/* ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* ** ** NN NN SSSSSS XX XX ** NNN NN SS SS XX XX ** NN N NN SSS XX ** NN N NN SSS XX ** NN NNN SS SS XX XX ** NN NN SSSSSS XX XX ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** « an eclectic e-newsletter, e-published irregularly » ** Produced by Phillip Thorne ** nsx.underbase.org ** ** Volume 6, Issue 3: Thursday, 1 April 2004 ** Previous issue: Sunday, 29 February 2004 ** ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* */ EDITOR: Not foolin', NSX::Blogmode, new readers, next time. LETTERS: Leap days, a compliment. OBS & COGS: LotR:RotK's awards, five planets, a moral, La Brea tar, TV indecency, inside your head. BOOK REVIEW: _The Prism and the Pendulum_: ten experiments. BOOK REVIEW: _The Invisible Web_: transcend Google. TOY ANNOUNCE: LEGO “Harry Potter 3” and “Spider-Man 2.” TOY REVIEW: LEGO X-pods. UPCOMING TV: “Enterprise,” “Game Over,” “A Wrinkle in Time.” UPCOMING FILM: Animated, comic-book, fantasy, SF. http://www.underbase.org/nsx/ - back issues http://www.underbase.org/blog - NSX::Blogmode http://www.underbase.org/nsx/index_plus.htm - extra content /* *************************************************************************** ** FROM THE EDITOR ** ************************************************************************ */ Although today is the first of April, nothing in this issue is intentionally misleading. I neglected NSX::Blogmode for a few weeks, but I'm now making entries on an almost daily basis. You might want to stop by for breaking news. This issue adds six new readers, for a total of sixty. If you don't want to stay, just tell me -- simple unsubscribe directions are at the bottom of the post. Next issue -- a survey of current SF cartoons, reviews of Philcon 2003, and more books. And hopefully, the continuing adventures of Phil's Crazy Snoozing Brain. /* *************************************************************************** ** READER LETTERS ** ************************************************************************ */ Whenever you respond to NSX, please indicate whether you are willing to have your letter quoted, and how you would like to be attributed. By default, I identify readers by initials and city; but I'll include full name, title, and homepage URL if asked. *** In Issue 6.2, I wrote: “I promise that [leap-day issues] will be published no more than once per [...] 99 [years] out of 400.” JOSEPH NEBUS of Singapore writes in response: “Don't you mean 97 times out of 400?” No, I *meant* 99; but 99 was wrong. I had the algorithm backwards: the leap day is *skipped* for three out of four years divisible by 100. The year 2000 had one; but 2100, 2200, and 2300 won't. That is: Every fourth year ( 1/4 = 100/400) unless the year is divisible by 100 (24/100 = 96/400) but not if it's divisible by 400 ( 97/400). Mr.Nebus continues: “Incidentally, while attempts to modify the Gregorian calendar to make it slightly more accurate (it loses about one day in 3600 years) are proposed, and accepted in the Eastern Orthodox church and in the Soviet Union's calendar, their rejiggerings don't add more than about a thousand years of accuracy (defined as time before it loses a day) to the Gregorian scheme -- that far out, the diff- erence between calendar year and the ever-slowing orbital period of the Earth overwhelms easy correction schemes. “For further astonishing details -- such as that the Romans added a leap day by doubling the day we'd label February 24; they called it VI Kalend March, the sixth day (inclusive) to the kalend (first day, inclusive) of March -- I'd recom- mend _Mapping Time_, by E.G. Richards.” Following that thought... The Long Now Foundation is working on a second prototype of a Millenium Clock, a mechanical device designed to run for 10,000 years with annual windings. It includes a cam that compensates for the precession of Earth's axis. http://www.longnow.org/10kclock/clock.htm *** Reader RM of US/PA/Wynnewood writes: “Thanks for the NS Express. I bet if I ever needed to know anything, you would know it, or know where to find it.” That's very flattering, but I should admit that there are many and massive gaps in my knowledge (history, visual and performing arts, sports), gaps such that I'm not even sure what an authoritative index would be. And even with those topics on which I *am* qualified to expound, I usually augment my recall with web and hardcopy research. That's why I don't sound nearly so erudite in person. /* *************************************************************************** ** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS ** ** “LotR:RotK” and Academy Award context. ** Five planets, one sky. ** Why things on the doormat don't imply home invasions. ** Visit the La Brea Tar Pits. ** TV indecency: a new POV. ** The inside of your head. ** ************************************************************************ */ At the 76th annual Academy Awards on 29-feb, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” swept its nominations, winning 11/11. Is it possible the Academy members (the professional honorary