Here's What Your Favorite Fringe Character Says About You

Here's What Your Favorite Fringe Character Says About You

by David Wu

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Olivia Dunham: You are a loner, you doubt yourself, but deep inside you know that you kick ass.

Peter Bishop: You spend time wishing that people love you for who you are now, not for what you once were.

Walter Bishop: With all the food you eat daily, you frequently need to take a "Massive D."

Astrid Farnsworth: You enjoy your job, but you realize it's more of a stepping stone than your calling.

William Bell: You're not a Fringe fan. You are a Trekkie who watched Fringe just to check out Leonard Nimoy's performance.

September: You can recite your favorite Fringe episodes word-for-word, going as far to state a piece of dialogue before it is even spoken. And sometimes annoyingly so.

Charlie Francis: You spend your days hoping you won't be fired, laid off, or cremated.

Phillip Broyles: Your wife left you when you told her that you wanted to leave your six-figure job in order to become a lounge singer.

Ella: Your theme song in life is "Umbrella" by Rihanna, because you get to sing "Ella" a whole bunch of times.

Rachel: You have a crush on Ari Graynor. That must be the only reason.

Brandon Fayette: You have doubts about your job safety when you know that both the CEO and the night security watchman have been hanging out and getting stoned.

Nina Sharp: You're not over the hill; you're down in the valley.

Thomas Jerome Newton: You need to get a life - as much as you've tried, you can't naturally induce yourself to dream about electric sheep; and even if you did, you better not tell anyone or you will be ridiculed. Try something more worthwhile, like installing a chip into your lower spine.

Lincoln Lee (Over There): You spend your days listening to R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" on repeat.

Lincoln Lee (Over Here): You have craved pecan pie since March 18, 2011.

Col. Phillip Broyles (Over There): By day, you run a tight operation at your work, and are a confident authority figure. By night, you are a family man. But deep inside, you really want to be a lounge singer.

Charlie Francis (Over There): You hope and dream for a "bug girl" to enter your life.

Walternate: You have dreamt of plugging your book "ZFT" on a popular talk show.

Fauxlivia: You can't decide on which nickname you want friends to use for you, so you just go with all of them. And sometimes annoyingly so.

Frank Stanton: Your new life's motto is: "Mama's baby, Papa's maybe."

Astrid (Over There): You're amazing, but you need to take time to breathe.

Brandon Fayette (Over There): You could have sworn you saw a mug appear and then disappear into thin air.

August: You will go out of your way for the person you love the most. And sometimes annoyingly so.

Roscoe Joyce: You laugh when everyone adores you when you play a bunch of random chord progressions on a piano.

David Robert Jones: You exclaim "Mr. Cole!" randomly, in a faux-English accent.

John Scott: You never existed.

Congratulations to Fringe for getting a Season 4

It was announced by Fringe co-showrunner Joel Wyman via Twitter earlier today that the series was granted a Season 4.

I would like to take this time to personally congratulate the fanbase of the series, for playing a major part in this decision by the FOX network. And obviously, I've had some choice words for the network itself in recent months, but I do want to sincerely thank the network for extending what I strongly feel is currently the best show on TV.

I'll continue to be a fan, although the Fringemunks episode-by-episode song recaps will cease after the Season 3 songs are complete, as announced back in December 2010. As of this moment, 50 of the planned 65 songs spanning Seasons 1-3 are finished and already released. That's not to say that I don't have a plan for Season 4 - it just simply won't be the same magnitude and feel.

The series continues to amaze and impress new fans as well as the veterans who were watching since the "Pilot" episode. Although ratings are currently less than stellar, I do think that the quality of the show will be enough to gain new fans well into the future, even a hundred years from now.

The Fringemunks project will ride on the series' coattails well into the future as well - someone in the year 2125 will marvel at, say, our Epis. 3.22 "The Day We Died" song, and word-of-mouth it to his/her friends. Thanks, cast/crew/producers of Fringe, for producing material that inspires my material, and I owe a lot to all of you.

--David Wu

FRINGE THEORY | Peter & Fauxlivia's Baby: Perhaps We've Already Met Her

Ella?

OK, I realize this theory may be far-fetched, and is a bit of a shot in the dark. However, here are some dots I'm connecting:

• "Brown Betty" [2.19] episode allegory: Ella provides Walter with "a much better ending." If we are to take the episode's allegories seriously as indicative of the Fringe mythology as a whole, perhaps Ella is the gamechanger and ace-up-the-sleeve at the end of the Fringe series, whenever it is.
  
