Battlestar: Game On!

Battlestar Galactica is not ending after its fourth season, after-all. Apparently, Edward James Olmos comments were misinformed:

Battlestar Galactica's search for Earth continues to be an open-ended adventure, executive producer David Eick said. Contrary to comments by Edward James Olmos (Adm. Adama) at the Saturn Awards on May10, no end has been announced for the award-winning show. Battlestar Galactica is preparing to film its fourth season, one that will include 22 episodes, rather than the previously announced 13. "For those of you who have been paying attention over the years, this is not the first time Eddie has made an announcement about the possibility of the show's end," chuckled Eick. "I promise you that when [executiuve producer] Ron [Moore] and I make a decision about Galactica's future, we'll let you know."

However, Katee Sackhoff who plays Starbuck (aka "my other girlfriend" and pictured), was cast in the NBC pilot of Bionic Woman, which was picked up for the upcoming season. We can assume this will cut into her screen time on BSG.

The Best and The Brightest

Today's New York Times has an interesting article on the role Monica Goodling played in the Justice Department prior to her departure. Goodling was 26 when given a prominent role in the Justice Department, after graduating Messiah College and Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson's law school, Regent University, where the median LSAT score is 153 (around the 50th percentile). More than 150 Regent graduates have served in the Bush administration. According to its website, "Regent Law seeks men and women who are dedicated to becoming Christian leaders who will change the world for Christ." Goodling's previous experience was as an opposition researcher for the Republican National Committee during the 2000 presidential election.

In March 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales signed a confidential memorandum delegating to her and D. Kyle Sampson, his former chief of staff, the power to appoint or fire all department political appointees other than the United States attorneys. That included interim United States attorneys and heads of the divisions that handle civil rights, public corruption, environmental crimes and other matters. She played a crucial role in last year's controversial firing of the nine U.S. Attorneys. Highlights from the article are below:

Ms. Goodling would soon be quizzing applicants for civil service jobs at Justice Department headquarters with questions that several United States attorneys said were inappropriate, like who was their favorite president and Supreme Court justice. One department official said an applicant was even asked, “Have you ever cheated on your wife?”

Ms. Goodling also moved to block the hiring of prosecutors with résumés that suggested they might be Democrats, even though they were seeking posts that were supposed to be nonpartisan, two department officials said.

And she helped maintain lists of all the United States attorneys that graded their loyalty to the Bush administration, including work on past political campaigns, and noted if they were members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group...

Ms. Goodling, who is under investigation by the department’s inspector general and ethics office, as well as Congress, has declined to testify before a House panel, citing her Fifth Amendment privilege to avoid making self-incriminating statements. Her lawyer, John M. Dowd, declined to comment on Friday....

Last month, a group of department employees wrote anonymously to Congressional investigators alleging that political considerations were influencing the selection of summer interns and applicants for the Attorney General’s Honors Program, which hires promising lawyers right out of law school. The letter did not say if Ms. Goodling was involved in the process. Department officials declined to comment on the matter.

Hundreds of applications for the honors slots were winnowed by career lawyers, then reviewed by top political appointees, who removed many candidates, the letter said. “Most of those struck from the list had interned for a Hill Democrat, clerked for a Democratic judge, worked for ‘liberal’ causes, or otherwise appeared to have ‘liberal’ leanings,” the letter said.

Crocs

I don't care how comfortable they are. These are officially the ugliest things in the history of footwear.

Battlestar Galactica Ending

Taking a page from LOST's play book, it seems the upcoming fourth season of Battlestar Galactica will be its last. From AICN:

“We’re heading into the final season,” “Battlestar Galactica” star Edward James Olmos told If Magazine at Thursday night's Saturn Awards. “This is the final season as we speak. All of us are very saddened by that, but we always knew there was going to be a conclusion and we would find Earth, so we will be finding Earth this season.”

Season 4 should begin around January, 2008. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out on the smartest and most political show on television (after The Wire, of course).

Both Houses Introduce Bills to Close Guantanamo

Both the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would require the President to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The facility currently has around 380 prisoners, most of whom being held for years without any formal charges being filed against them:

H.R. 2212 and S. 1249 were introduced Tuesday and referred to the Committee on Armed Services, reading in relevant part:

SECTION 1. REQUIRED CLOSURE OF GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION FACILITY.

