Welcome To The SocioPolitical Soapbox

A wise man once told me to never let my blog define myself. Taking that advice to heart, I now introduce to you, yet another category of blog postings to this supposed science and book blog of mine: The SocioPolitical Soapbox.

As a citizen of the global wide intrawebs, it is my right, nay... my duty to spout my opinions as I see fit, demanding that they be heard and understood as FACT! **

So, on that note, I feel the need to inform you of why we must save the "Big Three" auto manufactures from their worthless selves.

Now to be fair, I am not a socialist (yet), and I truly believe that the free market should dictate the rise and fall of the businesses of our great nation. Foibles or brilliance aside however, in this case, I am firmly recommending a government "bailout" of GM, Chrysler & Ford, in one form or another. In what manner this should occur (purchase of stock, direct loans, etc...) I feel no need to suggest. Certainly some restrictions should be put in place, but I am NOT a economist, nor do I desire to be one either. Numbers and dollars do not interest me in the slightest. Leave that to the "professionals". On the other hand, I am a blue collar citizen of our nation and I know that if these three companies were to fail, it would have disastrous consequences for the American people, not to mention the world at large (as our economy so directly impacts the rest of the nations).

First off, I'm not defending the douche-baggery management of these companies. Clearly, they were idiots. A blind man could have seen the change in markets, what with oil prices and green activism abounding, the fall in demand of the SUV's they so marketed down our throats was inevitable. What I am defending though, is the stability of our country as a whole. Some estimates place a full 10% of our nations workforce in the hands of these employers. It's not just the U.A.W. that is at risk of loosing work, it encompasses a whole host of other businesses and employees across the country. From steel manufactures, to parts suppliers, to silicon valley tech-ies, to miners, to dealership sales peoples, to glass manufactures, to the plastics industry, to mechanics... to heck, even the $7 car wash and $35 quickie lube joints. The fact of the matter is, the big three are the largest consumers of steel and plastics and electronics in the nation. For them to fail, would be a catastrophe.

So write your senators, plead your congressmen, tug on your governor's sleeve and say "Hey! What the heck are you going to do to save these dolts?!? Spank them later, but throw them a bone now. We all need it."

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." - Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

**I beg that you recognize the sarcasm of this paragraph. I know that it is hard without vocal cues, but if you can't... please direct your browser elsewhere.

Gah! Where Have I Been? Dreaming Of Somewhere Else, Quite Obviously

I just couldn't stay away. Through a month of laptop distress and several months of my brain overflowing with the histology of the diencephelon, photophosphorylation of ADP, and genetic drift of Drosophila melanogaster, I still can't stay away when NASA publishes actual photographs of the first extra-solar planet.

For about 18 years there have been discoveries of new planets not of our solar system, almost 15 per year, on average; over 300 to date. But they have always been deduced by indirect means. Most often, those means being the gravitational "jiggle" planets play on their star as they orbit.

Now, however, NASA has published photographic proof of these mysterious little (well, really quite huge) guys. Obviously the picture is not pixleated to NASA's standards but... you understand.

This is the star Fomalhut in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, of the southern sky. It is surround by a disk of red dust. The planet in question is Fomalhut b, outlined in the small box (you really can not see it a this resolution. It's estimated to be about (or up to) three times the mass of Jupiter and taking somewhere in the neighborhood of 822 years to orbit it's star.

Anyway, very cool news. I can't wait for the day when our technology will be enough to capture an image of an earthlike planet. It's bound to happen sooner or later. Then we will have a target to shoot for!

"...our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal. " - John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

Hemingway's Six Words, or, The Advent Of The Really Short Story

So back in the day, Ernest Hemingway wrote an entire story in just six words:

"For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn."

He claimed this was his best work ever. I think it's good, also, because it operates on so many levels. What Papa put into his story is almost haunting. You find yourself not wanting to know "the rest of the story". It's amazing and frightening all at once. In October of '06, Wired magazine challenged a slew of other published SF&F genre authors to accomplish the same task. Publish your best work in just six words. A lot of the stories are wonderful ideas. Some are funny and make you laugh, others are ironic and make you shake your head, others still are just plain mysterious. A few don't make any sense at all, unless I guess, you are the one who wrote them. Here are a random selection of some of the oddities and some of my favorites:

