http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:53:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40818 John Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:31:14 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40818 "Assuring him that I would try to write music that expressed inaudibility..." Too bad he didn't -- it would have forestalled the lawsuit-mad John Cage. “Assuring him that I would try to write music that expressed inaudibility…” Too bad he didn’t—it would have forestalled the lawsuit-mad John Cage.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40817 Buck Mon, 25 Oct 2004 20:13:39 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40817 Man, I forgot all about The Simpsons Season 1 sale -- too late now. Thanks for the tip on the MST3K, though. Man, I forgot all about The Simpsons Season 1 sale—too late now. Thanks for the tip on the MST3K, though.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40816 abb1 Mon, 25 Oct 2004 20:11:51 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40816 Someone should make a movie based on Mindswap by Robert Sheckley. It's a shame that there is no film. Someone should make a movie based on Mindswap by Robert Sheckley. It’s a shame that there is no film.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40815 HP Mon, 25 Oct 2004 19:45:36 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40815 BTW, if you enjoy of retro sci-fi and early live TV, my local brick-and-mortar bargain bin had a DVD of kinescopes from <i>Tales of Tomorrow,</i> the original (1952) American sci-fi anthology series. Including teleplays by Theodore Sturgeon and A.C. Clarke. 12 half-hour episodes on two discs. I've only watch the first three, but I like them so much I've decided to ration out my viewing over several weeks for maximum enjoyment. Oh, and live commercials (for watchbands!) for added camp value. I believe it's on Image. BTW, if you enjoy of retro sci-fi and early live TV, my local brick-and-mortar bargain bin had a DVD of kinescopes from Tales of Tomorrow, the original (1952) American sci-fi anthology series. Including teleplays by Theodore Sturgeon and A.C. Clarke. 12 half-hour episodes on two discs. I’ve only watch the first three, but I like them so much I’ve decided to ration out my viewing over several weeks for maximum enjoyment. Oh, and live commercials (for watchbands!) for added camp value. I believe it’s on Image.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40814 Ken Houghton Mon, 25 Oct 2004 19:33:17 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40814 _Dark City_ is at Best Buy for $5.99--an even better steal. And, yeah, finally a copy of the Canadian _Blind Date_; just what to give the TNGer in your life. Dark City is at Best Buy for $5.99—an even better steal. And, yeah, finally a copy of the Canadian Blind Date; just what to give the TNGer in your life.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40813 abb1 Mon, 25 Oct 2004 19:15:31 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40813 <i>What kind of creature could survive in the Swiss Alps?</i> Only the loaded kind. What kind of creature could survive in the Swiss Alps? Only the loaded kind.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40812 Greg Mon, 25 Oct 2004 19:15:17 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40812 Dark City for $7.99 is a steal. You should snap that up. It's an excellent movie, and not even in an ironic, too-cool-for-the-room way. Ebert called it the best film of 1998. The villains are really creepy. If you can get it in time for Halloween, I recommend you make an evening of it. Dark City for $7.99 is a steal. You should snap that up. It’s an excellent movie, and not even in an ironic, too-cool-for-the-room way. Ebert called it the best film of 1998. The villains are really creepy. If you can get it in time for Halloween, I recommend you make an evening of it.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40811 Russell Arben Fox Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:18:00 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40811 "Watching the film, which narrates an entire century of world history in about 90 minutes, you are struck by how very odd it is for someone to make an SF film in which the rational scientific man is more or less straightforwardly superior in every way, and in which romantic types are presented as more or less silly and antiquated, small-spirited as well as small-minded." As best as I can tell, the whole body of "science fiction"--or at least the better part of it--is inseparable from a kind of wonderous tension. Science is awesome, space is huge, the power of man inconceivable, etc., etc., leading to creeping fears and terrifying conclusions. Frankenstein's monster, for example. The sci-fi authors who genuinely, simple-mindedly, celebrated science--or, worse yet, simply assumed its superiority, rather than exploring what it might or will do to individual human beings--wrote, for the most part, crummy