The True Timelord!

From icanhazcheezburger.com.

Tell the truth. You always suspected, right?

John Carter of Mars and ERB

ERB, of course, being Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan.

Many years ago, when I was a teenager starting high school in McLean, Virginia, my cousin Buck introduced me to ERB's science fiction. I started with the John Carter of Mars series and devoured them. Ace paperbacks was reprinting all of ERB's fiction back then and their artists for the covers were Roy Krenkle and Frank Frazetta, both of whom I idolized.

Back then.

But now Walt Disney is making an epic movie of John Carter! It even looks like it might be good, at least from looking at the trailer. Stranger things have happened.

I think it was either Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke who once wrote that Burroughs was one of the very few authors who could successfully evoke the feeling of an alien world.

unfortunately he continued that you had to be younger than 18 to find them readable!

The news as Sci-Fi

I have always enjoyed Science Fiction stories because it is like reading historical fiction where all the facts are made up.

Sometimes it is worthwhile to attempt that since all prediction is essentially an exercise in science fiction, or counter-history fiction. I have dipped into The Next Decade by George Friedman where he attempts to do that for the next 10 years. I may not go any further into it, but the attempt at least looks interesting.

And then there is this wonderful bit of prediction as 'history' in today's Washington Post by Jeff Greenfield entitled "What Happens to American Politics if We Default? Hello, Third Party." I think he may be right, if not immediately than in the long run.

If Sentenciae has a theme, it is that all American elites have disgraced themselves in the first decade of the 21rst century. The nutters in the Tea Party have gotten that part right and they are the first clear reaction to it. I think that essentially we are experiencing the birth pangs of a new civilization which is never easy. Western civilization is trying to give birth to a new syncretic civilization the same way Hellenic civilization gave birth to Hellenistic civilization.

We live in interesting times.

Westernistic? Occidentalistic?

Historical Revisionism

Check this out.

This one's for the Confederate Nut in the family. The one that fell a little too far to the right of the family tree.

historical note: the original Mr Fett was a mercenary fighting against the rebels.Oh well.

New Frontiers in Science!

Scientists are closing in on decoding the DNA of chocolate.

Actually they are sequencing the genome of the the cacao tree. If successful it may pave the way for new, improved, more fruitful trees thus insuring a constantly increasing supply of chocolate as Civilization as We Know It collapses.

With that, and enough red wine....

The Future is here

When I was a kid I had dreams of space travel and reaching the stars. I even read If and Analog magazines of sci-fi. known in those quaint days as "Science Fiction." And not much respected, I must say.

I also remember watching a TV show called "Truth or Consequences." No, that wasn't the code name for a government interrogation program, but a quiz show. The little town of Hot Springs, NM, was so taken with their show that they changed their town's name to - Truth or Consequences, NM. I even remember that.

Now, a half century later, the ever outside-the-box residents have voted to raise their taxes for their share of a $225 million Spaceport America project scheduled to open in 2011. The first tenant will be Virgin Galactic.

The facility, to consist of hangars, a terminal and the runway, may garner additional tenants if commercial space travel proves popular. The project is under the jurisdiction of the Spaceport Commission, a state agency.

Now there is a job I want - spokesperson for the New Mexico Spaceport Commission.

Somewhere, Arthur C. Clarke is saying, "What took you chaps do long?"

our next episode of strange Sententiae posts will be brought to you by 19th Century Singing Vampires. Really.

Star Trek and Camelot

Carmen and I recently saw the new "Star Trek" movie and loved it. It was un rembering the cues the script writers used from the original series, which I watched the first time they ever ran on TV, a time when every quirk of every character (Kirk's Quirks?) was yet to be discovered.

I also love the Middle Ages and once entertained about half dozen of my friends who had taken me to see "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." They said the movie was funny, but not half as funny as watching my reaction to it. Apparently I was literally falling out of my chair and ROFL.

So... here it is... the long awaited "Star Trek meets Monty Pyhon" song. If you look sharp you will see why it was so funny in the new "Star Trek" when the young Kirk asks the young Sulu what kind of personal combat he was trained in and Sulu replies, "fencing."

Mutant Labor

Ever wonder why all those mutants in the comic books and movies never seem able to simply get a normal job and excel at it?

Fortunately someone is on it.

Bad day for Dr Who

Classic Sci-Fi meets Classic Rock

Depending on what the definition of "classic" is. The folks over at National Review, finally doing something useful for humanity, found this.

Fun.

But not logical, as Spock might say.



Mother used to say that I had a "Spock-like mind" - no idea what she meant.


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Serenity II ?

A few months ago Carmen brought a movie home from the library called "Serenity." She said it was based on a failed TV series but she thought the reviews of it had been good. It being a very small town where we live with not much to do on a Saturday night, we watched it.

