"Business Ethics"

October 9th, 2008

Any show in a fifth season needs to be able to do two things: to best utilize its long-standing character relationships, and to integrate new elements into the storyline. What we have in "Business Ethics" is fantastic examples of these two principles, using both our (and Jim's) extensive knowledge of Dwight's personality gives us a great opportunity to indulge in one of the show's best dynamics, and Holly continues to serve as a fantastic introduction to this "family"...or, workplace if you will.

It's an episode that is all about the small little moments, the pieces of scenes as opposed to any broad setups. What these half-hour episodes do that the hour-longs which started last season didn't was to really focus on a single event and its impact on the Office. We get a lot of the Office standards (including a seminar in the conference room), but it feels like the right combination of events following the episode's ethical dilemma - and its a combination of events that make for an extremely memorable episode.

Full disclosure: at least 20% of my excitement over "Business Ethics" is over a single scene. As Jim, in our runner as he times the amount of "Time Theft" that Dwight commits in the span of a day, attempts to drive him into personal conversations by starting a discussion of Battlestar Galactica with Andy. It's one of those scenes that was funny to anyone who hasn't seen said Sci-Fi series, but for those of us downright addicted to it, I'm guessing we were in stitches. It was a really smartly written scene: for the non-fans, the Dumbledore Calrissian line is more than enough to illicit a few laughs. Meanwhile, for those of us who are, we couldn't help but be right there with Dwight as Jim suggests that it's nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the original series (which, for those who don't know, is both a common topic when introducing the show to others and a major point of contention).

The entire runner with Jim and Dwight was very strong because it was so simple: it was about small observations, little discussions, and about jokes played not as some broad slapstick (Dwight peeing in the bottle was subtle compared to his last peeing incident, and his affair with Angela was played entirely with looks for our benefit). While it may seem a bit cheap to come down from the proposal with only a cold open, that choice makes sense: the office's non-reaction is for the best: this narrative shouldn't dominate the show but provide it with humour and heart when necessary. Here, it made for a hilarious cold open, from Dwight's reminder that Pam isn't a virgin to Michael's eventual hug tackle (or tackle hug?); anything more than that would have held the episode back, especially considering that the show's other storyline is more serial in nature.

Yes, Michael and Holly are the new Jim and Pam - they're the relationship that is building, moving towards something quite compelling for Michael as a character. When we eventually learn that Holly is, like Michael, only trying to do what's best in her own mind instead of what Corporate really wanted (Not that their minds think alike on issues like ethics, but just as a general life principle), the two are truly kindred spirits. And while listening to the original Olivia Newton John song would counteract their re-write of said Olivia Newton John song, the fact remains that there is a chemistry between them that has potential to extend beyond traditional lines.

What makes this relationship so compelling is that it is taking one we know (Michael vs. Authority) and totally turning it on its head by having Michael be on the other side of the coin in a weird way. Like when he turned around in "The Deposition" and sold Jan up the river, Michael is capable of understanding loyalty and seeing through his own delusions: here, while not entirely so, he does resist to turn "I told you so" into a big joke and instead realizes that Holly is playing his role here. She's the one struggling in a conference room meeting, she's the one who can't get their attention, and all of a sudden he's staring himself in the face.

What he does here is what you'd expect: he can't help but let his desire to date Holly get in the way of his attempts to help Holly. And he's not really understanding as it pertains to her views regarding Meredith's ethical breach (a rather hilarious relationship with a paper salesman for discounts on paper and Outback Steakhouse gift certificates), but you can understand why he'd be so against her view of the workplace as just that: a workplace, and not Michael's idealistic concept of family he so desperately attempts to maintain. Michael and Holly just ended up with opposing ideologies, and while Michael doesn't take well to this (The hilarious scene with Michael refusing to pour Holly any coffee) he does eventually come around.

While the half hour episodes do centralize these two storylines over the greatness of the overall ensemble, there are some great moments here: Kevin changing Ryan's nickname to "Hired Guy," Creed referring to Jim as "The Tall Guy," Andy taking Intro to Philosophy twice, Dwight's not so subtle dig at Andy being cuckolded by a stronger man, or the end scene of everyone eating Meredith's ethically questionable Steak. But it's not really that surprising that Michael's overlong explanation of chastity belts, or Dwight agreeing that he is not entirely ethical with his usual creepy smile into the camera.

But that's the charm of a good episode of "The Office," one where everyone can pick out a quotation, a scene, or a character and hold it up to some standard. That the episode spends more time with the major characters this early in the season might be giving the rest of the cast a limited opportunity, it seems to be working: that's 2 for 2 for The Office.

