A Raw Deal on Battlestar Galactica Razor?

I waited months with anticipation for "Battlestar Galactica: Razor", particularly since this BSG-event offered some background on Admiral Cain (Caine?) as well as flashbacks to the cylon attack on the scorpion shipyards. My desire to see it was further enhanced by fact one, that it will be a long wait between now and the premiere of BSG season 4 , and fact two, that Galactica is coming to an end.

Well, that's what you get for daring to look forward to something. For weeks and weeks, sci-fi channel had been pumping fans with Razor "flashbacks", interspersed through other programs in their lineup. These were cool scenes, usually of young Admiral Adama.

Only thing is, when Razor aired on Sci-fi network, you didn't see those flashback scenes...you have to buy the Razor dvd to see them.

What a rip! I mean, come one. That is pure BS.

Nonetheless, I went out and bought the dvd, just like the clowns at the network figured I (and thousands of other BSG fans) would.

Can you say "conned", "hoodwinked", "ripped off"? Better yet, can you say all those things in a poem that describes how crappy Sci-fi network is?

I went to see Beowulf again last night. And I liked it even more the second time. And that's not just because of the animated hooters worn by Angelie Jolie (let's be real for a moment: Jolie is a beautiful woman but her own wares do not come close to the cgi renderings of her beowulf character). I found the voice-over acting and the scene direction (director Robert Zemeckis) to be excellent. Pile that on top of what is already a many-centuries-old classic and truly fantastic 3D effects, and, well, I would advise anyone who has not seen this movie to go out and view it.

On the subject of 3D, typically I find 3D films to be a disappointment. Something about the 3D rendering is always off. The last 3D movie I saw was "Superman Returns" (a movie that was a clear homage to the original Chris Reeve movie, to the extent that it couldn't even step out of that film's shadow) which was shown in Imax theaters. It only offered partial 3D, meaning that some scenes were standard and some were 3D, an approach that, to my mind, sucks. But what sucked even more was the fact that the 3D visualization was not particularly good.

With Beowulf, the 3D was seamless, clear, and had none of the quality of prior 3D films that tends to make you feel just a little nauseated as you watch. Perhaps they've improved the technology, or perhaps the 3D tech just goes better with an animated film. But it was great, I have to say.

Also, worth noting is the fact that the glasses made available for this movie were the highest quality I've seen yet. Very comfortable. And that, in itself, may have made a difference in terms of sustained viewer comfort while watching this movie.

Buying on Ebay...hmmm

Years ago, I bought a used computer on ebay and it arrived as a broken mess (literally, the power supply had been rolling around in the case). From that point forward, I vowed never to buy used electronics on Ebay again.

I guess it had been long enough that I forgot my vow. Recently, I purchased guitar hero on xbox 360, didn't like it, and decided to give it to a couple I know. They had played the game at a friend's home and loved it. However, they had no xbox 360 on which to play it at their own home. So, I went online and purchased it as a "buy it now" selection on Ebay. A little pricey for an xmas gift (even used, the thing was over $200), but I felt "in the giving mood".

Old lessons should be remembered for a reason, I suppose. This console, which had been advertised as mint, arrived non-functional right out of the box. It even had a label slapped on the side that said (get this) stopped working.

Irate is not the word to describe how I felt. I called the vendor and asked why my mint xbox 360 did not work and why some idiot would ship a machine that was clearly stamped "stopped working". The person on the phone apologized and said that they would be happy to make things right. And that day they emailed me a return shipping label (with a bar code for the cost) to mail this thing back.

But here's the rub. I have to box this up, go to the post office which is a bitch at xmas time, mail it back, and wait for them to receive it and get their act straight before they mail out what I already paid for.

Old lessons should not be forgotten.