Saw “Black Panther” last night — it’s a great movie, and tremendous fun.

Posted on February 25th, 2018

Funny thing: while an authoritarian system like a hereditary monarchy is anathema to my world view, it works in a superhero movie…

Not photoshop, not CGI

Posted on February 22nd, 2018

 

A photo of the Earth and the dark side of the moon, as seen from a million miles away by Deep Space Climate Observatory (2015).

And there is a short video here:

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/696/from-a-million-miles-away-moon-crossing-face-of-earth/

“Culture” Series headed to Prime Video!

Posted on February 21st, 2018

“Banks creates a kind of flawed paradise, a society truly worth fighting for – rather than a warning from the future, his books are a beckoning.”

Originally shared by Michael Interbartolo

Iain M. Banks’ Culture Series is headed to Amazon Prime Video, with the studio snapping up the rights to “Consider Phlebas.”

Categorized as “Space Opera,” the books document a utopian society that finds itself post-scarcity, with money and space transportation no longer an issue. Humanity has encounter multiple species, some more friendly than others, and grown from living purely on natural worlds to create huge space habitats like rings. Lifespans have been extended by hundreds of years.

https://www.slashgear.com/amazon-is-bringing-iain-m-banks-culture-to-prime-video-21520266/

Dry weeds at sunset

Posted on February 16th, 2018

Iain M Banks has died

Posted on February 15th, 2018

One of my favorite authors…  Banks had a vision of the future that made it really seem worth living. He was young, and had so many more stories to tell.

Here’s a more substantive article:

Why the Culture wins — an appreciation of Iain M Banks, by Joseph Heath

Forced to deal with the glare

Posted on February 2nd, 2018

Forced to deal with the glare