Today I bought and listened to the new album from Toronto singer, Lindi Ortega. I have been a fan of Lindi's music since I first met her about four or five years ago.
Over the years she has continued to write and perform. She is great to watch live. And now she has a new album out, "Little Red Boots" Now I am no music critic. I cannot tell you what song might have been influenced by what, or what style a particular tune is, but what I can tell you is that I really like Lindi's music. Lindi has a unique voice and her songs feel so personal. She has written one of my all time favourite songs, "Nothing At All" which was on her first album, "The Taste of Forbidden Fruit". This album has a number of songs that I really like. My favourites include , "Angels", "I'm No Elvis Presley" and "Dying of Another Broken Heart".
Lindi shot an excellent little video for "Angels" on her iPhone.
Here it is:
Lindi and I shot a video for "I'm No Elvis Presley" in which Lindi ran around in a cool Elvis outfit. I will have to get permission to show you the video. If I do then you will see it here.
I encourage anyone who likes music to get hold of "Little Red Boots" by Lindi Ortega. You won't be sorry.
"Little Red Boots" is available on iTunes.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Doctor Who - The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People
An interesting pair of episodes that answered some questions and raised a few more.
The Doctor wanted to drop of Amy and Rory for some fish and chips so that he could check on some things. Amy wasn't having any of that so they ended up coming along. They landed sometime in the twenty-second century at an island factory that produced a very corrosive acid. The workers had a rather unique way of dealing with such a dangerous product. They used 'gangers made from "the Flesh", duplicates of themselves controlled by them from control harnesses. But things went wrong when the factory was hit by a solar wave and the 'gangers went walk about.
Together, these episodes had a lot of the elements that I like in Doctor Who. One being that great drama can be played out on a small scale rather than the Doctor having to save the entire planet. It doesn't mean that the actions of the characters are any less important, after all for those involved in the story, it is the world to them.
I really liked the way the characters had to deal with duplicates of themselves. I mean, how would we react if we met our self. Would we accept a second version of us. I really don't know how I would react if it was me in that situation. Would I be as accepting as the Doctor was. I would hope so. But I have a feeling I would react a little more like the others did, with at best suspicion and at worst hatred. In "Amy's Choice" the Doctor realized that the Dream Lord was a version out of his sub-conscious. He reasoned, there's only one person in the universe that could hate him as much as the Dream Lord did. That would be himself. So I rather think that if we truly met our self that we wouldn't like it very much.
Of course in this case the Doctor accepted himself. It was Amy that had trouble accepting the Doctor. I am still a little unsure as to precisely when the Doctor and Flesh Doctor changed shoes. The Doctor implies that it was very early on. I suspect that it had to be before the Doctor went out in the hall with Amy and she told him about inviting them to his death.
It is always cool when they make references to the Doctor's history. As Flesh Doctor is stabilizing he has some trouble with previous regenerations. We get some Fourth Doctor coming through with the jelly baby comment with Tom Baker's actual voice, then "I'm the Doctor" from the Tenth Doctor and then he yells, "No, let it go, we've moved on." Great stuff.
There were touching moments too as when the Doctor made the phone call to Jimmy's son and tricked his 'ganger into an act of humanity.
I have said it before, that this season seems to be the torture Amy season, and they continued it with a vengeance in this episode. Karen Gillan is doing a remarkable job in the role. I am very impressed. In the final scene where she says, "Doctor, I am frightened. I am properly, properly scared." you can really feel her fear.
This whole double episode has led us to that final scene where we discover why Amy is pregnant and not pregnant and why she was seeing the Eye Patch Lady. We now know that Amy was a 'ganger of some kind. In her case being controlled by the real Amy without her knowing what was really going on. So we have had that question partially answered, but now we have more questions.
When was Amy captured and replaced with her 'ganger? Clearly before this season began.
Who kidnapped her?
With whose baby is she pregnant?
Is her child the one in the spacesuit?
Oh, and I have another small question. The Doctor gave Flesh Doctor his sonic screwdriver before they took off in the Tardis. He then dissolved Amy with it in the Tardis. Did the Flesh reproduce a working sonic screwdriver? Or did the Doctor have two of them? Or was this a continuity mistake? If anyone can answer this let me know.
We will apparently also find out who River Song is. (I am nervous about this.) The next episode will likely only tease us with answers as it is a cliffhanger and we will have to wait until the fall for part two. But still, I am looking forward to it.
The Doctor wanted to drop of Amy and Rory for some fish and chips so that he could check on some things. Amy wasn't having any of that so they ended up coming along. They landed sometime in the twenty-second century at an island factory that produced a very corrosive acid. The workers had a rather unique way of dealing with such a dangerous product. They used 'gangers made from "the Flesh", duplicates of themselves controlled by them from control harnesses. But things went wrong when the factory was hit by a solar wave and the 'gangers went walk about.
Together, these episodes had a lot of the elements that I like in Doctor Who. One being that great drama can be played out on a small scale rather than the Doctor having to save the entire planet. It doesn't mean that the actions of the characters are any less important, after all for those involved in the story, it is the world to them.
I really liked the way the characters had to deal with duplicates of themselves. I mean, how would we react if we met our self. Would we accept a second version of us. I really don't know how I would react if it was me in that situation. Would I be as accepting as the Doctor was. I would hope so. But I have a feeling I would react a little more like the others did, with at best suspicion and at worst hatred. In "Amy's Choice" the Doctor realized that the Dream Lord was a version out of his sub-conscious. He reasoned, there's only one person in the universe that could hate him as much as the Dream Lord did. That would be himself. So I rather think that if we truly met our self that we wouldn't like it very much.
Of course in this case the Doctor accepted himself. It was Amy that had trouble accepting the Doctor. I am still a little unsure as to precisely when the Doctor and Flesh Doctor changed shoes. The Doctor implies that it was very early on. I suspect that it had to be before the Doctor went out in the hall with Amy and she told him about inviting them to his death.
It is always cool when they make references to the Doctor's history. As Flesh Doctor is stabilizing he has some trouble with previous regenerations. We get some Fourth Doctor coming through with the jelly baby comment with Tom Baker's actual voice, then "I'm the Doctor" from the Tenth Doctor and then he yells, "No, let it go, we've moved on." Great stuff.
There were touching moments too as when the Doctor made the phone call to Jimmy's son and tricked his 'ganger into an act of humanity.
I have said it before, that this season seems to be the torture Amy season, and they continued it with a vengeance in this episode. Karen Gillan is doing a remarkable job in the role. I am very impressed. In the final scene where she says, "Doctor, I am frightened. I am properly, properly scared." you can really feel her fear.
This whole double episode has led us to that final scene where we discover why Amy is pregnant and not pregnant and why she was seeing the Eye Patch Lady. We now know that Amy was a 'ganger of some kind. In her case being controlled by the real Amy without her knowing what was really going on. So we have had that question partially answered, but now we have more questions.
When was Amy captured and replaced with her 'ganger? Clearly before this season began.
Who kidnapped her?
With whose baby is she pregnant?
Is her child the one in the spacesuit?
Oh, and I have another small question. The Doctor gave Flesh Doctor his sonic screwdriver before they took off in the Tardis. He then dissolved Amy with it in the Tardis. Did the Flesh reproduce a working sonic screwdriver? Or did the Doctor have two of them? Or was this a continuity mistake? If anyone can answer this let me know.
We will apparently also find out who River Song is. (I am nervous about this.) The next episode will likely only tease us with answers as it is a cliffhanger and we will have to wait until the fall for part two. But still, I am looking forward to it.
Friday, June 3, 2011
The Amazing Sky
A couple of years ago I made a short film called, "The Amazing Sky" It was entirely made up of time lapse shots of the sky. It made me aware of two things.
One, shooting time lapse is very tricky and takes a long long time. Patience is definitely needed.
And two, the sky really is amazing.
I truly think that people don't look up enough. Everyday the sky is different. It can be totally clear and blue, have slight wisps of cloud or be very dramatic. The sky, especially the weather that comes with it, affects us daily, yet we often pay no attention to it. It is also just beautiful. Take five minutes or even just one and look at the sky. Do it right now.
We often wonder how ancient people were so good at knowing the time of day or navigation or building monuments that line up perfectly with the sun or stars. It is no mystery. They simply were aware of their surroundings. They looked up.
Over the next few months I will be shooting some more time lapse and will make another short film. I hope to include some dramatic shots of the stars moving across the night sky (even trickier to shoot). I will also take the time to look down. There is a lot that happens beneath our feet too.
Until then, I hope you enjoy "The Amazing Sky".
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Old Squirrel
It was a beautiful day at the end of May. I was hiking in one of my favourite places, the Rouge Park. A little way off the main trail there is a pond likely created by a beaver dam. It is a place with many old dead trees standing like grave stones in and around the water's edge. The atmosphere, even on a sunny day is a little creepy.
I pushed through some brush as I made my way toward the water. Despite the dead trees, the place was full of life. Red winged blackbirds flew from brittle branch to brittle branch.
An owl chased by smaller birds fled into the forest.
On the ground were many fallen trees. On a log directly in front of me sat a small black creature. I stopped.
This thing just sat there looking at me. I didn't know what it was at first. It had the head of a squirrel but a thin body with very little hair. It turns out it was a squirrel. I realized this when it flashed its tail. A tail with only a few hairs left on it.
It was an old half starved critter. It didn't run and scurry up a tree as most squirrels would. It let me get quite close. In fact when I got too close it just walked of the log and moved behind a stump.
This little animal touched me somehow. I couldn't help but wonder what its life had been like. I'm sure at one point it was a lively young squirrel jumping from tree to tree, chasing other squirrels and having as much fun as squirrels can have. Now it was a skinny little thing, alone on the edge of a swamp. The neat thing is that it was old and still alive. It is rare in nature for any animal to die of old age. If this old squirrel could last a little longer perhaps it would die of old age. Whatever happens, I have a feeling that I will not see this squirrel again. And that is a little sad.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Doctor Who - The Doctor's Wife
Let me start by saying that I have in general really enjoyed Doctor Who since Matt Smith took over last year. He has claimed the role and done a fantastic job. The same goes for Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.
While I feel a sense of excitement every time I sit down to watch a new episode, I also feel nervous. Unfortunately I have been disappointed a few times in either the direction that some of the stories have gone as well as the overall tone. It is hard to actually put my finger on exactly what it is, but I often feel something is missing.
A couple of examples:
Victory of the Daleks should have been a great episode. It started well, and for the first ten minutes or so I was really into it. Then it devolved into a silly spectacle that felt like a commercial to sell new brightly coloured Dalek toys. This is my least favourite episode. One that I can almost actually say that I disliked.
The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood was not bad but I felt like, being a two parter, it should have had more gravitas. It really could have been done in a more tightly written single episode.
Also throughout the Eleventh Doctor's first season, we had the ongoing plot of the crack in time. A perfectly valid and interesting plot. Unfortunately its execution lacked any sort of subtlety. It felt like we were being hit over the head with it. Compare that to the way Bad Wolf was used in series one, or Harold Saxon in series three or even Rose coming back in series four. In those cases you often didn't notice what was happening at the time. It was only at the end when the connection was finally made that you had that ah ha moment. Plus it led to more enjoyment when you would re watch previous episodes and see Bad Wolf in graffiti or the Vote for Saxon sign in the alley or Rose appearing on a tv monitor.
This season started with The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon. Both exciting episodes. But I was left feeling that there were too many story lines left open. I'm sure that these will be tied up by the end of the series, which is fine, but I felt unsatisfied at the end of the episodes. I read a quote on twitter today that was appropriately directed at Doctor Who, Writing for TV Series and Managing Viewer Expectations... "Leave Breadcrumbs, Not Boulders"
Last week's episode, The Curse of the Black Spot, was one that I enjoyed (who doesn't enjoy pirates?). But even this episode had an unsatisfying ending. It felt like they ran out of time and just quickly slapped together an ending.
One more complaint. Enough River Song. She has been in some great episodes but I have had enough of her. She diminishes the value of the Doctor. I have said it before, I think it would have been better if they had heeded the title of the music written for River in The Forest of the Dead, "The Greatest Story Never Told".
By the way I only complain because I really love the show. Even the "bad" episodes are better than most tv. But the show has the potential to be truly great. With the calibre of the writers on the show, we deserve a great show. Perhaps that is the problem. We expect too much.
Okay. For those that are still with me, I will finally get to The Doctor's Wife.
Simply a great episode. Almost as good as my favourite, Vincent and the Doctor.
I think that Doctor Who works best when it is about the characters. This was an excellent character piece. The heart of the Tardis is stolen and placed into the body of a woman, Idris. There was no real attempt from the writer to hide this from the audience and to most viewers, I'm sure they got the point right away. Sometimes it fun to know something before the characters do. We could delight in her choices of words. She called the Doctor her thief and talked in past, present and future tenses.
Once the Doctor realized who she was we got some great insight into their relationship. They were made for each other. They need each other. And it was nice to see the emotional attachment they have for each other. The Doctor truly is married to the Tardis.
The villian was House. He was some sort of malevolent power living inside the asteroid, who had tricked travellers into his trap, including hundreds of Time Lords. He would feed on the energy from their Tardises, and now he had caught the last Time Lord. House then moved into the Doctor's Tardis in an attempt to make it to our universe. I like how House was just a disembodied voice. It reminded me a little of the Devil in The Satan Pit. A creature with unmeasured power going up against the Doctor.
