Another twisted fairy tale from Disney, Maleficent opens in theaters on May 30th. Angelina Jolie looks like she is having fun being the bad guy for this one, although it’s more of a prequel, explaining the history that made her so evil, or at least hard-hearted.
Written by award winning author Lois McMaster Bujold, Miles Vorkosigan is one of the best characters in space opera, and the universe she created for him to inhabit is a real treat to visit. The background starts with a planet cut off from the rest of the human inhabited planets due to a disastrous nuclear war, then reunited within the lifetime of the protagonist’s grandfather. After hundreds of years of isolation, it is difficult for most of the population to understand the changes this means for society. Starting with the fact that contact with outside worlds brings with it major medical advances to a population who has spent dozens of generations practicing infanticide as their only way to avoid major mutation and extinction. Miles earliest memory is being lifted from his crib as his grandfather tries to murder him as a mutant (he isn’t, but the old man does not comprehend what made him as he is; he only knows anything different must be killed if humanity on his planet is to survive). The gun his parent held to the back of his grandfather’s head was the only reason he made it to his first birthday, let alone beyond.
There is some debate about the correct order to read the books, but I vote for going for the author listed chronological order, rather than the published order. The Vorkosiverse will make a lot more sense that way, starting at the point his parents met (and more than most universes, you NEED to understand how we got to this point if you are going to understand where we go from here, and why). This is quite a complex collection of societies covering a major percentage of the galaxy, and like Asimov before her, Bujold does not clutter up her universe with non-human intelligent species. There is only us people driving all these situations, each group fighting for their own interests and desires.
And as with any excellent series of stories, the protagonist throws a monkey wrench into the proceedings that no one in that world sees coming, and changes everything in ways no one ever expected. My own personal connection into this universe is the fact that Miles is a frail, breakable, and damaged physical specimen who can never win a battle by strength of arms. So his only option is to use wit, intelligence, heart, and desire to force his enemy to defeat themselves. There are already a goodly number of novels and a double handful of short stories embedded in this universe; I can’t wait to get more!
BTW, did I mention the author won some awards? She has won six Hugo Awards and two Nebula Awards. In fact, only Robert A. Heinlein has won as many Hugo Awards for Best Novel, although a few other authors have won 5.
We get two wonderful selections this week, in two totally different flavors. Divergent is based on the excellent YA fantasy novels of Veronica Roth, and as far as action/adventure goes, it is the choice for this time around. If you crave something with a noticeably larger humor quotient then Muppets Most Wanted is the way to go. You really can’t go wrong whichever one you decide to see, so I am thinking both might be the correct option.
In movies, I have to vote for Frozen first and foremost, because it is such a wonderful story, with characters I love (and love to hate), music I sing along with, and incredible animation. It also won a boatload of awards, as I suspect you may have heard; if you haven’t seen it yet, now is your chance! Also this week, the lesser known but still important Kill Your Darlings brings together a very young Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac, the three people who would go on to invent the Beat Generation which spawned everything that came after. I have no idea what percentage of this story bears any resemblance to reality, but it is nice someone is exploring the possibilities within it.
In TV, the new series Atlantis makes it to disc, and while I was not as excited by it as I was hoping to be, they have created an interesting premise with some good actors who have some decent production work behind them. To be fair, I have only seen the first 3 episodes so far, I need to return to it and try it again.
In Anime, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Part 2 has Aladdin and Alibaba teamed up to take over dungeons and become very rich in the beginning. But somehow that changes into them trying to protect their country from its own ruler, and protect that ruler from a childhood friend turned Djinn. This box set includes episodes 13 through 25, bringing you to the end of the tale. Shakugan no Shana has released season 1 in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means if you shop around you can pick the first 26 episodes up for right around $20. Shana lives on the border between our world and the spirit realm, her purpose to fight demons who eat humans. When Yuji dies and meets her on that border, they discover he can increase her power, so they team up to protect the living. Finally, Upotte!!: Complete Collection includes all 10 episodes plus the OVA, about a homeroom teacher and his weapons-grade coeds. When your student’s are living weapons, the classroom gets even more dangerous than usual, as the new teacher finds out by winding up in the hospital.
The band is BABYMETAL, and their 1st full album is now out, with the same name. Cute girls in kawaii outfits singing sweet heavy metal harmonies… what’s not to like? The first track I posted is the live version of Gimme Chocolate, the second is the studio version of Megitsune. And I had to include their song Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!. This band is tearing up iTunes, rated in the top 10 in 7 countries including the US, and their physical media is available as a CD of the studio tracks, or a limited edition with the CD and a DVD with their live tracks, all from the self titled album.
The Live DVD build CAE Linux is a complete engineering toolkit for designing, simulating, testing, and creating/printing your own projects. Everything in the build is free and open source software, allowing you to design your device, do multiphysics simulations to optimize it, and generate the code for building it with 3D printing & milling. You can also design and develop your own printed circuit boards, and microcontroller circuits for automation. Not only do you not need to pay for a license for any of this (because of the GNU/Creative Commons licensing it comes with), you don’t even have to install it on your computer; it all runs directly off the DVD, being a Live Disc. This is pretty much the most powerful open source engineering package I know of, if you have any interest in the design and creation of anything from toy cars to advanced robotics, do yourself a favor and check out this build. You can find the download here, although I recommend visiting their home page to learn all about it and see what kind of support resources are also available.