Hi-Sci-Fi

by Irma Arkus

The question of what fall will bring is on the minds of sci-fi and fantasy lovers, who feel somewhat abandoned by recent slew of show cancellations and endings to beloved TV series. While I myself lament a few losses (Terminator, BSG…), I also look forward to what is to come, and would like to remind you and me, what to watch for the next few months.

“V”

Spruced up and ready to go for another shot, this one is a remake of a well remembered cheapy TV classic. Remembered for: lizard aliens who pretend to look like humans, and occasionally show their true face (of evil?) by having the faux epidermis scratched off.

While this held wonderfully decades ago, I was surprised that the remake held onto the face peeling bit. Aside from that, “V” looks promising, and taps into some of Joss Whedon favorite cast.

Morena Baccarin appears as Anna, the leading voice of visitors from another planet who bring peace, technological superiority and friendship to Earth…or so we think. Quickly they turn from fun-loving humans, into lizards who just like eating humans…or something of that nature.

Alan Tudyk also joins the cast as Dale Maddox. We’re not quite sure what Dale does yet, but I am going to throw a guess and have him join the resistance…

The intriguing bit about V is of course the socio-political nature of the show. Benevolent aliens quickly dissolve the rights and freedoms of humans in order to enact laws and order that would “benefit us all.” In reality though, the democratic society quickly descends into a paramilitary hell-hole, where fascist adulation of supreme alien leadership takes central stage.

It is this political nature of the 80s V that is the most attractive part of the upcoming series, as it directly applies to variety of recently enacted laws that could be called nothing but a power grab by Western governments. From Patriot Act in the US, to the abolishment of kitchen knives and rise of surveillance society in UK, continuous stripping of civil rights and freedoms is worrisome.

The show is currently on some crazy fortnight break, but is expected to premiere with its gloriously sleek pilot episode on Nov. 3rd.

Speaking of Joss Whedon however…

“Dollhouse”

Is coming back…and…Summer Glau is joining its cast.

While Alan Tudyk has wrapped up a slow paced season of Echo’s schizophrenic existence with a bang, allowing for threads of her actual personality and memories to start flooding through, while at the same time destroying the primary source of her memories. He literally took the hard-drive containing her memories and persona and destroyed it…

But now Summer Glau, the prima ballerina who is known for her role in Firefly/Serenity as well as Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, will join Dollhouse as someone related to Echo’s past.

While the added bonus of Glau makes the Whedon universe come full circle, at least when it comes to casting that is, the show itself has not received as much critical or audience support as expected. Fox is merciless, and Whedon’s ratings were less than anticipated, resulting in “slash the cash” move by the network.

So, do expect even less of Dollhouse.

“Flash Forward”

Robert J. Sawyer’s acclaimed novel, Flash Forward, is getting the series treatment.

Being a huge fan of Sawyer’s work, I am delighted that his work is finally getting some much needed Hollywood attention, as his writing does lend itself to screen.

Flash Forward describes the events surrounding the moments after the Large Hadron Collider-like particle accelerator starts to function. For a few minutes, there is an exchange in time/space, and everyone on Earth experiences life in near future for few precious moments.

Outcomes of life-changing decisions are revealed, deaths are known, glimpses of that day’s newspapers and insight into the events and lives of others allow for a detective-like investigation of what future actually may bring.

Joseph Fiennes is headlining, and is joined by John Cho, Jack Davenport, Courtney B. Vance and Sonya Walger.

The casting is superb, and the writers describe the scripts as Lost-like, and will premiere on Sep. 24th.

“The Vampire Diaries”

This show attempts to bring young Twilight fans, and older vampires together for a one-bite-fits-all in a high school setting.

Elena, a 17-year old recovering from the loss of her parents, enters a new high-school only to find that her newfound crush, Stefan Salvatore, is actually a 150-year old Vampire. While Stefan is obviously a worthy candidate for dating, his brother Damon is a blood-thirsty, no-good vampire, who not only desires Elena, but wants to suck her blood too.

I am certain that the show will not supplant my love of True Blood, it is sure to gain a following in the preteen to 35 bracket.

The Vampire Diaries premiers mere days from now, on Sep. 10th.

“Supernatural”

Aside from these gems, be sure to pay attention this fall to “Supernatural.”

The show that initially pandered to cliches has risen to new heights in its last, fourth season. While initially the show drew a pretty strong division between good/evil, after a while, the writers had to approach the subject of good vs. evil a bit more tacktfully, resulting in an amazing storyline development. “Supernatural” last year tackled not only some naughty demons, but some rather villanous angels as well, opening the show to a new, more intelligent storytelling, and introducing far more captivating characters.

Now, the fifth season promises to go where no other show went before. The impossibly handsome duo Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki deliver the goods, and
the writing just keeps on getting better and better…

by Irma Arkus

Webisodes, those pesky, superbly short bits of entertainment, meant to hook-line-and-sinker us into the second half of a series season, are announced for Stargate Universe.

Not only does Stargate Universe offer superb and surprising choices in casting, with Robert Carlyle as Dr. Nicholas Rush, but now announced planned 30 short webisodes meant to entice us to tune in for more.

