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	March 15, 2003

NEXT, WE'RE GOING TO REPEAL THE LAW OF GRAVITY Just caught a preview of an upcoming movie called The Core. Apparently it involves a military effort to create a WMD by harnessing the Earth's inner core and directing earthquakes at targeted enemies. As expected, it backfires as the Earth takes offense and somehow the inner core stops revolving. Scientists explain this is quite bad, so a heroic and handsome young group of flag-waving individuals is appointed to (I'm not making this up) travel to the core of the Earth, get it moving again, and get back out before the escaping pressure reaches the surface. I detect a trend here. First we had flag-waving young heroes turning back comets hurtling towards the Earth. Then we had flag-waving young heroes defeating omnipotent planet-sized aliens by sending them a computer virus, complete with 'Virus Uploading' message that somehow escapes the baddies' attention. And now for an encore, they're going to rewire the inside of the whole planet. Quite aside from the insult to the intelligence these films provide to anyone with even a basic knowledge of science and technology, do these films express an increasingly desperate desire to be back in charge, as everything seems increasing hopeless and out of control? And do such films appeal to both Bush lovers ("we're Americans, we can successfully do anything") and Bush haters ("if we can change the course of the planet physically, maybe we can even stop the war"). Dreaming in technicolour, anyone? 2:51:17 PM  trackback []  comment []

RECONNAISSANCE: A SONNET Thanks to Charly Z I've discovered that 'my poetry form' is the sonnet. That's an anal-retentive form of poetry that follows an abab/cdcd/efef/gg rhyme scheme, each line of which is in iambic pentameter (i.e. contains 10 syllables, with the even-numbered syllables stressed). The quiz site contains a delightful example of a modern sonnet, so I thought I would give it a try. In honour of my exacting debating partner, Raven , and the engaging ornithologist Bernd Heinrich , I chose Poe's corvus corax as the subject for this hommage .  By the way, while tribal cultures consider ravens gods, in modern culture a group of ravens is, tellingly, called either an unkindness or a conspiracy. Heinrich reports in Mind of the Raven that, behind only dolphins and humans (in that order), ravens rank third among Earth's species in 'encephalization' (brain/body weight ratio), an indicator of intelligence. Reconnaissance The ravens come to feast upon the deer. Their talons are too dull to tear like claws. They smartly team with wolves, as hunting peers And point the way to road kill with their caws. These creatures love to play, nurse others' chicks, Do barrel-rolls and bathe collectively, Use rocks for self-defense and play with sticks And flying upside down proclaim they're free. But still, to man, an animal can't feel -- We daren't believe they love or hurt or think. We cage them all in labs and farms concealed: The human 'masters' cannot face the stink. Our bankrupt, separate culture's madness reigns. We think. Ergo we end the world, with brains. 1:53:08 AM  trackback []  comment []

© Copyright 2004 Dave Pollard. Last update: 19/02/2004; 2:41:11 PM.