The music of the future will be either 1970s rock or 1930s/1940s Tin Pan Alley.
The Soviet Union will last for centuries.
No major buildings will be constructed or demolished in Manhattan over the next thousand years.
There will be human cities on Mars by 1970.
Tobacco will never cause health problems -- at least, for humans.
Computers will always use vacuum tubes.
The first Black US President will not originally be elected to that office. He (or she) will have been in the line of succession.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Friday July 26, 2013 The organizer of the local ADHD Meetup group has decided he's not organized enough to handle it alone. He's asking for help.
There was an earlier ADD/ADHD Twin Cities Meetup group. The organizer decided....
Saturday July 27, 2013 When I turn on an all-news radio station, I want news. Not car repair advice.
***To Southeast Library. Returned books, including one I was certain I'd lost. Requested a couple of forthcoming sf anthologies.
In the New York Times, Gail Collins quotes Mick Jagger saying he won't tour when he's 50. Today is Jagger's 70th birthday. The man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" is also 70.
It feels odd to read a newspaper on paper these days.
***When I got home, the yard sale across the street had ended. Everything left over was free.
I got an office chair, and a bit more.
There was an earlier ADD/ADHD Twin Cities Meetup group. The organizer decided....
Saturday July 27, 2013 When I turn on an all-news radio station, I want news. Not car repair advice.
***To Southeast Library. Returned books, including one I was certain I'd lost. Requested a couple of forthcoming sf anthologies.
In the New York Times, Gail Collins quotes Mick Jagger saying he won't tour when he's 50. Today is Jagger's 70th birthday. The man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" is also 70.
It feels odd to read a newspaper on paper these days.
***When I got home, the yard sale across the street had ended. Everything left over was free.
I got an office chair, and a bit more.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Tuesday July 23, 2013 The heroine has a job in the family business. She happens to be competent; but she has a job because she's a member of the family.
Her ancestor built the business with extensive government help. No nonsense about free enterprise or small government in his methods.
As part of the happy ending, she wears handcuffs in honor of the man who has claimed her.
The book? Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. Regarded by some as an individualist, minarchist classic.
***Met with my ACA sponsor at Sporty's Bar. Very good session. Got me started on working through a problem.
Her ancestor built the business with extensive government help. No nonsense about free enterprise or small government in his methods.
As part of the happy ending, she wears handcuffs in honor of the man who has claimed her.
The book? Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. Regarded by some as an individualist, minarchist classic.
***Met with my ACA sponsor at Sporty's Bar. Very good session. Got me started on working through a problem.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Monday July 22, 2013 From Twitter:
(Apologies in advance to blind persons whose screen readers don't handle Dutch text)
Maarten van der Meer @Vernoeming
Kate is bevallen van een zoon! Gaat hij James heten, of toch Psy, Rodney, Donald of Elvis?
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. It's in this clay jar. Please keep it in a cool, dark place and away from cats.
***John_Gillnitz
When you wear a wrestling mask with the Confederate flag and call yourself The Southern Avenger, maybe you shouldn't be on the staff of someone running for President.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/07/22/controversial_aide_resigns_from_pauls_office.html#disqus_thread
(Apologies in advance to blind persons whose screen readers don't handle Dutch text)
Maarten van der Meer @Vernoeming
Kate is bevallen van een zoon! Gaat hij James heten, of toch Psy, Rodney, Donald of Elvis?
Night Vale podcast @NightValeRadio
I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. It's in this clay jar. Please keep it in a cool, dark place and away from cats.
***John_Gillnitz
When you wear a wrestling mask with the Confederate flag and call yourself The Southern Avenger, maybe you shouldn't be on the staff of someone running for President.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/07/22/controversial_aide_resigns_from_pauls_office.html#disqus_thread
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Saturday July 20, 2013
"Josephson asserts that the claim to Shinto's secular status was based on over a hundred years of discourse on science introduced slowly but convincingly from the Western nations, which later came to be reconstructed and reinterpreted by a Japanese intellectual movement with strong nativist and proto-nationalist proclivities. To make his long argument short, this intellectual movement repeatedly made the assertion that the empirically verifiable, publicly reproducible results of Western science, which were originally inspired by and equally identifiable through Japanese classical sources, depended on the power of Japanese _kami_, that is, Shinto. However, at this time in the early eighteenth century, the modern Christian-determined concept of religion had yet to reach Japan. Moreover, secularized Western scientific discoveries and procedures, intentionally stripped of Christian influence by government decree, were becoming well known in educated circles in early modern Japan."
