Just stumbled across this cool site showing photos of an abandoned Russian village:
http://englishrussia.com/?p=1784#more-1784
I find this kind of stuff fascinating - it's like a little pocket that got frozen in time, but without Jean-Claude Van Damne to travel back and right the wrong that was committed there.
I like TV. I like it a lot. It's a rich medium, and provides a great medium to communicate thoughts and ideas. However, as with any similar medium, the better means it provides to push forward an idea, the higher the noise-to-signal ratio becomes (if you don't believe me, just check out the internet - how much noise is there on that bad boy?).
In an ongoing attempt to reduce that ratio for you, here's the latest set of really really good TV shows that I'm watching, and why you should be watching them.
There's been a giant hole in my heart ever since Star Trek Voyager went off the air. I grew up through adolescence and my teenage years watching The Next Generation and Voyager, and I TURNED OUT GREAT!
On the serious side, both of these shows did something I really appreciate - they used the context of the future (new technologies, new planets, new species, physics that we don't understand, etc.) to present new problems, and ways that human ingenuity may be able to prevail amongst that adversity. It provides the writers of the show a context within which they can prevent ideas that we may not have thought of - what if there existed beings that had powers like gods, but weren't benevolent? (The anthropologists out there will be quick to point out that we could just study the Aztecs when they encountered the conquistadors, but they're not the ones writing in this blog, so they can suck it).
Battlestar Gallactica was recommended by my friend Davey, and does a great job filling this void. The setting is that humans created artificial intelligence, which then rebelled and left our area of the galaxy. Years later, they've returned, destroyed most of humanity, and are now chasing down the rest.
If that sounds tacky, don't let it stop you checking out the show. There are some very cool ideas expanded on in the series, including ones like the Cylons (the AI) having their own set of gods and religion, and the notion of a soul. Intriguing stuff!
The characters are sympathetic and interesting. They've all got good backstories, none of them feel too cookie-cutter, and the pacing is great - rarely do I find myself thinking "man, I hope they move on past this part of the story soon".
Check out the trailer for the miniseries that kicked off the show here:
David Mitchell and some guy who's last name is Webb (I think it's Mark, but I'm not sure) are two British guys that are hilarious. Anyone that is familiar with other good British comedy will recognize David Mitchell from his appearances on Qi, or possibly from some of his other shows, like Peep Show (also pretty funny, though a little more difficult for people on this side of the world to get into).
TMWS is basically a sketch comedy. It's got some good material, along with some material that many of my Canadian friends probably won't get (we don't really have Snooker, nor commentators over here for it, so it's a bit more difficult to understand), but most of the bits are funny and can be grasped solely from the context. That reason shouldn't stop you from checking out the show and seeing if fits with your sense of humour. I like my comedy fairly abstract, and they do a good job of avoiding the standard approach.
Check out the episode one of the first season here:
Ahh, more British comedy! Anyone that has seen Qi is familiar with the UK panel-based approach to comedy, and this show follows that fairly closely. Although the material is a little more low-brow than Qi (it's based on pop-culture, mostly music), it is on-par in terms of hilarity for me.
The show is in its 21st season, and the two hosts that they've had are both very dry and witty in their own way. The most recent host, Simon Amstell, is very biting, and I never get tired of hearing him take the mickey out of various pop stars. He's rarely caught for a lack of something clever to say, and the banter is kept going by the two co-hosts, Bill Bailey and Phil Jupitus (both familiar to Qi's panels as well).
I grew especially fond of this show after seeing one of UK's boy-band members get up and walk off the show after getting ribbed by Simon. Seeing people that take themselves too seriously get rattled is something I'll never get tired of.
Check out the first of three parts of that episode here:
You're probably living in a cave if you haven't yet heard about this show, as people have generally caught wind of how awesome it was. I try to limit my recommendations to shows that are flying low under the radar, but this one is honestly too good not to mention. That being said, most people I've talked to have seen YouTube clips of the songs from the show, but never actually watched the show itself. If you're one of those people, take my word for it that the show is every bit as funny as their songs are.
Brett McKenzie and Jemaine Clement play charicatures of themselves as two New Zealanders, come to New York to make it big with their band. They're joined by their manager, also from New Zealand, Murray, and their number one (and only) fan, Mel.
Whoever is writing this show is genius, and really gets comedy. Not only that, but Jemaine and Brett are both extremely comedically and musically talented. Part of what makes the show so funny is that they are deadpan and static whenever their band plays out.
The events and action in the show are broken up by song interludes, usually fitting with whatever is currently happening and always revealing the real talent that Brett and Jemaine possess. These interludes span a huge number of genres, are always done well, and are always hilarious.
If you haven't already seen it, the best introduction I can provide to the show is this song:
And if you've already seen that one, this is a great track from the second episode:
So, the next time someone smirks when you start talking about good TV, do what I do and punch them in the mudbutton. People that shun TV completely and act as though they are better than everyone else are really just denying themselves access to a medium of communication. It's up to you to determine what information gets through, but don't fool yourself into believing that watching TV is necessarily a waste of your time (Hint: laughing is a positive thing).
I'm going to try and add a second approach to updates, and combine my lengthy diatribes from the soap-box with quick updates containing links and the like that I find interesting.
