Thursday, August 30, 2018

"Thus it was that America sank further and further into Americanism. "

In particular the whole of American life was organized around the cult of the powerful individual... 

Following yesterday's post, it occurs to me that this post has aged remarkably well.

- Sid


Tuesday, August 28, 2018

1984.


WAR IS PEACE.
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
One of the interesting things about George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is that we do not witness the transition to the totalitarian state of affairs described in the book.  We enter the dystopian future of Winston Smith in medias res, rather than observing the process whereby the world of Newspeak and Ingsoc comes into being.

However, it's very easy to look at the current state of affairs in the United States and think that it could be showing us the first steps down the horrifying road that results in Smith's milieu, a comparison driven home sharply by the recent comment from Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Guiliani that "truth is not truth".

Although Guiliani has since attempted to explain that he didn't mean that statement in the way that it's been interpreted, it follows hard on far too many similar examples from the White House such as the obvious doublethink of "alternative facts" - described by Orwell as “an unending series of victories over your own memory” - which is matched by Trump's recent exhortation to a crowd in Kansas City that "What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening." Or, as in Nineteen Eighty-Four:
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
As with the government of Oceania, one-time allies become foes, and foes become allies.  Members of the inner circle are cast out and demonized: a role played in Nineteen Eighty-Four by Emmanuel Goldstein, once a member of the government and now the Enemy of the People, accused of crimes such as "advocating freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of thought”.  (Remember Trump's announcement that the media is "an enemy of the people"?)

After a while, it starts to feel like Trump has based his rhetoric on some long-forgotten reading of Orwell's text.  In 1984, "nothing is illegal, because there are no laws", and the government is opposed by " a vast shadowy army, an underground network of conspirators dedicated to the overthrow of the State."

One wonders if the Trump government would ever take the final step as described in the novel:
In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense.
It seems unlikely, but then, they've certainly managed to nail the "ignorance is strength" part - once you have that, the rest must be easy.

- Sid

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Eat, drink and be married.



I'm sorry, I've got nothing.

In spite of more than a few jokes, there was not a word of Klingon at our wedding ceremony on the 18th.  No one showed up in Jedi robes, regardless of my suggestion to Karli that, when asked about dress code, we should tell just one person that the wedding had a Star Wars theme.  My friend Chris took a long shot at connecting the number of attendees with the total number of rings in the poem from The Lord of the Rings (Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky...) - sorry, 21 wedding guests, 20 rings. Our officiant's name, Kadee Wirick Smedley, would be completely acceptable for a faculty member at Hogwarts, but her degree is in Divinity rather than Defence Against the Dark Arts. In other words, to the best of my knowledge, there was not a single element of either the service or the reception that in any way involved science fiction or fantasy, although it was very definitely a magical day for both of us - as are all of the days that I share with Karli.
- Sid

Gratitude:
I'd like to thank Karli's parents and step-parents for all of their help and support throughout the wedding process, from helping us select our venue up to delivering the cake, and for their incredible generosity in helping us out financially.  I'd also like to thank all of the friends and relatives who attended the wedding ceremony for sharing a very special event with us - your love and support was very much a part of what made it so special.  And to all of the people who attended our reception/party, thank you for helping us celebrate being married, and for your equally incredible generosity.  My sole regret from my wedding day is that I didn't talk to enough people at the party, I hope that no one was offended by that.

And, finally, I have to express my thanks to Karli for marrying me.  As I said in my vows, I have never been happier in my life, and I owe all my happiness to her.

Monday, August 13, 2018

Phasers and longswords optional.

Hello, all.  There have been some late-breaking inquiries regarding dress code for both the wedding ceremony and the reception/party this Saturday.  It's actually very simple - as you would think, semi-formal for the wedding: 


And dressy casual for the party:


Sorry, no, just kidding - suit and tie* for the wedding, and dressy casual is whatever you think it is. See you Saturday!

- Sid

* Actually, I've already been warned that the father of the bride may well show up for the wedding in khakis and a golf shirt - welcome to West Coast Formal.


Wednesday, August 8, 2018

"We've got a schedule to keep."


