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The time has come for my annual short Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, the support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

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Voidwalkeraudio – Desire

An evening pause: The visuals come from the 1927 German film by Fritz Lang, Metropolis, and cover the scene dubbed “Maria’s Dance.” You can see the full movie here, as well as many other places on line.

Hat tip Judd Clark, who adds, “To understand what’s going on here, one needs to see the whole movie, preferably the latest restored version, and to really understand, one needs to read Lang’s wife Thea Von Harbou’s book “Metropolis”.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

8 comments

  • Allan

    You haven’t seen, or heard, Metropolis until you’ve watched the 1984 version with the music score directed by Giorgio Moroder. The contemporary rock music (with contributors like Pat Benatar, Freddie Mercury, Loverboy, and Atom Ant) follows every scene distinctly with elegant transitions to carry you through every intended mood and following the pace perfectly. Fritz Lang himself would be impressed with how the sound track brings home what he was attempting to accomplish.
    It is shorter but not truncated. one hour and 23 minutes.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1qIj4Vce8g

  • wayne

    Allan–
    Downloading that version right now–thanks!

    Negativland
    “Christianity is Stupid”
    Escape from Noise album 1987
    https://youtu.be/FDfrrgqy_Eo
    3:58

    “The loudspeaker spoke up and said …”

  • wayne

    Metropolis is available at the Internet Archive if anyone wants to easily download it for off-line viewing.
    [the B&W 2 hour 30 minute version w/music but not the one Allan referenced)
    https://archive.org/details/Metropolis1927_201312

    They also have a version that has been upscaled, cleaned, and with color added for effect. (“not historically accurate”)

  • Allan

    Correction: It’s Adam Ant. They do hard rock shirtless and sweaty. Atom Ant is an old cartoon.

    The 1984 Moroder production is hard to find. They have been chasing down their copy-write violations. I have the dvd, uh, my son has it now. I must tell him not to lose it.

  • Jay

    I watched the 1984 version as a kid and loved it. I know it is not popular among critics.
    I do love the restored Kino version with the lost footage. It was ground breaking science fiction for that time and it has something that many Hollywood movies do not have now… a plot.

  • Andrew R

    I’ve been a fan of Metropolis, since I was a small kid, watching it on public TV. I got Moroder’s ’84 version on Laser Disc (and still have a player) and found the sountrack on CD. I never watched the Laser Disc too many times, but if the CD had been vinyl I’d’ve worn it out. Now I’m going to have to find a copy of the most recent restoration on Blu-Ray. That’s what the Voidwalkerudio version must be from. I’ve never seen it look so clean & sharp.

  • judd

    This: ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040QYROK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) appears to be the latest and most complete version, with many digital restorations.

    The book is here: ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486795675/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) (English translation).

    In the early 70s NPR broadcast a version with an interesting soundtrack done by the modern synthesizers of the time, Moog, i think. i can’t find that anywhere, and it would not be as complete as the above blu-ray.

  • sippin_bourbon

    I have seen several versions of the film.

    If you like the old stuff, “Frau im Mond” is a good one too.

    The first sci Fi film to use a count down for a launch.

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