G.R. Linden's Blog, page 14

Meanwhile in Countries not called America- India’s Water Crisis

Water. The source of all life and something most of us in the western world take for granted will be there when we need it. But clean water is not something that just happens. It is the result of complex systems engineered to keep us safe from harmful diseases and bacteria that our predecessors on this planet so often fell victim to. It’s not flashy and its certainly not cheap, but water infrastructure is perhaps the most important investment a nation can make. Without it, a country can grind...

World Building 101- History

There is a term in storytelling called ‘in media res’, it means to start your narrative not at the beginning of your story but in the middle usually in the middle of some tense action. While I can appreciate the idea of starting your tale with a little bit of action in order to hook your audience. I’ve never fully appreciated the term ‘in media res’ because, in my opinion, all stories begin in the middle. There is rarely, if ever, an occasion where your story does not rely at least partially...

How Have You Not Seen That-The Godfather

It is an impossible task to try and rank the greatest films of all time. Films are works of art and entertainment that seek to tell a specific story and elicit a particular set of reactions. Comparing a psychological thriller like Vertigo to the near-perfect action movie Die Hard is not only foolish but completely unfair to both films. Having said that, if you were to put together a list of the greatest films of all time, such a list would be incomplete if it did not include the subject of to...

Robots Don’t Wear Belts: Diagnostic Robots

Injury and illness are universal parts of the human experience. All of us at some point in our lives get sick or injure ourselves. Luckily modern medicine has advanced to the point where what once were fatal diseases and wounds are now only minor inconveniences. (Which reminds me to remind you: Don’t be a jackass, vaccinate your kids.) That is not to say we don’t have a long way to eradicate all disease but its always nice to acknowledge as a species just how far we’ve come. Its also importan...

The Silver Bullet – Curriculum 10

Tenth Grade: Tenth grade is a formative year. Now that students have adjusted to high school and know what to expect from the school year its time to dig in and get to work.

Math: Statistics

Science: Biology

Computer Science: AP Computer Science

History/Social Science: World History, plus regional specific elective history.

Human Studies: Theology

English: World Literature

Foreign Languages: Spanish IV

Music: Music History

Art: Visual Arts

The post The Silver Bullet – Curriculum 10 appeare...

Reference Humor: Chuck Season 1 Episode 6 “Chuck Versus the Sandworm”

In this entry, we’re taking a look at an early episode of one of the geekiest shows ever to air on network television: Chuck. Chuck never shied away from its geekiness and a such it was home to more pop-culture references than you can shake a wookie at. Let’s queue it up.

As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started.

00:00– The title is a reference to the Dune...

Subtitle Subversive-Chungking Express

Most of the time when I’m going to sit down to watch a movie I have a general sense of what the movie is going to be about and what kind of mood it’s going to leave me in. Not that I cheat and look up what a movie is about before I see it but generally I’ve seen the film’s trailer somewhere or heard about it through a recommendation that gave me an impression of what to expect. Today’s Subtitle Subversive post is about a film which has been on my radar for a while that still managed to catch...

Its The Economy Stupid- Public Sector Pensions

Often times in American politics complicated fiscal issues will be boiled down to anecdotal evidence that serve as the most extreme vivid case example of the narrative a particular campaign is trying to push. Whatever policy position your opponent takes is sure to have at least one instance of waste, excess, abuse, or corruption just as whatever policy you support is sure to have some little guy desperately trying to make ends meet while the current system tries to keep them down. These isola...

How Have You Not Seen That? The Matrix

There are films that come along that are great films. There are films that come along that are important films. And then there are films that come along that are cultural happenings. Films that refuse to be held by the constraints of your local cinema and bust out to dominate the cultural landscape to such a degree that their impact can still be felt decades later. These are the kinds of films I try to cover in How Have You Not Seen That? and today’s selection certainly fits the bill. So let’...

The Franchise: Mission Impossible

Tomorrow the sixth entry into the Mission Impossible film franchise: Mission Impossible: Fallout hits theaters. Given that I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at what makes these movies tick. You notice I say film and movies. I know that M:I was also a TV series that ran for seven seasons plus a reboot but honestly those shows have so little in common with the movie series I decided that they really qualify as their own entity. The TV show was an ensemble piece that has more...