  
• "Brown Betty" episode allegory: Rachel (in Walter's story) was actually not Rachel, but an actress pretending to be named Rachel who was used by the fictional Walter for his agenda. If we take the episode's allegories seriously, perhaps Rachel was lying/acting about being Ella's aunt from the get-go - and that brings to mind another question: who (perhaps Walternate?) would be using her?
  
  
• In "Bound" [1.11] (starting at the 30:00 mark), we see the first extended scene involving Olivia and Rachel. Two interesting factors come up: 1) Rachel claims Ella gets her strength from Olivia (and looks temporarily distracted a few seconds later), and 2) Olivia asks Rachel if there's something Rachel isn't telling her (which Rachel denies).
  
  
• At the end of "August" [2.08], August and December watch Olivia and Ella, and December says: "Look how happy she is - it's a shame things are about to get so hard for her." "Her" could be either Olivia or Ella.
  
  
• Possible writer/producer hint: In "Concentrate and Ask Again" [3.12], there is a magic 8-ball towards the beginning of the episode - the other magic 8-ball is seen in "Bound," as it was the gift given by Ella to Olivia, after Rachel and Ella's alleged trip to Peru. Perhaps we are to "connect the 8-balls" a little, although the symbolism is still alluding me at the moment.
  
  
• In "The No-Brainer" [1.12], Rachel marvels at Peter and Ella's first meeting, and states: "The way you are with Ella, you could be really good," then quickly "corrects" herself and says "at a party."
  
  
• Also in "No-Brainer," Ella survives the brain-melting computer video, while others did not. Ella, in fact, has no signs of any injury, and Olivia seems almost shocked that Ella could withstand such a trauma.
  
  
• In "The Transformation" [1.13], Olivia has trouble remembering some historical details relating to Rachel, after which Rachel changes the subject to John Scott. [This is similar to how Olivia had trouble "remembering" Fauxlivia's memories (after they were implanted in her) a few seasons later.] A minute later in the same "Transformation" episode, Rachel looks distant when she claims that her former partner Greg is a jerk.
  
  
• In "Inner Child" [1.15], it is Olivia (as opposed to Rachel) who Ella wakes in the morning for company.
  
  
• In "Unleashed" [1.16], Rachel "jokes" with Olivia and Ella: "You two work well together, and I don't like it."
  
  
• In "Bad Dreams" [1.17], it is revealed that Ella is receiving some sort of "vaccination" - frequency unknown. Ella says that this substance was dead, but that she now felt it was "alive" (though Olivia assured her that it was just a "bad dream").
  
  
• In "Over There, Part 1" [2.21], Olivia gave Ella the cross handed down from her mother, further cementing how Olivia thinks of Ella kind of like a daughter.
  
  
• So how would Ella time-travel back to an earlier part of the timeline? The only 2 ways I can see is that 1) an Observer would have to do it - the Observer was able to allow Roscoe Joyce's son to travel through time in "The Firefly" [3.10] - OR - 2) back in "Safe" [1.10], it was revealed that Walter was once working on a time-travel device - perhaps Walternate was successful in making one work. Also NOTE: In the first Fringe comic book series, William/Walter DID make one work.
  

--David Wu

An interview of Roscoe Joyce, former keyboardist of Violet Sedan Chair

DAVID WU: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us for a few moments, sir!

ROSCOE JOYCE: Wu! How in the blazes did you get here?

DW: I drove. I think all of us Fringe fans are excited about your appearance in the upcoming episode, "The Firefly," which will be aired this Friday, Jan. 21. Do you watch the show?

ROSCOE: Not as much since Season 1, to be honest. It seems like a great show. I remember a great subplot involving an agent who died, but somehow stayed around for half a season. It was great plot. Great Scott! I forget the agent's first name.

DW: Interesting. Do you enjoy the resurgence of the popularity of your former band?

ROSCOE: Definitely! I want our music to be heard for all time. Well, you better not hook up your amplifier to the record player - there's a slight possibility for overload.

DW: So now that it's years later, what current road are you on with your music?

ROSCOE: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads! But I do have one thing to say: wohohoho, the future is looking a who-o-o-llle lot better now that I personally dropped off old vinyl records in used record shops around these here fine United States.

DW: Yeah, a fan named Kiki found one of the vinyls a few days ago here in Seattle's Easy Street Records, the Queen Anne store! And then another one found it at the Easy Street Records in West Seattle... and then I found one and bought it for five dollars plus tax at the West Seattle location just today! Thanks for doing that, man.

ROSCOE: Fans of Fringe, please excuse the crudity of this method of distribution. But it works! It works!

DW: Congratulations, again! Any last thought for Fringe fans?

