CoolWeird

Favorite Science Fiction/Fantasy book list

2010-07-28T22:20:00.001-07:00

Recently I promised to list my favorite science fiction / fantasy books for a friend.
I thought I'd share my list of recommended books just in case anyone's looking for a good read. Of course there are are plenty of lists of "best sf books", this is just my personal list. But there are some obscure gems in here that you won't find on the most-popular lists...

First, somewhat recent science fiction: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson: Stephenson is really prolific and brilliant. Another great one by him is Diamond Age.

Classic Science fiction: Dune by Frank Herbert: from Amazon: "Dune is one of the most famous science fiction novels ever written, and deservedly so. The setting is elaborate and ornate, the plot labyrinthine, the adventures exciting"

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury: incredibly beautiful writing, fantastic surreal descriptions. Also: R is for Rocket.

More unique: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams: I think this is way better than the Hitchiker's guide. Funnier, and better plot - not so loose. There's a second Dirk Gently book too. Too bad we don't have more Adams books...

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut: Wow, just ask your dad. Kind of subversive adventure with lots of humor. Reminds me a bit of Douglas Adams. Also, my personal fave, The Sirens of Titan.

Even More unique: A Confederate General from Big Sur, by Richard Brautigan. This is pretty surreal, and funny too. Some pretty adult and not-politically-correct content tho. Hmmm.

In Watermelon Sugar, by Richard Brautigan. This is really surreal. A world where the sky is a different color every day, and is black and soundless on sundays. My kids like this one. It might be hard to find separately, but can be found in a library I suppose. Brautigan was the poet-in-residence of UC Berkeley.

Fantasy: A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K LeGuin: a really memorable book about a young wizard, considered a classic of the genre. There are several more in this series.

The Fionavar Tapestry, by Guy G Kay, three books: the Summer Tree, the Wandering Fire, and the Darkest Road. Wow, this is really good writing. Exciting, dramatic. Really good guys and really really bad guys. Compared to the Lord of the Rings a lot, it's also a quest. I think I need to re-read it again... And of course, the Lord of the Rings is a must-read...

And finally - something from a different genre - historical fiction ?! Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian: A fictional adventure based on the detailed logs required of Royal Navy captains during the Napoleonic wars. So the backdrops and much of the plot is totally accurate to the period, early 1800s, complete with naval battles. The real thing is much better than what an author can make up. Like going back in a time machine. This is the first of a series but stands well on its own. The movie of this name, with Russel Crowe, was based on book 6 of the series. Was nominated for 10 academy awards and won 2. Those ship captains left a rich trove of content - there are 20 novels, each pretty short and able to stand alone, but as a set they are great. My dad got me hooked on these and I actually read the whole series twice! Takes you all over the world of early 1800.

There you go! I love each of these, hope you do too.

Steve's rocket story 1969/70

2009-08-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a story from Steve Dempsey about the second rocket trip sponsored by Mr. Karge. I think this was early 1970. We almost bought the farm on this one...

Old memories are dangerous, but here's what I recall:

I was only at the final trip (what Charlie calls the "second" trip). I don't think it was intended to be the final launch, but that's how things turned out. I'm pretty sure this was in our senior year (69-70), probably in the late fall, as I don't recall it being very hot. The previous launches had been with relatively small steel tubes, 1 - 1.5 inches diameter, but Dan and Jim wanted to try something larger.

Charlie's right about the general design, but I think it was 4 inch seamless steel tube and was approx. 8 feet long. Powdered zinc and sulfur was the fuel, with a small clump of black powder and an electric igniter at the base. There were three stabilizer fins welded to the bottom of the tube. The payload held a parachute and consisted of a piece of 5 or 6 inch pvc pipe, sawn in half and then taped together. A pendulum switch was supposed to make contact as the rocket tipped over at the top of the flight, detonating a small pipe bomb (gulp!) that would separate the payload housing and release the parachute. There was an external plug to arm this circuit. The whole thing weighed about 250 pounds and took 5 people to lift.

The launch tower was a tripod made of heavy angle iron. One leg extended above the others and served as a launch rail. This thing weighed as much as the rocket.

So, the rocket was fueled, mounted on the launcher, and the payload circuit was armed. I and a few others (Dan Hogan's sister Hilary Hogan was among the group) drove to a point about a mile away. Our job was to track the rocket from a distance and try to get an estimate of the height as well the landing point. We had walkie-talkies to communicate.

The countdown commenced, and at zero there was a small puff of black smoke, then nothing. I was told it wasn't unusual for this to happen and then a few seconds later have the fuel ignite, so we waited. A hour later we decided it was probably safe enough to go back.

