Kaedama!

What does the well-dressed geek wear for ramen?  That's right, a Mighty Atom/Astro Boy t-shirt from the Nakamise-dōri market in Tokyo.*

- Sid

P.S.  Shout-out to Ramen Danbo at Fourth and Burrard!

* Hopefully my sister Dorothy will not comment that it isn't really Japanese enough.

Marching for Science.

 

“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”

Carl Sagan

Distrust and violence against science is one of the standard post-apocalyptic themes in science fiction: civilization collapses, due to either a pandemic, thermonuclear warfare, drastic climate change, or d) all of the above, and the remnants of humanity turns their anger on the scientific community for either causing the catastrophe or failing to stop it.

The current situation is an odd reversal of this plot.  Rather than an angry mob venting its rage upon scientists after the world has fallen apart, instead there has been a sort of general denial of the validity of science as it attempts to warn the world of potential future disasters.

For the most part, this seems to be an American issue - I don't think of science denial as being as strong in any other part of the world.  However, the degree to which anti-science has become prevalent in the USA certainly makes up for any shortfall elsewhere on the planet.

But what is science?  It's more a question of what science does rather than what it is.  The scientific method allows us to develop an understanding of the nature of the universe, from the smallest particle to the ends of the cosmos, with a basis in fact rather than belief.  Experimentation proves or disproves theories:  every experiment advances our knowledge of how things work, and that knowledge allows us to advance as a species.

And yet, somehow this crucial foundation of our society has fallen into disrepute - the Trump government has slashed funding to the sciences, climate change denial is widespread, anti-vaccination exemptions have become commonplace, and apparently there were dinosaurs on Noah's Ark.*

The March for Science is a celebration of science.  It's not only about scientists and politicians; it is about the very real role that science plays in each of our lives and the need to respect and encourage research that gives us insight into the world.  

This coming Saturday, a total of 517 Science Marches in support of science are taking place in 54 different countries all around the world, including one here in Vancouver.  (For complete information about the March for Science Vancouver, visit the event's Facebook page.)  It's gratifying to see such a widespread display of support for science and scientific research - but more than a little sad that it's necessary to call for such a display in the first place.

- Sid the Science Kid

* Adolescent dinosaurs, so that they wouldn't take up too much space and crowd out the other animals. No, seriously.

"Only he didn't use 'frikken'."

I've been a lot of things: starship captain, Gundam pilot, Time Lord, Borg drone, ruler of Westeros - and now, one more...welcome to the frikken Guardians of the Galaxy.

- Sid

Which everyone knows is actually in Toronto.

I was surprised and a bit excited to discover that the centre of the universe is apparently located in Saanich on Vancouver Island. Having persuaded Karli to do a U-turn to investigate, I was then more than a little disturbed to find out that it was closed.

- Sid

P.S. I was going to just stop there and leave this as one of those mystery postings, but in this case, the story behind this sign actually deserves a little more attention.  

The Centre of the Universe is - or more accurately was - the educational facility of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill in Saanich.  Sadly, the Centre was closed in 2013 following budget cuts, but the National Research Council has subsequently licensed the Centre of the Universe building to the Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, a local Saanich non-profit group that wants to restore public programming at the Observatory, as well as re-open the Centre of the Universe.  For more information, visit the FDAO website or take a look at their Facebook page.

Much thanks to Kevin Farris at the National Research Council for the information on the FDAO!

Rocket Man.*

"I really think this concert will be out of this world."

Victoria Symphony Orchestra conductor Guiseppe Pietraroia

"And then I left earth.  I like saying that.  Because I can."

Colonel Chris Hadfield

Saturday night in Victoria, and we're ready for our night out at the Symphony with ex-astronaut Chris Hadfield.  After a quick but delicious dinner at Foo Asian Street Food, Karli and I cross the street and pick up our Rocket Man tickets from the box office at the Royal Theatre.

The attendees waiting in the lobby represent the full range of clothing options, from suit and tie to jeans and a Mouseketeer t-shirt.  The audience also includes one person actually dressed as Colonel Hadfield, complete with pompadour, fake moustache and NASA jacket - a sort of hipster Hadfield, if you will.**  My lovely companion is attractively (and thematically) clad in nebula-patterned pants and spiral galaxy earrings - I've broken under the pressure of conformity and opted for blazer and jeans.

