Look up!

I live far away enough from civilization, at 9000ft in a national forest in Colorado, that the sky is spectacular pretty much all the time. Even when I can't see the stars, there's something cool going on in the atmosphere. Since I started living at this elevation, I've been continually wowed by the night (and sometimes day) sky, so I thought I'd share a few interesting astronomy links, because what's Out There is really fucking amazing.

I get a lot of cool sky news from Space.com, including frequent alerts to upcoming astronomical events. There are a lot of amazing sights to see with or without a telescope. NASA's website is also good for space news, as well as staying up to date on various NASA projects like one of my favorites, the International Space Station. I'm continually awed and envious that there are people living in space right now.

The 'net is loaded with sites full of space pictures, so I'm going to keep it simple. First, check out some awesome Hubble photos from the Gallery at Hubblesite.org. There's a fuckton of other terrfic stuff on that site as well, so browse at your leisure. Then there's Astronomy Picture of the Day, which is, as they say, what it says on the tin, and every day it's something amazing.

For further research I recommend going on a hike during a full moon, gathering your friends together for a little spot-the-satellite drinking game, or getting acquainted with your local astronomy professor. Go study space; it's interesting!

More meming

Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show: B5, season three, "War without End," because it explains so much and it's so epic. It also includes a shot of Sinclair from season one's "Babylon Squared" that makes me weak in the knees. And, it's always great to see Zathras.

Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show: I can't choose between "Infection" and "Believers," both season one of B5. They are both all-around shitty episodes, with lots of heavy-handed preaching and contrived moral angst. Even that might not be so bad, though, if both eps didn't also feature my least favourite character, Stephen Franklin. I really can't stand him.

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch: Nova. Go fucking learn something.

Day 09 - Best scene ever: Two scenes jump to mind immediately. From B5, G'Kar's speech to the council in season two's "The Long, Twilight Struggle." The whole scene is pretty awesome, but G'Kar's bit begins at 1:53.

"No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments and tyrants and armies can not stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."

I'm pretty sure I've never watched that scene and not been moved to tears. G'Kar is my hero.

The second scene is from season three of Battlestar Galactica, "Exodus, Part 2." I was floored by how cool the Galactica looked jumping into atmo over New Caprica, then watching the vipers shoot out into flames was holy-fucking-shit awesome.

Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving: Castle. I wouldn't quite say I love it, but I like it a whole lot more than I expected, and not just because of Nathan Fillion (though he is the reason I started watching it).

Day 11 - A show that disappointed you: FlashForward. The potential was so great, the possibilities for creativity and weirdness enormous, but they went the route of the soap opera. Even the incredibly hot Sonya Walger couldn't keep me watching these idiots and their personal dramas. And she is really hot.

More meming later.

Godzilla is very little...

...and the ISS is very far away. Perspective is awesome.

Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom

(Found via @spacehack.)

Return to the Warehouse

Season two of Warehouse 13 started this week, with some ups and some downs. Lattimer and Bering are more annoying than ever, or I'm just less tolerant of their particular brand of obnoxiousness. The adults are so much more interesting and competent. I enjoyed seeing Mrs. Frederic in action, though it's unfortunate her driver's toast. However, the trade-off was Artie, so that's kind of a no-brainer. Artie was as delightful as ever, and even if Claudia is a bit hard to take sometimes, I enjoy their exchanges quite a bit.

My next house is going to have an Escher vault, because that was kickass. It was a shame to see McPherson crumble to dust there at the end, but Wells is interesting enough that I think I'll enjoy her. Now I just hope her story doesn't get put on a back burner in favor of a bunch of monster-of-the-week episodes.

I can't help noticing that I don't think Artie's merely cool and smart and awesome; I also think he's attractive. Same with Walter on Fringe. Somehow there's comfort in knowing my Electra complex is aging right along with me... as well as getting a little more eccentric.

The internet knows what I like

I was going to make a bunch of lame excuses for participating in an "internet meme" (one I found on LiveJournal, no less), but I decided, fuck that, it's entertaining so I'm doin' it.

Thus commences the "30 Days of Television LiveJournal Meme"! Follow along as I answer silly, indulgent questions about how much I love TV and want to marry it and have its babies. (Don't worry, I won't drag this out for thirty days.)

Day 01 - A show that never should have been canceled: Firefly. In case you've been living under a rock (a rock that doesn't receive a television signal, natch), you're aware this was Joss Whedon's 2002 space western, which aired about a dozen episodes before being canned. If it had been made in Japan it would have been called "Beautiful Happy Space Cowboys," and Wash would have been a robot. I miss Firefly.

Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching: I only care what other people watch to the extent that (what I consider) a good show has the ratings not to get canceled, so I guess I wish more people were watching all the shows I enjoy.

Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season): Human Target. Dramatic chases, exciting fights and things going boom, plus some pretty nice eye candy. Definitely a thumbs up.

Day 04 - Your favorite show ever: Babylon 5. For all its flaws, it has characters I care about in situations that are compelling and entertaining. It tells actual, complete stories over the course of multiple seasons, and has characters who change and grow. A good bit of it is derivative, and even when the writing's at its best it's still pretty hammy, but it tells stories that move me. I've watched the entire series a few times and some episodes I can go back to over and over; it's like comfort food.

