Roy Scheider passed away yesterday at age 75. A lot of folks probably remember him best for Jaws, but my favorite film moments were his roles in Sorcerer (an underrated remake of The Wages of Fear) and as Dr. Heywood Floyd in the film version of 2010: Odyssey Two. Tons of other memorable roles such as All That Jazz, The French Connection and more.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:36 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 68 words, total size 1 kb.

So having a iPod (finally, I buy a gadet before it is obsolete!) and having had some "downtime" at the firehouse last night, I downloaded a bunch of these "podcast" things I've been hearing about. Still having a dial-up connection at home, large downloads are not really an option there.

The new revolution? A way of knocking old media off of the pedestal? Maybe, but probably not. There's an interesting contrast in the podcasts...and the better podcasts are those with money, talent and quality behind them.

Here's an example: William Gibson did a book tour to support his latest novel, Spook Country (still on my personal Mount Toberead). During the course of the book tour he gave probably a couple of thousand talks, interviews, readings and what not (or, it felt like that). I know I've read one of the key phrases he's been using this go round—how if you walked into a publisher in the 1970's and pitched a SF novel with a global pandemic (AIDS) and a climate problem (AGW), you'd be shown the door and they'd call security—several times now. Most of the interviews have hit that highlight a few others.

BoingBoing had Gibson on for one in their short-lived podcasting series (they then moved on to doing short video webcasts but I think that has died as well). It was short. Gibson seemed to be talking to them over a cellphone while outside, so you could hear wind. One of the people from the BoingBoing end of things was dialed in on something (internet telephone?) that had latency problems. Two of the others also had audio quality problems. They kept tripping over each other, and their guest, in asking questions and interjecting useless noise.

Contrast that with this interview done by Rick Kleffel at The Agony Column. The interview runs quite long so you get more than soundbites on how we're living in the future. The interviewer allows Gibson to speak, only interjecting himself when necessary to get things moving again. Gibson even contributes two readings from two novels.

Podcasting may be the radio of the future, but quality will show. I'll be returning to hear more from The Agony Column; on the other hand, I won't be sad about the demise of the BoingBoing effort for long.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 03:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 400 words, total size 3 kb.

Way back at the dawn of time (1977), Spider and Jeanne Robinson co-wrote (first) a award-winning novella and (then) a series of novels about life in space. The tales centered around a ballet dancer.

We've gotten a little bit closer to making that a reality!

Main site here. Samples of the books here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 12:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 57 words, total size 1 kb.

I don't watch many food-related shows on television (I don't watch much television, period, but that's the subject of another posting). I think Top Chef is pretty silly (there is so little difference between this and Project Runway that I keep waiting for the crossover show): it appears that the contestants are chosen for egos rather than the reality of the kitchen. And what is so dang hard about pastry courses, anyway?

Most of my culinary viewing is Alton Brown, either through his show Good Eats or the occasional seasonal mini-series, Feasting on Asphalt. Most cooking shows have the host mumbling at you and going through the motions of food preparation. Brown tells you the science behind the cooking, and does it with a lot of humor as well. Good stuff! Asphalt's two seasons were road trips, featuring road food. In the first, he traveled across the US via Route 66. In the second, he traveled along the Mississippi, from south to north. Lots of great looking food in both seasons!

One show that has caught my attention is Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, seen (by me) on BBC America. Each episode, Gordon Ramsay tries to turn a failing restaurant around. I am utterly amazed at the trainwrecks that have managed to stay in business long enough to these saving throws.

I'll have to be careful. I may end up getting a digital video recorder just to make sure I don't miss any episodes!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:09 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 247 words, total size 2 kb.

An article implies that Robert A. Heinlein's influence is declining. The evidence? That the literati don't take him seriously anymore. Is being compared to Heinlein a help or hindrance to a new science fiction writer? One such writer speaks up (and to be honest, the main reason I picked up John Scalzi's books was because of the comparison to Heinlein!)

Looks like it is time to trot out this 1980 essay by Spider Robinson again! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 04:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 109 words, total size 1 kb.

I really hope my daughter does not see a commercial for this. It sounds, on the one hand, utterly amazing. A robotic dinosaur that can interact, cries when you mistreat it and more. (The price is a tad out of reach for me. $350.00. Ouch!)

On the other hand...she has some "virtual pets" already. I'd rather she interact with her real pets more. She seems to have finally gotten over the loss of our one dog, and is bonding with the other (the one dog was her favorite). But her fish are more my fish. I do most of the feeding and all of the maintenance. If "virtual pets" are supposed to act as teaching tools and help develop responsibility...the jury is still out!

Via BoingBoing, which has a link to a creepy video where one of these is "killed". Some interesting notes there, and a mention of a book co-edited by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett that I need to pick up!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:30 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 170 words, total size 1 kb.

Virgil Finlay's Strange Science; Virgil Finlay (Underwood-Miller, 1992, ISBN 0-88733-154-8, cover by Virgil Finlay).

The review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 25 words, total size 1 kb.

Combined review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:01 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 11 words, total size 1 kb.

I'm vastly amused to see that the forces of religion and the forces are secularism are both apparently annoyed with Phillip Pullman and the movie based on his book.

Me? I've tried to read them. Several times. I got bogged down...from boredom. Poor fantasy, at best. I have no plans to inflict them upon my daughter, or even to go see the movie.

By raising a stink, The Catholic League (they don't represent me!) is just going to raise curiosity, and folks will go, rather than boycott, the flick. But they'll never learn.

(I do congratulate The Catholic League for sticking with the books and reading them to develop all these half-assed theories, though. Much better than feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, bringing justice to the oppressed and all that boring stuff.)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 141 words, total size 1 kb.

