Junk Shuffling

I have a tendency to put stray papers and other random items on every available surface that isn't the floor or a seat (and sometimes surfaces that are part of the floor or a seat). It's either because I don't have a spot set aside for said random item or because I know that if I put it away, I will forget about. This means things of varying importance pile up on my computer desk, my TV cart, and the TV trays that I leave set up next my couch and my desk. When I do end up cleaning this stuff up, I tend to move it from one surface that I intend to clean to another that I intend to clean later. Bills either stay on the intended clean space or move to a space that is already clean (otherwise, I'll lose track of them like I did my registration stickers for my car, and that would be bad (I did eventually find the stickers, though)). Books get stacked on the TV cart until I convince myself that I'm not reading them any time soon and should really put them on a bookcase. The same can be said for DVDs and video cassettes that I've watched since the last time I cleaned. The papers don't generally get cleaned up until a) I have company coming or b) everything is piled onto the last unclean surface and I'm forced to find a place for everything, whether it's a filing box, a bookcase, the garbage, or a cardboard box.

The cardboard box solution is the last step in the junk shuffling chain. This is usually the fate of random items that I still don't have a place for but I don't feel ready to throw away, but I really shouldn't leave it lying around, so I pick up an Amazon box or a shoebox and dump it all in. I am able to find things by remembering which cleaning cycle I last saw them in and going to that box. I have yet to reuse or run out of boxes. This either means that the problem isn't that bad (yet) or I get too much stuff from Amazon.

The best part of the cardboard box solution is the reminiscing I get to do when I get the urge to sort through one of them. I'll find notes, sketches, story and blog post ideas, random craft items (glow-in-the-dark lanyard, anyone?), mysterious numbers, and other things. I've never had an entire box "expire", though I have ended up throwing out several items in a single box (usually receipts or attempts at solving figure logics). One day, I will hopefully go through those boxes and finally find a home for all of those random items. Perhaps a plastic box. Promotion!

Behold, The Power of Mint!

A lot of people find chocolate to be irresistible. Frankly, plain chocolate I can take or leave. I don't eat it that much anymore anyway because it keeps me up at night (what doesn't? you ask). Mint, on the other hand, is a weakness. If I see something with mint, I have great difficulty convincing myself not to get it. For instance, this evening, I saw Mint 3 Musketeers. I bought 4. Then I went to Chik-Fil-A and saw their Mint Chocolate milk shake. I had to keep saying to myself "You already bought the Musketeers. You already bought the Musketeers." I managed to resist - this time. But the next time I see a Chik-Fil-A, I may have to stop in (hopefully, it will be on a Sunday).

As you can image, the Christmas season is a killer. EVERYTHING goes mint : M&M's, Hershey's Kisses, even Kit-Kats went mint this year. But I have yet to see Reese's cups go mint. I think that's the only thing left. Unless Peeps start injecting a flavor other than "sugary" into their Christmas line. And before you say "ew!" to mint Reese's peanut butter cups, my mom makes mint peanut butter chocolate fudge, and it is delicious. Oddly, you can't taste the mint and the peanut butter at the same time, so your taste buds alternate between which flavor to transmit to your brain. So if Reese's ever go mint, I may have to increase my daily jog to 3 hours.

The Scotty Complex

Many engineering projects seem to suffer from the Scotty Complex. On Star Trek, Kirk (management) would often steer the ship (the project) into situations that would make life difficult for poor Scotty (the engineers). For instance, they would enter a situation that would put a strain on the warp engines, but because Kirk refused to stock up on dilithium crystals on the last supply run due to budgetary constraints, they’re down to their last one. Scotty insists the engines can’t take it. Kirk insists that they must, the laws of time and space not withstanding. If something goes wrong as a result, Kirk expects Scotty to fix it in the time Kirk demands, no matter how long it should actually take (“That’ll take me at least 3 months, an entire research staff, and a considerably bigger budget, Cap’n.” “You have one hour, a yeoman, and the money currently in your own wallet.”) But Scotty, being a good little engineer, somehow manages to come through every time. And because of this, Kirk is spoiled into to thinking that Scotty can compensate for even the most uninformed and fool-hardy decisions he could ever make.

But what if Scotty were one of those people who hated to work or hated their boss (or both). “Scotty, the Captain’s trapped down on the planet. They’re about to execute him, and the transporters aren’t working!” “I was going to get to that after lunch.” “But, the Captain…” “Yeah, when’s the last time he gave me a promotion? I’ll be in the break room.” One or two captains later, Scotty would be promoted to his own command where Starfleet would hope he could do less damage. Either that, or Starfleet would place him on ships that they secretly dislike in the hopes that he would bring them down through sheer lack of will. “Scotty, the engines are down and we’ve got Klingons on our tail!” “Hold on, let me check my E-bay auctions real quick.”

