News on Shuffle would like to wish Felicia Day a very happy birthday. The actress has been involved with a number of our favorite things, many of which were created by this Joss Whedon character you keep hearing about. Besides guest appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse, she has also made an appearance on our new favorite show: Lie to Me. Oh, and she is the star of two of the best thing the internets have given us: Dr. Horrible (another Whedon gem) and The Guild (which she not only created, but also somehow roped Wil Wheaton into being the most awesome character EVER. Geeks everywhere unite, for The Guild is something we can all get behind. If you follow Miss Day on Twitter, you know that S4 of The Guild has finished production and will be available for viewing soon. And if you’ve never seen this little geek-tastic wonder before, well what are you waiting for?! Follow the link down the rabbit hole and enjoy. Each episode is pretty short so even though there are 3 seasons it shouldn’t take too long to get through them all. And as a little birthday present for everyone (b/c 3 seasons of The Guild wasn’t enough) here is my favorite scene from Dr Horrible, starring the birthday girl herself.
Author: News on Shuffle
World Cup News – June 26, 2010
The world stage finished last night and here are the results:
Group A – Uruguay & Mexico
Group B – Argentina & S. Korea
Group C – USA & England
Group D – Germany & Ghana
Group E – Netherlands & Japan
Group F – Paraguay & Slovakia
Group G – Brazil & Portugal
Group H – Spain & Chile
Today starts elimination play with round-of-16 matches between Uruguay & S. Korea at 10am followed by USA & Ghana at 2:30pm. Now that we’ve made it past the world groups there will be much more coverage here at News on Shuffle. So keep it tuned here for all the latest.
Isner vs Mahut – Final Stats
After 11 hours & 5 minutes of exceptional tennis, Isner and Mahut finally concluded their epic battle that began two days earlier. The match was the longest a Grand Slam has ever seen, both in time and number of games total. The match finally ended when Isner broke Mahut to make it 70-68 in the final set.
Here are some more stats for you:
Match length – 11 hours, 5 minutes
5th set length – 8 hours, 11 minutes
# of games total – 183
# of games in the 5th set – 138
Total # of points – 980
# of aces – Isner 112, Mahut 103
Other stats and highlights can be found on the Wimbledon website, which I have linked to above. There were other things that amazed me about this match besides the impressive stats, however. The records broken are all wonderful things, but what amazes me even more is the sportsmanship these two athletes showed, as well as the support they received from the crowd. Based on the sheer number of people in attendance you would have guessed this drama was taking place on Centre Court, not Court 18. Every single one of those people in attendance can consider themselves lucky, for they are now able to say they were a part of tennis history.
The other thing I liked about this match was it’s conclusion. Both players hugged each other instead of giving the usual handshake. Also, Wimbledon officials commemorated each player for their historical performance. Included in the ceremony was British #1 Tim Henman, who was one of my all-time favorite players to watch before his retirement. I cheered especially loud every time he came close to making the finals at Wimbledon, since the last time a British player made the finals of their Championship was Bunny Austin in 1938 and the last win was Fred Perry in 1936. I don’t know, I guess I thought they were due a win. That and Henman had more class than I thought was possible for one person to have. It is good to see him continue to take part in tennis, even if it is not as a player.
Again, congrats to both players for a spectacular performance. Special congrats go to Isner for giving America another win. You made the country (as well as your mother, if the interview she did was any indication) very proud. Go Team USA!
