BABYLON 5: RAMBLING ABOUT IMMORTALITY AND OTHER FIRST ONE IMPLICATIONS...

"We were born naturally immortal"

     Lorien confesses this to Ivanova during the "Into the Fire" episode of Babylon 5. He goes on to say, "At first we were kept in balance by birth rate. Few of us were ever born, less than a handful each year. Then I think the universe decided, that to appreciate life for there to be change and growth, life had to be short. So the generations that followed us grew old, infirmed, then died. But those of us who were first went on..."

     I've wondered about this. Details about Lorien's race and the groups of ancient, powerful aliens collectively known as The First Ones were always scant and deliberately so as, in the words of the show's creator J. Michael Straczynski (who may have quoting someone else...haven't listened to that commentary in a long time), "To define is to kill." It's how movies like Jaws worked so effectively. By keeping the shark unseen, the impact of its horror increased because we instinctually fear the unknown. Once exposed to a fear, we can face it. Likewise, once exposed to an unknown, we can demystify it.

    This does not mean conclusions may not be drawn about them. One of the gimmicks in the show is the use of hyperspace to allow for interstellar travel in reasonable timeframes. Being able to access it is a game-changer for a species. Before that, a spacefaring species would be confined to its own solar system because space is VAST making travel between stars a generational consideration and not to mention a one-way trip. This was the fate of Earth prior to its encounter with the Centauri.
    And that is typically how a younger race "discovers" hyperspace: they are encountered by another spacefaring race who already has access and that access is sold or rented for a time until that race manages to reverse-engineer the technology of jump gates and becomes a full-fledged member of the interstellar community.
    The first conclusion drawn from hyperspace entry points called "jump points" is why they are colored orange for entry points and blue for exit points. This would be an example of the Doppler effect but applied to light rather than sound. If anything it shows how much faster hyperspace travel is because it is red-shifting the light of entry points and blue-shifting the light of exit points.

     However, where those gates came from in the first place is never mentioned outright in the show. The clue given is via the First Ones. Shadow vessels appear to phase into normal space seamlessly. The Walkers of Sigma-957 explode electrically into normal space. This unnamed First One jumps into normal space as though cloaked in fire.

Shadow Vessels appearing

The Walkers of Sigma-957

almost-as-old-as-the-Vorlons First One

     But when the Vorlons appear, they appear using the same funnel shape used by every other of the younger races depicted in the show.

Vorlon capital ships entering normal space

    The conclusion which may be drawn is that the Vorlons built the jump gates seen throughout the series and seeded them throughout the galaxy. It is probably fair to assume the Vorlons had intended them for their own use but others found them and made use of them. They built the highways and now others benefit from their pioneering work.

     Another thing I couldn't help but notice in the show is that despite the advanced age of the First Ones, the younger races seemed able to adapt to them quickly. Like, their technology was still far beyond our own but we could crack it. Maybe that's an effect of it being easier to reverse engineer something than it is to create it from scratch but I also wonder if it had anything to do with what Lorien had said about his race's initial immortality.
     Using his own words, one can infer that with long life, comes slow change and that with short life, comes faster change. We don't know how long-lived the individual beings of the First One races are. We only know that the Shadows are the oldest of them. Personally I would like to believe that the Vorlons are the youngest of the First Ones because the show has a way of rhyming (in addition to the main rivals, the Vorlons and Shadows, being diametrically opposed) and it would seem appropriate if they were.
     Lorien comments that the beings in the cloaked-in-fire ship are "almost as old as the Vorlons". The natural interpretation that statement in English carries the implication that they are younger than the Vorlons but it could just as easily be the other way around if you allow for it (and I am :-) ).
     It's the same as when they are given names. The name of the homeworld of the Shadows is Z'ha'dum but the name of their species is said to be over 10,000 letters long, unpronounceable by the human tongue. The name of the Vorlons is just that and while their homeworld is once referred to as "Vorlon" by Lyta Alexander, it is usually referred to as "the Vorlon homeworld". Unless Lyta was correct, I would like to think the name of the Vorlon homeworld, like the Shadows's actual name, is over 10,000 letters long and thus unpronounceable to the human tongue so as for their respective species to rhyme, so to speak.

     Anyways, what if the First Ones are mortal, but especially long-lived naturally? Another feature the First Ones have in common is that they are unlike the younger races in that they are not walking meat sacks like we are.

Lorien

Vorlon

Shadows in their raiment - they're ultraviolet, thus invisible to the human eye as energy beings

     They're all "energy beings" and while it is implied this is a transcendent state any species in this universe can achieve in time, quite personally I like to think of it as the First Ones came from a time when the Universe was different, more magical if you will. Lorien would be from the immortal "Golden Age", the First Ones would be from the long-lived but increasingly body-bound "Silver Age", and the younger races are from the short-lived, very mortal, meat-sack bodies "Bronze Age".

