'s boyfriend Josh C. wasn't able to get organized in time to run a D20 Call of Cthulu/Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death steampunk/horror one-shot this coming weekend, but I look forward to the return of Paul J. and other college students for our makeup session in just over a week. I hope to catch up on snailmailings soon. In the meantime, may all your holidays be happy!

On Saturday, 8 December 2007, Janice's parents and our niece Amanda L. came to Boston for the Bay Colony Dog Show. We enjoyed watching the agility trials (an obstacle course also testing obedience) and walking around the breed competitions and various vendors. It was 9-year-old Amanda's first dog show, and we ran into Brian W. & Beth S.

We also visited the Animal Rescue League shelter in Dedham, Massachusetts, where Janice volunteers on most Sunday mornings. After that, we had an early dinner at Bertucci's (Janice and I had eaten at the Fuji Japanese steakhouse in Needham on her birthday itself.) We'll be at a charity equestrian event at Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston this coming Saturday.

On Sunday, after the usual shelter/City of Heroes morning activities, Janice and I met Beruk A., Thomas K.Y., Brian & Beth, and Sara F. & Josh C. at the AMC Framingham 16 for The Golden Compass. A few of us had read the fantasy novel on which the movie was based, and none of us was overly concerned with the Catholic League's latest protests against such godless entertainment.

In one parallel world, a young girl named Lyra Belacqua is given the last altheometer (the divination device in the film's title) and must find the truth while trying to help her friends, including a shapeshifting daemon or familiar, a street urchin, some "Gyptians" (Gypsies), a witch, a gunslinging aeronaut, and an ursine warrior. However, the mysterious research of Lord Asriel into a cosmic substance called "Dust" and the evil machinations of the Magisterium (the reason the Church is upset), led by the icy Marisa Coulter, bring danger to Lyra, her friends, and their entire world.

I thought the acting in Golden Compass was good, with young newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as a bright Lyra, and Casino Royale's Daniel Craig and Eva Green as Lord Asriel and witch Serafina, respectively. Nicole Kidman is appropriately chilly as Marisa Coulter (no relation to Ann?), and the cameos and voices of various animals include Lord of the Rings' Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee, Ian McShane, and Kathy Bates. Sam Eliot plays his usual charming cowboy as Lee Scoresby. I also thought the computer-animated animals and steampunk/magitech vehicles were well-realized.

However, as my friends and some critics have noted, the writing and direction could have been better, with some choppy exposition in the beginning and an emphasis on a few spectacular battle scenes later in the movie. The truncated ending raised the specter of the inevitable sequel. Also, some of the flaws are in the source material –Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, which tends to favor philosophical discussion over an original setting or well-rounded motivations. I'd give Golden Compass about a 7 out of 10.

There was a similar trend after Conan: the Barbarian film in the early 1980s, as many fantasy flicks tried to duplicate its success but fell short more often than not. While I have some nostalgia for movies such as Beastmaster, Krull, and Legend, they had weak scripts, acting, and special effects. As Brian pointed out, even Willow, which tried to be epic, tried too hard to get the mythical ingredients right but failed to ignite audiences' imaginations.

In the wake of the Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter movie adaptations of the past decade, it's no surprise that risk-averse Hollywood studios would jump on the fantasy bandwagon, much as it has with comic book superheroes and animation. Unfortunately, most of the resulting movies will be subpar, but a few will be of interest.

Just this year, Bridge to Terabithia, The Seeker: the Dark is Rising, and Stardust were underwhelming in terms of box office and reviews; we'll see how Spiderwick Chronicles and Inkheart do. Like its science fiction and horror brethren, multimedia fantasy franchises tend to drag on in slavish imitation of archetypal or truly creative works of art.

On the other hand, films such as last year's Pan's Labyrinth show that people can revisit themes from fairy tales and legends and make them fresh and interesting to adults. It was also nice to get together with people outside of the usual D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" and City of Heroes games.

I thought that Journeyman's latest episode was well-done and timely, since my newsroom's annual year-end party is today. In the meantime, have a Happy Hanukkah and may all your holidays be happy!

