March 18, 2009
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Battlestar Galactica At The United NationsOne of the finest shows to ever grace the television screen will finally end this Friday evening in North America. Battlestar Galactica, the 21st Century reimagining of the camp 20th Century show about a rag-tag convoy of human survivors escaping extinction from the robotic Cylons they created. The show deserves a wider audience but remains confined to a niche demographic due to its science-fiction backdrop. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to start as it contains some of the best writing and characters on a television show on a par with The Sopranos and The Wire as it interweaves modern topics into its multiple storylines. I’d even converted several of my workmates who dislike sci-fi into becoming avid fans, especially of Grace Park.
This article, from the Get The Big Picture website, is a little late but highlights the significance of the show on modern pop-culture:
Can all the world’s problems be solved by watching Sci-Fi Channel? The United Nations apparently thinks that’s a good place to start, and will host a Battlestar Galactica retrospective and panel discussion on Tuesday to shed light on how the Emmy-winning show has handled such issues as human rights and reconciliation, terrorism, faith, children and warfare, and dialogue among civilizations.
The show will be represented at the UN by stars Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos, and producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. The panel will also consist of Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Robert Orr, assistant secretary-general for policy planning, executive office of the Secretary-General, and Craig Mokhiber, deputy director of the New York office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
This is tied into the show’s series finale, which airs three days after the UN event, and because it’s not at Comic Con but rather at the United Nations, the panel will not be open to the general public. However, Sci-Fi Network says that it will be recorded and a complete transcript will be available online “when the content becomes available.”
And as if this weren’t already plenty out of the ordinary, the panel will be moderated by Whoopi Goldberg, who, of course, engages in UN-level discussions of world events everyday with Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
The first inclination might be to laugh this off as a slow day at the United Nations, but since most countries in the world can’t figure out how to handle these topics individually or collectively, why not open it up? Isn’t any alternate idea worth hearing?
Being an occasional blogger these days renders me a late arrival on subjects of current events. The furore over Miley Cyrus’ facetious slanted-eye picture has all but blown over as the focus quickly shifted to her near-exposed boobs while she was out jogging.
I’d just wanted to post this comment which was swiftly removed from the TMZ website during the breakout of Cyrus’ ill-advised photo pose:
43. Oh, lighten up people!!!
Geez–I’m SICK of this PC World we live in now.
It’s no big freak’n deal. Kids are being kids.
..and there’s a chink in the photo anyway.
Posted at 8:30PM on Feb 2nd 2009 by moxyBeing Asian, I’d found moxy’s ignoramus and pinpoint observation to be mildly amusing.
Asia Trip – 14th-26th January
Wow, I am being pretty late with posting the pictures from my last trip. One reason is discovering a couple of people on similiar networks stealing other people’s photos, making slight adjustments and passing them off as their own work. It’s almost impossible to fail-safe any photo on the internet these days. Lowering the resolution and watermarking all resized photos does provide a degree of protection.
MacauI’m dispensing with the usual chronological order in favour of structuring the trip by destination.
Inside the Venetian Hotel and Casino where we stayed.
Canal inside the Venetian.
Female gondolier: “You took your time. Get on board and do some work for a change.”
Male gondolier: “Shadupyourface or I will shut it for you.”
Photographer: “Oh shit, I’d forgot to delete that photo I’d took of the girl in the shower. Phew.”
Father to his son: “So when the boat moves further down I’ll throw you into the water and we’ll see how far you can swim.”
A Chinese gondolier!
“I hate this job…”
Not sure what or who he’s supposed to be.
Chinese New Year celebratory decorations on Leal Senado Square.
The Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino.
Inside the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino.
Exhibition inside the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino.
Look at the meticulous detail of the craft-work.
This one is carved in jade.
Real gold? Probably not.
At the reception of the Grand Lisboa.
Another exhibition at the Grand Lisboa.
Copying the Bellagio’s famous fountain show in Las Vegas at the Wynn.
Inside the Wynn Hotel and Casino.
