Nao Sirius – Come for social justice, stay for dogs

Training Philosophy

Before I delve into the details of dog training, let’s talk about training philosophy. If you own a dog, you will quickly find out that everyone has an opinion on dog training philosophy. Here’s mine. If you don’t agree with them, no need to read further than this post, as this blog is not the place for you. 🙂

Reward Based Training, not Pain Based Training

Dogs thrive with reward based training with lots of positive reinforcements. If the dog gets praise and treat for following commands correctly, then they want to do it again. It’s simple as that.

Let’s talk about why pain based training is a bad idea. There are two reasons – psychological and physical. To the dog, the handler is their protector. It is your responsibility, as a handler, to keep the dog safe at all times. In order to cultivate a strong bond between you and the dog, it is critical that the dog trusts you. This trust is broken if you are the one inducing pain to the dog. Now the dog thinks that you cannot be trusted to keep them safe. In addition, some breeds of the dog are more prone to clamp their jaw when they feel pain. This becomes rather problematic when your pup reaches 1~2 year mark and you have to start aggression training (there will be a post on this).

Crate Training

Do you like having your own personal space? So does your dog. Crate training creates a safe space for your dog, where they can go and relax. Key thing to remember is that crating your dog is not a punishment; it’s a fun activity for your dog. When you do “crate time” or “playpen time,” make sure that the said command is accompanied by a treat, even though the reason they are getting crated is because they are misbehaving.

And yes, there will be a post on crate training and 10+ reasons why it’s useful.

Structure

Dogs thrive when there is structure to their daily routine. Knowing when the food is coming, when their humans are going to be around, when it’s hangout time vs. crate time, simply lowers their stress level. Just like if you’re stressed, you are not the most productive person. If your dog is stressed out all the time, chances are it’ll be harder to train the said dog. If you are not the kind of person who does well with structure, you may need to consider training yourself before getting a dog.

Flexibility

WTF, you need to have structure but also be flexible!? Yes, you do, and it’s a different kind of flexible. Training your dog is similar to fitness training. You need to keep in mind that every dog is unique, and that dog training is not a one size fits all situation. You need to set a goal (i.e. leash training), then figure out the path to get there by understanding your dog’s temperament and maturity. This is what excites me the most about dog training, and what motivated me to start writing this all down.

In Conclusion…There are No Bad Dogs, just Bad Humans

If you feel like smacking your dog, just go ahead and smack yourself instead. Whatever the “bad” behavior that your dog is exhibiting, if you peel back the layers enough, you will reach some root cause where a human is at fault. It is up to the handler to train their dog responsibly, so that they can have a good dog life.

Dog training will teach you humility, and being ok with being wrong. You will often find out that one training method doesn’t work, and you have to adjust. You’re doing a great job as long as you keep adapting your training methods to your dog’s personality and temperament. Above all, please don’t give up.

Dog Training: The Beginning

Raising a dog means you are going to be wrong a LOT, and you are going to have to be ok with that. I was wrong from day 1.

I have always wanted to give the rescue dog a stable home. Little did I know that if you don’t already own a dog, the path to dog adoption via private rescue is a long shot. You can tell the private rescue all the puppy raising books you read and how you are super excited, but in the end, if you have never raised a puppy before, most private rescues won’t dare let you adopt one.

Fed up with numerous rejections from private rescue organizations, I started stalking the adoption page of the Humane Society. One day, after my job interview, I drove over to the Humane Society and picked out the runt of the litter. She was the tiny fearful puppy of 12 weeks, weighing in at whooping 7lbs. I was told that she is a small terrier mix, and would grow to be about 20lb at most.

The only accurate statement above is that I adopted a puppy after a job interview.

Turned out she was malnutritioned, and her growth was stunted. Her teeth indicated that she was closer to 16 weeks at the time of adoption. After 6 months of playing catch-up on growing, the pups turned into a 50lbs border collie-pointer-something mix. Rescues are awesome.

True to her working dog nature, Lucy is a extremely high energy dog. I slacked off with the training at first, thinking that I’ll take care of it at the obedience class.

Nope.

Day 1 of Obedience Class: Lucy had a meltdown due to the fact that she can’t play with other dogs. All parties involved in this exercise are having the worst two hours of their day. Pups is completely stressed and got zero chill. All 6-7 other dogs at the obedience class were doing just fine, focusing on their respective humans and getting snacky snacks…I mean getting trained.

And that’s how I started teaching myself how to train a dog who failed out of obedience class. I had already taught myself the basics of fitness training. Turns out, dog training and human training are pretty similar.

