Pre Alaska Thoughts

I’m heading off to the great wilderness that is Alaska tomorrow so this may be my last post for the next week although I’ll try to post some pics and notes from the beautiful far, far North. In the meantime here are some quick observations and rants to tide you over:

Let’s all give Lost a giant standing ovation. Last week’s penultimate ep (or hour one of the 3 hour finale) was further proof that the show has never been better. Season 4 has outshined any previous season and while I don’t think the last two hours will have a shocking twist like last year’s flash-forward reveal, I do think the sum of the 3 hours will go down as the best Lost ep ever. Furthermore, I’ve got to say the week off in between eps, while not the producer’s choice, turned out to be a great move. I know I’m enjoying this extra time to contemplate the theories, crackpot and otherwise, that are floating through my head.

After praising the first two new eps of Battlestar Galactica’s new season I felt like a Sheppard leading lambs to slaughter. Let’s face it the journey of the Demetrius and Lee Adama’s pouting political maneuvers were not great television. Of course just when I was getting reading to piss and moan we get a stellar ep this week and it looks like the final season is back on course. My anguish over the forgotten dream sequences of last year was suddenly forgotten and the emergency jump that carried away the President seems to set the stage for a series of stunning revelations. The news that we may get another TV movie to tide us over until the second half of the final season airs next spring makes me one frakking happy geek.

Anyone else smell something fishy about the California Supreme Court decision last week to overturn the gay marriage ban? While it’s a move that’s long overdue and one that I applaud I find some of the circumstances ripe for conspiracy. The court is weighted towards conservative Republicans so the fact that they all of a sudden found faith in the Bill of Rights is a bit suspect. Secondly the two biggest issues in the upcoming election are the economy and Iraq, two things the Republicans have no chance of winning on and not great motivators for getting the crackpot Right out to vote. Now a return of the gay marriage issue to the national stage would be a quick remedy for motivating the Christian Right to mobilize in November. This is an especially crucial event for John McCain who’s been spending the last few months cozying up to religious zealot wing of the party. I hope I’m wrong and that the judges simply overturned the ban because it was the right thing to do. I hope this is just the first step to all states realizing their illegal laws are unconstitutional and unjust. I hope this leads to a day where every Tom, Dick, and Mary can marry whoever the hell they want. Unfortunately the cynic and the conspiracy nut in me thinks we’ll see this quickly overturned once the election is over and the issue has done its job of mobilizing the Christian conservatives. I hope I’m wrong.