Welcome to the Rosblog of shapeshifter (aka lizmythologistshapeshifter aka liz aka Nancy aka therealshapeshifter aka shapeshift-her)
As always, anyone who sends thoughts in an email will be considered for posting on this blog.
But I can think of only a couple of times I've received such mail.

But,
hmmmm...
I do occasionally get questions about where to find things. So I guess I can add those and the answers. Don't worry; I'm a card-carrying librarian, so I will ask permission before posting anyone else's words.

I began this blog because...

Friday, March 28, 2014

Star date: One year later, and the brutal murder of Tubey, her recappers, and mods. Rumor has it that an NBC bigwig got a warning for board on boards remarks and so pulled the plug.

Of course the party line is that it didn't bring in enough ad clicks. Don't get me started on what was wrong with the CMS code after Bravo took over. I tried clicking ads, believe me, I tried. But they required setting up an account to see products. Stupid. Those who came of age during and/or survived the ecomonic troubles will do better--but it's going to be another few years of the plethora of idiots screwing with websites while the few with common sense try to hold down the fort.

All good things must come to an end--and bad things too. The sun will grow old, expand (as old stars do) and engulf the earth. Maybe some will survive.

The recappers, Jacob, Cindy, and others, are truly gifted. May the world be just smart enough to notice and provide them the even better venue their talents warrant.

Hundreds--if not thousands--of posters who arguably spent too much time on the boards are in shock, even if not unemployed. TWoP was our therapist when the boss morphed into a cunning, satanic beast. Here are a few places to seek shelter:

• Previously.tv
• Fanforum
• IMDb
• SyFy
• Reddit

Got any others? Let thereal shapeshifter know at @scifi_reviews on Twitter.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

I've watched way too much TV since May of 2010, but not until finally seeing the finale of Continuum was there anything worth posting about. It's a time travel story for time travelers and fans of time travel.

Heartbraking, meaning of life questioning, paradox exploring, 2 X-Files alums, and Bra'tac.

Season 2 begins April 21.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Lost is over. Here are a few commentaries for posterity or thesis dissertations, starting with one by xmag, whose handle I recognize from the Roswell FanForum boards. The plan is to add more, but employment, other website responsibilities, watching Fringe season 1 for the first time, and family might intervene.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

An accurately creative post by Calinks from IMDB on FlashForward vs. V:

V is like Heroes in that its McDonalds Television. Easy to make and tasty to the masses. However there is no quality to it's preparation, it's just slapped together in a simple format and served. FlashForward tried to be some elaborate filet mignon dish but it was made horribly. They put too many ingredients in there and cooked it too death. They added crazy side dishes and although it was still edible it wasn't what the meal was meant to be. At least they put forth an effort though.

Friday, May 12, 2010

FlashForward and Heroes are canceled. The last season of Lost would've been its last in any event. V is a minefield of plotholes. SGU has issues too. What's up with scifi scripts? Robert J. Sawyer (author of the book, FlashForward, and one of the television show's episodes) gives a clue in a recent interview:

It's great that you've introduced more flashbacks recently...
"I totally agree with you. We had a staff writer who was very bright, very intelligent and wrote some of our best episodes but who was Mister Anti-flashback! He would argue vociferously in the writers room 'No flashbacks - it's confusing enough with flashforwards!' He argued his point well but what Lost taught us is that an audience can very easily follow flashforwards, flashbackwards and flashsideways without getting hopelessly confused. But it was loggerheads amongst the writers over whether we would go back much to the events the day the global blackouts occurred or the events leading up to that date. Ultimately the sentiment that prevailed was that it's a series about the non-linear nature of time and that gives us licence to go back and forth as the dramatic possibilities require. We've been doing more of that of late. We had a lovely moment a couple of weeks ago where we were able to bring back Agent Al Gough, who was the guy who had jumped off the FBI building and shown the future was malleable. To be able to bring him back in the flashback, even briefly - it was heartrending to see him alive again and that's part of the beauty of being able to play with the nature of time."

Whoops. Wasn't paying attention to Smallville on in the background & just noticed Daniel Jackson and Clark are buds. So is the guy who jumped off the building to prove the future wasn't immutable in FlashForward.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Is there some law of television scifi meta-physics that is causing an intersection of characters? In one week we have Alex Kingston as Fiona on FlashForward in the episode "Course Correction" (aired on May 6), and then she in seen as River Song on Doctor Who in "The Time of Angels" (first seen in the U.S. on May 8) in which her entrance is revealed as just legs with red high heels...which is the same way the Red Queen/Martha Kent enters on Smallville (in the "Hostage" episode airing May 7), who, like River Song, is also a blast from a past story line. All three have elements of time travel and/or alternate universes. If nothing else, it proves there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes). If we want to riff on the themes of personal sacrifice, body swapping, or just plain characters not being whom they purport to be, there's also V, Stargate Universe, and Lost this week.

So much scifi right now. Hard to keep up. Perhaps it's a good thing I never go to the movies. I suspect Iron Man 2 has similar tropes. But I did catch the 1933 King Kong today and was having problems of suspension of disbelief due to the African Americans playing South Pacific Islanders — well, that, and the poor acting and the fact that they didn't bring any dinosaur corpses back to New York.

Monday, March 15, 2010

A couple of thought provoking posts from the Caprica "Imperfections of Memory" thread that are in danger of being deleted by the over-zealous (read my lips: nazi) moderators because they mention BSG:

Like some others, I actually connected to Clarice for the first time in this episode. Her faith is deep seated and really moving in her scene with Amanda. Her Amanda connection is complicated because on the one hand she is using her but on the other she reveres her because she believes she is special.