(a) Closure of Detention Facility- Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act--

(1) the President shall close the Department of Defense detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and

(2) all detainees detained at such facility shall be removed from the facility and--

(A) transferred to a military or civilian detention facility in the United States and charged with a violation of United States or international law and tried in an Article III court or military legal proceeding before a regularly-constituted court;

(B) transferred to a military or civilian detention facility in the United States without being charged with a violation of law if the detainee may be held as an enemy combatant or detained pursuant to other legal authority as Congress may authorize;

(C) transferred to an international tribunal operating under the authority of the United Nations with jurisdiction to hold trials of such individuals;

(D) transferred to their country of citizenship or a different country for further legal process, provided that such country provides adequate assurances that the individual will not be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; or

(E) released from any further detention.

Holding prisoners indefinitely without the slightest of due process contradicts the very "freedom" this nation supposedly values so dearly (at least as represented by a bumper sticker on your car). These are not prisoners of war who can be returned to their home countries after a formal peace declaration. The "war on terror," is a multi-generational struggle that will involve our children, and children's children - there is no end in sight, no enemy to meet at Versailles. Guantanamo has become a symbol for all of America's enemies to rally behind.

Even Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Secertary of Defense Robert Gates have urged President Bush for its closing. Naturally President Bush, at the urging of Dick Cheney, rejected their advice. The administration has gone even further, having the Justice Department attempt to severely limit inmates access to attorneys:

Under the proposal, filed this month in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the government would limit lawyers to three visits with an existing client at Guantánamo; there is now no limit. It would permit only a single visit with a detainee to have him authorize a lawyer to handle his case. And it would permit a team of intelligence officers and military lawyers not involved in a detainee’s case to read mail sent to him by his lawyer.

The proposal would also reverse existing rules to permit government officials, on their own, to deny the lawyers access to secret evidence used by military panels to determine that their clients were enemy combatants.

Close Guantanamo and move these people into American civilian or military prisons, just like Ramzi Yousef, Omar Abdel-Rahman and Richard Colvin Reid (the former two being responsible for the original WTC bombing in 1993 and the latter the infamous "shoe-bomber). If the government believes they are guilty of crimes, they should be charged. Present them with evidence and appoint them an attorney. If necessary, lower the burden of proof to a preponderance standard rather than beyond a reasonable doubt. But everything about the status quo is patently un-American.

The Arcade Fire is the Best Live Band on the Planet

I saw the Arcade Fire last night at Radio City Music Hall, kicking off the David Bowie curated "High Line Festival."

The band was in peak form, complete with ten members on stage including horn and string players. The level of energy they put into each song was incredible and carried over into the audience, who stood for the entire show. At times lead singer Win Butler invited the crowd to rush the aisles, which lead to a prolonged confrontation between fans and security. That fit in well, though, with the anthemic nature of the band's songs. Throughout the show, fans threw glow sticks that had accompanied their drinks into the air, for very cool effect. For the most part the older stuff played better than the newer, but all in all just a perfect concert experience. "Wake Up" may have been the greatest live performance I've ever seen.

You can download a show from earlier this year at the tiny New York venue, Judson Memorial Church, here.

The Man Behind the Curtain

Answers, finally! Tonight's episode of LOST was the kind when you get upset realizing there's only ten minutes left. Some thoughts, in no particular order, complete with SPOILERS if you didn't watch:

• Great use of the opening. It's the first time I can remember where we're tricked into believing we're on the island (as opposed to believing the scene is taking place off the island, when in fact we're actually on it - the 2nd season premiere of Desmond in the hatch being one example). Right from the beginning we learn that Ben Linus is a liar - he was not born on the island, contrary to his longstanding claim.
  

• There's obviously some grumblings about Ben's leadership amongst the Others, as evidenced by their ignoring his plea to stop Locke from beating Mikhail. Richard Alpert in particular, seems to be playing Locke against Ben. Richard is the Other who gave Locke the file on Sawyer last week.

• Speaking of Richard, what the hell was he doing in the middle of the jungle to greet a young, Harry Potter looking Ben? He appears to be the same age, except for his longer hair. Why hasn't he aged like Ben? I did like his line to young Ben about having to be very, very patient. He might as well have been talking to the audience.