And loved it.

Someone who is now on a slow plane to Vietnam loaned us a DVD set of the series it was based on, "Firefly." When Carmen is feeling a bit low or tired she pops one in the machine and watches an episode or two. I have to admit, they are fun.

So this news about a sequel to the movie might be of some interest. Believe it or not, I read about it and found the link on National Review Online.


I'm a bit puzzled though: I thought they had killed off most of the interesting characters in "Serenity I."

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Robert A. Heinlein and the Right

As is probably fitting for the author of "Starship Troopers" and "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" Robert Heinlein has earned this retrospective from John J. Miller, a reporter for National Review magazine. Elliot and I had a brief discussion about Heinlein* - some of The Claw's readers characterized him as "a dirty old man," which is ironic considering his appeal to the Right.

Anyway, here is a taste of what Miller has to say:

Heinlein certainly wasn't a conservative traditionalist. His most popular book, in terms of copies sold, was "Stranger in a Strange Land"--a paean to sexual liberation and an attack on organized religion. Published in 1961, it resonated with hippies. Yet the author remained aloof from the counterculture: In 1964, he and his wife Virginia were enthusiastically for Barry Goldwater. A few years later, according to "Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion," he signed a magazine ad that supported U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.

In his recent book "Radicals for Capitalism," Brian Doherty observes that "a youthful love for Heinlein's tales of rugged individualists often lies in the past of dedicated libertarian activists"--a statement that's possible in large measure because of the 1966 novel that many regard as Heinlein's greatest: "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress."

The story takes place mostly within a lunar colony, where the residents grow restless under a command-and-control economy imposed by the Lunar Authority, a government that operates for the benefit of Earthlings.

"Here in Luna we're rich. Three million hardworking, smart, skilled people, enough water, plenty of everything, endless power, endless cubic," says one of the moon-dwelling Loonies. "What we don't have is a free market. We must get rid of the Authority!" A few pages later: "It strikes me as the most basic human right, the right to bargain in a free marketplace."

It's an interesting, though oddly incomplete, profile. Not surprisingly he devotes a lot of space to "Starship Troopers."

UPDATE: just realized this is a shortened version of the full article, which explains why it seems incomplete.

*I don't have the energy to search for the link. Sorry.

Dan Simmons is back with a modest proposal

... actually, several modest proposals on how to deal with the situation in Iraq. A very good question, and Simmons is a smart and talented guy when not whiffing too much testosterone or bile. I discovered his latest essay while reading Michael Toten's blog "Middle East Journal." I think I have linked to it before and it is worth checking out, though it may depress the hell out of you. Here's what he has to say about Simmon's essay:

It isn’t possible for anyone to agree that all four options are good ones. They’re contradictory (and absurd) on purpose. But the whole thing is a delightful and thought-provoking out-of-the-box read by a clearly intelligent person.

Personally, I wouldn't go that far, but it is certainly worth a read. Some of you may remember my long series of posts on his "Century War" last year. I don't think I have the energy to do that with this essay, but read it and see what you think.

For me, I'll ponder it for a few days.

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The Romney Reading List

Tagg Romney, Mitt's son, has his own MySpace page. Among other things, he lists his favorite books. Here it is:

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, The Bible, The Hobbit, Lincoln, The Victome de Bragelonne, Battlefield Earth, Dragon Flight, Dune, Book of Mormon, Tale of Two Cities, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Screwtape Letters, Les Miserables, Harry Potter (my guilty pleasure), Pride and Prejudice, A Farewell to Arms, Ender's Game, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

I applaud the interest in history, Harry Potter, Hemingway and Lewis, but what is it with Mormons and Ender's Game? Is there some Mormon mentalité to it that I don't get?

And his and his dad's delight in Battlefield Earth? Does Scientology and Mormonism share something?* Or is it just the Romney family?

Just curious.

*they probably do, but I DON'T want to get into that!

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Orson Scott Card, Mormonism, and Mitt Romney

A few days ago Mitt Romney came up with the jaw dropping statement that he remembered that someone had told him the France had seven year marriage contracts.

Well, no actually, though Mitt's favorite writer, Orson Scott Card (of Ender's Game fame) has mentioned such seven year marriage contracts in his fiction. As one of Andrew Sullivan readers remembers:

I studied playwriting under Card while a student at BYU in the early 80's. He explained how his novels were meant to be symbolic of Mormon theology, and that the seven year marriage contracts were inspired by the non-traditional marriage system that was central to Mormonism in the 19th century (aka, polygamy AND easy no-fault divorces.)

Is it too late to say 'oooops!'

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Attack of the Crocheted Daleks!

If the last word in the title of this post had no meaning for you, this will not be amusing.

And all I can say is, You poor soul you.