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Monthly Archives: October 2008
…Not without my cat!
Tonight I watched the movie “Alien”, this will make the… oh, I stopped counting so long ago it is not even worth mentioning. Let me just say that I have the script memorized and will speak the lines before they are spoken on the idiot box.
To be fair, I do like this movie. If I am willing to watch it that many times, then that much must be obvious, right? Right.
But there is an important thing that has always stood out to me, that is:Â Why in the hell did she not just leave the darned cat on the ship and take Parker and Lambert and get the hell off (the ship, that is… this was not a porn flick)?
Don’t take this wrong… I love cats! I think that they are great and I would be truly saddened if something happened to mine. But get real for a moment. If my house is burning down and Sally and Critter decide at that particular moment that they want to play hide and seek… I am sorry… looks like broiled kitty is on the menu!
… Wait… we are talking about a movie. What do you mean, “Get Real!”
Think about it… someone writing this script had to sit down and think, “What can we do to slow her down? Let’s create a bond with her and a… uh… Turtle! no, too docile. Canary! no… it would have a heart attack the moment someone screamed and we would go through two or three every scene. Ah… a dog! No… they like almost everyone and would end up wanting to play with the Alien or end up chasing it out an airlock. Hey… A CAT!!! They are aloof, like to hide, make an interesting hissing sound when upset. Perfect. Now lets make this Rippley chick have a greater bond for the cat than her crew!”
So someone thought up the idea that an officer, pardon me… a warrant officer (apologies to my brother Scott.) would put the life of a cat before the life of her crew.
If this had been me? Let the cat out of the little glass box and run free. Cat’s can figure things out pretty well, and who knows? It might find it’s way to the shuttle on it own. If not, then Jonesy would become one with the universe. He would become “Star Stuff”, in the words of my Hero… Carl Sagan. The kittie would cease to be.
Heck… it might have even made and interesting story line to have Rippley take the cat out of the box and throw it at the alien. A clawing, spitting, overall pissed off cat would have kept the alien busy for a couple minutes while Rippley got away.
But… I am not dumb. I rewinded the movie. I plotted where the story would have gone from the moment they decided to abandon the ship and leave, had she left the frikken cat. The movie would only have gone on for about another ten minutes. This would not have been a good alternate ending and likely would have never made the director’s cut of the special edition DVD box set.
Maybe this is a good reason why I am not a producer!
Observations during Hurrican Ike
Please note, these were observations made during the week following Hurricane Ike and we were still recovering from the devasting effects of the storm, I only mention that to give you some time perspective to the obervations. When I initially shared this with several friends and family members we had been without power since Friday midnight Sept 12th as the storm raged ashore, so this was written about 7 days into the ordeal. I will be sharing other thoughts in the near future.
Some observations-
When did it become ok to just do what you want at a stop light that is out. Do they not teach anymore that a non-working stop light is a four way stop and there is an order to who goes and when, and that the order is not the second car in line going when the car in front does.
Ike-must be global warming or houston failed to purchase enough carbon credits from Al Gore.
For those who believe government run programs are the best way to go- one word- FEMA. They are saying the best way to file a claim is through their website-hmmm 1.4 million people still have no power, gee thats real convenient, oh and you can’t stay on hold, they give you the website address and then hang up on you.
A local radio station somehow managed to give away ice, water and dry ice, 30 hours before any government agency was even in the city.
Deregulation of the electric industry, worst idea since government run health care.
Politicians with previous experience in private industry are the best people to elect. The mayor and county judge for houston, had to solve problems for the federal government like actually sending the trucks with relief supplies to the distribution centers. Instead of having them sit at reliant stadium. These two should be the next President and Vice-President.
Get to know your neighbors, you may need them, and they you.
Forget caffeine, cold showers are the best way to wake up.
Should have listened to Tina about Ike, she tried to warn us!
A friendly face and a hug can take away all stress for both the hugger and huggee!
And yes, being without power let’s you make up words like hugger and huggee!
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Thoughts on Asimov
As a writer, amateur as I might be, I have many people that I cite as my inspirations and “muses”, who have helped me in my decision to make this a labor of love. Most notable of these are such names as Hunter Thompson, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Leo Tolstoy, Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. Trust me, there are many others out there that have inspired me, but those ones stand out the most.
The reason I started this post this way is because of a thought process I have been on lately. Something that may be a concern at some point in the not-too-distant future and that is the thought of artificial intelligence.
As we progress with our understanding of technology and it’s interface with humans and biological systems, there arises a chance that at some time a man made creation may become “self-aware”. Not just aware of ones self, but aware that it does not NEED it’s human counterpart for continuous operation.
When you consider that we are working towards devices that will allow the interface between man and machine on a nervous and eventually a nanotechnological level, it is not hard to consider the converse. A time when we begin using biological components for mechanical devices, one of those, one day, being a human analog… i.e. a Robot.
These thoughts are nothing new, as I am sure you are all aware. The king of this kind of thought process was, by and far, Issac Asimov. He was the one that created what I consider the modern understanding of robotics and the “Three Laws of Robotics”, which will probably be the cornerstone of robotic programming when that time comes He also authored the series commonly known as the “Robot series”, which was also, unfortunately, butchered into a movie staring Will Smith.
The question does arise, though. When the time does come that we create a race of mechanical beings that become “aware”, how are we to treat them? I suspect that it will not be too much unlike another period in time when slavery was acceptable. Not just black slaves, but there were slaves of many colors throughout the world. It was considered justified for many reasons. In some cases it was thought that those enslaved were less that human, in others it was as a form of punishment, like a prison sentence. In the case that I am describing, I think it will be more along the line of we humans, in our own arrogance, will think: This is something that is the creation of MAN. We brought you into existence, we are your lords. Yes… I know. That sounds a little over the top… but you get my point and I challenge anyone to tell me I am wrong.
Now, there are probably those of you saying that a “Robot Race” could not exist, they have no way to reproduce. You would be partly right, but there could be a way. John von Neumann came up with a theory of self replicating machines that could be used to mine and explore. Why, then, could that not be taken one step further and a “race” of recently aware robots be able to use those same principles to reproduce and combine the best attributes from their combined programming into the new machine?
The resulting creation would, in some sense, be the offspring of the two, or more, machines. But would contain the combining of certain attributes of each, resulting in an unique creation based on information from the two hosts. Not entirely unlike biological reproduction.
One last thought. As such a race grows and matures, would they see us as their creators? Would we, for some period of time, assume the role of Gods or Deities to them? It seems that there would be a chance of this, we would, after all, be the source of their creation. There would be prototypes that lead to their advancement; a robot “Adam” and “Eve”, so to say.
I wonder how we will handle such a time. If we will do the right thing and let such an evolution take place, step back and let it follow it’s own course. Or will our arrogance get in the way, causing us to abuse the trust that might be placed in us by robots, or “Synthetic Life Forms” as they achieve awareness.
Either way, it will be an interesting time.
Thank you for reading.
