The Men Kacey Trusts Completely...

I considered myself a feminist. I can’t wait for the day a female becomes president… I think Hilary Clinton is awesome, not a bitch… I don’t like it when men feel the need to explain sports to me… and I get annoyed when female leads are helpless and need to be saved by a man.

That being said… something has recently occurred to me.

My television viewing right now consist of finishing Battlestar Galatica (I’m about half a season away from completion) and catching up on the latest season of NCIS. Both shows have one major thing in common: a male lead that no matter what my real life views of old white guys in power are; I feel these men always know what the right thing to do is and I would follow them no matter what. I actually find myself getting really pissed off when people on these shows question these men. And the more I have thought about this, the more I realized there are several men in my fictional life that I just trust completely.

And upon reflection of these men, I think perhaps the best thing about all these men is that despite their old school ways they have the highest respect for strong woman and treat them as equals.

So here are the men I am compelled to follow:

Gibbs (NCIS): I trust his “gut” completely and pity any person who doesn’t. I mean, when does it ever steer him wrong? Plus he’s got rules he follows. He also know the Ziva is the scariest on his on his team and Abby is his favorite.

Admiral Adama a.k.a. “The Old Man” (Battlestar Galatica):   While The Old Man may have some old school military ideas about things, he always does what is best for the fleet and the people who rebel are stupid. He’s always protected the fleet. He always knows that Starbuck is one of the smartest pilots on the Battlestar and despite his early differences with the President, he ultimately recognized the fleet needs for her leadership.

Dumbledore (Harry Potter): Despite the things Dumbledore kept from Harry over the year, he knew the right thing to do. Everything he did, he did to protect people. We were all Dumbledore’s followers through and through, no matter what we discovered about him. He also always trusted Professor McGonagall with running of Hogwarts and he never doubted thatHermione was the brightest witch of her age.

The Doctor (Doctor Who): This needs little explanation. I mean, who doesn’t immediately trust The Doctor. And he would NEVER doubt the power and ability of a woman… actually I think it’s some men he questions.

Gandalf (Lord of the Rings):  Gandalf always sees the full potential of people. He always knows just what to do, but never actually seeks power for himself. And even though there aren’t many strong female leads in LOR, his faith in the hobbits shows that he doesn’t underestimate the heart and strength of all beings.

Captain Kirk (Star Trek): I am not really a “Trekky,” and have only watched a few old movies, but I recently become a huge fan with the latest movie reboot.  Now granted, Chris Pine as Captain Kirk is not hard on the eyes and he might be a bit arrogant and impulsive, but he does what he thinks is right. And he leaves no person behind… even if it is illogical as Spock often points out. Plus he knows not to mess with Lt. Uhura.

Captain Mal (Firefly/Serenity): I think Captain Mal’s loyalty to his crew is unmatched. Although he has thief like ways, he ultimately always does the right thing. And despite his crude words to Inara, he knows she is much more intelligent than he is and he hired Kaylee as his mechanic because he immediately recognized her skills far surpassed the idiot he originally was going to hire.  

Honorable Mention:

Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): Okay, so ultimately I trusted Buffy to save to world every time and she really was the leader… and I got REALLY mad whenever people didn’t recognize that.  But in my opinion this made Giles all that cooler because he knew that too. What’s better than a guy that helps his daughter-like figure reach her full potential as a bad-ass, world-saving leader. Plus I always felt a bit better when Giles was around to answer questions and act as guidance.  

Coming Soon: After relocating to Portland, OR, Sarah recounts the exciting, yet frightening experience of getting lost in Powell's Books.

