The LOST finale episode redux

I recently re watched the finale episode of the T.V. series LOST.  It's been two years now since the show wrapped and I remember there was a real polarization between those that thought it it was a grand, and daring ending and those that felt "cheated" at having invested 6 seasons into a show that really did require a lot of emotional investment and then fail to answer what they considered key questions.

I am part of the first group obviously.  I loved the show then and now realize that it actually gets better with time.  Ok, spoiler alert, the rest of this post deals with the episode itself so if you don't want to know what happens...stop reading now.

The last episode has two different storylines being played out simultaneously.  The first storyline is dealing with the castaways final battle on the Island that has been their home for 6 seasons against the "Man in Black".  The second storyline is in modern L.A. and has the castaways in everyday lives connecting to each other and "remembering" their time on the Island.  The castaways are drawn to a church where the lead character Jack, meets his deceased father, Christian.  Its at the church that Jack "remembers" his time on the Island  and in an emotional scene discovers that he, like all of his friends, are dead.  Some, he learns, before him some long after him.

Jack and his father then move into the main church sanctuary and into a celebration of closest and dearest friends greeting and hugging one another.  It is at this point that the the story resonates with my heart as a Christian.  I am one of these people that long "to go home".  I want to be where God is and in this scene I felt just a glimpse of eternity. I love the joy of everyone's faces in the church scene.  After so much pain and misery they experienced in their lives and on "the Island", all of that is behind them now.  There is no more weeping.  As Jesus promises, "I will wipe away all of their tears."
As important as their time on the Island was, it really was just a small prologue to the journey they were preparing to begin...and with those they love.  As Jack begins to enter into the celebration the scene shuttles back and forth between the joy he is experiencing in heaven and his dying moments having sacrificed himself on the Island to save his friends.

Because he is now in eternity everything seems to be happening at the same time...which I think has been one of the best representations of eternity shown on TV.  The bible often alludes to our already being seated with God in heavenly places.  That I am both living out a life in a linear mortal timeline on earth yet at the same time I am celebrating in heaven.

The episode ends as Jack "dies" and at the same moment Jack's father Christian (yes, Christian Shepherd) opens the main doors of the church letting in a heavenly light.  For me, it was a highly emotional moment and puts everything into perspective.  One day I too shall die, but I know, I am already greeting family, friends, and my Lord in eternity.

TV You Should Watch: The Event

The Chinese New Year holiday is in full swing here in Hong Kong and its a time that usually lends itself to getting outside and onto the gorgeous hiking trails which permeate the territory.  However the weather has been cold, rainy, and down right terrible...so what to do?

Perfect weather though for sitting inside, stocking up with plenty of  "comfort" food favorites, finding a new TV show with an arching story line,... and watching the hours fly by.

Our "on demand" station here in Hong Kong is offering a show I was aware of called The Event.  It looked like one of those alien invasion type shows but I was skeptical as it seemed the show was cancelled after a single season.  (Which more often suggests it was really good!)

But did I really want to invest the emotional time into a story and characters that were not sticking around?

Well, lets just watch one we said,  and see...

22 episodes later we were spent!  I can say its unfortunate that smart, intelligent written shows get cancelled while so many others (reality shows anyone?) are in their 4th, 5th, or 10th seasons?

Tammy kept us fed throughout the marathon making her version of "Chipoltle burritos".  At one point I felt so guilty about eating and sitting that I went down to our apartment lobby and ran back up the stairs to our flat on the 21st floor.  (Then after the next episode I did it again.)

So what is the show about?  I am not going to write a big deal on that other than to say if The X-Files, V, and , 24 were to have a baby together...it would be The Event.  



What I can say was it was comforting to see a new spin on the "space alien" and their intentions on Earth.  Traditionally the extraterrestrial coming to our little planet are evil, who see humans as no more than an infestation to be eliminated i.e. Independence Day, or as the benevolent messiah like character that is persecuted by our human insecurities i.e. ET .


The Event instead presents its aliens...as us.  The show is partially an analogy of Western Imperialism. What if aliens valued us...but not as much as themselves?  And when their interests are jeopardized, how they will make decisions at times which are contrary to their values and mores?  It makes for interesting storytelling to see "good" people making "wrong" decisions.

