Monday website AND new TV show review!

Today's blog comes to you in two parts. Part one: your weekly time-wasting website recommendation. This week's site is called Reasonably Clever. It is run by a guy named Chris. The home page features the latest strip of Chris's webcomic, which is called "Brick House." Despite also being made of Lego creations, "Brick House" is completely different from "Irregular Webcomic!" (which was first mentioned a couple weeks ago). Anyway, "Brick House" is worth a read, but it is harder than IWC for new readers to jump into.

I am recommending "Reasonably Clever" for two main reasons. The first is the Lego Mini-Mizer, which allows you to create your own Lego people. Here is an example of some of the Lego people I've made:



We have Dracula, the wolfman, and Frankenstein's monster! There are also a ton of superhero costumes, Star Trek uniforms, and a collection of T-shirts. You can even add a background.

The other cool thing about Reasonably Clever is Chris's photo gallery of his Lego creations. He is crazy talented! Here is the main build page, which includes (among others) LIFE-SIZED Tom Servo and Crow made ENTIRELY from Legos! Also worth a look: Lego "Serenity" and a church for the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" (scaled to accommodate Lego mini-figs).

All right, part 2 is a review of ABC's new show "The Gates." It is a drama chronicling the lives of residents in a gated community cleverly named The Gates. But The Gates must be one of those places like Sunnydale that attracts weirdness. The new police chief has just moved his family into the community and has no idea about what is really going on. So far, we have a werewolf pack at the high school, witches owning shops downtown, and a couple of vampires who live next door with their adopted (human) daughter.

The first episode was pretty good. We get to know a bit about all of the characters in the ensemble, although I hope that all of the main characters have been introduced already. If the ensemble gets too large, it turns into a soap opera. The main reason I stopped watching "Heroes" is because they had too many damn characters. I would watch the show every week, and still had trouble following it!

Anyway, the acting and writing are decent, but not spectacular. So far, I am most intrigued by the vampires, Claire and Dylan (big surprise). They moved to The Gates to protect their daughter Emily from other vampires. The only problem with this plan is that Claire has trouble controlling her hunger. Dylan seems to have a handle on it, but I think he is more the exception than the rule when it comes to vampires. I would like to hear more about their daughter and why they decided to adopt.

We also have Peg and Devon, who both own shops that sell herbs and holistic junk. They haven't stated it outright yet, but it is heavily implied that they practice witchcraft. Peg is the "good" witch and Devon is the "bad" witch. Then there is the werewolf pack, which appears to be composed of about half a dozen teenage boys. Not too much has been said about them, except that there is a "code" and running around as a werewolf is not allowed inside the community. I'm guessing that they fall into the "turn into a wolf at will" category rather than the "change at the full moon" category.

Interwoven with all of this is the story of the Monohans, who have just moved in. Nick is the new police chief (from Chicago!) and is suspicious of his new neighbors, Claire and Dylan. His wife Sarah thinks Claire is a wonderful woman. Claire recommended Peg to Sarah, but Sarah ended up going to Devon's shop instead. Their son Charlie has a crush on a werewolf's girlfriend. They also have a daughter, who is just kind of there. Maybe she'll end up being friends with the vampires' daughter or something. Actually, that would be pretty interesting.

The show has potential. I will probably tune in again next week.

Leverage: Season 3 review coming soon! It is downloading as we speak.