Cultural Observations

• I am a big fan of Ryan judging his relative success at his corporate job by having dated someone who looks like Joanna from Season Six of Survivor (Which only Dwight has seen). It's just delightfully random.
• I really hope that Jim has actually seen Battlestar Galactica, or else I'm going to have to set him straight before he keeps using the show's name for the purpose of humour.
• I greatly enjoy Dwight being characterized as "The Thief of Joy" - and the fact that he really didn't seem to mind.
• Also, I loved that Michael appeared to have ordered himself two lobsters, and that he also had something that looked awfully like a Bloomin' Onion or some other appetizer. The man can eat.

Before that though, there's some news concerning our beloved BSG:

Season 4.0 has been released on DVD and with it some deleted scenes. And sogzilla has been kind enough to upload them on YouTube!

I couldn't decide between some little Adama/Roslin goodness and the Chief strangling Cally to give you as a teaser (5 minutes of Kara/Lee shmoozing were out of the race pretty soon), so I give you Callum Keith Rennie (and Grace Park twice, sorry), because, y'know, Love is a powerful emotion:

In case YouTube shouldn't work for you, io9 has the vids as well. And should you prefer reading over watching, head over to the battlestar blog, where falafel_musings posted summaries for all deleted scenes.

And just in case you're wondering how long it will take now for me to post again - fear not! - for I shall present you with a callumy surprise this weekend!

UPDATE: You can get the full transcripts of the Deleted Scenes over at Galactica Science!

Habéis oído bien. Por lo de segunda cuarta temporada me refiero a la segunda parte de la cuarta temporada. Como recordaréis (al menos los que siguen la serie), la cuarta temporada iba a ser la última, el colofón final (Si amigos, una serie con final), pero la huelga de guionistas trastocó los planes, y estos se vieron obligados a cerrar una mini temporada de 10 episodios y dejar la conclusión para más adelante.

Pues bien, ese momento se acerca, y por los precedentes, va a ser espectacular. No solo por el impresionante cliffhanger de la 4-1, sino también por lo dicho por Edward James Olmos (almirante Adama), quien vino a decir que el final de Galactica iba a ser brutal, oscuro y despiadado. A continuación la cita exacta:

Emocionalmente desgarradora. Digo esto por una razón, y es que no quiero que penséis que vais a pasar por esto sin retorceros… lo que nos ocurre es brutal. Pocos de nosotros van a superarlo.

Edward James Olmos

Teniendo en cuenta que Galactica ya es de por sí oscura y despiadada, las palabras de Edward han impactado profundamente a los fans y han creado una gran expectación. El actor Jamie Bamber (capitan Apollo) se ha unido a las declaraciones y ha añadido:

La cuarta temporada es de lejos la mejor, estamos muy orgullosos de ella. Cualquiera que nos haya seguido durante todo el camino se verá abrumado por el final de la serie, nadie va a resultar decepcionado.

Jamie Bamber

Galactica concluye, pero los fans no tenemos que padecer, ya que aprovechándose de todo el trasfondo y del universo de la serie, el futuro nos depara una nueva película, como la anterior Razor, y una nueva serie llamada Caprica, totalmente diferente a Galactica; ambientada cincuenta años antes de la primera guerra Cylon y que nos relatará el inicio de todo: la creación de los Cylon.

Se espera que el resto de la cuarta temporada se emita en Estados Unidos a partir de Enero, aunque algunos rumores afirman que podría retrasarse hasta Abril, esperemos que no sea así.

Noticias relacionadas | Battlestar Galactica

Och praktiskt. Som gäst kan du köpa presenter minuten innan du kliver in på kalaset. England är bra.

Bear McCreary, composer for Battlestar Galactica and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, is going to be appearing at the Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle as part of their "Exposed: Inside Film" speaker series on Wednesday October 15th at 7pm.  In his blog story here, Bear promises the evening 's discussion will be wide-ranging and insightful for any BSG fan.

The event is free for EMP/SFM members, and only $5 for the general public.  For more info, check here.

