5.11.2007

Books Read in 1985

I began these lists on June 6, 1985, the day after my high school graduation. Many of my reading choices here were influenced by a recommended book list at the back of Stephen King's Danse Macabre which I had read the year before. I was also working my way through the fantasy/SF section of the Davis County Library, completing my reading of the James Bond novels, and following along with NPR radio drama adaptations. And, yes, reading War and Peace, ten pages a day.

Total number of pages read (including unlisted Doctor Who novels): 21,061
Pages read in 1986: 17,757
Pages read in 1987: 11,496
Pages read in 1988: 9058
Pages read in 1989: 5892
Pages read in 1990: 7743
Pages read in 1991: 4870
Pages read in 1992: 5395
Pages read in 1993: 7568
Pages read in 1994: 4441
Pages read in 1995: 5417
Pages read in 1996: 4268
Pages read in 1997: 6890
Pages read in 1998: 6546
Pages read in 1999: 4324
Pages read in 2000: 8639
Pages read in 2001: 12,542

Watership Down by Richard Adams
Doctor No by Ian Fleming
The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
The Spear by James Herbert
For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
Thunderball by Ian Fleming
Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco
The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming
Lifeboat Earth by Stanley Schmidt
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
Night-Side by Joyce Carol Oates
Tsuga's Children by Thomas Williams
Bio of a Space Tyrant, Vol. 2: Mercenary by Piers Anthony
Star Trek: The Final Reflection by John M. Ford
Greyfax Grimwald by Niel Hancock
Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers
Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
Faragon Fairingay by Niel Hancock
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller, Jr.
The Illearth War by Stephen R. Donaldson
Calix Stay by Niel Hancock
The Power That Preserves by Stephen R. Donaldson
Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz
Deryni Checkmate by Katherine Kurtz
The Seance and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin
High Deryni by Katherine Kurtz
Man Plus by Frederik Pohl
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

In addition to these titles, I also read 68 Doctor Who novelizations, pretty much as soon as I could get my hands on them.

5.10.2007

Here There Be Tygers

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has completed the first map of an extra-solar planet. The planet is a gas giant, only slightly larger than Jupiter, orbiting a star in the constellation Vulpecula about 60 light-years away. The planet contains one curious feature--an enormous "hot spot" (1700 degrees F) twice the size of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Maps and animation of the planet's orbit can be found here.

Heather Knutson, one of the graduate students conducting research on the planet, remarked, "We felt a little like Galileo must have felt when he first glimpsed Jupiter through the eyepiece of his telescope." Indeed. As with Voyager, maybe in 500 years we'll be able to send back some close-ups.

Apropos of my heading, here is a Russian animated version of Bradbury's classic story.

The Ironic Federalist (#7)

from The Federalist No. 15 (written by Hamilton)

Iraq's State of the (Dis)Union?

We may indeed with propriety be said to have reached almost the last stage of national humiliation. There is scarcely anything that can wound the pride or degrade the character of an independent nation which we do not experience. Are there engagements to the performance of which we are held by every tie respectable among men? These are the subjects of constant and unblushing violation. Do we owe debts to foreigners and to our own citizens contracted in a time of imminent peril for the preservation of our political existence? These remain without any proper or satisfactory provision for their discharge. Have we valuable territories and important posts in the possession of a foreign power which, by express stipulations, ought long since to have been surrendered? These are still retained, to the prejudice of our interests, not less than of our rights. Are we in a condition to resent or to repel the aggression? We have neither troops, nor treasury, nor government.

[. . . ]

In addition to all this, there is, in the nature of sovereign power, an impatience of control, that disposes those who are invested with the exercise of it, to look with an evil eye upon all external attempts to restrain or direct its operations. From this spirit it happens, that in every political association which is formed upon the principle of uniting in a common interest a number of lesser sovereignties, there will be found a kind of eccentric tendency in the subordinate or inferior orbs, by the operation of which there will be a perpetual effort in each to fly off from the common centre. This tendency is not difficult to be accounted for. It has its origin in the love of power. Power controlled or abridged is almost always the rival and enemy of that power by which it is controlled or abridged.

Further reading: "Cheney in Iraq to pressure Maliki government"

State of the "Coalition of the Willing"?

Each State, yielding to the persuasive voice of immediate interest or convenience, has successively withdrawn its support, till the frail and tottering edifice seems ready to fall upon our heads, and to crush us beneath its ruins.

Further reading: A report from the Institute of Policy Studies, "Coalition of the Willing or Coalition of the Coerced?: How the Bush Administration Influences Allies in its War on Iraq" (PDF file)

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5.08.2007

Feed the Daemon





If you're keeping score at home, my initial daemon was Eurasta.

5.07.2007

Meh. Why Not?

Via Billville via docsrock. Again, yes.

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
The mortgage. So I am officially old now.

