BSG

Remember way back when in the late 70's when a cheesy Sci Fi show aired on ABC? It was called "Battlestar Galactica" and it starred Mr. Cartwright, Lorne Greene as the leader of a warship that was leading the last remnants of humanity to a planet called Earth while being chased by shiny chrome plated robots with a red light for an eye that moved back and forth (KITT was a cylon too......). Well a few years ago some Lame Ass writer named Ronald Moore decided that this show needed to be resurrected and "re-imaged" (see my previous posts about Hollywood and it's lack of original ideas). At first I was skeptical......okay this guy would update it, not make it as cheesy as it was 20 or so years ago. Then he decided to change most of the lead characters into women???? I was confused by this. Dirk Benedict (Face Man from the A-Team) played Starbuck the hotshot pilot in the original series...Boomer was a very cool male character and the constant partner and wing man of Apollo, the son of the Commander. Well in Mr. Moore's (Lame Ass) update, he decided to make Starbuck a Female and Boomer as well. He made Apollo a whiny wuss and generally ruined the whole idea of a remake for me. Apparently he said there needed to be stronger female characters. Okay, I agree, but let's just make some up!!! Since you are arrogantly "re-imaging" someone elses' intellectual property why not add some original characters. (To his benefit, Lame Ass did add recurring characters in the form of deck crew and other support staff who were just listed as "crewman #5" in the old series). When fans of the original had an issue, the parties involved, Lame Ass and the actress playing Starbuck, copped big time attitudes in interviews, etc by basically saying "Too bad...this is how it is so piss off...". Kind of insulting really. Also were gone our favorite shiny chrome plated robot bad guys. Instead of them being created by an Alien race, Lame Ass used the tired and overused plot device of Machines created by humans as servants who became self aware and turned on their creators. Wow!!!! That's never been done before....(Terminator, I Robot, The Matrix......I can go on but won't). Gone is Gais Baltar the purposeful traitor in the original series replaced by the "accidental" traitor Dr. Gais Baltar in the new series. Also added, are Cylons who look like humans (Cyborgs basically). It was a blonde hottie version that caused Baltar to be a traitor (she hacked his security codes and shut down the planetary defenses). The machine like Cylons are still around, but they look different (and not as cool) from the chrome plated predecssors. So baring all this in mind, I decided to not watch this new reimaging, neither the original pilot movie, nor the first two seasons. But after hearing so much critical praise, and hearing from my friends how good it really was, I decided to jump on board this season. Wow, what a mistake. There are several things wrong with Lame Ass' writing. Number one: You had a thriving population of 10 billion on 12 planets. You are attacked during a celebration and all that manages to survive of 10 billion humans is 40,+ thousand!!! The military is part of that. In that situation the main Military commander (Admiral Adama) would have taken over and declared a state of Martial Law. Every able bodied person would be trained to fight, and tasks and resources would be divyed up with no questions asked. I mean if we in Modern day American can put up with 2 hour security lines at the airport because of 9/11 and not complain......these folks would be kissing the Military's butt for help. Number two: when you discover a planet that is habitable but you are only 3-5 weeks jump on the machines intent on destroying you, you would not stop at any cost and decide to colonize that planet. No. You'd keep on going until you got to the destination of Earth. There would be no elections, no free press, no laborers bitching about conditions....None of that would happen. (As a further note of how out of control the show has gotten, Glen A. Larson the original creator and writer of the show has been finally brought in as a consultant). Anyway, it's still an "okay" show, we will see if it gets better when it comes back in 2008.

