Heller probably is the best-known and the most heavily criticized of Justice Scalia’s opinions. Reading Law is Scalia’s response to the criticism. It is unconvincing.
—Richard Posner in The Atlantic
August 30, 2012
Intentionality
August 25, 2012
We do not note nor long remember…
I read, I can't help myself. My wife and I have books in the low thousands in bookcases all over the house, and boxes brimming in the garage (there are no bookcases in the bathrooms, although now that I think about it, what's up with that?). A bookcase in the living room displays a note from Schopenhauer of particular relevance to me: "Many learned persons have read themselves stupid."
Listed below are the contents of three boxes stowed in the garage, consisting of mostly paperback science fiction titles, some fraction of that particular strain of reading I've cared to waste time with over the decades, appearing here in the disorder in which they were originally stored.
The plan is to bring the lot down to Logos in downtown Santa Cruz this next week and get some store credits for the ones they'll take, and bring the rest of them over to the Main Library, where the bottomfeeders can have at them in the free bin.
Queen City Jazz by Kathleen Ann Goonan. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996). It had the Bees, I think.
Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman. Ace, New York (1998). Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, it says on the cover.
I can't remember most parts of any of the books listed here. Some of them I gave myself permission to admire a long time ago for some reason or other, and I do remember admiring them, if few specifics of plot or character. I'm sure it's just as well that I don't remember many of the rest of them in the least. I want a jolt of the old imaginative when I read this kind of stuff, and often enough, after more than 50 years at it, I end up dissatisfied to the point of cranky with a lot of the science fiction I've managed to end up reading anyhow. Not every written work has to be as imaginative as Finnegans Wake, imaginative all the way down to the level of syllabification, no. A credible spaceship or life form or the workings of some cleverly crafted cultural formation will do (characters so thin you can see right through to the clockwork they're operating on chafe my hide. But as long as the invention specific to the work is rounded successfully in other ways, I don't mind too much the inevitability of constructing a character, or squadrons of them, if needs be, from the stock currently available to the genre, as long as they're formed of the higher-quality papier-mâché).
Without further interruption…
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin. Avon Books, New York (1973).
The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott [The Jewel in the Crown, The Day of the Scorpion, The Towers of Silence, A Division of the Spoils]. Avon, New York (1979).
Brightness Reef by David Brin. Bantam Books, New York (1996).
Child of Fortune by Norman Spinrad. Bantam Books, New York (1986).
Trouble And Her Friends by Melissa Scott. Tom Doherty Associates (1995).
Expiration Date by Tim Powers. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996).
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. Ace Books, New York (1988).
Half the Day Is Night by Maureen F. McHugh. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996).
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Bantam Books, New York (1998).
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2007).
The Judas Rose by Susette Harden Elgin. DAW Books, New York (1987).
Against A Dark Background by Ian M. Banks, Orbit Books, London (2009).
The Number of The Beast by Robert A. Heinlein. Ballantine Books, New York (1982).
Tripoint by C.J. Cherryh. Warner Books, New York (1995).
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. Picador USA, New York (2001).
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2009).
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde. Penguin Books, New York (2004).
The Riddle-Master Trilogy [The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind] by Patricia A. McKillip. Ace Books, New York (1999).
Misery by Stephen King. Viking, New York (1987).
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. Norton, New York (1990).
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian. Norton, New York (1991).
Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian. Norton, New York (1990).
Pavane by Keith Roberts. Ace Books, New York (1982).
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls Robert A. Heinlein. Ballantine Books, New York (1986).
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2007).
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2008).
Accelerando by Charles Stross. Ace Books, New York (2006).
The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2012).
The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. Ace Books, New York (2009).
Glasshouse by Charles Stross. Ace Books, New York (2007).
The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears. Riverhead Books, New York (2003).
Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1999).
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman. Ace Books, New York (2005).
The Scar by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2004).
Anathem by Neal Stephenson. HarperCollins, New York (2009).
Ilium by Dan Simmons. HarperCollins, New York (2005).
Olympia by Dan Simmons. HarperCollins, New York (2006).
Perdido Street Stationby China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2004).
The Year of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (2003).
Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (2005).
Sixty Days and Countingby Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (2007).
Seeker by Jack McDevitt. Ace Books, New York (2006).
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2010).
Postsingular by Rudy Rucker. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2009).
Mort by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2001).
The Female Man Joanna Russ. Bantam Books, New York (1975).
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins, New York (2003).
by Iain M. Banks. Night Shade Books, San Francisco (2006).