Inside the Wynn Hotel and Casino.
Waiting for the show inside the Wynn Hotel and Casino.
The dragon basically emerges, rotates around a couple of times and…that’s it. Pretty lame.
MGM Grand. The building isn’t as grand as that of the one in Vegas.
But the interior of the smaller MGM Grand in Macau is better than of its sister in Vegas.
Inside the MGM Grand.
Inside the MGM Grand.
Inside the MGM Grand.
Cafe at the MGM Grand.
Sumptuous desserts.
Air Travel
All too rarely, airline attendants make an effort to make the in flight a ‘safety lecture’ and announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported:
1. On a Southwest flight 245 (SW has no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, ‘People, people we’re not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!’
2.. On a Continental Flight with a very ‘senior’ flight attendant crew, the pilot said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants.’
3. On landing, the stewardess said, ‘Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you’re going to leave anything, please make sure it’s something we’d like to have.
4. ‘There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane’
5. ‘Thank you for flying Delta Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride.’
6. As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Ronald Reagan, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: ‘Whoa, big fella. WHOA!’
7. After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Memphis, a flight attendant on a Northwest flight announced, ‘Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted.’
8. From a Southwest Airlines employee: ‘Welcome aboard Southwest Flight 245 to Tampa. To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don’t know how to operate one, you probably shouldn’t be out in public unsupervised.’
9. ‘In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small child, pick your favorite.’
10. ‘Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we’ll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines.’
11. ‘Your seat cushions can be used for flotation; and, in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments.’
12. ‘As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.’
13. And from the pilot during his welcome message: ‘Delta Airlines is pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!’
14. Heard on Southwest Airlines just after a very hard landing in Salt Lake City the flight attendant came on the intercom and said, ‘That was quite a bump, and I know what y’all are thinking. I’m here to tell you it wasn’t the airline’s fault, it wasn’t the pilot’s fault, it wasn’t the flight attendant’s fault, it was the asphalt.’
15. Overheard on an American Airlines flight into Amarillo, Texas, on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain was really having to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what’s left of our airplane to the gate!’
16. Another flight attendant’s comment on a less than perfect landing: ‘We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal.’
17. An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the Passengers exited, smile, and give them a ‘Thanks for flying our airline.’ He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, ‘Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?’ ‘Why, no, Ma’am,’ said the pilot. ‘What is it?’ The little old lady said, ‘Did we land, or were we shot down?’
18. After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the attendant came on with, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Capt. Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we’ll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.’
19. Part of a flight attendant’s arrival announcement: ‘We’d like to thank you folks for flying with us today and, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you’ll think of US Airways.’
20. Heard on a Southwest Airline flight. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing and if you can light ‘em, you can smoke ‘em.’
21. A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, nonstop from New York to Los Angeles . The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight Now sit back and relax.. OH, MY GOD!’ Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier. While I was talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!’ A passenger in Coach yelled, ‘That’s nothing. You should see the back of mine.’
New Simplified Map of London
Comments (8)
i love BSG… only followed one season..2 I think.. But really well written show with great acting! Southwest has the best lines..
Have never watched Battlestar Galactica but will keep your recommendation in mind for some day in the future when I have the opportunity to watch it.
Re Moxy’s comment: It is only being “PC” because Moxy isn’t the one being offended. Funny how when someone says things that offend us, suddenly the concern about being “PC” goes out the window!
The bottom picture, same could be said for New Orleans
what good timing, i just went to macau TODAY for the 1st time 0 one of my favs!!
=O you’re still alive =P Beautiful pictures as always, and I cracked up at the “Air travel” part !
Great pics, as always!!! Good to see that you’re still on here and still traveling!!!
Hope all is well!! = )
@lc_nguyen - Macau is alright, nothing to shout about. It’s nothing compared to Las Vegas!
What I love about Macau is the old Portugese history
haha Vegas does not have this, Portugal will but not Vegas. The old churches and buildings, I LOVE!! 
How are you? When’s your next trip eh?