I have no original blasphemy to contribute with, because all the clever things have already been said. Here’s a few samples.
There’s plenty more, but I think more than three videos in one post would be overkill. By the way, isn’t it odd how all my favourite comedians seem to be atheists? Is it the case that I find people more funny if they agree with me, or is it the case that intelligent, clever people are more likely to be atheists? I mean, frankly, I can’t remember having heard a funny comedian admit they believe in god.
The other night, I had a dream in which I was visiting the US, where I met Sarah Palin. She brought her daughter into the room where we were conversing - her daughter was called Britney Spears and looked exactly like Hayden Panettiere - and asked me if I couldn’t hang out with her for the day. After all she led such a stressful extraordinary life and it would be nice for her to spend some time with a young woman her own age. An extraordinarily ordinary day.
Indeed, Bristol-aka-Hayden-aka-Britney agreed, and besides, she would really like to go shoe shopping. I looked down on my own shoes, used up and worn but still comfortable, stating (somewhat self-consciously) that while I do desperately need new shoes, I kind of don’t have any money, and besides shopping isn’t really my thing. (Seriously, I need my mother there.) They laughed kindly at me and said that money wouldn’t be an issue.
I woke up before anything else happened. I don’t know whether I should be happy I woke up before the dream had time to turn even weirder, or sad that I woke up in time to actually remember it. And although I don’t believe dreams really mean anything most of the time, it would be fun to see what those who make a living interpreting dreams would make of this.
I love stories that take real people and put them in impossible, outlandish situations. Basically, if you’re going to make things up, you might as well really go to town on it … but the story still needs to be populated by characters that feel, well, real. This is why I like Battlestar Galactica - and it’s why I like District 9, which I’ve just seen.
Apart from being visually stunning (albeit a tad too gory for my taste, but that’s easily overlooked) and having a heart-wrenching central theme of xenophobia, corrupt bureaucracy and greed, the movie really touched me simply because the main character Wikus is such an unlikely hero.
Yeah I know, we’ve seen that before. Since Tolkien did it everyone has to. But most Unlikely Hero-type characters are easily identified as heroes early on. I didn’t get that feeling from Wikus. In the beginning of the film he struck me as a bumbling fool at best, and a fairly unpleasant xenophobic bureaucrat at worst. A human like the rest of us, very sweet on his gorgeous wife, and generally nothing special. Then the script forces him through unimaginable circumstances to become a hero.
And that transformation took plenty of time and a lot of failures on the way. Right up until the very end he was driven by his own natural desire to solve his own problems before anyone else’s. He didn’t magically turn into a champion of good halfway through the film as is usually the case. On top of that, it’s not even clear that he IS a hero - it really depends on which perspective you choose.
So, all in all, District 9 proved to be a marvellously entertaining sci-fi flick which - unusually - actually managed to touch me deeply and get me thinking about a lot of stuff.
I decided to take a walk. On leaving the building, I was quite surprised to find out that it was raining. Somehow, I had completely missed this. Probably because my curtains are always drawn. Still, I always wear my trusty Tierra all-weather jacket outside, and it’s not like it was raining particularly heavily. So I went ahead with my walk.
I was richly rewarded with almost painfully beautiful scenery. The setting sun was colouring one half of the sky a rich sulphur yellow, and on the opposite side, the clearest rainbow I’ve ever witnessed frowned against slate-blue skies. I walked to the top of the hill I live on and had to crane my neck to ensure that yes, the rainbow actually went all the way up and down, and wasn’t one of those half-invisible half-measures. What’s more, one of its ends seems to be in Albydalen.
This is amusing to those of us who know that this is a part of Stockholm with very poor reputation. Supposedly the area is rampant with crime and sin and whatnot. Supposedly I should be thinking twice before going out on my own a rainy evening to get some air and stare raptly at the perfect image of rowanberries against dark green foliage.
Meh. The only thing I think twice about is whether I want a new camera badly enough to start begging people for money. My mobile camera really doesn’t do, well, anything, justice.
The sun and the rain made me smile. It reminded me that the world, in all its complexity and splendour, will still be here tomorrow - an assumption, true, but one based on rather a lot of experience - and that I should stop worrying so much.
So. It turned out that the light of the end of the tunnel was actually a freight train. The relationship I was in had undergone a steady decline over the past couple of years and since my last blog post back in february, I’d say the pace of deterioration increased quite rapidly. Of course, I was unable to see this at the time, being intent to the point of obsession to keep us together. But when the freight train finally hit me (mid-June, this was) and my “british beau” announced that he was calling it for us … well, I was miserable, of course, for weeks. But it’s getting better.
