Ed Pichon
@edpichon.bsky.social
Tech geek, standards engineering consultant, dad, lapsed physicist, hubby to a real engineer, cat attendant.
All things considered - especially the Navy’s track record on new ship designs for…pretty much my entire life - I would be happy with a frigate that floated. Call that a Trump BB and call it a day.
December 24, 2025 at 8:27 PM
All things considered - especially the Navy’s track record on new ship designs for…pretty much my entire life - I would be happy with a frigate that floated. Call that a Trump BB and call it a day.
Wooooooot!
(Merry Christmas to the history nerds!)
(Merry Christmas to the history nerds!)
December 24, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Wooooooot!
(Merry Christmas to the history nerds!)
(Merry Christmas to the history nerds!)
Do you live in Texas? I’d gladly come over to your place to play. I’ll even bring snacks!
December 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Do you live in Texas? I’d gladly come over to your place to play. I’ll even bring snacks!
Needs Frosthaven, for the winter vibes!
December 24, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Needs Frosthaven, for the winter vibes!
(Addendum) Though I must agree, as good as Cameron is in his art form, Bigelow is better.
December 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
(Addendum) Though I must agree, as good as Cameron is in his art form, Bigelow is better.
It could be racism, bias, and sloppy storytelling. Or it could be something deeply subversive, playing with fun SF tropes (Pandora as an engineered paradise, with hints of manipulation of human development), & a technical marvel. I'm choosing the latter. Though I can see why others don't. YMMV. 5/5
December 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
It could be racism, bias, and sloppy storytelling. Or it could be something deeply subversive, playing with fun SF tropes (Pandora as an engineered paradise, with hints of manipulation of human development), & a technical marvel. I'm choosing the latter. Though I can see why others don't. YMMV. 5/5
Same goes for Cameron and Avatar. Which is why I think the movies have had little impact in the popular culture. It's impossible to ignore the historical allusions, and they are an affront to - and assault on - "white man's burden" thinking. 4/x
December 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Same goes for Cameron and Avatar. Which is why I think the movies have had little impact in the popular culture. It's impossible to ignore the historical allusions, and they are an affront to - and assault on - "white man's burden" thinking. 4/x
I suspect that, like with Herbert and Dune, the accusations of being a "white savior" myth is more due to artistic failure to convey the opposite theme. Hence Herbert writing 2 more books that are largely about how much Muad'dib was a terrible failure, and a catastrophe for the Fremen. 3/x
December 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I suspect that, like with Herbert and Dune, the accusations of being a "white savior" myth is more due to artistic failure to convey the opposite theme. Hence Herbert writing 2 more books that are largely about how much Muad'dib was a terrible failure, and a catastrophe for the Fremen. 3/x
The fact that slavery and disease haven't shown up (yet) is likely due to it being too repugnant to depict accurately, or entertainingly. The whaling scenes are stomach churning enough, but does lead to catharsis of a sort. 2/x
December 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
The fact that slavery and disease haven't shown up (yet) is likely due to it being too repugnant to depict accurately, or entertainingly. The whaling scenes are stomach churning enough, but does lead to catharsis of a sort. 2/x
Having now seen the third, I'm now more convinced that the movies are a primal scream against the tragedies and horrors of colonialism and the past 500 years. A fantasy of justice. Inartful in some places, but more out storytelling shorthand than inherent racism or bias. 1/x
December 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Having now seen the third, I'm now more convinced that the movies are a primal scream against the tragedies and horrors of colonialism and the past 500 years. A fantasy of justice. Inartful in some places, but more out storytelling shorthand than inherent racism or bias. 1/x
That’s one of the more worrying and disturbing parts of RaFotTR - how so many of them were buffoons. Uneducated fools. Terrifyingly evil idiots.
December 23, 2025 at 11:58 PM
That’s one of the more worrying and disturbing parts of RaFotTR - how so many of them were buffoons. Uneducated fools. Terrifyingly evil idiots.
It’s a prequel, and I’m going to have to reread the originals too, to catch all the links. As soon as I can figure out who I loaned my copies to. Definitely matches the vibe, and (thankfully) doesn’t try to explain Area X or what is “really going on”. It colors in the mystery, but that’s all.
December 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
It’s a prequel, and I’m going to have to reread the originals too, to catch all the links. As soon as I can figure out who I loaned my copies to. Definitely matches the vibe, and (thankfully) doesn’t try to explain Area X or what is “really going on”. It colors in the mystery, but that’s all.
Of course they can. It’s yet another entry in a (sadly) long list of grievances.
