Well, I'm feeling better, but once again the Tzállö have me quarantined and "under observation". they won't even clear me to get to the gâ'akaxaoda station. Anyway, I'm stuck here in this hospital sort of place. Of course, a Tzállö hospital is an entirely different experience from an Earth hospital. Obviously, there are no lights except for the ones that were put in my room for my benefit and my headlamp (which still has't drained its batteries! Quite impressive!) And rather than white, most of the walls are dull gray plastic, with very smooth black linoleum. Everything is very cool and smooth with a lot of metallic-looking textures, which I suspect conveys the same concept of sterility for Tzállö that stark white conveys for humans. The doctors wear very smooth clothing that almost looks like latex rather than fabric.
Anyway, I have a private room, as always, though it's smaller than hospital rooms I've seen on Earth. There's also nothing here for entertainment -- no window, no TV -- not even the Tzállö equivalents. The yela'kaja tells me that Tzállö usually entertain themselves in hospitals by reading, though obviously I couldn't read anything in their library -- It'd just be a bunch of raised squares to me. So, I'm stuck talking to the yela'kaja and surfing the Internet through this magical little device. Wish me well! I just hope I can get off this weird dark planet sometime soon.
Showing posts with label Tzállö culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tzállö culture. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
The Alien Symphony
We saw that concert today. The yela'kaja, who has much better hearing than I do, tells me that most of the Tzállö actually stopped clicking or at least slowed down and quieted their patterns during the piece. He told me it's the equivalent of a human closing his eyes while enjoying the music, "Maybe we should do the same. I have not heard much music before, besides the drum dances on Jed." I agreed, of course. It's not like there was much to see. We weren't in the front row by a long shot, more like a kind of balcony seat, and my light could just barely reach the orchestra. So I shut it off and closed my eyes.
Of course, as I've come to expect touring different planets with cultures that evolved completely independent of Earth, it was a very new experience. I could feel the rhythm of the music well, but the scales were really strange to me, like they just threw in a bunch of random in-between notes. But I got used to it, and the generally distinct sound of Tzállö music. I have no idea what the names of the songs are -- the signs are in Fbeki and I didn't ask the yela'kaja to translate. The biggest surprise to me is that the songs actually didn't hit many high notes, and the highest notes I heard were very clear so I'm sure there was none of the ultrasonic sound you hear. I asked my yela'kaja about this and he explained it this way:
Anyway, after the concert I was allowed on the stage to look at the different instruments. The general types that humans have are there: wind, string, brass, percussion. But they're all just a bit different. A few of the Tzállö musicians stayed around to show me how their instruments work. They have a couple of different instruments that look kind of like flutes or clarinets, a bunch of instruments that are apparently played like brass instruments -- which a Tzállö's big lips come in handy for -- a didgeridoo-like instrument with about three keys for different pitches (it's called a ghuubhuu), a few big drums and a couple of mallet instruments that work like xylophones and marimbas (though the arrangement of the bars isn't recognizable at all).
So, I guess this'll be the thing that'll bring me back to this planet if I get the chance to come. Kesatans have good food, Tzállö have good music. Not sure if its worth the quarantine, though.
Of course, as I've come to expect touring different planets with cultures that evolved completely independent of Earth, it was a very new experience. I could feel the rhythm of the music well, but the scales were really strange to me, like they just threw in a bunch of random in-between notes. But I got used to it, and the generally distinct sound of Tzállö music. I have no idea what the names of the songs are -- the signs are in Fbeki and I didn't ask the yela'kaja to translate. The biggest surprise to me is that the songs actually didn't hit many high notes, and the highest notes I heard were very clear so I'm sure there was none of the ultrasonic sound you hear. I asked my yela'kaja about this and he explained it this way:
The Tzállö don't think of all sound and hearing as equal. What you consider their sense of hearing they divide into two distinct senses: syfko -- which translates into English as echolocation or biosonar -- and ghuufly -- which translates as your concept of hearing. Since too much noise in the ultrasonic range can disrupt syfko, Tzállö universally attempt to avoid sounds in or near that range, to the point of designing their electronic and mechanical devices specifically for noise-reduction in the syfko frequencies. Naturally, then, no Tzállö culture has ever incorporated a significant amount of ultrasonic notes into their music.