Earl Bassett: We gotta run. We've got a schedule to keep.
Valentine McKee: Yeah. See, we plan ahead, that way we don't do anything right now. Earl explained it to me.
- Tremors
As we edge up on our wedding date, it's obvious that  Karli and I have chosen Tremor's Earl and Valentine, two of the great minds of the 20th century, as our spirit animals.*  With nine days to go, all of the large planning tasks are long since taken care of, and we have a rapidly shrinking list of minor things that had to be left until more or less the last minute.

And yes, I am counting down the days in happy anticipation of being married to Karli.  I feel that the people who are describing this as "my last days as a free man" suffer from a fundamental lack of understanding about the nature of our relationship, if not relationships in general.

- Sid

* My apologies for cultural appropriation.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Truer words.



As a bit of an introvert myself, I have never heard a better description of the role that science fiction plays in my life.

And thanks to Karli for another great pin!

- Sid

P.S. We are sorry to hear that Jasmine, the owner of My Cat Is People, has recently lost her cat person Mickey.  It's sad, they leave such a big hole in our lives when they're gone...

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Science fiction. Fantasy. The universe. And related subjects.


We are an odd rocket, veering our way through a universe full of epic fantasy rereads, lists featuring our favorite musical horse videos, deep dives into the history of military fantasy, nakedly open personal essays, Game of Thrones recaps, rankings of the kloo horn players in Star Wars, and more. How do you contain that into a singular voice?

We needn't have worried.
In my eagerness to post about my friend Joe's Apollo 11 gift, I have been remiss in not acknowledging - and celebrating - the 10th anniversary of tor.com, which also took place on July 20th.

I can't remember what originally prompted me to join the Tor Books mailing list - I suspect it was a link on one of the geek news sites that I sometimes visit.  Regardless, it was well worth the click of a mouse and a typed e-mail address. The tor.com site, represented by its mascot, Stubby the Rocket, has proven to be a valued source of genre news updates, excellent free short fiction by both established and new authors, and well-written and thought-provoking opinion pieces from the tor.com staff.

The opinion postings are perhaps the best part of the site. They're thoughtful, well-informed, personal, passionate, but most of all, concerned.  Concerned with the state of the genre, concerned with where it's been and where it's going, concerned with questions of race, gender and hierarchy in science fiction, fantasy and horror, concerned with the roles played by people of colour, women and LGBT characters, concerned with how genre writing has dealt with these characters over time, and concerned with how they will deal with them going forward - pivotal questions for both creators and fans at this point in time.

Obviously they're a bit partisan in promoting their own publications, but for the most part I've been pleased with the Tor books that I've purchased. Tor has a well established track record in the genre which is reflected in their professional recognition:  as of 2015, Tor became the most nominated and awarded publisher in the science fiction, fantasy and horror field, with a March 2018 score of 579 nominations and 111 wins.  As an example, looking at the 2018 Hugo Award nominees, eight of the 24 nominated novels, novellas, novelettes and short stories are from Tor, twice as many as any other publisher.*

In conclusion, congratulations to the tor.com team, please keep doing what you're doing, and here's to the next ten years.  Or ten thousand, after all, science fiction should always look to the future.

- Sid

P.S. If you'd like to sign up for their newsletter - which I strongly recommend -  visit:


* They did better in 2017, 13 out of 24.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

"I'm pretty sure I've invented a time machine..."


One of Karli's friends was hiking on nearby Bowen Island recently and came across the following cautionary missive:


First, I'd like to say that British Columbia is a surprisingly busy spot for time travel, what with the Stanley Park Time Machine and my own experience of discovering a time machine while taking a walk at lunch.

That being said, back to the matter at hand. It's very courteous of this hopeful time traveller to post a warning, but I do have one small problem with their announcement.

If you don't want people to stand in that exact spot, putting up a notice that takes about 20 seconds to read is a bad idea  - because they will stand in that exact spot to read it.

Regardless, good luck with your arrival on Friday August 4th or Friday August 3rd  - depending on how your calculations end up.  Pro tip: given that the next Friday August the 4th is in 2024, you should probably have laminated your sign if you wanted it to last that long.

