Get Cynical

The SIA is the Internet’s oldest (and best!) page devoted entirely to images of spacecraft from Science Fiction movies and TV.

Spaceships have always been an integral part of sci-fi, often becoming more of a character than a mere prop. Some of the most creative and memorable spaceships throughout cinema have won us over despite flaws in logic and what modern science may tell us is practical sense. Our favorites are so for the simple reason that they, like the impractical, gas-guzzling sports car of our generation, are just plain cool.

On August 23, 1973, Jan Erik “Janne” Olsson, on leave from prison, walked into Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, central Stockholm. Police were called in immediately, two of them went inside, and Olsson opened fire, injuring one policeman. The other was ordered to sit in a chair and “sing something”. He started singing “Lonesome Cowboy”. Olsson then took 4 people as hostages. (See picture.) He demanded his friend Clark Olofsson to be brought there, along with 3 million Swedish Kronor ($730,000 US 1973 value), two guns, bullet-proof vests, helmets and a fast car.

Olofsson was brought in by permission of the government and established a communication link with the police negotiators. One of the hostages, Kristin Ehnemark (not present on the photo), said she was confident with the robbers but feared the police might cause trouble by violent methods (this was the beginning of the Stockholm syndrome). The robbers barricaded the inner main vault together with the hostages. The doors to the vault were closed. The robbers were permitted to have a car to escape but were not allowed to take the hostages with them, if they were to leave.

On a specially constructed balance, the uncooked burger weighed in at seventeen pounds. The specially baked buns were seven pounds each. The assembled burger weighed 29.75 pounds, with a pound of bacon, two pounds of cheese, grilled onions and portabella mushrooms, avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, mustard, ketchup, and a giant toothpick through the center with deli pickles on top. The buns were baked on a pizza pan with a custom-fitted steel ring around the edge.

In this send-up of Monopoly, players don’t pass “Go” and they don’t go directly to jail – they go to Guantanamo Bay.


Instead of losing cash for landing on certain squares, they lose civil liberties. And the Mr. Monopoly character at the centre of the board is replaced by a scowling former attorney general John Ashcroft.


Patriot Act: the Home Version pokes fun at “the historic abuse of governmental powers” by the recently renewed anti-terrorism law, according to its creator’s website.