Bad Haircut

I took my middle daughter to get her hair cut, done, trimmed... whatever women do to their hair when they have something done to their hair. We went to a local chain clip joint that I was directed to take her. I had a two dollar off coupon and my daughter walked out almost balling. She wanted something done to her hair to style it and even brought a picture but got much less than she wanted. Unfortunately she did not say anything until we were pulling away. Not that I would had the girl redo it (after all she didn't do it right the first time) but at least I would have skimped on the tip.

I am one of those people who do not complain when they get poor service. I have done that in the past and found that trying to get satisfaction for a bad deal is not very satisfying. Most people who don't care, still don't care after you have vented. My way of dealing with poor service is to abandon that establishment and let everyone I know hear my story in an attempt to halt their use of their services. I know that they will never get another dime of my hard earned cash and deserved or not, I try to help other to start that same practice.

So, I asked my daughter where she wanted to go for the personal attention she paid for? There is a local academy where the stylists are up on the latest trends and she anxiously agreed to go there. She had a successful styling there in the past and I do not know why she has not kept going there. If you find something you like, stick with it. Who knows? Anyway, maybe we have learned that a haircut chain is no the place to go if you want anything more than a wash and trim. After all, you pay what you get for....

Icool

Cobb

Poor Excuse For A Critic

I have re-read my last post and boy am I a poor critic. It is so hard to write something positive that doesn't sound like you are a dimwit. Amazingly I do love science fiction over any other literary format. I enjoy historical fiction but I like alternative historical fiction even better. There are several authors that do a great job of playing the "what if" card. Harry Turtledove has a great two book series (Days of Infamy) of what would have happened if Japan had launched an invasion of Hawaii at the same time they attacked Pearl Harbor. I must say by the end of the books, I had developed a severe dislike for the Japanese. That is not to say that there is not already some prejudice towards their culture due to my years of employment in the automobile industry.

I just finished a book called Ilium by Dan Simmons. It is staged in the distant future of Earth. We have let our technology run wild by creating computer intelligences that become gods and allowing genetic engineering to repopulate extinct species that run rampant. Disease and manipulation has reduced the human population of less than one million. They are ignorant of their past and dependant on a technology they neither understand or can control. Their life span is limited to 100 years and they are allowed to have only one child. At the same time, the Greek gods are re staging the Trojan War and using 20th century scholars to compare the reenactment with Homer's account. The activity of the gods has caught the attention of a race of robots inhabiting the moons of Saturn that send a team to investigate Mars, where the gods have terraformed the planet and built their Olympus.

Needless to say, the Trojan war goes off the rails and the humans, robots, the Greeks and the Trojans go to war with the Zeus and company by storming Olympus. You have Hector of the Trojans and Achilles of the Greeks forging a partnership to defeat the very gods they worship.

The book was a little confusing at first. The three completely different parties shared no relationship to each other. But Dan Simmons managed to sew the three plots into a very interesting taste of what is to come. The story finishes up in the follow up called Olympus. It will have to wait however. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have come out with a sequel to their novel Inferno. Escape From Hell was recently published and it has moved up to the top of my reading priority list. I will let you know if Dan Simmons pulls off a great ending to an interesting beginning at a later date. In the mean time, bone up on you Dante.

Icool

Cobb

The Prefect

Envision a universe where mankind has managed to survive our own worst enemy; ourselves. Against the opinion of all of the tree hugging doomsayers currently inhabiting our time and space, we have reached the stars and are doing well. Further envision an uninhabited world with 10000 inhabited biospheres, no two alike but all participating in total democracy. Everyone is plugged into a computer network and all can vote on all of the issues that come before their civilization. What keeps them honest is the fear of a nearly toothless police force that if limited to carrying only defensive weapons.

Nanotech, genetic engineering, computer downloaded humans, genetically altered humans and a plot to disrupt the democracy and declare dictatorship create the back drop to a great novel by Alastair Reynolds. The police force is run by a woman who was abducted by an artificial intelligence and implanted with a device on her neck that will explode if she sleeps or comes within 10 feet of anything larger than a bowling ball.

