November » 2011 » The Electronic Replicant

Now Reading

Now reading: Star Trek: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind by David Mack

Just Finished:
Transformers: Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron by Alex Irvine, and Transformers: Exiles by Alex Irvine.

I was the biggest Transformers fan. I watched the original TV show religiously after school, I bought the Marvel Comics series, and I even owned a few of the toys. You may not be surprised to learn that I was one of those that was not impressed by the 2007 movie.

When I saw Exodus at a Borders close-out, I assumed that it was probably meant to tie into the movie trilogy somehow. But the back cover promised that it would tell the story of how the Autobot-Decepticon war began. I figured that I’d give it a chance out of curiosity, and the half-off price was right. If I hated it, I could always swap it on Paperbackswap for something else.

And then I read it.

Exodus seemed to be an attempt to somehow unify the histories of the various TV series, comics, and movies. Unfortunately, the backstories are all so contradictory that the end result is yet another alternate continuity that doesn’t particularly agree with any of them.

If my only gripes were in the field of fannish nitpicking, I’d be happy. Unfortunately, the story itself felt a bit rushed. I don’t mean in pacing. It read as though the author were in a hurry to meet a deadline. The story was inconsistent with itself. Scenes would contradict one another, the narrator might present a piece of information at one point and then seem to forget about it at another, and things of that nature. Maybe this is a nod back to the animated series of the 80′s, which was known for gaffes such as having dialog come from the wrong character’s mouth. Probably not, though.

Obviously, I didn’t hate this book. There were some interesting ideas thrown in. For example, there was an explanation as to why the Decepticons have such a rapacious thirst for energy while Autobots seemingly do not. (Tainted Energon, apparently.) I was still rather disappointed, but not quite disappointed enough to turn down the next book.

Exiles continues just after the end of Exodus, with the Autobots wandering the galaxy searching for the source of all Cybertronian life, the Allspark. They encounter planets full of alien Transformers, search for ancient relics that they didn’t know they were supposed to be looking for, and of course, battle Decepticons.

This book had all of the problems that Exiles did. For example, some mystery characters appeared, then, in a later scene, they were referred to as pirates, and in a third, they dramatically revealed themselves to be pirates.

If there are any future books in the series, I suspect I’ll skip them.

Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

Thanksgiving…

A time for sharing the year’s bounty with those we love, those we ought to love, and those we must tolerate because they are loved by the ones in the previous two categories.

A time for expressing gratitude for the generosity of the universe by way of a feast.

A time for dealing a critical hit to one’s diet!

Although the feast is over, my favorite Thanksgiving course is right around the corner. A slice of leftover pie the next morning.

Of course, my least favorite part of Thanksgiving is coming whether I like it or not. No, I’m not talking about the dishwashing duties. I’m talking about the pent-up Christmas mania that’s set to spew across the nation in just a few hours.

Fortunately, that particular brand of madness will only last for another thirty days or so, though I fully expect to see candy hearts popping up even before the New Years’ Ball has even finished dropping.

No… no… no. Warm fuzzies, self! Warm fuzzies. Just think happy thoughts. Think about the pie! Think… about… the pie…

Nooooo!

Book Backlog

Earlier this summer, I noted that I was reading Oxygen, The Molecule that Made the World. In fact, I finished that book before beginning my fall reading challenge. For some reason, I never posted a review. Eh, I blame the blackout.

Anyway, Oxygen is an extremely interesting book that delivers on its subtitle. The story begins four billion years in the past. Earth is an unremarkable rock covered in a fog of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and traces of other elements. All of these were contributed by volcanic gases. Oxygen only existed when ultraviolet light interacted with molecules of water vapor, splitting the hydrogen from the oxygen. The hydrogen would float off into space, and the oxygen would oxidize iron-rich rocks on the surface.

Earth would have ended up just like Mars, or even Venus, if not for one important development: LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor. This single-celled organism, living 3.8 billion years ago, evolved a defense against the oxygen molecules that infested the shallow wasters where it lived. From that defense mechanism, evolved the process of photosynthesis. Oxygen began to fill the ocean.

