I find myself singing this song even after putting my son to sleep. I hum it in the shower, mutter it while I drive and sing it repeatedly to my little guy, but I’m still not tired of it.

Strange—I guess I’ve never appreciated the infectiousness of children’s songs until now.

I guess it could be worse for people who get stuck listening to me—I could be constantly repeating “This is the song that never ends” instead.

• Is Dora short for Isadora or Pandora?
• Why does the backpack sound like Nathan Lane?
• Why hasn’t somebody put two bullets into the back of Swiper’s head?
• Who would win in a caged deathmatch, Dora or Caillou
• Why hasn’t Jerry Falwell outed Boots yet?

• Kit Fisto speaks in an unaccented and suave tone?
• Count Dooku is not as geriatric with a lightsaber as Christopher Lee?
• Ithorian Jedi are pretty damn cool?
• Mace Windu is one bad mutha?

Neither did I, until I saw the beginning of the third season of the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon. A stylish animated series created by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator and director of Samurai Jack, the Clone Wars cartoons have been the only Star Wars material worth consuming during the lull between Attack of the Clones and the upcoming Revenge of the Sith.¹

Within just the first episode of the Clone Wars cartoon’s final season, we are subjected to more momentous pre-Episode III developments than have so far transpired in similar comic and novel offerings set in the period before the collapse of the Republic and the rise of the Empire.

This final season’s combat scenes are surprisingly intense and original. In fact, Chapter 23 features a stunning a battle for Coruscant that manages to channel more badass jedi mojo through Mace Windu than any other Star Wars creation to date. And don’t even get me started on the latter scenes involving General Grievous…

Tartakovsky’s animated rendition of Star Wars is sheer genius—if you don’t believe me then just have a look at the Cave Painting scene in Chapter 24. Yet, perhaps Tartakovsky most important feat of all has been his ability to impress George Lucas enough to allow the Star Wars creator to reveal several important pre-Episode III plot points via Clone Wars. I’m not going to spill any spoilers, but Clone Wars seems to be required viewing for any fan who wants to know exactly what’s happening before Episode III kicks off.

¹ Though it is not a feat as impressive as some of this cartoon series’ other accomplishments, Clone Wars also happens to be notable as the first Star Wars cartoon to not stink worse than a steaming heap of bantha crap.

I have always felt that Science Fiction’s strongest form is the short story and Asimov’s pioneering tales about robots proves him to be a master of the short narrative. Collecting nearly all of Asimov’s robot stories, this anthology is packed with the tales that have shaped our modern conception of robotics.

I’m only half way through the anthology, but atleat one of the examinations of Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics is absolutely priceless. Reason concerns a QT-1 (AKA “Cutie”), a robot whose emergent belief system leads it to conclude that its creators could not possibly be humans. Despite the arguments of its roboticists, Asimov’s engineering odd-couple Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan, Cutie ends up rejecting human manufacturers as a matter of logical necessity:

I say this in no spirit of contempt, but look at you! The material you are
made of is soft and flabby, lacking endurance and strength…periodically you pass into a coma, and the least variation in temperature, air pressure,
humidity or radiation intensity impairs your efficiency. You
are makeshift….these are facts which, with the self-evident
proposition that no being can create another being superior to
itself, smashes your silly hypothesis to nothing.

Robot metaphysics is thus born and Cutie’s ensuing dedication to mechanical prophethood is as amusing as it is disturbing. The story is simply fantastic and sterling example of why Isaac Asimov is a masterful storyteller.

As the lack of recent blogging suggests, I've already spent too many late nights trying to raise West Ham back into the limelight.