My Own Experience: “Sherlock Holmes”

Welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

I might not mention this a lot, or I might mention it a great deal, that I was in the Navy. I joined when I was 18 for a variety of reasons, one of which being that I’d had an experience similar to college life and knew I needed to grow up, as well as a wish to see the world. While I will admit (and I’m sure some of my superiors will agree) that I was not the best sailor and sometimes did cut corners, I also knew I wasn’t going to re-enlist when I joined, but I did enjoy my time in the military, for all the good or ill there was.

When I left the Navy, I took up reading again, and one of the first books I got was The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Vol. I. I knew of Sherlock Holmes – when I was young the local PBS channel had “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” with Jeremy Brett as Holmes, and loved “The Great Mouse Detective” (not really Holmes but close).

So I read through the introduction, which spoke about Holmes’ often-overlooked companion, Doctor Watson.

Who was a wounded Afghanistan veteran.

When I learned of this, I started to research and became a bit of a fan of the 19th century, as well as of history. The main point of it came from the descriptions of Watson’s time away from the military before he met Holmes. He mentions that his “nerves were shot” and he was spending money a bit too freely, which I’ve seen a great deal of not just in my fellow veterans but also in myself. Having a steady paycheck, home, food, and free medical (for what the medical is worth) does tend to make things harder when attempting to find a job or making a new budget to take all of these things into account.

The first part, his “nerves shot”, meant that he was suffering from what could be PTSD. So a wounded Afghanistan veteran who had PTSD and dealt with it by helping someone solve crimes, as well as by writing his experience.

I have a hard time writing about myself. I understand many of the heroes who come home to get Purple Hearts and the like, and hearing their stories, as well as hearing them point out that it’s what they train for, is understandable to me. We train a great deal to be ready to put out fires, shoot attackers, and help our shipmates because often we’re not somewhere that we can call for help. So it’s hard for me, especially on Veteran’s Day, when I’m thanked for my service. How do you reply to someone thanking  you for doing your job?

So when I was reading the stories, I enjoyed them a great deal. Some of them weren’t that good, but some were wonderful and I could see why characters like Sherlock Holmes and John Watson would be brought up for a long while, from the basic Holmes and Watson stories to shows like “House”, “Monk”, and others.

So recently I offered up the new show, “Sherlock”, which moved Holmes and Watson to the 21st century, to someone who also was a veteran. Watson as a veteran, especially one of Afghanistan both then and now, is a character that I love a great deal and who does get a bit of the short end of the stick, as he’s the narrator so all of the action is seen through his eyes, leaving him with little to do or say. Because of that, he’s sometimes played as an idiot, but recently he’s taken to being cast, especially as portrayed by Jude Law and Martin Freeman, as a more competent character.

So for Veteran’s day, I offer up John Watson, a wounded Afghanistan veteran who has a lot of the same problems we all do, and who also can’t write about himself. Happy belated Veteran’s/Armistice/Remembrance Day.

Mandatory Theme Month October: “Grimm”

Welcome to Tea ‘n History with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

 

So recently, a show was started called “Grimm”, dealing with the idea that the stories of old, especially those associated with the Brothers Grimm, are real and a part of the real world, even today. Those who fight against the evil beings are known as Grimms, which are as much the bogeyman in the world of monsters as they are to us. The show itself is interesting, for having only the pilot, and offers enough suspense and fear to work.

 

The story behind the Brothers and their work is just as interesting as the show. During their lives, the influence of the Napoleonic era created a movement known as Romanticism. Yes, I know, considering the tales the two brothers found, things don’t seem that romantic, but the movement itself was one that comes up during the pendulum that history is. Because the Napoleonic Era and much of the various revolutions at the time were based on reason and science, the push back was to invoke emotions and symbolism into the new area, and the rise of Nationalism after the expansion of France into areas like Italy, Spain, and Germany that we have today and that wasn’t really around during this time.

