A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
I am glad they brought Scott Kelly up there. Most of the acceptance speeches have the crew up there, not the stars. Kelly is the star of this show and he deserved the recognition. Also, I'm glad this show won; it's the nominee that was most about science and technology. I was afraid the star power of Werner Herzog and David Lynch would drive their projects to victory instead.
PM Justin Trudeau conceded that Canada is flawed and drew attention to the current plight of Canada's Indigenous people in his second-ever speech before the UN General Assembly today.
While it is not the most positive portrayal of Canada, Trudeau is at least willing to own up to his country's faults, as few as they are, and is interested in rectifying them, not only for the First Nations people directly affected, but to enhance Canada's standing in the world. Canada should be thankful for that, as the U.S. currently doesn't have a leader like that.
From astronaut to Governor General: Julie Payette journeyed to space twice, but her next mission at Rideau Hall is expected to come with its own kind of challenges.
Canadians should be thankful to have someone as accomplished as their head of state. I wish we had a former astronaut as President!
Trudeau's remarks about the plight of the First Nations in Canada, reminds me that it's also Indigenous People's Day or Native American Day here in the U.S. It's also a day to celebrate the real first European to land in North America, Leif Erikson. Follow over the jump for more on both from National Day Calendar.
[Me:] Oh, I'm familiar with Discordianism. I'm single-handedly keeping alive a fake holiday called Wester, which is the first Sunday following the first Full Moon after the Autumnal Equinox. When I first posted about it, my Discordian friend claimed it for Discordianism. As far as I'm concerned, it's still a Discordian holiday. ... [Greer:] Pinku-Sensei, yes, I thought I remembered you were a closet Discordian. Wester is funny; presumably that was the day that some messiah or other descended from the living? ... [Me:] I agree, Wester is funny. As for an anointed one descending from the living, sorry, that wasn't part of the Wester story that I heard. However, the holiday has its own animal mascot, the Wester Squirrel, which goes around and gathers goodies to hide instead of hiding goodies to pass out like the Easter Bunny.
The coversation led to Greer suggesting Norther and Souther with lemming and wombat mascots respectively, suggestions I followed through on -- but that's not the subject of today's post.** Instead, since I've been featuring the best in last year's nature films and TV shows, I'm continuing on with funny clips of squirrels from nature shows. I begin with Squirrel Uses 'Walking Dead' Move to Hide from Snakes from Nature on PBS.
Has this squirrel species been watching "The Walking Dead"? ... In the popular TV series "The Walking Dead" humans can hide from zombies by covering themselves in zombie guts, masking their scent. The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) uses a similar tactic to hide from a major predator, the rattlesnake, which relies on smell to track down its prey.
Last year, I celebrated Wester with an image of a zombie squirrel. This year, it's only fitting I post a video of a squirrel using an anti-zombie snake defense.
A squirrel uses his intelligence to outwit a nut thief by pretending he's burying a nut.
Serves that squirrel right. That reminds me, it's time for a Wester blessing. May the Wester Squirrel not steal anything from you and hide it!
*In the first Happy Wester post here, I passed along the observation that Wester usually falls during the Jewish festival of Sukkot or The Feast of Tabernacles. This is true this year and my wife and I have been invited to a sukkuh decorating party. I've never been to one, despite growing up in a Jewish neighborhood. I've been told it will be fun.
**The next Norther will be January 7, as the full moon falls on New Year's Day, so there will be a Blue Moon on January 31. Speaking of blue lunar holidays, the first full moon after the 2018 winter solstice will fall on Saturday December 22nd, so there will be a second Norther on December 23. Blue Norther on Festivus!
Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary, a category I'll return to tomorrow. ... I plan on posting more about the other winners in science, nature, health, and the environment tomorrow and next week, continuing with the winner of Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary. Stay tuned.
To celebrate, here are two clips from Nature on PBS that show both the "super hummingbirds" and the amazing camera work that captured them. First, Hummingbird's Face Resembles Baby Octopus.
Do female Costa's hummingbirds really find this look attractive? ... Spring is the time to nest for the Costa's hummingbirds, before the desert gets too hot. Both males and females are looking for a partner, but it's up to him to impress her. Though his back shimmers with green, it’s not until we get her point of view that we see his true splendor. He flexes the iridescent feathers of his mantle until they become a glowing mask of violet.
Hummingbirds may look cute, but they have a fierce warrior within. ... Hummingbirds sometimes use their unmatched flying skills for something other than feeding on flowers--for fighting over them. Flowers in full bloom are a call to arms. It’s fight and flight – a display of skill and fiery tempers.
