Project Bluebook*
Dec. 3rd, 2010 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenToday's random thought: if I could vid, and I think it's probably a blessing for the world that I can't vid (I actally can't even watch vids with anything approaching intelligence - I like them when the music is nice and the images are pretty, my IQ drops several hundred points when I click play).... anyway. Yes. I think someone-not-me could make a fantastic SG-1 constructed-reality vid that suggests the Stargate project is a figment of Daniel's imagination. You'd frame it with clips from "Legacy" and "Lifeboat" - it'd be amazingly fun to make, because of how clever you could be doing it.
...okay, so it's nearly midnight, and the wind is howling, and I haven't slept more than maybe twelve or thirteen hours this week, and I am in the library writing the paper that ate Manhattan (it's a paper about bills of attainder which is now nearly ten times as long as a bill of attainder) so I'm going to talk about something quite dear to my heart.
So, I am coming up to ten years in internet-based-fandom with a kind of hollow-laughable inevitability, and something in my brain wants to take me back to 2001 and Stargate SG-1. Seriously, though. In the last couple of days I have watched "Legacy", "Meridian", "Chimera", and "The Fifth Race", and they all make me so very happy, especially the last. Some of the reasons why my thirteen-year-old self fell so hard for this show are still the reasons I love it now: it's clever and silly, whimsical and serious, doesn't take itself at all seriously except when it does, and depicts its characters with such loving affection. It does episodes like "Window of Opportunity" (riding bicycles through wormholes! throwing pots! making ketchup faces on plates!) and "Serpent's Song" (an underrated one, I think: I love the measured contrasts in it, the way the good guys realise they can kill, and then there's this bit where Daniel, standing up by himself in fatigues in an underground military base, performs the last rites for Apophis's host, and it kills me) and it never seems to find anything odd in doing both sorts of show.
But the other reason: okay. Remember the beginning? Here, at about 4.27 (warning: if you don't skip through it, what comes before that is kind of TV-icky and potentially disturbing). Daniel, in the floppy Abydonian robes, and Sam, the first feminist I fell in love with on TV, meeting for the first time.
And, okay, Sam and Daniel are both very clever - the only reason they can do what they do is because they're clever - and they're also this immensely geeky archaeologist and immensely-geeky-in-a-different way astrophysicist (and as an aside, which one of them is which is not what sci-fi gender tropes would suggest), and they do what they do. And.... do not laugh at me, okay, but I think when I was thirteen I hadn't realised that geeks can save the world. That you can drink too much coffee and be socially inept, and you can be loved and you can save the world.
All this time on, I don't think that's the worst lesson to have learned. And for watching this stuff at thirteen goes: I have met more than one woman who's said she was inspired to be an astrophysicist like Sam, and one who was going to be an archaeologist like Daniel, and if I've met more than one, imagine how many there must be in the world, and how many people just like me who grew up thinking they could be fiercely, geekily, intellectual, and that that had value, that it was important. And, I don't know, it's different from Star Trek, somehow. What was part of the charm of it, for me, was that the characters have ordinary lives around the extraordinary, they have pizza and budget cuts and terrible dates and children, and it's all underscored with extraordinary things. I mean, if Stargate is about anything, it's about the wonders of the world that's around us, that we're in, you know? There's all that meaning-of-life stuff, and we're going to be okay; your gods are false, but here, have the wondrous universe instead; there are aliens among us and they really like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. From "Urgo": "I want to live! I want to experience the universe, and I want to eat pie!"
Yes. Yes, that.
(I wonder, sometimes - should I catch up with this show at some point? I have seen the first seven seasons (barring "Shadowplay", for some unknown reason), and also "Threads" and "Moebius", also the Atlantis pilot and "Letters to Pegasus". I don't really want to watch the rest of SGA, but part of me does wonder who these Cam and Vala people are.)
Right. I am going to kick this dratted paper into submission, dammit, and then I am going home. Fie upon attainder.
* This subject line may be the worst pun I've ever made in my life.
...okay, so it's nearly midnight, and the wind is howling, and I haven't slept more than maybe twelve or thirteen hours this week, and I am in the library writing the paper that ate Manhattan (it's a paper about bills of attainder which is now nearly ten times as long as a bill of attainder) so I'm going to talk about something quite dear to my heart.