     To take a page for J.R.R. Tolkien's lore, I would say the immortal Lorien race could choose to cloak themselves in bodies as though raiment if they so chose but that they did not need such bodies to survive and could survive the loss of those bodies. However I'm assuming that they would need to use physical bodies in order to work the substance of the Universe but were slow to do so being immortal.

Lorien's raiment

     The First Ones were also born without bodies and could choose to have them or not but unlike Lorien's race, they were more limited, appearing to be limited to a single physical form with which to work the Universe and which each species of First One had in common with others of their kind. They were also weaker. A Vorlon, for instance, cannot survive in the vacuum of space whereas we see Lorien doing so just fine. The Shadows seemed especially vulnerable to being killed by explosions or simply being shot.
     If I had to venture a guess, I would say the First Ones were born that way and were not the product of evolution like the younger races are.
     As for the younger races, being one of them yourself, you know how vulnerable we are to death. It's like our bodies can't wait to die and that our souls, if they exist at all, appear inseparable from, and thus likely die with, our bodies.


    But the thing is, for races millions to billions of years older than humanity, they're not inscrutable and I wonder if this has to do with them living longer. Human generations are only about 25 years long. Imagine if our generations were 1,000 times as long or even 10,000 times? You wouldn't be in as much a hurry to do things, now would you?
     Human civilization is about 6,000 years old coming from 20-25 year generations. 250 generations built this city. But if those generations were a thousand times longer, just getting to the Moon would've taken millions of years. Maybe that's how it was for the First Ones: never in a hurry to get shit done because there wasn't one. Even more so for Lorien's race, thus his surmising that for there to be change and appreciation, life must be short.
     And because human, Narn, Centauri, Minbari, Drazi, etc. lives are so short, they've gotten a lot farther in the short lifespan of their civilizations than the First Ones ever could have done in the same period of time.

     I think it would at least explain how beings so old could be beaten by creatures so young as us as well as outmaneuvered in thought.

    As for the charge that the Shadows and Vorlons who took it upon themselves to nurture the younger races like shepherds had become rigid and inflexible, perhaps (also an allusion to the Lord of the Rings), it is because they were cheating death.
     The Vorlons did so directly. A rough draft script for a never-produced Babylon 5 movie stated that the Vorlons were not always immortal implying that they are now and thus weren't always. The Shadows are known for hibernating in-between their wars which may have been their trick to prolong their lives beyond reasonable measure (perhaps even doing so as a response to the Vorlons becoming immortal...if you're going to cheat, we're going to cheat too!). You could extend, say, a thousand year lifespan considerably if you were only awake for it twenty or so years at a time and in stasis for hundreds to thousands of years in-between.
     The lack of change the Universe once corrected for by creating mortal intelligences would thus come into play again and need to be dealt with. Creatures living long beyond their natural lifespans, however long they already were naturally, would disrupt the natural flow of life and growth in the Universe.
     Thus, they and the remaining First Ones had to go which was finally able to happen thanks to Sheridan and the Vorlon Kosh.

     I've really lost my place but I'll publish this nonsense that you might enjoy it...somehow.

ABOUT AS MUCH A PROTEST AS BISMUTH-209 IS RADIOACTIVE...

     I decided since neither my store nor my union supported me with my latest run-in with management that I would no longer shop at my store. I figure, I will take their money but I will not give any of it back.

     I was placed on cash control at the end of September. This is one of the drawbacks of lane accountability. While the upside is that I get to go through a hell of a lot more change (my take of 1978-dated coins, especially quarters, has been WAY higher since my store switched over to this new system), the downside is that the screw-ups of those who worked the lane before (and after) me affect us all.

     Anywho, when placed on cash control, I was given a sheet to sign with several rules regarding how I am supposed to conduct myself and control my cash while under this observation period.
     This was also my first time on cash control ever. Nearly fourteen years I've been there and it's never happened. Yes, I've gotten the occasional write-up for being over/short (almost always over...I seem to be good at convincing customers to walk out without their money) warning me that if it happened again within a certain period I would be placed on cash control. I never was. I'd get a write-up once, sometimes twice, a year.
     Three months into lane accountability and I've been written up three times for shortages. Like the other warnings there is a rollover period where if nothing else happens (I think it's ten days), your reputation is restored...until the next time. The trouble is, this third write-up mentioned that the shortage was excessive so I was placed on CC immediately...

     Right away I got into conflict with my manager. He would refuse to prove my till either having me do it myself or not at all despite the CC guidelines specifically stating the manager has to do it. I had also been directed to not leave my register unattended (the till would have to be placed in a cash control bag, sealed, and locked away before I could leave).
     The second night he insisted I leave my register without securing it first. And when I protested and finally refused, he sent me home for insubordination. Was it insubordination? Yes. Technically.

