After spending an enjoyable evening discussing the Victorian Era classic Jane Eyre, I looked forward to a leisurely drive home from the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. Fortune smiled upon the Firebird and I as we moved northward on Broadway through a dozen or so stoplights, all green, with little traffic to impede our progress. Not surprising, since the sun had set over an hour prior and most folks were home enjoying after dinner entertainment or a walk outside on this mild early spring evening.
The interstates (I-35, I-670 and I-70) proved nearly empty, at least until I approached the Legends and the I-435 intersection in western Wyandotte County, Kansas. I-70 narrows from three to two lanes between I-435 and the last free exit for K-7/US-73/US-40/US-24. I slowed to second gear for the right turn acceleration lane onto northbound K-7, barely making fourth gear before stopping at the first stoplight next to Quik Trip near the Sandstone Amphitheater.
Fortune frowned another three times upon me, forcing me to stop at Parrellel, Leavenworth Road and the new stoplight halfway between Leavenworth Road and 4-H Road in Lansing. I skirted past the final stoplight (at the aforesaid 4-H Road intersection) and zig-zagged home a couple of blocks.
New Stoplight on K7 Midway Between Lansing and Bonner Springs
Explain to me how it is that I can travel through mid-town Kansas City, Missouri on a major street with nary a single stoplight and a 35 mph speed zone, but when I get within ten minutes of home, on a four-lane highway with a 65 mph speed zone, I get stopped four times! How does this help us (drivers) conserve gasoline and improve our MPG?
Thank goodness I’m riding in the van tomorrow! So much less stressful to snooze in the backseat or read a book for an hour and not pay any attention whatsoever to the latest ‘improvements’ made by KDOT.
Day Two (Today, Wed 23 Mar 2011): My ‘maddened’ cube-mate of nearly fifteen years continues her distracting tantrums.
Day One (Yesterday, Tue 22 Mar 2011): I returned from a sick day off Monday to a different cube-mate than I said farewell to last Friday. By lunch time, I was asking the Department Administrative Assistant to find me a conference room for the rest of the afternoon so I could work in piece and not be embarrassed to answer my phone (for fear of a Turrets-like outburst coming loudly from the next cube).
Outbursts heard over the cube wall on Wednesday ‘Day Two’:
This program is going to give me a nervous breakdown.
Mid-day Update: I was on a long conference call for about an hour or ninety minutes this morning. The cube next to me became eerily silent. I just got up from my desk and realized her body and laptop were missing … hence the blessed quietness. Sadly, as I’m typing this update, she has returned so my blissful silence will soon shatter. Thankfully, lunch beckons me to abandon my desk in a few minutes.
Mid-afternoon Update: Cube hallway conference between our boss and my cube-mate. Not disruptive, but distracting and hard to ignore and concentrate. Actually, the light at the end of the tunnel may be in sight, as I just heard her say she may have this project finished by the end of the day today. Hallelujah!
Mid to Late Afternoon Update: She’s quiet, but now she’s running her space heater (and probably wearing a throw blanket to boot).
As I was leaving, she elatedly reported completion of her frustrating project, so tomorrow should be smooth sailing (or at least less stormy than the past two days).
Last week’s episode of Stargate Universe, Twin Destinies, left me with some hope for progress towards a more scientific storyline. Thanks to last night’s episode, Alliances, that brief sparkle came crashing down in a soap-opera-like bombshell.
SGU 'Alliances' aired 21 Mar 2011
The IOC (or whatever world governing body currently attempts to control Earth’s Stargates) paid a visit to Destiny through a Senator and a scientist (the one who turned down heading the Icharus project before Rush came on board) who switch with Camile Wray and Greer (kick and screaming and griping about being ordered to take R&R). Basically, Camille needs a ‘fix’ for her political intrigue addiction and the Senator needs to assess Destiny’s mission and the progress on returning the crew to Earth.
Camile and Greer haven’t had thirty seconds to acclimate themselve to an increased terrorist threat level (Leutian Alliance) on Earth before the facility is attacked. We spend the rest of that storyline on Earth with Camile and Wray an an airman trapped in an unstable building trying to get out and eventually seeking the bomb left by the Leutian Alliance kamikaze pilot. Ample opportunity for Wray and Greer to endear themselves of each other through an unproductive but oh-so-dramatic shouting match.