After about a year of training Lucy, I decided to write them all down. Mostly so I don’t forget, but hopefully this might inspire someone out there who might be wondering how to train their sweet hyperactive dog.

Stonewall

Note: I am an ally to LGBTQIA+ community. As part of the Pride month celebration, I received a request to write an article on Stonewall and Marsha P. Johnson. This is their story.

It began in the early hours on June 29, 1969, nine days after the historic Moon landing. The New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. While the riot that ensued ended after six days, it has left a permanent footprint in the LGBT+ community. Without Stonewall, the current LGBT+ activism and advocacy community would not have existed at all.

In 1960’s, for members of the LGBT+ community, doing things that a heterosexual couple take for granted — holding hands in public, going to a restaurant for a nice dinner, dancing at a club — meant risking their own personal safety. Gay bars and clubs offered a place of refuge. A place where they can express themselves without fear.

Even after LGBT+ patrons were legally allowed to be served alcohol in 1966, many gay bars continued to operate without liquor license, in part because a lot of them were owned by the Mafia. Stonewall Inn was one of the many gay bars owned by the Genovese family. They kept the police on their payroll so the bars will be tipped off before the raid, giving the patrons enough time to relocate. In return, the Mafia ran the establishment in a subpar condition (no fire exits, no running water behind the bar), and blackmailed the wealthiest patrons who wished to keep their identity a secret.

Stonewall Riot, 1969

Regardless, Stonewall Inn became one of the few establishments in the Village that welcomed drag queens, including the one who was often seen with a flower crown — Marsha P. Johnson. In the early hours of June 29, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn. This time, there was no tip. The standard “raid protocol” at that time was that patrons and employees were taken to the restroom for physical examination, and anyone who was not dressed in accordance with their assigned gender at birth was arrested. Those who were not arrested were told to leave. Instead, a crowd of 150 people formed outside of the inn. “We Shall Overcome” was sung at one point. A woman in handcuffs was forcefully escorted to the police wagon. When she got hit in the head with a baton, she yelled at the crowd to take action, to stop being bystanders. The riot that broke out, followed by the five-day long protest are what we now know as the Stonewall Riot.

Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha Johnson is often referred to as the one who threw the first brick, or the first shot glass. She probably threw both, and many more things that night. While she is often associated with the Stonewall Riot, her true accomplishments followed in the years to come. In 1970, Marsha and Sylvia Rivera, a gay liberation and transgender rights activist, founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization that provided housing and community support to homeless LGBT+ youth in Lower Manhattan. In the 1980’s Marsha was involved with AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) as an organizer and activist working to improve the lives of people with AIDS.

On July 6, 1992, Marsha’s body was found floating in the Hudson River. Her death was at first ruled as a suicide; changed to murder only after many witnesses came forward. She was 46.

Violence against transgender women is still prevalent in 21st century, and it disproportionately affects women of color. In 2019, at least 26 transgender women were murdered in the United States. 91% of them were black. The term “at least” is used, because many violent crimes against transgender women goes unreported, or victims robbed of their rightful pronoun.

In Memoriam ~ Rest In Power

June 28, 1970 marked the first year anniversary of the Stonewall Riot. The day was celebrated by marches in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago — the first Pride Parade. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the Pride Parade. While the parade itself may be canceled, the spirit of Pride is relevant now more than ever. Be kind to each other. Treat each other with respect and dignity. We were Born This Way.

Stonewall Inn, Present Day

Gender Stereotyping — The Subtle Discrimination

The following article was intended for an op-ed…then I found out that it is too long for an op-ed…then I started getting requests to write more. So I said, “sure.” I am currently working on a collection of essays focusing on issues women face in STEM. Stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy the snippet of my new writing project.

Also, my one Sci-Fi writing project has multiplied into two projects. I sincerely hope the multiplication rate is slower than that of tribbles.

Growing up, I always knew I did not quite fit the mold. My childhood sports of choice were figure skating and soccer. I was allowed to take figure skating classes, but was told that “soccer is for boys.” In high school, I was complemented as a fearless risk-taker. While I am certain my teachers had good intentions, I did not think that overloading my schedule with advanced calculus, physics, and computer science classes –something I excelled in — constituted as a risky move.

I am an aerospace engineer, who happens to be a woman. Over the years, I started to take interest in the inherent gender stereotype that is prevalent in our culture, especially in STEM field. A 2016 report published by National Science Board shows that women’s share of bachelor degrees in STEM field such as biology, psychology, mathematics, physical sciences, and social sciences are above or around 40%. Meanwhile, two disciplines stand out with less than 20% of women graduating with bachelor degrees — computer science and engineering. Ashcraft, et al from National Center for Women & Information Technology have published a study on stereotypes, barriers and biases women face in technology field, and offers constructive solutions. Of the many topics discussed in the 70-page report, one resonates with me the most — gender stereotype.

