- Hurricane Sandy as the Fibonacci Spiral/Sequence:
- I wonder how close this is to the character from 2001…? Someone has decided to make a HAL9000 robot for purchase and — I’m assuming — mounting on your wall somewhere? You can preorder it for $500 right now. LINK.
- Then we got some what looks to be hockey jersey’s that are really fucking nerdy and awesome at GeekJerseys.com. This Link jersey is really, really fucking awesome:
DNA sequencing of 36 complete Y chromosomes has uncovered a previously unknown period when the human population expanded rapidly. This population explosion occurred 40 to 50 thousand years ago, between the first expansion of modern humans out of Africa 60 to 70 thousand years ago and the Neolithic expansions of people in several parts of the world starting 10 thousand years ago.
- Warren Ellis FAQ featuring some interesting writing questions. Such as:
I was wondering if you had any advice regarding making ideas more important. I have pages of different events + characters that I can only develop so far because, after a time, all I can add to them are “WHO CARES?” and “WHY DOES THIS MATTER?” (I’m talking about events characters will go through. “Statues come to life all around Greece” is immediately followed by “WHO GIVES A FUCK?”) Does this ever happen to you? Thank you very much for your time, and sorry if you’ve answered a similar question!Ungh. This is a really tough one. There are two ways, maybe, to attack this.
1) One way of doing it, and this works okay for standard dramatic storytelling, is this: what do your characters WANT? The secondary questions are, what stops them from getting what they want, and how far are they prepared to go to get what they want? But start with the simple first question. What your character wants defines how we perceive and feel about them in the story. Find one thing they want, and see how that feels to you.
2) From a certain view, stories are two things. There’s what the story’s about, and what the story’s REALLY about. Wells’ WAR OF THE WORLDS is about a Martian invasion of Earth. But it’s REALLY about something else entirely. There’s a subtext: there’s the thing Wells wrote the story toactually talk about. What you may be encountering is having a story that’s all surface, or a story with a subtext that isn’t working out for you. Find out what you really want to say with your fiction. If it matters to YOU, it’ll matter to other people.
- Sean Bean dies in movies and (SPOILER ALERT) TV shows — cough, Game of Thrones, cough, cough — a lot. Often times gruesomely so. In this YouTube video, he dies 21 times. I give you, the “Sean Bean Death Reel”.
- More Inception analysis (particularly the “rules” of the dreams, the characters and their functions and the ending).
COBRA City. Shit. Still in COBRA City. Every time I wake up, I think I’m bivouacked under a HISS tank. Then I look around and see I’m stuck here.
Been here a week now. Waiting for a mission, getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room I get weaker. And every minute Joe squats in the bush he gets stronger.
I need a mission.
July 5, 1988
Be careful what you ask for.
I’d just chugged a 2-liter of root beer—Barq’s, the hard stuff—and was on my bed with the sugar jitters when a couple of Crimson Guardsmen busted down the door. They dragged me to a briefing room in a corner of the Terrordrome I’d never seen before.
I was trying to decide if it was OK to open one of the bottled waters on the table when the door opened and Destro and the Baroness strode in.
I jumped to attention.
“At ease,” Destro rumbled. “As far as records are concerned, this meeting never happened.”
- Also, this has got to be top 5 bean-bag chairs ever manufactured:
It’s 95 degrees outside here in sunny Minnesota today and I’m waiting to go to work, avoiding stepping outside. I just finished watching Nintendo’s spotlight hour at this year’s E3. Apparently the word on the street — or on the interwebs, gamers don’t really walk on streets — is that Nintendo was finally going to announce their next console this year, most likely to be released in 2012. Then again, the word on the street is not always the reality.
What they ended up announcing, among other things no one really cares about beyond the hardcore Nintendo fan (like a Legend of Zelda orchestral worldwide tour), was something they’re calling the Wii-U. Which is essentially a tablet-type device which can be played as a stand-alone gaming experience (but, they stressed, is NOT a handheld ala DS; as it must be tethered to the Wii wirelessly), can enhance previous or future Wii titles (like laying it down on the floor in front of you while playing Wii Golf to get a look at your ball and lie), and can be used as a multimedia device as well (there was a shot of someone swiping a video from their Wii-U to their television).
