"Domes leaked, always. The angles between the facets could never be sealed successfully. If you gave up and tried to shingle the whole damn thing—dangerous process, ugly result—the nearly horizontal shingles on top still took in water. The inside was basically one big room, impossible to subdivide, with too much space wasted up high. The shape made it a whispering gallery that broadcast private sounds to everyone."

(Stewart Brand, as quoted in Dymaxion Man: The Visions of Buckminster Fuller.)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Gene Wolfe and Neil Gaiman: A Walking Tour of the Shambles (Little Walks for Sightseers #16) (American Fantasy, 2002, ISBN 0-9610352-6-9; cover art by Gahan Wilson, interior art by Randy Broecker and Earl Geier).

This is a very small book...not sure I'd rate it a book, other than the fact that it is between too covers.

It is also an utterly hilarious book. From the listing of "other books" (all fictional titles) to the amazing sites you'll see in an obscure part of Chicago, to suggestions of what to eat at a restaurant you'll come across on your walking tour...funny stuff. Did you know about the buried Chinese cemetery? How about the tunnels under Lake Michigan? And what about that odd statue with the ruby eye that gets stolen and returns on a regular basis.

Try to find a copy and save your pennies to buy it. Bonus for me, my copy is signed by Wolfe, Gaiman and Wilson (and I'll let you guess which signature I value the most).

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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