Neil Fein's Blog

Steel Beach, by John Varley

When the terribly, terribly fashionable decide the old genitals are getting to be rather a bore, don't you know, they phone the chauffeur and have the old bones driven down to Change Alley.
John Varley, Steel Beach

Hildy Johnson, sometimes reporter for The News Nipple on Luna, may not be John Varley's first character to switch genders in the middle of a story, but he's certainly the most memorable. (In the film His Girl Friday, the character of Hildy was switched to a woman because the director loved the sound of the secretary filling in for the character during rehearsals.) Most of Mr. Varley's work to this point has indicated that gender is possibly one step deeper than a new coat. Hildy shows us that, at least from the inside, The Switch changes outlook and social and sexual dynamics.

The Eight Worlds, of which this book is a vague, out-of-continuity episode in, is a future in which The Invaders -- shadowy, never-seen aliens -- have taken over Earth. But rather than enslave or eat humanity, or abduct and torture us with turkey basters, Varley's aliens don't even notice humanity. The human race is evicted off of Earth like you might sweep ants off your porch.

And so the human race lives on the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, on Mars, Pluto -- pretty much anywhere else in the solar system with a solid surface. And these societies are kept alive and running smoothly by superintelligent machines. In the case of Luna it's the Central Computer, who is a friend to anyone -- on an individual level, in fact.

The CC directs the lives of the teeming multitudes on Luna. It keeps them happy, comfortable. One of the universal rights past basic survival is the right of a job. In an automated society run by a powerful, supposedly benign, CC, people must find their own purposes in life.

Steel Beach is unarguably Mr. Varley's greatest novel among a career of excellent -- and too few! -- books. The question of what is means to be human after the need to survive has been removed, after death has been virtually exterminated, is foremost in the plot, but this is not a preachy book. The characters -- the stubborn, staid Walter Editor; young cub reporter Brenda, Hildy's longtime rival and crush Cricket, Liz the drunken, British royalty -- these people are all cliches out of films and comics. But in the hands of John Varley, they are wonderful, horrible, fascinating people. Dissatisfied with being set pieces in the show run by the CC -- particularly Hildy.

No summary does this book justice, and any symposia of it sounds like a '40s serial. On a level with Dune, Perdido Street Station, and Hyperion, Mr. Varley's magnum opus should be read by anyone with an interest in science-fiction, any fiction, or just plain being a person.

books

Labels: books

We went and picked apples this morning, it was great fun. On this farm, the apples are planted in rows on smallish trees. We also got to ride on a cart pulled by a tractor, kinda a shuttle to the apple-picking area.

On the way back, we had lunch at Wegmans. Then we visited with Paula and the twins.

In the evening, we played Settlers with Marianne, Derek and Jake. I miss that game.

Tags: apples, Settlers

Labels: food, games

Variable Star, by Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson

"If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait."
Robert A. Heinlein

"Finishing" a book left by a dead author almost never works out. While Variable Star was written by Spider Robinson from notes left by the science-fiction superstar, it comes across as more of an homage than a bastard novel.

Joel Johnston is a college student on Earth, hailing from the farms of Ganeymede. He finds himself running from the solar system, leaving behind a failed romance and everything he ever knew, aboard the starship Sheffield. Joel meets many new people, and has many lows and friends. The ship has crises aplenty, and I won't ruin any of the surprises. The Sheffield, and its destination Brasil Novo, are world-building at its grandest.

The stock Heinlein situations and societies have been deftly updated to reflect current technologies and cosmologies as we now understand them. The science fails to overwhelm, but is present in abundance when needed, with pleasant, helpful air. The reader almost doesn't notice that the author is more lost in the science than the page-turner.

Joel, the farmer Zog, Dr. Amy, Evelyn Conrad, Solomon Short, -- the folks inhabiting the world or Variable Star feel like they're a few years out of a concise Heinlein Juvie novel. Joel is a sympathetic man who makes mistakes. I was rooting for him and the 500 folks on the Sheffield all the way through.

Variable Star is great fun, a thoughtful novel, and while it doesn't feel like Mr. Heinlein was at the author's elbow, his influence is in the broad strokes. (Even the ending, maybe a touch predictable, wasn't on the original outline, but to Mr. Robinson's credit, feels like something from a Future History novel.)

A very good, page-turnin' stand-alone novel, drawing from a rich tapestry. Highly recommended.

books

Labels: books

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, by Atul Gawande

A surgeon's journal, Complications is riveting, frightening, and fascinating. Dr. Gawande is honest, more so than perhaps he should be, but it makes for fascinating reading.

The premise of the book is that medicine is far less the science patients suppose it to be. While surgeons are highly trained, a disturbing amount of intuition and guesswork is involved. And newbie cutters have to learn on someone, and those patients usually aren't informed of the fact they'll be a surgeon's first solo patient. And if this deception didn't occur, there would simply be no new surgeons trained.

