Things to Do, Things to Avoid

Firstly, I guess we'll see what actually will happen with the Wu Flu here in the states. I've been running around helping other people prepare to work from home.

A few thoughts on the impact on our day to day lives so far...

It’s clear that many of us live day to day solely dependent on our massive globo-capitalist system. No spare food, no spare supplies, no safety net of any sort. We live in a fantasy that we will be taken care of by a big-government that does not exist in reality.

At the time of this post COVID19 has been responsible for 43 deaths in the United States. 43 deaths and the shelves are being emptied across the country. It’s time a lot of us re-evaluate our dependence on a frail system and focus on raising our anti-fragility.

I hope that I’m right. I hope that this is nothing but another H1N1 type outbreak that will fizzle once the spring kicks in. But even if I am right, I hope that everyone takes to heart some hard lessons from these past few days.

Globalism is bad for the United States. Critical manufacturing needs to be done here, by Americans for Americans. Do not depend on a system that revolves around profit. You are nobody to it.

As to what to do on what, for many people, is more available time?

Read a good book, of course. Try Neon Harvest by Jon Mollison. I also really enjoyed Barbarian Emperor, and A Moon Full of Stars.

Speaking of Jon Mollison, he's had a bit part on Hawaii 5-0. He also had a fantastic bit on the first space opera.

And then Cole launches a massive human fleet at Sirius, ready to conquer the first real challenge to humanity’s hegemony. Unfortunately for the Anglo-Saxons, the Sirians are no pushovers on the tech front themselves. They also have a much less fractious interstellar empire to contend with, and so manage to shatter the attacking fleet. Their defense proves strong enough to convince them that the smart play is to conquer the Angl0-Saxons in turn. Thus begins a long and relentless battle that sees:

• Fleets of thousands of space ships flung headlong into days’ long battles
• A rain of debris over the continents, mountains, cities, and seas of Neptune
• In keeping with John C. Wright’s definition of “space opera” the blowing up of not one, but two moons, at the same time
• Three-dimensional naval tactics, and
• The frantic last minute search for a savior weapon that might knock the bombarding Sirian ships out of the tropical skies above London.

Did I mention that the Anglo-Saxons used their tech to move London to more tropical climes? It’s a brief aside in the book, and just one of many like it.

It’s all very Doc E. E. Smith, and it is amazing.

Under what not to watch, despite the recommendation, Ragnarok.

Edda is indeed a strange town. Surrounded by gorgeous mountains, the economic engine of the town Jutul Industries, owned by Jutuls, the fifth-richest family in Norway. Its factory sits right next to the fjord. If it is ever said what Jutul produces, other than toxins that end up in the drinking water, I missed it. Vidar (Gísli Örn Garðarsson) is the patriarch and he runs the factory, his wife, Ran (Synnøve Macody Lund), is the principal of the high school Laurits and Magne attend. Their children are Saxa (Theresa Frostad Eggesbø) and Fjor (Herman Tømmeraas). They are all beautiful. Seemingly perfect. Too perfect because the are really jötunn, giants in Norse mythology, the enemies of the gods. And Saxa and Fjor aren’t really children.

The part I hilighted in bold above? Yeah. the entire show is a missed opportunity. Decent acting, marred by some weird sexual dynamics in the giant's "family" that are barely commented on by the townspeaople. It's clear that our Thor stand-in and the giants, etc., have actual powers, but it's all kept out of the sight of humans. And all of the environmental grandstanding the plot centers on involves a strawman company that has no purpose for being other than to be evil.

It's not bad, but it's far from good, and just... shallow.