Hollywood Strikes again

Today I read something that I just had to rant about.  New Line Cinema feels this need to do a remake of "Escape From New York".  You know, the great John Carpenter movie that helped Kurt Russel shed his Disney good boy image.   There is no other Snake Plisken than Kurt.  Period.  They are casting Gerard Butler from "300" as Snake.  No.  There is no need to remake that (or pretty much any) movie.  Remember the days when a "classic" film was a "classic"???  Now there is no such thing as you will have a choice between the original or the updated "hip" version.  It's also looking like my least favorite TV Genre is dying; Reality TV.  Yep.  Survivor has one year left, no one watches Big Brother anymore.  We've had no more versions of the Bachelor or Bachelorette.  The Apprentice has been tanking in the ratings...all in all a good thing.  The Serialized drama is the big thing now, and of all the ones (I believe a dozen) that started this Fall, only two remain:  Heroes and Jericho.   Now I've said before just how awesome Heroes is.  It's the kind of show that is so good, that you don't have to like Superheroes or comics to get into it.  Jericho on the other hand has reached it's "I ain't watching this anymore" level with me.  It started out good, but every episode after that had me screaming at the idiots on the show.  Your Country's been nuked.  You wouldn't be sitting around a bar playing pool and drinking, nor would you be safe.  Folks would load their guns and shoot to kill.  The stupid bitty running the General Store in town wouldn't expect people to pay her, she'd lock her doors and defend herself.  The Mayor would have mobilized the town, and deputized everyone and declared martial law.  All food would have been rationed as would have water.  Too bad guys, but the show is degenerating into the same old stupid Hollywood crap.  Too much focus on the love story and not enough survival.  It's become a chore to watch and that's when I stop.  Ask my buddy Mike about my take on Enterprise.

Movie Reviews

We recently rented three new ones. Going to watch the last one tonight and return all three.

First off we have "Flags of Our Fathers". Wow. Great movie about the truth behind the famous Iwo Jima flag raising photo. A movie that shows the sacrifice and horror of War and the political BS that is always behind it. It's told from the point of view of the son of one of the men in the photo, interviewing his Dad's old military buddies for a book he's writing. It's told in flashbacks from each man's point of view. I'm waiting for the companion piece "Letters from Iwo Jima" to come out on DVD soon. It's supposed to be a telling of the conflict from the Japanese side. Should be interesting.

Next we have "The Prestige". A movie about two rival Magicians in Victorian England. It's a movie about obsession mainly. About having that narrow focus that is so narrow that you forget there's other people in the world. Good cast. It's great to see Hugh Jackman doing everything he can to not get permanently type-cast as Wolverine for the rest of his career (although that might not be a bad thing with the Wolverine solo movie coming out soon.). Some of the stuff he's done has sucked, Swordfish and Van Helsing, but he's been good in them. Also stars Christian Bale (the new Batman) and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. Michael Caine is in it as well (so you know it can't suck that bad....he's like Sean Connery. Put him in a movie and you will at least get a shining performance.) and Andy Serkis (better known as Gollum....or at least the voice and the body model for Gollum).

Lastly we have "Flushed Away". Very funny film. The singing slugs are the funniest part of the movie actually. It's like Shrek (hey it's from the same folks) in the way there are layers of humor.

No Pacman.com

Click on the title to be taken to the "No Pacman" website. Pacman Jones, for those that don't follow the NFL, is a "star" player who has been arrested on several occasions for being a Thug basically. The Titans need to get rid of this punk and now. He's as bad as TO and Moss.

Movie Reviews

Three this time.  First off, for you animation fans, there is the Hellboy animated series.  A bunch of one shot episodes about our favorite grumpy, redskinned hero.  If you like the movie, you will like the animated series as the voices of Hellboy and Abe and done by the same actors that played them in the movie.  Borat.  Oh Lord.  Pretty damn funny I must say.  A British Jew named Sasha Baron Cohen (who used to have a Cable mock talk show called "Da Ali G Show") plays a star reporter from a small village in Kazakhstan where their annual event is the Running of the Jew........the whole movie is a look at stereotypes and people's true beliefs when it comes to those stereotypes masked in a Mockumentary about a Kazakhstan Reporter trying to learn about the US.  The real people he interviews who have no idea he isn't who he says he is and their honest reactions to his behavior and questions show a scary side to our Country.  Lots of bathroom humor.  Not for most, but funny nonetheless.  Lastly we have "The Departed".  Holy crap what a great movie!!!  Mr. Scorsese makes a damn good film more times than not.  I've avoided anything with Leo Decaprio in it since I was forced to sit through his horrible performance in "Titanic" and the casting of him as the main character in "Man in the Iron Mask" which ruined what could have been a great remake (the cast who played the aging Musketeers was awesome).  Well Leo has developed into a good actor over the years and does a great job in "The Departed".  When the movie stars Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon and Leo Decaprio....Holy Crap how can it be bad???