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2000).
The Stainless Steel Rat Returns by Harry Harrison. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2011).
Kraken by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2010).
The City & The City by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2010).
Railsea by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2012).
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Knopf, New York (2002).
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Night Shade Books, San Francisco (2010).
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi. Little, Brown and Company, New York (2012).
Ship Breakerby Paolo Bacigalupi. Little, Brown, New York (2011)
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazney. Illustrated by Gahan Wilson. Avon Books, New York (1994).
The Hacker and the Ants by Rudy Rucker New York (1995).
Giants' Star by James P. Hogan. Ballantine Books, New York (1981).
Arlsan by M.J. Engh. Warner Books, New York (1976).
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (1995).
The Testament by John Grisham. Random House, New York (2000).
REAMDE by Neal Stephensen, Harper Collins (2011).
Sorcerers of Majipoor by Robert Silverberg, Harper, New York (1998).
Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis, Bantam Books (1992).
The Rise of Endymion Dan Simmons, Bantam Books (1998).
Terminal Café Ian McDonald, Bantam Books (1995).
Fifty Degrees Below by Kim Stanley Robinson, Bantam Books (2007).
Flux by Stephen Baxter, Harper (1995).
Caldé of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1995).
Endymion by Dan Simmons. Bantam Books, New York(1996).
Invader by C. J. Cherryh. DAW Books, New York (1996).
Destinies vol. 1 no. 2 edited by James Baen. Ace Books (1979).
Exodus From The Long Sunby Gene Wolfe. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1997).
Foragers by Charles Oberndorf. Bantam Books New York (1996).
The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Popular Library (1976).
Earthfall by Orson Scott Card. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996).
Infinity's Shore by David Brin. Bantam Books (1997).
JOB: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein Ballantine Books (1985).
Earthborn by Orson Scott Card. Tom Doherty Associates, New York. (1996).
Fools by Pat Cadigan. Bantam Books, New York (1992).
Virtual Light by William Gibson. Bantam Books, New York (1994).
Red Dust by Paul J. McAuley. Avon Books, New York (1995).
Moderan by David R. Bunch. Avon Books, New York (1971).
Carlucci's Edge Richard Paul Russo. Ace Books, New York (1995).
Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen. Ace Books, New York (1979).
Flight from Neveryon by Samuel R. Delaney. Bantam Books (1985).
Nautilus by Vonda McIntyre. Bantam Books (1994).
The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick. Bluejay Books, New York (1984).
The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg vol. 1 Secret Sharers by Robert Silverberg. Bantam Books, New York (1992).
Dark City by Frank Lauria. St. Martin's Press (1998).
Life, The Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams. Pan Books, London (1982).
Lord Prestimion by Robert Silverberg. HarperCollins, New York (2000).
Kiln People by David Brin. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2002).
Donnerjack by Roger Zelazny and Jane Lindskold. Avon Books, New York (1998).
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith. Bantam Books, New York (2000).
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins, New York (2002).
Ring by Stephen Baxter. HarperCollins, New York (1996).
To Sail Beyond The Sunset by Robert A. Heinlein, Ace Books, New York (1988).
Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books, New York (1997).
Against A Dark Background Iain M. Banks. Bantam Books, New York (1993).
Manifold Space by Stephen Baxter. Ballantine Books, New York (2002)
Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books, New York (1999).
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2000).
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2002).
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear. Ballantine Books, New York (2000).
Listed below are the contents of three boxes stowed in the garage, consisting of mostly paperback science fiction titles, some fraction of that particular strain of reading I've cared to waste time with over the decades, appearing here in the disorder in which they were originally stored.
The plan is to bring the lot down to Logos in downtown Santa Cruz this next week and get some store credits for the ones they'll take, and bring the rest of them over to the Main Library, where the bottomfeeders can have at them in the free bin.
Queen City Jazz by Kathleen Ann Goonan. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996). It had the Bees, I think.
Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman. Ace, New York (1998). Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, it says on the cover.
I can't remember most parts of any of the books listed here. Some of them I gave myself permission to admire a long time ago for some reason or other, and I do remember admiring them, if few specifics of plot or character. I'm sure it's just as well that I don't remember many of the rest of them in the least. I want a jolt of the old imaginative when I read this kind of stuff, and often enough, after more than 50 years at it, I end up dissatisfied to the point of cranky with a lot of the science fiction I've managed to end up reading anyhow. Not every written work has to be as imaginative as Finnegans Wake, imaginative all the way down to the level of syllabification, no. A credible spaceship or life form or the workings of some cleverly crafted cultural formation will do (characters so thin you can see right through to the clockwork they're operating on chafe my hide. But as long as the invention specific to the work is rounded successfully in other ways, I don't mind too much the inevitability of constructing a character, or squadrons of them, if needs be, from the stock currently available to the genre, as long as they're formed of the higher-quality papier-mâché).