- Sid


Friday, July 20, 2018

Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin.



My friend Joe retired at the start of 2018, and, as people tend to do when they retire, he and his partner Drew have relocated to a less expensive neighbourhood. (This is easy to do if you've been living in Vancouver.)  In their case, they ended up in exotic Chilliwack, just east of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley.  However, things like medical appointments still bring Joe back into the big city, which has made it easier for use to keep in touch.

We met for lunch last week, and he cheerfully announced that he had a little present for me.  He explained that he'd been going through some of his possessions to clear out the clutter, and had stumbled across something that he thought would be perfect for me.  He then handed me a small envelope that contained a commemorative plated aluminum medal from the Apollo 11 landing in 1969, in absolutely beautiful condition.


Surprisingly, there's almost no information about this medal online.  There are a couple of what appeared to be matching coins for sale on eBay, but both with absolutely no provenance or history. Littleton Stamp and Coin is still in business, but their site doesn't offer any sort of historical information.*  At 60 cents each, Littleton must have struck thousands if not tens of thousands of these medals, but there's no documentary evidence of them at all - which just makes it a more interesting and intriguing present.

I honestly hadn't realized the significance of the timing of Joe's gift until I showed the coin to Karli, who said, "Oh, July 20th, you can post about that on the actual anniversary date." 

Thank you very much, Joe.  As per previous postings, I treasure my friends and their inexplicable willingness to indulge and enable my interests - which is part of what friendship is.

- Sid
 * Ironically so, considering that they sell antique coins and commemorative items.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

"Dun dun dun, dun da dun, dun da dun...."



Tonight Karli and I are off to see Star Wars IV: A New Hope at the Orpheum Theatre, with the music provided live by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

The first film in the Star Wars series is famous for its epic storyline and its innovative special effects, but it's equally renowned for its music. John Williams' brilliant Oscar-winning score defines the Star Wars universe: the opening fanfare, the majestic main theme, the threatening Imperial motif, Princess Leia's evocative melody, the tense, driving background music of the final battle - it's impossible to imagine the movie without its distinctive musical accompaniment.

As I've said before, A New Hope holds a special place in my heart, and I'm looking forward to experiencing it in a unique fashion this evening - even if it probably isn't going to be the original cut, I've never liked the additional special effects that Lucas retrofitted into the film. I'm also a bit curious about how they're going to handle the music performed by Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes* in the Mos Eisley cantina scenes, but then, I'm not sure how it was performed originally.

Normally I'm a quite conservative dresser for things like this, but for tonight I've decided that it's acceptable to wear a Star Wars t-shirt with jeans - and a blazer, of course, I haven't completely lost my mind.

The VSO has sent out a cautionary e-mail warning attendees that a large turnout is expected, and that people should arrive well in advance to be certain that they are seated in time for the opening credits. When Karli and I reach the venue, it's obvious that the warnings were somewhat premature - although it is busy, we're inside the theatre immediately, where it's equally obvious that this isn't the usual symphony crowd.

 

My decision to go with a Star Wars t-shirt puts me right in the median for dress code: most of the crowd is wearing similar gear, with three standouts wearing full Star Wars-themed suits and one or two guests in Jedi robes. (There's also one fellow in a tuxedo - clearly not everyone is willing to compromise their standards just because it's Luke Skywalker night.)

"Look, sir, droids!"
The Orpheum has also brought in some more extreme fans dressed in costumes from the movie: there are photo ops with Darth Vader; Imperial Stormtroopers, officers and fighter pilots; a lone Sandperson; and Boba Fett - who isn't in this movie, but let's not be picky.**


After a few pictures, we make our way to our seats. The lights dim, the conductor raises his baton, and the film begins.

It's surprisingly fun - the difference between recorded soundtrack and live performance is astonishing. There's a bit of a struggle between dialogue and music, they're obviously not able to balance the audio in the same fashion that a sound mixer could, but the conductor does an excellent job of modulating the orchestra to suit the action, and they've cleverly compensated by added subtitles to the film.

