Sagra

One thing I have always wondered is if a monster can be a main character without being a human with extra bits. For example, lets have an alligator/lizard biped named Sagra. Big long tail, toothy mouth, kind of hulking. Would people watch a show showing him wandering a fantasy world smashing creeps? Now, it may have to be all CG, as I don't think we would have the money to make him look good in real time. I am a bit sour on the prospect, as I have yet to see even a cartoon with a serious monster lead.

I know that people need a character they can relate too, but I would hope people could relate to his personality. Having a cheerful, no-worry attitude seems to fit a gator, who spend time lazing in the sun in between gobbling up turtles and fish. It would seem to be a welcome break from the woe-is-me angst other monsterous characters have. It seems like people might like a cheerful alligator man with a big whomping stick clobbering everything from greedy orcs to eco-nut elves while laughing uproarously.

Example

"Hi!" Sagra said, and clobbered the armored guard with Whomper, sending him flying backwards.

He charged forward, as the stunned guard smacked into a stone wall with an amusing crash. Sagra smacked him with his armored tail for good measure, and smacked another guardman on the noggin with his odd weapon.

"Sagra!" he heard from the terrified girl on the wicker pile. The wicker had yet to be lit, although the pouring rain meant it was doubtful to ever lite.

"Stop him, he'll ruin everything!" The druid screamed, sending three more guards Sagra's way.

The crowd howled, and surged towards the gator. But a wave of sound smashed into them, sending some flying backwards. Sagra laughed in a deep husky voice, and ran over the guards like bowling pins, ignoring a clanging blow to his side from one of their polearms. He ran straight for the druid, who shifted into a bear.

"I hate bears!" Sagra roared, and set about proving it with a stunning blow to the head. The druid countered with a bat of his paw, scraping against Sagras armor.

Lighting flashed from the sky, tearing into the three guards that had recovered. Two stayed down, but the third stared at the grinning mage who had appeared on a rooftop. The brown haired young man stuck his tongue out.

"Good Night." a voice said in the guards ear, and he fell with a sharp knife in his back. The cloaked woman slid toward the girl on the wicker pile, and she cut her loose with ease. The panicked crowd had scattered, leaving the square empty. The thud of a bear hitting the cobblestones heralded the end of Sagras fight.

So would people watch that, or is it too weird for the mainstream?

Should America be evil?

By which I mean, should we set forth the idea that harrassing American civilians for being American will earn a bombing? Roxana Sebari, a journalist, was arrested for "espionage" by the Iranian government. Now, we have warned civilians not to go to Iran, so perhaps this isn't the best example, she probably should have stayed away. But lets continue the thought experiment.

Would it work? Probably not at first. The kind of nations that pull this crap would be willing to accept some damage. They would turn it into propaganda, and we would become the bad guy. But is being a scary bad guy all that bad? If we prove we are serious, countries might think twice before grabbing innocent Americans to use as pawns. If we still treat everyone else with respect, would it really damage our position?

Strategist vs. Engineer

The military has invested money in load assisting suits to allow soldiers to carry more with less effort. Now, these are called powered armor in science fiction, which always packs on rocket packs and internal munitions. But the real world is a bit less romantic.

Lets face it, a mass produced bit of gear that reduces effort is far more useful than an Iron Man suit. That's why the F-22 is out of date, replaced by the cheaper Predator. However, don't let this get ya down if you like fancy weapons. The newest infantry weapon the Army is trying out is a 25mm cannon that can fire guided shells.

All of this shows the difference between the tech-guy and the strategist. The tech guy wants to make the fanciest device possible. The strategist wants weapons that can equip his force against its most likely threat. The strategist likes an Airburst cannon that might allow Spec-Ops to wipe out larger forces than normally possible. He also wants drone bombers that allow him to go on high risk missions without some flyboy getting killed. He frankly needs a load suit so that the troops don't quit when asked to shoulder cannon shells.

We want to give soldiers everything they need. But we cannot afford to make them unkillable. Its hard to balance these two realities.