Helmed by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, Stargate Universe was pitched at the end of second season of Atlantis as a twist for another series in a healthy franchise.

Ninth chevron on the stargate reveals the Ancient’s technology to be capable of instantaneously traversing not only vast distances , but potentially multiple universes as well. The stargate program is led to a ship built by the Ancients, Destiny, designed for seeding stargates on numerous planets.

Michael Shanks is making an appearance, again, as is Lou Diamond Phillips. A surprising cast addition is David Blue (Ugly Betty), and they are also joined by a few new faces, including Vancouverites Julia Anderson, Alaina Huffman and Jennifer Spence of Toronto.

While Wright and Cooper promise good fun, they also indicated that they are not interested in tacking many rubber-faced alien villains, rather sticking to a sense of realism. According to their interview with CinemaSpy, the two are trying to separate SG: Universe from already established mythology of Stargate franchise, instead focusing on creating an entirely new look and placing emphasys on dramatic performances.

The show promises a lot of hand-held camera feel, as homage to mockumentaries, and of course, fan and critic beloved, Battlestar Galactica.

The show will premier on Oct. 2nd, 2009.

As for the SG1 crew, while additional feature films were planned, we hear that these are on hold at the moment, due to financial strains. [CinemaSpy]

Meanwhile, let’s watch the trailer, and experience spasms of pure fear!

by Irma Arkus

Can Nikolaj Coster-Waldau be called a bad omen for TV? Probably. But the streak of bad luck could be ending for this rising actor.

Not that I have anything against the guy. After all, his first lead was in New Amsterdam, as the leading protagonist cursed with immortality, seeking nothing more than true love. A la “Grey’s Anatomy meets Highlander.” But the show was so slow-paced that it literally bored me to tears. And it exhibited similar properties with other viewers, promptly causing its cancellation.

I presume that Fox counted on Waldau to exibit properties of catnip for the ladies, who would in heads of executives, come back week after week to swoon over the tough yet sensitive and handsome man / detective, looking for love. But in reality, Waldau, though probably a beaming and handsome example of humanity, made less of an impression on female audiences. Something to do with the general overtones of the show and additional casting choices, which assuredly left me cold and uninterested.

But then something else happened in Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s life - he was cast for Ronald D. Moore’s “Virtuality,” as one of lead characters. Sure he dies in the pilot, but seems to reappear in a twisty, Twin Peaks kind of way.

Unluckily, “Virtuality” was so damn similar to “Defying Gravity,” a show literally pitched to executives as “Grey’s Anatomy in space,” that it made “Virtuality” stand no chance.

I can vouch though, for the fact that Virtuality *is* a better show.

For one Virtuality was smarter. Unlike Defying Gravity, it had clear corporate influence on the ship’s crew. Another aspect that made it for a more interesting show is that not everyone got along on the ship. There were extramarital sexual encounters during the mates private virtual time, and acts of unthinkable violence took place in this unlikeliest of hideouts. Even rape was committed against one of the crew.

Unlike “Defying Gravity,” “Virtuality” also had a far more interesting cast: two crew members were homosexual, and the engineer was a disgruntled man who lost use of his lower limbs and was actually disabled using a wheelchair.

Moreover, the Earth they left was a far more messed up world, ravaged by corporate influence and ecological doom.

Virtuality overall seemed to have a lot more storytelling “meat,” and of the uneasy kind. Unlike Defying Gravity, which seems to persistently occupy a relatively safe and sterile universe in comparison, Virtuality had many elements that left me feeling intrigued and uneasy. As for “Defying Gravity,” I fear that as soon as they uncover the true nature of Beta, the intrigue of the show is pretty much over. But I digress…

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is now joining the cast of “Game of Thrones.” Produced by HBO and based on the most excellent epic fantasy series by George R. R. Martin, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the show is meant to bring some high quality fantasy to small screens.

Already casting for “Game of Thrones” is underway, and Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, Mark Addy and Harry Lloyd are attached to the project. Now, they are joined by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who is obviously sporting a glowing, “bad luck bunny” halo.

The fact that Game of Thrones will be undoubtedly dripping with cool comes with HBO territory. But I also hope it lasts. And for that I am looking at you Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

The new new new Doctor Who will look like…ta da…

While I was missing the good old Tom Baker costumes, this kind of brings back the 80’s tasteless Doctors’ wardrobes but with a hipster twist. Nice boots. That’s all I have to say. Nice boots, yeah.

by Irma Arkus

Remember Mad Cow Disease? The one that revealed prions transmitted in beef products as cause of brain illness, and not just any illness, but the deadly spongiform encepalopathy?

As a preventative measure, the peeps at “bovine university” have desisted the practice of feeding animals to cows. But that did not stop the feed containing animals from entering a new food chain, and opening doors to an entirely new form of creating sources of prions into human diet - farmed fish!

Voila! Did not expect that? Me neither.

In upcoming “Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Aquaculture,” University of Kentucky neurologist Robert P. Friedland and his science gang, have determined that due to less than adequate testing of feed for aquaculture, fish farms are potentially a deadly source of prions.

