Shaun Duke

Shaun Duke is an aspiring writer, a reviewer, and an academic. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Digital Rhetoric and Writing at Bemidji State University. He received his PhD in English from the University of Florida and studies science fiction, postcolonialism, digital fan cultures, and digital rhetoric.

World in the Satin Bag

And So I Live (For the Time Being)

/

This is, more or less, a completely pointless post about what has been going on with me. I’m feeling particularly bad right now as I haven’t posted anything of significance in quite some time (I don’t really consider the movie reviews to be of significance, though important in some way). So, what’s happening with me?I moved. It happened quite suddenly actually. Preceding this I had contracted a horrible cold, or the flu, or some other equally terrible illness responsible for a terrible fever, cough, sneezing, runny nose, clogged nose, delirium, and other such issues. Maybe it was bird flu. Regardless, I was ill and when I moved it was sudden and I don’t really remember it. Trust me, if you have a bad fever, a horrible cough, and about two gallons of cold medicine floating around in your belly and someone tells you “okay, we’re moving you, so pack up”, it’s really hard to have any idea what the hell is going on. Needless to say, stuff got packed up in boxes and I had no idea how to find things. This becomes an issue when you have sold a lot of things on Ebay and have to ship it off, because if you can’t find such things (partly because you’re horribly ill and because there are about 50 boxes to go through) it’s really difficult to ship in the first place.In any case, I’ve moved deeper into the Santa Cruz area. The good news is that I don’t have to worry about driving. I’m within two miles of downtown, there’s a Safeway just up the road, and I can ride the bus to class and get there by 8 AM for my Lit. 101 course (the bus stop is right up the street actually). Basically, I’m in a decent spot as far as getting around. The great thing about Santa Cruz and the outlying areas is that you can get to just about everywhere during the day. SC isn’t really big enough for there to be late night buses to everywhere, but that’s fine because I’m close enough to the things I need to be close to.The result of being sick and moving is that I am somewhat behind on homework, or was. I’m mostly caught up now, thankfully. Now to other stuff: writing and reviews.I am ill for other reasons right now. One of those reasons is my complete lack of writing. Last quarter was really easy. That’s the truth. It was too easy, actually. I didn’t have to work hard on anything and while that is bad in some ways (not being challenged) it is good in other ways (not being overly challenged means doing lots of other stuff).This quarter, however, is exceedingly challenging. I think was rather stupid in how I picked my courses, but in some ways it’s probably for the best. I absolutely love my Philip K. Dick course, mostly because I’m getting to read things that are really great. PKD is amazing. The Lit. 101 course, however, is killing me. I’m writing a paper every week, and it’s really difficult to try to put the proper amount of thought into a paper that is only two pages long. Needless to say I’m doing decent in the course, but probably not as well as I would like. I’ve got a high B thus far. The PKD course won’t be an issue. That’s an easy A, actually, and the professor sponsoring me is really amazing. She offered to sponsor me to do an undergraduate research project, which means I can apply for funding to do such a thing!The result of doing so much work is that my writing has dropped off the face of the Earth. I’ve tried to fit a little in here or there, but the biggest problem is getting my head into the game. It wasn’t a problem before when homework took me a couple hours a week, but I’m doing ten times the work this quarter. My brain is exhausted after reading a lot of this stuff, primarily because a lot of it is really boring and uninteresting (the PKD stuff excluded).Why does this make me ill? I hate not writing. Yes, hate is a strong word, but I absolutely hate it. I’ve never been so serious about my craft before this last year and a half. The honorable mention from WOTF really pushed me to get my writing under control as well, but now my head is so exhausted from all this reading it’s hard for me to do much other than, well, read. It’s hard to force yourself to write when you’re mentally exhausted. I know that sounds like a cop out, but it’s the same as working 10 hours in a day doing hard work and getting home and not feeling like doing much other than getting some water and sitting down.I am writing a little. I did some writing yesterday and a little today. It felt amazing to write. I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Maybe it is. Should you feel fantastic when you write something? Should you feel like a huge load has been removed from your shoulders? That’s what it feels like. It’s a relief. I am going to write more as I get more used to this quarter, I think. It’s about half over, actually, and if I don’t get to writing during this quarter you can expect a huge load of writing. And I mean huge! I have ideas, short stories to finish writing, stories to edit, etc.Okay, enough of that. I’ve also fallen behind on the reviewing. I have about 20 books in my list to read. I am going to get that done because I have a lot of downtime while riding the bus back and forth. I don’t get car sick so I can at least read while the bus is bouncing around (writing is a whole different experience because for whatever reason buses are so bumpy

World in the Satin Bag

My Trip: Part Two (The First Half)

