Sometimes a Great Notion

This review will contain major spoilers for Episode 411 of Battlestar Galactica. 

After 271 days, Battlestar Galactica has returned for its final ten episode arc that will bring us to the conclusion of the series. This has been a long time coming, and there has been a huge buildup of anticipation. Who is the fifth Cylon? What happened to Earth? What's up with Starbuck? What will happen next? This episode helped to answer a number of questions, but in doing so, raised more, and I suspect that the next ten weeks will be just as intense and rewarding as this episode was. It certainly lived up to the anticipation. 

In the last episode, humanity finally reached earth. Had that episode ended about three minutes earlier, it would have been the perfect end to the entire series, minus a couple of things. Humanity reached Earth; cue the dramatic and heartwarming music. Three minutes later, it all comes back down. Earth, as we find in the episode, is a wasteland. We discover that two thousand years prior, there had been a conflict of some kind, and the skeletons that they recovered were Cylon. Tyrol, Tigh and Anders begin to remember flashes of their lives on the planet, and Starbuck finds what brought them to Earth - her own Viper, with her own body in the ruined cockpit. This has a huge impact on the fleet. Moral seems to have plummeted, Roslin is depressed and burning her bible, and Duella committs suicide. And our fifth Cylon turns out to be Tigh's wife, Ellen. 

Throughout the series, I've seen just how dark the writers can make the show, even from the beginning. Lee had to destroy a passenger carrier. Cylons are tossed out the airlock, Kara is experimented on, the Cylons come and enslave humanity, and so forth, but this is easily the darkest turn, and one of the more brilliant things that they could do to the show. Take humanity's, and our entire ride, and turn it to ashes. This episode was very bleak, and I've often said that nothing can surprise me with this show any more. It certainly did, this time around, and I'm wondering where we'll go next. 

There are several storylines that have just been opened up, that we'll hopefully see some conclusions to. Will we see Ellen again? What happened to Cavill's fleet? What will Admiral Adama do with the fleet? And so forth - we have plenty of things to do with the next ten episodes. I'm especially interested in seeing what will happen with Kara's storyline, because she's been central to this entire arc, finding earth, and the shock of finding her own body on Earth, and also discovering that she is NOT the final Cylon comes as a bit of a relief and a shock, but also brings in an unknown to the series - what happened to her and her Viper? 

This episode also pulls itself into some of the things that had been said before in the show: What has happened before, will happen again. It certainly seems that there had been a massive civil war, that there were humanoid Cylons and Ellen's cryptic saying at the end of the episode: We will be reborn together, all tie in together. I suspect that we will be seeing more of this theme over the next nine or so weeks as the show wraps up. 

The episode wasn't perfect - it seemed a bit scattered to me, bouncing between a number of stories, and that could have been cleaned up a bit more. I had put my money on Starbuck's mother being the fifth Cylon, but that doesn't seem to have been the case. The worst thing, however, has nothing to do with the episode - it's back to waiting another week for Episode 412. I have high hopes for the remainder of the series, and this episode has done nothing to suppress that. If anything, it's brought my anticipation up a notch. 

But, Battlestar's back. And it's good. So say we all.

Far above the moon, Planet earth is blue, And theres nothing I can do.

I just came across some new clips from an upcoming Science Fiction film that's coming out later this year, Moon. The movie is starring Sam Rockwell, and is due to premiere later this month at the Sundance Film Festival.

Here's the plot:

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the end of his contract with Lunar. He's been a faithful employee for 3 long years. His home has been Sarang, a moon base where he has spent his days alone, mining Helium 3. The precious gas holds the key to reversing the Earth's energy crisis.

Isolated, determined and steadfast, Sam has followed the rulebook obediently and his time on the moon has been enlightening, but uneventful. The solitude has given him time to reflect on the mistakes of his past and work on his raging temper. He does his job mechanically, and spends most of his available time dreaming of his imminent return to Earth, to his wife, young daughter and an early retirement.

But 2 weeks shy of his departure from Sarang, Sam starts seeing things, hearing things and feeling strange. And when a routine extraction goes horribly wrong, he discovers that Lunar have their own plans for replacing him and the new recruit is eerily familiar.

Before he can return to Earth, Sam has to confront himself and the discovery that the life he has created, may not be his own. It's more than his contract that is set to expire.

There are some clips of the film here. There's a couple of things that have me interested. 1 - Clint Mansell is doing the soundtrack. 2 - It's starring Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey and Matt Berry. 3 - from the clips on Collider, there looks to be an incredible attention to detail, and while I have some ideas about the plot, I'm excited because it's another new and original film in the genre - that's something that we don't see very often.

The plot, most of all, is what's really appealing, above the actors and soundtrack (although Clint Mansell is fantastic - his score for The Fountain is just brilliant). I've seen things that seem to imply that this film will be darker comedy, which would certainly work, but from everything that I've seen thus far, it looks like there's going to be a very solid psychological plot as well. My guess, based on the plot and clips, that Rockwell's character is not the original, a copy. Not the most original of science fiction stories, but in this instance, it looks very intriguing. I could be completely wrong.

Unfortunately, this doesn't look to be a film that's going to blow away the box office. No, this looks more like it'll be along the lines of Solaris and The Fountain, which received a lot of critical praise, but didn't have people lining up around the block for them, because they're certainly films that are more intelligent than the average science fiction film.

At this point, what's really blown me away so far is the way the clips have played out. It's only a little bit, but the production values look just brilliant, as does the CGI. The director's style looks to be very good as well. This should be a film to really keep an eye out for. According to Mansell's myspace blog, it looks like the music will be out around April, so I wonder if the film will get a wide release this spring.

Rant: Joe the Plumber

I have just one question: Why on earth are people still paying attention to this guy? Samuel Wurzelbacher, who gained some fame during the election during the latter weeks of the campaigning, has been made a 'War Correspondent' for the conservative site Pajamas Media. Fine, okay, he's going to try and do something. But when he starts spouting off crap like this, I have to really wonder about what's really newsworthy, and the intelligence of some of my fellow countrymen. From one article:

"To be honest with you, I don't think journalists should be anywhere allowed war [sic]. . . . I liked back in World War I and World War II, when you'd go to the theater and you'd see your troops on the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for them," he said in an interview with the Associated Press. "Now everyone's got an opinion and wants to down soldiers—our American soldiers, our Israeli soldiers. I think media should be abolished from reporting," he said.

What complete and utter bullshit. Not only is it incredibly shortsighted, it just practically just shouts obedience and follow orders quietly. War reporting is an incredibly important thing to have happen in a war zone during hostilities. Without reporting, we wouldn't have known anything about what was going on, especially when a number of problems came up. Without reporting, atrocities would have never been reported and would have likely continued.

I can appreciate the notion of wanting to support the soldiers that we've deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. But to be completely honest, the reporting for soldiers has been largely positive, with much of the criticism going against the administration and people who have mismanaged the war. Soldiers have come under fire from the press when they've done something that is really wrong, such as torturing prisoners or other unconscionable actions. People who do that not only bring down the honor of our soldiers, but of our entire nation. If they commit a crime, they shouldn't be supported or allowed to continue.

Looking at some of the other things that he's said, he's alluded to World War II. There were atrocities there too. Our soldiers have been known to execute POWs, and there has been allegations and reports of rape and torture while the allied forces moved inwards. This wasn't reported, or it was suppressed, but it certainly has given a number of people the very wrong impression of warfare - It's never clean, it's almost never right and it brings out the absolute worst from everyone involved. World War II unjustly has a reputation for the Just War, or the Good War. It wasn't. It was just a necessary war that was still just a war.

Another small point: Israel's soldiers aren't our soldiers. They're not American citizens, not on our payroll, etc. A vast majority of the people that I've come across don't want to down soldiers - they have the upmost respect for them and what they do, but they want to make sure that we can be proud of our soldiers. The media is the only thing that really is a good safeguard to making sure that war is fought by the few, necessary rules that we've set up. But on the whole, I'm more astonished by the attitude here, that people should essentially put the war into the hands of someone else. To some extent, that's true, because I'm no more qualified to run a war than this guy is. But that doesn't mean that we can't question why we're doing this, because warfare and the political policies that go into it are things that need to be questioned, constantly.

The Future, Catching Up to Today

On July 20th, 1969, an estimated 500 million people around the world  turned on their televisions to witness Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon. In the years since then, interest in NASA has certainly waned, even after the second moon landing. Apollo 13's live broadcast while they were en route to the moon was not picked up by any of the major networks, something that none of the astronauts were aware of while they were recording. Unfortunately, interest in NASA still seems to remain low, until high profile problems crop up and really serve only to cripple the agency's image. That's hard to counter when they have a hard time reaching the population with the good news - which, surprisingly enough - does happen.