Mahut vs Isner – Tennis History in the Making
Any tennis fans in the house probably know that Wimbledon started this week. Today saw the most epic tennis match in the history of the sport. Nicolas Mahut and John Isner played an epic match today that broke all sorts of records (and is still going on, mind you). First of all, it was the longest match in history – currently at around 9 hours in length. It also has the record for most aces in one match. Isner has 98 and Mahut has 94. They are tied in the 5th set (with Wimbledon there is no tiebreak in the 5th) and each have 59 games. You heard that right. The final set is tied 59-all. And they’re STILL NOT DONE. This match actually started yesterday and got called for darkness. The same thing happened today. Hopefully tomorrow this epic battle finally ends in a satisfactory manner. After how much work both parties have put into this match, they deserve a good finish. There was a poll done to see how many people think maybe they should introduce a tiebreak in the 5th set and most people seem to say no to that idea. Personally I love epic matches like this. They get you invested in a story and its characters to the point where you don’t care who wins – you just want to enjoy the excellent level of tennis you are getting and pray it doesn’t end too soon. The way this match is going I would say the only people who would be disappointed are those who had to leave before it finished. The story should end tomorrow (for one of them permanently), but it will be one for the record books, folks. Whatever happens, no regrets. Just good tennis.
Doctor Who – Cold Blood
Sorry for the late recap here, folks. (I seem to be saying that a lot lately). Once June is over there will be a lot less going on, so the last few Doctor Who episodes will be watched when they are actually on. For now, enjoy this recap of Cold Blood. It was part 2 of the episode from the week before.
*I’m sure it goes without saying but – SPOILER ALERT*
The Doctor and his female companion (not Amy) have both been taken by the Silurians underground. He tries to negotiate a peaceful solution, but the Silurians just counter with a proposal of their own – his execution. Meanwhile, Amy has escaped from her Silurian captors and is in search of The Doctor. And the Silurian that had been taken by our human group is trying to provoke them into killing her in order to fuel conflict between the two species. Yet again I have to say how much I love these stories about human nature. I said in last week’s recap how the Silurians always seem to really bring this out. I have loved all the flashbacks to past situations, and continued to do so with this episode.
Eventually the whole group gets reunited, but only to be captured again. The leader eventually realizes what is going on and tries to settle the issue peacefully though. Other things I love about the Silurians – the fact that some of them actually want to be peaceful about this. Just like us humans, some are more violent than others. It’s great to see this portrayal that not all aliens are bad. That different does not have to be a bad thing.
Back to the story though – Things are looking bad for our heroes with the death of the Silurian they had captured. The Doctor gives another of his epic speeches about the future being dependent on what happens today and Amy gives about the same reaction I would – “Well, no pressure there.” Brilliant!
Other things I liked about this episode – how half of it was from the point of view of the lead Silurian. And how said Silurian actually seemed to be willing to work with the humans at a peaceful solution. He actually wanted them all to work together. IR students, take note. Peaceful negotiations actually work when both sides are willing to bring something to the table. True there will always be radicals in every group, but they usually represent the minority. A strong leader who is willing to work towards a change can do remarkable things.
On the other hand, sometimes that one radical can really mess things up. The lesser of the group becomes the representative of the whole race. One human makes a mistake and it has the potential to destroy everything. All because they choose the violent solution. See, people, violence never solves anything. I was really disappointed that a peaceful solution was in sight and then destroyed by one human. The Doctor has always had to let the Silurians down, and I really wanted to see some redemption for him here. I did love the idea, however, of making it so they would get another chance at sharing planet Earth 1,000 years from now. Hopefully that is enough time for the human race to sort itself out and finally learn how to co-exist with other species.
Final bit of academics for the day – how were Rory and Amy both on the hill if Rory dies here? I guess you’re going to tell me that time traveling changed things but that will just lead to a huge paradoxical debate (which are fun but take up loads of time that I don’t really have here). I mean, Rory doesn’t just die – all the memories of him get wiped. Maybe that makes it less painful for Amy, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better. I was angry at Rory’s death, and Amy should be too. I really wanted the two of them to make it till happily ever after.
The final scene where they reveal the piece of the TARDIS suggests very big things are going to happen in the last few weeks. Make sure you stay tuned, because you’re not going to want to miss a single second of it.
Why I Love Technology – Starring Jukebox the Ghost
I have already mentioned how much I love Twitter and all the reason why. Let me add to that how much I love technology in general. First there was the post on Twitter this morning that said:
Good mornin’ tweeters. We’re playing 5 shows in NYC today (one in every borough) ! Come find us.
