Okay, so I've been watching a little bit of TV here. Recently I decided to revisit Star Trek: The Next Generation beginning with the earliest episodes I could find. I've watched a few of the earliest episodes in recent weeks and I have to say, they are pretty cheesy. Don't get me wrong, I loved The Next Generation and even watching it now, it's good stuff. It's just that, especially in the beginning, it was kind of silly at times. Even as the series progressed and really hit its stride it never left behind the sense of fun and humor that has always been a part of the Star Trek world. How many episodes of the original series ended with Kirk and Bones laughing while Spock raised an eyebrow?
Now, allow me to switch it up. Last year someone decided to bring back Battlestar Galactica, which was always one of my absolute favorite shows as a kid. As a general rule, I think that remakes are pretty much a bad idea. Just read my previous post about the Star Wars and E.T. Special Editions to see what I'm talking about. As I began to hear a little more about how they were going to change the show, I only got more frustrated. Starbuck and Boomer would now be women. Great. Now we can make it all sexy. And th Cylons? No longer aliens, but robots that man created which then turned on us because they think they can run things better. And now they have the ability to look just real humans. Hold on, didn't I see this years ago with Arnold Schwarzenegger? I was far from interested in seeing it.
But then I read a review on one of the few blogs I regularly visit and that guy talked it up pretty well so I finally decided to at least give it a shot. I watched the first episode.
That was all it took.
The new Battlestar Galactica is seriously good. I mean that in the sense that it's actually very good and in the sense that it is serious. This is why I mentions Star Trek: The Next Generation. As great as it was, it always maintained this sense of lighthearted comedy in the background, and this is something that nearly all science-fiction does. It's almost like an apology. "We know we're doing something a bit ridiculous so we'll admit it through the use of some quips and whatnot." But BSG doesn't do that. They've put these characters in a tight spot that would have to be treated with deadly seriousness if there were any hope to survive, so the characters treat it accordingly. It is incredibly different from the original, but if you want to see something just like the old show, then just watch that. The writing is good. The acting is good. The special effect are surprisingly good, and in fact better than what Lucas gave us in the last two Star Wars travesties, I mean movies.
I know this has nothing to do with Japan or really anything. But the fact is, the new BSG is great. Watch an episode from the first season of The Next Generation and then watch one from season 5 or 6. The quality difference is astounding. Now, check out BSG. This first season is as good as pretty much anything ST:TNG ever did. If it lasts and actually gets better, it has the potential to be one of the best sci-fi shows ever. This alone has probably sealed its doom, but that's all the more reason to watch.
So, check it out. I think this is actually a science fiction show that anyone could dig, regardless of whether or not they are as nerdy as me.
Monday, February 28, 2005
I am 20% Emo.
Okay... so I'm not emo at all.. I am probably not even goth, because goths are just messed up emo kids... I am probably a metal head... or into boy bands...Yeah, that's what I figured. Not that there isn't any good Emo music (Wait, what is Emo again?) but just that all genres are primarily filled with formulaic garbage. That's what makes it a genre. The music is all easily recognizable as being a part of that genre, meaning it is formulaic and unoriginal. Which means it's boring.
But how did they know I'm into boy bands...
Thursday, February 24, 2005
He Just Doesn't Sound Like a Real Alien Now...
Guess I got burned out on this after that ridiculous Australia account. But, I'm back.
So, my 2nd grade students (who would be 8th graders in the USA) have finished their textbook early. The other teachers were shocked when I said that I don't actually remember ever finishing a textbook. I mean, what's wrong with us? Isn't the information at the end important? Isn't it the culmination of everything you've learned the whole year and thereby designed to set you up for the further learning you'll receive the next year? Yeah sure it is, but whatever. So I didn't learn about American History past Nixon until I was... oh wait, I had to do that on my own. Man, what is wrong with us?