When we encounter someone who do not conform to our view of gender, it is natural to feel like we are interacting with some unknown entity.

What is gender stereotype? No matter how gender-neutral we all strive to be, we all associate certain activities, genre, traits, etc. to a gender — male or female. Most of the time this is a product of the culture we grew up in. We are raised with some varying form and level of gender stereotype, some more severe than other. When we encounter someone who do not conform to our view of gender, it is natural to feel like we are interacting with some unknown entity. This feeling in itself is nothing to be ashamed of. It is how you act upon these feelings that matters. To obtain a diverse perspective, I spoke with several female engineers and scientists. While our backgrounds and specialties may differ, we all have one thing in common — we all work in a male-dominant field.

Leave your inner fashion police at home

The fashion comments women get at work is mind-boggling. No matter how you dress, there is always someone making comments. Yet, men rarely encounter such situation. There is more to the classic “male employee makes inappropriate comments on how a female colleague dresses” scenario. A female software engineer at Google and a female aerospace engineer at Boeing both received lengthy antiquated Fashion 101 lecture from another female employee. Unfortunately, their idea of Fashion 101 is not about color-coordinating or where to get a good deal on business attire. Instead, their idea is simple and backwards: women should wear skirts. Perhaps, that is their idea of “proper business attire.” Perhaps, that is how they were taught to dress. Perhaps, they have good intentions. Sadly, they could not be more wrong. By imposing their idea of social norm ONLY to women, they are also contributing to the cycle of gender stereotype. If the same standards are not imposed on men, there is no reason why women should have to conform to the unspoken dress code.

Do not confuse tokenism for diversity

To quote Ashcraft, et al, “tokenism occurs when only a few employees belong to a particular identity group (e.g., in terms of gender, race, age, sexual-orientation), and those individuals are singled out to represent or relate to that group.” An example of where tokenism is confused for diversity is when a female employee is promoted or chosen to lead a project group, not because of her qualifications but instead of her gender. In this situation, this employee is not ready for the role, and will face struggles that may ultimately lead to her leaving the field. The misuse of diversity is a common knowledge within institutions and corporations that “promotes” diversity. As a result, when a woman is actually chosen for her qualifications, every decision she makes is met with immense scrutiny, as others wrongfully assume that she was only chosen because she is a woman. Promoting diversity by including employees from various backgrounds is indeed valuable — only if those employees are truly qualified. Do not enforce diversity just to check off a race, ethnicity, or gender box. A female nuclear engineer expresses that “[w]e also need to support each other — I can’t tell you how many times I have seen women competing for the coveted ‘token female’ slot instead of working together to destroy the quota.”

Be an ally

To all of the women I spoke with, I asked this question:

There are lots of programs encouraging younger generation of women to pursue STEM. Can you think of areas in which we are not doing enough of?

The responses, different it may be, conveyed one message loud and clear: we made progress, but we have more work to do. More “flexible work options and schedules, not just for women, but for everyone, [in order] to make sure people don’t have to choose between career and family.” Making STEM courses such as computer science mandatory, not optional, for middle and high school, because “until then, boys will continue to be culturally and socially encouraged to pursue these optional programs and girls will be discouraged, and it will be hard to remedy.” Last but not the least: the need to “teach [young women] about the adversity that is present in the work force…[and young] men to recognize the silent challenges that their female [colleagues] may be dealing with.” Having this honest conversation is crucial in raising awareness in younger generation, so the culture itself can be changed for the better.

Subtle discrimination is just as damaging as overt discrimination. Subtle discrimination sows the seeds of self-doubt and isolation. We need more allies. Being an ally can start from making small changes in our behavior, such as recognizing and respecting the difference in communication style. A stereotypical “male” speech (e.g. loud, assertive, dominating the room) is not always the most constructive way to communicate. If an action by a colleague of opposite gender annoys you, first think whether you would find the same action annoying if it came from a colleague of same gender. Gentlemen, when approached by a female colleague on the subtle discrimination they are facing, first affirm and acknowledge their experience. Give advice that is independent of gender, and focus on how to solve the problem or achieve a goal. Do not focus on how she should change her behavior, mannerism, or personality. Help her strategize, and try to offer constructive advice. Change only comes from taking action, and every action, no matter how small, counts.

