tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post1868881468571812712..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: More on "The Master"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-41126928968503379522014-05-31T19:10:00.185-07:002014-05-31T19:10:00.185-07:00Thanks. i think it speaks well of Heinlein that he...Thanks. i think it speaks well of Heinlein that he didn't found a cult, like fellow novelists Hubbard and Rand.Steve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-53702802492683286672014-05-31T18:38:56.257-07:002014-05-31T18:38:56.257-07:00"The legend is that Heinlein told him that in..."The legend is that Heinlein told him that in modern America, founding a religion was a good way to get rich. (The recent biography of Heinlein says there is no evidence for this story, but it doesn't strike me as implausible. Stranger in a Strange Land, which Heinlein began working on in 1949 in anticipation of publishing it when morals and censorship were looser in the future, is about a man from mars who starts a new religion in America.)"<br /><br />I think people passing on this legend often cite Heinlein here, because he's THE major figure of the sci-fi Golden Age. But the way I always heard the story, was that Hubbard was drinking in a San Francisco bar (with a much less well-known Golden Age sci-fi author ie., Theodore Sturgeon), when the idea of becoming wealthy (and otherwise augmenting what people today would annoyingly characterize as his "lifestyle"), through founding his own botique religion/"cult", first occured to ol' L. Ron.Kevin O'Keeffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-4140817494896187582012-10-20T07:19:24.314-07:002012-10-20T07:19:24.314-07:00So is Phoenix playing a Parsons-inspired character...So is Phoenix playing a Parsons-inspired character or not? That doesn't seem clear from the trailer. Or is the character an amalgam of different lost souls that Elron preyed upon?<br /><br />Also, Parsons was supposedly the inspiration for the main character in Heinlein's book "Stranger In A Strange Land". There are also characters that clearly, almost undeniably based upon Hubbard and Crowley ("Jubal Hershaw"). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-45136013737071641742012-09-22T16:15:44.306-07:002012-09-22T16:15:44.306-07:00What science fiction story or idea might serve as ...What science fiction story or idea might serve as a cool idea for a new religion? <br /><br />Solaris? There is a brain-ocean planet out there...<br /><br />Foundation? There is a way to read the future...<br /><br />2001? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-39476005434520401392012-09-21T08:54:20.987-07:002012-09-21T08:54:20.987-07:00For Christ's sake, people, it's really not...<i>For Christ's sake, people, it's really not that hard to embed links with HTML code. What's the point of inserting a lame URL that most people won't look at?</i><br /><br />Have a little mercy on the uninitiated (aka old) commenters. I just learned how to embed URLs yesterday - twenty minutes later I realized that nobody is cutting and pasting links into browsers to look at them. <br /><br />Steve should offer a step by step guide for embedding a link near the comment window. I provided a couple of links with instructions in another thread. <br /><br />I'm considering, as an act of charity, bringing other people's links to life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-29251158536476892482012-09-21T04:00:05.037-07:002012-09-21T04:00:05.037-07:00It looks like the first transatlantic call was 192...It looks like the first transatlantic call was 1927. I can't find the history of the first US to Germany call. So Parsons' calls still might have been possible. That leaves open the question of whether the two had a common language. Wikipedia fails me there.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_telephone" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_telephone</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49667840282096874142012-09-20T21:42:51.465-07:002012-09-20T21:42:51.465-07:00Anonymous said...
The total shittiness of movie cu...<i> Anonymous said...<br />The total shittiness of movie culture.<br /><br />16 votes for pompous crap<br /><br />http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/film/4ce2b8c6518bb<br /><br />1 measly vote for a great masterpiece:<br /><br />http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/film/4ce2b6a526340<br /><br />1 measly vote for a great masterpiece:<br /><br />http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/film/4ce2b76b642d8</i><br /><br />What is it, some sort of inverse nerdy street cred among the commenters on this blog to show yourself to be technologically inept? How many people do you think will bother to cut-and-paste a link three times to find out what your movie tastes are?