By artist Berry Presh. Poor Hulk — he feels left out!

Via Geek Tyrant.

Being the parents of two young girls, J and I have very little time to watch TV. So when we do get the time to catch up on our favorite shows, it is not uncommon for one of us to ask the other, “Why do we continue to watch this show again?”

Let me explain. Say that you started watching a television series. Say that you fell in love with its storyline, its characters, and the way that it makes you feel.

But after a few seasons, that show starts to lose its luster. The jokes become repetitive. The characters become clichéd and annoying. And worse still, the story begins to suffer.

In other words, the show has hit its prime long ago, and it’s been on a downward spiral since. In all likelihood, it should have been cancelled a season or two ago, but the network continues to air it because of people like us —

The people who continue to watch only because we’ve already invested so much into it.

In our household, the top three (currently running) shows that fit this criteria are:

How I Met Your Mother. Perhaps the worst offender of them all. CBS needs to realize that the show can continue even after Ted meets his future wife. (Think: courtship, engagement, wedding, kids!) Just let us find out who the mother is, already!

House. Granted, they are currently running the last season. But we feel that the show lost its magic after Cameron left.

The Office. Most fans say that the show should have ended with Michael’s departure. I say it should have ended after Jim & Pam got married.

On the flipside, there also exist shows that have been running for many seasons but still manage to keep us eagerly tuning in every week, consistently delighting and surprising us while maintaining its integrity. My top three runners in this category are:

Fringe. This fourth season has been the best yet!

Bones. This isn’t a great show, so I don’t know why I like it so much. The entire Booth & Brennan baby story has been a great turn of events.

Grey’s Anatomy. Sure, it has its moments. But you can’t deny that this is one show that is constantly filled with stimulating drama. (J would like to me point out that he does not watch “that horny doctors show.” This is solely my guilty pleasure. )

Do you also have shows that you can’t seem to stop watching although it’s grown stale? What about those that consistently keep you entertained season after season?

On a related note, everyone seems to be talking about Downton Abbey these days. Is it really that good?

I was first introduced to the genius of writer and director Christopher Nolan through his 2000 film Memento. A man suffering from anterograde amnesia who must take Polaroids of everything just to get by. An unsolved murder. And two timelines, one playing chronologically while the other presents backwards, eventually meeting in the middle at the end of the movie…what’s not to like?

(If you have never seen this movie, schedule some time off this weekend to watch it — because this movie is like Nolan’s better-known Inception in that you need to be giving it your full attention to fully enjoy it!)

Memento still remains one of my favorite psychological thrillers, so when I came across this visual map of the movie’s sequence of events I knew that I had to share it here with my readers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Via haha.nu.

Welcome to today’s installment of Cool Tool Tuesdays, where I feature a favorite item from my life and spotlight it so that others who are not familiar with the product may also benefit from it. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, hardware, material, or website that I have personally tried and love.

Do you have any questions about today’s cool tool? Would you like an item featured in the future? Please leave a comment to this post, or send me a message via my contact form. Enjoy!

As with most Star Wars fans, I hate the various modifications that has been made to the original trilogy and I openly voice my opinion on the matter.

And unless you own the trilogy, in its unedited and original form (often in Laserdisc or VHS format), it can be difficult to relive the untainted masterpiece.

(Just in case you are wondering, I did once own Star Wars episodes IV-VI in VHS format. But it disappeared from my parents’ home while I was away at college. My parents swear they did not touch it, so we can only surmise that a visitor “borrowed” it. I consider this one of the saddest losses of my life.)

There’s also the fact that technology has changed tremendously since 1977, when Episode IV was released. I don’t even know anyone who owns a VHS player anymore — how can we continue to enjoy the authentic version and ensure that future generations will have access to it too?

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Or, in this case, where there is Star Wars, there will be a devoted following of über geeks with tons of time and resources to spare. (Or at least lend for this good cause.)

A very dedicated fan who goes by the name “Harmy” at The Original Trilogy forums has painstakingly put together a very high quality cut of the entire trilogy, utilizing a wide variety of video sources as well as custom mattes. The result: nearly identical versions of the original theatrical releases of Episodes IV-VI in HD format!

Right now, Harmy’s Despecialized Editions are the best restorations of the original trilogy by far. Because it is a fan preservation, it does not technically infringe on copyright laws…but this also means that it cannot be bought or sold. What you can do is download the trilogy and enjoy it from your computer, or burn it onto a disc and enjoy it on your television.

Heck, it even comes with cover art for Blu-ray cases — you can print those out and geek out even more!

You can learn more about the “despecialized” version of each film at the following threads in The Original Trilogy forums:

Episode IV: A New Hope

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Screened.com also featured a special, behind-the-scenes article on Harmy and his project here. It’s worth reading as it tells the tales of fandom, dedication, and “rare examples of Internet dissatisfaction leading to something genuinely amazing and productive.” 

Finding the actual download links to the movies can be a bit of a pain, but they can certainly be found if you know where to look. (And if you’re really having trouble, just let me know and I’ll help you out.)

Harmy says that the “despecialized project” is not quite over yet. An obvious perfectionist, he still sees minor glitches, and wants to work on certain scenes such as the Ben vs. Vader lightsaber duel, or the original hologram of Leia, both of which were recomposited in later edits of the film and given a very different look in the process.

We will certainly be waiting for the newer — ironic when you consider that the goal is to go back to the original — release of Harmy’s Despecialized Editions with great anticipation. But in the meantime, geeks everywhere thank this 23-year-old student for all his hard work.

This mashup by illustrator James Hance (previously featured on this blog for his Wookie the Pooh pieces) is too adorable not to share.

Titled “Someone Who Loves You,” this sweet painting features Up‘s Carl Fredricksen and his wife Ellie as Han and Leia from Star Wars. Prints will be available Tuesday on Hance’s website.

Via io9.