[listen] night sounds

hot nights mean cruising, cruising on hot nights leans on a solid mix tape

night sounds s1e1 https://edwardianjackal.podbean.com/e/edwardianjackalcom-podcast-night-sounds/

night sounds s1e2 https://edwardianjackal.podbean.com/e/edwardianjackal-night-sounds-s1-e2/

night sounds s1e3 https://edwardianjackal.podbean.com/e/edwardianjackal-night-sounds-s1e3/

...

[rhyme] la femme dangereuse

SHE collects their attention, steals any modicum of silence
or solace yet claims nothing
as if each glance were but a breath
taken but unremembered
where the fancy and object of desire is calm as silk
the fancier is brutalized
hungering for that which will only escape him
clamor in want
that will never, ever come
the animus fills
and the sheets soak in fitful, quiet rage
leading each time, every time, to hate
HER name
Soir de Paris in lace that was begged for as consolation
the feel of her skin, where one would swear it never touched before
and the reaction, the moment where the entire frame could be felt
and almost yours
and, as fleeting as it was,
the next instant the distance
insurmountable and cold

the eyes lost from you
not as if forgotten, even in a loss of memory, in the least there is a thread
that could be pulled
but not here

you are kept alive for some time
to extract what is needed to keep Guerlain upon those lips
Balenciaga on her shoulder
Lightly playing with langoustines a la vapeur at Hostellerie Jerome
After riding a young man from Brussels since lunch

Perhaps it's us
What does the hunt for the elusive
in the end
gain?

[eye] The Majesty of Hearst Castle

There's always been a rush for me when visiting Hearst's 'Castle' - or as he coined it, 'La Cuesta Encantada', The Enchanted Hill.  There's a wild mix of what is the core of California - the natural beauty of the area, the unspoiled vistas, the lunancy of business, the legacy of Hollywood.  Hearst was a genius, there's no denying that.  The care in each placement of a tree, or statue, or fountain is undeniable.

The Roman Pool is otherworldly.  It's as if an ancient Roman bath was lifted back from time.  It is grand and terrifying.  Dark.  It is a daunting pool compared to what we know in California otherwise - the safety of light and air. The ability to see the pool's floor...here a chorus of tile and shadow.

This happy statue used to sit directly outside the main door, but has been brought in to safe it from the weather.

One could only imagine the discussions that went on in this smoking room, whose ceiling needs to be meticulously cleaned from the ravages of cigarettes and cigars.

short (draft): the Parnassus, Symmetry and Law

Aristotle and Buridan both pondered symmetry in the Universe.  A man (or in the latter's case, an ass), provided equal portions of food and water within reach, may likely starve if he lacks sufficient reason to choose one or the other.  It sounds unreasonable for any creature to starve, but the underlying logic is sound - the creature will have to make up a reason to break the symmetry of the choice.

So Man has made the Universe operate within Law, and symmetry is likely to be found.

But, if was Harithren in 2085 that found that symmetry is false.  Where behaviors of magnetism or gravity or Newtonian Law appear to be sound and replicable, there is the Harithren Dispute.  This Dispute allows for a single, and only a single, string of an absolute asymmetrical construct that induces symmetry.  A general Law is upheld.  The singular Dispute as well.

If not for Harithren, we would not have found the muon counter-effect.  The elegance and simplicity of the string provided us faster than light travel, where the general Law could not allow.

The Parnassus had the MCE Generator, which amplified the counter-effect, and space time was malleable.  We only had to point to a direction of space, account for various affectations in the travel, based upon Dispute knowns (47 in the case of extra-stellar travel).

Now commonplace, I have seen space grow dark - as trillions of starlight points pull upon itself.  I have not seen, but other Captains have, seen to within minutes of the Singularity.  Best not to think on it is the usual refrain.  The AI takes care of most of it and I have another 12 physicists assigned to me that take only fractions of the overall MCE calculations.  No one human could ever take that on.  The AI computational use is completely given over with 30% overhead so we don't disintegrate.  [A sister ship, a B-Class Haul Frigate, attempted to apply an AI to a singularity, Lord know what they were thinking, and the ship stopped.  Only 27% of the souls were saved.]