Day 05 - A show you hate: I don't really hate any shows, but since I'm no longer living with a TV signal, it's kind of nice to know I'll never be channel-surfing again and run across Ghost Hunters or some shit like that.

Well, I think that's enough for today. Look for more silly, indulgent questions when next I post.

The truth is in a basement lab at Harvard

[I'm taking a chance posting this, I know. It's risky, but I'm too impatient to wait. The thing is, I'm only about half a dozen episodes into season two, so I could be spoiled pretty easily. Please be kind if you share your thoughts in a comment!]

Though I'm late to the party, I have finally started watching Fringe and I'm totally sold. It's entertaining, well-written, creative, humourous, intelligent, and it delivers on the eye candy. I understand where the comparisons to The X-Files come from, but as I mentioned in reference to Warehouse 13, rehashing an old formula doesn't have to be a bad thing. In this case, I'd say Fringe has obvious elements of The X-Files, but I like the more direct approach it takes to unfolding a story. In that regard, it reminds me of Odyssey 5, another creative, intelligent mystery. In fact, many of the things I said about that show apply to Fringe as well.

Having accepted that the impossible can happen in this universe, I've found nothing that's unbelievable enough to pull me out of the show, for all the completely fucked up things they've come up with. I like that some of the explanations for phenomena are incomplete and raise more questions than they answer. And I appreciate that in-universe logic seems to be consistent. You know, I wonder if I'd have noticed that if it wasn't for Lost.

For the most part I like all the characters. Dunham can be a little irritating at times, but mostly I've grown to like her quite a bit. Not surprisingly, I adore Walter. Aside from being brilliant and hilarious and endearing, he makes me want to trip again. As I previously mentioned, I really enjoy his relationship with Peter. Sometimes it gets a little heavy on the sentimentality, but nothing I mind too much.

I also like Broyles a lot, but Dunham's exchanges with him tend toward the really awful for some reason. They nearly always strike me as stilted and formulaic, as though the writers weren't thinking about how these two unique characters would actually relate, as much as they were drawing on a template of Things FBI Agents Say to Each Other. I will concede, though, that it's gotten better in season two. Which reminds me, I definitely liked the relationship between Dunham & her partner Charlie Francis. Man, did season two start on a shitty note.

Something I find surprising about Dunham, and the show in general, is the lack of gratuitous sexualizing. There's no doubt Anna Torv (the actor who plays Dunham) was chosen for the role in part because she's attractive -- we sure don't like our heroes to be ugly. However, Dunham's physical attributes as they apply to her job are pretty much about her ability to kick ass and fire a gun on target. Oh, and her crazy history as Walter & Bell's guinea pig. But still, not about how hot she is. When even the best shows fall back on female characters as sexual objects, it's nice to see writers who eschew such a lazy tactic.

Finally, it would be pretty cool if we found out Dunham is so special because she's some wacky lab-grown hybrid of Walter, William Bell and a time traveling Gene the cow, and not only can she survive traveling between worlds, but she also makes one hell of a root beer float, ifyouknowwhatImean.

Sentient cow farts

What is consuming hydrogen and acetylene on Titan? While it might be your momma, it would be much cooler if it was methane-based life. Whoa.

The horror!

The BP Gulf oil gusher is starting to register in my brain as horrific. It pleases me that some folks are having a good time with it in some clever, creative & fucked up ways. Warning to the delicate, there are a handful of pretty nasty pictures of oil covered animals at that link in addition to the funny. You know, because it's tragic and it's funny. Also, check out BP's PR Twitter feed. What? Of course it's legit.

Look, over there! Celebrity news to distract you from the horrors of the real world! Patrick Stewart became a knight the other day, which custom I think is ridiculous and laughably antiquated, yet is still kind of neat. That's right, my social politics are a mélange of contradictory æsthetics. So, good on you, Sir Patrick!

Oh, in case you haven't cared -- uh, I mean heard, Heroes was canceled. Now all we need is to never hear from it again. Dammit! I mean, all we need is a miniseries to wrap things up. Oy fuckin' vey. Didn't these people watch Peacekeeper Wars? Although if Sylar gives birth through leather pants in the middle of a firefight, I might be convinced to sit through it at least once.

BANG!

I ran across this groovy book the other day, BANG! The Universe Verse: Book 1. In simple language, with rhymes and pictures, it explains the origins of the universe and some of the stuff that followed. I think the artwork has a very Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers feel to it (without all the drug references), and is therefore well suited to explaining where things got started. My only real criticism is that the rhyme form gets tiresome very quickly. Perhaps it's best consumed in small bites. Well, it's a pared down, straightforward explanation of some fundamentals, and even if it doesn't teach you anything new, it's an enjoyable read.

LSD in a sense-dep tank? What's not to like!

So, I started Fringe today and after two episodes, I'm interested enough to stick around. I like most of the characters, especially Walter, and I really like the way he and Peter relate. Dunham can get a little irritating at times, but she's been through some shit so I'm trying to cut her some slack. I hope she adjusts soon, because I don't think her job's going to get less weird.

