First off, I found it hard to find a place to use my coupon. Target didn’t stock Double Stuff Cakesters, and King Soopers didn’t sell any at a price that the $3.39 max value coupon would cover. Finally I found a box selling at Walmart for $2.99.

There are five packages in the box, each package with two Cakesters. That puts eat package at almost vending machine prices.

These things aren’t healthy! Each Cakester will cost your diet 175 calories, or 150 calories for the package of two. Half of the calories come straight from sugar.

As far as the taste, these things are good, but not great. The chocolate cake tastes like it is full of preservatives, and the frosting has the same flavor as traditional Oreo filling, but with a creamier texture.

Overall, these things get a mediocre score from me. Definitely not my new favorite treat, but I’ll eat them if they are left in the cupboard.

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Waiting to be seated

The Really Good

A couple of days before hand, I went to the Famous Dave’s website and signed up for their pig club.  We got an email certificate for a free item, but the email didn’t describe exactly what the free item would be, only that the code W07 was on the bottom of the email.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we discovered that the W07 code meant a free appetizer (excluding the sampler).    Getting free food is always really good.

The corn muffins were excellent, and we loved trying the different sauces.  Their fries were crispy potato wedges that were about the best I’ve ever had.

The atmosphere was also amusing.  Wall decorations featured fishing tackle or antiques, and were both interesting and gave the place a more authentic feel.  Sandy enjoyed reading the T-shirts worn by the waiters with slogans like, “Vegetarians are free to change their ways.”

We also found that they had mini-deserts on their menu for $2 each, which is really good for those who are too full or too poor to enjoy a full $6 desert. Sandy ordered the bread pudding which was really good.

The Good

In spite of a full parking lot on their second day of operating, we were seated in only about 15 minutes.  I always appreciate the restaurants who give you the buzzer notifiers to alert you when your table is ready.

All of the food was good.  I don’t think I ate anything that I didn’t like.  However, some things like the brownie lacked some of the “wow” that I was anticipating.

The Bad

Sandy and I expected a little more meat for the price.  We ordered the Georgia Chopped Pork for $11.49, which came with a corn muffin and two (small) sides, but for that price, we expected a little more meat than the small pile we found on a slice of bread.

Our waiter also initially forgot to make our appetizer free on our check, but that was corrected on our final receipt.

While I wasn’t specifically needing nutrition information, I was disappointed to not find it on their web site.

The Really Bad

They gave us a dirty spoon with our deserts.  While they were quick to replace it, that is a mistake that no restaurant should ever make.

Our waiter also forgot to give us a pen with which to sign our receipt.  Luckily I had one, but making mistakes at the very moment in which the customer decides your tip is not a great.  (Don’t worry, I left an average tip).

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I’ve come up with 5 things that Stargate Universe must do in order to avoid disappointment.

1. Don’t become a Stargate meets Battlestar Galactica series. I very much appreciate the sentiment to make Stargate Universe a fresh spin on an old franchise, so don’t ruin it by becoming a Battlestar Galactica clone.  Already they’ve adopted the “lost in somewhere in the universe trying to find our way home” theme from Galactica, and when combined with many of the same lighting and camera shooting techniques as Galactica, it looks less original.  I would like to think that part of the reason that Battlestar Galactica was so good and popular (at times) was that it was a very fresh Sci-Fi show.  Copying something that was fresh doesn’t mean that it still is.  Stargate Universe must be its own show if it wants to succeed.

2. Don’t forget the Science in Science-Fiction. Although you air on a network which changed its name to SyFy, it doesn’t mean the science is gone from science fiction.  One of the things I really liked about Stargate SG-1 was that I felt that I could relate to it because it was set in present-time.  A problem for Stargate Atlantis was that the setting was to alien, and hard to relate to.  Too many times, including in the finale, Atlantis presented some miracle tech to save the day at the last moment.  Keep the Stargate Universe tech and science to a reasonable level that the audience can more easily relate to.

At the same time, don’t leave out the science and tech by making the series all character based.  I think audiences like feeling like they are learning, even if they aren’t learning anything real.  The first Jurassic Park movie was entertaining because they explained the whole cloning thing, while the sequels were just dinosaurs eating people.  Keep enough science involved so that people feel they are being educated a little bit.

