10 - 2006 | ***Dave Does the Blog

Battlestar Galactica: “Collaborators”

There’s nothing terribly new in what happens in this episode of BG — after the revolution, those who worked for of the old regime are always subject to execution,…

There’s nothing terribly new in what happens in this episode of BG — after the revolution, those who worked for of the old regime are always subject to execution, legitimately or not. In this case, a group of Galactica officers is holding star chamber trials for those accused of collaboration with the Baltar government and the Cylons. The peripheral cast continues to be whittled down — but by how much?

As I said, nothing terribly new, either in the setting or in how it gets (perhaps) resolved. What’s interesting is how, now back in the relative security of the Galactica and the fleet, the survivors of New Caprica show their emotional scars. Tigh and Starbuck in particular seem brutal shells of themselves, while others struggle to pull themselves back to civilization. A nice examination of how being brutalized creates brutality in retaliation, no matter how many times someone
says, “This isn’t about vengeance.”

And the series seems to have recovered its balance. The story here, even if (apparently?) glibly resolved, returning things (sort of) to the old status quo, is both comfortably within the zone of what BG has done best (the politics of survival) and fresh. BG has regained its balance that seemed lost in the Season 2/3 transition. And I’m truly curious as to how this will continue to play out over the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, Baltar, ironically, is facing as dire an evaluation as the collaborators are back on Galactica. Interesting.

And let me just say for the record that my initial aghastness at the casting of Richard Hatch (Apollo in the original series, Zarek in the new) was utterly unfounded. He’s doing an excellent job as the ruthless terrorist-turned-semi-legit politician. Well played.

Good stuff.

Remains of the Day

Katherine hauled in a lot more than this. Yeah, I thing a donation to the office is in order. UPDATE: It was a disturbingly quiet night. Maybe 15 kids all…

Katherine hauled in a lot more than this. Yeah, I thing a donation to the office is in order.

UPDATE: It was a disturbingly quiet night. Maybe 15 kids all told — fewer than usual. I was generous in handing out.

Margie took Katherine around with Kendall and Tyler (from up the street) and, for a time, Kaylee (Jackie and Doyce came by). Later, Katherine went out for an extended trip out toward Collin’s neighborhood, under Margie’s watchful eye. A good time was had by all.

Annoying-Yet-Amusing Moment of the Evening: A trio of early teens comes to the door. On their way away, they head left, rather than toward the driveway. I suggest loudly that they should go the other direction, but it’s too late for the kid who’s already forged his way down through the garden — and scraped himself on the iron figurines there.

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Here’s What I Think About Politics

Defective Yeti is usually a great site to go to for the amusing anecdote, joke, bon mot, game review, or Bad Review Revue. But today Matthew Baldwin says everything I…

Defective Yeti is usually a great site to go to for the amusing anecdote, joke, bon mot, game review, or Bad Review Revue. But today Matthew Baldwin says everything I have to say about the coming election and next couple of years of politics. Curse him!

An embarrassing travel incident that cannot be blamed on the TSA

Don’t let this, um, happen to you. A woman who works at the Population Council went to an AIDS conference in Toronto. She ended up flying home with a lot…

Don’t let this, um, happen to you.

A woman who works at the Population Council went to an AIDS conference in Toronto. She ended up flying home with a lot of give-away condoms.

Fortunately, I made it through customs in Toronto and past the T.S.A. checkpoint without incident. By the time I claimed my luggage in Allentown, I had all but forgotten about my contraband. I had also forgotten how tightly the condoms had been packed into my bag. I needed to change shoes at the airport, and so I grabbed the bag and opened it thoughtlessly.
The prophylactics popped out of my luggage. Dozens of condoms — green, pink, red, white, purple, ultrathin, ribbed and extra-strength — scattered across the terminal floor.
Now you have to remember that this happened in Allentown, a place that isn’t exactly known for its condom collections. I’m sure that people recognize the enormous value they offer in protecting against disease and unwanted pregnancy, or at the very least, as ammo in a water balloon fight. But the guy standing next to me wasn’t one of them. He gazed at me with a look of horror until I had picked every errant one off the floor and shoved them into my bags.

And that wasn’t the end of it …

As Consumerist puts it:

Moral of the story: pack objects you rather others not see away from objects you need access to.

What’s up, Doc?

It’s Halloween Party time at school. UPDATE: Margie and I both made it, and Kitten seemed to be having a blast. Evidently in this day and age (or state), a…

It’s Halloween Party time at school.

UPDATE: Margie and I both made it, and Kitten seemed to be having a blast.

