Though previously announced, it’s nice to see that the long-awaited third edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is now online.
It also includes a very nice entry on Nova Express.
Archive for October, 2011
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Now Online
Monday, October 10th, 2011The Empire’s Suboptimal Weapons Acquisition Programs
Sunday, October 9th, 2011Evidently bureaucracy is the same wherever you go, even a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away:
To be sure, the Death Star is primarily a weapon of intimidation rather than something to be used all willy-nilly. Even the Evil Empire didn’t want to demolish more than a handful of planets. So the fact that the Death Star only ever fired one shot may not be that big of a deal. However, the fact that the stations kept getting blown up is a big deal indeed. It’s hard to be intimidating if you’re a smoking cloud of debris.
One might wonder how such an ostensibly powerful weapon could have such a consistently poor track record and such a gaping weakness. Despite the opinion of certain critics, these shortcomings are not a cheap plot device by a lazy writer. In fact, the Death Star’s combination o inadequacy and vulnerability may be the second-most realistic aspect of the entire saga.
From a design perspective, a system as enormously complex as a Death Star is more than any program manager or senior architect can handle, no matter how high their midi-chlorian count is. There is bound to be an overlooked exhaust vent or two that leads directly to the reactor core. That is just the sort of vulnerability an asymmetric opponent can exploit….
The truth is, Death Stars are about as practical as a metal bikini. Sure, they look cool, but they aren’t very sensible. Specifically, Death Stars can’t possibly be built on time or on bud-get, require pathological leadership styles and, as we’ve noted,keep getting blown up. Also, nobody can build enough of them to make a real difference in the field.
(Hat tip: Ace of Spades.)
Shoegazer Sunday: Asobi Seksu’s “Stay”
Sunday, October 9th, 2011Recently I’ve been getting into the band Asobi Seksu which, despite the name, is based in New York. Their first two albums, the self-titled debut and Citrus, are both worthy of interest. “Stay” is off the first album:
The first time I listened to it, I thought it too lounge jazzish, but at about the 3:20 mark, one of the most awesome shoegazer guitar solos ever kicks in.
Other Asobi Seksu tracks worth checking out are “Thursday” and “Walk on the Moon.”
Actual, Real, Honest to Goodness RAIN
Saturday, October 8th, 2011For the first time since it rained about five minutes one night three or four months ago. And before that it might have been another three or four months.
A good thing, too, since it’s been so dry here the cacti have been dying of thirst:
I took that picture along the Rattan Creek greenbelt earlier this week…
Steve Wozniak Remembers Steve Jobs
Friday, October 7th, 2011Here’s Apple co-founder remembering his friend and partner Steve Jobs:
“He was lucky to have me in the beginning, but I am incredibly lucky to have him for everything in my life.”
I’ve met Woz a couple of times, and he’s always struck me as a really nice guy.
(Hat tip: Joy of Tech.)
Houston Texans in Top Ten in Both Offense and Defense
Thursday, October 6th, 2011if you’ve been a Houston Texans fan for any length of time, then you know that no matter how well they do, at the back of you mind is this little nugget of dread that somehow they’re going to blow it. This year, so far, they’ve managed to avoid do that. For one thing, they finally have a decent defense to go with their high-scoring offense.
Looking at these statistics, the Texans are just one of three teams in the league to be among the top ten in both points scored and fewest points allowed. They’re in eighth place in points scored at 26.8 points a game, and fourth place at 17.5 points allowed, for a differential of 9.3 points. (A total that would no doubt be much higher were it not for some questionable officiating in the Steelers game.) The other two teams are the Detroit Lions (33.8 points scored (2nd)/19 points allowed (8th), for a 14.8 differential) and the Baltimore Ravens (29.8 points scored (6th)/14.3 points allowed (2nd), for a 15.5 differential. Green Bay, whose defense is not in the top ten, also checks in with an impressive 12.7 point differential, thanks to their league-leading 37 points a game. The Texans thus have a good claim to being (statistically) one of the best teams in the league.
