Breathe, Bob, breathe!

I just got done watching all four seasons of a Canadian show called ReGenesis. It was a pretty awesome show, but it sadly jumped the shark about mid-way through season 3 when a sweet biochemist, Bob, evolved into a higher being. More on that later.

It’s not that this show wasn’t science-fiction, but the emphasis was mostly on the science with fiction coming on in believable bites. As someone who knows a tiny bit about infectious diseases (it’s just a hobby!) I found the science to be smart and up-to-date. Ultimately this makes the leaps of imagination easier to take. Initially the show reminded me of Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx & Crake where in the not too distant future, all we know about science today can easily turn into tomorrow’s nightmares.

NORBAC (The North American Biotechnology Advisory Commission) stands in the way of those nightmares. The scientists would chase down outbreaks of various viral or bacteriological diseases and then scamper home to their headquarters in Toronto to pour over the data. Hot trendy music would accompany virology montages of the hot trendy scientists as they pipetted, beakered, and sequenced DNA. Chief scientist and #1 man-whore David Sandstrom (played by Peter Outerbridge) would storm through the lab barking out orders and generally being a rebel and a loner. All the women scientists are icy hotties who apparently have all slept with Sandstrom, which seems to be how they got their jobs. If they didn’t sleep with him, they got killed. Seriously.

Case in point is the lead virologist. The first one didn’t sleep with David and was killed by a crazy man (possibly a terrorist), the second did sleep with David and left NORBAC after being blown up by terrorists, the third (no sex with David) is killed when a terrorist forces her to inject herself with weapons-grade Measles, and the final one slept with David and… well, the show ended before she could do much else. Conclusion, being the lead virologist at NORBAC is about as lucky a job as being Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in the Harry Potter books… unless you sleep with David.

Two scientists managed to get out of the “Sex with Sandstrom” loop and that’s Carlos the Mexican doctor (who is gay, so the potential was there), and Bob. Yes. What about Bob? Played by Dmitry Chepovetsky (I double checked that spelling!) Dr. Robert Melnikov is a genius with two PhDs and Asperger’s syndrome. He worships David and it’s their relationship that makes Sandstrom at least slightly likable.

Achingly sweet and naïve, Bob is the best character on the show. He is honest, intelligent and not haunted by all the usual crap people are haunted by. Sandstrom (with enough baggage to bury several people) could get outside of his considerable ego when in Bob’s presence. Bob was a better basketball player, a better chess player (with his eyes closed no less!) and a general all-round better person, but never made Sandstrom jealous. It just made him stop and think. David for his part became very protective and proprietary towards him but was always around to remind Bob to breathe when things got a bit overwhelming.

Bob was injured during a season ending cliffhanger which lead to his being (in no short order) blinded, sighted again after a radical procedure, had his Jacobson’s organ awakened, which made him empathic (this was the evolution to a higher being), being pursued by nefarious businessmen, being cloned, and ultimately responsible for the deaths of over a billion people. For this I will never forgive the producers and writers of this show.

The final episode, like the final episodes of Enterprise and Babylon 5 show a future where those that remain have to live with the consequences of their actions. Bob and Bob Jr. (the clone) are at the center of the storm which places like NORBAC where supposed to curtail. But this future may very well have been a dream as we are left with a final image of David lying in the snow, heartbreakingly abandoned by Bob (after Bob's evil wife Nina whacks him with a shovel), his wanton life flashing before his eyes.

If you wanted to see the show and I gave too much away, I apologize. You can do yourself a favor however, and stop watching about the middle of season 3. This was the point where Bob’s ability to sense other people’s emotions gets out-of-hand and I no longer believed the science or the relationships. If you stop watching at that point you can easily use your imagination to weave an alternate universe where everyone is happy, NORBAC protects us from nasty germs and David is always there to remind Bob to “Breathe.”

My daemon

Just finished reading the Phillip Pullman trilogy "His Dark Materials" and I decided that my daemon is a black cat who likes to sleep and eat. Oh! wait! I can see him! Amazing! ...and I don't live in Lyra's world! But there he is, completely sacked out next to my computer after having a hearty mid-morning snack. I love my daemon!

Proclaimers!

The Proclaimers new single... Life With You!!



Yes, that's right.... they are the "500 miles" guys but they are NOT one-hit wonders. "Life with You" is their seventh album (not yet out in the US). Due to their vaguely nerdy but cool glasses, their unabashedly romantic songs, and their Scottish passion I declare them...

Honorary Librarians!

They join Pliny the Elder in my Honorary Librarians Hall of Fame.

reading slow

I’ve been reading a great deal lately. For book club I read “Water for Elephants” by Sarah Gruen. For my own amusement I just finished the second of the “Dark Materials” trilogy by Philip Pullman. They are very exciting reads but my only complaint is that the books don’t end satisfactorily for me. They cannot be read as individual books, it’s as if the three books should be considered one very long book. Finally, as part of my “Babylon 5” marathon I have been engaged in, I am re-reading the Technomage trilogy by Jeanne Cavelos. As for DVDs, in addition to Babylon 5 and Crusade I am watching The Good Life aka Good Neighbors. I just love Paul Eddington!

