Timboscifi's Blog

"Blood Music," by Greg Bear

2009-06-26T15:32:00.002-05:00

This was a great story. I think I read it a long time ago. I am not sure but it seemed familiar. I know it is a classic. The science in it is fascinating. Greg Bear always makes his science fiction read just like it is real science and so possible it is happening. He tells the tale of a scientst gone bad, one who ultimately experiements on himself like so many others, but this time he has injected himself with what we would call today nanomachines. Each has been programmed to improve him and change him for the better. He loses weight, he looks better, his back doesn't hurt, but all these are at the cost of being human. His spine, his heart and other internal organs and everything about him has changed and then they eventually communicate with him and take over. A friend, who is a doctor, tries to stop it all by killing him while he takes a bath, but the doctor and his wife become infected and the end suggests that these nanomachines are loose and will change the world. It is a great story.

"The Winter Market," by William Gibson

2009-06-23T23:26:00.002-05:00

OK, so I am not sure that I got this one at all. I admire Gibson's imagination and his talent but often after I finish one of his works I scratch my head and feel like some inferior creature for not getting it, for not being a fan like all the cool people who read and admire him and give him rewards. All I can really remember from the story, and I just read it, is that this guy likes this model and can't get away from her all because, as the introduction in the anthology goes, "he suggests that people who know exactly what they want can be a little frightening--particularly if they need you to get it for them." Lise is this artist he has an experience with through dreams and technology when he should be professional and just working with her. I might re-read it to try to get it and I might not.

Star Trek, the movie

2009-06-19T11:57:00.002-05:00

OK, so I know that they are trying to get a new generation of viewers but they killed off Kirk's dad and Spock's mom, thus bringing them closer? I like the way things were and the novel by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Star Fleet Academy, was better. With so many changes in the new movie, I think they will lose some loyal fans in their desperate attempt to resuscitate this franchise. I guess it gives them all kinds of new possibilities and they could even go back in time again and straighten out the timelines but they had Spock the elder meet Spock the younger. Whoa, that should have ended the universe right there. Oh well.

Terminator: Salvation, novelization by Alan Dean Foster

2009-06-19T11:41:00.002-05:00

OK, I am embarrassed to admit that I read a novelization by anyone, especially since I haven't seen the movie yet and this should have killed all the surprises for me. I don't make it a habit of reading novelizations because they are just a beefed up screenplay so I wouldn't normally post on such material but I had to say that this was terrible for two reasons. One, it seemed hastily and sloppily written for such a professional as Alan Dean Foster who has written more than I ever will. He uses disinterested when he meant uninterested and maybe I am the only one who should care about such things but it bugs me when a writer loses control of the language. Second, it seems hastily written in that the writing was rushed and not exactly thought out, as in a thesaurus was used some times. Instantaneous or other words were overused and thus the thesaurus was underused in some areas. All in all, it was less rewarding than watching the movie will be, I am sure. It did set up another novel by Timothy Zahn, whose Stars Wars' books I enjoyed, so maybe the sequel to the prequel will be better: Terminator Salvation: Rise from the Ashes. The prologue and first chapter of this book are in the back of Terminator: Salvation. So far, the writing is better and seems less rushed and more interesting, but the key character in Terminator: Salvation, Marcus Wright, is missing so far. His character kept the book going for me because he is a hybrid, half-human and half-terminator, with both a CPU and a human brain. He even saves John Connor and keeps the timeline, though it is now twisted, going. All for this one....

Spook Country, by William Gibson

2009-06-07T14:31:00.003-05:00

I realize that I never posted anything about this great book. It has been a while since I read it but it left some definite impressions. For one, the idea that stuff is kept in shipping containers, hidden and moved around yet almost untraceable, that only a few people know about, is pretty scary. I read on Gibson's that he does research as he goes in order to keep his work current and beyond what anyone has already written, which makes it hard for him to pitch a book. This idea, coupled with some obscure groups of people, rather like the mafia and spies, working beneath the world we all live in, makes the idea of daily life almost frightening. It is as if all these different forms of culture exist at the same time and yet never interact with each other. You just have to read the book for yourself. I might have to re-read it just as I did with his first book, Neuromancer, just to understand more of it myself. I often find that the first reading of any of Gibson's work is an experience. The thought and intellectual activity only happens after a second reading.