RPG Conventions

http://dansdiscourse.blogspot.com/2007/03/hotel-full-o-geeks.html

As ususal, Dan the Discourser presents a sad, but true look at the heart of Geekdom in his humorous and articulate style. Very funny.

OH NOES!!! IT'S Y2K PART 2!!!

So in 2005 some idiots in Congress (yeah I know, there are lots of idiots in Congress...like the whole thing....) decided that by starting Daylight Savings time 3 weeks earlier and ending it three weeks later would save fuel. Huh???????? They said people would use less energy because your lights would be on less, etc. Huh???? Now according to the weather guy on the local news channel, all we really are getting is 2-3 minutes of actual extra daylight a day. So we are saving fuel again how??? My Wife works from 8-1 ish usually. I work from 8-5. My Stepdaughter goes to school from 8-3. The amount of driving we do and energy we use will be the same now matter how light or dark it is outside. Period. I would believe that everyone else will be the same. So how are we saving fuel again??? Personally I think we should do away with the whole stupid affair. Arizona never changes their clocks, so why shouldn't the rest of us. It is my understanding that we are the only Country that has this stupid ritual. The reasons to keep doing have changed every year, but the reality of it is they are excuses. It was originally started so that farmers could have more daylight to plant and harvest in. Okay, made sense back then. Now farmers have huge combines with with halogen lights that make the field as bright as day. So they don't need that extra daylight now do they? But yet, when the question is broached every so often you hear excuses like "It makes it so kids don't have to walk home from school in the dark". It has never been dark at 3pm at any point in history that I am aware of. Most kids either take busses home (which drop them a block from or in front of their homes) or are picked up by a parent. So which kids need extra light to walk home in again???? Now Congress gave a year's reprieve on the change so folks could get their electronics fixed so the automatic daylight savings time change works on the new schedule. Of course you had your "experts" getting everyone freaked out (ala Y2K....remember that when the World was going to end because of lazy programmers hard coding 19 before the year field...oh yeah nothing happened did it....) saying "your PC won't change automatically, neither will your cell phones". HOLY CRAP!!!! EVERYONE PANIC!!!!! Bunch of lazy bastards can't take 15 seconds to double click the clock on their computer and change it manually or set up your cell phone clock to what it should be. I love how our Country panics over the stupidest things. OH GOD WE HAVE TO ACUTALLY DO SOMETHING MANUALLY!!!! Lord save us from our lazy selves. Oh, and just in case you haven't noticed, just like Y2K, nothing happened. That's right; NOTHING WHATSOEVER HAPPENED. The World still spins clockwise and gravity still works. Planes are still taking off and landing and I was still able to drive to work this morning. Oh yeah, and these here Interweb things still work. Allright almighty Media, when North Korean Nukes are on their way, then there will be something to panic about. Until that time, CALM THE HELL DOWN!!!! It is your job to inform us, not to cause panic. I think you have forgotten that.

Gamer's Anonymous-Part Deux

http://dansdiscourse.blogspot.com/2007/03/gamer-definitions-continued.html

In my previous post I explained what an RPG is. Click on the link above for the Discoursers hilarious, but sadly accurate, depiction of Gamers. And yes, I'm an Old School Gamer.