Citation: Wilburn Hansen. Review of Josephson, Jason AÌ„nanda [?], _The Invention of Religion in Japan_. H-Shukyo, H-Net Reviews. July, 2013.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=38984
"Josephson asserts that the claim to Shinto's secular status was based on over a hundred years of discourse on science introduced slowly but convincingly from the Western nations, which later came to be reconstructed and reinterpreted by a Japanese intellectual movement with strong nativist and proto-nationalist proclivities. To make his long argument short, this intellectual movement repeatedly made the assertion that the empirically verifiable, publicly reproducible results of Western science, which were originally inspired by and equally identifiable through Japanese classical sources, depended on the power of Japanese _kami_, that is, Shinto. However, at this time in the early eighteenth century, the modern Christian-determined concept of religion had yet to reach Japan. Moreover, secularized Western scientific discoveries and procedures, intentionally stripped of Christian influence by government decree, were becoming well known in educated circles in early modern Japan."
Citation: Wilburn Hansen. Review of Josephson, Jason AÌ„nanda [?], _The Invention of Religion in Japan_. H-Shukyo, H-Net Reviews. July, 2013.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=38984
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Friday July 19, 2013 Reread: Melissa Scott, Conceiving the Heavens: creating the science fiction novel. Heinemann (Reed Elsevier), 1997.
There are reminders of how much the world can change in less than twenty years. One example given of future possibilities is electronic currency. Today, BitCoin is old news. (And generated in a way Scott didn't predict. I don't think anyone else predicted it, either.)
Then there are references to such things as library card catalogs.
This time through, I noticed an unintended story idea in the glossary: "A relatively new wrinkle is the collaboration between two writers, one living and one dead." Suppose the dead writer is still active, or again active....
Highly recommended.
***From Google Plus:
Robbie Taylor
Shared publicly
#Lovecraft
You have to make a SAN check before driving through...
Andrea Bonazzi originally shared:
H.P. Lovecraft Square.
Providence council names intersection after HP Lovecraft
http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20130717-
There are reminders of how much the world can change in less than twenty years. One example given of future possibilities is electronic currency. Today, BitCoin is old news. (And generated in a way Scott didn't predict. I don't think anyone else predicted it, either.)
Then there are references to such things as library card catalogs.
This time through, I noticed an unintended story idea in the glossary: "A relatively new wrinkle is the collaboration between two writers, one living and one dead." Suppose the dead writer is still active, or again active....
Highly recommended.
***From Google Plus:
Robbie Taylor
Shared publicly
#Lovecraft
You have to make a SAN check before driving through...
Andrea Bonazzi originally shared:
H.P. Lovecraft Square.
Providence council names intersection after HP Lovecraft
http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20130717-
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Thursday July 18, 2013 Seen in Minneapolis Central Library: Ransom Stephens, The God Patent.
"When electrical engineers Ryan McNear and Foster Reed co-authored two patents for company cash incentives, they thought it was all just a joke. One described the soul as a software algorithm and the other described the Big Bang as a power generator. But when the company crashes, McNear finds himself divorced, desperately hard-up, and estranged from his son. As he rebuilds his life, McNear discovers Reed has used their nonsensical patents to draw in top-tier energy investors. A patent war erupts, and McNear is suddenly immersed in something much bigger than a personal argument with his old friend: a battle between hard science and evangelical religion. To fix the mistakes of his past, he will have to risk everything - his reputation, his livelihood, and even his sanity - to be with the son he loves. Set in the age-old culture war between science and religion, The God Patent is a modern story that deftly blends scientific theory with one man's struggle to discover his soul."
***ACA meeting. [Adult Children (of Alcoholic and Otherwise Disfunctional Families) Anonymous]
Picked up a card for a member of a new-to-me profession: Consulting Philosopher.
"When electrical engineers Ryan McNear and Foster Reed co-authored two patents for company cash incentives, they thought it was all just a joke. One described the soul as a software algorithm and the other described the Big Bang as a power generator. But when the company crashes, McNear finds himself divorced, desperately hard-up, and estranged from his son. As he rebuilds his life, McNear discovers Reed has used their nonsensical patents to draw in top-tier energy investors. A patent war erupts, and McNear is suddenly immersed in something much bigger than a personal argument with his old friend: a battle between hard science and evangelical religion. To fix the mistakes of his past, he will have to risk everything - his reputation, his livelihood, and even his sanity - to be with the son he loves. Set in the age-old culture war between science and religion, The God Patent is a modern story that deftly blends scientific theory with one man's struggle to discover his soul."
***ACA meeting. [Adult Children (of Alcoholic and Otherwise Disfunctional Families) Anonymous]
Picked up a card for a member of a new-to-me profession: Consulting Philosopher.
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