Further proof that physics is cool

And that we live in a crazy universe. The Odd Physics Video Archive contains short videos of interesting things.

Just a few things

I've been doing a lot of snowshoeing lately, which has left me with less time for geekery. It's an odd day when I'll choose exercize over, well, pretty much anything I can do while sitting on my ass, but there you are. Anyway, I still found a few things that I thought were worth sharing.

New comics don't often catch my attention, but I want this. I want this so much that I got a little drooly reading about it.

I was a little bummed by Obama's lack of support for the shuttle program, but I think things are actually looking pretty good. The International Space Station is almost finished, the US will still be sending up astronauts, and NASA will be able to put more resources toward other projects. About the ISS, I'm not sure what to say except holy fucking shit. There aren't a lot of things that genuinely make me think, 'wow, you built an amazing thing, humans!', but the ISS is one of them. Goddamn, do I want to go to space.

Instead, I'll watch this video again, because it's just that cool: Timmy O'Riley by L. Hadron and the Colliders.

Best use of South Dakota in a television series

So, I mentioned the Syfy show Warehouse 13 a little while ago. If you're not familiar, it's about a government department responsible for collecting objects of supernatural power and containing them lest they be misused by evil-doers. Think of the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but designed by Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and MC Escher (so they tell us). This is the thirteenth incarnation of the warehouse, it's located in South Dakota and it houses some of the most dangerous items in the world. While the show design is riding the popularity of steampunk hard, it combines the 19th century brass goggles aesthetic with a good assortment of 21st century gadgets. Some of it comes off as a little ridiculous (like Artie's computer set-up), but I've found that I really don't mind the ridiculous if it's done well, and in this case I think the effect is fun.

Unfortunately, I don't much care for two of the leads. They're a conventionally attractive, relatively young man and woman who rely on the pigtail-pulling method of flirting with each other. Rather than being cute and entertaining, it just comes off as irritating and unbelievable. They make it hard to swallow the idea that they're supposed to be trained US Secret Service agents.

Well, I don't watch for them. I love their superior, Artie, and not just because he's played by Saul Rubinek. I love his demeanor, his genius, his impatience and tolerance. I don't love that he doesn't bring some cast iron smackdown on the children he works with, but that's not his fault; he's written by people who think that kind of shit is cute, so what's he supposed to do? I like Leena, though she has me wondering if the mysterious and beautiful double-crossing innkeeper is a trope I just never heard of. Well, maybe we'll see something different when the show returns. Let's see, Mrs. Frederic and her shadow, Oddjob, tickle me every time they show up, some of the objects stored in the warehouse are super fucking cool, and did I mention how much I like Artie?

Warehouse 13 has been compared to a few shows, including The Librarian and Friday the 13th the Series. Indeed, it's not the freshest idea, but I think it has the potential to stand out if it can focus on the characters and let the objects be incidental to the real stories. Whackass-mystical-artifact-of-the-week only goes so far. There was some intrigue and vendetta business going on at the end of last season, so here's hoping that continues into its second season, which is due sometime this summer.

Worst damned funeral I've ever been to

The house was filled with visitors for days and days, but they've all finally cleared the fuck out so I can get back to my 'net surfing and TV watching.

Tuesday's Lost was made just for me. I've had enough booze that I'm feeling too lazy to pick apart the episode, but I enjoyed the same things I always enjoy. Whether he's Locke or the smoke monster, whoever the fuck he is I sure do like him. Just like I sure do like Ben, and he gave the best damned eulogy Locke could have asked for. Then Locke and Ben meeting in the LA timeline had me squeeing a little bit; that scene in the teachers' lounge was terrific.

I don't know what the fuck's going on with the cave and the names of candidates, and whether or not "Locke" and Sawyer will get off the island and what that might mean for this guy who's been there for so long, but I find this show a lot more entertaining if I maintain a "going along for the ride" attitude. Can't be overly concerned with making sense of it. There's lots of talk about the idea that Sawyer's setting up smokemonster-Locke for his biggest con ever, which'd be pretty cool.