I then followed a link to this note on Facebook that gave locations and times for each spot they were going to hit. Then I used my cellphone to call a couple friends to make plans to meet up (and postpone plans with two others for tomorrow afternoon). So yeah, I love technology. Without it I would never have been able to have one of the most epic adventures ever. In case you missed it, I got plenty of pics and video footage of the event. I’ll update this post as soon as I finish editing everything (which should be no later than this weekend). Until then, this is News on Shuffle signing off.
Happy Birthday, Joss Whedon
News on Shuffle would like to send a very happy birthday shout-out to the man, the myth, the legend – Joss Whedon. He is the writers of some of your humble blogger’s favorite shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly (and the subsequent movie, Serenity), and Dollhouse. He also is the person you can thank for the internet cult classic Dr. Horrible. Most of my favorite actors I discovered on his shows, and they played some of my favorite characters in television history. It was recently announced that he would write and direct the new Avengers movie that is due out May 2012. he also will be working on the screenplay for the Captain America movie coming out July 2011. This gives Whedonites everywhere something to get excited about. Also worth checking out might be Cabin in the Wood, which Joss wrote and stars a pretty awesome cast (including Bradley Whitford, Fran Kranz, and Amy Acker – the latter two which were on previous Whedon shows). To mark the occasion, here is a video I recently found that made me smile (courtesy of Whedonesque). It includes clips from all of Whedon’s shows.
Wimbledon Men’s & Women’s Draw Announced
The draw for Men’s and Women’s Wimbledon singles matches has been announced. Here are the notables from each section.
Men:
Section 1 features Roger Federer, who looks to have a clear path to the Quarterfinals. Section 2 has a few potentials, including Novak Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt, and Andy Roddick. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Taylor Dent or Mardy Fish make it through, although that is more of a long shot. Andy Murray should have a clear path in Section 3, although I will be routing for Robert Kendrick to surprise us all. As for Section 4, Nadal will probably take this section, but I will be cheering on James Blake and Robby Ginepri. Blake especially though, because he is my favorite of the American players. Not only is he a good player on the court, he has showed heart and strength off the court as well. His story is an inspiring one that I’ll probably do a feature on at a later date.
Women:
I honestly care less about the Ladies singles, but that is mostly because most of the players I used to route for either no longer play or have a very slim chance of actually winning. Usually the Championship goes to one of the Williams sisters, and I’m sorry but this is starting to get old for me. I will still predict winners based on likelihood rather than personal preference though. For Section 1, it will probably either be Serena or Sharapova (more likely Serena though, as Sharapova has dropped considerably in the rankings as of late). Section 2 doesn’t really have anyone worth noting that I can see, so I’ll go with the rankings and say Wozniacki of Denmark takes this section. Section 3 will hopefully go to Clijsters, although Petrova and Jankovic have a decent chance too. Section 4 will likely go to Venus Williams, but I will be routing for Sania Mirza of India. I have loved her since her first year appearing in the majors where she surprised everyone by making it all the way to the 4th round in the US Open. I said then that she had potential for greatness, and I’m really hoping this is the year we see that.
Those are all my notables for this year’s Wimbledon. The complete draw is available on the Wimbledon website. 1st round starts June 21st. Keep it tuned to News on Shuffle for all the latest in tennis news and highlights.
Switchfoot – The Sound Music Video
Switchfoot recently announced their new music video is available on Yahoo (as well as their MySpace, which I’ve linked to above). The new video is for “The Sound” which is on their most recent album Hello Hurricane. It features words from John Perkins and an introduction promoting love for the oppressed as well as the oppressors.