Vacuum collision. Orbits diverge. Farewell, love.
- David Brin
Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
- Stan Lee
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood
From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.
- Gregory Maguire
With bloody hands, I say good-bye.
- Frank Miller
Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.
- Vernor Vinge
Easy. Just touch the match to
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Nevertheless, he tried a third time.
- James P. Blaylock
Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
- David Brin
Osama’s time machine: President Gore concerned.
- Charles Stross
Cryonics: Disney thawed. Mickey gnawed. Omigawd.
- Eileen Gunn
It cost too much, staying human.
- Bruce Sterling
Commas, see, add, like, nada, okay?
- Gregory Maguire
Corpse parts missing. Doctor buys yacht.
- Margaret Atwood
I win lottery. Sun goes nova.
- Steven Meretzky
The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card
I’m your future, child. Don’t cry.
- Stephen Baxter
Dorothy: "Fuck it, I'll stay here."
- Steven Meretzky
Will this do (lazy writer asked)?
- Ken MacLeod

So my challenge to everyone (all two of you!) who read this: Give me your own six word story. I want to see what you can do. Make it exciting, adventureful, sad, incomprehensible, whatever! Just have fun and write one. And in the meantime, I will try to come up with my own as well. C'mon it should be good times, nay?

"A short saying oft contains much wisdom." - Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC)

Let the games begin!

LibraryThing Early Reviewers: A Regular Feature & The Book From The Sky by Robert Kelly

So, through my account at the cataloguing and social website LibraryThing, I have become part of a program they have with many publishers; namely the Early Reviewers. So basically, in my agreement with them, I receive free Advanced Reader Copies of books occasionally, in exchange for a review of said books. Pretty good deal if you ask me. LibraryThing gets several (or many, in some cases) different books and you pick which ones you would be interested in reviewing. Then, if you are lucky, they send you one from that month's selection. Simple as that. They try to pick out something similar to other books in your inventory, hopefully finding something you might like.

Anyway, so while I also post these reviews to LibraryThing, as required; I am also going to post them here. After all, this is my book-y blog! So... enjoy. This should be a somewhat regular column. And now, on to The Book From The Sky by Robert Kelly.

The newest book from the acclaimed poet Robert Kelly, is a sort of science fiction novel, apparent influences ranging from John C. Wright to Fyodor Dostoevsky, but most heavily influenced by his own work as a poet and his self-proclaimed poetry genre of 'deep image'.

The book is a tale of young Billy, taken from his home and family by, if not malevolent, then at the very least, morally ambiguous aliens. Vivisected while conscious by these creatures, Billy has is internal organs replaced by the most eclectic of random objects; from two grey squirrels where his lungs were, to an alarm clock for his bladder. Apparently this does not kill him. In this process Billy is spun off into two entities, the simulacrum retaining Billy’s organs and thoughts and Billy himself left deposited on another world, eventually to make his way back home. Somewhere down the line, a third incarnation - Brother William, leaves with Billy “The Book From The Sky”, a mysterious pamphlet guiding Billy further on his examination of his self and his reality.

The tale is told in a variety of open language prose and poetry, very much free verse. I’m unsure if part of this is meant intentional, as aspects of the poetry, or just because this is an uncorrected proof copy I’ve been reading, but the flow and punctuation in somewhat broken. I’m assuming the former, although having never read Kelly’s previous and numerous volumes of poetry, I can’t be sure.

There’s a lot of beautiful imagery here, from the description of his young friend Eileen at the beginning of the book to his cloud gazing, later on the strange planet. However, a lot of the book is confusing and muddled, also. As Billy delves deeper into what it means to be himself, I was often left unsure of what is real and what is not. Maybe this is the intention of the author, maybe it is my non-classically educated mind missing the obvious. Either way, though, the book is worth the read (maybe), if only for the images themselves. (3.5/10)

"People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like." Abraham Lincoln (in a book review of his own) (1809-1865)

So, see you next time, folks, ON..... LT Early Reviewers!!!

Stephen King And Comics? A New Love Affair

Stephen King has been flirting with Marvel Comics the past couple of years working on three mini-series (7, 5 & 6 issues respectively) based on his Dark Tower series of novels. The first was called "The Gunslinger Born" and retold the early tales from Roland's life in DT:4 Wizard & Glass. The second series, "The Long Road Home", all original material taking place after the events of DT:4 and before DT:1 (the events of 4 are a flashback to Roland's youth). "Treachery", more new material debuts in September.

With the overwhelming success and beautiful, amazing artwork, King has been branching out. Planned also for September is a mini-series of 5 issues based on "The Stand", King fans' longstanding favorite post-apocalyptic novel, featuring the ultimate bad guy, Randall Flagg, the walkin' dude, the wandering stranger... the dark man. Should be excellent from what we've seen so far from marvel.