I was happy that the season ended with a measure of "closure" although they opened up a great new story line for a season 2 that, unfortunately, will never be.

But it gets the "Steve's TV Shows You Should Be Watching" award so if you get a chance, give it a look.

TV You Should Watch: Yes Minister!

I've been meaning to start a series of occasional posts highlighting what I believe are the Best TV Shows ever and why you should give them a look see.  This post is prompted by seeing a You Tube clip from the BBC highlighting the possibility that Yes Minister  is the Best British comedy ever.

Co-Writer Jonathan Lynn describes it best when he says, "There is no reason why, when you think about it, Yes Minister should be a hit.  There's no sex, no action... on paper it's a complete dud!"

Despite this, I have watched all of the episodes MANY times over and in my humble opinion it is one of the funniest, most intelligently written shows ever produced. Yes Minister follows the exploits of the Minister of Administrative Affairs James Hacker and his Machiavellian Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby.  In later episodes, Hacker is elected to be the Prime Minister and then things get even more crazy.



I know this clip is a little long but if you want a good laugh and a little understanding of what I find to be extremely funny, watch it until the end.

Although the action takes place in a Reagan / Thatcher era Great Britain, the parody of the absurdity of modern politics are laid bare in all of their glorious grandeur.

So take Uncle Stevie's advice and give Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister a look...

Star Trek at 45!

On September 8th 1966 a lttle TV show named Star Trek debuted for the first time on NBC.  It told the tale of the crew of the Starship Enterprise's journey to explore strange new worlds,  seek out new life and to boldly go where no Man has gone before.  (That is until some Einstein changed it to "where no one has gone before"; which musters about the same emotional impact as Ben Stein muttering "Bueller...Bueller..."

Debuting at a time when black Americans were expected to sit to the rear of a bus and women were largely seen on TV coming out of the kitchen with a casserole in their hand, Star Trek broke convention by featuring a black female senior Communications officer.  Add to the multicultural crew a Russian navigator during the height of the Cold War and an Oriental helmsmen and you see why the debut of Star Trek has always been seen as groundbreaking for network TV. 

For years in the 1970's and early '80's UHF Channel 50 in Detroit would broadcast reruns of  Star Trek every Saturday and Sunday evening.  By the time I was 10 I knew all 79 episodes like the back of my hand.  Later I would close my eyes at the beginning of a show and try to guess which episode it was from Kirk's opening "Captain's Log".  Yep, I was a Star Trek geek and and it only followed that my closest friends would be Star Trek geeks. 

Of course there have been new incarnations of the show but none have ever replaced the iconic characters made famous by William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Co.  As much as we may have liked The Next Generation I don't imagine when JJ Abrams rebooted the series a couple years back there was any discussion whether they would be recasting a young Picard rather than a young Kirk.

But all of that pales to the fact that when Star Trek premiered in that September evening of 1966 I was 4 days old.

Yep, I'm as old as Star Trek. 

Over time as the show celebrated key anniversary years (15, 25, 35) with retrospective reflections and highlight interviews with cast and crew I was always reminded how old I was.  So when I saw promotions for the 45th anniversary I was suddenly like, "Ugh, am I really going to be 45 years old !" 

Somehow the 25th anniversary was much more exciting to me.

Anyhow...Happy Birthday Star Trek!  Won't be long before we're both celebrating 50!

Smallville: The Finale Review

Last week's series finale of Smallville was a geekfest for all Superman fans young and old.  After ten years of waiting, the little farm boy from Kansas ( by way of the planet Krypton) donned his suit, took to the sky, and became the Man of Steel.

For the Hackman clan, it was a big evening as we've been following the series for a while now.  It's one of the few shows Tammy refuses to watch one week at a time.  She generally insists on waiting till a whole season is available and then "inhaling" 24 episodes in over the course of a week on DVD.   Surprisingly even though the show had been on for 10 years, we only started following it back in 2007.  Being a bit of a Superman fan I avoided Smallville assuming they were going to do to Superman pretty much what the Twilight series did to the vampire genre; turn it into something only appreciated by teenage girls.

Besides Superman always has a strong moral center and in case you haven't noticed T.V. doesn't really do strong moral centers anymore.  The idea of a teenage Clark Kent waking up in bed with a girlfriend and jumping up to throw his jeans on while he rushed off to school would have been more that my Superman sensibilities could have stomached.

