sci-fi class stuff

2004-01-23T12:59:00.000-08:00

Class 13

This class was a little more laid back, mostly work on projects and stuff. The stuff we did for class provoked a decent discussion of what people liked and didn't like about the class. I will not mention any names, but one kid in this class just cracks me up with everything that comes out of his or possibly her mouth. Anyway, a very lazy day.

2004-01-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

Class 12

Any town that proclaims itself "The future birthplace of Capt. Kirk" has to be the funniest town in the entire world. Trekkies is the funniest movie i've seen in a while. Wearing a Star Trek uniform all day everyday is strange, but wearing one once in a while is alright. If you like that sort of thing. It's exactly the same as wearing a band's t-shirt, a team's uniform, or a business suit. The fans of Star Trek are just a little more involved than most fans. Except maybe Oakland Raiders fans that wear those ridiculous outfits to the games. Man, I really hate the Raiders, I hope they lose everygame next year.

2004-01-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

Class 11

I think I was the only person to actually like the novel Neuromancer. I guess it's because it's just a strange story. It is dreamlike in it's writing, almost schizophrenic really. Yeah, otherwise that's about all I remember about the class and whatnot. Neuromancer is good.

2004-01-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

Class 10

Eastern influence looms large in the cyberpunk of Neuromancer and The Matrix. The Zen philosophies in the Matrix are especially visible. Neo is told that he doesn't have to think he's the one, he needs to know that he is the one. A Taoist belief, if I'm not mistaken. Another Eastern influenced quote from the film is the mentioning of being everyone and no one. It is also a Zen belief to be nothing and everything at the same time. This also happens at the end of Neuromancer with the AI.

2004-01-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

Class 9

So, we started our short stories today... What is the obsession with change and a moral? There isn't a need for a moral in everything or change. Not everything changes, and even when something does, it doesn't have to be a meaningful change. The change is insignificant, it matters not.
The moral? who cares. Not all of life is meaningful, most of it is insignificant. Sometimes when people go through struggle or conflict they don't learn anything, nothing changes.
Changes and morals contradict themselves. Life is a contradiction.
What am I talking about?

2004-01-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

Class 8

I hate comedies that try to inject some sort of message into the film. Just be a comedy and screw the message. Entertain me, if I want to learn something I'll read a book, not watch a movie or tv show. It's not that I don't care about a message, oh wait, yeah it is. I just want some comedy.

2004-01-14T13:05:00.000-08:00

Class 7

Even though I didn't really like Star Trek: First Contact it has helped me decide what I want to do for my website project. I'm going to research time travel and the paradoxes inherent in the possibility of time travel. There's a lot of interesting stuff about time travel, so it should be a good topic. Lots of wild ideas, some of which make very little sense unless you know a lot about physics and such, but interesting nontheless.

2004-01-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

Class 6

Star Trek - First Contact

What's with the Spock-like aliens being able to immediately speak english? That's absolutely ridiculous. At least make them work a little bit.
Also, why don't they shoot a whole bunch of the Borg quickly instead of standing around waiting for them to adapt to the phasers? I think that it's not the number of shots but the time after the first shot that determines whether they adapt.
Both of these things make for a weak story. The movie isn't overly terrible, but it sure isn't good either.

2004-01-12T13:09:00.000-08:00

Class 5

Using children as soldiers is a cheap, and better alternative to any other type of soldier.

I, of course, am kidding. In theory this is correct, but it is completely ridiculous to use children to fight in a war. Children are easy to manipulate, which makes them easy targets for exploitation. Ender's War is a good story about exploitation, of children in particular. It is also about the lying that takes place between children and adults all the time. Santa Claus, the easter bunny, drugs are all bad, and so on and so forth, these are all lies told to children. If we're going to tell them about the easter bunny, why not train them to kill? These are interesting concepts all brought about by a nice little story about games and war.

2004-01-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

Class 4

The film-noirish aspect of blade runner that I recognized most was the smoking. That and the haveing to have a drink all the time. Both of these have a very 30s and 40s feel to them. Especially in the film-noir detective stories. Everyone needs to have a cig or a cocktail whenever they go somewhere new.

2004-01-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

Class 1

Sci-fi lit sounds like an interesting topic. The course will cover a bunch of stuff that I'm sort of interested in. I hope the articles that we read end up being good. That's about all I can think of at the moment.