Our seats are a bit back from the stage - the consequence of waiting a little too long to decide to make the trip to Vancouver Island to see Commander Hadfield.  Regardless, they're centrally placed and we have a good field of view, so no real reason to complain.

The programme for the evening is very much in the line that I expected:  movie themes mixed with selections from Hadfield's album, Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can. The orchestra opens with Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra - better known to most people as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey, followed by the Mars movement from Gustav Holst's Planets suite, after which the guest of honour steps onto the stage.

Hadfield is no Beyoncé, but he's an experienced performer and story-teller, and his style lends itself well to his folk-influenced songs. And, to be honest, I didn't expect his show to be quite so funny.  In fact, I find myself wondering if he had hired professional help to massage his delivery, but finally decided that it was just natural talent coming to the forefront.  After all, his guitar has a Space Invaders strap, which indicates to me that he's not taking things too seriously.

His description of the process behind his recording of David Bowie's Space Oddity and the video which he shot on the International Space Station is hilarious - and, frankly, quite a bit different than the way it's described in his book.

 

There is also a very effective bit of business where the conductor announces that the orchestra will be performing excerpts from the various Star Trek themes next, and expresses his regrets that there is no one there who could deliver the iconic opening voiceover...perhaps someone who had commanded in space...maybe a Canadian...at which point Hadfield pops out from stage left and waves his hand to get the conductor's attention. 

His reading of "Space...the final frontier..." is impressive, and afterwards he talks about his affection for the series, commenting that "...Star Trek gave me permission to imagine things that didn't exist."  I hope that the producers of the new Star Trek series were paying attention, having Chris Hadfield make an appearance would be a great idea, as well as continuing the tradition of astronaut cameos in the franchise.

However, there are serious moments to the show. During an unexpected question period, Hadfield delivers an impassioned speech regarding the evolution of space exploration, from its roots as an expression of political power to the collaborative process that led to the International Space Station: 

"It took a long time to evolve past planting a flag, into what we should be doing as a species...the greatest legacy of space travel is that it brought us together...the ISS is irrevocable evidence of what we can do when we do things right."

The show ends with an unscripted moment.  An audience member interrupts Hadfield's closing speech by shouting that there is a five year old astronaut there with a question.  The commander acknowledges that a five year old astronaut deserves to be answered, and asks what the young explorer's question is.

A tremulous voice replies, "Will you sign my book?" ***

A  wave of laughter sweeps over the audience, and the boy is escorted backstage and then brought out onto the stage, where Hadfield signs his book, after wryly observing, "Step one of becoming an astronaut - having the guts."

If you'd like to see Commander Hadfield yourself - and I strongly recommend that you do - look for him in his upcoming Canada 150 tour in May.  He'll also be returning to Vancouver to perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on October 6th and 7th of this year.  Look for us there - space pants may well make a followup appearance.

- Sid

* It's taken over ten years, but I knew I would eventually use this as the title to a blog posting.

** Credit where credit is due - the term "hipster Hadfield" was contributed by Karli Thomas.

*** Hadfield is somewhat of a Renaissance man. In addition to his autobiographical An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth and You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes, his collected photos of Earth from the ISS, Hadfield has also published a children's book, The Darkest Dark. 

A Geek's Walking Tour of Downtown Victoria

 

Rather than just charging over to Vancouver Island to see Chris Hadfield perform and then heading back again on the same day, Karli and I decided that it would be fun to have some time to wander around Victoria on the Saturday - neither one of us had the opportunity to do any sightseeing there for several years.

 The man himself.  You know, sooner or later people are going to have to start using a different picture of Chris Hadfield, although, to be fair, it is the first image that pops up if you Google™ him.  Maybe a wider selection of media shots on your web site, Commander?

 

I'm constantly amazed by the degree to which geek culture has insinuated itself into everyday life.  In addition to the usual offerings of brightly coloured cooking utensils and semi-inspirational wall plaques, home decor store Paboom surprisingly features Minion Green Lantern and Totoro pillows, along with Star Wars tourist posters for local attractions. I feel that Minion tchotchkes have become fairly common, but isn't Totoro a bit obscure for the general public?

