Once upon a time, there was a Norwegian adventurer and would-be anthropologist who noted some strange parallels between the language and culture of various Polynesian islands and certain languages and cultures on the coast of South America. Thor Heyerdahl came up with a crazy theory: maybe the Polynesian islands were settled, not from Asia, but from the Americas! There were many reasons people argued against this idea, although there were certain appealing elements of the theory. However, from the point of view of [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
December 6, 2013 By 4 Comments
I first came across the Mushroom Planet books many years ago, when I was still near the target age. I was fascinated by them, drawn into a world that seemed to blend mundanity, magic, and science in an impossible brew that still, somehow, managed to work. Once I became a parent, eventually I hunted down the first book for my own children. The first of Eleanor Cameron's Mushroom Planet books, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet still casts a spell many years after its first publication. David and Chuck, two best [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Unbreakable
December 4, 2013 By 4 Comments
Capsule summary: Bruce Willis plays an ordinary man who does security work. After a train accident somehow leaves him miraculously untouched, he is contacted by a mysterious man who tells him he may not be ordinary at all, but so extraordinary that he can no longer lead an ordinary life. The truth is even stranger, and more frightening, than it seems at first. It is a rare thing to come across anything NEW in either the thriller OR superhero genres. This combination, produced by M. Night Shamalyan before his decline, manages to [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Silverlock
November 22, 2013 By 4 Comments
A. Clarence Shandon is a man of limited vision and less patience with anything he is unfamiliar with. When a storm sinks the ship he is on and he finds himself adrift, he also finds he has no particular reason to live. But a seemingly chance encounter with another castaway, floating in the water with him, gives him if not hope, at least some direction. Golias – Boyan Taliesin Golias – insists that they are approaching a place called "The Commonwealth", and there they will land… and, perhaps, survive. Golias' [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Call It Courage
November 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
It happened many years ago, before the traders and missionaries first came into the south seas, while the Polynesians were still great in numbers and fierce of heart. But even today the people of Hikueru sing this story in their chants and tell it over the evening fires. It is the story of Mafatu, the Boy Who Was Afraid. Call It Courage is a children's novel, a Newbery Medal winner and the most famous novel of Armstrong Sperry, an author and illustrator of mostly children's novels who had a fascination with the Polynesian [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: TERMINATOR
October 28, 2013 By 1 Comment
"Come with me if you want to live." --Kyle Reese/The T-800 One of the most iconic cinematic inventions of our time was born from a nightmare. James Cameron, fevered and ill, dreamed of a metallic skull with glowing eyes emerging from flames… and from this image came The Terminator. Most people know the basic story: sometime in the future, the computer called Skynet is given control of America's nuclear defenses… and becomes self aware. Partly out of fear of its own destruction, Skynet then initiates [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Spider-Man
October 25, 2013 By 4 Comments
"With great power comes great responsibility." As I've mentioned before, my first major exposure to comics occurred at the age of 18, when I was living in my first apartment with two other guys, Steve Reed and Ed Lord. Steve was the SF book collector of the pair, while Ed Lord was the comic collector. It was in his collection that I first encountered the Amazing Spider-Man. His basic origin is known to virtually everyone these days, given that there've been two movies in the last decade or so which [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Primeval
October 18, 2013 By 1 Comment
You spend your entire career planning for just about every crisis imaginable - up to and including alien invasion - then this happens. So much for thinking outside the bloody box. -- James Lester The first episode of Primeval opens up like a classic monster movie flick; a young woman in trouble, chased by something we don't see clearly but is definitely huge and hostile, and then a quick chase sequence which indicates our momentary heroine is a goner. But Primeval is nothing like your [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Flash Gordon
October 7, 2013 By 1 Comment
"Will you destroy this… 'Earth'?" "Later! I like to play with things a while… before annihilation…" Perhaps best known for its awesome rock soundtrack by none other than Queen, Flash Gordon is a cult favorite movie beloved for its unabashed and magnificent cheesiness. Based – with, as to be expected, considerable latitude –on the classic comic strip and old movie serials, Flash Gordon tells the story of Earth natives "Flash" Gordon (quarterback, New York Jets), journalist Dale Arden, and scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov [ Continue reading... ]
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