Friday, April 23, 2010

Topics to discuss with 80 pages left.

Gom jabber and the test of Human vs Animal
Spice and Maker water = LSD and other drugs.
Ties to modern religions. Islam + Christianity
Obesity, homosexuality, war villainized through the Baron.
--->Vladimir = Russian, COLD WAR reference
Water, environmentalism, humans effect on environment.
Fate. Paul's ability to see the future jihad and his attempts to avoid an intergalactic war.
PAUL is THE ONE.
--->Influence on other science fiction: Star Wars, Matrix, etc.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Sandworm!!





















Actually it's a bar in the shape of a rectum(leave it to the italians . . .).

Also, in case anyone actually looks at this blog, get excited for the meeting this saturday night! Email me if you need details.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

National Lam-DUNE


I found this whilst I was wikipedia-ing the book. I'm finding myself a more of a fan of the work surrounding the book than the book itself . . . so far anyways.

Also, there's a current film adaption of the work being produced at Paramount.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Saturday, February 13, 2010

BBC Book Klub

I think this is sweet. Each month the BBC interviews and hold Q/A sessions with good authors. Frank Herbie is not on there, but past and future authors are. Enjoy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/133_wbc_archive_new/index.shtml

Thursday, February 11, 2010

TEDtalk

it's the PC guy!
he explains our place in the universe!
it involves Dune!
click here!

Carl Saigon Autotuned

not specifically related to Dune, but connects to the whole space aspect of things
click here for a carl saigon miracle!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Nerds

Citing wikipedia:

In Dreamer of Dune, Brian Herbert's 2003 biography of his father, the younger Herbert speculates that the name "Gesserit" is supposed to suggest to the reader the word "Jesuit" and thus evoke undertones of a religious order. Like the Jesuits, the Bene Gesserit have been accused of using casuistry to obtain justifications for the unjustifiable. In his own book about Frank Herbert, William F. Touponce notes "Herbert's early education at the hands of Jesuits" and writes that "Bene Gesserit means 'that it may be borne or accomplished well,' and is derived from the hortative subjunctive of the Latin verb gero, meaning 'to bear or carry away' in its root sense, but also 'to conduct oneself in society.'[8]

In fact this above analysis is incorrect, as gesserit is in the active voice ("he does..."), not the passive ("it was done...")[9], and may be taken either as a third person singular future perfect indicative active (in which case it would be "he/she shall have carried on [some activity] well," or a third person singular perfect subjunctive active[9], which could not be a hortatory subjunctive (which must be in the first person) or a jussive subjunctive [10] but must be taken as either an optative or deliberative subjunctive (and hence must mean "he/she may have carried on [some activity] well," or "he should have carried on [some activity] well")[10].
It may be noted that the legal Latin phrase quamdiu se bene gesserit, taken as a third person future perfect indicative active, means "as long as he/she shall have conducted himself/herself well,"[11] meaning in that context that a judge (or an officer) cannot be removed from his office as long as he performs correctly his duty.

Questions That Andy and I Have Already Struggled With

Which is better: a duke or a baron?
Isn't Lady Jessica a stupid name? Given this is a sci-fi novel? It's in the future? Herbert could have made up some sort of fancy name?
(I thought Jessica was a fitting name for a serving wench. Andy didn't think that was an apt response.)
Is dune supposed to remind us of doom? (dun dun dun...)
Do they dress in medieval gear?
What are these "suspensors" anyway? How do they work?
What's going on with gender roles? Truthsayer...feminine paths...

Sweet New Blog

oh my god you guys, this blog is sweet