I usually like to hit them when they're down. I'll make an exception to Johnny Carson.

I am just old enough to enjoy for Carson to actually mean something to me. In college I remember a friend, a couple of years older than me, referred to Johnny Carson as "that old man who thinks he's funny." That nettled me, but I kept it to myself. I didn't want to look square by admitting I liked the Tonight Show.

When I was around twelve, my father was going to bed earlier and I was going to bed later. I discovered the Tonight Show, and I felt like I had discovered real adulthood. This was a different adulthood than my parents; this was an adulthood with men and women dressed nicely, chatted comfortably with one another, and knew just how much sophomoric humour was enough.

Don't watch old Tonight Shows. That's as pointless as looking at other people's family snapshots. Carson's style now is not Carson's style. His style was based on a sense of the now. Watching him now is nostalgia, and he wasn't about nostalgia. I like to think that not only was longing for retirement when he quit the show, but he understood that the show needed a youthful energy and he couldn't pull that off forever, and so he left the show despite protests, enjoyed many years of quiet retirement, and died. Well done! May David Letterman (who owes everything he is to JC) be so wise.

Posted by Nica @ 11:42 PM PST [Link]

About a year ago when the new Battlestar Galactica miniseries was about to be shown, I was preparing an entry for this site. I was going to make fun of how everything is being rehashed from the near past, and how it was getting annoying. That entry had to be scrapped, because the miniseries was good. The most of the characters were interesting, and Baltar is facinating. People actually suffer in the storylines. Nice looking sets and mysterious Cylons had me wishing for a series.

Now I have my series.

But you have to understand that this only worried me. In in my nature to worry about what I want when I see it coming. The SciFi people hacked the Earthsea saga into idiocy and cliche. Why should I expect excellence from a TV series?

So what did I get? The start of a good series, that is what I saw tonight. Baltar is looking tense, exasperated, and vulnerable enough to gain a viewer's sympathy as he destroys the human race. Adama looks fatherly, sometimes intimidating, always trying to do right. A litany of secondary characters will, I hope, keep the good storylines coming. The camera work and design give the show a claustophobic and disordered tone perfect for the show. I would never have guessed the SciFi network would do such a good job with this.

Posted by Nica @ 12:07 AM PST [Link]

Seattlelites love talking about the weather when there is a hint that there might be snow. Currently it is cold, but above freezing, and light rain is dribbling from clouds lit by light pollution. If it snows tonight, it won't be much, but it will be much discussed. People ask each other about their commutes, and if they want snow, or dread snow. "I want snow -- three day weekend!" explains one office worker. "I have to come to work tomorrow, and I have to drive an hour," explains another worker. "You folks can't drive in winter weather," comments a passerby dismissively.


I think most Seattlelites sometimes like, sometimes despise snow, depending on their commute, how their driveways are situated, or how their health is, but we all love talking about snow that might fall.

Posted by Nica @ 09:30 PM PST [Link]

Look closely at this picture and you'll see snow. That's why there are lots of people staring from behind railings. This snow was happening in Pacific Place, an upscale mall. It was a nice Christmas shopping gimmick. My husband and I would actually arrange to purchase coffee around 5:30 PM to catch the six o'clock snow.

Then today I saw The Aviator, Leonardo Dicaprio's latest vehicle, and took notice of a nightclub scene with many dining under indoor snow. It was very glamorous.

Of course this makes sense for places like Hollywood or Seattle, places basically without snow. If there was lots of snow, and then you came inside to relax, and just find more snow, that would be annoying.

But why stop with snow? I would like a nice breeze in the malls, and maybe those floating dandelion seeds. A nice fog bank could be a novelty worth looking into. If I knew I would be entering a restaurant and emerging from a fog bank, I would wear something dramatic.

Posted by Nica @ 01:02 AM PST [Link]