On my trip down to New Orleans I read “Harry Sullivan’s War” a Doctor Who Companion spin-off written by Ian Marter himself! It was very good, even though it had no sci-fi in it… but one complaint…. Harry Sullivan is NOT an idiot. I also read “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan. As always a thought provoking book about what we call ‘food’. It makes you read labels more clearly (Just say “NO” to High Fructose Corn Syrup!) and it made me start baking my own bread again.

Hot Fuzz and Pliny

One hundred and sixty-five pages into the Loeb Classical Library edition of the first volume of Pliny’s Natural History and I’m STILL in the index. I officially nominate Gaius Plinius Secundus (the Elder) as an honorary librarian. I particularly like the way he notes the number of “facts, investigations, and observations” [res et historiae et observationes] at the end of each index entry.

HA! Hot Fuzz is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time! First it takes police work very seriously, and then it spoofs the genre by indulging in all the clichés. It too clever by three-quarters! Simon Pegg is great in this… and his character knows the meaning of ‘exacerbate’.

Also funny (in an unfortunate way) was 300. Every time the Spartan King Leonidas said something with his heavy Scots accent… I just burst out laughing. And once again, the deformed guy is evil…. A prejudicial cliché that has to go!

Ancient Times

This weekend I also finished Saturnalia by Lindsey Davis and it was a great read. I like the way the lives of the characters are in the fore with the mysteries taking a bit of a back seat. Unfortunately my neighbor read one of the Falco books and felt like she was missing something. While it is fun reading it as a series, someone should be able to read any of the books as a stand-alone. There are a great many references to previous stories which must make it confusing for a first time reader.

I’m also at the end of the second (and final) season of Rome. There is one more episode left and we have the Battle of Actium, Marc Antony’s death, and Cleopatra’s death to deal with. I would like to see a few more people die as well; most of them are really nasty. While I praised the historical accuracy in the first season (and the producers took a great deal of pride in their set) the second season is playing fast and loose with the truth. But I think it’s amusing the way they work the characters of Vorenus and Pulla into every major event. They even had Pulla kill Cicero in his villa instead of while he was fleeing to the coast!

A little detail like that is no big deal, but then they totally re-worked Marc Antony’s relationships and the death of Brutus’ mother. I also resent the overall grimness of Rome. According to the show, every woman is a scheming bitch and every man has killed someone just for heck of it at one time or another. I would rather think of Rome like any other big city. There are nice people and not so nice people but everyone is just trying to get along in life. There are always Lindsey Davis’s books if I want a more pleasant portrayal of Rome.

BOOK Sale!!

I went to a big book sale this past weekend and promised myself I wouldn’t get too many books. But here’s what I found:

• The first two volumes of Mervyn Peake’s Gormangast trilogy (I’ll go back on half-price day to try to find the third volume)
• Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa.
• A Saint book by Leslie Charteris
• A textbook on Economic Botany (it’s not paleoethnobotany but it’s a good foundation)
• Medicus by Ruth Downie (another mystery series set in Ancient Rome)
• And a cute little Latin dictionary

Plinean or Plinian?

As a treat for getting a somewhat decent full-time job, I purchased the first of 10 volumes of Pliny’s Natural History. What a great book! Latin on the left hand page and English on the right-hand page…. It’s really helping my Latin vocab! I’ll buy a new volume every couple of months… then I’ll start on the 28 volumes of Cicero.

Plinian quote of the day “To be awake is to be alive.” [Vita vigilia est] Pliny recommends only 4-5 hours of sleep each night with a couple of naps during the day. He feels that it will give you more time to study and write… and he wrote a lot!

Io Saturnalia!

I finally got my hot little hands on Lindsey Davis’ Saturnalia. I’m reading it as slowly as I can to make it last! I also have to tell everyone about Guba a web site that has videos available. Unlike YouTube, the videos are not chopped into 10 minute bites. I have been watching full episodes of such British classics as Callan, Up Pompeii, and Time Team.; as well as cult classic Sapphire & Steel. You need a fairly decent Internet connection to see these (or else they just keep buffering…) It get frustrating especially during the exciting bits of Callan.

Re-read

I am currently re-reading "See Delphi and Die" by Lindsey Davis in anticipation to read her latest Falco mystery, "Saturnalia." However, the library I use charges to put a hold on an item. Jupiter! I refuse to pay! So, I keep visiting, hoping to catch it between patrons. But, it is a popular book and it is proving to be elusive.

I am also re-watching "Egypt Beyond the Pyramids" because the host, Peter Woodward is absolutely gorgeous. He is also very smart and witty... which makes him even more gorgeous. It's a pity being intelligent and clever doesn't make me incredibly attractive... sigh.