Archive for May, 2009

Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard

I have read one of Hubbard’s sci-fi’s in the past and jumped at the chance to read this book. Found it at the Costgo store in Burlington. Two whole bucks. What a deal.

I saw the movie when it came out a long time ago. It was a strange story that ended with the destruction of the invaders home planet. Pretty good feat when you consider this happened after a thousand years of occupation and the human race at that point in the story were almost on the point of extinction.

I thought therefore I knew the story. When I opened the book and saw the print was quite small (about four hundred plus words to a page) and that there were 1050 pages… boy, that was going to take a bit of time for this slow reader to get through it. But how could it be that big… the movie showed a pretty fast clip of a story?

So I started reading the story and to my surprise the movie took quite a bit of liberty to change the story development to make it as fast as it was. It almost got to the point that they could have been telling a different story. Then I read about the destruction of the invaders home planet by us simple humans… and that at around page 250. Huh????

Seems the story didn’t end there. There was a human antagonist who was maneuvering the rest of the people to overthrow the hero. Oh, and the fight with several other alien species who rose to power in the vacuum created by the defeat of the other alien race. Then there defeat. Hmmm… still hundreds of pages to go.

What I found funny is the last enemy to raise their heads. A race of small, grey, humanoids who in essence ruled sixteen universes. You know who they were? Bankers! They printed the money, made loans and watched over the finances of hundreds of empires in all those universes. Guess what? We humans took over the bank.

Oh, this was a much bigger story than the movie. It was quite enjoyable. I am glad that I had the opportunity to read such a long tale… for two bucks.

If you like sci-fi then this story is a good read. You should know however that the book was published in 1980. Sci-fi has come a long way since then. Some of the terms are outdated but the story? Never!

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Angels and Demons: Dan Brown

Monday, May 25th, 2009

Angels and Demons: author Dan Brown

Linda bought me a book recently. She liked the cover. Quick action adventure. Yes she thought, he’d like that. Got the book home and then realized that the author is the same who wrote “The DaVinci Code”. Oh well, she gave me the book with apologies.

I saw the DaVinci Code on television. I thought it was fast paced and filled with all kinds of misinformation. I enjoyed it actually. It could also provide a lot of fodder for those who like to feast on conspiracy theories. At the same time it will give opportunities to those who know the truth a chance to correct all the lies and misdirections that the movie is based on.

Angels and Demons? My, the book follows the same strict adherence to the truth… ahem, or lack thereof. Brown once again takes myth and misdirection to this story line. Oh, a smattering of truth here and there. Mostly, a fiction based on the works of misguided conspiracy theory buffs who have an axe to grind against religion. Brown never allows the truth to get in the way of a good story. It was quite enjoyable and was a suspense thriller… never to be taken seriously.

He did a good job on the book, for fictitious fallacy, and I can only hope the movie is as entertaining as the book. Hmmm… fictitious fallacy? New book category? So please people, when it comes to geography and land marks… pretty darn good as far as I can tell. Illuminati? Masons? History? Guffaw!!!

Sadly 😥 many people will buy into the fallacy… just like they bought into The DaVinci Code… And other works of fictitious fallacy.

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Burger King & Trek Lore

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

There is a new Star Trek movie about to be released. Burger King wanted to get in on the occasion by providing glasses for their soft drinks with the images of the new characters that were created. I would expect to see that kind of commercialism. Yet I do have a bone to pick with Burger King. They don’t know their Star Trek trivia!

Have you seen the latest series of commercials. A guy is walking along when all of a sudden there is a twinkling of a bright white light. Then there, before him, stands a Klingon… oops… I mean a Kingon. Yep the Burger “King” is dressed as a Klingon, roaming the streets of Canada, confiscating Whoppers. He is flanked by two buxom Klingon, oops, Kingon females. I like the commercial. Yet I have a gripe.

OK, here goes… anyone who knows anything about Star Trek knows that whenever someone is transported using Klingon equipment, from one place to the other, the viewer sees red flashes of light. Not white, blue or green but red is the colour theme associated with Klingons. What really mystifies me is that Burger King really promotes the idea of their “flame” broiled burgers. I think red would have been much more appropriate. How can you honour Star Trek and get this wrong. A faux pas, non?

So, I go to the Burger King web site to send them an email. Rats, you can call them or write them using snail mail. Right now the offices are closed. And the idea of spending 42 cents on a stamp and more for stationary? I’m peeved not irate. I’ll save the money and hope they read this blog. Yea, I know, fat chance of that happening.

Oh well… there is my micro tantrum for the week. 😉

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