A Little Something for Us Chrononauts

Clocks Slay Time (2010). © By alexandraburciu. Reproduced with kind permission.

On September 10, Larry King Live broadcasted an interview King conducted with Stephen Hawking about his recent book The Universe in a Nutshell and his comments that the origin of the universe does not need to be explained with reference to a divine creator.  Tellingly, that hot topic veered quickly to the subject of time travel.  Is there a connection between the quest to determine the divine/non-divine origins of the universe and time travel? (I feel like Paul in Dune - "The worms - the spice - is there a relationship?"). 

Omens, Miracles and the Economy

Bears aren't out of the woods yet. Illustration by Phillip Couzens.

When will the recession end?  Astrologer Susan Miller recently tweeted that it will end in October 2012.  This expands on her CBS interview with various predictions in the stars here.

Welcome the Autumnal Equinox

Pomona. Tapestry designed by Edward Burne-Jones and John Henry Dearle, 1890. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The Autumn Equinox begins on September 23 at 3:09 A.M. UTC (or Coordinated Universal Time, which is like GMT, but isn't).  That means it arrives10:09 PM EST on September 22. 

Timeless Myths explains the origin of the Roman goddess of orchards (depicted above in tapestry), Pomona.  It's the usual cheerful harvest story: "Vertumnus was the Roman god of garden and orchard. Vertumnus was probably a god of Etruscan origin, named Voltumna. His consort, named Pomona had similar functions. Pomona was the goddess of garden and orchard. The two deities had their festival on the same day, August 13. Ovid tells of how many woodland spirits and gods, including Pan and the satyrs, wooed Pomona, because of her great beauty. Pomona would have nothing to with males, mortals or immortals. All she cared about was orchard and her apples. ... Vertumnus tried various disguises to be near her and to win her love, such as ... farmer, vineyard worker, soldier ... . Finally he ... changed back to his normal form, and was going to force himself upon her. It wasn't necessary, since she had fallen in love with him in his true form."

Scott's Antarctic Expedition Auction Today

Exploration and Travel including the Polar Sale. Christie's Catalogue, September 22, 2010.

Dinosaurs and Robots recently reported that Christie's auction house in London is holding an auction today of images and paraphenalia from Robert Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica, 1910-1913.  The photographs and objects originate from several estates, including the estate of one of Scott's surviving men, Canadian Charles Seymour [Silas] Wright, who was on the 1912 rescue team that discovered the bodies of Scott, Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers in their tent.  Wright later returned to Antarctica in 1960 and 1965, when he was in his seventies.  The auction catalogue is here; the Polar Sale starts on page 36; Wright's section begins on page 56.  There's a picture of the whole crew on page 77.  Feel like bidding? Go here.

Sci-Fi Wishlist: Another Dune Movie

Dune (1984). Image: De Laurentiis/Universal.

Yes, there's another Dune film planned for 2012.  One thing we can probably safely count on is that if there is no apocalypse as predicted by the Mayans and whomever else, 2012 will be a fantastic year for pop culture.  I can't wait to see all the crazy movies that come out that year.

Most films and screen versions have had some good acting and stunning visuals, moments approaching the book - but no dramatic adaptation has definitively clinched the tone of the written works.

Sci-Fi Wishlist: Riddick Sequel in the Works

Vin Diesel as Richard B. Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick. Image: Universal (2004).

Earlier this year, news circulated that Gen X actor Vin Diesel and director David Twohy were at it again, and another Riddick film is in the works.  This would be a sequel to Pitch Black (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), and Peter Chung's animated Chronicles sequel, Dark Fury.  There are also a couple of video games that flesh out Riddick's lurid past in interstellar maximum-security prisons.  Variety reported in February of this year that Diesel had signed up to do another sequel. Then in April, Corona Coming Attractions ran an exclusive run-down of a new script originally entitled Dead Man Stalking.  For now, the title has been changed simply to Riddick.

SciFi Wishlist: More Peter Chung Please

Rally's Chicken Burgers Advertisement (2000). © Peter Chung/Acme Filmworks/Rally's.

Obviously, with an Aeon Flux avatar, you'll know I'm a big Peter Chung fan.  His work on Aeon Flux, about two futuristic societies divided by an armed wall, was often mistakenly taken as an analogy for East and West Berlin.  In fact, Chung was referring to the division between North Korea and his native South Korea.  He blended the Asian-anime style he brought to MTV in the early 1990s with retro-turn-of-the-century-references to Austrian artist Egon Schiele.  The result was a startling blend of European, Asian and American animation that was twenty years ahead of its time.  Now, almost two decades later, we've arrived, and Chung's work is still fresh.  The less said about the flim adaptation from 2005, the better.

So I was happy to stumble across three radical adverts by the great animator on Tom Green's blog here, at vimeo.com here, and at awn.com here.  Chung directed them for Checkers Rally's Burgers.  They date from 2000.  Who knew that Austrian fin-de-siècle art styles could merge so beautifully with Mad Max road rage and American burger consumption?