Who dat Cylon? (Part II)

Tom Zarek.  Did not consider him in the previous list, and I think a lot of people don’t, either.  But he fits, in my opinion.  His personality would match the final four more so than anyone on my previous list, and it would actually be a believable reveal.  Ron Moore (the creator) has said that the clues have already been laid out, so if one really wanted to, one could apparently determine the final Cylon based on the information we already have.

If I had the time, I’d totally try, but I’m going with my gut on this one.  My money is on Tom, all the way.

My good internet buddy Mike had a blog post about a book called Replay, and made it sound interesting enough to the point that I actually added it to my Amazon wish list (of things I probably won’t spend my own money on, but sometimes would if I have some extra cash.) Anyway, one day not too long ago I went to pick up my mail and you can imagine my surprise when I found the book in the mailbox from Amazon, with the return address listing him as the buyer. What a guy, that one!!

The book was put near the top of my “to read” stack, and I was able to get through it last week sometime.

The book is classified as ’sci-fi,’ and the premise is much like Groundhog Day, but instead of a guy reliving one day over and over again, this guy relives portions of his entire life over and over again. That is, he dies at age 40-something only to wake up 20 years in the past, as a college freshman. The catch is, he remembers everything about his life up to the point that he died, so he knows everything that will happen in the next 20 years and can use that knowledge to his advantage.

The book might have seemed like a Groundhog Day rip-off, except Groundhog Day was definately not the first and only story to use that premise. In fact, Replay was published before that movie, so I read keeping in mind that at the time, Replay was a relatively fresh idea.

Anyway, you can imagine the hijinks that ensue. There are no doubt things you’d do differently in your own life if you woke up in your own past. If I woke up as a college freshman, that would mean I’d get to relive the last 7 years of my life, and sure, I’d do things differently. We make the decisions we make based on logic and the level of risk (at least, we should). Well, for at least one decision, you know for sure the level of risk, so you can alter things knowing that.

Of course, knowledge of the future leads the main character to do some other things, as well. Namely, gambling. So in his first “replay” of life he wins big, invests more, and becomes a megamillionaire. He does this in every subsequent replay of his life (and really, why wouldn’t you?)

(Next three paragraphs will spoil if you’d think you’d like to read the book).

All in all, he replays his life about four or five times. There is no explanation about why he got to relive his life, such as a “temporal anomaly” or a broken “causality loop,” but attempts are made. The biggest reveal to me was that there are other replayers, other people he meets that have been replaying their lives, and one of them tells him that it’s “the aliens” who like watching us over and over again so they distort time for certain people. This was a cool thought, and I wouldn’t have been disappointed if it ended up being the truth, but it’s never really confirmed.

The idea of others who replay their lives becomes more interesting when they realize they can meet-up after they die again, and do things over. One of the more powerful lines in the book comes when he and another replayer that he has fallen in love with have a lifetime of falling out, and meet up toward the end of that cycle and say, “Next time will be for us, I promise…” The idea that there is a next time is very attractive and you envy the characters.

The one gripe I have is that not once does he consider he might be in heaven. He immediately is confused by his predicament the first time, and sets to find out what happened, as if it all can be explained scientifically. This might sound depressing, but college was the best time of my life so far, so if I died tomorrow and woke up in my bed my freshman year of college, I might be thinking that there really is a heaven.

I also kind of feel like the character should have grown a lot wiser by the end of the story.  He has replayed his life more than four times, over twenty years each time.  He was 40 when it first started, so that’s 40 years, plus twenty, plus another twenty, plus three more twenties (give or take).  That’s at least 120 years worth of experience.  Think about how wise your grandparents are, just about life-in-general.  But this guy just seemed like he had an average 40 year old intellect all the way through.

The ultimate lesson learned is nothing else but “live one day at a time and cherish all you can when you have the chance,” but it does get your mind going about what you’d do if you were in his situation. It’s a nice fantasy and a good story and time well spent reading it, but I wouldn’t necessarily put it in my Life Changing Books category.

So, Mike, I need to return the favor. If you give me the link of your Amazon wish list, if you have one, I’ll hook you up! Otherwise maybe I can send a blind recommendation next time I read something I think you might enjoy.

Approximate Hours Spent Reading This Book: 6 hours

“Office speak” has always interested me.  It’s annoying, for one, and two, unlike a real sentence, it actually makes less sense the more you think about it.  Here is the first paragraph of a statement today about Blockbuster trying to buy out Circuit City.

