Year Of Mall Shootings

I saw on the news today apparently there's been another shooting at another mall? I didn't watch the story, so I can't be sure. I had been flipping through the news channels, and it seemed like there was mass chaos in more than one place, at the same time. Does this mean there will be more shootings?

I thought random acts of violence would eventually stop. I guess I figured that when tragedy strikes, government and society will react to make a similar event hard to pull off in the future. But I guess if we were really serious about that, we'd be living in a police state.

Not that I'd want that to happen. But who wants to equate shopping at the mall with risking your life?

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Heroes: Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

Last year when "Heroes" aired the End of Volume One, I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

As the days and weeks went by, the wonder and magic slowly began to fade. A couple of months after new episodes stopped airing, I found myself avoiding repeats. Then summer came, and I wondered if "Heroes" was still worth watching.

Then it came back on, and BAM! The magic was back. But I'm wondering, will it all happen again? Will I slowly lose interest? It's such a cool show. It's weird when that feeling wears off.

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3 Reasons Nathan Petrelli Won't Die

1. Bro Peter can heal, therefore Peter's blood (like Adam's, like Claire's) will heal Nathan.
2. Claire could give more blood, healing her biological father this time (vs. adoptive).
3. Another "healing touch" character may be revealed, or Peter will time travel, meet Linderman, and learn to heal that way.

Yes, 3 is a bit more far-fetched, but I see no reason for it to be employed given that 1 and 2 are so obvious. I wanted to soak up the emotions of the assassination, I really did. "Oh no, Nate got shot!"

But seriously, after seeing Noah come back from a bullet to the eye, I don't think there's any reason for someone as likable as Nathan Petrelli to be so easily lost.

Or maybe other people don't like him so much? What do you think?

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Who Shot Nathan Petrelli?

Last night watching "Heroes," I found myself extremely thankful for DVR technology. I thought the last segment of the finale of Season 2 was jam-packed with plot, and was glad to have the ability to rewind.

I spent a couple minutes investigating Nathan Petrelli's assassination attempt. When you watch the crowd, a guy in black calmly walks away while everybody else goes nuts. Maybe he did it, maybe he didn't. But I'm assuming the intent was to focus in on him and assign the blame. So I played his exit in reverse, and watched as we walked backwards into the sea of people. At the last moment (or the first if you're watching it in non-reverse) he has his head turned toward us!

But it was bathed in shadows, and I couldn't make it out. I thought, "Sylar from the future?"

And when is Adam? I expected Hiro to take him either way in the future, or way in the past. If he left him anywhere in the past, even with dinosaurs, it's possible Adam could just show up again, 70 million years older. But in the future, he'd only continue to move forward in time, and be gone for good barring any further time travel.

Instead, Hiro put him 6 feet underground in a coffin, apparently in the same cemetery Hiro's father is buried. But when? Was it in the present? Or the day of Hiro's father's funeral? Or the day of the funeral Hiro went to as a child?

So many questions. At least one thing's certain. Sylar has his powers back! Is anyone else glad?

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New Bizarro Cartoon = Xavier: Renegade Angel

Last night I watched a new episode (my first) of "Xavier: Renegade Angel" on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. A bigfoot with reverse knees, a snake arm, a beak nose, and two different-colored eyes goes around saying nonsense not unlike certain "wise men" as featured in such films as "Mystery Men." Eventually Xavier meets a rich brat not unlike the one in "The Toy," starring Richard Pryor.

The rich child says certain oddball things like how pain is a myth invented by lazy workers, and how hardships are bogus, and blah blah blah. So Xavier wishes to educate the kid, and he gives him his own personal vision quest. The kid's consciousness immediately shifts from reality to some alternate reality, where he meets a Native American. The kid is pretty brash, and opposed to learning a lesson. Suddenly, 6 months go by, and the kid is shown in a genuine state of suffering. Bam! Back to the real world, where no time has passed at all.

That really blew my mind that the kid lived out 6 months of soul breakage in an instant. But the positive was that his new perspective caused him to seek an end to worldwide suffering.

I enjoyed the positive idea of curing suffering, but there was a lot of insane stuff in that show. Another idea that I almost began to consider legit was how every happy moment in one person's life coincides with a sad moment in another. It almost made sense... but not quite.

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Xbox 360 Updates To Limit Game Time

A new update to the Xbox 360 will allow parents to set a built-in timer that will limit console functionality. Kids will now have to cope with adult meddlers limiting daily or weekly game time. Plus, there'll be a warning as the clock counts down to 0, further disrupting gameplay.

One benefit for parents is that if they are knowledgeable enough to use the timer, they can disable it and effectively break their own rules. After the kids go to bed, anyone wanting to can simply turn off the clock, and game to their heart's content.

The plus side is that kids will probably be better off for it, having fuller, more enriched lives. The minus side is that they will likely achieve this by watching more television. Hooray.

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Don Imus Is Back! A Win For Free Speech?

In October I posted about the issue of Fighting Racism vs. Preserving Free Speech, and I cited a couple of firings that occurred because of racist remarks. Don Imus had made a few of those, and lost his job because of it. Well, now he's back on the air. At 6 a.m. (EST) on Monday, you'll be able to hear him on WABC-AM.

What does this mean? Didn't he get fired for having racist ideas, and communicating those ideas? Isn't he still the same person? Couldn't he say racist things in the future?

Yes, he might. I for one don't think he will, given the consequences of his previous racial remarks. However, the fact that he is back says a few things about society.

People will tolerate (or be forced to tolerate) individuals known to have racist inclinations, if it will generate revenue. It's been made clear that the decision to rehire Imus is more based in business than anywhere else.

However, just because people are going for the money doesn't mean that that's all there is to it. If he truly was considered an evil man, it would probably be more difficult for him to get back on the air. A lot of people probably understand that older generations lived through times during which racism was rampant. Therefore, forgiveness isn't too difficult a consideration.

I agree that racist remarks are unkind, hurtful, and should be limited, but for the most part only at the individual level. I greatly value free speech, and sometimes it seems being politically correct means giving up your right to speak freely. Thankfully, the fact that Imus is back seems to communicate that free speech has won an important battle in an ongoing war.

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