Monthly Archives: September 2002

two more dimensions

Posted on Thursday, 2002 September 12 by Anton

Assuming full eye transplant (or artificial replacement) becomes possible: What happens when a colorblind man receives a normal eye? Has science-fiction addressed this question?

Posted in medicine, psychology | Leave a comment

what is sf?

Posted on Thursday, 2002 September 12 by Anton

Relayed through at least two discreet mailing-lists, a thought attributed to “a Croatian writer”: For years I’ve been frustrated by those claims by non-sf readers that SF is not literature (compare “comics are not art”). Frustrated, because you can’t defend … Continue reading →

Posted in humanities | Leave a comment

the tragedy of sloppy language

Posted on Thursday, 2002 September 12 by Anton

miller@i330.org quotes Charles Krauthammer: Whenever I hear Sept. 11 referred to as just a tragedy, I wince. The San Francisco earthquake was a tragedy. The Johnstown flood was a tragedy. Hurricane Andrew was a tragedy. A tragedy is an act … Continue reading →

Posted in humanities | 1 Comment

they’re creepy and they’re kooky

Posted on Wednesday, 2002 September 11 by Anton

Was anyone else disappointed by the portrayal of Thing in the Addams Family feature films? In the tv series, I understood Thing to be a person (of unknown nature) who dwelt in a parallel space, intersecting with ordinary space only … Continue reading →

Posted in cinema | Leave a comment

asymmetry

Posted on Wednesday, 2002 September 11 by Anton

Virginia Postrel observes: So here’s the question: What happens when we find ourselves facing militant reactionaries who, for purely pragmatic reasons, are willing to use adaptable, decentralized organization and technologies against us? Unlike our Cold War adversaries, the militants who … Continue reading →

Posted in security theater | Leave a comment

signs

Posted on Tuesday, 2002 September 10 by Anton

If this were in Mad, it would be called Crop Circles We’d Like To See. “Soap on a Rope” recently marked its thousandth strip. You could do worse than to read it from the beginning.

Posted in cartoons, cinema | Leave a comment

and a pony

Posted on Tuesday, 2002 September 10 by Anton

Just think: after tomorrow we may never hear that hideous pleonasm “one year anniversary” ever again. I can dream, can’t I?

Posted in language | Leave a comment