Twenty-Third Birthday · 12:57am Jul 13th, 2018
Feels hard to believe, when I try to think about it.
Twenty-three years old today.
Well, it's been a really nice day.
My dad and I went to the movies this afternoon, and saw Ant-Man and the Wasp. Very fun time with that film, expect a review of that (and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, which I saw yesterday with a friend) up sometime in the future... maybe I'll try a double-feature review, as it were... XD
But anyway, the movie was nice. Then afterwards we came home and, with my mom off early from work, I opened presents:
- Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View. A collection of 40 short stories, retelling the original classic movie through a bunch of different perspectives. Sounded interesting to me, and it should hopefully present an interesting read. Thanks, Mom. ^_^
- The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World. A history and a narrative of the evolution, rise and extinction of the terrible lizards, recounted by paleontologist Steve Brusatte. My dad had heard about this book and mentioned it to me, and I'd expressed an interest in it, as someone with a lifelong love of dinosaurs. Definitely gonna look forward to reading this one. Thanks, Dad 
- Hagakure - The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai. Ever since the final season of Samurai Jack aired last year, I've developed an interest in the samurai of history and in their culture. I bought Inazo Watobe's The Way of the Samurai, plus Musashi's The Book of Five Rings, last summer, and earlier this year I got John Man's Samurai: The Last Warrior, which proved a deftly-written and intriguing read. Really interested to see what's in this classic test. Thanks to my awesome big sister for this present! 
- Two special issues of Newsweek and Entertainment Weekly, both of them focused on the Jurassic Park franchise and the newest installment, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom. These gifts were also from my dad. He really made something of a dino theme with my birthday gifts this year, huh? XD
- Jurassic World Evolution for the PlayStation 4. As a kid I loved playing Zoo Tycoon, and I also had fun with Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, so when they announced a new game with building your own zoo for dinosaurs, I was all over that. Hoping to have fun with it, and to avoid resisting the urge to let the T-rex out on the guests 
(I kid, I kid!)
- LEGO Marvel Super Heroes II, for the PlayStation 4. I love the LEGO video games made by Traveller's Tales. Have loved them ever since the first LEGO Star Wars game back in 2005. Haven't played one in a while, but I reckon that should make the return the more fun and entertaining for it. Thanks, mom.
- Soundtrack for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I really love movie soundtracks, especially for epic-type movies, and Howard Shore's music for the Hobbit films was really good... and so I look forward to giving this a listen sometime. ^_^
Some pretty nice stuff all around. Been a really nice day.
Not much else to say, really...
Looking forward to sharing some of my thoughts on the movies I've seen, or maybe on some other stuff too, in the next few days.
Keep cool, everybody. 
Happy Birthday!
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4900082
Thank you!
Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp was fun. Never much cared for the Jurassic franchise because it seems like nobody in universe learns that MAYBE bringing back these incredibly dangerous reptiles that died ages ago isn't necessarily the best idea because somehow somewhen, everything can and WILL go horribly wrong.
Happy Birthday! You got some nice gifts.
4900281
It'll never be a personal favorite of mine, but it was a stylish, entertaining and engaging ride all the way through.
Ant-Man and the Wasp was a blast.
As for the Jurassic franchise... Eh. I'm just a HUGE dinosaur nut. The first movie is the best of the bunch, since it is the first time people are making these mistakes. But honestly, human nature has led us to do some really stupid stuff, make the same mistakes over and over again, so in some ways I'm not as critical of the repeated trips back to the island (major exception though for the third movie, where the filmmakers made Dr. Grant look like a fucking idiot by getting lied to by the Kirbys
)
4900342
Thank you!
4900393
Humans are MASTERS of doing stupid shit that has NO business working, and somehow coming out better for it, but with Jurassic Park, it has NEVER WORKED. Beyond money, what could we POSSIBLY stand to gain from bringing dinosaurs back? And does it REALLY outweigh the exceedingly real chance that it's going to go horrifically wrong? Seriously, if you get carnivores, get weaker ones, don't go for T-Rexes or fucking Velociraptors, one is a fucking giant, and the other is too damn smart and fast for my taste.
4900397
You just answered your own question there, man. Money.
Ever read the original book? It's cynical as fuck about the making of the park and the ethical shortcuts, excuses and bullshit needed to ever think that bringing back dinosaurs was a solid idea.
4900398
Fair point-wait there was a book about this? Huh. The more you know.
4900399
Yeah! It's based on the novel by Michael Crichton...
And it has some pretty grim content in it, all in all. Hammond is a much darker character than Sir Richard Attenborough's portrayal of him, and Nedry's death is one of the most graphic bits of the entire book...
But weirdly, the lawyer is actually a pretty heroic character. He helps the game warden tranquilize the T-rex, and even manages to survive a Velociraptor attack by throwing the beast off him when it pounces on him!
4900401
I'm guessing the lawyer had some form of martial arts training because that's what a lot of martial arts is. Not outright blocking a hit, but dodging a hit, or deflecting a hit, and in this case, redirecting the momentum. Still, that probably involved a LOT of luck and if not for the adrenaline running through him, odds are he'd probably not have survived, because you can't plan that, that's a split second reaction thing.
4900402
Probably luck and adrenaline, admittedly. But still pretty damn impressive, even if it was luck. XD
But yeah, Jurassic Park was a novel by Crichton. He wrote a good number of science thriller books...
He also created the idea of Westworld, directing it as a TV movie back in 1973. Look it up sometime, it's pretty good!
4900404
What's Westworld?
4900405
In many ways, Westworld is Crichton's predecessor to Jurassic Park, in terms of "sci-fi about a theme park gone nightmarishly wrong". It's about an adult theme park (called Delos) based around a simulation of the Wild West along with other historical eras (from Ancient Rome to Medieval England), where guests can go to live out various fantasies, being able to shoot or seduce the robot humans who are part of the attraction, like a real-world game of Grand Theft Auto... But then the robots start to act up, and then go wild and start killing the guests.
The movie's really good, and also contains a great forerunner of the Terminator in the character of "the Gunslinger".
It recently got turned into a television series. Just wrapped its second season. Notable for having Sir Anthony Hopkins as the scientist who designed the idea of the park.
4900409
So why not just give the participants and the robots guns with blanks and vests that can detect when they've been hit? Sounds safer than actual guns.
4900411
That was, to the park's credit, part of the design. The guns were designed with sensors that would prevent the gun from firing when pointed at live humans... but when the malfunctions started, the guns were part of it too.
4900413
Of course. Because in sci fi, safeguards and backups either don't mean anything, or don't exist.
4900415
Murphy's Law, and Finagle's Law, at work together! XD
4900416
Oh joyous fucking day.
4900417
Yep. Ain't it grand? ^_^
4900418
No.
4900419
All that can be said, really. XD
Though one thing I will add, just as a little observation, is that a couple of science fiction authors I've noticed really seem to dislike technology. Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Harlan Ellison... Interesting...
4900422
Tech can fuck us over really badly. Then again, so can a lack of thereof.