So, absolutely no word on here for eight months. One might think I had abandoned the place, but no, I’m too stubborn for that. I have a tendency– granted one I’m trying to break myself of– to not want to post unless I can make things perfect. Unless they’re lengthy and unless they actually contribute something. Often I like a pretty picture to go with it, even if it’s a cropped screencap of my iTunes library ::coughs below:: That’s part of the reason I have three unpublished drafts saved for the blog that haven’t been touched in a full year. One I’ve mentioned before, dealing with the heroic journey and how badly, badly the TV show Heroes flubbed it. But now it’s been canceled– and I stopped watching WELL OVER a year ago, so I just don’t care anymore. 😉 I can either let myself be shackled until I finish that beast I’m uninspired to write– letting it prevent me from writing anything else of consequence– or I can press ahead.

You might not have realized it, but I’m working on breaking that afore-mentioned tendency right now by simply rambling my way through a blog post.

Since we last spoke, we’ve had a new Wheel of Time book (great!), a new Final Fantasy game (mixed), a new Modern Warfare (mostly good), new Splinter Cell (woohoo!), new Iron Man (also mixed, but alright), and more stuff I’m likely forgetting. All of this I would have blogged on– it and the fact that my Xbox red-ringed on me twice— but the moment has passed and it seems almost redundant.

The Pacific finished its run last night and it was a very mixed bag for me. I absolutely loved Band of Brothers. It had heart, it honored those who served while showing us what the experiences were actually like– nowhere near as judgmental as Saving Private Ryan wound up being. And I’d long wished for a similar series/tribute to the men who’d served in the Pacific theater (including members of my own family). I went in trying to ignore the hubbub over Tom Hanks’ statements, because I held out hope that it was simply his pontificating during an interview and not reflective of the perspective of the series to come. Right off the gate, though, I think they did this show a disservice by starting where they did. No sooner are we introduced to the main characters than they’ve shipped out and are experiencing the first days of Guadalcanal. It was rushed and lacked all context. In BoB, the first episode, “Curahee”, was all about showing the formation of Easy Company as it went through basic training and the foundation of friendships were forged. It was about uniting against an SOB of a commanding officer, shipping out to Europe, and the trepidation of waiting for that green light on D-Day. The Pacific had no such establishing chapter.

The most glaring omission was Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was the reason for the war, was the reason the U.S. public got behind the effort, and it was to defeat Japan that many soldiers enlisted in the first place. Hanks & co. in the press junket paint the war as one of racist extermination, paying lip service to it being that way on both sides but only ever really showing it on one side: ours. But that ignores the fundamental explanation that soldiers hate of the Japanese was sparked first by the sneak attack of Pearl Harbor, second by the brutal conduct of the war. I’ve done extensive reading on World War II, not glorified tales or sanitized histories. I have read oral histories of both Americans and Japanese, Nazis and Soviets, British and Italian. The war in the Pacific was truly horrifying. The men in these books did not shy away from saying exactly what they thought of the Japanese and why they thought that way– but there was a progression. They were not deposited into the war at the extreme end– they got pushed there by brutal battles on small islands where they’d find the remains of their friends tied up with their decapitated heads sitting on the chest of the corpse, their fingers and manhoods cut off and shoved in their mouths, which were then defecated into. The soldiers didn’t dehumanize their enemies because of racism, but because of actions. That distinction was ultimately lost in The Pacific.

Now, the recreation of the battle of Peleliu was very well done. All battle sequences were– although Iwo Jima and Okinawa (and even Guadalcanal, to an extent) got the short shrift. There was little tactical or strategic significance given to these battles, though and no rhyme nor reason to the character’s charge. While BoB gave good examples/recreations of squad tactics and everyone moving with purpose, TP did not– it just ran along with a shaky-cam.

So, did I like The Pacific? Yes and no. Yes because it was still engaging television, no because (in part) of what I wrote above. If you haven’t yet tried HBO’s historical mini-series, though, try the far superior Band of Brothers or John Adams first. You’ll be glad you did.

So, from disjointed rambling to serious critique of historical drama. I’m not even sure how to close this thing.

I did finally upgrade WordPress to the most recent version. Looks real pretty on my end, but visitor-side seems unchanged. I’ll get back to work on a proper banner. Maybe more blog posts in the future. I’ll try. Anything specific people would like to read about? I mentioned stuff above. I can always elaborate. I can even lament that Rambler got an iPhone while I haven’t. Sob. 🙁 Leave me be!

Oh, and let me end with a blog re-tweet. This was linked by Brandon Sanderson (of Mistborn and WoT fame) with the tagline: What Dads Are For. So very true and awesome. More later.