Bears. Beets. BattleStar Galactica

I have been a huge fan of the Office ever since its first season. And, up to and including the very last episode, I am glad I did. The Series was original in its premise and execution, the pseudo-documentary format opening up numerous previously little explored avenues of storytelling. And it was great fun to watch.

The setting (the office of a small branch of paper-selling company) and the stories (everyday life of the people found working in such a low-prospects jobs) seem mundane at first. And there lies the magic of the creators. For (if the endless strings of CSIs are any indication) it not hard to create good TV with car chases, gadgets and explosions. It is extremely hard to make excellent TV with only the everyday grind to work with. It seems effortless only because they made it look easy.

The brief one-way interviews each character had with the camera functioned as either prefatory summaries of stories about to unfold (building up the anticipation) or as instances of pushing back, yet never breaking, the forth wall, and, thus, making the viewing experience more personal and involving. All without the show ever loosing its step.

Producing, directing and writing will only get you so far without the right cast. And the Office enjoyed such stellar cast. Steve Carell may have risked getting typecast by creating the unforgettable character of Michael Scott but it was worth it. Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) served first as the precarious love interest and then as the familiar friends you care about and the rest of the cast was one successful pick after another. From hypochondriac and hypercritical (not to mention hypocritical) Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) to perky Kelly Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper), I could not imagine anyone else portraying these memorable characters. However, the show stealer has always been obsessive nerd Dwight Schrute, portrayed to perfection by Rainn Wilson.

Purists and snobs will try to argue that the precursor British BBC Series was better. Strangely for someone who usually finds Hollywood remakes watered down and bland, in this case I strongly disagree. The US version was much better. It had the perfect mix of familiar workday desperation and sweet quirkiness to make it a weekly craved addiction. In contrast, I found the BBC version too mean for my taste. Maybe one should have grown up in a cruel class system, carved out by accent hues and prep-school rankings to appreciate it; however, during the handful of episodes I managed to watch I found myself laughing at the characters, not with them, and then felt bad about it. Anyway, in all honesty, how could Gareth ever compare to Dwight!

The series is unique in another aspect as well: it respected its viewers. Every producer, director and writer wants to make his or hers memorable splash so we often end up with unnecessary cliffhangers, ambiguous endings or unsatisfying closures. Not so with the Office.  No spoilers but I will just state that the show does not disappoint to the very end.

Now, how many reams of Dunder Mifflin Premium acid-free paper should I you down for? 

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Season One: Tickets to the Gun Show

Season Two: That's What She Said

Season Three: Mergers & Initiations

Season Four: Dunder Mifflin Infinity

Season Five: Dream Team Heartbreak

Season Six: Sabres Under Niagara

Season Seven: Threat Level: Midnight

Season Eight: The Weak Link Went to Cornell

Season Nine: King Dwight - And That's All She Said

Deceptive Kaleidoscopic Views & Sharp Morality Shards

The Ice Storm is one of the best films ever released. Ang Lee proved to be one of our great contemporary film directors and he sure did justice to Rick Moody's novel. In fact, most people who enjoyed both will tell you that, surprisingly, they prefer the film over the book. One of the main reasons (besides great directing and solid acting) is the unforgettable music of  its SoundTrack..

From the opening titles, Mychael Danna's hypnotic melodies take you effortlessly two generations back, in affluent yet creepy American Suburbia. Unfortunately, the opening titles theme is not included in this release (my only complain). I would have loved to be able to listen to it while driving without Paul's (Tobey Maguire) monologue on top but no luck.

The same is also true for a number of memorable instrumental pieces. In fact, Mychael Danna's pieces on this soundtrack are limited only to Tracks 1-3. The rest are songs from the era that make a small or greater appearance in the movie.

Nevertheless, Danna's composition and execution are so powerful that this soundtrack deserves a place in your life.

Indeed, "family is the void we emerge from. And the place we go to when we die". 

Everything in between is music.

A True Prince Amongst Thieves

There was an extra reason for gamers to rejoice Holiday season of 2008: draconian DRM schemes appeared to be on their way out. First Bethesda striped SecuROM to the bare minimum for FALLOUT 3; then DRM-free World of Goo (an indie game!) outperforms Spore - a 45-million flop; and, finally, UbiSoft decides to walk the narrow yet honest path towards customer loyalty, by releasing a DRM-free game. Yes, Prince of Persia is DRM-Free!

This was either a very decent and brave decision (after all, only a month ago, Far Cry 2 came with a fully activated SecuROM 7.xx and Limited Installations) or it was an experiment: the executives wanted to see whether games do indeed sell good either with or without intrusive DRM.

Either way, UbiSoft deserved to be congratulated.