The igniter and black powder had to be replaced. So we lifted the rocket off the launcher and tipped it over to examine the bottom. That's when someone noticed that the payload circuit had not been disarmed! So five people stood there holding a 250 pound rocket loaded with fuel and wondering if the pipe bomb in the nose was going to go off. We didn't want to move for fear of triggering it. It seemed like an eternity, but Jim Blair decided to just pull the arming plug. No boom. We lived.

This also told us the payload circuit was faulty, but we decided to try and launch again anyway. The igniter was replaced with new black powder, and we retook our position a mile away. 3...2...1...FIre....

This time there was an instantaneous detonation. All we could see at the launch site was a massive cloud of dark smoke. Then someone spotted the rocket. It was spinning furiously around it's long axis as it arced over, then a shrill whine could be heard as it descended and impacted. A nice parabola, but no parachute.

The folks back at the launch site told us over the walkie-talkies that they were OK. So we headed back there. At this point a huge mushroom cloud of smoke had risen, then spread out to nearly fill the sky above the entire valley that Clark Dry Lake sits in. We wondered what people in Borrego Springs thought of this.

When we got back to the launch site we realized the magnitude of the explosion. The launch tower had been folded into a pretzel shape. There were small pieces of parachute material scattered around.

We found the rocket. It had buried itself nose first, about 3-4 feet deep. No crater, it looked like the rocket had just been injected into the earth. The nozzle was gone, and one of the fins had been severely bent. It took about an hour to dig it out.

The results:
1. We estimated a peak height of about 4000 feet.
2. The bent fin caused the rocket to spin.
3. 8mm movies taken from the launch site showed a flash of fire, a lot of smoke, and then a few small pieces of parachute material floating down. The rocket itself appeared in just the first few frames, but from that it was estimated that it took off with a force of 22Gs.
4. We surmised that the rocket essentially blew out its nozzle at launch and travelled right through the payload. The nozzle was never found to my knowledge.
5. We presumed the fin was bent as it hit the launch tower on its way up, but we never understood how the tower was so heavily damaged.

Steve

Post-fire wildflowers in San Diego

2008-03-12T21:49:00.001-07:00

These photos were taken in early March 2008 follwing the disasterous fires in Oct 2007.

Scotland 07

2008-03-12T21:03:00.001-07:00

Photos from May 2007 trip to Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye, using slideshow widget from www.sproutbuilder.com

Charlie's PicasaWeb Albums

2008-03-12T20:46:00.001-07:00

Another way to use Sproutbuilder to look at pictures. Scroll down to see photos from the San Diego Wild Animal Park in March 08. Click the little Next button to see another set of pictures including a rainbow over the Self Realization Fellowship in Encinitas, CA.

On the road to/from Berkeley

2008-02-01T11:54:00.001-08:00

from animoto.com

waves - pismo beach

2008-01-30T00:48:00.001-08:00

Once this finishes loading, click as fast as you can on the "NEXT" button to make the waves come in. These photos were taken from the Shore Cliffs Lodge, which sits atop cliffs north of Pismo Beach. Note the pelicans at upper right.

Created using the new widget maker at www.sproutbuilder.com!

Leucadia Beach hike in the rain

2008-01-14T23:10:00.000-08:00

Rain's such a rarity here in north San Diego that it becomes an occasion to celebrate! Also, I've hacked the blog template to allow bigger pictures - but had to stretch this to be bigger. Please click the image for a clearer version.

Sunset 10/04/06

2006-10-09T23:14:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm on the way home from work, and this is what I see. Same vantage point as the sunset pix from September, Nancy Ridge drive in the Sorrento Valley area.

Sunset light on San Diego

2006-10-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

Sunset light falls on the San Diego skyline. Taken from outside the Bali Hai restaurant on Harbor Island, on 9/30/06

Another sunset view from 9/28/06

2006-10-09T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sunset on the way home from work - 9/28/07

2006-10-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm carrying a camera in my pocket all the time, I'm catching more sunsets...

Cool Topiary in San Diego

2006-09-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

This hillside of bush-trimming sculpture is located at Union and Vine in San Diego, not far from Old Town. There are hundreds of figures depicted, from a surfer to all kinds of animals. It's called Harper's Topiary Hill.

Backyard Rose

2006-09-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

Train zooms past E-street crossing in Encinitas, CA

2006-08-15T20:27:00.000-07:00


Click the triangle to start the video. Taken from my car while stopped at the E-street railroad crossing in Encinitas, CA on the evening of 7/28/2006.

