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Some History, Some Politics, Some Fun, and a Few Other Things

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This entry is part 16 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I (semi-unexpectedly) spent a lot of time over the weekend catching up on TV shows and playing video games. There was also some reading involved. Yeah, I’d had other plans, but was far too wiped out from the week to actually follow through on any of them. So, a couch weekend it was.

During that time, I was happy to notice a distinct lack of consistent formula in a lot of shows I’m currently watching. Sure, they draw on all the typical tropes of their respective genres, but they also play with them a bit at times. Every episode, though, is different enough that I don’t get bored watching more than two or three episodes in a row (which is something I can’t say about shows like House or, sometimes, NCIS… both shows I love, but can’t do marathons of). It was also a pleasant surprise to see some mediocre shows take a step up in quality (The 100 and Star Crossed are notable here)… and some really good shows (like Arrow and Hannibal) just take things to entirely new levels of awesome.

In a not unrelated vein, I also finished re-reading Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show. It’s the first time I’ve read the whole thing since I first tore through it around 1990. I’d forgotten how truly poetic Barker’s work can be and that, even among the horror, violence, and gore of a world in upheaval, there’s still a solid note of hope and clear examples of love and faith throughout. I was also reminded just how influential his work is to my worldview.

More Than a Little Art, A Call to Action for Net Neutrality, Some New Entertainment, and Awesome Science

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This entry is part 17 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I often say that I’m not a music person–mainly because I’m not… at least not like a lot of other people I know how eat, breath, sleep, and generally live music. I enjoy music, but I don’t particularly seek it out or obsess over it.

What I do like, though, is a solid performance. Of anything. Regardless of whether I like the song or not, if the performer gives it their all and really puts themselves out there… well, the audience gets something special. Whether that “something” is what the performer intended is another story altogether (see: William Hung or, for that matter, Ed Wood when it comes to film making). In the feed today, right near the end, were three impressive musical bits. Two of them involved real singing, the third was pure performance (lip synching). All of them have impact and meaning beyond just the words or humor.

I dig that.

Same is true of anything where someone is putting themselves out there. It’s most obvious in performing or visual arts, but it’s also true of writing–both fiction and non-fiction. There’s another story in the feed that illustrates how you can’t just shut down people’s love for a story they relate to… and, more importantly, how absolutely backward the attempt to do so can go.

And wish science… well, science is an adventure all its own. You want risks and rewards, science has those in spades. Pursuing a line of questioning that no one else has–maybe that no one else even thinks has any value–that’s a committed act of will equal to anything else out there. Actually succeeding and seeing what you thought could be done become reality? Elation better than anything else.

I envy that kind of drive. I really can’t find it in myself. This is a problem. I’m working on it. Until I succeed, I just take solace and inspiration in those who do have it.

Cancellations, Supreme Court Gaffe, Interesting Food, Net Neutrality, and Rain

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This entry is part 18 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

So, Fox has apparently neglected to renew one of my favorite shows from the past season, the scifi cop show Almost Human. As I’ve said a lot in comments today, I think that’s a horrible idea on their part.

The show had a lot of potential–a rich world that they were just beginning to explore, characters that worked really well together (played by actors who worked really well together), interesting plots, and plenty of room for expansion, spin-offs, and other things that would quickly grow an already steady fan base.

But, network economics being what they are, the show has been dropped in favor of new shows on the schedule that tie into existing franchises (like DC’s Batman) and other things that are expected to be trending next fall. Sadly, I don’t hold out a lot of hope that the new shows are going to be as good as Almost Human was… and I really doubt they’ll be as good as it was well on its way to being.

Guess only time will tell… but I promise you, I’ll be super annoyed if all the new shows get cancelled quickly and/or otherwise don’t make it into a second season.

Some Good News, Some Bad News, and Some Outright Crazy Stuff (You know, as usual)

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This entry is part 19 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Kicked off my day this morning with an off-site meeting and then capped it off with two other meetings that popped up out of nowhere. Which, of course, lead to a mad dash to get stuff done… and a list of things that will get in the way of a nice, leisurely Friday in the office.

But, I followed up the day at work with a bit of getting together with former coworkers. That’s always nice. Fun to hear what people (people who I can’t stalk on Facebook because they either don’t use it at all or don’t post enough) have been up to and how things are going at the old employer.

Did a lot of walking through DC, got home later than expected, and now… now I’m getting to bed later than expected… so… nothing profound or all that coherent (especially since I’ve still got a lot of stuff in my inbox that needs watching… and a packed weekend of stuff ahead of me).

History Most Don’t Know, Instances of Future History in the Making, Talented Kids, and other Interesting News

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This entry is part 20 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Today’s been another mixed-bag, newsfeed-wise. There’s a lot going on in the world right now and it seems most people don’t even come close to grasping just how much things will change, depending on which way some of it goes.

The big one, of course, is the ongoing Net Neutrality fight. But that’s running parallel to the continued fallout from all the revelations about how the NSA (and other agencies) have been spying on pretty much all of us. Both of those current events have some of the biggest players in the information game at one another’s throats. In the first case, it’s the content providers against the infrastructure owners. The the second, it’s companies like Google against the U.S. government.

Both of these fights are going to get a lot more messy before they get better. There are indications that there’s some heavy corporate influence shifting the sands of the Net Neutrality battle in ways that I (and many others) think will be very bad for the public in general. In the domestic surveillance case, a number of companies are trying desperately to regain the trust of their users (and their foreign business partners) by pushing back against gag orders and, apparently, gearing up for a drawn out fight with intelligence agencies and law enforcement.

There’s more than a little overlap in the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in these two arenas. I find myself rooting both for and against some companies (like Verizon, who stands a lot to gain if there’s no mandate for Net Neutrality, but is also in a position to fight against the government overstepping it’s bounds in the surveillance arena). It’s… problematic, to say the least.

All I know for sure is that the world has been changing really quickly over the past 30 years or so. For decades, we’ve been in a period of transition where out reach has extended beyond our grasp. Waters have been further muddied and vision blurred by high emotions and secret dealings. Even now I doubt we have anything near the full picture of everything going on in these two major battles.

This could go on for years. But I worry that the bulk of the public is either ignorant of the importance of these fights or already growing bored with the legal wranglings and semi-obscure technical specifications. Without the support of an knowledgeable public, the big players are free to do whatever they want, regardless of whether it’s good or bad for the rest of us.

Can’t say I care much for that.

But I don’t have any good solutions, either.