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I am late in watching the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica and writing about it. But I never watch in real time, anyway. Thanks, “TiVo”!

Okay, in “Deadlock,” we see lots of Number Six (played by Tricia Helfer) and Ellen Tigh (played by Kate Vernon). It’s directed by Jane Esperson (most episodes are directed by men). I liked this episode. It was different from others episodes recently, except maybe for the part involving Gaia¹. No subtitles of where/when. “Human” experiences within relationships were its focus. And I got what the history of humans and Cylons were … after absorbing all the info last time and then seeing them talking about it this time. I get it.

BSG is almost over! I don’t know how they’re going to wrap things up in just four more episodes, but I was taken in by the strong shift in the story line. Such a different feel, and yet it seemed rite. Wurd.

Among the whole Academy Awards hullabaloo, there were a handful of very moving moments. I just want to write about one, even though it pertains to a movie I haven’t even seen. Major kudos to Dustin Lance Black for winning an Oscar for the screenplay of Milk — and also kudos for having the guts once upon a time to move on with his life, to move on from Mormonism to something that worked for him.

From his acceptance speech: “When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas, to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope that one day I could live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married.”

Later, Sean Penn spoke of the hateful picketers outside the Oscars whose grandchildren will be ashamed of them. While I suppose this is largely true of anybody who would spend time picketing today, a lot of the people I know who are opposed to gay marriage oppose it not out of hate, but out of fear and a misguided sense of duty to God. An important distinction that their grandchildren will cling to.

Yesterday on Science Friday, Ira Flato interviewed some high-level movie guys working in 3-D, aka stereoscopy. Said Lenny Lipton, a long-time 3-D player and the inventor of some stereoscopic technology, “I think all movies, for business reasons, will have to become stereoscopic movies … just as all movies have sound.”

There you have it. This is not a prediction for the far future, but the near future. I don’t know that actors will get left behind this time, like Norma Desmond, but it’s an interesting piece of news, and in particular the pervasive future of stereoscopy is what’s news to me.

Lipton, who also wrote the lyrics of the song Puff the Magic Dragon, might be biased. The others on the panel, director Henry Selick and executive Jim Mainard, think only half of high-profile films will become 3-D films, about 25 titles a year. By the way, Selick pushed for some sort of smell-o-vision on Coraline, but the panel agreed that’s not coming. Rather, new sound technology is the other thing on the verge of changing our movie-going experience.

If you look on IMDb, you won’t find information on an important character that recurs on early episodes of United States of Tara, your favorite show about DID and clever writing. I’m bothering with this because I’m watching the show. I’m a fan. Well, I sometimes like it, sometimes not. (Are we really supposed to believe this is Kansas?) But Toni Colette is buh-rilliant, so that keeps me watching no matter what happens. Plus there’s my long-standing crush on Rosemarie DeWitt to consider.

Trying to figure out who’s who amongst our guest stars was a little tough, so here’s what I finally figured out by watching the end credits: Tiffany, the woman that hires Tara to paint a mural, is played by Jessica St. Clair. As of today, that’s just not on IMDb anywhere.

This evening, I am out and about in my suit. I’ve got an audition as a lawyer and then I’m going to the opera, plus the weather is ideal for wearing a jacket. I must look the part: two older gentlemen told me so in plain English. On the Red Line platform he even said I looked “Beverly Hills.” Downtown awaiting the DASH B Line, it was just, “You’re a lawyer, aren’t you?” These men were probably a little crazy and a little needy in a way that I couldn’t help them. Or maybe they just wanted to chat. I was terse in my replies, but at least I replied — which I normally do not do at all to street people — so I guess I took these comments as compliments.

Yesterday, I shared my apartment elevator one floor with a guy who complimented me on my clothes. Actually, what he said was, “Mmm, J. Crew, right?” As I looked down to see what I was wearing (no need to look down, but it’s an almost involuntary response, isn’t it?), I realized that I had on pants, tee, dress shirt and sweater vest from Banana Republic. Four from BR, but no J. Crew. I sized him up: well-dressed and chatting me up, probably gay. But not gay well-dressed, no gay mannerisms or stereotypes at all. Plus, what gay man doesn’t know the difference between J. Crew and Banana Republic? So, straight.

