Tag Archives: mass media
Was every woman once a sparkle in her father’s eye?
The future never happens the way we imagine
In other words, would you say that your email and texts are as unable to interpret and respond to emotional social context as a person on the autism spectrum? In what situation are they identical and thus the avatar of one is the same as the other?
Plate of shrimp, the prequel
What are the chances that two nights ago I tripped over my copy of “The Saga of the Sour Toe” by Capt. Dick Stevenson, edited by Dieter Reinmuth, and then today this story pops up in the news?
All I can say is thank goodness the universe was exists purely to create me and entertain me.
Otherwise, I’d go mad (no, don’t tell me I’m mad — let it be your secret you can keep from me!).
Wordy book of the day
Tolerance for pain
Bai jumped across the colony’s esplanade with Shadowgrass.
“Mom told me that you’re one of the main reasons I’m here.”
“She did?”
“Something about your grandfather and a war?”
“She remembered! That’s great. Yes, my grandfather was a soldier a long time, during the period many on Earth call World War II. He was a radio operator.”
“Dad told me about those. Specialists who were responsible for sending signals between groups of people because they didn’t have a love/hate relationship with the ISSA Net yet.”
“Hmm…hahaha. True. But my grandfather is famous back home in the Philippines. He was the man who first contacted General MacArthur, an American soldier in charge of many troops.”
Shadowgrass nodded, mentally scanning the information about World War II as they skipped and hopped. “So how does that account for me?”
“Oh, yeah, it doesn’t make sense, does it? Well, you see, my grandfather was a strict soldier which led to my father’s interest in discipline but for a totally different reason. You’ve probably never heard of ‘Star Trek,’ have you?” She watched his eyes flicker slightly. “Well, I guess you know about it now?”
“Yes, Bai.”
“My father fell in love with the TV show. It was like having his grandfather and all of his grandfather’s friends and uncles live the life of space soldiers. When I was old enough, he made me watch every episode of the original TV series, all the spinoffs such as ‘Next Generation,’ up to ‘Enterprise,’ and, of course, the films as they were released. Inside of you is a little bit of Data with a little bit of Wesley Crusher and Jake Sisko.”
“Mom said you were able to infuse my genetic material with the propensity for personality traits of fictional characters. How did you do it?”
Bai ran her gloved hand across her faceplate, intending to but unable to rub her eyes. “Did Guin tell you I used to date Brannon Braga?”
“Huh-uh.”
“Yes. He was the one who inspired me. I hope I inspired him some, too. His place in Melrose, not far from the film studios, was amazing. I remember one party he had, it was a food bar from front to back. You walked from his kitchen to the backyard, which opened onto an English garden, and then the pool…the pool…” She stopped and looked up at the Martian sky.
“What is it, Bai?”
“He said he put me in one of his scripts. I never asked him which one.”
Shadowgrass flipped a few times in the air, bounced up and down like a kangaroo and landed in a three-legged stance. “Did he write about me?”
“No. You are my creation. I mean, it was me who gave your parents the idea to call you their son.”
Shadowgrass flipped up in the air and landed in a standard bipedal configuration. “That’s what Mom said. But I thought you might know something else.”
Bai heard a note of disappointment in Shadowgrass’ intonation of curiosity.
“Shadowgrass, you are a part of everyone’s life, don’t you know? You are the culmination of our species’ achievements. Do you know how many kids on Earth dream of being you, able to change out body parts on a whim, with superstrength and superspeed?”
“Yeah, but…”
Bai nodded. She knew where Shadowgrass was taking his thoughts. His mother, Guin, had been a competitive boxer from an early age, trained by her father, a former member of the U.S. Marines, with assistance from his military and boxing buddies. Growing up on a farm, she had been kicked and stomped on by calves and cows, raising her pain tolerance above normal levels. She had later become a ballerina before switching to a career in rocket science.
Shadowgrass wished he had his mother’s natural abilities, and didn’t have his enhanced abilities that made him so much more capable than his parents.
At age two, he had completed his space exploration vehicle. When his parents were two, they were barely walking and talking.
That’s why Bai had asked to spend the afternoon with him. He needed encouragement to take Martian society to places he couldn’t believe possible when he’ll look back in a few marsyears.
She couldn’t believe she was with him herself, remembering the nights decades earlier, alone with her thoughts when she was at her lowest, torn between her French lover and being near her children on the North American continent.
She wanted to teach Shadowgrass to embrace his emotional side and use the energy he generated to plant seeds in his thoughts that would sprout into giant oaks in no time.
She had done that for so many other people. She knew she could get Shadowgrass to, too.
