"obliged to become spacefaring"

[eldritchhobbit]

Happy birthday to lin4gondor! May you have a wonderful day and a fantastic year to come!

A couple of quick notes:

* I am the featured guest for this week's episode of The Future and You. Stephen Euin Cobb interviewed me for the podcast at ConCarolinas, and this show is the result. The interview runs about half an hour. You can also get The Future and You via iTunes.

* In a paper published on June 15, 2008, scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material that has been found in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in origin. Read more here. (Thanks to kangeiko.)

* I've watched and really enjoyed all of M. Night Shyamalan's previous films (yes, including The Lady in the Water), but I'm afraid that The Happening is one of the worst, most cliched movies I've seen in ages. What an incredible disappointment! Because friends don't let friends watch terrible films, here's a review from The New Republic that sums up the movie's failures well.


"Since, in the long run, every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds."
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994

Comments

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your good wishes!! It's looking like it's going to be a lovely day to have a birthday on -- and I promise not to spoil it by going to see The Happening. ;-) That review is priceless in its scorn for the film, lol!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Ha! I hope it was fantastic. That review didn't pull any punches, did it? ;)

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

In a paper published on June 15, 2008, scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material that has been found in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in origin

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

My sentiments exactly!

[travisprinzi.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! Finally, someone else who actually liked Lady in the Water. I haven't seen the new one yet, and based on all the reviews, I think I'll be waiting for DVD.

[korg20000bc.livejournal.com]

Hey, I like it too!

I think it helps if you're interested in myth.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Very good point!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I really did like Lady in the Water! Perhaps that's why The Happening was such a disappointment.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading the New Republic review.

I was not going to see "The Happening" because M. Night Shyamalan really made only one good movie ---his first ---and two mediocre ones (the second and third) and it's been steadily downhill ever since. He's actually going in the opposite direction of most filmmakers (who usually improve with each picture).

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

You're most welcome! I think that review was spot on. It's a shame. :(

[abbie (from livejournal.com)]

I liked The Sixth Sense (what I saw of it), Signs was decent I suppose, and something in me liked The Village, but I'd really already given up on M. Night...so I wasn't planning on seeing The Happening anyway. Thanks for the review though!

Re: The Future and You
Wow. All that scholarly research on fandom SURE DOES SOUND INTERESTING. *ahem*
LJ isn't low tech, it's just old school. :o)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Re: The Happening, I wish I'd been as wise as you were!

Hey, thanks so much for listening to that interview! I appreciate it. You're quite right: old school, not low tech. I'll remember that!

At the moment, it doesn't look like there will be a need to bring the fan class back. However, I would be open to exploring the possibility of offering it as an independent study (through the Liberal Studies Dept.). I did that once for another class a few years ago. Just a thought.

[abbie (from livejournal.com)]

Ah...well....okay.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

That's not the final word, though - I'm still working on it. :)