Pizza run.

Last Friday, I lived the dream:  I took the day off to have pizza.

Okay, let's not rush into this.  First, my sights for "the dream" are actually set a bit higher than pizza in lieu of work; and second,  it was a bit more complicated than dedicating a day off to eating pizza.

Karli and I had recently received our NEXUS cards, and as such we wanted to give them a test at the border under circumstances where we weren't on the clock for anything time-sensitive. Her sister had recommended that we try a Fairhaven restaurant called Fat Pie Pizza the next time we were in Washington state, so we decided to do a day trip down for lunch and shopping.  Work has been pleasantly normal recently, so we were able to combine some time from my lieu bank with one of Karli's regular Friday flex days.

However, it seemed a bit much to cross the border just for pizza, dream or no dream, so we did a little research to see what else we might do while visiting Fairhaven. Fortuitously, there turned out to be an independent book store called Village Books located in the same block as Fat Pie, so we added that to our agenda.

 

I liked Village Books - it's an excellent example of a well done - and well run - indie book store.  It's in a classic vintage building, with a wide selection of books spread over three floors. They follow the popular trend of having an associated coffee shop - the Colophon Cafe, which we did not visit - and share space with Paper Dreams, a home decor/gift shop.

The Village Books science fiction/fantasy section is fairly good, although I don't really approve of mixing new and used books - I've visited a few book stores that do this, and it's always a bit irritating to pick up a book expecting to see a used price and find out that it's full cost.

I bought three books on sale  - two hardcover and one trade paperback - for essentially the same price as standard paperbacks in Canada (even after conversion from USD).  My choices were Three Moments of an Explosion, a collection of China Miéville short stories (which I am long overdue to read); Paolo Bacigalupi's 2015 novel The Water Knife; and another short story collection, My Experiences in the Third World War, by Michael Moorcock. This was an unexpected treasure: Moorcock is a long time favourite of mine, and everything in this collection is new to me, I'm quite looking forward to it.

And just for fun, I also picked up a War of the Worlds* T-shirt from the Miles To Go literary T-shirt collection. 

Photo by KT

 Oh, and in case you were wondering, Fat Pie Pizza completely lived up to their positive reviews - and their name.

Photo also by KT

- Sid

* I wore my new T-shirt to a social gathering the next day, and I was surprised to learn that a lot of people are more aware of the 1938 Orson Welles radio hoax than the 1897 H.G. Wells novel.  Tom Cruise (or Gene Barry) didn't come up at all.

As opposed to, say, "Fairy puke". *

Is it just me, or does this sound like an extremely negative term for fantasy fiction?

- Sid

* Just for the record, "fairy puke" is actually the colloquial name for Icmadophila ericetorus, a variety of crustose lichen.

No, seriously, it's on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icmadophila.

Ghostbusters 2: "Break the barriers".

 

I'd like to thank Karli for an excellent guest posting on the new Ghostbusters, and, based on her input, I wanted to enlarge on my position regarding the remake.

For me, movie remakes are a little bit like cover versions of songs. If you're not going to make it your own, if you're not going to bring something new to the table, why bother? *

For whatever reason, genre films seem to be targeted for remakes and reboots more than the mainstream: Robocop, Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man, Total Recall, The Time Machine, Batman, Superman, and so on, with the Ghostbusters remake as the latest entry on the list.  Some of them refresh and revive the base concept, some don't - how does Ghostbusters score?

I agree with Karli that Ghostbusters was fun, and that the main cast has fabulous chemistry.  Kate McKinnon is obviously the next Jim Carrey - let's hope that Hollywood has the good sense to find her a script, hand her the ball, and just let her run with it.

It's also a funny movie, and the selection of cameos from the 1984 cast were a nice nod to the first version.**  I completely agree with Karli that Chris Hemsworth's Kevin failed to impress - a little more depth there would have helped to broaden the film.

