http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57341645-264/comedian-louis-c.k-shuns-advice-and-drm-for-new-video/

left this out whooops

I know you guys may be done checking the blog, but i still felt i should share this link. Louis C.K. and Cory Doctorow might become friends after this

El fin

I don't know about yall but this paper was harder for me to write than the previous one by a long shot. I am currently detoxing on The Big Bang Theory (which by the way is hilarious and I'm kind of surprised we never mentioned it in class now that I think about it). I've really loved being in class with all yall and good luck on all yalls finals! Thank you especially to Andy for having such a cool class.

Star Peace and War on Twilight

A friend of mine posted this video on my Facebook wall. Fans of Star Wars and Star Trek now have a common enemy. Three guesses as to what that is...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/george-takei-declares-war-on-twilight

The End

I'd just like to let everyone know I had an excellent time reading, discussing, and blogging about science fiction texts over the last semester. I hope everyone has an expanded love for the genre and will take time to view some of the lesser known, yet still meaningful sci-fi works...specifically Blade Runner, as I can't think of many movies superior to it, regardless of genre. Good luck finishing those papers!

Hunger Games!!

If you are curious as to which district you would be from, you can find out at www.thecapitol.pn/.

This website is also just really cool to check out.

I finished my final paper yesterday, and all I have to say is I wish I could write about my favorite television shows in the rest of my classes. I really enjoyed this class, and I cannot wait to take the Fantasy class next semester! Good luck to everyone on their exams, and have a great Christmas break!

Psychologist who uses Comic Books

I found this on Reddit, and thought it was interesting. He has his patients read comic books so that they can identify with one of the characters. I like the part where he says DC is more effective than Marvel (besides some X Men story lines). He has some good things to say. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/n4v7t/iama_psychologist_who_uses_comic_books_to_treat/

Good luck this week everyone!

Care to be sorted?

After our conversations at dinner, I remembered this website with a 100 question test to determine which House at Hogwarts you would be sorted. I have the link posted below, and it is definitely worth your time: www.personalitylab.org/tests/ccq_hogwarts.htm

Geek Love

So TLC has a new special coming out next weekend I think... it's called Geek Love and is a bunch of sci-fi fans speed dating at a big convention thing. It looks pretty interesting. They make Chewbacca noises at each other and wear costumes and everything. Check it out!

Inspiration for a new Andy Duncan course (that I haven't taken yet)

Since Andy already does dark fantasy and sci-fi courses, I vote he does a steampunk version so that I can keep taking his classes. Can I get someone to second this motion? I am going to be so heartbroken when I finish a new book and don't have a book club like this class to talk it out with. The first book I finished after this class was done made me sad because I had no one with which to dicuss the plot decisions. If you could find the time Andy, I would LOVE a list of other steampunk novels that are as amazing as Boneshaker and Dreadnaught. For anyone interested, the novel to the left is a compilation or anthology of a bunch of different steampunk stories (I haven't read it yet but it has Kelly Link and Andy highly recommends her).

Christmas list?

http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Future-Screwdriver-Lights/dp/B001S2ARUM/ref=pd_sim_t_6

anybody looking for christmas ideas?

Paper Topic

So the paper topic that I presented in class wasn't my original idea. I was thinking about looking at the psychosis of "The Taste of Water" and "Under the Moons of Venus." The narrators are clearly unreliable, and I was wondering what other meanings those stories have. I could also go into Doctor Who and how he is an imaginary friend for so many characters throughout the show, namely Madame de Pompadour and Amy Pond. What do you think?

NOOO

http://gawker.com/5865597/justin-bieber-ruins-entire-nerd-subculture-with-new-christmas-video

Justin Beiber has ruined steampunk. Here's the proof, but it might be too sad to watch.

Your Thoughts?

I was messing around on stumble upon the other day and I came across this list of best Science Fiction books as voted by reddit. Here is their list:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/ArjNKM/blamcast.net/articles/best-science-fiction-books

I know that a few of these have been mentioned in class, but I was wondering what your thoughts were on the list. Would you add any books to it?

Them's Fightin Words

Obviously you need to take cracked.com material with a grain of salt as it is a humor site, however I do think this article gives an interesting look at some of sci-fi's greatest.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19576_6-pop-culture-visionaries-who-get-too-much-credit_p2.html

Texts for the spring fantasy class

Since y'all asked:

• Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins, 2008; HarperCollins, 2010)
• Terry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics, 2009; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2010)
• Joe Hill, Heart-Shaped Box (Morrow, 2007; Harper, 2009)
• Kelly Link, Pretty Monsters (Viking, 2008; Speak, 2010)
• Andrew Leman, The Call of Cthulhu (The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, 2005; Microcinema International, 2006)
• H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" (Weird Tales, February 1928; available in scores of collections and anthologies, and at hplovecraft.com)
• Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death (DAW, 2010; DAW, 2011)
• Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men (HarperCollins, 2003; HarperCollins, 2004)
• Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky (HarperCollins, 2004; Harper Trophy, 2005)
• Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith (HarperCollins, 2006; HarperCollins, 2007)
• Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight (HarperCollins, 2010)
• Jonathan Strahan, ed., The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 5 (Night Shade Books, 2011)

Just a thank you for the help

I would just like to say thank you to everyone for all the help that they gave me with the paper topic. Y'all gave me a lot of leads to look into and helped me get a better idea of where to take the paper. I also would like to say that many of y'all papers sound very interesting and it would be nice to see where you went with them. Once again thank you all for the help you have given me.

Paper Idea

Ok, so I think I have a concept for this paper, but would love some suggestions on outside sources I should use as well. I would like to take a closer look at the various ways zombies are depicted in literature (esp. sci-fi) and other forms of pop culture. I haven't seen the Walking Dead, so I probably won't use that, but there's a huge difference between Evil Dead zombies, zombies in The Naturalist, zombies in Boneshaker, and zombies in say, the video game Dead Space. Not just in how they are portrayed either, but their origins are vastly dissimilar as well.

What do you guys think about this topic?

Fond nerd-ish memory..

Did anyone ever go to homestarrunner.com and watch those videos or play the games? This was probably back early high school/late middle school for me. There was this one game where you were a knight and had to go conquer the evil monster, but you had to make sure to do everything right along the way with all of these commands. I vaguely remember rescuing a baby and then using it to retrieve something through a small hole. It was SO HARD because if you missed even one step you were screwed... I'm wondering if this was only my friends that did this. It was frustrating to no end.