3. Give the audience a hero. What made Stargate SG-1 fantastic, was Richard Dean Anderson’s role as Jack O’Neill, as well as the rest of the SG-1 team.  I believe that audiences want to cheer their hero on every week, although sometimes their hero wins or looses.  However, the hero shouldn’t betray his audience.

Stargate Universe characters need fans, just like athletic stars and Facebook.  Create characters worthy of having fans.

4. Don’t be depressing. I watched every episode of Battlestar Galactica right up to the point where I recognized that the show was making me depressed.  I talked to other former Galactica fans, who said they also stopped watching because the show got to dark and depressing.  Don’t let Stargate Universe find the same fate.

I feel this could be especially a trap for this show.  If too many characters become obsessed with, “We will never make it home, what is there worth living for?” the audience will adopt those sentiments with “What is there worth watching for?”

Relatedly, turn on the lights.  If the setting is always too dark, such as on your ship with little lighting, then it will feel more depressing.  Also, dark scenes don’t look as great when viewed on a low-cost home projector.

5. Give it a little humor. Stargate SG-1 was packed full of little humorisms.  I could feel that the actors really enjoyed the show.  Their enjoyment, when combined with little facts (Teal’c’s favorite movie is Star Wars) make the show very enjoyable to watch. 

Bonus.  Keep the camera shots stable. No one likes getting motion sick from a show where they couldn’t keep the camera still.

After just two weeks of tuning into Stargate Universe, I can’t quite claim that it is a winner.  I’ll keep tuning in, unless, of course, I feel like the show had betrawed my many years of Stargate fan-dom.

Stargate Universe airs Friday evenings on the SyFy channel.  (I still think the renaming of Sci-Fi channel to SyFy was dumb).

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In Fringe, a team composed of FBI agents, a mad scientist, and his son, investigate weirdphenomena categorized as both fringe science and terrorist activity.  Whether the team investigates weird paranormal activity, reads the mind of a dead person,  or hunt down people who can pass through solid walls, Fringe is a weird but intriguing mix of science, fiction, and crime drama.  Following the pattern of other J. J. Abrams television series, there are season long plots and unanswered questions, always haunting the viewer to watch more.  While a common complaint of Lost was that it was too complicated requiring full viewership, Fringe has a good balance of single-episode-resolution and series-long-mystery.

Peter Bishop talking with Phillip Broyles

From season one, we learn there is a series of weird activity happening over the globe referred to as The Pattern.  We learned that the bio terrorist group, ZFT, seems to be responsible for the strange occurrence, but their zealous attitudes have viewers questioning if they are really the good or bad guys.

Last summer I was traveling through Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada when I walked by some filming of Fringe on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery.  Filming of Fringe moved to Vancouver for season two as a cost cutting measure.  I’ll be watching Fringe this season very closely to see if I can identify the scene of which I saw the filming.

The filming of Fringe behind me

You can buy the first season of Fringe at the Square Galaxy store.

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Major film elements such as plot, character development, and dialog were all seriously lacking.  The visual effects were adequate for an animated film.

The first few minutes of the film were so boring, that I threatened to turn it off if it didn’t get better.  About about 15 minutes, it did get better as they introduced the main character, but the movie never got good.

I don’t recommend seeing The Tale of Despereaux. Spend your time on a more interesting fairy tale.

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Nicolas Cage’s son gets a list of numbers from his school’s time capsule, which turns out have predicted major disasters for the last 50 years, with the last world ending disaster on the list just a few days away. It turns out that the world does end, and the only ones to survive are Cage’s son and this other little girl who are saved by aliens who take them to repopulate another planet.

I did enjoy going to the drive in theater to see this movie, because I was able to make fun of the movie with bothering the restvof the theater.

So, if you do go see this movie, you may want to bring some sort of alternate entertainment or some good ET jokes.

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Source: Wikipedia

Sci-Fi show, Stargate Atlantis, endured 5 seasons before it was canceled. While I felt slightly empty after its predecessor, Stargate SG-1, got canceled after 10 seasons, my reaction to the end of Atlantis was much more subdued. I never felt like Atlantis really got going as an excellent Sci-Fi series.

