I’m still debating whether or not to rewatch or reread the various version of Dune leading up to this Fall’s new film adaptation.
One definite thing I want them to get right? How to pronounce all those names. Of course, it might help if we all knew how to pronounce the names. So that’s where one superfan comes in. He’s compiled Herbert saying a bunch of the names, none of which are presumably a killing word (sorry, fans of the ’84 film).
I haven’t posted anything about Star Trek for a couple months, so… enjoy:
It could be the theater-related post from Tuesday. It could be that I’ve been catching up on a lot of Shakespeare, but this particular video about how English sounded 500 years ago is the right thing to stumble across at the right time:
All sorts of physical businesses are suffering during this global pandemic and I know many people, dependent on in-person gigs for their livelihood who now have no income stream (to say nothing of creative freelancers, as one Nation article notes).
So this video posted last week by Joseph Haj, artistic director of the Guthrie Theater resonated:
I was lucky enough to grow up going to the theater and live performances frequently, something I’ve tried to pass on to my kids. I hope that time will come again soon.
I’ve really enjoyed Chris Hadfield letting us know about the realities of space exploration, from his space-based cover of Bowie to his book to his counsel on dealing with the pandemic.
So, I was happy to check out what his thoughts were on some of my favorite “hard sci-fi” films were and– oh, it’s like comparing notes with my dad, the physicist and history buff…
Last weekend… I did a bunch of chores. But I also did said chores while watching multiple panels and some breakout sessions for the Online Writer’s Conference I talked about last week.
If you missed it, good news! You can check out the panels from both days on the same website.
Combined, it’s over 13 hours worth of insights and techniques from working novelists, screenwriters, and others.
So check it out! Perhaps while you’re taking care of a bunch of chores. I’m going to do that because I’m sure I missed a few things. Whatever works!
I don’t usually have much to say about the Oscars, but I do love checking out all the nominated shorts and this year’s winner for best animated short is just, well, check out Hair Love:
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) does a wonderful remembrance of the film artists we lost in the past year. I’ve mentioned it before, but it always makes me wistful and reminds me to rewatch a movie or three.
I thought this year’s was especially good, perhaps because of the many quotes from the people they used.
Check it out when you’re ready to be verklempt.
For whatever reason, Big Data decided to show me a Vox video piece from 2016 about the Concorde the other day. It’s part of an article by Phil Edwards.
For you young whippersnappers, the Concorde was a quite cool-looking supersonic passenger plane that heralded the future of air travel… until that future disappeared.
Later in 2016 (and also in Vox), Brad Plumer noted that several startups and NASA were revisiting supersonic transport. He noted one young company, Boom, in particular.
Fast forward (though not supersonically so) to 2019 and Boom has been busy. They’ve been rolling out the PR and getting reactions from the press. James Wynbrandt in a piece for AIN Online this past June adds some numbers to get a better idea of Boom’s business model and timeline.
More recently, Rohit Jaggi over at the Robb Report gives a summary of where Boom and other companies (including Lockheed Martin) are in working to get supersonic transport revived again.
Here’s a video that was posted on October 4th and has been making the rounds.
I’ve seen Jim Meskimen before (he’s phenomenal) and I’ve seen “deep fakes” before, but this is quite the combo.
We live in interesting (and potentially scary) time.