tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298676232024-03-07T02:34:26.588-05:00KosmosflotOrbiting high above the earth in his Salyut space station, Captain Kosmos blogs about science fiction films, books, TV, his Kosmosflot science fiction universe, and growing up in Indiana during the 1960s.Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-90731255962083641582014-04-14T16:21:00.000-04:002014-04-15T12:22:32.940-04:00Tempus fugit ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tempus fugit. </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Times flies, indeed. Four-and-a-half years since I last posted here at Kosmosflot. Fact is, I took a break from science fiction for many reasons. Witnessing John Ringo's raging melt down at Windy Con in 2008 was one. Later on, reading John Scalzi's condescending words about straight white males was another. The science fiction section at my library and local bookstore (only one store left!) are filled with fantasy novels or depictions of women looking like Conan the Barbarian or Jean-Claude van Damme. Not my taste, and not my interest. And hardly a spaceship to be found anywhere, alas. I occasionally pick up a Baen book, </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ahem</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, from the library. But when the usual Baen-style extreme politics start hitting me over the head, I put it back.</span></div>
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I found myself rereading the works of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_737050692"></span>Roland Green<span id="goog_737050693"></span></a> (<a href="http://www.fictiondb.com/author/roland-j-green~squadron-alert~105069~b.htm" target="_blank">Starship Shenandoah</a>), <a href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/robert-frezza/" target="_blank">Robert Frezza</a> (<a href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/robert-frezza/small-colonial-war.htm" target="_blank">A Small Colonial War</a>), and revisiting favorites like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_in_God's_Ey" target="_blank">The Mote in God's Eye</a>. I follow <a href="http://whkeith.com/" target="_blank">Bill Keith</a>'s science fiction, always have, and I was happy to see he will be the guest of honor at Pittsburgh's <a href="http://www.confluence-sff.org/" target="_blank">Confluence 2014</a> science-fiction convention. Yay, Bill!</span><br />
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So why come back to this orbital zone? Mainly because of a kind fellow in Japan, Joseph Ficor, who's been a fan of my short stories. Joseph was kind enough to create a pdf collection of my works, complete with a cover and artwork. I need to take pen/keyboard in hand and write another Kosmosflot story to show my appreciation to him. And even though cats on the Internet have bigger followings than this little blog, I shouldn't abandon it out of disgust for the low state of science fiction these days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And what else of science-fiction interest has come my way? <a href="https://www.monstersinmotion.com/" target="_blank">Monsters in Motion</a> sent me notice of this new, beautiful plastic model of the Cosmostrator, from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Spaceship_on_Venus" target="_blank">First Spaceship on Venus</a>, (German: Der Schweigende Stern - "The Silent Star"), adapted from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem" target="_blank">Stanislaw Lem</a>'s story <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Astronauts" target="_blank">The Astronauts</a>. I may have to volunteer my now 12-year-old son to help me assemble it. We just finished a model of the USS Arizona for his Pearl Harbor history project, so we've had some practice. Did you know that plastic model cement is now scented <i>orange</i>? I miss the heady fumes of the original Testors glue.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In May the new Godzilla film will premiere, and I hope it will be a good one. The new movie will be a horror film, just like the original Gojira, and not some campy hokum. The trailer looks promising. I was disheartened at first when I read an interview with the director, who said he wanted to change Godzilla's origin. Oh no, I thought, that is awful. But after seeing the preview trailer, and the revelation that the American atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in the south Pacific were not really tests, well, I am more confident that the new movie will properly honor Big G's origins.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />When I was six years old, my father was serving in the US Navy, and we were living in New Jersey, not far from Lakehurst Naval Air Station, famous for the crash of the Hindenburg airship back in the 1930's. Dad told me I had to get up early Saturday morning, that there was something special on TV that I would enjoy. He helped me wake up, made me a cup of that good Navy cocoa, and for the next 90 minutes I was spellbound. The film was, of course, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla,_King_of_the_Monsters!" target="_blank">Godzilla, King of the Monsters</a>, the American version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_(1954_film)" target="_blank">Gojira</a>, dubbed, starring Raymond Burr. Dad knew I loved dinosaurs and had loved seeing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgo_(film)" target="_blank">Gorgo</a>, the British version of Godzilla, when I was younger. It's one of my fondest memories of my father, and Godzilla became one of my favorite movie monsters. Thanks, Dad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I want to recommend <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935914/" target="_blank">Los Últimos Días</a>, a very well done post-apocalyptic tale from Spain. It's refreshing that it's not a zombie story, and no ugly aliens causing the end of the world ... at least none that we see. It's the story of a man in Barcelona when the big crack-up occurs, desperately seeking his pregnant wife after the human race is paralyzed by mass agoraphobia. No one can survive going out of doors, and civilization is soon on the skids. The story kept me captivated, and the final scene is surprisingly touching, one that every parent who loves their child will understand. The film is in Spanish, and I watched it with subtitles. See it if you can.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>D’os Vadanya,</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">VIKTOR KUPRIN</span><br />
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Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-15947412381768352692009-12-24T08:20:00.008-05:002009-12-30T10:20:47.547-05:00Santa's Rocket Sleigh<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtezzaKveKWS9bVBd-Lz1_EJH4a0_omYS0GpybWFxwDYbD510uPoGyAOwTOylaf7ije4KfP240G53jvd1Ma6-F0XimZryZCfuk5U9PF_bhymqSdWT3WMbOy-5ne1EVsbSLbc7/s1600-h/santa-and-his-rocket-ship.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 224px; float: left; height: 320px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418793420006274162" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtezzaKveKWS9bVBd-Lz1_EJH4a0_omYS0GpybWFxwDYbD510uPoGyAOwTOylaf7ije4KfP240G53jvd1Ma6-F0XimZryZCfuk5U9PF_bhymqSdWT3WMbOy-5ne1EVsbSLbc7/s320/santa-and-his-rocket-ship.jpg" border="0" /></a>I was a kid during America's "Space Age", which I would define as the period between the launch of Sputnik and the end of the Gemini space capsule launches. Anything to do with space, rockets, and astronauts was hot stuff, especially for young boys like myself. Space helmets, futuristic toy rifles and pistols, astronaut costumes, space-related games and model kits, all were popular, especially at Christmas time. Even Santa Claus joined the space age. I know because I took a ride in Santa's Rocket Sleigh.<br /><br />It was a few days before Christmas in 1964, and my dad announced that Santa's Rocket Sleigh was coming to the new Greenwood shopping center on Indianapolis' south side. My brother and sisters and I put on our winter coats, piled into Dad's big old Buick, and headed out for a rather strange space-age holiday adventure. It was a cold sunny day, but there had been snow earlier so there were big melting "ice bergs" in the corners of the shopping center parking lot, deposited by the snow plows.<br /><br />Santa's Rocket Sleigh was parked in the northeast corner of the gigantic parking lot. It was actually a customized bus with a white aircraft-like body, red trim, and big rocket tail fins. The front hatch opened like an old-style airplane entrance, hinged at the bottom so that it folded out-and-down to make a small stairstep entry. I think Santa was somewhere behind the rear of the rocket having a cigarette when I boarded the wierd craft. A woman in a very short Santa's helper dress guided us inside. The "cockpit" was pretty much like that of any city bus, and I <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWk8snJAbasPmnjdHzD7ZbL1Cr6OVRsQSvQ87hoNc2xWtuQXFeTPWDUXl-DPkd4FwLnN9mDIeJnWuctw0uSIuwt2ykOp01VnNUR1l9wV6wqXlnpuNcf4batHn888vLZf9HEmI/s1600-h/santarocket_mukluk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 280px; float: left; height: 210px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418792464053923586" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWk8snJAbasPmnjdHzD7ZbL1Cr6OVRsQSvQ87hoNc2xWtuQXFeTPWDUXl-DPkd4FwLnN9mDIeJnWuctw0uSIuwt2ykOp01VnNUR1l9wV6wqXlnpuNcf4batHn888vLZf9HEmI/s320/santarocket_mukluk.jpg" border="0" /></a>remember there were porthole-style windows along both rows of seats.<br /><br />Without fanfare, Santa entered the rocket, waved HI, and proceeded to drive us around the shopping center parking lot, past the grimy ice bergs of melting snow. The rocket's suspension showed its age, because I remember the ride was bumpy and rough, but I enjoyed it all the same.<br /><br />After some research I discovered that the rocket sleighs were a travelling attraction in many parts of the United States during those years, even in Alaska. But, sadly, I've not been able to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWcC9I3seBF2NEkC1vPLF8NUSshjl7k17R8j2LClzBz-tFqVBDTdTSgOLz-oiA_UuY5ULKQr6YSr9o6V99RD2UCNEMTW0uJVUAAWus5_pjPB8CN2MgwB4bNoUR4rEgWUBkGIX/s1600-h/santarocket_relic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 279px; float: left; height: 220px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418792766133327362" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWcC9I3seBF2NEkC1vPLF8NUSshjl7k17R8j2LClzBz-tFqVBDTdTSgOLz-oiA_UuY5ULKQr6YSr9o6V99RD2UCNEMTW0uJVUAAWus5_pjPB8CN2MgwB4bNoUR4rEgWUBkGIX/s320/santarocket_relic.jpg" border="0" /></a>find any photos of this space-age holiday oddity like the one I rode in 1964. The Alaskan version has two booster rockets up top, almost like the space shuttle's, but the rocket sleigh in Indiana was much more streamlined. I did find a photo of the remains of another version, rusting in a junkyard, located by another grown-up rocket sleigh rider who remembers it like I do.<br /><br />My home state of Indiana has another link to Santa's Rocket Sleigh. The late rockabilly singer Bobby Helms, who lived in Martinsville, Indiana, for most of his life, recorded this odd space-age Christmas song: CAPTAIN SANTA CLAUS AND HIS REINDEER SPACE PATROL. It would have been a great soundtrack for a rocket sleigh full of happy children, eagerly looking forward to the magic of Christmas day.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TZr6opp4Dt0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TZr6opp4Dt0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />I wish everyone a very Merry Space-Age Christmas, and a prosperous, safe, and Happy New Year!<br /><br /><strong><em>VIKTOR KUPRIN<br /></em></strong>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-8400141875094101482009-11-11T10:43:00.008-05:002009-11-11T11:22:18.311-05:00Back from Hiatus: WindyCon, Astro Boy & MSTS<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">It’s Veterans Day in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It’s the day when we recognize those who have done service in uniform for their country. Unlike other major holidays in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, businesses don’t exploit it, so it’s celebrated with a few small parades here and there, usually in a low-key fashion. If you know any veterans, it would be nice if you would wish them a happy Veterans Day. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Exactly one year has passed since I last posted a Kosmosflot blog. I’ve been on hiatus, and it was intentional. I’ll explain why. Last year I had the pleasure to be invited to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:city>’s great WindyCon science-fiction convention. The theme was military science-fiction, one of my favorite genres, and I was honored to have been invited as a discussion panel participant, a first for me. The subject of the panel was “Building A Military Science-Fiction Library”, and the panelists and I had lots of fun discussing some of the great authors who’ve written about military service of the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">But at one of the panels, “Who Gets Military Science Fiction Right … Or Wrong”, one of the guest speakers, a well-known author, made an ugly scene when it was mentioned that military ranks have sometimes been filled by people who had gotten into trouble with the law and, well, sometimes were criminals. I already knew this from history and even from personal experience during my days in the Air Force. I didn’t think this was particularly offensive or disrespectful to veterans. Not so with the big-name author. He stomped out of the room, slammed the door behind him, but then returned to launch an ugly tirade at all of us who were in attendance. His rants and raves went on until I was about ready to leave myself, but he finally exited with another loud door slam, not to return. The other panel members had the good graces to (nervously) resume the presentation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I won’t mention the author’s name. Perhaps he has emotional issues, maybe even related to his own experience in the military. And more than once I’ve read that professional writers can be cranky, moody, and socially challenged. But having to sit through this ugly and disrespectful tantrum really put me off, and though I very much enjoyed the rest of the convention, the untoward experience was in my thoughts during my drive home from Chicago back to Bloomington, Indiana. Finally I decided to take a break, take some time off from science fiction, and pursue other interests for awhile, anyway. And that’s what I did. Though I couldn’t resist buying Bill Keith’s final installment of his 9-volume Heritage/Legacy/Inheritanance military science-fiction epic: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><a href="http://whkeith.com/books.htm">Semper Human</a></i></b>, written under his penname Ian Douglas. And during the summer I flew out to <st1:city st="on">Pittsburgh</st1:city> to see Bill at the great Confluence convention, a nice break for me while my family was visiting relatives in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Armenia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVb0CMFpX9FcVEFFXJDQ-artnNTcNYL2YF4DMyGxLW0Cl6Zx2wsn1aZQNKdJdNPWOJsSXYQ9pBEaZIfM2D-UC5l4eujjbZJv3DH9bpsq2pk27twBCymYagtpx3H75o3L4JJUqU/s1600-h/AstroBoy_63.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 220px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 299px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402873029166714130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVb0CMFpX9FcVEFFXJDQ-artnNTcNYL2YF4DMyGxLW0Cl6Zx2wsn1aZQNKdJdNPWOJsSXYQ9pBEaZIfM2D-UC5l4eujjbZJv3DH9bpsq2pk27twBCymYagtpx3H75o3L4JJUqU/s320/AstroBoy_63.jpg" /></a><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">My son and I went to see the new <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Astro Boy</i></b> movie, and we both enjoyed it. I will date myself by saying that I actually watched the original Astro Boy tv series, in glorious black-and-white, when I was a kid back in 1963. Of course, the new film makes changes from the original story line. Astro’s father, Doctor Tenma, redeems himself in the new film, unlike the original series in which he was just simply a creep, a bad father. In the skewed world of corporate culture, bad dads are not politically correct, I guess. Not so in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Japan</st1:place></st1:country-region>. But what I missed the most in the new film was getting a glimpse of the gleaming, tech-wonderful world of the future where Astro Boy lived. In the original series, Earth was indeed a planet of “graphite and glitter”, filled with flying cars, high-speed monorails, undersea cities, and wacky terra-forming projects like a colossal dam across the Bering Straits! Not so in the new film. Like in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Wall-E</i>, the new Astro Boy’s Earth is pretty much a garbage heap, polluted, trashed, and awful. And only the elite rich get to live in comfort and safety. Oh well, our expectations and our culture changes, right?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">One new pastime that I discovered during my hiatus was Microsoft’s Train Simulator, the world of V-scale model railroading. The V stands for virtual, and, yes, there is even a science-fiction aspect to this hobby which I will show you in a bit. Released in 2002, MSTS, as the program is known, is a virtual-world computer simulation of locomotives, trains, and railroads. With it you can be a train engineer, and simulate the experience of running trains of various types and sizes through routes, simulated rail lines. MSTS is enough of an open system that third parties can create locomotives, rolling stock, and even entire railroad routes, but doing so requires considerable computer and artistic skills. In fact, to really enjoy MSTS and other V-scale software, you must be computer-savvy. Installing software, upgrades, patches, along with debugging and editing configuration files is mandatory, so one must also have computer skills to master this hobby.