It is hard to put to words the elation I feel as it becomes reality: George W. Bush is gone, and Barack Obama is our President. I feel as though the nightmare has ended and I have waken to the euphoric reassurance of reality. The only difference being the nightmare truly happened, the damage truly done.
On day one, Obama begins the long process of wiping the dark and greasy smudge upon our country that was the Bush presidency into the past. I smile to myself knowing that the true principles of this country are being released from their prison and reinstated upon their lofty thrones. Our Constitution, in exile for eight years, may now return; I want to parade it through our streets, a hero returned.
For near a decade now I've had to qualify myself when I say I'm proud to be American. Not of the country's present state or current leaders, but of the underlying vision that gives it the strength to always repair its wounds and heal its woes. Now I can say it freely, "I am proud to be American," and people need only look to the past few days to know why.
Change is the beauty of the United States. The Constitution grants us regular and periodic change and the right to help decide how that change should manifest. We therefore have the power to ever balance history, the bad for the good, the low for the high, the base and petty for the noble and great.
May whatever god bless Obama as Obama blesses this country with the change it so much needs.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Heroes & Miracles
Two words I think are over used. Forgive me, the following may sound cynical.
There was this plane crash on the Hudson River in NYC. A bird flew into the engine, the pilot tried to get back to the airport but couldn't, so put the plane down on the Hudson.
Let me start by saying I think it is excellent that no one was hurt and the pilot did a damn good job of getting the plane down relatively safely. Everyone came together and the passengers were quickly brought ashore.
Then they immediately start throwing around the word "miracle" and "heroes."
Let's look at the definition of "miracle":
mir-a-cle
-Noun
1. an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
(Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1))
A few observations: A bird is a flying animal that sometimes has the ill-fate or poor-foresight of being sucked into plane engines, which can cause damage to said plane. Gravity is the natural force that makes things like broken airplanes fall from the sky. A pilot is a human being with (all things being equal) complete control of all of the plane's controls, and it is his actions that guide the plane to the best of his and the plane's ability. So, I'm pretty sure we can explain this event in terms of existing physical and human powers.
I would call it perfect execution on the pilot's behalf and a number of favorable conditions. I would call it a text-book example of what can happen and what should be done when those things happen.
This is only one example, but hardly a miracle. They want to call this pilot a hero, but then they go and take all his credit away by calling it a miracle--something outside the control of nature or the pilot. Can't have it both ways. The guy's a hero for overcoming the forces of nature, or it's a miracle and screw the pilot; this was God at work. Of course, we all know a halo of light and a choir of angels didn't suddenly surround this plane. In fact, it had apparently fallen from God's regard, leaving it to the pilot to save their skins.
Now let's look at "hero":
he-ro
-Noun
1. a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds and noble qualities.
Admittedly hard to take issue with because this pilot did have the good sense to put his skill into a water-landing instead of plowing into some houses, killing everyone.
Brave deeds? I'm pretty sure the plane was coming down no matter what and he happened to be the person entrusted not to kill everyone if he could manage it. No choice but to put training, hope, and prayer into making the contact of airplane on water as gentle as possible. Noble qualities? Ok, he had the intelligence, training, and focus to execute the above with aplomb. Beyond that, we don't know, though I'm sure he's a nice guy. Distinguished courage? I hope all pilots have the same training and gumption--afterall, they're maneuvering something many tons very quickly through mid-air with a number of people who value their lives dependent upon it--and if I should be in such an emergency I'd hate to have one that screams, covers his eyes, and yells, "We're all gonna die!"
But let me make it clear: I have only praise for the training, intelligence, and focus for this pilot, who, despite gravity, did a wonderful job of using the plane's controls to make a survivable impact between plane and water.
A hero to me, though, is someone who goes above and beyond, someone with the courage to decide to enter danger for some truly altruistic or super-human act. I question whether someone (and this pilot is just an example) can be a hero simply for doing their job--for doing what is expected of them.
And if a deed is not one's job, then I question whether someone can be a hero simply for doing what every human being ought do for another. Is someone a hero for returning a lost wallet? For stopping to help an old woman with a flat tire? For carrying a disabled person down a flight of stairs in a fire? I should hope any good human would do such a thing.
That being said, would that every plane, if natural forces demand it crash, do so with so little consequence, and that every pilot in such a situation has the skill to match that of former fighter-pilot and crisis-management student Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III.