Now fish, a major source of nutrients that cannot be found in other foods, including omega-3 fatty acids, is also potentially a way of transmitting diseases that until now never crossed from fish to humans.

Read more here.

This week we have one of my new favorite authors, Robert Burns, who not only has the touch for the undead, but writes most beautiful adventure sci-fi pulp I’ve read in a long, long time. And together with Burns, we bring you his new novel, The Unselfish Gene.

The premise of the novel is genuinely un-boring: colonists on moon are the last of humans as we know it, because the rest of the Earth’s populus has been affected by a Zombie virus.

But that is only where the fun starts, as moon colonists seem to suffer from endless complications and health issues of their own: they are not the best choice for human propagation due to long-term radiation exposure, and mental ilnesses, including clinical depression, are quite common.

Worst of all, they are the only and best candidates for survival of humanity, because they have the runaway vehicle: Anita, an Orion-like ship, propelled by nuclear-bombs, is a way out, as Earth also faces a run-in with a comet.

The premise of the novel simply spells disaster, which is AWESOME.

Do check out The Unselfish Gene novel. Not only does it have new and surprising twists to the Zombie lore, but it also happens to be one of those endearing publications with surprisingly cool illustrations. Best of all, Burns not only writes great pulpy sci-fi, but writes science articles for living, which makes his prose surprisingly palatable and enriching.

I don’t do this often, but this time I will make an exception - Buy a copy. Give it to your friends, especially the ones that join the local Zombie Walks.

by Irma Arkus

(Just for once, I would like to write and report on something that isn’t detrimental to marine wildlife, but this is not that day…)

The problem with plastic is that it may at first end up in the ocean, but eventually it will end up as part of you - yes, you! [National Geographic]

by Irma Arkus

Glycine, a basic compound from which proteins are built of, has been found in the Wild 2 comet dust samples.

The abundance of this amino acid in comet dust may be a signal that life is common, and often seeded by comets and meteors: “The discovery of glycine in a comet supports the idea that the fundamental building blocks of life are prevalent in space, and strengthens the argument that life in the universe may be common rather than rare,” says Carl Pilcher, NASA astrobiologist working on the project. [AFP]

and they are amazingly cute Super Mario Warp Zone Socks. Yeah, sock it to me baby.

Thanks to Genevieve for the tip [Ashidashi].

by Irma Arkus

Remember Ricola guy? He was probably chewing on his herbal candy, while stepping on some fosilized dinosaur prints. Yes, dinosaurs roamed Switzerland (and evolved into bankers???).

Natural History Museum in Basel has revealed its findings from Ela Nature Reserve, in Switzerland, revealing fosilized print of animal estimated to be between 15 and 20 feet long.

The prints are estimated to be approximately 210 million years old [Discoveryon].

by Irma Arkus

Assuredly, if I weren’t “in the hole” so to speak for the last few weeks, this would have already been posted. But since I’ve been hiding in caves, probably right next to Osama bin Laden, “Blood: The Last Vampire” trailer hit me unexpectedly.

Like a Japanese version of Blade/Hellboy, but with more pheromones, Blood is based on an anime and manga series by the same name.

Based on original manga by Benkyo Tamaoki and dragged to North America by Viz Media, the story entails the most adorable vampire (vampirette?) Saya, who is handy with her katana, and kicks demon ass quite well.

Even though she is quite tiny, cute and teenagey, she is over a hundred years old.

Working for Red Shield, an organisation that is collaborating with Japanese and US government, Saya kills the creatures of the dark “Chiroptera” - batty, crabby and blood-sucking.

Now, we get to watch her kick ass on the large screen. See trailer here.

And before you flock off to theatres, do watch the original anime version.

by Irma Arkus

The latest news on increasing Internet censorship come from Germany, where parliament voted to proceed with censorship of unwanted, undesired pornographic websites, in order to protect the children.

Similar actions have been taken in Australia, Canada, US, and a few other countries.

Australia’s recent feud with WikiLeaks, in which WikiLeaks disclosed the list of the censored sites to be absolutely unrelated to child pornography, but rather to be of political and ideological nature.

Few years ago, Cory Doctorow joined us on our show, and brilliantly pointed out that legislations brought forward, such as ones used to censor content in order to “protect the children,” have been often used to solidify the government power base. Noone will, in their right minds, look or post child pornography using simple, well known key-words, making most legislations meaningless as a form of protection, doing essentially nothing more than opening doors to potential abuses of the laws by authorities.

Such is the case of Australia vs. WikiLeaks, a well known whistle-blower site, which, upon releasing the aformentioned list, experienced nothing less than legal prosecution by Australian defence, and is technically, one of the sites on the noted list.

The “need to protect children” won in German parliament, following the recent trends of turning ISPs into Internet police authorities, with legislating ISPs to display warning on select sites detected to contain child pornography.

The most intriguing part of the event was the response by German citizens. According to the Inquirer “the bill drew strong protests from German Internet users including hackers, digital freedom activists, bloggers and social notworkers. It triggered an online petition signed by more than 130,000 individuals, 80,000 more than the number required for the petition to be heard on the floor of the German parliament.”