We also paid a visit to Munro's Books, the excellent independent bookstore which is centrally located in Victoria's downtown core.  As always, their selection did not disappoint, and I walked away with about eighty bucks worth of reading material: a paperback collection of short fiction by Terry Pratchett - A Blink of the Screen, a long overdue copy of Pulitzer-prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (based mainly on the title, to be honest) and an extravagant hardcover copy of collected Ursula K. Le Guin non-fiction, Words Are My Matter, which is nominated for a Hugo Award this year.

"Essential" gear - this is actually from the Friday night, and I'm a bit sorry that we didn't get back to Dragon Impact when they were open in order to find out if you could actually buy some kind of standardized package for dealing with the walking dead.  Based on the quantity of sharpened metal on display in the shop windows, I doubt that the package would include anything really practical, like a good pair of running shoes.

Speaking of which, isn't it a bit ironic to use a famous hobbit surname for a shoe store?  (Because, after all, hobbits never wear shoes.) *

However, the star of the day has to be the Little Shop of Strange, located near the entrance to Market Square at 566 Johnson Street.  If you're looking for a weird but wonderful (not to say strange) selection of music, local art, and taxidermy, this is your spot - where else could you buy a reasonably priced and beautifully made actual Plague Rat?

 

- Sid

* Purists will cite the Stoors, one of the three breeds of hobbits, who wore boots in muddy weather.

T minus 48 hours.

When you've booked off a half day from work for travel time, made round trip ferry reservations, and rented an Airbnb condo for two nights, it's very comforting to discover that the person you're going to see perform has actually arrived at the venue location*.  Thanks very much for posting that, Commander Hadfield - see you Saturday night.

- Sid

* And is apparently staying at the Empress Hotel in downtown Victoria, based on the view and the angle of the photo.

UPDATE:  Aha!  https://www.instagram.com/p/BSBpyf7hAxj/?hl=en

Or Christopher Eccleston, for that matter.

No, seriously, can you imagine?  Yes, of course I've made a donation to enter the contest, are you kidding? And, AND, the contest details state that:

The winner plus guest will go for breakfast with at least seven Doctor Whos at the Wolseley restaurant, London. 

"AT LEAST SEVEN" - okay, if there's a chance they're going to get Tom Baker out for this as well, I may need to lie down for a minute.

Wish me luck!

- Sid

P.S.  Sigh...okay, in the interest of promoting a good cause, here's the campaign link:

 https://www.omaze.com/experiences/Dr_who

Anybody who wins because of this had damn well better be prepared to take me with them as their plus one, that's all I ask.

pReview: (Old Man) Logan.

 

Logan, Hugh Jackman's dark and gritty swan song as the adamantium-enhanced Canadian mutant, has been out for two and a half weeks now, with an impressive box office total to date of over half a billion dollars. As usual, attendance dropped dramatically after the first couple of weeks, and now that the fan boy rush is out of the way, I'm hoping to see the film sometime in the next week or so. I have three potential opportunities lined up, and I'm confident that at least one of them will come through - if it's more than one, well, all reports indicate that it's a well done movie, so I won't say no to additional viewings.

So far I've managed to avoid seeing any serious spoilers regarding the plot, but the overall mise-en-scène is clear from the trailers: an older, less confident Wolverine, bitter, disillusioned, and perhaps slower to heal as his abilities diminish with age, who is taking care of a decrepit Professor X.  There are no mansions, no stealth jets, but rather rusty sheds and battered cars instead.

A lot of fans were hoping that the movie would be closer to the 2008 comic book series Old Man Logan. This eight-issue alternate future* story takes place in a United States that has fallen to an alliance of super-villains, with the country divided between the Red Skull, Doctor Doom, the Kingpin, and the Hulk, who has killed the Abomination and taken over his domain on the West Coast.  An aging, pacifist Logan, sworn never to use his claws again, lives a quiet life with his wife and two children while operating a farm on the edge of nowhere in Hulkland.

When his bucolic lifestyle is threatened by the Hulk Gang, whose members are the incestuous offspring of Bruce Banner and his first cousin the She-Hulk, Logan agrees to go on an extended road trip with a blinded Hawkeye in order to raise enough money to pay off his protection fees.  As they travel from Logan's home in California to New Babylon, the Red Skull's capital city on the East Coast, Hawkeye discovers how the other X-Men died during the final battle with the super-villain alliance and the reasons for Logan's resulting renunciation of violence.

