Christmas Past, Present and Future

Christmas 2017 at the Tonnies' house.

"This is interesting. I just realized it's 3:00 AM on Christmas Eve and I'm blogging about viral holocaust.

Happy holidays from Kansas City!"

- Mac Tonnies, Posthuman Blues, December 24, 2004.


"Enjoy Xmas while we still have the oil-based infrastructure to transport useless crap to malls for overzealous shoppers to snatch up. It won't last."

- Mac Tonnies, Posthuman Blues, December 20, 2008.


"I wanted a Wicked Laser for Christmas, but I suppose I'll settle for an ion ray gun."

- Mac Tonnies, Posthuman Blues, January 8, 2006.

***

Well, the world may be going to hell in a tote-bag, but, happily, the year is almost over. Honestly, though, where would this blog be around the holidays if it weren't for Dana Tonnies and her Christmas trees? (Thanks again, D.)

Last year's theme was a Blue Christmas; this year's theme is plaid... and next year? Well, hopefully, not a "post-apocalyptic" Christmas... although, as a theme, it's not half-bad. All you'd have to do is spray-paint the tree matte-black. Kind of like the trees in California about now. (Sorry about that folks.)

Anyway, cynics tend to get a lot more cynical around the December holidays. In our defense, it might be all those Xmas-related pop tunes which are played non-stop in department stores for weeks before the fact... you know, prompting consumers to spend all that money (they don't have)... and/or provoking the occasional brain hemorrhage...

Mac wasn't exactly a raging fan of the holiday... well, except for the gift part. And, as any reader of Posthuman Blues would know, he loved getting those! Below the jump are some more Xmas quotes from Mac.

Meanwhile, today's the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year; the good news being that, by tomorrow, the days will begin to get longer... just in time for Xmas and the New Year. And, my wish? May we all have happier holidays than we think we will! ;-)

"Join the Adventure" (Updated February 19, 2018)

An image from a 2004 encounter near San Diego between two
Navy F/A-18F Super Hornets and an unknown object.
Photo by U.S Department of Defense.

"The Defense Department has never before acknowledged the existence of the program, which it says it shut down in 2012. But its backers say that, while the Pentagon ended funding for the effort at that time, the program remains in existence. For the past five years, they say, officials with the program have continued to investigate episodes brought to them by service members, while also carrying out their other Defense Department duties.

The shadowy program — parts of it remain classified — began in 2007, and initially it was largely funded at the request of Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who was the Senate majority leader at the time and who has long had an interest in space phenomena. Most of the money went to an aerospace research company run by a billionaire entrepreneur and longtime friend of Mr. Reid’s, Robert Bigelow, who is currently working with NASA to produce expandable craft for humans to use in space.

On CBS’s “60 Minutes” in May, Mr. Bigelow said he was “absolutely convinced” that aliens exist and that U.F.O.s have visited Earth."

- Excerpt from the NY Times article: Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program.

"Join the Adventure"
The original Bigelow Aerospace logo.

"His signature quirk, however, is an obsession with space that extends beyond his business interests. In addition to the $100million Bigelow has already put into Bigelow Aerospace (and the $400million more he has promised), he has doled out millions to fund research into alien abductions and UFO sightings. He’s done some of the work himself, personally interviewing hundreds of people who claim to have had extraterrestrial encounters. In fact, one of the main reasons he’s so eager to get his stations launched is that he thinks they might provide a step toward making contact."

- A reference to Robert Bigelow from this Wired page.

***

Well, according to the Daily Galaxy, apparently SETI's Seth Shostak wasn't terribly impressed, but the latest bombshell regarding the Pentagon Defense Department's Secret UFO program has loads of other tongues wagging.

Similar to the CIA's unexpected confession in January of 2016, it seems the Defense Department had - and, possibly, has - its own covert UFO investigation in existence: the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.

I think the most intriguing aspect of the story is the involvement (and investment) of Robert Bigelow, founder of Bigelow Aerospace, a man who, among other things, claims to be an experiencer. Mac admitted having "his eye" on Bigelow in 2004, and judging by a few PB posts, seemed to admire him.

There are a number of recent articles regarding the Pentagon's disclosure... here are a few:
Newsweek's WE MAY NOT BE ALONE,’ FORMER PENTAGON UFO OFFICIAL SAYS ABOUT EVIDENCE OF ALIEN LIFE; Live Scence's Do You Want to Believe? Government UFO Search Never Stopped; the BBC's Pentagon ran secret multi-million dollar UFO programme; The Times' follow-up On the Trail of a Secret Pentagon U.F.O. Program, and, lastly the Huffington Post which may have been the first to break the story.

