Coopernundrums » Views

Live a Good Life

JayCooper — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:58:15 +0000

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.

Marcus Aurelius

Giving Voice to the Villain

JayCooper — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:33:48 +0000

Villains are often overlooked in movies. Truly great stories need memorable villains. Sometimes the villain is so compelling that he or she even overshadows the hero. Some actors make better villains than others. I decided to make a list of actors that make great villains. Some have tried their hands at serious and even sometimes heroic roles. Where these actors really shine is when they are portraying truly immoral characters. Here is a list of my all time favorite actors, notable for their portrayal of villains.

2011 a Space Odyssey

JayCooper — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:38:45 +0000

I know. I know. The title of this article is rather salacious. You will soon find that this has very little to do with the Stanley Kubrick film.

This has been a terrible year for me. I really feel like this was a throw away disaster of a year personally and from a media standpoint as well. I can’t think of a single sci-fi flick, horror movie, or TV show that was a whiz-bang world mover for me. In lieu of this I thought I would close out the year here on the site with a post about some sci-fi series that tug at my heart any time I even just so much as hear mention of them. Here goes. This is my list of favorite Science Fiction TV series of all time.

The Twilight Zone

Not only one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever, it’s one of the best shows of all time. Rod Serling hosted the show from 1959 to 1964. Each week, he featured a usually creepy, sometime witty, show that ranged from alien invaders to time travel. This show is in many ways the show that launched a thousand ships, or rather careers, actors, writers and special effects artists.

Dr. Who

No sci-fi show list is complete without Dr. Who. The series started in 1963 and featured several men as the doctor – a time traveling, eccentric alien – and his comrades. Sure, many of the monsters were terribly cheesy, but it is a classic nonetheless. The show was canceled in 1989, made a brief return in a TV movie in 1996 and then was fully resurrected and came back into production in 2003. It continues today

Lost in space

“Danger Will Robinson, danger!” For three years and countless reruns after, we watched the Robinson family survive against scary and hilarious beings that threatened their existence. The family, as the title implies, was hopelessly lost in space because of a sabotage effort gone awry thanks to Dr. Zachary Smith. The program aired from 1965 to 1968.

Star Trek

The original Star Trek, which aired just three seasons from 1966-69, fell from the number 1 spot on the list to number 2. Yes, perhaps it didn’t feature the best acting, or most compelling story plots, but it was a show that set the standard for future space epics since. The show is also more popular today than it was when it first ran. The show went on to inspire several movies, several spinoffs, and hordes of fans.

BattleStar Galactica

The 1978 series ‘”Battlestar Galactica” is a fantastic story of 12 colonies destroyed by a race of mechanized beings called Cylons, who are bent on destroying civilization. Commander Adama, played by the late Lorne Green, leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet across the galaxy in search of the lost 13th tribe, who settled on a planet called Earth. The great cast included Dirk Benedict as Starbuck and Richard Hatch as Apollo.

Buck Rogers

A 20th century astronaut, Buck Rogers (played by Gil Gerard), is on a space mission when his shuttle runs into a cosmic anomaly. Buck’s frozen in suspended animation until he’s revived 500 years later. From 1979 to 1981, we watched as Buck helped solve future Earth’s dilemmas. And, of course, we couldn’t leave out the lovely Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering. The show also taught us that spandex is in ample supply in the 25th century.

The Six Million Dollar Man

Those famous words, “We can rebuild him, we have the technology,” explain how astronaut Steve Austin (Lee Majors) becomes the “The Six Million Dollar Man.” Austin is mutilated after a crash and a secret government agency replaces his now departed parts with super powerful mechanical limbs. Austin uses his new superhuman like powers to solve crimes and catch bad guys. Look for the classic episode when he battled Sasquatch, or Big Foot. The series began in 1973 and resulted in a spinoff series called the “Bionic Woman.”

(The original) V

This miniseries was nearly 20 years ahead of “Independence Day.” In 1983, sci-fi loving Americans were glued to their sets to watch the Visitors in the miniseries “V.” It followed the classic aliens plot — aliens come to Earth to help humanity, but actually want to steal the planet’s natural resources. A regular show followed this miniseries, but never quite lived up to the original.

