Pork & Beans Music Vidja

Here's the music video to Weezer's single, Pork & Beans. As RoboRoommate v.2 said, it makes the song better. Which is true. Because the video is great. The song is, sadly, still mediocre. 

Here's to hoping the rest of the album is better (but with equally as cool music vids).

-RoboNixon

Baby Be Gone!

Girls: Always complaining that you have to take the brunt of anti-baby procedures? Annoyed with consuming pills everyday? Or getting shots? Or sticking doodads in the hoozit with the watchit? Well, the end of your suffering may be near! Popular Science has a slideshow detailing four new ways to prevent the Male End of the baby spectrum from affecting your life. Male Contraception... close... But a pipe dream for now...

Put the Dude's Thingie on the Chopping Block.

-RoboNixon

Weird Science?

Two cool articles:

First up, a piece from wired.com about how buying that brand new Prius may not be the best carbon-offset-car-purchase you could make. Rather, they suggest buying old used cars that get decent gas mileage. Ch-ch-ch-check it. 

...the point is, you don't need to buy a Prius -- or any other hybrid, for that matter -- to get great fuel economy and minimize your carbon footprint. You might feel better driving a hybrid, but you won't necessarily be greener.

Also up at bat is a piece on what I've been calling the Post-College Malaise -- that feeling you get when you're out of school, excited to go out and DO something and then it hits you -- the real world fucking sucks. But hey! It's natural. Or so says this stub over at Popular Science.

The longitudinal study tracked the life circumstances and mental health symptoms of nearly 600 University of Alberta graduates for 7 years. The researchers learned that the elevated levels of depression and anger customary of “emerging adults” significantly declined over the 7-year period.

The results, say the authors in the paper, “suggest a growing psychosocial maturity on the part of young people that is adaptive.” Basically, one gets used to the rat race.

Get used to the rat-race... or get used to being a rat? YEESH!

-RoboNixon

The Dandy Warhols Flip Off Labels

So take a look at this. The Dandy Warhols have forsaken record labels in favor of distributing their own music, but not necessarily in the way you would suspect. No, in fact, it goes far beyond "whatever-you-want" pricing that Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have used recently, to something more dynamic: Subscription service.

For $35 a year, you can subscribe to The Dandy Warhols. What does this mean? Well, let me make a list of what you get:

--The latest album, ...Earth to The Dandy Warhols..., available immediately as a download.

--The latest album is then sent to you as a packaged CD album in the mail, along with " a limited edition silkscreen poster created just for us by our friends, The Christopher Twins."

--10% off all merch on their website.

--Free B-sides, live tracks, and videos to DL whenever you want.

--Pre-sale ticket access to (US) shows.

And, as they say on their website, with all of this you can " Listen to them on your computer, your iPod, burn them to a disc, throw it in the garbage - whatever you want."

The entire album is up for streaming, so you can, in fact, LISTEN to the album before you decide to purchase or subscribe. Which is smart. And as a huge Dandy Warhols fans, this isn't such a bad deal. I'd spend probably $15 on the album anyway, and with the addition of the poster, that probably brings the total up to $22 (ish). 10% off merch in the store would probably save me an additional $3-5 a year, so we're up to $27. getting tickets before they sell out? That's priceless. And free B-sides and live tracks? I think that's worth notching the total amount to $35. So essentially, it's prepaying for what you would, as a big fan, pay anyway.

Alternatively, if you are NOT a huge fan, this deal is unappetizing. While I am of the belief the album is being self-released to record stores, this deal is not a particular boon for casual fans, or new fans. So what does this do?

Well, it limits music as a sort of mass pop-art form. Were every band to go this route, music would become much more stylized to the particular preferences of an individual. And at $35 a year, how many different bands would you subscribe to? Music no longer becomes mainsteam, and instead becomes niche. Which isn't a bad thing, but, at the same time, is hard to analyze because it's so contrary to the current system. 

So am I going to subscribe to The Dandy Warhols? I don't know. I honestly don't. Because I love the band, but... really... is this the future? Do I really want to spend this much money? Is it worth the time and the effort (even though it is essentially effortless)? This system brings up all sorts of questions. And it's something I'm going to have to think about before I take the plunge, regardless of the fact that I cerebrally support it.

Anyway, there's a lot that this brings up. Thoughts? Comments? What bands would you subscribe to. What bands would you stop listening to if this were the only way to get their music? 

-RoboNixon

Women and Sci-Fi

io9 has a great editorial up about the strange interactions between women and sci-fi. There is a popular public perception that sci-fi is exclusively the realm of nerdy (typically young) men, and that women sci-fi fans are not only few and far between -- but weird! Ewwww... GIRLS! 

