'Star Trek Into Darkness' --A Review

Gahhhh!  I hate, hate, hate lazy writing.  Almost as much I hate bad writing and yes, kids- I'm just going to go ahead and spoil it for you so if you haven't seen this yet, just stop reading now.  That which I had held out hope against happening, happened.  Benedict Cumberbatch's mysterious villain turned out to be not so mysterious after all.

Yeah, he's totally Khan.

For a franchise that has a mission of boldly going where no one has gone before, Star Trek sure keeps coming back to the same old stories over and over again.  I have to hand it to Abrams and Company.  First, they destroy Vulcan in the previous movie.  (I was, surprisingly, OK with this.  It was a ballsy, gusty move that enabled them to break away from the extensive Trek Canon already in existence.)  And now, in this movie, they bring in the iconic villain of Star Trek and in one particularly rage inducing scene practically replicate a scene (not just any scene, the scene) of the greatest Star Trek movie ever made.*

Yeah, these guys have balls of solid steel.

I was hoping, hoping that they would break some new ground with this movie.  And they kind of do...  it's not a total remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan but it might as well be.   There's elements of the steaming pile of excrement that was Star Trek: Nemesis- the claws of the deadly ship at the end of the movie must have been recycled from Shinzon's ship.  (Nemesis actually did try to remake The Wrath of Khan for The Next Generation crew- not to mention robbing the Romulans of their shot to be decent villains for once.  How can you take the aliens from episodes like 'Balance of Terror' and give them a movie like that?  Seriously now.)

Soon Khan is revealed and you're hoping that they're not going to do what you think they're going to do.  You're hoping that they're going to leave that alone.   You're hoping that these writers aren't so lazy that they'll use the concept of an alternate timeline to basic pilfer some awesome Trek moments (not to mention awesome science fiction moments) and twist them around, just a wee, little bit.   You're hoping that they're not going to be that lazy about it.

But they are.  And despite that, I think they get away with it- by the skin of their teeth, maybe, but they do get away with it.

Star Trek Into Darkness begins with our crew fishing Spock (Zachary Quinto) out of an active volcano on a primitive planet that's threatening to wipe out all the natives.   Starfleet's Prime Directive of non-interference mandates that they do this without being seen but with Spock stuck down there, Kirk (Chris Pine) being Kirk fishes him out anyway.  (Starting a whole new religion amongst the natives in the process!)

Back on Earth, he's promptly demoted to First Officer under Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) who, despite Kirk's gung-ho disregard for the rules still thinks he'd make a damn good Captain someday.  He just needs a little more training.   And that's when the mysterious terrorist John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) emerges, destroying a Starfleet base in London and then attacking and killing Admiral Pike and a large chunk of Starfleet Command in San Francisco.  Admiral Marcus (an excellent Peter Weller) is left in charge and sends Kirk and Company after Harrison.

Turns out, Scotty's (Simon Pegg) acquired trick with transwarp beaming has come in handy for Mr. Harrison because he's hiding out in a deserted province on the Klingon Homeworld of Kronos.  (Looks like Praxis has already come to town in this timeline.)  Kirk is sent to kill Harrison, but disregarding his orders, goes in and captures Harrison alive, intending to bring him back for trial.

The mysterious Harrison (actually Khan) asks Kirk a few pointed questions about his mission and suddenly Kirk stumbles upon the real agenda being pursued by Admiral Marcus and a mysterious, covert element of Starfleet known only as Section 31.  Soon Kirk and Company are in the middle of a deadly struggle trying to stop an agenda aimed at changing the very nature of Starfleet itself.  They eventually, of course, save the day- and get rewarded with a five year mission into deep space.

Well, kids...  that's about as much plot as I'm willing to give you.  Go see it if you want the nitty-gritty details and all that stuff.  Though the rest of the crew (played by Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin and John Cho) get their moments in the sun the heart of the story remains about the relationship between Kirk and Spock-  and how Kirk manages to grow up a little bit and actually fit into the Captain's chair a little more comfortable after his meteoric rise to Captaincy in the previous movie.  (In a very real sense, that's what this movie is about as much as anything:  Kirk got the chair in the last movie.  In this movie, he earns it.)

Abrams and Company do a lot of things extremely well in this movie.  It look amazing, for one.  The Earth of the future is detailed, believable and wonderful to behold even with the usual amounts of lens flare.   They also continue to get the scale of the Enterprise absolutely correct.   You feel like you're in a massive starship--  which again, is awesome. And Michael Giacchino's score remains incredible.

After seeing this movie, I want more Klingons!  They're new, they're different and they feel very alien- but still have their battleths handy... and while I was hoping that they would continue to break new ground with this movie, I will say that Benedict Cumberbatch takes the role of Khan and make it his own-  no one is going to be able to touch Ricardo Montablan's original take-  and no one will be able touch Cumberbatch's...  Khan remains, thanks to his performance, probably the most iconic Trek villain.

That said:  I hope we never, ever, ever see him again.  (They're going out on the five year mission.  It'd be awfully nice if they could meet some new people.  Breen?  Cardassians?  Someone totally new?  But please-  NOT THE BORG.)

Overall:  Science fiction is at its best when it reflects the struggles going on in the society around it.   Into Darkness asks interesting questions about the nature of due process and the questionable morality of drone strikes but unfortunately, the movie is moving so fast it doesn't really stop to, well, think about the answers.  And an admittedly iconic performance by Cumberbatch doesn't make up for some incredibly lazy writing towards the end of the movie.  The Abrams Trekverse, which seemed so original, such a breath of fresh air plays it much safer than it should this time around.  Next time, I hope they're going to go a little more boldly where no Trek has gone before.  My Verdict:  ** 1/2 out of ****.

*If you've seen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, you the scene I'm talking about.  They also squeeze another moment from Khan into the scene.  For reasons passing understanding.

Bookshot #61: The Mongoliad, Book One

This was my beach book for our vacation to Florida and it was the perfect companion. (Last year's companion was Ken Macleod's The Cassini Division--  also eminently worthy.)

Set in the year 1241, with Europe still reeling from the onslaught of the Mongol invasions, The Mongoliad tells the story of a group of warrior monks, The Shield Brethren who, along with their guide, a young woman named Cnan, hatch a daring plan to save Europe from the armies poised to spread terror and destruction into Central and Western Europe. 