I don't know if I'll use these videos in my classes, but I certainly will recommend this show to my students for extra credit. In fact, I did so yesterday.
I will return to the winners of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards next week after I wish my readers a HappyWester tomorrow. Stay tuned.
The executive producer of the film stating that the Natural Resources Defense Council has sued the Trump Adminstration more than two dozen times this year over its destructive environmental policies -- and it's only October -- caught my attention. I searched for "NRDC sues Trump" and immediately found these three headlines from the NRDC's website:
September 27: The Truth Behind Trump's Brazen Attempt to Kill the Clean Water Rule The president's scheme is unlawful and reckless—and we're doing everything we can to stop it. September 29: The Gloves Are Off Trump is going after America’s most pristine wildland. Literally the “last best place” in the country. It’s a brazen move—and proof that no part of our natural heritage is safe from commercial exploitation these days. October 4: Zinke’s Illegal Suspension of Methane Rules Will Not Stand Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s illegal suspension of rules to cut methane pollution from drilling operations on public lands is the latest example of the Trump administration’s cavalier disregard for vital public health and environmental safeguards.
The last action was almost immediately successful.
Update: in a rebuke for Secretary Zinke, late today the federal court in San Francisco overturned the BLM’s first stay of the methane rule, and ordered the rule back into full effect.
All three of these were only from the past two weeks. I don't need to search any more to be persuaded that NRDC has sued the Trump Adminstration at least 25 times this year.
Follow over the jump for the presentation and acceptance of the other award "Sonic Sea" won.
That's it for the nominees in the categories devoted to science, space, medicine, nature, and the environment. I'll return tomorrow with the final installment on the nominees, when I plan on collecting all the leftovers in these topics in one place. Stay tuned.
There are three programs about Ebola nominated this year. I could have made an entire post about The Red Death! Instead, I promise I'll get to all of them before the winners are announced.
I was wrong; there really are four, as all three episodes of HBO's "Ebola Trilogy" were nominated separately. Added to "Spillover--Zika, Ebola & Beyond" and that makes four. Here is the trailer for all of the "Ebola Trilogy" from HBO.
A special presentation of three films on one night. “Ebola: The Doctors’ Story,” “Body Team 12,” and “Orphans of Ebola” premiere March 14 on HBO.
This trailer won't have to serve as the video introduction to all three episodes; “Body Team 12,” which was nominated for an Academy Award, has its own. “Orphans of Ebola” doesn't seem to have one on YouTube.
Body Team 12 follows a team of Liberian Red Cross workers tasked with collecting the dead during the height of the Ebola outbreak. The story is told on the ground in Monrovia, Liberia, through the eyes of the only female member of the team, who reveals the lifesaving work of removing bodies from family and loved ones in order to halt transmission of the disease.
Yes, another Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject is getting another shot at recognition at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards.* Here, it is nominated for Outstanding Short Documentary and Outstanding Editing: Documentary. In the latter category, it is competing with the third part of HBO's "Ebola Trilogy," "Orphans of Ebola." In both categories, "Body Team 12" is also competing against the end-of-life medical documentary "Extremis," another nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject. Here is its trailer from Netflix.
Witness the wrenching emotions that accompany end-of-life decisions as doctors, patients and families in a hospital ICU face harrowing choices.
This last film makes a point about medicine that it is not purely a science; it is an art as well. I make that same point to my students every semester. As for which one I think will win, it depends on the category. I'd say "Extremis" would have a better shot at both, but I have my doubts either will win Outstanding Short Documentary. "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness" is also nominated (and was a former Academy Award nominee), so it offers stiff competition. For Outstanding Editing: Documentary, the chances for the health documentaries are better.
Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominees in science, health, and the environment.
We're entering the Earth's sixth era of extinction -- and it's the first time humans are to blame. CNN introduces you to the species that are already going.
In alphabetical order, the first nominee is "A Year in Space" from PBS.
On March 27, 2015, astronaut Scott Kelly began a historic year in space. Follow Scott and his identical twin Mark Kelly as the two-part program tells the story of what it takes, mentally and physically, to spend a year in space.
I blogged about Scott and Mark Kelly's twin experiment in Twins on Earth and Space. That was three years ago. It's about time I followed up!
Speaking of following up, Time Magazine, which co-produced this documentary, announced that a "second installment, Beyond a Year in Space, will air this fall on PBS. Here's to it being nominated for an Emmy next year. If so, I'm looking forward to blogging about it.
