[Sæternes-dæg] Annotated Links #23: Chameleon Communications

1. Anders, Charlie Jane. "What would a Random House/Penguin merger mean for science fiction and fantasy?" io9 25 October 2012. Web. 27 October 2012.

Anders offers a handful of insights into what a merger of Penguin and Random House might mean for publishers, imprints, writers, readers and those aspiring to be writers. She also includes a link to an in-depth article about what mergers in general mean for science fiction and fantasy, and another link to a 2007 interview with Ace/Roc editor Anne Sowards. This article is written in a easy-going, conversational style.

This one is included, and set into the first place, because the possibility of a Penguin/Random House merger is huge news for anyone keeping an eye on the publishing industry.

2. Sullivan, Tim. "'Gone With The Wind' In North Korea An Unlikely Cultural Phenomenon." HuffPost World: Canada 24 October 2012. Web. 27 October 2012.

Sullivan writes on an array of reasons why Gone With the Wind is so popular among North Koreans. Among these reasons, he gives in depth treatment to the book's Civil War setting and its tough, hardship-enduring characters. He writes in a smooth style and uses a handful of quotations to underline his article's narrative quality.

This one's included because it's a great example of how cultural products can cross cultures and end up thriving in places that you would simply not expect.

3. Peng, Kan. "How to hard sell China's soft power." China Daily 26 October 2012. Web. 27 October 2012.

Peng begins by summarizing the Psy/Gangnam Style phenomenon, how social media has played an integral part in the phenomenon's popularity, and how the phenomenon has helped to promote South Korean culture and products across the world. He then moves into how China has tried and failed to do promote their soft power via cultural exports in the same way, but have failed because they've kept their attempts too official. Peng writes in a punchy, to-the-point style.

This article is included because of the contrast that it sets up between two nation's strategies for increasing their soft power. This contrast underlines the usefulness of pop-culture.

4. Rector, Gene. "'Science fiction' becomes 'science fact' following Utah test." WRWR The Patriot 23 October 2012. Web. 27 October 2012.

This is a brief article about a new microwave emitter-equipped missile (called CHAMP, or the Counter-electronics High powered Advanced Missile Project) that is designed to disable electronics. According to the article, the titular test in Utah saw this technology not only shut down all of the computers in a target building but also the camera recording the experiment.

As a technology article amongst articles about books and publishing, this one might seem out of place. However, at its heart it's about a missile that has the potential to take out communications systems - and what are publishing and books if not just friendly means of communication?

5. Perlow, Jason. "Computing's low-cost, Cloud-centric future is not Science Fiction." ZDNet 21 October 2012. Web. 27 October 2012.

This article looks at Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner as examples of futurism. Specifically, Perlow goes over the aspects of each movie that, some 50 and 30 years before the present, accurately depict technological aspects of our daily life and those elements of the movies that aren't here just yet. Perlow writes in an expositional style, using a generous number of links to his own and others' writing.

This one is included because it shows the importance of fiction as a way to explore ideas that seem far removed from reality, just one of fiction's enduring uses.

Back To Top
Closing

That's it for this week in the blog, but check back here next week for another short story draft, a review of the recent cult classic The Room (Monday and Friday), and, over at Tongues in Jars, more of "Dum Diane vitrea" and Beowulf (Tuesday and Thursday).

Back To Top

[Sæternes-dæg] Annotated Links #22: Different, but the Same

1. Ramstad, Evan. "Are Koreans the Irish of Asia? Here’s a Case." Korea Realtime (Wall Street Journal) 16 October 2012. Web. 20 October 2012.

Ramstad recounts the recent visit to Seoul of Eammon McKee, Ireland's ambassador to the Koreas, and a speech he made there wherein he fleshed out the Korea-is-Ireland cliché. He quotes McKee's speech selectively, compiling a brief list of the ways in which the two nations are similar. This article is written in a pure journalistic style, this article reports on the idea of the two nations having shared traits.

An article about how two disparate nations actually have quite a bit in common is a great way to start of an Annotated Links about different things that, upon further analysis, can easily be considered similar. Thus, this article was an easy pick for this week's batch.

2. Lorditch, Emilie. "Using Science Fiction to Educate." Inside Science 17 October 2012. Web. 20 October 2012.

This one is a brief article that provides an overview of the basic argument for using science fiction in science education: to show the relevance of science to young people so that more of them will take an active interest in pursuing the sciences at college or university. It makes specific reference to science fiction and super hero films while leaving out anything about science fiction literature. Lorditch writes in a direct style of reportage, with an effective use of quotes.

Science fiction and science fact are definitely different, but the limits of human technology are always making gains on the limits of human imagination. This article doesn't make a direct comparison between science fiction and science in the classroom, but mining science fiction for examples to show how science does and doesn't work bridges the two nicely.

3. Houpt, Simon. "IBM hones Watson the supercomputer’s skills." The Globe and Mail 19 October 2012. Web. 20 October 2012.

In this interview with the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center's Eric Brown, Houpt explores the different uses for IBM's Question Answering supercomputer Watson. Specifically, Houpt asks about IBM's work with the US healthcare insurance provider WellPoint and how Watson will figure in with that. It's written as any interview is bound to be written - in a conversational tone.

Though comparisons between Watson and human personalities don't come up until near the end of the interview, this piece is included in this week's Annotated Links because it underscores how a stripped down version of human thinking (parsing sentences, taking certain elements and understanding the relationships between them) is being emulated by computers.

4. Taylor, Kate. "Picnicface: Why are we laughing? I don’t know, but it sure beats crying." The Globe and Mail 20 October 2012. Web. 20 October 2012.

Taylor's article offers some quick background information on the Picnicface story, along with a very quick rundown of where the three-person comedy trio is today. Her article also offers some thoughts on the matter of internet fame vs. old school fame, and how being popular on YouTube does not necessarily translate being popular on the boob tube. This one is written in a straightforward style, with quotes from players in the Picnicface story sprinkled throughout.

Including this one in the Links for this week was necessarily partly because it fit and partly because of personal prejudices. Picnicface is an hilarious troupe, and the ways in which culture on the internet is different from culture on TV or radio or in print is something that needs more mainstream attention.

5. Strickland, Eddie. "Red Potion (The Legend of Zelda cocktail)." The Drunken Moogle 14 October 2012. Web. 20 October 2012.

Simply a recipe for a cocktail inspired by the Legend of Zelda (clicking on that tag at the bottom of the recipe shows another 4 pages worth of Zelda-inspired booze bombs). This recipe is written in a direct style without any extra notes.

This one's included for the obvious reason that video games ('The Legend of Zelda,' perhaps especially) are not the same as real life. However, it must definitely be noted that medieval medicine (and therefore medicine in a high fantasy setting such as the one in 'Zelda') would invariably involve alcohol in some way - so the two different worlds of the real and the virtual are bridged by the cause of and solution to all of life's problems: alcohol.

Back To Top
Closing

Next week, watch for a poem post for Monday, and Part Four of Shocktober, when I'll make the call for the conversion of the campy horror flic The Convent.

Plus, over at Tongues in Jars, watch for the fifth stanza of "Dum Diane vitrea" in Tuesday's Latin entry, and Wiglaf's tongue lashing of the cowardly thanes in Thursday's Beowulf entry.

Back To Top

[Sæternes-dæg] Annotated Links #20: Bending Borders

1. Koh, Yoree. "Novelist Murakami Weighs In on Japan Territorial Rows." Japan Real Time (The Wall Street Journal) 28 September 2012. Web. 06 October 2012.

Koh recaps Haruki Murakami's stance on Japan's current territorial disputes as they appeared in an essay that made the front page of the Asahi Shimbun. Murakami argues that these territorial disputes are threatening the cultural ties that the three Asian countries have established over recent decades, and that they're "like getting drunk on cheap sake." This article is written in a plain, direct style.