Much of the problems behind the show’s failure was that it seemed like the producers were trying to follow a Sci-Fi formula rather than breaking free and creating something original. I believe originality and exploration of new ideas is one of the attractive features drawing fans to Science-Fiction television. With various technologies, episode plots, and series developments, Stargate Atlantis followed more than it lead.

Another major problem was an inconsistency of cast. Of the 10 main characters listed on Wikipedia, only 3 of which were cast for all 5 seasons. The series saw two doctors, three commanders, and a replacement of one of the main military guys. Such cast turnover prevented fans from building a long relationship with the characters. Additionally, a few of the characters who transferred to Atlantis after the SG-1 series was canceled had major personality changes–again causing character inconsistencies.

Stargate Atlantis at times seemed to be “Science-Fiction, minus the Science.” One of Sci-Fi’s appeals is that it allows writers and viewers to imaginatively explore new ideas and concepts by setting the show in some technologically advanced state. Atlantis disappointed in this respect because rather than reasonably using technology to explore new ideas, the writers simply invented new technology or unrealistic events simply because they thought it would make the plot more interesting. For example, in the very last episode, the crew used a never-aforementioned “Wormhole Drive” to jump across the galaxy in a second to save the day

Stargate Atlantis, while at times was interesting and many episodes illustrated great Sci-Fi drama, the series as a whole slowly failed itself into cancellation because they forgot what it takes to be a great TV show, and what it takes to be a great Sci-Fi series.

Clarification: Some point out that a show that makes it 5 seasons isn’t a failure, which is probably right. I should have said something like, “Stargate Atlantis failed to make my list of all-time great Sci-Fi shows,” or “Stargate Atlantis failed to be as great as Stargate SG-1.”

You can buy the second, third, or fourth seasons on DVD at the Square Galaxy Store.

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569 arrests is a new record since state agencies started state-wide crackdown efforts in 1998.  For the previous three years, arrests have been climbing from 407, 449, and 473.

I haven’t decided if that means that more people are driving drunk, or that law enforcement agencies are better at catching and arresting drunk drivers.  Hopefully the latter.

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Source: Wikipedia

Criminal Minds is another one of those TV crime dramas, not dissimilar to CSI.  However, in Criminal Minds, they use behavioral analysis to solve crime mysteries rather than lots of forensics like the do in CSI.

Initially, I was really interested in Criminal Minds.  I felt like I was learning about behavioral indicators and analysis.  However, I found that as the series, now in season 4, developed, it incorporates less science and more drama.

The typical episode goes like this: The Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI gets called into an area where there is some psycho serial killer on the loose and about to kill his next victim.  The FBI unit investigates the crime scenes and makes connections about victims to create a personality profile of the killer, which eventually allows them to find the killer just in time to save the next victim.

Some of the episodes are interesting– usually the ones that include new behavioral science or fresh plots.  However, I’ve been watching Criminal Minds less and less because the focus of the series has turned from behavioral analysis to the writers saying, “Lets see how creepy of a serial killer we can invent.”

While the plot sometimes seems redundant, the cast does a great job and the character development is rich and interesting.

Although some episodes are interesting, because of the sometimes gory or creepy nature of the show, I would not feel comfortable recommending it to my friends.

Criminal Minds airs on CBS on Thursday evenings.

You can buy the first season (the best season) of Criminal Minds in the Square Galaxy Store.

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Eagle Eye is an action file directed by D.J. Caruso. It features a young man and a single mother who are brought together and coerced by an anonymous caller into carrying out a terrorist cell’s plot. 

As an action film, Eagle Eye was pretty typical, yet fairly exciting.  You get your standard explosions, exchange of gun fire, high speed car chases, and suspense.  However, there were a few too many, “yeah, right” moments becaues of too many far fetched ideas in the story fundamentals.

While not a “movie of the year,” Eagle Eye was more enjoyable than watching cable TV re-runs.  To my friends, I would probably recommend that they watch it at the cheap theater.

You can purchase a copy of Eagle Eye in the Square Galaxy Store.

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