The Devil's greatest trick was a frontside 360 airwalk

Two disclaimers: I do not know skateboarding terms; I ramble, and may not make as much sense as I'd wish. This combination may result in a Cthulu-like trance in which I spout the tongues of madness that wakens the damned.



The links!
The hell one: http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=2421

The AMA: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/kxf69/throwing_myself_to_the_wolves_i_am_part_of_the_1/

The swamp-assed universe!: http://www.fastcompany.com/1769468/scientist-discover-the-oldest-largest-body-of-water-in-existence-in-space

I am going to Monon this weekend. I will report back with Wabash's victory and scorn for Depauw. This will probably be my last year that I go (and drink) as it is the last senior class I know; the rest are all fraters that joined after I left the house. I know a few, and godspeed to each of them (and the house as a whole) but I'm trying to grow up inch by inch. Unfortunately, in my case, that is a lot of inches.

Insane laughter is not optional

The mad science link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/worlds-biggest-telescope-will-see-deep-into-the-past-1756187.html


This'uns for Jeremah:

Just imagine Boehner, but with boobies

Note: the quality of this recording is of even higher quality than usual. Because I remembered how to turn up the volume on my speaking portions. Also, I haven't listened to it yet (don't believe in that fancy quality control).
I talk about a lot of stuff, and I wanted to talk about even more. I cut it short (or as short as I am capable of) however.



I did want to elaborate, if I may, on the victimized politicians. It bugs me that they cry to get their way, like spoiled children. It bugs me that there seems to be less and less thought in legislation, and more and more "what can I get out of it?" attitudes. Here's the thing that bugs me most: according to Fox News, about half of Americans don't pay any taxes. That's po' folks for ya. Half of Americans. Now I'm not a doctor, but that is a pretty big number. Gosh-darn big. And whether it's factual or not, there are a lot of poor folks in America. More than there are rich. The reason you see rich folks getting their way is because of money. Money talks, said the cliche. What talks louder than money, or should, in a Democracy? Shitloads of people. So if you really want to be heard, to get the things you want, you need to be loud. You need to be kind of a dick. When Mitt Romney claims corporations are people, you tell him to shut his whore mouth. Because he's not saying it for you - he's saying it for the people who subsidize his campaign, the people who will own his left nut should he get into the White House. Obama has done this as well, trying to deliver on a few of his promises while refusing to turn down the money.So why do they get to cry and claim it's for the average American? According to their actions, they despise the average American. It's time to start talking, half of America. It's time to stop taking the bullshit, and at least trying to be louder.

Late Facts: The Firefly episode I bring up, with "Mrs. Reynolds" playing the victim? I forgot to mention she tries to murder everyone on the ship. Kinda important plot point. 

Do Not Trust Robin Williams

Here is the link to the Star Wars blog: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/07/i-find-your-lack-of-relevance-disturbing-is-star-wars-a-joke-now
Didn't have time to say it (spent too much on Williams being a murderer) but I think Star Wars is fantasy, as is much of what we think of as science fiction. Terminator: is there any science there beyond "robots, totally"?And time travel? The Matrix? They mention computers and then it's just kung-fu nerds' wet dream. Serenity? Reavers could easily be a stand-in for orcs. There are certain allowable things that differ in genres - what happened to River usually doesn't happen in fantasy, for example - but it's just an expectation, not a rule. I would like to read fantasy in which a government kidnaps and brainwashes kids to turn them into psychic assassins. The line between the genres is so thin I'm not sure it's there at all, or if soft sci-fi is just fantasy, in space. Even robots aren't safe, as fantasy has golems (mechanical constructs with a penchant for rebelling against their creators).