Anyway, after the concert I was allowed on the stage to look at the different instruments. The general types that humans have are there: wind, string, brass, percussion. But they're all just a bit different. A few of the Tzállö musicians stayed around to show me how their instruments work. They have a couple of different instruments that look kind of like flutes or clarinets, a bunch of instruments that are apparently played like brass instruments -- which a Tzállö's big lips come in handy for -- a didgeridoo-like instrument with about three keys for different pitches (it's called a ghuubhuu), a few big drums and a couple of mallet instruments that work like xylophones and marimbas (though the arrangement of the bars isn't recognizable at all).
So, I guess this'll be the thing that'll bring me back to this planet if I get the chance to come. Kesatans have good food, Tzállö have good music. Not sure if its worth the quarantine, though.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Protected Fossils and Windowless Train Cars
Well, I've finally been cleared to ride the train. Apparently there were a lot of medical tests and such they had to do before I left the first city, but now after a few doctor visits and some navigating through the tunnels I'm sitting in a windowless subway car with a bunch of Tzállö pointing their ears at me -- I think their trying to get a better look at my little "computer". The yela'kaja was telling me they have difficulty seeing force-field screens.
The train station seems a lot like a subway station, except the platform is a lot smaller and what little graffiti I see is engraved instead of spray painted. Oh, and of course there's the fact that it's completely dark except for my own light and all the signs are engraved in Fbeki with the time and destination of various trains as they arrive are displayed with little mechanical squares that move in and out.
One of the squares on the middle display seemed kinda stuck halfway, which the yela'kaja complained about at the time. Before he went off cursing the incompetence of the Tzállö in Xala, he said something like, "I got here two days before you did and had to sgêkajec two languages. It's hard enough for me to read the signs without them malfunctioning ..." I'm really not sure what he's talking about, but I think I'll wait until he cools off.
On the way onto the platform, I saw a random force-field screen on a side wall. It was sort of a strange sight, since I hadn't seen any Xala force-fields other than on my own little writing device until that point, so I asked about it and, surprisingly, the yela'kaja immediately signaled to a guard and said something in Fbeki. The next thing I knew, the guard passed his hand over a control crystal on the big square field generator or whatever you call it and there was a fossil of some sort of ancient animal there. I'm not sure what it was exactly, or whether it was mammal or reptile or what, but it had a long tail sort of curved around, some decent claws, and it looked like it had eye sockets--which seems strange when the only creature you know of on the planet has no eye sockets and nothing to put in them. The guard didn't know much about it.
The yela'kaja explained to me later that the Tzállö have a custom of incorporation any fossils they find when digging a tunnel into the actual structure--after it's cataloged and studied a bit and moved into a better spot. He tells me that since Xala forcefields can be made transparent to Tzállö echolocation (though this one apparently wasn't transparent to light), it was a natural move to put up electrified force fields to keep too many passers-by from touching them. "It keeps the oils of Tzállö fingers from damaging the old rock. The same system is currently used for older works of art where some of the original textures have been lost for too long to repair. The newer works you saw in the gallery are specially treated to prevent such degradation, and regularly inspected and repaired when everyday damage occurs." I think someone asked about that on the last post -- there's your answer.
Anyway, the force-field went back up pretty quickly once my train came in, and now I'm sitting here, with no indication of how fast we're going with a bunch of Tzállö looking at me. It's really quiet here, too. The yela'kaja has an explanation for that, too. "The Tzállö have found many ways to reduce or block the sounds in their machinery, as certain electronic and mechanical devices can emit ultrasonic or near-ultrasonic frequencies that sometimes disrupt their echolocation systems." He went on to talk to me about how the initial startup of Xala force-fields bothers them, which I already know first hand -- nearly got me busted lip. He also said that if Earth were to enter the Trade network, then from his research he would suggest that any Tzállö visitors be kept away from active TV screens. Not sure why, but I figure it has something to do with sound.
The train station seems a lot like a subway station, except the platform is a lot smaller and what little graffiti I see is engraved instead of spray painted. Oh, and of course there's the fact that it's completely dark except for my own light and all the signs are engraved in Fbeki with the time and destination of various trains as they arrive are displayed with little mechanical squares that move in and out.
One of the squares on the middle display seemed kinda stuck halfway, which the yela'kaja complained about at the time. Before he went off cursing the incompetence of the Tzállö in Xala, he said something like, "I got here two days before you did and had to sgêkajec two languages. It's hard enough for me to read the signs without them malfunctioning ..." I'm really not sure what he's talking about, but I think I'll wait until he cools off.
