Monthly Archives: August 2008

Jason Ricci

Friday Night I went down to see Jason Ricci play. He is a punk rocker who plays harmonica and does some blues. He is a unique player that does stuff nobody else can do. He is currently at the cutting edge of harmonica using techniques that are impossible to most of us. Here is a […]

Don&#39t Look Back in Awe

Here’s a blog entry saying that old Science Fiction is no longer relevant to readers. That sucks. Young people, especially, have the feeling that their minds, emotions and lives are different, somehow, from the lives of those who came before them. The unfortunate truth is that they are exactly the same as their parents, exactly […]

George O. Smith – Hellflower

The only things that I’ve read by George O. Smith were published in Astounding Science Fiction in the late 1940s and early 50s. John W. Campbell, jr. published many of Smith’s stories. As I remember, they were engineering stories and I especially liked the Venus Equilateral ones about engineering and human problems exploiting the planet […]

Ward and Amy in OZ

I just received a postcard from Australia. My little brother and his wife are on vacation down in Australia. He says it is amazingly beautiful, but chilly. It’s not yet spring there. I expect to hear some good stories when he gets back, and maybe a nice archive of pictures.

Gordon R. Dickson – The Earth Lords

When I think of Dickson, I think of the Dorsai books that I read a long time ago. These were military SF and probably Dickson, more than anyone else, has defined Military Science Fiction. The war in Vietnam soured me on militarism, so I only read a few of them, but I remember that the […]

Luck: A User’s Manual

Here’s a site that friend wants me to critique. I’ve read through it a few times and I think I understand the words, but I there is something basic that I don’t get. Please check it out and tell me what you think of it. Leave comments here, even if you have nothing beyond a […]

Tempting…

I found this on my Craigslist Telecommute search engine thingy (see below). I Can Has Cheezburger? Looks for PHP Genius (Telecommute) We are in the process of integrating our fast-growing WordPress blogs with our super-duper back-end (written in .NET) You will make the intarwebs a better tube for millions as we develop some amazing tools […]

Happy birthday Ray Bradbury

Ray turned 88. I had heard that he was bedridden, but it seems he’s well enough to get out a bit and hang at bookstores for signings. I am going to write him a letter and tell him how much of an influence he was on my life. Every time I do something like this […]