They never once uttered the term “console” however which has me shaking my head a bit in disappointment. Because the current Wii – in terms of processing power and space and hardware — is not even really a “current gen” system. Both the 360 and PS3 blow it out of the water in those respects. So, in 2011 they’re already about half a generation behind if we’re talking in those terms. Granted, they’re probably a full generation ahead in innovation (with both Microsoft and Sony just now coming to the party of motion-control).
As a child of the 80′s though, someone who grew up playing Zelda and Mario and Metroid and all these classic Nintendo games, I don’t care about control innovation so much as amazingly good games. It’s really, really sad that I can’t help but think if someone had the ability to use the Zelda license on the PS3 it would blow my mind. This new Wii-U may perhaps be another huge innovation from Nintendo in terms of how we play games (it’s looking like it is; and a larger step than even the Wii announcement back in 2006[?]), but it isn’t going to be any huge innovation in terms of Nintendo games themselves. That innovation, that next big step in Zelda or Mario or Metroid, needs to come at some point. These are some of the most iconic, memorable, classic games and characters in the history of console (and more) gaming, at some point they need to be pushed into the 21st Century.
Don’t get me wrong, I was impressed by some of the things the device will allow 3rd party developers the opportunity to try, but a large part of me just wants a super-super advanced GameCube type next-gen console from the company.
I’m writing today in the kitchen, cause it isn’t as comfortable as the couch and there are fewer distractions, before I head to work. A makeshift playlist of Blockhead, the new Radiohead, and some Medeski, Martin & Wood is on the stereo via the MP3 player. I try to play tunes with very little or no singing, that way their concepts aren’t somehow bleeding through the air into my ears and brain and through my fingertips onto the page. For up here it’s actually really warm outside today — 35 Fahrenheit — so I may have to take a break for a smoke and a walk out there. The novel’s coming along but having almost an entire month off for maintenance on the laptop didn’t help the year-end quota. This means I’m really gonna have to dig in and up my words per day goal a little.
Required reading of the day is this simple but in-depth written analysis of the systems we’ve been living with since forever (perfected in the 20th Century)and how we can subvert those systems, in the wake of the uprisings in the Middle East. The author, dubbed “M1k3y”, should be taken seriously because a quick flip through his bibliography proves he knows his shit. The articles comes from the “tech site” (although that’s not really fair because it is so much more than that) Grinding.bewhich has been promoted on the Whitechapel board and elsewhere around the Net. It will be a trilogy of brain-dump in the end, the first two entries already up. Conceptually, you’ve got: chaos/control [systems] > hierarchies/networks >the most “powerful” man [men] in the world > the very notion of “They”. Here is Part I and Part II of “It’s not a war, it’s a rescue mission”.
Mixtape of the day is something called “Dreadnought” by Dangerscouse. It’s filled with horns and reggae and Ziggy Marley. Here’s the link at the source (BMBX.org). Here’s the streamed MP3:
Also, check out Twin Cities Photo Hunt, fellow WordPress blog from a guy I know, for some great photography of my neck of the woods. Stay dry and warm.
- The insanity of the “Robot” trailer is making its rounds on the Net. It looks… interesting. Not something up my particular science fiction alley, but entertaining… that’s for sure. Still, the outlandishness of something like “Robot” IS an important flip-side to realist/speculative side of the science fiction coin. I’m just more of a “Never Let Me Go” or “Moon” guy.
- Why the hell am I just discovering Jess Nevins blog (“Not by direct method.”)? This guy digs up some fascinating stuff. From a mound of a city circa 1100 A.D. just off the Mississippi river to a map showcasing what your state is the worst at, this is a blog I’m now following.
- Will winter ever go away? It’s remarkable that 20 degrees up here in snowy Minnesota feels like some sort of heatwave. When you go outside in the 4 degree temperatures (-20ish, accounting for wind-chill), you get used to your face freezing up like a cryogenically preserved Ted Williams head. Beyond that, for a while we were on pace to have possibly the 2nd snowiest winter on record. It’s rough sometimes. BUT… I’d wager dollars to donuts First Avenueis cooler than most other metro area’s most famous music clubs.
