Star Children

I attended a lecture by Lawrence Kraus the other day at the IHR. It is part of a faculty seminar that is exploring "origins." I'm not sure exactly what he had to add to the origins discussion other than to point out that we are "star children," (which I must say, was moving and poetic--we are all composed from the atoms of long-dead stars) but he did spark interesting discussion about the role of humanities in science. He said that he feels philosophy is pretty useless and should not have much of a role in universities and especially not in science.

Sing a little

Recently I have been thinking about "high stakes" situations in which to theorize about compromise, or agency. It seemed to me that the stakes had to be high on some kind of universal level in order to be worth thinking about or to be impactful in any kind of lasting way. When I read Hull and Katz's "Crafting an Agentive Self: Case Studies of Digital Storytelling" last semester, I loved the idea that digital story telling could perhaps help a marginalized young person (which to an extent is all young people, whose needs and skills are never valued, only 'crafted') to craft a sense of agency for themselves. But I worried that it would be only that: a sense of agency. One of my concerns perhaps was that the stakes of "succeeding" at DUSTY were too low.

Congestion

I just read this interesting post from BikePortland.org (via my favorite brother) about how turning off traffic lights in one small town in England actually decreased travel time and made everyone stop acting like bunch of toddlers with driver licenses.

I've actually seen something like this before and never stopped to think about it. When the power goes out on a light, people approach the light slowly, cautiously. They take turns, being very careful to make sure the next person in line is the next person to go. It's amazing. Drivers do this without getting together and talking about it or voting on it or even being told to. They just do it.

Schizo

I had a strange sort of epiphany today. I decided to go public with my blog by posting it on my facebook. I also decided to finally change my profile picture to something that more closely reflects my identity (whatever that means, see my previous post "Identity"), as opposed to that picture of the Columbia Basin gorge. And I engaged in a pretty interesting blog-off with Kaseido/John.

When I first set up this blog, I didn't know what it would be about. Still don't, really. But I knew I didn't want to be constructed as female. I loved the idea of being able to be anyone or anything on the internet. But that's not what happened. My blog wandered, directionless, and my online identity floundered, essentially meaningless and context-less. I couldn't escape being me.

A Voice in the Wind

I just saw yet another article on Engadget about how Android sales are overtaking the iPhone (and other smartphone OS). I rarely actually read these any more because I am so tired of the media (yes, I'm referring to Engadget and its tech-blog cronies as media) constructing this Apple vs Android war.

Identity

Last week I started a D&D game with some fellow grad students. Three of them I know and have socialized with before. Two, including the DM, I had never met in person. I was approached by the DM about what type of character I'd like to play. I'm fairly new to D&D, only ever having played a few times with the older version in 2003/4, so I had a vague idea of who I wanted to be. Negotiating that sort of vague and nebulous identity with the DM via facebook prior to the game, while being simultaneously aware that I would be meeting him in person and having to relate with him on that level was really interesting to think about rhetorically, after I stopped panicking about it.

Compromise

Compromise is a part of every relationship. Usually I think when people imagine compromise, they imagine some magical solution that everyone is 100% happy with. But that's not what compromise is. It's more likely that at least one of the parties will be distinctly unhappy with a portion of the compromise.

People don't like to hear that. In politics, voters don't appear to understand compromise. They see that their politician has betrayed them and their interests. And unfortunately, this is where compromise would be really helpful. Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity (link here, embedding messed up my formatting) is based on the idea that 70-85% of the population could live with the compromises that politicians could probably come up with, but they are too busy having "shit to do" that they are not as vocal as the other 15-30%, thus, compromise never happens. I really hope that's the truth.

Females: how dangerous is the knowledge we give them?

From an opinion piece in the Denver Post:
Beauty meets brute force: Are tough screen heroines empowering, or do they send a dangerous message?



yuck. yuck. yuck yuck yuck.

Seven of One

At my last meeting with my advisor, I mentioned my obsession with Seven of Nine and the blog posts I made summarizing the episodes she appears in (obviously it's relevant), and she suggested that it might be relevant to contextualize the concept of cyborgs for our readings. She actually seemed surprised I hadn't made the connection already. So last night (why do it ahead of time if you can wait till the last minute?) while I was reading through my blogs and skimming through some Voyager episodes, I asked myself why I hadn't made the connection. Borgs are pretty much always on my mind, at least in the periphery, because Star Trek: Voyager is something I'm pretty passionate about. I think the reason is that I haven't been able to fully articulate why I find Seven of Nine and her struggle with her Borg and Human natures so compelling.