Sometimes the orchestra's performance blends seamless into the experience, and at other times I find myself thinking, "Wait, is there actually music for that scene?" Given that there are sections of the film where the entire orchestra falls quiet and simply watches the movie with the rest of us, presumably they're matching the original soundtrack. The complexity of the music is also more obvious: there are sections where I notice an overt bit of oboe or a hint of harp that I didn't realize was there.


In the fullness of time, the Death Star explodes, the Rebellion celebrates its heroes, and the movie ends. Unlike the situation for most movies, the entire audience remains for the credits, after which we give the orchestra a standing ovation.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased and satisfied by the experience, it was certainly an enjoyable way to re-experience the film. My only disappointment is that no one in the orchestra attempted to match the cantina band, that was one of the sections where they fell silent.

And I still think Chewbacca should get a medal at the end.
- Sid

* Hey, trivia fans:  the Cantina Band is made up of members of the Star Wars production team, most notably makeup artists Rick Baker and Rob Bottin, and special effects technican Phil Tippett.

** Actually, he is, for about two seconds - I had forgotten that as part of his changes to the film, Lucas had added in Han's confrontation with Jabba the Hutt, wherein Boba Fett makes a brief appearance. (See previous comments regarding my opinion of the reworked version of the film.)

Monday, July 9, 2018

Probably a lot of things, actually.


  • Batteries: Yep, but we don't know what kind yet. 
Thinkgeek Plasma Rifle Replica product specifications
I won't say that I'm not tempted, but surely there must be something more important that I could spend 119.99 USD on.
- Sid

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Or maybe Tim Horton's.



For this year's Canada Day, let's take a moment to acknowledge the best known and longest serving Canadian member of the space program. Sorry, it’s not Chris Hadfield, I refer of course to the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System: more popularly known as the Canadarm.

Commissioned from Spar Aerospace by the Canadian government as part of an agreement with NASA to support the shuttle program, the Canadarm was first deployed from the space shuttle Columbia on November 13, 1981. The 15.2 meter long robotic arm featured a unique cable-based "end effector" (hand, if you're not an engineer) that allowed the Canadarm to effectively and easily grip objects in zero gravity.

The Canadarm proved to be an incredibly useful and versatile addition to the shuttle, and NASA requested a matching system for each of their new space shuttles. The various models served with distinction for 30 years, finally retiring* in 2011 after 90 missions.

The Canadarm2 was already in place on the International Space Station at that point** - the improved version of the remote manipulator, designed and built by Brampton's MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, had entered service in 2001 after being installed on the ISS with the help of Chris Hadfield and the station’s first generation Canadarm.

The new version of the arm was larger, longer and stronger, with the ability to handle larger payloads, and was constructed so that it could be maintained and updated in orbit - unlike its predecessors, the Canadarm2 would remain in space for its entire service life.

 

The next addition to Canada’s catalogue of robotic remotes was Dextre, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator***. Also built by MDA, Dextre is 3.70 meters tall, is equipped with two 3.5 meter long arms, each with seven joints for extreme flexibility, and can be mounted on the end of the Canadarm2. Dextre first saw duty in February of 2011, allowing the crew of the ISS to perform a wide variety of maintenance tasks on the exterior of the station without the need to go into space.

The Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre are the tools of the future: extensions of humanity that enhance and expand the ability of astronauts to interact with their environment, extensions that will undoubtedly become more and more autonomous over time.

I’d like to think that they're also the precursors to a long legacy of independent Canadian-created robotic space explorers. Imagine: centuries from now, on a distant planet, a mobile human-form AI stands surrounded by curious lifeforms. The scarlet light of an alien sun illuminates a chipped and scratched maple leaf etched into the android's carbon fibre shoulder.

One of the aliens raises a secondary pedipalp and gestures at the flag.

>>>INQUIRY: WHAT IS SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS ICON?<<<

A metallic face creases into a nostalgic smile.

“That is the symbol of Canada, my home and native land. Hmmm…how to explain Canada...okay, let’s start with hockey...”