When Khan Onghwe summons the champions of Christendom to a trial of arms to decide the fate of Europe, many respond and flock to the ruins of Eastern Europe where the Mongol Horde waits to try their luck and to maybe spare the people of Europe further destruction--  the Shield Brethern, lead by their leader Feronantus have other ideas.   While some will answer the Khan's challenge, Feronantus and a chosen few, lead by Cnan will travel to the east where the will kill the Khan of Khans, Ogedei hopefully plunging the Mongol Empire into chaos and anarchy.

But in Karakorum, the Great Khan Ogedei wrestles with demons of his own.  The luxury and softness of his palace conceal a nest of warring factions and plots and secrets as he remains haunted by the sacrifice of his brother Tolui and turns to drink, remembering an easier, more martial time when he was a warrior, when he was younger.  When Gansukh, a warrior emissary from his brother the Khan Chagtai arrives in Karakorum with the challenging and potentially dangerous assignment of getting Ogedei to control his drinking, the Great Khan begins to confront his demons even as foes within and without draw closer upon their mission of his destruction.

Thus, kids, begins The Mongoliad-  which sucked me without any difficulty and like any good book, left me wanting more.  (Father Cigar has Book 3 in Italy.  Book 2 was retrieved from the Library of the Cigar Parentals two days ago and is currently sitting beside me waiting to be read.)  What immediately jumps out at you though is that this book has seven authors.   Yes, that's right seven: Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, ED deBirmingham, Erik Bear, Joseph Brassey and Cooper Moo.  (No, that last one isn't a typo- and it's an exceedingly awesome name.)  According to that Font of All Knowledge, Wikipedia, this project started out as a 'secret history transmedia franchise.'

Hmmm...   I'm going to digest those last words a little bit but if I'm understanding the idea correctly, it was originally conceived as a sort of 'open source novel.'  A group of writers created a serialized format of stories that were originally released as a series of apps/downloads for smartphones that was eventually restructured and released as a definitive edition on Amazon Publishing before being turned into a trilogy (thus far-  don't know if there are plans for more.  One hopes there are!)

But here's the kicker:

According to Jeremy Bornstein, President of the Subutai Corporation, the genesis of the project was in Stephenson's dissatisfaction with the authenticity of the early modern sword fighting scenes he had written into his Baroque cycle of novels.^[1] Stephenson gathered a group of martial arts enthusiasts interested in studying historical European swordfighting, and this eventually resulted in some of the members of this group collaborating on a set of stories that would make use of accurate representations of these martial arts

That made me fall super hard in love with this book...  a writer (in this case Neal Stephenson- an admittedly awesome writer, I think) is unhappy with an aspect of some of his books (in this case the sword fights) and so gets together a group of writers who like sword fighting and creates a world where they can portray the martial arts/sword fightings as accurately as possible.

That is, in a word, awesome.

Overall:  You would think that a novel with seven authors might be a total trainwreck.  This one is not-  to be totally honest, after Chapter 2, you don't really care about who's writing what because the story is that good.  If you're in the market for a fascinating blend of fantasy and historical fiction with an epic quest, warrior monks and sword fighting all thrown in for good measure then look no further.  An awesome start to what will hopefully be an epic trilogy of this innovative new collaboration between some truly awesome writers.

Albums2010 #62: Random Access Memories

Well, kids, it's finally here.   If you're a Daft Punk fan you've already listened to this entire album three or four times but if you've been on vacation like me for a week or so where wi-fi is hard to come by or suspect when it comes to things like Spotify, you've had to wait.  And what a wait it was- and I'd say it was totally worth it as well.

This is Daft Punk up to it's usual standards of excellence.   A serious Daft Punk fanatic upon learning I had streamed a few tracks for free iTunes immediately asked me if the new album was more like TRON: Legacy or Discovery.  While I'm reluctant to come down on either side of that equation but I think I would say that after the big, bombastic score of TRON: Legacy, this is a welcome return to form...

The first single, 'Get Lucky' will probably land alongside 'One More Time' and 'Harder, Faster, Stronger' as one of the few Daft Punk songs that the average radio listener (i.e. not a Daft Punk fan) will recognize instantly.  Pharrell Williams and Nile Rogers lend a nice pep to the tune that seems to leading a weird possible disco revival (I heard this on the radio the other night and wondered...) and indeed, there's flavors of disco pep throughout the entire album- but there's also a weird melancholy underpinning many of the songs.  If you were expecting the upbeat awesome sauce of 'Get Lucky' throughout the whole album, think again.

Reading the early reaction to this album, people seemed to be happy about 'Instant Crush', where lead singer of The Strokes Julian Casablancas guest stars (collaborates?  Helps out? Not sure what the proper lingo is here...)  I preferred the first (well, on the album it's the first) appearance by Pharrell Williams, 'Lose Yourself to Dance' and the Paul Williams appearance 'Touch'.  There was nothing special about 'Instant Crush' to me- and I had high hopes for that track because of this and this-  both of which made me a kinda sorta fan of The Strokes, back in the day.

The finale of the album, 'Contact' almost echos back to the grandiose orchestral arrangements of TRON: Legacy-  but if you watch this video, you won't care.  (Some brilliant individual put this track to the close sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey- and weirdly enough, it works amazingly well.)

Overall:  Listen, it's Daft Punk...   albums from the behelmeted French duo don't happen all that often it seems and when they do, they always fall into the 'good to awesome' range- and I tend to lean towards the 'awesome' end of that spectrum.  If I have one, tiny, tiny nit to pick, it's that while this album plays around with different sounds than prior albums, it's a perfectly engineered piece of Daft Punk glory.   What made TRON: Legacy so intriguing was that you didn't know how Daft Punk was going to approach composing the score to an entire movie--  I would have been nice to see the envelope pushed in some more obvious ways with this album as well.   But who am I kidding?  I love these guys...  **** out of ****.

You Already Know:  'Get Lucky'
You Should Get To Know:  'Contact', 'Lose Yourself To Dance', 'Touch'

This Week In Vexillology #30

Get your vuvuzelas ready to rumble and get your Waka Waka on, kids because this week it's time for South Africa!

The current flag was adopted on April 27th, 1994 for national and civil usage following the end of apartheid and the transition to a multi-party, multi-racial democracy.  And what makes this flag so fascinating is that it draws on both sides of South Africa's history to produce a synthesis of something new.  Because you see, although the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, they didn't have a distinctive flag until 1928 when this flag was adopted:

This one was based on the orange, white and blue horizontal tricolor that was used by the first Dutch settlers.  The three flags in the center represent Britain, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State  (the latter two being the old Boer Republics that were eventually absorbed into British South Africa following the Boer War.)