The Psychology of Space Travel

NASA has revealed that they have procedures in place for when an astronaut goes out of control in space and must be subdued for the safety of everyone. This whole Nowak incident has people asking about the psychological effects of space travel, even though Nowak herself was only in space for two weeks. I did a paper on the psychological effects of space travel when I was in high school, and the research was indeed thin. Most of the papers I could find were translated from Russian. The U.S. has always paid great attention to the physical effects of space travel, but direct research into the psychological effects of being in space was limited. Most of the studies I looked at for my paper involved the psychological effects of “space-like” conditions. Biosphere II tried to demonstrate what a settlement on another planet would be like. That ended… not well. Antarctic research stations mimic the true isolation (people in Biosphere II could theoretically step outside if they really wanted out) and close quarters of a long-duration mission. There have been adverse psychological effects observed in these conditions, but nothing destructive (as far as I can find).

I’ve posited before that the Internet is pushing human behavioural evolution in a direction that will make people more able to cope with the isolation of space travel. However, the confinement and close quarters are a different matter. Even those who have lived at sea for extended periods of time have not done so for a period of time even approaching what a Mars mission would be. And we have no way of knowing what will happen as astronauts slowly watch Earth shrink and shrink and shrink until it is but a bright blue star out their window. If you think looking at Earth from orbit makes you feel small, what will it feel like to see that massive orb reduced to a spec among many?

I do think we should explore space ourselves and not just leave it to the robots. Exploration is essential to the human condition. But no one said this would be easy. Besides, if it were easy, what fun would it be?

Stuck in SciFi

I watch way too much television. As such, I have noticed a pattern that I think all actors who are considering taking a part on a science fiction movie or television show should be aware of before they sign that contract. I keep seeing the same people over and over – and I rarely see them anywhere else. (By the by, for the purposes of this essay, and since they’re often hard to separate anyway, sci-fi is science fiction as well as fantasy – everything from Hercules to Star Trek and back again).

This goes beyond the usual stereotyping seen in the entertainment industry. Let’s call it genre-typing. It used to be a phenomenon in westerns. In fact, several people have made the transition from stuck in westerns to stuck in sci-fi (ie, William Shatner, Lorne Greene, um, did I mention Canadians fall victim to this more often than most?)

Now, part of this is apparently a function of the fact that many science fiction television shows (particularly syndicated ones), as well as some movies, are filmed in Canada and many sci-fi movies (and some tv shows) are filmed in New Zealand. And Canada and New Zealand apparently have a limited number of actors living there. Case in point for Canada – Katie Stuart whom I first saw in “Crow: Stairway to Heaven”, then started noticing her in several other shows that I watched either regularly or occasionally including Stargate SG-1, Outer Limits, Poltergeist: The Legacy (I watched it two or three times, shut up), and mostly recently, I saw her on Dead Like Me, though IMDB doesn’t mention it. It almost seemed as if, when a story called for a young girl, either she or Collen Rennison (or both) were called in if the series was filmed in Canada. In fact, they are evidently considered so interchangeable, they played the same character, Cassandra, on different episodes of Stargate SG-1. Of course, now that the two of them are old enough to be in college (or at least applying for it), they’ll have to find a new “young girl”.

Oh, but you don’t have to be Canadian to be stuck in scifi. Sigourney Weaver is a prime example of genre-typing without being stereotyped. Her character is Ghostbusters is hardly Ripley from Alien or Gwen Demarco from Galaxy Quest (a sci-fi parody, but still). I think she’s managed to play a variety of characters within science fiction. Not to mention the fact that she pioneered the role of the strong heroine. Buffy’s got nothin’ on her.

Ahem. Anyhoo. I seem to have picked out two actresses stuck in sci-fi. Maybe that’s because there are just so many actors out there to choose from. Star Trek alone has produced so many I’ve lost track. Watch any given episode of Xena or Hercules and you can spot at least two or three people you’ve seen other places (in some ways, that’s thanks to Sam Raimi, who puts Bruce Campbell and his brother Ted in just about everything he does).

Now, maybe some of these people are showing up other places, I just don’t watch the other types of shows the appear in. This site has a list of actors who just seem to pop up everywhere (por ejemplo, Clancy Brown does a lot of sci-fi and voice work in addition to his “cop or robber” roles. Fear his voice. Especially as Mr. Krabs.)

So that’s where they went...

Sometimes, those who have become trapped inside the world of sci-fi (or, worse yet, a specific role) seem to find secondary careers in voice work. Leonard Neomoy started the trend of hosting or narrating documentary-style television shows with "In Search Of...". Many sci-fi stars lend their voice to cartoons and video games. Heck, Gargoyles was practically a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion. Mark Hamill (talk about trapped in sci-fi) has done a tremendous amount of voice work since playing Luke Skywalker. He’s particularly good as the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series. Sometimes, over the top is appropriate.

My advice to actors who find themselves stuck in sci-fi - don't fight it. It may very well give you something that most actors never know - job security.