We also had some great moments with Amy and Rory. As they ran around the corridors inside the Tardis, House played with their minds. House brought out the subconscious fears in Amy's mind. Poor Rory being left for hours, then years, then dying and leaving some rather dark messages for Amy was really well done. I have to say that the writer's seem intent on torturing Amy this season and Karen Gillan is really putting in some great performances.
Here are some lines that I feel sum up the episode.
Doctor: "You gave me hope and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me."
Idris (Tardis): "The first time you touched my console you said.."
Doctor: "I said you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever known."
Idris (Tardis): "Then you stole me and I stole you."
Doctor: "You have never been very reliable."
Idris (Tardis): "And you have?"
Doctor: "You didn't always take me where I wanted to go."
Idris (Tardis): "No, but I always took you where you needed to go."
Idris (Tardis): "You talk and run around and bring home strays."
House: "Fear me, I've killed hundreds of time lords."
Doctor: "Fear me. I've killed all of them."
Idris (Tardis): "There's something I didn't get to say to you."
Doctor: "Goodbye?"
Idris (Tardis): "No. I just wanted to say, hello. Hello Doctor. It's so very very nice to meet you."
Doctor: "You okay?"
Rory: "No. I watched her die. I shouldn't let it get to me but it still does. I'm a nurse."
Doctor: "Letting it get to you. You know what that's called. Being alive. Best thing there is."
It is so exciting when you have the pleasure of watching a truly well written episode. This was really exciting.
I will also mention that I was unable to watch this episode live as it aired because I was busy. Of course I recorded it and sat down to watch it when I got home. But before I did that I noticed that a video blog had already been posted on youtube about this episode by Rosianna on the TARDIStacular channel. I came across her reviews of Doctor Who a few years ago and found them to be really well done. Rosianna is very intelligent and articulate and I really respect and value her opinion on the subject. Anyway, I did not immediately watch her review as I had to watch the episode first, but just the fact that her review was already uploaded the night that the show aired got me excited. I assumed (and assumed correctly) that this meant that the episode must have been extraordinarily good.
For those interested, here is her review:
By the way, Rosianna is also a writer, student, book reviewer and freelance copy editor. Such talent. So, Rosianna, if you ever read this blog, please forgive any of my improper uses of grammar and poorly constructed sentences etc. That was probably a bad one right there.
And for any Doctor Who fans, be sure to follow TARDIStacular on youtube.
While I feel a sense of excitement every time I sit down to watch a new episode, I also feel nervous. Unfortunately I have been disappointed a few times in either the direction that some of the stories have gone as well as the overall tone. It is hard to actually put my finger on exactly what it is, but I often feel something is missing.
A couple of examples:
Victory of the Daleks should have been a great episode. It started well, and for the first ten minutes or so I was really into it. Then it devolved into a silly spectacle that felt like a commercial to sell new brightly coloured Dalek toys. This is my least favourite episode. One that I can almost actually say that I disliked.
The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood was not bad but I felt like, being a two parter, it should have had more gravitas. It really could have been done in a more tightly written single episode.
Also throughout the Eleventh Doctor's first season, we had the ongoing plot of the crack in time. A perfectly valid and interesting plot. Unfortunately its execution lacked any sort of subtlety. It felt like we were being hit over the head with it. Compare that to the way Bad Wolf was used in series one, or Harold Saxon in series three or even Rose coming back in series four. In those cases you often didn't notice what was happening at the time. It was only at the end when the connection was finally made that you had that ah ha moment. Plus it led to more enjoyment when you would re watch previous episodes and see Bad Wolf in graffiti or the Vote for Saxon sign in the alley or Rose appearing on a tv monitor.
This season started with The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon. Both exciting episodes. But I was left feeling that there were too many story lines left open. I'm sure that these will be tied up by the end of the series, which is fine, but I felt unsatisfied at the end of the episodes. I read a quote on twitter today that was appropriately directed at Doctor Who, Writing for TV Series and Managing Viewer Expectations... "Leave Breadcrumbs, Not Boulders"
Last week's episode, The Curse of the Black Spot, was one that I enjoyed (who doesn't enjoy pirates?). But even this episode had an unsatisfying ending. It felt like they ran out of time and just quickly slapped together an ending.
One more complaint. Enough River Song. She has been in some great episodes but I have had enough of her. She diminishes the value of the Doctor. I have said it before, I think it would have been better if they had heeded the title of the music written for River in The Forest of the Dead, "The Greatest Story Never Told".
By the way I only complain because I really love the show. Even the "bad" episodes are better than most tv. But the show has the potential to be truly great. With the calibre of the writers on the show, we deserve a great show. Perhaps that is the problem. We expect too much.
Okay. For those that are still with me, I will finally get to The Doctor's Wife.
Simply a great episode. Almost as good as my favourite, Vincent and the Doctor.
I think that Doctor Who works best when it is about the characters. This was an excellent character piece. The heart of the Tardis is stolen and placed into the body of a woman, Idris. There was no real attempt from the writer to hide this from the audience and to most viewers, I'm sure they got the point right away. Sometimes it fun to know something before the characters do. We could delight in her choices of words. She called the Doctor her thief and talked in past, present and future tenses.
Once the Doctor realized who she was we got some great insight into their relationship. They were made for each other. They need each other. And it was nice to see the emotional attachment they have for each other. The Doctor truly is married to the Tardis.
The villian was House. He was some sort of malevolent power living inside the asteroid, who had tricked travellers into his trap, including hundreds of Time Lords. He would feed on the energy from their Tardises, and now he had caught the last Time Lord. House then moved into the Doctor's Tardis in an attempt to make it to our universe. I like how House was just a disembodied voice. It reminded me a little of the Devil in The Satan Pit. A creature with unmeasured power going up against the Doctor.
We also had some great moments with Amy and Rory. As they ran around the corridors inside the Tardis, House played with their minds. House brought out the subconscious fears in Amy's mind. Poor Rory being left for hours, then years, then dying and leaving some rather dark messages for Amy was really well done. I have to say that the writer's seem intent on torturing Amy this season and Karen Gillan is really putting in some great performances.
Here are some lines that I feel sum up the episode.
Doctor: "You gave me hope and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me."
Idris (Tardis): "The first time you touched my console you said.."
Doctor: "I said you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever known."
Idris (Tardis): "Then you stole me and I stole you."
Doctor: "You have never been very reliable."
Idris (Tardis): "And you have?"
Doctor: "You didn't always take me where I wanted to go."
Idris (Tardis): "No, but I always took you where you needed to go."
Idris (Tardis): "You talk and run around and bring home strays."
House: "Fear me, I've killed hundreds of time lords."
Doctor: "Fear me. I've killed all of them."
Idris (Tardis): "There's something I didn't get to say to you."
Doctor: "Goodbye?"
Idris (Tardis): "No. I just wanted to say, hello. Hello Doctor. It's so very very nice to meet you."
Doctor: "You okay?"
Rory: "No. I watched her die. I shouldn't let it get to me but it still does. I'm a nurse."
Doctor: "Letting it get to you. You know what that's called. Being alive. Best thing there is."
It is so exciting when you have the pleasure of watching a truly well written episode. This was really exciting.
I will also mention that I was unable to watch this episode live as it aired because I was busy. Of course I recorded it and sat down to watch it when I got home. But before I did that I noticed that a video blog had already been posted on youtube about this episode by Rosianna on the TARDIStacular channel. I came across her reviews of Doctor Who a few years ago and found them to be really well done. Rosianna is very intelligent and articulate and I really respect and value her opinion on the subject. Anyway, I did not immediately watch her review as I had to watch the episode first, but just the fact that her review was already uploaded the night that the show aired got me excited. I assumed (and assumed correctly) that this meant that the episode must have been extraordinarily good.
For those interested, here is her review:
By the way, Rosianna is also a writer, student, book reviewer and freelance copy editor. Such talent. So, Rosianna, if you ever read this blog, please forgive any of my improper uses of grammar and poorly constructed sentences etc. That was probably a bad one right there.
And for any Doctor Who fans, be sure to follow TARDIStacular on youtube.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Survivor - That's a Hell of a lot of Steps
After two weeks of average episodes in what has been a great season, we get another really good episode.
It started with the tribe (and the RI group) receiving the Sprint 4G phone. Many people cringe at the product placement, but at least Survivor incorporates the products in a useful way. I know most people would prefer there was none but it is what pays for the show. I am developing a show right now so I know how very important sponsors are. If you want a show with the production value that Survivor has, it costs a lot of money. So cut them some slack.
On the phone were videos from loved ones. I used to hate these episodes. I thought it was cheesy and I thought the crying was wimpy. After all, they have only been gone a month. But as I get older I have come to really like these episodes. Also, you have to realize that these people have not just been away from family, they have been away from all civilization, they are hungry and tired and have been under tremendous stress. So to have a little love from home must be wonderful. I can imagine myself being out there and having my brother visit or seeing video of my two and a half year old niece. I would be teary.
The twist this time was that it was the winner of the Redemption Island challenge that got to see their family. Mike won the challenge and would get to spend time with his mom. Or... there is always an or... he could let the two remaining Redemption Island guys, Matt and Ralph, spend time with their loved one or let the entire Ometepe gang spend the time with their family. Wow, what a choice. What would he do? I think at that point in the game I would have been selfish. But Mike, whether for strategy, although I really don't think that alone would buy you votes from a potential jury, or maybe because he is just a nice guy, decided to let everyone on the former Ometepe have the time with their families. A very nice gesture. Whether it helps him in any way we shall see.
By the way, am I a bad person for hoping that Matt loses a challenge?
After the day with the loved ones came the immunity challenge. And what a challenge it was. They had to fit planks like a puzzle into steps that went up and up and up. It was one of those challenges that if you made one little mistake you would be out of it. Very quickly Phillip, Natalie and Ashley were so far behind that they would not be a threat. But the race between Grant, Andrea and Rob was close. It went back and forth. Rob really wanted to win. I also really wanted him to win. Andrea clearly wanted it too. You could feel them getting tired. Especially Rob, who was giving it all he had. He was a little ahead as he grabbed his last plank and barely made it to the top of the stairs. But he got it in place and collapsed at the top victorious.
I was tired watching. Actually I went for a hike yesterday and it included going up some steep hills. I was tired and out of breath going up the hill just once. They went up and down these steps multiple times. So Rob won the immunity necklace.
Who would they vote out at tribal? This is the first time that they have had to really turn on themselves. The consensus seemed to be to get rid of Andrea. But Phillip, being Phillip, started acting crazy again making them think twice. I like watching Rob think through the strategy here. Actually, he was the only one thinking things through. Everyone else was just doing what Rob told them. Rob can see that having Phillip at the end will help him get votes because no one is likely to vote for Phillip. He also sees that Andrea is the only one smart enough to see that Rob could be a threat. So logic seemed to support voting out Andrea and that is what they did.
I don't know that that was the right thing to do. Now you have Andrea on Redemption Island with Matt. This may or may not stir up trouble for Rob. I think for Rob's sake he would have been wiser to keep Andrea and maybe get rid of someone with less use to him like Ashley. They always say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
The good news is that Rob had won immunity this time. He still has the hidden immunity idol and he also is good at challenges so he potentially could win immunity again. Plus for some strange reason, his star struck tribe (that may be the reason) hasn't even thought about voting him out.
There is one more episode to go and then the finale. I am concerned about when they will allow the person from Redemption Island to rejoin the tribe. If they do it too soon, you could argue that it is unfair for those that get voted out and don't get a chance at Redemption. If they do it too late, then it is unfair to the people that have been playing the game and strategizing the whole time. I have liked Redemption Island up until this point. How it is handled from here will be the deciding factor for me.
It started with the tribe (and the RI group) receiving the Sprint 4G phone. Many people cringe at the product placement, but at least Survivor incorporates the products in a useful way. I know most people would prefer there was none but it is what pays for the show. I am developing a show right now so I know how very important sponsors are. If you want a show with the production value that Survivor has, it costs a lot of money. So cut them some slack.
On the phone were videos from loved ones. I used to hate these episodes. I thought it was cheesy and I thought the crying was wimpy. After all, they have only been gone a month. But as I get older I have come to really like these episodes. Also, you have to realize that these people have not just been away from family, they have been away from all civilization, they are hungry and tired and have been under tremendous stress. So to have a little love from home must be wonderful. I can imagine myself being out there and having my brother visit or seeing video of my two and a half year old niece. I would be teary.
The twist this time was that it was the winner of the Redemption Island challenge that got to see their family. Mike won the challenge and would get to spend time with his mom. Or... there is always an or... he could let the two remaining Redemption Island guys, Matt and Ralph, spend time with their loved one or let the entire Ometepe gang spend the time with their family. Wow, what a choice. What would he do? I think at that point in the game I would have been selfish. But Mike, whether for strategy, although I really don't think that alone would buy you votes from a potential jury, or maybe because he is just a nice guy, decided to let everyone on the former Ometepe have the time with their families. A very nice gesture. Whether it helps him in any way we shall see.
By the way, am I a bad person for hoping that Matt loses a challenge?