     It bugged me that he refused to take the thirty or so seconds it would take to lock away my till as directed or that he refused to use another employee who wasn't on cash control...no, it had to be me for some reason. It bothered me that he reprimanded me publicly and in front of other employees (both union no-no's). I was also annoyed that I got sent home for refusing to violate cash control policy and another cashier that same night also refused to do what he told her for the exact same reason and did NOT get sent home. And it irked me that when I returned, he took me aside immediately and insisted I pledge to do whatever he tells me.
     I told him I would do what he said provided it does not violate CC policy. For him, this was a yes or no question. He would not accept my modification and sent me home again, pending a union meeting...also my first in all my years there.
     I made my detailed statement, gave it to the shop steward, and when I finally got my callback, I was told basically "do the crime, snitch later." My union did not side with me at all. My union would not fight to get my lost pay restored for refusing to follow what I felt was an illegal order. And my store felt the same. Insubordination, period. Completely risking my job now if it happens again.

     Now understand, yes...I would've like to have won that battle but that's not really the point as far as I'm concerned. All I needed to hear was the gist of President Luchenko's speech to Sheridan (from Babylon 5) and I would've been fine.
     In Rising Star she told Sheridan that his insurrection against President Clark's dictatorship was probably the right thing to do but that he did it the wrong way, the inconvenient way and thus, even though we viewers saw Sheridan as a hero, he still legitimately faced execution for taking up arms against his own government.
     Now obviously I didn't go THAT far, but it would've been nice to hear from either side that at least someone believed that I was trying to do the right thing but that I was doing it the wrong way...the inconvenient way and thus I still had to be punished. But I would never get such satisfaction.

     Thoroughly demoralized, I knew I couldn't quit my job (I was really, really tempted to). I meant to take a "mental health" day too after that phone call but I ultimately decided not to. The bitch of that decision was when I got into work, I was the only one on my shift who DIDN'T call out. What luck!
     I went into a severe depression that got interrupted, but not aborted. When I get very sad I lose my appetite. This was the first time since 2008 that I had gone the no-eating route. I forgot I had agreed to go to a charity dinner that Friday so I had to eat before I was ready to again. By that point, I had gone thirty hours without a calorie. I gorged at the dinner thus refueling my sadness. After that dinner I went another forty hours without food...a new record. My previous record was thirty-six hours (which is also the longest I've ever gone without sleep) so, uh...yay?
     I've been fine since but I decided I would no longer shop at my store. I imagine this will become difficult after Christmas when I'm staring at all those discounted M&Ms. I'll have to hope my alternate store will have had the same difficulty off-loading their supply as mine always does.

     My alternate store is smaller than my own so its product diversity is not as high. One thing it definitely does not have is my high-fiber Fiber One bread so I've been eating a different brand of ordinary whole-wheat bread.
     Here's the thing. I've had hemorrhoids for a good five years now. My asshole still bleeds occasionally (story's taken a turn now, hasn't it?) but since I've stopped eating the Fiber One bread, my asshole's been getting, well...better. So far, it's the only thing I'm doing differently in my diet. Everything else is the same. My poops are smaller too...easier to pass. Is it possible there is such a thing as "too much fiber"? Perhaps.
      I've had some hints of blood on my wipes, but not as much and many times now, none at all. It's weird those unintended consequences, right? I inconvenience myself to make purchases at another supermarket, a protest which the accountants will never even notice in their weekly sales reports and it results in me discovering that maybe I've been overdoing it with my fiber intake.

     Weird...

FACEBOOK CUTTING ROOM FLOOR

     It's been a while since I've done a Rejected Facebook Statuses dump. So let's begin, shall we?

I HAVE LOOKED UPON THE FACE OF A VORLON...AND NOTHING IS THE SAME ANYMORE

This is about as close to a religious experience as I can get. Some of the deepest waters of my soul have been disturbed. It was amazing and I am taken immediately to this scene from Babylon 5...it's been running through my head all night since yesterday :-)


Scene from "The Fall of Night", Season 2 finale of Babylon 5 (1995)

Later, the witnesses talked about what they had all seen...

(Narn) "It was G'Lan.  I saw it with my own eyes.  He swooped down as was told in the old stories."
(Drazi) "No, not G'Lan.  Dro'Shalla, whose light fills the world."
(Narn) "Doesn't matter.  It was a good sign for the coming  year.  This place has been blessed."
(Drazi) "And you, what did you see?"
(Vachon) "The First One, the very manifestation of beauty and infatuation. A great weight has been taken off my soul for a time. [nods and smiles] It is indeed a good sign..."

Sixteen years have passed since I last saw her. This is the second time in my life I have had this feeling of emergence. I wish I had reason to believe; to hope that this could go as well as it did the first time just a few short years ago, but I mustn't be foolish. Still, there is renewal and it will last...for a time :-)

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE...

      J. Michael Straczynski, the creator and principle author of Babylon 5, has this theme he revisits: characters who are cryptic. The most famous of these are the alien species, the Vorlons, known mostly to audiences through their ambassador to the Babylon station, Kosh. He was one of those characters spouting seemingly nonsensical lines which were more often than not laden with hidden meanings (there's a whole page dedicated to these sayings). He, at times, would come across as dismissive to those speaking to him...but he had his reasons for doing this.