One thing that I've found recently is that NASA has entered the social networking world of the Internet, bringing live updates to users. Social networking sites fascinate me, and we're only beginning to explore their use. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter are only the latest big sites, and NASA has begun to use these, and by doing so, will hopefully reach more people around the world with what is going on.

Facebook has numerous groups and pages for NASA. The Official NASA Facebook Group has some active discussions, but the real place to keep an eye on is the pages and events, which can allow users to keep up to date on announcements and updates, as well as letting people know when things, such as launches, happen. I've subscribed to a couple of pages, notably the Kepler Mission, and the Last Mission to Hubble which is scheduled for sometime early 2009. The space shuttle has its own page and links in to two event that have been created, the launch of STS-119 (Discovery), which will be February 12, 2009 and STS-125 (Atlantis), which launches May 12, 2009. Both pages link in to other pages, where I've since learned that 119 will be carrying a truss for the International Space Station and that 125 will be servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.

Wikipedia comes into play here with all aspects of upcoming space information, especially with the upcoming shuttle missions, with a page for both STS-119 and STS-125. Each page not only outlines the mission that both shuttles are scheduled to complete, but also information about the crew, the mission patch, pictures and other relevant information. People with free time on their hands can also go to information on both shuttles, Discovery and Atlantis, which gives you more information about the shuttles individual history.

With the upcoming missions to the Space Station, it's interesting to find that astronauts on the International Space Station have begun to use twitter. Twitter is a newer service called micro-blogging, and allows for short status updates in the real time, which has proven to be extremely popular. Looking around the internet, there are a number of other NASA services that utilize the tools: NASA has an official feed, as does the Space Shuttle Endeavor, as well as upcoming missions: STS-119 and STS-125, which help to pass along developments as the crews prepare for their missions. Each one of these has several thousand followers receiving the updates.

Even sites such as Youtube is extremely handy for getting up to date information. A couple months ago, Astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper dropped her tool bag while making repairs to part of the International Space Station. Video, taken from her helmet camera, was up on youtube fairly quickly. (Interestingly, the tool bag is visible if you know where to look). There are other videos online, such as STS-126 crew wake-up call, Flight Day 14 and Riding on board Atlantis during re-entry. There's even an entire section of podcasts available through iTunes, which I haven't begun to explore yet.

I have my doubts about wikipedia, especially for concrete historical research, but for things like this, especially as events happen, and social networking sites are even better, because they allow the PR people to release whatever information they want, to a specialized audience who wants to receive this. Not only that, but there is an incredible ease to which users can pass along information to other users who they think might be interested, by inviting them to events or just passing along the URL to someone. NASA has kindly posted up a page (Riding onboard Atlantis during re-entry) that links into a lot of the sites that they have begun to post up update to, which touch on some that I don't do much with, including Myspace and flickr.

There is a vast amount of potential for the general public to have an unprecedented view of NASA's operations in ways that weren't around just a couple years ago, let alone fifty years ago for the first moon landing. Yet, with that number, 500 million people watching those first steps, it's a wonder why we have yet to see the same level of interest with space exploration that is currently ongoing, even with the ease and degree to which we can watch. Hopefully, person by person, NASA will once again command a certain amount of attention, even for the more "mundane" missions to outer space. For me, I now know when the shuttle missions will be happening, so I won't miss another one.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

The first four pages of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, (at least in my edition, the 2005 paperback) is a list of praise and quotes from reviews as to the quality of this novel. Coming across this, and the size of the book, is extremely daunting to a reader, and the prospect of watching to see if a novel comes to the level of quality so proclaimed is a challenge in and of itself.

Susanne Clarke has fashioned a masterpiece of English literature, one that throws back to a Victorian style, rich in prose and story, and is easily one of the greatest works of fantasy literature that I have ever read, rivaling some of the great classics of the genre, from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is a complicated, extraordinary and exceptional work, and I am very pleased to have read.

The story is one that is complicated and fascinating. It begins in 1806, and tells the tale of two magicians who come forward in England with the intent to return English magic to a nation that has long been without it. Mr. Norrell is the first to come forward, and begins to bring magic back into the world. He is shortly thereafter joined by a fellow magician under his tutorage, Jonathan Strange, and they begin to study and practice their new craft. Thus begins a tale of friendship, rivalries, prophecy and history. Some of the greatest themes of literature are present here, but the story plays out in a truly original manner. There is the story of the differences between the master and apprentice, and within that context we see a number of themes; old verses new, tradition verses innovation.

This story takes place during the Napoleonic wars, which play an integral part of the direction of the characters. Interwoven throughout the story are well known figures: King George II, Lord Wellington, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Byron, and others, which give this story a rich historical context that borders on alternative history, but in a manner that far surpasses other known authors of the genre, such as Harry Turtledove, but in a way that far surpasses his works. Indeed, Clarke seems to pay as much attention to detail as J.R.R. Tolkien in his own works, with precise and detailed language to describe the events of the story.

The story takes place throughout England and continental Europe, and feels like it. From the dialogue to the characters and to the descriptions, it is a quintessential product of England, and draws upon its long history and literature. Oftentimes, I would find myself reading and feeling much like I was back in the country, something that I have longed for much lately. I know of a number of the locations in the book, as well as a good deal of the history of this time, and Clarke's novel falls well within the context of the time and history here.

This book is a very complicated one, and having finished it only a short while ago, I am still processing all that has happened. It is written far differently from most other books - much as in the style of Jane Austin, from what I've read and it takes some time to get used to. Indeed, I read this book in two parts - I had started reading it almost a year or two ago, and put it aside to read something more accessible. Returning to it just a little while ago, I found that once I got into the story and characters, the pages flew by. But beyond the normal story here is a book that is rich with story. Throughout the pages there are footnotes of references to the author's world, giving the readers insights into the surrounding history that helps to shape this story. A number of these footnotes could be an entire story within themselves, and Clarke has singlehandedly created her own mythology that not only stands well on its own, but is so detailed that one could almost mistake it for a mythological history in and of itself.

This book is a stunning debut of a new author. Looking back over the first couple of pages of praise that has been bestowed upon this book, I can see why it has been rated so highly by reviewers and fellow authors of the genre, and I am thrilled to say that this novel lives up to all expectations. Clarke has brought forth a complicated, yet intriguing, read to the fantasy genre, one that is most likely destined to become a classic, and one that, despite its real world historical contexts, is highly original, innovative and entertaining, one that I am sure to return to, and highly recommend to all fans of the genre, or a good read in general.

London

I've been missing London a lot lately. Just this week was the two year mark since I first got on a plane to go overseas for the first time. I remember that entire day with an incredible clarity. The flight, not so much, but meeting our Resident Director Barbara, learning the ins and outs of the Tube and watching London fly past as we rode into central London and to our flat at Doughty Street in Camden.

Looking back at my entire time there, I've only begun to realize just how much going abroad changed me. It was a huge change in how I lived - I'd never had a roommate, nor had I lived in a city.It was a bit of culture shock for the first day, but I adapted to life quickly, and picked up a lot of things from my experience there.

There's a number of things that I really miss about the city. The biggest thing that comes to mind is just the environment. I miss the traffic, walking down the streets to get to class, hell, even the commercials on the television. London was extremely easy to get around, and there was plenty to do when I had downtime, from visiting the vast number of museums, historical sites and parks to just finding a random place around the city to explore. My biggest regret is not getting out more often, and not making the effort to meet new people while I was there.

One of the best parts of living over there was the ease to which I could make my way around the country. Through my class, I visited Bath, Bristol, Cambridge, Norwich, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford, Windsor and York, while on my own, I traveled to Edinburgh and Eastbourne (as well as Athens and Munich). I really looked forward to those classes, every other week, when we got to see something completely new. I loved the trains - I loved sitting and watching the countryside go by while I read my book and listened to my music. I especially miss Oxford, the bookstores and Forbidden Planet, not to mention Eve's, the little sandwich shop off of Tottenham Court Road. I miss the pubs, and the museums and galleries.

There's something about England and London that I've never really been able to find here in Vermont. I miss living in a city.

Five Leaders

Now this is a powerful picture:

This morning, President Bush invited Pres/Elect Obama and the remaining former Presidents to the White House for a meeting. The last such meeting of former Presidents was back in 1981. This picture was taken by a New York Times photographer.

It's an extraordinary image, no matter what your party affiliations are, and is really speaks to the rigidity of our government. I can't imagine very many other nations in the World where you'll see something such as this.

The Geek Demographic, or What to Call it?