El Mal Ajeno

El Mal Ajeno (For the Good of Others) was a movie that I watched in Spain as part of my Spanish Film & Lit class. Although at the time I found it ridiculously depressing, I also appreciated its depth and how much it forced me to think. It has an element of sci-fi/fantasy that really adds to the plot. If anyone can stomach subtitles or enjoys foreign film, I'd recommend this one. And of course Pan's Labyrinth is one of my all time favorite movies, Spanish or not. I've been perusing my Netflix Watch Instantly, but unfortunately I share it with my brother and all of the recommendations supposedly "for me" have been nature shows or slasher films. Can anyone recommend me something to get into? Thanks!

First I hope y'all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I saw that some of others are also having trouble with this but I am going to post it anyway. I am having trouble coming up with a paper topic. I would like to write on the Cherie Priest novels but I am just not show on what to write about. If any of y'all have any spare ideas please let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I missed everyone last week in class, and obviously we didn't have class this week. I can't wait to discuss paper topics with everyone (right now, I'm kinda drawing a big blank) and I also can't wait to watch these Dr. Who episodes! It's hard to believe that this semester is almost over, it's gone by way too fast.

If anyone cares to, I'd love to hear about some of the topics in Boneshaker and Dreadnaught that you guys tackled in class.

In honor of the end of this course...

Since we are done with all of our reading, we can actually read for fun now (not that these books haven't been amazing. I think they're better than the ones I've read for the Dark Fantasy course). Because we all love to read, here is my list of The Great Ones.

1) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2) The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (aka Stephen King's son)

Both of these two were the absolute favorites of the Dark Fantasy class and I bet they stay on yalls syllabus for next semester. If not, read them. They are AMAZING.

3) anything by Meg Gardiner (not an actual book title; just a general statement). She is one of my favorite thriller authors. Stephen King sings her praises as well.

4) Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (I haven't actually read this one yet but I've heard great things about it and I'm tackling it this Christmas break)

YOUR JOB IS TO GIVE ME A LIST! I trust all of yalls taste. Yall are all smart and I've enjoyed this class because of yalls opinions. So pretty please give me a list of your top 3 must reads. Besides, I need to make a Christmas list for my mom. :)

So You Want to Watch Doctor Who: A Beginner's Guide to Time and Space

Ok, bear with me here, because this might get a bit long.

Doctor Who is a lot of things. It's an exciting sci-fi adventure, it's some of the wittiest writing on television, and it is very, very British. Another thing it is is very big. Having first been aired in 1963, it's one of the only shows that can boast being older than its current star. The fact that there's so much of it can make it really intimidating for new viewers, so here I'll try to give a basic background on the series, including a brief description of each of the eleven incarnations of The Doctor and a list of some of the best episodes to watch, and advice on where to start.

What it's about:

The show is about a mysterious humanoid alien who calls himself The Doctor, who can travel through time and space. He's a member of a race that call themselves the Time Lords, from the planet Gallifrey, who have mastered time travel better than any other species in the history of the universe. In the old series there were other Time Lords, but by the time of the 2005 reboot they have all been killed in the oft-referenced but never explained Time War, and the Doctor is, to the best of his knowledge, the only survivor. As a Time Lord, The Doctor has lived for centuries (he's currently 1103), is psychic to a certain degree, has two hearts, and is able to "regenerate" when he would otherwise die, changing his appearance and personality but retaining his memories (which originated as a way to keep the show going when the original actor playing The Doctor couldn't continue). He has a (stolen) time machine called the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), which is dimensionally transcendental ("bigger on the inside", as people often observe), sentient (although it doesn't talk), and can change its appearance to fit in with any environment, but is currently stuck looking like a blue British police phone box from the 1950s due to a broken chameleon circuit. He also carries around his utility tool of choice, a "sonic screwdriver", which manipulates most relatively simple technologies through sound waves and basically acts as a plot device to make sure that The Doctor only gets stuck in a situation when the writers want him to. The last important thing to know about The Doctor is that he usually travels with a "companion", sometimes human and sometimes not, to provide someone who the audience can relate to and someone for The Doctor to have to save all the time. Sometimes he brings them along because he's lonely, sometimes they tag along against his will, and sometimes he sort of accidentally kidnaps them, but regardless of why they're with him the companions are an integral part of how the show works.

Doctor? Doctor Who?

Because The Doctor regenerates, a lot of different actors have played him (currently on #11), each with their own take on the character. Things they've always had in common are being extremely intelligent, quite witty, pacifistic (especially in the new series), and something of an intergalactic vagabond. Between different actors, different writers, and different directors, the show has been different at different times, gaining a new feel with each new Doctor. I'll go over the basics of what each one was like.

The First Doctor (William Hartnell)- A grumpy old man, somewhat resembling a professor. Starts out petty, selfish, and cowardly, but becomes nicer and more protective of his companions later on.

The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)- Almost clown-like in his dress and demeanor, the Second Doctor took himself much less seriously. His silliness and resentment of authority carried over into later Doctors. Played the recorder and carried an impossible amount of useful items in his coat pockets.

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)- Suave and gentlemanly, he dressed like he was going to the opera. He was the archetypal action hero Doctor, and was less opposed to using violence. He was stuck on Earth without a working TARDIS for most of his run, having been exiled from Gallifrey.

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)- The most long-running and well-known Doctor, he had big curly hair and a comically long scarf, and often offered people jelly babies (British candy, like gummy bears). He affected a goofy and bumbling demeanor, but was actually extremely secretive and deceptive, often pretending to be caught in an enemy's trap only to reveal that everything had gone according to his plan all along. Was elected President of Gallifrey for a while, but left. Had lots of horror and mystery stories.

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison)- Dressed like he was playing cricket, with a sprig of celery pinned to his jacket. Noble and peaceful, he struggled with the fact that people around him kept dying.

The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker)- Dressed in bright colors, but was actually a much darker, more unstable version of the character. His default emotions were anger and self-satisfaction, and the show got much more violent during his run.

The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy)- Famously had a straw hat, a question mark-shaped umbrella, and a vest covered in question marks. Started out bumbling and silly to tone the show down after the Sixth Doctor, but gradually grew to be ruthless, manipulative, and fiercely protective of his companion Ace. The show was cancelled after his run.