The idea of nationalism rose at the time from a shared history or language, but was often fought by others, including a Pope, who felt threatened in some way or by those who didn’t want to give up the rule over various people. However, the push by Napoleon into the regions and his men’s talk of French Nationalism, which was to mean those nations who were “free” of kings and queens and like France, often had a different reaction, especially among the German and Spanish, who bonded of shared languages and the “us vs. them” mentality.

So with the fall of Napoleon and the rise of what is called the Age of Metternich, romanticism built and the idea of nationalism also came up. One, Gottfried von Herder, built up the idea of German nationalism, feeling that each nation had a patter of growth as well as specific cultural markers and artifacts that made up the nation. He also didn’t feel this was only in Germany – every nation had their own set of these and to create a nation, one needed to understand the shared culture or to create “modern artifacts”.

So why is von Herder important in the tale of the Brothers Grimm? Well, mostly that his idea was to send out his students to gather the tales, ballads, stories and folklore of their people, and the two Grimms were his most famous students.

Granted, even they “Disneyfied” their story, as the first-edition version of Rapunzel has a very different way of the witch learned about the Prince then the second-edition (hint: first edition involves PREGNANCY as a way of finding out the prince was in with Rapunzel). But beyond that, they were able to save and record a great deal of stories and folktales that have been passed on from generation to generation and which are…well, the old version of “Red Riding Hood” is a bit freakier then even the newer, cleaner, safe version we tell our kids.

So for Halloween, pull out the original text (if you can find it) and scare the kids and perhaps yourself with original tales of horror and morals from the Brothers Grimm.

Random Thoughts: The Power of the Unspoilable

Hello and welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

A talk earlier this week got me to realize that there are some things that you just can’t spoil, and not from lack of trying. See, in order to explain some concept, my mind decided to use Portal to do it. Granted, there was science involved, but then a fact came up during more of it: the fact, actually, that I’ve never played Portal.

Some of you may wonder how that happens. It happens when I’ve not been big on games and thought my computer couldn’t handle it is how, but right now I do have it but the fact that I’m in college and don’t like to have three games going on at once. However, the point is moot – I know the twist ending to Portal. I know what’s it’s about. I’ve heard Cave Johnson’s rant on ways to make exploding lemons, even if that’s in Portal 2. Sad to say, there are some things that are just spoiled because so many know about them.

Portal is just one. How many don’t know the twist to Darth Vader’s relationship with Luke Skywalker? Or can’t guess at some endings if they know it’s Shakespearean and tragic, especially some of his over-done ones like Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet?

What, then, is Rosebud?

As many items seem to gain prominence in our culture, it also becomes very hard to put up a Spoiler warning when you realize so much of it is just so ingrained that really, all you can do is watch, read, or play the media to get the full effect. That doesn’t mean you’ll not know the ending to it, or the big twist, but sometimes it’s worth it. Knowing something doesn’t stop you from being amazed at a good movie or story. Misquoting anything doesn’t stop the book from being interesting, or from a soliloquy from being more powerful to some people. Knowing there’s no cake or ten castles before the Princess doesn’t stop it from being satisfying when you’re able to finish the game or even beat a boss you haven’t been able to before.

So yes, that’s my random thought for today. Knowing the ending doesn’t stop something from being interesting often, and it doesn’t stop the pleasure that often comes from viewing, reading, or playing. So don’t let that bother you if you decide to start something.
For now, I’m off to watch another movie I know the ending to…because I can.

Not Enough Months in the Year: Library Month and Banned Book Week

Welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

One of the many things I enjoy during my time in or around anyplace with a library is the month of September, not because I’m getting back into school and we have yet to have a major test or anything on us, but because most libraries, book stores, or similar will have at least one promotion of not only National Library Card Signup Month (which is in September) but also because of Banned Book Week.

Usually the last week of September, Banned Book Week highlights many of the books that have been banned throughout the centuries or even just recently, and their website updates every year with a list of new and old books, where they were banned, and why.

Statistically, according to the American Library Association, books are banned due to a sexually explicit part or parts in it, with offensive language and violence coming in second and third. Overwhelmingly, parents are the ones who demand a book is banned, with a patron being the next most-common (but not at all close to the number of parents), and schools are also quick to ban books, as well as school libraries being second and public libraries following up.