So, starting that off, just quick update today to point to a link sent to me by my friend Myron. This link is a very good interview with a Michael Pollan, and goes into the phenomenon of journalism and nutrition, and how the two are naturally at odds with each other (among many other things).
Don't switch off just yet - the interview is an easy read, and points out some very interesting things that are worth considering. Especially worthy of note is this quote:
The larger issue is that the very nature of journalism and the nature of food don't make a good fit. Food is a really old story. The foods that we do best on are the ones we evolved eating over many thousands of years. But journalism needs a new story every week, and so we tend to play up novelty and surprise. The classic methods are to eat more fruits and vegetables. How are you going to interest an editor in that story? But in fact, that is the story. Nutritionists haven't changed their points of view nearly as much as you would gather from reading the journalism about them.
You can read the full article here.
Check it out, and get skeptical about the latest nutritional trends!
Another seven months without updating, another life-time of stuff that has happened.
Okay, so, I've sucked ass at updating, and that kind of sucks (ass). It's annoying for people that want to check back regularly, and more obnoxious because several centuries ago I talked about updating the design.
Updating the design is slow going - I've done my research and started on the design, but haven't been able to get much further than that. One thing worth considering is something I read about in order to get projects done - dedicate each month to doing work on a specific item. That way you provide yourself with focus, and you're more inclined to direct your attention towards accomplishing that goal. It's a good idea in theory, I'm just not sure if it pans out in practice.
This is just going to be a big muthalode update, and then, if the stars are aligned correctly, and my horoscope comes true, I will be able to start with regular updates again. Speaking on that note, the best way to continue with regular updates would be to shorten down the length of the blog entries I like to write. The trouble is, I love articulating and expounding on ideas, and that makes it really difficult to post blog entries that look like this:
Today I went to the bar and totally drank some beerz, it was radicalmundo (I'm totally in touch with what kids are saying these days). Tomorrow I'm going to home depot. its going to be a pretty good little sunday!
BORING. You can go read livejournal if you want to read posts like that.
Anyhow, let's move on.
I just got back from the Nanaimo Squash tournament, which is an annual event, and always a good time. I'll get into my review of that later, but first I'll go over the small stuff.
Currently I'm in the process of updating the Victoria Squash Club's website. It's a slow process, because there are many things that I'm not yet familiar with, and lots of work to be done on the backend. Dan and I have been putting in some hours on the backend to work out the details that we want to have up there, and it's slowly getting put into place. It's a little bit of a thankless chore, because we're essentially doing it as volunteer workers, but that's okay, because Dan is an integral part of the squash club, and I'm honored to be able to contribute in any way possible. So that's basically that.
Dancing
Steve, Graham and I have been regularly getting together now for weekly dance practice sessions. It's a casual event, but we still set up the video camera and record whatever is happening. Most of the time, it's boring footage - me practicing various fresno poses, and Graham being awesome without putting in any effort. But it's something, and it works towards us improving.
We've got a large amount of footage now, and one of the things I'm working towards is putting together a video montage of some of the good moments. It's a lot easier to capture Graham doing cool stuff than it is Steve or I, but rest assured, I'm in the process of looking through footage and piecing things together. The best part about this is that our friend's Steve and Dee have a really great space for us to practice dancing in, and it makes it much easier to actually practice on a regular basis.
I've been in contact with a girl that teaches some urban styles at the dance studio above our squash club, and I'm planning to check out the adult intro hiphop class that they run on Monday's from 8:30-9:30. I've got to dance, and have very little exposure with this particular style, so it'll be an interesting one.
Media
Hm, that's a weird heading. But there it is - media. I guess I've been living in a cave recently, but only now am I starting to discover podcasts. This isn't really rocket-science... it's just weekly broadcasts, kind of like a weekly TV show that I can download and watch whenever I'm ready.
In any case, this all started when I caught the Tom Cruise batshit video that has been posted on gawker. If you're interested in seeing it, just following this search link and see for yourself: Show me the Money!.
Watching this video and thinking about Scientology has re-awoken my love for critical thinking, and pushed me out in search of media related to this. I've been listening to two podcasts in particular: Skepticality, run by the team of Derek and Swoopy, and, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, run by the New England Skeptic's Society. Both podcasts are run by intelligent people that appreciate the art (is it fair to call an approach to what we observe in life an art? Maybe skill is a better term) of critical thinking. The dialogue is always interesting, and their are often interviews with very interesting people.
As I grow and mature, I continue to develop my appreciation for interaction between intelligent people. The whole is often much more than the sum of the parts, and I never grow tired of listening or participating. Qi is a TV show that tweaks that for me, and both of these podcasts do the same thing. I always walk away feeling like I've learned something after watching/listening to these kind of shows, and how could learning something ever be a bad thing?
Thinking critically makes you feel empowered. It causes you to introspect, and that leads to wisdom. It encourages you to consider your point of view, and why you feel the way you do about something. Above all, thinking critically is never a bad thing. We need to question what we are told, and why we are told something. Someone telling you that you should just accept something because they've told you so, is someone to be wary of.
That's as far as I can get right now - there's much more to be updated about, and I have lots of ideas in my head, waiting to be written out. It's just a time issue - there's never enough time!
Hopefully more to come.
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