stuff; the real heart of that literature is a not a self-satisfied feeling of progress and conquest, but an amazement which also incorporates the frisson of doubt or fear. “Watching the film, which narrates an entire century of world history in about 90 minutes, you are struck by how very odd it is for someone to make an SF film in which the rational scientific man is more or less straightforwardly superior in every way, and in which romantic types are presented as more or less silly and antiquated, small-spirited as well as small-minded.” As best as I can tell, the whole body of “science fiction”—or at least the better part of it—is inseparable from a kind of wonderous tension. Science is awesome, space is huge, the power of man inconceivable, etc., etc., leading to creeping fears and terrifying conclusions. Frankenstein’s monster, for example. The sci-fi authors who genuinely, simple-mindedly, celebrated science—or, worse yet, simply assumed its superiority, rather than exploring what it might or will do to individual human beings—wrote, for the most part, crummy stuff; the real heart of that literature is a not a self-satisfied feeling of progress and conquest, but an amazement which also incorporates the frisson of doubt or fear.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40810 jholbo Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:32:54 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40810 Ah, thanks, hp, I did forget to mention it's Richardson shouting 'Shoot!' He really does brighten the scene. "Clean ME up?" And now that I think about it, it's anachronistic to accuse Wells of stealing from Wizard of Oz, which wasn't released until later. Ah, thanks, hp, I did forget to mention it’s Richardson shouting ‘Shoot!’ He really does brighten the scene. “Clean ME up?” And now that I think about it, it’s anachronistic to accuse Wells of stealing from Wizard of Oz, which wasn’t released until later.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40809 Kip Manley Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:32:31 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40809 Once you get into the Things to Come stuff, it made for interesting reading with <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/imomus/57298.html">this morning's post from pop star Momus</a>. Which is not to say the rest wasn't worthwhile. (How do you measure, I wonder, the difference between rock legend and pop icon?) Once you get into the Things to Come stuff, it made for interesting reading with this morning’s post from pop star Momus. Which is not to say the rest wasn’t worthwhile. (How do you measure, I wonder, the difference between rock legend and pop icon?)

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/10/25/a-headstrong-woman-lost-in-the-perilous-world-of-the-internet-with-only-her-sister/comment-page-1/#comment-40808 HP Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:23:00 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2110#comment-40808 Have you then not seen <i>The Crawling Eye</i>? That's the sensationalistic title for American audiences. The original title is <i>The Trollenberg Terror,</i> and it's a British film, with more in common with Dr. Who or Quatermass than Roger Corman. Yes, the eye monsters are pretty silly looking, but it's in the way that British BEMs are theatrical and cheap rather than just plain cheap. Thoughtful science fiction, with a graphic beheading and some sexual content to go along with the original British X rating. A BEM movie for grownups. <i>Invaders from Mars</i> is fun if you go for the set, but the ending (no spoilers) will ... <i>ahem</i> ... elicit strong reactions in the viewer. I agree with you that <i>Things to Come</i> is more interesting than good. Personally, though, I think the dystopian second act <i>is</i> good, with an impossibly young Ralph Richardson as the boss. And many of the special effects (the conventional war, especially) were not surpassed (IMO) until Kubrick's <i>2001</i>. Have you then not seen The Crawling Eye? That’s the sensationalistic title for American audiences. The original title is The Trollenberg Terror, and it’s a British film, with more in common with Dr. Who or Quatermass than Roger Corman. Yes, the eye monsters are pretty silly looking, but it’s in the way that British BEMs are theatrical and cheap rather than just plain cheap. Thoughtful science fiction, with a graphic beheading and some sexual content to go along with the original British X rating. A BEM movie for grownups. Invaders from Mars is fun if you go for the set, but the ending (no spoilers) will … ahem … elicit strong reactions in the viewer. I agree with you that Things to Come is more interesting than good. Personally, though, I think the dystopian second act is good, with an impossibly young Ralph Richardson as the boss. And many of the special effects (the conventional war, especially) were not surpassed (IMO) until Kubrick’s 2001.

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