This morning, I saw Elizabethtown. I've been looking forward to this movie for about two years, I guess. See, I love Almost Famous. I loved the original version that Cameron Crowe put out. It was a great film to me. Then I watched Untitled, the director's cut of AF. Most director's cuts add about 10-15 minutes to the film. Untitled was 40 minutes longer than Almost Famous. It was ten times better for me. Almost all of the extra footage added to the plot, the pacing was excellent, the film was a masterpiece. Crowe said that the studio wouldn't let him put out the nearly three-hour version in theaters, but DVD gave him a lot of extra freedom to do what he wanted with the film. The DVD set of Untitled (which was what Crowe originally wanted Almost Famous called, but the studio wouldn't let him do that either) includes both the AF original cut and the director's cut. I tried watching the theatrical version one day and couldn't. The film is so much richer because of those extra 40 minutes.
Anyway, so, I was looking forward to Elizabethtown. I didn't watch Vanilla Sky because the film looked a bit odd, I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan, and it was based off of a Hispanic film, which meant that the majority of the film really wouldn't be from Crowe's heart and past, which is where AF and Say Anything were from. So, I skipped it. I watched the first trailer and was okay with it. Nothing great, but trailers are often formulaic and don't really get to the heart of the movie. I watched the internet trailer on apple.com and was really moved. I don't know if it was Elton John's song "My Father's Gun" that played over the majority of the trailer (which featured very little dialogue, as the dialogue was mostly muted while the song played, which was kind of odd) or just what I could derive from the scenes from expressions and not dialogue, but it was simply great.
I watched everything that came out about the movie. Trailers, the internet trailer, even the music selection trailer on Apple's site. I devoured it all. I was expecting a really good movie.
So, I went to the first screening today. I went a little late because last time I'd gone to a movie at that time of day on a Friday, the theater had been practically empty (of course, that's when I went to see Serenity, so there you go). The place was packed. I went into the theater and it was almost full. See, I live near Elizabethtown, so a lot of people wanted to see the movie because it's based in a city near where they live (not why I was there). Then I remembered that it's Fall Break time for the kids around here, so a lot of youth groups were there (heh, they said "fuck" twice in the movie and I heard a lot of gasps. I loved that). I found a seat that was a single, next to the handicapped area at the back. That was nice.
Until a manager came in and said that there was a woman there with her handicapped daughter and they wanted to sit together. I was having a nice day and said I'd move. I got up and looked around. I don't like to sit next to strangers in a theater. I'm not wild about sitting next to anyone in the theater unless I'm close to them in some way (really good friend, hot girl, etc.). So, the only seats that worked into that criteria were in the front row. Alright, fine, how bad could it be to sit in the front row?
I basically had to scootch down as far as possible to see the entire screen. Shit. This movie had better be fucking good. Fucking youth groups and fucking old people taking up all the fucking seats. It'd better be fucking good.
It was.
It was so damn good.
It was the best movie I've seen this year. I love Star Wars and really liked Episode 3. This was better. Critics fell all over themselves for Batman Begins and Serenity. I thought they were both mediocre. I liked Wedding Crashers and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. A History of Violence was good. War of the Worlds and Mr. & Mrs. Smith were okay, but forgettable. Sin City was gritty and harsh, but good. Saraha wasn't as bad as I expected, but wasn't all that good.
But Elizabethtown was abso-fucking-lutely great. It easily was better than all of those movies from the past 10 months. I can't even recall a movie from 2004 that was that good.
I hate Orlando Bloom. He was really good in this, even great at times.
I used to dislike Kirsten Dunst. Something changed that about 6 months ago and I can't put my finger on it why. In this, she was really good (the Southern accent that they tried to work in for her was the only nitpick I had, and I'm not sure if it grated on me for a specific reason or if it was just that I'm used to her normal accent that she uses in every other movie I've seen her in).
The soundtrack was great and I'm thinking about heading to Wal-Mart to buy it right now. In fact, I think I will. Meh, probably not. I don't know.
I was worried it would be Garden State all over again. It's not. It's better than Garden State, and I really liked Garden State.
It made me realize things about myself that scare the hell out of me. I'm not ready for my father to die. I fear that I really don't know him that well. I worry about what my mother might be like after my father dies. I fear that I might fail at my chosen profession and have lost five years of my life when I could have done something else. I then wonder what I'd do after I failed. I saw myself in Bloom's shoes and I wonder if my dark appointment with destiny is coming, too.
I'll admit, there wasn't a lot of hilarious dialogue that I could endlessly quote. There little bits of the score were very reminiscent of the AF score. There's set-up for a sub-plot or two that you see scenes of in the trailer but are missing from the film. To me, it doesn't matter.
Critics are trying to rip this a new one. I haven't agreed with critics much this year (look up the review for Batman or Serenity and see how close they are to mine). I love this movie. I was seriously considering sneaking out at the end and then back in before the next showing to see it again, but the next showing had people lined up waiting once we got out of our showing. It was a little ridiculous.
I want this movie. If there'd been a stand outside the theater offering a DVD of the movie (as some studios have considered doing), I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Money is tight now, and I'd still do it.
Don't let my opinion buff up your expectations of the film, though. This film meant a lot to me because of how it related to my life and how I saw the film (figuratively, not literally, but I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have a crick in my neck at the end). Nearly every part of this film worked for me, and at the end I was satisfied. I walked out of the theater without a real complaint. I just wish I could see more movies like this.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Lookin' into their eyes, I see they're runnin' too
Wow, it's actually been a week since I last wrote one of these. Look, it's just the second sentence and I know this is going to be a long one. It's been brewing in my mind for the last couple of days, and it's a mighty strong brew, so I'll try to put in a couple of stopping points for those without the time or the inclination to read extremely long posts.
Friday night, I was out at a friend's house just to hang out. About a half hour after getting there, my dad calls and says that a guy was at their house asking for me. It turned out that is was Calvin, who was my best friend through junior high and high school. We were pretty inseparable, taking a lot of the same classes, hating the same teachers, and we were totally devoted to the Yearbook program. Sometime near the middle of our junior year, Calvin got a girlfriend, it became serious, and she ended up getting pregnant. Calvin tried to "do the right thing" by asking her to marry him, but her parents wouldn't let it happen. The kid was born the July between our junior and senior years. Calvin stuck with school pretty regularly until the spring of our senior year, and then he started missing school. A lot. When Spring Break rolled around, he dropped out, although the girl stuck with it until she graduated. Calvin took care of the kid, she went to school. I didn't talk to him much that summer, but the next summer, we got together and hung out for the day. He'd gotten married to the girl in a small courthouse ceremony the previous September, which I wasn't told about and was honestly a little hurt that he hadn't invited me or informed me in some manner (After all, my e-mail address hasn't changed in seven years, and he could obviously find where I lived today, so it seems he could at least drop me a line). For some reason, we went car shopping for him that day, and he bought new car (Calvin was really, really into cars in high school. When I say that, I mean that he had maybe five cars he was working on at one point in time. Some people collect stamps, Calvin collected crappy "classic" cars that really needed work). He bought that car three years ago. We hadn't talked since. He worked for Grandy's pretty steadily after the girl became pregnant and he was some kind of manager when I last saw him, so two years ago, I went to Grandy's to try and find him, but he had left by that point. I think I tried calling the phone number that he gave me, but I didn't get in touch with him. Even the e-mail address bounced back. He was essentially gone.