organization counts 6000) are plotting to persuade studio heads to give *them* similar budgets and creative control, in hopes of similar acclaim? (And box office revenues, of course.) According to early news reports, “LotR:RotK” was only the third film to so sweep, preceded by “Gigi” (1958) and “The Last Emperor” (1987), both 9/9; also only the third to earn that many nominations -- but the Academy's own statistical abstracts count *43* films with at least 11 noms. In contrast, “Fellowship of the Ring” won 4/13, and “The Two Towers” 2/6. http://www.oscars.org - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Unlike most of my friends (to their shock), I hadn't read the trilogy before seeing the films. (I returned the favor by dragging them to “Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone.”) I've now finished the first volume, and I understand why co-writer/director Peter Jackson omitted what he did -- and why the fans who insist he *shouldn't* have are delusional. Tolkien (JRRT) wrote _LotR_ to explore the evolution of the languages he had created, and many of the book's scenes are hooks into prior history of Middle-Earth -- history that's peripheral to the War of the Ring, and would interrupt any movie's flow. The book's events have a languid pace -- eg, it's *seventeen years* between Bilbo's departure from the Shire and Gandalf's confirmation that Frodo now holds the One Ring. Not very urgent, is it? --and so Jackson condensed time. Plus, there's a lot of singing -- and Jackson wasn't making a musical. It's annoying enough when certain characters babble away in Elvish sans subtitles. Movie adaptations of novels are about choice and emphasis. If you want every scene, do a miniseries. If you want every nuance, stick to the book. *** Have you been watching the sky? If not, start! For the next few weeks, you can see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter sharing the sky -- on a single arc from west to east, clearing demonstrating the plane of the solar system. For the next few days, Luna is located near Saturn. The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) are between Venus and Mars, while near Saturn are the constellation of Orion (to its south) and the bright star Procyon (to the southeast). _Sky & Telescope_ has provided a map (click through the _Nature_ article for the large image): http://www.nature.com/nsu/040322/040322-3.html *** This story overheard at work: a man gets home and finds a strange set of keys inside, by the door. He's able to track down the owner, and confronts her over the phone: “What were you doing in my house?” She's confused by the attack, and finally manages to explain that she had *lost* the keys. Once he's mollified, they figure out that they had been passengers on the same airport limo, at different times. She had dropped the keys, but when the driver found them, assumed they belonged to the *man*, and helpfully dropped them off through his mail-slot. The moral of the story: never assume malice when incompetence will suffice. A relative works at an automobile dealership service department, and has first-hand experience of the power of human distraction. Customers run errands in loaner cars, and upon swapping them for their own repaired vehicles, have (on frequent occasions) forgotten not only small items such as keys, cell phones, and purses; but also multiple bags of groceries and garden manure. *** The April issue of _Discover_ magazine visits the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in US/CA/Los Angeles, where visitors can play with asphalt and observe ongoing excavations of millions of specimens. The Pits are fed by the nearby North Salt Lake oil field, which is apt to exude its sticky hydrocarbons anywhere within two miles. “Aside from an open casting call,” writer Brad Lemley notes, “the museum is the best demonstration extant that Los Angeles is a thin veneer of civilization overlaying a sea of brutality.” http://www.tarpits.org *** In response to the “oh no! indecency on TV! something must be done!” brouhaha, FOX is now airing a commercial that promotes the audience- suitability rating badges - Y, Y7, PG, 14, M. You can't avoid *seeing* them during the first 20 seconds of each program, and during promo-ads; but perhaps some viewers don't realize what they're for. Viewpoints on the Janet Jackson/straw-camel-back issue range from “Government should protect people” to “Parents should protect their kids,” and “Whatever happened to civility in broadcasters?” to “It's no big deal -- everyone sees worse all the time.” But consider this: when New York City cracked down on minor offenses, such as public urination, more severe crimes also dropped. Demonstrating that certain behavior isn't tolerated changes the whole zeitgeist. *** The inside of the human head is a funny place. Whenever I have occasion to use eardrops (with my head turned sideways), something tickles the back of my eyeball. Or at least, the sensation *feels* like my eye, or its orbit; it certainly doesn't *feel* like the inside of my ear. Since those two cavities are not connected, it must indicate