The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

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  • All good things may come to an end, but you can sometimes revisit them

    Today (2014 May 23) is the 20th anniversary of the airing of “All Good Things…”, the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  It cannot be denied that this series is directly responsible for the resurgence of American sci-fi on television – without the Enterprise-D, there would have been no Babylon 5, no Stargate, no reimagined Battlestar Galactica.  Without the evidence that “geek culture” could make real money, there might well have been no Dark Night, no Lord of the Rings (movies), no Game of Thrones (series), no Avengers assembled.

    Watching it again, I was surprised how well this episode holds up as a capstone to an amazing series.  Sure, there are glitches – the anomaly grows larger in the past, except when it doesn’t, after being created by tachyon pulses emitted by three Enterprises except one of them was the Pasteur.  But that’s just nitpicking.  The key to Trek has never been the technobabble.  It’s been the intricate interplay between sharply-drawn characters who wear their humanity on their sleeve, and the ineffable possibilities of existence itself.  And ST:TNG still had that ineluctable optimism that characterized the original.  It had hope in the stars and hope in us.   As much as I enjoy the grittier fare we generally get these days, I will admit to missing that simple faith in the future.

  • Happy Tax Day!

    And I mean that non-ironically.  I don’t like paying taxes, but I am proud to do it.  Taxes are not only necessary to maintain the way of life we value.  They are a direct investment in the very concept of civilization.   Taxes are the explicit statement that we are a community and we have a communal responsibility to each other.  They are also the explicit recognition that no one is in this alone, that no one is solely responsible for his or her own success, and that we are, to some measure, dependent on each other.

    Yes, I inveigle against waste and fraud, just like everyone else.  Perhaps even more so, because they are a violation of this trust, that the communal burden be fairly borne and communally valuable — that no individual benefit unduly.  But the current fetish on minimizing taxes (even at the cost of undermining society) boggles my mind.  It reeks of hubris and solipsism.

    Taxes are a burden but  not all burdens are bad.  Jingoists like to lecture us “Freedom isn’t free” — and indeed, it isn’t.  Part of the cost — not the lion’s share, but not a negligible one — is directly an economic one: The taxes we pay.  You cannot defend a nation, or provide speedy justice, or protect the innocent, for free.  You cannot offer hope and opportunity, or discover new cures, or build a better future, for free.  The American project, whatever that turns out to be, is bigger than any one person or any one group.  Taxes are part of the sinew that binds us into one nation.

    Taxes help make clear: We are all in this together.

    So again, I say, Happy Tax Day!

    (For your amusement, here’s a link to the original income tax forms.)

  • Lunacon 2014 (2e): Magic and Religion

    Lunacon 2014 (2e): Magic and Religion

    Saturday 3 PM.

    Panelists: Carole Ann Moleti; Michael F. Flynn, Raymond Feist, Jane Sibley

    Interesting tidbit: religion = re+ligio = a rebinding of society (to join again).  Religion has always had a social purpose, to increase community and tie society together.

    The panelists offered a definition of magic as “a belief that mundane objects have hidden powers”, whereas religion is generally more abstract and removed.  For example, if a stick brings forth water when banged against rock, it’s magic.  If banging the stick against rock brings forth water because God intervenes, it’s religion.  Religious talismans and symbols (and prayers, I guess) work by evoking the higher power, not through themselves.  I’m not sure I entirely buy this distinction but it’s worthy of thought.

    Cities are often centers of “high” religion whereas villages and rural areas are typically bastions of household religions.  You could see this clearly in ancient Greece and Rome, where the myths we learn in school are in fact the high tradition of the citied elite.

    It was inordinately fun to watch Raymond Feist shut down Michael Flynn at every turn, casually squashing his gambits and shooting down his points, without even ever seeming to notice he was doing it.

    During the panel there were escalating background noises — renovation work down the hall, a panel on electronic synthesizers going on next door — which make the whole thing a little bit like a Muppets sketch.

  • Lunacon 2014 (2d): Gamification in Education

    Lunacon 2014 (2d): Gamification in Education

    Saturday 2 PM

    I sort of felt obligated to go to this panel (and the one on The Future of Education), seeing that I am a teacher and all.

