Gallery Update

2009.06.30 - Tuesday

I've put a few shots from Ron Moore's recently aired "Virtuality" in the gallery. I've got quite a few more but the nature of this show meant that a lot of them are very context sensitive or don't make for particularly good viewing as single frames. It was an enjoyable project to work on, especially since its about as close to "hardcore" science fiction, visually and narratively, as you're likely to find on television or anywhere else these days. I'll have a more in depth post on the show in a few days, once the current looming deadline has passed.

Michael Jackson, 1958 - 2009

2009.06.25 - Thursday

Michael Jackson is dead. While he may have been a lot of things, and endured a lot of controversy, I know of two things he was for certain; one of the best, most exciting performers in history, and the person who gave us some of the greatest songs ever recorded.

Up

2009.06.20 - Saturday

I really enjoyed Pixar's latest film. That being said, I don't consider it among their best efforts. For some reason the story seemed smaller, and more like a strung together series of skits than any of their other movies. It's still light years beyond most other animated films, and technically, the imagery and animation are excellent, of course. I suppose it's possible that I just didn't happen to have as much personal interest in the subject matter as say, "Wall-E", but I was also completely enthralled by "Ratatouille" and even "Cars". It's hard to put my finger on exactly what I felt was missing, but I definitely recommend seeing it, in theatres or not.

I also went to see "Up" in 3D, and to be perfectly honest, I still don't get the point. The faked depth perception doesn't add anything to the story or action on screen, it's just there. It's also not perfect. I can still see double images and ghosted lines, and objects in the "foreground" are rarely in focus. A swarm of bugs passing in front of camera is still just a blurry mess. In addition to that, there's the physical discomfort of having to wear these clumsy glasses for two hours, and of having the frames at the edges of your field of vision all the time. If anything, it actually made it harder for me to scrutinize and enjoy the texture, surface shading, and lighting work of some of the best CG artists in the world. I typically pour over a Pixar film with my eyes as one would any piece of fine art, but this 3D gimmickry makes that more difficult. I just find the entire process annoying. If I see the film again, I'll make sure to attend a conventional screening.

I wonder if most people actually prefer seeing films in 3D? Once they're over the initial "neato" factor, do they find it as cumbersome and annoying as I do? Do they, half way through the film, wish they could take off the glasses? Do they think the more expensive tickets are worth it? Personally, 3D film making seems like a technology being pushed on the film industry by technical fetishists like George Lucas and James Cameron. Maybe Cameron's "Avatar" will be mind-blowingly amazing, and maybe it will have the same pointless 3D effects as "Up" did. We'll see. Personally, until they can fix the ghostly double image issue, and possibly even ditch the glasses all together, I don't think watching a 3D film will ever be quite as immersive as watching a good conventional one can be. At the moment, instead of allowing your mind to forget where you are and wander into the fictional world of the screen, there are just too many distractions which constantly remind you of what you're really doing; sitting in a theatre watching something fake.

Stanley Cup Finals

2009.06.17 - Wednesday

After a great series there has been too much media attention on Sidney Crosby's supposed "snub" of certain Detroit players during the traditional post-game handshake. Now it's my personal opinion that Crosby and some of the Pens may have made a slight error on protocol, sort of, but in truth, if I had to pick a side to come down on, it's this simple letter to the editor of the Detroit Free Press:

Wings were rude. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Fact: Last year, the Wings took two whole minutes to celebrate in their own end. The Penguins stood mostly on the boards in front of the bench or around goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who stayed in his net. Chris Osgood made the first move to center ice, and his team followed him there. When Detroit got to center ice, only then did the Pens come over and start the handshake line. After the line, the Pens as a team collected themselves between the circles in the end where their locker room door is and, as a team, gave a salute to their home crowd, then skated off the ice.

Fact: This year, it was the Wings who went to center ice to press the issue of a line. Some the Pens who noticed them started over to shake and others filled in as they noticed. From the time the line first started until Kris Draper and Nicklas Lidstrom can be seen walking up the tunnel, the time that elapsed was 86 seconds. Judging by how fast they took off, it sure doesn't seem as if they were interested in shaking Crosby's hand. Crosby was at the net, being the teammate that he is and making sure everyone got recognition from their captain. When he was done with his team, he joined the line.

The rest of the Wings left the ice as soon as they went through the line. They didn't wait as a team and didn't acknowledge their home crowd. It is not the losing team's job to stand and center ice and press the issue. Any disrespect originated from the home team. The sore-loser Wings players owe an apology to Detroit fans, and all the Crosby bashers owe one to Sid.

Robert Ostrom and Mark Steffey, Strongsville, Ohio

Case closed.

