The 19th Floor

Crystal Ball

Politics No Responses »

Nov 052012

I’m pretty sure I’d be breaking some sort of Bloggers’ Code of Conduct if I didn’t post my predictions for tomorrow:

President: Obama receives 303 electoral votes to Romney’s 235. I’m giving Romney Florida and North Carolina, but Florida could go blue if turnout is high and people don’t have to wait seven hours to vote.
Minnesota Senator: Klobuchar had the good fortune to run against a Ron Paul acolyte who ran a completely amateurish campaign. I’d be surprised if Klobuchar’s margin is anything less than 25 points.
Marriage Amendment: I want to believe Minnesota will be one of several states to repudiate efforts to deny equality to our friends, neighbors, and family. It will be close, but I’m predicting defeat.
Voter I.D. Amendment: This will pass. My informal polling has found many people who have bought into the notion that voter fraud is a real problem. Expect lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the amendment soon afterwards.
Minnesota Legislature: Hang on, I have to flip a coin. Okay, Democrats will re-take the Minnesota Senate.

Your thoughts?

Critic At Large: Cloud Atlas (film version)

Movies No Responses »

Nov 022012

Before its release, a friend of mine predicted that Cloud Atlas would be a beautiful mess. Her assessment was spot-on. Cloud Atlas presents the same six interlocking stories found in David Mitchell’s book and stays generally true to the book’s themes of oppression and defiance. But its the notion of reincarnation, only hinted at in the book, that is the film’s core. Actors (most notably Tom Hanks and Halle Berry) play various characters who inhabit the various locales ranging from the 19th century Pacific to a 22nd century Korea. Sometimes the results are interesting (Halle Berry as a Jew!), but other times it can be distracting (white guys made up to look Korean).

The entire movie fits a similar pattern. Some scenes, particularly those set in the neon-drenched Neo Seoul, are arresting and invite repeated viewings. Others fall flat. And while I grasp that a book and movie cannot be carbon copies, some of the plot alterations drove me crazy. Mitchell’s book is deeply humane in its clear-eyed assessments of human nature, but the movie ventures dangerously close to New Age mysticism. Instead of letting the audience draw its own conclusions, the movie too often waves a flashing “FEEL SOMETHING” sign.

Lest you think I’m giving the movie a negative review, I’d still recommend seeing it. Hollywood doesn’t put out many epics these days that don’t involve comic book characters. And Clout Atlas is epic, even if it tries to beat you over the head with its epicness at times. It seems to be flopping at the American box office, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it someday achieves cult status.

Reality Bites

Politics 1 Response »

Nov 012012

If Obama wins Tuesday’s election, cognitive dissonance among Republicans will reach epidemic proportions. James Fallows notes that most conservatives still expect Romney to win, despite growing evidence that Obama holds small but consistent leads in several key battleground states. A Romney loss may give rise to assorted conspiracy theories involving voter fraud that won’t die anytime soon. Such denialism among conservatives isn’t anything new and perhaps the tinfoil hat freakout will hasten the re-emergence of the nearly extinct Republican moderate. But I worry about another two years of hysteria-fueled obstructionism.

To be clear, an Obama victory isn’t assured. Probabilities are not guarantees and Wednesday morning could find me gnashinng my teeth. But Romney supporters would be well-advised to steel themselves for disappointment as well.

Emergency Planning

Disability No Responses »

Oct 312012

The fallout from Hurricane Sandy is making life difficult for people with disabilities in the New York City. I’ve been following the Facebook postings of Nick Dupree (I’ve written previously about Nick here), who has muscular dystrophy and lives in a lower Manhattan apartment with his partner. They’ve been without power and regular nursing care since Monday and have had to scrounge up car batteries to keep Nick’s ventilator running. They seem to be receiving help with nursing coverage and supplies from friends and neighbors, but I’m sure this disaster has been stressful on them both.

I’m not sure how I would get by in a similar situation. I have some extra vent batteries and other supplies, but living on the 19th floor wouldn’t be terribly convenient in a blackout. And I have no idea what I would do if my nurses couldn’t be here. Probably beg for help via Facebook.

