Why I love Parades...

Originally uploaded by Orange Cremecicle

This is from the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade. I wish I was there.

B.

For my next birthday: lego cupcakes!

lego cupcakes!
Originally uploaded by hello naomi

I found these on Flickr.

Mmmm... Plastic bricky goodness.

First Post in a While!

Wow, what a busy spring we're having! In the last few weeks, we've registered TWO girls for soccer and TWO girls have started swimming lessons. "Action Girl" (now 7.5 years) is enrolled in "Swim Kids 1" and "Super Girl" (age 4.5 years) is now a "Salamander." When you're 4 and a half, you do well to leave the side of the toddler pool, I realize.

The new car is a lot of fun. Its no Hummer or G-Wagon, but it works well for us and we're enjoying having something that isn't 10 years old. That said, we've kept our other ten year old car and have a little bit of a dilemma with it- the catalytic converter is shot and needs to be replaced. Unfortunately the eco-friendly solution (replacing it) will be about $1000 and the not-so-eco-friendly solution will be about $800-900 less. Hmmm....

On the first of this month I returned to my previous job after about 15 moths away. It wasn't my first choice, but its a job I really like with co-workers I like even more than the job.

B.

Two More BSG Stories

"Galactica": Not To Be Pigeonholed
If You Think This Sci-Fi Series Is Just For Fanboys, You're Missing A Phenomenal, Existential Epic... (from CBS.com)

Exclusive: Caprica casting info revealed (fromTV Squad)
(Information on the BSG sequel/prequel)

TV's Best Show?

The end of M.A.S.H., the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the last episode of Lost’s First Season, and tonight; these are some of my favourite moment in television history. What’s the deal with tonight? The fourth and final season of the best-written science fiction on television premieres.

I could tell you that Battlestar Galactica (in its 2004-now version) is the best most “realistic” and dramatic sci-fi ever on TV, or that it’s the show that’s best portrayed the effect of mass trauma on a society (boring and social-worky, yes I know...) Instead I want to tell you two things:

1) Battlestar Galactica is a gritty, realistic drama that works on themes of family, survival, and equal measures of fear and hope. Few other shows (with or without killer robots) have managed such dramatic excellence.

2) Whether it was entirely intentional or not, BSG has managed to be the only television show that has addressed the way the world (and especially the US) has changed since September 11, 2001. It works like this: The Cylon attack that wipes out humanity’s home worlds is a society-changing event. On personal and societal levels, part of the show is always about defending humanity militarily while trying to preserve its freedoms and laws. Sound familiar? If this sounds cold and academic, somehow its not! Individual decisions are made about what can be acceptable in a society under threat. Torture, genocide, suicide bombing, its in there... At the same time, family, relationships, and hope become more precious than ever.

The show has a minimalist realism that makes it utterly watachable. Clothes look like our clothes, a chair is a chair, and guns fire bullets, not killer lazers. There are no aliens. Let me say that again, there are NO aliens. The main difference between their society and ours is that they are space-faring. People have real problems and very few things work out perfectly in the end. People fall in love and people die. People sacrifice everything for each other and people cheat, lie, and stab each other in the back. People are people.

The single biggest strength of the show is that its story-telling is not exclusively episodic. The whole series exists (we hope) within a large story arc and every episode advances the story. This can make it harder (but far from impossible) to get into the series but if you’re along for the ride, what a ride it is! It works very well on DVD.

Battlestar Galactica airs tonight on Space: the Imagination Station. Try it, its good for you.

B.

(From MSN.ca) 'Battlestar Galactica': Why It Might Save Your Marriage

A married couple discusses this sci-fi series' cross-gender appeal
By Adam Berliant and Martha Brockenbrough
Special to MSN

TVRemote-control couch fights are an ugly thing. Worse is the sad spectacle of his-and-hers TV sets positioned on opposite sides of the house to prevent the hideous cacophony of his televised explosions mixing with her weeping-orphan monologues.
There is hope, though, for the modern couple torn apart by differing tastes in TV. And, thank the gods, there's no reality TV involved. We're talking about "Battlestar Galactica" — the show that just might save your marriage. It's the Reese's peanut butter cup of programming, mixing his peanut butter in with her chocolate for a delicious blend of sex, cyborgs and good old-fashioned space opera. ..

[Read the rest of the artcle here.]

(From Salon.com) Everything you were afraid to ask about "Battlestar Galactica"

Everything you were afraid to ask about "Battlestar Galactica"
A complete primer on the smartest sci-fi TV show ... maybe ever.
By Thomas Rogers

Sci Fi Channel / Art Streiber

April 2, 2008 When the "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries premiered in 2003, viewers could be forgiven for having low expectations. At the time, the Sci Fi Channel, on which "Battlestar" aired, was a niche cable channel known mostly for "Stargate SG-1" and "Star Trek" reruns, and the show's source material, a cheesy '70s flop for ABC, wasn't exactly "The Sopranos." The series' premise, furthermore, involved enough clichéd science fiction elements -- an evil race of robots, a hotshot fighter pilot and characters with names like "Apollo" -- to make the show's fans wince when explaining it to their friends.
Three seasons later, "Battlestar Galactica" has become one of TV's smartest series. It has won a Peabody Award, made the Sci Fi Channel a semireputable cable outlet and revolutionized science fiction on television. It has proved that the genre, when liberated from the body-hugging Lycra jumpsuits and staid dialogue that have plagued most post-"Trek" science fiction series, can be a vehicle for both scathing political commentary and genuine pathos. The network recently greenlighted a prequel spinoff series called "Caprica," and on Friday, April 4, "Battlestar" returns to Sci Fi after a yearlong hiatus for its fourth and final season...