With each banned book, especially classics, you get a long list of grievances that are either similar or different, or (in my view) funny considering the material. A good list is here, but one that always stuck with me was the reason behind banning Nineteen Eighty-Four, mostly stating it was “pro-communist” when the writer hated Communism and wrote against it at least twice (in Animal Farm, where the Russian Revolution took place on a farm, and in the book above, where a form of socialism takes over England…more on that in a later post).

Aside from classics, though, I’ve seen a great deal of banned books for various reasons, though again the biggest ones have to do with nudity or sex (Where’s Waldo? was banned for having a naked woman)or offensive language (I don’t want to count the number of times they’ve attempted to rewrite The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of it’s huge use of the ‘n-word’, as well as the fact that it was banned during it’s first years for being ‘vulgar’ due to how Huck talked, rather then his use of the word). Many are burned or banned due to any variety of reasons (The Lord of the Rings series was burned for being satanic), and the history of burning or banning books goes far back, and have included Galileo’s books on astronomy, Voltaire’s Candide (rumored to be the most banned book in history) and various others. The Nazis and other totalitarian regimes (or regimes in general) were known for mass burning of books, and that also took place in much of America as well. If something offends a good group of people and it’s inanimate, chances are the item is taken down or burned.

A lot of movies have made points to add that in at times as well, including many about the regimes mentioned, but I think the best one for this month (or week) would be Footloose. In it, some of the town’s leading members want to ban Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnogat, and one mentions how “vulgar” the title is. Our protagonist (and as the remake isn’t out I’m talking of young Kevin Bacon) says that it’s a good book, having read it, which instantly gets him stares from his…family (I don’t quite recall his backstory…I think he was living with his aunt and uncle because of something). Later, despite the pastor saying he didn’t want them to burn the books, the crowd does so anyway, with the pastor protesting the act and slowly realizing the errors of his ways.

Because the movie is more about banning music then books, that part is more of a side plot to show a general attitude, and it’s not given much attention except to build upon the pastor’s character. Still, it’s a good showing of some of the attitudes that do go behind banning books, but it’s just one piece of it as well.

All over the country, there are probably a long list if not a display of the books that schools, libraries, and even countries have banned for one reason or another. I haven’t read them all, but I’m not about to give up trying.

Stranger then Fiction: Atlas Shrugged, Bioshock, and Reality

Hello and welcome to Tea ‘n History, with your hostess, Felicia Angel.

Now, I will admit to being a fan of Keith Olbermann, who is a semi-far left journalist and sports journalist who is now on Al Gore’s Current TV, still keeping the old MSNBC show name of “Countdown”. Granted, I got into the show when I came home, and I don’t always agree with everything he says, but it can be fun to watch.

A number of weeks ago (August 17th), Olbermann reported on his “Worst Persons” segment about PayPal founder Peter Thiel and his donation of $1.25 billion to a group called the Seasteading Institute, a group who promote “the establishment and growth of permanent, autonomous ocean communities” and “enabling innovations with new political and social systems”.

Being a minor-gamer, the first time I heard of seasteading, I thought of a game known as Bioshock. Trust me, this leads into a long circle of logic that, sadly, Olbermann didn’t see…though considering he’s only a year or so on Twitter, I’d say he probably hasn’t heard of the game.

First, we’ll deal with where the idea of Bioshock comes from, for those who don’t know, which is a book known as Atlas Shrugged. Written by Ayn Rand and considered her opus, as well as debated on if it’s a good book or not (I’m reading it currently, and am in the ‘meh’ category), Atlas Shrugged deals with a universe where many of the top innovators and thinkers, as well as the few capitalists as we think of them (be it for good or ill) are either disappearing, attempting to keep their creativity afloat, or just giving up. With the loss of jobs from disappearances of both employers and, sadly, their loss of actual places to work. The main focus is on a woman named Dagney Taggert, one of two children who inherited Taggert Railways, and who is perhaps the only competent person in the entire book (in my opinion, and I’m a bit biased). Dagney is helped by another industrialist, Rearden, who’s created a new type of metal that she wants for her railroad but, due to various attempts to make things “better for the community”, though it’s apparent this is only for a few people, both go on the defensive. Throughout the novel is a sort of mystery over a man named John Galt, the phrase “Who is John Galt?” now becoming a sort of meme that indicates people are uncertain what’s right or wrong  or even what’s best for them.