Haruki Murakami is an amazing writer, and the matter of Japanese-South Korean-Chinese territorial disputes is one of interest since I recall how passionate many South Koreans were about their owning Dokdo (Takeshima, in Japan), so inlcuding this article was a must.

2. Stusinski, Melissa. "‘Looper’-Like Time Travel Possible, Scientists Say." The Inquisitr 28 September 2012. Web. 06 October 2012.

A misleadingly titled article that suggests that time travel to the future is possible, while time travel to the past is much more problematic. This one is written in a very conversational style that makes it seem like a token blog entry.

Despite its brevity, this article is included because it is a solid summary of time travel mechanics.

3. Tozer, Jessica L.. "Sensors on Scan." Armed With Science 2 October 2012. Web. 06 October 2012.

Dr. Chris Field at the Naval Research Laboratory is currently working on technology that does just what Star Trek's tricorder does - scan an area for any and all vapours it contains. Various applications for this quarter-sized technology are discussed, ranging from carbon monoxide detection to airport security applications. Tozer writes in an informal style.

Anything about such amazing science simply has to be included. It's practically the law.

4. Oh, Young-Jin. "Coming out on Psy." The Korea Times 2 October 2012. Web. 06 October 2012.

This one offers a thought-provoking look at the Psy phenomenon from the perspective of someone who thinks that Psy represents nothing Korean. In it Oh relates his thoughts on Psy and how they've evolved to his current stance that Psy represents more of global pop culture than Korean pop culture. It is written in a prim, yet conversational style.

Because of the wild popularity of Psy, this one had to be included to offer a counter-argument to his apparent bolstering of the Korean cultural wave that's supposedly swept over the world in recent weeks.

5.Clayton, Nick. "Scientists Look to Use Bee’s Brains to Control Flying Robots." Tech Europe (The Wall Street Journal) 4 October 2012. Web. 6 October 2012.

Researchers at the universities of Sheffield and Sussex are looking into using bee brains to power flying recon robots. Among the uses for these robots, the article focuses on their being used to gather information to help rescue teams figure out what the next best option is. It is a short article, written in a plain style.

This one's included because it's some exciting news from the world of robotics, and it's not often that social insects are thought of as being as useful to science as social mammals.


Back To Top
Closing

Next week, watch for another (much more recent) poem on Monday, and a prowl for the palatable in Leprechaun In The Hood on Friday!

Back To Top

[Sæternes-dæg] Annotated Links # 18: Cultural and Career Vehicles

1. Skelding, Conor. "K is for Kapital, and Not in a Marxist Way." BWOG 22 September 2012. Web. 23 September 2012.

Professor John Lie gave a talk at Center for Korean Research’s Colloquium Series on Korean Cultural Studies in which he didn't speak about K-Pop. Instead, Lie spoke about how Korean pop music is an entirely market and capitalist driven endeavour that is hollow culturally. His evidence is all of the financial backing that the industry receives and its stark contrast to Korea's straightforward and simple traditional music.

This piece is written in a casual style befitting a blog, but with authority. It's included because I find the different perspective on K-Pop's importance refreshing.

2. Cho, Chung-un. "Hallyu can help spread Korean: Minister." AsiaOne 18 September 2012. Web. 23 September 2012.

Choe Kwang-shik, Korean Culture Minister, claims that the world's initial interest in K-Pop is spreading to other cultures. Yet, he posits that even more important than the spread of K-culture in general is the spread of the interest in the Korean language, what he calls the "most important cultural product."

Written in a direct, journalistic style, this article is included because it celebrates the Korean language, a thing truly worth studying.

3. Sofge, Erik. "What Would a Starship Actually Look Like?" Popular Mechanics 20 September 2012. Web. 23 September 2012.

Real physics and space dangers are considered in what an interstellar ship might just look like. The fact that there is no air in space, and so aeordynamics aren't relevant, as well as the problem of space dust perforating sails and hulls because of ships' high speeds are among the things considered.

Sofge wrote this piece in a technical style, but in a tone that is readable - even if some of its paragraphs tend toward lumpiness. Its included because the realities of space-travelling vehicles are excellent things to know for writing science fiction.

4. Hanna, Jeff. "Fantastic Poetry: W&L's Wheeler Uses Terza Rime to Spin a Sci-Fi Story." Washington and Lee Universities: News and Media 20 September 2012. Web. 23 September 2012.

Leslie Wheeler, the Henry S. Fox Professor of English at Washington and Lee University, has just published a collection of speculative fiction poetry. The title poem ("The Receptionist") is set in a fantastical academia, where fantasy creatures and figures stand in for the usual group found in universities.

This article doubles as a light overview/review of the collection and an informative piece. It's included because I find it encouraging that something close to one of my own projects has been carried out and published.

5. Hagy, Jessica. "20 Ways to Find Your Calling." Forbes.com 26 June 2012. Web. 23 September 2012.

This article gives readers a list of 20 questions to ask and things to think about to figure out what you want to do with their lives. The things on this list aren't earth shattering but they're the sort of things that can help to shake loose what might be rattling around in your head.

Written in a casual, easy-going style, this article is included because it offers a way to potentially figure out where your natural skills lay.

Back To Top
Closing

Check back here tomorrow for the week-in-review/week-ahead entry!

Back To Top

Annotated Links #17: Writing of Rarities and Hard Finds

1. Doctorow, Cory. "Great writing advice from this year's Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy writing workshop." Boing Boing 14 August 2012. Web. 16 August 2012.

The title really says it all for this one: it's a short collection of some great advice from this year's Clarion workshop. It's written in a straightforward style and includes a link to the blog of Sam J. Miller, one of this year's participants and a stalwart notetaker who's been benevolent enough to post most of his notes online.

Because this one showcases some great writing advice that will probably still be new to you if you've only read how-to guides and gone to a few general writing workshops it's leading off today's Annotated Links.

2. "South Korean writer to take 'Persian Myths Tour.'" Tehran Times 7 August 2012. Web. 16 August 2012.

Briefly relates the plans of Gong Wonkuk, the South Korean "walking mythologist," to visit historical sites in Iran as part of his Persian Myths Tour. It also explains that Gong will give lectures and interviews during his travels, and will ultimately write a book in 10 volumes that summarizes his tour called "Eurasian Myths." The article is written in a bare-bones style with a handful of grammatical and stylistic errors - but nothing that gets in the way of coherency.

This made it into today's Annotated Links because it offers a look into the literary culture of South Korea, and into what one of the country's literati is up to at the moment.

3. Kennedy, Maev. "Soldiers injured in Afghanistan make surprise find on UK archaeology dig." The Guardian 7 August 2012. Web. 16 August 2012.

Soldiers who had returned to the UK after serving in Afghanistan found the remains of an Anglo-Saxon warrior on a dig as part of their rehabilitation to civilian life. Their find is in the area of an ancient burial monument dating from 2000 BC. Because of the thrill of a successful dig, eight of these soldiers are now going on to study archaeology at Leicester University. This article is written in a straightforward, journalistic style.

It's rounding off today's set of links because it shows how transformative discovering something can be. In this case the discovery is archaeological, but I think the same thing can happen if you discover something amazing to write about (as Gong Wonkuk might) or how to write more effectively (following that advice from the Clarion workshop).

Back To Top
Closing

Have your galoshes ready for tomorrow - Part Three of All-Request August will be posted then. This week's movie is the Deep-South horror venture Squirm!

Back To Top

[Freya-dæg] All-Request August Pt.2: Alien Apocalypse

{An Alien Apocalypse movie poster, found on shittymovienight.com.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Introduction

TV movies are generally less well-produced and less innovative than most studio or independently produced films and Alien Apocalypse is no exception. Yet, even beyond it's low level production values and other made-for-TV aspects, is there anything that can especially recommend Alien Apocalypse? Let's find out.

