HAL-I-BOT

Why do I call this Star Schlock robot "HAL-I-BOT?" 

Because he seems fishy. 
 

Meta Megalith Monolith

 

Moon Buggy with Alphan

Over lunch today, painted the astronaut that goes with my previously-painted moon buggy. While the helmet is reminiscent of those found in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the suit itself (along with the moon buggy) brings to mind those used in Space: 1999, so I chose orange, white, and yellow as this astronaut's spacesuit colours. 

My God, It's Full of Words

Cinema Crossover

Return to the Interphrase

Skyfail

My review of Skyfall would have appeared in this space today, but the AVX theatre projector at Windermere died a sputtering death and couldn't be fixed quickly enough to screen the film before the next exhibition was scheduled to begin. Sylvia and Claire and Alan and I waited in the dark for nearly an hour before theatre staff regretfully sent us on our way. However, they did give us two pairs of free passes, so we got an extra movie out of the deal.

This is the first time I can recall being in attendance during a projector failure since the 1980s at the latest, back in the days of actual film. I've seen the stereotypical "film melting on the screen" image two or three times in my life, and it's certainly more romantic than what we witnessed today, just some digital noise and choppy bits of a trailer's dialogue.

Sometime in the mid to late 1970s, my cousin Carol Ann came with me to see 2001: A Space Odyssey at the theatre in Leaf Rapids. The film didn't break, but the projectionist played the reels out of order; the film began with the astronauts on the way to Jupiter and ended with the guys on the moon discovering the monolith. As if 2001 wasn't confusing enough to kids our age to begin with..!

Chekov's Monolith

Steve thought I might get a kick out of the Halftone iPhone app, and I do. Here's my first attempt at wry pop-culture crossover humour. Big-headed Happy Meal Chekov matches up fairly well with the official 2001 Monolith action figure...makes it look like he's evolving rapidly!

Pod People

About a decade ago, Allan and I drove down to Cranbrook for Jeff and Susan's wedding. It was a great event, with some really boppin' music, and of course the bride and groom looked swell.

But what I remember most is our arrival at our lodgings, at the local community college. The rooms were arranged in modules called "pods," and Allan found this strange. He pointed to the signs, snickering at the unconventional nomenclature: "Look at this...pod one, pod two..."

So naturally when we reached our room, I had to quip, "Open the pod bay door, Al." Allan rolled his eyes, but I got a laugh from Steven.

(For those who need the joke explained, "Open the pod bay doors, HAL," is a famous line from 2001: A Space Odyssey.)

Tool or Weapon?

I'm listening to the audio commentary on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Gary Lockwood, who plays astronaut Frank Poole in the film, says something interesting about the famous sequence in which a prehistoric ape-man flings a bone into the air after using it to kill some rivals. As the bone falls to earth, Kubrick jump-cuts to a spaceship or satellite in freefall around the globe.

I always assumed that the sequence was illustrating the evolution of tools; crude club to sophisticated spacecraft. But according to Lockwood, the craft in the shot is a missle-carrying satellite, an orbital weapons platform. In his words, it's a "weapon-to-weapon shot."

Of course, just because Lockwood was in the movie doesn't mean that he's correct about Kubrick's intentions, but his insight is almost certainly more valid than mine. It certainly adds a more pessimistic flavour to the film.