All that being said, it's not a very different movie than the original version.  Do I think that it was worth remaking this movie just to replace the originals with female leads?  I would say no - in my mind, that doesn't matter.  A movie should be judged on its own merits, regardless of whether the cast is male or female.

However, I think I'm wrong.

Ghostbusters is a noteworthy cultural phenomenon in that there's such a sharp division between the film as such and its position as a feminist milestone. As Karli points out in her posting, it's important that women be shown taking the lead, both as actors and characters - and THAT'S why we needed to see "bitches busting ghosts".

- Sid

* The Alien Ant Farm version of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal is a prime example of this.

** But where was Rick Moranis? I know he retired from acting in order to raise his children, but surely he could have gotten a babysitter and done a quick hit-and-run appearance at the studio.

Ghostbusters 1: "Safety lights are for dudes!"

(Contributed by Karli Thomas)

 

"No one should have to encounter that kind of evil. Except you girls, I think you can handle it."

Theatre Manager, Ghostbusters

Last weekend, on opening night no less, Sid, and I went to see Ghostbusters. I had been looking forward to it since the first teaser trailer had come out. Maybe even before then. I remember seeing the first image released from the set – the four women wearing the jumpsuits, proton packs strapped to their backs. I poured over the photo and anticipated seeing these very funny women take charge of these very iconic roles. That Paul Feig was directing was the icing on the cake.

In broad terms, I liked the movie. The main cast had great chemistry and were very funny. Kate McKinnon owned every scene she was in. Melissa McCarthy was pleasantly un-Tammy-like. Leslie Jones and Kristen Wiig did exactly what you`d expect of them and they were fun to watch. Chris Hemsworth’s character was problematic for me*. The big fight sequence in the second half dragged, but I am guilty of thinking that pretty much every big fight scene in the history of movies drags – you could all learn something from Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards, filmmakers!

As we walked out into the fresh summer air, Sid proposed a question for this new version of Ghostbusters:  “Did it need to be made?” Specifically, is changing the cast to all female enough of a reason to remake this movie? Sid thinks maybe not and I think maybe yes.

At some point in our future a generation of girls will grow up seeing movies starring more women in a wider variety of roles and that is a very good thing. Young girls (and boys for that matter) will get a broader spectrum of female role models and a more expansive view of what women can do and what they look like in those roles.

Ghostbusters was fun to watch and it was a pleasure to see these women take the reins and do such a great job of leading the movie. Did Ghostbusters need to be remade?  Maybe not remade exactly, no, they could have done a sequel rather than a reboot. But since Hollywood is going to reboot movies regardless of whether or not they need to – why not let women finally take the lead and have some fun?

- Karli

* My complaint about Kevin is nearly complete – he was poorly written, poorly acted and poorly directed. He should have been a dumb, good looking klutz, not a complete idiot.

Warped starlight.

 Wash: Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science-fiction.
Zoë: We live in a spaceship, dear.
Wash: So?  

Objects in Space, Firefly

I've just finished reading City at World's End, a 1951 short novel by Edmond Hamilton.  Hamilton is one of the lost treasures of science fiction - a contemporary of the better known E.E. "Doc" Smith, his prolific work from the first half of the 20th century helped to establish the "thundering planets" style that typifies the early science fiction of the pulp era.

Over time his writing developed a more humanistic, insightful approach, as demonstrated in short stories such as What's It Like Out There?, The Pro, and Requiem.  Other strongly recommended reading would be 1966's Doomstar and his Starwolf trilogy from the late 1960s  - The Weapon from Beyond, The Closed Worlds, and World of the Starwolves. These four books beautifully combine Hamilton's epic view of the future with a more personal, character-driven narrative.*

City at the World's End shows glimpses of Hamilton's mature style, although it's still strongly reminiscent of his early work. In this story, the detonation of an experimental superbomb hurls a small American town millions of years into the future, to an uninhabited - and uninhabitable - Earth.  Scientists from a research centre concealed in the town manage to activate a distress beacon in an abandoned city, attracting the attention of a ship from the galaxy-wide Federation**.