Now, I don't mean to say that this problem is, you know, like a major WORLD EVENT that needs changing. But it is a bummer. Here's some of what io9 has to say:

If there's something keeping women away from enjoying science fiction, it's not spaceships. It's not "aliens on some far-off planet." It's the fact that people on our very own planet keep telling us that women aren't supposed to like science fiction. It's a self-confirming prophesy, because the more that scifi creators are told this, the more they imagine that their audience is all boys. So they write rich, believable male characters and boring, cookie-cutter lady characters. They organize conventions with panels devoted to shit like "the hottest women of science fiction" and nothing devoted to female heroes — or the kinds of hotties that straight women might want to see (i.e., men).

I totally agree that it is a self-fulfilling problem. But it gets better: 

Women who do love science fiction see all this going down, and they are ashamed to admit that they like science fiction. I'm not saying this happens to all of us, but many women wind up assuming that there's something wrong with them for liking SF. After all, everybody keeps telling them that SF is for boys, and the only reason why women would like it is if the definition of SF is "expanded" to include magic and romance. (Nothing against magic and romance, mind you — it's just not typical of SF.)

I agree again. It's like the only "sci-fi" that women are "supposed" to like is fantasy and magic. RoboGirlfriend is an example -- she loves fantasy stuff, but I had to drag her kicking and screaming over to Battlestar Galactica -- a show she's just as into at this stage as I am. It's a cultural stereotype, like girls must like pink, and guys must dig football, that each gender reinforces on their own to fulfill some sort of social norm. But guess what? Not all dudes love football. Not all women like pink. A lot of women like football, and a lot of dudes (RoboNixon included) wear pink. Just because it's the standard doesn't mean it has to be the norm. It doesn't mean that the pattern can't be broken. But here's the kicker: 

Women love tons of science fiction, regardless of how many boys are main characters, because they like good stories as much as the next guy.

And that's what it comes down to. Battlestar Galactica works for men and women because it's a dynamic, well told story. And it doesn't hurt that it's filled with a dynamic range of intriguing, well drawn females. Star Wars' Princess Leia is more badass than Luke (I would argue), and while she certainly gets her fair share of "being saved" she also fucking kills Jabba the Hutt. On her own. In a golden bikini.

LOST is a great example of the mainstreamification of sci-fi for everyone. Strong characters are both male and female without skimping on the traits of either gender. Jack is the masculine leader, but Juliet and Kate are also bad ass and driven. Sawyer's typically whining, and Rousseau (RIP) was crazy-jungle person. Not only that, but it uses sci-fi in a non-conventional way. It's like saying you're taking your date to the "theater" only to bring them to a cabaret -- yeah, you know, it's theater, but it's not exactly what you were expecting. LOST is an adventure show... that, like the cabaret, is something different, simultaneously.

Hell, dudes who like sci-fi like chicks who like sci-fi, because it's one more thing to have in common, to share together. RoboGirlfriend and I watch BSG together, as well as LOST. And we jointly nerd out over them (though I'm sure she'd protest that we never "nerd-out" about anything). Sci-Fi, like any genre, should be the realm of men and women. 

Otherwise, we're all missing out.

Check out the original editorial. It says it much better than I ever could.

-RoboNixon

Just Can't Get Enough

io9 reports that more BSG "movies" may be coming to a TV screen near you.

Chicago Tribune columnist Maureen Ryan, who's connected with the BSG producers, has confirmed the rumors from last week that BSG will be making more TV movies. But Ryan's insider sources only have "cautious optimism" about whether the films will happen.

This is on the heels of a report made last week, in which io9 asks for, please, dear Cylon Lord, no more!

I have to agree. Razor blew. Sorry Razor fans. But it sucked. Flashbacks within flashbacks? Crazy confusing narrative structure? Protagonist we care nothing about? The addition of more whacky mythology in a show BUSTING AT THE SEAMS with whacky mythology? Plz, 4 rlz, Ron Moore, nada mas.

-RoboNixon

Gaeta Won't Shut Up, and Other Events

"Guess What's Coming to Dinner"

This past Friday's episode of Battlestar Galactica managed to do something I didn't know was quite possible -- be totally awesome, and totally annoying, entirely at the same time. 

So we start out with Lee berating Roslin for not confirming whether or not she is sharing visions with some of the Cylons. Like it matters. Isn't this like the First Wife seeing a psychic and seances? That is, entirely irrelevant? But I guess Lee's mostly-out-of-the-picture, now that he's an elected official (like in real life!), and they need to bring him in somehow. I think without a clear goal, Lee's become much less interesting. Where is he headed? What is he up to? Whining to Roslin about BS is... well, BS.

But then we get the Basestar jumping into the fleet without the Demetrius in a case of what I like to call Sci-Fi Convenience -- problems with the FTL aren't set up, but because it's "crazy technology" we don't know about, we just kind of go with the flow. OK. Alright. Lame. But whatever. Loved that Tigh saved the day and then is terrified he saved the day -- he had no good reason to know what he did, and is a little scared that maybe... just maybe... he isn't really the same man he always was. Duh! Dude, you're a Cylon! Get with it, holmes.