- Speaking of, I missed the “Best New Bands Showcase” (put on by the City Pages every year) last night. I was attending a Minnesota Twins function. But awesome music blog Gimme Noise has a pretty thorough review of the going-ons. I have seen two of those bands this year: Pink Mink and The Goondas. And a couple of the other bands I’ve, at the very least, heard a little. Still though, I think last year’s group of artists was better if only for No Bird Sing (who is, incidentally, putting out their sophmore album this Spring).
As much as I love discussing technology and futurism – and there are some excellent examples here (a pill with a camera strapped to it which can walk around in one’s organs to determine health concerns) and here (a blob-ish robotic pet that seemingly breaths, snuggles up to its owner, and generally looks… alive) – Natural Phenomenon sparked my interest tonight.
The Bagheera Kiplingi spider almost exclusively eats vegetation. But how? How can a spider, of all things, actually be an herbivore? A vegetarian not unlike that lady two doors down who paints those beautifully still life’s with water-colors? Can’t be. YES. The spider is found in Central America and Mexico. What’s even more interesting: the food these little guys go for (some sort of leaf very rich in protein; see, protein comes from more than red meat) is often times guarded by armies of ants who swarm anything which covets their treasured food. A spider evading it’s typical food source for a vegetarian diet? Natural phenomenon.
The Basilisk Lizard can walk clear across water. You read that correctly. Could these lizards each be a re-incarnation of the Savior?? The footage of the lizards was shot at an amazing 2000 frames per second, in Belize. It showed, apparently quite clearly, the lizards running across the water at astonishing speeds. They spend most of their lives running from predators, I guess, so evolution has developed them a super-power. The Flash can run across water, why can’t these little dudes? Natural phenomenon.
I already heard the rain. Somehow. I remember a city – old town, historic, crackling – on the verge of all out lawlessness. Like a present day Constantinople, complete with abandoned federal projects and business districts, it was a gateway to another place. A foreign land which isn’t so far away: a sea, a river, even a bridge or a fence of separation. She wasn’t ready for modern warfare. IED’s obliterating the stone footings of buildings in seconds, not to mention people. Thousands of marching steel toed boots crumbling cobblestone and sidewalk. Bullet holes decorating places of worship from centuries ago. Shop keeps, fishermen, parents with children in arms flee maniacally out of the city’s fish market. The sound of the tide mixes with yelling, screaming, explosions, and gunfire. There were two factions without much difference, far as I could tell. It didn’t matter what they were fighting, slaughtering, warring over, just that they were. To the Northeast one pushed downward, clearing out building by building while shelling the town square. I saw it all with clarity from the sky: transparent rooftops and tracked five or six man squads. Rain became louder, more clear, though I didn’t see it. The city was dry as a bone. Across the way, flak jackets pushed straight through in lines of hundreds. They’d grenade ahead and move rhythmically. I heard a bang, a crack, that wasn’t an explosive. More rain, with wind this time. Pandemonium erupted below me in bursts of violence and fear. It all spun into a cataclysm as I rolled and opened my eyes to flashes of light through pulled black shades.
In the mirror I was worn, as if I’d aged five years since falling asleep and waking in the middle of the night. It didn’t help that I hadn’t shaved or showered in days. I stumbled through the dark to the sink for a glass of water. The cabin seemed to be swaying. I moved to a window, waited for a flash of lightning. With the sound of thunder the forest ignited hot; the trees were nearly horizontal, the cabin cast it’s shadow into the wilderness obtusely. I finally heard the wind howl while throwing on my coat and opening the back porch door directly into the eye. The screened and covered porch faced North, at the storm above the lake. Rain carried in almost sideways, but fell short of my feet by an arms reach. I sat and drank with images of the dream still fresh in my head. It scared me. Somehow the vivid imagined violence and the darkened thunderstorm in front of me seemed connected. I rubbed my hands, chest, head. The bolts shot down onto the lake, the islands, the pines. A rock pile a hundred yards out or so, where the eagles kill and feed (they call it “Alcatraz”), revealed sopping wet fish guts. With a squint I saw red and orange entrails slip into the rocky water. A tree branch tumbled down to the dock and rested heavy, wet pine cones blew off and scampered in the darkness. Each yellow flash revealed white capped waves, rolling over themselves at me with speed. The wind inflated my jacket, I put my hands in the pockets. The clouds swirled outward to the East, each dancing – or maybe fighting – with the last. Hand over fist. The in-cloud lightning turned pockets of the system to glowing mist. I wanted to reach up with a mason jar and capture some. The storm moved steadily towards me and to the East. Looming large. I sat and watched in awe until I couldn’t anymore.
