Richard Linklater's Bernie

Last night, I saw Richard Linklater's film, Bernie, featuring Jack Black in the title role as the assistant director of a funeral home in a small Texas town. Bernie is eccentric but well-loved, especially by the little old ladies whose late husbands' funerals Bernie organizes. This eventually develops into an odd relationship with one particular widow, a wealthy but mean old lady like by apparently no one else in town.

Bernie is an strange mix of comedy and drama, and based on a true story, though I knew nothing about the actual events, and was taken quite by surprise by a turn of events about halfway through the film. The advertisements and reviews describe it plainly, indicating that it is not considered a "spoiler," but I shall not reveal it here, because I enjoyed discovering these events as they unfolded, and hope that someone else might derive the same enjoyment by going into the movie blind.

What I will describe is Jack Black's incredible performance, which is like nothing else he's ever done. He has created a unique character in Bernie, and utterly disappears into the role. Bernie is loved by his neighbors, and viewers will have no trouble understanding why. He is kind, gentle, and sympathetic. Jack Black is really a joy to watch in this movie.

Bernie also stars Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey. The latter plays one of many townspeople who talk about Bernie directly to the camera in a series of interviews. I believe, however, that most or all off the other interviewees are actual townspeople. It strikes me as odd to juxtapose real townspeople's recollection of events with those of an actor playing a role, but it works well within the movie.

Bernie is funny and a joy to watch, not least of all because of Jack Black's performance. I greatly enjoyed it and would recommend it to almost anyone.

A Tempest in a Pepsi Can

Science Blogs is “the largest online community dedicated to science.” Created by the Seed Media Group, it serves as the host for dozens of quality blogs dedicated to science and related topics. I've greatly enjoyed reading P.Z. Myers' Pharyngula and Ed Brayton's Dispatches from the Culture Wars, especially.

Recently, Seed attempted to welcome a new member to the Science Blogs family, as they were to become the new home of PepsiCo's Food Frontiers blog. Personally, I thought it was a great idea. I've recently become interested in Food Science, since my girlfriend is currently working towards her PhD in the field. I also thought it would be interesting to hear from scientists who are actually working in private industry; most writers on Science Blogs work in academia, which is perfectly fine, but wouldn't it be nice to add a different kind of voice to the conversation?

Apparently, it wouldn't, at least not according to a surprising number of Science Bloggers who jumped ship immediately after the announcement was made, concerned that Science Blogs was selling out to a greedy, faceless corporation. Bora Zivkovic, one of the most popular writers on the site, hastily departed, as did Peter A. Lipson, “Abel Pharmboy,” Suzanne E. Franks, Mike Dunford, “GrrlScientist,” and others. “Orac,” another of the site's most popular writers, is currently “dithering over [his] future” at Science Blogs, while the aforementioned P.Z. Myers is on strike.

Is it just me, or is this a huge overreaction on the part of the Science Blogs community? The plan was for PepsiCo to sponsor Science Blogs in exchange for the hosting, and I understand the concern about allowing corporate interests overtake pure science, but Food Frontiers was pulled from Science Blogs before a single real post was made (an introductory “hey, we're happy to be here at Science Blogs” message was the only thing that got posted), and looking at the existing Food Frontiers blog, one is struck by just how innocuous their posts actually are. Yes, there's a fair bit of self-congratulatory, PR-heavy corporate-speak, but there are also substantive posts about science and nutrition, which I believe would have added real value to Science Blogs.

Hans Schantz has a great response to the whole kerfuffle, which I recommend reading. I agree with him wholeheartedly, particularly his lamentation of “the obvious and utter contempt that some of the ScienceBlog bloggers have for scientists employed in industry.”

Bullshit! Bullshit

I've gushed about comedian-magician duo Penn & Teller before. And I usually list atheism, libertarianism, and skepticism as my three primary interests. So it's no surprise that one of my favorite televisions shows is the one Penn & Teller host that's about atheism, libertarianism, and skepticism: Penn & Teller: Bullshit! It's a documentary series championing freedom, liberty, science, and rationality in a fun, light-hearted fashion It's that focus on freedom and liberty that makes all the more disappointing the recent DVD release of the show's seventh season, which is missing a controversial episode.

The episode in question is “The Vatican,” the season finale in which Penn & Teller berate the Catholic Church for its anti-homosexuality activism, condemnation of condom use, and cover-up of the priest sex abuse scandal. It also highlights Sabina Guzzanti, a comedian who was threatened with criminal charges for criticizing the Pope. It tackles some important issues, and it's one of the series' better episodes.

“The Vatican” is one of several subjects highlighted during Bullshit!'s seventh-season opening titles.