During the apartheid regime, the African National Congress became the driving force behind the opposition to the white regime.  (It's been around since 1912 campaigning for the rights of black South Africans and is the ruling party of South Africa today-- so it's not like apartheid kickstarted this party.)  Their flag looks like this:

This flag was adopted in 1917.   Another horizontal tricolor, the black represents the people, the green represents the land and the yellow symbolizes riches.

Both of these flags tie back to the new flag of South Africa- and that's what I like most about the new flag!  (I mean, it's not exactly 'new' anymore-  it's been around for nearly 20 years.)  But with the downfall of apartheid, the people obviously wanted a new design and the new flag was designed by the Chief Herald.  The red, white and blue in the flag were taken from the colors of the Boer Republics (as seen in the old flag of South Africa) while the yellow, black and green were taken from the flag of the ANC.   The distinctive 'Y-Shape' represents the convergence of old traditions with new and the progress of the new South Africa into the future.

So everybody put your hands together and give it up for South Africa!  And remember, until next time- keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

I'm BACK...

...and planning for our next beach vacation has already begun!  (We're thinking Hawaii or if that proves to expensive, tackling Miami and the Florida Keys...   of course, we owe my sister a trip down to Phoenix and there's a trip out east that's being demanded as well...   busy busy busy!)

For someone that had missed out on the Sunshine State until a couple of years ago, I've sure become a semi-regular visitor.  The Missus and I have hit Orlando, Cocoa Beach, Daytona, The Kennedy Space Center and now the other side of the state, spending a blissful few days in the town of Redington Beach- sandwiched neatly between Treasure Island/St Pete's Beach and Clearwater.   It was perfect- and given the quality of cookies we received when checked in at the Doubletree, it's entirely possible I will never stay anywhere else ever again.  310 calories be damned!  Those cookies were amazing.

But I'm back!  (And judging by the state of the blissfully snoring bulldog at the end of the couch, I'm not to the only one that's happy that I'm back...)  Regular programming and real life resumes tomorrow...

Going to Florida...

...for rest, relaxation and general vacation like activities with the Missus.  I'll be back Thursday, kids.

'Silver Linings Playbook' --A Review

I'm behind on my summer movies, kids...  Star Trek: Into Darkness and The Great Gatsby might have to wait until after the Missus and I come back from Florida-  where beachtime, relaxation and tropical drinks with alcohol in them await us.  In the meantime, the Missus and I sprung for a Redbox and some pizza last night and I finally, finally got to watch Silver Linings Playbook.

And you know what?  It was a pretty damn awesome movie.

The movie opens as Dolores Solitano (Jacki Weaver) arrives at a mental hospital in Baltimore to check her son Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper) out of the hospital to take him home to Philadelphia.  Pat's been in hospital for treatment for his bipolar disorder after he snapped and attacked the man his wife, Nikki was sleeping with after coming home early one day to find them messing around in the shower.   While at the hospital, Pat makes friends with Danny (an almost unrecognizable and entirely awesome Chris Tucker.  We need to see more of him!)  who is constantly fighting with the hospital and trying to leave.  (He eventually gets out for real by the end of the movie.)

Arriving home, Pat discovers his Dad, Pat Sr. (Robert DeNiro) is out of work and has resorted to bookmaking to save up money to open a restaurant and that Nikki has taken a restraining order out against him following his violent outburst.  Despite working with his therapist Dr. Patel (Anupam Kher) he refuses to take medication for his condition and, at a dinner at his friend Ronnie's (John Ortiz) he meets Ronnie's sister in law, the recently widowed Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence.)  The two strike up a friendship-  from Pat's point of view this seems advantageous as Tiffany promises to get his wife Nikki a letter in exchange for Pat participating in a dancing competition with her. 

The friendship between the two deepens as they prepare for the competition and everything seems to be going well until Pat accompanies his brother Jay to an Eagles game, where they get in a fight and don't make it to the game-  Pat Sr, who views Pat as a good luck charm had bet heavily on the game and blames Pat and Tiffany for the loss until Tiffany points out that the Eagles had been winning when they were spending time together.   Convinced that maybe Tiffany isn't the bad luck charm he thought she was, Pat Sr. ups the ante and goes in double or nothing:  the Eagles beat the Cowboys by ten and Tiffany and Pat get at least a five in the dance competition.

And soon enough, the stage is set for the dance competition and both Pat, Pat Sr. and Tiffany come to important realizations about life and themselves and end up happier for it.  (Yes, I know that sentence seems vague but really, if you happen to be reading this and haven't seen the movie yet, I don't want to spoil the ending.)

Overall, I thought this movie more than lived up to the hype.  Jennifer Lawrence richly deserved her Oscar for her portrayal of Tiffany Maxwell and had Bradley Cooper not had the misfortune of going up against Daniel Day Lewis in the Best Actor category this year, I think he could have won that hands down.  The story works as well...   it's perfect for Philadelphia, it's perfect in the way it portrays mental illness, it's a beautiful love story about fathers and sons and falling in love and how you get over people and move on with your life to begin something new.  And CHRIS TUCKER!  Holy cow, I never thought I would say this- but Chris Tucker can act, y'all.   I enjoyed the Rush Hour movies but I'm really impressed with his performance here-  once he takes the manic side down a touch or two, he can turn in a seriously solid performance.  I really liked him in this and I hope to see him in more movies.  (The Soundtrack is also worth snagging as well--  the song by Alabama Shakes and Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan collaboration are awesome.)

My Verdict:  A really excellent movie- with a solid script, amazing performances from the entire cast and a nice story that will leave the viewer feeling good about the universe when the credits finally roll.  **** out of ****.

This Week In Vexillology #29

Grab some coffee and run down to your local grocery store and get some tasty Danishes*, kids because this week, we've got Denmark!

We get to the crazy, interesting things right away because this flag actually has a name- the Dannebrog or Danish cloth.  And along with Denmark being Europe's oldest kingdom the Dannebrog is the oldest flag of Europe.  Legend has it that during the Battle of Lyndanisse in 1215 when the Danes needed a boost against the Estonians, this flag fell from a sky- a literal gift from God to help the Danes rally to victory.

Adopted for National and Civil usage in 1625, the off centered cross is the basis for the other Scandanavian flags (Norway, Sweden and Finland all use an off centered cross)- and while the legend of the Dannebrog makes for a good story, in reality the flag may have been a gift from the Pope for Denmark's service during the Northern Crusades.