The only other comment I'll make is that Massive Dynamic is PsiCorp and the redheaded chick is running Section 13.

Fake Science turned me on to Clear Science, handy shades for when you're being blinded with science. Since I like the site so much and expect to use it, I've added it to Geeky Places to Go over on the right. And if you were getting tired of Jason Momoa, I've also changed the Show & Tell picture; now it's some dudes dressed as those guys from King of the Hill.

Lost fans, have you started reading MetaFilter's Previously on Lost thread yet? Seriously, if you haven't, well, that's just a damned shame.

The tobacco executives in my lungs are stoned out of their minds

Real science has been a bit more than I can handle lately, so I've sought comfort in Fake Science, "For when the facts are too confusing."

Speaking of confusing... I enjoyed the hell out of the Lost finale. If you're a fan - satisfied, rageful or otherwise - and want to explore the vast amount of discussion & analysis out there, I recommend a couple MetaFilter threads. Previously on Lost and Lost-Loster-Lostest-Lost-Squared-Lost-Cubed-Lostercalifragilisticexpialidocious both contain a metric shit-ton of insight and are loaded with links that'll keep you occupied for a ridiculously long time.

While I really liked most of the finale, I was one of those viewers who was a bit let down at the very end. And really, that's pretty much all I feel about it. I'm not upset or angry, nor do I feel betrayed by the writers. It's just a shame they went with such a cop-out in those last few minutes. *shrug*

Somewhere around season three I stopped watching Lost, because the Jack-Kate-Sawyer bullshit overwhelmed the rest of the show for me. When I picked it back up, it was with the attitude that I was going to ride this train again for as long as it was entertaining, and not worry overmuch about making sense of the plot or expecting answers (ref. "expectations lead to disappointment"). Well, the ride was indeed fun, and when the show's end was in sight, I was curious to see what the writers would come up with, but not especially hopeful that it would be original (ref. "there's nothing new under the sun"). Since I'm a huge sap, I cried at every reunion (except Sayid & Shannon's, because I just wasn't buyin' it). I thought there was something beautiful in the way the characters remembered who they were, and I really loved that everyone eventually came to know the serenity that Desmond felt.

It would have been cool if more things had been explained, but I'm okay with leaving a lot of stuff unresolved. Maybe I so appreciate the mystery that I don't want everything explained. I do prefer not knowing over one "for-fuck's-sake-this-is-ridiculous" explanation after another, which is already something Lost did enough of. Really, though, not only do I not mind that the series ended with so much unknown, I like the fact that there remain things to wonder about.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the thrill I got out of seeing John Pyper-Ferguson as the driver delivering Christian Shephard's body. Pyper-Ferguson was, of course, Pete Hutter on another Carlton Cuse show, "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.", so it's a pleasure though not entirely surprising to see him show up.

I'll end with some fangirlish gushing. Someone said it before me, but it's a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with - regardless of how I feel about anything else in the show, Terry O'Quinn (John Locke) and Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus) made Lost worth watching.

I'll be the Alien to your John Hurt

No posts all month long, but it seems my disjointed style lives on.

Holy shit, it's almost Free Comic Book Day! Go get comics tomorrow! Check out the website's comic shop locator if you need help finding your local peddler.

To keep abreast of developments at the Large Hadron Collider, I've added @CERN to my Twitter feed. Go on, take a look at that.

I started my Dragon*Con jar, so saving has begun in earnest. This seems like a good time to reiterate that all donations to the Get Erica to Dragon*Con Fund will be put to debaucherous, possibly even illegal, use. Just think, you could help me break the law! You could also help me see such exciting scheduled guests as Saul Rubinek, Michelle Forbes and Aaron Douglas. Hoping for David Hewlett and Tahmoh Penikett, but that would be too awesome so I'm not holding my breath. I've also begun thinking about costuming; lots of things sound cool and even doable, but I haven't really been drawn to anything. I'm kind of leaning toward the ridiculous, so something like a fairy from the Legend of Zelda games (a huge, glowing cottonball with wings) might be neat. That would also require some engineering (what would I make it out of? how would I make it glow?), which would be fun. I'm open to suggestions, so share your brilliant ideas... as long as no one wants me to be in the ass end of a tauntaun costume. That Alien idea might be fun, though.

Show me on the action figure where Q touched you

Not only The Most Badass Alphabet Ever, but also creepy and pretty fucked up. Yay! For example:

Like we didn't know.

Cool Distractions

Yes, well, I've been busy. That said, I do not have the words to express the awesomeness of The Periodic Table of Periodic Tables. My inner archivist hasn't been this aroused in ages.

Also, this is too cool & too useful to you (yes, you) to not mention. Have a look see at The Best in Armchair Astronomy, where popularmechanics.com offers a list of free and for-fee astronomy resources. There are amazing pictures of space all over the place and you should go look at them.

I should go back to whatever the hell I was doing before I got distracted.

