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Some of my loyal readers no doubt know I collect stuff by science fiction’s Grand Master, Robert A. Heinlein (you could hardly miss the fact if you’ve been to our flat). Indeed, we have a great many books in our place, quite aside from my collection of Heinlein stuff.
Sometimes people ask us how many books we own, and we have no idea really. I thought I’d just count the Heinlein stuff first, since it would only take 15 minutes or so : )
As of June 11, 2009
Hardcover books (fiction) by Heinlein: 171 (including 30 leather-bound editions and 19 foreign language editions)
Paperback books (fiction) by Heinlein: 191
Hardcover collections containing fiction by Heinlein: 33
Paperback collections containing fiction by Heinlein: 41
Pulp magazines containing fiction by Heinlein: 120
Nonfiction books, etc. by/containing Heinlein: ~50
Posted by espd at 5:45 PM |
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Sunday, October 19, 2008
On voting for the lesser of two evils
“There may not be someone you want to vote for but there is certain to be someone you want to vote against.” – Robert A. Heinlein
Don’t get me wrong, I’m voting for Obama–Biden not only because I want to see the Republicans lose the White House and the Congress, but also because I share some of their ideologies.
But I’m not a registered Democrat, never have been, and I’ve almost always been disappointed by the Democratic Party and its members, for my entire adult voting life.
It’s just that I’m always way more disappointed by the Republicans.
The sixth book is reportedly titled And Another Thing... and is scheduled to be published in October 2009 by Hyperion.
The book has been sanctioned by Douglas Adams’ widow Jane Belson: “I am delighted that Eoin Colfer has agreed to continue the Hitchhiker series. I love his books and could not think of a better person to transport Arthur, Zaphod, and Marvin to pastures new. The project has my full support.”
Colfer told the BBC he feels “more pressure to perform now than I ever have with my own books,” adding that he was “determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written.”
Colfer told the BBC his first reaction was “semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series. But on reflection I realized that this is a wonderful opportunity to work with characters I have loved since childhood and give them something of my own voice while holding on to the spirit of Douglas Adams.”
I suspect there will be a lot of negative criticism for the eventual outcome. Fans tend to have strong opinions about the purity of their favorite writers’ oeuvre. For fans of Douglas Adams, perhaps doubly so.
Interestingly, almost this exact same thing happened just a few years ago with my other favorite writer (Adams and Heinlein are the two faves, in case you haven’t been paying attention). A partial manuscript was uncovered from the Heinlein Archives at UC Santa Cruz, and Spider Robinson was asked to complete it. The result, Variable Star, was not exactly a Heinlein book, but still an interesting read and not so disastrous as I’d imagined it could have been. I actually liked it a fair amount.
So I will adopt a cautious skepticism about the sixth Hitchhikers’ book, dust off the Artemis Fowl books I haven’t read yet, and wait for 2009.
Posted by espd at 9:51 PM |
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thursday Top 5
An Epic Conversation with Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi, Part 1 An conversation between Cory Doctorow, (technologist, author, and BoingBoing mainstay) and John Scalzi (sci-fi author and noted purveyor of Whatever). The video editing is a bit annoying. Actually, I like all of it except the incredibly annoying, loud intro music. They also use it between cuts. Laaaame. Oh, if you are interested, part two of the video is here.
“This I Believe” by Robert A. Heinlein This short piece makes my cry every time I read it. The Heinlein Foundation recently found a recording of the original radio broadcast for Edward R. Murrow’s radio show in 1952, and posted an MP3. www.heinleinprize.com/rah/thisibelieve.htm
Caduceus Cellars Tool’s Maynard James Keenan has a winery. www.caduceus.org
Waxing the winker A couple guys go to LA’s (apparently) famous waxing salon Pink Cheeks. Yeah, um, definitely NSFW. And btw, “anal bleaching?” Ew. www.current.com/items/89138614_waxing_the_winker
io9 was doing an article Russian science fiction book cover artwork and must’ve seen the book cover I posted to my Flickr group Heinleinia.
The book in question (pictured here) has always been a bit of a mystery to me. It’s a Russian edition of Stranger in a Strange Land published in 2003, but because most of the text is in Russian, I can’t get much information from the title and copyright pages. I found the book for sale on eBay last year.
One of the commenters on io9’s post noted that the cover of the Heinlein book features a painting by Donato Giancola, which was a nice find. Giancola’s produced some great work in his portfolio. Though I’ve never been able to figure out why this particular piece was chosen for the Heinlein book, as it bears no resemblance to anything in the story.
