Friday, January 30, 2009

Travels with Desmond

Want something to make your head hurt? Try this:

Mrs. X and I have been big fans of Lost since the beginning. At the moment, the storyline is engrossed in a big time travel arc. The particular theory of time travel that the producers seem to have embraced is one that this sometimes called the Flowing Forward model. In this theory, time is completely set and if a person travels to the past, they cannot change anything because the point at which they came from has already been influenced by their decision to go into the past.

As an example, let’s say tomorrow I gained the power to travel into the past and decide to try and stop the murder of Abraham Lincoln. No matter what I did, I would be unable to stop the murder because even though I haven’t travelled back yet, all the actions I have taken already exist in the past. Time has recorded my future decision to travel back and the past is set with the actions I have performed, even though it’s my future self doing those things.

On Lost, this is shown and done well, although the matter of Desmond needs some additional explaining. Unlike the rest of the Losties, Desmond has not bodily travelled in time, only his consciousness. In his first trip back, Desmond tried to change things in the past, but he was thwarted by universal correction and instructed in this by a character known as Ms. Hawking. In his second trip, Desmond’s mind goes back to 1996 where he meets Daniel Faraday and get’s some help in managing his shifting consciousness.

A question that has popped up among viewers is that given that the past is set, why doesn’t Desmond recognize Faraday either when he comes out of the Swan station or when he comes to the helicopter for the first time if he had lengthy conversations with him in 1996? I’ll warn you that this is where your brain will hurt.

Even though Desmond did all these things in the 1990’s, they were overseen by his 2004 consciousness. Effectively his 1990’s mind was turned off during these periods, and his 2004 mind was running his 1990’s body. We know these events actually happened in the past and that Desmond is not changing anything because Faraday remembers all of this and has written it down. He knows how to react in every situation and can give Desmond proper instructions and uses Desmond’s information to help his own research.

Now, Desmond’s 1990’s mind cannot process the invasion of his future mind. Some of these periods might simply remain as blanks in his memory, but, and especially in the first instance of time travel, Desmond’s mind crafted events in a way that did not involve his future consciousness. For example, when Desmond goes to buy an engagement ring for Penny, rather than process the fact that Mrs. Hawking tells him that he doesn’t buy it and ends up going to the island, Desmond’s 1990’s mind justifies things by accepting the suggestion that he simply chickens out. Essentially, Desmond is creating a false memory to preserve his sanity. He is not changing the past when his 2004 mind intrudes, he is simply breaking the false memory his 1990’s mind created to protect itself. Does your head hurt yet?

The violent nature of Desmond’s swings in his second time travel trip would suggest that the entire trip to Oxford and his conversation with Penny would not have been recorded at all. Unlike the first trip, which was a gentle overriding of several days of memory, Desmond’s consciousness was ripped back and forth. To preserve itself, Desmond’s 1996 mind completely shut down and could not even record passively. This is demonstrated in the fact that when Desmond’s mind went back to his 2004 self, his 1996 body simply turned off and he passed out. Think of it like The Matrix when several people died because their minds were disconnected from their bodies by being left in the matrix. Desmond doesn’t die because a channel is still open, but the stress of the jumps would have eventually destroyed his 2004 body unless he could anchor himself (hence the need for a constant). Once the jumps were over, Desmond’s 1996 mind would have uncocooned itself and his entire leave would have just been a blank spot. This could have been justified by assuming that he had been drinking heavily or done something else to wipe himself out, again creating a false memory to justify the blank spot.

So, in a nutshell, Desmond is not changing the past. The past is what it is. The only thing Desmond is changing is his own false assumptions about what happened in the past. I think that is enough brain stress for one day.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

This Isn't Funny

There are many ways to point out the reality of something being very funny for just it's shear stupidity or over the topness. This situation is not funny no matter how you try to poke at it:


Wednesday, January 21, 2009

DEAR GOD!