The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann)- Only appearing in a made-for-tv movie, he had long hair and a three-piece suit. Romantic and passionate, he reveled in life and gave people hints about their futures.

The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)- The first Doctor of the rebooted series, he dresses and acts the most like a normal human, with a buzz cut and a leather jacket, and more of an ability to fit in where he travels than his predecessors. Full of survivor's guilt from the Time War, he could be dark and moody or disturbingly manic, but generally settled down into a laid-back, joking demeanor. Grinned a lot, and liked the word "fantastic". He only had one season, as Eccleston didn't like the way the show was being run and left on bad terms.

The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)- Competing with Tom Baker in popularity, he is the iconic new-series Doctor. Fast-talking, friendly, and witty, he's beloved by fans (especially female fans), and dressed in tailored suits, a pair of converse, and occasionally glasses that he didn't actually need. Pacifistic and occasionally melancholy, he would always give his enemies one chance to change their ways, but would coldly and methodically destroy anyone who didn't repent or who he thought irredeemable. Probably the most human and relatable Doctor.

The Eleventh (and current) Doctor (Matt Smith)- Dressed in a tweed jacket, suspenders, and a bowtie, he's an eccentric old man in a young man's body. Much more distant and alien (like the early Doctors) than Tennant, but shares his friendliness and tendency to ramble. Clever but absent-minded, he tends to miss important details of situations or social norms, all the while talking circles around anyone who bothers to listen. He's very excitable, and will latch on to anything he considers "cool" (his bowtie, a fez, a space helmet, etc). He also tends to go into a cold fury reminiscent of Ten when someone manages to anger him.

Where Do I Start?

This is the question that usually plagues people who are new to the series, since there's just so much of it (49 seasons overall!). My advice to you is, if you want to watch the show, start with the new series. It's a lot easier to get into, as the episodes are shorter, it's more fast-paced, and because it's a revival so many years after the original show was cancelled, it does a good job of introducing new viewers to the show. More or less any season of the new series makes a good point of entry (I started with Tennant's last season and worked backwards, and I still understood it), but I'd recommend the beginning of a new Doctor, so either Series 1, Series 2, or Series 5. If you start with 1, keep in mind that that season has quite a bit of silly plots and bad special effects, so anything that seems dumb or off-putting will probably be something that gets better as you keep watching. Series 2 is better-produced, but with the exception of a couple good episodes (and one great one) it's rather unmemorable, and you'll miss some elements of Series 1 that served to introduce new fans to the Whoniverse quite well (particularly the episode "Dalek"). Series 5 has a high budget and is very cinematic and well-made, and has a number of good episodes. Like series 2, it does help to introduce old elements of the Whoniverse to new viewers, but you'll still probably get more out of it if you've seen series 1-4. So I suppose my advice here is to try starting from Series 1 of the newly revived show, but if you find it hard to get into it, consider giving series 2 or 5 a chance.

If you want to experience Doctor Who but don't want to watch the whole thing, there are a number of stand-alone episodes that give a good sense of the style and feel of the show. If I get a bit of time later in the week, I'll post a list of recommendations.

Cover Art!

Jon Foster's art for this series is absolutely fantastic. It really does a good job of showing off the Steampunk aesthetic of the books, along with Priest's skill with description.

I was watching my roommate play Skyrim yesterday, expecting more dragons and fire-mages, when all of the sudden I realized he was in a steampunkish dwarve factory, complete with steam powered robot guys. Nice unexpected dose of sci-fi.

While it's clear there are visual steampunk elements in Boneshaker, I'm not sure if it defines the world Zeke and Briar live in. All the cyberpunk stories we've read displayed worlds where just about every aspect of human life is dominated by the advanced technology and dilapidated moral structure. What do you guys think?

They're making a Dr. Who movie!!

Read about it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/dr-who-movie-on-the-way_n_1093101.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Also, I canNOT wait to talk about Boneshaker in class!! It is SO GOOD.

Boneshaker

Ooooooo.....yall this one is GOOD! I finished Boneshaker yesterday and wow. I loved this story. I don't want to give anything away so I'll save all the good bits for class but I do have one complaint. It's not so much a complaint as me whining though. I know Andy said that the sequel isn't really a sequel because it doesn't follow the same characters but I almost wish it would. I have grown attached to these characters and I want to know what happens to them!! I have a good enough guess for Briar and Zeke but what about the Doornails? I NEED TO KNOW!!! The epilogue is very unclear about this. Something I loved about this novel was that there was no love story. No one was wasting time "falling in love" which I appreciated. Don't get me wrong, as a girl I love a great love interest but I'm glad the author didn't just throw one in here to have a love element. I don't think it would have worked. That's something I wish other authors would realize too: you don't always need a love story. I think if there had been one, I wouldn't have enjoyed the story as much.

If this is how all steampunk novels are, then I want to read more of the genre. I still don't really quite understand what justifies the steampunk genre. How is it different from regular sci-fi?

And on a totally random note: this is the kind of story that should be made into a movie. This (to me anyhow) is new and different. When I think about the movies that are coming out now (Twilight in particular), I wonder why Hollywood would prefer to make the same old movies instead of something as cool and unique as this novel. When I was reading it, I was freaked out I-am-Legend-style so I could see it working on a scary movie level as well as sci-fi.

Times of Scarcity

Our discussion in class Wednesday really made me realize just how little I'm aware of what's going on in the world around me. You guys mentioned stuff about aquifer problems out west and whatnot for the water issues, something I hadn't even realized was currently an issue. As depressing as the atmosphere was, that class woke me up a little bit, and I feel like I'm more motivated to do productive things with my time to help ensure that, as selfish as it sounds, at least my own future isn't one that is actively dealing with scarcity.

Also, as a journalism major, I found it interesting when we discussed how the general public only seems to care about whatever problem the media focuses its spotlight on. That does seem to be somewhat of a problem, and I wonder when national media will focus itself more on at-home issues that need to be resolved instead of celebrity news and nonsense.

Did y'all know you can set your Google page to read in Klingon? There is also an option for Pirate. My life just got better.

Please correct me if I am wrong and just missed it while reading: but while reading The Windup Girl, I thought that it was strange that with all the technologies they had to genetically modify the seeds to be resistant to the plagues and the megodont that they still used springs to store energy. I just believe that there would be a more efficient way for them to store power then having to constantly rewind the springs. I may have just read over why it’s this way. Do any of you have any thoughts on this?

