hande-hospital

[rookvie]

so..... i've been playing pokemon black lately!!

doodles mostly from the mid-game b/c i've played early game like 100000x already-- so i just wanted to get past it and to the parts i've not played yet..... lol

[moosha-mushroom]

Media I imagine different fiction podcasts in instead of the media of being a podcast.

TMA: A selection of volumes, relating to the fears, each with those removable covers. Those covers has a victim or two, and then underneath the cover is a really detailed cover. The paper is decoratively ripped, with a kind of scraggly font, and each has a foreword and ‘author’s note’ from Jonathan Sims.

Malevolent: A really gritty graphic novel with deadly detail in each panel, and very little color. Maybe a trinket on each important character has a color? Like Arthur’s eyes being yellow or Oscar’s collar having a blue sheen to it. The novels are long, dramatic, and intimate in a visceral way.

Welcome to Night Vale: Local 58 bullshit. A broadcast on television with low quality images and audio, tacky music, and a kind of 80’s aesthetic. Each episode the words WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE zoom onto the screen, the purple eye behind them. And each weather segment is an animated short by a different artist.

The Penumbra(Juno Steel): A webcomic. Hours spent scrolling downward a comic that has so much color and GEOMETRIC design. Juno and his curvy jaw, brown pie slice eyes, a cartoonishly high collar for his investigator jacket. Nureyev and his sharp square jaw, shimmering jewelry, and stick legs. Characters sticking out of the panels, fonts changing constantly, a little blue Juno that does his narration and *guitar theme plays* each time he appears.

Wolf 359: A classic comic. Issues month by month. Different special covers of the characters in extra dramatic poses or scenes. Even MORE panel breaking than Juno Steel. So MUCH onomatopoeia, even for small things like the clink of a panel or the disapproving hiss of Hilbert in the background. Geometric designs like Juno Steel, but less colorful. Like the superhero art style mixed with a more stylized look.

Midnight Burger: You pull up the Midnight Burger website. They have a hidden page that has a sort of script-comic thing going on, where the art is next to the writing. Small coded in notes from Leif sometimes pop up if you hold your arrow over the art. Links are attached to the parts where Effie and Zebulon play music, linking you to the music so you can listen to it while you read.

Desert Skies: An animated show. Indie, something you’d find on YouTube. The animation is bouncy and incorporates 3D animation alongside the 2D. Maybe the Sphere Movers have 3D models and the staff don’t? The credits are short because it was made by one guy. People are complaining about it on Twitter /j. People are making content farms about it. Everyone is pissed at Corson like they’re pissed at Jax.

The Amelia Project: A sort of simulation video game. You play as Arthur. You listen to their stories and draw pieces of the tale to invent their death. Every once in a while the game transitions to a point and click suspense game where you solve puzzles as Cole and Haines. Maybe there should even be an Operation-esque part of it where you work as Kozlowski.

Ghost Wax: A novel with a lot of pictures spliced in it. The stories are all in a single book, though the book is through Luca’s perspective— so he picks up on the ghost’s body language and Voncid’s reactions. The pictures are tarot cards with each victim as a card. Some are repeat cards— Lorem does not have a card at the end of the story. Nor does Our Home or Evening at the Ardent. The pictures are only white with black line art. No color whatsoever.

Kakos Industries: A company newsletter. Not a broadcast. A newspaper that arrives at your door and has big bold letters with the main story and pictures of the events that happen in the story as it goes. And the Sunday Comic page is full of employee shenanigans. Some innocent… some not.

I am losing my mind.

[constarlations]

I wanted to ramble a bit about Ethan and Dawn as well as their whereabouts in the future but I get too scared to do it on Twitter due to the size of my account (It’s why I made my side sketch account but that account as well gets too traction for my liking so I decided to ramble my heart out here in a private space where my two friends can’t judge me for my trash) 

A bit of a warning: I’m very much a fanatic when it comes to the intricacies of Pokemon game lore as well as a stickler for the Pokemon timeline BUT I also like to interpret the games in my own way to interpret stuff with my own logic

((for example I see Hilbert and Hilda as 15 in BW rather than 14 (how they are referenced to be in Bulbapedia) or 16 (how they were originally designed to be) solely due to my own experiences of growing up latina and how turning 15 is a huge part of our culture plus the Unovan protags are all Latinos to me))  

I consider my own protag interpretation to be just that, an interpretation. A personal take on the canon like how the Pokemon anime and Pokemon manga are their own takes of the games. It might be wrong to something that happens in canon but that’s ok I’m just a dumbass who’s likes wasting time from studying to ramble about things.

Anyways with that out the way:

In my fictional canon Ethan and Dawn are both the main player character of their respective games. 

In the case of Ethan, however, I decided to give him some traits similar from his NPC appearance in HGSS such as having the Pokémon daycare grandparents.

My Ethan and my Lyra interpretation are actually a mix of their main character and npc counterparts  

Ethan’s mom is specifically the GSC mom as his mom while Lyra’s mom is the HGSS mom

Ethan has a Pichu and Lyra has a Marill. 

Ethan takes on the Lake Of Rage while Lyra does the rocket tower takeover quest. 

I basically divided it so both have main character AND NPC roles in the story but the true npc (catching tutorial npc) would be Kris who went on her journey 2 years prior (yes Kris exists in this story too as Lyra’s older sister and as Elm’s assistant) 

For Dawn however I solely see her as the protagonist of DPPt (sometimes I see her as the protagonist of PLA as well btw but decided early on to hand that role off to Lucas (his NPC version) because collecting Pokémon fit well with his theme of becoming a professor and researching Pokémon in the future) 

I usually draw all the protags loosely as teenagers but in the context of this specific story pre-timeskip hbhk are 15〜17 in my eyes.

15 is the age they meet in my interpretation in the PWT (around the time that the events of XY and BW2 are happening). It is also 4 years after their base adventure in DPPt occurred and when PLA takes place.

17 is the age where Ethan and Dawn start officially dating, is also the era when SM-USUM is happening.

The way I have them specifically meet is through the PWT in BW2 (under the champion bracket) when they are 15 and become rivals through that experience and later confess around age 17 so that’s the specific time period I usually draw them in (BW2-SM era).

The best way I could describe my version of HibiHika in terms of their dynamic is that I see them differently from their Pokémon masters counterparts so please allow me to explain.