Hidden Figures No More

It was back in September of 2016 when I first heard about the movie called Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe. Hidden Figures is an inspirational story about black female physicists, mathematicians and engineers who were crucial to the US Space Race, and based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly. I pre-ordered the book on Amazon, finished it before the movie came out, and saw the movie on the opening weekend.

The book, and also the movie, follows the lives of three extraordinary women – Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson, and Mary Jackson. Parts of this book and the movie brought me to tears. It was happy tears. This story is so much more than the untold historical account of space race. This story is about being a female aerospace engineer in 21st century America.

During the course of my high school education, I was encouraged to learn math and science. My Calculus teachers, Ms. Schettino and Mr. Nielsen, taught me the fundamentals that I still use on a daily basis. My Computer Science teacher, Mr. Day, introduced me to the wonderful world of programming. I did not become a CGI artist as I once hoped, but instead I became a scientific computing and data analysis wizard, so it all worked out in the end. My Physics teacher, Ms. Mosher, taught me how to think like an engineer – how to dissect one big problem into many smaller, easier problems. In my high school, a woman learning math and science was not a novelty. Yes, I lived in a liberal academic bubble. Then college and real world came at me with one purpose in mind: to destroy all of the happy sheltering bubbles.

“Being an engineer, Mary Jackson would eventually learn, meant being the only black person, or the only woman, or both, at industry conferences for years.” – p.144, Hidden Figures

It is safe to say that every female engineer has encountered this situation at some point in their life. In college, I was oftentimes the only female student in a group project. In graduate school, I was, for some time, the only female graduate student studying plasma physics. In conferences, I consider myself lucky if I see a few women in the audience. This was true in the 1960’s, and in some disciplines, still true in the 21st century. More and more women are entering the STEM field; however, the prevalent gender disparity in the field do discourage some from pursuing the field. Lack of women in leadership position and media plays a role. When you do not see someone like you succeeding in your field, what does that say about your chance of success? It certainly is not impossible. But are you setting up yourself for a lonely battle with no end in sight? I believe this is true not just for women in STEM, but for every minorities in every field. Representation matters.

“Each [woman] had cracked the hole in the wall a little wider, allowing the next talent to come through. And now that Mary had walked through, she was going to open the wall as wide as possible for the people coming behind her.” – p.199, Hidden Figures

While I believe that things are getting better since the days of Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson, and Mary Jackson, I did encounter my fair share of doubters and gender biases. Every snide sideways remark I get is a reminder that there are people out there who doubts my ability as an engineer because I am a woman. Every astonished face after I say that I am an aerospace engineer is a reminder that I am a novelty because I happened to be female. I wish for the day to come when a woman can have a profession of her desire and not cause the other people’s eyeballs to pop out of their socket. We need more allies – both women and men – to advocate for each other. We need more role models for women to look up to. In college, I desperately searched for stories about female aerospace engineers that I can relate to. While I had faith that there were other women who succeeded in my field, the fact that there was very little to no literature on them was telling. I expanded my search to science field, and read stories about Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, and whatever little snippets I could find on other female scientists.

The problem here? I cannot put myself and a chemist with two Nobel prizes on the same platform. The female mathematicians, scientists, and engineers that usually gets highlighted in literature and media belong in the top 1% of the field. Where is the other 99%? The message that is being sent here, is that unless you belong in the top 1%, expect that you will leave no footprints in history, and be prepared to have your qualifications periodically questioned for the rest of the career. The other stories – stories that was not told before – deserves to be told. Then perhaps more people will find a role model who they can relate to, who represents them the best, who is like them.

“There was virtually no aspect of twentieth-century defense technology that had not been touched by the hands and minds of female mathematicians.” – p.189, Hidden Figures

When I read the above quote, I actually cried happy tears. Katherine Johnson and Al Hamer coauthored papers on using stars to navigate the spacecraft in the event of onboard navigation computer failure. Katherine and Al’s findings helped bring back the Apollo 13 astronauts. Until I read this book, whenever I was asked why I wanted to be an engineer, I mentioned Apollo 13, and that while I did not see any female engineers in the story, I was not going to let that stop me. I have never been more excited to have been wrong – that there was a female scientist who played a crucial role in bringing back those astronauts home. I am proud to be able to tell the story of Katherine Johnson in the context of Apollo 13 from here on.

I am in no way black, but I can relate to the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson, and Mary Jackson. I know what it is like to have your findings doubted and scrutinized more than your male counterparts. I know what it is like to have to constantly advocate for yourself, then being criticized for being too aggressive (take that, Kobayashi Maru). It is exhausting. But when that alarm clock sounds the next morning, we all drag our tired butts out of the warm and cozy bed and do it all over again. Why? Because we love space. We love science. We love what we do. And guess what? There is a lot of us – engineers, mathematicians, scientists…who happens to be women. There will be more of us.

