Resource Politics

Do you like space travel?
Do you like surrealism?
Do you like sandworms?
Is your favorite color orange?

If so, then today is your day! The 1984 movie version of Dune (or is that versions?) just got a new "Extended Edition" DVD. I like Dune, it's one of my favorite books. I did see the movie first...

Let me tell you a fun story. As I said, the movie Dune came out in 1984. At the time, I was fairly new to the concept of school, making friends, being a stupid kid. Anyway, I saw the poster for Dune as well as advertisements for it. It had some hype, especially for its time. When stupid genus kids see hype, especially hype with science fiction, they usually say, "I've gotta see that!"

Ever hear how much business that movie did? Well, it cost $45 million to make. During release, it made $27.4 million. That's a failure. Still, it's been on enough rental shelves and made enough TV appearances, that I'm sure it's long since made up that defecit. Doesn't change the fact that it was a bomb, nor does it change the fact that I didn't get to see it.

As the years went by, I saw a few times where it was going to come on TV, or I'd notice it at the movie store, but I still didn't see it.

It wasn't until 6 years ago that I actually got to see the movie for the first time. It was a formative time in my life, when some mental boundaries of mine were rearranging in such a way where I would have a girlfriend for the first time. Dune wasn't something I was ready for as a kid, but when I was 20, I think I was ready for it at that point.

Anyway, I went out and got this new DVD. It's got the original theatrical release on one side (good) and the extended version on the other (oh, boy). No matter which way you may go, I say it's good, complex stuff, which is just fine with me.

Boomerangs

Good Boomerang: Owen, son of the original Captain Boomerang, took up the mantle in Identitiy Crisis. Since then, people have been interested in this new character. From that interest comes a HeroClix figure, and from that came an offer to send out a free unique under a set of circumstances. I filled out the form and sent in my booster boxes. And today, I have the Captain Boomerang unique. Awesome, it's cool.

Bad Boomerang: My laziness I trying to come back aqround on me. I was going to do some investigating as to where I should get a vehicle inspection (since it should be due), but, well I didn't. It's me being lazy. And I know I'm not the only lazy person out there.

Either way, the battle to fight laziness is just like the battle for freedom--it required eternal vigilance.

Endings and Connections

About a year ago, I started running a Star Wars role playing game with a group of close friends. After a while, instead of being nice guys, it was decided that we should conquer to galaxy in the name of the Sith. Surprise! Evil campaign! It's been a lot of fun.

Before that, I had ran a Lord of the Rings game for a year. It was the first game I'd ever ran. As fun as that was, it was very chaotic, especially with the unfamiliar rules system the game was based on. We left off on the eve of a massive, epic battle. The way the game was going, I had lost almost all control--not good for the GM. So we didn't finish.

Tonight, we finished our Star Wars campaign. We conquered the galaxy a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away and 4000 years before that. Everyone was quite pleased and enjoyed the experience. For me, in many ways, it felt like finishing a long writing project, maybe a novel or a novella, and hearing from the primary audience that it was good. Of course, at this point, I'm only guessing.

Speaking of writing projects, my enthusiasm for the comic book character Cable has been picking up as of late. In the coming months, Cable's archenemy, Apocalypse will be returning to plague him, as well as the X-Men. Also, a few moments ago, I read that the comic X-Men will be getting a new team lineup. In reverse order as announced by Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada: Iceman, Sabretooth, Cannonball, Rogue, Mystique, and Cable. I wonder who's going to be team leader...?

Along similar lines, I was struck with inspiration a few days ago. I thought of a Cable comic story that was effectively a single-issue story. For such an action-oriented character, this story is purely character driven. I don't know what caused it to form in my mind, but I knew when I realized what was going on, that this was something very, very special. It's powerful, emotional stuff. It's the kind of things that should stir debate and discussion, partially because it deals, in part, with that most heavily debated of American issues, abortion.

Cranky Evaluations

I've seen the evaluations from my students from last semester. Most of them were blank, as far as additional comments go. A few had some gems of input. Most of those don't like me, or at least didn't care for my standing in the middle of the chaos. There were a couple of interesting ones I thought I'd share:

From section 04: "Len is a great. I'd like to be in his class again."
Rebuttal: Wow. Cool. Someone must be quite pleased.

From section 05 (and I doubt I'm paraphrasing at all): "Len is a smooth pimp and is totally awesome. He should be President of the United States. --a secret admirer"
Rebuttal: I'm pretty sure I know exactly who wrote that comment. If I'm right, then it doesn't surprise me since I got along with that student quite well.

From all sections: Various forms of Len sucks/Len was unprepared/Len isn't sure how to teach/"his attire offended me at times"/"he is the worst of all the lab instructors".
Rebuttal: I can't hold your hands, kids. You've got to learn this yourself, no matter how good or bad of a teacher I am. The class was, and probably still is, in the midst of being totally reorganized.