Anyhow, point being that since we got done quickly, they thought it would be nice to reward the students by allowing them to watch an American movie which the textbook used to teach some grammar. "E.T. and Elliott become best friends." "It's the most moving science fiction movie." Yes, the superlative grammar point was taught by using E.T. so we are watching it now. But, the video tape they were able to rent is dubbed in Japanese which has been a pretty weird thing to watch. I haven't seen the movie in a long time, and to see it now in Japanese is definitely odd. "E.T. ouchi denwa" just doesn't seem as right as "E.T. phone home." You know what I mean?
But, and here's where I really go off on a tangent, this doesn't bother me. See, they rented a newer video tape which means this is the E.T. Special Edition that was released just a year or two ago. Usually I'm a fan of the Special Editions because it means cleaning up the video quality and, if it's a DVD, including cool stuff like Deleted Scenes and Commentary. But Spielberg decided to go the George Lucas Special Edition route which means actually altering the movie itself. Yes, he thought it would be better if he used some CGI effects to make E.T. more expressive. And while we're at it, we don't really want federal agents holding guns while the kids fly off in their bikes. Federal agents don't use guns! Especially not when kids are involved! So, let's change those to walkie talkies, which will look like they're sort of floating in the guys hands because they're not really there.
I hate this. I hated it when Lucas did it to Star Wars and I hate it in E.T. Lucas and Spielberg can spend all day thinking that these are their movies and that they can do whatever they want to with them, but they're wrong. These are NOT their movies. They're OURS. Star Wars didn't become a long-lasting cultural phenomenon because George Lucas willed it, it happened because millions of fans all over the world loved it and supported it. We loved the movies the way they were and we didn't feel like they needed to be changed. We loved E.T. back in 1982 and we never thought it didn't look good enough. If we had it wouldn't have been one of the world's most popular movies ever. This is the same kind of thinking that got Ted Turner to colorize movies which, if you'll notice, he doesn't do any more. I mean, why not change some other old movies? That scene at the end of Casablanca? Let's put some more panes around so it looks more like a real airfield. And Olivier's Hamlet? Let's digitally add in more buildings in the background so it really looks like ancient Denmark. And ooh, ooh, CGI blood spurting out whenever someone dies in The Seven Samurai. That would make it a better movie.
But, okay, Lucas and Spielberg are nutty and they want to "reward" us by giving us something new to look at. I can accept that. I saw the Star Wars Special Editions in the theater because I wanted to see the new stuff. Whatever. But what really pisses me off is the actual disdain they must have for the people who made these movies what they are. The fact that Lucas has said that he will never release the original versions of Star Wars on DVD is just that, disdain. Star Wars Special Edition wasn't a movie that got people everywhere playing with toys and dressing up like fools. That was Star Wars. And to tell us that we are not allowed to buy it is an insult. Release both versions and make more money! What's wrong with that? What, the guy who gave us Jar Jar Binks is somehow concerned about his artistic integrity? Who the hell are you kidding?
So, I will never buy Star Wars on DVD even though I would like to have it, because it's not really Star Wars. It's not the movie I grew up with and loved. And that should be my option. Instead, as a feeble attempt to lash out at the man I feel has betrayed me, I will download it and try to let others do the same thing from me. If he puts out the real movie I will buy it and immediately delete the Special Edition from my computer (because I'd never want to watch again anyhow). As for E.T., same deal. Don't take something people have loved for multiple generations, slap some crappy CGI in it, and then tell us it's better and we wouldn't want the original anyhow.
On the bright side, I understood nearly all of E.T. even though it was only in Japanese, which felt pretty good.
So, my 2nd grade students (who would be 8th graders in the USA) have finished their textbook early. The other teachers were shocked when I said that I don't actually remember ever finishing a textbook. I mean, what's wrong with us? Isn't the information at the end important? Isn't it the culmination of everything you've learned the whole year and thereby designed to set you up for the further learning you'll receive the next year? Yeah sure it is, but whatever. So I didn't learn about American History past Nixon until I was... oh wait, I had to do that on my own. Man, what is wrong with us?