• We heard the whispers again. Another mystery of the island yet to be illuminated. At least we know now it has nothing to do with Dharma. Speaking of Dharma, I hope this episode doesn't mean the end of that storyline. It's still unclear how they ended up there, what exactly they were doing, how they were able to find the island, etc.

• Add Ben to the long list of Losties who've had Daddy issues: Sun, Hurley, Jack, Locke.

• Jacob is obviously no ordinary person. If you watch the scene in "his" cabin again slowly, there's a part where the camera is focused on the rocking chair, which is empty. It then pans left, then right, back to the chair - only this time their is a body in it. However, it's heavily shadowed. I'm sure a picture will surface online shortly.

• The show seems to be moving beyond the story of the Others, and setting us up for the larger mystery of what is the island - and who the island's natives are (or "hostiles" as Dharma called them). This will likely be the major plot line of Season 4.

• I hope John Locke isn't dead. I can't say I like him, but he's now by far the most interesting character of the original castaways. He has balls of steel. Last season he insisted on not touching the button, only to have the hatch completely implode and come close to destroying the world. Now he insists on being led to see the mysterious Jacob, despite Ben's ominous warnings. The scene inside the cabin was wonderfully creepy - particularly Ben's "is he talking to himself?" part. Perhaps only those wearing the Emperor's New Clothes can see this Jacob...

• Back to the death thing - Richard in the flashback asked some interesting questions about Ben's dead mother - particularly, did she die on the island? Perhaps this is a clue as to how one might see the dead on the island (Jack's dad, Eko's brother....am I missing any others?)

• Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the co-executive producers of Lost, had this to say about the character of Jacob: "We meet Jacob — the elusive, unseen, presumed leader of the Others — for the first time. And this is a character who is every bit as significant to our universe as the Emperor was to the Star Wars universe — a character that you didn't get to meet until Return of the Jedi but was referred to all through the preceding films. Jacob is a guy who is going to have a very significant, ongoing sort of story value in our show. "
  

• And this about the upcoming finale on May 24th: "The finale clearly sets up season four of the show, and hopefully in doing so, people will see there is still a lot of storytelling left in Lost and will feel really good about the 48 number {the number of episodes remaining in the series]....And it will make you realize that the house you are standing in actually has a lot more rooms than you thought when you came into it."

• Below is that picture of Jacob I was referring to earlier...
• 

Only two episodes left in Season 3! Share your thoughts, rants, questions, frustrations, etc.

The Amazing Spiderman

I saw Spiderman 3 today. I've maintained and still do, that the first Spiderman is by far the best superhero adaptation. I'd definitely recommend number 3 if you're a fan, although at two-and-a-half hours, and with three villains, it's certainly bloated. It was extremely entertaining (I instinctively know this because I ran to and from the bathroom mid-watching), but the series is now officially treading water.

I've always felt the Spiderman movies have been very true to the spirit of comic books, doing an excellent job of walking that fine line between fun and hokeyness. but at times this installment leans a bit too much towards the latter. It's funnier than the previous two, but too often at the expense of that balance. For example, there's a part of the movie where Peter Parker goes a bit emo, which is hilarious. Yet they push it too far, and one scene ends up coming dangerously close to that scene in Anchorman where Ron Burgandy plays his yazz - I mean jazz - flute to impress Corningstone.

However, the special effects and actions sequences may be some of the best I've ever seen. There's an early battle sequence that is so flawlessly put together, the action so seamless, I was in awe. Do you remember the scene early in Attack of the Clones when Anakin and Obi-Wan are chasing Padme's would-be assassin through the traffic of Coruscant (and yes, I recognize the colossal nerdiness of this question) Well this is everything that scene should've been.

Speaking of Star Wars, George Lucas had his own comments about Spiderman 3:

"It's silly. It's a silly movie," he said. "There just isn't much there. Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?"

Wow, he may live in a bigger bubble than George Bush. I was going to offer some response to Mr. Lucas, but then I felt my head nearly explode and thought it wasn't worth it. I'm sure you're all already on board.

Playing Without Shoes

I recently discovered this story which ran in Sports Illustrated a few years ago, about a legless high school football player named Bobby Martin. Pretty astonishing. You can see more pictures here, as well as a very thoughtful account by the stories photographer on how he tried his best to do justice to Martin's athletic abilities without exploiting him:

You think you've seen refs as blind as newborn moles? You think you've seen officials make bizarre calls? You've seen zebras who are as boneheaded as a box of hammers?