I strongly believe that just because a character acts in a way you can understand does not mean you have to like them. So, I agree with you on that. But, the way I see it, Amanda didn't just lose her child like the other characters. She was struggling after Zoe died but she fell apart when she realized her daughter was a mass murderer (as far as she knows) who was a member of a cult she could not understand. She is struggling with the realization that she lost a daughter she never knew. That she was responsible for so much tragedy by not knowing her own daughter. And she didn't quit her job until she basically had to because she was being harassed at work. No one is going to to a doctor whose daughter was a terrorist. Daniel doesn't work in a business where he has to interact with people.

And I do not think the worst possible way of dealing with loss is to drink and do drugs. I think the worst possible way to cope is to create a new race that you believe will be humanity's slave without rebelling in the way your child did, as Daniel is doing. Or descending into a virtual world in search for an avatar ghost of your daughter while ignoring your living family, as Joseph is doing.

The visions of Amanda's brother aren't unusual given this is in the BSG universe. Its not at all impossible he is a HeadDarius, which would be sort of interesting. There is a god/gods in this world and Amanda may have a purpose that she is being guided to. But, I think its just as likely that Vergis knows her history is messing with her using an avatar of some sort. Or, both. The original visions when she was younger may have been a manifestation like Six. And Vergis could be exploiting that now without knowing what he is taping into.

This episode, and the conversation in here, reminded me very much of the final scene of BSG with the Head angels/demons discussing the iterations of the cycle:

So this entity-that-doesn't-like-to-be-called-god cares less for humans/cylons than it does for what is learned by watching them destroy each other over and over in iterative cycles. Nice parallel with Zoe-A talking about iterative trees, leading the techie and Greystone to talk about iterative cylons, and also iterative psychosis going on with Amanda. 'Happened before, will happen again' is beginning to seem less like a prophecy and more like an experimental process.

This line of thinking reminds me of an idea proposed, I think in a joke somewhere (but hey, wisdom in the strangest of places), that suggests that all consciousness is simply existence trying to understand itself. Another similar idea I've always enjoyed is that there is a creator, a 'god', but it doesn't even know why it exists or how it came to be. So it creates the universe with laws that suit evolution in hopes that it will eventually evolve to the point that it can create something on par with itself, so that it may better understand how it came to be.

I feel like this is what's going on with this entity, it's trying to understand creation and existence through the act of creating. It hasn't quite succeeded yet, but it is a studious and observant learner. . .

Friday, February 26, 2010

Caprica just keeps getting more awesome.
Links: SyFy    TWOP   IMDB

Lost is bringing it too, though not quite as strong.

Friday, January 29, 2010

I'm here in an abbreviated version: twitter.com/scifi_reviews

Makers of Caprica, I am so proud of you.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

About FlashForward and whether the future is immutable:
I recently finished reading the Nebula Award winning Timescape by Gregory Benford with a key character named Markham. I've been wondering if the FF writers are planning to use some scifi elements from this book since they seem to have at least given homage to the author and this is perhaps his most important work.

In Timescape, there are physicists in the future who are attempting to send a message to physicists in the past to warn them about the coming ecological extinction of humans due to the use of advanced pesticides. The physicists spend a lot of time pondering the "Grandfather paradox" (if you go back in time and kill your Grandfather, you will cease to exist). In Timescape, it turns out that there are alternate realities (or universes), but (at least in this book) we only experience the reality we are in. So, for instance, in the book, after the messages have been successfully sent from the future and acted upon by the scientists in the past, a high school student is sent by his physics teacher to retrieve some magazines for a project on the news-breaking messages from the future. The magazines happen to be in the building where Lee Harvey Oswald is about to shoot Kennedy. The teenager becomes a hero when he stops Oswald; the president is wounded, but not killed, thus illustrating that the future is changed in this reality/universe.

So, if FF follows this premise, the future as we see it will be changed.

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There is a marathon of the 1980s series V running on the SyFy channel Monday starting at 7am CT. The 1980s are included in the 30 years during which I did not watch television, so I've never seen it. I plan to record 4 hours worth. It's available on Amazon quite cheaply, but either the price or availability could change after the reimagined version of the series starts next week. But I so disliked both Adria in SG1 and Morena Baccarin's Firefly character that I'm sort of dreading this new V.

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Thanks to StarFuryG7 on the IMDB Defying Gravity forum for posting a link to an interview with James Parriott, creator of DG, in which he reveals much of the show's intended future plot lines. Here's the archived text.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Just watched final episode (13) of Defying Gravity on ch131.com. Too bad it didn't continue. With all the TV I watch and scifi in particular, I still don't know what determines a show's continuation. I guess it must be production dynamics.

Stargate Universe is O.K.  Jamil Walker Smith knocks it out of the park as Sergeant Greer. The integration of the various plots is not well done.

FlashForward is floundering a bit too, but seems to have momentum. Like 4400 it will probably eventually die of plotholes, but might still last a few seasons.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Torchwood: Children of Earth was well-written (though controversial) by Russell T. Davies. Much better than most of the previous 2 Torchwood seasons' scripts.

Dr. Who: Planet of the Dead, was pretty good too.

Meteor: Path to Destruction (originally aired July 12 and 19), an NBC Disaster Sundays miniseries by Alexander Greenfield (whose day job is head writer for the wrestling channel) was, well, a disaster of a movie. Absolutely the worst movie I have ever seen. It actually has some decent actors. In case you think I'm the only one with a bad opinion of this movie, see Hulu Reviews, IMDB discussions, and the NBC boards, where the majority of the posters stated that they registered just so they could express how horrible the movie was. A Google search also turns up exclusively negative reviews at Roundtable Pictures. On all boards there were viewers who appreciated the movie as a tool for playing Mystery Science Theater, the game where a group of viewers make fun of a bad movie while watching it. One poster pointed out that possibly the script was changed by the production team, so maybe the writing wasn't that bad -- but given the multitude of implausible, disconnected scenarios, that seems unlikely. I'm still wondering if the psycho cop subplot -- which in no way integrated with the meteor plot -- was originally part of a script about zombies.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Some board posts for the Battlestar Galactica finale (see Television Without Pity and Skiffy):

As much as I loved seeing Chief choke the living hell outta Tory, it doesn't make complete sense to me. He's angry at Tory for killing his wife who "smelled like boiled cabbage." I don't get the intense anger. Pissed off, sure, but homicidal, not so much.

