Today She Leaves

        A bitter day...


  Today She Leaves

The morning rises in utmost woe,
but to her my sorrow I must not show.
I cannot bear for her to leave,
To be without her, I can't conceive.

In the sky we share the sight,
where metallic birds fly into the light.
In her eyes im fixed as stone,
As tears run down on their own.

She's in my arms just before the gate,
As the bitter departure cruelly waits.

But as she holds me, time suspends,
And from those eyes hope ascends.

Today She Left

Whispers of a Species

At times when the worries of school and social life fail to bother me I find myself contemplating about the Universe and my existence as a part of it. The notion of space travel fascinates me like nothing else. However, I am soon plunged into a dark abyss of depression as I come to the understanding that I'll never have the chance for such magnificent voyages. But who am I to blame for it?

Here's a little narrative I wrote...




Whispers of a Species

        With the recent implementation of Core-Whisper engines at the turning point of the New Year, slipstream travel had been improved by 25 %. Stability and safety were no longer a concern. However, such matters where always of little concern to Barbas. He had been on 6 flights to the outer reaches of Sol in the past 5 years scanning Thebe, Adrastea, Amalthea and several other natural satellites of Jupiter. It had all been child’s play: simple research. But with the aid of this new generation hyper-drive flux engines, Barbas had finally been accepted for interstellar exploration, something of a dream until now. These colossal engines function by ploughing through a dimensional subdomain colloquially known as "Slipstream space"  using particle accelerators in order to generate billions of micro-black holes. Project Orion had become a reality.

        Barbas ran through hundreds of physical and mental exercises as the year grew old. Only one week remained until launch day. After one late night of anti-gravity exercises, he decided to take a stroll outside before heading to his sleeping chamber. The brisk, cool, midnight air was like no other. Since the turn of the 22nd century, earth had begun to renew many of its natural environments and resources. The Dark Century had certainly taken its toll on the precious planet. Half a century ago, on this day, the human species was pushed to the crumbling edge of extinction, as it teetered on that precipice, staring down into the abyss, a hand reached out and pulled humanity back from the brink, the hand of science. Poverty, oppression and corruption had ceased to exist. Only the very edges of New Pangea had yet to be restored.

       At long last, launch day had arrived. Barbas could not have mentally prepared any further. With such ambitions, he was well suited for such space travel. Stepping out of Command Centre, Barbas was ready to begin. With the energy of a thousand suns, the shuttle entered slipspace right there in earth’s atmosphere. The shattering waves would spread for kilometres. But in that blink of an eye, Barbas and his crew were already light years away, where if they were to return, time dilation would greet them with a collapsed solar system: the remnants of a capable species. Such relativistic space flight will begin a new age for humanity, making the universe accessible to a now advanced civilisation. However, such thoughts only fuelled the determination of Barbas and his crew. Only those that embark on the journey hold the future of humanity.

       After two months since the beginning of the journey, the shuttle approached Sentry Omega within the constellation of Cygnus. These outskirts of the Milky Way where home to the destination planet, Kepler 22B. Barbas could not help but think about the vast and endless possibilities. The findings of intelligent life forms could tirgger the start of an advanced interspecies community, to push humanity towards boundless opportunities!

“But suddenly, a giant three eyed monster jumped out of a star and began to fire lasers at Captain Barbas’ ship! The crew struggled to keep the shields on as th-

“Cody!  I told you to come down for dinner. I’m not going to tell you twice. Now get down here before I break your toys!”

And so, Cody went downstairs to eat his vegetables and inevitably live his dull and meaningless life only to lose his innocence and ambition for space travel. In such an age of ignorance and stupidity, Cody will never satisfy his hunger for the cosmos.

Dreams

               I'm feeling poetic today...
             

                  A Choice

I lay awake amidst the midnight stars,
Shining bright , leaving scars.
A reminder of my cruel existence,
As they tease me from the distance.

For here lay my dreams, hopes and ambitions,
Crushed by the claws of  every nation.
I'm trapped in a world that breeds it's ignorance,
Driven by rivalries, hatred and vengeance.

I wish to venture this unknown frontier,
But in such an age, I have much to fear.

And so I live as a speck of dust,
And in our compassion I have to trust,

For if in peace we cannot embrace,
Forever lost, we'll be in space.

Guardian

I'm a man of sports-especially when it comes to teamwork. I take video games very seriously as well. There can be times that video games can be just as competitive or perhaps even more than physical sports. I thought I'd experiment with a little compare-contrast narrative with my two favourite hobbies.

Enjoy!



Guardian

      The sound of the bell initiated the match. Like an ever-so coordinated flock of muscular canaries, the two teams leaped into their respective positions. The flawless actions and motions of the players almost resembled that of a super computer. The pigskin would zoom up and down the field with incredible precision and speed.
John and David were comfortably seated. They had practised an obscene amount for this tournament. Every move, rehearsed. As David rushed the corridors in search of the sniper rifle, John made his way to the catwalks for higher ground. Bam! Two shots to take down the shields, and one to the head. David and John had already taken the lead with the first kill. They spared only half a second for a high five; Major League Halo 3 matches wait for no one.