This Is Why We Stay in Happy Town
Sorry about the massive delay on this recap, folks, but my schedule for the past week or so has been pretty crazy. But you don’t really care about that, do you? You just want to soak up as much Happy Town as you can before it goes away forever. So, here it goes…
*Note: if you haven’t watched this one yet then you are slower than I am – congratulations! If you are worried about being spooled then you should probably get watching before you read this though. This is your SPOILER ALERT, people. You have been warned*
Last week Rachel reappeared after being kidnapped from the Magic Man. This week we see her making an attempt to get her life back on track while the rest of the town tries to figure out what to do next. Rachel may have come back safely, but the rest of the missing people are still out there, and there is renewed hope that they are still alive. Rachel is having trouble adjusting though, and who can blame her? She’s been through a trauma bad enough that she doesn’t remember any of it. I honestly couldn’t blame her for wanting to leave town. Normally I would be angry at the husband for not joining her, but I understand his need to stay in town and make every effort to catch this guy. As bad as he probably wanted it before, it has now become personal. There is no way he stops digging until he finds the guy responsible for causing so much destruction for his hometown. I was really glad to see Rachel not only understand that, but realize her place was right there by his side. Kudos!
At this point I’d like to give my award for most interesting character – The most interesting character on this show has to be Henley. In this episode we see her making some deal with Mrs. Haplin where she swaps the mystery hammer for a whole lot of cash. Curiouser and curiouser. Seems she is being blackmailed for something though because Mrs. Haplin doesn’t want her leaving their happy little town. I know we’re supposed to get the Magic Man mystery solved, but I wonder how much we’ll eventually figure out about Henley and any other questions we have unanswered right now. I hope they don’t leave us hanging too much or I will be a very unhappy customer.
Speaking of the Magic Man, it cannot be coincidence that the disappearances stopped when Greggy went to jail and promptly started up again the minute he got back. On the other hand, it seems almost too obvious. Also, Greggy seems smart enough to realize if he started up again right away that he would be the #1 suspect (assuming he is the Magic Man, that is). Would he really be stupid enough to leave such an obvious trail leading straight to him? I’m not completely convinced yet.
Award for second most interesting character goes to Merritt Grieves. From a conversation with Rachel Conroy we learn that his son went missing, and he believes the Magic Man is the one who took him. He asks Rachel if she will allow him to try to help her remember what happened when she was taken. As a psychology student I’m somewhat skeptical on whether or not hypnosis actually works. Even still, I enjoy when it is used as a plot device. That’s the beauty about fiction – you don’t have to believe things really work to enjoy them. In this case it helps Rachel remember flashes, but not who actually took her. We do get a sense that wherever she was taken was the same place the other women were being held, which means that those who are missing are likely still alive.
The only story from this episode that seemed to have no purpose was Georgia and Haplin’s son wandering through the forest in an attempt to get away from the craziness of the town. That was until they found a camper hidden in said forest. A camper that seems to belong to the Magic Man, as it has something that belongs to one of the victims. Whoever owns the camper drives off before the kids can get out. Not sure if he realizes he has a stow-away or not, but pretty soon it won’t matter. There’s nowhere for these kids to hide, so they’ll be discovered sooner or later.
Final wrap-up for this one – the police have found evidence that suggest the first victim was involved with John Haplin. This same evidence also suggests to them that Haplin might possibly be the guy they are looking for and only kidnapped his daughter to divert suspicion. I would have thought the same except he looked genuinely concerned about his daughter’s disappearance. Unless that was just guilt over what he had done…?
The only other thing worth noting is Henley asking Grieves for help in getting the money to mystery person (who I think is her mother but I’m not sure if they actually said it was or I just made it up in my head). Grieves says yes, but while he’s on the train heading out of town someone grabs him from behind. For those who had to wait a whole week for the conclusion of that – I’m sorry. The ending kinda made me glad I waited so long to finally watch this one. No worries though, I will definitely be watching tonight’s episode either tomorrow or Friday, so there won’t be as long a wait for my next recap.
What did you think of this episode? How about the show in general? As usual, feel free to sound off in the comments section below.