After the day with the loved ones came the immunity challenge. And what a challenge it was. They had to fit planks like a puzzle into steps that went up and up and up. It was one of those challenges that if you made one little mistake you would be out of it. Very quickly Phillip, Natalie and Ashley were so far behind that they would not be a threat. But the race between Grant, Andrea and Rob was close. It went back and forth. Rob really wanted to win. I also really wanted him to win. Andrea clearly wanted it too. You could feel them getting tired. Especially Rob, who was giving it all he had. He was a little ahead as he grabbed his last plank and barely made it to the top of the stairs. But he got it in place and collapsed at the top victorious.
I was tired watching. Actually I went for a hike yesterday and it included going up some steep hills. I was tired and out of breath going up the hill just once. They went up and down these steps multiple times. So Rob won the immunity necklace.
Who would they vote out at tribal? This is the first time that they have had to really turn on themselves. The consensus seemed to be to get rid of Andrea. But Phillip, being Phillip, started acting crazy again making them think twice. I like watching Rob think through the strategy here. Actually, he was the only one thinking things through. Everyone else was just doing what Rob told them. Rob can see that having Phillip at the end will help him get votes because no one is likely to vote for Phillip. He also sees that Andrea is the only one smart enough to see that Rob could be a threat. So logic seemed to support voting out Andrea and that is what they did.
I don't know that that was the right thing to do. Now you have Andrea on Redemption Island with Matt. This may or may not stir up trouble for Rob. I think for Rob's sake he would have been wiser to keep Andrea and maybe get rid of someone with less use to him like Ashley. They always say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
The good news is that Rob had won immunity this time. He still has the hidden immunity idol and he also is good at challenges so he potentially could win immunity again. Plus for some strange reason, his star struck tribe (that may be the reason) hasn't even thought about voting him out.
There is one more episode to go and then the finale. I am concerned about when they will allow the person from Redemption Island to rejoin the tribe. If they do it too soon, you could argue that it is unfair for those that get voted out and don't get a chance at Redemption. If they do it too late, then it is unfair to the people that have been playing the game and strategizing the whole time. I have liked Redemption Island up until this point. How it is handled from here will be the deciding factor for me.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Doctor Who Day of the Moon
Last week week we had the first episode of the new season and it was exciting. A great ride with lots of twists. I did have some reservations despite really liking it. I was concerned that Steven Moffat's love for complicated and potentially paradoxical plots might lead to some holes that would not be filled.
This week we had the conclusion in Day of the Moon. It had some really good moments but it unfortunately left me disappointed and unsatisfied. My fears appear to have been realized. There were far too many plot twists that did not wrap up and the episode felt rushed to try and finish what they did actually finish.
Let's look at what I did like.
The rounding up of Amy, Rory and River was a dramatic way to open the episode.
Building the prison around the Doctor and the Tardis was also clever.
The overall haunted house feel that the episode had was really well done. The scenes in the orphanage were very creepy and you really felt the fear that Amy felt.
The recording devices in the palms of their hands was a great way to remember what they saw. The scene in the Tardis where Canton sees a hologram of one and then straightens the Doctor's tie was a brilliant way to introduce the fact that the Silence rule by the power of suggestion and it paid off with Canton recording the Silence on the video phone and ultimately being played back during the moon walk.
The scenes with Rory listening to Amy through the recording device were touching as was the little heart to heart he had with the Doctor. "Stupid face"
I did really like the final confrontation with the Silence. Using the video in the broadcast of the moon landing was brilliant and maintains why we (the people of the world) have no recollection of the Silence. The shootout with River was exciting.
I also liked the moments after the Doctor and River kissed (although the kiss itself made me uncomfortable). The Doctor says, "There's a first time for everything." and River, after the Doctor leaves, says, "And a last time." Throughout all their history is it possible that that was their only kiss?
Now the things that I did not like.
There was far too much use of the Tardis. In most stories there will always be a reason why the Doctor cannot use the Tardis because otherwise the solutions to the problems become too easy. I also really hate that River is flying the Tardis around without the Doctor.
Speaking of River Song. I think that I have had enough of her. When she is around it diminishes the Doctor. She always knows too much and almost makes the Doctor look foolish. I know Steven Moffat loves this character, but please let's be done with her. We need a break.
I actually found the Doctor a little disappointing at times as well. I think it was that he was acting a little to foolish and was played for laughs a little too often, especially in a story that had such a grim enemy.
Nixon also came across as a bit of a clown in this episode. He lost the gravitas he had in the last episode.
There were a lot of plot lines that did not wrap up. This may be intentional, but even if it is intentional it left us feeling completely unsatisfied at the end of the episode. It is totally fine to introduce new plot lines and not wrap up everything, but you still need to leave the audience feeling a sense of satisfaction and excitement for what will come. I felt neither. I feel worry. I worry where Steven Moffat is taking things. More on this in a moment.
I am left with questions.
Who was the woman behind the door in the orphanage?
Why was the control room of the Silence the same as the one in the Lodger? Will we find out or was it just because they had a set they could reuse?
Who is the little girl?
Why can she regenerate?
If Amy is pregnant then with who's child? (I am assuming it is the little girl)
Why was the older Doctor killed?
I think the last question deserved to answered in this episode as it is what began it all. There was no mention of it. It was as if the characters had all forgotten it as well.
The reason I worry where all of this is going is all because of Steven Moffat. I think he is a great writer. He has written some of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who. However he seems to want to take the Doctor in a completely different direction than Russell T Davies did. This is fine except that he seems to want to rewrite history. He has to remember that the fans of the show love the Doctor. They love all the Doctors. To keep things in the present, they love the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor. It is not fair to write things that could potentially negate some of the things that happened with Nine and Ten. Steven Moffat seems to love paradoxical stories. I fear he will create a paradox that he will not be able to write himself out of. We will see.
And now it seems like they will just go off and have a few adventures for fun before revisiting the events of these two episodes. That is fine, but not satisfying.
This week we had the conclusion in Day of the Moon. It had some really good moments but it unfortunately left me disappointed and unsatisfied. My fears appear to have been realized. There were far too many plot twists that did not wrap up and the episode felt rushed to try and finish what they did actually finish.
Let's look at what I did like.
The rounding up of Amy, Rory and River was a dramatic way to open the episode.
Building the prison around the Doctor and the Tardis was also clever.
The overall haunted house feel that the episode had was really well done. The scenes in the orphanage were very creepy and you really felt the fear that Amy felt.
The recording devices in the palms of their hands was a great way to remember what they saw. The scene in the Tardis where Canton sees a hologram of one and then straightens the Doctor's tie was a brilliant way to introduce the fact that the Silence rule by the power of suggestion and it paid off with Canton recording the Silence on the video phone and ultimately being played back during the moon walk.
The scenes with Rory listening to Amy through the recording device were touching as was the little heart to heart he had with the Doctor. "Stupid face"
I did really like the final confrontation with the Silence. Using the video in the broadcast of the moon landing was brilliant and maintains why we (the people of the world) have no recollection of the Silence. The shootout with River was exciting.
I also liked the moments after the Doctor and River kissed (although the kiss itself made me uncomfortable). The Doctor says, "There's a first time for everything." and River, after the Doctor leaves, says, "And a last time." Throughout all their history is it possible that that was their only kiss?
Now the things that I did not like.
There was far too much use of the Tardis. In most stories there will always be a reason why the Doctor cannot use the Tardis because otherwise the solutions to the problems become too easy. I also really hate that River is flying the Tardis around without the Doctor.
Speaking of River Song. I think that I have had enough of her. When she is around it diminishes the Doctor. She always knows too much and almost makes the Doctor look foolish. I know Steven Moffat loves this character, but please let's be done with her. We need a break.
I actually found the Doctor a little disappointing at times as well. I think it was that he was acting a little to foolish and was played for laughs a little too often, especially in a story that had such a grim enemy.
Nixon also came across as a bit of a clown in this episode. He lost the gravitas he had in the last episode.
There were a lot of plot lines that did not wrap up. This may be intentional, but even if it is intentional it left us feeling completely unsatisfied at the end of the episode. It is totally fine to introduce new plot lines and not wrap up everything, but you still need to leave the audience feeling a sense of satisfaction and excitement for what will come. I felt neither. I feel worry. I worry where Steven Moffat is taking things. More on this in a moment.
I am left with questions.
Who was the woman behind the door in the orphanage?
Why was the control room of the Silence the same as the one in the Lodger? Will we find out or was it just because they had a set they could reuse?
Who is the little girl?
Why can she regenerate?
If Amy is pregnant then with who's child? (I am assuming it is the little girl)
Why was the older Doctor killed?
I think the last question deserved to answered in this episode as it is what began it all. There was no mention of it. It was as if the characters had all forgotten it as well.
The reason I worry where all of this is going is all because of Steven Moffat. I think he is a great writer. He has written some of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who. However he seems to want to take the Doctor in a completely different direction than Russell T Davies did. This is fine except that he seems to want to rewrite history. He has to remember that the fans of the show love the Doctor. They love all the Doctors. To keep things in the present, they love the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor. It is not fair to write things that could potentially negate some of the things that happened with Nine and Ten. Steven Moffat seems to love paradoxical stories. I fear he will create a paradox that he will not be able to write himself out of. We will see.
And now it seems like they will just go off and have a few adventures for fun before revisiting the events of these two episodes. That is fine, but not satisfying.
Friday, April 29, 2011
The Royal Wedding
Over the last couple of weeks it became harder and harder to avoid seeing news about the Royal Wedding. There are some who have complained about this. These are the cynics among us. I mean it's not as if a Royal Wedding happens every day, every year or even every decade for that matter. It is a big deal. So I think the media can be forgiven for covering the story as they did. Quite simply, if you don't like it, don't read, watch or listen.
As for the romantics among us, and I believe that I probably fall into that category, watching the Royal Wedding was great. You don't even have to be a die hard monarchist to to appreciate the wedding. I am certainly not one. But it was just nice watching two young people who are clearly in love (and are part of an extraordinary family) start their lives together.
My parents are English. In 1981, I was eleven years old. We had driven from Toronto to visit friends in Montreal who were also English. I remember being woken up early in the morning and being forced (for an eleven year old it felt like forced) to watch Charles and Diana get married. Of course I didn't know too much about what was going on but I did remember it.
So it only felt fitting that I should wake myself up early this Friday morning and watch the wedding of Diana and Charles' son Prince William. And I was happy that I did. Here's what I thought.
First, the organization of the day was amazing. With most regular weddings there seems to be a lot of confusion and people are often running late. Not so with the Royal Wedding. It was amazing to see each vehicle carrying the Royal guests and participants show up precisely on time.
Watching William and Harry arrive at Westminster Abby, they really looked like Princes. You could definitely see William being King one day. He had a Kingly air.
I found it amusing that most of the media coverage was talking about Kate's dress and what it would look like. While the dress may be important, I suspect that for William it was more important to see her. The dress was great and Kate looked stunning. She is a beautiful woman and would have looked amazing in any dress. By the way, her sister, Pippa, also looked fantastic.
I loved how Harry took a look back to see Kate coming up the aisle while William remained looking forward. Harry smiled and then apparently said to William, "Wait 'till you see her."
William and Kate were perfect in their vows. You could see that they were made for each other in the little looks they gave each other.
The only complaint I had, and this is just me and probably didn't bother anyone else, but the ceremony was short and sweet through the vows and William and Kate being married. Then came all the hymns and prayers from multiple people. This part of the ceremony was much longer than the actual marriage part. It felt like the church being preachy and self important. I do understand that when William is King that he will also be the head of the Church of England. I wonder what will happen when a future monarch no longer believes in God.
Then the wedding was over and the trip to Buckingham Palace began. It was really cool seeing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge riding in their open carriage surrounded by the palace guard. The reaction of the crowds was amazing.
By the way, did anyone else notice the runaway horse behind their carriage at one point. At first I thought I imagined it, but watching it again later it clearly was there. Apparently it had become spooked by the crowd and thrown its rider.
Then the couple came out onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace and had their kiss. Two of them. They look so comfortable together. I think that they will be good for the monarchy. They are very much a modern and "normal" couple.
Then William and Kate drove out of the palace in a vintage Aston Martin. The question I have is why did it have a learner's plate on it?
So there is a new Royal couple. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. William and Catherine.
As for the romantics among us, and I believe that I probably fall into that category, watching the Royal Wedding was great. You don't even have to be a die hard monarchist to to appreciate the wedding. I am certainly not one. But it was just nice watching two young people who are clearly in love (and are part of an extraordinary family) start their lives together.
My parents are English. In 1981, I was eleven years old. We had driven from Toronto to visit friends in Montreal who were also English. I remember being woken up early in the morning and being forced (for an eleven year old it felt like forced) to watch Charles and Diana get married. Of course I didn't know too much about what was going on but I did remember it.
So it only felt fitting that I should wake myself up early this Friday morning and watch the wedding of Diana and Charles' son Prince William. And I was happy that I did. Here's what I thought.
First, the organization of the day was amazing. With most regular weddings there seems to be a lot of confusion and people are often running late. Not so with the Royal Wedding. It was amazing to see each vehicle carrying the Royal guests and participants show up precisely on time.
Watching William and Harry arrive at Westminster Abby, they really looked like Princes. You could definitely see William being King one day. He had a Kingly air.