On board Destiny, the Senator is stirring the pot and questioning everyone’s fitness to lead and their ability to survive. The scientist is appropriately awed by Destiny but not convince of Rush’s ‘discovery’ of an intelligent being(s) existing before the birth of the Universe. He also attempts to stir the pot among Rush’s underlings.
My biggest disappointment became the introduction of yet another cowardly scientist. Once he learns his body back on Earth has been exposed to lethal doses of radiation, he sabatoges the signal of the Ancient communication stones device so he can remain in Greer’s body rather than return to certain death. At least the Senator stepped up and accepted her sacrifice for the greater good and returned willingly to her body to complete the diffusion.
And the real icing on the cake, we end the episode with Camile and Greer on the observation deck, where his emotional armor cracks and he talks about his mommy with Camille. Yes, it had emotional impact. But spare me the psychobabble and get back to the mission … any mission. We can cry about characters’ flaws and humanity on a hundred other ‘normal’ television shows about ‘normal’ Earth scenarios. This is supposed to be science fiction.
No questions were answered about last week’s time travel mysteries. We basically spun some emotional wheels in “Alliances” and stirred up the nearly dead threat of the Leutian Alliance. For a Stargate episode, I’d give this somewhere between a two or a three on a five star scale. I think I would have been less disappointed had I watched Hawaii Five-O instead.
Written in the 30s, during the depths of the Depression, before World War II, this dystopian classic paints a grim picture of America’s fall into it’s own flavor of fascism. Some of his assertions stretched my belief nearly to the breaking point, most notable being the seemingly easy evaporation of two of our three branches of government after the League of Forgotten Men rise in power and seize the executive branch.
The novel follows the life of Jessup Doremus, an elderly (nearly retirement age) editor of a small town Vermont newspaper, uniquely positioned to lead us down the slippery slope of disappearing civil liberties and rising paranoia among the citizenry. The evils promulgated by petty near-thugs upon strangers, neighbors, friends and family … almost indiscriminately … all as an exercise in absolute power (as far as I could tell).
Not a comforting read, except for a brief glimpse of hope at the end. I can understand the shock value it would have had when it was published. I’m glad I read it, and even more glad none of it has proved prophetic for America … yet.
I read this novel as one of the suggested readings for my local library’s adult winter reading program called ‘Altered States’ and blogged about my reading journey.
I struggled a bit with PKD’s prose, which at times staggered about like an alcoholic or drug addict and/or a mentally ill person rambling about their innermost incoherent thoughts. But an occasional brilliance burst through the befuddlement to guide me back if I strayed too far off course.
Written almost twenty years after World War II, PKD presents us with an America divided up as spoils of war between the Japanese Empire and Nazi Germany. He portrayed a believable view of American life under two fascist regimes. I surprised myself by feeling empathy not only for the victimized Americans (including Jews hunted to extinction, Blacks reduced to slaves, and other insidious persecutions of non-Aryan races), but also the Japanese, some of whom begin to see the writing on the wall.
I couldn’t help but compare the Oracle (aka as the I Ching or Book of Changes) to the Cosmological Interventionists represented by two out-of-control orphaned Blitz children in Willis’ Blackout/All Clear. It’s a stretch, but the conclusion of both novels left me with the same intriguing warm fuzzy feeling.
I read this novel as one of the suggested readings for my local library’s adult winter reading program called ‘Altered States’ and blogged about my reading journey.
I admit to a science fiction reader shortcoming: I love to watch science fiction, but usually don’t care to read it, especially the sub-genre of ‘hard science fiction.’
And to be completely honest, I thought I gave myself a migraine reading the first pages of Dragon’s Egg (an astrophysics crash course in neutron stars). Once past the cold hard super-heavy facts, I thoroughly enjoyed the development of the cheela life-form and the brief interaction the human scientists experienced.
I completely sympathized with the crew of the Dragon Slayer not wanting to blink, let alone sleep, as they watched the astonishing development of cheela society. In just a few hours, the cheela civilization went from ‘savages, stagnating in an illiterate haze’ to outpacing human development by ‘many thousands of years.’ Relatively speaking, of course.
I didn’t connect to any one particular cheela, since their lifespans were so short in human terms, nor with any of the scientists, who got the short-end of the stick when it came to their story-line. But my eyes teared up reading a farewell delivered by a cheela robot to the human scientists, a fitting benediction to a benevolent mutually beneficial first contact interaction.
Recommended for all fans of science fiction, first contact stories and hard sci-fi novels.