<br /><br />For Christ's sake, people, it's really not that hard to embed links with HTML code. What's the point of inserting a lame URL that most people won't look at?Steve Jobbesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-48266589577574953942012-09-20T20:35:52.809-07:002012-09-20T20:35:52.809-07:00Sorry Steve but your story about Parsons is wrong....Sorry Steve but your story about Parsons is wrong.<br /><br />First transatlantic telephone cable was laid 1955-56.<br /><br />en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telephone_cable<br /><br />Telephone calls from California to Germany in the 1920's? Impossible at any price.<br /><br />(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-distance_calling<br />has an audio clip from a 1950's Dragnet episode which shows the difficulty of within US long distance calling at the even then)anony-mousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-21430555701063029962012-09-20T14:11:15.487-07:002012-09-20T14:11:15.487-07:00If The Master had come out before Blood, I suspect...<i>If The Master had come out before Blood, I suspect Blood would be viewed as an inferior knockoff.</i><br /><br />The topic of why artists often get celebrated for inferior work is a very interesting one. Sometimes an inferior work will come along at exactly the right time and become famous. Think DH Lawrence and Lady Chatterley's Lover or Conrad and Heart of Darkness or Golding and Lord of the Flies or Tolkien and LOTR.Thursdayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13002311410445623799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-83768181590600959252012-09-20T13:32:33.781-07:002012-09-20T13:32:33.781-07:00Steve did write a screenplay. Check the archives....Steve did write a screenplay. Check the archives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19360201341001337712012-09-20T12:20:48.140-07:002012-09-20T12:20:48.140-07:00"But in MAGNOLIA filled with self-pitying clo..."But in MAGNOLIA filled with self-pitying clowns?"<br /><br />It was a showcase of several pathetic archetypes mostly native to the Valley of the late 1990's. <br /><br />Anderson is a skilled filmmaker, but ignoring the fascinating history of the Jack Parson's type character in this film boggles the mind. <br /><br />http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/sex_and_rockets.htmMarc Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15526121114466617234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-1210106464875234292012-09-20T11:37:19.811-07:002012-09-20T11:37:19.811-07:00You're the only one in LA who hasn't writt...<i>You're the only one in LA who hasn't written one.</i><br /><br />Back in '93 Barry Bonds said he was writing one, but he never got around to it. He lives near Steve. alonzo portfolionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50369148111471799382012-09-20T11:25:05.310-07:002012-09-20T11:25:05.310-07:00I saw Lester del Rey speak at the world science fi...I saw Lester del Rey speak at the world science fiction convention in 1991 or 1992, and he claimed that in the late 40s, he, Heinlein, Hubbard, and a couple of other notables were having drinks with their wives. all of them were lamenting the lousy pay rates they were getting for SF short stories. Hubbard was silently brooding for a while, then he leapt up, and said they were doing it all wrong, there was no money in writing in America, the money was in religion. Hubbard then vanished for a few months, and surfaced with the manuscript for Dianetics.John Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07512292512993140028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-5856973476276917352012-09-20T10:53:47.238-07:002012-09-20T10:53:47.238-07:00You (Steve) increasingly are dwelling on your age....You (Steve) increasingly are dwelling on your age. I'm afraid I have nothing to say that can make your passage into being elderly much easier. You are to smart to be distracted by any facile analogy to the life of Verdi.<br /><br />I am reminded of the tombstone inscription of Claudio Villa - "Life, you are fine. Death, you stink".<br /><br />Old age stinks too.<br /><br />(If you have never heard of Villa you are in for a treat. He was the Italian movie tenor for Italy at the same time that Mario Lanza was the Italian movie tenor for America.)<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir6etALDL-Y&feature=channel&list=UL<br /><br />Back to my point. You are apparently 53 and writers seem to have their last major writen work at around 55.<br /><br />http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/Simonton/LifeSpan.ppt#26<br /><br />This means that most of your creative output is now behind you. That stinks. <br /><br />The life expectancy of a Roman in Rome during the Roman Warm period was 23. Before public health everywhere the life expectancy was about 36. So you are only alive at 53 because you are here now. By historical standards you are already pretty damn old. Sorry.