Anyhow, point being that since we got done quickly, they thought it would be nice to reward the students by allowing them to watch an American movie which the textbook used to teach some grammar. "E.T. and Elliott become best friends." "It's the most moving science fiction movie." Yes, the superlative grammar point was taught by using E.T. so we are watching it now. But, the video tape they were able to rent is dubbed in Japanese which has been a pretty weird thing to watch. I haven't seen the movie in a long time, and to see it now in Japanese is definitely odd. "E.T. ouchi denwa" just doesn't seem as right as "E.T. phone home." You know what I mean?
But, and here's where I really go off on a tangent, this doesn't bother me. See, they rented a newer video tape which means this is the E.T. Special Edition that was released just a year or two ago. Usually I'm a fan of the Special Editions because it means cleaning up the video quality and, if it's a DVD, including cool stuff like Deleted Scenes and Commentary. But Spielberg decided to go the George Lucas Special Edition route which means actually altering the movie itself. Yes, he thought it would be better if he used some CGI effects to make E.T. more expressive. And while we're at it, we don't really want federal agents holding guns while the kids fly off in their bikes. Federal agents don't use guns! Especially not when kids are involved! So, let's change those to walkie talkies, which will look like they're sort of floating in the guys hands because they're not really there.
I hate this. I hated it when Lucas did it to Star Wars and I hate it in E.T. Lucas and Spielberg can spend all day thinking that these are their movies and that they can do whatever they want to with them, but they're wrong. These are NOT their movies. They're OURS. Star Wars didn't become a long-lasting cultural phenomenon because George Lucas willed it, it happened because millions of fans all over the world loved it and supported it. We loved the movies the way they were and we didn't feel like they needed to be changed. We loved E.T. back in 1982 and we never thought it didn't look good enough. If we had it wouldn't have been one of the world's most popular movies ever. This is the same kind of thinking that got Ted Turner to colorize movies which, if you'll notice, he doesn't do any more. I mean, why not change some other old movies? That scene at the end of Casablanca? Let's put some more panes around so it looks more like a real airfield. And Olivier's Hamlet? Let's digitally add in more buildings in the background so it really looks like ancient Denmark. And ooh, ooh, CGI blood spurting out whenever someone dies in The Seven Samurai. That would make it a better movie.
But, okay, Lucas and Spielberg are nutty and they want to "reward" us by giving us something new to look at. I can accept that. I saw the Star Wars Special Editions in the theater because I wanted to see the new stuff. Whatever. But what really pisses me off is the actual disdain they must have for the people who made these movies what they are. The fact that Lucas has said that he will never release the original versions of Star Wars on DVD is just that, disdain. Star Wars Special Edition wasn't a movie that got people everywhere playing with toys and dressing up like fools. That was Star Wars. And to tell us that we are not allowed to buy it is an insult. Release both versions and make more money! What's wrong with that? What, the guy who gave us Jar Jar Binks is somehow concerned about his artistic integrity? Who the hell are you kidding?
So, I will never buy Star Wars on DVD even though I would like to have it, because it's not really Star Wars. It's not the movie I grew up with and loved. And that should be my option. Instead, as a feeble attempt to lash out at the man I feel has betrayed me, I will download it and try to let others do the same thing from me. If he puts out the real movie I will buy it and immediately delete the Special Edition from my computer (because I'd never want to watch again anyhow). As for E.T., same deal. Don't take something people have loved for multiple generations, slap some crappy CGI in it, and then tell us it's better and we wouldn't want the original anyhow.
On the bright side, I understood nearly all of E.T. even though it was only in Japanese, which felt pretty good.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Australia Part Last
Okay, considering that I got back from this trip over a month ago it has just started to seem ridiculous that I am still talking about it. So, let's fly through the rest of this and get back to talking about things which are probably less interesting (I hope that's saying something) but are at least more recent.
Near the end of my time in Sydney I decided that I should do something a bit more touristy, and I also wanted to show my students kangaroos and koalas. So, the obvious choice was the Taronga Zoo. Now, you don't just go to the zoo, you go down to the Quays and take a ferry. So I took a few scenic shots on the way there, giving you a different view of the famous Opera House. Never thought I would take so many pictures of that thing, but then I didn't figure I would go there more than once.
