Mailed

“Julian Melchiorri on the first synthetic biological leaf” — http://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/25/movie-silk-leaf-first-man-made-synthetic-biological-leaf-space-travel/. This is completely and mind-blowingly amazing. I am surprised more people aren’t shouting this from the rooftop.

RCA graduate Julian Melchiorri says the synthetic biological leaf he developed, which absorbs water and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen just like a plant, could enable long-distance space travel.

We would finally be able to travel to Mars and further without having to pack so much oxygen. The weight limits would be bypassed, and more equipment could be carried. Along with the Tesla/(Elon Musk) Space X rocket, which can land and liftoff for multiple journeys, it would be an easy endeavor to have people travel back and forth from the “colonies.”

Melchiorri’s Silk Leaf project, which he developed as part of the Royal College of Art’s Innovation Design Engineering course in collaboration with Tufts University silk lab, consists of chloroplasts suspended in a matrix made out of silk protein.

These pieces of silk leaf fabric are able to photosynthesize oxygen. Just shine some light through the leaves, and there’s oxygen creation.

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The article is getting a lot of negative response, but it’s really quite a remarkable idea.

At some point in the future, we could have oxygen producing drapes on our windows, wall hangings that literally breathe, and the assurance that whatever happens, we’ve got clean air in our home.

I believe there are going to be many technological marvels discovered in the coming years. The world will be terrible ecologically, but I hope that will only be in some areas. Places like China and Texas will have terrible air and bad stuff, but most of the rest of the world will be better off. Still, it would be worth the cost to purchase an air conditioner that also cleans and creates oxygen, or clothing that literally breathes.

A filter of silk leaf could be part of a person’s breathing mask. If its able to be kept alive, it could last for decades.

An outfit made of breathable material. Flip up the hood and keep from suffocating while in a place packed with people. The perfect party suit. (Translucent bubble suit of silk leaf. Bicycle shorts-wearing grinding body, twisting and bending, cami top clinging, dancing within the safety of her private world. Holland watched her for a moment, tracing the curves and bends, admiring the nubile young beauty; his admiration was abstract but honest.)

Apartment complexes would offer the luxury of a silk leaf shell that produces clean oxygen for the occupants. That would be something people would want available.

I don’t know. I am really enthusiastic about some of the newest technologies coming out.

Allies & Enemies at Amazon

This all began after trying to watch The Taking of Pelham 123 while intoxicated. Sometimes I let my thoughts wander. They decide to go to strange places.


RE The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

I attempted to watch this movie, and it felt like I was waiting and waiting and waiting for something to happen. But nothing ever happens and the action seemed forced. It’s a story with a potential that never appears. The wrong actors were chosen for the roles; the dialogue isn’t very enthralling, but there’s a lot of it; and it felt like a character piece, but they were playing it as an ensemble. There’s the pieces of a good story, if only things had been taken in a different direction.

Seriously, movie dudes, if you’re going to redo a badly done movie, put some work into it. Correct the mistakes of the past and make a better story. Change the setting and the scenario. Make a frickin’ TV movie to create the backdrop of your universe. I mean, that doesn’t really apply to Pelham 123, but for other reboots it seems like a much better idea than destroying everything and not giving people a chance to adapt.

Take Star Trek for instance: I might have appreciated the rebooted movies more if JJ Abrahms had run a TV mini-series explaining all the ginormous changes taking place in the universe. I need a meta to build on in my imagination so I have some idea of what’s going on; it’s the way I enjoy things. I also need a fanbase to fall back on, because when I really like something I immediately search for the fanfiction and the fanart.

Star Trek is a giant franchise. Sure, the reruns of the TV show and the movies were beginning to lose money, but that’s because they’re not syndicated anywhere. Or if they are, they’re not being played in the right way. (Pick a time and stick to it. Nobody needs an episode marathon every night; it burns out the interest quick. Just one episode a night, every night at the same time, maybe two episodes if the show is only a half-hour long. Make sure the episodes run in order, then build your programming around it. The show will begin to pick up interest, as most humans like patterns and stability.

Remember being a kid and racing home to watch your favorite show? It was on every single day at exactly the same time. And even when your life was crazy and stressful and your parents were fighting, your show would always be there for you. Life was falling down, but there was Sailor Moon, there were The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, there were The Tiny Toon Adventures.

Well, dudes, life has gotten hard lately. The economy stinks, war is about to break out all over the place, there’s stress piling up everything; the world seems like it’s about to fall apart and there’s no hope in sight — and I blame all of that on American television programming.

