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At the time of this writing, I have yet to sit down and watch the season finale of Glee. I could say it’s because I’ve been soooo incredibly busy… But in reflection, I may be putting it off just because right now, I have the finale to look forward to.

Once I watch it, then what?

And why do I like that stupid show so much?

I can’t really answer that question. When I watch with my wife, it never fails. One of us turns to the other and says ‘You know, this show really is stupid.’

What do I hate about Glee? I hate that it’s completely full of simple archetypes that they try to pass off as living breathing characters. The dumb jock, the pregnant teenager, the gay kid, the ditzy cheerleader, the slutty cheerleader, the wannabe diva, etc., etc., blech!

Plots that just fall off the radar bug me too. Two characters will hate each other in one episode, fall in love the next, hate each other again, and everybody acts like everything’s normal! Come to think of it, it is a show about teenagers, maybe this bit is closer to the truth than I give them credit for…

Then there’s the horrible dialogue. The cursed ‘How can we best lead this conversation to the next song’ way of writing turns my stomach. You can see it coming from a mile away. Come on, folks!

I think to myself, ‘I’m leaving this show and never looking back!’ But wait, Sue Sylvester is going to kiss Will Scheuster?! Aw, this I gotta see! Speaking of cranky, bitter, insulting Sue: She has a ‘handi-capable’ sister, and every scene with the two of them will bring a tear to your eye, Sue’s that tender.

NO! Stop it! I hate this show! Where’d Will’s Ex go, she was deliciously malicious. What? She’s back? I better watch!

DAMN YOU GLEE!!!!!!!

There are probably a hundred other reasons why I love to hate Glee, but right now I’ve got a finale to watch.

What is it about Glee that keeps us coming back? I don’t know, but maybe Joel Watson’s doctor figured it out…

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The Once and Future Face of Trek!

At the time of starting this writing, I have been out of the sneak peek showing of Star Trek for about, oh, forty minutes or so. The film officially opens Friday. If I may offer a piece of advice. Go. Now! Or should I say, boldly go! If you are not a Trek fan, you will love this film. If you are a lifetime Trek fan who bleeds green, you will not be disappointed. Before I go on to spoil the whole thing, let me reverse heading and try to make this captain’s log pertain to the subject at hand:

Check out the other guys who participate in Fatherhood Friday at dad-blogs.com!

I will now take a cue from Apok, who’s post on Dad Blogs, ‘TV Hates All Dads‘ has inspired me to highlight MY favorite TV father, who happens to also be my favorite Star Trek captain: Commander (and later Captain) Benjamin Sisko of the Bajoran space station Deep Space Nine.

Commander Sisko took command of a space station that had been previously a Cardassian outpost in Bajoran space. The Bajorans had just overthrown their Cardassian overlords and the new provisional government invited the Federation in to help keep the peace with their still fuming Cardassian neighbors. The Bajorans appointed Kira Nerys as the first officer on DS9 under Sisko’s command. Nerys had been a freedom fighter during Cardassian rule, and didn’t take too kindly to the Federation’s presence in the government of the planet she had fought so hard to free. Naturally, Sisko and Nerys didn’t get along too well at first. Add to that the fact that the Cardassians ransacked the station on their way out, rendering nearly all systems useless, and you begin to see the challenges the young Commander Sisko faced at his new post.

Gul Dukat: one of the main Cardassians that gave Sisko a hard time...

On top of all of that, Sisko had another challenge. Sisko dealt with something no other Star Trek captain we had seen thus far on television had: a son, Jake.

Between handling Quark’s shenanigans and dealing with Cardassians. When the Founders started making their presence felt and the Dominion War was in full swing, Benjamin Sisko always made time for his son.

In that dreary space station where they virtually had to build a society from the ground up, Sisko made sure that Jake had everything, including attention, that he could possibly need.

When Jake was stubborn, Sisko was firm. When Jake got in to trouble, Sisko would bail him out, if that was the appropriate action. Sisko could be Jake’s friend, but he could also be a mentor and disciplinarian. Sisko and Jake had a relationship that I make every effort each day to achieve with my own kids.

Don’t worry, I know what I sound like. Yes I am a nerd, and yes I am saying that one of my role models is a fictional character who lives in space and hangs out with a chick that has a slug in her belly. I understand your scoffs.

But.

If art imitates life, than I feel that we create art in order to tell us something about ourselves that we can’t find any other way to express. Some may disagree that a science fiction television series could possibly be considered art. With them I couldn’t disagree more. In science fiction, we can step outside ourselves and see things a little more clearly. That guy with the big ears and sharp teeth that spends his life in the pursuit of riches? On Star Trek, we’d call him a Ferengi, but I bet you know someone that fits that description. The green-blooded pointy eared guy that never smiles? We would call him a Vulcan, but I bet you’ve met someone who seems so completely out of touch, so callous, that you wonder if he has any feelings at all. The big guy with the wrinkly forehead that solves all his problems with his fists, and then brags about it? We call that a Klingon, but I bet you know someone (or are someone) just like that!

