The Sky Has Limits

Contra, rebooted.

This...  this is just unreal:

For those not aware, that is a game for the PS3 called Little Big Planet, which is basically Tinker-Toys for world-building.  While I have seen some impressive things done with the tools, that is by far the most complete project.  I'm sure it will get censored soon for copyright violation, but still.  Wow.

Who are you bringing over to the Dollhouse?

In full swing, Joss Whedon's new project, Dollhouse, has now had two episodes for all to view.

The first episode left me wanting, but I read somewhere that the second was much better, and I would agree.  I am trying to be as open to this as possible, remembering that Buffy's first four or five episodes were atrocious, and now it's one of my faves.  The concept is there: architecture for an incredibly compelling and creative show; but the soul is not quite evident yet.  Something I have always felt of Eliza Dushku is that she is a talented actress, not an amazing actress.  It is difficult to shine when you are paired up with Sarah Michelle Gellar, starring in her own show as the heroine, but I still think you can do yourself justice.

This is exemplified in a scene from the second episode of the show, when Det. Paul Ballard (played by Tahmoh Penikett of BSG fame) arrives home from work one night to be accosted by his neighbor across the apartment hall.  Perhaps Ballard is supposed to be stoic and reserved, but Penikett's acting in this scene is dry and emotionless, while the adoring young lady across the hall is visibly brimming over with her desire for him and accentuates it with every facial expression and inflection.  I have no idea who the actress is, but she shines in a scene 30 seconds long, and I think Dushku (and Penikett) could learn a lesson here.

To be fair, this role would be extremely difficult for any actor/actress, as their character is not only a personality chameleon, but shaking, folding, and mincing all of these personalities together while simultaneously stirring in a combination of her naive "un-imprinted" bliss-state with flashbacks of her own, original, personality.  (Whew!)  I know the potential is there (I have seen both her and SMG pull off a Face-Off style episode), so I am eager to witness the birth of a phenomenal show, but I would fear that Joss' work will again go unappreciated because his brilliance is in characters, whom, aside from Lost, seem to have no place in modern TV.

Speaking of characters, you will see a lot of friendly faces here.  Aside from Eliza Dushku, we also get Amy Acker (the scars have made her even hotter) from Angel.  In addition to Tahmoh Penikett, I also saw Mark Sheppard from BSG.  While Aaron may know Harry J. Lennix from 24, I last saw him in The Matrix: Revolutions.  I could also swear I've seen Olivia Williams somewhere before, though her filmography reveals none of my TV experience and only fleeting movie roles.

I'm interested.  Or maybe I just want to be interested.  Make me need this show, Joss.

Who knew Formula 1 could be cool?

While I understand that cars moving that fast without that much mass could be very exciting, F1 races have always inspired a bit of terror in me, and after seeing some nasty crashes (in NASCAR as well) I pretty much swore off of race watching.  But I'll be damned if that video doesn't get me a little hot and bothered.  Because I'm lacking in cable TV and I'm not quite sure F1 is to the point where they are streaming live video feeds of their races online, I'll still probably miss this season, but it's still inspiring.

And while we're on the subject of cool cars, I now have to go see the new Transformers movie, thanks to its use of the new Corvette Stingray Concept.  I'm sure it will probably be as pathetically written and as incredibly "spectacle"-effected, but I just can't resist something that sexy.

A Circus, indeed

The other day I heard the new song from miss Britney Spears, which was the title single from her new album, Circus.  I was surprised by how much I liked the song, though after acquiring the album, I think I understand why.  Britney is now making extensive use of a voder which, when paired with her more mature, lust-object, sound and writing has created another intoxicating "sex and synth" combination.  As I have mentioned before, I gravitate towards this like a moth to flame.

While I have no doubts that much of Britney's work is far from free of a voder, gone is the minor tweaking that almost the enitre pop industry now uses, and instead we get heavily augmented vocals that have been playfully working their way into other genres.

Her previous album, Blackout, was the big "comeback" album that garnered a lot of attention, and not just because she has a veritable font of money.  Here was a new Britney, sexual and uninhibited, no longer hiding behind the teen-age icon she had been saddled with.  Blending her pop vocals and slutty image with thick urban beats had created an album that should have just been called, "Songs to fuck to".  Circus is not quite as sinful, but still carries on the tradition of scandal and egotism.

The entire album has a matured feel to it, though she somehow stays close to her pop roots.  The video for "Circus" is filled with vaudeville imagery and thick with dance, while the song uses a darker minor key to accompany the night-time mood.  The rest of the album ranges from double entendres to surprisingly tender, including a track that is obviously written for her sons.  My least favorite, but touching, nonetheless.

A friend of mine at work spent $229 per ticket for Britney's upcoming KC concert, and while he's sitting 6 rows back, 8 seats from the center, that is still a ridiculous amount of money.  I was confounded by this (and I've seen her in concert) until I realized something.  If you're a fan, you don't go to concerts very often, and she is coming to a hall near you, I'll bet a Britney Spears concert is a pretty awesome performance.  Especially now that she's not catering to the 10-14 age group.  It made me kind of envious...

Who the Frak is it? Part 2

Wow.  I mean just... wow.  After watching "No Exit", episode 17 of season 4 (remember, Razor was technically the 2-episode premier), almost all of my suspicions about where the show is going have been confirmed, as well as final, undeniable confirmation of who the final Cylon model really is.  Reactions and thoughts below.

SPOILER ALERT!

