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Ditch Fahrenheit's Journal
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17,386 posts in this topic

Science Fiction: A Supercut

 

 

 

Pretty cool. Definitely worth a watch.

 

:applause: Glad to see some of the more obscure and historically important stuff in there as well as two recent releases! (Dredd and Cloud Atlas)

 

 

<------ huge Science Fiction junkie.

 

Me too.

 

I had a great SF discussion with one of my relatives last night. We were discussing Philip K. at length (no pun intended), and the impact and timing of his insanity on his writing.

 

Then later, my 16 year old nephew gave me all his theories on the genetic goo in Prometheus. We also had fun asking Siri on his iPhone various obscure SF questions that it had strange (clearly programmed) answers to.

 

Keep repeating to yourself, Bester, Bradbury and Di.c.k.

 

Add some Vonnegurt and Adams as needed, and repeat.

 

:applause:

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Science Fiction: A Supercut

 

 

 

Pretty cool. Definitely worth a watch.

 

:applause: Glad to see some of the more obscure and historically important stuff in there as well as two recent releases! (Dredd and Cloud Atlas)

 

 

<------ huge Science Fiction junkie.

 

Me too.

 

I had a great SF discussion with one of my relatives last night. We were discussing Philip K. at length (no pun intended), and the impact and timing of his insanity on his writing.

 

Then later, my 16 year old nephew gave me all his theories on the genetic goo in Prometheus. We also had fun asking Siri on his iPhone various obscure SF questions that it had strange (clearly programmed) answers to.

 

Keep repeating to yourself, Bester, Bradbury and Di.c.k.

 

Add some Vonnegurt and Adams as needed, and repeat.

 

:applause:

 

Absolutely.

 

Bradbury has always been my favorite. No one else captures the wonder of childhood like him.

 

I have to throw early Ellison into the mix, along with a judicious helping of Asimov and Clarke.

 

I've been trying to find the modern equivalents of the masters, and have not succeeded. It seems they have too much flair and not enough substance, like they write for other writers rather than readers.

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"And There Shall Come Soft Rains"

 

"And the Moon Be Still As Bright"

 

Are there more melodic story titles? Bradbury was my guide through childhood and into manhood. I could not have asked for a more humane Cicero. (scroll back through the Shadow Gallery for the day he died to read my prayer for his further travels)

 

Bester became my angry young man author and he has served me just as well. D.ic.k is the dirty hobo shaman sitting under the bridge that you really ought to listen to.

 

Ellison is good. "I Have No Mouth..." alone earned him a place at the big boy's table.

 

Clarke and Asimov have always left me cold.

 

 

Stephenson is at the very top of my to-do list for moderns. I don't really know of any modern masters that I ooh and aah over.

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Bradbury captured the unqualified awe and wonder of being a little boy: the angle of the sun, a bush bull of bees, leaves swirling on an autumn day, the importance of running, the comfort of a best friend. He got it. Much like dandelion wine captures each summer's essence, his books take you right back to how you felt as a child, how you thought, what was important to you. He's also the ultimate lightening rod merchant, selling magic, mystery and warning of danger. Much of his writing can be viewed as the death of something warm and safe, whether it be childhood or provincial America.

 

Ellison was the angry author of my teens. His wit and sarcasm helped ease me into the world of deadlines, responsibility, and the treadmill of conspicuous consumption. I appreciated that he was one of the few who was courageous enough to declare that the King had no clothes. He threw jelly beans into the gears of the metronome. "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman" still gives me satisfaction - even after all these years.

 

I'm full spectrum, so I need cold, calculating, unmerciful prophets like Asimov and Clarke.

 

I'll check out Neal Stephenson. I think I read Cryptonomicon, but I can't remember. What books of his would you recommend?

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Bradbury captured the unqualified awe and wonder of being a little boy: the angle of the sun, a bush bull of bees, leaves swirling on an autumn day, the importance of running, the comfort of a best friend. He got it. Much like dandelion wine captures each summer's essence, his books take you right back to how you felt as a child, how you thought, what was important to you. He's also the ultimate lightening rod merchant, selling magic, mystery and warning of danger. Much of his writing can be viewed as the death of something warm and safe, whether it be childhood or provincial America.

 

 

This is so great, I just had to quote it again.

 

By the by, I do consider Bradbury a transcendent great American writer, not just of science fiction, and I think it a travesty that he isn't mentioned among Huxley (1932), Orwell (1948) as the all time great writers of dsytopian fiction (F451, 1951).

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Ellison needs to make a real return to my nightstand.

 

I have too many butterflies and candies in my gearbox to ever appreciate Asimov and Clarke, though I admire that you can.

 

The Stephenson that I plan on reading first is "Snow Crash" if that helps.

 

Do you care for Bester?

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Ellison needs to make a real return to my nightstand.

 

I have too many butterflies and candies in my gearbox to ever appreciate Asimov and Clarke, though I admire that you can.

 

The Stephenson that I plan on reading first is "Snow Crash" if that helps.

 

Do you care for Bester?

 

It's been a long time since I read any Bester.

 

I'm off to the library right now to return some books. I'll see if I can pick up "Snow Crash" and some Bester.

 

Early Ellison is awesome, but I'm not really fond of his later works. He also became a bit of a jerk in later years - evidently he has difficulty channeling his anger along productive routes.

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Anyone want to venture a guess on how long it will take before the "Certified Collectibles Group (CCG) Acquires Classics Incorporated" thread goes 24 hours without a post?

 

:)

 

:busy:

10 days

 

That's optimistic! :)

 

I was thinking longer.

 

I'm going to do some research and give a qualified answer.

 

Ok.

 

I'm going to guess 20 days and 1620 total posts. :banana:

 

It went 8 day with 1486 posts.

 

So I'd say you won that bet. ^^

 

Unfortunately the thread became diluted after the questions thread popped up, as well as the grader salary thread, otherwise I think it would have gone longer.

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Couldn't find any Bester on the shelves.

 

Picked up "Anathem" by Stephenson. I'm not sure it's my cup of tea from the description, but I'll give it a shot. (thumbs u

 

"The Stars My Destination" is my favorite science fiction novel of all time (Bester).

 

I need to pick up an Ellison anthology and buy a copy of Snow Crash.

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Couldn't find any Bester on the shelves.

 

Picked up "Anathem" by Stephenson. I'm not sure it's my cup of tea from the description, but I'll give it a shot. (thumbs u

 

"The Stars My Destination" is my favorite science fiction novel of all time (Bester).

 

I need to pick up an Ellison anthology and buy a copy of Snow Crash.

 

I'll put it on reserve. I use two libraries, so I'm sure between the two of them I'll be able to get it.

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Battlestar Galactica - Blood and Chrome

 

bsg-blood-and-chrome.jpg

 

I'm watching this right now. It's very good. Not as good as the original remake, but not bad at all. If you're a fan of BSG, you'll love it.

 

The two hour series pilot has been cut into 10 webisodes which are released every Friday.

 

It's up to number 6 right now, so there's plenty to watch. You can also alter the image quality all the way to as high as 1080P, which is nice.

 

Here's the link:

 

LINK

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