E anche quest'anno, dopo una lunga attesa da parte del sottoscritto (e non solo), il Romics si è concluso. E come l'anno scorso, cerco di tirare due somme, ovviamente esprimendo un parere personale. Innanzitutto, specifico il giorno: io sono andato sabato 4, un giorno particolare, visto che capitavano due eventi: il primo era l'incontro con Richard Hatch, protagonista di Battlestar Galactica; il secondo era la festa in onore della Goldrake Generation, che ricordava il trentennale di uno dei "robottoni" più famosi della storia dei Mecha giapponesi. Inoltre, il clima goliardico della manifestazione era sicuramente influenzato anche dai festeggiamenti per il centesimo anniversario del fumetto in Italia. Come l'anno scorso, al Romics sono stati dedicati i padiglioni 9 e 10 della Fiera di Roma: il primo ospitava il "mercatino", il secondo tutti gli eventi.

Il padiglione degli stand: rispetto all'anno passato, mi è sembrato più fornito del solito: il numero di "bancarelle" mi è sembrato maggiore, cosa probabilmente dovuta al fatto che la sezione dedicata ai videogames e alle competizioni videoludiche è stata spostata in una sala del padiglione 10. Un'altra cosa che ho notato (con piacere, lo ammetto), almeno per quanto riguarda i fumetti, è che c'erano anche più bancarelle che vendevano fumetti a prezzi più bassi (intendo intorno ad 1-1,5 euro): l'anno scorso ne avevo trovata una sola. E anche vero che bisogna considerare il giorno: l'anno scorso ero andato di venerdì, dove a volte i prezzi sono un pò più alti. Magari qualcuno di voi mi potrà confermare se questo è vero! :D In ogni caso, era possibile fare qualche affaruccio, senza troppi problemi.

Il padiglione degli eventi: all'ora di pranzo, mi sono spostato nel padiglione 10, dove ho assistito all'ultima parte dell'incontro organizzato dalla Battlestar Galactica Italian Club. Ammetto che non sono (ancora, visto che le premesse ci sono tutte) un fan di questa serie, visto che non ho ancora avuto modo di vedere un episodio, ma la conferenza è stata interessante, e senza dubbio mi sono incuriosito ancora di più: appena potrò, cercherò di colmare questa mia lacuna! :D Richard Hatch è stato molto simpatico nel presentare la serie e tutte le novità sulla nuova stagione che deve uscire in America, ma senz'altro uno dei momenti più belli è stato quando ha cercato di spronare tutti coloro che hanno una piccola idea o una storia nel cassetto a realizzarla: per dimostrare quanto diceva, ha fatto vedere un trailer di una produzione amatoriale di un film di fantascienza, realizzato con attori veri e computer grafica! (Di cose simili ne esistono una marea in rete: prima o poi, devo provare a scrivere qualcosa su questi lavori, dato che meritano sicuramente!).

Subito dopo, è cominciata la gara per le selezioni dei migliori cosplayer del Romics. Come al solito, tante risate e divertimento, di fronte a piccoli capolavori di arte, anche costosi: ho avuto modo di scambiare quattro chiacchiere con il cosplayer che interpretava Gatsu di Berserk, con la sua armatura e l'enorme spada: per realizzare quest'opera, ci sono voluti ben 8 mesi di lavoro di un gruppo di amici e circa 2000 euro (dato che il materiale usato per la realizzazione è la vetroresina)! Immancabili anche le gaffe: come non ricordare l'Eva e l'angelo di Evangelion, arrivati in ritardo sul palco perchè "si stavano montando", con tutti i problemi che hanno avuto per muoversi, visto che dentro quegli scafandri non riuscivano a vedere dove stavano andando! :D

Verso le 16 circa, poi, sono andato ad assistere alla celebrazione per i 30 anni di Goldrake. Per l'occasione, gli organizzatori hanno voluto lasciare un tocco di classe, invitando l'Arcadia Wind Orchestra e il suo coro: c'è sta una vera e propria rivisitazione in chiave orchestrale delle più belle musiche di Ufo Robot Goldrake, e non solo. L'ambiente musicale è stato ulteriormente vivacizzato dalla presenza de "I Raggi Fotonici". Anfitrione dell'occasione è stato Fabrizio Mazzotta, grande doppiatore di innumerevoli personaggi (tra cui Mizar di Goldrake), ed altri ospiti speciali, come l'astronauta Roberto Guidoni (bellissima la scena di quando il leader de "i Raggi Fotonici" dice: "alzi la mano chi ha desiderato almeno una volta di viaggiare tra le stelle.... ora l'alzi chi l'ha fatto davvero!" :D Immancabile poi la torta finale, con un Actarus perfetto in tutto e per tutto che spunta dalla porta d'ingresso!