Two Bacigalupi quotes

Of the Paolo Bacigalupi interview excerpts published at Locus Online, two are especially relevant to today's discussion:

‘‘There are a lot of things in my writing that somebody can find to hate. If you’re looking for escapism, you’re not necessarily going to find it. If you’re looking for something really nifty and cool, you’re not necessarily going to find it. If you’re looking for an exploration of fears, you’re gonna find it! That’s where I work. Is the world going to fall apart? And if so, what is it going to look like? I’m interested in the process of us not getting our shit together.”

‘‘As adults, we’re stuck in this matrix of decisions that we’ve already made. If you’ve got a mortgage to pay and you’ve got your commute already set up, you keep getting in your car and driving even as you kill the planet. We’re unwilling to make the more difficult decisions that would pull ourselves out of that matrix. But when you speak to young people, you’re speaking to people who haven’t cast all their choices in stone yet. They still have options; it’s all in flux. So to have an opportunity to talk to them about the world that we’re handing off to them is really valuable, and really wonderful to me.”

Inheritance

Ok so I have the coolest boyfriend ever and for our one year he's getting me this final installment in the Inheritance cycle. Why I am blogging about it (when I normally wouldn't because electronic PDA is equally as yucky as the normal kind) is because I won't actually get the book until the 27th of this month. So if you do read it, please don't post anything about what actually happens without giving me some kind of warning/ spoiler alert notice. Since it comes out tomorrow I wanted to go ahead and post this.

On a different note: does anyone else dislike this week's reading? I think I'm a little biased from last year's group who went on and on about how much they hated it but I am having a difficult time trudging through this one.

Twenty Minutes into the Future

Here's something I meant to post about a while ago, but didn't get a chance to.

When you think of science fiction, you usually think of stories set far into the future with advanced technologies that would be practically unimaginable today. Some that we've read, though, especially Cory Doctorow's work, takes a very different approach, and uses a setting just barely ahead of when it was written, exploring technologies that are plausible based on current developments. This is actually something that I really like about Doctorow's work, because he uses it to extrapolate the implications of current events, be they legal proceedings or technological developments, into a world of science fiction. Good examples include Little Brother, which took the US political climate at the time it was written and applied it to technology just barely more advanced that what was really available, or "The Jammie Dodgers and the Adventure of the Leicester Square Screening" which extrapolated current developments in British copyright law into the fairly near future. Another example is Dollhouse, set only a few years after it aired, in which the only difference from the present day is the existence of the neural technology that drives the plot. This technique really allows an author to get readers to think about current events, or about the kind of changes to society that might occur given the technological possibilities of the near future. As much as I like the idea of exploring completely new and different worlds with science fiction, I do enjoy this approach every once in a while, especially when it's as well done as a lot of Doctorow's work.

Which does everyone prefer in their science fiction: the near future or the distant? Technology that's incredibly advanced, or currently plausible?

Remember, remember

Happy Guy Fawkes day everybody! And, of course, happy gameday!! ROLL TIDE!

PSA for all the girls!!!

So there is this website called pintrest and I think it definitely is in the spirit of Cory Doctorow. It is the girliest website in the world. Basically it shares all these pictures of everything from recipes to DIY projects to cute animals to fashion and then the links to find them on the web (thats the Doctorow part). It is worth taking a look at for sure. My roommates officially have me addicted but I'm still trying to figure it out (hence the poor description here).

The Things

I'm pretty confident that if I had never seen John Carpenter's The Thing, I would not have enjoyed this story as much. While it did a good job of retelling the story from the alien's point of view, a lot of what made the story so terrifying and moving is only to be found through watching the original. If you haven't seen the movie, I would definitely recommend watching it. The movie contains some of the best non-CGI effects you can find (which is why I paid no attention to the release of the recent remake).

Random Thought while reading "Sultan of the Clouds"

When the cities in “Sultan of the Clouds” are first described, the first thought I had is of an upcoming game called Bioshock Infinite. In the Bioshock universe, the first two games are retellings of the 1950’s in an underwater city named Rapture. In this time Line science has achieved the ability to allow humans to splice their genetics with plasmids which allow the user to have powers, i.e. telekinesis or shooting lightning from their hands. But But using too many different types of plasmids causes one to go crazy. The first two games are great and really have good stories, a lot of elements come from Ayn Rand. However, in Infinite the world has changed into floating towns connected by lines that you zip across. I know it’s kind of random but that was the first thing I thought of when they talked about the cities. Here is a trailer if anyone is interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WDQ4FhslSk

The Hunger Games

So I just reread the Hunger Games series and once again, could not put it down. I think I read the first and second book each in a day. Part of what attracts me to the series is obviously the love story, but it also raises some interesting questions about our possible future. Children as pawns in the struggles of war is a key theme throughout and I find myself wondering if our society would ever sink so low. I think the reason that I prefer this series to Twilight is mainly because Katniss is not a weak and useless female lead. She takes charge but admits to her own faults, whereas Bella is a damsel in distress nearly all of the time. It reminds me of a quote by Joss Whedon (that maybe someone already posted here? is that where I saw it?) "Interviewer: So why do you write these strong female characters? Joss Whedon: Because you're still asking me that question. "

It's Not Over!

http://www.pottermore.com/

This is Rowling's extension to the books. I can't figure out how to get on the site! I thought it was supposed to open to the public yesterday, but apparently not. Otherwise, you have to sign up to be a beta member and then maybe you'll get an email invite. Anyways, I think the premise is that you read the books and extra stuff is added along the way. You get sorted when Harry does, and there are house points. So if you were like me and cried when it ended, it's not over!

Oh no she didn't.....

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/j-k-rowling-confession-moves-155021303.html

This article talks about an interview with JK Rowling author of the Harry Potter series and apparently....she wanted to kill Ron Weasley off. She didn't want to kill him in Deathly Hallows either; she wanted to kill him half way through the series.

.......As a HUGE HP fan (who is so beyond excited to be playing Quidditch on the Quad this month) I would have cried my dadgum guts out and been thoroughly pissed off at Rowling. Somewhere in the article she says that she was in a dark place or something when she felt that way... to which I say pop some midol and eat some chocolate and that usually fixes me right up. Am I right ladies?