I found it amusing that most of the media coverage was talking about Kate's dress and what it would look like. While the dress may be important, I suspect that for William it was more important to see her. The dress was great and Kate looked stunning. She is a beautiful woman and would have looked amazing in any dress. By the way, her sister, Pippa, also looked fantastic.
I loved how Harry took a look back to see Kate coming up the aisle while William remained looking forward. Harry smiled and then apparently said to William, "Wait 'till you see her."
William and Kate were perfect in their vows. You could see that they were made for each other in the little looks they gave each other.
The only complaint I had, and this is just me and probably didn't bother anyone else, but the ceremony was short and sweet through the vows and William and Kate being married. Then came all the hymns and prayers from multiple people. This part of the ceremony was much longer than the actual marriage part. It felt like the church being preachy and self important. I do understand that when William is King that he will also be the head of the Church of England. I wonder what will happen when a future monarch no longer believes in God.
Then the wedding was over and the trip to Buckingham Palace began. It was really cool seeing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge riding in their open carriage surrounded by the palace guard. The reaction of the crowds was amazing.
By the way, did anyone else notice the runaway horse behind their carriage at one point. At first I thought I imagined it, but watching it again later it clearly was there. Apparently it had become spooked by the crowd and thrown its rider.
Then the couple came out onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace and had their kiss. Two of them. They look so comfortable together. I think that they will be good for the monarchy. They are very much a modern and "normal" couple.
Then William and Kate drove out of the palace in a vintage Aston Martin. The question I have is why did it have a learner's plate on it?
So there is a new Royal couple. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. William and Catherine.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Doctor Who - The Impossible Astronaut
It was an exciting night. The Doctor returned in the first episode of series six, "The Impossible Astronaut".
But before that, this week Doctor Who fans were sad to learn the news that Elisabeth Sladen, Sarah Jane Smith, died. She was 63 years old and had apparently been battling cancer. I'm sure many of us had no idea. It seems that many that knew here also had no idea. Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, wrote that he "... had no idea she was ill; she was so private, never wanted any fuss, and now, gone." For more of his tribute go to Tom Baker official website. They gave a nice "In Memory Of" credit at the beginning of the episode for Elisabeth. So sad.
The new episode was a two parter, so it is hard to have a final judgement on whether it was good or not until we know how it ultimately ends, but it started out like gangbusters.
Warning, there will be spoilers from this point on.
It starts with the Doctor having ridiculous fun with history, like he was trying to get the attention of Amy and Rory, who have apparently been home for a while. They receive some sort of invitation in a Tardis blue envelope that tells them the time and place to meet. River Song also gets an invitation. The time and place they are to meet is now somewhere in the desert in America. When they all get there they find the Doctor waiting for them. After a picnic at which we find out that the Doctor is some 200 years older than when we last met him, a strange astronaut appears out of a lake and kills the Doctor. Really kills him. Dead!
Amy sees a strange alien creature, then forgets about it. We meet an old Canton Delaware who also received an invitation. His was numbered 4, Amy and Rory's was 3 and River's was 2. So who had number 1? they find out in a diner when the Doctor walks out of the restroom. He had received invitation number 1.
So we have a very complicated twisting plot with possible paradoxes and all sorts of good things. Fortunately Steven Moffat is good at these sort of things, but I am still a little nervous that all the strings will come together in the end. I really hope there are no holes. I really don't like holes in a plot.
There are a lot of good things to say about the episode. The new aliens, although they have seemingly been here a long time, are really cool. Very scary. The kind of thing that you really would have in your nightmares. And it is doubly creepy that as soon as a character looks away they forget them. This makes you really feel the peril they are in. Even though the aliens are coming to get them and they have seen them coming they turn around and are suddenly oblivious to the danger. These aliens are apparently the Silence. I will assume that is the Silence that we have been hearing about all last series.
The arrival in the oval office was well done. I really like Canton Delaware. He is played by Mark Sheppard who also played a really cool character, Romo Lampkin, in Battlestar Galactica.
River, is River. I think you either like her or hate (well, maybe not hate, but tolerate) her. I tolerate her. Obviously Steven Moffat really loves her. I liked her the first time we saw her, but like her less every time that she comes back. I worry that Steven Moffat could write himself into a corner with her and that there could be gaping holes in the series continuity because of her. That being said, I did like her talk about fearing that one day she would meet the Doctor and he wouldn't know her at all and that that would kill her. We know that is exactly what happened.
I am really liking Amy Pond. She was great in this episode. You can feel her struggling with this one. She is confused, conflicted and sad but at the same time incredibly loyal to the Doctor. She is even willing to kill to save him. If I had to put my trust in someone like the Doctor had to, it would be Amy Pond.
And it is good to see Rory as a full companion and he is needed to give us some of the lighter moments.
It will be very interesting to see how it all works out. What is the control room in the tunnels? It looks identical to the control room of the Tardis like machine in "The Lodger" We will have to wait until next week to find out.
But before that, this week Doctor Who fans were sad to learn the news that Elisabeth Sladen, Sarah Jane Smith, died. She was 63 years old and had apparently been battling cancer. I'm sure many of us had no idea. It seems that many that knew here also had no idea. Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, wrote that he "... had no idea she was ill; she was so private, never wanted any fuss, and now, gone." For more of his tribute go to Tom Baker official website. They gave a nice "In Memory Of" credit at the beginning of the episode for Elisabeth. So sad.
The new episode was a two parter, so it is hard to have a final judgement on whether it was good or not until we know how it ultimately ends, but it started out like gangbusters.
Warning, there will be spoilers from this point on.
It starts with the Doctor having ridiculous fun with history, like he was trying to get the attention of Amy and Rory, who have apparently been home for a while. They receive some sort of invitation in a Tardis blue envelope that tells them the time and place to meet. River Song also gets an invitation. The time and place they are to meet is now somewhere in the desert in America. When they all get there they find the Doctor waiting for them. After a picnic at which we find out that the Doctor is some 200 years older than when we last met him, a strange astronaut appears out of a lake and kills the Doctor. Really kills him. Dead!
Amy sees a strange alien creature, then forgets about it. We meet an old Canton Delaware who also received an invitation. His was numbered 4, Amy and Rory's was 3 and River's was 2. So who had number 1? they find out in a diner when the Doctor walks out of the restroom. He had received invitation number 1.
So we have a very complicated twisting plot with possible paradoxes and all sorts of good things. Fortunately Steven Moffat is good at these sort of things, but I am still a little nervous that all the strings will come together in the end. I really hope there are no holes. I really don't like holes in a plot.
There are a lot of good things to say about the episode. The new aliens, although they have seemingly been here a long time, are really cool. Very scary. The kind of thing that you really would have in your nightmares. And it is doubly creepy that as soon as a character looks away they forget them. This makes you really feel the peril they are in. Even though the aliens are coming to get them and they have seen them coming they turn around and are suddenly oblivious to the danger. These aliens are apparently the Silence. I will assume that is the Silence that we have been hearing about all last series.
The arrival in the oval office was well done. I really like Canton Delaware. He is played by Mark Sheppard who also played a really cool character, Romo Lampkin, in Battlestar Galactica.
River, is River. I think you either like her or hate (well, maybe not hate, but tolerate) her. I tolerate her. Obviously Steven Moffat really loves her. I liked her the first time we saw her, but like her less every time that she comes back. I worry that Steven Moffat could write himself into a corner with her and that there could be gaping holes in the series continuity because of her. That being said, I did like her talk about fearing that one day she would meet the Doctor and he wouldn't know her at all and that that would kill her. We know that is exactly what happened.
I am really liking Amy Pond. She was great in this episode. You can feel her struggling with this one. She is confused, conflicted and sad but at the same time incredibly loyal to the Doctor. She is even willing to kill to save him. If I had to put my trust in someone like the Doctor had to, it would be Amy Pond.
And it is good to see Rory as a full companion and he is needed to give us some of the lighter moments.
It will be very interesting to see how it all works out. What is the control room in the tunnels? It looks identical to the control room of the Tardis like machine in "The Lodger" We will have to wait until next week to find out.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Survivor - Cruel Genius
One thing to say... Boston Rob is a cruel genius. More on that later.
This week marked the final battle at Redemption Island before the winner would rejoin the game as Ometepe and Zapatera merged. The Redemption Island challenge between Matt and Sarita involved standing between two walls with your feet perched on ever narrower blocks. Whoever stood the longest would win. Now this looked like it could have been the worst timed challenge for Matt as he had just cut his foot in the previous episode, but despite his injury he was once again victorious. His victory was witnessed be every member of both tribes. Upon Sarita's departure came those famous words from Jeff Probst, "drop your buffs" (at least I think he did actually say it this time).
So the tribes are merged. They were sent off to a brand new beach on which they would begin their new life as a single tribe. I hope Phillip listened to Rob and brought all his stuff with him to the challenge. Once on the new beach they were treated to food. I'm sure for most of us sitting at home, comfortable on the couch, eating snacks, we sometimes laugh at how excited they get over food. But when you realize that they have been only eating a very small amount of rice each day and are actually starving, any food is a luxury. Ask anyone who has actually played Survivor and they will tell you that it is hard and that they are always hungry.
The next thing they had to do was come up with a new tribe name... Murlonio is their name. A name chosen by Rob. He claimed it was Spanish for something or other, but it in fact means nothing at all. It is the name of one of his wife, Amber's, stuffed toys. The ring leader of her stuffed toys to be exact. Hilarious!
So now Murlonio is off to its first individual immunity challenge. This challenge looked tough. One wrong move and you would be out. They had to balance on a log, then balance first one, then two, then three balls on a plate. The moment you dropped a ball or fell off the log you were out. I was in fact surprised how long most of them lasted. In the end it was down to Mike (former Zapatera) and Natalie (Ometepe). Mike looked rock solid. It was tense to watch because hopefully you like I, don't like the former Zapatera members and would like to see them lose. Natalie was barely hanging on when Mike fell off his log. Natalie, the winner of the first individual immunity. Cheers!
A twist. Redemption Island begins again. Whoever is voted out goes back to Redemption Island to rejoin the game later.
Now the strategy begins. Mike is not dumb. He sees that in order to survive he must make a big move. He hopes that he can get Matt to flip. Ometepe did after all, send him to Redemption Island. He also sees that Matt is tight with Andrea. If he can convince Matt and Andrea to join him and Steve they could be the final four. He makes his case to Matt. Matt sees the benefit. He approaches Andrea. She sees how it could work but also that it could be a dangerous move if it backfires. So we are left wondering will Matt do it or not.
Well, we are not left wondering too long because Matt, being a good and loyal guy decides he will stay with his old team. That could have been the end of it. But no. Matt had to go and tell Rob of Mike's offer to him. Why on Earth would you tell Rob that you were thinking off betraying your old tribe and that you thought it was a good idea, even if you had decided not to turn on them.
So Rob did the best, most cruel and brilliant thing ever. He decided that Matt should be sent back to Redemption Island. Ahhh... I love it!
Anyone that doesn't think this was the right move just needs to see how even after telling Rob that he would stay with Ometepe, Matt was still flip flopping in his own mind. Even Andrea could see that Matt was being wishy washy.
And so, we come to tribal council. A lot of cool things happened. It seemed that the old Zapatera people thought that Mike would be the target. Ralphy boy decided to play his hidden immunity idol to save Mike. The funny thing is that there were no votes for Mike. So that is one less hidden immunity idol to worry about.
Then the votes are read. Grant gets five votes. Steve gets one vote. Then Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt and the eighth person voted out of Survivor Redemption Island is... Matt.
Oh, how I love this game. I'm sure that Matt is a nice guy. And I know it is awful to laugh at someone else's misfortune. But that was was one of the best moves ever. It makes complete strategic sense, especially if you are Rob. Matt could easily flip. He almost did. He likely would in the future. So he had to go. I feel a little bad for him, but he has performed well at Redemption Island and maybe he can keep it up and be back in the game once more.
But until then, I will say it again... Boston Rob is a cruel genius!
This week marked the final battle at Redemption Island before the winner would rejoin the game as Ometepe and Zapatera merged. The Redemption Island challenge between Matt and Sarita involved standing between two walls with your feet perched on ever narrower blocks. Whoever stood the longest would win. Now this looked like it could have been the worst timed challenge for Matt as he had just cut his foot in the previous episode, but despite his injury he was once again victorious. His victory was witnessed be every member of both tribes. Upon Sarita's departure came those famous words from Jeff Probst, "drop your buffs" (at least I think he did actually say it this time).
So the tribes are merged. They were sent off to a brand new beach on which they would begin their new life as a single tribe. I hope Phillip listened to Rob and brought all his stuff with him to the challenge. Once on the new beach they were treated to food. I'm sure for most of us sitting at home, comfortable on the couch, eating snacks, we sometimes laugh at how excited they get over food. But when you realize that they have been only eating a very small amount of rice each day and are actually starving, any food is a luxury. Ask anyone who has actually played Survivor and they will tell you that it is hard and that they are always hungry.
The next thing they had to do was come up with a new tribe name... Murlonio is their name. A name chosen by Rob. He claimed it was Spanish for something or other, but it in fact means nothing at all. It is the name of one of his wife, Amber's, stuffed toys. The ring leader of her stuffed toys to be exact. Hilarious!