/

For all your sakes, I’m going to leave out the exceedingly mushy stuff. You probably don’t want to read about it, so I’m not going to bother you with it.Having arrived at Sheffield by train, I proceeded to collect my things while Lindsey, my girlfriend, stood outside wrapped in her warm jacket looking around for me in the windows. It was somewhat funny because as I lugged my heavy junk off the train she still didn’t see me. So I snuck my way over and waved at her until she saw me. Then I got a hug for my efforts and all was well.A moment later and we were heading for her mother’s car where her mother was waiting. I half expected there to be a confrontation of sorts, but there wasn’t. This was good news of course (except the part where she was just putting on a happy face and instead was saying lots of horrible things about me behind my back, but so be it).So we left Sheffield, with Lindsey and I in the backseat holding hands and generally making other people sick (get over it, this is us and we’re cute and cuddly, so ha!). Then irony struck. We were talking about the car, which was a Ford (why they have Fords in England is beyond me, but they have them…I thought English folks had better taste in cars…), and how Fords are crappy cars in America. Her mother remarked that her car never had any serious problems and then–duh duh DUH!–the car starts smoking. The good news of all this? Lindsey and I got to walk for a bit in Sheffield while her mother called for assistance. The other good news? Nothing was actually wrong with the car (nothing serious anyway, just some run off from the radiator), but it was still incredibly humorous that just as we were talking about how crappy Fords are in the states and how her car is good, the car decided to break.Anyway, so we’re going to skip ahead of getting to Lindsey’s house and getting me checked into the hotel (the Brecon Hotel, which I would recommend if you stay in Rotherham simply because it’s like a real house and sort of cozy even though it’s sort of a cheap place. I really liked it, but that’s me).Okay, so day one went well enough. There was lots of nice things between Lindsey and I (cuddling and what not that is necessary for the salvation of mankind). Jet lag hit me that day, but not in ways that you’d expect. Yes, I got a little tired towards the end. I slept a bit on the plane over the ocean, so I was well prepped for England time. What killed me was the change over for my natural bodily cycles. What I mean is going to sound nasty, but tough: bowel things (going potty in any form). The problem is that I’m used to a certain time schedule for things, so when I’m suddenly thrust into a new environment where the light is different, my body started weirding out and gave me a good talking to, which sounds gross, but it wasn’t that sort of talking. Think of it more like “hey, I don’t feel good, just so you know” sort of talking.I won’t go into any other details, but after I slept I was fine, for the most part. The next day Lindsey and I decided to go to Conisborough Castle, since the one thing I really wanted to see (other than Lindsey of course) was a castle. This is probably my favorite castle of the three I saw because it just looked like a real castle. What I mean by that is that it just looks like it would have been used for defense since the walls and the keep are separate and it clearly has the build of a castle that could sustain a real medieval battle.So we went there and it was awesome as you can see from these pictures:After that things do get a bit fuzzy. I think we watched some Simpsons that night, but I’m not entirely certain. I know there was lots of mushy stuff, but since I said I wasn’t going to really talk about that I’ll leave it out. So, what I will talk about is some of the other stuff I got to try, in no particular order, as I’m not sure the order they happened in (though I imagine that my pictures have dates and could tell me, but I’m too lazy to really look).One thing we did was go to the Blue John Cavern, which is in Castleton (Derbyshire). If you don’t know what Blue John is, don’t worry. Most people have never even heard of it. Blue John is a sort of precious gem/rock/crystal thing. I’m not sure how to describe it, so here is a picture of two forms it comes in:Basically, it’s rare because it is only found in this one string of mountains. Apparently it was discovered by a coal miner who, as it turns out, was possibly the worst coal miner in history since he never actually found coal…ever. What he did find was Blue John. The interesting thing is that it is quite valuable, but not nearly as valuable as gold for the following reason: nobody really knows about it. Yup. Apparently the folks who have been mining it really haven’t taken the time to create an effective ad campaign to boost sales. They only mine so much of it each year, on purpose, and it seems to me that if people started to desire it the value would go up exponentially. Maybe that’s what they are trying to avoid.In any case, the mining resulted in actually opening up some natural caverns that had been created from underground rivers. You can see in the following pictures the kind of neat things we found (including some sort of plant that was growing in

World in the Satin Bag

Psst!

