Tuesday, September 2, 2014

2 September 2014

 Birthdays
Allison Miller b. 1985 (Terra Nova, Blood: The Last Vampire)
Nicholas Pinnock b. 1973 (Monsters: The Dark Continent, Captain America: The First Avenger)
Cynthia Watros b. 1968 (Video Game High School, Warehouse 13, Lost, Mars)
Kristen Cloke b. 1968 (Willard, The X Files, Space: Above and Beyond, Quantum Leap, Megaville)
Salma Hayek b. 1966 (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Dogma, From Dusk Till Dawn)
Tuc Watkins b. 1966 (Warehouse 13, Infested, The Mummy, Harry and the Hendersons [TV])
Keanu Reeves b. 1964 (The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Scanner Darkly, Constantine, The Matrix, The Devil’s Advocate, Johnny Mnemonic, Dracula, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Babes in Toyland [1986 TV])
Linda Purl b. 1955 (True Blood, Mighty Joe Young, The Hidden Room, Time Travelers)
Mark Harmon b. 1951 (From the Earth to the Moon)
Mary Jo Catlett b. 1938 (Legend of the Mummy, ALF, Blood Beach)
Derek Fowlds b. 1937 (Frankenstein Created Woman)
Chuck McCann b. 1934 (Invasion, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Tick, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Sliders, Knight Rider, The Greatest American Hero, C.H.O.M.P.S., Far Out Space Nuts)
Mel Stuart b. 1928 died 9 August 2012 (director, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
Samuel A. Peeples b. 1917 died 27 August 1997 (writer, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Flash Gordon [TV], Jason of Star Command, Space Academy, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek)
Penny Santon b. 1916 died 12 May 1999 (Quantum Leap, Starman, Short Circuit, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian)
Meinhardt Raabe b. 1915 died 9 April 2010 (The Wizard of Oz)

Keanu Reeves is 50 and that's your "Damn, I must be old" moment for the day. While I liked A Scanner Darkly and the first Matrix, I can never convince myself that anything is going on between his ears. I've never really gotten over his horrible miscastings in Dangerous Liaisons, Dracula and Much Ado About Nothing.

Last year, the Picture Slot went to Salma Hayek and she might get it again next year because... purdy. The top contender if I decide on no repeats is Meinhardt Raabe, the Munchkin Coroner from The Wizard of Oz. That was not just his only genre credit, it was the only movie he made. He got his MBA and went into business. Good on ya, Mr. Raabe!

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.


Predictor: FM-2030 in UpWingPriorities, published 1981

Prediction: Space Colonization: We must urgently accelerate colonization and exploration of the solar system and the universe beyond. Why is this a top priority? Because such a trajectory opens up a Pandora's Box of infinite space, infinite energy, infinite raw materials and infinite growth. Quickens transition beyond industrialism. Accelerates evolution from Earth-programmed animal/humans to post humans. Multiplies chances for interconnect with other intelligences which could instantly lightspeed us ahead a million years.

During these trans-century decades orbital societies offer excellent opportunities for clean rapid break from Earth conditions which for millenniums have perpetuated human suffering. Under no circumstances should we replicate Earth-like societies: no exclusive procreation or parenting, no families, schools, hospitals, or prisons, no money economies or subsistence work, no slaughter of animals for food, no leadership governments, no nations, no cemeteries. Orbital civilizations should start off with 2lst Century telespheres.

Reality: Okay, if Keanu Reeves is one kind of idiot, FM-2030 is another. If anyone took him seriously, he'd a more dangerous kind of idiot, but I can't find any trace of a cult that survived him, unlike Edgar Cayce for example.

He was at least clear that one of his goals was "I should be able to fuck and abandon anyone I want", a very common desire among people who start (or try to start) cults, and I guess he should get some credit for admitting it. On the other hand, he loses a heck of a lot of credit for using the phrase "a Pandora's Box of...". Dude, read the source. Opening a Pandora's Box is not a positive metaphor.

While I run a sci-fi blog, I will once again admit to being skeptical about space colonization. We are snugly placed on the only source of water and air for millions of miles (or kilometers for my non-Yankee readers)  in any direction. FM-2030 wasn't interested in making a profit in space exploration, but most people who make a huge capital expenditure would like to see something in return. There may be some way to make money in space exploration or being in orbit in my lifetime, but it hasn't happened yet.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We're about midway through the Atlantic hurricane season, so we'll check in on the prediction made earlier this year.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

6 comments:

  1. "...chances for interconnect... ?" "Lightspeed" as a noun? "Milleniums?"

    Language abuses as abysmal as those tell me that FM-2030's secret identity either (a) wrote mission statements for 1990s corporations or (b) did color commentary for XFL games.

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    1. Ha! That's almost crueler than the things I wrote.

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  2. no exclusive procreation or parenting, no families, schools, hospitals, or prisons, no money economies or subsistence work, no slaughter of animals for food, no leadership governments, no nations, no cemeteries.

    Wow. That's a whole lot of nothing. Seriously, no schools or hospitals? What kind of society does he envision, himself and his left hand? Even then, he obviously needed a hospital to freeze him solid when his resolve weakened and he died.

    You're right on this guy, Prof, he's a sociopath. I can't see how he didn't click with the MRA or the Techno-singularity geeks.

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    1. It may have been a generational thing. He died in 2000 at the age of 69, so he's more like Hugh Hefner's contemporary, though he didn't live as long. As for the singularity folk, the Wikipedia page on transhumanism has plenty on them as well.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

      You may be right about the sociopath thing. I'm just going to continue to label him as an asshole or a prat, depending on mood.

      Delete
    2. I think Hefner spent much more of his time happily.

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    3. And as far as I know, Hefner has taken care of the children he has fathered.

      Delete

Traveler! Have you news... FROM THE FUTURE?