So say we all.

I get that Lee wants to be an explorer, and that Bill wanted to build Laura her cabin, but why the heck would you voluntarily abandon the only family you have left after everything you've been through? Would anybody here who has a loving relationship with a father let him fly away and do nothing? Would you give up the technology that would allow you to keep in touch?

There are still, what, 30,000+ people in the fleet and you actually expect me to believe that every single one of them is perfectly happy giving up all their technology, spreading out and living as what amounts to cavepeople!? Do you have any idea how hard subsistence living is? Lee said he wanted to 'relax' and 'explore.' Too bad for him that he's going to have to spend every waking moment searching for food. No medicine, no real shelter, no nothing.

Yes. Troubling.

On Baltar and Six being angels -- I guess this means Caprica was a pretty wicked place to warrant holocaust.

"Lay off the ACS. You betcha, Galen."

Most troubling is sending a still very sentient Anders into the Sun.

Not sure what was the point of all the Laura backstory. Maybe for the new series?

I did love it, overall. But I have issues with it.

BTW, I understand Mitochondrial Eve/Hera to mean that without the Cylon/Human crossbreeding, humanity would have died out -- kind of a bon mot for cross-cultural dating.

For 2 hours BSG was debated at the United Nations this past week.

The proceedings are downloadable on this page. Specifically, this link. This is a .rm file. You will need Real Player.

Whoopi Goldberg chairs the panel. Eddie Almos, Mary, Ron, and David are on the panel, as are UN personalities.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Goodbye Richard Dean Anderson. Hello John Barrowman. Torchwood is worth watching just to see Barrowman, the RDA of the new milennium. And his character (Captain Jack Harkness) is immortal, so no more spoiled endings with near death experience. In the new Jack's world we know he doesn't die, which leaves the power of that as a plot element in and of itself.

See bus advert from NYC.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

I guess I'm the only Heroes fan who thinks folks seeing reruns of this show in the 2020's will point to the name "The Haitian" as a manifestation of the culture of prejudice against immigrants in the U.S. at this time.

Meanwhile, Lost has become psychologically complex while toning down the soap opera.

With just a few episodes in the series remaining, SG1 gave a rather chilling demonstration of where Homeland Security as we know it is leading in "The Road Not Taken." Wonder if they'll get a few more political licks in before the end.

In the SG Atlantis episode "The Return (Part 2)," RDA had more charisma in his little finger than Barack Obama has in his whole smile.

And what's this about the fallen-guy hero on Rescue Me having visions of Jesus? Should I be watching? Nah, my coworker can fill me in.

Sunday, March 25, 2007 (after BSG season finale)

So, no more BSG 'til 2008??
Won't the Cylons start to show their ages?
Hmmm... Maybe that's how we'll be sure they are Cylons (the ones who don't age).
Oh, yeah, right, they're just actors.
Well, if Chief comes back with gray around the temples, we'll know either he's not a Cylon or he was using Clairol all the time they've been on the run from the Cylons.

What's really cool is that even with questionable ratings, the show was renewed for 22 more eps.
Perhaps this is the dawn of tv as art form.
And ushered in by Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, no less.

So who was the cover band, anyway?
Wikipedia says Dave Mathews band did a cover of it, but I wouldn't recognize it.

And so, 9 frackin months.
Ah well, let's just hope SciFi.com leaves up the podcasts during that time.
I don't know about you, but I've yet to hear quite a few hours.
And, anyway, the SG's return April 13th.

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I've receive a couple of emails lately from Rosfans asking about the cut scenes from Graduation.

For the record:
As far as I know, the existence of such scenes is nothing more than a great Roswellian legend.

Friday, March 2 -- Sunday, March 4, 2007

Regarding BSG Season 3 Ep 15, "Dirty Hands."

Since Ron Moore verifies in the podcast that this episode was intentionally a polemic for labor rights, how is it that the whole backstory of the Cylons as the laborers who revolted is ignored?
On the tvwithoutpity boards bartleby301 replies, "Because they are machines, perhaps?"
to which I retort, "Yeah, but wouldn't there have been some sort of societal epiphane that would have generated a more socialist view of labor?"

And where was Zarek in this episode?
to which BSGMaestra replied on the scifi boards,

Hear, hear.
Where was Zarek this episode? It seems likely that our erstwhile-political-terrorist-***-vice-president would have something to opine on the subject of class and labor disputes, no? Wasn't this basically his platform once upon a time? Didn't he blow up a building/go to jail/write a book/refuse a pardon over similar such circumstances?

And, speaking of which, wasn't said book supposed to be a foundational moment in the education of young Lee Adama? Where was he? Up until now, he's had a consistent track record of calling mom and dad on the carpet whenever they jump the rails morally, ethically, and/or politically. (“Hey, Admiral, Madam President. You know what I think is probably not such a good idea—um…assassinations, military coups, not holding elections,” etc .). Wherefore the silence this week?

Also, in the opening scenes we see the prosthetic arm of someone laboring in the tillium factory, a foreshadowing of the loss of an arm by a young labor conscript later in the episode, but RDM doesn't mention this bit of cinematography/directing in the podcast. I sensed that like myself, dismemberment creeps him out.

