mm-mm-mm

[Humbug]

Guest post by
Humbug - the radical rabbit
Famous Sci-Fi Ov The Cinema

Sci-Fi is short fer Science Fiction innit. Sci-Fi is a fun fing fer yer film artis becos ov the speshial effex wot means it is easier ter suspend yer disbeliefs. Sum Sci-Fi as got a metafissical subtex an sum ov it is just shoot-em-ups an sum ov it is a bit ov boff. Makin three films in a sort ov triptych ov epic proportion is a phenomernon ov Sci-Fi. This is known as a Trilogy. Makin more than three films is probly a bit naff.

A lot ov peeps fink outer space is fascinatin but Sci-Fi can also be about fings right ere on the planet Earth, as long as it is a bit ter do wiv science an it is also imaginertive. It is rarver innerestin wotchin the Sci-Fi films ov a long time ago wot wos about the future, an finkin, 'Who invented the i-phone?'


1. George Meliès

This wos a rarver imaginertive French geezer wot wos the first peep ter take cinema ter the moon an back. He got bored wiv the family business merchin boots but becos the Lumiere bruvvers would not sell him sum propper film kit he got a cheap coffee grinder instead an souped it up a bit. Soon he wos makin a mark wiv his amazin speshial effex. This wos one in the eye fer the Lumiere bruvvers wot wos left eatin their hats.

2. The Time Machine

This wos a story by H. G. Wells ov the Victorian age. Lots ov his stuff wos Sci-Fi but this wos the best actcheral film ov it. In this film sum peeps go far inter the future on a fing like a sledge wiv a clock on it an land in wot looks like Utopia, but then the Moorlocks ov the caves show up, an fings get very gory, a bit like wiv the snares ov Strawberry's warren in Watership Down.

3. Planet ov the Apes

This wos actcherally a trilogy plus one, so fergive me if I miss a bit... This bloke wakes up in a world ov chimpanzee culture an he is in a cage like a slave. First he finks the apes are monsters an then he sees that all is not wot it seems. The chimps are actcherly clevver an they av doctors an technology an they fink that peeps are stupid creatchers! In the end we find out that it is not a diffrent planet, it is right ere on the Earth ov the future wot as bin mashed up by human nitwits innit. Wot a suprise!

4. Star Wars

Star Wars wos a very big fing in the late 70's. In it we av the wickid Daft Apeth ov the dark side an we av Luke Skywalker an friends ov the freedom fighters. Daft Apeth is a bitter old git becos power as gone ter his head an he as got very bad flu. The freedom fighters av the cute robots an Princess Leia an Chewbacca ov the wookies but the dark side av got a deff-star in space an Rollerball outfits sprayed over wiv white paint, an it is all a bit touch n go. But then the freedom fighters wotched the The Dambusters an got a clevver idea... This wos annuvver one wot became a trilogy an then sum, but I am goin ter drop it there.

5. Logan's Run

Logan wos a bloke in a pleasure dome where all the peeps wos young an free - excep fer gettin zapped ter deff before they got old, an then fed back ter emselfs in pot noodles. Then the Logan crew wised up a bit an decided ter run away an live ter a ripe old age in the wild world an gro their own veg an get all wrinkly.

6. Back ter the Future

BTTF as got time travel in a Delorean wiv a flux capacitor and also it as got the first ollie ever ter be imagernated in Hollywood. BTTF is the best trilogy ever made an number 2 is the best film. Period.

7. Bladerunner

This is a good film, an a right tearjerker wiv the sorry plight ov the humanist robots. The P.A. says it is not as good as the book, but this is becos she is a bit ov a nerd.

Editors note - I av not put sum stuff like the Hitchhikers Guide ter the Galaxy in ere becos it wos not actcherly a film in the first place an it wos better on the radio innit.

[Housemate]

BTTF is the best trilogy ever made an number 2 is the best film. Period.

Further, it is axiomatic that you can't not like Michael J. Fox.

Thanks for hitting Sci-Fi, Humbug. Possibly the first longish book I read:



Wherein plucky young dreamer Kip* wins a mothballed space suit in a jingle writing contest, buffs it up real nice, gets picked up in a passing flying saucer and taken to the cold cold moon and other places where it comes in handy, then goes on to save us all. Because humanity, of course, is on trial.

In humanity's defense, Kip makes a stirring speech. The Mother Thing and a representative of another race argue that the short-lived species are essentially children who should be granted more time to learn and grow. It is decided to re-evaluate humanity after "a dozen half-deaths of radium.”**

Back home he is awarded a full scholarship to MIT, so it's win-win. Alas the film treatment remains in development hell. One could almost see a young Michael J. Fox in the title role.

* I have it in my head that he’s named after Kip Thorne.
** 19,200 years. This was published in 1958, so we're still good for a while yet.

[Humbug]

Hmm - we av not read this one. (I ov course get ter read over or under the shoulder.)

'The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag' is a good treatment ov a similar business wivout the spacesuit heroics tho. Worth repeat readin.

The P.A, says she binged a bit on the Heinleins an the Asimovs from charity shops in teen an early 20s years. These days she as mostly given up on these spankin good yarns an reads uvver fings like crime novels an naval adventures.

[Housemate]

Hoag looks very trippy!

