There’s a new animation of the dwarf planet Ceres. It was made on the basis of images sent by NASA’s spacecraft Dawn, and resembles a travel destination video.
Flight Over Dwarf Planet Ceres by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
More photos, info, and spiffy infographics on Ceres at NASA’s Solar System Exploration site. I’d definitely go visit! How about you?
Out There is an occasional feature highlighting intriguing art, spaces, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.
The second trailer big TV spot for Captain America: Civil War dropped during Superbowl this past weekend:
Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War – Big Game Spot by Marvel Entertainment
(Of course, as anyone who can read is be able to tell, this isn’t the second trailer, but a preview. It was aired during Superbowl; hence, “big game spot.” D’oh. Aaanyhow.)
Not much to go on there – it’s only 30 seconds – but we do at least have a clear idea now who’s against who (Captain, Bucky, Falcon, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Ant-Man versus Iron Man, War Machine, Black Widow, Vision, and Black Panther).
Aaaaand the actual second trailer is below:
Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War – Trailer 2 by Marvel Entertainment
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Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.
…frightful perfect for baking BB-8 gingerbread! This baking project by bokkototto on Imgur is very impressive.
(We got a good 7 inches of snow. The white fluffiness looks lovely, but it definitely turned my thoughts towards roasting your toes by a fire with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and something yummy to nibble on. After 3 rounds of shoveling the heavy wet stuff, however, I have no energy left for epic gingerbread builds. [So out of snow-shoveling-shape!] I’ll just admire the hard work of others.)
Geeks eat, too! Second Breakfast is an occasional feature in which we talk about food with geeky connections and maybe make some of our own. Yum!
“Secrecy in Karhide is to an extraordinary extent a matter of discretion, of an agreed, understood silence – an omission of questions, yet not an omission of answers.”
– Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness
In the country of Karhide on planet Gethen, acceptable modes of behavior and communication—and through them, people’s social standing—depend on what isn’t said as much as what is. In that sense, the world reminds me of Jane Austen’s novels, where discretion and the ability to read other people’s reactions are highly valued. And as a Finn, I certainly know and sympathize with an understood silence. In Finland, silence—even beyond an understood silence—is normal. In the U.S., for me, silence is a way to connect to my home country and therefore a solace.
Le Guin, Ursula K.: The Left Hand of Darkness. New York, NY: Ace Books, 1976 [originally published 1969], p. 287.
(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)
This post has been edited to correct spelling errors and for style.
Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies opens tomorrow!
Now, I don’t typically go for horror or zombies, but I’m actually looking forward to this one: the trailers and clips make PPZ look kick-ass. Check ’em out:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | official trailer #1 US (2016) Lily James Matt Smith via moviemaniacsDE
“My daughters were trained for battle, sir, not the kitchen.” – Mr. Bennet
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Official Trailer #1 (2016) – Lily James Horror Movie HD via Movieclips Trailers
(There seems to be a bit of perv cam action going on. I hope this is as much as there is.)
I know nothing of the 2009 novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, but I do love some of the movie adaptation’s stars: Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet (James is no stranger to elegance based on her work in Downton Abbey) and Matt Smith (of the 11th Doctor fame) as Mr. Collins, and, finally, Charles Dance and Lena Headey (most lately, in genre interest, of the Game of Thrones excellence) as Mr. Bennet and Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Movie Clip – Admire via Sony Pictures Entertainment
“I do not know what I admire more, Elizabeth Bennet, your skill as a warrior or your resolve as a woman.” – Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Bloody Good Sneak Peek via Sony Pictures Entertainment
Ugh, pretty gruesome. Then again, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that to see and enjoy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, one must be in a suitable frame of mind.
There will be murder and mayhem, surely…
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Movie Clip – Enviable Talent via Sony Pictures Entertainment
…aaand apparently everything ends in a double wedding:
Seems like a combination of very silly and very kick-ass – “hopefully magnificently so,” to quote husband. 🙂
Images: Poster via IMDB. Bennet sisters by CTMG Inc. via Showbizjunkies. Double wedding by Jay Maidment via Entertainment Weekly.
In the Seen on Screen occasional feature, we discuss movies and television shows of interest.
My latest reading project rolls on with The Left Hand of Darknessby Ursula Le Guin (first published in 1969).
Genly Ai is sent to planet Gethen (also known as Winter due to its extremely cold climate) as an envoy for the Ekumen of Known Worlds, an interstellar conglomeration for trade and cultural exchange. His mission is to convince the planet to join the Ekumen, easier said than done on a world where the conditions are semi-arctic even at the warmest time of the year and where cultures and technologies change at a glacial pace. (Pardon the pun!)
I knew a little of Left Hand before reading it. I knew that it’s highly regarded, that the inhabitants of the world are androgynous (or something) and that there’s an arduous trek across a glacier (or snowy steppes or somesuch) that’s somehow significant.
