He had an ordinary face. He seemed an ordinary person. As ordinary as many others who stepped in during the end game. You see many people like this during a disaster; people who step up to lend a hand, without being asked, without being paid, even without being thanked. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And the news flashes Earthwards...it appears the toilet is working again on the International Space Station!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Not only will nobody admit to spilling chocolate on the stove, but the stain won't come off either.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:50 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I forgot to write a sentence yesterday.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The last time he really truly saw her was the day of graduation from college. And even then you could not really say he saw her well. Her mother was there, and her stepfather, and her mother did not care for her much. As did his parents; they thought he was wasting time with her. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A Falcon IX test of all five engines!

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I would like to write a novel, but I don't know where to start.

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...will be one of these! What else can I add to my "basket"? more...

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John Ringo: A Hymn Before Battle (Baen Books, 2001, ISBN 978-1-4165-3321-4; cover by Patrick Turner).

I had read this volume once previously, but picked it up again as I'm trying (desperately!) to catch up on the various series that I keep accumulating. Alas, with somebody like John Ringo (as with several other authors from Baen Books) this is proving difficult...since many churn these puppies out faster than I can consume them. Someday, someday... more...

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Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov: I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay (Warner Books; 1994; ISBN 0-446-67062-6; illustrated by Mark Zug).

Inspired by this podcast mentioned by the folks at SF Signal, I hauled this book down for another read. I had read it once before, enjoyed the two introductions (one by Asimov, one by Ellison) immensely, but had kind of been left cold by the rest...I found the form (a screenplay) hard to handle.

This time around, I must have been in the right mindset. Because I found this to be the greatest science fiction movie never made. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Another month, another Ansible!

Ah, the wonder of it all...

Moshe Feder listens in: 'I heard an interview on our local public radio station's "Leonard Lopate" talk show with a guy named Toby Barlow who's written a new novel about werewolves in LA, called Sharp Teeth. [...] I was immediately wondering how the heck Harper's publicist managed to book him with Lopate, who usually interviews authors of literary fiction and serious nonfiction. Then Leonard comes on and starts saying that the guy has written a novel "unlike anything we've seen before" and I'm practically sputtering at the radio that there are dozens of novels about werewolves around these days. I'm assuming, of course, that it's another case of mainstream media being ignorant of SF and fantasy, as when all the reviewers praised The Truman Show for its "original" concept. But then he adds the kicker: the novel is written in free verse; it's an epic poem. At that point, all I could do was shut up, listen, and crank my jaw back into position.'

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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John's Reading Report (May 200

Over the past month I have finished:

The Martian General's Daughter, Theodore Judson

All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson

Oath of Fealty, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

In progress:

Pattern Recognition, William Gibson

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter.

Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett.

On deck:

Extraordinary Relationships, Roberta Gilbert.

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemerovsky.

Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain--and How it Changed the World, Carl Zimmer.

Spook Country, William Gibson.

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Fred's Reading Report (May 200

Book count for the year? 28 books.

Short story count for the year? 255 short stories (goal for the end of the month was to get to 152).

While the numbers look good, I still feel like I'm reading a lot less these days. Maybe it is time to unsubscribe from a few internet timesinks!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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For the past week, I've had a really bad head-chest cold that has kept me from doing much of anything requiring thought.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What a fascinating modern age we live in! Restaurants are guarding their fryer grease. And Peru is once again...guarding its guano!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We've landed a probe on the northern polar region of Mars and it is beaming some great pictures back to Earth. A spacecraft in orbit snapped a photograph of a spacecraft landing on Mars. We're about to launch a shuttle to deliver a huge laboratory to the ISS. So what was the coverage on the news I saw today and what subject dominated the NASA pre-launch press briefing.

The toilet on the ISS is malfunctioning.

Sigh.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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A while back I came across a list of movies, books and other entertainment items on the International Space Station. I forwarded that list to Baen Books, as I noticed that a good chunk of the titles involved were from that publisher.

Somewhat jokingly I suggested that, in the spirit of their programs to give free books to members of the military and free books to disabled readers, they ought to give free books to the crew of the ISS.

Gee...maybe I should have suggested they give me a book contract. Because it appears they listened to me!

(I can't complain. They get free books, and I got a free Baen Books apron and a bunch of bookmarks and a sheet of autographed bookplates!)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Just how hard can it be to post one sentence a day?

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Rumors of War (200

The list can now be found here.

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Another Fine Myth; Robert Asprin (part of Myth Adventures, Volume One) (Meisha Merlin; 2006; ISBN 1-59222-111-4; cover by Phil Foglio).

Just about the same time that I learned the sad news that Robert Asprin had passed away, I was finishing up this book. Meisha Merlin had put out two omnibus editions (this one is made up of Another Fine Myth, Myth Conceptions, Myth Directions, Hit or Myth, Myth-ing Persons and Little Myth Marker); shortly afterwards, Meisha Merlin went under. What is it with small publishers and this series? It's a curse, I tell you...

The first volume is the tale of Skeeve, an apprentice magician and Aahz, a demon. Skeeve's teacher summons Aahz to impress Skeeve, but not only ends up dead but has a hand in Aahz losing his powers. Toss in a baby dragon, a demon hunter, a beautiful assassin, various sidekicks, a war unicorn, dimensional travel...and another magician who is trying to take things over. Lots of puns, lots of verbal jokes in names, each chapter is headed by a quote allegedly made by folks ranging from Hamlet to Bruce Lee to Laurel and Hardy and others.

Due to various unfortunate events (failing publishers, books going out of print, troubles with the IRS), this series never gained the widespread reputation that it should have. Sure we have Rowling. We have Pratchett. But the name of Asprin should have been as widely known. The books are a hoot 'n' a holler. They're fun. They're a riot. Seek them out.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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