The Dark Nugaut

As an adult, I spend way too much time thinking about Batman. It's ridiculous really, I know. Batman is a character that has remained popular for decades, and I always seem to find reasons to return to this character.

Having kids is a fun excuse to watch and play with ideas related to The Dark Knight, but as comic book superheroes have become co-opted for adults wanting gritty and violent depictions of the comic characters they once liked, it seems like there are fewer media options for the young, who's these characters were originally intended for. And while I hope for more versions of the caped crusader to show my kids, I still think about that dark and gritty version of the Gotham crime fighter, so I know I am partially to blame.

I have my own perfect Batman version in my head, and much of this is born of the first time I saw Batman depicted dark and gritty. Before 1989, my image of Batman and Robin was from the 60's TV show, and various cartoons of the 70's and 80's that used the campy and vibrant Adam West / Burt Ward model for the Caped Crusaders. Then one summer I saw the Tim Burton Batman film. Actually I saw it twice that summer. Though the comic pages had treated Batman in a grim and gritty manner for some time, The 89' Batman film was my first exposure to this version of the Dark Knight. And I was obsessed from them on. In time, my over watching of that first film kind of ruined the movie for me, but there was also a successor, and what I and many other fans consider the greatest depiction of Batman to date. Batman: The Animated Aeries. Less grim, and less violent, The Animated Series was one of the best depictions of the Dark Knight along with his allies and Enemies. The Christopher Nolan Batman films were well crafted and infused the element of contemporary realism. I really liked the Gothic Noir, and the idea that this Dark Knight could exist in the real world. Still, The Nolan films left me a little empty, there was something missing, something The Animated Series had that it did not. Perhaps it was the ability to build characters and stories over multiple episodes, something a film could never do. So for some time I dreamed of a Batman TV show that might be able to pull off the complexity of B:TAS, while also keeping the realism of the modern films.

After being exposed to three dozen incarnations of Law and Order, CSI and acclaimed cop shows, I read Gotham Central. The short lived series is now in four trade paperbacks and shows Gotham from a new perspective I had not imagined before. This GCPD centered police procedural comic was a fantastic insight into the world of crime from the Men and Women who served in law enforcement for Gotham City. That lead me to imagine a perfect Gotham PD show... that sadly is NOT what the Gotham Series on Fox became.

Batman has had some amazing comic depictions, both regular run issues, but also some of the stand alone graphic novels. Of these, Year One and the stories that take place in this early time in Batman's career as vigilante are some of my favorite. Gotham Central took place withing the main Batman comic arc between 2002 and 2006. The only issue was that this comic had to coincide with the rest of the DC universe as it stood at that time. Jim Gordon was retired, and other notable charters were out or unavailable for reasons relating to the universe at that time. What about the GCPD perspective around the time of Year Two. Frank Miller's, Year One is an amazing depiction of both Jim Gordon, and of Bruce Wayne becoming Batman. What happened after that?

About a year before Fox even hinted at a GCPD procedural, I spent long commutes day dreaming about Gotham City from the perspective of the Police. I know that some one, or maybe fifty other people were dreaming up similar ideas. Batman obsession is fairly prevalent in the US. My ideal show, which "Gotham Law" was the best title I could think up, would have centered on Lt, Jim Gordon, and Renee Montoya. Batman had just shown up, and his arrival coincided with a big arrest of some of Gotham's biggest crime bosses and corrupt city officials. Gordon and the PD don't trust Batman yet, And in the turmoil of this big string of arrests being due to this new vigilante, the GCPD is feeling slighted. Jim Gordon knows that this is just the tip of the iceberg, there are way bigger fish, both in organized crime, and police and city corruption. Gordon perseveres, both holding a grudge against the Dark Knight, but also appreciating the nest of hornets he just kicked.

One thing that might not be popular about my version of this crime series is Batman would almost never be seen, at least at first. Batman would be mythic, exactly why he takes on such theatricality. Batman might appear from time to time, with a tip. or just slipping away with only a hint that he was just there, but he doesn't want to interact with the PD yet. He doesn't believe he can trust them yet. So it may not be a popular option with an audience to never see Batman,  but it could serve the GCPD narrative in amazing ways. While Batman would not be seen Bruce Wayne would be. While attending Police Balls and promotional Events, Bruce Wayne as billionaire philanthropist would well known. It is in these venues where Bruce might interact with GCPD members, either complementing them on their work, donating extraordinarily to their causes, and supporting other friends who also work to make Gotham a safe place. One area where a series, hopefully over several seasons, would really shine is in relation to the interaction with our villains. Few villains have the connection to Bruce as Harvey Dent, and rarely has this been depicted well in film. For this show, Bruce and Harvey would both be young men, perhaps former college friends, working any way they could to help the city. Harvey would be a young attorney, Bruce would be one of his champions. This buddy relationship would carry out for several seasons, only when you least expect it would we see the accident that changes him into Two-Face. This emotional punch to the stomach would be episodes in the making, and hopefully feel as bad as when your favorite character on Game of Thrones dies. Only then can we see later see the Batman vs. Two-Face confrontation and truly understand the emotional weight of the situation.