So, I am coming up to ten years in internet-based-fandom with a kind of hollow-laughable inevitability, and something in my brain wants to take me back to 2001 and Stargate SG-1. Seriously, though. In the last couple of days I have watched "Legacy", "Meridian", "Chimera", and "The Fifth Race", and they all make me so very happy, especially the last. Some of the reasons why my thirteen-year-old self fell so hard for this show are still the reasons I love it now: it's clever and silly, whimsical and serious, doesn't take itself at all seriously except when it does, and depicts its characters with such loving affection. It does episodes like "Window of Opportunity" (riding bicycles through wormholes! throwing pots! making ketchup faces on plates!) and "Serpent's Song" (an underrated one, I think: I love the measured contrasts in it, the way the good guys realise they can kill, and then there's this bit where Daniel, standing up by himself in fatigues in an underground military base, performs the last rites for Apophis's host, and it kills me) and it never seems to find anything odd in doing both sorts of show.
But the other reason: okay. Remember the beginning? Here, at about 4.27 (warning: if you don't skip through it, what comes before that is kind of TV-icky and potentially disturbing). Daniel, in the floppy Abydonian robes, and Sam, the first feminist I fell in love with on TV, meeting for the first time.
JACKSON: All of the symbols are on the Stargate in the Abydos chamber. I've also managed to chart some of them in the Abydos sky, or at least pretty close. Jack, I think this is a map of a vast network of Stargates, Stargates that are - are all over the galaxy.
CARTER: Uh, I don't think that can be, Doctor.
JACKSON: Why not?
CARTER: Well, because after Colonel O'Neill and his team came back, my team tried hundreds of symbol permutations using Earth as the point of origin, and it never worked.
JACKSON: Well, I tried the same here and it didn't work either. But I figured the destinations I tried are either destroyed or... buried, but some of them somewhere must still exist.
CARTER: I don't think so.
JACKSON: Then where did your Ra lookalike come from? I - I don't pretend to know anything about astrophysics, but couldn't the planets change? I mean, uh... drift apart or something like that to throw this map off?
CARTER: I knew I'd like you.
And, okay, Sam and Daniel are both very clever - the only reason they can do what they do is because they're clever - and they're also this immensely geeky archaeologist and immensely-geeky-in-a-different way astrophysicist (and as an aside, which one of them is which is not what sci-fi gender tropes would suggest), and they do what they do. And.... do not laugh at me, okay, but I think when I was thirteen I hadn't realised that geeks can save the world. That you can drink too much coffee and be socially inept, and you can be loved and you can save the world.
All this time on, I don't think that's the worst lesson to have learned. And for watching this stuff at thirteen goes: I have met more than one woman who's said she was inspired to be an astrophysicist like Sam, and one who was going to be an archaeologist like Daniel, and if I've met more than one, imagine how many there must be in the world, and how many people just like me who grew up thinking they could be fiercely, geekily, intellectual, and that that had value, that it was important. And, I don't know, it's different from Star Trek, somehow. What was part of the charm of it, for me, was that the characters have ordinary lives around the extraordinary, they have pizza and budget cuts and terrible dates and children, and it's all underscored with extraordinary things. I mean, if Stargate is about anything, it's about the wonders of the world that's around us, that we're in, you know? There's all that meaning-of-life stuff, and we're going to be okay; your gods are false, but here, have the wondrous universe instead; there are aliens among us and they really like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. From "Urgo": "I want to live! I want to experience the universe, and I want to eat pie!"
Yes. Yes, that.
(I wonder, sometimes - should I catch up with this show at some point? I have seen the first seven seasons (barring "Shadowplay", for some unknown reason), and also "Threads" and "Moebius", also the Atlantis pilot and "Letters to Pegasus". I don't really want to watch the rest of SGA, but part of me does wonder who these Cam and Vala people are.)
Right. I am going to kick this dratted paper into submission, dammit, and then I am going home. Fie upon attainder.
* This subject line may be the worst pun I've ever made in my life.
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no subject
on 2010-12-03 06:31 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-04 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-03 03:36 pm (UTC)I really love seasons nine and ten of SG-1; it's a different show completely, but it's a pretty cool show (so long as you can get into the spirit of Wacky Medievalish Hijinx! Merlin! Arthur! WTF! and not expect logic etc.). Ben Browder and Claudia Black are . . . well, they're really really good actors, and by that point in the series Sam and Teal'c and Daniel are just sort of hilarious and awesome and very adorably ho-hum about things like dying etc. I think it's totally worth watching; I'd skip season eight almost entirely, except for "Avatar" and "Prometheus Unbound" and maaaaaybe "Threads" if you're not too bored of Daniel's ascension crap.
no subject
on 2010-12-04 05:30 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-03 05:08 am (UTC)("Serpent's Song" is brilliant in a lot of ways, not least of which is Daniel going quietly darkside and then giving Apophis' host last rites.)
