Prelude To The East

As of 9:30pm I forfeited my position as bookseller and menial customer service laborer. Yes, tonight marked an end of an era. I cleaned out my cubicle, hung up my apron, and turned in my badge at the bookstore. Despite a couple congratulatory handshakes and free beer on my lunch break, Thursday was a typical business affair. Nothing really to uphold. Tomorrow morning I will readjust to civilian life and register for classes with Syracuse University. It's strange to think I will assume the role of student again after such a lengthy break, but it feels appropriate and I anticipate the maturity of the new environment with a lot of enthusiasm. One could surmise that Michael Jordan felt these similar kinds of emotions after returning to the game for the second time.

I wanted to mention this yesterday when it was more fitting, but NASA reached its coveted 50th anniversary. Only now as a young man have I started to appreciate the beauty we've achieved with human spaceflight and the process of scientific discovery. The manpower and dedication scientists and researches have made at NASA for the past 50 years is infinitely inspiring. We sure have come far as a human race. Surprisingly, news was pretty tight-lipped about this impressive milestone. That bothered me, so I thought I'd use my humble internet space to observe the occasion with a clip from one of my favorite documentaries, For All Mankind. The wonderful score is composed by ambient King of Kings, Brian Eno:

The Universe Of Garth Marenghi

This past winter I was introduced to the UK's Channel 4 network after viewing the greatly underrated Garth Marenghi's Darkplace DVD.


The show, which only aired for one season of six episodes (full season for UK television), is the brainchild of writer/actors Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade. Darkplace is a comedy series released in 2004 that lampoons 1980's television dramas of the horror/sci-fi genre. The low-budget aesthetic of the show is absolutely stunning. I was in awe of their commitment to dreadful entertainment using deliberately stilted dialogue, flawed continuity, tacky period fashion, degraded film stock, and synthesizer soundtracks. It all amounts to a production that parodies 80's culture so ingeniously. You can't help but admire.

Take a look:


(Garth Marenghi's Darkplace - Ep 1 Pt 1)
*Note the Channel 4 Ident from 1982

What's great is that Darkplace is infused with seriousness. The structure of the show operates as a show within a show within a fictional universe. Episodes are cut with present day interviews with ficticious cast and crew as they explain the missteps of the scripts and give insight into their creative process. It's all deadpan, pushing the joke even further. Ayoade's Dean Learner comments on his character Thornton Reed in an interview:

"I warned Garth, erm, I said, "I'm not an actor". And erm, he said, I'll always remember this, that he didn't want an act, he wanted the truth. So erm, here is, er, Dean Learner, playing Thornton Reed. Not putting on an act, but putting on the truth."

Holness also plays dual roles as Marenghi and Darkplace lead Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. Both egotistical and seemingly driven by the occult. Holness and creators go as far as to bewilder media with promotional material done in-character and issue press releases with fictional backgrounds for the characters of the show. There is never any mention of the real actors and their previous work.

The satire may not be all that new (see also: This Is Spinal Tap). But Darkplace uses all of its intentional mistakes to explore how popularity, not capability, leads to unsuccessful applications of entertainment. Hey! kind of like, 99% of television! Even though we have a mere six episodes, we also have six of the incredible spin-off series Man to Man With Dean Learner, which would probably require another entry to elaborate on its extension of Darkplace. I just hope these guys continue to work for a long time. They are too rare to look over.

Series Finale

Consider this video as a formal announcement to my going away bash.

You are cordially invited:

(The New Guys - Series Finale Trailer)

Over the past year there have been multiple in-jokes using television series milestones to parallel the important events happening with our group of close friends. I thought I would up the ante by officially marking our last remaining night together as a series finale of sorts. However, excuse the gimmicks involved in making this trailer. It was important for me to entice you enough to come over.

The August 2nd date will be part of my last weekend to proudly celebrate my life spent as a Washington resident. Aside from spastic dancing and projecting the cosmos interspersed with 8-bit gaming visuals on my living room wall, there will be a small, but fun, set of events lined up for the night. Did I mention a special surprise guest?

To anyone curious, all of the video was shot using only my Canon SD850. Pretty amazing quality and sound for a small digital camera. Thanks to everyone in the video for participating and for the creative consultation.

(Forever.)

*Note:

• Today I paid a final visit to Mercedes & Family in Yakima. I am forever indebted to them for their superior, authentic Mexican cuisine.
  

Brainman

My time at work is dwindling which causes a bit of reflective thinking over the past year and a half I've spent in customer service and retail.

I work in a bookstore and like most retail outlets I am encouraged to push our products and stir up interest in our services. To be honest, it is truly fulfilling to sell books for a successful independent store. While there is still an abundant amount of annoyances to the job, one aspect in particular that I enjoy (and will miss) is holding some influence on what our customers read. Although my recommendations are highly encouraged by my employers, I tend to keep them modest and reserved for titles that stimulate me enough to engage conversation. Even though it is good business practice to actively promote The Secret for instance, it feels kind of cheap to peddle something you don't value. Or sometimes, a bit perverse and fun.

After finishing Born On A Blue Day this past weekend I have reformed a lot of my opinions and thoughts over autism and savant syndrome. The author, Daniel Tammet, only a few years older than me, is an autistic savant with Asperger's syndrome. He also experiences synesthesia, an unusual neurological syndrome that enables him to experience numbers and words as shapes, colors, textures and motions. The number two, for instance, is a motion, and five is a clap of thunder. Day is Tammet's memoirs chronicling the trials of his young life. Incredibly, and in his own words, he manages to articulate his abstract thought process in a voice that is confident and detailed, none of it being over sentimental and indulgent. It is one of the most inspiring and honest pieces of literature I've read in sometime. Tammet continues to be a huge asset for scientists and researches working to unlock the secrets of autism.

He is also the subject of a few docutmentaries. Here's a clip from The Boy With The Incredible Brain:

Bellingham, WA. July 4, 2008

Here are some photos I took of us celebrating our nation's Big Day. Thanks to Daniel for inviting us over for bombs and hot dogs. Eventually these and other photos will be linked to a flickr account. Enjoy.

Japanese More Advanced In Love

I'm glad I can kick off July this way. I ran into this article while combing Drudge for news stories today:

Space Weddings

Do futurists consider this kind of thing in their relentless discussions of human evolution? I can only hope...