And so I let the series pass... but in 2007 I was recovering from surgery and had to spend a couple weeks on my living room couch.  A good friend sent me the first four seasons by mail to watch while I recovered and bingo, not only me, but Tammy and Gabriel were hooked.

Anyhow, the finale was, as I mentioned, a geekfest. Pretty much everything a Superman afficiando would be looking for was to be found.  This whole season (spoiler alerts ahead) was focused on the 'darkness' covering the Earth and capturing the souls of men.  Clark Kent finally realizes his destiny as the "Light" of the world and goes toe to toe with, essentially, Lucifer.

Mmmmm, a father from beyond the stars sends his son to Earth to be raised by adoptive parents.  He is in constant contact communication with his "heaven" father, displays super powers, and when the moment is right, becomes the chosen one and savior of humanity.

Ring any bells?

Yeah, the Superman story always had the a strong Christ allegory.  Director Bryan Singer admitted he intentionally fostered that image in 2006's Superman Returns and the writer's of Smallville carried on that tradition.  When a resurrected Lex Luthor returns for a reunion "chat" with his old friend Clark Kent in the finale he says,
"they foretold of chosen savior , a light that would inspire this world out of darkness…you are the Light, Clark."

"You are the Light Clark"

The writers of Smallville had a strict, "no tights, no flights" policy.  Essentially it was the story of Clark Kent's inner journey to become the hero he was meant to be and not the adventures of Superboy.  But hey, we all know Man of Steel can fly so when it happened...it was pretty cool.  While in combat during the final minutes of the finale, Darkside (the Lucifer character) knocks Clark across the room.  As he is falling, there is a moment frozen in time and he's suddenly standing back at the Fortress of Solitude.  His father Jor-El shows Clark all the trials he has been through in his life and we viewers got a look back at 10 seasons of series highlights all accompanied with inspiring orchestral music.  Clark realizes that these trials prepared him for this moment and Jor-El tells him, "Your final trial is upon you, my son, you are ready...Now, seize your destiny."


Suddenly the moment reverts back to the action and Clark is no longer falling...he's flying!  I kid you not, the three of us started clapping...we really are a family of geeks!

Clark finally becomes "Superman"

The finale finished showing Metropolis seven years in the future.  Lois and Clark are working at the Daily Planet and preparing for their wedding.  Suddenly someone yells that there is bomb in an elevator up town.  Clark looks knowingly at Lois as (oh my God, can it be) the theme music made famous by the Christopher Reeve Superman movies begins building up.  Clark tells Lois, "Tell the minister, I may be a few minutes late"

As he steps onto the roof of the building the crescendo of the Superman theme reaches its climax and, with an American flag waving in the background,  Clark opens his shirt to reveal the the familiar "S" as it goes to credits and the show ends.

Whew!!! In the words of Nigel Tufnell, "this one went to "11"

In Memorium: "Touched by an Angel's" John Dye

Just wanted to note the sad passing of actor John Dye at the tragic age of 47.  Dye is primarily remembered  for teaming up with Della Reese and Roma Downey as the angel "Andrew" for 9 seasons of the CBS show Touched by an Angel.

When Tammy, Gabriel, and I first moved to Boulder Colorado 11 years ago we didn't have a church family yet.   Being new to the area, we used to joke that for the first few weeks there, the show Touched by an Angel became our weekly "church" meeting; and Dye's "Andrew" was a favorite .

We loved that show!  Week after week people were shown that there is a God who loves them, and even though the world is hard, to have hope because HE has overcome the world. 

The clip I include is from an episode called 151st Psalm.  I must have watched this episode five or six times and can't get through it without shedding tears. A boy with Cystic Fibrosis is dying and his mother has lost her faith in God.  At the end, Dye's character takes the boy home to heaven as his mother sings the song she has written to God that despite tragedy, she will sing of His love!  My heart sores and is torn every time I watch it.



Dye character was the "Angel of Death", but in a much more positive light, he would prepare people for eternity.  As Dye himself has entered eternity, I trust that he is now in the hands of our Father. Good bye and God Speed John Dye...

Aaron Sorkin and The Social Network

Aaron Sorkin and I have never met. He would have no idea who I am...and yet I have made an unofficial bargain with him. Whatever TV show or movie he writes the story for, I watch, no questions asked. A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson's War, The American President...doesn't matter...Sorkin is, hands down, my favorite screenplay writer .

