Mission

Oddly, I have never been a Trek fan. But it's nice to know there is someone else out there with way too much time on their hands who thinks abstract thoughts of little or no possible real-world use.

I was watching the extras and they said something about how the network thought the women were too strong and the men weren't strong enough. I thought this was a fascinating observation, if only because so many of the intelligent, independent women I know like this show. So I was thinking on it... I came to the conclusion that it is actually quite balanced on the whole. The women are strong, but the men are as well. I think the network may have been wondering why the men weren't more dominant. Still, everyone does run pretty well along stereotypical male/female role lines... The "leader" character pair is pretty well balanced, although I notice that the Mal seems to have more issues than one would normally expect in a typical action series. Being moody and disconsolate over the loss of the independents and his abandonment colors his character and his actions. This gives him a vulnerability as a character that I don't sense in his opposing leader character, Inara. She doesn't seem to have many issues and is remarkably comfortable with herself and her role, although she does have the natural caring vulnerability often attributed to women. She does seem kind of passive/aggressive at times, and she usually remains in the background in her leadership role. There is the whole denied relationship dynamic, but that's been just about standard fare for shows since the daze of Moonlighting and Remington Steele. I'd say the "strong" character pair is pretty well balanced and runs along traditional male/female perceived roles. Jayne and Zoe are both strong-willed and strong physically. Zoe is loyal and pragmatic, traits often attributed to women and Jayne is self-serving and impulsive, traits often attributed to men. Zoe also has the whole professional woman strained relationship/desire for a baby thing going on. So these characters seem very much according to stereotype to me. Then there is the "caring" character pair. Shepard Book and Kaley seems very well matched. Both are quite open and giving and each is very grounded. Kaley has the non-spiritual, earthy aspects and Book has the spiritual, ethereal aspects. Again, this goes along typical male/female stereotypical lines in my view. The "intellectual" character pair, Simon and River are both very smart and damaged - Simon through loss of his career (which Freud would have fun explaining) and River through loss of control of her mental state. This makes River sort of hysterical...which is again a trait often assigned to women in Freudian times. Simon is playing strong and silent, both again being male traits. He is also clearly guarding the female half of the pair which is very traditional. Then there's Wash. Wash is sort of the "comic" type IMO although he has no opposing female character. I would venture that this is supposed to appeal to the geek audience. (I like his shirts and dinosaurs.) He does tend to have male dominant moments with Zoe, but he is also sort of passive/aggressive at times. For the most part, he seems rather neutral in this analysis. Of course, it all plays out well, so maybe the stereotypes are, like stereotypes often tend to be, based in enough reality to sell themselves.

Thanks Bo and Mike. (Michael, I'd have to run around naked without your advice and assistance. (And nobody wants that, trust me.)) What do you think of the Gentlemen's shoe I referenced? Is it not right? I quite like it.

It's a good thing you noted the H...I have been writing your name in all the photo captions for my website without it. (The, er, real word doesn't have that in it you see...I'll fix it, though. Sorry about that!) From one guy with a silly hat to another...it's a compliment.

Should this be in the Random Rabbits thread? (Maybe not. Maybe this is just an excuse to plug the Random Rabbits thread.) Random Rabbits, Random Rabbits.

What shoe, what vendor?

See, they're on sale and I want the Cliff Notes version of The Idiot's Guide to What Exact Pair of Shoes a 1720s Sea Surgeon Might Purchase. The words "on sale" are quite appealing to me. Are they just not good enough? I've considered the Godwin Gentleman's Shoe for quite some time (almost ordered 'em but they were out of stock when I tried), so that is the benchmark. Still, I cannot get over the words "ON SALE." I would sort of like to avoid reading the full and, no doubt, extensively correct and thoughtful debate that I would no doubt find in Twill. I want SIMPLE and STUPID as it fits my shoe-buying intelligence quite nicely. I want to stand on the shoulder of the giants of research.

Yeah...you're only saying that because you can afford to. (All you have to do to look thin and beautiful is stand there and breathe.)

Being a self-admitted PC clothing retard, could some knowledgeable person tell me which Fugawee shoe models are PC for us? I prefer rough side in shoes for my character (and myself), but I didn't see anything like that. I may have missed them. I really need to get some shoes...

Ok, another question. Does anyone know who this is? My first thought was Crispy, but the clothing is wrong. (Plus he has no silly hat.)

As much as I love Amazon - they are practically on my payroll based on the regularity with which I send them money - and particularly Amazon Used, sometimes you must have an ace up your sleeve. I recommend using BookFinder.com when you can't find something. To save everyone the trouble (the search is a might slow), I looked up the Ashley book, the Bookfinder results are here. It looks like you can get it for about $50 through them. Note that I have bought from each of the three cheapest vendors in both the new and used categories and have been quite satisfied with them.

Moi? Au contraire, mon frère! Er, yeah. Yeah, that is. Curiously enough, I am just starting month two of a six month dry spell. (I want to be thin and beautiful and alcohol ain't nothin' but empty calories.)

