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Tonight, we were at my in-laws’ house for their annual Christmas celebration. As long as I’ve known The Wife, they’ve always celebrated Christmas as a family on Christmas Eve, gift exchange and all. This year it seems like the mood was not as festive as in previous years. Maybe it was because The Wife’s brother, Tim, wasn’t there. (He’s such as depressing fellow, however, that I have my doubts about this, despite the fact that he’s family.) Neither of us was sure of why it was. Surprisingly, the thing that brought some of the Christmas spirit back was a simple late night card game.

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I just finished watching the first DVD of the first season of Battlestar Galactica. For months now, just about every sci-fi fan I know has been gushing to me about how incredible this new version of the show has turned out to be. Finally, I was able to borrow a copy from a friend, to see what all the commotion was all about.

First impression: after seeing just the opening movie, I’m… not all that impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I totally dig the story line and seriously liked the movie — I certainly plan to add it to my collection — but I guess after everything I heard I sort of expected this to be better. The dangers of being put on too-high a pedestal, I guess.

Side Note: Did anyone else notice the similarities — in both storyline and scenery set up (particularly when it came to the hangar in the Galactica) to the storyline and scenery used in the old show Space, Above and Beyond? (Can I get a show of hands of people who actually remember that show?) What about the officers’ quarters, is it just me, or do they remind anyone else of the officers’ quarters in some of the Star Trek ships? I’m thinking mostly the design of the walls here. Finally, did anyone else notice that the weapons being used by the Cylons consisted mostly of 50-megaton nukes against cities and 50-kiloton nukes against the ships? Didn’t the Russians have missiles in the 200-megaton range in the 1960’s?

While watching this, I started thinking:

1. Why isn’t it that we see more of the technologies being developed (or thought about) in real life in sci-fi shows and movies?
2. What technologies, if any, would I consider the most likely to come to pass?

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Dealing with sales-people can often be an intimidating experience, especially if you haven’t dealt with one for a while. The following article chronicles my experiences with quite possibly the worst sales-person I have ever come across. In it I offer advice from the point of view of someone who has worked in sales in some capacity for the past few years.

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The term “chick flick” is slang, sometimes slightly derisive, for a movie which is designed or considered to appeal mainly to women, and generally displaying more of a focus on romance or relationships. Many romantic comedies or films with a lots of female characters are likely to be put in this category. — (Google Query: “Define: Chick Flick”)

Ladies: Ever wonder why it is that guys don’t like romantic movies like The Lake House and romantic comedies like You’ve Got Mail? Why it is that your man would do just about anything to get out of watching one of those obviously sophisticated, romantic Meg Ryan movies?

Wonder no more. The reason we men don’t like that type of movie (aside from the fact that no one has ever laughed during a romantic “comedy”) is because of what I like to call the “chick flick moment”.

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Edit: The story has been cleaned up a bit. An error in the code ended up erasing a fair sized chunk of the article — one of the most important parts, actually. I’ve added the part back as best I could, so if you read the article and part of it didn’t make any sense, read it again. Sorry about the confusion.

Did you ever believe in Santa Claus? How long?

As a kid, I used to believe in Santa. I don’t mean “believe” as in “I think he’s real”. I mean “believe” as in I’m-ready-to-throw-down-if-you-try-to-imply-otherwise. In fact, at one point I thought that maybe, one day, I could be like Santa. The funny part is that I always seemed to be surrounded by people who didn’t believe in him. Whether I was in Puerto Rico or in Florida, someone was always trying to tell me there was no Santa. Yet, the less they believed in him, and the more they tried to convince me that he didn’t exist, the more ardently I believed.

Perhaps a little background is in order:

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