Take a good look. They might not exist in the future.

Let’s get things straight. The animals on this planet were doing just fine until we came along and started screwing it up. There is a plan in nature, but some people don’t seem to get that. Instead we assign acceptable population numbers to certain species and decide whether or not they deserve protection based on our convenience. In a recent article about delisting the gray wolf there was this sentence:

Some members of Congress say there are too many gray wolves in the United States.

Really? How did they come to this conclusion? Who decides how many of any given species is an acceptable number? I can tell you what will happen next. They will take wolves off the list, people will start killing them willy nilly again and eventually lead to them being put right back on the damn list.

Humans, on the whole, have shown themselves to be utterly irresponsible in taking care of the nature around them. How many species have we been responsible for taking to the brink of extinction? For that matter, how many species have had their natural home taken away from them in lieu of being regulated to parcels of land that are a fraction of their ancestral territory? Then, when the wildlife roams into areas that were once their home, people scream about how dangerous it is. I saw this happen a lot in Arizona. Folks kept bulldozing the desert to make way for more housing developments and then got pissed off when coyotes were wandering through the neighbourhood. What people fail to acknowledge is that the coyotes were there FIRST! You took their home and tried to make it your home.

Here’s another asinine quote from the article:

“If they’re not endangered anymore, then shouldn’t some action be taken?” Hastings asked. And if an abundance of wolves is posing a threat to cattle, he said, “then there needs to be a way to deal with that.”

Humans, as a species, are so selfish and arrogant. You take away the homes of these creatures and then complain that they are hunting your livestock. Instead of turning to violent options to cull their numbers, why don’t you look into research on ways to help protect your livestock without killing animals that are inconvenient to you? The wolves are looking for food, and you just provided an easy source. Of course they’re going to attack your livestock if you don’t take the necessary measures to protect them.

I saw a documentary a while back about a man who was living with a pack of wolves to better understand them. He suggested that ranchers set up loudspeakers to play back sounds of a wolf pack howling to assert their territory which would be a deterrent to other nearby packs. Did it work? Did anyone give it enough of a chance? There have got to be other options beyond taking out your gun and pumping them full of lead.

House Republican, Danny Rehberg, believes that protective legislation should be left up to individual states. He believes that the government is too removed from the issue and that they can better manage their wildlife locally. I call bullshit.

Let’s look at an example. According to Rehberg, I, as a Californian, should have no say in what they do out in Montana. I have no voice in protecting this countries wildlife because I don’t live in the same state. By taking out government involvement, you are taking out the rights of anyone outside of your state. This isn’t deciding if the main street in town needs another traffic light. This is something that goes beyond what should be handled solely on a state level.

Here’s the other argument that really pisses me off. There is a claim that wolves are a threat to the other wildlife. Namely, game animals such as moose and elk. They FUCKING eat them. Oh no! Who would have thought?

Seriously, grow up and call it what it is. By allowing the wolves to do what nature designed, they are taking away from game hunters being able to go out and kill things. They want less wolves so that some jackass can go and shoot Bambi and strap him to the hood of their car. I’m not against people wanting to go and hunt, but I am against people who view natural predators that need these creatures to SURVIVE as competition.

This issue comes up time and time again. The arguments are often weak at best. The complete decimation of wolves sometime in the foreseeable wouldn’t surprise me. Too many people have become too far removed from the realities of this planet and the fact that we’re not the only ones living on it. We have to share. We’ve screwed things up pretty bad for our animal friends, but very few are willing to accept that blame. We’re going to leave nothing behind, and it makes me hurt more than I could ever express.

We will be our own extinction, and I will be glad.

Read more: Lawmakers aim to delist gray wolves as endangered

To help: Defenders of Wildlife Petition

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“Black Swan” is a movie I almost didn’t want to write a review for. I wasn’t really sure how to go about it. It’s not the sort of movie that you can really say you enjoyed. It’s something you have to say you experienced. It’s about how it made you feel. The feeling I experienced? Panic.