1. We’re showing way too many infomercials, people. It’s beginning to warp the perspectives of the world. We need to start showing the good stuff again. I mean, when someone in the Middle East pays to get American TV, I don’t think they were paying to get our worst crap. It makes people a little testy and it makes us look bad. We need to be more like BBC-America. They seriously put some work behind their programming, and they’re really getting popular. Meanwhile, all the basic cable channels have turned into garbage and I have no idea why. They don’t even bother trying to syndicate shows anymore, and I don’t know if it’s because the copyright holders are charging too much money or if the network owners just don’t care or something.

People still watch TV! People want to watch TV. There’s something soothing about clicking the remote, tuning to a station, and just knowing I’m going to be entertained, no extra thought required. And I haven’t felt like that in a long time. The stability I love and need is gone. And it’s been replaced by some guy trying to sell me Magic Beauty Wonder Cream and softcore pornography commercials starring not very attractive people doing stuff I don’t like.

I want to tune to a station for 2-4 hours and know that there’s going to be something I want to watch. Since there’s never anything good on, I end up watching a lot of American Dad. It can be entertaining and I like the self-contained stories, but I want other stuff to watch too.

Don’t networks ever ask the opinions of their viewers? The big companies keep gobbling up different channels, then they sell out their customers by getting rid of everything that people liked. I get that they’re trying to force people to buy the pricier cable packages, but maybe they’d make more money if they showed a little consideration.

Not everyone has a ton of money to spend on entertainment. $20 a month is a lot of money to some people. They still should have something good to watch on TV.

Shows that rock:
Almost Human [partner cops, sci-fi, action],
American Dad [animated, humor],
Angel [paranormal, drama, action, angst, feelings],
Being Human [paranormal, drama, angst],
Better Off Ted [humor, office, Evil Corporation],
Bones [FBI, crime-solving partners, ],
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [action, drama, girl power, great ensemble],
Charmed [paranormal, action, girl power, sibling unity],
Dead Like Me [reapers, drama, angst, feelings],
Dollhouse [action, sci-fi, drama],
Earth: Final Conflict [sci-fi, aliens come to Earth],
Firefly [sci-fi, spaceship in the future, cargo hauling and thieving],
Futurama [animated, humor, sci-fi, ensemble],
Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda [sci-fi, spaceship in the far future, post-apocalyptic],
Hannibal [psychological, serial killer, angst, drama, lots of blood and awful],
Hercules: the Legendary Journeys [action, humor, gods and goddesses],
Highlander [action, a fight to the death every episode, Methos, dated material],
Lost Girl [paranormal, action, girl power, lots of sex and violence],
Metalocalypse [animated, brutal humor],
Pushing Daisies [crime solving partners, humor, romance, paranormal],
Rick and Morty [animated, sci-fi, sharp humor],
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles [action, sci-fi, drama],
The Tribe [post-apocalypse, Lord of the Flies-ish kids battling each other],
Xena: Warrior Princess [action, humor, romance, redemption, gods and goddesses],
The Venture Brothers [animated, superscience, sharp humor]

For a lighter crowd:
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy [animated, humor, reaper]
Hikaru no Go [anime, ghost friend, championship board game],
Invader Zim [animated, sci-fi, humor]
Ouran High School Host Club [anime, high school romance, crossdressing],
Princess Jellyfish [anime, adult humor],
Sailor Moon [anime, action, girl power],
Tiny Toon Adventures [humor, talking animals],
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [action, talking animals hiding from the human world]

2. What is with all of the reality television? We get it, it’s cheap to make and the returns can be gigantic and blah blah. Those shows have actually been proven to make children stupider. Look it up; there’s scientific evidence. Where are all the concerned “Don’t vaccinate my kid!” parents at when their kids are watching that crap? Instead of sitting back letting that kind of lazy and exploitive programming run, why aren’t parents petitioning for actual shows?

When I was a kid some of the shows were pretty stupid, but at least they were actual family programming, as in, anyone could watch the show no matter there age. There was no surprise graphic sex. The language didn’t try to be edgy. And there were actual non-dysfunctional families getting along and enjoying spending time together.

But reality TV shows a life that most people can’t afford to live or wouldn’t want to live. The people seem so fake, the story lines are improv, and there’s no real point to anything. It’s a fishbowl glimpse into someone’s life, a chance to ogle and snark freely.

At least a story with a moral to it imparts some beneficial bit of knowledge. Reality television is people making money by pretending that their lives are more interesting than they really are.

“Watch me I’m rich and spoiled!”

“Watch me do my job, it’s exciting!”