Unfortunately, no longer can viewers see that for themselves, as the episode has not appeared in Apple's iTunes store (all other episodes are available), and is omitted from last month's DVD release. In fact, the episode is no longer listed on Showtime's official Bullshit! website. To be fair, the DVD's packaging notes that the episode is not included (it's also advertised as containing “The Seventh Season,” rather than as “The Complete Seventh Season,” as it was referred to in an earlier version of the packaging), and the remaining episodes retain their original opening titles, which list on-screen the subjects covered during the season, including “The Vatican.” So it's not as if Showtime is trying to completely erase all evidence that the episode ever existed. Nevertheless, it's extremely disappointing that the episode is unavailable.

The original version of the Season Seven DVD release, before the word “complete” was removed from the cover.

What's especially bothersome is that, as far as I can tell, nobody actually knows why the episode is unavailable in the first place! The popular assumption seems to be that Showtime or Paramount (who distributes Bullshit! on DVD) caved to pressure from the Catholic Church. That's quite cowardly of them, if true, and especially ironic considering how strongly the show champions free speech (it even touts “The Right to Free Speech” right there on the DVD cover!). But no one affiliated with the show has actually commented on the issue. I even posed the question to executive producer Star Price via Twitter, to no avail (he'd previously answered a different question I'd asked about the series, so he's at least willing to respond to fans online). Without any answers about the episode's omission, I'm reluctant to call anyone out for it. A lot of fans have been quick to trash Penn & Teller themselves over the issue, but it's not like Penn & Teller personally authored the DVDs—I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even know that the episode was omitted. And even if they did know, we still don't know the reason for the omission; it could even be that Penn & Teller were dissatisfied with the episode in some way and didn't feel it worthy of inclusion alongside the others. That seems unlikely, I admit, but the point is that without knowing why the episode was omitted, I don't feel comfortable chiding anyone for the omission. And yet, it's frustrating to have no answers after the DVD has been out for a month. I wish someone would give viewers an explanation. Even if that explanation was just, “Yeah, the Church pressured us to remove the episode and we complied,” then we'd at least have the comfort of knowing.

Surely someone out there must have some information about the missing “Vatican” episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!?

Secret Messages in The Boy Detective Fails

Though I enjoy reading, I don't typically make a point of keeping up with the latest releases in fiction. That's why I only just got around to reading Joe Meno's 2006 novel The Boy Detective Fails, a grown-up take on the “child sleuth” subgenre of detective fiction. I grew up reading the Encyclopedia Brown books, so I am rather familiar with the genre and appreciate the spin Meno gives it. The Boy Detective Fails is a good read, and it has something to say. I liked it and recommend it.

Meno does one thing in the novel that is especially interesting: several times throughout the story, protagonist Billy Argo receives notes containing mysterious coded messages, which the reader is invited to “help Billy solve” using the “Boy Detective Decoder Ring” included on the inside flap of the book's back cover. It's a fun, novel idea, and it can help draw the reader into the world of the Boy Detective. However, it can also be an annoyance to have to go through the hassle of decoding parts of the book letter-by-letter when one just wants to get on with the story, so I simply searched online for the solutions to these messages. I was surprised to discover that, even after the book's been available for four years, it appears that no enterprising reader has shared its secrets. The closest thing I was able to find is a page of hints from Fuzzy Gerdes. So, late though it may be, I'm happy to provide the solutions for anyone who is reading the book, and wants the contents of the messages but not the tedium of decoding them.

The three notes that Billy receives are on pages 113, 202, and 265 (at least in the edition that I have). The messages on those pages decrypt to:

• “Billy, why have you forgotten me?”
• “Billy, please, I need your help.”
• “Billy, Abracadabra!”

There's also a series of diary entries that Billy reads; on pages 306-307 he discovers a hidden message in one by reading the first letter of every other line. Messages are hidden the same way in the previous diary entries on pages 19, 59, and 185. The four messages are:

• “Abracadabra”
• “Hi, Billy”
• “I found Daisy”
• “Miller's Cave”

The Boy Detective Fails author Joe Meno

Another coded message appears throughout the book, each word printed at the bottom of a page. This message uses a simple ROT-13 cipher, and it decodes to:

Derek's secret adventure

Through the cloudy ends of his binoculars, Midshipman Derek Argo, on watch, caught sight of a shape amidst the unchanging spectacle of the high sea. A ghost ship! With its grinning Jolly Roger and its main sail flapping like a howl, Derek quickly signaled the call to alarm. But in a flash, the glowing vessel had already drawn aft and inhuman hands were upon him quick. Before Derek could warn his shipmates, he was bound to the invisible main mast of the dastardly vessel, kidnapped! The ghouls gathered around, ready to plunder the unsuspecting ship, their sabers and gold teeth looking fearsome. Derek, brave and true, closed his eyes and began to whistle a daring melody, which broke the curse of each of their ghostly imprisoned hearts. The pirates, now like doves, fell to their knees, and together, with Derek happy at the helm, the ship disappeared into the charming fog of the sea. And thus ends our hidden adventure—astute reader, if you have made it this far, please send an e-mail to derek@punkplanetbooks.com for a secret surprise!

