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Ooh, computers...

Sometimes it is fun to watch old TV specials and behind the scenes features, especially ones talking about state-of-the-art effects and the such. I am watching a 'making of Babylon 5' documentary that was obviously made and aired in the mid 90s. In it, the host (Walter Keonig, aka Chekov from Star Trek) talks about how in the past sci-fi shows and movies used tiny models and motion control cameras and thousands of hours of work to produce only a few moments of screen time, a process that was top of the line for its time. But now they have ways of making special effects that can produce "amazing outer space scenes, without models, without strings, and believe it or not, without cameras." He sounded almost surprised when he said that. It's the 'believe it or not' part that makes me laugh. Nowadays it is not even worth mentioning that there are no cameras. Everyone understands the very basics of computer use for movies and TV, though the specifics are perhaps beyond the capabilities of most.
I find it interesting seeing how people view these emerging things, and just seeing how old and understood technologies were once new. It becomes easy to push these sorts of things into the background - the internet, for example, has become so intigrated into the world that people don't even think about it anymore. But there was a time when a worldwide connection of computers was weird and revolutionary.
It makes me wonder what we will see in ten or twenty years as normal that is right now a weird and shocking thing.

ooh, someone just mentioned a 'light-pen'.

Once Again

Not much to say at the moment. Life goes on...and so do we. Just how we do it is no mystery...I do it by updating Grasp the Nettle twice a week.

Bells of some sort

Well, my brother is now married. My younger brother. That is still a bit weird. But it's a good thing.
To celebrate, I updated Grasp the Nettle. Enjoy.

Up to 11

I updated again.

I voted liberterian

I think that people are tired of politics and politicians. As someone I know recently said: "I wouldn't buy a used car from Stephan Dion. Of course, I wouldn't buy one from Harper either."
There is no trust.
And no one cares.
Is it any wonder the government is having so much trouble.

Flying Dutchman...your only clue

Welkom. Ik heb een andere Greep de Netel geschreven. Klik op de verbinding en controleer het recentste hoofdstuk van gelukkige gelukkige vreugdevreugde, dat ook als Dwazen van ons allen wordt bekend.

Science? Psshaw. Give me Good Ol' Magic Any Day.

I enjoy science fiction quite a bit. I have recently come across two things in some science fiction that have caused reaction in me - one negative and frustrating, and one interesting and intriguing.

The first thing is the frustrating thing. Why is it that humans are the most diverse, the most unique, the most individual species in the universe. The aliens are all basically the same. They all look almost exactly the same, they all have the same beliefs, they are all of the same mind in broad ways.

But not humans. Humans are very diverse, with many diferent ideas about the universe. Some are pro-war, and some are anti-war; some are brave, some are scared; some believe in science, some belive in God, etc. It seems like humans are treated as being the best species in the universe, and the others, though advanced enough to be in space, are less rounded than humanity. Aliens are very one dimensional.

It bugs me. I just have trouble believing that if there are as many diverse alien species in the universe as are in most sci-fi that humans are the paragon of enlightenment and diversity. Yet the Klingons are all angry warriors, the Vulcans are all peaceful logicans (ooh, new word allert!), the Wookies are all tall, hair warriors, and it goes on. And when there are some who show diversity, they are viewed as rebels or outcasts.

Sure they try to show that humanity has its problems - there are divisive factions and goons and murderers and all sorts of nasty things. But even for all that, it is our differences that make us unique, that make us truly human, like it is inherently better than the alternative. It drives me nuts, I tells ya. Nuts!

An example of this is in the show Babylon 5, a series that ran in the mid to late nineties that I am currently watching on DVD. It is about a space station (called, conveniently, Babylon 5) that is a place where aliens and humans can live together in the hopes of building a lasting peace for the galaxy after years and years of war. There are the regular folk who live and work there, and there are also many ambassadors, sort of like the UN. In this one episode they are having a religious festival of sorts - each species is encouraged to celebrate their homeworld's religious convictions. The ambassadors, of course, give demenstrations of their world's religion, ceremonies watched (and in some cases participated in) by the other ambassadors. Sinclair, the head of the station (a human - it is a human station, so that makes sense) is not sure how to demonstrate Earth's religious beliefs. So what he does is get a representative from all of the religions from Earth (including native tribes and every little group possible) and introduces them to the ambassadors on the station. The line of religious leaders is something like thirty or forty people long, and maybe longer. It is supposed to be a touching scene of how special, diverse and unique people are, and all I can think is 'What the heck'. Are we really supposed to believe that humanity is the only species in the Universe that has diverse beliefs about God? Are you telling me that every other alien species in the universe has only one, or in some cases two views about God? I don't buy it.

