Caprica, The BSG Prequel: Awesome or Awesomerest?

BEWARE POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD



For those out of the know, Caprica is a new drama brought to you by the creators of the critically acclaimed SciFi series, Battlestar Galactica. Set over fifty years before the events of BSG, Caprica gives backstory to life on the colonies before the attacks, the creation of the first cylons, and as always gives veiled commentary on world events through science fiction and drama. I was lucky enough to see Caprica before its official release on DVD April 21st, and let me tell you the pilot for Caprica blows the pants out of the water of the BSG miniseries. While the miniseries had lots of great action and acting there were some slow moments, Caprica has no slow moments

Right off you are thrown into a world even more recognizable than the one from BSG. Its easy to see why in the early days of hearing about Caprica they billed it as a separate show that they hoped would attract a broader audience. The world of Caprica is a brilliant combination of nostalgic 50s style with the flare and pop of the not too distant future. Throw in elements from two of the most popular movie trilogies of all time, The Godfather and The Matrix, and you are set for stardom. Praises all around to the actors (and the acting). Eric Stoltz and Esai Morales are brilliant in their roles and both play the parts perfectly, and the child actors are spot on, which is surprising.

From start to finish, Caprica is more like an actual movie and not a miniseries. Thank you for that! Combined with release on DVD before a television premiere, and it might be the smartest move the network has ever done. Its well known that the old viewership rating systems are outdated now with all the iTunes and Hulu type secondary viewing options out there. Its nice to see a network realizing this and taking advantage of a newer generation who watches shows and movies when they want and not when they are told to.

Im expecting great things from this show and encourage anyone out there who reads this to BUY IT on April 21st. Doesnt matter if you hate scifi or dont know anything about Battlestar Galactica. You dont need to worry, its a great self contained story and the scifi elements are very realistically done.

Buy buy buy!

One of few people who could beat Sephiroth

Almost every gaming nerd knows Sephiroth. Probably the most well-known video game villain. He's super powerful and ruthless, has a ridiculously long sword, attempts to drain the planet of its energy with the aid of the Black Materia and its cataclysmic power referred to as "Meteor." And I'm sure I'm not the only one to have imagined who could possibly take him in a battle.

Nobody came to mind, until I got my hands on Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES. There is an optional boss (which means that they're more than likely tougher than the final boss) named Elizabeth. This woman is actually the main characters ally, but she soon longs to find out who she really is and asks you to fight her. She may seem weak, but don't let the elevator attendant get-up fool you, she is insanely powerful. She also has "rules" to her fight and if you break them, she will kill you instantly, but these rules are never stated and you would have to figure that out yourself.

She also has a particular pattern to her fighting and if you cant recognize it, you might be killed by her 9999 damage dealing attack. You may think Sephiroth would have the upper hand with his swordsmanship and that Elizabeth's weapon is a book, but she uses that book to summon "Personas" that can do enormous ammount of damage or heal her fully.

I should mention this is MY opinion, so do not start flamming me if you disagree. This really was just for fun, so if you're a huge nerd, you should try imaging if anyone could defeat Sephiroth in a battle.

Decisions Decisions

I find it fascinating to watch people decide how to eat food that looks like a person or animal. Will they start with the head? The behind? Start at the side? I feel that it says a lot about a person.

My mom recently received a marzipan pig from her father and it has sat around for a week while she decided the humane way to eat it. She told me that she didnt want to make the pig suffer.

Finally when it was time to do the deed she had my father decapitate it, so has to 'kill' it instantly and make it easier to consume later on.

American Idol Audition 1 Episode

Tonight the spectacle began all over again, American Idol returned. Now I am not one to normally enjoy these reality competitions, but the audition round of American Idol are quite an entertaining distraction from the troubles of the day. We began the show with a montage looking back at the past seasons of American Idol. I like to call this montage the Humiliation Montage. I call it such because mixed in with the tears of American Idol winners were the worst of the worst contestants and the most awkward situations shown. Following the montage we were treated to Ryan Seacrest standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon, and sadly he did not fall. We also were introduced to a new judge tonight, Kara DioGuardi, and I wish her well. I hope she can stay away from the horse tranquilizers unlike another certain childish butterfly themed jewelry wearing judge. She seems like she will make a good replacement for Paula once the latter forgets how to open a door and becomes locked in her bedroom.

Now lets talk about the worst auditions first, get them out of the way.

• Tuan Nguyen, an afro'd asian who can tap like a paraplegic on the moon (i.e not well).
  
• Randy Madden, an almost 30 year old office employee who needs to grow a pair before attempting to live up to the rocker style he wears.
  
• Michael Gurr, the small creepy boy with the voice of a magical gnome, a voice so irresistible he gets a second song request.
  
• Andre "Xray" Caraway who dances more than he sings and spouts a personal new favorite catchphrase, "Swingadigadoo".
  