Mad science

The mad scientists at the LHC haven't destroyed the world yet, but take comfort in knowing they're getting closer every day. And by closer, I mean the supercollider will be shutting down once again for many months, this time dealing with "design issues." The delay is okay, though - we want them to take their time and get it right, so that when the LHC reaches full potential, there are no screw-ups that leave parts of the world not destroyed. Can you imagine a future where the only place that survives is Upper Sandusky? The very thought makes me tremble.

In related news, crazy people are crazy.

Frakkin' cool

Galactica: Sabotage is a shot-for-shot homage to the Beastie Boys "Sabotage" video, using Battlestar Galactica footage. Watch it, then take a look at a side-by-side comparison of that and the original. Very frakkin' cool. This came to my attention via MetaFilter, so thanks MetaFilter!

Incidentally, we know the future is awesome because "Sabotage" is playing during young James Kirk's car chase at the beginning of Star Trek.

[update: sorry to say, both videos have been removed because people are greedy bastards]

Space-time Addiction

Since I'm all excited about having just started following some NASA Twitter feeds, I'm compelled to recommend checking them out. NASA Astronauts is a consolidation of astronauts' tweets, and includes very cool things like exceptional photos from the ISS. There's also NASA, for agency news, project happenings and groovy pictures.

I swear I will not use it for evil (unless, of course, David Warner is Evil, in which case I'll do pretty much anything he wants) - kickass replica of the map from Time Bandits.

I enjoy my games, especially CivIII, and now that I have the N64, I've been playing a good bit of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Zelda, in particular, has all the hallmarks of a video game addiction, according to 5 Creepy Ways Video Games Are Trying to Get You Addicted. For a cracked.com article to have substance is unusual enough, but this one's got actual information as well as links to other cool, interesting articles about how technology is ruining us. Pardon me now while I go save the princess.

As the Colonies Turn

I watched the pilot for the Battlestar Galactica spinoff, Caprica, a little while ago and I was underwhelmed. Cylons started out as an over-privileged, under-supervised spoiled teenager who got suckered into a religious cult? No wonder everything went south for humanity. If that sounds more dismissive than is justified, I have to admit to some negativity about the series before going in. The way the creators were describing it, it sounded like a nighttime soap, with all the social drama and intrigue you'd expect. That is, pretty much the opposite of what I want out of my scifi. Well, first impressions aside, I thought I'd give it a couple more episodes before abandoning hope. If nothing else, Eric Stoltz (Daniel Greystone) is... persuasive. I think it was around episode three when I decided I'd totally watch him and Paula Malcomson, the woman who plays Amanda Greystone, gettin' jiggy with it. Incidentally, you might recognize Malcomson from Deadwood, on which she played Trixie. I enjoy her quite a bit, so I'm glad to see her as a regular on something again.

Well I'll be damned, probably quite literally. It occurs to me that one of the things I'd like to see more of in my scifi - hot people getting as nasty as network TV will allow - is a staple of soaps. I'll just let that observation sit.

So, I'm not impressed with the annoying people hoping to convert the world to the one true god. In fact, I couldn't care less about their plots and their bombs and their secret little cabals. I was ready for that bullshit to be over with well before the end of Battlestar Galactica. Some of the religion on BSG was handled pretty well and added something interesting to the story, but most of it was uninspired dren. Thus far, Caprica looks no more promising in that regard. Well, if it all happened before and it'll all happen again, I'm probably just cranky from seeing the same worn out bullshit.

On the plus side, Jane Espenson is an executive producer and writer for the show, which bodes well. She's written and acted as executive producer for several shows I'm a fan of, including Eureka, Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse, and Warehouse 13. Though a few of the episodes she's written might not be my favorites, I think she tends to be spot-on with characterization, and I count her involvement with Caprica as a plus.

Then this most recent episode did nothing to convince me things are looking better. In fact, I thought most of it was not very good. Rather than bitch about it, though, I'll point out something I liked a lot - during the scene in the boardroom, there's one moment when Zoe looks at her dad and her expression is almost sexual. That perked up my Electra complex and piqued my interest. And it's a shame that's not a direction this show would go. This might be a soap opera, but I don't think incest is a popular theme even on soaps. Besides, our shiny toaster girl already has a real life boyfriend, in the tech who talks so sweetly to her.

I'll wrap this up with a few miscellaneous thoughts, in no particular order --

I'm envious of Caprica's maglev trains. Everything should be maglev.

I wish the show had gone in a different direction with the title sequence, because I get the style they're going for but I think it was damned poorly executed.

I like that the "alternative" relationships in the show - Sister Clarice and her family of wives & husbands, and Sam Adama & his same-sex partner - are presented almost banally.

So, Admiral Adama came from a family of crooks, thugs and harridans; no wonder he was such a badass.

When Amanda Greystone outed her daughter at the memorial at the end of episode two, she reminded me of the dad in Heathers who loved his dead, gay son.

Finally, John Pyper-Ferguson (Pete Hutter on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., the Pegasus CAG for a couple episodes of BSG) will be showing up for a run of episodes, and it always makes me happy to see him. Here's hoping Caprica's pretty people make it worth sticking around!

Further proof that physics is cool

And that we live in a crazy universe. The Odd Physics Video Archive contains short videos of interesting things.

