Many Americans are devoted readers of Scripture: More than a third (37%) say they read the Bible or other Holy Scriptures at least once a week, not counting worship services. But Americans as a whole are much less inclined to read other books about religion. Nearly half of Americans who are affiliated with a religion (48%) say they “seldom” or “never” read books (other than Scripture) or visit websites about their own religion, and 70% say they seldom or never read books or visit websites about other religions.
—Pew 2010 U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey
Author: mdhughes
What I'm Reading: All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
Murderbot with no Asimov program just wants to watch TV, but is rudely interrupted by threats to its human clients and awkward social skills.
There's not a lot more to say about this novella, very fast and fun, rather Heinleinian. Murderbot is adorable, a cyborg made from clonemeat with autism-spectrum social problems. The mystery/puzzle of the plot is deducible from evidence given, though the political rules aren't, but they're just there to drive Murderbot's character study.
The science, where present, is inoffensive; some kind of expensive wormhole for FTL, otherwise plausible electronics, software, and cybernetics. Not much of the background is given, and I'd like more in this setting, perhaps a picaresque with a unit like Murderbot going star to star solving problems like the Incredible Hulk TV show.
"So, I’m awkward with actual humans. It’s not paranoia about my hacked governor module, and it’s not them; it’s me. I know I’m a horrifying murderbot, and they know it, and it makes both of us nervous, which makes me even more nervous."
—Martha Wells, "All Systems Red"
★★★★★
Chaotic Wednesday Music
Definition of Chutzpah
Dave Winer complaining someone else might shut off a blogging server without telling the users.
Sexy Friday Music
Wednesday Music Loves '80s Glam
- Duran Duran, by Duran Duran
- Adolescent Sex, by Japan
- Pleasure Victim, by Berlin
- Promise, by Gene Loves Jezebel
- The Hurting, by Tears for Fears
- In the Garden, by Eurythmics
And while you're listening, why not reread Less Than Zero (don't watch the shitty movie, they just took the title and some character names) and American Psycho (do watch the partially-shitty movie, if only for the Huey Lewis scene, which is how I will always remember Jared Leto).
Here in the post-apocalyptic shithole of the 2010s, nothing's lit in neon, I can't get music videos on MTV or cheap, pure cocaine from trustworthy Colombianos, and I blame the Republicans.
Alas Brian Aldiss
It is with sadness that we announce the death of Brian Wilson Aldiss O.B.E. author, artist and poet, at his home in Oxford in the early hours of Saturday 19th August 2017, aged 92.
Some of the most influential books on me were Brian Aldiss':
- Galactic Empires, vol 1
- Galactic Empires, vol 2: The rise and fall of Human civilization in space, as told through an anthology of classic SF with Brian's theory & practice of empire essays.
- Helliconia Trilogy: A lost Human colony coexisting with native horned Phagors through millennia-long seasons, and starfaring Human observers.
- Nonstop, aka Starship: The best of the failed generation colony ship stories.
- Hothouse, aka The Long Afternoon of Earth: The end of Earth, tidally locked to the Sun and overgrown with a billion years of evolution.
A common theme of much of his work is of adaptation, that life evolves and struggles even at the end of the Earth or civilization.
Eclipse
I'm ready to see the Sun go out because we no longer worship and make human sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli, are you?
Back later with my own photos.
Waiting for Rick Godot
Sunday evening. No Rick & Morty yet. So what's on?
- The Bitch in Apartment 23: Krysten Ritter (alias Jessica Jones) is adorable as a mean slutty girl, but the show doesn't work for me. I lack the ability to empathize with perky people, and screaming blondes exist only to be chased by guys/mothers in hockey masks.
- What Happened to Monday: Grim, serious, pretentious stylistic imitation of Children of Men, Demolition Man, and Blade Runner; total nonsense unleavened by humor or science or characters. A "European Federation" facing overpopulation and starvation from climate change puts ID tags in everyone and cryofreezes multiple siblings like Simon Phoenix. People are buying dead rats from street vendors. Reality: The birthrates in Europe are far below replacement rate, and would have zero impact on climate change. China showed that one child policies don't work. Rats don't look like chicken inside, and are an inefficient food source; you cannot feed seven people on one Rattus norvegicus. Also cryofreeze doesn't work except on dead bodies, and you can't possibly get people to put their six-year-old child in a death freezer as shown. Rick & Morty is hard science & social theory compared to this.
- Witnesses: French crime drama? Seems dry and dull, gloomy cinematography (they found a part of France as grim as Seattle or Scandanavia?), but opening with a weird graverobbing crime is interesting. I kind of like the characters, which is better than most shows. Despite my toddler-level French, I distrust the subtitles because they translate "le flic" (rather rude) more politely as "the force" instead of "cops" or "pigs", and a few other tone shifts. Gonna keep watching this.