some oddity in the sensory wiring -- in the same way that certain headaches reflect problems with the viscera. The orbit and outer ear aren't connected, but plenty of other cavities in the skull are. The paired nasal cavities join into the NASOPHARYNX (behind the hard palate), from which the EUSTACHIAN TUBES branch to each middle ear. (These are used for pressure equalization, so that the TYMPANUM (eardrum) can vibrate freely.) Four pairs of cavities, the PARANASAL SINUSES, drain into the nasal cavities. These serve to lighten the skull, and also add resonance to the voice. The NASOLACRIMAL DUCTS drain tears from the eyes to the nose. (The pharynx connects nose, mouth, esophagus and trachea, thus serving digestive, respiratory and vocal functions. It's a prime location for microbial attack, and that's why we have TONSILS: they're lymphoid organs, packed with immune cells.) These passages are designed for certain pressure gradients, and bad things happen when they're overloaded or reversed. When afflicted with a cold or allergies, the paranasal sinuses fill with mucus -- so if you're sure your nose can't *possibly* hold that much fluid, you're right. Milk is projected up the nasopharynx and out the nose. Infectious fluids are pumped up the nasolacrimal ducts to the eyes, and the eustachian tubes to the ears; and if you're really unlucky, bacteria then follow the auditory nerves to the brain and cause meningitis. /* *************************************************************************** ** BOOK REVIEW ** _The Prism and the Pendulum: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments in Science_ ** Robert P. Crease ** Random House, 2003, 244 pages, hardback ** ************************************************************************ */ This book describes ten pivotal experiments in the history of science, with historical and biographic context, and relevant period illustrations. These are interspersed with essays on the relation of art, science, popular culture and by what measure experiments can be called “beautiful.” The prose is clear, engaging, and well formatted. You've probably heard of these experiments, but never in such detail. They are: Eratosthenes' measurement of the Earth's circumference, Galileo's Leaning Tower and inclined-plane demonstrations of gravitational acceleration, Newton's prism, Cavendish's measurement of Earth's density via torsion balance, Young's demonstration of the wave nature of light, Foucault's pendulum and the Earth's rotation, Millikan's oil drop and the charge of the electron, Rutherford's discovery of the atomic nucleus via scattering, and the demonstration of single-electron quantum interference -- in particular, by the construction of a suitably microscopic diffraction grating by German graduate student Claus Jönsson. Crease is a philosophy professor at Stony Brook University and historian at Brookhaven National Lab, and the author of four previous histories of scientific discovery. /* *************************************************************************** ** BOOK REVIEW ** _The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See_ ** Chris Sherman and Gary Price ** CyberAge Books, 2001, 439 pages, softcover ** ************************************************************************ */ Google has become such a one-stop destination for answering questions that it's easy to overlook those resources it *doesn't* index. The authors of this book explain why not, and then list a wide variety of specialized databases you can consult instead. The first chapters explain the history of the internet and web and the various search tools devised from them, then go into detail about how search engines work (or don't), and list alternative tools -- directories, hybrids, vertical portals (“vortals”), metasearch, browser agents, search clients, and web rings. Portions of the text are repetitive, but that's handy if you read only selected chapters. What *is* the invisible web? The authors define it as that portion that can't be, or isn't, indexed by search engines; because the pages are disconnected, or contain only non-text content; because they're search forms atop massive databases; because they're textual but excessively large (PDF documents), or contain real-time data (weather, stock quotes), or are dynamically generated and possibly “spider traps.” That doesn't even count the many electronic services that have never been adapted to the web (HTTP), and don't even run on the internet (TCP). Most of the book, 18 chapters and 300 pages, is a categorized annotated listing of useful invisible resources: from art and architecture, business and investing, and computers; through social sciences and transportation. The links are replicated on the book's website. http://www.invisible-web.net /* *************************************************************************** ** TOY ANNOUNCEMENT ** LEGO “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” ** LEGO “Spider-Man 2” ** ************************************************************************ */ The Late Spring 2004 issue of the LEGO Shop at Home catalog