Today’s guest post is by Joanne.
I absolutely adore Science Fiction shows – always have. Since the original “Star Trek” series was televised when I was in grade school right up to current edgy shows like “Fringe” that are being aired now. Along the way I’ve enjoyed all Star Trek series and movies, Babylon 5, Dr. Who, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Stargate series, Quantum Leap, Battlestar Galactica (the recent one – not the cheesy old one with Lorne Greene) and others.
The best way to explain my love of science fiction is the feeling of exhilaration I experience when well-done science fiction explores the range of possibilities available in our wide universe – the dreams of what could be. Time travel, parallel universes, technology advances, spiritual and physical evolution. I am fascinated and uplifted by the innovative genius of the writers and how they use beloved and familiar characters to flesh out the questions, curiosity, dark urges and brilliance that always bubbles beneath in our collective consciousness.
I’m guessing that doctoral theses have been written about the triumvirate of archetypal characters that embody Kirk, Bones and Spock. Personally, I’ve never fully understood or felt the need to pick apart and analyze art or literature to mine the metaphors and deeper meanings that may be there – fascinating and rich they may be. I prefer the simple-minded pleasure of watching my favorite characters that seem like old friends, wrestle with the challenges of the future and unheard of scenarios … yet they resonate with the same challenges you and I face on a daily basis in one form or another.
And the gadgets! I remember pretending an old metal Sucrets box was a communicator, trying to emulate Capt. Kirk’s ultra-smooth move of taking his out of back pocket and flipping it open. Now I try to do that with my cell phone. Not as easy as it looks. But the idea of transporters, tricorders, warp speed, translators, bloodless surgery, healing instruments, the TARDIS, parallel dimensions, etc., really gets my blood jumping. The moments I experience the hold-your-breath, expansive, spellbinding trance of great storytelling that transport me to a different level of thinking, a blinding new perspective or breathless possibilities that never occurred to me before. And yet – there’s an underlying familiarity of how it relates to present day problems, shows us our vulnerabilities and celebrates the glories of human existence in a way most other genres cannot.
Granted there are occasions of heavy-handed morality, clunky storylines, weak acting and – God forbid – cheesy special effects; but they all add to the charm of the genre, and are forgiven in a generally good quality Science Fiction show. It’s also a fact that some current technologies were based on science fiction gadgets. Even the making of science fiction shows and movies contributed to great advances in movie special effects that we now take for granted.
What gadget, technology or personal power from Science Fiction would you most like to see, do or have in your life?
Trail Baboon 
When I have an appointment to see a doctor I always check the directory to see if they have a Dr. Crusher in the building. She’s the doctor I would like to see. She had that tricorder that she would just wave in the general direction of the patient and a diagnosis would come up on the screen instantly. Dr. McCoy had one, too, I’m sure, but I don’t think it was as cool or advanced as Dr. Crusher’s. When I have an MRI, I think, well what is the deal here? I can’t believe I have to have this dye injected into my veins and lie still for twenty minutes and then wait two days to get a report from the radiologist. It should be SO much easier. Get Beverly in here.
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My current MD reminds me of Dr. Crusher, and I hadn’t realized it till just now! Same age, even the reddish hair.
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I love the tricorder too-but please note that the tool is firmly in the grip of a good and compassionate doctor who is looking at the patient at the time and sometimes senses that something about the machine’s reading just isn’t right.
My fear is that in medicine (and education, heaven help us) it is becoming more “cost-effective” (and is that really the ultimate good???) to just let the machine do all the decision-making.
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Just yesterday in a meeting, I put my fingers up to my namebadge (yes, we have to wear namebadges at my office) and said quietly to myself “Beam me up, Scottie”.
Although I also adore Beverly (the Dancing Doctor) and all her cool stuff, if I could have one thing, just one thing from Star Trek (besides Scott Bacula) it would be the beaming. When I’m sitting in a boring meeting, when I’m sitting in traffic, when I’ve completely mis-managed my time, I want my particles to be instantaneously transferred to another location.
I read a book once, The Physics of Star Trek, in which the author delves into why tele-transportation will probably never become a reality, but I still dream.
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Did the author say how long we might have to wait for those tricorders?
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Actually the tricorder is one of those things that will probably come about – we actually have big versions of a tricorder now… you’ve experienced one of them yourself… the MRI!
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At least that’s what the author says..
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Hey all… have a good week. We’re off to see “the Heads”!
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Safe travels.
