A Sense of Doubt blog post #3025 - RED SHIRT - you know what that means - STATUS 2305.31

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3025 - RED SHIRT - you know what that means - STATUS 2305.31


I decided to start an "anger" category because I am processing a lot of emotions right now, kind of like the five stages of grief, one of which is anger.

I have some anger.

And so, I am going to do a whole series of posts as I work through my emotions. 

So today I wore my red shirt from Star Trek.

Lots of Trek fans will immediately know what the red shirt means.

And I am feeling like that red shirt that beams down with the landing party. No one knows that person, and soon that person is dead.

I am feeling like that ensign or officer in a red shirt.

"He's dead, Jim."

And so, a reprint of an early post from the t-shirt blog about the red shirt.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

T-shirt #13: The Unlucky Red Shirt

T-shirt #13: The Unlucky Red Shirt

"He's Dead, Jim."

Star Trek: The Original Series featured the deaths of 59 crew members (out of 430 total or 13.7% of the crew) of those fifty-nine crew personnel forty-three of them wore red shirts.

For more statistical analysis of death rates and other incidents aboard Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise, check out ANALYTICS ACCORDING TO CAPTAIN KIRK.


Red shirts die.

Wear a red shirt and be prepared to sign a waiver for ASSUMPTION OF RISK, as explained by the Legal Geeks (No, really, they have a web site and everything).

The fact that red shirts die is bad news for my father, Bob Tower on Facebook, who loves red and owns many red shirts. One could not claim that he wears a red shirt every day, but he does wear them several times a week, which makes him at great risk IF HE LIVED IN THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE, which, luckily, he does not.

If you have read to this point, then you are to be thanked. Whether you are a new reader or a returning reader, I am thankful for your patronage and for following my project. I promise not to keep you too much longer.

Scrolling back through the blog, you will find T-shirt #4 (The Gold Command shirt) and T-shirt #11 (The Blue Science/Medical shirt). As I confessed in those blogs, when the ad from NoMoreRack on Facebook snared me, I bought all three shirts. And, so, today April third, I feature the red shirt.

This shirt has special importance as I am just now finishing the audio edition of John Scalzi's Red Shirts, which is  narrated by Wil Wheaton. The novel has been nominated for one of SF's most prestigious awards: the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Scalzi is an excellent writer. With a fusion of influences from Star Trek to Heinlein, he is a funny, original, entertaining, and deftly-skilled writer of some of the best science fiction being published today. He is releasing his latest novel, The Human Division, as a multi-part series of episodes released via Kindle each week on Tuesday. I am also reading those and enjoying them immensely. Check out my Good Reads page for more information and mini-reviews.

Red Shirts, the novel, is hilarious on its own. Wil Wheaton's narration amps up the hilarity to 11 (on a scale of 1-10). If you take my recommendation and check out this book (and audio), then you may also love the retread of the inspiration for the Ewoks: Fuzzy Nation (also by Scalzi and also narrated by Wheaton).

Back to red shirts: I am following in my father's foot steps to some extent with a plethora of red shirts. I do not own quite as many. Okay, maybe that's not true. I do not wear red as often, though this may be changing now that I am past 50 and need more color in my life. You will see many of my red shirts posted this year. Not counting the more maroon or wine-colored King Crimson shirt posted on March 27th, this is my first truly red shirt. Not all of them are so unlucky.

Since I first posted this blog entry, Scalzi won the HUGO award for Best Novel.

There's good information on the book and Scalzi in the next link from science fiction's premier publication.

JOHN SCALZI REDSHIRTS in Locus


FROM JOHN SCALZI'S BLOG WHATEVER:

I’m going to bed. Tomorrow (actually, today) is a travel day, so there may not be any substantive update. Don’t worry, if I don’t post anything Monday there will be a full report on Tuesday. In the meantime: Wheeee!

SCALZI'S Final Hugo Thoughts

Not everyone felt that Scalzi deserved to win: Why Redshirts should be first to die – book review.

But then, some people are just assholes.

To understand the awards better, check links below.

HUGO AWARD

NEBULA AWARD

Redshirts is a great book. Try it for yourself if you don't believe me. Because you don't want to take my word for it. I am starting to be convinced that writers cannot be objective about the work of other writers. So my promotion for Redshirts is no more compelling or objective than the asshole's review linked above. Though note, that I am not evolved enough not to call that twerp an asshole three time.

Lastly, check out Jonathan Coulton's theme song for Redshirts. Awesome.

