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Jennifer Lopez as Jennifer Beals as Alex Owens; image courtesy of vh1.com

After last night’s assessment of Nine, I’ve still got screen musical adaptations on the brain tonight. So I thought I’d draw our attention to one more, and add music video that references screen musical stars from the genre’s golden era, and another that recreates an 80s blockbuster many believe to be a screen musical of sorts (and whose protagonist shares a version of my namesake).

If you want to note that all three of the artists are women of color and international pop sensations praised for their dancing and maligned for their limited vocal ranges, gold stars for you. If you want to weep over the slurred, siliconed mess Paula has become and hope that Glee does an all-Janet episode, shake your fists at FOX. If you want to posit what it means that these movies seem to have influenced the performers and may tap into their dance training and on-screen personae, let’s chat in the comments section.

First up is an oldie but a goodie from my youth. While I hadn’t seen Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz when Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted” started its rotation on MTV, it’s pretty clear that its takes its from the movie’s ”Take Off With Us” section. As if the direct mention wasn’t enough in the clip’s introduction, let’s compare the two. Warning: contents hot, and sexy.

Paula Abdul
“Cold Hearted”
Forever Your Girl
Directed by David Fincher

And here’s the source material, created by a director and choreographer who seems to have gotten women like Abdul, Madonna, and The Pussycat Dolls dancing (the last act going so far as to take cues from Sweet Charity’s “Hey Big Spender“ for “Buttons“). Also, something tells me warm nuts are served on this plane. (Rimshot) Acid probably is too.

The next one is also from my youth, released at around the same time from a woman whose early video work Abdul choreographed. Janet Jackson’s “Alright” is an homage to the film musicals of Cyd Charisse, the Nicholas Brothers, and Cab Calloway. I especially love Janet in a zoot suit. Click on Ms. Jackson’s name and enjoy.

Janet Jackson
“Alright”
Rhythm Nation 1814
Directed by Julien Temple

And here are the pop star’s and music videos’ influences. The first one comes from Singin’ in the Rain, while the second one is from Stormy Weather.

Finally, we have a clip from former In Living Color fly girl and Jackson back-up dancer who makes an appearance in “That’s The Way Love Goes.” Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Glad,” a song about her big feelings for then-boyfriend Ben Affleck, retells the entire story of Flashdance, focusing on four dance sequences from the movie, especially the climactic audition scene. Unlike the source material, which utilized two trained dancers (one male) as actress Jennifer Beals’s doubles, I believe all J.Lo does all the dancing. 

Jennifer Lopez
“I’m Glad”
This Is Me . . . Then
Directed by David LaChappelle

And here are the dance sequences in question.

Fox were a British band from the 70s formed by American Kenny Young, who co-wrote Under The Boardwalk, and Australian singer Noosha Fox (aka Susan Traynor). Only You Can was their first hit, followed it up with S-s-single Bed. Both songs are fantastic, but I thought I’d include Only You Can here, as it has the best groove:

Glee chegou ao episódio número 10 como um refresco na programação norte-americana. A série sobre um grupo de alunos de colégio fracassados que encontram na música e no teatro alguma motivação na vida é um sopro de ar fresco na grade sem novidades relevantes desde, pelo menos, 2004, ano da chegada de House, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost e Desperate Housewives.

Eu sei que muita gente não gostou da série. Mas eu vou continuar defendendo Glee até o fim por um simples motivo: ela não é plana, como algumas outras dezenas de comédias.

Pode ser interpretada como uma diversão desinteressada pelos mais desatentos. E são estes que apontam defeitos no roteiro da série. Aqueles que reparam em questões um pouco mais profundas na hora de avaliar um programa, no entanto, já perceberam que a segunda camada é mais interessante.

Repare nas piadas feitas com a cadeira de rodas de Artie ou com a homossexualidade de Kurt. Irônica, repleta de altos e baixos emocionais, com ritmo bacana, Glee não gosta do moralmente aceito, não flerta com o politicamente correto, não segue a corrente. E estas são as qualidades perfeitas para que eu preste atenção em uma série de TV.

wonder what to get me for xmas? i mean, your girlfriend??

WILDFOX / WHITEHORSE CLOTHING

duh. go [here] for their website…

my wish list…

]]> http://savvydesigner.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/small-boutique-hotels-the-future/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:55:24 +0000 savvydesigner http://savvydesigner.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/small-boutique-hotels-the-future/

Over the last few years I have definitely seen a rise in the number of small boutique hotels. Probably because I entered the hotel industry and became more aware, or maybe the trend is such that small boutique is now the vogue?

In London, I believe that Kit Kemp definitely made an impact on the genre of boutique style hotels, as did Anouska Hempel. They both created fantastic hotels, which felt like a home away from home, but with that touch of glamour and all the attention you require and of course deserve! Both very different in style, but each very intimate and luxurious.

Hempel styles the hotel in a very minimalistic design, using “the elegance of simplicity” (as stated on the hotel website). The entrance is very warm and welcoming with carefully selected pieces, all of which are very carefully placed. Walking into the rooms at the Hempel Hotel one does not feel like touching anything; as beautiful as everything is it’s almost a museum like style. Everything looks so perfect and set in its place, it feels like a great dishonour to the designer to move things out of place.

Everything in its place...and all that order!

Image from the Hempel Hotel website.

On the contrary Kemp’s style is more homily and involves lots of different pieces being almost effortlessly put together. For me, walking into a Firmdale hotel feels like going to a well-travelled aunt’s home. There are fascinating artefacts, books and fabrics everywhere. Clearly all is very well thought out and designed, from which light to place the wing chair and desk under to what fabric and old china plate can sit together. However, even though the interiors are given all that consideration there is not that feeling of being staged. Clearly I am a fan of Firmdale, but I am afraid of the group churning out another “Soho”, or “Pelham”. This would, in my opinion, defeat Firmdale’s aim of exclusivity.

Back in aunty’s living room!

Aunty’s wall hanging from the East, but that chair is quite Gentleman’s club...Oooh naughty aunty!!

Images from the Firmdale website.

So boutique hotels, as most other hotels, obviously vary in style. But what makes a hotel boutique? Is it just the design? The attention to detail? The luxury? In my opinion it is probably a combination of all these, plus a small size helps with the intimacy and also the lack of branding. Although on the branding topic there are probably various views. Most hotel groups seem to put their stamp on their property in some way; either by using the similar signage, having the magazines in a certain order on the desk or just having a “style”. However, to keep it boutique and unique, I really think the branding, or that stamp, is not required. This I really believe about the Fox and Anchor; run by the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin group it is a pub with rooms, but I think it can definitely be classified under the boutique hotel category. However, in my opinion the originality of the hotel is let down, not by the design, which is brilliantly thought out and well planned, from door handle to skirting finish, but by the branding. It is all too much like a mini Malmaison or Hotel du Vin; from the similar font on the food menus to the same roll top baths in bedrooms. In my opinion the property should have been standalone and it really would have made even more of a statement, but then these are small details not noticed by many. Nevertheless it is a well designed pub with rooms, a complete transformation from the original building thanks to the in house interior design team in charge! The rooms are all named after areas around the City and with the nearby meat market in mind. Artwork was especially selected to complement each room, so once again a lot of thought went into every detail.

Somewhere warm and cosy and VERY close by, after all those pints!

Image from the Fox and Anchor website.