“I used to be famous, pay attention to me!”

No thank you. I’ll be watching the rerun of a rerun, the same episode of The Cleveland Show that played four hours ago on the sister channel.)

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I wish I could turn on the TV and be entertained again. But there’s no longer a channel I can trust to give me what I want.

Heroes & Villains at Amazon

So, my dad bought a Wacom Cintiq that arrived today. He’s very happy about it, which is good, except I wasn’t aware of how much it cost.

He complains of chest pains, but it’s too expensive for him to use his medical insurance and go to the doctor. Never mind that he had a quadruple bypass over ten years ago and is past his “warranty date.” He is constantly complaining of aches and pains, of not having enough money for essential things, yet he bought this massively expensive toy.

I’m concerned about his foolish spending and lack of care about his physical health. He has these frightening rages and riding with him in the car is terrifying. Maybe it’s that he’s getting older, or maybe he’s coming out of a depression and is showing it by spending too much money, I don’t know. I’m worried, but he doesn’t listen to me and it’s his own money that he’s spending.

I’ll be keeping a closer eye on him. The Cintiq was a big splurge, but as long as he doesn’t start buying a whole bunch of things it might be okay. I’ll keep trying to get him to see the doctor and get new glasses and go in for a hearing test … Ugh, there’s so much that needs to be done around here and I don’t know what to do.

Let's Make Dumplings at Amazon

Recommended reading:

Daron’s Guitar Chronicles, by Cecilia Tan [mm, rock and roll]

Updates weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays at http://daron.ceciliatan.com/. It’s hundreds of thousands of words into the series, so you might want to pick up the ebooks to catch up.

Volume 1 is free, if you want to get started with reading, otherwise the ebooks are $4.99 each.

Blurb borrowed from Smashwords: Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Coming out and coming of age in the days of AIDS, MTV, Reaganomics, and Just Say No. Daron Marks is a young guitar player with a dream: make it big like the guys he grew up idolizing in New Jersey–or at least escape his dysfunctional family. He makes it as far as music school in Rhode Island, and the stages of Boston beckon. But it’s hard to succeed from the closet.

Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume 1 [Amazon] [Smashwords] [Scribd].
Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume 2 [Amazon] [Smashwords] [Scribd].
Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume 3 [Amazon] [Smashwords] [Scribd].
Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume 4 [Amazon] [Smashwords] [Scribd].
Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Volume 5 [Amazon] [Smashwords] [Scribd].
Daron’s Guitar Chronicles: Omnibus Edition Volume 1 (print).

You can also find all five volumes on Scribd if you’ve got a subscription.

Tomorrow is Cecilia Tan’s birthday. So everyone wish her a happy day 🙂 She’s also running a Kickstarter that begins on her birthday.

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C.J. Cherryh [science fiction, fantasy]

Science fiction and fantasy author. She’s written a ton of books, and having read most of them, I would rate her as my favorite overall author. The ones listed here are the ones that I consider some of her best.

The Fortress Series: [Wikipedia] My favorite!
Blurb borrowed from Scribd: Deep in an abandoned, shattered castle, an old man of the Old Magic muttered almost forgotten words. His purpose — to create out of the insubstance of the air, from a shimmering of light and a fluttering of shadows. That most wondrous of spells, a Shaping. A Shaping in the form of a, young man who will be sent east on the road the old was to old to travel. To right the wrongs of a long-forgotten wizard war, and call new wars into being.

Fortress In the Eye of Time [Amazon] [Scribd].
Fortress of Eagles [Amazon] [Scribd].
Fortress of Owls [Amazon] [Scribd].
Fortress of Dragons [Amazon] [Scribd].
Fortress of Ice [Amazon] [Scribd].

Downbelow Station [Wikipedia] [Amazon].

Merchanter’s Luck [Wikipedia] — The single version is no longer available, but Alliance Space [Amazon] contains Merchanter’s Luck and Forty Thousand In Gehenna.

Cyteen [Wikipedia] [Amazon].
Regenesis [Wikipedia] [Amazon].

The Chanur novels: [Wikipedia].
The Chanur Saga (The Pride of Chanur, Chanur’s Venture, The Kif Strike Back) [Amazon].
Chanur’s Endgame (Chanur’s Homecoming, Chanur’s Legacy) [Amazon].

Faded Sun Trilogy [Wikipedia] [Amazon].

The Deep Beyond [Amazon] comprises Serpent’s Reach and Cuckoo’s Egg. Both stories are particular favorites of mine, so this is a great deal.
Serpent’s Reach [Wikipedia].
Cuckoo’s Egg [Wikipedia].

