recent media intake

So I’m back into Battlestar Galactica. Season 3 has been released on DVD and Season 4 has started on Sci-Fi. I have Season 3 on hold at the library, and since it will be months before I will get it, I’m starting over. I finished the mini-series last night and it was great the second time around, with me catching a couple of things I missed the first time. Still unnerved by the Cylons as God’s children. Haven’t quite figured out how that plays out. Are they God’s ordained punishment or just as confused as humanity? Since Season 4 is the end of the series, I really hope they resolve some of big questions from the series. If it ends really open ended, I will be pretty disappointed. I don’t even care if the surviving humans find Earth; I am more interested in the Cylons and the purpose of their return—revenge, divine retribution, humanity’s savior, something else entirely?

House came back last week. The two episodes after the strike have been uneven in that the interplay between the characters if hilarious, savage, and interesting, with the “medical mystery” ranging from confusing to irrelevant.

See this comment from politedissent.com regarding the first episode after the strike:
"I don’t have too much to comment about this one, medically. In this episode, the medicine was clearly secondary to the personality issues (What is Jeff’s real personality? and House vs. Amber). House and the team skipped over a bunch of more common causes of Jeff’s symptoms, going straight for the obscure. They then focused on these obscure causes, when some simple — and frankly standard of care — follow-up tests would have shown them their error from the beginning.

I give the medical mystery a B+ because it brought up some interesting points — is being too happy a bad sign? And if so, is being too curmudgeonly equally bad? The final solution was moderately clever, but even more an out-of-the-blue answer than usual, earning a C. The medicine was weak and sloppy throughout and could have been handled better by a second year medical student; it deserves only a measly D. The House/Amber/Wilson/Cuddy soap opera was good, the House-has-syphilis not as good. Still, I give the soap opera aspect a generous A-."

Totally agree. I am almost to the point of them solving the “medical mystery” in the first or last segment, or even eliminating it all together, and concentrating on the interaction of the characters. Far more interesting. The final two episodes of the season are on the way and I can’t wait to see how they leave the characters going into the summer.


In an effort to expand my musical horizons, I’ve checked out the following bands:

Frank Black/The Pixies. I really missed this the first time around and have slowly filled in the gaps. “Monkey Gone to Heaven” is one of my favorite songs ever. I checked out Frank Black on his own and would give it a so-so grade. Pixies is where it’s at. Belly wasn’t too bad and the initial album from the Breeders was great, with Cannonball being an awesome single.


Angels and Airwaves. On the advice of Tom, I gave them a listen. I wasn’t that big of a Blink 182 fan, “All the Small Things” being my favorite single. I-Empire is the second album, and I guess the first one is better. This album had a couple of catchy songs but seemed quite repetitive. I’ll give the debut album a try and we’ll see.


Right now, I’m listening to the best of Iggy Pop. There’s a couple of decent singles, with Lust for Life and The Passenger being highlights so far.


For any soccer fans out there, this Sunday is Super Sunday. The only comparison I could make in American sports is to the two drivers having the same amount of points going into the final NASCAR race. Manchester United and Chelsea have the same amount of points with United possessing the superior goal difference, and the tension will be unbearable as the momentum swings in each game. With the Champions League final between these two teams ten days later, it is possible that one team could be so close to everything and yet achieve nothing.


Finally, how great was Crystal’s post last week? I really enjoyed it and it brought back memories of my days on the retail front lines. Customers asking the most outrageous questions; customers not reading clearly posted signs regarding a number of issues; customers trying to “multi-task” by talking to you and the cell phone at the same time; customers thinking that you, a marginally paid employee, are their personal slave/encyclopedia/phone book/concierge and that you, a human being with your issues, give an ounce about their lives. Ohhh, those were such good times.