A Forever Question: Was My Dad Right?

“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question.”

Sir. Why do some people, too many people, take "don't do that" as "be sure to do that"?

Douglas Adams on Getting There

"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."

Oh, Mister President!....

Douglas Adams on Deadlines

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

Classic and brilliant.

Paris to New York City on the SS Normandie (1939)

Surely one of the most beautiful ships ever, the ocean liner SS Normandie first hit the open seas in 1935. Flagship of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, she lived a short life, capsizing in 1942 as she sat in her berth at New York's Pier 88 while undergoing conversion to a troopship.

Her beauty lives in the above film taken on one of the Normandie's westbound trips. (While the film begins at Paris, the ship's voyage starts at her home port of La Havre.)

Getting Hungry While On Space Patrol

A Forever Question: Double What? (02/18/19)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why is a "W" instead not called a "double vee"?

A Forever Question: Doing One's Job (02/11/19)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why should showing up on time not be the easiest part of any job?

A Forever Question: A People Race (02/04/19)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. With Facebook celebrating its 15th anniversary, can we now call its users a race of people?

A Forever Question: An Irish Spring (01/28/19)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why does a fresh bar of soap make a bathroom smell so good?

The Ring Modulator Warms Us

In late 1964 a large Dalek force invaded Earth. For reasons not entirely clear, they concentrated on the U.K., with a special focus on London. Makes sense.

Well, they're back. This time a small force is doing the human race a public service favour by warning us to obey the COVID-19 curfew. The above video comes to us from Caerphilly, Wales.

"O-bey!"


Post Script: When I was a young child these guys scared the crap out of me. I can only obey.

A Forever Question: An NFL Pay Imbalance (01/21/19)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why isn't Tom Brady the NFL's highest paid quarterback?

A Forever Question: Quacks Like a Duck (01/14/19)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. When someone says "better luck next time", isn't that the same as saying "zero plus zero equals zero"?

50 Best SF Television Shows of All Time (Rollin')

On March 12th, RollingStone published what its staff feels are the best science fiction television shows of all time. Their pick consists of 50 shows, old and new.

Here are the top ten:

10. Firefly (2002 - 2003)
9. Watchmen (2019)
8. Westworld (2016 - )
7. The X-Files (1993 - 2002 / 2016 - 2018)
6. The Prisoner (1967 - 1968)
5. The Mandalorian (2019 - )
4. Doctor Who (1963 - 1989 / 2005 - )
3. Battlestar Galactica (2004 - 2009)
2. The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964)
1. Star Trek (1966 - 1969)


While I'm hardly a TV space cadet, I do have my own faves -- from the shows I am familiar with, or more than familiar with. Due to insecurity I cannot be so sure of an order. Nor can I pick just one "number one". I would cluster my own top picks and stuff them into the number one spot: The Outer Limits (1963 - 1965); The Prisoner; and Star Trek.


The RollingStone piece:

50 Best Science Fiction TV Shows of All Time
From superhero shows and space operas to creepy anthology series, the greatest small-screen sci-fi of all time

A Forever Question: The Unknowable

“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question.”

Sir. Why do the ignorant act stupid during a time of crisis?

A Forever Question: The Oddball (01/07/19)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why can't North American football gain a foothold outside of Canada and the U.S.?

A Forever Question: Transit Metrics (12/31/18)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why is one prone to miss the bus or subway train by seconds or centimetres and not minutes or metres?

A Forever Question: TV Tunes (12/24/18)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why are television theme tunes today so tuneless?

A Forever Question: The Leafs? (12/23/18)

"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

Sir. Why do the forever lowly Maple Leafs almost always play well against the Montreal Canadiens?

Dr. Who and the Daleks - One Dell of a Comic Book

Nineteen Sixty-Six, RCAF Station Greenwood, Nova Scotia. After I received my latest crew cut, my dad bought me the Dell comic book, Dr. Who and the Daleks. It was a fair trade. Funny how little kids will sit still and behave for a few minutes of unpleasantries to get an ultimate and highly valued reward.

I loved that feature film "tie-in" comic in the same way that one's pet cat might love a certain polyester sock. It's very possible I rolled around on the rug with my prize.

Back then the CBC played the television series Doctor Who, from which the above feature film sprung, and I remember being scared sitless [sic] whenever the Daleks appeared in the seven-part serial "The Daleks". (Perhaps it was due to parental discretion that I did not attend the original theatrical release of Dr. Who and the Daleks.)

That book is long gone. Decades ago it was exterminated.

John Waters on The Audition Process

"People should have to audition to be gay."

There might be a lot of broken hearts.