Better Than Life

This post was inspired by a documentary on the life and works of Burl Ives, that I was listening to one morning this week. It featured the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain", a folk song about a homeless man's idea of paradise. In the original version of the song, there are lakes full of whisky and there are cigarette trees. Yep, doesn't sound like paradise to me, either.

Yet, we're all attracted to our own image of an idyllic paradise, aren't we? A place where everything is positive, harmonious and eternal. This sort of thing seems to echo throughout science fiction tales, too. Even Red Dwarf had an episode set in a computer simulation called "Better Than Life" - Lister's fantasy paradise involved curries and lager (typically!).

Star Trek featured the word Paradise in two of the classic episodes. "This Side Of Paradise" was a tale about a group of colonists who were being controlled by plant spores. A side effect was the removal of worry from their lives... all seemed perfect. But it wasn't. Hmmm - the use of a mind-altering substance to make life seem better. No thanks...

Also, "The Paradise Syndrome" depicted Kirk losing his memory in a particularly shocking encounter with an alien device and living an idyllic life as a member of the indigenous population - free from worry and strife. That's more like it. The lack of worry bit. Not the shocking :)

Then I remembered a scene in one of my favourite films, "A Matter of Life and Death"(1946).  Set in the afterlife, Richard Attenborough looks out over row after row of desks in a huge admin office and says "It's heaven, isn't it."

And there's the point. To some people, the thought of working as an administrator would be paradise.

So, what would be paradise for you?

You'd Better Watch Out...

I am starting to look forward to Christmas already. I hear today that Aardman Animations has a new Wallace and Gromit short in preparation, entitled "A Matter of Loaf and Death". This will air as part of BBC's Christmas programming. I must admit to being very intrigued by the thought of this, as a big fan of both W&G and of the classic film "A Matter of Life and Death". 

Apparently, our heroes open a new bakery and soon become embroiled in a classic ‘who doughnut mystery’. The film will be created by Nick Park alongside writer Bob Baker (who co-wrote "A Close Shave" and "The Wrong Trousers"). Peter Sallis will be the voice of Wallace, with Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay joining them this time round as new love interest Piella Bakewell.
Cracking!