Tag: battlestar galactica

There must be some kind of way out of here

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Spoiler alert: I shall herein be talking about last night’s series finale of Battlestar Galactica. Look upon me, ye laggards, and despair.

Oh, don’t worry, I won’t give away details. I’ll just say that I didn’t think much of it. The big mystical destiny bits seemed forced, if they were resolved at all. The action was ok, but…did we even see five seconds of Viper dogfights? C’mon. The ending…meh.

I don’t know, maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the near-perfect finale of The Shield, but this epic ending left me feeling pretty underwhelmed, especially considering some of the fantastic seasons finales the show managed over the years.

I think I’ll go watch the miniseries again.

Turns out I own clothes that I've never even worn

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Each weekend starts with the intention of seeing The Wrestler. Each weekend ends with us having failed.

Friday night would have been an ideal candidate but, well, being tired and wanting to watch BSG won out. Put another way: we are old. Yesterday Nellie and I were both busy, and we went to Mercatto for dinner on a lark…very tasty. I can see that becoming our regular Italian place. Anyway, long story short: it was cold as balls outside so we didn’t stray far from home. Plus, we don’t relish the idea of the Scotiabank theatre on a Saturday night, chock full of middling teenagers ambling into screenings of Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Today the timing just didn’t work, especially after Nellie undertook her ideal Sunday pastime of sleeping until noon. I used this alone time to destroy her best time in Wii Fit Advanced Snowboard and other similar accomplishments. Then we had breakfast, got groceries and went on a badass cleaning binge. I’m talking an almighty purge, people…stuff getting thrown out, recycled, put on Craigslist*…there’s a Goodwill pile here the size of a Shetland pony.

Time for the weekend summary. Pluses: relaxing, tasty, productive. Minuses: boring, lame. 3-2, w00t!!

* speaking of: anybody want a slightly used Roomba? Two wooden Ikea folding chairs? A crystal punch bowl?

Even the death rattle has a boppy J.J. Abrams score

Dan Dickinson

A week or so ago in Salon Heather Havrilesky ripped TV a new one:

The golden age of television may be over just a few short years after it began. 2008 not only marked one of the worst years of TV in the last decade, but all of the momentum and promise of the past few years seemed to vanish in a haze of crappy, unoriginal new programming, lackluster sophomore shows, flaccid sitcoms and pointless cable comedies.

Deservedly so, too. Just months and years removed from the likes of The Wire, Six Feet Under and The Shield, we’re now faced with this harbinger of doom:

And has there ever been a more depressing sign of TV’s demise than the move by NBC to give Jay Leno, the epitome of a guy who’s flatly bad at his job but continues to be promoted for reasons utterly mysterious to mortal man, a whopping five hours of prime-time real estate, thereby saving themselves from the unpleasant work of finding worthwhile programming to fill their nightly 10 p.m. slot?

The Star also weighed in with a recap (less with the doomsday, more with the funny) of the past year’s horror show:

Herbie Hancock wins Album of the Year at the “Granny” Awards as music pundits slap their foreheads and check their calendars. Nope, it’s not 1983. Ratings plummet.

…

Cloris Leachman dresses like a rapper and asks, “What’s up, homeys?” in an old school hip-hop number on Dancing With the Stars. Viewers, horrified at the spectre of the 82-year-old Emmy winner in short shorts and rapper’s cap, vote her off the following week.

The concept of TV as art seems to be just about dead. Apart from the seven shows I actually care about — 30 Rock, Battlestar Galactica, The Daily Show, Friday Night Lights, Life, The Office and The Unit — I’m increasingly seeing the TV as nothing more than a sports & movie delivery device.

Just declare the 4 big American networks 24-hour reality TV channels and be done with it. HBO can buy Netflix and we’ll all be happy.

Sunny! Breezy! Pleasant!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Nice day so far. We slept in until about 10:00 (following yet another delicious, spur-of-the-moment dinner at Fieramosca last night), had a bit of breakfast and watched last night’s episode of Battlestar Galactica (gripping! exciting! sing-songy!) on the couch. The morning’s rain cleared off shortly after that, and off we went.

And whooooooeee, is it ever nice out there. Sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze too. We had lunch on the patio at the Jason George (well; I had lunch; Nellie’d already eaten her leftover pasta) and it almost got a little too warm. Also: when is smoking going to be banned on patios in Toronto? Whenever it is, it can’t come soon enough.