As luck would have it, however, there's more end-of-the-year news...

A Second Birthday

Eight years ago today (depending upon your point of view) Mac had another sort of birthday.

Happy Birthday, Mac!

Vale "Tuscon"...

Dark City with David Peeples

"Urgent message to Tucson Phoenix Peeples, Mac's friend and Latteland comrade:

No, no no, NO MORE MEMORIALS! So, y'all get well real soon now, ya hear?

...and, that's an order!

ox,
The Management :-)"

- An urgent message to David "Tuscon" Peeples posted here.

***

Well, I'm very sorry to have to report this, but Mac's friend and Latteland compadre, David "Tuscon" Peeples, failed to take my "order" and slipped away into the aether Thursday, August 24, while in the company of two friends.

David was a great guy... a kind person with a wonderful sense of humor. He was close to Mac, and after Mac passed he was appreciative of this blog. We kept in touch via email from 2010 to 2014. He was always sending me photos, articles and humorous bits he found online, or forwarding things he received from his many online friends. I've uploaded some of the photos he sent me after the jump.

As it was, he'd been ill for some time and I get the feeling he just finally let go. I'd like to think he and Mac are sitting in some off-planet, intradimensional cafe right now and laughing over a cup of joe.

Well, it could happen!

(But, we'll miss you anyway, Tuscon.)

Oddly enough, while going through David's email correspondence I found a drawing by Mac I hadn't seen... "Angry Hotdogs! Keep in mind, Mac was a (rather militant) vegan... and tended to get a bit carried away... (!) ;-)

Angry Hotdogs by Mac Tonnies

More from David after the jump...

... And Many Happy Returns!

Google does the eclipse.

Mac would've turned 42 this past Sunday, the day before the (infamous) solar eclipse. I was unable to come to the table either of those days, but it isn't as if I wasn't thinking of him. As far as 42 goes... well, 43 is a better number... and also the reverse of 34, his age when he passed. Would Mac remark very much about being in his early 40s? Probably not. But, something tells me that being perpetually remembered as a young guy in his thirties would appeal to him.

As far as that hyped up eclipse went... well, here in New Mexico it was obscured by a thick blanket of clouds. Go figure. Generally the New Mexican sun burns off any cloud cover immediately but this was not the case yesterday... so, it was all rather a nonevent. Oh well... supposedly an even better one is arriving in 2024. Meanwhile, I think the best thing about this one was Google's adorable animation (above).

(Note to Mac: Happy, Happy Birthday, baby... and we're all wishing you a happy return real soon! By the way, in (belated) honor of your day I put some Bowie tunes on the sidebar... and, as a bonus, a bit of Mars archaeology (below).

___________________________________

To Mars!

A close-up of the Martian surface via the Curiosity rover.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS

"I've had dreams of archaeological sites appearing locally - specifically, Martian formations suddenly transplanted to Earth . . . in one case, my backyard!

(The latest was only a few nights ago; I meant to write about it on my blog.  I'll put that on my "to do" list.)

- Mac Tonnies via an email to myself dated June 26, 2006.

***

That Mac dreamt of Martian archaeological sites shouldn't be too surprising... hell, he wrote the book! That these same sites appeared on Earth in the dreams, however is a bit curious. Had he unconsciously determined that ancient Martian history is, in a sense, our own?

Speaking of which, remember the Mars Archaeological Society tee-shirt design? Well, I recently found some other Spirit Rover .jpgs in my files which feature the immediate surrounding areas - and a few more mysterious objects - where a few of the tee-shirt artifacts were found.  (I've posted them after the jump.) That they're impossible to identify is what we might expect from extraterrestrial objects. That they might seem vaguely familiar, however, is another story entirely. A genetic memory?

Blade Runner 2049

Coming to theaters everywhere October 6, 2017 is the long-awaited sequel to the original (1982) Blade Runner - a film that Mac never could get enough of - Blade Runner 2049. I wish I could beam up the new film to him just to hear his reaction. Favorable or unfavorable? In any case, another run with Rick Deckard can't be a bad thing.

The new story line fast-forwards to 30 years later, Los Angeles, California. Apparently, another blade runner (played by Ryan Gosling) discovers a "dark secret" threatening humanity which sends him on a quest to find the blade runner we all know and love, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who's been missing for 30 years. The film also stars Ana De Armas, MacKenzie Davis, Sylvia Hoeks, Lennie James, Carla Juri, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista and Jared Leto.

