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shadowkatWhile co-workers go out to the local pizza joint for lunch, chosen to post on lj and eat salad/yogurt at desk. I'd walk about the park - but it's muggy out.
Paper this morning was discussing the big Russia/US spy swap. When I first read about the Russian spy ring caught in NY - my initial thought was: huh.
I thought the cold war was over and we were all buds. Then I remembered the Olympics in China and the whole standoff between Bush and the Russian Leader whose name I've forgotten (I want to say Putskin? And yes, I know this is pathetic but brain is dead from work week) - over some country Russia was invading - I think Chechnova? (Of course, all that changed after Obama became president, right now the US and Russia are sort of friendly and US is helping Russia become a member of the World Economic Counsel or whatever that thing is called. So, what's Russia most worried about according to the paper? The capture of the spy ring derailing their current relationship with the US. Not, the spies.) At any rate - this has resulted in a lot of people being released from Russian prisons and sent to the US or resettled in exchange for the captured Russian Spies being sent back to Russia. Apparently the two countries do this all the time - but until now, we didn't know about it? Honestly it reminds me of that old child hood game - Red Rover, Red Rover - so and so come over. You basically swap players back and forth - and add an element of tag to it.
Watched Crichton Kicks - episode one of S4 Farscape last night, which like the previous seasons works as a bridge episode between the last season and the current one. The first episodes of each season are actually amongst my favorite of the series. To show how much one's tastes can change over a five year period - I remember hating this episode in 2004. Being frustrated with it. Last night I was obsessively rewinding it, and was highly annoyed that there wasn't any commentary for it. I adored it to pieces. It's such a brilliant little character piece. Reminds me a little of what Red Dwarf tried to do (the British sci-fi comedy series (think the Three Stooges in Space but with a Jungian twist) not the Doctor Who episode) but in some respects far more subtle. And told in a rather funky style, almost non-linear.
This episode, as do the prior first episodes of each season, sets up the season's themes and where the characters are nicely. In Dog with Two Bones - Crichton is asked to choose between his two obsessions - Aeryn or Wormholes.
In Dog, he chooses Aeryn. Notably this is not the first time he was forced to choose - in the beginning of S3 - he tries to do both, gets split into two Crichtons, both the same, and both Crichtons try to hold on to both. One gets Aeryn and tries to ignore the wormholes - but the wormholes catch up with him eventually, and he dies because of them. The other - Aeryn leaves behind, and he is left with his wormhole obsession, gets no where with it, and is busy obsessing about Aeryn, until she catches up with him again - he realizes she's cut off from him emotionally now and giving up hope, he falls into the wormhole obsession. When we hit Crichton Kicks - he is still struggling between the two. And finally, finally, at the end of Crichton Kicks gives up on the ghost of Aeryn, as Aeryn gave up on the ghost of Crichton in The Choice, and embraces the scientist part of himself - writing equations on the wall to the musical ramblings of a DRD ( a rolling robot like critter that is part of the ship and maintains it and acts as its communication device) painted by Crichton and named 1812.This is a reference to The War of 1812.
[ETA : See comment below by revdorothy, who pointed out that ironically it is a reference to the Russians heroically defeating Napeolon's Army in 1812. I knew it was a reference to the War of 1812 - I just didn't remember which one. (embarrassing) The US/British skirmish wasn't a big deal. Ironic - considering first part of the post is about Russia and US spy swap. Apparently Farscape references the World Wars. In
S3 - towards the end of the Season, we have Harvey and Cricton in his head in WWII battle gear, or maybe it is WWI, playing chess and checkers and poker and go fish, with bomb shells exploding around them. In S4 - they reference the Napoleanic Wars.]
From Wiki - the US WAR of 1812:
The War of 1812 was a war fought between the United States of America and the British Empire – particularly Great Britain and the provinces of British North America, the antecedent of Canada. Lasting from 1812 to 1815, it was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.
The United States took the initiative in declaring war for multiple reasons. In 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions to impede on-going American trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law. Both the impressment of American citizens into the Royal Navy, and Britain's military support of Native Americans who were attacking American settlers moving into the Northwest further aggravated tensions. Indian raids hindered the expansion of U.S. into potentially valuable farmlands in the Northwest Territory, comprising the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Some British officials – and some dissident Americans – charged that the goal was to annex part of Canada, but they did not specify which part. The states nearest Canada strongly opposed the war.
