On the Frakin' Bandwagon
2006-10-17,

Finally, after it being on for two years, and after listening to my inner g33k complaining for about the same amount of time, I've found myself a comfy seat on the Battlestar Galactica bandwagon. All I'd managed to see before a few weeks ago was the miniseries, which I downloaded via torrent because I missed it on TV (which happens a lot). I knew it was one of those shows that I knew I'd like, and that I should be watching it. And then weeks went by after it started and (this was pre-DVR, I think), the story got rolling and I knew there was no way I was going to find the time to catch up with it, so I let it go.

Then we got Video On Demand, which may potentially be one of the better things since the proverbial sliced bread. With the growing trend of shows with a story arc (Alias, Lost, etc.), there's also been a trend toward these re-cap shows at the beginning of a new season. BSG did one ('The Story So Far', a very original title), and I wanted to watch it, but of course, I missed it when it was on TV and didn't think to set it to record. But then, by divine providence, I happened to find it on VOD, tucked in a little corner of the DVR menu. Watching it confirmed what I suspected, that I should have been watching the show from the start. But hey, at least I'm watching it now.

The show is tightly packed with moral and social issues, like good sci fi should be. Currently there's a 'freedom fighter' vs. 'terrorist' (Hello, NSA - do you like my writing?) theme, as a large chunk of the remaining human population is being held prison camp style by the Cylons. There was even a suicide bomber in the premiere. It evokes the auras of Nazi death camps and the Palestinian plight (almost as if there's some sort of parallel between the two... nah, that can't be it), as well as the destructive, vengeful force of zealotry. The Cylons wish to bring peace - and the word of their 'one true god' - by exterminating non-believers. Humans worship the Dodekatheon, the young gods of Greek myth (Zeus, Hera, Athena, et al).

The Cylon's god is actually one of the twelve human gods that rebelled and tried to attain dominance. Working theory on the web is that this is in some way a reference to Lucifer's rebellion, which I suppose is possible. But considering that their gods are Greco-roman in origin, where uprisings of gods over other gods was commonplace (remember Uranus? Cronos? Poor titans), couldn't that just be an extension of such? Or maybe it hints at the concept that each religion is born of a previous, changed over time and generations, 'modern' religions non-excluded (click for an example), a process that continues to this day (ever hear of Mormonism?).

I also like the whole feel of the show, which to me is reminiscent of an underrated show from the 90's, Space: Above and Beyond, with the gritty realism and shaky camera shots made popular by NYPD Blue. And I'm a sucker for a good story arc; I was definitely spoiled where sci fi is concerned by Babylon 5.

Baby Genius News

Laurana is, it seems, a budding musical prodigy. Many people other than our biased selves have commented on her ability to maintain a clear singing pitch at such an early age. This weekend, H tells me, the baby started hammering out "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on her xylophone piano. With little help. Also, you may recall my mentioning her fascination with a bluegrass band we saw playing at a fair we were at a couple of weeks ago. This weekend gave us the annual countywide fall foliage tour, and at one of the events along the route there was another bluegrass band playing. She absolutely had to go see them, and once again expounded her enthusiasm for - of all things - the banjo. Sunday night we had the cable radio bluegrass station on for her benefit, and she would dance around yelling, "Jo-jo!" and, after we clarified the name of the instrument, more carefully yelled, "Ban...jo!" jumping up and down with utter glee.

After scouting around the Internets for a bit, we found something called a Banjotam, which is basically a toy banjo with a tambourine as the drum. I guess her birthday is partially taken care of.

-- End Transmission --