Ultimately, they're betrayed to the Red Skull, but Logan defeats him and uses fragments of Iron Man's armour from the Skull's trophy room to rapidly return to the West Coast, where he discovers that the Hulk Gang has killed his family in advance of the deadline for his payment, prompting the return of the Wolverine - claws and all.

Everything I've seen suggests a different future for the last X-Man in Logan, along with some substantial retconning for the child companion who appears in the trailers.  Based on the configuration of her claws, she's got to be X-23, a clone of Logan who made her first appearance in the 2003 X-Men: Evolution animated series before moving to the comics. The comic book version eventually took over as the new Wolverine after Logan lost his healing abilities and then suffocated after being encased in adamantium.**  At 12, Logan actress Dafne Keen seems a bit young to step into Logan's shoes, assuming that it is in fact the same character.

Which leads us to the big question: does Logan survive the movie?  Does the Professor?  Given that both Jackman and Patrick Stewart had announced that it was their final turn as those characters, it would make a lot of sense if one or both of them dies - why would a scriptwriter miss that opportunity? 

However, that leaves a bit of a gap for the First Class series. James MacAvoy has been doing an excellent job as the young Professor X in those films, but Mr. Jackman has been the only person to play Wolverine.  Will they simply leave him out of future films in the series?

There's no reason that they can't recast the role, but it feels like a loss. Hugh Jackman has done outstanding work as Logan, regardless of the quality of some of the scripts that's he's had to work with, and anyone who takes over will be faced with the huge challenge of attempting to match the high standard that he's set for the part.

But, let's face it, nothing lasts forever, and sooner or later, even the Wolverine has to hang up his claws - one way or another.

- Sid

* It has become difficult to keep track of all the X-Men alternate futures, to be honest.

** If any readers are going, "Wait, if he's dead, what about the Old Man Logan thing?"- as above, alternate futures. but you're right, it's confusing.  Even so, being dead isn't always a permanent thing in either comic books or comic book movies.

Although he wasn't really sure about Ian McKellan for the part.

Photo by KT

 Partied with Cogsworth on the weekend.  He's really excited about the new live action film.

- Sid

P.S. No, seriously, we were at a 99th birthday party for Karli's best friend's grandfather, and I glanced over at the mantlepiece, then leaned over and said to her, "Look, it's Cogsworth!"

"I wish I had a thousand words for love."

- Sid

Disneyland III: The Dark Side.

As a purist, this is exactly the sort of thing that I was concerned about when Disney Inc. took over Lucasfilm, and acquired control of the Star Wars branding: you can't just go around sticking ears on everything!  Not only does it confuse the identity of the newly earred character, it diminishes Micky Mouse, who deserves better than that.

C'mon, Disney - let the Mouse be the Mouse.

- Sid

Disneyland II: "Stupid's with me."

I have to admit that I actually found these two t-shirts at the Star Trader gift shop in Tomorrowland to be a cute and clever alternative take on the the usual sort of "I'm with Stupid" thing that you traditionally see featured in gift shops.

Although not cute enough that Karli and I bought a set for ourselves - I'm not certain that Han and Leia are the perfect relationship role models, at least based on how their son turned out.

- Sid

Disneyland I: The Happiest Place on Earth.

The clear morning sky is the sort of pure cerulean blue that you only see in video games or in California.  In front of us, the bronze statue of a smiling man gestures to the azure horizon as if explaining his vision of the future to the attentive waist-high cartoon mouse who holds his other hand.  A laughing little girl with a bubble wand adds an unexpected touch of whimsy to the passing crowd, which is too intent on planning a day of fun and excitement to do more than just notice the partners on the pedestal. Nearby, an unscripted pigeon wanders across the immaculate pavement in a futile search for even a crumb of discarded food which has been missed by the grounds staff.

Welcome to Disneyland - the happiest place on earth.

And, to be honest, it is pretty happy.  I completely enjoyed our three-day visit to Disneyland and its sister location, California Adventure - it was a lot of fun, more fun than I had expected, to be honest.  My childhood didn't include anything even remotely similar to Walt Disney's sprawling 156 acre extravaganza, and I really didn't know what it would be like.

I found that it engaged me on two levels:  on one hand, I was simply entertained and amused. Disneyland offers all of the pleasures of any amusement park, plus its signature experience-oriented adventures, and I was unexpectedly charmed by the classic animated movie rides. On the other hand, I was fascinated by the park itself, by the degree of artifice and imagination that has gone into the creation of both the attractions and the framework in which the Disney imagineers have placed them.