Che dire: ancora una volta sono rimasto soddisfatto del Romics, che è riuscito  anche a migliorarsi rispetto all'anno scorso. Non vedo l'ora di ritornare in questo Paese dei Balocchi, l'anno prossimo. Intanto, potete godervi la carrelata di fotografie che ho scattato per l'evento, cliccando sull'immagine di R2-D2 qua sotto. Appena posso, carico online anche i video. W il Romics!!! :D

 Today sees the UK DVD release of the fourth and final series of Battlestar Galactica (BSG).

I became hooked on BSG after watching the three-hour mini-series written and produced by Ronald D Moore and directed by Michael Rymer in 2003.

The mini-series was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a pilot for the 2004 television series.

I was never a fan of Stars Wars, Star Trek, Deep Space Nine et al but something about BSG captured me. The storyline was gripping, the acting was good and although there were plenty of special effects they didn’t overshadow the plot.

The mini-series was set 40 years after humans won the war against the Cylons (robots). It’s revealed that since the war, and their subsequent disappearance, the Cylons have gained the ability to mimic the human form.

The Cylons launch a massive attack on the 12 Colonies, forcing all the survivors to retreat to the skies. These survivors, led by the Battlestar Galactica, try to escape the obliteration of the human race and start on a quest for lost colony of Earth where they hope to find peace.

I became such a fan of BSG that I ended up (rather proudly) as an official playtester for the roleplaying game based on the series.

The game was developed by Margaret Weiss Productions (Margaret, the creator of the Dragonlance Chronicles was already an icon in my view) and luckily my little band of gamers and I got to playtest the game while it was in development.

My job as playtester and GM involved emailing the writers with feedback on the game, spotting the literals and choosing between different images for the artwork. I was among five GMs that took part in the playtest and the only non-American one.

I was so chuffed when the game came out because as my surname begins with ‘A’ I was at the very top of the thank yous in the credits (I even showed the bemused bloke in the shop when I bought the book).

But, game aside, I love the concept of BSG and unlike other TV shows I watch (for example, 24 and Heroes) I don’t feel the show has declined in standard as the episodes rack up. I’ve deliberately avoided watching the series on Sky (I get too annoyed with all the TV breaks) so I can have a mini BSG marathon. So it’s time to buy the popcorn, unplug the phone and hope the fourth, and final, series will live up to its predecessors.

"Los cylons fueron creados por el hombre, se rebelaron, evolucionaron, existen muchas copias, y tienen un plan.  La raza humana, lejos de casa, lucha por sobrevivir"

Género: Ciencia Ficción

Año: 2003

Actores: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Katee Sackhoff, Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas

Temporadas: 4 + 1 miniserie previa de 2 capítulos

Argumento:

La raza humana se asentaba en 12 colonias en el planeta Kobol. Para facilitar las tareas el hombre creó a los cylon, robots dotados de inteligencia destinados a ayudar. Pero las máquinas se rebelaron y los humanos buscaron un tratado de paz. Los cylon desaparecieron durante 40 años y su amenaza fue quedando en el olvido. Hasta que llevaron a cabo un brutal ataque que dejó a la raza humana con poco más de 40.000 supervivientes.  Los que consiguieron sobrevivir al ataque se refugiaron en varias naves espaciales bajo la protección de Galactica, la única nave de combate que queda. Como sorpresa añadida, las máquinas creadas por el hombre no solo evolucionaron sinó que adquirieron apariencia humana, existen doce modelos con múltiples copias, algunos de ellos infiltrados en la propia tripulación de Galáctica.

Para mantener la esperanza después del tremendo golpe sufrido, la presidenta de las 12 colonias y el comandante de Galáctica deciden buscar la Tierra, un planeta mítico que aparece en las escrituras divinas donde se supone que vive en paz la colonia nº13 de la humanidad, fundadora de las 12 colonias que vivieron en Kobol.

Battlestar Galáctica (2003) es un remake de la original creada en 1978. El argumento base es el mismo, pero los que conocen la serie inicial dicen que poco a poco la nueva se va distanciando de la primera.

Opinión:

Empecé a ver Galactica prácticamente sin expectativas. Quizás por eso me ha enganchado tanto.

La humanidad está en guerra, pero aunque hay dos bandos definidos la línea entre el bien y el mal es prácticamente invisible y fácil de cruzar. Buenos, malos.. todos los personajes se encuentran en la encrucijada más de una vez. La variedad de personalidades permite ver la realidad des de distintos puntos de vista.