Sadly, the e-mail address listed no longer exists; I received a “delivery failed” message when I tried sending a message to it. In fact, it looks like the Punk Planet Books website no longer exists at the punkplanetbooks.com domain, which appears to have been taken over by a cybersquatter.

Fortunately, Gerdes was able to furnish the response he got when he tried the address back in 2006:

Ahoy, friend!

To ensure secrecy, I have encoded the following message. It may aide you to remember where my brother is living.

Yours,

Derek

*****

Sekx, Bvjnkp Akdyhpyscyp!

Akjlpsrtfsrnkjq kj qkfunjl ix mtzzfy. Gkp xktp espd vkpc, n vktfd fncy rk qyjd xkt s qisff lngr—s rkcyj kg ix fsqrnjl smmpyansrnkj gkp xktp yggkprq. Nj kpdyp rk dk qk, n jyyd xktp sddpyqq! Mfysqy gtpjnqe nr mkqr-esqry, qk n asj esuy s cnjd mkqrsf yimfkxyy hpnjl ix lngr rk xkt.

Qyy xkt kj rey qysq,

Xktp gpnyjd,

Dypyc Splk

As you can see, the reply contains another coded message, this one encrypted with a substitution cipher (not the simple Caesar cipher of the other messages). I've worked out the solution, and (after correcting a typo) the message is:

Ahoy, Junior Codebreaker!

Congratulations on solving my puzzle. For your hard work, I would like to send you a small gift—a token of my lasting appreciation for your efforts. In order to do so, I need your address! Please furnish it post-haste, so I can have a kind postal employee bring my gift to you.

See you on the seas,

Your friend,

Derek Argo

Gerdes reports that he supplied his mailing address, and received “a couple of Punk Planet Books stickers and an owl button” (in the novel, Billy wears an owl tie).

Finally, The Boy Detective Fails ends with a series of puzzles and games, such as a connect-the-dots activity, and a word-search puzzle. The word-search puzzle has one final secret message in it, which the unused letters spell out after all the words have been found. The message is, “believe in mystery.”

Lost, Finished

Last night, ABC aired the much-hyped final episode of its hit series Lost, which I've followed since the first season in 2004-2005. The finale had some pretty overt religious themes, and though I consider myself a man of science, not a man of faith, I think they worked within the context of the show. Unlike some viewers, I don't have any serious issues with the way Lost wrapped up last night.

However, I am pessimistic about how the series will come to be viewed as a whole. Television series today, much more so than before the days of the Internet and the DVD box set, are judged as a whole. And while there were a lot of great individual episodes of Lost (“The Constant” and “Ab Aeterno” in particular), the series overall seems disjointed to me.

During the early episodes of the show, the writers seemed to be spinning their wheels a lot. There was an early first-season which ends with a character discovering a mysterious hatch buried in the ground. I was pretty excited to see the next episode and discover the contents of said hatch. But the mystery of the hatch was dragged out for more than a dozen episodes, and its contents weren't revealed until the second-season premier. Many plot points followed the same model, being introduced as intriguing mysteries, then left unresolved for many episodes or even seasons. It was kind of frustrating, but I ultimately came to accept it as simply the way Lost was made.

More recently, though, the show began to wind down, and I presume the writers realized they had to actually wrap up the myriad loose ends they'd been creating, because things moved at an appreciably quicker pace during the last season or two. Plot elements were introduced in the last few episodes which, had they been part of the first season, would surely have spanned the better part of an entire season, but which now had to be resolved in only two or three episodes. I appreciated that Lost was finally being more forthcoming in answering the questions it posed, but it didn't really feel like the same show I'd been watching back in 2004 and 2005.

Having watched the show week-by-week over the course of six years, it's hard to say whether that perceived change is due to a real shift in the show itself, or simply a change in the way I've come to view it. With the last season still fresh in my mind, it's difficult to judge it in the same way I do the earlier seasons, with which I'm much more familiar. Now that Lost is a completed work, I'd like to get the whole series on Blu-ray and revisit it in a few years with a fresh perspective. I wonder how it will play out as a whole—will it be a satisfyingly cohesive, or will it be flawed and disjointed?