The German law is certainly not as draconian as similar legislations introduced by other nations, due to the fact that the law is meant to expire in three years. [The Inquirer]

I am wading through your letters and emails and thank you for sending words of concern. Many have asked why the postings and the show have been “off air” for a few weeks now?

Our host station, CJSF 90.1FM has experienced some server changes / errors… call it what you want, either way a few shows that were recorded live have literally disappeared into the ether, leaving me in tears. I wouldn’t be sentimental, but after working my little butt off to arrange the interviews, and bring you the select news in an audio form, losing a copy of those seemed horrific, demoralizing and plain discouraging.

Next few weeks are looking up though - we will have an interview by Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson, and none other than Peter Mayhew, better known as Chewbacca.

Coolness galore we have prepared for you aside, the news have been killing me, softly.

Between debilitating arguments in an economic recession regarding money, copyright, eroding rights and freedoms, net neutrality, Pirate Bay, torrent technology, and more devastatingly, environment and climate change…I needed to take a personal break for a few weeks…a la vacation, to clear my head so to speak.

So do forgive me for being MIA for a week or two, and I hope you come back to visit us again, and as always, and most faithfully, listen to our show.

Sincerely,
Irma Arkus

by Irma Arkus

In an unprecedented move, Atwood coughs up the truth - she does write science fiction: “I have written two works of science fiction or, if you prefer, speculative fiction: The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake,” Atwood says in her Guardian article.

But the address by Atwood is also a plea, reminding critics and readers alike as to why science fiction is complex, more so than mere fiction writing: “They can explore the consequences of new and proposed technologies in graphic ways, by showing them as fully operational. We’ve always been good at letting cats out of bags and genies out of bottles, we just haven’t been very good at putting them back in again.”

The science fiction allows us to explore nature of humanity, in relation to itself as well as the universe and the “other”: “explore the relationship of man to the universe, an exploration that often takes us in the direction of religion and can meld easily with mythology - an exploration that can happen within the conventions of realism only through conversations and soliloquies.”

Moreover, they are often complex, enticing us to recreate social orders, building new perspectives on what we have, or could potentially have.

Do read Atwood’s insightful article on why science fiction, or even speculative fiction is worthy of note. [Guardian]

by Irma Arkus

First thing I popped open today comes courtesy of New Scientist (I know I keep complaining on the quality of their articles, but this stuff is like a gossip rag of science) on Schwarzenegger’s new move to TERMINATE FUNDING for California state parks.

Why am I mentioning this?

Ah well. California, touted as literally the third world greatest economy, is having some serious financial issues. Not sure if you’ve been keeping track, but Schwarzenegger has been in the news as the governor of California who refuses to pay his civil employees for months at a time, and his budgetary issues have come up as soon as someone mentioned stimulus funds. In other worlds, they are drowning, and cutting corners everywhere.

Currently, California is juggling a massive deficit, of almost 25 billion dollars. While financially, it may make sense to cut funding to parks, the species that exist and are threatened might fair worse without a little extra help. For one, Sequoia trees are having the roughest time with their comeback, as they are currently tended from being overingulfed by more aggressive Fir trees.

Since I was a kid, Sequoia trees have been on my list of “things to see.” My brain still screams in agony at the thought of fisheries collapsing due to overfishing. When it comes to extinction of something as old as Sequoia trees, it simply shuts down, as if hit by lighting or a mild stroke.

Furthermore, the ongoing research projects in the park are at risk of losing their funding. Parks currently host some 120 projects, all of which are in danger of either losing their financial or administrative support.

We, on the other hand, are in risk of losing countless species, to money.

Not that it’s related to anything, but these are hillarious! Tag lines such as: “Such tragedy could have been easily avoided” are appropriately placed together with images. Designed by HanTang Communications Group for Quzhou Seezo Trading. [TheDieline]

Thanks to Genevieve for the tip.

by Irma Arkus

Photographers in UK are facing what many describe as a catch 22. According to Section 44 of the newly introduced Terrorism Act, photographers can be detained, and any police officer is authorised to search, and seize equipment. The tricky part is that the act “allows Chief Constables to request authorisation from the Home Secretary to define an area” in which police officers have the authority to enact such searches.

The question is then, which areas are off limits?

After British Journal of Photography submitted their request to Home Office requesting information on these areas under the Freedom of Information Act, the office refused: “The Home Office has rejected a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the BJP regarding the disclosure of the list of all areas where police officers are authorised to stop-and-search photographers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”

According to the British Journal of Photography, the common knowledge is that the entire city of London is covered under the legislation, but which other areas of London are affected is unknown.

This places photography journalists under a disadvantage. Because of the lack of tranparency and information disclosure, they can be detained anywhere, without being certain of their legal rights.

This, on the other hand, gives an unprecedented freedom to the police. They can technically, detain journalists, search and seize them based on this idea of “safeguarding National Security.”

We’ve experienced in recent years, stories of many journalists who, upon entry to various dictatorial regimes, experienced such inexplicable treatment by authorities who violated their rights and freedoms.