One thing he does briefly mention is that there was a scene that included 2 extras that was cut because labor union rules dictated that the extras could not speak and could not be directed, hence their performance was inadequate. Wonder if they got paid anyway...probably. But their résumés suffered, hence their chance to rise to a higher class among actors was thwarted. And the point of the episode, as RDM states, is to illustrate the injustice of the inability of people to rise in status beyond that of their birth.

**********

Ah well, it's Sunday again, and now we are in shock over the loss of Kara Thrace and her Special Destiny.

But over on the scifi boards someone postulated that Katee would return as the clone created from her stolen ovaries.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Battlestar Gallactica and Heroes are it for now.

And here's me in Second Life:

Monday, January 1, 2007

Quoted below: From "IGN Interviews Michael Shanks," by Jason Van Horn -- on the 200th episode of Stargate SG1 (making it the longest running US sci-fi show [just out-stripping X-Files -- the British Dr. Who has a longer history]):

...

IGN TV: I thought episode "200" was one of the best hours of television all this season, as it was really a love letter to all the fans. I was wondering what was it like for you to be a part of that episode, and what were some of your thoughts and experiences with the more popular sights gags of that episode, such as dressing up like the Cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz, ...?

Shanks: One of the running themes of our show is it is earnest science fiction and we have to take our situations very seriously, but there is a really great sense of humor behind the scenes, and we've always talked about the show we wanted to make as opposed to the show we were making, and with the "200" we finally got to make the show we had always wanted to make whenever we were mocking something on set or sending something up. So we finally got to do those things and show the audience finally what actually goes on in our brains when we are making the show, so it was great. A lot of the stuff, like the puppets and the Star Trek stuff and Farscape stuff and Wizard of Oz stuff, those were all things we talked about and joke about behind the scenes. I would end up doing Ben imitations all the time, and obviously having Claudia there ramped that up a bit. We always talked about for years the references of Wizard of Oz in the show, it has always been the archetype character, you know, Teal'c is the Tin Man looking for his heart, O'Neill is the good guy looking for his brain, and Daniel is the guy looking for his courage. And to actually take it and carry the full distance was fantastic - for me a special treat, because in grade twelve I played the Cowardly Lion in a musical production of Wizard of Oz, so it was fascinating to get back into that almost exact same outfit and pay homage to that part of my life as well....

...

Friday, December 22, 2006

Rose Tyler and the Doctor parted ways (this evening in the U.S., last year in the U.K.) with the actress truly sobbing on screen and obviously heartbroken over it. The good Doctor not so much, but then he wasn't getting fired. Still, loved the last-century, cardboard, 3-D movie, red 'n' green spectacles on him.

Both Heroes and BSG are taking only brief holiday breaks to return in January.

Stargate SG1 has 10 more episodes to the end of the series.

However, from Gateworld:

Stargate News --

Exclusive: Third Stargate series in development

Thursday - December 14, 2006 | by Darren Sumner

Prepare to step through the gate all over again! A third television series in the hit Stargate franchise is now in development, GateWorld has learned.

A production source informs GateWorld that the new series is in the concept phase, and is being actively worked on by the Vancouver creatives behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. No concept for the show has yet been revealed.

The third TV series is also not likely to be rushed into production for a 2007 premiere in order to replace SG-1, which takes its final bow with 10 new episodes this spring. Instead, a premiere in 2008 or later is more likely at this point. (Note that, at this time in the fall of 2003, Stargate Atlantis was well into casting, script-writing, and set-building to make a July premiere date.)

Following the success of the 1994 film "Stargate," Stargate SG-1 debuted in 1997, and spun off Stargate Atlantis in 2004. The two shows return to SCI FI Channel in the U.S. with new episodes in April. The spring run of 10 episodes each will mark the series finale of SG-1, and the third season finale of Atlantis.

Stargate Atlantis returns for its fourth season later in 2007.

Meanwhile, SG-1 will continue with two movies, presumably direct-to-DVD, currently aiming for a fall 2007 release.

Saturday, October 7, 2006

BSG began Season 3 last night. The sex and violence completely sidestepped gratuity, only serving to develop the plot, which itself was a study in political ethics. The SF Chronicle gave it a rave, which says something, though I'm not sure what.

Because it stayed true to it's non-partisan view of looking down at the fence from above rather than straddling it, I will at least watch next week, Comcast willing.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Can't help but wonder if this Rosblog is not just a testimony to the god of television, the Great and Terrible Mind Ossifier.

According to the Televisionary Blog Spot,
Eureka has been renewed:

"03 October 2006
"...Sci Fi has renewed Eureka for a second season of wacky scientists, misbehaving machines, and general oddball behavior in the fictional Pacific Northwest berg of Eureka, a top secret home for the nation's most brilliant scientists to conduct covert experiments...."

I intend to tune in next season (whenever that may be in the Land of Individualists), if for no other reason than to see if they finally admit that Eureka in the Pacific Northwest is soo not a fictional town.

BSG returns Friday night. Not sure if I'll stick with it. Might be a little too graphic in its depications of political violence.

Lost returns Wednesday, but I will be at work, and my VCR is on the fritz. Oh well, another show gone violent, anyway.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Not watching anymore: Dead Zone
Rarely watching reruns only: Smallville, 24
Watching: SG1, SG Atlantis, 4400, Eureka, Monk, Saved
Will be watching: BSG
Probably will be watching: Lost, Dr. Who
Going on hiatus: 4400

Atlantis has been exploring the social interaction between us and them, or self and other, or west and east, or English-speakers and Islam, or English-speakers and Spanish-speakers.
In Atlantis, the others are the Wraith who are human/bug hybrids that prey upon humans as their only food source. At first they were the ultimate Evil entity. In the past year they've become someone to bargain with. Reminds me of my mother telling me that when her inlaws fled Russia during the early 20th century revolution, that my grandmother (whose personality mine is said to resemble) wanted to stay and bargain with the Bolsheviks.