Illusion TV interviews Syd Mead, an artist that gave much of the "look" to films such as 2010: Odyssey Two, Blade Runner and more. With the ultimate fanboy edition of Blade Runner coming later this year and a documentary on his work in release, maybe we'll see a comprehensive print edition of his work soon?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 61 words, total size 1 kb.

Just like to point out that Baen Books is offering a whole pile of fine works of science fiction, fantasy and more in their Free Library. Just in case you think Amazon has invented the world of electronic books. (And while you're at it, surf past the media hype and also look at Project Gutenberg, Memoware, Manybooks and other folks who have been on the frontier far longer than the Amazon effort. Heck, I recall downloading Project Gutenberg works for my Apple Newton!)

(There's no reason, by the way, to spend several hundred dollars on a poorly designed, hard to hold comfortably, overpriced, DRM-crippled reader. Some smart shopping in second-hand outlets can get you a perfectly capable laptop, eBook reader or PDA for far less.) more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 185 words, total size 2 kb.

...does anybody hear it?

Checking the news of late, you'd think the only labor action that has happened in the country is the current screenwriter's strike in Hollow-wood. They want a bigger slice of the pie, all well and good, but a lot of this amuses me. There is a fair bit of chest-beating over various shows. Will Heroes take a fall? Will we see Battlestar Galactica's final season? How about 24? Will The People, having been subjected to endless amounts of Reality Television desert their sets for other forms of entertainment?

I don't know about you, folks, but for me the train left that station a long time ago. Three years ago I averaged—maybe—four hours of television a week. Two years ago, it dropped. For the past year...about one hour of television. Period.

I'd rather read. I do watch shows, but more often than not, on a massively time-shifted sense of things (waiting for the DVD set for a season to come out and then watching when it suits me). I've spent more time online than in front of the television set (as you may have noticed from all the postings here!). Shows that I'm most interested in get shuffled, cancelled or just never come to pass.

And, did I mention that I'd rather read?

As television has become more and more fractured, either chasing smaller and smaller sub-sets of the audience or chasing diminishing returns on what was the latest hot trend...it has captured less and less of my interest. Seeing the ratings for shows before this strike, I can't be the only one. Are more people playing Halo than watching Heroes?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:42 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 288 words, total size 2 kb.

A few random bits from my morning reading.

John Scalzi comes across what might be his favorite negative review of Old Man's War.

A biopic on Philip K. Dick...not!

My favorite Brother Astronomer has a new book out! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:53 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 103 words, total size 1 kb.

There is something decidedly odd looking about somebody roughly my age with multiple (visible, never mind what else is there!) body piercings. For one thing, the older attempts are still visible as puckered dimples that are clearly not the result of nature or accident, but purposeful changes by a person. Add in purposefully "distressed" clothing and you get a not so authentic image!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 65 words, total size 1 kb.

A medly of Pooh-ish whimsy in multiple literary genres. My favorite?

Pooh paced the deck, hands clasped behind his back. "Rabbit! Where's that blasted honey?"

Rabbit's whiskered face appeared in an instant, delivered the unwelcome verdict "Which it's already gone!" and disappeared again, leaving behind only muttering concerning something of a very little brain—fortunately at a low enough volume that Pooh could pretend to not have heard. Indeed, Pooh looked down and saw the honey pot was indeed there and empty. "Bother."

A sudden decision, and he swung his rather round and soft body into the shrouds and climbed to the crow's nest. There, he took out his glass and surveyed the horizon. Was that a sail? A sail that might be attached to a French merchant vessel, its hold stuffed full of honey? The crew hadn't had a real prize in months and Pooh's fortune at home could desperately use such a stroke of good fortune.

"Tigger!" he bellowed to the deck far below. "Fetch me Dr. Robin!" For he instinctively knew that he would need his friend's advice before proceeding.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 188 words, total size 1 kb.

If you all kick in a buck or three, I'm sure I could afford this $100,000 watch in no time. That way I'll be able to keep track of when I should be posting here!

Addendum: Alternative watches sent in by friends. Winchell Chung suggests the Ulysses Nardin Astrolabium G. Galilei Watch. Chris Weuve temporarily lusted after the Stargate Watch.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:14 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 72 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, not quite. But here are a ton of links about one of the funniest SF (well, mostly)-related shows out there! MST3k! Everybody sing! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 167 words, total size 1 kb.

(2006 continued...)

"Naturally, naturally," agreed Magnus Ridolph. "However, let us view the matter from a different aspect. Let us momentarily forget that we are friends, neighbors, almost business associates, each acting only through motives of the highest integrity. Let us assume that we are strangers, unmoral, predatory."

Blantham blew out his cheeks, eyed Magnus Ridolph doubtfully. "Far-fetched, of course. But go on."

(Jack Vance, The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 76 words, total size 1 kb.

"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulations, stands mainly in need of freedom."

(Albert Einstein)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 49 words, total size 1 kb.

How To Survive Your Stint In Federal Service

(...thanks to the film version of Starship Troopers for being so bad that it inspired...)

Twenty useful tips brought to you by Gen. Paul Verhoven, C in C...

20. The enemy can drop driveless asteroids on your cities from over 1000 light years distance-presumably at FTL speeds-without resorting to any visible technology. Therefore, assume they're just stupid Bugs incapable of rational thought;

19. When piloting the ship, don't strap yourself in. When the ship is hit, you'll look cool flying through the air into the viewport;

18. Artillery? Only wussies need artillery.

17. Ignore those plasma bolts the mindless Bugs are firing at your ship-they're just "random light";

16. Be ready to shoot your buddies at a moments notice; they'll thank you for it;

15. Rest assured that, in the future, even the chicks are pumped on testosterone; more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 505 words, total size 3 kb.