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">There is an amazing library of free add-ons for the program via The Internet. My own collection of downloads now exceeds 67 gigabytes, more than enough that I will ever use in my lifetime, I’m sure. Railfans all over the world have created their own favorite locomotives and routes for MSTS, and though Microsoft shutdown development of MSTS version 2 due to the economic crunch, support for this 7-year-old software program is just amazing, mostly due to its loyal followers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">You can get a look at what MSTS is about by watching some of the great <strong><em>At The Railyard</em></strong> videos on YouTube.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sZTApgmoZvc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sZTApgmoZvc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">And the science-fiction angle? Well, the first time I ran a train on the Pennsylvania Railroad route, I saw a trackside factory named "Klingon Lawn Furniture Company". And take a look at this James Bond-inspired chase, a very hacked video that showcases the popular fantasy route called <st1:place st="on"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5EEEpn7RWo"><st1:placetype st="on">Sea</st1:placetype> <st1:placename st="on">View</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Island</st1:placetype></a></st1:place>. Weapons, explosions, and flying trains are not a part of MSTS. Those were added to the video for fun, but you will see the amazing Sea View Express turbine-powered trains. They’re great fun to run, some of my favorites.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Well, for better or worse, I’m back. A couple of people noticed my absence and were kind enough to write during my hiatus. To them I say, thanks very much for asking about me. This blog amazes me by the large number of readers that keep coming every week, and by their world-wide locations. My most popular posts are the ones about Ded Moroz, the Russian Santa Claus; the War of the Worlds post; and the Science Fiction For Kids entries. So what the heck, maybe I’ll write some more!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em>All the Best,<o:p></o:p></em></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN<o:p></o:p></strong></span></p>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-49712141239742975532008-11-11T10:20:00.012-05:002008-11-11T11:50:19.679-05:00Science Fiction for Kids: The Adventures of Thelonious<span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>"In ancient times human beings ruled the Earth -- at least that's what the old legends claim. But is it true?"</em> - Thelonious Chipmunk, from <em>The Travels of Thelonious</em><br /><br />It’s a familiar theme for science-fiction fans: all civilization and the entire human race is destroyed by conflict or disaster. Then intelligent animals arise to dominate the world. But <a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Jack%20Kirby/Kamandi_1_cover.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 449px" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Jack%20Kirby/Kamandi_1_cover.jpg" border="0" /></a>soon those new masters of the Earth begin making the same mistakes as their human predecessors. Of course, <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes">The Planet of the Apes</a></em> is probably the most famous example of such stories, the novel and both the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_(1968_film)">original 1968 film</a> starring Charlton Heston (co-authored by Twilight Zone’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Serling">Rod Serling</a>) and the crazy-fast-action <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_(2001_film)">Tim Burton remake</a> of a few years back. Comic book fans may also recall <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby">Jack Kirby</a>’s long-running DC series <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamandi">Kamandi – The Last Boy On Earth</a>, where "Beasts Act Like Men! Men Act Like Beasts!"<br /><br />Strangely enough, the post-human era is presented once again, this time in a wonderful trilogy of children’s books by <a href="http://www.bullersooz.com/index.html">Jon Buller and Susan Schade</a>: <strong>The Fog Mound adventures</strong>. It’s first-class science fiction for children, though I should mention that there are some scenes of cruelty and violence between the animal characters, and, in the third volume, Thelonius and his friends have a frightening encounter with Upsilon the Wolfman, and must listen to the “crunching of small bones” as the scary beast and his companions dine. However, throughout the stories the animal characters display real compassion and loving care towards each other, and they often reminded me of the rabbits in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_Down">Watership Down</a>, another favorite "furry" book.<br /><br />But be warned: As I found out, these books are so good that if you read them to children at bedtime, as I did for my son, Ronnie, they will not want to go to sleep. They will beg you to keep reading and reading these fascinating adventures.<br /><br />In the first volume we meet the story's hero, Thelonious Chipmunk.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267432300736378674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 272px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbaK6Bh_GedRIVbmRAU4toGzODmw54hS_pZF-l1dJcTCmGeqUrTvaf8N6oUDSpix0_09mRN1BNHJYK9Lr-4FZoiwzs_MDoftTu90_ClkG_2y1PGOIe3tZKn8lEzoRqnHeXZiU/s400/Faradawn_1.jpg" border="0" />Thelonious Chipmunk is a Talker -- an animal who has inherited the gift of language from his ancestors -- and he, for one, believes in humans. Who else could have made the old paper postcard he treasures? Who else could have built the tall building shown on the postcard? His desire to know more about the humans is fulfilled in a surprising and dangerous way when Thelonious is swept down the river into a strange new world -- a world of architectural ruins and puzzling artifacts, where gangs and warlords prowl amongst the crumbling remains of civilization. With three new companions -- a bear, a porcupine, and a small brown lizard -- Thelonious embarks on a search for the far-off Fog Mound. It is a journey that becomes nothing less than a quest to uncover the secrets of Earth's past.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267432498922851826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 272px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKyp0w4k4ammZRAvmQfSGGYu0J91a_A7TmLcK0fifI0mg3cMtPI6wjAKJHAuIQGzFN9ufXh8Ct_X85Yj4LTFbLkrHDrXFgkaZt-cSHyIDj0AYjVnmt1BlxdEr2j4LjT0k1GIy/s400/Faradawn_2.jpg" border="0" />After living on the Fog Mound for quite some time, Thelonious Chipmunk and his friends are ready to continue their travels. There are some old questions to be answered and new places to be explored. So, with the addition of new friends Bill the Human and Cluid Chipmunk, the animals sail off down the river in a specially designed boat. As in <em>The Travels of Thelonious</em>, the intrepid chipmunk pursues his personal quest to uncover the differences between legend and history. And to answer the most troubling question of all — what happened to the humans?<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267432625975804562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 292px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYJ6eJElPNNZ7otaaqF2buhBPeilNCqISYfsgzQLZK0QyPOacRyn9KleYH6gw3BtvL9N3WKXS_yXMKufoqUOU4XJMys7rkX1fftmLMnh0ShXbmGEt5cu7Ldd5odJJ-6g7yyiz/s400/Faradawn_3.jpg" border="0" />Thelonious Chipmunk and his friends face a whole new series of adventures after they reach the mysterious Mattakeunk Institute and discover . . . a time machine! Will the time machine lead them to the answers they seek? Perhaps some of the answers will come when the animals' traveling companion, Bill the Human, regains his ability to speak. However there is one pressing need above all others -- the need to save their beloved Fog Mound from the Dragon Lady herself, and her evil ratmink assistants.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">-quoted from <em>Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers<br /></em></span><br /><br /><em>D’os Vadanya,</em><br /><br /><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN</strong><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Technorati tags: </span></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/children" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">children's books</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Adventures+of+Thelonious" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Adventures of Thelonious</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Fog+Mound" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Fog Mound</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Planet+of+The+Apes" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Planet of the Apes</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/comics" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">comics</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-52164916079914323692008-11-09T09:47:00.009-05:002008-11-09T10:30:54.740-05:00WindyCon, Building a Military SF Library, and Freehold<span style="font-family:verdana;">Next weekend I will be attending the <a href="http://www.windycon.org/windy35/Default.aspx">WindyCon 35</a> science-fiction convention in Chicago. The event’s theme is military science fiction, and Baen Books’ John Ringo is the guest of honor, along with author Eric Flint, <em>Star Trek</em>’s and <em>Babylon 5</em>’s Walter Koenig, and artist David Mattingly.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.windycon.org/windy35/Default.aspx"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 404px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 65px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/WindyCon.gif" border="0" /></a><br />I’m a Cold War veteran, and I spent most of my hitch in the Strategic Air Command’s 22nd Heavy Bomber Wing. And like most veterans, I learned pretty quickly that the old adage that advises “Don’t volunteer for anything!” is essential unless you want to subject yourself to dreadful humiliation or great risk. So, when I logged on the WindyCon site to make some suggestions for panel discussion topics, I had no idea that I was, in fact, volunteering to be a panel member. But that’s what happened, and I’ll be participating in the panel about <strong>Building a Military SF Library</strong> <em>- What are the great books of military SF? What does any aspiring military SF writer need to have in a reference collection? Panelists tell you. </em><br /><br /><a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/RJG/VainCommand.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 491px" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/RJG/VainCommand.jpg" border="0" /></a>The session is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m., Nov. 15, in Ballroom C (C6, to be exact). While it’s a totally unexpected privilege for me, and my first time to be on a convention panel, I’m very honored and happy that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_J._Green">Roland J. Green</a>, the author of some of my all-time favorite military science-fiction series (<em>Starcruiser Shenandoah, The Peacekeepers</em>) will also be a panel participant.<br /><br />On Friday evening I don’t want to miss the panel discussion titled <strong>Liberal Military SF: Does It Exist?</strong> <em>- Can a writer be a liberal and a military SF writer? Is there something in military SF that requires a conservative outlook? Not counting the revolutionaries, are there any good portrayals of liberals in the genre?</em><br /><br />Somehow I’m not surprised that <a href="http://www.michaelzwilliamson.com/index.php">Michael “Mad Mike” Z. Williamson</a> will be a panelist on that one. Mad Mike almost got me in trouble in 2005 while I was living in Armenia. I was enjoying myself in an Internet café in the capitol city of Yerevan and, thanks to the <a href="http://www.baen.com/library/">Baen Free Library</a>, I came across Williamson’s first novel, <em>Freehold</em>. To be generous I will just say that I didn’t like it much. The libertarian paradise it portrayed was as unbelievable to me as any Soviet propaganda about a future world of “pure communism”. But that’s not what almost got me into an unpleasant situation. The adult content in <em>Freehold</em> did. In fact, I think Williamson went way, way beyond <em>erotica</em> and crossed the line into pornography with his detailed descriptions of lesbian and group sex acts by the novel’s characters.<br /><br />And, in Armenia, possessing, reading, and downloading pornography can get you into big, big trouble. Trouble like the interior of an old Soviet prison cell. And, quite frankly, I didn’t expect content like that when I started reading the story. Baen’s other online stories contain nothing like what I saw in Williamson’s book.<br /><br />Lucky for me, the Internet café proprietors and their up-stream service providers didn’t detect the lewd text and, yes, they do monitor and sometimes block adult content in Armenia and in many of the other post-Soviet Republics. No <em>militsia</em> thugs wearing big CCCP service caps appeared to beat me up, extort money, or haul me to KGB headquarters. But it did put me off of reading any more of Williamson’s books. I’ve seen his comments that say “It was my first novel. I’ve learned a lot since then,” but, on his own website, his response to the subject of the controversial sexual content in <em>Freehold</em> is pretty flip.<br /><br />I got a bad feeling, too, about such sexually explicit content being available on Baen’s online library with no warning, no disclaimer, no parental advisory, and, as a parent, that gives me the creeps.<br /><br />Earlier this year, at Dayton’s <a href="http://www.marcon.org/">Marcon</a> sf convention, I told Baen publisher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Weisskopf">Toni Weisskopf</a> about my experience in Armenia and my concerns. She urged me to give Mad Mike another try, to read some of his later work, but first impressions are lasting ones. And I have too many good books from other authors on my to-read list, thank you all the same.<br /><br />Until next time,<em> D’os Vadanya,<br /></em><br /><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN</strong> </span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-4088997425940417422008-10-26T08:34:00.028-04:002009-11-18T21:42:50.912-05:00The War of the Worlds - An American Halloween Tradition<span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>In the First World War, and for the first time in the history of man, nations combined to fight against nations using the crude weapons of those days. The Second World War involved every continent on the globe, and men turned to science for new devices of warfare, which reached an unparalleled peak in their capacity for destruction. And now, fought with the terrible weapons of super-science, menacing all mankind and every creature on the Earth comes the War of the Worlds!</em><br /><br />Autumn is here and Halloween is nigh. And for science-fiction fans, one very American tradition during "All Hallows' Eve" is H.G. Wells' classic novel of alien invasion, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds">The War of the Worlds</a>. Seventy years ago, on October 30, 1938, the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdq_TUo6J35QaNoqPPxibTysjWul22poMF7itBUM0oeBhS_6YCD_sLX8FCRbnA1YXafKqg6VbIpav-owPquWgseD72EfWLu4GT3VtN0DlPOYkkYZJnbYCRruuQW-PhO9M0ZAr/s1600-h/Orson+Welles+War+of+the+Worlds.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 254px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261448081066395154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdq_TUo6J35QaNoqPPxibTysjWul22poMF7itBUM0oeBhS_6YCD_sLX8FCRbnA1YXafKqg6VbIpav-owPquWgseD72EfWLu4GT3VtN0DlPOYkkYZJnbYCRruuQW-PhO9M0ZAr/s320/Orson+Welles+War+of+the+Worlds.jpg" /></a>late, great actor and film producer/director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Welles">Orson Welles</a> and his Mercury Theatre On The Air played one heck of a trick-or-treat with their radio dramatization of the story, causing panic and alarm across the United States. Using a "we interrupt this broadcast to give you an important announcement" newscast style, Welles and company made many people believe that Martians (or perhaps Germans) were actually attacking. Newspapers of that era, hostile to the upcoming broadcasting industry, played up the unintentional effects of the broadcast, and there were many unsubstantiated, anecdotal accounts of people preparing to commit suicide rather than risk death from Martian heat rays or poison gas attacks. But there were very real accounts of genuinely frightened citizens, flooded telephone switchboards, and some people actually getting their firearms ready to defend their homes and communities. The next day a very shaken Orson Welles had to explain that the resulting panic was unintentional, and CBS made a public promise to never again use the words "We interrupt this broadcast" in any future entertainment program on radio.