Age and Aeons

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Amherst_College_Museum_of_Natural_History.jpg

Science is hip and modern but study about the ages, and literature that includes the past is a valuable part of human culture. While visiting Amherst College today, I had a run in with many objects of varying age and it really makes me think about how ancient the earth is.

To begin, there was Stearns Steeple, the left over stone spire that the college kept even after razing the church that was built in 1870. Standing rather close, the roughness of the dark stone carries more emotion than the smooth, mellow concrete of today's architecture. As a nice "duality of age" aspect there was a TV in the steeple's first floor constantly running old home movies of an anonymous family. I'd go so far as to say the movies were from the 70's, due to their grainy nature (though I am no connoisseur of film integrity by a long shot). A wonderful 100 year gap gives stark realization to the advancement the world went through during that time.

https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/magazine/nooks/steeple

Traveling further back, I saw the first of man's creations in the "ancient artifacts" section of Amherst's Mead Art Museum.

https://www.amherst.edu/museums/mead

An old Greek helmet, African bead hat, tablets of assyrian cuneiform, and a feint Egyptian relief some 4,500 years old. That is amazing. Forget considering the smallness of an atom or the grandness of the solar system, how can a human being contemplate that fact that there was another human being, nearly genetically identical, who lived a long time ago in a land far, far away? (I couldn't resist). It's mind-boggling to realize artists have always been a part of human culture. Creators who master deathless stone and canvas that supersedes their mortality.

As another artistic ode to changing times. There was a pair of paintings titled "Past" and "Present". The former depicted a Medieval era fairground. The main action was the joust, and the scene was a snapshot at the instant before the lances of both riders collide with their respective shields. Behind the colorful bleachers rose a small yet regal castle set on the side of a lush hill.

The "Present" showed the same scene but the with no fair, no peasants and chivalrous heroes, just goats, shepherds, and the hulking ruins of the castle tower. Although still lush, the country side seemed more cynical and dark, as if to laugh at the decay it caused.

Finally, the final step of my mental odyssey was at the school's Natural History Museum.

https://www.amherst.edu/museums/naturalhistory

Here where the truly old relics spawned at the beginning/a tad before the age of humans. Mammoth, Mastodon, Smilodon, the dire wolf. All ancient beings. Life older than human art. Unbelievable. I feel gigantic mirth when considering the wonder of the ages the Earth has lived.

Five Short Stories of Quaint Fear

I'm feeling quite good about me SF and fantasy development over this past year, I feel I've reached the first critical marker of fandom! I suppose the first bit of evidence of my self-promotion is that I'm starting to get references made by the internet at large. In particular the site i09.com, which I've added to my daily web browsing list, talks about SF and I can think to myself "oh yeah I've heard of that author" or "I absolutely agree with this analysis", etc. It's a wonderful feeling, and as celebration I'm listing 5 short stories of SF and one fantasy, that I believe fits the title of this post. These stories are no scary at all but they produce an aura of strangeness and concern. When you finish the last line, your mouth will dry up, something digit may tingle, and you may feel the need to slowly look up and check your current surroundings.

"The City", Ray Bradbury. A tale of an evil machine written with an archaic array of descriptions and imagery. You can find this in Bradbury's The Illustrated Man.

"I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream", Harlan Ellison. A nice contrasting tale also consisting of an evil machine. More modern and psychological themes present.

"The Hound", H.P. Lovecraft. The only Fantasy on this list. A classic demon dog tale but amplified by the strangeness xenophillic and antique loving hobbies of the main characters.

"The Hypnoglyph", John Anthony (a pseudonym for John Ciardi) Finding this gem will be the makings of miniature Odyssey but absolutely worth the effort. This story's namesake is an ingenious alien artifact and coupled with captivating prose.

Finally another Ray Bradbury story, "Pillar of Fire". Absolutely one of my favorite stories, not just in this list but in my grander library of fiction. In this world of cleanliness and Purell dispensers at every corner, it takes a zombie to remind us that dirt, fear, and ugly makes us human.

Inspirational Music Videos

I have become a fan of the Symphony of Science. They are auto-tuned music videos starring the famous scientists of recent decades. Here is one of my favorites, A Glorious Dawn. The opening beat is humorous but once the lyrics start up it becomes a moving journey through our mortal, bounded understanding of the cosmos.



I am particularly moved by the phrase, "A whole new glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise but a galaxy rise." If that's not the definition of science fiction, finding that dawn in a book, then the genre can never be bounded by words.

Others
"We are all connected" - "I find it fascinating"
"Our place in the cosmos" - Notice Bill Nye the Science Guy, a hilarious way of putting emphasis on our incomprehensible smallness. Another favorite quote, "The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it but the way those atoms are put together."

