To The Metal

These XBOX 360 commercials are really freaking me out.  You’ve seen them I’m sure, there’s someone standing there, staring at the camera with a frozen expression on their face that slowly changes into a smile.  As the camera pans around, you see the entire back of their head is gone and has been replaced with a stage, a living room, etc…

So yes, it looks like they’re having a good time, but their head is hollow and filled with a virtual experience. Just seems… freaky – the visuals just set it in stone.

But if anyone happens to know the brunette in that commercial – let me know. 🙂

So in a roundabout way, I learned that apparently Knight Rider is done.

I’m mildly upset by this, as I was one of the people who tuned in every week to watch my childhood memories get raped for an hour straight.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the show, it did have possibilities, but here’s why I think it failed…

1. The car.
   1. I don’t mind that it was a Mustang. I do mind that it could morph into any vehicle, had blue ground effects while in ‘attack mode’, and had a big KR on the under-carriage when turbo-boosting. It was too damned flashy! I had more appreciation for the car when it looked like any other Mustang. Would it have been so hard to just stick with a basic GT instead of using a car that has a limited production run?
2. The base.
   1. I don’t mind the location of the base, but again – too flashy. Did KITT need to spin around in mid-air? What’s wrong with a garage and a lift? What’s with all the screens? How the hell did Bonnie and Devon manage so much from a freaking TRAILER, and here in the super advanced 21^st century FLAG needs a fully decked out techno-bunker?
3. The transporter.
   1. A cargo plane? Seriously? The advantage to a tractor trailer – is that it can essentially go ANYWHERE. No need for a runway.  No need for CG either.
4. The cast.
   1. Again, too big. OK, so you’ve got the guy who built the new KITT in his garage – science guy, fine. But do they need an entire team? Government agents? All you need is 2 or 3 main characters, and a number of nameless, faceless extras. The guy who played Mike Knight in the new series did a good job, although I’d rather have seen Tom Welling (similar in build and stature to an ’82 Hoff IMHO) in the role, but Justin Bruening pulled it off.
5. The sexual tension.
   1. Bond and Money Penny, Knight and Barstow. Always a hint of underlying sexual tension. Knight 2008? Not only did he ask her to marry him before he vanished, nearly every episode we see everything short of the money shot. Seriously.
6. The plot.
   1. Underlying plot and back story is fine. Lone wolf guy with a mysterious past given a chance to help the powerless against powerful…terrorists of the week? A little too formulaic. They need more back-story. They need to fill in blanks from the past 25 years. They need a disgruntled former FLAG scientist installing the CPU from KARR into a Roush. SOMETHING. They need cameos. Mix it up a bit.

If in fact Knight Rider has failed, it is because they went far too big. One guy, one talking car, and a small team of professionals backing him up as he saves the day. It’s a formula which could work again if the people who make the decisions had any respect for the franchise or the underlying premise of the original show. Start small, aim high.

Never really got into this show. I’ve had the opinion from what I’ve seen that it tried to cash in on displaced Whedon fans, it’s even had a few of the same actors in the series.

That said, I can’t stop myself from watching it.

Alyssa Milano.

Damn!

Not like I struck gold here, but I’ve just joined the huddled masses who run Ubuntu as their primary O/S.  I’ve been using it on my work laptop for a couple months now, and last night I installed it onto my desktop here from a thumbdrive.  Took oh… 20 minutes?  The remaining updates took a little longer, but I cannot believe how fast this all runs.

It’s still a dual boot for now, need to figure out how to get the RAID on this motherboard to get along with Ubuntu (right now I see /dev/sda and /dev/sdb).  Shouldn’t be overly difficult.

I just don’t get how Bill Gates cannot do this.  He’s got loads of cash, hundreds if not thousands of programmers, and the best they can do is VISTA.  Just doesn’t make sense to me.

Gulf Oil CEO says gas could hit $1 next year

Call me crazy but the last time gas was that cheap, Clinton was in office.

If I was a shallow man, that’d be enough to make me vote Democrat.

It’s been years since I was last scared to the point of shaking while driving a car.

Tonight, I’m headed to the bar of all places, when I come up behind a car waiting at the traffic light by Dawson Motors in Warwick.  The light turns green, and they gun it.

Straight into the oncoming lane.

I call Warwick PD, I’ve caught up to the erratic driver – tell them about the car…  Zigging/Zagging/Speeding/Crawling.  They’re all over the place.  Warwick PD says they’ll call Vernon.

I’m on my way into Vernon now, keeping the car in sight but staying back, and watching as they repeatedly drive nearly off the road, cross into oncoming traffic, etc.  I call 911 and get Orange County 911.  I asked them to forward me to Vernon PD since I just crossed into NJ.

OC 911 forwards me to Vernon, Vernon already heard from Warwick, and I’m keeping them updated as I follow the car.  I was seriously scared at this point not so much for my own safety, but that this driver was going to actually hit one of the cars it aimed at in oncoming traffic.  This person needed to be stopped before that happened.

I get up to Maple Grange and there’s a Vernon squad car waiting.  I slow and flash the lights rapidly, they head out behind the car and I can see the Scion continue to zig zag off the road.  The cop hits the lights, and I’m expecting them to stop.  They don’t.  The car keeps going.

A second Vernon cop gets in front of the car, and they box it in by the animal clinic on 94.  Within a few seconds, the woman is out of her car, and VPD is taking care of things.  I pass a 3rd car on my way towards the Inn.  At this point I’m out of the car, shaking.

I smoke a butt, try to relax.  When I get up to the bar and the bartender asks me what I’d like?

“I’ll have a Coke.”

Holy crap folks.  Seriously. Scared the shit out of me.  Kudos to Warwick PD, Orange County 911, and Vernon PD for taking care of it before someone got hurt or killed!

I tell you, every time I watch this show, it just gets better and better.

I don’t know if it’s formulaic, or if they’ve reverted to the ‘freak of the weak’ that kept shows like Smallville at the top of the ratings.  Either way, they’re taking new angles with the genre that have me absolutely hooked.

Tonight’s episode?  A Terminator is sent back in time – to the wrong time, and Cameron spends the entire episode trying to figure out the mystery behind its behavior.  Ok yes, formulaic.  I don’t care.  It’s awesome, it’s Terminator, and is 100% more entertaining and in line with the universe than that flaming ball of crap T3 was.

Now THAT is how you end a series.  Holy !@#$.

May add more later, but that pretty much sums up my opinion of the series finale.