<br /><br />In the early 1960's my father was a sometimes attendee at meetings of the Indiana Recording Club, whose members used big reel-to-reel tape recorders to copy and swap many old radio programs from the 1930's and 40's. I had the rare privilege of hearing Orson Welles' War of the Worlds when I was a kid, though the third-generation recording was pretty awful in quality. Modern digital technology has greatly improved existing recordings of that historic broadcast. You can hear it online at the Internet Archive: </span><a href="http://www.archive.org/details/WAROFTHEWORLDS2"><span style="font-family:verdana;">http://www.archive.org/details/WAROFTHEWORLDS2</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />The latest version of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407304/">The War of the Worlds</a> was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg">Steven Spielberg</a>'s 2005 film, which I first saw while in Armenia. My teenage nephew from Moscow, Serosha, and I celebrated the 4th of July by going to the small digital theater in Vanadzor to see a Russian-dubbed version. Spielberg took ample liberties with the original story, many of which just didn't work for me, like the Martian war machines being buried long-ago under the earth as weapons caches. And the appearance of the Martians themselves was disappointing, rather like diminished versions of the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/">Independence Day</a> aliens. But there are some very effective scenes in Spielberg's film, my favorite being the first appearance and ascension of the Martian tripod war machine in the town square. Harkening back to the original Wells' steampunk-like machine, the towering invader emits puffs of steam-like gas, and slowly shifts its weight on its three metal legs. As Tom Cruise and the downtown crowd start to come out of their hiding places to get a better look at the amazing sight, again as in Wells' original story, the Martian war machine exhults, blasting sinister music-like <em>basso profundo</em> notes the likes of which I haven't heard since I attended a <a href="http://www.black-sabbath.com/">Black Sabbath</a> concert some years ago. Everyone on screen jumps when the machine unexpectedly sounds off, and I confess that it made me feel a real chill up my spine.<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 241px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261448366433489090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHbaTClH50O1eRc11eIc25HJwwSGaH4CdJPaEfH4jM1_I0jzNgLMIj_BLtAwCwrIX4wAUtzhDFhqpU0CfYT5ZjlUTXppIvkeTAYAsynggIejZcE6Y97cLDYhxCQuW6i1ADZZU/s400/war-of-the-worlds-Exhultation.jpg" />I enjoyed Spielberg's film, uneven though it was, but my all-time favorite is George Pal's 1953 Oscar-winning version of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046534/">The War of the Worlds</a>, certainly one of the very best science-fiction films made in the 50's. The film was directed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Haskin"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261448682234982802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWcJzZioGPPnRpcPYgoxJ4I_hXyYqE0uWI15pAuQ6o2usv-1zfU_HdV8jn0nEW-qYYX9MuiU0DCO19brCTwm19wmG4WHP00fhqvpc3zYDIfo6uxRPF5XICVcCcpCLfAKGXsWUt/s320/WarOfTheWorlds_198.jpg" />Byron Haskin</a>, who would later direct another of my favorite science-fiction films, <a href="http://kosmosflot.blogspot.com/2007/07/robinson-crusoe-on-mars-september-2007.html">Robinson Crusoe on Mars</a>. In Pal's film, the invasion takes place during the 1950's. Pal and art director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0637575/">Albert Nozaki</a> placed the Martians in sleek, futuristic manta-ray shaped war machines that hovered above the ground on invisible legs of magnetic flux. Modern science-fiction elements were added to the plot with great effect, such as the Martians generating atomic energy "without the heavy shielding we use" as the source of their weapon's power. Radioactivity is detected not long after the first Martian cylinder falls from the sky, an ominous omen of what is soon to come. When the Martians first shoot <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32jo5QxiieJqliUt4oxfWDPIp5vn4bnQtFTgQNOSViIGfWSoVy1JsWkD7Z6ViRbNumMS386ajutfoX_tHQikLSIAo3_j028SYja5Xtt6kNduFaNp3D35PeVNygHdNN735Co8C/s1600-h/Martian+Electronic+Eye.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 242px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261449910042320882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32jo5QxiieJqliUt4oxfWDPIp5vn4bnQtFTgQNOSViIGfWSoVy1JsWkD7Z6ViRbNumMS386ajutfoX_tHQikLSIAo3_j028SYja5Xtt6kNduFaNp3D35PeVNygHdNN735Co8C/s320/Martian+Electronic+Eye.jpg" /></a>their atomic-powered heat ray, an electronic-magnetic pulse knocks out electric power, telephone lines, and even magnetizes the watches worn by the nearby towns' people. And though Pal didn't use tripod war machines in his film, the trinary nature of the Martians was emphasized throughout the story: the Martians are shown to have three fingers; their eyes and electronic cameras have three irises that are colored red, green, and blue; and the Martian war machines always operate in groups of three.<br /><br />The film begins with a virtual tour of the solar system, beautifully illustrated with the artwork of <a href="http://www.bonestell.org/">Chesley Bonestell</a>, the famous space illustrator. And the accompanying narration was done by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedric_Hardwicke">Sir Cedric Hardwicke</a>, whose British accent is most fitting for this retelling of Wells' story. One of the first scenes is a view of a Martian city alongside frozen water canals. I always yearned to see a close up, but we only get a distant view.<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261448927633143202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqsF_GcTYsA7PIII9qnw9RNx3U4aJUWJPKBMmkLng2G8J1FVylrdVdV_YSEfOvmdXYW5z5971NYQ7srFYQ4MNm8kh02buzhAXfgy_8OXYQcko8DJRv5wyGTvswJS5xFB1szI_/s400/Martian+City+2.jpg" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgI1Wz6VFSn5ARWPUaPVXy3snkY7VyaCVPwyiahsXzJFKYgqs9P0lAqaERPMJGKpe_yijdy7NJHcyO3CdAdtRg0S_RE692-vO_EAmC92iPH2IkxWkTBdHdt-tOXS6yNpNeRUsq/s1600-h/Foster+%26+Sylvia.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261449152041804722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgI1Wz6VFSn5ARWPUaPVXy3snkY7VyaCVPwyiahsXzJFKYgqs9P0lAqaERPMJGKpe_yijdy7NJHcyO3CdAdtRg0S_RE692-vO_EAmC92iPH2IkxWkTBdHdt-tOXS6yNpNeRUsq/s320/Foster+%26+Sylvia.jpg" /></a>The stars of the film were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Barry">Gene Barry</a> in the role of Pacific Tech scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester, and the very beautiful <a href="http://www.annrobinson.com/">Ann Robinson</a>, who was only 17 years old at the time! Barry would later be remembered for his starring roles in the TV western series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052445/">Bat Masterson</a>, and in following years as the lead role in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108715/">Burke's Law</a>. Some reviewers are critical of Barry's acting, but I enjoyed his performance in The War of the Worlds. You can hear a little bit of mad scientist in his voice as he's watching the Martian war machines slowly rise up from their landing zone and gleefully whispers, "This is amazing!" I thought so, too, when I first saw the silvery Martian machines. During the initial Martian attack, Barry and the commanding Army officer, General Mann, see the Martian's disintegrating "skeleton beam" for the first time. Barry really got me when he grabs General Mann and desperately explains:<br /><br /><em>"It neutralizes mesons somehow. They're the atomic glue holding matter together. Cut across their lines of magnetic force and any object will simply cease to exist! Take my word for it, General, this type of defense is useless against that kind of power! You'd better let Washington know, fast!"<br /></em><br />Major General Mann was played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871876/">Les Tremayne</a>, whose career in radio, television, and film spanned over 50 years. His performance as the frustrated <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnL2t8nY4BEid2FEnXtMYgYXoVoJVLGNHPb8feyQS_yQ6NjChjElK5KIptlOB_mWijBhFNwsG1AWJ8bSk7Ns8bTFEwBY9WJGK_hwvr2mOiJ-jtESlaSsKsX4EEITHIe7CphnA/s1600-h/General+Mann.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 204px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261449303556954594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnL2t8nY4BEid2FEnXtMYgYXoVoJVLGNHPb8feyQS_yQ6NjChjElK5KIptlOB_mWijBhFNwsG1AWJ8bSk7Ns8bTFEwBY9WJGK_hwvr2mOiJ-jtESlaSsKsX4EEITHIe7CphnA/s320/General+Mann.jpg" /></a>commander of the futile west coast defense efforts against the Martians is dead on. While serving in the U.S. Air Force, I met more than one General Mann in my time, believe me! In one of my favorite scenes, Mann is shown briefing the U.S. Secretary of Defense and a team of military commanders from around the world:<br /><br /><em>"This much is certain. It is vital to prevent the Martian machines from linking up. Once they do, they adopt an extraordinary military tactic. They form a crescent. They anchor it at one end, sweep on, until they've cleared a quadrant. Then they anchor the opposite end, and reverse direction. They slash across country like scythes, wiping out everything that's trying to get away from them."</em><br /><br />Mann shows detailed photographs of the original Martian landing zone, now developed into a full-fledged base. Finally, after a silent pause, the Secretary of Defense nods thoughtfully and says:<br /><br /><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDIjIn1G4vwjV6D4g9cAerUctBeqMA44wwPfkXQC3Hz8t-VnreDVvnS0h2OiW0UJd9MhGSmFA4yWaiPqxEw6cI5SHLwYId9VuunXQqgBqVx6W9SyBAmdcvLKs_6CwCuD7UFaI/s1600-h/A-Bomb+Attack+on+Martian+Base.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261450110837476786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDIjIn1G4vwjV6D4g9cAerUctBeqMA44wwPfkXQC3Hz8t-VnreDVvnS0h2OiW0UJd9MhGSmFA4yWaiPqxEw6cI5SHLwYId9VuunXQqgBqVx6W9SyBAmdcvLKs_6CwCuD7UFaI/s320/A-Bomb+Attack+on+Martian+Base.jpg" /></a>"All right, I've seen enough. There's only one thing that will stop the Martians. We've held back because of the dangers of radiation to civilians. Now we have no choice. The White House will confirm the order to use the atom bomb."</em><br /><br />Pal selected a perfect symbol of the 1950s jet-age era in his film when he used footage of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-49">Northrup YB-49 Flying Wing</a> jet aircraft as the bomber chosen to drop the A-bomb on the Martians. Though the plane was way ahead of its time and was never put into production, seeing the big wing as the last hope for civilization was a great touch for the film.<br /><br />There has been some criticism of the religious elements in Pal's film, but I always thought they were done tastefully and display a touch of compassion in such a grim story. When the Martians' first landing zone is surrounded by Marine and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkoRPhia0je_8BEeuVaAUz2g7Boql5i6ZVfq7imLA1v0FgwVMr-aU34Q_WYKfbhPpreDeS7ajc8lPSaRMwiv5uNYXoHWqd39oHOpYokwKWejjjf733CuMOBC5cKqxHdG70jR-h/s1600-h/Father+Matthew.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 204px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261449511242687922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkoRPhia0je_8BEeuVaAUz2g7Boql5i6ZVfq7imLA1v0FgwVMr-aU34Q_WYKfbhPpreDeS7ajc8lPSaRMwiv5uNYXoHWqd39oHOpYokwKWejjjf733CuMOBC5cKqxHdG70jR-h/s320/Father+Matthew.jpg" /></a>Army forces, the nearby town priest, Father Matthew, played so very well by actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0552683/">Lewis Martin</a>, pleads with the military commander to make an effort to show that we mean the Martians no harm, that war is not necessary. Unsuccessful, Father Matthew quietly slips away from the command post and sets out toward the advancing Martian war machines on his own. He recites the Lord's Prayer as he walks, and holds up a pocket bible to show the Martians the cross on its cover. This scene always impressed me greatly because we can see the fear on Father Matthew's face, the knowledge that he is, indeed, walking through the valley of the shadow of death, but that his Christian faith compels him to make the effort.<br /><br />Another scene, a brief one that always touchs me is when Gene Barry is desperately going from church to church looking for Sylvia as Los Angeles comes under direct attack by the Martians. Inside the churches we see the elderly, the poor, and, many times, immigrants whom I always imagined didn't have automobiles and couldn't flee from the oncoming menace. Not finding Sylvia in a Catholic church, Barry turns to leave but is stopped at the door by a kindly church elder who says, "Don't go, son. Stay here with us." It's a minor scene, but this simple, compassionate moment is one that stands out in the movie, for me anyway. It's clear that the refugees in the church believe they will soon be killed, and that the elder's kind invitation really means, "Don't die out in the street alone." A dazed Barry quietly explains how he's searching for someone and then moves on through the burning streets as the Martian machines enter the city.<br /><br />In another scene touching on religious faith, just before the A-bomb is dropped on the Martians, a scientist tells Barry and Robinson that he's calculated that the Martians will be able to conquer the Earth in six days. Robinson replies, "The same number of days it took God to create it." The group of scientists pauses in quiet reflection at this very chilling biblical reference.<br /><br />George Pal paid tribute to Orson Welles' 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast by including cameo appearances in his film of characters from Welles' script. At the first Martian landing zone, a radio station reporter named Carl Phillips describes the scene for radio listeners, just like in the radio play. And later, again on radio, a scientist named Drew Pearson, the name of Welles' character in the original broadcast, makes comments about the possible physical appearance and nature of the Martians.<br /><br />Director Byron Haskin and art director Nozaki worked together again in 1963 on another outstanding Mars film, <a href="http://kosmosflot.blogspot.com/2007/07/robinson-crusoe-on-mars-september-2007.html">Robinson Crusoe on Mars</a>. And if you watch it, you will see Nozaki's original Martian machine design, recycled but without the cobra-like heat ray, this time as the supersonic, automated machines used by the interstellar miners on the Red Planet.<br /><br />The 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast is sometimes replayed on radio during Halloween, and many radio stations and theater groups perform new versions of the story at this time of year. But if you'd like a real science-fiction treat for this All Hallow's Eve, I urge you to watch the 1953 film version.<br /><br /><em>Happy Halloween,<br /></em><br /><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN<br /><br /></strong>P.S. Earlier this year when I was visiting Armenia again I took my DVD of George Pal's War of the Worlds. It had never before been shown in the Soviet Union. At the end of a screening of the film for families and neighbors, I heard the Armenians saying "<em>Grip. Grip,</em>" the Armenian word for <em>influenza</em>! If you read the book or watch the films, you'll know why.<br /><br /></span></p><span style="font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/War+of+the+Worlds" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">War of the Worlds</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/movies" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">movies</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/films" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">films</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Mars" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mars</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Halloween" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Halloween</span></a>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-46224903548395228162008-10-10T23:34:00.012-04:002009-11-11T20:36:28.822-05:00Science Fiction for Kids: Captain Raptor<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGnuC4d3c_kc0IAKpxLa1X_bwnnb9k61hF6H9hNuiwhtfQDVvmnHl9_w4xjqyRngTmMzSbcRDUSJqEB-xDSJhLzNktPccEe37PRvU1tqxHUs2tF4cROMrp413cx1Bquo3egOpX/s1600-h/Captain+Raptor+and+the+Moon+Mystery+cvr.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; FLOAT: left; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255735610026867490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGnuC4d3c_kc0IAKpxLa1X_bwnnb9k61hF6H9hNuiwhtfQDVvmnHl9_w4xjqyRngTmMzSbcRDUSJqEB-xDSJhLzNktPccEe37PRvU1tqxHUs2tF4cROMrp413cx1Bquo3egOpX/s320/Captain+Raptor+and+the+Moon+Mystery+cvr.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Every evening I hear a little voice call out, "Dad, it's reading time!" My six-year-old son, Ronnie, loves books and, I'm proud to say, he's well on the way to becoming a reader himself. For his first grade reading assignments, he has successfully tackled a book of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Bedelia">Amelia Bedelia</a> adventures and one of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Littles">The Littles</a> fantasy books.<br /><br />But even after a hard hour of sounding out new words and struggling with new sentence structures, at 9 p.m. Ronnie always demands our family tradition of a bedtime story (or two, or three).<br /><br />One of our most enjoyable readings was the two Captain Raptor books, written by Kevin O'Malley and brilliantly illustrated by Patrick O'Brien. Combine <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Park"><em>Jurassic Park</em></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars"><em>Star Wars</em></a>, and you can begin to understand these wonderful children's books.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5SeyrMDlSt4pDI8vkEqs3KlYvhXlpuLJ0GfYljm8fjFcSOfhC8etAQoZPQdYd27gVQ57VHF8RHaXFTXOGHWPhZjxr2PtLOppgytsQ9JLYgLgBKLpfWzf9n8z8vaEfro-MDof/s1600-h/Captain+Raptor+and+the+Space+Pirates+cvr.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; FLOAT: left; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255735805384031698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5SeyrMDlSt4pDI8vkEqs3KlYvhXlpuLJ0GfYljm8fjFcSOfhC8etAQoZPQdYd27gVQ57VHF8RHaXFTXOGHWPhZjxr2PtLOppgytsQ9JLYgLgBKLpfWzf9n8z8vaEfro-MDof/s320/Captain+Raptor+and+the+Space+Pirates+cvr.jpg" /></a>The planet Jurassica is populated by intelligent, space-faring dinosaurs, defended by the courageous Captain Raptor and crew: navigator Threetoe, professor Angleoptorous, and Master Sargeant Brichthorous. Their rocketship, <em>The Megatooth</em>, is a beauty: a classic 1950's von Braun-style streamliner that reminds me a little bit of the Russian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-22">Tupolev-22</a> <em>Blinder</em> supersonic bomber jet.