So, three years after I last saw him, I get that call from my dad. As it turns out, I was home that weekend, so it was amazingly lucky that Calvin caught me when he did. We talked for a few minutes on the phone, during which time I gently probed for information. He and the wife had separated sometime last year after she'd had a second kid with him, she'd joined the National Guard and shipped off in January and came back in April, at which time she asked him for a divorce. So, the wife is now the ex-wife. He was now driving a truck for a junkyard, going on a big, circular path through several neighboring states five days a week. He was renting a house from an old English teacher of ours. There was this tone in his voice that made him sound hollow, that joy really didn't exist for him except where his kids were concerned. I told him where I was and told him to swing by, I was going to ditch my friends for the night to hang out with him. (Potty break if you need it)
So, Calvin picked me up and we just went. Our hometown is now essentially a suburb of a big town across the river, so we naturally headed in that direction, since our town is dying a very slow death (the local theater went out of business, so now we have to travel about 30 miles to a theater in neighboring towns. It sucks). Anyway, so we talked about where I was, where old friends were, and he talked about regrets. He was so pissed at himself for not having stuck with high school and then gone to college. He was one of the smartest kids in the school. He scored a distinguished on his portfolio, and he was one of only 15 kids in my senior class to do that (unfortunately, they couldn't count his scores toward the final tally because he dropped out). Now, when he drives his truck, five times a week, he passes the university where he had planned to go. We ended up going to a pizza place/bar and then back to his place to continue to catch up. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to catch up on. It ended up being a lot like Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days," where people who knew each other in high school end up talking about high school. Calvin and I weren't really trying to get back to our "glory days," we just really didn't have anything else to talk about. That was kind of fun, but it was also sad. At the end of the night, I gave him my e-mail address and phone number, and told him that if he ever gets a chance to visit, I've got a couch with his name on it. I really want to build a friendship with him again, but I'm wondering how to.
The thing that makes me sad the most is that despite how close we were, there's not the much there now. I told him things about my life that very few people know, but it has no real impact on him like it does on my current circle of friends. Where I currently am, I have friends who are like siblings to me, that I share just about everything with and enjoy hanging out with for hours on end. Yet, in a few years, when we move away for jobs or just to wander the Earth, when I get together with them, will we have anything in common, or will we just talk about our "glory days?" I seriously don't want that to happen. I'm sad to find out it happened to Calvin and me, but it scares me that it might happen to me and some of my current friends. I hope it doesn't happen, I really do. I have a hard time imagining what my life would be like without talking to these people once a week; I can't fathom not doing so for months or years at a time.
Catching up with Calvin also taught me a lesson about, well, me. The past few years, I've felt like I've done nothing with my life. Yeah, I've got a degree, but I really didn't do anything to get it. I took classes that seemed like they'd be fun, some of which were. I took classes that were "required" and did the least amount of work possible, passing them all with relative ease. I've paid a lot of money to get a degree that was really just a way to get into a grad program, which I'm actually learning from and doing stuff in. Except for social growth, I feel like I've lost four years. I'm unmotivated. I'm tired of the bureaucratic bullshit that I've been going through. I've questioned how the hell I got to where I am, and tried to find exactly what figurative roads brought me here. I think I have friends here who are the same way, but I've been with most of them for the past four years, so we ended up questioning it all together. Calvin taught me that he's done the same thing. He was on a very different path, yet we're all starting to feel the same way. There's a line from Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" which I took a chunk of as the title of this post:
From what Calvin told me about where several people from high school currently are, we're all runnin' on empty. That's sad, but comforting, too.
He also brings another Jackson Browne lyric to mind which would make an awesome SotP, but this seems more appropriate. Calvin's graduated with his GED last year (valedictorian, actually, scoring extremely high without having studied any of it since high school), doesn't have the financial structure to go to school, has two kids that are weighing heavily on him since their mother really doesn't want them because they interrupt her new partying lifestyle, a job he doesn't like and with no real chances to move up the ladder, a friend's wife who is falling in love with him and he feels wrong about it, and no real friends around, only asshole cousins who grab his ex-wife's ass in front of him to tick him off and who take and deal drugs but say that "it's okay, we're working undercover for the cops." Essentially, Calvin is surrounded by shit, and he knows that he's to blame for a good chunk of it. That's why "These Days" comes to mind, and the lines
It was oddly prophetic that I put that on a CD to drive home to Thursday morning. It saddens me to know that Calvin is in that situation, and it saddens me even more that I can't really do anything about it other than drop him a line every now and then so he has someone to talk to it about.
Well, that's about it. It was a long, sweeping narrative epic that I'm sure had you enthralled. Hope you took advantage of the pee break and, if you didn't, I hope your bladder didn't explode. However, if that was the case, your dedication is appreciated.
Friday night, I was out at a friend's house just to hang out. About a half hour after getting there, my dad calls and says that a guy was at their house asking for me. It turned out that is was Calvin, who was my best friend through junior high and high school. We were pretty inseparable, taking a lot of the same classes, hating the same teachers, and we were totally devoted to the Yearbook program. Sometime near the middle of our junior year, Calvin got a girlfriend, it became serious, and she ended up getting pregnant. Calvin tried to "do the right thing" by asking her to marry him, but her parents wouldn't let it happen. The kid was born the July between our junior and senior years. Calvin stuck with school pretty regularly until the spring of our senior year, and then he started missing school. A lot. When Spring Break rolled around, he dropped out, although the girl stuck with it until she graduated. Calvin took care of the kid, she went to school. I didn't talk to him much that summer, but the next summer, we got together and hung out for the day. He'd gotten married to the girl in a small courthouse ceremony the previous September, which I wasn't told about and was honestly a little hurt that he hadn't invited me or informed me in some manner (After all, my e-mail address hasn't changed in seven years, and he could obviously find where I lived today, so it seems he could at least drop me a line). For some reason, we went car shopping for him that day, and he bought new car (Calvin was really, really into cars in high school. When I say that, I mean that he had maybe five cars he was working on at one point in time. Some people collect stamps, Calvin collected crappy "classic" cars that really needed work). He bought that car three years ago. We hadn't talked since. He worked for Grandy's pretty steadily after the girl became pregnant and he was some kind of manager when I last saw him, so two years ago, I went to Grandy's to try and find him, but he had left by that point. I think I tried calling the phone number that he gave me, but I didn't get in touch with him. Even the e-mail address bounced back. He was essentially gone.
So, three years after I last saw him, I get that call from my dad. As it turns out, I was home that weekend, so it was amazingly lucky that Calvin caught me when he did. We talked for a few minutes on the phone, during which time I gently probed for information. He and the wife had separated sometime last year after she'd had a second kid with him, she'd joined the National Guard and shipped off in January and came back in April, at which time she asked him for a divorce. So, the wife is now the ex-wife. He was now driving a truck for a junkyard, going on a big, circular path through several neighboring states five days a week. He was renting a house from an old English teacher of ours. There was this tone in his voice that made him sound hollow, that joy really didn't exist for him except where his kids were concerned. I told him where I was and told him to swing by, I was going to ditch my friends for the night to hang out with him. (Potty break if you need it)
So, Calvin picked me up and we just went. Our hometown is now essentially a suburb of a big town across the river, so we naturally headed in that direction, since our town is dying a very slow death (the local theater went out of business, so now we have to travel about 30 miles to a theater in neighboring towns. It sucks). Anyway, so we talked about where I was, where old friends were, and he talked about regrets. He was so pissed at himself for not having stuck with high school and then gone to college. He was one of the smartest kids in the school. He scored a distinguished on his portfolio, and he was one of only 15 kids in my senior class to do that (unfortunately, they couldn't count his scores toward the final tally because he dropped out). Now, when he drives his truck, five times a week, he passes the university where he had planned to go. We ended up going to a pizza place/bar and then back to his place to continue to catch up. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to catch up on. It ended up being a lot like Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days," where people who knew each other in high school end up talking about high school. Calvin and I weren't really trying to get back to our "glory days," we just really didn't have anything else to talk about. That was kind of fun, but it was also sad. At the end of the night, I gave him my e-mail address and phone number, and told him that if he ever gets a chance to visit, I've got a couch with his name on it. I really want to build a friendship with him again, but I'm wondering how to.
