Gene Wolfe is a conservative

I suppose there were elements of The Book of the New Sun that could plausibly be described as conservative, but I never really considered the man’s politics. Here’s an interesting podcast interview with Wolfe from National Review.

Galactica, Actually

In the midst of an otherwise sensible post on “Battlestar Galactica” and gender violence, Ta-Nehisi Coates drops this head-scratcher:
I think so much of this revolves around the fact that, in the past decade, the ceiling for writing and acting on television has been raised. I can’t have watched “The Wire,” watched “Mad Men,” watched “Big [...]

City Limits

First Morrissey, now Darth Vader? City Journal seems like a pretty hip, happening mag (both articles are quite good, by the way).

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

Ricardo Montalban, R.I.P.

This of course begs the question: is Christopher Plummer’s General Chang or Montalban’s Khan the greatest Star Trek villain of all time?

I love me some Ian McShane

But his latest foray into television seems . . . ill-conceived.

Not Impressed

The new BSG trailer looks weak. Which makes sense, because the show has been maddeningly inconsistent since the insurgency on New Caprica. Ah, well – two and a half seasons of really good sci fi are all that one can reasonably hope for.

The Long Trek Home

At the tail-end of a long conversation on the future of Star Trek, a friend accused me of “not getting” Rodenberry’s utopian vision. The core of Star Trek, he argued, is a society that has radically reoriented its approach to war, diplomacy, and exploration. Maybe. But I think Rodenberry’s own mythos – while certainly utopian [...]

The Current Cinema

Quantum of Solace was a pretty bad sequel. By way of consolation, I caught the trailer for Star Trek on my way in. Ross Douthat has the goods, and I’ll admit I was pretty thrilled to see Kirk and Co. back in action. After highlighting a few controversial spoilers, Douthat also suggests the franchise is [...]

What’s that you say?

No more Palin blogging? As if I had a regular readership to pander to . . .
Aside from picking through disastrous political interviews, I also enjoy science fiction. Here’s American Scenester Matt Feeney on why the new sci-fi show “Fringe” sucks:
But “Fringe” is even flatter in its approach than “Lost” is, in Peter’s characterization. “Fringe” [...]