I finally went to Ultimate Frisbee at Purdue last night. I have known when they meet for a few weeks but I kept telling myself that I was too busy to go. I was really sort of apprehensive. I am not really one to memorize and execute plays, I'd much rather just run where I think I'm needed. But, my friend Carmen told me that they play pick-up after their regular game, so I wanted to go.
I had forgotten how much I love to play Disc.
I had a ball! The people were really nice and I even got thrown to a few times. I made some catches and throws and it was a good game. I was surprised that I was able to run as well as I did, it is probably the hill I have to climb every day that has kept me in shape. We played for 2 hours and it was just really fun. People were throwing forehand, backhand, "chickenwing" (that's only Ted), hammers, and probably some thumbers as well. I need to work on my throws because I'm rather out of practice but it was still amazingly fun. By the time I got home I was pleasantly exhausted and I slept really well.
Today my legs hurt, but I'm gonna be back on the field on Monday!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Peace
I love the rain. The sound, the feel, the smell, the taste, the look of it is the most relaxing thing in this world to me. The water falls, connecting earth with sky, nourishing all it falls upon. The wind brings it, and chases the punishing heat. Cleansing the earth of impurities in the air, and cleansing one's soul and mind of worry, fear, regret, anger, leaving peace behind in it's wake. When we were children, some would say that rain was God or the angels crying in Heaven, but now I think it is a gift to the weary. Soul weary, heat weary, just weary. Giving an excuse to just sit out of the rain and listen to it clean the world.
Called away in the middle of writing this to bring an umbrella to a friend, I find that as soon as I get there, the rain vanishes as suddenly as it came. It somehow gives me the impression that in my own little, egotistical world, it had come specifically to lend me peace of mind from my worries about the semester, assignments, and friends with troubles. Or perhaps to remind me once again of the perfect wonder of God’s creation and the natural cycling systems that it is made of.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Firefly
I know what you're thinking, the entomologist is going off on one of her bug tangents again.... WRONG! Muah ha haaa!!! I am here to introduce you to one of the best and most ill-fated shows on DVD, Firefly. It is a Sci-Fi, Action, Western that takes place sometime in the future. Humans have used up Earth so they went out and terraformed themselves a bunch of new ones to live on. Some are technologically advanced, and some are agrarian. The show follows the exploits of the crew of the Firefly class ship named Serenity.
Now for a brief history of the show. Joss Wheton, the director, came up with the concept after reading Killer Angels. He wanted to write something that followed the losers in a civil war. He wanted to show the tactile nature of life and make a more gritty, less sterile Sci-Fi show. (Wikipedia) Fox, the network that aired the show, was constantly getting in the way of Joss's creative genius. (no, I'm not biased at all, why would you think that?) For instance, they made him rewrite his pilot episode, which became the second episode on the DVD, and they refused to show it in widescreen format. When Fox actually aired the episodes, it did so in a way almost guaranteeing failure. A rather stupid move on their part. Fox aired the episodes out of the originally intended order, and didn't even air all of them. The show was canceled after half a season. Despite it's bad luck with Fox, Firefly enjoys an immense popularity. In 2005 New Scientist magazine did an online Poll for "The World's Best Space Sci-Fi Ever," Firefly came in first with it's feature film, Serenity, coming in second.
Some of the interesting aspects of the show are revelations to the Sci-Fi field. For instance, there are no sound effects in the space shots, lending a realistic feel to the show. The ship's set is in 2 parts, with the upper and lower decks continuous. You can walk out of one room and into another. The scenes on the ship were shot with a documentary style, using hand held cameras to add to the rustic feel of the show. The scenes in Alliance cities were shot with regular movie cameras to add to the sterile feel of those places.
I know that my narrative does not come close to giving this show justice, but I hope that I have peaked some interest. Some of you may even look it up on the internet. I have never met anyone who disliked this show, so it is a fair bet that if you try it, you'll love it too.