Their questioning, detention, seizure of equipment and property, seemed unthinkable to our civilized, western world counterparts. We, unlike them, were assured that certain freedoms were to be had for all. Now, it seems, not only are we no better than those we pointed fingers at, but the freedoms our predecessors fought for, were discareded, exchanged for a measly, meaningless term: security. [BJP]

by Irma Arkus

Update on Season 2!

Many of you asked pertinent questions. Such as: Is Lafayette really really dead?

The answer is: yes. He is really, really dead. Thus far, our contacts confirm that Nelsan Ellis is nowhere near the production of True Blood, Season 2. While his character Lafayette made for life in Bon Temps certainly more interesting, the new story development has left our Lafayette out of the picture.

I am certain that this will outrage many fans of the show, as Lafayette’s character added intrigue, and depth, and dare I say, a bit of colour too. Some fans have complained in Internet forums that he is a “stereoptypical” gay, black man, but I believe that Lafayette has shown himself to be far more unique. His charm aside, Lafayette knew how to show his opponents the door, got into a few fights, and won. That aside, he was funny.

I do hope the writers at some point pluck him from thin air and reintroduce him as a vampiric version of old Lafayette.

To other inquiring minds: Jason will enter the Fellowship of the Sun, in a dubiously passionate form, giving us a peak into the lives of the righteous and religious right.

According to Alan Ball, this will base in part, a great deal of the plot for the second season, or at least its first half.

Evan Rachel Wood will be a guest on the show, playing a small-town waitress.

Just kidding. She will be a vampire.

Wood will join the show in a guest appearance, and expose part of Compton’s secretive past.

The clock for the preimere is ticking. So, I suggest you brush up with the handy notes (above), maybe even watch an episode or two as a refresher, and enjoy the premier of the second season on June 14th.

We give you the lowdown on the Pirate Bay Four trial, inform you of the latest case of a comic book collector thrown in jail for owning manga, and more…

We are also joined by one of Canada’s most notable actresses, Gabrielle Rose. You have seen her everywhere, as the grand dame of acting had worked on Spielberg’s Taken, as well as BSG, Stargate, Smallville and Sanctuary.

While we’re excited about these shows, Rose is really amazing in drama productions. From Robson Arms, to Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, Rose made a lasting influence on small and silver screen.

The career of Gabrielle Rose started in 1975, and despite her remarkable success, she remains a positive, yet down-to-earth persona, who is really exquisit to watch.

We ask her about her recent sporting of gray streaks, a bold statement on her age, and get her to give us the goods on collaborating with known directors. We also talk about the nature of Canadian cinema and television, and reveal the details on her latest project, “Shattered.”

Rose has recently scooped the Leo Award for the Best Dramatic Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series, for her work on Sanctuary. She also received her own star on the Canadian Walk of Fame.

The most interesting bit about having Gabrielle Rose on air with us, is that she is genuinely excited about being on our show.

by Irma Arkus

Yeey for science! The Periodic Table is being updated with a new, superheavy element added to the roster. he International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) will add the element 112, known only as UUB, is a lab-manufactured element, produced by using zinc and lead.

The decision to include the superheavy element in the Periodic Table will undoubtedly result in various teams competing for production of an even heavier element.

Time to burn your old chem books now. [New Scientist]

by Irma Arkus

Today I’ve been forwarded a link to the National Press Club Luncheon video of David Simon. While this gathering was (and probably still is) made up of overly wealthy and powerful media members, their numbers and their super-powers have been dwindling.

Interesting bit about the Simon’s lecture is what he identifies as underlying causes of media’s current crisis. He pins it at two things: greed and Wall Street. According to Simon, the money that should have been invested in generating quality content, talent development, and strategizing their actual Internet presence, ended being thrown at mergers, as the industry was seeking to increase their profit margins and pad their pockets.

According to David Simon, better known for his work as writer of award winning dramas “The Wire” and “Generation Kill,” the content currently available MUST start making profit.

But the media, newspapers and television combined, is reeling from the after effects of a flawed business model and profit pursuits. There is no longer a question of whether money needs to be made, but rather who will be making the profits.

Are we going to watch an entire industry fall, in order to give rise to new media, or are we to support the few dying dinosaurs clutching at straws?

I am currently enduring the fact that as an active member of media, I currently cannot find a paid job. I am doing the HiSciFi show, and write an occasional blog entry, for free. It would be great to get paid while doing things I love. But that does not seem to be the case. And this is not necessarily due to the fact that economy is reeling. The truth is that prior to this economic depression, the news nooses have been tightening, lay-offs and cost cutting was a regular thing in the halls of TV networks, newspaper and magazine boardrooms. It’s been getting harder to make money for the last 10 years in this industry, period.

David Simon is not oblivious to this. In fact, he points to the rise of mediocrity such as USA Today, and the narrowing number of reporters who were told to do “more with less.”

“You get to do less with less. Not more with less,” explains Simon.

At the same time, Simon is somewhat oblivious to the rising content of bloggerdom. He firmly believes in authority of “journalistic integrity” even though we’ve witnessed not only a) journalists turning to blogging, but b) the fact that journalism has reached a whole new low.

Anyways, Simon does shed some light on how the industry insiders feel about their former and current glory. And his insights are valuable. What I would like to see are some concrete solutions to current media woes.