Los argumentos y las situaciones son lógicos dentro de una guerra, infiltraciones, traiciones,  búsqueda de provisiones, injusticias, miedos, insurrecciones, pasiones, rencillas entre la política y la milicia, fe, desánimo y esperanza. Además de una duda que ya se ha visto planteada en otras ocasiones: ¿Puede una máquina tener sentimientos? ¿Pueden enamorarse, renunciar a los suyos y vivir como personas?

Técnicamente la serie está bien hecha, falla un poco la banda sonora que por lo menos hasta la tercera temporada sigue siendo la misma y las actuaciones de algunos actores que parecen demasiado inexpresivos en su papel. Las luchas espaciales son cortas, es normal que estando en guerra se hagan batallas, pero no se abusa de ellas para cubrir minutos de serie.

Entiendo que la ciencia ficción y las guerras espaciales puede echar para atrás a más de uno, pero si os veis con ánimo echadle un vistazo, es una buena serie con la que pasar el rato, con mucha acción, intriga y personajes que se hacen querer y odiar.

Nota: 8

Le gars, il a l'air plutôt cool, et donc ainsi, j'ai découvert qu'il était dans la politique avant. C'est marrant ces américains ce qu'ils peuvent faire et que nous, on ne peut pas.

Enfin bon, Misha, il ne déroge pas à la règle Supernatural, c'est à dire, il est trop moche quoi! Je me suis un peu demandé là pour le coup, si la nana qui faisait les cast, ce n'était pas la même que celle qui bossait sur BSG, car là aussi ils sont trop moches. Il y a un schéma quand même, un type de mâle qui en ressort. Eh bien, après un petit tour sur Imdb, oh surprise, ceux qui bossent au casting de Supernatural ont aussi travaillé sur BSG. Ils sont trois : Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer et Robert J. Ulrich. Dans le cas du premier, il a fait 53 ep. de BSG, mais les autres on ne sait pas. Mais bon, pour le coup, ça ne venait pas de moi!

Enfin voilà, comme Misha, il m'a totalement conquise, je vous poste la vidéo, et pour illustrer l'article, des photos promo de l'homme en question de Remember the Wheelers, que personnellement, je n'ai pas vu, donc je ne sais pas si c'est bien!

Who am I talking about? "Seven of Nine" from Star Trek: Voyager? One of the various "Six" models from the new Battlestar Galactica, perhaps?

Wrong. Smurfette!

Top-Serien (weiterhin erlaubt und wichtig)

• Lost
• Entourage
• Dexter
• Life
• Battlestar Galactica
• Dr. Who
• South Park
• Real Time with Bill Maher

Die nächsten paar habe ich ebenfalls lieb gewonnen :-) und werde sie deshalb weiterhin verfolgen, allerdings mit weniger Priorität, sporadisch und nicht mehr sofort:

• Heroes
• House
• Chuck
• Scrubs
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
• 30 Rock
• The Big Bang Theory
• Family Guy
• Extras
• Nip/Tuck

Serien, die ich bisher verfolgt habe, die aber nicht wichtig sind. Eventuell, falls mir mal extrem langweilig sein sollte könnte es passieren, dass ich mir mal eine Folge anschauen werde, aber nur um nicht vor Langeweile zu sterben:

• The Sarah Connor Chronicles
• How I Met Your Mother
• The Simpsons
• Reaper
• Raising The Bar
• In Plain Sight
• Torchwood
• My Name Is Earl
• Little Britain
• Shark
• Two And A Half Men
• Smallville
• Californication
• How Not To Live Your Life

Die nächste und letze Runde von Serien werden gestrichen, ersatzlos, Nulldiät. Unterhaltsam auf Ihre Weise aber schlicht und einfach nicht gut genug (-Sonderveto für Stewart und Colbert- aber nur bei besonders besonderen und noch besondereren Episoden):

• Knight Rider 2008
• American Dad
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• The Colbert Report
• Greek
• Do Not Disturb
• Mad TV
• Saturday Night Live
• Secret Diary Of A Callgirl
• 90210
• Monk
• Psych
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Flight Of The Conchords
• Gossip Girl
• Eureka
• The Riches
• alle anderen die mir gerade nicht einfallen, die es aber gibt..

Ist doch eine recht ansehnliche Liste geworden. Um Euch zu veranschaulichen wie extrem besessen ich wohl bin: Das sind nur die Shows die zurzeit laufen oder gerade im Break sind!