<br /><br />My personal observation is that sex gets better in your late fifties but not much else. <br /><br />You are an odd writer in that you don't write books. You are an odd public speaker in that you don't begin your talks with a humorous anecdote. So you have no one to blame but yourself for your relative obscurity.<br /><br />If you want fame, prestige and wealth you should have modeled your writing career after Bill O'Reilly. He sells a lot of books the modern way - endless TV promotion. He certainly doesn't fritter away his time dwelling on content. He also tells jokes endlessly and surrounds himself with comedians like the young Mr. Carolla.<br /><br />Yet as most people who follow this blog realize you, on ocassion, have something remarkable and original to say. It's possible that you will never be famous in your lifetime but you have a real shot at enduring regard. No one is likely to ever read a single word written by O'Reilly once he's off the air. His reputation is like a leaky balloon, without a continuous air supply it soon collapses. But a lot of people recognize even now that your ideas have shaped their thinking. That should grow. You may live long enough to see it.<br /><br />Shakespeare had a similar problem. He chose to write in a new and as yet unrespected medium - drama. He should have written epic poetry of course. Similarly you are writing serious stuff in an unserious medium. But pubic and elite opinions are likely to change. <br /> <br />"Real" reporters are still those who get their words published on newsprint even now that no one actually reads newspapers anymore. Only recently have Hollywood stars abandoned the practice of taking roles on Broadway to prove their legitimacy as actors. Anyone worried about legitimacy will be advised to shun all new media.<br /><br />Your old age may very well be your "golden years" yet as one of the grandfathers of the new media.<br /><br />Albertosaurus Pat Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13477950851915567863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-53748902959883175552012-09-20T09:33:07.340-07:002012-09-20T09:33:07.340-07:00What is worse? Race-ism or class-ism/communism? I ...What is worse? Race-ism or class-ism/communism? I suppose it depends on the degree and how-and-where and context. <br /><br />But overall, I'd say class-ism/communism is worse. Why? Race-ist problems can be solved for good whereas class-ist problems can never be solved. <br />There is a race-ist solution to the Middle East problem. Send all the Arabs in Israel to the West Bank and send all the Jews in the West Bank to Israel. Jews have their race-ist nation, and Pallies have their own. <br />After WWII, the best solution for lasting peace was race-ism. Each nationality ended up with a more homogeneous nation. Poland for Poles, Germany for Germans, etc. <br />Why did things turn out badly in Yugoslavia? The evil of anti-race-ism that forced different peoples to live together. And how was it finally solved? Through race-ist separatism. Slovenes have Slovenia, Croats have Craotia, Serbs have Serbia, Kosovo folks have Kosovo. <br />You see, race-ist solutions are doable. <br />And the best solution for South Africa would be a separate nation for whites. <br /><br />Class problems, on the other hand, can never be solved cuz classes are here to stay forever. Trying to rid the world of classes is like trying to make the head, body, and legs to be the same. It can't be done. Using great violence to do what can't be done is a greater evil than using violence to do what can be done. If violence is used to create homogeneous Israel and homogeneous Palestine, it will be successful in the end. The violence, though awful, would have served its purpose. <br />But after decades of communism, after all that bloodshed... class problems still existed. Useless bloodshed is evil. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-20801004039879856072012-09-20T08:17:38.938-07:002012-09-20T08:17:38.938-07:00Sounds intriguing, great review cause I want to se...Sounds intriguing, great review cause I want to see it NOW.<br />As far as the lead's physique---<br />"...Phoenix does a great job of molding his body to his character lead role. He's made himself into a very skinny guy without the muscles we expect now on actors now, even in period roles. But he's very wiry, all tendons and gristle, a high testosterone but damaged and unhealthy-looking guy. With his shirt off, he looks exactly like a guy who grew up poor and slightly malnourished during the Depression..."