Friends, I hope you've had a good week. I've been busy with work and taking some time off to celebrate Janice's birthday. Also, Happy Hanukkah and happy birthdays to Ron J.K. and Brian F.!

On Saturday, 1 December 2007, Janice and I raked the last leaves of autumn; ate brunch at Fresco in downtown Needham, Massachusetts; and did a bit more hardware and holiday shopping. We also drove down to New England Comics in Norwood for my subscription, and Janice found a dress at Sym's for an upcoming wedding in New York City.

On Sunday, I briefly played City of Heroes online before going into Boston with Janice for the Wadaiko Yamato: Shin-On concert at the Cutler Majestic Theater of Emerson College. The Japanese drumming troupe was excellent, blending technical skill, high energy, and a sense of humor!

We stayed in on Monday, using up some vacation time. After shoveling a bit of snow, we caught up on recorded genre television. The penultimate episodes of animated fantasy Avatar: the Last Airbender featured a major battle with an interestingly inconclusive ending.

Espionage comedy Chuck was decent, although I still like Reaper more, since the characters in the latter show act relatively intelligently, even though they're supposed to be dumb, whereas on Chuck, the characters are supposed to be smart but often act illogically. Of course, romantic complications are a staple of both.

The half-season finale (perhaps the full-season finale, depending on the ongoing writers' strike) of Heroes was fairly satisfying, if a bit rushed. Still, the metahuman ensemble drama recovered from its sophomore slump, while Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood and Stargate SG1 spin-off Atlantis have struggled to make their teams both impressive and sympathetic.

While I wait for the series finale of time-travel drama Journeyman, I had to content myself with belated episodes of Smallville and Legion of Superheroes (I've still missed some of The Batman). Tonight will be the return of very different sleuths in Women's Murder Club and a holiday special for Psych. Speaking of winter revels, Janice and I have been watching several of the classic (and not-so-classic) shows by Rankin-Bass and others on ABC Family. What are your favorites?

The biggest event in this past week's SFTV was the SciFi Channel's Tin Man, the latest riff on The Wizard of Oz. If you're familiar with L. Frank Baum's children's books or the classic 1939 movie musical, you'll recognize many elements and tributes in this miniseries, which is something between a sequel and a remake.

Zoey Deschanel (also seen in the recent Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy flick) was a bit stiff as "D.G.," an analogue to the original's Dorothy Gale. She was accompanied by "Glitch" (X-Men 2's Alan Cumming), this version's Scarecrow, and by a "Tin Man," a former cop and prisoner played by Star Trek: First Contact's Neal McDonough, who brought heart to the production (pun intended).

They were later joined by "Raw" (the Cowardly Lion, played by Raoul Trujillo) in their quest to defeat wicked Princess Azkadellia (played by Kathleen Robertson). Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) had a cameo as the Magic Man (the Wizard), and Due South and Battlestar Galactica's Callum Keith Rennie played Zero, the brutal head of the security force.

Although Tin Man was occasionally hampered by weak dialogue/script and Vancouver sets shared with the lame Flash Gordon, it handled some folkloric concepts well, including the creation of a secondary world and the hero's journey (as friends and I studied in Libby Tucker's class in college and the books of Joseph Campbell). I think Baum himself might have approved.

The supporting cast was surprisingly strong (and McDonough hopes the network will pick up Tin Man as an ongoing series), and the retro steampunk style was fitting, reminding me of another quirky Halmi brothers miniseries, White Dwarf. Like the Dune miniseries, as reinterpretations go, I was mostly pleased with Tin Man, which was better than the SciFi Channel's recent offerings of schlock horror, "reality" shows, and professional wrestling.

Speaking of fantasy, the latest D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" session went well, but the "Holy Steel" teleconferencing teeam is still dealing with scheduling problems.

This coming weekend, the birthday celebration for Janice continues with a visit by her family and the Bay Colony Dog Show in Boston. We're also planning to meet some of the local gamers to screen the adaptation of The Golden Compass. Have a good one!

