She don't need a thing, she don't need saving or a lay

Currently in the listening-to stack: She Wants Revenge's self-titled album. (Once again, R.E.M. ruined the word epinymous for everone.) Which I'm liking quite a bit. Sounds like a distillation of the parts of Depeche Mode that I like, without the parts that I find annoying, with a little bit of Joy Division thrown in...

Harry Potter, Endings Sequence

So, since everyone's talking Potter and book 7 speculations these days, here's a little one:

Notice that each book has Harry bring a different set of people in to the final action/confrontation sequence? (Usually he's by himself at the end, but I'm talking about who's there at the start of the big finish.)

Book 1: Ron and Hermione both accompany him into the stone's hiding place.

Book 2: Only Ron is with him going into the Chamber.

Book 3: Only Hermionie is with him in the time-travel sequence.

Book 4, the center book: He's alone (or accompanied by his rival Cedric, if you start the 'final sequence' a bit earlier.)

Book 5: His entire extended peer group show up at the ministry.

Book 6: He's with his mentor Dumbledore.

So, each time it's been painstakingly different groups. My guess for book 7, to fit this 'pattern'? When Harry heads into the final confrontation, he'll be surrounded by his (former?) enemies: Snape, Draco, Wormtail. And maybe even Dudley, too.

So anyway...

Finished watching the first season of Gray's Anatomy on DVD recently. It certainly is striking, how close to being the exact same show it and Scrubs get, isn't it?

Anyhow, the prospective problem in both shows is, as was the case with ER, the fact that the first year of a young doctor's residency is far more dramaticly interesting than the second year. Or the sixth.

My proposed solution? The Shift. Cross these shows with 24, sort of. Not quite real-time, but the entire first season takes place during our cast of recently minted doctors' first 48-hour shift at the hospital. Future seasons can take place later during that same year...

52's Clues: Week 5

Here we go, at last.
Page 1: Creepy kid.

Page 2: You'd think Alan Scott could call ahead...

Page 3: That banner's in awful good shape for having been up for a month. Also, Title.

Page 4: Skeets doesn't know about Luthor's newest plan.

Page 5: Doctor Irons is paged, Steel answers.

Page 6: Ali-Ka-Zoom!

Page 7:Time-Freezing Drugs must come in handy all kinds of places.

Page 8: "Steel" appears to be almost reciting the information about the hand. Whatever possessing entity he's got has access to his memories, but has to actively look for info?

Page 9: So who's eye does he have?

Page 10-11: Looks like how Supergirl got to the Legion's time is here.

Page 12: Wasn't Troia supposed to have been the person running the show in space? So why does Alan think that he was the one in charge?

Page 13: Don't remember Alan being that dense, either.

Page 14: The DC Universe: so small that every lesbian police officer knows every other lesbian police officer.

Page 15: So Renee kept one kirby-gun. What happened to the rest of them?

Page 16: Not sure who that is blasting at Hawkgirl's chest...

Page 17: So, "52" is coming. And the Red Tornado knew about it.

Page 18: Buddy Baker: the marriedest man in the univere.

Page 19: Convenient, there being a spaceship on the planet.

Page 20: Wonder if Alan's got one of Adam Strange's eyes. And if so, where the other one ran off to. Also wonder if Buddy's testicles are also among the misplaced organs, and who got them...

(More snark than clues this week, but it's the issue's fault, honest.)

So..

No 52 today. Tomorrow, maybe. Meanwhile, a couple of questions on Wonder Woman, V3 #1:

1. So, can we assume from the absence of swords or blood on the Dr. Psycho reveal page that Donna hasn't actually been impaled by anything other than in her head?

2. So, is Steve Trevor the new Nemesis? Or is the original Nemesis disguised as Steve Trevor? And does that mean there's a real Steve Trevor out there in addition to Nemesis, or is Trevor entirely a cover ID for Nemesis. (Actually, the "tom" reference rules out the first, but the others are still out there...

Sorry, been lax.

Will get back to a regular schedule soon, promise. 52 tomorrow, probably something on MI-5 season 1 fairly soon...

52's Clues: Week Four

(I'll finish off Week 3 when I go back and do the History of the DCUs.)

Page 1: "Kane St.", named for the family of an upcoming Gotham heroine, perhaps?

Page 2: Halo's working for Nasa. Also, they're doing this on the shuttle rather than the much roomier-lookng station...

Page 3: The president's name is Horne nowadays.

Page 4: "Thaddeus Star" is a distinctive name; might mean something somewhere.

Page 5: Okay, 'NPRK' is one of Gold's sponsors. Also, "Me" and "It" on his back on the first panel, not entirely consistent with what's on it in panel 3. Which is where some names (of Team Hunter people) are.

Page 6: "Urinating Wino" probably not on of the 52 spin-offs coming this year.

Page 7: Does the Question have knowledge of the future, too? Or just know more than he's telling.

Page 8: Steel is a bit...conflicted.

Page 9: ...and may qualify for the Mad-Scientist kidnapper by now...

Page 10: Poisoned...

Page 11: ...and possibly a new Bulletman?

Page 12: Devem, which means that he's probably spying on someone for someone else. At least one someone.

Page 13: Ralph either didn't get a vision or he's starting a long one.

Page 14: "Samara". Or maybe "Simpsom & Co".

Page 15: Montoya didn't hear anything. Big guy falling or jumping down that trapdoor would have been pretty loud, wouldn't it?

Page 16: Secret warehouse full of high-tech guns, so let's send a blind monster to move them?

Page 17: Panel 5 looks painful. Almost lethally painful.

Page 18: Nice gun.

Page 19: Looks like Geo-Force, but costume says "CP". Also, not helecopter 52 but 38 instead.

Page 20: So, Hawkgirl's a giant, Greet Lantern I's lost an eye, Celcius and Bumblebee are in mighty bad shape, and two other characters are unidentifiable.