tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27535555152177345462024-03-13T16:02:21.856-04:00The Word of MelThe Meanderings of Melvyn Windham, Aspiring Sci-fi WriterMelvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.comBlogger467125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-64279633459447237092023-12-30T19:59:00.000-05:002023-12-30T19:59:14.360-05:002023 in Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44HdhgphuxitQd9EPHNkeqGkWndn5tDc30R4ZWPLndpXj03ihuMbTaUx589Zfy9XRPzMShoR63t5Ljx3iE8IoMP6Wc4IVndGMxl4xbnkvQj_WU4-aQIiHKODQ6IHkRPPC_6KOjG3xBGw0bqsjoWeKGt0jiNyJFss24GnTxGCpGXcMvddo-fi2Lg1DtuWx/s1512/IMG_3164.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="1512" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44HdhgphuxitQd9EPHNkeqGkWndn5tDc30R4ZWPLndpXj03ihuMbTaUx589Zfy9XRPzMShoR63t5Ljx3iE8IoMP6Wc4IVndGMxl4xbnkvQj_WU4-aQIiHKODQ6IHkRPPC_6KOjG3xBGw0bqsjoWeKGt0jiNyJFss24GnTxGCpGXcMvddo-fi2Lg1DtuWx/w400-h300/IMG_3164.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall, 2023 was a successful year for me. You may notice that I haven't posted a lot here -- only 4 posts including this one this year. And this was by design. My biggest goal was to reach more people, and I chose other avenues to successfully reach a larger audience. And believe me -- when I retire from my day job some time in the next 9 years, you'll hear a lot more from me here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This year, my biggest success has been with my music business, <a href="https://melkimpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Melkim Publishing</a>. This may end up being our largest revenue year -- we'll have to see when I do the annual number crunching. (Oh, and if you read this in time, the Christmas Sale ends at the end of 12/31/2023.) I launched <a href="https://melkimpublishing.com/melkim-audio/" target="_blank">Melkim Audio</a>, which will produce albums of music featuring many of the sheet music we sell, and also some other items -- we'll see how big this gets. Together with preparing the launch of orchestrations (which will come out next year), this album prep took most of my production time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our first album, Christmas Celebration, features the composers, Daniel Carter and me, playing our own arrangements. If you haven't yet heard it yet, you can check it out <a href="https://melkimpublishing.com/christmas-celebration/" target="_blank">here</a>. (And yes -- it's still officially Christmas season.) You can check out the project that took up nearly half of my productive time this year. Looking at the stats, these past two months, this music on Spotify alone has reached more than 5 or 6 times the number of people my blogs reached over the same time period, and I haven't yet seen stats on other outlets yet. A moderate win.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, this year, I've had my first orchestral debut. The <a href="https://www.seattleensign.org/about" target="_blank">Ensign Symphony & Chorus</a> performed my "Come, Come, Ye Saints" in October in Seattle's own Benaroya Hall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also started a new semi-"live" series: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLntm5pWuGhknDumGJFqL_efpjXxQ2EB5o" target="_blank">Mel At the Piano</a>, featuring 7 episodes, but then I stopped because the editing was just taking up too much of my time. So -- I've downloaded OBS so that I can do truly-live videos, cutting out all the expensive editing time. I'll start this series back up some time in 2024.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the <a href="https://econo-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Econo-Mel</a>, I posted only once -- explaining two reasons I haven't waxed politically. One is because I'm short on time, and Two is because today's political environment has gotten to be VERY toxic -- such that many are losing their jobs just because they said the "wrong" things online.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've continued the same pace with <a href="https://music-o-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Music of Mel</a>, now featuring more posts tied to Melkim Publishing. If anything, I'm planning to contribute more to this blog over the next couple of years, as it's in line with my most immediate goals.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've also kept the pace constant with <a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Mormon Mel</a>, which I think is being driven mainly by my short story series: <a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2021/11/introducing-adventures-of-elder-elder.html" target="_blank">The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin</a>. This year I wrote 4 new episodes. Plus, a few months ago, I mapped out the entire series, and have started producing each story more in chronological order now. Looking ahead, I'm planning on producing one story each month, so we should get 12 more in 2024. When it's all done, I'll put them all together in a book -- in all there will be 34 episodes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Always Be Better</a> got 5 more videos. I'm proud of each one, but this output is low compared to before. But then again, I warned everyone beforehand I was going to slow down for a while.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My favorite posts this past year:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYUbR1VOKHEVZyqZzPos9XBtaLE65W0mk-H0_Lsazj2AHlGh53t5JCj9UraIJvr-XZosW7DIlsY9Rtbou6leqAownVAQrcK0BI2HRCgI_ZZi-VsyY_MurmmBkCgc5ZPcB6wNoj_VPg5DF-TjsoKdd7CewLKCC3_OYk7Q6b8XPo7joHOl8SClopFAOt4li/s90/WhatMeArcade%3F%20small.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="725" height="51" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYUbR1VOKHEVZyqZzPos9XBtaLE65W0mk-H0_Lsazj2AHlGh53t5JCj9UraIJvr-XZosW7DIlsY9Rtbou6leqAownVAQrcK0BI2HRCgI_ZZi-VsyY_MurmmBkCgc5ZPcB6wNoj_VPg5DF-TjsoKdd7CewLKCC3_OYk7Q6b8XPo7joHOl8SClopFAOt4li/s90/WhatMeArcade%3F%20small.jpeg" width="90" /></a><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2023/12/47-visiting-wieners-and-losers.html" target="_blank">Visiting Wieners and Losers</a>: I just had a lot of fun putting this one together -- a lot of work and fun. I tour a local 80's arcade museum, and I happen to run into Wayne and Garth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPNCy8TO7zCOscoGklWU9Mcjvxl__S0EV4yDoPicsiTi8WQ8yHobb_KBnCgNx5GRtW_u5U9SvjFWoQZIBMxfLtonuMV0Ah2oQ4VLDphQWKX4Z7LKgByXa1IRjmRTWDJnrUs9mFlEfBXhvVKTbJgTzgmqrFreF_kgHhbC4JPMD7hn8riHW7XhSPSa0bBtk/s90/Pic%20Small.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="51" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPNCy8TO7zCOscoGklWU9Mcjvxl__S0EV4yDoPicsiTi8WQ8yHobb_KBnCgNx5GRtW_u5U9SvjFWoQZIBMxfLtonuMV0Ah2oQ4VLDphQWKX4Z7LKgByXa1IRjmRTWDJnrUs9mFlEfBXhvVKTbJgTzgmqrFreF_kgHhbC4JPMD7hn8riHW7XhSPSa0bBtk/s90/Pic%20Small.png" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2023/09/46-fifteen-more-minutes-of-fame.html" target="_blank">Fifteen More Minutes of Fame</a>: I continue my story of how I went into music ... how I struggled, and how I'm finally starting to get ahead.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/industriallightingfixtures.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/parking-lot-lighting-pole.jpg?w=959&ssl=1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="60" src="https://i0.wp.com/industriallightingfixtures.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/parking-lot-lighting-pole.jpg?w=959&ssl=1" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-adventures-of-elder-elder-and-elder.html" target="_blank">Lost in Taegu</a>: This is one of my favorite stories from the Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin series. Our favorite elders get lost in Taegu and must rely on divine direction to find their way home.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1pRwDlZo5G8/YF-DztssGmI/AAAAAAABrXo/HvNjpaCYSGonSGvJ6Cr_GWZUY1ZjNkoOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/aa%2Bd2.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="646" height="62" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1pRwDlZo5G8/YF-DztssGmI/AAAAAAABrXo/HvNjpaCYSGonSGvJ6Cr_GWZUY1ZjNkoOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/aa%2Bd2.webp" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2023/08/crucify-him.html" target="_blank">"Crucify Him"</a>: We are quick to condemn those who called for the crucifixion of Jesus, but what would we have done if we were part of that same crowd back then? Would we stand with our current convictions, or would we bow to the crowd? Recent trends cause me to wonder how we'd fare.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzG0DM8I32U/WlJtKgbt08I/AAAAAAAAVOI/cObgL8JtClUF8_baWvEhQVMwh_QbDm1YwCLcBGAs/s320/travelers2b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="770" height="51" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzG0DM8I32U/WlJtKgbt08I/AAAAAAAAVOI/cObgL8JtClUF8_baWvEhQVMwh_QbDm1YwCLcBGAs/s320/travelers2b.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Travelers: Analyzing the Series Finale</a>: Finally! A time-travel series that does time travel right -- well -- mostly. Here I analyze the cool series finale.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What will 2024 bring? We'll see shortly. I'm going to keep pushing forward, and keep busy, enjoying life.</div><p></p>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-88661606072783629982023-06-18T22:48:00.000-04:002023-06-18T22:48:39.631-04:00Travelers: Analyzing the Series Finale<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzG0DM8I32U/WlJtKgbt08I/AAAAAAAAVOI/cObgL8JtClUF8_baWvEhQVMwh_QbDm1YwCLcBGAs/s770/travelers2b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="770" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzG0DM8I32U/WlJtKgbt08I/AAAAAAAAVOI/cObgL8JtClUF8_baWvEhQVMwh_QbDm1YwCLcBGAs/w400-h225/travelers2b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This blog post is for those who have already watched the entire series of </span><i style="text-align: left;">Travelers</i><span style="text-align: left;"> on Netflix. If you've seen some, but not all episodes, be warned that this post has MAJOR spoilers. And if you haven't seen any episodes -- well -- none of this post is going to make sense.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But before you not-ready peeps leave, let me tell you that <i>Travelers</i> may possibly be one of the best and consistent time-travel shows ever written in terms of getting time travel right. It is one the very few shows and movies I would give a grade of "A" for such a good job. You can read my non-spoiler review <a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2023/05/travelers-impressive-show.html" target="_blank">here</a>. And then get watching -- it's only three short seasons. 34 episodes total. And as you may gather already, the discussion that follows is very compelling. There's some reason why the last episode is rated 9.4 at IMDB.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is your last chance to stop reading -- the last paragraph before I start pouring out the spoilers. In general, the series finale is one of those that at first seems to be "is that all?" and then the brain starts working on it, only to find that the finale is one of the best endings the show could have had. Conveniently, it's also one they could have sprung at any time. (Though, not sure if that's a weakness -- if you could have as many seasons as you want, do the episodes in between start becoming filler?)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Okay -- here goes. The first spoiler. It appears that <i>Travelers</i> relies heavily in the many-worlds-related time travel theory -- the same as what <i>Avengers: Endgame</i> tried to do, but not quite so well. You should first read my analysis of this theory <a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2019/05/multiple-worlds-theory-and-time-travel.html" target="_blank">here</a>, complete with pictures. <i>Travelers</i> uses this theory minus the tethers I mention. Because tethers are just dumb and too convenient -- the BIGGEST drawback in <i>Avengers: Endgame</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The rules of this theory:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">#1) To anyone's POV traveling naturally forward in time, they see only one timeline. Like this:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAVUJW0Zwc8XEwONQ_n6DiHw1DNM30c6jK3oC_8VMVejBnXu9n1162JoxOB2dIFLXH7p-eUB5A3LGnN65xZ266i3D6l2p5YJFQkL3rBPG9MdaWd_XbwXpnCB6Ihe2I8j0YLRskJy7Uasa95kWEmUzb44cDKFL8Re7CYGmDoLcQJQ-YXjlqy-eSfPNsQ/s278/Flat%20Line.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="37" data-original-width="278" height="37" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAVUJW0Zwc8XEwONQ_n6DiHw1DNM30c6jK3oC_8VMVejBnXu9n1162JoxOB2dIFLXH7p-eUB5A3LGnN65xZ266i3D6l2p5YJFQkL3rBPG9MdaWd_XbwXpnCB6Ihe2I8j0YLRskJy7Uasa95kWEmUzb44cDKFL8Re7CYGmDoLcQJQ-YXjlqy-eSfPNsQ/s1600/Flat%20Line.png" width="278" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">#2) When you travel backward in time, you must travel backward along the branch you're on, which will then create a new branch. Going forward, you will live in this new branch. Like this:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDmanAv6gRK_0xilP8L3uCA60kERHKSkw1E7fKX16G2teNYub9d1G93f_8YkMDzEBvYPqQWJaBovrRBvfdFr6n6flcCWbDdmwAL_g5ajSPJK-syW3BV4h_RY__tNujgmxo0Xdb0nkb4r0UmMv23mXPYSuIJPOIUPb4rYaAYTOYb6yRtVi8tW6K217Gw/s316/Simple%20MWI%20Back.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="131" data-original-width="316" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDmanAv6gRK_0xilP8L3uCA60kERHKSkw1E7fKX16G2teNYub9d1G93f_8YkMDzEBvYPqQWJaBovrRBvfdFr6n6flcCWbDdmwAL_g5ajSPJK-syW3BV4h_RY__tNujgmxo0Xdb0nkb4r0UmMv23mXPYSuIJPOIUPb4rYaAYTOYb6yRtVi8tW6K217Gw/s1600/Simple%20MWI%20Back.png" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#3) At first, that new branch will look a LOT like the original branch. It differs ONLY how YOU affect events. So, events will increasingly deviate.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#4) After time traveling, it is IMPOSSIBLE to return to the your original branch. It is gone. (No tethers allowed in this show.) It is also IMPOSSIBLE to influence, change, or otherwise affect anything in a different branch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#4a) (Probably the saddest rule.) If you go back in time for the purposes of making changes, it helps ABSOLUTELY NO ONE in the original timeline. The original timeline will continue on. In terms of the show, the people in the original timeline are doomed no matter what you do in the new timeline you've created.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#5) When you go back in time, it creates another copy of EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. The original version of EVERYTHING stays on the original timeline, and the NEW copies stay on the new timeline. From everyone's POV, they all share the same histories (everything before the first black dot) and going forward, they will still experience only ONE timeline. For example, original Fred will end up at the second black circle in the picture above. And new Fred will end up at the red circle. Both Fred's will believe they live in their only existing timeline, and are completely oblivious of the existence of any other Fred.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#6) Very important to this show: If you go back in time while your original self exists, it will create another copy of YOU. The original copy, which we'll call U1, lives in the original timeline until it hits the second black dot, after which he goes back in time and lives on in the new branch (the red dot). The other copy of you, U2, branches off of U1 at the first black dot and will exist only in the new branch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And get this: in the original (top) branch, there is only one copy of you: U1. And on the new branch, there are always two copies of you: U1 (your future self gone back in time) and U2 (your oblivious past self). Not only that -- U1 can meet U2 and do anything he wants. U1 can even kill U2 WITHOUT a PARADOX. The universe won't implode or any of that silly nonsense in the later seasons of <i>Continuum </i>and the <i>12 Monkeys </i>TV show.<i> </i>It's perfectly okay, because U2 is a COPY, and not the original. He is an artifact you created when you went back in time. In order to create a paradox, you would have to be able to kill an earlier version of U1, which would require reentering the original branch, which is impossible (rule #4).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#6a) More pertinent to the show: What if you go back in time BEFORE your original self exists? One of two things happen. Possibility A = when you are born in the new branch, it's going to be a copy because things are different. Possibility B (much more likely) = you are never born in the new branch, because your changes were too severe, and your parents don't meet, or some other event causes someone else to be born. And this is PERFECTLY OKAY. Because you only need to exist in the original timeline. There is absolutely NO paradox.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#7) If one tries to go back in time again to make changes, it still fails in that timeline, as it will do nothing but create yet another branch. Your changes will only affect the new third branch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">#8) If you follow the rules above, it becomes nearly IMPOSSIBLE to have a paradox.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay -- you'll remember from watching the show that these facts become clear slowly as the plot progresses. At first, our protagonists believe there is just one timeline. They are told that if they succeed, they won't exist, and they'll just disappear (kind of like <i>Back to the Future</i>). But then travelers who come later start reporting different histories -- a new faction has arisen, and was always there. (I'll explain how that happens shortly, but you have enough clues from above to figure this out.) We don't get final confirmation of the time mechanics until Season 2 in the episode "17 Minutes" when we see several attempts of the Director trying to save the lives of 3468 and his team.