The thing that makes me sad the most is that despite how close we were, there's not the much there now. I told him things about my life that very few people know, but it has no real impact on him like it does on my current circle of friends. Where I currently am, I have friends who are like siblings to me, that I share just about everything with and enjoy hanging out with for hours on end. Yet, in a few years, when we move away for jobs or just to wander the Earth, when I get together with them, will we have anything in common, or will we just talk about our "glory days?" I seriously don't want that to happen. I'm sad to find out it happened to Calvin and me, but it scares me that it might happen to me and some of my current friends. I hope it doesn't happen, I really do. I have a hard time imagining what my life would be like without talking to these people once a week; I can't fathom not doing so for months or years at a time.
Catching up with Calvin also taught me a lesson about, well, me. The past few years, I've felt like I've done nothing with my life. Yeah, I've got a degree, but I really didn't do anything to get it. I took classes that seemed like they'd be fun, some of which were. I took classes that were "required" and did the least amount of work possible, passing them all with relative ease. I've paid a lot of money to get a degree that was really just a way to get into a grad program, which I'm actually learning from and doing stuff in. Except for social growth, I feel like I've lost four years. I'm unmotivated. I'm tired of the bureaucratic bullshit that I've been going through. I've questioned how the hell I got to where I am, and tried to find exactly what figurative roads brought me here. I think I have friends here who are the same way, but I've been with most of them for the past four years, so we ended up questioning it all together. Calvin taught me that he's done the same thing. He was on a very different path, yet we're all starting to feel the same way. There's a line from Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" which I took a chunk of as the title of this post:
"Lookin' out at the road rushin' under my wheels,
I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels.
I look around at the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through.
Lookin' into their eyes, I see they're runnin' too."
From what Calvin told me about where several people from high school currently are, we're all runnin' on empty. That's sad, but comforting, too.
He also brings another Jackson Browne lyric to mind which would make an awesome SotP, but this seems more appropriate. Calvin's graduated with his GED last year (valedictorian, actually, scoring extremely high without having studied any of it since high school), doesn't have the financial structure to go to school, has two kids that are weighing heavily on him since their mother really doesn't want them because they interrupt her new partying lifestyle, a job he doesn't like and with no real chances to move up the ladder, a friend's wife who is falling in love with him and he feels wrong about it, and no real friends around, only asshole cousins who grab his ex-wife's ass in front of him to tick him off and who take and deal drugs but say that "it's okay, we're working undercover for the cops." Essentially, Calvin is surrounded by shit, and he knows that he's to blame for a good chunk of it. That's why "These Days" comes to mind, and the lines
"These days I sit on cornerstones,
And pass the time in quarter-tones to ten, my friend.
Don't confront me with my failures;
I have not forgotten them."
It was oddly prophetic that I put that on a CD to drive home to Thursday morning. It saddens me to know that Calvin is in that situation, and it saddens me even more that I can't really do anything about it other than drop him a line every now and then so he has someone to talk to it about.
Well, that's about it. It was a long, sweeping narrative epic that I'm sure had you enthralled. Hope you took advantage of the pee break and, if you didn't, I hope your bladder didn't explode. However, if that was the case, your dedication is appreciated.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
So there I was...mother of God, there I am!
Yeah, so, I found myself considering today how I've been fighting stupidity and empty words with intelligence, yet still empty words. I've been in this debate with a dumbass over Christian ideals, yet the only real source of ammo is the Bible. The problem with that is that the Bible is not really a good source of Christian ideals. See, it contradicts itself, and it was put together not by God, but by a group of men who were wanting to run things their way, also known as the Catholic Church. See, the Bible was not sent down from on high directly to a publisher. In fact, the books of the New Testament were just testaments and letters and memoirs of various people from 2000 years ago (give or take several hundred). The Catholic Church took these and decided which ones should be taught and which ones should not. The ones that worked for their needs became the Catholic Bible. The ones that went against their idea of how the Church should be became the Apocrypha. Some of these texts were even written by saints of the Catholic Church, such as Bartholomew, one of the forgotten 12 apostles. While the dwainker might point out how much the Catholic Church and Christianity were influenced by Peter, it's important to remember that the Bible was put together several generations after Peter died. Several of the gospels and works in the apocrypha are very different versions of the stories you'd find in your Bible today, yet they were written around the same time by men who spent just as much time with Jesus. In that sense, it's hard not to look at the Bible and realize that some information has been kept from you, all in the name of creating a certain face for Christianity. In some stories, Eve didn't eat the fruit off the tree, she had sex with Satan, and that's why man fell. So, if you're trying to find a version of the story to tell your kids and create a kind and gentle face for your religion (which is all about abstinence and monogamy), which one are you going to pick? Christianity is really just like politics: you put spin on everything to make it look good for the little people who support you. I'm not saying that you should just throw out the Bible, but I wish that somehow Christianity could be a little more honest with itself and understand its history instead of just blindly going along with what the Bible says. Some may argue that the men who put the Bible together were divinely influenced, but that doesn't jive with the huge (and well-documented) debate behind whether or not to include Revelations in the Bible. If these guys were led by God, wouldn't it have been a fast and easy decision instead of a long and draw out battle?
The idea of Christianity's past led me to wonder about its future. Have you ever considered what will replace Christianity? It only makes sense that something will. That's how it's worked in the past. For example, there were the Greeks and their gods. Zeus was on high and Hera was a bitch, and all was well. Then the Romans came and said, "Hey, we like a lot of this religious stuff. Let's use it for ourselves." And so they did, only using new names for the same shit. Then came the Christians, who were persecuted until Constantine said, "Hey, let's give this a try." And so they did, and Christians went all over the world saying, "We know better than you. Let's civilize you and save your soul." So, the question is, what will come and take Christianity's place? Science seems a bit obvious, since it's a religion in itself (much like Greek mythology, where everything had an explanation to it, and a particular god assigned to it, science does the same thing, and just has a theory name assigned to it instead). I don't know. Maybe Oprahism will do it. Man, have you seen women on that show when she comes out? Had Christ gotten half that reception, I'm pretty sure the Catholic Church would use an old man in bed as their symbol instead of a depressing old crucifix.
It also makes total sense to me why Christianity is the more or less official religion of America. Look at what Americans did: Native Americans lived happily with their way of life, then the Americans came in and said, "We know better than you. Let's civilize you." And so they did, with smallpox and gunpowder and glass beads. Look, I like where I am now, but I know that blood has been spilled over this spot time and again, and that makes me look at it all a little differently than most Americans. It also makes me wonder what will come in and take the United States' place someday.
