More questions than answers

So the fourth season finale of Lost finally came round after a ridiculous amount of stringing it out. And thankfully it was as good as the rest of the season. Having been a fan of Lost since the first season, i was rather dismayed when the second and third seasons sagged heavily in the middle. Not so the case with Season 4. This had it going on all cylinders for pretty much the whole year. Thanks, i'm sure, in part to the writers strike giving the writers the chance to think things out a little more completely than they might have done.

Of course, the season finale of most series naturally bring with them the chance to get some of the long standing questions addressed and, if we're very lucky, then we'll get answers. This year was perhaps no exception, although in hindsight i'm not actually sure if we did get many answers at all. Okay, we got plenty of plot to sink our teeth into which is always nice. And, as usual, any answers that we did get (replies on a postcard) were offset by the posing of many, many, many more questions to tantalise us for the years to come. Or at least the next two years (if memory serves me correctly, then Lost will be ended). Still, i finally felt this year more than any, that the writers of the show DO know where they're going, there IS a big plan, and that the pay-off may actually be worth the patience. Only time will tell i guess. Watch this space.

The Law of Diminishing Returns

With the summer season of movies now well underway, it is perhaps of no surprise to anyone (unless they've been living under a rock for years) that the vast majority of so-called 'tentpole' movies happen to be either a) sequels; b) remakes of old films; c) films based on previous material. Okay, so at the moment, i'm struggling to think of a remake of an old film that's out this summer (although i would put money on there being at least one) but as for the rest, wel that's definitely the case. It's at times like this that one wonders if there actually are any original ideas left in Hollywood. Actually, there seem to be - but given that the result is such high class calibre as "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (Adam Sandler needs to just go away) or "Hollywood Chiahuahua" (I saw the trailer for this in disbelief that someone, somewhere thought this was a good idea or a movie), i guess we're going to have to make-do with what we have. But then you can only go to the same well a certain number of times without quality dipping, right?

What is perhaps even more unsurprising is that this trend is showing no signs of abating. Thus, in the future, we are going to be treated to a trilogy of new Terminator films (the first of which is shooting right now under the watchful eye of McG - the director of the 'Charlie's Angels films - kill me now!), as well as potentially a Spider-man 4 and 5 (to be shot simultaneously it seems). With the continuing Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter series, as well as The Hobbit and it's subsequent film to bridge the narratives between it and the Lord of the Rings trilogy (in all fairness i am looking forward to this one). On top of all this, it appears that a sequel to Donnie Darko (a refreshingly original film) is to be made with no involvement from the original writer-director at all. I ask but one word: Why??? Okay, so the answer is pretty obvious - money. But creativity is either sacrificed or just non-existent to begin with. It's virtually guaranteed these days that if a film makes a lot at the box office, a sequel will follow. And then the writers will say that 'a trilogy was always planned' (rapidly becoming a cliche). Thank God, then, for Pixar who at least are trying to push the boundaries of their storytelling. And i salute them for actually coming up with stories to tell, rather than just letting the animation do the talking. Long live "WALL-E"!!!

Going round in circles...

So imagine it's a Tuesday lunchtime and i'm, frankly, ravenous after having a ridiculously early breakfast and not being able to squeeze in my usual mid-morning snack owing to experiments (rather inconveniently) getting in the way. Having made my way over to a cafe on the other side of campus, only to find a large queue, i decided to head into the hospital and get a sandwich there instead. Anything for food. I approached the revolving door (rather narrow one at that) and followed someone else in close behind. Lo and behold, what should happen but the person in front of me met someone he knew coming the other way and then promptly STOPPED right in front of the exit meaning i couldn't get out. Not a problem, you would imagine, if the revolving door wasn't automatic. With the door rapidly coming up behind me, i cleared my throat only for him to give me a blank look, whereupon the door had almost hit me so i had to go around again. With the man in question looking at me all the more blankly. And yet STILL not moving from the spot.

At this point, i had had enough (i think it's a good job i didn't have to go around again or there may have been murder at hand). When it came round to the exit again and he was still merrily chatting away without a regard to his surroundings, i just walked straight through the pair of them. What made it all the more staggering was the snatch of 'some people are so rude!' that i heard him say to his friend. I felt like turning around and replying with 'And some people are just so idiotic as to block the exit to a revolving door'. Suffice to say, he didn't find me at the best of times. But then some people are just completely oblivious to anything that's going on around them.

The Shape of Things To Come???

Last week may very well turn out to have been a landmark in the Gay Rights Movement when the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage in the State of California. The decision struck down two laws - one in 1977 and a more recent one from a referendum in 2000. This followed the appeals of a handful of parties, and the city of San Francisco who wanted to recognise gay marriage and, indeed, had done so for a short time in recent years. Given that California is often regarded as a gateway state for the rest of the US, in that laws that pass there often come to pass countrywide, this is considered a big step forward. As the most populous state in the US (55 million people of 350 million), this is by no means small potatoes. Could this be the start of something bigger? It is hoped so but then let's not get over-excited here.

Yes, the ban has been overturned and, given that it is based on the California consititution it cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court of the US. Unfortunately, though, the ruling itself is potentially fraught with a number of problems. While the justices wrote that there is no legitimate basis to discriminate based on sexual preference, a point also raised was that the people of California at this time clearly did not favour gay marriage given the results of the previous referendum. Of course, there are no proceedings underway to add a referendum for the November 2008 elections favouring an amendment to the CA consitution barring gay marriage. Thus, the fight is likely not over. As for my views, i think this is a good thing, but i do agree that this coming in such a way is likely to cause a lot more problems. What happens is such a constitutional amendment is passed? Will the courts be brought in again? Ultimately, whilst i am for the idea of gay marriage, i also do not like the idea of the courts telling the people how they should live. And in other respects, given the upcoming presidential election, the timing of this decision now brings it to the forefront yet again - which may turn out to do more harm than good. I guess we can all just watch this space and see.