Denmark also gives me the excuse to talk about one of the coolest flags I've ever stumbled across:

This is the flag of Greenland.  (Yes, Greenland has a flag and yes, it's technically part of Denmark.)  And you know what?  Like it's Danish counterpart, it's got a name.  Erfalasorput!  Which in the local language of Greenland means 'our flag.'  Adopted on June 21st, 1985, the red and the white recall the colors of Denmark and the red stands for the sun, while the white stands for the ice that covers most of Greenland.  Greenland is the only flag of any Nordic territory not to feature a cross.  (With a total area of over 2 million square kilometers and an estimated population of around 56,000 Greenland has less people in it than Iowa City does.  Just for a random factoid.)

So, ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for Denmark!   And remember, until next time keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

*I was somewhat disappointed to find out that Danishes technically aren't Danish in origin- but Austrian instead.  Apparently when Danish bakers went on strike in 1850, factory owners were forced to hire foreign workers, including Austrians who brought the recipes with them.

Albums2010 #61: Night Visions

Imagine Dragons have been popping up on the local radio station a lot so I decided to hop on my Spotify, give their debut album a listen and let y'all know what I think.  But first, a tangent:

Tangent:  I started the whole Albums2010 thing waaaay, waaaaay back in 2010 funnily enough, when I set out to listen to 100 albums after observing that more and more, people are listening to less and less albums and more and more individual songs that they can gank off of iTunes and turn into whatever happy little playlists they want. I wanted to find great albums and learn to appreciate them in their entirety.  Somewhere along the way, the whole 100 albums thing just became a number and it sort of became a general outlet for any album reviews I felt like posting.  Which hasn't been that many lately (my last one was November of last year.)   But it's summer now, I just finished writing my first novel and I'm bringing back some music to the blog.   So, thanks for reading my tangent.  Now, back to the review:

Night Visions is the first studio album from Las Vegas based band Imagine Dragons and it's a nice, promising debut.   Anyone who's been near a radio station at anytime in the past year or so will have heard 'It's Time' and more recently 'Radioactive.'  (I prefer the latter to the former when it comes to the radio) but the rest of the album is just as a good as well.  

I keep trying to categorize this band somewhere but I don't think they fit into any one genre with ease.  There's elements of straight up rock n'roll throughout the album but some songs bring a lighter touch with more elements of indie rock/alternative rock to it.   They seem sort of like chameleons, really--  the tone of the album isn't uniformly dark or light and there's a subtle differentiation between a lot of the songs that helps creates a remarkably unique sound.  (They're also very creative with their percussion... which I like.  It's another element that helps make their sound unique.)

The album opens with the bombast of 'Radioactive' and their debut single of 'It's Time.'   Tucked away just behind that is one of the hidden gems of this album- the almost bouncy, upbeat 'On Top Of The World' is guaranteed to cheer you up if you're in a bad mood.   The song 'Hear Me' could easily be found on any album by the Killers and lead singer Dan Reynolds sounds a lot like Brandon Flowers on that particular song...  (at least to my ear.   Other people may disagree.)  The very next track, 'Every Night' is a more straight forward ballad.  (I was going to say I could imagine Daughtry singing this song, but that might be slightly insulting to some people.)

There's an underlying theme of emotional struggle and triumphing over emotional struggle that runs throughout the album that I can really identify with--  seems like this band has been through tough times and wanted to take the negative and turn it into something positive and uplifting- and with this album, they've more than succeed.  And indeed, a visit to reviews of this album on Amazon, not to mention their own website seems to back that up.  

Overall:  Perfect soundtrack to start the summer- and if you're trying to shake off the blues or need to cheer yourself up a bit, this album should do the trick nicely.   I'm interested to see what these guys come up with next because they've got a heck of a debut under their belts.  **** out of ****

You Already Know:  'Radioactive', 'It's Time'
You Should Get To Know: 'On Top Of The World', 'Underdog', 'Rocks.'

Whiskey of the Month #8: Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt

Kids, we've got a special one this month, courtesy of Father Cigar.  You see once upon a time, there was a guy called Ernest Shackleton who wanted to lead an expedition to the South Pole.  It didn't go all that way and he ended up leaving three crates of whiskey buried under a hut in the Antarctic because he was in such a hurry to get the heck out of there and get back to somewhere, well, warm.  A century later, the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust dug them up and this beautiful thing resulted:

From the back of the label:

The Enduring Spirit

There is a lot of story to be told in this one bottle of Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt. A meticulous re-creation of the original whiskey shipped to Antarctica in 1907 by Shackleton to fortify his 'Nimrod' expedition, this rare spirit has been a long time in the making.   Abandoned to the Antarctic winter in early 1909, five wooden crates of Shackleton's malt were buried deep in the ice beneath the expedition hut.  Unearthed almost a century later by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, a single crate was flown to Cantebury Museum in New Zealand for careful preservation.  Heralded as 'a gift from heaven for whiskey lovers,' the long lost malt provided the inspiration for this faithful recreation of both the whiskey, using contemporary aged stocks and its distinctive packaging presentation. The result celebrates the unique character of both man and malt.  It commemorates the enduring spirit of another time. 

The story of the recreation of the whiskey is a fascinating one and if you're cynical, you could argue that its little more than a marketing ploy but its one hell of a marketing ploy, I'll give them that.  Last year, Father Cigar put the word out on the family street that if any of us found a place that sold this lovely stuff to let him know right away.  As it happened on a trip to Minneapolis last year, we stopped off at the Haskell's near the Nicolett Mall and I spied a crate on the shelf and $200 later, Father Cigar had his whiskey.

Yes, that's right- $200- this stuff is not cheap but if you're a seriously lover of whiskey and have money to splurge, you can't get much better than this fascinating bottle with a fascinating story behind it.  And as a bonus, it tastes damn good as well.

Color: Honey/golden in color-- lighter shades

Body: Smokey with sweeter undertones-  maybe toffee?

Palate: Notes of honey and brown sugar with a hint of toffee- has a syrupy texture to it which is just about perfect.  It's not heavy on the tongue, nor does it feel watery.  If there's an ideal viscosity for whiskey, the Mackinlay hits the sweet spot.

Finish:  Has a beautiful warming sensation.  There's some smokiness that's common in Islays but it's balanced out so what results is an almost peppery spice going down that warms you right up.