- Sid

* Because there were multiple models, the retiring Canadarms found a variety of homes for their golden years: one at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, another at the National Air and Space Museum in Virginia, one remained in orbit, and one is on display as part of the Atlantis shuttle display at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida - the traditional destination of retiring Canadians. (Florida, that is, not the Kennedy Space Centre.) The fifth Canadarm was lost in the 1986 Challenger accident.

** The process of transferring cargo from one Canadarm to the other became known as the "Canadian Handshake".

*** I have always thought that Dextre should have been named Waldo, after the character in the Robert A. Heinlein story of the same name, who lived on a space station and had developed a wide range of remote manipulators to compensate for his myasthenia gravis, but apparently someone has the name under copyright.

Monday, June 25, 2018

“We're here to see the astronauts.”


“Space is our future - Canada is a spacefaring nation.”
-    Dr. Dafydd Williams
Having spent an evening watching the Doctor decide the fate of the Daleks, it seemed appropriate to balance things out by spending some time the following week looking at the more realistic aspects of space research.

Back at the start of May my friend Chris, who is a graduate from McGill University in Montreal, had invited me to join him for an alumni event in June at the exclusive Vancouver Club.  The topic for the evening:  Is McGill ready to take space discovery to new heights? I'm always interested in opportunities like this, so I cheerfully accepted his invitation.

At this point, some of you may be wondering, “Why McGill?” Apparently McGill might as well be called "Space U": since Canada started its astronaut program in 1983, five out of the 14 successful candidates have been McGill graduates.  It’s also home to the McGill Space Institute, which opened in October of 2015. The Institute's 2017 Annual Report lists a range of research that would make the gang on The Big Bang Theory salivate: Muon Hunting, Galaxy and Supermassive Black Hole Co-Evolution, Merging Neutron Stars in X-rays and Gravitational Waves, A Possible Dark Origin of Matter - you know you have a good lineup of research when all your topics sound like the titles of science fiction novels from the 1950s.

The room at the Vancouver Club had seating for 110 people, and it appeared to be an almost full house of interested alumni and friends (plus one infant, presumably  supplied by the same organization that ensures that every airplane has at least one screaming baby on board.)

As the evening began, we were presented with a prestigious trio of speakers, starting with Professor Victoria Kaspi, who is the Lorne Trottier Chair in Astrophysics and Cosmology, the Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics and the Director of the aforementioned McGill Space Institute.

Joining Professor Kaspi were former Canadian Space Agency astronauts Dr. Robert Thirsk and Dr. Dafydd Williams. Dr. Thirsk was selected in December 1983 for the Canadian Astronaut Program, flew on the 1996 STS-78 Columbia space shuttle mission , and was part of the 2009 ISS long duration mission , during which he spent 188 days on the station.

Dr. Williams, who started astronaut training in June of 1992, also flew on Columbia, in 1998, and and went to the ISS in August of 2007, where he set the Canadian record for time spent outside the station on spacewalks: 17 hours and 47 minutes.*

In fact, it was such a prestigious lineup that it led me to think that the room must have contained some very heavy hitters in terms of McGill donations to have elicited this sort of representation – let’s face it, they didn’t fly two astronauts and a prominent astrophysicist in from the other side of the country just because Chris and I chipped in fifteen bucks each.

Okay - Bob, Vicky, Dave, let's talk space.
After a couple of forgettable speeches by university administrators, the main event started, presenting us with a fascinating and wide ranging discussion that managed to almost entirely ignore the original topic of McGill's readiness to raise the bar for space research.

The evening began with a very fundamental question from the moderator:  when and how did the panelists become interested in space?  Victoria Kaspi admitted that she was a big Star Trek fan, and had always been fascinated by the night sky.

Astronauts were Bob Thirsk's heroes in the 60s, and Dave Williams described how his original interest in being an astronaut dated back to 1961, when at the age of seven he watched the television broadcast of Alan Shepard lifting off to become the first American in space.

The next day, he announced to his grade school teacher, “That’s what I want to do!”, only to be told by his teacher that he couldn't.

“Why not?”

