Infinite Talk

Shame on you planetariums

Science: good at science, bad with history

After spending time for the umpteenth time at the planetarium with my sons, I noticed a major annoyance. History: they failed. Perhaps it's not so much fail, as dumb it down to the point of giving a false sense of how the whole thing played out. The most recent trip was a showing on the history of telescopes. As I said already, they dumbed it down quite a great deal, and I don't think it was for children. They covered the very, very basics, but taught the misconception that “ everyone” thought the earth was the center of the universe and the sun revolved around us.

Shockingly enough, this is mostly untrue. For thousands of years, many cultures from the Mediterranean, Middle East, Asia and even South America knew the relative solar layout as it really is. The idea of a flat earth is not really as wide spread as believed. Almost everyone who spent time at sea or high mountains KNEW of the Earth's roundness. What they are teaching as “everybody” is in fact pretty much limited to Europe. You ask, "Why Europe?" It's pretty simple actually. That is the way the Church wanted it.

It was partly political in truth, Earth being center stage made us more important. Another aspect is based on their own Dogma, in a bible passage where one of its characters ordered the sun to stop for an hour to give the hero's army more daylight to secure victory in battle. By that logic, the sun HAS to rotate around us. They obviously had no idea about daylight savings, or other matters of our rotation periods. They tell you all about Copernicus and his revelation, that the sun was in the center- and his best selling book, The Movement of the Heavenly Bodies.

What they DON'T teach you are the countless other early astronomers whom publicly stated the same thing before hand and were thrown in prison or burned at the steak by the inquisition. Even astronomy's hero Galileo was sentenced for life under house arrest for more or less mocking the churches unwillingness to accept scientific fact “ through satire” in one of his books. Humanity as a whole was more up to speed with things than we are often taught, and it's a damn shame places of education contribute to the problem by not sharing the same truthful information to the masses.

Ranting therapy

It's a good life.

It's rare to actually enjoy one's job. It's more amusing and rare that one finds enjoyment in a job even though it shares nothing in common with that individual's skills or passions. I am no writer. That comes across pretty obvious. I AM the spouse of a real writer, so some of it has rubbed off on me, but it's not my calling. I'm an artist, linguist, historian and follower of the humanities. I think too abstractly to remember so many bloody rules about writing. I write how I speak and you know what? I find great joy in it.

In an age where so many new job paths are open to people who take the time to look, it's nice to be given something special. Again, I'm no writer, but I find that in the course of the week while putting together my various blogs, articles or what not, that I actually get a wonderful outlet. What was that? Half the time I'm talking nonsense or being silly? Well naturally- that's just who I am.

I think that's half the enjoyment too; an ability to let that side out and just genuinely have fun and creating openings for others to join in a conversation without fear of being mocked, or scorned. I'm too passive and caring of a person to have any issue sharing a conversation with those willing to listen and thank everyone who does. It all just adds to the perk of actually being able to get up and sit down for work, letting my real nature bleed through and air out the old thunker box now and then.

Confessions of a MineCraft killer.

Scary in an adorably 8-bit sort of way.

I admit it, it was me, but they had it coming! How was I suppose to know those creepy floppy nosed villagers were going to build a town in the path of my amusement park dedicated to the 8-bit heroes of the NES days!? You want to know the sort of monster I am? Fine then, but don't blame me when you loose sleep at night thinking about it.

It all started when my youngest bought Minecraft, and we all took an afternoon to set up our own worlds. Being the artsy type I am I chose a peaceful flat land to play on, so that I could build and build, and never have to worry about beasts blowing things up or invading. I managed to build my massive Japanese style castle, and started mapping out the area for my amusement park, then I noticed a village.

Being the great person I am I found myself creeping to the village in the dead of night and destroying a single block in the roves of the villagers as they slept, then poured a bucket of ever spawning magma into the hole. As the house filled I placed a block in front of the doors assuring nobody escaped. To put out the massive slag pile I created a flood, sadly I was unable to get rid of the water easily, and resorted to simply blowing up the area. Needless to say I built my park in another location anyway...I really need a new hobby.

Why pay 6K for a statue when you can make one for less?

I'm a geek, but a cheap one!

Being a subscriber to the Old Republic,and an all-around Star Wars geek, seeing the statue of Dath Malgus put me over the limit. Sure I grew up seeing life sized replicas of Solo in carbonite, or stormtroopers, and even vader. Not to mention the countless other lif- size character replicas going about. Wanting one has been a dream, as it is for most collector geeks. The problem? Most cost a few thousand. At the same time, perhaps someone wants a statue of a roleplaying character, or game character they used? Well, I think there is a solution.