On the way onto the platform, I saw a random force-field screen on a side wall. It was sort of a strange sight, since I hadn't seen any Xala force-fields other than on my own little writing device until that point, so I asked about it and, surprisingly, the yela'kaja immediately signaled to a guard and said something in Fbeki. The next thing I knew, the guard passed his hand over a control crystal on the big square field generator or whatever you call it and there was a fossil of some sort of ancient animal there. I'm not sure what it was exactly, or whether it was mammal or reptile or what, but it had a long tail sort of curved around, some decent claws, and it looked like it had eye sockets--which seems strange when the only creature you know of on the planet has no eye sockets and nothing to put in them. The guard didn't know much about it.
The yela'kaja explained to me later that the Tzállö have a custom of incorporation any fossils they find when digging a tunnel into the actual structure--after it's cataloged and studied a bit and moved into a better spot. He tells me that since Xala forcefields can be made transparent to Tzállö echolocation (though this one apparently wasn't transparent to light), it was a natural move to put up electrified force fields to keep too many passers-by from touching them. "It keeps the oils of Tzállö fingers from damaging the old rock. The same system is currently used for older works of art where some of the original textures have been lost for too long to repair. The newer works you saw in the gallery are specially treated to prevent such degradation, and regularly inspected and repaired when everyday damage occurs." I think someone asked about that on the last post -- there's your answer.
Anyway, the force-field went back up pretty quickly once my train came in, and now I'm sitting here, with no indication of how fast we're going with a bunch of Tzállö looking at me. It's really quiet here, too. The yela'kaja has an explanation for that, too. "The Tzállö have found many ways to reduce or block the sounds in their machinery, as certain electronic and mechanical devices can emit ultrasonic or near-ultrasonic frequencies that sometimes disrupt their echolocation systems." He went on to talk to me about how the initial startup of Xala force-fields bothers them, which I already know first hand -- nearly got me busted lip. He also said that if Earth were to enter the Trade network, then from his research he would suggest that any Tzállö visitors be kept away from active TV screens. Not sure why, but I figure it has something to do with sound.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Welcome, and Please Touch the Sculptures
We went on a little art tour today. The yela'kaja heard how I seemed to like Kesatan art, but Lazga art is entirely different. Kesatan art was all bright colors, mimicking their language -- but Lazga can't see color, or even light. Their art galleries are as dark as any other place in the tunnels, and rather than arranging their art where it would get the best light the way artists on Earth and Kesata do, I'm told that the art and the gallery itself are designed for very good acoustic properties, allowing a Tzállö to pick out individual pieces easily with minimal noise in the background.
The arrangement is actually good for me, too, since getting good echolocation acoustics also seems to involve putting stuff in big wide rooms with enough space that various sculptures and pedestals don't block each other, and with my light as good as it is, it lights up a decent portion of the room with almost none of the little exhibits in the shadows. And I don't know about up in ultrasonic, but it's very quiet in the range I can hear. I get a weird feeling sometimes when one of the Tzállö is nearby or if they "look" at me, which I'm told might be a reaction to their clicking that I can't actually hear but can still register somehow.
It's actually kind of interesting what's in the gallery. With my little lamp I see lots of sculptures and such, but also big canvasses with textures on them. You're allowed to touch just about everything in a Tzállö gallery, and they encourage me to do it. Everything has textures and different materials to it. Some of the statues use real hair or fur for a realistic feel, and some of these canvases use lots of different materials that are simply intended to be felt. I've been told that Tzállö fingers are a bit more sensitive than mine, and that I might not even be able to feel some of the subtle differences in the textures.
They have some other interesting things, too. Some places there are thousands of little pins that move to make a Tzállö face that begins giving a lecture in Fbeki about the pieces around it, and one little room where I saw five Tzállö wearing this big contraption on their noses and ears that distorts their echolocation patterns to show them virtual images (naturally, it was useless for me to try that one).
Anyway, we're going to a concert sometime on the itinerary. I figure that a race that has so much of its world defined by sound should have good music. I like the art too, but it's a lot harder to relate to the "visual" arts of a race that can't even see.
The arrangement is actually good for me, too, since getting good echolocation acoustics also seems to involve putting stuff in big wide rooms with enough space that various sculptures and pedestals don't block each other, and with my light as good as it is, it lights up a decent portion of the room with almost none of the little exhibits in the shadows. And I don't know about up in ultrasonic, but it's very quiet in the range I can hear. I get a weird feeling sometimes when one of the Tzállö is nearby or if they "look" at me, which I'm told might be a reaction to their clicking that I can't actually hear but can still register somehow.