Namely, his enthusiastic suggestion of charging for Internet content sounds like a relatively outdated idea, especially when considering how sophisticated Internet advertising can and could be.

That aside, it is worth glancing at Simon’s speech. Find video HERE.

by Irma Arkus

Privatisation of health care is a fabulous thing, if you are a health insurance company, that is.

According to the latest report in the New England Journal of Medicine (Vol 360:2483-2484, no. 23, Jun 4, 2009) by Boyd, Himmelstein and Woolhandler, the insurance companies in US and abroad have been confirmed to own stock in tobacco manufacturing amounting to almost $4.5 billion in investment. The largest being Prudential.

In other words, the lovely people who are vested in keeping you healthy, are also intentionally vested in manufacturing and distributing variety of cancer-causing substances.

Introduction of a US national health care coverage is currently a hot topic, as people are faced with a broken health care system. This report only adds fuel to fire, as health insurance companies directly profit and twofold, from patients suffering due to use of tobacco. [NEJM, subscription required]

by Irma Arkus

This morning I awoke to find a strange, yet relevant article on SciAm: “Population and Sustainability: Can We Avoid Limiting the Number of People?”

Good question. Or is it?

For a long time we’ve been asking the question of how many people is enough people? Most of these questions however, were prompted by popularity of horrific socio-political ideologies. Eugenics comes to mind for one. In 18th century, the poor were identified as too fruitful. Of course, that is if you entirely dismiss their value and ignore the fact that it is these poor that fueled the economy, working dirtiest, and lowest paid jobs that ultimately built the empires of colonial powers.

Similar questions were asked of certain populations deemed undesirable. Natives in North and South America, for one. Or Jews, during the 20th century. How many Jews is enough Jews? Speaking as one, I’d have to shrug as say that I’m not entirely certain of the number, but since there are about 13 million Jews in a 6.9 billion people world, and counting the fact that 6 million Jews perished in WWII, I quite frankly believe that we could use a few more.

See what I mean?

Many sociologists have wondered: how may rich people do we need? After all, with all this power of the billionnaires, and the preposterous ideas of liberal politics including gems such as “consumers voting with their dollars,” seems to imply that however many extremely wealthy people there are, there seems to be too many of them. They do seem to require a remarkable amount of resources. Private jets, extraordinary paycheques that could feed entire countries, multiple domiciles, huge car collections, etc…

While the article in SciAm asks this pertinent question, I am counfounded by its monumental nature: “Whereas more people once meant more ingenuity, more talent and more innovation, today it just seems to mean less for each.” It goes on to list: less water, less food, less land for farming, less capacity in the atmosphere to trap gasses.

Population control is evidently something we need to consider. But who is “we” and how are we going to apply our considerations?

Is it just me or is the problem in the system we’ve developed, that devoured the planet as we know it? Is it just me, or have the technologies (and I am using that term widely) created scarcity of land, water, and food?

Is it also just me, or is our global economic system hooked on concept of “growth.” This fidgety concept is very much dependent on steadily growing population. Sheer beauty of Fordism demands that we expand the pools of consumers for our goods, and the simplest way to do so is to enlarge our populations.

The question of population control brings up a lot of old wounds and prejudices. And though it may be relevant to ask, in light of recent climate change issues, it may be better still to inquire whether we require more profound changes to existing systems: from manufacturing, consumerism and trade, to pinning responsibilities for creating pollution where it deservedly belongs. Should we not examine those issues at length, prior to demanding birth control and limiting number of people?

I highly recommend you read the article on SciAm, and do keep these questions in mind when doing so.

Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in Iron Man 2 has been unveiled, so to speak. Feast your eyes on this red menace.

note to self: must buy whips.

by Irma Arkus

WHO announced today that H1N1 is indeed a global pandemic. The first global pandemic in last 40 years has already infected some 30,000 people across the globe, including South and North America, EU and Middle East.

Mexico, where the virus was thought to have originated, has experienced many deaths from influenza complications. The flu has been detected across the world and reported cases amount to whopping 30,000 infected and growing.

The fears are that due to current southern hemisphere weather, the virus will mutate into an even deadlier strain that would potentially result in greater number of deaths.

Currently in Canada, concerns are primarily over aboriginal populations: any flaws in providing adequate health care will undoubtedly result in deaths of a fragile population.

Additionally, major questions and concerns entail Africa: the reporting currently does not entail any parts of Africa, which happens to be a huge continent. Noone is certain as to how many cases of the flu can be found in different parts of African continent.

by Irma Arkus

So, I wasn’t crazy about the last Spiderman installment. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but after the agony of listening over and over again about the sophisticated technology used to create sand: wet sand, dry sand, drippy sand, moving sand, sand that looks like giant Sandman; I was quite frankly fed up.

But there is always a place for Raimi in my heart. The dude was responsible for both Xena and Evil Dead. Nuff said?

The latest Raimi’s release is “Drag Me to Hell” and it is a brilliant, rich, effective, smart, yet charmingly old-fashioned horror film.