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(And if you haven't watched the show, this really is your final warning, because here we go with the details...)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here we go. <i>Travelers</i> adds one more kink into the mix. I'm not sure if it's necessary, but the idea is that once you send someone back OR if you send a messenger (both of which cause changes), then you can no longer send someone back or a messenger BEFORE the last action. Again, we see this like crazy in "17 Minutes." The first traveler arrives when the couple first jumps out of the plane. The second traveler gets there a few seconds later. And with each failure, the couple is getting dangerously closer to the ground -- a very cool source of tension.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, <i>Travelers </i>never shows anyone traveling (skipping) ahead in time. All skipping is backward, and all communication back to the Director must travel hundreds of years. Yeah -- mind-blowing stuffs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, let's see what these rules look like in our timeline pictures. We'll start with the original timeline where ABSOLUTELY NO TIME travel occurs for hundreds of years. Helios 685 hits the Earth, disaster ensues. The Director is created.<i> </i>They figure out how to transfer consciousnesses. They discover how to send those consciousness back in time. And then comes the first time travel attempt: 001 is sent back to September 11, 2001 -- one of the top floors in the WTC building -- a time in which they knew everyone was going to die. 001 then sends a message from a specific computer to a specific server, and then dies. But as we remember, he escapes and hides himself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To understand the whole big picture (which believe me -- is about to go skewampus), we must pause here and look at the two timelines at this point. Right now the picture is what we've already seen:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDmanAv6gRK_0xilP8L3uCA60kERHKSkw1E7fKX16G2teNYub9d1G93f_8YkMDzEBvYPqQWJaBovrRBvfdFr6n6flcCWbDdmwAL_g5ajSPJK-syW3BV4h_RY__tNujgmxo0Xdb0nkb4r0UmMv23mXPYSuIJPOIUPb4rYaAYTOYb6yRtVi8tW6K217Gw/s316/Simple%20MWI%20Back.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="131" data-original-width="316" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDmanAv6gRK_0xilP8L3uCA60kERHKSkw1E7fKX16G2teNYub9d1G93f_8YkMDzEBvYPqQWJaBovrRBvfdFr6n6flcCWbDdmwAL_g5ajSPJK-syW3BV4h_RY__tNujgmxo0Xdb0nkb4r0UmMv23mXPYSuIJPOIUPb4rYaAYTOYb6yRtVi8tW6K217Gw/s1600/Simple%20MWI%20Back.png" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, kind-of the same picture. It's hundreds of years in the future when 001 is sent back. So, his red dot would be much closer to the first black dot if drawn to scale. The first black dot is the morning of September 11, 2001 -- the exact moment 001's consciousness enters his new host.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's take a moment and look at the original timeline. What happens after 001 goes back in time? What do the future remaining people see? First, they see 001's consciousness leave, and his body becomes lifeless. And then ... well ... nothing. (Yeah, this is the sad thing we need to understand.) They are never going to receive the message that 001 sends in the past. That's because 001's message only exists in the new branch. It has no way to get to the original time line. Please take a moment to understand this, as it's key to understanding the awesomeness of the series finale. Once you see it, things will become clear. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>(Addendum: if we use the full-fledged Many Worlds theory, it's feasible that another random version of 001 appears in this "original" timeline to deliver his message, but that wouldn't be the same 001. But adding in this kink just complicates the heck out of everything -- probability distributions and all kinds of craziness. So, for simplicity, we'll just forget that for now.)</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay -- now let's look at the new timeline. Assuming 001 doesn't change too many things (just hide and do nothing), then the Director is still going to be created, and he WILL receive the message as planned. Perhaps 001 is sent back again, but he doesn't need to be, because he only needs to come from the original timeline. It should be clear that all of the show's timelines branch from this ONE new branch, and none of them branch from the original timeline. (Otherwise they would see a past in which 001 was not sent back in time.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And get this ... in that new branch we see, there are absolutely NO MORE travelers. This is also very important in understanding the finale. This is because every SINGLE bit of information that goes back in time creates a new branch. This is logically equivalent to saying: every new branch has ONLY ONE change caused by time travel. So, in this new timeline, 001 is very happy. He stays hidden. He sees no other travelers. He thinks he's safe and dies happy. (Pure conjecture, but very feasible based on what we know about his character.) Please pause again to think about this fact: only ONE time-travel change per BRANCH.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay -- fast forward to the future of this new branch, and the Director is happy. He receives the message from 001 and decides to send 002. It's probably worth considering: that message had always been there on that specific server since 9/11/2001, waiting for someone to go looking for it. As soon as the Director came up with the idea, he could check immediately to see if the message was sent -- EVEN BEFORE SENDING 001 back. The Director may decide not to send 001 again, because it already happened. It's also possible that the "original" 001 doesn't even exist in the new timeline due to random ripples. In which case, the Director would have confirmation he was dealing with "Many Worlds" time travel. Either way, as an advanced AI, he would immediately use this information in its calculations. Maybe he sends 001 back. Maybe he doesn't. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Either way, 002 gets sent back. Let's pick a date: 12/25/2001. This will create a third branch, like this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WbSmz5WtE-T_KEmVElcXvIW3XVE3CsAtD5ZQHm3-JqvfUsykTT4Q8SRbYRsYld12AiIb9hMjm67DbFssy0gQzsA848BAkPGhwUHxSuaw8UGr29rAS9s5xU8HnmVeqSZ7e683qWHU2zHNvfTTpc4FuaGvOopNp3lzzrxkOyhcUo-0KDWA73v2qsFZeA/s217/Three%20Branches.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="217" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WbSmz5WtE-T_KEmVElcXvIW3XVE3CsAtD5ZQHm3-JqvfUsykTT4Q8SRbYRsYld12AiIb9hMjm67DbFssy0gQzsA848BAkPGhwUHxSuaw8UGr29rAS9s5xU8HnmVeqSZ7e683qWHU2zHNvfTTpc4FuaGvOopNp3lzzrxkOyhcUo-0KDWA73v2qsFZeA/w400-h205/Three%20Branches.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When 002 (who we never see) gets sent back, this is going to create another copy of 001. On that middle second branch, 001 never sees a traveler. But in the bottom third branch 001 could feasibly run into 002. Or maybe not. By now you should be able to see that there are going to be thousands of versions of 001 -- many of whom will be benign. But as soon as some versions of 001 see a whole bunch of other travelers coming, they're getting to be very paranoid and take matters into their own hands.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before continuing on, we need to go back to that original timeline. That's where the Director doesn't get a message from 001. So, what does the Director do? Is he going to just quit and give up? I suppose that's an option. He'd most likely send another test subject. Some other 002, which would create another branch like here in blue:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag8uigWWy6aUbKZq8zFXob-lgx5WFxVQZOBE91xYJOKKE4BSntAExDpLzQnt106wVwkxvPDiReKerGmDC1sPWO7OdtqqqBHxojt2Muaq3SS8J5sd3C6rFE3NRgLf2DkBsskp8kzPI4MLcYOmPN79LizWQaxK8U_vqR6DQwhlW8e125vtXGAER4Ub2Jw/s217/Four%20Branches.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="217" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag8uigWWy6aUbKZq8zFXob-lgx5WFxVQZOBE91xYJOKKE4BSntAExDpLzQnt106wVwkxvPDiReKerGmDC1sPWO7OdtqqqBHxojt2Muaq3SS8J5sd3C6rFE3NRgLf2DkBsskp8kzPI4MLcYOmPN79LizWQaxK8U_vqR6DQwhlW8e125vtXGAER4Ub2Jw/w400-h205/Four%20Branches.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This blue branch is interesting in that it doesn't have 001 in it at all. Can you imagine the show without 001? Well -- that would be the blue branch, and ALL OTHER branches that stem from the blue branch. Even though there can only be ONE time-travel change per branch, we can still have MULTIPLE time-travel attempts in any branch. It just means that we're quickly going to end up with spaghetti:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFY8o0y1pmBDlqAecxbPjRp1vOqEf-sR3GpPJSnOxhImrmnMwOZUVZbDMx_OjS0dojyh1hjouTzK8-kdDYpnjr8J8LNtw9lRp6gn7XHfuJcSNnS3lpWyP1Pq4-9kIubv-KknOhMRpBgtKy4BBBx5Oqpefl-ZdyZghGPUoTw2oiMk3amG_tneDvSkPJAw/s402/Universe%20Branches.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="402" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFY8o0y1pmBDlqAecxbPjRp1vOqEf-sR3GpPJSnOxhImrmnMwOZUVZbDMx_OjS0dojyh1hjouTzK8-kdDYpnjr8J8LNtw9lRp6gn7XHfuJcSNnS3lpWyP1Pq4-9kIubv-KknOhMRpBgtKy4BBBx5Oqpefl-ZdyZghGPUoTw2oiMk3amG_tneDvSkPJAw/s320/Universe%20Branches.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And yes -- in the original original timeline, the Director is going to get absolutely no messages or results from the past changes, because they're always going to happen in other branches. So, the Director in that timeline will likely eventually give up.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're still struggling with these concepts, just remember when Carly planned to kill Walt. It successfully got his mind overwritten, but then Philip saw the alternative timeline where both Carly and Walt died. You see ... the timeline where Carly and Walt died had to happen in order for the Director to see the need to overwrite Walt's consciousness.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And you know we aren't done yet. Get ready for major head-blow-age. I'm still recovering from what comes next.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3468 is sent back in time. We saw this happen in the first episode. They stopped Grant from falling into the elevator shaft, and 3468 took over Grant's consciousness.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's look at 3468's timeline before he's sent back. In that timeline, Grant had already died in the elevator shaft hundreds of years ago. So, when 3468 goes back in time, it creates a whole new branch. We could call this the 3468 Branch. If we were to keep watching this branch, it would be a very boring show, because following the rules above, we can only have one time-travel change per new branch. The version of 3468 in this branch sees no more new travelers coming. He'll likely die when Helios 685 hits the Earth. As far as this version will know, the Traveler Program will fail.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But in the show, we don't stay on the 3468 Branch for very long. As soon as the next messenger or Traveler 3469 is sent, it's a whole new branch. But then again, notice that we never really hear from 3469 in the show. <b>(Also, evidently the travelers aren't always sent in numerical order.) </b>Remember that blue branch we saw above where there was no 001? Well, it's very possible that in the timeline we follow in the show, it's a similar situation where 3469 was sent to another timeline. One version of 3468 might be able to meet 3649, but in the timeline we watch, the two travelers never meet. It seems clear that the "show writers" picked and chose a specific branch pathway for us to watch. Skipping some time-travel events, and allowing others to affect 3468.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But yet, we as watchers of the show don't see any of this picking and choosing. Rather, it seems to flow naturally -- like some one-true-timeline type of thing. It would look something like this in our spaghetti graph:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aEMFVr3Me25AelFI8Zvo-53kLUYsM7vQJcN-FllWPBanFkpDMjimHZ4ZXsM1Mstj_cA6hricNYwFvEITyEmp1RgWkG6ts52a-fWxbzgkuXgQDDriVcaoJqvAcfjK0hbTxJCgRIjBBOoLrngMQh8xSn-7TnDuBzcJ4hHybnvjBvCD-_OJRk-6mgGrEw/s402/Complex%20Time%20Jump%20Backwards.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="402" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aEMFVr3Me25AelFI8Zvo-53kLUYsM7vQJcN-FllWPBanFkpDMjimHZ4ZXsM1Mstj_cA6hricNYwFvEITyEmp1RgWkG6ts52a-fWxbzgkuXgQDDriVcaoJqvAcfjK0hbTxJCgRIjBBOoLrngMQh8xSn-7TnDuBzcJ4hHybnvjBvCD-_OJRk-6mgGrEw/s320/Complex%20Time%20Jump%20Backwards.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In this graph, 3468 gets sent back to the past, to create the original 3468 Branch. But then, other subsequent time-travel events create thousands of copies of 3468, and the show seems to take us to one random branch -- the one with a red dot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the big question is: What is so special about that branch? It looks no different than all the others.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The answer is way-wicked cool. Because it just so happens to be the one branch where the Director wins. We may have to let this set in. It's kind of like how lightning only occurs after random feelers reach out from the sky and the ground until one optimally efficient connection is made to choose the fastest random path for the lightning to travel.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's dig in deeper.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>(First off, a quick disclaimer. Above, I have grossly simplified the rules so we can have a hope to grasp the whole spaghetti concept. But in doing so, I've introduced a conundrum: 3468 was sent in a team of 5 people, but as per the rules I laid out, they would each end up in 5 different timelines. If we allow for the full-fledged Many Worlds theory, there would thousands or millions of versions of 3468 and his team being sent to different random possible realities, and it would be very feasible that many versions of the team all appear together in the same reality (albeit each coming from slightly different future realities), much like how in Scalzi's "Old Man's War," each spaceship warp placed the ship in a different alternate universe much like the one they had left. Yeah -- my mind is not accepting all this right now. However, this all in no way nullifies the coolness of the series finale. In short, it's quite possible for a team to arrive at slightly different times AND still avoid all causality paradoxes.)</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's feasible that the Director tried different tactics to gain success, and we saw the only one that worked -- where he invokes Protocol Omega. The Director seemingly says, "Screw David and all of you. This Project is over." Yeah -- that was a fun heart-wrenching episode.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The problem was: 001 was just too much of a virus. The more activity the Director invoked, the more it increased 001's paranoia, which would then create the Faction in many branches. So much a virus, it was becoming impossible to find a branch not corrupted by 001.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Protocol Omega angers 3468, and inspires him to no longer live by the rules. Think outside the box. And yet, the Director seemed to know this was coming, as he provided a way for 3468 to do what he wanted to do: travel back in time before 001 arrived.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, 3468 sent himself to where he knew Grant MacClaren would be a couple of decades ago -- right before meeting his wife. Then he was later able to send a message from the Twin Towers: Do not send 001.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the Director got the message, starting the Traveler Program 2.0. And how cool was this ending? It took me an hour or so to think about it and realize what had really happened. Check out the spaghetti graph with this twist ending:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJDgTDYG8ebnH__ATnZO8aD1Mz_LfaFdq_By9SwRp2PId9uL7a30oVV8BIrJz7Q4GToSqwF57IH7f5CFSwWFlTSQMLtmYyotdkVAsHufgHEC24a64Fad30x75H7Prl5SwXWd1x3N8TMtxnS7lt18AgOgG0nz_LHM7nYL55l6pl6ltIjycL-G6CrafJQ/s450/The%20Reboot.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="450" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJDgTDYG8ebnH__ATnZO8aD1Mz_LfaFdq_By9SwRp2PId9uL7a30oVV8BIrJz7Q4GToSqwF57IH7f5CFSwWFlTSQMLtmYyotdkVAsHufgHEC24a64Fad30x75H7Prl5SwXWd1x3N8TMtxnS7lt18AgOgG0nz_LHM7nYL55l6pl6ltIjycL-G6CrafJQ/s320/The%20Reboot.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Remember that before 3468 made this last time jump, there was only one timeline until 2001, when 001 would arrive (the red dot). All the black lines coming out of the red dot represent all the millions and possibly billions of branches 001 corrupted.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The green dot seemingly random to the right represents the one branch where 3468 gets the idea to go back in time AND the Director seems wise enough to provide the tools for it to happen. Then 3468 goes back, ruining MacClaren's life much earlier (breaking the only-take-a-life-if-they're-about-to-die rules), and look at the new branch he creates in green.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It entirely CIRCUMVENTS ALL of 001's corruption.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As part of the Traveler Program 2.0, there are going to be again millions of branches branching off of that green branch, but with 001 out of the mix, it's more likely to succeed.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And get this: 001 still gets his win. He destroys thousands and millions of timelines. Millions of versions of him will think he's won.