On Michael Vick and animal cruelty

One of my friends, Roseburg, mentioned to me the hypocrisy inherent in the uproar over Michael Vick. Let's review the facts:

1)Animals are kept in conditions and treated at least as inhumanely, and on an incredibly larger scale, in the meat packing industries as opposed to Vick's dog factory;

2)People are hypocrites as to where they get their meat, versus cruelty towards animals who can be kept as pets;

3)People fucking love the shit out of their dogs;

4)Puppies are cuter than chickens or big fat cows.

I think eating meat is inhumane, and in the near future, when suitable replacements can be synthesized, our era will be looked upon as barbaric in much the same way that we look upon the prior generation's penchant for slavery.

But, and this may be the romantic in me, I think dogs are special. Through the tens of thousands of years of man's existence there has been only one animal who came out of the darkness to sleep by our fires, to share our beds (if we let them), and has unequivocably joined our pack and devoted their lives to us. To harm a dog is, to me, to abuse a symbiotic relationship unique in nature; dogs have given us far more than we have given them, and love and trust us so unconditionally that they will forgive our abusing them.

But while the dogs may forgive, America will not. Mike Vick will soon learn that, if he hasn't already.

The Ice Man Cometh

I want to be frozen. Not now, obviously, but at or near the time of my death.

My thoughts on the afterlife or supernatural gods is....hazy at best. I've received my application from a cryogenics facility, and, god willing (oh, the irony is so delicious) my head will be removed from my body and vitrified while my body is frozen with a combination of liquid helium and then, liquid nitrogen.

What do I think my chances are? Well, I'm not quite dead yet, as Monty Python might say, and hopefully the technology will improve. If I kicked off tomorrow, assuming that the vitrification (which is not the same as freezing) and freezing processes go well, I'd say I'd have a one in a ten million chance of any aspect of my personality being incorporated into a physical form. Sadly, there's a better chance that my brain could be scanned and the data formed into a computer matrix, as we may actually have that technology in the next hundred years or so. But, would that program, even if implanted in a biological or robotic form, be me? I'd say no. I want the real deal reanimated, not a clone! But, I will take life any way I can get.

The hurdles are monumental. The chemicals that make brain vitrification possible are hazardous. While vitrification preserves soft tissue memory structures, we don't know how to reverse the process. Future generations may find it easier to just copy my memories and paste them into a new format rather than try to revive the original me.

Well, any chance is better than none. And religion has never been my style.

I don't want to be obsolete!

Been a while since I've been checking in here. Didn't think too many folk were paying attention, but now that my rabid fanbase has made itself heard (all three of you), I'm back, with hopefully new posts every day.

I've realized lately that one of my greatest fears is becoming obsolete. Any new pop culture phenomenom, be it television, movies, etc., I'm in. I couldn't relate to my parents whatsoever, and I don't want that to happen to me with the next generation. Even when I don't like the product (i.e., the Harry Potter books) I consume them simply so that I won't miss out on the next "in" thing.

BTW, the latest Harry Potter movie was godawful. Absolutely atrocious in every respect. The Palpatine v. Yoda-esque fight scene between Thomas Malvolo Riddle and Dumbledore was the only saving grace. This was an interminable, sloppily edited, pointless mess. Other than the death of one semi-major character, everything ends up exactly the way it was before the movie started. Dumbledore's motivations are asinine, Potter is annoying, and the entire story seems like a placeholder for the real events that happen in books six and seven. This should have been a 95 minute movie, not a 140 minute snorefest.

The Hobbit; and BLOG PROBLEMS

**my blog continues to act up on me. To see new posts, click on the "july" link, to the right.

I've always thought that The Hobbit would make a much more natural and in some ways more satisfying conversion to film than the Lord of the Rings. The narrative is straight-forward and fairly conventional, the big baddie is a visible Dragon, rather than an omnipresent, ethereal "eye", the battle scenes are more physical and less magical. One does miss the loss of the back-story that gave LOTR such depth as a novel, as there isn't much of it in the Hobbit to be omitted.

I would not be surprised, at all, to see The Hobbit outgross and end up being far more popular among the mainstream than any of the LOTR movies. I like the direction they are going, with two prequels. There certainly is enough backstory between The Hobbit, the appendices, and I suppose the Silmarillion to fill two movies. Seems like the Hobbit has a natural halfway point with the escape from the Elves in Mirkwood . . . and that escape could be juxtaposed with the cleansing of Dol Goldur (hinted at in the Hobbit, and explained in more detail in the appendices....we'd get to see saruman and gandalf fighting all manner of unclean things).