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Have a great trip.
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enjoy
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Catch the Badlands on the way if you have time… Safe journey!
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This weekend my husband and I are enjoying a visit from our 27 year old daughter who lives in Chicago. We were talking about travel time by Megabus or car and the expense of airplane travel. I said, “I wish I had a tardis.” Our daughter said, “NO! If you get a tardis, Dad will never get rid of all his stuff!”
Think of it. Infinite storage space….
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But isn’t she rather missing the point? With infinite storage space, it wouldn’t MATTER that he didn’t get rid of all his stuff. He could just happily keep shoving stuff in and she would never have to go near it. End of problem.
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I think this already exists – they call it the House on the Rock.
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hee hee
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yes the transporter room is my want. to turn into those energized little molecules zipping through time and space to the destination would be cool
i also thing the never ending gobstoppers form willy wonka would be good.
the space car from the jetsons
robots or beautiful cleaning and service units to come and look after my clutter and cooking while i am allowed to go through life unencumbered by menial tasks or needs..
time machine would be good. go visit lincoln twain, ghandi picasso, jesus and the buddah da vinci ancient rome and the dinosaurs go have a cocktail with winston churchill , watch the beatles revisit woodstock and see if the rain really screwed up the weekend.
xray vision would come in handy and mind reading would be a very valuable asset. not sure i would want to know iall that i would know if that were a possibility but then again. and remember the star trek episode where the guy had , eternal life? he was the artist , the writer the musician the engineer with undiscovered bach preludes and shakespearian plays because he was the guy? wouldn’t that be cool. and how about the jet pack from buck rogers. push the button on the handlebars and up up up into the sky to go over the next destination.
wow we have a weekend for this one? i am salivating at what everyone will come up with.
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I always wanted a jetpack… I used to zoom around pretending I was wearing one. The college got mad at me running up the halllways going ‘zoom zoom’…
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Those gel pods from Galaxy Quest are pretty cool too.
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Good morning everyone. Thanks for launching my flights of fancy first thing this morning, Joanne.
The only science fiction show I have ever watched is Dr. Who, and that was a long time ago. My recollection of the show is vague, but I do remember the Tardis. I’m in the process of trying to book a flight to Seattle to visit some friends in Bellingham, and a Tardis would sure be a nice alternative to the available commercial transportation options. I could skip having to arrange for transportation to and from the airport at some ungodly hour, and there’d be no airport security or limits on carry on luggage to contend with. No connecting flights to worry about, and I’d be sure to have something more satisfying than a bag of peanuts to eat. My Tardis would be furnished with a comfortable recliner with plenty of room to stretch my legs and not staffed by a bunch of grumpy flight attendants. There’s also be no line to use the restroom and the bathroom itself would be large enough to turn around in. What the heck, it might as well have a hot tub so that I could take a leisurely soak and arrive at my destination all relaxed and ready to go. Dream on, PJ! Perhaps you should consider Amtrak.
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i got shanghaied in bellingham a bunch of years ago when my vw bus blew up in vancouver and had it towed to bellingham, got to spend 4 or 5 days there while they waited for the parts and got to work. i slept at the college in the dorms for 5 bucks a night
i enjoyed the feel of the town. say hi to bejjingham for me. the trip is half of the journey sometimes. i think the hottub option should be considered for future flight considerations. make the mile high club much more interesting
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tim, I love Bellingham. I’d move there in a heartbeat if everything weren’t so expensive. Sailing on Lake Whatcom is the best.
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Definitely Amtrak if we’re past the chance of flooding out any bridges.
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I’d like Gypsy, Tom Servo, and Crow as my household staff. I would have Crow and Tom Servo do some of the housecleaning chores from time to time so Gypsy could have a day off. But mostly they would just be there to make me laugh.
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Good morning all,
I have a busy day, but I can think of one thing I would want from science fiction, high power vision. If I had that I could examine the microscopic world without needing to mount it under a microscope. Looking at that world freely would be like being in a science fiction world. The water and soil and even the air is filled with all kinds of interesting things that we can’t see very easily. Hope you all have a good week end.
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Jim, I’m not so sure I’d want to be able to see microscopic creepy crawly things. Plain old restored 20/20 vision would be great though.