Blockbuster noted the combination of the two companies would result in an $18 billion global retail enterprise uniquely positioned to capitalize on the growing convergence of media content and electronic devices. The transaction would allow both companies to benefit from the revenue growth generated by their complementary products, while the resulting synergies would substantially improve consolidated financial performance, thereby increasing shareholder value.

There is no doubt jobs out there, somewhere, where all you do is translate things from layman to office-speak.  For example, the above paragraph probably came to the editor’s desk as follows:

Blockbuster thought that if they merged with Circuit City, they’d be worth 18 million, and together be in a nice position to sell all kinds of content for today’s customers.  The merger would be great for both sides, because customers would only have to go to one spot and therefore would be more willing to spend money.  That means STRAIGHT CASH AND TITTIES, HOMIES.

I would like to have this job.  I feel that my unique experience as an idea-to-text expressionist has enabled me to move forward and capitalize on a position which would benefit any forward-thinking progressive organization.  Bringing me aboard for this cutting edge synergism of thought and action would result in substantially improved consolidated performance, and would no doubt increase shareholder value.  It’s a win-win.  Put some pants on it and CC me on that email.

Thanks to everyone who has been sticking around during the periods of no posting.  I can offer no explanation but thank you for your patience.

Anyway, I got to thinking yesterday about the 12 Colonies of Kobol (because that’s what I do in my spare time).  The 12 Colonies, for those not in the know, are 12 planets in the world of Battlestar Galactica that humans have settled on and have a thriving society.  Going further back, long ago, on a planet named Kobol, man disagreed with his “Gods” and fled for another solar system, establishing twelve colonies based on the 12 astrological signs.  Here’s a list…

Aquaria
Caprica
Leonis
Libris
Scorpia
Picon
Geminon
Aerelon
Canceron
Sagittaron
Tauron
Virgon

The premise of the show is that there is a 13th colony somewhere else, a sect of humanity that disagreed with the other 12 and broke off to form it’s own planet, called Earth.  Since the enemies in the show (the Cylons) extinguished 95% of the known human race on the day they nuked all 12 planets, the remaining human survivors (led by the Galactica) are searching for the long list myth of Earth so they can reunite with their lost brothers and start another civilization.

But, the name EARTH kind of doesn’t fit with the 12 names.  It could just be because the 13th colony wanted something to differentiate themselves from the other 12, but I think Earth is just the name of the planet and the 13th colony might very well call themselves… Cylon.

It fits with the list!  Especially the last few:

Picon
Geminon
Aerelon
Canceron
Sagittaron
Tauron
Virgon
Cylon

And the world ‘Cylon,’ really hasn’t been explained.  In an unofficial script for the prequel show Caprica, it is supposedly revealed as Cybernetic Living Organism Node, but that isn’t canon yet and can easily change during rewrites.

So what might this mean?

Will the Galactica arrive on Earth to find it populated by a bunch of offspring of Number Six’s and Two’s?  Well, I don’t think so, because as we know Cylons can’t reproduce with each other (only with humans).  I don’t have all the answers, but I have to believe the final five Cylons, being so ‘fundamentally different’ from the rest, might have something to do with it.  I don’t think it’s the Cylon homeworld (at least, not as we know them), but I would not be surprised if some other form of Cylon life were living there, “and has been from the beginning.”

I’m kind of hoping that the name Cylon is further explained.  I think it’s just short for “Cybernetic Living Organism,” or something, but I think it would be creepy if the name of the company that created them was Cylon.  Because we’d have a whole race of beings named after a company.

The Klingons, the Vulcans, the Humans, and the Toshibans, created in 2040 when Toshiba, Inc., built the first A.I. and it took over and started a race of it’s own.

The premiere of Battlestar Galactica is apparently going to be online at SciFi.com at 12:00pm EST.  I will not watch it, because I pay for HDTV and Comcast just added SciFi-HD so I’m not going to let it go to waste.  So 9:00 it is, for me.

Here’s an interesting article about the show.

Scott Brown on Why Battlestar Galactica Must Self-Destruct

As of right now (11:30am EST) the teaser trailer on SciFi.com (which is all you see when you go to the site… awesome), gives a clue as to the location of the final Cylon.