Remember, remember

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I see of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

UK celebrates tonight Guy Fawkes' Night. Fawkes was a catholic who tried to blow up the Parliament on this very day on 1605. Which, if you asked me, those damn pirates deserved. The only thing worse than having a brit for an enemy is having it for an ally. Ask us, we should now from the Napoleonic Wars.

Thanks to V for vendetta, Anonymous and pop culture the guy (see what I did there) has become an icon for rebellion against the goverment, which has nearly nothing to do with Guy's original intent: killing the King and Parliament to put a catholic monarch in place. He was also a pawn, not the head of the conspiracy, but he made for a great scapegoat.

All in all, the whole thing has lost its original meaning and taken on a completely different one. One I couldn't care less about. That is not bad, and it isn't good. It's just the way of things.

On the other hand, this night is also called the Bonfire night. A night to light bonfires, throw fireworks and celebrate just 'cause. A night when the turning of the world stops, when dancing, dreaming, drinking are the norm and fire is a dear friend. Now that I can get behind just fine.

Who wouldn't want to?

All Hallow's Eve

Happy Halloween, All Hallows' Eve, Día de todos los Santos, Samhain o whatever you wish to call it.

Tonight, the Darkness shows a wolfish, impish smile. The moon half-shines upon the world and reminds us that the night is cold, and dangerous, and wild. But it's also when we are closer to each other, when we better kiss, and love, and whisper, and talk of forbidden and secret things.

Nothing in the world should hurt us this night. Our loved ones, present or gone, are around us. The family we were born with and the one we've chosen along the way.

Many, many masks and mantles are taken up, or discarded, on this very night. Some dress up and pretend to be other people. Some of us can finally be ourselves.

If you have lost someone recently, I'm very sorry for your loss. I've been there. But do not worry, they are alright and, more importantly, they want you to be. They want you to be merry, play pranks, have a quick wit, a sharp tongue and the season of mists by your side tonight. Be amazing.

Enjoy your night and cherish your loved ones, everyone.

(Even the Sun gave us all a wink and a devilish smile, even if it was 20 days ago, the 8th. Image taken by NASA)

Should we go to Mars?

I am never going to set foot on Mars.

I am part of a generation that came too late to explore the world but too early to pioneer the stars. That right there is a tough thought to stomach, but I know it to be true. It's okay, it's no one's fault. On the other hand, our children, or our children's children, should go. And if they don't get to, that will be our fault.

It's difficult nowadays to say anything about the space race, or rather the space slow-as-hell-stroll-through-the-park, without cringing. We were well on our way. We went to the Moon and back, several times. We sent the Voyager to boldly go where no man has ever been. We looked upon the skies and filled ourselves with new hopes and challenges.

But we stopped going. We gave up on space exploration. Poorly-founded astronomers (How did someone miss the opportunity of calling them skyentists and why isn't he or she in the gallows?) are the only ones looking out for anything up there anymore. That beggars the question, do we really have to go to Mars?

Yes, of course we do. And we are trying to. We sent the Curiosity out there. We landed. We are exploring Mars right now, even if it's in such a roundabout way. We are really, really trying. But that isn't enough. Mars is our future. Mars will be the place to go after we have filled the Earth. One day we will turn this:

into this:

But that's not it.

Wanna know why we have to go?

Cause it's next.

We came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill and we saw fire. We climbed mountains and dove into the seas unknown. We crossed the Ocean and we pioneered a whole new continent, finding what should have been long-lost brothers we didn't even knew we had, even if it sadly didn't go that way. We took in the whole of the world and mapped it out and then, we took to the skies. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this is what's next. Of course we have to go.

Why wouldn't we want to?

(Pics taken from http://www.reddit.com/r/spaceporn)

Humankind in Science Fiction

I'm a nerd. No news there, I know, but I think sometimes it's important to demonstrate how much of a nerd I am. Hence, this post.

