But There Is Rollerblading!

 Hello friends,

How're ya'll faring with the heat dome and horrific air pollution, assuming you're anywhere in the Midwest? A few years ago, we faced a heat dome in the Seattle area—the temperature reached 113°F (45 °C). Not long after, we faced a period of wildfire smoke where the AQI was in the 300s. Made me think that maybe I wasn't in the most resilient area when thinking about future threats of climate change.

Well, I'm not sure there are many such places on the planet. Minneapolis—where Batgirl and I are currently located as of last month—has a lot going for it. But last week we got to endure the double fun of a heat dome AND AQI in the 300s. It wasn't a great week. On the other hand, I surreptitiously exchanged the MIRV 8 air filter that the apartment complex had installed in our HVAC unit with a MIRV 13 version, kept the fan running constantly, and was able to bring the air inside to an AQI under 10, which was quite a relief.

However, when not dealing with the fruits of climate change, I've been able to rollerblade along a trail that runs right next to the apartment called the Greenway. I've long been a fan, but over the last several years, circumstances kept me away. I was lucky if I got out once a year, and some years I was not lucky.

With the aforementioned Greenway's immediate adjacency, I've been rollerblading an average of two times A WEEK! It's amazing. And check out the picture--it sort of blew my mind when I first found it along the trail--a roundabout for rollerbladers (well, for bicyclists, but also rollerbladers). Friends, I've arrived :)

Rewind: Why I Like Fringe (slightly) More than X-Files

Hey folks!

Several months ago, I heard Prime had picked up the rights to do another Stargate series. Having never watched the original Stargate or the Atlantis spin-off, I was intrigued. Batgirl hadn't seen the series since it debuted in the late 90s, so she was on board for some long-term sci-fi watching, a few at a time. We're in season 9 of 10! (As an aside, I just heard Prime is no longer interested in doing a new series. Boo! Anway...)

Last night, we saw an episode with John Noble playing a small part. We both yelled, "Walter!" at the screen, because for us, John Noble's defining role was as that wild and woolly scientist on the sci-fi series Fringe. (Itself now something that debuted a while back. Sheesh, I'm sensing a threme. Anyway...) 

Science! (in the UK)

Which reminded me I once wrote a short article about Fringe and Walter, and did so by comparing it to X-Files, which I've added and updated hereafter.

 I was a big fan of the X-Files in its day. The Truth Is Out There! The first episode I saw was "Squeeze" (thanks to my friend Monte telling me there was this show I just had to see).

Many years have passed, and now I've become a big fan of Fringe. I mean, come on; coretexiphan!

At some point after watching Fringe and finishing a rewatch of X-Files, I was struck by the wide philosophical difference between the two shows. These differences influence a given plot in a noticeable, characteristic fashion (though of course outliers exist).

Both shows deal with unexplained, odd, and unlikely phenomena. In fact, I'd say it's obvious that The X-Files was a big influence on Fringe.

In the X-Files, many episodes are devoted to the idea that society can't or won't accept the Truth that Is Out There. Villains are many times scientists working in secret labs or in government facilities. Or, if scientists are not outright villains, then they are part of an uncaring establishment, hidebound in its dogmatic acceptance of the world. In fact, at one point, the FBI agent Dana Scully goes so far as to tell her partner Mulder that she's always accepted the facts that "science" has taught her, and is unwilling to accept that things might be different (which is an odd way to look at science).

In Fringe, one of the main characters is a scientist. All the crazy phenomena and odd occurrences that threaten the world in Fringe are dealt with and mediated by science and the application of reason. Sure, reason in the form of Walter Bishop, but back off, man, he's a scientist.

Thus, my comparison: The X-Files was slightly suspicious of the scientific method, while Fringe is more apt to embrace it. The X-Files is more likely to reject that science can solve the problems that beset us (problems like killer insects escaped the Pleistocene and aliens who live in black goo, granted), while Fringe usually holds that only science can save us (from parallel-dimension shape shifters and collapsing universes, sure). On The X-Files, scientists are more likely to be part of a conspiracy, while on Fringe, scientists are more likely to show us how things really are.

Mainly, I think I've pegged that both these shows lie on a continuum, and those points are in different locations between 'embrace science' and 'suspect science.'

I think you can probably guess--though I love both of these shows--which one I prefer.

Also, Stargate! Can't wait to get into Atlantis after we finish SG-1.

An Interruption

As regular readers of my blog and/or my Patreon may have noticed, I stopped putting up regular posts at the end of last year. That was because I had lots of things going on, one of which was an impending radical shift in my location to an as-yet-undetermined (undermined back then) location other than Washington state and the house we'd lived in since 2012.

I decided to start shedding minor bits of stress to help deal with the general stress and anxiety a move can generate. Ongoing extra writing required by my Patreon was one.

Whelp, I'm here now on the other side of that move. Batgirl and I have leaped to a new location, out of the suburbs and into the heart of a large city, where lots of interesting things are a mere walk away rather than an hour's drive. We shall see how it works out, but I have to tell you, the stress I felt—as manifest by my nightly wake-up at 3 am and worry and plan—has fallen away. Now, when I wake up at 3 am, I blink, maybe use the toilet... and go right back to sleep.

The photo is a glance at my new office workspace. The setup isn't quite finished; I might get a plant in that far corner, hang some more pictures. But it's pretty much what I've got going on for my day job, which is still my wonderful employer, MCG. 

And what about my other writing, specifically the stuff I started my Patreon for? Well, as I said, the stress of an imminent move and its aftereffects are abating. It's time to pick up the pen again and finalize the current effort: The Dreamrider in the Nightland wants its author back. It turns out I'm in a position to make that happen. 

Wish me luck!