As for the image, I keep seeing things like this on fb so I am going to start posting them. I have no valid reason but it's sci-fi humor and I laughed. Hope yall enjoy too

Interesting... I have a feeling someone's gonna go a little Mikey if this actually happens.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/us-government-social-media_n_1069203.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

More Walks With The Dead

I am a little concerned that you, my classmates, have not gotten into The Walking Dead as much as I have. There was another new episode last night at 8 and it was amazing. As much as we always end up talking about zombies, I find this interesting. The show is beginning to take some very interesting turns. I don't want to get into to much detail as to ruin it for some of you, but i will tell a little. The story still is highly focused on th family aspect of living in a post-zombie-apocalyptic world. The main character's son was shot last week by accident, and this week's episode focused on the difficult choice that a family must make when put in this situation.

Is it better to Save your child even if that means he has to live and grow in a horrible world filled with zombies? You decide.

I think it would be worth it, because a life is a life.

Naturalist

The Naturalist was a pretty interesting take on the traditional view of zombies. It was fun to watch Cahill making notes about zombies such as "they don't seem to have a preference for brains." I thought it was intriguing that he became so detached from other humans that he had no qualms about using them as lab rats of sorts to learn more about zombies, in a somewhat Jane Goodall fashion. My favorite part was the conclusion he reached at the end, that zombies should just be seen as wild animals, doing what was in their nature to do. What do you guys think about this viewpoint? Are zombies bloodthirsty monsters, or just wild animals trying to survive?

Cory Doctorow

First I would like to say that I have really like Cory Doctorow's work that we have read so far, and I would like to read more once I have time. One thing I really like about his writing is that he references many of the products that we have now in his work. I feel like I connect better with the characters when I know that they use Google just as much as I do or they have the same brand of game systems. While some of his technology is more advance than ours, I like to think that we are very close to achieving some of it. I also feel that I like his stories better because he is a young adult author and I guess it is easier to connect to the character and some of the things that they go through. These are just some of my thoughts on Cory Doctorow; also who has been your favorite author so far?

Robot aliens

It never occurred to me that robots could be aliens. My imagination didn't put the two together. I've realized though that there are several examples of this:

1)I love the first transformers movie (the other two will not be mentioned). But I always wanted to disect one of the autobots to see just how they funcioned. Are their "organs" similar to ours or are they car parts?

2)My favorite robot alien though is General Grievous from Star Wars. I mean come on! He fought Obi Wan with four lightsabers! Plus we got to see his organs and how they were part robot and part alien in essence. I don't know why, but I loved his hacking cough. I guess it made him more real to me, I don't know. Do yall know of any more/have any favorite robot aliens? And who would win in a fight: robot aliens or stereotypical aliens?

I thought Plus or Minus was interesting as it explored human adaptation to living in a zero g environment. The idea of genetically engineering humans to be more suited for space exploration is something that I think could be feasible in the future. Even adapts like Glint were still susceptible to cosmic radiation though, leaving radiation resistance as the next challenge for humans in this future.

A common theme in sci-fi is the suspending of human animation through some type of freezing process to deal with the length of space flight. Usually this technology is available to everyone through some type of freezing mechanism (i.e. Fry in Futurama). This story was unique in that the hibernation process came less from external influences, but mainly from genetic engineering. Would you guys agree that this is one of the more straightforward works we've read?

Siri

Okay, I've never owned an iPhone before. But now I'm definitely wanting one. I don't know if you guys have already seen/heard about Siri. Maybe you have and I'm just a little behind. But man, it seems like just the coolest thing ever! Feels like we're finally starting to catch up a little to all the science-fiction sort of stuff; I saw someone compare Siri to Tony Stark's computer assistant in Iron Man. Siri seemed kinda relevant to all the AI talk we've had lately, so I wanted to know: what do you guys think of Siri?

The Exterminator’s Want-Ad

I would first like to say that I really enjoyed this story and found it really funny. I thought that it was interesting that before Bobby got put into prison, he was the anti-Cory Doctorow. His job was fighting the piracy and file sharing; so I was just wondering how you feel about file sharing. Another thing I found interesting in the story is that even after Bobby got out, he took one of the dirtiest jobs just because he was able to kill a socialist society. So would you take a crappy job just to keep with your beliefs in fighting a system that you do not believe in?

Also I really like some of the pop culture references in the story.

The Taste of Night

I really enjoyed this story. It was another one of those with an unreliable narrator. We don't know for sure if Nell is experiencing contact from aliens or if she is mentally ill. Referring to the doctor as Call-Me-Anne was a nice touch. And I know Marcus was supposed to be the bad guy, but I felt sorry for him. He can't relate to his wife. He doesn't understand that to Nell, whatever happens to her is as real and as tangible as the ground beneath his feet. It is hard for him to take himself out of his reality and put himself into a new one. It is frightening to imagine there are other possibilities. Thinking like that frays the fabric of reality. It is also difficult to live with someone who is mentally ill. It is usually accompanied by some sort of manipulation and self harm (Which is what her eye looks like to Marcus.) So when he seems uncaring, he is most likely protecting himself, and by extension Nell, from getting sucked into the demons of her mental illness. You can see that he cares and wants a solution when he asks if mental illness can be a side affect of a tumor. He is disappointed and angry when he finds out otherwise. I could go on about this, but I might just save it for class.

I need a new TV show to start on netflix as I have burned through every episode of Arrested Development multiple times. I kind of want to go science fiction...so Dr. Who or Firefly...or both?

The Walking Dead

I recently watched the first episode of the new season of The Walking Dead on AMC. For anyone who is interested in this show, they have really overhauled the show in a very progressive way. Last season, the show was very gory; it was interesting none-the-less. This season, however, the show seems to center around the family life in a post-apocalyptic world. It truly was a great idea to move the show in this direction as they are targeting a much wider audience now. If anyone has not watched this show yet, i highly suggest it. It comes on AMC Sunday nights at 8 PMcentral.

Inheritance

I don't know if yall have ever read Eragon or any of the Inheritance cycle but.....THE FINAL INSTALLMENT IS OUT IN 20 DAYS!!! Yall....I have been waiting and waiting what seems like forever for Christopher Paolini to finish this series. It took him about two years per book so I think that puts the original release date for Eragon around 2002. This one took him 3 dadgum years to finish. I started this series when I was twelve. WRITE FASTER!! Anyhow, I will be at Barnes and Noble November 8. I hope we don't have anything big to read that week because my attention will be devoted elsewhere.