“You're a Canadian.” **

Fortunately times have changed since then: as mentioned above, there have been 14 Canadian astronauts since 1983, 11 of whom have flow into space.  In fact, when asked about the qualifications for being an astronaut, Bob Thirsk pointed out that, outside of the scholastic requirements, they were very Canadian in nature: politeness, understanding, acceptance of others, and the sense of adventure historically possessed by Canadians.

He went on to add that one of the best things about the current state of space exploration was its international nature, the manner in which former enemies were now working together, and how Canada occupies an undeniably important role in that exploration.

They all agreed that the next exciting frontier for space travel is Mars, although Dave Williams felt that someone currently in the space program might walk on the Moon again, "a profoundly transformation experience". Bob Thirsk hoped that within a couple of generations we would be living on Mars, commenting that, "...somewhere in this room is a person who could walk on Mars - they just don't know yet."

This led to the question of whether the future of space exploration would be private or public.  Bob Thirsk gave the example of the ship in Alien, which was a commercial mining vessel, and mentioned that the driving force behind the exploration of Canada was development for commercial reasons. His expectation was that private corporations would take over low Earth orbit development, but that exploration would still be the purview of governments.

Perhaps the most interesting topic was the panel's thoughts on the search for extra-terrestrial life.  Bob Thirsk expressed his conviction that in our lifetime we will discover other life in our galaxy, a discovery which will be the most significant event of the 21st century - unless it finds us first. Vicky Kaspi observed that there was a need for sophisticated technology in order to conduct the search for bio signatures.  She also thoughtfully mentioned her curiousity about what's going on under the ice on Europa, Jupiter's sixth moon.

Bob Thirsk concluded the evening by speaking passionately about the need to give the young people of Canada an audacious challenge like Mars.  He went on to add that he was concerned that Canadians were losing their sense of adventure, and that there should be more experiential hands-on learning.  "Yes, get a degree, but climb a mountain too, live under water for a week, do things, get out there!!"

If there were two aspects of the event that stood out for me, the first would be the complete confidence with which the trio discussed the future of scientific advancement and space exploration: developing advanced technologies, pushing the frontiers of science, living on Mars, and finding life on exoplanets or elsewhere in our own Solar System – not as “what ifs” but as “whens”.

The second was the equally complete conviction that Canadians, as individuals and a nation, will be part of that future. 
- Sid

* Surprisingly, this isn't even in the top 30 - the international record is an astonishing 82 hours and 22 minutes by Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solevyev, spread out over 16 missions for an average of 5 and a quarter hours in space per mission.

** Coincidentally, when David applied for the astronaut program in 1992, the Canadian government received over 600 applications from children under ten.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

#Curiosity #Marslife



Honestly, millenials...

- Sid

P.S.  As always, the question is,"Yeah, but who's holding the phone?"  In this case, it's a composite shot that's been digitally assembled to remove Curiosity's remote arm.  Full credit to both Curiosity and digital artist Seán Doran for the resulting image.  A ridiculously high resolution version of the entire panoramic shot can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/29011748758/

Monday, June 18, 2018

"The Space Force, Separate but Equal".


 
"When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space...We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal." 
 - POTUS Donald J. Trump
And now, a breaking news story:  as of today, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States and defender of American dominance everywhere, has formally directed the Department of Defense to establish another branch of the armed forces dedicated to combat in space:  the Space Force.

First, this is the most 1950s pulp magazine announcement that I've ever heard in my life, and it breaks my heart a little that Robert A. Heinlein, author of Starship Troopers, was not alive to hear it.  Second, when you look past the Planet Stories feel of the whole thing, it's actually kind of intriguing.  Realistically, a demand for a near-Earth military presence would lead to all kinds of research and development for which there previously just hasn't been funding.  For example, to date there's been no real reason for the development of vehicles with complex vacuum manoeuvring capabilities, but a Space Force would certainly need the equivalent of fighters, bombers, helicopters, troop carriers and so on, which could easily be adapted for civilian needs.  And, I'm sorry to admit this, but given that my other hobby is military history, I'd be interested to see how the United States military would adapt to the challenges of zero-gee vacuum combat.

