me:  well, gotta go in 5 min: gf is picking me up for some cat-related chore
dude, you dig that scene with Romo's pen?
 
Josh:  yep.
i just wish zarek got a little more space to defend his actions.
 
me:  here's my question: is Sam dead? They neglected that thread before the end of the ep
 
Josh:  reading most commenters on blogs, people are about "zarek is a terrorist, what do you expect?"
i don't think so.
it depends on how ellen comes back.
 
me:  Zarek seemed a bit extreme
 
Josh:  sure.

There's me at the Burlington for the Sunday Night Sex Show.

One of the first things people ask when they first meet you is: "so what do you do?" I tell them that I'm a writer, and naturally they ask, "what kind of things do you write?" And just as facetiously, I say that I prefer to write science-fiction, but lately I'll just about write anything for anybody.

In fact, I just posted an ad on craigslist that advertises exactly that:

Writing is my passion, and I've had a strong grounding in science fiction and fantasy literature. SO I've decided to offer my services to anyone out there that may be entertaining an idea for a science fiction or fantasy novel or short story, but has neither the skill or time to actualize it. Whether it's "hard" or "soft" sci-fi, "high" or "low" fantasy, horror, paranormal, (techno-) thriller, or simply imaginative (or "magical realist") fiction, I can make your ideas come to life on the page.

Time travel is impossible. That said, I still love the way that time travel is treated in the Terminator series. SkyNet, the evil computer that causes mankind's nuclear holocaust, sends Terminators back in time to kill the mother of it's fiercest opponent. Never mind that doing so creates a separate timeline, and SkyNet remains unaffected in its own time. In fact, in this new timeline, the alternate SkyNet does one better by sending another Terminator (the T-1000: you know, the liquid guy from the second movie) back to kill the future leader of mankind, and creates yet another timeline.

Then we get the decently made (I can't say "excellent", not yet) TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. To complicate things further (and provide enough plot elements to last 5 seasons), the good guys and the bad robots are sending many Terminators/people to many different points in time, making a chronology too twisted to explain properly in text.

So I made a handy chart.

cast of Stargate SG-1 seasons 1-8: Multicultural, intergalactic do-gooders, or a neo-fascist paramilitary commando team?

Yeah, that's right, I said it. I re-read John Zerzan's old essay against Star Trek (1994), in which he says:

What Star Trek conveys about technology is probably its most insidious contribution to domination. Not only is a structure of hierarchical orders a constant; so is the high-tech, anti-nature foundation of the drama as a whole. Always at home in a sterile container in which they represent society, the crew could not be more cut off from the natural world. In fact, as the highest development in the mastery and manipulation of nature, Star Trek is really saying that nature no longer exists.

I'm inclined to agree, but I'm looking at it from a writer's perspective: to utilize the vast amount of science-fiction ideas that the writers had, you have to have an antiseptic set-up, such as Star Trek does. Maybe it's better for me to break it down by plotline, since genre fiction is plot-driven, rather than character-driven (which literary fiction aspires to be).

Here's my piece on American/Japanese cartoons and what's wrong with them. The first section is just to establish a baseline of what we're talking about. The second section has the meat of the argument. This document is a work in progress, so I may edit/change as time passes. Please feel free to comment on it.

What Japanese anime provides

• Adolescent girls in powered/magical/revealing armor with their loyal robot/adult sidekicks, partying as they kick corporate and military ass, fueled on sass, paid with fashion, and leaving a wake of bewildered boyfriends. (too many anime’s to name)

• Brooding adolescent boy stumbles on secret power/item, impressing veterans and shamans with his novice skill, refines his art to claim the highest prize/weapon and beat the odds/evil entity, whilst claiming the heart of the femme fatale, whom he ditches in favor of the girl-next-door / childhood friend. (Full Metal Alchemist comes to mind, but also, too
  many to name)

I saw the Žižek documentary. A friend of mine was talking about Žižek and Lacan a while back - I was wondering what all the uproar was about, so now I know. As far as I can tell, Žižek is talking about the failure of deconstruction, and the silliness of capitalism in fostering insatiable desires. Isn't that the basic teaching of Buddha? Aren't we all savvy to the idea that the advertising industry is completely cynical; they know people are never going to be satisfied materially, but regardless, they keep promising us material satisfaction.

Seriously, I can't afford this job anymore.

I just bought a new passenger side window, because the ice storm destroyed it: $250 Gas costs me $30 every day. The lease costs $122 a week. Insurance costs $75 a week.

I drive a truck now. Not a big, 18-wheel monstrosity, but a smaller truck, more like a "van" really. The back is big enough to put my bedroom in, and more. You want to know what driving a truck is like? It's a manly job, of course, and I get to honk at girls on the street, or other cars I see, or just for the sheer joy of honking. But I NEVER honk at bicycles.

I've been plugging away at this comic book for about forever or so, and it's starting to wear on me. Today I watched Jarhead, and wondered why I never ended up in some branch of the armed forces. Wait a second, I know why -- because I hate the government! If we had some other government - say, Canada's, for instance - I would have no reservations about joining the military. I could use the exercise.

My ass hurts.

Really, it does. I've been sitting at my computer desk for the last week straight, it seems. The webcopy job is more tedious than I could have possibly imagined, and the editors keep tacking on more requirements, such that I haven't completed a single article yet, and thus cannot invoice them for payment.