This doesn't have anything to do with my comment, does it?
Not in the least. As e of pi points out, I'm merely following the schedule laid out in the "More to Come" post, as is usually the case.
I have to say, I would appreciate some more in depth thoughts--I put a lot of creative energy into Greenpoint and I know the Brainbin did too. If it was just, "okay," what made it "not great," but also, "not bad"? Brainbin holds his work to a very high standard, and I worked hard to live up to it in this update, and it takes both positive and negative critique to keep to that.
I would like to echo this query. This is only a "rough draft", after all, and there's always room for improvement.
Whatever changes are made, I hope the events behind
Jay Thomas' famous Lone Ranger story he tells on Letterman every Christmas still occur.
What a charming story! I'm pretty sure I can save that - hippiedom, if anything, is even
stronger in the 1970s ITTL - though as to the
venue where he tells it...
Just finished catching up. Brainbin I'd like to thank you for inspiring me to join AlternateHistory.com.
Well! You are most welcome, PitViper, and welcome aboard! Thank
you for your lovely compliments,
and for bestowing your first-ever post upon this humble thread!
PitViper said:
Incredibly interesting timeline, I especially enjoyed the section on Journey of the Force, being a massive Star Wars geek. Though, since you've butterflied away Harrison Ford's career my counterpart ITTL will have to be named after someone else.
So you were born
after 1977, then! Well, it's very possible that your TTL alter-ego might be named for Kurt Russell - who, fortunately, has two first names. (Much as Harrison Ford has two
last names.) "Kurt" seems rather brusque, but I would say "Russell" might be a fairly equitable substitution! What do you think?
PitViper said:
Bringing unfiltered, unrevised, unedited George Lucas writing to the comics page... I just hope they're prepared for
The Phantom Menace redux, that's all I can say
PitViper said:
Anyway, can't wait for more!
And I can't wait to bring it to you!
Microwave ovens seem too convenient to kill off altogether...mind you, I'm sure there are people in other TLs who would think public attitudes to nuclear power in OTL are unrealistic. I could see microwave ovens still being used by eccentric types, the same kind of people who might have a wind turbine in their back garden or a car that runs on chip fat...but they would probably only be built in small numbers for industry.
(Corollary to that: you've probably held back microwave reactor chemistry, which means alternate me will have to find something else to do his PhD on
)
All right, apparently there has been a widespread misunderstanding with regards to the fate of microwave ovens ITTL. I admit that I may have contributed to this in my (jocular) response to vultan's observation (which I had - perhaps mistakenly - taken in jest). Although, yes, the tinfoil-hat crazies
will reject microwave ovens on account of
The Greenpoint Dilemma and the associated hysteria, by and large, microwave ovens will continue to see widespread use by consumers. As you note, Thande, they are
far too convenient to eschew in this era (not to mention that contemporary toaster ovens are
major fire hazards). Also, the major appliance manufacturers of the day will do everything they can to distance themselves from "microwave power", and emphasize how safe and reliable it is in commercials (so long as you don't put metal or anything living in there). Granted, it might be pretty awkward, especially for companies like General Electric (who would have been intimately involved with the push for microwave power), but these companies have the best marketing teams in the world at their disposal. If anyone can find a way out of this potential mess, they can.
Thande said:
Now there's an example of a timeline consequence for you...I wonder if people like Tolkien, George Lucas, JK Rowling, Gene Roddenberry etc. ever realise how many people in future generations' names they are deciding when they hesitate over what name to give a popular character. (Especially Tolkien, seeing as he changed all his characters' and locations' names about five times with every draft of everything he wrote!)
An excellent point! Although our friend PitViper provides a variation of this in that he was named for the
actor who played the character, rather than the character himself. We've certainly seen plenty of examples of that IOTL: "Shirley" (after Shirley Temple) is the most dramatic example thereof. That name's arc of popularity peaked in the 1930s (at the height of her career), gradually rising from the late 19th century before reaching #4 in the 1930s, and steadily declining ever since (to the point that, today, it struggles to remain in the top 1,000 names for girls). "Harrison" has followed the opposite trajectory: relatively popular as a boy's name in the late 19th century, it kept declining all through the 20th, before bottoming out in (you guessed it) the 1970s, and it has been on the rise ever since (the big jump, oddly, was not in the 1980s but the
1990s).
That said, your point is certainly an intriguing one as well. "Hermione" immediately jumps to mind, of course, but it still apparently has yet to reach the top 1,000 names for girls. "Leia" has, though
far more recently than you might expect (it hit #956 in 2006 and has been climbing ever since). In a way, it does make sense; the classical audience for the original
Star Wars trilogy
were children, after all, many of whom are now old enough to settle down and have kids of their own. Perhaps in twenty years, "Hermione" might make the top 1,000 after all. As far as
Star Trek and changes ITTL are concerned, I've given Sulu a name different from OTL (Walter, an "American" name, as opposed to the "foreign" Hikaru),
and over 20 years before it was confirmed IOTL,
and at which time
Star Trek is a hit show. "Walter" has been steadily declining for decades since peaking at #11 in the early 20th century, though it appears to have finally leveled off somewhere in the upper 300s. ITTL, Sulu's first name would have been revealed sometime in 1969, which would affect the popularity of the name into the 1970s (IOTL, it was #82 in the 1960s, and #105 in the 1970s). My thinking is, perhaps ITTL it could be nudged into the top 100, especially amongst Asian-Americans who want to give their sons a "Western" name. Likewise, Uhura's name (revealed as "Penda" in 1969) could catch on with African-Americans, particularly Black Muslims (as "Penda" is Swahili), perhaps even enough to reach the top 1,000 in the 1970s (the decade of Blaxploitation, after all).
For those of you who are curious, my source for the prevalence of baby names is the
Baby Name Voyager, a valuable (and fun!) resource.
Thande said:
That was previously posted here - I think it's a great idea. I'd like to see someone do the same thing for the first draft of The Silmarillion, which is VERY different.
It will certainly have indisputable value as a living piece of alternate history
Of coruse, you could probably create a hot plate that is self-contained - perhaps a sliding panel automatically slides out to reveal the hot plate with the door is closed & it's turned on, it heats up the meal, then turns off and recedes automatically when it's done, and the pnael resides back over the hot plate, allowing it to cool. Might be a bit bulkier but I can see a visually impaired or elderly person using one quite easily.
An earlier George Foreman grill would be nice, too. I can see an aging slugger like Willie Stargell being the pitchman.
(Oh, great, now Brainbin's going to have to cover inventions, too.
)
In all seriousness, I probably
should cover "innovators" like K-tel and the Popeil Bros.
in some capacity...