Lost and BSG have similar themes.

After 10 seasons and over 200 episodes (longer than any other Scifi except Dr. Who) SG1 has been axed, but might migrate to another viewing venue.

Saturday, March 11, 2006
(morning after season finales of the 'Gates and BSG):

*****

Stargate SG1 (-RDA):
Kudos to the camera folks et al. who framed Amanda Tapping's Tweety-Pie-eyed look at having a ring-side seat to Armegeddon.

*****

Stargate Atlantis:
Overshadowed by BSG's twist, Atlantis' own wrenching turn leaves us wondering how it will play out next October, and kind of creeped-out. The ethical dilemmas of the characters should keep the audience at least a bit curious.

*****

Battlestar Gallactica (wondering if anyone will even remember what BSG stands for, come October):
Anyone reading this ever read Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath? The last half hour of the BSG finale made me feel the same as did the last scene in GoW. If you aren't familiar with the book, I'm not going to link to any summary, because you really have to have slogged through the expertly-crafted hundreds of pages of the book preceding the last scene to appreciate how much it seemed like it was tacked on in frustration over a publisher's deadline or some other social injustice.

Digression:

Sometime in the early 1970's, I was perched on the steeply-sloped, mountainous bank of the Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, in the heat of the summer, wearing 2 strategically place scarves (some would call it being naked), creating an en plein aire oil painting. In all fairness to my choice of attire, it was so hot that the oil paints were setting up as fast as I could lay them down, and I was using stand oil.

I was camped in a sleeping bag, also "en plein aire," in an apricot orchard gone organic under the care of 3 hippies who were much like myself. The painting was progressing nicely, and I was in the zone of becoming Leonardo Da Vinci/Rembrandt, complete with layers of glazes, which the climate graciously encouraged. Many more paintings of the scenery would be produced there in the next few years, but not by me.

Shortly after I became seriously obsessed with my current painting project, a band of perhaps a dozen or more hippies arrived to camp out and harvest the apricots, drying them on cardboards in the sun. Not long after they had settled in, the owner of the land showed up to ask the few caretaker hippies what was up with Woodstock in his (and his neighbors') back yard. The owner said they'd have to go. And then, so I was told, he said, "And what about the naked painter?" Hippie John, whose amourous advances I had (perhaps foolishly) rebuffed, replied, "I don't know her." So I too was told to leave.

At the same time, the parents of Hippie Dennis had arrived for a visit, and seemed to think I was the "one" for their son. They asked if they could have the painting. I did give it to them.

But not until after I had finished it in a manner not unlike the finishing of Season 2 of BSG by Ron Moore, and of GW by John Steinbeck. That is, I was supremely annoyed and angered by the arrogance and lack of appreciation for my creative genius (and total disregard for my own justifiable claims to arrogance) by my fellow humans. So, instead of merely asking for X amount of time to complete my work, I took a fine brush, and some dark blue paint (probably pthalocyanine blue, but maybe not), and drew with the varnish-laced (even quicker drying) paint, a pattern not unlike a chain-linked fence upon the water where I had originally intended to place carefully computed (with regards to height and width) highlights and shadows that would have accurately portray the perspective of the scene. Then I gave the painting to the well-meaning parents from Colorado, sure that they could never realize it was an unfinished painting with crosshatching slapped on in a layer so strong with varnish that a gentle rubbing of turpentine could have removed it, but that even doing so would not "finish" the painting.

I feel about the last scene in Grapes of Wrath and the last half hour of Battlestar Galactica, Season 2, the same way I feel about the "finish" of that painting.

If you don't get the analogy, it's okay. I'm not a Steinbeck anymore than I am DaVinci or Rembrandt.

A SciFi Friday night, January 27, 2006, to be exact.

Okay. In case you didn't notice that my Rosblog links are out of order, I did notice. And I think/fear fixing it will require looking at backup CDs. So, not now, maybe (never say never)...
And with broadband being ubiquitous, this page isn't really too long.

So. Atlantis. Loved it. Hewett was playing 2 characters again, this time himself with a concussion and his subconscious. So close to home for me, I think I may have traded places with him a couple of times. Best line? Surely it was the one that went something like, "I'm talking to a whale on an alien planet like it's Lassie." I was greatly relieved that they didn't channel biblical Noah--it would have been too trite.

Elsewhen, SG1 was okay--more of the armed forces emo.
BSG was surely penned by a former writer for the Christian Science Monitor, and I'm not referencing their Pulitzer status. It's very cool that TOG Apollo has the role of Zarek.

Saturday night, January 7, 2006

I'm back. When did you leave, you ask. Never mind.

Last night was the first SciFi Friday in a few months, with new episodes of the StarGates SG1 and Atlantis, followed by Battle Star Galactica. It's interesting to note that Tony Graphia is a "co-executive producer" for BSG, and that she was also co-producer and writer for much of Roswell seasons 1 & 2, particularly the darker episodes.

Some of you might be aware that after the last episode of BSG on Sept. 23, 2005, the Colonial Fleets website issued a statement which officially distanced themselves from anything having to do with the current version of the show. I wish I had saved that open letter, or maybe I did and don't remember. If anyone has it, please send it to me for posting.

The basic reason colonialfleets.com disowned the BSG progeny, was the horrific scenes of the abused Cylon women, and an interpretation of those scenes as being supportive of violence against women (if I remember correctly). As with any scene of violence, it can be gratuitous or socially meaningful, and the difference can depend (to some degree) upon what the viewer brings to the show.

While I did not agree with the conclusions about the motives for these scenes as expressed in the colonialfleets.com statement, I too had decided not to watch anymore because it was just too upsetting. But I did watch last night, because in the 3 months since I last saw the show, what I remembered even more was the way the show develops characters that are neither entirely good or evil. Though much current literature and film attempts to do the same, I find it intriguing that a scifi television show has succeeded where others have only managed to hint at what they were trying to do.