ROSCOE: Just one - remember, Fringe is what you make it!

The Fringemunks to end episodic recaps after Season 3

As announced on Facebook earlier this week, I will cease to produce The Fringemunks' episodic recap parody songs of Fringe, after Season 3 (and after a total of 65 recap songs have been completed and released).

For me, this was a simple and easy decision. I do love the project, but I know that to continue on past this season would be too much of a burden. Having said that, I have nothing but great things to say about the project, the fans, friends and supporters - all in all, a win-win situation that grew out of thin air.

So does this mean the end of The Fringemunks? Not exactly - you may see/hear them pop up in some odd project or song once in a blue moon. But it's the grueling one-song-per-episode schedule that was becoming a bit of a chore.

However, keep in mind that there are still 19 more songs left to be released before the project's episodic run ends at 65 songs, so the ending - while clear - is still only on the horizon. Until then, enjoy the ride!

The current state of "The Fringemunks" project

Truly a global audience!

It's hard to believe that, as of this writing, The Fringemunks project is now 45 songs old (not including the odds-and-sods tracks of Bloody Rare). I thought I'd share a few thoughts about where things are with this project.

What started off as a fun 2-song joke has turned into the flagship project of my website, and I never expected it to go this far, this long, and this deep; and never did I expect that it would help me obtain an audience (however big or small) from around the globe. Each time someone overseas listens to a song, someone's dream (mine) is coming true!

That's not even including the possibility that the "David Wu" character in Episode 2.18 may have been more than just a coincidence; and I haven't even mentioned the plug by Alyssa Milano earlier this year. Meeting the cast in Feb. 2009 in New York was an amazing experience. These are great stories to tell my future grandchildren.

I'm not by any stretch of the means an "expert" in TV series, nor do I share the same type of enthusiasm or passion as some other amazing Fringe-ies, and that makes the accomplishments of The Fringemunks project all the more remarkable!

But, as you can imagine, it is a huge epic project and - not an easy one. If it were easy, more people would be doing it, I'm sure!

The toughest part now is actually the lyrics - that's the phase that takes me the longest - scrutinizing every phrase, every word, every line, every verse, every chorus - to make sure it flows and that it is accurate. The music is a little easier. Season 3 storylines involve so many moving parts, to the point where it is hard to recap an episode from only one person's POV per song.

On top of that, each song now is now under a bit more of a microscope than, say, the Season 1 songs - in those early songs, there was hardly any pressure. Now each song is reviewable and ... may I say ... sometimes The Fringemunks can be a tough act to follow, even for The Fringemunks themselves!

I find that I have less and less time to work on the songs nowadays, so in the very spare amount of time I do have, I try to make it count - and means sometimes doing tracks in one take and leaving things raw (which is actually not a bad thing to do). But it also means that it can be tough to keep up with an already-busy schedule. I'm 45 songs in, but there are currently already 51 episodes out, so I'm 6 behind.

I have stated my complaints about FOX for Fringe's timeslot, yes. I have stated that the move to Fridays could very well mean the end of the show by Season 3's finale, yes. There is a chance I might need to cut off The Fringemunks' episodic songs after a certain amount of time, yes. But I need to make it clear in case it isn't already clear: I don't personally want the show to end, nor do I want it to end merely for the sake of relieving me from parody-making duties. If I really want to quit, I'll quit, regardless of whether or not the show continues.

If there's a bit of a constant shift back and forth between wanting to continue and not wanting to, then that is also the mark of any longterm project. Whereas a project can last 3+ years, life changes month-to-month and week-to-week, and I'm essentially not the same person (or in the same state of being) as I was when Fringe started.

But while things change, there is a constant - the released music. The project evolves, and the music approach changes song-to-song, but once a song is released, it remains as is. And I have found that they actually age well in time, like red wine. I thank the supporters/fans of the project for this, as they are the ones who really make the project worthwhile! They even show more passion for my productions than I do at many times! Some know my own lyrics better than I do!

So, moving forward... let's continue to have some fun. And thanks for listening.

How I Lost 30 Pounds

In August 2008, I decided to take control of my health. Since then, I have lost over 30 pounds. Here's how I did it:

1. Eating 3 meals a day, including breakfast.
2. Eating more vegetables/fruit.
3. Eating healthy portions. (This is key - no food is off limits, but higher-calorie foods should be limited.)
4. Recognizing which foods are healthier - no need to count calories if this is practiced.
5. Drinking more water.
6. Limiting sugar intake, in both foods and drink.
7. Exercising, including running and team sports (dodgeball/softball)
8. Limiting the amount of times I eat out after 9 PM.