      Kosh, being a member of an ancient race of aliens, knew their (even more) ancient enemy, the Shadows, were coming out of hiding and that it was important to begin preparations for the inevitable war which would begin once the Shadows had reassembled their fleets. The thing is, the Vorlons just couldn't come right out and say this fact nor could the Vorlons openly reveal who and what they were lest the Shadows get wind of it and begin the war before anyone opposing them could be ready. The modus operandi of the Vorlons is that of secrecy. Next to nothing is known of their species, their way of life, their government...even what they really look like since they insist on appearing in public wearing an "encounter suit". The only thing known definitively about them is that the ships they pilot are alive.
      I like how their actions gave a sense of importance to what they were doing. Yes, it was arrogant of them...but it was also necessary. I would love to find out that I was actually important and mattered in the grand scheme of things.

      Another character, introduced in "A Call to Arms" and then as a regular character in the legacy series "Crusade" was the technomage Galen. Technomages were a group of people who used their advanced technologies, in addition to furthering their own purposes, to simulate the effects of magic. After all, it was Arthur C. Clarke who said that, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" and the technomages used that Law to great effect.
      But like the Vorlons, the technomages too, were secretive. They left known space before the Shadow War had begun for reasons which were their own and hesitated to return. It was Galen who first returned and without permission from his Order when he discovered that the Drakh, the primary servitors of the Shadows, in the name of revenge, had found a Planet Killer the Shadows had left behind and were intending to use it, in a grand display, to wipe out all life on Earth. But Galen could not simply tell the people he needed to tell about this impending doom otherwise the Drakh would launch their attack now instead of when planned, when Earth would be wholly defenseless against such an onslaught. He had to be cryptic and careful in an effort not to alert the Drakh's spies.

       The point I'm getting to with all this is that I've found their secretiveness to parallel what I go through on at least a weekly basis. Yes, it is very arguable that both Kosh and Galen are simply being dicks because why not just be frank about it? And there really are occasions when you, as an audience member, feel they know full well they are toying with those whom they are speaking and enjoying every moment of it. (best example)
      What I'm saying is, there are a lot of things that go on in my that I obviously need to talk about...but I can't tell you what they are. There's something about me needing to know you're capable of figuring it out. I can't just lead you by the hand to the problem because then I have no faith in your ability to solve it or help me work through it. But if you can figure it out...if you understand...then I am more prone to relaxing my defenses and letting you in and more importantly, accepting what it is you will tell me.
      A simple example is most often the simplest, almost daily, problem I face: I need human contact...literally. Touch. Ideally from women, but really...all kinds. I've been left alone; isolated, for too long. But I can't ask. To beg for it or even to simply feel as though I am begging for it...no mater how much it is actually needed, simply ruins anything brought about from such begging. It needs to be either sincere or I need to believe that it was sincere. The trouble is, most people do not understand this need, probably because they have never had to go without for any extended period of time, but I can attest to you...touching is needed to feel human; to feel like one belongs...it is so very necessary. Going years without it or having it only anomalously is corrosive to the soul. It wears you down as it is not a singular longing but a pervasive one so it's not a hurt like you would feel from falling or getting pricked or even suffering a public humiliation. No, it's more like erosion.
      Touching and inclusiveness are the roots and moisture holding the soil of the soul in place. Without them, it all just blows away...some parts faster than others, but it is a steady loss that a healthy individual can withstand either because they are still strong and can replace that soil themselves or are capable of finding support when they need it to halt any further erosion. But I've gone a long time. I'm like the soils of Iceland. When the Vikings first arrived, they saw a fertile-looking land much like the Scandanavia they had left behind and treated the land as such not realizing that the fertility of the soils they had found was the product not of years, but of centuries and as such, those soils and lands were easily depleted...the fallout of which Iceland is still dealing with centuries later¹.

      Occasionally, like Kosh and Galen, I've attempted to recruit people unwittingly to serve my goals...hoping they'd figure it out. I haven't succeeded in such endeavors. RedMom tried, I'll admit, with Digby...a lot of people I worked with did, but then I was open about recruiting allies as an experiment against previous crushes which I had attempted to succeed largely, if not entirely, on my own. But like letting the cat out of the bag to the Shadows, it had only caused me to fail faster than ever before...
      Triangulating is another method I'm fond of. This is where I tell one person something directly knowing full-well they now cannot not help me themselves. I'm sacrificing them (so to speak) using the idea that now they know something they can use against my Mind (though not themselves). I hope they will find the right person to give this information to behind my back while not simultaneously giving away that they had done so (at least not until after it's too late for such damning information to have any effect)...but it never happens. The Drakh succeed, and Earth is destroyed.
       Even when I had been to therapists, they annoyed the shit out of me by dismissing my desire to talk about my made-up worlds, language, and alphabet. Looking back on it all, I see a goldmine of useful information which could have come from discussions of how my language's grammar worked and what kind of governments and religions did I envision for these worlds? So much could have been learned and insights into the way I think gleaned...albeit roundaboutly...I'm sure of it...but it would never be and my disdain for therapists is only furthered when listening to my other friends who have had therapists themselves, describe their experiences. Without even getting into it, does anyone else see the irony of a person who feels he has no one to talk to creating a language from scratch? Talk about a cry for help, but no...it wasn't important.

