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Post by Scott on Nov 9, 2008 4:40:05 GMT -5
Michael Crichton passed away a few days ago. I heard some guy talking about it on the bus. I thought he was a great writer.
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Post by Scott on Nov 9, 2008 6:16:51 GMT -5
I was a fan of Crichton's stuff for a long time, but it wasn't until after Jurasic Park that I tied it all together and realized the same guy was involved with so much of it. He pissed a lot of people off with his ‘global warning is a myth’ book State of Fear.
I just read on a profile of his that he was 6’9”.
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Post by GRWelsh on Nov 9, 2008 13:56:39 GMT -5
I was also a Michael Crichton fan... Eaters of the Dead, Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park... lots of good stuff. The pervasive message for many of his books seems to be: "Don't get too cocky with your civilization and technology, because the Unknown Chaos is never gone for good." Which I agree with!
I never read State of Fear. But what I've always found odd is how much people's sentiments about global warming seem to line up with their political convictions. I've never heard of a "global warming is a myth" advocate who wasn't a Republican... Was Crichton a Republican?
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Post by Scott on Nov 9, 2008 14:03:17 GMT -5
Don't know.
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GT
Wizard
Duke of Indiana, Knight Commander
Posts: 2,032
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Post by GT on Nov 9, 2008 14:30:28 GMT -5
I'm not a Republican, and I can't say as global warming is a myth; but I CERTAINLY see alot of misrepresentation... I still remember 1977/78 when some of the same scientists that claim man is the primary cause behind global warming were touting the "approaching ice age" theory! Hey!! Guess what??? We're in an 'interglacial period' in geological terms, and it's gonna get considerably warmer in the next few decades/centuries until ten or fifteen thousand years from now when the next glaciation hits than it is right now, even if every person on the planet disappeared! I've been saying we should switch to alternative energy sources since the 70's; but it really burns me to see junk science used in a politicized fashion as this issue has been!  |
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Post by geneweigel on Nov 9, 2008 15:10:45 GMT -5
That whole EATERS OF THE DEAD incident that i had turned me off his stuff long before the internet. I was browsing the library as i used to do incessantly years ago when I stumbled on that novel. It was included in non-fiction of course and all the legitimate preamble had me fooled. It wasn't until a few months after I read it when it clicked that it was Beowulf in Arab clothing. Man, was I steamed!  In regards to the whole warming scare, one way or the other, he was just marketing wisely as everybody chants that now like a mantra. EARTH - IS -BURNING - MUST - CONSPICUOUSLY - SHOW - MY - COLORS...etc. sounds like money to be made to me... |
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Rhuvein
Magician
Beware . . Mjolnir
Posts: 228 
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Post by Rhuvein on Nov 12, 2008 20:21:59 GMT -5
I've read and enjoyed many of his books and thought he was a very good novelist. I thought he was foolish to do the anti-global warming book and read that he showed up at a book release/news conference with charts and books supporting his claim. That was awhile ago, I wonder if he changed his mind a bit before he died. It seems almost daily that reports come in about global warming.  |
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GT
Wizard
Duke of Indiana, Knight Commander
Posts: 2,032
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Post by GT on Nov 12, 2008 20:25:29 GMT -5
Don't get me started... many climatologists seem to be "headlines whores". Any of them with a college degree can be forced to admit that they know what an interglacial period is and that, yes, we are in one.
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Rhuvein
Magician
Beware . . Mjolnir
Posts: 228
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Post by Rhuvein on Nov 12, 2008 20:30:04 GMT -5
Heh, well I don't take the stance that global warming is some coming disaster or that's it's caused by mankind. I just think that there is stuff happening that says/and shows that temperatures are rising and glaciers are melting.
So my feeling is that we can't just dismiss it as some cyclical event and assume that everything will correct itself. We need to analyze!!
Indy . . "I'm a scientist, nothing scares me!" ;D
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GT
Wizard
Duke of Indiana, Knight Commander
Posts: 2,032
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Post by GT on Nov 12, 2008 20:38:31 GMT -5
Check out "neolithic optimum" and "little ice age"--two extremes of climate; neither caused in any way by humans. Does carbon dioxide from humans affect weather? Yes. Does carbon dioxide from plankton and volcanoes affect warming? Yes--to a greater degree than man has, yet. Is there a current warming trend? Yes. Is it unique in human history? Absolutely not! Should we convert to alternate energy sources? Of course--but NOT for this reason! Ask yourself: Although they gathered a cadre of "experts", are Al Gore or Leonardo DiCaprio any more expert than you? Only if Al Gore "invented/brought" the internet and "Titanic" was the best movie ever! (Not! and Not! Arpanet and Plato would have something to say about the first, and the latter is subjective...) ;D
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Post by geneweigel on Nov 13, 2008 9:37:03 GMT -5
Its me, alright?!? I caused the warming because I drink too much coffee... >>>FFRRRPPHHH<<< Sorry... |
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GT
Wizard
Duke of Indiana, Knight Commander
Posts: 2,032
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Post by GT on Nov 13, 2008 17:29:01 GMT -5
"Weigel Warming"... it's why he's called "Fireball"!
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Post by amalric on Nov 14, 2008 8:05:25 GMT -5
I didn't even now Michale Crichton had passed away. I loved JURASSIC PARK, which was tremendously well-written, and - needless to say - way better than the film. Great tension all the way through, and no dumbing-down. I read LOST WORLD too, and something else of his which I can't recall - good stuff, all.
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Post by Scott on Nov 14, 2008 8:45:56 GMT -5
I hated Lost World.
Read a lot of his stuff. His endings had a tendency to be let downs.
Kind of like his own I guess, it hardly registered as a blip in the news. I had to do a search after I heard someone talking about it.
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