Common Sense Fail

According to this Washington Post article, there has been a bill introduced in the Senate that will require states to prohibit people from texting while driving. Excellent idea! Right?

People, why do we need this law? Well, obviously because people are texting while driving, and thus getting into accidents. Which begs the question, WHY are people texting while driving??!! That is quite possibly one of the stupidest things you could ever do. It's in the same vein as the hands-free-phone-while-driving law, but at least that one, I understand. I know many people who are on their cell phones in the car, whether for their work, or because they're calling someone for directions. And honestly, even though I think it's better to not call people while you're driving, and you certainly need to have a headset on, responsible and mature people can talk on the phone while driving safely.

But texting. That is so different. Texting requires (unless you are one of the very few people who are texting wizards) two hands and total concentration. Which means that your driving lacks . . . well, what a surprise, two hands and any concentration! It is completely unfathomable to me why anybody would think that is acceptable. You guys, it's just not. I know I complain about people's stupidity sometimes, but this is a whole new level. We need laws to tell us what common sense should have made totally clear. That's just . . . wow. But since apparently we need these laws, I really, really hope this bill gets passed.

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On a totally unrelated note, check the Atlantis section of my website for new Season 3 reviews and some new artwork!

Warehouse 13: "Claudia" Review

Now that I'm back from my summer program, I can actually watch the episodes when they air, as opposed to waiting for Hulu to have them. Although, my beautiful little MacBook has far superior image quality than my 20+ year old ancient, awful TV . . . but that's another story :)

So this started off a bit anticlimactically/non-linearly, considering that the hacker got into the warehouse at the end of the last episode, and this one starts with Pete and Myka coming back from what seems a normal mission, Artie's lack of sleep notwithstanding. I thought the opening scene here would follow on more directly from the end of last week's episode. But, as soon as Claudia came in, things got pretty interesting. To be honest, this episode had me riveted pretty much start to finish.

I was pleased that "Claudia" doesn't fall into the same trap as "Resonance" -- under-using it guest stars. Both Allison Scagliotti's Claudia and CCH Pounder's Mrs. Frederick are used to the fullest extent possible, providing for great character moments. I loved the glimpse into Artie's past, and, for once, the child actress who plays little-Claudia is actually a good actress. Also great to watch was Artie and Myka's conversation at the very end -- they both have scars from the past and it would be very interesting to see them actually get to sit down and talk about what happened, to Myka in Denver and to Artie in . . . well, we're not actually sure.

Mrs. Frederick is also an asset to whatever scene she's in. She's creepy and smart and knows, well, if not everything, then certainly a lot. She also sets up some interesting foreshadowing here, in terms of Artie's and/or Claudia's future. For right now, I'm forgiving her for being on obvious Cigarette-Smoking-Man-ripoff (much like Myka and Pete are Scully and Mulder) because she doesn't seem to have the pure evil that the Smoking Man does. And, she's a lot more helpful. I'm very interested to see where her character arc is going.

Leena, on the other hand, I'm growing to despise. She does nothing useful. Or if she does, I haven't seen it. She's basically and excuse for Artie to explain whatever's going on in the episode. No offense to Genelle Williams, because I'm sure she's a wonderful actress, but this character is just pointless. On a related note, however, I didn't want to punch Pete in the face once this whole episode, which is a nice change.

Luckily for us science/CGI nerds, "Claudia" does not sacrifice special effects or nerdiness for the sake of the characters. Rheticus' compass is supremely cool, and the idea that he was searching for a way to teleport, which is a kind of holy grail for many people (yes, I'm including myself in that category :D). The idea of being caught in an "in-between place" was done in The Next Generation with Ro Laren and Geordi LaForge being sucked out of phasse (sorry, I can't remember which episode off the top of my head) but it had a bit of a twist here, with Joshua being able to come back occasionally, and those arrivals steadily killing his sister.

Overall, I don't have any major complaints about this episode, it's certainly the best one so far. People are settling into their roles more, and the writers have a better idea of what they're doing. This is a solid early episode for a show that desperately needs as much credibility as it can get (because it's still an awful lot like an X-Files for the new generation at some points).

