Sunday, October 01, 2006

Beam me up Scotty!

I've discovered that most of my fellow fangals and geeks are blogging on Live Journal. Hence, I've "relocated" all existing (and future) entries to this alternate LJ site. My personal real-life blogs will remain here. If it helps for me to duplicate entries on this mirror site here, please write a comment. Else, I'll see you over there instead! Live long and prosper, y'all.

posted by Unknown at 1:42 am 0 comments

Has the Peabody gone to their heads?

The Entertainment Weekly just published a review of Battlestar Galactica in advance of its season 3 premiere next Friday. While reading, to my horror, I came across THIS:

'...Galactica averaged 2.3 million weekly viewers in season 2, and while that's impressive by Sci Fi's standards, conventional wisdom says its ratings could — and should — be much larger. Blame the complicated plots and the genre's fringy rep, a stigma that's only exacerbated by a glut of similar-sounding (and inferior) shows like Stargate Atlantis, Farscape, and Andromeda. Says Callis: ''It's strange to exist in the popular consciousness, but so few people actually watch the show. I can't tell you how many times I've had to tell people, 'No, we're not Stargate. Really.'''

Now, I'm a sci-fi fan who evidently qualifies as BSG's "target audience," yet I've come to love both BSG and Stargate for what they are and seek to accomplish. To me, they're each essentially classic and unique sci-fi stories that represent life's journey by taking life seriously without taking itself too seriously ... or so I thought! Perhaps some quotes have been taken out of context, but could it also be that the Peabody has gone to the heads of the BSG cast, crew and media sycophants?

Now I celebrate the good and lament the bad moments of both shows (in my book, season 2 wasn't the best for either franchise), but it upsets me to see such unprofessional and unwarranted oneupmanship in a time where we face a real dearth of good sci-fi these days. Furthermore, it's troubling that more value is assigned to "darker" storytelling when there are countless examples of successful entertainment that can be both irreverent yet relevant today. Tragedy and angst is real life, but hey, so is humour and levity. You know what they say about too much of a good (or bad) thing....

Anyways, I'll still look forward to watching the new BSG episodes again, but sadly, this has got me all wired up - negatively. I've also consciously avoided setting too much expectations (which is partly why Stargate Atlantis' season 3 so far has been such joy for me) and fear that some of BSG's pre-season hype may lead to unfortunate disappointment down the road.

Stay tuned, we'll see.

posted by Unknown at 1:05 am 0 comments

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Stargate on HypaSpace

Discovered a HypaSpace interview of various Stargate SG-1 cast members following its cancellation from the SciFi network.



Seems to be a fair amount of acceptance among the actors and gratitude for fans, with just a little regret. Still, it looks like TPTB are still hoping to continue SG-1 in some shape or other. *fingers crossed*

Also, Joe Flanigan was interviewed by them last month. While there was an old (S1) clip of both Joe and David Hewlett on the website, it didn't seem like this particular interview was posted online. Anyone in Canada has a clip or thoughts about this?!

posted by Unknown at 8:15 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Star Trek, its spawn and our society

Ron Moore, one of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica's executive producers and writers, recently wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times about how Star Trek has informed the way he views the world, and subsequently, his storylines for BSG. Similarly, the universal themes of exploring new worlds and (re)discovering humanity form the essence of what Stargate has offered viewers for the past decade, though in more subtle, "lighter" hues.

The full article is linked here - you'll need to register online (it's free) to read. Some excerpts:

Kirk, for me, embodied an American idea: His mission was to explore the final frontier, not to conquer it. He was moral without moralizing.

As I grew into adolescence, the show provided a handy reference against which to judge the questions that my young mind began to ask: What is the obligation of a free society toward the less fortunate? Does an “advanced” culture have the right to spread its ideas among more “primitive” ones? What does it mean to be human, and at what point do we lose our humanity to our technology?

And as I grew into an adult, and my political views took shape, I treasured “Star Trek” as a dream of what my country could one day become — a liberal and tolerant society, unafraid to live by its ideals in a dangerous universe, and secure in the knowledge that its greatness derived from the strength of its ideas rather than the power of its phasers.

posted by Unknown at 1:11 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

All good things....

