Tuesday 24 February 2015

Like Riding a Fish in a Barrel

So I went snowboarding this weekend.  It's been a while so I thought I'd spend most of the time on my backside, but it turned out alright and after about an hour I was back around where I was a couple of years ago, minus matching gloves because I forgot where I put them last time.

The weather was great, sunglasses all the way.  The snow started out nice and fluffy, but after a bajillion snowboarders spent a few hours on it and the temperature didn't stay low enough, it became a bit mushy.  When we got on the bus to leave it started raining which means the next day was probably a lot worse, but by the end of Sunday the skiing was still okay.

There are some photographs and videos to come at a later date, hopefully.

Wednesday 18 February 2015

The Snow

So Tokyo has had a pathetic amount of snow recently, that is to say barely any.  Up in the mountains, however, they've had metres.  It looks like they've not had any particularly good snow this week, but last week they had a decent amount.  Maybe it's time to get the ol' snowboard out and truck around for a bit?

We'll see what the weather is like and have a go.

For the voyeuristic among you, here are the webcams for most of the Japanese resorts.

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Mars Man

The Martian is an interesting book written by Andy Weir, focusing on a manned mission to Mars that, obviously, goes wrong.

This book is fairly technical with a whimsical character and that contrast makes the overall read enjoyable.  Anyone interested in learning the ins and outs of potential Mars colonisation need not apply because the technical aspect is couched within an internal logic that mirrors the real world while never trying to replicate it (the author often refers to actual chemical reactions and pieces of equipment that could conceivably be used on such a mission) while the action is typical fantasy (he luckily has everything he needs and doesn't die a thousand times in a thousand different horrific ways).

The details in the world are interesting, providing an insight into the kinds of thinking required of such a mission without bogging down in the excruciating minutiae of an actual excursion - this is where the book stands out.  There is enough research to justify the premise and carry the character through to the conclusion.

In many ways the story of the character is the weakest aspect, delivering on the journey aspect, but never deviating from a particularly structured step by step guide on how to survive within this fictional Mars environment.  This paint by numbers approach is common elsewhere, but is made readily apparent by the main character who exemplifies the less realistic aspects of the tale.  The character is a doofus.  He's not a relatable oaf nor is he particularly charming, he's just a walking talking physics robot who has a humour module bolted on halfway through the book, in order to make him more resemble a human.  In science fiction there are often cases where the 'science,' very much outweighs the 'fiction,' and this is one case where he has so little personality that I find it hard to remember anything about his particular journey.  I can't even remember the guys name.  This may seem like a minor slight in a world where ninety percent of books, TV and film have lead characters who may as well be called 'generic protagonist 1,' or 'minor villain X,' but if the primary motivation for a given reader is to follow a story, this hypothetical candidate is going to immediately put the book down.  As such, this book is for people who like police dramas, Sherlock Holmes and other media that follows an investigatory route.  It's is most definitely not for people who enjoy character development.  I'd go so far as to say if you need a character in your story with whom to relate don't read this.  He makes one or two pop culture references that were so wildly out of character with a pioneering space explorer, and the potential audience for this book, that I raised an eyebrow.  I actual raised my eyebrow!

Having just entirely written off the character and made the book sound horrible I will say I enjoyed it quite a lot.  The ways in which the main story dude (herein referred to as robot) solves the myriad problems that arise are interesting, as is the authors imagining of just how the mission will look if anyone does venture forth.  I'd never really contemplated the specifics of some of the gear they'd need, besides the basics of habitats and supplies, so this book is a mild introduction into such things.  The idea of a rover that can cover long distances and won't break down is obvious, but the imaginings of these parts is interesting as is the inclusion of a some of the more esoteric paraphernalia.  There are plenty of doodads to keep robot tinkering away, and plenty of pitfalls to overcome.  These aspects are the crux of the story.

Ignore the blurb about this being a story of a man overcoming odds, this is a story of fictional science, sciencing its merry way all around Mars.

Saturday 7 February 2015

The Nearest and the Farthest

So Stephen Baxter is a name in science fiction.  I don't know what else he's written, but I'm sure I've heard the name before and so when I came across the books Proxima and Ultima I decided to check it out.

It's pretty good.

It's another book about travel through space with ships, this time using a mythical energy source that no one quite knows the source of, this sets up the interesting premise of a society sitting atop a technology that no one really knows the nature of, creating an undercurrent of tension throughout.  The political underpinning is far less interesting than the scientific, being a simple tale of rampant communism versus a typically positive rendition of capitalism.  The opportunity for an interesting reflection of current affairs was completely missed through an absolute lack of finesse.  The Chinese archetypes are portrayed in an entirely negative light, the western faction are completely opposite, world saving heroes.  It's unfortunate because he was obviously going for something that might resonate in current times but falling short.

Ham fisted depictions of the other aside, the science and the fiction are pretty damned good.  They forcibly relocate a large number of people in order to claim a world, giving impetus to half the story, while a scientific family researching their method of transport create the other half.  The tales of misfortune that arise from both sides underline the characters in a way that make them more interesting than, for example, the typical renditions of government.  The interesting characters leading parallel lives come together in ever more interesting ways as the first book gives way to the second.  In a shock twist everything comes together towards the end of the duology, linking the past events together nicely to form a satisfying conclusion without it being a childish, american style happy ending.

I may have forgotten to mention, but there are space Romans.

Yeah.

I've not read many books that could pull of as ridiculous a premise with a straight face, but this one manages to build a respectable enough story around the obviously outlandish so the result is one of plausibility despite itself.

You'll notice this isn't much of a review and that's because you should just go out an buy it.

Do it.