Once at the zoo, I hit the Information Desk to get a map and the nice lady asked me if I was mostly interested in Australian animals. Of course I was so I got the map with all of the Australian animals highlighted so you can skip the boring stuff likes elephants and giraffes. Now, this zoo is pretty big so it was probably best that I just stuck to a few parts of it. And really zoos aren't that fun when you are by yourself. So, I took pictures of animals. That's really all you do at a zoo, so there's not much to tell you here. Go look at the pictures.
The next day was my last, so of course it was on this night that I met four more cool people to hang out with. Yeah, great. Where were you four a week ago huh? Well, it was a great time on my last night going out with a group of six instead of just two. Still, we went to the same places but it was fun.
Then it was up early and off to the airport. The flight, as before, was great but I had a bit of dread this time. Not because I didn't want to leave. Actually the one time I had a bit of homesickness during this trip I thought of Japan, not America. No, this dread was because of my layover. I was headed back to Taipei, but instead of a 3 hour layover I had a 20 hour layover. That's not a typo. You can imagine that I was not looking forward to camping out in an airport for 20 hours. But then, when I got to Taipei they herded all of us into some room and split us into those who had an overnight layover and those (the other 4 people) who didn't. Those of us who were there overnight *gasp* got put up in a hotel for free! And not just a hotel, a country club! And they gave us breakfast for free too! Yay! So, instead of sleeping in a plastic chair I got a nice bed with a shower and TV and everything. Too bad I checked my baggage which had all of my clothes...
The one amusing thing that happened here was that I decided to check out the mini-fridge and possibly have a beer. Now, I know there is such a thing as Taiwan Beer because I had some on the plane. But what did I find when I opened that fridge? Asahi Super Dry. Japanese beer. The same stuff I usually drink here.
Then it was off to the airport and off to Japan. I took the train from Narita to Tokyo, then took the subway to Shinjuku (which is part of Tokyo) and then took the 6 hour overnight bus back to Sendai. I had to wait for this bus so I got to take some pictures of the Illumination Circus there, which was cool. Then in Sendai I caught the first train at 6:30 AM to get to my town. I stepped out of the station to see the little town of Semine which I have come to totally think of as home. It was covered in snow. It was beautiful. It was ridiculously cold. I woke up the next day sick. Ahhhh, back in Japan....
Near the end of my time in Sydney I decided that I should do something a bit more touristy, and I also wanted to show my students kangaroos and koalas. So, the obvious choice was the Taronga Zoo. Now, you don't just go to the zoo, you go down to the Quays and take a ferry. So I took a few scenic shots on the way there, giving you a different view of the famous Opera House. Never thought I would take so many pictures of that thing, but then I didn't figure I would go there more than once.
Once at the zoo, I hit the Information Desk to get a map and the nice lady asked me if I was mostly interested in Australian animals. Of course I was so I got the map with all of the Australian animals highlighted so you can skip the boring stuff likes elephants and giraffes. Now, this zoo is pretty big so it was probably best that I just stuck to a few parts of it. And really zoos aren't that fun when you are by yourself. So, I took pictures of animals. That's really all you do at a zoo, so there's not much to tell you here. Go look at the pictures.
The next day was my last, so of course it was on this night that I met four more cool people to hang out with. Yeah, great. Where were you four a week ago huh? Well, it was a great time on my last night going out with a group of six instead of just two. Still, we went to the same places but it was fun.
Then it was up early and off to the airport. The flight, as before, was great but I had a bit of dread this time. Not because I didn't want to leave. Actually the one time I had a bit of homesickness during this trip I thought of Japan, not America. No, this dread was because of my layover. I was headed back to Taipei, but instead of a 3 hour layover I had a 20 hour layover. That's not a typo. You can imagine that I was not looking forward to camping out in an airport for 20 hours. But then, when I got to Taipei they herded all of us into some room and split us into those who had an overnight layover and those (the other 4 people) who didn't. Those of us who were there overnight *gasp* got put up in a hotel for free! And not just a hotel, a country club! And they gave us breakfast for free too! Yay! So, instead of sleeping in a plastic chair I got a nice bed with a shower and TV and everything. Too bad I checked my baggage which had all of my clothes...