<br /><br /><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Raptor-Pirates-Patrick-OBrien/dp/0802795714">Captain Raptor and the Space Pirates</a></em> has the valiant dinosaur heroes recovering their world's royal jewels from Bloody Bart Scalawag and his cutthroat space crew. But my favorite is <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Raptor-Mystery-Kevin-OMalley/dp/0802789358">Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery</a></em>, in which the dinos have an interesting-but-cautious first encounter with human astronauts from Earth.<br /><br />For kids who love dinosaurs and/or space stories (and these days that mostly likely means <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars">Star Wars</a></em>), then the Captain Raptor books will surely please. While the stories are definitely for children, I truly enjoyed O'Brien's detailed, striking illustrations which can be appreciated by anyone interested in comic book art. You don't see many rocketships as cool as the <em>Megatooth</em>.<br /><br />And here's my favorite dinosaur lover, Ronnie, at <a href="http://www.dinoworld.net/">Dinosaur World</a> in Cave City, Kentucky. <em>Watch out, son!</em><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255736431033699570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9L6yy02_XtAeBPYFTpvaL2sEMoaNOlFcXpMt7t93Az-gidGYT1zx45k2W4-7EkkP-WbI-2LO4H0SwxXiWF_Ldf4ZjjfRCuJ84_JrblyJBFDuHiBToLIYNqm6VW32uWa-PpgNC/s400/Dinosaur+World+15x.jpg" /><br /><em>D'os Vadanya,</em><br /><br /><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN</strong> </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/children" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">children's books</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Captain+Raptor" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Captain Raptor</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dinosaurs" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">dinosaurs</span></a>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-11455418649510364952008-10-10T20:26:00.008-04:002008-10-10T20:41:31.922-04:00The Great Planetary Robbery<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVI9ItzdP-XHh7Itui1cYx_jtpjBNOwKhr_IhHzFfHIMmr_ULV1IArivo1gT4LZo7HfCGqcd9coHgMWPkEmy_WTAEhDvx2yUVhDAMkurw7Oq-EaOmSVV397it-lSpkQQU30jcj/s1600-h/The+Great+Planet+Robbery+cvr.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255687201710642962" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVI9ItzdP-XHh7Itui1cYx_jtpjBNOwKhr_IhHzFfHIMmr_ULV1IArivo1gT4LZo7HfCGqcd9coHgMWPkEmy_WTAEhDvx2yUVhDAMkurw7Oq-EaOmSVV397it-lSpkQQU30jcj/s320/The+Great+Planet+Robbery+cvr.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I'm a total sucker for spaceships. If a book has a starship or even a rocket ship on its cover, I can't help myself. I must pick it up and check it out. The only exceptions for my spaceship mania are all those godawful <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek">Star Trek</a></em> paperbacks which, more often or not, are a shameful waste of good paper. I love the TV shows and the movies, but I absolutely abhor the <em>Trek</em> books.<br /><br />My spaceship mania paid off recently when I discovered <em><a href="http://www.greatplanetrobbery.com/">The Great Planetary Robbery</a></em> by Craig DiLouie, an entertaining space-opera comedy with a touch of military science-fiction, too. The story reminded me very much of some of the classic <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game)">Traveller</a></em> role-playing scenarios where a band of rag-tag space voyagers set off into the galaxy to seek their fame and fortune.<br /><br />Near the end of their service careers, Colonial Space Marine NCOs Lawrence Dobbs and Timothy Muldoon organize a motley team of adventurers on a private mission to a legendary lost world abundant with riches. Their career hitches are actually over 800 years long due to the effects of star travel's time dilation. Along the way, Dobbs and Muldoon come up against a whacked-out hacker and his computer viruses, a combat assassin android named Bova, galactic bounty hunters, millions of hostile aliens, and the insane AI simulacrum of the emperor of a long-extinct enemy alien civilization.<br /><br /><em><a href="http://www.greatplanetrobbery.com/">The Great Planetary Robbery</a></em> is a lot of fun, and I hope author DiLouie will let us continue to follow Dobbs and Muldoon in more cosmic hijinks … in the future.<br /><br /><em>D'os Vadanya,<br /></em><br /><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN</strong><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/novels" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">novels</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Traveller" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Traveller</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/military+science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">military science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Great+Planetary+Robbery" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Great Planetary Robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Craig+DiLouie" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Craig DiLouie</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-51863323474371866422008-10-02T10:15:00.004-04:002008-10-02T10:40:00.938-04:00Atomic Age Cinema Preview<span style="font-family:verdana;">Here's a cool video of Bloomington, Indiana's local <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=323851107">Atomic Age Cinema </a>late-night horror show hosts: <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=106801255">Doctor Calamari</a> and <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=201038239">Baron Mardi</a>. Every Saturday at midnight these two gruesome ghouls appear at <a href="http://thecinemat.com/drupal/">The Cinemat</a> to present another cheesy, godawful horror movie. It's a great show and a great deal for only $3 a ticket, sponsored by <a href="http://www.myspace.com/cinephilefilmartsorg">Cinephile Film Arts</a>, a not-for-profit organization that promotes independent film making here in south-central Indiana, and which also sponsors the ultimate horror film festival, <a href="http://www.darkcarnivalfilmfest.com/">The Dark Carnival</a>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6spaLcjSWU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6spaLcjSWU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And for kids of all ages, Atomic Age Cinema also has a 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon matinee of classic cartoons and old-time serials, hosted by The Kick, Bloomington's one-and-only superhero sidekick. This is a really fun show with features like Lancelot Link - Secret Chimp, Betty Boop, Popeye, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Lolick and Bolick (from Poland), and lots more. The popcorn is fresh, the cartoons are wonderful, and going downtown to see the show is always fun!<br /></span><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Atomic%20Age%20Cinema/Kick-Ronnie-andBarf.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">If you're in Bloomington, don't miss a chance to see the Atomic Age Cinema shows at The Cinemat, 4th St. and Walnut, just south of the downtown square.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>D'os Vadanya,</em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN</strong></span></p><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/movies" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">movies</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Atomic+Age+Cinema" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Atomic Age Cinema</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/horror" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">horror</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cartoons" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">cartoons</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Bloomington+Indiana" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Bloomington, Indiana</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Doctor+Calamari" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Doctor Calamari</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baron+Mardi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Baron Mardi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Cinemat" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Cinemat</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cinephile+Film+Arts" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Cinephile Film Arts</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-30571007356455212742008-09-27T21:44:00.011-04:002008-09-28T08:41:02.575-04:00Soldier - The Outer Limits<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/Quarlo_320x573.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 349px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="672" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/Quarlo_320x573.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;">While clearing out some of my old VHS tapes, I ran across my favorite episode from the original <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056777/">Outer Limits</a> TV series: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0667824/"><em>Soldier</em></a>. I watched this outstanding hour-long show when it was originally broadcast on September 19, 1964. It is unforgettable. Written by Harlan Ellison, the tale begins in the far future when the Earth is a desolate, war-torn planet. A soldier in battle helmet, armed with a distintegrator rifle, pauses for a smoke break. But not for long. His helmet starts issuing audio commands: "Find the Enemy! Attack! Kill!" Not far away is another soldier-of-the-future in similar armor, and in minutes the two adversaries are charging toward each other. But as they collide, two artillery-like energy beams cross at their exact location, throwing both troopers into a time warp that transports them back to 1964. The first soldier reappears in a back alley of some large American metropolitan area, and he soon draws attention from startled passersby. Then the police arrive and start to advance towards him. He raises his blaster rifle and vaporizes their police car with a single shot.<br /><br />Finally taken prisoner and sequestered in a government holding facility, the rest of the tale shows how the puzzled officials interrogate and, finally, correctly identify just what the dangerous visitor is: the ultimate infantry soldier.<br /><br />The second soldier remains trapped in the time-warp flux, unable to free himself until much later in the story. But when he does, the mission imperative remains: "Find the Enemy! Attack! Kill!"</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Michael Ansara played the role of the first soldier from the future, Qarlo Cobregnny, and was well known to TV audiences in 1964 from the western TV series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048848/">Broken Arrow</a>, in which he starred as the stoic Apache Indian chief Cochise.</span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em>Soldier</em> is filled with wonderful science-fiction details like self-igniting cigarettes, reports that Qarlo's disintegrator rifle continues to function even when parts are removed from it (advanced quantum physics?), and Qarlo attempting to verbally report to a pet cat because felines are used as recon scouts on the battlefields of the future. It is a one of the earliest and finest examples of military science fiction to appear on TV, in glorious black-and-white.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eyuU7oq6kjsozLLg_eNibGil-Jdu93ydg1UGI3S31fgERVRY7H-eit_PjC24Xob5EluQnYHsiT9mNRM5tkkxpZmqU0QMQpe9h6qX3gaR1_NVLqUpc0uWVKfNCWyCShjqtNv8/s1600-h/Monkey_Division_Helmet.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250894062597108738" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eyuU7oq6kjsozLLg_eNibGil-Jdu93ydg1UGI3S31fgERVRY7H-eit_PjC24Xob5EluQnYHsiT9mNRM5tkkxpZmqU0QMQpe9h6qX3gaR1_NVLqUpc0uWVKfNCWyCShjqtNv8/s320/Monkey_Division_Helmet.jpg" border="0" /></a>A bit of trivia: Qarlo's battle helmet would reappear 14 years later, worn by Robin Williams in the goofy 1978 TV comedy series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077053/">Mork & Mindy</a>! Fact is, in 1964 I had a toy helmet similar to Qarlo's: the now-rare Monkey Division visored helmet!<br /></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em>D'os Vadanya,</em></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>VIKTOR KUPRIN</strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/TV" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">TV</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/television" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">television</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Outer+Limits" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Outer Limits</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Michael+Ansara" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Michael Ansara</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Harlan+Ellison" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Harlan Ellison</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-2256629322267287602008-09-11T18:43:00.020-04:002008-09-11T20:00:59.198-04:00The Dark Carnival Film Festival<div align="left"><a href="http://www.darkcarnivalfilmfest.com/"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244908762674122162" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 434px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 88px" height="144" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeh5gw5B-SjOOd_pZcVpRZbBTZZ9PBZlieGG3Cel-AplOKOeEgrJ1SE4fhcvy5hQMA7XpN2INIh-5l6HBPInfkWlrcbBXu2fSo5BSiGq2JVo4w9eSzV34-G6pmICSXOxHPwnDG/s400/DarkCarnival_01.gif" width="643" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></strong></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></strong></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></strong></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></strong></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">It’s Coming! Get Your Tickets! Don’t Miss It!<br />It's Ghastly! Horrors and Thrills Beyond Belief!</span></strong></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0yCuG6Ani25y34yTiYLhxCKtFtGj_TpLPc11766Y7U2oMQs7rCFSde9CO88zdkj-jBb3zBlnubOHe8xbkRv2_6PRkJSNfLNFe_AhIgd4knJURuajPI9HaNqo5hQ5Xn-mqh9J/s1600-h/The+Doctor+%26+The+Baron.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244900449014572466" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0yCuG6Ani25y34yTiYLhxCKtFtGj_TpLPc11766Y7U2oMQs7rCFSde9CO88zdkj-jBb3zBlnubOHe8xbkRv2_6PRkJSNfLNFe_AhIgd4knJURuajPI9HaNqo5hQ5Xn-mqh9J/s320/The+Doctor+%26+The+Baron.jpg" border="0" /></a>Bloomington’s own second annual <a href="http://www.darkcarnivalfilmfest.com/">Dark Carnival Film Festival</a> begins next week! If you love vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghouls, ghosts, monsters, and horror films of all types, I hope you may get a chance to attend one of the greatest exhibitions of scary movies ever held in the USA.<br /><br />I attended all five days of the festival last year, and enjoyed films like the superbly animated, eerie <a href="http://www.christianecegavske.com/BloodTeaRedString.html"><em>Blood Tea and Red String</em></a>; the Chinese undead-vs.-chop-socky <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=26883972"><em>God of Vampires</em></a>; cannibalistic white trash in <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=88223533"><em>The Blood Shed</em></a>, plus much, much more. It was wonderfully horrible, and a fantastic show night after night. Emceed by Bloomington’s own Atomic Age horror-show hosts, <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=106801255">Doctor </a><a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=106801255">Calamari</a> and <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=201038239">Baron Mardi</a>, this event is absolutely mind-boggling. During the peak of last year’s festival my own <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-scfR6bdqVWHQ-ny7rYz7-kIE_ScjJnsyGfXitG0t-bJVNFQOPdrV1oesjU4Z8gyou6Vly7BI9r_NfstxqjKMfIOasv20WhAFRn0pfJqawtms6dREsv5Rp1huLNR9U8zja0aj/s1600-h/Sammy+Terry+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244901129658354738" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="245" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-scfR6bdqVWHQ-ny7rYz7-kIE_ScjJnsyGfXitG0t-bJVNFQOPdrV1oesjU4Z8gyou6Vly7BI9r_NfstxqjKMfIOasv20WhAFRn0pfJqawtms6dREsv5Rp1huLNR9U8zja0aj/s320/Sammy+Terry+1.jpg" width="192" border="0" /></a>daughter was confronted in front of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater by none other than a chainsaw-wielding Michael Myers from John Carpenter’s <em>Halloween</em>. But this year may be even more special because scheduled to make a guest of honor appearance is none other than Indiana’s most famous horror movie host: <a href="http://www.sammyterrynightmares.com/">Sammy Terry</a>!<br /><br />I can thank my dear late father for introducing me to the horror movie genre. When Sammy Terry presented the classic Universal monster movies, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, Dad and I stayed up late to watch, and what fun it was. I think one of the first that we saw together was actually the finale of the Frankenstein series, <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_and_Costello_Meet_Frankenstein">Abbott and Costello Meets </a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_and_Costello_Meet_Frankenstein">Frankenstein</a></em>, which despite its lighter, comedy moments had some very frightening Wolfman scenes, including when Lon Chaney Jr. savagely shreds a living <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmvr1vCOk0jEVAHXqMOu5mcXvNHizVfa2xhIvcEL0zkjCnHNrOtLzBu2QqdbYtGcJ5vZw7eESkk1xhbMyP5WgqYoZ1gn2GJZ8rszDq-e5z1QDQjnjLXP0ZMQP_e-GvMZSKVTqm/s1600-h/Wolfman+-+Abbott+%26+Costello+Meet+Frankenstein.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244900590205972754" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 191px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 261px" height="293" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmvr1vCOk0jEVAHXqMOu5mcXvNHizVfa2xhIvcEL0zkjCnHNrOtLzBu2QqdbYtGcJ5vZw7eESkk1xhbMyP5WgqYoZ1gn2GJZ8rszDq-e5z1QDQjnjLXP0ZMQP_e-GvMZSKVTqm/s320/Wolfman+-+Abbott+%26+Costello+Meet+Frankenstein.jpg" width="188" border="0" /></a>room chair in a lycanthropic frenzy as he futilely tries to attack Lou Costello!