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
A romantic dinner? What, with candles and mood music? We don't go for that kind of thing here in Enoch. You're from out of town, ain'tcha?

3. Last time you puked from drinking?
I don't remember anymore. Now I'm more likely to get a bad bout of diarrhea. (Hey, you asked.)

4. When is the last time you got drunk and danced on a bar?
You crazy kids with your questions. At this point, I'm most likely to get drunk and call the person dancing on the bar a douchebag.

5. Name of your first grade teacher?
Was it Mrs. Gilmore? No, I think I had her for 3rd grade. I do remember that she let me read to the class, because I was so bored.

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?
Sending in my final grades and being done with the semester.

7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
In a different home.

8. How many colleges did you attend?
As a student? Going on three.

9. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?
It was next up in the rotation, and I didn't think anyone would see me in it today.

10. GAS PRICES?
Don't expect them to go down until you change your lifestyle. I'm talking to you, Hummer drivers.

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you?
Fairbanks, Alaska, with the missus, to watch the world die.

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
I usually wake up before the alarm and wonder why the radio only comes in when I move away from it.

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
"This article is boring."

14. Favorite style of underwear?
Form-fitting.

15. Favorite style of underwear for the opposite sex?
Spaghetti straps and/or buttons.

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
Sorting the newspapers. Don't judge me.

17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?
I do a lot of work with unwed mothers.

18. Get up early or sleep in?
Get up early and finish reading whatever I fell asleep to the night before, unless it was boring.

19. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Bullwinkle.

20. Favorite nonsexual thing to do at night with a girl/guy?
Argue about art.

21. Have you found real love yet?
Real is love.

22. When did you first start feeling old?
When I started teaching students who didn't grow up with Star Wars.

23. Favorite 80's movie?
Better Off Dead.

24. Your favorite lunch meat?
Roast beast.

25. What do you get every time you go into Sam's Club?
I don't shop at Sam's Club, but I usually pick up a book or two when I visit CostCo.

26. Beach or lake?
You're more likely to step on something interesting at the beach.

27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
Only after the first ten years.

28. How many people do you stalk on livejournal?
I'm too fond of the one person I know on livejournal to stalk her.

29. Favorite guilty pleasure?
Superhero comics.

30. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
I don't know the name of it. It's a Japanese monster movie involving giant robots (not the Transformers, punk).

31. What's your drink?
Micah has turned me on to Scotch. Neat.

32. This question appears to be missing.

33. Cops or Robbers?
Whoever is being oppressed at the moment.

34. Who from high school would you like to run into?
There was a girl I worked with on the newspaper who tried to ask me out to the prom. I always wondered what happened to her and if she ever raised her standards.

35. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
XM Channel 47: Ethel

36. Norm or Cliff?
Cliff. He was in The Empire Strikes Back.

37. The Cosby Show or The Simpsons?
Dude.

38. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
I made a girl who was getting clutchy think that I hated her.

39. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work?
I like her fine, but her friends are fucking obnoxious. Blah blabbity blah.

40. If you could get away with it, who would you kill?
One life for 3,377 seems fair to me.

41. What famous person(s) would you like to party with?
I'd like to follow Courtney Love around for a day and she what kind of shit she gets into.

42. What famous person would you like to sleep with?
What's in it for me?

43. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
If its intended purpose is as a propellant, then yes.

44. Last book you read for real?
For real? It's so hard to distinguish from the books I only imagine I've read.
I got about halfway into W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz before I "got it" and had to start over again.

45. Do you have a teddy bear?
No, I have a tiger pillow.

46. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
In a cave on Brontitol.

47. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?
I've always wondered what those douchebags in Hollywood do all day. But seriously, I'd like to check out this place.

48. Do you go to church?
No, I let the Utah Legislature bring church to me.

49. At this point in your life, would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?
I'd like to give full-time writing a try, if only I could assure myself that I wouldn't spend my entire day answering questionnaires like this.

50. Just how old are you?
Waving my thirties goodbye.

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5.03.2007

Channel Zero

I've been meaning to do this for a while, and am only doing it now as a means of avoiding grading final papers. Hooray for the internet!

via Billville via docsrock:

Before reading the questions, name your top six favorite TV shows:

1. Lost
2. Doctor Who
3. Battlestar Galactica (2003 edition)
4. Heroes
5. The Sopranos
6. House


The Questions
1. Who is your favorite character from #2?
Well, the Doctor, duh. My favorite portrayals of the Doctor are, in order of preference:
Christopher Eccleston (#10, who revived the program in 2005)
Tom Baker (#4, the actor with the longest run on the series)
David Tennant (the current version)
William Hartnell (the first)
Peter Davison (#5)
Patrick Troughton (#2)

My favorite companions include Rose Tyler, Leela, and Romana II.

2. Who is your least favorite character from #4?
Matt Parkman, the cop who can read minds, mostly because I'm bored with his angst and he doesn't seem to do much with his otherwise remarkable ability.