Other ideas are less concrete, but the show would progress season to season, becoming very different as time went on. Imagining a seven season arc, Season one would be exclusivity centered on GCPD. Some guest roles for Wayne and Dent, but the police processionals would only be from the Gotham police prospective. Batman would only be even seen once ever five episodes or so, and when he did it would only be a moment and possibly giving only the faintest clue to the case.

Later seasons would slowly show Gordon and the GCPD accepting Batman. Until season 7 would be them working together. At that time, some perspective from Batman and allies could be possible. Dick Grayson and Barbra Gordon would be High School students in early seasons, later donning their alter egos and fighting crime.

Early seasons would show almost only mafia and city government corruption, Falcone and Marone families fighting for power. Super villains would only slowly appear as Batman becomes more known. It is this reason why the GCPD begin to accept him, as things get worse and weirder, the police realizes how vital Batman is. A reference to the greater DCU could also be made. Each city has is defender. Maybe Gotham was the last city to get one, so when Batman appears, he is a welcome crusader. Proto villains could appear, but more time would be spent building them up.  Perhaps characters like Penguin and Scarface could be some of the old guard, mob bosses who have been part of the criminal underworld for years, and will continue to be. Others like Scarecrow, Riddler and Joker would be introduced, but less about their origin, and more about their cases. It is a PD centric show.

And all of this thought is surely a waste. Now with the Gotham TV show on Fox, this kind of story might never be told for a long time on TV. I am an avid watcher of the the show, despite it not being very good, it is still very entertaining at times. I do enjoy the actor portraits of Bullock, Cobblepot and Kyle, but I think the show is a bit of a trainwreck, but one you just can't take your eyes off.

As for other Gotham based stories I obsess about, some may not be a wast of time. While getting a seven season long network tv show is a major project. A comic might be more doable. There is a fan fiction origin for Alfred Pennyworth I have been kicking around. Something I could do on my own. I might not have the ambition for a fan project that would never be endorsed by a major media conglomerate, but it might be a story that I could tell, and no matter if I tell it or not, it would still be good practice.

The Nougat Strikes Back

After a long gap in posting, I am back.

For nearly a decade I have worked in the entertainment industry as a story and materials researcher. That work has all been for cable documentaries covering a variety of topics.  One of the topics that comes up a lot is space and extra terrestrials. Often those topics are sensationalized, or focused on pseudo science.

As a fan of Sci-Fi and legitimate space sciences as well, I tend to get frustrated at times with the direction taken by some of the shows I work on. I'm not against talk of aliens or UFO's but sometimes there is clearly a weak connection to the truth. Occasionally, there might be a story where something unusual does appear to be going on. However, as Carl Sagan said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

When there is a blur between what some believe, and pure science fiction, I still take enjoyment in thinking about the fictional in regards to the plausible. So many accounts of alien contact seem fictional, but I'm happy to run with the fictional aspect as long as we admit that it is fiction, Imagine how a more scientifically plausible encounter might be. The plausible version of the sensational, pseudo science story or of the Sci-Fi concept. This one idea has given me several ideas for posts on this site, including the most recent on on the plausibility of Galactic Empires. 

As my work is temporarily on hiatus, I now have some time to write about some of the ideas I've had. how to make that concept more realistic, and, if not realistic, perhaps just better Sci-Fi, cause lets be honest, some of the theories out there are not even GOOD Sci-Fi. We can do better, people.

I won't always post about Sci-Fi becoming reality, but that just seems to be on my mind lately.

Here's hoping I can post consistent for a while.

The Galactic Nougat Empire - that never was.

There could never be a galactic empire.

I know it kind of hurts to hear, but the more I mull it over I don't think there could ever be a galactic empire like what we see in fiction. To be specific, I am referring to centralized galactic empires, or even federations of a few star systems. The crux of this theory is all because of Faster Than Light Travel or FTL, or lack there of.

My argument isn't about space colonization, it is about centralized government spanning multiple star systems. The colonization of distant star systems is very possible. We might technologically be able to do it within our own lifetime, even if humans never actual attempt interstellar travel for centuries. Without going into any great detail about the Drake Equation or the Fermi Paradox, many respected scientists believe that Extra Terrestrial life in the cosmos is possible. Some believe that there may even be intelligent life on other planets. Theories about how much life there could be, contrasted with the fact that we have zero evidence of ETs has left scientists and laypersons baffled.

Some scientists have worked out the math, believing that it might only take a million years to completely colonize the Galaxy using only sub light speeds. That figure may sound huge, but the Milky Way is only thought to be around 12 - 16 Billion years old. In two or three hundred years, a race could have set up colonies on a hand full of planets. Perhaps an Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, or ETI, has already done this, but how much contact could those star systems share?

