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~KingNot:iconKingNot:

Ben Bridenbaugh  

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  • Deviant since Apr 6, 2004, 9:13 PM
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R.I.P. AC Clarke

Journal Entry: Tue Mar 18, 2008, 10:22 PM
Arthur C. Clarke died today...

He was one of my favorite writers, actually my favorite 'hard science' science fiction writer.

There's ordinarily a rule; Scientists aren't good science fiction writers. Oh, many sci-fi writers have some background in science, most notably the late Asimov in Chemistry, but Clarke worked as a Scientist his entire adult life and beyond. He's credited for inventing the communications satellite, for example.

The rule is; Soldiers write puke war stories, virgins write the best porn, historians write horrible historical fiction especially 'romances' and last but not least, scientists are not good science fiction writers.

And Clarke broke that. He has about 100 books in print, and some of the best and enduring science fiction. The one that made him famous was of course the "2001" series. But lots of his other works remained popular in science fiction circles and as technology makes "Special Effects" cheaper, more will see visulization. Most likely his "Rama" series for the next effect.

Towards the latter part of his life, he settled in Sri Lanka and continued to write and think and communicate with a new generation of artists, writers and scientists. One of his best novels, and one I feel will become his most visionary, is "The Fountains of Paradise" set in a fictional Sri Lanka and about the building of a space elevator, a project that will mark the beginning of a true space era should mankind go ahead with it.

Briefly, he had a scandal, when a British Tabloid published a report he was having sex with young boys, but he quickly overcame that, to begin with by pointing out medical proof he hadn't been 'functional' for ten years in that area. The tabloid backed down with him following with a Libel suit, the proceeds to go to children's charities.

But he loved Sri Lanka and its people loved him. Especially after the Tsunami where he used his fame and contacts to get as much charity as he could for his neighbors and he opened the doors of his rather large house to as many refugees as it could hold. If he had been younger, he'd have picked up a hammer to help people re-build, but the charity he raised did much more.

His last message was a call for peace in that country and its neighbors.

I'm really sad that he died, though he lived a long and full life. And for somewhat selfish reasons. One of my "In Development" projects was to use 3DCG to animate one of his short stories, "Exile of the Aeons". My RL schedule, I'm prone to 'vaporware' so for important stuff I talk about them minimally until I finish them. I'd mostly got it storyboarded, just working out the character designs and some 3D models. I was hoping to complete it, or at least show him the first few minutes of it, before he passed away...

I'll do some soul searching and if I'm still in the mood to do it, I'll finish it, though it'll take months. And I'll put it on YouTube and on my website, but the "Tip" jars and such will lead to Clarke's charities.

  • Mood: Sadness
  • Listening to: Ayreon "Set your Controls"

Devious Information

  • Current Residence: Montana
  • Interests: illustration political cartoons anime fantasy scifi
  • Favourite movie: Things to Come (1936 version)
  • Favourite band or musician: YES!
  • Favourite genre of music: Progressive Rock
  • Favourite artist: Richard Kane Ferguson
  • Favourite poet or writer: Lord Dunsany
  • Favourite style or digital art: Anime
  • Operating System: Windows XP
  • MP3 player of choice: Winamp
  • Wallpaper of choice: Misc Anime pics, usually cheescake
  • Favourite game: Classic console games, like Castlevania or Intellivision
  • Favourite gaming platform: NES
  • Favourite cartoon character: Naga the Serpent from "Slayers"
  • Tools of the Trade: a lot of traditional methods and my 2.4GHz computer with my Wacom!

deviantART Notice

Devious Comments

*christfirst:iconchristfirst: May 3, 2008, 6:59:41 PM Mood: Affection
Thanks for the fav!!!
*MichaelCrichlow:iconMichaelCrichlow: Apr 14, 2008, 6:42:09 PM
Interesting page here. Cool! :D

--
Let no one rob you of that powerful motivational force known as vision...seeing not only what is...but what can be.
~DjStayFresh:iconDjStayFresh: Apr 11, 2008, 6:59:42 AM
What up BUD! hey, i just got some info from a friend of mine that i thought of you the instant he told me his news. anyway, he own a clothing line [link] (hes got a myspace too, but i dont want to link it) so his tshirts have become somewhat "politicaly-motivated", and he asked me to help him come up with these kind of idea for designs on the shirts. I thought you might be interested helping me out because you come up with these kinds of ideas all the time. well, if your interested and want to know more, you know where i be!