The lackluster roster of teen horror drama has been empty, hollow, mediocre, repetitive and also, boring. But Raimi successfuly infuses his film with old fashioned story-telling and comes up with something that will keep you stuck to your seat.

Infused with comic genious, and chills of terror, Drag Me To Hell seems to have just about everything that makes a good film. Raimi crafts a fabulous story with Alison Lohman in the lead, as a bank employee whose only hope to climb the management hierarchy is to piss all over every human, moral fibre she has. In order to get the promotion, as it’s either her, or the new guy who can be only described as “dumb as a pile of bricks” yet ruthless, Alison decides to deny funds to an elderly lady. The lady in question isn’t exactly what she seems, and what could be an ordinary exchange of mutual “go-to-hells” yells, turns out to be far more serious.

The old bat is actually, you’ll love this, a gypsy. A witch. A witch with powers and abilities to produce actual curses. And so she does.

Alison experiences such terrifying horrors that it will make you truly take pause. After the pause, you will wish these upon all the guys on Wall Street. (I know. We’re so financially aggravated lately!)

Blood-curdling terrors. That’s the phrase describing Alison’s fight to stay in this place, rather than experience actual hell.

Funny, yes. But also very cool. The movie delivers, despite its PG-13 rating, a great deal of fun and horror, and successfully so.

by Irma Arkus

Alan Ball’s exceptional, HBO produced, “True Blood” is coming back in mere days from now. June 14th is the day of the Second Season Premiere, and I cannot wait.

The supernatural drama is full of Southern Gothic: warmth, blood and magic. All set in contemporary America dealing with sudden surfacing of real flesh and blood Vampires, demanding their piece of the American Dream, publicly striving for equality, rights and recognition. All while hiding their secrets, customs and strange habits.

Bon Temps, a small town in Louisiana is a home to Bill Compton, a Vampire who has been around since the American Civil War era. Compton’s family roots are in Bon Temps, and though he is viewed as an outsider, he is literally coming back home to reconcile with his past, including the event that altered his humanity forever.

Compton’s vampiric nature and secrets unravel as he falls for Sookie Stackhouse. Played by Anna Paquin, Sookie is the milk-and-honey girl-next-door. Behind the milk-and-honey covered in light perspiration, lies Sookie’s secret power of telepathy. The little mind-reader is all lonely, and sad, usurped by other people’s desires and secrets, until she meets Compton. Since Compton is dead, Sookie feels at peace and quiet with him, developing an immediate emotional connection.

The undeniable attraction between Sookie and Compton results in a relationship. The kind that surpasses that of a regular human being and a vampire. Compton could not manipulate Sookie as he could an average girl, while Sookie cannot read his mind, as his body is literally dead.

Compton and his vampire brothers and sisters are mired in politics, crime, and blood. The old customs, including vampires’ eating habits are hidden from public eye. What most people expect, and what Compton hopes to come true, is that a vast vampire population transfers from devouring and killing humans, to eating True Blood: a synthetic blood concoction widely available in supermarkets across America.

The ketchupy liquid that runs through no one’s veins is no substitute, as we learn, to the real stuff.

And it isn’t only human blood that is being eaten either. Vampires, chemically altered immortals, are tasty too, as many humans ingest Vampire blood in small quantities. A mere drop of the Vampire blood will propel one to view nature as a Vampire would. A mere drop will also temporarily alter one’s physiology and a feeling of invincibility, sexuality, connectedness will endure for hours.

The market for this expensive and hard-to-come-by substance is very hot.

But the story isn’t only about Sookie and Bill Compton.

Sookie’s sibling, Jason, is a bit of a f***up.

For a while, Jason is willing to screw anyone, and ingest anything handed to him. Jason quickly develops dependency for the blood, and engages in “risky behaviors.” All this would make Jason an awesome rockstar, if it wasn’t for the fact that he works construction, and all women who are involved with him tend to be discovered dead mere hours later. The police see this as a problem.

Besides Jason, Sookie’s brother, there is also Sam. Sam is the local bar owner, a loyal and faithful friend of Sookie, and one who is endlessly in love and fond of her. He is discovered to have a secret of his own, and the season ends with a revelation of Sam’s true nature: the cute man with facial hair is a shapeshifter, and is very good at turning into the sweetest K-9 alive.

While Sookie’s relationship with Bill Compton grows to epic romance proportions, Sam discovers something in Tara, Sookie’s best friend. He finds her an adequate lover, and a great human being, struggling for clarity and survival in the small town of Bon Temps. Tara is a case of neurotic flesh wrestling with issues of abandonment and abuse as perpetrated by her own mother who fought with heavy alcoholism all of her life. Now as an adult, Tara not only supports her mother while trying to rebuild her own life, but also struggles with issues of trust as all her relationships are on thin ice.

Sookie works at Sam’s bar and restaurant establishment together with Tara, and a few other girls. Tara’s cousin, Lafayette, works as the chef.

Lafayette is the local outsider. A confident, stunning and beautiful Lafayette is a marvel who earns more than a few coins on the side by engaging in the entrepreneurial nature of sex industry. Jason’s first taste of the vampire blood comes from Lafayette who deals in this and that. To pay for it, Jason does a video for Lafayette, dancing with a Ronald Reagan mask in his tidy-whities for a pay-per-view website.

