Category: Musings

Sweet Dreams Are Made of Thirty-Five Years

It’s a Sunday afternoon. I’m depressing myself streaming tragic dramas while consuming dark chocolate and Chianti. Midway through my third creepy twisted love triangle, I found myself distracted and unfocused, missing entire scenes of the movie. I remembered something I promised my husband I would write about this month. And since he’s off visiting our daughter in the serene Pacific Northwest, I’m left with Rottweilers, wine, chocolate and an empty post page on my mostly neglected blog. I paused my mediocre excuse for a movie and grabbed my phone to research what was happening in September 1983 – the month I met the man I married.

I met my future husband at a bar called Backstage on the northeast side of Wichita, out near where the Cessna complex used to be. The song I remember the most from that evening was actually “Turn Me Loose” by Loverboy. But the song that dominated the summer charts was the Police’s “Every Breathe You Take” which finally fell to “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” by the Eurythmics at the end of August.

Ghandi won best picture that year, but I remember have fond memories of The Right Stuff and the fact that Sally Ride became the first female astronaut as a member of the Challenge crew that summer. And The FCC authorizes Motorola to begin testing cellular phone service in Chicago. Good thing I had an amateur radio license!

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Postcards from the Edge of Islandia

The second third of Islandia suffered middle book syndrome even though it’s not actually a middle book.  Yet it is the middle of this book.  The first third had elements of a travelogue, a natural history explorer, a diplomat and unrequited love.  The second half included the climax of the diplomatic crisis but replaced unrequited love with a rebound romance and the consequences of isolationism.  The protagonist’s predicament becomes more interesting and intriguing as he begins the return journey back from the brink of near total Islandiaic immersion or immolation.

 

 

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Dorna, I had a marvelous visit with Natanna and the Hyths on my way back to The City. Yet I pine for the beauty of Dorn Island.  You have encouraged me to avail myself of all my opportunities.  Warmest regards, John (Ch. 16, The Hyths and The City)

 

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Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep or History Podcasts I Nod Off To

Several weeks ago I decided to stop falling asleep to whatever audiobook I was currently listening to because I spent too much time the following morning figuring out where I drifted off to dreamland.  In other words, what’s the last thing I remembered coherently before losing consciousness?  So I switched to podcasts of a different nature that didn’t require as much of my brain engaged to follow along.

Screenshot_20180605-140351For example, I use Podcast Addict exclusively now for my podcast listening.  I set the sleep timer to thirty minutes and then I review my playlist.  I rearrange it, usually putting the shorter episodes at the top.  Sometimes I just select on of Dr. Corey Olsen‘s Mythgard Academy Tolkien podcasts because they are always nearly two hours long and I can hop in and out of those without too much loss.

One podcast that I really like to fall asleep to, and re-listen to if I nod off too quickly, has been The History of Rome by Mike Duncan. Duncan started the podcast in 2007 so some of the first episode show their age (auditorially  speaking).  This week, I reached episodes 20 (a & b) related to the First Punic War.  The oddest thing I heard last night was the Romans building walls around a city they were besieging because another army had arrived upon the field and now threatened and surrounded them.  The Romans besieged while besieging. This is not going to end well (and unsurprisingly it did not).

Aside from the Stuff You Missed In History Class podcast, I hadn’t been listening to any other history podcasts.  But I enjoyed both of these quite a bit, which got me looking for more history related listening.  This week, I’m testing out three new podcasts, one of them the current endeavor of Mike Duncan, called Revolutions.

I found a short fifteen minute history podcast produced by the University of Texas at Austin.  I’m on the third episode but not sure I’ll continue.  I’ll give it a couple more before unsubscribing.

I have high hopes for Ben Franklin’s World, I just hope they are not all interviews.  The first three episodes are inaugural introductory interviews.

All of these history podcasts have hundreds of episodes under their collective belts so I have a dearth of listening available and won’t need to resort to counting sheep or backwards from one hundred to transition to dream land successfully.

 

Zo ExZited

Third Zucchini Closeup
Click on any photo to see entire album.