The opposite to the Fox and Anchor with branding is a very small hotel I only discovered last week – 40 Winks.  The branding here is non- existent and unlike most hotels nowadays (especially in London) there are not even televisions in the room; so really going back to what hotel rooms are for!! This is truly an individual boutique hotel. Designed by David Carter, this hotel has a great collection of diverse objects and has a very intimate feel. This is most probably due to only two bedrooms being available for occupancy. It is an old townhouse, restored fully to ensure that its true grace is flaunted. The collection of furniture has been carefully selected and placed to enhance the beauty of each room and of the furniture itself. The whole style is very bohemian, well suited with being situated in the artsy end of East London.

In front of the looking glass…Do I look beautiful dear? Of course!

All working well together.

Images from the 40 Winks website.

So boutique hotels are definitely all the rage now and confidently for the future, but hopefully they won’t turn into “another” one of those hotels and they will be kept unique and most importantly …boutique!

Good morning everyone. Here are a few mix & match news stories from the last week that have been bouncing around in my empty cranium.

BREAKING NEWS:  Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh insist upon saying that the Obama administration is raping the citizens of this country. Why do these two ultra right-wing pundits so frequently use the rape analogy? Is it some sort of racist insult wherein they insinuate a certain race is more likely to commit a vicious sex crime? Consider these quotes:

Glenn Beck:  “People in New York, you’re being raped by your government — raped.”, and “We’re the young girl saying ‘No, no, help me,’ and the government is Roman Polanski.”

Rush Limbaugh:  “Feinberg is following orders and I guaran-damn-tee you Obama said: “You get up there and you rape ‘em. And you make ‘em poor. And you make ‘em pay.”, and “Get ready to get gang-raped again, folks.” There was also this gem, “We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president.” How about this defense of Sarah Palin, “This is pure sexism in Alaska on the part of these old boys trying to get rid of Sarah Palin, and she didn’t put up with it, and she didn’t bend over and let them have their way.”

These guys and their perverted adolescent talk are sickening.

THIS JUST IN:  We have oft commented on Lynnrockets’ Blast-Off that everything that Sarah Palin touches somehow turns to manure. Remember when she dropped the puck at the St. Louis Blues hockey game during the campaign after which the team promptly went on a multi-game losing streak? Or when she vehemently defended the character and anti-gay marriage position of former Miss California, Carrie Jean Prejean, after which the woman’s character was called into question because of a potential 15 to 20 explicit sex tapes that she made and transmitted to others. How about when Palin most recently got involved in New York’s 23rd District Congressional race by shunning her own Republican Party nominee as being too moderate and endorsing the Conservative Party candidate only to split the vote and lead the Democrats to victory in a district in which they had not won since the Civil War? Well, Palin has done it again. After appearing on Oprah this week, Oprah Winfrey has now taken a cue from the former ex-quitting governor and announced that she too will now quit arguably the most popular talk show in television history. The curse of the “Alaska Disaster” lives on.

BREAKING NEWS:  Fox News was exposed as being anything but “Fair and Balanced” once again this week. Only a few weeks after being caught by Jon Stewart of the Comedy Channel’s The Daily Show of having attempted to falsely inflate the number of protesters at Michele Bachmann’s recent Tea-Bagger rally in DC by means of showing video footage of a different (better attended event), Fox has done the same thing again. This time Fox attempted to falsely inflate the number of Sarah Palin supporters at a book signing by showing video footage of a campaign rally which took place more than a year ago rather than footage of the actual book signing. This is another example of why the Fox News network simply cannot be trusted to honestly report the news.

THIS JUST IN: To be fair, we must admit that at least one Fox News pundit held a Republican’s feet to the fire this week in a segment of an interview which was not simply a bunch of softball questions. On Thursday evening, while interviewing Sarah Palin the former ex-quitting governor of Alaska, Bill O’Reilly brought up the topic of the disastrous Katie Couric interview as follows:

O’Reilly: Katie Couric’s a different story. Katie Couric asked you an easy question and you booted it, governor.

Palin: I sure did.

[Plays video]

COURIC: What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —

COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.

PALIN: Um, all of them …

O’Reilly: Why did you boot it? I mean, if somebody asks what do you read, I say I read the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, I could reel them off in my sleep, you couldn’t do it.

Palin: Well, of course I could. Of course I could.

O’Reilly: Well, why didn’t you?

Palin: It’s ridiculous to suggest that or say I couldn’t tell people what I read. Because by that point already, although it was relatively early in that multi-segmented interview with Katie Couric — it was, it was quite obvious that it was going to be a bit of an annoying interview with a badgering of the questions. It seemed to me that she didn’t know anything about Alaska, about my job as governor, about my accomplishments as mayor or governor, my record. And a question like that, though, yeah, I booted it, I screwed up, I should have been more patient and more gracious in my answer, it seemed to me the question was more along the lines of — Do you read? How do you stay in touch with the real world?

O’Reilly: See, that was your inexperience.

BREAKING NEWS:  Thank goodness for small miracles. The Boston Globe reported Thursday that Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will never again seek public office of any kind. Now if he will only stay out of the movies and consequently, out of our collective sight.

THIS JUST IN:  How about all of that hypocritical Republican outrage at President Barack Obama’s respectful bow to Japan’s Emperor  Akihito ? Do they remember Eisenhower’s bow to Charles DeGaulle of France of all places? Nixon’s bow to Japan’s  Emperor Hirohito who by the way, was the person who ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor? Or how about George W. Bush’s hand holding and kissing of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah? This type of criticism simply exposes the Republican Party as a bastion of pettiness with a lack of serious political ideas.

BREAKING NEWS: This is good news. The U.S. Senate last night voted in favor of opening debate on its version of a health care reform bill (why don’t they simply refer to it as what it is, a health insurance reform bill?). It passed by a vote of 60 t0 40. The 60 votes in favor prevented a Republican filibuster at this stage of the process although all 40 Senate Republicans voted against the bill. The “Party of No” has lived up to its reputation once again by voting not against the substantive content of the proposed bill, but against even having a debate which would weigh the pros and cons of the bill. Why are the Republicans afraid to even allow Senate members to debate a bill? Isn’t public congressional debate the foundation upon which our country and its rule of law was created. The Republicans are always quick to allege that know what the “founding fathers” would have done. Does anyone believe that the “founding fathers” would attempt to stop debate in the congress that they just created? We do not think so. The Republicans should steal their party motto from Nancy Reagan, “Just Say No.”

Inasmuch as the Republican Party is doing everything within its power to hasten its own extinction, we thought that it would be appropriate if today’s song parody was based upon a tune about another extinct animal, the unicorn. Please remember to click on the song link below to familiarize yourselves with the tune and to have more fun singing along with the parody.

The Unicorn Song link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch4N4KB3XaI&feature=related

THE REPUBLICAN SONG

(sung to the Irish Rovers song “The Unicorn Song”)

A long time ago when the States were new
There were lots of political parties so let’s name a few
They bickered and they fought in this land that was free
But always the sore loser was the G.O.P.

There were Whigs and Tories, Greenbacks, also too
The Progressive Party of 1 – 9 – 1 – 2
Democrats and don’t forget the Labor Party
Yet the sorriest of all was the G.O.P.

The Lord seen some sinnin’ from some of his men
So he grouped ‘em all together in a single pen
He said, “I need a name for you barbarians”
“You’ll be Republicans”
And behave like those…

Whigs and Tories, Greenbacks also too
The Progressive Party of 1 – 9 – 1 – 2
Democrats and don’t forget the Labor Party
The sorriest bunch was still the G.O.P.

