Lost Histories

photog Book Reviews, My Fiction, photog's Corner, Reviews, Science Fiction / Fantasy, SF&F Book Reviews , , , , ,

Lots of fantasy and science fiction authors have used the rediscovered history theme.  I think maybe Robert Howard used it for Conan and maybe some of his other sword and sorcery stuff.  Tolkien sort of used it for the Lord of the Rings.  The Red Book of Westmarch is supposed to be the source from which he wrote his books.

So, the conceit is usually a scholar is searching through old manuscripts and suddenly finds stories that somehow no one has ever read before.  I guess maybe a case could be made that an existing manuscript might have a palimpsest layer that couldn’t previously be seen or read and now because of advances in sensing techniques it can.

But usually, this kind of text underneath text is limited to at most a few pages of written language.  But as anyone who has been a religious reader of this site knows, the Roman papyri from the ruins of Herculaneum are slowly and painfully being deciphered using a form of x-ray tomography.  These charred and unopenable papyrus scrolls are being read right through the other layers of charred plant material by an artificial intelligence that can scan the three-dimensional surface of the scroll in its rolled up and damaged condition.

Currently the progress is glacially slow.  And this is even though a million-dollar prize has been announced for the tech genius who can take the scans and turn it into text.  Currently the part of the library being examined contains the works of an obscure stoic philosopher which has extremely limited popular appeal.  But there have been claims made that the total library was an extensive collection of Graeco-Roman literature and history.

If this turns out to be true and the scanning technology becomes robust, there may be many lost masterpieces of ancient writing to be found.  Lost plays by Sophocles and histories of ancient peoples like the Etruscans.  Every classical scholar has a wish list of what would be wonderful to recover.

But what comes to my mind is what a perfect place to find some lost history with fantasy or science fiction elements.  Now exactly what they would be is something that will require careful thought.  As I said there have been a lot of stories somewhat in this vein.  The trick would be to allow this history to tie into the present day in some way.  There could be detailed information of something that’s been buried and could be retrieved.  Or maybe it’s something that’s hidden in plain sight and possibly still operating in the present day.

So, this is the vaguest of outlines and needs lots of thought but while I was out watering the vegetable patch and photographing half-grown preying mantids it occurred to me.  And since I never have an undocumented thought, lo and behold; here it is.  It occurs to me I’ve never written a horror story.  Mostly I just make fun of H.P. Lovecraft but a two-thousand-year-old Etruscan demon might be something I could get interested in.  And since we know next to nothing about the Etruscans, I could make up anything I wanted and no one could definitively call me out on any of it.  What could be lazier?

2025 Summer Movies

photog Movie Reviews, Reviews, Science Fiction / Fantasy, SF&F Movie Reviews , , , ,

I’ve been listening to some of the movie reviewers about the crop of summer movies.  I guess the first “tentpole” film is whatever they’re calling the latest sequel to Jurassic Park.  I think the consensus is that it’s a tired derivative rehash of the original concept.  It’s also making a ton of money.  So, from the studio’s point of view, a success!  From an actual sentient movie watcher’s point of view not so much.  But as a grandfather of a dinosaur super-enthusiast, it does check a lot of the boxes as a way to bond with said enthusiast.  So not a total loss.

Then there are the latest comic book superhero movies.  So, they’ve given the Avengers the summer off and instead they’re taking another crack at “The Fantastic Four.”  Now this has always been a sort of oddball franchise.  They’re superpowers are “odd.”  One is a guy who can stretch his body.  Huh?  Then there’s a guy who can fly and shoot fire at stuff; well, pretty good, I guess.  Then there’s a girl who can become invisible and also has a force field.  This is actually the most powerful superpower amongst them.  And then there’s a guy who looks like he’s made of rock and is somewhat strong.  None of these “heroes” is going to compete with Superman or even Thor.  They’re powers kind of suck and they’re relegated to protecting Manhattan from intergalactic troublemakers like Dr. Doom, Galactus or Annihilus.  So, if you have a villain that can devour planetary system how does a stretchy guy and a rock stop you?  Even forcefield girl and “flame on” boy aren’t that much use.  On top of all that apparently the powers that be have decided that forcefield girl will be the girl boss of the movie and there will be much female empowerment on display.  Yay?  Well, I guess I can skip that one for my grandsons.