The options would naturally require “some” spending, but we're talking no more than $200 or so at the very most. Option one is to cheat on the body and just order a mannequin. The nice thing about those is they come posed and all, though anyone feeling more creative can choose to go with body casting and the likes. Making the body look “ right” is important, and this may be more for the artsy type. Paining the skin and shaping the face differently through plaster, clay or what-not will fix up any issues you may have. Then again if you're putting the character in armor and such, why bother?

Clothes are next. You can go the route you would for cosplay, and sew and fabricate it all yourself, or get bits and pieces at thrift stores. I will say expect to pay more, or put a great deal of time into buying or crafting armor or anything important to the look. When it comes to weapons or other props, one might consider looking into papercraft replicas. Those you can run off the printer, then cut, fold and glue. Sure it may not be as good as the $6,000 version ( or hell perhaps it's actually better, depending on your skill ) but it costs a hell of a great deal less.

bah! Hurry up- stupid seasons

the in-between is getting bothersome

One day it's spring, the next day it's the middle of winter and the next day it's something else. Daily high and low pressure shifts trigger horrid headaches; it's frustrating! Granted this is normal, but I'm ready for it to be officially spring. I want to open windows and air out the winter funk produced by pets and kids. I want to get things clean, granted I still hate cleaning, but once I start I go OCD about it!

It's always been annoying when that spring fever kicks in. It was not as bad when I lived further south, but having moved to the north, one starts to pay closer attention to the seasonal shifts. March, April and most of May are the worst as we can have up here with one day of sunshine, open sun roofs on cars, shorts and sunglasses, but bundled up the next day and trying to avoid the torrent of sleet and snow. After spending a few soggy days, the weather turns warm again.

It's that point you want to air out. Granted there is nothing technically stopping me, except for that unpredictable shift from warm to cold and snowy over a matter of hours that can happen at any time. Yet I can look out and see things starting to turn green and feel genuine warmth from the sun. The rain carries a scent and that urge to get things done drives you insane. Oh the day I can go into official spring mode is coming, but it's sure taking its sweet time.

You just love me for my money

seriously it gets scary sometimes.

Im noticing more and more and more that humanity is not an individual, a human is not really even a commodity, a human is a thing that carries around a true commodity- money. Corporations are just getting worse anymore, and half the time it seems to go right over the heads of the every day person, or they seem happy so deal with small changes- and by the time things are “ crooked” it's already been 5, or even 20 years in the making so everyone is just complacent.

Look at this whole ordeal with EA/Bioware. Sales plummet, charity pops up to raise nearly $80 THOUSAND in donation in protest to a game, major coverage on Forbes, NY Times, the Globe,, CNN and user ratings lower than ever seen before, it's major enough that a chairman needs to step out and talk. Yet somehow “ professional” game based networks, and reviewers all give it perfect scores, and flood their sites with Ads for the company. You cant say there is not a “ scratch my back” thing here. They also get to flame, insult and just verbally assault people for disproving of a product, any retaliation vanishes...even the Charity was shut down early because of speculated pressure.

What am I getting at with this? More that the bottom line is more valuable than anything else, we know business can be savage, and customers can get played but it seems to me it gets worse every quarter. Imagine getting half finished games and told to buy the rest after a few weeks of starting it- it's happened a few times this year actually. Nickle and dimeing people more now because “ its an easier impulse reaction they don’t think about, more so if they are invested in something.” It may just be my take, but to me seems like something people should pay attention to and see if they notice similar trends elsewhere.

Chaotically too nuteral

wait how does that work?

Being able to let go, observe and take in life as it comes to you, understand, then continue on is a very core aspect of Zen and a few other philosophies. Remaining nuteral , clear minded, and open all have a wonderful advantage when it comes to observing the world and keeping ones mind clear. Yet sadly even in this there is a point one can cross a line and become “ too nuteral”.

It can come to a point where one may liken it to being a nhialist. Granted it's not actually Nhialistic in any way. No pessimism, yet no optimism, it just is. Life just is, the good, the bad, who cares thats all it is, deal and drag on through the next day and repeat over, and over, and over the same motions. Not looking forward to events, holidays- when they do arrive one may still more or less enjoy the moments here and there but beyond they it simply is just another day. One day bleeds into the next, and the next, always the same no matter what is actually happening- it just is. It's not annoying, it's not uplifting, it is.

