A fortuitously stumbled upon Louis CK clip helps me maintain a little perspective on last night’s plane delay and aching feet.

(Thanks, Heather.)

Henry, NO! Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue

First, let me thank Dennis Culver again for the amazing Henry, NO! sketch you see pictured above. So. Awesome. (Dennis is one of those guys who has really upped his game over the last few years. I admire his work ethic tremendously. It’s obviously paying off — check out that THING!)Next, a big thank you to the N3rds for having me on their show and being so kind in light of my caffeine-fueled chattering. I screwed up my courage this morning and listened to the whole thing and — surprise, surprise — it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I do hate my voice, particularly at first, but as I start to relax it’s not as bad. Anyway, I figure my horror is just a symptom of my rampant self-obsession and no one else is going to notice.

Kwip has a lovely voice, doesn’t he? Something about him reminds me of my friend Ryan Olson, who is similarly melodious. (Speaking of voices, do you watch The Wire? I want Slim Charles and Norman to have their own radio show.)

I was bummed to hear in their review of THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #12, they referred to Misty Knight and Colleen Wing as “peripheral bitches.” Setting aside the general ugliness of using “bitches” as a sort of plural pronoun for “women” (which is an uphill battle I’m not going to win, so I’ll just register my dissent politely and move on), I felt as though Misty and Colleen as Heroes for Hire (and with Misty being Danny’s ex, to boot) had earned a distinction beyond arm candy. I think this feeds into a larger discussion we could have on the problem with CONTINUITY and the big two in general, but that’s a can of worms I don’t have time to open today. More when Fraction’s not waiting for me to take the baby, you know? (So… when HL’s 25, we’ll get back to this.)

Speaking of HL, Kara is busily trying to buy a house (YAY!! Go, Kara!) so, alas, she won’t be coming back to look after the boy. That means I’m back to not really being able to work during the day, and any progress I made before the holidays is rapidly coming to naught. SO: Fraction and I are going to go check out some Montessori schools with day care this week. Wish us luck. If we’re not in love with any of these, I guess we’ll start looking for another nanny who can do 2-3 x a week, but I’m hoping for the schools as I’m having to cut down on my work schedule anyway and we can only afford so much. Anyway, cross your fingers for us.

I’m such a dork: I got a little thrill this morning receiving an anonymous shout out from the Babies and Moms Radio Moms in show #42. (I’m the mom who sent Nancy the picture of me reading her book to my son.) I get so much out of their podcast, I really do. Go, BABIES AND MOMS! Love them.

I think I have a thing for watching television shows go down in flames. The only reason I was sorry to see STUDIO SIXTY ON THE SUNSET STRIP go was that it meant I had to stop bitching about it. Last night’s Heroes finale, however, left me absolutely giddy. It was baaaad. I mean awwwwful. I couldn’t look away!

It was heaven.

This morning I was talking to Tobi, Michael and John about it on e-mail — each of us cackling in our own way (actually, I think Tobi took the high road) — when Michael produced this gem:

In my ending, it’s Sylar vs. everybody using their powers in cool ways. Peter is working it and Nikki comes in and Molly is saying “He’s over there, now he’s over there.” And everyone one says, “No shit Walker, we can see him.” Then grandma gets peeved because Sylar is going to kill Peter before he has a chance to explode so she comes in with her super sonic scream power (just like that fat lady in Kung Fu Hustle) and Sylar starts bleeding from the ears with his super hearing. Then just when Peter starts to go nuclear, the invisible man shows up and punches Peter unconscious.

And…. scene.

I would totally watch Michael’s show.

(I should add that I do admire the Heroes team for at least committing to an ending. I half expected a cliffhanger right at the moment of meltdown.)

Sexy Voice and Robo TV

Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

Super Editor (and author in his own right) Eric Searleman passed on these links this morning:

Sexy Voice and Robo on You Tube

Official Japanese Television Site

Rich Amtower just got back from Japan and was kind enough to bring back this ad for the new Sexy Voice and Robo TV show. Apparently the ads are everywhere.

Eric Searleman writes to point out that Anime News Network has seen fit to revisit the book in light of the new show. Eric Carlo Santos calls Sexy Voice and Robo “The Best Manga I’ve Ever Read.”

Sweet.

If you missed Carlos’ original review for ANN back in December 2005, you can find it right here.

This is my favorite part:

The final touch to the terrific storytelling and artwork is a translated script that’s direct, colorful, and always aware of what the characters mean to say. It even squeezes in some wordplay without seeming forced—a challenging feat in any Japanese-to-English translation. You can almost hear how the characters talk, from Robo’s fanboyish wheeze to Nico’s arsenal of sexy voices.

Ahem.

Beautifully human.