Ich möchte diese Liste aber nicht beenden ohne noch eine kleine Liste meiner Past Favorites anzuhängen, Serien die ich, wären sie nicht bereits vorbei jederzeit wieder in meine Top nehmen würde:

• Serenity
• The West Wing
• Seinfeld
• Jericho
• Arrested Development
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Das also der Plan. Stop wasting time! Kommentare willkommen, wenn um Links oder Kurzbeschreibung gebeten wird, werde ich die gerne nachliefern. 18 Favoriten, 31 gestrichen. Nicht schlecht.

Best regards, Mario

Once again, we're sorry to see it all come to an end, but will eagerly await the results!

Aside from picking through disastrous political interviews, I also enjoy science fiction. Here's American Scenester Matt Feeney on why the new sci-fi show "Fringe" sucks:

But “Fringe” is even flatter in its approach than “Lost” is, in Peter’s characterization. “Fringe” is not only not interested in “why,” it’s not really interested in “how” either. That leaves “what.” Despite the exotic realities it deals in, “Fringe” offers very little in the way of explanation. Instead, it takes its flakey fringe science and simply throws it at the audience. There are some lab procedures, along with some gratuitous CSI-style scalpeling (it’s one of those vivisectional shows where the gore is joined not to violence on live people but to policework on dead ones), but they occur in an explanatory vacuum. I get a kick out of the sort of sci fi in which the alternate reality is close enough to our own reality that the explanation has a buzz of its own, where there’s a little sci with the fi, and you’re thinking, “If only….” “Fringe,” though, operates according to an epistemology that can be summed up as: “Don’t bother.”

Then what are all the lab procedures for, if not discovery, explanation? They provide a sort of the outer form of investigation and discovery, a mime of science. It’s like watching someone clatter away at a keyboard that you know isn’t hooked up to a computer.

Wasting Lance Reddick - better known as Lieutenant Cedric Daniels of "Wire" fame - on a lame TV show should be a capital offense. But this post also reminds me of why I prefer science fiction that strives for a certain level of realism. "Fringe" seems dopey precisely because it sacrifices credibility and consistency for the sake of atmospherics. In the short-term, this may be a favorable trade-off, but over the long-run it hurts the show's believability.

Of course, "realism" is basically shorthand for science fiction that follows (or at least tries to follow) a set of readily identifiable guidelines. "Battlestar Galactica," for example, is a great science fiction show because it doesn't compromise the writers' coherent vision of Colonial society. Sure, the show's characters have the ability to pilot spaceships traveling faster than light, but their actions are still constrained by certain hard-and-fast technological limitations. Creating a stable set of "rules" for an alternate universe does a lot to enhance a show's dramatic qualities because it forces the plot to advance through character development, not random dei ex machinis.

Which brings me to this (totally awesome) entry on Imperial tactics in "The Empire Strikes Back":

Via Robert Farly, Raoul Vega asks why the Empire failed to run combat air patrols (CAP) while in orbit over Tatooine (and later, Hoth):

--

My guess is that this is a product of sheer imperial arrogance. Remember; prior to the destruction of the first Death Star, the Rebel Alliance wasn’t in a position to do anything other than raid lighly defended imperial installations, and harass cargo ships. With the Alliance’s dearth of equipment, manpower, and leadership (throughout the entire series, we only see a handful of political and military leaders*), a direct assault on something as formidable as a Star Destroyer would - even if successful - be a heavy blow to the Rebellion’s ability to act as an effective resistance. If you recall, only a handful of pilots survived the attack on the Death Star (an attack which was carried out because of necessity, and not necessarily because there was a realistic chance at success). Indeed, if not for the last-minute intervention of Han Solo, there’s a fairly high chance that the attack would have failed.

Granted, arguing over Imperial tactics is pretty sweet, but I think this type of analysis misunderstands the nature of the "Star Wars" universe. Despite valiant post-facto attempts to flesh out the "Star Wars" mythos, it's pretty clear from the movies' dopey characters, pot-holed plots, and general all-around goofiness that Lucas never really envisioned a universe dictated by hard-and-fast rules. "Star Wars" is basically a fantasy setting that happens to include blasters, space ships, and Death Stars. Lucas gets away with it because the aesthetics are totally awesome, but when he tried to flesh out his universe with a series of prequels, the results were pretty disastrous. My advice: don't try to analyze "Star Wars" - just enjoy it for what it is. Stick to BSG for all your amateur war-gaming needs.

friekburg

Download this episode

Show Notes
We get our ghost on this October and live to tell about our trip to the local cemetery. Neil enlightens us on the history of Halloween, we hear about a decidedly British Depeche Mode encounter, Laura has a punk moment and Battlestar Galactica goes Mormon. All this and a ten-year-old learning the guitar? How do we do it?