The story starts with the destruction of one of the habitats that kills 900 people. The police are sent into investigate and find that a stellar craft has used its star drive to rip open the biosphere. Thus starts the march to a series of crimes being carried out by a child that was downloaded as a computer program. She has disappeared into the system and has only one goal, self preservation. Reynolds uses an advanced technology and a rich plot to develop the story and the outcome is always in question. It was a great read.

He however takes the ambiguous way out at the end. Hopefully it leaves the door open for a sequel that will provide a solid conclusion instead wanting more. In the mean time, science fiction is alive and well.

Icool

Cobb

Change of Direction

I have become increasingly disgruntled with the direction of my meanderings. I find that I am just getting angry and lashing out which accomplishes nothing other than make me feel temporarily better. So, I have decided to go back to the original reason I started this blog; things that interest me. To wit, I have been reading some great science fiction lately so here goes.

I have to start a few years ago, well more like 20. In the early 1980's, science fiction was at its apex. The masters were still alive and publishing but as the 80's came to an end, so did the era of science fiction. First, in 1986 Frank Herbert died after surgery for pancreatic cancer. He was followed in 1988 by Robert Heinlein who went in his sleep from emphysema and heart failure. The last was Issac Asimov in 1992. He died of complications from AIDS which he received from a blood transfusion from open heart surgery. I know that there are other great science fiction writers but these were the ones I grew up with and followed.

Herbert was best know for his Dune series. I enjoyed Dune but thought his Destination Void and the Jorj X. McKie spy/saboteur series were more thought provoking. I have read and reread most of his novels. His novels are not really action packed but the narrative provides a background for exploring aspects of government, religion, the legal system and social dynamics that are not the common areas of focus.

Heinlein is best known for his Stranger in a Strange Land novel. I must say, I have read it more than I can count. Heinlein started writing science fiction focused toward teenagers. They were adventure stories. His Lazarus Long series is about a long lived family and their exploits from living so many years. He came into his own with the advent of free love and the 60's radical movement. He was one of the first popular science fiction authors to interject sex into his work. For a teenager, it peaked my interest.

Asimov is known for his Foundation series. What starts out as a visit to the galactic capital by historian Hari Seldon ends up as a struggle for the future of the human race. We find that there are mind adjusting humans, mind reading robots and mind bending mutants all bent on having their vision of the future be the one that creates the future for mankind. Asimov uses mysteries as his vehicle which makes for fun reading.

When these three died, it ended my first science fiction voyage. I read a few other authors but science fiction had grown stale and was little more than a vehicle for telling us that we were destroying the planet and needed to change our ways quickly. Not much science fiction there. But I have been reading the new authors lately and finding that they are once again focused on our future. They are exploring our current technological avenues and creating some great stories. More soon.

Icool

Cobb

A Long Cold Winter

The beginning of March is mirroring the frigid cold that has the poster child for 2009. The subzero January and February along with all of the snow has made 2009 the most "winterfull" year I can remember since 1978. You know, the Blizzard! I think that the cold weather is going to be more of a symbol for the future than anyone can really imagine.

The Obama administration is already trying to create the rosy picture of the future with 2009 being bad but the following years being explosive growth and prosperity. Unfortunately those who can make that a reality are not feeling the same vibe. With all of the taxes and disincentives being so thoughtfully proposed by the Democrat powered leadership, it will be a cold day in America before anyone will want to have what they have fought for stolen by a greedy government. Why risk anything when the reward is more work and no benefit.

All of the talk of change and creating a new Washington has done nothing but take the wind out of what was left of the economy. Look at the stock market for a hint of what is to come. They predict the future and according to the DOW, it is bleak at best and desolate if we are lucky. Those who thought they were on their way to retirement are no longer staring that chance in the eyes. They are lucky if there will be a job to retire from. Well at least we can pray for snow and maybe have a snowball fight. Maybe that will get out some aggression. We are in for a long cold winter. Put on your parka and bundle up.

Icool

Cobb