I figured that I had to be the world’s biggest Tony Almeida fan, hands down, given that I’ve devoted 5 years of my life to running a website about him. But this guy might give me a run for my money because I’m not sure I would get a Tony tat. Apparently he has Jack as well. (more …)
If you have any further interest in seeing more pictures of me wearing a Badass Black Leather Jacket and Aviator Sunglasses, click here. (more …)
My brother and I got in line around 5:30 this morning, and wound up about 10 rows away from the stage when we got into Ballroom 20 around 9:30. After the first panel we were able to scoot up, so we were 5 rows from the stage, a little to the left.
We sat through three panels before 24 – Stargate Universe, Battlestar Galactica/Caprica, and then The Big Bang Theory. The 24 panel was scheduled to start at 2:15.
The guests that had been announced were Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Anil Kapoor, Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Howard Gordon. The table was set with too many nameplates, however; we snuck up and saw Sean Callery and Manny Coto were going to be there before being chased away. The final guest list included Evan Katz, David Fury, and Brannon Braga on top of everyone else. Tara Bennett, author of the 24 Official Companions, moderated.
Everyone went wild when people started coming out. Callery got the most applause out of the non-actors (excluding Howard Gordon), Katee Sackhoff had a huge welcome from the Sci-Fi friendly crowd (myself included), and of course Kiefer and Mary Lynn drew wild applause and cheers.
Tara started by asking about the season 7 cliffhanger, and Gordon said that obviously, Jack does make it. Kiefer was asked about highlights of the emotional rollercoaster Jack went through in season 7, and he immediately mentioned Renee and Annie Wersching as critical to Jack’s emotional arc. He said the introduction of her character was fantastic, as the “female equal to [Jack],” and the development of that relationship will continue in season 8. The discussion centered on the idea that by the time season 8 rolls around, Jack once again has reasons to live; Renee, and Kim, are key to that. Day 8, Gordon said, will start with Jack in a place we’ve rarely seen him: happy, with his daughter and granddaughter. Seasons 7 and 8 will be very closely connected.
So I just got a new Blackberry on Friday. My provider is having a promotion and if you sign up for their “Virtually Unlimited” Data Plan, they will upgrade existing customers’ mobile devices free. Sadly, there are no Tony Almeida themes for Blackberries that already exist online, it seems, so I embarked on creating my own using the new Plazmic Content Developer Kit for Blackberry. It was quite a process of trial and error, and it took me almost the entire day, but finally I finished designing my very first custom Blackberry theme, based of course on the Almeida Is God concept. Yes, I know, I am just that obsessed. If you own an 8300 series Blackberry Curve, you can install my Almeida Theme on your device as well. Please note, however, that because my web server doesn’t support distribution of Java applications (.jad), you will need to download this .alx file and use your BlackBerry Desktop Manager to install it locally. Again, this is my first theme ever, and so I really have no idea if this will work for anyone else, so if anyone decides to give it a shot, let me know how it works out for you.
Edit: As requested, here are a few screen shots. I took them from the theme builder, so they don’t represent an EXACT look (in the builder, different icons get layered on top of each other so you can position them where you want them when they appear). But it gives you an idea.
The home screen. In the actual theme, however, the main icons (messages, contacts, calendar and browser) appear on the left hand side.
Sample menu and dialog box.
Incoming call screen … the only thing I dislike about this screen is that you can’t outline your font. It would look a lot better if I could have outlined it in black.
J_A, who is a regular in the comments section here at AIG and a contributor for our affiliate site 24fans.com, waxes poetic on all things Season 7 in this excellent, in-depth and thought provoking post. Please be advised that if you choose to read the full article, it contains information and plot points from the “First 17 Minutes.” Highlights:
When 24 first hit the screens in 2001, it was simply the most innovative, gripping and thrilling series to ever air on TV. The format was unique, the writing superb, the casting perfect, the acting motivated, the characters had depth and the storyline was one big arc, revealing itself little by little. It revolved not solely around Jack but involved the cast as a group, making them all interesting to watch. I still appreciate Jack Bauer’s resolve and committment to always do the right thing at all costs. But somewhere in the course of season two my religion became Almeidaism, a concept developed and introduced to the collective consciousness of Almeidaists by the team behind aig.com, a concept that Carlos Bernard liked to remind his on-screen wife (Reiko Aylesworth) of by whispering to her, in the dull between-takes moments, “Almeida is God.”