In Hidden Figures, I was reading the proof that I am not fighting a lonely fight. There were women who came before me, that paved the way for me, and now I am paving the way for future women who will join me in years to come. From one aerospace engineer to another…thank you for breaking the wall enough for me to come through. I promise I will break down the wall even more, and we will not stop until the wall is gone.

Thank you, Ms. Shetterly, for telling this story of hope, courage, and resillience.

“…the best thing about breaking a barrier was that it would never have to be broken again.” – p.200, Hidden Figures

It’s Rogue…Rogue One

Back in April, when I first started this blog, I had the intention of focusing my reviews on TV shows, because there are already enough movie review sites. But here’s the thing: I LOVE STAR WARS. So much so that I thought if I became an Aerospace Engineer, I may have a good chance at becoming a spaceship engineer (hey, you never know). As a diehard Star Wars fan, I bought the ticket to Rogue One 10 minutes after it went on sale. I saw it twice, and I can’t help but write about it. Like my other review posts, this review is also going to be spoiler-free, because I believe that there is a special place in hell for those people who spoilers stories. Also, it kind of bums me out when I see articles about the movie I want to see but haven’t seen yet that contains spoilers…so, no spoilers.

Before I proceed, please spend about 30 seconds staring at these Rogue One character posters, so you know who I’m talking about. Rule number 3 of Star Wars fandom: learn the full names of the character. Rule number 1 is watch all the movies, and rule number 2 is episodes 1 through 3 didn’t happen.

Let’s talk about the characters: HOLY CRAP THEY ARE NOT ALL WHITE!!! Captain Cassian Andor is played by Mexican actor, Diego Luna. He did an interview with Esquire, where he talks about the importance of diversity in film:

“I never, never even thought about it. I mean, I guess, as a kid, I probably sent enough messages to the universe that one day it became true. But now, as a professional actor, I never even thought about the idea. And when the news came to me that [director Gareth Edwards] was interested in me for a role, I was just, like, amused and couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked. But when I finally got it, I was like, ‘I’m perfect for this! I’ve been getting ready my whole life for this job without even knowing it.'”

When he says he never even thought about it, he’s not just talking about how hard it is to get a role so iconic like the one in Star Wars universe. He’s speaking from the perspective that all major roles cast in the previous Star Wars movies have been predominantly white, English actors. There has been a few exceptions in the form of Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), and in the most recent Force Awakens, John Boyega (Finn), but no Hispanic actors have been cast as a major role in the past Star Wars films. Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa, while awesome, is not really a major role.

Speaking of diversity in the cast…wouldn’t it be awesome if a world-class martial artist Donnie Yen got cast as a former protector of the Jedi temple, Chirrut Îmwe? And wouldn’t it be awesome if he got to do some bo staff action? And wouldn’t it be awesome if he had one of the best lines in the movie? Star Wars genie says, “what can I say except you’re welcome.” (That was a Moana reference. You’re welcome.) Chirrut and Rey make me want to learn bo staff. I’m almost certain it’ll come in handy in both zombie apocalypse and in galaxy far far away.

One thing I noted after seeing Rogue One for the second time is that all of the characters start to grow on you. At first I thought Cassian needed to get over his trust issues, and Bodhi Rook seemed a bit too frazzled and scatter-brained (he has a good reason to be, however). When I saw Rogue One the second time, I didn’t have to focus so much on the plot. Instead, I could appreciate the character development more, and imagine their back stories. I understood why Cassian is acting the way he is, and of all of the Rogue One crew, I really really liked Bodhi a whole lot more the second time. Also, the actor who plays Bodhi, Riz Ahmed, is HILARIOUS and geek enough to spam Gareth Edwards with audition videos then sign up without having read the script.

“I signed up for the movie not having read a script or knowing where the character sat in the movie. I’ve got to be honest, the character was a different character at that point. He had a different name and a different relationship to the rest of the team, and he really evolved once I signed on and once I started shooting, even. They decided to start expanding the role and introducing him earlier and he became more integral to the story and the rest of the team. It’s interesting, looking back, that I signed up knowing nothing, but ultimately I’d sign up for a Star Wars movie to make tea, just to be around that level of creativity.”