Evidently in this day and age (or state), a “Halloween Parade” consists of all the kids packed into the gym in costume, and then going up on stage by classes and giving a bow. Back in my day (and state) it was a literal parade around the school grounds. Of course, the weather was more clement back in California, it being in the 30s-40s right now outside.

Also back in my day, when we were done with our cuneiform homework, a “costume” was usually cheaply home made, and sheets figured largely into it. The one I remember was a big plastic fright mask and a draped sheet that had been colorfully decorated with scars and drops of blood with a Magic Marker. These days, the costumes are generally a lot more professional looking — Kitten’s (Bugs Bunny gloves and ears, plus a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants) was fairly low tech.

Fair number of store-bought costumes (though, again, those are a quantum leap in quality from the cheap-plastic-mask and garishly-colored-tunic of yesteryear). Popular this year were pirates and princesses, with honorable mention to soldiers, Jedi, ninjas, generic death figures, and girls dressed up as little red devils.

After the “parade,” the classes went back to their rooms to have parties. Margie and I watched a couple of games, then ducked away home.

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The challenge of the rest of the week …

So I’ve managed not to pre-snack on any Halloween candy over the last couple of weeks. The challenge is — how to avoid it until it’s all gone from…

So I’ve managed not to pre-snack on any Halloween candy over the last couple of weeks.

The challenge is — how to avoid it until it’s all gone from the house.

Not talking about Katherine’s candy. It’s hers, so I’m willing to restrain myself.

But any left-over stuff to be given away? Ah, that’s the trick … along with how to do it without feeling like I’m significantly depriving myself.

Hovering at 208, even after overindulgence this past weekend …

UPDATE: The conventional wisdom about weight gain over the holidays is wrong (though it remains a real problem).

It starts with the Halloween candy that stays around for weeks. Then there is the feast on Thanksgiving Day, and eventually the incessant eating and drinking at the end of December, not to mention all that extra time on the couch. With all the opportunities to gorge and laze around over the holidays, it is little surprise that conventional wisdom suggests that the average person will pack on at least five pounds this season.
In reality, though, studies show that most people will gain far less. The only problem is that the holidays probably account for much of a person’s annual weight gain over the course of a lifetime. According to most studies on the subject, the average person gains one to two pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

Bulding the Future Yesterday

The former Soviet Union is (sadly) a great place to find really cool looking buildings that are falling into decay, due to political and/or economic failures (and/or because they…

Soviet Ministry of Transportation building, Tblisi, Georgia

The former Soviet Union is (sadly) a great place to find really cool looking buildings that are falling into decay, due to political and/or economic failures (and/or because they were constructed really badly to begin with). Today’s case in point: from a Dutch art exhibit, a photo of the Ministry of Transportation building
in Tiblisi, Georgia, now abandoned and going to (not yet apparent) ruin.

(via BoingBoing)

Important things to know this Halloween

What happens if a werewolf bites a vampire? What’s the minimum daily requirement of blood for a vampire? Can you get zombified by having sex with a zombie? Uncle Cecil…

What happens if a werewolf bites a vampire? What’s the minimum daily requirement of blood for a vampire? Can you get zombified by having sex with a zombie? Uncle Cecil knows. Or, at least, can make up a mocking answer.

Doctor Who: “The Rise of the Cybermen”

Sat down and watched last Friday’s DW. I’m beginning to get a feel for what I do and don’t like about this particular series (vs. Series 1). The episode,…

Sat down and watched last Friday’s DW. I’m beginning to get a feel for what I do and don’t like about this particular series (vs. Series 1).

The episode, the first of a two-parter, reintroduces the classic Doctor villains, the Cybermen. The show tries to play it somewhat coy, not showing the critters or naming them until close to the end — though obviously classic Doctor fans were likely to recognize them in advance, and the title was, well, sort of a give-away.

Since the Cybermen on our Earth were all defeated (multiple times) some number of Doctors ago (we actually saw one of their heads in Henry Van Statten’s collection in “Dalek,” Series 1), Series 2 gets around this by dropping the TARDIS and Co. into a parallel world London. That also lets them update the Cyberman look (which has upgraded over
the years, anyway) into something … well, honestly, something a bit more Cylonesque.

It also provides for some ample B-plotting, as both Rose and Mickey deal with the differences between their home Earth and this. Which of them has the roughest time with the divergent paths is open to debate, but, as usual, Rose is played for pathos, Mickey for laughs. Well, kind of — there’s some teary bits for him, too, but there’s way too much of the classic “I’m Mickey and I’m so scared and excited I’m peeing my pants” stuff, too. Rose, meanwhile, is still tied up in emotional melodrama
we’ve already seen her go through, and spends more of the episode moping and looking lost and hurt than actually doing something.