Wise Abe Lincoln was there to answer the call
He set free all those slaves so there’d be freedom for all
Teddy Roosevelt did his duty too
These were good deeds well overdue
Just like…

Whigs and Tories, Greenbacks also too
The Progressive Party of 1 – 9 – 1 – 2
Democrats and don’t forget the Labor Party
It looked like there was hope for the G.O.P.

Then came the late 20th century
Them Republicans were up to their old tricks again
Dick Nixon and Watergate led to defeat
Oh, that crooked G.O.P.

There were Whigs and Tories, Greenbacks, also too
The Progressive Party of 1 – 9 – 1 – 2
Then came Ford and Reagan and George Bushes one and two
And reduced the G.O.P. to an old worn shoe

The voters started movin’ to the other side
And with them the hopes of all Republicans died
The Democrats came down and wooed Arlen Specter away
That’s how the Republican Party died and floated away

You’ll see Independents and Democrats too
Green Party members from states both Red and Blue
Libertarians and members of the A.I.P.
We’ll never hear no more from the G.O.P.

Much like Survivor I got a little behind in some real life things to put up these reviews. But I should be able to do it this next week. Fringe took a couple of weeks off and came back with quite the episode. It wasn’t a mythological laden one but another standalone episode. The good thing was that it revolved heavily around Phillip Broyles and helped developed his character a bit more, something this show is still afraid to do. We have Nina, Astrid, and Broyles who are all excellent but also underdeveloped compared to our lead three.

Fringe does a great cold opening as usual. They tried to make something sweet turn just horrifying as we see the anniversary literally fall apart. It was just awesome knowing that the wife was going to not be pleasantly surprised by her husband’s early homecoming but going to be surprised by his death. Great stuff.

I am so glad they decided to develop this whole episode over Broyles. Reminds me the first time they had a Skinner-Centric X-Files episode. It just makes you like this secondary character so much more and you see a lot of more of what the actor can do. I liked everything from the opening scene with Broyles playing with the kid to the restaurant to the final scene where he looks destroyed after talking with his ex-wife.  We got to see a bit of Broyle’s human and emotional side and learn that he is doing all this to make the world a better place, originally for his family. However because this was such a tough case his wife turned away from him and now he has no one despite doing it for them in the first place. How sad is that?

This episode was extremely X-Files like. Sorry but you have to see the comparisons. A Cosmonaut brings back some sort of organism with him after a space walk and both of their molecular structures bond together. Together the two need radiation to survive (at least that is what I got out of it).

While this is all going on Broyles is in contact with Senator Van Horn saying that the CIA has taken over this case and wants Broyles and the FBI to cease and desist. Broyles tells Olivia that they cannot document anything and that this an off the record investigation. Broyles eventually gets some more information from Van Horn which leads them to the Cosmonaut and whom eventually Broyles kills….we think.

Broyles has a very touching scene with his ex-wife, who we learn has remarried. He tells her that the case, which was the reason she left him in the first place, was closed. She tearfully congratulated him and asked him inside to dinner which he turns down. It once again showed that Broyles had a past and definitely shows a softer side. However a very interesting scene played out afterwards.

After walking away a mystery man walks about to him  saying that Broyles has a good friend in Van Horn. He repeated that when the CIA asks someone to cease and desist they mean it and that he wants to see no record of this case. Broyles asks what they did with the Cosmonauts body and the mystery man looks up in the sky and says that they had no choice once he started to breath again.

This puts this into a more government conspiracy (wait like X-Files?) thing that what was originally believed. So something is going on with the government, Massive Dynamics, and the Observers. What did the CIA do with the body and who was this man who was talking to Broyles?

And just a quick not to Michael Giachinno. Some excellent new music in this episode, I don’t know much but I thought i heard some horns in it that have not been used before. Very good job and definitely gave a different feel to this episode.

As we all know, change is the only constant. Those who cling to the past are almost inevitably disappointed with the present and may perish sooner; those who adapt to change are more likely to thrive and remain longer.

When MySpace was founded in 2003 it was a blogging site used by a wide variety of individuals and organizations. After the site’s purchase by Fox in 2005 the dominant user demographic became teens and twenty-somethings. Now MySpace seems to be used almost exclusively by young people and musicians, and what may have seemed like the devolution of a blogging site has instead become ground zero for the evolution of the recording industry. Generally, the only audience those musicians reach though are teens and twenty-somethings.

YouTube is a more recent phenomenon. Before it was created by former PayPal employees in early 2005 it was often difficult to locate video clips online. YouTube became an intelligent way to both post and collect short videos. Many of the clips originally found were educational in nature, but YouTube clearly had potential as an excellent promotional tool. About eighteen months after going live the site was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion. Just as the user demographic changed on MySpace after its purchase by Fox, the user demographic on YouTube has also changed after that site’s purchase by Google. As an example, earlier today I watched a video promoting awareness of the harsh chemical nature of most commonly sold household cleaners. I posted a comment as follows:

“Excellent awareness builder. Manmade chemicals are often harsh, toxic and non-biodegradable. Natural alternatives exist that do as good a job (particularly when used with an appropriate applicator, e.g. a scrubber sponge rather than a paper towel) and will not poison our water, soil, or air, or potentially poison people or other animals.
Beyond the direct impact of the chemicals, also consider that the plastic containers they are sold in can take 3,000 years to break down in landfills.”

A reply was received almost immediately as follows:

“hey dumbass, where do you think all of these ‘harsh chemicals’ come from? outer f***ing space? if you are so concernd about the enviroment you would kill yourself and your children because all you do is consume and waste. i bet 90% of the products in your house are made from chinese plastic and other non bio degradables that are stripmined and hual from the earth.”

I thanked the user for this intelligent response and moved on. Google is capitalizing on YouTube’s potential as a promotional tool, and as a result YouTube’s user demographic has shifted. The comment above is just one of many that lead me to believe YouTube has evolved into the video version of MySpace.

As long as internet sites derive incomes from advertising, their content will increasingly need to reflect the demographic groups being targeted by the advertisers. Television and radio news has degraded in recent years for similar reasons, and our alternative, the internet, is also largely reliant on advertising. The changes we have seen in sites like MySpace and YouTube are occurring on other sites too. Because change is the only constant we can expect the content of many sites to increasingly reflect specific demographics. Many users found it disappointing recently to see that BBC News had begun allowing advertising on their website; it does lead to questions regarding the potential for bias in their news coverage.

The internet is perhaps the greatest democracy; it allows everyone a voice. People who may otherwise feel voiceless can address millions. People who may otherwise feel powerless can speak out. People who want to change the world can address it. Organizations that want to sell to the world can pitch to it. And because everyone has a voice, we hear from the young and old, the informed and uninformed, the open-minded and the highly opinionated, in short at least a little bit of everybody. The evolution of sites like MySpace, YouTube, and now even BBC News may give us the impression that the internet has become more a source of annoying Flash-based advertising than of information. What this means though is that along with everything else that changes, so must that little list of sites that we users regularly visit. Find new sites that better address your needs and say goodbye to ones that no longer suit you.

Glenn Beck is announcing a plan for his show on Fox News from The Villages in Florida. Glenn Beck is at The Villages, FL for his book tour promoting “Arguing with Idiots.”

From Glenn Beck.

“This Saturday Glenn will give an exclusive sneak preview of THE PLAN at The Villages in Florida. The free event starts at 3pm and will be followed by a book signing. Click here for more information…”

As soon as I find out more details, I will provide them.