Jamie Advises: You are that guy, just embrace it

I read a small little blurb recently in an article where Mark-Paul Gosselaar expressed some minor irritation at still being called/referred to as Zack Morris. The little blurb, and I’m sure it was just an off-handed comment, had a quote from Gosselaar basically saying he didn’t understand the continued fascination with Saved by the Bell because it was kind of a ridiculous show with bad writing. Well, duh. I think I’d take it as a compliment if I were him because he transcended the cliche-ness that was SBTB to give us one of the most memorable characters of our formative years. And let’s face it, you weren’t really sure who I was talking about until I got to the Zack Morris part of that first sentence. Don’t get me wrong, I love his new show Franklin & Bash, but (because?) it’s kind of like Zack Morris grew up and became a lawyer named... Franklin? No, wait, he’s Bash and Breckin Meyer is Franklin. I think. It’s a little irrelevant, because when I watch I pretty much just think of them as Zack Morris & Breckin Meyer (who will never be referred to by a character he plays’ name because “Breckin Meyer” is one of the most fun names to say out loud. Say it right now. See??).
I know that Zack is not a real person (even if he did play along on Jimmy Fallon that one time), but there is a lot of pop culture knowledge rolling around in my brain and it’s just easier to refer to him that way. But I want Zack, er, I mean Mark, to know that he’s not alone. Here are some more people that my brain will refuse to acknowledge as anyone other than their most memorable roles:

Ferris Bueller - Matthew Broderick is an immensely talented actor of both stage and screen. And he’s married to Carrie Bradshaw, I mean, Sarah Jessica Parker. But all of that means nothing because John Hughes wrote a little movie in the 80s called Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Broderick was cast in the title role for the film, and subsequently the rest of his life. Most of this list comes from TV, which makes a little sense, as you watch them week after week playing the same character. That makes Ferris all the more impressive of a role and a performance.

Mr. Spock - Does anyone not? Even Mr. Nimoy has accepted his fate after a rebellion in his younger days.

Dawson Leary - And really, let’s just drop the last name. James Van Der Beek is always referred to by us as Dawson. I think he understands that and mocks it a little while playing an alternative version of himself on Don’t Trust the B* in Apartments 23. At least from what I understand, I’ve only watched parts of a couple episodes. [Creek related side note: we do refer to Joshua Jackson as Pacey, which I think confuses our dad a little when we’re watching Fringe. Next time maybe he should try a character whose name doesn’t start with P.]

Urkel - Not even being pretty hot can keep us from referring to Jaleel White as Urkel. When Charles Barkley got in trouble (DUI) and it involved drinking wine coolers with White, all I could think was Charles Barkley was drinking wine coolers with Steve Urkel. As if Sir Charles drinking wine coolers wasn’t ridiculous enough, it was with Urkel. Oh boys.

Mikey/Rudy/Samwise - Not many people can pull off multiple iconic characters, but Sean Astin not just anyone. He is one football playing goonie of a hobbit. Like my father, I kind of wanted to shout “Rudy, Rudy..” when Sam was running up that hill to get rid of the ring. I once attended a Democratic fundraiser and glanced over to see that he was a couple people over from me. When relaying the story to others later, I had to change the character name depending on who I was talking to as each character has its own audience. Regardless of who it was, they needed a little more information than “Sean Astin” to know who I was talking about.

Josh Lyman - It might be because Bradley Whitford tends to play characters that are either sleazy (see Billy Madison or Adventures in Babysitting) or a variation on Josh Lyman. And we don’t want to dwell on the sleazy. But I think he should embrace the fact that all West Wing fans will forever call him Josh Lyman, because all West Wing fangirls were a little bit in love with Josh Lyman. We are a nerdy bunch.

Buffy - A few things on this. First off, Sarah Michelle Gellar is a fantastic actress. I thought that pre-Buffy when she was on All My Children as Erica Kane’s horrible daughter Kendall Hart. She was so good on that. I’ll give you a minute to judge me for that sentence. Not only that, but she wasn’t the first person to play Buffy. But SMG’s Buffy is iconic. And because of that, she’s always going to be Buffy. Better to be remembered as a badass vampire slayer than the live action version of Daphne from Scooby Doo. Those movies are terrible.

Uncle Jesse - Sorry John Stamos, I’d like to say the cast of Full House, but it’s kind of just you. And maybe a little bit Aunt Becky. I mean, if Bob Saget’s comedy wasn’t so dirty I’m sure we’d call him Danny. And if the Olsen twins weren’t, well, the Olsen twins, maybe we’d call them Michelle. Or maybe if there had just been one of them? I guess we’ll never know. We do know that Dave Coulier can’t be referred to as Joey. Partly because he hasn’t really done enough post-Full House for us to say hey, it’s Joey. But mostly because if you say hey, it’s Joey, we expect to see Matt Le Blanc. Speaking of which...