While I respect colonialfleets.com's choice to pretend that the show does not exist, a choice made on moral grounds, I also wonder when they will decide to accept this incarnation back into the fold. Not "if," but "when." Is that too harsh of me?

Well, maybe next week I'll post about one of the Gates programs...or maybe I'll take another 5-month nap.

Monday, August 8, 2005

That isn't just a chorus of crickets out there.
And it's not even a symphony, because there are no intermissions.
It's a Woodstock of cricketdom.
As restful as the waves rolling in on a shore.
Even the tall evergreens' fronds lay still -- their hands relaxed at their sides.
Totally relaxed.
Like they'd been to a relaxation workshop for trees.

There's been way too much tv to just watch, let alone comment on it regularly. I guess the most memorable performance this season would have to go to Claudia Black as Vala on Stargate SG1. In fact, with RDA retiring, her prescence (along with that of actors Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks) could make the difference between another several years of SG1 or not.
At least, that is, in my not so humble opinion.
But I'm left wondering if performing Shakespeare made them better actors, or if it's just that actors who perform Shakespeare are serious (and seriously obsessed) about their craft.

As for the other shows, Atlantis is doing okay, in large part because of the arresting personae of the lead actors. And David Hewlett recently gave an intelligent and inspired performance as 2 people in the same body. (Okay, you had to be there.)

The first 2 episodes of the Dead Zone left me cold. But since then the stories have had more heart. (Really, no puns intended.)

Battlestar Galactica has actors with both presence and ability, but sometimes it gets to feeling almost soap opera-ish. But that's probably just a manifestation of the ease with which the scifi genre allows real life stories to be told, which no one would dare tell otherwise. Politics and religion included. And having recently watched a string of the Old Galactica series, I can appreciate that this is not a new story.

Monk is still worth watching because after identifying with his neuroses, we are generally given a pretty satisfying ending -- though not always. Still, Tony Shalhoub is a respected actor for a reason, and there's a lot of charisma among the other actors as well. But I think I will start my taping and fast forwarding with this one.

The 4400...it's riveting, but I really must start giving up some of this viewing -- not to mention reruns of Early Edition, and sometimes MacGyver. So, if I can peel myself away from the 4400, I will.

Saturday, July 9, 2005

Thursday was a Stargate marathon, Friday was Atlantis. I think there was a BSG marathon on Wednesday.
Each was to "prepare" for the season premiers of all three next Friday.

All are a little heavy on the quantity of violence, although not very much graphic display. And these are violent times (though not where I live).
Only BSG has any regular "adult" content, and it also has the most significant "socially redeeming value."

In 2000, on the FanForum Roswell message board, a professor of Theology at a University in the state of Washington attributed to scifi writer Ursula LaGuin that scifi "was about about creating psychological distance so the reader could examine some very here and now issues within themselves and their own societies."

On Atlantis last night, a member of the crew radios to Dr. Weir to "keep your fingers crossed" (that the latest threat will be defeated through brains and technology).
The camera cuts away to Weir responding that she is doing so, and we see her fingers interlaced in a position akin to one of prayer-
-an interesting interpretation of an old custom.

Blogging is the playground for new punctuation.

Sunday, July 3, 2005

Not scifi exactly, more of a hallucination, I suppose, but, it's Sunday and...
On FX, on their own show, Rescue Me, the Tommy, the main character has "quit" drinking, referencing an AA meeting. Everytime he pours a drink, drops of blood appear on a white napkin or piece of paper, dripping from above. When Tommy looks for the source (all kinds of metaphor/homonym here), he sees a large crucifix with the blood dripping from the crown of thorns.

This is particularly symbolic (though the writers may not have consciously thought of it--but would have likely had unconscious associations with the imagery), in that the blood was not from the wound in Jesus' side from the soldier who stabbed Jesus with a spear. Rather, being the blood from the crown of thorns, it symbolizes the mockery Jesus endured when they made fun of his being a "King" of the Jews (hrmph, not "Hebrews"?). Few today, believers or not, would deny Jesus was made a King, if not then, at some point in the last 2,000 years. Likewise, even the faithfully-on-the-wagon alcoholic must endure scoffing of his sobriety because of the many who fall "off the wagon" and take a drink (although Jesus chose to be the object of derision on behalf of many who deserved it -- but then an alcoholic who chooses sobriety would also be a type of Christ).

So, Tommy, the main character, leaves behind several untouched (I think?) drinks when he sees the "great drops of blood" (also physically reminiscent of the drops we picture Jesus "sweating" in the Garden when he prayed the night before his execution). It's as if Tommy's vision of the drops of blood, and Jesus' crucified self, cause Tommy to feel he would be re-crucifying the Saviour and humiliating all sober alcoholics if he took the drink.

About Roswell, the actor who played Maria's mom also stars in Rescue Me, though she had a minimal role in this episode. Is that what they call 6 degrees of separtion?

Oh, but I forgot my point...
This Christian scenario was depicted on and created by the Fox network. You know, the folks who brought us Nip/Tuck, whose gratuitous sex far outstripped its graphic surgery.
Which serves to illustrate that there's really no point in dissing anyone, because you might just find yourself on the wrong side in the future. At least, that's what I believe Jesus would posit.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

There's a Roswell marathon on SciFi tomorrow starting at 7am CDT -- end of Season 2 and beginning of Season 3. Perhaps timed to coordinate with the US release of the Season 3 DVD -- at least I think it was scheduled for a July release.

Update on my Crystalens implant: Eyesight is still impaired, but improving. Either that or it's just the larger fonts I'm using. Regardless, it's all miraculous. Colors are truer.

Sunday, June 5, 2005

So, Monk, Atlantis, & Stargate are all having season premiers in July. Dead Zone is next Sunday night.