The Doctor, meanwhile, once he gets the TARDIS back repairing itself, just sort of hangs, chiding Rose (again) and blowing off Mickey (again), but also generally enjoying himself until the Cybermen start up. And that’s where I realized what I’m just not getting from David Tennant, as the Doctor. He’s just too bloody light-hearted most of the time. Too glib. Too laughing. Too light-weight. And that’s not just a comparison to Eccleston, but to Baker and Pertwee, too.
The only moments in the episode where I really got any oomph from his performance was when he was shouting at the Cybermen. The rest of the time, and in most of the previous episodes this season, he’s just been — well, a clever, jolly fellow, young and slight and a bit callow and just plain old along for a jolly ride. There’s all too little gravitas, mystery, or emotion.

Though the reading glasses are an interesting touch.

So the problem I’m seeing in Series 2 (all 6 of its 14 eps) is this: the cast just isn’t jelling (or the stories aren’t jelling around them). Rose alternates between being irresponsible and angsty, Mickey alternates between being excited and terrified, and the Doctor — who ought to be their focus, and the show’s — just sort of grins along, stumbles across the mystery, comes up with a brilliant idea, and solves it, and on to the next destination, tra-la. There’s little relationship
between him and Rose — certainly none of the romantic tension and mystery of Series 1, and little of the Partners Journeying Into Wonder, either. I’d criticize his treatment of Mickey (why is he along, anyway?), except that (a) Mickey’s a flake and deserves it, and (b) it’s strangely toned down from last year.

Regardless, it’s just missing on that human, relationship, character level — which is where DW needs to go (since Alien Of The Week schtick doesn’t really cut it these days). It’s better than 95% of what else is out there, but it’s not as good or as fun or as moving as Series 1 was, or this series promised to be.

The episode as a whole, given that, was pretty good, taking plenty of time (maybe even a bit too much) to set itself up for the climax and this week’s ep. The fx are good (the original reveal as to how this London isn’t really theirs is a nice one), the villain suitably and predictably villainous, the supporting cast solid (well, the resistance fighters are a bit lame). And I’ll certainly be back next week, to see how it wraps up.

Musical memo to self

So I got Margie a (promissary note for) an iPod for her birthday, so that she can have music in her tiny little cube at the office (or “where ever…

So I got Margie a (promissary note for) an iPod for her birthday, so that she can have music in her tiny little cube at the office (or “where ever she goes,” to be more lyrical).

This has raised the issue of our home music library. I have ripped all our CDs — all 20Gb of them — onto my notebook, which is, to be honest, very much cramping my disc space. As I’m the person who buys most our CDs, it makes sense for me to rip them, and being the fanatical organizer I am about some thing (don’t laugh), it makes sense for me to rip them onto my machine.

(And, actually, I’m in the process of re-reviewing all our ripped music to update the Artist and Composer fields, which are usually sorely lacking in most CD libraries. Oh, and cover art.)

(We don’t actually buy a lot of CDs any more, but occasionally we do — and, no, not so much into the “download your favorite tune for 99 cents” kind of thing, as more than once my favorite tune on an album/collection has turned out not to be the one I bought it for. Serendipity is all, man. Groovy.)

I currently use iTunes for my music jukebox/library, which works well. It collects and stores all sorts of metadata beyond the basic fields for the music, etc. etc.

Ideally, I’d like the music library on Margie’s machine at home, with just enough music on my machine to satisfy my occasional desire to listen to music (I’m on the phone too much to listen to much at the office).

The iPod might make that possible, along with some new features in iTunes 7, such as being able to have multiple libraries. If I can create a library on one of our external drives, with a smaller “my tunes” library on my hard drive, everyone will be happy. We’ll have the music, I’ll have my local bits, etc.

The main question is whether to get the 30Gb iPod (which will also hold everything), or an 80Gb (to allow for some added content down the line). Pondering.

Links for future reference: Multiple Libraries in iTunes 7. Moving your iTunes Music Library to Another Computer. Sync Both Ways.

Also: Moving Your iTunes Library to Another Hard Drive.

Warning Signs of the Future

A fun set of Warning Signs for the New Millennium. Others in the set include Existential Threat, Cognitive Hazard, Ubiquitous Surveillance, and Self-Replicating Device….

A fun set of Warning Signs for the New Millennium. Others in the set include Existential Threat, Cognitive Hazard, Ubiquitous Surveillance, and Self-Replicating Device.

