Disney 2024: Ridin' dirty.

 

Maybe not the perfect ride for a rainy day on Batuu (or in Anaheim), but I like it.

- Sid

Disney 2024: Silver Lining.

For Karli's 50th birthday this year, she decided that there was no place she would rather go than Disneyland. Planning was simple - Karli has become a seasoned veteran in terms of Disney visits - and we invited Karli's best friend John and her sister Stefanie to join us.  John had never been to Disneyland, so he was eager to take advantage of our collective experience to introduce him to the park.

We had all been checking the forecasts for the weather during our upcoming visit, but it was only when I took a look at CNN the day before we left that I discovered that California was currently in the midst of the most serious storm that it had experienced for quite a long time. Record-breaking rains closed airports and caused flooding and mudslides, there had been four fatalities, and a state of emergency had been declared in Los Angeles and seven of the surrounded counties.  Even more ominously, Disneyland had experienced closures due to the emergency.  Obviously not an ideal time for travel, but it was too late to cancel, so we decided to carry on and hope for the best. 

Surprisingly, we experienced no delays as a result of the chaotic weather conditions.  Our flight left on time and landed without any problems, our Uber seamlessly delivered us to our Disney-adjacent hotel, and Disneyland was scheduled to be open over the course of our three-day passes (although rain was on the forecast for the first day and part of the second day).

Fortunately, Karli had the foresight to purchase rain ponchos for the group just in case, which turned out to be the ideal garment for the weather.

As forecast, rain was definitely the theme for our first day at the park - not quite torrential, but certainly a steady solid downpour.

The result?  Limited attendance at the park, and far shorter lines than the norm. 

We all got a bit wet - even the best rain gear will only keep you so dry over the course of a full day - and we obviously couldn't go on any outdoor rides, but we were generally comfortable, and the lack of crowds allowed us to visit favourite rides like Smugglers Run and Indian Jones multiple times.

It was one of those rare occasions when clouds actually had a silver lining.

- Sid

Golden Years.

 "I first read science fiction in the old British Chum annual when I was about 12 years old."

A. E. Van Vogt, The Weinberg Interview

From a scholarly perspective, the Golden Age of Science Fiction is considered to run from 1938 to 1946, at least in the United States, and at least according to Wikipedia.

However, there's an alternate position. Reactor Mag (née tor.com) recently reminded us that many years ago, SF fan Peter Scott Graham commented that "The golden age of science fiction is 12."  (Alternate versions cite 13, but still.)*  It feels like one of those facile statements that would look good on a t-shirt, but it's easy to see the point that Mr. Graham was making.

Glibness aside, let's for a moment take it as a definitive measurement, in terms of what novels came out in 1973, when I was 12?  To be fair to all parties, we'll let the clock run to the end of 1974, since my birthday is in September.

A little research reveals a surprisingly prestigious lineup. 

1973 saw the publication of the following classic novels, featuring some of the most famous science fiction authors, almost all of which have a place in my little library at home:

• The Man Who Folded Himself, by David Gerrold
• Bloodhype, by Alan Dean Foster
• Crash, by J. G. Ballard
• Hiero's Journey, by Sterling E. Lanier
• The People of the Wind, by Poul Anderson
• Protector, by Larry Niven
• Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke (which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel)
  
• Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers, by Harry Harrison
• Time Enough for Love, by Robert A. Heinlein
• To Die in Italbar, by Roger Zelazny
• Sky Pirates of Callisto, by Terry Carr
• And a trio of Antares/Scorpio novels: The Suns of Scorpio, Swordships of Scorpio, and Warrior of Scorpio, by Kenneth Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers

1974 does just as well in terms of classics and well-known names:

• The Centauri Device, by M. John Harrison**
• Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delaney
• The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hugo for Best Novel) ***
  
• The Fall of Chronopolis, by Barrington J. Bayley
  
• The Godwhale, by T. J. Bass
  
• The Land Leviathan, by Michael Moorcock
• Icerigger, by Alan Dean Foster
• The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
• Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, by Philip K. Dick
• The Last Canadian, by William C. Heine
  
• The Mote in God's Eye, by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
  
• Inverted World, by Christopher Priest
  
• A Song for Lya, by George R. R. Martin
  
• And three more by Alan Burt Akers/Bulmer: Prince of Scorpio, Manhounds of Antares, and Arena of Antares****

It's a bit surprising to see that each of these lists covers a single year, it's such a wide-ranging selection of authors and styles.  Some of my favourite books are represented here, which certainly feels like proof of concept for the whole "golden-age-is-12" hypothesis - and, a bit sadly, it all makes me aware of the fact that it's been 50 years since I was 12, which puts me squarely in the silver age, at least in terms of hair colour.

