Friday 29 April 2016

2001

Last night I finished watching 2001, A Space Odyssey.  It was a 5 night affair and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 7 on bliss scale. Parts of it were very good but at the risk of sounding shallow, the special effects and sound track were definitely dated. I found myself wondering how good it would be using current technology.



Watching the movie made me think of the sixties and seventies when our teachers and society in general were telling us how glorious the future would be. I remember career counseling in high school where the teachers told us the best jobs in the future would be recreation directors because everyone would  have lots of money and huge amounts of free time as the work week would decrease to about 20 hours. Yes, we had stars in our eyes and thought the world was our oyster.

But how did it turn out? Not as wonderful as was predicted by our teachers. The environment is toxic and the economy is in the shitter. Starvation and poverty are prevalent in large areas of the planet and wars are erupting on a regular basis. But for a very small portion of the population, the predictions came true. Untold riches and opulent lifestyles if you're fortunate enough to have a well connected family tree. Or you might get lucky and have a 100 mph fastball and be able to hit the ball out of the park.

Tonight the plan is to start watching 2010, the year we make contact. I can't remember the plot very well but I do remember that the special effects were a lot better than 2001 and that for maximum bliss, I should be well medicated for the last 20 minutes.

I made a big pot of bean soup yesterday so my mental health is in good shape. Yes, that's how glorious my future turned out, bean soup is the jewel in my crown.

Billy says he loves you sons of bitches.

22 comments:

  1. I thought the best thing about 2001 were the scenes involving the astronauts and the HAL computer. That calm, rational way of speaking was very much like the real Apollo astronauts, but on this mission they had an intelligent computer that seemed to be even more calm and rational, while actually being bat-shit insane. The apes weren't bad either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think they could have played it out better with HAL. It would have nice to have many very small malfunctions and eerie sounds leading up to HAL's insubordination. I'm looking forward to SAL tonight and of course I'm very excited about seeing Helen Mirren.

      Delete
  2. How are you and Billy related, by the way?

    Have you seen the 1972 Bruce Dern movie, Silent Running? I probably haven't seen it since it came out, but I sure loved it then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Billy and I shared a room at the sanitarium. Billy is unstuck in time whereas I'm pretty much stuck in Indiana.

      I've seen Silent Running several times. Too bad Huey Dewey and Louie couldn't play poker for sour apples.

      Delete
    2. Is it not possible to get a serious answer here?

      Delete
  3. That darn Billy is playing pranks again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I never understood 2001 and not sure I eve watched 2010...I did like Silent Running, but I'll watch anything with Bruce Dern in it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that the beauty of living in 2016, just go to wiki and get a summary of the plot. i'd be lost without it.

      Delete
    2. Jackiesue, I'm with you about Bruce Dern and 2001.

      Delete
  5. Enjoy your blissful trip, Mr. Rosewater.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. bliss be good and I had a good 20 minutes of it last night. even at low levels the pictures were rattling when the Leonov was approaching Jupiter.

      Delete
  6. I tried watching it once but couldn't get into it. Last night I watched Blaze, boy, Lolita Davidovich has nice tits.

    ReplyDelete
  7. They never complete right is predicting the future. I predict the sun will rise in east and set in west

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. something wonderful is going to happen tonight.

      Delete
  8. As crazy as it sounds, I have never seen this movie. I know it is an all-time classic. I must remedy this travesty.

    ReplyDelete
  9. something wonderful is going to happen tonight.

    you should remedy this toot sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It will sound like sacrilege, as I know it is considered a classic, but I fell asleep at the theater while watching it. And I have tried to watch it probably a half dozen times since to no avail. For some reason I just cannot get into it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the second half is much better than the first half. i'm going to watch the last 20 minutes again tonight.

      Delete
  11. And the real hell of it is that I actually really like virtually all Classic sci-if (by this I mean most films and books from the 1940s through about perhaps 1975.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks like a pretty big fire in Alberta.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it's the mother of all fires. and poor old fort mcmurray is already in the shitter because of the oil collapse.

      Delete
  13. Happy Friday, Mr. Rosewater. Hope the week has treated you well.

    ReplyDelete