Sorkin's newest work, The Social Network, is the Oscar buzzing new film giving voyeurs a "fly on the wall" peak into the founding of the online site half the planet seems connected to.... including me. The movie features the snappy dialogue Sorkin has trademarked. Quick, intelligent, and really needing to be watched on DVD so you can rewind and absorb just how good it is.

OK, I digress but in the last month I've had a small handful of people compliment me on this blog. They've appreciated some of the humor, wit, and insights, and hey, I'm human; I won't pretend it doesn't stroke my ego a little. But, I'm smart enough to know that in writing terms, I'm the equivalent of the small town high school basketball star. I may be able to impress others (and sometimes myself) with the occasional swisher from the 3-point line, but when I  watch a Sorkin screenplay...wow... I realize I'm not even playing in the same league. True genius!

But I'm an Aaron Sorkin fan for other reasons. The way he sees the world, and America, is one that always inspires me. He puts so much of what he believes into his writing and I'm often watching and nodding with an occasional "Amen..preach it brother!" And its not just his views that I find compelling.  His writing often tips his hand to some of his own quirky interests. The icing on the cake for me has to be that in a particular episode of The West Wing Sorkin pretty much let it be known that the often forgotten James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service was his favorite. Lets face it, the single outing for George Lazenby as Bond (after Sean Connery but before Roger Moore) is typically no one's favorite, except for my mother and I. Anyone who makes a point of working an affection for that Bond movie into his TV show...well...he gets my vote :)

Critically, The Social Network doesn't disappoint. Somehow watching the history of a story that most of us play a small part in makes it all the more compelling. In addition to the flawless screenplay, the casting and direction was Oscar worthy. And, is it just me, or is Justin Timberlake actually a good actor???

Anyhow, get out and see The Social Network.  It's a strong contender for this year's Best Picture award and, you're seeing it predicted first on Beyond the Pale, Sorkin will walk away with the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.

And it will be well deserved...

Good Bye Tom Bosley...we'll miss you Mr. C!

Just a quick post to note the passing of Tom Bosley, or as we "over 40's" affectionately remember him as, "Mr. C' from Happy Days.  Watching Happy Days was a rite of passage growing up and Tom Bosley's sage fatherly advice was not only for his onscreen family but for many of us watching on TV as well. 

Remember, there was only 4 or 5 stations back then with everyone pretty much tuned to the same show; and for us, Tuesday night was Happy Days night.  It was simple time when the father of a TV family could still be portrayed as loving, competent, and full of wisdom as opposed to crass and moronic.  For those of you under 20,  back then a dad could even be portrayed to be as wise, if not wiser, than the mom...crazy eh?

The accolades coming out surrounding Tom Bosley's death from the likes of Henry Winkler and Ron Howard would testify to a man who was very much in real life like his compassionate onscreen persona.

When icons of my childhood pass on, its always sobering realizing time stops for no one.

So farewell and God Speed Tom Bosley...we'll miss you Mr. C!

Twin Peaks 20th Anniversary

Hard to believe its been 20 years since Twin Peaks first aired. Twenty years since half America stood around water coolers discussing the question du jour; "Who Killed Laura Palmer?"

Twin Peaks, for the uninitiated, was an ABC drama that focused on the murder of a homecoming queen in the Pacific Northwest. But any similarity to a TV cop show stops there. Instead, the surreal story involved among other things, a giant, a dwarf, Tibetan and American Indian mythology, and a lady who talked to a log. It was weird and quirky long before it was cool to be...and I loved it!

Put it this way, without a Twin Peaks, there is no X-Files and no Lost. David Lynch had made TV hip again!

I always thought the main protagonist, FBI Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle Maclachlin) was one of the coolest TV characters ever. Instead of using logic and reason to solve the murder, Cooper would use dreams, visions, black coffee, and cherry pie. How cool is that?

Anyhow just before I first went to Hong Kong in 1990, Twin Peaks was re-running the first few episodes to catch everyone up for the new season. I got hooked and made my friend Tom tape every episode I missed for the months I was away.