So now Murlonio is off to its first individual immunity challenge. This challenge looked tough. One wrong move and you would be out. They had to balance on a log, then balance first one, then two, then three balls on a plate. The moment you dropped a ball or fell off the log you were out. I was in fact surprised how long most of them lasted. In the end it was down to Mike (former Zapatera) and Natalie (Ometepe). Mike looked rock solid. It was tense to watch because hopefully you like I, don't like the former Zapatera members and would like to see them lose. Natalie was barely hanging on when Mike fell off his log. Natalie, the winner of the first individual immunity. Cheers!
A twist. Redemption Island begins again. Whoever is voted out goes back to Redemption Island to rejoin the game later.
Now the strategy begins. Mike is not dumb. He sees that in order to survive he must make a big move. He hopes that he can get Matt to flip. Ometepe did after all, send him to Redemption Island. He also sees that Matt is tight with Andrea. If he can convince Matt and Andrea to join him and Steve they could be the final four. He makes his case to Matt. Matt sees the benefit. He approaches Andrea. She sees how it could work but also that it could be a dangerous move if it backfires. So we are left wondering will Matt do it or not.
Well, we are not left wondering too long because Matt, being a good and loyal guy decides he will stay with his old team. That could have been the end of it. But no. Matt had to go and tell Rob of Mike's offer to him. Why on Earth would you tell Rob that you were thinking off betraying your old tribe and that you thought it was a good idea, even if you had decided not to turn on them.
So Rob did the best, most cruel and brilliant thing ever. He decided that Matt should be sent back to Redemption Island. Ahhh... I love it!
Anyone that doesn't think this was the right move just needs to see how even after telling Rob that he would stay with Ometepe, Matt was still flip flopping in his own mind. Even Andrea could see that Matt was being wishy washy.
And so, we come to tribal council. A lot of cool things happened. It seemed that the old Zapatera people thought that Mike would be the target. Ralphy boy decided to play his hidden immunity idol to save Mike. The funny thing is that there were no votes for Mike. So that is one less hidden immunity idol to worry about.
Then the votes are read. Grant gets five votes. Steve gets one vote. Then Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt and the eighth person voted out of Survivor Redemption Island is... Matt.
Oh, how I love this game. I'm sure that Matt is a nice guy. And I know it is awful to laugh at someone else's misfortune. But that was was one of the best moves ever. It makes complete strategic sense, especially if you are Rob. Matt could easily flip. He almost did. He likely would in the future. So he had to go. I feel a little bad for him, but he has performed well at Redemption Island and maybe he can keep it up and be back in the game once more.
But until then, I will say it again... Boston Rob is a cruel genius!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
A Couple of Doctor Who Things
This Easter Doctor Who returns with a new season. I don't often do Easter. I can never find it. It's always at a different time. But I digress.
In March, BBC put out two cool bits of Doctor Who. One was the shorts, "Space" and "Time" for Red Nose Day and the other was a new trailer for the new season.
"Space" and "Time" were silly, but funny and entertaining never the less. The exterior of the Tardis has materialized inside the interior of the Tardis, but the interior is a few moments in the past when compared to the exterior. Complicated, but not important. In fact the plot is not at all what we care about. What we do care about is that suddenly we have two Amy Ponds, then two Rorys and finally two Doctors until it is all resolved and we are back to one of each. It is the character interaction that is priceless.
At this point I must say that I always thought Amy Pond was cute, but in this she is smouldering hot. I suspect that has a lot to do with the way she was flirting with herself. I have a feeling that like Rory, I would also deserve a slap. Amy has definitely grown on me. It is her character that has become attractive, not just physically, but it's her strength and loyalty (and flirtiness) that make her so. In fact I could say much the same for Rory (a really likable character) who you actually want to be there. He is much more than a third wheel. And Matt Smith has really taken the Doctor and made him his own.
The new trailer is spectacular. It looks like we will be taken on quite a ride and get to see the characters grow some more. It seems we will find out who River Song really is. It appears that somehow Rory and Amy are in the tenth Doctor's Tardis. And we have some great Doctor lines... A VOICE "Fear me. I've killed hundreds of timelords." The DOCTOR "Fear me. I've killed all of them."
I am really looking forward to this season. Can't wait till Easter.
In March, BBC put out two cool bits of Doctor Who. One was the shorts, "Space" and "Time" for Red Nose Day and the other was a new trailer for the new season.
"Space" and "Time" were silly, but funny and entertaining never the less. The exterior of the Tardis has materialized inside the interior of the Tardis, but the interior is a few moments in the past when compared to the exterior. Complicated, but not important. In fact the plot is not at all what we care about. What we do care about is that suddenly we have two Amy Ponds, then two Rorys and finally two Doctors until it is all resolved and we are back to one of each. It is the character interaction that is priceless.
At this point I must say that I always thought Amy Pond was cute, but in this she is smouldering hot. I suspect that has a lot to do with the way she was flirting with herself. I have a feeling that like Rory, I would also deserve a slap. Amy has definitely grown on me. It is her character that has become attractive, not just physically, but it's her strength and loyalty (and flirtiness) that make her so. In fact I could say much the same for Rory (a really likable character) who you actually want to be there. He is much more than a third wheel. And Matt Smith has really taken the Doctor and made him his own.
The new trailer is spectacular. It looks like we will be taken on quite a ride and get to see the characters grow some more. It seems we will find out who River Song really is. It appears that somehow Rory and Amy are in the tenth Doctor's Tardis. And we have some great Doctor lines... A VOICE "Fear me. I've killed hundreds of timelords." The DOCTOR "Fear me. I've killed all of them."
I am really looking forward to this season. Can't wait till Easter.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Survivor - Sad, Great, Hilarious and Good
This week's episode of Survivor covered a whole range of feelings.
First we had the Sad. Well, at least sad for me. Others will like what happened. The Redemption Island challenge between Stephanie (my favourite) and Matt involved a matching game. They would take turns turning over tiles trying to match the symbols. The first to five would win. Matt got lucky on his first turn and got a match. Stephanie did the same. Then Matt took the lead and kept it until the end beating Stephanie.
It is amazing how much more emotion is involved when the player is eliminated from Redemption Island than being voted out. It is like they had some hope and then their hopes were dashed and the finality of it all sets in. They are out of the game. They burn their buff (and they don't get another one as a souvenir) and they are done.
I will personally miss Stephanie. She was a good player that wanted to compete, but due to circumstances mostly beyond her control she was eliminated. The circumstances I am talking about is the stupid way that Zapatera played the game. Throwing a challenge to get rid of Russell, then picking off his two allies even when David came to his senses and tried to get the tribe to keep Stephanie for the sake of keeping the tribe strong. It's rather surprising that a team that on paper should be the stronger tribe has completely fallen apart.
The Great. It was a great immunity challenge. One that has been done before but that didn't reduce the excitement. They tribes had to go through a series of obstacles, a pile of hay, ropes and brick walls, and after each obstacle unwind a bag of balls from a coiled wire. Once they got through all obstacles and had all the balls they had to get all six balls into a basket. This challenge was tense. Both tribes were neck and neck throughout. Zapatera even had the lead until Ometepe pulled past and got all their balls in the basket. I cheered! Zapatera lost and would go to Tribal Council. Ometepe was off on a fantastic reward.
The Hilarious. Ometepe won an amazing trip by helicopter up onto the edge of an active volcano. They got to enjoy the view as they feasted. Of course somewhere in the reward would be hidden a clue for the immunity idol. I guess the group was so into eating that no one but Rob even thought to look for it. This is even more amazing considering that Grant had found the last two and Phillip knew about it. Oh well, their loss. Rob found the clue in a jar of cookies without anyone seeing.
Then came the best part. Rob sitting on the edge of the volcano talking to the camera. Rob already has the idol so, "Might as well just throw it away" and he tossed the clue without even opening it into the volcano. Awesome! Rob is secure in being one of the greatest players in the history of Survivor.
The Good. Zapatera came somewhat to its senses and voted Sarita out at Tribal Council.
I want to finish by reminding people that Jeff Probst live tweets during the show. You can ask questions and get insight into the game. For instance, did you know that each player is given sunscreen and a medical box with band-aids and condoms. Yes, condoms. But no toothbrush, no toilet paper and no soap.
So follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffProbst
First we had the Sad. Well, at least sad for me. Others will like what happened. The Redemption Island challenge between Stephanie (my favourite) and Matt involved a matching game. They would take turns turning over tiles trying to match the symbols. The first to five would win. Matt got lucky on his first turn and got a match. Stephanie did the same. Then Matt took the lead and kept it until the end beating Stephanie.
It is amazing how much more emotion is involved when the player is eliminated from Redemption Island than being voted out. It is like they had some hope and then their hopes were dashed and the finality of it all sets in. They are out of the game. They burn their buff (and they don't get another one as a souvenir) and they are done.
I will personally miss Stephanie. She was a good player that wanted to compete, but due to circumstances mostly beyond her control she was eliminated. The circumstances I am talking about is the stupid way that Zapatera played the game. Throwing a challenge to get rid of Russell, then picking off his two allies even when David came to his senses and tried to get the tribe to keep Stephanie for the sake of keeping the tribe strong. It's rather surprising that a team that on paper should be the stronger tribe has completely fallen apart.
The Great. It was a great immunity challenge. One that has been done before but that didn't reduce the excitement. They tribes had to go through a series of obstacles, a pile of hay, ropes and brick walls, and after each obstacle unwind a bag of balls from a coiled wire. Once they got through all obstacles and had all the balls they had to get all six balls into a basket. This challenge was tense. Both tribes were neck and neck throughout. Zapatera even had the lead until Ometepe pulled past and got all their balls in the basket. I cheered! Zapatera lost and would go to Tribal Council. Ometepe was off on a fantastic reward.
The Hilarious. Ometepe won an amazing trip by helicopter up onto the edge of an active volcano. They got to enjoy the view as they feasted. Of course somewhere in the reward would be hidden a clue for the immunity idol. I guess the group was so into eating that no one but Rob even thought to look for it. This is even more amazing considering that Grant had found the last two and Phillip knew about it. Oh well, their loss. Rob found the clue in a jar of cookies without anyone seeing.
Then came the best part. Rob sitting on the edge of the volcano talking to the camera. Rob already has the idol so, "Might as well just throw it away" and he tossed the clue without even opening it into the volcano. Awesome! Rob is secure in being one of the greatest players in the history of Survivor.
The Good. Zapatera came somewhat to its senses and voted Sarita out at Tribal Council.
I want to finish by reminding people that Jeff Probst live tweets during the show. You can ask questions and get insight into the game. For instance, did you know that each player is given sunscreen and a medical box with band-aids and condoms. Yes, condoms. But no toothbrush, no toilet paper and no soap.
So follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffProbst
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Earth Hour - What Did You Do?
Earth Hour 2011 has come and gone. Some people probably didn't even notice, but some turned off the lights and had a good time. So what did you do?
I turned off all my lights, my computer, tv and even my heat (I have electric heat). I lit one candle and then sat in the dark listening to music on my ipod.
Actually, my Earth Hour turned into two hours. It was nice to just listen to music without any distractions. I will certainly have to do that more often.
I hope you all enjoyed Earth Hour.
I turned off all my lights, my computer, tv and even my heat (I have electric heat). I lit one candle and then sat in the dark listening to music on my ipod.
Actually, my Earth Hour turned into two hours. It was nice to just listen to music without any distractions. I will certainly have to do that more often.
I hope you all enjoyed Earth Hour.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Earth Hour - Why
March 26th, 2011 at 8:30pm, Earth Hour begins. For one hour people around the world are encouraged to turn off their lights and other non-essential electrical items. It is a symbolic gesture to enlighten people to ways of saving energy.
There will be cynics that will say that the energy saved in that one hour is negligible. It is true that if done for only one hour it is a small saving in energy. The point that they miss is that it shows people how they can continue to save energy throughout the rest of the year. If you can go with no lights, no TV, no computer or no video games for an hour, then you can probably continue to leave less lights on and turn the TV and computer off when you are not actually using them for the rest of the year. That would add up to a good energy savings.
Additionally, it is to re-focus people on the costs of using so much energy. Not just the monetary costs, which are high, but the cost to the environment with pollution and green house gas emissions. These are important issues that many people are aware off but tend to forget about when going about their daily lives.
Finally, it is fun. It is really cool to sit in the dark, perhaps by candle light, on your own or with friends and family. A time when you can actually talk to each other without distractions. A time to look at a city in the dark. A time to see the night as it actually is. (although cities will likely keep street lights on for safety)
For those that remember the great blackout in August 2003, you will remember being able to look up and actually see stars from the city. It was amazing. Perhaps we should do this more often.
I'm looking forward to Earth Hour. I will be turning off my lights. Will you?
There will be cynics that will say that the energy saved in that one hour is negligible. It is true that if done for only one hour it is a small saving in energy. The point that they miss is that it shows people how they can continue to save energy throughout the rest of the year. If you can go with no lights, no TV, no computer or no video games for an hour, then you can probably continue to leave less lights on and turn the TV and computer off when you are not actually using them for the rest of the year. That would add up to a good energy savings.