Now, just released and created specifically for small screen, is the new animated comic "N". Based on an unpublished short story from an upcoming collection, "N" is tale of a psychologist driven mad and the "thin-ness" between worlds. I've only seen the first 5 episodes so far, but man, has it turned out nice. Superior production values. Planned are 25 episodes, one each day M-F until the end of August. Should be a treat. I've embedded the player below if you want to take a peek. Each episode should show up as the days progress and are only about 2 minutes a piece, so not a huge time waster. If you watch, be sure to start with episode one, they preset to the newest one. You may have to watch one 15 sec. commercial every 5 episodes or so. Sorry 'bout that!





Given the nature and success of King's film versions of his books (the films being generally terrible) comics seem to be the way to go for him. With the exception of his dramatic, non-supernatural movies (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) the rest of his works translate very poorly to film. Christine anyone? Or when the source material is so abandoned as to make it unwatchable (The Lawnmower Man, please!)? Comics may be right up King's alley. The artwork and dedication Marvel has put into the translations have done them justice indeed, the fantastical elements are just so much believable when done this way. Bravo!

I definitely hope to see more from Marvel & King over the coming years.

Why No One Takes Us Seriously, or, I Have A Death-Ray Blaster And Am Unafraid To Use It

All art is copywright protected to the respective owners and is hearby used without permission, under the "Fair Use" act of the U.S. Copywright Law... so there.

So here I am back so soon after my declaration of freedom and writing about SF again, right off the bat. Hah-hah... That's really kind of funny in a way. But what I'm ranting about today is not funny in the slightest. No seriously.

Why is it that science fiction (and fantasy) in America, and to a lesser extent elsewhere, is not taken seriously by the masses? Is it the numerous cliche SF movies that were made in the 60s and 70s? Is it the fact that the genre is associated with grease faced, be-pimpled teen fanboys and socially inept, overweight adult computer programmers wearing t-shirts that say things like "+10 frost resistance" and "There's no place like 127.o.o.1"? Is it because the "literary" (please try to pronounce that with a sing-song voice, whilst twittering your arms about in the air, "lit-er-air-ie!") authors, who from time to time lay down some SF and then refuse to allow their books to be categorized as such or pull them from SF award nominations? (Yes, yes, I'm talking to you Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood) Is it the libraries with their two spinners of well-thumbed paperback all with the "nuclear atom" sticker on the spine detonating the SF section? Well, the answers is NO. Okay, fine - yes, maybe those ideas effect the genre status a little bit, but the real problem is...

THE COVER ART!

Now, don't get me wrong, there are some great and talented artist working in the field today and yesterday. And some of it is the fault of the author themselves... Some of the stories really do suck, it can't be helped. For the most part however, this is the choice of the publisher. So, I may, here a few examples to show you all what I am thinking about. Please Note: These are just the things and examples that come to me on the fly, or that I know from experience. I mean no offense to any authors, fans, artists or whomever. I'm also sure that for every example I give there are ten examples that counter my stupid thesis (and ten others, even more apt). Too bad, this is what I am ranting about today so get off my case!

-The Early SF Periodicals
Let's start with some SF from the 50s and 60s. These two covers are archetypal of the era. On the left we have a bird-looking biped carrying a scantily clad blonde, a couple of stranded astronauts chasing her, all against a backdrop of some "futuristic" machinery. For some reason in this time of SF, almost everything had a buxom young thing being carried off by some form of monster or maybe being rescued by the lad wearing the jetpack. Yup, it was just that grand. No wonder no one took us seriously then! On the right there is there is the other stereotype... oh, wait, I thought for sure I had something else for this era. Nope, just more ta-tas and beasties. That really seemed to be the standard for these decades. Not much hack work as far as the writing goes, there are some very standard names in SF publishing here and almost everyone, without reservation, got their start writing for these and other similar periodicals of the day. Unfortunately they were overwhelmed by bad art. Maybe not even the technical quality of the art was bad, so much as the subject matter at hand. The other problem here and throughout modern day? The pictures rarely, if ever, directly related to the story at hand.

-The SF Mass Market Paperbacks
Straight to paperback fiction. I realize not every author can get the hardcover deals, nor should they. Especially new authors, at least until they prove themselves. And yes, yes, I realize the authors have nothing to do with the art on their books. No need to point it out. But, anyway, this sub-category lends itself to bad science fiction art like no one's business. Here a couple, that are particularly bad. The first, on the left is probably (sadly) one of the most famous sci-fi books out there, by a gentleman who invented his own religion no less! This new edition sports the casual "Hey baby, I've got these two lasers here, sure do hope I'm hitting the bad guys, while I gaze longingly into you eyes. Wanna feel my rippling abs?" On the right we have another common theme (a throwback to the early periodicals), "science fiction is really sexy if you have chicks and some robotic asteroid mishmash on the cover". And this coming from one of the most respected literary authors around, Kurt Vonnegut. Since this was only his second book, however, one cannot fault him for the publisher's misdeeds. So anyway, you get the paperback original idea. I probably could come up with better examples, but I feel not like searching. Ripply hero's, laser beams and sexed up aliens just don't do it for me. Sorry guys!

-The "Judge A Book By It's Cover" Variety
Sometime you just have to do just that. Sometimes our critics are right, I'm so very sorry to say. This goes against everything we have ever been taught, and that... sucks. However "the exception that proves the rule" is often only too apt. I have very little else to say about these, I'll just show you what I mean. And I'm really, really sorry Eric Flint, I'm just not ever going to read one of your books, please stop this nonsense. First there is a dinosaur, eating a medieval knight on horseback all set against the lovely backdrop of... what is that a Nazi fort circa 1944? Hmmm... looks great. Second: Brooding hero, a chipmunk turned jedi and giant robotic spiders! Then there are the next two. Again, on the left, we are forced into the "space chicks with giant guns and um... giant guns" cliche. And finally, another lovely contribution from Mr. Flint. Conquistadors squaring off against some guys in a jeep. Thanks dude. No really, it makes sure that I will not waste any time picking that one up. I have a really hard time understanding how the publishers see this as a great marketing strategy for selling novels, but hey, that's just me. Obviously they do it for a reason.

-Common Work Today
And that leads me to my final example on science fiction cover art. These following pics are from some of the biggest (or at least most critically acclaimed up-and-coming) names in the genre today. While I feel slightly more at ease with these work's covers (and more comfortable reading them on public transportation) they are in fact, just boring. The new ideas for major SF cover art today seem all to vary on a single theme. Take one spaceship or space station and place it in front of a extra-solar (or local for that matter) planet or maybe have it back dropping some form of galactic object, such as a supernova or nebula. Don't get me wrong, it's very pretty and technically proficient, but if you see enough of this you soon begin to forget what cover belongs with what book and start buying doubles of titles you already have at home each time you go to a used book sale. And that my friend, is frustrating indeed.

-Conclusion
Again these are just my thoughts. That's why it's my name at the top of the blog. So I take full responsibility if I offended anyone. But it's how I feel. And to top it off I'm one of those people who bitches about something and then offers up no solution to fix it. I'm not sure what I'd prefer too see on the covers or what would give the genre more street cred. Yes, by street cred, I mean amongst the literary crowd. Yes, I realize that it's a terrible allusion. Shove off again please. :-) A particular favorite publisher of mine, based out of the UK, named Gollancz and under their Orion print has done some extremely interesting work on cover art recently. They started a series called "future classics" in which they re-print 6 newer SF titles, repackaging them up with the aim to appeal to greater audiences. Sorry, I'm too tired to post images for them, but feel free to link back to the article/interview and check them out. Very interesting abstract and minimalist work, which however, has been meet with mixed reviews. Although enough sales for them to plan a new line in 2009. So some people are trying anyway. Here's my "good luck tumbs up" to anyone who can change things or anyone who makes an attempt. Me, I'll just slip that dustjacket off at home for the meantime and enjoy reading the new Ben Bova in the cafeteria at work tomorrow.

"The world is governed more by appearances than realities, so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it." Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

Like The Name Says...

That really still is it for science. Bitches.

Buuuuttt... things needed a change. I realized I have abandoned all things social networking. I have no tolerance for Xanga, no goodwill for Facebook, and certainly no patience for Myspace. This is it, Blogger and me. But I also realized that through this page, I had placed... a certain level of unrealistic expectations for myself. I'm not all about science, nor are my thoughts only with the books. Sometimes I do not want to publish a tome of temperments, nor a discourse of declaration.

Sometimes I just want to babble, like now. And before, I did not feel that I could do that here. After all this was my grand forum. But now it's just me. There have been some changes already and over the coming days there will be more. Side links have changed some, linking to the few personal things I still do online, and reflecting changing tastes.

I'll still write stuff on science and science-fiction. After all it's part of my passion. But I'll also write inanities about whatever's in my head at the time too. From my authentically un-researched political opinions, to what movie I just saw that was pretty super, to the colour and consistency of my poo --if I think it's worth mentioning. I'll just be me. So welcome back.

And because I still love t-rex, I promise that the prototype kilogram is safe in my hands. Bitches.


"To be always intending to live a new life, but never find time to set about it - this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking from one day to another till he be starved and destroyed." -Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

P.S. I'm sorry, Sir Clarke. You really deserved more than I gave you. You rock, but it's too far gone now. Rest in peace, my friend.