I've always felt that the hobbit has unfairly been called a children's book. The last third, at least, is as dark as any portion of LOTR. Thorin's death...smaug's rage, the destruction of the city...pretty disturbing stuff. The beginning, I grant you, is a child's tale.

Live Free or Die Hard

Loved it. Can't wait for the "R" rated home version, though. Not so much for the f-bombs and more explicit violence (which, don't get me wrong, will be appreciated), but for the proper cut that will remove a few badly dubbed scenes. Clearly the decision to go PG-13 was a late one, as Justin Long's dialogue often doesn't match his lip movements.

Enjoyed the film immensely, and found it far funnier than I thought I would.

We are doomed.

Unless we get off this planet.

I hate to borrow from a pop culture blip like Armageddon, but as Charlton Heston said "It has happened before, and it will happen again." Other than the Pioneer and Voyager spacecrafts, we have done nothing to assure that we will be remembered if an asteroid, a plague, or some other calamity befalls us. So long as we remain bound to one planet, we are doomed.

We are in a unique position. Technology is rapidly accelerating, no terrible plague is currently on the horizon, we seem (for the moment at least) to not be on the verge of a nuclear holocaust; if we are going to make a big push for space this is it. The moon, for many reasons, is a waste of time. We haven't found liquid water, the gravity causes problems with bone density loss, and it is generally mineral poor. Mars is a much better choice. Recently, deep caves have been found. It would be far easier to seal, pressurize, and adapt these cave systems then to transport gigantic living containers. Is this a pipe dream? Maybe at the moment, but over the next few hundred years, if we make it a priority, it could happen. With the develop of carbon nanotubes, a space elevator might be on the horizon. Inhabiting other planets might be just around the corner. Of course, Mars is a stopgap; a testing ground for the real journey.

Getting out of the galaxy is a lot harder. But, maybe closer than we would think. Back in the 60's, a workable plan for an interstellar ark was in fact created.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion)

Sounds plausible. It would be a pretty friggin' long journey to the nearest star system. I don't think a spacecraft would work, but a hollowed out, pressurized asteroid just might. Interesting thought.

In any event, we stay on this planet, we're doomed. At least with an asteroid we'd have years to prepare. A comet would give us days, maybe weeks.

Let's see what happens with this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

Salt of the land.

In the U.S. there is often an idealized sense of respect towards certain professions. Sort of a "salt of the land" myopia. Fisherman, farmers, loggers (not so much anymore), and hunters (not really a profession at this point) have long held a respected place in American society. I must ask you, why?

These industries, at their core, involve the collecting of what nature provides and reducing it to saleable form. Basically, what prehistoric man did millenia ago. Sure, we may have fancier tractors, and more efficient ways to harvest tuna (and whales, and dolphins, and anything else that comes near the nets), but not much has changed. Have you ever actually spoken to someone in the farming, or cattle, or dairy, or fishing business? It can be eye opening.

Due to the fact that most of these industries rely upon public land, they tend to be atrocious stewards of their industry. Timber industries aren't interested in properly harvesting areas; they clear cut and move on. Why reduce your catch today when it just means that some other boat will catch what you don't? Why not blow twenty quail out of the sky for no reason; it's not as though we're going to run out. When nobody owns something, nobody feels it's their responsibility to take care of it.

Eldrick Woods plays final round of U.S. Open while Wife is hospitalized

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-tigerstourney&prov=ap&type=lgns

What can one say? The spineless press, as usual, won't comment negatively on any type of ESPN cash cow -- *cough* Michael Jordan's gambling and adultery *cough* -- but this is, frankly stunning.

I've had the misfortune of meeting Eldrick in person while he was still at Stanford. He was an arrogant prick. Doesn't look like much has changed. How do you go out and walk 18 holes of golf while your wife is hospitalized due to complications in pregnancy? I liked this quote:

"It wasn't life-threatening or anything, but she just had a few problems and had to be admitted," Woods said. "It wasn't easy. It was not easy, because I wanted to be there. And the doctor and Elin said, 'There's nothing you can do. So go out there and just get a "W."'

Of course there's nothing you can do. Except, of course, be there with your wife for comfort and support. If Adrian, I mean Elin, wants you to go out there and win one for her, you should thank her for the advice and get your ass to the hospital. I have feeling that if Eldrick was ten shots back, he would have been at the hospital.

**At least this got Michelle Wie out of golfing news for a while.