So I was out and about the other day with my mother.  She wanted to buy some music but, seeing as it's been well over a decade since she updated her music collection and since she doesn't pay attention to artists etc on the radio, had no idea what to buy.  Of course, she protested and said she had bought music recently, some James Last CDs.  And I, having just gone through her records not too long ago (I was unpacking them from the box they'd spent the last...ohh, 13 years in, cause she finally got the record player fixed and we hooked it up), fired back that "buying CDs of music you still have on record is not updating your collection."   Anyway, she ended up with 5 CDs and I don't think I steered her wrong.

But this is not what has me dumbfounded.  As we were standing at the till I noticed a book with the title 11,002 Things to be Miserable About.  Slightly curious, I picked it up and opened it.

It was a list.

That's it, just a list.  Each line had one thing on it, for example "tornados," then the next line had something else and on it went in alphabetical order.

I was absolutely astounded that some publisher out there bought this book.  And then later, as we were eating lunch, I was more astounded by the thought that anyone would actually buy it because... it's a list and who buys a book without opening it??  Perhaps that's why it was 15% off.  I should have checked the publisher because I'm still totally dumbfounded by the thought.  Methinks it might have been self-published. 

Hmm... must check Amazon.
 

Indeed.

I find this quite amusing.  And you really don't need to play WoW to enjoy it, I think.  Just know some internet speak.

I loved Buffy.  I eventually enjoyed Angel.  I mourned Firefly's demise and all the potential it showed in a short 13 episodes.  I waited for and watched Serenity with great anticipation and joy.  And then Joss Whedon left TV for awhile and it was a sad day.

Joss has always excelled at doing what far too many TV shows and most movies still can't seem to pull off.  He's always written strong, interesting, compelling, complex, and flawed female characters.  But not just great women - central women.  Central female heroes.  Because I don't care how great a character happens to be, if I never get to see her for more than ten minutes for every hour episode, if she never gets to get down and dirty, shoot guns, throw punches, disarm the bomb, fly the plane, save the day and generally kick ass then I really don't care that much.  The women I like to watch aren't there to just look sexy, or kiss the hero, or be saved by the strapping man.  They're there to drive the story, to have problems and dilemmas, to get themselves into and out of trouble.  They're there to be awesome.  Joss has always done this and in a genre that has one of the worst track records for having nothing but sexpot women - scifi.

And now he's back.  On Friday, Feb 13th Dollhouse premiered.  It's about people who, presumably becasue something's gotten really screwed up in their lives, volunteer to have their memories, personalities, pretty much everything that makes them themselves erased.  They then get imprinted with constructed personalities to become whatever/whoever a client wants/needs.  After each engagement they're wiped back to a childlike, blank state.  The show is specifically about one such "active" named Echo.  And of course, she starts to remember things that she shouldn't.

It's pretty darn good already.  The pilot was perhaps a little clunky - what pilot isn't, though - but the second episode blew me away in many respects.  Already we're learning backstory, already an arc has been established, already Echo is starting to show signs that something isn't quite working like it should.  She's just a little less blank, a little less... empty.  I already have a bit of anticipation for the inevitable moment when she gets wiped and, instead of there being nothing behind her eyes, there's a person.  Who exactly that person will be is the question.

My only issue?  It airs on the dreaded FOX, famous for screwing shows over.  Two episodes have aired and you can already find people saying it won't last long.  Good God people, give it a chance!  And trust in Joss - I do.  If he gets his way Dollhouse will only get better.

So, if you're looking for a great sci-fi show with that elusive female lead/hero, then please check out Dollhouse.  You will not be disappointed.

Yesterday.  And not just a little bit, quite the downpour. 

In January.  Almost February.  With a good two or more feet of snow on the ground.

Are you kidding me?  That's just... wrong.

Battlestar Galactica has had its ups and downs, a few bumps on the way, just like every other television show out there.  But the critical acclaim it has received from everwhere except the television awards shows (with the notable exception of the Peabody) has never ceased.  BSG always excelled at pulling itself up by the bootstraps.  The bad episodes were few and far between and when one aired you could pretty much rest assured that next week the show would deliver.  And pretty much all of BSG's worst episodes were still far and away better than 99% of the mindless trope that's on TV nowadays (read, especially, "reality" TV).

BSG may have spaceships and battles and sentient robots, it may have a bit of a goofy name, but the reason it's so good is becasue it was never really about that stuff.  It's about the characters - always has been and always will be.  It's more of a drama that just happens to be set in space and it goes places some of the most daring dramas don't even dare to go and, certainly, it wades into territory Star Trek, Stargate etc never touched.

The remainder of BSG's fourth, and final, season started today - after far too long of a break, if you ask me - and I waited with anticipatory glee for the episode to air.  I was not disappointed.

WARNING!  If you have not watched the eppy do not read below the cut!  If you've NEVER watched BSG but think, one day, you might, DO NOT read beneath the cut.  Spoliers for the SERIES abound!!

 

 
There's still a lot left to see, a lot of answers and explanations, and I have high hopes that the remainder of the final season will be as phenomenal as BSG's best episodes.  Bring it on!