Back to Top
Plot Summary

For the past 40 years Ivan (Bruce Campbell), Kelly (Renee O'Connor), Aida (Neda Solokovska), and Chuck (Michael Cory Davis) have all been in space on a space probe mission. As they return to earth, they all have high hopes for it's being a utopian wonderland of fantastical proportions. Yet these hopes are dashed almost as quickly as aliens tend to invade when main-character types leave the planet.

As they explore their surroundings, the astronauts discover that an alien species has invaded, immolating almost all human life with neutron bombs which conveniently leave untouched one of Earth's most plenteous resources, and something as precious as gold to the aliens: The trees.

With humanity enslaved and all hope seemingly lost can these four astronauts inspire the remaining humans to break their bonds of slavery and rise up against their cruel insectoid overlords? Or will they too be drawn into the Alien Apocalypse?

Back to Top
The Good

In no other film has the word "star" had more significance than it does here. Bruce Campbell is simply an amazing actor. Not because he can recite Shakespearean monologues on command or mug with the likes of Sylvester McCoy or Jim Varney, but because his presence in any movie is as durably radiant as the spacesuit he wears throughout this flic.


All kidding about his uniform aside, Campbell has absolutely excellent bits, including this exchange with a bounty hunter (BH):

IVAN
      Hey scum bag - you forgot something. [Shoots with cross       bow.]
BH
      [Pained.] You said you're a doctor...you're supposed to heal       people.
IVAN
      I am. Your stupidity is terminal. And now you're cured.

He also delivers his lines with conviction. With better effects and makeup, it would be easy to accept that he was in fact in the middle of the apocalyptic situation depicted in this movie.

Plus, Campbell's character Ivan totally proves to be a bad enough dude to not only find The President (Peter Jason), but also to save him. And not from some sort of terrorist cell or alien kidnapper, but from his own despair and lack of self-confidence.

On that point, the role of The President in this movie is also well played by Peter Jason. His performance communicates all of the shaky uncertainty that his character feels in every one of his little tics and gestures as much as it does his lines.

Aside from these two stellar performances, Alien Apocalypse is no stranger to decent pacing. In part, it's ability to get and hold interest comes in part from the bunch of characters recruited on the way to The President. Plus, when the movie doesn't generate interest based on action or plot development, it does so unintentionally through ridiculously choreographed or directed scenes, or over-enthusiastically delivered lines.

Back to Top
The Bad

However, though much of the movie's dialogue is delivered in a humorous fashion, there are some lines that will make even the most hardened bad movie afficianado wince. Just such a one comes when Ivan uncharacteristically says the following in response to a warning that the countryside is full of bounty hunters:

"You know those bounty hunters are fags, I can get past them."

Then there's the matter of the aliens themselves. They're menacing, in their own way, but since their likes have been seen and thoroughly trounced in any video game from the fifth generation of consoles it's hard to take their threat seriously.

{Making a cameo appearance are humanoid forms of the aliens from the N64's Body Harvest.}

Underlying these problems though are structural issues that the movie neither addresses nor pokes fun at.

The space probe mission was gone for 40 years. 20 years into their absence, the aliens invaded, and so 20 years later the shuttle lands and earth is in ruins.

Now, because the aliens used neutron bombs, this makes some sense - they could easily devastate large swathes of the planet with such instruments of destruction. But, as far as I can tell, such bombs would not have any or much effect on the survivor's social memory (all issues of trauma aside). This is the biggest problem with the movie.

Why? Because it's been 20 years since humanity's been enslaved, but only a handful seem to remember what things like "doctors" are, and no-one seems to realize that the aliens are beings that can be killed or harmed - just like them.

This would make sense if every one of the surviving humans were evangelical Christians of a sect that believed that god would send cleansing angels down to earth, leaving only the saved to be the angels slaves, but whether or not the survivors are all part of a single group is never established. The best guess that can be offered is that they're just ragged remnants.

And speaking of being ragged, after just 20 years it's hard to imagine that everyone would be dressed in soiled rags. Do neutron bombs destroy things like clothing warehouses? After a few years of alien enslavement would humanity be so depressed that they'd just stop changing their clothes?

More generally, within 20 years of enslavement would humanity lose its independent spirit to such an extent that their alien overlords would boast of the humans' innate subservience? Since this movie was made in 2005, the lack of any social media or mobile device reference is excusable, but no technology is noted as having survived the bombing.

Pressing the matter of technology further, aside from neutron bombs and what appear to be high-tech air-cannons, the aliens don't seem to be that advanced. They live in what looks like a giant beaver dam on land, and worship a giant termite in the sky. Their religion certainly could have been more developed, or their relationship with humans could have been so that we'd get more of an explanation for this fashion accessory:


Yes, all of the slaves wear oversized medical masks so that they can't talk.

It's an interesting idea, but it's also the epitome of everything that's wrong with this movie: a complete lack of explanation where one is necessary either for sense or the sake of connecting the movie's sometimes disparate elements. Running with the concept of these masks, it's never addressed why the slaves should have their mouths bound but not their hands or feet.

Was the human voice supposed to be harmful to the aliens in some way? Since the movie refuses to make connections between elements of its setting and plot, we'll never know.

Back to Top
Judgment

Alien Apocalypse is a movie that has some great actors, some well-delivered lines, and a few interesting characters. But these elements aren't put together into a cohesive whole.

Hokey effects and make-up aside, the movie lacks a threat. If you sit and think about the movie's premise it quickly becomes clear that it's fundamentally flawed. The basic premise that aliens come to earth for our wood is fine, but it's presented in a strange way here. For example, we're never told why wood-eating aliens need to have it processed into 2x4s. Is that how wood grows on their planet? Are they addicted to processed foods?

Moreover, the temporal aspect of the plot makes little to no sense. The human spirit wouldn't be crushed after 20 years of alien enslavement, especially not in the Pacific Northwest, (near Portland, OR). Nor would such a brief period of bondage lead to a widespread lack of memories about such things as doctors and handshaking. What the heck have people been talking about for the past 20 years?

Granted, making the time span longer would mean that the president would be dead, but since most people don't believe that the aliens can be killed for completely unexplained reasons (surely those who were born before the invasion would remember and know that, as Ivan says, "everything dies") they'd probably still think he was around anyway. Plus, having astronauts come back to earth from space is a classic way to introduce time travel plot elements.

Though time travel could be in play, we never are told if the 40 years the astronauts were gone is equal to 40 years on earth, though that is the implication.

Bruce Campbell is definitely a high point in this movie, but even he isn't able to save it. But then, few are they who can pull of being covered in spurting green goo with poise and dignity I suppose.


So, Freya, just fly right over this one. Let it lay where it lies, for it's best use is as fertilizer in the Field of Fallen Films. Perhaps, one day, from the decay of it's ridiculously flawed execution of a mediocre premise will sprout a new hope.

Back to Top
Closing

Next week in the blog watch for more creative writing, a new editorial, Annotated Links #16 and #17, and for Part Three of All-Request August: A look for the loveable in Squirm.

Back to Top

Annotated Links #15: Refreshing Language, Renewing Knowledge

1. Doll, Jen. "A Dictionary of Despicable Words." The Atlantic Wire 7 August 2012. Web. 10 August 2012.

This is a list of despised words that readers of The Atlantic Wire have contributed. Each word's entry includes a brief description of why it is so reviled. The list and its introduction are written in a conversational, lightly humourous style.

This article is included because it offers a cross-section of the English words that many would like to see left behind.

2. Carswell, Beth. "Singularity & Co: Saving Out-of-Print Science Fiction." Abe Books 8 August 2012. Web. 10 August 2012.

Details how a group called Singularity & Co. is going to start a bookstore online and in Brooklyn, New York that will feature one new, formerly out-of-print science fiction book every month. Each month the group is accepting votes and suggestions on titles to bring back and has pledged to bring back whichever book has the greatest support. The article is written in a straightforward style and includes a lengthy excerpt from Singularity & Co. themselves.