Disneyland draws upon only a portion of the epic library of source material available to its parent company to create this experience. In addition to the traditional fairy-tale content such as Snow White or Pinnochio which characterized Disney's early years, and its more modern animated offerings such as Dumbo, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, Disneyland is able to find inspiration in acquired properties ranging from the Muppets to Marvel Comics, and from Pixar to Lucasfilm.

However, there's an unexpected sort of Darwinian struggle evident at the park, where only the fittest - or most popular - survive. Fame is fleeting at Disneyland:  Space Mountain morphs into Hyperspace Mountain, Muppet Vision 3-D is pushed out by Frozen Live, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience is replaced by Star Tours, a Star Wars based 3-D adventure, and Tower of Terror is currently being rebuilt with a Guardians of the Galaxy theme.

On the other hand, it's not all about the latest and greatest. In addition to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Karli and I visited a number of the older rides such as Snow White's Scary Adventures, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, and, of course, "It's a Small World", all of which more than demonstrate their popularity by the length of their lineups.*

 

To my surprise, many of these classic Disneyland rides aren't really what I would consider to be "rides" as such.  Whereas many of the attractions at Disneyland and the California Adventure draw upon the traditional amusement park catalogue of ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, roller coasters and so on, there is also a wide selection of what could be classified as primitive immersive environments, where the riders pass through the plot of a movie presented as a series of animated tableaux.

Although the older, simple rides remain popular (possibly because of their complete friendliness to all ages and physical capabilities) Disneyland has not rested on its laurels over time.  In fact, it would be possible to work your way through the rides chronologically and observe the increasingly more sophisticated techniques being used to enhance the experience.

The 1995 Indiana Jones adventure, Temple of the Forbidden Eye, is a good example of the results of this evolutionary process.  The entire ride is over 50,000 square feet in size and cost $100 million to construct, taking over seven years from conception to completion.

It takes place in the bowels of a massive temple complex - riders actually walk through close to half a mile of meticulously detailed passageways to reach the boarding point of the ride. Once there, they climb onto simulator motion platforms disguised as all-terrain transport vehicles to travel through the temple.

Riders then experience a combination of forward motion, which takes them through an environment featuring smoke, flames, and (of course) giant stone globes, and extreme motion platform effects, which exaggerates the rider experience without having to make the track physically match the range of convolutions and twists programmed into the platform.

The cumulative effect is a complete success - Karli and I went through the Temple three times, and would undoubtedly have done more return visits if time had allowed.  

The 2012 debut of Radiator Springs Racers raised the ante, with six acres of vivid desert scenery recreated from Cars at a cost of more than $200 million, making it the most expensive attraction constructed by Disney. The incredible backdrop of Ornament Valley rears hundreds of feet into the sky, and also features underground caverns filled with animatronic characters from the movie.

 

But where does Disney go from there?  What's the next step in this process?

Personally, I was surprised to see the number of other adult couples that were visiting the park without children, which indicates that the phenomenon of the Magic Kingdom has an appeal which extends beyond the stroller demographic. One has to wonder if Disney has ever considered widening their scope to include more mature themes. Imagine if the imagineers focused their skill with epic landscapes and believable animatronic characters on a park that featured more adult content - perhaps making the leap to elements of violence, or possibly even sex.

Maybe something with a western theme...

- Sid

* Lineups are the price of doing business when you visit Disneyland, a necessary evil caused by thousands of people wanting to visit a limited number of venues.  Disney recognizes that this is a negative aspect of the park experience, and does everything they can to minimize the effect.  The lineup environment is referred to as "Scene Zero" of a ride, and as such the waiting areas feature animatronic characters, videos, and set dressing, all intended to entertain (and distract) guests standing patiently in queue.

 

Newer attractions are also constructed to stage out the lineup process so that it takes place at different locations - a twenty minute wait will involve five minutes at the entrance, ten in the middle, and five at the ride itself.  In addition, there's a Fastpass system that allows ticket holders to reserve seats on popular rides during a set range of times.

Ultimately, though, there are times when you just have to stand and wait. Karli and I visited during one of the slowest times at the park, and as such rarely had to wait longer than ten or twenty minutes to board a ride. Peak times can involve lineups of 90 minutes  - or longer.