There is some amazingly engaging stuff in Howard Rheingold’s “Howard K. Martian” video episodes (circa 1976), and hope to take some inspiration from the deliberate, steeped-in-whackiness approach to teaching.
Currently Howard has posted 3 video episodes of The Martian Report on his vlog web site. Most memorable bit of episode 3 is the teletype-driven, computer-generated science fiction story #5:
Earth is attacked by giant betelgeusian potato bugs which want our women and are not at all radioactive and cannot be killed by a pleasant crowd of peasants with tear gas and torches, but a priest talks to them of God and they die.
The End
I think it was sheer coincidence that this particular episode ends with an announcement of God’s retirement, wherein he reveals half of the secret to organizing the cosmos:
You didn’t really think I would spoil it here, did you? Watch episode 3 to learn how it’s done!