Ellison at Eighty

 

You read that correctly!  Harlan Ellison, as of May 27th, is eighty years old!  Talk about something making you feel ancient!

Ellison really defined my appreciation of the science fiction genre, in the late 60s and early 70s, with works like the Dangerous Visions that he edited, "Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman", I have No Mouth and I Must Scream, "A Boy and His Dog" oh and one of my all time favorites the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever".  (I am not alone on this one.  Many people consider this episode of Star Trek, the best one of the 79 episodes produced. 

Oh you have got to read the Wikipedia article on Ellison HERE

Happy Birthday Richard Matheson

Nelson was good enough to jog my memory and send me one of the quintessential moment in television history.  As you can see Mr. Shatner cringes in fear as the horror that is slowly destroying the plane he is riding in.  Yes, the Twilight Zone's "Terror at 20,000 Feet".  This episode was responsible for a phobia that still haunts me to this day.  That of pulling aside a curtain on a dark night.  I still get this little thrill of fear at what might reside on the other side of cloth barrier.  

 

Richard Matheson is 86 as of February 20th.  Incredibly prolific, Matheson's work is well known in many genre including my favorite Science Fiction.  Besides his television work many of his novels have been adapted to the big screen.  Two of note were The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, both ground breaking in their scope.  I Am Legend alone has been done several times, latest of note stared Will Smith, with an earlier version staring the great Charlton Heston.  Plus who can ever forget Steven Speilburg first outing in the 1971 "Duel"!

The Wikipedia has a great article here  and writer Dayton Ward has a nice tribute on his blog The Fog Ward

Happy 90th, Arthur C Clarke!

Sixty-two years ago Arthur C. Clarke sent a letter to the editor titled - Peacetime Uses for V2 - which was published in the 1945 February issue of the Wireless World magazine suggesting the use of Geostationary Satellites for the instant global communications. Quoting,

“I would like to close by mentioning a possibility of the more remote future--perhaps half a century ahead. An ``artificial satellite'' at the correct distance from the earth would make one revolution every 24 hours; i.e., it would remain stationary above the same spot and would be within optical range of nearly half the earth's surface. Three repeater stations, 120 degrees apart in the correct orbit, could give television and microwave coverage to the entire planet.”

Today, the Clarke Orbit has over 330 satellites. And even more amazing is that envisioned geo-sync, 2001, Rendezvous with Rama, Childhood's End and more, celebrates his 90th birthday 12/16/07. A fellow fan has put together a blog that allows fans like ourselves to log in and leave a birthday greeting for Sir Arthur. If you would like to, click on the link below or the article title, to be taken to the site.



Sir Arthur C Clarke’s 90th birthday wish blog

picture credit- Shahidul Alam