Also, how is my attire offensive? I guess the American flag, Darth Vader, dragons, Batman, X-Men, and Nike logos, the color black, and denim shorts are offensive? At least I didn't wear my "Conserve Energy--Sleep In School" shirt. I probably won't wear my "Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine?" shirt that I got for Christmas to class.

"The worst of all the lab instructors"? This tells me one of two things. Option one, you previously failed this course with another instructor, an instructor who also didn't teach this class this semester. Option two, you officially skipped class, went to someone else's class, and decided you preferred being spoon fed everything. Either way, you prove that your class performance is below average with such a comment.

Actually, I do have another rebuttal for those students who bitched about me (that's not my teaching, but me as a person), but never to me. (If you bitched about me AND to me--well, you told me what was going on, so that's cool.) With the greatest amount of respect possible I must say, fuck you too.

Now, I'll be fair and objective and give myself an evaluation: I could have done better on a lot of things, but that goes for anyone. Also, I can't really firmly teach material that I have never really been taught in the least. I strive to improve. If you ask me about something, I'll do my best to give you the best answer possible, which might be you pointing it out to me.

Satisfied students usually don't say anything about their classes. Dissatisfied students usually say something about their instructor and/or the class (and from my experience, it's to get that person in trouble). Usually, dissatisfied students can also be called below average or failing students.

To the future or present generations: If you've got a problem with something, you should say something If you've got a problem with someone, you should tell them about it. And if you think you've got the best opinion, don't forget that someone out there thinks they guy you hate is a smooth pimp.

Sinus Blockage

Those little holes in my skull are clogged up with a bunch of crap and it's no fun. I wouldn't say that I'm totally stressed out about it, but it doesn't help me deal with the other forms of stress in my life. This week marks the opening of Spring Semester and let's see where things stand.

I teach Biology for Living now, not Anatomy and Physiology. I'm not going to shed many tears for A&P, for the simple reason that, even though I can teach it, it's not something that I have a background in. Combined with dissections, it's just no fun and all stress. My first year of A&P (when there was no dissection and reorganiation of program) was as smooth as it needed to be. Plus, I can explain biology as a whole to non-biologists quite well. This, at the moment, seems to be a good change.

As part of my requirements to keep my assisstantship, I've got to have 6 hours of class. Half of that is taken up by Conservation Biology, which I've already been informed includes several class outings. I'm not required to go to all of them, which is good because some of those outings are overnight for several days, overlapping with my teaching duties. And if you haven't heard, I had a bad experience once with an overnight outing for a class. (If you say "camping" around me, I'll think, if not say, "The God Damned Woods.")

Thesis. I've done just as much of it as the pragmatic part of my brain knew I would get done. Very little. I need to get it done. I need to be finished with it. I'm basically out of time, but I don't know hardly anything. I hope, if you're trying out grad school, that you get a committee that will push you to get done, because mine... they don't. I'm not very high on their priorities list.

I have had some breakthroughs and some speedbumps on the road to getting published. Pro--I got six consecutive pages written on Ashes of War at the first of the month; it's a whole scene and it makes me feel very good about how the project is proceeding. Con--I haven't written anything on it in about ten days, or anything else for that matter.

Overall, I know that I will get published, I will be able to make something of my writing. I can actually see that a year or two down the road... by that point I'll be talking to some agents, if not have on lined up already. The bad part to this is that, I have to get my ass out of grad school. After last semester, I can't take much more of it, plus it devours a lot of my working time at home, which means no writing gets done.

I have some tenative solutions, but my main goal is to get through tomorrow first. If I can do that, I'll be OK. What I need to do more than anything else is schedule half everything I do, starting Monday. If I start then, I'll have my office hours set up, I'll know what to expect from classes, and I'll be able to anticipate anything I need to take care of.

I'm going to start the upswing by making an offer: anyone who wants to read the section I recently finished of Ashes of War can, just tell me.

Go, Go, Joanna Dark

Ah, Joanna Dark, you of the lovely red hair w/ blonde streak and the fighting instinct... I wish I could play your game. Aside from that, I finished her book. Good stuff. Lots of fun, did what it had to do, as far as setting up the original game goes. I did see a few bits that were a little rushed so that Mr. Rucka could keep up with his heavy workload.

Also, I've noticed the date. Apparently, it's a New Year. Good for the calendar makers, but it never seems much different to me. Aside from that, I've decided now's a time as good as any to recommit to writing. In particular, I've decided that I want to write, on average, a page a day from Ashes of War. This doesn't mean I can't write other things or do something else entirely. Nor does it mean I can't write more than a page a day. It just means, on average. I've got one so far, and I'm about to write another.