Another nice week. Not for any extra reason other than it's great out here. We've been getting a bit of rain lately which makes for some very muggy days, but it's still pretty nice around here. I'm taking a lot of trips to Eastern Island, checking for Laysan ducks with botulism. A sick one was found last week. We fixed him up with some anti-toxin and food and let him go on Thursday. We've got a small Memorial Day ceremony planned for tomorrow, so I'll show you some photos of that next week.
This is the view across Eastern Island with the old airplane revetments in the background. The verbesina removal is going well over there.
The Brown noddies like to gather on the pier on Eastern.
This White tern thought this albatross chick was a little too close for comfort. It was kind of funny that the tern would only snap at the chick when it was looking the other way, not when it was an inch from that big bill.
That albatross chicks look kind of pathetic in the rain when they still have down.
The old officer houses that were built in the 50's have all just been renovated. They don't look much different on the outside, but have new windows and doors, as well as better flooring and furniture. Charlie barracks is being renovated with non-asbestos tile and a sprinkler system, so everyone had to move out of Charlie and into houses for the next couple of months.
M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming sci-fi survival movie After Earth features an elaborate back-story unhinted at in its trailers involving multiple extraterrestrial species.
io9.com reports that After Earth’s recently-released companion book United Rangers Corps Survival Manual reveals an intricate fictional historical narrative leading up to the events of the film.
“Turns out, there are aliens in this movie,” writes io9’s Meredith Woerner, “lots of them. Different species, in fact, which sound infinitely more interesting than a boy with a spear in the woods.”
Woerner then lays out the approximately 1000 years of events that constitute the movie’s back-story:
“1908 - An alien ship crash lands in Russia. All collective world governments then keep this discovery a secret basically forever. (But they let smarties like Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein play with the remains).
2012 - NASA announces that they've invented WARP ENGINES. By secretly tapping into the alien spaceship's knowledge of the universe's "dark energy." Tah Dah!
2071 - 2072 - Earth is all GTFO, humans. No one can live here anymore, because it's poison for us, so 750,000 survivors leave on ARKS (one is named the Asimov). The Arks were created thanks to additional information pulled (over the years) from the downed spacecraft.”
After Earth (2013)
Here, then, we have yet another blockbuster movie borrowing liberally from modern UFO-conspiracy lore, central to which are ideas relating to UFO crash retrievals and top secret efforts to reverse-engineer alien technologies. Although the Roswell Incident of 1947 is most commonly associated with such ideas, Shyamalan has here chosen to reach further back into UFO history – specifically, to the Tunguska event of 1908, which involved a massively powerful and mysterious explosion in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia. Officialdom attributes the explosion to a large meteoroid or comet fragment, but UFO researchers have long theorized that an alien craft may have been involved. Clearly this theory holds great appeal for Shyamalan, whose big-budget movie will now push the Tunguska event further into popular culture, albeit in a fantastical context.
After Earth hits cinemas May 31, 2013. For the rest of the movie’s long and complicated back-story, head on over to io9.com.
Thanks to Alejandro Rojas at OpenMinds.TV for going that extra mile in seeking out the actual video chat between NASA and the cast and crew of Star Trek Into Darkness discussed but not shown in the original reporting of this story.
The previously “unnamed” astronaut referred to by Alice Eve on Jimmy Kimmel Live turns out to be Michael Fincke. Joining him in the Google Hangout was Kjell Lindgren at the Johnson Space Center and Chris Cassidy aboard the International Space Station.
Director J.J. Abrams (who also wrote and directed the UFO movie Super 8 in 2011) was unable to participate in the live event. His “alien” question to the astronauts was posed in a pre-recorded video. Abrams said:
“I wish I could be there, but I couldn’t attend, so I am doing this very important question on video, which is the following. I talked to an astronaut once who told me on one of his missions he actually did see something really strange that he couldn’t explain that made him believe in extraterrestrial life, and my question to you is. Have either of you ever seen anything that made you believe that, or something you couldn’t explain or couldn’t understand, that you didn’t really necessarily share with the public, but that you want to share with us now? Thanks”.
Fincke replied:
“That was a great question from J.J., we get that question a lot. We all want to know, ‘are we the only ones out there?’And Star Trek helps us imagine what it could be like if there were other creatures, other people, other species. I spent a whole year in space, 381 days, but it is only 240 miles up, so that’s not very far in cosmic terms. So we think as we go farther out, and into the universe, we might find something out there that we don’t know about. I have never seen anything, maybe Kjell will on his mission, but I think as we go farther out, with the inspiration we get from you guys making these great feats of imagination and excitement, the movies that you make, inspire us to be our best as human beings on planet earth.”
Star Trek Into Darkness writer and producer Damon Lindelof then commented, “What a great answer. Mike, can you confirm you have not been taken over by aliens? It felt a little too polished.”
Fincke replied, “No, I have done this before and I am an American human being who loves being part of our space program, and we all look up to you guys to inspire us.”
“Now we know something is seriously wrong,” said Lindelof.
British actress Alice Eve is convinced that NASA is hiding information about alien life. During a recent interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Eve – who co-starred in Star Trek Into Darkness and Men In Black 3 – described taking a trip to NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas last Thursday, where she and her Trek co-stars Chris Pine and John Cho, as well as the film’s writer Damon Lindelof and its director J.J. Abrams, made a Skype call to an unnamed astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
"That was definitely the coolest thing we've done,” Eve told Kimmel, adding that her director had once spoken to an astronaut who believed he had seen alien life. Eve continued:
“J.J. asked this question [to the ISS astronaut], 'So have you seen alien life?'... and the response that these guys at the NASA base gave us... was so rehearsed and so clear that they had seen (aliens).”
“Interesting,” Kimmel replied. “So you believe that there’s a party line that they’re given and they kinda have to regurgitate it?”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m not saying I believe that...” Said Eve. The actress then leaned in toward her host and whispered in his ear: “but I believe that.”
Eve's comments begin at counter reading 1:12 in the video below...
Rumbled: Kirk and McCoy flee alien tribespeople in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Cinemagoers who have seen the new Star Trek movie, Into Darkness, can no doubt recall its colourful opening sequence in vivid detail. No sooner are our bums on seats than do we find ourselves thrust into the brilliant crimson forests of an alien world, watching breathlessly as Captain James T. Kirk and Doctor Leonard McCoy flee a primitive humanoid tribe.
The Starfleet officers are in disguise so as to prevent the tribespeople from seeing their human (i.e. alien) faces and shattering their embryonic philosophical and religious paradigm. Kirk and McCoy are, as any Trekkie will appreciate, seeking to uphold their prime directive: to avoid at all costs any overt interference with the internal development of an alien civilization – especially one that is “barely out of the stone age” and which views its own culture as the center of the universe.
Alien culture shock: Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
This idea of non-interference between alien cultures is one that is frequently discussed in the UFO and scientific communities. Many scientists consider it entirely plausible that any advanced extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy would likely seek to avoid drawing the attention of inhabitants of more primitive worlds for fear of sparking religious, economic and political chaos, or even civilizational collapse. And this, say many in the UFO community, is why ET has not yet landed on the White House lawn.
Over the years, numerous alleged contactees have claimed that benevolent space folk have actually saved humanity from destruction on several occasions throughout history by quietly preventing potentially catastrophic natural disasters. Certainly there have been a great many instances when UFOs have been sighted over areas of geophysical significance – particularly active volcanoes.
It is fitting, then, that Star Trek Into Darkness explores these UFOlogical ideas in its opening scenes. The reason Kirk and McCoy (and also Commander Spock) are on the alien planet in the first place is to attempt to covertly prevent the eruption of a super volcano that would wipe-out the fledgling civilization. The starship Enterprise is hidden from the aliens’ view beneath hundreds of feet of water off the coastline as Kirk and McCoy attempt to blend in with the natives.
Things don’t go according to plan, however, as not only are the two astronauts rumbled, but their starship is witnessed by the awe-struck tribespeople in all its splendour rising majestically from the ocean. We know in that moment that their civilizational path has been dramatically altered as, soon after, they begin drawing and worshipping a crude pictogram of the Enterprise. Ancient Astronaut theory, anyone?
As if these UFOlogical allusions weren’t sufficient, the fictional alien planet of our discussion is actually called ‘Nibiru.’ As anyone familiar with the work of Zecharia Sitchin will know, Nibiru is a theoretical planet that passes by Earth every 3,600 years, allowing its inhabitants – the Annunaki – to interact with humanity. According to Sitchin, these beings were the first gods worshipped by Man.
These filmic nods to UFOlogy should come as little surprise when we consider that the screenwriters for Star Trek Into Darkness are Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof. Between them, these men have written and/or produced the likes of Transformers, Cowboys and Aliens, and Prometheus– all of which owe a heavy debt to UFO literature. Indeed, Orci, for one, has made no secret of his personal interest in the UFO subject. In July, 2011, the screenwriter was asked by The Wrap if he believed in aliens. He replied in the affirmative and added: “I think the evidence clearly indicates that the government's lying about what the hell’s going on.”
It’s unclear at this stage whether or not these same writers will be onboard for the next instalment of the Star Trek franchise, but, if they are, it’s a fair bet that their fascination with UFO lore will continue to serve as inspiration in their exploration of the Star Trek universe.
We finally had rain yesterday for the first time since I've been back. The native plants that we planted finally get a drink. A few ducklings didn't make it though, since it got a bit too chilly for them. The hotter weather overall has been having an affect on the albatross chicks. The ones that haven't been getting fed as much are finally starting to succumb to dehydration and starvation. It happens every year, but usually the hot weather shows up earlier, so we start to lose them earlier. If it's a normal year, about 65% of all of the eggs laid, will end up with a chick that fledges.
We've had a few Laysan ducks die from botulism in the past week, so we've got to check all of the seeps on Sand and Eastern Islands, rain or shine. You can sort of see Sand Island through the rain. I got pretty soaked, even with full rain gear on.
I had to wait until this young monk seal was done checking out the boat before I could start the engines.
This nursing monk seal pup is getting big. That big rusty thing out in the water is an old barge that is grounded near the channel into the atoll.
The Sooty terns always follow me around when I check the duck seeps on Eastern Island.
The Great frigatebirds are building their nests and the males are trying to attract the females by puffing out their gular pouches.
There are fewer adults out in the fields every week. The adult feathers are starting to come out of the down on the chicks.
For people who want to see pictures of more buildings than I usually post, remember that you can go to Google maps and check the street view. You can see most of the buildings on that. Here is an old bunker near the old fuel farm that you can't see very well on Google maps. The entrance is in the center so it goes both directions under the sand dune.
Check out the first full trailer for the upcoming sci-fi thriller Europa Report, which is described by Comingsoon.netas “a unique blend of documentary, alternative history and science fiction thriller [which] follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system.”
Developed in close collaboration with NASA, JPL, SpaceX and other leaders in the scientific community, Europa Report “imagines the next step in manned space exploration and is based on recent scientific discoveries and theories.”
The film is due for theatrical release on August 2, and will be available On Demand from June 27.
Directed by Sebastian Cordero, Europa Report stars Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, Daniel Wu, Anamaria Marinca, Christian Camargo and Karolina Wydra. The film features music by Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead).
It was a quiet week with a lot of people off island right now. The construction/repair crew is just finishing up their spring work and will take some time off before they come back in July, so it will get even quieter.
I had a comment asking what it's like coming and going from Midway. I've been going back and forth for about 6 years now, so I'm used to it and don't get culture shock either way anymore. It's like anywhere you live though, you need to get away to revive your appreciation. That works both ways. I appreciate the mainland more for its conveniences, friends, and social activities, but I also appreciate Midway each time I come back for the simpler beauty, lack of crime, traffic, and politics.
It's been mostly sunny this week and seems like it's warming up for summer. There are ducklings all over, and the albatross chicks are getting bigger. A lot of the birds are laying eggs right now, Great frigatebirds, Red-footed boobies, Red-tailed tropicbirds, White terns, and Gray-backed terns so far. Although we're all very busy around here, it's just normal work, so I won't bore you with the details. Here are some pics.
The beach.
We got to see a little bit of the solar eclipse at Midway on Thursday. We were right on the edge of the viewing zone, so this was about as good as it got. I took this picture through a welder's mask, hence the greenish hue.
There were a bunch of White terns following me around, seeing what I was up to.
This is a leucistic Laysan albatross on Eastern Island. You can tell it's not albino since it doesn't have pink eyes and has a bit of brown in the feathers. There's one on Sand Island too, near the water tower.