I was one of the first to chastise their decisions to ruin good games with heavy-handed DRM schemes. It is only fair to be one of the first to congratulate them on a customer-first decision. And because talk is cheap, I bought my copy the moment it was released. I would advise anyone who would care to listen to vote with his or her wallet and support such a gutsy decision. Because it sure takes guts to go against the current and brake ranks with the other greedy game publishers. And, this time, the Canadians at UbiSoft (Montreal) proved they have brass ones.

The game itself is simplified fun. The graphics are clear and fresh in a comic-book/retro way (known as cel-shaded) and the gameplay enjoys (or suffers, depending on your point of view) a number of assists that make it easier and flowing. Probably, too easy. You will not get the frustrations of repeated deaths but neither the satisfaction of finally making it through a hard boss.

The game does give off a platform feeling (combos on a PC game always give me an awkward feeling as they are much easier with a gamepad - but that again, this is an action game, it is to be expected). 

All in all, a good game that still deserves our support.

Gaming Is Still Crossing The Dark Mines of Moira

"One ring to rule them all, 

one ring to find them, 

one ring to bring them all 

and in the darkness bind them."

Well, it sure is more honest than the vapid..."Challenge Everything!"

Darkness still spreads on the land of gaming. The number of games that get ruined by the bundled DRM schemes keeps growing. Lord of the Rings:Conquest is just another edition. Burdened with SecuROM 7++, OnLine Activation requirement and Limited Installations it is bound to follow in the steps of Red Alert 3 and Spore: yet another expensive EA flop.

In the spirit of the Tolkien epic, EA is the Dark Lord Sauron that tries to watch everything from its tower of power. Greed in the heart, contempt in the nostrils, arrogance in the eye. Unfortunately for such entities (and contrary to board-meeting projections) not every gamer is either an Orc or a Troll. Some of us decided to take a stand. And fight back. And our numbers are growing.

No matter how many Nazguls EA releases this time around, in the end, the Ring of DRM rule will be cast in the burning heart of Mount Doom.

And the land of Gaming shall be free to dream again.

A Turn-Based Strategist's Heaven!

The Galactic Civilizations Series in effect has kept the classic Turn-based Strategy genre alive. When the Civilization Series was going to the dogs (released in an endless stream of DLCs, all flashy animations and dummied-down options instead of evolving) and the Master of Orion Series was committing seppuku (unable to live with the shame of its Master of Orion III), GC reminded us how much fun space colonization can be!

Galactic Civilizations II (Ultimate edition) is the one to have. Starting off with a planet in a customizable Universe (size, resource abundance, scarcity of habitable planets etc), one begins his journey of exploration, colonization and conquest. With the exception of roving pirates who can be destructive if encountered early on (but whose annoyance can be deselected), the factions are well balanced and interesting.

The graphics are clear (with full zoom capability), whereas the interface is easy to master and friendly to use.

However, what makes GC so much more fun than any other space colonization game is its ship design options. From freighters and colonist-ships to planet defenders and frigates, there are no limits in what one can build in your dockyard. Want something that looks like Star Trek's Enterprise, Star Wars' Millennium Falcon or Battlestar Galactica's Colonial Vipers? Easily done - the sky is the limit.

Research will not only keep you solvent and your people happy but it will also make it possible to better equip your ships. Stronger engines, more effective armor, more destructive weapons.

And, on top of all that, this being a Stardock release, it comes free of any intrusive DRM scheme. These days, that alone deserves gamers' support. How much more so that Galactic Civilizations II is a great game. Its new patching method is neither convenient nor reliable and I hope the Stardock people will see to that promptly. Besides this shortcoming, highly recommended.

Will The Iceman Survive The Rain?

I have followed John Rain's saga ever since the very first book, Rain Fall. Sure, the road had its ups and downs but it was totally unforgettable. Barry Eisler knows how to create a cool yet deadly character that will stay with you forever. The problem is, can he keep him cool and deadly while exploring fresh storyline ideas - and his character grows older?

In Requiem for an Assassin, Rain is forced out of his retirement in Paris. An old nemesis had abducted his friend Dox and unless he performs three naturally-looking assassinations, his friend pays the price. Is the deal just bad or is it doomed from the gates and both Rain and his friend will end up shark bait?

The clock is ever menacingly ticking; the stakes keep getting higher and higher; the locales keep changing from Thailand and Vietnam to LA, from Singapore to Rotterdam; and Rain, uncharacteristically, has to accept unsolicited help from old friends that had actually once been older foes.

The problems with this book actually started from the previous installment of the series (The Last Assassin) and they can be summarized into this phrase: Rain started having doubts. Having an alienated kid and a steady love interest has dulled his edge and diluted his determination.

