Science Fiction | Joe's Jottings https://joepritchard.me.uk Being the homepage and blog of Joe... Wed, 21 Oct 2015 17:14:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 Michael Meacher – another of the old school leaves us https://joepritchard.me.uk/2015/10/michael-meacher-another-of-the-old-school-leaves-us/ Wed, 21 Oct 2015 17:14:12 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=7788 I was sad today to hear of the death of Michael Meacher, left wing Labour MP for Oldham West and Royton. He was one of the last of the ‘old school’ Labour politicians who showed true Socialist conviction, having been first elected in 1970 and serving under Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan and Tony Blair, and […]

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]]> Seven of Nine and the Illuminati https://joepritchard.me.uk/2012/12/seven-of-nine-and-the-illuminati/ Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:59:49 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=1551 This blog post started life this summer, after the Olympics. It was a time of great celebration in Britain; after all, according to some people we'd dodged at least three bullets over the Olympic period - a nuclear terror attack, the invasion of Earth by inter-dimensional aliens through a portal opened by the Olympic Opening Ceremony or an uprising of the forces of the Illuminati.

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]]> Whoops…no Apocalypse! https://joepritchard.me.uk/2012/08/whoops-no-apocalypse/ Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:24:15 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=1562 So, all you Olympic / Illuminati / Alien Conspiracy theorists….how’s that ‘The 2012 Olympics will herald the end of the world with nukes, interdimensional portals and alien invaders’ idea hanging this morning? A few weeks ago I posted this item – https://joepritchard.me.uk/2012/07/oops-apocalypse-or-get-a-friggin-grip/ – and as we’ve now crashed back to earth on the Monday after the Olympic […]

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]]> Oops Apocalypse….or…..GET A FRIGGIN’ GRIP! https://joepritchard.me.uk/2012/07/oops-apocalypse-or-get-a-friggin-grip/ Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:39:58 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=1546 According to some folks, the Olympic Opening cermony on Friday night is going to go with a bang.  Not figuratively, but literally.  Apparently a bunch of ne’er do wells called the Illuminati are going to detonate a nuclear weapon at the Stadium which will open up an interdimensional portal and flood the world with… well, […]

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]]> Variations on a Spotify theme….. https://joepritchard.me.uk/2012/04/variations-on-a-spotify-theme/ Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:11:02 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=1420 I found out tonight that there are over 70 versions of the Bob Dylan song ‘All along the watchtower’ on the online music service Spotify.  I sort of worry that there might soon be a ‘Watchtower radio’ channel online somewhere that plays nothing but versions of the song –  and, of course, there are songs […]

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]]> Dr Who – lazy writing or social engineering? https://joepritchard.me.uk/2010/04/dr-who-lazy-writing-or-social-engineering/ Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:06:43 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=1040 And so the new incarnation of Dr Who has his first adventure on BBC One, with 27 year old Matt Smith as the latest actor to portray the eponymous Time Lord.  The one thing about Doctors these days is that if you don’t like the current one, there’ll probably be another one along in a […]

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]]> Caprica 90210 https://joepritchard.me.uk/2010/03/caprica-90210/ Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:37:54 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=963 I am an enormous fan of the re-visioning of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ – good story and plot, good characters, nice combination of high tech and retro gadgets (loved the old style telephone handset that was used in the command centre).  Combine that with excellent soundtrack – just the best TV science fiction in recent years.  When […]

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]]> The Last Temptation of Mankind? https://joepritchard.me.uk/2010/02/the-last-temptation-of-mankind/ Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:58:10 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=733 One of my professional interests is in Artificial Intelligence – AI.  I think I’ve had an interest in the simulation of human personality by software for as long as I’ve been interested in programming, and have also heard most of the jokes around the subject – particularly those to do with ‘making friends’. 🙂  In fiction, most artificial intelligences that […]

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]]> What would George say? https://joepritchard.me.uk/2009/10/what-would-george-say/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:54:20 +0000 http://www.joepritchard.me.uk/?p=124 One of the useful spin-offs from the recent (and ongoing purge and tidy) at Pritchard Towers is that every now and again something floats up that makes you think “Whoa, yes, relevant with a capital ‘R'”.  The most recent relevant thing to catch my attention was a copy of Bernard Crick’s excellent biography of George […]

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]]> Reflections on “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” https://joepritchard.me.uk/2008/05/reflections-on-the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas/ Sun, 25 May 2008 10:02:33 +0000 http://www.joep.communityhost.org.uk/?p=46 I read this short story again recently; it’s by Ursula Le Guin and is one of the most haunting short stories that I’ve ever read.  The only short story that sticks with me more than this one is Parke Godwin’s ‘Stroke of Mercy’, which is stunning. I’d suggest you go and read ‘The Ones Who […]

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