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Monday, July 01, 2002 |
Judith Merril
In my early teens, I read Judith Merril's reviews in F&SF and also read her anthologies, England Swings SF, and the Best SF of the Year. I don't recall reading any of her novels, but have read some of her stories. This is an autobiography, assembled posthumously by her granddaughter. Because it was left uncompleted, it's kind of sketchy in some areas. Nevertheless, because she was 'associated' with so many science fiction writers of the 40s and 50s, it's fascinating reading for those to whom the names Cyril Kornbluth, Fritz Leiber, Theodore Sturgeon, Walter Miller, Frederik Pohl mean anything. A good document about sf of the era, along with Damon Knight's and Frederik Pohl's memoirs.
Here is a nice Spider Robinson speech about her, and here is a piece by Robert Sawyer.
10:33:59 PM Permalink
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Out of town
For both my loyal readers, one of whom is in the hospital, I'm going to be on the road for the next few days on a family vacation. Of course I'm taking the laptop along, but I probably won't be updating often.
9:13:55 PM Permalink
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20 Year Study Backs Organic Farming
The world's longest running experiment in comparing organic and conventional farming side-by-side has pronounced chemical-free farming a success.
"We have shown that organic farming is efficient, saves energy, maintains biodiversity and keeps soils healthy for future generations," says Paul Mader of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Frick, Switzerland, which carried out the 21-year study.
Although crop yields on organic plots in the experiment were on average 20 per cent lower than those on conventional plots, the ecological and efficiency gains more than made up for it, Mader says.
9:12:14 PM Permalink
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Masked & Anonymous -- More Actors
This thing is starting to look like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; it's got that many characters. Here's where we stand now:
Ed Harris, Giovann, Ribisi, Jeff Bridges, Penelope Cruz, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Steven Bauer, Bruce Dern, Laura Harring, Val Kilmer, Cheech Marin, Chris Penn, Mickey Rourke, Richad Sarafian, Christian Slater, and Fred Ward.
But it really needs Don Rickles. Unless Bob's gonna have his lines.
8:13:07 PM Permalink
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We are always weaker
Smart analysis by Michael Wolff of Al Quaed and war on whatever coverage in the New York Times and other media.
For another, we've built a major black-is-white logic reversal into the very nature of the threat: Although we've killed countless members of the enemy group, including much of its leadership, disrupted its infrastructure, captured reams of intelligence on its activities, it's suddenly stronger than ever before. Likewise, we ascribe substantial organizational talents to what we also describe as uniquely disorganized. This new group has become, the Times story implies, a threat not least of all because it is less a group than the former group, which itself was notable for its loose-knitness (although, in comparison with the new group, the former group was apparently a model of central governance). By the logic we are applying to Al Qaeda and its offspring, we can never prevail. Whatever we do to thwart the enemy just makes it stronger. We are always, because of our size and power and resources, necessarily weaker. (Al Qaeda has something similar, perhaps, to the ghostly powers the Vietnam-era guerrillas were credited with having over conventional military forces.)
5:42:55 PM Permalink
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Get better Mike
I just heard that my pal Mike is in Alta Bates hospital again, for at least a few days. He's making altogether too much a habit of this. Alas, I'm leaving town for a few days, so can't visit him. Everyone send some good thoughts to him.
2:33:31 PM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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