Stargate SG-1 will break the 2007 Guinness World Record for the Longest Running Sci-Fi TV Show (Consecutive) upon the airing of its 203rd episode, edging out the previous holder, X-Files. However, the SciFi Network announced today the cancellation of SG-1 at the end of its tenth season, despite renewing Atlantis for another, fourth season. While SG-1 could likely continue in the form of a new network home, movie, spin-off, Atlantis cross-over, and certainly in the annals of fanfiction, the cast and crew of Stargate SG-1 deserve our thanks for 10 terrific years. In memory of where it all began, here's the "puppet" clip from the hillarious 200th episode:



Lastly, a quote for all sci-fi fans from the episode's final minute:

"Science fiction is an existential metaphor that allows us to tell stories about the human condition. Isaac Asimov once said, 'Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philsophers of today. But the core of science fiction - its essence - has become crucial to our salvation,
if we are to be safe at all.' "

posted by Unknown at 4:24 pm 1 comments

Special credits

I'm grateful to many people for joining me when I'm "lost in space."
My top 10 funnest and fondest memories (cue your fav theme song):

10. Swapping codes and tips for that final level or quest in our latest computer game or science project (The young Mensa geeks)

9. Debating science fiction, fantasy and faith, discovering C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle, and obsessing over Risk 2210 (The leadership, worship and bible study crews)

8. Trekkie 101 - phasers, photon torpedos, mind melds and all (Live long and prosper, Jeff)

7. Staying up all night to watch Star Wars (again) and waking up early to catch the latest downloaded episode together (Meng, who like me, to our families' chagrin, doesn't need sleep when we've got sci-fi)

6. Discussing the puns, theories, spoilers and post-show reactions, esp. to Firefly, Stargate and BSG (There's lots of you - but special note to Josef, Mike, Vicente and the Gateworld fans)

5. Consistently producing and sharing delightful fan fiction that rivals the very best of canon (Minisinoo, Martha Wells, Domenika Marzione are a few I'd recommend)

4. Receiving an original copy of Battlestar Galactica's 2005 "For Your Emmy Consideration" submission - DVDs, suede cover, et al (Thanks for the insider and film updates, Saevar)

3. Introducing me to Firefly and getting tickets to the Boston special preview of Serenity surrounded by an electric Browncoat atmosphere with two Big Damn Heroes - Morena Baccarin and Sean Maher - in person (Can't stop the signal, eh, Jim?)

2. Being ok with Friday SciFi TV dinners or foregoing other activities to watch, record and recap each missed episode when I was without access or working overseas (Love you, hon)

1. For being my own Doctor Who - the one who first took me to space - and beyond (Love and miss you, bro)

posted by Unknown at 2:42 am 1 comments

Monday, August 21, 2006

Why I love sci-fi (Part 2)

... But not itself too seriously!

Science fiction is very endearing when it pokes fun at itself. That's one of the qualities the Stargate franchise has in abundance, with the commemorative SG-1 episode "200" going down as a classic for fans. Another aspect is the lighthearted approach in both celebrating and criticizing its peers. Take for example this May 2005 Unshelved comic strip series about Star Wars and Serenity:




posted by Unknown at 7:52 pm 0 comments

Why I love sci-fi (Part 1)

It takes life seriously ...

The Reimagined Battlestar Galactica has pulled off what many serious TV shows (sci-fi or otherwise) seek to do, i.e. provide intelligent and socially relevant entertainment. This has resulted in - among others - BSG receiving the 65th Peabody Award in April 2006 for "excellence in news, documentary, comedy, drama, education and public service"...

... and being voted as the Best TV Show in 2005 by Time Magazine:
"Most of you probably think this entry has got to be a joke. The rest of you have actually watched the show. Adapted from a cheesy '70s Star Wars clone of the same name, Galactica (returning in January) is a ripping sci-fi allegory of the war on terror, complete with religious fundamentalists (here, genocidal robots called Cylons), sleeper cells, civil-liberties crackdowns and even a prisoner-torture scandal. The basic-cable budget sometimes shows in the production, but the writing and performances are first-class, especially Edward James Olmos as the noble but authoritarian commander in charge of saving the last remnants of humanity. Laugh if you want, but this story of enemies within is dead serious, and seriously good."

posted by Unknown at 5:40 pm 0 comments

Greetings wee earthlings!

I created this alternate space for all my science fiction and fantasy blogs as I've sorely missed my weekly SciFi network fixes and the Union Square corner comics store since we left this year. While iTunes is picking up some of my favourite shows and there's been the occasional rerun, I've had to resort to other ways to fill the void in solid programming this side of the pond....

Generally, I appreciate GOOD stories with compelling science, imagination, drama (angst!), mythology and characters. I love the genre's ability to occasionally laugh at itself though I do cringe at stories with gratuitous aliens, technobabble, plot devices and continuity/plot holes. Thus far, my current obsessions (i.e. in which I've converted family, friends and colleagues) include Battlestar Galactica and Stargate: Atlantis and SG-1.

I've also liked Firefly, Doctor Who, Star Wars (The Empire Strikes Back is the best), Star Trek (my introduction was via Alan Dean Foster's logs) and the Trigan Empire; and am always on the look out for good SF&F writers, be it JRR Tolkien, Piers Anthony (especially the Adept series), Neil Gaiman, Robert Jordan, or even JK Rowling. I also think one can never be too old for comics, and have indulged in most strips from Conan to Tintin to the X-Men.

Recommendations always welcome!

posted by Unknown at 9:07 am 0 comments