Last night, after walking and feeding the dogs, I let them out into the back yard as the sun was setting. Since the wind had died completely and the light was that perfect golden twilight time, I took a few photos of our summer container garden.  It has been a few days since I’d checked the interior of the zucchini plant (pictured above) and I quickly noticed the large yellowish-green bloom.

This morning, as I was watering the plants, it was hard to miss this bright beautiful yellow zucchini blossom among the green leaves of the rest of the plant:

Zucchini Bloom

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My Mini-Quest for a Retro Hugo Holy Grail

Earlier this month, I began the process of finding all the Retro Hugo Finalists short fiction selections in various anthologies through my wonderful local libraries and the miracle of the modern world commonly known as inter-library loan (ILL for short).  I requested the majority of the anthologies through my local home library in Lansing but the one I thought would have the least chance of fulfillment I requested through my other favorite library, the Kansas City Public Library.  Two of the short stories finalists for the 1943 Retro Hugo were only available in an anthology which was last printed in 1980.  I searched various websites that sell used books but as I suspected, any copies of Asimov’s The Great SF Stories 4: 1942 were hard to find and priced accordingly.  I should not have been surprised when I received an email from KCPL letting me know my ILL was ready for pickup at the Plaza Branch.  I took a quick break yesterday afternoon to retrieve it as well as another anthology that contains one of the best novel finalists for the 1943 Retro Hugo.

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Reading the Best Novelette Finalists (2018 & 1943)

I predict it will take me longer to get through the Best Novelette category than any of the other short fiction categories.  Most modern novellas and some of the short stories are available in audio format.  Thanks to Heinlein’s continued popularity, most of his fiction is still in print and some of it, including “Goldfish Bowl,” has been re-released in an anthology that is also available as an audiobook.  The same can be said for Asimov’s Foundation fiction, which I own in ebook format but have requested the audio CD from my local library.

Another of my interlibrary loan requests arrived last week so I have everything I need to finish reading the finalists for Best Novelette.  I’m especially looking forward to reading the lone female author from 1942, C.L. Moore and do plan on reading the entire anthology žMiracle in Three Dimensions, which contains the nominated “There Shall Be Darkness” novelette (see original cover from Astounding Science Fiction below).

  • Update 4/17/2018:  Finished reading ‘Extracurricular Activities’ over breakfast this morning.
  • Update 4/27/2018:  This week I finished “The Secret Life of Bots” and “The Weapon Shop” and I’m reading “Star-Mouse” sporadically.
  • Update 4/28/2018:  Finished “Star-Mouse” which leaves one modern and one retro novelette to read.
  • Update 5/6/2018: Finished “There Shall Be Darkness” and on of the two Asimov Foundation novelettes.
  • Update 5/25/2018:  Finished the last 2018 novelette last week.

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Reading the Best Novella Finalists (2018 & 1943)

I desperately desire to reread All Systems Red, but I’m saving it for last.  And I don’t just want to re-read it, I want to experience it differently. I also plan to do the same thing with Binti: Home, which is available via Hoopla.  None of my local libraries have purchased the audiobook edition of All Systems Red, so I found it available at a very reasonable cost through the Downpour site.  I like their philosophy (see quote below), so I immediately signed up, not with a monthly membership, but just an account that will allow me to purchase DRM-free audiobooks.

We love books, and we believe that you should be able to enjoy your favorite book whenever, wherever, or whatever you are doing. Audiobooks allow that freedom.

— Downpour

Only two of the finalists for the 2018 Best Novella category are not available in audio format – And Then There Were (N-One) and The Black Tides of Haven – so I’ll be reading those via my tablet.  The other four I will listen to via Hoopla or Overdrive.

For the 1943 Retro Hugo finalists, I’ve now obtained all the necessary print edition anthologies and will work my way through them as carefully as I can (some of these books are quite old, held together with what looks like a book friendly duct tape but the bindings are nearly shot).  As of the writing of this post, I’ve already returned one of the two interlibrary loans I requested.

