Geek boys and conspiracy theories

[trixtah]

Over the course of this week, I attended the RedHat course that is the last one for achieving the RedHat Certified Engineer qualification. I won't be doing the actual exam any time soon, since it has been the most difficult course I've done as an adult. While I had no problem with the concepts (except for bloody SELinux, give me a break), carrying out the lab sessions was an exercise in frustration. Even when I followed some solutions line by line, they were still frustrating - ie. they didn't work. The instructor couldn't figure out why some things didn't work. Not one of my happier weeks. Although getting the email working was a breeze, hah.

Anyways, we all had lunch together, and of course I was the only female in the class. Within half an hour of chat, they all got onto their outré theories as to the origins of 9/11. I really don't have patience with conspiracy theories on that matter. Anyone with any brain can see how the towers collapsed. The planes were most definitely civil aviation planes. If you have the slightest inkling of how aviation systems work (and my own inkling is very slight), you know just how easy it is for an air traffic controller to lose a particular plane when there are thousands flying around, its transponder is turned off, and it's not where you expect it to be. ATCs manage sectors. If a pilot doesn't update the ATC of his/her location, and flies into another sector, that unidentified blip on the radar screen could be anything (assuming that sector has full radar coverage). My boss, who should know better about the aviation side, is another one of these conspiracy idiots.

Ranting aside, I've decided that conspiracy theories fulfill the same mechanism for a certain kind of geek boy that those schmaltzy "you're a special person, forward this on to 5000 people and make a wish" chain emails sent by certain females do. It's a kind of bonding thing. Both things drive me absolutely insane. What happens if you get a conspiracy geek-boy making babies with a glurge-letter chick? I'm sure the resulting offspring would be slaves of Cthulhu in short order.

Oh, and to the uber-nerdboy who couldn't eat with his mouth shut, and who thought Torchwood was too much with the sexiness, because you know, there has been "lesbian kissing"? Get a fucking life.

[Wine and eps 8 & 9 of Torchwood are starting to make me human. Just as well.]

Comments

[submarine-bells.livejournal.com]

It's good that someone likes Torchwood. :-7 Artyem and I have given up on it because it just irked us to the point where we didn't enjoy it any more... they're a Big Sekrit Above The Government Agency and they've got their name on their car wiv blinkenlites? They're doing Vital World-Saving Stuff and they put up with unprofessional idiotic behaviour from their staff on a weekly basis? Puh-leeeze. Several of the plots almost seemed as if they were going to make sense, until the Amazing Hand-waving Pull A Rabbit Out Of The Hat Solution appeared again. And if they're gonna have the cameras focussing so much and so detailedly on them waving firearms around whenever threatened, it'd really help if someone on the production staff actually knew how to use them. *sigh*

Sorry, I'll stop ranting now. :-\ I really wanted to like Torchwood, but I found that the idiotic writing got too much for me. I gather you find plenty to like in the show. If you felt like telling me what you enjoy about it, I'd be interested in seeing a different angle on it.

Please, rant away! :-)

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I do know what you mean about some of the deus ex machina-type plot resolutions. It can be a bit cheesy. Still, it's not cheesy enough to make me groan out loud the way that the last series of Doctor Who did, at several points. That had some diabolical writing, although the last ep blew me away (also partly because David Tennant had bugger-all gurning opportunity, thank god).

And yep, I'm not one of Captain Jack's fangirls, precisely because of his arrogant, need-to-know leadership style. However, this idol is also most certainly shown to have feet of clay. He often falls flat on his face due to this policy, and I hope that feeling about it is maintained, rather than it eventually turning out to imply that "secrets are for the best" and "I know everything and you little minions have no hope of ever doing so". That will piss me off, if it happens.

Re them turning up in the Batmobile and walking to the crime scene like something out of a Kurosawa flick, I see that as deliberate parody, so it doesn't irritate. Re the weapons-handling thing, I personally wouldn't have a clue, so it doesn't tweak me, although I can totally see how it would someone more knowlegable. I do think a cop show (which this essentially is, with aliens) should make a point of getting it reasonably right for those who do care about such things.

But what do I like about it? It's all about the PORN. Seriously. They have nookie. There are ambiguous sexualities all over the place. Gwen is teh HAWT. I like the humour in it, which is less slapsticky than the Doctor Who kind. I like the fact it's for grown-ups and not for 12-year-olds (not that I mind lots of programmes designed for 12-year-olds, but it's nice to have a change). I like the characterisations, which play around with sterotypes but don't buy into them. I like the fact that the characters are growing (as Rose did in Doctor Who, and even bloody Mickey), although if some of the loose ends are dropped or certain themes aren't continued, I will be peeved.

So there you go. It's funny how some things don't necessarily fit when you think they should. It's taken me a long time to get to grips with the fact there is very little sci-fi tv/movies I can enjoy, even though I like reading in the genre.

However, I think that what we get in the SF media is about 10-15 years behind where things are at in the SF literature (in terms of handling themes and character development), so it's no wonder I find it hit-and-miss. It is improving, and at least there is more variety to choose from at present. If all we had was Star Trek and SGA, I'd be annoyed, but we don't, thank god. Torchwood seems to be a good fit for my SF preferences, cheese and all. :-)