Mind matters

I think it was back in 1999 that I first heard of the show Stargate SG-1. I remember watching a couple of episodes but thought it was rubbish. I think the major reason was that the year before Babylon 5 had just finished airing. Babylon 5, with it’s 5 seasons, was a ground breaking Sci-Fi series because it had a plotline, created by one man, that spanned the whole series. Every episode and everything that happened was part of a Big Master Plan. The notion of a Big Master Plan brings continuity, of things evolving and changing, to a show and that really appealed to me. So I considered watching another Sci-Fi series that didn’t have this as a waste of my time.

A couple of weeks ago I finally borrowed 8 seasons from a friend and started watching. After watching the first season, I was really hooked. I loved the idea of people travelling around the galaxy with stargates, left here by an ancient race, exploring and bumping into mysteries hinting of a much larger picture yet to be uncovered.

It took me about 2.5 weeks to watch 9 seasons of the show. I’m currently watching the 10:th season, which is still under production and won’t finish until next year.

There’s this air to the show of not taking itself too seriously which I love! One of the things that comes into mind is an episode where Jack O’Neill and Teal’c are caught in a time loop and have to relive the same day over and over again, much like the movie Groundhog day. O’Neill complains about how he always comes back at a moment where Daniel Jackson is asking him a question and he doesn’t have a clue what the question is. Teal’c says that O’Neill is not alone in coming back with such bad timing, and then we see how Teal’c is hit in the face by a door!

Admittedly I’ve been fast forwarding through some tedious character developement stories with plotlines that were easily predicted or that I deemed would not add enough value to the overall story being developed. But that was just a couple episodes each season.

Stargate SG-1 is one of the longest running Science Fiction TV-series in history, with it’s 10 seasons spanning over 10 years. They started in 1997 and it seems they’re coming to an end after the 10:th season, since Sci Fi-channel hasn’t renewed the show for another season.

In 2004 there was a spin-off series created: Stargate Atlantis. I’ve been watching the first season of it. It’s not Stargate SG-1, which is good, because you can’t copy that show, but it lacks enough characters with humor to make it as much fun to watch. They take themselves too seriosly, atleast in the first season. It might ease up as they go along. It’s entertaining enough for me to watch anyhow. Stargate Atlantis is into it’s 3:rd season and has been renewed for a 4:th, and I’m looking forward to where they’re going to take the show. Hopefully to an equally fun and interesting place as Stargate SG-1.

Today I went to do weight lifting for the first time in 4 weeks. I’ve been so tired lately that I have not had energy enough to overcome my internal resistance to training. Now I pay for my good intention with an aching back! What I did was try to do back lifts (you know, bending over a bench face down and rising the upper body using the lower back muscles) with the same weight I did before my 4 week break, and when I did my first rising I heard a ‘knicks’ from my lower back and felt a sharp pain! Ouch!

I moved around a little to make sure it wasn’t a slipped disk (diskbråck) that I was experiencing. I hope it isn’t. Not sure how one of those feel, but I’ve been told they can be really painful! I’ll live with the pain for a while and see if it gets better on itself, otherwise I’ll have to seek medical attention.

Nevertheless I continued to train a bit, with exercises that didn’t affect my back, and that worked fine. Later this evening I also conducted the Aikido class. I couldn’t run, that hurt like hell! But I could do forward and backward rolls! Very weird.

Oh, and Stargate. I’ve borrowed DVDs with Stargate SG-1, the TV-series, from a friend. That’s 16 discs with 8 seasons, 22 episodes each season and 42 min per episode. I started watching last week. Now I just finished season 5. That’s like 5*22*42 = 77 hours of viewing time! Cheesus!

The series was of to a slow start, but now it has picked up it’s pace. I really like the characters, especially Richard Dean Anderson, who many remember as MacGyver. Richard plays the role of colonel Jack O’Neill, who leads a team of 4 people with the designation of SG-1. During the show, more SG-teams are assigned. I think there’s 13 or so right now. What they do, is to use a system of gateways, Stargates, to travel to other planets and explore. Oh, and also seek technology and allies which can be used to defend earth from the Goa’ould, a powerful race of parasitic symbiots who try to rule the galaxy.

The best part of the show is the dialouge, I think. Sometimes it’s really, really funny Here’s an example. I don’t know if the dialogue stands for itself, or if you need to have developed a knowledge of the characters before it becomes funny. Anyhoo, this is when Teal’c (one of the four in SG-1) is dying, and O’Neill and Daniel (another one of the SG-1) are talking to him:

O’Neill - “Va’lar,” is that what he said?
Daniel - I thought he said “velour.”
O’Neill - Velour?
Daniel - Velour.
O’Neill - The fabric?
Daniel - That’s what I heard him say.
O’Neill - Why would he say that?
Daniel - I don’t know. Why would he say “Va’lar”?
O’Neill - I don’t know.

Anyway. Right now I think it’s a really good show, and there’s 10 seasons of it Time to watch a couple more episodes!