    It was OK.  The title proved to be inaccurate: This was more about the use of existing games in a school setting.  Gamification usually refers to adopting the tropes of gameplay — varying difficulty, badges and other rewards, etc. — for use in education.   Instead, the panelists related how they had used games to advance their classes.  Two of the three panelists work (at least part time) for companies that make educational games, so that wasn’t too surprising.

    While sitting there I thought up a game I might use in covering diffusion:

    • Start with a grid grouped into larger boxes (I’m thinking a 21×21 grid, divided into 3×3 boxes).
    • In some of the boxes, place pennies to represent molecules of gas.
    • Every turn, for every penny, roll 1d8 and move accordingly along a cardinal direction.
      • If the target square is occupied, the moving penny stops and does not enter.  Instead, the other penny moves in the direction indicated.
      • Pennies that hit the edge of the grid bounce back.
      • As a variant, give the pennies two speeds, based on the heads/tails status.
        • heads = moving; tails = stopped
        • A moving penny hitting a stopped penny itself stops.  The hit penny moves off.
        • A moving penny hitting a moving penny bounces back (in the opposite direction) and is stopped.  The hit penny is also stopped.
      • Using the larger boxes allows you to compute density variations.

    Two quips about using games:

    • Magic: The Gathering is a good introduction to business strategy and resource management.
    • AD&D is “hours of improv comedy with an algebra test in the middle”.  😀

    Games mentioned

    • Compounded: A game about the periodic table
    • Phylomon: a Pokemon-type collectible card game about ecology
    • Bio Blitz
  • Lunacon 2014 (2c): Reading by Merav Hoffman

    Lunacon 2014 (2c): Reading by Merav Hoffman

    Saturday 12 Noon

    Panelist: Merav Hoffman (duh)

    I don’t attend a lot of readings, because I generally prefer reading things at my own pace.  I don’t find the timbre of the author all that engaging.  On the other hand, Merav was a very welcoming presence at my first Lunacon and I wanted to make sure I at least caught her to say Hi, and this seemed a good time to do so.

    I came in at the tail end of someone else’s reading, and I can’t really comment on it.  Then, after a few minutes’ break, Merav asked us “Dogs or elephants?”  Apparently she writes childrens’ stories and had two ready to go.  The common consensus was, dogs.

    Ironically, she  then read a story of hers called (I think) “Circus”, but it wasn’t about a circus, it was about a dog named Circus. (It did also have acrobats in it.)  It was sweet and simple, and flowed really smoothly.  I was reminded of the Bard writing group at Hun, back when that was a going concern.  (Part of me wonders if it would be worth reviving in some form.)

    After “Circus”, she also read a reinterpretation of Rapunzel, or rather, a sequel of sorts.  Almost as an aside, Merav mentioned that the origin of Cinderella lies in a story from China, which I had never heard.

    A propos of nothing, I also have to comment on the surreality of the con: While Merav was reading about Rapunzel, a troop of Star Wars stormtroopers loped past the open door.

     

  • Lunacon 2014 (2a): Altering Time and Perception

    Lunacon 2014 (2a): Altering Time and Perception

    Saturday 11 AM Odelle

    Panelists: Walter Hunt, David Sklar

    This was not especially well-attended: at first, just the panelists and me.  By the end, another 6 or so people had shown up.  First panel on a Saturday is probably a dead zone.

    There were really two topics to be discussed:

    1. How is a story paced?
    2. How do you elide the unnecessary details while avoiding info-dumps?

    As an example of an author messing with time sense well, one panelist offered up Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.  The other came back with Slaghterhouse Five.  I thought of Catch 22.  

    My personal observation: We are very much a cinematically-informed people now.  How can you evoke the equivalent of time-lapse photography or bullet-time effects?

    • Interestingly, to convey speed, it’s important to avoid detail.
      • You might plot out every intricate movement in the sword fight, but long paragraphs slow down the reader’s time sense.
      • Short but evocative phrases can heighten tension.
      • Creative use of punctuation can control time-sense too.
    • Indicating jumps in time without explicit title-carding is possible but tough.
      • For longer jumps, you can use subliminal clues, such as mentioning that a city is inaccessible except by boat in one period, then commenting on the new railroad opening in another.
      • Sometimes you can use fashion or manners to indicate the discontinuity.
      • It can be helpful to encounter the older versions of characters from earlier in the timeline.
    • How do you ensure the reader doesn’t get lost?  Or how do you lose them constructively, if that’s the point?

