Jumper

~I don't see as many movies anymore as I'd like to, but that makes the ones I do see all the better. The most recent film I saw in a theater was The Golden Compass, based on Phillip Pullman's young adult novel "Northern Lights". Being a fan of the book and its sequels, I'd been looking forward to seeing the film for years, and wasn't disappointed.

The film I'm most looking forward to seeing in the near future is Jumper. Also based on a young adult novel, Jumper tells the story a young man with the excellent name of David, played by Hayden "Skywalker" Christensen. David discovers that he has the ability to teleport himself at will, anywhere he can think of. After escaping from an abusive family situation, he uses his newfound powers to travel the world and enjoy himself (unlike a certain goody-goody superhero).

Problems arise in the form of a secret organization, the Paladins, who are dedicated to killing people with David's teleportation ability. Led by Agent Roland (played by Samuel L. "Mace Windu" Jackson), they ruthlessly hunt David and his friend Griffin, another Jumper. Here's the trailer:



Looks cool, doesn't it? The teleportation ability featured in the film reminds me of The Stars My Destination, a classic science-fiction novel by Alfred Bester. It's set hundreds of years in the future, when nearly all people are capable of teleportation. What's most interesting about the novel is that Bester delves into the massive societal changes that occur as a result of anyone being able to instantly go anywhere, at any time.

For example, the privacy of one's home becomes extremely important; since one must be able to visualize the location they want to "jaunt" to, nobody ever lets anyone (except their close family members) into their personal dwelling place. There's simply no way to ensure privacy otherwise. Capital punishment becomes standard for most crimes, since there's no way to effectively keep people locked up.

The attraction of a movie like Jumper, of course, is imagining just what you'd do if you had the same power that David has. Would you use it to help others, or (like David) party all over the planet? If it were me, I think it would be a bit of both. What would you do?

Book Review: "The Librarian" by Larry Beinhart

~One of the (many) classes I'm enrolled in this semester is "Resource Selection and Evaluation", which teaches how to choose books and other materials for a library, and evaluate existing materials. A recent assignment had me write a book review, so to keep in practice, I once again present another review for your enlightenment. This time around, I'll be reviewing the career-appropriate The Librarian by author Larry Beinhart. (No, no, not that "The Librarian"!)

Beinhart is most famous for his book American Hero, which was filmed as Wag the Dog (which I have not seen, but was apparently well-received). "The Librarian" is a very political book, as the plot revolves around a conspiracy to steal the presidential election. The protagonist, mild-mannered university librarian David Goldberg, is hired by an elderly, ultraconservative billionaire who is assembling a memorial library about himself. While the library in question consists mainly of real-estate deals and dossiers, hidden within the papers are details on the conspiracy, which involves tilting the election in favor of incumbent President Gus Winthrop Scott (hint: look at his first two initials) should it look as if he will lose.

Goldberg soon finds himself fleeing for his life from a squad of sadistic Homeland Security operatives who are in on the conspiracy and are convinced that Goldberg has uncovered the details. Initially clueless, he is forced to retrace his steps and find out what exactly he is supposed to know that makes him so dangerous. Along the way, there are car chases, explosions, gun fights, beautiful women, daring fire escape escapes, and a taser glove ("Don't tase me, bro!").

Politically, the book pulls no punches. The President in the novel is a clear stand-in for our favorite Supreme Leader, right down to his speech patterns, background, and general level of intelligence. Likewise, the main conspirator bears a suspicious resemblance to a certain ex-CEO. The plot, when revealed, is on the far side of implausibility, but the ride Goldberg goes on to discover it is nonetheless a lot of fun.

Interspersed in the book are little gems of wisdom, such as the joy of libraries ("Like communism, without all the Marxist bullshit. Free information for all, as much as you want, no charge, no, seriously, no hidden fees...") and the reason people don't believe in conspiracy theories, even if the evidence is obvious (because knowing it will change nothing, hence the knowledge is worthless and a waste of time).

[On a vaguely-related note, here is a hilarious posting from a truly ignorant person. See if you can find a solution to his dilemma, then check out the pun war that resulted on reddit.]

All in all, "The Librarian" is great fun, especially for anyone who's worked in a library or, like me, is studying to do so. However, if your leanings are more dexter than sinister, you may find the politics of this book odious. So if you ever thought that librarianship was a boring job that involved shushing loud people and endlessly re-shelving books, you may want to read this. Sometimes, there are dangerous things hidden in the stacks...

