This blog is about science-fiction and fantasy books along with how they relate to the world.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Puppet Masters
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Life As We Know It, Knew it, and What It Will Be
As new generations of people arrive the game of life changes to keep up with the times and hurtles obstacles more closely related to modern culture. Today requires the average person to have much more then what they needed in past years. Today computers, internet, and various other technological devices are required to thrive in this world and are needed for school and work alike. Without these devices our world starts to slow down as we seperate ourselves from the modern generation and each task seems to take us hours instead of the few minutes they would take with modern technology. As days speeds up and gets faster and faster people will start to lose their sense of reality and slip into an almost coma like state of work. We are at the point where we can stay connected with all of our friends via facebook and can make instant calls to anybody as long as we have their phone number.
Some people argue that the olden times were the better times because we did not have to cope with various forms of technologies that cause great problems for older generations. They say that people are always working and are never away from their jobs even when at home. While it is easier to access one's job it does not mean that you must always be connected. It is a personal choice allowing the individual more choice on their lifestyle. So perhaps the times of old were less confusing without as much technology however it was also considerably slower than today's society. Our technologically advanced society allows for each person to live as they want to live with them always working or perhaps having more leisure time. It is up to the individual to decide what they want making neither generation better but rather different times with different people.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
What are politics?
The two main parties, Democratic and Republican for all those rock dwellers, have absolutely opposite ideals for the United States. These two parties go back to the the first presidentry with George Washington. Although Democrats were more like Republicans and Republicans known as Federalists the same kind of arguing went on at the founding of our nation. The only difference is that back then we got SOME problems done, while today we can't even agree to disagree and all our ideas for the country get shoved back month after month.
What is the cause of all this bickering? What is the cause of all this anger? Simple, the corruption rising from the depths of society. It has corrupted our own government over time changing it from an efficient and stable form of government to one that may even be worse than, dare i ever say it... a monarchy or dictatorship. With nothing being done we are allowing our nation to fall into a state of disarray and chaos. While our leaders lodge themselves in estates larger then UCLA the slums of our nation are creeping closer, oh so closer. While visiting the sites of such corruption, ie: Compton, it can often be worse to run into a police officer then into a gang. The law itself is crumbling and our nations once strong body has been poisoned. The poison slowly spreading throughout our land causing chaos and strife, and when strife comes...so does change and not always for the better.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Diving Into the Minds of Humans
picture found here
The movie Inception was a highly engrossing and interesting movie. It was about the concept of being able to delve into a human mind and create or find ideas/secrets. A group of people would be put to sleep using a sedative. Next, an "architect" would come into the dream and build a world that would seem realistic to the person so they wouldn't think themselves to be inside of a dream. The other teammembers would infiltrate the dream and search the area for a vault of some sort where a form of information would be hidden.
This movie was made for younger and more agile minds. It seems to me that many adults had multiple problems following the complex story while the younger audience felt no such qualms. Could it be that with the puzzles that kids grope with in video games/technology their minds have become more advanced? Maybe even more evolved then that of their predecesors?
Humans have advantages over some animals....and many disadvantages to them. Such as, did you know that humans are the only species of creatures that have not rid themselves of inferior versions of themselves? These people are less inteligent *cough* Michel Rosenberg *cough* and way down the society of today making our scientific finds to become more sparce then required. It now seems to be that the majority of our population is built up of people who are similar to us SUPREME humans in looks, however in thought procession are inferior and way our whole race down.
Although we do have a few disadvantages to animals our advantages greatly outnumber the disadvantages and make us the supreme race of the planet. We have superior brains that allow us to create anew and not just drestoy. We were gifted with our thumbs which are the most basic tools that we require to wield the tools we have created. We are driven by curiosity which brought us to the current era of cars, planes, ships, phones, and computers. Without any of these things we would not be able to mark ourselves as king.
The brain computes all of these things without fault and allows us to comprehend new concepts and ideas as they are created. However as we grow old, so does our mind. We start to become more forgetful, less coordinated, and it becomes increasingly harder for us to grasp the new concepts of the coming generation. These factors contribute to the hypothesis of the younger generation being smarter then their predecesors, and it turns out that we are not and just that their brains are slowing down seemingly making us smarter although all the while they are just becoming more uninteligent.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a political satire that starts off with a rebellion of animals on a farm. All of the animals come together and say why. They then fight back and drive all of the farmers off of the farm and decide to govern themselves. They then teach everyone to read, create an anthem, and write the writes and rules fo the farm ( constitution and declaration). However, two of the pigs that are running the farm quickly become corrupted and greedy. They then chase the third pig who is the only pig with a kind/true heart off of the farm and call him a traitor and a scandrel.
The two remaining leaders set all of the animals to work and behind their backs slowly change all of their rules. Whenever a misfortune happenes the blame it on the third pig who had run away and binding them behind a single cause. This constant fear of Snowball ( the third pig) attacking made all of the farm animals cower behind the pigs granting them even more power. However, slowly the farm changes and life slowly gets worse. Starting with harsh winters and small rations for all including the working animals.
Tampering with nature
http://www.csb.yale.edu/userguides/graphics/ribbons/help/dna_rgb.gif
DNA... it is a truly amazing thing, for without it, we wouldn't be who we are today. DNA shapes us for the better, or for the worse making us different from everyone else. If everyone had the same DNA then we would all be the same, there would be no differences, no way to tell yourself from somebody else. So is it right for us to be tampering with what makes us unique as human beings?
Recently, technology has evolved to detect what "genes" we have, and what "genes" our children will have. We can tell whether weak hearts are in our DNA, or whether we might live to 100 or only to 76. By knowing what is going to happen to us early, we can try to change what will happen to us in the future . For example if high cholestrol runs in your family then you will know to keep a healthy diet so as not to put as much pressure on your heart.
In the past ten years we have gone from analog to digital, 2d to 3d, and from not caring about the enviroment to trying to help all living creatures like tigers, pandas, and various kinds of fish( for more information on the enviroment follow http://ecoteensera.blogspot.com//). Now that we are able to see all of our "genes", how long will it be before we will be able to alter them? Should we progress so much that we can alter all of the animals we share Earth with? Will we lose some of our humanity if we are able to make ourselves out as the perfect human? Only time will decide when and if we will have this remarkable/horendous invention.
Where does the time go?

