Points of Interest
Just another Brenico weblog
June Action
June Action
FOREVER (or June 2008)
Once upon a time, I ran a different weblog, where I wrote many things, and my readership, as it was, would periodically be given the opportunity to decide what I would write for a month. June 2008 was just such a month, and, after various proposals and much ballot stuffing, the eventually winner was… Various action sequences, esp. car chases.
There weren’t as many car chases as one could have hoped, but there was a character born out of the stories. A timeless heroine, who fought and fought and did impossible things, all with catty grace and wit; and, being the creative type that I clearly am, she was called June Action. Below are my top seven of those June stories— I hope you enjoy fights with Sumo Jesus, Batman riffs, and dinosaurs.
T. Lobsang Rampa
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa
Unknown (or, April 8, 1910) – January 25, 1981
The lama Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, transmigrant in the body of Cyril Henry Hoskin, also known as Doctor Carl Kuon Suo, was the author of several autobiographical and fantastical stories about his life in Tibet and his travels through our world and universe. While many suggested his stories were highly implausible, utterly dubious, and even totally ludicrous, Tuesday Lobsang Rampa never once conceded even an inch of ground to his critics, continuing to write about his amazing adventures and his mastery of the metaphysical up until his death.
And what is one to make of his claims to have spent time with the Yetis, to have gained clairvoyance by trepanation, to have lived the mad-cap life of a Bondian agent to forces unknown? If absurd, they are a testament to some creative force, and may be seen as light entertainment, just possibly containing seeds to some small enlightenment about the nature of things. Probably not, but, hey, kooky fun.
UFOLand
UFOLand
August 1997 – 2001/2003
Closed to the public in 2001, no longer actively used from 2003, and finally offered for sale in 2007, UFOLand was once the centre of Claude Vorilhon’s Raëlian movement, a museum intended to educate and inspire all humanity. Boasting a replica of the UFO that took Vorilhon, thereafter Raël, into the loving embrace of the aliens who left him with all the wisdom necessary to become the prophet of a new religion, the largest model of a DNA structure in the world, and a doughnut-shaped model of the Elohim Embassy, this could have been a Kook Disneyland were it not for its way-out-of-the-way location near Valcourt, Quebec.
UFOLand may be abandoned, but it will not be forgotten, brave friends. At least until I’ve seen it first-hand, only to be thoroughly disappointed. Until then!
- Welcome to UFOLand (archive.org, November 2001)
- Message from the Designers (rael.org)
- Susan Palmer, Aliens Adored: Raël’s UFO Religion (Paperback @ Amazon, 2004)
- Guitar Wolf, Wild Zero (DVD @ Amazon, 2000)
Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996
The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation of a distant memory, as if we were falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.
Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)
As far as it goes, Carl Sagan’s is the voice that convinced me of the deep value in scientific inquiry on the nature of things, the “asymptotic approaches to the truth.” His work, promoting understanding and educating, are invaluable to everyone — yes, everyone, ever. Basically, what I’m saying is… if you haven’t seen Cosmos, you need to get on that immediately.
- Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (DVD Set @ Amazon, 1980)
- Carl Sagan Day (carlsaganday.com, November 7)
- Carl Sagan Portal (carlsagan.com)
- Carl Sagan and James Burke high-fiving
- David Morrison, “Carl Sagan’s Life and Legacy” (Skeptical Inquirer, Volume 31.1)
- The Planetary Society, Biography on Carl Sagan, co-founder
FORCE BRENICO
Macsen and Skinny function as high-level operatives of unknown agency, working under their director, the Skwrl, in the gritty animated series “FORCE BRENICO“. Between tight plotting of a vast, multi-layered story and pitch-perfect action sequences, it could prove one of the best series you may never see.
Despite testing very positively in a limited market run (focused in Libreville, OR), the show has yet to find full backing to go national, and no new episodes have been ordered— indeed, there is little indication that it was ever going to be seriously considered for network treatment. Another casualty of “lowest common denominator” decision-making, or just a pragmatic outlook for a show that may never find a wide audience? It is hard to say, but, despite the unlikelihood of mass distribution, there are signs that the secretive producers of the show do intend to forge ahead with their creation, leaving us with some hope that, in some form or another, the story of “FORCE BRENICO” will yet be told.
- FORCE BRENICO teaser site
- FORCE BRENICO @ Public Memory