Upon their arrival, the Federation's representatives offer the townspeople a double-edged salvation - they can save the inhabitants of the town, but only by removing them from Earth and transferring them to a different world.

However, a dissident crew member offers another option - requesting a dangerous experimental process which might re-ignite the fires at the Earth's core, thereby providing enough warmth for the castaways from the past to continue to live on Earth.  One of the scientists is taken by starship to the Vega star system to plead the town's case before the galactic Board of Governors: 

He would not show fear. They expected him to do so, they were watching him with sidelong glances of interest and amused expectation. But Kenniston clenched his fists inside his jacket pockets, and resolved fiercely to disappoint them.

He was afraid, yes. It was one thing to read and talk and speculate on flying space. It was another and much more frightening thing to do it, to step off the solid Earth, to rush and plunge and fall through the worldless emptiness.

He stood there with Gorr Holl*** and Piers Eglin in the bridge of the Thanis, looking ahead through the curving view windows, and a cold sickness clutched at his vitals.

"It isn't the way I expected it to be," he said unsteadily. "Only those stars ahead--"

He fought against the impulse to clutch for support. He wouldn't do that, while the bronzed star-men behind him were curiously watching him. 

Directly ahead, Kenniston looked at a depthless black in which fierce stars flared like lamps. The blue-hot beacon of Vega centered that vista, and up from it blazed the stars of the time-distorted Lyre and Aquila, crossed on the upper left by the glittering sun-drift of the Milky Way.

Only that section of sky ahead was clear. The rest of the firmament, extending back from it, was an increasingly blurred vista of warped starlight whose rays seemed to twitch, jerk and dance. 

The last 50 years have provided the general population with an extensive education regarding life in the future: androids, starships, energy weapons, warp drives, a plethora of advanced technology.  Anyone who has seen a Star Wars movie, any one of the iterations of the Star Trek franchise, or one of a hundred other visual stories set in space would be completely familiar with the view that fills Kenniston with such dread (although I'm willing to admit that the actual experience might well be more daunting than watching it on a movie screen, even in IMAX 3D).  And at this point, who hasn't seen one of those examples? 

How ironic that, with all the things that science fiction has predicted for the future, it would fail to predict its own success and popularity.

- Sid

* And I have to add that they're fun.  Hamilton knows what he's doing - he paints his interstellar future with a big brush, but he also uses a lot of bright colours on a huge canvas, and the result is dramatic, tense, and entertaining.

** It's not the U.S.S. Enterprise, and it's not that Federation. I don't think Gene Roddenberry was guilty of plagiarizing this idea - let's face it, there are only so many words you can use to describe a democratic political organization.

*** A hint for new readers of vintage science fiction:  if there is a character with a name like Gorr Holl, there's a really good chance that the story you are reading was written before 1960, if not 1950.

Not only that, but it's in Canadian dollars.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) recently launched its fourth astronaut recruitment campaign.

At the end of this recruitment campaign, two new Canadian astronauts will begin their training in the 2017 NASA astronaut class in Houston, Texas.

Do you have a university degree in science, engineering or medicine? Do you have at least three years of relevant professional experience, or are you licenced to practise medicine in Canada? Are you resourceful, determined, and cool, calm and collected? If so, you may be what the CSA is looking for!

- Canadian Space Agency astronaut recruitment site

Given that today is the anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first step onto the surface of the Moon, it seems appropriate to announce that Canada is looking to hire a couple of astronauts.

Be an Astronaut! Apply by 15 Aug or miss your chance to boldly go! https://t.co/0r43aIxv2n@WilliamShatner @csa_aschttps://t.co/spgOYxTn1D

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) July 20, 2016

(My apologies, apparently they've been looking for applicants since June, and I missed Commander Hadfield's first Tweet on the subject.)