The article is included in this Annotated Links because this project is incredible and deserves as much support as possible. It's also in keeping with today's theme of refreshing old knowledge. If they expand into fantasy, it could make Eve Forward's Villains By Necessity much easier to find.

3. "Cataclysmic volcano wreaked havoc on medieval Britain." Medieval News 6 August 2012. Web. 10 August 2012.

A volcano that erupted somewhere in the tropics during the 13th century is believed to have affected distant London. This eruption may be the reason for the heavy rains, crop failure, and famine noted in thirteenth century records, or so archaeologists who have been baffled by medieval London burial pits believe. This article is written in a crisp, English style of reportage.

Although it's not about language, this article is all about new discoveries altering existing knowledge.

Back To Top
Closing

Tomorrow, be sure to come by the blog and join me for a look for the good in the Sci Fi Channel's Alien Apocalypse.

Back To Top

[Moon-dæg] Fiction in a Melodramatic Flash

Context
A Long-Awaited Kiss
Closing

{Genies are generally benevolent when found in lamps, but what about when found in pens? Image found on askbrianmartin.com.}

Back To Top
Context

Today's piece of writing came from a writing prompt that called for describing multiple simultaneous actions and embellishing those descriptions with the senses. A kiss was given as an example of a scenario, and I ran with that.

Describing multiple things is a great challenge for any writer because of the limitations of the medium. Unlike art, music, or film, words alone can convey one thing at a time (or two, if you count what a word on the page is not saying as well as what it's saying).

This piece doesn't exactly exemplify the ability of the written word to express multiple simultaneous things, but it does introduce a curious plot that definitely deserves expansion.

Back To Top
A Long-Awaited

Their eyes met and locked shortly before their lips. She noticed that he closed his eyes seconds before she did so herself, but she didn't mind. An extra few seconds, however short, of gazing into his kaleidoscopic hazel eyes, knowing that his lips were already closed around hers - just as their arms, and shortly she blushed, their legs, perhaps, were - heightened all of her senses.

That's why, as their lips locked, and their eyes closed, she finally noticed a pen in her pocket jabbing into her leg. It can't be drawing blood, no - she thought, struggling to keep her arms around his shoulders, her hands at the middle of his back.

But if it's jabbing me that must mean it's open.

And if it's open...

The stream of her thoughts hit a rock as she felt their lips parting slightly and his tongue edging through them. She sent hers to meet his, but wondered if she'd done it too quicky, if she'd maybe thrown him off. She soon realized that such was not the case.

Oh well. As long as he's distracted he won't notice me being distracted. Maybe I should just tell him.

As their tongues embraced and broke apart and embraced again, she thought she caught a whiff of ink. She mentally waved it away and tried to relax her shoulders, her thighs.

Yet, as she felt the rush of the outside air coming into her mouth from over her teeth and past their tangling tongues, she imagined herself pulling away, looking at the man as seriously as she could, and telling him that they needed to stop what they were doing right away because an interdimensional menace might have escaped from a sealed click pen she kept in her pocket.

The image lingered.

No. No that just wouldn't do.

Back To Top
Closing

Check back here tomorrow for Annotated Links #14. Come Wednesday, I'll have posted the editorial, and on Thursday watch for Annotated Links #15. Then, Friday will see the uploading of Part Two of All-Request August: Alien Apocalypse.

Back To Top

[Freya-dæg] All-Request August Pt. 1: Plan 9 From Outer Space

{The Plan 9 From Outer Space movie poster, found on Wikipedia.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Back to Top
Introduction

For this, the first part of All-Request August, we're delving into Plan 9 From Outer Space.

This is a film that has become infamous as the epitome of the "so-bad-it's-good" movie. Perhaps the most well-remembered of director/writer/producer/actor/author/editor Ed Wood had to offer, it sits in the hearts of many a movie-goer as the sort of film that hits all the wrong notes, and as a result has a harmony all its own.

Back to Top
Plot Summary

Two grave-diggers (J. Edward Reynolds and Hugh Thomas Jr.) are attacked by a mysterious woman (Maila Nurmi). Around the same time, two pilots - Jeff Trent (Gregory Walcott) and his co-pilot Danny (David De Mering) - encounter a flying saucer during an otherwise routine flight. After this incident the small town that are home to the mysterious cemetery and Jeff Trent is never the same.

Meanwhile, on Space Station 7, aliens Eros (Dudley Manlove) and Tanna (Joanna Lee) meet with their commander (John Beckinbridge) to discuss their current work on the planet earth. The commander is less than pleased with their progress, but Eros promises results.

After the aliens return to the same small town they had visited earlier, more bodies return to life, and locals and government forces are equally alarmed. As the mysterious connection between the cemetery and the aliens is revealed and their plot made clear, will the efforts of a pilot, a detective, and a colonel be enough to foil Plan 9 From Outer Space?

Back to Top
The Good

{Bela Lugosi in some of his spliced-in capering.}

Plan 9 From Outer Space's reputation preceeds it. This alone is one of the good things about this movie. The fact that it's quite memorable despite it's absolute ridiculousness in all of its aspects speaks to its charm.

Perhaps it's most charming aspect is the movie's pacing. Instead of feeling like a waste of time, Plan 9 does a great job of keeping your interest; either because you find pulp science fiction fascinating or you find the movie to be so much of a train wreck that you just can't look away. That the same can't be said for movies like The Last Airbender or Cool World reflects even more poorly on them.

Like many other B science fiction movies of the 50s and 60s, Plan 9's also a movie that's not afraid to deal with absolutely wild scientific ideas.

First among these is the idea that an electrical charge applied to certain parts of the human body can restore it to life, or at least to a zombie-like functioning. By no means is this a new idea as it's been around since at least the 19th century, where it played a role in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Appropriately, the exact method behind the re-animation the aliens in the movie use is explained and described, and such pseudo-scientific explanation is one of this movie's strong points.

In fact, the movie's drive to explain its science also helps to buoy its other outlandish idea: that it's possible to create a sunlight bomb.

The logic that this movie puts forth for it makes this otherwise wildly unlikely idea seem sensible enough.

From basic explosions caused by combustion in grenades and bombs, humanity moved on to create bombs that explode atoms, and then bombs that explode hydrogen (that "actually explode the air itself"), and, so the alien Eros argues, the next step is "Solaranite."

Eros then goes on to explain the danger of this last explosive by way of comparing the sun to a gas can, the earth to a gas-soaked ball, and the rays of sunlight to trails of gasoline. Thus, if you ignite "solaranite" then you set off a chain reaction that blows up the sun, its sunlight, and all things that its sunlight touches. In the heat of the moment, this is all made to sound plausible, though ridiculous.

That sort of meticulousness is quite refreshing, because it shows that though the attention paid to all of the movie's other areas was lacking, at least there was enough paid to one of the most important parts: The underlying principles of the movie's major threat.

Plus, the aliens' fear of humanity's stumbling across a "solaranite" bomb beautifully illustrates the movie's main point about humanity being a danger to itself and all those around it.

Back to Top
The Bad

{The movie's narrator, Criswell, with some bad news.}

Acting, directing, editing, and screenwriting, all weigh Plan 9 From Outer Space down.

For the most part the main characters are well-acted, with only a few flubs or flat scenes, but all the other actors could be replaced with the contents of a lumber yard and there'd be very little difference.

Though the movie's acting is terribly uneven, the scriptwriting (for the most part) is often awkward. New information springs up out of nowhere, narration is used in the place of dialogue that could develop character as well as plot, and characters often make no transition or excuse for remembering information just a little bit too late.