But at least they’re not allowing 4 ounces of toothpaste through …

Once again, TSA screeners fail to find all sorts of potentially dangerous stuff. But God help you if you’re carrying a full-sized bottle of shampoo! Screeners at Newark Liberty International…

Once again, TSA screeners fail to find all sorts of potentially dangerous stuff. But God help you if you’re carrying a full-sized bottle of shampoo!

Screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport failed 20 of 22 security tests conducted by undercover U.S. agents last week, missing an array of concealed bombs and guns at checkpoints throughout the hub’s three terminals, federal security officials familiar with the results said.
The tests, conducted Oct. 19 by U.S. Transportation Security Administration “Red Team” agents, also revealed significant failures by screeners to follow standard operating procedures while checking passengers and their baggage for prohibited items, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is against TSA policy to release covert-test results.

I’m sure that, officially, the reason for not releasing covert-test results is so that the Bad Guys don’t know how crappy our security is. I’m also sure that, unofficially, the reason is so that the Good Guys (a/k/a the Citizenry) don’t know how crappy our security is.

“We can do better, and training is the path to improved performance,” said Mark Hatfield Jr., Newark Airport’s federal security director, declining to address specifics. “Test results are not a grade or a scorecard; they are a road map to perpetual improvement; any other characterization is simply misleading. We have to challenge ourselves to do better every day and be relentless in that pursuit.”

I would like to suggest that every high school student create a rubber stamp of the above and slap it on all their crappy test papers. I’m sure it will be just as persuasive.

Note, for the record, that Newark was the airport that the United Flight 93 hijackers boarded from. The TSA has been in charge of security there since 2002.

Can’t imagine why folks seem peeved at him

Excerpts from a charming little speech given by Sheik Taj el-Din al-Hilali, the most senior Islamic cleric in Australia. But when it comes to adultery, it’s 90% the women’s responsibility….

Excerpts from a charming little speech given by Sheik Taj el-Din al-Hilali, the most senior Islamic cleric in Australia.

But when it comes to adultery, it’s 90% the women’s responsibility. Why? Because a woman possesses the weapon of seduction. It is she who takes off her clothes, shortens them, flirts, puts on make-up and powder and takes to the streets, God protect us, dallying. It’s she who shortens, raises and lowers. Then it’s a look, then a smile, then a conversation, a greeting, then a conversation, then a date, then a meeting, then a crime, then Long Bay jail. [laughs]. Then you get a judge, who has no mercy, and he gives
you 65 years.
But when it comes to this disaster, who started it? In his literature, scholar al-Rafihi says: ‘If I came across a rape crime – kidnap and violation of honour – I would discipline the man and order that the woman be arrested and jailed for life.”
‘Why would you do this, Rafihi? He says because if she had not left the meat uncovered, the cat wouldn’t have snatched it. If the meat was in the fridge and it [the cat] smelled it, it can bang its head as much as it wants, but it’s no use. If the woman is in her boudoir, in her house and if she’s wearing the veil and if she shows modesty, disasters don’t happen.That’s why he said she owns the weapon of seduction.
Satan sees women as half his soldiers: “You’re my messenger to achieve my needs.” Satan tells women: “You’re my weapon to bring down any stubborn man. There are men that I fail with. But you’re the best of my weapons.”
The woman was behind Satan playing a role when she disobeyed God and went out all dolled up and unveiled and made of herself palatable food that rakes and perverts would race for. She was the reason behind this sin taking place.

The speech was made in a mosque during Ramadan. Several years ago, Sydney was subjected to a series of gang rapes by Lebanese youth gangs, who got long prison sentences, so there’s a fair amount of sensitivity to the issue beyond, well, plain old contemporary decency.

The Sheik has apologized for any offense he’s given, and says he didn’t mean to imply al-Rafihi’s views were his own. Which not only is reminiscent of Pope Benedict’s recent contretemps, but has far less foundation, given the surrounding comments. And, as I recall, we had killings and riots around the Pope’s comments.

Fortunately for the Sheik, no Christian mobs or rioters have been noted. And, after all, we’re only being offensive about women …

For the record, and encouragingly a whole heck of a lot of Australian Muslims have condemned the mufti’s remarks, too. Though only after they were published in a newspaper. The Sheik has declined to resign his position, but has asked to go on indefinite leave.

(via DOF)

TinyTuring

I’ve upgraded the TinyTuring plug-in for MT at my site so that, in addition to its usual function of controlling unregistered comments to prevent spam (the little “enter in a…

I’ve upgraded the TinyTuring plug-in for MT at my site so that, in addition to its usual function of controlling unregistered comments to prevent spam (the little “enter in a letter” bits at the bottom of Blog of Heroes and other fine blogs here), it won’t also automatically trash any incoming trackbacks. Which there are a few of here, mostly from me for
internal cross-references.