The Force Is Strong In This Rodent

Geeking Out, Pop Culture No Responses »

Oct 302012

When news of Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm and plans to film Episode VII showed up in my Twitter feed, I seriously contemplated the possibility that I may have stumbled into some strange alternate universe. Having assured myself that wasn’t the case, I then recoiled in horror at the thought of Mickey Mouse being digitally inserted into the Episode IV cantina scene in future re-releases. But as fellow geek John Scalzi notes, new ownership could breathe new life into the franchise. Lucas hasn’t exactly proven himself indispensable with the last few Star Wars movies and Disney certainly has the wherewithal to attract top-flight talent to work on Episode VII.

And white they’re at it, I wouldn’t mind seeing Pixar do an Indiana Jones film

Medicaid And The Election

Health Care, Politics No Responses »

Oct 292012

Paul Krugman provides a good overview of Medicaid and its success in providing quality health care to millions of Americans. He rightly points out that, should Romney become president, huge cuts will almost certainly be made to the program. And then there’s his threat to undo the Affordable Care Act, effectively taking away access to Medicaid for countless low-income individuals and families. Medicaid, more than any other entitlement program, is politically vulnerable should Obama lose the election. Republicans have exhibited deep hostility to the program in recent years as their ideology careens ever rightward and Medicaid has few potent allies.

Don’t give any credence to Republican claims to “reform” Medicaid and “give more power to the states”. Such high-minded language merely distracts from their true intent: to hollow out one of the nation’s most effective public health care programs.

Proofreaders Wanted

Books, Tech No Responses »

Oct 262012

The Verge comments on the typos found in ebooks with increasing frequency. I’ve noticed that typos seem more common in older books that have been scanned to create digital versions. The Kindle edition of Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale is so rife with typos that I couldn’t be bothered to finish the book. These are still the early days of ebooks and I expect publishers will eventually fix these problems. But now that I read ebooks almost exclusively, it troubles me that I may be purchasing a shoddier product in comparison to the printed edition.

Helping Paws

Disability, Pop Culture No Responses »

Oct 252012

Here’s a cute video from Sesame Street featuring a new character named Brandeis, who wants nothing more than to be a service dog.

I’m betting kids will love Brandeis. And if they learn a little bit about disability in the process, even better. Let’s hope Brandeis has the chance to interact with kids with disabilities in future episodes.

Critic At Large: FTL

Games No Responses »

Oct 242012

FTL (Faster Than Light) is one of the first Kickstarter-funded games to earn heaps of critical praise; praise that it is well-deserved. FTL puts players in command of a starship whose mission is to escape the invading Rebel Fleet. As you flee across a randomly generated universe, you must carefully manage your ship’s resources and crew to survive. The agents of your destruction are legion: rebel ships, pirates, asteroid fields, and more. FTL is also a game of decisions and consequences. Do you stop to protect a merchant ships from attacking aliens or do you ignore their pleas for help and keep going? Do you try to destroy that heavily armed rebel drone or do you try to escape before your shields fail? Each playthrough acquires its own narrative, but they all provide the tension of a particularly action-packed Star Trek episode.

FTL is often referred to as a roguelike because of its randomly generated content and because death is permanent–no loading a saved game after your ship is destroyed. And the game is unforgiving. I’ve played a couple dozen games and I have yet to survive to even the halfway point of my journey. Some might find the minimalist graphics off-putting, but I find the interface to be clean and elegant. This is one of the most compelling (not to mention affordable) games of the year.

I Was Promised Jetpacks

Disability, Tech No Responses »

Oct 232012

Here’s another example of eye-gaze technology being used to operate a television and an iPad. Why don’t I have this yet? Why am I still using assistive technology that has been around since Eighties? I understand that it takes a while for a concept to move from the garage to the commercial market, but…hurry up! I’d like to start using some of this stuff before I’m too senile to tell the difference between a website and a cereal box. The 1995 version of me would be very disappointed to know that his 21st century self is surrounded by all this shiny portable tech, but he’s still tethered to his desk because the Apples and Googles of the world are too busy litigating the patent rights on a rectangle to do any proper innovation.

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