Getting good enough that I’m starting to feel like sharing my thoughts with the world again.
Don’t get your hopes up (assuming there’s anyone reading this having any hopes at all…) - I have no idea where I want to take this blog, just as I have no idea where I want to take a lot of things in my life right now. Chances are it will get quite introspective, but I promise I will try to keep the emo at a minimum.
Until next time, I shall be playing WoW, looking for a job, selling honey and pondering what love is and what it does to you.
When in a slump, it is nice to compile a list of things that make the light at the end of the tunnel. Here’s a few things I’m looking forward to:
The finale of Battlestar Galactica. With mixed emotions, of course - finale means no more. But I think it’ll be worth it.
Watchmen, the movie. I’m not one of those crazy fanatics who cry whenever there’s been a plot change when adapting a novel or graphic novel to the screen. Looking at the trailers, I doubt I’ll be disappointed.
Eluana Englaro, the comatose woman whom Italian prime minister Berlusconi declared “in the condition to have babies“, died a couple of hours ago. My immediate reaction was a sigh of relief and muttering, ironically, “thank god”.
Regardless of whether one agrees that she should have been taken off life support or not, the political circus surrounding the case was absolutely tasteless. Berlusconi is a pig both for getting involved in a bereaved family’s private life and for suggesting that a woman’s primary function is to have babies, and don’t even get me started on the Vatican (who has magnanimously announced that god will forgive Mr Englaro for wanting to let his daughter go).
My condolences to the Mr Englaro and any other members of the family. I hope they can finally get some closure.
Sorry about the lack of posting lately, I’m in a bit of a slump. I got a couple of nice topics to blog from people who completed the tree quiz, so expect that up sometime … soonish.
In the meantime, if you happen to be a Stockholmer or visiting for whatever reason, I can recommend a visit to the old Observatory, where you for the measly sum of 50kr (bring cash!) can get a guided tour of the building - and of the history of Swedish astronomy. Their opening hours are a bit limited - a few hours on sundays, and during the darker months, tuesday and thursday evenings (with stargazing!).
It’s a nice building with a fascinating history, filled with peculiar old instruments and topped with a telescope. What’s not to like?
The latest Carnival of Evolution is out (and would you believe I just almost spelled that “evilution”?)! It’s in two parts and full of great posts on many different aspects of evolution.
Here’s me grudgingly getting on the bandwagon and helping in the dissemination of the Tree of Life video with David Attenborough.
It’s very pretty. And all the facts are correct, so far as I’m aware. But this video still makes my skin crawl a bit. Why? Because it’s pretty much a perfect illustration of one of the problems I discussed in my post on tree thinking. Here’s evolution depicted as a linear process, with a clear line of progression from the simplest forms of life towards … well, humans, of course. What else?
They do mention insects invading land long before vertebrates did, which is nice. And there’s a short digression into dinosaur territory. But still - the video essentially supports a view of life where evolution inexorably works towards its goal, which is apparently primates with large brains. A tiny group of animals on an earth veritably crawling with other much more abundant forms of life. A self-centered, egotistical species, who cannot for a moment let go of the idea that we’re the pinnacle of creation, whether that creation was effected by a god or physical processes.
Also the video fails to point out that mammals came from the very same lineage Attenborough claims is ancestral to today’s tortoises, snakes, lizards, crocodiles and dinosaurs (including birds). It’s like mammals simply turn up by magic and start taking over the earth once the dinosaurs are gone.
And of course, there’s the glaring omission of the huge part of the tree of life that’s not animal. Plants and fungi are pretty much entirely ignored, bacteria are mentioned briefly and archaea not at all. This is ok, of course - the study of animals is obviously bound to be extra interesting to animals capable of appreciating said study - but I find it disingenious to call it a study of the tree of life when in fact we’re just looking at one of the several main branches.
But. It feels wrong to be critical of Attenborough. He has probably done more to popularise biology than anyone, and although he’s not a scientist he usually gets his facts straight (which, lately, feels more like a boon than it should) - so who am I to complain? Here’s a couple of things I really like about the video:
Firstly, Attenborough states that life began 3000 million years ago, rather than 3 billion. This is a very nice rhetorical trick to make people start realising just how vast a span of time we’re talking about. Graphically, the fact that the tips of the branches are all at the same level somewhat counteracts the idea that any living species is at the “top” of the tree. All living species are! Finally, the video does end with Attenborough pointing out that we mammals actually share the world with many other lineages.
So, Sir Attenborough, should you by any chance read this - I still love you. Just don’t do it again, ok? Now go to your room.