Overall:  Kids, I'm not normally one for Islays but occasionally, you get a craving for something nice and smokey- sometimes you go all out and get a Laphroig or a Lagavulin but sometimes you just want a little bit of smoke and a little bit of sweet and the Mackinlay manages to balance them both perfectly.  You can see why Shackleton took crates of this stuff to the Antarctic with him immediately.  While it's not a whiskey I'm going to run out and buy every month (at $200 a pop it's a wee bit pricey) but if you're a serious drinker and a serious fan of whiskey then this is a must buy.  After all, you only live once.

The Up-Fronts

I've been a little out of whack these past couple of days and to top it all off, now I'm fighting off a cold, so I'm dosed to the gills on allergy/cold meds and producing snot at a brisk clip and generally feeling like shit on a stick but what I have been noticing is that it's UP FRONT season...  so that means the networks get to tease everybody with the new and potentially awesome shows that are coming to our screens this fall and there's some intriguing stuff out there and some stuff that's probably going to be awesome and then cancelled immediately and then there's stuff that's just horrendous in every possible 'what are they thinking?' type of a way.

Let's break down what I found interesting by network:

NBC:
The Blacklist:  James Spader is always a good thing though this looks a little too much like Hannibal/The Following to inspire much confidence in me.  I might check it out just for the Spader-y goodness but I'm sort of yawning already.

The Michael J. Fox Show:  I liked Spin City.   I like Michael J. Fox.  Anything that puts Michael J. Fox back on television has the real potential to be awesome and with The Office ending its run, NBC is in the market for a new comedy hit.   While I like that his character also has Parkinson's and they use that in the trailer for humor, it seems like kind of a tightrope to me.  Self-deprecating humor is something I can appreciate but too many jokes about Parkinson's could fall flat and seem tacky to people.  But this looks eminently watchable.

Ironside:  A reboot/remake of a 60s television show about a wheelchair bound cop played by James Garner (I think) the new version stars Blair Underwood (always good) and Spencer Grammer (Kelsey's daughter lately from ABC Family's Greek...  a show that I liked quite a bit...  in fact, I feel a Netflix binge of that coming on.  Maybe after I'm done with Fringe and the new season of Arrested Development.)  I think the genre of 'cop show' is something that's been done a lot but this looks like a twist that might be worth watching and it looks pretty bad-ass.

Fox:
Fox is apparently bringing 24 back for a limited run next year.  Why?  I don't know...  there's a myriad of sitcoms and other things for your viewing pleasure but only one show intrigued me.

Almost Human:  JJ Abrams is producing this so there's a high geek potential and it looks awesome in an 'I, Robot' sort of a way.  But, as with all awesome science fiction shows on Fox, as soon as I find it awesome and interesting, Fox will undoubtedly cancel it immediately.

ABC:
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D:  Very, very intrigued by this...  there's tons of potential here and Agent Coulson apparently survived his encounter with Loki in The Avengers and is back to head up a team of scrappy agents running around the world and tackling all kinds of bizzare, crazy, superhero related stuff.  The nice thing about expanding Marvel's reach to the small screen is that you can introduce other heroes from that universe that might not necessarily be big enough to carry a movie by themselves but who still have devoted fan followings (nerd-dom is abuzz but the possible sighting of Luke Cage in a frame-by-frame analysis.) Personally, I'm rooting for She-Hulk to make her way into the mix- because, well, she's awesome.

I think the success or failure of this might just hinge on Agent Coulson himself- how did he survive?  Did he really die?  What's with the car?  Clark Gregg is an awesome enough actor to pull it off and I remember chatter on the 'net, post-Avengers that a reference to a lady friend in Portland might be referring to the Scarlet Witch- which would be one hell of a subtle Easter Egg that could tie right back into the build-up to The Avengers 2.  (That's my theory anyway.)

Back In The Game:  Sort of a Bad News Bears meets 'I got divorced and have to move back in with my parents' thing, this seems a lot more likely to click than any other sitcoms ABC is thrusting upon the viewing public.  Plus, it's got Maggie Lawson in it- and being a fan of Psych that automatically makes this a 'must watch.'

The Goldbergs:  A nostalgia drenched comedy set in the 80s, Wendy McLennon-Covey from Reno 911 stars alongside Jeff Garlin with Andy Richter doing the Fred Savage thing a la The Wonder Years.  I'm dubious and yet I have to admit, I chuckled at a couple of points watching the preview.   Yet I will forever harbor hatred in my heart over the cancellation of Happy Endings.  (Which brought us  joy-inducing brilliant things like this...)

The CW:
I have not really found anything worth watching on The CW as of yet but I was pleasantly surprised, nay almost excited to find out they were bringing back Whose Line Is It Anyway?  with the original peeps (Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mockerie) and Aisha Tyler as host (brilliant, brilliant choice).   I now have a reason to watch The CW.

Oh, what the hell...  we'll give The CW some love too.

Reign:  Looks like a 'safe for network television' version of The Tudors- this time, telling the story of Mary Queen of Scots.  There's a lot of young, beautiful people in the preview and I suppose the costumes might appeal to certain demographics but without excessive boobs/sex scenes for the boys and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers for the ladies, I hope this show has something else in its back pocket to keep people interested.

StarCrossed:  Some interesting parallels to Roswell with a group of aliens who look like humans except with tattoos integrating into an all human high school á la Little Rock in 1957.  (Complete with angry human xenophobes with protest signs...)  That premise alone got my attention...  of course, there's a love angle for pretty young people, which seems to be what The CW is going for these days.

CBS: 
Mom:  The latest from sitcom Emperor Chuck Lorre this one doesn't look all that horrible.   Will it be the next Big Bang Theory, I don't know- but it looks better than 2 Broke Girls (which started out with some promise and despite the fact that Kat Dennings rocks my face off didn't hold my interest).  This one has Anna Faris (funny) and Allison Janney (awesome, West Wing alum and funny) so it might be worth watching for an episode or two.

The Crazy Ones: Robin Williams is back on network television and Sarah Michelle Gellar is along for the ride?  Yeah, I'd watch that.

Intelligence: Josh Holloway from Lost and Marg Helgenberger from CSI?  Again, sounds like an intriguing combination and if you throw John Billingsley from Star Trek: Enterprise into the mix, then you get a high geek/nerd quotient.  But the premise is basically that of a spy with a computer in his which sounds an awful lot like Chuck-  and this looks like a serious, hardcore version of Chuck without  much in the way of funny.   Could work, might not.

This Week In Vexillology #28

Break out the baklava and the ouzo, kids because this week we're getting out our balalaikas and learning to dance- so say OPA!  And get ready- because this week, it's Greece!