    How do you signal (to editors or readers) that you’re making a stylistic choice and not just being lazy?

  • Lunacon 2014 (2b): Write What You Don’t Know

    Lunacon 2014 (2b): Write What You Don’t Know

    Saturday 12 noon

    Panelists: Walter H. Hunt, Laura Anne Gilman, KT Pinto

    Sadly, this was not (imho) a very successful panel.  The panelists talked around the topic but never addressed head-on how to avoid the pitfalls of writing about things you haven’t experienced.  Walter Hunt mentioned that he’s spent a lot of time volunteering at a living farm and so sees a way of living most of us can hardly imagine.  The panelists bemoaned the writers who treat horses as simply breathing automobiles.

    One thing I hadn’t thought about was, how do you write likeable characters from an unlikeable time?   Historical fiction set in 1802 New Orleans can’t really avoid the whole slave question, and indeed, your hero is likely to know slaveowners or be one himself.  It’s unsatisfying and a little flat to make all your protagonists be modern, liberal, open-minded people who happen to be centuries ahead of their time.  Unfortunately, the panel didn’t really offer any insight into what to do about it.

    A different, related difficulty is, how do you avoid having your readers think that you, the author, agree with the objectionable mores of the era in which you set your book?  If your hero does not inveigle against slavery (possibly because he grew up a plantation owner’s son), some might see that as tacit approval on your part.  The published authors seemed to agree, there is no way to avoid this completely.  It just comes with the territory.

    I made a personal discovery, to wit, once someone mentions the vampire story they wrote, I just tune them out.  It isn’t fair but I just don’t respect that genre.  In my defense, every single instance it occurred during this Lunacon, my disdain ended up being justified.

  • Lunacon 2014 (1c): Firefly the Game

    Lunacon 2014 (1c): Firefly the Game

    I was excited to attend this game demo.  I am a fan of all things Firefly, and actually have a copy of this game but hadn’t had a chance to play it yet.  So when a game got underway in the gaming room, I dropped by to check it out.

    (more…)

  • Lunacon 2014 (1): Friday

    Lunacon 2014 (1): Friday

    OK, so it’s really Saturday when I’m writing this.  But it’s about Friday.  🙂

    I attended three panels (and one fire alarm):  “Building Character“, “Alternate Technologies in Historical Fiction“, and “Firefly: The Game“.  I also poked around the dealer’s room for a bit,

  • Lunacon 2014 (1b): Alternate Technologies in Historical Fiction

    Lunacon 2014 (1b): Alternate Technologies in Historical Fiction

    Panelists: Russ Handelman, James Cambias, Paul Calhoun

    And here he is, That Annoying Guy From One Seat Over.  This archetype shows up at every con, like a restless spirit.

    One of the panelists pointed out that, more or less by definition, this would actually have to be about alternate historical fiction.

    Examples of a missed technology:

    • Handelman: Could steam locomotives have happened 50 years earlier?
    • Cambias: Once you have cloth and fire, you can have balloons.  Why did they wait until the 18th century?  (Some people think the Mesoamericans had them.)
    • Calhoun: complex calculators like the Antikythera Device.

    All in all, Calhoun was far and away the least effective panel member.

    Technology needs a use before it will be adopted.  Muscle power is effective and cheap — you only get machines when the application is impossible or expensive to do with muscle.

    Technology that disrupts existing power structures will be resisted by the people in charge of those structures.  Until the modern age, societies were not tolerant of that disruption, so change came very slowly.  If you want an industrial revolution in ancient times, you’re going to have change the form of antiquity.

    Handelman mentioned a book called The Most Powerful Idea in the World, which posits that the Industrial Revolution occurred in England because the English had invented patent law.  I wonder if the century of civil war and ongoing disruption was also vital.

    Then, there was a fire alarm and we had to flee the building.  That cut the session short.