Anne Francis (1930-2011) RIP

Anne Francis was the female star of the science fiction movie classic 'Forbidden Planet' (1956). A movie I have always enjoyed and have always seen as one of the great SF movies. Anne Francis played the role of the innocent, but sexy daughter of the 'mad scientist', Walter Pigeon. Perhaps not conceived of as a serious role, however, she balanced the two male characters (her father and the starship commander, Leslie Nielson) and made the movie engaging on a human level.

As an actress her career was successful, but not wildly so. She starred here and there, but never became a name, however, she will always be remembered by SF fans for that one role, back at the dawn of the era of the science fiction movie: Altaira Morbius.

Anne Francis with the late, great Leslie Nielsen.

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Pattani — the ‘deep’ south of Thailand

First, some advisories: A. ADVISORY: For the last few years and decades there has been an ongoing insurgency in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat (the 'deep south' of Thailand). An average of 600 people have been killed per year between 2004-9. The Australian government strongly urges its citizens not to visit these provinces: "do not travel". Having said this there is no blood on the streets, and life goes on normally for the vast majority of people. In comparison approximately 400 people die every year from traffic accidents in the same region. You have been advised. B. Getting there. There seems to be a scam carried out by the local tour operators to persuade travellers to take mini-buses on journeys between the towns in southern Thailand. These mini-buses cost several times as much as a normal bus. For example, I was quoted 1000 baht (~$35) between Trang and Pattani ~250kms, as compared to 200 baht for a VIP bus. A clear difference. Take the l...

Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers—A Critical Critique

The late science fiction author Robert Heinlein was noted for many things, and one of these is controversy. During his life he never shied away from contentious issues, rather he seems to have actively sought them out, both on and off the page. His writing was always provocative, and the most provocative example of this was his 1959 novel "Starship Troopers". The novel was written in a few weeks, prompted by left-wing lobbying for a ban on USA nuclear weapon testing. Heinlein, a strident conservative, vehemently disagreed with this proposal. While the meaning and import of the novel has been debated (it won the 1960 Hugo and is still in print), the story conveys the author's conservative anguish on the perceived flaws of contemporary political and social life. The novel depicts and praises a future government with a sharply limited voting franchise, lauds an authoritarian military, and strongly criticises popular democracy. Essentially, the novel endorses conservative,...

The Sukhothai Kingdom—Si Satchanalai City

Information plaque for the first temple. The first wat you will see. Wat Phra Si Rattana Maha That Chaliang. As described in my blog post on the Sukhothai Kingdom, this former Kingdom is survived both by the modern Kingdom of Thailand, and by three archaeological sites, which together form a UNESCO World Heritage site. These three sites are the former three, major cities of this ancient Kingdom. The first and largest, the ancient city of Sukhothai, was described previously, here I will describe the second city of the Kingdom, the city of Si Satchanalai ("C-sack-chan-a-lie"). This site is officially termed the "Si Satchanalai Historical Park". Si Satchanalai is found in the north of the province of Sukhothai. Reaching Si Satchanalai is easy enough. Buses regularly leave from the Sukhothai city bus terminal for the ~50kms, ~70min trip to the site of Si Satchanalai, this is along the route, Bangkok to Chang Rai, with the next major stop b...

The Journey(s) of Ian

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