Now for a brief history of the show. Joss Wheton, the director, came up with the concept after reading Killer Angels. He wanted to write something that followed the losers in a civil war. He wanted to show the tactile nature of life and make a more gritty, less sterile Sci-Fi show. (Wikipedia) Fox, the network that aired the show, was constantly getting in the way of Joss's creative genius. (no, I'm not biased at all, why would you think that?) For instance, they made him rewrite his pilot episode, which became the second episode on the DVD, and they refused to show it in widescreen format. When Fox actually aired the episodes, it did so in a way almost guaranteeing failure. A rather stupid move on their part. Fox aired the episodes out of the originally intended order, and didn't even air all of them. The show was canceled after half a season. Despite it's bad luck with Fox, Firefly enjoys an immense popularity. In 2005 New Scientist magazine did an online Poll for "The World's Best Space Sci-Fi Ever," Firefly came in first with it's feature film, Serenity, coming in second.
Some of the interesting aspects of the show are revelations to the Sci-Fi field. For instance, there are no sound effects in the space shots, lending a realistic feel to the show. The ship's set is in 2 parts, with the upper and lower decks continuous. You can walk out of one room and into another. The scenes on the ship were shot with a documentary style, using hand held cameras to add to the rustic feel of the show. The scenes in Alliance cities were shot with regular movie cameras to add to the sterile feel of those places.
I know that my narrative does not come close to giving this show justice, but I hope that I have peaked some interest. Some of you may even look it up on the internet. I have never met anyone who disliked this show, so it is a fair bet that if you try it, you'll love it too.
Something to strive for
By idolizing those whom we honor, we do a disservice both to them and to ourselves....We fail to recognize that we could go and do likewise.
--Charles V. Willie
I both agree and disagree with this statement. Yes, the sterilization of our “heros” turns them into superhumans. It can seem like there is no way to live up to their ‘example’ and so people look for more realistic people to look up to. However, if we have an ideal example to look up to, we can keep striving toward it, and it is the striving that matters. To quote my favorite webcomic,
“You’re trying to be Lawful Good. People forget how crucial it is to keep trying, even if they screw it up now and then. They figure that if they can’t manage it perfectly every waking second, then they should just pick some other alignment [or hero] because it’ll be easier. But it’s the struggle that matters. It’s easy for a being of pure Law and Good to live up to these ideals, but you’re a mortal. What matters is that when you blow it, you get back up on the horse and try again.” (Order of the Stick, episode 490)
I know there is a bunch of D&D lingo in there, but you get the idea.
It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and that even the people who have made done the greatest things in history had their faults. Human nature is like a yin-yang. Good people have a little blackness in them, and the blackest heart can do some good. It is all a matter of mitigating the impulses you don’t want to follow.
So, people create heros for themselves, not to show the actual person. I don’t believe that our historical heros should be taught as such though. Maybe to little kids, because you like to keep things simple with them, but as a child progresses through the k-12 history classes, they should constantly be taught a little more of the whole picture, not the same stuff over and over again.
A few more quotes regarding heros/legends…
After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible! Yes. But great.
-Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
It's my estimation that… every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of sumbitch or another. Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.
-Mal (Firefly episode 7, Jaynestown)
Monday, October 1, 2007
Best 2D game ever
In my opinion, Castlevania Symphony of the Night is the best 2D game you could ever play.
The storyline is pretty interesting for a game. You play Alucard, the half-vampire son of Dracula (don't ask me how a vampire could procreate, it is plot magic) who has entered the ancestral home of Dracula, Castlevania, in order to find out why Dracula's castle has reappeared. In the course of the game you meet Maria Renard who is trying to figure out what has happened to Richter Belmont, a vampire hunter. Depending on how fully you explore your environment and what kind of actions you take, you can unlock more areas of the castle to explore or get alternate endings to the game.
Castlevania Symphony of the Night is divergent from its predecessors because the main character can use many different weapons, and they are mostly edged weapons instead of whips. Also, the game advances non-linearly and you often have to go back over an area multiple times as you gain new abilities to explore with. Abilities you can gain include double-jump, transformations, and the use of familiars to help you explore. The sheer amount of items you can collect can keep you playing the game long after you have beaten it multiple times.
The main attractant of Castlevania SOTN for me, however, is the sheer beauty of the game. The artwork and soundtrack are neverending pleasures to experience. The backgrounds for the game are dynamic. Though they do not affect your character, there is action in the background of the rooms you explore. For example, in one room the weather outside changes, in another room there is a large eye that looks in on you from a window and follows your movements. The soundtrack is a diverse mix of jazz, techno, many genres of metal, and classical music, all gothic themed.