The one amusing thing that happened here was that I decided to check out the mini-fridge and possibly have a beer. Now, I know there is such a thing as Taiwan Beer because I had some on the plane. But what did I find when I opened that fridge? Asahi Super Dry. Japanese beer. The same stuff I usually drink here.
Then it was off to the airport and off to Japan. I took the train from Narita to Tokyo, then took the subway to Shinjuku (which is part of Tokyo) and then took the 6 hour overnight bus back to Sendai. I had to wait for this bus so I got to take some pictures of the Illumination Circus there, which was cool. Then in Sendai I caught the first train at 6:30 AM to get to my town. I stepped out of the station to see the little town of Semine which I have come to totally think of as home. It was covered in snow. It was beautiful. It was ridiculously cold. I woke up the next day sick. Ahhhh, back in Japan....
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Australia Part 6
After a few a couple days hitting various establishments in Sydney which coincidentally sold beer, it became New Year's Eve. Scott and I had asked a few locals (only a few, because it's surprisingly hard to find an Australian in Sydney near New Years) and the consensus was that we should go wherever we were going early. Really early. With no real plan we eventually decided on the most obvious spot in the city: the Opera House. With a great view of the harbor and of course the Harbor Bridge how could we go wrong?
So, we headed down there after having some breakfast/lunch on New Year's Eve to see how crowded it was getting and there were already a couple hundred people settled in. This was at about noon. We found a good spot with a light pole to lean against and laid out our blanket, preparing for the wait. Didn't really think this through and after about an hour of simply sitting there in the scorching heat of the midday Sydney sun we began to realize how poorly we had planned for this. Now, because so many people go there at New Year's they close off the gates once it gets too full. Residents of Sydney can get special passes allowing them in even once the gates are closed, but for those of us visiting we just have to get there early and stay there. Still, by 1 PM I was willing to risk it. I left Scott to guard our spot and headed to a nearby convenience store where I grabbed some bottled water, a deck of cards, and some sunblock. The sunblock was ludicrously expensive but was probably the most important thing I bought. SPF 20 and we slathered it on repeatedly and I STILL got people noticing how much sun I got over a week later when I got back to Japan. And it was all from this day.
So, it's maybe 1 - 1:30 PM. The sun doesn't set until after 8 PM. There was a small fireworks show at 9:30 for the kiddies and then the big one at midnight. So we sat there and played cards. And played cards. We invented a game. It sucked. But we still played it a few times. I taught him, like, 4 card games. We played Go Fish for crying out loud. I mean, you almost looked forward to needing to use the toilet even though you'd have to wait in line because it meant doing SOMETHING.
Around 6 or 7 we began to notice people gathering on the 2nd story terrace of the Opera House. This turned out to be a wedding ceremony. Can you imagine having your wedding on New Year's Eve in Sydney in front of about 3000 people? Well, someone did. Seemed like a nice ceremony too. When the groom kissed the bride people cheered and clapped. Hope it made him feel good because I'm guessing someone paid a pretty penny for that.
Sometime after 11 PM some Australian woman introduced herself to us. She seemed nice and had apparently taken a liking to Scott. However, when it turned out she had had her eye on us for several hours ("Did you enjoy your card game? Man, you sure seemed to win more than him!") we were a little weirded out. Still, she was nice. Her British friend came over to distract me so the Aussie could chat up Scott. Of course, the Brit started making claims about how great the fireworks were going to be and how they would outdo anything we could do in America and I could just forget about Disney and blah blah blah.
So, midnight comes and the fireworks go off and they're great and all. I mean, I've seen some pretty spectacular fireworks shows and to be honest the ones they do in Disneyworld are pretty awesome. And they do those every single day. There was this big silver ball on the bridge and we had been waiting all day (ALL DAY!) to see what it would do. It went down a little bit. That was it. Turned out it hadn't worked. It was supposed to spin around and shoot off more fireworks or something but it didn't work. So, after all was said and done and it was obvious that it hadn't worked right I couldn't help but turn to the Brit and say, "You know, in America, our balls work." I know, I know, but how often do you have a setup like that? Huh?