Somebody just END it already....

Another week rolls by and with it, the continuing debacle of the Democrats trying to pick a candidate for the presidential election in November. Not only are neither candidate refusing to drop out, by frankly neither candidate is going to win outright either given that they can't reach the required number of votes to be candidate. On top of all this, the daily calls of others urging either Obama or Clinton to drop out means that it's frankly refusing to leave the news headlines. And i for one am sick and tired of it. I go on in the vain hope that one of them will realise that all this continuing fighting amongst themselves is doing more harm than good, and that in order for the Democrats to win the election in November, then providing a unified front is going to be crucial. This time next year, if the democrats have lost, it's almost certain they will blame the fact that they chose the 'wrong' candidate. Chances are that it's because they're stretching it out too long.

Of course, as i'm not American, i can't vote - so naturally, i'm going to be weary of all this long before anyone else. But i'm not the only one. Even die-hard democrat friends of mine are changing the channel, or turning the TV off altogether, whenever the news stories come up. Let's face it, after a few months of campaigning, everything that the candidates are now saying is likely to be something they've said before, and are just repackaging for a new crowd. Frankly, they're pissing off a lot of people now. Voters are apathetic at the best of times but after this onslaught, it wouldn't surprise me if voter turnout is an all time low in November. People are just past caring. The way i see it, the sooner they decide who is running, the sooner they can actually come up with a good focused campaign for November. And preferably one that isn't going to be long, drawn out and tiring.

Team Trivia Final

After some 20 weeks of visits to the nearby Applebees and Necter bar on James Island, the trivia league rounds finally came to an end a couple of weeks back and the qualifiers for the final were announced. Having notched up an impressive tally of results, the team i am on (named "Crystal Methodists") had ended up in 6th place and were thus automatically through to the final which was scheduled to take place on the 10th May (yesterday). With a first place prize of $2000, this was nothing to be sneezed at and, duly, the 32 teams involved in the final arrived at the venue in plenty of time. The format itself is simple - six rounds of three questions with a half-time question, and a final 'gamble' round. The first three rounds have questions worth 1, 3 or 5 points (you have to use each point value once, and be strategic in your scoring). The same goes for the last three rounds except the values go up to 2, 4 and 6. With the half-time question, it's usually multi-part with your team netting 2 points for every correct part (normally it's 4 parts, in the final there were 11 answers - thus, 22 available). After the game had played, everyone was pretty evenly matched and so we approached the gamble round with trepidation.

The last round is usually a single question where you can gamble up to 15 points. If you're right, the points are added; if wrong, the points are subtracted. The principle was the same in the final except we were given TEN questions and had to use point values of 1,2,3...up to 10 (again, each value was used once). Thus, with 55 points available, anything could change. And it did. We aced the last round and got 51 points (getting only the 2 point question wrong) and ended up tied for third place (after a minor quibble). Thus, with a tie-breaker (closest to the answer question), we managed to use logic and reason to win third place and $300 - between six of us. So fifty bucks - better than a smack in the face - and more importantly a team trivia t-shirt (Season 4: Best of the Best). With all that brain energy, we were quite exhausted by the end of it all - but little time to rest on our laurels. Season 5 starts on May 18th!

Cash Back

So, after a couple of weeks of impatient drumming of fingers, and clicking of my tongue, i was very happy to realise that my bonus tax rebate, courtesy of the "Economic Stimulus" package had arrived (I use inverted commas as i'm not sure if it's going to have any effect the way that the economy over here is right now). Having had my tax refund paid directly into my account before, the same method was used making my life a little easier. Amusingly, the next day I received a letter from the IRS telling me that my stimulus package was being processed and should be with me soon. In some way, it's reassuring to know that parts of the administration still function as slow as always.

Anyways, having the cash in hand, so to speak, i have been umming and ahhing about what to do with it. The news reports that the vast majority of people are likely to use it to pay off credit cards, bills and other such constants of life (at least over here). Everyone is pretty much feeling the pinch (as i noted a few posts ago). Fortunately for me, my good money sense (thanks Dad!) and general Yorkshire-bred thriftiness has left me in good standing financially (that and the fact that my only dependent is a cat). Thus, i feel that in the spirit of the stimulus package that it is my patriotic duty as an alien in America to spend (some of) the money given back to me. New clothes anyone???

Welcome to the 21st Century

A couple of news stories this week that a colleague told me about and rather struck me. The first concerned some parents who decided it would be fun to teach their 2 year old how to smoke a joint. Not only that, they filmed it on their cell phones and sent it around to their friends. You would think that there would be reasonably severe punishment for doing this, but it seems that all they have to do is to attend 'Parenting classes' - maybe they'll end up writing lines 'I shall not teach my child to smoke weed' 500 times should do the trick, do you think??

This is to be contrasted with the case of a substitute teacher who was fired in Florida (I think it was). You might wonder what this was for - perhaps striking a pupil unnecessarily, maybe an inappropriate relationship or something like that. No, none of those. It seems that the teacher did a magic trick - in actuality, i believe they made a toothpick 'disappear' in class. The official reason given for the sacking? The teacher was 'promoting wizardry and witchcraft'. So i guess David Copperfield is going to be in court next? What about David Blaine?? What boggles my mind even more here is that, presumably, a child went home and said 'oh, my teacher did this neat trick. He made a toothpick disappear' and someone, somewhere said 'Oh My Goodness. This is horrendous. He's turning our kids into dearranged people who want to become evil wizards.' and decided to do something against it. It makes me wonder why they didn't just say 'to hell with it', take us all back to the dark ages and burn the guy at the stake. And here was me thinking it was 2008.