<br /><br />And so my personal love of horror continues as I wait with eager anticipation for The Dark Carnival to begin. Blood will flow, women (and men!) will scream, and dark things will walk the streets of Bloomington again, and I will be one very happy guy!<br /><br /><em>D'os Vadanya ... </em></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Viktor Kuprin</strong></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.darkcarnivalfilmfest.com/"><span style="font-size:180%;">The Dark Carnival Film Festival </span></a><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dark+Carnival" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Dark Carnival</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/horror" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">horror</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/films" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">films</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Atomic+Age+Cinema" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Atomic Age Cinema</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Doctor+Calamari" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Doctor Calamari</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baron+Mardi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Baron Mardi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Bloomington+Indiana" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Bloomington Indiana</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /><br /></div></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-62701738643190942932008-08-02T12:01:00.018-04:002008-12-10T07:49:24.993-05:00Eclipse Comics' Fusion<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHpwIWn8ovZ0WmRFlIIe86483_SeXo3tTX4NC4zCsiZrvqL69OC_wmzLMWPkHu_VoOeChfdb50MjD8O5dL5NUxsk8h2vTzssa0OFx9KcaH-d3T6vQztt11K6Asho2jzo1Rrov/s1600-h/Fusion-13_cover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229952677133981490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHpwIWn8ovZ0WmRFlIIe86483_SeXo3tTX4NC4zCsiZrvqL69OC_wmzLMWPkHu_VoOeChfdb50MjD8O5dL5NUxsk8h2vTzssa0OFx9KcaH-d3T6vQztt11K6Asho2jzo1Rrov/s320/Fusion-13_cover.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Every Saturday afternoon Ronnie, my six-year-old son, and I attend the kid's matinee at The Cinemat, Bloomington's great DVD-video rental and screening room. Hosted by The Kick, our town's one-and-only superhero sidekick, the classic cartoons and old-time movie serials are fun for both of us, though Ronnie has a tough time choosing his free toy from The Kick's treasure chest of gifts for the kiddos.<br /><br />After the show we sometimes have a little time to kill before catching the bus home, so we head down the block to Vintage Phoenix, Bloomington's wonderful comic shop, located just off the downtown square. While browsing through the 25-cent back-issue bins, I found a couple of copies of Eclipse Comics' 1987-89 <em>Fusion</em>, a delightful science-fiction/space opera series that on first reading had some similarities to the popular <em>Firefly</em> TV show except with some funny furry characters as part of the crew.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40M8HmLhwXW7ir9ppWNQrTDP4sQA0LMjFWm1cVc08OlUGxpHbMqeKjmZkIuJzRczpXkyv8Qgwtx2w9pN5wIR_v8jAxxekw6or2osIN4MzHaLSrCLqBmTxBCwHxlloZld_2LQH/s1600-h/Fusion-11_cover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229952975479907730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40M8HmLhwXW7ir9ppWNQrTDP4sQA0LMjFWm1cVc08OlUGxpHbMqeKjmZkIuJzRczpXkyv8Qgwtx2w9pN5wIR_v8jAxxekw6or2osIN4MzHaLSrCLqBmTxBCwHxlloZld_2LQH/s320/Fusion-11_cover.jpg" border="0" /></a>Science-fiction has always been a tough sell for comics, with superheroes, horror, and comedy being the mainstay. Some notable exceptions would be England's <em>Dan Dare</em>, King Features' outstanding 1960s <em>Flash Gordon</em> series, Gold Key's <em>Magnus Robot Fighter</em>, and sci-fi/superhero hybrids like DC's <em>Adam Strange</em>. I've always thought that much of the popularity and success of Marvel's <em>Fantastic Four, Mighty Thor, Iron Man</em>, and other Silver Age comics stemmed from their distinctive science-fiction elements.<br /><br />It was a nice surprise to discover <em>Fusion</em>, and I hope that in time I can find the other back issues. While my son prefers the latest publications of <em>Transformers: The Animated Series</em>, I am enjoying the space adventures of the <em>Tsunami</em> crew. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTjJ-A34w_ejQC7R-k5UvXrDzuMITfNsAJl6_8m8LISHs_QgPeFjnOckaZBkM81lVukUK2joHzzSEXsLC-ryJXZB-4MS-IVXdDYS0VXuCRydo3qpDFdSh_90-uqdFQulEnae9/s1600-h/Fusion-12_cover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229953196110044210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTjJ-A34w_ejQC7R-k5UvXrDzuMITfNsAJl6_8m8LISHs_QgPeFjnOckaZBkM81lVukUK2joHzzSEXsLC-ryJXZB-4MS-IVXdDYS0VXuCRydo3qpDFdSh_90-uqdFQulEnae9/s320/Fusion-12_cover.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong><em>From the Wiki:</em></strong><br /><br /><em>Fusion</em> was a comic book published in 1987 by Eclipse Comics, whose creative team included the writer Steven Barnes, the artists Lela Dowling and Steve Gallacci, conceptual editor Lex Nakashima and many more.<br /><br />The world of <em>Fusion</em> is centuries in our future, when a series of galactic wars have led to a spiraling arms race between "tekkers and splicers" - that is, between those who take a technological and technocratic route to improving humanity, and those who have abandoned humanity altogether through genetic engineering. The story involves the exploits of a group of space mercenaries in an era when humans who have not been enhanced either genetically or cybernetically, are becoming extremely rare.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmup0sRjmv_mqaKYAIFwy4tagPokxnqe20x__DgE_Wbf-fIKktZwHBJNt1-HhBBd2uugm6ecS9FY6duSug94axF6IPTOkuKkW51Vk0QhL7pYVu5FDGfFsV_bv2P6LIatgKr5q/s1600-h/Fusion-5_cover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229953675340250610" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmup0sRjmv_mqaKYAIFwy4tagPokxnqe20x__DgE_Wbf-fIKktZwHBJNt1-HhBBd2uugm6ecS9FY6duSug94axF6IPTOkuKkW51Vk0QhL7pYVu5FDGfFsV_bv2P6LIatgKr5q/s320/Fusion-5_cover.jpg" border="0" /></a>While the comic book also included inserted comics of some variety, such as <em>Dr. Watchstop</em>, the most frequent insert was <em>Weasel Patrol</em>, a comic stemming from doodles drawn of Tan.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Regular characters<br /></strong>The only recurring characters are the crew of the mercenary spaceship <em>Tsunami</em>.<br /><br /><strong>Indio Tremaine:</strong> Captain. Human. Born into the Clan of the Three Suns, of which she is the only survivor.<br /><strong>Dow Cook:</strong> Synthetic human bio-engineered invulnerable to shock and trauma and with enhanced self-healing ability. Very insecure about himself.<br /><strong>Tan:</strong> A musteliform bred from Terran otter stock. Canadian, an alumnus of Labatt's Tech (a fictitious university named after the beer). An alcoholic mechanical and electronics wizard with a severe gambling problem. Never goes anywhere without his <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmuQ9A8Ip-znMfgIB5VGRUa0_A09s5XWW4DGXGTQWpqZqSncQtlFsmvHwCnVtsJAf9bim9gBFnq_oUIObG3Q8guv2218k3cPb99JwnpZb5lrj6BNK_8Hz3oye_20PA72YaoxD/s1600-h/Fusion-17_cover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229953814295346050" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmuQ9A8Ip-znMfgIB5VGRUa0_A09s5XWW4DGXGTQWpqZqSncQtlFsmvHwCnVtsJAf9bim9gBFnq_oUIObG3Q8guv2218k3cPb99JwnpZb5lrj6BNK_8Hz3oye_20PA72YaoxD/s320/Fusion-17_cover.jpg" border="0" /></a>leather pilot cap and goggles.<br /><strong>Beolvoch:</strong> A meehook. Something like a dinosaur with feathers. Has an extremely high metabolic rate and thus a voracious appetite for raw meat. Must eat regularly and copiously to stay active. Consequently spends much time in a suspended animation state or complaining that he is hungry. Appears to be a genuine alien species rather than uplifted and genetically engineered earthform.<br /><strong>Alshain:</strong> A felinoid; a temperamental and somewhat edgy pilot.<br /><strong>Carz:</strong> A leoniform with only one working eye. He is generally a steadying influence, but when he loses it, beware!<br /><strong>Herrick:</strong> A hawklike creature, of military caste. Dies very early in the series, in one of many moves which went against formula. Appears in "how we got here" sequences.<br /><strong>Haven:</strong> A birdlike creature with well developed nesting instincts. She is a doctor by training.<br /><strong>Eddie:</strong> Modelled after some creature with very long ears and a prehensile tail. Likes to hang upside down. A cool dude in shades and khakis or hawaiian shirts. Nothing rattles Eddie. Was a classmate of Tan at Labatt's.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>D’os Vadanya,<br /></em><br /><strong><em>VIKTOR KUPRIN</em></strong></span><br /><br /><a href="http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/?action=view&current=Fusion-10_cover-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/Fusion-10_cover-1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/comics" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">comics</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Eclipse+Comics" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Eclipse Comics</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Fusion" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Fusion</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/space+opera" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">space opera</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-11295480392320678492008-07-16T18:46:00.011-04:002008-12-10T07:49:25.608-05:00Recovery, the Beluga submarine, and Voyage to the Deep<span style="font-family:verdana;">I survived my visit to the surgeon last Friday, and I’m happy to report that I’m feeling better every day, even quasi-human some of the time. My dear wifey and son have been most attentive to my needs during my recovery, and my dear cohorts at work have (so far) left me alone to convalesce, bless them all.<br /><br />One of the few things I can do while flat on my back is, thank goodness, read. Before I went on medical leave I was able to stock up on some special-request books from the Indiana University library, including the following:<br /><br /><em>Cry of the Deep: The Submarine Disaster That Riveted the World and Put the New Russia to the Ultimate Test</em>, by Ramsey Flynn – A gripping account of the loss of the submarine <em>Kursk</em>.<br /><br /><em>Rising Tide: The Untold Story of the Russian Submarines That Fought the Cold War</em>, by Gary E. Weir and Walter J. Boyne.<br /><br /><em>Hostile Waters</em>, by Captain Peter Huchthausen, USN (ret).; Captain First Rank Igor Kurdin, Russian Navy; and R. Alan White – An account of the loss of the Russian submarine K-219 during the height of the Cold War.<br /><br /><em>Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines</em>, by Norman Polmar and Kenneth J. Moore.<br /><br />As you can tell, I was in an undersea mood having just read William H. Keith’s submarine warfare-in-the-future novel <em>Sharuq</em>. And even thought I’m an Air Force veteran, I’ve always been interested in ships and submarines. <em>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</em> by Jules Verne was probably the first true science fiction book that I ever laid eyes on as a boy, and Captain Nemo was certainly my first and still favorite anti-hero. Adding to my oceanic inspirations was the fact that my father was a Navy man, a torpedoman’s mate, during the Cold War. Dad served aboard the <em>USS Fulton</em>, the famous submarine tender that supported some of the most historic submarines in Navy history, including the <em>Nautilus</em>, the <em>Skipjack</em>, and the <em>Triton</em>. I spent many an hour browsing through my dad’s Bluejacket manual, gazing at photos of those amazing subs. And now my six-year-old son is doing the same, looking through the great pictures in the <em>Cold War Submarines</em> volume, even sketching some drawings for his laid-up dad.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxpu2C4MEN_SV6YB34DHnziuY-5Akk-N3ly9v5g1i6wiN6mYl8Pn_Zapw3T72mFyVYT8LSHvfpK9_42HkulOThWAvTzhBjJvh9ZI2cgxtUOboO5Vr1lS5wSLRniC4QwcKBVQZ/s1600-h/Voyage+to+the+Deep+1+cover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223748527215467490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxpu2C4MEN_SV6YB34DHnziuY-5Akk-N3ly9v5g1i6wiN6mYl8Pn_Zapw3T72mFyVYT8LSHvfpK9_42HkulOThWAvTzhBjJvh9ZI2cgxtUOboO5Vr1lS5wSLRniC4QwcKBVQZ/s320/Voyage+to+the+Deep+1+cover.jpg" border="0" /></a>I almost dropped the hefty <em>Cold War Submarines</em> book when I came upon the photo and schematic of the Soviet’s Project 1710 – NATO Code name <em>Beluga</em> submarine. Commissioned in 1987 as a research platform for streamline hull design, the <em>Beluga</em> is the spitting image of a fictional submarine called the<em> Proteus</em>, from Dell Comic’s early 1960’s four-issue mini-series <em>Voyage to the Deep</em>. Drawn by one of my favorite “silver age” comic artists, Sam Glanzman, this submarine/SF series was undoubtedly an unofficial inspiration from Irwin Allen’s <em>Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea</em> motion picture that later became a television series on the ABC network. Glanzman also drew another of my favorite early-1960s Dell comics, <em>Kona: Monarch of Monster Isle</em>, a great Lost World/SF series filled with dinosaurs and other overgrown beasties.<br /><br />In the <em>Voyage to the Deep</em> series, the <em>Proteus</em> was the first American submarine able to dynamically “change its mass” via some amazing new technology. Glanzman showed the sub actually changing its length and weight at critical times during its voyages. There were vague references to “The Enemy”, i.e. the Soviets, and the plots were very much like those that would later be seen on Irwin Allen’s <em>Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea</em> TV series.<br /><br />But you have to give Sam Glanzman some credit. He depicted the ultra-modern submarine’s design in perfect form … 25 years before it was actually built! Unfortunately for the Soviet Navy, they were not able to dynamically alter the Beluga sub’s mass during its voyages!<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br /><strong><em>Viktor Kuprin</em></strong></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223748865408110066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCphvMXH2kpJB3uqLgmtdhOYAd13Bprx2zfNDwoU35seop0L09jExhZqh_LbmDLZ4ysqfVX2XMY3vW1v8c1bfrNJlA5uq3Vqo21c3AaaIX-dxW604IK-72KkA5XGK27SF3JGu/s400/Beluga_Submarine_x.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223749158982143490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLN0QXD9XhTXobNVeseV_ygfOGSuAWezCTE5fnONIHsdUkW-ysXgjXUq2TTmEzUqKIkANO_KbTaWJnTCs1LM5omz7VWqoCBJaIoPDYNrEPy2AlGncDMcTCJ57VVc9Vhc3hgvVq/s400/voyagedeep.jpg" border="0" /></span><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/comics" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">comics</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/submarine" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">submarine</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Sam+Glanzman" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Sam Glanzman</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Soviets" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Soviets</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cold+War" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Cold War</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">,<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-63025469721151326592008-06-26T08:56:00.013-04:002008-12-10T07:49:26.977-05:00Summer Reading List and Time Off<span style="font-family:verdana;">I survived the terrible weather and floods that devastated so much of southern Indiana, though my dear wifey did the splits on a wet kitchen floor after the deluge. And I've just learned that I will be getting an unexpected summer break due to the fact that I'm headed to surgery tomorrow. The diagnosis is a double (!) hernia, probably from lifting some heavy computer gear at work. Except for the removal of an infected lymph node many, many years ago due to Cat Scratch Fever (but not the kind Ted Nugent sang about), I've never had surgery or undergone general anesthesia. It will be a new experience for me.<br /><br />And while I'm flat on my back in recovery, I'll be reading these books, my early-summer reading list:<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MFHFlfiloMUA5rUWd5-9PGQRvNAkh2YFjMgt5Xj49avnSgrkN95riYG7mX10R1mZThfGCO9FMQHs_sfc-UPnyXzMhUS3dS2Mr9D2h7oOvfQimh6oMUtzxJYEj1uX8cK-TQPA/s1600-h/Two+of+Minds+cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216174937905075218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MFHFlfiloMUA5rUWd5-9PGQRvNAkh2YFjMgt5Xj49avnSgrkN95riYG7mX10R1mZThfGCO9FMQHs_sfc-UPnyXzMhUS3dS2Mr9D2h7oOvfQimh6oMUtzxJYEj1uX8cK-TQPA/s320/Two+of+Minds+cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>TWO OF MINDS</strong> by William H. Keith Jr., set in the Wizard's of the Coast Alternity universe. Bill is one of my favorite authors, and is well-known by gamers for his art and fiction that defined the first edition of the Traveller SF role-playing game. This novel has a strong "Traveller" feel to it, and the area of space called "The Verge" is an interesting though dark and dangerous setting.