Chuck Challenge Fun

So the next few blogs are technically 30 day challenges but I have no hope of remembering all thirty days and by then school with probably be back in session and it'll be the furthest thing from my mind. However, I do find these fun so I'm just going to fill them out and have fun being a total geek. This first one is dedicated to my favorite show, Chuck. If you haven't seen this, you are missing out. All the seasons are on Netflix so go binge! The show is about a normal guy who work's at the Buy More (Think Best Buy) in the group called the Nerd Herders (Geek Squad). Then his old roommate from college sends him an email on his birthday. He opens it and BAM! He suddenly has all of the government secrets in his head and craziness ensues.

Chuck Challenge

1. Favorite Season


The third season is my favorite because this is when we learn who's really behind the computer in his head...and just what that means.

2. Favorite Character

 
Chuck Bartowski of course! Sexiest nerd I've ever seen!

3. Favorite Chuck Bartowski Line

"It is never safe in the car!"

4. Favorite John Casey scene

My favorite John  Casey scene isn't even actually in the show. It's part of a little short that makes fun of business employee videos. He stops a shoplifter by hitting him in the head with an apple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WE_et_Dey4 (here's the link)

5. Favorite Episode



Don't make me pick! It's too hard! I like so many of them!

6. Free Spot?

 How about Agent Charles Carmichael?

7. Favorite Scene



Probably when Morgan finds out Chuck is a spy. His reaction was priceless.

8. Favorite Ellie/Devon Scene




Probably their wedding since it got ruined the first time and Chuck went through all that effort to make his sister's wedding fabulous.

9. Favorite Chuck Bartowski scene



I particularly like the scene where Chuck pulls out his nun-chucks, totally prepared to fight the bad guy and the bad guy is taken out by falling luggage.

10. Favorite Family Dinner scene

 

I love the scene where Chuck thinks Casey has poisoned the dessert he brought.

11. Favorite Chuck/Sarah scene



When Chuck and Sarah though Sarah was pregnant. The panic was hilarious.

12. Favorite Holiday Episode



I really liked the episode where the Buy More went into lock down because of an armed robber who wasn't actually an armed robber. It was very intense and I loved how the employees bonded to take the guy out.

13. Another free day?

 How about Agent Sarah Walker?

14. Favorite Chuck/Morgan Scene



Again, it would be when Morgan finds out about Chuck's spy life.

15. Favorite Action Scene



I love when Chuck uploads the new Intersect and he takes out a bunch of bad guys and he's just like "Guys, I know kung fu."

16. Favorite Morgan Grimes scene



When Morgan got the faulty Intersect in his head and he frosted his tips and turned into a total douche and everyone is just like "What the hell?"

17. Favorite Ellie/Chuck scene



When Chuck helps walk his sister down the aisle.

18. Favorite Sarah Walker scene



Her attempt to seduce Chuck so that he'll elope instead having a big wedding. It almost worked too.

19. Favorite Villain



Ted Roark

20. Least Favorite guest star

I can't think of any that really weren't good and I can't. New question.

21. Least Favorite episode


The last one! It was so depressing! I wanted more!

22. Another free day...cuz clearly this person was fresh out of ideas.



 Colonel John Casey for the win!

23. Favorite General Beckman quote/scene



Honestly, any time Roan shows up and she gets flustered is good enough for me.

24. Favorite quote

I'll admit, this is another one I just can't answer because there are far too many good ones.

25. Favorite Jeffster scene

Honestly, they creep me out and I prefer when their scenes end.

26. Favorite Team Bartowski scene

I need to find one that doesn't focus so much on scenes I'm getting bored.



I love the first episode of season two at the end where the big black guy in the above photo says how impressed he is by their boss, Carmichael and Casey just grunts because he would never be Chuck's employee haha.

27. Favorite Sarah Walker Line

To be honest, I was far too focussed on Zachary Levi to be paying attention to Sarah's lines.

28. Favorite Guest Star

   Either this handsome guy or
  this Time Lord in disguise.

29. Favorite Song used
The theme song by Cake of course!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu-X9KUFLWI&index=28&list=PLQ02K867lWiYEIWH5S5APrLpPfQOBPZge

30.  Favorite Bartowski family scene

 Either Daddy Bartowski walking Ellie down the aisle or

 that Mommy Bartowski is present for Ellies' babys' birth.