The way I see Dawn in my interpretation is as a very refined, polite and mature young woman who’s very strict and hardworking. Despite her refined/strict aura, she can be sometimes brash or melodramatic at times but mostly keeps a level head. She often times comes out of her shell when a matter about something she’s passionate about comes up. She’s sorta a tsundere? But I’m unsure if that’s the most accurate term for it. Regardless she sometimes has difficulty getting along with others due to her intimidating nature but deep down she’s a sweetheart who wants to make friends. She’s extremely close with Barry cause he’s one of the only kids in her preschool class who kept dragging her places and reaching out to her as well as Lucas, her cousin.

When making my version of her when I was a teenager I sorta drew inspiration from characters like Dia Kurosawa from Love Live Sunshine as well as her Pokespe counterpart, Platina. I also drew some inspo from early Komi San as well (the aspect that everyone is intimidated by her at first glance).

In the hibihika story after the PWT arc, Lyra becomes one of Dawn’s first female friends outside of the gym leaders and Caitlin (who moved to Unova) and Lyra drags her out of her shell to places and the whole exchange is sweet.

The way she interacts with Ethan was first due to a small admiration due to seeing him on TV in the Lake of Rage report as the boy who calmed down Gyarados before her journey starts in Pt, then next it was due to hatred of meeting her idol meaning he was not what she thought he seemed (I’ll get to that in a second) but then afterwards they became proper rivals in the PWT and then kept in contact, eventually dating some time after.

(I actually have a AU of my stupid hc where they are pen pals as well during the whole PWT exchange so it’s like they know each other but don’t it’s really silly lol I’ll talk about it later or edit this later lol but in that au teen Ethan isn’t as toxic as I’ll describe now so ye)

For the Ethan side of things, Ethan is very laid back and amiable. He gets along easily with other people and is loyal to the people on his side. He is very selfless often putting others even his region before himself and has a slightly narcissistic side to him that feeds into the praise he gets lmfao. He’s flirty sometimes and very quick witted but overall. He loves Pokémon battling for the fun of it rather than chasing any fame or fortune.

but he wasn’t always this way (extremely bad fanfic territory incoming you can skip this if you want)

Ethan, upon defeating Red, begins to develop a massive ego as a teenager and gets mixed up with the wrong crowd who only likes him for his title and being the people pleaser he is he fed into that negativity and overall ruined his self esteem in the process cause he tied his self worth into his champion ranking rather than having fun in battles like he used to. He was lost in that spiral for the longest time that it made his closest friends like Lyra and Silver separate from him.

This is where the PWT would take place 4 years after their original adventure where Ethan, in the height of his toxicity, doesn’t put effort in training anymore cause he “always wins” and Dawn, disgusted with what her idol became sorta swept the floor and coldly admitted how unfun that battle was.

It’s sorta with this PWT battle, hundreds of miles away from home, that Ethan wakes up and goes what the hell am I doing with myself after seeing a news interview he did prebattle like after the battle. He calls his mom for the first time in ages and Silver and Lyra as well and goes back home and sorta detaches himself from the fame and fortune of being a champion and goes back to the basics. Keep in mind he does this change in his own will not for Dawn and doesn’t expect her to meet her again until a few months later they do meet again whoops but Ethan sorta apologizes for the way he acted and asks for another battle and Dawn accepts and even tho in this battle he lost again they both admit it was a lot funner than the last one and after a few more encounters sorta keep in touch bringing in a sorta friendly rivalry between the two. Despite Ethan completely changing his whole outlook there are some things that don’t change (Himmelism) but he is overall a sweetheart he just lost his way during his teenage years and needed someone to smack it into him before the damage was too done.

Once again this dumb ass fanfic isn’t necessary for hbhk stuff since I draw them as a couple anyways after Ethan’s asshole phase but I like exploring flirty characters with more to them in media so I accidentally made Ethan that lol.

Anyways would you believe me if I told you I based off his personality off of Sylvain. Lmfao. I love Sylvain he’s such a complex character sorry not sorry BUT mostly based him off of Himmel in terms of personality and how I draw him. I also based his asshole teenage phase from Gold Pokespe cause I thought that was the coolest shit as a kid but it has sorta changed over the years and I wanna separate Ethan from Gold Pokespe and Gold Pokespe fans as much as possible, especially after really liking his NPC self when playing HGSS myself as a teenager and feel not a lot of people sorta portray that and I wanna portray that.

So my Ethan is essentially both a mix of his npc self and some elements from Gold like his flirty outgoing loud personality so like my art style he’s sometimes inconsistent as hell but that’s ok that’s the hell I signed up for when I made up personalities but don’t write them down cause I’m too scared for being judged that my characters are inconsistent as hell 💔

maybe like when I wake up later I cringe reading myself this lol

I have more to write in regards to their dynamic with one another but I’m sleepy as hell

ANYWAYS TIMESKIP LITTLE RAMBLE AAAAA:

The Timeskip series, however, occurs 5+ years after the events of Alola so I have them as 22 (though I keep aging them up every year as I get older due to self indulgence so I draw them as 25 (cause in my head they were born in 1999) but they are specifically 22 for the sake of my story in Sinnoh 11 years later). 

In the timeskip series, Dawn is the champion of Sinnoh and a famous Pokémon Coordinator. She follows in Cynthia’s footsteps to become a champion that makes her region proud but due to her strict demeanor she comes off as scary to those not familiar with her.

Ethan is the Champion of Johto as well as the promotional face of the Pokeathlon! Lyra and Silver help out in the indigo league as well but I’m uncertain if to make Silver an elite four member or make him champion. Lyra is definitely the champion tho along side Ethan but handles more of the Kanto side of the region while Ethan handles Johto.  i have more to write so I’ll edit this later with all the lore but I’m worried there’s a tumblr word limit lol so ye

[pkmnomegaverse]

More Twitter ponderings.

I do think N probably would not have any concept of the term. The more I think about it the more I think he might understand the concept in a general sense (mating pair having offspring together increases the likelihood of the pair staying together to successfully raise said offspring) but not that it's like a thing thing. Only way it's coming up is if he overhears Cheren getting on Hilbert about it. Cheren tends to blame N for things over blaming Hilbert (going easier on his friend combined with negative feelings for N) so I think he would be accusing N of trying to baby trap Hilbert once he finds out how quickly the two matebond combined with how quickly Clover is conceived. Meanwhile, Hilbert is the one worrying he's taking advantage of N since is unsure how much his sheltered upbringing is affecting how he views things. The push and pull of feeling like he should take things slow for N's sack while neither actually want to take things slow.