Without Hyperspace, FTL, Warp Drive, or Ludicrous Speed the pace that we transverse the galaxy is a snails crawl in comparison to its vastness. Do date, every proposed method of FTL has been deemed improbable to impossible. Even the darling Alcubierre Drive, the closest theoretical parallel to the warp drive of the Star Trek Universe, would theoretically not only require an astounding level of energy to warp space time, some believe it would also utterly annihilate the target destination when the ship drops out of warp.

To create a Type 3 or Type 2 Empire one would have to imagine a need for swiftness in travel from system to system. Star Wars and Star Trek have Hyperspace or Warp Drive. Any emergency on a distant system can be addressed in days or weeks. A colony is under attack by another race, a natural disaster is destroying a distant city, a disease is hitting a far off star system, all these can be addressed by military, disaster relief or medical convoys. In the age of sail, transportation around the globe was at most in the range of months between locations. It could take nearly a year for a one way trip, or over a year for return trips, but nearly every location was accessible in the range of months. The distance and time between planets is much, much greater.

In the spectacular series, Firefly, travel times between colonized worlds are equivalent to Age of Sail, or even Wagon Train time scales. This is was about space cowboys after all. In this Verse, there is a tyrannical, centralized government spread out between multiple worlds, but it only works because this all takes place within one massive and complex star system. There are five stars total, but they all orbit one massive white super giant. While such a system may be improbable, containing dozens of habitable or terraformable planets and moons, these worlds could still be traveled to using sub-light speeds with acceptable time scales. The Earth has no such neighbors that we know of.

Of our top five closes neighbors, Proxima Centari and the binary Alpha Centari A and B are all about 4 light years away. Bernard's Star is 6 ly, Sirius is 8.7 ly, Epsilon Eridani is 10.8 ly and Tau Ceti, our closest solar equivalent is 11.8 light years away from Earth. The time scale for traveling these distances at sub light speeds is plausible, not in months, but in years. Due Einstein's understanding of Relativity, we know that speed and can alter time. Light speed may technically be the limit to how fast things can go, but relativity will start adding time dilation even as you approach a fraction of the speed of light. How fast we may ultimate be able to travel will also depend on how much time dilation is deemed acceptable, and also how much energy it would take to achieve that fraction of light speed.

What I am ultimately getting at is, there would be no way to centrally govern multiple star systems, let alone a whole galactic empire. Say we could travel half the speed of light, ether consistently, or as an average from a gradual accelerating / decelerating method of propulsion. To visit a planet in the Tau Ceti system, which has a star very similar to our own Sun, and may have the closest earth-like environment, would take almost 24 years. That time table is withing a human lifetime, even for a return trip. If there was a colony in that system, how could Earth (or other homeworld) mandate any policy or administrate? How could aid be sent? If a system were under attack by an alien race or separatist system, how could a military be sent to defend the colony? If if the Empire were more totalitarian, how could it send a military envoy to maintain order and keep the systems in line? Perhaps most importantly, with such vast distances and time traveling between systems, how feasible would it be for commerce to be exchanged between the core world and outer systems? That last one might be the biggest factor, and also hits on why interstellar colonization might always be tough projects to fund. Much of the exploration and colonization in the modern age were all about commerce and profit. Setting up colonies in Jamestown, Virginia was meant to be a business venture for England. The Spanish conquest of the Americas was fueled by the lust for gold and silver. With out FTL, there would never be a time when an interstellar colony is meant to turn a timely profit. We may still gain in scientific discoveries, and quench our human need for exploration, but any hope for profit beyond our solar system would be such a long term investment, it would likely never attract investors. And such projects would be quite an investment.

In the novel, Lockstep, by Karl Schroeder, one fix to this idea of vast distances and travel times is to have the entire galactic empire in cryosleep at the same time, or lockstep with one another. Both people on ships, and people on planets would hibernate for long stretches of time in unison. With travel times artificially shrunk to human scale, the empire is able to maintain influence. I have not yet read this book and despite some clear issues with this idea, I am told that the novel addresses many of the problems one might see with such a universal hibernation directive, including what happens if not everyone says in lockstep. Definitely a book for my reading lists. For the real world, we still don't have any kind of viable cryosleep or hibernation technology available, so the only real option is generational ships for interstellar travel.

Does that mean we should not go? Absolutely not. Future generations may have different priorities. Fiction is full of ideas where a new home world is necessary because we mess up this one. Tragically, we are doing well on the first part of that scenario, but are nowhere close to where we need to be technologically to attempt a mass relocation. I don't even think that would be a viable solution. It would always be cheaper and easier to simply take care of our Biosphere. I am still one who believes that we need to reach for the stars as a civilization, find new worlds, boldly go where no one has gone before, even if there isn't an economic motivator. The majority of Earthlings do not agree with that.

