It must be more than obvious to the rest of the world that Americans really love war, and of course war movies. Seems only natural since they appear to be the most militarized society the planet has ever experienced - and Hollywood seems to pump out war flicks at a prodigious rate. However most of them are lacking in the writing department; once you get past the special effects there just isn't much substance. Many even win Oscars, though I sort of doubt that this one will garner much attention.
"Angry aliens invade Earth in the new movie Battle: Los Angeles. And once again it's up to us to stop them. But what could life out there really be like? Jorge Ribas talks to SETI astronomer Seth Shostak to find out."
"What is all this talk about clams, and why is the site called Operation Clambake?"
The short version of this is that the creator of Dianetics and Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, claimed humans evolved from clams in his book "A History of Man". Since the claim itself and the "proof" Hubbard provided is utterly silly, it serves as a good example of the general validity of his teachings. CoS has copy protected the word "Scientologist" and claim that a Scientologist is anybody who (since 1950) ever bought a Scientology book or a course. "Clam" is also slang for money, referencing in this context the high cost for Scientology. "Clam" is therefore used by many critics as an alternative or better term to identify an actual follower of Hubbard and Scientology teachings today.
A clambake is originally an outdoor party; especially a seashore outing where food is usually cooked on heated rocks covered by seaweed. It can also mean a gathering characterized by noisy sociability. "Operation" derives from the many criminal operations run by CoS, like Operation Freak Out, Operation Snow White, etc.
A more thorough explanation of the term clam and why the site is called Operation Clambake is available on the Clam FAQ."
And if you haven't read the hilarious, but somehow true, "The Barefaced Messiah" it is available for free on 'Operation Clambake'. Anyone who takes the time to read The Barefaced Messiah could not possibly join or believe in the Scientology cult.
According to several of his fellow science fiction writers, Hubbard had on several occasions stated that "the way to get rich was to start a religion".
Spent yesterday evening watching some favorite films from the past. K-PAX was the winner.
If a visitor from another planet appeared among us in human form and told the truth about his origins, no doubt he would be treated like Prot, the hero of ''K-PAX,'' who finds himself locked in a closed ward of the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan. He might not, however, be as lucky as Prot in his psychiatrist. ''This is the most convincing delusional I've ever come across,'' says Dr. Mark Powell, and his voice toys with the notion that Prot might not be delusional.
Based on a novel by Gene Brewer ['K-Pax Omnibus'], the film K-PAX works best as an adult drama of self-discovery, blessed by the talents of costars Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. Bridges plays Manhattan psychiatrist Mark Powell, who thinks he's seen it all until he's assigned to analyze Prot (Spacey), a psychiatric patient who claims to be from a distant planet called K-PAX. Powell is convinced that Prot is "a convincing delusional," but his cynicism turns to open-minded fascination as Prot's case reveals a combination of otherworldly insight and all-too-human trauma, prompting an earthbound explanation for Prot's allegedly alien origins. As directed by Ian Softley this curiously engrossing drama allows Spacey to create a provocative and humorously eccentric enigma, while Bridges superbly conveys his character's compassionate empathy. Their finely shaded performances raise K-PAX above the forced ambiguity of its ending, which is both thought-provoking and vaguely anticlimactic
'Xenu was, according to the founder of Scientology and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology dogma holds that the essences of these many people remained, and that they form around people in modern times, causing them spiritual harm" [Wikipedia] [Operation Clambake also has an informative Xenu leaflet]
"The story of Xenu is part of Scientologist teachings about extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described as space opera by Hubbard. The church avoids mention of Xenu in public statements and has gone to considerable effort to maintain the story's confidentiality, including legal action on the grounds of both copyright and trade secrecy."
Ignoring the Xenu in the room
In this ABC video clip (uploaded in 2010), Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis is asked gentle questions about his faith by the interviewer, who wants to know if it's true that a Scientological article of faith is that the human race has its origins in the strange business of energy beings strapped to volcanoes by a space-tyrant and so forth. It's true that there's nothing objectively stranger about this than reincarnated saviours, plagues of boils, transubstantiation, or talking burning bushes, but Davis doesn't say this. Instead, he evinces this bizarre, put-upon reaction, insisting that this factual question is "offensive" and eventually storming off the set.
In a matter of minutes Davis reinforced the fact that Scientologists have an utter inability to deal with criticism of their 'religion'. Obviously if you don't like the question, the best response is to have a snit-fit and walk out of the interview.
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HOWEVER, a video on YouTube has the actual recordings of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, relating the story of Xenu. This video also contains the South Park cartoon adaptation of Hubbard's original Xenu story.
The Hubble Space telescope has produced some of the most dramatic and awe inspiring glimpses of the universe imaginable. I have often reflected on how fortunate I have been to have lived long enough to have been witness to this triumph of human science.
When first encountering the above image from the Hubble telescope I was reminded of a short story by one on my favorite writers, Arthur C. Clarke entitled 'The Star'.
"Even popular or escape fiction may have a thematic basis; it may make a comment about some aspect of the human condition. Although escapist literature (like the following science fiction story) is written primarily for entertainment, it can also broaden our own awareness of ourselves and our lives. The best stories achieve a balance between enlightenment and entertainment, skillfully blending the theme and the elements.