announces the new tie-in sets for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (4-jun) and “Spider-Man 2” (30-jun). Both feature minifigs remolded in caucasian- pink (like the earlier NBA-licensed basketball minifigs), instead of classic LEGO yellow. The nine new HP sets ($8-$90) include four new segments of Hogwarts School, the Shrieking Shack and a new version of Hagrid's hut, a new version of the Hogwarts Express designed to run on standard LEGO rails (the first one wasn't), and the Knight Bus -- a triple-decker British- style omnibus built with violet bricks and 16 violet-framed train- style windows. (Purple, yay!) Two of the sets include a new hippogriff figure. The sets are available to ship 8-apr. Of the six “Spider-Man” sets ($10-$50), five feature a Doctor Octopus minifig with tetra-tentacle backpack. (That's 16 hinged mini-cylinders.) The sets are “Street Chase,” “Bank Robbery,” “Crime Spree” with Spidey- copter (?!), “Fusion Lab” with hinged Boing! platform and ambulance, “Train Rescue,” and dockside “Hideout.” Sets are available to ship 15-apr. http://www.legoshop.com /* *************************************************************************** ** TOY REVIEW ** LEGO X-Pods ** ************************************************************************ */ A year ago, the LEGO Company (TLC) introduced “Designer” sets: kits with a single color scheme, a wide variety of unspecialized bricks, and instructions for many models. The four latest members of the line each feature a “pod” consisting of three new elements: a cylindrical cup (clear) and two saucers (colored), top and bottom. Resembling a glass candy dish, the cup is 80 mm wide and 35 mm high. It bulges outward, like a portion of a sphere. Its lower side is equipped with top-side studs and a center axle-hole. The sides are slotted, as though designed to fit on a strap (as did the Throwbots cases). (MegaBloks offers mini-kits with keychain-like clips suitable for belt loops.) The saucer segments are distinct elements. Each is a shallow circular saucer, slightly larger than the classic 8-stud radar dish, equipped with stud-links on each side and a center axle-hole. The saucers attach to the pod with spin-locks (like a food storage container), but nothing in the instructions says so -- you have to notice the arrows molded into the pod. The fit together into a single oblate ellipsoid, resembling the saucer section of the Starship _Excelsior_. Each set contains 40 to 50 pieces, packed in a plastic bag inside the pod. The kit is packaged in a plastic blister-pack, with cardboard insert and 40-page instruction manual. The manual for #4386 lists four models, including one that uses the pod-plus-saucers as a body, and another that combines with #4348. Each sells for $3.49 (direct) or $3.99 (retail). The size, pricepoint and plastic packaging resembles the “Star Wars” MINI-Models. The four sets are #4386 Robo Pod (green), #4387 Auto Pod (blue), #4388 Aero Pod (yellow), and #4389 Wild Pod (red). The Designer sets seem to be a reaction to accusations that LEGO sets have become too specific and theme-oriented in recent years, and are a return to the “Universal” sets (basic and Technic) of the 1980s. (We've had Buckets instead.) http://www.legoshop.com /* *************************************************************************** ** UPCOMING TV ** “Enterprise” season 3. ** “Game Over” continues. ** “A Wrinkle In Time” finally airs after two years. ** ************************************************************************ */ UPN can't decide on a Wednesday schedule. First we had “Enterprise” at 20:00 followed by “America's Top Model.” Then, for two weeks, “Game Over” (new series), “The Mullets” (returning), and “Enterprise” at 21:00. Now it's double Wednesday “Enterprise” with double Friday “Game Over.” And in two weeks, ENT is back to eight. UPN is in the midst of a block of “Enterprise” repeats, not including 317-“Hatchery.” (And because of sports programming, *that's* the one I didn't successfully tape. Dang.) The final six eps of the third season will air starting 21-apr at 20:00. That's 24 eps, not the Trek-customary 26. 0324-2000 r 311 Carpenter Street 0324-2100 r 312 Chosen Realm 0331-2000 r 313 Proving Ground 0331-2100 r 314 Strategem 0407-2000 r 315 Harbinger 0407-2100 r 316 Doctor's Orders 0414-2000 r 318 Azati Prime 0421-2000 319 Damage 0428-2000 320 The Forgotten 0505-2000 321 E^2 0512-2000 322 The Council 0519-2000 323 Countdown 0526-2000 324 Zero Hour “Game Over” “Will it suffer the fate of every other primetime animated series besides 'The Simpsons'?” I asked in 6.2. That's not entirely fair -- some such were yanked after fewer than six eps (“Clerks,” “God, the Devil and Bob,” “Home Movies,” “Mission Hill”); but others persisted for one or more full seasons (“The Critic,” “Dilbert,” “Family Guy,” “Futurama”). It's no “ReBoot,” but it's more clever than standard live-action family sitcoms, and I haven't regretted watching three eps. Turbo, the purple talking dog-walrus /agent provacateur/, is still annoying; but the others are growing, and new characters are introduced each