Continuity is quite possibly the movie's roughest area. It's not unusual throughout it to have scenes instantaneously switch from a faint evening to the darkest depth of night. Around the movie's middle there are also some rough edits that can be seen between scenes.

Back to Top
Judgment

Plan 9 From Outer Space deserves all of the harsh criticisms that it has received to date, and continues to receive.

The movie makes many screenwriting and technical missteps, has enough bad acting to fuel the most trite of modern action sequels or remakes (The Three Musketeers, anyone?), and its editing and effects could never hope to hold a candle to even the cheapest of studio-backed films today.

But I really enjoy it. I've seen it three times now, and I really enjoy it.

For all of it's flaws, Plan 9 is a great example of the B horror and science fiction movies of its era. Its acting, effects, and writing aren't anything that will receive wide critical acclaim, but it's a fun movie that can entertain, keep your attention, and give you a premise so ridiculous you have to stop and wonder about the breadth of the imagination that created it.

Plus, the movie brings up an idea that is incredibly relevant to our modern, zombie/vampire crazed pop-culture: "it's an interesting thing when you consider... the Earth people, who can think, are so frightened by those who cannot: The dead."

So, Freya, fly low over the widest part of the field of fallen films and fish this one out from the depths, for it, like Manos: The Hands of Fate, is deserving of a place in Movie Valhalla. Though for very different reasons.

Back to Top
Closing

Next week, check out this blog for more creative writing, an editorial, and Part Two of All-Request August with Alien Apocalypse. Plus, on Tuesday and Thursday watch for Annotated Links #14 and #15.

Back to Top

[Wōdnes-dæg] Fantastic Fantasy and the Grit of Popularity

Introduction
The Article Summed Up
Fantasy and Cynicism...Hand in Hand?
The More Names, the More Things
Closing

{Who is the knight standing over, and will he or she hang as well? Image found on the blog A Fantasy Reader.}

Back To Top
Introduction

The subject of today's editorial comes from the website Fantasy Faction - a site that hosts articles, interviews, reviews, forums, and a podcast that are all about the fantasy genre.

This article by Douglas Smith caught my eye because it attempts to explain the current trend away from "classic" tales of black-and-white good versus evil in modern popular fantasy. The article also grabbed my attention because it speaks to the variety that can be found in the fantasy genre.

These elements aren't just interesting, but are also quite relevant to me since I'm in the midst of writing my own fantasy universe into existence.

Back To Top
The Article Summed Up

In his article Douglas Smith notes the growing popularity and presence of gritty, realistic fantasy and tries to explain it.

Quite deftly Smith looks at the trends in entertainment more generally, and concludes that what we watch and read to relax as a whole has become grittier as the world around us has changed into something a bit grittier, too.

Gone are the days of massively popular soap operas and police procedurals, and now things are more about characters so real we might bump into them on the street and involve plots so intricate that it's as easy to become entangled as it is to become immersed.

Smith concludes with the statements that writers of gritty fantasy are reinvigorating the genre, that it's cool to read fantasy again, and that this might just be "a second 'Golden Age' for fantasy."

Back To Top
Fantasy and Cynicism...Hand in Hand?

As far as its explanation of why gritty fantasy is now popular goes, this is a great article.

The world certainly has changed, and, as those of older generations have said from time immemorial, it may actually be worse off (in some ways). Technological advances aside, events like "9/11" have made people more readily dubious of others and paranoid enough that fear could now be considered a small animal living in most people's heads as much as a human emotion.

Older stories that follow a straightforward plot and shimmering, clean-cut characters are definitely no longer enough to put this animal to sleep for a time so that the human host can truly enjoy an escape.

Instead, worlds and characters need more depth. In fact, this might be an analogue to the extra cynicism in a lot of people's worldviews. Just as more scrutiny and attention is paid to the real world and goings-on therein, so too in entertainment are characters and plots under more and more scrutiny.

The best way to meet that scrutiny, so far, has been to present things that are more layered and more like the world that can be seen all around. Instead of escaping into worlds that contrast the real one, the increasing popularity of gritty fantasy suggests that people are more willing to escape into worlds that are like their own.

Back To Top
The More Names, the More Things

Another factor to consider when looking the rise in gritty fantasy is the ever-increasing drive to categorize literature and entertainment. Particularly, the urge to separate the "adult" literature from the "children's" literature.

Both fantasy and science fiction have always been perceived as children's literature.

They aren't set in the real, contemporary world.

They aren't written by those who aspire to write capital-L literature.

But at the same time, there have always been adults who enjoy fantasy and science fiction more than other forms of not-true stories. These adults would read Frank L. Baum, they would flip through Asimov, they would delve into the world of the Harry Potter series.

At times these stories, labelled as being for "children," would be adapted into re-tellings or versions that were more "grown-up," and at other times they would be distributed with darker, more "adult" covers. Anything to appeal more directly to those who were outside of the original key age demographic but nonetheless liked what they read for whatever reason.

Enter gritty, realistic fantasy.

Just like that, there's now a fantasy sub-genre for adults, those who'd been generally perceived as "too old" for stories about magic, heroes and villains, Good and Evil. And where there is a supply to fill a hitherto unfulfilled demand that supply will soon prove insufficient.

After all, give something a new, more specific name, and those previously too shy to admit to liking that something under it's old, general name (let's say fantasy) will come out and help push demand even further.

Back To Top
Closing

Don't miss tomorrow's Annotated Links (#13), and keep an eye out on Friday for the first part of All-Request August, featuring a search for the superb in Plan 9 From Outer Space!

Back To Top

[Moon-dæg] Words and Their Stories

Context
Collisions
Persuasion
Closing

{Shadows, mentioned and unmentioned, are a common element between today's two stories. Image found on www.foundshit.com via dimitridze.}

Back To Top
Context

Tonight's creative writing entry is something of a double feature. The exercise that these works came from asks you to take five words that are rarely used in everyday speech and to create meanings for them. They can be nonsensical meanings, serious meanings, or meanings that are just plain wrong. Then, as an additional part of the exercise, you write short stories using each set of words.

So, here are the words that I used and their real definitions:

• quaquaversal: something that protrudes in every direction at once (a geological term).
• adynaton: an impossibility.
• petrichor: The scent of the air after it rains over an area that's been dry for a while.
• auto-de-fe: A ceremony used by Inquisitors to affirm the faith of converts in South Western Europe; the destruction of something by mob; the destruction of something by fire.
• millefleurs: a perfume made by mixing various flowers together; the pattern, as in tapestries, of various plants and flowers woven together.
• ombrifuge: anything that protects a person or thing from percipitation (an umbrella).

And here are the words and the definitions that I made up:

• quaquaversal: something commonly known among private school headmasters (because they all know Latin, right?)
• adynaton: the Neo-French term for a particularly delicious cut of tuna, which is most often served at dinner.
• petrichor: the fossilized form of a nuclear reactor's core.
• auto-de-fe: the kind of car that the faeries use to get around.
• millefleurs: extra large bouquets found in country shops in rural Europe. OR The mush that you get from mising flour and water
• ombrifuge: a machine that spins things around so fast that it separates them from their shadows.

Curiously, both of these stories are about science in one way or another, and particularly about machines that move things at very high speeds.

Back To Top
Collisions

"Millicent, power up the grid. We need to run this test today."

"Today? But the instruments aren't ready. The necessary precautions..."

"We need to throw caution to the wind. Albert is coming to the lab this evening and he'll snap up our funding faster than a duchess snaps up millefleur on the high street if we don't have results."

The woman stiffened her shoulders and was about to cross her arms. But Jones' hand at her elbow made them go slack instead.

"Alright we've tested enough to know that hull fracture is an adynaton."

"Alright." Jones' look carried the scent of petrichor.

Maybe he's forgiven me? Millicent tried to catch a glimpse of Jones' eyes, but he had already turned back to his clipboard.