Program Evaluation

I am so frustrated with my program evaluation class right now. The element of competition is making people play dirty, which reminds me why people are horrible and selfish and capitalism is evil. I also feel like my group is not prepared to do much critical thinking, making it difficult for me to explore complexity and nuance with my peers.

The one group that really seems to have the eye of the teacher (so, he will probably give them all A's and the rest of us B's) is headed by a girl who appears to be willing to undermine her classmates in order to improve her own chances of winning. She spent the majority of our question time in class today asking a question that we didn't understand, then criticizing us for how "idealistic" our answer and model to her were. We spent the time defending a facet of our presentation we didn't choose to focus on. It was so frustrating.

Teens Rebel, Mosquito Repels

I recently read an article that made me think of my rhetoric studies. Apparently Howard Stapleton invented a device that emits a high frequency noise that is supposed to be inaudible to most people over 25. The purpose of this device is to repel teenagers and young people from being "unruly" in areas where they are not welcome. Many different outlets covered the story, but I liked the NPR story because it captured the reactions of the callers and had some intelligent comments in the comments sections. The main reason I share the NPR story, though, is that Stapleton mentioned that he has been attempting unsuccessfully to stop teens from using a Mosquito ringtone while they are in class so the teacher can't hear when they are texting their friends.*

Bubble Tea

Easy Bubble Tea/Sweet Chilled Milk Tea Recipe

I just made an amazing beverage, and because I would like to share this with people, I am putting it online. There are several recipes for bubble tea or milk tea floating around online, but this one can easily be made with stuff most people have in their kitchens. The addition of powdered sugar to the sugar sauce makes a decent substitute for the tapioca pearls that normally go in bubble tea, since powdered sugar has corn starch, a thickening agent similar to that in tapioca. Play around with the proportions of tea, milk, and sugar syrup to find a mix you'll love!

Bubble Tea Ingredients (makes a single serving):
2 teabags black tea
8 ounces water
4 ounces milk
Sugar Syrup to taste*

Directions:
bring 8 ounces of water to a boil
pour over two teabags black tea, steep until very strong
add desired amount of sugar syrup, stirring until dissolved
chill tea and sugar mixture
when chilled, combine tea and sugar mixture with milk in a blender
pulse on lowest setting quickly until bubbly
serve over ice!

*Sugar Syrup (makes about a single serving):
Sugar Syrup Ingredients:
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoon powdered sugar
4 teaspoons water

combine sugar, powdered sugar, and water in a small saucepan
Heat on medium heat until simmering
Either combine the sauce with the tea immediately or chill until needed (keeps about a month), adding to hot tea when ready

Belief

I cannot believe that God would be so cruel to create a world capable of such evil as can be seen and allow such sickness and injustice as has been suffered to permeate so much of the world while some few lucky people who do not deserve it live in health and wealth and happiness. I refuse to believe in that. I do believe that there is the possibility of good in all people, and if circumstances were right and people were good, the world would be a better place. So, my disbelief is actually a different kind of belief. I have a belief in something that I have some evidence for, but more than that, I have a need to believe it. I like to think that logic is the reason I don't believe in the traditional Christian god. But maybe it's because I have chosen to believe in something different. Does that make me better? I still like to think so. To believe in good seems better than to believe in god.

The Office

I am so excited for The Office. On Thursday, March 4th, Pam and Jim have their baby! According to the intertubes,

Mark your calendars
for a big delivery on its way to NBC Thursdays: A special one-hour edition of The Office titled "The Delivery part 1 and 2" will air on March 4 (9- 10 PM ET) as newlyweds Jim and Pam welcome their new baby! The episode sees the expectant parents determined to wait out the bundle of joy’s arrival for as long as possible. In the meantime, their co-workers try to distract a frustrated Pam with food and entertainment.

In the second half hour, Michael anxiously waits for Pam and Jim's baby to be born. Back at the office, Erin makes Andy jealous when she has lunch with Kevin.

Now, the office has a pretty tried and true formula that means I can predict what's going to happen pretty frequently. However, they also manage to inject just enough uncertainty so that even my predictions get turned on their heads (eg, the Prince paper episode, I knew Michael was going to realize he was helping to shut down a nice little family business, but I didn't see it actually happening due to Dwight's persistence and Michael's eventual acceptance of defeat). With that said, I would like to make some predictions for BABY NIGHT!

Pam's water breaks while at the office. Michael is disgusted, Kelly and/or Erin start to rethink wanting a cute little baby, Dwight does/wants to do something gross with it. This could also go for placenta, afterbirth, or umbilical chord, come to think of it.

