There Are Four Lights

My new Book Blogging entries will be composed of my ideas and notes from books I’m currently reading, though I have some catching up to do in posting them. Enjoy!

I’ve reading Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist and thought about posting some of my favourite parts. The author has some pretty convincing arguments about how the world has been getting better, and should continue to.

I find that my disagreement is mostly with reactionaries of all political colours: blue ones who dislike cultural change, red ones who dislike economic change and green ones who dislike technological change. I am a rational optimist: rational, because I have arrived at optimism not through temperament or instinct, but by looking at the evidence.

One of his reasons for believing life will continue to get better is that humans do something that no other species does; widespread sharing of ideas.

…at some point in human history, ideas began to meet and mate, to have sex with each other.

The exchange of ideas is similar to the exchange of DNA and end up evolving, like biology does, but at a much faster pace. Of course, there are those who find accelerating change unsettling.

There are people today who think life was better in the past. They argue that there was not only a simplicity, tranquility, sociability and spirituality about life in the distant past that has been lost, but a virtue too.

I really enjoyed the sections where he discusses how people often romanticize the past and just how fortunate we continue to become. The idea that people lived in an easier, stress-free, less complicated life than today is very much a myth.

There are also some very convincing arguments against organic farming. I was surprised by how clearly his facts pointed to a contrast from the eco-friendly method the organic industry markets itself as. Organic farming requires more land.

…to replace all the industrial nitrogen fertiliser now applied would mean an extra seven billion cattle grazing an extra thirty billion acres of pasture.

Organic farming is low-yield, requires extra land to feed cattle and requires crushed rock or fish to avoid exhausting the mineral nutrients from the soil “These have to be mined or netted”.

Should the world decide to go organic — that is, should farming get its nitrogen from plants and fish rather than direct from the air using factories and fossil fuels — then man of the nine billion will starve and all rainforest will be cut down.

More to come!

I’m back in northern Ontario in my little hometown, Kirkland Lake. I was in Montreal over the weekend as a guest at an anime convention called Otakuthon. I was a guest at the first Otakuthon, five years ago, when it was much smaller. This year’s event was fantastic and took place at the lovely Palais des Congress de Montreal. My first panel took place Friday evening which was my presentation “Skepticism Through Manga”. The talk went well, despite some technical difficulties; unfortunately I made the mistake of trusting my little HP notebook running Vista (why would I do that?!) as if it runs like my very trustworthy Alienware Area 51.

Quinton and I spent most of our time between panels at my guest table in the exhibitor hall, selling copies of my books and his 8×10 headshots. His first autograph session took place on Saturday and, unfortunately, had to be cut off at the end of the hour. He had a great Q&A session later in the afternoon, which took place right before my next panel, “Manga Storytelling: Writing and Illustration”.

My original plans were to head back to LA after the convention and then fly into Atlanta for Dragon*Con a couple weeks later. Unfortunately, after my last visit in the US, I was denied entry across the border; I’ve spent a lot of time visiting the US over the past year and that combined with my status as a freelancer made it possible for the border officer to deny me entry as an alleged intending immigrant.

I assure you the experience in secondary inspection was quite horrible—-I was in the waiting room separated from Quinton for over 2 hours without any indication of why I was there and once I was actually spoken to by the officer it was very emotionally distressing. But, alas, there isn’t much that can be done—-border officers can deny entry to anyone at their own discretion. Since Canadians don’t need tourist visas, it seems it can be easy for things to get messy (since you don’t actually have a visa to overstay). So, for now, I’m advised to postpone another attempted crossing for at least 6 months.

This means that my scheduled guest appearance at Dragon*Con won’t be happening this year. I was really looking forward to attending and being part of the Skeptrack. On the upside, it might sound really badass if you’d like to call me banned in America!

Join me, this Friday, Aug. 13th at 9pm for my presentation, “Skepticism Through Manga”, at the Palais des Congress de Montreal during Otakuthon. I’ll be a guest at the anime convention, which takes place Aug.13th-15th. In addition to my skepticism talk, I’ll also be doing a panel called “Manga Storytelling: Writing and Illustration” on Saturday, for those interested in the process of creating manga.

For those interested in skepticism, I’m organizing a meetup after my panel, which runs 9pm-10pm on Friday night. The plan is to meet at the nearby Suite 701 Lounge. So come check out my talk and hang out for more discussion about science, skepticism, anime, manga and more!

Please RSVP for the meetup on the facebook event page or by emailing me at saramayhew@ztarr.net.

I’ll be signing copies of my first graphic novel, Secrets of Sorcerers, at my table throughout the weekend. I’ll also be at the autograph sessions for my lovely beau, Quinton Flynn. We’ll be selling his headshots and I’ll have my books handy as well!

Christopher Nolan’s mental heist thriller is the summer’s blockbuster that has the blogosphere and twitterverse locked in discourse over its elaborate plot. Movie goers, bloggers, tweeps, and critics are all dishing out their theories about the story’s structure and their interpretation of the plot’s conclusion. What is there to say about this film, as an artist and a skeptic, and its journey through the mental labyrinth?

Check out the rest of the article I wrote about Inception over at Skeptic North.

Surly Amy, a Skepchick and the artist behind Surly-Ramics, took some lovely photos of me wearing her beautiful handmade jewelery. You can find them over on her flickr page. Surly-Ramics is the place to go if you’re looking for jewelery to show off your love of science and skepticism! They can be found on Etsy too!