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then it makes me wonder if the Director knew all along how to win. Perhaps he already knew the "Many Worlds" nature of time travel. During the whole show, we got to see the Director fail a hundred times. But to when, it takes only one success, and then something strange happens.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The branches in black above will ultimately die out because of their in-sustainability, even though those versions of the Director in that set will keep trying.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However, the branch in green will branch out into more successful outcomes. And with Many Worlds, the successful branches will continue growing in number: billions and trillions. So much so that by density, they'll greatly outnumber the 001 black branches, bringing the probability of 001 branches to practically zero.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, in that respect the Director wins big time -- gets the last laugh. It ends up being a resounding success -- a type of natural selection that must eventually arise from such a random setup.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, yeah. I'm quite impressed with this show's ending.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So what do you think? Do you agree with this interpretation of the ending? What are your thoughts?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-19779283002772780702023-05-13T22:22:00.001-04:002023-05-13T22:22:10.457-04:00Travelers: An Impressive Show<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/99LZwZmSoNo" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're looking for a time travel show done correctly (mostly), you should check out <i>Travelers,</i> showing on Netflix. Produced by Brad Wright, one of the <i>Stargate </i>writers and producers, this show does what <i>Avengers: Endgame</i> tried to do, but succeeds.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Though there are a couple of tiny mistakes, <i>Travelers</i> sticks with its own time travel mechanics throughout all three seasons, and it all actually works -- even accounting for causality issues. Which is amazing, considering other shows that come close usually end up giving up in later seasons. For example, <i>Continuum</i> had an awesome first season, but then it threw away its time mechanics to make way for really stupid stuffs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I wish I could say more about the time travel mechanics in <i>Travelers</i>, but finding out on your own is lots of fun, so I'll stop here. Though in a couple of weeks, I'll give a spoiler-filled analysis of the series closer -- a very satisfying end.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A quick summary of the plot: In the near future, something really bad is going to happen, and it's going to basically destroy humanity except for a small group of survivors. They eventually discover how to travel back in time, so they send "travelers" back to try and stop the disaster. These travelers must work in secret, and as you may expect, other people are going to make this difficult, setting up some very interesting situations and some really good moments. And very strong character development.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Plus, you get to rewatch some of your favorite <i>SG-1</i> and <i>SG: Universe</i> actors.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And it's on the short side: just 34 episodes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Only one drawback: it does have F-bombs, often of the inorganic type. But, if you happen to use <a href="https://www.vidangel.com/browse" target="_blank">VidAngel</a>, they got you covered.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also, one quick little announcement here: since I'm evidently so crazy busy these days. I've decided to slow down on my movie and TV reviews considerably, and have decided that I'm now only going to report on shows that I really, really like. I'm no longer going to waste time blasting shows I don't like.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, ... catch <i>Travelers</i>. It's really up there on my list of favorite newer shows.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-57941566106465068612023-01-03T01:09:00.001-05:002023-12-30T19:05:26.370-05:00Goodbye, 2022<div class="separator"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spodzone/36040821044/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Beside the River"><img alt="Beside the River" class="center" height="300" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4345/36040821044_04826e746b_b.jpg" width="600" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">2022 is over, and I can't quite say it was a great year. I think I struggled more than succeeded. Or more correctly, my successes were more internal rather than in productivity. A lot of energy went into my "Always Be Better" videos, and then into a major project meant to help my music publishing company down the road.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Also, I'll be honest that discouragement was also a major factor. It's hard to produce work when less than 50 people see it. Also, the first six months were brutal in my day job. It wasn't till the end of the year -- the last three months -- that I started to pull out and see a way for future success.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Let's see how I did in blog writing...</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">I didn't post anything at all in <a href="https://econo-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Econo-Mel</a>. It just wasn't a priority. I'm learning that worrying about politics isn't very productive. And the anger from anyone who disagrees with what I write (both liberal and conservative), is very discouraging. However, I do see a few posts coming this year. I do hope for a better future where people who disagree learn how to work with others, and enjoy production rather than hate.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><a href="https://music-o-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Music of Mel</a> got some more attention as promised -- mostly posts about music I like, or cool videos I found.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">I kept up with <a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Mormon Mel</a> -- trying to average one post a month. I got in some good thoughts from the Old Testament, plus another installation of the "Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin."</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">My personal improvement video series and blog, <a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Always Be Better</a>, got 12 new videos. I was on track to finish out the 20, but then in October, this got pushed by the wayside when I started that other big project (which I'll talk about a year from now if it pans out well). One thing I learned: it definitely takes <b>longer</b> to make better videos.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">The Word of Mel has had it's worst year ever -- only 9 posts. The second-worst year was 2019 with 18 posts.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Even new products coming out of <a href="https://melkimpublishing.com" target="_blank">Melkim Publishing</a> was the lowest in 2022.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">So, I've had my mid-life crisis, but now I have a plan. Right now, this plan is more about music than blog writing, but I'll see what I can do. I do need to keep up practicing my writing. My plan does have me returning back to writing fiction at full force in about another year or so. But in order for the great outcomes I'm looking for, I must set better priorities and accomplish things in the right order. I also need to stop worrying about certain concerns that sucked up much of my time in 2022. It's all going to work out, but for a while it might appear to you all as a continual lack of production.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">I got this, and I think you all will be excited as things play out.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">For now, enjoy my picks of favorite posts from 2022:</div><div class="separator"><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bettycrocker.com/-/media/GMI/Core-Sites/BC/legacy/Images/Betty-Crocker/Tips/TipsLibrary/Baking-Tips/Pumpkin-Patch-Cake/Pumpkin-Patch-Cake_09.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="725" height="51" src="https://www.bettycrocker.com/-/media/GMI/Core-Sites/BC/legacy/Images/Betty-Crocker/Tips/TipsLibrary/Baking-Tips/Pumpkin-Patch-Cake/Pumpkin-Patch-Cake_09.jpg" width="90" /></a><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-adventures-of-elder-elder-and-elder.html" target="_blank">The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin: The Cake and Gidgiddoni</a>: The adventures continue as these missionaries bake a cake and wreak havoc on their district leaders.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W_0QZySOFic/maxresdefault.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="51" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W_0QZySOFic/maxresdefault.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2022/08/40-tour-of-melkim-publishing.html" target="_blank">A Tour of Melkim Publishing</a>: I provide a tour of my setup at Melkim Publishing, and show how to put together a music book. This one is best enjoyed by watching the video at the top.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/675x/center/images/cropped/tablet7-0613-1425651138.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="644" height="112" src="https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/675x/center/images/cropped/tablet7-0613-1425651138.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-law-of-moses-vs-higher-law.html" target="_blank">The Law of Moses vs. the Higher Law</a>: I do what any other mathematician would do ... try to show why a Higher Law is better than some lower Law of Moses with ... yes, you guessed it ... with graphs and statistics: lines and areas, and so on.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R79SUmnOm60/maxresdefault.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="51" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R79SUmnOm60/maxresdefault.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2022/06/34-how-can-i-take-control-of-my-life.html" target="_blank">How Can I Take Control of My Life?</a>: I worked hard on this one -- lots of fun. I interview Barth, my drummer ... friend ... who shares his story about how he became successful. This is another one where you'll get the most from the video.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picjumbo.com/wp-content/uploads/gavel-auction-judge-hammer-2210x1512.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="800" height="51" src="https://picjumbo.com/wp-content/uploads/gavel-auction-judge-hammer-2210x1512.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2022/05/would-you-be-found-guilty-of-being.html" target="_blank">Would You Be Found Guilty of Being a Christian?</a>: Here, I take on a popular question with a twist -- while most usually think they want to be "guilty," the way outsiders view us might make you think twice.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0DzeawRmsCs/maxresdefault.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="51" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0DzeawRmsCs/maxresdefault.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2022/08/39-proactive-attitudes.html" target="_blank">Proactive Attitudes</a>: And lastly -- my most popular video of 2022 (so far). Not one my personal faves, but people seem to like this one based on the <i>7 Habits</i>. You should have seen the neighbors when I had this picture taken!<div><br /></div><div>I wish you a great New Year, and hopefully 2023 will be great for us all. Keep pushing forward, and we will succeed.<br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-66937411285197356492022-06-18T20:10:00.001-04:002022-06-18T20:10:24.787-04:00Man in the High Castle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/lf?set=key%5Bresolve.pixelRatio%5D,value%5B1%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.width%5D,value%5B300%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.height%5D,value%5B10000%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.imageFit%5D,value%5Bcontainerwidth%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.allowImageUpscaling%5D,value%5B0%5D&product=path%5B/pimages/9781328849861_p0_v6%5D&call=url%5Bfile:common/decodeProduct.chain%5D" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/lf?set=key%5Bresolve.pixelRatio%5D,value%5B1%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.width%5D,value%5B300%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.height%5D,value%5B10000%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.imageFit%5D,value%5Bcontainerwidth%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.allowImageUpscaling%5D,value%5B0%5D&product=path%5B/pimages/9781328849861_p0_v6%5D&call=url%5Bfile:common/decodeProduct.chain%5D" width="264" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>After watching the TV show, I decided to read the original book: <i>The Man in the High Castle</i> by Philip K. Dick. And I must admit: I liked the TV show better. Though, the book does catch my attention.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just like in the show, these characters live in an alternate world where Germany and Japan won World War II. The Nazis take everything in the states east of the Rocky Mountains, and the Japanese take the west. And the middle is a neutral zone where anything can happen.</div><div><br /></div><div>I suppose I wanted the book to play out like the TV show. There are a few scenes that are basically identical (though in different places), but other than that the similarities cease. Even some of the characters are different and sometimes not as likable.</div><div><br /></div><div>The book is more of a philosophical approach. It features a book within the book, called -- as you may guess -- "The Man in the High Castle." And many pages are devoted to different people reading from that book. What is strange is that this alternate-alternate world sounds a lot like ours, where Germany and Japan lost, but events in the 50s are different. In this way the book suffers a little from monologue syndrome (similar to the writings of Ayn Rand), featuring super-boring political what-if scenarios.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there were some enjoyable parts. One moment in particular centers around a piece of poorly-created jewelry, where many agree that it has little artistic value, but is full of <i>wu</i>, which is some kind of raw emotion or aura from the person who made it -- someone suffering from the antagonistic world. So, we end up with something that has both no value and great value.</div><div><br /></div><div>While all these thoughts were cool and all, I found the book difficult to want to pick up and read. I had to force myself. I was irritated with the book's cover (pictured above), which features three characters from the TV show, but one never appears in the book itself. Talk about deceptive marketing! And even a month after having finished reading it -- I still don't know what I was supposed to get out of it.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Some of the writing is inconsistent. Some sections are written with articles ("the", "an", etc.) dropped, as if Japanese are trying to speak English. And other times the articles are there. So, I wasn't sure what to think. Perhaps it needed another round of editing?</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Though, on the other hand, I can't seem to quite stop thinking about the book. It kind of leaves everything wide open. You want to know what happens next, and you can almost guess. And there is no sequel. So, perhaps there's some magic in this book after all?</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm glad I read it, though it took me forever. Perhaps I'll figure it out one day. If you're looking for something dense, philosophical, and thought provoking -- perhaps you should give this book a try. But I'll be honest. After reading it, I had to relax and pick up a page-turner.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-42014916496672303392022-03-31T22:51:00.001-04:002022-03-31T22:51:53.473-04:00The Batman: Is It Any Good?<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mqqft2x_Aa4" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I remember when news came out of yet another Batman reboot. (Or perhaps it's supposed to be part of the latest universe, but with a different actor for Batman? Can't tell.) And when I heard it was going to be Robert Pattison, my first reaction was -- ugh. Like many other fans, I asked, "Is Batman going to sparkle?"</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But then when I heard it was actually good, I decided to give it a try. So, it was another trip to the local IMAX.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And yes -- it was on the most part good. It was like they took all the weaknesses of Pattison and turned them into strengths, and it actually worked. Instead of the playboy Bruce Wayne who's happy-go-lucky Bruce in the day and brooding Batman at night, we get the brooding Bruce and brooding Batman, which makes for a darker movie.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The main villain -- very scary in a different way, because it feels -- real. In the opening scene, he is looking through binoculars at a family getting ready for Halloween. And he's breathing hard. Cut to perhaps an hour later, the dad is alone in his study walking around and we see someone in the shadows all in black. At first I thought it might be Batman, but it's clearly an ad-hoc costume, and we see someone's eyes looking around creepily. And then he attacks -- so nope, not Batman.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another development involves a very scary concept that has happened before and is likely to happen again in real life to some degree. Some good chills at that moment.