Even if we could not branch out a centralized ruling power or federation of support among various star systems, we could still seed humanity though out the cosmos. Seed colonies could set up generational ships to distant star systems. Each ship would not only be able to produce and replicate its own goods and equipment, but even other ships. These great generational ships would be massive and incredibly expensive. They would almost be massive space stations hosting possibly hundreds of people. The raw materials required to build them would necessitate the mining of asteroids in our solar system. We are clearly far away from this level of technology, and very far away in regards to public opinion for funding such endeavors. Perhaps in the future I will talk in more detail what one of these generational ships might be like. there have been several concepts by scientists and engineers who also are compelled by the idea of interstellar travel. For shorter trips, several crew members would be born, some might die before the destination is reached. For longer missions, several generations would be born and die off before the ship reaches the destination. None of the original crew would survive a long distance interstellar mission. The colonist of those new worlds would be the descendants of the original explorers, themselves never having experienced their own home world. These seed worlds might have a mandate similar to that of it's home world, a constitution where it will start out with a similar set of laws, but it would have complete autonomy to evolve independently. Perhaps other colonies will be set up and be funded in ways that contrast with home world governments. People looking for a different form of government from where they came from, just like the Pilgrims at Plymoth rock traveled to the new world to create a new society based on their believes. Some of these colonies might begin as separatist in nature to begin with, never intending to stay in contact with the home world.

Any Seed world would only have limited contact with other systems, and technically one might be able to travel from world to world, but the cost associated with such distances might leave each system almost completely cut off from one another. Even radio communication would be limited to the speed of light, and just a message sent could take many years to send or receive. Exploration might be an isolated venture for interstellar travelers; spreading humanity and technology though the galaxy, but only sending limited and delayed information back.

If the Military Contractors who lobby for endless wars instead lobby for space exploration, not only would the rate of global war and suffering greatly decrease, we would placate that industrial complex, retain all the jobs associated with it, and put that effort to reaching out into space.

The Final Frontier.

Nougat Harvesting Aliens

Battleship has bombed at the box office, but this certainly won't be the last Alien invasion, Hollywood special effects extravaganza we are faced with. It's topic that will surely rise again and again. Alien contact and invasion is not only a major Sci-Fi staple, but is also pretty significant in conspiracy theory circles too. So I wanted to get into my ideas why Aliens would come in the first place, and how we could never be able to fight them off.

Any extraterrestrial contact requires a motive. Sadly, most of the motives given in Sci-Fi films are nonsense.

Terran resources - There are no minerals or elements on Earth that could not be found easier or cheaper and in greater quantities elsewhere in the universe. Recently there was even a finding that reported that there was more total water on the Jovian moon Europa than on the surface of Earth. To look back in time, the Ancient Alien proponents' idea that the Annunaki came to Ancient Earth to mine gold is preposterous. There is more gold in Near Earth Asteroids, and likely much easier for an advanced alien race to mine, rather than landing on Earth and dealing with the bronze age indigenous population. And if you had to go to a planet, Mercury might have a higher amount of gold and heavy elements. So water or mineral prospecting is no reason to visit Earth.

Curiosity - It killed the cat, and it can always be a plausible reason for anyone to explore the unknown. But curiosity doesn't have to lend itself only to an aggressive inquiry. For all the non Alien Invasion or First contact stories, curiosity can be reason for any advanced species to visit. There are some who argue that any advanced species would be so beyond us, they wouldn't want to even bother stoping to look at us. We would be as insignificant to them as insects are to us. What you never hear is the reaction from Entomologists who have just had their profession trounced by so called experts. Talk to someone who studies the insect world and revel at the amount of time humans have studies beehives, ant colonies and spider families. If aliens are as obsessed about learning as we are, any advanced alien species could Not avoid a visit to our planet. Any alien intelligence would at least want to note our development and our social customs. If there is information, there is someone who wants to record it. We might seem insignificant to them, but they might still be fascinated by us. Especially if you consider how rare life in the universe might be. Humans would go to great lengths just to find pond scum anywhere in the galaxy, to claim E.T's wouldn't stop to log biological existence is a little short sighted. Still, this isn't enough of a reason to violently invade a planet.

Habitable Biosphere - The Earth is a shining blue lifeboat in space. If an alien species were to invade, simply having a rare and sustainable environment would be a very legitimate motive. Who knows what condition an alien home world would be in once that species has mastered interstellar travel. Over population, pollution and an environmental disaster might drive a species to become desperate to find a new home. Of course, all of this is assuming an alien species would need the exact same atmosphere and climate that we have on Earth. But even if we were close enough, perhaps Earth could be terraformed to conform to the Alien invaders, but who knows if we could adapt to that new environment. If we could live side by side breathing the same air, perhaps it would be more a matter of interspecies cohabitation. But, if our air is poison to a desperate alien, and vice versa, then we might be be up for the fight of our life.

And here is the real point to this post. What could we possibly do to repel an invasion by an highly advanced Alien invader? Really, there is no way humanity at this stage of technical development could repel an force of advanced, interstellar traveling, extra terrestrials; at least, not alone.

