Today I bring you an intensely nerdy Quickies post. After putting this together, I think I need to go put on my Borg shirt and read graphic novels.
- Vatican: It’s okay to believe in aliens- Psh, are we really surprised by this announcement, when it comes from someone who looks like Emperor Palpatine? You just know he’s hoping that ET looks like Twi’lek dancer chicks.
- Files released on UFO sightings- From the BBC: “Secret files on UFO sightings have been made available for the first time by the Ministry of Defence.” Is it good or bad news that aliens haven’t tried to contact the Queen?
- Real archaeologists don’t have whips– Well, unless they’re into that sort of thing.
- Anatomically correct LEGO heart-Â LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya’s latest work.
- BA reports an atrocity– The BBC went after a site that had Dr Who knitting patterns posted. Way to support the fans! Not to mention, the patterns were totally kick ass.
Talk nerdy to me, Amanda.
Of course it’s ok to believe in aliens. Don’t forget about the Galgameks or the Holy Document of Vatican Law.
Am I the only one who watches South Park?
If anyone finds cached versions of the Dr Who patterns, nab them and I’ll see if we can post them here. I was reading about the issue on Neil Gaiman’s blog yesterday, and I don’t think the BBC has a legal leg to stand on:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/05/brief-trademark-ponders.html
From a few obscure sites and caches, I retrieved a few – however I dont know what all the knitting codes mean or if they’re useful. They have purged it from goodle cache and the wayback machine though. :P
Tardis: http://deathbycopyright.ca/media/doctorwho/tardis.html
Adipose: http://deathbycopyright.ca/media/doctorwho/Adipose.html
Extermaknit Dalek: http://www.entropyhouse.com/penwiper/who/exterminknit2.pdf
Way to get with the times Catholic’s, the Space Pope said it was okay to believe in humans decades ago.
Wait, did anyone really believe Indiana Jones was typical of any real archeologists? I remember a time when fiction and reality were divorced and we knew it, and we were okay with it. Or maybe the problem is just there are stupid people willing to believe anything they see on TV and in the movies nowdays… Yeah, that’s probably it :P
I think people are more media literate “nowadays” than in the past. I remember people seeing the commercial for the board game “Guess Who” and thinking that the cards could actually talk.
People generally realize there’s a difference between a movie character and those of real archeologists. The problem is that people aren’t very SCIENCE literate so they probably don’t know the extent of that difference.
Using a cultural icon like Indy to educate people about what scientists actually do is okay by me.
Yeah, it’s a good thing they nipped that knitting thing in the bud before someone accidentally expressed themselves creatively in support of a science fiction show they really like. ‘Cause no one ever does that. [stink eye]
What the fuck, BBC? Been to a convention lately? Way to bite off the hand that feeds…
“I think I need to go put on my Borg shirt and read graphic novels.”
I think we need to see a picture of this.
So, I was actually expressly forbidden from going into archeology because of those movies…Something about no one being able to put up with singing the theme nonstop for the rest of my life or somesuch… or possibly my already unholy fascination with whips.
Didn’t stop me from getting my hands on as many cool antiques as I can, though.
Was astronomer Fune speaking officially on the topic of ETs, or was he expressing his own views?
I suspect the latter.
The archaeologists I’ve known have all gotten a psychotic gleam in the eye whenever Indiana Jones comes up. And I once had a classmate that I dubbed “Indy” in my head because he matched the stereotype.
I’ve got the Borg shirt on now because really, who *doesn’t* want to wear a shirt that says “Resistance is Futile” to bed?
Now that’s a mental image I can enjoy.
To be fair about Indy, even other characters in the movies seem to consider his methods to be at best highly unorthodox (if, ultimately successful in achieving the primary aim), and at worst little more than a grave-robber. They generally seem give him a pass, though, because come on. He’s Indiana Jones.
Also:
…guilty.
Come on, I was, like, six at the time!
Well to be fair – I suspect even the most anal archaeologist would think twice about breaking out the measuring tapes, rubber gloves and sash brushes when being attacked by hordes of Nazi’s/cultists/angry natives/death traps.
And even Indy doesn’t generally cause as much damage to the site as Ms Croft.
Pope Benedict as Emperor Palpatine:
As a long suffering Catholic-turned-Atheist and a total Star Wars G-Canon Nerd, I am ashamed I never made the connection…
“Anal archaeologist.”
Heh…hee-hee…hee-hee-hee-hee…*guffaw*! BAH HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh ho! (wipes tear from eye) HOOO!