On a side note, I have surely been spoiled by Hulu's 15-30 second long commercials =)

Warehouse 13: "Magnetism" Review

Okay so I really meant to post this Wednesday or Thursday, but it's the end of my summer program and things got super busy.

Anyway, just when I think I have Warehouse 13 all figured out as a decent enough show that's fun enough to keep you interested and that'll run for three or four seasons (maybe) the writers/producers spin around and give us something like "Magnetism" (not sure where they get that title, but oh well). Last week's episode, while a solid second episode for a series with pretty big shoes to fill, quality wise, had a disturbing propensity to be silly and sappy and a bit annoying. "Magnetism" starts off with Pete dangling upside down from a ceiling, stealing a guillotine blade, and the episode just gets better after that, turning into the ultimate "be careful what you wish for" tale.

With "Magnetism", we're finally starting to see some of the darker side of these artifacts. Throughout the first two episodes, I was thinking that there had to be something going on with this show that gave it its TV-14 rating as opposed to, say, Stargate Atlantis or The X-Files's relatively mild TV-G or TV-PG ratings. Now, we see that the artifacts aren't all fun and games. So, we saw a little of it in the pilot, but now Warehouse 13 is taking the time to actually explore issues prevalent in society today. Especially powerful was the end, which addressed the issue of suicide bombing in a truly scary way. The final confrontation in the church, with time running out and Myka scrambling between pews desperately trying to buy time for Pete to disable the chair was an extremely powerful scene . . . far better than I had thought. Here's hoping Warehouse 13 continues on this more mature line of storytelling. But, on the other hand, "Magnetism" had plenty of humor too, what I appreciate was that the writers were able to strike a good balance between the two. (I loved the very end scene where Myka and Pete played the joke on Artie about his car being destroyed).

Character wise, I'm beginning to get a bit frustrated with the -- again with this word -- maturity gap between Myka and Pete. "You're eight years old!" Myka yells at Pete in frustration, and really, she couldn't be more right. I'm getting sick of his stupid comments and constant mucking about with Myka's plans, and it's only the third episode. He says he has more experience and is the "natural choice" for a field leader, but he's not, and it's really annoying that he doesn't see his faults, at all. On the plus side, his arguing with Myka leads to both of them geting drenched with purple slime, which was quite amusing :). Myka, on the other hand, has a past with at least one major mess-up (we're still not quite sure what happened in Denver, although it was obviously bad) but she knows it. She understands her faults, knows what she does right and wrong and her strengths and limitations. Apart from her constant subconcious desire to punch Pete in the face (and really, who can blame her?) she has a type of self-awareness that lets her function much more effectively, even if she does have a "tortured" aura (or whatever Leena was saying, I can't quite remember).

Other than the increasingly improving writing, one thing that I'm really starting to love (and this is non-episode specific here) is the idea that the warehouse is, if not exactly alive, then at least it has some type of a mind of its own. The things in it are so full of energy and strange powers that it would be hard for it not to, but this will be an interesting idea to see developed a bit more.

I do wish Warehouse 13 would put a bit more effort into actually explaining what the artifacts actually do. I know the whole premise of the show is that Artie and his team have to find the artifacts and then neutralize them, but I think that just finding the artifacts will get pretty boring after a while. I mean, obviously they know what the effects of some of the artifacts are, or else they wouldn't have been able to find them. But it seems a total waste to just shove everything in a corner of the warehouse and never hear from it again. I know it's just the third episode, but it's something I'll be on the lookout for in the future.

Something else that Warehouse 13 does with great success is seamlessly blending modernity and antiquity to come up with almost futuristic technology. Video communication? A staple of scifi shows. Also developed right after the television. Artie's computer can do anything a modern computer can and more, but it looks for all the world like it got taken out of a junkyard. It's these little things that that make me think this show is going places after all.

So Warehouse 13 is keeping me coming back for more . . . and for the first time, I am actually excited for the next episode, after this (actually) really good cliffhanger.