I found this great read on Spoonblog, “Manga & Reality“, by Paul Duffield, which mentions my interview for Skepticality. It talks about the troubles with defining what “manga” is. In my interview, I gave my standard definition—-a form of comic book which originated in Japan—-because in this context, as is usually the case in interviews, what I’m really being asked is to familiarise the average listener with what the manga industry is and generally what kind of products it produces. This is the practical definition of manga from a business perspective; what kind of product are you creating and what market is it geared towards?

His article makes a really nice analogy between the term manga and the term race, in reference to another Skepticality interview (which I just recently listened to after having read Paul’s post), episode #126 “Race and Reality”. There is no biological basis for the term race, as the interview with Guy P. Harrison discusses. Rather, it is a cultural term, which involves a great deal of subjectivity and a spectrum of characteristics. It’s fair to say the same for the term ‘manga’; it’s purpose is rooted more in culture than in the technical and artistic specifications of any individual publication.

I use the term manga to describe my work because I want to be clear about my intentions. In North America, there is a distinction between the comic book industry and the manga industry. The business of selling manga graphic novels is different than the business of selling comic books. This doesn’t mean that the two don’t ever mix, but I feel that the label is necessary when working to publish and market a series. I have referred to myself as a mangaka, manga artist, manga creator, etc., because I feel it communicates clearly what my intentions are in my work. However, I would also consider myself a comic book creator (who specialises in manga), but there is the reality that when I use that label alone, it doesn’t paint a clear picture of my work.

I do believe the label of manga is a reality of the business in North America. I also feel that I’m being honest and upfront about not only my business intentions, but my creative intentions as well. The reality is that there is a market of readers who have expectations from a series labelled as manga. I think these expectations are rooted in the aesthetics and storytelling of a series and not in the nationality of its creator. My intent is to create works that can fulfil these expectations, even though there is, admittedly, a spectrum of expected characteristics.

I want to hold my own work up to standard because I’ve seen some dishonesty or at least murkiness from North American creators who delve into manga–marketing a series as manga, to manga audiences, but then backing away into the “technically anything can be manga” argument when faced with criticism. My hope is that I never fall into this trap. I want to be honest in what I’m selling; be upfront with what it is…it’s manga, it’s manga inspired, it’s a hybrid, or it honestly has no intended label…but I don’t want to tell people my work is manga and then back-track. After all, I’m selling  a product.

All of these reasons are why I’ve had a problem with labels like “OEL manga” (Original English Language) or “Global manga”. These labels serve no useful purpose. They draw needless attention to the nationality of a series’ creator. I think it’s reasonable to say that there is a section of manga readers who only want to read manga that was created in Japan, by Japanese creators. In their case, the term “OEL” or “Global” serves as a warning to stay away. But I find it highly unlikely that there is a market of manga readers who only want to read manga from “OEL” or “Global” creators. If that were the case, these labels would make sense. Instead, I think they only serve to give the impression that manga created by Americans, Canadians, and Europeans are second class–and that they are second class because of the nationality of their creators.

My Nokia Responsiveness Campaign video, shown in a previous post, is also available on the Nokia Responsiveness website (in addition to being uploaded to YouTube). The difference is that the Nokia site has an interactive component, where people are invited to respond to my question at the end of the video: “Do we have the courage to let go of our beliefs in order to grab on to what is true?”.

The responses are displayed graphically on my Responsiveness portal, where you can watch the video, read my bio, and see other’s responses. I hope you’ll head over and leave a response. Also available are some neat widgets, banners, and badges to display on your blog, webpage, twitter, or email signature. My widget can be seen in the sidebar here at There Are Four Lights. You’ll find all of these goodies by going to the toolkit section of the Responsiveness viewer.

So head on over and give your response! Tell your friends and post the widget on your blog!

Nokia Responsiveness video: As mentioned in the previous post, my Responsiveness Campaign video for Nokia has been posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YewnVH_JQEQ.

Skepchick, one of the top skeptic blogs, noticed and posted about it the video here.

Dr. Phil Plait, aka Bad Astronomer, posted about me as well on his blog over at Discover, Bad Astronomy.

Anime News Network picked up the press release from Skepticality about their interview with me on episode 127: mp3 download, itunes. You can also find info about it in Skeptic Mag’s eSkeptic for April 21st, 2010.

My first post as new contributor to the Canadian blog, Skeptic North, was posted: The (unofficial) Manga Guide to Woo Arguments.

Live Science and Newsarama also posted an article about me, written by Jeremy Hsu.

Last July, I spent a day filming for Nokia‘s Responsiveness campaign. I spoke about my work and latest series, Legend of the Ztarr, and how I’m hoping to relate it to skepticism and critical thinking (since I think those are important when evaluating how to response to the world around us). Please share!

Last Wednesday, I spoke at the Center for Inquiry‘s monthly science cafe, Cafe Inquiry. The talk and Q&A afterwards has been uploaded to YouTube in six parts:

Part 1 is my introduction and my explanation of skepticism and why I think it’s important. I also touch on why new age magical thinking and spirituality can be so appealing and easier to promote. My goal is to use storytelling to show skeptical values as virtues.

Part 2 is an overview of manga and why I’ve chosen it as a medium to tell stories that promote skepticism. I also speak about some series that have inspired me in my approach to doing this—-which is also an excuse to talk about Masters of the Universe.

Part 3 is about my series I’m producing, Legend of the Ztarr, and how I hope it will convey messages about critical thinking and humanism.

The Q&A discussion that took place afterwards is also available:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3