Past, Present and Future

Just wonderful

When you discuss classic fantasy stories for children 'Alice in Wonderland' stands head and shoulders amongst others such as  'The Wizard of OZ' and  'Mary Poppins'. Possibly because the story predates the others and somehow has a tighter grip on our imaginations. When reading the book you can see how it was put together as a series of smaller stories showing Alice's encounters with stranger and stranger creatures. Alice is Wonderland is possibly one of the most over-analyzed books in literature. People have tried to show how Lewis Carroll wrote into the stories his drug use and many other strange and weird beliefs he was supposed to hold. It reminds me how, in school, they dissect poems and stories until any enjoyment is gone. I just read Alice for sheer fun and take the story for what is was always supposed to be - an exiting and moralistic tale for children. It's when we turn to the sequel, 'Through the Looking Glass', that we see hidden meaning and some political commentary - but that's for another post.

Down the rabbit hole

On my tenth birthday, I was given a book written by a man, who if around today, would probably be in prison. This was a man who became a member of the clergy and had a fondness for telling stories to little girls, he also had a fondness for taking pictures like the one above of children in various stages of undress. In fact, once an angry father banned him from ever seeing his daughter again. There were also unsubstantiated stories of hallucinogenic drug use that appeared to influence his writings. Who was this dangerous individual? A slender man with a stammer called Charles Lutwidge Dodgson AKA Lewis Carroll. The little girl above - why, that's Alice of course. In my opinion, I think that Lewis Carroll was as dangerous as a wet paper bag. The book I was given as a birthday present was the collected stories of this rather odd man. The pages are browning and the cover is a little worse for wear, but I still will sit down and reread Alice in Wonderland and join the fun with Sylvie and Bruno. I will give my impressions of the contents of this huge tome over the next couple of posts -  Queen of Hearts permitting of course.

Mid-term (almost) report

Well, we are just past episode five of series four of Dr. Who - here are my thoughts, hopefully without too many spoilers. I will admit, looking back, that the first three episodes were rather bland and boring compared to what we have seen before. It is almost as though they were afraid to 'let themselves go'. The last two-parter episode fixed all that and marked the return to the Dr. Who we want to see. The welcome return of the warrior Sontarans has been looked forward to as much as the Daleks and the Cybermen. These squat engines of mayhem and destruction are the ideal soldiers as they have no fear of defeat or death. Indeed, warfare is their reason for existence and is welcomed, as is death in combat. The byplay between the Doctor and his companions as well as interaction with their families and the hide-bound members of UNIT provide the essential humanness to the series and keep things from becoming too heavy and miserable. I understand that much of the 'fun' in each episode is driven by David Tennant's manic enthusiasm and sheer joy of acting the role of the rather anarchic Doctor. The hints throughout of Rose's return and the appearance of the Doctor's daughter - well, his granddaughter Susan had to come from somewhere - pose the possibility of some interesting things to come. This series looks to be set to end with a hell of a bang to make up for no season five next year. Are you my mummy?

A wild time

There goes a couple of hours I'll never get back. I finally nerved myself to see that blockbuster (ha!) film 10,000 BC. What a pile of mammoth dung! Bad acting, bad script, bad story, poor effects...need I go on? Thought not. Yes, it's a also a fun fantasy film with a predictable storyline and ending - just don't think of history or facts at all. The only part which might make you want to think, is when hints are made to Atlantis. For some years now there have been theories regarding the existence of Atlantis and linking it to Crete or other early Mediterranean cultures. The rise of the so-called 'sea-peoples' in the Middle-East, including the Philistines, points to an influx of technically advanced people about 4,000 years ago. Interestingly enough, the Philistines were quite cultured and civilized compared to the rather barbaric hill tribes known as Hebrews. The name Palestine actually comes from the Roman name for Philistines and was the name they gave the province. Pyramids 12,000 years ago? Well, maybe. Another theory gaining strength and evidence points to a possible construction of the pyramid bases (if not the pyramids themselves) and the Sphinx about 12-15,000 years ago. The evidence for Cheops being responsible for the great pyramid rests on a very flimsy base it seems. The only pointer is a piece of poorly spelled graffiti in the most inaccessible part of the structure - it is possible that this is a fake. Oh, for a way to see past events!

Rose coloured glasses

In 1963, General Dynamics Astronautics division added their contribution to a time capsule to be opened in 2063 - just 55 years away now. Obviously, considering the sponsor, the articles supplied were aimed directly at man's conquest in space with little thought given to any changes in our daily lives. Writers from scientists, astronauts, soldiers, politicians and those remaining anonymous filled the 49 page booklet with their thoughts and dreams. Some comments are very well thought out while some are just too funny for words - check out senator James B. Utt (his real name) on page 38 - boy, what a loon! What are my predictions? Well, here goes. Firstly, I can only predict based on what we know now as, who knows, there may be some breakthrough that will change the world overnight. By 2063. I would expect a small scientific community on the Moon and an unmanned science centre on Mars. We will have had commercial spaceflight for a few decades after the pioneering work of Spaceship One and I would expect a growing tourist (hotels) and medical (hospitals) presence in orbit. Perhaps the beginnings of the first O'Neill type settlement may also be there. It's also possible that due to advances in zero-point physics, quantum entanglement and fusion power will be seeing the start of faster-that-light exploration. Will our lives be better here on Earth? Well, for the 'civilized' west and for the rich - of course it will. However, I beleive that the poor will be poorer and, in some areas, we may see indentured work practices. There will be major improvements in medicine and world-wide transport and communications - the internet of today will seem like a toy for savages. The 'connected world' will be more connected than ever and observation of citizens will be far more invasive than today. With politics and religion I think it would be impossible to see more that 10-12 years ahead - 55 years is just to far away. Of course, we could all go collectively nuts and bomb ourselves back into the stone age.