Not only is this a reaction to Alien Invasion films, but also a reaction to the reaction to films like Avatar. While the huge grossing James Cameron film may not be the most original work of cinema ever, it is a rather, plot hole free, story. Sure, Unobtainium messes a little with my previous motive argument, but that plot point aside. There are groups who are upset by Avatar, and also films like Dances with wolves and Pocahontas over racist ideas. I can understand how taking an indigenous people of color and having some Caucasian character come off as their White Savior could be insulting. The problem with this is those who are insulted are missing the point. This is not a color issue or even about culture, it is a matter of technological advancement only. If a more advanced culture tries to conquer a less advanced culture, They Will Win. Yes, there is a bloody insurgency that is possible, and there are guerrilla tactics to be a thorn in the side of your occupiers. All of these are only possible if the apposing force is only slightly more advanced. A species capable of interstellar travel, compared to us, is 10 times more advanced than the Spanish who trounced the Incas in the 1600's.

If the invading aliens have one of their own, who don't agree with what is going on, then switch sides, then it is that rebellion that can save the technologically inferior indigenous people. The Alien invader could also have an alien adversary with a more ethical motive. In Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks needed the help and tactics of the Rebellion. Do you really think a bunch of fluff balls could stop the Empire alone? Could humans have stood a chance agains the Zentrati without spending a decade studying the technological advanced SDF-1spacecraft? The only way a less advanced group can even hope to stand a chance against a technologically superior enemy, their either has to be a third alien group helping the less advanced; or the less advanced people have to receive some sort of technological Jump Start. So in Avatar, a more noble and enlightened culture isn't enough to stop high tech weapons. The Na'vi needed someone who helped them circumvent the high tech invaders. Could the Humans have ever survived from the Cylons if there weren't Human Sympathizers?

People will get upset between comparisons between Native American peoples and any less technologically advanced tribal culture in fiction, but remember the focus is not on the culture here. This article is simply about Technology. One of the reasons the Indigenous Americans had as many victories as they did was, they adopted the same firearms used by the Europeans. The Native Americans didn't even have Iron Age technology before the European settlers arrived. Racism and Cultural insensitivity can't be the issue when the only topic of discussion is a groups level of technology. Those other factors do matter in other ways, but not when cold technological development is the topic. Certainly, the tribal culture of the Na'vi was heavily influence by Native American history, but while perhaps naive, was still a reverential influence; not a satire or mockery.

So, to put this Humans fighting off Alien invader on its head, a new plot needs to unfold. The Alien Invasion special effects extravaganza must have a third party. While I have my own screenplay I should be working on, the idea is in the Aether now, I might as well put out the idea for others to pick up too.

Earth is approached by an armada of Alien ships. The first scouting missions of the Alien force quickly crush any retaliation. Only a few small battles are lost, and the aliens are clearly only analyzing Earths strengths and weaknesses before a full on invasion. Suddenly a few new ships are seen, with different designs and markings. These ships do not attack, but observe. Through out the corse of the story First Contact takes place between humans and this second alien species. Humans join with this third party to defend Earth from conquest. In the end a new alliance is formed, and the human race is once again safe. The key to it all, Humans would need an ally to fight off a technologically superior alien force. It would not be insulting to humans, to need help, it would just be the reality of technology in warfare.

If I were a more avid reader, I could list the dozens of novels, probably going back to the 1950's that cover this exact idea. Sadly, I don't know a story right off hand that has this plot, but I am sure they exist.

Thus begins the first of many Summer blockbusters, and one of the most special effects-tastic and profitable movie franchises.

The Rocket Jockeys engineered Nougat

Friday I saw Prometheus, in its full IMAX 3D grandeur. It was an amazing spectacle. This will probably be the only movie I see all summer in 3D, and it was well worth the extra ticket charge. Prometheus was a beautiful film. It was exiting, engaging, and I never felt bored. I totally enjoyed the ride.

I would say Prometheus was a good, but not great film. It was well crafted, beautiful, well paced, and thoroughly entertaining. But the moment one walks out the theater, all you have are questions. And the more and more I think about the film, the more and more upset I am with it.

The group I saw the movie with all stood around for a bit afterwards. We discussed the parts we thought were awesome, but we drifted more and more to the plot holes, unanswered questions, and logic problems in the film. There were more questions left than answers, and while this can lend a mysterious quality in a film, here it was just frustrating.

Before I begin my nerd rant, let me preface with my belief that Ridley Scott is a masterful director with and incredible visual style. 

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

First I am going to let my Nerdy logic side out, cause he has been dying to tear into this film.

Screaming at me was a overwhelming sense of unprofessionalism by the crew of the Prometheus. Most of the crew only get briefed on the mission, after waking up from two years in cryo-sleep, as they approach the planet. Perhaps this is part of some in-universe back story were Weyland Corp just has an assortment of frozen Geologist, Biologists, Pilots and Doctors in some warehouse being ready to ship out on a moments notice. Really? This was Peter Weyland's personal, trillion dollar mission to explore space. Would they not hire people who knew what they were getting into? Maybe find the best and most qualified people for the job? Every Academic seemed completely incompetent. The male anthropologist / archeologist is a not only kind of a douche, he is impulsive and kind of worthless. The Geologist, has some cool scanning gadgets, but really doesn't do much else other than be the asshole punk character. The Biologist, aside from one "don't touch that" line, never has the slightest clue about protocol with a new biological creature. His demise pretty much comes from trying to snuggle with an Alien Cobra. Way to go jack ass. These characters are clearly only on the ship to die.

