SyFy - The New SciFi

I admit it freely and shamelessly, I love science fiction and B horror movies.  And up until recently, I loved the SciFi channel, now SyFy whose new slogan is "imagine greater".  My question is greater what?  


Merriam-Webster defines science fiction as "fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals or having a scientific factor as an essential orienting component."  From www.syfy.com - "We've always defined "sci-fi" a lot more broadly than most people, and Syfy is a way to recognize the programming we already have on our channel, from Stargate and Eureka to Ghost Hunters and Scare Tactics. For us "sci-fi" includes a broad range of imagination-based entertainment, including science fiction but also fantasy, the paranormal, adventure and others. Syfy helps us define our unique take on the genre." It seems SyFy is moving further and further from their own definition of their programming. 


Even with this broad definition of science fiction, I have a hard time seeing where RAW, NXT and SmackDown fit into the sci-fi genre.  The last few days SyFy has had a Bond marathon, nothing against James Bond, but, really?  Maybe with all the cool toys Bond had specially made for him, I guess you could stretch that far enough to reach science fiction.  Then you have those goofy Ghost Hunters and their spin off shows.  Really?  Come on, that is a real step down.  Those guys were boring, badly filmed and badly produced before they ever made it to SyFy and then they made it even worse by adding the spin offs.  


Scare Tactics, which is on its third, fourth, fifth.....who knows...host/hostess is as bad as it has always been.  Seriously, if any of your friends did to you some of the things they do to people on that show, would they still be your friends?  Perhaps SyFy hopes by changing the host/hostess every year they can make it a better show.  New Flash:  It isn't working!


On the flip side, SyFy has produced some really cool new shows.  Caprica has been an interesting combination of a future where they can build cylons, have robots to run their homes and offices, maintain their security systems, travel to other planets but they still drive cars. Go figure.  Haven, the gated community for vampires and werewolves whose head of security (a tarnished former big city cop) was totally clueless about until one of the vampires saves his life.  Let's not forget all the Stargate shows, SG-1, Atlantis, Universe.  Then we have Eureka and Sanctuary. These shows are science fiction.


While SyFy has a bevy of B movies, they have also produced some pretty decent original movies.  There may be a tendency to overdo the natural disaster theme, although many of them are done well enough.  I love the fact that they will string together a whole weekend of movies on one theme, one weekend it might be all snake movies, or alligator movies, the next it might be a series of tornado terrors or fire storms.


SyFy, why have you strayed so far from your roots of science fiction?  Please ditch the paid programming, wrestling and reality shows and give us more of shows like Caprica, Stargate, Sanctuary and Haven.  I miss the old SciFi that was my favorite channel for so many years, my "go to" channel is fast becoming my "why bother" channel.  Someone please, stop the madness!

Skewed Religious Ideas

Yesterday I'm on my way to work and I noticed the bumper sticker on the truck in front of me. "God bless our troops" was the first line.  I'm good with that, our soldiers need all the prayers and blessings they can get.  It was the second line that disturbed me "Especially the snipers".  WTF?  God does not support or bless killing.

Over the centuries, way too many wars, murders and crimes have been committed in the name of religion.  God doesn't "hate" anyone, he doesn't condone murder, war or abuse in any way.  Nor does he support those who instigate those things in his name.  However, God does, in his infinite mercy and grace forgive those who use him and his name to oppress the innocent, harm the weak and wage war based on hate.

Please stop using God to justify your mean spirited feelings.  If you have negative feelings for a group of people, be honest, name it and claim it and STOP justifying it with religion.

Harley Demo Rides with Friends

This morning we met up with a friend of ours and headed out to one of the local Harley dealers where the demo fleet was doing rides for a few days.  I have to say that I have never been a big fan of Harleys for a couple of reasons.  First, I'd been a passenger on a few Harleys and always felt as if my fillings were going to jarred right out of my teeth.  Second, the practical side of me knows that they are over priced because you're paying for the name.  Often you can get a metric cruiser of equal caliber for considerably less than what you would pay for a bare bones Harley.  Finally, I'm not a designer kind of gal, it doesn't matter to me what label is on my possessions as long as they fit and serve me well.  So I don't "need" a Harley to be a biker.

All that being said, before today, my only other experience riding a Harley was a demo ride on a V-rod several years ago at the AMA conference in WV.  Back then the V-rod was so different from the standard Harley that it almost wasn't a Harley, in fact, some dyed in the wool HD riders looked down their noses at the V-rod, saying it wasn't "really" a Harley.  Anyway.......

The lines for the demo rides were pretty short today because the big shindig was yesterday, so we were able to ride pretty much whatever we wanted.  Right away I was drawn to the Street Bob for the lines and color scheme.  Unfortunately, I think it's intended for a shorter rider because when my feet were on the pegs, my knees felt as if they were under my chin.  Looking around, the next bike that got my attention was the Wide Glide so that was my first demo.

Starting the Wide Glide I got the expected vibration although not quite enough to unseat my fillings.  What I didn't expect was how quickly the bike got up and moved as I eased out the clutch.  That was a nice surprise since I expected a clunky slow start.  The bike was amazingly well balanced with plenty of umph and responded well to every rider input.  Highway speeds were a bit different without a shield but the ride was smooth and enjoyable.

After returning to the dealer, I looked around at the other bikes for demo and kept being drawn to one particular bike.  I was hesitant to ride it because of the rather large fairing and floorboards on it, I had never ridden a bike with floorboards or a fairing like that and felt a bit intimidated by it.  Eventually desire won out over intimidation and I signed up to ride the CVO Street Glide.  What a sweet ride!  Smooth, considerably less vibration than the Wide Glide and handled like a dream.  The floorboards would take some getting used to as would the heel/toe shifter, the fairing was no issue as all.  The only thing that didn't work for me on this bike was the width of the seat which bothered my hips when putting my feet down at a stop.

I still love my VTX and I'm not ready to give her up, however for the first time, I can actually see myself on a Harley.  Don't look for that to happen any time in the near future my friends, I still don't believe I can get past the sticker shock.  Yet if someone gave it to me I wouldn't turn it down :-)

All in all it was a really fun time with Scuter and Deb with an early dinner afterwards.   Great time catching up and riding together again.