She walked over to the throw switch and turned the power loose on the control panel before her. She stood and waited while Jones stepped into the collider and pulled the rock into it behind him.

"This will crack the bastard open. I'm sure of it." He turned from the rock, set snugly into a ring raised in the collider's bottom.

"Sending particles flying at each other and putting rock between them isn't the usual way to crack a walnut."

"This isn't your usual walnut." Jones had climbed out of the collider and now stood beside the control panel. "Throw the switch Millicent." He must have sensed her hesitation through sound alone. He looked up from the controls. "You can relax. If this doesn't work nothing will reach us - like you said. The hull's defenses have tested positively. The worst to happen will be a little splatter that the ombrifuge will keep from hitting us - even if debris flies quaquaversally."

"I know, but I'm still concerned that this will all end in an auto-de-fe." She leaned onto the panel that housed the switch.

"Bah. There aren't any peasants around. Besides, what could we have done to have called on the wrath of a mob? We've done nothing wrong."

Millicent tried once more to get a look at Jones' eyes. She could see the same certainty in them that she had seen that night, weeks before. It churned her stomach, but she saw her hand reach for the power switch and pull it downwards, completing the circuit and powering up the collider.

As the machine wound up all of its sprockets and gears it roared behind them like some hideous animal struck with a rock.

Millicent's arms crossed. "No. Not yet."

Back To Top
Persuasion

Alton struggled to keep his expression from changing as he muddled through his mind. Password. Password...what was the password?

"Come on, bub. It's quaquaversal. All your kind knows this."

"Alright. So then let me in." Alton leaned heavily on the hood of the auto-de-fe he'd stolen.

"I don't think so, mac. We need more than that if you're to get in here."

The man slid his eye slot shut, but Alton flung a stone into it before it closed completely. In the same second, the stone was caught in the slot, and the man's eye bulged and blinked.

"Hey! This is very un-headmaster like of youse!"

"Maybe so. But this stone's important."

The man made no move to loose his eye slot's cover. "It's just a stone. Get it outta here before I call up security."

"It's not just a stone. It's a piece of petrichor."

Alton could see the curiousity rising in the man's eyes.

Typical underclassman. Alton fought the smirk from his face.

"Petrichor? Where'd you ---"

"Don't ask questions of me here. I'd much rather discuss this over a nice adynaton - something more than the millefleur we get out here."

The man on the other side of the door was silent.

"Well? Can I come in now?"

"Uh." The man loosened his slot and the stone fell through. The absence of the sound of stone hitting stone assured Alton that the man had caught it. "Sure. But don't get loud. Just follow me."

Alton smiled to himself as the door's hinges protested their being moved. He knew they had an ombrifuge inside and that all of the petrichor he carried would be more than enough to convince them to change their minds. Just as long as he was far far away when they tried to extract the stones' shadows.

Back To Top
Closing

To let me know what you thought about these stories you can leave a comment or check out my Contact page for other ways to reach me. And, don't miss tomorrow and Thursday's Annotated Links (Nos. 12 and 13), Wednesday's editorial, and Friday's movie review!

Back To Top

[Wōdnes-dæg] The E-Book Shades and the English Classics

Introduction
The Article Summed Up
A Classical Fixation?
Fan-Fiction and a Possible Future
Closing

{All three books in the Fifty Shades series, covered. Image found at the telegraph.co.uk.}

Back To Top
Introduction

Fifty Shades of Grey and its sequels are exploding all over the internet. Though some might be too shy to buy it from brick and mortar stores, they will soon be able to use convincing cover stories when buying other racy reads.

Back To Top
The Article Summed Up

In today's Globe and Mail, Russell Smith reports on Total E-Bound's announced e-book series of re-vamped literary classics.

These re-releases aren't abridged versions, or copies re-written with androids, zombies, or werewolves (that's all been done, after all), but instead will have "graphic sex scenes" added to them. Rightfully so, this series of e-books will be called "Clandestine Classics." According to Total E-Bound, the series was planned before Fifty Shades came out.

Smith ultimately regards the re-release of classics with addition prurient bits as positive as it potentially brings new readers to the English classics.

Back To Top
A Classical Fixation?

Smith definitely has a valid point in his closing paragraph. Total E-Bound's altered classics do have the potential to draw new readers to the established classics of English literature. But is that really a good thing?

Some might say that the English classics are horribly under-read nowadays, and as a result the Western world's literacy and taste are slowly slipping. Genre fiction is eroding what was once a great literary tradition.

But what the apparent manipulability of English classics suggests is that they're anything but un-read.

Back around 2009 and 2010 we saw nineteenth century novels re-written with horror and science fiction elements added to them. Now, sex is being explicitly added to them, and they'll be read anew.

At its heart, the desire to see the classics read and thus to add things to them to entice new readers seems like a sound strategy. But, it also seems like sugar is being added to medicine. English classics are considered classical because they speak to various aspects of human nature in a rather direct way, and shed light on much of the foundation of Western society. Yet, there's no end to new books that do the same, both those considered genre fiction, and those considered regular fiction.

And that's where the focus needs to be. Nineteenth century classics are a fine literary cornerstone, but that cornerstone has plenty of sound material built on top of it as well. Why not look up?

Back To Top
Fan-Fiction and a Possible Future

Although Smith only mentions it briefly, fan-fiction, a form that often involves the "a gleeful uncapping of [established] texts’ repressed fountains of desire" merits expansion.

Fifty Shades of Grey started out as Twilight fan-fiction. Many young writers cut their teeth writing fan-fiction under an alias or anonymously. Projects like Total E-Bound's "Clandestine Classics" are definitely a variety of fan-fiction.

Yet, they're obviously something more - most people on fanfiction.net aren't getting paid for their efforts, after all.

And so, the question that we need to ask is: To what extent does the success of Fifty Shades of Grey and the existence of a project like "Clandestine Classics" validate fan-fiction?

Ultimately, though industry-validated fan-fiction might see success and may open for more in the future, the track that some publishers seem to be on now seems dangerous. Re-hashing classics by adding what is essentially fan-fiction portions seems to be a perilous few steps away from going the way of Hollywood and making a senseless number of sequels and re-makes rather than focusing on original ideas.

Though, at the same time, were the mainstream to become more predictable, all of the vibrancy and life that's to be found in genre fiction would get more and more exposure.

Back To Top
Closing

Don't miss tomorrow's Annotated Links #11, or Friday's Nicolas Cage Month finale featuring Seeking Justice! Watch this blog!

Back To Top

Annotated Links #10: Massaging Media

1. Chung-Un, Cho. "‘Focus on human nature, not unique cultural aspects’." The Korea Herald 18 July 2012. Web. 24 July 2012.

Robert McKee explains why he finds Korean film so intriguing. He also highlights the importance of speaking to human nature rather than cultural elements in stories intended for an international audience. This article is part reportage, part interview between McKee and the Korea Herald. It is written in a straightforward style with only some minor typos.

2. Dvorsky, George. "How An Alien Invasion Inspired Kevin J. Anderson to Start Writing Science Fiction." io9 16 July 2012. Web. 24 July 2012.

Kevin J. Anderson's accomplishments are listed, and it's noted that his novelization of Rush's Clockwork Angels is due out in September. Included is a long quote about Anderson's seeing the War of the Worlds movie lead him to writing science fiction. The article is written in a light, direct style.

3. MSumm. "Dear Nintendo, Please Give Me a Zelda Game Tougher Than Majora’s Mask." Kotaku 17 July 2012. Web. 24 July 2012.

A rant/letter directed at the major players at Nintendo, asking for a new Zelda game that is as difficult as Majora's Mask. MSumm considers Majora's Mask difficult because of its utter lack of hand-holding and un-skippable tutorials. Difficulty is sought because beating such a game grants the player a great feeling of satisfaction. This article is posted from Kotaku's "Speak Up" forum, so there are some typos and grammatical errors. The article's style is quite casual.