New original song by Jonathan Coulton - "Redshirt"

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OTHER RED SHIRT FACTS AND NONESUCH

• David O Rogers made a parody film, Redshirt Blues, that was well received at the 2000 Boston Film Festival. I will provide the video at the bottom of today's entry.
• Entertainment Earth has created a Red Shirt Cologne with the tagline "Because tomorrow may never come." Ostensibly, the cologne was meant to promote the new Star Trek film (being released May 2013), but the cologne was announced prior to Christmas in 2011.
• The Red Shirt is a featured entry in TV Tropes along with other true and amusing motifs, such as Black Dude Dies First and The Worf Effect.
• I had trouble with this blog as I kept typing "red shorts" and not "red shirts." I was tempted to leave in at least one "red short" to amuse you, dear reader.
• I am more than a bit pleased that this worked out to be blog #13. If only it was a Friday, too.

Redshirt Blues

Here's the video:

What do those hapless Redshirts talk about when Kirk isn't around? Starring Erik Hill Jack P. Dempsey

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- chris tower, 1304.03 10:29
Photo of me courtesy of Liesel MK Tower
UPDATED - 1403.12 - 19:36

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2305.31 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2889 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3024 - STATUS: Burn It Down! Burn It All Down!

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3024 - STATUS: Burn It Down! Burn It All Down!

I am not a Linkin Park fan.

Honestly, I had never heard this song before.

I listened to it.

It's not totally horrible.

This is just my status today.

I am still in turmoil between "fuck everything" and "burn it all down" and deeply hurt and sad.

I had thought I had a Clash song about "burn it down."

At the very least, I have a BONUS TRACK of a Dexy's Midnight Runners track, which is titled right but the content is really not relevant to my mood and status.

But really,

Burn it all done.

Fuck it.

Thanks for tuning in.

BURN IT DOWN [Official Music Video] - Linkin Park

Linkin Park

Watch the official music video for BURN IT DOWN by Linkin Park from the album LIVING THINGS.

Burn It Down

Song by Linkin Park

Lyrics

The cycle repeated

As explosions broke in the sky

All that I needed

Was the one thing I couldn't find

And you were there at the turn

Waiting to let me know

We're building it up to break it back down

We're building it up to burn it down

We can't wait to burn it to the ground

The colors conflicted

As the flames climbed into the clouds

I wanted to fix this

But couldn't stop from tearing it down

And you were there at the turn

Caught in the burning glow

And I was there at the turn

Waiting to let you know

We're building it up to break it back down

We're building it up to burn it down

We can't wait to burn it to the ground

You told me yes, you held me high

And I believed when you told that lie

I played soldier, you played king

And struck me down when I kissed that ring

You lost that right to hold that crown

I built you up but you let me down

So when you fall, I'll take my turn

And fan the flames as your blazes burn

And you were there, at the turn

Waiting to let me know

We're building it up to break it back down

We're building it up to burn it down

We can't wait to burn it to the ground

When you fall, I'll take my turn

And fan the flames as your blazes burn

We can't wait to burn it to the ground

When you fall, I'll take my turn

And fan the flames as your blazes burn

We can't wait to burn it to the ground

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Joseph Hahn / Brad Delson / Dave Farrell / Mike Shinoda / Robert G. Bourdon / Chester Charles Bennington

Burn It Down lyrics © Universal Music - Z Songs, Chesterchaz Publishing, Nondisclosure Agreement Music, Big Bad Mr. Hahn Music, Pancakey Cakes Music, Rob Bourdon Music, Kenji Kobayashi Music, Big Bad Mr Hahn Music

BONUS TRACK

Burn It Down (2000 Remaster)

Burn It Down (2000 Remaster) · Dexys Midnight Runners

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2305.30 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2888 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3023 - Full Moon and New Moon Updates

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3023 - Full Moon and New Moon Updates

I am loving these monthly releases and missives from Peter Gabriel.

Here's his updates from March, April, and May.

Great stuff.

Thank you, Sir Peter Gabriel.

Or is he not knighted?

He should be.

Peter Gabriel's has always been a balm, a healing salve, to my emotions.

I need that right now.

Had some bad news Friday.

Still grappling with it.

Thanks for tuning in.