Admit It

I've decided to vote Republican in the next election. For one reason that has nothing to do with policy (foreign or domestic) or any issues. Well, sort of. I'm voting Republican because, deep down, and I suspect many people feel this way, I want to see what happens if the villains win.
It's a sad truth that the villain rarely gets anywhere in fiction. Audiences won't stand for it (see below: we consider ourselves the good guys), and it doesn't sell so well. Watchmen was an awesome thing among comics, but it took a long time for it to be adapted to the big screen (and even then we had to have an anti-government, pro-rich folks boner so big it rivals Dr. Manhattan's). Even in V for Vendetta, a movie about a terrorist, we needed to have him be the good guy for it to sell. Moral ambiguity upsets our stomachs.
But the same is not true in real life. We re-write history to paint ourselves in a good light, but current events let you assign hero and villain roles as you wish. Each political party considers themselves the good guys, or Batman, to our troubled nation. I, however, see them thusly:
Republicans: Joker
Democrats: Stupid safecracker who shot one guy, then couldn't figure out that maybe the Joker would kill him too, despite having just fucking shot a guy on his team!
And while I love Batman, I, like most of us, paid my ten bucks to sit in the theater and watch the Joker blow shit up for two hours. The problem is that Joker loses, while the Republicans have demonstrated an ability to engage in base and vile villainy, and still pull out a win. So, when a villain in real life can win, and you've never seen that (not really) in fiction, the temptation becomes too much, and you must vote for them. Just imagine if one of those groups of people on the ferries had blown the other group up; or if Batman hadn't figured out the Joker's plan to switch doctors and clowns, or if Harvey Dent had killed Jim Gordon. It would be terrible, and awesome, to watch. And if I can't see it in the movies or books, I'll settle for real life. 

Space Satan Whispers in Our Ears...

Digital Morality

I’m a big fan of Nietzsche. He cuts through a lot of what I see as bullshit, to strike at the heart of morals. I mentioned last time that no one sees him-or-herself as the bad guy, though we can recognize when we fuck up. We all make our own morality, even if it entails only slight changes to whatever is usual near you.

I am not a fan of Ayn Rand (actually I think she was an insufferable twat) so when I play Bioshock and Andrew Ryan starts screaming at me “A man chooses! A slave obeys!” I prefer to see the connection to Nietzsche rather than Rand (although Ryan’s super-capitalism-whatever falls within her ballpark).

Bioshock is a fun first-person shooter that asks an interesting moral question: is it okay to kill kids (like, if you really need to)? While I don’t like kids (they poop and don’t clean it up) I’m against killing them. I guess it’s just how I was brought up, which may make me old-fashioned. That said children give you superhuman powers (maniacal laugh sold separately) makes me go, “ehhh,” but I’m still firmly on the anti-child-murder side.

But the real interest isn’t in the moral choices themselves, but what they mean. Spoilers ahead, but this game is pretty old now, so if you haven’t played, you probably won’t. Jack (the character you play) is closer to a Big Daddy than a real human. He was constructed from a stolen fetus, and is actually Andrew Ryan’s son (with his hooker mistress, a lady who got the decidedly short and shitty end of the stick). Ryan, the guy you’re trying to kill for most of the game, is the enemy of Atlas, aka Frank Fontaine, who has programmed Jack to respond to a certain phrase, “Would you kindly?” that makes Jack do whatever he wants. He uses this phrase all the time, and it’s not until after the reveal (when Ryan forces you to kill him [he figured it out] to prove a point) that the player sees how neatly they’ve been led along.

This brings me back to the kid-killing. You kill kids for superpowers. Or, you can save them to get fewer superpowers. Atlas is pro-murder, but - and I just noticed this on my last playthrough - he never uses the command phrase to force you to kill. That decision is left in the player’s hands. (One explanation is the dev team wanted moral choices so didn’t force you, but that’s the less interesting idea, so fuck it). The player is put in a place that seems beyond good and evil, and presented with a choice that means survival or death; can he, or she, ignore the conventional morality and make the hard (evil) decision? Is it possible, because Jack thinks (for most of the game) that he is human, that Atlas was unable to force this sort of monstrous decision to the conclusion he preferred?

