Although some major characters’ motivations remain opaque in some situations (Ray Freeman most notably) the series does a good job of drawing you into Wayson Harris’ world (and how it progressively alienates and isolates him into taking the law into his own hands by the time of the events depicted in The Clone Betrayal). I will leave it to the reader to spoil the series’ plot (so far) for themselves by reading the Amazon page

This series is primarily military sci-fi first and foremost, and explores far more of the action/warfare side of things than anything else. On the human side of things, I’m not completely sure if centering nearly everything on Wayson Harris’ point of view is meant to make a bigger societal commentary or not, however – given he is a clone (and the last of his kind – a Liberator) there are plenty of underlying themes possible here:

a) a clone race created to serve man smacks heavily of slavery and ‘disposable people’;

b) the initial conquest of the galaxy followed by a revolt/religious war, followed by a war with aliens could be seen in many contexts given current world events, etc.);

c) the continual rivalry between the clones and humanity – on the part of the humans – pretty much solid prejudice despite what clones do for them and instead of them – on the part of the clones – given their mental programming to believe they are in fact human – disbelief when proved otherwise (or a building hatred of and frustration with humanity for those clones like Harris who figure it out and survive).

The author doesn’t seem to use the ‘symbolism so thick you can cut it with a knife’ approach of say, many Spike Lee movies to make allegories or imply a different meaning, either. I guess it’s up to the reader to decide.

But Wayson, despite his regular penchant for violence and increasing alienation by the end of this book, is in many ways a product of his environment and increasingly sympathetic (to me?). Kent definitely explores Harris’ awakening humanity and emotions despite the bad side arising at the same time (his vendetta against Earth and the Unified Authority, started in The Clone Betrayal but likely continuing in at least the next book or two).

I am definitely looking forward to the next book expected out later this fall, hoping it won’t disappoint – there are several loose ends still out there I’d like to see tied up (but I won’t spoil anything for you).

So – before I ‘review’ this movie I’m just going to say – I’m not worried about any of you going to rent it (turns out even the Mecca of Movies only had it on VHS) so all plot points (as may exist – and there aren’t many) will be spoiled herein.

So – basically fast forward several years from the events in Westworld – Delos has been rebuilt, bigger and better than ever. Now they have Roman World, Medieval World, Spa World and FutureWorld – no more WestWorld – although they visit its remains in this movie. Given the tragedy of before, Delos needs better PR to encourage people to come back, so they enlist a TV reporter (Blythe Danner) and the newspaper reporter who broke the story the first time around (Peter Fonda). But prior to heading out to Delos, Peter Fonda gets a clue from an informant (who is killed just before PF meets him to discuss the scoop) that something is still very ‘wrong’ at Delos this time around, too.

So they go there, and far too much time is taken up showing all the high-tech stuff, people walking here, people walking there, and there are two bit-characters (a Russian General + wife, and a famous Japanese person, probably a politician) who get some minor screen time. Very little of this advances the plot, save some (seemingly) random sequences showing people very interested in computer recordings and simulations of the main four characters.

It develops that Delos is making (effectively – they don’t name it directly) clones of world leaders and politicians because they don’t trust humans to keep from blowing themselves up. The visitors come to Delos, and the clones are sent out into the world to replace them, under Delos’ control. The movie never says if the robots hatched this plot on their own (one of the major Delos characters, Duffy, turns out to be one) or if they have mad-scientist backers (it is never revealed whether Dr. Schneider is human, robot, or something else) working with them.

At any rate, PF and BD find a (still-human) mechanic named Harry who helps them discover the truth, and then there is more running around with guns until the end, where they both escape Delos and (presumably) tell the world. Yul Brynner is wasted in a weird dream sequence with BD as a fantasy lover – I’m sure I was impressed by this back in 1976 (as a nine-year old) but it’s pretty silly now.

So….without dwelling on what the movie does wrong (mostly far too much tedium in advancing the meager plot) – i’d rather mention a few things that could have made it MUCH more interesting by contrast.

1) Futureworld never explains how the robots figured out how humans always want to destroy themselves (and thus hatched a plot to stop it and save themselves from our stupidity). By way of comparison, the recent BSG remake trickled this info out over the entire length of the series – of course to keep you coming back until the end, but partially because it kept you guessing and interested and inventing your own ideas about where the plot was going, then to watch it and confirm (or see where they went instead).

It might have been very interesting to see the ‘between’ story explained in more detail with more motives and the ‘how’. FW talks about the ’700 series’ robots as being far more advanced than those in the prior movie/robot generation, but it’s only a few lines of spoken dialog at best and nothing beyond that.

2) Just like in the previous movie, the big ‘seller’ behind the concept of Delos is ‘sex with robots’ – but at $1200/day – would that really do it? And I would think more stuff (even Disneyland has Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Haunted Mansion) than just the Middle Ages or Roman times would be required to get people there (the lack of showers and actual cooking comes to mind, but I digress ). Westworld itself might have had some attraction, I agree – but even in 1976 I’d think more would be needed (and Disney had both POTC and THM back THEN, too).

3) It would have been interesting also to see robots who didn’t ‘agree’ with the crazy clone strategy to take over the world, and if they helped PF and BD succeed to blow the story open. Here, BSG did this in various ways and various characters – creating a mosaic of character motives (if done well) can really serve to spice things up, no?

4) finally – what if Delos had actually ‘won’? What if they largely succeeded and THEN a reporter came back say, 20-30 years in the future and found out what had happened? And here comes the broken record, because now that I think of it (literally) BSG did this too – in a way – with the whole idea of Cylons being all-but human in appearance, etc. But they limited its scope by keeping it a limited number of models – in FW’s case, it might have been *many* world leaders over time – what if the clones ushered in a time of peace and world achievement, and then we found out we had all been tricked for 20-30 years? What then? I can’t help thinking of Kent Brockman saying “And I, for one, welcome our new ant overlords” with the paper sign on the wall behind him – too funny.

Anyway, if you find the book of this movie on a seedy bookshelf somewhere, and you are killing time on the beach, read it. Otherwise, just rent BSG and get the same thing only done far, far better. They should have quit while they were ahead with Westworld.

candybowl

I was kind of taken by surprise while reading this. Without stepping into the ‘big picture’ issues around a potential motive he may have (prison reform – a subject I’m not very familiar with by any means) – this article really made me stop and think about several things, namely:

a) The comparison between ‘young man decisions made in ignorance’ vs. ‘old man never able to escape them’. This of course brings up the tired cliche of ‘youth being wasted on the young’ – but certainly with more than a hint of irony. I’m not sure the lesson to be learned here is much more than ‘impulsive decisions can sometimes cost you dearly, sometimes forever’. We don’t know the circumstances of what this guy did, but it was obviously permanent (he hints it was murder) and may not have even been done with any sort of planning, or ‘evil’ – although certainly the outcome ended up that way. No excuses – and even the most ignorant person in this country knows what happens when you kill someone, right?

b) This type of essay makes me think – what is the cost? What is the cost to our society (not thinking of $$, but that’s a factor too of course) in terms of lost potential (both by what he and others might have contributed had things gone differently, and by what else society itself may have gained as a result)? What does it say about us? Are we really willing to treat others’ lives like a permanent UFC reality show behind bars for decades if not their entire lives? And how does that square with what they did, proportionality and other ‘rules’ such as ‘eye for an eye’, etc.? All tough questions with no easy answers.

c) One of the most interesting points made was that of prison = a society of captive children. everything (save defecation and eating) is done for them and they aren’t allowed to do almost anything for themselves even if they want to. Does this imply they are ‘frozen’ in an immature state (also may depend on the age at which they enter and other background factors, to be sure) – and how do we change that? DO we change that?

c) Beyond running the prison laundry, making license plates and the like, one thing WA has done of late is allow prisoners to tend gardens and grow food. I don’t believe the food grown leaves the prison (unlike the license plates and other products they may manufacture) but rather they eat it, too. Why wasn’t this done decades ago? It’s not like tending gardens is a 21st century innovation? even if a person is going to be in prison for life (and even if deservedly so) – why not let them tend a garden? And certainly for those slated to eventually rejoin society – it might actually help rehabilitate them? If nothing else, it might give them a break/respite from the otherwise nearly constant violence he describes? Yes, I get it – prison is not ‘vacation’ and not intended to be easy – but there’s a difference between imprisonment and ‘perma-riot’, no?

d) The point made about society’s perception of the prisoner being made when the person entered prison (and doesn’t really change), while the person inside – especially one growing old inside for literally decades – is increasingly reminded of those early, permanent mistakes. And as he notes, the aging, frail body conveying those thoughts serves as a second, painful reminder of same.

e) It is human nature for many to want a black and white solution – to want to make an easy (or even hard) decision and then be DONE with it, period. Locking up a malefactor and (effetively) throwing away the key may be one way – the guy did his crime, regardless of his background/upbringing, environmental factors, etc. – and now he pays with his life (as he made someone else pay, whether that person was an innocent victim or someone who was seconds from doing the same to him). No matter the circumstances – is that all there is to it? Again, not arguing excuses or softening the blow of permanence – just wondering if this is the only answer…..

As noted when I sent this article around via email prior to this post – one thing is certain. I am very, very thankful I haven’t made the mistakes this guy did – and that I have the life I have, and not his.

candybowl

Who else goes from German terrorist (Die Hard) to guardian angel (Dogma) to sarcastic, doomsayer robot (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) to Professor Snape (not all the HP movies have near enough of him in them, but most have a good amount )?

I think it’s the combination of subtle, voiced exasperation, sarcasm without even trying, and just his mannerisms that do it for me. The guy just cracks me up!

candybowl

So if you haven’t heard these yet, you can get them for a nominal fee on iTunes or Audible.com. They are really funny, especially the Monkey News segment in each ‘cast. Apparently they are up to 5 seasons of them – we were only listening to the first…. Enjoy!

candybowl

After the second reunion, we drove the Syncro up the coast and camped at 3 different locations: Cape Disappointment (just north of Astoria but on WA side); Grayland (mid-coast, about 25 miles south of Aberdeen); and Heart ‘O The Hills (just below Hurricane Ridge outside Port Angeles). In the first two cases, the weather was overcast, breezy and somewhat wet – typical for this time (and nearly every other time) of year. The last site was much warmer and dryer, but also came with more bugs – doh!

We got in some good biking too. In Medford, we took a couple rides – a ~30 miler roundtrip to the outskirts of nearby Ashland; a second one about 14 miles RT (bike problems prevented more). This past week, we took a ~42mi ride around the Long Beach Peninsula; some short rides near Grayland (one with about 50lb of ice and food on my back!); and a 6 mile ride down (from the campground to Port Angeles) and then back UP (this was the bad part). But we made it, and were better for it in the end.

Sat. am the 14th we packed up and drove to Hurricane Ridge, then hiked the 1.6mi ‘hurricane hill’ hike to overlook the Strait of Juan de Fuca (between the northwest WA coast and Vancouver Island/Canada), then back to the van and blast on home. Got home around 3pm and it was HOT back here in Seattle! And now the Syncro needs a good can or two of Woolite.

candybowl

Some examples of his humor are here. A few obits here, here, here and here.

And you can get his books at Powell’s – where else?

You will be MISSED – R.I.P.

candybowl

candybowl

UPDATE 8-2: The Phinneywood blog has posted about either the same or a similar hawk in the area – and it looks like he has a taste for pigeons – enjoy!

In other news, we have been pigeon-free since that day….he’s earned his keep so far

So, they get you in there, and you start blasting down the river. Then the guy starts talking up how wet you’re going to get – and then slams on the brakes, which makes the boat all but nosedive into the water and raises a huge wave over the front of the boat. Hence, water. Not unlike getting doused while whitewater rafting, but we weren’t in any rapids (at the first one, anyway). So on you blast down the river, and the guy does 360′s a few times, and alternatively tries to douse the entire boat through a series of maneuvers – none really crazy, all very fun. Then you get to a narrow canyon and the boat idles through that while he talks about your surroundings – the boat then turns around and heads back a short distance to a shore facility where you eat a big dinner – then you zoom back up the river (while your pilot and usually at least one other boat try to alternate at crossing each other’s wake and dousing each others boat from side to side, etc.).

It was great – our clan had about 34 people, the rest of the boat was filled with others – what’s also cool about this is that it’s truly an all-ages activity (unlike whitewater rafting!) where you have fairly old people on there all the way down to kids. And everybody is having a ball.

Besides the blasting around like crazy people, there was a lot of wildlife (several osprey, blue herons, ducks, swans and a bald eagle) around to see, and many people waving from the shore (I’m sure the residents who live along the top part of the journey aren’t near as ‘enthused’ about the jet boats as we were ). There was also a couple risque ‘floor show’ events that I won’t discuss here, but were pretty funny. The food feast was bbq chicken and pork with salad, beer/wine and some basic antipasti. Not fine dining, but definitely did the job.

it was a GREAT way to start the weekend – if you are ever in Grants Pass (or Gold Beach, for the one that comes up the river from there) – don’t miss out!

candybowl

Anyway, we got back from a bike ride and he was on their lawn – I checked to see if they were around but they were out, so kept an eye on the kitty for a while – he seemed content to hang in the yard or on the porch, so i let him be, he didn’t seem like he was going anywhere.

Later, we were headed out to go get a late lunch and two of the neighbor girls from around the corner were over there (that rare species of Seattle resident – children!) petting him and talking to him. I explained he was ok, that he lived there – they thought he was a stray. Their dad was coming back around the corner with a plastic cup of water for the kitty – I told him too. Later on, the neighbors were back, hanging on the porch with the kitty and I told them about the girls feeding him water.

Just goes to show you that when you think this country is going down the toilet faster than you can intermediate flush – something really nice happens and you end up smiling.

candybowl