Robots playing Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" "LEV the thereminbot and his newly-built pal thumpbot play "Crazy" with help from a 20-year-old MT32 synthesizer. OK, Lev's a bit out of tune, but hey, ROBOTS..." www.youtube.com/watch?v=19RJEnNUg1I
"BBS: The Documentary" Anybody remember dialing up to BBSes before the Web? I guess everybody needs a hobby: Some guy spent four years filming a documentary about BBSes. www.bbsdocumentary.com
"Planet Earth" This is a spectacular series from the BBC. I will second my friend Olya's recommendation too: Get the BBC version featuring David Atetnborough as narrator, not the Discovery Channel version featuring Sigourney Weaver. I mean, I like Sigourney and all, but she ain't no Attenborough. It's available in HD btw. www.amazon.com/Planet-Earth-Complete-BBC-DVD/dp/B000MRAAJW
The Green I wish I had cable so I could watch programming like this. In a poll ten years ago, almost 80% of Americans said they'd call themselves environmentalists. Yet most people do very little to make the environment better or raise awareness. Programming like this makes me optimistic. www.sundancechannel.com
Google is sponsoring a new X Prize challenge — the first commercial lunar landing. Most of the $30 million prize will go to the first private company that can land a robotic rover on the moon and beam back a gigabyte of images and video to Earth.
Can you imagine? It's been over 30 years since we went to the moon, and we haven't been back. Think about it. That was last century. At this point, there are two or three generations of children who have no memory of the first lunar landing taking place during their lifetime. Including me, by the way. I was one month old.
I've been researching how various community sites handle their offerings and features for groups, so I decided to make a Flickr group. I'd participated in a couple before, but I'd never made one of my own on Flickr.
It was easy to set up and fairly feature-rich, although I think the discussions feature needs a little work. I did a Flickr search for "Robert Heinlein" and then invited a dozen or so people to join the group and add some of their photos. Within about an hour I had five group members.
Posted by espd at 5:33 PM |
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Red-headed creatures
I've been a fan of Robert A. Heinlein since grade school and I've mentioned here and in other venues how much I've been influenced by his characters, how much I've learned from his books.
I recently found a magazine that published two of his poems, which had never been published before, shortly after his death in 1988.
If only I had read this a few years ago.
"The Witch's Daughters" by Robert A. Heinlein, 1946
Have no truck with the daughters of Lilith. Pay no mind to the red-headed creatures. Man, be warned by their sharp, white teeth; Consider their skulls, and their other queer features.
They're not of our tribe, with their flame-colored hair; They're no sib to us, with their pale, white skins; There's no soul behind those wild green eyes Man, when you meet one — walk widdershins!
When they die, they pop, like burst soap bubble (Eight hundred years is their usual span.) Loving such beings leads only to trouble. By Heaven, be warned, you rash young man!
— —
Oh man, I married one of those "red-headed creatures."
Velma and I leave Sunday morning for seven days in Missouri. We'll spend a bunch of time with her family in and near the capitol Jefferson City, including the 4th of July, and we'll also go to St. Louis to visit friends and the awesome City Museum.
Then I'll head to Kansas City for the Heinlein Centennial on 07/07/07. I've been looking forward to this event celebrating the 100th birth year of one of the most influential authors of the 20th Century, and certainly the most influential on me personally. Yes, I'm a dork.
Our friends Carmen and Teg, Olya, and Laura will be looking after our problem child Orson. May the Force be with them.
has been contracted by Hyperion books to write a sixth book in the evermore inaccurately named 
trilogy.
, was not exactly a Heinlein book, but still an interesting read and not so disastrous as I’d imagined it could have been. I actually liked it a fair amount.
Aaron
Alexis
Anne
Anya
April & Matt
Ari
Bo
Brian
Bryan
Chris
Cousin Carol
Dave & Terri
Dave H.
Debby
Drue
Fibu
Four Waters
Fwegan (aka Ynnej)
Gary
Holly
Hilary
Internet Rockstar
James & Eric
Jason
Jen
Jesse
Jessica
Joey
Kansinee
Karl
Kelly
Laura
Leah
Marc
Martin
Matt
Mike
Morgan
OkayDave
Olya
Paco
Peter
Rick
Rocky
Ryan
Stellah
Tatum 
Trent
Velma
Veronica
Whiskey Media
Yuliya
Yu-Po