Monthly Archives: October 2015

Links and Comments: This Week’s American Politics; … Heinlein

Posted on 30 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

This has been a bizarre week, what with the third debate among Republican presidential candidates, and the reactions from the red-meat base and, on the other side, the intelligentsia who rolled their eyes about all the lies and distortion those … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Heinlein, Lunacy, Politics | Comments Off on Links and Comments: This Week’s American Politics; … Heinlein

Rereading Early Heinlein, part 1

Posted on 26 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I reread three early Heinlein volumes in the past few weeks, and as with my Asimov rereads, these were revisits to stories I first read some 30 or 40 years ago, and mostly have not read since. Both Asimov’s and … Continue reading →

Posted in Heinlein, Provisional Conclusions, science fiction | Comments Off on Rereading Early Heinlein, part 1

Links and Comments from Today’s New York Times: 25 Oct 2015

Posted on 25 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

You can’t escape human nature: Norway Has a New Passion: Ghost Hunting. As traditional religion has faded in many northern European nations, it’s being replaced in Norway by an increased tendency to perceive ghosts at every corner. Ghosts, or at … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Evolution, Narrative, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments from Today’s New York Times: 25 Oct 2015

Philip Glass: Naqoyqatsi: Religion

Posted on 25 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Best, most thrilling track from the 2002 score by Philip Glass of Godfrey Reggio’s film Naqoyqatsi, with cello by Yo-Yo Ma. Keep listening. It really kicks in around 5:00 — the contrast between those rising arpeggios, rhythmically erratic — one … Continue reading →

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Sfadb progress

Posted on 22 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

On an entirely different note from the past couple posts — I am back into production on SFADB.com to add additional Citations and Anthology reprints, as has been planned for years. Most of the citation records from various sources were … Continue reading →

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Contemplating a Lost in Space Rewatch

Posted on 22 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

So I’m contemplated a “Lost in Space” rewatch – at least as much a rewatch as I can bear. The show greatly affected me when I first saw it at age 10 (it debuted in 1965, a year before Star … Continue reading →

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Sundry Links and Comments

Posted on 22 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

» A Publishers Weekly review of a book about expanding human perception: We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time, Kara Platoni, Author This is a superb account of … Continue reading →

Posted in MInd, Provisional Conclusions, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Sundry Links and Comments

Rereading Isaac Asimov, part 4

Posted on 21 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Comments about “Nightfall”, “The Dead Past”, “The Last Question”, “The Bicentennial Man”, and “The Ugly Little Boy”. To finish up commenting on my rereading (or in a few cases, reading for the first time) some 100 short stories, novelettes, and … Continue reading →

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My Father’s Books: and Cambridge, Illinois

Posted on 19 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Over the weekend I spent some time glancing through one of the dozen or so books I kept from my father’s small library. He was an architect, an idealistic and eventually disillusioned architect, who had great ideas but became relegated … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments from Sunday’s New York Times

Posted on 19 October 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Front page article: Indian Writers Return Awards to Protest Government Silence on Violence File this under Conservative [religious] Resistance: …growing activism from conservative Hindu nationalists who seek to suppress forms of expression they view as offensive to their religion. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, MInd, Provisional Conclusions, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments from Sunday’s New York Times