Back To Top
Closing

Tomorrow, watch this space for an editorial entry, and don't miss Annotated Links #11 on Thursday! Then, come Friday, the final part of Nicolas Cage month, a quest to find the good in Seeking Justice, will be posted.

Back To Top

[Moon-dæg] Gesturing towards Science Fiction

Context
The Train Ride to the Freeholds
Closing

{Another world, but similar trains. Image found on www.guardian.co.uk.}

Back To Top
Context

This short story was written based on an exercise that asks you to write a scene between two people where all of the communication happens in body language.

The lack of dialogue really opens things up, while the fact that you need to describe the gestures that you want to use means that you really need to pay attention to your description. Everything has to work well together for such a piece to work, and after some minor edits, this piece is a decent example, I think.

It's definitely the start of something bigger, and possibly a story from the world that my five part fantasy epic is set in (though possibly further down the timeline).

Enjoy!

Back To Top
The Train Ride to the Freeholds

There was a lot of nodding going on. Everyone in the box car seemed to be bobbing their heads, wagging their chins. But it was al silence. Like a tunnel the train had entered that would only be left at sunrise when the windows and the thin drapes could not hold any more light at bay.

It helped that everyone was asleep.

Except for Roscoe, whose eyees swept the train car's passengers over as the auto duster had swept the car clean while it was still in the station. Some people stirred, but only to shift their positions. It was a difficult maneuvre but one that Roscoe was impressed to see carried out so flawlessly. The new chips really had improved the brain's higher functioning in sleep. The boy's gaze stopped at one of the windows behind a line of heads, its drapes waved back and forth in time with dull metallic chug of the locomotive. The resulting shafts of moonlight slid between people's feet like a reluctant ping pong ball.

One of the feet kicked it away. Or seemed to. Roscoe looked up to see the rest of the foot's owner, beyond the leg. A young woman, maybe from the facility just before he was started, looked back. Her eyes struck him clearest of all the aspectsof her face, for they were as large as the moon most nights now, and the irises were such a pale blue that her eyes looked almost entirely white except for both of her ebony pupils. Roscoe thought back to the city's mascot, the eyes simple white circles with black dots. But the young woman's eyes were more life-like. More genuine. Especially when he noticed them looking at him.

The young woman shrugged and looked around. She put her hands on the seat beside her and pretended to dangle her legs in the space between seat and floor, although her feet had no difficulty reaching the cold steel bottom of the car. She lowered her face and then raised her eyes to Roscoe.
He could feel his cheeks redden and hoped that the car was too dark for the girl to see what he knew was an imminently rich color. He stared back at her and shrugged as well.

Then, without any thought, he crossed one leg over the other at the knee, set his elbow on top and leaned into his arm, resting his chin in his hand. At first, he returned his eyes to her feet, but then raised them to hers.

She pointed to her head and then shrugged as she leaned forward.

Roscoe immediately dropped his hand across his chest as if presenting something there and used the same hand to point at her. The moonlight helps, but even if she was wearing her id I couldn't read it from here. Not without those other upgrades.

The young woman mimicked his gesture and then sat still for a moment. She drummed her finger on her lower lip and seemed to be looking everywhere but directly in front of her. She straightened herself and then threw her hands into her lap. She curled them upwards and slowly raised them towards the ceiling, fingers first. Once her elbows touched she fanned out her fingers and swayed the figure made by her arms and hands almost imperceptibly.

Ah. She's definitely from the facility from before me. Animals come two after flowers, so she's two cycles older than me.

Roscoe put his hands over his eyes, separating his middle and ring finger so he could look through them. He could see her nod off-rhtyhm to the rest of the passengers though his hands. Her lips rose into a smile and he copied the motion as best he could, hoping that she noticed it rather than the color he felt filling his cheeks once more.

Back To Top
Closing

Check back here tomorrow and Thursday for Annotated Links #10 and #11, on Wednesday for an editorial on some of the newest news, and on Friday for part four of Nicolas Cage month - a look at the decent in 2012's Seeking Justice.

Back To Top

[Wōdnes-dæg] A Well Placed Documentary Makes Science Fiction Science Fact

Introduction
The Article Summed Up
Not New, But Great
Publishing's Next Stage and Mainstream Acknowledgement
Closing

{Screenshot from the documentary "Mermaids: The Body Found," posted with the original article.}

Back To Top
Introduction

This past Sunday, the Discovery Channel aired a documentary that has stirred up controversy. The program in question is called "Mermaids: The Body Found," a work of science fiction in the form of a documentary.

Back To Top
The Article Summed Up

The article (from The Christian Post) gives an overview of the controversy and sums it up by stating that the documentary's description and creators said that it is "based on some real life events." Whether or not this is a case of misdirection is not made clear.

Making things even more provocative, the article ends with some statements from the Discovery Channel that present logical arguments for the possibility of mermaids existing.

Back To Top
Not New, But Great

The controversy here isn't so much about whether or not mermaids are real, but about media literacy. And, much more specifically, about the power of the claim that things are "based on some real life events" (or "based on a true story" or "based on real events," whichever variation you might encounter).

This intertitle has become so overused that it's almost meaningless. Anything can be "based on a true story." In fact, any story that is in any way metaphorical (such as science fiction and fantasy stories) is "based on" reality, otherwise its metaphor is useless. The same can be said for comic book stories like Batman - society is faltering because good people do nothing, and then those good people stand up (only in an extreme way that goes beyond what most people would do).

Moreover, it's human nature to relate things to what we know, and most of us know some sort of "real life."

This connection might not seem like a strong argument against specifying that certain things are 'based on reality,' but just as people are apt to read things into various stories, so too are stories apt to feed these readings. Stories that don't have some relation to "real life" often don't make sense and often don't become very popular.

To take a risk and go out on a limb, stories that are successful speak to people's basic desires. Many stories that are coming out now are complicating these desires and the road to their fulfilment.

Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, or Geroge R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series are good examples of these desires being complicated. Yet, even they still come down to basic desires like wanting to be the hero, personal growth, or safety.

Back To Top
Publishing's Next Stage and Mainstream Acknowledgement

In terms of the documentary form itself, especially regarding the "Mermaids: The Body Found" documentary featured in today's article, it is an especially powerful tool for science fiction and fantasy.

These genres are so continuously popular because people are always looking for more than what they have.

As humans we're always trying to reach beyond our grasp. Putting this desire for more into a form that purports to give straight facts says to people, "hey, you know that thing that you really want to be real? Well, it is, and here are the facts."

That we're so willing to believe is also a great sign of our open-mindedness. Some might say that this willingness to believe is something that people need to guard against when it comes to the stuff of fantasy like mermaids and supernatural cures, but open minds are as necessary for advancement as they are for distraction.

Back To Top
Closing

Don't miss my look at 2011's Trespass for part three of Nicolas Cage month, and be sure to catch tomorrow's Annotated Links!

Back To Top

[Moon-dæg] A Convention, A Challenge, and A Poem

Context
A Ballad of Polaris
Closing

{Polaris 26's logo. Image found on the Polaris 26 website.}

Back To Top
Context

Tonight's piece is an early draft of a poem written specially for the 26th Polaris convention. It was held this past weekend (July 6-8), and I wanted to challenge myself to write something narrative about it before it faded into memory.

So I wrote a ballad about Polaris 26 tonight (taking about an hour to get it from brain, to page, to post-able form).

The ballad chronicles the trip to Polaris on Thursday and part of Friday; the convention itself on the rest of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; and the departure on Sunday. It begins with a refrain, and then a verse about Thursday and repeats that pattern for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Some poetic license is taken with form (there are some long lines, irregular rhyme) and content (for the sake of brevity and of rhyme). However, where necessary, I've added hyperlinks to clarify references.

Enjoy, and feel free to let me know how I can improve this one.