There was this plane crash on the Hudson River in NYC. A bird flew into the engine, the pilot tried to get back to the airport but couldn't, so put the plane down on the Hudson.
Let me start by saying I think it is excellent that no one was hurt and the pilot did a damn good job of getting the plane down relatively safely. Everyone came together and the passengers were quickly brought ashore.
Then they immediately start throwing around the word "miracle" and "heroes."
Let's look at the definition of "miracle":
mir-a-cle
-Noun
1. an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
(Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1))
A few observations: A bird is a flying animal that sometimes has the ill-fate or poor-foresight of being sucked into plane engines, which can cause damage to said plane. Gravity is the natural force that makes things like broken airplanes fall from the sky. A pilot is a human being with (all things being equal) complete control of all of the plane's controls, and it is his actions that guide the plane to the best of his and the plane's ability. So, I'm pretty sure we can explain this event in terms of existing physical and human powers.
I would call it perfect execution on the pilot's behalf and a number of favorable conditions. I would call it a text-book example of what can happen and what should be done when those things happen.
This is only one example, but hardly a miracle. They want to call this pilot a hero, but then they go and take all his credit away by calling it a miracle--something outside the control of nature or the pilot. Can't have it both ways. The guy's a hero for overcoming the forces of nature, or it's a miracle and screw the pilot; this was God at work. Of course, we all know a halo of light and a choir of angels didn't suddenly surround this plane. In fact, it had apparently fallen from God's regard, leaving it to the pilot to save their skins.
Now let's look at "hero":
he-ro
-Noun
1. a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds and noble qualities.
Admittedly hard to take issue with because this pilot did have the good sense to put his skill into a water-landing instead of plowing into some houses, killing everyone.
Brave deeds? I'm pretty sure the plane was coming down no matter what and he happened to be the person entrusted not to kill everyone if he could manage it. No choice but to put training, hope, and prayer into making the contact of airplane on water as gentle as possible. Noble qualities? Ok, he had the intelligence, training, and focus to execute the above with aplomb. Beyond that, we don't know, though I'm sure he's a nice guy. Distinguished courage? I hope all pilots have the same training and gumption--afterall, they're maneuvering something many tons very quickly through mid-air with a number of people who value their lives dependent upon it--and if I should be in such an emergency I'd hate to have one that screams, covers his eyes, and yells, "We're all gonna die!"
But let me make it clear: I have only praise for the training, intelligence, and focus for this pilot, who, despite gravity, did a wonderful job of using the plane's controls to make a survivable impact between plane and water.
A hero to me, though, is someone who goes above and beyond, someone with the courage to decide to enter danger for some truly altruistic or super-human act. I question whether someone (and this pilot is just an example) can be a hero simply for doing their job--for doing what is expected of them.
And if a deed is not one's job, then I question whether someone can be a hero simply for doing what every human being ought do for another. Is someone a hero for returning a lost wallet? For stopping to help an old woman with a flat tire? For carrying a disabled person down a flight of stairs in a fire? I should hope any good human would do such a thing.
That being said, would that every plane, if natural forces demand it crash, do so with so little consequence, and that every pilot in such a situation has the skill to match that of former fighter-pilot and crisis-management student Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tremick's Best Reads of 2008
The second part of my tradition: A top-5 list of the books I read this year.
Number 5:
Rendezvous With Rama, Arthur C. Clarke.
A mysterious alien object enters the solar system, heading for the sun, and a spaceship crew goes to investigate. Have they come to take over, to co-habitate, or just passing through? The crew encounters a huge, cylindrical object large enough to fit an entire ecosystem around its inner surface. The crew explores its mysterious wonders as solar system politics and the vessel itself heat up; they learn only enough to baffle and intrigue before the vessel moves on.
There were a number that could have tied for number five, but I loved the feeling of mystery and awe in the unknown this book engendered. You end up feeling like the crew investigating: wishing you had more time to uncover all of Rama's secrets and intentions. Clarke's imagination for scientific detail is unsurpassed.
Number 4:
Ringworld, Larry Niven.
A three-legged alien, a giant war-like cat-like alien, a human bred for luck, and a human centuries old strike out on an expedition to explore an astronomical ring constructed around a star with a habitable surface built on the inside. The surface area of the ring, around and from edge-to-edge, is unfathomable. Yet advanced civilization has disappeared. What happened? The adventure to and on the ring is an Odyssey of mishap and surprise.