When I returned in June 1991 Tom gave me two video tapes loaded with the remaining episodes. Nowadays getting a whole season on DVD of a show and doing a marathon is pretty standard stuff...but not in 1991. I spent a day or two glued to the screen watching one episode after another. And did it get a little scary...rare is the show that can "freak" me out. Twin Peaks did

True story: right after my marathon of Twin Peaks I made another marathon of sorts by driving 19 hours from Detroit to Tulsa to visit my then future wife Tammy because I had a bit of a crush on her...and guys do crazy things like that when they are in love! Anyhow, I pulled over in a rest area at about 2:00 AM just to sleep for an hour or two. I put clothes on hangers in the window for a little privacy...but all I kept picturing in the window was the freaky killer BOB from the show. I hardly slept a wink...


(A montage to Twin Peaks's love of Black Coffee)

Anyhow, Twin Peaks broke the mold for TV. The writers would introduce some element in the show that would only become relevant 3-4 episodes later. Gone were the self contained episodes that tied up the plot so neatly at the end of the hour.

Twin Peaks is also a cautionary tale. Once the Laura Palmer murder was solved, ratings plummeted and the show was cancelled after the second season. X-Files fell into the same trap of not knowing how to "end it". Lost's writer's learned from these misfires. They told their story...and quit!

But Twin Peaks still resonates on the TV landscape showing that a great story can be told on the small screen. So Happy Anniversary Twin Peaks...I'm off to have a black coffee and a piece of cherry pie in your honor!

You have to watch "Centennial"!

Ok, but first you should read Centennial.

In 1999 I decided to tackle James Michener's celebrated novel about rugged Colorado...if for no other reason than I was getting ready to move there in just a few months. So, while on vacation in Malaysia I spent about 4 days where I scarcely left the hotel pool.

My routine would be a dip in the water, then walk back to my deck chair, light up a cigar (ah, the glory days of when I was still able to smoke them :) and lounge in paradise while being mesmerized by one of the best pieces of storytelling I had ever read.

When I finished reading the book my mom (who was also a big fan) bought me the complete NBC mini-series done back in 1978. At over 20 hours in length, the Centennial miniseries has been the only attempt to capture one of Mitchner's novels in its entirety on film. As a family, we probably watch it every 2-3 years but recently the whole series has been put out on DVD. So, I decided it was time to retire the videos...

And what's great about the series:

The story: Its the story of America...warts and all. It spans almost 200 years starting with the late 1700's and ending in the 1970's. You get to follow beloved characters as youngsters, watch them marry, raise families, grow old and finally die. You see it all; the settlement of the American West, the tragic displacement of the American Indian, the range wars, the cattle drives, famines, storms, immigration...the story of our country. Its no surprise that the series is sometimes shown in high school American history classes.

The Characters James Michener writes some good novels, and I've read many of them, but in Centennial he outdoes even himself. From the French Trapper Pasquinel to the Scotsman Alexander McKeag, the Mennonite Levi Zendt to the potato farmer Hans Brumbaugh I get caught up in the lives of these characters like few other stories. It brings one back to a primal time when two men's bonds of trust were cemented because they approached each other "without fear."

The "half-breed", Jaq Pasquinel is perhaps one of the most interesting characters portrayed. Horribly brutal one moment, merciful the next...he is caught between two cultures and not fully accepted by either. One moment I "hate" him, the next, I pity him. The complexity of the character defies sterotypes.


(A good scene from the movie with an aging Pasquinel (Robert Conrad) and his now adult son, Jaq)

The Actors For a guy like me whose formative years were honed on 70's and 80's television, the actors who bring Centennial to life are a "whose who" of the times. Richard Chamberlain as McKeag, Robert Conrad as Pasqunel. There is Lynn Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Gregory Harrison, and Robert Vaughn. A baby faced Mark Harmon stands out when he defies orders to gun down innocent Indians, invoking a court martial in the process. Watching Dennis Weaver play the tough but fair cattle man R.J. Poteet, I'm struck by the thought of what the world could be if men like him actually existed.

But what shines most is Michener's story of the human condition. Innocent people sometimes die, the criminal sometimes goes unpunished, hard work is not always rewarded but through it all, good does shine through.

I encourage you to get a copy of Centennial which you can do here and spend a few evenings watching a great story about America.