Adopted in 1822 for national and civil usage, the flag draws its colors from the flag raises following independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th Century.  The blue, white and the white cross have been constant features in one form or another since that time.   Blue represents the sea and the sky, while the white reflects the purity of the Greek independence struggle.    The cross in the canton represents the Greek religious faith.

The stripes are where it gets interesting...  the nine stripes represent the nine syllables in the cry 'Freedom or Death!' which was shouted a lot during the Greek War of Independence.  If, like me, you were wondering how the heck you get nine syllables out of 'freedom or death' well then, have no fear, Wikipedia is here:  Eleftheria i thanatos!  (That's how you get to nine syllables--  you shout it in Greek!)

Another interesting factoid:  the shade of blue has also varied over time.  Today, it's the original light blue color it was in 1822- though it was altered in the 1970s to a much darker blue, navy shade.  (It'd be interesting to know if that had something to do with the transition back to democracy after the Colonels were overthrown in 1974.   

So put your hands together for Greece, kids!  And remember, until next time keep your flags flying:  FREAK or otherwise!

Police In Local High Schools?

So, there's a grant out there that the School District could use to fund police officers at the local high schools and potentially the local middle schools as well.  That collective 'boom' you just heard outside your window was the sound of a sizeable chunk of parents from across the school district collectively losing their shit.

The arrangement isn't really all that uncommon, despite what people around here might think.  It's a bit surprising when you haven't seen it before-  I first encountered it up in Mankato when I got a job working security at one of the local high schools (Mankato West.  Go Scarlets!) and it was a bit startling because Mankato West didn't really seem like a school you'd see in Dangerous Minds or Lean On Me but you got used to it quickly.  The School Resource Officer (SRO) had his own office, kept regular office hours, was a presence in the hallways and didn't really do much more than that.  I didn't see him break up any fights or use his billy club on any school kids--  though they did have a pretty hefty zero tolerance policy for that sort of thing.   If you assaulted someone, you were probably going to get charged with something.

But I think it also depends on the community that your school is in as well.   Johnson County is just coming off of a polarizing debate about a new jail.   There are plenty of people in this town that don't like law enforcement (some of their reasons might be more valid than others) and despite the nationwide focus on school security in the wake of things like Sandy Hook, doubters are right to point out that in the case of a school shooting an SRO could be anywhere in the school- including at the opposite end of the building- and when seconds count, a police officer might be in the building but could be a minute or two away.

Personally, I'm OK with this...  I think a police presence is always helpful and if it gives kids a chance for some potentially positive interactions with law enforcement I think it could be a good thing.  Too often, kids don't seem to want to talk to adults on a variety of issues- and while I doubt a police officer would be their first choice right away, it's another person they could talk to about things if they really wanted too- and in a 'see something, say something' world, any opportunities for kids to do both if they need too is a good thing.

Do I, however, think this will actually happen?  No.   As usual, the comments section of The Press Citizen was particularly illuminating.  This one was my favorite:

This is a bad idea...Install buzzer systems or bring in the bomb dogs, but let's not have our school hallways patrolled by armed officers….just because there is grant money to pay for these armed thugs...also, what is going to happen when a child is shot by one of these armed officers just because he was “freaking out” because his girlfriend broke up with him???...happens in High schools everyday and school personal and counselors know how to deal with it...will an armed thug???

Wow.   Let's leave aside the 'armed thug' thing for a minute and let's add this:  'Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!'   This is the most hysterically ridiculous thing I've ever heard.  Do people really think this about cops in this town?  Seriously?  If cops anywhere shot every distraught or hysterical person that was 'freaking out' that they came across because 'they didn't know how to deal with it' tons of people would die.   Like, tons.  Police Officers are trained to deal with hysterical people- most of whom are usually far, far more scarier than some kid who just broke up with his girlfriend.  (The other eye rolling comment was the person that wanted the SRO to 'leave his gun at the office'  Do people honestly think that police officers just walk around waving their guns around and randomly popping off shots at people?  If, IF they put officers in schools, no kid is just going to be able to walk up to the officer in the hallway and yank their sidearm out of the holster.)

So yeaaaaah, I doubt this will actually come to pass.   Certainly the school district shouldn't rush on it and it's worthy of a thoughtful, thorough study before any final decision is reached.  But I'm betting the community pushback on this will be enough to kill the notion.  (And to be honest, although I'm ten years out of Iowa City Schools my impression is that there's really not a super urgent need to implement SROs...  I could be wrong on that though.)

Nope

The final numbers are in and, as predicted the Justice Center Bond did not achieve the 60% it needed to pass- final totals were 54% to 46% in favor of the bond-- the 54% is a three percentage point drop from last November's election meaning that the calculated risk they took in rushing this to the polls again so quickly actually rebounded against them.

Looking at the numbers:

Iowa City was pretty evenly split-- 13 precincts voting yes, 11 voting no.  Coralville and North Liberty both voted yes and Solon and U-Heights were the big yes votes out in the county (Solon came in with 65% yes and Heights came in with a whopping 70% yes.)   Turn out was around 15%.

I was kind of surprised that Oxford went hard no to the tune of 63% to 37% and the Rec Center (IC19) despite having a whopping 42 voters gives the No crowd its biggest win on the night with an 86%-14% drubbing.  My own precinct, IC6 (Mercer Park, woot woot!) voted yes to the tune of 56%-44%.

So what can we take away from this?  Well for two elections in a row now a majority of voters in Johnson County have said yes, they'd like a new Justice Center- it's just that the case hasn't been made to enough voters to sign on- and in general, I found the No crowd to be better organized, more visible and apparently more enthusiastic than the Yes crowd.   Lowering the bond amount was a good start-  trimming the space was a good start but you haven't made your case to enough people.  At no point did anyone give me a flyer or ask me to get involved-  the Vote YES Facebook page has been awesome about posting editorials and letters to editor in support of the Justice Center but if there's been a get out the vote effort on their part, I haven't seen it anywhere.

And I think that's something the County needs to think about.  These elections- especially special elections are all about turnout.  If it's not Election Day- and especially if it's not a Presidential Election, people just aren't paying attention.   It was about getting people to the voting booth and as the results demonstrate, the Yes crowd came up short-  I heard a radio commercial on Z 102.9 just yesterday urging people to vote No.  When the casino vote was coming up in Linn County, you couldn't turn on a television without seeing something urging people to vote one way or the other.  (As it turns out, you can't fool Lou the Meat Lady...)