- Sid

* There's a surprising amount of debate regarding this simple statement, which has been attributed to several people and several dates over the years.  Short answer, very probably Peter Scott Graham, and somewhat probably around 1960.

** Not well known, but definitely one of my top ten favourite books, along with his 1971 novel, The Pastel City.

*** And, AND, she also won best short story for The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas in 1973, another classic entry for the Golden Age score card.

**** If anyone is surprised to see six of these novels over a two year period, you probably haven't read any of them. They're enthusiastic pastiches of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series that have an entertaining creative life of their own - they're probably not for everyone, but I have fond memories of discovering the series.  Honestly, I suspect that Kenneth Bulmer could knock one of them off in two or three months without breaking a sweat.

"Warriors for the working-day."

I was saddened to discover that talented science fiction and fantasy author David Drake had passed away on December 10th of last year at the age of 78 - saddened and a bit surprised that, in spite of his prolific and noteworthy career, it had taken almost a month for me to hear about his passing. 

Drake was one of my favourite authors. His books were eminently readable - they may not have explored great philosophical issues, but their strong foundation in realism and historical research gave them a weight and believability that appealed to me.

I always felt that Drake was a guilty pleasure - so many of his books were set in a military framework, and by and large the science fiction community tends toward the pacifist. This viewpoint was reflected in his early struggles to sell short stories that were rooted in his personal experience of combat while serving in Vietnam. Eventually he was able to find a market for the gritty realism of his Hammer's Slammers series, which told the story of a far-future mercenary regiment from a wide range of perspectives. 

After he gained a foothold in the market with the Slammers stories and novels, he demonstrated his range as a writer by creating a multitude of fictional worlds: the Northworld Trilogy, the Reaches books, the Tom Kelly and Venus novels, and his fantasy series Lord of the Isles, and The Books of the Elements, along with a variety of one-off novels, such as The Forlorn Hope, Redliners, Old Nathan and The Dragon Lord. 

Drake also collaborated on the General series with S. M. Stirling, providing a plot outline for the original five books that Stirling then completed, an approach which he repeated with Eric Fint and the Belisarius novels.

In addition, Drake created what I would consider to be his own subgenre of science fiction: Romans encountering aliens. Although this has an unfortunate Cowboys Vs. Aliens feel to it, the three novels that used this concept - Ranks of Bronze, Birds of Prey and Killer, along with the short story collection Vettius and His Friends - convincingly created storylines in which the Romans come out on top when confronted with extraterrestrial opposition, proving that technology doesn't necessarily provide superiority. 

At the time of his retirement from writing due to health issues in November of 2021, Drake had completed 13 novels in his Republic of Cinnabar Navy (RCN) series, which featured the adventures of Daniel Leary, an officer in the RCN, and his companion Adele Mundy, who goes from being a librarian to a member of the espionage branch of the Republic.  Leary is Drake's Horatio Hornblower, a young officer who advances his naval career through a combination of cleverness, bravery, aggression and charm, in spite of his estrangement from his highly placed father, Speaker Leary of the Republic.  

The RCN books are well-written, well researched stories, rooted in actual historical events that Drake cleverly translates into the world of the Cinnabar Navy and its interstellar encounters with the Alliance of Free Stars.  I sincerely hope that no one decides to find another writer to finish the series - or add to any of Drake's other stories, for that matter.  They could try, but it would be impossible to find a match for the talent, experience and intellect that made David Drake such a great author - and a great loss. 

- Sid

Chef Who.

Idris: Are all people like this?
The Doctor: Like what?
Idris: So much bigger on the inside.

The Doctor's Wife, Doctor Who

I just received  the above late-arriving Christmas from my sister-in-laws Lisa and Stefanie - I am always touched that anyone would care enough to find something that so perfectly matches my interests in life.  Thank you so very much!

- Sid

Virtually Infinite.

As part of my selection of Christmas gifts from Karli, she cleverly picked up a pair of tickets for the award-winning Space Explorers: The Infinite virtual reality event currently being presented in Vancouver. Located at the Rocky Mountaineer Station, The Infinite presents an immersive experience of the International Space Station from a wide range of perspectives and viewpoints. 