Members of the office show up at the hospital to cause mayhem, even though they probably shouldn't be there. Probably a side story takes place in another ward of the hospital, or in the nursery or somewhere like that.

Michael walks in on Pam giving birth and is horrified. Dwight compares it to the birthing of a cow or something. Kelly and/or Erin start to rethink wanting a cute little baby (I think I'm seeing a pattern here).

Pam and Jim have a relationship moment. Their relationship has been feeling sort of empty lately, and I think the reason the writers chose to have this baby come before Pam and Jim were happily married for a while is to keep their relationship fresh for as long as possible without becoming clichéd. I'm seeing something similar to what happened with Pam and Michael at the beginning of Michael Scott paper company, when they took turns, one freaking out and the other taking charge. This will probably happen while they are apparently waiting it out at the office, plus an "awwwwww" moment after the birth.

Pam doesn't want the camera crew filming the birth, so we get the "through-the-door" treatment. This means the biggest part of the story will be largely told through Jim and the others, and I'm also predicting Jim won't be very interesting once the birth gets started, so the others in the hospital will have to carry us through.

The birth takes a ridiculously, unrealistically, TV-tacularly short time to happen.

That's all for now! I can't wait to see what happens!

The Parting of the Ways

Oh my goodness! I didn't know Doctor Who could be so intense! The doctor is changing? The first new doctor didn't last a whole season!

Also, what's torchwood? It showed up in the last episode of the 1st season. And then in one of the first episodes of the 2nd season, Queen Victoria establishes the Torchwood Institute to ... do something.

Boom Town

I'm watching this episode of Dr Who, and I have no clue what's going on! "Bad wolf" and something, some phrase going on between the doctor and Rose. For some reason the TARDIS is unable to fly, so they have to wait with the last remaining Slitheen before they can deliver her to her home planet, where she will face the death penalty. This being Britain, that's a troublesome outcome. Actually, I have seen this sort of plot device before, in Star Trek.

You know, I didn't expect we'd be seeing much of Rose's boyfriend, Micky, again. But here we are, watching them have relationship troubles. He makes silly faces when he's emotional. Apparently Micky is breaking it off with Rose. Probably not forever, but if it is, it's probably for the best. He doesn't deserve to be in a relationship that isn't official, where the other half of the relationship keeps going away for who knows how long to who knows where.

One intersting thing about this episode is the criticism the Slitheen gives the Doctor for meddling in other people's lives. And we also learn that the TARDIS is alive and has a soul, apparently. A bright soul that regresses people to eggs?

Doctor Who season 4

I'm already liking this much better. I wonder what defines a good television series for me. I see a reappearance of the psychic paper. This episode appears to be with a different companion? I wonder what happened to Rose? Unfortunately I can't stream all the episodes. I happened to watch an early episode from the 60s with the Dalek robot monsters in it, and the 6th episode of the 1st new season has them in it! It's exciting to see these connections between episodes; it makes it much more interesting. Apparently the Dalek are responsible for destroying the Time Lord race, of which the doctor is a part. The really hilarious thing about this episode is how the Americans talk like the English. English writers didn't quite get the dialogue right. I also wonder if the actors are English doing American accents? Some of the accents sound very... American. Ha! The Dalek just absorbed the entire internet and apparently now knows everything. I wonder how it knows which parts of it are true? There's a lot of crazy stuff on the internet. I also enjoy how the Dalek haven't gotten any less annoying in the last 45 or so years. Oh my gosh, am I watching the last of the Dalek happen? The end of the Time War? Huh!

To Kill a Terrorist

I was watching the February 4 episode of the Colbert Report this morning.

In his "A Formidable Opponent" segment, Stephen argues with himself about whether to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a jury trial in New York.

I actually don't know much about the trial or what exactly the deal is, but before the episode of the Colbert Report I was of the opinion that he should be tried before a jury because that's what was supposed to happen and the only reason he may not be is because people are so angry and frightened that they wanted to punish him in the worst way possible and make sure he didn't escape or bring any additional security threats to New York by having the trial there. I figured that wasn't enough of a reason to continue to abandon our principles as well as flaunt the law just because we were afraid of a terrorist.

After watching the show, I realised that it is possible some people don't want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to be given a jury trial in New York because there is a possibility that he will be determined innocent, and to them that is an unacceptable alternative. I have to admit, based on what I know, I find it to be a frightening outcome as well. As Stephen pointed out in his segment, insisting that it is okay to give Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a jury trial because we need to uphold our principles of justice--everyone is innocent until proven guilty--but then insisting that the outcome must be guilty is a false definition of justice.