     So, I don't know, I guess if you see me...make sure you give me a hug and associated normal kinds of touching and make sure I do the same for you...just don't mention you had read this article. Keep it between "us" ;-)

---

¹  Information on Iceland was paraphrased from things I had learned from reading the book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

STEAL THIS IDEA!

      I think I've built up enough of these to start a new entry series. Y'see, in addition to not being an author, I am also not a writer...or at least not a good one (as this blog no doubt attests). However, this doesn't stop these strange, and what I would hope to be good, ideas from popping into to my head on occasion. I would love to see these ideas developed, but lacking talent of my own to do so, I must rely on the good peoples of the internet to do it for me.

      Here's how it works. I present to you, my dear reader(s), an idea I think worthy of a story or at least worth including in a story be that story traditional literature, a movie, or television series (hell, even a play, who am I to give a fuck?). What you do is, upon approving of its meritoriousness, you fucking steal it...run with it...make it your own. Take the credit too, I don't give a shit (although let's face it, getting a mention in your finished project would be just peachy). I just want to know this idea exists outside my limited mind.

      Seeing as how I recently railed against horror films, I thought my first entry should relate to them.

      Start the film in the middle of the action. Bypass all that shit in the beginning where we spend twenty minutes with jerks and deal with the happy times before the killer/monster/force of evil strikes.
      Jump right into the thick of it, like after the first couple of kills. Have a cast which is already aware that something bad is happening and have the audience figure out, through clues in the narrative structure and/or scenery, just what is going on. Do not provide the solutions for what is going on through clumsy dialogue exchanges between surviving characters. They're running for their lives, not trying to solve a mystery. The mystery element is there for those audience members who didn't necessarily come just to see teenagers getting murdered in impractically fantastic ways. I'm looking for a "have your cake and eat it too" type film that will lend itself to rewatch because you, the curious viewer, are determined to figure out the killer's raison d'être, what these kids actually did to provoke his/her/its ire, and how it was the Final Girl was able to stop him/her/it despite the utter failures of her other, now dead, friends.
      Doing this will require a lot of planning and storyboarding before you actually begin shooting the film, but I think it is something worth doing because at some level, I am a fan of giving the audience homework. Wait on the actual answer for at least a year...let the message boards hash it out first...see if anyone can put it all together first. Done right, even the actors and actresses in the film need not know the mystery behind it.

      It's an idea that's been attempted before in the Babylon 5 legacy series, Crusade. While ultimately TNT forced J. Michael Straczynski to make an alternate pilot, the episode intended to be the first one survives. It was meant to thrust the audience into the thick of things and have them figure it out and it not only works, but is a solid concept. I've been entranced by the idea ever since and would like see it done.


DISCLAIMER: To anyone reading this, you are welcome to not only use, but claim this idea as your own without giving credit to me. I sometimes have ideas, but I do not have the skills needed to express them. It is more important to me to see these ideas done than to receive recognition for them. That being said, giving me a mention anyway would make me giddy. If this idea has in fact already been done, then I strongly suggest you not actually steal it (at least not without major revisions) :-)

A BOLD PREDICTION (a.k.a. How Many Episodes Until I Am Completely Proven Wrong)

      I finally started watching the legacy series to Avatar: The Last Airbender called Avatar: The Legend of Korra. It's wonderful to again find myself in a familiar world, a world I imagine that will not end in cancellation disappointment like Babylon 5's legacy series Crusade. I actually forgot that Avatar Earth is Wuzzle planet :-)

      The series is three episodes in and I am boldly and almost certainly incorrectly making these predictions:

1. There is a fifth element in addition to the traditional four of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire and this element is, for the lack of an appropriate term, Qi [Chi]. This possibility came to light in the original series's finale when Aang removes the Fire Lord's ability to bend.

2. Amon, the leader of the Equalists is a Qi Bender and knows this, but is content to manipulate everyone opposed to Benders in an effort to secure his position of power.

3. Qi Bending affects the other four Elements, but not the Qi Element.

4. Korra will battle Amon, possibly in the first season finale, and lose her ability to bend for most of, or the entire second season. This will give her an invaluable opportunity to see life from the other side. The Equalists accuse the Benders of oppression of non-Benders. She will now be in a perfect spot to find out if this is true or not. I think she will find extensive evidence of Bender oppression that she will dedicate her life to correcting.

5. Korra will regain her ability to bend the traditional Four Elements by either learning how to Qi Bend on her own (paralleling her current difficulties in mastering Air Bending), learning how to do it from Aang (somehow), or through an encounter with a reclusive lion-turtle.