It's actually kind of interesting what's in the gallery. With my little lamp I see lots of sculptures and such, but also big canvasses with textures on them. You're allowed to touch just about everything in a Tzállö gallery, and they encourage me to do it. Everything has textures and different materials to it. Some of the statues use real hair or fur for a realistic feel, and some of these canvases use lots of different materials that are simply intended to be felt. I've been told that Tzállö fingers are a bit more sensitive than mine, and that I might not even be able to feel some of the subtle differences in the textures.
They have some other interesting things, too. Some places there are thousands of little pins that move to make a Tzállö face that begins giving a lecture in Fbeki about the pieces around it, and one little room where I saw five Tzállö wearing this big contraption on their noses and ears that distorts their echolocation patterns to show them virtual images (naturally, it was useless for me to try that one).
Anyway, we're going to a concert sometime on the itinerary. I figure that a race that has so much of its world defined by sound should have good music. I like the art too, but it's a lot harder to relate to the "visual" arts of a race that can't even see.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Dark, Gloomy, Boring Planet -- but at least I saw a Moon
Well, I'm still on Lazga. Hasn't been a whole lot to talk about lately. This whole place is strange to me. My own little room is well lit -- it even has little sun-lamps for me -- but everywhere else is just so dark. There's no color and no light in any of the corridors outside my little room and some of the Xala-occupied areas near the gâ'axao.
I did get to go outside recently. I'm not allowed to go out during the day -- apparently the reason the Tzállö live in caves is the surface has wild temperature swings. I wouldn't be able to tolerate the heat of the day without strong protection, but the yela'kaja was able to arrange to get me some well-insulated clothing for outdoors, though it was still a bit cold for the few minutes they had me there. Lazga has a rather large moon. Kesata had a good size moon, too, but I didn't notice it as much since I was usually out more in the daytime there. Seeing planets with moons reminds me of Earth, and also of the complete weirdness of my first few hours on Jed (I didn't even count days there, they just don't work) when I looked up in the sky to see that great massive planet, staying always in the same spot forever.
Its still kind of strange, though. On Kesata, I learned to get used to a day/night cycle again, though it was a good bit shorter than on Earth. But on Lazga, I have to program the lights in my room to get any kind of cycle. Lazga does have days, of course, and the Tzállö even follow them in their calendar, but they really aren't paying much attention to the sky. They can't really see it. Some of them can "feel" the light of their moon, but from what I've gathered from talking to them, it just seems strange to them, unless they're into astronomy. There's no air to carry the sound up there -- and even if there were, that big object I see so clearly in the sky would be much too far away for them to detect.
So, what do Tzállö do? The stay in their tunnels, going back and forth. They have a huge network of tunnels connecting different parts of this city, plus larger tunnels that carry trains to other cities. I'm going to get to ride one of those trains eventually, but they've still got my travel restricted for now. The officials here told me that there were a number of big epidemics when Lazga first got connected to the rest of the trade network, so they now quarantine all travelers who come in. Apparently the close quarters in these tunnels was a blessing and a curse during that time -- he said they were able to seal off affected areas quickly, but that close quarters and communal living made the diseases spread faster.
Anyway, I don't know about their history with disease, but I'd really like to be getting somewhere. But, well, I suppose they have good reason to keep me here -- me being a new species and all. Damn inconvenient for me, but I'll deal with it.
I did get to go outside recently. I'm not allowed to go out during the day -- apparently the reason the Tzállö live in caves is the surface has wild temperature swings. I wouldn't be able to tolerate the heat of the day without strong protection, but the yela'kaja was able to arrange to get me some well-insulated clothing for outdoors, though it was still a bit cold for the few minutes they had me there. Lazga has a rather large moon. Kesata had a good size moon, too, but I didn't notice it as much since I was usually out more in the daytime there. Seeing planets with moons reminds me of Earth, and also of the complete weirdness of my first few hours on Jed (I didn't even count days there, they just don't work) when I looked up in the sky to see that great massive planet, staying always in the same spot forever.
Its still kind of strange, though. On Kesata, I learned to get used to a day/night cycle again, though it was a good bit shorter than on Earth. But on Lazga, I have to program the lights in my room to get any kind of cycle. Lazga does have days, of course, and the Tzállö even follow them in their calendar, but they really aren't paying much attention to the sky. They can't really see it. Some of them can "feel" the light of their moon, but from what I've gathered from talking to them, it just seems strange to them, unless they're into astronomy. There's no air to carry the sound up there -- and even if there were, that big object I see so clearly in the sky would be much too far away for them to detect.
