"While a llama may produce the finest of wools, prized around the world, its breath, on the other hand, could be prized only in the far reaches of Llama Hell."

(FBI Agent Dale Cooper, Twin Peaks)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"All that ammo and they didn't kill a thing. No wonder we lost the Vietnam War."

(Comment made by a parent, watching the debut of The A-Team.)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Another fertile source of ["moral insanity"] appears to be an undue indulgence in the perusal of the numerous works of fiction...with the effect of vitiating the taste and corrupting the morals of the young."

"Parents cannot too cautiously guard their young daughters against this pernicious practice."

(Dr. W.H. Stokes, Scientific American, April 1849)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:02 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Come on, then, back to Creation. I mustn't waste any more time. They'll think I've lost control again and put it all down to evolution."

(The Supreme Being, Time Bandits)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There lies a world beyond the seas of night
Past the last planet, on the farthest Rim
Of curving space, where by some cosmic whim
It reels and wheels beyond the shores of light,
Lost in the howling dark. The eye of man
Can never glimpse its lone imperial place,
Deep in the blackest depths of elder space,
Nor astronomic glass may ever scan.
This is the planet that Alhazred knew,
Beyond the measured, known, and numbered nine;
Lost and alone where never sun doth shine,
Nor soft winds blow, nor skies are ever blue.
Far in the midnight deeps beyond our sight,
There the black planet rides the tides of night.

(Lin Carter)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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"Another one of them new worlds. No beer, no women, no pool parlors--nothin'. Nothing to do but throw rocks at tin cans and we got to bring our own tin cans."

(Ship's Cook, United Planets Cruiser C-57D, Forbidden Planet, just about the best dang SF film ever made.)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters.

(Frank Lloyd Wright)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My books are water; those of great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water.

(Mark Twain, Notebook)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"He showed me a little thing, the quantity of an hazelnut, in the palm of my hand, and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereupon with eye of my understanding and though: What may this be? And it was answered generally thus: it is all that is made."

(Julian of Norwich, a 14th century hermitess)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(Made up of 100% previously blathered ramblings!)

Man, you never know where you'll end up on the information superhighway. Some chance remarks and related postings at the ever excellent Centauri Dreams led me to this site and then this site. I passed the links onto a friend, who passed back this link. And somehow or another, through various people, I've had some talks about Dyson Spheres, J.D. Bernal's The World, The Flesh and The Devil, Cordwainer Smith and the Instrumentality of Mankind and Olaf Stapledon and the origins of Star Maker, back to Dyson and this time trees in space, and the Orion "boom boom" rocket. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(This posting is made of 100% recycled bits and bytes!)

I'm not qualified to tell if this guy has a legitimate set of theories or not. But, I often wonder if "mainstream scientists" are just feeding conspiracy theorists by ignoring him. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:32 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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It's at times like this that I wish I still had a shred of modeling ability!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(100% recycled electrons and bits!)

George Zebrowski is one of those excellent science fiction authors who just don't do enough writing. I first encountered some of his work in the Laser series of books. A few years later I came across Macrolife, a fantastic work about living in space (not on planets, but living in artificial communities, as suggested by J.D. Bernal, Olaf Stapledon, Gerard K. O'Neil and many others). Coupled with a cover and interior (black-and-white) illustrations by Rick Sternbach, the book blew me away. Years later, after several more Zebrowski volumes were purchased, I was lucky enough to find a copy of Macrolife in hardcover (autographed!). more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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(Given the news a few months back about premium coffee beans that pass through the digestive system of a small animal...I found this appropriate!)

'Killick,' said Stephen, 'what's amiss? Have you see the ghost in the bread-room? Are you sick? Show me your tongue.'

When Killick had withdrawn his tongue, a flannelly object of inordinate length, he said, paler still, 'Is there a ghost in the bread-room, sir? Oh, oh, and I was there in the middle watch. Oh, sir, I might a seen it.' more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Strange adventures on other worlds, the universe of the future."

(Motto of Planet Comics)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(This posting is made from 100% previously posted electrons and bits!)

During high school (about the time I discovered the female of the species, read much more "adult" science fiction and realized that there were Geeks Like Me out there), I had a brief dream of becoming an architect. Primarily through a book called Urban Structures of the Future, by Justin Dahinden, I became interested in the work of Paolo Soleri and his arcologies. Amazingly, Soleri is still at it. Sadly, he seems no closer to finishing his dream.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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(This posting is made from 100% previously posted electrons and bits!)

I've been thinking about Mars stories that I've enjoyed, such as Ben Bova's Mars or Kim Stanley Robinson's trilogy.

I recall reading several by an author named Bob Buckley in Analog in the 70's, e.g., "Encounter Below Tharsis" (1974) and "The Hunters of Tharsis" (1975). According to a website where I found biographical data, it appears he hasn't written anything for several years.

Anybody ever hear of him? Know what happened to him? Know if he's still around?

But wait! There's more... more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:18 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In his book of the same title, G. Harry Stine has this to say: "The title of this book, Halfway to Anywhere, was suggested by Tim Kyger, currently a staff member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in Washington. It sums up where we are today with respect to real space transportation for everyone and comes from the statement--correct from the viewpoint of the energy and thus the rocket propellant required--I first heard in private, personal conversation with the late author, space advocate, and contemporary philosopher Robert A. Heinlein in 1950:

"Get to low-earth orbit and you're halfway to anywhere in the solar system.""

Now, here's my question: Did Heinlein ever use this in a story or novel? I swear I remember reading it in one of the Future History stories, or maybe one of the YA novels, but I haven't found it so far in my search. Anybody remember this as well?

(Halfway to Anywhere: Achieving America's Destiny in Space was written by G. Harry Stine in 1996. It was published by M. Evans & Company, N.Y. There's also a companion book by Stine, Living in Space, published by the same company.)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:03 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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(This posting is made from 100% previously posted electrons and bits!)

I was flipping through some books today and started re-reading some of the afterwords and acknowledgments that Arthur C. Clarke has put into his books. It's interesting to see how much these short essays have influenced me. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Reasons Why A Slide Rule (And Paper Pad) Is Better Than An X-Workstation:

—A Slide Rule doesn't shut down abruptly when it gets too hot.

—One hundred people all using Slide Rules and Paper Pads do not start wailing and screaming due to a single-point failure. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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