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As the show continues, Batman encounters the Penguin, the Riddler, and other villains. And what is totally awesome -- they are not shown as campy caricatures, but rather as real down-to-earth gangsters. Even Batman is shown not to be invincible -- well, kinda.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I think there may be more violence in this movie compared to other incarnations. I hear that they started with a Rated R movie and took out scenes until it got down to PG-13. The one "PG-13" F-bomb was believable and somewhat organic. What remains seems to make for a fun action-filled movie.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Though, there are a couple of scenes that are slow and could have easily been edited for time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My main complaint is -- well -- the music. It starts out pretty fun. There's an "Ave Maria" unaltered at the beginning -- a nice choice for the scene. And then throughout the movie there were a couple of variations -- sometimes major, and sometimes minor. And then -- it kept coming -- and again -- and again. It started becoming, "Okay, we get the idea."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The main Batman theme is cool at first, but then becomes very repetitive. We can do thirds in the bass! Yay! And then I started to notice that most of the chords were root-position chords and so many parallel fifths. I was disappointed to learn it was the work of Michael Giacchino, one of my faves.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In short, the music is probably perfect for the desired mood, but whatever you do -- don't analyze the music.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Danny Elfman's music remains my favorite Batman soundtrack.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But yeah -- I know most of you aren't going to analyze the music (though I do have a lot of musical friends). Go catch <i>The Batman</i>. Have fun. Enjoy a "realistic" Batman movie.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-23761103247768076282022-03-23T22:24:00.000-04:002022-03-23T22:24:47.621-04:00Double Feature: Free Guy and The Eternals<div style="text-align: left;">Today, I thought I'd do a double-feature: two small reviews. Often I'll watch a movie without reporting in, but I wanted to say a few things about these movies.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">#1) Free Guy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cttnRmcr_ME" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yeah, Ryan Reynolds is funny. I suppose he's more known for his Rated-R roles, but this movie, <i>Free Guy</i>, looked irresistible. A video game character who comes to learn he's part of a game? I mean -- sign me up!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As Guy (Ryan Reynolds) learns how to navigate the world around him, the real world starts to notice. They call him Blue Shirt Man, and they think he's a real person messing around inside of the game. And there are a lot of funny moments, and plenty of references to pop culture.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The movie caught my attention the whole time with plenty of action and fun video-game-like special effects. Though, as you may guess, it has one of those plots where if you think too hard, you'll realize it's all silly and doesn't really work out at all. If you're able to turn that off like I did, then you'll do fine.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One thing to note ... even though I caught this on Disney+, it does have quite a noticeable amount of PG-13 cussing going on. Younger kids may not enjoy it. Ryan Reynolds even gets his own F-bomb -- a funny moment -- a perfect Ryan Reynolds moment, but way out of place in this movie.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Because, you see -- Blue Shirt Man doesn't cuss -- or at least that isn't the type of person he's portrayed as. He's innocent. Sure -- some may argue that as he learns to live more, and is more apt to cuss, but then he goes right back to being innocent. The maintained innocence is a fundamental part of the humor that makes it all work. And his cussing -- well -- it detracts from that innocence, doesn't flow nice, and weakens the effect. But hey -- Ryan is gonna be Ryan.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Go catch it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span><!--more--></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">#2) The Eternals</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0WVDKZJkGlY" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Knowing that this movie, <i>The Eternals</i>, had mixed reviews, I was prepared for a huge disappointment. But then I ended up enjoying it. Perhaps it's because it's the one movie in the Marvel MCU that feels the most like a Zack Snyder movie, and I'm one of the few who likes Zack Snyder movies. Throughout the whole movie, I was reminded of <i>Watchmen</i>. (Which -- yeah -- that movie wasn't true to all of its source and many hate it, too.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Eternals are some kind of superior race created for the purpose of defeating Deviants -- some kind of overpowered evil creatures. They've lived on Earth for thousands of years and they must remain until they are told they can leave.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And yes -- there are a lot of aspects that don't work. For much of the first hour, I was confused. Who's that? Wait -- when did that happen? Where are they, again? What year is it? Yeah -- they kept switching from present to flashbacks -- all over the place.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also, why is it these Eternals look like caricatures of different Earth ethnicities that had not yet existed when created? (Perhaps different races were made in their image?) But then again -- they made it all work, making for interesting characters.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And yes -- this movie suffers from the MCU overload factor. That's where one can wonder, "Why weren't you in all the other movies?" and "Where are all the other superheroes in this movie?" Of course, each of these standalone movies has at least one scene where these questions are explained -- and usually in a sucky way. In this case the excuse is: "Not our job. We just do Deviants."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I didn't start enjoying the movie until about halfway through when it felt like the plot was finally starting to gel -- and I could go back in my memory to piece together the earlier scenes I had seen. I came to see why the writers decided to tell the story in such a choppy manner -- but nevertheless, I think it could have been edited more efficiently, and some slow parts could have been removed.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's also clear that this movie ties into the big picture that's coming next in future movies -- all kinds of craziness. We even get to learn a tiny bit more about Thanos, and how there are threats bigger than him. It even ties in with some unexplained scenes in the last <i>Spider-man</i> movie. It was also thought-provoking and helped make the movie worth watching -- or at least it did for me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you have enough energy to stay awake during the first hour or so, give it a try. You might just like it. Rotten tomatoes does give it a 47% critic / 78% audience rating. So -- go in with low expectations, and you might be fine. Especially if you already have Disney+.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-9841351955387494002022-03-17T22:08:00.000-04:002022-03-17T22:08:27.494-04:00Man in the High Castle: TV<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zzayf9GpXCI" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I can't figure out if I'm a fan of Philip K. Dick stories or whether I'm fan of movies based on his stories. I've only read a couple of his books, but seen several related movies and TV shows.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, <i>Man in the High Castle</i> was required watching for me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In Juliana Crain's world, the Nazis and the Japs win World War II. It's now in the early 1960s, and Juliana comes across mysterious silent films depicting the US winning the war. Viewers will recognize that it's actual footage from "our" universe. These films are collected by the Man in the High Castle -- whoever that is.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In this alternative war, the Nazis control everything to the east of the Rockies, and the Japs have everything to the west. The narrow band of land surrounding the Rockies is the Neutral Zone, which by treaty is not governed by Nazis nor Japs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hitler, himself, is still in charge in Berlin, but rumors are that he's nearing the end of his life, and most uprising contenders seem to desire war with Japan and its states. So, the upper leadership in Berlin is jockeying for position, the Nazi leadership in the Nazi States are also trying to stab each other in the back, and the Japanese leadership is trying to find a way to avoid war with the Nazis.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And whatever happens, the conquered Americans lose.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well -- except for the resistance, who Juliana meets along the way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Plus -- how are these videos appearing from some other universe?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall I thought it was executed rather well. The first two seasons were crazy good. The last two seasons were decent, still with good scenes, but less direction, and the season finale episode was terrible -- though everything mostly seems to come to a satisfactory end.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I always love the rebellions-rising-under-authoritarian-societies stories. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever have to live out these scenarios (and sometimes it seems we get very close). So, this series really caught my attention.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It all seems to lead to a wonderful Season 2 finale, which feels like the end of a book.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And then Season 3 adds in some features that don't quite make sense -- trying to explore more of the sci-fi aspect. However, most of the original direction seemed to remain intact. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Season 4 introduces an entirely new rebel group that we never saw in the first 3 seasons (kind of like what executives did to <i>LOST</i> in season 3). It was fun, but a jolt -- I wish these people had been with us the whole time, and not added as an after-thought.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The penultimate episode was excellent -- and I could almost suggest stopping there. Because the season finale doesn't seem to follow the direction of the rest of the show. It's like someone decided they wanted a specific ending so they could set up a certain person's last words -- which can certainly make one think -- but it wasn't actions I would have expected coming from the characters based on what had been established previously.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And the very last five minutes make no sense at all. Ugh. But it's easy to pretend it didn't happen. It didn't happen -- right? I still enjoyed the series as a whole. Many of the character arcs are wonderful (especially if you ignore the last episode).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One last complaint -- the writers definitely went out of their way to get the Nazi-killing-America shock value thing going. If you watch the trailer above, you can get a sense of it. Of course the Nazis wouldn't have everyone repeat a pledge saying "... and liberty for none." That's only intended to upset the watchers -- kind of clever, but not really.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another example -- somewhere in there, a prominent Nazi watches a video of the Liberty Bell being melted down and changed into a large metal swastika. He says, "Excellent, excellent" with a big smile. And I'm thinking -- really? Getting excited over yet another swastika?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And yes -- there are swastikas everywhere. Having a party? Better have an ice sculpture of a swastika. And the only music you can play is German. A girl makes a cupcake? It's going to have swastika icing on top. I don't think in real life they would be quite so obsessed with the symbol. It was reminiscent of how the newer <i>Doctor Who</i> episodes like to depict Americans as people who always carry guns. Pew pew!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I also think it unfortunate to further ruin a religious symbol you can see on top of Buddhist temples. (It was interesting to see those symbols in South Korea knowing it wasn't Nazism, but I digress.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As for accuracy in following the book -- I've only just now started reading the book -- of which I'll report in another month or so. But I can already see some differences. In the book, the Man in the High Castle produces books, not film (at least so far). There also seem to be plenty of characters added in the TV show, and a lot more added detail.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Either way -- I highly recommend this series. It does have a lot of unnecessary cussing (not in the book), but VidAngel can come to the rescue in that regard. It's only 40 episodes -- 10 in each season. Check it out!</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-75424373477180578182022-03-02T22:28:00.000-05:002022-03-02T22:28:06.251-05:00The Expanse -- TV Review<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ydKmedH336Q" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today I introduce to you one of the best TV series I've caught over the past decade -- a sci-fi epic that takes on the universe.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Expanse</i> is the TV series version of the popular book series (which is up to nine books -- and perhaps finished now?). The TV show spans the first six books in six seasons.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It begins with the stories of James Holden and Detective Miller. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">James is just your everyday XO on the Canterbury. His job is to extract ice from Saturn in order to deliver water to the colony in Ceres (yeah -- it's inside of the asteroid). But everything goes south when a group of fast and mysterious ships attack.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Meanwhile, in Ceres, Detective Miller picks up a job -- find a missing girl -- a seemingly easy task, but he runs into surprising amount of friction.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On top of this, we have a colony on Mars that wants to be independent. We have overpopulation on Earth where only the wealthy can live comfortably. The "Belters" are tired of being pushed around by "Inners" and so they have their own terrorist groups.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And yes -- it's all connected.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And the science is as real as I've seen in any shows. Just in the first episode, the producers go to great lengths to show a Coriolis effect on coffee as it's poured inside the spinning Ceres.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The original trailers attracted me to the show back in 2015. It looked a lot like the newer rendition of <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>, so I had to give it a try.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first episode was very confusing, as I complained <a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2016/01/winter-2016-new-shows.html" target="_blank">back then</a>. This is because they introduce all of the main places across the solar system, so it's easy to get lost. Just remember: Earth, Mars, Ceres, Saturn, and a few places in between.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was also disappointed because the trailer (above) led me to believe that Jonathan Banks (<i>Breaking Bad</i>) was going to be a regular character, but after the first episode it was clear that it was all a big lie -- kind of like Emilio Estevez in <i>Mission: Impossible</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first few episodes also felt like a space noir flick, like <i>Outlander</i>, but it was starting to get on the slow side for me and I was about to give up. It's definitely on the gritty side -- people living terrible lives, swearing, and so on. But it has Mormons -- so I stayed an extra episode or two just to see how they treated our peeps (kind-of okay, but still got some things wrong). And just as I was to quit, something big happened, introducing a cool horror element. It hooked me in for the rest of the six seasons.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You may have caught my <a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2021/08/leviathan-wakes-beginning-of-giant-saga.html" target="_blank">review of the first book</a>, and so far, I'm liking the TV version more than the book. Maybe because it feels more like a script than a literary novel. I'll continue reading through the series and see if the writing gets better. On the most part, the TV version kept most of its energy going to the end, though it seemed to decline slightly.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first three seasons were released on SyFy and the last episode of the third season was by far my favorite of the whole bunch. I was disappointed when SyFy announced the cancellation -- especially when it had gotten to its strongest point. To make matters worse, SyFy did not have any new shows coming to replace it to catch my attention. (Should I mention that right now there isn't a single show that I'm watching on SyFy? They've certainly allowed themselves to go downhill.