Well, you ain't seen blind, bizarre and boneheaded until you've seen this.

It's halftime of a game in Dayton on Sept. 16 -- Colonel White High against Mount Healthy. After Colonel White leaves the locker room, the refs approach the coaches on the sideline. Crew chief Dennis Daly announces, "Number 99 cannot play in this game anymore. He's not wearing shoes, knee pads or thigh pads."

Head coach Earl White just stares at him.

"But he doesn't have any legs!" White says.

"Sorry," Daly says. "It's the rule."

Number 99 is senior Bobby Martin, backup noseguard, a starter on punt coverage and a kid, yes, born without legs.

Doesn't slow him down much. He runs on his hands about as quickly as his teammates do on their feet. Strong as a John Deere in the chest and arms, he benches 215 and will wrestle for the varsity this winter. Wants to go out for track in the spring in the shot put. And now they were telling him he couldn't play without shoes?

"I didn't get it," says Bobby, 17. "The ref could look at me and see I don't have feet or knees. How can I wear shoes if I don't have feet?"

"A rule is a rule," Daly said. Bobby was disconsolate as he sat on the sidelines and Colonel White lost 41-12.

How can you throw a legless kid out of a game for not wearing shoes? Can you throw an armless kid out for not wearing wristbands? And even if he were suddenly to produce shoes and knee and thigh pads, where was Bobby supposed to wear them? From his ears?

In fact, Bobby did borrow a pair of cleats and came out during the third quarter with them tied to his belt. You want me to wear shoes, I'm wearing shoes. But the school's athletic director, Carolyn Woodley, took them off, telling him that it was "undignified." Though, by the refs' own black-and-white logic, it should've worked. Where is it written that the shoes have to be worn on the feet?

Is there anything worse than a whistle-worshiping, self-important stiff who can't see past his precious rule book to the situation that stands in front of him? Even if that "situation" is a kid who stands about three feet tall and weighs 112 pounds, 101 of it heart?

Wait. I take that back. The only thing worse is talk-radio goofs like Cincinnati's Andy Furman, who told his listeners the whole thing was "a charade and a freak show."

"The rule says you have to wear shoes and pads, period," Furman told me. "He can't play. He's handicapped. There's certain things handicapped people can't and shouldn't do, and one of them is play football. Would you put Stevie Wonder behind the wheel of a car? No! Who in their right mind would put this kid out there?"

Hey, Andy, you've got to cut back on the glue sniffing.

It'd be nice if any of these people actually took five minutes to get to know Bobby Martin before deciding what he can and can't do with his life.

He bowls, dances and does flips and cartwheels. He flies off staircases on his custom-made skateboard. He weaves down the hall between classes on it doing one-handed handstands. He built his own computer, ground up. He's the guy you go to when your car stereo won't work. Your car, too, for that matter.

Whatever he lacks in height, he makes up for in humor. The other day, one of the coaches, who happens to be missing a front tooth, told the players, "O.K., everybody take a knee. Even you, Bobby."

To which Bobby cracked back, "Sure, coach. Right after you go and visit an orthodontist."

But along come knee-jerk Barney Fifes like Furman and Daly (who didn't respond to my interview request) who decide it's their place to put a leash on the kid.

"The ref said they were doing it for his safety," Coach White says. White tried to explain that Bobby had passed his physical and already had clearance to play from his doctors. But the referees kept saying, "We can show you the rule." White took his broken-up player aside and said, "Don't worry about this. You'll be back playing next week."

He was right. On Sept. 19 the Ohio High School Athletic Association said the officials were wrong and sent White a letter, which he'll keep in his back pocket, just in case. Furman should get a copy, too, for his cave.

Everything was back to normal last weekend. Bobby Martin was happy again, back playing without shoes. And official Dennis Daly and his crew were back reffing, without brains.

Another Leaked Guns 'N Roses Track

There's no release date in site, but another track from the new Guns 'N Roses album, Chinese Democracy, has been leaked online. You can take a listen here, but be warned: it's horrible. It sounds like a band of Long Island dudes in their late thirties, still giving each other high-fives for that time they totally rocked Mulcahy's Pub in Wangtagh.

Playlist: The Saddest Songs I Know

From time to time, I'm going to list the best songs that capture a particular mood. In this first installment, enjoy a (pretentious) recap of the saddest songs in my collection. Feel free to nominate your own choices.