After lunch we walked along Front Street to Staples to pick up a filing cabinet (the one we ordered earlier in the week having been canceled for lack of stock). We checked out the eee PC laptop (tiny! adorable! sufficient!) that I want to get, but didn’t buy one, just getting a small desk/cabinet combo for Nellie. We brought that home and went back out to enjoy the day a bit more. Now Nellie’s happily putting together her new furniture and looking forward to dinner. See, I made the mistake of reading out the new beers on tap at C’est What (courtesy of Bartowel news) and once she heard “Church-Key Cranberry Wheat” her mind was made up.

[tags]fieramosca, battlestar galactica, jason george, staples, eee pc, c’est what, bartowel, church key cranberry wheat[/tags]

BluBlockers anyone?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’ve gotten a couple of hits from people Googling whether President Roslin’s character was wearing a Q-Ray bracelet on Battlestar Galactica last week. Yes, kids, I saw it too. Not sure what the significance is; maybe they’re pointing out that even fictional humans on TV can be duped by marketing and superstition.

[tags]q-ray bracelet, president roslin, battlestar galactica, bsg[/tags]

Get your finger off the comm button

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Big sports night tonight: the Habs close out the season against the Leafs. The Raptors try to reverse their recent slide. Toronto FC is hoping to score a goal. And the Final Four semifinals are played, giving me at least an indication of whether I’ll have a 50-50 shot at some pool money come Monday evening.

The NHL sprint into the playoffs is high drama; Washington’s playing just to get in (and I hope they do) while Montreal’s playing for top spot in the conference. Depending on how they do tonight and how Pittsburgh does tomorrow, Montreal will end up against either Philadelphia or Ottawa in the first round; obviously I’d prefer Philly; though the Canadians have throttled the Sens in their last two matchups, Ottawa seems like a more dangerous opponent.

Not that I’ll be able to pay a lot of attention tonight. I have a marketing assignment to write.

[UPDATE: the Habs beat the Leafs, finish first in the east and will play the Bruins in the first round, which is good, since Montreal was 8-0 against them this year. The Washington Capitals won and they’re in…in fact, they’re 3rd in the conference. Stupid southeast division. The Raptors continue to suck it hard. Ditto Toronto FC. Kansas won but UCLA lost, meaning I’m out of the money, but Nellie still has a shot at 2nd if Kansas wins.]

.:.

Battlestar Galactica started off pretty strong in last night’s season kickoff (I think Nellie was right when she said they blew their special effects budget in the first ten minutes) but drifted a little. I’m so very tired of Baltar.

[tags]nhl playoffs, montreal canadiens, toronto raptors, toronto fc, battlestar galactica[/tags]

Stuff I like. 'Cause I'm a white people.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment
  • My new mouse
  • The Montreal Canadiens clinching their division for the first time since 1991-92 after pounding the Sens 3-0
  • BSG returning this Friday
  • Tomorrow’s forecast: 10° and sunny
  • The new, not-quite-released-yet Constantines album Kensington Heights
  • Income tax returns

[tags]logitech wireless mouse, montreal canadiens, ottawa senators, battlestar galactica, spring, constantines, kensington heights, income tax return[/tags]

Is it spring yet? How 'bout now? How 'bout now?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

January’s gonna be a big month for me, TV-wise. Two of the best shows on the air — The Wire and Battlestar Galactica — start their final seasons.

.:.

Tonight was a welcome break from schoolwork…a night off to just relax, watch hockey and not think about school. It’s short-lived, though: I have an assignment due Monday which I’ve not started yet, so the next five days will be spent in a finance textbook.

.:.

I’m enjoying Brijit, a handy new service that summarizes recent magazine content in 100 words or less, and assigns a rating (though they they arrive at their ratings I’m not sure).

.:.

Because we can’t help ourselves and we can’t wait to go back (and also because some things require booking way in advance) we’ve already begun planning our Rockies trip in the spring. I bought a book about the interior of BC the other day; I think, after a few days in Yoho (hiking the Lake O’Hara region again) we’re going to drive to Whistler, and then on to Vancouver. I want to go NOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!

[tags]the wire, battlestar galactica, brijit, rockies, yoho, lake ohara, whistler, vancouver[/tags]