THE SKY CALLS TO US.

Alien compared to Aliens

Image via WikipediaThe xenomorphs of LV426 are an iconic, terrifying bunch. I finally watched Alien and Aliens this week and I'm inspired to write after being asked which movie I like better. To begin, James Cameron has a way of taking an idea and making it a grandiose endeavor in the movie industry. "Favorite" seems irrelavant to discuss on the internet but I am willing to consider and compare the steps these movies took to be a science fiction action/horror movie.

We'll start with the singular Alien, setting; some gritty cargo spaceship and and for one part an uninhabited planet. The mystery factor a huge thrill ride when Cane discovers the field of hibernating eggs. The most important aspect is that the alien must escape from its host in a grisly manner. As much as its terrifying now, put yourself into the time period and realize that such a gruesome "birth" was a massive surprise to the first audience members.
The rest of the film follows Ripley and the crew as they try to survive against the invader. Plain and simple; human reactions to an unnatural enemy. The lack of light and space is absolutely detrimental to a human's natural abilities and scenes in the airducts ooze of claustrophobia. The only weapon available is Prometheus' gift. In addition, the discovery that "Ash is a robot" and the corporation considers the crew expendable completely destroy any sense of trust for the universe. In the end, Ripley escapes the ship with only Jonesy, a sylvan companion who will stand stand by the protag when the rest of space turns a cold shoulder.

James Cameron's sequel does not depend as much on the sci-fi setting but rather on the human interactions. Already, being 50+ years older can wreck havoc on your perspective of the galaxy. Using the allegory that the xenomorphs represent the feral, inhuman aspect of rape, the beginning scenes represent Ripley's inability to forget the terrifying monsters of her past. In addition, with the company ignoring her initial reports, she has no where to turn and lives a isolated life in an apartment complex. Agreeing to go on the expedition is only after trusting that she can get her old career back and hold hope of an attempted normal future.
Enter the marines. Classic science fiction reminiscent of Heinlein's troopers. On the planet, after a couple of interesting technology cinematics and the first alien encounter it becomes clear that training alone will not save you. It returns to ingenuity, Ripley's best resource. This time around, she is not as alone because of the discovery of Newt and the mother-daughter bond created. As the survival aspect of being locked up in the colony increases, the interactions between the humans becomes more important. Ripley needs to trust Bishop for the escape route (I would also say he represents a religious cleric who can help Ripley deal with all the rape, on a side note). Burke realized as a greedy corporate puppet and his supposed betrayal. And that one marine, the name evades me, who keeps having a break down about the inhumanity of their enemy and the hopelessness of the situation. Of course there is Ripley's lone venture into the hive center in the end but its the middle of the movie that comes alive with character development.Image via Wikipedia

As a conclusion, both movies follow the SF interaction between humans and nonhumans. Alien follows a more precise sci-fi "if-then" statement, "if an alien was in the ship what would the humans do?" with a great deal of unknown and darkness thrown into the mix. Aliens on the other hand, seems to have better character interaction, and slowly gives Ripley strength to save Newt and destroy the cause of her suffering and dreams alluded to in the beginning. Because of these redemptive qualities, Aliens is a more humanist approach of science fiction while Alien is content with discoveries and scares.

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An Enticing Enticement

I can't lie, it's hard to find time to write on this blog, as much as I enjoy SF. But taking AP Physics this year, the teachers offers extra credit if a student keeps a "diary" of science and includes pictures, links, and personal reflections. Well, this site is already set up and adding a bit of real science never hurt anyone so I will be using this as a recording tablet to proof I really want the Extra Credit and am willing to put time into thinking about science. On the plus side, you readers are guaranteed more posts per week than ever before.

As a first topic, hurricane Earl is grazing New England. When I got home from school it was already raining and I noticed the sunflowers were tilted. They are still stalks with large buds promising many seeds. To protect their delicate cargo in the final weeks of growth, I quickly found sticks and string to provide a support structure. Then the rain really started to come down. But I continued as planned and tied up the plants to sticks I hammered into the soft ground (though I did take off my button-down shirt). I found the experience exhilarating. Here is a man trying to grow a plant that nature wants to destroy. But man will not sacrifice the plant, perhaps more stubbornly, the hours he's already put into the gardening, so he'll go to great lengths to keep the little green sun-eater safe. That is a powerful bond. Agriculture should not be taken lightly in our society, only strong willed individuals can show love for fields of life-nourishing plants.

That's a solid start, I'm off to read Mostly Harmless, the final Hitch hiker's book in comfort of my home.

