Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
If you've ever perused the anime section of your streaming services, you'll recognize this one. Even more than Fullmetal Alchemist, it's one of the most popular series in the world. It's billed as dark fantasy, and they're not kidding about the dark part, but I found it to more often have a science fictional attitude. … Continue reading Attack on Titan
When I mentioned to friends that I was on an anime binge, the most common question was, "Have you watched Fullmetal Alchemist yet?" This series is on everyone's list of anime series to watch, so it was only a matter of time. There are actually two series. The earlier one is called just Fullmetal Alchemist. … Continue reading Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Yes, more anime. (For those concerned: no, I'm not turning this into an anime blog. Real life has been stressful lately, which hasn't left much mental energy for intellectual exploration. Rather than go completely dark, you're getting commentary on where my spare time is being spent. But I am slowly making my way through a … Continue reading Aldnoah.zero
The anime binge continues. The latest has been portions of the Gundam franchise. I was a little reluctant to even approach this collection, first because it's vast and it's not at all clear where the best place to start might be, and second because it looks like one of those superhero / toy adaptation series. … Continue reading Mobile Suit Gundam
My anime binge continues. I just recently finished the second season of Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These. The second part of the title means "The New Thesis". This series is a remake of an older anime series which itself was an adaptation of a series of novels and short stories by Yoshiki … Continue reading Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis
I've been on something of an anime binge lately. When I was a kid, I enjoyed anime, but as an adult, for some reason, it ceased being appealing. I'm not sure why, but I developed an aversion to it. I made a few attempts over the years to power past the aversion, but with limited … Continue reading Catching up on anime
In a somewhat whimsical podcast episode, Sean Carroll explores the physics and "rules" of time travel. Probably the first two thirds explore the physics. Carroll notes that if time travel under general relativity is at all possible, it would more likely involve a spaceship attempting to navigate some kind of closed timelike curve than stepping … Continue reading The rules of time travel?
First, I like this model where movies are released for streaming concurrently with the theater release. As someone who rarely goes to the theater anymore, and usually just waits for the movie to come out on streaming anyway, it's a very cool change. I know Warner Brothers is taking a lot of heat from people … Continue reading Wonder Woman 1984
The first few episodes of season 5 of the Expanse dropped last week so I watched them yesterday. It looks like the rest of the episodes are going to be released on a weekly basis. The production values remain top notch. And while I'm not sure about some of the visuals in these episodes, it … Continue reading The Expanse, season 5
Last night I finished reading Ada Hoffmann's The Outside, a pretty strange but interesting space opera. In the far future, humanity is ruled by AI gods. Humans invented the gods, although there are hints it was more complicated than that, like maybe there was a singularity event or process of some kind. The gods now … Continue reading The Outside
SelfAwarePatterns 