<br /><br />Well that's what a life-long vegan is bound to look like. It's an unnatural diet and a pitiful look. Maybe it's affected his mental state as well -- he needs to eat some delicious MEAT on a regular basis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-14184850595341141882012-09-20T06:53:04.514-07:002012-09-20T06:53:04.514-07:00Bammy is one thing--a mulatto supremacist--but pre...Bammy is one thing--a mulatto supremacist--but pretends to be many things. <br /><br />Rommy is many things--an all around schmoozer--but pretends to be one thing.<br /><br />Easier for one face to wear many masks than for many faces to share one mask. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-34550186687721602372012-09-20T06:29:44.969-07:002012-09-20T06:29:44.969-07:00"I'm a big Paul Thomas Anderson fan, part..."I'm a big Paul Thomas Anderson fan, partly for neighborhood loyalty reasons. He's like Adam Carolla: another Valley Dude from Magnolia Boulevard. (Of course, those guys are distressingly younger than me.)"<br /><br />I like John Belushi partly because he grew up in Chicago's Western Suburbs like me. (Of course he is distressingly dead!)Dahindanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-62643803832264655462012-09-20T06:27:18.824-07:002012-09-20T06:27:18.824-07:00Steve mentioned that Paul Thomas Anderson often ge...Steve mentioned that Paul Thomas Anderson often gets confused with Wes Anderson (another, even more annoying director of pompous art house-type films). As for myself, I've often confused him with Paul W.S Anderson, director of such timeless classics as Alien vs. Predator and the Resident Evil series.Hapalong Cassidynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-13335541597410800882012-09-20T05:48:04.880-07:002012-09-20T05:48:04.880-07:00I was glad to see in the other thread about this m...I was glad to see in the other thread about this movie that many here agree with me about Anderson: an extremely talented filmmaker whose films don't add up to much - a lot of sound and fury signifying... not much of anything. 'Punch Drunk Love' is the only film of his that truly works for me, and I think it's quite wonderful, because it's relatively small and self-contained and seems to be about something personal, rather than trying to make some sweeping statement. Also, the filmmaking pyrotechnics in that movie are fun and not oppressive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-90488325341399909792012-09-20T05:21:43.814-07:002012-09-20T05:21:43.814-07:00Daniel Day Lewis was given so much credit for his ...Daniel Day Lewis was given so much credit for his great villain in Gangs of New York. He was a great cartoon villain--straight out of Punch cartoons, except the meat cleaver was a bit over the top. I know it was a rough time, but I just didn't buy all that medieval weaponry flung about in NYC in the mid-1900s. Nah.<br />Back to DDL & GONY. He was not a great actor in that film as we really think of great acting on the screen today. He was doing great acting as defined on the stage 150 yrs ago. And without that top hat, half the effect would have been lost. unixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-837996157464632312012-09-20T05:17:04.859-07:002012-09-20T05:17:04.859-07:00"Or gimme even Jill Sprecher's very speci..."Or gimme even Jill Sprecher's very special CLOCKWATCHERS"<br /><br />I haven't heard that movie mentioned too often, although Toni Collette is probably the one who makes it not only special, but gripping (amazing how well the Australian plays Americans.) Without her it would not have the same meaning--nobody conveys the sense of sincere groveling in order to belong to something she considers important, better than Toni Collette (Muriel's Wedding, Little Miss Sunshine.) <br />Love the final scene where the boss writes a letter of recommendation for temp Iris (Collette) who tells him her name is Margaret (the temp who got fired). He never recalls the temps' names so he didn't know. Iris sends Margaret the letter as a favor (she had wrongly suspected Margaret of theft and wanted to make it up), and the temps go their separate ways.<br /> Waiting for Godot could not evoke more of nothing and nowhere in the office in Anywhere USA.unixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-72272725927612281622012-09-20T04:43:54.115-07:002012-09-20T04:43:54.115-07:00I think I've hear the L. Ron/religion story at...I think I've hear the L. Ron/religion story at different times involving every SF author in Heinlein's Manana Literary Society.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-35739463265272816822012-09-19T23:26:46.179-07:002012-09-19T23:26:46.179-07:00Wait... if we come across swpl PC ghosts, can we s...Wait... if we come across swpl PC ghosts, can we scare them away by yelling 'racist' epithets?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66549170943549909102012-09-19T22:42:37.544-07:002012-09-19T22:42:37.544-07:00I was embarrassed for Anderson when I saw the endi...I was embarrassed for Anderson when I saw the ending of <i>There Will Be Blood</i>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com