Without further interruption…
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin. Avon Books, New York (1973).
The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott [The Jewel in the Crown, The Day of the Scorpion, The Towers of Silence, A Division of the Spoils]. Avon, New York (1979).
Brightness Reef by David Brin. Bantam Books, New York (1996).
Child of Fortune by Norman Spinrad. Bantam Books, New York (1986).
Trouble And Her Friends by Melissa Scott. Tom Doherty Associates (1995).
Expiration Date by Tim Powers. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996).
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. Ace Books, New York (1988).
Half the Day Is Night by Maureen F. McHugh. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996).
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Bantam Books, New York (1998).
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2007).
The Judas Rose by Susette Harden Elgin. DAW Books, New York (1987).
Against A Dark Background by Ian M. Banks, Orbit Books, London (2009).
The Number of The Beast by Robert A. Heinlein. Ballantine Books, New York (1982).
Tripoint by C.J. Cherryh. Warner Books, New York (1995).
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. Picador USA, New York (2001).
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2009).
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde. Penguin Books, New York (2004).
The Riddle-Master Trilogy [The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind] by Patricia A. McKillip. Ace Books, New York (1999).
Misery by Stephen King. Viking, New York (1987).
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. Norton, New York (1990).
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian. Norton, New York (1991).
Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian. Norton, New York (1990).
Pavane by Keith Roberts. Ace Books, New York (1982).
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls Robert A. Heinlein. Ballantine Books, New York (1986).
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2007).
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2008).
Accelerando by Charles Stross. Ace Books, New York (2006).
The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2012).
The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. Ace Books, New York (2009).
Glasshouse by Charles Stross. Ace Books, New York (2007).
The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears. Riverhead Books, New York (2003).
Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1999).
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman. Ace Books, New York (2005).
The Scar by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2004).
Anathem by Neal Stephenson. HarperCollins, New York (2009).
Ilium by Dan Simmons. HarperCollins, New York (2005).
Olympia by Dan Simmons. HarperCollins, New York (2006).
Perdido Street Stationby China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2004).
The Year of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (2003).
Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (2005).
Sixty Days and Countingby Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (2007).
Seeker by Jack McDevitt. Ace Books, New York (2006).
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2010).
Postsingular by Rudy Rucker. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2009).
Mort by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2001).
The Female Man Joanna Russ. Bantam Books, New York (1975).
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins, New York (2003).
by Iain M. Banks. Night Shade Books, San Francisco (2006).
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. Harper, New York (2000).
The Stainless Steel Rat Returns by Harry Harrison. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2011).
Kraken by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2010).
The City & The City by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2010).
Railsea by China Miéville. Ballantine Books, New York (2012).
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Knopf, New York (2002).
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Night Shade Books, San Francisco (2010).
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi. Little, Brown and Company, New York (2012).
Ship Breakerby Paolo Bacigalupi. Little, Brown, New York (2011)
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazney. Illustrated by Gahan Wilson. Avon Books, New York (1994).
The Hacker and the Ants by Rudy Rucker New York (1995).
Giants' Star by James P. Hogan. Ballantine Books, New York (1981).
Arlsan by M.J. Engh. Warner Books, New York (1976).
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books (1995).
The Testament by John Grisham. Random House, New York (2000).
REAMDE by Neal Stephensen, Harper Collins (2011).
Sorcerers of Majipoor by Robert Silverberg, Harper, New York (1998).
Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis, Bantam Books (1992).
The Rise of Endymion Dan Simmons, Bantam Books (1998).
Terminal Café Ian McDonald, Bantam Books (1995).
Fifty Degrees Below by Kim Stanley Robinson, Bantam Books (2007).
Flux by Stephen Baxter, Harper (1995).
Caldé of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1995).
Endymion by Dan Simmons. Bantam Books, New York(1996).
Invader by C. J. Cherryh. DAW Books, New York (1996).
Destinies vol. 1 no. 2 edited by James Baen. Ace Books (1979).
Exodus From The Long Sunby Gene Wolfe. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1997).
