January 1, 2010
Where's My Jetpack - Daniel H Wilson
Where’s My Jetpack – A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future That Never Arrived
Daniel H Wilson
2007, 182 pages
Remember watching Back To The Future Part II and loved the hover-board and all the awesome tech that was supposed to be available by 2015? Remember arriving last night into the wondrous future that is this shiny new decade and realizing that we don’t have flying cars, personal robot maids, or jetpacks? I was a little disappointed myself. Daniel Wilson’s book is about the bright and shiny future that never arrived.
The Roomba just isn't cutting it for me. When do I get my very own Rosie the Robot?
In a series of short 2-5 page articles, Wilson examines some of science fiction’s best technologies – jetpacks, flying cars, teleportation, underwater hotels, robot maids, cryogenics, etc – and tells us of their current research status, how we got their, and their potential for real-life application. The articles are snappy, funny, and at the same time informative. For instance, did you know that
smell-o-vision actually existed and people just didn’t like it? That makes me upset. I want smell-o-vision, and food pills, and so on.
I got this book from Alan for Christmas, and may I say, it is so pretty and shiny. The cover has reflective silver and blue writing, the pages are gilded blue, and there are wonderful full-page blue, white and gray infographic-style illustrations accompanying each article. It is a really well put together book. The writing is snappy, engaging and witty. My only criticism is that is often seems like a well put together Wikipedia article. In fact, that smell-o-vision link I posted above? It gives identical information that the book gives. I don’t think there’s anything in this book you couldn’t find on WIkipedia. I think the real benefit of this book is it gives a fun, concise overview of cool new technologies that could have been if only our priorities or laws of physics were slightly different. Also, I don’t have an iPhone, so Wikipedia isn’t as portable as books are [citation needed].
This is the first book I’ve finished reading in 2010 and overall, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to reading more awesome books in the year to come. I’m going to try and keep track of them more accurately this year than I did last year.
Slightly off topic, but also relevant: The Future Soon by Johnathan Coulton is an awesome song. Go listen to it right now, I’ll wait. You can thank me later.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Pop Culture, Reviews |
August 8, 2009
Shannon loves 80s films, and John Hughes’ passing is a great reason to revisit some of my favourites.
Say Anything
Not a John Hughes film, but the first movie made by Cameron Crowe, starring a very young John Cusack as Lloyd and Ione Skye as Diane. it’s got everything a teen flick should:
- John Cusack
- a great party
- a class issue (Lloyd is from the other side of the tracks, Diane is wealthy)
- parents that just don’t understand
- pure charm and hormones winning out over logic
- the boom-box scene
- Lloyd Dobler is probably the most sincere of the 80s love interests.
Sixteen Candles
Molly Ringwald’s in love with the most popular boy in school, and the nerdiest one loves her. What makes it a classic?
- Long Duk Dong.
- A kick ass party and a school dance
- a class issue (Samantha Baker’s decidedly lower class, Jake Ryan’s a rich boy)
- Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted
- John Cusack (he’s one of the nerds)
- blatant racism
- a terrible wedding
- family that just doesn’t understand
- the birthday cake scene
Heathers
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater kill all the people who piss them off and then make it look like suicide. What’s not to love?
- a bay boy with a troubled past
- disinterested parents who just don’t understand
- ‘what’s your damage, heather?’
- that crazy pep rally after death number two
- class issues
Heathers is really a bit of an anomaly on this list, but it must stay. An honorable mention goes to Pump Up The Volume, also starring Christian Slater as a teen whose parents just don’t understand.
The Breakfast Club
Where would teen angst be with the Brat Pack? Arguably the apex of teen comedies, this one has it all.
- Judd Nelson as the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks
- Molly Ringwald as the princess
- Ally Sheedy as the basket case
- Anthony Michael Hall as the nerd… again
- Emilio Estevez as the jock
- despite the fact that it’s detention, there’s a dance scene
- Emilio trying to cry, making me laugh
- Judd Nelson
- five people coming together for a day only to be ripped apart by cruel fate
- the jock gets a girl, the bad boy gets a girl, the nerd gets to write the paper. How cruel is that?
- so much teen angst it barely fits on the screen
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Ferris Bueller is the man.
- Ferris Bueller is more clever than all adults combined
- Rich kids running around the big city being rude to poor people
- Everyone at the parade breaks into dance
- Charlie Sheen as the criminal at the police station
- Matthew Broderick never ages
Weird Science
I’m not sure what the plot is in this movie, but it’s great. Here come the bullets:
- Anthony Michael Hall as the nerd
- Robert Downey Jr as the rich asshole
- Wyatt and the nerd make a supermodel in their computer who comes to life
- a biker gang crashes the house party
- a nuclear bomb shows up in the middle of the house
- the hot chicks inexplicably fall for the nerds
That’s it for the list. Here’s a piece of 80s blasphemy: I hate Duckie. He’s not charming. I tried watching Pretty In Pink last night and I had to stop it because I wanted to punch him in the face. John Hughes and the 80s film were certainly a cornerstone in my teenage years; they don’t make movies like these any more.
Maybe that’s a good thing.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Pop Culture |
June 15, 2009
Futurama is coming back for new episodes starting in 2010!
(See? It’s real! It’s even confirmed!)
Bender and the crew are coming back!
How wonderful is it that I get to see Bender, Leela, and Zapp Brannigan again? I always felt that this show had more stories to tell. The DVD movies were a good start, but I love the original episodes even more, and I’m looking forward to seeing episodic Futurama again. Also, David X. Cohen’s teasers about exposing the evils of Twitter and the iPhone make me think that the show could be as good or better than it was six years ago when it was cancelled.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Pop Culture |
May 17, 2009
Or, What Shannon learned at the ROM that made her laugh
I went with Alan and Courtney to the ROM yesterday, so we could see the dinosaurs and make dino-noises. Actually, Courtney and I were the only ones making dino-noises and Alan was trying to act like he didn’t know us, a pair of twenty-somethings stomping around the dinosaur exhibit dino-roaring every few minutes. It was great fun, and if you’ve been to the dinosaur exhibit at the ROM, I’m pretty sure you’d agree it definitely brings out the kid in you.
Let me tell you one of the things I learned about yesterday. There is a tree called, ‘Araucaria araucana’, whose common name is the ‘Monkey Puzzle’. It is considered to be one of the world’s oldest living coniferous trees, and is considered a living fossil. Anyways, the common name of the tree came about because some British bloke in the 1850’s was showing off one of his trees, and his friend said that “It would puzzle a monkey to climb that”. How crazy is that? Read more at Wikipedia.
I love random trivia like that. Hope you all did too.
The ROM was great fun. Courtney and I hadn’t had a chance to hang out for a while, so that was fun, and Alan took pretty pictures of dinosaurs and other things. We were there most of the afternoon, and then we had dinner and watched Better Off Ted for a bit. I also traded some books with Courtney, so now I’ve got some new stuff to read. It was all in all, a very fun day.
I also finally got around to watching the rest of Heroes, and it was weak sauce. It’s pretty bad when the most badass person in an episode is Peter Petrelli. Wish they’d just cancel this show and move on to some other awesome sci-fi show.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Life, Pop Culture |
