Category Archives: Uncategorized

European Idol

Right now, we’re in the thirteenth season of American Idol. A few weeks from now, the 58th annual Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Copenhagen.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Contest started out as a way to promote television across Europe. Member nations of the European Broadcasting Union send one musical act each to the competition, and the winner is chosen by a combination of a panel of judges and viewer votes. It’s different from American Idol in that it’s open to groups as well as individual artists, and the artists are already professionals. It’s something like an international “Battle of the Bands”. Also, it’s the song that’s being judged, not the artist.

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But are they Art?

I recently saw The Art of Video Games exhibit at the Hudson River Museum. It’s an interesting look at the history of console games from an artistic perspective. I found it to be more effective as a history of the video game genre than any actual artistic criticism. Partly because the exhibit is laid out in chronological format, but more because there’s still something lacking in the field.

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Baseball Season!

Ah, Spring. When a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of… Baseball!!!

If you’re a casual fan like me, the first week or so of Baseball Season is filled with brightness, optimism, and hope. April is the month where every team can dream a a shot at winning their division. Given that there are 162 games in a season, the first few weeks are simply too small a sample size to really help determine who is going to be in first place come the end of the year. A team can jump out of the gate on a tear, or can still be working out leftover problems from Spring Training.

Admittedly, some teams have better chances than others. But one can still dream.

This is also the time of year when both experts and fans make their guesses as to how the standings will look come the end of the season. Each division typically has one Favorite, one Contender, two Also-Rans, and one Basement Dweller. The difference between a Favorite and a Contender is usually a matter of luck. The Also-Rans are too close together to pick which one finishes above the other. Here’s how I think things will shake out.

 

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On the Matter of Giordano Bruno

So I’m watching “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” with Neil deGrasse Tyson…. and while impressive overall (the simple fact that a major network is devoting thirteen hours out of its schedule for a freakin’ science show is awesome enough!), I did cringe just a bit at the retelling of the myth of Giordano Bruno as a “martyr for science”. While they did give a bit more of his life (the fact that he was run out of towns by Protestants was new to me), they still oversimplified the case against him. He wasn’t executed for his cosmological beliefs. While they were one count in the indictment, there were seven others that were far more serious – like denying the divinity of Christ.

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Not Another Crimean War

A recent article in The Onion, that pillar of journalistic excellence, described how Americans are bitterly divided over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine between the grossly misinformed and the wholly apathetic. While there is some justification for being apathetic, being misinformed – especially if you want to have some influence in the matter – cannot easily be forgiven.

As the situation continues to develop, it might behoove us to reflect on the history of the area. Because if the United States is going to get drawn in to the conflict, we had better know what we are getting ourselves into.

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So, How Did They Do?

Earlier I had listed those Olympic athletes who were the sole representatives of their countries in Sochi. Given that the 2014 Winter Olympics are over, I thought it would be interesting to see how they did.

Note that when I give a result of, for example, 52nd of 60, that 60 refers to the number of athletes who crossed the finish line. It does not include all the DNSs, DNFs, and DSQs.

DNS; Did Not Start – For whatever reason, the athlete declined to compete. I’m going to assume it was due to illness and not something like equipment failure or not being there at the start when the race / their run was scheduled to begin. Olympic athletes have been known to share equipment when someone forgets to bring spares. And missing your start time is something too embarrassing to contemplate.

DNF: Did Not Finish – The athlete started, but did not cross the finish line. Perhaps they got hurt along the way, or were so far behind that they decided to save their strength for another competition.

DSQ: Disqualified – For whatever reason, they were either not allowed to compete or their results were wiped. Perhaps they ran afoul of one of the many obscure rules governing the Olympic version of their sport. Happily, there are very, very few of these. And none from our “soloists”

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Fixing the Olympics

So there’s a bit of a to-do today about apparent home-team favoritism in one of the many figure skating competitions in Sochi. The Grand High Masters of World Figure Skating may have made slight adjustments in their Super Double Secret Rules of Scoring to grant a victory to a Russian skater, instead of the perceived audience favorite.

Fans of the sport are all up in arms over this, demanding that Something! Be! Done!

Certainly, there are things that should be done. But nothing that requires the rolling of heads.

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On Movie Remakes

With the new version of Robocop hitting the big screen this weekend, there will no doubt be (in addition to comparisons to the original) arguments over whether or not it is acceptable to remake a movie. Some movie buffs will be dead set against remaking any movie for any reason at all. Others will argue that it shouldn’t matter, especially if they haven’t seen the original (the subset of movie watchers who categorically refuse to consider watching a movie more than five or ten years old is a matter for another essay entirely).

While it is true that there’s no reason at all to remake a movie that is still good even in spite of the passage of time, there are indeed situations where a remake is actually warranted.
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Going it Alone in Sochi

At the Opening Ceremonies earlier today, viewers saw athletes from all over the world. The United States has 230 athletes participating (I believe that is the maximum number allowed by the IOC and general fairness); Russia has 226, and Canada 220. Nine other countries are sending over 100 athletes as well. No doubt these countries will be dominating the “Medal Count” tables – as if collecting the most medals means your country “wins” the Olympics.

The Olympics are not about which country gets the most “bling”. They are about athletes from all over the world getting together every four years to compete against each other. Sure, it takes a lot of time, money, and effort to get there. And there are minimum qualifications to be able to participate – they aren’t going to let just anyone come and play.

With extremely rare exceptions, you need the backing of a government to make it to the Olympics. Which is why they are dominated by the large and wealthy nations. But there are still small countries that manage to send athletes, and they are just as proud of them and cheer just as hard as any other country.

Here are the athletes who are the sole representatives of their countries:
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