Shall we discuss how awesome our fearless leader – Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) – is? The first thing I said when I saw Rogue One trailer was: “YES! Finally a female character got the lead role in a Star Wars movie!!!” There was Rey in Force Awakens, but our beloved J.J. Abrams stuck to his style and kept the trailer very non-descriptive, whereas in Rogue One, there’s no doubt that Jyn is the main character. I have seen some comments along the lines of, “Until now I thought Star Wars was for boys.” It’s true…and not true. If we are talking about how Star Wars has been marketed, then yes, all of the toys and tee-shirts are found in boys section. I frequented boys tee-shirt section growing up, because pink sequined butterfly was too fabulous for my taste. If we are talking about the Star Wars extended universe, then you’ll quickly discover that there are many kickass female characters aside from Leia Organa: Jaina Solo, Mara Jade, Witches of Dathomir, Nightsisters, Sabine Wren, Ahsoka Tano, just to name a few. So really, there has been a lot of amazing female characters in Star Wars universe; just that it took some time for the movies to catch up to the books. As Felicity Jones perfectly sums it up, it’s not like a giraffe is a lead…because that would be weird indeed.

Lastly, please take a moment to read the column by Mark Hamill, remembering Carrie Fisher.

I am one with the Force; the Force is with me.

Welcome to Westworld

It’s been three months since the beginning of the fall TV season…and unfortunately the one Sci-Fi show I was excited about did not quite live up to the hype (I’m looking at you, Timeless). With overwhelmingly high number of reboots and “reuinion” TV shows, the number of new shows in my queue quickly dwindled down to…one.

da da da da da~ dum da dum da dududum dum~

Three-second premise: It’s Jurassic Park with robots.

Thirty-second premise:

Westworld is a themepark in the future, where people pay a fortune to be a Guest. Androids, or Hosts, “live” in Westworld. Guests can do whatever their hearts desire to the Hosts (often resulting in Hosts needing to be repaired). Guests can shoot/kill Hosts. Hosts can’t shoot/kill Guests. Everyone was happily living in their bubble, until someone messed with the Hosts’ codes and they started to mulfunction…

So for those of you who have been fighting the hype because you’re too cool, don’t know someone with HBO Go account, or too busy trying to find the center of the maze, here’s the spoiler-free explanation of why this show is awesome and you should watch it.

It’s Sci-Fi, doh
BAD ROBOT!!!!!
Sir. Anthony. Hopkins. (aka scariest boss ever)
Puzzles. Lots and lots of puzzles.
BAD ROBOT!!!!!!!!!!
Androids are so cool
Comedy hour brought to you by Felix (aka the worst human ever, according to Maeve)
Speaking of Maeve, she’s kind of badass
It’s like LOST, minus all of the annoying stuff like smoke monster, polar bear, Kate, and THE BUTTON
BAAAADDD ROOOOBOOOOOOTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you watch the first episode and wondered why you’re watching Groundhog Day: Wild Wild West?

You have to put up with that episode, and in episode 2, you get just enough information to feel like you’re not so confused anymore, but still confused enough to want to watch episode 3.

Westworld follows two androids – Delores and Maeve – and they are “special.” We find out more about what makes them special, and in doing so, poses some questions about the nature of Westworld. Are mulfunctioning androids really “broken”? Do humans get to “own” androids? Who are the bad guys? (psst humans…it’s always humans…)

Westworld is based on the 70’s Sci-Fi film of the same name. If you got excited about the TV series, you might want to brace yourself before hitting the play button for Westworld-the-movie. The movie is not good… I saw it quite some time ago, and it was of WTF quality. TV series took the concept from the movie, and turned the mystery-solving dial all the way to the right. While they were at it, they swapped the main android characters from male to female. Notice the absence of female actor on the poster? Fast forward 40 years and Evan Rachel Wood and Thandie Newton are the top two actors in the opening credit. This is what progress looks like: in the form of good Sci-Fi show with women.

In a good way, you probably will miss a lot of bread crumb clues the first time you watch this show. I only found out some of the clues because I obsessively read and analyze all sorts of fan theories (I know almost all Game of Thrones fan theories out there…including the crazy ones). Even then, I was pleasantly surprised at key episodes. Now that Season 1 is over, I get to rewatch all of the episodes and see what I missed. You know you’re watching a good show when you discover something new when you watch it the second time. At first, some things doesn’t look like anything to me. Then you see things you didn’t see before.

See you at the center of the maze…

Blindspot

With the fall TV season starting, I will be reviewing some of the currently airing TV shows that I watch. There are quite a few promising TV shows this season.

First one up: Blindspot, or Jane’s no good very bad day++ (get it?)