There are different views about humankind in science fiction. It depends in the hardness of the science fiction, how far away in the future the work is set or if its a Space Opera, cosmic horror story or anything in between. Usually, as long as there are also aliens in there, you find two types of humans:

1) Humans are average/Humans are diplomats: A staple of the far-future works, humanity is usually the baseline race for everything: smart, but not the smartest, strong, but not the strongest, etc. We are a kind of Jack-of-all-trades.

This is has a clear parallelism with fantasy stories, elves, dwarves and so on. Here you can find humanity as diplomats, creators of an empire or a republic that spans the galaxies. Most clearly seen in Star Wars and Star Trek.

2) Humans are helpless/Humans are survivors: Usually found in First Contact or Invasion stories, here humanity is clueless about everything, having gone to space just a few decades back or being set in the present day. We do not have the tech, the knowledge, hell, we have nothing. We are outmatched, outgunned and outnumbered.

We survive anyway through guile, inteligence or plain dumb luck. You can see it in War of the Worls, Independence Day, etc.

But, a few years back, a different proposal emerged. One I quite like, because it shows humanity the way I enjoy it the most: unrestrained, untamed, completely do-not-fuck-with-us:

3) Humas are monsters/Humans are warriors: Contrary to Humas are Diplomats, here humanity is badass. Humanity is a bunch of violent, warlike savages who revel in chaos and destruction.

This is not, however, a bad thing. And, most likely, it's the way it would end up. Think here for a second.

Humans breathe oxygen, one of the most poisonous materials in the universe. It's the same fucking thing that makes fire. It kills metals. We need it to BREATHE.

From a totally alien being's viewpoint that must be at least startling, if not outright scary. Also, check out the local fauna, which from a sci-fi viewpoint, was turned into wallets and clothes. Even our cows, which we eat, are fucking 500kg slab of muscle and fat, capable of crushing a man to death. We made an industry of killing , eating, and using their bodily remains.

We roll poison into little cylinders and smoke it to relax. We drink poison too, and derive enjoyment from the temporary malfunctioning it causes in our higher brain functions. The higher the toxin level the greater the beverage; diluting the toxin with water is severely frowned upon by society. Humans preferentially select foods that mimic their response to damage. For the flavor.

We expose ourselves to sunlight in order to damage our skin and make it assume a darker hue for the sake of perceived beauty. We expose ourselves to harsh environments with nothing but nylon for shelter for pleasure.

It took 50 years since the invention of a motorised vehicle for us to develop laws about where and how to drive them safely. We just didn't care til then.

Humans are constantly conditioned almost from birth to regard lethal violence as valid entertainment, Action movies, violent video games, even sports like martial arts or fencing are all derived from actions which, in the end, are intended to end the lives of sentient beings. and we enjoy them in our spare time. We even make our kids pay for them in order to play.

Rather than fight disease directly, humans deliberately inject themselves with crippled versions of deadly plagues, so that their bodies will shrug them off with minor effects. Our immune systems are so hardy that even the quickest-mutating pathogen barely affects us; we call it "just a cold" and treat our infection like a minor inconvenience. We put all sorts of chemichals in our body to cure ailments, and sometimes we don't even know how any of it works. We know it doesn't kill us, and that's enough.

A single inescapable fact is that humanity unites with infinitely greater purpose in pursuit of war, than we ever do in pursuit of peace. I mean, we're able to fly into space now and have been killing each other for thousands of years. What makes anyone think we would drop that habit once we can fly out a bit further?

We poison our air and water to weed out the weak.

We set off fission bombs in our only biosphere.

We nailed our god to a stick.

Don't fuck with the human race.

Space Engine - First Journey

Algún ruso loco ha tenido la decencia y desfachatez de crear un simulador que incluye todas las estrellas, nebulas, galaxias y cuerpos celestes que tenemos catalogados y genera aleatoriamente más por si quieres ir a verlos.

Acto seguido, te pone en ese mundo y te dice "Ve y disfruta". Como quien le da a un niño un arma, una habitación a dos amantes vírgenes o una nave espacial a un yonqui de la ciencia ficción.

