Sometimes I get titles for new stories stuck in my head, often based on my mis-hearing of something in conversation or on the radio. If I could actually write more stories to match all my titles, I could have written by now several anthologies worth of stuff. In Oklahoma, it seems that a large percentage of the population pronounces the number "ten" exactly the same way as the metal "tin." On the radio this morning, during a tedious segment about this year's state legislative agenda, they discussed a bill that is apparently moving forward to authorize the erection of a monument displaying the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol. (That's the kind of shit that our state legislature pushes to the top of the agenda, while deciding to do nothing about making health insurers provide some help for parents with autistic kids). Anyway, I got the idea for a story called "The Tin Commandments." I imagined it could be some kind of robot story set in a steampunk milieu. That's as far as I've gotten. I am half-seriously considering announcing an M-Brane contest with this challenge: write the best version of "The Tin Commandments." Speaking of contests, there's barely a month left until the Baen deadline. [The image is of the sentient space-going lifeform Gomtuu, from the Star Trek: TNG episode "Tin Man."]
3 comments:
I don't see how we've gone this long WITHOUT an erected monument to the tin commandments. KEEERIST.
I wonder if this erection (of the monument) will induce another kind of erection in its fans as they stand on the capitol grounds admiring its girth.
OK I got another idea now for the story "The Tin Commandments": Sometime in the twenty-first century, scientists discover a giant metal phallus on the Moon...DAMMIT! never mind--I think I'm remembering some old movie...
I read this a while ago but just recently revisited the idea.
What about a find (archeological or steampunk) that uncovers the Tin Commandments written on the BIOS or hard-wired into a sentient computer or robot? Could be a probe sent from another universe or a relic from an ancient advanced civilization that would provide the building blocks for human morality?
Imagine the possibilities of finding a list of Commands hardwired into the core memory of the planet, commands that were supposed to guide our collective moral compass...imagine what they might have said...imagine what would happen if we found out that...just imagine...
Post a Comment