- I was very very disappointed to see that the HISTORY CHANNEL aired Micheal Bay’s 2001 “film” Pearl Harbor; the movie is ripe with enough historical and scientific inaccuracies to appease Benedict XVI. He supposedly loves historical inaccuracies, according to that whole “Holocaust Story” from the past year or so (Benedict removed excommunication from four bishops who claimed Nazi gas chambers did not exist and insinuated the holocaust has been blown out of proportion).
- I find this new air of confidence in the world of Internet news and bloggers who “report” the news a bit funny. Word has been spreading that the US NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY is facing crisis, many websites (such as DailyKos.com) seem to be giddy at the prospect of failing newspapers around the country, and what that holds in terms of traffic for them. I don’t have the numbers, but I’d say around 90% of Internet news (NOT from a newspaper’s site, or a professional news organization like BBC News) use information from a professional newspaper or site, and most of the time actually links to said articles. I’ve got news for anyone who “reports” the news on their “blog”: if the newspaper industry fails, you fail too.
- I’m still quite horrified at the fact that Brazil’s President LuLu (who I’d read/watched/learned quite a bit about, who I used to have lots of respect for) declared the global financial crisis the fault of those with white skin and blue eyes. This isn’t any different than Cartman convincing Butters that the Jews (specifically Kyle Broslofski) are to blame for the financial crisis, except that was a joke on a comedy show. Racism does still exist, and it’s rampant all around the world. Besides, Bernie Madoff has brown eyes.
- Two of my favorite living legends (no, not Grouch and Murs!!) will be releasing new discs very soon. Neil Young’s Fork In The Roadcomes out of April 7th (next week). The album was spawned from Young’s 1959 Continental which runs completely off alternative energy. I still think his best album, lyrically, as an old man was Prairie Wind, which talked about everything from 9/11 to his father’s passing. Bob Dylan’s next all-new studio album entitled Together Through Life releases on April 28th. Musically, lyrically, production-wise, it’s said to be nothing like Modern Times which was a great album start to finish (it didn’t get enough attention in my mind). The sound is said to hearken back to the days of Chess and Sun Records, sounds cool.
- P.O.S.’ cover of Pearl Jam’s “Why Go”is all over the net right now. And for good fucking reason. This is one of the most inventive, yet true, covers I’ve heard in a long time. Although, the newLocal Hcover of Winnebago Deal’s “Spiderbite” tickles my fancy.
- Holy shit, it’s snowing like a mo’ fo’ right now. Date: March 31st. Hopefully the last snowfall of the year ’round these parts.
- Jason Aaron’s on-going comic book SCALPED, which I’m starting to fall head over heels for (in an “awe” type way; we’ve all met a girl/guy like that before right?)comes out today. Maybe I’ll actually review one of these this time around. More to come.
It’s going to be beautiful outside today; I’m really really looking forward to it. I’ve been walking quite a bit lately. But not during 60 degree weather since… I don’t even know when. Take that back: last week I believe we reached 60 here in sunny Minnesota. Reading through the opening issue of Freakangels Volume Three only heightens this. They’re rebuilding a neighborhood (do they have “boroughs” in London) of London. The three things mentioned, three musts I would think for rebuilding a post-2000 society, are gardening (flowers and vegetables), livestock (chickens), and solar panels (from scratch machine parts). This all makes me want to get into some summer activities. I’ve a feeling that’s the tone Ellis was going for with this new Volume. Meanwhile the cat’s sneezing and outside kids are riding bikes to and from the park. Winter sports are winding down and baseball’s on the horizon. The leaves are struggling, however. Buds… MAYBE. Most of them around here are bare boned. Birds getting louder and more abundant. Everything is melting; all of the snow is gone. Not a cloud in the sky to speak of right now. Ahhhh, that Spring itch.
-Sonny
That was really quite positive for me. Oh well, can’t always be cynical. Watch, next it’ll be “how society will never come back from the lines we’ve crossed the past 20 years”.
