Techno-Thrillers discussion

This group image is just a close up from the cover for Project Hail Mary. It’s an astronaut floating in space … sure, and it conveys part of the setting of the book … but it isn’t obvious where this scene comes from. Does he spend time outside the ship? There is a scene where rather precariously he is trying to collect a sample of the astrophage. That might be it. I’m not sure that’s the most iconic image, but any iconic image would probably be a bit of a spoiler. Incidentally, the trailer for the movie is a massive spoiler. I suppose they didn’t want people showing up and being “too” surprised. But, I consider the trailer a disappointing spoiler for the book.



This is a stained glass portrayal of Mary, mother of Jesus, praying, and … it’s an ode to our book of the month, Project Hail Mary. Mary would never pray to herself, or say the Hail Mary prayer, but … the rough visual association is still there. Look, it doesn’t have to fully “make sense”, so much as catch attention and cause people to check out the group, or amuse those of us already in the group.



Prior to this, I had a picture of Doug Flutie throwing the Hail Mary. This is the iconic image of a Hail Mary in the sense of a last ditch effort, which is the sense in the name of our book of the month, Project Hail Mary. It covers a space-based mission that involves an incredible longshot strategy ... that despite the odds seems the only conceivable option to contend with the problem at hand.



This play happened during a football game between Boston College and the University of Miami on November 23, 1984, the day after Thanksgiving holiday in the US. Thanksgiving is on a Thursday ... the majority of Americans have Thursday and Friday off work ... and at the time, the trend of Black Friday shopping for Christmas was not the full tilt frenzy that it was in the 90s or 00s. People had a bad taste from the shopping hysteria of 1983 for trendy Cabbage Patch dolls that were all the rage and difficult to find for a Christmas present. That was the first true frenzy I recall where some shoppers in some cities pushed and shoved each other in a mad dash as the stores open doors on Friday, and people rushed in to get the last remaining dolls available at sale prices. There was a bit of a backlash in 1984, with somewhat of an anti-shopping mood after the over-the-top advertising and frenzy of 1983. It seems relatively more people had stayed home in 1984, foregoing the shopping, and so more people were watching the football games of the day. I watched this game live. On the last play of the game as the clock ran out, with Boston College trailing by 4 points, quarterback Doug Flutie threw a massive pass to the end zone and the receiver and defense all jumped in the air for it. The receiver caught it to win the game. Doug Flutie is 5'10", just a bit small for a football player at that level, and yet he threw the ball 63 yards, some say against the wind. The chances are very low, ... just throw the ball as hard as you can, say a prayer, and hope for the best. You could throw it shorter, but the defense will be waiting, or do a hook & ladder, ... rugby style. The odds of all the options are low. The notion of a Hail Mary play existed earlier in history, but that was before television. This game, in contrast, was a big game on national television on a holiday, with many viewers watching, and has become the de facto image of a Hail Mary working out. But, American football doesn't have global appeal, and this is pretty poor quality picture that doesn't pop so much as the stained glass image.