Space and Time

I just watched An Adventure in Space and Time, the dramatic recreation of the birth of the Doctor Who television program in the 60's. I'd been meaning to check it out for awhile, and it was just as good as I'd heard. A very lovely, moving and inspiring trip back in time...

More broadly, this is an exciting time for a science fiction fan. Besides the obvious pick of the upcoming next Doctor Who series with Peter Capaldi, there are also the actor-connections of Karen Gillian in Guardians of the Galaxy and Matt Smith in the on-the-horizon Terminator: Genesis.

Beyond Doctor Who, there is of course Star Wars: Episode VII, which has begun filming and about which there was a new casting announcement today, that Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie have both been brought on board to join the growing ensemble of actors both new and old. I almost cannot believe that this film is really happening, and while it's impossible to not be a bit afraid, there is plenty of reason to be both optimistic and excited.

In particular with regard to the latest news, it's great to have more significant female characters in Star Wars. Many of the books and The Clone Wars show have featured as much, but the films have of course been a bit...lacking, thus far.

Also, there are upcoming 2014 films such as Edge of Tomorrow (looks like a good bet), Jupiter Ascending (looks sketchy, to be honest, but I'm hoping for the best) and Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. Ridley Scott is another director with some sci-fi allegedly in the works, in the form of rumored sequels to Blade Runner and Prometheus, as well as an adaption of the literary classic The Forever War--which I've never read, but which sounds interesting.

But that's not all. James Cameron has three sequels to Avatar on the way, new Battlestar Galactica film content is possibly under development and Roland Emmerich is working on two sequels to Independence Day and future Stargate films. I really love the original Stargate, so that last bit has me very excited.

Finally, I would probably be remiss if I didn't say something about the Star Trek franchise. I'll admit that I'm unusually pessimistic about the forthcoming third film in the rebooted big-screen series. I was very disappointed with Star Trek Into Darkness, and the fact that Roberto Orci, one of that film's writers, has been selected as the director...not what I was hoping for, to say the least.

But anyway, there's a lot to feel good about, out there. I really hope that Star Trek makes it back to the small screen at some point in the near future. Like Doctor Who, television is where Trek truly belongs.

Here's a parting quote, from a 'doctor' somebody, a long time ago:

"Our lives are different from anybody else’s. That’s the exciting thing. Nobody in the universe can do what we’re doing."

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Poem "Buenos Aires"

if and when you find me

leaning against the back of the chassis / of a fallen starship

if and when you find me / eyes closed / underneath the dorsal fin

just tap me on the shoulder / with your index finger

and i’ll unzip my jacket to let you in

like a stick of light / that you only have to snap to ignite

your signal is all that i need to receive / to reilluminate my eyes

we make it our personal responsibility / to hold an umbrella over this city

if and when we land / in an alpine meadow / on top of the andes

if and when we can relax / for just a moment / before the war goes on

you don’t even have to open your eyes

just tilt your head / and hold my hand / and smile

like a lithium ion battery / we can recharge almost as many times as we need

given a consistent source of energy / we can approach infinity

some things go right / in spite of how much of everything goes wrong

the light in your eyes / stays on

some things seem to persist / in spite of how very little they make sense

until their end / it’s not a question of if / but when

we make it our personal responsibility / to hold an umbrella over this city

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world of noon by vombavr

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starship troopers / may twenty-fourth

Small Download/Upload

Being a very slow and gradual explorer, I heard Led Zeppelin's "All My Love" for the first time today. And loved it.

Poem "Reactorspheres"

more than one ball of fire in the sky

close enough to be comforting / but at a safe distance

at your beck and call / you can turn it down

when you move your hand like a wand

or accelerate the particles to the point

where your eyes turn gold / to shield your soul against an overload

nothing more than / a fracturing sphere

under the surface of your consciousness / in a dark and brackish pond

i’ll pick up the pieces / if you don’t mind / while you dry yourself out

that’s just how we work / how we are

water cooled / centrifuges / head-first / into you, over me

the water flows to a head / into its ending / and our beginning

a midst the mists /and the wintergreen

you’re not dreaming / we’re having a moment / this is synergy

the sun winks at you / through the fractal geometric trees

cascading chain reaction

it’s not the photograph / it’s your caption

i love you

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Poem "Red Star"

every time I cross an intersection

every time I see a red honda civic

i have an instant of obsession with whether it's you in it

your code is still running in my mind

facial recognition software / crossing the lines

but that update's passed its time / you and me / we're obsolete

it’s better the sooner we come to terms

and accept the road as better for its curves

but what does that really mean?

was driving north / thru turnagain pass

and suddenly, overtaken tactlessly

cursed the insensitivity that some people have

maybe there's some irony in that

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closure / revised on stardate 060514

Poem "Nowwhen"

it doesn't make sense / it doesn't help

to know that everyone else / is doing okay

it's a small consolation / to know

that the star you've been following doesn't exist any more

that it was just your imagination's interpretation

of the bleeding light of an extinct constellation

all we need / is release from the pain / please

we were meant / for more than the doom / that we've collapsed into

we were meant to be more / than these wrecks washed up on this lonely shore

we were destined / to look to the stars

with the potential to become / more than we are

i don't know how it's come to this / it's the hope that's missing

the sky was retracting / into the back of a getaway van

leaving me alone / in a void all my own

i'm broadcasting to tell you that i still care

if there's a chance that there's anyone still out there

i haven't forgotten about you

i'm just drowning in an ocean of endless blue

until something snaps my synapses / and i wake

whatever it takes

all we need / is to feel the pain / for just a second

and then release

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Music Video

This is just one of the best feeling audiovisual things I've experienced lately. Full spectrum gorgeous. I didn't used to have much interest in Justin Timberlake, but a couple of his songs have really meant something to me in the last six months or so.

And I totally want to be him in the performance above, on that stage with that band. Good energy going on, there.