That does lead nicely into my next thought though - the intriguing one. You see, in most sci-fi, humanity has grown beyond the need for religion, at least the serious minded people have, and most people are totally reliant on science. Religion is viewed as a quaint tradition or a silly superstition, but science is the way forward (the new god perhaps?). That is how we were able to come together as a race, the human race, and reach the stars.

So why are so many alien races as advanced or more advanced than humans and yet still intensely religious? Why were they able to make it to the stars and still believe in something greater than themselves while humanity has dismissed the very same idea as silly superstition? I don't get it, and I don't think most science fiction writers think about it quite like that. It seems to be a bit of a mixed message, and when the shows try to deal with religion I often feel like they aren't quite sure what they are trying to say, and they are trying to be so careful to not offend people that they don't say much of anything.

I do have to give Babylon some credit, though. They had an episode where the doctor on board was tasked with healing an alien boy but the only way to do so was to perform surgery, a procedure which was prohibitted by their religious convictions (like Jehovah's witnesses (or is it Mormons) refuse blood transfusions), so the boy was going to die. The doctor did one of those 'you aren't fit to do what is best for your own child' things and asked the commander of the station to rule that the surgery had to be performed. The commander, after talking with the aliens and considering, actually rejected the request. And then the doctor performed the surgery anyway. And when the boy was recovering, the parents saw him and rejected him because they believed that by performing the surgery the boy's soul had been lost. He was no longer their son, he was an empty shell, a walking demon, basically. They eventually 'forgave' the doctor (their religion forbade them from actually forgiving the doctor, but they would have if they had been allowed...) and prepared the travelling robe for the son. After they had left, the doctor was looking at some of the history of the alien race (they were not a well known or particularly well travelled species) and he saw something about the travelling robe that made him run to their quarters. There he found the parents beside the child's bed. He was laying in the bed, wrapped in a robe, and dead. The parents had destroyed the empty shell, as they saw it, killing what they no longer believed was their son.

I thought it was interesting to see them do that on the show. On Star Trek they would have had many philosophical discussions while Dr. Crusher did everything in her power to keep the child alive. They would argue and then in the end of the last act, they would come across a Deus ex Machina, an obscure treatment, or a realligning of the posotronic core to send healing waves that occur at a frequency that will only affect that particular alien's physiology or something like that. There would be no real resolution, no real consequences, and no real substance to their philosophical tangents. So kudos for Babylon 5 for having something actually happen, even if they reject the aliens' beliefs as silly superstition.
On an unrelated note, why do people on the run on Babylon 5 never disguise themselves. You're on the run and you have a moustache and long hair, then shave the 'stache and trim the hair and dye it! Not so hard.
I just realised that I sometimes forget the fiction part of science fiction. The aliens are not real.
Or are they...

DiCraprio no more

I know that most people think of Leonardo DiCaprio as the Titanic guy, but I think he is a good actor. Romeo+Juliet was a sweet movie, and he was amazing in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. But I've noticed something about the last few movies he's taken - he's had facial hair of some sort...a goatee or a beard. I think it is because, despite the fact that he is 35 years old, he still looks like he is fourteen. I think he is sensitive.
Catch Me If You Can is also a good movie.

I'm not even surprised

Computers are dum. Mine just shut down for no real reason. Actually, I think it overheated, but it had never done that before and I don't think I did anything different than I have in the past, so I don't know why it was suddenly so eager to shut down. Heck, it is even pretty cool in my room right now, so that should have been helping it not overheat.
I wait a bit for it to cool down and it does not seem to want to start. I took the battery (I have a lap top if you didn't know)(and even if you did) out and then put it back in and it started after that, though if the two are related I don't know. Great, now it is starting up, and it gets going, and I go to check some things online and download a file and it refuses to download, no matter what I try.
In the past, that problem has been solved usually by restarting my computer, unless it is caused by slow internet or a heavily used network (or both). Since neither should be the case here, I decide to restart my computer. I wait patiently (c'mon! hurry up!) as it reboots, and I go to move the mouse using my little mouse-touchpad thingy. But the mouse won't move. I try a few different things with the keyboard, but can't figure out any way to make the mouse move. So I manage to restart the computer (ctrl-alt-del still worked fine) and have to wait for it to restart again.
It starts again, and I try moving the mouse. Hooray, hooray, the mouse moves. I open Internet Explorer and go to type an address (once I checked the hockey scores - the Avalanche lost. Boo!) and nothing happens. I try again, and still nothing. I try clicking on a link to get to a new page and try again, but still nothing. I try a few more things and come to the conclusion that the keyboard is not working.
Remember, this is all on a laptop, so everything is connected - no jiggling the connector on the back of the tower here. This leaves me restarting my computer one more time, hoping that everything works this time. It finally (I wait very well for computers)(fragga-rassa-rootin' tootin'...ooh I hates that rabbit) starts up and this time the keyboard and mousepad both work.
Of course, I'm fully expecting the screen to go black any second now...
All of that to say: I've updated Grasp the Nettle with a further adventure of Thunderfunk the Superchicken.