6. Korra, upon mastering Qi Bending, will thus become the world's first true Avatar as no Avatar previously, has ever shown true mastery of all Five Elements (except for perhaps Aang) most likely due to the reclusivity of lion-turtles.

QUOTING QUOTABLES...

On this page of TVtropes, this dismissive description of the Shadows and Vorlons really made me laugh:

"Eh... you guys are making the mistake of actually seeing it as a war like we have over here... a better analogy would be a debate that turned into a fist fight... it just so happened that the debate was between Cthulhu and Space Angels, so the collateral damage was rather apocalyptic. The First Ones and Lorien being there made them stop and listen... which can do wonders in situations like this. Or even parents always having fights over how to raise the kid until the kid and his lawyer serves them emancipation papers."

Followed by: "I lov0e this explanation."

Okay, and this one too for its sheer asininery:

Was G'kar laughing or crying at the end of Acts of Sacrifice?
      ∙ Yes

(originally posted to That Other Journal on November 6, 2011)

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS !!! (part 2)

      After putting that (over)thinking, reasoning part of my brain into a temporary shock coma, the compulsion to respond to that profile became irresistible (-ible, not -able? Really? huh...). I did so fully expecting no response. A response is not the goal...merely some sort of proof (for myself at least) that what I had read, had truly existed. I figured one good turn deserved another so I responded thusly, and without explanation:

[for those of you who have never seen Babylon 5, the part of Abbut was originally supposed to be played by Gilbert Gottfried so read his lines in that voice - Talia can sound like any woman speaking in a professional, business-like tone - and Kosh sounds like a wise-old sage who speaks slowly and arrogantly]
------------------------------------------

WELL THAT WAS A WASTE OF FIVE MONTHS...

      A ways back, I got my hands on a gravity simulator program and I was really excited to use it. Y'see, when I was in school ensuring my status as an outcast and inspired by Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, and even the old PC game Nova 9, I tried my hand at creating planetary systems. They were initially crude but I would refine them as I learned new things like how to properly calculate an orbital period*, how to properly calculate gravity at a defined surface**, among other things. But the one thing I could never know was if the orbits I assigned the planets and especially the orbits of the moons were stable. I could only hope.

      As I progressed, I created a cursory society along with an outline of its history on one of these worlds and part of that culture and history was dependent on this world having two moons. Now, in my blissful ignorance, I assigned these moons names, masses, and orbital periods. The orbital periods were supposed to have some cosmic importance to the people below forming the basis of a complicated lunar calendar which would later be replaced by a simpler solar calendar making one wonder why I was even bothering to figure this all out in the first place. My only justification is that it actually is fun to try to get things to work out and that lunar calendars were important to early man on Earth and still exist in Jewish and Muslim calendars. But I figured the lunar calendar would have cultural significance and produce an alien way of thinking about time which is important when you want to create societies that aren't merely humans whose only noticeable difference from Earth humans is that they are wearing different hats.

      Yes, they're humans because I guess like Star Wars which takes place in a different galaxy a long time ago...given enough star systems, it's bound to happen again, right? The world "my" humans live on has a slightly stronger gravity, slightly thinner air, and such so they would be adapted to that. See? They're different! ;-)

      Anyways, I originally gave the moons of this world a 3:2 orbital resonance which means that the inner moon makes three orbits for every two made by the outer moon. I did this because I read somewhere that resonances like these help stabilize orbits and they do exist. The Galilean satellites of Jupiter orbit like that with Io completing four orbits for every two by Europa and for every one by Ganymede. I didn't want to go with 2:1 because it seemed both "too perfect" and offered little dynamicism so I went with 3:2 even though I've read that 5:3 and 7:4 are also stable. I assumed the moons would regularly eclipse each other because unlike Earth's moon, they would have formed from the same cloud of material the homeworld formed from. Ideally I wanted the cycle to take three solar years to complete and seven total cycles to bring everything back to the beginning where the moons eclipse each other in the new phase and probably produces a solar eclipse too for added effect.

       With the gravity simulator program, I could see if my ideas held any water. Right away there were problems. The orbits of the moons immediately destabilized and either crashed into each other or the outer one would be ejected from the system. I played with the distances but those orbits too would destabilize. My thoughts were that the moons were too massive so I reduced their masses by making their original radius in miles, their new radius in kilometers and adjusting their masses accordingly. I even stumbled upon a ratio of distances that seemed to be working but I wanted the simulation to run for a minimum of ten million simulated years before even considering the arrangement and then working out a lunar calendar from it even though there would be no chance it would resemble what I had hoped for. At this point, a stable set of orbits is the goal. It really is amazing the subtle interactions each object has with each other over the simulated years. The planets are stable (If I leave out the moons, I can run the simulation really fast. Even after 100 million years, the system remains as is), but finding an acceptable solution to this three-body problem has been maddening because it will all really just come down to a lucky guess.

