Sunday, January 08, 2006

A Challenge to Tradition

Pointman points us to the Dodge Challenger Concept car.

As a fan of the 1970 R/T, I gotta say I'm impressed.

That's quite a concession for me, seeing as how I'm such a mule-headed originalist about most things.

For instance, Say Uncle & Co. are waxing eloquent about the virtues of the new "Battlestar Galactica." I almost entered a comment about preferring the original, but didn't want to get laughed off the board.

But still--Starbuck a chick? (Oh, God, Sunni is going to kick my butt for being sexist...but it's not that--had the original Starbuck been female, I'd be just as adamant about not changing the character.)

Seriously, though--what's with phone cords on the bridge of a star ship? And who did what to Boxy?

Let me see if I can put things in perspective:

I'm still livid with "Gunsmoke" for replacing Chester with Festus. Candy was an interloper who should have been driven off the Ponderosa--or better yet, hanged for Adam's disappearance. Who the hell are Ernie and Uncle Charlie, how did they get into the Douglas house on "My Three Sons," and what the hell did they do with Mike and Bub (I'm suspecting pod people here)? And "Zorro"--dude, you dress in black to evade pursuit on dark nights. What bad mescal could you have possibly been drinking to think replacing black Tornado with white Phantom was a tactically sound idea?

Did I mention how I'll never forgive "The Adventures of Superman" for replacing Phyllis Coates with Noell Neil? And sorry, Lee Merriwether, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry--there's only one Catwoman, and her name is Newmar.

Does anyone get the feeling I wasn't being completely honest when I described things I considered weird about myself?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kick your butt? For being sexist? No way. First, you aren't being sexist here. There are real differences between the sexes (besides the obvious anatomic ones), and those who pretend otherwise are the ones who deserve butt-kickings. Politically-correct-inspired changing of a character's sex, or covering of "naughty" bits (a la the Starbucks coffee mermaid), repulses me. Hating that ain't sexist either.

But I think I see what's going on here ... are you afraid I'll challenge you to a recoil endurance test? And win? (Heh.)

David Codrea said...

A challenge to see who can endure the most grueling punishment?

Any day, lady...:)

Y'see, young sons Uday and Qusay pummel the hell out of me on a daily basis. (What am I doing wrong? Neither boy is afraid of me.)

So I'm like what the clown said about elephants in "Dumbo":

"They're made of rubber--they ain't got feelings."

Good Lord, remind me never to get into a debate with Sunni--I need to resort to clowns and flying elephants to make a point.

By the way, if it's any consolation, I once publicly disagreed with Ayoob, too.

Anonymous said...

Amazingly, the phone cords you speak of are a key plot point. The BG's critical systems are based on old technology that is not computer controlled, because it cannot then be subverted by viruses and the like.

David Codrea said...

Yeah, lotta tounge-in-cheek here, refugee. I actually think the new BG rocks, but it took some major getting used to--and I rarely have time to watch--I think I've only seen about 4 complete episodes. As for the original, how can you NOT love any show that dresses Britt Eklund and Denny Miller up in racing caps and bib overalls...but back to the phones--how long of a cord do they need to communicate with the Vipers?

Anonymous said...

But Starbuck being a chick gives a whole new appeal to her sucking on a cigar.

Sheesh. I need to get out more.

Anonymous said...

LOL David, you'd definitely win on the "grueling punishment" contest -- my snolfs have eased up on me a bit.

Thanks for the link to your essay, too; sounds like Ayoob isn't quite what I thought him to be.

GunRights4US said...

Gee I always liked ole Festus!