Tim Pratt recently won the 2007 Hugo Award for best short story with Impossible Dreams. The story’s main character, Pete, is a huge movie buff that stumbles across a new video store in his neighborhood. He doesn’t seem to understand how he missed the store before, but ventures in and finds an odd selection of movies which he though had been canceled, or made by different directors with different actors. What follows is an interesting commentary on movies which either were never made, were lost, or simply done differently. This is a truly awesome story with an excellently planned ending. It was a pleasure to read from start to finish. From the writing it either the author is a huge movie buff or his writing is so good that you’d never even suggest he wasn’t passionate about movies. Visit the link above and read the full story at Asimov’s Science Fiction.
Impossible Dreams by Tim Pratt
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The Adjustment Bureau (2011) directed by George NolfiThe Adjustment Bureau (2011) directed by George Nolfi
After looking through my media center PC, The Adjustment Bureau happened to be the highest rated movie that I hadn’t seen in the science fiction category. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, other than a 7.1 metascore from IMDb. About 20 minutes into the film, I realized that this was probably one that my wife would enjoy. The best I could categorize this movie would be romantic science fiction.
The Adjustment Bureau starts out by following the end of a political campaign for Senate. David Norris (Matt Damon) ends up losing the election because of a leaked photo of him mooning someone at his college reunion. Seeking some privacy, he goes to the men’s restroom to prepare his speech. After a while, a woman pops out of a stall, apologizing for the intrusion. She was hiding out in the men’s room to avoid security for being a wedding crasher. They begin to exchange witty banter about her situation and his unfortunate downfall. (more…)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury narrated by Stephen HoyeFahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury narrated by Stephen Hoye
Fahrenheit 451 has been on my list to listen to for some time now. It just so happens that this turned out to be “Banned Books Week”. How serendipitous is that? I recently listened to The Martian Chronicles and immediately noticed it was the same narrator, Stephen Hoye. His voice seems to pair well with the classic nature of both of these novels. There’s an old-timey feel to it, and the tone of his voice is perfect to express the melancholy feel ever so prevalent in Fahrenheit 451.
To be honest, all I really knew about the novel was that books were burned, and that this was classic that everyone should read as a cautionary tale. There are many layers to it other than the book burning though. It’s not just about burning the books. What do they represent? Knowledge begets jealousy. Undeniably some people have more time or ambition to seek out knowledge than others. Why not control what knowledge there is to consume so everyone is equal and people are happier, right? Without books, what is left? There are still publications like comic books and magazines, but nothing of real substance. (more…)
Humans to become immortal cyborgs within 20 years?Humans to become immortal cyborgs within 20 years?
About a year an a half ago, I reviewed The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil. I never did get around to reading his slightly newer book, The Singularity is Near. I just ran across an article that quotes him as saying
I and many other scientists now believe that in around 20 years we will have the means to reprogram our bodies’ stone-age software so we can halt, then reverse, aging. Then nanotechnology will let us live for ever.
He goes on to describe a number of medical advancements that seem unbelievable. He doesn’t really expand on how many people, or rather WHO will have access to this technology. We can’t very well have billions of immortal cyborgs running around for eternity, now can we? I think that those denied immortality, or at least extended life-spans, would wage war against those that would keep the technology for themselves.
Credit: Telegraph via Geekologie
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