When Cylon Six Natalie sits down for her pow-wow with Roslin, Adama 'n Co. (Tory + Tigh) is a scene I was pretty excited for, and it delivered. I wish we had more Adama recently, but him being skeptical is nice whenever we get to see it. Loved the look on Tigh and Tory's faces. Though I do think that again this episode falls victim to Sci-Fi Convenience -- oh, there's a resurrection hub? We can make sure none of the Cylons can ever again DL into new bodies? Wow. Wouldn't that have been good information to know, like, you know, at any point previous to this. Contrivance? Perchance. 

Then it happens. The worst part of the episode, and the thing that led to the episode being awesome/dicey simultaneously. But as great as my write-ups are... I cannot beat i09's description of The Lameness: 

What I haven't been telling you about this episode is that Gaeta keeps singing. I don't want to think about it, because Gaeta was totally my boyfriend until Friday — he was the cutest person on Galactica by far, and he's always doing geeky things like looking at maps and computers and making comments like, "We can't use our FTL because the wazzleblorp needs the most recent software patches from the zompleflip." So hot. But in this episode, Doc Coddle has to chop his leg off. Remember how Anders shot Gaeta during the mutiny? Yeah, Gaeta is now a one-leg, and apparently there is no prosthetic technology to fix him up.

According to a shell-shocked looking Anders, who spends the whole episode working the bug-eyed stare, Gaeta sings every time he feels his phantom limb. Apparently he feels it a LOT. And his songs sound like something the dude from The Decemberists would sing if he had been hit on the head with a two-by-four and a dog had chewed on his vocal chords. I say this with great sadness, since I love The Decemberists and Gaeta was my boyfriend and all. But seriously, every time he started singing, I wanted to bitchslap my TV set and every writer ever involved with BSG. And maybe every TV that has ever tuned BSG too.

Back to non-Lameness: It's totally awesome that such great efforts are put into securing the Final Five -- because they clearly know the way to Earth (yeesh!). Wouldn't the Final Four (that we know) just save everyone a heck-of-a-lot of effort (and probably many, many lives) if they just came out and said, "Hey! Hey e'rybody! We're the Final Five. Crazy, yes, we admit that. Evil? Nay. Confused? Definitely. Knowledgeable in the way to Earth? Definitely not. So maybe we should sit down and, you know, examine more maps or sumpin'." Or isn't there a line they can drop an anonymous tip into?

Roslin calling out Tory on her Baltar-boning ways? Nice. Roslin is pissed, maybe because she's starting to feel the tug of his One-God too. Or maybe she just thinks it's super-sexy time for Madame President and the Hugh Hefner of the Lord.

Why does Roslin hate her government so much? For someone who puts so much weight on her position as President (and savior of man-kind) she has an awful lot of resentment towards other elected officials. Shall we look back to the end of season 1, when Adama arrests Roslin and takes over control of the government? Well, this Roslin is just as bad as that Adama. Neither of them cares for or respects the law. Which is an unfortunate reflection upon the current state of affairs in the world... and leaders who believe they are doing right... and, in fact, doing wrong.

Hera should be airlocked. I mean, that kid is clearly the anti-christ, so I don't know why they don't just shoot her into the vacuum, ASAP. If I had a child who woke me up with an ominous "Bye Bye," I'd probably call the local minister and exorcise the shit out of them. But that's just me. Instead, Athena just gets all whiney, then freak'd out, and then, of course, when Hera stumbles upon Natalie, homicidal-like. I though the stand-off with Athena and Natalie was sweet, especially that Athena doesn't stand down and caps Natalie like she ain't no thing -- and this right after Natalie gave a speech to the Quorum mentioning how great mortality is. Whoops. Shoulda seen that coming. I think randomly killing off major characters for pseudo-vague reasons is always a little silly, but, at the same time, killing off a major character is bad-ass, so I guess it balances itself off. It's just, when it happens like this, it's a little too soap-ish for my tastes.

But the ep. ends on an up-note with the Hybrid being plugged back in and screaming JUMP, taking the Basestar (and all aboard) to some mysterious location. I have heard, through the Series-of-Tubes, that we may get a glimpse of the Cylon "homeworld" during this season -- maybe this is where they end up? The den of the lion? We'll see.

As it is, a good episode with way, way, wayyyyy too much lame singing. Sorry Gaeta. Maybe the Cylons can grow you a new one.

-RoboNixon

ps. Does anyone else think that the teaser for next week implies that Tigh maybe Seth Rogen'd* the imprisoned, Baltar-lovin' Number Six? 

*knocked-up