Ridley Scott, director of the original film, only co-produces this one, while Canadian Denis Villeneuve (director of the much-acclaimed film Arrival) is at the helm.

Below is another version of the trailer. And, here's the website. For past posts with video clips of the original film try here, here, or here.

Just in case you missed it...

Mac & Friends

"In the 1920s, after the death of his mother, Houdini began focusing his energy on debunking psychics and mediums. Although he eventually focused on proving these people to be fakes, his initial entry into the world of the supernatural began when he attempted to contact his dead mother. However, he found that the mediums he met were often frauds. He began investigating their methods and claims and later became a self-appointed crusader against them. He knew he could duplicate their methods on stage and it was not long before his efforts to reach his mother became secondary to his need to expose the frauds. Ashamed of having masqueraded as a medium during his medicine show days, Houdini began making notes for a book. However, to prove that he did have an open mind, the magician made a pact with his friends that when he died, he would make contact, if at all possible, from the other side. He devised a secret code with his wife Bess so that only she could divine the legitimacy of the message."

- Found on this Harry Houdini page.

***

I confess, comrades, I haven't exactly been in top form these days... nor have I had the luxury of routinely spending hours and hours online... so, I tend to miss stuff, or put stuff off, or neglect things which I normally wouldn't. One such "thing" happened to be a podcast Greg Bishop featured on Radio Misterioso the 23rd of last month: Paul Kimball – Returning to Old Haunts... which I just listened to the other night.

As it so happens, Greg recorded the show in Nova Scotia where he'd gone to attend Paul Kimball's wedding. (Congratulations, Paul; wishing you and your partner much happiness!) As for their chat, well, a broad range of subjects were in the mix, up to and including Paul's recent close brush with Nova Scotia's political arena.

But, the real reason this post appears here is because Paul just happened to mention a recent experience of his - during the filming of one of his "Ghost Cases" television shows (examples can be found here and here) - regarding close friend, Mac Tonnies.  Nope, no spoilers here, but the Houdini quote above is a clue! Here's a direct link to the podcast. Thanks, Greg and Paul!

___________________________

Urgent message to Tucson Phoenix Peeples, Mac's friend and Latteland comrade:

No, no no, NO MORE MEMORIALS! So, y'all get well real soon now, ya hear?

...and, that's an order!

ox,
The Management :-)

The Halls of Science Fiction

The October, 1962 cover of Galaxy Magazine found here.

All Galaxy Magazine issues can be found here or here.

(All images can be clicked-on for larger views.)

"My fiction writing took a decided turn for the morose after I first really watched "Blade Runner." Now I'm almost incapable of writing a story that isn't set in a bleak, urban near-future where it rains a lot and characters have conspicuously easy access to consciousness-altering technologies ranging from particle accelerators to funky designer drugs.

Here's an excerpt from a blessedly unpublished novel about neurology and quantum physics I wrote in 1998/1999. This particular project, while educational, ultimately failed because of Kitchen-Sink Syndrome. I was trying to graft way too many weird ideas into one story, producing more than a few scenes like the following:

...He looked up at a ceiling festooned with video cable, a kind of sloppy fish-net used to suspend the few books and videocassettes left over from the Roma he had used to know. She had reduced them to squalid ornaments. 

To what purpose? Zak thought. He felt he was traipsing through some piece of misguided conceptual art. He looked back at Roma, who slowly detached herself from the mothering animatrons and walked toward him, bare feet unscathed by the debris covering the floor. Flecks of dried blood fell from her thighs as she walked. Zak could see the illicit dance of sinew in her neck and calves. 

He forced himself to stand still. Roma walked within touching distance and spread her palm, revealing a single Pentium chip. Only on second glance did he realize it had been pressed deeply into her flesh, and even then he wanted desperately to believe it was simply trompe l'oiel, something to be wiped away with a warm, soapy cloth. 

"Look," Roma said. 

"I'm looking" 

"She leaned closer until Zak feared she would collapse into him. "Look closer." 

He did. And for the first time he saw the shimmering matrix embedded in her skin, a rambling fractal composed of strands thinner than spider silk. The strands, faint but unmistakable, branched from the Pentium chip and traced riotous patterns up her wrist, arm and shoulder. 