--
preception; the key that unlocks the tangible power of the spirit.
~Deusuum:iconDeusuum: Mar 17, 2008, 2:48:21 AM
Hey, thanks for the :+fav:!
=butchen:iconbutchen: Mar 3, 2008, 7:57:15 AM
thanks so very very much for the :+favlove:

--
"I reject your reality and substitute my own" :relaxed:
*NilNilNil:iconNilNilNil: Feb 10, 2008, 4:51:57 PM
Thank you for adding Pazuzu to your :+fav:s :)

--
[Reality is the original Rorschach]

Proud member of *Apophysis *FractalDreams *DeviousFractals *Cat-Lovers-Anon *Dark-Arts-Asylum

NNTR: No Need To Reply (though it's a pleasure sometimes)
~the-panpiper:iconthe-panpiper: Feb 4, 2008, 10:44:58 PM
Thankyou very much for giving a :+fav: on Soul Lifting: Purification

--
wrong decision=failiure
failiure-> experience and learning
experience and learning->right decisions
right decisions=success!

Member of *Apophysis
~pictishscout:iconpictishscout: Dec 16, 2007, 4:21:31 PM
thanks again for the fav
~DjStayFresh:iconDjStayFresh: Dec 6, 2007, 7:52:57 AM
whats up King, hows things?

--
preception; the key that unlocks the tangible power of the spirit.
~jmsnooks:iconjmsnooks: Dec 4, 2007, 10:40:40 PM
Sounds interesting, link me to whatever you're describing.

--
Check out my webcomics: [link]

Comissions are welcome.
~uglystickpress:iconuglystickpress: Nov 23, 2007, 10:21:55 AM
Awesome squirtgun story. Kids will do some freakish things sometimes. I have plenty of stories about the guy who I based "Balloon Animal" on. I tried to capture as many as I could in one image-- like his tendency to bring non-fatal weapons to school. We're talking along the lines of stun-guns and brass knuckles. And he used to read passages of banned white power 'literature' and The Anarchist's Cookbook on the bus, talking about how easy it would be for him to blow up our teachers' cars. It didn't really dawn on me how dangerous that guy was until years later when I reflected on the things he did or talked about doing.

For an interesting epilogue to the story-- I came home from the bar one night in 2002 and turned on the TV. There was a really bad horror movie starring none other than that same guy. I had to double-take the opening credits, then wait to see if it was the same person when the movie began. Sure enough, that was the dude. I even looked him up on imdb to see if he had done anything else (not really). Crazy stuff.
~jmsnooks:iconjmsnooks: Nov 16, 2007, 11:13:06 AM
Would you like to join :iconstar-trek:?

--
Check out my webcomics: [link]

Comissions are welcome.
=butchen:iconbutchen: Nov 11, 2007, 9:09:32 AM
:thanks: for the :+devwatch: I will try not to let you down

--
"I reject your reality and substitute my own" :relaxed:
~DjStayFresh:iconDjStayFresh: Oct 26, 2007, 8:08:15 AM
[link]

--
preception; the key that unlocks the tangible power of the spirit.
~pictishscout:iconpictishscout: Sep 9, 2007, 6:35:56 AM
Thanks for the fav! Do you still have the great adaptation you did for the "Sword of Welleran"?
~DjStayFresh:iconDjStayFresh: Sep 4, 2007, 10:15:32 PM
Yo! from this point on im a freakin sponge!!! I think i can do this zine thing. i checked out your sites and its pretty cool! im thinking everything is fallin in the right spot now.

just one thing thats different. i think i can pull together an actual story. something in the same lines as exposing the labotomized public to some hearty truth, but wraped around something that our society has perpetuated throughout time. the art of story telling...

perhaps what people need is the drama. the action. the proverbial conflict set in our own reality. if they dont want to face your doses of "pie-in-face", stab at the corporate elite, than we need to portray the same truths through different means.. all the different means!

...you just wait. i only have a few minutes to write this, but ill be back with more.

--
preception; the key that unlocks the tangible power of the spirit.
~DjStayFresh:iconDjStayFresh: Aug 28, 2007, 8:31:01 AM
Here is my brothers myspace...

hes helping me with this project...

[link]

--
preception; the key that unlocks the tangible power of the spirit.
*ryuzo:iconryuzo: Jul 28, 2007, 9:32:48 AM
Ahh a rare but very appreciated Space Harrier fav! Thanks!
~maliekin:iconmaliekin: Jul 22, 2007, 12:37:10 PM
thanks for the favorite
*christfirst:iconchristfirst: Jun 19, 2007, 4:58:24 PM
Thanks for the fav friend:hug:

--
DA friends:wave:
~jmsnooks:iconjmsnooks: Mar 29, 2007, 8:26:03 PM
I know that time is at a premium, but I'm sort of wanting to do an art exchange with you.

--
Check out my webcomics: [link]

Comissions are welcome.
=c4rl:iconc4rl: Mar 26, 2007, 3:02:59 AM
thanks for the drop :)

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