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAF6z2ckCp8lQyYIqfHKXdvqYrmTRUrnNxXi18SRRBzXJKA9Sn2JszLtJ4O6MHwWXvTkJrK11Bhax891uQegpEo0RAFikYl23DkbxiTykrxzLmuo0kQLOncwkGZ5c_Pl0ZPW56/s1600-h/Strong-Arm+Tactics+cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216176362302347378" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAF6z2ckCp8lQyYIqfHKXdvqYrmTRUrnNxXi18SRRBzXJKA9Sn2JszLtJ4O6MHwWXvTkJrK11Bhax891uQegpEo0RAFikYl23DkbxiTykrxzLmuo0kQLOncwkGZ5c_Pl0ZPW56/s320/Strong-Arm+Tactics+cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>STRONG-ARM TACTICS</strong> by Jodie Lynn Nye. Published by the now-defunct Meisha Merlin, I found a copy of this laced-with-humor milfic novel at my local library. I had the pleasure to briefly meet Jodie at the recent Duckon SF convention, but was totally embarassed when I had to leave her Writing Narrative Hooks workshop before it was over. In my defense, my dear wifey had re-injured her leg while lifting luggage in our hotel room and needed my help in the worst way, so it really, really was an emergency. Family comes first, of course, but I still felt awful about having to bug out as I did. Sorry, Jodie.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hgMEbjrdJzbH-aX1U8fowNMyTdTTOj-yK3Q1pT9Actxd3cggjQWRQKSNB0OFdvX1gZi9k03o8Ud8DoVwGO3UotlwaWJX19jrD2LtqYKDD-TDzEcACyVejzd_ZpmIcDpoblLK/s1600-h/The+Eternity+Artifact+cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216175782415428114" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hgMEbjrdJzbH-aX1U8fowNMyTdTTOj-yK3Q1pT9Actxd3cggjQWRQKSNB0OFdvX1gZi9k03o8Ud8DoVwGO3UotlwaWJX19jrD2LtqYKDD-TDzEcACyVejzd_ZpmIcDpoblLK/s320/The+Eternity+Artifact+cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>THE ETERNITY ARTIFACT</strong> by L.E. Modesitt Jr.. I love first contact stories and this tale of an extra-galactic expedition to study an artificially-propelled planetoid created by aliens is my kind of story.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JOqe0HRIV_bbpDmOgxGK1ak_6Fd4NZc4BQP6WVVDQgHx0Ss1Jzs6LAzrmJkrj-yL7b6oYLAkjbpQu-RWBL_0xHUFvB7q1nY20KAKWE4HIbYuR5zoj1AXNDrTzklItM2tLZDe/s1600-h/Hal+Spacejock+cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216177727679665810" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JOqe0HRIV_bbpDmOgxGK1ak_6Fd4NZc4BQP6WVVDQgHx0Ss1Jzs6LAzrmJkrj-yL7b6oYLAkjbpQu-RWBL_0xHUFvB7q1nY20KAKWE4HIbYuR5zoj1AXNDrTzklItM2tLZDe/s320/Hal+Spacejock+cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> <strong>HAL SPACEJOCK</strong> by Simon Haynes. For the fun of it, this Australian SF comedy series is perfect for a relaxing summer read. The first of four novels about this clutzy space adventurer is available as a free download at </span><a href="http://www.spacejock.com.au/"><span style="font-family:verdana;">HS Hal Spacejock.</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oehGOJCvzihg-RKYyhf2vKbU8Nb42vnmky4BQ4xhg6c3arhOqjKC17bD4bFM_XwGcdadjhsb8E7NEg753r9FuqTHZFgaNu1SNVYLr7FJaBLgxCeM2QEk5C3lcjfl2Un0vPU1/s1600-h/Best+from+Galaxy+Vol+IV.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216182671197382850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oehGOJCvzihg-RKYyhf2vKbU8Nb42vnmky4BQ4xhg6c3arhOqjKC17bD4bFM_XwGcdadjhsb8E7NEg753r9FuqTHZFgaNu1SNVYLr7FJaBLgxCeM2QEk5C3lcjfl2Un0vPU1/s320/Best+from+Galaxy+Vol+IV.jpg" border="0" /></a>Before going through my pre-surgery tests yesterday, I had some time waiting in the hospital lounge. To my delight I found a copy of <strong>The Best From Galaxy Volume IV</strong>, edited by Jim Baen, resting on an end table as if it was waiting for me to come pick it up. There was even two Jerry Pournelle stories inside: <em>Tinker</em>, a short tale about life in the Asteroid belt, and a non-fiction piece about life in space. I hope this is a good omen for my upcoming time under the surgeon's knife.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:verdana;">Viktor Kuprin</span></em></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/novels" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">novels</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Traveller" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Traveller</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Hal+Spacejock" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Hal Spacejock</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Jodie+Lynn+Nye" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Jodie Lynn Nye</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/William+H.+Keith" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">William H. Keith</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">,<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-90980714552618340242008-05-30T13:47:00.011-04:002008-12-10T07:49:27.404-05:00Marcon, William H. Keith, and now on DVD: The Invaders - Season 1The Marcon SF convention in Columbus, Ohio, was great fun last weekend, though everyone was saddened by the unexpected death of author guest-of-honor Robert Asprin just before the event. Though I was not a reader of his work, I join everyone who mourn his passing. A lesser disappointment for my six-year-old son was the lack of a swimming pool at the downtown Hyatt hotel, but otherwise it was an excellent con.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1P8gPcfix3KLJzpX43uBHEb3BkY8ryZQvQuHw8CIkLZdEhrPAkMmanqaA9EsT2td0e-G6SBsA_5btlTQKcaw9ZnhTOpL4IoTVBQXGAaeliJuXo0LC8lgTYVKVHLJlAeJ3gpwE/s1600-h/Star+Strike+-+Inheritance+1.jpg"><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206238141013235682" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1P8gPcfix3KLJzpX43uBHEb3BkY8ryZQvQuHw8CIkLZdEhrPAkMmanqaA9EsT2td0e-G6SBsA_5btlTQKcaw9ZnhTOpL4IoTVBQXGAaeliJuXo0LC8lgTYVKVHLJlAeJ3gpwE/s320/Star+Strike+-+Inheritance+1.jpg" border="0" /></strong></a><strong>William H. Keith - Author and Artist</strong><br /><br />The highlight of the convention for me was getting to meet author and artist William H. Keith Jr., whose work I have followed more years than I care to admit. Bill has had over 80 books published, plus short stories, role-playing games, source books, and lots of fantastic SF art for the <em>Traveller</em> SF role-playing game. Along with his late brother, Andrew Keith, Bill was responsible for much of the "look" of <em>Traveller</em>, and his spacecraft designs are some of my favorites. I was very happy to see some dazzling prints of Bill's graphics at the Marcon art show, and I managed to come home with a great piece by Bill depicting a "Retro Launch" rocket boosting into space. Fact is, I'm in the middle of reading Bill's latest military SF novel, <em>Star Strike</em>, done under the penname of Ian Douglas. His military techno-thrillers (Silent Service; Seals, The Warrior Breed) are done under the H. Jay Riker moniker. Bill is scheduled to appear at Pittsburgh's Confluence con, July 25-27, and if the planetary orbits line up just right, I may make it there, too.<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehsShsK0XOAQBCotfGNbFcvJMXte_ZFkVnwv1j6jA1Lj1uUIuFJww3GHb8_q_xLNDYxPkTFHOS9LQg-fxSvh-rXGQ1ZI_8yoZusI4qZi8_NJuG99KpzpSgIAlSnwxJ3IIlcPU/s1600-h/o_The_Invaders.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206238437365979122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehsShsK0XOAQBCotfGNbFcvJMXte_ZFkVnwv1j6jA1Lj1uUIuFJww3GHb8_q_xLNDYxPkTFHOS9LQg-fxSvh-rXGQ1ZI_8yoZusI4qZi8_NJuG99KpzpSgIAlSnwxJ3IIlcPU/s320/o_The_Invaders.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Invaders - Season 1<br /><br /></strong><em>The Invaders, alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination: the Earth. Their purpose: to make it </em>their<em> world. David Vincent has seen them. For him, it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a shortcut that he never found. It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy. Now David Vincent knows that the Invaders are here, that they have taken human form. Somehow he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.<br /><br /></em>That was how each episode of the 1967-68 SF-horror series <em>The Invaders</em> started, and I'm very happy to report that the first season of that classic Quinn-Martin production was released on DVD this week. Dominic Frontiere's eerie soundtrack still gives me chills. He also scored the original opening and closing themes for <em>The Outer Limits</em>, another sixties SF-horror classic. <em>The Invaders</em> featured ruthless aliens (disguised as humans), great hardware (flying saucers, disintegrator pistols, and the "cerebral hemorrhage" disc weapon), suspenseful stories, and fine actors. I remember watching the episode where guest star Michael Rennie, from <em>The Day The Earth Stood Still</em>, played the role of an important alien leader, a real touch of class by the program's casting director. And though subtle compared to modern standards, I remember many scenes involving the disguised aliens that were very frightening. David Vincent might notice the tell-tale imperfect pinky finger of an alien-in-disguise, the eerie alien theme music would play, and the expressionless alien would make eye contact with Vincent, look directly into the camera. Scenes like that scared the bejeezus out of me more than once when I was a kid, I shamelessly admit. Roy Thinnes, the show's star, was often panned by the critics, but I was always impressed by his serious-as-hell, on-the-edge performance as one man unintentionally made aware of a covert invasion by cold, murderous aliens. <em>Bravo</em> to Paramount for releasing <em>The Invaders </em>on DVD. It's certainly one of the best American SF television series made in the sixties.<br /><br /><em>D'os Vadanya,<br /></em><br /><strong>Viktor Kuprin</strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/novels" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">novels</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Traveller" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Traveller</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/tv" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">tv</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Invaders" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Invaders</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Roy+Thinnes" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Roy Thinnes</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Marcon" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Marcon</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/William+H.+Keith" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">William H. Keith</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">,<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-4294185752819958302008-04-23T13:43:00.006-04:002008-04-23T18:53:55.064-04:002008 Science-Fiction Conventions<span style="font-family:verdana;">The dogwood and redbud trees are in bloom here in Indiana, and spring weather at long last has arrived. And so it's time for me to plan some trips to science-fiction conventions. Last year I made it to DucKon, Context, and Conglomeration, and had a good time at all of them. I missed this year's Conglomeration due to family activities, but I hope to make it to Marcon and WindyCon for the first time, as well as DucKon 17 and Context 21.<br /><br />One convention that I intentionally boycott is Indianapolis' InConjunction. Some years ago my young daughter and I witnessed some very embarassing and UN-family friendly activities being performed in plain view, in public, during major events at that convention. The people running the convention were fully aware of what was going but did nothing. So I won't go back, even though my daughter is grown now, no longer "in tow" as they say at the cons.<br /><br />Here are some links to the con sites. I hope to see you there!</span><br /><div><div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">VIKTOR KUPRIN<br /></span></strong></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><a href="http://www.marcon.org/"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/Marconbanner2.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><a href="http://www.duckon.org/"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/Duckon_Website_Banner.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.contextsf.org/"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/Context_21.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></div><br /><p></p><p></p><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.windycon.org/windy35/"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Poster/WindyCon.gif" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/conventions" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">conventions</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/con" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">con</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cons" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">cons</span></a>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Marcon" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Marcon</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/DucKon" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">DucKon</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Context+21" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Context 21</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WindyCon" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">WindyCon</span></a></span>, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/InConjunction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">InConjunction</span></a>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-25818292446695064052008-04-12T10:24:00.008-04:002008-04-12T10:40:04.228-04:00Happy Yuri's Night 2008<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Gagarin/Yuri_Gagarin_smiling.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Gagarin/Yuri_Gagarin_smiling.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Tonight is Yuri's Night, the 47th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin rode the Vostok 1 rocket into history, and in recent years Yuri's Day and Yuri's Night has become an international holiday, much like St. Patrick's Day. You can learn more at this web site: <a href="http://yurisnight.net/2008/index.php">Yuri's Night.</a> I have a bottle of some fine sangria wine that I intend to sample, and raise a toast for the occasion.<br /><br />And another famous cosmonaut, or cosmopooch, is in the news today:<br /><br /><em>AP - MOSCOW - Russian officials unveiled a monument to Laika, a dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions. The small monument is near a military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight to space on Nov. 3, 1957. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.<br /><br /></em>I wish everyone a happy and safe Yuri's Night.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><em>VIKTOR KUPRIN<br /></em></strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Yuri+Gagarin" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Yuri Gagarin</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Yuri" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Yuri's Night</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/USSR" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">USSR</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/space" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">space</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cosmonaut" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">cosmonaut</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Laika" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Laika</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vostok" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Vostok</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-15873165083519381022008-03-05T18:53:00.010-05:002008-03-05T19:27:19.518-05:00Jerry Pournelle's There Will Be War<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/MoteinGodsEyepaperbackcover.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/MoteinGodsEyepaperbackcover.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="color:#3333ff;"><em>From the Associated Press<br />4-March-2008<br /><br />WASHINGTON, D.C.<br /><br />Congressional Democrats are taking a closer look at the U.S. missile defense program, partly in an effort to pare down its high price tag.<br /><br />The Democrats are raising questions about the effectiveness of the anti-missile program and investigating whether its testing regimen is realistic enough to demonstrate its capabilities against real attacks.<br /><br />Critics have long contended that the program's tests are too predictable.<br /><br />The scrutiny comes as the United States is at a sensitive moment in negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic to build part of its shield on their <a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t18481.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t18481.jpg" border="0" /></a>territory. Lawmakers are questioning the security value of those plans against stark opposition from Russia.</em></span><br /><br />That story in yesterday's news is very timely for me because I've been reviewing some of the past works of one of my favorite authors: Jerry Pournelle. <em>The Mote In God's Eye</em> by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle is probably my all-time favorite science fiction novel, undoubtedly one of the best first contact stories ever written. I first read it in 1975 while stationed at March Air Force Base in sunny, southern California. That was when the Cold War was heating up again as the Soviet Union built up its military forces to alarming levels. My unit was a B-52 bomber wing, part of the Strategic Air Command, and I always thought my modest contribution to national defense had some merit. I felt that way because I knew that somewhere in Siberia there was probably some Russian gomer much like me assigned to their Long-Range Aviation, at some Tu-95 Bear bomber base.<br /><a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46352.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46352.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />One thing about Jerry Pournelle: he hated strategic deterrence, the whole concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, gleefully called MAD by its detractors. The idea of two superpowers pointing their nuclear weapons at each other with no real defense against them did make for some awful nightmares and many a good science fiction story. But (I believe) it kept the peace. It worked. I will always believe that the stakes of that awful game had to be high to keep it honest, else one side or the other would get the notion that a nuclear war was somehow justifiable, or winnable.