Alien Nation

Alien slaves, bred to be super intelligent and strong, crash on Earth. These “Newcomers” are assimilated into society. The show focused on one of them, George Francisco, who becomes a police detective partnered with a human cop, Matthew Sikes. They fight crime, learn to respect each other’s cultures, and fight the new bigotry between humans and aliens.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

This series is on many people’s list as the best sci-fi show of all time. It nearly made our number one spot, too. The show featured a great cast that evolved throughout its seven seasons, from 1987 through 1994.

So there you have it. My picks for the greatest Sci-Fi TV shows ever. Am I close? Let me know.

A Christmas Carol …about Hats

JayCooper — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:11:28 +0000

Every year at this time I watch several versions of A Christmas Carol. It is my favorite show during the holidays. The period in which the story takes place has forever fascinated me. If you are like me the most glaringly obvious sign that a story is taking place in this period is the clothing. Waistcoats, triple breasted vests, high collars and of course the top hat were staples of the day.

The first silk top hat, made from silk shag (a form of plush), was made in 1793. It is not without some measure of controversy that this is credited to one hatter by the name of George Dunnage of Middlesex County in England. The style was never referred to as top hat back then. They were referred to as beaver hats, and Dunnage’s hat made of silk was called ”an imitation of beaver”. Thus the silk top hat came into being. Usage of the actual term top hat did not become popular until later in the 19th century. Dunnage’s father Benjamin was in the ribbon trade, which put George in the place to be knowledgeable of the silk trade. Dunnage and a business partner, Thomas Larkin, went into business together under the name Dunnage & Larkin and patented the manufacturing of silk hats until they disbanded the company and went their separate ways in 1818.

Men wore top hats for business, pleasure and formal occasions. A pearl gray color was worn in the daytime, black colors were used for day or night. They were popular primarily due to making the wearer feel taller, handsomer and suave. If men did not don a top hat you can bet they had some style of hat on. It was a demanded fashion. Men, rich or poor, would not be caught dead without a hat on.

Today, top hats are used for all sorts of special occasions. From weddings to racing events, men can be seen wearing these statuesque hats. Around 1980 the making of silk plush top hats ceased, due to the expense of the materials and the making of new looms. For this reason the antique top hat market has seen a rise in recent years. There are also several companies who craft top of the line top hats of newer materials. While still maintaining the grand look of old, the originals will always remain as a symbol of nobility, status, and sophistication.

I personally will always see Ebenezer Scrooge wearing his top hat along with the Mad Hatter, Uncle Sam, Abe Lincoln, Fred Astaire and of course Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat. Yes that’s right they are all sitting in a room playing poker and eating peanuts and cookies. Seriously!

Happy Holidays!

Toys of Xmas Past

JayCooper — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:32:03 +0000

I don’t remember ever being disappointed waking up on xmas morning. I look back now on those frosty mornings with such great memories. I thought it would be great to share some of the greatest presents I ever received. Maybe some of these bring back great memories for you like they did for me!

Evel Knievel Cycle Toy

In 1973, New York based Ideal Toys created toys based on Butte Montana’s daredevil son, Robert “Evel” Knievel and history was made! Many thanks to Rob Chatlin for the terrific scans. My brother and I wer elucky enough to get one of these each. I LOVED this toy. You hooked the bike up to a crank stand, cranked a bit and it revved up the friction motor in the toy bike so that the wheels spun. You slapped a release and OFF IT WENT! endless hours of annoying crank noise, but once again no batteries required. I think it was about 75 when we actually got one of these.

Shogun Warriors Godzilla

The shogun warriors toys were some of the coolest robots on the planet already but then in 1977 they released the BEAST. One Christmas morning I woke to unwrap this one of the coolest toys I ever got. His claws fire off with enough force to knock things down. His tongue flashed a fake flame stream, he rolled on wheels, and he didn’t need batteries. My brother and I spent endless hours roaring and having fun with these toys. I think it was in the early eighties when i got one these.

Stretch Armstrong

Stretch Armstrong was a large stretchable, gel filled, toy figure invented by Kenner that was made from 1976 through about 1980. You could pull the dolls extremities from its original 15 inch size out to about 3 to 4 feet. I spent many a fun filled day playing with this toy. Its simplicity belies a really fun toy you can do a LOT with. I wrapped this guy around everything. My brother got the green monster which I was insanely jealous of. Love ya bro!