3. What would a crossover between #1 and #5 include?
Tony Soprano choking evil-Others leader Ben with a wire he pulls up from the beach. Sawyer fucks Meadow and becomes Tony's point man. Adriana comes back to life and becomes an unwitting tool of the Others, who convince her to enact revenge on Christopher. A.J. and Charlie form a band. Tony's crew whack the Others and start a distribution ring with leftover supplies from the Dharma Intiative.

4. Who is your favorite ship from #6?
Following Billville's interpretation of this question as one about relationships, I live for any hint that House loves Wilson as much as he, despite himself, loves House.

5. If you were to set one person from #3 and one person from #6 on a blind date, who would they be?
I would like to see how Starbuck might bring Wilson out of his shell and help him to become more assertive. I would also pay hard cash to see how long House and Caprica Six could mind-fuck one another before one of them explodes.

6. If you could meet one person from #4 and spend the day with them, who would it be, and what would you do?
I'll spare you my impure and possibly illegal thoughts about spending the day with Claire Bennet and go for the simpler pleasures of hanging out with Hiro and enjoying his infectious earnestness about using his power responsibly.

7. If you could change one thing about #2’s plot line, what would you change?
There are clearly a lot of ghosts in the TARDIS closets, as indicated by the some of the Doctor's contemplative moments in the latest seasons of the show. I'd like to see him confront some of them: finding out how Susan, his grand-daughter, is faring on a post-invasion Earth, or how Jamie, his Scottish chum, copes in a pre-industrial age with his knowledge of the universe, or saving Leela's descendants from the destruction of Gallifrey. Nothing too heavy.

8. Explain a relationship between two people (not necessarily romantic) from show #5, and why you like the relationship between them.
Tony reminds me of the speaker in Randy Newman's song, "Marie." He loves his wife, but can't bring himself to tell her unless he's drunk. It is fascinating to watch how they modify their behaviour toward one another as their marriage is alternately threatened or reaffirmed. Reminds me of home, in a sick way.

9. If the lead title characters (first name in the credits) from #1 and #3 were both drowning, and you could only save one, who would it be?
Fuck, dude, Adama has to save the human race! Those people on the island are all doomed, anyway.

10. If you could change the title characters’ order in the credits for #4, what order would you choose?
I envision a badass spinoff involving Future Hiro's samurai adventures in 2025. Sort of like a post-apocalyptic Lone Wolf and Cub.

11. If you were able to add a new character, any kind of character you wanted, to the storyline for #6, what would the character be like, and what would their role be?
I would bring in a manipulative sexbomb to fuck with the male staff and set them against one another in fits of jealousy and lust. House, uncharacteristically non-plussed, would be put in the position of saving his staff from themselves. That, or a bartender that House could periodically confide in.

12. What happens in your favorite episode of show #2?
Jesus, only 30+ years of episodes to choose from, huh? Of the most recent series, I'm fond of the early episode where the Doctor takes his new companion to witness the end of the world from an orbiting space platform. The occasion is styled as an upscale celebration, complete with a working jukebox (misidentified by one of the futuristic aliens in attendance as an iPod) that plays Britney Spears and Soft Cell, and the last remaining human, who has had so much cosmetic surgery that all that's left of her body is the outstretched skin of her face. Everything I love about the show is contained in that episode.

Of the "classic" series, I like:
  • the one in which the Doctor is offered the opportunity to destroy one of his greatest enemies at the moment of their conception, but realizes they serve a larger purpose in the universe and must be allowed the right to survive
  • the one in which the Doctor is haunted by a ghost-like being who warns him of upcoming trauma and who turns out to be the future incarnation of the Doctor himself, who "dies" in the episode
  • the one in which the newly regenerated Doctor slowly unwinds his trademark scarf to find his way around his own ship
  • the one in which the Doctor makes fun of the Cybermen for their bad grammar
  • any of the episodes written by Douglas Adams

13. If you could kill off one of the characters in #1, who would it be and how would you do it?

Well, the writers of the show are pretty good about killing the characters off by themselves, but I would like to see Jin go out in a blaze of sacrificial glory, not because I don't like him, but because he is one of the characters who truly wants and needs to find redemption on the island. A more interesting question for this show might be: who would I like to see survive? I think it will be Locke, who will be driven insane, and Hurley, who will find his purpose.

14. If you got the chance to visit the set for either show #3 or show #5, which would you choose?

I wonder if the sets for Galactica are as claustrophobia-inducing as they appear to be.

15. If you could date anyone from any of these shows, which show and which person?

I've always been drawn to sad women who put up a brave face to the world, and disguise their vulnerability through drink and/or bad relationships, and Kate from Lost is pretty much the perfect version of that woman.

SITE UPDATE: Stay tuned for more frequent postings as spring semester winds to a close and summer unemployment looms.

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