Roma pivoted like a runway model striking a pose, letting the light reveal the matrix in its entirety. It spanned her entire body: galaxies of triangles and squares that caught the light and threw it back at him in eye-scalding clarity..."

- Mac Tonnies from a May 17, 2004 Posthuman Blues post. The cyborg image (inset, right) by Victor Habbick can be found here. (Sorry, Victor, I found the image before I found your site. I liked your cyborg best. Think of it as free press. If you'd rather, I will most certainly remove it... only please don't send the goon squad.) And, if cyborgs are your thing, here's more.


"The literary genre of science fiction is diverse, and its exact definition remains a contested question among both scholars and devotees. This lack of consensus is reflected in debates about the genre's history, particularly over determining its exact origins. There are two broad camps of thought, one that identifies the genre's roots in early fantastical works such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (earliest Sumerian text versions c. 2150–2000 BCE). A second approach argues that science fiction only became possible sometime between the 17th and early 19th centuries, following the scientific revolution and major discoveries in astronomy, physics, and mathematics.

Question of deeper origins aside, science fiction developed and boomed in the 20th century, as the deep integration of science and inventions into daily life encouraged a greater interest in literature that explores the relationship between technology, society, and the individual. Scholar Robert Scholes calls the history of science fiction 'the history of humanity's changing attitudes toward space and time ... the history of our growing understanding of the universe and the position of our species in that universe. In recent decades, the genre has diversified and become firmly established as a major influence on global culture and thought.'"

- An excerpt from Wikipedia's The History of Science Fiction. For lists of Science Fiction categorized by country of origin, go here. For a listing of Sci-fi/Fantasy artists, see this page. Inset, left is the cover from Philip Jose Farmer’s Strange Compulsion, a science fiction novel published in 1953, and found in this Huffington Post article.

***

Seven Oracles found here.

Call me crazy, but, while science and technology may have evolved in leaps in bounds in the past several centuries, science fiction has gone a lot further and faster into the unknown realms. Scientific discovery, after all, is limited by its very nature. It can only analyze existent phenomena and is focused on the here and now. Science fiction, however, is only limited by the human imagination... and from what we can gather, there are no limits to the human imagination.

Of course, science fiction authors are often science fans to some degree - Mac was - but, as for the general public, well, when it comes to topics like Mars, robots, exoplanets, spaceships and the like, they are likely to prefer the more entertaining fiction over the disillusioning facts. And, why not? NASA might still be searching for water on the Red Planet, but a host of sci-fi visionaries - up to and including Ray Bradbury - "discovered" it years and years ago. In other words, scientific data pales in comparison with the pseudo-scientific dreams which pre-date it...

A Red Sun Named Trappist-1

"PLANET HOP FROM TRAPPIST-1e
Voted best "hab zone" vacation within 12 parsecs of Earth"
A new NASA tourist poster done in that terrific retro style we first saw here.
(Click to enlarge.)
(Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech)

"NASA made the announcement in a live press conference after triggering much speculation over their big "discovery beyond our Solar System".

The new exoplanets have been detected orbiting an ultracool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1, which is located about 39 light-years away from our Sun in the Aquarius constellation.

Astronomers led by Michaël Gillon from the University of Liège in Belgium first detected three exoplanets around the star back in May 2016, using Earth-based telescopes.

But it wasn't until the team studied it more closely using NASA's Spitzer space telescope that they discovered an additional four planets in the system."

- Excerpt from a Science Alert article posted earlier today: BREAKING: NASA Announces the Discovery of a Potentially Habitable 'sister Solar' System.

***

I have a severe case of anxiety-produced writer's block these days but, while the angels continue to be left hanging in the air over at The Other Blog, it seemed imperative to finally move Post-Mac Blues past Christmas, 2016!  Ya think?

I had another post planned altogether - and was having a bitch of time with that one, too - when Google came to my rescue with one of their fun animations featuring a bunch of little bug-eyed planets begging for attention. I (dutifully) clicked on the animation and, presto, I was presented with another option for this post; not a better post, but, happily, a shorter one! And, actually, it might be quite exciting: seven new exoplanets have been discovered orbiting a dwarf star named Trappist-1 (named after the telescope which found it).  Moreover, they are earth-sized, possibly fit for bearing water... and, well, possibly life as well, although it never pays to get too excited about these things.

For more info, try this NASA page: NASA Telescope Reveals Largest Batch of Earth-Size, Habitable-Zone Planets Around Single Star.

As for the other post, well, it'll get here eventually... ;-)