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thanks, Joanne – and you All with such good imaginations! i would like a second brain installed and ready to act when i forget the things i need to remember. maybe a little ear plug that i could take out when not needed but put in when i’m multi-tasking. that auxiliary brain would say “barb, remember to call the plumber” or “barb, remember that really important thing… blah, blah” that brain would hold on to the things that just seem to slip right out of mine.
but like VS, i would have loved to be beamed up when i was a working stiff. wouldn’t that be cool???
thanks – enjoy your day
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Yeah, I could use one of those too.
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I’ve often thought that having something like one of those little USB thumb drives with different pieces of information on it would be handy – one for names I can’t remember, one for high school math, one to track my current schedule…just swap ’em in and out as needed.
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It would be great to be able to travel so that I could go quickly between the long distances I have to go to get anywhere. Have a great time at the Heads, VS. They have had some forest and range fires lately but I think the monuments and other attractions are ok. The Sturgis motorcycles should be fairly dispersed now, too.
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the whole dead pine tree thing in the rockies that has decimated the black hills is jsut too sad. how long do you wait until you figure out how to save the forest> all dead dry standing forsets waiting for a forest fore. very sad.
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I’m always saying I want to be able to beam different places. And I think I would really like time travel. But the one that I lust for today… remember the Replicator on Star Trek TNG? Here’s how Wiki describes it.
A replicator works by rearranging subatomic particles, which are abundant everywhere in the universe, to form molecules and arrange those molecules to form the object. For example, to create a pork chop, the replicator would first form atoms of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc., then arrange them into amino acids, proteins, and cells, and assemble the particles into the form of a pork chop.
Jean-Luc Picard would just walk up to this thing that looked llke a microwave oven and say “Tea, earl grey, hot.” Just imagine you’ve forgotten to stop for groceries. You say to the replicator “Lasagna Florentine, hot” and come back a few minutes later and Voila!, dinner.
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Lassi, milked.
5 gallons milk, cheesed
50 pounds, lost
like that? i want one too!
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i do that with a thing that looks like a microwave now.
i put in a cup of water and a tea bag and say “earl gray tea” and 90 seconds later it comes out earl gray tea.
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But do you say to it: “Tea, earl grey, hot.” ?
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And you have to say it in a sonorous baritone with a British accent — that special, Royal Shakespeare-trained accent with perfect vowels and crisp consonants …
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my enunciation is not too crisp and i usually only send a subliminal message earl gray hot but i get it done
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Greetings! Now I get to answer my own question. I want telekinesis — the ability to move objects with my mind. Like Samantha in “Bewitched”; I’d just do that cute twitch of the nose and the house would instantly clean itself and everything would go back in its place, showers/sinks/toilets/counters all scrubbed and the vacuum running …. cleaning everything to perfection. The other technology I want is a teleporter/transporter. I do not enjoy spending long periods of time in a car or in an airplane. All you do is step onto the pad, tell it you want to go to the grocery store or New Zealand — and poof — within seconds you’re there! Whether around the corner or around the globe. That would be awesome!
My husband found this web site, and they have a program where you learn to access your knowledge from alternate universes from another “you.” http://www.quantumjumping.com It’s absolutely fascinating. This isn’t a sales pitch or anything as I haven’t explored it — but, geez, think of the possibilities … science fiction come true!
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I’d like a good Sonic Screwdriver and a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, but perhaps I should not make use of them at the same time – between the two of them and a good roll of duct tape, you could probably fix most anything (including heartache or the ability to see Michelle Bachman). Also, Thursday Next’s ability to jump into the BookWorld. And jet packs, definitely jet packs – or at least a flying car.
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ooooh yes! a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster will come in handy a few weeks into the fall….
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Bartending/Cocktails/Pan_Galactic_Gargle_Blaster
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OT but there is a really interesting and not particularly flattering article about Michelle Bachman in the latest New Yorker.
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Thanks, Renee — interesting article, indeed. I wasn’t aware of her background, but it explains a lot about her. I still don’t understand how people can take her seriously when she has such a tenuous grasp of the facts of history, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc. What’s becoming clear is she is a master of marketing herself — and apparently that’s what wins elections these days. Unfortunately, true leadership and willingness to do what’s right and best FOR THE COUNTRY has been usurped by “what’s best for me” voters and politicians who milk this raging polarity in our country.
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Very informative and interesting article. Thanks for posting link, Renee.
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I am wishing for the ability to levitate things such as stage trussing and to be able to isolate and dis-engage gravity as needed so we wouldn’t have the tragedy like the stage collapse in Indianapolis last night.
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Totally with you on that, Ben.
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the more i think about it i think id like a phaser too
set it on stun
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