I'm no scientist, but wouldn't the ship orbit the moon (LV-223) and map the entire surface to find the point of interest? The Prometheus lands and just luckily finds an interesting point by chance. Rather than survey the entire area and map the several buildings and Nazca like lines, they impulsively go right in the first domed structure forgetting all the other locations. Yeah, this is a movie, we have to get to the good stuff, but I at least wanted to feel like the crew carefully followed all the necessary protocols. Vickers, is the Company woman played by Charlize Theron. I'm happy she isn't as slimy as Burke in Aliens, but again she only has the Company's interest in mind. She tries to make sure the crew follows orders, but then again we go back to fact that the crew is comprised of incompetent jack asses. She is instantly unlikeable, Concerned only about the companies bottom line. She comes off so harsh that no one wants to follow her orders, defeating the purpose of her character. The Pilots and captain are one exception. They fly the ship just fine, a rare bit of competence in the crew. Idris Elba played the captain, and his cool character was under used. Noomi Rapace plays Shaw, the spirited archeologist who convinces Peter Weyland to fund this mission. While she is a likable character, she doesn't seem like the most empirical of scientists. Jumping to wild conclusions and more compelled by faith.

These are my very, anal, logic rants. Most people would not be bothered by such technicalities. I'm not a scientist, but it bugs me when, even from my perspective, the science, logic and protocols are completely missing.

The film is about ideas, philosophy and religion, sadly not really about science and exploration. The film also hammers you with old clichés: Robots can't be trusted, The Corporation has some other agenda, and any extra terrestrial life is only bent on destroying us... even if they originally created us.

At least this point gets a line to question it. When it is understood that these aliens engineered, or at least seeded, life on earth; why are they now bent on destroying it? Shaw wants to know why and David, the android played by Michael Fassbender, questions why she needs to know. Shaw just needs to understand, as does the audience. There is a delicate art to leaving tantalizing questions open, versus leaving plot and logic holes to cover for lazy writers.

For a film that was, then wasn't supposed to be an Alien prequel, it still felt way too much like an alien prequel. While the movie sets up an amazing premise of exploration, crew stupidity is written in the story to make a string of gruesome deaths. I thought this wasn't supposed to be a horror movie? Somehow it still has to end with everyone but the strong female lead dead. Instead of a room of face hugger eggs, we get a room these metal cylinders set up in similar manner. And again, this is also the plot device which dooms the crew. There are mysteries that are never solved, like just what exactly happened to the aliens in this structure? We see these tantalizing holographic recordings of the last moments of the crew, never to find out what happened. Exploring this mystery could have been fascinating. Who or what were they running from? Few things are revealed about the mysterious Aliens. These Engineers apparently create and destroy life on other planets, and for no apparent reason. The big cool reveal is that the Rocket Jockey from Alien is a Suit that is integrated into the Captains Chair.  Just like Ash in Alien, the David can't be trusted. Again, the milk bleeding Android will purposefully put people in danger to serve a secret directive. Worst of all, they even have a proto-xenomorph chest burst at the end of the film, lest we forget that this isn't supposed to be an Alien prequel.

A few lingering questions:

-Why did the aliens have a vast depot of biological weapons that seem to do randomly different things depending on the script? Do they have an Alien Enemy? Do they just go seeding and exterminating other worlds pointlessly?

-Why was this alien site pretty much abandoned for thousands of years if this was such an important military site? Was that alien civilization wiped out?

-Why did the cylinders in one room bleed black metallic goo, but in the other room, stay perfectly fine? And why did one Alien run to this room for safety, when it was this room where the danger first came from.

-After waking up from Cryo-sleep, why doesn't he Alien even ask a question or try to communicate before killing everyone? What did David Say to him?

-Why after being asleep for thousands of years, with his species possibly extinct, would the alien mindlessly go back on his pre determined course to eradicate all life on earth?

-Why was the Alien Rocket Jockeys so much smaller than the one in Alien? All be it a minor question.

- The Geologist is the one who has the robots that make the maps, Why he can't find his way out of the structure?

- If the Geologist and the Biologist are scared of some dead aliens, Why the fuck did they spend the night messing in the Creepiest Fucking Room in the Fucking Ship!?!

-What was in the other room, where the pile of alien bodies were found piled up on the door?

-What was the significance of the emerald stone seen on a altar in the one room with the Face sculpture and the goo containers? This is a fun question. There were specific shots of Holloway looking at this object.

-The Xenomorph mural in the same room. What does it tell us about these creatures? And what other stories are hidden in this room?

-Was Vickers an android, or just around androids too long that she even acts like one?


The movie passed the point of return when the lone, surviving alien woke from cryo-sleep. At that point, when you would think there would be some kind of answer, or at lest some dialogue, there was just a big albino alien killing everyone. Next we are told the alien is going to kill everyone on earth. The reason, cause it was the next planet on his two thousand year old to-do list. The trailers and commercials prepared me for this finale, but it didn't feel right for the film once I got there. It was exciting with a lot of sound and fury though. The aliens were merely a plot device, not the character some hoped for.

