Phlogiston

There’s been a whole bunch of hoo-ha in the UK press over the last few days regarding an article in France’s Libération proclaiming the supposed superiority of the French woman. In what sounds disturbingly like how one would rate a breed of cattle or sheep, they apparently work harder and are more fertile. Fertile? Bloody hell. We’re not talking about prize bulls here. That aside, there is a common notion that French woman are, just, well, superior: more chic, more beautiful, and perfect at juggling career with domestic goddesshood. This article in The Independent debates the issue. Unsurprisingly the “Oui” camp is championed by a man, and the “Non” camp by a (British) woman. Having just returned from my second recent trip to Paris I have a pretty clear idea of where I stand in the debate, but for diplomacy’s sake I think I will remain quiet.

It was with a mixture of incredulity and derision that, over two years ago now, I heard that Battlestar Galactica was to be remade. For those of you who don’t remember the risible movie, followed by the embarassing and short-lived TV series, followed by an even worse and shorter-lived spin-off/sequel series, then you should count yourselves lucky. Hint: think Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and you’ll be in the right ball-park. Who would want to remake this steaming pile? Well, Ronald D. Moore would.

Then word spread that it wouldn’t be a remake, but a re-imagining; that it would be much darker, and very post-911; that Starbuck would be a woman. “Who cares?” I thought, it’s still going to suck. In 2003 a mini-series was produced, I guess to test the waters, and it was both a popular and critical success, and on the heals of that the first season of the new TV series aired last year. Word started to spread that it wasn’t just good, it was amazing. I started seeing talk of it not only in the blogosphere, but in much weightier journals, and critics and social commentators who wouldn’t normally touch science-fiction with a barge poll were singing its praises. My certainty that it must be rubbish started to weaken, and eventually I gave in and watched the mini series. It was really good! I instantly went on to watch the whole of the first season, and my opinion of it went up still further. Last Friday the first episode of the second season aired, and frankly it just gets better and better.

The New York Times’ whopping six-page article, Ron Moore’s Deep Space Journey (requires free registration), bears testament to the positive response the show has received from the mainstream media, calling it “one of the most original and provocative programs on television”. The show’s power consists in its dumping almost all of the tired worn-out cliches of science fiction, as expressed in Moore’s manifesto for “naturalistic science fiction”:

After numerous meetings and a full script treatment, he wrote a two-page memo that laid out the basic tenets of what the new “Battlestar Galactica” would eventually become. “We take as a given the idea that the traditional space opera, with its stock characters, techno-double-talk, bumpy-headed aliens, thespian histrionics and empty heroics has run its course, and a new approach is required,” it began. “Call it ‘naturalistic science fiction.’” There would be no time travel or parallel universes or cute robot dogs. There would not be “photon torpedoes” but instead nuclear missiles, because nukes are real and thus are frightening.

The naturalism is enhanced by the fact that the story, even of the original, so closely follows recent events:

“When I watched the original pilot,” Moore says, “I knew that if you did ‘Battlestar Galactica’ again, the audience is going to feel a resonance with what happened on 9/11. That’s going to touch a chord whether we want it to or not. And it felt like there was an obligation to that. To tell it truthfully as best we can through this prism.” In the miniseries Moore wrote to introduce the new “Battlestar,” the echoes of the war on terror were unapologetic and frequently harrowing: what happens when an advanced, comfortable, secular democracy endures a devastating attack by an old enemy that it literally created (which enemy, in Moore’s version, also happens to be religious fanaticism)?

The intended naturalism is also captured perfectly by the special effects, which are done by Zoic, the same company that did the effects for Firefly and Serenity, with their trademark CGI which looks like it is shot on handheld camera, complete with objects going in and out of focus, rarely remaing in the centre of the frame as if the camera is struggling to follow them, and frequently obscured by glare from lightsources such as an engine or a star. Indeed most of the (actual) camera work is handheld as well, following characters through dark cramped corridors. In this respect, the new re-imagined Galactica owes a considerable debt to Firefly, and the kudos for popularising naturalistic science fiction led by characters, and devoid of aliens, plot-saving marvels of technology never before mentioned, and incomprehensible technobabble, should be shared equally between the two. (And to be really fair, the idea is not exactly new, as anyone who has watched Alien or Blade Runner will know. It has, however, been on one hell of a long holiday.)

But what is most impressive is the honesty and seriousness with which genuine political and moral problems are treated. The comparison between the Cylons and either Al Quaeda or the evangelical right may sound hackneyed, but it is treated in a nuanced and subtle way: the humans are flawed and imperfect, and fail to own up to their responsibility for creating the Cylons or to recognise their own genocidal impulse towards them. The liberal democracy of the humans is beset with tensions between the military leadership and the civil leadership, and their freedoms often seem most imperilled by their own response to their near holocaust.

