only about another month until the 2015 NW Pinball and Arcade show on the weekend of June 5-7! Apparently this bad boy will be making its debut there….very, very cool!

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So having had to travel to TX over the past two weeks for work has given me time to read a few books (on the plane and in the hotel). So I revisited a couple PKD books, namely The Man in the High Castle, Radio Free Albemuth and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (upon which Blade Runner was based).

It was interesting, because I haven’t read The Man in the High Castle for many, many years, and was inspired given the recent Amazon-produced trailer of a likely upcoming miniseries based on the book. I have to say, that while the story is good and the research done to create the book was extensive (tells the story of what might have happened had the Germans and Japanese won WWII) – I was left a bit disappointed. The ending just ‘ends’ (to me anyway) and i’m not sure what to make of it. Still, a good read though.

Radio Free Albemuth is another interesting one, because it wasn’t published in Dick’s lifetime, the manuscript only surfaced after he passed away. I had read it originally before Bush became president, and after 9/11 sadly to me, some of its predictions actually came to pass – albeit in a more reduced fashion (and unlike President Fremont in the book – Bush actually LEFT office when his term was up). This book is also different because PKD is an actual character in it – half the book is told from his perspective – half from the other central character’s perspective. Each largely thinks the other is crazy – although both may be partially nuts, it’s hard to tell. The ending is not unlike that of A Scanner Darkly – where there is only a dim hope for the future – but hope nonetheless….

Finally, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. I have only read this book possibly 3 times (vs. the bazillion times i’ve seen Blade Runner). So I knew about but enjoyed rediscovering the several key plot points that are missing from the movie (Mercerism, Buster Friendly, everyone trying to own a real animal but often prevented because of persistent fallout – this is hinted at in the movie but never really talked about) – and chickenheads (william sanderson’s character). But I think the movie is actually somewhat more human and touching than the book, which left me a bit cold this time around. But given that the book repeatedly emphasizes the androids have no feelings (the movie is quite the opposite) I guess that’s no surprise.

It was good to revisit all three but I guess the perspective of time (and ever more sci-books read since) means I just feel differently about them this time around? PKD is still one of my fave sci-fi guys but I guess I’ve moved beyond him a little bit, too?

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and sadly, still far, far too true…! Mose Allison said it first, The Who said it best.

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Leonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83

Spock wasn’t always my favorite character on ST, but he’s certainly among the most if not THE most interesting. And like Shatner, Nimoy wasn’t above making fun of himself despite the somber nature of his most famous character.

Unto the Great Beyond – farewell.

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Other voices:
What Spock meant to an Indo-American girl (link incl. several related stories and tweets from other ST actors)
Buzz Aldrin: Leonard Nimoy, my fellow space traveler

Came across this video from Jim Henson’s memorial tonight on YT – very hard to believe he’s been gone for 24+ years(?) and yet his star has anything but diminished. Would that the rest of us had such a positive and uplifting effect on the world while doing it with humor and grace, while not being afraid to be zany and weird when the mood suited. This video really captures the essence of Jim Henson – enjoy and be inspired.

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So Amazon is trying to get on the ‘online studio/streaming’ bandwagon with a number of new pilots – most of which I haven’t paid attention to, but The Man in the High Castle is of particular interest, given that it’s based on a PKD book, one for which he won the Hugo back in the 60’s.

This the story of an alternate history where the Axis won WWI and divided up the world (specifically the USA for the plot of the book) between them. The story flips between the East Coast (dominated by Nazis), West Coast (run by the Japanese) and a central ‘neutral zone’ (I think it was called the Colorado Free State in the booK).

After some stupid tech issues, I finally got the video to run – the first episode is free, although it does make you log in with your Amazon account. Not sure if they are doing a miniseries (like the initial return of BSG was before it became a full-on series) or trying to extend the original story beyond that of the novel, but it’s an interesting start, and well-made so far. I liked the several Seattle ‘architectural cameos’ in it – nice touch, Bezos – and I liked that the actors aren’t big names – for a series like this, I think that in many ways detracts from the story, especially with an ensemble cast.

Definitely interested to see more – although now I may need to take a spin back through the original book too, as it’s been so long since I read it. Hoping they do this justice like A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report or Blade Runner – and NOT like the recent adaptations of The Hobbit (for which JRR T must be doing backflips in his grave about now) but time will tell….here’s a clip:

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XKCD has a point, but NASA made a big dent in that ‘space deficit’ today – huge kudos!

NASA: ‘There’s your new spacecraft, America!”

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Cream vocalist and bassist Jack Bruce dies at 71

Sad – my favorite member of Cream has passed away. I generally respect Clapton but excepting Cream and a bit of his early solo stuff, can’t generally stand his career since. Ginger Baker has already been discussed in these pages – apparently he has a new solo record out too – but what a freak.

But Jack Bruce, arguably the brains and certainly the key songwriter in Cream, has sadly passed. My favorite quote from him was when he said “People ask me – do you care that Eric Clapton gets all the fame from Cream? I say no, because I get all the money!” 🙂

R.I.P……May you have reached your White Room in harmony and rest…..

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Saw Guardians of the Galaxy yesterday afternoon – good movie! It really wasn’t at all what I expected, but entertaining nonetheless. And despite the Marvel pedigree, not really a superhero movie either, actually – more like a weirder version of Firefly (swashbuckling ‘western in space’ story) with bits of Star Wars (space dogfights complete obvious copy of, some of the plot elements are also very ‘anakin vs luke’ and The Fifth Element (the orb they are seeking, a lot of the production design, spaceships, etc.) thrown in.

And two nits (spoilers?) – if Chris Pratt’s character has the Sony Walkman with him playing classic tunes (on cassettes that lasted apparently 20+ years, hmmmm) – where does he get the AA batteries to power it? 🙂 Also, who the heck is Thanos and why does he spend his time just floating around in a big ‘space chair’ (cartoon image of same here) – kinda silly – but then again, I never understood why the original Baltar did it either?

And given that GOTG were a pretty obscure comic to begin with – they only appeared a few times in the 70s – Marvel obviously felt comfortable going in a completely different direction. Here’s what the originals looked like:

Anyway – entertaining movie, good actors and smart-a** dialogue – definitely all the great elements of a lazy Saturday afternoon matinee… 🙂

Other voices:
Rotten Tomatoes
Roger Ebert.com

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