I hope and pray that this is a photoshop; because if it is real, it's way too messed up for me:

Monday, January 19, 2009

Wisdom

"There is no indispensable man in a democracy. When a republic comes to a point where a man is indispensable, then we have a Caesar. I do not believe that the fate of the nation should depend upon the life or health or welfare of any one man."

-- Harry S Truman

Super Bowl Set

Well, I was half right; although I think I gave the Arizona Cardinals a better chance than some people. It seemed that many people were picking Philadelphia but they were leaving themselves an opening that Arizona might win. Good thing too. I didn’t really watch the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game as I don’t care for either team, but I did enjoy the Arizona-Philly game. I was hoping that Arizona would win as I have a soft spot for Kurt Warner and I just like rooting for the underdog. It was a good game and the final Arizona drive was quite impressive. Reasonable minds can differ on whether a penalty should have been called on that 4th down pass for the Eagles. I didn’t see anything that seemed that brazen, but I also prefer a slightly rougher form of football.

Vegas has opened the line for Pittsburgh by 7. I’m not at all surprised for several reasons. First, defense always win championships. Arizona’s defense has stepped up and that has been key to their getting to the Super Bowl. But Pittsburgh has the best defense in the entire NFL this year and that will likely trump Arizona’s high powered offense.

Second, taken as a whole, the AFC has been considered the tougher conference for the past few years and the Giant’s rise to the top of the league during the regular season did nothing to counteract this feeling. Arizona in particular is probably viewed as soft in relation to the battle tested Steelers.

Third, the Steelers just had a better record (12-4) and against better teams. Arizona finished 9-7 but six of those wins came against the rest of their division (San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis) who were a combined 13-35. With a two week layoff, people just expect Arizona to return to earth a bit and we’ll see the regular season versions of these teams, of which Pittsburgh was much better.

Mr. A informed us three years ago that the dish of Pittsburgh would be perogies. I'm not quite sure what the dish for Arizona would be. Something spicy and Mexican oriented I guess.

Hopefully, it’ll be a good game, but I’m not optimistic. I’m also unsure about the ads since the commercials have really stunk for the past few years. It very much seems like the ad agencies aren’t even trying or are just going for the cheap laugh. We’ll see I guess.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Squee Up BOY!

Payback's a bitch:

Two captured terrorists interviewed by Maariv/NRG say that Hamas was not expecting Israel's response to the escalation in missile attacks on Israeli targets that preceded Operation Cast Lead. One of them, a 52-year-old victim of a premature detonation who had already done time in an Israeli jail, said, "Hamas took a gamble. We thought, at worst Israel will come and do something from the air - something superficial. They'll come in and go out. We never thought that we would reach the point where fear will swallow the heart and the feet will want to flee. You [Israel] are fighting like you fought in '48. What got into you all of a sudden?"

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Three Birds and a Hammer

Well, to say that I was wrong when it came to the football games would be something of an understatement. That Baltimore and Philadelphia won is not a huge shock, although it went against my picks, but Arizona winning was little short of amazing. Arizona was 9-7, having never won in the Eastern Time Zone this season (0-5). Carolina was the only team who was perfect at home. Arizona was missing one of their star receivers while having to go up against a two fisted running attack.

Yet the Cardinals won. One of the commentators mentioned that the Cardinals must have seen something on film when it came to Carolina’s passing game because they were stepping in front of receivers and jumping routes all over the place. Hat’s off to them for confounding the experts.

So we now have Baltimore at Pittsburgh in the AFC and Philadelphia at Arizona in the NFC. On the AFC side, this will be the third time the Steelers and Ravens have clashed this season. It’s hard to win three times in one season, but I still don’t trust Baltimore’s offense enough to suggest that they are going to put up enough points. Baltimore’s defense is good but Pittsburgh will find ways to drive the field for some points. Plus, Pittsburgh’s defense is good enough to score a few points off the Baltimore offense. I would expect Pittsburgh to win a close game, probably decided by a field goal or a pick-6.

