Very Hottest Photos

Does the word irregular now mean daily?

I have been posting the old commercials all week for you to get a feel of what to expect from it. It will become a random, irregular feature after today.

Sheesh.

What's with the switching of cat avatars? The other one was cute!

The new cat suits my personality better than the hipster cat i had before.

with Unforgettable premiering in the fall, is there any chance you might post photos of Poppy Montgomery?

Unforgettable is a show in which Poppy Montgomery, whom I had not heard of until Googling, plays a detective with unberphotographic memory. She remembers every detail of every second of her life. The premise does not grab me, and considering the slow death of scripted television in general, I doubt it grabs many others. I have no interest in even giving it a shot.

Get your Poppy Montgomery while you can:

Did you see Torchwood: Miracle Day yet? Love to hear what you thought.

I was underwhelmed. I feared the show my be dumbed down for American audiences, and I got the vibe it had been. The first episode did not compel me to review it. The second might, but do not hold me to it.

Truth be told, I spent most of the first episode deciding if Eve Myles had some work done for her American debut.

1st season TNG or 4th season Enterprise? Which do you prefer?

I was willing to review all of TNG. I am not going to review any of ENT.

What got cut off is the observation that in 2005 you handed out 4 and 5 star reviews to Enterprise episodes.

The star rating system is relative to the series. A five star ENT episodes is the smartest kid in remedial math class.

What happened since 2005 to sour you so much on Star Trek: Enterprise that the thought of recapping it fills you with dread? From your blog on 2/25/05: "I liked Enterprise, I'll admit, even though it was the worst Star Trek by a country mile." Plus, looki

Your second sentence was cut off by Formspring’s character limit. Please submit it again if my answer does not address your complete thought.

There is a big difference between liking a television show enough to sit down and watch it once a week, particularly when the alternative is law school homework or convalescing from a ruptured colon., and writing an episode analysis everyday for over three months.

Besides, reviewing VOY is a concession I made because readers voted for it after I spent a year covering two series I decided to cover solely because I wanted to watch them again. Once VOY is done in late November/early December, I will go back to picking shows I want to experience again.

As far as the list of possible shows I want to review is concerned, ENT is way down on it. I just described it as an preferable alternative to studying law or watching your intestines rot out from under you. Talk about killing with faint praise.

Why is the religious right pushing for Rick Perry to run for president instead of rallying behind Michele Bachmann?

His experience, I would imagine. If Rick Perry continues to balk at the idea, evangelicals will flock to Michele Bachmann. this assumes that Sarah Palin does not run and her star still shines among evangelicals. i am not convinced at the moment of either.

What do you think of Falling Skies?

I watched the first episode, but cut away from the middle of the second. It did not hook me. It felt like Jericho…with Aliens, but somehow Dr. John Carter was involved. It was not bad necessarily, but underwhelming. There was no new angle on the concept.

If word of mouth chatter says it has subsequently improved, I might give it another go, but first impressions usually stick with me until the end.

What do you think of the rumors David Duchovny and Robert Patrick didn't like each other?

I have never paid the rumor much attention.

The rumor is based on the flimsy evidence of the blooper reel included in the eighth season DVD set. David Duchovny and Robert Patrick have two scenes in the reel. One is of their characters’ first meeting. Mulder thinks Doggett is a spy who has been destroying the x-files in his absence. The aired scene has Mulder charging into skinner’s office and shoving Doggett into a chair. In the blooper, Duchovny shoves him so hard the chair falls over, sending Patrick tumbling. The other blooper has Duchovny flying into an obviously fake, profanity laden prima donna tirade when Patrick accidentally calls him Scully.

Granted, these two bloopers stand out because neither the actors, nor the crew cracks up like they do with the other bloopers. Patrick has other bloopers with Gillian Anderson, Annabeth Gish, and a gust star or two. They all appear to be having a good time with it. I do not know if that demonstrates tension between Duchovny and Patrick so much as the former not really wanting to be on the show anymore period. He does not appear to be enjoying himself at any point when breaking character because of a blooper no matter who else is in the scene with him.

What TV series do you own on DVD? That must have cost quite a bit of scratch.

I have a lot of stuff from the video store even though my mother closed it down thirteen years ago. People do not know quite what to do with me these days, so I have gotten a lot of DVds as gifts. My collection is piecemeal.

Which one is Kes?

Jennifer Lien these days:

Why are you so critical of Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future? It is supposed to give people hope.

Because I have been asked to critique Star Trek from my point of view, and my point of view is Gene Roddenberry’s philosophy of human perfection through progressive and secular means is a crock. While I do not want to discourage anyone from thinking positive thoughts about the future, there has to be a dose of realism in every optimistic notion or else is is just sappy sentimentalism.

Star Trek is not the future of humanity. We are not going to one day cast aside all our differences to create a perfect world, then go out and explore space to find other enlightened species. We are certainly not going to reach that point following the path Roddenberry has laid out.

Here is the flaw in Roddenberry’s logic--he assumed changing th environment will force a change in people. His idea is that is people are comfortable with plenty of food, nice shelter, and reliable medical care all without paying for it directly or having any religious beliefs as a dividing factor, then all social problems will be eliminated. To which I sau poppycock. At the very least, all hat will do is create an artificial environment that will cause mass panic and/or barbarism as the slightest hint some of the creature comforts might fail at some point.