"The Pure Product," by John Kessel

2009-06-07T14:07:00.002-05:00

I just read this short story in the Best of the Best collection drawn from Gardner Dozoi's Annual The Year's Best Science Fiction. This is a strange one, even to me. You are kept interested in the story without knowing much about the main character/narrator. He seems to be immortal, which you don't learn right away, until he attempts suicide, but you gradually learn that he is trying to stimulate himself through various efforts such as tossing a Molatoff cocktail at an innocent bystander, picking up a 17-year-old girl who likes to shoplift and kill people as well. They have a wild ride for a while and then he dumps her. He seems bored with humans, though you never know what species he is or where he's from. We only get a snapshot of this immortal's life, which makes it such a great story. His attitude, his behavior, and his interactions with others all portray a man tired of living yet those words are never said anywhere. It is what we imagine might happen to something that can not only liver forever but travel through space and even time.

Back

2009-06-06T15:39:00.003-05:00

Well, I haven't posted in a while but I thought of reading some short stories and then posting a response or review of each one after I have read it. It should help me with the story I am writing inspired by Springsteen's song "Magic" from the penultimate album with the same title. "There is a fire down below/and it's coming up here/so leave everything you know/carry only what you fear." I love those lines and wonder what someone would carry if he or she could only carry what he or she fears. At any rate, more posts on my reading coming up.

National Novel Writing Month

2008-11-01T15:53:00.001-05:00

I am going to give it a try but it means about 1600 words a day if I am going to write 50,000 words by the end of November. Given all the papers I have to grade over the next month, that could be tricky, but I like the motto of the whole program--quantity not quality. I am not going to worry over what I write, just write and write and write. Wish me luck.

This Mid-season finale thing stinks!!!!

2008-07-31T15:40:00.004-05:00

I have to say that I can't wait for some new episodes, at least to find out who is the fifth hidden cyclon in the human fleet. The vision of a burnt-out earth was a little frightening as I have always wondered if, to quote Charlton Heston from Planet of the Apes, "You (we) finally did it. You (we) finally blew the damn thing up." I like the director's guts to have earth fried up but it is depressing at the same time. Guess it would have been too pretty if they had traveled all that way and found the 13th colony and life would have been hunky-dorey, but where the heck is this going to go???

Guess I have have to wait and see.....

So much new in the last few episodes of BSG

2008-06-18T16:42:00.002-05:00

Well, the fifth Cylon remains a mystery and three of the four almost went out an airlock, but they have now been revealed. This is interesting since they have had no desire to kill the humans. Why were they suddenly activated with that Stones tune? Was it just to get all of them to earth and if so, who activated them? And now, just look at earth. A barren rock. The hint seems to be that we all killed ourselves off and now the humans and the cylons have nothing to live for any more. Darn shame. If this is the mid-season finale, as Scott Ian's blog calls it, then where do they go from here? Lots of questions and not many answers.

Battlestar Galactica

2008-04-28T23:22:00.002-05:00

OK, so it looks like Kara Thrace is NOT a Cylon but the ONLY way she could be back with a new ship is if she was cloned and sent back by the Cylons. Now why on earth, or should I say the 12 colonies, would they do that? If she is the 5th cylon, or the 12th, depending on how you count them, then why are they trying to throw us off of that? Are they just messing with us? And why did all those ace pilots take off with her on a wild goose chase instead of staying around to defend the fleet? Wasn't that why they were trained in the first place?

Now let's move on to Baltar. Frankly, I am sick of him. I almost wish they had found him guilty in the trial and spaced him. He is an interesting character but this new cult thing which has Roslyn practicing Bush-like tactics with civil liberties is getting old. I am GLAD he appears not to be a Cylon but I think they should just revive Deanna and ask her. She was whacking out before the deactivated her line, that is a strange thing for Cylons to do, but maybe she will be better now or turn on all of them and wipe them out. :)

So what about our dear Roslyn and Adama thing. She has the admiral reading to her and now Lee is in politics driving her crazy. I wish he were still a Viper pilot. This whole politics thing is getting old as well. I guess I long for the days when they all went out and had a firefight with the Cylons.

And what about this idea that the robots are now sentient? Half the skin jobs want to lobotomize them and half want to treat them as equals. Six gets on my nerves a bit and what is it with the real hair now? Is she the same as a six with platinum blonde hair or not? And one line subdivide now?

And last but not least, what of Tyrol, Tigh and Tory? Are those T's just a coincidence? Must be or Anders wouldn't fit. I like how Tory is into being a Cylone, Tigh is in denial and Tyrol is just whacked out. I don't think he is long for this world. I am thinking he will space himself pretty soon if he can't get a handle on his identity.

Well, that is enough speculation for now....

Battlestar Galactica

2008-02-11T15:38:00.000-06:00

OK, so the previews they are showing on both the Sci-fi channel and Scifi.com are really starting to confirm that Starbuck is the fifth Cylon. The clips are so short and fast it is hard to tell, but it looks like her husband is calling her a Cylon and as I said in a very old post, that should explain why she survived. It is ironic given her torture of Leoben and her hatred of the Cylons but it sure makes sense given her "abilities" that her mother and others have talked about. It makes a lot of sense given her "maelstrom" drawings and everything else.

All for now...

Postponing the Sabbatical

2008-02-11T15:35:00.000-06:00

I am going to postpone the sabbatical for many personal reasons, but I think I will be able to get some writing done this summer if I don't teach three classes like last summer. That was just too much as it left little time for writing while watching the kids during the day and teaching at night. I was pretty burned out over the summer instead of rested and adding that to a new prep for online teaching for the fall just became way too much. I think just watching the boys this summer and writing when I can will be a great way to recuperate. I can always apply for the sabbatical again in the future.

All for now...

Sabbatical

2007-11-14T23:41:00.000-06:00

I am turning in my sabbatical material tomorrow. Wish me luck. I hope that it will be enough to get a semester off after 21 years of teaching, 12 of them at NWACC. I need the time to write and with two kids and a very time-consuming job, I am just not getting the time to write. It occurs to me that the members of the committee who decide on the sabbaticals just might read this so if you do, please post a comment. Thanks.

Tim

...a long time

2007-10-17T14:33:00.000-05:00

OK, so it had been eight months since my last blog but who is counting? If you are, then the heck with ya...just kidding, maybe. I have to say that the last eight months have flown by. Too much to do in too little time. I can say that in that time I have found out that Battlestar Gallactica will enter its FINAL season in January of 2008 and that stinks. One of the best shows on TV kicked from Friday to Sunday nights and then off the air. The writers say that it is time and that they always had an end in mind but that sounds political to me and their careers are better off if they say that than simply screaming about the stupid big-wigs who are in charge of what shows live and which shows die. I have to say that I am looking forward to Razor, the two-hour prequel that will be shown in November. I bet it will be good. At least I will always have the DVD's to watch!!!

All for now...please sign in and comment.

Poems

2007-04-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

Sent a poem to Poesia magazine and got rejected but will send it out again. Got to. Persistence matters more than anything else or you never get published. Got to keep on trying. Need to find a good journal to send it to. I wonder if it would be worth it to send it to the New Yorker? Might just have to check out its submission requirements. Wish me luck, all.

NINE months without Battlestar Gallactica?

