I finished watching the second season of Apple’s Foundation series last night. I had watched the first episode when it was released and I hated it, so I waited until all the episodes were available so I could watch it one episode per night. It did improve, and I found a lot of things that I … Continue reading Asimov’s Surprises
Science Fiction
A Common Enemy
In 1959 a story was published that described three mysterious stores that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, in Tokyo, Paris, and New York City. The shops called themselves Martian Shops and displayed technology that was far in advance of anything heretofore known on earth. The stores were staffed by salespeople wearing skin-tight face masks and … Continue reading A Common Enemy
The Best Is Yet To Be
Last evening I watched one of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone. In fact, it might be my absolute favorite episode. I hadn’t seen it since it first aired in April of 1962, and yet I could remember it as if it were, well, perhaps not yesterday, but I recalled all the essentials of the … Continue reading The Best Is Yet To Be
Isaac Meets a Fan
In the second volume of his autobiography, In Joy Still Felt, Isaac Asimov relates a story of meeting a fan at a convention while he was suffering from a kidney stone. I was going alone, by train, and I had made arrangements to room with Harry Stubbs. Harry made the ideal roommate (if one overlooks the … Continue reading Isaac Meets a Fan
The Last of Us Finale
Well, that didn’t end the way I thought it might. Keeping with my tradition of avoiding spoilers, I’m not going to reveal any of the plot twists of the final episode of the first season of The Last of Us, but I did just want to leave a comment or two. Joel ended up having to … Continue reading The Last of Us Finale
Incredible But True
Alain and Marie are being shown a house when the realtor reveals a secret duct cover by a hatch in the basement. “When you go down the duct, you jump twelve hours ahead in time,” he says. But, he teases, “In addition to the jump, something even wilder occurs.” And so begins Incredible But True, a little science … Continue reading Incredible But True
Avatar—Blechh!
I didn’t care for the movie Avatar. In fact I didn’t watch the whole thing; I bailed when it turned into an all animated movie. First of all, as I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t approve of movies that are aimed at young children where the characters are smoking, as it sets a very bad example, not … Continue reading Avatar—Blechh!
Careful the Things You Say
Last year I sent a fan letter (well, email actually) to a podcaster, but I didn’t word it as carefully as I might have, and I think it was misinterpreted. At least I think that’s what happened. Jason Snell is a blogger/podcaster, mainly on tech issues, but he also covers some entertainment areas, such as … Continue reading Careful the Things You Say
Not So Outlandish Now, Is It?
As I’ve mentioned previously, one of my favorite writers during my teen years was Robert A. Heinlein. He really knew how to spin a spell-binding tale. In addition to many standalone novels, such as The Puppet Masters, Door Into Summer, Double Star, Between Planets, and Red Planet (to name some of my favorites), and short stories such as “—All You … Continue reading Not So Outlandish Now, Is It?
Conservatism
John W. Campbell, Jr., was a racist, a sexist, a fascist, and a purveyor of crackpot ideas; in other words he would have felt right at home in today’s Republican Party. I wrote about him in earlier posts here and here. So I was surprised when I came across this editorial that he wrote for … Continue reading Conservatism