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Wednesday, January 22, 2003 |
2001
2001 explained.. [MetaFilter]
Here's an explication of 2001: A Space Odyssey, very nicely and painstakingly done. If you had troubles understanding the movie, then take a look. If you just want to see a very nice flash movie, take a look. Broadband is necessary, however, as it's quite big.
There are several good points here, especially those about man being a baby in space and losing control of his tools. On the other hand, the point about modern man being rational in contrast to the apes didn't really follow to me; I always thought that the way the space-suited man touched the monolith was very similar to the way ape touched it earlier. Looking at the humans through Hal's eyes is also very nice. Always referring to the creator as Kubrick is a little misleading; Arthur Clarke's contribution shouldn't be minimized.
But I first saw this movie when I was 15, back when it came out in 1968. Maybe because I'd read so much SF, it just didn't (and doesn't) seem that hard to understand. This flash movie does bring out some subleties, which are very nice to see, though.
10:11:34 PM Permalink
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Connie Willis
There's a nice interview with Connie Willis in the print version of Locus this month. She talks a lot about death, not suprisingly, as her Passage is one of the better novels on the subject that I've read, and just a great read all around (and highly recommended). Some nice things from the interview:
The one answer I am very strongly committed to and the one I hope people carry away from Passage is that ins pite of all our fondest dreams, we can't achieve immortality by keeping ourselves together. The only way to achieve immoratality is to do soemthing or to love someobdy or to pass something on.
...If you want to be immortal, start a magazine, write a book, have a child, build a buildin -- do something to try to make the world a better place. One of the things I dislike most about our culture is this focus on ourselves instead of things out beyond ourselves.
Nicely said, and there's a lot worth pondering there beyond what's on the surface. This obsession with trying to keep ourselves young, with trying to stay alive, seemingly dovetails with the pie-in-the-sky promises of religion to keep us from building a better world here and now, and for our ancestors.
As Woody Allen said, "I don't want to achieve immortality through my works; I want to achieve it by not dying." But that doesn't really get us a better world, now, does it?
4:32:32 PM Permalink
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Not to put too fine a point on it
Here's a terrific paragraph summing up the situation as W enters his third (and hopefully, penultimate) year as president
Two years into his presidency, on the eve of his second State of the Union address, almost exactly a year before the 2004 presidential primary season begins with the Iowa caucus, President Bush faces trouble everywhere he turns. War with Iraq seems inevitable even as crises in Venezuela and North Korea simmer, and al-Qaida remains menacing and elusive. On the domestic front, unemployment is still rising, the stock market continues to slump, budget deficits are climbing again -- and the president's only answer is a massive tax cut for the rich, while states and cities slash funds for public safety, healthcare and education. A broad spectrum of scientists agree that global warming is getting worse, but the administration insists the issue needs more study.
Worse, from W's point of view, he has only a 56% approval rating, lower than Clinton had the week he was impeached. Citizens are marching in the streets protesting his obsession and cureall, the imminent war with Iraq, and half a dozen Democrats are about to ratchet up the noise against him (finally). It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
In a related note, it's nice to see this new business model from my former employer, Salon. If you sit and watch an ad for a couple minutes, you get free access for the day to all their premium content. Today's ad is for Mercedes, and it was painless to look at, and the content is worth it. Check it out.
10:35:09 AM Permalink
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Letter from a confused Bible Student
James Randi prints this wonderful letter supposedly from a Bible student, looking for guidance as he prepared to go home for Christmas holidays:
My teacher has told me all the answers that I need are in the Bible, and I believe that. Determined to be a good Christian, I'm up at Bible college right now, but I'm going home on Friday and I need some advice.
Now, my dad and I are thinking about selling my sister off into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's in college, pretty smart, very attractive, she has good manners and she's very friendly. What price do you think we could get for her on the open market?
After we get that finished, I have another problem. My father keeps insisting on going to the office to do some work every Sunday after church gets out. Exodus 35:2 says that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill my father myself? I don't really want to do that, I love him a lot. So, should I call in someone else?
Here's another problem: My hometown football team has made it to the playoff game, but I'm worried about them. Leviticus 11:7 says that touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Can they still play in the playoff game? Should we get rid of footballs and use something else?
Also, does the entire town really have to get together to stone my Uncle Herald for planting different crops side by side? He's farmed his whole life and knows this is good for the land. Thing is, there are over 2,500 people in my town and it's going to be hard to get them all together to stone my uncle to death.
Last thing, I noticed my mom has a sweatshirt that is 50% cotton and 50% polyester. Do we really need to burn her to death with a small family gathering for wearing garments made of two different threads? It wouldn't be Christmas without mom.
I hope you can answer these questions for me before I have to go home on Friday. Thanks for the help!!!
9:26:53 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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