However, I do see one problem.  President Trump has also announced his plans to privatize the ISS by 2025 - where will the Space Force and its, ah, forces be based?  Maybe the Space Force could construct its own orbital facility, perhaps a large globular battle station of some sort.  My co-worker David agrees completely with this, and suggests that it could be called something really cool like "the Death Star".  My personal vote is for Starkiller Base, but I think that either one would be suitable to be the new home of the Space Force.

- Sid

Friday, June 15, 2018

Playing this week: Doctor Who


"I hope that you enjoy the following presentation, and if you don't, I shall be terribly disappointed."
-Tom Baker, introduction to Genesis of the Daleks
It's Doctor Who movie night:  I change into my TARDIS t-shirt and leave work to head out to the Park Theatre on Cambie Street.

I get some popcorn and a drink, then head into the theatre to evaluate options for seating.  I settle on the sixth row, which turns out to be just about perfect for me:  I feel pleasantly close to the action without having to tilt my head back too far.

The seats begin to fill up until the theatre is about a quarter full.  I'm surprised by the age range in the audience, which ranges from old school fans like myself (and some a little older) down to eight or nine year olds.  There are solo acts like myself scattered around the room, but more commonly people seem to have come in groups.

Behind me, a group of six discusses the merits of the various doctors, and the potential of the new one.  They all regret the premature departure of Christopher Eccleston, and are sufficiently savvy to know the behind-the-scenes reasons.  One of them has a staunch dislike of Colin Baker, who played the sixth Doctor, and he's a bit worried that Jodie Whittaker's costume as seen in promo material harkens a bit too much back to his look.  They briefly discuss Ms. Whittaker's potential, but everyone agrees that it's too early to make any decisions based on the single word of dialogue that she spoke at the end of last year's Christmas episode - wait and see is the consensus.

The lights dim, and the show begins with an introduction by Tom Baker, followed by the edited movie version of Genesis of the Daleks.  I had thought that the composite cut was specially created for the promotional showings, but apparently it was originally shown in December of 1975.  I'm used to seeing the classic Doctor Who episodes in slightly blurry DVD transfers, but the quality of the restored version is excellent and bodes well for the Blu-ray collection.

Genesis of the Daleks clearly falls squarely into the cardboard and bubble wrap era of Doctor Who special effects, but the Daleks themselves stand the test of time surprisingly well.  Originally designed in 1963 by BBC designer Raymond Cusick for the second Doctor Who serial in the series, they're a unique looking take on the idea of warrior cyborgs.

 

As the title suggests, the story deals with the origins of the Daleks, the Doctor's most persistent adversaries.  The Doctor is dispatched by his fellow Time Lords to Skaro, the Dalek's original home planet, at the time of their creation.  He is charged with either reducing their aggression or discovering some flaw that can be exploited in future battles.  More disturbingly, there is also the option of eliminating the Daleks entirely by intervening at their creation so that they will never exist.


Some of the movie's elements come across as a bit camp in the modern era - for example, the TOTAL DESTRUCT button that will eliminate the Dalek production facilities gets a chuckle from the audience, and the fight scenes are not even slightly convincing.   But the performances are good, and the Doctor's moral struggle with the destruction of any species, no matter how evil, is gripping.


The movie is followed by an interview with Tom Baker, who at 84 years of age has managed to retain the rich tones in his voice that made him such a distinctive performer.  He reiterates the well-known anecdote about being taken straight from working on a road maintenance crew into the role of the Doctor.  He also speaks a bit wistfully about the passing of time and the awareness of the end being near for him.

The interview ends, the lights come up, and we file out of the cinema.

Overall, I enjoyed the evening - it was a fun way to revisit a classic episode, and I'd be happy to attend another cinema showing if the opportunity allowed.  And, really, if they release ALL the original episodes on Blu-ray season by season, that would be 26 movie presentations - how cool would that be?

I'm in - BBC, let's do this.

- Sid


Thursday, June 14, 2018

"I'm afraid."