Cheren in particular is thrown by how quickly N and Hilbert get together. To him, Hilbert has always seemed level headed and logical in how he approaches things. Not the kind to be swayed by spur of the moment impulses. But a lot of things for Hilbert related to N post BW are him following his impulses, even if it's not logical. Which further leads to why Cheren just doesn't understand why Hilbert is as fixated on N as he is.

Hilbert and N kind of speed run getting together once they reunite (it's the omegaverse side of things influencing this. I go either way on how quickly they would get together in a more normal AU). But since they do confess their feelings fairly quickly once they reunite (Hilbert in particular regrets not trying to stop N from leaving post BW, so he vows to himself he's going to be straight forward and honest with N once they meet each other again. Doesn't want to regret things with N ever again), I see no reason that they wouldn't spend their heat/ruts together right away. Hilbert isn’t a virgin (he’s slept with Cheren before to deal with his heats, which is a big factor in why Cheren and his relationship is kind of a mess sometimes) so he would bring up the idea to N. Very “only if you want to though”' since doesn't want to pressure him, but it is something he wants. And like��N’s not going to refuse being close to Hilbert in that way.

I think they would be doomed to matebond the first time they spend Hilbert's heat together even if the goal was to avoid that. My vibe for N is he tends to get overwhelmed in the midst of sex, particularly early on. Kind of animalistic but it's more being overwhelmed by both the physical feeling and his feelings for Hilbert. Telling Hilbert how much he loves him while going to town on him. So yeah, he would not be able to hold back from biting Hilbert and bonding with him during heat. Hilbert would need to wear a collar to avoid this but again, it's something Hilbert wants as well. They probably talk about it beforehand….but I think there is still an impulsiveness to their reunion. Hilbert wants it so much and N is equally caught up in his feelings for Hilbert. Always had the sense in the back of his mind, even during BW, they were a fated pair (the duality of Hilbert as the omega to his alpha). Again, it’s that push and pull of not wanting to take advantage of each other but they both want it too much.

But yes, baby trapping, since that was the initial idea of this post. I do think Hilbert kinda ponders on if that’s what he’s doing by how quickly their relationships progresses. He’s not (at least not consciously) but I think it might look that way from an outside perspective. If in some sense, neither want to be separated again, so they take steps to ensure they’ll be bonded together. Since as much as neither are fully prepared to be parents, there’s still that instinctive impulse heat/rut is going to bring on in them. Just talk that N unthinkingly lets slip out during Hilbert’s heat that, after the fact, leads to them discussing the possibility.

[cheemken]

The Unova kids play pranks on each other this is true 100%

I bet the best one they’ve ever done was Hilda and Hilbert sneaking into Iris and Draydens house in the middle of the night,

Feeding Iris and Draydens Pokémon to keep them quiet ofc,

And just the two of them cooking all their food before putting them back into their containers

I imagine Iris makes a thread on Chatotter (twitter) about all the food she finds, all of them being captioned with something similar to

Champion Irissss

@theherooffate

“Who the fuck toasted all my bread??” (7:34am) *photo of soggy ass toast in plastic wrapper*

“ALL THE INSTANT COFFEE IS ALREADY MADE” (7:45am) *photo of coffee grounds container filled with liquid coffee*

“NOT EVEN THE EGGS ARE SAFE!” (7:53am) *photo of hard boiled eggs in egg container*

“WHO THE ACTUAL FUCK PRECOOKED THE PASTA???” (8:01am) *photo of cooked spaghetti shoved back into cardboard box*

“WHY HAVE ALL THE VEGETABLES BEEN SEASONED AND STIR FRIED?? They taste good ngl” (8:17am) *photo of stir fried vegetables*

“EVEN THE FUCKING RICE HAS BEEN COOKED. CANT HAVE SHIT IN UNOVA” (8:24am)

“I’m going to fucking MiniorBucks for breakfast” (8:30am)

I just know her thread went viral in mere minutes, Hilda responded to her last post in the thread with

TheBetterTwinHilda

@theheroofideals

“Shouldn’t have trusted us with a key, also your Druddigon absolutely loved the treats we gave her” (9:37am) *photo of her and Hilbert holding a house key*

NOT EVEN THE EGGS ARE SAFE HCKDNCKSNS THEY TASTE GOOD NGL CJDMND GIRLIE'S GOING THROUGH IT LMFAOOOOO THE FUCKING RICE😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣

I just know for a goddamn fact the twins and their white ass won't clean the fucking rice that well, or at all. Like Iris takes a bite of the rice with the stir fry and she's there gripping her spoon tight, "motherfuckers didnt even cook it right. This region is a fucking nightmare man FUCK"

She sees Hilda's tweet

Champion Irissss

@theherooffate

I GAVE YOU DIPSHITS THE KEYS FOR EMERGENCIES

TheBetterTwinHilda

@theheroofideals

We ran out of snacks, so it was an emergency🥰

Iris checks her cupboards only to see all her chips and cookies gone, went back to chatter all

Champion Irissss

@theherooffate

CANT HAVE SHIT IN THIS REGION MAN FUCK IM MOVING TO KALOS *a pic of her empty cupboard with a note from the twins saying "haha eat shit <3"*

[luckynatured]

🐤🐤

Send 🐤 for my muse to make a tweet about yours // Accepting

[epicspheal]

Something that I brought up on Twitter and thought would be good to bring up here is a bit about the dragon that chooses N in cactusverse. So full disclosure a lot of this is just solely due to the fact that I played White and White 2 as my Unova games, so the player in White gets Zekrom and N gets Reshiram. But as I’ve actually been fleshing out the stories for each of the regions, I’ve begun to realize that the symbolism of Reshiram being the dragon of truth could still work. Like yeah N is definitely looking for an ideal world which makes him being paired with Zekrom make a ton of sense. Yet when you think about the events of gen 1-4 there is an ugly truth to the relationship between humans and Pokemon. We’ve seen multiple evil groups hurt Pokemon. We’ve seen regular trainers not necessarily treat their Pokemon with trust and love. We see this not only in the gameverse but also in the animeverse and mangaverse. And now with legends (yes I’m including a game that came out a decade after gen 5 but bear with me) we know that humans themselves have been hurt. It’s never been all sunshine and rainbows. The truth is that the relationship between Pokemon and humans can be painful for both parties. N thanks to his painful upbringing and his gift of being able to communicate with Pokemon understands this clearly from the Pokemon’s point of view. Is it applicable to every relationship between humans and Pokemon? Absolutely not. The whole truth is that while some Pokemon get hurt by humans, the majority of Pokemon have good relationships with humans and benefit But of course N’s sheltered upbringing doesn’t allow him to see the whole truth until he travels the world. But still it doesn’t change the fact that his worldview, while heavily skewed, was in fact true for some portion of Pokemon. Going back to Reshiram, yes it’s the dragon of truth. And while N’s way of thinking isn’t entirely true, the key word there is entirely. Some of what he says and believes is true. And as Colress just mentioned in the Paulo interludes, Pokemon don’t have the same complex thoughts as humans. Even if we say Reshiram is on the higher level of thought complexity among Pokemon, that gives way to why it would still recognize N as the hero. Because what he says, on some level is true, that’s all Reshiram needs.