During sub-light, the Generator Crew is on high alert and are not allowed to do anything but monitor AI and continuously run calculations.  Getting into sub-light is the easiest part, the traverse is harrowing, but it is re-entry that will get you.  Arnof said that, and used 'get' where he wanted to use 'kill'.  No one on a star ship used language that could be deemed unlucky.

In sub, environment and comms were the only allowable functions.  It was a bit of a break for almost all the rest of the crew.  We were called to quarters, except for me and my executive crew.  Even then, I let them do what they did best.  I monitored their progress from my ready room, where I put them on the monitors.  All was nominal.

I sat back and thought of reading up on reports of the quadrant we were visiting.  The area was of interest as it's spectrograph spiked on having an asteroid field of some size with granirum - necessary for the production of super station frames.

It was a one week [relative] trip out, five days of study, and another week back.  The geologists were anxious and the pressure was mostly on them.  Our instruments were good, but we would have to send precise locations for the mining syndicate to be of any value.

The hum continued and took me from the reports.  I instead snuck in an organic tea and a physical solitaire game to reset my thoughts. The starlight returned in parts, but the pattern wasn't recognizable.  I got dressed into my tactical uniform and had to pay a visit to the MCE.

As I walked aft, a fleeting thought came in about a different Dispute, then was suddenly lost.  I let it go and hoped it would drift back to me again.

vis: pelicula en blanco y negro

clarity writ in dark and light
lines comforting
where cacaphony's a spectrum
an unrelenting array
but here, but three - shadow, white and in between

a soft sweater on a cool day
a buffet against a harsher wind
mellowing it to a light, cool whisper
the fog to separate harshness
otherwise

this or that, or somewhere in between
is all

focus is effortless
edging the primordial
time between day and night
where tremulous we tread
and only breath
and relish the pause

~ 25jun18

short (draft): Commander of the Parnassus

I.

When you've spent enough time on a star ship, the hum became its 'signature' - a unique combination of systems running nominally.  Chirps, persistent hums, even the occasional easing of hull frames - combined, they form a bit of a song.  As captain of the Parnassus, I pause constantly to attune myself to the correct correlation of multiple, persistent sound.  At this instant, it had the right combination...particularly from the ready room.  The engine, the vibration of the surfaces in the room, the feel of the air and, one area I was sensitive to, the very pressure was at a rate that was nominal.  Nominal may sound an odd description, but the variances of a star ship were such that nominal would only be about half of the time.  Dangers persistent at all times, unless you were in the embrace of dry dock.  [Not to say there haven't been accidents in dock.]  The whole business was precarious to the core.

Being sensitive to changes in pressure is a critical trait for me.  It has saved me, and thus the crew, on a variety of occasions.  The same sensitivity I require in my own executive staff.  Tanishe is my nose, Karl my skin, Farshad my ears - so much so my less sensitive staff relied upon the four of us at crucial times where emotions were high and the proclivities of the Parnassus AI, Daedalus, were not so easily trusted.  AI, after all, has no nose, skin or ears.  It can easily tell you the composition of the air, but mild variations did not trigger where a human's does.  We are trained to trust our instincts...Daedalus simply couldn't be relied upon in the same way.

My desk was a mess and it bothered me.  There was a ceremony where the Parnassus and its crew were honored guests and required to be the emissaries for the Federalist Government.  I have about 25% new staff and 'new' in they just walked off the fields of Academy.  They were taking a crash course in diplomacy from my best.  "Better to keep one's mouth shut in all cases where a glint in the eye and a pleasant smile are what's wanted."  I had to remind them that we are star hoppers and not politicians.  Thank God.

