The Andromeda Strain made Michael Crichton a star. The book examines the effects of an extraterrestrial pathogen that clots human blood. The organism kills or renders its victims insane. In the end, the organism evolves into a benign entity that migrates to the upper atmosphere, but a manned spacecraft burns up in reentry when it eats the heat shield on the space craft. As a result, mankind is trapped on Earth. The book predates many bio disaster works and taps into our worst fears about space travel. One reviewer said it was a horrifying story because of its plausibility.
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2014
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Quotes of the Month: April 2010
Quote of the Month: "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans,"
-Stephen Hawking
Dumb Quote of the Month: "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize."
-Congressman Hank Johnson on the deployment of 8000 marines to Guam.
and now the rest:
"The truth is that I never played organized baseball. While I love watching it, my skills are not where they need to be."
-Barack Obama on throwing out the first pitch of the Nationals’ season
Obama Lies! Grandma Dies!
-A Sign in Clinton Twp, MI protesting Obamacare
"30 Years ago when I wrote 'The Wall' I was a frightened young man," Waters tells Spinner. "Well, not that young -- I was 36 years old. It took me a long time to get over my fears. Anyway, in the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear and loss with it's concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, whatever! All these issues and 'isms are driven by the same fears that drove my young life."
-Roger Waters
"This really is transparent bollocks”
Craig Murray, Britain's former ambassador to Uzbekistan and a fierce critic of the Uzbek regime, after Sting took a major payday to play for the dictator’s daughter and then gave a perfunctory reason to explain it away.
"What we need is a president, not an athlete”
-Newt Gingrich
“whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower”
- Barack Obama (well that explains his economic policies designed to make us Zimbabwe!)
"I love the people of Islam but their religion, I do not agree with their religion at all. And if you look at what the religion does just to women, women alone, it is just horrid. And so yes, I speak out for women. I speak out for people that live under Islam, that are enslaved by Islam and I want them to know that they can be free”
-Franklin Graham
"I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on the roster, if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on that mound, that's my mound ... He ran across the pitcher's mound foot on my rubber. No, not happening. We're not the door mat anymore."
-Dallas Braden on Alex Rodriguez
"He just told me to get off his mound. I was a little surprised. I'd never quite heard that. Especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career ... I thought it was pretty funny actually."
-Alex Rodriguez on Dallas Braden
"Bob is not authentic at all. He's a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I."
-Joni Mitchell on Bob Dylan
"She's just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour. I mean it's just ridiculous."
-British PM Gordon Brown
-Stephen Hawking
Dumb Quote of the Month: "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize."
-Congressman Hank Johnson on the deployment of 8000 marines to Guam.
and now the rest:
"The truth is that I never played organized baseball. While I love watching it, my skills are not where they need to be."
-Barack Obama on throwing out the first pitch of the Nationals’ season
Obama Lies! Grandma Dies!
-A Sign in Clinton Twp, MI protesting Obamacare
"30 Years ago when I wrote 'The Wall' I was a frightened young man," Waters tells Spinner. "Well, not that young -- I was 36 years old. It took me a long time to get over my fears. Anyway, in the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear and loss with it's concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, whatever! All these issues and 'isms are driven by the same fears that drove my young life."
-Roger Waters
"This really is transparent bollocks”
Craig Murray, Britain's former ambassador to Uzbekistan and a fierce critic of the Uzbek regime, after Sting took a major payday to play for the dictator’s daughter and then gave a perfunctory reason to explain it away.
"What we need is a president, not an athlete”
-Newt Gingrich
“whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower”
- Barack Obama (well that explains his economic policies designed to make us Zimbabwe!)
"I love the people of Islam but their religion, I do not agree with their religion at all. And if you look at what the religion does just to women, women alone, it is just horrid. And so yes, I speak out for women. I speak out for people that live under Islam, that are enslaved by Islam and I want them to know that they can be free”
-Franklin Graham
"I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on the roster, if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on that mound, that's my mound ... He ran across the pitcher's mound foot on my rubber. No, not happening. We're not the door mat anymore."
-Dallas Braden on Alex Rodriguez
"He just told me to get off his mound. I was a little surprised. I'd never quite heard that. Especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career ... I thought it was pretty funny actually."
-Alex Rodriguez on Dallas Braden
"Bob is not authentic at all. He's a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I."
-Joni Mitchell on Bob Dylan
"She's just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour. I mean it's just ridiculous."
-British PM Gordon Brown
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Previous Winners: Men of the Decade (1900-1999)
1900s- Albert Einstein: Something about relativity...
1910s- Henry Ford: Assembly line and $5 day set up the 20th century.
1920s- Babe Ruth: People had disposable income for the first time and spent it on sports.
1930s- Mohandas Gandhi: The Salt March and non-violent protest inspired MLK and helped India gain independence in 1948.
1940s- Franklin D. Roosevelt: Turned the weight of American power on the Germans and Japanese militarists. Essentially saved the western civilization.
1950s- Laika: First dog in space. I like dogs.
1960s- Apollo 11: We really need to return to the moon and set up colonies before the Earth becomes too populated.
1970s- No one!: What a crap ass decade this was.
1980s- Ronald Reagan: Bed time for Communism.
1990s- Steve Yzerman: The decade was a "holiday from history." Steve led the Wings to two Stanley Cups (1997-1998) and broke the curse.
1910s- Henry Ford: Assembly line and $5 day set up the 20th century.
1920s- Babe Ruth: People had disposable income for the first time and spent it on sports.
1930s- Mohandas Gandhi: The Salt March and non-violent protest inspired MLK and helped India gain independence in 1948.
1940s- Franklin D. Roosevelt: Turned the weight of American power on the Germans and Japanese militarists. Essentially saved the western civilization.
1950s- Laika: First dog in space. I like dogs.
1960s- Apollo 11: We really need to return to the moon and set up colonies before the Earth becomes too populated.
1970s- No one!: What a crap ass decade this was.
1980s- Ronald Reagan: Bed time for Communism.
1990s- Steve Yzerman: The decade was a "holiday from history." Steve led the Wings to two Stanley Cups (1997-1998) and broke the curse.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)