Character development and fancy literally footwork aside, I think that, in the end, Barry Eisler tries to morally save his character - and in the process is corroding him to the core. A cold-blooded assassin may have his inescapable reasons to have turned out that way - but he cannot exist on a moral high-ground no matter what. And if he is no longer the cool cold-blooded assassin, he is no longer John Rain.

Having said that, I want to make clear that this is one of the best fiction books I read in years. I enjoyed both its tactics and action as well as its reasoning and detailed descriptions.

Comfort With Compromises

Upgrading my PC usually calls for also upgrading some of the aging peripherals. So, even though my old keyboard (a MICROSOFT Multimedia one) was still in perfect working condition, I decided to change the whole set up. I still had fond memories of my old MS Natural Elite Pro keyboard I had used writing my Thesis, so I decided on the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 model which seemed to be its improved replacement. I have had the keyboard for over two years and here are my impressions:

THE GOOD:

- The 4000 is not just another beautiful keyboard but a really comfortable one too. Not only are the curves natural and well molded but the minimally padded leather-imitation wrist-rest offers a silky sense of luxury. The keyboard comes out of the box with a negative angle attachment, which can easily be removed - it is comfortable but personally I need to see what I am typing.

- Compared to other Ergonomic keyboards, one has to note that unless the keys are physically separated into two groups any ergonomic effects will be minimal. So, if you are thinking of Logitech's Wave, it is a good idea to actually give both of them a try at a local store before making a choice. As I said, I am no professional typist (yes, more of a 2-fingers) yet I found that my typing is much faster and my typos more rare when using Natural keyboards.

- I liked the idea of the BACK/FORWARD buttons at the wrist-rest. Although most mice now have this functions on their side buttons, it is still a big help when browsing (my mouse has a Magnifying Function where the FORWARD usually is).

- Also, this is a really quiet keyboard. You get a satisfactory feeling when pushing a button but instead of an annoying "clack" sound only a muted "tap" is heard. Ideal if your wife is in the habit of taking naps in your home-office couch.

- As an avid gamer favoring the right side of the keyboard (arrow keys instead of the WASD configuration) I enjoyed the ample room around the former.

- Finally, I liked the placement of an extra set of EQUAL, PARENTHESIS and BACKSPACE at the top right corner (especially the parenthesis, I always hated finding the opening and closing one among the numbers)

Now, THE BAD:

- For some reason the ENTER and RIGHT SHIFT keys are too small! I could do with regular sized "H" and "N" keys if it would mean not hunting the ENTER. And this is a large keyboard, I doubt it would make any difference if it was yet a bit longer for that.

- The SPACE bar is, well, fickle. Sometimes it works even if hit at the side. Others it refuses to respond unless hit at the middle.

- The key letters and symbols have a tendency to rub off(!). This is totally unacceptable for a premium priced product - especially one sporting MicroSoft's brand name. I decided to wait for the problem to become more pronounced and have this one replaced.

- The Media keys on top do not sit well in their homings and are not perfectly aligned. Especially the VOLUME UP in my keyboard seems to rest at an angle. Again, poor quality control for such an expensive and brand name product.

All in all: a mixed bag of good features but with compromises and inferior quality control. I truly miss my old MS Natural Elite Pro keyboard. If it came in black I would buy one again.

A Badly Designed Camera Case

Disappointingly for a company that makes excellent cameras, Panasonic/LUMIX refuses to equip them with decent cases. I kept my FZ28 temporarily in a padded Panasonic Video-Camera case in which the FZ28 somehow fitted but sideways.

I knew about this LUMIX case but could only find it online. I kept waiting to come across it and try to see how it fits my camera before buying - and I should had stuck with that plan. Because I could not resist when I found it for under $10, I am now stuck with yet another case of limited use.

The case is designed for the older FZ8 camera which is obviously shorter in length - because the FZ28 will simply not fit. Placing it lens-cap first leaves the viewfinder sticking out at the top. This was entirely my fault. Neither the seller nor Amazon misrepresented the item: the product description clearly states that it is designed for the FZ8. I hoped it would fit the later model but take my word for it, it does not.

Nevertheless, the reason I am rating this case badly is because it is badly designed. It sports a belt clip (good) which is secured by only a ...Velcro patch (bad). It has a double bottom to keep an extra battery and a pocket for an extra Memory Card (good), which remains open on top and will not fit any card-holder case (bad). It has a shoulder strap (good) which is thin and attaches on very flimsy nylon loops (bad). And it does not close completely!

Even if I had the FZ8 and the two halves did meet when closed, the zipper (for some unfathomable reason) stops halfway(!). The very top of the case remains essentially open to the elements and although it sports some kind of rubber lips, it is obviously not watertight.

Remind me again why one would want to carry his camera in a case? Right...the elements...

My father has an old MAMIYA/Sekor which came with an attached case (it actually screws on at the bottom).

When exactly did that stop being a good idea?