I also knew that some people describe the book as being about gender. Gethenians are all of the same sex – or, rather, of no sex until their monthly reproductive cycle known as kemmer comes around. At that point, depending on who else is in kemmer nearby, a person may turn either into a Gethenian male or female, and it’s quite usual for someone to be both a mother and a father.
I’m not entirely sure yet what Left Hand is about for me. The Gethenian biology does get a lot of attention, but I suspect it’s because it’s so unfathomable to Ai. The importance of hospitality and cooperation in the cold climate is also significant, as are the balancing of opposite forces (like you-me or individual-society), the complex Gethenian honor system shifgrethor and their aversion to war. Karhide’s neighboring country Orgoreyn sounds like a communist regime, with its people described as units instead of citizens and its communal resources or endless bureaucracy; Orgoreyn may, in an unprecedented step, be moving towards starting a war with Karhide, and we might have a Cold War echo there.
Structurally, Left Hand avoids infodump by alternating the present-day narrative chapters with short chapters on Gethenian mythology. I was a little bothered by how much longer the primary narrative chapters were, for it made reading the novel choppy; I may well change my mind about that if I read Left Hand again.
I’ve seen Le Guin’s writing described as zen-like. The descriptor fits her style in Left Hand well, especially when she’s describing traveling across the icy landscape. A fascinating read, and one I may well like to get back to after mulling it over. Considering that I very much enjoy and have read Le Guin’s Earthsea stories several times in two languages, I can’t believe I haven’t read The Left Hand of Darkness before!
Image by Eppu Jensen
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ICBIHRTB—pronounced ICK-bert-bee—is short for ‘I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read This Before’. It’s an occasional feature for book classics that have for some reason escaped our notice thus far.
At the end of last year, I wanted to make myself something fun. Since the new Star Wars release date was coming up, that something turned out to be a BB-8 bag.
I used an old pair of pants and various fabric scraps to make it, so the materials were completely free. The bag took me a few nights to make – combining all of those little pieces adds up surprisingly fast. The most time-consuming part for me, though, was deciding on the droid design.
Here’s a quick how-to in pictures:
1 of 4: Deciding on the droid design and cutting as large piece as possible from one pant leg.
2 of 4: Adding stripes and pieces of fabric to the outside to suggest pieces of the droid.
3 of 4: Making box corners, adding an edge binding strip to the top, and adding an inner pocket.
4 of 4: Finished bag.
Not bad for a little fur ball zero dollars! 🙂 If I were to make another, though, I’d probably try a different droid design and fiddle with the inner pocket so that it has more compartments.
Images by Eppu Jensen
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In Making Stuff occasional feature, we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.
You ever leave a comment on someone’s blog, or at least try to, logged in your WordPress account already, happily press the “Post Comment” button, having already confirmed that your little Gravatar icon shows up correctly, only to have the &$%#&%* platform turn on you to ask “Are you [username]? You are being asked to login because [your email address] is used by an account you are not logged into now”?
WHY YES I AM ME, THAT’S WHY I’M FRACKING LOGGED IN ALREADY DID YOU NOT FRACKING SEE MY LOGIN!!!
Sure, there might be a solution to the problem, but it requires research that you don’t presently have the time for. As if you need another item on your to-do list, anyway, so you just put up with the stupidity. And besides, shouldn’t the point of saving your settings be that once you save ’em, they’re available for future use. RAAAAHHH!
(Rant over now; kthanksbye.)
Image via Natalie Luhrs at Pretty Terrible
When the suckage just sucks too much.
“I don’t understand it any more than you do, but one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t have to understand things for them to be.”
– Madeleine L’Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
Ain’t that the truth! (Understanding does help, though, I find.)
L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. New York, NY: Square Fish, 2007 [originally published 1969], p. 29.
(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)
Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.
“When every guest had been welcomed and was finally inside the gate, there were songs, dances, music, games, and, of course, food and drink. There were three official meals: lunch, tea, and dinner (or supper). But lunch and tea were marked chiefly by the fact that at those times all the guests were sitting down and eating together. At other times there were merely lots of people eating and drinking – continuously from elevenses until six-thirty, when the fireworks started.”
Our version of Bilbo Baggins’s party of special magnificence begins with an appetizer of potato and cream soup, followed by roast pork and root vegetables served with ginger gravy and asparagus on the side. It ends in dessert, with baked stuffed pears. (Of course, in proper Hobbit fashion, you may start and end with whatever you like.) A glass of red wine washes it all down.
Our imagined table comes with a variety of kitchenware styles. Glass and green glazed crockery complement basic redware pottery. There are wood and metal utensils, including a fork and silver soup spoon. The colors green and yellow were pulled from the general description of Hobbits’ preferences. A potted plant and candles finish off the table setting.
Check out what’s it about in the introduction, or read the how-to!
Images by Eppu Jensen
Geeks eat, too! Second Breakfast is an occasional feature in which we talk about food with geeky connections and maybe make some of our own. Yum!
Co-Geeking 
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