And heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Dan

As I stated a few posts ago, Stephanie and I are moving forward with the expansion of the show and site.

Part of that is bringing on some new personalities to help out providing content. Some people will be blogging, others videos and some will podcast.

And in looking forward, we decided to look back. Like Inscaped as a baby back.



Yes, this is the first ever episode. Great isn't it?

Dan Segraves has joined us (again) and will cover all sorts of entertainment-y subjects and also heading up a podcast called Great Ideas!

If you're curious, take a look at some of Dan's old posts here.

And Dan also likes to rock out, as seen here:





So officially, welcome aboard Segraves. You're in for it now.

In comedy, everyone’s a critic

Editor's note: Tim here. I wanted to personally welcome back Dan Segraves to the world of Inscaped. Back in the day, Dan and I did a show called "Viewpoints On..." As part of the growth of Inscaped as a brand we'll be adding more contributors and editors along with new projects. More on that later. And here's Dan:

TJ Miller is an eccentric stand up comic and, as he puts it, “the most famous talking bear movie actor in history.” He was tragically a part of the 3-D "Yogi Bear" movie recently. Comedy lore tells that he rented a live bear for his audition for the movie, that he has since confirmed.

Dane Cook is the darling of college frat boys and their brain dead girlfriends everywhere. He has made a career out of being seedy and pretentious. He’s also made a name for himself by having a league of “bros” behind him so that when makes offenses (such as stealing material or bombing), they will help him get sympathy.

Miller was a part of a comedy show at the Los Angeles Laugh Factory Jan. 18. Unknown to anyone, however, Cook dropped in to do some work.

The issue of the night began when Cook took the stage. From several recounts, Cook berated the crowd to a ridiculous extent. "On the You Made It Weird" podcast, Miller mentioned that Cook made fun of a balding man, said women will do anything for him because he is Dane Cook, talked about “fucking whores” to get out anger towards his girlfriend and told a women to stop texting because “Dane Cook’s on stage."

For non-comedy fans, this is quite common, especially when you’re at a club that someone considers a “home base” as Cook considers the Laugh Factory. comedians are always that they could get “bumped,” and learn to accept it early on. Miller knows this. Miller did, however, take offense to Cook ruining a crowd that paid to be entertained, not insulted.

Word is that Miller did a good job of cleaning up Cook’s mess. Remember Seth Rogen’s character in "Funny People" after Adam Sandler’s character had a dark, downing set? Imagine that.

This wouldn’t be the first time a comedian insulted a crowd, either. Don Rickles and Andrew Dice Clay made careers off of material like Cook performed. Today, Jeff Ross is known as “The Roastmaster” and Daniel Tosh insults the public on a large level on "Tosh.0" on Comedy Central.

Miller’s argument was more of a professional one than being bumped or Cook doing insult comedy. The crowd paid to see TJ and other “alternative” comedians do your usual comedy. They didn’t pay or ask to see Cook degrade them. If Cook wanted to drop in, he could’ve had the courtesy to the up-and-coming comedians to NOT make the audience feel like shit.

Cook’s reaction to this is that Miller is a “mutant and a dummy,” as he told Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Podcast. Cook thinks that Miller is a “comedy cop” who “let TMZ in on me constructing.”

What’s worse is that Cook’s reaction to Miller completely missed the real points. Cook decided that Miller was mad for being bumped (again, something that everyone understands happens). Instead, Cook said that Miller should’ve have relaxed and “learned something,” a staple of pompous asshole narcissism.

To add to Cook’s miscomprehension and egotistical reaction, comedian Ari Scheffler eloquently called Miller’s complaint a gay slur (won't repeat it here). Classy.

Rogan, Scheffler and Cook agreed on the podcast that Miller was really upset about being bumped, ignoring his actual argument for common courtesy. It would also be the reason that guys like Cook and Rogan had leveled out as has-beens and sport commentators (Dennis Miller, anyone?) and Louis CK and Miller are today and tomorrow’s comedy heavy hitters.

Just like his frat boy fans and his failed comedy friends, Cook is primed to learn that when you get out of your self-adulating haze, reality can be a real bitch.

Hear both comedians sides in the archives of “You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes” and “The Joe Rogan Podcast.”

Getting a Bag of Crap

Maybe I should start by saying it's not a literal "bag of crap." Although that might be a bit blogworthy if that did happen.

