So Say We All

After 4 seasons and as many years, Battlestar Galactica comes to an end tonight with a two hour series finale. I don't usually contemplate the end of a television show that much, but there's something about BSG that makes it unique. I mean, I loved my Stargate, but when SG1 and Atlantis ended it seemed like just another day.

Battlestar is different, more real. The characters are human, flawed and frakked up just like the rest of us. They're heros, but they're real. And the show has always focused more on their flaws than their heroism. BSG threw people into the worst situation and showed us what could happen. Sure, there's space ships and cylons, but none of that makes BSG what it is. From day one, it has always been the people, the drama of their struggle, the pain of their situation, and the hope for their survival, that made this show something special.

So tonight we big farewell to the people and the ship that we've loved for the last 4 years. It's truly been a pleasure watching.

So say we all.

"It was her dream job"

First, go and read this. http://www.nypost.com/seven/01282009/news/regionalnews/manhattan/hot_babe_hopes_to_rack_up_152348.htm

Now, a few things. 1) I find this article to be a perfect example of why the New York Post is a crap newspaper. First we have the title. "Hot Babe Hopes to 'Rack Up.'" Wow. They managed to write a crappy, discriminatory title while also fitting a pun about her boobs into it. Second, that's particularly ironic given that the article is about "discrimination." So she doesn't like being told she's too ghetto, but she has no problem being referred to only as a "hot babe" by the press.

2) This paragraph is particular is absolutely ridiculous. "Besides, it had been her dream, she says, to carry plates of the restaurant's signature crispy-chicken lollipops and hung beef while wearing a bikini and sarong." Really? Is a judge really going to buy that?

The article goes on to say, in more brilliantly written prose that "she is now reduced to working at a bikini bar in the Westchester town of Ossining." She's been reduced to that. Because working in an equally seedy bikini restaurant isn't being reduced at all. Nope.

3) Finally, it reports that "she's seeking $500 a day - or $130,000 a year - for every year she could reasonably be expected to have worked there, plus punitive damages that could total more than million dollars." What?! So she's seeking a 6 figure salary from this place for the rest of her life.

Maybe I should stop wasting time at school and try to hit this place up for some cash.

Let's Throw This Woman Off a Mountain

First, read this.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-daycare-follow-19-jan19,0,1092450.story

This story is absolutely heartbreaking. Anyone who has ever seen a baby or lived knows how adorable and fragile they are. And it really pisses me off, in a way few things do, when someone decides to abuse such a fragile creature. I mean, this woman is entrusted with the welfare of other people's children and how does she act? She kills a child for crying and completely devastates a family.

This is the kind of story that really makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with people. At the same time, I think it's a great example of why our justice system should be creative in the way it makes people pay for their crimes.

This one, for example, shouldn't go to jail. No. She should be taken to the top of a two story building and dropped on her head. Repeatedly.

To the Annoying Woman Across From Me

Dear Lady,

I have three questions for you. 1) Are you in a public space? Yes. 2) Are there other people around you also in said space trying to study/get work done? Yes. 3) Are you playing music from your computer at an obnoxiously loud volume? Why yes you are!

Please turn it off before I lose my patience and A) either retaliate with my own music or B) jettison your computer from the second floor balcony.

Thanks!

DEXTER

Probably one of the best shows on television. The first season was masterfully well done. That finale was as unexpected as it was shocking. I knew there was something more going on, but I never guessed things would go down the way they did.

I won't give away any details so I'll just say this. WATCH DEXTER. You won't regret that you did.

Wonderwoman

When I get to work on Friday morning the very first thing I do is log into all of the computers, open the doors, turn on the lights, and get the library otherwise prepared to deal with the knowledge-hungry hordes of undergrads, grads, and professors who frequent Fung Library. And every single time, without fail, one of the computers (usually one behind the Circulation Desk where I sit) refuses to log me in. It's always the same computer. The second one, next to the printer. Every time, I type the password into the login module correctly and every Friday morning it screws with me.

Today was no different. I tried every possible combination of caps+no caps and very certainly entered the correct combination at least a half dozen times. Then it locked me out of the system. So there it sits, mocking me. 20 minutes until the password resets. Then it's round 2.

Be Water, My Friend

I could die right now

And no one would find me until Tuesday. Why? Because that's when my roommates start getting back to town. What could be the cause of death? 1) The lack of heat/frigid temperatures in my room. 2) Someone who decides to sneak into my room---because the door doesn't close all the way/lock when it's supposed to. (Or maybe I've been watching too much Dexter). Although I hope my parents would send a search party or something after not hearing from me.

Anyway, aside from braving a dark, cold room, I spent my night scanning books. Why? Because someone decided to recall three of the books I needed for my thesis. Huge waste of time.

Aside from that, I spent most of the day cleaning/organizing my room. I made a lot of progress and the place actually looks decent. Tomorrow I'll do some more and hopefully get a case for the new iPod.

iTunes? or iProblem from Hell?

Once again I made a blog, posted twice, and then forgot it for a year. Such is life. Tonight I feel bloggy, so here it is.

For Christmas my parents bought me a shiny new iPod classic. I've had my old iPod mini for around 4-5 years. It has survived many many falls, scratches and other disasters that should have destroyed it. But around a year and a half ago my personal music surpassed the 4G limit that iPod could hold. So a new one, with 120G, was a nice gift.

Anyway, around 3 months ago my computer caught a virus and I had to reformat my hard drive. Even though I thought I had successfully backed up my iTunes collection, I had not. Last night I got tired of not being able to play with the new iPod and downloaded Yamipod so I could transfer the music from the mini right back to my hard drive. It succeeded, but left me with two problems.

1) iTunes decided it no longer wanted to be white, but grey and pink/purple. This was a very strange thing for it to do. But not as annoying as 2) Instead of overwriting the current library, it just copied everything in duplicate and sometimes triplicate. So every single song is now listed twice or three times in iTunes. One/two of the listings don't work. So my iTunes is now doubled in size, with one half of it being completely unusable.

It only took a few minutes of googling the problem to find out how to solve number 1. But the only solution for number 2 is to manually scroll through all of my library and delete the broken songs. In case you've never done this---it is painfully annoying.

Dear Steve Jobs,

In the future, try not to make iTunes suck.