The Bones of an idea.


We’re also allies, because we both love freedom.

Which brings us to my latest time-waster, Bones.  It definitely deserves the 4 & 1/2 star rating on Netflix.  I’d heard the atheist/Christian team-up was good, and it is.  They can’t slam their ideologies together like we do–bad storytelling–and they wisely don’t even try.  They just do references, flourishes, and respect for two very different individuals who battle evil together.

(But Bones does suffer from the modern Hollywood claptrap of having a lithe heroine regularly beating up burly men and gang leaders.  They nicely explain why “Bones” works on her fighting skills, but…no.  Buffy, yes.  Forensic anthropologist, no.)

Incidentally, before Bones came out I’d toyed with a movie idea about an atheist inspector and a Christian detective.  Their bad guy is an atheist “religious fanatic” who knows he’s seen as evil, but believes the opposite.  He believes he serves humanity by “thinning the herd” of the genetically unfit, and accepts the hatred of a universally loathed mass murderer.

Finally, FULL DISCLOSURE–Sure, my arguments would be more circumspect if edo didn’t have a Y chromosome and looked like Emily Deschanel:

And if we’re talking her sister Zooey

…I might avoid the topic altogether.  Even though it’s obvious that creatures like the Deschanels could never have arisen by chance.

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17 Responses to The Bones of an idea.

  1. Edohiguma says:

    We’re having a robust discussion, in the actual meaning of it, not in the Obama meaning. Nothing wrong with that. It’s not like we’re going holy war on each other. We can agree to disagree on some minor points. Yeah, I consider them minor actually, cause there are bigger, more significant issues at hand. Like how we’ve been pissing away our rights and freedoms for years, and nobody seems to care, cause everyone is comfortable with it. And other things.

  2. wormme says:

    Amen, brother.

    In fact, I think you nailed the difference between us and the Pharisees. We agree to disagree. They agree we cannot disagree.

    I say we destroy them all, then mock each other’s Father Elderberry and Mother Hampster.

    (Then beg forgiveness of anyone who doesn’t get the Monty Python allusion.)

    • Edohiguma says:

      That’s the thing. You can eat your cake. I can eat my cake. Or we can share a cake. But there are people out there who don’t want either. They want us to only eat their cake and only share it if they allow, supervise and regulate it.

  3. Xpat says:

    I’d like to say some of my best friends are atheists, but it’s not true because most of my friends are atheists.

    But Edo is forever discredited from talking about hoarding power and privilege because he got to go up Sky Tree (curse you!).

    I, lowly plebe that I am, had to be content with walking to and around its base. Awesome structure. Just awesome.

  4. wormme says:

    Well dang you two, get our Nipponese friends to procreating again! Nobody gets to create marvels and deny us visitation rights on MY watch!

    (Seriously, that’s an awesome construction, why the long faces?)

    Most seriously…WTF? Is this a funeral pyre? What’s up?

    • Xpat says:

      I’m not a techno person but I think it’s mostly for broadcasting and such:

      It opens to the public next month (I think), about 30 bucks a pop, and it’s already pre-reserved for several months, and only on a random selection basis. Edo must know some people! I tried to find some Youtubes for you of views from the top but no luck now. Spectacular view (I’ve seen it on news reports).

      I love Tokyo. Amazing city. It keeps growing on you.

    • Xpat says:

      This is a tedious video, but jump to 7:22 for a view from the top.

    • Edohiguma says:

      It was built because old Tokyo Tower is too small these days for terrestrial broadcasting. Most of the buildings around it are higher by now. The top needle with all the broadcasting stuff was actually assembled inside the tower and then lifted up through the “chimney” inside. When the quake struck last year, they were working on it. They continued their work shortly after it was declared safe. The tower and the entire system for lifting up the broadcasting mast survived undamaged. The lifting system itself had to be done like that because of the tower’s height. It made conventional methods impossible to use. They had to fight massive wind and a slight rotation of the broadcast needle. The engineering problems encountered were massive, simply because nobody had ever gone there before.

      • wormme says:

        So Tokyo Tower’s signal was being absorbed by surrounding buildings? Wow. I’ve got a pretty good personal database, and I’ve never heard of anything like that before.

        Dang, I want to visit. Tell me true, Nipponophiles…how much could I expect it to cost for a decent week-long trip to Tokyo and surroundings?

        • Xpat says:

          I’m sorry Worme, I’ve lost all sense of prices from your side. I’d make it two weeks and get a JR rail pass (can’t buy them in Japan but a great deal–lets you go anywhere in Japan). If you don’t mind staying in Youth Hostels it’s cheaper.

          Can’t you link up with some rad tech organization and get some kind of travel/study grant?

          • Xpat says:

            Here’s a bunch of el cheapo Tokyo hotels. (When I go, every coupla months, me and the mrs. crash at our offspring’s tiny apt.):

            It’s so hard to get a ticket to actually go up Sky Tree . . . You might have to give up hope on that unless you’re willing to wait long.

            Meanwhile, Ive been lost in memory lane a bit:

          • Edohiguma says:

            B&B also works nicely, but it helps if you have language skills in that case.

          • Xpat says:


            I was being serious (“I’m totally cereal!”). By now it’s clear the Japan nuke people are complete boneheads. They could use some help from someone like Worme on a goodwill inspection tour.

          • wormme says:

            As far as parlaying my rad rad tech skills into a trip, getting those infrequent perks is more a function of who you know than what you know. Which I’m sure comes as a huge surprise.) Saying that social networking isn’t my strong suit implies it might be a weak suit, which also isn’t true.

            Techs don’t get to to to on such trips often, but given what we saw in Fukushima I could certainly add some value. Maybe I should pick through the archives here and create a proposal for a seminar. But again, it matters less how good my work is than getting a mover and shaker on my side.

        • Edohiguma says:

          It’s the official story. I guess the old tower just got too old for being upgraded with new broadcast systems over the years and isn’t epic enough anymore.

    • Xpat says:

      See, Worme? This show that you can hallucinate on non-alcoholic plum wine sodas.

      Everything’s possible over here, except a sustainable population.

      Plus, you can get lost anywhere in Tokyo, and it’s just as fun as not being lost at all. And you can always find your way back, with or without Japanese. But I’d recommend a Lonely Planet guide or something.

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