The Canadian Space Agency web site contains all the basic information that you might want before deciding to apply: qualifications, duties of an astronaut, selection process (it takes about a year to complete all the stages of recruitment) and, of course, the online application form.

Surprisingly, it's not the highest paying job in the world.  Novice cosmonauts start at $91K, with a potential  boost to $178K* after successfully completing a mission in space.  Considering the list of prerequisites and qualifications - and the fact that there's a certain amount of risk involved -  this doesn't seem like a lot of money.  On the other hand, there are some perks that come with the job:  just look at the view from your office...

I have to give the CSA full points for putting together a clever and well-thought-out promotional campaign.  This is just another reason that I think Canada is such a great country - it's difficult to imagine the United States government doing anything quite as casually smart and funny.

It's also a bit surprising to me that it's such an open invitation.  Admittedly, most people wouldn't match the list of qualifications, but that list isn't ridiculous or undoable. As pointed out in the introductory quotation, this is only the fourth time that the CSA has gone looking for astronauts, but it won't be the last.  If you're reading this in the same year it was posted, you've probably got about ten years to get ready for the next time - good luck!

- Sid

* To be completely accurate, $178,400.  I suspect this is a governmental pay grade thing - if it was up to me I would round it up to at least the nearest six figure digit.

But not too much bigger, because gravity.

There's a phrase I hear almost every day.

I always have the same reaction when I hear it.

I heard it again just now, from my office roommate Bill, and it's time to put my response in writing.

The phrase is:

It's a small world, isn't it?

Yes, yes it is.  And that's why the exploration of space is so important:

BIGGER WORLDS.

- Sid

"A cat has no food. A man must feed a cat."

When my lovely partner Karli moved in with me just over a year ago, she brought with her Cooper the cat, an elderly white Persian whose grim visage belied his warm and affectionate nature.  I was quite pleased to have Cooper as part of our little family - I had been without a feline roommate for several years, and Cooper and I bonded quickly and easily.  

Sadly, Time has its way with everyone, and about six weeks ago Cooper made his final visit to the veterinarian. It was a heartbreaking time for both Karli and I;  Karli in particular feeling more than a little depressed by the loss of her confidant and companion for over 18 years.

Because of Cooper's importance to both of us, we quickly became aware of the cat-shaped hole in our lives. Karli began looking at cats online, and we paid a couple of visits to the Vancouver SPCA Catfé, but we just weren't finding the right cat for us.  We knew we couldn't replace anyone as special and unique as Cooper, but we hoped to find a cat who would make his own place in our hearts.

Karli persevered in her online search, which led us to the Richmond SPCA at the end of June to meet a congenial six-year-old orange and white tabby.*  He had been brought in as a stray, and then taken by a family who had just returned him to the SPCA after a year of ownership, citing litter tray usage problems. In spite of this dubious entry on his resume, we decided that we would adopt the little guy, and returned to pick him up two days later (two days rather than one due to the branch's Canada Day closure.)

He was introduced to us as Oliver, and his previous name was Pumpkin, but somehow we didn't find either of those names to be a fit.  We made a list of possible names, debated them at length, but nothing really seemed to be working for us.

During one of our discussions, I referred to "the cat without a name".  Karli gave me a significant sideways look and quietly said, "A cat has no name."

 

Thanks to this well-timed misquotation from George R. R. Martin, I'm happy to introduce our new cat, known to the world as Jack, but whose full name is actually Jaqen H'ghar, named after the enigmatic face-changing third-person Braavosi assassin from Game of Thrones. In the books, Jaqen disappears after aiding Arya Stark, but the HBO adaptation offers him a larger role as a servant of the Many-Faced God in the House of Black and White.**

Jack (or Jaq) is a friendly, affectionate fellow who is well on his way to settling in with us (and hopefully getting used to his new name, not that cats care very much about that sort of thing.)