Just a few things

I've been doing a lot of snowshoeing lately, which has left me with less time for geekery. It's an odd day when I'll choose exercize over, well, pretty much anything I can do while sitting on my ass, but there you are. Anyway, I still found a few things that I thought were worth sharing.

New comics don't often catch my attention, but I want this. I want this so much that I got a little drooly reading about it.

I was a little bummed by Obama's lack of support for the shuttle program, but I think things are actually looking pretty good. The International Space Station is almost finished, the US will still be sending up astronauts, and NASA will be able to put more resources toward other projects. About the ISS, I'm not sure what to say except holy fucking shit. There aren't a lot of things that genuinely make me think, 'wow, you built an amazing thing, humans!', but the ISS is one of them. Goddamn, do I want to go to space.

Instead, I'll watch this video again, because it's just that cool: Timmy O'Riley by L. Hadron and the Colliders.

Best use of South Dakota in a television series

So, I mentioned the Syfy show Warehouse 13 a little while ago. If you're not familiar, it's about a government department responsible for collecting objects of supernatural power and containing them lest they be misused by evil-doers. Think of the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but designed by Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and MC Escher (so they tell us). This is the thirteenth incarnation of the warehouse, it's located in South Dakota and it houses some of the most dangerous items in the world. While the show design is riding the popularity of steampunk hard, it combines the 19th century brass goggles aesthetic with a good assortment of 21st century gadgets. Some of it comes off as a little ridiculous (like Artie's computer set-up), but I've found that I really don't mind the ridiculous if it's done well, and in this case I think the effect is fun.

Unfortunately, I don't much care for two of the leads. They're a conventionally attractive, relatively young man and woman who rely on the pigtail-pulling method of flirting with each other. Rather than being cute and entertaining, it just comes off as irritating and unbelievable. They make it hard to swallow the idea that they're supposed to be trained US Secret Service agents.

Well, I don't watch for them. I love their superior, Artie, and not just because he's played by Saul Rubinek. I love his demeanor, his genius, his impatience and tolerance. I don't love that he doesn't bring some cast iron smackdown on the children he works with, but that's not his fault; he's written by people who think that kind of shit is cute, so what's he supposed to do? I like Leena, though she has me wondering if the mysterious and beautiful double-crossing innkeeper is a trope I just never heard of. Well, maybe we'll see something different when the show returns. Let's see, Mrs. Frederic and her shadow, Oddjob, tickle me every time they show up, some of the objects stored in the warehouse are super fucking cool, and did I mention how much I like Artie?

Warehouse 13 has been compared to a few shows, including The Librarian and Friday the 13th the Series. Indeed, it's not the freshest idea, but I think it has the potential to stand out if it can focus on the characters and let the objects be incidental to the real stories. Whackass-mystical-artifact-of-the-week only goes so far. There was some intrigue and vendetta business going on at the end of last season, so here's hoping that continues into its second season, which is due sometime this summer.

Worst damned funeral I've ever been to

The house was filled with visitors for days and days, but they've all finally cleared the fuck out so I can get back to my 'net surfing and TV watching.

Tuesday's Lost was made just for me. I've had enough booze that I'm feeling too lazy to pick apart the episode, but I enjoyed the same things I always enjoy. Whether he's Locke or the smoke monster, whoever the fuck he is I sure do like him. Just like I sure do like Ben, and he gave the best damned eulogy Locke could have asked for. Then Locke and Ben meeting in the LA timeline had me squeeing a little bit; that scene in the teachers' lounge was terrific.

I don't know what the fuck's going on with the cave and the names of candidates, and whether or not "Locke" and Sawyer will get off the island and what that might mean for this guy who's been there for so long, but I find this show a lot more entertaining if I maintain a "going along for the ride" attitude. Can't be overly concerned with making sense of it. There's lots of talk about the idea that Sawyer's setting up smokemonster-Locke for his biggest con ever, which'd be pretty cool.

On another front, I stumbled across the blog Eureka Unscripted, about the show Eureka by some of the people who make it. Very cool stuff there, not least of which is this two part interview with adviser Kevin Grazier, who I've mentioned on this blog before as both a super genius scientist guy, as well as someone I've seen several times at DragonCon and have a crush on - Part I and Part II. Super awesome cool news - Eureka is slated for twenty-two episodes in its upcoming fourth season, up from eighteen last season.

Live Nude Girls...

...reading science fiction. Aww, yeah. If you're in New York, go to this and tell me about it.

Chapter Six: Haven't We Been Here Before?

The latest season of Heroes is finished and I'm disappointed but not surprised. Samuel's little saga did indeed turn out to be impressively boring. He wasn't alone, though. For some reason, Parkman's family life makes me want to claw out my eyes, and the whole Nathan-Sylar mindfuck went on for far too long. Even Claire's big reveal at the end had me thinking, "Enh, so what?" I don't care about any of these people anymore, and all their drama and intrigue is tiresome.