LOST: In this place, there is no Now

(Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
I can hardly believe its over! After 6 years of trudging through the jungles, the television series LOST came to a successful conclusion. I must admit, I like many other LOST fans were nervous. Were they going to ruin a story right at the end that we had come to love? Were questions that have been puzzling us, some from as long ago as Season 1, finally going to answered.

Well, the verdict from me?...It was wonderful!

I knew they were going to do something BIG at the end, but I REALLY didn't see the "sideways" storyline actually being a precursor to the afterlife.

And there were moments when, even though it was just the three of us, we yelled and clapped out loud upon seeing our friends Richard Alpert and Lapidus alive!

I could just go on & on!


Possibly my most emotional moment was when Ben Linus asks John Locke's forgiveness for killing him in life. The emotional explanation of his own insecurities which led to his horrific act tugged at my heart as the main root of sin was laid bare. Though Ben is destined for heaven, he seems to be going through a healing process even in the afterlife. It had me thinking of Revelation 22:2 when John describes the leaves of the Tree of Life being used to "heal the Nations". The inference being that even in eternity, the process of healing goes on.



Also was moved by the scene where Jack enters the church after realizing they are all dead. Some died during the show, others died years later and yet they all reunite in a single moment. When Jack asks his father how this is possible, he responds, "In this place...there is no Now". I got goose bumps because in a small way, I got a glimpse of eternity in this episode. I know some of you will role your eyes but I saw myself, reuniting with loved ones. Some having died long before me...some long after...but reuniting together in Christ in a single moment.

I want to go to there!!

Why I've gotten "LOST"

The best show on television? For me, far and away, it would be the ABC mystery drama, LOST.

Since its premiere in the fall of 2004 it has been a trip down Alice's rabbit hole that seems to get deeper each and every season. Now, in its final episodes, the story is heading toward a climax that I am sure will be emotional mixed with mind bending.

As a Christian, I am also drawn to its on going nods to my faith. In a recent episode, one character is upset at "jacob" and has a crisis of faith, even to the point of seeking out the Man in Black. However the episode ends with his having his faith restored and the final scene is his placing a cross back on after having buried earlier.

Whether its the overtly Christian Mr. Eko, the Jesus like "Jacob" who seemed to lay down his life for the people he's to protect, or even a character named Charlotte Staple Lewis (C.S. Lewis) the Christian influence continues to be a pleasant icing on the cake.

Writers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have created one of the most exciting, well developed stories ever broadcast on the small screen. As we begin the final five episodes, I just want to write this post as a big thank you to great storytelling.

Good-bye Robert Culp

Actor Robert Culp passed away this week and I just want to take a moment to pay tribute to the man for the small part of my life he influenced. Many obituaries focus on his groundbreaking TV series I Spy which teamed him with Bill Cosby in a time when blacks and whites didn't team together for all that much. Unfortunately, that series was even before my time. No, it was his portrayal of Special Agent Bill Maxwell in the series The Greatest American Hero that I have fond memories of.

Bill Maxwell was a tough, communist hunting, American loving crusader who was hard as nails on the outside but had a heart of gold on the inside. It was the early 80's and Maxwell was the poster child for the Reagan Revolution. Culp was brilliant in the role and became thee role model for all of us young, coming of age Republicans. It was a simpler time...and I miss it! So thanks Mr. Culp for the memories..rest in peace!

I See Four Lights!!!

In George Orwell's 1984, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is captured and tortured by the State towards the end of the story. As part of his re-education he is shown 4 lights and is asked how many lights he sees. "I see four lights" he responds.

Wrong! He is told he MUST see five lights. Over time he is conditioned so that he finally sees five lights. Its not enough that he says there are five lights, he has to see and believe it to be true.

Watching TV lately I have come to feel more and more like Winston Smith all the time. I feel I am being conditioned to believe something to be true that I know is not.

Today Tammy and I were watching a new TV series we have started to enjoy called Flash Forward. If you haven't seen it, it's about what happens when the whole world blacks out for a couple minutes and everyone experiences a premonition of the future. In a nutshell, its been pretty cool.

Today one of the characters, who is a lesbian, has a date with another lady. OK, we think, "This is the 2000's" its something we have to endure occasionally. Then one of them starts talking about doing a "three way" with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. I start thinking, "Are you kidding me" This is not a rented movie, or even cable...this is network TV that my 11 year old son watches with me. Then both girls go back to one of the girl's places where they begin to seriously "go for each other". Wow!! Lesbians making out.