Conversely the protagonist (Hilbert in cactusverse) isn’t 100% and ideal trainer. No one is perfect. Even the absolute most legendary trainer that is Red isn’t perfect. But Hilbert strives to be an ideal trainer and has thoughts that align with what an ideal human and Pokemon relationship should look like. For Zekrom that’s enough. Hilbert isn’t always ideal, but on some level he is. 

[felidaeng]

hey !!! i found you on twitter and i really really love your ideas and characterisations alot but do you ship n and hilbert together? cause iirc hilberts 14-16 and n is 18-20 :[ apologies if this isnt actually the case, thanks if you read and have a nice day kody felidaeng !

this is something i’ve gone over multiple times before, but to summarize, hilbert is 16 and n is 18. this is based on interviews that place n as 20 during bw2 and the anime (which uses many elements of bw2 in regards to team plasma specifically), story writer toshinbu matsuyima stating that hilbert and hilda were designed to be 16, several other sources claiming that hilbert and hilda were supposed to be the oldest pokemon protagonists at the time, and these ages fitting into the story of the game much better than the alternatives (n’s coronation ceremony that seems to take place just before the game begins would be a fitting coming of age ceremony for an 18 year old, 16 being the age that in america [unovas inspiration] is seen as young peoples first steps into being an adult on their own hence becoming a pokemon trainer, bianca and cheren having adult designs and legitimate careers only 2 years later, n being referred to as terms like boy/brat, etc.). n and hilbert (and by extension hilda, but canon leans much more towards hilbert) have an almost comical amount of subtext that begins with n being an inverted mirror of the player character through the story- being team plasmas protagonist, with his own box legendary and design that mimics what you’d expect of a pokemon protagonists. he’s also a deliberate parallel to rival blue, even going as far as to paraphrase a line of dialogue blue says to the johto protagonist, and saying it to the bw2 protagonist, while hilbert is a direct parallel to red. for them to have a significant age gap would be out of place, and does nothing for the story except make several instances in the game itself bizarre and off putting.

additionally, even though it’s possible that in-game canon hilbert MIGHT be 14, the protagonists do not exist as realized characters in the main series, instead being placeholders that the player can make into whatever they want them to be. even pokemon itself does this- serena, who appears to be in her late teens at earliest in her xy design, is 10 in the anime, and has romantic subtext with ash. going off of that information, you’d think that there’d be more upset about it being done…. but there’s not. you are supposed to project whatever ideas you’d would like onto the player character, which is how i’ve been able to build a whole original canon from the basics that the game gave me. this is also why i’m fine with people headcanoning the characters differently, and it’s more than okay to not want to engage with my artwork based on that, just as i personally don’t want to interact with content that portrays n and hilbert with a significant age gap and/or if it’s interpreted as a familial relationship, considering how i view the characters.

tldr; hilbert and n are only 2 years apart in age

[aaronsciencia]

things I wrote about Kepler once

(I already posted this as a thread on twitter but who cares. obvious note: just my opinion, would love to hear others thoughts about these things!)

1. why Kepler hates Hilbert and how that shows how much respect Kepler has for his own team

there are many reasons to hate Hilbert, alright, but the first thought that came into my mind after I thought a bit longer about this was: “oh fuck the respect he has for Maxwell huh”

Kepler only did the whole “hand in drawer” thing because Hilbert was way too lost in his own thoughts to answer Eiffel - his superior- , something we know Maxwell does all the time. Yes, Hilbert doesn’t respect his superiors, but that’s not the only reason why Kepler almost broke his hand, like I’ve said Maxwell also does this, but Kepler knows that Maxwell 100% knows what she is doing when she doesn't respond for a moment. The work she did for and with Kepler gave enough ground for trust and respect because her work is THAT good. Even Michelle (Maxwell's VA) once said: Kepler made her the boss of herself and he may be the commanding officer but he gave her a lot of autonomy [because of her excellent work]

and sure, this could have also been about Eiffel a bit because “hey, look Hilbert, if he doesn’t want to be a part of this, then you can’t do this to him.”, but I don’t think so. It’s not about the person. It’s not about Eiffel. Forcing someone to do something without prior consent? and ESPECIALLY without the needed knowledge if and how it works? That’s something he doesn't agree with (+ he already hated Hilbert and how he works). Hilbert may be a good scientist, but a human life means literally nothing to him, so he acts sloppier than a scientist who values human life which results in a high body count. He uses more resources than needed and that’s something Kepler would never tolerate. If the results don’t match the used resources, you’re out. Him gaining sympathy and trust from Eiffel is just a bonus. I mean… they never wanted to return with the Haephestus crew to begin with, why bother saving their lives, they just need extra hands for the mission itself.The bodycount in the end matches the results. Bigger picture, right? (and that’s why I love the scene now with Hilbert at the end where he talks with Eiffel and says:“You have no reason to trust me, but please: do not make the mistake of trusting him.” (idk. I just like how this scene is caused because of a lack of trust and ends with someone telling the other one what happened is no soil to grow trust on, but moving on)

2. Kepler and Jacobis first interaction (mini-episode: things that break other things )

Just a short thing first that ties to the finale: I am thinking a lot about how Kepler went from "friend" to "Daniel" to "Jacobi" and then to "Daniel" again.

also: Kepler quotes Shakespeare literally 2 min into the first conversation with Jacobi and basically sees himself as King Lear in that part of the play and Jacobi as Kent. Kent, who comes to the king to ask to serve him, so King Lear asks Kent for his loyalty in that scene.

I actually really like the scene he chose, because it does continue with King Lear after a few lines saying: "I thank thee, fellow; thou servest me, and I'll love thee." (it's something just "randomly" thrown in until you look it up and I love little things like that)

2.1 Kepler just knows the most random shit ever wtf

besides him being able to just quote god damn Shakespeare (which Eiffel does as well tho) he also does this. how the fuck do you just know things like this?