Perseid Meteor Shower - NOT

2006-08-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Perseid Meteor shower wasn't very active this year, we only saw 3 or 4 meteors. THis is the view from Stu's Hill above Lake Hodges, Escondido CA, on Aug 14, 2006. There weren't many meteors, but with a view like this, who cares?

East San Elijo Reserve, Encinitas, CA Aug06

2006-08-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

Amtrac train roars thru Encinitas CA

2006-08-14T20:00:00.000-07:00


Amtrac train roars thru Encinitas CA. Uploaded from Picasa to Google Video.

Koi in a fish pond in a local shopping center in Encinitas, Aug 06

2006-08-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

2006-08-02T23:30:00.001-07:00

Koi in a fish pond in a local shopping center in Encinitas, Aug 06

2006-08-02T23:30:00.000-07:00

A fish pond in a local shopping center in Encinitas, Aug 06

2006-08-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

Koi with water lilies. A fish pond in a local shopping center in Encinitas, Aug 06

2006-08-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

Koi with water lilies. A fish pond in a local shopping center in Encinitas, Aug 06

Unusual cloud ovew Encinitas

2006-08-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

We've been having this unusual tropical weather... creates that misty effect, accentuating the rays coming out of the cloud

Backlit flower

2006-08-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

Beach Map from Pipes, restaurant in Cardiff, CA

2006-08-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

Signed photos of world-famous surfers line the walls, people like Rob Machado (a local). A sign by the door says "No shirt, no shoes, no problem." And if you look up you'll see this mural, with the local names of all the best surfing spots in the area. Panorama assembled using AutoStitch (www.autostitch.net).

Disneyland, July 2006

2006-08-02T23:07:00.000-07:00

Cinderella's Castle during the day

2006-08-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

2006-08-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

Cinderella's Castle, Disneyland, July 2006

2006-08-02T23:01:00.000-07:00

Entrance to the California Adventure part of Disneyland. Handheld at ISO 3200 with my new Fuji F30, July 2006.

At a local Indian restaurant in Encinitas, CA

2006-08-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

La Especial Norte

2006-08-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

La Especial Norte, in Encinitas, CA. The Fuji F30 is pretty good in low light...

Fun with the new camera

2006-08-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

I just got a Fuji Finepix F30. Really nice...

Night panorama of Encinitas, from end of our street

2006-08-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Balboa Park, June 2006

2006-08-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

The famous botanical garden with reflecting pool

2006-08-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

Bug with water droplets on a water lilly leaf

2006-08-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

2006-08-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Panorama of water lilies, Balboa Park reflecting pool, San Diego CA, June 06

2006-08-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

2006-08-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

2006-08-02T21:32:00.001-07:00

Koi in the reflecting pool

2006-08-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

2006-08-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Museum of Man, in Balboa Park, San Diego

2006-08-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

From the flower garden at Balboa Park, San Diego, CA. June 06.

The Star of India from a different perspective

2006-05-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

04_07_11StarOfIndiaPlanet, originally uploaded by charliewallace.

That's my parents Bim and Helen sitting near the stern of the Star of India, on the waterfront in San Diego. To lower left is the Surprise, famous for appearing in the movie "Master and Commander" starring Russel Crowe.

cardiffBeachPlanetHyp

2006-05-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

cardiffBeachPlanetHyp, originally uploaded by charliewallace.

Cardiff Beach "Planet". Composed of about 30 photos, stitched together automatically by AutoStitch.net, distorted into a Planet by Flexify

For breakfast - French Toes

2006-05-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's really French Toast, yumm!

Postscript: I thought everyone would notice that "toes" sounds like "toast", but apparently I was mistaken... It works best if you say "ze French Toas" in a fake french accent.

Storm clouds along I5 driving home to San Diego from Berkeley

2006-05-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

2006-05-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

More storm clouds in the central valley

2006-05-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Storm clouds in Cenral Valley of CA

2006-05-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

Storm clouds over Pyramid Lake seen from I5 along the Grapevine

2006-05-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Panorama of storm clouds in the central valley

2006-05-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

Pano

seattleVanvouver06

2006-05-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

See my Tabblo>

Change in email subscription provider

2006-05-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Just a note to anyone who has subscribed to Coolweird by entering your email in the field at the bottom of this page -

I was using Bloglet for this service but the guy who runs it is closing down, so I've switched over to Feedblitz. During the transition you might recieve multiple notifications, but this shouldn't last long. You don't need to change anything.

