Posts by Ben McNicoll

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  • Voting Local 2010,

    Does anyone know how the Auckland Council results breakdown by left/right?

    Cit/Rats and City Vision?

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Hard News: Kids: Still alright,

    Well, the boys do know how to party. It's the how to stop partying they're still working on...

    They're off exposing themselves to the mainland in CHCH, Dunedin and Gore as we speak (with a slightly smaller touring lineup).

    Wait, that doesn't sound quite right.

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Hard News: Kids: Still alright,

    Oh, and while we're sort of on the subject and did anyone else find it odd that there's not a single mention (that I can find) of who the panel actually were.

    Calling it the Critics Choice prize and then not having any actual criticism or even a critic to point at just seems a bit opaque.

    Or have i just missed it?

    Congrats to Street Chant - couldn't have gone to nicer kids.

    Disclaimer of interest: I play in the Home Brew live band (can't claim credit for any of their stuff, that's all the remarkable talent of Tom, Haz and Lui ).

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Hard News: Kids: Still alright,

    @Rich

    Didn't that just happen?

    He called it, Sacha disagreed at about the same volume.

    Isn't that how it's s'posed to work?

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Radiation: Geek, annoyed,

    The sideways universe was an overly long setup for a feel-good cast photo op at the end.

    That nails it. A photo op that had bugger all to do with the earlier seasons.

    The ARC in story arc implies coming back to a place that you could have got to from where you started by a slightly more direct route.

    Otherwise it's no longer an arc it's a just a wiggly line. Which is fine in shows where the characters really are the focus - I'm thinking Treme, and to a lesser or greater extent The Wire - but doesn't work so well in a show like Lost, where let's face it, the characters are primarily involved in moving the plot along, no matter what the producers say they intended.

    As to actual harm, I'll accept that there's none. As to audience satsifaction, this focus group of one remains unsatisfied. Again, hard to please.

    I'll get my coat.

    PS. (hope I've used that right)

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Radiation: Geek, annoyed,

    Hey, would anyone have been happier if Ron Moore had thrown in some fan-wank about Head-Six, Head-Baltar and Kara 2.0 being POXY "BEINGS OF LIGHT" IN A FLYING CHANDELIER!

    And I call False Dichotomy.

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Radiation: Geek, annoyed,

    (And to be honest, folks, you're calling bullshit on the finale when the Rag Tag Fleet just happened to trip over Kobol, the legendary lost home of humanity, three seasons back -- where Laura Roslin's drug-trips turn out to be surprisingly accurate?)

    My problem with the BSG ending was actually the reverse of my issue with the Lost ending.

    Having raised the questions of divine intervention (either mono- or poly-) vs chance as a constant thread, i felt that was the one thing they could have left ambiguous, rather than nailing it down to the fucking floor (and in particular using the visiting angel trope so beloved of bad american tv).

    Apparently I am both tough to please, and inconsistent.

    Meh.

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Radiation: Geek, annoyed,

    For fans who stuck with he whole run and didn't like the ending, surely they only wasted 15 minutes of their lives and were entertained by the rest?

    It's the way the explanation retrospectively updates your feelings about the series.

    Like getting to the end of a shaggy dog story only to find the punchline reveals the teller as deeply and uncomfortably racist.

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Radiation: Geek, annoyed,

    The polar bears were escapees of Dharma experiments, I thought. Explained by the the big cages and fish biscuits on hydra island. One showed up fossilised in Tunisia to be found by Charlotte - this is the exit point for people who mess with the Orchid station and move the island - Locke and Ben both went there.

    There is a reasonably good explanation of the purpose of the polar bear experiments I saw somewhere online:

    The polar bears were being experimented on to enhance their intelligence so they could be used to move the island via the wheel. This is supported by [edit]3 [/edit] observations:

    1 - it's cold in the wheel house
    2 - polar bear remains were found in Tunisia near the exit point
    3 - it would be good to have a way of moving the island that didn't end up with being kicked off

    This is one of the mysteries of the island that WAS explained in a consistent way, and is what raised my hope that there were going to be some equally interesting explanations of the other remaining questions.

    That weren't found in the final, or indeed the last series.

    My outrage over the final was somewhat muted by the earlier and tangentially related Battlestar Galactica "Touched by a frakking angel" ending.

    I reckon that was one motif that worked particularly badly in a irreligious country like New Zealand.

    Could have been written about BSG in my opinion.

    Anyway, once you've had one series retrospectively redefined for you, you go pre-emptively numb as you see the warning signs approaching.

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

  • Radiation: Lost on Internet Island,

    Community noticeably finds it's feet after 3 or 4 episodes, and keeps getting better as you get to know the characters... in my opinion.

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report

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