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on 2010-12-03 05:11 am (UTC)(I KNOW! Seriously. I rewatched it and thought.... whoa, did I just not get this, the first time I saw it? Wow.)
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on 2010-12-03 04:28 pm (UTC)(Yeah, "Serpent's Song" is totally one of my favorite eps. And "Torment of Tantalus" was one of the first ones that made me actually respect the show, though I watched the 1st season all out of order anyway.)
no subject
on 2010-12-03 05:29 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-03 05:59 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-03 05:42 am (UTC)And, yes. I was never really fannish about SG-1 because, well... I actually don't know why, but this post reminds me of Kib's and my Stargate Mondays, when we'd sit down after school (middle for her, high for me) and watch reruns. And it was so much fun.
Also. Unrelated. At some point in the next two months, I need to see you. No, but for a real reason! Just a secret one. I mean, it doesn't have to be in the next two months, but it would be most appropriate if it were. *cryptic*
no subject
on 2010-12-03 05:57 am (UTC)Hi! I am intrigued! The next two months - well, for the next two weeks I am here, then the month after that I'm in the UK, and then I'm back mid-Jan. I shall email.
no subject
on 2010-12-03 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-04 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-03 04:42 pm (UTC)2) Yes yes yes yes I hear you yes. I am not a scientist because of Sam Carter - I already had my BS and MS before I'd even heard of her. I'm a scientist because of Mae Jemison and Sally Ride and all the Apollo astronauts. And because of Uhura and Jadzia Dax and Belanna Torres and Julia Heller and...
But I'm halfway to a PhD right now because of Sam Carter. Because when I was lost and confused and stagnant and dealing with the mental confusion of a boss telling me nobody would ever like me and I'd never succeed in life because I was smart, I stumbled upon SGA, which lead me to SG-1, and showed me this woman who maybe isn't the best socially, but she's smart and she doesn't hide her love for the wonder of the universe, and she doesn't let her reproductive organs being on the inside slow her down and just...gah. Sam Carter reminded me what I loved about science and that it was okay to be smart.
And Sam and Daniel and their connection and just...them. First fictional character I ever shipped. Though I love them just as much as friends.
And yes on the show. It just...it doesn't take itself seriously, except when it does. And it hits the right tone between serious and humor and it makes you love the characters. And it shows us people from our time, extraordinary people who are still ordinary, who could be at my grocery store right now, doing extraordinary things and seeing the universe and eating pie and being oh so very human.
I loved all the seasons, though I did watch them all in one fantastic gulp. I have some quibbles about the later seasons (mostly about how few Sam-Daniel interactions we got) but I also love Cam and Vala (I think it helps that Jack was, for me, the least interesting of the original team - I still love him, I just love the others more). And I think season 8 has the best episode they ever made (Reckoning) and introduces my favorite character to ponder endlessly (RepliCarter) even if it was, overall, their weakest season.
And if I was close to you right now I'd show up on your doorstep with dvds. Bah.
no subject
on 2010-12-03 07:33 pm (UTC)Although, seriously, I would learn to vid if it meant I could help make that vid! For some reason it's arrived in my head fully-formed: you'd use that bit from "Need", as well, and maybe make one of its end clips that bit where ascended!Daniel takes out Anubis, and blur it out into the white room.
2)) SAM. I love her! I love her so much. Thank you for telling me that - because, you know, sometimes I do wonder if being quite so invested in fiction is a good thing, but you know, I'm reminded that it is, loving things that inspire you is so important. And I am totally with you on Sam/Daniel interaction! I love how they play off each other so beautifully. ("Singularity"! that's another one that's great for that.)
About the later seasons - I'm really not sure. I love "Moebius", I love "Chimera", I think they did some good stuff, but I'm still secretly of the opinion that they could have gone out with a bang on "Full Circle" with slim-to-mimimal rewrites.
And if I was close to you right now I'd show up on your doorstep with dvds. Bah.
Dude, let's a make a date: SOMETIME, we will do this, and it will be awesome.
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on 2010-12-03 09:53 pm (UTC)2) SAM! Yeah. Sometimes I think maybe I'm too invested (seriously, my Sam action figure came with me on my grad school visits, and two days ago I did my comprehensive exam with her dog tags in my pocket). But the way I see it, humankind lives and breathes stories and we have for thousands of years. Some of the stories are true and some are fiction and some are a melding of the two and I see no reason why the story of a fictional character can't be as inspirational as that of a real person. I mean, I know Sam Carter isn't real, and I know there are things about her which aren't realistic but there is still so much about her that feels real - that I can strongly identify with and that is a reflection of my life and my hopes and dreams and experiences, and those of people I know. Because I know few female scientists who at some point or other haven't wanted to give a "reproductive organs on the inside" rant.