December 23, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Of course they can. It’s yet another entry in a (sadly) long list of grievances.
I could of course be entirely wrong. I am as WASP as it is possible to be. But as an entertaining way to get the idea out there that colonization sucks, rampant capitalism can do terrible things, and that civilization isn't a function of technology... it's not bad. 8/8
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
I could of course be entirely wrong. I am as WASP as it is possible to be. But as an entertaining way to get the idea out there that colonization sucks, rampant capitalism can do terrible things, and that civilization isn't a function of technology... it's not bad. 8/8
Could the invaders have been defeated? Driven back? Forced to treat their victims as humans? As equals? What if what was lost wasn't? I think Avatar is spectacle wrapped around that counterfactual. It's not blaming the victims - it's wishing that they had been able to stop the calamity. 7/x
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Could the invaders have been defeated? Driven back? Forced to treat their victims as humans? As equals? What if what was lost wasn't? I think Avatar is spectacle wrapped around that counterfactual. It's not blaming the victims - it's wishing that they had been able to stop the calamity. 7/x
As with Cameron's statements regarding the Sioux, it can be interpreted negatively. And maybe should be. But I can sympathize with the desire, after learning of what was done (and continues to be done) to the various tribes in the Americas, to fantasize about how it could have gone differently. 6/x
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
As with Cameron's statements regarding the Sioux, it can be interpreted negatively. And maybe should be. But I can sympathize with the desire, after learning of what was done (and continues to be done) to the various tribes in the Americas, to fantasize about how it could have gone differently. 6/x
The humans are presented as brutal, uncaring, greedy, uncivilized and needlessly violent. Almost cartoonishly so. I'd dismiss them, but if anything they are kind of tame compared to what happened in the real world. At least, the movies haven't made a nod to enslavement, which is a horror. 5/x
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
The humans are presented as brutal, uncaring, greedy, uncivilized and needlessly violent. Almost cartoonishly so. I'd dismiss them, but if anything they are kind of tame compared to what happened in the real world. At least, the movies haven't made a nod to enslavement, which is a horror. 5/x
It could just be sloppy storytelling, but I am (perhaps foolishly) optimistic. The movies can be interpreted as playing to the "white savior" and "noble savage" concepts. But I suspect (hope?) that they are deliberately undercutting those themes. 4/x
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
It could just be sloppy storytelling, but I am (perhaps foolishly) optimistic. The movies can be interpreted as playing to the "white savior" and "noble savage" concepts. But I suspect (hope?) that they are deliberately undercutting those themes. 4/x
I _think_ the "noble savage" trope is a misdirect as well. It is hinted that what the humans interpret as spiritual primitiveness is a mask for technology. Using Clark's Law is not exactly novel, but rarely seen on the big screen outside of UFO stuff. 3/x
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
I _think_ the "noble savage" trope is a misdirect as well. It is hinted that what the humans interpret as spiritual primitiveness is a mask for technology. Using Clark's Law is not exactly novel, but rarely seen on the big screen outside of UFO stuff. 3/x
His role is largely to provide an entry point into the alien civilization for the viewer, not as a messiah figure. As with Dune, he's not a messiah. Or at least, if he is, he's a really terrible one. 2/x
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
His role is largely to provide an entry point into the alien civilization for the viewer, not as a messiah figure. As with Dune, he's not a messiah. Or at least, if he is, he's a really terrible one. 2/x
I haven't seen the newest one, but I think the "white savior" is a misread of the first two. The "hero" isn't a savior - he is the cause of woe. He's mostly trying to undo the damage he has done as a human. He can't even save anyone by abandoning his humanity. 1/x
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 AM
I haven't seen the newest one, but I think the "white savior" is a misread of the first two. The "hero" isn't a savior - he is the cause of woe. He's mostly trying to undo the damage he has done as a human. He can't even save anyone by abandoning his humanity. 1/x
Love the books (book 4 is worth reading!) and my memory of the movie is hazy. I just remember the sound track being wonderfully trippy. The books, as I recall, did the "twu wuv" as a head fake...but it's been a while. Movie tried to make some sort of sense, which the books delightfully avoided.
December 23, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Love the books (book 4 is worth reading!) and my memory of the movie is hazy. I just remember the sound track being wonderfully trippy. The books, as I recall, did the "twu wuv" as a head fake...but it's been a while. Movie tried to make some sort of sense, which the books delightfully avoided.
If we factor in the mountains of bulls)$&…maybe?
December 23, 2025 at 4:49 AM
If we factor in the mountains of bulls)$&…maybe?