It seems ironic that a show which began life as a hackneyed attempt to ride the shirt tails of Star Wars and Star Trek should finally come into its own as those two franchises have come to a close, eclipsing them not only by reinventing itself, but by reinventing the whole genre of science fiction.

I blogged earlier about Django, a web application framework written in Python. I spent the weekend playing around a little with Django, as I have in the past with Rails and Zope. I always end up having mixed feelings about them: on one hand I can see the power and the potential for increased productivity they offer. On the other, their monolithic nature always puts me off. If I wanted to be an enterprise Java programmer I would be.

So it was interesting to stumble across this blog entry by Andy Smith: Why Frameworks Suck. I have some sympathy with what he says.

Those of you like me who get regular slightly comical and incredibly annoying emails claiming to be from someone wishing to dispose of the remaining fortune of some dead African despot via your bank account, if only you would be so kind as to give them all your banking details, may be pleased to read that Nigeria does seem to be successfully prosecuting the worst of the offenders.

As I blogged earlier, the world premiere of Serenity is at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Demand was so high that it sold out instantly and brought EIFF’s phone system and web servers down!

As a result, two extra dates were added: Festival filmgoers in a frenzy for Serenity.

THE Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has arranged two extra screenings of Serenity, the feature-film directorial debut of Joss Whedon, creator of the cult TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, following the “extraordinary” demand for its world premiere.

The Oscar and Emmy- nominated Whedon wrote and directed Serenity, which is the big-screen incarnation of his TV series Firefly.

The action thriller, set 500 years in the future, will now have two additional screenings, arranged by the festival and the film’s distributor, United International Pictures.

The film is not due to make its US theatrical debut until September 30, and will open at cinemas in the UK and Ireland on October 7.

EIFF artistic director Shane Danielsen, who has described Whedon as more influential in TV sci-fi and fantasy than anybody since Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, said: “When we get such a clear signal from the fans that they’re so passionate about a particular film, we’re more than happy, wherever we can, to make additional screenings possible.”

Serenity will receive its official gala premiere screening on Monday, August 22, to be followed on August 23 by a Reel Life interview with the writer and director.

The first extra screening will be a matinee on August 23. The second will be part of the Festival’s Best of the Fest line-up on August 28. Tickets will not be available until tomorrow, July 18. Full details of ticket availability will be posted shortly on the EIFF website.

Well tickets for the new showings went on sale today at midday. They were sold out by 12:05pm!

Robert Love is providing commentary on the sporting event of the year: Tour de Nat.

Every generation has its heroes. Men and women of selfless valor, pure heart, true intention. Motivated by altruism and justice, guided by faith, these men and women are our leaders, our inspiration, and our hope for a better tomorrow.

And then there are some men who just want to prove other men wrong.

The Tour de Nat is more than a 120 mile one-man race from posh Comm Ave in Boston to the rustic tip of Cape Cod. It is the melding of man and machine, one man’s quest to find himself and prove that nay-saying bastard wrong. It is also a little bit retarded and entirely unnecessary.

Courtesy of Tim Gerla’s Blog, Django, a Rails-like web application framework written in Python.

I guess I won’t be performing my usual vanishing act this summer: Serenity will have its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Further details are available here. Joss Whedon himself will be there, as well as most of the cast and crew. The Edinburgh Film Festival will also be having a Q+A session with Joss: Reel Life: Joss Whedon.

Last Friday I went to Paris with Chris to visit Jonathan. Spent a glorious four days hanging out, eating, drinking, basking in the sunshine, joined on a couple of evenings by Patrick. There were so many good things, but Sunday afternoon in the Marais was probably the highlight. Sigh. I really want to be living in Paris by next year.

Reported in The Guardian: Man used electric underpants ‘to fake heart attack’.

A judge yesterday threw out a claim by a man who, the court heard, used “electric underpants” to give himself fake heart attack symptoms.

Marcus Danquah, 41, of Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire, had sought up to £300,000 in damages after claiming that a wrongly wired £34.50 Morphy Richards 42400 Comfi Grip iron gave him a heart attack.

But the company alleged that he had wired the iron so that it became live and would give an electric shock to anyone who touched it. It also claims that he used the “amps-in-his pants” device in his underwear to create false reading on a hospital heart monitor.

Do you think he might be related to the Welsh lady shopper I blogged about earlier?

On the day after one on which we focused on those starving to death in Africa, it seems timely to think of poor Gina Gough: “I ate 15 bags of crisps a day for three years. I was addicted and it nearly killed me.”

When Gina Gough was rushed into hospital in agony, with severe abdominal pains and jaundice, doctors initially suspected hepatitis and put her to an isolation ward.

In fact, the 22-year-old’s condition was the result of a three-year diet that consisted almost entirely of crisps. She was eating up to 15 bags a day and went into hospital weighing 14st.