In a world built to deny the traditional rules and morals, your cynical heart can run free. You can get all up in Rand’s philosophy that doing what is best for you is somehow best for everyone (hint: it’s not) or you can take a look at the Nietzschean subplot and determine, free from former constraints, what it means to be moral in a world that has gone shithouse rat-style crazy.

Who Loses in Two Girls, One Cup?

What is the nature of a fight between good and evil (or if you prefer, Good and Evil)?
That’s right, bitches; it’s gonna be one of them talks.
Let’s get this out of the way: there has never been a real fight between Good and Evil. Not one that has been recognized by both fighters, at least. There is not someone who thinks “I am the real evil bastard here. I am doing this because fuck that other guy, and his stupid kids.” And this is usually mirrored in fiction, especially fantasy and science fiction (horror can go either way; in IT, the monster is an evil from beyond time and space, but that’s not really fair to it, no one’s going to even give a shit about it’s side of the story. On the other hand, in Bite, by Richard Laymon, the good guys are a couple of murderers trying to get away from a slightly worse murderer. Really, in horror, it all depends on where you’re standing, and blocking out the possibility of the other guy’s story is important. Crazy ghost Japanese lady in the Grudge is scary right up until we learn her momma put some hoodoo on her. Then it’s retarded).
A Song of Ice and Fire is my main example that, although we may sympathize with some characters more than others, everyone can be a real fucker. Spoilers for the first two books ahead, beware ye.
Ned Stark is the recipient of my sympathy in A Game of Thrones. This despite the first act I see him perform is chopping off someone else’s head. The Lannisters are the villains. At least they’re supposed to be; don’t get me wrong, they can be crazy. Joffrey is a thirteen year-old psychopath, but he was raised by psychopaths. It’s hard to blame a kid for being a crazy little shit when he was raised to be a crazy little shit. But how much better is Ned? He’s a cold, brutal man, by necessity, given where he lives. He is offered a bitch job as the King’s Hand, which he doesn’t want. Catelyn, his wife, insists that he take it, because she is afraid it will bring their loyalty into question if he doesn’t (kinda like turning down a promotion at work, except your boss decapitates you). Then a letter comes that points at some dirty dealings by the Lannisters, who are next in line to the throne, and uh-oh! It’s time to fuck shit up.
Which is exactly what happens.
Book two is all about the war that ensues after Ned is killed by Joffrey (read the book, willya? It’s too long to explain). The hostilities begin because Catelyn, displaying an overabundance of “what the fuck is wrong with her?!” kidnaps a Lannister brother, whom she believes tried to have her son killed. Granted, the Lannisters began it by tossing her son out a window (read psychopaths, above), but no one had any evidence for it beyond the word of one asshole who is, if anything, more sleazy than the Lannisters.
A Song of Ice and Fire goes out of its way to remind us, throughout Thrones, that though we may sympathize with the royals and nobles, the people really getting fucked are the ordinary people; their homes are destroyed, their lands burned, their sons killed, their daughters raped, and then killed. Ned Stark could have let it go at any point; he even tried to, by warning the Lannister queen that he knows a bit about her evilness (which prompts her to trap and kill him). He does this because he understands the lengths to which a person will go to protect their children. If he could let it go that far, why not all the way? I get that they’re assholes, but the lives of a bunch of common people who have no stake in the outcome of the throne weigh more heavily than Ned’s sense of honor.
Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf, is hated by most of the cast. Jon Snow, a bastard, who similarly has no place in this society, is the only one to empathize with him (seriously, Tyrion’s family, with one exception, all hate him). Tyrion is actually a good guy, at least as good as Ned, though considerably smarter about how he achieves justice as the King‘s Hand; for instance, he is not beheaded by the end of book two, whereas Ned  doesn’t make it through book one. Despite this, Tyrion is universally reviled, because: Everyone sees themselves as the good guy; the bad guy is the other, the boogeyman. Tyrion is, on sight, recognizable as the other. And everyone else?
That’s for next time, in a talk about why they see themselves as the good guys, what it means when we don’t see both sides, and how this plays in videogames.

“… why is it always innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?”
Varys, A Game of Thrones