Long Way Round

In the summer of 2004 we went on a trip riding a bus through the wilderness of Alaska. We had a general route to follow, but our day-to-day activies were left up to chance, weather, people we met and things we say.

Ironically, just a couple months before us, two guys on motorcycles passed through Alaska doing basically the same thing but their trip was going around the world-- from London to New York going east.

The two guys were Ewan McGreggor and Charlie Boorman. They became friends working on a movie together and share a love of motorcycles. So they planned the trip, and got a producer to follow them and document the experience.

The trip is a very enlightening view of parts of the world you usually never hear about. Although they do go through England, France & Germany, not to mention the United States from Alaska to New York, the documentary focuses on places like Khazakstan, Mongolia and remote parts of Russia. It is really interesting to see how people live in the cities and rural areas of these countries-- and how they respond to these two visitors. In every city they are welcomed with friendship, food, lodging, and sometimes the local TV news station.

The two bikers and their camera man also have to deal with rough weather, bad roads (or lack thereof) and mechanical problems. On a few occasions it becomes so extreme they are forced to reconsider their plans, but ultimately choose to push on.

From the logistics of planning and executing such a trip to the exotic landscapes and interesting people they pass by, this is a great adventure story, well told.

Battlestar Galactica: End of Season 2

BSG just finished its second season, and this finale was just superb. The writers keep coming up with really fresh yet believable story lines, and the actors deliver their roles with dramatic impact.

That's what makes this such a great show-- it's driven by intense acting and intricately woven plots with plenty of twists and turns. Not once does a character solve a problem with some obscure techno-gadget or are all the world's problems solved in the last five minutes of the episode. In BSG, a story may develop over several episodes. Some characters only resurface every once in a while just to shake things up.

The Season 1 finale ended with Adama being shot by a friendly character who turned out to be a Cylon but didn't know it. You knew he had to survive, but the real question was what would happen to the rest of the fleet when the "boss" was out of commission?

This time, about 3/4 through the episode, the entire story is hurled into unknown territory- over a year into the future. Just when everyone had settled down and gotten used to not being pursued by Cylons, suddenly they get a surprise visit from their robot-human-hybrid adversaries. No one is prepared and the Cylons take over easily. The fleet escapes, leaving the remains of humanity as prisoners. Reminds me of a story line from the old Robotech cartoon series.

If you missed this, you have to look for reruns on the SciFi Channel or download it from iTunes. Here is a great review of the final episode on IGN.com

Season 3 is in October. Can't wait.