Saturday, March 21, 2009

Adventures in True Futurology: In the Long Run We Are All Dead



Stare into my crystal ball… I see… I see… No shiny immortal robot bodies for you, my poor pouting l'il robot cultists…. no robot sex-slaves or nano-santa treasure caves for you to wallow in… no cyborg shell to harden and hotten your ageing vulnerable bodies and boners… no IQ-boosting plug-in to deliver you the indefeasible sooperbrain you pine for… no longevity pill to prolong your scared scarred insensate slog through life's swamp… no Robot God to solve your problems or end it all for you… just a very short road from the pinch and the punch to the paunch and the pouch and the pension.

And a girl has to celebrate everything passing by.

(Sondheim always helps make Amor Mundi more positive!)
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4 comments:

  1. jimf12:06 PM

    Hm. This seems to be the PBS Live at Lincoln Center broadcast
    from Nov. 7, 1990 which, according to a comment at
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359610/usercomments
    "was broadcast live, never repeated, and never released commercially
    on video. I seem to recall something about Sondheim not being willing
    to release video rights, and a lot of contractual hurdles with NYCO
    [New York City Opera]."

    The actress playing Petra in this performance is Susan Terry
    http://mtcmainstage.org/images/mainstage/msSusanTerry.jpg

    You Tube also has scenes from the 1978 movie (with Liz Taylor,
    ulp!). Diana Rigg was Countess Charlotte in that movie.

    "Lemonade, Charlotte?"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8PV33dmVVU

    ReplyDelete
  2. jimf3:27 PM

    Carol Burnett doing Sondheim in '99, from a DVD.

    "Every Day A Little Death"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXxFMMCI35Y

    "Ladies Who Lunch"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fjvZ4hHTGA

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  3. jimf5:06 PM

    And a fantastic performance of "Send In The Clowns" by
    Judi Dench
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rEhOnd8S-8

    ReplyDelete
  4. jimf6:28 PM

    Huh. It seems that today (March 22) is Sondheim's 79th birthday.

    ReplyDelete