***  Update  ***

“Glenn Beck reveals the Plan
November 21, 2009 – 15:28 ET

Friends,

What an amazing few days on the road this has been. Your spirits have been high, your faith strong and your spine unbendable. I ended my multiday book tour at The Villages with what had been billed as a rally but could be better described as a candid citizen-to-citizen chat.

Today, I have stopped looking for a leader to show us the way out because I have come to realize that the only one who can truly save our country…is us. To change America’s course we need to change ourselves, our expectations and our willingness to accept the unacceptable. When we refuse to allow our children to receive a trophy for participation, we are on the road to restoring the meaning of merit in our Republic. When we insist that no one is too big to fail, we will be able to learn from our mistakes, and when we demand that we are self-reliant, we will ensure that others can rely on us, not the government.”
“Education is key, and not just for our children. To that end, we will be conducting a series of conventions. These will be full-day experiences where you will be immersed in learning about topics ranging from self-reliance, community organizing, the economy and how to be a political force in your own neighborhood and country. The first one will be in Orlando at UCF Arena on March 27th. You will also be able to vote to have a convention in your region by clicking here.”
Read more:

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/33398/

No me habia dado cuenta de que Mozilla ya liberó la beta de Firefox 3.6, ya esta disponible para Windows, Mac y Linux.

Se han reparado 80 bugs, en comparacion con la beta anterior, dice el equipo de desarrollo que segun nos vamos a encontrar con un software mucho mas rapido y tambien mas estable

Tambien se esta intentando mejorar la interfaz del navegador y su compatibilidad con CSS y HTML, esperemos que esta version no sea una decepcion, por lo que ahora lo probaré y subire unas imagenes.

Descarga| Firefox 3.6 Beta 3

Glee and the Limitations of Reality Competition Narrative

November 21st, 2009

Following along with this weekend’s Futures of Entertainment 4 Conference at MIT (through the Twitter Hashtag #foe4) has been a really unique experience in many ways, engaging with an academic community I’ve only seen from afar in the past, but there are times when the topics being discussed feel almost too familiar.

By nature of the number of reviews I write about particular shows, I usually end up attacking them from nearly every conceivable angle, but there’s something about Glee that seems to inspire more angles than seem physically possible. The show has created a lot of controversy with its struggle to find a clear sense of its identity from the narratological point of view, which is the angle we television critics have been considering most carefully, but as discussed both yesterday (in the context of its use of music/iTunes to create transmedia engagement) and today (in its engagement with culture) during the conference its brand strategy has never had the same identity crisis.

I want to pick up on something that Ivan Askwith said during the discussion of the series’ engagement with culture, as he argued the following:

I am going to investigate this further, as it implicitly argues that the series’ narrative struggles are the result of an attempt to engage with a manufactured narrative structure (that will in the Spring be the show’s lead-in), a fact which is both understandable (network synergy and business logic) and complicated by the needs of serialized drama over reality programming from a narrative point of view.

Now, we can easily see how Idol and Glee (from a cultural/business point of view) both use digital distribution and music sales in an effort to widen their cultural impact. However, I want to consider how Glee is using a similar narrative structure to Idol in terms of how it taps into different audience responses through similar methods. American Idol has, in my eyes, three main narrative threads:

• The comic embarrassment of the audition episodes.
• The triumph over adversity in the performance episodes.
• The bittersweet ending in the results episodes.

It is a show that for about a month makes you laugh, and then for a few months makes you become emotionally attached to various contestants only to then pull the rug out from all but one of them as they are sent home to the strains of a sad pop song (which, considering it is often a song by a former Idol success story, is sort of rubbing salt in the wound).

And to some extent, I can see how Glee is tapping into these sorts of emotions. It certainly has the humour aspect, as early episodes enjoyed the broad comedy of Rachel getting “slushied” and tapped into the relative embarrassment of Glee Club compared to other High School traditions. Then, the show used its musical performances to allow the audience to relate to these characters on a personal level, redeeming them from the social basement and allowing the audience to relate with them directly. And yet, because that bittersweet sense is part of the Idol charm, these characters don’t always get their way (sidelined by pregnancy, by a poor reputation, by the struggles of being stuck in a small town, by the lack of acceptance for homosexuality) and are forced to swallow bitter pills, albeit while keeping their head held high to move forward. This does, when you think about it, capture the journey of an American Idol contestant.

However, it also captures the problem with the reality television example: it’s designed to create an extremely simple narrative pattern, and the characters it develops are loose archetypes manipulated through video packages and a distinct lack of actual behaviour from the individuals. While Glee’s characters are dangerously archetypal, especially early in the season, they need to be able to react to more diverse situations in a less predictable, less manufactured world – while Glee may not be the most realistic show on television, it has establish real world problems and a sense of spontaneity. The challenge contestants face on American Idol is singing a different song each week, perhaps stepping outside their musical comfort zone; meanwhile, on Glee, these challenges take the form of things like teen pregnancy and the sense of being trapped in a small town, which requires a more dynamic sense of character.

And I think to some degree the show is still dealing with this sort of archetypal character mode with characters like Kurt and Artie, who have been given token episodes to deal with their particular stereotype (Kurt as the gay teenager, Artie as the disabled teenager) that help the audience relate with them but rarely go beyond the traditional narrative structure of Idol. Take, for example, Kurt’s storyline in “Preggers” and in “Wheels”:

• Performs Single Ladies in his basement, providing humour (interpreted as embarrassment for some, perhaps, but mainly just entertainment).
• Overcomes his father’s disappointment to take part in football in his own way (involving song and dance), coming out to his father and having an emotional moment.
• Then, in “Wheels,” gives up a chance at a solo in Glee Club to avoid fighting up against gender/sexual stereotypes and raising uproar to spare his father the hardship.

First off, I want to be clear that this is actually one of the better examples of the show’s narrative structure, albeit one that does (with some finagling) fit into the traditional Idol mode. However, the issue here is that Kurt’s storyline can’t stop here: the show is going to keep going, and as a result Kurt’s storyline doesn’t just end with a bittersweet exit. Whereas Idol creates characters that will only occasionally be seen again (returning to perform their hits) or will evolve into a transmedia extension of the series’ brand (perpetuating the cultural influence further), Glee’s characters will remain in its universe, and will have to adapt to new challenges and (if the show is trying to fulfill standards of serialized narrative) grow in the process. While American Idol contestants need to become more than archetypes to find success after they leave the show, separating someone like Kelly Clarkson (who became an artist beyond her character on the show) from someone like Ruben Studdard (who, well, didn’t), Glee characters need to achieve this and maintain it within the context of the series itself, which is something that rarely ever happens on American Idol (See: Adam Lambert being so afraid to come out and becoming an archetype that didn’t fit into the show’s narrative).

As such, the comparison between the two forms demonstrates that this is only a short term solution, if it is being consciously or unconsciously put into action. The use of popular culture (the music, the references) in an effort to engage with viewers is a traditional Idol trick, and the way the show’s early narrative has been structured does follow the sort of reality show shorthand that Fox and 19 Entertainment have developed. However, while the show will continue to use popular culture to create transmedia extensions into the music industry, its narrative techniques will need to evolve beyond the Idol standard (especially with its supporting characters) in order to remain a sustainable narrative. The show won’t be able to dump its current cast for a new one (until the kids graduate, at which point the show’s narrative structure would need to adapt anyways and a new cast could be an option), which means that they will need to rely less on an Idol-esque cultural engagement and really tap into the dynamism available in this setting.

