Tag Archives: Tom Selleck

May 9, 2023 · 08:39

Discarded

That happens, things are discarded, things get thrown away. Yet how do we react when it is a child? That was the thought that came over me when I saw the news on CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-rosedale-memorial-girl-dumpster-1.6835095) giving us ‘Rosedale community members hold memorial service for little girl found dead in Toronto dumpster’ Now some will gasp in horror, some will react overly emotionally, yet is that fair? I am seemingly unwavering in my lack of emotions. I have no idea who the child is and the people over there in Canada are reacting, some more emotional then others. Yet from a basic point of view there is the stage of why should we care? Don’t get me wrong, if you care fine, nothing against it. I have no children, never had them so the first emotional block is not there. Then there is the realisation of all the paperwork that hits a person when a relative, sibling or child dies. At times I wonder why people care more about the ‘after’ care than the actual care. The fact that at present no one has a clue who this child was proves my point. CBC gives us “Investigators don’t believe the girl was ever reported missing to police in Canada.” This is not on the investigators, but consider that this child has been gone for well over a year and no one noticed any missing child in their direct vicinity. This is an issue. Was the child illegally there? That is a possibility. I do think that if she was not illegally there, then there is an optional security issue. The child’s existence could be used to get a fake person into Canada. Then we get Michelle Miller-Guillot, a member of the Rosedale Presbyterian Church stating “Every child deserves a name, every child deserves to leave this earth with dignity, with some honour” this is a fair believe to have and it is fine to have it, but at times I wonder if that is true in Christianity, why do we see the mention of Canadian Indian residential school gravesites nearly everywhere? What dignity and honour was bestowed on them? We see quotes like “between 3,200 and 6,000 students died while attending the Canadian Indian residential school system. The exact number remains unknown due to incomplete records.” So no records? The Anishinabe of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation, comes from one of several searches underway at former Indigenous schools across Canada and in that setting (source: NY Times) gives us that this has happened for a century, so where is the honour and dignity there?

So was this all about a child in a dumpster, or is it about something more? But thee is one thing that bothers me, the original inhabitants of the America’s (US and Canada) have throughout history discarded their native inhabitants in many ways, as did the UK convicts (Australians) to the aboriginals. History (and christians) were not kind on original inhabitants of land and one child in a dumpster will not bring that out, but it needs to come out. Over 30 Native American tribes are now extinct. Just out of curiosity, how many people got the history lesson in Primary or High School regarding the California genocide? I reckon that this number is pretty low, I can tell you that internationally it never showed up in our curriculums as far as I am aware of. I only learned about the aboriginal slaughter through a movie called ‘Quigley Down Under’ (1990) a gem with Tom Selleck and the late Alan Rickman. What we did in the past matters and it is becoming more and more important to realise that when we look at places like the middle east. We are hard pressed to get some flaky Human rights report like “Access Now and Global Partners Digital are proud to launch a new report, Evading accountability through internet shutdowns: Trends in Africa and the Middle East”, yet the reality is that Christians were great at that for centuries going all the way back to Tomás de Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal of the Holy Office (1483-1498) as such we have plenty of dirty laundry in our baskets, not to mention of the well over a thousand of clergy that had a go at the minors in their churches. So why are we up in arms about this child? Is it because it happens under the eyes of the law and administrations? It did not do the thousands of First Nationals attending the Canadian Indian residential school system any good, did it?

Just some food for thought as you leave Monday behind, ready to entertain Tuesday your attention.

To be considered

We all have these moments when we recollect a movie, a movie that had an impact when we saw it. It might not have been a great movie, but there was something about the setting. In this case I was considering the 1984 movie Runaway. In it was Tom Selleck, Gene Simmons and Cynthia Rhodes. The idea of killer robots (spider edition) was not unique, not new, but there was something about it that had something. I reckon that in todays world, the idea of rogue systems, hacked systems with a killer result is actually a lot less weird than it was in 1984. The movie had more, but consider what this diamond in the rough could contain. Even if it merely holds a reference to the original, the stage of remote killing a person is appealing to a lot of people, and when we consider that in those days the smart bullet was a figment of science fiction, we now have the setting that in 2008 the EXACTO program began under DARPA to develop a “fire and forget” smart sniper rifle system including a guided smart bullet and improved scope. Even as the systems is seemingly not working, or not well enough, we got there or close to it 40 years later. We have zero day issues, we have hacked systems, and in 2019 the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) gave us “In late March, the agency warned that computer hackers can easily gain access to implanted cardiac defibrillators made by Medtronic.” In this we optionally got to the scenario that we saw in movies. In this, there is now a reason to consider that movie as the foundation of something new, whether it is a movie or a mini-series is up to the maker. I merely hope that Gene Simons will get to reprise his role as the evil party in this case, he really was a lot better then I thought he ever would be.

Whether it would be called Runaway (again), Remote by Rogue or merely Zero Day Kill would be up to the makers. Yet anyone in that field should take a look at that movie and see what was a figment in those days and what might be a lot less delusional in this day and age. And when we consider the impact of electronics, the right chip might give us a lot more options in that field and there would be all kinds of people interested in that, as such there are plenty of avenues to walk. I reckon that it might make a decent mini series (in 3-4 parts) but that is merely my view on the matter.

Yet what I didn’t know until today is that the movie was originally reviewed by Neil Gaiman (the man behind Good Omens, American Gods and the Sandman, He gave us “The race to outwit the cybernetic psycho is gripping stuff, mostly, with a terrifying showdown atop an unfinished skyscraper; and as the hero cop with no head for heights, Selleck is fine. In between, he spends too much time just being a heart-throb.” OK, I can see that view and it is in that that there is a much larger stage that could be walked by the right visionary (not me). I will leave it up to others to do this. I merely hope that this Michael Crichton original is not overlooked in a race for mediocre streaming series. There is plenty out there that could make for awesome stories. That is the nice side of what we can do today compared to what was created in the 80’s.

When you lose a friend

I feel sad today, today I feel like I lost a friend. Leonard Nimoy has left this world at the age of 83. My ‘friendship’ began when I was just 9 years old. It was a Sunday, it was after watching soccer, we got to see Star Trek, the episode was “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and I was hooked! Like many others we were all about Mr Spock, Kirk was cool too. I was not one of those obsessive people where life was all about Star Trek and Star Trek alone. I loved Science Fiction, Fantasy to a lesser degree. Over the years I would see the voyager of the Enterprise and then again, but I would also see other things. So when after I long silence Star Trek, the Movie came out, I was happy as a little schoolkid. Leonard Nimoy was back! Mr Nimoy wold be back in a way that was a lot better than ever, you see it was not just as Mr Spock. There was Galvatron (voice only), then in 1987 he amazed us in other ways. He directed Three man and a baby, a remake from the 1985 movie ‘Trois hommes et un couffin’. The result was a masterpiece, putting Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson together gave it the zest that would make the movie a great success (it turned 11 million into 179 million). It was clear that there was a whole lot more to Leonard Nimoy, than just the Vulcan Spock.

In 1991 he did something that would cut into me even deeper than I imagined. He made ‘Never forget’. It is a drama that gives voice on the Holocaust, one that would stay with me for some time. The story is about Mr Mermelstein (played by Leonard Nimoy), a survivor from Auschwitz who stands up to the challenge when he is confronted by a hate group. We see another side. For me it was a strong piece, until that time I had never given any thought to those who ‘adhere’ to Holocaust denial. The movie shows the strong acting abilities of Leonard Nimoy, more so than Star Trek ever did. He studied at the University of California, got his Masters of Arts from Antioch College (OH), and he ended up seeing many sides of the arts. Books, Photography, Screenplays, Poetry, Music, Directing and Acting. He would even appear in a music video from the Bangles and narrate in the video game (Kingdom Hearts). A man, born in Boston Massachusetts would become a well-known person to well over a billion people. I feel that I lost a friend today. He did not know me, we never met, and in this regard I am not alone. Millions of fans will feel the same way today. Some will only remember Spock, some will remember the photographer, the director, and some will remember him as a mentor.

An interview to see is one on Piers Morgan last year (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0K9qqFaSY0), it shows a health issue that will hit a lot more people that many would have thought. It would get him in the end. He never stopped being a teacher of life!

He had a huge impact on me and for now, I feel a little lost today, I know I am not alone with this feeling.

Tag Archives: Tom Selleck

Discarded

To be considered

When you lose a friend

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