Sunday, November 14, 2010
Harry Potter
Picture found here
A series of books that I am sure you all know of is Harry Potter. Harry Potter has become so big over the past years that I often see kids sporting shirts saying that they are in Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or even Gryffindor. Although this is not my favorite series of books I do greatly enjoy pouring over its contents every-so-often. Even though this book series is a series of movies now, I still feel that reading the book is endlessly better then actually seeing it. Not that I dont enjoy the movies, as I am looking forward to Deathly Hallows, but the movies leave out large amounts of information that were essential to making the books loved by all.
In case you dont know of the fad known as "Harry Potter" then here is a quick summary for you. Harry Potter grew up living in his aunt's and uncle's house. He was always unloved and cast in the, rather large, shadow of Dudley, his cousin. However all of this changes on his 11th/12th birthday when he is told that he is a wizard by a half giant named Hagrid. At first Harry doubts Hagrid, but then when they walk into Diagon Alley, all of his doubts vanished. He is suddenly engulfed by robed figures that say he is famous for "being the one who lived" and vanquishing the Dark Lord, Voldemort. As he walks through buying all his school supplies, spell books, an owl, robes, a wand, and a cauldron, he realizes that he is the center of the wizarding world. Harry is then whisked off to Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardly, where he is surrounded by young wizards and witches just like him.
Harry faces many challenges throughout his years at Hogwartz starting with the sorcerers stone, the basilisk, Sirius Black, the Triwizard Tournament, and the prophecy about him. However, Haryy overcomes all of these hurtles and many more in his seven books.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins takes place in New York City with an 11 year old kid, named Gregor, as the main character. Gregor lives in a small apartment with his mother, 8 year-old sister, 3 year-old sister, and his grandma. Gregor's father had disapeared about 2 years ago making his mom, a secretary, support the whole family with her monthly salary. However now, Gregor's family is about to fall apart as Gregor and his baby sister delve into a strange realm miles below the city.
Gregor and Boots fall for several minutes finally landing softly on the stone floor. As Gregor takes in his surroundings he notices the only way out is through a large tunnel so he picks Boots up, and starts to jog down it. After jogging for 10 minutes Gregor begins to see a light ahead and as he runs through it he is deafened by the roar of a large crowd. Looking around, Gregor realizes he had stepped into a form of stadium and is greeted by an elderly man, named Vikus, who says he is in Regalia, city of the humans, as he leads Gregor to a palace built entirely of stone. Once at the palace Vikus tells Gregor of a prophecy about an overlander, a child from above ground, would come to the underland in search of his father.
Gregor, convinced that he is the child, goes on a quest to rescue his father. His father is being held by rats, which are 6 feet tall, and Gregor is forced to befriend giant cockroaches, spiders, and rats if he will be able to rescue his father. As Gregor travels across the Underland he is urged to hurry by the memory of his mother, waiting for her children to come home after days of waiting. Will Gregor be able to make it across the dangerous Underland and save his father in time?
Friday, August 20, 2010