If I'm the County:  the air of general complacency and the overall 'meh' attitude that seems to emanate from the 'Yes' crowd needs to end.  The strategy can't be to continually put this on the ballot until the exhausted electorate finally ponys up the 60% you need.   Tours of the jail are nice, virtual tours of the jail are nice and posting every letter to the editor that supports you is wonderful, but you haven't made the case to the voters.  The No crowd has been enthusiastic for reasons that might downright illogical or just plain insane but enough of their voters turned out.  Tonight was all about turnout and even a bare bones get out of the vote effort on the part of the 'Yes' crowd could have swung this the other way.

We still really, really, really need a new Jail.  Call it a Justice Center, call it whatever you want- the argument has not changed one bit:  the current facility is inadequate, the Courthouse is inadequate.  The problem remains.  People who want more drug and alcohol diversion programs- both wonderful, wonderful things--  where, exactly are we going to put them, without more space?  It all begins and ends with needing space.

As for the slightly ridiculous statistic that 25% of University students now graduate with an arrest record, well, I just have to shake my head at that.  I managed to go to school here for five years without so much as a parking ticket.  I know people who partied much, much hardier than I did that managed to do the same thing.  The fact that 25% of the student body can't accomplish that feat is more of a reflection on them than on supposedly over zealous law enforcement--  cops haven't changed that much since I've been in school.

If the County is smart, this won't show up again until the Midterms in 2014 at the earliest.   The 'keep voting until you get to 60%' strategy has failed.  It's time to get serious, get organized and get volunteers to get out the vote.   The people that want to make points about the War On Drugs or the drinking age need to be directed to their representatives in Washington D.C. or Des Moines and as a community, I think we all need to admit that we're not that welcoming to outsiders and that yes, that attitude has a racial dimension that's worthy of thoughtful, reasonable discussion as a community.

Sigh.  Well, I gotta shake my head and just keep on keeping on I guess...  though if Iowa City is looking for a new motto:  'We Cut Off Our Nose To Spite Our Face' might look good on the old letter head.

'Iron Man 3' --A Review

Iron Man 3 kicks off the highly anticipated Phase 2 of the Marvel Universe with a blast!  We find our hero, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) haunted by the events of The Avengers, unable to sleep, constantly tinkering and building scores of new Iron Man suits.  His relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is strained and his friend Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle) has upgraded and rebranded the War Machine to become the Iron Patriot.

When a new, sinister terrorist threat named The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) emerges and Stark's old bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) gets caught up in one of his attacks, Stark naturally challenges The Mandarin to come at him and face him like a man.  When The Mandarin takes him up on his invitation and attacks and destroys  his house, Stark finds himself operating without all the high tech comforts of home, without a net in the wilds of Tennessee of all places, where he picks up a kid sidekick by the name of Harley (which could have been unbearable but turns out to be awesome, largely because Tony Stark doesn't condescend to the kid which I found to be completely in keeping with his character) as he tries to hunt down the secrets of the Mandarin and hoping to stop the next attack and wondering if a sinister face from his past, a fellow scientist by the name of Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) might know more about The Mandarin than he appears to.

I was excited when I heard that Shane Black was directing this movie and having seen it, I'd say it was inspired choice overall.   Black isn't interested in keep the characters locked in stasis- he wants to push the characters and get them out of their comfort zone a little bit, which is why Stark spends a lot of the movie operating without a suit.   Once Tony Stark is forced to operate outside the high tech comforts of his super mansion in Malibu it takes Iron Man to some very interesting places.  Is Tony Stark Iron Man?  Does the suit make him Iron Man?  Do his injuries make him Iron Man?  What makes Iron Man, Iron Man?

The movie is full of Shane Black touches--  it's Christmas, there's a climactic, amazing action set piece at the end of the film that, apart from the flying Iron Man suits and super powered villains could have easily taken place at the end of a Lethal Weapon movie.   His trademark snappy dialogue practically sings coming out of the mouth of Robert Downey Jr.   And more than anything, I think Black leaves the character in a very interesting place at the end of this movie.   Downey hasn't signed to come back the second Avengers movie yet- he's no longer under contract to Marvel so his future with the Iron Man  franchise is an open question right now.  (My gut instinct says he will probably come back for a second go round with The Avengers--  more Iron Man movies is iffier.  Which means Marvel will have to find out if they can James Bond the Iron Man franchise with a new actor- which could be very interesting indeed.)

Overall:  Smart writing and awesome acting combine to make this the best Iron Man movie yet.  What I think is an especially brilliant touch is that this movie leaves the viewer with all kinds of interesting possibilities-  the characters have evolved, the game has changed and the doors have been opened.  You're left with the sensation that the possibilities are endless and interesting not only for the future of the Iron Man franchise but for the rest of Marvel's Phase 2 as well.   Bring on Thor: The Dark World!  My Verdict: **** out ****

This Week In Vexillology #27

Being unable to find an appropriate banner from Star Wars to celebrate Star Wars Day (you know, because May the Fourth be with you and all that) I decided to grab some tequila and limes, break open the chips and salsa and have a special 'holiday that has absolutely nothing to do with Mexican Independence Day because that isn't until September 16th, you silly gringo' edition of This Week In Vexillology.   So put on your sombreros, get ready to get loco for Cinco de Mayo because this week...  it's MEXICO!

Adopted on November 2nd, 1821 for national and civil usage, the basic design is derived from, what else?  The French Tricolore.   Red, white and green are the colors of the national liberation army in Mexico that lead the struggle for independence against Spain in the early 1800s.  Mexico ran into a problem when Italy came along in the 1860s however and so they added the Arms of Mexico in the center of the flag to distinguish it from the Italian one.

The Arms of Mexico are drawn from an old Aztec legend that stated that they should found their city on the spot where they saw an eagle on a cactus, eating a snake.  (By happy coincidence, they found one on an island in a lake in central Mexico and promptly found Tenochtitlán- which after the Spanish destroyed what would have been one of the Wonders of the World had it survived became Mexico City)  The ribbon below the cactus is in the national colors of red, white and green.

Now that the fun stuff is out of the way, let's get our knowledge on kids:  Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16th and comemmorates the famous Grito de Dolores which launched the Mexican War of Independence in 1810.  Here's the slightly mind blowing thing (to me, anyway) about the Grito de Dolores...  it's probably the most famous speech in Mexican history and nobody knows exactly what was said.  There's a variation, the Grito Mexicano which is used by the President to launch Independence Day celebrations ever year but what Hidalgo actually said is still up for debate.  And although Hidalgo was ultimately unsuccessful it was his Grito de Dolores that launched a fight for independence that culminated in Agustin de Iturbide winning independence in 1821.

