Slog

[swimming]

Warm up: 100 free, 100 breast; workout: 200 free, 100 breast, 400 free; sprints: 50 free, 50 breast; cool down: 200 free, 100 breast, 100 breast.

I timed my sprints again: 50 free, 38 seconds; 50 breast, 46 seconds. I don't really believe I actually shaved three seconds off my 50 breast since last time: there's easily one or two seconds of error because my method of timing involves squinting my uncorrected eyeballs, through foggy goggles, at the analog timer on the wall.

Total distance: 1.4 km.

Wow Is Right

[tech]

Just heard via Michael Geist that Nettwerk Music Group is standing up against the RIAA by funding the defence of a 15 year old girl and her family, accused of file sharing.

According to the press release, "Nettwerk Music Group has agreed to pay the total expense of all legal fees as well as any fines should the family lose the case against the RIAA."

And Michael Geist's commentary? "Wow."

I might just have to go out and buy every single Nettwerk CD I can find now. Even Avril Lavigne.

BSG 2x02 - Valley of Darkness

[television]

I really enjoyed this episode. Galactica spends so much time running away that the cylons have never had a chance to board the ship, and it was really exciting to see the Galactica crew dealing with the enemy in such close quarters, for a change.

Maybe it was an unfortunate side effect of editing, but there's one place where I think the writing could have been sharpened up. Here are some excerpts from the dialogue from this episode. All of these lines occur within a period of about two minutes:

KELLEY

It's Apollo. He's on deck 12 at aft frame 8-6, between the cylons and Aft Damage Control.

[...]

TIGH

Take your men and proceed without delay to Aft Damage Control.

[...]

ROSLIN

All right, Corporal Venner [...] find us another way to sickbay.

VENNER

Okay, we have to head toward Aft Damage Control.

ROSLIN

Aft Damage Control.

LEE

Aft Damage Control.

TIGH

That's what they're after. [...] You get to Aft Damage Control [...] Get there before the cylons or we lose the ship. Is that clear?

LEE

Aft Damage Control. [...] Apollo out.

So, like, is this what a jackhammer in the ear feels like?

If you're sharp, you'll remember that Socinus, the engineer who dies, was the one who lied and claimed negligence during the inquest into the bombing on Galactica. He did this in order to protect the Chief, and was stripped of rank and thrown in the brig because of it. A lost plot point that was filmed but unfortunately not included in the final cut, was that Tyrol had just gotten Socinus out of the brig before being assigned to the expedition to Kobol.

I really like the speech Lee gives to Tigh at the end: "This isn't my ship... and it sure as hell isn't yours. It's his. And when he wakes up, he'll decide what to do with the both of us." Even though Tigh doesn't respond, you can see that he knows Lee is right. It's a rare moment of understanding, if not agreement, between the two of them.

So It's a Tory Minority

[politics]

Well, it wasn't too surprising, based on the buzz leading up to election night.

I lean left of centre, so you might expect me to be discouraged at a Conservative government, but in fact, it was the best realistic result I was hoping for. No other party had a hope of unseating the Liberals, and that, to me, was the most important thing at the moment. Having one party in power too long is unhealthy. One of the strengths of democracy, in my opinion, is the sharing of power, as much as it is reflecting the will of the people. When one party holds onto power too long, it forms a breeding ground for corruption. The sponsorship scandal constituted, to me, a serious warning sign that we should have heeded in 2004. Well, better late than never.

However, in general, I don't agree with the Conservative platform, so that's why I'm glad it's a minority. The only thing that worries me is that, with three centre/left parties facing them in the house, the Conservatives might not be able to continue doing business for very long. And then, we would be plunged into yet another election...

Checking Harper

[politics]

How magnanimous of Harper to respect the constitution and separation of powers in our system of government.

BSG 2x01 - Scattered

[television]

Okay, so here's my first post about BSG: season 2, episode 1. I think the "A story" for Scattered (which takes place on Galactica) was well crafted. And it's really interesting to see a man like Tigh - an unwilling commander - being thrust into the top post.

Note, in the flashback where Adama tells Tigh he intends to get back in the fleet, Tigh has blood on his hands. I believe this is from an extended flashback they had shot, but didn't use, in which Adama extricates Tigh from a nasty bar fight.

Ron Moore admits one occasion in this episode when he had to resort to "technobabble," when Gaeta is explaining his idea of networking the computers to speed the jump calculations. I'd say it's more than excusable because it's vital for the plot, and it was pretty minimal, as well as being infused with character, when Kelley insists that Adama would never go for it, and it's still "his ship."

But I tell ya, if that's what we're going to be calling "technobabble," then I don't think Star Trek has ever had a minute of character development in its entire history. Which, you know, perhaps it hasn't.

As for the "B story" on Kobol, I'm not sure I like how Crashdown was being portrayed as being so incompetent. I think it would have been more interesting to validate his decision to bug out ASAP (without checking their supplies) when they initially left the crash site. I would have preferred it if Tyrol's team ran into cylons at the crash site, not on the way back.

In fact, I understand that a sequence that was cut from this episode contained just such an encounter; it's a shame they couldn't incorporate it.

Galactica is a world in which I no longer expect simplistic stories. I now expect it to have shades of grey everywhere. So, one-sided portrayals of characters is not something I suffer easily, when it comes to this show.

Slog

[swimming]

Today, to warm up, I did 100 free and 100 breast. Then, a short workout of another 100 free and 100 breast. Endurance swim of 400 free. Two sprints of 50 free and 50 breast. Finally, 100 free and 100 breast to cool down.

I actually timed my sprints. I did 37 seconds for my 50 free, and 49 seconds for my 50 breast.

Total distance: 1.1 km.

BSG Season Two

[television]

As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of the new Battlestar Galactica series. I found it interesting that, as I listened to the Ron Moore Podcasts, he mentions most of the points that I myself made in that blog posting I linked to, above. I guess it's not too surprising because he, too, came from Star Trek (albeit as an insider, unlike me), so it's natural that he would see the flaws in that show, and want to improve on them when he got the chance. I'm glad he saw the same flaws that I did!

I've been watching Battlestar by downloading the episodes off the internet (and then, later, buying them on DVD), so I'm up-to-date with the newest U.S. airings, but for the benefit of my poor Canadian friends and family, I'm going to restrict my comments on this blog to the episodes that have aired on The Space Channel.

Last Saturday, the first episode of the second season, called "Scattered," finally aired in Canada. So, starting very soon, I'm going to post my thoughts about each episode as they air in Canada. Wait for it...

Dumont vs. Bloc

[politics]

Now, this is a development I would never, ever, have expected.

Slog

[swimming]

I'm back to swimming... again. Last night, I did 100 free to warm up; then, 4x100 alternating free and breast, 300 free, and then to cool down, 100 free, 100 breast, 50 free, 50 breast.

The last time I tried to get back into a regular swimming schedule, I tried mornings; that was a mistake. I don't have enough energy in the morning to drag myself to a pool. Now I'm trying evenings, and I think I'll have better luck.

Since mid-December, I'd been trying to get into the habit of lounging at a Second Cup cafe between work and the swim, and taking advantage of the free wireless internet they're supposed to have. But the last couple of times I was there, I didn't have any luck connecting, so I'm beginning to reconsider that particular routine. I once asked the staff for some help, but they seemed utterly clueless. Last night I also asked a fellow customer, but he couldn't provide any help either.

I suspect it's a configuration problem on my laptop, but I'm not sure how I will diagnose the issue.

Edited Mon Jan 16 23:55: Total distance: 1.1 km.