Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Truly scary numbers

There is an article on CNN's website entitled "Rising STD rate sparks online dating sites." As I read the article the fact that niche dating services had developed for people infected with herpes did not surprise me. First, the Internet allows for niche connections in all sorts of ways and second, if one was infected it would seem logical to try and connect with others in the same condition as despite the television commercials for herpes medication, I suspect the most people without the disease would be hesitant to enter into an intimate relationship with someone who had it. I can remember 25 years ago when herpes was terrifying to many people but since the arrival of HIV/AIDs, it is not as scary. What I found scary in the article were the numbers, according to the CDC, one in four women and one in five men are infected with genital herpes.

Like I needed another reason to be worried about dating.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Walter Reed

My reaction from reading this article in the Washington Post was anger and embarrassment. The officers responsible for this mess should be court martialed and the politicians should have long since fixed it, but since there are no votes in wounded veterans, I guess they would rather build bridges to nowhere.

I am firmly in the throw all the bums out.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Which Science Fiction Writer are You?

I am:
E.E. "Doc" Smith
The inventor of space opera. His purple space war tales remain well-read generations later.


Which science fiction writer are you?

Friday, February 09, 2007

Zombie Movies

Zombie movies rule for many many reasons. There are great ones, good ones, mediocre ones and awful ones. All are great for their own reasons. It apparently may be possible to over think a good thing. "We the Living Dead: The Convoluted Politics of Zombie Cinema" by Tim Cavanaugh may be a prime example of this.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Children of Men

I saw the new Clive Owen film "Children of Men" this afternoon. Hollywood has taken dystopia to new heights in a very interesting way. I am often intrigued by the movie industry's fascination with dystopia. If the world is not ending, can the film get made? I don't know.

In this film, the world becomes sterile and twenty years later it is clearly falling apart. Social systems are in collapse and Britain is the only country with any sense of order and that is only because of a very repressive control system. Clive Owen is a man who had once had ideals and was now just trying to get through the day. He is sucked back into caring by an old flame (Julianne Moore in a barely present role) who cons him into escorting a young woman to the coast. It turns out that the woman is pregnant, the first successful pregnancy in 20 years. The terrorist group that hires him double crosses him and he tries to get her to safety through the vast array of people who end up trying to kill or use them for their own devices.

The most amazing moment in the film is towards the end. After giving birth, they are trying to successfully get out of the refugee camp they were hiding in through a riot caused by the terrorists chasing them and the army trying to put down the riot. The baby starts crying and literally everyone stops shooting a stares in amazement as they walk out. Both sides simply stop and stare at something none of them thought they would see again. Then the moment passes and fighting starts again and they slip off to safety. Or relative safety as all heroic figures have to sacrifice something for their success.

A well done film.