Because Paolini took FOREVER to write this series it got me thinking: does the author owe his/her audience anything? If Paolini didn't want to finish the series, he shouldn't have to but it would kill me as an avid reader. So I guess my intelectual answer is that an author doesn't owe anything to his/her reader but my answer as the audience is that heck yes they do. Don't start a series if you don't intend to finish it because I won't be reading you again.

This Week's Readings

So, judging from the other blog posts, I'm not alone in being a little bit confused by some of the stories. But really, I didn't find them too bad. I did feel like Under the Moons of Venus and Elegy both had an opposite style to Chiang's stories, in the sense that where Chiang over-explained the details I didn't want to know about, these authors seemed to not explain the things I wanted to know more about. In particular, I was fascinated with the concepts of the Plague Gods; I would have loved to have a little bit more backstory, maybe even a full novel based around that sort of storyline, as opposed to a metaphorical lesson sort of story. Was I the only one that wanted these to be more than just "short stories"?

Doctor Who

It's official. I'm obsessed with the doctor. I started watching last week, and now I can't stop. It's been very bad for my productivity. I was hoping that ya'll could be my support group. I love that you can still see influences from the original series. I love the personality of the doctor, especially the tenth. I haven't met the eleventh, but I've heard good things. The series reminds me of Buffy which is one of my favorites. They both have adventures that seem lame but are completely awesome! I have to give it to the British. They have a good thing going for them. On a side note, I don't mind spoilers. (Please tell me that there is someone better than Rose and Micky coming.)

Zachary Quinto is (Officially) Gay!

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2011/10/16/zachary-quinto-comes-out/?ref=topposts

At least there's no speculation anymore... but my poor little heart. It's broken.

Hopefully this won't have an impact on his career/the upcoming Star Trek sequel. We'll see...

What the...

Hey folks! I've been reading all our assignments so far, especially Elegy for a Young Elk, and I have just one thing to say. I have absolutely no idea what is going on. I read Sean's post and it's starting to make a little more sense now, but I just wish that these authors would explain the backstories a LOT more. Or maybe I'm just thick-headed.

Sean Talks a Lot About This Week's Stories for Some Reason

After reading (most of) this week stories, I'm really impressed, especially with "Elegy for a Young Elk" and "Under the Moons of Venus". I've always found the whole singularity idea interesting, and while it was just one (incorrect) theory about what had happened in "Under the Moons of Venus", there were hints of it nonetheless, especially in the fact that animals made sentient through AI were apparently a somewhat normal occurrence by that point in time. That, and the way "Elegy for a Young Elk" handled the whole premise reminded me a lot of a Cory Doctorow story I read a while ago called "I, Rowboat", in which humanity had long since left earth, uploaded to computer arrays in orbit, leaving behind the animals and random objects that people had begun to "uplift" (make sentient by adding AI) for utility or as a hobby, among them a coral reef and the rowboat who is the protagonist of the story. I also really liked the way "Elegy for a Young Elk" handled the transition from normal humans to computers and AIs, with the progression from what seemed a lot like the 3D printers that have been made recently to nanobots to the "gods" that basically made the whole world their computer through those nanobots. It was also refreshing that they both managed to avoid the "science and technology are scary and bad" angle even when describing cataclysmic events.

On a less rambling, more discussable note, what does everyone think really happened in "Under the Moons of Venus"? Was it some force protecting life on earth by moving species to Venus just before catastrophic extinction events occurred? Was Blackett right in guessing that it might all be one big calculation in a physics simulation? Was this all planned by the trilobites or something?

Dollhouse

So I've been rewatching Dollhouse, and let me just say, don't watch too many episodes before bed. Lately in my dreams I've either been chasing people around and kicking ass or running from people trying to kick mine. Other than that, I've really enjoyed watching it again and each episode is still interesting the second time around. I'll say it again.. if you haven't seen it, watch it! Netflix has the whole series (all two seasons, bummer). Meanwhile I am about to start reading for class, and from the sounds of it I have my work cut out for me...

Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots

To start, how could a story with the title Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots be anything but AWEsome? It was a fantastic story in my opinion.

Did anyone else find it odd that Buck wouldn't sleep with her? I understand that it's the personality of Herbert but the reason they got divorced was because he was unfaithful. It's hypocritical of him to have an issue with her sleeping with other robots. To me, if he really loved her then he would never have cheated on her in the first place. Also, as a female I would be royally PISSED that my boyfriend created a robot that looked like another ex-girlfriend and wanted my personality inside her. What the heck!!! Don't get me wrong it made a hilarious section to read, but I would choose death just to spite him. I'm too stubborn to allow Buck/Herbert the satisfaction of my looking like someone else. Then again I would love to drive him nuts until he committed robot suicide so...

A real question I had though is why would Buck/Herbert stop having sex with different women after he had enjoyed affairs for so long? And on a more interesting level: would Herbert have altered Buck to make him last longer? I'm thinking yes. He apparently has a big ego so I bet he wouldn't be able to stand being that dissatisfying.

Hey guys I was just letting y'all know that the second season of The Walking Day starts tomorrow. I think it's a great show and if you haven't seen the first season it's only six episodes long and available on Netflix. Also, since its Halloween what are some of your favorite zombie movies or books? While they are not books I really enjoy the Left 4 Dead series and if you are into video games I highly recommend them. Hope y'all have a good Saturday and Roll Tide.

This Weeks Reading

At work today I began reading the first few assigned stories and I have to say that I am having a much harder time following these than the past ones. I know that there is a new author for each story so it’s harder to develop a feel for the writer, but "Under the Moons of Venus" just completely went over my head. If any of you have some input to give on what was going on please let me know. I am going to reread”Under the Moons of Venus" and "Elegy for a Young Elk" to see if I can piece it all together or find something I missed. I would really like to see what you guys think of these stories.

Was anyone else glad to see Duncan Jones opted not to use CGI in creating Moon's special effects?While there were only a few shots that took place outside of the moon base, the models they used for these shots functioned very well. I would be interested to know whether the move was to save cost or meant as a purposeful tribute to 70's and 80's sci-fi.

Mid-semester blog count

I just counted the number of original posts on the blog for each student so far. I did not count Comments, only posts that could begin new threads -- the ones for which you click New Post and Publish Post, in other words. Here's the tally.

