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I want to live in Sci Fi (or Vancouver)

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capricalogo

I finally got to see the Caprica pilot thanks to my successful installation of DirecTV OnDemand (for only $35, no less.)  As the first two episodes premiered in April, there are plenty of reviews of things like plot and characters already online.  So, instead of focusing on these things, I’ll instead be talking about the two topics I really cared about:  technology and aesthetics.

Caprica being set a few years into another culture’s future certainly sets a geek up for quite a bounty of lust-worthy gadgets.  It doesn’t hurt, either, that the family Graystone is rolling in cubits from their diverse and expansive tech empire.  In just the first two hours we’ve seen immersive virtual worlds delivered via holobands, a robotic butler/target, swanky maglev train system and more.  But what I was most smitten with was the electronic paper interfaces that Zoe, Ben and Lacy favor.  Example:

I want this.  I have no idea how it would work, really, but I want it.

And all of this gizmo-y goodness is wrapped in a far more grey depiction of Caprica City than we ever saw in Battlestar.  Any time filming takes place in the Pacific Northwest I’m likely to be won over (Twilight, anyone?) by the finished product.  But Caprica goes a step further than just a great, dreary locale by presenting a world that reads as believable and beautiful.  It’s science fiction, but not campy from fashion to industrial design.  The styling goes above and beyond BSG (who wasn’t tired of Roslin’s suits?) with compelling touches like Victorian mourning garb and references to the show’s Grecian mythology.  Sets are minimalist but richly textured.  I was particularly pleased to see the same predilection for artifacts and sculpture in Joseph Adama’s home as in his son’s future quarters.  I’m excited (as I’m sure the cast and crew are) to see how style evolves without the limitations of refugees and the same damned warship.

Overall, I want to live in Caprica City at the brink of The Fall of Humanity.  But, since it’s fictional, I’ll settle for it’s skyline donor, Vancouver.

Can’t wait for the remaining 19 episodes this January!

Because I’m lazy…

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…after a sick day on Monday and getting caught up yesterday. It happens. I apologize.

In any case, in my laziness, I’ve decided to point you to Tom & Lorenzo’s pretty spot-on review of episode two of V.

VS1E02: There is No Normal Anymore

I do have to agree with their assessment that the second episode really does a good job of shaping the feel of the season. I think that perhaps it’s a bit more sorted than they are giving the writers/actors credit for, but let’s get right to it: the star of the episode was absolutely the iPhone. And Anna’s rad virtual closet. Those two were played perfectly.

V: pilot review

General Entertainment, Television by

So I caught Tuesday’s episode of the new ABC remake of V, the 1983-ish series (depending on where this falls in the original story, which Wikipedia isn’t really making too clear.)  I missed it on TV and attempted to watch it on ABC’s website last night, but was stunned to find that their strategy in the age of Hulu and Surf the Channel is to make you wait five days after the broadcast for the streaming version.  Screwing that, I found the episode in its entirety from CTV and set to work trying to like this version.

Set in a city populated entirely by models which turns out to be New York, V follows the lives of several somewhat relatable characters: a mother and son who have drifted out of touch following a divorce, a disenchanted, young Catholic priest, a businessman with a shady past and his soon-to-be fiancée and an anchorman with hopes of being more than a newsreader.  Nothing particularly groundbreaking here and any tensions being faced by each character has been so thoroughly dumbed down as to be nearly laughable.  I mean, when the Visitors arrive, Father Jack is nearly crushed while saving a man from a giant falling crucifix in his church!  Thanks for making that metaphor painfully obvious, ABC!

Anyway, so the Visitors pull up in their spaceships (zing! we think!) and immediately awe all of the world with the short-haired beauty of Anna (the always lovely but now lovelier, Morena Baccarin.)  This part was rather cool and a very modern take on a first encounter, especially with the entourage and press release-y-ness of it all.  Frankly, the Visitors get snaps for being sharply dressed and on-point, on message – and, as it turns out – on time.  I can get behind this kind of alien takeover.

Then, blah, blah.  The V aren’t what they seem.  A resistance is brewing.  The only black guy is a V!  Alan Tudyk goes from most likable to dead, just like always.  All with too-quick pacing that might be attributable to this being a 45 minute pilot that could have benefited from an extra 45 minutes?  There’s probably a reason why this was a miniseries in 1983, friends.  I will have to see if the pacing continues at such a frenzied, soap opera gallop, but I’m not thrilled with it right now.

And that’s my overall verdict on V: why so fast?  Why so frantic?  I know production was troubled by thoughts of early cancellation, but this isn’t helping.  You got off to a good start with 10s of millions of viewers, so perhaps we can slow it down and make it more complex with the extra time?  Science fiction continues to be a hard sell in network primetime, but it doesn’t have to be this clipped to be successful.

My real question with V is, and always will be, why it strays so far into the realm of Reptilian lore in the first place.  I’m always suspicious of anything that comments on the fictional motivations of the global elite by calling attention to the rumors about the actual global elite.  Is someone trying to tell us something that we should know?  Especially with the Obama connections so plainly laid out?

BMW (USA,) we have to talk

Cars, Rant, Technology, Television by

Specifically, we have to talk about this ad:

You see, the more I see it (and it’s in heavy rotation on the channels I frequent – like 10 times last night on the History Channel), the more it’s driving me mad. Let’s break it down, shall we?