3. He gets less impulsive in really intense situations after Maxwell's death

fr: he literally doesn’t hesitate to kill Lovelace. Yes, she wasn’t human, but no one except him knew that and tbh I’m pretty sure that he would have shot her in the head like this even if she would have been the original.

But in the finale he gives Rachel literally every opportunity to not get shot. Gabriel in a Q&A once said "Kepler decided to kill Rachel when she figures out what he has done and not before that. And even in that scene he is giving Rachel every out. " He is like “Don’t you think we could do something else?” but she is like “No. No, this is the way to go." he doesn't even shoot her in the head.

[thebeatleaesthetic]

SEASON OF GLASS (AND IT’S COVER)...

I used a photo I took of John’s blood-stained glasses on the record cover. The record company called me and said the record shops would not stock the record unless I changed the cover. I didn't understand it. Why? They said it was in bad taste. I felt like a person soaked in blood coming into a living room full of people and reporting that my husband was dead, his body was taken away, and the pair of glasses were the only thing I had managed to salvage – and people looking at me saying it was in bad taste to show the glasses to them. "I'm not changing the cover. This is what John is now," I said.

– “ONOBOX” by Yoko Ono.

''What was I supposed to do, avoid the subject? ...A lot of people advised me that I shouldn't put that cover on the record, but I really wanted the whole world to see those glasses with blood on them and to realize the fact that John had been killed. It wasn't like he died of old age or drugs or something. People told me I shouldn't put the gunshots on the record, and the part where I start swearing, 'Hate me, hate us, we had everything,' which was just letting those feelings out. I know if John had been there, he would have been a lot more outspoken than I was. He was like that.

''My bedroom was right on 72d Street and on the night of the death, the fans kept playing this one record of John's. I was like a zombie, just lying there and hearing him sing 'Imagine' over and over and over. For about 10 days, it went on like that...”

– “YOKO ONO ASKS, 'WAS I SUPPOSED TO AVOID THE SUBJECT?'” by Robert Palmer (The New York Times, 1981)

John was killed, and it was very important for me to show that to the world, and for people to remember. Because I think that all of us are responsible of his death, of course including myself and both John and I were always trying to make a peaceful world.  And it’s very ironical that John who loved peace so much, died in a violent way.

– Yoko Ono, Ina France television interview (1981)

…I’ve seen a floor with a pond of blood. And that was the reality. And this was like a very, very, mild expression of that. And I was totally amazed that people felt that I was exploiting him. It wasn’t that at all. I felt the oneness with him and we were saying, `Please look at me. This is what you did to me.’ I mean, that’s what John wanted to say, I think.

– Yoko Ono, “Ono--Oh Yes!” by Jody Denberg (The Austin Chronicle, 1997)

…I would stick by it. That made that album not commercial and the record company called me and said, “Look, you have to change the cover otherwise we can’t put it out because all the shops say they’re not going to carry it.” And I said, “Well, we’ll just have to take a chance.” To have those glasses on the cover was important because it was a statement and you have to understand that it was like John wanted you guys to see those glasses. Because that was what was done to him. I saw what was done to him. It was worse than that cover shows. I’ve seen the worst of it and that cover was just like a very mild statement, a little message to you from John.

-- Yoko Ono, “Who the Hell Does Yoko Ono Think She Is” by Tom Hilbert (Q Magazine, 1988)

When I started to sing I noticed my throat was all choked up and my voice was cracking. I seriously thought maybe I should quit making the album because, as some people had advised me, “It was not the time”.

But the question was, when would it be the time? I thought of all the people in the world whose voices were choking and cracking for many reasons. I could sing for them. I could call it a “choke” or “crackle”. Well, wasn’t that what the critics had been saying about me for all these years anyway? That gave me a laugh, and it became easier. Many amazing things happened during the recording session. All I can say is that John was right there with me, busy trying to arrange things for me. That is why this album is not dedicated to him. He would have been offended. He was one of us.

– Yoko Ono (notes on the album)

...Ms. Ono, 80, posted on her Twitter account four antigun messages with an image of the blood-splattered glasses that Lennon was wearing when he was gunned down outside their Manhattan apartment building on Dec. 8, 1980. With the photo, once used on a 1981 album cover and in a 2000 antigun billboard campaign, she wrote: “The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him. Yoko Ono Lennon.”

...She also used the image of the bloodied glasses on billboards that she paid for to help carry her message [of ending gun violence] in New York, Los Angeles and Cleveland. She used language similar to what she posted on Twitter this week on some of the billboards: “Over 676,000 people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A. since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980.”

– “Yoko Ono Details Why She Posted Lennon’s Bloodied Glasses on Twitter “ by Jennifer Preston (The Lede)

John Lennon’s name isn’t mentioned in any lyric, but his presence is everywhere — from the cover photo of his shattered eyeglasses to Ono’s moving liner notes, which explain that the album wasn’t dedicated to Lennon because “he was one of us.”

– “Season of Glass” by Stephen Holden (album review for The Rolling Stone)

[Season of Glass] marks the point in time when we all lost a legend and not only encapsulates Yoko's sadness, but the world's. But more than her sadness, Season of Glass displays Ono's remarkable strength through this period.

– Ryan Schreiber

"Season of Glass was the salvation for me," Yoko said of her 1981 album. "I had gone into an uncharted period in my life, with no reference points... Music was the most natural thing I could think of. It was part of our life." The album's cover is a photo of John's blood-spattered glasses. As painful as it was to take the photo, Yoko knew that only she could "get it right."

– “Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies” by Nell Beram, Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky

For an artist who always had been uncompromisingly candid in her work, Ono's 1981 album Season of Glass, produced and released in response to Lennon's murder in December 1980, served as a deeply emotional--and inherently public–catharsis.

...And ultimately, Season of Glass offers heartbreaking testimony, not only through its wrenching music content, but directly on its face: Ono's photographic still life of Lennon's broken, blood-stained glasses next to a half full/empty glass of water on their apartment windowsill. 

– “Yes Yoko Ono” by Alexandra Munroe, Bruce Altshuler, and Jon Hendricks

A glass half empty. Her dead husband’s eyeglasses smeared with his blood. The window, the camera lens. All glass. Transparent. A misty rainy-day photograph viewing the New York City skyline through several gloomy horizons – taken from their bedroom window above Central Park. Their home. The city that John loved.

This was Yoko’s fragile world in December 1980.