Right now I'm watcing the premier of The 4400. Some definite Roswellian word dropping -- but is it on purpose or just that it's been infused into the scifi culture? Or did my 30-year gap in tv watching leave me unaware of previous "pod people"? Probably. But the guy who played old Hal in the Roswell Summer of '47 episode is an X Files-styled baddy in the 4400. As with Roswell, it looks like it's a one-episode gig for the actor. Not sure if I'm going to watch it regularly. The schizophrenics are intriguing. The one named Kevin does some good acting. And the super baby is very cute.

Well, tomorrow morning I have surgery in hopes of getting a second sight. Or is it a third chance?

May 28, 2005

So, I did see the 2nd Star Wars prequel on TV -- or, at least most of it. It was released in 2002. So. One of the 2 George's has a realistic view (with a little prescience thrown in) of where the country was headed post-my birthday in 2001. Er, ah, that is one George made it so, and the other made a movie of the coming doom. Can we at least get a cover of Blowin' In the Wind on the charts?

No more SciFi Fridays. Unless you like feature creatures. But Monday nights they will be showing teasers of the new seasons of SG1, Atlantis, and Galactica. Oh, and Monk is starting a new season in July too. Not sure about the Dead Zone. No more Andromeda, I guess. Like Roswell, they tried to be too many things to too many audiences.

In case anyone's interested, my prayers have been miraculously answered lately.

Really just checking in to post a new June calendar.

I realize that I'm probably talking to myself. Kind of like, 25 years ago, when I used to play my flute or guitar perched in my studio window, pretending I was performing for the masses below. Or, about the same time, when I used to do pastel portraits of bands in bars and pretend I was invisible if anyone tried to hit on me. And if my stalker is reading this--no one my age should have to work 5 days a week and deal with teenagers, never mind fending off extraneous relationships with tact and grace. Never mind. I just took my evening risperdal.

Saturday, May 25, 2005

National Public Radio had a piece on the final Star Wars movie this week, in which the series was defined as an allegory of Christianity. Maybe so. I've only seen parts of a couple of them on a very small screen.

But I just inadvertently read a very heart-felt review (though the "f" word is casually thrown around for emphasis) from Ain't It Cool News, by a man who has seen every Star Wars episode in the theatres, with his father, since he was 6 years old.

From that review (I have not seen the movie) I was struck by how a film, which was to many, 'just another Star Wars action movie,' might just be an insightful and accurate depiction of the current global situation, telling the story of how the US became the bad guy, as seen from a hundred years in the future, looking back.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy opens in theatres tomorrow. If you know me well, it is so ironic, and yet so typical, that I probably won't see it. But maybe on cable in a couple of years. But this one might be best on a large screen. But I'll at least wait to hear if there are any large, upsetting, visuals. I would not want to see, for example, Fight Club in a theatre.

Interesting how tv in the 80's was like a stage play, but now it's like a movie.

Getting close to getting a handle on who I am, but it's difficult when you have a counselor with narcolepsy.

We've been having an interesting discussion on FanForum.com's Roswell Bureau of Investigation thread about souls and their constitution.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Just happened to read Battlestar Galactica's lead writer, Ron Moore's, blog. I hope my pastor thinks along those lines.

Just noticed I missed a Roswell marathon this week. Rough week. Tough life. But I've had my share of good moments.

Monk is returning this summer. Will I?

Friday, April 2, 2005

About the Battlestar Galactica season 1 finale:

So, Boomer goes all Cylon on us and shoots Adama.
My opinion is that she was motivated by her anger at learning she was a Cylon at the same time she was programmed to blow up a planet of Boomers.
Oh, and I guess now we know why they call her Boomer. But she definitely has some looks of remorse and unbelief after doing it. Much more natural than the typical android.
Some great acting all around.

Easter is over and, as with the rest of my life at this time, it slipped by with my only getting a glimpse of the spiritual meaning/implication.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Tonight the season finales for Stargate and Stargate Atlantis aired, which seemed worthy of a posting.

But first, since it is Easter week, and since Battlestar Gallactica had a religious-themed episode, it seems appropriate to address that topic.

So, it turns out (perhaps 80's BSG fans already knew?) that the "Gods" are the same as in Lucy Maude Montgomery's Emily of New Moon series, i.e., the Greek Gods as seen through a "modern" eye.

And when Kara (Starbuck) learns that Commander Adama has no clue where Earth is (like no Santa Claus), she jumps ship (well, she jumps with a ship) to the last old home world to retrieve the holy grail (er, uh, that is, the Arrow of Whatever), which is now her only hope.

Most significantly, IMNSHO, there's a lot of dialogue about being "religious." Or was it just a little, and the rest is something my teenage daughter said that is echoing in my mind? Regardless, in Kara I see a very resonant echo of my own faith.

*****

Stargate had what I thought was a perfect season finale. O'Neill and Carter--from an alternate timeline, but the same universe-- get married and catch a fish in Original Timeline O'Neill's fishless pond. Hmmm...symbolic. More importantly, it is more believable in a short time frame, occurring between the Alternate heroes. But we do not feel cheated, since Normal Timeline O & C finally declared themselves in the first part of Mobius, last week. And retirement and marriage is much more graceful than killing off a beloved character and actor (through 2 series, each running 8 or 9 years).

And I loved the references to all of the fans' complaints about the fictional technology, e.g., why do they have to walk over the face of all of the planets to which they gate? No SUV's or Hummers allowed? And the anti-gun, pro-explosive references--those date back to MacGyver.

But more enduring, perhaps, is the treatment of time travel. I hope someone will correct me if I am wrong, but this episode's treatment of that beloved-by-scfi-writers-and-fans technology seemed to have more depth and plausibility than the usual time travel depictions in SciFi. But that's not surprising. All of the few time travel episodes of SG1 have been among the best (episodes 2001, 2010, 1969, and Window of Opportunity). And now we can add Mobius to the collection.