Cinematical, a movie blog that I check up on every now and then just posted up an interesting article called The Geek Beat: Defining the Geek Genre. Actually, when I say interesting, I mean somewhat misguided. It provides an interesting starting point when it comes to this sort of genre, but the conclusions that she comes to are very misguided when she says things such as : "That's why I restricted "geek films" to be movies based on (or accompanied by) graphic novels and comic books."

Okay. Backing up for a moment, geek is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the following:

/geek/

• noun informal, chiefly N. Amer. 1 an unfashionable or socially inept person. 2 an obsessive enthusiast.

When it comes to films or media in general, items that fall under the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Genres are generally lumped together. It's not too hard to see why this happens - all three share the same notion of the fantastic, whether it takes place in the future, past, alternate worlds or even this world. In general, the definition of geek here refers to the human component. When it comes to a genre, it's hard to really describe films as socially inept or obsessive. (Unless they're a documentary or some really obscure, brilliant film that nobody watches, etc).

Rather, a sort of Geek demographic would seem to include the films that the 'traditional' image of a geek (sci-fi/fantasy/horror fan who lives at home, collects comics and has never been within five feet of the opposite sex1) tends to frequent. You can pretty much include any sort of film that has the science fiction, fantasy and horror elements. Star fighters, aliens, ghosts, wizards, magic, weird creatures, things like that all seem to be fairly common elements, and genre (for lack of a better word at the moment) fans tend to be attracted to these elements and stories that come along with them, generally because there are many things to be examined about them, but also because they tend to be somewhat escapist in nature. (Discussion of escapism is probably an entire discussion for later).

The problem that I have with the article here is that the author is limiting it to things with media tie-ins such as books and comic books. That falls incredibly short of where the interests of this sort of geek demographic fall. Comics and cartoons are certainly part of this demographic, but they are only a small part of this genre. Additionally, some science fiction films are well received by mainstream audiences. Star Wars has grossed billions of dollars, as has Star Trek, and these are arguably some of the more geeky franchises out there. Shows such as LOST, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica and Firefly have likewise been well received critically, and in some cases by mainstream audiences that don't generally go for the typical geeky genre.

In general, I had thought of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror in terms of separate genres. Science Fiction had space ships and robots, Fantasy got the wizards and magic, and horror got the guys with the axes and blood. Obviously, that isn't the case, and while often times there are a number of superficial differences between the genres, I've come to believe that these differences aren't the best things to judge by - oftentimes, it is the type of story that really counts, and why fans of the various genres tend to be attracted to them as a whole. You will always have people who are interested more in SciFi than fantasy (I tend to go more towards SF than I do the other two.) but when it comes down to it, there are common elements.

The article cites a number of films such as Transformers: Rise of the Fallen, Star Trek, Dr. Who, Terminator, and seems to label them different, a geek or a nerd sort of genre. Lump them all together here, and more. I consider things ranging from Robot Chicken, Indiana Jones, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Sherlock Holmes, Life on Mars, Battlestar Galactica, and Chuck to be part of the same demographic. Not all of these have the elements that one might consider to be in a sci-fi, fantasy or horror genre, but they do tend to attract people who are fans of those genres - they all contain fantastic elements that has to do with a escapist or speculative story, and thus, you can't really apply any of the SciFi/Fantasy/Horror genre titles to this sort of thing because not all of the content falls under those titles. I don't necessarily want to label the overall genre as a 'Geek' genre because it's not necessarily accurate, if you go straight by the definition. I'm a self described geek, but I tend to also be a geek when it comes to music, history, reading, etc. By labelling this sort of genre a GEEK genre, you'll get some of the cultural connotations right, but would that mean that films that history buffs and music affectionatos would also be included? No, because when one thinks of a sort of Geek Genre, they think of the content that tends to be attractive to your traditional/typical geek/nerd/etc. Additonally, in and of itself, it's not necessarily something that only appeals to geeks, but to those who like the fantastic.

This is the Fantastic Genre, something that covers the Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror genres, and what their fans tend to be attracted to.

2009 Movies I'm Excited for

Okay, not really two-thousand and nine movies, but a couple that are coming up this year that I'm thinking will be worth watching. Looking over the list, there isn't that many that I'm wanting to see in theaters this year. At some point during the next week or so, I want to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, because it's supposed to be excellent. But, there are a couple that I do want to catch. February: Fanboys: This film has been delayed so many times, I'm almost ready to give up on it. This seems like it's the most solid release date thus far for the film, about a group of Star Wars fanboys and their misadventures while they break into George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch to show a dying friend the Phantom Menace. The trailer is solid, and this should go up as a good Star Wars Parody.

March: Watchmen: This is another iffy release date one as Fox has just been granted the rights to the film, and I'm sure that we'll see some drama with that. However, the trailer looks fantastic, and barring any major reshoots or problems, it'll easily be a huge geek movie for sure.

May: Wolverine: This will likely be a DVD rental for me, but if I can, I'll catch this in theaters. We'll finally get to see some of the origins of Wolverine, but there'll also be Gambit, and lots of slashing, snarling and fighting. Star Trek: Odd as it is for a Star Wars fanboy, I'm looking forwards to this one. J.J. Abrams has gotten together a really good cast of people for the early years of Star Trek, and while I'm not ultimately familiar with the original show, this looks like a lot of fun. Terminator: Salvation: This one is a must see for me. The trailers have been stellar, with some fantastic looking CGI and action scenes. I mean, who doesn't love seeing giant robots running amok? Up: This is Pixar's next one, and I'll see it depending on the reviews. It looks a little iffy to me - an old guy in a house with a ton of balloons? We'll see.

June: Public Enemies: I haven't heard a whole lot about this one, but it's about an FBI agent taking on a gangster in 1930s Chicago. I like period dramas, and it has a good top bill of Christian Bale and Johnny Depp.

August: District 9: A sci-fi/action story set in a fictional world, where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa. Sounds interesting. I'll wait until I see a trailer before finally deciding. Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino is back with a film set during World War II. I've heard about this project for years, and I'm a huge fan of the guy and his work. I'm expecting lots of fun dialog, violence and profanity.

November: Sherlock Holmes: Guy Richie + Robert Downey Jr. + Sherlock Holmes. Richie did Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorite fictional characters ever, and RDJ was in Iron Man. What's not to love?

Unknown Release Date: The Road: This was supposed to be released in 2008. Easily one of my favorite books of all time, this adaptation has had me waiting for a very long time. I'm eager to see how well the story goes to screen, because it's a fantastic, dark and emotional story.

I'm sure that we'll see some more interesting ones come up over the course of the year. I hope so - it's a pretty light year, at least for geek things...

The Gaza Conflict

I don't normally talk a whole lot of international issues, but this is something that I've been following via the news fairly closely.

According to wikipedia, on December 27th, Operation Cast Lead was initiated by the Israeli Defense forces, a massive bombing and ground assault against the leading party Hamas, in retaliation for years of bombing against Israeli civilians. Since then, there have been well over 3,000 casualties (537 dead, 2,700 injured as of January 4th). That number has most certainly risen in the past couple of days, and is marked by a rise in civilian casualties, which will likely rise as the conflict drags on. The international community has called for an end to the violence, and a return to the cease-fire, which both sides have rejected.

Admittedly, this is an incredibly hard thing to judge, being thousands of miles away, safe at home and work. For me, it's completely impossible to judge exactly what the people are going through. Of course, bombings, civilian casualties and conflict in general is a bad thing. It's incredibly painful to read about children being killed when they're accidentally fired upon, or how families are killed in their home.

Both the Israelis and Palestinians have lived with this for a long time now, and both sides need to be held accountable for what they have done. Unfortunately, with the images of the war fixed in our heads right now, it's incredibly easy to side with the Palestinians with this one, especially when you consider that what the Israelis are essentially bombing are refugee camps, filled with people who are likely to get in the way of gunfire.

But on the other side, it's difficult for me to sympathize with the Palestinians, who have been attacking Israel for a very long time, shooting rockets into civilian sectors, sending out suicide bombers, all the while utilizing hospitals and schools, thereby putting the people who shouldn't be involved in a conflict right in the middle of it.

I think what bothers me the most is the absolute simplicity and naivete that I've seen from some people, either in person, via the internet or television. Stop the bombing, stop the violence, etc. It's not that simple. Hypothetically, should Israel stop the ongoing military operations, what would they have accomplished, aside from giving the people of Palestine even more reasons to be angry and essentially creating a new generation of impoverished, poor and angry people.

The problems there is only going to continue, and I don't see any major changes coming, aside from a cease-fire that will likely only last for months or a year, at the most. Hamas, the dominant political party in Palestine because the people felt they best represented their beliefs, that Israel should not exist, among other things. This feeling is unlikely to go away with the crippling of the party during this attack. People are still going to dislike the existence of Israel, and will continue to cause problems.