At first when Stephen articulated the broken logic behind the view that we must give a jury trial even when the defendant has been already decided as guilty before the trial starts, I began thinking of what the other alternatives are for him, wondering what the legal options are, and wondering what would be the most fair for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Stephen made several points that could be used to determine his innocence, such as confession after torture being inadmissible. But then Stephen unbuttoned his jacket to reveal some suspenders and adopted a southern accent and the mannerisms of Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, insisting that it is dishonorable to hang a man before he has been tried and asking the jurors to do their duty.

Stephen's defense convinced himself that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is innocent. But I'm not so sure. The allusion to To Kill a Mockingbird made me think. In that book, the jury convicted a wrongfully accused man anyway, just because he was black. I guess there's probably little chance that an American jury would acquit a man as demonized as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. And even if he really did mastermind September 11, that's still a discouraging thought.

Update!
The lovely and talented rob mason has let me know about this interview Jon Stewart did with Bill O'reilly.

The Escape

Okay, so this episode is actually somewhat interesting. I actually don't know what's going on because it's been so dull up to this point I haven't been paying attention, but there's something going on with males making fun of females or something, and Ian climbing into a robot and things... I don't know. Things happening. Perhaps I'll watch it again some day if I need to. But it's nice to know things happen in this show every now and then.

Andrew is trying to convince me that the reason Doctor Who is boring is that it's British. I don't know about that. I know that British humor is different from American humor, but I've seen British television before, and it wasn't as empty as this.

Early Dr Who

GOOD GOD these early episodes are annoying. For some reason the pilot episode is on the third disk, and I ordered the first disk from netflix (thinking, silly me, that it would contain the first episode) so I'm watching episodes out of context. And I do mean out of context, because these episodes are all "to be continued" types. Practically nothing happens in them, and the "plot" just stretches on through at least three episodes, but I believe it might be through seven. I can't imagine anyone ever enjoying these episodes, but then again, I suppose just the spectacle of seeing things on TV was exciting back in 1963. The main problem is that the episodes don't appear to be ABOUT anything. I mean... it's not funny or frightening, and I can't imagine what aspects of humanity it's supposed to be exploring, or even what fears of the unknown it is exploiting. It's just several episodes of four people (the doctor, who appears to be some sort of human, Susan, Ian, and Barbara?) languishing from radiation sickness being manipulated by non-humanoid robots. YAWN.

Aliens in London

This episode is starting out sort of sad. Rose has been gone from home for 12 months because she's been time traveling. I can't help but wonder why they can't just time travel back to an earlier time to fix it? I suppose Dr Who would say it's because time isn't linear, and events in the future could affect events in the past, but that's generally thought to be a scifi cop out. At least it is to me. Dr Who seems very perky to see mayhem. I wonder why it follows him around time and space?

Apparently Dr Who is 900 years old.

The aliens are in London in early 2000s. This show gets to accomplish a lot of scifi cliches. It can travel to the future to see new technology on earth, or on different worlds, bring the aliens to earth in the present and watch panic ensue, even travel back in time and meddle with history. It's very diverse! But I can't help thinking that this show would meet even Steven Johnson's criteria for trash television. No complex plots or character networks...

The military seems concerned with risk of contamination through space germs.

Good god, doors never open for anybody in this show!

I'm beginning to suspect that this episode will in fact end with them going back in time so all this never happened. Things are getting bad. Or maybe... it will turn out ok implausibly.

To be continued! I haven't seen that in a while.

I started looking through wikipedia to try to understand why this show is so popular. There appears to be a Time Lord that makes rules for travel in space and time, which could explain why they can't just go back in time for this. I obviously don't understand the rules yet, and I have no idea, save for wikipedia, where to find out. I remember when I first started watching Star Trek I didn't like it much, but it grew on me. I'm hoping this grows on me before the novelty wears off. Also, I haven't yet found any social network of Dr Who fans, which is disappointing. Although the farting and the kitchen chemistry with vinegar was hilarious.

Sort of a troublesome relationship Rose and the Doctor have. I should watch different episodes to see who else is in this series.

And it turns out to be the implausible resolution! A virus to remove all mention of the Doctor from the internet, the human race fools itself into thinking it was all a hoax, etc etc.

PS: I looked around a bit for where the fans are, and so far I've discovered http://dwasonline.barryrward.co.uk/index.php which is the first BBC recognised fan club, and
http://members.cox.net/tardisaz/tardis.html which is a local to AZ fan club. I emailed them, because they meet every 2 weeks, and I thought I should check that out. I decided to call myself a "Doctor Who" fan instead of a "Dr Who" fan in the email. That's how both the websites spell it. So far, I don't see online message boards or anything. There must be some somewhere.

Dr Who

So, I have chosen to enter the Dr Who Discourse for my social media class. It's a bit daunting. There are 756 episodes according to the wikipedia page. But that doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the Dr Who world. There's also something called "Doctor Who Confidential" and other Dr Who related things that are a part of this Discourse.

My impression of the first 3 episodes: the door never opens for Rose! And there's a lot of unnecessary dramatic bits. It's amusing and mildly interesting. Rose seems to always have some dark profound thought about the nature of time. The main thread that connects the episodes is that I don't know much about Dr Who. Since I've only seen the first three episodes of the new series, I'm wondering what kind of liberties this series is taking with the original. How much did we know about Dr Who before? I can't wait for the DVD of the original to come. I'm enjoying the contemporary references the show makes. In the second episode, in celebration of the life and death of planet earth, a jukebox mistakenly identified as an iPod plays a traditional earth ballad, Toxic, by Britney Spears. It made me laugh.

This is such an odd way to join a Discourse. It feels like an overwhelming assignment given that there's so much content. And I must not only watch the show, I have to join the community. But I don't want to look at the extra stuff before I've seen a fair few episodes because I don't want to get overwhelmed or anything... or spoil the fun... but! at least Dr Who isn't like Lost, where there are really any spoilers. Also, I'm sure I'll discover that I'm supposed to be writing it Dr. Who or Doctor Who instead, but... I'll wait until I figure it out organically. Let this stand as an example of my stupidity as a noob.

Afterlife

I had a dream last night that I was dead. For the first part of the dream, I was getting ready to go to my uncle's funeral. We were living in Portland, but it was warm, and by the ocean, and people were coming down to see us, but then it was also like Moses Lake because I think we went to visit my aunt and uncle's house. It was odd because I remember talking to my uncle, and he was supposed to be dead, and this didn't seem unusual to me.

I spent some time swimming in the ocean, because my uncle had left me a whale. I had met the whale before, and it would let me hold on to its tail so we would swim around together, and it was amazing.

Then I had to go back to shore for the funeral and my dad sat me down and tried to explain something to me. Then I saw my aunt and uncle and I could see that they were both looking young and perfect and terribly beautiful, and it dawned on me that the three of us had been in a car accident together and that all three of us had died, and I was still clinging to life. My aunt hugged me and told me I had to let go, that there was something amazing to look forward to, and then I found myself lying down, frozen, and people were gathered around me, worried. And I could see in my mind's eye the most beautiful sunset and feel that wonderful things were just around the corner.

So I laughed to let everyone around me know I was happy I was going to a better place. Then I was briefly standing with my beautiful aunt and uncle by the lake at sunset, and I saw my mom. And I was so happy to finally see her again, and it wasn't at all bittersweet; it was as though she'd never left me. And then I had just a moment to wonder when my dad died, how it would be for him to see both of his former wives, and the spell was broken, and I woke up feeling confused.

I then lay in bed, fully awake, trying to puzzle out if I could logically conclude there is an afterlife based on my dream. I wish I knew.

Make the Most of Today

I was eating the kind of Dove candy that has a little inspirational fortune-cookie type message on the wrapper, settling into the couch to read To Kill a Mockingbird and that's what the message said to me. I looked at it for a moment and thought perhaps I should be doing something else, but I generally don't believe in fate or whatever telling me what to do, especially through candy wrappers and whatnot. So I read a little, and absently opened a second candy.

"Make the most of Today."

That's what it said. Two candies, same message, one right after the other. I, being the sucker I am deep down for believing in fate and signs and destiny, stared at the little gold wrapper with a feeling of swelling hope. Two candies has to be a sign that I ought to be doing something else with my day. I have errands I need to run, people I ought to contact. Maybe I should do that with my day instead of reading a good book and eating chocolate.

I'm sure I wouldn't be so easily persuaded by the mystery of the candy wrapper if I could see the manufacturing process. I'm sure looking at all those little foil wrappers with the messages pre-printed and generic lined up on some assembly line would ruin the sense that when I open the candy, the message suddenly comes into being, rather than having been there the whole time.

But then the reality of it sets in as I finish the thing up and the shimmering feeling of something around the corner wears off. If I didn't have any errands to run, what would I want to be doing to feel as though I'm making the most out of my life. And the answer really is that half the time I'd rather be doing just what I was when the candy started all this: curled up on the couch, reading a good book, eating a chocolate. So why shouldn't that be the most of my today?