This episode made me really happy, because it vindicated so much of my thoughts about the end... except, of course, for that tiny little detail that Helen Tigh is actually the last Cylon...

I'll start with the good:

I cannot remember if I discussed this with anyone (because I was sure the moment I gave voice to my supposition, it would be wrong) but I'm almost certain that BSG will end with Cylons and Humans living together as one race, blended by circumstance, and birthing a new generation whose heritage is irrelevant.  The combined emphasis on procreation and "Hera", the first hybrid child of Human/Cylon coupling, and the alliance of the fleet with a group of rebel skin-jobs has convinced me that this was the inevitable finale.  "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again" leads me to think that the remaining (mostly) male Cylon fleet will leave to colonize another planet while the human/Cylon group settles somewhere (creating new colonies), probably with extremely limited resources and technology, and the whole cycle will begin again.

Humanity is not just working with Cylons, but accepting them; loving them.  Now, more than just the FTL drives are being modified with Cylon tech.  Galactica--the last and most sacred bastion of human resistance against the Cylon invasion--is going to blur the line and take on a Cylon aspect of its own.  And it's not that humanity has given up, it's that the main point doesn't even matter anymore.  Cylons are people, too.

Now, the not so good:

I WAS WRONG!  I was so totally wrong, and for someone to have a lot of their ideas confirmed and denied in the same episode, I'm still reeling.  All of the things that Helen say in this episode are incredible, and exactly what I was expecting the final Cylon to represent for them.  Coming from Helen's mouth really bugs me, because it feels extremely out of character for her.  Furthermore, it begs a few more questions, like, did she know the whole time?  Or did she somehow make herself a sleeper agent, and has just now come into this font of knowledge from the past?  What about her love for Saul?  Was she sleeping around to "test" the truth of it, or maybe just desperately seeking a successful mating?  And the real nail-biter:

Gaius Baltar tested Helen Tigh in episode 9 of the very first season!  Has he known the whole time?  Furthermore, when he tested "Boomer", his screen showed red, but Helen's test showed green.  Does this mean that Helen is different in some way, or is it simply a slight dissonance in writing, as they had not anticipated her actually being one of the Final Five.  I'm assuming the latter, and that, in his frustration, he simply didn't finish her test and lied.

And then there's Starbuck.

I'm going to say it here, just to get it on record:  I think Starbuck is an incarnation of God.  I'm almost hoping that I'm wrong, because I would really like her explanation to be much more clever than Sam's convenient Cylon history lesson, and much less eerily preachy than an image of Christ.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just think it would cloud the show's final message.  Whatever the case, I'm (mostly) delighted at what has been given, and I can't wait for the things to come!

Puzzle Quest

...is a type of crack, made from crack.  Call it "Cræck", if you will.  It is fucking my world up so thoroughly that when Puzzle Quest:  Galctrix touches down on February 24th, I'm concerned I may loose my friends and/or job.  Actually, I was initially exposed to this second version via a web demo, then played the (much better) PC demo, which prompted me to spend four dollars on eBay for the original, Challenge of the Warlords.  While this game does not tax the new rig in any way (couldn't even get it to load up in XP), I have been playing for hours, and I'm fairly sure I haven't even cracked the seal yet.

If you like Bejeweled but thought it was a tad plain, this is the game for you.  Incredibly addictive ("...just one... more... quest/puzzle...") and just compelling enough to see where it goes.  I can't seem to put it down until it is waaaaay past my bedtime.  They then took the same basic principle, added hexes instead of squares, mixed in a ridiculous number of iterations to the game engine, and came up with Galaxtrix.

If Bejeweled is vanilla ice cream, and Challenge of the Warlords is Rocky Road, that must mean Galactrix is Death by Chocolate.  I strongly encourage you to try the aforementioned demo out for yourself.  But beware--you are stepping far beyond the realm of heroin.  I played it through about 5 times.

National Lampoon's Work Vacation

I had a dream last night that I was serving four of the most obnoxious and ridiculous table imaginable.  They would order ice-cream and ask us to hand-turn the cream; steaks were sent back because they were cooked; ice-water wasn't cold enough, hot coffee wasn't hot enough, and orange juice wasn't sweet enough.  I was stressing out so much that I went postal.  I walked over to each table, swung a Masamune through each guest's head (Sephiroth's impossibly long sword), which caused a fluorescent blue-white arc to trace the air.  Then, each person simple shadow-faded out--8-bit NES enemy style--and I snicked the blade back into it's sheath with a sudden sense of nirvana.

My paid vacation, which will allow me to spend a week with my awesome new PC, cannot come soon enough.

All pieces will be here by Wednesday, and I intend to put them together sans disaster.  For the record:

Case:    Raidmax Aztec ATX-619WB
CPU:    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
Motherboard:    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
RAM:    2 x Crucial 4GB (2X2GB) DDR2 800 (PC6400) Dual Channel Kit
Graphics Card:    Asus Radeon HD 4830 512MB
PSU:    Rosewill 550W Power Supply
Trim:    Logisys 12" Dual Ultra-Violet Cold Cathode Kit

Aaron, after seeing my case, blue-LED power supply, and UV cold cathode, stated that my, "PC will look like a Cylon", and I agree.  Let's hope it performs as cunningly.

UPDATE:  I decided to name the new machine "Leoben", after my favorite Cylon from BSG.  Leoben is technically a "number two" model, which fits well, as this is my second PC built from scratch.  It may be too much to ask that we do not end up torturing each other, but I imagine that, in the end, it would bring us closer and enhance our spirituality.  Or something.