V!

Well I recorded most of V on my DVR. That is I tried to record what the SyFy Channel aired. Not all of it, thanks to the shoddy Comcast DVR that failed to record about an hour of it. But not one episode. It failed to record the second half of one episode, and the first half of the next episode.

Aside number one: Comcast DVRs do not work well. They malfunction at random and in random ways all the time. About one out of ever ten times I go to play something back, the screen goes to black, and the whole thing locks up. I have to turn it off and back on to get it to play the recording if I'm lucky. The thing it's currently doing is saying it's taking up 4% of the disk space to record a two hour movie, but if I erase that same movie, it says I freed up 1% of the space. As you can see, this is eventually going to be a problem. Even though it said I had 18% of disk space free, I think it quit recording because it thought the disk was full. I'm having to disconnect it for 30 seconds and then reconnect it and leave it turned off for 15 to 20 minutes to get it to malfunction at it's usual level, as opposed to not functioning at all.

They are coming out to fix it on Monday. At least that's what they told me. Then again, they also left a message that said that they had fixed a problem in my area, and that they think it fixed my problem with the DVR, and my appointment was canceled, and that if I still had a problem I should call them and they'd schedule an appointment. When I called them, their automated service confirmed the existing appointment.

But there is a Comcast representative coming out to talk to all the people in the building that have problems on the 19th. I suspect that he, like the people I speak to on the phone, is an expert at blaming someone else, and will not really answer any questions or do anything to help. Comcast almost never does.

Aside Number Two: I had forgotten that Judson Scott was in some of the later episodes of V. He's been one of my favorite actors ever since the first time I saw him on Phoenix.

Back on Topic: V was a really wonderful and important show in a number of ways. It showed beautifully how a population can be convinced to do really terrible things. It compared what the visitors were doing with what Hitler did before and during World War II, and it was an excellent comparison, too.

When I was in High School, the teacher showed us an educational documentary to illustrate the way the communists were dealing with propaganda, and how they were manipulating people's minds.

The thing that was truly scary, is that a large group of the population of the town I went to school in protested vigorously about the fact that she was teaching this, and, even more terrifying, was that they followed all the procedure to stop her that the teacher was trying to teach us! They illustrated what she was trying to teach perfectly.

And the visitors in V are doing the same thing.

But, what is even more chilling is that some of those things have been happening right here in the United States, and the majority of the citizens I've spoken to have been calling it a good thing! One of those things that stands out is the federal laws about terrorists that have been passed under the last administration.

What people I've talked to seem to miss about all this is that by "terrorist" what they really mean is accused terrorist. In other words, all you need is to accuse someone of terrorism and all their civil rights go away, and they can be tortured, imprisoned, and even killed! This leaves the door open to someone who's miffed that their next-door neighbor has let their dog loose to make a mess on their front lawn to accuse that person of being a terrorist, and the federal government will punish him. To within an inch of their life. If they're lucky. It's the first step to abolishing democracy.

And I can't help noticing that it was extremely convenient for that administration to have everyone upset by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I also couldn't help noticing that a couple of days after the attacks, there were no plane debris anywhere near the Pentagon when I rode past it. And in spite of the government insisting that hundreds of people saw the plane hit the building, I haven't been able to find even one, and I live nearby.

And I can't help thinking that if someone who wanted to pass legislation to start to legally abolish democracy in the US, it was awfully convenient.

Aside Number Three: I saw a program on The History Channel recently about people who have a conspiracy theory going about 9/11, and the show drove me crazy. The show gave both conspiracy theorists and government representatives a chance to state their case.

Surprisingly, the best information to prove that it was a conspiracy came from the government reps!

One of the things that really gave me a jolt was that the government people said that large parts of both of the twin towers were closed for about two weeks before the "attack" and there was a lot of construction/destruction going on without an explanation. I didn't know that, and it provides an excellent explanation for the fact that both buildings went straight down without harming adjacent buildings.

Back on Topic: The second reason I think V is so important is that it provides lots of ideas for how to fight back. So, pay attention. It could save your life and your country. I'm sure the Germans thought it couldn't happen in their country, but it did.

I should mention, at this point, that I feel that the US is getting back on track as a country I can be proud of under the current administration.

But the best thing about the previous miniseries/TV show called V was that it was entertaining. And the new version promises to be entertaining, too. The first episode alone is too small a sampling of quality to be sure, but keep watching.

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In other SF/fantasy TV, Eastwick will be back on tonight, and now that Chad is dead (killed by the statue his girlfriend, Roxie, made) things may be heating up. I can't wait to see it!

The SyFy Channel will be showing a new (for them) series tomorrow evening, called The Legend of the Seeker. The show is based on the Sword of Truth series of books by Terry Goodkind, and is the very thing that all you Sword-and-Sorcery fen have been waiting for.

I haven't read the books, but I have seen the first season, and it's better than I expected. In addition to being based on books from a respected author like Terry Goodkind, Sam Rami also has his hand in it (as one of what seems like a dozen different kinds of producers), and his brother, Ted, even appears in an episode. You might remember Ted Rami from Xena Warrior Princess, where he played Joxer.

So, you might want to check it out on SyFy tomorrow night if you haven't already seen it.

Oh, and SyFy will be showing Doctor Who on their daytime rotation on Friday!

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I have some additional photos from Holly and Robin's trip to New Orleans.

Here, you see an overall view of Robin in his costume.

And, in case you missed the point, is a close-up:

Holly said that everybody recognized him instantly.

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Well, my Social Security arrived yesterday, and I've paid my bills and bought some things to make Christmas presents from, and now, one day later, I have barely enough to buy food and stuff for the rest of the month.

What else is new?

I need to think up a good money raising project. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Have a great evening!