Galley friend M.G. asked if I’d seen a video called “two girls one cup.” I claimed ignorance, at which he pointed me to this discussion of it on Slate. M.G. then urged me to watch it for myself, saying he is not easily shocked and this shocked him. Well, I thought, how bad could it be? After all, I did pay money to see Hostel in a theater.

Just finished viewing it.

Easily the worst thing I have ever seen.

Remember, I come to everything 2 months late these days, but I’ve finally gotten around to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and if you haven’t tuned in, well, you’re missing out. With BSG on hiatus/near retirement and The L Word locked away in premium cable, Sarah Connor may be jumping straight to the head of the class.

The biggest compliment I can pay it is that Josh Friedman (yes, that Josh Friedman) has made the show that David Eick’s Bionic Woman should have been. Sarah Connor is smart, fast, and engrossing. Friedman has done a really masterful job of setting up a complicated scheme of well-designed characters who seem capable of driving the series in any number of interesting directions.

Also, Friedman has finessed the Terminator mythology enough that Sarah Connor is simultaneously (a) deeply grounded in the stuff and (b) pointed in a new, intriguing vector. Really, I don’t think I can overstate how well written the first handful of episodes have been. To recreate a franchise like this is a remarkable accomplishment.

But Friedman also got lucky with Summer Glau. Brown Coats have been fawning over her weird, but beautiful work in Firefly and Serenity. She’s equally brilliant with her physical business here, which is two-thirds of the role. But she brings with her some wonderfully off-kilter line reads and beautifully subtle reaction work. The show belongs to her character already. I suspect the only danger Friedman is going to face is the temptation to neglect John and Sarah Connor in favor of spending more time on Glau’s forbidden-fruit machine.

Oh, of course there’s the other danger–that the networks will destroy the show before settling with the writers. But I’d like to think that so many people have money tied up in the Terminator franchise that it will survive the strike.

* I’m surprised, like everyone else is, that the Giants won. But in retrospect, should we be? The Patriots have looked totally mortal since week 12 with the Eagles. They got pushed to the limit by a bunch of inferior teams–like, for instance, the Eagles. Now on the one hand, they kept winning, even though they played like crap most weeks. But on the other hand, they kept playing like crap. Plus, they were due for a lose. Plus, plus, Randy Moss didn’t touch the ball until the 4th quarter. The greatest offense ever was impotent.

And maybe the NFL should have a No Celebrity Girlfriends At the Game Rule.

* I bet a lot of people lost a ton of money on this game. Without bothering to look up the numbers, my guess is that most people saw the Pats and the Over as the value plays of this game. I bet they didn’t work out that well.

* Another great halftime show. Maybe it’s just me, but the halftimes I remember from my youth were nothing but empty spectacle with some Top 40 Act of the Moment. Having Prince last year and Tom Petty this year was brilliant and actually very entertaining.

Plus, they seem to have done away with the “crowd for hire” rushing the field to be next to the stage. Maybe the camera was deceiving me, but those folks looked like normal people.

* I loved the gimmick of having the Fox Robot fighting the Terminator. Couldn’t get enough of it.

* Most annoying family sports dynasty: the Williams sisters or the Mannings? Discuss.

* Ordinarily, I root against New York teams by default, particularly the Giants. Really, I can’t stand the franchise.

But I was kind of thrilled to see them win this game because of recently departed Galley Friend Bryan Sierra, a monster Giants fan who passed away 10 days ago and wasn’t able to hang on to see the game. At least, not here. For Bryan I say, go Big Blue.

Update: Galley Friend S.B. sends along a story saying that bookies actually got killed last night. Huh?

According to The Spread, 64 percent of the money bet online was placed on the Giants. Considering that the Super Bowl is traditionally the biggest betting event of the year and that’s a whole lot of payouts for Sports Books.

Galley Friend Ulf Gartzke is associate producer on a new documentary called War Child. It’s about the life of Emmanuel Jal, who was a child soldier in Sudan who later became a big-selling rapper in Europe. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but the trailer is interesting and, best news of all, War Child has been accepted to the Berlin Film Festival.

More updates to follow as War Child makes its way to the States.

Not that you care, but I did a semi-long interview on the state of the 2008 contests here. This may be as close as I ever get to a Slate Breakfast Table.

Have I mentioned how desperately I want one? Well here comes David Lynch to throw a little saltpeter at me:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0&rel=1]
“It’s such a sadness that you think you’ve seen a film on your fucking telephone. Get real.”

For me, the best part is his using the word “telephone” at the end. So very hot. But seriously, can Naomi Watts and Laura Harring be properly appreciated on the iPhone’s screen? Research must be done . . .

In other gaming news, this piece on the history of porting video games to board games (and vice versa) is totally fascinating.

And did you know that “Asteroids” and “Berzerk” were turned into family board games? You really won’t believe the list. And it’s possible that you conned your parents into buying one or two of them . . .

Fabulous story on Dr. Kawashima, the inventor of the Nintendo DS game “Brain Training.” It seems that Kawashima is a professor at Tahoku University in Japan. He’s made something like 2.4 billion yen in royalties from sales of the game he designed. University rules stipulate that the school gets half the money, but Kawashima gets to keep the rest.

Except that he doesn’t want to.

“Everyone in my family is mad at me but I tell them that if they want money, go out and earn it,” says the 48-year-old professor . . .

But instead he has poured his own half into funding research into ageing and cancer and is happy to live off an annual salary of around £50k.