Guest post: a friend writes…
A Letter to Rep. Jared Polis: I Ask You For Courage
by Coleen
Signatories of the Geneva Protocol, courtesy of Wikimedia
This letter was sent to Rep. Polis on 31 August 2013.
Dear Sir:
I write in the hope that my words will not be unheeded, and that you will act as a representative of all your constituents.
At the next session of Congress, President Obama will request a vote from you and all representatives on the issue of military intervention in Syria. I urge you to support this intervention and to vote for authorization of force.
Like many around the world, I have watch the horror of the Syrian civil war unfold for two years. I remember weeping in Colorado in the Fall of 2011, watching livestream coverage of the shelling in the city of Homs. I watched the tens of thousands stream into the streets of Aleppo to demand their rights as free citizens. I watched in horror as the conflict spiraled and moved throughout the nation, even into Damascus.
And last week, I watched children dying from chemical weapons in Damascus.
There is no reasonable doubt that chemical warfare is currently being waged in Syria. There is no reasonable doubt that the Al-Assad regime is using these weapons against its own people. There is no reasonable doubt that the international community is bound by duty and by signature of the Geneva Protocol and the Chemical Weapons Conventions.
Sir, I write as one about to move from Colorado to the United Kingdom. That country’s parliament recently rejected the call to action in the face of such atrocity, and will not assume its normal position as our ally in military action. This situation has not happened since 1782. I know that the situation in Syria is complex, and that there are no clear-cut answers to the problems of intervening. I know that there are many in the United States and beyond who are calling any intervention illegal/immoral/some kind of conspiracy. Any military strike will bring strong opposition. Many compare this situation to the same in 2003. But Syria is not Iraq. Syria is not Libya. Syria is not Afghanistan.
I ask you for courage.
I lived in South Korea all of last year, and I was thankful daily for the international intervention that we call the Korean War. It cost thousands of lives, and there is evidence it was not always fought justly, but that fight was necessary. Millions were displaced, and millions more would have been if not for the brave actions of our own soldiers (my grandfather included) and those of our allies. My South Korean students are able to live in a free, democratic, and prosperous country only 60 years after the official cessation of hostilities. I have such hopes for Syria.
The people of Syria know that the world is watching. They know that the world has stood by and allowed more than two years of wholesale slaughter in their country. If we fail to act, they will never forget it. And those who seek to harm their own people will know that any agreements the international community holds are toothless, that the collective struggle for human rights can be derailed by selfish national interests.
In 2003, I wrote letters to my representatives. I begged them not to go to war in Iraq. I warned them of the future repercussions of an invasion. I am not pro-war, and I never have been. But a breach of international law requires action, or a dangerous precedent is set.
I ask you to vote “Yes” on a resolution that authorizes military force in Syria. Please contact me if you require any clarification.
Kindest Regards,
Coleen Monroe
Why stop now?
Kickstarter Update #2
Good afternoon, buoys and gulls!
Today is an important day here at Project Xceed Xpectations. We’ve decided, while finishing the details on our business plan, to introduce you to the project itself.
First of all, let’s give it a name, shall we? Here ya go!:
All Sols Day
All Sols Day is an Internet-based serial story, in the format of sitcom-meets-reality TV, about life on Mars, mixing cartoon-style graphics with live footage of the first landing, exploration and settlement of Mars.
The Kickstarter campaign will offer you different levels of participation:
- an email/text message “thank you”
- a simple postcard
- a variety of bumper/notebook stickers
- a cutout construction paper book with main characters
- autographs by the key players on a poster
- a DVD of the first season
- your very own kit including electronic components for building a duplicate of the spaceship, landing craft, exploration vehicle(s) and habitation modules
Those are all some of the preliminary “thanks” levels we have proposed to our Creative Arts department for completion within a reasonable waiting time by you, our patient contributors and supporters.
We’ve asked the producers and crew if any of them would be willing to travel to your home, office or event for a public speaking engagement as part of a high-donation “thanks” participation level. We’re working on the legal details at this time.
We’re also in negotiations with a replica construction company to make a vehicle that could “launch” your child and land your child on a simulated Martian surface where your child could explore and set up a habitation module during a two-week period, but the cost — hundreds of thousands of dollars — would be hard to justify without knowing there’s full interest by at least a few parents willing to fund a Mars Exploration Camp for kids.
Well, there you have it! Are you excited yet?
Our friends in the space business have asked us to make this project a success, putting into the minds of the people that Mars settlement is a given fact because we know there will be setbacks along the way and want them fully onboard with the good, the bad and the ugly future.
treetrunkdings 