      Jamie McCoy makes the pass to Jarrod Johnson. Breaking every sweat in his body, like an untamed cheetah, Jarrod began to book it up the field! The field lines crossed him by the second. Ten Yards, twenty yards, thirty yards, forty yards, and touchdown! The Pittsburgh Devils had taken the lead. Jarrod had run 80 yards in one motion yet as the rush of excitement and pride filled his body, he couldn't feel a single strain in his tank-armored muscles.

     Ten minutes into the match. John and David feel mildly uneasy. They were in the lead, but not by much. A few slips here and there had given the opposing team enough kills to shorten the comfortable lead. Luckily, John had made it just in time for the battle rifle to respawn. One, two, three, four kills - and he was on a killing spree! The black beauty of the rifle had turned the tides. John was as concentrated as ever. With lightning quick reflexes, he perfectly timed the jumps to dodge the bright pink shards of the enemy needler rifles.  Noobs, he thought. Meanwhile, David was picking off players like an aim-bot.

     Indeed, the Pittsburgh Devils were on their way to victory.  With 5 points ahead and the clock running down, victory seemed almost inevitable. Jarrod had pushed himself to optimum performance. He made the right plays, made the right passes, scored at every chance and always outran his opponents. With one minute left, the two teams had finished taking their strategic time-outs. The ball was starting at half-court. In such scenarios, anything could happen. As the whistle blew, the teams collided and fought for possession like ravaged dogs. Jamie got a hold of the ball. If only he could hold on to it for another 30 seconds he would guarantee the win. Forty seconds remained. He looked left and right, he was surrounded. Most of his teammates were still on the ground or struggling to make way. Twenty seconds remained. Jaime had to make a pass; he was cornered. It was be the only way to keep the play going. In the split second that he pulled his rock-hard biceps to make the pass, Jaime’s heart froze. He realized the horrific truth: his fingers were slipping. The ball flopped out of his hands and the opposing team picked it up. Twenty yards! Eleven seconds! Thirty yards! Eight seconds! Forty yards! Three seconds! Unbelievably, the other team scored a touchdown at 2 seconds remaining.  The game was lost by a devastating one point.

     John’s killing spree had been ended. Only 40 seconds remained but John and David retained the lead by a mere 2 kills. The two knew that this was their only chance. They played defensively when needed, made all the head shots, maintained map control and used the most efficient weapon combos. They gave everything they had. Yet, despite all their effort, they couldn't increase the lead. The opposing team trailed them on every kill. Only thirty seconds remained. Unconsciously, David dropped his hand to reach into the Tandoori Doritos bag for a chip. The moment he chucked the chip into his mouth, he realized his fatal error. With his right thumb and index finger covered in a blanket of sunflower oil and crumbs, he struggled to maintain control over the thumbstick and the trigger of the controller. But it was too late - 10 seconds left, and Jamie was mauled by an enemy rocket, which sent him hurling out of the map. The score was tied. Five seconds remained and David found himself, like the opponent, without a shield. All he needed to win was a headshot - but as his thumb reached for the thumbstick, his finger rolled along like he never made contact: the pitiful dorito grease had layered the grip bumps on the controller - rendering them frictionless. David’s move was delayed unforgivably - he was assassinated an instant later. The end-game report boasted on the wide-screen LCD TV. Far away from Jamie and David, the opposing team was already celebrating, downing Mountain Dew in diabetic amounts. But here, prides were devastated, faces sunk in palms - Mom, now is not the time for our sandwiches, they said. Now is not the time. 

A Deeply, Disturbing Thought.

It's truly a rarity for a physicist to discuss philisophical topics. It's the collision of scientific reasoning and artisitic vision, giving birth to incredibly deep, speculations, notions and reflections. Consequently, I never give up the opportunity to listen to Neil Degrasse Tyson's interviews and panels. As an astrophysicist Neil Tyson manages to maintain and intellectual and thought provoking discussion all the while appealing to the general public as well. Now I have seen many of his interviews, yet this specific one never fails to intruige me no matter how many times I listen to it.

Although I will highlight the major insights offered by this brilliant man I highly suggest that you watch the video for yourself.

http://youtu.be/CAD25s53wmE?t=1h14m38s

       Neil begins by approaching the topic of intelligence and what it means for a species to be advanced. We humans are the only of our kind we know on this planet earth. We are able to communicate amongst ourselves and select other species, we conduct intricate experiments, we construct monuments of glass and steel, and of course, we are more than capable of changing our planet for good or ill. It's no wonder why we label ourselves as the most intelligent species of our planet. Next to us, there's the great apes. We share about 99% DNA with them. This inevitibaly leads us to another conclusion: everything we have and will be capable of, from the hubble space telescope to the ancient egyptian pyramids, arises from that diffence of 1%. It has to, as thats what defines us as humans and not apes.


       Now what if, in the same vector that we are different from chimps, there exists another species somewhere in our galaxy that is 1% more advanced from us? If chimps are nothing but slobbering, nose-picking primates to us, what would we humans be compared to this even more advanced species? In such a case, intelligence may be on a scale that we cannot even recognize. To them, we might as well be ants. Perhaps thats why we have yet to make contact with any other civilizations. And who are we to say otherwise? How often do you kneel down next to a colony of ants and start talking to them? You simply don't.
   
      To a certain extent I share Neil Tyson's distrubing thought. I am enormously jealous of the possibility of other life forms out there in the universe. We can scream and wave as much as we'd like but what if said species see's us as nothing but ants, we might never learn of their existance in the same way as ants are clueless of our advanced civilization.