Thanks,
Charlie

Bridge south of Del Mar on Hwy 101

2006-05-01T00:08:00.000-07:00

Taken from Torrey Pines Extension

Encinitas Street Fair, April 2006

2006-05-01T00:05:00.001-07:00

Bandana-ed Dogs of the Encinitas Street Fair

2006-05-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

2006-05-01T00:04:00.001-07:00

2006-05-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

2006-05-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

Paragliders cruising along Torrey Pines cliffs

2006-04-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

How relaxing. You just sit there floating along the cliffs, casually glancing down the cliff to the beach 400 feet below...

Must be nice!!! This photo and the following ones were taken on 14 April 2006 from Torrey Pines State Reserve.

2006-04-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

2006-04-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

Paraglider heading north with Del Mar in the background.

2006-04-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

Paraglider with La Jolla in the background.

2006-04-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

Torrey Pines is world-famous for its ideal hang-gliding and para-gliding conditions. This is a view to the south from Torrey Pines State Reserve along the cliffs.

2006-04-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

2006-04-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

Torrey Pines State Reserve, looking north.

Continuing Seattle/Vancouver Trip Photos, March 2006

2006-04-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

My Dilemma:

Blogs usually have the latest entry at the top, but for a trip it's easier to progress forward in time as you scroll down. But this Seattle/Vancouver tripp had too many pictures for that, so I ended up posting 2 sets.

The earlier set of pictures ended in downtown Seattle at the Symphony Hall, showing a glass sculpture. This picture of the Space Needle takes up where that left off, starting a series that covers the rest of the trip.

View from the top of the Space Needle

2006-04-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

I stitched together 9 photos to get this 360 degree panorama of all you can see from the top of the Space Needle.

2006-04-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

Panorama of the Olympic Mountains as seen looking west from the top of the Space Needle.

Rock N Roll Museum, Seattle

2006-04-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Museum with the Space Needle.

2006-04-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Outside of the Rock N Roll Museum in Seattle.

2006-04-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

Detail of the exterior shows the flowing sculptural look of the Rock N Roll Museum in Seattle.

2006-04-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

View of Mt Ranier as seen from Seattle. Taken on a clear day (!!) from the tower in Volunteer Park, in the Capitol Hill district.

2006-04-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Camel sculpture in front of the Asian Art museum in Volunteer Park, Seattle. Photo by Katie Wallace.

2006-04-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

View of the Space Needle from the Capitol Hill district of Seattle. It makes a useful landmark, you can see it from all over.

Snoqualamie Falls

2006-04-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

We drove about half an hour to the east from Seattle to see Snoqualamie falls. It became famous in the 90s because of the weird TV series called "Twin Peaks" that was filmed here.

2006-04-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

A nice espresso at a coffee house in Fremont.

2006-04-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

The other ferry boat.

Whidby Island / Deception Pass

2006-04-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

We took a ferry over to Whidby Island on the way from Seattle to Vancouver, and drove the length of the island. Very scenic, and the Deception Pass area especially. There's a narrow gap at the north end of Whidby Island, where the direction of current flow reverses when the tide changes. There's a huge bridge (see below) and a trail where I took this photo.

2006-04-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

View north under Deception Pass bridge.

2006-04-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

Panorama from Deception Pass Bridge, looking west.

2006-04-26T00:20:00.000-07:00

Panorama from Deception Pass Bridge, looking east.

Vancouver

2006-04-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

Here's our room on the 19th floor of the Century Plaza Hotel in downtown Vancouver. The view is pretty amazing!

For more info on the hotel: Century Plaza Hotel

2006-04-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Reflected building in downtown Vancouver.

2006-04-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

From our balcony.

Panoramas of Vancouver from our hotel

2006-04-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

This panorama shows the view from our room on the 19th floor. See next photo for the same view at night...

2006-04-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

Same panoramic view at night.

2006-04-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

Nighttime view of Vancouver from our hotel room.

Granville Island Farmer's Market in Vancouver

2006-04-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Stanley Park

2006-04-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

North Vancouver seen from Stanley Park, with Grouse Mtn ski area in backgound.

2006-04-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

Replicas of native american totem poles at Stanley Park. Photo by KT.

2006-04-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

View north from Stanley Park with North Vancouver in the distance.

2006-04-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Morning view of Vancouver from the 19th floor.

2006-04-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

You never know what you'll see zooming by in Vancouver traffic.

2006-04-23T13:21:00.001-07:00

More native American art at the museum of Anthropology at UBC.

2006-04-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

More native American art at the museum of Anthropology at UBC.

2006-04-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

This one's spooky... More native American art at the museum of Anthropology at UBC.

2006-04-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.