       I almost made it, but like some tease, the simulation failed somewhere between 9.8 and 9.9 million years. It took me five months of letting my computer calculate all day while I was doing my web surfing and while I slept. The outer moon got ejected from the system. Small instabilities had built up to a critical point. And the trouble is, even as the worlds you set up deviate from the paths you give them doesn't mean something is ultimately wrong. These simulators reveal grand cycles you could not have imagined...even with our own solar system. The orbit of the planet Mars is affected by both Jupiter and Earth causing it to go from nearly circular to a highly eccentric orbit and back again over tens of millions of years. The same thing happens to two of the worlds in this particular star system of mine. So I noticed variations in the orbits when I'd check in on them over time, but how was I to know if this was merely some variance or the slow build-up to escape velocity? I guess if I were a real astrophysicist, I probably would have seen it coming sooner. I guess the simulation failing at that point shows that I'm on to something but it is frustrating to have to start over. I'm gonna keep the reduced masses since that's produced better results than before. I'm gonna keep the inner moon where it is since its orbit is ridiculously stable.

       Back to the drawing board....

ADDENDUM: I tried moving them around but to no avail so I'm gonna reduce the moons' masses again on the assumption that, like last time, their respective gravities are too much for the system to handle stably. I wish me luck...

___________________________________________________
* p² = ka³ where p is the orbital period in years; a is the average distance from the object orbited in astronomical units (92,956,000 mi. [149,566,000 km]) and k is a constant which is the [Mass of the Sun ÷ Mass of the Object] (in consistent units). The mass of the Sun is 1.9895 x 10³³g for this calculation.

** g = [GM] ÷ r² where g is the surface gravity in meters per second squared (Earth's gravity for comparison is 9.797 m/s²); r is the radius of the object in meters; M is the mass of the object in kilograms; and G is the gravitational constant valued at 6.6667 x 10^-11 m³/kg∙s².

TV SUCKS - IT REALLY DOESN'T, BUT STILL...

      I just can't get into television anymore and by that I don't mean to imply that I do not WATCH television. I do. Less of it than I used to, but it's still up there on my list of weekly time-wasters.

      The majority of what I watch now are comedies, and animated comedies at that. The newest show that's just-can't-miss for me is Louie on F/X, and that too, is a comedy. I don't really watch new dramas anymore. I think the newest ones were Pushing Daisies, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Reaper...all of which have been cancelled.

      I blame Babylon 5.

JUST A THOUGHT ABOUT STAR TREK

      The other day I actually had the living room to myself for an entire evening (surprise!). I was waiting for someone to show up. She was delayed considerably longer than I thought so I ended up watching (by chance) one of my favorite Malcolm in the Middle episodes "Emancipation", the entire cable-edited version of the movie Zoolander (for the first time by the way. How old is that film that I only saw it now?) and finally an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

      The episode was called "Unnatural Selection" and while ultimately resolved with no one on the Enterprise being killed, the same could not be said for the starship crew encountered in the Introduction, all of whom had died from old age. The old age turned out to be a disease caused by what I guess would be artificial humans on a research colony (I say "artificial" as they were built from scratch and given enhanced immune systems, the very same immune systems which were hyperaggressive enough to mutate a minor sickness one of the crewmembers of the ill-fated starship had brought with them causing them all to age rapidly). But the show itself is not anything special, it just happened to be the one I watched that night. The thought I had was one I've had before, and that is I think they've been getting the format of Star Trek wrong all these years.

      Star Trek is supposed to be about mankind's expansion to the stars and its inherent wonders, mysteries, and dangers. The trouble is, the sense of danger is lost because of what I call "Invincible Ship Syndrome". The Starship Enterprise (or Deep Space 9 or Voyager) cannot be destroyed or else the show is over. Yes, all these ships and the station have been destroyed within episodes but never permanently. Their destruction is used to create tension in the episode but we as the audience know that there really is no danger in the end making such episodes kind of pointless. [It's like kids in horror movies. Unless you're Stephen King, they're never in danger making it aggravating for them to even be in the film]. Plus the main crew is never in any danger either leaving the vast majority of the fatalities to anonymous crew members. But there's a way around this.

      Star Trek should experiment with a Twilight Zone format.

      What do I mean by this? The Twilight Zone told more-or-less random stories weekly using a different cast every week. Now, it wouldn't have to be precisely this. There could be a Starship Enterprise which could have a recurring role but the majority of episodes would feature random ships, stations, outposts, Starfleet headquarters, etc. and their crews and the things that happen to them. The advantage of this format is that the Enterprise needn't be everywhere or be involved in everything that happens to the Federation. It carries the additional story-telling advantage of part or all of the crew needn't survive every episode and that each episode needn't end happily (or have the problem resolved). Stories could be told from alien perspectives too. You could even do two-parters, the second part involving a recurring ship (say the Enterprise) in which the first part ends disastrously or with a cliff-hanger and the second part yields resolution. Without the Invincible Ship Syndrome (or the related Invincible Main Cast Syndrome), it opens up story possibilities that could not exist in the standard format.

