Sci-Fi Log #5: Doctor Who?

Doctor Who is a TV show produced by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). It’s about the many adventures of a mysterious time and space traveling alien man who calls himself The Doctor. He is the last of his race, called the Time Lords, from the planet Gallifrey. The show is the longest-running sci-fi series ever made. The show began in November 1963, and ran for 26 years. In 1989, it was canceled. However, the story did not stop when the show was cancelled by the BBC. A series of books were created by Virgin Publishing in the 90’s, continuing the adventures with the Seventh Doctor and his companion, Ace, called the New Adventures. In 1996, the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) was introduced in Doctor Who: The Movie. The movie received mixed responses from fans and critics alike. BBC Books took over the franchise from Virgin Publishing in 1997, producing a line of books continuing the adventures of the Eighth Doctor and his companions, known as the Eighth Doctor Adventures. A series of books for the previous Doctors, known as Past Doctor Adventures, were also created. In 2003, the BBC officially ordered 13 episodes of Doctor Who to be produced for 2005. With Christopher Eccleston at the helm of the TARDIS as the Ninth Doctor, and Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper) as his companion, Doctor Who was yet again a hit with audiences in the UK. The show is still very much alive today, captivating fans all around the world with its hilarity, heartbreaking moments, its suspenseful scenes, and happiest moments.

Sci-Fi Log #4: Who's Cribbing? and Time Travel

For my next sci-fi log, I re-read a short story called “Who’s Cribbing?” by Jack Lewis. The story, written in a letter format, is about Jack Lewis himself, an aspiring writer who wants to get his literary works published in a sci-fi magazine. However, the publishing companies keep rejecting his writings because they believe that he his completely plagiarizing from a well-known author named Todd Thromberry. Lewis has never heard of this 'Todd Thromberry'. He tries sending his work to other publishing companies, but to no avail. The companies say the same thing as the others, telling Jack Lewis that he has copied Todd Thromberry’s work. In the end, it is discovered that Todd Thromberry is the one plagiarizing Jack Lewis' work. Lewis proposes a theory that Thromberry somehow to crack the space-time barrier and is going through time to make it seem like Thromberry was the excellent writer and not Jack Lewis. The companies don’t believe him at all.

What I want to know is why Todd Thromberry would go through so much trouble just to make himself an author of stories submitted to a simple sci-fi magazine! If I were given the opportunity of time travel, I know for sure that I wouldn’t make myself the author of a few short sci-fi stories for a magazine. If I could, I would go back to major points in history and just watch them all happen, and not tamper with anything that could possibly change the course of history.

Sci-Fi Log #3: Real Life Dinosaurs - Cool or Not?

In my science fiction class, we are currently reading “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton. It’s a story about how a wealthy man named John Hammond has a dream of creating a theme park unlike anything the world has ever seen: A park with living, breathing dinosaurs.  He uses his money to buy a large, remote island, and for genetic research, to clone the dinosaurs. Hammond invites famous paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant and his partner paleobotanist, Dr. Ellie Sattler, to come and explore the island, along with famous mathematician Ian Malcolm, and a lawyer representing the Jurassic Park investors, Donald Gennaro. They are pessimistic about the park and say that it most likely won’t succeed. Hammond constantly disagrees with them, until things in the park start to go horribly wrong…
When I was younger, I was fascinated with dinosaurs. My older brother taught me about the many different kinds of dinosaurs there were. We played games, read books, and watched TV programs about them. We were obsessed with everything dinosaur-related. We then discovered the movie, Jurassic Park. We absolutely loved it. Not long after, we got the PC games based on the movie and played them almost everyday. We were captivated by the history and the creatures of the prehistoric world.
I always wondered what it would be like to have actual living dinosaurs in the world today. When I was a child, I was ecstatic about the idea. I mean, real-life, roaring, living dinosaurs? SO COOL! But now, in my 17-year-old mind, I realize that it is a terrible idea. Having dinosaurs would be cool, but there is so much that could go wrong. Michael Crichton’s book explains how dinosaurs in the present day could wreak havoc on humanity. His story explains an idea similar to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, with the common sci-fi idea that tampering with life unconsidered could cause major consequences.

Sci-Fi Log #2: The Random Sample that destroyed everything and everyone.

For sci-fi log #2, I chose to read and review “Random Sample” by T.P. Caravan. This short story, told in a first-person point of view, begins with a noticeably bratty little girl speaking to an unknown entity. She talks about how her brother Johnny and her were outside playing in their backyard stomping on ants when a spaceship suddenly landed in the nearby woods. She and Johnny went to the scene, and found aliens from the ship. She declared herself queen of them, and Johnny himself king. She wanted the aliens to bow down to her, but they didn’t. She got upset and went over to one of them and kicked it. Johnny followed suit. The aliens then took them inside their ship, where they received simple tests. The girl didn’t like any of the tests, so she purposefully did them wrong. She forced her brother to do the same. The bratty girl and her brother soon started to misbehave immensely, breaking the insides of the aliens’ ship. The aliens soon got very angry with the children. The aliens were disgusted by the kids’ behavior, and so they took off. The girl then starts to talk about how high the temperature is, casually describing what she sees: the earth burning up. The story ends with her apologizing to the aliens, saying she was sorry that she was bad.

The story is called “Random Sample” because the aliens took two random subjects and tested them to see whether or not the human race was worthy of being kept alive. Thanks to the not-even-innocent little girl, however, we all died. Thanks, little girl.

Sci-Fi Log #1: The Weapon

For my first sci-fi log, I chose to read and review “The Weapon” by Fredric Brown.

One night, a scientist named Dr. James Graham is working on a project: creating a powerful and dangerous weapon. A man named Mr. Niemand, a journalist, appears at Graham’s door and begins asking him about his work. The interview is interrupted with Dr. Graham’s mentally arrested son, Harry, walks in and asks his father if he can read him a story before bed. Graham agrees to read to him after the interview, and he introduces Harry to Mr. Niemand. The interview then continues, and the journalist asks Graham if humanity is ready for such a weapon. Dr. Graham gets irritated with Niemand’s question, having heard it many times before, and refuses to say any more on the subject. He offers the journalist a drink and Mr. Niemand accepts. Mr. Niemand then disappears into Harry’s room, and Graham hears them say goodnight to each other. Niemand comes back into the kitchen, and the two men have their drinks. In the end, Graham discovers that the “gift” was a loaded revolver. Only a madman would give a loaded revolver to an idiot, thought Graham. 

The symbolism (or the point) in this short story is perfectly clear. It states that mankind isn’t ready for a dangerous and powerful weapon, such as the one that Dr. Graham is creating. This story could be used for arguments similar to the one stated in this story because man is always creating weapons for war, making them more powerful and dangerous as we go along.