This book was a pleasant surprise. I had heard about it and the praise it received, but I thought it might just be a technical exploration of this ring. It turned out so much more. The ring itself is a wonder to experience through the writing, the characters are well formed and humorous caricatures of themselves, and there is a Douglas-Adamsesque irony that nonetheless stays within the realms of sanity. The book is as much about the characters as their environment, the plot is ever interesting, and the result is an excellent adventure.
Number 3:
Seventh Son, Orson Scott Card.
A boy is born the seventh living son of a seventh son, and the thirteenth child born. As legend has it, a child born with these numbers will have powers over the world around him. In this alternate-reality colonial America, legends are real. As seventh son Alvin Miller Junior grows, accidents follow but mysterious events save him every time. Alvin's destiny is to become a Maker, one with the power to create from the elements, the antithesis to the force that has been trying to kill him all along: The Unmaker. Alvin must learn to use and respect his own power to protect himself and others from the power of Unmaking.
This book is a story of characters, of magical forces greater than us all, and a statement about the powers of man and nature, the fight against making and unmaking. I admit, I'm a sucker for stories about children trying to overcome adversity, as I see my own youth in their stories. Card's stories include cruelty but also great tenderness, and Alvin experiences both. The clincher for me was a scene near the end between father and son that brought tears to my eyes. I was entranced by the idea of a world we know so well through history and yet unlike anything we've ever known, with supernatural forces at work all around, and people with their own magical knacks. Yet I can almost feel the magic he writes about around me, as if maybe it is there but lost beneath our concrete. This is an intriguing and touching beginning to the Tales of Alvin Maker.
Number 2:
Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card.
After unknowingly destroying an entire alien species in a game allegedly to save humanity, Ender Wiggin, genius commander at the age of 12, is exiled from Earth. Instead, he embarks on an adventure through space to the first human colony and beyond, using his skill and his intellect to overcome those who would manipulate him. And yet, no matter where he goes, the guilt of his crime and the search for redemption go with him.
My thoughts are exhausted in the review further down, but the characters are so rich, the emotion so strong, and the events so momentous (and, indeed, my connection to the story so strong already) that it easily became my second-best read of 2008.
Number 1:
The Road, Cormac McCarthy.
In a post-apocalyptic world, a father and his son try to survive as they travel to a somewhere, hopeful, better world that may not even exist. On the road, they must avoid all those who have abandoned humanity, who see them as nothing more than food.
It's hard to describe the power of this book in words; you really must read it. This is one of, if not THE, most devastating & depressing, suspenseful, tender, hopeless and yet hopeful book I've ever read. In a way, the story is quite simple. You don't even know the characters' names, much about their past, what happened to the world and why, and there isn't a quotation mark in it despite the simple yet poignant dialogue. And yet, all together, between and beyond the lines, it is profound. The writing is precise and yet conveys a vivid environment that might have taken other authors paragraphs to present. The entire trip is an existential adventure with characters desperate for relief but destined, always, to the road. Like our own lives, our own roads with their slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, who knows where it leads or where it ends; all we know is that it just goes on, that it has to just go on.
Number 5:
Rendezvous With Rama, Arthur C. Clarke.
A mysterious alien object enters the solar system, heading for the sun, and a spaceship crew goes to investigate. Have they come to take over, to co-habitate, or just passing through? The crew encounters a huge, cylindrical object large enough to fit an entire ecosystem around its inner surface. The crew explores its mysterious wonders as solar system politics and the vessel itself heat up; they learn only enough to baffle and intrigue before the vessel moves on.
There were a number that could have tied for number five, but I loved the feeling of mystery and awe in the unknown this book engendered. You end up feeling like the crew investigating: wishing you had more time to uncover all of Rama's secrets and intentions. Clarke's imagination for scientific detail is unsurpassed.
Number 4:
Ringworld, Larry Niven.
A three-legged alien, a giant war-like cat-like alien, a human bred for luck, and a human centuries old strike out on an expedition to explore an astronomical ring constructed around a star with a habitable surface built on the inside. The surface area of the ring, around and from edge-to-edge, is unfathomable. Yet advanced civilization has disappeared. What happened? The adventure to and on the ring is an Odyssey of mishap and surprise.
