Many nights I end up laughing myself silly over various conversations with Mr Tame. He and I go round and round about a subject and eventually I know he will say, "No thats not just my opinion it's a fact! Filed in the Library of Congress." I then proceed to laugh myself silly and threaten, as I have done numerous times, to film myself AT the Library of Congress asking to be directed to the section that must be labeled "Facts known only to Mr Tame".
He, of course, tells me I will be surprised when they lead me to the section (grin).

Normally, after having a good chuckle at ourselves for getting so passionate about our thoughts and opinions as to go so far as saying something that silly, we continue to enjoy a good debate on whatever subject.

Too often folks forget that just because they think something then so should everyone else. Opinions are not facts. So if I have popped some intellectual bubbles....sorry (grin). Also, when something is your opinion, guess what? You may be the only person who actually holds that thought regarding something. 9 times out of 10 though you will find someone who has a similar opinion or is like-minded. However, just because a group of you think in a similar fashion that still doesn't make something a fact.

An opinion is something that you form based on whatever information you personally have gleened. This even applies if you personally are just taking on another person's opinion as your own. You have obtained at least that much information on the topic and decided it sounds logical to you so you choose to back that opinion and even claim it now as your own. However, if in the course of things you gather even more information, then placed along side what you already know, alter your personal opinion then you are still forming a thought based on the information you have at that moment. An opinion is ever changing or at least it "can" be.

A fact is something that no amount of gathered information can alter. So this stands to reason that even some things we perceive as facts could eventually be shown as just very well informed opinions. This is why Scientists are quick to use words such as theory or hypothesis. Granted water will always be made up of H2O, but if a scientist wanted to show that water could be made up of something else it is a theory (or opinion in laymen's terms) until no new information can shown to actually alter the chemical composite of water. It would stand as a fact until then.

So when folks are posting on an Internet Fan Forum it is pretty silly to think that your opinion about any aspect of a TV show is fact. It's a subjective item. There is no way to say that how anyone perceives a TV show could be fact. How they feel about this or that episode has the possibility of change at any given time based on the amount of information the person has at that moment.

When you can accept that your personal opinions are not facts to other people and that another person's opinion is not to be seen as a fact by you. Then it might be just a tad easier to actually have an enjoyable discussion. Accepting facts in life is a given, we can't change them. But being tolerant of opposing opinions and understanding that it is a good thing in a discussion that each person actually can and does think for themselves is a sign of maturity and enlightenment.

The other thing to strive for in any discussion is to direct your own way of debating. Just because one person likes to quote this, that or the other thing in order to back up why they came to their own opinion doesn't mean you have to use that method or even acknowledge the quotes if they don't alter your opinion. I will say it is a closed-minded individual who doesn't at least consider the information being presented from both sides of the discussion and digesting it in order to really determine if it does add information that can or could alter your own opinion.
But your style of discussion is just that, yours. Their style of discussion is just that, theirs. So don't be bullied into a discussion you don't want to have because you are allowing the other person to dictate how you came to your own opinion if it conflicts with their way of forming their opinion.

Opinions are not facts. However, tolerance of all opinions is a virtue.

I'll see you on the flipside Gaterites......look forward to more Enlightenment Tame Style ;)

So...doing the thumb twiddle over here waiting for the hiatus to end....what shows to watch??? I watch NCIS as my other *Must See* TV. Other wise I am not much of a TV watcher. But I am a book reader. Lately though I have been fulfilling one of Michelle Obama's predictions from the campaign trial. She said Barrack Obama will not allow you to be a passive citizen...which has proven true for me personally. I am reading so much history these days I am learning things that I had forgotten as well as new things. Where I was once somewhat civilly active, I am now vocal and very civilly active. However, since I am in disagreement with most of the President's policies I am not sure how happy I would be making Mrs Obama :-)

So that has been an endeavor.

