Monday Odds & Ends: Where the Wild Things Are, Halo, Olmos, embroidery and polymaths

+ What better way to start the week than with a new "Where the Wild Things Are" preview? I'll admit, I was tepid on this film when I first heard about it, but everything I've seen so far makes it look...well...enchanting and that's not a word I use everyday:


+ Speaking of enchanting (there, I've gone and used the word again), check out this great sampling of Whedon-inspired stitchery -- is that a word? My favorite is the "It's curtains for you, Dr. Horrible" piece...with the little curtains attached.

+ In movie news, it looks like Steven Spielberg may be taking over the "Halo" movie and everyone's favorite crazy space admiral, Edward James Olmos, will be joining the cast of "The Green Hornet." Oh, and sadly, McG is going to make a "Terminator 5." I would be more likely to see it if he was going to make a "Terminator 9 to 5 The Musical" but that's probably not in the cards.

+ Looking for a few summer book recommendations? May I suggest reading Felicia Day's hilarious recaps of what she's been reading these last few weeks? They include romance and zombies and hot bisexual druids. No, really.

+ Want to see a preview for Matt Smith (aka "Doctor Who" Eleven)'s new flick? It's about a woman who clones her dead boyfriend...and then has to wait for him to grow up. Awkward!



+ Here's a rather touching account of one woman's pen pal friendship with director John Hughes, who sounds like he was a very kind, patient and gracious man.

+ And finally, new research shows that kids who develop imaginary playworlds when they're young are more likely to display broad creativity when they get older. Congratulations, WoW creators, odds are, you're polymaths!

Tuesday Odds & Ends: Moonshot, Dollhouse and stylish monkeys

+ Jonesing for a dose of James Marsters aka Spike from "Buffy?" Of course you are, so don't miss the History Channel's two-hour presentation, "Moonshot" which features Marsters as one of the astronauts. I will admit that while watching the clip, I got kinda choked up when Walter Cronkite took his glasses off and smiled. Oh, that man!

+ Want to see a clip from the unaired "Dollhouse" episode called "Epitaph" and guest starring Felicia Day? Sure you do.



+ My Imaginary Boyfriend (TM) David Tennant has joined the cast of an upcoming comedy flick called "St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold." It also stars Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, guaranteeing that I will have to watch it with a small bib.

+ Jeffrey Eugenides' novel "Middlesex" is being adapted into a one-hour drama series by HBO. It'll be written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies and produced by Rita Wilson. Thanks to Megan for pointing that one out!

+ And finally, the greatest possible news of all: scientists have discovered a new kind of monkey! The little bugger, known as the Mura's saddleback tamarin monkey, was hiding in the Brazilian rain forest and was first spotted in 2007. He's cute AND stylish -- love the animal print he's workin' in the drawing below:

+ Speaking of curious things, did anyone else watch "Warehouse 13" last night? What did you think? I liked it -- nice, frothy summer entertainment.

Waving the nerd flag high for "The Guild"

If you’re not already a fan of “The Guild,” the web series about a bunch of online gamers penned by and starring Felicia Day of “Dr. Horrible” and “Buffy” fame, then please stop whatever you’re doing and watch it right now. In fact, much like the proverbial drug dealer/Mary Kay saleswoman offering the first one free, I’m pasting in episode one below. It’s only five minutes long. That’s less time than it takes to think about Robert Downey Jr., so why not take a moment, watch it and then we’ll chat:



Okay, now wasn’t that just a tiny taste of geek heaven? And honestly, it was like looking in the mirror except it’s a mirror that actually makes me way hotter and younger and also friends with Joss Whedon.

For anyone who spends too much time on the internet, whether gaming or on message boards or a combination of the two, “The Guild” totally hits home but in a way that makes you feel in on the joke rather than the butt of it. It’s an affectionate take on the utter weirdness of what living parallel on- and off-line lives is like yet it also takes into account that sense of community that can be so welcoming…until, of course, a guy screen-named Zaboo shows up on your door step.

I love these characters, especially Amy Okuda’s Tinkerballa who is like half the friends I had and was afraid of (in a good way!) in high school. And Robin Thorsen’s Clara is awesome as the game-addicted stay-at-home mom – “nursing makes me stupid” -- who would make Supernanny weep…right before being carted off by social workers. Just wait until you see the episode where Tinkerballa babysits. And Felicia Day’s Cyd Sherman is wonderful, too, with just the right amount of neuroses to make her charming, like if Pam Beasley and every character Michael Cera ever played had a love child.

The jokes are first-rate as well. I loved Cyd’s response to her therapist asking if she’d ever met her gaming friends face to face: “I hear them. It’s good enough for the blind.” And I nearly choked with glee a few episodes later when Day joke-checked “Ghostbusters” with the classic “Listen, do you smell something?” line. I’m a fan-girl slave to any show that not only has stellar characters but seeds its dialogue with so many wonderfully quirky lines, like Zaboo’s later revelation that he’s a “Hin-Jew.”

I’m completely smitten with “The Guild,” but after allowing myself to tear through season one like a trophy wife through a Neiman-Marcus shoe sale, I’ve decided to save season two for another time. Like maybe tomorrow morning. Or tonight. Maybe later this afternoon.

No, I’m not addicted. Not. At. All. Not a tiny bit.

Maybe a little. And I’m okay with that.

To see more of "The Guild," check out the website at watchtheguild.com.