Author: Tabz

Tabz (aka Tabitha Grace Smith) is a omnivorous geek with a special love of television. She's a writer, social media strategist, and teacher. In her spare time she blogs over at Doctor Her (a Doctor Who blog) and runs Between the Lines Studios.

Must Watch this Fall: White Collar

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USA’s New Original Series White Collar – October 23 at 10/9c

whitecollarTake one part smart, one part funny and add in a dash of charm and you have USA Network’s newest series – White Collar. I received a screener copy of the pilot and wasn’t sure how I’d enjoy the series. I shouldn’t have been worried, the show is endearing, clever, smart and enjoyable!

White Collar is a show that fits in well with USA’s other smart shows – Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, and Royal Pains – without being a clone of those shows. It follows the unlikely partnership of a FBI agent and a high-class thief named Neal Caffrey. The G-man, Peter Burke (played by Tim DeKay) is our middle-class hero who is comitted to his work. Caffrey is the effortless con man, who seems to be able to get anything he wants.

Matt Bomer, who many of you know as Bryce from Chuck, brings his sexy/snarky self to the role of Neal Caffrey, a character who is a mixture of The Saint and Frank Abagnale Jr. He plays off of his co-start, Tim DeKay (Carnivale) at a level that you usually don’t see in a pilot of a TV series. The back and forth between DeKay and Bomer seems like it’s come from years of working together, not a few weeks. And that’s the heart of why I loved the pilot for White Collar – there’s a great relationship between the actors (even the secondary characters interaction with the main characters is believable and fun to watch).

This was one pilot that I couldn’t stop watching. I was never bored, nor did I feel the story dragged at any point. I was kept enthralled with the story from start to finish. I also loved some of the fun camera angles and editing choices that kept the show feeling fresh. Especially watching Caffery deal with his new role and seeing Burke deal with his new partner. Despite the differences between the two both men have points of similarity that makes their conversations interesting.

It was also a pleasant surprise to see Mark Sheppard (Firefly/Battlestar Galatica/Dollhouse) in a guest role. His role is fun, if briefer than I would have liked (I think this pulls Sheppard’s ‘bad guy’ role up to the double digits).

In all, this is a series I can see jumping to the top of my “must watch” list and I think you should see it too.

Learn more at USA Network’s website by clicking here.

DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar Kartz is Coming October 27

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madagascarkartzcover1I absolutely adore the Madagascar films (especially Madagascar 2). So it was great to see a fun video game coming out with the characters. Madagascar Kartz™ video game will be released on October 27 for Wii™, Nintendo DS™ , Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.

According to the press release this game is gonna be fun:

Jump behind the wheel and drive yourself wild as you play as Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, King Julien or those crafty penguins! You can power-up and perform zany jumps, outlandish flips, and radical rolls on amazing tracks from the world of Madagascar®, including the New York City Zoo, the plane crash site, the volcano, plus many more. Keep an edge on your wild competitors with cool pickups, such as power boosts, obstacles, and projectiles. DreamWorks’ Madagascar Kartz features split-screen head-to-head multiplayer action, allowing up to four players to go bananas and race locally against one another in Championship, Quick Race and Time Trial modes.

“The Madagascar® films are packed with personality and can be enjoyed by everyone,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing. “We designed DreamWorks’ Madagascar Kartz with the same idea. With the whole family competing against each other as their favorite zoosters, you have never seen action this wild!”

For more information visit www.activision.com.

Kristen Bell Returns in Assassin’s Creed II

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If you’ve missed Kristen Bell on TV (yes, we miss you Veronica Mars) she could be gracing your screen again – well, if you buy your own copy of Assassin’s Creed II.

Assassin’s Creed II will be available in North America November 17, 2009 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and PC. For more information, please visit http://www.assassinscreed.com.

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Bell is revising her role as Lucy Stillman, a research assistant for Dr. Warren Vidic. Bell enjoyed voicing Lucy (and in 2007 Hottest Newcomer” at the Spike Video Game Awards for her role in the first Assassin’s Creed).

“Being a part of the first Assassin’s Creed video game was an amazing experience. Video games is such a creative entertainment medium, and to be able to see and play myself as a video game character was surreal,” said Kristen Bell. “As an actress, it’s both challenging and rewarding to play a complex character with this great mysterious background. I’m very happy to be Lucy once more, and I look forward to fans discovering more about her – they will be pleasantly surprised.”

Of course, this makes us wonder, do you buy a video game because of the vocal guests? Celebs on video games is always fun (we love Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk on Halo 3),  but is that the main reason you buy a game?

Disney May Not Hold on to Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and Others

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Some of the most cherished names in comic book history, from Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk to the X-Men and Fantastic Four, have found themselves locked in a new battle over who owns the characters’ copyrights.

The children of comic book artist Jack Kirby have filed to regain copyrights to these characters just weeks after Disney bought Marvel Comics for $4 billion.

Forty-five notices of transfer of copyright have been filed by law firm Toberoff and Associates and have been served to Marvel, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures.

The heirs served the notices under the auspices of the U.S. Copyright Act, which permits authors and their heirs to terminate old copyright grants after a long waiting period, allowing them to recapture the rights for their own use.