Arriving at the location at our appointed time, the event staff set us up with what's essentially the same Quest 2 VR headset that I have at home, with a networked sensor add-on to the front of the unit, a bar code (presumably for the tracking ID) and enhanced earphones.  The experience uses a simple system - the rest of your group appears in VR as a yellow avatar, other guests are blue, and cast members are green.

Once equipped with a headset, you are introduced to a shadowy ghost of the ISS, populated with glowing spheres.  

By touching a sphere, you can activate a virtual reality movie clip showing various aspects of life on the space station, such as donning space suits and working on the outside of the station, along with commentary from the astronauts on the station*.  There are also periodic changes of setting, displaying breathtaking orbital views of and from the station in the overhead area.

To transit the guests out of the VR space, the experience ends with a seated panoramic view of the ISS in space, after which the headsets are returned and you exit the VR environment.

I enjoyed the freedom of being able to actually walk around in VR, something that my home usage hasn't permitted. That being said, it was surprisingly crowded, to the point that it was a bit challenging to avoid other avatars.  I suppose that logically, dumping a couple of dozen people into the actual ISS wouldn't leave that much extra space either.

Sadly, I fell prey to a couple of technical issues that shut my headset down due to heating problems, so I did miss a few minutes of the show.  In both cases I was quickly assisted by staff members, full points for rapid response in a time-sensitive situation.

Although I found The Infinite to be an amazing experience, I would liked to have interacted with a more fully rendered version of the ISS interior.  (Which certainly exists, as per the ISS program that I have loaded on my personal headset.)  However, I can appreciate that the star of the show is the actual VR footage of astronauts on the ISS, both inside and outside - better to see the real thing than a simplified rendering.

Minor issues aside, The Infinite offers a spectacular perspective on the ISS and its daily activities.  If you're looking for a unique opportunity to experience life in space, I would fully recommend picking up tickets to the show - but don't wait too long, it's a popular event, and it's only available until March 19th.   

- Sid

* In one of the clips, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques comments that the ISS is "like camping in your backyard.  Mars is our Everest."  I'm sorry, David, but at best Mars is a week at a provincial park - let's save Everest analogies for when we eventually get out of our own solar system.

Anangong Miigaading.

Obi-Wan: Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!
Anakin Skywalker: From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Lucasfilm has announced that they have come to an agreement with the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council and the University of Manitoba to release a dubbed Ojibway version of A New Hope, the original Star Wars movie. (If you happen to be a fluent speaker of Ojibway and have theatrical ambitions, now is your chance: you can apply at http://starwarsojibwe.com/)

The producers chose Ojibway because it is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages, with approximately 320,000 speakers in North America.  The Ojibway version of the film will see theatrical release across Canada, and will eventually be broadcast on Canada's Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

It's interesting to imagine an indigenous re-write of the entire series, with the Empire recast in the model of a colonial power that has undertaken a program of ruthless conquest across the galaxy. In this version, Anakin Skywalker becomes a Lost Generation child, swept up in the equivalent of the 60s Scoop and stripped of his aboriginal identity.  His romance with Amidala then becomes a double secret, not just due to the strictures of the Jedi code but because of prejudice and discrimination against his indigenous background.

But where do the Jedi fit in this retelling of the story?  It's an easy out to have the Sith stand in for the Catholic Church, but a stark examination of the prequel trilogy makes it just as easy for the Jedi to be guilty of the same sins - let's face it, Qui-Gon Jinn essentially takes Anakin away from his mother and drops him into residential school at the Jedi Temple.  

With the narrative changed to an indigenous perspective, Anakin turns out to be correct when he tells Obi-Wan that the Jedi are evil, and his conversations with the Supreme Chancellor about similarities between the Sith and the Jedi gain a new resonance. The good news is that in the aboriginal retelling, Anakin is no longer guilty of killing the younglings that he encounters at the Jedi Temple - instead, he rescues them.  And after that, it's a whole new story...

- Sid

"As you command."

Every now and then I let myself reference my fandom at work - sometimes you just have to represent.

- Sid

And so it begins.

Spock: V'Ger must evolve. Its knowledge has reached the limits of this universe and it must evolve. What it requires of its god, doctor, is the answer to its question, "Is there nothing more"?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Welp, I guess all the serious Star Trek fans in the audience know where THIS is going to end up...

- Sid