Again

I'm tired. Luckily, I worked ahead, so I don't have to write an entire new chapter at www.graspthenettle.blogspot.com today. More of a copy and paste sort of thing.
Enjoy.

Grocer, not grosser

Grocery stores are interesting places to go. I find that every time I go, there are three to six people that I keep running across. I like to see what people are buying and wondering what their plans are for that food.
One of my favourite things is seeing people who just seem out of place. Today there were two guys dressed in leather biker type clothes and every time I came across them they were looking at rather 'high class' stuff - shrimp and...I can't actually remember what else, but it was not something that would be expected. You know, like the burgers or smokies or something equally manly. But these guys were acting like they were preparing for a fancy dress party.
I really like seeing the 'punks' and the 'goths' and the others who are supposedly 'anti-establishment'. It is like these people who are trying so hard to be anti-society, to be all outsider and dark and grim, and here they are walking around with a bright green basket, picking out apples and pasta and just being oh so normal. They just seem so out of place in a grocery store.
I guess I just like people watching at the grocery store.
Interestingly, I think that every time you go to the grocery store, you should try to buy something you have not tried. Today I bought a fruit called pummelo. It is larger than a canteloupe, and is apparently related to grapefruit. I have not tried it yet, but I look forward to seeing how it tastes.

I've Thought About This For A While

Policemen have to make snap decisions that can actually affect their lives, as well as the lives of others. That is why they sometimes shoot people who are not really a threat - at the time a decision had to be made and there was no real time to think it over.
Athletes are constantly making very quick decisions - where to throw the ball as a 300+ behemoth is bearing down on them with intent to kill, which way to dodge to avoid the bonecrushing check, or even just swinging at a small ball coming towards them at 100 miles per hour.
Emergency room doctors have to know what treatment will save a person's life, and they have to be able to do it at the drop of a hat while they are being bled on and everything.
Those in the military have to be prepared to jump into battle and know who to shoot and where to move for better cover and have to do it all while bullets and other explosives are flying at them.
I am mentioning all of this because I have noticed something (probably fairly obvious to others) about myself - I do not make decisions quickly. And when I do, I often find better options after it is too late. This was illustrated recently with my car - I tried to get it safetied quickly, and ended up having all sorts of difficulties. I don't know if it I could have gotten anything done quicker than I did, but I do know that it could have worked out much easier. But because I made a quick decision, I made a less than ideal decision.
I greatly admire people who are good at thinking on their feet - people who can see a situation and instantly assess their options. I am not like that at all. I need time to think things through, and, I think, to become comfortable with my decision. Sometimes I make a decision and I have to live with it for a little while before I am satisfied.
Of course, the flip side to this is that my decisions are pretty much final. I am willing to change my mind if I am wrong about something, but I am not easily swayed by opinions. If I decided that, after much thought, investing heavily in real estate in the US right now was a good idea, and then someone came along and told me about the economic problems down there meant it would be easier for me to physically burn my money and I would end up with about the same amount, then I would change my mind. But if I decided, after much consideration, that John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and all of their clones performed music that simply did not interest me at all, then no amount of arguing could dissuade me from my opinion. My decisions are final unless I change my own mind.
What it means for me is that sometimes I feel that 'the world' is generally geared towards people who decide quickly. I often feel like I am pressured in to making decisions before I am ready. Everything seems to be all about being fast and immediate whereas I just want to sit back and relax, to take my time. I guess it is just one more area where I butt heads with society as a whole.

On a related note - the word 'literal' has a homynym: littoral, which, as an adjective, talks about things related to or on a coastal or shore region, especially the sea. I like the word.

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Nettle