With ghostly tunes by Shiny Toy Guns, Ladytron, and The Frail.

Music Guide

“Snap”
Artist: Neil Smith
Album: Lush One
http://www.myspace.com/neilfsmith
Album available for free download at:
http://www.neilsmithmusic.com/

“Richochet!”
Artist: Shiny Toy Guns
Album: Richochet! - Single
http://shinytoyguns.com/
http://myspace.com/shinytoyguns
iTunes

“Ghosts”
Artist: Ladytron
Album: Velocifero
http://ladytron.nettwerk.com
http://www.myspace.com/ladytron
iTunes

“Addiction”
Artist: The Frail
Album: Count on This - EP
http://www.myspace.com/thefrailsf
iTunes

Misc. Goodies and Links
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Depeche Mode Ticket Stub Group on Flickr
Now you can add your own Flickr photos of your stubs!

The Direct Approach with British John

Out magazine’s 100 Greatest and Gayest Albums of All Time

Modeified

Spring Grove Cemetery

Bust of Charles C. Breuer:

Porch of the Dexter Memorial:

Night of the Living Podcast

Movies Discussed in This Episode
The Day the Earth Stood Still

Donnie Darko

Joy Division

Gallery of Guys Neil Finds Attractive

BSG Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9op6PC03LRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w-9NglSNG0

Final Audio Clip: Donnie Darko

The obligatory Depeche Mode Link
http://www.depechemode.com

Este Raider, está lleno de detalles, interesantes efectos visuales (los que conocen la nave sabrán de la luz roja con que "escanea"), una pintura francamente de otro mundo, pero lamentablemente tiene un precio desalentador :(

Más Fotos y detalles después del salto.

Galería de imágenes:

[gallery]

Detalles:

Dimesiones: 10" x 9,5" x 15"

Precio: US $950

Stock: 500 Unidades

Más información: www.sideshowtoy.com

Bedtime Stories is a new Disney movie directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray), starring Adam Sandler (You Don't Mess With The Zohan), Keri Russell (August Rush), Guy Pearce (Traitor), Courteney Cox Arquette (FX's Dirt), Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Aisha Tyler (Balls Of Fury), Lucy Lawless (Sci Fi's Battlestar Galactica), Jonathan Pryce (Leatherheads) and Richard Griffiths (the Harry Potter films) among others.

The film, written by Matt Lopez (The Wild) and Tim Herlihy (Mr. Deeds), focuses on a guy who discovers that the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew mysteriously come true. Bedtime Stories premieres in most countries around Christmas/New Year's. I think Sandler is a great, underrated actor, but this seems to be among his lesser films. In any case there'll always be Keri and Courteney to look at, so that's a plus. What do you guys think?

I relish the fact that he flat out says, in as many words, McCain is too old and will probably die during his first term. Something about a 1 in 3 chance - holy cripes. Although I am moderately concerned about Damon's apparent contempt for the Hockey Mom type, I appreciate his willingness to point out that Palin's bumpkin credibility is an 'absurd' presidential possibility.

I don't want to dwell on this though. I think of the U.S. election as a roadside accident in the making. I couldn't avert my eyes even if I wanted to.

Ok, in other news, I taught a class to a whopping 4 people this morning. This is incredibly small and unavoidably depressing. For e.g., I had 36 participants in my Thursday night class. No one wants to come out to a class on Saturday mornings, I've decided. The facility is especially inferior, which doesn't help. Anyway, not the greatest start to the weekend, but I'll try and forget about it.

To compensate for my exhaustion, I just inhaled a cup of coffee, which I'm already regretting. I'm starting to doubt it was decaf as advertised because my extremities are starting to twitter. I don't regularly intake caffeine, so my head feels like an extremely heavy balloon (oxymoron?) at the moment. This is a problem because my goal today was to get a shitload of work done. Vague, I know. But I've gotta get a move on here. Time's a-wasting!

