Friday, March 7th, 2008
I've come to the conclusion that the Comte de Saint-Germain was/is a time traveler. As far-fetched as that sounds, it strikes me as the only reasonable (or at least the most interesting) answer.
It satisfies all the criteria of the Saint-Germain mythology:
- Disappears and reappears throughout history.
- Appears alive after his recorded date of death.
- Never appears to age.
- Has knowledge of the future.
- Appears to know everything.
1 and 4 are the most obvious. For 2: his relationship with time is nonlinear - his past can be our future. For 3: again, nonlinear time - 1707 and 1750 can be minutes apart to the traveler. For 5: a good con man can appear to know everything if he knows exactly which subjects will come up for discussion, and which questions will be asked. You might be able to discern those things by going to the "future" and reading up on yourself.
We might even be able to narrow down his time of origin - the most recent sighting of him that I could find (not counting that French nutjob who went on TV) is about 1930. Perhaps he limits himself to years before then for fear of encountering himself. Let's give some leeway and assume there are unreported encounters - arbitrarily, let's assign a cutoff date of 1950. Saint-Germain always appears as a man in his mid-40s; that means the "time base" he's traveling from is the 1990s. Give or take, of course - totally unfounded time travel theory isn't an exact science. Heck, he could be among us right now - he could even be reading this (hi!).
Yeah, this is what I think about on a Thursday night. Maybe I should get a life, or maybe I should just be a time traveler - I think I could run a heck of a racket as a money changer for other time travelers (you're in 1950 with bills printed in 1995? No problem - my rates are reasonable).
Posted in rant | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 28th, 2008
As a reminder, the William Carlos Williams machine is still around. I recently remembered it, and it brought a small bit of delight.
Posted in notes | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Design flaws in the Star Trek universe:
1. Federation uniforms tear too easily.
This is an advanced civilization capable of manufacturing transparent aluminum and machines that whip up hot fudge sundaes from thin air. And yet, they couldn't come up with material that wouldn't tear every time Kirk got into a tussle. Did the Federation ramp up its space-faring technology at the cost of the garment industry or something? Was there a surplus of Lycra? We'll never know. They appear to have solved this problem, of course - but it took them an entire generation to do so.
2. Federation starships have no bathrooms.
Seriously, where are the toilets on these things? It sort of makes sense to not have them on Klingon ships, as we all know the Klingons would rather beam down to some random planet and piss for distance. But what about the nice civilized Federation craft? Maybe you just hop into the transporter, and it magically teleports waste out of you? Maybe later starships have a special WC holodeck program? Or maybe you just go in a replicator, and it transforms your waste into a plate of poached salmon?
3. Next Generation uniforms have no zippers.
Take a look at Ryker in this photo. Doesn't he look a little antsy? Kinda like someone who's "holding it?" This is probably because his uniform doesn't have a zipper. It probably doesn't matter much since there are no freakin' bathrooms on the ship anyway. Maybe this is why Federation uniforms tear so easily, so you can get out of one in time to relieve yourself in a replicator and enjoy a nice plate of salmon?
4. Computers explode at the slightest provocation.
In the centuries between the present and the big fat Federation, it appears that both the garment and fuse industries dried up. If the latter had remained vital, maybe consoles on Federation starships wouldn't burst into flames every time the ship took a sharp turn. The great thing about the future is that computers are really really powerful - like, you can check your email and play Freecell all at the same time. Unfortunately, this incredible power results in incredible explosions when things go wrong - like when the ship is hit by a photon torpedo, or you spill a glass of synth ale. What are these things powered with, anyway? TNT?
5. No seatbelts, no airbags.
I don't think I really need to explain this one.
More later.
Posted in media / news, rant | No Comments »
Sunday, October 14th, 2007
I am beginning to understand cooking as a dark art that can perfect or destroy both diner and cook. As a result, I have come to understand how impure my motives have been, how I have cooked for some to seduce or compel admiration, and how I have waged war on others with what I have made.
Posted in food | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
You are 100% Try-Lingual!!
You are quite the Linguist! I suppose you wouldn't be trying to show off to your friends, would you. Splendid job. Time to put the quiz on a blog or email a link to your friends. Check out some of the good quizzes here, but be sure to avoid the bad ones. Auf Wiedersehen! Adieu.
Foreign Words and Phrases
Create MySpace Quizzes
Posted in quizzes/memes | 1 Comment »