As far as I know, there is no other story in which the main characters, having been altered by the actions of their former selves during regressive time travel, take the places of their original selves upon returning to the present timeline. And then the writers added in an unaltered Daniel surviving--consistant with his saintly personna from the first movie portrayal of Daniel Jackson, through his ascenion and various other crucifixional events, to the present, er, uh, past, er, uh, make that past-present (or is it present-past?).

Truly a brilliant finale, and satisfying too.

*********

Stargate Atlantis' finale was also well-done, but, having just completed it's first season, it just does not yet have enough backstory for a more-involved plot. Still, I appreciated the way the lead female characters demonstrated strength of character.

Sunday, March 13, 2005 (with an addition on Tuesday, the 22nd)

Stargate SG-1 on the SciFri Friday this week was the answer to every Dreamer's yearning, and done so tastefully. Admittedly, it took 9 years. But that's okay.

*********************

In January, Joan Pickering and Erica Cavin posted the final episode of the virtual Roswell Season 1 on their website, RWMHB (Roswell, What Might Have Been). Joan posted commentaries on the episode a month later in February. And I am just announcing it here, another month later.

On the virtual, continuing saga front:
Cyndy (roswellbrat) just announced the posting of the first episode of the virtual season 5 on the new website of RTFC, (Roswell the Final Chapte)r.

In case you're wondering what the difference is between RWMHB and RTFC:...
RWMHB is the original story retold the way the majority of the fans thought it would/should go, given the critically acclaimed first half of season 1.

RTFC is very different from the original. It has new seasons beyond the original 3, with new alien characters. It is more alien-focused, but still earth-bound.

*********************

I love the socio-artiness of this 'fake' Roswell: The Movie ticket.

There's another blitz going on now at Roswellmovie.net in coordination with Fox's release of the Season 3 DVD in England (it will be here this summer, if I read correctly)..
Click the ticket for a set of printable tickets.
Just one, enlarged to poster size in PhotoShop (a piece of cake) would look really cool on photo-paper. I'm not sure if it's supposed to say 2005? Regardless, a poster-sized one would make a great piece of art. I don't even go to the movies. I just like what it is and how it looks.
There's a new printer for poster-sized paper being tested at work, but I think I'm too late.

*********************

Okay. One last update. It seems Roswell Readers Choice is gone (due to a hardware failure?)...but not forgotten by Google's cache (highlight to see text). I have saved the text of the cached pages, but will not upload at this time, and will not distribute without making at least as valiant an attempt to gain permissions as one must do to adopt a step-child..

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

"And the sky shall roll back as a scroll."

I've been busy thinking about things. Like, last night I saw The Elegant Universe on PBS -- about String Theory as an answer to Einstein's quest for a merger of Newtonian gravitational theories and the already melded electronic and magnetic theories.

Sorry if I offend with my layman techno-speak. I'm too old to have studied it in school, hence I watched this definitely grade-school-level program, so that is the level on which I now speak.

Anyway, it always seemed to me that these were just different manifestations of the same thing -- like your visceral perception of the temperature outdoors versus the temperature measured in terms of a specific scale and/or scales (Fahrenheit, Celcius, Kelvin).
That is, gravity is just the wind that we (don't) see, and electro-magnetic energy is the power pushing the 'wind.'
So, is it just finding the formula that describes the relationship of these ways of feeling/measuring that is going to explain the universe?
It sounds a little spoiled-80's-child simplistic to me. But, as the children's book teaches, "Simple pictures are best."
Okay. That was my brain speaking -- to state the obvious. And this is my brain on legal drugs supposed to make me more adaptable to the work place:
(click for 780 kb image)
Not so different.
Just more intense.
Anyone out there know or care to google the Amish saying about how we never really change, we just become more ourselves?
Recalling now one of many phrases that have echoed in my mind for decades (everyone has that, right?) from the 70's when I was in the Santa Cruz mountains, painting a landscape and washing dinner dishes for 60 hippies.
Wavy Gravy was there.
And some other guy whose name escapes me.
I gave him the still wet oil painting, which he was going to hang on the ceiling of his bus to dry because my typical style of working* caused them to ask me to leave, after which, when they saw the fruits of my labors, they were sheepishly remorseful (also typical).
Anyhoo -- a lady whose name also escapes me (I think the bus-guy's jilted lover) told me not to leave the wet oil painting with him (though I had only a backpack at the time...oh, I guess she wanted it...and maybe my friendship? whoops) because he was a former horse-trader, and, as she quoted, "Does the leopard change it's spots?"
Hmmm...did she know this was a Biblical reference?
No matter, I have left more paintings behind than Leonardo da Vinci -- though not many more.

The reason for the meds is that my boss is a micro-manager -- who constantly interrupts my personal flow of interrruptions.
But, then, I do the same to her.
So my workplace computer's screen saver is a scrolling text of, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

Qfanny? Are you out there somewhere?

*(i.e., private, so as not to confuse casual observers with my melding of the best of the effects of ADD & OCP -- which is ADHD and OCD when on medication which is theoretically supposed to relieve both)

*************************

Oh, yeah, back on topic of the blog: Battlestar Galactica (late Friday nights on SciFi) is the best, IMNSHO, out there right now -- perhaps because the old BSG fans are so anti- the new show. It makes Ron D Moore & crew work at it more -- which is sort of the inverse of Roswell's trajectory: When the fan base was angry about the space-opera-ish turn of plotlines, it became cool to spend huge resources of time in bashing the show. This only caused the writers to feel free with campiness (like Andromeda now), but the producer$ and youthful actors picked up the fans negative attitudes, which may have led to the show's ultimate downfall.