Apparently she had little idea that “anything this bad” might be the consequence of such a naturally healthy diet.

225,000 people marched to end poverty in Edinburgh yesterday, and I was one of them. As reported in The Scotsman, the event was distinguished by its warm friendly atmosphere.

The tidal wave of marchers which swept through the streets in a never-ending flow, whistled, drummed and chanted its way around the city, buoyed up by a seemingly endless supply of good humour. The trouble that broke out on the margins, when a few breakaway groups staged a confrontation with police, could not dent the general air of cheeriness. Rarely can poverty have been challenged so genially.

A number of things struck me about yesterday’s march, and the Live 8 concerts, and so in no particular order here they are:

• I was really struck by the diversity of the people involved. They were from all ages, including the very young and the very old, and from all social backgrounds, from the poor to the affluent, and clearly some people had travelled quite considerable distances to be there. With some exceptions which I’ll come to, it all had a very grass-roots feel to it: “normal people wanting to make a difference”. The BBC has some nice pictures. Certainly that was why I went. I just wanted to stand up and be counted.
• I really didn’t expect queuing to form such an integral part of the event! I queued in the Meadows for three hours before we finally managed to set off on the March, which lasted less than an hour.
• The one thing that really rubbed me up the wrong way was the presence of the The Socialist Worker Party and The Scottish Socialist Party. Ever since I was an undergraduate every single march and demonstration I have attended, without exception, has seen these parasites turn up and attempt to co-opt it to their own ends. And here they were again; whilst the march was to make povery history, and the colour to wear was white, they all sported red t-shirts with the slogan “Make Capitalism History”, and shouted out “White is the problem, red the solution”. They enfuriated me so much because for many of us, including myself, the most important thing on the agenda is fair trade for Africa, which of course can ony happen under a capitalist umbrella. By refusing to wear white and instead wearing red, and by demanding the end of capitalism when most of us were marching for free trade was like thumbing their noses at all the ordinary people who had made an effort to come here. Of course it is obvious why they have to try and bushwhack other people’s demonstrations like this; if they organised one themselves no one would turn up. They are complete leeches.
• The reason fair trade is the most important issue for me, and for many others, is that that would allow Africa to stand on its own feet. I know that I am wary of more aid, when so much of it in the past has gone directly into the pockets of corrupt regime leaders. Debt relief is important but it now seems like a foregone conclusion that it will happen. So fair trade is the issue most of us are concerned about, and also the least likely issue to receive a satisfactory outcome next week. I personally think that free trade would also help to remove corrupt regimes: when people can trade fairly they can earn a decent living; when they do that they own property and can afford to educate their children; money and education equals power, and only that will allow ordinary Africans to throw out their corrupt leaders and put their own houses in order. The creation of wealth brings with it a demand for the rule of law (that’s certainly what the Industrial Revolution did for Britain), and the rule of law is what removes corruption.
• Something I felt uncomfortable about was that the campsite for protestors was at Niddrie. That somehow struck me as being in incredibly poor taste. Most of the hippie activist types staying there are middle class drop outs who can afford to not have a job whilst travelling the world protesting about things. And here they are in Edinburgh, smack bang in the middle of one of Edinburgh’s (and probably the UK’s) poorest areas, in order to protest about poverty in Africa. I wonder how many of those people staying there even notice the poverty on their own doorstep?
• Am I the only one who thought that the concerts failed to deliver a political statement? With the orginal Live Aid concert twenty years ago, the political statement didn’t come from the number of people at the concerts or watching them on TV. It came from the enormous amount of money raised. Well, unless a hell of a lot of people come to Edinburgh this week as a result of watching or being at the concerts, Live 8 will have sent no such similar message, because there is no way of disentangling what was politically motivated about the attendance and what was simply motivated by wanting to see a really big music event. This just invites a cynical response (e.g. see Salaryman’s Make Hypocrisy History) and I’m betting that’s exactly what it will get from the G8.

Whilst the atmosphere was good—friendly and genial—I think I did detect a sense of hopelessness. Perhaps it was just me, but I got a distinct impression that people wanted to stand up and be counted precisely because they knew their leaders aren’t going to do what we want them to next week. That made me feel sad.

I completely failed to meet up with Hannu (sorry Hannu), mostly because I was recovering from the excesses of the night before with James, but I did manage to bump into my friend Maria who I haven’t seen for over three years, and it was really good to catch up with her.

Yesterday was also Chris’ birthday, during which he apparently got so disgracefully drunk that he’s going to have to spend all of today doing acts of atonement. Happy belated birthday Chris!

Saturday’s Daily Telegraph has a nice article about RE5ULT: Everything you always wanted to know by text… and an answer in seconds (requires free registration).