/* ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* ** ** 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 8, Issue 6: Wednesday, 31 May 2006 ** Previous issue: Thursday, 13 April 2006 ** ** ************************************************************************* ** ************************************************************************* */ EDITOR: It's still May! OBS & COGS: Flying seeds, rabbits, linguistics, TV ads, movies LEGO NEWS: Blogs, fancy robots, "Batman" and Nickelodeon sets SPECIAL EVENTS: Wizard World, video games concert, anime picnic, etc. 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 ** ************************************************************************ */ Yikes! Almost let May slip by without an issue. Which means, as usual, that I'm dropping a slew of half-finished content in order to transmit this. I've really got to reinstate NSX::Blogmode. At my current job, one of my tasks is to keep the department's contact documents up-to-date -- the phone lists, org chart, and seating chart -- and since we've been growing rapidly, it's a never-ending task. It's a temp job, and will be ending in June, so my last duty will be to remove *myself* from them. Sheesh. I feel like a destructor method. (Nobody who's not an OO programmer will understand that. In object-oriented languages (C++, Java, C#, etc.), a "constructor method" creates a new object, allocating memory and other software resources. A "destructor" does the opposite, cleaning up when the object is retired.) /* *************************************************************************** ** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS ** ** Maple helicopters ** Green rabbits ** Sapir-Whorf ** TV ads with under-the-radar SF thinking ** "X-Men III" earns $120M ** Live-action "Transformers" starts filming ** ************************************************************************ */ It's spring, the season for flowering trees -- and pollen, and seeds. For a couple of weeks hereabouts we were inundated with maple "helicopters" -- which are like helicopters only if you consider their emergency unpowered "autorotation" mode. (And Leonardo da Vinci's now-so-called helicopter wasn't -- its aerodynamic principle is completely different from Sikorsky's, and wouldn't work in practice.) But there sure were a *lot* of the spinning things, and I finally thought to look *up* to discover their origin. Wow, those are big seed-clusters -- I assume maple trees must get flowers, and there are a half-dozen of them in my backyard, but somehow I've never *looked* at them to notice. Why are rabbits brown? Why haven't they (yet) evolved green fur to better blend with suburban lawns? In a logographic written language such as Chinese, how does a writer introduce neologisms (new terms), and how do readers recognize them? Is it possible to combine characters (their meanings and pronunciations) arbitrarily, as with a syllabary or alphabet? The so-called "Strong Safir-Whorf Hypothesis" holds that language shapes thought: it's impossible to think about a concept if you lack a word for it. This is the basis for the language "Newspeak" in George Orwell's novel _1984_, and for Samuel Delaney's SF novel _Babel-17_. Obviously, the strong version of the argument is false -- how would anyone coin new words to describe new concepts if it was flat-out impossible to conceive of them? (- -From discussion on news:rec.arts.sf.written.) You occasionally see TV commercials that are better exemplars of far-out SF thinking than the TV shows. Consider those advertising the new Toyota Yaris, a high-mpg sedan. In one such, the car extrudes a metallic tentacle from its hood and tries out various effectors (saw, laser) to penetrate a piggy bank. It does so, eats the large metal coin, then undergoes binary fission. (Shplrrr-blurp!) Or: the Honda ad in which the entire world turns upside-down, and only the car sticks to the road. Or: the ad for Swiss Re (a global reinsurance company) featuring powered stilts, personal airbags, and transforming corner store. http://www.toyota.com/yaris/ The movie "X-Men III: The Last Stand" earned $120 million domestically in its opening weekend (better than "Star Wars Episode III" or "Harry Potter #4"). Five of my friends and I liked it greatly, although certain elements we dismissed as only slightly annoying caused the reviewer for "Sci Fi Weekly" to give it a "C" rating. Fans now get to wonder if #4 and the "Wolverine" spin-off will feature Sentinel robots or the super-mutant character Apocalypse. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/screen/sfw12781.html Michael Bay, director of Dreamwork's in-progress live-action "Transformers" movie, has a blog. In the latest entry he explains how heat stroke is a real surprise, and the cooperation the film is receiving from the US military (Holloman AFB and White Sands, both in New Mexico). Since Pentagon policy is to assist only films that portray the military in a respectful light, we must assume that the film's version of US troops embody the best traditions of patriotic service -- before being totally annihilated by Megatron and the Decepticons. http://www.michaelbay.com/blog/newsblog.html http://www.alamogordonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060521/NEWS01/605210302 /* *************************************************************************** ** LEGO NEWS ** ** NXT Bot