HAL: I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it... I'm a...fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.
Dave Bowman: Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
HAL: It's called "Daisy."
HAL: Daisy...Daisy....give me your answer ... do. I'm ... half crazy all for the love of you... It won't be a stylish marriage... I can't ... afford ... a carriage. But you'll ... look sweet ... upon the ... seat ... of ... a ... bicycle ... built ... for ... two...
- 2001:  A Space Odyssey
Opportunity, NASA's long running Martian rover, is in deadly peril. A gigantic Martian dust storm*, spanning a quarter of the planet, has enveloped the solar-powered explorer and forced it into low-power mode, which shuts down all of its systems except for a mission clock that will periodically check on power levels to see if they're sufficient to resume operations.

 

Should the current situation last too long, Opportunity could cease to function permanently due to damage caused by lack of power to the heaters that keep its circuitry functioning in the frigid Martian environment, or simply by no longer having enough battery power to restart.

But, it's not over 'til it's over, and Opportunity has been beating the odds for almost fifteen years now. After its landing on Mars on January 25th in 2004, it was only intended to remain active for 90 Martian days, a timeline which it has exceeded by over 14 years, carefully traversing 28 miles of the Martian surface and sending back almost 225,000 photos. And this isn't the first time that Opportunity has been in trouble and survived. It was stuck in a sand dune in April of 2005 but was eventually able to escape, and in 2007, a similar dust storm drove the rover into low-power hibernation for several weeks, but it finally returned to operation.

Things are a bit different this time. The current storm is the size of North America, and it's twice as opaque as the 2007 storm. As far as Opportunity is concerned, an unending night has fallen, and all NASA can do now is wait and see.

This is probably one of the best reasons I've seen to date for not using artificial intelligence in space exploration. The news coverage for Opportunity's current situation uses all kinds of emotionally loaded terminology like "battling", "fighting for its life", "heroically", and so on. Sorry, no, let's be frank for a moment: Opportunity is just a collection of hardware and software that neither knows nor cares that this storm could be its swan song. The situation reached a certain point, and its programming shut it down, just like powering off your desktop computer, that's all.

But now imagine if Opportunity actually was self-aware. How could it not be heartbreaking to listen to an AI-enabled rover bravely reporting on its worsening situation, fully aware that it was completely lost to any kind of help, then finally sending a last message before falling tragically silent as lack of power forced it into sleep, a sleep from which it might never awaken?

So perhaps it's just as well that Opportunity is just a piece of technology. Regardless, good luck, Opportunity - it may be silly to think of you as alive, but you've been trundling along for quite a while on our behalf, and it seems wrong not to feel some sense of responsibility for you. Who knows, it may be comforting to future robotic explorers to  know that we worried about you, even if you couldn't appreciate it.

- Sid

* Coincidentally, the same thing happens to Mark Watney in the book version of The Martian.

Well that's not a good sign (no pun intended).



Actually, my first thought was, "How strange that a science fiction and fantasy bookstore would have a Current Events section!"

- Sid

And now for something completely different.



Tonight I'm doing something a little bit different: I have a ticket for a big screen showing of Genesis of the Daleks, a classic 1975 Doctor Who episode from the Tom Baker era.  Written by Terry Nation, this episode was originally presented as six 25-minute episodes, and now it's been remastered as a 90-minute director's cut being shown for one night only to promote the upcoming Blu-ray release of the 12th season of Doctor Who - Tom Baker's first year in the role of the Doctor.

The episode will be followed by a 30-minute interview with Baker, now 84 years old. To a lot of people, Tom Baker has always been the best of the Doctors, and based on the reaction to his cameo in the series' 50th anniversary special, a lot of people would still enjoy seeing him return to the helm of the TARDIS.

Not surprisingly, I've already seen the episode (it's a classic episode in more than one way) but that's sort of irrelevant.  I think it's just a great opportunity for a unique fan experience - a 3-D version of the 50th anniversary episode was shown in theatres around the world, and I never even knew that was an option until well after the event.

But this time, I'm all set:  I have my ticket, and I've packed my souvenir BBC Doctor Who Experience TARDIS t-shirt to change into after work.  (I was going to wear my THE ANGELS HAVE THE PHONE BOX shirt, but I decided that it would be more diplomatic to wear something a little less obviously post-reboot.)  Let's hope that the evening matches my expectations!

- Sid