I haven't read much sci-fi lately either. The last one was Adrian Tchaikovksy's Children of Time. Being a sucker for time travel stories, which I thought this was before reading past the title, I was surprised to be sucked into a world of evolved spiders. Which would definitely not be my idea of a good time. Chompsky's not bothered by our eight-legged friends though.

[Ernestine]

Hoag is the only thing of Heinlein's that I found moving.

Science fiction in book form began for me with John Wyndham - who does spiders quite well. Chocky, Triffids and Midwich Cuckoos are better.

I oft imagined producing a soundtrack for an animation of Ursula K Le Guin's best - The Lathe of Heaven. The internet changed this as I found there is an author approved film of it already. Rather like Dick she wrote too many fillers, but that, The Left Hand of Darkness and of course The Dispossessed do move me.

Recently Jasper Fford's The Constant Rabbit was fun - well characterised/caricatured and dark enough for mine ill-tempered psyche.

[Housemate]

I think he wants me to read to him. Has already had a nibble.

[Humbug]

As yer may kno, if yer followin the trends ov current threads round an about, the P.A. as bin readin Gore Vidal again fer posteriority, even though he is still alive, we fink. Specifically 'Myron' wot ironicerly would make an amusinin sitcom, espeshially as it satyricises the realms ov TV reality an Hollywood.

Abandon science all ye who enter ere...

[Humbug]

Guset post by
Humbug - the radical rabbit
Famous Sitcoms Ov The Golden Age Ov Telly

I don't fink I am alone in askin, 'Why is there so much doo-dah on the telly-vision these days?' It is a difficult question, an I av ad ter rely on my research assistant fer some clues on this one as well as the world wide web as I am deffo a rab ov the digital age. We av formed the hopinion that telly wos better in olden times becos peeps ad a longer span ov attenshun an becos telly wos a quite a new fing wiv more brainy peeps doin it, not only in the BBC but also on the uvver side.

Believe it or not sum rabs wotch quite a bit ov telly, but not me becos we don't actcherly av a telly. Even tho the BBC as gone down the tube we av bin told that David Attenborough is still quite popular, which is nice. Owever I am goin ter feature sum classic comedy programmes instead becos you gotta laugh innit.

1. The Lucy Show
Also known as 'I love Lucy' this sitcom had Lucille Ball an Desi Arnaz livin the life ov normal peeps fer entertainment value even tho they wos already famous. She hammed it up a bit an he played himself as the straight man. The telly-vision moguls wanted ter ditch Desi becos ov the Cuban heels an replace him wiv a starched dummy but this wos not appenin becos Lucy had the balls ter tell em where ter stuff it.

2. Bilko
Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko wos an old soldier ov fortune in Fort Baxter ov the US army barracks. He had a lot ov sidekicks in his motorpool wiv names like Wally, Barbella, Zimmerman an Paparelli an altergether they outwitted Colonel T. Hall an each uvver an lived famously ever after in Hollywood.

3. Steptoe an Son
Now we are movin ter London wiv Steptoe who wos an old codger ov the rag'n'bone trade wiv an horse. Harold wos his grown up son wot had respirations ter better imself an find a nice dolly bird down the pub. They had lots ov philersoffical diffrences about lifestyle choices becos the old man wos an embarrassment in this respec, but eventually their ramshackle gaff in Olde Notting Hill wos knocked off ter make way fer Hugh Grant's an the Steptoes rode off inter the sunset.

4. Til Deff us do Part
Censored.

5. The Goodies
"Anyfing, anytime" wos the motto ov this trio ov eccentic Inglish entrepreneurs wiv their trandem bicycle an quirky ways. Then their vehicle got spiked becos ov contingencies. Tim an Graeme went off ter Radio 4 becos they didn't av a clue, but Bill Oddie wos more innerested in wotchin the birds, as yer do.

6. The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Reggie Perrin wos appily married ter Elizabeth sellin his puddins in the sunshine deserts but then he ad a mid-life crisis an pumped his rasbberry essence in the river an ran away ter the seaside instead. He changed is name ter Colin an got sum awful teef, but when he got sad an lonely he took em out again an returned as a glorified new age Steptoe. Plus ca change...

7. Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers was an hotel in Devon wiv pretensions above its name. We av Basil the boss man wiv Sybil the good woman, Manuel the Spanish waiter an also Polly, but Polly wos actcherly Connie Booth who wos really married ter Jon Cleese, who played Basil innit. Basil wos famous fer losin his temper an beatin his car wiv a tree an havin rarver bad taste but becos he is a full mony python he as bin fergiven. Only 2 series ov Fawlty Towers wos ever made so it would be dubbed ingenious an not go down the drain.

Why no Ab Fab or The Young Ones in ere, you may ask? Well, I decided they wos too contemporary at this point in time becos basically they are still gettin repeats on telly becos they are not politically incorrect enuff currently, just about. Deffo future classics tho!

[Chompsky]

We don't have a tv either, but we have something called Netflix, which still involves a lot of staring at a screen, so it seems the same to me. I caught a glimpse of 'Sons of Anarchy' the other day and was not impressed.



I'm told the bunny was not harmed.

[Humbug]

That don't look much like a sitcom Chompsky.

We wos just wotchin an episode ov 'The Young Ones' while the P.A. wos waitin fer the Co-op Bank ter answer the phone. It wos exactly the right lengf but apart from that we wos not very impressed eivver. I blame that Ben Elton.