Solar Eclipses and Other Things

India and China are preparing for what is sure to be a truly spectacular total solar eclipse tomorrow. And while I am sitting here in the States wishing wishing wishing that I could be there for just the one day, many of people with the great good luck to lie in the eclipse's path are wishing that they didn't.

Sound crazy? Yeah, that was my first reaction too. Well, once you think about it, they have a reason. It might not be a good reason, but centuries of Hindu mythology and history have given many a deep dependence on superstition. They fear that this eclipse is a bad omen, portending wars, terrorist attacks, plagues, and many other disasters. Looking at the state of the world today, one might very well think that they have a point! It's true that the world is pretty depressing right now, but it's not because of the eclipse.

Now, I firmly support every person's right to belong to whatever religion they wish. If you want to be a Hindu, go ahead. I personally love all of the old Hindu myths. But there is a problem when a believer refuses to accept changes and modernity because of his or her religion. Science may be young, but science still knows a lot. I'm not bashing Hindus or their religion here. Please don't get me wrong. What I'm saying is that the only way that this eclipse will provoke the disasters portended is if people who firmly believe in the superstition go out and cause those disasters themselves. Is there a reason why a person can't be religious and a scientist at the same time? I personally can't see one. The gods and the planets and the sun and the moon do not control our destiny. Only we do.

Let me close by saying, once again, that I'm insanely jealous of everyone who gets to see this eclipse, and I hoe that people can see it for the beauty that it really is.

Oh, and in case you're wondering what the "reviews" tag is doing at the bottom of this, I posted my latest Stargate Atlantis review here. Also, check back here tomorrow for the next Warehouse 13 review =).

Twilight, Vampires, and Souls

Some of you might think it's odd that I write so much about Twilight when I hate it so much. But the idea from this blog post came out of an AIM conversation I was having with Taya, and then I just had to write about it.

So Taya said that the only thing she hated about Twilight was that Edward had a soul. I was really surprised at that . . . I had no idea (like I said before, I've only seen the movie and read like a chapter of the book). So Taya said, "Well, it was never said that he did, and that's what bugged me. Was that he wasn't evil. Vampires are monsters." And that got me thinking: I'm pretty sure Edward qualifies as a monster (all sparkling aside). I told her so. Her response? "Monsters don't love." Let me tell you something. Edward doesn't either.

From the beginning, Edward and Bella's relationship has been completely based on mutual dependency (in a very bad way) and lust. That's it. They are attracted to each other based solely on physical features, there is absolutely zero connection between them. Bella spends pages going on about how hot Edward is. I think we got the picture in the first sentence. Edward is attracted to Bella based on . . . guess what . . . the scent of her blood. I mean, ew!!. That is not a reason for attraction. Oh, I forget, he also thinks she's "mysterious" because he can't read her mind. Well, I'm sorry, but the only reason that he can't read her mind is because there's nothing in it! Leaving aside the whole idea that trying to read people's minds is completely unethical, I mean, really.

Then there's the whole idea of Edward-as-a-stalker. He sneaks into her room to watch her sleep. That's, like, what serial killers do to their victims. And then, there's the pedophilia issue. Physical appearances aside, Edward is a good hundred years (if not more) older than Bella. Their relationship is completely illegal. Add to that the fact that neither of them are emotionally mature enough to make the distinction between love and lust, and you have a problem. Another thing worth mentioning is that (correct me if I'm wrong) but they fall in "love" over the span of a few days (weeks at most). A relationship should take years to develop. Not weeks.

Now, on to the idea of mutual dependency. There's nothing wrong with being extremely attatched to your boyfriend/girlfriend. There's nothing wrong with being sad at the prospect of not being able to see said boyfriend/girlfriend for a long period of time. But these two take it to a very disturbing. Both Edward and Bella try to kill themselves when they're apart from each other. That is not the mark of a healthy relationship. Bella is clingy and her only goal is to keep Edward by her . . . she deludes herself into thinking that he is what makes her life worth living. Any relationship based on love does not include the idea that you will die without your boyfriend/girlfriend by your side (that's what also bothers me about Romeo and Juliet). And look at Edward's reaction when any other guy so much as looks at Bella, much less the fights he gets into with Jacob. He is disgustingly possessive, and so clearly views Bella only as an object. This dehumanization of women is a huge problem in our society, and I think it's awful beyond words that Stephanie Meyer makes it seem like such a wonderful thing. People who are really in love don't treat their partners like objects. End of story.