Worst of all, though - more disappointing than any three other boring storylines - was Sylar's conversion. Is he actually nice now? I hope not, because he was damned uninteresting to watch for the last few episodes of the season. He and Peter had an energetic chemistry that I liked, but I thought it was stifled by the action being so weak. What a fucking shame.

Thankfully, the season finale wasn't a complete downer. I liked the resolution of Charlie's situation and appreciated that even if Hiro didn't "save" her, she still had a good life. That suited the character better than dragging her around through time again would have. Speaking of Hiro, I'll also mention that, while the Hiro-on-trial gimmick that went on in his head during surgery was only mildly engaging, it sure was nice to see David Anders again.

Well, Heroes isn't the only show I've left then returned to. Yes, I have made much fun of Lost and mocked the people who watch it, but I'm back on that pony and enjoying the show almost as much as I enjoy the mockery. I won't claim to know what's going on, or even to have a sure idea of what timeline we're seeing sometimes, but I am entertained and that goes a long way with me.

It's primarily John Locke's story that's kept me coming back for more (I'll admit, it helps that I have the hots for Terry O'Quinn, the actor who plays Locke). He's a great character and I feel like I'm just starting to really recognize him for the pathetic tool that he is. I mean that in the nicest way possible. Who knows why (and we probably won't find out), but for some reason the island chose Locke, before he was born if we're to believe what we've been shown. His destiny was on the island and once there, he flourished. And now it looks like he was being used the whole time, still not understanding even as he died. What a sorry fuckin' tale.

Which, of course, brings me to Ben. Talk about being used, and for him it just goes on and on. He won me over when we first met him as Henry Gale, and as his nature was revealed, I liked more and more how manipulative and conniving he was. In any other character, a lot of his tendencies would bug the fuck out of me. But in Ben, I love spiteful and petty, and when he starts pulling the martyr act he's just fucking great. And, I so enjoyed seeing him learn how much of who he is and what he believes are products of Jacob's machinations.

Lo, some crazy shit doth happen 'pon that whack-ass island.

Here's something that's cool - popularmechanics.com has a series of articles on the science of Lost that are interesting. Start with their look at the season six premiere, "LA X", then check out the links at the end of the story for more Lost science.

After bitching about there not being anything good on TV a couple weeks ago, it's nice to have something to look forward to watching, even if (especially if?) it also frustrates and confuses me.

Groovy fandom, geeky tunes, and a good way to waste some time

I actually intend to do more than a once-a-week dump of links, but that's just not how things are shaping up these days. Well, there's some interesting shit here, so I hope you enjoy it!

Check out the very cool FANAC Fan History Project, chronicling scifi fandom in its many wacky forms, with stories & photos going back to the early 1950s. Fandom really is amazing.

In the spirit of my last post, here's another cool example of musical geekery, the Geekiest Songs in the Universe.

For those into time-wasting social media trends, I hang out on Twitter. My twittilations (I just wanted an excuse to use that word) can be found at http://twitter.com/RockyMtnErica. Groovy people to follow: @dragoncontv, because they post funny things; @popmech, for interesting science & tech articles; @sjgames, that's Steve Jackson Games and if you've never played a Steve Jackson game, your geek cred is in jeopardy; and @dhewlett, because I really like David Hewlett. There are other good finds on Twitter, but this short list is a dandy place to start.

A musical interlude, the search for strange objects, and still looking for signs of intelligent life in the universe

My slackerly ways have gotten the best of me this past week, but I did run across a few things that I thought were interesting. Probably the coolest is a 2008 series of entries from the blog Cruise Elroy, about the music in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Even though I'm not much of a music enthusiast and I know nothing about its technical aspects, I am a big fan of several of the Zelda games, and I often sleep to the soundtrack from Ocarina. Well, I was blown away by the depth of analysis and appreciation in these posts, even while most of it went over my head. Each post taps into a level of geekery that tweaks a special part of me deep inside. *ahem* Yes, well, I recommend checking out Cruise Elroy in general for nerdly interests both musical and game-ish in flavour.

Also cool: Saul Rubinek posted to Twitter today with, "http://twitpic.com/10jq4d - can't wait to start using my Artie stuff again March 1." Yay! I assume he's referring to the start of production on Warehouse 13's second season, which is scheduled to air this summer. While it's not the best TV to be had, it is entertaining and has some decent potential. Plus, I like Saul Rubinek so much that I'm pretty sure I'd watch him in damned near anything.

If you've been wondering what's up on the search-for-aliens front, wonder no more.

And that's a few things!

Extra geek on the side

Since my return, I've made a few changes to the "Geeky places to go" list over there on the right. Today I'm adding Dot Physics, the blog of Associate Professor of Physics at Southeastern Louisiana University, Rhett Allain. His blog caught my attention with his recent post, Flying R2-D2, you are doing it wrong, but I definitely recommend browsing past entries as well. He writes interesting things.

I also ditched a couple things that I'm tired of, and added TED to the list. Remember TED? We talked about TED the other day. If you still haven't checked out TED, well, that's just a damn shame because you're missing out.

Finally, I added Penny Arcade, which oversight it's about damn time I corrected.

