Stargate Universe: A Landscape

Stargate Universe is a television series that focuses on Military Personnel and Civilians that are stranded on an Ancient Spaceship, Destiny, Billions of light-years away from Earth. It is about their struggle to try and find their way home, survive and keep their sanity. It is a great series that showcases a few aspects of the Imaginative Landscape.

The Social Landscape is present in this show by the constant struggle for maintaining order on a ship with many issues and a crew with many problems. The military try to maintain order but some civilians feel pressured by the military and force the military, through a failed take-over attempt, to rethink how they maintain order.

The Pyschological Landscape is also showcased in this show through the issues the crew face and the constant battle to remain sane. When you're stuck on a ship billions of light-years away from home you tend to get a little anxious and some take this harder than others. Even the military have their own struggles and many relationships begin to form in an attempt to regain sanity.

I feel this is a very powerful and great television show and recommend you watch it.

Uglies: The Landscape Behind the Words

Uglies, an enthralling series by Scott Westerfield, is about a world that, when you turn sixteen, turns you into a Pretty. They do this by performing surgery on you where they rid you of all imperfections. Until this time you are classified as an Ugly and live separate from the Pretties. This four-part series follows the protagonist, Tally Youngblood, in this world and all the struggles she faces.

The series shows a lot of the Social Landscape of this world where Uglies are separate from the Pretties and as you get older you move to different areas such as middle pretties live in suburbia as well as crumblies (which are the elderly pretties). It shows the divide of the social landscape and how it all ties together and works as a whole. The series also focuses heavily on the Pyschological Landscape of Pretties which turns out to be darker than it first appears. During the surgery that takes place to turn you into a Pretty a lesion is placed on your brain that makes you think like a Pretty. This means that you do what you're told, never fight, never get angry and never question. I really enjoyed this book and think you guys should pick it up from the Library or your local bookstore.

Penicillin

It was in 1928 that Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered Penicillin after mistakingly leaving a dish of bacteria uncovered for a few days and returning to find a mold growing which soon became Penicillin. Penicillin has saved the lives of many and was used profusely in World War II. The discovery of Penicillin then lead to further development of live saving antibiotics.

This historical discovery changed the Physical Landscape of people who were sick, it treated them and helped them regain their health. If it wasn't for Penicillin many more lives could have been lost. It also semi-changed the scientific landscape of the world as it lead to many more discovery and put Alexander Fleming's name in the history book as a winner of a Nobel Prize in 1945 for this discovery.

Up in the Air for the First Time

On December 17th 1903, man's first flight in a heavier-than-air flying vehicle occurred in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (United States of America). Orville and Wilbur Wright, the inventors, were able to fly the plane for 12 seconds over a distance of 120 feet on its first successful flight.

This historical event lead to the air crafts we see today that are a lot heavier and a lot faster than the Wright Brother's convention. This invention lead to a more global community and changed the social landscapes of many countries who before now relied on boat trips that could take weeks to get to another country. Now such a travel takes mere hours with entertainment along the way. If it wasn't for the Wright Brothers it could have been a lot later in our history that we ever managed to fly in a heavier-than-air vehicle and we probably wouldn't be up to our level of advancement in aircraft technology. The Wright Brothers paved a way to a brighter, global future.

Source (incl. Picture) of information in first paragraph: http://www.historycentral.com/Technology/WrightFlyer.html

Barack Obama Sworn In Again

The First Black President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, was officialy sworn in to his second term as the United States President on January 22nd. This marks a new era in the Social Landscape of a country renowned for its mistreatment of African-Americans. It was a tough and very close election against Mitt Romney but the Americans voted and the majority chose the Democrat and hence America's new president was inaugurated.

From the old Social Landscape of White Supremacy to the current Social Landscape of Racial Equality, America certainly has come a long way.

For full article from The Age click here

Nova Peris: A New Age for Indigenous Australians

Former Olympian, Nova Peris, has become the first Indigenous Australian of either gender to be preselected by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) for a winnable national seat on the senate. This move by the ALP marks a new age for Indigenous Australians in Politics and reflects on the changed social landscape of Australia.

The first settlers who set up colonies in Australia didn't even recognise the Indigenous Australians as people and treated them as slaves. Even in the last century Indigenous Children were taken from their families and put in white homes so as to bring up these children with the values of other non-indigenous Australians. Now, these acts of taken Indigenous Children (known as the 'Stolen Generation') have been apologised for and we have Indigenous Australians, such as Nova Peris, becoming a member of the Government.

Nova Peris is just one of the many markers of a new age for Indigenous Australians and the changed social landscape of Australia.

For full article from The Age click here.

American Financial Crisis

The American Financial Crisis is an ongoing issue and not a week goes by without a mention of it somewhere in the mainstream media. The latest I have heard about this issue is that someone has come up with an action plan but I am no expert on the subject so don't believe everything I may say. I am unsure whether this was just a plan or is actually going to come into fruition.

Basically, from what I heard, the American Government plans to charge a tax to people who earn over $400 000 a year or something. What has this got to do with the Imaginative Landscape you may ask. Well, this tax could affect the lives of many who may have to cut back what they use in order to be able to afford to pay the tax. If people can't afford to pay the tax they may also find themselves behind on other payments such as bills, rent, petrol or food which could force them to leave their home and find somewhere else to live. This sort of a change will affect the social landscape of things in America in the above ways and such a change as this could also lead to a change in the psychological landscape of America if more people develop serious mental issues such as anxiety or stress as a result of the added pressure of this tax.

Of course, this may never actually happen and could just be a political gamble that won't pay off but again, I am no expert so don't take what I say too literally because for all I know I could be completely incorrect.

As always, thanks for reading my blog and be sure to comment with your views! Until next time!