Foragers by Charles Oberndorf. Bantam Books New York (1996).
The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Popular Library (1976).
Earthfall by Orson Scott Card. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (1996).
Infinity's Shore by David Brin. Bantam Books (1997).
JOB: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein Ballantine Books (1985).
Earthborn by Orson Scott Card. Tom Doherty Associates, New York. (1996).
Fools by Pat Cadigan. Bantam Books, New York (1992).
Virtual Light by William Gibson. Bantam Books, New York (1994).
Red Dust by Paul J. McAuley. Avon Books, New York (1995).
Moderan by David R. Bunch. Avon Books, New York (1971).
Carlucci's Edge Richard Paul Russo. Ace Books, New York (1995).
Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen. Ace Books, New York (1979).
Flight from Neveryon by Samuel R. Delaney. Bantam Books (1985).
Nautilus by Vonda McIntyre. Bantam Books (1994).
The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick. Bluejay Books, New York (1984).
The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg vol. 1 Secret Sharers by Robert Silverberg. Bantam Books, New York (1992).
Dark City by Frank Lauria. St. Martin's Press (1998).
Life, The Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams. Pan Books, London (1982).
Lord Prestimion by Robert Silverberg. HarperCollins, New York (2000).
Kiln People by David Brin. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2002).
Donnerjack by Roger Zelazny and Jane Lindskold. Avon Books, New York (1998).
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith. Bantam Books, New York (2000).
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins, New York (2002).
Ring by Stephen Baxter. HarperCollins, New York (1996).
To Sail Beyond The Sunset by Robert A. Heinlein, Ace Books, New York (1988).
Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books, New York (1997).
Against A Dark Background Iain M. Banks. Bantam Books, New York (1993).
Manifold Space by Stephen Baxter. Ballantine Books, New York (2002)
Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam Books, New York (1999).
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2000).
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. Tom Doherty Associates, New York (2002).
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear. Ballantine Books, New York (2000).
August 15, 2012
"Mars, Bitches!" #12 and 35
Open this link[*] on an iOS device that contains a gyroscope sensor — like the iPad 2 or third-generation iPad, iPhone 4 or 4S, and fourth-generation iPod touch — and navigate the panorama by tilting and moving the device.
[*] via Tidbits
August 14, 2012
Noted in Passing
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| Painted Head in San Lorenzo Park, Santa Cruz, August 12, 2012 |
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| Mt. Shasta from the tarmac at Weed Airport |
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| The Nominally World-Famous Sundial Bridge of Redding, Ca., August 2012 |
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| The Nominally World-Famous Sundial Bridge of Redding, Ca., August 2012 |
A Passion for Fashion
My wife invited me rather pointedly to accompany her to an exhibit of the works of Jean Paul Gaultier at the De Young in San Francisco (through Aug. 19). He's the guy that put the pointy cones on Madonna's breasts, and clothed folks so exuberantly in The Fifth Element. Here I'm taking him to refer to The Fates:
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| Hey, Clotho!… Lachesis, Atropos? Is That You? |
Dead Set in the Archives
Archivist Nicholas Meriwhether, and why wouldn't an archivist be named Nicholas Meriwhether, left, working the crowd at the opening of the first exhibit of material from the Grateful Dead Archives, housed in McHenry Library at UC Santa Cruz, June 29, 2012.
August 13, 2012
April 27, 2012
Entomology Bleg, Yellow Caterpillar Category
A handful of these found in the backyard this morning.
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| The handheld caterpillar, April 2012 |
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| One of many local caterpillars, April 2012 |
April 18, 2012
April 13, 2012
Friday Funnyousness
Billy Crystal is 64. He isn't the last of the great East Coast storytelling Jewish comedians. That would be Myron Cohen, who's been gone awhile, and I have no idea who might be next in line. But he did grow up not just steeped, but marinated in that wonderfully fertile Jewish Catskills Broadway music business nightclub society that spawned the success of Cohen and the excess of, e.g., Jackie Mason. So he knows all the tropes by imitation, and he deploys them here to full force and effect, bringing it all to closure with what is not only a laugh but a lightly coded reference to all just kill me jokes.
The bear is awesome.
April 06, 2012
Yeah, I'll change yer flat tire, Merle. Don't you get your finger-picking hands all covered with erl…
Merle Haggard is 75 today. Happy Birthday, Merle. Keep on working, y'hear?