The idea of Christianity's past led me to wonder about its future. Have you ever considered what will replace Christianity? It only makes sense that something will. That's how it's worked in the past. For example, there were the Greeks and their gods. Zeus was on high and Hera was a bitch, and all was well. Then the Romans came and said, "Hey, we like a lot of this religious stuff. Let's use it for ourselves." And so they did, only using new names for the same shit. Then came the Christians, who were persecuted until Constantine said, "Hey, let's give this a try." And so they did, and Christians went all over the world saying, "We know better than you. Let's civilize you and save your soul." So, the question is, what will come and take Christianity's place? Science seems a bit obvious, since it's a religion in itself (much like Greek mythology, where everything had an explanation to it, and a particular god assigned to it, science does the same thing, and just has a theory name assigned to it instead). I don't know. Maybe Oprahism will do it. Man, have you seen women on that show when she comes out? Had Christ gotten half that reception, I'm pretty sure the Catholic Church would use an old man in bed as their symbol instead of a depressing old crucifix.
It also makes total sense to me why Christianity is the more or less official religion of America. Look at what Americans did: Native Americans lived happily with their way of life, then the Americans came in and said, "We know better than you. Let's civilize you." And so they did, with smallpox and gunpowder and glass beads. Look, I like where I am now, but I know that blood has been spilled over this spot time and again, and that makes me look at it all a little differently than most Americans. It also makes me wonder what will come in and take the United States' place someday.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Never thought this would happen
Yeah, so, two posts in 24 hours time. It's an amazing world after all.
I just finished watching Extras, the new comedy series by Ricky Gervais, the guy behind The Office. I loved The Office and so I was a little apprehensive about Extras. Wow. The first two shows weren't that great, but, oh man, the last four just killed me. Kate Winslet's episode was so funny that I nearly had a stroke. The next two were really funny, too, and the last one, with Patrick Stewart, was so funny I had tears in my eyes. Wow.
The first two episodes reminded me of The Office because of that "painful" feeling you get watching it, but later episodes mixed that and just straight-out humor. Just amazingly good stuff.
I just finished watching Extras, the new comedy series by Ricky Gervais, the guy behind The Office. I loved The Office and so I was a little apprehensive about Extras. Wow. The first two shows weren't that great, but, oh man, the last four just killed me. Kate Winslet's episode was so funny that I nearly had a stroke. The next two were really funny, too, and the last one, with Patrick Stewart, was so funny I had tears in my eyes. Wow.
The first two episodes reminded me of The Office because of that "painful" feeling you get watching it, but later episodes mixed that and just straight-out humor. Just amazingly good stuff.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Serenity = Okay
Yeah, so, I went and saw Serenity today. I gave in. And it was, as you can see above, okay. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. It ranks about where Batman Begins did.
I loved the dialogue, and picked up a few new terms, including the expletive "God's Balls." Yeah, that one's getting used tonight. But...
Wash and Book died, and they were two characters that I really liked. Also, I liked Mal in the show, but there was just something...odd about him in the movie. Inara was included simply to "get the band back together." Simon and Kaylee getting together was nice, but it didn't feel like a real payoff. Wash's death was quick and mean, something you don't see much in films, but completely unnecessary. Book's death was appropriate, I'll give you that, but I do want to know his backstory, which was hinted at so much without payoff so far. Jayne was just there to deliver funny lines and as an enforcer. I'll give you the fact that he was that in the show, but it was just one-note to me. It reminded me of the X-Files movie, where everything that happened there could happen on the show proper. True, Firefly was cancelled, but this would have worked just as well as a mini-series in the vein of Farscape's The Peacekeeper Wars. It was all payoff for what happened on the show, felt a little less rushed, and still told a sweeping storyline that could stand on its own. With Serenity, there was so much catch-up for the one new guy in the theater (who probably wandered in by mistake) that it hindered the movie a bit. To me, the movie needs a viewing of the show to really understand a lot of what's going on. Luckily, I did that. What about the people who didn't.
Oh, and how can Mal have received an honor for valor at the Battle of Serenity Valley? It was the final, crushing battle in the war, so are you telling me that the Browncoats had a meeting to give out awards and then disbanded? That's like a Confederate getting an award for being at the Battle of Palmito Ranch (the last actual land battle of the American Civil War. The winner? The Rebels. Heh).
Anyway, I thought the movie was alright. I went in with mediocre expectations. I got roughly what I expected.
Other than that, I guess there isn't much to say.
I loved the dialogue, and picked up a few new terms, including the expletive "God's Balls." Yeah, that one's getting used tonight. But...
Wash and Book died, and they were two characters that I really liked. Also, I liked Mal in the show, but there was just something...odd about him in the movie. Inara was included simply to "get the band back together." Simon and Kaylee getting together was nice, but it didn't feel like a real payoff. Wash's death was quick and mean, something you don't see much in films, but completely unnecessary. Book's death was appropriate, I'll give you that, but I do want to know his backstory, which was hinted at so much without payoff so far. Jayne was just there to deliver funny lines and as an enforcer. I'll give you the fact that he was that in the show, but it was just one-note to me. It reminded me of the X-Files movie, where everything that happened there could happen on the show proper. True, Firefly was cancelled, but this would have worked just as well as a mini-series in the vein of Farscape's The Peacekeeper Wars. It was all payoff for what happened on the show, felt a little less rushed, and still told a sweeping storyline that could stand on its own. With Serenity, there was so much catch-up for the one new guy in the theater (who probably wandered in by mistake) that it hindered the movie a bit. To me, the movie needs a viewing of the show to really understand a lot of what's going on. Luckily, I did that. What about the people who didn't.
Oh, and how can Mal have received an honor for valor at the Battle of Serenity Valley? It was the final, crushing battle in the war, so are you telling me that the Browncoats had a meeting to give out awards and then disbanded? That's like a Confederate getting an award for being at the Battle of Palmito Ranch (the last actual land battle of the American Civil War. The winner? The Rebels. Heh).
Anyway, I thought the movie was alright. I went in with mediocre expectations. I got roughly what I expected.
Other than that, I guess there isn't much to say.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock
No, this isn't the end of an episode of 24.
I realized that time is quietly slipping away from me while I'm at work, losing 8 hours of my life for shitty pay and no real service to anyone.
Also, I recently did this online survey that gave statistics on how longs I've done certain activities in my life. I know that it's really wrong, though, since it would require me to have spent over half of my life asleep. It also said that I would have spent over 1.7 years on the toilet, which is a statistic that I'm uncertain to the validity of. Oddly enough, I searched for "average time spent on a toilet" in various forms on google and yahoo, and even asked Jeeves "How long does the average person spend on the toilet in their lifetime," to which he had no answer. Psh.
Anyway, I was stumbling today and found this interesting website that lets you make a face out of pre-existing parts, like eyes, hair, noses, etc. I made my own face and had difficulty choosing a nose and a mouth. In the end, it seemed pretty dead-on. Of course, it looks like a wanted poster. Heh. That gives me a couple of ideas, actually.
So, when I'm in Hell, and I get pissed at someone, where should I tell them to go?
I stumbled on another funny quote site today and it has a couple of good one. For example, I know it's illegal to park in a handicapped parking spot, but is it illegal for me to use a handicapped toilet? Or, when French people curse, do they say "Pardon my English?" Or, why do you click on start to exit Windows? Yeah, they're bad, but a little bit funny, too.
So, I was reading this kid's short story prologue earlier today and realized that people need to stop writing high fantasy. At this point, the market is oversaturated with high fantasy stories that are all essentially the same. I understand that a 14-year-old kid is writing this crap, but it really drove the point home for me. There's a mysterious child/savior, the gruff, strong hero that doesn't smile but has a heart of gold, the mysterious prophet, and a dwarf in dwarven armor. God. I really blame LotR movies for this, because they really simplified the whole ideal of high fantasy and put it out there for every Tom(my), Dick, and Hairy Dork to replicate in a really poor manner. I like the movies, but this is one of those sad aftereffects that just make me sorry they were ever made. High fantasy is suffering from franchise fatigue.
So, I'm a little torn. This coming weekend, Serenity comes out in theaters. I'm not a die-hard fan of Firefly, but the show had some good dialogue and interesting concepts. It was also unique, something that's hard to come by on television these days. Yet, most of the stories were crap, I didn't like several characters, and two that I do like get killed off in the movie. So I'm torn.
The main thing about the show that really gets me is the backstory of Mal, the captain. He fought in a civil war and lost. There's just something powerful to me about being on the losing side in a civil war. I am not a supporter of the Confederacy at all, yet it's never touched on about how people in that era felt when they lost. It's crushing to believe in a cause and then to have that cause be overpowered. As Americans, we're often told that "no one can ever take your beliefs from you," and that "dreams don't die." The problem with that is that the American government doesn't really care about the beliefs of its people, and that we are on the losing side of many battles with the government because it's a republic and not a democracy. I was watching a video the other day where I guy claimed that "In a democracy, the will of the majority of the people rules. In a republic, the minority's voice matters just as much as the majority's." In a way, that's true, but that's also a point where the system gets bogged down. Anyway, I look at Mal, whose spirit has been crushed by this loss, who strives to be free of the iron clasp of the government that he fought against, and I feel a true connection to him. I look at him and wonder, if the US ever fell into civil war again (as it very well might) and I fought for a group that eventually lost, would I end up like him? In a way, I hope so. His hope is gone, but his spirit is defiant nonetheless, and he is, in his own way, free.
Bah.
I realized that time is quietly slipping away from me while I'm at work, losing 8 hours of my life for shitty pay and no real service to anyone.
Also, I recently did this online survey that gave statistics on how longs I've done certain activities in my life. I know that it's really wrong, though, since it would require me to have spent over half of my life asleep. It also said that I would have spent over 1.7 years on the toilet, which is a statistic that I'm uncertain to the validity of. Oddly enough, I searched for "average time spent on a toilet" in various forms on google and yahoo, and even asked Jeeves "How long does the average person spend on the toilet in their lifetime," to which he had no answer. Psh.
Anyway, I was stumbling today and found this interesting website that lets you make a face out of pre-existing parts, like eyes, hair, noses, etc. I made my own face and had difficulty choosing a nose and a mouth. In the end, it seemed pretty dead-on. Of course, it looks like a wanted poster. Heh. That gives me a couple of ideas, actually.
So, when I'm in Hell, and I get pissed at someone, where should I tell them to go?
I stumbled on another funny quote site today and it has a couple of good one. For example, I know it's illegal to park in a handicapped parking spot, but is it illegal for me to use a handicapped toilet? Or, when French people curse, do they say "Pardon my English?" Or, why do you click on start to exit Windows? Yeah, they're bad, but a little bit funny, too.
So, I was reading this kid's short story prologue earlier today and realized that people need to stop writing high fantasy. At this point, the market is oversaturated with high fantasy stories that are all essentially the same. I understand that a 14-year-old kid is writing this crap, but it really drove the point home for me. There's a mysterious child/savior, the gruff, strong hero that doesn't smile but has a heart of gold, the mysterious prophet, and a dwarf in dwarven armor. God. I really blame LotR movies for this, because they really simplified the whole ideal of high fantasy and put it out there for every Tom(my), Dick, and Hairy Dork to replicate in a really poor manner. I like the movies, but this is one of those sad aftereffects that just make me sorry they were ever made. High fantasy is suffering from franchise fatigue.
So, I'm a little torn. This coming weekend, Serenity comes out in theaters. I'm not a die-hard fan of Firefly, but the show had some good dialogue and interesting concepts. It was also unique, something that's hard to come by on television these days. Yet, most of the stories were crap, I didn't like several characters, and two that I do like get killed off in the movie. So I'm torn.
The main thing about the show that really gets me is the backstory of Mal, the captain. He fought in a civil war and lost. There's just something powerful to me about being on the losing side in a civil war. I am not a supporter of the Confederacy at all, yet it's never touched on about how people in that era felt when they lost. It's crushing to believe in a cause and then to have that cause be overpowered. As Americans, we're often told that "no one can ever take your beliefs from you," and that "dreams don't die." The problem with that is that the American government doesn't really care about the beliefs of its people, and that we are on the losing side of many battles with the government because it's a republic and not a democracy. I was watching a video the other day where I guy claimed that "In a democracy, the will of the majority of the people rules. In a republic, the minority's voice matters just as much as the majority's." In a way, that's true, but that's also a point where the system gets bogged down. Anyway, I look at Mal, whose spirit has been crushed by this loss, who strives to be free of the iron clasp of the government that he fought against, and I feel a true connection to him. I look at him and wonder, if the US ever fell into civil war again (as it very well might) and I fought for a group that eventually lost, would I end up like him? In a way, I hope so. His hope is gone, but his spirit is defiant nonetheless, and he is, in his own way, free.
Bah.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
...and to the democracy, for which it stands?
Hey, kiddies, it's time for your civics lesson of the day.
A couple of years ago, I was having an argument with a young friend of mine (who the dwainker met this past May when this friend stayed at Casa de los Dwain). Somehow, we had gotten on the topic of whether the United States was a republic or a democracy. He believed that the US was a democracy, while I knew that it was a republic. He pointed out that we held elections and voted on some legislation. I pointed out that we elected leaders who would then decide on legislation, and that the president was not democratically elected, but instead that electors were voted on, thus the electoral college and not a popular vote win. This went back and forth for a bit, and I gave in slightly, saying that the US was a democratic republic. He wouldn't agree to that, so I finally threw down my ace in the hole "Wes, say the Pledge of Allegiance for me." "Um, okay. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the...shut up." And there you have it.
Now, the reason that I'm telling you this story is that most Americans believe as young Vasily did. My question is, why? Does democracy sound so much better than republic? And will we ever become a democracy?
The real meat of my post lies in that last question. See, America couldn't really be a democracy when it was first formed. Democracy relies on people being able to vote on decisions in a prompt manner and for those decisions to be carried out with equal promptness. This would never work in 1783. Too many people over way too much area. The Ancient Greeks tried this once (I wonder if we'll ever be known as Ancient Americans). Athens actually was a functioning democracy for a few years, but it worked for them because it was a small city-state with only about 50,000 citizens who could vote, if that many. It's also important to note that the democracy lasted until the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, which resulted in Athens and it's semi-slow decision making process getting their asses kicked by Sparta and its king, thus ending democracy in the world.
So, instead, the founding fathers decided that the best choice was a republican form of government, where the people elected representatives who would then gather and vote on issues in a timely manner. Now, the problem with this is that the people's will is not always carried out and the representatives are often swayed by other forces, such as special interest groups, political alliances, or personal opinion.
Now, look, I'm not saying that the republic is a bad system, I'm just saying that it needs work. Actually, I think that we could morph into a democracy pretty easily. Sadly, I got this idea from American Idol.
