Category: The Unknown

Review: Peter Davison’s Book Of Alien Planets

  • November 27, 2012

I recently picked up this gem:

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For those unaware, Peter Davison is a British actor, probably best-known for his role of Elmer in The Tomorrow People:

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He’s also got a famous daughter who played a character in a show called Doctor Who:

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Her character was the genetic child of the main character, known as The Doctor, and ironically enough, in the real world she would end up marrying the actor that played The Doctor. Who, at the time she was in the show, wasn’t this dude:

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Because that is – of course – once again Peter Davison in his beloved role as the ‘dish of the day’ in the original 1980’s Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy BBC series.

So, amidst all this co-starring on 1980’s sci-fi shows, Davison managed to put out the abovementioned book, which I read in two sittings.

For starters, the book is just a collection of mostly public domain (ie. from the 1930s and 1940s) science-fiction yarns, none of which were written by Davison himself. For seconder’s, the vast majority of the stories are the usual ‘twist ending’ sci-fi short stories that tend to fill collections such as these. You know what I mean, with lots of hinting and mystery and then a big payoff at the end. I’ll write one such story, in a single paragraph:

On the planet Juiblex, Kron-pirr waited in the grand hall and traced the lines of the artifact using his fifth tentacle. On this, his coming-of-age day, he would finally be allowed into the ranks of the Elevated, and the secrets of his ancestors would be revealed to him. As he considered that he would never again speak with his friend Glork’fth, his attention drifted once again to the artifact. It was said it had been in existence since before his race was born, but in all that time no one had deciphered the strange markings ‘Apple’ and ‘iPhone’ marked on the metallic side.

Not bad eh? The above is positively Arthur C Clarkson in it’s originality, and truth-be-told several of the stories in this selection are interchangeable with the above. Swap an iPhone with a Disney movie, or Kron-pirr with Jal-Gynyr the Myrb.

Speaking of ACC, that man was obsessed with God! One of his stories is about a supernova that caused the Star of David, and another is positively messianic in the way an alien race treats human artifacts.

It’s all wishy washy stuff. Not particularly good, not particularly bad, and absolutely nothing to do with Peter Davison!

Verdict: save your pennies 😉


Happy Halloween!

  • October 31, 2012

Today is Halloween, which means (as usual) we’ll sit in a dark house pretending not to be home!

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That said, I did give candy out today. I brought about 150 pieces to lecture this morning and let the students help themselves.

It was quite a success 🙂

Happy Halloween to everyone!

The Lovely and Picturesque Golden Gate Bridge

  • August 14, 2012

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Yesterday B and I drove up to San Francisco for some sightseeing and shopping. We started with a visit to Fort Point, which is an old fort that has stood for over a hundred years at what is not the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see it in the lower left of the photo above.

When we got there, the sole access rode to the fort was being blocked by some police since CSI:NY was filming on a pier on the road. The place was full of ‘hollywood types’ and gawking onlookers. It’s very likely we drove right past some ‘famous’ actors. But we wouldn’t have known since neither Bernard or I have ever seen the show.

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It was cold at the fort. As in really, really cold. As in frigid winds of Tartarus cold. The entire structure was open, and the icy winds from the ocean raged through it endlessly and mercilessly. The above shot was taken on the roof, and Bernard and I were mere seconds away from hypothermia at the time. Insignificant shelter was afforded by the rooms inside the walls, most of which held exhibits of fort life back when it was occupied or art installations to celebrate 75 years of the bridge. It is perhaps evidence of how interesting much of this material was that we didn’t run screaming back to the car within seconds.

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The above is Bernard posing before a tapestry said to be evocative of the emotions of the bridge.

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Two more shots of the bridge, one from inside the fort and one from the roof. The shot from inside is taken through a camera obscura used as part of one of the (very good, actually) artworks. The fog persisted during out entire stay, and made the bridge very mysterious and looming. We were also treated to the periodic wail of the foghorn, which must be virtually unnecessary in these days of GPS.

After the bridge we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf, a tourist location on the bay. I’d never been here before, and it was much better than I expected.

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As you can see the weather was quite nice away from the freezing hall that was the bay entrance. Lunch was expensive but delicious (‘Alaskan cod’) fish and chips:

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It was very tasty. Bernard said it was the best fish and chips he’d had in the USA.

While wandering and shopping at Pier 39 we found an ‘infinite mirror maze’. Tourist trap it may be, I couldn’t resist and bought us each a ticket.

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It was extremely well engineered. The mirrors were at 60 degrees to each other, and very clean. They actually have guests wear plastic gloves to avoid fingerprints! Darkness and flashing lights make it quite tricky to navigate, and after we’d done it in both directions (taking about 10 minutes each way) the attendant showed us the map and it was amusing how short it actually was. Thumbs up for this if you’re in the area 🙂

The rest of the day included shopping at Japantown, at which Bernard purchased some origami paper to add to his massive collection. He’s very good at origami, and there are lots of it scattered around the house. Over dinner I asked what the most difficult piece he’d ever made was, and afterward he took me to his work cubicle and showed me this elephant:

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It’s made from a single piece of paper, and stands only about an inch tall. Impressive, isn’t it?

The most famous origami fold is probably the crane. I asked Bernard how fast he could make one, and he said “Two minutes”. My question had no motive, but he was so confident I just had to put him to the test. Do you think he was able to finish it in two minutes? Let’s see…