April 05, 2012
hashtag appleblossom
An audit of a Foxconn facility in China reveals serious and persistent violations of Chinese labor law at a plant in Zhenzhoug tied to the production of Apple Computer's products, products that lately have made the Cupertino company the richest in the world. Apple called for the audit in the wake of a tide of criticism of its dependence on the by-now notorious practices of the Taiwanese manufacturer. Apple CEO Tim Cook is on hand as well, taking the stern look.
Apple used Foxconn as an intermediary to extract labor from tens of thousand of Chinese workers making its enormously successful products, and those workers were worked hard by their bosses, excessively hard according to the Fair Labor Association, which conducted the investigation.
In other news, Apple Computer has announced plans to begin delivering quarterly dividends to its stockholders, beginning with a planned payout of $2.65 per share, and buying back $10 billion in stock over the coming three years, to be paid for out of the unprecedented hoard of cash ammassed by the Cupertino company, currently estimated to exceed, comfortably, 110 billion dollars, which is to say, $110 billion in cold hard cash in American money, itself the current nonpariel of monies. Apple plans to hand out $45 billion of its cash over the next three years persuing these ends, which, at the rate cash keeps accumulating at Apple, will be more than made up for, in the estimate of John Gruber at Daring Fireball. "At their current rate of generating earnings, even with these initiatives their cash war chest should grow."
He's estimating there that Apple will own significantly more that $110 billion in cash on hand in three years time.
Seems like it's bonus time for the workers who made Apple all that money. I mean, if guys who are trying to resuscitate the CDO market are getting bonuses at Goldman Sachs, shouldn't the people who, as it turns out, made Apple more money than it knows what to do with get a bonus for what they've brought about? Foxconn worked a lot of people like pack mules to fulfill orders for Apple's insanely popular line of products. Tim Cook should set up a card table at Foxconn's gate and shake the hand and pass over thousands in cash to every Apple worker who comes by, is what I'm saying.
March 27, 2012
Solaris Is A Novel Printed In Polish
tristero at Hullabaloo recommends Solaris The Definitive Edition, a recent translation made directly into English of Stanislaw Lem's Polish science fiction classic, Solaris, an edition commissioned by Lem's estate, and now available to read in Amazon's Kindle-delivered ebook format.
I understand that the version of Solaris I read years ago was only more or less adequately translated into English from somebody else's mediocre French translation of Lem's original, and not to be taken seriously for all the reasons. I don't remember it as a very remarkable read. Tarkovsky's Solaris, on the other hand, is a very good thing to see, even granting tristero's point that Tarkovsky is trying to make over Lem's material for his own purposes entirely, not to realize Lem's vison of Solaris on the screen, but to realize his own. Steven Soderbergh tried not to remake Tarkovsky's film, but fell into its gravity well and the result was an English language version inflected by a Russian version of Lem's Polish original, translated from print to screen.
Lem hated versions of Solaris, print and film. He stood by the original.
The Kindle audiobook of the new English edition is more readily available than the text itself, a sign that the Lem estate not only commissioned this edition but also gave Amazon some exclusive limited right to distribute the thing. A collector's item in the age of mechanical reproduction.
I understand that the version of Solaris I read years ago was only more or less adequately translated into English from somebody else's mediocre French translation of Lem's original, and not to be taken seriously for all the reasons. I don't remember it as a very remarkable read. Tarkovsky's Solaris, on the other hand, is a very good thing to see, even granting tristero's point that Tarkovsky is trying to make over Lem's material for his own purposes entirely, not to realize Lem's vison of Solaris on the screen, but to realize his own. Steven Soderbergh tried not to remake Tarkovsky's film, but fell into its gravity well and the result was an English language version inflected by a Russian version of Lem's Polish original, translated from print to screen.
Lem hated versions of Solaris, print and film. He stood by the original.
The Kindle audiobook of the new English edition is more readily available than the text itself, a sign that the Lem estate not only commissioned this edition but also gave Amazon some exclusive limited right to distribute the thing. A collector's item in the age of mechanical reproduction.
March 20, 2012
The Once and Future Beach in Santa Cruz
The San Lorenzo River isn't notorious for its length. If you stretched it out on a ruler it wouldn't be fifty miles long. But when winter rains reach Santa Cruz County the San Lorenzo collects a prodigious amount of water from the steep hills on either side of the narrow valley it courses through. Characteristically enough, 17 inches of rain fell in Ben Lomond, about ten miles upriver from Santa Cruz, between Tuesday of last week and the weekend. All the other spots along the river, Felton and Brookdale and Boulder Creek, contributed their fair share as well, and the river, which carries hardly a creek's worth of water in the summertime, surged heartily out of the enclosing valley as is its annual habit and down onto the marine floodplain where Santa Cruz sits waiting to receive it year after year.