My other issue has been dealing with constant hard drive updates. The last few hard dives I have bought don't seem to actually be worth all the hype...especially when 6 months in they go kaput...not something you want to deal with when it is a 500 GB hard drive and you have TWO...

It seems like every product lately just is not made to last. There used to be a time when the ads were touting how long something would last and how well it was made. That isn't the case any more...and its sad. But for right now..I highly doubt that even 6 months was even the manufacturer's minimum life-span....*sighs*...some days I am not a computer fan :-)

I have watched SGU and I have to say I was, by turns, pleasantly surprised and disappointed. I am happy that the SG franchise is trying to expand itself in various ways. I am basically happy with the actor casting. I am basically happy with the premise of the story plot.

I know for myself personally *Ship* always plays an important role in getting me emotionally attached to any show. If they want to reel me in then even my Sci Fi has to have some romance in some way because in my opinion that is part of the message of Sci Fi. Its not just all big space ships, space battles, new and interesting tech. It is also about the human journey as they interact with all of that as well as each other. To not have relationships, friendships and personal reflection would be like having a light saber with no light. Sure you may have some invisible force that will kill the bad guy but if I can't see it on the screen, what good is it?

My biggest problem with the SGU offering is the fact that for two shows the PTB avoided relationships (romantic) like the plague. Sure they had the characters have something here and there on the side or *off screen* but that is not the same as really writing some good character interaction that in some way connects to the same feelings and issues we as fans deal with in daily life. I don't want to say that I want the show to ever reflect *real life* as I already that :-) But I wish there was more courage in TPTB to actually write stuff that wasn't cliche but still made you feel as if you could emotionally connect with the characters in front of you and that you share your time with for an hour a week.

It seems SGU has almost gone over board in relationship conflict *dwama* and that is just as bad as having virtually none for 15 years. I wish I could say this PTB do a good job of handling relationships but in my humble opinion they don't. When you have an *All Boys Club* writing relationships it s a bit too one sided and that comes across.

Many times I have found myself wishing that the PTB would stop and make a phone call to Rockne O'Bannon of FarScape fame.
Even if you could never get your head around the puppets or D'argo's tentacle hair :-) everyone could understand the various dynamics of all the relationships on that show. Something I never saw in even one episode was another character in some way being diminished due to sharing a relationship driven moment. In fact all of the various relationships, be they friendships or romantic seemed to enhance every character. They grew over time in what seemed an extremely natural rate. Did that mean that the female characters somehow got weaker or sappy if they had a romantic moment -NO, in fact the deeper any relationship got the more complex every character got and the more interesting and intriguing the show was to watch. You went along for a journey with these people and you felt it. It emotionally connected with folks because it never once discarded the notion that life was just one or two dimensional.
The other praise I can give FarScape in the character development is it never sunk into *Soap Opera* territory with the various relationships. Conflicts and upheavals were handled in imaginative ways and used to further the story line, never to just be gratuitous and wallow in human drama.

The acting by many on SGU has just been superb IMHO. I have been compelled to watch to the end just for that reason at times. Often the story itself has broken down but the actors have made what could have been lackluster writing into more. TPTB should send a bonus to this shows casting director :-)

I have heard that the writers too had various ideas on how to do things and how to move the direction of various characters, so I will wait to see how they do that. The show has enough going on in it to make me want to watch and root for its success.

I have no desire to bring back SG-1 or even SGA, IMHO they ran their course and when they were done they were done. Its TV and shows will come and go, Of course some will go sooner then I will have liked but I also won't lament over it. Its a TV show. I will say I am grateful to whomever invented DVDs LOL. Because even though the various shows I may have liked are gone I at least can and will watch them on DVD when the mood strikes me. :-)

speaking of which......I think I will go relive some of my favorite SG-1 moments and FarScape moments now.........

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all and I hope you all have a Happy New Year!!!
I look forward to sharing more.................Enlightenment Tame Style :-)

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