Fellow genre entertainment fans, here are a few updates (see also previous postings and the enclosed links):

Nickelodeon will be showing a one-hour episode of its animated fantasy Avatar: the Last Airbender tonight (Friday, 30 November 2007). This weekend, the SciFi Channel's Wizard of Oz riff Tin Man premieres, and the final episodes of NBC's time-travel drama Journeyman may yet air after all.

Although the strike affecting Broadway is over, the writer's strike may give us time to catch up on viewing after the half-season (and some series) finales in the next few weeks. The DC Comics direct-to-video release of Justice League: New Frontier has been delayed to February, but it looks very promising (and more so than the live-action movie, which has stalled for now).

In movie news, next year looks to be a good one for cliffhanging pulpy adventures in China, with Hellboy 2: the Golden Army (July), The Mummy [3/4]: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (August), and of course, Indiana Jones [4] and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May)! In the meantime, the slightly campier National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets might be entertaining, if even more implausible.

The trend of comic book adaptations will also continue, with The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and a new Hulk coming. Speaking of superheroes, Janice and I have been enjoying early evening reruns of the classic 1990s Batman and Superman animated series on Jetix, as well as the occasional late-night rebroadcast of the Timm/Dini Justice League on Boomerang.

Unfortunately, because of problems with our DVR, we've been missing recent Saturday morning episodes of The Batman, which have featured cameos by characters such as Green Arrow and Green Lantern. I hope to catch up on reading comic books this coming weekend, since I'll be using up some vacation time, in part to celebrate Janice's birthday. Have a good one!

Friends, I hope that you had a Happy Thanksgiving. Janice and I left Massachusetts after work on Wednesday, 21 November 2007. We reached the Holiday Inn Express across from Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, around 10:00 p.m.

The next morning, we enjoyed the complementary breakfast and drove the rest of the way to my parents' home in Virginia by lunchtime. We were joined by my younger brother Peter, his wife Kelly, their young daughters Ava and Lili, and Kelly's mother Maureen. The tasty holiday dinner consisted of turkey and the usual fixings, as well as my mother's egg rolls! We also took advantage of the relatively warm weather to go outside and pet horses in the neighboring field.

Janice and I spent the night with my folks, then drove to Washington D.C.'s suburbs on Friday morning. We played with our nieces, picked up lunch from Chipotle, and helped erect Peter & Kelly's new Christmas tree. We pre-exchanged presents, which we'll open on Christmas.

After that, we visited Steve M.R. & Aleece Z.R. and their toddler Connor in their new home about three miles away in Burke, Va. The Rothandlers were very hospitable, sharing numerous appetizers and other leftovers from a hiking club dinner. Since it was getting late, Janice and I stayed with Peter & Kelly before returning to my parents. Janice got to watch a rebroadcast of the dog show that we had missed on Thanksgiving morning.

On Saturday, we went for a long walk, helped rake leaves, and of course, ate very well. We also caught up on my parents' recent travels to Belgium, the French Alps, and Minneapolis, as well as on politics, local and international news, and our extended family.

The next morning, Janice and I left Virginia and visited Janice's paternal grandmother Thelma M. in rural Pennsylvania. Since we don't get down to see family as often as we like, it was nice to see "Mammy." She took us out to lunch at Saville's Diner. We've been watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network because there are few such affordable and hearty restaurants in our area.

Not including the side trip to see Janice's grandmother and dinner at the Blue Colony Diner in Newtown, Connecticut, the drive home took us about 10 hours because of end-of-weekend traffic, mostly on the approach to the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York and the intersection between Interstates 84 and 90. Otherwise, we could have stopped to visit Damon F.P. and the rest of the "Westchester crew."

Fortunately, we had yesterday off to recover from the long drive. We spent it catching up on newspapers and catalogs, recorded genre television, and sleep. We also had lunch at Bertucci's. Speaking of TV, I recommend this Doctor Who charity video, first forwarded by Thomas K.Y.; fellow blogger Ken G.'s report on the Super MegaFest; and NBC's time-travel drama Journeyman, which is reportedly in danger of being canceled.

We avoided the malls on "Black Friday," but I have some shopping yet to do, and I'm already behind a few friends in sending cards. They'll have to wait, however, as I get back to work and as the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains," "Holy Steel," and City of Heroes games resume….