The river goes where it can, and has had its way with Santa Cruz many times. This year the river took an unexpected turn on its way across the last two hundred yards or so of beach to its meeting with Monterey Bay. Instead of barrelling directly through the sandbar that normally blocks its mouth in the summer, it swerved hard right, threatening the foundations of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Earthmoving equipment was brought in to build a levee of sorts to persuade the river back onto its normal course, but the river and the ocean tide are combining to make that a hard sell.
The river goes where it can, and has had its way with Santa Cruz many times. This year the river took an unexpected turn on its way across the last two hundred yards or so of beach to its meeting with Monterey Bay. Instead of barrelling directly through the sandbar that normally blocks its mouth in the summer, it swerved hard right, threatening the foundations of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Earthmoving equipment was brought in to build a levee of sorts to persuade the river back onto its normal course, but the river and the ocean tide are combining to make that a hard sell.
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| The San Lorenzo River passes under a railroad trestle on its way to the shore of Monterey Bay, March 20, 2012 |
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| A temporary levee attempts to contain the San Lorenzo River, March 20, 2012 |
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| Ocean waves lap the black bulkhead of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, March 20, 1012 |
March 16, 2012
March 15, 2012
It's Not Not Raining Today in Santa Cruz, CA
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| Plant life from last week, prior to the current rain delay |
March 07, 2012
Near Pescadero, CA
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| Pescadero Creek empties into the Pacific Ocean, March 4, 2012 |
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| An area of bog extends to the north of Pescadero Creek, March 4, 2012 |
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| Two hovels hug the shore near Pescadero Creek, March 4, 2012 |
February 19, 2012
Just off Main, Watsonville, CA, Feb. 19, 2012
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| February in Watsonville |
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| Tule in February in Watsonville, off Main Street |
February 06, 2012
Public Service Announcement
Due to unforseen circumstances I was unable to watch the Super Bowl telecast this weekend, your honor. I assure you I made sincere plans to watch (in the company of others who might have served as witnesses should any question arise as to whether or not I'd conscientiously performed my necessary part in the thing again this year). Jury duty, yes your honor, that would be the other one.
Things came up. That's all I can say. No, not an excuse, your honor, no, I agree with you there: not an excuse at all. I did something else, plain and simple. Yes, your honor, I will as the court directs let people know I didn't see the game and bear the full benefit of their post-game insight into what exactly it was that transpired as one who is in no position to contradict anything they might venture to say on the matter for the rest of my natural days.
Things came up. That's all I can say. No, not an excuse, your honor, no, I agree with you there: not an excuse at all. I did something else, plain and simple. Yes, your honor, I will as the court directs let people know I didn't see the game and bear the full benefit of their post-game insight into what exactly it was that transpired as one who is in no position to contradict anything they might venture to say on the matter for the rest of my natural days.
January 10, 2012
Occupy Mitt Romney
The signal advantage of a Mitt Romney candidacy is that he is so archetypically the 1% Occupiers have wanted everyone to talk about all along. Let's turn our attention to what Mitt Romney and the 1% mean for ten months, please.
January 08, 2012
A Sand By Any Other Name Would Still Stick Swell
My mother, as a recent Albertan Chemistry graduate in the 1950s, published research on petroleum extraction from what back then was unhesitatingly referred to as the Tar Sands. If you’ve seen that shit, what is technically and politely referred to as Bitumen, you’ll understand the usage. Hint: Don’t step in it if you value your footwear.
Since then, in an effort to turn black sticky sand into clean refreshing profits, there’s been a furious re-branding in favor of “oil” not “tar”, ignoring what it looks like when it’s in the ground. In practice, this means that when anyone uses the term “oil sands” you can safely assume they’re in the pay of the pipeline promoters.
— Tim Bray, ongoing.
January 01, 2012
2012, Yours To Assemble. Have a Happy!
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| The Occupy Santa Cruz encampment on the San Lorenzo River benchlands below the County Government Center, Santa Cruz, Ca, December 7, 2011. |
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| The Occupy Santa Cruz encampment, on the San Lorenzo River benchlands below the County Government Center, Santa Cruz, Ca., December 7, 2011. |
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| Other people peaceably assembled, San Francisco, Ca., October 2, 2011. |
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