Israel is not likely go to anywhere either, not with the dominant support of the United States and other members of the international community who view the nation. However, they will continue to stir up problems as they continue these justified conflict, because of the David and Goliath effect that their warfare takes on.

The problems will continue so long as there is poverty and a general lack of education on the part of the Palestinians that serves to continue the problems between both parties. Unfortunately, this currently conflict is the end result of years of pent-up frustrations and grievences on the part of the Israelis. Should the ongoing military operations cripple the Hamas party, this would be a good, but ultimately futile step towards peace in the region, as the anger of the people will shift to another group and new people who will only continue to personify their beliefs. Unfortunately, neither side seems willing to take the steps, to follow their religious beliefs to the point where we can have a real, lasting peace.

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor

To be very honest, I've largely given up hope that there'll be a truly unique Star Wars novel, something that would surprise and be truly delightful. Over the past twenty-odd years, hundreds of the books have been published, and since high school, I've devoured them, and have really enjoyed the entire franchise as a whole. That being said, the books from the last couple of years have really lost their spark.

I've never been sure what it was that they were missing, but whatever it was, Shadows of Mindor has it. From the beginning of the project, I've heard author Matthew Stover talk about how he wanted to make this book a bit of a homage to some of the earlier novels, such as The Adventures of Han Solo and The Adventures of Lando Calrissian. I've read both sets of trilogies, but never really got into them to the same extent that I got into the Del Rey books.

Allusions to these books are fairly clear - there is quite a bit of fairly over the top action, tongue in cheek humor and a lot of similes throughout the text, not to mention a number of references to the two trilogies, but also to a number of other Star Wars books, including Shatterpoint, which Stover also penned.

This book isn't a copy of the older, somewhat cheesy novels. What Stover does do, however, is shed the overall seriousness and determination that a lot of recent books have clung to, and had some fun while writing this. For the first time in a very long time, I read a book that had the characters speaking in their own voices that really pulled me back to those earlier days when I would be sneaking books during class. In short, this book brought back the nostalgia factor for me.

In the universe, this is likewise a fun read because we haven't seen a whole lot of books that take place in the post-ROTJ period, at least the first year or so, and it was nice to see some of the aftermath.

Unfortunately, this is one of the inherent weaknesses of the book, at least up until the last pages, because this is the type of book upon which the entire franchise could have taken a number of cues from - there is an enormous amount of characterization here that could have easily brought the entire series up a notch (the Bantam Spectra era, while fun, was all over the place as far as storylines/characters goes). Unfortunately, this book is slid into the existing storyline, and it'll basically just sit there.

To some extent, Star Wars books have gotten away from some of the roots. The original trilogy of films was a homage to the old action movies and sci-fi serials, and this is evident in the text. In the years since its release, it's gotten old, and goes to bed early, and doesn't have any fun partying. Stover has kicked the franchise out of bed (or at least the lit part, for a couple hours anyway) and dragged it off to a bar for a round of drinks and at least one fight. It's a rejuvenation that I think is very needed. This book is Fun, with a capital F, and knows it.

This is not to say that the Star Wars franchise is getting too old for it's own good - a majority of the books that have come out recently are quite good, but at points, daunting. There are big, epic series that have little connection to the original films and themes, and at times take themselves far too seriously. Stover has sidestepped that and gone for a vastly different direction (the reveal at the end is something that I won't reveal) that really sets this book in a class of its own.

It's far too early at this stage to say whether this will become a favorite of mine, but it has resolidified Stover as one of my favorite authors that has worked with the franchise. There are only a couple of authors here that have really exemplified their storytelling with the Star Wars universe, and like each of his other books, Stover has outdone himself once again. I can only hope that he'll be around to shake up things once again.

The Tragic Life of Charles Schultz

I don't go to the library nearly enough to get books - my own reading list generally precludes me from this, and any book that I really want to read, I tend to end up buying. But, every now and then, I'll see something interesting worth reading, and will pick it up on a whim. This was the case with the first authorized biography of Charles Schultz, by David Michealis, called Schultz and Peanuts, which was released late last year.

The biography is wonderfully complete and extremely detailed, spanning the famed creator of Peanuts life from beginning to end. In addition to just talking about his life, this book is a discussion of how his life impacted his creation, and shows just how much of Schultz is revealed within the classic panels that ultimately defined his life.

Schultz was born in November of 1922, and was the only child of Dena and Carl Schultz. His early childhood seemed to be one of loneliness, isolation and insecurity - all themes which would be prevalent in Peanuts. He was extremely attached to his mother, and was devastated when she died when he was twenty-one years old. It was during his early life that he began to draw, through his time in the army to a course where he began to draw small cartoons. Li'l Folks began in June of 1947, to limited success, but which would slowly grow to be an enormous multi-media platform that would lead Schultz from his humble beginnings to becoming one of the highest paid entertainers in the United States.

In addition to an examination of Schultz’s life, this book serves as a sort of literary critique of Peanuts itself. Each character is examined, their personalities and lives compared to Schultz’s and storylines are looked at within the same context. I’ve never read over the entirety of Peanuts, but this look has really given me an extremely detailed look not only at the evolution of the comic, but its inspirations and the meanings behind each panel.

What struck me the most about Schultz was the degree to which he and Peanuts were intertwined. While he denied that he utilized his own life and his children in the comic strip, it is very clear that was just not the case, intentionally or otherwise. From the start, he seemed to be destined for art, and looking back across his life, Peanuts is the only accomplishment for which he was entirely dedicated to - his purpose was singular, but perfect. The end result is a cartoon that is widely considered one of the greatest works of American art/literature, certainly one of the greatest comics, for which we owe much of our nation's character to. Ironically, I have been reading about NASA and the lunar missions recently, and Schultz's influences are felt there as well, as the Apollo 10 Lander (which was the test craft to circle and evaluate landing sites for Apollo 11, which did land on the moon) was named Snoopy and the Command Capsule was named Charlie Brown. Schultz also designed the mission patch for the first Skylab mission, featuring Snoopy and the names of the three crewmen. (My review for Homesteading Space can be found here.)

While Peanuts is a widely known work, its creator isn't - this biography allows for an unparallel look at his life. In many respects, Schultz was Charlie Brown. Throughout the book, individual strips are presented, often highlighting elements of Schultz's personality at various stages of his life. Characters are examined, picked apart and revealed through their creator to largely be an extension of his own life and personality. In a way, it is extremely fitting that not only was Peanuts not allowed to continue after his retirement, the last strip and his death occurred on the same day.

Schultz's life was not an unhappy or miserable one - it was he that was unhappy and miserable for much of his life. He was self-deprecating, a little vain and incredibly insecure - not unlike his famed creation. He seemed to suffer from many phobias, and clung to people throughout his life, all the while maintaining a mild-mannered and quiet presence. His first marriage, which lasted twenty or so years, pitted him against his wife, who was far more assertive and combative, while his second was far more mutually friendly. Ironically, for a creator known for his portrayal of children, Schultz seemed to be fairly distant from his own, leaving the raising of his family to Joyce (his first wife), who dominated the house and family.

Reading through the book, I was interested to find that there are a number of elements of Schultz's personality that match my own - to a point. I've illustrated the desire to change some aspects of this, and looking at Schultz's life, one can see the effects of his personality upon the direction of his life and the people around him.

In the end, there is no doubt that Schultz had created something wonderful, tragic and heartwarming. Peanuts is arguably one the quintessential American tales, rife with meaning throughout, something that inspired generations of people around the world for its simplicity and brilliant storytelling. This was Schultz's legacy to the world - unhappy, lonely, but enlightening.

Homesteading Space

The University of Nebraska Press has undertaken a huge series that I have been paying close attention to over the past year - the Outward Odyssey Series, which examines the human endeavors into outer space. The latest installment, Homesteading Space turns to a relatively unknown element, but crucial element of our trips to orbit, Skylab. Like the prior books, Into that Silent Sea, In the Shadow of the Moon and To A Distant Day, we are not only treated to a wealth of information about the technical aspects of the program, but the implications and human element of it.

Skylab was launched in 1973 after a number of years in development alongside the Apollo Program. While Mercury, Gemini and Apollo all had a singular purpose (to see if people could reach space and survive, to see if people could exist in space and if people could reach the moon, land and return), Skylab diverged from this main mission of lunar exploration and was essentially the start of the modern space program with vast implications: it was designed to see whether people could life in outer space. This mission has influenced our advances into orbit since - with the construction of the space shuttle, Mir and the International Space Station, and future missions to the Moon and to Mars, each owes (or will owe) much to the Skylab mission.