Quit Hating On Doctor Jones

I've talked with a lot of Whovians and there is always the topic of favorite companions. If we stick to the 2005 reboot, without fail Rose Tyler seems to be the favorite closely followed by Amelia Pond. And without fail, everyone harps on Martha Jones. Why? The biggest reason is that far too many "fans" were upset that the Doctor and Rose never got a shot at a real relationship and that when Martha came on the scene she very clearly had a crush on the Doctor. Get over it! We all have crushes and most of you who were upset with this were only watching because David Tennant is incredibly attractive. If you really get down to it though, Martha was a much better companion than Rose. Let's take a look, shall we?

If we look at  the episode "The End of The World", Rose gets herself into some deep trouble when she throws a temper tantrum after speaking with Cassandra. She almost dies because of it and the Doctor is forced to save her. Okay, to be fair, she is nineteen and still growing up but come on, the TARDIS was right there, she could have just hopped inside and avoided the whole nearly burning via sun thing.

Then there was "The Long Game". She had insisted on bringing Adam along when the Doctor clearly thought it was a bad idea. She saw an opportunity to show off to a cute boy and she took it. Had she not insisted on bringing him the Doctor's and Rose's info never would have been uploaded into the computer and used to basically neutralize the Doctor requiring outside help. On top of this, she is still technically dating Mickey, so flirting with another boy just brings her down another notch in my book.

"Father's Day" is one of the best examples. The Doctor allows her very reluctantly to see her father on the day that he died so that she could be with as he lay dying. Instead, she foolishly saves his life, creating a paradox and bringing the universe's "antibacterial" bat things to clean up after her. She gets many more people killed, including the Doctor because of her selfish desire to keep her father alive instead of following the rules the Doctor told her about.

She again puts herself in peril in "The Empty Child" when she follows a strange kid onto a roof and gets stuck on a rope hanging from a zeppelin. Had Jack not swooped in and saved her she would have become a Rose pancake on the ground below. She then proceeds to flirt with Jack, again disregarding her poor boyfriend. Many may say Jack doesn't count because he flirts with everyone but she could have said she was unavailable.

At the end of "School Reunion", she gets pouty because Sarah Jane suggests that Mickey travel with them and the Doctor agrees. The Doctor's all good looking now so having another man on board cuts into what alone time she could have with the Doctor. Mickey, who is still technically her boyfriend even though he knows she'll never pick him, even though she shows no interest anymore.

And perhaps that is my biggest annoyance with her: the way she treats Mickey Smith. He is clearly smitten with her, and in "Rose" we see that they are happy together. They've known each other for  a long time as suggested by "Father's Day". He's been there for her and she treats him like dirt. And she doesn't even see his worth until he decides to stay behind in the parallel universe. She is very self-centered and it drives me crazy how much people like her.

Now Martha, Martha is not self-centered and yes, she was meant to replace Rose as a companion. Her first encounter with him was in a stressful situation, so when he saved everyone, of course she was going to feel a bit of attraction to him. Plus, this Doctor was very good-looking and he knew it. Don't forget though, Martha was training to be a Doctor, she was incredibly smart. She knew he wasn't interested in her but that didn't stop her from trying to make him interested.

She was the mediator in her torn family and it was taking it's toll on her. The Doctor was kind to her, something she hadn't been given in a while so she would have been very smitten with him. She didn't choose to travel with him because life lacked adventure or ambition like Rose, but it was rather more like a vacation for her. She needed time for herself.

On top of that, she never got herself into needlessly dangerous positions and she didn't always need the Doctor to swoop in and rescue her. In fact, she recused him more than he rescued her. In "Human Nature"  and "The Family of Blood" Martha was forced to watch the Doctor in human form with no memories of being the Doctor as he hid from the Family. They ended up in the early 1900's, a time where Martha would be considered very lowly because of the color of her skin, but she endured nearly a whole year with hardly any complaints. She made do and when the time came, she brought the Doctor back.

She supported him in 1969 in "Blink" when the Weeping Angel sent them back and on top of everything, she fought off the Master, a psychotic Time Lord whom even the Doctor could never beat without help. Only Sarah Jane had had the courage to face him before (As far as I know). Martha beat the Master at his own game with nothing more than a few instructions from the Doctor.