That is a best case scenario. Human nature is greedy and corrupt no matter what environment it is in. being comfortable does not stop that. Right now, even our poorest people live better than most wealthy people of past generations. We have scientific advancement up the wazoo that make life more convenient, as well as medical advancements that make people live longer, healthier lives. Yet we will still kill each other over reasons as petty as stealing a pair of basketball shoes or as complex as political or religious strife. As enlightened as the 20th century was, it was the bloodiest one-hundred years in history. There is no reason to think the 21st century will not be worse. Improving quality of life does not improve the heart of man.

We may have raised the quality of our lives, but we have also increased our ability to destroy ourselves. The former has not inhibited the latter in the slightest. The root of the problem is that technology and knowledge may expand exponentially, but wisdom starts over from the beginning for everyone. It is a trait one cannot inherit. Wisdom has to be learned for one’s self even if it is imparted as advice from someone who knows what is best. No amount of perfection in one’s environment, which is a fictional concept anyway, will encourage people to be perfect. Odds are, if any alien civilizations exist, they are not any different than we are in that regard, so I would not count on any aliens teaching us how to be perfect people, either. The future of humanity is going to be identical to the past of humanity because people are basically the same as they have always been no matter how well we live.

If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?

Greed. Without it, a whole lot of misery would cease to exist.

I am a Scandinavian coming to the Us for a doctor program. That already tells you I likely have very different political views from you. And indeed, in the Scandinavian context I fall into a moderate position between social-democrats and liberals (in the classic sense), believing in a moderate welfare state as well as the importance of personal liberties. This likely puts me on the, uh, "very liberal"-spectrum in the US. Now, I wonder if you could recommend some reading from a conservative, American point of view that in your opinion is both balanced and thoughtful? I am genuinely interested in that point of view, but I do find that the debate in the US is so polarized that it's hard to find something like that. Fox News, etc, is just exhausting and confusing to me. Based on your writing, you seem like you might know some interesting sources. And my apologies for this sequence of posts, the system confuses me! All best, Heidi

You cannot go wrong with Thomas Sowell. He is an economist and social critic who approaches subjects like the academic he is. I highly recommend starting with his book Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the economy. In it, Sowell lays out conservative economic principles in plain language. You do not have to be a student of economics to appreciate what he has to say.

Some of my readers might object, but I would suggest sticking with more academic type writings on conservatism and avoid the mass appeal conservative writers like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Dick Morris, or even Mark Levin. Their books tend to preach to the choir. I would call them for entertainment purposes only. Americans are notorious for reading such things and considering themselves intellectuals for doing so.

If and when you do want to move beyond less colorful readings on conservatism into more red meat, then I would try Rush Limbaugh--no matter what negatives you may have heard about him--and Mark Levin.

It's would be some time before you get around to it, but any chance Buffy will be a possible show for you to review?

No. I am not a fan of Joss Whedon.

Hey, what's wrong with Pete DuPont? I thought he was the best candidate in the '88 primary. His contributions to the WSJ are outstanding.

Nothing is wrong with Pete DuPont. I said he was a bored rich guy who ego demanded his legacy be a stint in the White House, not the governor’s mansion. That fit’s the description of every governor of every state since the country was founded.

I cannot remember who said it now--Charles Krauthammer, maybe?--but every governor hums “Hail to the Chief” when shaving in the morning. Presumably even Nikki Haley.

What's with the kitten avatar (not that we're complaining, kittens are cute)?

Someone posted it as a regular sized photo on Tumblr a few days ago. I liked it, so I shrunk it down to use as my avatar. Upon further reflection, it is a bit hipater for my taste, but I am going to keep it until something else strikes my fancy.

It is not a secret I am a cat person, right?

Hayden Panettiere

I thought Kes was deadweight on VOY...your thoughts regarding the character?

The only reason one might think Kes was dead weight is because she was terribly underutilized. Not that she was the only one in that boat. None of the characters were particularly well developed at any point. Even the Maquis v. Starfleet friction that was supposed to be the catalyst for the main drama was jettisoned shortly after being introduced. So complaining Kes is deadweight is like complaining one corpse is more motionless than another.

Nevertheless, I thought she had fascinating potential. It was hinted early on she possessed incredible powers that she did not know how to use. This promised gradual discovery of new abilities as the show progressed. As far as unique Delta Quadrant elements went, she was it. Were you fascinated by Kazon street gangs, the Vidiian scavenging leper colony, or horny paramecium? I was not. Kes was all we got.

But they never did anything with her. She became the doctor’s assistant, and that is pretty much it. The only thing fans really remember about her is how incredibly unbelievable it is she was in love with a toady, emotionally disturbed jerk like Neelix.

Then they dumped her from the show for the most shallow of reasons. Garrett Wang was going to be fired because, as a character, there was not much for Harry to do. But People named him one of the fifty most beautiful people in the world, so they kept him on for the good publicity. She was essentially replaced by Seven, whose character arc consisted of wearing a skin tight cat suit and learning a tacked on lesson about being human in every episode whether she was prominent in it or not.

When it comes down to it, I defend Kes as a good character because she was done very poorly considering g her potential. To add insult to injury, she was replaced by a shallow character who was added solely for her sex appeal. It is insulting the powers that be at VOY thought I would prefer such things over making Kes a complex, unique character.