Monday, August 16, 2010
Demonic Discoveries

picture found here
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Bartimaeus Trilogy, THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND

THE AMULET OF SAMARKAND by JONATHAN STROUD starts off with a newly selected magician's apprentice named Nathaniel who is abused by his master's friend Simon Lovelace, and decides to take revenge. Summoning a potent demon he steals an amulet from his enemy Simon Lovelace to smite him. However when Simon comes to Nathaniel's master's home and burns it to the ground, Nathaniel is forced to hide in an abandoned library while he makes a plan to ruin Simon's scheme of killing all the members of parliament. While hiding in the library Nathaniel reads in the newspaper that Simon is holding an event in Heddleham Hall and Nathaniel goes there for the event. However when Simon gets all of parliament into a room to make a speech, Nathaniel realizes that Simon is summoning an entity from the amulet of Samarkand capable of destroying cities. While the ministers of parliament cower in a corner, Nathaniel takes on the duty of sending the demon back to the darkest reaches of the "Other Place."
pull of a summons he attempts to withstand for a few seconds but knowing it is futile he allows himself to be sucked to Earth and appears in a "grotty town house in the congested city of London." Being charged with retrieving the Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace he quickly goes on his way and breaks into Simon's villa, conducts snappy conversation with an old rival named Faquarl, and nearly gets burnt to a crisp by a red-skinned jackal all in the time of trying to steal the amulet. As Bartimaeous returns to his master, Nathaniel, Simon Lovelace arrives at Nathaniel’s home and burns it down in search of the amulet. With no-where else to go Bartimaeus flees with Nathaniel and takes shelter in an old library only to have to trek all the way to Heddleham Hall where Simon Lovelace performs a scheme to kill all the members of the government with a forgotten demon entity.
The secret of magicians is that all of their power lies in demons. They bend them to their will, making them do their conniving business while the magicians themselves grow fat and corrupt in their secluded villas. Even though London is the strongest power in the world and has colonized Prague and America, civil unrest among the "commoners (non-magicians) is rooting itself deep into the foundations of London's society along with corruption rising into the seats of parliament
This book portrays demons differently. Demons are usually thought upon as hell spawn that serve the devil while here they are peaceful society that live in a different dimension, and it is only when they are summoned is it that they are violent. Demons are the tools of magicians, being used in everyday tasks or in large-scale wars so the magicians themselves do not actually have to participate in such tasks. Without demons, magicians would not have any source of magic or power and would be the same as commoners. This book is an interesting portrayal of demons and reason enough to read it, but with an outstanding plot and amazing characters, this story is truly fantastic.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Is there such a thing as Godly Science?