I know people who will point to New Moon as an example of Edward's true love for Bella, a validation of the "If you love someone enough, you'll know when to let them go" principle. That's not true. A real example of that can easily be found in the Odo/Kira relationship from Star Trek: Deep Space 9. This is quite different. Edward is acting in his own self-interest: he does not want to inadvertently kill or injure Bella, and then end up in a whole mess of trouble. As their suicidal tendencies after their breakup clearly show, they each think that their existence depends on a continued romantic relationship with the other. Excuse me? Since when did one person, let alone one relationship, define people's lives? I would be tempted to say, "since Stephanie Meyer", but there is a different, better answer. That idea is found all the time in high school flings, which is, when you get down to it, exactly what this relationship is.

Edward and Bella are not in a loving relationship. They are in a lust-based and probably mutually destructive one. It's true that monsters don't love. Edward Cullen doesn't love Bella either. And based on his horrifyingly creepy and disgustingly possessive actions toward Bella, I think there's plenty of evidence to show that he is, indeed, a monster.

So, agree/disagree? *Hides from swarm of rabid Twilight fans.* No, seriously. My exposure to these books/movies has been limited, and I welcome any civil debate. Emphasis on civil, you guys =)

Stargate Atlantis Reviews

So, I won't be posting my Stargate Atlantis reviews here, because they're generally really long, and the belong in the nice Atlantis section on my website. But I will post whenever I update the reviews section there =)

For those who are curious:

• Season 1: Review for episode 4
• Season 2: Review for episode 2
• Season 3: Reviews for episodes 1-9
• Season 4: Reviews for episodes 14-17
• Season 5: Reviews for episodes 1-2

Season 3 is my current project, and I've just posted a review for episode 9, "Phantoms". Enjoy!!

Priorities?

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with the world, and why people (Americans especially) have such a hard time figuring out their priorities. For example, if you asked me to name some of the most important events going on over the past month or so, you would get a list that looks a bit like this:

• The Costa Rican president is still trying to mediate between the two sides involved in the Honduras coup
• India and Pakistan have agreed to resume negotiations over the Kashmir region; U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in India right now
• Police are investigating a double suicide bombing in Indonesia
• Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings are continuing in the Senate, she looks to be facing a clear road to being the first Latina Supreme Court justice
• The CIA is under fire, again, for keeping secrets from Congress
• California is still in a huge budget crisis.
• Sarah Palin announced she would step down as governor of Alaska

Pop quiz, how many of you already knew about at least 4 of those? I bet you not very many. Now, wouldn't you expect stories like that to be dominating pages such as Google News? Well, okay, they're dominating my heavily customized news.google.ie page. Switch to a non-personalized news.google.com, however, and you get a much different sight. Suddenly the page is dominated by Michael Jackson (seriously, who cares anymore? Too many people!), Harry Potter, Jon Gosselin, and Walter Cronkite. Switch to charter.net, and suddenly the top searches are "Emmy Nominations", "British Open", and "Jessica Simpson".

People, really? No wonder Americans are regarded as idiots in so many other countries! We are, if this is all that's important to us! We need to start taking more of an active interest in the world around us. For one day (and then hopefully many more) put aside the celebrity news (which is just the same stories applied to different people over and over again, I hope you realize!) and read -- actually, attentively read some type of international news. Then go out, find one person, and tell them about whatever event you just read about. How many of you can say that you've done this before? Think about it. Think about where your priorities should be. I dare you.

Some Musings on Space

Some musings on space stuff . . .