The main point of the book is a 60-page monologue (that I haven’t gotten to but I hear it’s about that long) on a philosophy created by Rand called “Objectivism”, which states that “human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation and inductive logic” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)), as well as promoting the pursuit of only your own happiness and a laissez faire capitalism. For those who don’t know what laissez faire capitalism is, picture your job. Now, picture that your boss can pay you whatever he wants, including lower then minimum-wage, and there is no such thing as unions, worker’s comp, safety instructions, minimal working hours, or anything else. If you see a need and are able to get a loan for a new factory, you too can engage in this type of behavior, but for now, you’re stuck working 16 hours a DAY and having money cut from your paycheck if you fall asleep on the job, take too long to eat lunch, get hurt, or take a break so you can go to the bathroom.

It’s a good and bad thing. Good in that it promotes ideas as needed and creates new markets and items for consumption, bad because most don’t like regulations of business.

This brings us to Bioshock.

Released by 2K Boston (now Irrational Games) in 2007 for the XBox 360, and later released in 2008 for the PS3 by Digital Extremes and in 2009 for the Mac OS by Feral Interactives, BioShock took away so many awards and good reviews when it came out that it’s considered a must-own. The first-person shooter (FPS, for those who aren’t savvy), revolves around the main character entering a world created by a man named Andrew Ryan which holds the objectivist/libertarian viewpoint of no regulation of business, art, or science. When you reach the underwater city, situated in the North Atlantic, you soon realize something is very wrong and, in classic form that many gamers know, you go in to mess up whatever there is and to help the few survivors by killing the dangerous ones.

The story itself is full of twists that should not be spoiled (though probably are, we are on the internet) but the basis is you, through the character of Jack, slowly learn what went wrong in this underwater city called Rapture. The two small spoilers I’ll give are two people you either help or go up against: the first, Dr. Steinman, speaks often of his “goddess” and wishes to see what he can do as a surgeon. This mostly means he’ll kill most of his “subjects” while trying to create a new beauty, a la a Cubist painter. In other words, not a nice man.

The next is an artist, Cohen, who will give you change for a $10 with three $3 and a dollar, and who’s idea of ‘art’ would make Jeffrey Dalmer a bit happy. He wants you to help him with his newest piece of art, which requires you to kill his old protogees and bring back pieces.

 

Now, back to our seasteading and Peter Thiel. Thiel’s idea is to set up a libertarian utopia, hence his donations over the years. He even states he was inspired by Atlas Shrugged.  Considering also that one article says the idea is to “start from scratch–free from the laws, regulations, and moral codes of any existing place” for these floating islands (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/silicon-valley-billionaire-funding-creation-artificial-libertarian-islands-140840896.html), some people would raise objections due to various points, which include the sea-cities being a crackpot idea, the lack of urban planning, and even with some residents of San Francisco who live on the water or waterfront “wishing them luck” and pointing out that “it’s not always easy” (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/01/MN1T1JB0FJ.DTL&tsp=1). The founder and many of those who buy into the seasteading feel they should have a “consumer-oriented” place, as well as wanting to have either a libertarian or objectivist viewpoint for their new ‘countries’. He appeared as part of Olbermann’s “Worst Persons” due to wanting to create the libertarian “utopia” and with Olbermann objecting due to the point that most of the ideals of many libertarians and objectivists don’t, to him, seem realistic. Also, they would apparently be in “Doctor Strangelove”… Again, I don’t always agree with him.

So yes, sometimes the truth is stranger then fiction, and if I have to go and save one of those platforms from itself, I and the rest of the gaming community will probably either find that very funny, or very sad.

Or both.