The ship had just dodged a bullet when a piece of NRD, naturally recurring debris, had struck a radiation vent.  We had to immediately stop the ship and the whole procedure required that we hold down, no engine use for at least 36 hours.  Givvy and the engineering crew got us back up and running within 5 hours and Focus [special tactical teams that were called upon based upon skill, shift and situation] allowed us to move on...only because of the time table to get to Trious for the ceremony.  I shifted the reports around a bit, and that was a dangerous move, as the work may have been truncated, but we risked having an issue that would make the 36 hours look like a drop in the hat if it cropped up.  'Focus' was critical - we assigned a crew and they were responsible for the calls, easing the burden on the rest of the team to continue their normal duties.  I took a page from Admiral Chartain in that I always assigned a Maverick.  A single person to monitor from afar and let me know if Focus was off the mark.

"Engineering?"

"Sir?"

"Is this Stafford?"  She hailed from Angel's Nest.  A right functioning cadet - quick and bright.

"Yes sir!"

"Did Givvy put the radiation venting on a monitored cycle?  And what is our current through put?"

A pause.  "Yes, we are monitoring every 5 minutes with an AI and a visual check.  We have a glass on the vent and it looks clean at the moment.  Still have the damage around it, but it is wide enough not to heat up.  Our current through-put is .26.  We cut it back and it has been holding."

"Very good Stafford.  Please contact the bridge for any deviation from .26, we'll shut the engine immediately.  Also, please express to the crew that I've personally asked for the five minute intervals.  I don't want us gimped or dead because someone could respond to a timer."

"Yes sir.  I'll re-express it the crew."

"Can you ask Valerie on our current time deviation with Trious?"

"Stand-by."  Relative time was ascertained against the Earth quantum time, the ship clocks (mean, determined, relative), and a deviation time given against the way-point or destination quantum.

"Twelve hours, 36 minutes.  It is currently April 3rd, 11:00a relative to Earth."  It popped up on the screen.  Valerie was quick.

"Thanks Stafford and Valerie.  Out."

I turned attention to the status reports of the various governments convening at Trious.  We have the Federalists, and only the Parnassus in attendance, we are a hybrid ship, so we don't upset anyone expecting a particular flub in diplomacy.  We represent engineering, command, science, operations and military.

The Trious were hosting.  The world was well known for its cultural significance.  It was playing host to two primary factions...those of the inner and outer colonies.  The ceremony was nothing new, it was seven years old at this point, but all agreed the discussions needed to still happen to keep that fragile piece.  There was some outskirt skirmishes still popping up here and there.  Mineral and water rights were always under fire.  Poor haulers.

The third focus was on reports of real troublemakers, particularly those that saw the Federalists as empire.  We do our best to remain neutral in almost all things, but we do put domain on all commodities as a matter of course.  This star ship, as lovely and right lined as she is, only existed because of these commodities.  In turn, we kept the peace.

I read the status and viewed some extranet vids.  Trious had a general warning, but nothing specific.  

I knew some of the folks at a nearby trading station...Keystone was one, a trader, and Lamphrey the other, a fueling specialist.  If we have time, I'll put to the XO crew on my intention.  I'd like to take the Parnassus to refuel and to fix the vent.  Meanwhile, I'd use the trip to gather more information for the Federalist docket on this issue...they've named it ZDIE0384.  Hopefully my information may provide more help on finding their point of origination.

I rubbed my eyes.  I needed to sleep.

"Sev?"

"This is Console."

"What our eta to the next waypoint?"

"2 point...34 hours."

"I'm going to strap down in the ready room.  My shift is up in 5."

"Roger sir.  We'll chime you if there's anything out of the ordinary."

"Out."

I immediately shifted the seat down and strapped myself in.  I needed the sleep, and it came quickly.
...

March is American Red Cross Month

Find your inner hero!

March is American Red Cross Month find out all sorts of ways to get involved, albeit it may be a lot like Sparta - either blood or coin, hoo-hoo-hoo!  Folks may not know, but blood and other blood products save lives - like really, really save lives...perhaps yours or someone you love.  Considering giving - the process is so painless and easy...you'll be suprised!

I typically give whole blood, but recently tried giving plasma - either one is easy-peasy.  Have questions, just stop by your local ARC and ask.