Think about it: every week, millions of people vote on who should be a pop star. The little starlets have to get up there each week and sing various types of songs and then America votes on it. Why not do that with politicians? Have all the Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and other third parties get on TV, debate about various topics for five or six, and slowly the group gets whittled down. Every American is given an ID number and a PIN and enter them when they vote. This prevents double voting and gives the system some security. This system is fast, as Fox can tell the results of AI 23 hours later. It's as accurate as polling centers are. It would save loads of money from having to print ballots, maintain machinery, and open poll centers. Americans could vote on any issue they wanted instead of having to "write to their congressman" about issues. It also gets people more involved in the system and they're more likely to vote. This system would effectively wipe out the Legislative Branch of government, although it would still exist to come up with legislation. We'd still need a POTUS to make snap decisions concerning emergency matters (war, hurricane relief, etc.) and to control the Executive Branch. However, the term for POTUS would be changed to one year with a five term limit. Since this system would essentially eliminate campaigning, the President could focus on the country more than having to "get their face out there" and "press the flesh." Maintaining the vote tabulation machines would be fairly inexpensive, especially since the House of Reps would be pretty well wiped out by this. The Senate would stick around mainly as an oversight board for various departments, but would be relatively powerless compared to what it is now. Political parties would fade away since there's no campaigning and people would not be limited to be lumped into one category or another. This system would take away power from the upper class and give it to everyone. People could log onto the internet and look up the vote records to insure that their vote was counted.
The people would be informed on the legislation that is put before them before they vote, with both sides being debated and creating an informed electorate. The Judicial Branch would be left untouched, really, except the Supreme Court really wouldn't debate on whether cases were constitutional or unconstitutional, since the main bulk of the Constitution would be thrown out.
Of course, I was talking to my father about this idea the other day and at the end he says, "I can see it now, a governorship in your future." I don't think he really gets the idea.
Yeah, it's pretty crazy, and it'll never happen since it would have to be approved by Congress and that would be like signing your own death warrant, but, hey, it's something to think about.
Also, I just took the Political Compass test and found out that I am a Liberal Libertarian, putting me in league with Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and The Dalai Lama. The site also terms me a Communist Anarchist. Heh.
A couple of years ago, I was having an argument with a young friend of mine (who the dwainker met this past May when this friend stayed at Casa de los Dwain). Somehow, we had gotten on the topic of whether the United States was a republic or a democracy. He believed that the US was a democracy, while I knew that it was a republic. He pointed out that we held elections and voted on some legislation. I pointed out that we elected leaders who would then decide on legislation, and that the president was not democratically elected, but instead that electors were voted on, thus the electoral college and not a popular vote win. This went back and forth for a bit, and I gave in slightly, saying that the US was a democratic republic. He wouldn't agree to that, so I finally threw down my ace in the hole "Wes, say the Pledge of Allegiance for me." "Um, okay. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the...shut up." And there you have it.
Now, the reason that I'm telling you this story is that most Americans believe as young Vasily did. My question is, why? Does democracy sound so much better than republic? And will we ever become a democracy?
The real meat of my post lies in that last question. See, America couldn't really be a democracy when it was first formed. Democracy relies on people being able to vote on decisions in a prompt manner and for those decisions to be carried out with equal promptness. This would never work in 1783. Too many people over way too much area. The Ancient Greeks tried this once (I wonder if we'll ever be known as Ancient Americans). Athens actually was a functioning democracy for a few years, but it worked for them because it was a small city-state with only about 50,000 citizens who could vote, if that many. It's also important to note that the democracy lasted until the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, which resulted in Athens and it's semi-slow decision making process getting their asses kicked by Sparta and its king, thus ending democracy in the world.
So, instead, the founding fathers decided that the best choice was a republican form of government, where the people elected representatives who would then gather and vote on issues in a timely manner. Now, the problem with this is that the people's will is not always carried out and the representatives are often swayed by other forces, such as special interest groups, political alliances, or personal opinion.
Now, look, I'm not saying that the republic is a bad system, I'm just saying that it needs work. Actually, I think that we could morph into a democracy pretty easily. Sadly, I got this idea from American Idol.
Think about it: every week, millions of people vote on who should be a pop star. The little starlets have to get up there each week and sing various types of songs and then America votes on it. Why not do that with politicians? Have all the Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and other third parties get on TV, debate about various topics for five or six, and slowly the group gets whittled down. Every American is given an ID number and a PIN and enter them when they vote. This prevents double voting and gives the system some security. This system is fast, as Fox can tell the results of AI 23 hours later. It's as accurate as polling centers are. It would save loads of money from having to print ballots, maintain machinery, and open poll centers. Americans could vote on any issue they wanted instead of having to "write to their congressman" about issues. It also gets people more involved in the system and they're more likely to vote. This system would effectively wipe out the Legislative Branch of government, although it would still exist to come up with legislation. We'd still need a POTUS to make snap decisions concerning emergency matters (war, hurricane relief, etc.) and to control the Executive Branch. However, the term for POTUS would be changed to one year with a five term limit. Since this system would essentially eliminate campaigning, the President could focus on the country more than having to "get their face out there" and "press the flesh." Maintaining the vote tabulation machines would be fairly inexpensive, especially since the House of Reps would be pretty well wiped out by this. The Senate would stick around mainly as an oversight board for various departments, but would be relatively powerless compared to what it is now. Political parties would fade away since there's no campaigning and people would not be limited to be lumped into one category or another. This system would take away power from the upper class and give it to everyone. People could log onto the internet and look up the vote records to insure that their vote was counted.
The people would be informed on the legislation that is put before them before they vote, with both sides being debated and creating an informed electorate. The Judicial Branch would be left untouched, really, except the Supreme Court really wouldn't debate on whether cases were constitutional or unconstitutional, since the main bulk of the Constitution would be thrown out.
Of course, I was talking to my father about this idea the other day and at the end he says, "I can see it now, a governorship in your future." I don't think he really gets the idea.
Yeah, it's pretty crazy, and it'll never happen since it would have to be approved by Congress and that would be like signing your own death warrant, but, hey, it's something to think about.
Also, I just took the Political Compass test and found out that I am a Liberal Libertarian, putting me in league with Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and The Dalai Lama. The site also terms me a Communist Anarchist. Heh.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
The power of fuck.
So, this past weekend, some of my friends back home were discussing how some curse words have started to lose their power. See, in the golden days, if someone said "fuck," the world kind of stood still for a moment. It couldn't be uttered on tv, including on premium channels like HBO, which, during the 1980s, actually edited films for content. Now, fuck is pretty fucking common. It can easily be used as an adjective, an adverb, a verb, a subject, a gerund, and an interjection, and that's all off the top of my fucking head. Fuck! That fucking fucker is fucking good at fucking. See, four uses of the same term, and I didn't even flinch while typing it. Why the fuck is fuck not a bad fucking word anymore? Just plain fucking overfuckinguse. That makes sense to me. You can't go anywhere without hearing someone yell out the word. Dick Cheney got it yelled at him a couple of weeks ago, to much hilarity. I've heard young kids use that one a time or two, which is really odd. See, back when I was, I don't know, 10, I started cursing. I used shit, damn, bitch, bastard, and a couple of others, but I never once dropped the f-bomb, or as grown-ups say, fuck. That was just a line that I didn't cross. I'm pretty sure I'd heard it, I just never used it. So that's what confuses me about today's world: in order for the term to get overused, it had to start getting used regularly somewhere along the line, and it was all downhill from there.