The Morgaine Saga (Gate of Ivrel, Well of Shiuan, Fires of Azeroth) [Wikipedia] [Amazon].

Foreigner universe: [Wikipedia].
Arc 1 (Foreigner, Invader, Inheritor): focuses on an assassination attempt against Bren Cameron, an act illegal by the peace treaty made following the War of the Landing. The attempt proves to be a conspiracy by factions of humans and atevi to depose Bren as the paidhi, or official translator between the two cultures. The Starship Phoenix returns, causing the entire system to come out of balance, causing political unrest on both Mospheira and the mainland, and while the atevi change from simple rocketry to advanced single-stage-to-orbit shuttles, radically altering their economic and industrial base in the process.
Foreigner [Amazon].
Invader [Amazon].
Inheritor [Amazon].
Arc 2 (Precursor, Defender, Explorer): focuses on Bren as he is elevated by Tabini to be the Lord of the Heavens, making him a lord of the aishidi’tat with authority to negotiate. Bren is then charged with taking Tabini’s heir, Cajeiri, and Ilisidi, Cajeri’s great grandmother, to see to a threat of aliens encountered by Phoenix, but Bren and the aiji-dowager must first solve a mutiny aboard Phoenix.
Precursor [Amazon].
Defender [Amazon].
Explorer [Amazon].
Arc 3 (Destroyer, Pretender, Deliverer): focuses on the return of Bren Cameron, Ilisidi and Cajeiri from deep space and their encounter with the alien Kyo. They find the aishidi’tat in tatters, Tabini-aiji rumored to be dead, and Murini, the pretender-aiji, on the throne in Shejidan. The kyo will expect to meet a unified planet under the rule of Tabini-aiji. Bren, the dowager, and the aiji must restore order before the kyo arrive for negotiations.
Destroyer [Amazon].
Pretender [Amazon].
Deliverer [Amazon].
Arc 4 (Conspirator, Deceiver, Betrayer): set in the immediate aftermath of the third arc, and is set against the shifting political relations between the different Atevi ethnic factions. With Tabini restored in Shejidan, Cameron must find a way to stabilise the Eastern and coastal regions where he has his own Lordly estate. The peace gained with the restoration of Tabini’s rule is threatened by long standing ethnic and cultural differences between the ruling Ragi Atevi and the more conservative Edi and Eastern clans.
Conspirator [Amazon].
Deceiver [Amazon].
Betrayer [Amazon].
Arc 5 (Intruder, Protector, Peacemaker)
Intruder [Amazon].
Protector [Amazon].
Peacemaker [Amazon].

The Gene Wars universe: [Wikipedia].
Hammerfall [Scribd] [Amazon].
Forge of Heaven [Scribd] [Amazon].

Ealdwood Stories: [Wikipedia].
The Dreaming Tree (single volume containing The Dreamstone, and The Tree of Swords and Jewels) [Amazon].

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The Borderlands series, by Lorna Freeman [fantasy]

For some reason, the first two books are unavailable except in used editions, which some people have taken advantage of to sell their copies for obscene amounts. The series is good, but not $22-54 good.

Hopefully if there’s enough interest, the two books will be reissued at a reasonable, non-exploitative price. Remember when Kirith Kirin [$4.99 for kindle] went out of print, then enough people wanted it that there was a rush to sell the used copies and some sellers wanted $375+ and then when another edition was published the cover price was over $20?

For used books, always check Abebooks.com before paying a ton of money. And while you’re there, don’t forget to look up Elizabeth Willey and The Merro-Tree by Katie Waitman.

Book One: Covenants (out of print, used copies).
Book Two: The King’s Own (out of print, used copies).
Book Three: Shadows Past.
Book Four: The Reckoning Flames (forthcoming?).

Blurb borrowed from Amazon: When Rabbit joined the Royal Army of Iversterre, he was just trying to get off the family farm. Instead, he got mixed up with a magical from the Border, learned he couldn’t escape his noble lineage, and developed some surprising talents that he can’t always control. But with Iversterre sliding toward the abyss, Rabbit needs to master his powers quickly-before someone else does it for him.

Strangely, though she made mention of a fourth book, Lorna Freeman seems to have disappeared sometime in 2011. She made a post to her blog January 1, and that was it. No more sightings of her on the Internet, no mentions of her popping in anywhere IRL, nothing. It’s kind of mysterious and spooky.

She wrote this excellent series, and her fans would love to hear more from her. I hope that she is well.