Last week, my strongest gut reaction to SGU‘s episode ‘Deliverance‘ centered upon the seemingly kinder, gentler Nicholas Rush I normally love to hate. Last night, against my better judgment and geeky-routine, I watched Stargate Universe’s latest episode, ‘Twin Destinies’ live with only occasional pausing to avoid obnoxious annoying overamplified advertisements. Just doing my bit for the ratings.
SGU 'Twin Destinies' aired 14 Mar 2011
To my relief, Rush returned to his old habits within the first five minutes of the episode. And before ten minutes elapsed, I had another Rush to reinforce and affirm the original one, feeding back off each other in perfect temporal synergy.
But let me step back a bit. The under-scientists report to Rush, Wray, Young and Telford that the recent battles with the drones have pushed Destiny to the brink of destruction. No redundant systems remain, no backups, no way to repair damaged systems, all appears hopeless. And in fact, Rush accuses ‘everyone’ of being defeatist. Eli throws the wrench in the monkey by proclaiming he’s found a way to dial the 9th chevron to Earth while Destiny recharges in a star. The debate rages about the ‘true’ mission of the crew (Destiny v. the 9th chevron and/or returning to Earth). Rush then becomes the defeatist profit, espousing doom and death if the crew follows Eli’s plan of hope. Young overrules all objections and orders the crew to congregate in the gateroom where the announcement will be made of the chance to return to Earth. Young allows Rush to appeal to the crew for volunteers to remain on Destiny, and he agrees to support Rush, even unto standing beside him as Rush addresses everyone.
After the first commercial break, Young presses Rush for a minimum number of volunteers to man Destiny. This becomes a key event for the rest of the episode. Their conversation is interrupted with an urgent summons from the bridge. Young and Rush arrive to discover Rush’s voice heard over the radio (assumedly from the shuttle) requesting to board Destiny. Rush finally has an intelligent conversation with someone … himself.
I can’t completely keep spoilers out of this review (as noted in the last few paragraphs). Yes, time travel is involved, albeit unwittingly. It’s been ages since I watched an SG1 episode that dealt with time travel via stargate, so I’m a bit fuzzy on the physics. We’ve got at least two Destinies, two Rushes and two Telfords that we know of, and deaths occur, well, maybe (no one ever really dies in science fiction).
Telford may become another Rush-like character for me. In fact, ‘future’ Telford on Earth demanded to be connected via the ancient communication device to his ‘original’ self on the ‘original’ Destiny. That poses an interesting scenario for the stargate universe mythos. Telford vocally and militarily asserted himself, to the contradiction of Young, a number of times in this episode.
The subplot where Rush pleads for volunteers to remain on Destiny, with Young’s out-of-the-blue support, lacked punch or believability. Especially with respect to those who stepped forward as volunteers, most of whom have pressing familial ties on Earth that would pull any sane person home in a heartbeat. Clearly a ‘plot device’ as none of it mattered by the time we reached the credits.
Varro returned, briefly, but significantly, showing that the Lucian Alliance is still alive and kicking somewhere in Destiny, just below the surface.
Overall, a much improved episode from last week, clearly a four out of five stars. Only eight episodes left for SGU and Syfy announced Sunday, that starting in April, SGU will air earlier on Monday evenings, at 8:00 pm Central instead of the current later 9:00 pm Central.
Can you guess what my favorite mathematical constant might be? There is a clue in the URL address of my blog. Still unsure?
This mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter. It is an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction m/n, where m and n are integers. Consequently, its decimal representation never ends or repeats. It is also a transcendental number, which implies, among other things, that no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc.) can be equal to its value.
Yes, together with other math-loving geeks out there in the universe, I’m celebrating Pi Day. And if WordPress behaves itself and publishes this as I’ve scheduled it to, at exactly 1:59 pm (Central time), I will have succeeded in my mathematically constant celebration.
Libraries are one of the last true commons in modern life, celebrating and championing the right to read and freedom of access to information. Stewardship of the written record is integral to our mission. Libraries don’t have a financial stake in the publishing business so much as society has a cultural stake in the future of libraries.
Currently, librarians rely on the First Sale doctrine—which makes it legal to circulate materials we purchase and manage—along with our trustworthiness. We enforce copyright laws as much as we can, teaching our patrons about fair use and piracy.
Another troubling aspect of the HarperCollins message is the attempt to prevent resource sharing, which is a core value for librarians.