...On the album cover, Yoko shares her nightmare – illustrating what the world had done to John and to her. Yoko reflects the horror right back on society, just as Jacqueline Kennedy wore her blood-stained Chanel suit in public for the remainder of the tragic day that she experienced the exact same trauma of seeing her husband killed in front of her. Yoko lets us see through the shattered window of her world and hides nothing – as always.

-- “SHATTERED. SEASON OF GLASS“  by Madeline Bocaro

‘spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence summer passes and one remembers one’e exuberance autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance

there is a season that never passes and that is the season of glass’

– Yoko Ono (1980)

[tilde-he]

general recipes for attempting to produce novel ideas (and how does “invert something” compare to other ones?)

This post isn’t very polished because it was originally a comment I was writing somewhere, in response to something about a hypothetical design for a game. But it got long enough, and was general enough in topic, that I thought I’d post it here. But be warned that it is rather meandering, and does not successfully demonstrate any central point.

Something I (and no doubt many others) have noticed, is that to produce an idea that seems novel, often a very easy way to do this is to take the "normal" thing, and negate/reverse/invert it. "In many games, you gain abilities over the course of a game? Well, how about a game where you lose abilities over the course of the game.", "Usually in movies, what is shown is mostly shown in the same order as how it happens in the world of the story? Well, what about a movie where much of it is backwards?" ("Memento" does this I think? I haven't watched it), "the cops and robbers game on graphs, which is usually studied on finite graphs? Well, how about I come up with a variant on certain infinite graphs?" (to give an example I tried), etc. There's a reason that TVTropes has so many things listed as having "inverted" a trope.

So, this method *works*, but, here's the thing : I'm not sure the ideas that this produces, even if they are novel, necessarily tend to be all that great? There are multiple "general purpose formulas for coming up with a new idea", and I think "negate/reverse/invert something" is probably one of the easiest. I'm tempted to say "laziest", though that may be going too far.

I was going to try to look around the room and think of the ways to apply it to the things I see, in an attempt to demonstrate that the resulting ideas aren't that great, but it just came up with actual existing and worthwhile ideas. I looked at a camera, and what came to mind was the discovery people made that by looking at how a bright screen illuminates a room as seen by a single light sensor, you can in effect reverse the roles of the camera and screen, and produce an image which is as if it was lit from the light sensor, and taken from the viewpoint of the screen, which is a pretty cool discovery. I looked at a bottle of vitamin pills, and, well, my first thought was "well, what if the vitamins ate you", but that was stupid, the second thought was "well, what if you apply a medication by applying it to the outside of your body, like as a patch, as opposed to putting it inside your body", and, people already use nicotine patches to help quit smoking, and there are of course topical creams for a variety of things. I suppose another negation/inversion of "pills that you take by swallowing them" would be suppositories. To negate a keyboard, which is something you put your fingers on to enter input to the computer, there are two things I see to invert here. You could invert the "to provide input to the computer", and get "to receive output from the computer", basically a kind of computer braille output, which is presumably used by some blind people, and you could invert "you put your fingers on it" to get "you put it on your fingers", which would be, I suppose, like those handheld chorded keyboards like that which is used by stenographers, or, if you also partially negate the "input to computer" part, you get haptic feedback VR gloves. If you take a desk and negate "you put things on it", you get "you put it on things", a paperweight. I guess if you negate a digital tablet pen input device, you could get, a computerized thing to guide making lines on physical paper (I don't think this exists, but could be kind of neat I guess), or alternatively a pen plotter. If you negate a bowl, you get a lid(which goes on top of stuff instead of below, but still keeps things in a container) or a boat(keeps the liquid out of, instead of inside, the designated area), or an umbrella (keeps stuff out of the region instead of in the region, and also goes on top of the region instead of below the region). Ok, so maybe "just negate/reverse/invert something" often does produce ideas that are worthwhile, (even if not necessarily novel), so sue me. I still think other general-purpose-recipes-for-new-ideas could stand to get a bit more use compared to simple negation. There's a reason "What if a video game, *but you play as the villain*! So cool!" is so, uh, overdone/over-thought-of. Maybe I'm biased here, but I think "X, but mixed with Y", is a bit more versatile as an idea-producer than "X, but the component(s) Y of X is(are) reversed/inverted/negated" ? I think "X is to Y as Z is to what?" is probably even more versatile, and I think that the ideas it produces, at least when it succeeds in producing a non-nonsense idea, are maybe more likely to be more novel and fruitful. Like, you may be able to come up with more ideas more quickly by just saying "just negate something", but I think the ideas produced by "complete the analogy" may tend to have more that can be done with them, more room to expand on them beyond the initial idea/implementation. (For example, if we have some definitions of some types of mathematical objects, and we say that a foo is a bar that wobbles, and a bar is a baz that shimmers, one might ask “bar : baz :: foo : (?) “, i.e. what is the right definition for a type of baz which does something like “wobble”, even though it doesn’t shimmer (and so the usual definition of “wobble”, as applied to bars, perhaps might not really apply). for an example of this example, “If Hilbert spaces are complete inner product spaces, in that they are equipped with an inner product which induces a norm under which it is complete, and if vector space has a positive semi-definite hermitian form, it defines a seminorm, and if a Fréchet space is a vector space which has topology induced by a countable family of semi-norms, and which is complete wrt that family (and is Hausdorff), what do we get if we look at vector spaces with a countable family of positive semi-definite hermitian forms, which is complete with respect to that family, in order to complete the analogy “Banach Space : Fréchet Space :: Hilbert Space : (?)” )

Another general purpose idea-production-recipe that I have in the past been, imo, overly fond of, is the "apply an idea to itself" one. This of course can produce interesting results. Meta stuff can be really important and useful. But I used to put too much emphasis on it, overused it. And I suspect others make the same mistake. (For fun, let's apply a bit of meta here: what happens if we apply these "general purpose recipes for making a new idea" to the idea of "general purpose recipes for making a new idea"? Well, if we apply an inversion, and negate "new", we get "general purpose recipes for finding an old idea", which I suppose, if we massage it a bit, gives us "general ways in which different ideas can be related". If we apply negation to the "general purpose" part, we get the idea of "methods that are only applicable in restricted contexts, for generating new ideas". Perhaps these methods are just as important, or even more important, than the general purpose ones, with regards to producing new good and lasting ideas? Seems likely to me! Though I suspect that making this claim precise would be difficult.) One way of producing ideas that I think is nice, and which is kind of a form of or variation on the negation method, is to take a problem, something which is unsatisfactory, and look at what it would mean for it to not apply, or find the simplest thing, even if rather outlandish, which would preclude the problem. I suppose this could also be done for things which are not problems, but that starts to get close to just "negate something". But not quite, because it is more "find a condition which precludes something" or "find a condition which would make the negation possible". For example, what would it take for no one to deal with "the crowd" as a collective, only with individuals, to only need to deal with cumulative effects of the opinions of individuals, but not have to deal with these opinions of others acting together as a group? If the graph of what people interact with what people was an acyclic graph, or a graph with a large girth, that seems like it would be sufficient. What if instead we want to avoid the problem of the asymmetry between a person who interacts with many many people, and those who interact with such a person, but themselves only interact with relatively few people (e.g. people with 200 twitter followers replying to someone with 2,000,000 twitter followers) ? Well, what if we just don't allow people to follow or be followed by, or even see accounts whose number of followers differs from theirs by more than an order of magnitude or 2? Would anyone use such a social networking site? If they did, what would the interaction dynamics be like?

Ok, what was the point of this comment/post? The point was supposed to be “I think that ‘just inverse/reverse part of some other idea’ is over-used as a method or producing novel-seeming ideas.” But I did not really give much of an argument for it. I hope that nonetheless, this brief discussion of the topic “general purpose methods for generating ideas” was still somewhat interesting.

[niedplays]

Pokemon White: Part 1??

Still don’t know how to title these things! Anyway, howdy hey, it’s time to actually play video games on my video games blog!

Wanna say this now: I’m dumb. Like, just in general, but specifically, I made the all-too-wise decision to play on cartridge. This is dumb because, hey, that means I can’t take screenshots! Not unless I, say, shell out a couple hundred for a DS with a capture card, or, uh, just take pictures with my phone. Sure, I COULD just boot up a ROM, but, to be truths, I prefer the feel of playing the game in-person, not just emulating it. 

So pictures will likely either be mocked-up or taken from google, and, if necessary, sourced accordingly!

I held a poll on twitter, along with asking my friends, for the purposes of figuring out exactly who I should play: Hilbert or Hilda, boy or girl. Truthfully, my process usually involves picking which one I think looks better, though this is deluxe fucking difficult, since both Hilby and Hildy look great, as I have mentioned before. 

The first time I played White (which I preordered and started day of release!), I went for Hilda. And, as it turns out:

my friends and followers thought I should do that once more! So, Hilda it is! And, with a name I spent an agonizingly long time thinking up (Berkley, bonus points if you get the reference! Hint: I had to shorten it from the name Berkeley in order to fit!), I begin!

Pokemon Black and White trims the fat a bit, fucking IMMEDIATELY starting with Cheren and Bianca, who I will share my opinions about later. Right there, you get to pick your pokemon and get FUCKING BATTLING, because this is America, bitch! You get attacked in your own goddamned bedroom! 

Jokes aside, it’s a stock standard first rival battle (well, two of them), an agonizing experience requiring TRUE STRATEGIC EXPERIENCE, all in order to outfox your opponent. With only Tackle and either an Attack-lowering or Defense-lowering move, you’re supposed to outwit and overcome, using these two moves to play a delicate chess game between you and Bianca (and Cheren).

Or you can just mash Tackle and win. Or lose. Maybe a critical hit will happen. The first rival battle has always been a formality, and the fact that Gen VI on gives you the elemental move immediately is a small quality-of-life improvement.

I do like how your room gets fucked up after the battle. It’s the only time it happens in the game, but it’s cute. As a side note, all of the screencaps I can find online are of Hilbert, even though I picked Hilda. But hey, you know what? Genderfluid lives matter, y’all.

Anyway, oh! What did I pick for my starter, you say? Well, before I reveal that oh-so-tantalizing information, I’ll talk about my options.

Despite my love for Unova, I’m kinda... well, eh on the starters. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate them, and I think Oshawott is cute as fuck, but they (and their evolutions) don’t pop out as much as other gens. Dunno why, just a personal taste thing. When I first played White, I deviated from my tendency to pick Grass to nab Oshawott, which I lovingly named Lee Harvey.  Since then, I’ve played BW a couple of times, picking Snivy and Tepig at those times. So, I decided, let’s get back to my roots. Let’s pick Oshawott! 

Yeah! That one!

There’s not much to say about the rest of the very first part of the game. It’s stock standard pokemon, you say hi and bye to mom, you boogie down to the professor, they task you with collecting pokemon, and you go out. As much as I’d love to talk about how much I love Juniper, I think I’ll have to make that another part, since this one’s kinda long.

As an author’s note from 2006-era fanfiction, I want to say that I’m not gonna be as slow as I am with these first few parts, with the rest. I’m just spending a lot of time talking about how much I love Unova, since there’s... not really much to talk about until we get to the introduction of Plasma and the Striaton Gym. So this is all, effectively, filler until then. But hey, I discovered something new!

Whenever you leave your house for the first time, you see Pidove flying around, and it’s a really cute little cutscene. I’ve known about this since, well, the first time I played, but what I didn’t know was that it’s Pidove during the day! Leave your house during the night, and...

Woobat! 

Next time: PLASMAAAAAA 

[delicatelysublimeforester]

“The city that integrates landscapes, urban gardens, and green roofs to maximize biodiversity.  Which strategies can be applied to protect and maximize biodiversity and to reintroduce landscape and garden ideas back in the city to ensure urban cooling?” Steffen Lehmann

Pelican Preenning

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale Wetlands in the fog

West Swale Wetlands (Chappel Marsh) Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA

City of Saskatoon, SK, CA

Rime Ice at George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. NE 21-36-6 W 3 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 NE 21-36-6

“The narrowing [and reduction of] roads, which calms traffic and lowers the UHI [urban heat island] effect, allows for more (all-important) tree planting.  Preserving green space, gardens and farm land creates a green belt around the city, and planting trees absorbs CO2.  …In all urban planning, we need to maintain and protect the existing ecosystem that stores carbon and plan for the creation of new carbon storage sinks by increasing the amount of tree planting.  The increase is the percentage of green space as a share of total city land is to be performed in combination with an densification activities.” ~Steffen Lehmann

Planting in reserved lands purchased in 1960 for a green belt or tree belt begins in 1972. “A tree belt as a windbreak and to create a sense of enclosure is suggested along the edges of development for all areas which will not expand in the near future. Such a belt can already be considered along the northern boundary of Westview Heights. In conclusion it can be stated that a seemingly overwhelming demand lies ahead, however, through careful timing, programming and design there should be few difficulties. It should be remembered that the city forefathers reserved beautiful parks along the river, others have developed in Kiwanis Park, the University Grounds and numerous treed and landscaped streets. They did so under adverse conditions with a population of 20,000. They gave the city a reputation as the “City Beautiful” and today’s residents should be willing to uphold their tradition.” (Wellman. 1963. P 18)_At this time City Council passes an order in council that the afforestation is protected in perpetuity.

As we look out on the southern extent of circle drive, along the shorelines of the Gordie Howe Bridge, and out onto Township Road 362A the view of Bert Wellman, Saskatoon Planning Department, can be seen  Wellman walked around Saskatoon’s perimeter choosing high spots of land for scenic beauty and brought his ideas to City Planner Bill Graham developing the 1960 Circle Drive Parkway, planting the parks, and establishing the trees.

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park were afforested by the City Parks Department in 1972; 200,000 trees on 600 acres of land in three afforestation areas.  Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park were on the southwest side of the South Saskatchewan River, and the third was on the east side of the river, south of Diefenbaker park, and west of the Saskatoon Golf Course.  The afforestation areas were all preserved in perpetuity in 1972.

Bibliography

Lehmann, Steffen.   Part I.  Sustainable Urbanism Climate Change, and Resilience. Green Urbanism.  Formulating a Series of Holistic Principles.  Sustainable Urbanism and Beyond.  Rethinking cities for the future.  Tigran Haas Editor. ISBN 978-0-8478-83836-3  Rizzoli International Publications Inc.  New York. 2012

Wellman, Hilbert E. and Henry F. Frolich. (1963) Community Planning Scheme 1963. Henry F. Frolich, Assistant City Planner, and Hilbert E. Wellman, City Planning and Building Director. Page 18.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′ Addresses: Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Should you wish to help protect / enhance the afforestation areas, please contact the City of Saskatoon, Corporate Revenue Division, 222 3rd Ave N, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0J5…to support the afforestation area with your donation please state that your donation should support the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, or both afforestation areas located in the Blairmore Sector. Please and thank you!  Your donation is greatly appreciated.

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

  “St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger

“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

  “The aim of the Men of the Trees is briefly ‘ to develop a tree sense in every citizen, and to encourage all to plant, protect and love their native trees; for forestry is among the oldest and most honourable of the peaceful arts of men, and in its practice is unselfish and constructive service.’ ” In the words of Henry van Dyke, America’s greatest tree poet, He that planteth a tree is a servant of God; He provideth a kindness for many generations And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.” Richard St. Barbe Baker

“City Beautiful” Saskatoon. "The city that integrates landscapes, urban gardens, and green roofs to maximize biodiversity.  Which strategies can be applied to protect and maximize biodiversity and to reintroduce landscape and garden ideas back in the city to ensure urban cooling?" Steffen Lehmann…

[pricelessmomentblog]

Book Club: Godel, Escher, Bach (December 2017)

This month we read Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. 

This is a fantastically weird and wonderful book. At one level, the book is about a parallel between three people: Johann Sebastian Bach, Kurt Godel and M.C. Escher, in particular how their work in music, math and art manages to loop back on itself and express a kind of self-referentiality. On another level, however, this book is really a hypothesis about the human mind itself, that selves and souls can come out from inanimate matter the same way that M.C. Escher’s hands draw themselves or Godel’s creates math that proves that it cannot be proven.

Gödel, Escher, Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more.

If you would like to stream audio on your browser, click here listen on Soundcloud. If you’d like to read the transcript, you may do so here.

Here are some of the highlights from this month’s review. First off, we establish what Douglas Hofstadter is referring to when he talks about a “strange loop”; it’s perhaps easiest to refer to the visual artist M.C. Escher to explain this very sophisticated concept:

An example would be [his images] of the drawing hands where he has drawn two pictures of hands which are holding pencils and drawing themselves. Other ones Escher has includes birds which turn into other animals and shift between the foreground and background. He even has one where there is a person looking at a picture in a museum and the scene is warping so that he is part of the museum itself.

So, this is something that I think is easy to see to visually, this kind of paradox, and it’s easy to dismiss it as well as being a bit of trickery. You might not even be a fan of M.C. Escher’s art, you might consider it too obvious. 

However, I think it’s a really good entry point to grasping this idea of a strange loop. Now what I think Douglas Hofstadter calls a strange loop or this tangled hierarchy is where you have layers of something where something is built on top of something else.

Next, I discuss mathematician Kurt Godel and how he showed that there were limits to logic itself: 

Hilbert’s problem was that, at the time, there were no different axiomatic systems for mathematics. His idea was that if someone could come up with a proof that shows that standardized axioms exists, and was consistent and also complete, that would be a major triumph. We could feel very secure resting in our knowledge that this mechanical system would work all the time. And what Godel did in the 1930’s, was that he showed that this was actually impossible.

Godel showed that any system that you have, any set of rules that you have, is powerful enough to represent the basics of natural numbers (the basics of arithmetic) will ultimately undermine itself by creating situations that we know are true but cannot be represented.

To explain Godel’s proof in another way: 

Think about how 2 + 2 = 4. You have a two, you have a plus sign, you have a two, you have an equal sign, and you have a four. What Godel is doing is saying, let’s take that 2 and put it in a number, let’s take that plus sign and put it as a number, let’s take that 2 and put it in a number, let’s take that equal sign and put it into a number and let’s take that 4 and put it into a number.

Now you have one super long number that represents 2 + 2 = 4 as not just a number but as something that involves plus signs and equals signs and has separate numbers but as just one big number. 

Okay so what can you do with this? Well if you go through a little bit of work what you can end up doing with this process is you can make a statement that is the mathematical equivalent of saying “this statement is false” or more specifically what it is saying is “this statement has no proof.”

There are also mind-bending ramifications of Godel’s work on our current concept of human consciousness:

…. he’s identified a system that has reached a level of sophistication that has the ability to loop back on itself. What’s the extension here? One of them is the idea of human consciousness. He’s saying that what perhaps the self is, what we are, as not bodies but sort of an abstract quality, what makes us different from rocks or computer programs that we have today, is that our machinery for representing things is sufficiently complex and we can represent ourselves in that machinery. Moreover, we can represent ourselves representing ourselves. 

We can have thoughts about our own thoughts and about the person thinking the thoughts and about their relation to the world at large.

Feel free to join in on our Facebook Group Discussion I’d love to discuss this book with you there, thanks. January’s book is James C. Scott’s Seeing Like A State. 

Book Club: Godel, Escher, Bach (December 2017) syndicated from http://ift.tt/2kl7pJj