/

By the way, yes, I am back and alive. More to come on that subject later 😛 (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Short Hiatus

/

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am going on a very brief hiatus from blogging. This is NOT permanent and will only last until around the middle of next week. Basically here is what’s up:I’m moving and have to move this weekend.I’m behind on homework from trying to sell stuff off, get rid of stuff, find a place to move to, etc.I have contracted a wicked cold that is really eating me up right now and I think it’s fair to everyone, including myself, to take a very short break to get over this and get my life in order.I’ve been struggling the last few weeks just trying to do my homework, move, sell stuff, and do writing. It’s just a lot to take and now that I have this horrible cold I think I need to move away from a couple things to give myself a little breathing space until all things are situation.Again, this is not permanent. I’ll be back next week (likely be wednesday). Thanks for your support and I look forward to coming back and writing again. I have lots of things lined up, so expect some fun stuff. Until next week! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Movie Review: Fantastic Four and the Rise of the Silver Surfer

/

I’m not a fan of Fantastic Four and never was. I saw the first movie on TV many years after it had already gone through theaters and made its run on DVD. The first film was, in a lot of ways, a poor excuse for a superhero movie and when I found out they were making a second, and saw the pictures of the Silver Surfer, I was prepared for ultimate suckage.Having said that, I can now say I was at least partially proven wrong on this film. Fantastic Four 2 is loads better than the first film. Where the first film failed, this one got it right. There is actually a progressive plot. The characters actually go from not doing a whole lot, to doing a little bit, to a bit more, and finally to the climax. The first film failed entirely on this point with the confrontation with Dr. Doom happening all the way at the end and the only other confrontations being personal ones between the characters. The writers for part two changed that so the confrontations between the characters happen alongside the big plot: the Silver Surfer is destroying Earth. This gives you a more even approach to the concept. While certainly not a perfect film, I at least enjoyed this one and found myself mostly thinking it was a decent film, if not a tad bit flawed. Certainly worth renting, watching on TV, or, if you’re a FF nut, buying. Direction 3/5I can’t say there isn’t anything really surprising or amazing about the directing. The good news is that it doesn’t seem to get in the way almost all of the time. There are some moments where I think some direction could have helped even out some things, but nothing that annoys too much. Since I can’t really say much else about the directing, other than it gets the job done, it doesn’t really deserve anything more than 3. If there were moments of pure brilliance I would go with a higher number. Cast 3/5I’m not a fan of Jessica Alba, and I’m still not. The biggest let down for me is probably Chris Evans. I like Chris Evans. He was awesome in Sunshine, but I think the problem with him here is that he tends to push that arrogance a little too much. This might have something to do with the directing, but I can’t say for certain. I like Chris Evans, and his banter with Chiklis’ character–the Thing–is almost always rather good (I particularly liked the character development in this one). I think if he had just pulled back just a little it would have worked even better.Other than that, I think the choice of actors works well. Nobody here is going to knock your socks off, but nobody is going to really make you want to break the TV either. Adaptation N/AI didn’t read the comics, so I can’t say anything about this. Writing 4/5In comparison to the first film, the writing here is really rather good. The story progresses at a reasonable pace, rather than the sudden jolt in the first film. This is all good because it means you get to know the characters, you see many different conflicts being introduced and/or resolved, and the general feel of the movie is more intense. Kudos to the writers for getting it right. Plus, the Silver Surfer is pretty darn cool.My only complaint is the final confrontation between the Silver Surfer and Galactus. It was just a little too quick for me. I know in the comic book that Galactus doesn’t die, but he does seem to die in this movie, which poses a problem since the Fantastic Four really don’t confront Galactus, just the Silver Surfer, who miraculously can destroy Galactus and has been able to all along. Why didn’t he do it before? I don’t really understand that. Visuals 4/5The visuals are good, but with flaws. The Silver Surfer is obviously CG when he’s on his board, but he looks a lot more real when he’s not. I’m not sure if they used a real person for the non-board scenes or if they are just really good at dealing with non-shiny silver colors, but for some reason he just looks more real. That is probably the only sad part: the lack of realism in some of the CGed scenes.The other problem was Galactus. I felt a little let down by him. In the comics he is supposed to be a humanoid giant/God who devours planets, and there is a scene in the movie where we see the shape of his helmet as a shadow moving over Jupiter (I think, or Saturn). But when it comes down to it, he’s just a molecular cloud of some sort. It was sort of a let down. I wanted him to be a giant thing, or at least have a more human quality to him than being a giant cloud without much form. What happened to his shape? It’s important! Overall 3.5/5Certainly worth watching and enjoyable. It deserves what it gets since it isn’t an award winning film at all. If you like super hero movies, you should watch this one. There is certainly a lot going on here that beats out the mediocre first film. It’s more enjoyable and, dare I say, fantastic. That’s important, I think. The return of Dr. Doom is at least somewhat intelligent here because we know he’s up to no good, and yet the conflict of his arrival digs deep into the characters and, gasp, actually does something important. Before? He was just there…and the fight in the end was lame. Here, it’s better! There’s a conflict that progresses. Not to mention you have the deal with the Silver Surfer there too. This film simply does it right. It gives you action and other bits to keep you interested in what is going on. In the first film? When it ended I felt like I had wasted

World in the Satin Bag

SF/F Links: April Roundup (First Half)