VS.
more godly pictures here
other scientific pictures here
As we learn about the origin of humans more people start to question the possibility of there being a god. If people have originated from Africa then how can we have come from The Garden of Eden? The majority of people are now able to poke holes in all of the stories about religion that even rabbis and priests cannot justify. However, there are still countless countries that follow religion, refusing to believe that human skeletons millions years old have been found. However, even with science showing that religion may be completely fiction, perhaps there can be a balance between the two.
Perhaps the Garden of Eden never truly existed except in the heart of man, and maybe the Ten Commandments were actually just laws that Moses thought that man should follow. Even if religion is completely falsified the reason it exists is because of the message it sends out. It gives humans a set of laws that they should live by that still complies with today’s society. It tells us that every person is equal, and that all of our sins and mistakes are forgotten. It gives us a reason to be kind and good along with an ultimate goal in our life.
Wars are fought over religion with millions of people dieing, but in the center, through out time the reason is always the same. Live a good life by following these rules, believe in god, and all of your sins/mistakes will be forgotten. By killing each other over religion, we are breaking the sixth commandment, "thou shall not murder," and going against our religion, revoking that we are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc. Therefore, if we were truly religious then we would all live at peace in the world.
Science and religion can co-exist because religion, even if all the stories are false, religion is a moral barometer for our lives, telling us what to do and what not to do. Although science does not give us the guidelines to live our life, it does give us new inventions making our life better in a different way. Together, religion and science increases the quality of life by making every moment of our life better.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan revolves around the fact that the Egyptian gods exist. The humans are only pawns that are constantly being used by the gods so they can live on Earth. However, human magicians do not agree with the motives of the gods so they banish them into the "duat." The "duat" is a kind of spirit realm where the gods and various demons take residence when they are not on Earth. Over the years, humans forgot about their punishment to the gods and slowly, some of the evil ones begin to appear, starting with Set.
The two main characters are Carter and Sadie who are siblings but live in different parts of the world. Carter and Sadie's mom died in a mysterious accident so Sadie was sent to live a normal life with her grandparents, while Carter travels the world with his father who is an archeologist. However, on the one day Carter sees his sister Sadie, something goes horribly wrong. The sibling’s father takes them to the museum and tries to set free Osiris, the god of the dead, however in doing so, releases four other gods as well.
Osiris and Set along with, Horus, Isis, and Set's wife are all unleashed at once each one finding a different host while Set flies away to cause mayhem. Carter and Sadie's world drastically changes as they have to run away with their long-forgotten uncle Amos whom they haven't seen for 10 years and learn how to control the gods Horus and Isis which they are hosting within them. Carter and Sadie never find a moment of peace as they run from their mansion in New York, to Egypt, all the way to Paris, teleporting to Washington D.C., only to have to drive all the way to Arizona.
Carter and Sadie barely survive the attack of gods and monsters alike, as they travel from city to city, eventually going to Arizona to face off against Set. They search for a way to defeat Set and, they join up with multiple allies including a cat goddess and a magician named Zia that had been hunting them. This book is a never-ending adventure allowing the reader to be enveloped in impossible situations. Buy this book today!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld is a science-fiction book that takes place at the beginning World War I, and starting with the assassination of Prince Aleksander's parents. The story unfolds to tell of how two assassinations leads to a world war between the Clankers (the force that fights with mechanics) and the Darwinists (the force that fights with "fabricated beasts.") Prince Aleksander along with a couple trusty servants go into hiding in a castle high in the mountains of Sweden. However, Prince Aleksander can't help himself from coming to the aid of a stranded airship of Darwinists that has been shot down by German aeroplains
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Year 4891 is a long time away.... or is it?

Sunday, July 11, 2010
Are We Using The Internet Or Is The Internet Using Us?

Tuesday, July 6, 2010
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, by Robert A. Heinlein

In Heinlein's book, the Earth colonizes Luna(the moon) with generations of jailbirds that have been sentenced to live there forever. However, some wish to go back to their home planet. A small group of devoted loonies (people who live on the moon) decide to rebel and they slowly create an uprising to overthrow Earth's rule.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of Robert A. Heinlein's masterpieces. Much of the book is written as an unintelligible dialect that represents the lack of knowledge on the moon and how the loonies are hardly literate. The city is slowly deteriorating due to the neglect shown them by the rulers of Earth.
This book increases the flow of time by making about 3-7 years pass in 200-300 pages. It makes you feel as if you know the characters because you can see them evolve. All the children of the moon transition from being childish to soldiers in a special task force, charged with defending Luna.
This book is worth reading because it shows you the power of one group of people and what they can accomplish.