Martha then left to protect her family. Rose had attempted to stay with the Doctor rather than be with her family. Both girls had very different priorities and I think Martha had the upper hand. I don't think she gets the credit she is due. Martha even eventually married Mickey, and she was likely to treat him like a person rather than a dog. I think Martha is one of the best companions the Doctor ever had, and while I like Rose more after she's lived in the parallel universe, she still kind annoys me.

Shipping: Sirius

      Here's another character from Harry Potter who gets some weird ships. Poor Sirius is made out to be some sort of a player from a few short passages in Order of the Phoenix. Just because he winks at girls and has perfect hair doesn't mean he'll sleep with anyone he finds in a broom closet. It just means he's good looking and he knows it. Anyway, some of his ships get as weird as Hermione's. While he hasn't been shipped with a plant, he has been shipped with some strange people.
     First: McGonagall. Where did this one even come from. There's nothing in the story to suggest that anything could have come up between them other Minerva's desire to pummel Sirius over the head. He was probably a very frustrating student to be Head of House over. The only way he could soften her up was helping win at Quidditch. Plus the age gap. The first time we meet Sirius he is thirty-three and Minerva is sixty-eight. That's a thirty-five year gap. McGonagall had already been married and widowed, I don't think she was in the mood to be a cougar. Being a teacher would have beaten those thoughts into a pulp. Too many young people doing stupid things around her, Sirius being one of the worst. I just can't see it happening other than his friends teasing him.

        Second: Remus. I don't know why people are so fond of putting these two together. It's disturbing not because it's a homosexual relationship but because it's Remus guys. Remus obviously has a strained relationship with Sirius. Sirius didn't trust him enough to make him the Potters' real secret keeper. Remus thought Sirius had killed the Potters. Sirius is rash and Remus is not, in fact, he shows some very controlled patience with Sirius as if he's preventing himself from hitting him over the head. (Plus there is the obvious attraction between Remus and Tonks but that's a whole other ship list for later.) Remus and Sirius trust each other but not enough. They are very cautious with each other even after Sirius is cleared by the Golden Trio.

     Third: Marlene McKinnon. More of a random ship I think. There is no suggestion they knew each other in school or were the same age or anything. All we know about Marlene is that she was married with young children and they were all murdered by Death Eaters because she was an Order member. It sounds like someone thought it would make a good story and a lot of people took it as canon or something and went off and wrote their own stories.

    Fourth: Hermione. I know I did Hermione already but lots of people put her with Sirius. I only have one thing to say. If Ron was almost too immature for her, there's no way she'd ever like Sirius that way. She'd kill him first out of irritation. Like him she might but a relationship would end in tears and blood...from Sirius.

    Fifth: Severus. If Hermione would kill Sirius, Severus would torture him...if Sirius didn't get to him first. I cannot figure this ship out anymore than why Hermione would fall in love with the Whomping Willow. While it might make for funny stories, it's just not logical and people who ship this need serious help. They aren't Potterheads. They're confused. Or high. Or both.

    Sixth: The OC...which is probably based off the writer. I've read a lot of stories where Sirius ended up with an OC who was extremely similar to a teenage girl of today. Let's face it lot's of girls have got crushes on Sirius. Why not? He's described as handsome and debonair, any girl would fall for that. Even I have an OC that he gets with (she is however not based off of me. If I were going to do that I would be with Remus but as I like Tonks, I got Albus Severus instead). Some people just didn't like Sirius being the only good marauder who didn't get to have a son so they give him a girl to get that done, regardless of whether he knew or not. Natural if you get hung up on fictional deaths (guilty).

   That ends my Sirius rant. He is one of my favorite characters and he will forever hold a special place in my heart, single or otherwise.

P.S. It's totally ok to comment. Let me know who I should do for the next ship. I know Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Stravanganza, The Avengers, Doctor Who, NCIS, Merlin, Sherlock, Kane Chronicles, etc. I will discuss more than shipping on these too if that is a wish. If you want other stuff, dinosaurs, birds and rocks are good topics too.