No good very bad stuff #1:

blindspot_2

When you crawl out of a duffel bag sans pants (and a shirt) in the middle of Times Square, you’re not having a good day. Really? Whoever’s behind this went through all those trouble and couldn’t throw in some tee shirt and yoga pants? Uncool.

No good very bad stuff #2: Having FBI case files tatooed on you

Blindspot - Season Pilot

If you complained about TSA body scanner at the airport before, now is a good time to put things in perspective. Every tatoo is a piece of a puzzle to some FBI case…and there are a whole lot of tatoos. At least whoever designed it had better sense to turn those cases into a cool tatoo pattern. Why the FBI is not interviewing every tatoo artist is beyond me.

No good very bad stuff #3: Memory loss

At which point the viewers are cued in that Jane can’t. remember. anything. Except for all those foreign language skills, hand-to-hand combat skills, marksmanship skills, and general badassery skillz. Those skills are enough for her to be employed(ish) by the FBI, with housing benefits (sort of). Don’t worry, she still gets shot at every so often to remind us that someone really doesn’t like her.

No good very bad stuff #4: Office drama / conspiracy / shadiness

These FBI special task force people have zero life outside of work, so they hang out together a lot, which inevitably results in some drama. Of course, almost everyone has some kind of baggage or shady past (or present, for that matter).

As an upshot, this calls for some character development, so we’re not watchig the same one-dimensional character solving crimes every week. My favorite aside fron Jane has got to be Patterson – the resident geek. There’s definitely a hint of Kirk-Scotty thing going on with Weller (the really broody dude heading the task force thing) and Patterson that makes you chuckle every week. (I got a geek bias, though)

No good very bad stuff #5: Jane has no clue who’s on her side

Everyone has some agenda. If you’re Jane, you’re never quite sure who’s telling the truth (unless your name is Kurt Weller, aka worst lier on Earth). It’s like you’re stuck in a real-life CLUE, where the players are allowed to give you BS information all the time. Paging Dr. Lightman…

And that’s just first few episodes. The beginning of first season may feel like it’s dragging on at times with “tatoo of the week” and not much advancing of the plot. Just hang in there and you’ll be rewarded with a whole lot of crazy towards the end of the first season.

Blindspot is currently on its second season, and if anything, this show is getting better and better. If you like puzzles and drama that makes you think, this is for you. With every question that is answered, you get a few new questions to be answered.

Bonus supergeek feature: Each episode title is an anagram, and all episode titles in a season makes up a secret message. Of course, someone on internet has already decoded them, but if you don’t want to spoiler yourself, stay clear from Wikipedia and try to crack the code yourself.

Hey, I said supergeek.

Stay tuned for the next review…

*All images are taken from Blindspot Wiki

The Beginning of The Mind

As I anxiously await the start of the TV season (please don’t cancel my soon to be favorite shows, TV network that shall remain unnamed), I have been doing some reading to do more research on The Mind (just keep scrolling, it’s there). Me being on The Next MacGyver competition came about in the most unexpected way I had imagined. I heard about the competition through one of those email announcements from one of the professors at University of Washington, where I used to study Aerospace Engineering. I am one of those people who reads every random emails I get, so I read it, and it sounded cool.

The requirement for initial entry was to write a short synopsis for the TV show with female engineer as a protagonist. I have always been drawn to storytelling – I watch every behind the scene footage for movies I own, and love good stories. I knew I would write a story one day. What I didn’t expect was that it would come so soon in a form of a TV pilot competition.

As a female engineer myself, I have been frustrated with the portrayal of female scientists and engineers in TV shows and movies. Most are either fashion models in lab coats (dress code for women in STEM is a topic for another blog post), or beautiful but socially challenged. I get that the actresses who will be playing those characters are bound to be pretty – but why so much emphasis on the looks? and why do we have to be so weird? and why are ALL of them geniuses? There are really good, well-rounded characters out there – Kaylee Frye from Firefly and Special Agent Patterson from Blindspot come to mind. Others, like Dr. Temperance Brennan fron Bones and Dr. Maura Isles from Rizzoli & Isles, while both fantastic characters I absolutely love, are described as “weird” and “socially awkward.” All of them are unrealistically smart.

Here’s the thing. You don’t have to be pretty, genius, and adorably challenged in the social department to be an engineer or scientist.

I felt like it was time to bring life to some realistic characters. I wrote about the importance of being able to relate in my previous post. By making the engineers and scientists in the media eccentric, it is sending the message that you need to be like those characters to be an engineer or scientist, intentionally or not. After all, not everyone who goes on to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) grows up with a real life role model – I sure as hell didn’t have one. I only had books and TV shows to turn to, and the struggle (especially in the biography genre) to find a female kick ass engineer/scientist was real.