2007-04-15T23:33:00.000-05:00

OK, so I am not sure I can handle not seeing that show for that long. Thank God I have most of the third season on tape and all of the first two seasons on DVD. It is that bad. I feel like a druggie who needs a fix. It just isn't fair. How can they go that long without anything new? The whole third season will be re-played, I am sure, and out on DVD as well, but no new episodes? This is beyond cruel but will make us come back for that 4th season. Wo.

Kurt Vonnegut Dead

2007-04-15T23:29:00.000-05:00

While Kurt Vonnegut didn't necessarily think of himself as a science fiction writer, a lot of people did. While I am still reading Slaughterhouse Five and am not yet sure myself, he sure did write a lot of books that people either adored or hated. I think he left his mark on popular fiction, science fiction or not, and he will be missed.

Kara Thrace a Cylon?

2007-04-02T10:20:00.000-05:00

OK, so that suprise ending season finale left me with two choices--either Kara Thrace is a cylon or she was saved by them. To say to Lee Adama that she had been to Earth and would show them the way was just mind boggling and a great way to end the season but to be stuck with re-runs for the next nine months or so really stinks. So, I am thinking that she is a cylon. I think it must be the case since they went with four other, or at least three, who think they are cylons. Tigh, Anders, Tyrol and the President's assistant are now believed to be cylons and that would leave one more--Starbuck!!!!

The Multi-verse Theory

2007-03-23T00:52:00.000-05:00

So a new theory has arisen that there is more than one universe, in fact a universe of universes. I need to do more research here but I am wondering what that means for us. If worm holes and black holes and other phenomena are just portals to these other universes, then maybe we don't really die. Maybe what seems to be getting crushed to smaller than your average quark means that we get to transport to another universe. I am wondering what others think about this?

Adjustment

2007-03-13T23:40:00.000-05:00

OK, so I know that Kara Thrace has to come back somehow but will she be one of the five we have never met? Why else did the Cylons know so much about her and want to keep her around. The light at the end suggested she was taken in as she surrendered to "death," but I am thinking she just joined them and will wake up in some ship in one of those lighted bathtubs. Wonder if anyone else reads this what s/he thinks....

Kara Thrace dead?

2007-03-06T23:57:00.000-06:00

So I am so not believing that Kara Thrace is dead. I just can't believe it. She may not be my favorite character at times but she is so integral to the series and has been lost and thought dead before that I just don't believe that she is really gone. It can't be true. I will have to check other blogs and such to see if it is true. I just can't get it through my head. Say it ain't so, Joe...

Too long

2007-03-03T00:28:00.000-06:00

Been too long since my last post...need to keep writing. And now I have a chance at a sabbatical where I would just write for one whole semester and get paid for it. I hope I get it. Having that time off would be awesome but for the first time since graduate school, I would be able to work just on my writing with no papers to grade or anything else to interfere since the boys would be at school and my wife would be at work. It is almost frightening to comprehend. Got to work on that proposal and find out more about the Multiverse theory as well.

more later, as always

...the more

2007-02-07T13:01:00.000-06:00

So I am thinking that these people with the implanted chips would be called Chippies and they would have all the same knowledge at their fingertips and even be able to jack into the net as all the cyberpunk stuff likes to say but what would make this new or interesting? What would sell the story to an editor? I like the idea of the Chippies being in charge or different or bossy over the "non-Chippies"--got to have a better name there. Can't use Augments--Star Trek did that already. I am wondering if anyone reads this and if s/he might want to contribute a name?

Writing Fiction

2007-01-29T11:12:00.000-06:00

So I have this new idea about a story where the man-machine conflict is resolved since in effect every man is also part machine, not in the cyborg fashion but in the sense that every human brain is augmented by a chip that does what computers do so well. No one has any problem remembering or doing math or anything like that any more. We all have storage in our heads and the chips can be replaced at any time. In fact, in the future the world has gotten so complicated that we need the chips just to function.

More later....

First Post

2006-07-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

This is all new to me. I just hope it works!!!