Posts filed under ‘OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS’
UPDATE RADIO INTERVIEW
My consistent readers,
I wanted to tell you that I have a radio interview this Sunday, 1/13/13, with the Writers and Readers Broadcast Network. I am excited about his and hope you get a chance to listen to me talk about my work. It will be at 1:00 pm MST.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Here’s a link to the site.
SPACE; THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER
THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP
GO CURIOSITY
If you are interested in space science at all you are definitely aware of the landing of Curiosity on Mars. For the landing of this rover the artist’s concept appeared like something that might be the cover of a pulp science fiction publication.
AND IT WORKED.
With the platform, with thrusters firing, hovered over the Martian landscape and lowered Curiosity to a soft landing. Imagine that happening in your back yard, a craft coming from another planet.
As I assume you know by now, I write science fiction. My mind immediately engaged in the ‘what if mode.’ As a writer, it is your obligation to also be a reader. I am currently reading a novel, accelerando, by Charles Stross. It is a fantastic read and I encourage all science fiction readers to read it. The author deals with the advancement of post humans and The Singularity. The concepts in this novel are fantastic and I will talk about them in the future.
I also have another book, The Singularity Is Near, by Ray Kurzweil. This is a work of nonfiction and deals with the mating of computer technology and mankind. This is another book which I will discuss in the future.
But now to my ‘what if’ moment. I can imagine Mars covered with cells below the surface, ether one cell deep or millions deep, it doesn’t matter. What if Mars is one massive intelligence? If you read the books I have mentioned, you will gain a concept of post humans and The Singularity.
My readers, I hope this opens an appreciation of science and a desire to read science fiction.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHEN KING
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
STEPHEN KING
This is actually a belated birthday greeting. King’s birthday was two days ago. He is the same age as me.
I was amused to learn that when his wife, Tabitha, went into labor with their first child, Stephen was at a drive-in watching ‘The Corpse Grinders’.
I think I can top that.
When my wife, Joni, was extremely pregnant, I took her to see the remake of ‘The Fly’. In this version Gena Davis dreams that she gives birth to a huge maggot.
That night Joni went into labor, and the next morning gave birth to our daughter, Annie.
No need for pest strips.
THE CURIOSITY MARS ROVER
THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP
GO CURIOSITY
If you are interested in space science at all you are definitely aware of the landing of Curiosity on Mars. For the landing of this rover the artist’s concept appeared like something that might be the cover of a pulp science fiction publication.
AND IT WORKED.
With the platform, with thrusters firing, hovered over the Martian landscape and lowered Curiosity to a soft landing. Imagine that happening in your back yard, a craft coming from another planet.
As I assume you know by now, I write science fiction. My mind immediately engaged in the ‘what if mode.’ As a writer, it is your obligation to also be a reader. I am currently reading a novel, accelerando, by Charles Stross. It is a fantastic read and I encourage all science fiction readers to read it. The author deals with the advancement of post humans and The Singularity. The concepts in this novel are fantastic and I will talk about them in the future.
I also have another book, The Singularity Is Near, by Ray Kurzweil. This is a work of nonfiction and deals with the mating of computer technology and mankind. This is another book which I will discuss in the future.
But now to my ‘what if’ moment. I can imagine Mars covered with cells below the surface, ether one cell deep or millions deep, it doesn’t matter. What if Mars is one massive intelligence? If you read the books I have mentioned, you will gain a concept of post humans and The Singularity. There is the theory of post humans, what if post martians exist?
My mind wanders, to a story, where the entire planet is an intelligence and is waiting for communication.
My readers, I hope this opens an appreciation of science and a desire to read science fiction.
WHEN DID MAN OBTAIN A SOUL?
Not much writing news to report. I’ve got two short stories making the rounds and a novel, The Beast Awaits, which I’m trying to publish. So until something positive happens I’ll share some of my musings. Here’s a light subject for you.
WHEN DID MAN FIRST OBTAIN A SOUL?
I have been thinking of this topic for some time now. At what stage in his evolution did man first possess a soul?
If you do not give the existence of evolution any credence, you can stop reading now. As a scientist I find the evidence in favor of evolution undisputable. So as what was to become modern man journeyed along his evolutionary ladder, when was he given a soul.