This book was a pleasant surprise. I had heard about it and the praise it received, but I thought it might just be a technical exploration of this ring. It turned out so much more. The ring itself is a wonder to experience through the writing, the characters are well formed and humorous caricatures of themselves, and there is a Douglas-Adamsesque irony that nonetheless stays within the realms of sanity. The book is as much about the characters as their environment, the plot is ever interesting, and the result is an excellent adventure.
Number 3:
Seventh Son, Orson Scott Card.
A boy is born the seventh living son of a seventh son, and the thirteenth child born. As legend has it, a child born with these numbers will have powers over the world around him. In this alternate-reality colonial America, legends are real. As seventh son Alvin Miller Junior grows, accidents follow but mysterious events save him every time. Alvin's destiny is to become a Maker, one with the power to create from the elements, the antithesis to the force that has been trying to kill him all along: The Unmaker. Alvin must learn to use and respect his own power to protect himself and others from the power of Unmaking.
This book is a story of characters, of magical forces greater than us all, and a statement about the powers of man and nature, the fight against making and unmaking. I admit, I'm a sucker for stories about children trying to overcome adversity, as I see my own youth in their stories. Card's stories include cruelty but also great tenderness, and Alvin experiences both. The clincher for me was a scene near the end between father and son that brought tears to my eyes. I was entranced by the idea of a world we know so well through history and yet unlike anything we've ever known, with supernatural forces at work all around, and people with their own magical knacks. Yet I can almost feel the magic he writes about around me, as if maybe it is there but lost beneath our concrete. This is an intriguing and touching beginning to the Tales of Alvin Maker.
Number 2:
Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card.
After unknowingly destroying an entire alien species in a game allegedly to save humanity, Ender Wiggin, genius commander at the age of 12, is exiled from Earth. Instead, he embarks on an adventure through space to the first human colony and beyond, using his skill and his intellect to overcome those who would manipulate him. And yet, no matter where he goes, the guilt of his crime and the search for redemption go with him.
My thoughts are exhausted in the review further down, but the characters are so rich, the emotion so strong, and the events so momentous (and, indeed, my connection to the story so strong already) that it easily became my second-best read of 2008.
Number 1:
The Road, Cormac McCarthy.
In a post-apocalyptic world, a father and his son try to survive as they travel to a somewhere, hopeful, better world that may not even exist. On the road, they must avoid all those who have abandoned humanity, who see them as nothing more than food.
It's hard to describe the power of this book in words; you really must read it. This is one of, if not THE, most devastating & depressing, suspenseful, tender, hopeless and yet hopeful book I've ever read. In a way, the story is quite simple. You don't even know the characters' names, much about their past, what happened to the world and why, and there isn't a quotation mark in it despite the simple yet poignant dialogue. And yet, all together, between and beyond the lines, it is profound. The writing is precise and yet conveys a vivid environment that might have taken other authors paragraphs to present. The entire trip is an existential adventure with characters desperate for relief but destined, always, to the road. Like our own lives, our own roads with their slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, who knows where it leads or where it ends; all we know is that it just goes on, that it has to just go on.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Tremick's Reading List, 2008
As a new tradition, at the beginning of the year I am going to share with my readers a complete list of books I have read in the previous year, in order. I will also provide my rating, 1-10. I keep obsessively detailed information on every book, including the date I begin and finish reading, a tally of pages read, and a pages-per-day rate for each book. And then I rate each book on a chart, and each author gets a cumulative rating.
I have been keeping this list since 1999, there are to date 188 books on the list, adding to a total 79,881 pages read so far, at an average rate of 47 pages per day.
Book List for 2008:
In the first days of 2009, I also read Card's "Prentice Alvin," and am currently reading "Consider Phlebas," the first of Iain M. Bank's Culture books, which I am thoroughly enjoying.
I hope this list helps if you're looking for ideas, and otherwise gives some insight into my reading interests.
I have been keeping this list since 1999, there are to date 188 books on the list, adding to a total 79,881 pages read so far, at an average rate of 47 pages per day.
Book List for 2008:
- New Theories of Everything (Nonfiction), John D. Barrow (No rating)
- The Road, Cormac McCarthy (10)
- The Holographic Universe (Nonfiction), Michael Talbot (No rating)
I stopped reading this half-way through because it became ridiculous and hardly credible as science. Interesting ideas in the first half, though. - The Elegant Universe (Nonfiction), Brian Greene (No rating)
A must-read for a clearer understanding of string theory and multiple dimensions, but pretty heavy most of the way.
