The ramp on my van is inexplicably on the fritz again. A friend will be here shortly to try some repairs. I’m beginning to suspect that my van is jealous of my attention and breaks down just often enough to remind me hhow dependent I am on it.
Movie trailers can be notoriously misleading, but next year could bring some interesting fare for us science fiction buffs. Oblivion provides stunning glimpses of a future Earth ravaged by an alien invasion. And Morgan Freeman as a possibly-maybe bad guy! Meanwhile, Pacific Rim finds Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy trading in his Harley for a giant robot which he uses to fight similarly gigantic sea monsters from another dimension. The premise is something that a ten-year-old boy might have concocted, but director Guillermo del Toro has proven himself capable of bringing some gravitas to otherworldly affairs.
Then there’s After Earth, M. Night Shyamalan’s return to science fiction. Will Smith and his real-life son crash-land their spaceship on an Earth now populated by lots of CGI wildlife that doesn’t have fond memories of humans. There’s no scenes of characters trying to flee a gentle breeze, so I’m trying to remain cautiously optimistic about this one.
I was going to post some pop culture triviality, but that can wait for another day. Instead, I’ll just echo the sentiment of this Onion article: fuck it all. More specifically, fuck the NRA. Fuck Mike Huckabee. And fuck our political leadership for their cowardice in refusing to even discuss the culture of violence in this country–a culture in which I have absolutely participated.
More tomorrow.
I remember installing Diablo on my computer way back in 1996 and being delighted that I could play the game with only the mouse. It was the first action-based title that I could control without any assistance. Countless denizens of Hell could be slain with a simple point-and-click. When Blizzard announced Diablo III, I hoped that my return visit to Tristram would be just as accessible as my initial foray. After completing the game on Normal difficulty settling, I’m happy to report that the basic mechanics remain the same. Diablo III incorporates a few new aspects like crafting weapons and jewels, but the core task is the same: click on the monsters until they are dead. Some might find this repetitive; I find it deeply satisfying.
The art and sound design are up to Blizzard’s usual high standards. Each chapter has a distinct atmosphere that ranges from Gothic foreboding to hellish landscapes. The story is a bit thin, but games like Diablo aren’t played for the narrative. My Demon Hunter, Tiffany, and I are now embarking on a second playthrough on Nightmare difficulty. I may even summon the nerve to roll a Hardcore character who cannot be resurrected after dying.
I’m sure I’ll tire of the game eventually, but probably not until the inevitable expansion.
MPR is running an interesting investigative piece about two state legislators whose business dealings and legislative agendas intersect to a point where colleagues are questioning their ethics. Last year, as part of the deal to end the state government shutdown, the Republican-led legislature passed a law that would require some people enrolled in state-subsidized MinnesotaCare health insurance to purchase private insurance with the help of a state voucher. Individuals purchase coverage with the help of an insurance broker. After the law passed, Representative Steve Gottwalt and Senator David Hann, both sponsors of the legislation, became licensed insurance brokers. Gottwalt is now associated with a firm that lobbied for the Healthy Minnesota voucher program. Both legislators claim they do not serve anyone in the program.
It’s doubtful that either man has done anything unethical. They are free to pursue a living and it doesn’t appear that they have personally profited from the program. Still, their career choices seem a little tone-deaf to public perception. Gottwalt in particular might have given more thought to joining a firm that had testified before his committee just last year.
Meanwhile, the Healthy Minnesota program that both men championed isn’t proving too popular. It might have something to do with the fact that coverage is both costlier and less comprehensive than what was available under MinnesotaCare.
Jonathan Alter is the latest pundit to pile on with criticism of the Senate Republicans who voted down the U.N. disabilities treaty:
Cruelty, fear, cowardice, xenophobia and disrespect invaded the inner sanctum of the U.S. government this week, bringing embarrassment and dishonor to what was once the greatest deliberative body in the world: the U.S. Senate.
I wonder if Republicans are beginning to have second thoughts about this vote, considering all the negative attention it has garnered in the press. Perhaps they assumed that nobody would much care about the fate of a largely symbolic international treaty concerning a marginalized group of people. But at a time when Republicans can’t stop talking about how to re-brand themselves, this vote only served to remind people of the party’s worst ideological impulses. Even after a disastrous election, conservatives are blindly following each other over the brink of political relevance with stupid votes like this.
If Republicans can’t summon the courage to vote for something as benign as this treaty, can they really be trusted to do anything on the economy or immigration reform?
Enjoy the weekend. Snow is beginning to fall around these parts, so I’ll be sticking close to home and browsing the deep cuts of my Netflix queue. Suggestions?
I’m not sure what I think of the trailer for the new Star Trek movie. It has some nice shots of what looks like 23rd century San Francisco and Starfleet Academy and an intriguing glimpse of the Enterprise rising out of the ocean. But it doesn’t give much sense of the story. Sure, Benedict Cumberbatch provides some menacing narration, but we don’t hear boo from Kirk and Spock. I guess the details can wait as long as someone can assure me that the movie will deliver at least one epic space battle.
The Times looks at how deaf scientists and students are using video sharing to create and standardize new signs for scientific concepts. It’s a fascinating examination of how technology can influence the development of a language. not all of the signs being circulated will be adopted, but the standardization of even a few dozen scientific terms could be of immense help to deaf people wishing to pursue scientific careers. The article also illustrates how sign language is already particularly well-suited for scientific discourse:
“If I wanted to indicate mass, I would probably hold up a balled fist,” said Kate Lacey, an interpreter at George Washington University who often works with science students. “Then, to indicate weight, I’d drop that fist toward the floor.” The implication is that weight represents gravity’s effect on mass, which is about as clear a definition as one is likely to find.
Such elegant personifications of tricky scientific concepts leave some deaf students feeling sorry for those who rely on their ears. “One of my students was telling me recently that she can’t imagine the difficulty that hearing instructors must have in describing concepts through spoken English, because of the linearity of spoken language,” Dr. Braun said.