<br /><br />History has not been kind for much of Jerry Pournelle's written works, but they are still a great pleasure to read. I consider his CoDominion stories to be some of the best, a future history where the USA and USSR grudgingly join to share world control, stifle scientific research and development, and, much later on, have an amazing encounter with "intelligent life from off the <a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46363.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46363.jpg" border="0" /></a>Earth," to quote Dr. Haywood Floyd in <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>.<br /><br />Over the past few weeks I've been reading some of Jerry Pournelle's <em>There Will Be War</em> book series, which was co-edited by John F. Carr. Filled with collected short stories, poetry, and political essays by various authors, the series served as a bully pulpit for Jerry and his conservative views. One common theme was his call for the construction of the original Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), often referred to as "Star Wars" during the Reagan era. In almost every issue of <em>There Will Be War</em>, Jerry would demand a crash development program for anti-missile lasers, interceptor missiles, "brilliant pebbles" orbital weapons and such, so that the US would move away from Mutually Assured Destruction to an Assured Survival defense against Soviet nuclear weapons. To be frank, I never believed it would work for the main reason that so much of SDI would be easily <a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t18414.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t18414.jpg" border="0" /></a>thwarted with countermeasures, decoys, and other inexpensive, low-tech alternatives. And, of course, it never had to be because the Soviet Union imploded and ceased to be.<br /><br />I am still skeptical when I read about the recent anti-missile test shots firing out of Kwajalein, and I surely don't want the US to spend billions of dollars for an anti-missile defense that may or may not work as advertised. Do we really need to spend mega-billions to counter a dubious threat from North Korea or Iran? Surely there's far better ways to spend those Pentagon dollars, perhaps in Afghanistan. And, I'm glad to report, my unit, the 22nd Bombardment Wing (Heavy) is no more. The huge B-52 D models are scrapped in the bone yard, while the 22nd carries on as an in-flight refueling unit. I'm glad because I know that somewhere in western Siberia, a Russian Long-Range Aviation unit was also deactivated, its Tupolev 95 Bear bombers chopped into <a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46375.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46375.jpg" border="0" /></a>segments as scrap, its doomsday weapons taken offline, stored, and hopefully, dismantled. I'm glad because I know, without a doubt, that both my wife's family in the East and my own family in the West are a little bit safer as a result.<br /><br /><strong><em>Viktor Kuprin</em></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">P.S. While attending the DuckCon science fiction convention last year, I was present for a panel discussion about World Building in Fiction hosted by Alan Dean Foster, Roland J. Green, and other distinguished authors. During the event we were asked to pick one favorite book that we would choose to take if we were ever stranded on a desert island. My choice was <em>The Mote In God's Eye</em>, and I was doubly proud of my answer when I saw Alan Dean Foster smile and nod his head in understanding at my response. The late, great Robert A. Heinlein blurbed the cover of <em>The Mote In God's Eye</em> with these words: "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." I wholeheartedly agree.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em><a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46386.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46386.jpg" border="0" /></a>From the Wiki:</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>The Mote in God's Eye</em>, by </span><a title="Larry Niven" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Niven"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Larry Niven</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and </span><a title="Jerry Pournelle" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Jerry Pournelle</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, is a </span><a title="Science fiction" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction"><span style="font-family:verdana;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><a title="Novel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel"><span style="font-family:verdana;">novel</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> that was first published in </span><a title="1974" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974"><span style="font-family:verdana;">1974</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's </span><a title="CoDominium" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoDominium"><span style="font-family:verdana;">CoDominium</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> universe, and charts the </span><a title="First contact (anthropology)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_contact_%28anthropology%29"><span style="font-family:verdana;">first contact</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> between Mankind and an alien species. The title of the novel is a wordplay on </span><a class="mw-redirect" title="Luke 6" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_6"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Luke</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><a class="external text" title="http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=" href="http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Luke&verse=6:41&src=8" rel="nofollow" verse="6:41&src="><span style="font-family:verdana;">6:41</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.<br /><br />The book describes a complex alien civilization, the </span><a title="Moties" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moties"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Moties</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. The Moties are radically different (both physically and psychologically) from humanity in ways that become clearer over the course of the book. The human characters range from the typical hero-type in Captain Roderick Blaine to the much more ambiguous merchant prince and suspected traitor Horace Bury. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a title="Robert A. Heinlein" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein">Robert A. Heinlein</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, who gave the authors extensive, detailed advice on the novel, </span><a title="Blurb" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blurb"><span style="font-family:verdana;">blurbed</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> the story as "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever <a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46408.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46408.jpg" border="0" /></a>read".<br /><br />The </span><a title="Novel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel"><span style="font-family:verdana;">novel</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> is an example of </span><a title="Hard science fiction" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_science_fiction"><span style="font-family:verdana;">hard science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> in that close attention is paid to scientific detail. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are noted for writing in this genre, and it is especially evident in this work with regard to the theoretical mechanics and </span><a title="Physics" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics"><span style="font-family:verdana;">physics</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> of </span><a title="Interplanetary travel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_travel"><span style="font-family:verdana;">interplanetary travel</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. The book's </span><a class="mw-redirect" title="Alderson Drive" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alderson_Drive"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Alderson Drive</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and </span><a title="Langston Field" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Field"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Langston Field</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> are literary inventions, but they are presented against a background of established science knowledge.<br /><br />One interesting aspect of the novel — in comparison to other works of science fiction — is how the alien race's psychology is influenced by its physiology. Prior to this work, most aliens in science fiction would have a physiology radically different from human, but act and think in much the same way.<br /><br />A sequel to <em>The Mote in God's Eye</em>, entitled </span><a title="The Gripping Hand" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gripping_Hand"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>The Gripping </a></em></span><a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46419.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Pournelle/t46419.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em><a title="The Gripping Hand" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gripping_Hand">Hand</em></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, was written by the same authors over twenty years later. It was published in the UK and other countries as <em>The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye</em>.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/novels" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">novels</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/SDI" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SDI</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Jerry+Pournelle" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Jerry Pournelle</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Soviet+Union" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Soviet Union</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-32191791627990314522008-02-28T13:40:00.005-05:002008-02-28T14:13:38.765-05:00Svatohor from Long Ago and Far Away<span style="font-family:verdana;">From 1989 to 1993, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) featured a delightful program of animated fairy tales, legends, and folkloric stories from around the world: <em>Long Ago & Far Away</em>. It was hosted by James Earl Jones. Yes, <em>that</em> James Earl Jones, famous as the voice of Darth Vader and for playing the role of Conan the Barbarian's arch-nemesis, Thulsa Doom. My daughter, Holly, and I loved the series, and always watched it every Sunday morning.<br /><br />My favorite episode was this stop-motion animated Russian tale of <em>Svatohor</em> (Saint Mountain), a brave hunter who faced impossible tasks and the evil dragon-like creature Gorym Gorynet. Here, courtesy of YouTube, is that original feature in three parts.<br /><br />I wish this series would be released as a DVD set. It would be a hot seller. Enjoy.<br /></span><br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h8EzpLZmYuc"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h8EzpLZmYuc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1WDM-XesqQM"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1WDM-XesqQM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9YBLCnNyidk"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9YBLCnNyidk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And here's a Snickers candybar commercial that parodies my favorite Russian fantasy movie, <em>Ilya Muromets (The Sword and the Dragon).</em> Though <em>Zmey Gorynych</em>, the three-headed dragon, doesn't actually appear in it, Ilya is there in all his Slavic glory.</span><br /><br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZnJjaRGeEiQ"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZnJjaRGeEiQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><strong>Viktor Kuprin</strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/film" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">film</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/movies" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">movies</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Russia" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Russia</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/PBS" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">PBS</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/fantasy" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">fantasy</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/James+Earl+Jones" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">James Earl Jones</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Soviet+Union" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Soviet Union</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-65397727231332829722008-02-26T13:59:00.004-05:002008-02-26T15:29:40.111-05:00Atomic Age Cinema's The Kick Gets BARFed!<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Atomic%20Age%20Cinema/KickArt.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Atomic%20Age%20Cinema/KickArt.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I just returned from Armenia, having spent most of the month there on family business. It was just in time for their general election and one of the coldest winters in their history. Votes were being “bought” by the incumbent political party for 5000 drams, about $16 US. The corruption there is simply awful, and makes those of us who follow events in Armenia wonder why they try so hard to be a miserably bad copy of Russia.<br /><br />While I was there I wanted to get some souvenirs for our friends, including the infamous Atomic Age Cinema crew here in Bloomington. Every Saturday afternoon at The Cinemat, Bloomington’s premiere video rental and digital showplace, the Atomic Age Cinema organization presents a children’s matinee of classic and international cartoons and old-time movie serials. The matinee host is The Kick, a superhero sidekick, assisted by the gargantuan guy-in-a-gorilla-mask, Mogo. Perhaps that stands for “Mo’ Gorilla.”<br /><br />Of course, one of the most important aspects of being a superhero is personal hygiene, and that includes keeping your superhero costume clean and spiffy. So, Ronnie, my son, and I carefully selected an appropriate souvenir gift for The Kick and presented it to him at last Saturday’s show. The gift: a package of lemon-scented BARF, the leading detergent sold in Armenia! The Kick graciously accepted our present, and will, hopefully, be lemony fresh during future shows. For some reason BARF is not marketed here in the USA.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><p align="left"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Atomic%20Age%20Cinema/Kick-Ronnie-andBarf.jpg" border="0" /><strong><em>The Kick</em></strong> and Ronnie (a.k.a. <em>The Crab Man) </em>with BARF from Armenia<br /><br />The Mighty Mogo received a clutch of Armenian dried persimmons, which he immediately devoured with gusto. Armenia was famous for its fruits and vegetables throughout the Soviet Union, a benefit of its mineral-rich volcanic soil, altitude, and abundant sunshine. Having shaken many a persimmon tree in Indiana during my childhood, I can accurately report that Armenian persimmons are absolutely delicious though their dusty appearance may put off some American fruit lovers. It’s actually natural sugar crystals that form on the fruit’s skin, that’s how sweet and rich they are, somewhat reminiscent of dried dates, but better!<br /><br />Later I plan to present some other Armenian souvenirs to the hosts of Atomic Age Cinema’s Saturday midnight horror show, to Baron Mardi and Doctor Calamari. More on that later.<br /><br /><em>Do S'Vadaniya,<br /></em><br /><strong>Viktor Kuprin</strong> </span></p><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Atomic+Age+Cinema" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Atomic Age Cinema</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Armenia" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Armenia</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/The+Cinemat" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The Cinemat</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Bloomington" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Bloomington</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Indiana" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Indiana</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Baron+Mardi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Baron Mardi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Doctor+Calamari" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Doctor Calamari</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-4865117381288063912008-01-20T11:43:00.000-05:002008-12-10T07:49:30.187-05:00The Traveller Novels of Jefferson P. Swycaffer<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDynI4KYdX661o7c-ngtuHRIkEIhOLzKBPTZFgFezRfiPNxY-5436UGhGpb-sNjn4RzTRoScyu6KABOM4JhW3Pi0blJF9z1cdz2w6fGNVrRHWpme4NqgZ8TvMRTZxOc_prnSA/s1600-h/warsprite1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157607956143471970" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDynI4KYdX661o7c-ngtuHRIkEIhOLzKBPTZFgFezRfiPNxY-5436UGhGpb-sNjn4RzTRoScyu6KABOM4JhW3Pi0blJF9z1cdz2w6fGNVrRHWpme4NqgZ8TvMRTZxOc_prnSA/s320/warsprite1.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">If a book has a picture of a spaceship on the cover, I can't resist picking it up. But more often than not I wind up putting it down because I've become quite discriminate in allocating my precious free time for reading. If the story's premise is too wacky or if the plot features unbelievable scenarios or characters who act like ill-behaved children, I will pass it by.