      I really think it's something they ought to try especially seeing as how Star Trek has never really been a coherent show. It's always been episodic in nature. Deep Space 9 tried bucking this trend and I will admit that its last several episodes, all of which were more-or-less continuations, were immense fun to watch. Star Trek, unlike Babylon 5, is plagued with inconsistencies on account of multiple writers in addition to it not being a series with a definite destination (and even Voyager which ostensibly was about their journey home was filled with distractions along the way) so I really think they would benefit from having ever-changing casts each week.

A REASON (for me) TO SMILE

      I've been feeling whole again lately. My confidence is or is nearly restored. I'm walking tall and looking ahead rather than at my feet. I feel great. I feel even greater that I'm able to be around and talk to Digby as well. I've even been able to get her to smile and laugh genuinely. It's been wonderful. I have to be with this girl. It's a shame she's so depressed. She thinks so lowly of herself. I don't know what she's going through outside of her usual daily stresses but I do understand how she feels being depressed myself. She's a kindred spirit in that regard. Digby doesn't even think she's pretty let alone beautiful as I see her. It makes me sad to know she thinks like that. It's like she has a martyr complex or something. She tells me she doesn't want anyone to "save her". I don't want to "save her": she doesn't need to be saved. I just want to be with her in good times and bad and all that other stuff.

      I've failed thrice before to get with her. I'm back and feeling like myself again and with that in mind have been slowly and subtly speaking to her and getting her comfortable with me again. I don't know when I'll "strike", but it's inevitable that I will. I've already been seeking allies. So far I have only one I can count on and The Mystic counts as my moral support. Redmom (should I just use initials at this point? It's gonna be tough keeping up after a while...even for me!) has been talking to her at my request when I'm not around (and even when I am...just not in front of me). I'm having her gather information both useful and psychological and I'm also having her hug Digby at least once a night when we're all there. Believe me, I want to do it myself but I'm still not convinced she wants me touching her. I'll have to feel her out one day soon and see how she reacts.

      When I see Digby, I'm reminded of a scene in Babylon 5 when Reverend Dexter is talking to Captain Sheridan about Delenn. Sheridan isn't comfortable talking about her yet so the Reverend tells him a story:

Rev. Dexter: You know, before I got married, Emily used to come by sometimes and help me clean out my apartment. Well, I asked her, "How come you're so eager to help clean up my place when your place is just as bad?" She said, "Because cleaning up your place helps me to forget what a mess I've made of mine, and…when I sweep my floor, all I've done is sweep my floor. But, when I help you clean up your place, I am helping you."

      That's how I feel about Digby right now. Don't get me wrong, I want her very much to dedicate her time to me but I know that that's just not possible right now. She has a lot going on...a lot on her plate; but that doesn't mean I can't help her out. Right now I would be happy knowing that I have a place in her heart and that my waiting for her will not be in vain. I've been attracted to my fair share of girls over my years, but never like this. I must not fail.

       But the whole reason for this post was actually a very simple one. Redmom takes the time to talk to Digby as I've already said. She asks Digby if she has noticed how happy I am that we are working together again. How she makes me smile. How despite her negative assessment of her looks that I either don't notice these negative things or that I instead favor the "whole package". Redmom isn't actively namedropping me. It's more like she's grooming her to the idea of me which is what I want. It's my job to actually ask her out (again). But now, thanks to Redmom, I have a reason to smile presently at Digby rather than channeling a smile by thinking of us together in the future. Redmom got Digby to admit that she finds me attractive. Oh fucking yes!!!

BABYLON 5/TOM LEHRER MASH-UP

Tom Lehrer: "Who's Next?" using Babylon 5 footage


"Babylon Park: I love the South Parkified Shadow Mantises :-)
Cartman Mollari (to G'Kyle): Shut up G'moron!

(originally posted to That Other Journal on September 16, 2010)

WE ARE ALL KOSH...

Here's something completely pointless and probably won't work right but will nevertheless amuse for a few moments because well...we're us.

www.toppa.com/ask-kosh/


Try it and feel free to comment me on any good ones you managed to get.


ADDENDUM: The above link also offers a download of various things Kosh had said over the course of the series. Most notably absent was "And so it begins" (which would make for a good Windows Start chime)...How could you not have what is probably (thanks to Season 5) the most famous thing Kosh has said. And of course, no matter where I go, I can't find a site that lets you download the phrase, it's only for playing on Quicktime...ugh. Now I've gotta do it myself...

(originally posted to That Other Journal on August 28, 2009)

SURVEY SAYS!!!

Alright, I was having dumb thoughts at work today. It seems to me that of the Four Questions, three of them can be related to A Christmas Carol.

Why are you here? -- Ghost of Christmas Past
Who are you? -- Ghost of Christmas Present
Where are you going? -- Ghost of Christmas Future

So...what does that make What do you want?

(originally posted in That Other Journal on November 14, 2008)