Some might (with some justification) point out that two of the teams the Texans have beaten (Miami and Indianapolis) are winless. Which is true, but A.) Neither the Saints or the Steelers are chopped liver, and B.) Having been in the sad sack side of the win/loss column for many years, Texans fans will take whatever they can get.
Of course, there’s a lot of football left to play, and there’s no guarantee they’ll be in the top ten of either by the end of the season. But it’s sure a lot better to be sitting at 3-1 than 1-3…
What is Steve Jobs Greatest Accomplishment?
Thursday, October 6th, 2011Given his recent passing, I thought I would put up a poll on what product represents Steve Jobs’ greatest accomplishment:
Well Crap: Steve Jobs, RIP
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011Sort of humbling to consider he was only ten years older than I am.
Very few people can say they truly changed the world. He did.
And, in the interest of providing actual content:
And this seems appropriate:
And here’s his commencement address to Standford University in 2005:
You Could Own John Wayne’s Copy of The Lord of the Rings
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011Heritage Auction is auctioning off tons of items from the estate of John Wayne. Being the canny man he was, he saved just about everything from his movie career: scripts, outfits, awards, you name it. There’s a treasure-trove of Hollywood memorabilia going under the hammer, including letters from Ronald Reagan, Katherine Hepburn, Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra, and about a hundred other luminaries.
I did take a look at the books being sold from his library, but all of them have opening bids substantially above market minus the Wayne connection. However, I did want to point out his owning copies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Not firsts, of course (Wayne seemed to be an avid reader, but not a book collector), but that beautiful second edition Houghton-Mifflin LOTR set done to bring the books back into copyright after the unauthorized (but borderline legal) Ace books edition. This is the edition my father read to me from as a child, and it’s the edition I own.
Heritage sends out a Heritage Magazine for the Intelligent Collector as a freebie to people who bid in their auctions, and they had a fascinating interview with his son Ethan Wayne about growing up living with his father, and about how random people would come around. One time John Wayne saw some guys coming up his dock, grabbed a gun and said “Who are and what do you want?” “Golly, Mr. Wayne, we’re Marines. We just heard that you lived here.” “Well then come on up and have a drink.” And they sat around drinking until 1 o’clock in the morning.
Sounds like he was a swell guy.
Edited to Add: John Wayne’s Tolkien collection sold for a hefty $2,868.
Shoegazer Sunday: Slowdive’s Shine
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011So I’ve been meaning to do some sort of comprehensive post on my love of obscure Shoegazer bands. But instead of one big post, I’ve decided to start parceling out little nuggets of Shoegazer goodness every Sunday.
If you’re unfamiliar with Shoegazer music, think of reverb-and-sustain-drenched guitars backing songs drifting between the poles of rock, pop, and ambient, with a little prog and psychedelia thrown in for good measure.
We start off with Slowdive, which is actually one of the least obscure shoegazer bands out there. I first heard “Catch the Breeze” on WHFS the one year I spent in the DC area. (Actually. WHFS was one of the few things that didn’t suck about living up there.) Later on I picked up Just for a Day, which I’ve always thought of as the definitive Shoegazer album. (I’ve never been able to get into My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, despite my best intentions. Maybe it’s the screechy, annoyingly high-pitched sounds scattered on many of the tracks. Or maybe it’s the sonic quality that sounds like someone recorded the entire thing in a bathtub on a Realistic cassette recorder after they’d dropped it down a stairwell a few times using factory-second Certron tapes.) Of the songs off that, “Primal” has long been my favorite, as it has a perfect, wistful descending chord progression at the start. But I haven’t found a good video for that.
Instead, here’s “Shine.” This is a pre-Just For a Day songs off one of their early EPs.
Interestingly enough, there’s another fine Shoegazer song called “Shine” (also not available as an embeddable video) from the short-lived band Lowsundays. I prefer the short version off the Projekt Spring 2001 Sampler.