Just as important, the United States sought to defend its national honour and sovereign rights against perceived British insults, such as the Chesapeake affair. Although the British made some concessions before the war on neutral trade, they insisted on the right to reclaim their deserting sailors. The American rallying cry of "free trade and sailors rights" reflected the dual economic and political aspects of the casus belli. The British also had the long-standing goal of creating a large "neutral" Indian state that would cover much of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. They made the demand as late as the fall of 1814 at the peace conference, but lost control of western Ontario at key battles on Lake Erie, thus giving the Americans control of the proposed neutral zone.
It's the first of many references regarding war and peace in S4 - which is focusing on political negotiations. The war above was an ocean war or over sea and waterway rights and trade. Crichton is fighting a similar war in space - and sees space as a huge bottomless ocean and a leviathan as a type of whale. The Peacekeepers to Crichton's ear sound British and Australian.
It's an interesting use of metaphor - considering the show is a British/Australian/and US collaboration.
The other bit of interest - is Crichton is insanely writing his formulas all over the ship, at the end of S3 - he was writing them on himself. His body and the ship become linked. He is linked to the Leviathans - and seems to travel mainly on them. And Aeryn is increasingly objectified and sexualized in his fantasies of her - now she appears on a beach with sunglasses and a bikini. At first pregnant, then clearly not. When she's not - another man shows up and gives her a drink - and asks Crichton who he is, Crichton mutters no one, and lets go of the fantasy. He keeps seeing her on Earth, not as herself, but a version of herself in earth or his fantasy of earth. She's been away from him so long now - that she's become more fantasy than reality, more archetypal. The wormholes are actually more real - he can externalize them, control them - they appear in his equations all over the ship, but Aeryn is an elusive dream. When before it was the exact opposite - the wormholes and earth were the elusive dream forever outside his grasp, and Aeryn was tangible. Now, the wormholes are real and Aeryn intangible. He has swapped bones and he is miserable with the swap.
[Embarrassing when a tv show remembers more history than you do, isn't it? Again maybe just me.]
Back to work. But first chocolat!
Paper this morning was discussing the big Russia/US spy swap. When I first read about the Russian spy ring caught in NY - my initial thought was: huh.
I thought the cold war was over and we were all buds. Then I remembered the Olympics in China and the whole standoff between Bush and the Russian Leader whose name I've forgotten (I want to say Putskin? And yes, I know this is pathetic but brain is dead from work week) - over some country Russia was invading - I think Chechnova? (Of course, all that changed after Obama became president, right now the US and Russia are sort of friendly and US is helping Russia become a member of the World Economic Counsel or whatever that thing is called. So, what's Russia most worried about according to the paper? The capture of the spy ring derailing their current relationship with the US. Not, the spies.) At any rate - this has resulted in a lot of people being released from Russian prisons and sent to the US or resettled in exchange for the captured Russian Spies being sent back to Russia. Apparently the two countries do this all the time - but until now, we didn't know about it? Honestly it reminds me of that old child hood game - Red Rover, Red Rover - so and so come over. You basically swap players back and forth - and add an element of tag to it.
Watched Crichton Kicks - episode one of S4 Farscape last night, which like the previous seasons works as a bridge episode between the last season and the current one. The first episodes of each season are actually amongst my favorite of the series. To show how much one's tastes can change over a five year period - I remember hating this episode in 2004. Being frustrated with it. Last night I was obsessively rewinding it, and was highly annoyed that there wasn't any commentary for it. I adored it to pieces. It's such a brilliant little character piece. Reminds me a little of what Red Dwarf tried to do (the British sci-fi comedy series (think the Three Stooges in Space but with a Jungian twist) not the Doctor Who episode) but in some respects far more subtle. And told in a rather funky style, almost non-linear.
This episode, as do the prior first episodes of each season, sets up the season's themes and where the characters are nicely. In Dog with Two Bones - Crichton is asked to choose between his two obsessions - Aeryn or Wormholes.
