February 27, 2006
The Luddite Pillory, v1.2

It's time for this week's Luddite Pillory, in which space-related silliness is held up for ridicule and scorn!

  • "See, I told you: Armstrong converted to Islam as soon as he set foot on the moon and heard the adhan. All this is proven by their naming of their new moon-ship with an Arabic word. They deny it, but they give the game away!"

    Seriously, though: how wonderful it is that people at NASA nowadays are fans of a franchise representing the "manly virtues" and scrappy, hands-on exploration, instead of a franchise populated with prissy post-modern utopian socialists sipping tea and tediously working themselves into paralysis over some hairsplitting moral quandary as they flit about the galaxy waiting for the deus ex machina of the week to make its appearance. Of course, if that were really the source for names starting with "A", one has to wonder why they didn't end up with "Apophis" and "Anubis".
  • James Hansen: Fake, but appropriate.

    UPDATE: There seems to be some question regarding the accuracy of the Spectator piece, itself.

  • "The monkeys and the polar bears are deep inside my consciousness now. I've got to do more."

    Seeking professional help might be a good place to start.
  • Blog Comment Zen. Yes, Joe: that it is.

Posted by T.L. James on February 27, 2006 01:28 AM

Comments

Does it mean anything if you don't like 'Stargate' OR ST:TNG? I can get into the show but I keep hitting a wall about the magical Gates. Damnit if it were only that easy.

Star Trek .. I like some of the episodes but on refletion they were the episodes where there was a lost of explosions and gunfire. A throwback, that's me - I kept thinking that what Starfleet really needs is a Corps of Marines .. and better ship design so the bridge isn't perched on top of the vehicle like the world's easiest target.



Posted by: Brian at February 28, 2006 03:49 PM

Altair isn't from the Arabic (well, maybe in an linguistic sense) - but I imagine it's from "Forbidden Planet." The planet, Altair, the daughter of Walter Pidgeon, Altaira Morbius or Honey West in a gold lame minidress...Anne Francis, one of the best, in a world class sci-fi movie.



Posted by: mothmaam at February 28, 2006 09:14 PM

Brian: what you find appealing (or repellent) about a particular show can mean something -- or at least tell you something interesting about yourself, I suppose.

Television is an art form, and being the product of numerous conscious decisions invariably expresses values, intentionally or otherwise. Similarly, one's viewing choices reflect one's own values. I find it interesting which set of values is reflected by the claimed popularity at NASA of SG-1, given the values expressed in the show itself.



Posted by: T.L. James at March 1, 2006 10:42 PM

I like the wars and exploration of SG-1. Not real fond of the "international board" overseeing the project. That is just stupid. But they are bringing back the people from Farscape, which is a big plus. Erin is just hot (or whatever her real name is :)

ST:TNG I liked the science and the holo-decks. The socialist bull-s**t got on my nerves, mostly when it contradicted itself. BTW: ST:Enterprise had marines.



Posted by: Dan Schrimpsher at March 2, 2006 07:53 AM