Time... Part One

Hello everyone, Time is often on my mind as I write these full moon messages. What time will it be when you, the recipient, gets this, I wonder? Will it be the full moon already or will that still be, tantalisingly, a day away? I've pressed 'send' and I'm still wondering...   For us, here at Real World, the full moon is just one sleep away and it’s therefore the moment to let you know about the next release from i/o, which is entitled Playing For Time. First up is the Dark-Side Mix, by Tchad Blake, released on Tuesday 7 March.   The track is accompanied this month by the work of visual artist Annette Messager. Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, Playing For Time was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London, and features Tom Cawley on piano. The orchestral arrangement, by Ed Shearmur, was recorded at British Grove Studios in London with a number of players who previously featured in the New Blood Orchestra Listen to Playing For Time * * Streaming links will be live from first thing Tuesday morning, 7 March local time. ‘Playing For Time is a song that I have been working on for a long time and have performed live, without lyrics, so some people may be familiar with it. It’s been an important song for me. It's about time, mortality and memories and the idea that each of us has a planet full of memories which get stashed inside the brain.    It is more of a personal song about how you assemble memories and whether we are prisoners of time or whether that is something that can actually free us. I do think it’s good to push yourself towards more bold or interesting experiences because then you will have richer memories to feed you when you get to my age. You also get taught by every meaningful experience that you go through.’ Click on the picture of Peter below to watch his Full Moon update for March, featuring an unscripted guest appearance by Rafa, the dog...  Alternatively, click here. Peter’s thoughts about time were, in part, influenced by the work of the Long Now Foundation, and Danny Hillis’s extraordinary invention, The 10,000 Year Clock, which is an idea designed to try and encourage us to think long-term. ‘I’m sure that if we have a chance of surviving the existential problems that we now face we have to start thinking much bigger and longer to make some real headway. So, I think what they do is enormously valuable and there are some amazing talks on their website, so for those that want a deep dive into the role of time and long-term thinking, the Long Now Foundation is a wonderful place to start.’ The eagle-eyed amongst you will have seen that this mailer is marked as Part One. The thought that a Part Two must follow is a good one, so let us strongly encourage you to open Part Two tomorrow. Especially if you live in North America... Finally, for today, the new issue of UNCUT magazine features a world exclusive interview with Peter and hits the shops in the UK and beyond from Thursday 9 March. Holding court in his London home studio, Peter talks, amongst many other things, about his plans for i/o and the tour ahead. “I’m an awkward sod,” he says. “I like doing things differently…”   As well as UNCUT's regular front cover a limited edition Collector's Cover, which we love, is also available to buy direct exclusively from the Uncut store. Both feature new photos by Nadav Kander. Click here for more details

More Time.

Hello there!, Welcome dear readers to the first of this month's new moon updates, with news today of the release of the Playing For Time (Bright-Side Mix), by Spike Stent, as well as Hans-Martin Buff's Playing For Time (In-Side Mix). You can check out the Bright-Side Mix on any of your preferred digital platforms and the In-Side Mix on Apple and Amazon. Just click on the link below. You'd think that would be enough for one day, but as alluded to above, we'll be back again later on today with a bit more news that's still under wraps for now, but we can reveal in a few hours... it might not be too hard to guess what that is... but be sure to watch out for that next message.  See you back here very soon. Listen to Playing For Time "As some of you will know, I often play things before they are finished and this is one I played for a couple of tours before it was finished. People often assume that you know exactly where you are going, and I think with some writers that's true, but in my case that is not true. I occasionally have a sense of a very clear direction and follow it, but very often I'll just try a lot of different ideas until it really works."  In case you haven't see it, click on the picture of Peter below to watch his Full Moon update for March. Alternatively, click here.

Just a part of everything! Welcome one and all! It's (almost) the full moon and you know the drill by now! Another new song is upon us and this month it's called i/o. A song about the interconnectedness of everything... so, it's pretty lovely that we are all connected here, isn't it?   i/o, the song, is released on Thursday 6 April and it's the Bright-Side Mix first this time. The artist of the month is someone that Peter calls, 'the king of light,' Olafur Eliasson.  Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, i/o was primarily recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London. The song features Soweto Gospel Choir, who were recorded at High Seas Studios in South Africa. Listen to i/o * * Streaming links will be live from first thing Thursday morning, 6 April local time. LInkfire will be updated on UK time. 'This month the song is i/o and i/o means input / output. You see it on the back of a lot of electrical equipment and it just triggered some ideas about the stuff we put in and pull out of ourselves, in physical and non-physical ways. That was the starting point of this idea and then trying to talk about the interconnectedness of everything. The older I get, I probably don't get any smarter, but I have learned a few things and it makes a lot of sense to me that we are not these independent islands that we like to think we are, that we are part of a whole. If we can see ourselves as better connected, still messed up individuals, but as part of a whole, then maybe there's something to learn?' i/o as a potential album title has long-been known within fan circles, and as we now know is the name of the album and the forthcoming tour, 'it's been around for a long time as a title for this project,' says Peter. 'I always knew I was going to write a song called i/o, but the title came first.' Watch Peter and friend in the Full Moon update for April in the video above. Continuing the theme of working with a different artist for each song release, this month’s track is accompanied by a cover image featuring the work of Olafur Eliasson, who is someone Peter first met when the artist was launching his Little Sun Project.   'Olafur Eliasson is an extraordinary artist who, in many ways I think, is the king of light. A lot of his work is to do with light and with nature and I really felt that for this song in particular he would be absolutely perfect and I was delighted when he said, yes. This piece is called Colour experiment no. 114, from 2022. I think Olafur is a mixture between artist, scientist and magician. He always has a mission and something to say about the world and nature and light and our experience of it and that helps us to reconsider how we interact with our environment.' That's it for now. Thanks for reading all the way down to here and we'll see you again soon. x