God Moving Over The Faces of Water – Moby: Built around a piano refrain that sounds like rain, this instrumental slowly becomes a thunderstorm of raw sorrow. When the world finally comes to an end, this will be the song God plays over the closing credits.

Where Did You Sleep Last Night – Nirvana: An obscure blues song about infidelity is remade into the quintessential Kurt Cobain record. I don’t think any other Nirvana performance better represents the power of Cobain’s pain ridden voice.

A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke: Written in response to Bob Dylan’s civil rights song Blowing In The Wind, Sam Cooke shows how even the saddest song can be empowering. The pain of centuries of oppression distilled beautifully into Cooke’s voice. I can’t imagine the world will ever hear a more moving performance.

I See A Darkness – Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash brings a certain gravitas to this Will Oldham cover. Its cathartic chorus could make even the toughest cowboy cry. A dark song about battling your demons and hoping that love will offer redemption.

Mad World – Michael Andrews & Gary Jules: Another end of the world type song. While lyrically awkward, this Tears For Fears cover creates a mood that is simultaneously ominous, gorgeous and terrifying.

Twilight – Elliott Smith: The saddest and prettiest song of Elliott’s brief career - his voice has never sounded lonelier. Off the otherwise unremarkable “From a Basement on the Hill.”

The Funeral – Band of Horses: If you’ve ever received the shock of suddenly losing a loved one you’ll understand the chorus’ haunting refrain. A song this great shouldn’t come so early in a band’s career – it just overshadows everything else.

Cold Wind – Arcade Fire: This is the song you play after the funeral, when you’re leaving town because all the memories have turned bad. In my version of Six Feet Under, this is what Claire Fisher would’ve been listening to in the car on her way to New York.

Nightswimming – R.E.M.: More of a song about nostalgia than say broken hearts, yet equally heart breaking. The lyrics are opaque and fragmented but it paints the perfect picture of innocence lost (whatever that phrase means).

Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd: I’m not a big Pink Floyd fan, but if you don’t like this song, you have no soul.

Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor: Easily the most pop sounding song on this list, but after Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come, also the most beautifully sung. This is the first song that ever made me cry.

Heart Cooks Brain – Modest Mouse: Modest Mouse is such a unique band - their sound is impossible to describe and the lyrics are at once smart-alecky and heartbreaking. It’s a unique sort of sadness, one that comes from feeling stupid about feeling sorry for yourself. It’s a shame Isaac Brock no longer writes songs like these.

On the Nature of Daylight - Max Richter: Another powerful instrumental that will make you want to crawl into the fetal position and rock back and forth. When World War III breaks out, this is what will be playing as the bombs drop in slow motion from the sky.

Conservatives Perceive YouTube Bias, Launch New Video-Sharing Site

Apparently, videos of fat children playing make-believe with toy lightsabers or home videos of a cat sneezing has an inherent liberal bias. Two months ago, conservatives unhappy with the content guidelines on YouTube created their own video portal known as QubeTV. From their website:

Without question, 21st century technology is bringing fundamental change to every aspect of our lives. What that means for conservatives is that the decades-old dominance of the Old Media – the elitist liberal media driven by the political and cultural impulses of a handful of New York and Washington-based editors, journalists and television executives – is at long last coming to a rapid end. The New Media – which includes the contributors of every single video, still picture and blog entry on QubeTV – has arrived. As we like to say here, you are a “conservative army with cameras.”

Wikipedia, the user edited Internet encyclopedia, also has some conservative competition. Conservapedia.com was founded in November 2006 by Andrew Schlafly, son of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. I searched the term "evolution" and was given this response:

The theory of evolution is a materialist explanation of the history of life on earth.

An article by CBS News begins with the observation that, "Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they evolved, God guided the process. Just 13 percent say that God was not involved."

In case you were wondering, here is the same term explained by that elite liberal website, wikipedia:

Biological evolution is the change in a population's inherited traits from generation to generation. These traits are encoded as genes that are copied and passed on to offspring during reproduction. Mutations and other random changes in these genes can produce new or altered traits, resulting in inheritable differences (genetic variation) between organisms. Evolution occurs when these differences become more common or rare in a population. This either happens through natural selection, which is caused by differences in the reproductive value of the traits, or randomly through genetic drift.