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jeff Bezos, himself, worked to obtain <i>The Expanse</i> for Amazon Prime. But I have to admit that the later episodes, while good, weren't as strong as during the SyFy era. There was a gigantic increase in F bombs, perhaps slightly more grit, slightly less consistent pacing, and a little more overacting by some of the characters. Yet, it was still the best show on TV.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">BTW, for those concerned about the language, this show is available on VidAngel. I used it myself, as these characters aren't really the most organic cussers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The show comes to a mostly satisfying conclusion at the end of Season 6, but I'll be honest -- I didn't know it was the series closer while I was watching it, and when it was over, I was still wanting more. I mean -- all these threads were being tied off, but many were left open, and yet the good guys were flying off into the sunset ... and I was like -- really? There were only 6 episodes in that last season and the last one felt rushed. I think it could have been stretched out effectively.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Some complain that the show was "cancelled" again, but this time it was planned, as Book 7 starts a couple of decades later with different people. There are rumblings of another series in the future to finish off the last three books, but evidently that story is very far reaching -- sounds expensive to produce. I hope someone can pull it off -- I'd watch it. Who knows? I may finish reading the whole series by then, though.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, overall it was a good experience. Good plot. Good characters. Believable special effects. Good music. Good science -- real science. A possible future, and none of that <i>Star Trek, Star Wars</i> made-up stuff. And lots of action.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I highly recommend it. All 6 seasons are on Amazon Prime -- give it a try.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-20767887530141739862022-02-09T01:03:00.002-05:002022-02-09T01:03:52.388-05:00The Wheel of Time: First Season<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Fus4Xb_TLg" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This past fall and winter has been one of my favorite TV seasons, featuring two of my favorite epics turned into long-running shows. First came <i><a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2022/01/foundation-first-season.html" target="_blank">Foundation</a> </i>on Apple TV+, and then came this -- Robert Jordan's <i>Wheel of Time</i> with Amazon Prime.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first season is short -- only eight episodes, but it covers the whole first book: <i>The Eye of the World</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the small town of Two Rivers live five promising individuals: Egwene, Nynaeve, Rand, Perrin, and Mat. Everything is upended when Moiraine, an Aes Sedai with incredible power, visits the town looking for the prophesied Dragon Reborn, who may one day save the world. She knows that it's one of these individuals, but she doesn't know which one. That very night, dark forces invade the town and cause all of our protagonists to flee. Moiraine must guide them safely back to the White Tower, where the Dragon Reborn can be identified and helped to live to his or her potential.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yeah -- it sounds a lot like <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i>. Perhaps at first this show feels like it, but it quickly deviates. It is definitely more violent at times, and the protagonists aren't really cute little innocent hobbitses.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There is also a LOT more politics going on, which makes the book series (and the TV show) a lot more interesting in this respect. For example, Moiraine isn't just a nice Gandalf figure, but rather a lady with her own agenda. She not only wants to protect the Dragon Reborn -- she also wants to control him. The same goes for practically everyone in the show.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Is it fun? Sure -- yeah. The first episode is on the slow side as we're introduced to the characters, but then it quickly picks up. At times, it's hard to want to stop watching at the end of the episode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Is it like the book? It's actually pretty close. In the case of <i>Foundation</i>, I noted how approximately 90% of the show is not in the first book, but the main principles are in there. I also complained that there was one glaring error that to me may be a sign that the writers may not have read Asimov's books, but they still put together a compelling first season.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In contrast, <i>The Wheel of Time</i> doesn't deviate much from the original content. Of course, it's drastically condensed, but practically every scene in the show appears in some shape or form in the first book -- none of this 90% new material phenomenon.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One example from the first episode: the TV show decides to have the trollocs ransack the entire town, but in the book it's more of a surgical strike with the intent of only identifying and retrieving the Dragon Reborn. It turns out that having the town ransacked helps to move the story along without losing too much of the original.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One eye-roll thing for me was the fact that Moiraine was seriously considering the possibility that a woman might be the Dragon Reborn, but by the end of the season, it should be clear from the mythology that not only does it have to be a man, but Moiraine would not even doubt that fact. But I let it go, because it does provide some added tension in the story. Some people call this "woke," but I don't care.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It also seems to bug others that the writers made one of the characters gay. I have to admit that I was taken by surprise. But in researching, I learned that the prequel book does indeed identify that character as being gay. And even the writing in the first book strongly suggests it as well.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I, personally, was most upset that Min (someone who shows up later) didn't get much screen time. She shows up considerably later than she does in the book, and not for long. I think the writers could have stretched things out to ten episodes to get in a few more scenes I would have liked to have seen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One improvement: they seemed to have removed the one character that is arguably the weakest character in the whole book series. No complaints from me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Several perfectionists are upset by these condensing choices, but I have to be honest -- if the writers stuck to the book exactly, it would have gone on for 23 episodes and no one would watch it because it would be so boring. Those who haven't read the books are unlikely to get annoyed by this.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed it, noted the differences, and moved on. They kept most of the important stuff intact, and it felt like the books. And don't forget ... they do have Brandon Sanderson and other Robert Jordan "experts" on their team. I'm excited for season 2 next year. And I hope they realize they can stretch it out to more episodes and get in a few more favorite scenes and still keep it interesting.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So -- give it a try. It's fun.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-19002240982120842322022-01-11T23:09:00.000-05:002022-01-11T23:09:19.930-05:00Foundation: The First Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/foundation-appletv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/foundation-appletv.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A couple of months ago, I provided a <a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2021/10/foundation-asimovs-epic-on-apple-tv.html" target="_blank">preview</a> of this new show: <i>Foundation</i>, a television adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic series. Now that the first season is done, I will give this update with very mild spoilers -- stuff that should be evident early on in the season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall, I'm impressed, and I'm happy to hear that Season 2 has been green-lit. This first season covers the first two sections of the first book (also called <i>Foundation</i>), covering roughly the first 50 years of the 1000. It also hints at later happenings. If you would like a quick overview of the plot, you can check out my <a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2021/10/foundation-asimovs-epic-on-apple-tv.html" target="_blank">preview</a>, but otherwise, I'm just going to keep on going.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I stated before, the Emperor clones (Dawn, Day, and Dusk) are just not in the book at all. These people are 99% created in addition to what Asimov wrote. At one point I was concerned, but in the end, I don't think it detracted at all from the main story. It's because Goyer and company did a good job at keeping it interesting. As the Empire begins its decline, we can explore how they react -- should they believe Hari Seldon's predictions? Should they try to stop the decline? Should they ignore it? We watch as four generations of emperors progress, all reacting differently.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The events around Terminus are also mostly fabricated (that is, they are not in the book), and some main actors are in the wrong place, but I didn't mind too much. Some events did get some eye rolls, but on the most part it was interesting. The main thing that's supposed to happen -- the First Crisis -- pretty much happens as it's supposed to.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But there is one glaring error -- or maybe not an error -- that I think would anger many Asimov fans. I'm still hoping there's an explanation. Very early on, we learn that a robot has the ability to harm a human, or allow a human to be harmed. And I'm not understating this -- this is a VERY BIG ISSUE.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The <i>Foundation</i> series and the <i>Robots</i> series happen in the same universe, and all robots are instilled with the three Laws of Robotics:</div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.</b></div><p><b>2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.</b></p><p><b>3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.</b></p><div style="text-align: left;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">In the TV series, the robot explains that it must harm humans because it's ordered to do so. But wait just a minute, Dr. Eggman. The Second Law states that no one can order a robot to harm a human.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And I know -- Asimov fans know that there are a couple of exceptions to these laws -- under extenuating circumstances. It could be that this robot has a very good reason for hurting that person -- but I'll go ahead and let you know now -- this is NOT resolved in Season 1.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But hey -- I'm actually looking forward to Season 2. This is evidently one of these shows where it's best to sit back and relax, divorce it from the book, and enjoy it as its own entity. The parts that so happen to match the books are added bonuses. I strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a different and interesting perspective on the <i>Foundation</i> series.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-3994649424404177842022-01-05T21:55:00.002-05:002022-01-05T21:55:54.619-05:00Don't Look Up<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SL9aJcqrtnw" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Do you want to watch an end-of-the-world comedy satirizing the handling of the coronavirus in the United States while having gigantic words thrown at you? Then "Don't Look Up" from Netflix might be the movie for you. Then again, most people I know are so tired of the pandemic, so they probably wouldn't enjoy this movie. I suppose I was also a little tired of it, myself, but after having followed the pandemic like crazy this was required watching.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Warning: mild spoilers follow, but it's not like you don't already know what's going to happen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A team of scientists discover a gigantic comet heading straight toward Earth. When they try to tell the world about it, they are largely ignored. Even the president is skeptical and slow to adapt their plan to divert its path. Already, this may sound strangely familiar -- how many in the US remained particularly skeptical about the coronavirus, and if you watch, you're likely to also recognize several parallels.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall it was somewhat enjoyable, but I thought it was a little too much over the top, soaking in its own self-righteousness. It hits some items directly on the mark, but then I got the sense that this movie really represents what liberals *think* of how conservatives handled the pandemic rather than the actual truth. It also conveniently omits some of the (smaller) roles liberals played in exacerbating the pandemic. Well -- except for a couple of scenes where the protagonists lose their cools and go psycho, losing their audience -- possibly intentionally capturing the strident overreactions of many on the left.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The music was somewhat fun to listen to, with some hints of Philip Glass.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>Where the movie hits</u> </div><div style="text-align: left;">When the comet gets closer, people can see it in the sky. At first, people recognize it as a real threat and start taking it seriously. So, the "good guys" say, "All you have to do is Look Up." Immediately, the President (Meryl Streep) counters with a "Don't Look Up" campaign. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is of course parallel to the coronavirus data, of which when people see, they can see beyond a shadow of a doubt that the vaccines are working remarkably. But then others come along and obfuscate the data with errant numbers and saying, "Don't believe data from the source. It's all doctored by liberals for the sole purpose of taking political control." </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In a brief collage, we get to see several such conspiracy theories about the comet -- clearly paralleling the several common coronavirus conspiracy theories floating around today.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And my favorite: one guy is being interviewed. He's wearing a button with both Up and Down arrows. And he says, "Look Up, or Don't Look Up. We're all free to believe what we want, but why can't we just get along?" Don't you just hate those guys? I mean -- I'm all for mutual respect and having discussions, but if there's a planet-killer rock on its way, it's not going to care whether people look up or not.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>Where the movie misses</u></div><div style="text-align: left;">They really get Republicans wrong. I suppose Meryl Streep is supposed to be Trump, but she said things I've never heard Republicans say -- such as "God thanks you" or invoking "Jesus Christ" rather than the generic "God." I do not believe I've heard a sitting president wish blessings only on people from their own party. I also do not believe in the lack of caring. Even Trump had concern and sadness as the pandemic progressed, and even today he is trying to persuade his followers to be vaccinated. I have also never heard anyone in any office give thanks to the White Man. (Of course I'm always open to examples of this in real life -- please send these examples my way if you come across any.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And -- did the movie really need to have all the obscenities and nude scenes? The plot is PG-13 at most. I mainly mention this because this movie will have near zero power convincing conservative audiences. But then again, I don't think that was the purpose of this movie -- rather, it really is a self-righteous (yet mostly justified) "let's make fun of the Republicans" indulgence. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">BTW, this movie is covered by <a href="https://www.vidangel.com" target="_blank">Vid Angel</a>, the company that distributes "The Chosen." If you'd like to watch this movie with obscenities and nude scenes filtered out, then check it out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I suppose many liberals would eat this stuff up, but no one is really learning anything from this movie. I hope this doesn't get some kind of misguided "Best Movie of the Year" award. It's technically a 2021 movie, so we may see shortly if it gets anything. It had its good moments, but it really wasn't that great of a movie on the whole.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There were some funny parts, and some successful gimmicks. And I personally thought the closing line was hilarious -- my kind of humor. If you survived my review, then give it a try.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-34187623884527977672022-01-03T15:10:00.002-05:002022-01-15T21:59:24.968-05:00Ode to 2021<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://earthsky.org/upl/2017/07/rainbow-supernumerary-7-8-2017-Alexander-Krivenyshev-NYC-e1499683295780.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="800" height="479" src="https://earthsky.org/upl/2017/07/rainbow-supernumerary-7-8-2017-Alexander-Krivenyshev-NYC-e1499683295780.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">2021 is over -- yay! And we survived. We had thought the coronavirus was going away, but then two notable mutations brought it back -- mainly among those who weren't prepared. But for me it's over, and I'm pushing ahead.