We feel the vibration...

Hello all, Hope this finds you well? Cycling through the city last evening, the moon was looking big and bright and really rather fine in the pink hue of the fading light. A fitting way to herald the release of another Bright-Side Mix. This month's song is Four Kinds of Horses.   Written by Peter Gabriel and produced by Peter Gabriel and Richard Russell, Four Kinds of Horses was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, The Beehive and Copper House in London.   "Four Kinds of Horses actually began on Richard Russell’s project ‘Everything Is Recorded’. He’s a friend (and founder of XL Records) and he asked me to pop in to his studio. I came up with some chords, melodies and words on top of a groove he was working on. We tried a few things that didn't altogether work and so it laid dormant for quite a while. Then I started playing around with it again and changed the mood and the groove and something else began to emerge with a better chorus."   Listen to Four Kinds of Horses There were a number of things that triggered ideas for the song as it developed, including the Buddhist parable of the Four Kinds of Horses, which describes different ways a student can approach their spiritual practice.There is also a focus on “the interesting overlap of religion and peace on the one hand and violence and terrorism on the other. There was also a wonderful film by Hany Abu-Assad called ‘Paradise Now’ which shows two young men who end up being trained to become terrorists and it's a real insight into where the head goes.”    As well as Russell, who set things in motion, Four Kinds of Horses also features Brian Eno on synths which “sounded like electric worms to me,” says Gabriel. “As soon as I heard one I thought they would make a great three dimensional wall paper of sound and asked Brian to create eleven more.” John Metcalfe again provides string arrangements, “beautiful work and as the song progresses, the strings play a key role” and backing vocals from Peter’s daughter Melanie, “another lovely moment for a dad.” Watch Peter at tour rehearsals in the Full Moon update for May above. Continuing the theme of working with a different artist for each song release, this month’s track is accompanied by a cover image featuring the work of Cornelia Parker.   This month we have a fascinating artist, Cornelia Parker, who does some extraordinary work. When we were originally looking at the Art from Us project, I'd seen some of her stuff with exploding rooms and had been fascinated by that, so I'm really happy that she agreed to work with us on this. The photogravure technique of William Henry Fox Talbot was an inspiration for her in this piece, and some of the other glass-based images in the series. I fell in love with this particular work - it's called ‘Snap’   Thanks for getting all the way down here... Only a couple of weeks until the tour starts now, so excitement will really be ramping up by the time you hear from us again! x

It all seems so simple...

Hello all, We're back again, with more good stuff. You ok? Hope so. Sound the alarm! The new moon this month is a double-whammy of new mixes of Four Kinds of Horses and the little matter of the first show of i/o The Tour. Yay! New for your listening pleasure are the Dark-Side and In-Side mixes, which are released on Friday 19 May local time. Though Four Kinds of Horses began as part of a recording session for Richard Russell's album 'Everything Is Recorded'. it wasn't finished and lay dormant for a while, before Peter revisited the track and things really began to take shape. "I was working in the studio with Katie May and we got a sort of trip hop vibe which I liked better and seemed to lock in a feel for it, an attitude. That was really what took me into this other place. It's a little different from the rest of the album and it's grown a lot of textures and evolved into a very different being but I hope you like it." Listen to Four Kinds of Horses* *Dark-Side and In-Side mixes will be live from 19 May, local time. Peter introduces the band who will join him on-stage for i/o The Tour As you know, Peter begins his i/o tour tonight in Kraków, Poland. In the above video you can see him introduce the band that will join him on stage. If you have tickets for the upcoming dates, then you are in for a treat. If not, then there's still a few tickets for some shows, so perhaps there's still time?! Tickets to see i/o The Tour Dancing shoes on. i/o tour rehearsals in London by York Tillyer.

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2305.29 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2887 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.