Science fiction predictions...

that came true. There is a lot of debate about whether or not the majority of science fiction predictions come true. Of course, the easy answer is no. Hundreds, even thousands, of science fiction books are published every year. Most sink like silent stones in the vast cultural pond.

The Clarion Content's editor attended a lecture this week at Duke University, by the great science fiction writer, William Gibson. Gibson made this very point, most science fiction predictions do not come true. He further noted that despite being visions of the future, years on, science fiction books are viewed as a commentary on their times. So while he wrote Neuromancer about the year 2025, it will be viewed by history as a book about 1984 which is when it was published.

It was interesting then, only days after this lecture and absorbing this point, to see a list of eleven science fiction predictions that according to Sarah Kessler of Mashable came true.

Check it out here, from the tank to the i-pod, from the cubicle to the escalator. Kessler includes the excerpts from the texts of the original authors to make her point. It is a fun read.

World Beer Festival

Although we are not certain that the editorial staff of the Clarion Content will be able to attend this year, we highly recommend that you make it out to the World Beer Festival, Saturday October 9th. We try to attend every year, and surely at least some of the staff will be there this year. [The editor has the wedding of a dear friend.]

The event has two sessions, one afternoon and one evening. It has gotten a little pricier recently, up from $25 to $35 to $45 over the last six years, but it is still worth every penny. Featuring the beers of over 180 breweries from all over the United States and the globe, it is a rollicking good time. Our advices is as follows. Pick one session or the other, even the strongest livers should not be asked to handle both. Go slow, there is plenty of beer for everyone. Make sure you ask if the beer is high alcohol content, ever since the Pop the Cap initiative succeeded in North Carolina, quite a few of them are, sip gently these beers will rock you. Eat some of the food, there are plenty of delicious options. This year's beer festival will feature the music of Big Daddy Love and Children of the Horn for the afternoon session; Brushfire Stankgrass and Big Something are playing at the evening portion.

Tickets are available at their website here. And at the Carolina Ale House locations in the Raleigh Durham area.

Hottest day ever

No joke. The city of Los Angeles California recorded the hottest temperatures in the history of its record keeping yesterday when the mercury hit 113 degrees. Wow. In late September, no less? Insert global warming joke here?

Read how locals reacted in the Los Angeles Times.

Katy Perry and Elmo

Not sure if you have been following the Katy Perry-Elmo saga, dear readers. The lovely and talented Katy was supposed to have a playdate with the Sesame Street star, furry, red Elmo. However, at the last minute under fire from the patron saints of Political Correctness, Sesame Street decided not to air Katy's pre-taped appearance. She and Elmo sing a version of Perry's hit Hot and Cold together. Apparently, there was too much cleavage for some folks, even though Perry was wearing a flesh-colored body stocking. Both Katy and Elmo have since appeared to talk about the non-event.

Elmo here on Good Morning America.

Katy here on Saturday Night Live.

Gotta like the self-deprecating sense of humor that Perry shows...

Brilliant mash-up

Thanks to the MEP report, which is where we found this terrific mash-up.

Clear Airplanes?!?

You read that correctly, dear readers. Airbus engineers have come up with a design for a passenger plane that could be made completely see-through. In theory it would work like this: in flight, the plane's captain would give a warning and then push a button that would send electrical currents through the plane's futuristic high-tech ceramic skin. The skin would peel back to reveal glass all the way around.

Straight out of science fiction! We think they would need a lot of doctors and defibrillators to deal with the heart attacks. Unfortunately for those who think they could hang, the date for the concept plane to hit the runways is 2050. Read more here.

Dancing with the Stars, epic

The season premier of Dancing with Stars this week was EPIC! Check out some of the highlights here... Bristol Palin and the Situation kept it as real as it is possible for people who came to prominence via faux achievement. Jennifer Grey, the favorite, had an emotional performance.

Wild Kingdom, in the yard

A beautiful butterfly meets a spider, witness, even in suburbia we live amongst the wild. We just notice it less.








This butterfly was at least triple the spider's size. It took the spider five minutes to drag it across the web. Another ten to fifteen minutes to swathe it, and it was gone from the web by morning.

Driving hazard

Ladies, just a warning, but...many men maybe just as shallow as you suspect¹. Or so say British roadway authorities who are expressing concern over the driving hazards posed by a racy new Reebok billboard featuring actress Kelly Brook in her birthday suit. Britain's Institute of Advanced Motorists warns that it is a "deadly distraction" for drivers. Reebok has Brook naked in the sexy 40-foot billboard, lying on her stomach and wearing just a pair of Reebok EasyTone sneakers.

Institute of Advanced Motorists official Peter Rodger told the Daily Mail that studies showed that dozens of road accidents were linked to the famous Eva Herzigova Wonderbra ad. (Pictured above.)

Ahhh, Reebok. Asked for their response, they said that most drivers were "cautious enough" to keep their eyes on the wheel.

¹Men are visually stimulated.

New textual punctuation

Never before seen grammar^*...Have you noted, dear readers, one of the new textual punctuation techniques that the kids of today are using?

It is to place a period after each word in a given sentence. This full stop functions as a hammer to bang home the seriousness, gravitas, power of the utterance.

Check out this example from the infamous website, Texts from Last night...

"Best. Roommate. Ever."

Which in modern textual grammar is bigger ups than "Best roommate ever!!!"

^*Save for possibly in a telegrams.

Shrooms help cancer patients cope

A new study reports a controlled dose of the main ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, psilocybin, appears to help reduce anxiety and lift spirits in people battling advanced cancer. The study, by Dr. Charles Grob, will be published in the January 2011 print issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The government, suffering from bad vibes dating back to the 60's, when its foundations actually shook, is still incredibly reluctant to fund this kind of research. Health Day reports that it took four years to get the funding and necessary approvals for this trial, even though it only involved a dozen patients (all with advanced cancer). It has been over thirty years since a similar study was conducted.

In the study, patients reported feeling calmer and happier, and that they felt closer connections to friends and family. They were better able to address end-of-life issues. This is very important according to Dr. Amy Abernethy, director of the Duke University Cancer Care Research Program in Durham, N.C. She told Health Day, "We know that with some people with advanced life-threatening illness, there is very truly a substantial existential component and importance and need for meaning-making in life, and that until people start making that transition they can be very, very distressed. It can be hard to get back to the business-of-life closures and other things you need to do at the end of life. This kind of intervention [may] allow people time and space and extended cognitive ability to reflect on life and see it in a different way, make that transition and then get back into a more relaxed space and get back to the business of living.

"Being in the business of living is about doing what is important and meaningful to you every day even if you don't have many days left, focusing on things like saying goodbye to loved ones, which can be hard to do if you're distressed."

Read the whole story here.

Film a bedroom scene with Pam Anderson

That sounds almost too good to be true... And you know what they say about things that sound too good to be true, they probably are.

In this case Nokia is sponsoring a contest, in which the winner will film a 'bedroom scene' with former Kid Rock and Tommy Lee squeeze, Pam Anderson. The film will be shot entirely on the Nokia N8 handset, to show off the upcoming phone's HD video capabilities. No guarantees that just because it is in the bedroom, that the winner will actually get to use the boudoir with Pam. Will she be the maid? The consort? The telephone operator? Nokia is keeping mum.

It is to be written and directed by the British directors, the McHenry Brothers. For those less inclined towards Pam's charms, Nokia is also offering a parallel competition to star with Gossip Girl heartthrob Ed Westwick. This scene, for the even more adventurous, takes place in an elevator.