Robot & Foundation Series
Then I decided to re-read Asimov's entire Robot & Foundation series, my favorite and I declare the best science-fiction series available. - The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (9)
- The Naked Sun, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (9)
- The Robots of Dawn, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (9)
- Foundation, Isaac Asimov (3rd reading) (10)
- Foundation and Empire, Isaac Asimov (3rd reading) (8)
- Second Foundation, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (10)
- Foundation's Edge, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (8)
- Foundation and Earth, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (8)
- Robots and Empire, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (8)
- Prelude to Foundation, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (8)
- Forward the Foundation, Isaac Asimov (2nd reading) (10)
- No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy (7)
I actually read this in the middle of my Asimov re-reading, before watching the movie. Book was good, movie was not worth Best Picture. No comparison to "The Road." - Ringworld, Larry Niven (8)
Hugo & Nebula award-winner; a wonderful surprise of creativity and entertainment. - Sundiver, David Brin (6)
I read this because it came before the Hugo/Nebula-winning "Startide Rising," but found it to be a slow book. - Protector, Larry Niven (7)
A quick read and adds insight to his Ringworld series - The Ringworld Engineers, Larry Niven (8)
Almost as good as "Ringworld" and still a great read. - Neuromancer, William Gibson (6)
This is another Hugo/Nebula award-winner, the creator of the term "cyberspace" and the "cyberpunk" genre. I found it interesting but the writing can be hard to follow; not all it was hacked-up to be, in my mind (I hope you appreciate my pun). - Startide Rising, David Brin (7)
This was much more interesting than "Sundiver," but still on the slower side. I was still not a huge fan of Brin. - The Ringworld Throne, Larry Niven (6)
At this point, the Ringworld series starts to get a little slower/less interesting. - John Adams, David McCullough (No rating)
I only started reading this--a few hundred pages (it's huge). It is very interesting and well written, but I have a hard time sustaining myself through thick tombs of history.
Buddhism
This is where I decided to do some "research" into Buddhist philosophy, which I found to be attitude-changing if not completely life-changing. I would like to read more about Buddhism because I like the way Buddhist thinking feels, and like myself better when I can actually put that thinking into good practice - The Heart of Buddha's Teaching (Nonfiction), Thich Nhat Hanh (No rating)
- How to Practice (Nonfiction), His Holiness the Dalai Lama (No rating)
- Peace Is Every Step (Nonfiction), Thich Nhat Hanh (No rating)
- Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer (6)
The last of the vampire series started with "Twilight." Why did I read these books? For some reason I needed to know how it ended. Nothing much happens in this book, despite its length, save for a lot of teenage melodrama. - Foundation, Mercedes Lackey (7)
- Rendezvous With Rama, Arthur C. Clarke (7)
Another Hugo/Nebula award-winner. This had a similar feel to "Ringworld," an exploration of a fantastic alien technology. Fascinating and mysterious. - Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny (6)
I bought a thick anthology, "The Amber Chronicles," which includes all 10 books (more like novellas) that fall into this series. All the Zelazny on this list is part of the series. Interesting fantasy, but too short for a great depth of world-building or character development, so it ends up feeling rather shallow as far as fantasy goes. - The Guns of Avalon, Roger Zelazny (7)
- Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card (9)
You've seen my painfully long review; nuf said - Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card (2nd reading) (9)
Exile then spawned a re-reading of all of Card's Ender books that followed, according to plot timeline. - Xenocide, Orson Scott Card (2nd reading) (8)
- Children of the Mind, Orson Scott Card (2nd reading) (8)
- Sign of the Unicorn, Roger Zelazny (6)
- The Hand of Oberon, Roger Zelazny (7)
- The Courts of Chaos, Roger Zelazny (6)
The first half of the series, following Prince Corwin, ends on a disappointing note--interesting, but no grand-finale in my mind. - Seventh Son, Orson Scott Card (9)
I loved the Ender books so much, thought I would meet Alvin Maker as well. Another great surprise, who would have thought alternate-history fantasy could be so intriguing. Card is a master of characters and believable fantasy. I shall read the entire series. - Red Prophet, Orson Scott Card (8)
In the first days of 2009, I also read Card's "Prentice Alvin," and am currently reading "Consider Phlebas," the first of Iain M. Bank's Culture books, which I am thoroughly enjoying.
I hope this list helps if you're looking for ideas, and otherwise gives some insight into my reading interests.
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