What used to be restricted to the back aisle porn section of the video store is now front and center on network TV. Would someone explain how we went in fifty years from Lucy and Ricky sharing separate beds and not being able to say the word "pregnant" over the air to lesbian sex?

And then I realized they won't do this yet with guys yet because its still to creepy but girls...thats a little more palatable. Ten years ago this would never have been allowed...ten years from now? Mmmmmm

I'm being conditioned!

I know something is wrong, but they are telling me its right. I know there are four lights but they are going to keep at me until I see five. Its not enough that I say there are five lights, I have to believe it!

But they won't get me and you know why?

Because I see four lights!

Star Trek

I can't believe Star Trek is coming out today in the States and I'm not there to see it. I've been reading the news and watching some of the reaction clips on CNN and am SO happy that it has been positively received. Such strong response signals a successful re-birth of a franchise that was, frankly, intertwined with my family and friends growing up.

Nearly every Saturday and Sunday evening in the 1970's Hackman household found my brothers and I (and quite often Mom & Dad) watching the crew of the Enterprise exploring strange, new, worlds. My geekness extended to:

* making lego phasers which were displayed on my bookcase and kept "at the ready" in case of a Romulan sneak attack of my bedroom
* reading every Star Trek novel that came out in the 1980's
* heaping abuse on the first season of The Next Generation
* endless hours of discussing with friends every nuance of the show
* and Yes, I did go to a convention

Seeing Star Trek movies have been sort of a group activity with me and my friends over the years. Living in Qingdao China has made that difficult. I had floated the idea of flying down to Hong Kong to see the new movie but, although my wife has become an amateur Trekkie over the years, the expense of flying to another country to see a movie was quickly nixed by her. :)



Thats when good news arrived! I read online that the cinema here in Qingdao will be showing the new Star Trek movie starting next week. The information is all in Chinese so I printed it out and took it to our Chinese staff to interpret. They were kind enough to call the cinema and discover that although they couldn't confirm it yet, believed they would have some screenings in English!! Hurray!!

I was so excited I invited the whole office staff to join me and I would spring for the tickets of any person that would come with. So, we'll see if next Star Trek comes to China...in English so I can once again join the crew of the Enterprise boldly going where no man has gone before.

In Memorium: Dom Deluise 1933-2009

I had not intended to write so many "in Memorium" blogs but when someone passes who has had an impact on my life, I feel I need to pause for a moment, reflect on that person's life,...and then I write.

I woke this morning to hear of the passing of actor and comedian, Dom Deluise. Deluise is best known for his work in such Mel Brooks movies such as Spaceballs & Silent Movie as well as his collaborations with real life friend, Burt Reynolds. Its in latter that I will most miss him. Whenever Deluise and Reynolds would team up, I would just laugh. Deluise coming out in his infamous "Captain Chaos" costume to his familiar "Dunt ...Dunt...DAHhhhhhh!" intro was parodied by my brothers and I for years growing up. (I wanted to include a clip from Youtube of one those scenes with Reynolds, but China is still blocking access to Youtube)

Burt Reynolds says of his friend,

I was thinking the other day about this. As you get older you think about this more and more, I was dreading this moment. Dom always made everyone feel better when he was around. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much.

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Dom Deluise comedy was often not the type to make me laugh outloud. His humor was of a different brand. What he gave me was a different feeling. Thinking about it now I think, "Yes, when I watched Dom Deluise, he gave me joy."

And with the passing of Mr. Deluise, the world has now, sadly, just a little less joy...

Life On Mars: Series Finale

Last night Tammy, Gabriel and I watched the series finale of the TV show, "Life on Mars." The final 6 or 7 minutes was a mindbending, thought provoking, ending to the tragically short lived show. I won't give the ending away but encourage you to catch the series off Itunes or when its available on DVD. It will blow your mind!

I found myself thrilled and then angry. Why is it that intelligent, high concept shows get the axe while mind numbing and inane reality shows like American Idol, Wife Swap, and Super Nanny acheive such success? Do I have to remove half my brain to see what the rest of America does in these shows? Is there a place for creative and intelligent TV that doesn't get cancelled?