• Six posts: Haley, our champion.
• Four posts apiece: Caleb, Kelsey, Blake, Sean, Jerilyn, Jennifer.
• Three posts apiece: Amber, Mary Grace, Levi, Allen.
• Two posts: Andrew.

Remember this passage from our syllabus: "Participating on the blog – through original posts and replies to others’ posts – is an important part of your semester grade, so get in the habit of visiting daily and contributing frequently.  The minimum class requirement is three posts per week per student, at least one of which must start a new topic or thread, and at least one of which must be a response to a classmate’s post." (Emphasis added.)

As this is Week Eight of the semester, then one easily should expect by now at least six original posts from each of you, assuming we don't count that short Week One and the Week Five when class did not meet in Nott Hall.

Safe to say that all of you but Haley are in arrears, some of you significantly so. Blog participation, remember, is 20 percent of your final grade. Fair warning! Maybe blogging about next week's stories, or about our free-range Moon discussion, will help you catch up ...

Story volunteers for Oct. 19

Correct me, please, if I wrote something down wrong.

• "Elegy for a Young Elk" (Hannu Rajaniemi): Levi Crawford
• "Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots" (Sandra McDonald): Amber Brewer
• "Under the Moons of Venus" (Damien Broderick): Allen Head
• "Alone" (Robert Reed): Haley Herfurth
• "Names for Water" (Kij Johnson): Kelsey Dueland

As before, each volunteer simply will start us talking about the story: what you found interesting or confusing or unexpected or problematic or marvelous, and what questions you have for your classmates about it.

Any context you might be able to share would be helpful, too, especially if you have some expertise or personal experience in the stuff being written about.  Material from your other classes is welcome.

You also can start blogging your reactions to these stories at any time.  You needn't wait for Wednesday's class, and you needn't be one of those volunteers listed above to wade in on any of these points.

Sci Fi vs. Fantasy

So I was thinking about how creative all of our Sci-fi stories have been so far and I've decided that in general Sci-fi is more innovative/creative/immaginative than Fantasy. I'm not saying that the genre of fantasy is old and boring; it is by far my favorite genre. I do think though that of the material we read in Andy's dark fantastic course and the material we read now, what we read now is much more immaginative. I know I would never be able to come up with stories like Moon or The Lifecycle of Software Objects (not saying I could ever be Neil Gaiman either so don't crucify me). I also can't really guess what comes next in a lot of the material we've covered so far this year. In some of the material from last year, I had a better guestimate at what would happen. It's not that cloning is a newer idea than dragons and magic. I don't know what exactly makes me think this way. Any opinions? Which is more creative: sci-fi or fantasy?

I almost forgot we needed to be posting in the blog, that's awful. I'm at Barnes and Noble, working on my paper (because there's no way I'm spending a dime on Twilight.) Hope everyone's papers are going well!

Cory Doctorow's Essays

http://www.write4kids.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/doctorow.pdf

For those that are interested, this a collection of Cory Doctorow's essays on copyrights and other matters. I found them very interesting, I am using some in my paper, and I was just wondering what some of your thoughts were on the topic.

I saw a preview for a new sci-fi movie called In Time, starring Justin Timberlake. The movie seems to be set in a future where humans have mastered control over the human body and can control a person's longevity. The rich get to live for years and years while the average man only gets 25. I'm not getting good vibes from the preview, but it would be nice to see JTimb breakout into a new genre. Hope those papers are goin well.

I've been looking around on the Ferg website, and I think you can reserve the theater. Anyone up for watching Moon maybe Tuesday night? If I can reserve it that quickly, I don't know.

I'm back!

Yes, I had semi-forgotten about the blog. My life has been ridiculous lately! However, check out this article predicting a new rise of TNG, like a phoenix from the ashes. Only much, much less exciting. If you're me, at least.

http://www.startrek.com/article/trekland-supplemental-8-is-tng-due-for-its-comeback

Paper topics...

I probably should have posted this as soon as I walked out of class on Wednesday, but I am completely stuck as far as an idea for these papers go. I can't come up with anything that I feel like I can expand upon enough for an entire paper! Any ideas, anyone? I'm desperate at this point.

Also, if anyone is writing about the calli, I saw on Chelsea Lately tonight that a school in Britain has banned mirrors and makeup! Seems pretty similar to that situation.

A Reimagining of the Justice League

Note: the links don't show up too well for me when I look at this from the main page, so I'll just let you know that they're on "Here" and "Dresden Codak".

I don't want to take up too much of the blog here, but I found something today that I thought I should share, especially given the topic of last week's discussion. Here is the Justice League as reimagined by Aaron Diaz, author of the excellent webcomic Dresden Codak.

I'll start out by saying that I think the whole thing is absolutely brilliant. In the midst of our discussion on whether or not characters like Superman are still relevant, Diaz has revamped the core group of DC's superheroes (with the exception of Batman, who he believes doesn't belong in the Justice League) to be more compelling and human. Plus, his character designs look really cool.

I really like the return to Superman's roots as a fighter of social injustice while still managing to make him seem more futuristic and believably alien than ever. It's fitting that Superman's arrival on earth drives the whole plot (well, except for Wonder Woman and Green Lantern), inspiring other people to either look into human enhancement or try their hands at fighting crime. They all have interesting and distinct potential character arcs: Wonder Woman adjusts to humanity and the modern world, Cyborg and Green Lantern would likely discover and deal with in their own ways the fact that being a superhero isn't all fun and games, Martian Manhunter deals with the stigma of being obviously alien (in addition to basically being a Superman fanboy who gets to fight alongside his idol), The Flash would eventually choose between curing himself or continuing to help people, and Power Girl would face the conflict between the protection of American interests that is her mission and the higher moral purpose that is the League's. All in all, it looks like something that I would love to read if it were ever really made (especially since I'm already enamored with Aaron Diaz's art style).

Any comments on this, or criticisms? If you got to choose a superhero and completely redesign them, how do you think you would go about it?

Humans and Gods

Here's the picture from which I got the quote that I shared in class on Wednesday about Doctor Who and Sherlock (which I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it). I do think that it accurately sums up quite a number of archetypal characters (with the likes of Superman, Prometheus, or Jesus on The Doctor's side, and Iron Man, Bellerophon, and the protagonist from Understand on the Holmes side), and I'm thinking of making it or a similar idea into a paper topic.