  1. Americans did not create Efficient Dynamics. That would be the Germans, probably spurred on by the European Union and countries like England giving incentives to drivers with lower carbon emissions and higher overall fuel efficiency. When you are peddling cars with inline 6s, you really do need to create a way for them to be as intelligently efficient as possible. I understand this, but please don’t tell me that it was American Ingenuity™ that created Efficient Dynamics. Or else I’m claiming schnitzel, too.
  2. On that point, Efficient Dynamics should not be confused with the two diesel models that BMW has decided to sell here in the US. The Efficient Dynamics program, as it exists in its native lands, is actually about stop/start technologies, regenerative braking and other ingenious solutions to bump up fuel economy while driving down emissions. In Europe, diesel is often the standard choice for vehicles like the X5 and even the 3 Series – because they are efficient. It’s not Redundant Dynamics.
  3. That being said, can we talk for a second about the advertisement itself? Holding a CFL bulb and talking about greener car technologies seems logical enough. Where this ad goes batshit fucking insane is when it continues to talk about being better to the Earth while TWO THOUSAND LIGHTBULBS BLAZE TO LIFE! Even if it was computer generated, it’s still completely daft.
  4. I’m also not entirely convinced that a diesel X5 that gets 25 MPG highway is all that much greener than a gasoline X5 that gets 21 MPG highway (and costs $4,000 less.) Additionally, I’m not sure that a gasoline 328i that gets 28 MPG is that much worse than a diesel 335d that gets 36 MPG and costs $10,000 more.

Now BMW, you know that I love you. I defend your honor any time Clarkson trashes the X3. I think that the Efficient Dynamics program is brilliant when looked at as a whole. I even get past your weird fascination with using the abbreviation E.D. for both this program and European Delivery when you know full well that many of your buyers have a little blue pill for another E.D. all together. But, the next time you decide to talk about efficiency, let’s at least have the 320d, X5 30d and the rest of the “d” variants on the screen for US consumption, okay?

I swear, I’m not just paranoid

News, Rant, Television, Unexplained by

Considering how many notices we are getting on campus right now about flu in the newest pig flavor, I do have to wonder what’s going on. As you might remember, I’ve been a bit skeptical of swine flu since we started hearing about it several months ago.

And now a history lesson from CBS in 1979:

Just strikes me as strange that as early as 1976, the government was freaking everyone out about swine flu and forcing vaccinations – and here we are again. Could 1976 have been a trial run? Could this all just be terrible mismanagement and a fear-obsessed media causing organizations (like my school) to run scared? Is this as sinister as I am starting to suspect yet again?

(Thanks, Digg.)

Chinchilli Day

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Three years ago(ish,) my very own chinchilla, Lola, went to the ash bath in the sky. This video that Kate just found on TV makes a fitting tribute to a remarkable creature:

What an excellent publicity stunt

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James May – Captain Slow for the Top Gear fans – will be building a Lego house out of 3 million bricks at a winery in Dorking. As Jalopnik made sure to emphasize, a town called Dorking. It’s too perfect and I wish I could be there to see it. And take part in the building, since there will be a public building session as well.

I love James May. I love how he gets lost just about anywhere he drives. How he lives alone with his cat, as you’d expect. How he hosts a show about toys when not driving race cars (or racing cars turned into boats across the English Channel.) I loved how he drank half a bottle of wine while cooking in a challenge with Gordon Ramsey. And how he derives joy out of doing mental calculations of his fuel efficiency. Kate can attest to the last one, believe me. So this really takes the admiration to a profound new plane.

Car news of the day

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Been busy as a busy person at work getting ready for Zimbra training (12 sessions in three days this week, thank you very much) so I haven’t had much time to scour for interesting things to post – or inclination to do so after work. However, here are a few car related links to tide you over.

  1. World Car Fans has done a delightful video edit of Jaguar’s press footage for the all-new XJ. I melt every time I see those magical LCD dials pop to life or animate the changing of gears. Old school elegance meets Starship Enterprise. Bella and I need to cruise in such a fast cat, no?
  2. Jalopnik lists five (snarktastic) reasons why roundabouts will never work in America. Having driven in them all throughout Maryland, I think I may agree. I also think that Jalopnik really could benefit from a copy editor. Dang. (In response to this piece from Slate.)
  3. The best auto show on the planet, Top Gear, will be making its return this season in glorious HD. Thank you, BBC America, for FINALLY bringing me your Britshows in the resolution they deserve. You Are What You Eat not withstanding.

A pair of oddities

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Chestertown is a strange place. People here are both trusting and fearful in ways I’ve never quite experienced in all my living environments and all my travels. There are both extremely posh, jaw-droppingly charming parts of town and absolutely destitute, crack-selling alleyways. You will never find the inhabitants of one area in the other but there are only two shopping plazas so inevitably they mix. And ignore one another. All this within a few blocks and encapsulated in farmland.

The people of Chestertown do strange things, considering their surroundings and social situation. For instance, Kate and I went to JBK today (no, this is not the strange thing) and noted that a maroon, mid-nineties Mercedes C-Class was sitting in the parking lot with the windows down, a kiddie pool in the back and the driver’s door completely open. Now, someone evidently had the wherewithal to purchase a Mercedes at some point in their lifetime which means that they were either wealthy and/or smart. Why this would then lead them to leave their door hanging wide open and their car unattended is not within my comprehension. The fact that we then went into the store, spent half an hour there and returned and STILL found the car in the exact same state is even more perplexing. Did the owner forget? Was the battery dead? Wouldn’t you still want to lock your car or at least make it look like it could have been locked? Where were the thugs or miscreants to abscond with this free Mercedes?

WHAT GIVES, Chestertown?

The second oddity for the day was seeing none other than Shauna Sand in the background during HGTV’s House Hunters. The episode focused on a dimwitted (aren’t they always?) lawyer’s search for a condo near Beverly Hills. Cut to random footage of Spago, Rodeo Drive, the usual. And there, outside the Van Cleef & Arpels storefront was the Empress of Lucite herself. In exquisite lucite heels, as need be. It lasted but a few seconds but our sighting was real and so helpful in brightening the evening.