SciFiMonthly No. 7
The Science-Fiction-Create monthly newsletter
In this month's issue:
Welcome | Science-Fiction-Create Recap | More in SciFiNews | The Goods
Welcome
September. The changing of the season is upon us. It's almost fall for many SciFiCreate readers, and spring for a few. Wherever you live, I hope you are healthy, safe, and happy.
Here at Science-Fiction-Create, things continue to change and evolve daily. In this September edition of SciFiMonthly, I'll recap a few stories from a busy August, share some science and science fiction news stories, and, as always, detail a few of my ”likes” I think you should check out.
By the way, a special thanks to those of you who’ve shared Science-Fiction-Create with others. Getting the word out is a big help.
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Science-Fiction-Create Recap
This last month's lineup had a bit of everything you've come to expect from Science-Fiction-Create: some science, of course; and a bit of sci-fi too; thoughts on making; and a few existential musings, for good measure.
I started the month with a pretty heavy subscriber-only post on space colonization. We have a load of problems here on Earth, including COVID-19. But one of our biggest problems - perhaps the greatest one of all - is that we are stuck in one spot. This is a tiny planet in a vast and violent universe. Globally, bad things will happen, given enough time. We have to plan for the future of us. And that future is in space.
I brightened things up a bit with a post on existential joy. A considerable amount of luck has led each of us to this moment. Things might not be going according to plan, but so what? We're alive, and this moment won't last forever. Good or bad as it may be. Live it up while we can, I say.
Back on my maker kick, I wrote on the curious nature of smell and what it means for a maker. Our sense of smell evokes memory so powerfully because of its direct connection with the brain. For those who create, scents can take us back to the first time we put glue to wood or an iron to solder. Smells remind us of projects past and inspire those yet to be.
In another subscriber-only post, I shared a bit more of my creative-writing side in a story titled "Alone in the dark." Here's an excerpt:
"Out of the darkness, quaint sagging buildings appeared, butted against one another like a town in an old western. Only a few street lamps burned; otherwise, the place was dark…
…I half-expected to confront a gunslinger standing in the street, duster pulled back, hand on his revolver, the snow collecting on his wide-brimmed hat."
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Don't forget; you can read all my other stories at any time on Substack. Click on the archives tab to see a list of my published content.
More in SciFiNews
I love technology and space exploration, as many of you know. I'm also a car guy at heart. So this story on Toyota building a moon rover got my boosters thrusting. The vehicle dubbed the "Lunar Cruiser" is a joint venture between the automaker that brought us the legendary Land Cruiser and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Set to touch down sometime in the latter half of this decade, the Toyota Lunar Cruiser will be big by car standards - about the size of two vans - and include living quarters for four astronauts. And oh yeah, it will have six wheels and a range of over 6000 miles.
It's September, and I'm still lamenting the summer movie season that never was. My son and I ordered takeout the other day and had a picnic in the San Marcos Regal Theater parking lot - to be near a favorite haunt. We also took advantage of a first-run film debuting on Amazon instead of in theaters. This last Saturday, the two of us watched Bill and Ted Face the Music. We did it right - ordered pizza, made popcorn, drank sugary sodas, and even had candy - M&M's for him; Twizzlers for me. In the end, the movie was fine; I enjoyed how earnest it was. Alex Winter (Bill) and Keanu Reeves (Ted) we're sincere in their portrayals. The film even had a few moments of thoughtfulness (Bill always seems relaxed, but Ted has never been comfortable with himself, as in literally his "other self" whom they meet again and again while time traveling). As for us - the junk food made us both nauseous. Quarantine is not for the weak of stomach.
The Goods
Here are a few of my likes as a fan of science, sci-fi, horror, and creating.
Movies - Prospect (2018), written and directed by Zeek Earl & Christopher Caldwell. Dust Studio. From the movie's synopsis: "A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive. Forced to contend not only with the forest's other ruthless inhabitants, but with her own father's greed-addled judgement, the girl finds she must carve her own path to escape." Why I like it: Prospect is effectively a frontier-themed western in space. While this theme is not new, the film uses the mishmash to great effect, creating a sense of desolation at the explored universe's furthest reaches. Here, humans struggle with survival, battling a hostile alien world, and each other. It's stifling, in both atmosphere and words. Filmed in the Pacific Northwest's wet forests with minimal CGI, there's a "dust" seen floating in the air at all times. We soon learn it is lethal, and humans must wear hazmat suits while exposed. Characters speak in a prosaic, somewhat stilted dialog that reminds me of the HBO series "Deadwood." It works, mainly in creating a feeling that this place and time are not our own. The film stars Sophie Thatcher (her first feature film role) as the teenager Cee and Pedro Pascal (Narcos, The Mandalorian) as an opportunistic prospector, Ezra. It's hard to say who stands out more. Both deliver in this slow-burn, oddly overlooked film (it debuted at the SXSW Film Festival but only saw limited theatrical release). As for the characters, Cee is not as naive as she'd have you believe; Ezra is not as ruthless as he first appears. There's a scene, and I won’t give it away, but the depth of character in each comes out during a harrowing "medical procedure." See this film. It will make you think about good and evil and all the dust in between.
Books- Programming Arduino - Getting Started with Sketches, Second Edition, by Simon Monk. TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional. From the publisher: "Program Arduino with ease! Using clear, easy-to-follow examples, [this book] reveals the software side of Arduino and explains how to write well-crafted sketches using the modified C language of Arduino. No prior programming experience is required! The downloadable sample programs featured in the book can be used as-is or modified to suit your purposes." Why I like it: As I've talked at length about, I love opening black boxes. Technology is a mystery to many, but the concepts are easily understood - with the right guide. Arduino is the ideal platform to learn about coding and computers, and Simon Monk is the guy you want by your side. A Ph.D. software engineer and "cybernetics" guru, Monk knows his stuff and knows how to share it with the masses. With this book (fifteen bucks), and an Arduino (twenty), you'll be coding on day one and creating fun, interactive devices in no time. Try it. You’ll be amazed at what you can do.
That's it for September's SciFiMonthly. But Friday's installment of Science-Fiction-Create is just a few days away, so stay tuned.
Oh, and one more thing - the SciFiCreate YouTube Channel is a go! News and release date for the premier episode are forthcoming.
Be well. Be kind.