thoughts

You are currently browsing the archive for the thoughts category.

Battlestar Galactica might’ve lifted its core plot line right out of Mormon mythology but it still managed an intelligent commentary on present day affairs and made a pretty in-depth examination of the human condition while it was at it. This has always equaled good sci-fi for me. Enter the V’s :

Image Courtesy of ABC

Appealing mainly to the folks who don’t care to watch anything that can’t be programmed, categorized, or easily referenced (Thanks Mulder); ABC’s V is as subtle as an outburst of cheek flapping flatulence at your Aunt Bessie’s funeral, and equally tasteful. Its pilot episode went form zero to second season in one commercial break, while managing a painfully obvious dig at health-care and Obama. They wrapped up their 4th episode by playing off flu-shot conspiracy theories. Remember kids, your government is out to get you, so grab a gun and start a militia now, you’ll be glad you did when it comes time to storm the White House.

I always thought ABC dressed more to the left?

I gave it a shot, watched the 4 primer episodes before it goes on break till spring of next year (brilliant). No matter your own political leanings, the writing in this show doesn’t warn about the dangers of embracing the new and shiny just because what you have is busted up and cancerous (that’s a decent sci-fi plot idea). On the other hand I think they’re trying their damnedest to stir up as many wing-nuts as possible, just to see what effect it might have on ratings for a show which would otherwise already be canceled. This is the worst kind of television sci-fi.

So what am I left with? A show chasing after the the success of BSG, masquerading as legitimate sci-fi when the whole concept is more suited to the popcorn party treatment of Independence Day than it is to making any kind of meaningful commentary. If the show does make it back on air in March, I’m going to have an easy time forgetting to tune in. Maybe I just feel betrayed that as a kid in elementary school, I loved the original series, even though I realize it was just as cheesy as this current rehash.

How about you? Love it, hate it, or meh?

 

Tags: , , , , , ,


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Recently I’ve found myself a belated fan of this relatively obscure show (well in Canada anyway). I’ve known about it for years but it never made it to my PVR list until recently. The charm of the show is wrapped up in the 3 charismatic presenters and the absolutely outrageous litany of hare-brained challenges, races and outright spectacle they’ve been responsible for since hitting the airwaves in Jeremy Clarkson’s re-envisioned, resurrection of the long running BBC show in 2002.

I’d become quickly attached to the 3 personalities during the occasional times I happened to trip over it on the weekends, but with it playing nightly on BBC Canada currently, this is a great chance to get it on the PVR and really catch up. Imagine my surprise then when I find out tonight co-host Richard Hammond had been involved in a horrific crash during a speed test segment for the show back in 2006. A coma, brain injuries,  a long road to recovery later and Richard did make a full recovery, returning to the show in record time considering the nature of his crash.

Well as all enterprising individuals with a good story to tell eventually do; he wrote a book about it called On The Edge: My Story.  I’m told it’s quite compelling and will be making it onto my night stand in short order. Honestly if you find cars interesting at all, you owe it to yourself to track this program down on your dial and get to know these guys. Check the vid below for Richard’s return appearance, complete with footage of the amazing crash.

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

It’s been two weeks since I quit smoking, and in two weeks time I’ll be moving into a new apartment (*cough* loft *cough*) in the west end of Toronto. It’s got a certain symmetry to it. I’m feeling better in time to start feeling much better about where I’m living.

I’ve been looking for a way to pick up on the posting bit, so will look for a chance to blog here and there as we get closer to moving.

Very excited about the new place, sooo glad to be getting out of the current place. I’ll leave you with a video which seems apropos in many ways.

Tags: , , , ,

So I’ve been on the Twitter sidelines for some time now, dabbling much as I dabble here with blogging. My friends outside of work are reaching a point of exhaustion with facebook, but are convinced they want nothing to do with Twitter. Twitter’s recent exposure in mass media has managed to clue a lot of people in to its existence, but due to mass media’s general confusion with the service, hasn’t passed on a lot of anything else. I tell them it’s a powerful business tool if used properly, but outside businesses directly connected to new media, that’s sort of hard to quantify. If you’re not using it for business, does the average person really receive any benefit from Twitter not afforded by facebook or any of the other more ’social’ social networks? How will the world at large continue to react to Twitter? I’m hoping the Colbert Nation can help provide an answer.

During his interview with Biz Stone (cofounder of Twitter) this evening, Stephen Colbert finally picked up his iPhone and started tweeting (@stephenathome), and after the initial flurry of follows, he’s been building his Twitter congregation at a rate of about one a second since the show ended. I jumped on the follow train and plan on watching to see how both the show, the host and the fans react to one and other over the next few weeks.

While we’re waiting to see how one of the most influential celebrity voices of our times determines what to make of it, check out this hilarious outtake from a recent interview with Colbert where he’s asked if he’s on Twitter.

Tags: , , ,

The Frakkin End

To the people who are totally disappointed with last half of the BSG finale… why? What were you hoping for? It’s the job of good science fiction to comment on current events and the human condition. Correlating the cycle of violence and hate that plagued the BSG universe to all the problems we’re currently dealing with seems pretty apropos to me. Did you need one last twist? Did you get bored while saying farewell to and wrapping up all the characters?