“Black Swan” is an anxiety roller coaster. There are some drops, some lifts and even a couple of loops. Now, let’s also say that you’re also riding that roller coaster in the dark and can’t see the track in front of you. It is intense. You’re never quite sure of what’s going on, and you’re not even positive that you want to know.

Natalie Portman turned in an amazing performance, as did the rest of the cast. I think that’s part of what made the whole thing so frightening. As fantastic as it got at points, it was still so believable. It’s not often that I am so unsettled by a movie.

What few effects are in the movie were seamlessly done. There was nothing to distract from the believability of what I was seeing. In some places, it was like having a nightmare while I was awake.

Since I work closely with the film industry, I generally try not to do a lot of research about films prior to seeing them. There are so many movies I’ve been familiar with since the script stage because of my job, so it’s nice to be surprised now and again. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, and apparently, neither did the other audience members. The discomfort in the theatre was nearly palpable, and at the end of the film I even heard someone apologizing for bringing their friend to see it.

“Black Swan” isn’t the kind of movie you can readily recommend. I’d be worried about the repercussions if I did. There’s really no way to give a fair warning to someone about what they’re about to see. I can see why this made the Oscar list, but I don’t know that I’d be able to sit through it again.

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Aidan and Bishop

Last night was the premier of the third episode of SyFy’s “Being Human”. The show, again, did not disappoint. However, there were some definitely highlights as well as some speed bumps along the way.

The thing that irritates me about the show right now is that there is more potential that hasn’t been fully realized to this point. My husband hit the nail on the head when he said he hasn’t connected with the characters yet. Three episodes in or not, there should still be a stronger connection felt between the audience and the cast. BBC’s first season had only six episodes to accomplish this, but it had me from the first one. I’m hoping that SyFy is just being slower to develop the personalities and that some more heartfelt moments are forthcoming.

That all being said, I see a glimmer of something deeper shining under the surface of what SyFy has given us so far. There were some moments where Aidan actually had a personality outside of the brooding vampire stereotype, and I want them to give the actor more of a chance to explore that further. The problem I see them facing is that they’re competing with a number of other supernatural shows that have done very well, so it’s hard not to follow the formula that so obviously works with an American audience. I’m seeing this trickle down even into what powers the vampires possess. Super speed? Mind control? Needing permission before crossing the threshold? All unnecessary. Part of the reason the vampires in the original are so interesting is that they don’t really have a lot of creepy supernatural whatsits going for them. They are simply that scary without the aid of “trendy” vampire abilities.

The ante was upped on Josh’s werewolf abilities in episode three. We got a glimpse of a nearly full moon and it was having a definite effect on him. I think what happened because of it was a little forced, but making him wolfier outside of a full moon night is alright with me if done correctly. They might have done better employing a little more subtlety, but the idea that he’s fighting his nature even when he still looks human makes things interesting.

Sally is still the least interesting character to me. She got a bit of a boost in the last episode, but there weren’t any real breakthroughs by way of her personality. Sure, she learned to do some new things, but did the character really grow because of them? I feel like she’s very apart from Aidan and Josh when they should feel more like three peas in a pod.

Speaking of ghosts, Sally’s plot was pulled from an episode of the original series, and it wasn’t done nearly as well. Those that have seen both shows likely know what I’m talking about. To me, it felt rushed and a little less than genuine. They should have taken their time instead of trying to cram it into one episode.

There were some very genuine laugh out loud moments last night. The cast and writers seemed to have loosened up a bit, and it made a good balance to the drama. Of course, there were a couple of unintended laughs. (A little over the top werewolf sniffing definitely didn’t help.) Still, it was needed after two episodes that had very little real humour in them.

Based on the preview for next Monday’s show, I’d have to say we’re in for more plot pulled from the original. I got the impression that they’re going to attempt another cram session, but we’ll see. It’s still a fun show and worth the watching.

Oh, and SyFYI…I still liked it better when you were SciFi.

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