Back To Top
A Ballad of Polaris

A special thing, held but once a year,
Hosted where a cultural heart is,
Full of friends and bright of cheer,
A convention called Polaris.

One leg's journey done and gone
And then a brief respite
First con fellow was well-met
While anticipation reached new heights.

A special thing, held but once a year,
Hosted where the cultural heart is,
A place where fandom runs ever clear,
A convention called Polaris.

The city heart was sought and found,
The lady love to the party was added,
With an old friend we dined, and had
Were funds that would that very night
In the Sheraton's halls resound.

A special thing, held but once a year,
Hosted where the cultural heart is,
To which many a spec fic fan does steer,
A convention called Polaris.

The con was off to a rumbling start,
Friday's karaoke gave voice to our hearts,
But Saturday was solitary,
Though distant victory did carry

Through Ms. Munteanu's editing 'shop great,
Where was found help enough to save
An old story from its sorry state.

A special thing, held but once a year,
Hosted where the cultural heart is,
Place of artists, editors, writers dear,
A convention called Polaris.

All was quiet in the final day's late morning,
The dance and six six three were sweated
Through and past. Bamb'ry on social media
Was clear, and shared how to make people online see ya;

While learning of when best
to leave readers to a guess
Was a fine thing over which to mull
As con and city both from view did fall.

A special thing, held for the year,
Now done and gone; farewell Ms. Lin,
All other guests and staff without peer,
Until, when in a year, comes Polaris 27.

Back To Top
Closing

Check back here on Wednesday for an editorial on the newest news, and on Friday for part two of Nicolas Cage Month: a search for the good in Season of the Witch. And be sure to come back to the blog on Tuesday and Thursday for more annotated links.

Back To Top

Annotated Links #3: Invasive Technology

1. 1. Robbins, Gary. "UCSD camera lens can see everyone in a stadium." U-T San Diego 22 June 2012. Web. 28 June 2011.

In a project led by Duke University, UC San Diego has helped to develop a lens for a camera that can take 1-gigapixel images of large spaces. The project is funded by U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and designed primarily for 'surveillance, wildlife observation and sports coverage.' The article is written in a plain style with ample use of quotations.

2. Finnegan, Matthew. "Pigment discovery makes biological chips possible." TechEye.net 27 June 2012. Web. 28 June 2012.

Scientists from the University of Queensland believe that melanin could bridge electronics and human biology because of its ability to switch electrical charges from electrons, essential to electronics, to ions, essential to human biological functioning, and vice versa. The article is a dense summary of information, and written in a straightforward style.

3. Gaudin, Sharon "Google looks to make science fiction real with Glasses." Computerworld 28 June 2012. Web. 28 June 2012.

Google has launched their glasses, wearable computers that are equipped with a processor, memory, cameras, microphones and speakers. The glasses will sell for $1,500 at first, but then Sergey Brin, the co-founder and CEO of Google, is optimistic that they will be offered to the general public for a lower price in 2014. The article is a summary of an interview with Brin that is rich in quotations.

Back To Top
Closing

Check back here tomorrow for a hunt for the good in Wrath of the Titans.

Back To Top

Annotated Links #2: Science (Fiction)

1. O'Neil, Lauren. "Google brain simulator learns to identify cats on the internet." CBC 26 June 2012. Web. 27 June 2012.

All about a "Google Brain" that can recognize a cat after constructing the concept of the animal from randomly viewed YouTube videos. This piece of technology, consisting of 16,000 computer processors, was developed by Google's X Laboratory, the research facility responsible for augmented reality glasses, self-driving cars, and a slew of other projects involving computer programming. It is written in a straightforward fashion, and is a fine example of classic, mostly objective reporting.

2. Linster, The. "The best women authors of science fiction and fantasy: Who's on your list?" After Ellen 25 June 2012. Web. 27 June 2012.

This article presents a list of six of the best female fantasy/science fiction writers inspired by a list commemorating Octavia Butler's 65th birthday that can be found at Flavorwire. The list ranges from Octavia Butler to J.K. Rowling, presenting the highlights of each author's work. The article is written in a casual style that makes regular use of the first person.

Back To Top
Closing

Check back here tomorrow for an editorial on some of the newest news, and on Friday for a hunt for the good in Wrath of the Titans.

Back To Top

[Wōdnes-dæg] Elon Musk, Space Travel, and the Promise of the Future

Introduction
Interpretation
Individuals and Exploration
Playing at an Alternate History
Closing

{Part of the Falcon 9 rocket, while under construction. Photo by Jurvetson (flickr).}

Back To Top
Introduction

There was an article of note in the Globe and Mail today. Something strange and wonderful. Not that the Globe and Mail having a good article is strange (though it is wonderful) but the content of the article is both of these.

The article is a brief piece that’s straight to the point about it’s headline: “Billionaire businessman cheers a new era of spaceflight.” It’s all about Elon Musk's ship, the Falcon 9, and its launch towards the International Space Station with nonessential supplies.

Marcia Dunn, the article’s author, notes that this flight marked “the first time a commercial spacecraft has been sent to the [International Space Station].”

Back To Top
Interpretation

That an individual has managed to get a capsule launched into space is either a sign of progress in space exploration, a time when individuals can go into the vast unknown above on their own initiatives or with their own goals in mind, or it's a sign that there are finally people who just have too much money.

In either case, the fact that people can now do what only governments could before is an incredible fact.

And whether it leads to the Federation familiar to Star Trek fans, or to something more dystopian like a lone eccentric billionaire sending fiendishly irradiated spiders into space in capsules rigged with special sunbeam catchers that aggravate the arachnids, forcing them to somehow fully populate their capsules so that he can then threaten the earth with a terrible rain of falling, deadly spiders ('so thick as to blot out clouds and sun,' the eccentric billionaire might declare as his sinister grin appears on every earthly screen) unless his demands are met, is something that will mostly be left to fate.

Mostly.

But what can really be taken away from this article is that all of the talk of things like mining asteroids or sending teams to the moon (maybe Newt Gingrich’s moon colony is closer than any of us can fathom) or Mars have just become one step closer to being turned from science fiction into science fact.

Back To Top
Individuals and Exploration

Individuals can be dangerous when leading expeditions, either intentionally (think Cortés, and his drive to conquer the Central American interior) or unintentionally (Columbus’ unwittingly bringing European diseases over to the Americas), but at the least they're untrammeled by the slow machinations of large bureaucracies.

Regulations are good, and things like environmental impact definitely need to be considered when launching rockets into space (Cid's launch in Final Fantasy 7 is a light version of what an unregulated launch *could* look like), but too many regulations can weigh down the human spirit and its curiosity.

{Cid's rocket in Final Fantasy 7: a light look at an unregulated launch.}

Back To Top
Playing at an Alternate History

If Columbus or Cortés had to appear before a court of overseers and assure them that the environmental, social, and physical damage caused by their expeditions would be minimized or non-existent, then the Americas would likely not be the Americas. From a social standpoint, that might have been a much better option from the perspective of all of the First Nations peoples of the Americas who were displaced, destroyed, or disbanded by the Europeans, but from that friction so much was learned.

If there was such a group of overseers in 15th and 16th century Europe, and they turned down the major European explorers’ proposals to sail beyond the sea, would things like cars or planes or computers or the internet have been developed?

Maybe, but the world in which they were would be one very different from ours. And in this brave new world, anyone able to afford his own space capsule would have invariably been someone with a mind twisted by generations of knowing only a strict class system. Someone with the kind of mind that would probably use that fortune to launch metal clouds containing a doom rain of radioactive spiders into orbit rather than a capsule full of supplies to a place in the heavens where once-disparate nations meet and work together to advance human knowledge.

Back To Top
Closing

Check back here Friday for a hunt for the good in the 2011 adaptation of The Three Musketeers.

Back To Top