This was buried in my Surgeon's Journal and Stynky asked me to pin it for quick reference for everyone. So here ya' go: Here are all the photo sites I have found for PiP '08: Kate and Mickey Souris' Photos My Photos Cheeky's Photos Cpt Sophia M. Eisley's Photos withoutaname's Photos Spike's Photos Silas Thatcher's Photos RedJessi's Photos Mary Diamond's Photos My Photos from Mary Diamond's Camera Haunting Lily's Photos The Callahan's Photos Madam Grace's Photos

I own Wonderfalls...which character does she play? (I see the character name is Heidi Gotz, but I'm not entirely sure who that is.)

Because I talk about it...I think. It's just something to throw in there to round out the episode. I also want a pic of Jessi's Urban Assault Vehicle but she seems to have fallen off the edge of the map.

Simon is my self-perception of the character I identify with - with some odd bits of Mal thrown in. River is my favorite character. I do have the midwestern 'g' dropping thing going on, however. (Sometimes I do it on purpose which is why I can spot a false attempt so well.)

The train episode is one one of my favorites. It borrows heavily from traditional westerns (barroom brawls, train heists, ill townsfolk in border towns) and the drugging of Jayne is pretty funny. One other favorite I remember is a later episode...one with some guy who shows up on the ship and causes no end of trouble - an African American guy I believe. I remember really liking that character for some reason. I figured something out about the language and my irritation with it. Some of them do drop g's which is obnoxious, particularly because they aren't consistent with it, but it's also the way certain characters talk. As a example (the only one I can think of off the top of my head) Mal says something like, "Get some passengers; them as can pay." Now these scripts have all sorts of interesting colloquialisms in them like the disguised swear words (for which they owe a debt of gratitude to Johnny Dangerously. "Someone stole my fake swear word technique once. Once!") and the Chinese (Which I do like, although the lack of Chinese characters in most of the shows really quite puzzles me. If Chinese is so ubiquitous that it is incorporated into every day crew language why aren't there Chinese everywhere? Particularly in the government/Alliance?) However changing words and adding strange phrasing is sort of just odd and strikes a false note IMO. That pulls me out of the story and causes me to realize I am just watching some show - which irritates the heck out of me. I mean, what's wrong with "Those that can pay"? I also notice that it appears to be primarily in dialog given to certain characters, suggesting some sort of unspoken class structure. (I hear it from Rev. Book, Mal, Kaylee and maybe Jayne - not sure of that one.) So that's part of what I keep babbling about. Ok, now I promise to say no more about it. Unless I do.

He's talking about giving someone a hat in the beginning! What is this, some sort of fetish? (Say, why didn't they film the pillorying? I'd have paid to see that...)

Thank you! That's just nice. (Say, you don't have a photo of your car, do you?)

Also note that a survey is not a controlled experiment. It is a survey and is subject to many problems that controlled experiments are not, primarily expectations of the surveyor and perceived expectations by the subject. These things alter response behavior.

By this logic, only Callenish should be posting on this topic then, right? As the name implies, controlled experiments are the only way to control for all the different variables that affect results. Many of these are at work in ways we don't understand. So if you throw them out entirely, each situation is, by definition, unique and the question can no longer be examined rationally. (Note that this is not an insult. Rational - using reason or logic in thinking out a problem.) Thus, no one can logically discuss it because its entirely context dependent. Experiments have their limitations, but they are designed to examine specific facets of a situation. They cannot predict every situation, nor do they claim to be able to because that is impossible. They give us an idea about trends in behavior, not specific behaviors.

Agreed. Completely. That's why I play catch-up tv. I just don't like watching tv the old-fashioned way. One week at a time... how 20thC. I should mention that I don't have TV reception. In fact, I refuse to get TV reception. This is actually part of the reason I don't have internet service as well. They either want me to get a home phone (NO!) or standard cable (Double NO!) in order to get internet. Until they offer a good deal on Internet without the crap I don't want coming into my house, I won't do it. (Not that I'm stubborn or anything...) Anyhow, upshot of that is that the cliffhangers tax my patience even when I get them from NetFlix! Cut it out, can't'cha? One, maybe two shows is enough to wrap something up for chrissakes! (Still, it is good writing. It really grabs ya'.)

I've heard good things about GIMP. I use the ancient old Microsoft Photo Editor for most simple work. It used to come free with Windows, but then MS realized it actually worked well and they had to discontinue it. (However I fooled 'em and uploaded a copy from an old laptop. Now it's on every computer I use.)

True. I actually stopped watching BSG after season 2. They drag those cliffhangers out wayyyyy too long for me. I don't have the patience for it. I do think it has slightly better writing than Firefly, though. The story arc draws you in more. As for moodiness, well...I have just come off watching a show called The Adventures of Sir Lancelot which was unrelentingly upbeat and cheerful, so I may be unwittingly making an unfair comparison. (However, Lancelot was a fun show IMO. In many ways I prefer that sort of thing at an integral level. It's the kid in me.)

Here we can agree, but this must also be combined with the situation the individual is faced with as well. True. At a certain point, instinct takes over. This has limited effect on remorse, however. Remorse comes after the fact.