One friend of mine (who is a police officer) pointed out that there are some power words that he pulls out very rarely, but when he does use them, you know he means business. For example, cunt. See, you probably flinched or laughed a little when you read that. That's because the word still has power. I might write "That fucking fucker is fucking good at fucking," but you won't see me try and write an equivalent with the c-word. As my friend said, "You know that word has power because Hollywood won't even touch that one." Oddly enough, the only movies that really came to mind that used that word were Kevin Smith movies or British films. I've heard horror stories about the Vagina Monologues and its use of the c-word, but that's really the extint to which I've heard it talked about. So, fuck definitely falls short of the c-word in power. I hope it stays that way, personally. I can call somebody a fucker and the oomph just doesn't hit them anymore. However, if I call a woman a cunt, man, I think her options are limited to either killing me or trying to rip my balls off then and there. See, now that's motherfucking power.
One friend of mine (who is a police officer) pointed out that there are some power words that he pulls out very rarely, but when he does use them, you know he means business. For example, cunt. See, you probably flinched or laughed a little when you read that. That's because the word still has power. I might write "That fucking fucker is fucking good at fucking," but you won't see me try and write an equivalent with the c-word. As my friend said, "You know that word has power because Hollywood won't even touch that one." Oddly enough, the only movies that really came to mind that used that word were Kevin Smith movies or British films. I've heard horror stories about the Vagina Monologues and its use of the c-word, but that's really the extint to which I've heard it talked about. So, fuck definitely falls short of the c-word in power. I hope it stays that way, personally. I can call somebody a fucker and the oomph just doesn't hit them anymore. However, if I call a woman a cunt, man, I think her options are limited to either killing me or trying to rip my balls off then and there. See, now that's motherfucking power.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Ar! There be spoilers here.
So, look, I'm a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica. Yeah, I know, geek alert. Still, it's a good show that has set a great mood and tension. So, I have this theory, and anyone who hasn't actually watched the show up until the most recent episode (The Final Cut, with Lucy Lawless using her real voice for a change) should stay away from the majority of this post. A lot of the information kind of depends on having seen the episodes in order to understand just what I'm talking about. Also, somewhere down the line, I'm probably going to be proved wrong, so you can't really hold that against me. This is just a theory that seems to meet up with a lot of what's been established in the show.
I also want to say that I put roughly the same argument up on Battlestar Wiki, but some ass deleted it because of a way he interpreted a line, something I'll deal with below.
Okay, ready?
Starbuck's a Cylon.
Yeah, it sounds crazy, but I've been putting this together for about a week and it seems like I might be right.
Okay, first, let's deal with background info, pre-Cylon Holocaust stuff. Starbuck met Zak Adama two years prior to the big attack. Now, the interesting thing there is that Six started her relationship with Baltar two years prior to the attack, and Boomer came aboard Galactica then, too. Two years before the big bang is roughly when the Cylon infiltrators first started working their mojo.
Okay, two years, big deal. Just a coincidence.
Maybe, but there's still this possibility: What if the Cylon plan for Starbuck was for her to initiate a relationship with Zak and then kill him so she could develop a bond with Commander Adama? Yeah, that's stretching a bit, but Zak's death really did create this bond between her and Adama that was stronger than Adama's relationship with Lee.
Okay, next, Starbuck seems to be more versatile than a Swiss Army Knife. In the episode You Can't Go Home Again, Starbuck is able to interface with the crashed Cylon raider and learn how to fly it in, what, maybe an hour? Okay, that's handy. But the fact that she's the only person who can figure it out, given that both Chief Tyrol and Lee Adama try, makes it an oddity. Starbuck is also highly proficient in anything she tries: card playing, flying, art (well, that's a case by case opinion), and is credited as "the best shot in the fleet." Seems like Starbuck could kick Buffy the Vampire Slayer's ass and not break a sweat.
Starbuck seems to be hated by any model of Six she encounters. There's the one in Baltar's head, who seemed quite jealous of her, in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I. Then there's the Six she encounters on Caprica in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II, who seems extremely aggressive toward Kara, wanting more, it seems, to just beat the hell out of her instead of killing her outright. This hatred seems to mimic the antagonistic relationship seen between Sixes and Boomers throughout the first season.
Starbuck's background that was established in Valley of Darkness and The Farm could be false memories implanted in her much like the background of Boomer's parents. This would also explain Conoy's almost intimate knowledge of Thrace's past in Flesh and Bone.
In The Farm, Starbuck's captured by the Cylons (although she does not know it until the end of the episode) and has a medical procedure performed on her. Simon, who turns out to be a Cylon, states that she has heathy ovaries and should attempt to have a child, which is "one of God's commandments," according to Six. The dialogue that Starbuck overhears concerning the removal of someone's ovaries never specifically mentions her by name, meaning that it is an assumption (albeit a rather good one) that her ovaries are to be removed. It is possible that someone else had fertile ovaries that would be put into Starbuck, who would then be released back to the Resistance in hopes that she would conceive a child like Boomer did. This would also explain why Starbuck was kept in a seperate room instead of becoming a breeder like the other women the Cylons captured. An argument could be made that Starbuck's removed eggs would be fertilized and then placed in infertile women in hopes of increasing the chances for conception, yet this still leaves open why she would have her ovaries removed completely and not be used as a breeder.
The bit that got this removed from Battlestar Wiki was that someone thought that a Cylon said that a Cylon would be used to knock Starbuck up. Look, that's not the case. In fact, Starbuck continually makes the assumption that she'd be raped by a Cylon, but other dialogue makes it seem as if she would be "set up with someone [she] liked." Not someone she would like, but that she did like. As Lee Adama is not a Cylon (his father obviously can vouch for Lee being around for more than two years), and Anders, the resistance leader on Caprica, is probably not a Cylon (he has prestige that makes it seem like he's been around longer than two years), it is more than likely that the two men who Starbuck "likes" are humans. So, how would it be a hybrid if everyone involved is a human. If you want to make the case that Baltar is a Cylon and Starbuck seems to like him, that's pretty iffy. His Cyloniness would explain some things, but it seems like Dr. Cottle's brain scan from Home, Part II, would show sillica pathways or whatever it is that Cylons use for their brains. It didn't. It showed a perfectly normal human brain.
So, anyway, I'm fairly certain that Starbuck's a Cylon. I put the case up here just to immortalize it in hopes that someday I'm proved right and can be the only person who saw it coming this far back (Yeah, I googled "Starbuck's a Cylon" and nothing came up, so I feel unique. Heh.).
Okay, spoilers over.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure what else to talk about. I've had the longest past 48 hours ever. Oy. It's not Kiefer Sutherland bad, but it's been a long haul. The problem is that most of it is my own fault. I could have slept for most of it, but I kept finding excuses (both good and bad) to stay awake.
Work is boring as hell, and there's the threat that my boss is supposed to come in today, which means that most stuff that I can get away with on Sundays is put on hold.
Oh, yeah, fucking republicans.
Well, that's all I'm going to post right now. I might do more later.
I also want to say that I put roughly the same argument up on Battlestar Wiki, but some ass deleted it because of a way he interpreted a line, something I'll deal with below.
Okay, ready?
Starbuck's a Cylon.
Yeah, it sounds crazy, but I've been putting this together for about a week and it seems like I might be right.
Okay, first, let's deal with background info, pre-Cylon Holocaust stuff. Starbuck met Zak Adama two years prior to the big attack. Now, the interesting thing there is that Six started her relationship with Baltar two years prior to the attack, and Boomer came aboard Galactica then, too. Two years before the big bang is roughly when the Cylon infiltrators first started working their mojo.
Okay, two years, big deal. Just a coincidence.
Maybe, but there's still this possibility: What if the Cylon plan for Starbuck was for her to initiate a relationship with Zak and then kill him so she could develop a bond with Commander Adama? Yeah, that's stretching a bit, but Zak's death really did create this bond between her and Adama that was stronger than Adama's relationship with Lee.