(Interestingly enough, 12 years after Dolores it was Brazil's turn to have a 'Grito' of their own... in their case, Dom Pedro II went for brevity at Ipiranga and with a hearty cry of 'Independence or Death!' proclaimed Brazil independant... with what came to be called 'The Cry of Ipiranga')

Cinco de Mayo on the other hand is something completely different!  It celebrates the victory of Mexican forces over the invading French forces on May 5th, 1862.  The French had 8,000 well equipped soldiers, the Mexicans were less well equipped and had 4,500.  The Mexicans won! The Battle of Puebla marks the last time that the Americas were invaded by a European Army- they marked the first defeat of the French Army (at the time) in 50 years.  Ultimately, the Mexicans weren't successful and there was this brief, weird, three year interlude from 1864-1867 when Emperor Maximillian I attempted a revival of the Mexican Monarchy (with the backing of Napoleon III of France).  It didn't work.  By 1867 the United States was emerging from the Civil War and was more than willing to lend Mexico a hand in getting rid of the French and it probably didn't help that Maximillian was, in fact, Austrian. 

Over the years, the holiday has gained far more importance amongst Mexican-American communities in the United States than it has in Mexico itself- though given the fact that the Mexican Victory kept the French from supplying the Confederates fully for another year or so, Cinco De Mayo had an impact on the Civil War itself.  Which to me is just another reason to celebrate!  (As if the thought of the well-trained, supposedly awesome French Army losing to a Mexican Army half its size doesn't make you smile...   go on, admit it!  It does.)

So now you know, kids...  (and like the wise man said- knowing is half the battle!)  Anyway- go do some body shots of tequila and put your hands together for Mexico!  And remember, until next time- keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise...

Whiskey of the Month: There's Something Very Wrong With This

Apparently, there's a distillery in Cleveland that has figured out a way to cut the aging process for their bourbon down to a matter of days.   Whiskey and bourbon fans reading this have probably just said something along the lines of 'that's just plain sick and wrong' and I have a feeling they'd be right.

The tricky thing with whiskey (and bourbon, rye and whatever else you want throw into the category.  Sour mash?  Tennessee whiskies?) is the aging process.  Age it in one kind of barrel you can get different flavors from another kind of barrel and age it too long and it's practically undrinkable.  Father Cigar sprung for Cedar Ridge's 'age it at home' experiment not that long ago, complete with mini oaken barrel and unaged whiskey you pour into it and we would both eagerly tap into the barrel each month to see what, if anything tasted different about it.  (The resulting taste- or lack thereof was probably due to over sampling on our parts...) 

So although I'm slightly intrigued by this notion I'm also rightfully dubious about it as well.  I mean first of all,the whiskey is called 'Cleveland' and while any child of the 90s will remember that Cleveland does in fact, rock, it's also right next to Lake Erie and I'm not entirely sure I'd want to drink something called 'Cleveland'- though according to the article, plenty of people in Cleveland do want to drink it- it retails for a whopping $35 a pop.

(And yet, if I find myself in Cleveland for some weird reason, I'll undoubtedly track some down and sample it just to see for myself.   Oh and just to give the other 'C' city in Ohio a shout-out, this article about restoring the many public stairways of Cincinnati is pretty interesting too.)

Wow.

Just...   wow.  Click on this link, watch the Mountain Dew ad and read the commentary contained therein.   How the hell did anyone think that this was a good idea?  How the hell did this make it on the air?

This makes me not want to drink Mountain Dew anymore.  Which might not be a bad thing in the long run... 

The Jason Collins Thing

I sometimes wish Piers Morgan would go back to England and stay there. (If One Direction could go with him, that'd be great.  Especially after finding one of these in the Mall of America.)  To be honest, he's kind of obnoxious most of the time but occasionally, just occasionally, he finds himself in a relatively interesting discussion.  One of last night's guests was Conservative Something or Other Ben Shapiro (I think he might be an Editor over at Breitbart but I'm not really sure) and they were doing their dance over the story of the week- NBA Player Jason Collins' announcement that he was gay.

First of all-  turns out Collins wasn't the first gay male athlete in a major American sport.

Second of all- Shapiro was on Morgan because of some 'controversial' Tweets he made in reaction to the Collins announcement.  First up:

So Jason Collins is a hero because he's gay?  Our standard for heroism has dropped quite a bit since Normandy.

This one seems like kind of a dick move to me.  Athletes are role models for a lot of young people out there and while coming out of the closet probably isn't as risky as it was say, ten years ago, it's still a risk and I'd imagine it still takes a certain amount of courage.   It might not be 'storming the beaches' heroism but if Collins' announcement helps give someone the courage to be comfortable with themselves then I think it's a good thing.  Heroism might be too strong of a word- driven more by media hyperbole than anything else.  Inspirational could be far closer to the mark.  Either way, it's a deal.  Perhaps not a titanic, earth-shifting deal but it's a decent sized deal.

Second up:

What kind of America does the left think we live in?  This is not 1947 with racism.  This is not 1997 with Ellen.  Bravery requires risk.

The cynic in me thinks this one is a lot closer to the mark.   Collins is a 13 year veteran of the NBA who is closer to the end of his career than the beginning and, as a free agent, he's in the market for a team and 2013 is not 1997.  (And if you wanted to be really jaded about this, you could argue that the timing of this announcement will undoubtedly land Collins a new contract and I'm sure an endorsement or two.)  For every reaction hailing this as a major, major, landmark moment for American sports, there have been reactions from many that can be summed up as a combination of shrugging and saying 'do you want a cookie or something?'

I think I tend to fall into the somewhere between the two extremes.  I'll be honest, kids: when I first saw this news and read the story my first reaction was 'Who is Jason Collins?' My second reaction was 'Well, good for him.'  And then, then, kids, I carried on with the rest of my day.  Whatever your sexual preference, it's a fundamental part of who you are and it's going to be a really good day in America when news like this falls into the category of 'meh.  Who cares?'

(An interesting side note to all of this:  Why are gay male athletes a bigger deal to people?  The WNBA has had it's fair share of LGBT athletes-  Britney Griner pretty much just shrugged it away just weeks ago and Martina Navratilova has been open about her sexuality since 1981- before I was born for crying out loud.  That'd be a discussion worth having.)