and NXT Club blogs ** New "Batman" sets ** New "Avatar" and "SpongeBob" sets ** ************************************************************************ */ NXT Bot and NXT Club are two blogs created to track the new LEGO Mindstorms NXT product, but while waiting for news on the next generation of LEGO robotics they track other LEGO non-robotics and non-LEGO robotics news. http://www.nxtbot.com/ http://www.nxtclub.com/ Stories include: * A two-wheeled self-balancing bot, resembling the Segway scooter (NXT) * Dave Astolfo's domino-laying bot (RCX) * JP Brown's Rubik's Cube-solving bot (RCX plus VisionCommand) * A full-sized pinball game (13 RCX units plus 20,000 bricks) The second wave of "Batman"-themed LEGO sets have hit stores. They include the 1071-piece Batcave (featuring Mr.Freeze and the Penguin) and the 1045- piece UCS Batmobile ("UCS" for "Ultimate Collectors Series," a scale invented for "Star Wars"). The third wave will include Arkham Asylum, a set with Poison Ivy, Riddler, and Scarecrow minifigs. (The "Spider-Man" sets from a few years back were licensed by Sony Entertainment to depict the movies specifically. In contrast, DC Comics has licensed the "Batman" brand in general, which gives the designers more creative freedom.) http://shop.lego.com/leaf.asp?cn=244&d=7&t=3 Thus far they're only available in LEGO Stores (three in New Jersey, none in Pennsylvania) and online, but the first sets based on "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" (both licensed by Viacom/Nickelodeon) are now on sale. http://shop.lego.com/leaf.asp?cn=246&d=7&t=3 http://shop.lego.com/leaf.asp?cn=245&d=7&t=3 /* *************************************************************************** ** SPECIAL EVENTS ** ** Wizard World Philadelphia: 2-4 June ** Video Games Live: 3 June ** Cosplay Picnic and Anime Faire: 4 June ** NMRA National Train Show with LEGO clubs: 7-9 July ** Puffy AmiYumi tour: 8 July ** Blobfest: 14-15 July ** ************************************************************************ */ The WIZARD WORLD PHILADELPHIA pop-culture expo appears at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on fri-2-, sat-3-, and sun-4-jun. (10:00-18:00 Friday and Saturday, 10:00-17:00 Sunday.) Topics include occidental comics, anime, computer and card gaming. The show floor features large vendors and publishers, small vendors, and an extensive Artists Alley. The program tracks feature notable actors and filmmakers. A one-day pass is $25; three- day is $45. (Also, PHILCON will be crewing a table to promote its next convention, in November.) http://www.wizarduniverse.com/conventions/philadelphia.cfm The VIDEO GAMES LIVE "immersive concert event celebration" will appear at the Merriam Theatre in PA/Philadelphia on sat-3-jun-2006 at 20:00, preceded by a pre-show festival at 19:00. Tickets ($25-$65) are available through Ticketmaster (outlets, Ticketmaster.com, 215-336-2000). http://www.videogameslive.com The Delaware Anime Society (DAS) will be holding a COSPLAY PICNIC AND ANIME FAIRE in the Talley Day Park in DE/Wilmington on sun-4-jun from 12:00 to 17:00. Cosplay (dressing in replica costume from, typically, anime) is encouraged but not required. Admission is $10. http://www.delawareanimesociety.com/faire/ The public portion of the NATIONAL TRAIN SHOW (NTS) of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) will run from fri-7- to sun-9-july at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Member clubs of ILTCO, the International LEGO Train Club Organization, will be presenting a massive joint layout. This includes a contribution by DelVaLUG, the Delaware Valley LEGO Users Group. (Kids love trains, especially ones in bright colors.) http://www.nationaltrainshow.org/ http://www.iltco.org/ http://www.delvalug.org/ The pop duo from Japan return to Philadelphia: the PUFFY AMIYUMI LIVE 2006 TOUR appears at Philadelphia's TLA (Theater of the Living Arts) on July 8th. I attended their 2005 show and it was quite entertaining -- but very very VERY loud. (Unlike the short-lived "idol singers" that dominate Japanese pop music, Ami and Yumi have had a prolonged career. They're known in the US for the theme song to "Teen Titans" and their own cartoon, "The HiHi Puffy AmiYumi Show." Well, "their own" to approximately the same degree that Jackie Chan was involved with "Jackie Chan Adventures, i.e. not much.) http://www.tofurecords.com/artists.php?artistid=puffy BLOBFEST, the annual celebration by PA/Phoenixville of the movie (filmed partially in that town's Colonial Theatre), runs sat-14- and sun-15-july. http://www.thecolonialtheatre.com/html/BlobFest.html /* ************************************************************************ ** Legalese ** Acknowledgments ** Opt-in/out Instructions ** *********************************************************************** */ The original content {layout, text} of this newsletter is copyright 2006 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 Internet Science Fiction Database www.isfdb.org Science Fiction Weekly www.scifi.com/sfw Sci Fi Wire www.scifi.com/scifiwire Usenet news.rec.arts.anime.misc news:rec.arts.sf.tv news:rec.arts.sf.written news:rec.arts.startrek.tech Wikipedia en.wikipedia.com 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 8, Issue 6: Wednesday, 31 May 2006 ** Copyright 1999-2006 Phillip Thorne, nsx@underbase.org ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */