DalekTek790
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I really didn’t see that coming. In [i]The Beach[/i] Prince says “You can either spend eternity suffering on Fire or enjoying yourself on Water.” Only then did I realize the shocking secret of Fire and Water. My immediate thought was that this was going to be like [i]Tapestry[/i], the [i]Star Trek: The Next Generation[/i] episode where Captain Picard dies and learns that Q is God, but it’s really a dream. But [i]Heaven and Hell[/i] ruled out that possibility.
Looking back, there were some subtle hints as to the true nature of the two planets. But they also put in things to throw us off, like Duke’s speech in [i]Gondola[/i] where he strongly implies that he is an Insect. It’s obvious now that he meant something else, I’d have to watch my tape again to reinterpret that in light of the later revelation. In [i]Girltown[/i] Stan wonders if he is dead, but that obviously isn’t the case. Besides, the characters didn’t know they were dead, and some were even killed. I wouldn’t think one could die in Heaven.
It appeared that this was just a case of two planets colonized in the distant past. One planet has everything, the other has nothing. So naturally there’s some kind of conflict. And the ruler of the unfortunate planet wants to destroy the fortunate one out of spite. But [i]The Beach[/i] and [i]Heaven and Hell[/i] revealed a startlingly different story.
quote:
Originally posted by Flamegrape:
I figured that this was the case mid-way through series 3. I realized that Fire & Water were like Heaven & Hell. The last episode of that series confimed this idea.
Now, that’s where we’re different. For me (and I think pretty much everybody else) that came completely out of left field. [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] How did you figure it out so soon? [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
I’ve worked out some more sizes to add-
Moth length: 6m
Moth height: 3.8 m
Moth wingspan: 20 mLarva width: 2.1 m
Larva height enrolled: 5.2 m
Larva length unrolled: 7.9 mI also have some basic observations made from the Giga Shadow larva-
-Outer carapace purplish brown
-Underbelly red
-14 segments altogether
-Head: 2 segments
-Thorax: 11 segments
-Abdomen: 1 segments
-22 legs
-14 eyes
-3 scolices
-2 mandibles
-1 maxilla
-12 dorsal spinesCompare that to the adult-
-Outer carapace gun metal grey streaked with silver
-Underbelly dark grey
-7 segments altogether
-Head: 1 segment
-Thorax: 5 segments?
-Abdomen: 1 segment?
-Hundreds of silvery bumps in 8 major clumps (eyes?)
-1 aperture (mouth?)
-2 large orifices
-2 medium orifices
-12 small orifices
-12 facial spines
-About 130 silvery-white spheroids attached to thorax; 14 are exposed when enrolled
-A couple hundred smaller purplish-brown spheroids attached to abdomen (larvae?)
-At least 1 tendril, possibly as many as 10
-Spinal cord on ventral surfaceNow, it is plausible that the Insect civilization consisted of a number of castes specialized for different jobs within the society. It is even possible that the essences of a single Insect could reside in more than one body based on the task at hand. On Earth, I believe insect hives can have as many as 6 different castes. Now, my theory is that the genetic code for all the castes resides in the D.N.A. of each and every Insect, like all the junk D.N.A. we have that codes for traits our ancestors discarded millions of years ago. All of this is in each larva, they are stimulated to grow into a certain type but the D.N.A. remains. Now, this would also mean that if you had a sample of the D.N.A. of any Insect, or possibly even Insect-based constructs, you would have the genetic material to create any caste, or even a new type of organism with different characteristics of different castes that do not normally exist together in one being. In other words, with just a tissue sample from the Giga Shadow or a stinger you could grow things as dimorphous as moths and the Lexx.
Now, [i]if[/i] the caste theory is correct and [i]if[/i] the synthetic constructs used are based directly on a single caste, then we can assign Insect(oid)s we’ve seen to a certain caste. Stingers would be warriors (well, duh) and moths would be workers. The Lexx’s nature is less clear. It is bigger than most craft, which would imply a royal caste. But size may not matter, since the builders of Insect craft could suppress growth so their ships didn’t get so big it required major resources to keep them alive. The Lexx has been identified as male, which would imply that it is based on a male/king/drone. In insect societies on Earth all of the non-royal castes are infertile females. But Insects may not be the same as insects. Now, warrior is also implied, by the fact that [b]the Lexx can blow up planets.[/b] Maybe there are different subcastes of warriors, common “light” warriors like stingers and “heavy” warriors like the Lexx that have a special limited function, like to protect the queen. Now, what was the Giga Shadow? It had a bunch of larvae attached to it, so that would imply that it was a queen. But that was at the end of its life. In Earth insects, sometimes a normally infertile worker can develop into a queen if the colony’s queen has died. So the Giga Shadow would’ve been a pseudo-queen or quasi-queen, something different earlier in its life. I find it most likely that the last surviving Insect was just a minor work unit, something relatively insignificant to the Insect civilization and the human forces that exterminated them. Queens would’ve been the first priority for things to destroy. But if the Shadow (the young Giga Shadow) was a worker, we run into problems since we (I) have already assigned moths to the worker caste. But perhaps moths were a specific subcaste employed for work requiring long-range travel, so they would be “scouts” instead of plain “workers.” All of this is speculative, the idea of a caste hierarchy itself is merely theoretical.
We don’t know if the craft like moths, stingers, and the Lexx were even based directly on a specific type of Insect. Their D.N.A. could have active parts from several different castes. Moths seem to be grown by grafting a number of tissues onto a metal frame. The different [i]tissues[/i] may come from different castes and have different genetic codes.
Finally, I do not believe the Net in the episodes [i]The Net[/i] and [i]The Web[/i] was an Insect (just to clarify my half-sane semantics, Nets are the species, Webs and Spiders are the components). I think it was a completely different species. The Net body plan was radially symmetrical, based on 8. The Insect body plan seems to be based on 3 and 7 and always bilateral. It does have similar characteristics, like an exoskeleton, enormous size, the capability of interstellar travel, and the ability to pass part of its intelligence to hosts of other species. So it’s possible that the Nets originally came from the same planet as the Insects, that they share the same evolutionary ancestry and may belong to the same phylum. Or this could all be the result of convergent evolution and the Nets and Insects could have arisen in different star systems entirely. Now, Insects could not have existed in vacuum (speaking metaphorically, of course). They must have been part of an ecosystem, with standard prey to sustain them and predators to keep them in check. The Nets may have been just such a predator. The Lexx is programmed to be afraid of the Web he sees. He also knows that where there’s a Web there’s likely to be a Spider. His instincts told him to turn but Stan told him not to, with disastrous results. This implies that the Insects and the Nets had previous contact, and, as with this situation, the Insect was the victim.
And so the rant comes to an anticlimactic conclusion.
Back to the serious topic, this is really sad. There are a bunch of great topics open but very few people are responding.
quote:
Originally posted by Bascule:
Nope, I’m gonna stand firm on this one (oo-er): Brizon’s ship was a shiny new Stinger, there is a pic of it here: [url=http://www.sadgeezer.com/lexx/lexx2-19.htm]http://www.sadgeezer.com/lexx/lexx2-19.htm[/url] Actually, maybe the greyness on Kai and ko’s ships was armour as opposed to age, seeing as Brizon’s is the basic, stripped-down type-thing.
It does look like it could be a modification of the stinger design. Those tentacles on the sides just make it look like a jellyfish. Who was Ko in [i]Lexx[/i]?
quote:
Mr ShermanTek, can I ask a question? Recently you spoke about Fire and Water being too close to be in a true twin orbit, how they would destroy each other. Could you tell me just how far apart two ordinary planets would have to be for a proper binary orbit to be achieved?
That wasn’t me. A few people have pointed that out. I once found a book that said the minimum distance for terrestrial-sized planets to orbit each other. The same part of the planets would face each other all the time, they would share an atmosphere, and the gravity would distort them into egg shapes. But I don’t remember the figure. I haven’t been able to find that book since and I don’t remember the title or author. So I really don’t know if the orbits of Fire and Water are plausible. I don’t think it would really matter, since they’re metaphysical anyway and wouldn’t necessarily have to follow the real laws of physics.
quote:
Also, apparently there was a Dr Who story set on an alternate earth that had a twin planet, but I can’t find a thing about it on the Net.
I don’t remember that episode. Or do you mean one of the New or Missing Adventures? Either way I don’t know.
quote:
Originally posted by Hypatia:
If you had the key to the Lexx? Assume that he’s fed and can go wherever you want. What’s the first thing you’d do if you went on the Lexx?So this is, like, a very important psychological survey. Really.
I would send a private message to a certain Earth female: “I am in control of the most powerful weapon of destruction in the universe. [i]Now[/i] do you want us to be more than just ‘friends’?” [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Oh, and I’d check out Europa. Always wanted to go to Europa.
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
I would think that the dead fish attitude isn’t the most romantic.
Just kidding. I was only half serious when I said that. Three quarters at the most. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Okay, I better cool it with the lame humor if I want to maintein my reputation as a serious intellectual. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by Bascule:
Do Moths have six legs? I have this funny feeling they’ve got four. Also: what was that you said about Moths having a mating call? (a: something I missed ages ago, b: obscure Dalektek joke! c: something from an episode not screened here yet, you tease)
What I’m talking about is from [i]Lexx[/i] 4.07: [i]Walpurgis Night[/i]. That may not’ve been shown in England yet, I’m not sure. So this would probably qualify as a spoiler, just it is not significant to the plot of the episode and I don’t think I’m giving too much away by mentioning it. In [i]Walpurgis Night[/i] Kai, using one of the blades on his scorpion brace, whittles an ocarina that is supposed to replicate the mating call of a moth, and gives it to Stan. My problem with this is that moths are grown on the Lexx, I don’t see any need for them to mate. If moths can breed, then what are moth breeders for? An aphrodisiac? [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] Also, I’m not so much disturbed by the fact that moths have a mating call as I am by the fact that Kai knows it well enough to replicate the sound. What kind of relationship did the Brunnen-G [i]have[/i] with the Insects? [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
Moths in [i]Lexx[/i] have six legs, just like real moths.
quote:
Forgive me if I’m talking ‘ass’, but wasn’t Brizon’s ship a brand-spanking-new Kai-style Stinger (not all old and grey like Kai’s).
Uh, if memory serves Brizon’s ship was a big blue-green jellyfish.
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
During the period of Nov 12-18, The Lexx movies beat out the Farscape reruns by 100,000 viewers. The Movies got a 0.8 whereas Farscape only managed a meager 0.7.
“Lexx, blow up that ship full of puppets.”
“As you command, captain.”
[img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
How come [i]Battle[/i] is so popular here when in the “Worst episode” thread it was one of the most mentioned? [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by SadGeezer:
WOW!The Ellen chat was a BLAST! 🙂
Very successfully organised and executed! Well done!
[img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
Thnaks frey, FX and Rachel
Yeah, that was really great. I wasn’t expecting it to be too interesting but it turned out to be as good as the Marty Simon chatand I’m glad I dropped by. Can we do Jeffrey Hirschfield next? He’s my robot head hero! [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
I’m surprised X(ev) wasn’t there. Or was he using a different handle?
[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: DalekTek790 ]
“Stan’s plight wasn’t helped by the fact that Gubby smoked crack and electrocuted himself.”
L.O.L.! [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Sorry, I never noticed that section before.
There’s some semi-serious Insect discussion under “Wish list for the remainder of the season.”
This place is a tomb. [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
If anybody can think of a topic that would be even remotely interesting to someone, please post it. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Really, I hope discusion doesn’t die when [i]Lexx[/i] is done showing. All the other message boards I’ve gone to have been abandoned or become hopelessly off-topic. The SadBoard is all I have left. [img]images/smiles/icon_sad.gif[/img]
I had a dream last night that after [i]Lexx[/i] had ended SadGeezer added a classic [i]Star Trek[/i] section to the site to keep people interested, and all the former Kai-droolers started raving about Leonard Nimoy. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
From what I’m told Jeff had a fallingout with Paul and Lex, so that’s supposedly why 790 wasn’t in that season much. I never found out what happened between them though.
That’s too bad. It would explain why Jeffrey Hirschfield has only written one episode in the last two seasons after writing eight in season two. Maybe that’s the source of this decline in quality. [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
When he was 791 his eyes were bloodshot and a tooth was missing.
I just remembered I saw 790’s nose in one episode. In [i]Xevivor[/i] you can see the tip of the nose at the top of the mouth screen in one scene. I don’t think it appears anywhere else, I don’t remember seeing it in any other episode.
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
Thanks, but which part is the abdomen and the thorax in relation to the lexx?
I’d say the abdomen would be the tailish thing. The head and thorax are less easily distinguished. On terrestrial insects the head/thorax/abdomen division is clear-cut, but in [i]Lexx[/i] the Insects and Insect-based constructs seem to have blended segments. Some don’t even have 6 legs (Kai’s Stinger was more of an arachnid than an insect)! And tentacles ([i]The Giga Shadow[/i])? That is sooo not insect. Plus the Giga Shadow looked like a pill bug, which is a uropod, closer to a crustacean than an insect. Of course, so far [i]Lexx[/i] has avoided the sci-fi cliché of having something based on a preying mantis.
I do have to wonder about Brizon’s ship (left over from the Cœlentrate Wars?).
If there were a female Lexx, it would probably be several times the size of our Lexx (in insects, the female is usually larger than the male). Maybe the Canadian-American Lexx will get together with the German Lexx (which is voiced by a woman). [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by Hypatia:
I like ‘Lexxies’. Aww, so cute!That’s true, [b]DaleckTek[/b], but the Beans have never been much on science, and I think a bunch of little Lexxies flying around, maybe they’d blow up asteroids, would be really cute!
Now that I think about it, [i]Love Grows[/i] established that the Lexx is (usually) male. So does that mean it retains vestigial sexual characteristics from the Insect tissue or genes it was constructed from? Or perhaps it was intended to reproduce sexually, with other Insect-based life forms. Maybe the giant bug just hasn’t hit puberty yet (“I am still growing, Stan”). [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
(Useless fact: The sexual organs of male dragonflies are at the tip of the abdomen; the sexual organs of female dragonflies are located in the lower thorax.)
quote:
Originally posted by Aleck:
Chris Rock’s “No Sex in the Champagne Room” is a parody of Baz Luhrmann’s track “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen),” which is, in turn, based on an alleged speech allegedly given to an alleged graduating class by author Kurt Vonnegut. He never delivered it, it was actually an editorial from some paper, but, like an urban legend, it circulated the net and was attributed to Vonnegut. Much like the bogus “Bad American” piece that was allegedly written by comic George Carlin. He never wrote it, he disagrees with a lot of stuff in it, and he’s pretty mad about the whole thing.
Thanks for the information, Aleck.
I got to her Kurt Vonnegut when he was at the Iowa Memorial Union in September. He’s an amazing speaker.
quote:
Originally posted by FX:
you are [b]obviously[/b] not hanging around the right women [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
You’re probably right. I’ve been acting like Kai for years, and I haven’t had a single girl drool over me. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
[img]http://www.lexx.ufo.ru/vcaps/lexx4-07/Lexx407_221.jpg[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
[url=http://members.home.net/drdel/]http://members.home.net/drdel/[/url]
[img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] Much of the writing on that site is in bad taste. [img]images/smiles/icon_sad.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
Going for a little Boz Lehrman “Everybody’s Free” there?
Who? What? Huh? [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
Actually, my roommate was listening to Chris Rock’s “No Sex in the Champagne Room” and I sort of let some of the speech get into my writing. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
I like Stan, too. He may be my favorite character this season (Kai’s kinda overrated, 790’s gone nuts, and I could never sympathize with either Zev). Stan: The ultimate average guy! [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by JumpingJedi:
Its seems a bit quiet around here these days. I think its because 99% of the people who post here are from America and there isnt any new Lexx stuff on there at the moment.
I’d noticed that, I just didn’t want to be the one to say it.
quote:
Originally posted by Squish-ums:
It could that desperate that we end up talking about Coronation St, if that be the case I demand that someone hire a hitman to put me out of my misery!!!
Isn’t that the show that killed [i]Doctor Who[/i]? [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
Dr. Del would disagree
That just seems like something Kai would say.
Who is this Dr. Del I keep hearing about?
The most famous system with terrestrial planets would be PSR 1257+12. The three planets are 0.015, 3.4, and 2.8 Es respectively. That’s from Sky & Telescope magazine. There are others, too, but my extrasolar planet list is at home.
By the way, the smallest planet to be detected using the “wobble” method would be the one orbiting HD83443 in Vela, which is an estimated 47.7 Es (0.15 Js). My source on that would be Discover.
quote:
Originally posted by D.G. Valdron:
The trouble is that the big marketplace
for merchandising is the US. Without a US
market sale, they figured at Salter that there wasn’t enough of an international
market for merchandise, and even that market
was too scattered. Sell a few books in
Canada, a few more in Australia, a few more
in New Zealand, England, Lithuania, Spain…The American sales made them rethink, but
the US Sci Fi wound up burning through the
first three seasons in a relatively short
time.It wasn’t until they got a commitment for
a fourth season that they started thinking
about doing a book or books again, and hired a licensing agent.Ahhh, but I forget myself. Actually, there
were LEXX books, both planned and realized.
These came from the movies, apparently there
were two german language LEXX novels written,
fairly crappy from what I’ve heard, and
essentially novelisations of the first season
movies.Paul Donovan also planned and might have had
a real publishing opportunity to write a LEXX novel. I don’t know too much about it, I believe that it was planned to take place
during the ancient Insect Wars.
Actually, I wasn’t talking about novelizations so much as supplements. Something to [i]Lexx[/i] as “The Star Wars Technical Journal” is to [i]Star Wars[/i], or “The Star Trek Compendium” is to [i]Star Trek[/i], or “Doctor Who: The Eighties” is to [i]Doctor Who[/i]. Y’know, like a compendium of information on the making of the show or background details. [i]Lexx[/i] is really deserving of a few books like that.
An original [i]Lexx[/i] novel would be good, though, especially if it has INSECTS. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by FX:
hmmm, not exactly an issue of being a smooth operator; easier just to talk about the books you are looking at [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
I can’t even do that. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] I’m not very sociable, especially in settings like that where the people I see are total strangers. Heck, I’m scared just to say hi when I pass someone I know on the street (unless they say hi to me first [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] ).
quote:
Originally posted by Hypatia:
But the missionary in P4X wasn’t Catholic, more likely a Mormon. He acts just like a Mormon missionary would.
I don’t think he’s a Mormon, he acts too normal. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Actually, I always assumed he was Lutheran. There really isn’t enough information from the episode to say with any degree of certainty what religion he belongs to.
While we’re (sort of) on the subject, in my psychology class we’re supposed to write up a detailed psychological profile for a fictional character that exibits signs of a psychological disorder, and I chose Kai. I almost did Charles Kinbote from [i]Pale Fire[/i], but I ultimately decided that Kai was really more the type of character that would work for the assignment. If anyone is interested I could post it on this board (part of it, it’s 4 full pages single spaced). There are probably droolers and Valdrons who could do better, though. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] I don’t know yet what kind of grade I got on it.
The dead do not need therapy.
There’s still an error in the entry for Cluster lizards. It says “Large reptiles that live in the hottest places deep with in the Cluster…” That is inaccurate. Cluster lizards were imported to the Cluster from their hot home planet ([i]Battle[/i] and [i]Heaven and Hell[/i]).
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
Flamegrape has a point, Elfie. Currently we can only detect gas giants no smaller then Saturn. Or 0.8 Jupiter Masses. We detect planet by the gravitational wobble they cause on their respective stars. Earth-like planets cause too little a wobble to be detected from this far away.
Actually, smaller terrestrial-type planets have been detected using other methods.
quote:
Originally posted by D.G. Valdron:
There’s nothing in the series canon that actually contradicts your size estimate for The Cluster and the Gigashadow. The one verbal reference in Mantrid was to a ‘tiny planet’ or ‘small planetoid.’ Of course,
if The Cluster really was that small, I’d
expect more curvature on the horizon for ships coming in, a la, TV World. But who
knows.
Like I said, we need to wait for “The Divine Order Sourcebook.” Why can’t I find any [i]Lexx[/i] books, anyway? [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] When [i]The X-Files[/i] was in its fourth season there were at least three books out about it. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] When I get into a sci-fi show, I want to collect some tie-in literature (I have 6 [i]Doctor Who[/i] books, 9 [i]X-Files[/i] books, and twenty-some [i]Star Trek[/i] books [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] ). I mean, come on, “The Dark Zone Companion,” “The Lexx Chronology,” “The Heretic Cookbook,” something! [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by FX:
[img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] unless, of course, she likes lexx too!(i always find libraries and bookstores good places to meet likeminded people…hey, you can at least have coffee and talk about science fiction [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] )
I’m not the smooth operator you might think I am.
quote:
Originally posted by the Frey:
You guys might want to wander over here and submit your funnies [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
[url=http://lexxlists.tripod.com/Submissions.htm]http://lexxlists.tripod.com/Submissions.htm[/url]
Thanks for the link, Frey. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by :
Here’s an X-Post Facto spoiler for you. Cluster Lizards didn’t originally look like they do now. Originally, they were supposed to be four legged critters, a cross between an alligator and a pit bull. Early scripts and sketches refer to them in that way. The whole notion of rolling critters actually came up fairly late, as one of P.D.’s inspirations.
My guess would be that his inspiration was one of three things.
1. The Ouroboros, a snake swallowing its own tail in Greek myth , thus symbolizing beginning and ending linked. This would be symbolic of the cyclic nature of time in [i]Lexx[/i].
2. Jörmungand the MiðgarðsormR, the giant serpent that frames the Earth in Norse myth, clenching its tail in its jaws.
3. The hoopsnake, a fearsome critter in rural American folklore that bites onto its tail and rolls after prey. To this day some hillbillies swear that hoopsnakes exist.
The ironic thing is that I had a race of vicious carnivorous reptilians that rolled in hoops in a novel I was writing, but after I saw [i]I Worship His Shadow[/i] I decided to change the species so it didn’t look like a ripoff on [i]Lexx[/i].
At any rate, the Cluster lizard is a great design.
Ooh, I’ve got more…
Stan: “Don’t kill my crew, they’ve done nothing wrong. I’m the one you want, take me.”
Xev: “I’ve realized that your lack of a body doesn’t have to prevent us from having a meaningful relationship, 790.”
Kai: “Ah, screw this. Just blow up the damn planet. The sooner the Lexx gets planet chunks to eat, the sooner we can head off to Nimbus 9. I call blondes and cannibals!”
790: “Can’t we all just get along?”
Time Prophet: “Actually, that was something of a mistake on my part. It’s really a straight line.”
Prince: “I’m very good with subtlety.”
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
Don’t forget Beta-Centari which is a white dwarf and sistar star to Proxima-Centari.
Uh, no. Beta Centauri is about 500 light years away from our Sun. Proxima Centauri orbits Alpha Centauri A and B, which are 4.4 light years from here. None of the stars in the Alpha Centauri System are white dwarfs (there are two yellow stars and one red, I believe).
I think you’re confused with Sirius B, the white dwarf that orbits Sirius A in the Alpha Canis Majoris System.
I’m not sure I like where this is going. I’m afraid that now Valdron thinks that I’m an argumentative nut or something. I’ll try to make what follows as friendly as possible. I don’t want another out-of-control off-topic argument.
quote:
Originally posted by Dgrequeen:
My real point is, I don’t mind a little violence or a little sex if it has a point and advances the story. It bothers me not at all to see two people making love (as opposed to merely having sex). But when it comes to pointless graphic sex or pointless bloody violence, I’d just as soon not watch.
I agree.
quote:
Originally posted by Flamegrape:
Just look at the Taliban for the worst example of misogynistic abuse. [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img]
I have two questions for you, Flame:
1. What does the Taliban have to do with this?
2. Why do you feel the need to mention the Taliban in every other post?quote:
Originally posted by Aleck:
The amusing thing in the second half of this thread is the assumption DT made that I’m talking about him (which is incorrect).
You were talking about me, indirectly. You were saying things to provoke me.
quote:
Originally posted by Aleck:
DT, you believe that morality is hard-wired into our brains. A theory, BTW, which you have yet to support with any documentation (I mean, after all, remember what Carl Sagan said about claims and evidence…oh, and I don’t accept anything by Meyers, as he is using religious faith as a justification for outmoded, if not harmful, psychological theorizing and is, thusly, invalid). Of course, despite all of the evidence cited which points to the inborn nature of sexuality, you refuse to believe *that*, which is curious, but another story.
I have not seen any evidence of religious faith in my psychology textbook by David G. Myers. It says certain things that go against my philosophy, but besides that I don’t see any evidence of bias. It’s not like it’s just some book by Myers (and that is how it’s spelled), it’s a textbook. So it’s essentially just reporting the findings of others and the beliefs of the psychological community as a whole. And if it were really inaccurate or contrary to the mainstream I doubt it would be a widely used college psychology textbook.
quote:
Originally posted by Aleck:
You do this by bringing a discussion about the hardwiring of “morality” into our brains into a talk about the censoring of nudity and sexuality, and using them as examples. Your argument is that it’s for “survival.” Tell me, then, how can an inborn sense to be revolted by sexuality be in *any* way tied to survival?
It’s to prevent overpopulation. I’ve been reading these essays by Richard Harter and Jared Diamond that say that it is generally accepted that our concepts of morality are inherited instincts.
quote:
Originally posted by Valdron:
Recently, I got to see scenes from IWHS, an American edit, and there were these amazingly grotesque scenes of Lex G’s skull being sliced open and a machine physically removing his brain. That wasn’t shown in Canada, and perhaps not many other countries.If I had the choice of showing one of these scenes to my children, I have no doubt whatsoever which scene it would be. Frankly, I don’t have the patience to coddle months of screaming nightmares about brains being ripped out of heads.
That scene wasn’t included in Canada? Crazy purists. I love that scene! I know it’s a little scientifically inaccurate, since the body moves after the brain has been removed, but it is ultimately a wonderfully conceived and artfully executed sequence. I mean come on, a brain removed by machine (with a circular saw and robot fingers and everything!) from a living, unanesthetized patient, who willingly subjected himself to the process. That is what science fiction is all about, surreal situations like that which an ordinary person would’ve never even dreamed of. It’s like the alien in [i]Alien[/i], æsthetically appealing while at the same time gruesomely disquieting. Kudos to the Beans for that visual treat!
Besides, it’s pertinent to the plot, and with it cut out later scenes don’t make sense. The brain excision sequence was a little creepy, but it didn’t induce actual feelings of disgust or repulsion in me, like the Zev shower still. I keep retracing my thoughts on that image logically in my head, from different angles, and I keep coming up with the same reaction.
I wonder, does the [i]I Worship His Shadow[/i] D.V.D. include that scene?
quote:
Originally posted by SadGeezer:
‘Bad Carrot’ has got to be the worst ****ing show I’ve ever seen in my ****ing life! Who the **** wrote that pile of ****!???How can such a ****ing ******* take a series that I love so much (LEXX) and turn it into ****!
Oh, come on. It couldn’t have been worse than those season three episodes.
quote:
Originally posted by Cat:
*cat wonders if dtek remembers me asking if he’d ever met valdron..*
Uh, sorry I don’t remember that. I haven’t actually met any of the people I talk to online in person.
I just discovered the Darrow Files a couple weeks ago and I was amazed with their depth and detail in cataloging the [i]Lexx[/i] universe. I was also struck with the similarity between Valdron’s speculation and my own. So I haven’t known Valdron very long.
quote:
Originally posted by Hypatia:
8: Lexx finds a mate (who’ll probably bite his head off, as dragongflys do..I think) and has lots of little baby Lexxs. Awww, that’d be so cute…
Uh, I don’t think Lexxes reproduce sexually. The Lexx was sort of more grown than born, and didn’t have much in the way of parents. Of course moths are grown too but they have a mating call. Go figure. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
I suppose the start of all this was my quest to know as much as possible about the Insects. I wanted to know how big the Insect that burrowed into the Cluster at the beginning of [i]Mantrid[/i] was, to get a rough idea of the race’s general size (of course we don’t know if that Insect was a typical specimen, what stage in its life cycle it was in, or if it is one of many castes or varieties). First I’d have to know how big the Cluster was (I had arbitrarily assumed that the Cluster was somewhere between the size of Vesta and Pluto, but that was of little help). So I went to Lexx.co.uk to check out the vidcaps for [i]The Giga Shadow[/i]. I was inspired by this guy at TheForce.net who figured out the relative sizes of all these [i]Star Wars[/i] craft just with film stills, a ruler, and a calculator (I actually had left my calculator at home, so I had to borrow my roommate’s, and he probably thinks I’m nuts for spending over an hour calculating the sizes of computer generated ships in a show he’s never heard of). There were no direct size comparisons for the Lexx and the Cluster, but there were shots of the Lexx next to the Gigs Shadow. I was able to ascertain that the segment that was the same distance from the viewer as the Lexx had a radius of 3.5 times the length of the Lexx. Then there was the tendril. The tendril could’ve tapered in size from the orifice to the part that impaled the Lexx, but working from it I came up with the same size difference as before: that the diameter of the Giga Shadow when rolled up was 6.5 times the length of the Lexx. Then I looked at screen captures of the Giga Shadow bursting out of the Cluster, and after careful pixellated measurements was able to ascertain that the Cluster’s diameter was 3 times the width of the Giga Shadow’s head. So its diameter would be 11 times the Length of the Lexx. But I still didn’t know how long the Lexx was, so I had to depend on trusty fans. The first figure I heard was about 45 kilometers, which would make the Cluster 490 kilometers wide, or close to the same size as Uranus’ moon Miranda. Pretty small. Then I heard that the Lexx was officially 10 kilometers long. So the Cluster would be 110 kilometers wide. Very small, as in a medium-sized asteroid.
Now, we knew that the Cluster would need artificial gravity and imported atmosphere, and was rather insignificant in the scope of things (physically), but that seems almost too small. Then again, the Cluster could’ve taken on a significance akin to the Holy Land. Rock Hound, a simple asteroid surveyor, was overcome by a divine essence on that mysterious planetoid, a true miracle. The essence was thought to be a metaphysical being, like Prince only good (in their eyes). Rock Hound would’ve been nothing short of a messiah (and we don’t even know his real name, lousy keep-us-in-the-dark Beans). This was about 16 millennia after the Insect Wars, so few people remember that the Insects could account for His Shadow, and those people were treated as heretics or conspiracy nuts. Now, I’m guessing Rock Hound gave up his asteroid prospecting job and attracted a David Koresh-like cult following. After he died, the essence was passed down to one of his followers. And it went on like this until there was a very large group of people who believed this (vaguely defined) religion. Eventually they attracted followers in high places, sent evangelists to 20,000 planets, and came to control the government of the League of 20,000. The Divine Order went from being like the Branch Davidians to the Taliban to the U.S. government (not to be unpatriotic). So the Cluster became more than a sacred spot, it became the new capital of a star alliance.
This was precipitated by my passion for things Insect, but I decided to use the stills at Lexx.co.uk to scale other ships and objects besides what was needed to find the Insect size. I figured Sad could use those figures if he ever made a Lexx ships section. I still haven’t figured out the size of a moth, since I have no really good pictures of one to use for size comparison with either cast members or the Lexx’s features. And other fans might want to know, if they crave information from the [i]Lexx[/i] universe as much as I do.
By the way, the Lexx’s enormous size would not necessarily attract other objects. it has artificial gravity, so its overall external gravitational pull would be significantly less than would be assumed. Plus its gravity has been show to affect other objects, such as Arnot Lashot’s cryopod in [i]Super Nova[/i] and the Trade War debris in [i]Eating Pattern[/i].
Ironically, I still don’t know how long the original Insect was, since I have no vidcaps of the grub and the Cluster from [i]Mantrid[/i]. There seems to be a metallic tract covering the hole where the Insect burrowed in, but I haven’t been able to measure its dimensions compared to the Cluster’s overall size, and it would be an indefinite indicator since the wriggling Insect grub would’ve loosened up the rock around its body and ended up making a hole bigger than itself and differently shaped. So my original goal has still not been reached.
And none of this would matter if I had a girlfriend.
Okay, this is a fairly long post that could offend a few people. But I have some good points in there.
Don’t assume that someone is a Fundamentalist Christian just because they differentiate between good and evil. Concepts of ethics and morality are not by definition religiously-based. They are socio-psychological constants that allow for the construction and perpetuation of civilization. Morality and religion are independent of one another. Just because religion contains codes of conduct doesn’t mean it invented them. And Christianity isn’t the only religion to oppose evil. Most faiths in the history of the world have concepts that certain acts are right and others are wrong.
By the logic that only organized religion can bring organized conduct all atheists would be immoral anarchists. I’ve had friends who were atheists, and they had essentially the same value system I do. People have ethics hardwired into their brains. It’s for survival: we couldn’t function in society if all were willing to kill each other or steal each other’s possessions. Even if homicide wasn’t against the law its frequency would be about the same. Without police, there would be enforcers in our brains. One doesn’t need religion to have a sense of morality. And my posts are certainly not religiously motivated.
Fundamentalist Christians are people who believe that the Bible is literally true in its entirity, and that it hold more weight than anything else in tho world. These are the people who say evolution shouldn’t be taught in schools, and have boycotted biology textbooks because they had pictures of nudes. They are religious fanatics with a tenuous grip on reality and near complete disregard for secular opinions.
I am not offended by nudity in and of itself. It can be science, it can be art. There are movies where a little sex is necessary for the story, like [i]Species[/i]. But I am offended by repulsive displays of sexuality on television and in film. I’m sick of seeing nipples in otherwise great movies like [i]Starship Troopers[/i]. I think the censorship of the shower scene in [i]Super Nova[/i]. was reasonable. I’ve never seen the uncut version of it, but I had the misfortune to lay eyes on the awful picture of Zev in the summary for [i]Super Nova[/i]. Those parts (you know which parts I’m talking about) shouldn’t have been there in the first place. I mean, there wouldn’t have been anything like that in a [i]Star Trek[/i] movie.
——————
“You people have been chosen to reveal our existence to the world. You will witness what happens here today, and you will tell of it later. All eyes to the front. Never shall innocent blood be shed. Yet the blood of the wicked shall flow like a river. We shall spread our darkened wings and be the vengeful striking hammer of God. Now you will receive us. We do not ask for your poor or your hungry. We do not want your tired and sick. It is your corrupt we claim. It is your evil that will be sought by us. With every breath we shall hunt them down. Each day we will spill their blood until it rains down from the skies. Do not kill, do not rape, to not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace. [b]These are not polite suggestions[/b]; these are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost. There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over into true corruption, into our domain. For if you do you, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three, and on that day you will reap it. And we will send you to whatever god you wish. And shepherds we shall be; for thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. We will flow a river forth unto thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be. [i]In nomine Patris, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti.[/i]” -[i]The Boondock Saints[/i]
quote:
Originally posted by Headgehog:
Mantird Drones were Von Neumann machines. A Von Neumann is a machine htat takes raw materials and creates a copy of itself, to absorb more raw materials for future copies, and then eventually perform a certain task.
That must’ve been where I got von Neumann in my head. I still can’t believe I did that. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
The idea behind the Weizsäcker object is that if a planetoid gets a hole punched in it (while in a fluid state), if the hole is beyond a certain range based on mass and rotation, then the center of gravity in the body would actually change, so its “core” would be a ring. alternately, a celestial body could theoretically form in that shape naturally because protoplanetary dust will form rings within rings, and if the mass is distributed right, a solid body can condense in a ring shape. But the proportions have to be exact in either case or it will be crushed into a sphere by its own gravity.
quote:
Originally posted by JumpingJedi:
Why is it that Lexx get cut in the US?
It seems that you can show any amount of violence, guns, explosions etc. but you cant bear to see a nipple or two (Ive heard they usually come in pairs). Lexx isnt that extreme in its content so why do US TV see the need to cut it?
The idea is to not give people nasty offensive images that they don’t want to see.
And plenty of violence gets cut out (like in movies shown on T.V.). There are really more complaints about violence in the media than sexuality. People object to even tastefully executed films like [i]The Matrix[/i] because of mild violence. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
I just realized that that post has the unfortunate potential to cause an argument. [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]
Oh dear! I just looked it up, and the correct term is a Weizsäcker object. All this time I’ve been calling them Von Neumann objects! [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] Boy is my face red. [img]images/smiles/icon_redface.gif[/img] I don’t know how I managed to confuse Carl von Weizsäcker with John von Neumann. Okay, it’s official, I’m an idiot. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
Hold on a second, [b]extended[/b] shower scene? As in even longer?!? [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
I felt that shower sequence was totally unnecessary. Disgusting exploitation of the female form. It had nothing to do with the rest of the episode, it was just this long scene that wasted time that could’ve been used for story development. And it went on and on and wouldn’t end. I think it was entirely reasonable to cut it down (they could’ve done a little more snipping while they were at it… [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] ).
The moon with a hole in [i]White Trash[/i] was a Von Neumann planetoid (I think that’s what they call those things). A donut-shaped celestial body with a ring-shaped center of gravity. Entirely plausible.
The Pluto thing bugged me. At least the writers acknowledged the fact that Pluto’s planethood is suspect (“…seven, eight, and maybe nine” -Lexx).
I think it said the mice were smarter then the Dolphins, because mice are really just biological avatars for noncorporeal essences that are beyond our comprehension. That’s what I remember, at least. It’s been a while since I was really, passionately into [i]The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy[/i]. Anyway, the last communication from the dolphins before they left Earth by their own power translated as “So long, and thanks for all the fish”, which was also the title of the fourth [i]Hitchhiker[/i] book.