To possess a soul should require some higher form of mental activity. To be aware of self, to be able to reason, to be involved in functions that go beyond the rudimentary activities of existence, to be aware of a greater being – all theses factors would seem to be necessary. I am, of course, not a philosopher and would welcome the opinions of others on this topic.
As anyone reading this blog knows, I am now a science fiction writer. Years ago I decided to write a story about Neanderthals. The title was The Superior Species and was published by Aphelion in 2007. I plan to share this story with you on my blog in a day or two. During the course of writing that story I did a great deal of research on their abilities and intelligence. Do you know that the size of their brain was twice that of modern man? They created artwork and probably able to speak, or at least make sounds.
Neanderthals have fascinated me ever since writing that story. I recently learned that they cooked plant food along with their assumed diet of meat. They were also aware of the medicinal properties of the plants they used. It also appears that they cared for their sick and buried their dead.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120718131348.htm
Neanderthals could obviously think. Did they have a soul? They were a dead-end branch in the development of Homo sapiens and we picture them as brutish mimics of ourselves.
But how much did they share with us.
HARUKI MURAKAMI
HARUKI MURAKAMI
My consistent readers,
For the record, I am back in the saddle and have submitted two short stories and am working on publishing my novel, The Beast Awaits. While I wait for any of my efforts to bear fruit, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite living authors and encourage you to read their work. My first author is Haruki Murakami.
Haruki Murakami was born in 1949, making him two years younger than me. How did he accomplish so much? I’m just kidding, he worked damn hard. That’s how he did it.
Murakami is a Japanese author and I have been reading his work for years. I look for him to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. His stories are about the basic Japanese, yet most of his stories have a haunting quality, a feeling of fantasy.
If you want an introduction to his writing, I suggest reading Kafka on the Shore or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. When you begin these works you will fall into a world of Japanese culture. Eventually, the fantasy will begin. When you emerge from the novel, you will be in a state of satisfaction, yet mystified. I encourage you to take the journey.
THE PASSING OF RAY BRADBURY
THE PASSING OF A GIANT
As a writer of science fiction, I felt a profound sadness today with news of the death of Ray Bradbury at the age of 91.
Not long ago my science fiction reading group read Fahrenheit 451, one of his most popular works. I had read it when I was much younger, and now attempting to write science fiction, was in awe of the quality of the writing. He also, as many science fiction writers do, invented devices for his story that exist today.
What prompted me to write this little piece was my wife. I told her of his death and she said, “I’m sorry.”
I’m sure all of us that have enjoyed his work feel sorrow at his passing.
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
I’ve decided to combine two of my categories because of was wrong in giving them a separated existence, happens. How can you have an opinion unless you first observe a subject? How can you observe something and your mind remain empty? Here’s the first installment under the new heading.
NEWS
I have always been a news junkie, but for sometime now I have been aware of a growing lack of news reported while the lengths of the broadcasts continue to lengthen. I won’t even get into the constant errors the talking heads of our local new here in Philadelphia make. They sail right along without blinking an eye while I cringe in dismay.
The local stations now manage to pack maybe fifteen minutes worth of new in one hour. The rest of the time is taken up with what the latest celebrities are up to. What the station will be showing for the rest of the night. This exposure reinforces my reasons for not watching television programming. They also must give the weather three times until they finally give a forecast.
As readers of my blog know, I’ve had some medical problems recently. During this experience I had little opportunity to watch the news. I’ve grow distant from the mind-numbing hours I once spent before listening to drivel. If I do watch news it is only the national news.
There are times when I think back to my youth and the news was really the news. I suppose it was back in the fifties when the local news began at 6:30 at night and ran until 6:45, and then the national news took over from 6:45 until 7:00.
While I have, for the most part, abandoned news of TV I still stay in touch with newspapers and news magazines. I still want to know what’s going on but I’m trying to be a bit more selective.
With my ever growing new attitude toward the new, I’m reminded of a song from Simon and Garfunkel’s album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, one of my all-time favorite albums.
The song’s title, ‘The Only Living Boy in New York’. The line from the song that I find most appropriate for my new state of mind is, ‘I can gather all the news from the weather report’. I think that says it all.
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