The TV Addict had a insightful interview with the Life on Mars producers on the difference between shows getting renewed today vs. 20 years ago. They mention that shows like Cheers, Hill Street Blues, and MASH would have been cancelled because it took them sometime to develop their audience. When asked why they they show such devotion to their fans, namely in producing their own 15 minute conclusion to their previously cancelled series, October Road as well as lobbying to conclude Life on Mars they respond, "The one thing that I really truly believe with all my heart, the one thing that all of our fans have in common is that they have impeccable, impeccable taste and they need to be rewarded for that taste!"



Anyhow, I'm going to miss my weekly trip back to 1973. The music was hipper, the cars were cooler, the politics and social mores were edgier. But, I'll always have on Itunes a wonderful 17 episode story that goes out on a high note.

Ron Silver 1946-2009

Character actor Ron Silver has passed away after a two year battle with cancer. I blog about this for two reasons:

1: Ron Silver was a wonderful actor who I have enjoyed immensely through the years, particularly as Bruno Gianelli, the hard nosed political strategist on The West Wing.

2: Ron Silver was a liberal Democrat who became a Bush supporter due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He endured the ridicule from his own friends and embraced a VERY unpopular position that negatively affected not only his reputation with the Left but jeapordized his career.

I was at a dinner party once where the participants were all liberal Democrats (hey I lived in Boulder) except for me. When the topic of Ron Silver came up, a collective disgust came out from the company. "Wow", I thought, this guy really struck a nerve.

Ron Silver was on a panel discussion a couple years ago and I was amazed by his reason and rational. He mentioned something to the affect that for years he saw, and was well aware of, the far right crazies but how he had come to learn, and fear, the far left crazies just as much, if not more.

I resonated with that attitude as I had come to the same conclusion from the opposite end of the spectrum. I had always seen, and feared, the far-left crazies. They were the enemy trying to destroy all that was good and noble about this country. Then I ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 (yes, I lost...but I did win the primary) and was quickly made aware that my own party had its fair share of crazies.

For years I listened to pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and saw the world in the way they sold it. But something certainly happened to me. I don't know if I moved to the middle, or they moved to the right, but now they sound like clanging cymbals to me. Its not that I always disagree with what they say (I often agree) its more in the way they say it.

Its become pretty in vogue these days for evangelical Christians (particularly the under 40s) to proclaim their disgust with the Republican Party and proudly proclaim their support for the Democrats

...but not I.

I certainly sympathize, but the reality for me is there are more deal breakers on the left side of the aisle than the right, although I retain the right to step over the line when I feel the issue deserves it.



Ron Silver was a liberal until his death bed, but his sharp mind allowed him to alter his positions on a number of areas where reason would trump ideology. In this clip I was saddened at the obvious toll the cancer took on his body. As a survivor of cancer myself, I am particularly empathetic for people living with this horrible disease.

So Rest In Peace Mr. Silver, you'll be missed!

Life on Mars axed!

Ok, I'm a little irritated! One of my favorite TV shows was just cancelled and I want to sound off. In an earlier post I mentioned some of the new shows this fall season that I thought were pretty good.

I have watched one by one as they have all been cancelled. First My Own Worst Enemy, then Eli Stone, and now the one that really disappoints me, Life on Mars.

Life on Mars had it all; Cool cops with 1970s clothes, 1970s attitudes, 1970s political incorrectness, 1970s soundtrack mixed with Harvey Keitel, time travel, and tiny little nano robots. Cripe! its a crying shame that this show gets axed and idiot reality shows that play to the lowest level of our society get promoted.

Word on the street though is that the ABC execs liked the show even though they killed it and are giving them until the end of the season to wrap up the story line.

I know this is just gripeing, and considering the real pain going on in the world, this type of post seems trite.

But gosh dang I love good story telling...and the story I was listening to just got cancelled. :)

Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman

OK, no deep thoughts, discourse, or editorial here. Just plain funny! Joaquin Phoenix was on David Letterman last night and made a complete fool out of himself. Letterman at first was being gracious but finally gave in and just started having fun with it... at Phoenix's expense. The clip is REALLY funny and painful at the same time!! Then the question to ask is

* Was he just being a jerk on purpose?

* Was he on drugs?

* Was it a setup by he and Letterman?

* Was he doing it just for fun and to see if he could?