The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday on the sixth launch attempt, carrying its crew on mission STS-127. Here's wishing them a successful and safe flight and a wonderful time up at the ISS =) Even though shuttle launches are pretty common, they've never been a routine event for me, I always follow them obsessively. It would be nice if one day launches into space became so commonplace that it would almost be impossible to cover them that thouroughly, because there would be so many of them. That would mean that humans have finally reached the stars, or, I suppose, come very close. But then, we have to remember that the increasing commonality of launches could -- and has -- led to disasters in the past. Safety must go hand in hand with any mission.

Anyway . . . getting off of the depressing track . . . best of luck to STS-127, and congratulations on establishing the largest off-planet group of people ever! 13 on the ISS once Endeavour docks, yay!

Also . . . celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission!! Follow along on NASA's super-cool interactive site, http://wechoosethemoon.org (I've been spending way too much time on there lately xD)

Photo credits: NASA

Warehouse 13: "Resonance" Review

Summary: Artie sends Pete and Myka to Chicago to investigate a string of odd bank robberies, while he tries to find someone who has hacked into Warehouse 13's computers

Let's start with one thing, first. Although it's premiering around the same time that our beloved Battlestar Galactica is ending, Warehouse 13 is in no way its replacement. It's whimsical where BSG is serious, it's light where BSG is dark (and I mean literally) and it uses wide sweeping shots where BSG uses extreme close-ups. That's not to say it's bad, it's just very different. Anyway, on to the real review.

I can happily (and with complete honesty) say that "Resonance" exceeded my expectations. It's not brilliant, but nobody could realistically expect that from the second episode of a new show. The (main) actors are still struggling to fit into their roles, and maybe this is me being nitpicky, but Pete & Myka seem to have grown awfully close in the very short time they have spent together (Pete admits they've been partners for "not very long"). In any case, they're turning into an okay team to watch. I'm having a very hard time liking Pete, since he's so constantly immature, but Myka is brilliant and has so much character potential (and is so good at putting Pete in his place, a definite plus) that she's quickly becoming one of my favorite characters.

The writing, now that we're past the necessary long exposition/introduction in the pilot, passes as decent, I suppose. My problem is that while it's good fun to watch, it, like Eureaka is not really good scifi. A song that makes people extremely happy is kind of, um, lame? Yeah, that's the word I want. Throw in some computer hacking, bank robberies, guys in Kull-warrior-esque suits with capes (if you've seen Stargate SG-1, you know what that means), a dying musician, and the FBI, and you suddenly get a much better show. Add in Myka's family drama, a completely unexpected turnaround at the end of the episode (sappiness is forgiven, at least a little, because of the total shock value), a camera that turns people into 2D images (or something like that), and a cliffhanger-ish ending, and all of a sudden, you're really liking the writing.

Character-wise, "Resonance" is pretty good, especially in exploring Myka's past, which was hinted at in the first episode, but still, all we have is pieces. And casting Tricia Helfer (from BSG again!) as the FBI agent was an excellent choice =). Saul Rubinek as Archie is a totally brilliant actor, and he, unlike the other two actors, seems to have no problem slipping into his role as the crazy-but-genius Warehouse proprieter. But by the end of the episode, Pete was, as I said before, just annoying.

I'm still going back and forth on the directing. The extreme slow motion scene of stealing Jed away from the FBI and Myka and Pete was rather cheesy, but oddly effective. It really showed the "altering" effect the music has on people. I also approve of how each act blinks out to a commercial break (or just blinks out, since I'm watching these on Hulu xD) as if it were one of those video communicators blinking off.

So "Resonance" wasn't great, and wasn't horrible. Warehouse 13 as a whole lacks the darkness that is so prevalent in many of the TV shows I enjoy (a la BSG or X-Files), and that makes it a lesser show in my opinion. But right now, it's keeping me waiting for the next episode, which is a good sign.

"New Moon" in 10 Minutes (ish)

As anyone who knows me even a little knows, I hate Stephanie Meyers' Twilight series. It's a disgrace to good writing, provides the worst possible role model for young girls, and is such a waste of paper. I've never read the books . . . I tried, honestly, but Twilight is right up there with Angels&Demons in terms of books I just can't finish. So, based on hearing my friends talk and on seeing the pathetic trailer that was in front of The Proposal, here's all you need to know about New Moon!