  • Update 4/19/2018:  Finished Lester del Rey’s “Nerves” no thanks to a torn/missing/damaged page (p. 90 to be specific) in the anthology Adventures in Time and Space, published in 1946 and being held together with library binding tap.
  • Update 4/27/2018:  Listened to All Systems Red and started reading The Black Tides of Heaven.  Also read The Compleat Werewolf which was much better than I anticipated.
  • Update 5/6/2018:  Read “Asylm” the week of 4/30/2018 which just leaves the two Heinlein novellas to read for the Retros.  I’m still slowly and sporadically reading “The Black Tides of Heaven.”
  • Update 5/11/2018: Finished reading “Black Tides of Heaven” this morning.  Last one is the 2018 finalists is “Down Among the Sticks and Bones” which I will listen to while travelling next week.
  • Update 5/25/2018:  Finished reading Down Among the Sticks and Bones earlier this week.   Also finished both Heinlein novellas – Waldo is forgettable but he made up for it with The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag.

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Reading the Hugo Best Short Story Finalists (2018 & 1943)

While I’m waiting on my interlibrary loan requests to be fulfilled for the 1943 Retro Hugo short fiction finalists, I’ve begun reading the current Hugo short fiction finalists, starting with the short stories.  These are easily completed during my lunch break or during half of my daily commute, if an audio edition is available.  As of Sunday morning, April 9th, I’ve only got one short story left to read.  I didn’t want to wait to post though so you’ll need to come back to this post to see how I rated it and what my preliminary voting order will be for my final ballot later this summer.  When I update this post, and the others like it that are forthcoming, I will make a brief update post linking back to the updated original post.

  • Update 4/9/2018: Read two of the 1943 Retro Hugo finalists and added comments below.
  • Update 4/14/2018:  Added links to my GoodReads mini-reviews.
  • Update 4/19/2018: Read the last of the 2018 Hugo Finalists (see list below)
  • Update 4/28/2018:  The final ILL arrived and I was able to read Clement’s “Proof,” which was surprisingly good (for early hard SF) and reminded me of one of my essay‘s from last semester’s Intro to Astronomy class.  DAW’s “Mimic” was to entomological for my tastes.  That leaves just one 1942 short story left to read.
  • Update 5/3/2018:  Finished off the short story finalists today by listening to Asimov’s “Runaround” through the audiobook edition of I, Robot.

Note on formatting of this post and those that will follow:  You’ll see a nested list with the first level being the title/author/publication/date published of the finalist entry.  The second level will be my comments, reviews and ratings.  The third level will be my preliminary ranked vote.  Here’s an explanation of the Hugo Voting System:

Many people find the Hugo voting system (called “Instant Runoff Voting“) very complicated. While the process is indeed involved, the basic idea is simple and the intention is laudable. Basically the idea is to make sure that the winner has majority support. In ordinary governmental elections it is possible for the winner to be someone that 40% of the people like and 60% of the people hate, because that 60% could not agree among themselves on a candidate. The Hugo voting system is designed to avoid results like that.

— The Voting System, The Hugo Awards

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Annual Hugo Reading Bonanza Times Two

Last Saturday, the finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards were announced, along with the companion Retro Hugo Award finalists. So I get double the fun again this year, like I had two years ago. I already have read, borrowed or will son buy or borrow the finalists for the current awards. Finding the reading material for the Retro Hugos can often be challenging. To that end, I’ve requested five anthologies via interlibrary loans and have already placed on hold and borrowed two anthologies and two novels containing works originally published in 1942. My thanks to Auxiliary Memory‘s fantastic research in his post just one day after the announcement “Where to Read the 1943 Retro Hugo Short Fiction Nominees?”

The biggest shock came when I retrieved my holds from the Kansas City Public Library Plaza Branch earlier this week. Two of the 1942 novels had arrived and I wished I brought a tote or backpack to help carry them. I really don’t mind reading tomes – epic fantasy is my bread and butter – but I’ve switched to ebooks which are infinitely less heavy physically speaking. When I went to the Holds shelf I groaned to see that Islandia by Wright was at least two inches thick and over a thousand pages long. Good thing I decided to start early on my Hugo finalist reading! Continue reading “Annual Hugo Reading Bonanza Times Two”