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As far as blog writing is concerned, overall my output has increased slightly. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://econo-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Econo-Mel</a> went down in post counts after I stopped producing the weekly coronavirus updates -- and I just got bored with the whole Trump v. Biden thing. I figured my energies were better spent elsewhere (though I'll be back soon enough -- maybe some midterm coverage).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://music-o-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Music of Mel</a> got a couple more posts this year -- a 100% increase. Woot woot! I have plans to bring it back even more this next year.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Mormon Mel</a> had its biggest year -- breaking 2020's record. I've dropped the spiritual messages to just one a month, so I expect volume to drop, but I've introduced my new short story series and will continue pushing forward on other projects.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Always Be Better</a> is my new blog -- opening strong with 30 posts. A lot of time went into this video/blog series. The sister video series is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7-ge-_fvNk&list=PLhgWvObimVpaosf4LLuJi5nGJKf7_q4dF" target="_blank">here</a>. (The videos start off pretty rough at the start, but they get better.) This next year will see 20 more installments.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Last but not least, The Word of Mel had an increase (all reviews) -- but nowhere near what I used to do a decade ago.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My favorite posts from 2021:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/88775b_93ca4200b54a4207b6710fd227aac59b.jpg/v1/fill/w_1050,h_968,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/88775b_93ca4200b54a4207b6710fd227aac59b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="800" height="50" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/88775b_93ca4200b54a4207b6710fd227aac59b.jpg/v1/fill/w_1050,h_968,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/88775b_93ca4200b54a4207b6710fd227aac59b.jpg" width="54" /></a></div><div style="float: left; text-align: left;"><br /></div><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-adventures-of-elder-elder-and-elder.html" target="_blank">The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin: The Lonely Man</a>: the first of my new fiction stories based over 90% on actual experiences from my mission in South Korea. In this episode, I meet my new companion as we start five months of adventure together.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://menchuayeunguoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cn24tnc-768x429.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="768" height="50" src="https://menchuayeunguoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/cn24tnc-768x429.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><a href="https://mormonmel.blogspot.com/2021/04/we-like-sheep.html" target="_blank">We Like Sheep</a>: amidst the name calling -- sheep and sheeple, doesn't Christ ask us to be like sheep? And how can we be good sheep instead of following blindly?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ucf.edu/news/files/2019/04/UCF-Arecibo-aerial.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="50" src="https://www.ucf.edu/news/files/2019/04/UCF-Arecibo-aerial.jpg" width="75" /></a></div><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2021/02/7-drake-equation.html" target="_blank">The Drake Equation</a>: If there are other civilizations in the universe, why have we not seen them? Could it be that most of them destroy themselves before they can be seen? And can we survive?<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIzrV-zecH9ri7qfKwLBwqP7mOU7rTsiV2ZOBvOdIzVJSfVYEx4Dydk3mNIbUYtDCs5SctCm2ZRETIh2UKrCJqds8pyP-uA1eva71nWNi3Huyy6wUwJEYTfuFZeuncfhpSIocdydLX73mBZ2M2UBu5kNOJepwffGmtS4nVmzT5uW1uo6G2Zea3O6-Bag=s1360" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="1141" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIzrV-zecH9ri7qfKwLBwqP7mOU7rTsiV2ZOBvOdIzVJSfVYEx4Dydk3mNIbUYtDCs5SctCm2ZRETIh2UKrCJqds8pyP-uA1eva71nWNi3Huyy6wUwJEYTfuFZeuncfhpSIocdydLX73mBZ2M2UBu5kNOJepwffGmtS4nVmzT5uW1uo6G2Zea3O6-Bag=s320" width="42" /></a></div><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2021/03/11-changer-book-godel-escher-bach.html" target="_blank">Changer Book: Gödel, Escher, Bach</a>: This book on strange loops, brain maps, music, art, and Zen changed my life for good.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgp9YBcXC27Jfzxqkwdo-oRYE6OqfvqGhz9ANTTxQQAXXvuJjSuKzV_iJB3eSE8SuGQLZMz1Yatd-M-VdP0hAWkrG7CVa1XTSuXXcjevcUSvcTEjpr3UHbp8PKAysJ-nnRpZWfGLMvhEoNrcqdh8Xpn1_AOpqnlFWE8t9jjmT2iC2_wKmpg3OoJfs8ECQ=s2000" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgp9YBcXC27Jfzxqkwdo-oRYE6OqfvqGhz9ANTTxQQAXXvuJjSuKzV_iJB3eSE8SuGQLZMz1Yatd-M-VdP0hAWkrG7CVa1XTSuXXcjevcUSvcTEjpr3UHbp8PKAysJ-nnRpZWfGLMvhEoNrcqdh8Xpn1_AOpqnlFWE8t9jjmT2iC2_wKmpg3OoJfs8ECQ=w200-h150" width="67" /></a></div><a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2021/09/27-my-fifteen-minutes-of-fame.html" target="_blank">My Fifteen Minutes of Fame</a>: A true story of how I beat the odds and experienced a real 15 minutes of fame.<br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://psmag.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1000/MTMzMTI0NzE1OTk5OTU5NTE4/shutterstock_258637955jpg.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="800" height="50" src="https://psmag.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1000/MTMzMTI0NzE1OTk5OTU5NTE4/shutterstock_258637955jpg.jpg" width="77" /></a></div><a href="https://econo-mel.blogspot.com/2021/02/can-republican-party-survive.html" target="_blank">Can the Republican Party Survive?</a>: The Party appears to be showing signs of dying. Can they turn things around and remain a force? (Written in early February 2021, but still pertinent today.)<div><br /></div><div>Now that 2022 is here -- it's onward and forward. This year I'm going to be working on wiser decision making. I can take the momentum that I built in 2021, focus it with better prioritization and execution to make more of a dent -- become more of an influence, and get that much closer to changing the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>How did you do in 2021, and what do you see going forward?</div></div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-11975518896288171052021-12-06T21:13:00.000-05:002021-12-06T21:13:22.960-05:00Water Witch: "The Deepening" Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/lf?set=key%5Bresolve.pixelRatio%5D,value%5B1%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.width%5D,value%5B600%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.height%5D,value%5B10000%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.imageFit%5D,value%5Bcontainerwidth%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.allowImageUpscaling%5D,value%5B0%5D&product=path%5B/pimages/2940165536458_p0_v1%5D&call=url%5Bfile:common/decodeProduct.chain%5D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="466" height="400" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/lf?set=key%5Bresolve.pixelRatio%5D,value%5B1%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.width%5D,value%5B600%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.height%5D,value%5B10000%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.imageFit%5D,value%5Bcontainerwidth%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.allowImageUpscaling%5D,value%5B0%5D&product=path%5B/pimages/2940165536458_p0_v1%5D&call=url%5Bfile:common/decodeProduct.chain%5D" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Book 2 of Kelly Brewer's Deepening Series gives us <i>Water Witch</i>. And again, in full disclosure, I was asked to provide a review.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just like in the <a href="https://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2019/04/first-contact-rocking-in-space.html" target="_blank">first book</a>, Kyle Supplantis continues his adventures fighting space aliens with rock music. And the aliens are not happy. Now that they know Kyle is the Water Witch, they try everything to stop Kyle before he destroys them. But -- destroy them, how? Kyle still doesn't know how to use his newfound powers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As most middle books of trilogies go, this book spends a lot more time pushing plot than world-building. And in this case, I may like the first book a little better. Now that the band has been separated this way and that, there's also a lot less music, at least at first.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Kelly Brewer gives us a lot more view into the alien side, now that <i>we </i>know they exist, and not all aliens are bad. But that doesn't stop the aliens from using their melting space zombies. Starting with Neptune, moving to Uranus, and then Saturn, and so on, the aliens push their way forward to Earth.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Brewer's quirky writing also continues strongly -- kind of a broken English, because -- that's well -- how these people talk. I like it, though it comes across as funny and different to me. I think it's intentional -- an attempt of quirky humor mixed with some action and horror elements.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At one place near the beginning, there was even a zombie-nado. Yeah -- I was on the floor laughing up a storm. Is there anything tornadoes can't do? But then again, later zombie scenes seem quite dire, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's just a book, and we're not really losing a war against the aliens.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The ending seemed to come quite sudden to me -- almost like stopping everything as something big happens, but then again, surprises are always like that. It was a nice twist. Of course -- like the usual middle book, it leaves us hanging. I suppose I'll have to pick up the final book as well.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, give it a try. If you're looking for something completely different -- kind of funny, but also somewhat satisfying, check out these books. You can start with "First Contact" and continue with this book.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-13270527948243144612021-11-03T21:59:00.000-04:002021-11-03T21:59:33.472-04:00X-Files 2018<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_HTByz4RlqI" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div><br /></div><div>After a mostly disappointing tenth season in 2016, Chris Carter came back and redeemed himself. Instead of just six episodes, he delivered ten. And this time he provided a good mixture of standalone material and episodes that pushed forward the overarching plot -- even helping to bring things to a nice end in the finale.</div><div><br /></div><div>2018 gave us more memorable episodes: the return of Langly, a hilarious exploration of the Mandela Effect, and one of my favorites of the season where automated machines went after Mulder and Scully.</div><div><br /></div><div>Carter also (mostly) successfully removed my complaints from season 10 -- totally undoing that rushed and terrible ending (it turned out to be only a vision of one possible future -- Cockadoodie!!), and bringing us back to more believable plots.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, the end of season 11 was somewhat satisfactory. It serves as both a series end and a possibility for a continuation -- just enough to have us wonder what comes next, but not too much -- so we can have a better sense of closure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Will there be more episodes? As of now, it appears the answer is no. Carter would prefer not to do it without Gillian Anderson, the franchise is now owned by Disney, and some other forces appear to be killing the chances of a season 12. I'm not too disappointed, but would definitely watch if it came back. There's certainly plenty of juicy stuffs to pull from in the last couple of years!</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I enjoyed 2018, and until I hear otherwise, it feels like a great conclusion.</div><div><br /></div><div>Chris Carter, thanks for all the memories!</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-86748675890157151502021-10-28T22:38:00.000-04:002021-10-28T22:38:37.121-04:00The Universe Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://thomasberry.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/berry_swimme_universe_story-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="499" src="https://thomasberry.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/berry_swimme_universe_story-1.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Today, I'd like to review a book suggested by a friend: <i>The Universe Story</i> by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'll be honest -- at first I was intimidated by the lengthy subtitles: "From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era" and "A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos." And I'm thinking: say what? But never fear, the book explains itself.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But be aware, these two authors pull no punches with their long and fancy words. I knew I was in trouble when in the first few pages, there were words I didn't even know existed -- but still I was able to piece together what they meant by their roots (etymology). In some cases, I was impressed at how they were able to find a word that fit better than any possible alternatives. In other cases, I thought: there's an easier word for that. Overall, it took me a while to get used to the style, but then I was able to press forward.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In thirteen chapters, this book follows the history of the universe -- starting with the Big Bang (poetically called the Flaring Forth), the creation of the first particles, then dust clouds, then stars, galaxies, and finally our solar system. Then it explores the beginning of life on our planet -- how the first cell was likely to form -- then the first multi-cellular organism -- then oxygen breathing organisms -- then reproductive entities -- plants -- animals -- and finally humans. The story continues, focusing on the human history on Earth, and continuing on to today.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The last chapter alerts us to the fact that we are at a crossroads -- how we are now leaving the Cenozoic Era, and entering into two possible futures. The Ecozoic Era is where humans learn to work with the Earth and continue on in a thriving symbiosis. Or we could end up in the Techozoic Era, where we forsake our connection with the Earth and end up using up all its resources. Our future is entirely up to us.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thomas Berry provides all the historian aspects of the book, as well as the idea of the Ecozoic and Techozoic Eras. He's also a religious historian -- which I found interesting -- this book on science was not willing to forsake religion, but rather embrace some of our more humanitarian aspects. He seems to believe that everything in the universe exists in a sort of community -- where everything is connected to everything else.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Brian Swimme provides more of the cosmology in the book -- how hydrogen came together to create everything else. Like Carl Sagan -- he's quick to remind us that we're all made out of starstuff.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While I appreciated the book as a whole, and found some parts to be intriguing, some parts -- in particular the human history section (about three chapters) were highly monotonous. Often, those sections jumped around in time -- back and forth -- following some kind of stream of consciousness, often relying on our already having known these historical facts instead of explaining them to us.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also, there were several points throughout the book where the writer would go on for about five pages saying the same thing over and over with only immaterial variance. I usually ended up scanning those pages. With a little more editing, this could have been an excellent book.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But on the other hand, this book has provided me with new ways to look at the universe, and I almost feel like I can look at Everything and have a tiny bit more of an understanding of it All.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It also ends with a striking warning: which path do we want to tread? Will we continue the cell-phone, virtual world, ignoring the planet, etc., creating a false environment in a non-sustainable fashion (the Techozoic Era)? Or can we allow ourselves to become more "human," live more in reality, become more connected to the Earth, and continue to thrive?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It certainly has me thinking.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-3345388837795779842021-10-23T15:58:00.002-04:002021-10-23T15:58:26.676-04:00Dune: The Best Adaptation Yet?<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w0HgHet0sxg" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now we have another adaptation of Frank Herbert's <i>Dune</i>, but is it good? Is it worth it?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I went in with high hopes after having seen other movies by the director, Villeneuve: <i>Arrival</i>, and <i>Blade Runner 2049</i>. And I was not disappointed. He delivered everywhere I had expected: excellent cinematography, intriguing execution, good acting.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The music was great, and not too overwhelming -- that is, it was Hans Zimmer without Christopher Nolan. The action was also perfect.