Oh, espera.

Puedes descargar Space Engine aqui

Galería de imágenes con mi primera exploración

Pequeño video de exploración



Si tenéis un rato, dadle una vuelta. Es sencillamente precioso.

Friends in the Dark

At times, life gets you down. Maybe you aren't where you thought you would be, maybe something good is over, maybe the world just isn't being kind today. I think of those times as being in the Dark. In Darkness, you only have your voice and your mind to talk to you, and that can get pretty horrible in short notice.

That's why you get friends. No one is born alone in this world, we all have people out there, even if we haven't met them yet, who can and will be true friends to us. People to share the Light, in good times. To shine in the Dark, in bad ones.

These people come in so many flavours that I can barely count them all. Very, very few people can get you out of the Darkness (That's your job, mate). Good friends recognize that fact, nod and then completely disregard it and try anyway. 

Some friends bring you candles and sit with you for a while, bringing what they can of Light with them. They look at you and share beautiful things. They eventually have to leave, of course, when the candle runs out, but they smile and say "See you soon". And soon, they are back with another candle. These friends are reliable as bread, as air, as the sun rising every morning. They warm you.

Some friends, fewer, suddenly come in with wood and coal and noise like thunder, smile wildly (even madly) and light a bonfire. They come, alone or in groups, and hold out their hands while laughing. "Get up", they say, "The Darkness is taking a break tonight. And if she has an issue with that, tell her to take it up with us".

They light the bonfire and make you dance and sing and do a million stupid things and, until the bonfire falls to embers and ashes, draw a line against the Darkness and dare her to come forth. Of course, the fire eventually runs out, but you do not stop smiling the whole time. They leave, then, and promise to come back soon. It will never be as soon as you want to, but they will come back. These friends are like lighting and thunder and a single, perfect step. They blaze like fireworks for as long as they can. Sometimes forever.

Finally, some friends (very, very few of them) bring no light with them. They come alone and sit in the dark, back to back with you, and listen and say small words at the right times, or tell you a story that has nothing to do with anything, or just stand in the Darkness with you. These friends are like the silence after a storm, or the steadiness of a mountain, or the crystalline beauty of the moon. They stay around for a night, or a few hours, or a single, magnificent sentence.

The beautiful thing is that people can be all three of them. All the time. A steady guide, a blazing flare, a quiet strength. 

(I tend to give as much credit to the whole "Darkness is Evil" thing as to the more widespread "Light is Good". Both seem like so much dandelion fluff to me. Light is light, and Darkness is darkness. Nothing else. Today, I'm making an exception for the sake of writing, meaning that the whole metaphore falls apart otherwise. Please bear with me.)

Art

I love Art.

I love music and dance and drawings and paintings and photography and sculpture and animation and the way some people can spin feelings and thoughts in canvas and paper and strings and voice and partitures and a single, well timed step.

I envy all of you with a passion. I crave your voices, like silver trumpets, your rhythm, like the rain falling, your hands, steady and sure, your minds, focused and knowing, your instincts that see beauty in the marble when it's still just a block of stone.

I have none of that. I couldn't carry a tune if it had handles, I couldn't draw a straight line to save my life, I couldn't make a stick figure move with a see-through. I can't take a half-step to music without looking utterly ridiculous.

I do not have an ounce of Art in me. That fact has haunted me for as long as I could conceptualize music and drawings. I still dream, sometimes, that I can sing, or play, or dance, or draw, or animate a good story. But I can't. I would give my hand to be able to sing, or my voice so I could draw or animate the stories I imagine when I listen to music. But the world doesn't work like that, and I've made my peace with it.

But that means all of you have to make it up for me. Draw, paint, sing, play, dance, render. Create. Fill the world with a thousand thousand beautiful things. Make epic, sad, lovely and fantastic stories.

Those of you who can see the Light outside, take a piece of it and bring it to the Cavern for those of us in the Darkness.

Go.