Additionally, it is to re-focus people on the costs of using so much energy. Not just the monetary costs, which are high, but the cost to the environment with pollution and green house gas emissions. These are important issues that many people are aware off but tend to forget about when going about their daily lives.
Finally, it is fun. It is really cool to sit in the dark, perhaps by candle light, on your own or with friends and family. A time when you can actually talk to each other without distractions. A time to look at a city in the dark. A time to see the night as it actually is. (although cities will likely keep street lights on for safety)
For those that remember the great blackout in August 2003, you will remember being able to look up and actually see stars from the city. It was amazing. Perhaps we should do this more often.
I'm looking forward to Earth Hour. I will be turning off my lights. Will you?
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Night of the Supermoon
Saturday, March 19th 2011 - Night of the Supermoon
I was going to start by saying that the moon tonight was not all that special, but then I realized that every celestial event is special. It is truly amazing to look up in the night sky. People should do it more often. If events like the Supermoon can encourage people to pay attention to the sky more then that is a good thing.
The Supermoon is a full moon when it is at its perigee, that is when it is at its closest approach to the Earth. It appears slightly larger and slightly brighter than a normal full moon. Although, without anything to directly compare it to I don't think you would be able to tell with the naked eye. You would likely just think that the moon is really bright tonight.
But none of that matters. The moon is incredible. It is amazing to look at it and imagine what it would be like to be standing on the moon, what is that mountain ridge like, how flat is that plain or how deep is that crater.
And the really cool thing is, a small group of people have actually been there and done just that. Amazing.
Grab a pair of binoculars or even better a telescope and take a look at the moon close up. It is stunningly beautiful.
I hope everyone will look up every time they go outside at night and enjoy the wonders of our universe.
I was going to start by saying that the moon tonight was not all that special, but then I realized that every celestial event is special. It is truly amazing to look up in the night sky. People should do it more often. If events like the Supermoon can encourage people to pay attention to the sky more then that is a good thing.
The Supermoon is a full moon when it is at its perigee, that is when it is at its closest approach to the Earth. It appears slightly larger and slightly brighter than a normal full moon. Although, without anything to directly compare it to I don't think you would be able to tell with the naked eye. You would likely just think that the moon is really bright tonight.
But none of that matters. The moon is incredible. It is amazing to look at it and imagine what it would be like to be standing on the moon, what is that mountain ridge like, how flat is that plain or how deep is that crater.
And the really cool thing is, a small group of people have actually been there and done just that. Amazing.
Grab a pair of binoculars or even better a telescope and take a look at the moon close up. It is stunningly beautiful.
I hope everyone will look up every time they go outside at night and enjoy the wonders of our universe.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Survivor - Zapatera Zapped
I am loving this season of Survivor. A season like Heroes vs Villains was great because we were watching experienced pros play the game. Regular seasons can be great because of new interesting characters. This season is a combo of both. And the addition of Redemption Island so far has been exciting.
The tension and emotion of the Redemption Island challenges is amazing. This week we watched Matt and Kristina battle to put together what was a really heavy puzzle. The both looked exhausted by the end (make that a few seconds into it). In the end, Matt won. I didn't really like Kristina so I was not sad to see her go, but even so it is remarkable to see the emotion in the players that have to leave. Much more emotion than getting their torch snuffed. They have to burn their buff instead. To me that would hurt. If I were playing, I think I would become attached to my buff or at the very least want it as a souvenir. I asked Jeff Probst about that. He said that it was a last minute decision when they shot the first Redemption Island challenge. They needed something that punctuated the departure like the torch did at Tribal Council. It certainly adds that emotional punch. Kristina didn't want to let hers go. Jeff added that what is good for the show comes before the contestants getting souvenirs. He is right of course.
A few other things of note during the Redemption Island challenge. Matt asked Rob why he voted him out. Rob answered, "It doesn't take one person to vote someone out, Jeff, you know that." This is why Rob is such a great player. Also we had Stephanie pipe up about the situation at Zapatera and how she and Krista would be great allies if they made it to the merge. I am liking Redemption Island.
Back to the rest of the show. Zapatera is fractured and not playing smart. Their first mistake was getting rid of Russell. This put Stephanie and Krista on the outs with the rest of the tribe. The tribe referred to getting rid of Russell as a "personnel" problem. How wrong they are. In my opinion you should never throw a challenge. Julie referred to Stephanie and Krista pawns. Pawns can cause a great deal of hurt if you are not watching what you are doing. Then came the arguing. Sarita and David went at it a little. The cracks are beginning to show.
The challenge was a good one. The tribe blindfolded to collect puzzle pieces, directed by one person and that same person doing the puzzle. It was Stephanie against Rob. Rob was brilliant again even after dropping a puzzle piece. Stephanie did a good job directing her tribe. The only problem I saw was Ralph not knowing his left from his right. Stephanie came up short in the end and Zapatera lost the challenge.
Here is where I am conflicted. I don't like Zapatera as a whole, so I am happy that they lost. I do, however, really like Stephanie and also Krista. That loss put them in a vulnerable position. The tribe complained about Stephanie doing the puzzle. It should have been David. Well, if it should have been David you all should have insisted he do it. Stephanie did a good job despite the loss. I don't think David would have done better.
Back to the victorious Ometepe. They got their reward of coffee and doughnuts which they greedily devoured. Grant noticed a clue in the jar of coffee. Rob noticed Grant noticing. So the two of them snuck off together with the jar. Now here we get another piece of brilliant playing by Rob. He is a master, the Van Gogh or Davinci of Survivor. He took out the clue, sent Grant back with the jar to avoid the group knowing it was missing, then ran off and replaced the second clue with the first really vague clue that he already had, and then met back up with Grant. Grant had know idea. Rob played it like a genius. Great Survivor.
At tribal council sadly it was Krista that was voted out. I really hope Stephanie can do something to keep herself in the game until the merge.
So next week we get to see if Krista can beat Matt at Redemption Island.
The tension and emotion of the Redemption Island challenges is amazing. This week we watched Matt and Kristina battle to put together what was a really heavy puzzle. The both looked exhausted by the end (make that a few seconds into it). In the end, Matt won. I didn't really like Kristina so I was not sad to see her go, but even so it is remarkable to see the emotion in the players that have to leave. Much more emotion than getting their torch snuffed. They have to burn their buff instead. To me that would hurt. If I were playing, I think I would become attached to my buff or at the very least want it as a souvenir. I asked Jeff Probst about that. He said that it was a last minute decision when they shot the first Redemption Island challenge. They needed something that punctuated the departure like the torch did at Tribal Council. It certainly adds that emotional punch. Kristina didn't want to let hers go. Jeff added that what is good for the show comes before the contestants getting souvenirs. He is right of course.
A few other things of note during the Redemption Island challenge. Matt asked Rob why he voted him out. Rob answered, "It doesn't take one person to vote someone out, Jeff, you know that." This is why Rob is such a great player. Also we had Stephanie pipe up about the situation at Zapatera and how she and Krista would be great allies if they made it to the merge. I am liking Redemption Island.
Back to the rest of the show. Zapatera is fractured and not playing smart. Their first mistake was getting rid of Russell. This put Stephanie and Krista on the outs with the rest of the tribe. The tribe referred to getting rid of Russell as a "personnel" problem. How wrong they are. In my opinion you should never throw a challenge. Julie referred to Stephanie and Krista pawns. Pawns can cause a great deal of hurt if you are not watching what you are doing. Then came the arguing. Sarita and David went at it a little. The cracks are beginning to show.
The challenge was a good one. The tribe blindfolded to collect puzzle pieces, directed by one person and that same person doing the puzzle. It was Stephanie against Rob. Rob was brilliant again even after dropping a puzzle piece. Stephanie did a good job directing her tribe. The only problem I saw was Ralph not knowing his left from his right. Stephanie came up short in the end and Zapatera lost the challenge.
Here is where I am conflicted. I don't like Zapatera as a whole, so I am happy that they lost. I do, however, really like Stephanie and also Krista. That loss put them in a vulnerable position. The tribe complained about Stephanie doing the puzzle. It should have been David. Well, if it should have been David you all should have insisted he do it. Stephanie did a good job despite the loss. I don't think David would have done better.
Back to the victorious Ometepe. They got their reward of coffee and doughnuts which they greedily devoured. Grant noticed a clue in the jar of coffee. Rob noticed Grant noticing. So the two of them snuck off together with the jar. Now here we get another piece of brilliant playing by Rob. He is a master, the Van Gogh or Davinci of Survivor. He took out the clue, sent Grant back with the jar to avoid the group knowing it was missing, then ran off and replaced the second clue with the first really vague clue that he already had, and then met back up with Grant. Grant had know idea. Rob played it like a genius. Great Survivor.
At tribal council sadly it was Krista that was voted out. I really hope Stephanie can do something to keep herself in the game until the merge.
So next week we get to see if Krista can beat Matt at Redemption Island.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Supermoon - March 19th 2011
I would say that the moon is super anytime, but on March 19th, 2011 it is officially a Supermoon.
What is a Supermoon?
It is simply a full moon when the moon is at its closest approach to the Earth.
The moon should appear about 15% larger and up to 30% brighter than usual. It will not, as some people believe, cause catastrophic natural disasters on the Earth.
Here are some facts about the moon.
It's orbit is eliptical meaning that the distance from the Earth varies from approximately 363,300km and 405,500km.
It takes the moon 27.3 days to orbit the Earth (sidereal period), but 29.5 days to appear in the same phase due to the Earth moving allong its own orbital path (synodic period).
It is the second brightest object in the sky next to the sun.
The moon's gravity is responsible for tides on Earth.
Only one side of the moon faces the Earth at all times. That is why it always looks the same.
There is really no dark side of the moon. We call it that just because we can't see it, but it does get light from the sun as much as the side that faces us.
One day on the moon is 27.3 Earth days.
The moon is really cool to look at. My opinion and a fact.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Survivor - Redemption Island End of an Era
It is with great sadness that we say good-bye to one of the greatest players in the history of Survivor.
Redemption Island is proving to be one of the most exciting seasons of Survivor. Right from the beginning of each episode we are on the edge of our seat.
This week we were in for probably the most historic (even though it was only the second) Redemption Island battle ever. Survivor pro Russell Hantz fighting to survive against newcomer Matt. A simple challenge. Set up dominoes on a bunch of ramps, knock them down and send a ball rolling. Simple but full of drama. Will they fall too soon? Will they have put enough in place? Will it stop once it starts?
Matt was first to give it a go. His falling dominoes stopped short of the goal. Then it was Russell's turn. His dominoes fell, would they make it all the way... no. Back to the beginning. By now Matt was set up again. He knocked over the first domino. Down they went. All the way to the end and his ball rolled to the goal.
Russell was beaten.
Wow.
Then came even more drama. Russell Hantz, the ultimate villain broke down, sobbing. Now I don't care if you are a cynic, I thought it was touching. Russell had played the game of Survivor full out. Two seasons back to back and then this season. He may have had a high opinion of himself, but he was not totally wrong. He knew how to play the game. It was nice to see the flood of emotions overtake him. Even Sarita seemed to be affected.
Then Russell gained his composure and left the game in only the way Russell Hantz could. He laid bare the plans and alliances of the Zapatera for all to see. He exposed that they threw the challenge in the previous episode. He brought to light that Ralph had an idol. I hope this information comes back to haunt them.
So good-bye Russell and thanks for all the great television you have given us.
One thing to be thankful for is that we still have Rob to watch. And Rob is playing very well indeed. His search for the immunity idol was classic. He said sarcastically about the clue he had, "What a great clue". He had figured it must be on one side of the camp so he made up some lame game for the tribe to play (Phillip and Kristina were off watching the Redemption Island challenge). Then he faked some intestinal problems in order to get away and search for the idol. It took him a while but he found it.
Then came the immunity challenge. I would have liked to see Ometepe win, just to spite Zapatera, however at least by Zapatera winning it kept Stephanie (one of my favourites) safe.
It was great to see Kristina try to stir up trouble by mentioning the idol. Rob played this brilliantly. "So she thinks one of us has it. Or maybe she has it." He did not let anyone know that he had it. That is the way to play with an idol. So he got the tribe to split the vote, even though he knew they didn't need to, and Kristina is off to Redemption Island.
Again, I have to say that I am sad to see Russell go, but this is one exciting season of Survivor.
Redemption Island is proving to be one of the most exciting seasons of Survivor. Right from the beginning of each episode we are on the edge of our seat.
This week we were in for probably the most historic (even though it was only the second) Redemption Island battle ever. Survivor pro Russell Hantz fighting to survive against newcomer Matt. A simple challenge. Set up dominoes on a bunch of ramps, knock them down and send a ball rolling. Simple but full of drama. Will they fall too soon? Will they have put enough in place? Will it stop once it starts?
Matt was first to give it a go. His falling dominoes stopped short of the goal. Then it was Russell's turn. His dominoes fell, would they make it all the way... no. Back to the beginning. By now Matt was set up again. He knocked over the first domino. Down they went. All the way to the end and his ball rolled to the goal.
Russell was beaten.
Wow.
Then came even more drama. Russell Hantz, the ultimate villain broke down, sobbing. Now I don't care if you are a cynic, I thought it was touching. Russell had played the game of Survivor full out. Two seasons back to back and then this season. He may have had a high opinion of himself, but he was not totally wrong. He knew how to play the game. It was nice to see the flood of emotions overtake him. Even Sarita seemed to be affected.