<br /><br />One of the benefits of my job at a large American university is having access to virtually any book, in or out of print, courtesy of the superb interlibrary loan system. During the holiday season I requested and received the now out-of-print works of Jefferson P. Swycaffer, who during the 1980s and early 90s authored two book series inspired by the classic <em>Traveller</em> science-fiction role-playing game.</span> S<span style="font-family:verdana;">wycaffer's tales take place in the Concordat of Archive star federation, and incorporated lots of Traveller tech.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tAlSAU91cQ6L3ne53xtSZosR38TfGfvsAoJm_OEGfe7aVGkgsOTSNjUuh2AKd_FGMxo4Cv3u6nUj_KJoRVcZPnskYTdxNFCfo8i_6oVunNb4Z8udVJ8rwqnosPBcTMGkh_yC/s1600-h/The+Empire%27s+Legacy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157606178027011362" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tAlSAU91cQ6L3ne53xtSZosR38TfGfvsAoJm_OEGfe7aVGkgsOTSNjUuh2AKd_FGMxo4Cv3u6nUj_KJoRVcZPnskYTdxNFCfo8i_6oVunNb4Z8udVJ8rwqnosPBcTMGkh_yC/s320/The+Empire%27s+Legacy.jpg" border="0" /></a>I've been a collector of <em>Traveller</em>-related games, books, and magazines since 1977, and though I've only actually played the game a handful of times, I have always enjoyed the <em>Traveller</em> universe as presented by its many publishers and authors. Usually I rejected the standard <em>Traveller</em> game scenario of a group of recently mustered-out star veterans or down-and-out star traders or smugglers, settings greatly inspired by <em>Star Wars</em>' Han Solo. My preference was always for <em>Traveller</em> characters to have access to some useful resources and first-class starships, so more often than not I would choose Star Navy characters on active duty for the few games I participated in. I was pleased that Swycaffer's novels presented mixed casts of both types of characters. And while his books' heroes and villains were, indeed, often portrayed as acting like immature adolescents, and I sometimes found myself quickly skimming over a chapter or two, I'm glad I read these seldomly-remembered tales set in a familiar universe.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ircWg0v1oNleb221xGlj2phrWLZe0ahfVtyCU6SkIlikZ5ijjsIwaCYPiDg7MyevMOU8ioY4uqdSJYCIRpG1beYNITnY-fEKECwNCUPG-kLXSoix0KFKUc8ZraSqoZcToKsa/s1600-h/Voyage+of+the+Planetslayer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157606019113221394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ircWg0v1oNleb221xGlj2phrWLZe0ahfVtyCU6SkIlikZ5ijjsIwaCYPiDg7MyevMOU8ioY4uqdSJYCIRpG1beYNITnY-fEKECwNCUPG-kLXSoix0KFKUc8ZraSqoZcToKsa/s320/Voyage+of+the+Planetslayer.jpg" border="0" /></a>My favorite was <em>Not In Our Stars</em>, a story about a world recovering from a limited nuclear war. Though Swycaffer seems to have been a member of the "we don't have to worry about a little radiation" writers' club that I see so often from convervatives like Dale Bond and the neocon Baen club, it was still an enjoyable read.<br /><br />I love the covers of Swycaffer's books, and perhaps the most memorable is that of <em>Warsprite</em>, published by TSR Games, and not a part of his <em>Traveller</em>-inspired series.<br /><br />Here's a bibliography if Swycaffer's <em>Traveller</em> novels:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Not In Our Stars</strong>, Avon Books, New York, USA, 1986.<br /><br /><strong>Become the Hunted</strong>, Avon Books, New York, USA, 1985.<br /><br /><strong>The Universal Prey</strong>, Avon Books, New York, USA, 1985.<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz1ma-CYIHWrob-PhNcMsjKM9zO7wOehyphenhyphen_IkjqmaxVB5zrI-qCI5HbPpgR531Nvle4vaGvy16-rnxK8l0F7q1ebOmd_oH0Us466bTv4XWxmOpW8i-TTOp1VvPhKmd_ymjVpA2/s1600-h/Revolt+and+Rebirth.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157606444314983730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz1ma-CYIHWrob-PhNcMsjKM9zO7wOehyphenhyphen_IkjqmaxVB5zrI-qCI5HbPpgR531Nvle4vaGvy16-rnxK8l0F7q1ebOmd_oH0Us466bTv4XWxmOpW8i-TTOp1VvPhKmd_ymjVpA2/s320/Revolt+and+Rebirth.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Praesidium of Archive</strong>, Avon Books, New York, USA, 1986.<br /><br /><strong>The Empire's Legacy</strong>, New Infinities Productions Inc., 1988.<br /><br /><strong>Voyage of the Planetslayer</strong>, New Infinities Productions Inc., 1988.<br /><br /><strong>Revolt and Rebirth</strong>, New Infinities Productions Inc., 1988.<br /><br />Finally, I should make a brief apology for my lack of blog posting since New Year's. My excuses are an extra-heavy workload since I gained an entire new department full of computers, plus I was busy contacting Senators, Congressmen, and the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, in a campaign to help my sister-in-law, Nona, get a hard-earned tourist <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt88K4VjWdtkoVp15sSrAQWy5q6uaBrPgy7t055Vl3t8ziN6HHjVxyt9mFSV6raat57Gy2kGWyWGIatTNPrgWPkRNdX4CQ-6Kay_F7nOWw7pq4ttVIs1pDfAuIzch6X5S5C6CH/s1600-h/Not+In+Our+Stars.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157606573164002626" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt88K4VjWdtkoVp15sSrAQWy5q6uaBrPgy7t055Vl3t8ziN6HHjVxyt9mFSV6raat57Gy2kGWyWGIatTNPrgWPkRNdX4CQ-6Kay_F7nOWw7pq4ttVIs1pDfAuIzch6X5S5C6CH/s320/Not+In+Our+Stars.jpg" border="0" /></a>visa so that she can visit the United States.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">Residents of the former Soviet Union are almost never given permission to visit as tourists, but with the good help from my reps in Washington, Nona was finally successful, and she will arrive in two weeks for her first USA visit. Here's lovely Nona's pic, below. I think she should be Miss Armenia 2008. Nona had a profile on Match.com until the wankers at that company cancelled her account without explanation. She goes by the alias "Nonajan" online. Eat your hearts out, guys!<br /><br /><br /><em>Do S'Vadaniya,<br /></em><br /><strong>Viktor Kuprin</strong> </span><br /><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong><em>Welcome to the USA, NonaJan !<br /></em></strong><br /></p></span><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/IM000149x.jpg" border="0" /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">sf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/novels" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">novels</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Traveller" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Traveller</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Match.com" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Match.com</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Armenia" rel="tag"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Armenia</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-66850169270458677732008-01-01T10:33:00.001-05:002008-01-01T10:57:21.279-05:00I Saw Ded Moroz on New Year's Eve!<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/DedMorozDec312007.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/DedMorozDec312007.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Yes, I saw <em>Dedushka Moroz</em>, Grandfather Frost, on New Year's Eve! I had stepped out of my condo's back door to place a couple of bottles of bubbly on my patio to chill in the cold winter air. It had just gotten dark, and the edge of a cold front had arrived, soon to bring flurries of snow. I looked up and saw an amazing sight. The clouds had formed a perfect image of <em>Ded Moroz</em>, his big fluffy beard, nose and cheeks filling the eastern sky in perfect symmetry. And the timing was just about right because he had finished delivering gifts to all the boys and girls in Armenia, Russia, and other Eastern countries, and was by now headed West. There was no sign of <em>Snegoruchka</em>, the Snow Maiden. My own Snow Maiden waited for me inside: my wife, Irina. The magical visage of <em>Ded Moroz</em> lasted but a few minutes, then blew away as snow clouds began to cover south-central Indiana, and in the morning the snow would almost cover the ground. It was a magical experience, and a fitting end to the old year. Today we will celebrate with a New Year's feast, in the Armenian tradition of opening our home to guests on January 1st. I hope old <em>Ded Moroz</em> passed over your house, too. Happy New Year, <em>S'Novim Godim!</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Viktor Kuprin</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Santa+Claus" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Santa Claus</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Christmas" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Christmas</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/holiday" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">holiday</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/traditions" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">traditions</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/New+Year" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">New Year</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ded+Moroz" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ded Moroz</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Snegoruchka" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Snegoruchka</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Russia" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Russia</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Soviet+Union" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Soviet Union</span></a>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-82139336933397522332007-12-31T08:55:00.001-05:002009-11-18T21:42:08.070-05:00The Story of Ded Moroz, Grandfather Frost, the Russian Santa Claus<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/aerspa015.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/aerspa015.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In Russia, Armenia, and other Eastern European countries, the holiday season heralds the arrival of <em>Dedushka Moroz</em>, “Grandfather Frost”, their version of Santa Claus. He looks a lot like the St. Nick that we know in the West, but he’s kind of different, too. He’s a bit thinner, and sometimes he wears blue coats, not just red ones. It is said that Joseph Stalin once ordered that Ded Moroz should always wear blue so as not to be confused with Santa Claus! Ded Moroz's home is deep in the forests “beyond Findlandia and Lapland”, and he rides in a troika sleigh pulled by three horses, not reindeer. The official residence of Ded Moroz in Russia is the town of Veliky Ustyug. The old fellow can get downright grumpy sometimes when children behave badly, but he brings presents to kids even if they’re good only right before New Year’s. That’s right, New Year's. In the East, they put up the <em>yolka</em>, the decorated evergreen tree for New Year’s since the more-quietly celebrated Orthodox Christmas falls on January 7, not December 25. But yolka trees often have a big red star on top, just like the ones on top of the Kremlin!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/DedMorozandSnegoruchka.jpg" border="0" />Another big difference between Ded Moroz and Santa Claus is that Grandfather Frost is a single guy. There’s no dowdy Mrs. Claus waiting for him back at the toy shop. Ded Moroz is often accompanied by <em>Snegoruchka</em>, the beautiful Snowmaiden who was made from snow by a lonely old Russian couple to live as their daughter. Sadly, she melts away every spring but returns each winter much to everyone’s delight. Legend has it that Snegoruchka is Ded Moroz’s granddaughter, but many people, me included, have doubts. She often wears some short-short white fur-lined dresses, and there may be some hanky-panky going on between her and old Ded Moroz. But then again, it gets pretty cold at night in Siberia!<br /><br /><em>S'Novim Godim</em>, Happy New Year, to you all!<br /><br /><strong>Viktor Kuprin</strong><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Santa+Claus" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Santa Claus</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Christmas" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Christmas</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/holiday" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">holiday</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/traditions" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">traditions</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/New+Year" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">New Year</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Ded+Moroz" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ded Moroz</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Snegoruchka" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Snegoruchka</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Russia" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Russia</span></a>, <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Soviet+Union" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Soviet Union</span></a>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-18159445415648046692007-12-26T09:23:00.000-05:002007-12-26T12:50:04.886-05:00Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/hny0578.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/hny0578.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>S'Rozhdestvom i S'Novim Godim!</em> Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all, and especially to all the kind readers who sent words of encouragement to me in 2007.<br /><br /><em>Ded Moroz</em> (Grandfather Frost) brought lots of goodies to my house, and I hope he drove his <em>troika</em> to your home, too. It's the time of year, too, when the Ghost of Christmas Past inspires me to recall friends and loved ones far away or who are no longer with us. During the long winter evenings, when the Christmas tree lights fill the room with color and beauty, I remember them ... my loving grandparents and great-grandparents, my father, my youngest sister who left us when she was barely 20, and all the others whom I wish I could see again, hear their voices in laughter, and once more receive their warm hugs and pats on the head. And I watch my young son, his eyes filled with wonder and happiness as he experiences what will be his own Christmas memories. Despite all the corporate greed and politically-correct nonsense that arises during this time of year, I'm thankful that if you look and listen carefully, there is indeed still some magic to be found under the <em>yolka</em>, the Christmas tree.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em><strong>Viktor Kuprin</strong></em><br /></span><br /><br><br>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29867623.post-90195755074486093442007-12-10T22:30:00.000-05:002007-12-11T14:20:00.880-05:00Outer Space Theater on Ray Gun Radio<a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/ussr1980cosmonauts.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/ussr1980cosmonauts.jpg" border="0" /></a>You can hear my flash-fiction story <em>Outer Space Theater</em> on the December podcast of <a href="http://www.raygunradio.com/podcast/get.php?web=rgradio-2007-12-10-76786.mp3">Ray Gun Radio</a>, along with an interview of yours truly. The wonderful adaption of my short story was created by Don Abbott Studios, and playing the lead role is none other than "Commander Don" himself, Don Abbott, who hosted the Buck Rogers TV broadcasts that I watched as a boy. I was totally surprised when I received the radio-show style production, so Christmas came early for me. Thank you, Commander Don, for the wonderful present, and I hope you all enjoy hearing it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.raygunradio.com/podcast/get.php?web=rgradio-2007-12-10-76786.mp3"><strong><em>Ray Gun Radio Episode 18 - Outer Space Theater Podcast</em></strong><br /></a><br />The holiday season is a long one at my house. For my wife, who lived in Moscow for many years, the big holiday is not December 25. New Year is the time when people in the Soviet Union celebrated the most. That's when they put up the <em>yulka</em>, the holiday tree, though more often than not it probably had a big red star on top instead of an angel.<br /><br />Our Christmas and New Year wish this year is for the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, to grant a tourist visa to my lovely sister-in-law, so that she can visit us in America during the New Year holiday. It's tough to get such a visit approved, but we're hoping and praying that it will happen. And I hope everyone reading this has their holiday wishes come true, too.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Merry Christmas, and <em>S'Novim Godim</em> (Happy New Year!) to all!</strong></span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/hny0356.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/Kosmosflot/Soviet/hny0356.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><em>Viktor Kuprin</em></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Technorati tags: </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/science+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">science fiction</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sci-fi" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">sci-fi</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sf" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">sf</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Christmas" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Christmas</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/flash+fiction" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">flash fiction</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/New+Year" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">New Year</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Buck+Rogers" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Buck Rogers</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/television" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">television</span></a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/podcast" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">podcast</span></a> <p></p><p></p>Captain Kosmoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07427303735504891524noreply@blogger.com1