And I am totally with you on Sam/Daniel interaction! I love how they play off each other so beautifully. ("Singularity"! that's another one that's great for that.)
Yes! There's something about the way they *get* each other and respect each other that just works for me. If you need any fic recs from the past few years, I've got 'em :)
About the later seasons - I'm really not sure. I love "Moebius", I love "Chimera", I think they did some good stuff, but I'm still secretly of the opinion that they could have gone out with a bang on "Full Circle" with slim-to-mimimal rewrites.
*shrugs* I can see it. But, for me, there's enough I do love about the later seasons that I wouldn't want to not have them. I mean, I can totally see the idea of ending on "Full Circle" but I also think season 7 might be my favorite overall season, and season 8 has some of my favorite episodes, and while season 9 and 10 definitely have a different feel, I still love them for what they are. But everyone sees it differently, for all the different reasons they love the show, and that's okay.
Dude, let's a make a date: SOMETIME, we will do this, and it will be awesome.
*grins* Hey, if you ever want to come visit the mountains while you're on this side of the pond, our house has a guest bedroom and you're more than welcome to come visit (hell, we could even rent a car and drive down to Colorado Springs and ogle Cheyenne Mountain from a distance).
I had been hoping this March to combine my Boston conference with a chance to rent a car, grab Leigh, and go visit you and Ithaca. But then they moved my conference back a week so it no longer overlaps my Spring Break and instead I have to get back to Colorado right away. Bugger.
no subject
on 2010-12-04 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-04 04:54 am (UTC)I am hopefully going to Maine in July - so I might be able to add something on then (maybe, depending on summer plans) if you're both still around.
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on 2010-12-04 05:23 am (UTC)(I do have a Mac, yes. :))
2. I hear you, I hear you. I don't think I've ever been inspired by real people, but Daniel and Sam and Kathryn Janeway... I wouldn't be the same person if I hadn't had them on my TV. I just wouldn't.
It's such a shame about your conference! That would have been awesome. I shall bear in mind your offer of a visit - perhaps some weekend next year I will just appear on your doorstep, god knows Ithaca is claustrophobic at the time of year. :P
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on 2010-12-03 06:28 pm (UTC)I still haven't watched the final seasons because I am still heartbroken that there's no Jack and I'm also still heartbroken that Farscape ended so frankly throwing those two things together is just WOE.
I owe SG-1 so much, including probably my sanity as it got me into fandom and made me do things like meet you!
OH HEY I STILL HAVE A TEAl'C ICON, AWESOME.
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on 2010-12-04 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-04 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-04 05:42 am (UTC)Thank you for reminding me of my love. At this very moment, thanks to your post, I'm converting some of my favorite episodes to iPod format. Yay technology!
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on 2010-12-04 08:18 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-04 11:21 pm (UTC)I didn't comment on how much I love Sam, which I should have. I love Daniel first but I love their relationship and how much they love each other, how much they become family to each other: he the brother that Sam thinks doesn't care for her, and she the sister he never had. At least, that's how I see them.
Sorry for writing so much! You got me all excited.
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on 2010-12-04 11:23 pm (UTC)Okay, I will stop spamming your journal. *slinks away*
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on 2010-12-06 08:07 am (UTC)("The Fifth Race" - yes. Yes. That's science fiction for me, what it should be like.)
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on 2010-12-04 06:19 pm (UTC)And "see the universe, eat pie" is about as good a reason to live as I've ever heard. :)
(good luck with this last bit lovely! *hug*)
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on 2010-12-04 06:26 pm (UTC)(I need a Sam icon too!)
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on 2010-12-04 07:02 pm (UTC)I haven't seen most of the last few seasons of SG1 but now I kind of want to. (Especially as I'm pretty sure she doesn't end up with Jack, which in and of itself counts as a win in my book.)
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on 2010-12-04 07:15 pm (UTC)(Without Daniel they wouldn't have the Stargate at all, but clearly without Sam they would have blown themselves up in their first week. :P)
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on 2010-12-05 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-12-06 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-01-15 12:20 am (UTC)I do, vaguely; I saw the film, anyway, although I don't remember it all that well. And I have seen bits of the odd episode, because my sister used to watch it. I shall add it to my list of things to watch, when I have time. :)