"If a girl should need a cat, a girl should roll this across a hardwood floor.
A cat will come if such a thing is done."

And his name - his full name, that is - makes perfect sense.  Cats are solidly behind the Braavosi philosophy of valar dohaeris: all men must serve.***

- Sid

* Looking for a cat?  Kittens are very cute, but consider getting an adult cat who has already learned the ins and outs of kitty litter and food dishes. Adult cats are also more likely to sleep on the bed with you rather than maniacally wrestle their own tail on your pillow at 3:00 AM.  (At least with any luck they are.)

** You may follow the theory that the man at the temple in Braavos is only wearing the face of Jaqen H'ghar. Personally, I prefer the way in which it streamlines the narrative if it's the same person, but to each their own.

*** Women too.  Cats are completely without sexism when it comes to service.

Or Amazing.

I was looking at the picture of Karli in the Borg regeneration alcove from our visit to the Star Trek exhibition at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, and something about it reminded me of a classic pulp science fiction magazine cover...

 

I may do up an alternate version that's a little more distressed, I've never seen one of these covers without a few creases or scratches.

- Sid

"They like to get the landmarks."

For whatever reason, Canada is very rarely the victim of apocalyptic destruction in movies, television or novels. Granted, anything that wipes out the entire world will destroy Canada as well, but depending on the nature of the catastrophe, Canada is far more likely to be someplace where people seek refuge from the disaster rather than ground zero for it.*

As previously mentioned, I'm very aware of this gap in our cultural framework, so I was actually a bit pleased to see a transit shelter poster for Independence Day: Resurgence that featured a gigantic space ship hovering over a crumbling CN Tower.

"Perfect," I thought.  "I'm all set for a Canada Day posting, I'll just go home and find a good copy of that online."

Unexpectedly, the internet was not forthcoming.  This was a bit surprising, given that I could have easily downloaded a JPEG showing a similar view of Big Ben being destroyed, or the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty**, the Eiffel Tower, the Marina Sands Hotel in Singapore, Grant's Tomb  - even the Petronas Twin Towers from Kuala Lumpur - but not the CN Tower.  (Just for the record, the studio deliberately skipped the Gate of India in Mumbai.) If the poster didn't exist at all, I might have been less surprised, but given that it did exist, why would it not be posted online with the other versions?

Disappointed, I decided that I would just hop off the bus on the way home from work and take as good a picture of the ad as possible.

I was disappointed once again: within 36 hours of my original pass by the poster location, it was gone.  Feeling a bit frustrated, I continued home to broaden my search online in hopes that someone else had at least been able to get a snapshot of the Canadian marketing for Resurgence.

Now, just for the record, I'd like to say that I have pretty strong Google-fu.  I can often find things for people who have had absolutely no luck looking for something online.  Nonetheless, after an extensive search I was only able to find two pictures (and a half) of the alien destruction of Toronto's most visible tourist attraction.

I know that Resurgence isn't doing particularly well at the box office, and given the poor reviews I've read I was probably going to skip it, but now I feel a bit tempted to see the movie just to see if there actually is a scene showing the invaders tearing up the CN Tower by the roots, or if it was just a poorly supported blip in the movie's marketing plan.

If that scene is in the movie, 20th Century Fox's marketing people have obviously dropped the ball by not promoting it more widely in Vancouver.  After all, there are more than a few people in British Columbia who would be happy to see any movie with a scene, no matter how brief, showing Toronto being destroyed by aliens.

- Sid

* It's not difficult to imagine a future where climate change has boosted global temperatures to the point where the vast, almost uninhabited areas that make up the better part of our country become usable - in fact, perhaps even desirable - real estate.  Imagine sailing on the tropical blue waters of Hudson Bay as the palm trees lining the beaches near Churchill nod in the warm breeze...

** And a somewhat wistful poster showing a Unicorn Gundam in the same position, but with a defiantly upraised fist rather than a torch.