The show has a number of narrative issues, including some severe tonal shifting, but for me its character development (or, in some cases, its lack thereof) is the biggest sticking point. I think that Ivan’s example of the series tapping into the Idol model of “character” development is a good way of understanding the sort of shorthand the show has to this point employed, and also understand the limited shelf life the show has should it remain on that path.

Cultural Observations

• It will be interesting to see if the show, which has had a long break before starting filming the Back 9 in January, will adapt its focus for when it will be airing after American Idol full-time: it creates expectations for a much larger audience, and one wonders if the type of music selected, or potentially the types of stories told, will change as a result.
• It’s also interesting to note that the most inherently emotional episode of the series yet, “Wheels,” is the one that Ryan Murphy indicates is the show’s strategy moving forward. Does this mean that the show feels it has passed the “audition” stage of the series, and that perhaps we should be applying the Idol narrative to the season as a whole as opposed to individual characters?
• There’s no confirmation of this as of yet, but I wonder if there will be any pressure to create actual synergy between the two properties and bring in music/artists from Idol into the Glee universe. I know that “My Life Would Suck Without You” (Kelly Clarkson’s single) is being used in an upcoming episodes, but I would be curious if this happens more once the two shows are literally connected at the hip.
• And, on the flip side, I’d love to see Jane Lynch in character as Sue Sylvester as a special guest judge (replacing Kara, clearly) on Idol.
• It’s also interesting to note that Glee is airing after the results show, which plays into the bittersweet elements of the reality series, as opposed to the performance show, so if Glee continues in that vein it will actually prove more connective than one may have thought during the show’s pilot.

Glee: The Music

Von allen neu gestarteten amerikanischen TV Shows ist die Musical-Comedy “Glee” zumindest was den Kultfaktor betrifft derzeit die erfolgreichste. Zwar erreicht die Serie gerade Mal etwas über 7 Millionen Zuschauer und ein solides 3.x Rating in der Zielgruppe, aber wenn die aktuelle Folge über den Sender Fox geht, dann spricht die ganze Welt darüber, oder zumindest jene die sich am Puls der Popkultur wähnen: sichtbar etwa in den Trending Topics bei Twitter, wo Glee genauso selbstverständlich und in vielsprachigen Tweets zu finden ist, wie “X Factor”. So zumindest meine Beobachtung.

Bereits vor dem Erscheinen des Albums in diesem November, hatten sich die Single-Auskopplungen aus dem Soundtrack erfolgreich verkauft. “Don’t Stop Believing” aus der Pilotepisode schaffte es sogar bis auf Platz 5 der amerikanischen Single-Charts. Das erste Album steht auf dem vierten Platz der US-Albumcharts, in Australien auf Platz 3. Damit ist Glee sicherlich kein Überflieger, kann sich aber seiner Fans sicher sein. Die nennen sich übrigens “Gleeks“. Eine feste Identifikation mit der Marke, ja fast schon eine Jugendbewegung ist innerhalb kürzester Zeit aus der TV Show entstanden.

Das auch in Deutschland erhältliche erste Soundtrack Album enthält 17 Songs aus den ersten Episoden der laufenden Staffel. Der absolute Knaller ist “Maybe This Time“, in dem Serienstar Lea Michelle (Rachel) und Schauspielerin Christin Chenoweth im Duett Duell gegeneinander ansingen, eine besser als die andere. Vor dem Original von Liza Minelli braucht sich dieses Stück keineswegs zu verstecken. Auch die Episode “The Rhodes Not Taken” in der beide Sängerinnen gegeneinander montiert wurden, und Gaststar Chenoweth überhaupt eine überaus gute Figur machte, sich schnell in die Serie einfühlte, war schon ein Highlight.

Nicht nur “Maybe This Time” auch viele weitere Songs auf dem Soundtrack verweisen auf Glück, Schicksal, Glauben. “Don’t Stop Believing” heißt es im Cover von Journey, “Taking Chances” in einem Cover von Celine Dion. Wie auch die Serie: Glee ist reiner Eskapismus und trifft damit auf einen Zeitgeist, der gerade auch in Europa angekommen ist, in Amerika aber eigentlich schon immer normal war. Fernsehen als billiger Trostspender nicht mehr nur für Teens mit dem ersten Liebeskummer und traurige Außenseiter. Für beide gibt es aber auch zahlreiche passende Songs. Besonders hervorzuheben ist auch hier ein weiteres Mal die großartige Lea Michelle mit ihrem traurig-beherrschtem “Take A Bow” (Rihanna).

Gleichwohl, eine der Stärken der Serie ist die gewisse Ironie mit der Glee an sein Thema herangeht. So postuliert Rachel während sie ein MySpace aufnimmt in der ersten Episode, Ruhm nichtmehr Reichtum sei nun der wichtigste Wert in unserer Gesellschaft, und zum Running Gag wurde die Frage, wann Cheerleaderin Quinn nun eigentlich mal ihr Cheerleader-Outfit auszieht, dass sie wirklich immer trägt. Das humoristische Highlight aber freilich ist Jane Lynch, die als ewiges Talent und Nebendarstellerin in Glee endlich eine größere Rolle spielen kann. Ihre Figur, die Gegenspielerin des Chorleiters Will Schuster, Sue Slyvester, bekommt eine Kolumne im Lokal-Fernsehen:

“You know, I’m tired of hearing people complain: ‘I riddle with this disease’ or ‘I was in that tsunami’. To them I say: ‘Shake it up a bit! Get outta your box! Even if that box happens to be where you’re living.’ I’ll often yell at homeless people: ‘Hey, how’s that homelessness workin’ out for ya? Give not being homeless a try, huh?’” (via)

Und weil eine Serie wie Glee eine emotionale Karusellfahrt ist, wie der Hormonhaushalt eines Teenagers eben, gibt es auf dem Album natürlich nicht nur Träume und Tränen, sondern auch ein paar R&B-Nummern, die ohne die seltsamen Playback-Vorführungen, die der Cast in den jeweiligen Episoden hinzappeln muss, auch gar nicht mehr so fremdschämig wirken. Kanye Wests “Gold Digger” und Young MCs “Bust a Move” jedenfalls kann man sich gut anhören. Sogar “Sweet Caroline”, dass man in der Serie politisch unkorrekt mit keinem anderen Wort als “gay” beschreiben konnte, gewinnt auf dem Album.

Um es also auf den Punkt zu bringen: Für Fans ist “Glee: The Music” eine unausweichliche Achterbahnfahrt durch fast vergessene Teenager-Jahre. Und für alle die noch Teenager sind, ist es zugleich Soundtrack eines Lebensabschnitts, den Glee, Musik wie Show, einfängt wie kein anderes Popkultur-Produkt derzeit. Da vergisst man gerne auch die “Growing Pains”, die die mitunter gehetzt und unkoordiniert wirkende Serie selbst noch zu haben scheint.

Das zweite Album erscheint übrigens bereits am 8. Dezember.

Mehr Glee auf tvundso.com

Minnesota’s Michele “Bat-Shit Crazy” Bachmann has dethroned Fox’s Glenn “It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To” Beck as the official icon of the Tea-Bagging Movement. The big switcheroo took place last week in Washington DC at the Tea Party event staged prior to the House of Representatives’ passage of their version of a health care reform bill. The demonstration was an embarrassing failure, but Bachmann relished her role as the newly coronated Queen of Fools.