For a movie to disappoint, it has to fill you with high expectations. The notion of Ridley Scott doing a film in the same universe as Alien, set before the xenomorph discovery on LV 426, sets the bar very high. The first Alien came out in 1979, and is one of the most iconic Sci-Fi movies to date. Gigers Alien is one of the top Movie monsters of all time. So when I am upset at this film, it is only because I had high hopes. It is still one of the best movies to come out this year. I include it with films like Inception, a film that was terribly flawed, but amazing at the same time.

There were so many things to love in this film, the sets were immaculate, especially in IMAX 3-D.  The tension every time a door is opened and a new room is seen was fantastic. I wanted more exploration, I wanted to learn more about this planet and the aliens who built all this. I was absolutely riveted the whole time. That C-Section scene was intense. And the biggest success of the film has to be Michael Fassbender's excellent performance as the android, David. Even though he is a bastard, you kind of love him.  I don't need to go into too much detail, it is his performance that is getting so much of the press already. In a film about Alien gods and Humanity, the Mankind and Android comparison is fascinating. The film is all about finding your creator, but David knows his creator, and he isn't impressed. He's almost disappointed, as I was after thinking about this film later on. Its almost a cruel joke by the writers in a way. Maybe the film is all about failed expectations. Peter Weyland thought meeting his maker would be like finding his fountain of youth. Instead of getting more life, found quite the opposite.

This film can maybe be seen as a success just for how passionately people are talking about it. Debates will continue as to what the film's message was, and the idea that, while we yearn to meet and talk to our creator, maybe our creator does not want to meet us. There were so many ideas and questions left, savy sci-fi geeks will be thinking about it, and trying to fill in the gaps and plot holes for a long time.

In the end this stands as a filmmaking achievement. Just not an achievement for screenwriting or plot. But this film is still a spectacular visual treat and I still recommend it and will likely see it again and again.

The Future of Nougat

If someone actually read this blog, they would quickly notice that post apocalyptic scenarios are discussed fairly often. Even with a short history of posts, doomsday scenarios and a zombie filled post apocalypse has been a top tag. While I often try to dispel the notion that these Apocalyptical fantasies are not my primary preoccupation, I admit they fascinate me. The notion of a crumbling civilization causing a huge jump backwards in human technology has much of the country, even much of the world, captivated. One only has to look at the upcoming Movies and TV shows that people are looking forward too, like Hunger Games, or the Mad Max reboot.

I'm a big fan of Sci-fi and Fantasy. And though I am often disappointed with many of the entries in these genres, when Sci-fi and Fantasy is done well, it is amazing. As with the Post Apocalyptical sub genre of Sci-Fi, there are three big reasons why they grab me, and these are possibly the same reasons they are so popular for everyone else.

No. 1 - The world needs to burn.

There is the human fascination with destruction that gets people eager to see the next crappy Roland Emmerich movie. That same fascination with natural disasters could also explain the Force of Nature aspect to the Japanese Daikaiju sub genre. Whether it is Tsunamis, Asteroids, Zombie viruses, Alien invaders or even Gojira (Godzilla), People seem to be curiously enthralled by the idea of certain annihilation. While some of these scenarios have their survival and rising above themes, sometimes there is nothing the protagonist can do but sit back and watch the world end. Is it that we feel guilty as a race, and do we deserve extinction? Humans are polluting the planet, and killing each other. Could there be a universal subconscious notion that the pestilence of humanity needs to be wiped out? Are humans just oddly intrigued by death and destruction? This is one of those questions a psychologist might best answer, and well worth looking into further.

No 2. - Some of us just wish for a simpler time to return.

I will be first to admit, my math skills are not much past middle school level. I don't have any aptitude for computer science, and I don't have any specialized skills that will be of any use in the coming decades. That doesn't mean that I'm am completely unskilled. In fact, I have many skills and talents that many would find valuable, I'm very much a Jack of all Trades, however few of those skills have advanced much since the 19th century. With backgrounds in construction and art, I have endless possibilities for building beautiful and functional things. Home improvements and repairs are a cinch, but dose this leave me destined to be simply a lowly maintenance person who paints on the side? If civilization crumbled and technology was thrown back a few hundred years, I might do ok; in fact I might do great.

Sometimes the craving for a post apocalyptic world is not the craving for destruction and chaos, but the craving for relevance and usefulness by a Jack of all trades.

There are plenty of out of work artists and construction workers, and in this more technological and business orientated society, programing or sales are where the higher paying jobs seem to be. I often think about going back to school to learn skills in the medical industry, as all of my jobs are ok for survival, but none are good for profitable work. But in a post apocalyptical world, all my random skills might make me thrive. Endless hours watching survival shows and Macgyver have me ready to improvise in times of crisis.

