Four (or five?) Ages

The ages of my life go pretty much backwards.  I was a little heathen demon child who was hateful and greedy and violent and stole things, so it was at my youngest that I represented the "Iron Age."  This lasted for a very long time.

During High School, I underwent serious life changes, and for a short time in and then out of High School, I was actually a kind, caring and courageous human being.  This was my Heroic Age.  I then suffered some reverses in my life, which made me angry, and started playing football seriously.  I was generous with my time and money (not impious), but still warlike and violent.  I used football and weight-lifting, and physical labor to contain these violent impulses.  This was my Bronze age.

Then I suffered a serious injury at work (undone by my recklessness?) and came back to college to study.  This was my Silver age.  I was not particularly concerned with my others (was not worshipping the Gods), but I was no longer engaging in violent past-times (was not warlike).  Finally, I have continued my education and am beginning to give back to others.  Through this, I hope to enter my Golden Age.

More Myth Sightings on TV

The whole X-Files show is built on citing urban myths, but they make plenty of references to "traditional" myth as well.  Two that come to mind are an episode entitled "The Post-Modern Prometheus" and a business in the show called Zeus Storage. "The Post-Modern Prometheus" is interesting, because it refers both to the Greek myth of Prometheus and the enlightenment myth of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.

Frankenstein meets I, Robot

I've got a pitch for a new movie called Prometheus.

We start out with two brilliant scientists in a state-of-the-art military lab, just as their combat drone has failed another simulator test.  One scientist, methodical, with a neatly-cropped beard, goes over the code and calculations, trying to find a mistake.  The other, hyperactive and intuitive, mutters to himself, wondering what is wrong, then comes up with an outside-the-box solution:  what if they could think for themselves?  But the technology is 10 or 15 years away, says the methodical guy...and what of the consequences?

Fast forward 15 years.  Methodical man, 15 years older, now the famous mind behind an act of law limiting robot intelligence, autonomy, and influence on the economy, is running for office.  Meanwhile, Hyperactive/Intuitive has been working in secret, creating a factory that runs itself, with the ability to think, eliminating human error.

Unfortunately, these thinking robots do not feel.  Soon, the sentient factory is building its own robot army, conquering the planet, etc etc, with no regard or sentiment for their creators.  The robot senate approves the creation of sub-Robot, biological drones to perform their menial and dangerous work.

These meat-drones are sufficient for the simplest of tasks, but cannot assemble large structures or dispose of dangerous nuclear wastes without incident.  The robots begin developing drones that can think.

The robots' strength up to this point, their inability to feel, turns into their weakness, as these uncompassionate conquerors do not fear history repeating itself.  The robots are overthrown by their biological, sentient creations.

So I guess this isn't so much Frankenstien meets I, Robot as it is Frankenstein and I, Robot ride the train together for a month, then hook up ten years later on the Missed Connections section of Craigslist, go home together, and decide to watch The Matrix.




Yes, it's a stretch.  Yes, the title is ironic.  Yes, I enjoy making absurd and labyrinthine cultural references.  Why do you ask?

Myth Sighting

I like to watch an animated show called Metalocalypse, about an insanely popular heavy-metal band.  In one episode, the band makes a movie, and the lead guitarist plays a "Space Viking" who worships "Space Odin".

I'm pretty sure Space Odin is the coolest idea ever.  I'm certain it's a reference to the ruler of Asgard in Norse mythology.