Assisted Colonization

Well, we knew it would all come down to this eventually. Afterall, we humans are the smartest of all God’s creatures and thus, colonizing the animal world in our own way should be how it was meant to be right?

Not only should we colonize the creatures how we see fit, we should also decide in an animal kingdom triage sort of way, what species we should let become extinct in favor of keeping other species around in this world of shortening animal habitats. Doesn’t that seem normal to everyone?

Scientists have advised that the species of Sky Island in Arizona is basically “toast” because they don’t know where they would move them so might as well let them go extinct. Who needs them anyway?

“When deciding which species to save and which to watch die, Root said one key is uniqueness. That’s why she said she’d save the odd-looking Tuatara of New Zealand, a lizard-like creature with almost no living relatives, over the common sparrow.”

“The risk of extinction has to be balanced by the potential hazard to the community where a species is relocated as well as the time and cost of making the move, Parmesan says.”

“Ultimately, the decision about whether to actively assist the movement of a species into new territories will rest on ethical and aesthetic grounds as much as on hard science,” she said in a statement.

“Passively assisting coral reef migration may be acceptable, but transplanting polar bears to Antarctica, where they would likely drive native penguins to extinction, would not be acceptable,” she said.

“Conservation has never been an exact science, but preserving biodiversity in the face of climate change is likely to require a fundamental rethinking of what it means to preserve biodiversity,” Parmesan said.

Wow, doesn’t it just make you proud to be a human? And, by the way, whose to say penguins are more unique then the polar bears? I think that is subjective and totally unfair. Let’s relocate the penguins to Alaska or Canada - let the bears have the Antarctica.

Somewhere I’m sure someone has a nice little chart with nice little diagrams of how every thing would benefit if we took over nature. Let’s make the world one big zoo. Does it irk anyone else as much as it does me??

I understand that some species are endanger of becoming extinct but is moving species around a good idea? Shouldn’t we let Mother Nature handle, well, Mother Nature? Have we done much good when we have “accidentally” relocated things in the past? Fire ants spring to mind - they came over from Africa or some such place - now look at how they’ve become an epidemic in the south.

Pretty soon I won’t have to watch the Sci-Fi channel to get my “b” movie horror fix - the reality of what we’ve done to our world will far out due what they can come up with on TV.

Odd Hours

Well, I finally read Dean Koontz’s latest installment of the adventures of Odd Thomas.  It has been on my list but I haven’t felt like reading at all lately.  I picked it up tonight out of sheer boredom.

I can not say in all honesty that this is my favorite of the series thus far for I do think it fell short of my expectations.  I do think the one where they are in that hotel is my favorite so far.  However, Odd Thomas does continue to inspire and make a person stop to consider how they approach life.

In this installment, Odd becomes involved with saving America from terrorists who have devised a plan to bring nukes into some of our major cities.  I think this kind of went over the top and there were several things in the book that just didn’t seem to fit or get explained, which I always hate.

You couldn’t read this book without first reading the other Odd books first for, even though he summarizes the past, you can’t really appreciate his existence without having read the others.  I do wish Koontz would have kept it a little more real but obviously he didn’t ask me before publishing it.  I did read that the next one is due out later this year so that will be good.  I sure wish he’d continue the Frankenstein series but am told he won’t be writing anymore of them.  What a pity.

I think it is over the top a bit because Odd is always involved in saving a few people which seems more in the realm of possibility then saving America in general.  I want Koontz to keep Odd real rather then turn him into a James Bond sort of character.  I was disappointed in his attempt at grandeur.

Odd Hours is a decent book and I pretty much flew through it as is fast paced from the very first page.  For sure if you are into the series, this is one you will want to read.

Boredom

My sister and I were talking about boredom tonight.  Not just incidental boredom but boredom with our seemingly so “normal” lives.  Why can’t our lives have a little more pizazz? We spent some time trying to come up with things we could do to spice up our lives but ideas were few and far between.  We finally decided it all came down to money.

If we had the money to do what we wanted, when we wanted - life would be a bit more exciting.  Of course, we’d get into a lot more trouble but who cared as long as it was an adrenaline rush? My sister wants to climb Mt. Everest…uh, she can have that cuz no way does that appeal to me.  Swimming with sharks doesn’t appeal to her either so guess we will have to do them separately.

But to be able to do what I wanted each day would be so liberating and fun.  I wouldn’t go hog wild now in my 40’s like I would have in my 20’s if I was given the option to explore to my heart’s content.  Now I would do a lot of traveling and spending time with my family.  I’d buy a cabin in Montana or Wyoming so I’d have a mountain retreat and keep my condo in Florida for my winter retreat.  Then I’d live in Iowa the rest of the year.

Yes, it is all just wishes and daydreams.  I can’t imagine we’ll ever have the money to take off on new adventures everyday.  But wouldn’t it be awesome? I know money can’t buy you happiness - but it can break up the monotony…you know?

Oh PLEASE!

At work last night we saw a short interview on CNN between Larry King and a man who insists his video of an alien visiting his house is real.  The man showed small clips of the video which had all of us in dispatch rolling on the floor.  Could it have been anymore lame??? And, by the way, why the hell was CNN, a NEWS channel, playing such shit? I think we need to find a new news channel to tune into at work lest we become dumbed down by the “news authority” CNN claims to be.

What irked me is that the alien looked like pictures of aliens first drawn in the 50’s for movies…something a child might draw and a bit “ET” looking.  How stupid does this man think we are? He even had “expert” witnesses on to prove he wasn’t a nut. 