H.G. Wells: Bitter old hack

I consider Fritz Lang's Metropolis to be one of the most amazing and influential films in the history of cinema, scifi in particular. Mr. Wells, however, thought it was "silly." What a jerk. His petty and dismissive review, originally printed in the New York Times in April 1927, is available for your perusal.

What I'm not watching on TV

The subject line says it all, but before I dive in, I want to give a little warning: this post is about the shows I tried and passed on, so it's not very complimentary. I'll rave when I write about Dollhouse or Star Trek, but for now it's all about the bitching.

Sanctuary was entertaining for awhile, but it lost me shortly into the second season. I certainly wasn't a cheerleader for Ashley, but I kind of missed her - they got rid of one irritating chick only to replace her with a far more irritating chick. The stories got dull, my favourite character (John Druitt, played by Christopher Heyerdahl) went away, and I just don't like any of the other characters enough to care about what they're up to. Finally, a good bit of my TV viewing is for the hot people, so between Druitt's absence and Henry (Ryan Robbins' character) getting less hot every time he did something stupid, the thrill was gone.

I also gave FlashForward a try and ended up saying no thanks around episode nine. The various ideas it presented made for some fertile ground for speculating, but the execution got too hard to watch. More soap opera than I could stand anymore. That was especially unfortunate, as I like John Cho quite a bit, and Sonya Walger (who also plays Penny on Lost) is more than enough of a hottie to overlook a lot of other flaws in the show.

V is another show I couldn't give more than a taste before I was compelled to take a pass. Aside from just not grabbing me, it starred Morena Baccarin, who's pretty painful to watch. I've yet to see her in anything where she's able to display any kind of dimensionality or nuance, and her role as Anna in V was no exception. Another unfortunate loss, since I enjoy Elizabeth Mitchell (Erica on V, Juliet on Lost) a lot.

I almost skipped mentioning this altogether, but I've raved about Stargate on this blog so much that I pretty much feel obligated. As big a fan as I am of SG-1 & Atlantis, Brad Wright & Robert Cooper (the creators) have convinced me to give Stargate Universe a pass altogether. Their attitudes about the earlier shows and the fans of those shows has just been too shitty and insulting. I'm not in their desired demographic, and that's all right by me.

So, is there anything on TV worth watching? Well, I'm not exactly thrilled with Heroes, but I am entertained by it and I could probably never get tired of Sylar. I've been enjoying Dollhouse quite a bit, so of course it's been canceled. Shit. I guess this is what folks mean when they refer to TV as a wasteland.

Brains: not just for breakfast anymore

Enjoy some cool pictures of brains by photographer Peter Ross.

Taking a dump

Haha, I bet you thought I meant poop! Since I was away for so long, I'm dropping on you a link dump - a collection of some of the interesting things I've found or been pointed to in the past while.

The Year's Most Amazing Scientific Images from the Popular Science website. As you would expect, holy-shit-amazing pictures.

Super cool photos of the LHC No, I'm probably never going to get tired of talking about that thing (and some of the comments on that page are hilarious).

50 Years of Space Exploration This is super fucking amazing. If you check out no other links on this list, look at this. LOOK AT IT!

Planets and Stars to Scale If you were wondering just how small you are, this will help you understand that you are really, really tiny.

Free Science Lectures In addition to the above video, this site has all sorts of cool science shit.

Questions for the Author of The Physics of Superheroes I talked about this book awhile ago (here), enjoyed it and was quite pleased to stumble across this interview.

Top 10 Worst Portrayals of Technology in Film A list you'll appreciate eye-rolling along with.

The Bohr-Einstein Debates, with Puppets Puppets! And physics!

100 Games Cupcakes As an appreciator of both games and cupcakes, I think this is just spectacular. My list of words for #39: ado and coat cod coda con coy dan don nod oat tad tan wad wan wand yon

Os Gameboys Legend of Zelda medley This actually and truly made me a little misty-eyed.

I'll end this dump with some wonderful silliness - Star Trek meets the A-Team

Enjoy!

The TED talks I've been digging lately

If you're not familiar with the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences, you're missing out on a world of holy-shit-amazing ideas and information. Check out the About page for more info.

What really goes on at the Large Hadron Collider - "'Rock star physicist' Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive complex -- and describes the vital role it's going to play in understanding our universe."

Beauty and truth in physics - "Wielding laypeople's terms and a sense of humor, Nobel Prize winner Murray Gell-Mann drops some knowledge about particle physics, asking questions like, Are elegant equations more likely to be right than inelegant ones? Can the fundamental law, the so-called 'theory of everything,' really explain everything? His answers will surprise you."

They don't make bad boys like they used to

James Dean was already dead years before I was born, having lived fast and died young, leaving behind a mangled corpse. Nonetheless, I nursed a crush on him through most of my teens. As far as I knew, none of his work was scifi, but I was entlightened this afternoon when I was catching up on my cheesy television with an episode of Tales of Tomorrow ("The Evil Within," 1953, which incidentally starred Rod Steiger) and I realized the awkwardly cool lab guy was James Dean. It's a small thing, but it put a bright little spark in my day.