So, what do Tzállö do? The stay in their tunnels, going back and forth. They have a huge network of tunnels connecting different parts of this city, plus larger tunnels that carry trains to other cities. I'm going to get to ride one of those trains eventually, but they've still got my travel restricted for now. The officials here told me that there were a number of big epidemics when Lazga first got connected to the rest of the trade network, so they now quarantine all travelers who come in. Apparently the close quarters in these tunnels was a blessing and a curse during that time -- he said they were able to seal off affected areas quickly, but that close quarters and communal living made the diseases spread faster.
Anyway, I don't know about their history with disease, but I'd really like to be getting somewhere. But, well, I suppose they have good reason to keep me here -- me being a new species and all. Damn inconvenient for me, but I'll deal with it.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Communal Living and Fungus Food
So far Lazga is a bit boring, though that might be just because I have a tough time seeing in the corridors as we tour through. I think I do have to share some of things. The Tzállö seem to be rather communal. They all live in these underground tunnels and caves in big groups. I've seen some of their little barracks, there are quite a few people in there. They also have a big communal mess hall where they all go to eat. In fact, though I've been given a special room that has electric lights and some special accommodations to keep me comfortable, I'm still required to go to the public mess hall for two meals a day.
Going to the mess hall is a bit of a strange thing for me. Tzállö can't see, but some of them can detect light on their skin somehow (the yela'kaja told me something about light-sensitive cells or some such). Now, me and the yela'kaja both have very bright lights strapped to our heads--which are very good, by the way. They don't penetrate the corridors as well, but they throw light all around the mess hall, and my batteries haven't worn out yet despite the amount of use this thing gets. Anyway, since light isn't a very common down in a Tállö mess hall deep underground where you can't even get sunlight through the ventilation shaft, whenever one of them "feels" our lights, suddenly about thirty pairs of ears start shifting in our direction and some heads turn to get a better "look" at the aliens.
Then we get special attention from the cooks. The Xala have cleared a few Tzállö foods for me to eat, so when I go to get my food one of the servers pulls out this little sheet of paper with the list in Fbeki and starts running his fingers along each little entry, making suggestions as he finds up with stuff he particularly likes. Note that, while he's reading the paper on the table with his fingers, his nose and ears are firmly aimed at me -- he apparently can read and stare at the funny alien at the same time.
Most of what they serve is fungus and maybe some small animals. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in the mess hall eating a big plate of mushrooms with some moss harvested from the tunnel entrance, along with a Xala protein bar, of course -- none of the meats are cleared, yet. Apparently Lazga has dozens of varieties of edible mushrooms. The one's I'm having are called zbugy (something like ZHBOO-gyu), and they're not so bad, for mushrooms. The food's not quite as good as on Kesata, but it's definitely not as nasty as the protein bars the Xala give me.
Going to the mess hall is a bit of a strange thing for me. Tzállö can't see, but some of them can detect light on their skin somehow (the yela'kaja told me something about light-sensitive cells or some such). Now, me and the yela'kaja both have very bright lights strapped to our heads--which are very good, by the way. They don't penetrate the corridors as well, but they throw light all around the mess hall, and my batteries haven't worn out yet despite the amount of use this thing gets. Anyway, since light isn't a very common down in a Tállö mess hall deep underground where you can't even get sunlight through the ventilation shaft, whenever one of them "feels" our lights, suddenly about thirty pairs of ears start shifting in our direction and some heads turn to get a better "look" at the aliens.
Then we get special attention from the cooks. The Xala have cleared a few Tzállö foods for me to eat, so when I go to get my food one of the servers pulls out this little sheet of paper with the list in Fbeki and starts running his fingers along each little entry, making suggestions as he finds up with stuff he particularly likes. Note that, while he's reading the paper on the table with his fingers, his nose and ears are firmly aimed at me -- he apparently can read and stare at the funny alien at the same time.
Most of what they serve is fungus and maybe some small animals. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in the mess hall eating a big plate of mushrooms with some moss harvested from the tunnel entrance, along with a Xala protein bar, of course -- none of the meats are cleared, yet. Apparently Lazga has dozens of varieties of edible mushrooms. The one's I'm having are called zbugy (something like ZHBOO-gyu), and they're not so bad, for mushrooms. The food's not quite as good as on Kesata, but it's definitely not as nasty as the protein bars the Xala give me.
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