Source.

(Photo: Marvel)

Native American Sustainability Conference (Sept 25 – 27, 2009)

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Exploring an innovative, field-tested approach to building healthy, sustainable American Indian communities will be the focus of an international conference to be held from September 25 to 27 at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

Sponsored by the David Lynch Foundation the conference’s featured speakers include Joe A. Garcia, President of the National Congress of American Indians; Robert Cook, President of the National Indian Education Association; Lucille Echohawk, strategic advisor for the Casey Family Programs; and Kevin Skenandore, Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Education.

The five-point plan includes (1) improving educational outcomes through stress-reducing, consciousness-based meditation; (2) improving health and reducing diabetes, heart disease, and substance abuse through prevention-oriented, natural medicine; (3) promoting energy and economic self-sufficiency through wind and solar technologies; (4) growing healthy, nutritious food through organic greenhouses; and (5) safeguarding the land, language, and culture of American Indian populations.

Learn more about the conference and register to attend at davidlynchfoundation.org

TGI Friday’s #1 Fan Woody Gets 500,000 Fans… and Asks for More.

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woodyFacebook promotions are a tricky thing. Sometimes they succeed, but most times they fall flat on their face. Apparently TGI Friday’s promotion for “Woody” has been an outstanding success. Through commericals Woody offered a free burger to everyone who friended him on Facebook IF he got 500,000 fans by September 30th. By the 13th he had over the number needed. Each of those fans (from the first 500,000) will receive a coupon via email  (on October 1st, 2009) which is redeemable for a free Jack Daniel’s burger or a Jack Daniel’s chicken sandwich.

But the promotion didn’t stop there, so Woody has offered a new challenge – 1 million fans.

“While we did not underestimate the love our guests have for our famous Jack Daniel’s Grill, we may have underestimated Woody,” said Andrew Jordan, senior vice president of marketing for T.G.I. Friday’s. “This guy loves a party and will stop at nothing to get one million fans. If Woody can get one million Facebook fans by September 30, 2009, T.G.I. Friday’s will give Woody and each of his one million fans a free Jack Daniel’s burger or Jack Daniel’s chicken sandwich.”

If you want to sign up to be Woody’s friend head on over to http://www.facebook.com/fanwoody AND enter your email address on the signup page.

Tea Stain Clothing Launches “The Music Fashion Project”: Style, Music and Charity!

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image001Shop for a good cause! Tea Stain Clothing has just launched The Music Fashion Project. This philanthropic initiative pairs some of the rock scene’s biggest names with their favorite style of Tea Stain Clothing to raise money for music-related charities. Participating bands include well known bands like Papa Roach and The Donnas. The project also features some bands ‘on the verge’ like Framing Hanley, currently holding the #1 video spot on Fuse TV, and Lovehammers featuring Marty Casey from NBC’s Rock Star INXS. Some benefiting charities include VH1 Save The Music, Little Kids Rock and Rock ‘N Renew. To contribute to the project, fans simply purchase their favorite band’s selected charity style. Tea Stain Clothing takes care of the rest by donating a portion of the proceeds directly to that band’s specified charity.

The project is web based and every band’s feature is completely sharable. “This is the next generation of social media and web based marketing. We wanted to make a difference and make it easy to spread the word.” founder Devin Hajek says. “Even if someone isn’t able to spend money on a shirt, they can still support their favorite band/charity by simply clicking ‘share’. From there they have the option to email their friends or post it on their myspace, facebook and a host of other social networking outlets.”

For more information check out – http://www.teastainclothing.com/

Lauren Conrad Fall Style

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In honor of Fall Fashion, here’s a YouTube video of Lauren Conrad talking about her new line (available starting tomorrow at Kohls). I love that she brings out the California style (since that’s my state) and the effortlessness of fashion (at a reasonable price). It’s always great to see passionate folks getting to talk about their creative outlet – and Fashion is one of those outlets that intrigues me.

How about you? Doing some Fall shopping this month?

Book Review: Babysitting SugarPaw

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Buy Babysitting SugarPaw on Amazon.com

61OAktqSB+L._SL500_AA240_A little bear named SugarPaw hopes to get rid of his babysitter, Bonnie Whiskes, by getting her into trouble after making changes to his rules chart. As the story unfolds SugarPaw learns about honesty and friendship, in this fun loving story.

I love kid books, I’m not ashamed to admit it. From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or The Little Engine that Could there’s nothing like a touching story to spark the imagination.

Recently I was given “Babysitting SugarPaw” to review and I was happily surprised with he cute and fun story. As someone who has had to babysit I could relate to poor Bonnie Whiskes’ plight as she deals with a very mischievous SugarPaw. A fun and easy read, Babysitting SugarPaw is a great introduction to the world of baby sitters. I also loved the lesson that your actions have consequences on others (not just yourself).

Author VS Grenier shows her understanding of a child’s mind and the bright, playful illustrations by Kevin Collier make this book enjoyable. I would have liked a bit of a longer ending, which seemed a bit abrupt, but other than that, the book is fantastic! Parents will love the subtle lessons about dealing with babysitters and kids will love the mischievous antics of SugarPaw. Check out Babysitting SugarPaw for yourself!