It was Bachmann herself who called upon Tea-Baggers to assemble in protest in the nation’s Capitol last week. When the predicted estimated attendance was surprisingly small however, Bachmann began to backtrack a bit. She stopped referring to the event as a “protest”. Instead, she began calling it a “press conference”. Problem is, the few thousand attendees were not members of the press, nor was their any press related question and answer session. Also, members of the press are seldom bussed into a press conference while carrying their signs displaying swastikas, Holocaust victims and Hitler caricatures. But let’s not nit-pick.

CNN reports that shortly after the protest began, “The chant started from the back of the crowd, and rolled forward like a wave: “We want Michele! We want Michele!”" When Bachmann took the podium, she incited the assembled crazies when she said, “When we came down to this final hour, as the clock is ticking 11:59 on this health care reform, Speaker Pelosi is posed with her health care bill to take over 18 percent of the American economy.” The crowd made an angry grumble and then Bachmann instructed them to march to the Capitol building and begin knocking on doors to voice protest. Again, this is not the usual instruction given to members of the media at a press conference. The tactic was also unsuccessful in that the legislation passed anyway. But keep it up Michele, because you provide comic relief to the rest of us every time you open your mouth.

Please remember to click on the song link below to familiarize yourselves with the tune and to have more fun singing along with the parody.

The Flintstones television theme song link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByFDVwiQq8

BACHMANN

(sung to the theme song for television’s “The Flintstones“)

Bachmann. Michele Bachman
A Congresswoman that is bat crazy
She and Sarah Palin
Driving voters from the G.O.P.

She can’t form a sentence that’s complete
Now she’s targeted for big defeat

When you’re Michele Bachmann
You’re just living off the state dime
Endorsing hate crimes
Exposed during prime time

Bachmann. Michele Bachman
Hates Blacks, children and those that are gay
She is clearly brain dead
Can’t seem to get out of her own way

She talks right through the rain, snow and sleet
Every single thought is incomplete

When you’re Michele Bachmann
You’re just living off the state dime
Endorsing hate crimes
Exposed during prime time

Exposed during prime time

Fringe: Season 2: Episode 8: “August”

The restaurant runs out of chili peppers.

There’s more than one of everything – even Observers! This episode was refreshingly easy to watch.

This episode is debunked at Popular Mechanics and Polite Dissent, and you can read more about it at Fox, IMDb and the A.V. Club.

Random thoughts

That would have to be one of the most expensive security cameras in the world to be able to show the flight of a bullet. We can have a think about what would actually be required with a back-of-the-envelope calculation:

At the slower end, a handgun bullet might travel at 300 m s^-1 (just under the speed of sound), and the horizontal distance covered by the camera when Astrid was clicking through video frames was about a metre (based on the size of August’s arm). The bullet travelled about 60 % of the distance, or 0.6 m, in three frames and so we can conclude that each frame lasted for about 0.00067 s, which is 1500 frames per second. By way of comparison, video cameras generally capture around 30 fps.

Once again we can see some old-school communication equipment; this time a dot matrix printer. I posit (Walterism) that communication between the two worlds is only possible with equipment that existed before the event that caused them to diverge. It therefore looks like the two timelines separated in the 1980s, right when Walter was retrieving Peter.

This is bordering on the obsessive, but if Flight 821 went down two hours out of Rome then it could not have been off the Italian coast and was probably not in the Atlantic Ocean. Either it was two hours away and in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain or Portugal (or possibly France), or it was in the Mediterranean Sea (or even the Tyrrhenian Sea – technically these are within the Atlantic Ocean, but they are always referred to by their localised names) and closer than two hours to Rome.

The photographs and paintings of The Observer at key points in history reminded me a little of James in 12 Monkeys (he’s shown in a WWI trench). Perhaps it’s also how J. Robert Oppenheimer got the idea for his hat.

As is fairly common knowledge, screw-on silencers (or, more correctly, suppressors) do not “silence” bullets very much at all.

The Lewis Code

We are treated to another chemistry-inspired code this week, this time to do with the Lewis structure of atoms. However, like the code in Earthling it’s pretty much impossible to decipher.

Different atoms have different numbers of electrons, and this is one of the ways we can tell different atoms apart (it’s called the atomic number). However, the Lewis bonding model is all about electrons in the outer shell of an atom (the valence electrons), which are not so unique. Each atom in a group (a vertical column in the periodic table) has the same number of valence electrons as the other atoms in the group – this is one of the reasons why those atoms have similar properties. This means that for every dot diagram that Walter noted, there would be at least four elements that it could match (and possibly six, depending on the group in question).

Walter's Lewis structure code.

Firstly, Astrid’s code-cracking program would have picked up on some of the repeated symbols – for example, “7″, “As” and “N” are the same. Secondly, the numbers in the address do not seem to correspond to the number of electrons. It seems to be (number of electrons)+2 except in the case of “2″, though how Walter would know this is beyond me (perhaps there isn’t a 2536 Hastings). Thirdly, as I mentioned above, each symbol can represent different atoms (this is illustrated in the code with “As”/”N” and “Ti”/”Ge”). Walter would have found the address with a lot of trial and error, and could easily have gone to the wrong place – for example, by taking other elements in the same groups, we could make vaguely plausible names like “Kassipsis” (K-As-Si-P-Si-S).

A less ambiguous code?

On top of all that, titanium (Ti) is a transition metal and has partially filled d-orbitals. We do not normally describe transition elements using Lewis structures, as they tend to break the rules – this is one of the reasons why the Lewis model is not used very much in modern chemistry. Titanium does have four valence electrons, but it would be unlikely to come to mind from a Lewis four-electron diagram (though perhaps Walter thinks in unconventional ways).

In order to make the code clearer, there would have to be some method of either identifying the correct period (row), or identifying the number of electron sub-shells underneath the valence shell (though of course this would also make it easier for someone else to decipher). I propose a second symbol (inside the large circle) to identify the electron shell that is being filled, and more dots to identify the correct period. Thus an empty circle would be interpreted as a number, a second circle (s-orbital) as groups I and II, a looped cross (d-orbital) as groups III-XII and a figure of eight (p-orbital) as groups XIII-XVII. The code would then look like the second diagram on the left – more complex but unambiguous.

For background information on this topic, see the primer on atomic structure.

My friend showed me this clip from an interview with rocker Andrew WK on the conservative show Red Eye. This guy is crazy. And I think I like it.

Segundo día de Festival y ya empezó lo bueno, dos talleres y una mesa redonda que me dejaron muy buen sabor de boca. Visionados no vi ninguno porque, por una parte coincidían con los talleres y por otra, los que podía ver eran a partir de las 22:00 h. y estaba muerto de cansancio. A parte de esto el día se dio muy bien y estuvo más que entretenido.

Ayer no lo dije y hoy lo diré, no voy solo, vamos tres personas con el equipo para grabar lo más posible y mis acompañantes son Joakopk (Responsable del recién inaugurado Total Sport) y Jose (Creador de Zona Mixta). Y sin más dilación vamos a comenzar con el resumen del segundo día.

En primer lugar a las cuatro y media se celebró el primer taller de la tarde, llamado “Como anunciar una serie” en la que intervinieron los directores creativos de las cadenas Canal +, TNT, Fox y Calle 13/Sci-Fi. En el nos mostraron muchísimos spots de las diferentes promos que han llevado a cabo y nos hablaron sobre todo de autopromoción, pues en esto consiste anunciar una serie, en autopromocionarse.