In Dog, he chooses Aeryn. Notably this is not the first time he was forced to choose - in the beginning of S3 - he tries to do both, gets split into two Crichtons, both the same, and both Crichtons try to hold on to both. One gets Aeryn and tries to ignore the wormholes - but the wormholes catch up with him eventually, and he dies because of them. The other - Aeryn leaves behind, and he is left with his wormhole obsession, gets no where with it, and is busy obsessing about Aeryn, until she catches up with him again - he realizes she's cut off from him emotionally now and giving up hope, he falls into the wormhole obsession. When we hit Crichton Kicks - he is still struggling between the two. And finally, finally, at the end of Crichton Kicks gives up on the ghost of Aeryn, as Aeryn gave up on the ghost of Crichton in The Choice, and embraces the scientist part of himself - writing equations on the wall to the musical ramblings of a DRD ( a rolling robot like critter that is part of the ship and maintains it and acts as its communication device) painted by Crichton and named 1812.
[ETA : See comment below by revdorothy, who pointed out that ironically it is a reference to the Russians heroically defeating Napeolon's Army in 1812. I knew it was a reference to the War of 1812 - I just didn't remember which one. (embarrassing) The US/British skirmish wasn't a big deal. Ironic - considering first part of the post is about Russia and US spy swap. Apparently Farscape references the World Wars. In
S3 - towards the end of the Season, we have Harvey and Cricton in his head in WWII battle gear, or maybe it is WWI, playing chess and checkers and poker and go fish, with bomb shells exploding around them. In S4 - they reference the Napoleanic Wars.]
The War of 1812 was a war fought between the United States of America and the British Empire – particularly Great Britain and the provinces of British North America, the antecedent of Canada. Lasting from 1812 to 1815, it was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.
The United States took the initiative in declaring war for multiple reasons. In 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions to impede on-going American trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law. Both the impressment of American citizens into the Royal Navy, and Britain's military support of Native Americans who were attacking American settlers moving into the Northwest further aggravated tensions. Indian raids hindered the expansion of U.S. into potentially valuable farmlands in the Northwest Territory, comprising the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Some British officials – and some dissident Americans – charged that the goal was to annex part of Canada, but they did not specify which part. The states nearest Canada strongly opposed the war.
Just as important, the United States sought to defend its national honour and sovereign rights against perceived British insults, such as the Chesapeake affair. Although the British made some concessions before the war on neutral trade, they insisted on the right to reclaim their deserting sailors. The American rallying cry of "free trade and sailors rights" reflected the dual economic and political aspects of the casus belli. The British also had the long-standing goal of creating a large "neutral" Indian state that would cover much of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. They made the demand as late as the fall of 1814 at the peace conference, but lost control of western Ontario at key battles on Lake Erie, thus giving the Americans control of the proposed neutral zone.
It's an interesting use of metaphor - considering the show is a British/Australian/and US collaboration.
The other bit of interest - is Crichton is insanely writing his formulas all over the ship, at the end of S3 - he was writing them on himself. His body and the ship become linked. He is linked to the Leviathans - and seems to travel mainly on them. And Aeryn is increasingly objectified and sexualized in his fantasies of her - now she appears on a beach with sunglasses and a bikini. At first pregnant, then clearly not. When she's not - another man shows up and gives her a drink - and asks Crichton who he is, Crichton mutters no one, and lets go of the fantasy. He keeps seeing her on Earth, not as herself, but a version of herself in earth or his fantasy of earth. She's been away from him so long now - that she's become more fantasy than reality, more archetypal. The wormholes are actually more real - he can externalize them, control them - they appear in his equations all over the ship, but Aeryn is an elusive dream. When before it was the exact opposite - the wormholes and earth were the elusive dream forever outside his grasp, and Aeryn was tangible. Now, the wormholes are real and Aeryn intangible. He has swapped bones and he is miserable with the swap.
[Embarrassing when a tv show remembers more history than you do, isn't it? Again maybe just me.]
Back to work. But first chocolat!
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no subject
Date: 2010-07-10 12:50 am (UTC)The American 'War of 1812' was small potatoes to the British, compared to their long, ongoing battles against Napoleon, who in 1812 controlled most of Europe and (until he met the Russian winter) seemed almost unstoppable at times. In fact, I had one American History professor in college who argued that the U.S. declared war on Britain in 1812 because they thought the Brits would be too busy fighting Napoleon to be able to mount a competent defense if we made a land-grab for Canada, etc. (but he was an American prof. teaching American history at an English university, so his perspective on that might've been skewed one way or the other!).
no subject
Date: 2010-07-10 06:02 pm (UTC)Thanks for the correction.