I watched The Sarah Connor Chronicles all last year. I loved this show. I watched the new episode last night. In honor of its second season, I thought I would post a picture from the show which I found amusing. Check out the barrel of Sarah Connor’s shotgun. Oops! I’m surprised that the FOX props department remembered to take the red plastic cap off the barrel before they handed it to her. Must make it a little hard to fight off the terminators when you have to yell Bang every time you pull the trigger.

I just saw the trailer for the new short film 2081 and it looks really good. The movie is based on the 1961 short story Harrison Bergeron written by Kurt Vonnegut. If you haven’t read it, read it now. The story takes place in the dystopian society of 2081 (hence the name of the movie) where everyone is finally equal not just in the eyes of God or the law but in hard cold fact. This equality is ensured by the Handicapper General who job it is to ensure that no one is smarter, more attractive, stronger, faster, or anything better than anybody else. “The strong wear weights, the beautiful wear masks, and the intelligent wear earpieces that fire off loud noises to keep them from taking unfair advantage of their brains. It is a poetic tale of triumph and tragedy about a broken family, a brutal government, and an act of defiance that changes everything.”

I have always been a fan of stories about dystopian societies. Back in high school we read 1984 by George Orwell, Brave new World by Aldous Huxley, and the 1961 short story by Kurt Vonnegut called Harrison Bergeron. All of which I enjoyed although Orwell’s prose was a little hard to get through at times. I remember Vonnegut’s story in particular really made me think about the direction society was heading for the first time in my life. That’s why I was very excited to hear about 2081 which is based on Harrison Bergeron. The clips I saw showed the typical dark and dirty world common among much of the dystopian society fiction. It look very cool and very appropriate. In our world where political correctness and government intrusion threaten free speech and free thought and where technology has finally advanced to the point that could make these stories a reality they are more important than ever.

Seeing the trailer and rereading the story inspired my to create logo for the U.S. Handicapper General’s Office. I wear it to remind others to remain vigilant lest these fictional futures become our own.

If your a science fiction geek your going to love this story. Apparently a couple of geniuses at Baylor University have actually figured out how a faster than light Warp Drive would actually work. Their theory is based on solid physics (that’s kind of an oxymoron isn’t it?). By which I mean that it bends the laws of physics without actually breaking them including Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Apparently it involves compressing space in front of the ship while expanding the space behind the ship causing the ship to travel faster than light without its mass actually moving. Don’t ask me to explain it, because I can’t. I just think the idea is really cool. If your interested their is a good article on it at Discovery News.

The authors freely admit that currently no one has any idea how to compress or expand space and that it may take thousands of years to figure out how to do this. But, theoretically it is possible. You know what Yogi Berra says, “In theory, theory is the same as practice, but in practice, its not.”