Sunday, February 14, 2010

Pluto in the News Again

Inventor with Frisbee
The inventor of the Pluto Platter, better known as the Frisbee, died a few days ago. (I read about it in the dead tree LA Times; the link is to a paper that was famous at one time.) I remember calling frisbees 'flying saucers' before I knew their official name. Fred Morrison invented them in 1957, appropriately in the rocketpunk era, hence this wonderful period image.

In honor of the surprisingly graceful game of stoners' football that this technology made possible, consider this an open thread, a handy home for spin-off discussions that don't quite fit previous posts.

13 comments:

Anita said...

Frisbeetarisanism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck. George Carlin

Well, someone was going to post this, so I thought "why not?"

Rodney said...

Don't forget about the other sport he's responsible for: frisbee golf. So, next time you're in a park and a plastic disk goes flying over (or at) your head toward a chain basket, you know where it started, indirectly at least.

Rick said...

'New Age' belief systems did start spreading about the same time frisbees became popular, didn't they? As well as a whole family of (usually!) low impact sports.

magpie said...

The toy you can use as a plate at picnics.

And it hovers at just the right speed for a dog to jump and catch.

These two uses are best not done in the reverse order.

VonMalcolm said...

A side thought:

I am not a gamer (if I were I would never leave the computer) but I try to read on Sci-Fi genre games to take in what is out there. I absolutely love the story background to Mass Effect; OK, ME it isn’t Hard Sci-Fi, the whole ‘Mass Effect’ thing and all, but the thought/history put into each race/civilization really impresses me (from what I've read so far).

Rick said...

Sometimes sequence is very important. (But why the expression 'lock and load?')

Convincing history background is worth quite a bit of squishie science!

VonMalcolm said...

An article called 'Your Military Science Fiction Isn't Really Military Science Fiction' via IO9 I think this blog may interested in:

http://io9.com/5481380/your-military-science-fiction-isnt-really-military-science-fiction

Rick said...

VonMalcolm - Your timing is exquisite, because I was just pondering hard SF tropes.

I will be posting on this.

VonMalcolm said...

An interview article on planned Europa and Jupiter mission set to launch in 2020.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8537992.stm

VonMalcolm said...

I am thinking about launching a Science Fiction website, but trying to figure out which web hosting service to use has got my head spinning worse than trying to understand Lukenstein Wormholes. Any thoughts/advice? I am going around in circles!

Three needs:

1. Best company to buy domains from - I read somewhere it is better to buy these separate from your web hosting company because it gives you more flexibility.

2. Best web hosting company - those thousands of top ten reviews are useless self promotions!

3. Best web design company - Is there one good company for all three needs?

VonMalcolm said...

I just came across this while surfing: dozens upon dozens of retro-future pictures:

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/11/retro-future-to-stars.html

VonMalcolm said...

The previously mentioned site (Dark Roasted Blend) also has a sci-fi section which can be found here:

http://www.scifi.darkroastedblend.com/

VonMalcolm said...

Great Sci-Fi Movie Idea. Bad Sci-Fi Movie Idea.

Great Idea(?) in the works to be directed by the director of Gattaca. -
'I'm Mortal.'

'I'm Mortal' is set in the not-too-distant future where the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, while the rest try to negotiate for their immortality.

So Bad it's good? -
'The Human Centipede'

-An older German man identifies himself as a retired surgeon specialized in separating Siamese twins. However his three "patients" are not about to be separated, but joined together in a horrific operation. He plans to be the first person to connect people via their gastric system, in doing so bringing to life his sick lifetime fantasy "the human centipede".

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wmTv2nqTHo