The cast of Friends - Sorry guys, 10 years is a long time to be one of the most popular shows on television. No matter if you drop off the face of the planet or become A-listers, you will always be Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe & Joey.

Honorable mentions (they need a few more roles so that we can see them and go, hey, it’s [insert character name here]):
Sheldon (Jim Parsons), Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Captain Jack (John Barrowman), Abby Scuito (Pauley Perrette)

Coming Soon: Recently we had to pull out the intervention banner for Sarah’s Dawson Creek, um, problem. She didn’t take it well and has left the country.

Everything Jamie Knows About Time Travel

Kacey & I have conversations like this all the time.  

How come some vampires can go outside and sparkle while others burst into flame?  

What are the best wizard duels of all time?  

How would the Doctor critique the other time travelers that we know and love?  

We are on a bit of a Doctor Who kick right now (more on that coming soon), so time travel is a hot topic.  Everything I know about time travel I have learned from the movies and TV. Okay, so there was that mini-section on special relativity in Physics in high school.  And it was arguably the most entertaining part of that class (better than my damn bridge).  But I just want to apologize now to people with a real understanding of what actual time travel would involve.  You know, people like Sheldon.   Here is what I know about time travel and where I learned it.

 

• Time machines come in all shapes and sizes.  This can be a DeLorean (Back to the Future), a Police Box that is actually a TARDIS (Doctor Who), a phone booth (Bill & Ted), or some kind of space ship like thing (most other films/shows).
• If you don't have a machine, then some sort of small device will probably work.  Like a timeturner that fits on a necklace (Harry Potter).
• Time is incredibly sensitive.  If you make one small little change, the whole world could be completely insane.  One guy from the past sneaks off with you to the future and and you come back [details have been redacted so as not to spoil Kacey on Eureka plot lines that she has not yet viewed].  Marty McFly (Back to the Future, but I seriously hope you knew that just from the name) almost erased himself from existence.  Try not to do this when travelling in time.  Just stick to the plan and lay low.
• Alternative timelines are complicated.  However, if you have already seen Back to the Future II prior to watching the J.J. Abrams Star Trek film, you will immediately grasp what is going on with this reboot.  Because you know that one little shift creates an alternative timeline where the future is different.  Your main timeline is still there, but you have to undo what caused the split in order to fix it.  Or you can just go on in the newly created future.  It's a choice really.  If it sucks a lot and you can pinpoint the moment of the change, and you have the means to change it, then you should go back and turn left.  You won't remember not existing.
• Do not be seen by yourself.  This would seriously freak you out.  You really shouldn't interact with a past or future version of yourself.  You could create a paradox.  Or just bad things would happen.  Of course, sometimes seeing how awesome your life is going to be can help you to go back and deal with a not so awesome childhood, like in Meet the Robinsons.
• Seeing an alternative version of yourself, however, is probably okay. At least according to Spock, and when is he ever wrong?   
• There are some things that cannot be changed - The Doctor is very clear on this, and when he tries to be bigger than these important moments, it backfires.  Some things simply must happen.  They are too important to the progression of time.
• History is really cool - Bill & Ted really captures this.  I mean, who doesn't want to pick up Socrates & Lincoln for a day to party, and then have them remind us all to be excellent to each other.  Not to mention, you just may get to hang out with Van Gogh or Churchill if you're traveling with the Doctor.  Of course, you may find out that romanticizing the past won't bring you any real happiness, and you should try to appreciate the present and dump your annoying fiance, like in Midnight in Paris.  Only realize this after having drinks with Hemingway.  Always have drinks with Hemingway first.
• Living the same day over and over again is not time travel.  It's torture. I'm pretty sure it's against the Geneva Conventions, but sometimes the powers that be feel you need some additional time to figure out your life (which is my interpretation of Groundhog's Day), or a device goes all wonky in Eureka and you are the only one who knows what is happening.  That, unlike if you are just some TV jerk, does not end well.
• Time is really just a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey All of these other things are totally true, but per usual, the last remaining time lord says it best.

 

 

Books read: 29 (The Art of Fielding is amazing)

Coming Soon: After hearing that 50 Shades of Grey was originally Twilight fan fiction, Sarah writes a colorful review of the series, without bothering to read it.  She also looks up the names of the main characters and offers casting suggestions.