Nos dieron varias pautas a seguir, como que para crear expectación hay que conseguir que la gente sienta interés, después crear una cita ¿cuándo y dónde? y por último apropiarse del producto. Ésto último, apropiarse del producto es muy importante, por ejemplo, Javier Morales, de TNT nos mostró como se está promocionando V mediante campañas virales y Teasers (la más original):

En el mismo taller, Jaime Sainz de la Fox, habló de la importancia de la marca Fox a la hora de promocionarse, pues la Fox es 100% series y para ellos es muy importante la imagen de marca. Su “Primero en FOX” es lo que destaca por encima del resto de canales, así como sus promociones, en mi opinión, son las mejores.

Además también intervinieron Germán Sela, de Canal +, hablando de la promoción que están llevando a cabo con la segunda temporada de True Blood (me entraron muchísimas ganas de ponerme a ver la serie) y Ignacio Vallader, de Calle 13 y Sci-Fi.

A las seis y media comenzó el segundo taller, llamado “Esta serie es un éxito” en el que los máximos responsables del Marketing de los canales invitados siguieron informando sobre como promocionar las series, a parte de los anuncios publicitarios. Muy original resulto la promoción que se hizo para la primera temporada de True Blood, utilizando a los presentadores de diferentes programas como gancho para promocionar la bebida “Sangre Fresca” o creando falsos reportajes.

Por ejemlo la Fox creo la Casa Fox el año pasado y la Fox Store este año, que hoy cierra sus puertas. y el canal Sci-Fi tuvo que reponerse después de que en la segunda temporada de Heroes mucha audiencia cayera debido a las descargas y a la mala gestión por parte de USA de la serie, debido a la huelga de guionistas. Para ello crearon un cómic interactivo que dio buen resultado.

Por último, a las ocho de la tarde llegó el plato fuerte, la mesa redonda de Bloggers en el que Rosa Belmonte, Concha Cascajosa, Irene Civico y Montse Cebrián, como bloggers y Marisa Alcaide como moderadora nos dieron su opinión sobre muchísimas series actuales, encumbrando en lo más alto como gran estreno de la temporada a GLEE.

De entre todas yo me quedo con Concha Cascajosa, fue la que más me hizo reir, y sus opiniones siempre recibieron más de un aplauso.

En definita, una gran tarde de un gran festival.

Kurir već zna: devetnaestogodišnji Aleksandar Krajišnik pobedio je u drugom ciklusu ekstremnog rijalitija „Survajver“!
Ova informacija poslednjih nedelju dana kruži među ostalim učesnicima, koji su jedni drugima ispričali za koga su glasali na takozvanom velikom veću, kad se odlučivalo o tome ko će osvojiti nagradu od 100.000 evra.

- Mali Aca je gotovo sigurno pobedio, jer je na Velikom veću od osam finalista većina glasala za njega – kaže naš izvor blizak jednom od učesnika „Survivor Srbija“ i dodaje:
- On je svojim zalaganjem i životnom pričom stekao simpatije većine finalista, koji su njegovo ime stavili u zapečaćene koverte. Postoji teoretska mogućnost da dvoje finalista ima isti broj glasova, i u tom slučaju publika ima ključnu ulogu u presudi, ali do toga po svoj prilici neće doći, jer je Aleksandar osvojio podršku takmičara dovoljnu da mu obezbedi trijumf – završava naš izvor.

Najmlađi među 22 putnika na daleke Filipine ima 19 godina, rođen je u Zadru odakle je zbog ratnih zbivanja morao da se preseli u Bijeljinu, a kasnije i u selo Majur nadomak Šapca, gde i danas živi. Da je Aleksandar pravi avanturista, govori i podatak kako je skakao u vodu sa 14 metara visine, kao i da je sa 16 godina biciklom stigao iz Majura u Beograd, prešavši 153 kilometara.

On je dobio nagradu od 100.000 evra, ali ne i automobil kao prošlogodišnji pobednik, jer je ove godine odlučeno da novi model „nisana“ dobije favorit publike. Kad smo pozvali Aleksandra Krajišnika i pitali ga da li je pobedio u „Survajveru“, on nam je zbunjeno odgovorio:
- Pa, nisam pobedio, nisam da ja znam – neuverljivo je izustio Aleksandar, dok je sa druge strane pi-ar televizije Foks Slađana Paunović pokušala da nam objasni kako se još uvek „ništa ne zna“:

- Nagađanja su krenula, ali mogu da kažem da produkcija sprema velika iznenađenja i da će neizvesnost trajati do samog kraja rijalitija.

Da li će se nagađanja ispostaviti tačnim, baš kao prošle godine, kad su mediji nekoliko meseci ranije obelodanili da je pobedio Nemanja Pavlov, videćemo u finalnoj emisiji zakazanoj za kraj februara sledeće godine.

Sve najnovije vesti možete naći na sajtu Survivor Srbija i Survivor Forum .

Izvor: Kurir

Fringe intertitle, image via Wikipedia

It’s fitting that this show will premiere on Fox, since this was the network of the X-Files. Fringe has got much in common with the X-Files, yet it is different. Fringe is the latest show of wunderkind J.J. Abrams. Like most new shows, the pilot was leaked on the internet a few weeks ago.

Just like a few other shows, like True Blood, I’m happily surprised by Fringe. The production values are great and I’m enjoying it a lot. A lot of money has been pumped into this show, and it just looks fabulous. The protagonists are also an interesting bunch. There isn’t much more that we learn of the Pattern, but Massive Dynamics is most definitely deeply connected with those events, even though they aren’t sharing their information with Agent Dunham.

I think that this show takes a few common elements from Alias, especially for all the things that concerned the mystic scholar Milo Rambaldi. The same kind of esoteric science is involved in this show. It’s done very well. I’d actually like to see this type of mystic science have more of an impact on the show. It would suit the show very well. A bit of the supernatural wouldn’t be bad either.

Warning: spoilers ahead

* * * * *

The code for this week is BLIGHT. This episode is all about the Observers. We learn a bit about them, but not much. It’s kind of annoying, but it lets you believe that something bad is going to happen to Dunham quite soon.

Fringe is one of the best shows on TV right now. It’s getting better and better, and I like it maybe a bit more than X-Files. Why? There are less filler episodes. Most episode deal with the mythology of the show.

* * * * *

An Observer is observing and taking some strange notes. He’s got some alien technology with him. A vet gives him a flag pin. He’s looking for something. He tries to abduct a girl and then is forced to fire his ray gun. He tranquilizes the girl and puts her in a car. A guard fires at him, but it doesn’t affect him. He starts the car with his finger.

Olivia is hanging out with her niece. She gets a call about the incident. She has to leave. She calls the Bishops about the Observer. The check the footage and see that it isn’t the same Observer that they encountered before. They also see him catch a bullet with his hand as if it was a fly. Walter isn’t talking.

The Observer is tying up the girl in a motel. He says that it will be safer for her. Her name is Christine Hollis. Broyles says that she is quite normal. Her parents are dead. Dunham doesn’t know what to think. They usually only observe.

Peter is trying to find out more about the Observer, but Walter isn’t talking much. Peter finds some blood on the page. Astrid isn’t making progress with the writing. There are no repetitions in it. It looks like Walter knows what the code is saying, but he isn’t talking.

Astrid finds out that Massive Dynamic is researching the symbols as well. They go back to the earliest writing of mankind. He shows them art where the Observers have been captured. He says that they aren’t limited by the human perception of time. He says that we think of time as linear. He says that they are observing time and show up at important moments. It’s very rare. There have been maybe 2 dozen different appearances over the last 5 thousand years. Recently, he’s charted 26 sightings in the last 3 months.