This is the same Laysan duck and ducklings that I showed you last week. They don't grow too much in a week.
I was on Eastern Island checking the duck seeps and noticed a pod of spinner dolphins just off the pier.
They followed me for a little way on my way back to Sand Island.
I slowed the boat down to try to get a count. They are really difficult to count, but there were at least 152 in this pod.
When the government and the entertainment industry maintain an intimate working relationship and co-produce media products specifically tailored to promote the tools of war and boost military recruitment, we call it what it is: propaganda. At least, that's what we call it when practised by countries such as North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, etc.
In America, 'propaganda' is something practised by other countries. In America, the symbiotic relationship between the entertainment industry and every branch of the military is just 'good business'. And besides, it can't be propaganda if they're advertising their own relationship, right?
Of course, it's not just the National Guard who are trying to recruit Superman fans -- the US Air Force also 'wants you!'. In exchange for the Pentagon’s right to edit the movie’s script and monitor its production, the superhero movie has been granted access to USAF facilities and hardware in order to cut its production costs. Most notably, Man of Steel will showcase the USAF's $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighterwhich is currently grounded due to flight difficulties. Reuters reported last year that the final cost of the F-35 program might be as much as $1.5 trillion dollars(!).
According to Wired, the Pentagon’s Hollywood Liaison, Phil Strub is remaining tight lipped as to whether or not the F-35 actually interacts with Superman in the new movie, but, notes Wired, “it gets the troubled aircraft program in the same sentence as the four-color symbol of truth, justice and the American way.” Here are just some of the movies which have been produced in collaboration with the US Department of Defense in the last decade... 2013 Man of Steel 2012 Battleship 2012 Act of Valor 2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon 2011 Battle Los Angeles 2010 Iron Man 2 2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2008 The Day the Earth Stood Still 2008 Eagle Eye 2008 Iron Man 2007 I Am Legend 2007 Transformers 2006 Flags of Our Fathers 2006 United 93 2005 The Great Raid 2005 Stealth 2005 War of the Worlds 2003 American Valor 2003 Rain 2003 The Core
Summit Entertainment has released the first trailer for Ender's Game, the hotly anticipated big screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s bestselling sci-fi novel...
The film – which stars Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, and Viola Davis – hits theaters and IMAX on November 1. It’s plot reads as follows:
“In the near future, a hostile alien race called the Formics have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young minds to find the future Mazer.
Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy but strategically brilliant boy, is recruited to join the elite. Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult challenges and simulations, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military’s next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he’s trained by Mazer Rackham himself to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.”
Check out these three new pieces of concept art for the upcoming sci-fi thriller Europa Report, which is described by Comingsoon.net as “a unique blend of documentary, alternative history and science fiction thriller [which] follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system.”
Developed in close collaboration with NASA, JPL, SpaceX and other leaders in the scientific community, Europa Report “imagines the next step in manned space exploration and is based on recent scientific discoveries and theories.”
The film is due for theatrical release on August 2, and will be available On Demand from June 27.
Directed by Sebastian Cordero, Europa Report stars Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, Daniel Wu, Anamaria Marinca, Christian Camargo and Karolina Wydra. The film features music by Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead).
‘Men in Black 4’ planned
A fourth Men in Black movie is being planned, according to The Wrap. No plot details are forthcoming, and there’s no word yet on who will star, but the script is being penned by Oren Uziel, the writer behind the upcoming The Kitchen Sink, which Deadline.comdescribes as a “genre collision about the unlikely alliance between a high school-aged vampire, zombie and human as they try to save their town from invading aliens.”
‘Man of Steel’ backed by Department of Defense
Writing for AntiWar.com, Sean McElwee noted last week thatthe hotly anticipated Superman reboot, Man of Steel (which I discussed here recently in the context of UFOlogy/Exoploitics), has been backed by the US Department of Defense.
McElwee points out that, in exchange for the Pentagon’s right to edit the movie’s script and monitor its production, the superhero movie has been granted access to military facilities and hardware in order to cut its production costs. Most notably, Man of Steel will showcase the USAF’s $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (pictured), which is currently grounded due to flight difficulties. Reuters reported last year that the final cost of the F-35 program might be as much as $1.5 trillion dollars(!).
According to Wired, the Pentagon’s Hollywood Liaison, Phil Strub is remaining tight lipped as to whether or not the F-35 actually interacts with Superman in the new movie, but, notes Wired, “it gets the troubled aircraft program in the same sentence as the four-color symbol of truth, justice and the American way.”
Robot children to feature in Disney’s ‘Tomorrowland’, no sign yet of aliens
The Hollywood Reporterhas it that Raffey Cassidy (Snow White and the Huntsman, Dark Shadows) has joined the cast of Brad Bird's oh-so-mysterious Tomorrowland (working title 1952). The cast already includes George Clooney (as an inventor) and Hugh Laurie
According to THR: “Cassidy will play a robot child that has been around for many decades, has a history with Clooney's inventor character, and reportedly knows several different fighting styles.”
Tomorrowland has been written by Damon Lindelof (Prometheus) and Brad Bird. It is set for release on December 19, 2014. The jury’s still out on whether or not aliens might make an appearance.
“You were only supposed to blow the bloody spaceship doors off!”
Deadline.com reports that Michael Caine has signed on to join the cast of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming sci-fi epic, Interstellar, which is based on the work of renowned theoretical physicist Kip Thorne (who will executive produce). Caine will star opposite Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain.
Interstellar is being described as “a heroic interstellar voyage to the furthest reaches of our scientific understanding.” It’s due for a November 7, 2014 release. UFO obsessive Steven Spielberg was originally linked to the project, so it’s hoped (by me, at least) that aliens might feature in the plot.
Michael Bay’s Turtles not as “alien” as feared
Speaking with Moviefone recently, Michael Bay made some clarifying statements on the nature of the ‘heroes-in-a-half-shell’ in his upcoming big screen production of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
"There was that quote saying that we’re making [the Ninja Turtles as] aliens. We're not. It’s the ooze! It’s from the original source material. These are from the original writers, and I never went out to correct myself in the press. I do listen to the fans and I do want this to be authentic. I think they’re going to be really happy with this movie. When I see the digital stuff, the turtles look great."
Bay had riled TMNT fans back in March of last year by stating that his Turtles would be“from an alien race.”
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles features a screenplay by Josh Appelbaum, Andrew Nemec, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway and John Fusco, and is based on the characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.
The film stars Megan Fox in the role of April O'Neil, Alan Ritchson as Raphael, Jeremy Howard as Donatello, Pete Ploszek as Leonardo, Noel Fisher as Michelangelo, Will Arnett in an unspecified role, and Danny Woodburn as Master Splinter. It is scheduled for release June 6, 2014.
It was a long vacation, but I'm finally back. I was in Washington D.C. for most of that time, but also went to Bismarck, N.D. for training and to visit my parents and a few old friends. It was a bit cool there with -30 wind chills, then 91 in D.C. two weeks later.
There was a big change while I was gone. Our island population is getting smaller. Twelve positions have gone away, so the folks left on island will get a bit busier. Here are a few photos that I took on vacation, and a few new ones, too.
The prediction for the blooming of the cherry trees in Washington D.C., was off by about a week, so the crowd gathered around the one blooming tree.
Here is the same spot a few days later. There were more trees to take pictures under so this one wasn't so popular anymore.
A lot of people were out enjoying the blossoms.
Some cherry blossoms with the Jefferson Memorial in the background.
The chicks have grown quite a bit, and there are quite a few around.
There are a lot of Laysan ducklings in the seeps now.
We had some visitors from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. They gave us grant money to help get rid of the verbesina on Eastern Island, and now Sand Island. I'm glad they got to see what great work the crew is doing with their grant. Here, they are on a tour of Eastern Island.
The Sooty terns have also come back since I've been gone. Eastern Island is loud again.
A group from NOAA also came to pick up marine debris while I was off Island. They got a decent amount in their short time here.
I think you can see why the albatross eat lighters out in the ocean. They look a lot like the squid on the left.
I found this dead Pacific Golden Plover while I was checking seeps on Friday. This bottle cap was probably picked up by an albatross in the ocean, brought back to Midway and fed to a chick, then either was coughed up with other non-digestible stomach contents or was left after a dead chick decomposed, then found by this plover which then caused its death.
We got out to check on the reef. This spectacled parrotfish is just about to take a chomp out of the coral.