Lafayette’s engagements don’t end there. He often sleeps with “clients.” Amongst his boyfriends for pay are elderly men who have political influence. The interconnectedness between the politically influential, far-right Christian anti-Vampire movement, the Fellowship of the Sun organisation, become apparent by the end of the first season.

The Fellowship of the Sun has more than a few prominent supporters, most of which happen to be also fiercely anti-gay, which complicates the nature of Lafayette’s relationships.

Appearances of senseless violence and bigotry are interrupted by discoveries of something wondrous and different. Sam’s real abilities for example, hint at a world that has complexity and diversity, with variety of human and non-human monsters lurking from the shadows.

Tara at the end of the first season, burns so many bridges, that she ends up in a dream-like luxury household with a mysterious mistress. That’s right. I said mysterious mistress.

While on the surface things seem dandy, the monsters lurk beneath. Drew Marshall, known to everyone in Bon Temps as Rene Lenier, is the sweet fiancée of Arlene Fowler, another waitress and Sookie’s confidant working at Sam’s restaurant. While Arlene’s disdain and fear of Compton due to his vampirism initially complicates her relationship with Sookie, her fiancée, Lenier, is at the end of first season uncovered as the ruthless murderer of girls that Arlene and Sookie worked with, and moreover, Sookie’s grandmother.

Humans, it seems, are no better than the vampires they fear.

Amy, for example, a sweet, intelligent girl who Jason develops a strong bond with, reveals herself also as a cruel and controlling sociopath, willing to kill the helpless in order to feed her addiction.

Bill Compton, on the other hand, is the kind of vampire you can bring to your mother, but even he must follow the corrupt nature of social pressures. Compton “turns” an innocent local girl as a punishment for an elimination of another, corrupt vampire who threatened Sookie’s life. At the end of the first season, the murderer, Rene is caught. Jason is at the verge of signing up for the Fellowship of the Sun, and Compton is left with his newly minted vampiric menace as well as an immense guilt and regret that comes along with having to kill and turn an innocent local.

The show is remarkable. From cinematography, acting, to directing…all flawless. The writing that depicts such a sophisticated and complex society is floating somewhere between popcorn goodness, marshmellowy sweetness while baldly proclaimed marvelously intelligent. The tapestry it weaves, and the characters it creates, is truly an enriching viewing experience, and one that should not be missed.

***********************

Have you watched the show? Who is your favorite?

Am I the only one who is saddened by the fact that Rene is a murderous psycho? I actually liked him.

What about the detective and the sherif?

by Irma Arkus

The Pirate Party has not only won, but will enter the European Parliament.

Swedish elections had one of the unlikeliest victors: the Pirate Party, established as a unifying force behind the popular Pirate Bay torrent website, has won a sizeable number of votes, supressing some of the long-standing Swedish political parties from holding parliamentary seats.

Initially dismissed as a temporary ire of youth, the Pirate Party has grown in numbers, mostly due to now infamously mishandled and widely criticised Pirate Four trial.

Now, the Pirate Party not only secured potentially two seats in the European Parliament, but beat more than few traditional oponents in the elections with their win of almost 200,000 votes.

Many view the Pirate Party win as a change of current in the European Parliament when it comes to issues of fair copyright, and net neutrality.

One of the Pirate Party goals is to legalize file-sharing for personal use in Sweden as well as in EU.

You know what this means? That you, yes you, have just become political. Get used to it.

by Irma Arkus

Net Neutrality in Canada is once again a big topic. Rabble.ca is collaborating with Open Internet Coalition in hosting “The Future of the Internet: Access, Openness, and Inclusion, A Town Hall Discussion.”

You can join the conversations as per following:

TORONTO - Open Internet Town Hall Meeting
Monday June 8, 2009, 7:00pm - The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. West

Speakers:
Mark Surman - Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation
Steve Anderson - Co-founder, SaveOurNet.ca
Rocky Gaudrault - CEO, Teksavvy Solutions Inc.
Derek Blackadder - National Representative with CUPE
Olivia Chow (Member of Parliament (NDP))

Special:
* David Skinner - Prof, York U
* Kim Elliott - Rabble.ca
* Mark Kuznicki - remarkk consultant

REGISTER TO RESERVE A SEAT: http://saveournet.ca/toronto

OTTAWA: Open Internet Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday June 10, 2009, 7:00pm - Ottawa Public Library Main Branch, 120 Metcalfe St.

Speakers:
Michael Geist - law professor at the University of Ottawa where he is Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, blogger
Charlie Angus - NDP MP, Heritage and Culture
Rocky Gaudrault - CEO, Teksavvy Solutions Inc.
Bill St. Arnaud - Chief Research Officer for CANARIE Inc.

Introduction by Steve Anderson - Co-founder, SaveOurNet.ca

Discussion Facilitator: Marita Moll - TeleCommunities Canada

REGISTER TO RESERVE A SEAT: http://saveournet.ca/ottawa

VANCOUVER: Join the Save Our Net campaign, see: SaveOurNet.ca