On another front, I stumbled across the blog Eureka Unscripted, about the show Eureka by some of the people who make it. Very cool stuff there, not least of which is this two part interview with adviser Kevin Grazier, who I've mentioned on this blog before as both a super genius scientist guy, as well as someone I've seen several times at DragonCon and have a crush on - Part I and Part II. Super awesome cool news - Eureka is slated for twenty-two episodes in its upcoming fourth season, up from eighteen last season.

Live Nude Girls...

...reading science fiction. Aww, yeah. If you're in New York, go to this and tell me about it.

Chapter Six: Haven't We Been Here Before?

The latest season of Heroes is finished and I'm disappointed but not surprised. Samuel's little saga did indeed turn out to be impressively boring. He wasn't alone, though. For some reason, Parkman's family life makes me want to claw out my eyes, and the whole Nathan-Sylar mindfuck went on for far too long. Even Claire's big reveal at the end had me thinking, "Enh, so what?" I don't care about any of these people anymore, and all their drama and intrigue is tiresome.

Worst of all, though - more disappointing than any three other boring storylines - was Sylar's conversion. Is he actually nice now? I hope not, because he was damned uninteresting to watch for the last few episodes of the season. He and Peter had an energetic chemistry that I liked, but I thought it was stifled by the action being so weak. What a fucking shame.

Thankfully, the season finale wasn't a complete downer. I liked the resolution of Charlie's situation and appreciated that even if Hiro didn't "save" her, she still had a good life. That suited the character better than dragging her around through time again would have. Speaking of Hiro, I'll also mention that, while the Hiro-on-trial gimmick that went on in his head during surgery was only mildly engaging, it sure was nice to see David Anders again.

Well, Heroes isn't the only show I've left then returned to. Yes, I have made much fun of Lost and mocked the people who watch it, but I'm back on that pony and enjoying the show almost as much as I enjoy the mockery. I won't claim to know what's going on, or even to have a sure idea of what timeline we're seeing sometimes, but I am entertained and that goes a long way with me.

It's primarily John Locke's story that's kept me coming back for more (I'll admit, it helps that I have the hots for Terry O'Quinn, the actor who plays Locke). He's a great character and I feel like I'm just starting to really recognize him for the pathetic tool that he is. I mean that in the nicest way possible. Who knows why (and we probably won't find out), but for some reason the island chose Locke, before he was born if we're to believe what we've been shown. His destiny was on the island and once there, he flourished. And now it looks like he was being used the whole time, still not understanding even as he died. What a sorry fuckin' tale.

Which, of course, brings me to Ben. Talk about being used, and for him it just goes on and on. He won me over when we first met him as Henry Gale, and as his nature was revealed, I liked more and more how manipulative and conniving he was. In any other character, a lot of his tendencies would bug the fuck out of me. But in Ben, I love spiteful and petty, and when he starts pulling the martyr act he's just fucking great. And, I so enjoyed seeing him learn how much of who he is and what he believes are products of Jacob's machinations.

Lo, some crazy shit doth happen 'pon that whack-ass island.

Here's something that's cool - popularmechanics.com has a series of articles on the science of Lost that are interesting. Start with their look at the season six premiere, "LA X", then check out the links at the end of the story for more Lost science.

After bitching about there not being anything good on TV a couple weeks ago, it's nice to have something to look forward to watching, even if (especially if?) it also frustrates and confuses me.

Groovy fandom, geeky tunes, and a good way to waste some time

I actually intend to do more than a once-a-week dump of links, but that's just not how things are shaping up these days. Well, there's some interesting shit here, so I hope you enjoy it!

Check out the very cool FANAC Fan History Project, chronicling scifi fandom in its many wacky forms, with stories & photos going back to the early 1950s. Fandom really is amazing.

In the spirit of my last post, here's another cool example of musical geekery, the Geekiest Songs in the Universe.

For those into time-wasting social media trends, I hang out on Twitter. My twittilations (I just wanted an excuse to use that word) can be found at http://twitter.com/RockyMtnErica. Groovy people to follow: @dragoncontv, because they post funny things; @popmech, for interesting science & tech articles; @sjgames, that's Steve Jackson Games and if you've never played a Steve Jackson game, your geek cred is in jeopardy; and @dhewlett, because I really like David Hewlett. There are other good finds on Twitter, but this short list is a dandy place to start.