Prior to photosynthesis, the oceans were a strange place, filled with dissolved iron. Anoxic bacteria called it home and fermented happily away. A billion years later, rising oxygen levels precipitated out the last of the iron, ending the age of the fermenters, but beginning the age of multicellular organisms, made possible by mitochondria.

Mitochondria are structures within cells that generate energy by performing the acts of chemistry collectively referred to as respiration. Mitochondria are thought to once have been a species of bacteria that developed a symbiotic relationship with single-celled eukaryotes, from which descended all plants and animals.

This symbiotic relationship, claims the author, is the very reason that two sexes are necessary. It is also responsible for some of the ill effects of aging. The explanation for this is that mitochondria wear out over time, and leak oxidized compounds into the host cells. The host cells can be badly damaged by this, or can enter “attack mode” and begin releasing defensive chemicals, or both.

To prevent new organisms from being “born old” with leaky mitochondria, egg cells are filled with pristine mitochondria early in a female’s life. The eggs then go dormant until fertilized.

The book goes into much, much more detail on these topics and many others that I haven’t even mentioned. After reading it, the fact that life exists at all is a wonder.

Cthulhu and Friends

I was given a copy of the game Elder Sign recently, and I thought I’d share my impressions of it, and of its predecessor, Arkham Horror. Both are published by the same company that publishes Mansions of Madness. I shared my opinions on Mansions of Madness in Witches and Worse.

Elder Sign

Elder Sign is an interesting species of board game. There’s no actual board, and although there are cards in play, it’s not what I’d call a card game.

The game is set in a creepy museum, which is represented by six adventure cards. The players are put into the roles of investigators of the paranormal who have learned some disturbing news. Cthulhu, or another Ancient One, is preparing to enter the world of the living. The investigators must prevent this by collecting Elder Signs, enough of which will seal an Ancient One away. They must hurry, for at the end of each turn, the game clock advances. When the clock strikes midnight, bad things can happen. Monsters may appear, the players may be cursed, or the Ancient One may grow in strength.

Elder Signs are awarded upon the completion of certain adventures. (They can also be bought from the museum’s gift shop, for a price.) Each adventure card has at least one set of symbols that must be matched by a roll of the dice. If all symbols are matched, the player wins a reward and ends his turn. The catch is that each time the dice are rolled without matching anything, a die must be discarded. Once a player runs out of dice, he suffers a penalty and ends his turn.

This game is easy to learn, and is challenging to win without being impossible. I’d suggest that in two player games, each player take two investigators each.

Arkham Horror

Arkham Horror is an earlier game from the publishers of Elder Sign. The situation is nearly identical: an Ancient One is preparing to enter the world of the living. However, in Arkham Horror, the players wander the streets of the city of Arkham, searching for clues, battling monsters, and encountering portals to Other Worlds.

The board has two areas, one of which represents the city, and the other represents the eight Other Worlds from which the portals issue. A new portal may open as often as every turn, so players must move quickly. If too many portals are open at once, the Ancient One arrives, and the investigators must challenge it in a final battle. A portal may be closed by moving into it and then adventuring through one of the Other Worlds, and it may be sealed by spending clue tokens or special items.

The players may win if all the portals are closed, or if enough of them are sealed, or if the Ancient One is defeated. The latter is quite difficult, and I can only remember having done so once. Because portals can open so often, I’d suggest a group of two to three players take two investigators each.

This is a hard game, a long game, and a big game. When I say big, I mean it literally. I need to expand the dining table to make room for the game board. When I say long, imagine Monopoly with Cthulhu. Well, it may not be that long of a slog— Cthulhu may eat you first. The fact is that it takes at least three turns to close one portal, and that’s when things go well. Add to that trying to get around a city that is overrun by monsters, and you can easily have an all-day event.

Despite the size, length, and difficulty, Arkham Horror enjoyed a spot as my favorite game for some time.

The Dark Side of the Earth

This is a time-lapse video taken by a special low-light camera aboard the International Space Station. It captured auroras, thunderstorms, the glow of cities, and the faint light of the sun refracted by the atmosphere.

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

Via JWZ.

Five on the Fifth

It’s time for “Five on the Fifth,” a monthly event which invites you to take five photos and share them via blog. You can take 5 random pictures or follow the suggested theme: MOVEMENT.

The theme of movement could be taken literally, as in the movement phase of a board game.