Though this game is sort of hard to find and relatively expensive (I bought my copy used at around $40), it is worth every penny. The replay value is immense as some features are only unlocked after you have beaten the game once, and you can always find a new item or easter egg in the game.
The storyline is pretty interesting for a game. You play Alucard, the half-vampire son of Dracula (don't ask me how a vampire could procreate, it is plot magic) who has entered the ancestral home of Dracula, Castlevania, in order to find out why Dracula's castle has reappeared. In the course of the game you meet Maria Renard who is trying to figure out what has happened to Richter Belmont, a vampire hunter. Depending on how fully you explore your environment and what kind of actions you take, you can unlock more areas of the castle to explore or get alternate endings to the game.
Castlevania Symphony of the Night is divergent from its predecessors because the main character can use many different weapons, and they are mostly edged weapons instead of whips. Also, the game advances non-linearly and you often have to go back over an area multiple times as you gain new abilities to explore with. Abilities you can gain include double-jump, transformations, and the use of familiars to help you explore. The sheer amount of items you can collect can keep you playing the game long after you have beaten it multiple times.
The main attractant of Castlevania SOTN for me, however, is the sheer beauty of the game. The artwork and soundtrack are neverending pleasures to experience. The backgrounds for the game are dynamic. Though they do not affect your character, there is action in the background of the rooms you explore. For example, in one room the weather outside changes, in another room there is a large eye that looks in on you from a window and follows your movements. The soundtrack is a diverse mix of jazz, techno, many genres of metal, and classical music, all gothic themed.
Though this game is sort of hard to find and relatively expensive (I bought my copy used at around $40), it is worth every penny. The replay value is immense as some features are only unlocked after you have beaten the game once, and you can always find a new item or easter egg in the game.
Procrastination
Seeing as I've had such a problem with it lately, I thought I would look up the insightful or funny quotes that people have said about it.
Dedicated to my friend Marissa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Often, greater risk is involved in postponement than in making a wrong decision.
-Harry A. Hopf
"One of these days" is none of these days.
Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today.
Procrastination is the thief of time.
-Edward Young
Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible.
-George H. Lorimer
Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.
-William James
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
-Don Marquis
Every duty which is bidden to wait returns with seven fresh duties at its back.
-Charles Kingsley
If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done.
-Unknown
Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.
-Robert Benchley
There are a million ways to lose a workday, but not even a single way to get one back.
-Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
One of the greatest labor saving inventions of today is tomorrow.
-Vincent T. Foss
You may delay, but time will not.
-Benjamin Franklin
It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in.
-Earl of
To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.
-Eva Young
Don’t fool yourself that important things can be put off till tomorrow; they can be put off forever, or not at all.
-Mignon McLaughlin
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
-C. Northcote Parkinson, 1958
Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.
-Victor Kiam
If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.
-Olin Miller
More quotes available at http://www.quotegarden.com/procrastination.html
I’d write them, but I have a couple other things that I should have done yesterday. ^_^
Shaping Perceptions
The intentions of both Curtis and Neidich are surprisingly similar when you pare them down to the basic idea. Both photographers wanted to change what they thought of as a negative public opinion about Native Americans.
Curtis was being paid to document the vanishing culture of the Indians. This allowed him to try to change the public view of Indians from violent and lawless people to a noble people with their own distinct culture. Unfortunately, in order to change public opinion, he went to the other extreme of the opinion spectrum and created the ideal Indian culture. He removed all traces of western culture from his photos and paid the Indians to pose in costumes. Even though it is now known that a lot of what he ‘documented’ was false, Curtis transformed the Indians’ image from the violent savage to the ‘noble’ savage.
Ironically, Neidich had pretty much set out to partially undo that change. He views the ideal Native American culture as something that detracted from the actual culture of the Native Americans, and as a contributor to the sanitation of history. He wanted to educate people about what actually happened in interactions between the Native Americans and the English settlers. He mostly did this from the Indians point of view. He used staged pictures depicting Native Americans being shot or similarly injured by the settlers. Neidich doesn’t want to deny that the Native Americans had a proud heritage, but he wants to acknowledge that they were as flawed as we were, just less powerful in the end.
I prefer the works of Neidich because they are trying to bring a more historical prespective to the fore. He doesn’t claim that his photos were actually taken back then, but he does try to make them more true to the facts.
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