DECEMBER 25, 2000 - JANUARY 1, 2001 VOL. 156 NO. 25/26

Q & A Arthur C. Clarke
By MICHAEL FATHERS

ALSO IN TIME COVER: Person of the Year It was the closest and wildest U.S. presidential election in history. At the end of it all, the man left standing is George W. Bush, whose marathon victory makes him TIME's pick as the No. 1 headliner of 2000 • Asian of the Year: North Korea's mercurial Kim Jong Il steps out from the shadows CHINA: Farewell, My Concubine A new law may threaten philandering officials HONG KONG: Under the Sea Dredging for Disney's new park is churning up more than dirt SOUTH KOREA: Conduct Unbecoming Feminists rally to support disgraced starlet Baek Ji Young BUSINESS: Filling the Cheap Seats How one theater owner is challenging China's film monopoly CINEMA: High octane, fast trash in Gen-Y Cops Q&A: Greeting the future with Arthur C. Clarke TRAVEL WATCH: New tricks for buying old furniture in China

Arthur C. Clarke, 83, the celebrated Sri Lanka-based author of the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, will be marking the (real) start of the millennium on Jan. 1.

Q. What will you be doing on Day One of 2001 on Planet Earth?

A. Trying to get some sleep.

Q. If you were granted one wish for the next thousand years, what would it be?

A. Freedom from interviewers.

Q. Oh come now, be serious.

A. Well obviously good health so that I could walk or better still run again.

Q. In scientific terms?

A. For the world, a change to non-polluting energy, which I think is a possibility. As for myself, I can't really think of anything I would need except time. What about a time-extender, to control time with a fast forward and fast rewind? And almost as good would be a sleep-eliminator. The Russians once claimed they had a device that would knock you out and put you to sleep instantly. It sounded a bit scary, but it stopped you thrashing around in bed.

Q. But that doesn't do away with sleep, and some of us like thrashing about in bed.

A. I'm talking about the un-sleep, a time when sleep might no longer be necessary. On the other hand, sleep may be necessary to download the junk that we accumulate during the day.

Q. You've been looking at the stars all your life: Is there anything in astrology?

A. It's utter nonsense. But I'm a Sagittarius, so I'm naturally skeptical.

Q. How many of your predictions for the third millennium will come about: the space escalator from Earth, colonies on the planets, cold fusion, the braincap?

A. Timing is impossible to predict, but I think that 90% of the things that I said were possible will happen. But others won't happen because someone will get better ideas.

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