Chico. Chienne. Prissy.
CJ
Tiger. Sniffles. Puppy (Toby).
Spencer. Elsie. Nemo. George. Weezie. Socks. Squeaky. Diesel. Ariel. Andre.
Travis. Maggie. Bambi.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
My favorite authors. YMMV.
In no particular order...
As previously noted, Mary Stewart and some of Frank Herbert.
P.G. Wodehouse. Much of what I thought, as a kid, of what was funny about National Lampoon in the 70's was, in hindsight, informed by Wodehouse.
Hal Goodwin writing as John Blaine. The Rick Brant G&D books. I always wanted to be Rick.
Rob White III. He tends to repeat himself, but of his "orphans with sailboats" series "Sailor in the Sun" is worth seeking out. And of course "The Lions Paw". In his WWII series, I like "Silent Ship, Silent Sea" and "The Survivor". "Down Periscope" is overrated.
Lester Dent writing as Kenneth Robeson. Doc Savage. What else needs to be said?
Keith Robertson's Henry Reed books.
Heinlein. As an adult, I am shocked to look back and realize how much of my belief system was formed by his work. "Have Spacesuit will Travel" and "Starship Troopers".
Arthur C. Clarke. "The Star" always makes me sad. "The Nine Billion Names of God" has a lot of meaning for me; my sole purpose in life is to take care of my cats. When they are gone, is there any need for me?
Ray Bradbury. "R is for Rocket" is me as a young man; "The Man" is me as an old man (I'm the captain).
Bruce McCall.
P.J. O'Rourke.
More later, maybe. I gotta go back and remember some of the others - D.S. Halacy, W.E. Butterworth (aka W.E.B. Griffin), etc.
As previously noted, Mary Stewart and some of Frank Herbert.
P.G. Wodehouse. Much of what I thought, as a kid, of what was funny about National Lampoon in the 70's was, in hindsight, informed by Wodehouse.
Hal Goodwin writing as John Blaine. The Rick Brant G&D books. I always wanted to be Rick.
Rob White III. He tends to repeat himself, but of his "orphans with sailboats" series "Sailor in the Sun" is worth seeking out. And of course "The Lions Paw". In his WWII series, I like "Silent Ship, Silent Sea" and "The Survivor". "Down Periscope" is overrated.
Lester Dent writing as Kenneth Robeson. Doc Savage. What else needs to be said?
Keith Robertson's Henry Reed books.
Heinlein. As an adult, I am shocked to look back and realize how much of my belief system was formed by his work. "Have Spacesuit will Travel" and "Starship Troopers".
Arthur C. Clarke. "The Star" always makes me sad. "The Nine Billion Names of God" has a lot of meaning for me; my sole purpose in life is to take care of my cats. When they are gone, is there any need for me?
Ray Bradbury. "R is for Rocket" is me as a young man; "The Man" is me as an old man (I'm the captain).
Bruce McCall.
P.J. O'Rourke.
More later, maybe. I gotta go back and remember some of the others - D.S. Halacy, W.E. Butterworth (aka W.E.B. Griffin), etc.
Fiction?
I used to read a lot. Still do; just not as much as before. Mostly fiction. I have enough reality, thank you.
Every once in a while, I read a piece of fiction so real it suggests the author is not making up events but rather reporting on events that happened in an alternate universe or time line. As much as I love Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke I never got that vibe from even their best works. But here are two that really seem "real" to me:
Frank Herbert's Dune. But not the sequels.
Mary Stewart's Merlin books. Well, the first three, anyway. And how!
I've read that Robert E. Howard actually said that he felt like he was transcribing an adventurer's tales when he wrote the Conan books.
Hmmmmm.
Every once in a while, I read a piece of fiction so real it suggests the author is not making up events but rather reporting on events that happened in an alternate universe or time line. As much as I love Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke I never got that vibe from even their best works. But here are two that really seem "real" to me:
Frank Herbert's Dune. But not the sequels.
Mary Stewart's Merlin books. Well, the first three, anyway. And how!
I've read that Robert E. Howard actually said that he felt like he was transcribing an adventurer's tales when he wrote the Conan books.
Hmmmmm.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Me? A Blog? Meh.
I never really thought about doing a blog.
I mean, what do I have so say that's so interesting or important that other people will want to read it? But I decided to do it anyway, and here's the (over)explanation of why.
A few years back, I took a Western Civilization (or it could have been World Religions) class at the local community college. The instructor (Raj Ayyar) wisely chose not to make it about names and dates but about ideas. One of those ideas was the different forms of immortality. One form in particular struck me - so long as people remember you, you are still alive.
A vivid illustration of this may be found in the movie Blade Runner. The climax of the movie involves Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and Deckard (Harrison Ford) trying to kill each other. In the end, Deckard falls off a building but Batty saves him just before dying. Why did Batty do this? The voice-over in the original version offers a lame explanation but the best explanation I've seen was on the web site cracked.com (of all places). By saving Deckard, Batty is saving Deckard's memory of him, thus prolonging his own life.
As I get older, I think about my own legacy and, quite frankly, I'm not well positioned for immortality.
I have no children, have achieved nothing of lasting value. When I die, it will be as if I never existed. So perhaps by publishing a blog, even if it's read by no one, some evidence of my existence will be preserved on some server, somewhere, and I will have achieved my little slice of immortality.
I mean, what do I have so say that's so interesting or important that other people will want to read it? But I decided to do it anyway, and here's the (over)explanation of why.
A few years back, I took a Western Civilization (or it could have been World Religions) class at the local community college. The instructor (Raj Ayyar) wisely chose not to make it about names and dates but about ideas. One of those ideas was the different forms of immortality. One form in particular struck me - so long as people remember you, you are still alive.
A vivid illustration of this may be found in the movie Blade Runner. The climax of the movie involves Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and Deckard (Harrison Ford) trying to kill each other. In the end, Deckard falls off a building but Batty saves him just before dying. Why did Batty do this? The voice-over in the original version offers a lame explanation but the best explanation I've seen was on the web site cracked.com (of all places). By saving Deckard, Batty is saving Deckard's memory of him, thus prolonging his own life.
As I get older, I think about my own legacy and, quite frankly, I'm not well positioned for immortality.
I have no children, have achieved nothing of lasting value. When I die, it will be as if I never existed. So perhaps by publishing a blog, even if it's read by no one, some evidence of my existence will be preserved on some server, somewhere, and I will have achieved my little slice of immortality.
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