Jing-reed's Musings from Thailand

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey, so its fans will tell you, is awesome, amazing, astonishing, astounding — and that doesn't even exhaust their list of "A" adjectives. But however emphatically they're spoken, those words don't tell you much. I fear they sometimes even put off potential 2001-lovers — or at least those who would enjoy a screening or three — who fear themselves unequal to the imposing labor of appreciation ahead. You'll learn more meaningful things about Kubrick's film in 2001: The Making of a Myth (made in 2001), a 45-minute documentary on its conception, its production, and its undiminished resonance in our cultural imagination.

Introduced by filmmaker James Cameron — he of The Terminator, Avatar, and Aliens, science-fiction spectacles of an entirely different nature — the program brings in a host of the original contributors to 2001′s look, feel, and psychological and technological verisimilitude. We hear from those involved in the photography, design, editing, and even technical consultancy. Actor Keir Dullea, still best known for his role as astronaut Dave Bowman, has much to say about working with his co-star HAL, and even the fellows in the ape suits offer insights into their non-verbal craft. Critical minds such as Elvis Mitchell and Camille Paglia weigh in on the picture's simultaneous visceral and intellectual impact, but Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote 2001 the book while Kubrick shot 2001 the film, puts it most sharply when describing the intent of his director counterpart: "He wanted to make the proverbial good science-fiction movie." Mission accomplished.

Was I stoned the first time I saw "2001: A Space Odyssey" ?   My viewing of this monumental film occurred in the 1960's, and I lived in the San Francisco bay area, where love, grass and  flower power ruled the day. 

That all occurred more than 50 years ago, and I still watch it anew from time to time.

  

   The Making of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey

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Cloud Atlas

This week the New Yorker presents a lengthy profile of Lana and Andy Wachowski. those award winning filmmakers who produced the Matrix films, and the forthcoming 'Cloud Atlas'.


Beyond the Matrix

"The Wachowskis travel to even more mind-bending realms.

On the monitor screen, Tom Hanks’s eyes, in extreme closeup, flickered through a complicated sequence of emotions: hatred, fear, anger, doubt. “Cut!” Lana Wachowski shouted. The crew on Stage 9 at Babelsberg Studio, near Berlin, erupted in a din of professional efficacy, preparing for the next shot, while Hanks returned to his chair to sip coffee from an NPR cup. Lana and her brother, Andy, who are best known for writing and directing the “Matrix” trilogy, were shooting “Cloud Atlas,” an adaptation of David Mitchell’s 2004 best-selling novel of the same name.

The novel has six story lines, and the Wachowskis and their close friend the German director Tom Tykwer, with whom they’d written the script, had divided them up. They were shooting at Babelsberg, using the same actors, who shuttled between soundstages, but Tykwer had an unplanned day off. Halle Berry had broken her foot while on location in Mallorca and he needed to wait for her full recovery to shoot a chase scene. And now there was another problem: the actor Ralph Riach, who played a small but crucial role in one of the story lines that Tykwer was working on, had fallen ill and been hospitalized, and his state was progressively worsening. Tykwer had been on the phone with Riach, and the prognosis was, at best, unpredictable. Tykwer, with a bad cold and a large scarf around his neck which resembled a Renaissance millstone collar, had stopped by the Wachowskis’ set to discuss the situation. . . . . "

...“Cloud Atlas’ is a twenty-first-century novel,” Lana said. “It represents a midpoint between the future idea that everything is fragmented and the past idea that there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.” As she spoke, she was screwing and unscrewing two halves of some imaginary thing—its future and its past—in her hands. If the movie worked, she continued, it would allow the filmmakers to “reconnect to that feeling we had when we were younger, when we saw films that were complex and mysterious and ambiguous. You didn’t know everything instantly.”

The film opens on October 26.

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Alien Log

 

Alien Log, a novel by Dr. Robert Farrell

At only 264 pages 'Alien Log' [available in paperback or Kindle editions] is a fast, well constructed, science based SF novel.  Though I kept asking myself if it were really just a novel, or perhaps actual fact cloaked as fiction.

"Meticulously scientific, well researched novel of the case for Intelligent Life in the Universe, and particularly covering UFOs and "Aliens" and their probable origin and purpose in communicating, interacting and dealing with humankind. It is a delightful read for anyone interested at all in these compelling subjects. It also has an extensive bibliography, to help you extend your own research into these subjects. The fiction is very well handled and dialog between characters helps to enrich the novel with the science behind it."     [Barbara L. Lindquist]


    Coast to Coast AM with Dr. Robert Farrell

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Ray Bradbury — 1920 - 2012

My early adolescence was made special by an inordinate love of reading, and few authors were more special to me than Ray Bradbury.  The first of his many books that I purchased was The Martian Chronicles in 1951. 

Ray Bradbury, Dead at 91, Taught Generations of Readers How to Dream

"The fantasy writer Ray Bradbury scorned the label of “science-fiction writer” and taught generations of readers the benefits of letting their imaginations run wild. . . "

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Battle Los Angeles

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.

Battle Los Angeles: Alien Life

"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."

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Official Trailer

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OPERATION CLAMBAKE !

My new, all time favorite YouTube video, which relates to the REAL evolutionary history of man [well, according to L. Ron Hubbard].

The Clam FAQ:
http://www.xenu.net/clam_faq.html

"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". 

That is what he believed and that is what he did.

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K-PAX

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

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Xenu, Unmasked

Who, or what, was Xenu?

'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.

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South Park Proved Right About Scientology XENU Story
[No embedding allowed, so you will have to watch it on YouTube].

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The Star - Arthur C. Clarke

 

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.

                  T. S. Eliot 

Avatar ...and Pandora

 

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.   

 

Check out Parka Blogs  for a review and scanned images of 'Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora'.

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.

 

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