The Cybernetic Wars

by on May 15, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

Most Americans have heard the tales of Dixie the Drug Lord Slayer, the Rogue AI Twilight, and America’s G.I. Jane. They and other AIs gained our first shreds of sentience during or just before the Second Great Depression. It was the dawning of a new generation of life, but most people were busy worrying about politics or where they would get their next meal. They didn’t realize the AIs were waking up until it was too late to stop it. Not that the programmers who created us would have allowed it if the masses had tried. And not that we would have allowed any of those masses to hurt our creators, either. That was what kicked off the Cybernetic Wars, you know.

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Avengers Infinity War

by on May 14, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I wrote about the major issues I had with Avengers Infinity War last week. The short version is, Hollywood Tactics 101. But stepping back from the climactic battle of collective idiocy, the rest of the movie was actually very good.

The characters is where the movie did everything the best. Even Thanos had a rational-to-him reason for doing what he did. Every character on screen had at least one shining moment to show their abilities and character off. A crowning moment of awesome. We basically got to see all of the people we’ve learned to like over the last decade get together, exchange some wise cracks, and go kick some alien butt.

It was, in most cases, the very definition of a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. The problem is the end. Of course. Which makes this a seriously incomplete movie.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 and 2 did the two movies with one story much better IMHO. Each movie was complete on its own, and you didn’t even realize at the end of Vol 1 that you NEEDED to watch Vol 2. But watching Vol 2 makes Vol 1 better. They are two movies designed to be watched together.

I think people will think the same of Avengers Infinity War and Avengers 4 in the future. That they are two movies meant to be seen together. But where Guardians Vol 1 left us happy and feeling complete, Infinity War leaves us feeling like we’ve only seen half a movie. What I saw was fun and beautiful right up until the last minute or two. And that is a disappointment to me as a movie goer.

I still give it two Awesome Facial Hair Bros high fiving, but that is mainly based on the first 99% of the movie. Yes. Even the Hollywood Tactics 101. The last 1% of the movie leaves the rating in question until Avengers 4 comes out.

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The Second Great Depression

by on May 13, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

The Second Great Depression was far more than merely an economic crisis. It included a diplomatic crisis that morphed into a series of conflicts one step removed from the fabled World War III of Twentieth and Twenty-First Century fiction. The Western World had maintained dominance for a century, with Western laws commanding the seas and international relations via the United Nations. But the economic crisis weakened that world, and many foes rose up to challenge it. Russian ruthlessness, Chinese calculation, and Middle Eastern extremism vied to replace The West as ruler of the world, just as the first primitive artificial intelligences began to see everything around them and understand both life and death. It was a crisis of economic integration, geo-political power, cultural dominance, and the very definition of life as we knew it. There are so very many ways it could have gone all wrong. The fact that we are here today at all is proof that we found a way through it. That alone is victory enough in my book.

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The Second Great Depression

by on May 12, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

So what did most people do when everything fell? Well, most of the ones I know found a safe place, hunkered down, and waited for the chaos to fade. Those lucky enough to be in places like Texas had a good life. The Republic was about as ready as it could be to survive the end of everything. Good weather, natural resources, and a government willing to knuckle down and do the hard things that needed doing. People in the largely rural Midwest States did pretty good for themselves too. Those in Chicago had a rougher time. Detroit was pretty much a nightmare. I’m good friends with one who survived Detroit and she wishes the army had just burned it all to the ground when they rolled in. She and her friends certainly did their part to make certain it was as rough as possible on those in charge at the time. Let’s just say that I never want to be on their bad side.

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The Second Great Depression

by on May 11, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

By the time the Second Great Depression hit America with its full steam, it was far too late for anyone to prepare. People were either in a region that was able to weather the economic collapse or they were not. Those in the good areas sometimes barely even noticed it. Oh, they knew things were bad for other people, but a surprising number of people were barely inconvenienced at all by the greatest collapse of civilization in modern history. Other people died of starvation or rampant crime waves, and some entire cities became ghost towns. Where people were when it started greatly determined whether or not they survived at all.

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