I’d like to pick Arizona in the NFC championship game just to be different and because I remember Kurt Warner from the old St. Louis days. However, there is something about the way Philadelphia is playing that gives me pause. Arizona has been good at stopping the run and then running the ball themselves. If Arizona gets pass happy, Philadelphia will win in a walk as the Eagles defense will beat Warner senseless. But if the Cardinals can just pound the ball and only have a deep pass now and again to keep the Eagles from putting eight men in the box, they might be able to win. Arizona must neutralize Brian Westbrook to have any chance and that will force McNabb to throw a lot, giving the Cardinals chances to jump the routes just as they did with Carolina.

If Pittsburgh meets Philadelphia, we would have an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl and a pretty dirty trench fight as well.

An Arizona-Pittsburgh Super Bowl would be a Steelers reunion since the head coach of the Cardinals was the offensive coordinator for the Steelers for quite a long time.

I’m sure I could come up with other ties in case Baltimore wins the AFC, but given my opinion that I think that Pittsburgh will win, I’ll just wait and do the connection if Baltimore gets to the Super Bowl.

Friday, January 09, 2009

A Quick Guide

Reading or hearing about the rocket attacks that Hamas is making and the Israeli response is a little hard to get a handle on without a firm definition of where everything is. So here is a map of some of the locations that seem to be primary targets of rocket fire.

I've also circled Beit Shemesh although they've gotten significantly less fire than the rest as Hamas' current rockets only have enough range to hit the outer reaches of the town. Most fired there have fallen a bit short. However, rumors are circulating that Iran is trying to smuggle rockets into Gaza that would have the range to hit downtown Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.


Perspective

Point of consideration:

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

The Current Conflict

While surfing around today, I found two bits that best describe Israel's fight with Hamas.

First the quote: If the Palestinians laid down their weapons, there would be no war. If Israel laid down their weapons, there would be no Israel.


Second, the picture:

Monday, January 05, 2009

Playoffs

Christmas was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed my time off of work with the exception of the ruined kitchen floor. But that is why one has insurance.

Anyway, we can now focus more on the last vestiges of the football season. I have to admit, I was a little surprised that Arizona beat Atlanta. Having watched a couple of Arizona games, I would have thought that Atlanta’s running game would have eventually crushed them. But instead, it was Atlanta that failed to recover and Arizona’s defense finally showed up after taking the last few games off.

I was not surprised that San Diego beat Indianapolis although I was hoping that Indy would win. For whatever reason, Indy simply cannot win in San Diego, especially when the Chargers are on a roll that was needed even to make the playoffs.

I was not surprised in the least that Baltimore whipped up on Miami. They are still trying to remember how to win and going against the nasty Baltimore defense was just too much for the Fish.

I thought Minnesota might put up a slightly better fight, but it took no one by surprise that the Eagles beat the Vikings. They have a good defense and a great running game, but the Minnesota O-line and the quarterback were simply not seasoned enough to contain the Philadelphia blitzing packages and I think everyone knew that.

So on to next weekend’s games. If Roethlesburger had not suffered the concussion in the game against Cleveland, I’d say that the Steelers should shred San Diego. They still might, but a wounded quarterback will make a tasty target for the Charger defense. Still, I would expect the Steelers defense to beat up on Philip Rivers pretty hard and the Steelers running game will wear down San Diego.

The Baltimore-Tennessee game should be very interesting. Tennessee’s defense is good enough to hold Baltimore’s mediocre offense in check while Baltimore’s defense should get after Kerry Collins and contain the Tennessee running game. This game will probably come down to one or two little plays and may be decided by a field goal.

I’m sure New York wanted Arizona very badly rather than division rival Philadelphia. They know their opponent and New York is better than Philadelphia, but division rivals have a habit of pulling the unlikely upsets. I would expect New York to win, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Philadelphia prevailed.

Carolina-Arizona will probably be a laugher. Arizona’s defense was pretty good against Atlanta, but I can’t see them being able to contain Steve Smith. Once Carolina jumps out to a lead, Arizona will likely abandon the running game and it will be tee-off time against Kurt Warner. Carolina should have very little to worry about in terms of getting to the NFC title game.