One of the reasons I love history is how often it proves the maxim “truth is stranger than fiction.” So here’s this week’s recommended reading from Cara Giaimo about how weathermen couldn’t talk about tornados. Mind blown (or perhaps whisked away to Oz).
I didn’t get to read this sprawling, thoughtful article by Adam Rogers that appeared in Wired until now. So, it’s possible that you’ve already read it. However, for those of you interested in the film industry, how this storytelling trend is impacting the industry (“…the auteur gives way to the team player”), or just Star Wars, give yourself an uninterrupted chunk of time to dive in. Even as we speak, multiple futures (and pasts) are being written
This is the fourth entry in a surprisingly long series of posts about Star Trek’s future and its fandom called Crisis of Infinite Star Treks. “A new hope?!?,” you Trek partisans cry. Yes, I went there. But stay with me, because although the tomfoolery (Garth-foolery?) of the Axanar lawsuit continues, CBS went ahead and announced the showrunner for their new Star Trek TV series: Bryan Fuller. Yes, someone who has both written for Star Trek and led…
Moving from last week’s discussion of television to a discussion of film, this week’s recommended reading goes more to the previous week’s thoughts on fannish nostalgia. Ray Harryhausen appears to be one of those objects permanently stuck in the amber of my nostalgia. I go back and watch the films with some regularity. Lord knows many aren’t good… and yet Ray’s stop-action creatures remain extraordinary. They are alive and vital and imperfect in a way that awakens…
Interesting piece by Nathan Heller in The New Yorker about the past, present, and future of air travel. Hmm. Does my passport need to be renewed?
Last week, I made passing reference to Television’s “Golden Age,” an often-invoked, but still rather unofficial designation for the TV-viewing time we find ourselves in. Yes, I know some people still want to cling to the 50s being a golden age, but while my adoration for some skits of Your Show of Shows and episodes of I Love Lucy is second to none, please. TV is currently rocking. One of the side effects of this embarrassment…
Amidst all this talk about the current “Crisis of Infinite Star Treks,” I came across this remembrance/article from Max Temkin about my favorite Star Trek incarnation: Deep Space Nine (DS9). I have now watched the entire series three times: first, when it was broadcast. Second, in the early naughts on DVD, and most recently with its debut on streaming Netflix. Some episodes, like “Necessary Evil,” have been ones I’ve watched more than three times. Is…
It’s one thing to have too many choices, something we arguably have in today’s world. It’s another thing to have choices violently cut down. Imagine if Baskin Robbins decided their Thirty-One-Derful world needed to be Thirteen. Or Three. In my previous post on this subject, I noted that I was okay with the different –in some cases radically different– flavors of Star Trek. My issue was that a whole set of flavors, ones that I…
Hostage negotiation has always seemed interesting to me, and not just when Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson are doing it. Bourree Lam’s interview with veteran hostage negotiator Chris Voss in the Atlantic is fascinating in its own right. But, of course, they’re looking at how his experience translates to the business world, specifically asking for a raise and how to deal with the concept of “fairness.” Bet you find some ways it can help you…
For denizens of Washington, DC, or just those who are interested in how the region has grown, here’s a piece from Ghosts of DC about the proposed Three Sisters Bridge across the Potomac River. I love ultra-detailed local history because, even as you go through life, constructing your own narrative, there are other stories being written all around you. When I read something like this, it triggers my imagination for all sorts of alternate history about what…