The usual right wing playbook. Not qualified, too liberal, dangerous for the country, blah, blah, blah.
--- In [email protected], Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > Kinda wild when a scifi/futurist who's written stories about a world where > Natives weren't conquered by Europe has homophobia. But then, scifi is chock > full of prejudices and fears, and I guess those of us with that Star Trek > "Man will get better" eye toward the future might even be in the minority. > What has Card said about Obama? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "B Smith" <daikaij...@...> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 8:14:02 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Pandorum > > > > > > > All of the above and more. He's written some very homophobic things and his > take on President Obama is pretty interesting. He claims that he's a Democrat > but has been hyper-critical of Obama from the very beginning and been very > alarmist about all of the actions he's taken since he became president. Very > Tea Partyish in some ways. > > --- In [email protected] , Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@> wrote: > > > > I haven't read a Card book in twenty years. But, why is he on the avoided > > list? Is there something about his Mormon (?) background and how it > > influences his writings? Disrespect for people of color or other > > non-whites? > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "B Smith" <daikaiju66@> > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 2:48:23 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Pandorum > > > > > > > > > > > > > > That makes me remember when I used to like OSC. He's another author on the > > to be avoided list. > > > > --- In [email protected] , Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@> wrote: > > > > > > I've heard mixed views, but never a good synopsis, thanks. What you > > > presented made it sound like a great premise. I love the idea of > > > hypersleep causing such problems. I may check it out. How does it compare > > > to another scifi film I really love, "Event Horizon"? I know that latter > > > is much more of a horror-focused scifi film. > > > > > > As for hypersleep, I remember reading a book by Orson Scott Card > > > ("Ender's Game", among many others). It postulated a fascinating world in > > > which people who were deemed absolutely critical to humanity (great > > > politicians, wealthy financiers, brilliant scientists, etc.) would "skip" > > > generations. A person of sufficient means would live among humanity for a > > > few years, doing whatever he or she did for a living. Then, that person > > > would go into suspended animation for a time. As an example, Steve Jobs > > > might run Apple for three years, set its future course, then go into > > > suspended animation for twenty or thirty years. He'd wake up, get the lay > > > of the land, do some more work, then back into the routine. If you think > > > about it, it's a cool way to be granted a sort of immortality, as you can > > > skip across the centuries, experiencing and influencing human > > > development. > > > The only problem is that the sleeper's mind is "bubbled" into a storage > > > device before the body is put under. If something happened to that > > > device, the sleeper would be rendered little more than a body with no > > > mind, akin to a newborn babe, albeit in an adult's body. In one story, > > > that very thing happens with a colony ship to another planet. There's an > > > accident, all the crew's bubbles are destroyed, and the one guy who was > > > awake is left with trying to retrain and re-educate all the now > > > completely blank people. > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: "B Smith" <daikaiju66@> > > > To: [email protected] > > > Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 12:52:40 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > > > Subject: [scifinoir2] Pandorum > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Has anyone seen this movie? I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me > > > wrong it's not great but it was interesting and pretty well executed. > > > > > > Long story short: An Earthlike exoplanet called Tanis is discovered in > > > the early 21st century. A probe using an advanced drive is sent there, > > > finds that it's very, very Earthlike and can support life. > > > > > > 22nd century Earth is massively overpopulated, resources are dwindling, > > > etc. A generation ship called the Elysium is built by all nations and > > > 60,000 volunteers set off for Tanis. The journey will take 123 years so > > > multiple crews rotate in two year shifts and go into hypersleep the rest > > > of the time. > > > > > > Hypersleep is a tough process and people wake up with memory loss, mild > > > sickness, etc. Some folks develop a severe type of sickness called > > > pandorum. Another deep space Earth ship suffered a massive disaster when > > > a pandorum affected crew member jettisoned all of the ship's hyperspace > > > modules, killed the remaining crew and then himself. > > > > > > A crewman on the Elysium wakes up out of hypersleep for his 2 year shift. > > > He's out of it, doesn't remember his name, etc. He reads his name off his > > > sleep pod and begins to remember that he is ship's engineer Bower. A > > > second crewman, Lt. Payton, awakens and they realize that they are the > > > only people from their shift that are awake. The power is down and they > > > are cutoff from the rest of ship. The reactor is out of synch and needs > > > to be repaired before the ship's power can be restored. Bower grabs some > > > tools and sets off to restore the power. > > > > > > Then the fun begins. > > > > > > I was surprised at how much I liked the movie. There were a few things > > > that strained logic but it's a fun, scary movie with a healthy dose of > > > semihard sci fi. > > > > > >