Then Russell gained his composure and left the game in only the way Russell Hantz could. He laid bare the plans and alliances of the Zapatera for all to see. He exposed that they threw the challenge in the previous episode. He brought to light that Ralph had an idol. I hope this information comes back to haunt them.
So good-bye Russell and thanks for all the great television you have given us.
One thing to be thankful for is that we still have Rob to watch. And Rob is playing very well indeed. His search for the immunity idol was classic. He said sarcastically about the clue he had, "What a great clue". He had figured it must be on one side of the camp so he made up some lame game for the tribe to play (Phillip and Kristina were off watching the Redemption Island challenge). Then he faked some intestinal problems in order to get away and search for the idol. It took him a while but he found it.
Then came the immunity challenge. I would have liked to see Ometepe win, just to spite Zapatera, however at least by Zapatera winning it kept Stephanie (one of my favourites) safe.
It was great to see Kristina try to stir up trouble by mentioning the idol. Rob played this brilliantly. "So she thinks one of us has it. Or maybe she has it." He did not let anyone know that he had it. That is the way to play with an idol. So he got the tribe to split the vote, even though he knew they didn't need to, and Kristina is off to Redemption Island.
Again, I have to say that I am sad to see Russell go, but this is one exciting season of Survivor.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Survivor - Zapatera Thows a Challenge
This is one wacky season of Survivor. I am thoroughly enjoying it while at the same time being frustrated by it. Although I think my frustrations come from seeing players I like being eliminated. More on that later.
This week we got to see our first Redemption Island dual. It was rather exciting. Kind of like watching a sudden death overtime period. For a while I really thought Francesca would win and Matt would be gone. Then out of nowhere Matt made a comeback. It was also a great idea to have two members of each tribe sit in to watch and then see what they reported back to the tribes. I think I am liking the whole Redemption Island thing.
Back at the tribes, Rob is continuing to play a good game. He is keeping his alliance strong and an eye on Andrea who is still upset at Matt being voted off. I love how he found the clue to the hidden idol. If it wasn't for Phillips fat ass...
The Immunity Challenge was a repeat of the water wheel challenge from last season. A good challenge with a puzzle at the end which Rob solved to win. What he didn't know was that the alliance of six in Zapatera was throwing the challenge. Russell was quick enough to pick up on it and so he went to work on figuring out a way to stay in the game. He was sure that the six would split the vote 3 x 3 and his three would create a 3 way tie. That would result in a re vote in which he would be the target. Their only chance was to convince Julie to vote with them. It looked like she might but it didn't happen and Russell was voted out.
I'm sure this will make some people happy, but not me. I enjoyed watching the way Russell played. Now he is not gone completely. He has the chance to beat Matt on Redemption Island and keep himself alive at least one more round. I am concerned about the girls in his alliance. They will clearly be the next to go. Stephanie probably first. I like Stephanie. I loved her line at Tribal, "...mouth is still moving." Unfortunately even if Russell survives on Redemption Island he will then have to take on Stephanie, meaning that we will not see the two of them in a final.
I do think that Zapatera made a mistake in throwing the challenge. They have given the momentum to Ometepe. Rob will use that momentum. By the way, even though Zapatera threw the challenge, Rob does not know that.
Another thing... If you are on Twitter and are following Jeff Probst, the past two weeks he has been live tweeting during the episode. Last week he did it on Pacific Time, this week Eastern Time. Either way it is worthwhile and fun to follow. He gives you some cool insights into the game. Below are a couple of examples:
"This tribal probably lasted 45-60 minutes in total. We only show you the 5 minutes that we need to climax the show."
"What is funny is that Rob is watching right now at home and this is the first he has learned of the challenge being thrown."
and
This week we got to see our first Redemption Island dual. It was rather exciting. Kind of like watching a sudden death overtime period. For a while I really thought Francesca would win and Matt would be gone. Then out of nowhere Matt made a comeback. It was also a great idea to have two members of each tribe sit in to watch and then see what they reported back to the tribes. I think I am liking the whole Redemption Island thing.
Back at the tribes, Rob is continuing to play a good game. He is keeping his alliance strong and an eye on Andrea who is still upset at Matt being voted off. I love how he found the clue to the hidden idol. If it wasn't for Phillips fat ass...
The Immunity Challenge was a repeat of the water wheel challenge from last season. A good challenge with a puzzle at the end which Rob solved to win. What he didn't know was that the alliance of six in Zapatera was throwing the challenge. Russell was quick enough to pick up on it and so he went to work on figuring out a way to stay in the game. He was sure that the six would split the vote 3 x 3 and his three would create a 3 way tie. That would result in a re vote in which he would be the target. Their only chance was to convince Julie to vote with them. It looked like she might but it didn't happen and Russell was voted out.
I'm sure this will make some people happy, but not me. I enjoyed watching the way Russell played. Now he is not gone completely. He has the chance to beat Matt on Redemption Island and keep himself alive at least one more round. I am concerned about the girls in his alliance. They will clearly be the next to go. Stephanie probably first. I like Stephanie. I loved her line at Tribal, "...mouth is still moving." Unfortunately even if Russell survives on Redemption Island he will then have to take on Stephanie, meaning that we will not see the two of them in a final.
I do think that Zapatera made a mistake in throwing the challenge. They have given the momentum to Ometepe. Rob will use that momentum. By the way, even though Zapatera threw the challenge, Rob does not know that.
Another thing... If you are on Twitter and are following Jeff Probst, the past two weeks he has been live tweeting during the episode. Last week he did it on Pacific Time, this week Eastern Time. Either way it is worthwhile and fun to follow. He gives you some cool insights into the game. Below are a couple of examples:
"This tribal probably lasted 45-60 minutes in total. We only show you the 5 minutes that we need to climax the show."
"What is funny is that Rob is watching right now at home and this is the first he has learned of the challenge being thrown."
and
"You know that Amber is giving him a hard time right now! "You didn't win baby, they threw it!""
So get on Twitter and follow @JeffProbst
So that is it for this week, looking forward to next week.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Survivor - Rob is a Master Chess Player
Watching Boston Rob play Survivor is a real treat. I'll get to that in a moment.
I am really enjoying this season so far. Usually it takes a few episodes to get into it, but this season things have been very entertaining from day one. Rob and Russell are a big part of that. Yet there are others that I have come to like and dislike (or at least think are dangerous to the ones I like).
I really like Russell's little alliance. Unfortunately I have a feeling that Russell is slightly behind the play so far. Ralph, with dumb luck, finds the idol. He then takes on Russell. Bad news in this scenario is that Ralph has everyone else (with the exception of Stephanie and Krista) apparently on his side.
There seem to be some smart players on Zapatera and this could be trouble for Russell, although as Russell said, he has never had the numbers, so maybe he is feeling fine. I hope so.
Now back to Rob.
I am extremely impressed with how Rob is playing. He is playing two, three and four moves ahead of anyone else. I thought that if they were to lose the challenge (which they did) that it would be a no brainer to get rid of either Phillip or Kristina. But Rob is such a great observer of people that he was able to notice Matt and Andrea getting a little too close. While I would have probably still aimed to get rid of Phillip or Kristina had I been there, Rob was smart enough to make some major plays.
He was able to strengthen his now four person strong alliance. He broke up the potential threat of Matt and Andrea. He played Phillip. He was able to get Kristina to play her idol. Wow!
Blindsides are best when the victim has no clue it is coming. Matt clearly did not see it coming. I did feel a little bad for Andrea. Previews for next week imply that she could be some trouble for Rob, but as things stand right now, Rob should be safe for quite some time. As a viewer I really would like to see him get to the merge and hopefully be able to play with Russell. Of course that means that Russell has to make it to the merge as well. That may be a harder task.
Can't wait 'till next Wednesday!
I am really enjoying this season so far. Usually it takes a few episodes to get into it, but this season things have been very entertaining from day one. Rob and Russell are a big part of that. Yet there are others that I have come to like and dislike (or at least think are dangerous to the ones I like).
I really like Russell's little alliance. Unfortunately I have a feeling that Russell is slightly behind the play so far. Ralph, with dumb luck, finds the idol. He then takes on Russell. Bad news in this scenario is that Ralph has everyone else (with the exception of Stephanie and Krista) apparently on his side.
There seem to be some smart players on Zapatera and this could be trouble for Russell, although as Russell said, he has never had the numbers, so maybe he is feeling fine. I hope so.
Now back to Rob.
I am extremely impressed with how Rob is playing. He is playing two, three and four moves ahead of anyone else. I thought that if they were to lose the challenge (which they did) that it would be a no brainer to get rid of either Phillip or Kristina. But Rob is such a great observer of people that he was able to notice Matt and Andrea getting a little too close. While I would have probably still aimed to get rid of Phillip or Kristina had I been there, Rob was smart enough to make some major plays.
He was able to strengthen his now four person strong alliance. He broke up the potential threat of Matt and Andrea. He played Phillip. He was able to get Kristina to play her idol. Wow!
Blindsides are best when the victim has no clue it is coming. Matt clearly did not see it coming. I did feel a little bad for Andrea. Previews for next week imply that she could be some trouble for Rob, but as things stand right now, Rob should be safe for quite some time. As a viewer I really would like to see him get to the merge and hopefully be able to play with Russell. Of course that means that Russell has to make it to the merge as well. That may be a harder task.
Can't wait 'till next Wednesday!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Survivor - I'm a Federal Agent
Survivor is back!
And this season has got off to a great start.
I know that there are some people out there that groaned when they heard that Boston Rob and Russell would be back, but I was not one of them. They are both master players and it has always been a pleasure watching how they skillfully play the game. Survivor is like watching sports. There are good players and there are great players and whether you like them or not it is always a treat to watch great players play.
The interesting thing will be to see how long both Rob and Russell last. It might be wise for the new players to get rid of them right away. Or maybe it is a better play to keep them, use their strengths, ally with them and then hope you can beat them in the end. I'm not sure what I would do if I was playing, but as a viewer I want them to stick around for a while.
I really liked the first immunity challenge. I felt the exhaustion that the players must have felt after pushing those heavy steps. I'm glad Russell's team won, but was impressed by how close Rob's team came after falling behind.
As always, when the new season starts, it takes a while for the new players to make an impression. To be honest, at this point I can only name a few. But the few that stood out did so spectacularly.
There is Kristina who very smartly thought that there might be a clue to a hidden immunity idol in the tool box. Here we saw how quick Rob is. He knew what she was looking for. Then after finding no clue she went out and found the idol. So she started to look like a really smart player. That was until she decided that she wanted to eliminate Rob. This was bad for a whole bunch of reasons but mainly because five tribe members seem to have already aligned with Rob. Even if she along with Francesca and Phillip managed to get Rob voted out by her playing the idol, it would leave the three of them at the mercy of five angry members.
Of course her other mistakes were telling two people that she had the idol. Why do players do that? I wouldn't. This came back to haunt her big time.
Francesca seemed like a smart player. Unfortunately she somehow got herself tied up with Kristina and Phillip. This led to her demise, although she could come back from redemption island.
By the way, I'll have to see how that plays out to actually decide if I like it. It will certainly make things interesting and at the very least gives you hope that a player that you liked might not be out of the game if they get voted out. So I'll give it time.
Now Phillip at first came across as confident and smart. He used to be a federal agent don't you know. We were told this over and over and over again. This tribe has their very own member of the "Criminal Minds" team. He is someone who can read people and know if they are telling the truth. A great asset in the game of survivor. Ha!
I don't think Phillip understands the concept of Survivor. Kristina, Francesca (or is it Francostina or Fransquahana) and Phillip agreed to vote for Rob while getting the tribe to vote Kristina. She would use her idol (which was only known to the three of them) and Rob would be voted out. Easy plan (but stupid as I had previously mentioned).
Now what Phillip doesn't seem to grasp is that this is a game of deception. So when Francesca was questioned about whether Rob had a target she replied by saying yes, but that no one was voting for him tonight. Any rational person in a group that planned to vote Rob out would realize that you don't want Rob to know that you are actually going to vote for him.
Phillip is not rational. What followed was one of the most hilarious tribal councils ever. Phillip piped up saying, yes we were going to vote for Rob, Francanfurter, I mean Francesca you are lying. Then he told everyone the whole plan including outing the fact that Kristina had an idol. WTF! He destroyed their game. Over the course of the episode I grew to dislike Kristina but I did feel bad for her.
Then Rob demands to see the idol and tells Kristina to give it to him or go home. She kept it and surprisingly didn't use it. But in the end Francesca was sent to redemption island and I don't think it will be long before Phillip and Kristina join her.
Wow! I was laughing hysterically through the whole thing.
I'm looking forward to more.
On another note, I worry a little bit for Russell. There are a couple of guys that seem to want him gone even though Russell seems to want to work as a team. Although he has found his cute girl ally already, but she is no Parvati.
It's going to be a fun season to watch.
And this season has got off to a great start.
I know that there are some people out there that groaned when they heard that Boston Rob and Russell would be back, but I was not one of them. They are both master players and it has always been a pleasure watching how they skillfully play the game. Survivor is like watching sports. There are good players and there are great players and whether you like them or not it is always a treat to watch great players play.