Then it was off to a bar for a few drinks. Actually just one. The sun had sapped our strength over the course of those 8 hours and we weren't prepared for any real partying. So, we headed somewhere which had a live band. They played (you guessed it) cover songs of American rock music. I mean, these guys did Sweet Home Alabama. Then, near the end of the set, the singer starts wishing people a Happy New Year. "Happy New Year to the Australians! Happy New Year to the Brits! Happy New Year to New Zealanders!" He did several countries but there was one country conspicuously missing. Can you guess which one?
Then it was off to bed and back to my lunch-movie-dinner-bar hopping schedule.
So, we headed down there after having some breakfast/lunch on New Year's Eve to see how crowded it was getting and there were already a couple hundred people settled in. This was at about noon. We found a good spot with a light pole to lean against and laid out our blanket, preparing for the wait. Didn't really think this through and after about an hour of simply sitting there in the scorching heat of the midday Sydney sun we began to realize how poorly we had planned for this. Now, because so many people go there at New Year's they close off the gates once it gets too full. Residents of Sydney can get special passes allowing them in even once the gates are closed, but for those of us visiting we just have to get there early and stay there. Still, by 1 PM I was willing to risk it. I left Scott to guard our spot and headed to a nearby convenience store where I grabbed some bottled water, a deck of cards, and some sunblock. The sunblock was ludicrously expensive but was probably the most important thing I bought. SPF 20 and we slathered it on repeatedly and I STILL got people noticing how much sun I got over a week later when I got back to Japan. And it was all from this day.
So, it's maybe 1 - 1:30 PM. The sun doesn't set until after 8 PM. There was a small fireworks show at 9:30 for the kiddies and then the big one at midnight. So we sat there and played cards. And played cards. We invented a game. It sucked. But we still played it a few times. I taught him, like, 4 card games. We played Go Fish for crying out loud. I mean, you almost looked forward to needing to use the toilet even though you'd have to wait in line because it meant doing SOMETHING.
Around 6 or 7 we began to notice people gathering on the 2nd story terrace of the Opera House. This turned out to be a wedding ceremony. Can you imagine having your wedding on New Year's Eve in Sydney in front of about 3000 people? Well, someone did. Seemed like a nice ceremony too. When the groom kissed the bride people cheered and clapped. Hope it made him feel good because I'm guessing someone paid a pretty penny for that.
Sometime after 11 PM some Australian woman introduced herself to us. She seemed nice and had apparently taken a liking to Scott. However, when it turned out she had had her eye on us for several hours ("Did you enjoy your card game? Man, you sure seemed to win more than him!") we were a little weirded out. Still, she was nice. Her British friend came over to distract me so the Aussie could chat up Scott. Of course, the Brit started making claims about how great the fireworks were going to be and how they would outdo anything we could do in America and I could just forget about Disney and blah blah blah.
So, midnight comes and the fireworks go off and they're great and all. I mean, I've seen some pretty spectacular fireworks shows and to be honest the ones they do in Disneyworld are pretty awesome. And they do those every single day. There was this big silver ball on the bridge and we had been waiting all day (ALL DAY!) to see what it would do. It went down a little bit. That was it. Turned out it hadn't worked. It was supposed to spin around and shoot off more fireworks or something but it didn't work. So, after all was said and done and it was obvious that it hadn't worked right I couldn't help but turn to the Brit and say, "You know, in America, our balls work." I know, I know, but how often do you have a setup like that? Huh?
Then it was off to a bar for a few drinks. Actually just one. The sun had sapped our strength over the course of those 8 hours and we weren't prepared for any real partying. So, we headed somewhere which had a live band. They played (you guessed it) cover songs of American rock music. I mean, these guys did Sweet Home Alabama. Then, near the end of the set, the singer starts wishing people a Happy New Year. "Happy New Year to the Australians! Happy New Year to the Brits! Happy New Year to New Zealanders!" He did several countries but there was one country conspicuously missing. Can you guess which one?
Then it was off to bed and back to my lunch-movie-dinner-bar hopping schedule.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)