More Of the Old!

Greetings Earthlings, I am Tharg! I'm not actually Tharg, that was a homage to the Sci-Fi comic 2000AD, which I used to read in my teens. There's a disappointing lack of Sci-Fi nowadays, don't you think? Back in the 60's and 70's folks couldn't get enough Sci-Fi. I don't understand what's happened, surely reality based films cannot compete. Directors have a free reign with Sci-Fi films, they now have CGI and bluescreen technology to allow their imagination to be realised on screen, and yet besides very few occasional movies, Sci-Fi is largely neglected as a genre. What's going on here?

It might not be too ridiculous to surmise that the book as a medium has died a death, that serious readers, contemplators and thinkers, prefer the quick fix that television offers. How could anyone be satisfied with the Sci-Fi detritis offered up by television? I've seen a few of the latest episode of Doctor Who, and frankly, my intelligence is insulted. If I had endured Sci-Fi like that on television as a kid, I'd have put pen to paper and written a derogatory letter to the BBC. Yest somehow, kids today are more than satisfied with it, simply because they haven't known any better. The easiest assumption to make would be that the show is written by kids as well. What's with everything happening in Cardiff? If I'd crossed time and space to save humanity, I'd take one look at Cardiff and think "Sod them!"

These guys need to go to second-hand book shops and car boot sales and pick up some of these 60's and 70's SCi-fi books, and make them into films using modern technology. Not just straight-forward Sci-Fi pulp fiction, but thought-provoking stories full of symbolism and meaning. That's what I want to see. The books and films that stick with me are the kind that I'm still pondering months and years later.

Sunburn Of A Cluttered Mind!

I finally had the opportunity yesterday to watch the film "Sunshine", which given my recent lamenting over the demise of Sci-fi in general, was most welcome viewing. Although I'm well aware that the film probably borrowed heavily from several other Sci-fi films I've seen (I'm thinking; Space Odyssey: 2001, Event Horizon, Alien, Solaris etc.), I have a sneaking suspicion that it was more of a homage to those films rather than outright copying. Anyhow, I had seen mixed reviews, but the trailer looked really good, so I can inform you that the film was definitely worth the watching, with a good blend of action and suspense.

So, tomorrow is a big day for me. My first day teaching, although I'm not sure just how much teaching I'll get to do, but after this it's going to ramp up sharply too 13.5 hours per week, by the fourth week. What I'm trying to tell you is that I might not have much time to post here over the next four weeks, ot at least not to the standard you might have come to expect. Well, I'll do my best, but I have voluminous amounts of paperwork to prepare, so just be warned. It's quite annoying really, because I like to put a little bit of thought into my posts, but I'll have nothing but teaching in my head for the forseeable future. Perhaps some ideas will spill out from the classroom, let's wait and see!