We cut to a scene with some observers having some Indian food. They like it very hot. Another Observer arrives and says that they have a situation with August. The girl was supposed to be on a flight. It looks like the flight was important. The elder Observer says that they need to repair this irregularity. He wants Donald contacted. We see Donald. He’s some kind of alien fixer.

Christine’s roommate says that she was leaving for Italy. Her family died in San Francisco in ’89. In the last photo of her family, we see an Observer in the background.

Meanwhile, Christine gets loose but August returns. He sees that she has hurt her wrists trying to get free. He brought her some food. She wants to know why he abducted her. He shows her the news. The flight she was on crashed. Dunham and Peter hear this on the radio as well. The Observer tells Christine that she isn’t safe yet.

They find that the blood is actually chili sauce, the hottest kind. They try to trace it. August appears before his fellow Observers. August thinks that Christine is important. The only time that they interfered was to correct something that they caused themselves. They tell him that they sent someone to correct his mistake. Walter is being secretive.

Walter gets a message and meets August. He doesn’t want them taking Peter. He needs his help.

The bagman arrives at August’s flat. Peter and Dunham are on their way there. The bagman has the address of the motel. The bagman has a gun on Peter. Peter is fast enough to disarm him. The bagman runs away. He’s fast for a fatty.

August says that the others are trying to kill Christine, no matter what he does. Walter says that he must make her important. That would solve his dilemma. He comes back to Christine and has some instructions for her.

The bagman finds the motel. August has the man shoot him a few times. The bagman tries to get away, but Dunham is after him. August gives Peter his ray gun. From the effects, it looks like a plasma gun of some sort. The bagman is about to shoot Olivia when Peter takes him out. Dunham shoots him as well. They find that August is gone. They only find his hat. Dunham finds Christine. She’s fine.

Another Observer got August out of there. August tells him that he developed feelings for her. He thinks that he loves her. The other Observer says that she will be safe because August made her important.

Broyles says that the bagman was an assassin. They also cannot fire the ray gun anymore. They think that Peter fired the last round. The tip off to find the Observer came from the motel.

Ella and Olivia go to the amusement park. Two Observers are watching. The older one comments at how things are going to get so hard for Olivia.

* * * * *

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Fringe intertitle, image via Wikipedia

It’s fitting that this show will premiere on Fox, since this was the network of the X-Files. Fringe has got much in common with the X-Files, yet it is different. Fringe is the latest show of wunderkind J.J. Abrams. Like most new shows, the pilot was leaked on the internet a few weeks ago.

Just like a few other shows, like True Blood, I’m happily surprised by Fringe. The production values are great and I’m enjoying it a lot. A lot of money has been pumped into this show, and it just looks fabulous. The protagonists are also an interesting bunch. There isn’t much more that we learn of the Pattern, but Massive Dynamics is most definitely deeply connected with those events, even though they aren’t sharing their information with Agent Dunham.

I think that this show takes a few common elements from Alias, especially for all the things that concerned the mystic scholar Milo Rambaldi. The same kind of esoteric science is involved in this show. It’s done very well. I’d actually like to see this type of mystic science have more of an impact on the show. It would suit the show very well. A bit of the supernatural wouldn’t be bad either.

Warning: spoilers ahead

* * * * *

The code for this week is ARRIVE. A Massive Dynamic employee’s son is kidnapped. We learn that there is more to this than meets the eye. It’s part of William Bell’s experiment in mind control.

Fringe is one of the best shows on TV right now. It’s getting better and better, and I like it maybe a bit more than X-Files. Why? There are less filler episodes. Most episode deal with the mythology of the show.

* * * * *

In Queens, NY, two men kidnapped a boy. When they get cornered by the cops, something happens to one of the uniformed officers. He is pushed off a parking structure. Another cop is forced to shoot the cops and then shoots herself.

The kid is Tyler Carson, 15 years old. Walter says that the victims were mesmerized. He’s bored. The kid’s father works for Fleming Monroe, Massive Dynamic’s aerospace division.

Walter, Peter and Dunham go to MD. Carson is there with Nina Sharpe. Patrick Hicky and Tom Dobinson have nothing to do with MD. They are the kidnappers. Both Sharpe and Dunham believe that these men are trying to extort corporate secrets from MD.

Walter is amazed and despondent at how much William Bell has achieved. He tells Peter that Bell introduced him to his mother in Berlin.

One of the men has got these mesmerizing powers. He uses them to great effect and in front of security cameras. It seems like they don’t have any plan. The boy isn’t running. Maybe the boy is controlling the men.

The kidnappers were great used car salesmen. Peter and Dunham float the idea that they were foreign spies. Walter is examining the brains of the victims. He says that it isn’t hypnosis, but mind control. The brains had hematomas, which could be caused by brain control. Walter hypothesizes that the mind control is used by sound.

The kidnappers make their demands. They want $2 million. That’s strange. Nina Sharpe says that they will cover the ransom demand. Dunham says that money is a distraction. They took Carson’s son for a reason. Walter is going to use white noise in order to block the mind control. Dunham is planning on laying a trap.

Do not remove the headphones under any circumstance, if you do, you might die a gruesome and horrible death. Thank you for your attention, and have a nice day.
Bishop briefing the tactical assault team

The tactical squad is wearing headphones which are used as relay points to play white noise to block the mind control. One of the kidnappers comes to get the money. They move in when they don’t see the hostage. His partner tries to drive away, but his car hits an obstacle, and tumbles and explodes.

The kidnapper is trying to kill himself. He was being controlled by the boy. The boy takes Peter hostage. He wanted the money. He says that the headphones won’t work.

Sharpe says that Carson was collaborating with a pharmaceutical company for a hands free piloting project. The pilot was given a drug to enhance his brain waves. Carson thinks that Tyler might have found the samples of the drug at home.

Bishop proves that it’s possible that since Tyler is a teen, he was taking ADD drugs, it created a mind control cocktail.

Peter and the kid get stopped by a cop. Tyler is about to make Peter shoot him with his own gun. He knocks him out instead.

The Director of the FBI classified Tyler as a National Security threat. They have to stop him. Tyler bought 2 tickets to go to Costa Rica before this all started. This could mean that he is working with a foreign handler. Broyles says that they need to stop him ASAP, or Peter could become collateral damage.

Olivia and Astrid find out that Tyler was looking for his mom. Tyler tells Peter that his mother was dead when she was alive. Tyler discovered this. They arrive in Springfield. They meet Renee Davies. She tells him that his dad isn’t to blame. He doesn’t know that Renee has a new family. She isn’t going anywhere. He makes Peter get the gun.

Walter is modifying an electro-magnetic pulse to affect Tyler’s brain. They don’t have time to wait for Bishop. Broyles storms the front door. He tasers Tyler, but it isn’t enough. Tyler has Peter shoot him in the arm. They leave. Bishop fires his device. Peter uses the few seconds he has to crash the car.

Broyles is fine. Peter managed to shoot him in the arm. The kid wanted to shoot himin the head. Tyler’s powers wore off when the drugs wore off.

Sharpe briefs Bell. She says that one of the Tylers did display mind control abilities. It was part of their experiment. Davies wasn’t his mother, but his surrogate mother. Sharpe is suspending the project. Their experiment was a success. Tyler Carson was just one of many copies.

* * * * *

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