Two good things

OK, for all my distain at his stupid domestic policy of spending more than Bush in a few months, Obama has made two good decisions.

One, he allowed Gates to slash the F-22 budget. The F-22 is an awesome, but out of date and expensive plane. We don't need them, end of statement. We have the JSF, which is more useful (it can be a stealth fighter or a bomb truck), and the kickass Predator C jet drone, which we can produce for a fraction of the cost of a F-22, with the added bonus of being a robot. Now, to be sure, Robert Gates is the man who made the decision, and he is a Bush holdover, but Obama chose to keep him, a solid decision.

Two, he talked to Colombias president Uribe about the free trade deal, and after realizing that it wasn't a bad idea, has said its a good idea. He had been parroting stupid talking points about it hurting Americans, but after discussing the issue, he actually learned something.

Now, please note, these are the only two decisions he made I agree with. He is still horrible.

Brain Dump

Watching some fun mecha music videos on Youtube maked me realize how silly mecha are when you make them serious weapons. Armored Core, for instance, has mecha that spend more time skating and jet boosting than walking. It would make more sense just to have a hover assault craft, doing away with the gangly legs and arms. Now, this point doesn't prevent enjoying giant robot fights, but I think giant hover tank duels could be just as cool.

When set in a funny or ridiculous world, mecha and giant robots work great. But in grim worlds, they annoy me. Maybe its the balance between sci-fi nerd and military geek that does it. Once I get started tearing apart concepts, the flitterring gangly mech has become a sleek assault craft, more like a spacefighter than anything else. In a purely fantastical world, though, tearing apart concepts seems petty and mean. This is probably why I like fantasy a bit more. I can't argue with "a wizard did it" or "magic dilithium crystals" and can go on to enjoy the show.

Yes, I just called Star Trek fantasy. The humans are noble and pure, the aliens are humans with funny ears, and the technology is based on magic crystals. Star Wars is fantasy as well, but everyone knows that.

Enemy of the State

Because I believe the federal government has too much power, I am a potential terrorist, according to the Obama DHS. So are any returning veterans. This report on right-wing radicals has no real information that could help cops, and is an embarrassment. It basically lumps together federalists, abortion opponents, and skinheads into one massive group without mentionning a real threat.

Basically, if you didn't vote for Obama, they think you are a dangerous person. Note that the companion report on left-wing violence is choked with real cases involving violent animal liberation types, and does not blanket as many groups under the tent of radicalism. The DHS is an embarrassment. It takes barely ten years to go from targetting terrorist to targetting political opponents.

What I'd like to see in a sci-fi series.

While useless, it is sometimes fun to write down exactly what one desires out of entertainment. No series will ever live up to all your desires, but thats not the point.

First of all, there needs to be a balance between drama and having fun. Too many series focus on only drama, and end up very bleak and harsh. This is important to all series, and needs to be there before we even add elements of sci-fi.

I would like starships and energy weapons, but they need to be different enough from other series. Weapons that effect larger areas of space, providing indirect fire, might be fun to experiment with. If infantry combat occurs, they at least need armored spacesuits. Captains and higher ups do not go on infantry missions, period.

Multiple species that are more than humans with funny knobs. Hard to do on a small budget, you might say, but they could at least try.

Sadly, to get all this and decent actors, I would have to wait for eternity. Science Fiction books are still available, though, and I have yet to exhaust the wierd world of anime, so its not a big deal.

Bread and Circuses

Yes, I think the world has gone mad. Yes, I have serious concerns about the future. However, we still have cheap food and an overload of entertainment. More people are able to enter into this world of bread and circuses. Now, you can still have a hard time in a world of youtube and decent food, but life is fairly good. However, this is a very new thing for humanity, so even though I think its good, being liberated from the basics allows people to become more bizarre. Like the Romans did. Being happily fed and entertained does not prevent you from being cruel, evil, and arrogant.

It doesn't force you to be any of those things, however. We have the ability to reason, and it won't be technologies fault if we go bonkers.