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As far as being true to the original novel, I can't think of any other adaptation that gets even close. Think of the David Lynch version, remove the scenes that weren't in the book, and add in more scenes that were passed over, and you get this movie. Some parts still get left out, just because there's so much in the books. For example, Piter de Vries makes an appearance and does a few things, but I don't remember anyone ever saying his name. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The only complaint I have is that there was one boring part near the end. Perhaps it can't be helped, as there's a big boring section in the middle of the novel -- corresponding with this boring section. But then again, the two other Villeneuve movies I mentioned above seem to have boring sections as well. Perhaps pacing isn't his forte, but all scenes seem to be necessary.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For those who know nothing about the plot: The Atreides family is chosen to be the new stewards of the planet Arrakis (also known as Dune), and to be in charge of the spice production for the galaxy. The spice, melange, exists only on Dune, and without it, safe intergalactic travel is impossible. So, as you can imagine, this spice is very important.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The previous stewards, the Harkonnens, known for their brutality, concoct a plan to regain their stewardship and maintain their control of the spice.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Paul, the son of the Duke of Atreides, must remain strong on this new planet as he faces new challenges, which include prophecies from the Fremen (the indigenous inhabitants of Dune) and the Bene Gesserit (women throughout the galaxy with extra powers, who are trying to create a prophesied Messiah through genetic coupling). Yeah -- Paul lives in a very strange world full of interesting people.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The result is a very complex story.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I highly recommend catching this movie in IMAX -- its intended format. And I can't tell you how grateful I am that they're not pushing the 3D glasses version in the US. As I understand, it was not filmed in 3D, and I have yet to see a fully successful Fake 3D adaptation of anything -- there are always distracting artifacts. If I have to wear glasses over my glasses, the quality of the 3D has to make it worth the discomfort. So, thank you -- US -- for not ruining my IMAX experience.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, this morning I've read a few reviews by "experts" and some of them made me cringe. They were basically whining about how this movie wasn't Lynch's version. So, let me set things straight. This movie is not Lynch's movie. I also loved that 1984 movie, but let's be honest -- Lynch's movie is for those who already know what's going on. Its minutes-long prologue is just terrible and beyond confusing. The extra scenes that were added to explain things just make it worse. My wife, who has not read the books, felt very confused after watching the Lynch movie, but after last night, she felt that this new movie cleared up a lot of questions. In other words, this new movie is likely to reach more generic audiences.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It you want a fun drug-trip filled adaptation of over-the-top confusing epic scenes, then catch Lynch's version. (A lot of those scenes are indeed fun to watch.) If you instead want to watch a movie that sticks much closer to the original material, does a better job of explaining what's going on, provides more of a realistic adaptation, and has Jason Momoa who's really awesome, then this Villeneuve adaptation is the one to catch.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So -- I say -- ignore those negative reviews and give this one a try. Fun for the whole family!</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-5172064897235321852021-10-13T22:32:00.000-04:002021-10-13T22:32:39.646-04:00Foundation: Asimov's Epic on Apple TV+<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X4QYV5GTz7c" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Isaac Asimov's <i>Foundation</i> series were among the first books I read as a teenager. As each new book came out, I would read and learn what happened next -- how that universe merged together with the <i>Empire</i> and <i>Robots</i> series. And TV/movie producers have stayed away from this epic for decades, until now. Apple TV+ presents the very first attempt.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The issue -- the whole series is just -- smart. The main concept is that super-genius Hari Seldon has created psychohistory -- a system of mathematics mixed with human behavior to predict the future based on patterns from the past. Hari predicts that the Galactic Empire will fall within a century, and that the galaxy would remain in darkness for 30,000 years. However, if the Empire embraces Hari's plan, it would bring the number down to 1,000 years.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Eventually, the Empire agrees begrudgingly. They exile Hari Seldon to Terminus, a resource-poor planet on the edge of the universe, and tell him to have at it. The catch -- Hari had predicted the Empire would do exactly this, and it turns out that Terminus really is the best place to build a Foundation -- a way to maintain knowledge, so that when the 1,000 years of darkness are over, the new Galactic Empire can rise up again without having to start from scratch.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What comes next is like a series of short stories from certain periods along the 1,000 years. So -- yeah -- kind of hard to capture this in a TV show -- lots of politics -- lots of smart witty discussions -- lots of smart twists -- and a very large and rich world. So, how do you capture all of this on TV?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By the way, some trivia about myself -- it was ultimately these books that inspired me to become an actuary in real life. Using patterns from the past to predict the future? Count me in! Of course, the math comes nowhere near psychohistory, but we're trying. I predict that most actuaries would love this show.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When I watched the first episode of this series, I was a little concerned. On the most part, that episode accurately captures the first vignette in the book. Hari Seldon picks up Gaal Dornick, a rising mathematical genius, and tells her: "My math predicts that we will be arrested tomorrow." We also get to see Hari's adoptive son, Raych. Ultimately, Gaal joins the expedition that later becomes the Foundation.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first thing that concerned me was that the producers decided to make the Emperor clones of Cleon I (from the <i>Foundation</i> prequels). The original book trilogy doesn't really dive into who the emperors are and what their personalities are -- they're more like pieces on a chessboard -- you know they exist, but they aren't really part of the main story. Yet, the first TV episode seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time on the emperors, of which there are three. Brother Day is the "current" middle-aged emperor. Brother Dawn is the "in-training" adolescent emperor. And Brother Dusk is the "former" end-of-life emperor.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In other words: this stuff wasn't in the book, so why bring it in? And the answer -- it actually works! Using this tactic has several advantages. For one -- they can go 50 years into the future and still use the same actors, providing a sense of continuity throughout the show. Kind of convenient? But wait -- it also brings in the new idea that one man has decided to inflict the entire galaxy to HIMSELF for 400 years. Can you imagine the ego? And yet, each emperor is slightly different. I'm now 4 episodes in -- and I have to be honest -- I'm seriously enjoying this new addition. Watching these emperors react to different situations has actually been thought-provoking, and I believe it adds another level of richness to the story. We already know that the Empire is going to ultimately fail, so we're all waiting to see who will be the last, and how they go down. Or will they somehow continue the cloning over the next entire 1,000 years?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was also concerned with a couple of snafus, such as an underground city counting levels from the bottom up instead of from the top down as in most sci-fi stories; the convenient artificial gravity; talking about making a trip thousands of light years away in a non-jump ship in less than a decade. But you know what? It doesn't really matter in the end. I'm already used to those distractions and can turn that part off. If I can enjoy <i>Star Trek</i>, I'm not going to let this ruin my <i>Foundation </i>watching. I'm at least excited that they used black holes to drive the jump ships! That was just cool.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another concern was adding a convenient action scene in the first episode -- I suppose something exciting to get people to continue watching. To me it seemed to be too much of a coincidence (no way for Hari to predict it), but the writers used it effectively in the expanding plot. So -- I'll let them have it. Ultimately, it's the price that must be paid to help make the transition to the TV screen possible. It requires a lot of expansion of the original story -- but you know what -- keep going.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, the original plot is preserved incredibly well (Episode 5 proves to be exciting). I may know what happens next, but I don't know how any of the subplots will develop.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My wife, who doesn't normally watch sci-fi (except for the fact that she's married to me), is happily captured by this presentation. She says that it catches her attention much more than the sporadic <i>Star Trek: Discovery </i>we recently watched. She appreciates that it's being written by just one writer -- which means much more consistent writing. We're both going crazy waiting for Episode 5 this week, when we might actually get past page 100.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At the rate the series is progressing -- yes -- it will take years to get through the whole story. And I'm likely to enjoy it all. The next <i>Game of Thrones</i> in space!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So -- check it out. It's available on Apple TV+, but nowhere else. I think it's worth the $5 a month. Plus -- I may try out some of these other shows. We'll see ...</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-90804076723697464372021-09-04T00:07:00.001-04:002021-09-04T00:07:23.324-04:00Discovery: First Three Seasons<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hC7IMj7WFyE" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I finally bit the bullet and ordered a subscription to CBS All Access (Paramount+) so I could watch "Star Trek: Discovery," the next installation to the <i>Star Trek</i> Franchise<i>.</i> This is a review of the first three seasons.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first season starts out strong -- taking place a decade or two before the Original <i>Star Trek</i>, following the adventures of Michael Burnham, as she becomes a member of the Discovery, a science vessel that ends up being very important.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Burnham disgraces herself by helping to start a war with the Klingons. Captain Lorca is the only one who will take her on to his ship, the Discovery. Together they try to stop the war.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The ship is equipped with a spore drive that can instantly take the ship anywhere in the known galaxy. Yeah -- it's a technology that's far more advanced than anything we've seen in <i>Star Trek</i>, but don't worry, they take care of that toward the end of season two -- much like how C3PO gets his mind erased at the end of <i>Star Wars III</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first season held my attention until the writers decided to introduce the mirror universe. Yes -- insert eye-rolly things here. If it's one thing I hate, it's further mirror episodes beyond the Original Series. I know it's meant just to be fun, but if you think about it -- out of an infinite number of parallel worlds, they always end up in the same exact mirror universe? And everything is opposite -- evil and good switched? And yet the people look the same? How exactly can things be so opposite while at the same time preserving the genealogies?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It turns out that the mirror universe plays a large part of season 1, but in the end, they make it all work out pretty nicely.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Season 2 seemed to be more of a big bag of <i>Star Trek</i> easter eggs. It features Spock and Captain Pike at a time shortly after the pilot episode from the Original Series. This is also when the shows starting becoming more hit and miss. Season 1 suffered a bit from this as well, but not so much.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I think the problem is when a show is written by committee instead of by a strong show runner. Many threads seem to be opened only to be ignored, or even contradicted in later episodes. Sometimes some of the minor characters behave different between episodes. Some characters play minor roles, only to have a whole episode devoted to them just prior to killing them off.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My least favorite episodes by far so far were the last two -- the closer -- for season 2. It was just bad writing, bad editing, and a lot of rushing. So many plot holes. And then some kind of crazy excuse to set up Season 3 in a totally different place -- so to speak.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And Season 3 has been the weakest so far -- kind of like Doctor Who recently, which has lately been more politics and less plot. I just thought the overall arch for Season 3 was weak and inconsistent.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also -- not to mention that this series doesn't <i>feel </i>too much like the <i>Star Trek</i> I grew up with. For example, the writers decided to introduce F-bombs, even though it was established more than once that "colorful metaphors" were no longer needed in Roddenberry's future.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'll most likely continue watching, but it might be a while for me.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-62294692856724375212021-08-10T23:09:00.004-04:002021-08-10T23:09:58.441-04:00Leviathan Wakes -- The Beginning of a Giant Saga<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.orbitbooks.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/9780316129084_388X586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="388" height="400" src="https://www.orbitbooks.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/9780316129084_388X586.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><br /><i>Leviathan Wakes</i> is the first of many books in the <i>Expanse</i> series. You may recognize the name from the <i>Expanse</i> TV show streaming on Amazon Prime (to the loss of SyFy who was dumb enough to let it go). I'll come back later to review the TV show, but today you get Book #1.<div><br /></div><div>And I must tell you -- it's difficult for me to review this book separately from the show, as the whole overarching plot is phenomenal. After watching five seasons, I know what comes next and where this book fits in the whole scheme. So, I'm trying my hardest to ignore what I already know.</div><div><br /></div><div>This book follows Holden and Miller as they travel across our solar system for various reasons. Holden starts on an ice trawler returning from Saturn to Ceres, and while on a shuttle, he witnesses the destruction of his own ship. Friends, loved ones, and associates he had known for years -- all dead. So, he begins a quest to find out who did this and make them pay.</div><div><br /></div><div>Miller is a washed-up detective on Ceres who has to deal with the aftermath of the ice trawler's destruction -- in part because of the impending water shortage, but also because angers rile up. He's also asked to track down some rich guy's daughter, who's gone missing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Holden and Miller don't realize yet, but they're really on the same mission, and something rotten is happening in the solar system. And yes -- it does involve vomit zombies. Sound crazy? Well -- it is, but it makes much more sense while reading. </div><div><br /></div><div>And what's most awesome -- it is all mostly scientifically correct (even those vomit zombies). That is by far what attracted me to this series -- the fact that it is "real" sci-fi. Some people call this "hard" sci-fi. Think <i>The Martian</i>, <i>Interstellar, </i>or the <i>2001</i> series. "Soft" or "fake" sci-fi are other stories that only loosely use real science and just have fun with lasers and pew pew! Like <i>Star Wars, Star Trek, </i>and the <i>Stargate </i>series.</div><div><br /></div><div>On top of this, the writers (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pseudonym of James S. A. Corey) successfully create an entire world full of politics, intrigue, and science. It feels that something like this could actually happen 100 years from now.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, I do have to be honest. As a standalone book, I didn't find the writing too compelling. Similar to how I find George R. R. Martin's writing in his <i>Fire and Ice</i> books -- only George is better. And possibly similar to Orson Scott Card, who's also good at keeping the narration out of the story (which I sometimes appreciate greatly). Of these three, I find Card's writing to be best, followed by Martin, and lastly Corey.</div><div><br /></div><div>As an aspiring writer, myself, I easily picked up on all the newbie errors: telling instead of showing, clunky dialogue, cliche F-bomb use, and so on. They also decided to alternate between Holden and Miller for each chapter throughout the entire book -- even when the two converge. I don't think I've ever seen a book do this before, and I can't decide if it's good or bad.