Okay, next, Starbuck seems to be more versatile than a Swiss Army Knife. In the episode You Can't Go Home Again, Starbuck is able to interface with the crashed Cylon raider and learn how to fly it in, what, maybe an hour? Okay, that's handy. But the fact that she's the only person who can figure it out, given that both Chief Tyrol and Lee Adama try, makes it an oddity. Starbuck is also highly proficient in anything she tries: card playing, flying, art (well, that's a case by case opinion), and is credited as "the best shot in the fleet." Seems like Starbuck could kick Buffy the Vampire Slayer's ass and not break a sweat.
Starbuck seems to be hated by any model of Six she encounters. There's the one in Baltar's head, who seemed quite jealous of her, in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I. Then there's the Six she encounters on Caprica in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II, who seems extremely aggressive toward Kara, wanting more, it seems, to just beat the hell out of her instead of killing her outright. This hatred seems to mimic the antagonistic relationship seen between Sixes and Boomers throughout the first season.
Starbuck's background that was established in Valley of Darkness and The Farm could be false memories implanted in her much like the background of Boomer's parents. This would also explain Conoy's almost intimate knowledge of Thrace's past in Flesh and Bone.
In The Farm, Starbuck's captured by the Cylons (although she does not know it until the end of the episode) and has a medical procedure performed on her. Simon, who turns out to be a Cylon, states that she has heathy ovaries and should attempt to have a child, which is "one of God's commandments," according to Six. The dialogue that Starbuck overhears concerning the removal of someone's ovaries never specifically mentions her by name, meaning that it is an assumption (albeit a rather good one) that her ovaries are to be removed. It is possible that someone else had fertile ovaries that would be put into Starbuck, who would then be released back to the Resistance in hopes that she would conceive a child like Boomer did. This would also explain why Starbuck was kept in a seperate room instead of becoming a breeder like the other women the Cylons captured. An argument could be made that Starbuck's removed eggs would be fertilized and then placed in infertile women in hopes of increasing the chances for conception, yet this still leaves open why she would have her ovaries removed completely and not be used as a breeder.
The bit that got this removed from Battlestar Wiki was that someone thought that a Cylon said that a Cylon would be used to knock Starbuck up. Look, that's not the case. In fact, Starbuck continually makes the assumption that she'd be raped by a Cylon, but other dialogue makes it seem as if she would be "set up with someone [she] liked." Not someone she would like, but that she did like. As Lee Adama is not a Cylon (his father obviously can vouch for Lee being around for more than two years), and Anders, the resistance leader on Caprica, is probably not a Cylon (he has prestige that makes it seem like he's been around longer than two years), it is more than likely that the two men who Starbuck "likes" are humans. So, how would it be a hybrid if everyone involved is a human. If you want to make the case that Baltar is a Cylon and Starbuck seems to like him, that's pretty iffy. His Cyloniness would explain some things, but it seems like Dr. Cottle's brain scan from Home, Part II, would show sillica pathways or whatever it is that Cylons use for their brains. It didn't. It showed a perfectly normal human brain.
So, anyway, I'm fairly certain that Starbuck's a Cylon. I put the case up here just to immortalize it in hopes that someday I'm proved right and can be the only person who saw it coming this far back (Yeah, I googled "Starbuck's a Cylon" and nothing came up, so I feel unique. Heh.).
Okay, spoilers over.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure what else to talk about. I've had the longest past 48 hours ever. Oy. It's not Kiefer Sutherland bad, but it's been a long haul. The problem is that most of it is my own fault. I could have slept for most of it, but I kept finding excuses (both good and bad) to stay awake.
Work is boring as hell, and there's the threat that my boss is supposed to come in today, which means that most stuff that I can get away with on Sundays is put on hold.
Oh, yeah, fucking republicans.
Well, that's all I'm going to post right now. I might do more later.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Fucking Republican Slime
Somebody should assassinate Pat Robertson. It's called karma, bitch. That fucking asshole was talking about the hurricane and said that "Judge [John] Roberts should be happy that a little tragedy has brought him some good." You're fucking kidding me, right? John Roberts should be happy that thousands of people died, which just happened to take attention away from the debate on if he should be a Supreme Court Justice? Fuck off, Robertson.
And you, too, Barbara Bush. Yeah, that's right. I'm telling a former first lady to fuck off. I was reading the NYTimes yesterday and, while at the Astrodome/Refugee Center, she said "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them." What the fuck is going on? I'm alright with freedom of fucking speech, but have some fucking tact to go the fuck with it. Fucking republican, conservation, religious slime. I'm sure Homeland Security or Secret Service is looking this over because I decided to mention the old hag, but that's just too fucking far. Not everyone gets to live off of oil money in a nice house and is a "priority" to be evacuated if disaster ever comes their way. Fucking scum. Someone needs to make them "underprivileged" for a while so they can understand a little better. And, Goddamn it, yesterday, when I first read that old bitch's comment, I was in class with another annoying bitch. I was visibly pissed and the annoying bitch asked me what was wrong. I said "Fucking Barbara Bush," and the annoying bitch just kind of laughed and said, "Oh, that. Heh." You have no clue how close I was to just striking her across the face right then. Fucking republicans, sticking together like mindless drones. Fucking republicans.
There's one thing that I should mention. I've been watching the British show "The Office" over the last few days, and the theme song got stuck in my head. I decided to look it up and it turns out that the song was most famously done by Rod Stewart and the Faces. Now, this came as a complete surprise to me, so I researched it a little more. It turns out that it was on the record simply called "The Rod Stewart Album," which surprised me yet again because I actually have that LP. What surprised me the most: the song is pretty damn good. My LP version is a bit heavy on the instruments and the vocals get lost every now and then, but it's still good. The digital version was remixed, it seems, because it's pretty balanced.
Fucking republicans.
And you, too, Barbara Bush. Yeah, that's right. I'm telling a former first lady to fuck off. I was reading the NYTimes yesterday and, while at the Astrodome/Refugee Center, she said "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them." What the fuck is going on? I'm alright with freedom of fucking speech, but have some fucking tact to go the fuck with it. Fucking republican, conservation, religious slime. I'm sure Homeland Security or Secret Service is looking this over because I decided to mention the old hag, but that's just too fucking far. Not everyone gets to live off of oil money in a nice house and is a "priority" to be evacuated if disaster ever comes their way. Fucking scum. Someone needs to make them "underprivileged" for a while so they can understand a little better. And, Goddamn it, yesterday, when I first read that old bitch's comment, I was in class with another annoying bitch. I was visibly pissed and the annoying bitch asked me what was wrong. I said "Fucking Barbara Bush," and the annoying bitch just kind of laughed and said, "Oh, that. Heh." You have no clue how close I was to just striking her across the face right then. Fucking republicans, sticking together like mindless drones. Fucking republicans.
There's one thing that I should mention. I've been watching the British show "The Office" over the last few days, and the theme song got stuck in my head. I decided to look it up and it turns out that the song was most famously done by Rod Stewart and the Faces. Now, this came as a complete surprise to me, so I researched it a little more. It turns out that it was on the record simply called "The Rod Stewart Album," which surprised me yet again because I actually have that LP. What surprised me the most: the song is pretty damn good. My LP version is a bit heavy on the instruments and the vocals get lost every now and then, but it's still good. The digital version was remixed, it seems, because it's pretty balanced.
Fucking republicans.
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