week. f-0402-2000 Into the Woods f-0402-2030 Alice and the C.A.T.s z-0410-2100 Monkey Dearest z-0420-2130 All Work and All Play “A Wrinkle in Time” This adaptation of the SF novel by Madeleine L'Engle, which introduced the word “tessaract” to many readers, airs 15-may as a 3-hour event on “The Wonderful World of Disney.” It was previously scheduled as a 4-hour miniseries first in 2002, then in 2003. /* *************************************************************************** ** UPCOMING FILMS ** ************************************************************************ */ 12-mar “Agent Cody Banks: Destination London” 26-mar “Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” 26-mar “Shaolin Soccer” (limited, long-delayed) 2-apr “Hellboy” 2-apr “Home on the Range” 9-apr “The Alamo” 16-apr “The Punisher” 14-may “Troy” 21-may “Shrek 2” 28-may “The Day After Tomorrow” 4-jun “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” 4-jun “Kaena: The Prophecy” (limited) 11-jun “The Chronicles of Riddick” 25-jun “Garfield” 25-jun “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” 30-jun “Spider-Man 2” 16-jul “I, Robot” 23-jul “Catwoman” 6-aug “Thunderbirds” 13-aug “Yu-Gi-Oh!” “The Alamo” (9-apr) I mention this only because some of the period fixtures were provided by Ball and Ball, the antique hardware reproductions company for which my mother works. Give 'em a visit, why dontcha. http://www.ballandball-us.com “Catwoman” (23-jul) “Hellboy” (9-apr) “The Punisher” (16-apr) “Spider-Man 2” (30-jun) Comic-book adaptations. “The Day After Tomorrow” (28-may) Roland Emmerich, the director of “Independence Day,” indulges in another disaster movie. This time, NYC is first hit by a mega- tsunami, then buried by a glacier. “Garfield” (25-jun) Live action; this is not “Garfield and Friends.” The title feline is entirely too mobile, and seems to have received a personality transplant from Alf; to wit, the Tom Cruise pantless schtick from “Risky Business.” He also *looks* odd, but the perils of lofting bellies into the third dimension have been known at least since “Homer^3” (a “Simpsons” Halloween episode featuring a CGI Homer). http://www.garfieldmovie.com/trailers/index.html “Home on the Range” (2-apr) It's “Animal Farm” minus Communism, plus sight gags. Reputed to be Disney's final traditionally animated feature -- as opposed to TV and direct-to-video “cheapquels,” still in production in Australia. “I, Robot” (16-jul) Turns out it's *not* based on any of Isaac Asimov's work. It was an original script, which the producers decided to spice up by licensing the title and a few names, eg “Doctor Susan Calvin.” “Kaena: The Prophecy” (4-jun) A French CGI fantasy-adventure film that's gotten an English dub with some notable talent. Probably better than “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” because it wasn't created with photorealism as the prime goal. “Troy” (14-may) Orlando “Legolas” Bloom plays Prince Paris of Troy when all of Mycenean Greece descends on his city. Oops. And a trireme might not last long against a modern torpedo boat, but put a thousand of them on one wine-dark sea and... wow. /* ************************************************************************ ** Legalese ** Acknowledgments ** Opt-in/out Instructions ** *********************************************************************** */ The original content {layout, text} of this newsletter is copyright 2004 Phillip Thorne. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted only as per applicable copyright law, if all copyright notices remain intact, and if citation trails (URLs or otherwise) are provided. That said, if you think colleagues would find an issue useful, please reproduce it -- but also suggest they subscribe. Those creative works {books, films, TV, websites, software, toys, etc.} referred-to {reviewed, synopsized, quoted, condensed, analyzed, etc.} herein are the property of their respective owners, are referred-to according to copyright law as interpreted in the U.S., and are cited whenever possible. No {endorsement, infringement, insult} is {expressed, implied, intended}, except where specifically stated. Other data sources: The Academy Awards www.oscars.org Corona Upcoming Attractions www.corona.bc.ca Star Trek www.startrek.com UPN www.upn.com Usenet news:rec.arts.sf.tv Yahoo! Movies movies.yahoo.com If you're receiving this newsletter, you've probably intentionally subscribed to it, or possibly you're interested in special topical coverage, or maybe I've sent you a teaser issue. To subscribe and unsubscribe, use the addresses below: Publisher: nsx@underbase.org (human) Newsletter: nsx-l@underbase.org (automated system) nsx-l-subscribe (to subscribe; blank subject) nsx-l-unsubscribe (to unsubscribe) /* *************************************************************************** ** *************************************************************************** ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** Volume 6, Issue 3: Thursday, 1 April 2004 ** Copyright 1999-2004 Phillip Thorne, nsx@underbase.org ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */