Skywalker is a frantic, disjointed mess—not a movie with good ideas poorly executed, not even a movie with bad ideas, but a movie with no ideas at all, save for saccharine paeans to fandom and nostalgia. As a story, it is empty and unengaging to the point of boredom. As a cinematic product, it is surprisingly lackluster, with shoddy effects and muddy visuals. And as an entry in the Star Wars franchise, an ostensibly major part of the pop-culture canon, it is a wasted opportunity: a total failure of both creative imagination and corporate brand management.
This is not great news. I don’t understand why Ross hasn’t gone to Congress, but I also don’t understand how he thought he was going to get the funding without doing so.
Wow. This guy had to have his spine broken in four places to be able to straighten up. Mars researcher Tanya Harrison suffers from this disease (and I’m always impressed by her accomplishments despite it). I hope they can come up with a cure eventually, if not sooner.
That’s how long it’s been since the first powered controlled flight at Kitty Hawk. On the hundredth anniversary, I wrote three separate essays. One at Fox News, one at National Review, and one at TechCentralStation. Unfortunately, the latter has succumbed to link rot.
I’m encouraged that he wants to emphasize science and technology. This could create some useful Anglospheric alliances in space, particularly if he sets up a Royal Space Force.
[Update a few minutes later]
He’s going after the Beeb. That would be amazing if he could get rid of that pack of leftist hacks.
An interesting article on General Kwast (who reportedly has people read my book), but isn’t it obvious that he’s talking about things like Starship? Nothing magical or secret here.
Coming in on chutes is such a 20th-century concept. At some point we will land rockets just as we do airplanes. And if Elon has his way, that point will be within half a decade, at which point, Crew Dragon capsules may come back inside a Starship.
British space lawyer Joanne Wheeler has collected the thoughts of many current space leaders.
I think there are more false lessons from Apollo than valid ones. It really did create a damaging mindset for the next half century, from which we’re only starting to recover.
(Note, the format is a little confusing; the quotes come before, not after the names.)