So yeah … johanley made a comment on Kat’s recent post, saying:
Heh, I never really realized how validated the webmasters of a place called “Almeida is God” must be feeling. Tony had to suffer two years of decreasing screentime and eventually an ignoble death. Now, against all odds, he’s literally being resurrected and will playing a key role once more. If that’s not God-like, I don’t know what is.
This kind of struck a chord only because I have been thinking about whether or not to post the following for about a week now, and after reading johanley’s comment, I have decided to go ahead. WARNING … personal details about Kasia’s life to be revealed.
When I started AlmeidaIsGod.com, I was in the midst of a pretty dark emotional time in my life. I was just coming off the end of a long term relationship with someone who I loved deeply, and the end of this relationship was not my choice. I sank into a deep depression and I know how psychotic and messed up this is going to sound, but my fandom of 24 was honestly one of the things that got me through. I hated the useless, poorly paying job I had at the time. I hated the sad empty feeling I carried with me almost all the time not being with my ex anymore. The time I spent watching 24, being excited about it, analyzing it in my own head, and especially talking about it with Matt and Kat … these moments are the only real joyful experiences I can remember from then, the only times I felt like I was a complete person intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, the only times I felt like I was connected to anyone or anything. I used my fandom as an emotional crutch and an escape from what I perceived as the reality of my bleak existence. I can’t even tell you how many nights I fell asleep on the couch to the soothing strains of “boop beep”.
Happy Holidays to everyone from the staff of AIG!!!!! Nothing new with the site over the holiday break. I took my laptop to my mom’s place hoping to find a bit of time to work on some more screencaps, but it just didn’t happen, too much going on and lots of family fun. Anyway, I do have one cool little anecdote, I’m probably the last completely obsessed fan in the world to get a cell phone with CTU ringtone on it but at last the inevitable has happened. You know the one I mean, the boo-boo-dee-dooooooooooo internal CTU phone network ringtone. The reason why I didn’t have the ringtone is because I didn’t have a cell phone. But my mom got me a really cool flip-top one for Christmas that is totally 24-worthy. So after hours of fruitless searching on the web to download a ringtone for the brand new model of phone I have, I realized that the very ringtone I wanted was available on one of my service provider’s affiliate networks. So now when someone calls me on the new phone, I can pretend I’m a CTU agent. Digital wireless rules!
Okay, people. We are officially in the countdown season to the premiere. It’s officially the advent of 24. I saw a trailer on TV last night. I was slack-jawed and drooling. CTU once again graced the screen. My heart was pounding already, and i was tearing apart the screen with my eyes, trying to decipher what I was seeing. Now I feel like making a little paper chain.. the kind where you tear a link off every day as you get closer to the big event, and hang it on my bedroom wall. Do they make little chocolate 24 Advent Calendars? We should make one. We could sell it here on the site.
I am all moved into my new place. The first night there, absolutely everything was in boxes and I had just come home around midnite after spending 5 hours cleaning my old apartment from top to bottom. I was absolutely exhausted. The only thing I had the energy to do was hook up the DVD player to the TV, find the box with my remotes in it, find the box with my 24 DVDs in it and fire up some s2. The reprise of s2 made me realize how much I miss Mason. Sighhhhhhhhh.
It’s Holy Day. It’s 1:30 am. I’m back in Canada. I’ve seen 10-11AM. I’ve read through all of the incredible updates going on here on AIG, my baby, while my second in command has been in charge. Matt, you have done an incredible job. I laughed my sad, pathetic, up-for-over-24-hours ass off at the top 24 Betrayals list. Brilliant humour and incisive insight. The debrief was incredible and echoed everything I was thinking while watching the episode, literally minutes after stepping in the door after my father dropped me off from the airport. I’ve been in 4 cities in a 24 hour period and I am exhausted, but not too exhausted to write a little kudos to the shape I found the site in when I returned.