The United Federation of Planets: Government

2009.06.10 - Wednesday

Well it's been years, literally, since my last Federation write up. With my resurgent interest in Star Trek it seemed like a good time, though I may have to shake off some rust. This is going to be a tough one, if only because there is so little information available on how the Federation is governed. First of all, it's important to remember that there is no money as we understand it in the Federation. That automatically means no taxes, fees or levies. Federation citizens can be considered to be, at least within Federation territory, the most liberated and free people to have ever existed, certainly when viewed from our 21st century perspective. A person is free to pursue whatever life they choose within the law, and while some career choices may require more work than others, there isn't even a need for a career or job at all. To be sure, that probably means most Federation citizens don't do a hell of a lot with their lives, but with so many member planets, over 150, and so many different cultures spread amongst an almost inconceivable population, there should easily be enough individuals driven to excellence upon who's backs Federation society can function. Just as some of these people will be compelled to join Starfleet or to become architects or engineers, others will want to make their stamp on society through political means.

It's clear from watching even the lazily written later Trek series' that the Federation government doesn't have a lot in common with our present day systems, or even with anything we've ever used in the past. It's obvious to me that the Federation represents an almost entirely new system of government, and quite likely one with heavy alien influence. I actually consider it to be flat out impossible for a person today to even theorize regarding the Federation system of government, since so much of it must be based on ideas and systems which originate on alien planets. We can deduce that there might be some kind of democratic function, given that the Federation clearly has a changing President, but even that is not clear. No one in Starfleet is ever heard talking about elections or Federation politics unless there is a "grave threat to the security of the Alpha Quadrant". There is reference in "Deep Space Nine" to the election of the Federation President, but it's not at all clear who exactly gets to vote. The President has a cabinet and advisors as any leader would, but beyond that the only organized government I can remember hearing about is the Federation Council.

Now I suppose it's possible that the council operates as a Senate would, with one Senator and one vote for each member planet, but nothing of the sort is ever mentioned. Also, to me at least, the word "council" suggests a much smaller group. I'd have to check into it, but I believe Starfleet itself has a seat on the council, though who fills that seat and how they get there no one knows. That being said, Starfleet in absolutely no way runs the Federation, as some have suggested. It just so happens that the television series' and films are about Starfleet personel. Now, with that out of the way, the Federation council is also able to be called to session extremely quickly whenever crises or issues crop up, and it seems to render decisions quickly as well, which suggests to me that they must follow a reasonably simple and iron clad set of rules. I don't think you'll find the Federation constitution is anywhere near the EU's 300 pages and counting, for example. In general, the Federation Council and the office of the President seem responsible almost exclusively for foreign policy, which makes a lot of sense considering member planets are not required to give up any kind of sovereignty in order to join. The Federation is not akin to the United States in any way, and certainly has little in common with the United Nations. I tend to think of it more along the lines of NATO, but with a combined military force and much stronger economic ties. As I mentioned in my "economy" write up, advanced Federation technology ensures each member planet is completely self-sufficient as far as energy and resource production goes. No one needs anything from anyone else in the Federation, they've made a conscious decision to ally themselves for mutual protection, and perhaps more importantly for cultural similarity as well as cultural and technological development and growth.

Despite some Star Trek border maps you may discover online, I find it unlikely that Federation planets and territory are joined at all. Certainly some areas would be larger than others, but with over 150 member worlds, it's impossible for them all to be located within some encircling border. Federation membership is determined by cultural, technological, and economic similarity, not by geography. In practice, just as each member is largely self-sufficiant when it comes to resources, so too would they be when it comes to governance. Each planet would obviously have its own system of government, perhaps some of them being vastly different from each other within the bounds of the Federation charter. While Earth may still operate as a pure democracy, still possible given a population of just a few billion, Vulcan or Andoria may not. It seems highly improbable that any variation on a democratic system as we understand it now could work across the entire Federation, with a population in the hundreds of billions, at least. With such huge numbers of individuals, direct representation is impossible from a practical point of view, so why pretend it's important or even desirable? Perhaps each planet's leader or group of leaders are the only pool from which the Federation President can be chosen? A Pope-like election process could work in that situation.

In a way I'm grateful no one tried to nail down the Federation system of government too much, since it leaves the whole thing to our imaginations. We can pretend that this fantastic society could actually work, precisely because it does not function similarly to any Human civilization that has existed to date, all of which have fallen victim to ennui or collapse. If there's one thing Star Trek fans have never responded well to, it's stories of decay and corruption in the Federation. As a group, Trek fans simply aren't interested in hearing about it. A man like Picard is not supposed to be uniquely moral in Federation society. There are no Federation secret police, and there is no Federation censure of, well, anything. The Federation Council does not succumb to "ends justify the means" policies. After all, if we aren't working towards a society like the Federation, then what the hell is the point?