Sounds almost like a depression now too. Again, it's not. There is no sorrow, there is no anger, there just is another day. One can feel all the emotions as any other would, but all of them good, or bad are momentary flashes. Is it normal? Is it healthy? How does one even start to address the whole mater? It's tricky to say I suppose, I personally dare say Im more or less slipping into this pattern myself- to a degree. It's not so much an “ ignorance is bliss” sort of thing because the willingness, and enjoyment of learning and observing can be there, yet there is also no real self preservation drive...that said there is no urge to just give up or anything without it having some form of possitive imact, like saving another person etc. Random, I know, but It is something I find interesting when we think about personalities and how diverse they really can be.

I did, I admit it.

scratch it off the list

The “ midnight release” party is nothing new these days. Books, Movies, Games, high end socks on sale... Yet in all these years I have never actually attended a midnight release. That was until this week. Now I will say I never personally saw the point. It's more a matter of my own laziness than not, however with the launch of Mass Effect 3 I found myself leaving the house just short of 12 am headed to the game store to pick up my pre-ordered collectors issue.

I didn't expect anything over the top fancy. I know some release parties all on par with hollywood level events. Rightly so, given the gaming industry actually earns more than any other entertainment outlet currently and does employ some big names to provide voice work. No, our small event was nothing special. However I was impressed with the turnout. Several hundred people crammed into the store, and not all your typical geeks ( there were some though, thats a given) all walks of life. I found it most entertaining wo tsee an older man, perhaps in his late 50's to 60's showing up to get his copy ( and also placed a pre-order for the next Assassin's Creed).

It was a rather fun event however, other than being pushed into lines like cattle waiting branding. The whole experience was still something new to me, and proudly I can scratch it off my non existent bucket list that I just made up and will end up forgetting about in an hour or so anyway. Was it worth leaving the house at midnight? Considering how powerful and amazingly done ME3 is? Hell yes it was.

Who, not what.

There is a difference.

I always found it interesting how humans address certain things in our life. Observation is one of out greatest tools, but ooh so often is the worst one we have to form any strands of understanding about our world. Confusing mint from nightshade, seeing a white mass and thinking cold, even if it was very hot to the touch... Our observations are just that not something that “ stands alone” as a whole. As humans though we always seem to forget this. Where we seem to be the worst at this is judging other people. Examples range from seeing someone disheveled and thinking impoverished or ill, basing a fact of a person based on ethnicity and so on.

Another observation people seem to utterly ignore or misdirect is the concepts of the genders and the masculine and feminine states. Even the “ feminist” movement fails at this to a degree. We see a feminine male, or a masculine female and think “ gay” made worse we think perhaps transgender or transsexual, which again also wrongly is assumed as “ gay” our ignorance knows no bounds.

The fact is that such roles as masculine and feminine are utterly independent of gender and sexuality as we know them and are more aligned with social identity and an individuals own inner strength. While one is known for being more head strong, aggressive and the other more nurturing and passive they are not a reflection of anything more. Furthering the argument is that both genders have both aspects naturally, even the most macho pig man child has his feminine aspects. I've always found it common sense to say- you cant judge a book by it's cover. It's a truth in many things many simply choose to stay blind to. Sadly in doing such have done nothing more than shut themselves out to what it means to be us, and can even help propagate many of the social sufferings we see about us without even intending to.

GET THE BUTTER READY!!!!!!!!

Water world confirmed.

As the field of Xenoplanetary research gets better as technology advances we are constantly reminded more and more daily on how “ not empty” just out own far flung piece of the galaxy is, but also how familiar, yet utterly unique things can be. Nice to remind us that were still just stupid monkeys set loose in a electronics store when it comes to understanding things around us.

Enter now good old GJ 1214b – a planet 40 light years away, discovered in 2009. This planet is a little over two and a half times larger than earth, and circles close to it's re dwarf star, Making it a very hot world, with very high pressure. The bulk of it's mass: water. Now before everyone gets excited by the idea of opening a space-lobster next to P.F Space Chang's to feed our future mining colonies It's important to note one thing; this is NOT water as we would normally understand.

A smarty pants person would though, Did I mention I watch more space related educational shows than is healthy?, At this rate I should have Morgan Freeman, and Neil deGrasse Tyson tattooed on me someplace by now. Water, on this world, would be vastly different. We are talking hot ice, and super fluids, both concepts that seem impossible to our petty Earth based understanding, but seen on planets and moons even in our own system. Life is also a possibility, however I would not expect anyone to actually see anything from this world alive or without major use of high pressure suits or chambers. Think deep ocean life, like in the trenches deep- and imagine the oddities and weird things we see there in that dark, crushing pressure. That would, most likely be what we would see at the relatively pressure-less surface. Does not still mean Im not ready to throw money at the star tours droids at Disneyland- Not sure how they would feel about me showing up with deep water fishing gear though.

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