Dark meat anyone?
RIP ACC
If you've seen my status, you'll know that I'm mourning the death of Arthur C. Clarke. I have a special fondness for his work as an author. Yes he is the guy who wrote that acid trip of a movie that was directed by that psychotic nutjob and or brilliant auteur (Kubrick) that is known as 2001: A Space Odyssey. I remember seeing the movie as a young kid on PBS. It started with apes dancing around a big rectangle, then somehow changes to this space opera with a Pink Floyd-esque light show towards the end. I didn't understand it at all and as a 11 year old, it seriously pissed me off. I wanted to know the secrets of the movie, but alas, I probably became distracted with dinosaurs or maybe it was Amy Jo Johnson.
Fas t forward a few years. I'm a senior in high school and I'm faced with writing a 12 page "thesis" or report if you will, that must be done with penalty of not being able to graduate. The stipulation being that it must analyze at least 2 works by one British author. Of the other students, a squadron spoke of Shakespeare. A troop taskforce took Tolkien. A caravan chose Chaucer. I wanted to do something different. He wrote sci-fi and while I was at the height of my Star Wars geekdom, Clarke's work was several parsecs ahead of anything George Lucas could ever do. His most famous work was 2001, which oddly enough was the current year and the year I was going to graduate. Plus it would be a great opportunity to finally learn what the damn thing meant. It was a hard sell to my teacher, but I got clearance to go ahead.
Whe n I study or work very hard on something, I often get very tired of whatever it is and swear it off once the job is done. I all but abandoned my love for photography when I was a photojournalism major. Unfortunately, I avoid going to the doctor at all costs now because of my toiling away, trying to get into med school. While I was researching my paper on Clarke, I couldn't get enough. Still can't. I love how his books have such cosmically big ideas, yet at the very core point out the simple beauty of being human. Science fiction (not the stuff of Ewoks and Gungans) at its best uses its fantastic settings and circumstances to be a social commentary, or a discussion on the existence of God or to emphasize how fragile it all is. Clarke excelled at that.
Needless to say, I finally got my answers. I just rewatched the film, and plan on reading the book again once I get my hands on my old copy. Long story short, some alien force checks up on Earth from time to time. They send black, rectangular Monoliths as sentinels, yet radiate some unexplained power. The scenes Clarke details to us are mainly the evolutionary leaps in humankind's life. As primitive apes, we realize we can use tools to better our lives. In the space age, our tools have made life so easy that we're all bored, so we decide to go to Jupiter. Our tools (HAL 9000) turn against us, so we must discard them, and are left "naked." Once at Jupiter, another monolith is encountered and we realize that our physical bodies are simply tools as well and can be discarded. We then reach a new stage in evolution in which only our minds can limit what we can do.
The Reader's Digest version. Seriously though, read his stuff. The 4 Odyssey books are just that (an odyssey). The Rama series is just epic and Childhood's End will make you worry about our future (even more so).
RIP ACC
The Deal
Work with me here. Pretend that I'm watching some people I know playing Texas Hold'em. They've been playing for quite a while. Since they've been playing for such a long time, they've all accumulated a ton of chips. They're all practically pro card sharks. Then comes me. I'm honestly not the best poker player as I haven't played all that much in the past, nor do I have much money. I want to buy into the next hand, but remember I don't have much money, so my buy in will be the minimum. It's pretty clear to me that if I join the game at this stage, I'm gonna get absolutely destroyed. Plus this is the only "table" running today. Should I say "screw it" and join the game anyway, or should I just watch the game from afar and not worry about playing?
ahhhh metaphors.
ahhhh metaphors.
I wanna be like you.....
My first official act on Core Team is to research the animals found in the Disney version of The Jungle Book. Apparently there's going to be a new DVD release and they want to include some animal facts and conservation efforts for the company. So Sharon and I were researching all things Kiplingian. Here's my top 10 list of things I learned:1. King Louie is not in the original book but is a Disney fabrication (I haven't read the book).
2. The story takes place in India and King Louie is an orangutan, but orangs are found in Indonesia, Borneo and Sumatra.
3. Palm oil farm plantations in Asia are destroying orang habitats and at this rate orangs may be extinct by 2012. Don't buy or use products with palm oil.
4. Baloo the bear, more than likely was based off of a sloth bear, as the Hindi word for bear is Bhalu.
5. Sloth bears are insectivores feeding mostly off of termites and insects.
6. Kaa the snake is more than likely an Indian python, possibly a Burmese python a subspecies.
7. Shere Khan is clearly a tiger. As of the late 1800s, there was about 8 subspecies (9 depending on who you ask) and as of 2007, 3 of those subspecies have become extinct.
8. White tigers made famous by Vegas magicians and the Power Rangers are actually genetic mutants. Zoos try to shy away from mating tigers to make more white tigers because we're not sure that crossing all these mutants will end up being a good thing.
9. Burmese pythons are popular as pets, but they can grow to be 25 feet long and up to 350lbs. Many people will release them into the wild after they get too big to handle. Research your pets.
10. Some pet owners have "liberated" their pet pythons to the Florida Everglades. There is now a substantial breeding population here even though they don't belong. Plus this is creating a very unnatural rivalry I shall dub the Thwamp in the Swamp: Alligator vs. Python.
Observe:
it's a draw. Still not the best of ideas to drop a 20 foot snake in the FL 'glades.
I'm out. Go see Transformers.
Pursuit
I am my own worst enemy when it comes to goals/pursuits/whathaveyou. There have been things I wanted, but kept denying myself from going out and getting it. Don't know why. Now I think I'm actually ready to go out and get it. I might be chasing the end of the rainbow right now, but the thrill of the pursuit is satisfying, even if I never do reach the horizon. I think I'm finally ready.
Passion
I'm rapidly approaching the end of 2nd internship and also probably the end of my time down here at Disney. There are a few possibilities that I could stay, but it is looking like I am not long for Orlando. I more or less came down here on a whim. For 4 years in college, I busted my ass to try and get into medical school. But after a while, it seems like I was spinning my wheels at full speed and getting nowhere. Looking back, I'm not even sure why I had the goals that I did. My Dad is a doctor and all my life people would ask me if I would be like my Dad when I grew up. People expected it. I wanted to do something worthwhile or important with my life, so the medical thing seemed like a good option. And for a while, it seemed like my only option. Since coming down here though, I've found many other paths I can take. I'm happy here. Learning about animals, the environment and conservation have really ignited something within me. Before I was going through the motions, but now I feel passionate about something for once. It's a first and very fulfilling. I want to show people why they should give a damn. Give a damn about our planet and the creatures that live on it. How do I do that? As a tour guide? As a teacher? As a journalist? As an education presenter, the moment that touched me most was when a 4 year old British child told me he was worried that the poachers would harm the animals, and he wanted to help so he could help protect them. I did a Wild By Nature program for a group of 6th graders a few days ago. I had fun, and I think the kids and chaperones had fun too. One chaperone had some very nice things to say to me after the program. They all learned something, they had fun and they wanted to give a damn. You have no idea how good that made me feel. I'm not sure how things will turn out in the next few months, much less the next few years, but I think this little side trip to Florida has really helped me set my course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