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I hadn't already known how great the whole story is, I might have put this book down early on. But what I did like about the writing is that is indeed very easy to read through it quickly. They do indeed do a good job of having the narration stay out of the way. I figure that regular readers won't be phased by the newbie errors and will most likely enjoy this book.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, I suppose I could end with a quick comparison with the TV show. This first book covers the first two seasons -- but only from Holden's and Miller's points of view. I figure the next book or two comes back later to fill in the gaps for the many other characters who have yet to be introduced. Either that, or the show writers added in a lot of stuff for the series. In some instances scenes in the show are more fleshed out (kind of like how Jackson did a whole movie out of a few paragraphs in <i>The Hobbit)</i>. In many instances, it felt like I was reading a script to the TV show -- indicating that some of the dialogue is indeed lifted straight from the book (including one of my favorite interactive scenes). And in a few cases, the book gave a lot more useful detail that helps explain some things not covered in the show -- which probably gave me the most value in reading this book.</div><div><br /></div><div>There you have it -- feel free to check it out. If you stick with it, supposedly the following books get even better. I'll definitely continue chugging through, but I got a lot of other books on my list. (It never ends!)</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-62541762269877055412021-08-02T23:38:00.000-04:002021-08-02T23:38:31.625-04:00Magicians -- Giving Up<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2CPCoqF1F0U" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I did make it two seasons in. In an earlier post, I expressed my doubts -- that it looked like "a cross between Hogwarts for grownups and <i>Alphas.</i>" But after one episode, it was clear that it was something bigger than that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Brakebills is a college for magicians -- so you get the whole college scene mixed with something really bad going on -- well -- several really bad things going on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All of the characters are interesting. A new freshman appears to have one of the strongest natural talent, but he has no idea how to use it and control it. His girlfriend is rejected from the college, even though she wanted it more than he did. Some of the older students are mean, manipulative, and vindictive, but somehow all these people become friends.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, I loved the first season even though the writers seemed to have an overt obsession with sex. In fact - they wasted an entire episode on that -- something about sex bringing strength to magic -- some crazy nonsense. That episode was so bad, I think it could be skipped entirely without missing too much plot -- well, some big things do happen somewhere in the middle.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But other than that distraction, the first season seemed tight with good plot and strong direction. The season finale left me hanging -- making me have to wait till the next year to continue.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However, then -- the second season came out weaker. There were still some good parts in each episode ... but there was still that obsession with sex, and the tendency to convolute the plot to get the strangest people together and set up all kinds of love triangles, squares, and pentagons. That got boring with the exception of watching one of the characters get exactly what they wanted in that area.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That season explores the magical land of Fillory, which was kind of interesting ... but ... didn't seem to work. Almost like making stuff up as they went along to fill in the holes instead of first setting the rules, building the world, and letting it flow organically.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At the end of the second season -- I just lost interest. I could tell the show still had potential and could possibly redeem itself, but evidently I found other shows to keep me busy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can check out the show if you wish -- I read that it comes to a satisfying conclusion after five seasons. I gave up -- but you just might enjoy it.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-47388976722694115782021-07-20T22:31:00.001-04:002021-07-20T22:31:45.963-04:00Finishing off the Librarians<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8zh87m7vP00" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It took me a while, but I finally finished off <i>The Librarians</i> on TNT. I had kind of lost interest the first time around -- evidently because <a href="http://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2015/02/new-shows-spring-2015.html" target="_blank">TNT made it difficult at the time to catch shows on demand</a> when the DVR failed. But since my DVR was set to catch any "new" episodes, it went ahead and captured those episodes when they became available again. So, over the next few years, I pretty much had the entire rest of the series waiting for me. And then when I had made the decision a couple of years ago to get rid of cable, I saw this series' existence on my DVR, and I finished it out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So yes -- it's one of those shows that I had a hard time getting excited about, but it was interesting enough for me to finish. It's one of those shows where I got around to it after catching up on my other shows, but yet I was able to enjoy watching while I watched. Each episode was decent and funny. Every now and then there would be really good episodes that actually had me looking forward to the next episode.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Librarians are guardians of the Library, which contains a whole bunch of magical artifacts. Several bad guys try to destroy or take over the Library along the way. Noah Wyle plays the main Librarian, who trains three other uprising Librarians. Rebecca Romijn (of X-Men/Mystique fame) is also in there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What I liked: the show had a lot of energy and kept my attention. It also doesn't involve much brain power to process, so it's good show to relax to. The characters were interesting enough to like.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What I didn't like: the show seemed to lack direction. Each season has an overarching arc, but it was still really "bad guy of the week."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are four seasons, and the last one comes to a satisfying conclusion. There were plans for more episodes, but I'm not going to miss it very much. It was a fun memory and now I'm done.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My recommendation: if you're looking for something simple, low-level thinking, funny, energetic, and not much of a commitment -- then check it out.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-27655944052194549102021-07-12T22:56:00.000-04:002021-07-12T22:56:16.877-04:00Fear the Living Dead: Giving Up<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d5kYYImzDvU" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>
<div><br /></div><div>I made it through four seasons of <i>Fear the Walking Dead</i>, and I've just had no inclination to continue. It was a fun ride for the first three seasons.</div><div><br /></div><div>Season 1 started off strong, giving a glimpse into the beginnings of the zombie apocalypse -- the main aspect that attracted me to the show in the first place. But toward the end of season 1, the writers decided to skip a whole week, and it felt like the energy dropped -- now that everyone had a better idea of what was going on, it had, as several of my friends called it, turned into just another <i>Walking Dead</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, the writers kept things interesting with the whole plot of the government mishandling things.</div><div><br /></div><div>Season 2 was okay, as the families journey on Strand's boat and end up in Mexico. It had a lot of slow parts, but there always seemed to be something to keep me going. Plus, it has lots of good Spanish to listen to.</div><div><br /></div><div>Season 3 picked up big time -- definitely the highlight of the show -- IMO, building to an explosive finale.</div><div><br /></div><div>But then Season 4 happened. Unfortunately, the writers decided to do a crossover, bringing in Morgan from <i>The Walking Dead</i>. I was most disappointed because this necessitated a gigantic time jump so the two shows could catch up. You remember all that energy that built up at the end of Season 3? It was all dispersed instantly with this poor choice of events. The main aspect that had attracted me to this show was the fact that it wasn't <i>The Walking Dead</i>, and again, someone thought it a good idea to crossover. Why?</div><div><br /></div><div>The writing was still decent -- but it just got boring. I liked Dorie, and some of the new characters. Even that bad guy Melvin (almost the same as my name) was interesting. The overarching plot just felt forced to bend to some executive's whim, and it lost direction. So much so that when Season 5 started back up, I was all -- who cares?</div><div><br /></div><div>If I hear that it gets better, I may pick it back up once the show is done -- we'll see. It was fun, and now I'm done.</div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-49757029974704043072021-06-21T23:50:00.001-04:002021-06-21T23:50:49.882-04:00Doctor Who: An Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article20926097.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_17009020-high_res-doctor-whoJPG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="615" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article20926097.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_17009020-high_res-doctor-whoJPG.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Here's a quick update on <i>Doctor Who</i>. You can read earlier reports from nearly a decade ago <a href="http://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2011/04/weekend-of-doctor-who.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://meloramawrites.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-tv-fall-pre-wave.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Back then I was just starting the Clara episodes (Series 7), and Matt Smith had been around quite awhile.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Since then, I've loved practically all the Matt Smith episodes. And also the Impossible Girl (Clara).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Series 8 brought in the next doctor: Peter Capaldi -- again, strong episodes. I figured they needed to bring in an older-looking guy to explain River Song's comment about him being old. Heheheh! And talk about some really awesome plot twists with River and company! And possibly some of the best episodes. My favorite so far being the one where Capaldi is stuck in a time/loop castle with an awesome ending.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And then a fun exit for River Song and Clara -- will they be back?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Series 11 brought in our first female Doctor: Jodie Whittaker. She does an awesome job, but the quality of the episodes just dropped like a rock. It was almost as if the writers decided, "Now that we have a woman, we've cracked the 'political' suit and we can hit everyone with uber political episodes."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Though I loved Jodie's performance, and even Missy's character (the female Master), I always despise when writers sacrifice plot for politics. The episodes in Series 11 were thus hit and miss -- some good episodes among some bad ringers. It was good enough to keep me pushing through to the end of the season, and I seem to remember a decent closer, though I can't for the life of me remember what happened.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I do remember the worst episode: the one with the spiders. It was by all measures -- just bad. MST3000 bad. It featured one of the worst American caricatures I've ever seen -- "I love guns -- give me a gun. Let's kill everything. I'm going to become President of the US and destroy everything." I'm pretty sure they were going for some kind of Donald Trump. Maybe he wrote the episode? The plot was just so convoluted - designed to set up some really poorly done political statement. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Series 11 was overall so bad that I'm taking a break. I just have no desire to start Series 12 (the last one currently available), but I know one day I'll do it -- I haven't written off the show yet. Though I want to yell: "Give Jodie something good to work with like you did with Christopher, David, Matt, and Peter!" To give her crap is, I think, the worst insult one could give a woman Doctor. She can handle it -- just bring back the good writing you did for 10 series. You can still have the politics -- just introduce it organically and don't sacrifice the plot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And there you have it ... we'll eventually see what comes next ... </div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753555515217734546.post-87784453863620635132021-06-15T23:35:00.001-04:002021-06-15T23:35:35.391-04:00COSMOS: The Original Book<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://listverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/514WI52JSlL-1._SX318_BO1204203200_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://listverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/514WI52JSlL-1._SX318_BO1204203200_.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In an <a href="https://alwaysbebetter-mel.blogspot.com/2021/02/8-changer-book-cosmos.html" target="_blank">earlier blog post</a>, I explained how Carl Sagan's <i>COSMOS</i> changed my life. And now years later, I gave the book another read-through, and this a review of that book.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After finishing this recent read-through, I'm now pretty sure that in the early 80s when I received the original, I had not ever read through the entire book. I had only looked at all the many pictures that existed in that first hardbound edition. And the pictures had reminded me of the 13 episodes I had watched of the partner TV show: <i>Cosmos: A Personal Voyage</i>. So, it turns out, it was really the TV show that changed my life, and not the book.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The book, itself, is slightly different from the show -- maybe about 70% overlap, but then another 30% of stuff I hadn't heard before. The show also has some of my favorite pieces that are missing in the book.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall, Sagan's book is well-organized -- 13 chapters. He begins by defining the word Cosmos. It is the order in which we live -- our universe -- the opposite of chaos. He then describes our place in the whole. He explores how our understanding of the Cosmos changed throughout time, including our advances in knowledge and setbacks (he doesn't seem to like Pythagoras that well). He explores our planets, detailing our missions to explore them. He describes our own planet and how we need to take care of it. He muses on the possibility of life around other stars and how we may eventually meet others. He discusses a lot about how evolutional forces helped to shape our existence -- how it took billions of years to build what we have now. He explains how everything we see in space is a time machine back into the past.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And he finishes it all with the most chilling chapter: "Who Speaks for Earth?" If we are to survive, we must come together, but due to the "reptile" inner brains we have, we also have the disposition to destroy ourselves. He urges that we need to learn how to use our "mammal" outer brains to overcome our instincts to destroy, and then persevere into the future.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I, for one, am optimistic that we will figure it all out and survive this destructive period, even though these last few years have been very unsettling -- if Carl Sagan was worried in the late 70s, he would certainly be alarmed to see how worse off we are today -- how bad actors have used the internet to brainwash many unknowing victims to embrace their destructive natures and increase hate. Something I'm actively fighting, but not gaining much traction yet. Carl Sagan and others have inspired me to push our world as much as I can in the right direction -- as large as that world is.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are definitely parts where I disagree with the man. For example, Sagan spends a few pages talking about how letting teenagers have unlimited sex would lead to more peaceful people as adults (based on the research of neuropsychologist James W. Prescott) -- and I'm all: "Say what? This is interesting but you're certainly spending a lot of time on this one." So -- he's not perfect, and sometimes he'll drift on some strange tangent.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, some parts are a little dated, but we can't really fault him on that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, more often than not, I find myself agreeing with him, and so I strongly recommend this book. 5 stars out of 5. There's a lot of history I didn't know before, and he made it all interesting. There are very deep concepts that make me think, and maybe it can get your brain working as well. So -- give it a try.</div></div>Melvyn Windhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842845650718442535noreply@blogger.com0