Skylab was interesting. As noted in the opening of the book, it was built from pre-existing parts, scraped from other programs and components. The station itself was part of the Saturn Rocket, an empty fuel tank, that was refitted and placed into orbit. From there, three crews were sent up and conducted a huge number of experiments that helped to see the effects of zero gravity on the human body during extended amounts of time (each of these crews set records for their time in space). Additionally, they were the first to conduct dedicated experiments and observations on the sun and while in the presence of zero gravity. The first solar flares were witnessed via the Apollo Telescope Mount, and a wealth of information about the Earth's atmosphere as well.

Homesteading Space is not just about the scientific knowledge that was obtained in orbit - this is the story of the astronauts who conducted the experiments, who lived in space for weeks or months at a time, and how they coped. Skylab provided an enormous opportunity for individual cooperation and perseverance, for there were numerous problems that could have easily prevented the program from happening at all. But, each time, the astronauts and their ground support were able to overcome each problem and continue onwards.

The station was almost doomed from the start - upon its launch, solar coverings and shielding was stripped from the station, leaving it unlivable until a solution (essentially an umbrella) was improvised to protect the living quarters. The solar panels were crippled and power was limited. The first space walks were essentially rescue missions to save the station. On the second mission, two thrusters from the command module broke, leaving NASA to quickly plan a rescue mission from the ground as well as a solution for reentry with the remaining thrusters (no rescue was launched, and the crew returned safely).

The astronauts themselves were also the center of attention, and from this reading, it seems like they had quite a bit of fun in orbit. A number of jokes were played with the zero gravity, from contests and acrobatics, to leaving space suits stuffed and floating around the station for the next crew to find. This book helps to exemplify the role to which the astronauts have played in space, and their importance to the program, and does so wonderfully.

The book is not without its flaws, however. At points, it is repetitive, as I would come across the same story of astronauts losing items and then finding them in an air vent numerous times. A number of other details throughout are replicated, as are long passages from diaries and communications logs, which were likewise reprinted in the back of the book as an appendix. While these passages do provide some insight into the astronauts' lives, it broke up the flow of the reading. Where I noted that the last book, To A Distant Day, was very short, this one seems to overcompensate and could have been stripped down a little more than it was. However, this is really the only major flaw here, and as a result, there is a rich amount of information about the Skylab program, almost literally minute by minute at points.

Homesteading Space highlights a crucial crossroads for the space program, the point between the drive to reach the moon, and the beginning of a new era. Skylab was caught in between Apollo and the Space Shuttle, and serves as a link to the two, drawing from knowledge that was obtained during the lunar missions, and influencing the future of spaceflight and habitation. The next book is due out next year, about Satellites, but I'm more excited for the following installment, Footsteps in the Dust, about the remaining lunar missions. This series is superior, detailed, exciting and enlightening, and provides a huge ray of hope for what's to come next for us.

The Space Shuttle & the Obama Administration

   

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article published on the 17th of December regarding the Obama Transition Team and the decisions relating to NASA and the upcoming cutoff of the Space Shuttle in 2010. 

Tough Decision Looms on Space Shuttle's Fate

"President-elect Barack Obama's NASA transition team faces a tough early choice between extending the life of the aging space shuttle and accelerating its replacement.

Bush-administration plans call for grounding the shuttle by 2010 for budget and safety reasons. But congressional and industry critics worry that the expected five-year gap before the shuttle's replacement is prepared to blast off would lead to a crippling loss of program expertise and sap political support for manned space flights.

Federal, state and local lawmakers are distressed about losing thousands of jobs now associated with shuttle operations at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Some also point out that speedy retirement of the shuttle will force NASA to temporarily rely on Russian launches to reach the International Space Station.

Obama transition-team members are weighing various options, including speeding up development of follow-on systems and keeping the shuttle flying through 2015. Transition-team members declined to comment.

Full Article

I have some issues with this, despite Pres/Elect Obama's support for the space program. He's gone on record saying that he does support the agency and has suggested some retooling might be in order (I can't remember exactly where I read that), but as Neil Armstrong states below in a followup letter to the editor published over the weekend, it's not really the transition team's place to start making the suggestions now:

I certainly hope that isn't accurate, in that the transition team should play no part in such decisions. While these men and women are experienced and enthusiastic space program veterans, they are neither aerospace engineers nor former program managers and cannot be sufficiently knowledgeable to make choices in the technical arena.

The transition team does have the responsibility to collect information to assist President-elect Obama in understanding the issues and decisions he will be facing. The making of decisions of such import, however, is the responsibility of the president and should be guided by the best advice from the most able and skilled experts on the subject. He should have no difficulty receiving high-quality information from NASA. Engineers are painfully honest and insist on presenting any assumptions used in their decision process. Therefore a conclusion can only be challenged when an erroneous assumption can be identified. Because this approach is somewhat unfamiliar in business and politics, its importance is often overlooked.

I like this response, but I don't think that the tranition team is looking to do any major retooling at the moment, nor do I think that the political machine here is necessarily naive when it comes to this aspect of politics - one of the things that I've been most impressed with Obama's team is the level of expertise that has been brought in on all sorts of posts so far. Given that, I'd be more inclined to believe that if NASA says that they can't extend the life of the shuttle, focus will shift to the replacement, Orion. However, it is their responsibility to begin to anticipate the problems and policy changes that will be coming up in the next two and a half years. During that time, there will likely be a decision on the matter. It is the responsibility of the team to listen to the experts on the matter, and take this into consideration. 

Where I have issues is the possibility of extending the shuttle life an additional five years beyond the end date - as we've been seeing on a number of recent launches, most tragically with the Columbia in 2003, things are starting to fall off, and there's been some problems here. (Granted, the problems are on the main fuel tank, not the shuttle, but as the shuttle fleet ages, the probability of problems will arise) While there are risks on every mission, and a number of risks has to be acceptable in space, losing another shuttle crew would likely be devestating to the plans that NASA has underway for future missions. The shuttle fleet should be kept safe, but a replacement should be worked on in due time. 

I'm not much for engineering, so I don't know if a shuttle replacement should be rushed. NASA had a long time to build up to the moon missions and later the shuttle program, and they've likely learned some things that will be utilized in the future. That being said, a five year wait between shuttles is a very long time to wait. Without a shuttle, the US can't repair any of its major satellites (although Hubble will be going offline at some point in the near future) and won't be able to assist any astronauts in space in the event that there is a problem on the ISS or with any of the other space hardware that's up there. 

That all being said, I am heartened by Armstrong's words in his letter:

"Even so, the agency has fashioned a challenging but credible program to return to the moon and go on toward Mars.

NASA's management is very strong and its engineering and scientific talent extraordinary. I believe they can be counted on to deliver new knowledge, excitement and inspiration as they continue their expansion of the human boundary."

A Little History of the World

In history, context is vital. Events seldom make sense when presented individually, and often, the only way to fully understand, comprehend and appreciate any given event in history is to know the chain of events that led to it. Learning about the Second World War is difficult without at least a basic knowledge of the First World War and how that was influenced by the Industrial revolution. Context is vital.

Over the weekend, I picked up a book that I've long wanted to read, shown to me by a friend several years ago when it was first translated into English: A Little History of the World. First written and published in 1936 (written in six weeks - SIX), this book covers a staggering amount of history, starting from the very beginnings of human history and culture, from the prehistoric eras, and running up through to the dropping of the atomic bombs in 1945. Needless to say, in 284 pages, this is not a book rife with specific details, names and dates. Rather, this is an extremely broad look at how human history progressed.

While there are plenty of details lacking, this book is not intended as a grand work of history. It's written simply, for a younger audience, to tell the tale of our existence - it helps to provide a broad context for our history to anyone who is mildly interested in the subject, and at this, the book succeeds wonderfully. As a student of history, I can appreciate the task at hand, and having read through the book in a day, I was astounded at just how much information is here. Almost every major era of human history is covered, and linked to the next - reading over the pages, we move from the Egyptian dynasties to ancient Babylon, to Greece, to Rome, to the Middle Ages and so on, up through to the present day. Most of the major events in the world are touched upon, but only so much to move the story along from point to point.