Speaking of bad boys, Heroes returned this past Monday with two episodes, "Upon This Rock" & "Let It Bleed." Through some ridiculous oversight, Sylar wasn't even in the first ep. Hmph. "Upon This Rock" redeemed itself, however, with Hiro's continuing adventure. The effects of his tumor are manifesting in wonderfully appropriate ways, and I think he's going to save Charlie before he dies.

I like the character of Samuel, but I'm a little bored with his story. It doesn't help that he reminds me of a petulant kid sometimes. The carnival setting is cool, though, and I enjoyed the build up in the first half of the season. The setting and melodrama remind me of an attractive and square version of HBO's show Carnivale*.

Well, it's been a decent ride so far this season, with a few highlights but little that's really been spectacular. I loved watching Sylar in Parkman's brain. Parkman was an okay guy, but it was silly of him to think he could actually take out Sylar. Overall, though, the many stories continue to have lots of action while not going much of anywhere, and the characters keep banging their heads on the same old walls. However, I like Sylar so very much that I'm willing to overlook a lot. In fact, he pretty much carries the show for me (making his absence from "Upon this Rock" quite a drag). I'm curious to see where his story is going, and through what convoluted means everyone else gets pulled along.

*Being reminded of Carnivale inspired me to watch the show again and I was glad I did. It's two short seasons (twelve episodes each), and pretty damned great. I recommend it for the amazing atmosphere, and the high level of weird. Point of interest: Robert Knepper, who plays Samuel on Heroes, appeared in several episodes of Carnivale as radioman Tommy Dolan.

Geek-A-Thon 2009

Dragon*Con - I went, I saw, I had a geeky good time. For the unitiated, D*C is a massive multi-media scifi/fantasy/popculture/etc. convention in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, and it's how I've been spending the long holiday weekend for the past few years.

Since it's already next year, I'll skip the day-by-day report that I've given for past D*Cs. Really, how the hell am I supposed to remember most of it anyway? As usual, I had a great time visiting my friends in Atlanta before & after the con, and the con itself was loads of fun. I didn't do much costuming, but holy shit some folks went all out. My favourite group costume was the Fruity Oaty Bar girls . Dark Knight Joker was terribly popular, and steampunk was all the rage. The closest I got to costuming was a sari with a fancy-schmancy sequined choli. I caught a few excellent science & tech panels (props to the Science and EFF tracks!), in addition to several celebrity panels so I could gawk at the pretty people. One of the coolest panels was on why the LHC won't destroy the world. Damned interesting, if somewhat disappointing (I mean, something's going to take out the place eventually, so it might as well be something cool like a man-made black hole. But apparently not). The Dealers' room was all right, though I failed to find a t-shirt I wanted this year, and I don't recall even making it to the Art Show. Hunh.

Well, I took a shit-ton of pictures.

Costumes I never stop being bowled over by some of the very cool things people put on their bodies for a con

Popetine and Darth Maulducci

Parade More amazingly costumed people

Wonder Woman

Hotties Celebrity Guests Stars from Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5 & Stargate, and scientists Kevin Grazier & Phil Plait

Bruce Boxleitner & Claudia Christian

I'm registered for this year (Sept 3-6) and have a hotel room reserved. 100% of all donations to the "Get Erica to Dragon*Con" fund will go toward debauchery.

Welcome to the Future

So I was gone for awhile and with no ado, it's time to post again. This is going to get long enough as it is, so for the moment I'm going to skip much analysis and just rattle off some things that are cool, interesting or otherwise noteworthy (to me, natch). Enjoy the new show & tell picture (over there on the right), which is Darth Vader totally saying, "How you doin'?"

I still love geeks, and while the geeks at the LHC have managed to smash some tiny shit together, they still haven't destroyed the world. Patience, my pretties.

Guess where there's water? That's right, the motherfucking moon. Here's the rather dry but info-packed Mission Update from NASA (13 Nov 2009), and the story at the National Geographic site.

Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon died in December. He was responsible for Alien, Total Recall and Blue Thunder, as well as some other stuff. My 13-year old niece just watched Total Recall and we've been discussing whether the Governator's character's experiences were real or just implanted memories. Good conversations.

So I've seen the new Star Trek a bunch of times and I think it's holy shit, A+, motherfucking balls out awesome. Yeah, I liked it, and not just because I have dirty, dirty thoughts about Zachary Quinto as Spock. I might write up something coherent about the flick eventually, but in case I don't, the high points of my commentary would be: for the most part, the characterizations were super entertaining; if the story even approached scientific feasibility, it couldn't be called "Star Trek"; visually, it seriously rocked and a lot of shit blew up; most of the acting was entirely enjoyable; and finally, wheee! I hope the next movie is a redo of the TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror," mainly so I can see Zachary Quinto as evil-Spock. I'll be in my bunk.

It's things like this that make me say, holy shit, I love living in the 21st century - 3D Mandelbrot Fractal.

Well, I don't know how long I'll manage to keep this up, but I'm kicking around ideas for posts about Dragon*Con '09 (good times, good times), "Dollhouse" (diggin' it), and maybe another thing or two.

Finally, since "happy new year" seems inadequate for 2010, I'll say welcome to the future.