One gloomy day in Forks, Washington, Edward the sparkly vampire says to Bella the klutzy idiot, "I love you more than anything else, you're mysterious and beautiful and the one girl I want to be with. But I'm too dangerous to be around you. So I'm leaving. Goodbye, my love!" He cries as he left to go . . . somewhere.

Bella stares after him and screams, "EDWARD!! Don't go!! You're the bestest person ever and my one true love, and all I want to do is stare at you and drop out of school and marry you and have lots of half vampire babies!! I can't live without you Edward, because I'm weak and pathetic and unintelligent and need a strong man in my life!!"

Edward really wants to stay, but he can't. Then Bella says desperately, "Edward, I can't live without you. I'm going to accidentally on purpose commit suicide by jumping off a cliff and all your family is going to help, 'cause they're just as stupid as me!"

So Edward thinks to himself, Uh-oh, she's going to kill herself! That's really bad!! What should I do?? He decided to go rescue her. So then, when Edward is hugging Bella (but not too hard, because he was a super strong vampire after all), he's like, "I was stupid to run away. You really do love me!"

Bella cheers and says, "YAY! Can I drop out of school and get turned into a vampire and be your stupid girlfriend now?"

But Edward pointed to the evil vampires behind them and was like, "Not quite yet, there's a war about to start."

And Bella cries 'cause she's sad, 'cause she has no goals in life. And Jacob's watching and he's like, "Why am I supposed to be in love with her again?"

Hope you enjoyed!! If you like Twilight, I hope you atleast have enough of a sense of humor to appreciate where I'm coming from with this =)

Warehouse 13: "Pilot" Review

I'm cautiously optimistic for Syfy's new show, Warehouse 13. Well, considering that their other options include Stargate: Universe, which promises to be a disgrace to the franchise, and Caprica, which is I-don't-know-what, but it's certainly not Battlestar Galactica, I don't really have much choice.

So, the basic idea of Warehouse 13 is that two agents with wildly different styles who really don't get along at all are forced to work in this middle-of-nowhere warehouse in the middle of South Dakota, and they have to collect all these weird and dangerous things that promise to, as the proprietor puts it, "ruin the world's day". In other words, it's the X-Files with artifacts instead of aliens, and there's a bit of Indiana Jones and some other action movies thrown in. I mean, seriously, the two agents (Myka Berring and Pete Lattimer are just lesser versions of Mulder and Scully. They didn't even bother to swap the gender roles and make the girl agent the one with the crazy ideas).

It has some potential though, especially since both Rockne O'Bannon (from Farscape) and Jane Espenson (from Battlestar Galactica) worked on the pilot. It follows on the new "Syfy" theme of dumbing things down, but at least it's a sign that Syfy hasn't completely given up on good TV. Just mostly given up. But Warehouse 13 has promise and at least bothers to set up a nice mythology/history type mystery (I'm sorry, I just could not make that not rhyme), and I'll be following this for at least the first season. If nothing else, it's a chance to see some pretty funky objects, including a teakettle that grants wishes (or ferrets, if the wish is impossible to grant) and a wickedly fast football.

Hello~!

So . . . if you already know me, you know I already have a website . . . so why have a blog? Basically, I want a place to put my movie/tv/book reviews somewhere, and I'm far too lazy and have far too little time to create sections on my website for every single movie/tv show/book that I like. Hence, the blog! I'll be updating as much as I can, so check back often both here and on my website (you can find the link somewhere on the page . . . I'm still getting used to blogger xD). I also hope to have a new layout for the blog soon, as soon as I figure out how . . .

So, a bit about me: I love scifi, computers, politics, Irish things, languages, astronomy, and music. So that's probably what most of my posts will be about. Enjoy!!

I have 2 more things I'm going to post tonight . . . but don't get excited, you usually won't get three posts in one day from me!!