While there is a high degree to completeness to this volume, there are aspects of history that are not examined, even lightly - the American Civil War is talked about briefly, but only in the context of the role of Slavery (which is really not the right way to examine the war) nor is the European involvements in Africa really looked at, except in the context of the buildup to the First World War. This book is largely a view of the world through Western eyes, and talk from the Americas and Asia aren't really examined as much, which is a disappointment, not out of any sort of nationalistic sense, but to the degree to which some of the major events in US history have played in the world - the Great Depression is not mentioned (although the history here really ends after the end of the First World War), but there is very little about the history of Central and South America or Africa. Reading the preface, it was mentioned that Gombrich intended to expand the book with the translation of an English version that would have talked more about Shakespeare, the Bill of Rights and the English Civil War, but he passed away before he was able to do this. I would have been interested to see how he would have characterized the rest of the 20th century, with the incredible changes and advancements that we have experienced since the end of the Second World War.

That being said, this book is a good examination of the world from a very high level - while smaller details are largely not talked about (specific important battles, such as Marathon, Waterloo, etc, are mentioned), the notion of how all these events fit together is the dominant one - specific knowledge of battles is not really necessary at most points, save when they are truly decisive historically, changing the course of nation's histories. In my day of reading the book, I feel that I have a somewhat better understanding about how parts of the world fit together - while I knew most of the details of what had gone on, there were points in history where I was fuzzy on the broad details. This is a book that I wish I had read when I was in middle or high school, because of the broad examination here.

An interesting point that I found here was the voice to which Gombrich takes throughout - very light, and while military matters are covered frequently, warfare is never glorified - the preface notes that the publication of the book in Germany was halted because it was deemed too pacifist in Nazi Germany.

On an aesthetic level, the book is easy to read - the language is simple, intended for somewhat older children, and is divided into forty short chapters, each with a specific section of history. One of the most interesting parts here is the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter - a simple woodcut that is best representative of the theme or period of the chapter, which is very characteristic of the work here - it adds beauty and a bit of elegance to the pages here.

I loved every minute and every page of this book. While this is the broadest possible view of human history, it is done with skill and grace, with an impartial voice throughout, that points out our successes and our flaws as a race, with an incredible amount of wisdom behind it. To best describe this book is an introduction of history, from which any reader would be inspired to find more about any aspect of history that they so wished. I’m now going to make it a point to seek out his second major work, The Story of Art. In the meantime, this will become a treasured addition to my own library of books.

The title of this book can be somewhat misleading - A Simple History of the World might be more accurate, but A History of the World would be the best, because Gombrich has done a nearly impossible task - distilled the world's history into a concise, yet interesting story that is optimistic, critical and inspiring.

Changes

There is a concept that I learned when I was in high school that is applied to history called Micro/Macrocosm. It's one of the main things that I took from my studies there and I've used the concept before to make parallels with various historical concepts and events. 

This year was a year of change. The concept and words were everywhere this year. We just elected a new president on a platform based on major reforms and changes to the way that the country is governed, to counter the past eight years. The price of oil has gone from a record $130 + per barrel to $35, the result of which is a drop in demand for automobiles and a change in the way that we drive. This change is part of a global slowdown in demand for goods, resulting in recessions across numerous countries around the world. Change has been present in other, smaller things as well. Several of the bands that I've listened to for a while have released new albums, exhibiting changes in their styles and sound - Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Ray LaMontagne, and a couple others. It's been an interesting and gratifying shift, and with these changes came commentary from others, which has made me realize: with change comes thought, and changes are both good and bad.

I've been working to change. Since my final years of college and the first years out, I've changed many things. I've had some things in my life shift, over the past couple years, but it really hasn't been until this year that I've really begun to question things - how I interact with people, what my personality is and how that guides me to approach life, and in the past year, I've realized that there's a lot about me that I've come to dislike. I've been selfish, shallow and insecure. I don't like that. 

Looking back over the year, I've realized that there was one point where I was able to throw all that away, and I didn't realize it at the time. It's only been in the past couple of months that I've realized this and been prompted to make changes to how I do things. I've questioned much the assumptions that I had about my life before this summer began. I'm returning to that point, because that's who I am. 

The changes don't stop. My job and my school is on the brink of major changes because of the economy and internal issues. On January 20th, we'll see a major historical milestone, and hopefully the changes promised over the past eighteen months will begin. In August, I'll finish my master's degree in Military History, which will hopefully have some additional changes for me professionally. There will be other, unexpected things that will happen that I can't predict, that any of us can predict. 

It's interesting how the micro/macro can be applied to almost everything. With the changes in the world, I've found changes in my own life at the same time. I can only imagine what next year will bring.

Merry Christmas to all of you on the Good Earth

Today, 40 years ago in 1968, Apollo 8 orbited the Moon, taking the famous Earthrise photograph. This mission was incredibly important for manned space exploration as it's the first mission to completely escape earth's gravity and orbit another celestial body. The mission's crew was Commander Frank Borman, and pilots James Lovell (who was later the commander of Apollo 13) and William Anders. They were also the first humans to see the far side of the moon.

Interestingly, I came across this article today on MSNBC News:

NASA awards $3.5 billion for space deliveries

NASA has awarded a pair of contracts worth $3.5 billion through 2016 to two private aerospace firms seeking to haul vital supplies to and from the international space station, the space agency announced late Tuesday.

The Hawthorne, Calif.-based firm Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences Corp., of Dulles, Va., beat a third competitor for NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contracts with their proposals to privately develop and launch spacecraft capable of delivering cargo to the space station and returning supplies back to Earth.

Full Article

This is really interesting, and I suspect that we'll see more of it in the near future as NASA plans on grounding the Shuttle Fleet in 2010. Commercial space programs are coming!

I see this as important because I believe that the future of space exploration will be firmly rooted in commercial enterprise, not as much with public institutions, such as through NASA, although they're certainly to play a role in the coming decades. Commercial interests will be able to take the necessary risks that NASA's unable to do, and because of that, we will be able to leap into space again.

It's interesting that our first huge trip into space with Apollo 8 on Christmas eve, given its significance with many of the world's religions, and somewhat ironic. I'm not a religious person by any means, but the implications of leaving a world that many consider to have been created by divine hands is huge, and opens up huge questions, theories and thoughts when it comes to our place in the universe. The crew read from the first ten verses of Genesis during their broadcast, an incredibly touching and humbling thing to read, and entirely appropriate for the occasion, in my opinion.

When it all comes down to it, we're very small, and alone in the universe. Merry Christmas to all of you on the good earth.

Best Television of 2008

My top TV episodes of 2008: 10 - Fringe: Pilot / Leverage: The Nigerian Job

This was a bit of a tie, because both these shows aren't all that great, but they are fun to watch. Fringe was one that I was really looking forwards to, and I've been somewhat disappointed by how it's been handled over the season that I've watched thus far. Hopefully I'll get to marathon the entire thing at some point. That being said, the pilot for the show was very fun to watch - it was interesting, had a fun concept and was so over the top that it's laughable, but again, fun. Leverage is a show that I've started watching because I like Heist shows, and this one is certainly one of the better ones that I've seen, ever since the show Smith a couple years ago. There's a fun cast dynamic and some good hooks in this episode for future episodes.

9 - Big Bang Theory: The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis I've been wary of this show until this season, and now, I've really gotten into it for some reason. The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis really takes the show away from some of the easy jabs at the characters and makes some room for some real character development at the end. Plus, the following quote from Leonard is just plain gold:

Do you know what this means? If I can get a healthy ovum, I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy!

8 - Barack Obama 30 Minute TV Spot No matter what side of the aisle you support, this TV spot was a brilliant move on the part of the Obama administration. It consumed a news cycle of talk show, talking heads and really outlined the priorities of the incoming administration and helped put Pres/Elect Obama into the lead, furthering his momentum. I personally was a supported of the Democratic Ticket, and while this TV spot showed us nothing terribly new to supporters, and essentially reiterated his position, it was a good introduction to people who still weren't sure who to support.

7 - John Adams: Join or Die The John Adams miniseries was a very well done series based off of the book by David McCullough by the same title. This pilot episode demonstrated fantastic production values and is an outstanding adaptation of history, from the characters and casting to the look and feel of the sets. These first episodes showed the American War for Independence, a crucial time in our history, in a way that has largely been glossed over in a few short lessons in school.

6 - Lost: The Constant This was possibly one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, where Desmond begins his own time jumps back and forth through. While Lost has overdone the lifes of some of the other characters like Jack and Kate, this episode really got into Desmond's head and proved that the writers could still write compelling and interesting characters, while advancing the story forward while doing so, rather than just exploition on why the characters are the way they are.

5 - Battlestar Galactica: Revelations Episode 410 of Battlestar Galactica brings the show to a point that we've been looking for for the past four years on the show : Earth. Four of the last unknown Cylons come forward to their friends, and Kara finally leads the fleet to the people, only to find a devastated landscape. There was a lot of emotion and storylines caught up here. Characters were not what their friends thought they were, and the episode represents a culmination of a number of storylines, and ends on a killer cliffhanger.