I am having the weirdest night. Firefox — a program that almost never crashes — has crashed on me FOUR TIMES as I’ve tried to compose this. Here’s hoping we make it through this time.

Okay. Where was I?

I considered posting this on the Diary section of The Engine as I thought it would be fun if people could contribute as the night progressed, but The Engine isn’t the WEF; I still feel like a bit of an outsider over there and I’m not sure I have a good sense of what would fly. So here we go…

• Lucy Liu is ten kinds of charming. I feel like I need more Lucy Liu in my life;
• Patricia Field is apparently an old dude. That makes a certain kind of sense, I suppose, I just didn’t know;
• Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet both look stunning. What’s this about Blanchett playing Bob Dylan…?
• Was that Kristen Dunst in the frumpy gray frock? What’s with that girl? She’s so pretty. Why does she insist on looking like an old lady?
• When did I become such a Jewish mother?
• (In fairness, I only glimpsed the dress. I might not be as bad as I think. I bet it is though. She seems to have a thing for sacks.)
• I think Ellen’s doing a fine job thus far. Would it have killed her to have worn a tie, though? I mean, if you’re going to wear a suit, wear a tux. And do it up. It’s the Oscars;
• Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig: wow. They’re so… ideal. I wonder if they’re real or if I’m dreaming them;
• Aw. I loved Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine and I didn’t see Dreamgirls, but I’m a little bummed for Eddie Murphy. I had my fingers crossed for him;
• Who struck you as more joyless: Maggie Gyllenhaal or Ben Affleck?
• Oh holy crap! Baldy is Jack Nicholson! I wondered why they kept cutting back to that guy;
• I like Wes Anderson. The American Express campaign amuses me;
• Milena Canonero somehow managed to pull off that weird Col. Sanders thing;
• Tom Cruise. Ptooie. (Is that how you spell spitting? That man makes me want to spit.)
• Oooh! Ellen’s white suit! Now we’re talking;
• Oh, I heart Robert Downey, Jr. And sober? That man’s hot. The gray hair works for him. He was always cute — I have a mortifying soft spot for Heart and Souls — but now? Damn;
• Abhay, Dave and Ivan are blogging the Oscars over on the NYC Mech board. I’m not yet finished reading the first page, but thus far I disagree with Abhay on EVERYTHING, which is peculiar, as I have it in my mind that we generally agree. Apparently? Not so much;
• I suspect this is an unpopular opinion, but I really like the weird shadow dance troupe;
• Oh, I love when they Brill cream Clooney’s hair! Le sigh;
• Jennifer Hudson won. Yipee. I mean… I’m sure she’s lovely. But. Still;
• Wow. I forgot how young Clint Eastwood used to be;
• Is that Celine Dion? Hellooooo fast-forward;
• Eastwood speaks Italian?? Oh, damn;
• “Volver”-ine…? That’s awful;
• Maybe Dunst’s dress isn’t as bad as I thought… no… no, it is;
• WOW! But Jennifer Lopez’s dress is much, much worse! Neat!
• The Dreamgirls warble off… Where’s that remote?
• Wait, who’s the Dreamgirl that’s not Beyonce or Hudson?  She’s gorgeous!
• HA HA HA HA Tivo switched over to Scrubs.  I missed the end of the Oscars.
• Goodnight.

Fraction saw a guy named “Pockets Germany” on the news a couple days ago.  The next day I watched an episode of Stunt Junkies featuring “Biker Sherlock” and “Mouse McCoy.”

I love… words.

Coronet Blue

Originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

Zack Smith just sent me this lovely:

Opening plus teaser to an episode of CORONET BLUE, a short-lived cult 1960s TV series that had an influence on a number of modern-day shows. Created by Larry Cohen (IT’S ALIVE; Q: THE WINGED SERPENT, etc.), the show was about a man with amnesia pursued by unknown enemies (Cohen has said in interviews the character would eventually turn out to be a defecting Russian sleeper agent whose American persona had taken over after the accident). The opening is a nifty piece of 1960s camp (constant cutaways to a go-go dancer), but also has a nifty SECRET AGENT MAN-type theme song and some sharp editing in places.Also, I just dig the title.

Worth a look.

Zack Smith

Not sure if I’m with him on the “sharp editing” but it’s worth a look nonetheless.

Originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

I’m sure the headline writers are very proud of themselves. Asses.

“This is my first halfpipe competition since the U.S. Open last year and it’s a big one to run in to the first time out,” [Shaun] White said. “But I’m pumped. The crowd was amazing. Just walking through there was amazing. That’s what means the most to me. It’s no medal, it’s just having the fans and that respect.”

Fisher’s ride was undeniably beautiful but White remains my hero of choice.

EDITED TO ADD: People have started uploading their X Games pics to Flickr. I’m all set up with desktop wallpaper for the next six months. At least.