Well, one thing led to another, and I ended up as a top-12 finalist in The Next MacGyver competition. If any of you who saw me give a talk in the competition video thought the plot was a bit weak – you’re right, it was weak. I had less than a month between finding out that I was selected as a finalist, and a deadline to deliver a 10-page “show bible.” Oh, and I was also writing an academic paper for a conference in parallel.

“Why do you write like you’re running out of time?”

“Because I got two huge papers due and I got about 2 weeks to spend on each of them.”

I didn’t win the competition, but it gave me enough positive feedback to turn the idea into a book. The one where I am actually doing research in the character and plot development. In doing so, I’m reading nonfiction to draw inspiration for my fictional universe.

After all, nonfiction tells better stories than fiction.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with an exerpt from the article called Road to Zootopia (coming to Netflix this month!). Good stories can inspire, and give people hope. And when you’re feeling all the feels, that’s when you know it’s a good story.

“There was a young African American man that was sharing these stories of just how difficult it was going through high school as one of two African American students in the school, and him sharing with us what that experience was like. His grandfather was always telling him you have to push through it. Then for him to say seeing Zootopia and feeling so much, feeling akin to Judy, to Nick, and how everything his grandfather had taught him, and he had kind of stride for, he was seeing our characters achieving those kinds of things and doing those things on screen, and he felt like, I feel like I’m not so alone in this world,” that, you’re speaking to me through this movie, and it’s making my struggles all for the better, and worth it.” – Road to Zootopia

I’m not some token bunny. 😎

Who Lives, Who Dies, No Day But Today

Aside from Science Fiction and Fantasy, I have another genre that I feel passionately about: musical.

In everyone’s life, there probably is that one thing that kept that person going through tough times. It may be sports, music, art, volunteering, etc…in my case it happened to be musical.

It’s true that I grew up watching musicals (mostly Disney), but there was a brief period in my life where I drifted away from it – I stopped getting that warm and fuzzy feeling. I can narrow the “why” down to two things. First, my middle school decided to put on a back-to-back productions of Bye Bye Birdie and Hello Dolly! Being an alto (I can do mezzosoprano now, thanks to many hours spent singing Wicked soundtrack), this meant I had no shot at any female solo parts. Since this was 15+ years ago, there was no way I could audition for male solo parts. Lame. It was around this time that I also discovered my love for rock music, and there is no guitar or drums in classical musicals. Double lame.

Bye_Bye_Birdie_Film_Poster HelloDollyFilmPoster

So what was the issue here? In retrospect, I didn’t feel the connection at all. How was a middle-class awkward Asian girl supposed to relate to girls swooning over Elvis (I get that he’s the King of Rock, but I’m a fan of Queen) or an elite New York socialite matchmaker (that doesn’t sound like a fun profession).

Little did I know that in 7 years, I will discover the one musical that was on heavy repeat on every 2000’s theater geek’s iPod: RENT. The first Broadway musical to feature rock music and diverse, complicated characters. I saw a little bit of me in everyone – Mimi, Mark, Roger, Maureen, Angel, Collins, Joanne, and even Benny. Their emotions felt real. Their struggles felt real. I could relate again.

If you meet a RENTHead, I encourage you to ask them to tell you their RENT story – why that musical is so special to them. For me, it helped me finish college. I was taking a set of prerequisite courses needed to take the courses I ACTUALLY liked and wanted to take, and also trying to figure out if I wanted to do cars, airplanes, or satellites. When you have to spend 80 hours a week on something you don’t really enjoy…it’s rough. Really, really, rough. The idea of switching majors crossed my mind so many times…but I knew it was a bad idea, since those no-fun classes were just a phase that I had to get through. The message of “$hit happens, but live your life to the fullest,” for all of its cliche glory, got me through one day at a time…until the phase was over. I don’t think I listened to any music besides RENT for close to a year. Thank you, Jonathan Larson.

Playbill_from_the_original_Broadway_production_of_Hamilton

Fast forward 9 years and this new musical that I now am calling “My New RENT” is on heavy repeat. It’s about this guy who went from an immigrant to the first Secretary of the Treasury: Hamilton. Above everything that is awesome about this musical – the music, the lyrics, the character, the story – what makes this musical so outstanding that it resonated with so many people is that it tells the story in such a way that people in the 21st century can relate. As a storyteller, that’s something I strive to do with my characters. Hopefully, I’ll be able to deliver some snippets soon.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?