4 - Pushing Daisies: Comfort Food I'm very sad to see this show go - it's one of my absolute favorites. Comfort Food follows Ned and Olive during a cooking contest, while Chuck has brought her father back to life, at the cost of Dwight Dixon. This was the end/middle of a mini-arc, and it really does a fantastic job with both Ned and Chuck - Chuck with seeing her father return, and Ned for having his trust betrayed. And there's a Colonel who's been deep fried.

3 - When We Left Earth: Landing the Eagle / The Explorers This year was the 50th Anniversary of NASA, and to celebrate, Discovery released a documentary on NASA's human exploration of the solar system. This episode, Landing the Eagle, details the Apollo program through to Apollo 11, while The Explorers follows the remaining five moon landings. The footage here is absolutely stunning, and even includes interviews with Neil Armstrong. I get chills watching the landing.

2 - Life on Mars: Out Here in the Fields I was very skeptical about the remake, and the first pilot didn't leave me with any confidence here at all. But Out Here in the Fields, the second pilot to the UK remake, helped to allay my fears that this would be a poorly done show and showed not only could this re-make be a good one, but one that would stand on its own, with its own qualities. I can't wait for its return later on.

1 - House, MD : Wilson's Heart Season 4 of House was pretty lackluster. The change up with new staff only marginally worked, and while we saw some new characters, they're not quite to the point of Chase, Cameron and Foreman. The newcomers are interesting, but too similar, except for the fanatic character Amber, whom I can't stand. This episode made me entirely rethink her character, but also saw an incredible amount into the characters of House and Wilson. These episodes of House are the best ones, when we see real development, and it's happening fewer and further between episodes now. The last ten or so minutes of this episode are possibly the best minutes of the show that I've seen yet.

Top Geek Things of 2008

It's coming up to the end of the year, and looking back, 2008 has been a very fun year for geeks everywhere - in books, television programs and films, among other things. Over the past couple of days, I've been thinking back over the year to see what was the best and worst of 2008.

The Best:

Starbuck returned from the Grave; The Fleet reaches Earth. (Battlestar Galactica Season 4)

The third season of Battlestar Galactica was a little rocky in the middle, but the last episodes set up a real bang. Starbuck was presumably killed, only to turn up during a major confrontation of the Human and Cylon fleets. Season 4 opens even bigger, with one of the best space battles that I've ever seen. Our four new cylons are freaking out, Starbuck's back and everything culminates in the discovery of Earth in episode 10.Galactica has long been one of my favorite shows, and with a certain end point in mind, Season four was where Galactica got somewhat back onto the tracks, with a fairly tight story arc, only to get to another long wait for the final ten episodes. It's been well worth it though.

Pushing Daisies... back from the Grave, and back to it

After a long hiatus due to the writer's strike (more about that in a bit) my favorite show of 2007-2008 came back with a new set of episodes. There are not enough good things that I can say about this show. We left off last year with Chuck learning that it was Ned that killed her father, only to end up at the end of this season with him being awoken. It was another season of fantastic storytelling, character development and extremely fantastic dialog. Unfortunately, the show has been axed due to low ratings. Fortunately, Bryan Fuller will be going to Heroes for the latter half of Season 3.

Lost Gets Better - Again.

Here's the situation. LOST season 1 blew everyone away. Season 2 drove them away. Season 3 brought some people back, and Season 4, everything got interesting again. This season was the best since Season 1, in my opinion. We had several new characters (my favorite was Daniel Faraday, the physicist), and a couple people killed off. We started seeing flash-forwards, where Jack has a beard and addicted to pain pills, Hurley's in a mental institution and Sayid is channeling Abram's Alias. Oh, and they get off the island. Then the island vanishes.

I have Leonard Nemoy's DNA? (The Big Bang Theory)

This show started in 2007, where I was annoyed by its laugh track and annoying characters. But this year, I started watching it and enjoying it. While it's certainly a very stereotypical portrayal of nerds and geeks, it's fun, because the creators have put in place a series of fun characters, and the writers make some jokes that are actually funny. This week's episode was absolutely priceless, when Sheldon gets a napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy. Now, if they'll just ditch the laugh track. This show's likely to be around for a while longer - it's been getting better and better ratings as the year goes on.

Back in a Nick of Time (Life on Mars)

One of my absolute favorite shows of all time was Life on Mars. Up until this year, it was only a BBC drama, until ABC picked it up and made a pilot. That pilot sucked, horribly, so the cast was ditched, except for Jason O'Mara, and the show was redone, set in New York City, given a good cast and started up. The result? A solid TV series that's mirrored the original (but it's starting to diverge a bit now), a wonderful soundtrack of classic rock and a story that's actually interesting. I can't wait for its return in 2009.

The Joker raises worldwide GDP. (The Dark Knight)

First, there was excitement when it was announced that the Joker was going to be the villain. Then Heath Ledger signed up for the role. Then he died earlier this year after filming was completed, leaving some people to wonder if the film would be released on schedule. Then Warner Brothers covered every surface they could find with Dark Knight ads. When the film was released, it went on to gross $996,680,514 in theaters. The film was a huge success, and a fantastic film at that. It was a comic book movie with true darkness, some real symbolism and good storytelling throughout. It's a pity that we won't see Heath Ledger reprise his role of The Joker, because he's done the best portrayal of a villain in recent film memory.

I am Iron Man (Iron Man)

Before The Dark Knight blew the doors off the box office, there was Iron Man. Iron Man has long been a favorite marvel superhero of mine, and everything fell into place for this film. Good story, well directed, fantastic casting (Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was brilliant) and of course, the Mark II set of armor. Marvel proved that they could make a good superhero movie, one that was relevant and not stuck in the low-humor that characterized other comic book adaptations. Already, I can't wait for Iron Man 2. And Iron Man 3. And The Avengers.

Eeeeevvvvvaaaaaa (Wall-E)

Pixar has released what is possibly their best film to date. (Except maybe Toy Story and The Incredibles). Following a robot far from home, Andrew Stanton has presented a film with a cute, romantic science fiction story with some social commentary (said to be unintentional) woven into the CGI. Wall-E is easily the most appealing robot since R2-D2 hit the big screen in 1977, and his antics as he's pulled along for the ride (literally) are cute, heartbreaking and funny.And with very little real dialog.

Roar. Crunch. Repeat. (Cloverfield)

Monster movies meets social networking video and America gets its own monster. This film was brilliantly shot with an extremely fun concept. A monster comes and plays t-ball with the statue of liberty, and it's caught on camera by a bunch of twenty-somethings as they escape. The project was conceived of by LOST creator J.J. Abrams, and his fingerprints are all over it. From the lack of explanation of everything to the weird stuff, this is a very fun film to watch. Rumors are that there's a Cloverfield 2 being talked about.

With My Freeze Ray I Will Stop... The World (Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog)

This project was a huge success for Joss Whedon & Co. Conceived of during the Writer's strike, Whedon presents an aspiring supervillian, Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris), his buddies and his quest to finish his freeze ray, avoid Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) and win over Penny (Felicia Day). We're treated to musical numbers, crazy plots and a fantastic venture to prove that the internet is a viable place to release content.Take a look here.

Up, up and away! (When We Left Earth/NASA)

This year was NASA's 50th year in operation, and the Discovery channel released a fantastic documentary entitled When We Left Earth that touted its major achievements and failures throughout the years, bringing viewers some of the most incredible footage of space that I've ever seen, and telling a fantastic story of how NASA has come to be, with interviews with astronauts and support personnel. I get chills when I watch it, and wonder when we'll return to the moon and beyond.

Hobbit's Labyrinth (The Hobbit)

After long rumors, production problems and drama with Peter Jackson (who directed Lord of the Rings), Guillermo del Toro signed on to direct the upcoming Hobbit film and prequel. (Or two Hobbit films?) This is extremely good news, because the people who can adequately fill Jackson's shoes after LOTR are few and far between. del Toro is the perfect director for this project, and has already proven that he can do fantasy brilliantly, with his masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth. Plus, he can play in other people's universes, as per his work with the Hellboy films. (Which weren't as good, but fun)

Watchman Trailer (Watchman)

What's called the greatest graphic novel ever is coming to the big screen, much to the annoyance of its creator, and to FOX, apparently. A trailer for Watchman aired with The Dark Knight, and it made fanboys everywhere sit up and take notice. There's still complaints about how it's unfilmable and that it'll be too short or too long, but from my eyes? This looks like it'll be THE comic book film to see next year. It looks like it captured the feel of the comic book pretty well, and it's embellished a bit to look badass. Plus, Rorschach looks dead on. Just like I thought he'd be like.