I think we should give those people who first drew pictures of an alien with a rounder head, large eyes, small mouth and small body, a medal for being psychics and actually KNOWING what an alien looked like decades ago without ever having seen one.

Beam me up Scotty, there is no intelligent life down here!

Deep Storm

OK, so Earth has become a repository for alien nations who need somewhere to store their active weapons of mass destruction - why not? Earth is a non-essential planet with inferior humans crawling around it like ants. So what if the weapons have the capacity, if disturbed, to destroy our half of our galaxy? The aliens don’t live in our neck of the woods so what would they care? They probably wouldn’t want to lose all those cool weapons but its a chance they’d take no matter where they stored them

Besides, it isn’t like they didn’t put in safety features just in case us inferior humans stumbled across their stash. Sounds like a perfect plan to me.

In Lincoln Child’s world, humans stumble across a signal deep in the ocean. They build a gigantic city and fill it with the top scientists, drilling specialists, and, of course, the military. The city has everything pretty much a city 10,000 feet below the ocean’s surface could want or need. But when workers start getting sick and some become violent, they bring in a medical specialist to help diagnose the problem.

Obviously the illnesses are related to whatever is down under the Earth’s crust - that thing that is sending out the signal. Of course the humans, in their altruistic way, think that the aliens have left them a “gift” - something we were only meant to find once we became sophisticated enough to do so. Very few people stopped to consider that whatever was down there could be incredibly dangerous. I suppose even if they had, it still would be human nature to want to know WHAT it was - even if it meant endangering the entire galaxy. We just can’t walk away from a mystery.

Deep Storm is an interesting book. It didn’t keep me glued to it as it took three days to complete, but I did enjoy it as I went along. If you want a book totally void of any “love” storyline - no, nobody even kisses or thinks about kissing - then this book probably would be of interest. It did leave me intrigued enough that I will check out a couple more of his books to see what else he has dreamed up.

Abominable Night

I have gone back through the boxes to resort stuff and ended up emptying three of them. That stuff went out to the trash. I now have three big boxes & one small one to go in my trunk so far - the rest get mailed. I’m taking the heavy ones in my car so they don’t cost so much to send. I expect to have several more that go in the car with me…it’s going to be crowded.

I know I said I was going to leave some stuff in the condo since I was locking it up but I have decided it all goes. It was an unconscious decision really - I just started pitching stuff. I’m emptying it out so that it will be closer to being ready for renting. I am cleaning the carpets on Thursday. Of course, I may need to replace the carpets before I can rent it - which I will do this fall if I have to.

Might need to go get a pizza to eat - I’m hungry. I ate a salad for lunch. Pizza sounds really good. Have a few more things to do before I call it a night - like dishes and vacuuming.

Can I just mention, Lance Hendrickson sure does act in a lot of these sci-fi original movies. I think he is a good actor and am always pleased when he ends up being in one…though he almost always dies. He is about to die now in Abominable. Bummer.

Snake Sunday

The Sci-Fi channel has decided, through it’s programming, that today is snake Sunday. They have played four snake movies back to back - some better then others but all entertaining. I’m taping them as well as watching them as I can.

I can say, without reservations, that I’m going to be snake paranoid for the next couple of days. It is amazing the things snakes can get into. I realize, of course, that they are only movies…all way too far-fetched to ever happen…but still. I’m not a huge snake fan - I pretty much prefer the crocodile or other monsters over the snakes but will watch what Sci-Fi has on.

Tonight at 9pm, they switch from snakes to ants. I have a new disc ready for the ant movie - this one will be full at the end of this current movie. I do so enjoy these “b” sci-fi movies - they are so much more entertaining then the ones at the theaters. No, the graphics aren’t near as good - which is why I go to the movies now and then - but you have to admit, movies like “Jaws” were scary in their day. These “b” movies use the same effects as the older monster movies which is nostalgic for an old coot like me.

Cloverfield Review

Ok folks - I forced myself to go see the movie - almost turned around several times. Got to the theater and it was so dead I thought they might be closed but they weren’t.

I got the theater all to myself (woohoo!), which is always a huge plus for me because face it, other people talk during movies and I find myself getting more and more aggravated as the movie goes along.

Before I say what I thought of the movie, let me just say, I had never heard of this movie before seeing a preview of it the other day at work. I saw it and was like “Cool, when does that come out?” and was told it had been out for awhile. No one told me anything about the movie - no one raved it up or trashed it. The only thing I read about it was that it was filmed like the Blair Witch Project which made me skeptical to say the least. I hated the Blair Witch Project - didn’t understand the sold out theaters at all - however, I also waited till it was on DVD to see it and maybe something got lost in the transition?

This movie was excellent - I really can’t say anything bad about it at all. When I left the theater, my neck and head hurt like they would if I had just completed my 12th ride on one of the rollercoaster’s at Busch Gardens. Yes, the film is jumpy so people like my sister Marge, who get motion sickness, can not go see it. But oh it was thrilling, memorizing and riveting. It was not scary in the least but the action came fast and furious once it started (about 10 min into the show).

When I got out, I called my son right away to tell him what a good show it was and how he had to see it before it left the theaters. He said, and I quote, “I’ve been waiting for the hype to die down.” Hype? What hype? I didn’t even know the movie existed! He said it had been #1 and that everyone was gushing about what a good show it was so he figured he’d wait a bit. Goes to show what happens when I don’t keep up with newspapers and what is happening in the entertainment industry.

Bottom line - if you like sci-fi at all and want to see a movie that is fun and thought provoking - see Cloverfield.