Top 10 in TV shows…

It’s another list. This time we’re counting down the top ten TV shows according to SF Daddy!

As always, I’m gearing this list with the kiddos in mind. No it’s not going to be a teletubbie list, they were way out there even for this freaky SF dad.

Torchwood – I’m not going to pretend that I’ve seen this whole series yet, but after the first few episodes and the praise I’ve been reading, as a spin off of Dr. Who which also has some smart kick-butt female action stars, this one makes it to my list.

Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone WarsImage by Lunchbox Photography via Flickr

Star Wars The Clone Wars – Star Wars is known for its leading ladies with attitude. The storyline in this animated venture is not short on them either. Joining Padme is Ahsoka, a Jedi sidekick for Anakin who is almost more hotheaded than he is. Season two introduced Arra Sing an awesome bounty hunter with a taste for collecting Jedi. We fanboys have been talking about Ms. Sing since her 2-second cameo in Episode I. Next season we’re treated with more from her and another Jedi favorite who was spared at the last minute from death in Episode III in the edit room floor. Shak Ti joins the show this fall. Great thing about this series is that it’s available online. http://starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode001.html

Pushing Daisies

Pushing DaisiesImage via Wikipedia

We’re starting a theme here… much like Moonlighting and Cheers, where the two leads are cursed in some way from ever being together. In most cases the show’s demise is the only thing that ever comes out of the leads finally getting together. Pushing Daisies was a great confection. Literally. The Pie Man made magical pies from rotten fruit he brought back to life with his magically touch. He can do that trick on animals and people too, but a second touch sends them back to their death. Too bad he brought his secret love back to life one day. Now if he ever touches her again she’s dead for good. So instead they bake pies and solve murder mysteries together in a beautiful technicolor dream like comic book land created by Bryan Fuller and EP’d by Barry Sonnenfield– another personal hero.

Photo: Legend Of The SeekerImage by darkchacal via Flickr

Legend of the Seeker – The ladies in this house love this show mostly because of Kahlan Amnell – the Mother Confessor.

As a Confessor, she has the power to magnify the love a person has within them for her, allowing her to control the person. This power allows her to serve the people of the Midlands, who respect and fear her.  In Kahlan’s quest to defeat Rahl, her role is to protect the Seeker with her life. She develops a deep love for Richard, which is torment for them both since her Confessor’s powers would be inadvertently unleashed in a moment of intimacy, making it impossible for Richard and Kahlan to act on their feelings for each other. Executive producer Robert Tapert describes Kahlan as “a female action hero for 2009.

Firefly – That’s right! Yee Ha! This is one of those shows you’re going to hear a lot about until you actually sit down and rent it. You just have to give it a try. We attempted to watch during it’s run but the networks messed us all up. So we eventually discovered this gem on DVD. Go ahead and put it in your Netflix cue now…

Georgia Outdoors – Our Georgia PBS station presents topics about our state from gardening to paleontology. Take that Pokemon! Check out your PBS station to see what you can learn about your own backyard.

Let’s continue to bend the parameters of this TV list. As TV is evolving, let’s add some space to for a couple of internet shows and series.

The Guild – Sweet little nuggets of pure fun. Just geeky enough to try out a few online games and even more dairing to actually go out and meet some of the guild in real life when invited to a Pirate meet, I know this series a little too well. The DVDs are available from Netflix and they stream as one long ‘movie’ but if the short nuggets are more you speed, check them out on their native site: http://www.watchtheguild.com/

Sad, but here’s a Flash video of the first episode. Sad because it won’t show up on your iPad (yet?).
<a href=”http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&fg=Xbox_Channel_GUILD_S4_FINAL&vid=69704ce9-eef1-4f98-8ea4-ecbf68e23192″ target=”_new” title=”Season 1 – Episode 1: Wake-Up Call”>Video: Season 1 – Episode 1: Wake-Up Call</a>

TED Talks. If you haven’t discovered TED yet, go now.  It’s more Science and Fantasy than fiction. Real people with fantasies of how we can change the world one person at a time. Here’s one on the Happiness Index. Love these things… they even show up in your Tivo if you let them! We’ve blogged about several of these in the past.

Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world

When the girls are older….

Trade paperback cover of Buffy: Season Eight V...Image via Wikipedia

Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel – The monsters in these shows are a bit much for our smaller audience, but the kick-butt girls are certainly a good frolic when we’re older. Our most-est favorite episode “Hush” just made it onto the SyFy / Blastr list of best episodes ever. What qualifies as a best episode? You know the episode by name is a good indication! Buffy is so well written and smart. We were just married and growing up a few years ahead of Buffy, but Ms. SF Daddy used the show as a topic of conversation with her high school kids. She often found common ground with the kids through the shows they both enjoyed. She liked using this show in particular to talk about teen issues and the portrayal of women in media. Good Stuff.

And okay, this one’s for the very little ones: Have you seen Dinosaur Train? Really? Another PBS offering. We don’t graze through the channels like a lot of kids do, but one morning we had a flat tire and found ourselves at the local Firestone. While waiting for the tire to get fixed, we sat through an episode of Dinosaur Train. My 6 year old (Red2) fell in love. Sure it didn’t hurt that there’s a little Henson magic behind the scenes. Figures. They aren’t just cute dinos, but they actually get the real names out in a catchy way.

Very much a different list for you. Can’t wait so see your list!

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Fantasy and Scifi Award

“Oh, wow. An award.”
Mrs. SF Daddy said, “I’ve never gotten any awards.”
I want to thank Alex J. Cavanaugh for spreading this little bit of viral fun onto my blog. I’m a third generation recipient so tracing back the history of this award was quick and fun. I have quite a few new blogs to investigate! Good networking, ladies and gentlemen!

Award Creator: Flutey Words

This Award should be given to any blogs that promote the genres of Fantasy and Science Fiction, whether it be through author interviews, reviews, your own writing, etc. The rules are: you must state 5 of your favorite fantasy/sci fi books and or movies that inspired you.

5 books (or series) that have inspired me and/or the girls (Red1 and Red2)

  1. Star Wars Expanded Universe – I’ve read almost all of the expanded universe. I’m no wookiepedia, but I’m up a bit on Vader’s grandkids.  Kevin J. Anderson and Michael Stackpole seem to be the authors that really stand out. Stackpole is quite busy with other series including the Secret Atlas that I’m starting to enjoy as well.
  2. Voyager series. We started picking up the Star Trek novels from the trift store for 50 cents. Janeway’s first book was incredible. I wrote about it earlier.
  3. Harry Potter series – We don’t have a lot new to say about these books that hasn’t been exhausted elsewhere. Red1 is up to actually reading the 4th book. She’s been listening to the audio books for a long time and had us believing that she was also reading the paper versions. (The tests at school can’t tell the difference, but I explained how it really really DOES matter.)
  4. The Last Dragon – by Silvana De Mar – Red1 has read this one over and over. It’s an all time favorite.
  5. The Fablehaven Series – by Brandon Mull. Red1 was thrilled to be holding the latest installment in hardcover! You could hear the shriek of delight from the next block over.

Fantasy and Sci Fi Blogs:

I’m not following a lot of Science Fiction blogs right now, so went on a hunt. I found StarTrekSpace right away and was instantly impressed enough to share it with you.

Keep a box of spent batteries

Various batteries: two 9-volt, two "AAA&q...
Image via Wikipedia

Battery Recycling! Now here’s a bit of info for you on what to do with these batteries that you know you shouldn’t be tossing into the trash.

Lookup a recycling center near you!

Earth911.org has given itself a really nice sprucing up and looks gorgeous.

Our batteries died in our cordless phone and I went out to buy new ones. Well I brought home the wrong kind. They’re expensive little suckers. Mrs. SF Daddy went out and just bought a new set of phones! (Not as great for the environment.) So now my errand of returning the wrong batteries is expanded to also collecting up the old phones and either recycling them, or finding a person who can REUSE them. Finding people is easy for us, but a great way to get rid of the ‘still usefull’ stuff you don’t need anymore is FreeCycle. People in your area will come to your house and take it from you. No money exchanges and it’s beautiful.

FreeCycle “Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”