November 8, 2010: Conspiracies And Space History

Conspiracies are fun. Weird groups, wacky characters, and improbable events litter historical accounts of conspiracies, proving the old "truth is stranger than fiction" meme. Knowing this, modern ravings have the extra spice of "they might actually be right!"

Well, maybe not the ones who say the Templars are run by lizard people . . . but the others might be right!

The main problem with conspiracy nuts is their constant esoteric references. Most of us don't know the difference between Fimbulwinter and Ithaqua, when Da Vinci invented steam-pumps, or what le Comte de Saint-Germain is thought to have died from. This is where Kenneth Hite's Suppressed Transmission comes in handy.

In Suppressed Transmission 2 (like the first volume), the oddball and the mainstream collide, but with annotations and notes to help even the most mundane navigate the seas of theories. With just a few articles under your belt, you'll know where electronic voice phenomena originated, why sacred Masonic geometry is important to our democracy, and who received grants from Rudolf II.

e23 also released Space Gamer #46. It's a Traveller issue, with an adventure and alternate rules for terrorists, along with the usual reviews and game articles. The tidbit that struck me was SJ's Where We're Going column. You see, I knew that the company was originally housed in SJ's neighborhood, largely inhabiting a garage. And I knew that, in the early '80s, everyone moved to the building I started at, over on Metcalfe Road. What I didn't know what that the offices were briefly headquartered on Congress Avenue! After 10 years with the company, I'm still discovering parts of our history, thanks to Space Gamer.

-- Paul Chapman