blowback diatribe
Posted by lordpinoy on June 1, 2008
And before we judge of them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races. The
Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination … in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if [they] … warred in the same spirit?—– from The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells (edited slightly).
===== in media res =====
while watching The Siege (1998) last night, I remembered those lines from HG Well’s 1898 short novel. Even though the English face an extraterrestrial threat in the form of humongous and bulbous Martians, it could easily have been Anybody facing Somebody Not Among/Like Them. In the context of Xenophobia, which, by the way, is still a universal theme in these dangerous, paranoid times, truly this turn of the century tale certainly stood the test of time.
===== on the other hand =====
Summer’s over here but it’s dawning elsewhere (in Europe, I imagine). I was supposed to finish a lot of dissertation work. In fact, I did, However, a momentary glimpse of my checklist of actual of accomplishments paints a different picture… consider:
a) finished watching, entire TV series:
1) Rome: Season 1 and 2 (22 episodes)
2) Beauty and The Geek - Season 1 (UK - 7 eps., US 8 eps.)
3) The Big Bang Theory Season 1 (17 episodes)
b) Movies
1) Iron Man
2) Indiana Jones 4
c) Crysis, Gears of War, Pro Evo 2008, Star Craft, C&C3 (Damn you computer!)
which we try to balance with:
44 Slides, done in 5-7 hours, presented in more or less 2 hours.
Unbelievable.
This probably tells it like it is (was):
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1022
Non semper erit aestas