Shipping: Hermione

     For my first real post I shall talk about shipping. This will probably continue for a couple of posts because it is a broad topic. I shall start with all the shipping around one Hermione Granger. I have seen some weird stuff in my fan fiction days. A friend of mine found a story centered around her falling in love with the Whomping Willow. I didn't want to know so I didn't ask. There are, however, a few ships that do seem more odd to me than a girl falling in love with a tree.
     First: Hermione and Snape. Disgusting. Whoever thought of this first has some issues. Snape is far too old for her for one thing. For another, he can't stand her. Yes, a lot of romantic comedies start with the couple in question hating each other and age shouldn't matter but let's look at the facts. Snape only ever loved one girl. Lily will forever hold his heart. Hermione had clear feelings for Ron (more on this one later). Snape was a complete jerk to Hermione on countless occasions. The most prominent one in my memory was when either Crabbe or Goyle hit her with a curse when one of them hit with a curse by her friends. Snape let the Slytherin go to the nurse but refused Hermione. Her teeth were growing at an alarming rate and  he said :I see no difference." Let's face it. This could never be.

     Second: Hermione and Draco. Draco's father will definitely not want to hear about this. Draco is too much of a blood purist to want Hermione. Snape is more believable than Draco. Besides his constant bursts of  "Mudblood", Draco has always been rather cruel to Hermione as well. Ron and Harry had to constantly stand up to him for her. It got so bad she punched him in the face. Again. Hermione had clear feelings for Ron. Even Draco noticed and teased them about it.

    Third: Hermione and Harry. Let's face it, even J.K. Rowling face palmed this. She said in an interview that all the Harry/Hermione shippers needed to abandon ship because it was so obviously Ron who had won Hermione's heart. Who can dispute the author? Harry will always be Hermione's best friend.

     Fourth: Hermione and Fred. What? Where did that come from? Why would Fred (or George for that matter) fall for Hermione. She's always threatening to turn them into the teachers and prefects. When she was prefect she threatened to tell their mother what they were up to. There is no way they would fall for her since she was a tattle tale to them.

    For me, Hermione and Ron were obvious from at least the second book. Ron is always very protective of her. He fought Bellatrix to save her. While other may ship Hermione with any of the above...including a tree, it will always be Rominone for me.

Just For Fun

     So I thought I would do this just for fun. Maybe it'll help me with my writer's block. Maybe it won't. Either way, I hope to be an absolute geek and hope others will geek out too. So for starters, what makes me nerd out? First and most important, dinosaurs. I'm going to school them so they should come first. Let me tell you nothing annoys me more than people saying pterodactyl is a dinosaur. It's not and it's pronounced pterodactylus (tear-o-dack-toe-lus). It is in fact a pterosaur or flying reptile. Then there's the whole Brontosaurus thing. Sorry guys, Brontosaurus doesn't exist anymore. His name is Apatosaurus. Anyway, more on that later.
      Next on my list of nerdiness is the one and only Harry Potter. Up until the last movie came out all my birthdays had been Harry Potter themed. I was lost last year. I had no idea what to do for my birthday because I had no movie to see. Pathetic, I know, but hey that's what it means to be a geek. In fact, I took an online quiz to see how many of the 200 or so names of characters I could name in as little time as possible. I got all but like four. For a college student, I really have no life.
      So, without Harry Potter, I needed something else to cling to. That is where Doctor Who came in. I was lost, alone and felt as though I'd lost my best friend and the Doctor swooped in and saved me. I am now an avid fan waiting in desperation for November 23 and the epicness of the 50th anniversary episodes. In fact, I only started watching Doctor Who because one of the Doctor's was in Harry Potter. Even with Harry out of the picture he influences what I watch.
     On a much smaller scale are several other things that keep me quite happy. I love Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard is the bomb. I will watch TOS though. I mean it's the original, why not? I even saw a few episodes of Enterprise. I am a big fan of the Stravanganza series by Mary Hoffman. If you haven't read them you are missing out. The first book is called The City of Masks. Some seriously good summer reading material right there. I am also and avid bird watcher. I took a field ornithology class and now I love identifying not only birds but mammals, reptiles, amphibians and plants. It makes family vacations to Yellowstone and Glacier a lot more entertaining.
     Anywho, I hope people enjoy the nerdiness and where it takes us. To finish off I will prove how much I adore the Harry Potter series.

This is my cat Albus. He didn't have a middle name until my little brother asked so now it's Albus Severus. 

These are Lumos and Nox (recently passed). Very sweet birds. 

This is Pigwidgeon who replaced Nox. 

This is Norbert, my Frilled Lizard.