Life of Brian

Star Trek Uncovered

This is a playful . . .

True Love . . . Vulcan Style

War of the Worlds . . .. . . media, influence, suggestibility, guillability . . .. . . and scaring the bejeepers our of ourselves

Radiolab produced a wonderful episode dealing with Orson Welles' infamous Halloween, Oct. 30, 1938 broadcast of a radio adaption of War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

This is a fascinating discussion of just HOW Welles and friends were able to create a broadcast event that literally scared the bejeepers out of thousands (over one million of the listeners believed the "hoax" about Martian invaders was true and that the events being portrayed on their radios were genuine.  Also discussed is the WHY listeners believed it.

The Welles hoax has been copied elsewhere, leading to riots, panic, and death.

Some characterize Welles success (accidental be that it may be) as based upon a time when folks were naive.  Not so, it's been repeated and resulted in panic.

The Radiolab commentators note how the emotions elicited by Welles are reminiscent of the emotions Americans felt during the aftermath of 9-11.  Coincidentally, after the aftermath of Welles' performance, one government offical called Welles and the rest of the Mercury Theatre to be "radio terrorists."

Read the background of the Radiolab production here.  Download the Radiolab audio file here.  Read news stories about the original Welles performance aftermath here, a transcript of the broadcast here, and download an audio file of the original Welles performance here (along with others).

Members of the Hypnosis Technique Exchange might enjoy exploring how this broadcast fits into our recent discussion of hypnotic operators.

All the best,
Brian

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Please make this come sooner . . .. . . Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog

Okay . . . someone sacrifice a few reavers to the gods of get-this-sucker-done-soon . . . Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog . . . Josh Whedon's musical miniwebseries with Nathan Fillion as a singing superhero.

Myth and Legend into Film . . .. . . Literature and Film Projects

These are a short film projects in which students were asked to adapt a literary work into a short film. This project was completed by students in my Literature and Film class at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, as part of a classroom project.

The Girl Who Changed Her Fate

Candy House

Cupid and Psyche

Little Sparkler Girl

MomoTaro-San

Three Genjias

Three Sons of Fortune

Troy

And now for something completely different . . . not by my students but very kool anyway . . .

Batman Dead End

That's what I've got so far . . . a couple groups still haven't handed in their assignments . . . hopefully they will get them in before the Jan. 16 deadline. After that, have a great Winter Vacation and Happy Chinese New Year!

All the best
Dr. Phillips

Happy Holidays . . .

The Galactically Hot Women of Star Trek

Go back in time and journey into the vastness of space, somewhere in the future of the late 1960s and gaze upon the beauty of Kirk's various conquests, of the feminine side that is . . . being an intersteller starship captain's hard work, but someone's got to do it . . . The Galactically Hot Women of Star Trek TOS.

NOYB . . .. . . what's your religion?

At the end of one of my lectures at the university, a student came up to me to ask if I wouldn't mind taking a survey on the campus radio station.  I told her to go ahead and fire away and ask her questions.  Well, at the end of the survey, she said she had one final question and that was "What is your religion?"  I looked her straight in the eye and said, "put down NOYB . . . None Of Your Business."  She was taken a bit aback by this as the idea of privacy in terms of religious practice was a bit alien to her.  I then told her that for me my religious beliefs are a private matter and that even if I told her what they were the list of possible choices on her survey didn't have the "correct" choice for me as I'm not Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Agnostic, Athiest, Muslim, Satanist, or any of the other -ists usually listed for such things.  Most folks here assume that I must be Christian as the default assumption is that any random white person living in this country is probably Christian and that Americans are extremely likely to be Christian and if they are not then they're probably Budhists studying Chinese.  Since I teach a university course in Bible & Literature which I pursued with zeal, the assumption is even more so that I must be Christian (after all, I did attend a church-affiliated university and earned a minor in religion as an undergraduate and I guarantee that I know more about scripture than most of the folks walking around claiming to be Christian).  However, while I was indeed a Christian during most of my formative years and my first vocational choice as a boy was a dream to one day become a preacher and I certainly would have made a pretty damned good one . . . today, I am most definately no longer a Christian . . . that monkey sailed long ago.  I enjoy religious studies, particularly comparative religion.  However, I don't put my relgious views out there when I teach the material nor do I wish others to make assumptions that are erroneous.  So . . . when the question comes up, and it does, quite often, my response is usually NOYB . . . although, once in awhile, I will indeed be honest and open and tell some folks what my views really are . . . but those are usually the folks who don't push it and who are naturally within my comfort zone.  Hint . . . there are no ritual chicken sacrifices but there is a great deal of personal experiential bliss and communion involved (no, not that communion, no flesh-eating cannibalism or blood thirst satiation) . . . n . . . o . . . y . . . b.

Happy Birthday, Arthur . . .at 90, sci-fi guru Clarke yearns for . . .

Happy Birthday to Arthur C. Clarke who turns 90 this Sunday . . . at 90, sci-fi guru Clarke yearns for E.T., peace. When asked about his wishes, Clarke says he has three wishes he hopes to see become true within his lifetime . . .

"If I may be allowed just three wishes ... I would like to see some evidence of extraterrestrial life. I've always believed that we're not alone in the universe, but we're still waiting for E.T. to call us or give us some kind of sign," he said in a video posted on Web site www.youtube.com. . . . . . . "Secondly, I would like to see us kick our current addiction to oil and adopt clean energy sources," he added. "Climate change has now added a new sense of urgency... We can't allow coal and oil to slowly bake our planet." . . . . . . And thirdly, he turns to Sri Lanka, where he has lived for the past 50 years, written many of his more than 80 books and received the Indian Ocean island nation's top civilian honor in 2005 for his contributions to science and technology and his commitment to his adopted country.

In addition to his wishes, he predicts coomercial space travel will be common soon.

See the video here . . .

Happy Birthday, Arthur!

All the best,
Brian

I Am Legend . . . the last man on Earth

I AM LEGEND is a novel by Richard Mattheson (who also wrote STIR OF ECHOES and SOMEWHERE IN TIME) . . . the novel has been made into four films . . . the latest of which with Will Smith opens this month . . . here is the 1964 film which you can watch streaming online . . .

Mattheson wrote the screenplay which was altered and so his name was eventually changed to pseudonym.  OMEGA MAN and I AM OMEGA are also based upon Mattheson's I AM LEGEND.  Note that films such as RESIDENT EVIL and 28 DAYS LATER and 28 WEEKS LATER are inspired by this novel as well.  The novel EARTH ABIDES is also very much worth reading, albeit there are no zombies or vampires in it.

The wikipedia piece on I AM LEGEND has more information . . .

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Legend

Off Topic: I hope to see some of you at the show this weekend . . . either way, please do pass the flyer around to all the appropriate online forums and your friends . . . show info can be found at http://www.comedy.com.tw/node/127 for the Comedy Club, Taipei's only live comedy performance club.

All the best,
Brian

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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]
Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com