"The Star" makes a strong statement about human nature by blending literary elements like character, setting, and conflict with an entertaining narrative. Although the story is set in the future, Clarke's realistic characters still behave like people you may know. But their behavior is spurred by an event that is both familiar and puzzling."
'The Star' is a small jewel of only a few pages and recently discovered that it is available for reading on line.
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
Finally experienced the film 'Avatar' yesterday. In a nutshell it is about the corporatization of military power combined with a 'Dances With Wolves' subtext. No big deal there, since most remotely intelligent individuals realize that large corporations can be evil on a grand scale, and when combined with the military the resultant product becomes a truly Mega Evil. And wiping out an indigenous culture, be it Native Americans or the Na'vi of Pandora, is less than noble, but something that certain members of the human race seem to be more than capable of repeatedly accomplishing.
So, sitting through nearly three hours of military and corporate shenanigans would be my personal concept of hell. However, the brilliant director James Cameron and a crew of equally inventive film technicans also present the viewing audiance with a breathtakingly detailed and colorful experience of the flora and fauna of Pandora. Equally important is the Pandoreans interaction with their environment. Almost overwhelming in absolute beauty. This for me was the true worth of the film and I hope to experience it again and again when it eventually finds it way to DVD, which can never replace the big screen, but will allow me to pause and enjoy the intricate detail of individual plants and animals.
Interesting article about the creation, classification and taxonomy of the plants on Pandora by a botanist at the University of California Riverside. Creating an entirely new and alien ecosystem is not something which is done lightly, and Cameron went all the way.
Perhaps the most beautiful, poetic and melacholic, moment in the classic SF film 'Bladerunner' was the line 'like tears in rain' Curiously it was not a part of the original script, but rather just happened as Rutger Hauer was performing this moving scene. ' Roy', a non-human Replicant, knows that his alloted time to live has reached the end, and reflects:
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost in time, like tears ... in rain. Time to die."
Then for the first time in that vast multidude of buildings they had encountered here in this section of this inconceivably gigantic spaceship called Rama, with its large cities, there was an entrance door. On entering, it immediately became evident to both Cosmonauts that they had entered what appeared to be an enormous art gallery. The walls were covered in large panels of exquisite, yet somewhat curious, images, and not unsurprsingly, like everything in this enormous spaceship. they were grouped in series of threes. Each 'picture' was also composed of elements which repeated this seemingly Raman obsession with triplicity. What had appeared to be the transparent nature of this building from the outside proved to be an opitical illusion since it was composed of a multitude of different levels reached by graceful curving ramps, and each of the many levels had hunreds, perhaps thousands, of panels of works of art of this unknown species.
[click to enlarge]
It appeared that there was a common element in each series of three images, much like 'variations on a theme' of a classical musical composition of Earth.
Due to the almost real nature of the pictures the separate elements appeared to be hovering in space. It was Nicole who first curiously pushed a small button next to one of the panels and immediatey these new visitors, perhaps the first in millions of years, were presented with a large holographic image, more than two meters in height, which hovered in front of them. It was a breathtaking exerience. Then the holographic image of each of the images revealed themselves in gradual succession. As an accompaniment to the visual presentation there was the slight tinkling of what could only be likened to the sound of tubular wind chimes on their home planet.
Wonderful article by a writer who, in my humble opinion, understands the contemporary world. Trashes Twitter and CNN and lauds that master of prose, Ray Bradbury.
. . . . "While Twitter is not the only networking medium that lends itself to banality, in many ways it is worse than its peers. Twitter is the only “service” that prominently advertises itself chiefly as an intermediary for the transmission of hopelessly useless information. It is a tower of triviality. Indeed, it appears that most tweets are so unimportant that it would be considered impolite or even presumptuous to send their content via any other means, including text messages, if you can imagine that. In fact, there’s a good slogan. “Twitter: When your words are too unimportant to text.” To text!
When I went to the Twitter website for an explanation as to just what in god’s name those people think they’re doing, I was expecting to read all about it. Silly me. No reading. Instead, I watched a video telling me that the point of Twitter is to ask what people are doing at any given moment in their quiet lives of desperation. I thought, isn’t this just too much information? Twitter was prepared for this question: “No, Twitter solves information overload by changing expectations traditionally associated with online communication.” . . . .
Have spent the weekend immersed in the world of Brade Runner. Personal opinion of course, but I consider it one of the finest fims ever made. Recently got the four disk 25th anniversary DVD edition of Blade Runner. What a visual, auditory treasure - from the novel by Phillip K. Dick [Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep], Blade Runner combines the artistic talents of film director Ridley Scott, an exceptional cast, and the haunting music by Vangelis.
Was somewhat amused to find this online admonition from an obvious fan: "If you don't own "Blade Runner", then go out RIGHT NOW and buy the four-disc Collector's Edition. No, don't stop to shut down your computer. DO IT NOW !!!"
In Blade Runner's dystopian near future, replicants, or genetically engineered humanoids, do the hard work on off-world colonies. After a bloody mutiny, the androids are forbidden from coming to Earth — on pain of death. So when six rogue replicants return home, they must be "retired" — hunted down and killed — and Rick Deckard, once a top replicant hunter, or "blade runner," is pulled out of his own retirement to do the job.
"Like Tears in Rain"
The line "like tears in rain" was never scripted. Rutger Hauer ad libed this line while filming, and yet because of these four words, and exceptional acting, it became one of the most famous scenes in movie history.