I've already spent half my afternoon working on my "50 Fast Facts" page. I saw something similar done on another blog I'm reading and was intrigued by the idea. What is it like to summarize yourself with factual data? Why are personal surveys, much like self-on-self interviews, so popular (both to read & write)? For me, it was a lot easier to create a list than to write a blog post that describes my personality. The list, on the other hand, always lends itself to the unobtuse onslaught of personal information. The style of communication is straightforward; I expect a quickfire list of facts, preferably delivered with small injections of humour. Other forms of 'identity broadcasting' tend to come off as a little too self-aware and/or too self-assured because the method of delivery seems like advertising to me. I would much rather read an amusing list of 'trufax' than an extended diatribe on 'who am I? where did I come from? how can you know me?' For the rest of it, I am happy to imbibe the subtle characteristics of someone's personality from their writing on topics other than themselves. How else do you know someone but by how they perceive their world?

On a more frivolous, less philosophical note, I've got plans with Mal tomorrow; we're going to finish off season one of BSG. Spoiler Alert: I can't wait for her to see Adama get SHOT! And to learn that Sharon the Cylon is preggers. Woot.

Until tomorrow morning, when it happens all over again: the workout, the coffee, the headache, the blog.

The Force Unleashed.

This is highly unlike me. It's rare that a video game out there manages to capture my interest with it's attractiveness, easy playing style, and storytelling.

And most of those that do hook me end up being some kind of RPG style entity - a few that I've fallen for over the last few years:

- Stubbs The Zombie

- X-Men Legends

- Lego Star Wars

- Jade Empire

And of course - World of Warcraft. I was pretty much logging like 3-4 hours a night for a three month stretch back in 2005. Yes, bask in the nerdiness of that statement. But I haven't touched that game since then.

So - by and large I'm not a huge gamer. I enjoy RPG style outings (though I never really got into Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) and interactive games like Wii Sports, Guitar Hero, Rock Band and DDR. But I don't read gaming magazines, or track release dates for games. It's just not my thing.

So, this game is one of those rare exceptions.

Dan purchased The Force Unleashed for the Wii console exactly one week ago. He played a little last Friday night while I paged insanely through Twilight, trying to ignore the John Williams orchestrations and blaster shots.

My level of interest in Star Wars waxes and wanes, and for the most part - I could care less about spaceships and aliens. However, I happened to glance up now and then last Friday evening and thought...shit, this thing has a STORY. And the voice-acting and characterizations aren't half bad.

Dan caught me eye-balling, and then practically insisted I duel him.

Of course, he soundly kicked my ass several times and I threw the controls down in frustration. But despite the brutal beating - I enjoyed being able to wield a light saber and use incredibly fun force powers (push, choke, repel, electricity). Since adequate dueling requires that the champions be on equal footing, Dan suggested I start up a game and figure out how to use the powers.

And then I was hooked.

Granted, there are issues (always issues) - the Wii graphics are not up to par with X-Box 360 or Playstation 3. Honestly, that's not a huge concern. I'm not a graphics fanatic. Being able to discern emotion and fluid movement from the characters is enough.

Also boding ill for the game: the story is SHORT. The characters aren't terribly well fleshed out, and the levels become a little monotonous after awhile, as they all follow the same scheme. Fight a gaggle of Rebels or Storm Troopers. Meet the 2nd string boss. Kick his ass. Meet the big boss. Kick his/her/it's ass. Next level. Pretty repetitive.

But the plot is awesome. The voice acting is decent - and there's a fun love interest. Gotta have a love interest.

STARTLING REVELATIONS:

Force Unleashed has all the elements of a good graphic novel.

Which is probably why there was a graphic novel already published.

I've not read the book *yet* but from the reviews I've scanned through and the info I've gathered, it's actually a bit better than, and a good supplement to the video game.

Although, it does seem hard to trade in the exciting Wii technology that lets you wield the controls as if you were actually performing the actions of the character. The big pull of the Wii version of Force Unleashed is the level of interactivity.

I couldn't imagine enjoying this game nearly as much without the ability to slash through opponents while wielding a controller turned lightsaber or grab and choke Storm Troopers with a flick of the wrist.

OTHER FUN TIDBITS:

- George Lucas approved so much of the video game content, that the storyline for the game has officially been ushered in as canon.

- Which gives it a decent vying spot to become a movie - either live action or CGI.

Shee-it, a movie is all that's needed to provide it with the holy trinity of entertainment. It's already been graphic novelized and video gamed.

- For any BSG nerds out there, the Secret Apprentice Galen Marek aka "Starkiller" is actually Crashdown, and soon to be Doomsday in Smallville. I also recognized him from The Mist. His real name is Sam Witwer.

That's all I've got. I've already started re-playing the game...and Dan hooked me up with a PC version of Knights of the Old Republic.

It's not nearly as much fun without a light-saber to wield...

Much Love, Mindy C