(Actually, this site has 600-odd trackbacks, all of them legit so far as I know. So there.)

TT’s been working well as an alternate comment registration/filter tool since I installed it in August, serving as a poor man’s CAPTCHA, and I’d like to roll it out to this main blog in the not-too-distant future (to get around some performance issues with TypeKey).

Get your New York-based Christmas Shopping done early!

The “New York is going to be nuked” folks have rolled their prediction back yet again to it happening by sundown, 15 December. That will be a bit over six…

The “New York is going to be nuked” folks have rolled their prediction back yet again to it happening by sundown, 15 December. That will be a bit over six months since their initial prediction (full list at the bottom of the page, though they’ve stopped giving the translations to Gregorian dates).

Astounding

Faboo collection of covers from Astounding Science Fiction (now Analog), one of the great pulp SF magazines of all time (esp. under the long-time editorship of John Campbell), and…

Faboo collection of covers from Astounding Science Fiction (now Analog), one of the great pulp SF magazines of all time (esp. under the long-time editorship of John Campbell), and source of much of the golden age of SF. It’s amazing to see the first visualization of so many classic SF stories from Asimov, Heinlein, Anderson, etc.

(The main site is here, but it’s all ugly frame bits, so you have to do some drilling down to get to the meat of it all.)

(via BoingBoing)

Because I’m an equal opportunity bigot

A while back, I railed against a Muslim woman objecting to having to have her Florida drivers license include an unveiled photo of her face. Her argument was that it…

A while back, I railed against a Muslim woman objecting to having to have her Florida drivers license include an unveiled photo of her face. Her argument was that it was a violation of her religious beliefs. My counter-argument was that if she wanted a photo ID issued by the state that allowed for personal verification of identity (with the rights and privileges appertaining thereto), she needed to suck
it up and allow it. Sorry, but photo IDs seem a worthwhile social good (fake ones notwithstanding).

So, just to show that this wasn’t a nasty anti-Islamic stance, I feel exactly the same way about this Amish complaint.

An Amish couple living in Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit charging the Department of Homeland Security and immigration officials with religious discrimination. The suit contends the requirement that the Canadian man and his American wife be photographed in order for him to become a permanent U.S. resident is unconstitutional, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Members of the Old Order Amish believe being photographed is a sin because the Old Testament forbids graven images.

I’m sorry if this causes personal distress, but having a photographic record of someone seeking residency in the country does not seem unreasonable to me. I won’t debate the religious aspect of this (the particular commandment involved seems pretty clearly intended to prohibit grave images for the purpose of worship, not in general), but I really don’t believe that a religious dictate is
being specifically targeted here, nor that there is a reasonable accommodation that the government could make that would get around the reasonably compelling need to have a photographic record of a new entry to the country.

It’s probably just as well I don’t get HBO

I almost always find something to watch on it when I’m on business trips, and I would likely watch a lot more TV than I do if I had it…

I almost always find something to watch on it when I’m on business trips, and I would likely watch a lot more TV than I do if I had it at home.

This past week, it was a 2-part mini-series on Elizabeth I, the title role played by Helen Mirren. We went through her affair with Leicester, her courtship by Philip of Anjou, the Mary, Queen of Scots, affair, and the Spanish Armada, on the ep I saw. Fun.

It’s actually just a two-part mini-series, about the latter half of her reign (I saw 1 of 2). But worth renting one of these days from Netflix (if I ever get a Netflix account) to see the whole thing.

Who is Jorian Tatum?

And why is his (her?) name in half the spam I get? Okay, maybe not half, but rarely a day goes by when I don’t see it showing up in…

And why is his (her?) name in half the spam I get? Okay, maybe not half, but rarely a day goes by when I don’t see it showing up in some spam subject line or another.

Hrm. Google’s little help — a fair number of people have lifted the “name” for their MySpace entries. Presumably it’s some sort of lorem ipsum in somebody’s spamming script/software, but it’s pretty strange that it keeps showing up so often …

Catan

Playing the Settlers thereof with Doyce, Jackie, and Margie. UPDATE: First time for Margie and me, and Jackie’s experience was pretty limited, too. Nonetheless, Jackie won the first round, Margie…

Playing the Settlers thereof with Doyce, Jackie, and Margie.

UPDATE: First time for Margie and me, and Jackie’s experience was pretty limited, too. Nonetheless, Jackie won the first round, Margie the second. I got a rock (which is good, since I had the ore selling port), and Doyce got shut out, too. Fun times, and looking forward to more.

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