Gamer's Anonymous

Okay, since the Discourser and the Super Goober have finally outed themselves, I guess it's time for me to do so as well.  Hi, I'm Steve the Ranter and I'm a Gamer.  Yep, I'm one of those Geeks that roll many sided dice and have a piece of paper with stats on it in front of me that I call a "Character".  Like my two friends I started out with the "training" RPG (that's Role Playing Game for the uninitiated) Dungeons and Dragons.   Now for those that don't know what an RPG is, it's very simple.  Take your basic board game.  But instead of being confined to a linear path around a board, take that board and put it in your head.  Use your imagination (that's the important part of an RPG), now picture that board as another place.  Some other "World" with continents and oceans and rivers and cities and populated by people.  Now, still using the board game reference, take the little plastic pawns that come with the game.  You know, the non-descript multi-colored pawns that you use to represent you progress around the board.  Take that piece in your mind and flesh it out.  Make it male of female, give it hair, or not, eye color, etc.   Now give that fleshed out pawn (I will henceforth call it a "character") an occupation, a background (who are it's parents, where was it born?).  Now clothe it, and equip it for travel and adventure in the "World" that you will be playing in.   That's an RPG.  Depending on the criteria for character creation, your character can be human or non-human, male or female; it's up to you.  Now take your character and put him/her in a group of other character's.  This is called an Adventuring Party.  Here's where it gets different than a normal board game.   An RPG gets it's base nature from the aforementioned board game as far as guiding a pawn towards a goal; but that's it.  An RPG is more like an interactive story.  Your character is one of the characters in the story, and the things you do/say affect the outcome of the tale.  Your quest is guided by a Dungeon/Game Master, also known as the Storyteller.  The GM guides you through the tale (and in turn the "world") by giving you situations and awaiting your interaction.  Sample game:  The GM tells you that your character is sitting in a tavern/bar having a drink after answering an ad for someone to go check out the haunted house/scary hills/dark forest where monsters/bandits/ghosts are terrorizing/killing/kidnapping villagers.   There usually is some game hook to get all the folks at the table, the players, together.  After the meeting the next part usually goes something like this:

 

GM: Okay, you've gotten your assignment and need to leave soon.  What does everyone do?

Player 1: I get supplies.

Player 2: I gamble a bit, I'm already supplied plenty...

 

So depending on what the GM has in store, you may have an uneventful night, or something may occur to further the story along.  Sometimes you may have a character that chooses to do some research, the GM will have to decided just how much info to give that person.

 

Sounds complicated???  It's not really.  It's like life in a sense.  You are given choices, and make them for good or ill.  RPG's are popular with highly creative people.  A night's gaming is very social and brings a group together.  You learn to work as a team; essentially it's you and your fellow Players vs. the Storyteller. 

 

If you stick with gaming, you eventually branch out and play using other rule systems and worlds.   Some systems, like Hero, are generic enough that you can create any kind of character in any kind of genre you can think of.  Others are more restrictive: Legend of the 5 Rings (Feudal Japan) and Shadowrun (Future cybertech world) are two of those that come to mind.  An RPG is fun and entertaining.  If you've never played one, but are contemplating, I suggest you do so.  You won't be sorry you did. 

Captain America is Dead

Wow!!! Marvel actually kept this one a secret. But, you know comics....he won't stay dead for long.

Book Recommendation

So take Philip Marlowe's office, and his running narrative, mix that with the attitude of Beretta then take that guy and send him to Hogwarts and you've got Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden; Chicago's only practicing Wizard. Look him up he's in the book. Author Jim Butcher has created a fine character in Harry Dresden, star of the "Dresden Files" books. Harry is dishevled, unorganized but nonetheless a powerful Wizard. He has a 30 lb cat named Mister (who lost his tail in an accident). He wears a black duster and carries a Staff and a Wand (Blasting Rod he calls it) and causes high tech electronics to malfunction in his prescense. (Has to do with something about Magic vs Technology). Since he can't use a computer, Harry has his own version; Bob. Bob is an elemental Spirit of Air trapped in a skull. He's very "cheeky" and a bit of a pervert (Bob will stop in mid-sentence to check out a pretty client of Harry's). Yes, this is the same Dresden Files that SciFi has made a series out of. The series is okay, but the books are better. Now I'm only basing this off of reading the first book, but honestly they are good.

Had to add this. I've finished book 2 and I am working on book 3. So far they are great!

Movie Reviews

Cat and I just finished watching two new movies that I must tell you about. The first is "Man of the Year". I loved it. We do need a Comedian to win the Presidency......we need something. It's a humorous but true view of politics. The next one is "Stranger than Fiction". A very different movie that is pure fantasy. You never know why this particular author is writing about this real life person, nor do you know if she created him or he her. Matters not as that's not the point of the movie. I wonder myself sometimes if this happens to all of us. Haven't you ever felt like someone was narrating your life?