It's, for those who don't know, essentially a grab bag of sorts from the website Woot. So basically, it's a box filled with stuff. Could be good, could be... well, crap.

What Woot does is every now and then they sell the Bag of Crap and fill the boxes with stuff from the warehouse of things that didn't sell or even broken items. I remember reading about one buyer who received a box filled with broken MP3 players.

But, it could also be something awesome. This guy actually got a flat screen TV!

Now, normally, it's a random thing and hard to get. But, there are days like Christmas Eve when everyone knows they'll be selling a Bag of Crap.

I would say for the last five years I've been trying to get one, but to no avail.

This all changed on Dec. 24.

Below is me unwrapping my Bag of Crap, with video production by my 11-year-old niece Zoe.

One last awesome 2011 memory

Going to Japan again was obviously a highlight.

And bringing my, then, 10-year-old niece just made it even better.

We had a blast enjoying all the rides and trying out treats like Maple Churros and Soy Sauce Popcorn.

'Hot Tub Time Machine' touched me

Not like that.

Sicko.

The headline refers to the film striking a cord with me and actually made me feel something. And just ask Stephanie, I am a combination of a Terminator and Grinch. A small, robot heart.

But, this weekend I kept thinking about "Hot Tub Time Machine." Stephanie and I saw it again opening night (we had to see the first 30 minutes!) so I had a complete view of the movie.

Oh, and thar be spoilers in these waters from here on in.

OK, we've talked enough about the plot and no one is/was expecting "Gone with the Wind" type excellence.

But, the non-nudity, gross out parts of the film are just as good.

The film is really about three longtime friends who have just kind of drifted apart. For anyone older than 25 this might be something to relate to. Do you still talk to and/or hang out with friends from high school?

Back then friends like that were the most important parts of your life. You're indestructible with your friends. I always thought we would hang out, go to movies etc. But, through many things life has a way of pushing people apart.

It never falls solely on one person. One friend might be really busy, one might move away, one might be a jerk (like Lou in the movie). What the heck happened?

I haven't seen my school friends Andrew Newberg or Jared Faria in more than a decade. I did get to spend a few days with John and Ben in Japan two years ago, but there was no time machine involved.

Another part of the movie is once the friends get back together and go to 1986, they figure out that the past that they all loved so much and can't stop talking about is the main cause of their present day issues.

John Cusack's character dumps a girl by mistake and spends the rest of his life regretting it, Craig Robinson fails on stage in front of hundreds of people and loses who he really is and Rob Corddry gets beat up and decades later never recovers from the trauma.

It's funny that in the movies no one ever goes back in time just to have some fun. Time travel is all about changing horrible events to make your present time better.

I thought about it and there were so many things I would change in the past. Like the girl who got away, or how I should have stood up for myself and even not letting that one English professor make me almost give up my journalism dream.

That then brings up thoughts on how much better life would be if you could just change all of that.

Sure, "Hot Tub Time Machine" is silly. It's gross and some parts don't make any logical sense at all, but the point is still the point.

And people can relate to that.

I know I can.

Simply the best

I agonized over the headline for this post for about 10 minutes. I was talking to a student earlier today about headlines and how you have to kind of wow people but still inform them.

These words may not be the best written words to put into a headline, but then again many words can't really describe movie critic Roger Ebert.

Ebert has been in the news lately for the heartbreaking Esquire magazine article/photo and his appearance on Oprah yesterday. Yes, click the links to see what I'm talking about.

He lost his lower jaw and ability to speak because of thyroid cancer, but that hasn't stopped him from writing movie reviews, blogs and even tweets!

For everyone who says technology is bad, think about how it helps people in these situations.

Back to Roger, no matter what you think of his stance on movies (maybe he liked one you hated or vice versa) you could always count on the fact that they were well-written and well researched. The man knows what he is talking about.

He does have a Pulitzer prize after all.

So if you haven't already, click those links. Read the article, watch the photo and I dare you to not feel something.

I double dare you.

Karma perhaps?

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that celebrity-for-no-reason Heidi Montag-Pratt's debut CD not only flopped, but flopped HARD.

It sold an amazing 650 copies (downloads, it was a digital only CD)!

I bet her equally fame starved husband probably bought a majority of them.