And then there’s another reboot of Superman coming out.  Initial reviews hint at the importance of Superman’s “immigrant” status.  Also, there’s been a lot of talk about “inclusion.”  Well, that doesn’t bode well in my book.  Worst case Superman is protecting cartel gangbangers against Trump’s ICE agents.  Best case Superman will be propagandizing the kids about how great it is to be an illegal alien from Krypton.  I could be wrong but I’m not seeing a Superman movie in my summer lineup.

Alright, let’s review.  Stupid dinosaur sequel is my best bet.  Check.  You know what?  I think I’ll assemble a sci-fi and fantasy film festival of my own.  That’s what I’ll do.  I’ll arrange a schedule and invite the grandkids over.

Let’s see; Them, Destination: Moon, The Thing from Another World, Forbidden Planet, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, Terminator, Blade Runner, Independence Day and The Martian.  I’ll have to split it up to allow for the ages of the viewers.  And then we’ll end on a fantasy note; original Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings.  Okay, that’s a starting point.  And think of the money I’ll save on tickets and popcorn!  photog, you’re a bloody genius!

A Trumpian Refinancing

photog Current Events, Trump ,

The angry voices on the Left have been shrieking non-stop since the passing of Trump’s spending bill.  They’re complaining about many things.  Some real and some imaginary.  Among the imaginary things are claims that the bill will lead to millions of deaths.  Apparently, Alligator Alcatraz and other anti-illegal immigration programs will cause death and destruction to be rained on the heads of all kinds of good people.  I listened to a video where an unhinged middle-aged woman ranted for about ten minutes in a deranged strangling snarl full of obscenities and bile about how Alligator Alcatraz was a Nazi death camp.  Now granted, there was a certain entertainment value to her act.  But that wore off after about a minute and a half.  So, the fake complaints about the bill are somewhat tedious.

One of the real complaints is that this bill will add three trillion dollars to the debt over ten years.  Now this is a true statement.  This bill will not reduce the deficit.  Our country is spending much more money than it takes in from taxes.  This growing debt is a very serious threat to our future.  But Trump like every other politician knows that even balancing the budget (never mind paying down the debt) would throw the economy into a recession.  So, he plays the same game as all the rest of them.  He stimulates the economy by increasing the debt.  And he’s right.  If the economy stalls the Republicans will be voted out in the House and Senate and the Democrats will regain power.

So, is our problem insoluble?  It seems so.

The only way I can see to fix the problem is to reduce government expenditures drastically and then pay down the debt over the course of decades.  But how can the Republicans remain in power for decades?  They can’t.  I guess we could default on the debt but that would bankrupt not only countless American citizens but would also plunge the global finance system into worse than chaos.  It might even cause a world war.

So, what we are left with is the current status quo.  The debt will continue to grow until it becomes so unmanageable that hyperinflation solves the problem for us.  The dollar will become worthless and nobody will want to buy bonds from us.  Problem solved.  Of course, that will also spell doom for whichever party is in power when that happens.

I wonder what Donald Trump thinks is the solution.  Maybe he’s got an idea about making a deal.  He’s a man who used “too big to fail” any number of times to renegotiate debt on his shaky business investments; casinos and hotels.  What if Trump tells China and Europe and anyone else holding our debt that unless they renegotiate the interest rates we will simply default on the whole damn thing?  What could they say, no?  I bet they would take the attitude that half a loaf is better than nothing.  Combined with a balanced budget amendment could be a permanent solution to our debt problem.  Maybe this is his big beautiful plan.  After all America is the ultimate example of too big to fail.  Maybe all we need is the art of the deal.