Quantum of Solace

~The title for the latest James Bond movie has been announced, and it's almost as trippy as the musical sequences that open Bond films. Specifically, the new title will be "Quantum of Solace". Yes, that sound you're hearing is the world's Bond fans collectively saying, "Huh?"



Actually, "Quantum of Solace" is the title of a short story by Ian Fleming, the author of the original James Bond novels. Of course, the film franchise has long since exhausted the novel titles, and directors and producers have been forced to concoct new names for their action flicks. Interestingly, "GoldenEye" (my favorite Bond film) was named after Ian Fleming's Caribbean home, so like "Quantum of Solace", there is a tenuous Fleming connection.

It is unknown at this time whether "Quantum" will be based on the actual short story, a tale of tragic love in the Caribbean. More promisingly, the new film is supposed to have "twice the action" as its predecessor, Casino Royale. Personally, I thought Daniel Craig was fantastic in the role of Bond, but Casino Royale was dull at times, especially with the hour-long poker game.

I realize that the director is aiming for a "more serious" Bond, but you don't go to a James Bond film expecting seriousness. You go expecting gun fights, car chases, hot women, explosions, airstrikes, and witty one-liners. Casino Royale was too far on the serious side, and I hope "Quantum of Solace" moves the franchise back in the other direction. Although hopefully not as far as "Moonraker", which was awesome in its own way, but otherwise absurd.

Polling

~By The Power of Blogger, I've added a poll (it's to the right). I've listed all of the "major" candidates for U.S. President for you to vote for. If I forgot to add your long-shot candidate, that's just too bad!

--MESSENGER--

~Hi everyone, and welcome to my new blog. In case you missed it, my last blog, David Does Japan, ended when I returned to America in April 2007 after a year of teaching in Japan. You can read all about it (and see many of the pictures I took), on the blog, which will no longer be updated.

But fear not, oh soon-to-be-loyal-again readers! This blog, Debonair David, will now host my witty thoughts, caustic commentary, and whatever else I feel like posting. The postings on this blog, however, will be somewhat different from David Does Japan. That was mainly a photo and commentary blog about living and working in a foreign county. Debonair David will be less photo-oriented, although I may post an interesting photo or graphic every so often.

Instead, it will be composed of things I find interesting: news reports, book and film reviews, philosophical observations, and my ever-popular public service announcements. Since I'm now a busy graduate student, I will be posting less frequently, but I'll try to post at least week (though I make no promises).

To kick off, I bring news of MESSENGER, a space probe sent by NASA to Mercury, the closest major planet to our Sun. MESSENGER, an acronym for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging, was launched in 2004 and took pictures of Venus in June 2007 before making its first pass by Mercury just a few days ago, taking pictures of previously unknown parts of Mercury's surface (some of which you can see at left).

Why, you may ask, did it take three years for MESSENGER to get to Mercury? The answer is that Mercury is a very difficult planet to get to. Being so close to the sun, it's period of revolution is very short; a year on Mercury lasts about 88 Earth days. For a slow-moving, weakly-propelled space probe to reach such a fast-moving object presents significant navigational challenges.

Compounding the travel problem is the Sun itself, the heat of which becomes more and more intense as you get closer to it. In fact, MESSENGER must travel so that its heat shield is always facing the Sun, otherwise its delicate scientific instruments would fry in minutes. To ensure correct orientation, the probe carries a series of gyroscopes, star-tracking cameras, and accelerometers, with small thrusters to adjust course as needed.

So why send a mission to Mercury, anyway? The answer is that Mercury is the least explored of all the major planets. The only other space probe to visit was Mariner 10 in 1974, which was only able to map about 45% of the planet's surface...a surface which is the oldest of the four major rocky planets. A careful analysis of Mercury will help us better understand how Earth formed, and how planets form in general (which will be valuable in locating Earth-sized exoplanets).

The instruments carried by MESSENGER are designed to help solve six puzzling questions about Mercury's surface. For example, we know that Mercury and Earth have magnetic fields, but Mars and Venus do not...but why? Also, Earth-based observations have shown areas of high reflectivity near the poles of Mercury, which may be areas of ice!

MESSENGER will make one additional pass by Mercury before finally settling into orbit in March 2011. I'll be looking forward to hearing what secrets NASA scientists are able unearth about our oldest, smallest neighbor down the solar street.