And those sales weren't even enough to break the Billboard top 200.

Is it also hilarious that her CD is titled "Superficial?" That's like me naming my CD "Nerdy!"

And to further punish you, here's a single:

New episode NOT up

Today at the international Inscaped plaza we suffered what could only be called "technical issues" that prevented us from filming a new episode.

Our crack team of 50 tech professionals will spend all weekend working out the kinks and assure us that we'll be ready to shoot Monday.

In the meantime here is a glimpse of what will be discussed on the show:

"Wanna See It?" - Reviews of "Surrogates" and "Capitalism: A Love Story." And a look at the week's new releases including "Couple's Retreat," "Good Hair" and the expansion of "Paranormal Activity."

Our lists of the fall television's best and worst have changed a bit. Some shows got bumped up to "Eh" and "Good" while one or two will be getting Dear John letters. A hint? I use Dunder Mifflin paper to write my break up letters.

In news it has been a strange week of odd announcements including casting for "Predators" and a report of a "Hawaii 5-0" remake for CBS.

Check back Monday for a new episode of "Viewpoints On..."

The strange world of sequels

In the movie world it is commonly known that a sequel can suck. There are so many examples that my hands would bleed from typing them all out. I will quickly mention "Scream 2" though. Or "Transformers 2."

Sorry, the door was open, I had to!

But, in the world of video games sequels are supposed to rock. "Halo 2," "Street Fighter 2," "Resident Evil 2," "Super Mario Bros. 2" and "WWF: No Mercy" (Holy crap, did that game rock back in the day.)

Then what in the blue hell happened with "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2"?

I loved the first one. Like addicted-ly loved it. I must have played that straight through a couple of times. Everything was good; the graphics, the characters, the cut scenes, the voice acting.

Man, what a game.

Then a new company took over.

And all hell broke loose.

I ran out to Best Buy and put down $29.99 for the PS2 version when it came out a few weeks ago. And, within minutes, wanted to either cry or break the friggin' game.

Let's break it down:

The graphics - If the graphics in the first game were good, then why are they bad in this one? Shouldn't they have the same program from the first one? All you need to do is IMPROVE it then, not take several steps back. But, that seems to be a lingering thread here.

The characters - Out of all the "new" characters in the game, you really only get 5-6 new ones. The rest are leftovers from the old game or its predecessor "X-men Legends." And for those who don't believe me then really just compare Jean Grey and Invisible Woman. All of the other characters are from the old games! And with the same powers. Plus, I found some sort of weird bug with Green Goblin which caused him to not have any power to use any of his powers.

The cut scenes - Where the first "Ultimate Alliance" had great cut scenes, I could watch that opening cut scene over and over, this one? Not so much. Most of them are like crude drawings that show us what is going on. Like they ran out of money and memory to do good ones.

The voice acting - Is beyond bad, when it's there. There are a lot of points when one side would talk and another character would just be text.

It is a horrible excuse of a game with a ton of glitches and bugs. Save the three citizens and still can't continue on? Well, just reload the level a couple of times. And don't get me started on the Auto Save "feature" or as I like to call it "The Let's-Make-Tim-Pissed" feature.

Save your money and then be mad at NSpace. Of course... they also made the "Hannah Montana" video game.

'Happy' Halloween?

I don't know if it's just me, but wow has Halloween changed since I was a child.

Sure we still carve pumpkins and people still hand out candy, but everything else just seems to be wonky.

Some Halloween night observations from me sitting out in front of my house:

1. A lot of children/teenagers with no costumes trick or treating. I even saw two 10-12 year olds with no costumes, but chatting on their cell phones. Can have a cell phone, but no costumes?

2. Two older ladies trick or treating, no costumes.

3. A teenage girl wearing a skimpy maid outfit. She wasn't carrying a bag, so she lifted up her skirt up to carry the candy around. Very inappropriate. Sad thing? Her parents were with her...

4. A car pulls up, a kid in a "Scream" outfit jumps out and runs up to get some candy. He runs back to the car, the car pulls away and stops two houses down. Rinse and repeat a few more times. My jaw was on the floor. I have never witnessed lazy trick or treating before.

5. Wearing a mask over regular clothes is NOT a costume!

One thing that did impress me was the amounts of "Thank you's" that I got. That, for sure, made up for all of the above annoying things.