What a lot to look forward to

Predictions are funny things. Either they are too conservative or wildly optimistic. It can, however, be a lot of fun to look at past predictions and see how they have turned out. One wonderful resource for this is the website 'Paleo-Future', which provides articles, pictures and documents all the way from the 1880's showing how people thought the future would be. Some make you laugh, while others make you go hmmm. On this site there is a great downloadable book from 1963 that purports to show our lives as they would be in 2063. I've only started reading this, so I'll let you know my thoughts next time - it looks like an interesting read.

Damn Koom Valley

Here it is! The 'Thud' review. First off, I was able to snag a hardback copy of this from Chapters in Oshawa for - wait for it - $4.99! What a bargain and what a great book. I think that I must have read almost everything from the pen of Terry Pratchett and loved every one. This is another book that features the Ankh-Morpork city watch and it's redoubtable commander Sam Vimes. The fine body of men, trolls, dwarves, golems and other assorted sentient creatures that make up the watch has mushroomed from the original small group we found in 'Guards! Guards!'. Now the stakes are higher than ever as an age old dispute looks like getting real nasty and the watch is right in the middle - literally. Unfortunately, Sam Vimes has many other 'fish to fry'. There is an inspector nosing around and every day at 6 PM Sam MUST be home to read to his new son. Throw in the one thing Sam really hates - a vampire in the ranks - and things couldn't get worse - could they? Sorry to say, they can and do. I won't give you the whole story, only Mr. Pratchett has the skill for that.  If you have already read his books in the past, you know what to expect - if  you haven't - then what the heck are you waiting for - get out there now and read!

A wider community

You should all know by now my love of alternative histories. I find that the ability to say 'what if' gives you a stronger grasp of how 'our' particular world came about. In most case, even in your own life, I'm sure that you can see where small changes or different decisions would have affected you now. Missing a bus, turning left instead of right and just missing that fateful meeting or declining a job instead of accepting - the list goes on. Here is a really nice site that will allow you to explore alternatives with many others and perhaps learning as you go. For those that like more visual methods of learning about past and future possibilities, I can recommend going here for some amazing maps. Next post -THUD!

Nasty, nasty

I feel so sorry for Steven Vander Ark who is the author of an unofficial Harry Potter encyclopedia. His idol (in his words, a genius) is sitting in a courtroom opposite him and calling him the most terrible things. J. K. Rowling had earlier told the court that his plans to publish The Harry Potter Lexicon amounted to 'wholesale theft' and was 'an act of betrayal'. She also added, that in using her fiction as the basis for his guide, 'he has simply taken it and copied it', 'it is sloppy, lazy and it takes my work wholesale'. Mr. Vander Ark set up The Harry Potter Lexicon fan site in 2000. He told the US District Court in Manhattan it was a hobby until RDR Books approached him to publish a print version last year. He stated that he was initially against the idea, partly because he thought it would violate copyright law, but was reassured by RDR that they could publish legally. Rowling told the court she had stopped work on a new novel because her legal concerns had 'decimated my creative work'. What the heck does that mean? My opinion is that she is just being greedy and nasty just for the hell of it. She certainly doesn't need the money or the media exposure, that's for sure. The writing and publication of 3rd-party guides, atlases and lexicons is a venerable one and I cannot see how this can hurt her bank balance or creative urges. Perhaps if she did a deal with him for a percentage of the profits in return for her 'blessing'. No, that would be too sensible - as usual, too much money can corrupt anyone. Careful, JK, you're in danger of alienating your legions of fans - very unwise.

Not too proud

Some months ago, one of the Catholic school boards decided to restrict the availability of Phillips Pullmans' 'The Golden Compass' and I, like many others, decried their censorship of a harmless fantasy story. Well, I was wrong. There, I've said it and I don't care. The trilogy that makes up 'His Dark Materials', is well written, vast in scope and, in my opinion, compares very well to 'The Lord of the Rings'. However, the writer's vitriolic hatred of the church and the Catholic church in particular is quite obvious, certainly in the last book of the series, ' The Amber Spyglass'. I'm not saying that I don't like the books (I do), but I can fully understand why a Catholic school would feel uncomfortable in allowing young children to read them. He is actually a very clever author who draws you into the story very gently and then just pummels you with his anti-religion body blows. By the time he lets 'it all hang out', you are almost unable to resist accepting his views on faith and belief. If you can stomach his overtly atheist tone, you will enjoy the books for what they are and ignore the propaganda. To be honest, I don't see why so-called atheists have to be so aggressive - a reaction to aggressive Evangelistic Christianity perhaps. I thought that atheists believed that organized religion is a sham and that there is no one almighty being/life force that controls our fate. If so, why are they so 'up in arms' all the time. I am no Catholic or even Christian, but even I felt a little uncomfortable reading the books. Ban them? Of course not. Be careful about letting young and impressionable Christians read them - that's up to the school boards.