Merlin Game

One of the very first hand held electrinic games. It was not just one game but SIX. Don’t let the seemingly simple buttons fool you. THis game was fun. It was invented by a guy that went to Harvard and worked with NASA. While it was invented and marketed in 1978, it was in the eighties when I got my hands on one. I spent hours playing this thing. It is so additctive and memorable that I recently received the updated, rereleased version from a friend. Thanks Jimbo.

Sectaurs

The concept was simple: good humanoid bug people and evil, less-humanoid bug people do battle atop giant insect mounts. But what set this line apart was the fact that many of the ride-on bugs were actually puppets. I had this creepy, hairy spider puppet with a plastic head and a snapping, finger-controlled mandible that I would have enjoyed the hell out of, even if there wasn’t a creepy spider-headed guy riding on his friggin’ back. In the ’80s we got these guys, we got a dragon-head puppet that came with Hordak’s hide-out in MotU. Nowadays, puppets and action figures are kept segregated. Who among us is brave enough to bring them back together?

Magical Musical Thing

One of the earliest electronic toys I can recall. Sometime after 1978 Mattel created what I consider the precursor to the 80s music staple the keytar. It played surreal, reedy phone-like tones on a plastic membrane pad fretboard, laid out like a piano scale.

Read-a-long books with cassettes

In the days before computers, DVD and VHS, this was the next best thing for reliving a movie or a TV show. From Goonies to A-Team, Star Wars to Mary Poppins, they made them all!

So there you have it. Toys from my childhood xmas memories. Enjoy!

Gloriously Hedonistic Annual Jaunt

JayCooper — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:23:06 +0000

It’s that time of year again. The gloriously hedonistic annual jaunt through that labyrinth filled with religious land mines called XMAS. As I get older I have noticed that I loath xmas more and more each year. I find that as soon as the turkey is all gobbled up, my mind begins an old internal struggle. Should atheists ignore xmas or celebrate It?

I know that many do generally because they always have and don’t want to change. Some even say that it should be replaced by a more inclusive, general holiday. Part of me feels that all such holidays should be ignored by atheists altogether. A more humane holiday should be global and universal, equally relevant to all humans, regardless of their cultural heritage or where they live.

The idea that xmas is a purely christian holiday is actually a myth perpetuated by the majority that happen to actually be christians. (link to post on this here) Many atheists don’t believe that Jesus existed, and those who do don’t regard him as having been anyone special. No atheists are christians, so why bother participating in such a holiday? It’s arguable that participating makes christianity seem more popular than it really is, not to mention giving christians an unjustified ego boost.

I feel that atheists celebrating xmas can often cause more harm than good by arming conservative evangelical christians with the perceived argument that America is essentially a christian nation. The more popular and important christian holidays are in America, the easier it is to claim that there is something about christianity which is fundamental to America’s culture. It’s not a very good argument and this isn’t very good support for it, but why offer them even this bit of help?

Long ago I lost the struggle being an atheist parent who celebrates xmas, weather or not to perpetuate the Santa Claus myth. This required me to lie to my kids. Yes, it is a lie. There’s not a nicer way of describing what one does when telling small children that Santa Claus visits every house on the planet delivering presents to children via a flying sleigh pulled by “magic” ruminants. If I had it to do it over I would have left this out of my children’s lives Aside from the joy of engrossing oneself in pure fantasy I find no value in it. In fact in many ways I feel it may even be a mild form of indoctrination. There are always very strong incentives to do what other parents are doing. Not celebrating xmas and not telling kids about Santa could have caused my children to be ostracized from others above and beyond what simply being an atheist tends to do already. At the same time, though, the numbers of religious minorities who also don’t participate are increasing, thus increasing the numbers of kids who are “different.” Being different isn’t easy, but who wants to be a hypocrite just to fit in?

One possible reason for atheists to celebrate xmas is that it has become increasingly secularized over time and there is little sign of the process stopping soon. Arguments against xmas remain, but atheist participation in xmas actually helps serve the cause of removing it from its various christian and pagan roots. There are good reasons why many christians are upset over the current state of christmas, and those may be good reasons for atheists to keep the changes in motion.

Some folks will read this and think it is an attack on a cherished holiday. Others may take away that I am a hard-line non- conformist that wants to openly besmirch christianity in general. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I enjoy all the pagan, secular aspects of the holiday. I just don’t like the feeling of being under fire that comes along with its observance.