Maybe, you see these attributes or weaknesses in yourself, and seeing them played out on screen in such a dramatic, magnified manor, has made you stop and think and rebuild the type of person you truly want to be.

Ben and Jake share a father-son moment.

So, if I tell you that I model some of my parenting style after a television space station captain, you better believe I know exactly what I’m saying, and I am confident that I know what I’m doing.

I think.

Thus concludes my geeked out Fatherhood Friday post, I promise I will be as close to normal as I get next week!

Calli slides to the future with Abby Cadabby.

I learned my ABC’s in my PJ’s. I would play games with a giant bird, swing by Hooper’s store for a soda, and try to avoid the grouch on the corner, but there was always something charming about him as well. I was watching Sesame Street.

I’m sure you have similar memories. Our kids will too. While I laughed at Ernie tormenting Bert, or watched as Kermit the Frog gave another Sesame Street News Flash from the planet Kuzbain or a familiar fairy tale, I was also learning. Today, my daughter loves Elmo and Abby Cadabby. The cast of colorful characters may change, but the wordly themes of cultural understanding and acceptance (While learning ABC’s and 123′s) never changes. Sesame Street is just as integral to my children’s lives as it was to mine.

I recieved a letter recently that made me a little sad. Sesame Street was asking me for money.

My first knee jerk reaction before reading the letter thoroughly was that I’ve got shelves of Elmo DVDs and toys and books for my child, you’ve gotten enough money from me!

Then I read the opening:

Dear Friend,

I want to share with you a part of a letter written to Sesame Street from a young viewer in South Africa:

“My friend is Nomfundo … I feel sad because she is HIV-positive. Other children, they don’t play with her. My friend is still my friend and I love her.

Every day I watch Takalani Sesame with my friend. Moshe and Kami on Takalani Sesame, they care about people who are HIV-positive…”

A few years ago, I had watched a documentary called ‘The World According To Sesame Street‘. The film focused on Sesame Street’s international efforts, and introduced me to the wonderful character of Kami.

Kami is an HIV-positive muppet. She is five years old. HIV/AIDS now afflicts more than one in nine South Africans. Kami teaches acceptance of those who are afflicted. Just watching her in the documentary made my heart go out to those people. I can’t imagine the effect she has on the people who live there, or the children who get to watch her every day.

Another story in the letter caught my eye:

Galli Galli Sim Sim

One of our newest international co-productions is in India, a country that suffers from widespread poverty. In rural areas especially, educational opportunities are limited … if they exist at all.

One out of every six children in the world lives in India. A staggering two out of three of these Indian children (between the ages of 2 and 6) lack access to early childhood care and education.

These are just two examples of the more than 140 variations of Sesame Street in over 140 countries and territories worldwide.

The reason that Sherrie Rollins Westin of Sesame Workshop sent out the letter, and the reason that I feel compelled to post this blog entry, is that the international operations of Sesame Street need help funding their efforts.

Back to the letter:

Revenue from the sale of Workshop merchandise helps cover some of these costs for our U.S. projects. But there are limited licensing and merchandising opportunities in underserved regions of the world that most need what we can provide.

With corporations and foundations scaling back their funding, and limited government budgets, Sesame Workshop is turning more and more to good people like you to bring our programs to life.

Doing a little research of my own, I discovered that there’s a new Sesame Street in Northern Ireland called ‘Sesame Tree‘, which invites children to send in questions, and then two Muppet characters, Potto and Hilda, set out to find the answers.

In Israel, children watch Rechov Sumsum, which teaches respect and understanding to children in an area of growing conflict and diversity. Palestine has their own version of Sesame Street entitled Shara’a Simsim. By providing a window into other cultures, these programs are helping to quiet the fears that the children may have.

I feel that Sesame Street is such an integral part of our lives because I know that I personally was changed by it. One example of this in my life is that the American Sesame Street features a character named Luis (pronounced Lou-ees). I now work in an environment of very diverse cultures, but one of my co-workers is named Luis! I am careful to pronounce it correctly, largely due to my Sesame Street upbringing. It rankles me when I hear someone else call him ‘Louis’.  This may seem like a minor detail, but it is important to me that I respect other cultures and I go out of my way to make sure that I at least pronounce people’s names right! For me, that’s just a respectful thing to do. I thank Sesame Street for instilling those values in me.

On March 11, Variety reported that the American operation of Sesame Street had to layoff 20% of its workers. If the economic downturn has hit Sesame Street here in America, where we are free to buy whatever they can think to put Sesame Street characters on, imagine how things are going in the more underserved countries that I just mentioned.

If I’ve succeeded in touching your heart or you have your own story of how Sesame Street has touched your life, please, go to the Sesame Street donations page and give what you can. I for one feel that our future as a world community depends on the continuation of the ‘longest street in the world’: Sesame Street.

Would your childhood have been the same without these guys? Will your childrens'?