All right angel Caprica and angel Baltar could have had a slightly less cheesy departing moment, writing could have used a little last minute tweaking, but the warning of a repeat to what’s happened before and equating our madly technology and consumer driven culture to the rise of the Cylons was a perfect ending IMHO.

What’s your opinion?

Tags: , ,

Really? I mean… really?? Everyone knows there’s no preexisting fat in oatmeal right? Marketing like this really gets under my skin. Food advertising that intentionally highlights the ‘good’ ingredients while down playing high sugar or fat content is one thing, but I’m not gonna get into that here.

What’s bothering me is when a company makes a big deal out of a product’s lack of something on the pop culture no-no list like they did something extra awesome to make it that way. Low cholesterol bread is a good one, anyone got any other examples?

Tags: , ,

wpe1d70Quick post to rant about the complete lack of egg nog in the major grocery stores this year. Call me ‘olde’ fashioned but anything stored in a plastic bottle at room temperature with no requirement for refrigeration is not egg nog in my book, nor would I willingly consume it! Here’s a handful of recipes, easy to make at home, and with the exception of the first one, probably much better for you.

Bring on the Fat Nog!

Vegan Egg Nog

Easy Peasy Egg Nog

Tags: , , , ,

It’s the last day of my half-week back at work after my trip home to Nova Scotia. Ever need a vacation from your vacation? I had a great time out east, caught up with family and friends, ate food you can only really have back home, drank cheap beer or homemade wine and had a generally good time.

Problem is it wasn’t near enough time to accomplish everything  I wanted to do, and the whole affair felt very rushed. Luckily this sort of schedule is reserved for trips home to visit family. Typically when I get a  chance to get away from it all, there’s no schedule and only the barest semblance of an overall plan.

I’ve always wondered if I was missing out squeezing the most out of my vacation time by not setting goals, things I wanted to do or see, etc. I don’t think I am. Vacation for me is about removing stress from your life for a while, not piling more on. When I’m away I get places on my time, not anyone else’s.

Tags: , ,

24:Retail

Product placement is nothing new to 24. For years fans of the show have been watching Jack Bauer tear ass around in his trusty Ford truck, or vid conference with inept officials thanks to Cisco. I’ve got no problem with subtle product placement, but after watching 24 Product Placements in 24 Minutes, I mean 24: Redemption last night, things just seem to have hit a new low. They haven’t topped the “It’s a HEMI!” line from the second Fantastic Four movie yet, but they came pretty damn close. From stopping mid-stream to shoot a Hyundai commercial, shoving phones sporting the Sprint logo into the camera lens, or the return of the Cisco telepresence suite, it’s just plain cartoonish. Product placement works best when its subtle people! Fingers crossed this kind of behaviour will not carry through the rest of season 7, or I’m going to end up tuning out pretty early.

Tags: , , , , ,

Crime Scene

Crime Scene

I heard earlier this evening that two days ago a family of four was found dead in their home not 15km from where I live. It turned out to be a murder suicide, and the regular news outlets are rolling out their usual coverage. These stories always sound the same to me. An “excellent family” with a “caring father” where “nothing was amiss”. That crap always gets to me. How many of us are familiar with the intimate inner details of the domestic environments of our neighbors anyway? Do we need the sound bites from Betty and Stan who live down the street? I don’t.

My frustration with main stream media aside, the news kinda took my off guard! I mean I know I live in the big city now, and I do a pretty good job of not paying attention to the news, but stories of murder have a way of filtering down through water cooler gossip and the like. I was casting back in my memory and I can remember maybe three other murders since I moved here two years ago. Two of those were also pretty close to where I live, one the killing of a cop, the other a late night stabbing on the subway I take to work every day. I can’t remember hearing of any multiple murders like this one since arriving in Toronto.

This got me to wondering just what the murder rates are in Toronto. I know from J’s cousin in Nova Scotia who’s recently become a police officer, there’s plenty of violence that never gets reported. I’ve heard stories that’ve opened my eyes to just what the cities we live in are really like outside the bubble wrap most of us are fortunate enough to live within. Even so, I was pretty surprised to learn what the murder rates in Toronto were like in 2007. Rosemary Gartner, a criminologist quoted in this National Post article, says before the “Year of the Gun” in 2005, murder rates in Toronto had been a steady 60 killings a year for roughly two decades. Since that fateful year, rates have been on the rise.

It breaks down like this, 82 murders in 2007 works out to roughly 3 murders every two weeks. Every two weeks! I confess I’m guilty of thinking most murders are criminal vs criminal, but I was also shocked to learn 80% of victims tend to know their killer. I assume this knowledge to be intimate or familial. So 1 in 73,000 people give or take become murderers in the GTA every year. Even though 3 murders every two weeks sounds pretty distressing, I think I can continue feeling pretty safe living in the T-dot.

Tags: , , , , ,

« Older entries

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes