M3 Creation Myths: The Big Bang Theory (AKA Chinese)

            First, before all the science people start screaming for me to be burned as a witch, I need to clarify a little piece of terminology. Contrary to the popular show Mythbusters (which I dearly love), a myth is not something to be proven true or false.

F3 Crossing Over

            Flynn watched as they crossed the empty expanse of space. Somewhere, a few minutes away, was the line of demarcation: the imaginary barrier that separated Alliance Space from Consortium Space. When he was an Alliance Fleet Officer, he couldn’t cross that border except by invitation or for the occasional border skirmish.

Weather

            I want it to rain again. A bout of rains here in Arizona in February made me long for distant lands. Specifically, I wanted to be back in Alaska or Washington State. I remember the feeling of the cool summer with light showers, where the humidity hovered around 80%.

M3 Creation Myths: Hindu

            I would say I really like the Hindu creation more than the others, but the fact is that I really enjoy all of these myths. I will say that the Hindu creation is unique in my experience.

            It begins with Brahma off by himself. And then he has a random thought. And that thought becomes reality. And so it continues. His very thoughts give birth to reality; however, what’s most interesting is that he cannot control these thoughts. Unbidden, he’ll have an evil thought, and it creates something evil, even though he does not wish for that to be created. This is a sharp contrast to other creation myths, which sought to consciously create the world and everything. Brahma, though, is at the mercies of his own random thoughts.

F3 Different Tricks

            As a Storm Rider, I’m still a complete newbie.

            “Reilly, you need to be focusin’ ” Delphine told me in her thick Creole accent.

            I tried, pushing the charge in my body out of my finger and into a rotating spherical pattern. It didn’t work. No matter how I pushed, prodded, guided, or yelled in frustration, I couldn’t get the lightning to do what I wanted. At best I would shoot out a normal bolt of lightning. At worst I triggered some kind of weird feedback that knocked me on my ass.

            This just happened.

Math Brain

            I’ve been revising my science fiction book, and I’ve endeavored to make the scientifically verifiable elements as correct as possible. Unfortunately this means I’ve had to activate the evil part of my brain, that enemy of creativity, math. And it’s been a bear for me.

M3 Creation Myths: Celtic

            Sorry. I can’t do the Celtic creation. It would have been great to do given the proximity to St. Patrick’s Day, but not a lot of their mythology actually survived. What are out there are recreations based on fragments or speculation. We just don’t have enough surviving text for a complete picture.

F3 Bad Luck

            Though my bouts of good luck were balanced by the bad—I actually charted them on a spreadsheet to an error rate of +/- 2%—I still viewed my luck as a curse. It didn’t matter that my favorite bar had put up a plaque declaring “Don Iverson, Luckiest man in Belport,” the luck was still a curse. It was the knowing. Knowing that the other side of Fortune’s Wheel lay in my future.

PAX East Post-Mortem

            I’m still processing everything. I’ve learned that conventions and conferences—the good ones, anyway—bombard you with so much energy, information, and emotion, that it takes a while to come down and make sense of it all. First, I’m tired. That’s to be expected. Two days (we missed out on tickets for the third day) of tromping around from the wee hours of the morning until midnight take their toll. Second, I’m hooked. These events are a blast and a great way to expose myself to fresh, current ideas about a variety of industries.

If I had the means, I think I would do nothing but travel around the country to various conventions and conferences in a variety of disciplines. I intend to look locally to see what I’ve been missing. I’m particularly interested in attending an event with astrophysicists. Perhaps I can even get in a few words with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

           

M3 Creation Myths: Iranian (Persian)

            The Iranian Creation myth is fascinating for an approach that somehow bridges several different cultures. It is the Zoroastrian story of Ormazd and Ahriman. Incidentally, fans of the latest Prince of Persia game on the PS3 and Xbox360 got a taste of this myth from that game. While not completely accurate, it’s still entertaining and fun.

F3 First Sail

            Though jump engines were the preferred way of moving the Alliance Fleet, they still maintained a large number of sailers since those were the preferred ships of pirates and smugglers, who frequently established bases with rogue planets and asteroids off trade routes. So Ensign Peter Flynn was not surprised that his first posting on a ship, the Bridgeton, was on a sailer.

PAX East (Snow?) Bound

            Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor dark of red-eye flight shall keep me from the appointed convention.

            So I am departing for Boston to indulge in a celebration of gaming, video and otherwise. It’s going to be a blast if last year was any indication. I’m really looking forward to some of the panels, and the awesome Indie games, which were easily my favorite thing about last year.

M3 Love God: Zeus

            Zeus, while not a love god, engages in more love making than any other of the Greek gods. And the main problem with Zeus is that he has no respect for the concept of no. Ever. While there is no direct evidence that all of Zeus’s encounters were non-consensual, there are a disturbing number of them that couldn’t be interpreted in any other way. Zeus is relentless and very creative in his sexual encounters. With the powers of a god able to transform himself—not to mention his raw strength and power—he fully takes advantage of his gifts in securing women.