Large Hadron Collider (Science)

The Large Hadron Collider was turned on on September 10th, to many worries about the world ending. Contrary to popular opinion, the earth didn't vanish in a tiny black hole. It was set to uncover the mysteries of the universe, but then it broke down again nine days later and won't be up online until 2009. But, it's still cool!

Geeks in Politics (Obama [spiderman, conan, superman] Patrick Leahy [Batman Cameo])

There's been a lot of geekiness in politics this year. No lightsaber waving from McCain this time around, but President Elect Obama has claimed to be a big Spiderman and Conan fan, and did a superman pose in Metropolis, IL. In addition to him, VT senator Patrick Leahy, a huge batman fan, had a cameo in The Dark Knight. He's also the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ironic.

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy (Costumes)

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted an exhibit earlier this year (it's since closed) called Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. It featured a number of costumes from a number of classic films, such as the original Superman and Wonder Woman films, but also things as recently released as The Dark Knight and Iron Man. The fashion section was a bit of a miss for me, but the exhibit as a whole was just outstanding. Plus, they had several original copies of Superman and Batman, Spiderman and Iron Man on display. Covered in a plastic shield of course...

Star Wars Encyclopedia (Star Wars)

Del Rey released a new and expanded Star Wars Encyclopedia this year, one that is not only complete, but still remarkably up to date. That's not likely to last as long, given how fast LFL churns out canon material, but it's a beautiful repository of information in the universe. I can spend hours just paging through reading things.

"Anathem" By Neal Stephenson

I actually have yet to read this book, but it's caught my eye, and it's made a splash when it comes to the sci-fi literary world. All I really know about it is that it takes place on an earth-like world, and doubles as a philosophical text for knowledge and religion. I'll have to pick it up, and only expand my to-read list further.

A Game of Thrones picked up by HBO (Song of Fire & Ice)

Another book that I have yet to read, but I actually own this one. HBO has picked up the book for a series. If there's one thing that HBO does well, it's TV shows, because they can pour money into them and get a good result. And, they have a good track record with adaptations, with things such as Band of Brothers and John Adams. I'll watch this when it's released.

We'ss Har Wars End (Karen Traviss)

Several years in the making, Karen Traviss has finally finished her Wess'Har Wars series with book 6, Judge. Starting back in 2003, she introduced readers to a fantastic story of first contacts filled with alien races, political commentary and expert storytelling. Judge didn't deliver quite as well as I'd have liked (It certainly wasn't the strongest of the series), it carried the momentum well, and proved to be a good read, one that finished up one of my favorite series satisfactorily. Hopefully, Karen will be back to writing hard scifi again, because she's incredible at it.

Trooping (501st)

This year I got back into trooping with the 501st Legion. All in all, I did a total of 30 or so events, ranging from small affairs here in VT to much larger ones. The most memorable ones were the Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade, Burlington Kid's Day, the Weird Al Concert,  St-Jean-sur-Richelieu Balloon Festival, Walk for Autisms, and the 2008 Woburn Halloween Parade. All my events are listed here.

With all the good things that have happened this year, there's the other side of the coin, and some letdowns, disappointments and pure flops.

Worst:

Writer's Strike

Okay, this started in 2007, but it messed up television for the foreseeable future, by ending some shows and putting others on a long hiatus that has really hurt ratings. Pushing Daisies was one casualty, Terminator was almost one, LOST was put off for a year, as was 24, and already, we're on the eve of another major strike over pretty much the same issues - internet distribution. Hopefully, some lessons will be learned.

Surviving a Nuclear Detonation (Indiana Jones)

Indiana Jones came back, and he came back bland. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was an impossible undertaking to fill the hopes of fans for the past twenty years. While it's not a horrible film, it's nowhere near as high quality as Raiders or Crusade (although I did like it better than Doom). There was no passion, a crazy storyline and some annoying characters. It does have its moments, but they are few and far between.

Skyguy/Snips/Roger Roger (The Clone Wars)

Star Wars was another big LFL franchise that came back this year, and while The Clone Wars certainly had its moments, even high points, this film just extends the image of money grubbing that LFL is involved with, which is a shame. There's too much bad dialog, characters and situations to make this a good part of the Star Wars universe, but the TV show has been making some improvements. The animation is stunningly good, some of the stories are actually good, but every time the battle droids start talking, I want to throw something at my TV.

Michael Crichton Eaten by Cyborg T-Rex and Flesh eating Space Bacteria from the Past.

While my interest in Michael Crichton has waned over the years as he began to write crappy books (Such as Prey and State of Fear), there's no doubt that he's shaped my reading. I'm still a huge fan of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Terminal Man and a number of his older novels. He's one of the most popular scifi authors (although he's resisted the genre title) out there with his works, most of which were made into films. It's a shame that he's passed - I was always hoping for another good story from him.

Gary Gygax failed his saving throw

Geek-God Gary Gygax likewise passed away this year, leaving behind a legacy that has shaped nerd-culture in the US forever. His creation, Dungeons and Dragons, along with co-creator Dave Arneson, was one of the defining features of geeks everywhere, something that I got into back in 2001. Along with giving geeks something to do in groups, it helped define a generation's activities, reading materials and conceptions of fantasy through to this day.

Arthur C Clarke becomes the Space Child

Arguably one of the greatest science fiction authors ever, Clarke's death hit the world hard. He helped to define the literary genre, and the actual science behind it, and was responsible for such classics as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rama, Childhood's End, and numerous others, as well as the telecommunications satellite. He will be sorely missed, and is one of the last of the golden age of science fiction to be with us.(Today would have been his 91st birthday)

CNN Hologram technology

On election nigh, CNN touted their new thing in news casting, a hologram of Will.I.Am. Looked cool, and it looked like a hologram, but it was nothing more than a lot of cameras and empty space plus some CGI. Blah. Let's see some real technology in action please.

Close the Iris! (Stargate Atlantis)

I was a huge fan of Stargate SG-1, and same with Atlantis for the first couple of seasons. This season has just plain sucked. It's a shame, because there's a good concept there, amidst the horrible characters, stories and situations. Not long now, because Atlantis has been canceled, and will be replaced with Stargate Universe next year.

Even more Confusing and Confounding! (Heroes Season 3)

Heroes Season 1 was brilliant. It introduced a new spin on superheroes, only to fall to its own success and have a fairly slow and boring second season. (To be sure, the writer's strike had something to do with it, because it got better). Season 3 was promised to be bigger and better. And it was certainly bigger, with heroes coming back from the grave, more time travel and action, but none of it really made the same impression that season 1 did. I'm still behind episodes, but apparently it's been getting better. Now that Bryan Fuller's returning to the show, can we PLEASE start off really good and get better? Please?

Weird Science (Fringe)

I was really excited for Fringe, the latest show by JJ Abrams. It was a fun concept, and had a good couple episodes at first, but just became so dull that I stopped following it. I might pick it up again at some point, but only when I can marathon the entire thing at once.

Forrest J. Ackerman Dies

Forrest J. Ackerman, one of the first science fiction fans out there recently passed away. He was a key element of the spread of science fiction fandom, and he helped to found the LA Science Fantasy Society, among other numerous achivements, as well as influencing numerous authors over his long life.

Borders Downsizes SciFi Sections

I ranted about this earlier, as did a number of authors. Borders has been downsizing their sci-fi sections. While it's understandable that they have to sell items, and that they can't put everything on the shelf, you can't predict what the next big hit will be, and you can't know that until you actually start selling things.

That's it for this year. Next year, there's already quite a bit coming up. Should be a fun year.

You've got a sweet ride now, Charlie!

It's been 4 or so weeks since I first test-drove and then purchased my Mini. During that time, the new-car smell has gone away, I've learned what all the buttons do and I still have a working clutch for the thing.

I love this car. I absolutely love driving it, and now that I'm far more comfortable with stick-shift, I'm not as worried as I was about driving in traffic, because I would stall out a couple of times each trip out while I worked out the timing of the pedals. I still break into a foolish grin every time that I walk into the parking lot and see it.

While driving out and about around Vermont and the surrounding states, I've seen a lot of other minis on the road. I see one regularly on my way to work on Rt. 12, and there's a couple others in the Montpelier area, while I've noticed a bunch of others in the Burlington area. What's funny is that as I pass a lot of these minis, the drivers will wave when they see me passing them. It's not something that happened with my old car. While I don't feel a whole lot of comradeship with people based upon what type of car they drive, but it's nice all the same.

I bought snow tires and got a set of rims for Christmas from my parents. It's not wonderful in the snow, handles corners extremely well, and I don't think that I've ever felt it slip at all now that we're getting snow and ice on the roads here.

I still love this car.