/

By the way, this is going to be long since I’m pulling links off my desktop and my laptop. So, get ready for a long list of SF/F related links! Universe Today Want to know what happens when two black holes collide? What about three? Sound like science fiction? Yeah, they asked the same question too. It’s not. Intel, being the cool company that they are, have begun devising ways to protect microchips from cosmic rays. Basically, the chips are going to be smart enough to go “hey, that’s not right” and magically fix themselves–in theory. Want to read more about how all life on Earth is from outer space? So do I. Screw E.T. We’re more interesting (well, not really, humanity is somewhat boring to me now). New images of an actual dust avalanche on Mars! Now all we need are skiers. And just to add to this I think a cute picture is needed: the little blue planet and its moon from Mars. I love this planet. We’re so cool. Apparently Saturn’s moon, Rhea, has rings. Who knew? I always thought their relationship was strictly professional. Hubble, being the great piece of machinery that it is, has turned up evidence for organic molecules around an exoplanet! It just keeps getting better and better. Salt deposits discovered on Mars might be a good place to look for evidence of life (fossilized, but still, life is life). I’m skeptical, but enthusiastic. Even if we find microbial life, it’s good. New evidence has been discovered to suggest that Titan has a liquid ocean underneath its crust! Good news? Yes, actually. This has some interesting implications about the possibilities for life on other planets. Did the asteroid impact for Sodom and Gomorrah happen? It’s quite possible. A clay tablet that has been puzzling scientists is believed to describe an asteroid impact a long long time ago on this very planet. So maybe it really happen, eh? Futurismic First flights from Boeing to use fuel-cells! Yeah! Now we are getting closer to the answer to my question: When oil runs out, what happens to airline flights? The lovely folks in the Netherlands have a low-tech way of converting salt water into something drinkable. To add to the frightening change in our cyber-culture, there are now reports of high-tech heart monitors being hacked into. Scary? I think so. Apparently British waters are a great place to get mostly clean energy. Read about it here. Stem cell research shows it can help deal with Parkinson’s. Babies killed to figure that out? Zero. Good job everyone! In a serious note, this is great news for me because I’d like to see Michael J. Fox come back to to TV. We’re one step closer to suspended-animation, since we can now almost completely do it with mice. Yeah, this is good news because now I don’t have to completely BS this stuff. Afghanistan is smart. Now with food prices on the rice it seems that all those lovely opium fields are being converted to wheat fields. Yay democracy, or whatever prompted them to do that. Listverse Top 10 Sciencific Frauds and Hoaxes. A bonus is you get a nice anti-evolution hoax in there. Fun! 10 More Unsolved Mysteries. I’m particularly fond of 5 and 3. Top 10 Bizarre Genetically Modified Organisms. Michael Jackson isn’t on this list by the way. Top 10 Evil Human Experiments. Because we humans tend to be a little screwed up. Top 12 Things You Need to Be a Mad Scientist. Oh yes, now I have a mission in life! Top 12 Dystopian Novels. Also known as the list of really awesome books. Top 15 SF Book Series! Another good list! 8 Atrocities Committed in the Name of Religion. Not a particularly powerful list (missing a few things that need to be there), but certainly one I will give a thumbs up to. Top 10 Interesting Abandoned Places! I love these kinds of lists! io9 This is fascinating. Apparently studies show that dyslexics are able to work comfortable when working in a language other than the one they first learned. So someone who speaks English might not have much problems working in Chinese. The article also talks about why such people are great at computer programming. Need a 20% decrease in fuel consumption on those oil-guzzling transport ships? Well, attach a sail to it. This might be just the thing we need to stick it to them damned oil companies. Apparently some scientists think we might not be that different from aliens after all. Genetic manipulation might be used for good: stopping HIV in its tracks. Yup. New studies show that we are born with a gene that could combat the virus, but that it is turned off. So, should we turn it on at birth? (Note, the gene is present in people infected with HIV) Detailed military specs on how to stop a giant monster in your home town. Yeah, someone has a lot of time on their hands. The survival guide to bad SF movies. Great list indeed! Want to see something scary? The science vs. scientology timeline! Yeah, apparently the Thetans are inside us all. Apparently this lizard can drink through its foot. That has to suck. Google, being so awesome, is teaming up with MIT to design the first satellite that can actually detect small Earth-like planets around other stars. I love you, Google. Apparently this is the new bacteria that will cause the next pandemic. I’m skeptical. It looks like a wimp to me. Menopause sucks (or so I hear). But guess what? You need men even more now because studies show that you can use testosterone to counter the bad effects of menopause! Yeah! Scientists have found a mirror galaxy to ours. Don’t get your hopes up. It’s not exactly like ours, but it shares similarities. Heathrow Airport will now have a new form of transportation from the parking structures to the airport. And it’s unmanned! Awesome!

Scroll to Top