September 18th, 2008 by Shiny1
I’ve always been fond of the music 
of Eureka, and was definitely ready for this cd.
Acclaimed composer Bear McCreary, of Battlestar Galactica renown, does a masterful job of musically mixing it up. Of his own creation he says, “Whether or not you’ve seen Eureka, this CD is worth checking out. The music is a totally unique and twisted blend of folk, blues and zydeco with 80s New Wave synths, 8-bit and 16-bit video-game-inspired FM synthesis, 70’s keyboards, accordions, dobros, didgeridoo and a little Spanish Flamenco. “
I couldn’t have said it better myself. For one thing, I’m a sucker for accordion music, ever since my south pawed brother taught me how to play “Three Blind Mice” on my Dad’s accordion (turned upside down and backwards) when I was a sprat of six. The zydeco takeoffs are always fun and sometimes gritty, and the subtler accordion melodies are clever. Read more
Eureka and a Stark Reality
We’ve been told that someone will die in Eureka…
(Spoilers ahead…)
It’s about time, as they say. It’s Allison and Stark’s Wedding Day and Monkey (I mean Jack) is supposed to walk Allison down the aisle. Hello, Allison, what were you thinking? In this curiously Arthurian triangle, Lancelot, er, I mean Carter, hasn’t actually slept with Guinevere/Allison, but the analogy holds.
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A Sinus-y Fan Perspective on Stargate Continuum
I went camping on the Great Plains for a couple of weeks and my sinuses are paying the price. Apparently they can’t process the powerful powdered cow chips and prairie dog poop that give new meaning to the old poetic cum prosaic song lyrics, “Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind.” It was almost a different time-space continuum, with an arcane cultural slant, no electricity or running water.
It was a good place from which to return…
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(Spoiler Warning. Some parts of this post can be considered spoilers. It’s an episode recap after all. — 2xKnight)
The big news in Eureka is not the jazzed up song and dance sendup of Mister Rogers Neighborhood theme,
it’s Eva Thorne. She flies in on her broomstick in the Season 3 premiere just in time to see an anti-missile test of the Viper vs. Martha go wrong. Eva is known as “The Fixer” — a corporate maven and master manipulator. She’s got the power (from the Department of Defense), and she attempts to use it. Her stated goal? To make Global Dynamics pay for itself. The only person Eva seems to have regard for is Stark, but even he isn’t falling for it…yet. Allison, however, seems to be falling for him…again.
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Do You Want ‘Possums with That? 
Having just returned from two weeks in splendid [self imposed] isolation, I’m tempted to declare that I was on a spiritual retreat, or writing the next Great American Novel.
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I’m planning to write an intermittent series of articles about Eureka in this space, so kindly offered to me by Jason. Don’t look for episode recaps, or cast interviews. Those are best found HERE and HERE. I won’t be writing about the Writers Guild strike and its impact on the show (but as a writer, I do support it). I will be writing about Eureka from my own personally skewed perspective. Why? Because whenever I watch Eureka, it reminds me of family, friends, and acquaintances.
As someone who grew up and lived for many years near a plethora of high security military bases of all stripes, and quasi-government installations (such as NASA), Eureka satisfies (albeit fictionally) that “what the heck are they doing over there?” part of me. As someone with family members who could settle in and be at home in Eureka, it has a familiar feel. It’s classified as “sci-fi lite”, and while that may appeal to those who aren’t hardcore science fiction fans, I think it is a disservice to the show in the end. Eureka is ultimately a show that explores what it’s really like to be human beings in occasionally absurd and/or often extraordinary circumstances.
Eureka has come under some criticism from geeky bloggers who complain that it represents the scientific community in an absent minded, stereotypical fashion. I have a response to that. Yeah, it does. And your point is…? They also portray the sensible scientists, er, um, scientist quite favorably.
I have had the good fortune to work with some brilliant folks in my time (along with the usual idiots we all endure). Eureka’s citizens reminds me of some of them…the brilliant ones, that is. Once upon a time, I walked outside into the parking lot after work. There I discovered a brilliant team member standing in the pouring rain. He was no doubt contemplating some secret of the universe far beyond my ken (you may think I’m being sarcastic, but I’m not). Like the urban legendary and proverbial much maligned turkey, he had his mouth open (they actually panic and run), and he was staring up into the sky. I slowly walked up to him and spoke to him. No answer. I called his name. No answer. LOUDER. No answer. He was soaked to the skin, taking on water, and might even have choked or drowned, etc. I don’t know CPR, and it’s possible the brilliant man might have died. and it would have all been my fault. Clearly, I had to save us both. I reached over, shook his arm, and said his name really loudly (okay, so maybe I yelled). He startled out of his reverie. I told him it was raining. He shook himself a bit, looked at me with confusion, thanked me and went to his car. I waited to leave until he was gone. I wasn’t really anxious to drive out with him. I hope he gets a smart car just like Zoe’s some day…that is, one that includes the mobile SARAH (Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat).
On the family front, my own grandfather (a research pathologist) once inadvertently locked a Staten Island city official in an elevator shaft. Old grandpa was working on polio vaccines during an epidemic. The poor city official rode up and down in the elevator for hours, trying to get out. It was actually all Mrs. Takebi’s fault – she was one of several unused research monkeys on the back porch (grandpa used horse serum), but that’s another story. So you see, Eureka seems almost like home to me.
As you may have guessed by now, I tend to identify with Sheriff Carter, the overarching, quasi-parental figure in the town of Eureka. While he struggles to be a good parent to his teenage daughter, Zoe, he has to keep the brilliant folks in Eureka from blowing up their town, and possibly the world. It’s not always easy, and I know just how he feels.
Still, Sheriff Carter has evolved since the series start. That is, his shortcomings in th
e quantum physics, string theory, DNA genome department are still apparent, but many of the good intentioned, if distracted folks of Eureka have accepted him. Still he remains the self-questioning “everyman,” who occasionally has flashes of intuition and an almost Holmesian instinct for clues. His foibles are human, in a town where human foibles are often the undoing of scientific method. He’s a sheriff in a town where human spontaneous combustion and invisibility are just average days at work. Besides, he’s cute and appealing in that hapless way that endears him to women who like puppies with three legs.
While I often find myself in the dubious Sheriff Carter seat, I do have my favorite scientist characters in the town, just like anyone. Next time, I’ll visit a few of those.
(Blogger “Shiny1″ is also known as Patricia deVarennes)
of Eureka, and was definitely ready for this cd.