On a slightly related note, what did any Doctor Who fans in the class think of the Series 6 finale? I absolutely loved it, but it seems to me from others' reactions that Steven Moffat has mastered the art of simultaneously enraging and delighting his viewers, of doing exactly what people expect but still keeping them guessing.

On the topic of comic books

Since we have been reading and discussing comics for the last couple of weeks I thought I would share this. http://collider.com/dc-comics-universe-reboot/93845/

DC Comics is rebooting most of their heroes and it begins this month. This s a great chance for people who were never really into comics to get a start at the very beginning or for fans to get a new take on their favorite hero.

Gray Characters

I highly enjoyed It's Superman, which I had not anticipated. Superman is probably my least favorite superhero. He's just too.....perfect. But in this novel, we get to see his internal struggles, how he doesn't always make the best choices, and that adds so much depth to his characters. That being said, he's still the most boring character in the book. I found myself loving the sections that featured Lex more than the ones with Clark, even thought Lex Luthor is pretty far from being a gray character.

The story was woven together wonderfully, and I very much enjoyed seeing how the author introduced new characters and brought them into the storyline seamlessly.

And to answer a previous post, Batman would definitely win a fight. He's willing to kill, and Clark tries his hardest not to. And that is why Batman is a more interesting character than Superman.

I wish I was Harry Potter...

I have always loved the fantasy/sci-fi genres but when I read these stories I always get jealous of the cool things the characters can do! Come on, it's not fair that Harry can clean his room with a wave of his wand, and it would be so cool to change the weather at will like Storm from X-men (no more crazy hot football games at Bryant Denny...). Reading all these Superman stories made me curious to examine (for the 100th time) which super power I would want...

I am too scared of heights for flying, I wouldn't want giant claws coming out of my hands like Wolverine, nor do I want any powers that would remind me of spiders. I know there is a character in X-Men that can (forgive the Harry Potter term here) apparate. As a college student, this power appeals to me because I would no longer have to worry about the evil parking at this university. I could wake up 5 minutes before class, get dressed, and will myself to physically be in class. I would never get caught by the train, rain wouldn't effect me in any way, and gameday would be SO much more relaxing. I would be so much more relaxed: no more road rage! There are so many AWEsome possibilities with this power.

Your turn: which super power would you want?

After reading It's Superman, I found that I enjoyed quite a bit. The writing style and time period reminded me of Hardboiled detective novels that I have read in the past where violence is a constant. I also really enjoyed the clash of personalities between Clark and Lois. Clark's "farmboy sweetness" and Lois' cut throat characteristics amused me throughout the novel. Clark's personality as a whole interested me, because I had never taken into account of the internal struggle that he constantly had- he was a superhero to himself and an average country boy to everyone else. I have always dreamed of having super powers, but I have never really thought of what it must feel like to have to hide a huge part of yourself from the world. Has anyone else ever had thoughts on the repercussions of having a "secret identity"?

Superman or Batman

In preparation for our discussion on Superman, I have to ask. If Superman and Batman were to fight to the death, who would win? I think that Superman is more powerful, but if it came down to it, he could not kill Bruce. It isn't in Kal-El's personality to do that to a friend. Also, Batman carries Kryptonite with him, and he wouldn't be afraid to use it if he thought he had to. So my answer is Batman. What do you think?

Ender's Game

I was at Barnes & Noble, and I impulse-bought Ender's Game, since I've never read it.

Looking forward to finally reading such an important piece of sci-fi.

The Founding Fathers

OK, first a big shout-out to Jennifer for the comment on my post, it worked and I am now fully capable of writing on this blog again. Thank you.

And this may have nothing to do with science fiction, which is why I kept it to myself in class, but the Founding Fathers were not all deists, nor mostly deists. I don't have time for a huge post as of yet due to homework constraints, but here's just a few simple things to help yall understand where I'm coming from.

For now, just to get the discussion going, I will present a few simple facts. The point is not to call anyone out or say someone is outright wrong, but to get people to actually read and research about the men who founded the country. As long as it sparks your interest and gets a conversation going, my job is done.

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are the big-hitters who are typically described as deists. There are others, but I'll start with these two. Neither man would fall into mainstream Christianity by any means (Jefferson wrote a Bible that omitted all the miracles); I am saying that to be completely honest and fair, I let the facts fall where they may.

Nevertheless, when asked, Thomas Jefferson said, "The Bible is the cornerstone of liberty...students' perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands." http://www.quotesdaddy.com/quote/353844/thomas-jefferson/the-bible-is-the-cornerstone-of-liberty-students

I had to hand-type that link because it won't let me paste anything in here. Moving on, Benjamin Franklin rejected the deist notion that God does not interfere with the workings of the Universe. After weeks of tense arguments that got them nowhere, the Constitutional delegates were very frustrated. Benjamin Franklin stood up and called for prayer immediately. The whole speech can be found online, but here is a small excerpt from the official proceedings, as confirmed by James Madison: "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"

Just some things to think about. Once again, this is just to let you know why I think the way I do. There are literally volumes of other materials that have convinced me on the subject as well, as I used to be very political. So let me know what you think.

Hope all of you have a wonderful two weeks!

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

I think it is incredibly fitting that we read Little Brother this week, considering that the tenth anniversary of 9/11 was Sunday. It is a good reminder that, yes, the government has the responsibility to protect us, but it also is a reminder that some of our First Amendment rights have been encroached upon in the process. This book got me really angry. I mean pissed off because I made me think about things that I had started to just accept as part of life today. Where do we draw the line between security and freedom? And who has the right to draw that line? Just something to think about.

Recreation of Star Wars

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2011/03/15/watch-simon-pegg-and-nick-frost-attempt-to-recreate-star-wars

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are so funny in this. Watch and enjoy.

On an unrelated topic...

So my roommate recommended this book to me, "Unwound." It's the story of a future where instead of abortion, parents can choose to "unwind" their kids by a certain age. Basically unwinding is completely erasing a person and using what was their body to benefit others. It's considered more humane because every body part is donated or used in some way, and parents are freed of what may have been considered problem children. I'm not saying it was the most well-written book I've ever read, or even all that well developed, but the basic idea presents an interesting concept. In this future, an unwanted baby could be "storked" at someone's doorstep. If you didn't want your baby, all you had to do was leave it at someone's door without being caught and you were home free and that person was responsible for raising it as their own. It's crazy to imagine a reality like that, with limited responsibility and the constant knowledge that you could be destroyed at any moment.