Journal Entry #15
April 19, 2008
Finished James Bamford's The Puzzle Palace. Recommended for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes story of the NSA.
Attended Willycon, at Wayne State College in Nebraska. Other guests included Paul Lawrence, whose long history in Hollywood includes working on Commander-in-Chief with Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland, and for six years he served, often as assistant director, for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Paul brought several of his own short films with him. A couple of them knocked my socks off.
Artist GoH was John E. Kaufmann, who does magnificent starscapes. John and I shared a panel in which we tried to create an interstellar vacation spot to audience specs. We came up with a villa on an airless moon orbiting a pair of gas giants that were orbiting each other. Both giants have rings and moons. We looked at other possibilities as well, including a house on the coast of a lifeless world. (We seemed to have a thing for worlds on which we'd have no company.) But there's a galaxy in the sky.
The fan guests were Trudy Myers and John Shoberg, both of whom were active throughout and participated in the writing workshop.
Jacksonville University is running a series of seminars to help local teachers put together curricula in various subjects. I was invited to participate in one that uses SF to inspire an interest in reading, the sciences, and, obviously, critical thinking. We don't get enough of that. Too much of what our schools do consists of indoctrination, and there's relatively little interest in thinking for oneself. I went to a religious school, and it was, um, frowned on. Anyhow the seminar was intriguing. I'd have been happy to have any of the attendees as a teacher.
After about two weeks, I completed the copy-editing process for The Devil's Eye. Will mail the manuscript back to the editor tomorrow.
My copies of Sideways in Crime arrived. It's an anthology of alternate world detective stories. I read the first two this evening: "Running the Snake," by Kage Baker, in which Will Shakespeare has to make his way through an England where Christianity went awry. And John Meaney's "Via Vortex," with a United States that is wildly different. Both good stories. I have an entry, "The Adventure of the Southsea Trunk," in which Conan Doyle gives up writing Sherlock Holmes very early to do "more serious stuff." And yes, I know I have a Holmes & Watson fixation. The anthology is edited by Lou Anders and should be in bookstores any time.
I survived another birthday this week. Maureen always gives me interesting presents. Among them: copies of Why We're Liberals, by Eric Alterman, and Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku.
Watched the ABC debate the other evening. I wish we could stop talking about Jeremiah Johnson and Hillary trying to get off the plane while under fire. There's a major worldwide population problem. We've tripled in just two centuries, and we're straining resources. It never gets mentioned. Oil is a trifle expensive. The war grinds on. What are the energy plans? Population in the U.S. continues to exacerbate our resources. In my lifetime it's almost tripled.
Also, I'd be interested in hearing what the candidates are reading. And I'd love to hear someone challenge the candidates --all of them-- to take an IQ test. Or possibly whatever passes for the old Federal Service Entrance Exam. And publish the results. And I know that sounds elitist. But do we really want an average person in the Oval Office?
— Jack
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