Skiffy Flix: Flight to Mars

Posted on Sunday 30 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s been a while since I’ve watched and posted about a “skiffy flick,” that is, a science fiction movie from the 1950s, plus or minus a decade, when science fiction movies were very popular — or at least, a lot of them were made — and were mostly about space flight or visiting aliens, and were almost all really bad by any standards of science or even literary science fiction of the time. (My Skiffy Flix page lists those I’ve seen or plan to see, with links to reviews already posted.)

I watched another one this past week, a 1951 film called Flight to Mars. Here’s the Wikipedia description, and my photo of the DVD case:

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Gun Violence and Mental Illness

Posted on Saturday 29 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Observations about gun violence in the US and its relationship to mental illness.

Last month Washington Post published results of a survey, asking AR-15 owners why they bought and owned them.

Washington Post, 27 Mar 2023: Why do Americans own AR-15s?, subtitled “The Washington Post and Ipsos asked nearly 400 AR-15 owners why they own the rifle”

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A Warm Friday Afternoon

Posted on Friday 28 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

For today, several links and comments, and only one quote. About:

  • The Ten Commandments in Texas;
  • The ambitions of powerful men;
  • The potential loss of literacy;
  • Simon Winchester’s book about the transmission of knowledge;
  • Jerry Coyne on Jesus ‘n’ Mo and trying to make sense of the ‘sacrifice-and-resurrect-Jesus story’

Today, noting several interesting articles without having fully read them; just commenting on their apparent premises.

*

Vox, Fabiola Cineas, 28 Apr 2023: The Ten Commandments could be in every Texas classroom next fall, subtitled “Will the Texas GOP’s push to bring Christianity back into the classroom succeed?”

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The Relative Risks of Being Alive

Posted on Thursday 27 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly
  • The latest scientific studies of the effects of alcohol have concluded that the best amount of consumption is as little as possible, and how this is best understood through statistics about all kinds of risks;
  • Robert Reich’s take on Trump as treasonous;
  • A compilation of the lies of Tucker Carlson, and wondering why they work.

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Intuitive TV and Movie Physics

Posted on Wednesday 26 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Remember this? Remind you of anything?

This is the logo that would appear at the end of a Universe Pictures movie in the 1930s. Continue reading →

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Robert Reich Speaks, Writes, and Cartoons

Posted on Tuesday 25 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

More about Robert Reich’s appearance at UC Berkeley last night; and summary notes about his book Economics in Wonderland.

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Saw Robert Reich Today

Posted on Monday 24 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

At an event on the UC Berkeley campus, Zellerbach Hall. Later afternoon, 5:30pm, and so home at 7:30 for dinner and now running a little bit late. So longer post about this tomorrow.

Cal Performances: An Evening with Robert Reich. I’ll copy the text here, since the page itself is bound to disappear soon.
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The Continued Deadly Consequences of the Obsolete Second Amendment

Posted on Sunday 23 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The latest in the endless commentary about gun violence in the US: items about how America fails the civilization test; how gun violence is worse in Red States (despite what the Republicans say about big Blue cities); and how the Second Amendment is an historical antique and should go.

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A quiz about which personality quiz applies to you

Posted on Saturday 22 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic, Kelly Conaboy, 18 Apr 2023: What Your Favorite Personality Test Says About You, subtitled “Are you a Myers-Briggs person, an Enneagram person, or something else? The Atlantic made a quiz to help you find out.”

(Updated Sun 23 Apr 23.)

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Our New Hillside, and the usual political matters

Posted on Friday 21 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

First of all, tree trimmers have been near us for two days, trimming and potentially cutting down the eucalyptus trees on the hillside next to our house. This is welcome news because eucalyptus trees are fire-prone, and because a couple of the trees at the base of hill — the bottom of a property that faces Skyline Drive, above us — have blocked our view of the SF city skyline.

Here it was as they began yesterday:

And here it is so far today.

It looks *worse* today, but once they remove all the tree trunks, I hope what will be left is a nice, grassy hillside. Maybe with wildflowers.

Today’s topics:

  • Heather Cox Richardson on destroying the government, and suppressing the vote (of Democrats);
  • The nine principles of propaganda, which we’re familiar with from a recent example;
  • How Republicans love big government when it suits their purposes;
  • How gun rights amount to a war on youth;
  • What science says about what hurts and helps L.G.B.T.Q. youth Continue reading →
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