I might not be as well of as some rural polymaths geniuses, or die hard as Ex Military survivalists, but I might do ok. I actually worry more about having to survive in our modern world than the notion of surviving in a barren sparsely populated Apocolypse. Perhaps this is just delusion, and surviving such a world would be a nightmare, but why are are so many people obsessed with the post apocalypse? Most of these people have in mind something that they could build, something that doesn't needing build today, but in this fantasy world, they would have value when they might not see that value in the real world. If they could build something that is useful today, would they still have this preoccupation with the the post apocalyptic? Yes, we all love our modern technology, we all love our gadgets and our streaming Netflix, but it is proven that all this shit doesn't make us happy. To be happy and content do we need to feel useful and necessary? Nostalgia for past eras of human history is not new. Maybe some people think they would feel more useful in another century. But since we can't travel back in time, we will just have to wait for civilization to crumble to make the technology of centuries past paramount again.

No. 3 - We just are not making any progress forward.

This will have to be a short and sweet explanation, as there are so many things to talk about when it comes to the changes that May come in the future. Topics like Space Colonization, Trans Humanism and Artificial Intelligence are all very far out scientific prospects for a distant future. All of these goals are hindered, now and in the foreseeable future by the politics, economics, and mindset of the world today.

There are just so many factors that seem to be keeping the world at war with one another that any progress forward seems to be impossible. And if we can not go forward, and if Change is a constant, then staying the way we are now is not a possibility at all, so the only way to go is backwards. If the nations of the world, and fringe groups of extremist causes prohibit further advancement in science and civilization, then eventual we will find ourselves thrown back into another dark age. Right now, we are only developing technology for short term economic goals, there are no grand visions or projects that have national attention. Without frontiers, Civilization will erode from within. We are too focused on our personal happiness, and there are few endeavors which people will sacrifice for any longer.

I like to think of a future moment it time as The Great Transition, the moment when we cross a scientific barrier. A barrier so monumental, that all of human culture and civilization takes a huge leap forward, from which it will be difficult to devolve backwards. All of humanity would benefit, and though vague, it is a goal I believe is worth pursuing. It might be like the first step up on the Kardashev Scale, when we go from Type 0 Civilization, to a true Type 1. The Great Transition might be another scientific breakthrough or combination of breakthroughs. The problem is there are to many factors hindering true progress, and until some of those are solved, it seems inevitable that we are on our way to stumbling backwards technologically.

So either we advance, or we will be forced to fall backwards, but maybe we Have it Coming? We may think we might be better off, but that preoccupation with a post apocalyptic world and delusions of prosperity within it are likely flawed. All we can say with certainty is that culture in 1st world countries are obsessed with post apocalypse scenarios. Why this preoccupation exists is just as fascinating as theorizing how possible these future Post Apocalyptic scenarios actually are.

Nougat 45's

Much of yesterday was spent obsessing over a pice of obsolete machinery. Something that only a debilitatingly nostalgic person would pay the slightest attention to. And it is that nostalgia, and also my interest in the past that made the day so fun.

A friend of mine has a vintage Wurlitzer, Americana III Jukebox. And with it are boxes of very eclectic 45's from the previous owner. Everything from Christmas music from the 50's, Rock and Roll from the 60's, Disco Music of the 70's and Pop hits of the 80's. Then of course, nothing newer than the mid 80's. The day was the second time we opened up the system to swap out 45's. The Jukebox was hardly used before we first looked into boxes surplus of 45's months ago. The original selection wasn't much to listen to, but once we found 45 after 45 of classic hits we loved, the juke box became a hit at the house.

The Americana III isn't the prettiest of Jukeboxes, but to open it up and see it's inner workings is still completely fascinating. Everything functions mechanically, and has done so for 4o years. Gears spinning, dials clicking, and rotors turning. It was a symphony of noise and analog technology. As we went though record after record, we kept getting faked out. There might be one or two 45's from a band or singer we liked, but none of them had any of the hits or songs we liked. There were Bands from a similar era and style, but classics we hoped we would find were not there. The fun was the exploring of a cache, even though if we wanted to we could get any MP3 to any song we wanted instantly. The juke box had space for 110 45's, or 220 songs. The boxes had a few hundred other 45's, but many were repeats or something few could appreciate today. Now days, you can get all the MP3's you can fit onto an iPod, and have a way better selection, quality, and capacity. Still, the fact that we were limited in selection didn't matter. It was again, the tactile experience, and exploring the treasure of old songs. These 45's are real, they may be obsolete, but they are Real. While the digital age may way out preform, I argue that keeping the aesthetics of the mechanical and the sensory dynamic of a tactile medium has its value.

Just today I saw this (probably staged) youtube video a young girl puzzled by a Vinyl LP. Even I had an idea of outdated technology as a kid, but maybe I watched to many old tv shows and movies. Already all these (not so) old technologies are a mystery to These Damn Kids Today, but hopefully some of them with a passion for the obsolete might also one day have an afternoon exploring old boxes of 45's get a kick out of playing the music from generations past on an old Wurlitzer Jukebox.