The three sections of the book are titled Fallibility, Mystery, and Uncertainty. I'm hoping even more than before I read this that I never need to worry about any of this first-hand.

books

Labels: books

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

"Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them, at all. The magic is only in what the books say..."
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

"You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity."
Robert A. Heinlein, Logic of Empire

Guy is a fireman, glorying in his guild's mission of burning secreted books, whenever they get the call. The world -- or at least this particular media-hungry english-speaking head-up-it's-arse superpower -- wants to live in the world of its electronic living rooms, and not the irrelevant philosophical fantasies of long-dead subversives.

A parable of the dangers of censorship, Fahrenheit 451 is even better than when I was a kid. this is at once more subtle and more poetic than I remember, Ray Bradbury at the height off his form.

While there are a few places in which the parable breaks if you look at it too closely (social engineering has never been Mr. Bradbury's strongest area), the book has the aim of telling us let's not go here. Unfortunately, the world seems to have headed a bit more in this direction... 55 years after being written, Guy Montag's profession of burning inconvenient ideas seems more plausible.

Read a banned book today.

books

Labels: books

This chili didn't come out nearly as hot as I would've liked, but it's a good mellow chili with a small kick. Enjoy. Substitute a pound of ground beef if you want to make this un-veggie.



Pepper mush, beans
2 days before serving:

Wash the pound of peppers, and put them into the food processor. (Leave two small hot red peppers out, and put them to the side.) Also put into the food processor: 1 medium onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and a drop of olive oil.

You want to grind this all up until you have a paste, but you don't want to liquefy the peppers.

Scoop the pepper mush into a jar you can seal tightly. Get the top into a flat surface, pour just enough olive oil on top to cover the surface (as little as possible). Leave the jar of pepper mush in the fridge overnight.

Take two pounds of dry beans (I used roman beans and kidney beans). One pound at a time, boil them for about 4 minutes, pour them into a colander, then let them cool overnight. (This produces two medium bowls of beans.)

Make the chili
1 day before serving

Fill an 8-quart pot about halfway with tomato sauce. Pour the beans into this. Let it bubble for about an hour and a half, with the lid a few millimeters ajar. Add about a third of the pepper mush and stir it all very well. Check it every so often to make sure the bottom doesn't burn.

Cut up one small onion and the two hot peppers you put aside from yesterday. Saute them lightly, then toss them into the tomato sauce and beans. You are stirring every so often, right?

Add some Mexican chili powder and cheap red merlot to the tomato sauce. (It's not chili yet.) Add two small cans of corn kernels. (NOT creamed corn, please.)

Cook up two packages of fake ground beef. Add them to the tomato sauce. If it's too solid, add a little more tomato sauce. Add another third of the pepper mush.

Time to spice! Here's what and how much to use:

• Mexican chili Powder (lots))


• Cinnamon (very little)


• Mustard powder (very little, a little more than the cinnamon)


• Honey (about 2/3 of a tablespoon, two bloops)


• Onion powder (not onion salt, please)


• Ground peppers

Let this whole thing cook for an hour or two. Cool and put it in the fridge overnight.



Finishing it up
Serving day!

Put it back on the stove and bring it to a bubble. Spice it up again, like yesterday's laundry list. Add a little more Merlot and the rest of the pepper mush.

Let it bubble for an hour or two, stirring and scraping the bottom every so often. Stop when the beans are soft enough to eat.

Eat it! Have lots of water...

Tags: food, cooking, chili, vegetarian

Hey! Me doing location sound on a for-cheap (i.e., no money) concept film.


Photo by Bruce

The film is by a local production company, Words Pictures Movies. Their shorts are on the web, take a look! Well worth your time.

Tags: movies, sound

Labels: audio

...this is from a quickie video I made of Martha trying to get a decent sound out of her shofar. Turn your speakers down before clicking.

the noise, MP3, 152k

I have too much damn time tonight. This is the same file, with some reverb. Sounds almost like whalesong.

the noise, oh god, make it stop, MP3, 124k


Tags: Judaism, ouch

Labels: audio, judaism

Originally posted by Jim Macdonald, and I strongly suggest you read the comments, or at least skim them, in the original post.

----

You are not required to obey an unlawful order.

You are required to disobey an unlawful order.

You swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

The Constitution states (Article VI):

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Here is article 3, the common article, to the Geneva Conventions, a duly ratified treaty made under the authority of the United States:

Article 3

In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.

To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

(b) Taking of hostages;

(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;

(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.

The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions is straightforward and clear. Under Article VI of the Constitution, it forms part of the supreme law of the land.

You personally will be held responsible for all of your actions, in all countries, at all times and places, for the rest of your life. “I was only following orders” is not a defense.

What all this is leading to:

If you are ordered to violate Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, it is your duty to disobey that order. No “clarification,” whether passed by Congress or signed by the president, relieves you of that duty.

If you are ordered to violate Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, this is what to do:

1. Request that your superior put the order in writing.

2. If your superior puts the order in writing, inform your superior that you intend to disobey that order.

3. Request trial by courtmartial.

You will almost certainly face disciplinary action, harassment of various kinds, loss of pay, loss of liberty, discomfort and indignity. America relies on you and your courage to face those challenges.

We, the people, need you to support and defend the Constitution. I am certain that your honor and patriotism are equal to the task.

This post may be quoted in full. A linkback would be appreciated.

Tags: law