Next lets talk about the best auditions (in my opinion of course).

• Emily Hughes, the rocker chick who has to choose between this big break and her band.
  
• Arianna Afsar, a very charitable child who is part of an organization that brings happiness to the elderly. Stevie Wright, the girl named after Stevie Knicks.
  
• The blind man Scott McIntyre, the obligatory sob story of the season.
  

Some of you may be thinking now, "Hey DW, you are forgetting a lot!" and you are right, so lets now learn about the most memorable. Not necessarily good or bad, just ones you cant forget.

• First we have Lea Marie Golde, Kara's super-fan. She was a nice girl, couldn't sing very well, but the fact that she has written over 100 songs in her short life is quite amazing.
  
• Then we have the nerdy Alex Wagner-Trugman who used to sing in a mold filled closet, which caused the judges to get a little confused with 'closets' and 'coming out'.
  
• And you cannot forget the creepy gothy guy, Cody Sheldon, the pale, weird, horror movie making child who apparently won over the judges (which was a good idea since if he lost he probably would kill someone).
  

Last and not least, the Bikini Girl, Katrina Darrell. Oh. My. God. Are you serious? They let her in the fucking door like that? One slip and her vajayjay would be shown to thousands of people in the auditioning location. And I am ashamed of you Randy and Simon, you know very well her voice sucked and no clothes did not help. In my opinion, Kara had every right to be bitchy at this and Ms. Darrell. I wish however that Kara and Bikini Girl were allowed to fight each other, claws out, hair pulling, the whole thing. Would be great.

Holy Frak, Its Coming To An End

 Realistic SciFi fans rejoice! The much acclaimed Battlestar Galactica returns to television this Friday, January 16th, and I am fucking excited. After yet another long SciFi Channel hiatus we will finally begin to answer many of the questions that have been raised: What is Starbuck? Is it really Earth? Who is the Final Cylon?

For those of you who do not know me well, I am addicted to this show. Ever since the Miniseries came on I have been a loyal fan. I have stood by the show against the haters and the skeptics. I have waited during all the hiatuses that any other show would have turned me off. And I have bought the DVDs, which have taken up much of my free time.

If you have never seen Battlestar Galactica go and see the first season. Now. Yes it is Science Fiction, yes it has robots, yes it has spaceships, but dont let that scare you away. BSG is a far cry from the lightsaber waving, laser shooting, techno babble filled space operas like Star Trek and Star Wars. BSG lives in the subgenre of Realistic SciFI. Ships are damaged and sometimes cannot be repaired. Guns shoot bullets. Space is big, empty, and not full of blue-skinned aliens. And the storylines are full of real-world problems; Racism, Genocide, Military Occupation, Religious Fanaticism, Government Corruption. All these elements put together creates a show that feels less like Science Fiction and more like a gritty drama found on an ordinary television station.

I will be sad to see this show begin the second half of its final season. It has been a great experience to watch these characters develop and grow. It has been refreshing to see a prime time show deal with real issues of sex, religion, and rights. This show should be one that in the future will be looked back on as an inspiration for how to write and develop television.

The Bright Side of Fast Food Empires

Step into any McDonald's and a familiar environment from childhood comes back to you. That strange yet intoxicating aroma of grease, baby wipes, and immigrant sweat. The loud screams of children, abandoned to the play area by their parents, fill the enclosed space. You take your place in line behind the other desperate and hungry fools; an elderly couple who order the fish sandwiches because hamburgers are 'too spicy',  a young mother whose children whine about which toy they want with their happy meals, and an obnoxious racist man who cannot deal with the cashiers accent-

"Its a Big Mac, Jose, not a Bikmik!"

You are filled with shame and stare at the door to contemplate the alternative choices you could have made for your lunch break. Tommy and Susan went to Panda Express, you do like Orange Chicken. Maybe you should have joined them. You think of leaving, but before you can manage an escape, the line in front of you has gone, and the cashier asks for your order. You stare at him, and you would run, but his manager is right behind him, and being the nice human being you are, dont want to cost him his job, so you order.

Upon receiving your quarter pounder, fries, apple fritter and root beer, you take a seat at the permanently slick tables. Before eating anything you take a sip of the root beer, to prepare yourself for the heart attack in paper wrappers about to enter your body. Upon having that first sip you realize that your drink is...different.

I am not one to defend the horrible and horrifying food-stuffs that are served to millions (or billions as McDonald's likes to brag). The greezy bacne causing hamburgers. The questionable origin chicken nuggets. Coffee that tastes more like it came out of a donkey than off of a donkey. But there is one small pinhead sized prick of light on the taint of the fast food highway: soft drinks in paper cups. It is an experience that you cannot recreate at home no matter how hard you try. Now I dont know that causes this phenomenon. The cups, the food, the soda dispenser, but whatever it is, its amazing.