With my sister Julia in town from Utah and our friend Alyson in town from Boston, I ended up going to the Getty Center and LACMA, a weekend of museums. LA has lots of museums, but I haven’t been to many, so this is good, even if it’s two museums I have visited before … about 10 years ago.

Yesterday, at the Getty Center I didn’t look at all at the art contained within the museum, but at the art of the museum: architecture designed by Richard Meier. (Observe to the right my self-portrait in shadow on Meier.) The building, the view, the gardens — all wonderful. Of note, this is the time of year to go the Getty if you want to experience sunset there. And you do want to experience sunset there. Sunset from a view above the ocean is good anhwhere, of course, but here the setting sun brings out new angles and details of Meier’s work. Go now, before summer comes and they kick you out well before the sun goes down.

Today’s outing to LACMA was free, thanks to Target, and I didn’t take a camera — it was more of a “be here now” moment not taking the camera. Highlights included Smoke by Tony Smith, Edward Steichen photos, Picasso paintings, and Brancusi adnd Giocametti statues. I post here a coupla gems from Steichen: Gloria Swanson and Louise Brooks. Years ago I learned about Steichen from my friend Matt. Thanks, Matt!

Another episode of Battlestar Galactica. Such a turn from the previous episodes of fighting, tension, action, killing, plotting, etc. In “No Exit,” several main characters do not appear at all, but we instead see a lot of talk amongst the Cylons. The 12th one and some of those we haven’t seen in a while, the ones aboard Galactica herself. Talk, talk, talk. Geek talk. Lots of numbers: 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 3000, etc. Lots of discussion about how this is part of history repeating itself, including the time frame on Earth currently (or at least in a period near the Holocaust). If you don’t know the show, there’s nothing to say about it. Even if you watch, what is there to say? (My friend Neil said this about the episode: “John Hodgeman? Hahahahaha.”) The first minutes with the 12th Cylon are the most important, it gets a little wordy. But, along the lines of where our present history and BSG intersect, go back and read James Parker’s article in The Atlantic from a couple of months ago. I think he nailed it, with his comparison to the views of L. Ron Hubbard.

One somewhat tangential thing I was thinking of: If I suddenly found out that reincarnation is how things work and that I had a past life wherein I did bad things, would I feel weighed down by that? Would I suddenly feel responsibility for that other person’s decisions?

Happy. Happy to sit outside and eat delicious food. Happy to find a restaurant in LA that I like and that feels like Cambridge in a good way, an awesome place in Los Feliz called Alcove. And — especially — happy to meet up with an old friend for lunch. She has achieved more acting success than anybody else I’ve been friends with over the years, which is not surprising because she’s dripping with talent. But she’s just a person, and it was great to meet up with her for the first time in years, catch up on her new marriage, new shows, new life in Los Angeles. We agreed that my new life in Los Angeles is also going fine, or as I like to say, So far, so good.

For the last three years, I didn’t have a valid U.S. passport. How did that happen to the kid that spent a year of his childhood in Spain and lived a coupla years in Peru and took trips to Singapore and London? I don’t know, but happen it did.

Now that has changed — yesterday I got the new passport from the government and I’m ready to go. But I don’t know where to go. I’m no travel fiend, jonesing for a fix. World travel has been a rare thing, a wonderful highlight to contrast my daily life. I have lived a rich life in the USA that I don’t know would be immensely richer with travel abroad. Different, but not necessarily better. I have explored my local cities, instead.

But it has been a while. Let’s see … I went to Spain in 1998. Yup, it’s about time. But where oh where shall I go? Suggestions welcomed.

Starting to watch the 4th episode of BSG‘s final half-season. More Felix Gaeta. More blah blah blah. Where’s Starbuck, the 12th Cylon, the stuff we’ve been waiting for?! In the words of a friend of mine, sent via SMS before I could even watch this episode:

Doood! Is it just me of has BSG been sorta off with the new episodes? I mean, who gives a frak about Gaeta? And a coup killing off the quorum?? I dunno. It’s feeling weird.

I concur.

But the good of this episode: the talented Mark Sheppard is brought back to play Romo Lampkin, the tough lawyer who cares so much about animals. He gets hired on a “field trip for justice” — to defend Admiral Adama on charges of treason. Good actor, good character, good plot point for our times. Nice!

Okay, the episode’s over now. So much death on this episode. Useless killing. Just like our planet here. Damn. But maybe the good guys prevail in the end?