Curbed Joy and Minor Rantings on a Science Fiction Classic

The name of the game is Mass Effect, yes, I'm a tad late to be discussing a game that came out in '08, but this is no ordinary review. No, hands down, all video gaming SF fans should play Mass Effect. That is no debate. If you haven't yet, do not read below.

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Great, you're here! Ok, my first portion will be the good stuff about this space opera. To begin, this is the game where you can finally be Captain Kirk! The Normandy is basically the Enterprise. Many of the cohorts and crew have equivalents to the TV show and the act of exploring the unknown and aiding the random is a perfect match. And yes, you can even score the alien chick!

Next off, as you can see in the picture above, the game sports a variety of species. Few games can display an in-depth history for entire civilizations (and mind you the picture does not display all the Mass Effect sentients) The true talent that separates ME from other populated galaxies is the way the history is slowly released. The first alien encounter is right in the beginning, with the turian Nihlus. Now my first reaction to this scaly feline was "Oh great, a Protoss rip-off, and maybe some kzin traits to boot". And the game made me think I was right, Nihlus was too smug for his own good, I don't fault Sarren there. But once you get to the citadel, the other turians, though simple NPCs are not haughty. Some are merchants, some bystanders, and a certain Garrus the C-Sec detective is a bit weird yet trustworthy. Bioware did not let their creations be defined by one theme, each race displays a spectrum of character.

Another fine example are the Krogan. Again, I'm thinking, "Wonderful, reptile versions of Oblivion's Half-Orcs". Indeed, Wrex fits the bill as my tank, so I can't complain about Krogan fighting prowess. What makes a Krogan different is that you slowly learn about the genophage and the dooming of an entire race. No half-orc is that troubled about his very existence.

Assessing the Gameplay, Mass Effect is a unique RPG because I would go so far as to classify it as an Arcade RPG, similar to Starfox 64. Both games can be beaten quickly and are meant to be replayed over and over. Of course, Starfox takes no more than 30 minutes while Mass Effect will clock more time but compared to your other RPGs, American or Japenese, the fact that you can take Shepard on a direct course through the campaign hitting up 4 systems and the Citadel, I'd say that arcade mechanics are in play. And Bioware clearly had such intentions with its Achievements that are too varied for one character build to complete. This bare-bones ability to rush the story is wonderful and makes the player think "On my next play through I'll do this or that but I won't let it bog me down now". Mass Effect provides the option to speed up games in an era where lengthy engagements in a campaign or multiplayer are becoming too burdensome for many gamers with other things to do.

Flaws I picked up counter my two "Joys" about the game. First off, why the hell can't I bring a Volus, Hanar, or Elcor on my ship! If you have the aliens, make them an option for the Normandy's crew. How awesome would a Volus merchant or Hanar repairjellyfish be? Then travel to the methane worlds would be an option, and we can see the presumably mouse-like face under the suit.

Finally, the combat system that is streamlined for such speed runs is a mess in the final 1/4 of the game. The enemies are not unique, either storm-trooperesque geth that just get bigger and bigger, the little hopping geth, or those 4 legged walkers. Those are the 3 basic enemies you fight. All three just shoot at you, with the occasional rush and melee. Bioware failed with the standard enemy unit. If the geth are cybernetics why do they rely on humanoid figures? They should have a unique mold for any environment. In addition, these geth pansies nearly never use techs on you ( I assume due to synthetic existence biotics are not possible ).

The occasional and rare enemies: Krogans battlemasters, random alien beasts, Asari commandos, they are fine though again they often lack "magic" attacks and thus make them all susceptible to basic projectiles assuming you have the shields to hold off. No the other combat flaw is the bosses. Benezia is the only good boss, because she used minions in her fight. RPG Bosses must have minions or else there is not challenge in ganging up. Sarren is horrendous, he flys around on a metal magic carpet and three guys are just filling him with lead. You fight him this way twice, it's pitiful on a Spectre's part. No indoctrinated aid him, no geth bodyguards, just those freakish blue eyes. His title as Spectre clearly didn't require small skirmish knowledge.

Alas, these are just some problems I've had the fun of stylizing. Regardless I'll be playing ME 1 at least once more then delve into the sequel, at which time I suspect the 3rd should be out.

Numbers

So I'm at a college camp, enjoying free time and dormitory experience. I just finished this book.
Below.


http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/x0/x3479.jpg

It was enjoyable. It turns out many of math's roots stem from finger counting and the abacus. That was a truly ingenious invention. They should return them to grade school education as they provide visualization of all basic math.

In addition I was impressed with the later, advanced chapters. As being on the verge of taking BC calculus next year, I'm excited to see new ideas and concepts, particularly the ideas around infinity. I don't completely understand it but it is a logical first taste. And I'm still impressed with the information that "calculus" means pebbles in Latin.