The interesting thing will be to see how long both Rob and Russell last. It might be wise for the new players to get rid of them right away. Or maybe it is a better play to keep them, use their strengths, ally with them and then hope you can beat them in the end. I'm not sure what I would do if I was playing, but as a viewer I want them to stick around for a while.
I really liked the first immunity challenge. I felt the exhaustion that the players must have felt after pushing those heavy steps. I'm glad Russell's team won, but was impressed by how close Rob's team came after falling behind.
As always, when the new season starts, it takes a while for the new players to make an impression. To be honest, at this point I can only name a few. But the few that stood out did so spectacularly.
There is Kristina who very smartly thought that there might be a clue to a hidden immunity idol in the tool box. Here we saw how quick Rob is. He knew what she was looking for. Then after finding no clue she went out and found the idol. So she started to look like a really smart player. That was until she decided that she wanted to eliminate Rob. This was bad for a whole bunch of reasons but mainly because five tribe members seem to have already aligned with Rob. Even if she along with Francesca and Phillip managed to get Rob voted out by her playing the idol, it would leave the three of them at the mercy of five angry members.
Of course her other mistakes were telling two people that she had the idol. Why do players do that? I wouldn't. This came back to haunt her big time.
Francesca seemed like a smart player. Unfortunately she somehow got herself tied up with Kristina and Phillip. This led to her demise, although she could come back from redemption island.
By the way, I'll have to see how that plays out to actually decide if I like it. It will certainly make things interesting and at the very least gives you hope that a player that you liked might not be out of the game if they get voted out. So I'll give it time.
Now Phillip at first came across as confident and smart. He used to be a federal agent don't you know. We were told this over and over and over again. This tribe has their very own member of the "Criminal Minds" team. He is someone who can read people and know if they are telling the truth. A great asset in the game of survivor. Ha!
I don't think Phillip understands the concept of Survivor. Kristina, Francesca (or is it Francostina or Fransquahana) and Phillip agreed to vote for Rob while getting the tribe to vote Kristina. She would use her idol (which was only known to the three of them) and Rob would be voted out. Easy plan (but stupid as I had previously mentioned).
Now what Phillip doesn't seem to grasp is that this is a game of deception. So when Francesca was questioned about whether Rob had a target she replied by saying yes, but that no one was voting for him tonight. Any rational person in a group that planned to vote Rob out would realize that you don't want Rob to know that you are actually going to vote for him.
Phillip is not rational. What followed was one of the most hilarious tribal councils ever. Phillip piped up saying, yes we were going to vote for Rob, Francanfurter, I mean Francesca you are lying. Then he told everyone the whole plan including outing the fact that Kristina had an idol. WTF! He destroyed their game. Over the course of the episode I grew to dislike Kristina but I did feel bad for her.
Then Rob demands to see the idol and tells Kristina to give it to him or go home. She kept it and surprisingly didn't use it. But in the end Francesca was sent to redemption island and I don't think it will be long before Phillip and Kristina join her.
Wow! I was laughing hysterically through the whole thing.
I'm looking forward to more.
On another note, I worry a little bit for Russell. There are a couple of guys that seem to want him gone even though Russell seems to want to work as a team. Although he has found his cute girl ally already, but she is no Parvati.
It's going to be a fun season to watch.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Lara Logan Attacked in Cairo
A statement from CBS news on February 15th said that correspondent, Lara Logan "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating" in Cairo on February 11th during the celebrations of ex-president Mubarak stepping down. Lara was apparently separated from her crew and was attacked by a mob. She was later rescued by a group of women and Egyptian soldiers.
She "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating".
That line is chilling and horrifying. "Brutal" and especially "sustained" really make it worse. One can imagine (although I really don't want to) what is meant by "sustained". It is just terrible.
My reaction was shock, sadness and overwhelming anger. No one, anywhere should ever have to suffer anything like that. I felt that I would like to see those responsible strung up.
I then had to question myself as to why I had this reaction. Assaults and sexual assaults happen everyday all over the world to all kinds of good people. Why, when I hear in the news of some stranger suffering a sexual assault do I think, "that's terrible" then move on to think of other things. Is it precisely because they are a stranger? Maybe.
I don't personally know Lara Logan so why has this event sparked such emotions in me?
I think it is because I have seen her reporting. I have seen her in interviews. She is an incredibly intelligent woman. She does a very important and often dangerous job. She is courageous. She is very beautiful (this should have no bearing at all, however subconsciously I have to admit that it does). I have great respect for her and admire what she does. And the fact that she is seen on TV makes one feel like they do know her (the same would apply if it was any celebrity or public figure). And that maybe the reason.
It would be great to live in a world where these things did not happen. Unfortunately we do. Hopefully events such as this will make others react like I did. The more people that have respect for women and are repulsed by those who do not, the better things will be.
I hope that Lara Logan recovers soon both physically and emotionally. I hope she continues to do what she loves and is good at. A good sign is that CBS probably would not have reported what happened to her if she didn't approve. To me that is a sign that she is a very strong woman.
I hope only the best for her.
She "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating".
That line is chilling and horrifying. "Brutal" and especially "sustained" really make it worse. One can imagine (although I really don't want to) what is meant by "sustained". It is just terrible.
My reaction was shock, sadness and overwhelming anger. No one, anywhere should ever have to suffer anything like that. I felt that I would like to see those responsible strung up.
I then had to question myself as to why I had this reaction. Assaults and sexual assaults happen everyday all over the world to all kinds of good people. Why, when I hear in the news of some stranger suffering a sexual assault do I think, "that's terrible" then move on to think of other things. Is it precisely because they are a stranger? Maybe.
I don't personally know Lara Logan so why has this event sparked such emotions in me?
I think it is because I have seen her reporting. I have seen her in interviews. She is an incredibly intelligent woman. She does a very important and often dangerous job. She is courageous. She is very beautiful (this should have no bearing at all, however subconsciously I have to admit that it does). I have great respect for her and admire what she does. And the fact that she is seen on TV makes one feel like they do know her (the same would apply if it was any celebrity or public figure). And that maybe the reason.
It would be great to live in a world where these things did not happen. Unfortunately we do. Hopefully events such as this will make others react like I did. The more people that have respect for women and are repulsed by those who do not, the better things will be.
I hope that Lara Logan recovers soon both physically and emotionally. I hope she continues to do what she loves and is good at. A good sign is that CBS probably would not have reported what happened to her if she didn't approve. To me that is a sign that she is a very strong woman.
I hope only the best for her.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Charles Darwin's Birthday
"... from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved." - Darwin
Charles Darwin was born February 12th, 1809.
Darwin developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, probably the most important theory in science, particularly because it relates directly to all life including our own.
A note for any that still may claim that evolution is "only a theory", theory as it is used in science is defined as "a scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed." (the Oxford English Dictionary)
At 22, Darwin embarked on the voyage of the HMS Beagle. The voyage lasted almost five years and went from Plymouth, in England, all the way around South America, up to the Galapagos Islands, across the Pacific, around Australia, through the Indian Ocean, around Africa and back to England. On this trip he studied geology and collected specimens of flora and fauna. He observed similarities and differences between species. Over the many following years he began to formulate his theory of life.
"I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection." - Darwin
It wasn't until 1859, that he finally published his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is so simple and so elegant that it is surprising that no one thought of it before. It has become the unifying theory of life and is hugely important in the modern sciences of biology and medicine and in agriculture.
Charles Darwin was one of the most important people in science that the world has ever seen. So happy birthday Charles and thank you.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." - Darwin
For those who don't know much about Darwin or the theory of evolution there are countless books and documentaries that can be referenced. Here is a very short list of some I would recommend:
Books
The Origin of Species - by Charles Darwin
The Greatest Show on Earth - by Richard Dawkins
Documentaries
What Darwin Never Knew - NOVA
Becoming Human - NOVA 3 part series
Darwin developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, probably the most important theory in science, particularly because it relates directly to all life including our own.
A note for any that still may claim that evolution is "only a theory", theory as it is used in science is defined as "a scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed." (the Oxford English Dictionary)
At 22, Darwin embarked on the voyage of the HMS Beagle. The voyage lasted almost five years and went from Plymouth, in England, all the way around South America, up to the Galapagos Islands, across the Pacific, around Australia, through the Indian Ocean, around Africa and back to England. On this trip he studied geology and collected specimens of flora and fauna. He observed similarities and differences between species. Over the many following years he began to formulate his theory of life.
"I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection." - Darwin
It wasn't until 1859, that he finally published his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is so simple and so elegant that it is surprising that no one thought of it before. It has become the unifying theory of life and is hugely important in the modern sciences of biology and medicine and in agriculture.
Charles Darwin was one of the most important people in science that the world has ever seen. So happy birthday Charles and thank you.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." - Darwin
For those who don't know much about Darwin or the theory of evolution there are countless books and documentaries that can be referenced. Here is a very short list of some I would recommend:
Books
The Origin of Species - by Charles Darwin
The Greatest Show on Earth - by Richard Dawkins
Documentaries
What Darwin Never Knew - NOVA
Becoming Human - NOVA 3 part series
Sunday, January 16, 2011
How Do You View the World
Today it seems that the world is being separated more and more by ideology and whether one is conservative or liberal, on the right or on the left. I wonder how you view the world. Is it a world of black and white? Or, is it a world of subtlety and nuance?
Just curious.
Monday, January 10, 2011
As You Wish
"Buttercup was raised on a small farm in the country of Florin. Her favourite past times were riding her horse and tormenting the farm boy that worked there. His name was Westley, but she called him that. Isn't that a wonderful beginning?"
Yes, it is. And thus begins one of my all time favourite films, "The Princess Bride". I watched it again the other day. Despite having seen it many times, possibly as much as a hundred, and being able to quote the movie from beginning to end, I hadn't actually watched it in quite some time.
It is a great movie. For those who may not have seen it (and you should) it is kind of hard to describe. It's a fantasy, a romance, a comedy and an adventure movie all rolled into one. Written by William Goldman and directed by Rob Reiner, it follows the love story of Buttercup and Westley as read by a Grandfather to his Grandson.
It is such a fun film to watch so I wanted to share some of my favourite bits. But rather than describe the scenes, I will simply quote the dialogue from that scene. If you have watched the movie you should instantly know what I am talking about and probably smile as you picture what was happenning on screen.
So here we go...
"As you wish"
said many times throughout the film.
"Inconceivable!"
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
"I am not left handed."
"I'm not left handed either."
"Are there rocks ahead?"
"If there are we'll all be dead."
"I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But in the meantime rest well and dream of large women."
"Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?"
"Yes."
"Morons"
"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."
"Is this a kissing book?"
"We'll never survive."
"Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has."
"What about the R O U Ses?"
"Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist."
"We are men of action. Lies do not become us."
"You have six fingers on your right hand. Someone was looking for you."
"Fezzik, jog his memory."
"I'm sorry Inigo, I didn't mean to jog him so hard."
"Why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it."
"I'm on the brute squad."
"You are the brute squad!"
"You've been mostly dead all day."
"Let me explain. No there is too much. Let me sum up."
and now my favourite of all...
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
I actually saw Mandy Patinkin in concert years ago and he closed the performance with that line.
"I want my father back you son of a bitch!"
"There are a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours."
"I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon."
"That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me."
"It won't be the last."
So that is a sampling. I hope it made you laugh or smile or bring back fond memories. Now go and watch "The Princess Bride" again or watch it for the first time.
Yes, it is. And thus begins one of my all time favourite films, "The Princess Bride". I watched it again the other day. Despite having seen it many times, possibly as much as a hundred, and being able to quote the movie from beginning to end, I hadn't actually watched it in quite some time.
It is a great movie. For those who may not have seen it (and you should) it is kind of hard to describe. It's a fantasy, a romance, a comedy and an adventure movie all rolled into one. Written by William Goldman and directed by Rob Reiner, it follows the love story of Buttercup and Westley as read by a Grandfather to his Grandson.
It is such a fun film to watch so I wanted to share some of my favourite bits. But rather than describe the scenes, I will simply quote the dialogue from that scene. If you have watched the movie you should instantly know what I am talking about and probably smile as you picture what was happenning on screen.
So here we go...
"As you wish"
said many times throughout the film.
"Inconceivable!"
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
"I am not left handed."
"I'm not left handed either."
"Are there rocks ahead?"
"If there are we'll all be dead."
"I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But in the meantime rest well and dream of large women."
"Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?"
"Yes."
"Morons"
"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."
"Is this a kissing book?"
"We'll never survive."
"Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has."
"What about the R O U Ses?"
"Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist."
"We are men of action. Lies do not become us."
"You have six fingers on your right hand. Someone was looking for you."
"Fezzik, jog his memory."
"I'm sorry Inigo, I didn't mean to jog him so hard."
"Why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it."
"I'm on the brute squad."
"You are the brute squad!"
"You've been mostly dead all day."
"Let me explain. No there is too much. Let me sum up."
and now my favourite of all...
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
I actually saw Mandy Patinkin in concert years ago and he closed the performance with that line.
"I want my father back you son of a bitch!"
"There are a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours."
"I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon."
"That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me."
"It won't be the last."
So that is a sampling. I hope it made you laugh or smile or bring back fond memories. Now go and watch "The Princess Bride" again or watch it for the first time.
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