"There is one nominee for Outstanding Nature Documentary left, 'Sonic Sea.' That one deserves a post of its own. Stay tuned." That was the program note I left near the end of Nature documentary nominees are well photographed at the 2017 News and Documentary Emmy Awards. Here is that entry, in which I give "Sonic Sea" top billing so it doesn't mind sharing it with its fellow nominees in two categories.
Here is the trailer from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Sonic Sea ( http://www.sonicsea.org ) is a 60-minute documentary about the impact of industrial and military ocean noise on whales and other marine life. It tells the story of a former U.S. Navy officer who solved a tragic mystery and changed forever the way we understand our impact on the ocean.
The film is narrated by Rachel McAdams and features Sting, in addition to the renowned ocean experts Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Paul Spong, Dr. Christopher Clark and Jean-Michel Cousteau.
Sonic Sea was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Imaginary Forces in association with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Diamond Docs.
Congratulations to Discovery Channel and to Trevor Gates, Ryan Briley, Ron Aston, and Christopher Bonis for their win in the category of BEST SOUND & MUSIC EDITING: TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY SHORT FORM. You deserved it.
On the other hand, the host/interviewer, while well-meaning, deserved the chuckles from the sound editors when she said that the film deserved an Academy Award. If she meant the Motion Picture Academy, that's not happening, as "Sonic Sea" is not a movie, so it wasn't nominated. If she meant the Television Academy, which awards the Emmys, that ship sailed in September. "Sonic Sea" was not nominated for Outstanding Music and Sound at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the 2015-2016 season, when it aired on Discovery. That trophy went to "The Last Orangutan Eden."
Next time, do your research on the awards for which a show is eligible before reporting on it.
I then realized I could be wrong.
Actually, I take that back about the Emmy Awards. While "Sonic Sea" missed the deadline for the prime time Emmys, which had a cut-off date of May 31st, it may still be eligible for the News & Documentary Emmys, which have an earlier deadline. This year, it will be April 20th. While the documentary was released as a film on January 15, 2016, its initial air date on Discovery was May 19th. Assuming the same deadline last year as this year, it would then be eligible for consideration for this year's awards. In that case, I apologize for being so snotty about the Emmy Awards. My criticism about the interviewer imploring the Oscars to recognize a film that the Motion Picture Academy didn't nominate still stands.
When "Sonic Sea" actually was nominated, I acknowledged it.
The Television Academy did recognize "Sonic Sea." It was nominated today for three News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Outstanding Nature Documentary, Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction, and Outstanding Music and Sound. Congratulations and good luck. The awards will be given on October 5th.
If the show wins any of the three awards, I'll go back and leave another comment.
Follow over the jump for the other nominees for Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction and Outstanding Music and Sound.
In the News and Documentary Emmys, the show is nominated for Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary along with four other nature shows, "David Attenborough's Light on Earth," "Desert Warriors: Lions of the Namib," "Forces of Nature," and "Nature: Super Hummingbirds." I watched the last one at my mom's house in Utah immediately after I watched the Nova episode " Treasures of the Earth: Power." It deserves its nomination. As for "Wild New Zealand," its nominations prove it was well-narrated and well-photographed.
Since I've already featured "Wild New Zealand" in an earlier entry and I've praised "Nature: Super Hummingbirds," I'll write about the latter one first (and the first one last). Here is the preview from PBS.
Hummingbirds are amazing creatures to behold. They are the tiniest of birds, yet possess natural born super powers that enable them to fly backwards, upside-down, and float in mid-air. Their wings beat faster than the eye can see and the speed at which they travel makes people wonder if it was indeed a hummingbird they actually saw. They also are only found in the Americas. These attributes have both intrigued scientists and made it challenging to study the species, but with the latest high-speed cameras and other technologies, Super Hummingbirds reveals new scientific breakthroughs about these magical birds.
In addition to being nominated for Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary, the Nature episode is nominated for Outstanding Nature Documentary. So is another nominee, CuriosityStream's "David Attenborough's Light on Earth."
Why do animals produce light of their own? For centuries, we could only marvel at the mystery of bioluminescence. Now we can begin to reveal the amazing truth about these living lights. Sir David Attenborough is our guide, as we venture into a world he describes as "utterly unlike our own".
Yes, Sir David narrates nominees in the News and Documentary Emmys as well. Follow over the jump for the rest of them as well as the remaining nominees in both Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary and Outstanding Nature Documentary.
