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Caprica

I watched what I assume was the final episode of Caprica the other night. I shan’t spoil the story for you if it is something that you might watch at some point, but the series has been on my mind for a while now so I thought I’d jot down a few notes about it.

I was really pleased that there was going to be a BSG prequel. I really enjoyed BSG and the thought of something that would run right up to the start of the series was a great idea.

Although I found Caprica slow and at times overly complex, it was in many ways very similar in structure to BSG and so there was a common theme within it, That worked, and worked well I thought, but I could understand people finding it too slow and intricate to stick with. Taken together, then entire BSG stories form an amazing re-telling of the original 80’s series. If you put them side by side I think it could be hard to recognise one as the start point for the other even though they share many of the same characters.

Caprica, even though it is a prequel almost defined the point at which BSG diverged from the original, which is a strange way to tell a story, but for me it worked.

I think at some point I’d like to watch the whole thing again, but perhaps that might be too big an undertaking, and perhaps it would damage my memory of BSG as can often happen when you re-watch something.

I’m glad I stuck with Caprica. I wish there was something else that could come from the BSG universe, but I can’t see how. Maybe the franchise has run it’s course, but then again, money talks and with the following it has perhaps someone will want to squeeze more out of it. If they do I’ll give it a go, but I hope it isn’t at the expense of quality.

The Andromeda Strain

I hadn’t seen this film in years and years, and yet I think it stands the test of time. For me one of the most significant things about it is it’s soundtrack which is quite unique and in some ways reminds me of the themes in ‘Planet of the Apes’.

Andromeda Strain is a great story although in some ways a very simple story, but executed in this film in a very slow and explanatory fashion which wouldn’t work in a film today, but I think is exactly what it needed to get the message out.

It makes sense although it is very technical at times and has almost no action at all.

It is still a great sci-fi film, of that there’s no doubt.

New RJDJ Recording

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You need to have Flash installed to listen directly on the site. Install Flash or you can download the recording instead

17 May 2011 08:54 AM” by Ashley Elsdon

aware by Florian Waldner Recorded from aware. Check out more recordings from aware…

‘landings’ by Richard Skelton

I bought this album a month or so ago and quite liked it. The the other day I read a long interview with Richard Skelton in the Wire, and that made me want to listen to it again.

The reason I wanted to listen to it once more was that the interview gave me a much better appreciation of how the music was made and why it was made. Both of which were incredibly interesting and thought provoking, and if you’re interested in music and it’s connection to the physical landscape I’d recommend you find out more about Richard Skelton and his work.

But it also made me wonder how much music should stand on it’s own without a complex description and explanation of why and how it was made.

In some ways I think that music should stand alone and make sense without being explained, but also that in some cases it needs and warrants a narrative.

Certainly listening to ‘landings’ makes more sense now that I understand it better