Monthly Archives: October 2022
If only we had taller been
If you’re at all interested in space exploration or even scientific advancement make sure to listen to Ray Bradbury’s poem “If Only We Had Taller Been”. In the words of the author himself it encompasses, “why I love space travel, why I write science fiction, why I’m intrigued about what’s going on this weekend on…
Goodnight Oppy
I don’t think I had been into any theater or even large auditorium since the beginning of the pandemic until this week. I attended an advanced showing of Amazon’s wonderful new film Goodnight Oppy which chronicles the 15 year odyssey of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers. Its not so much a story of the…
Left of the blue wall
One thing I have learned from reading authors like Robert Macfarlane and Barry Lopez over the last year is the power of language to shape our world view. Both authors believe that the words we use directly affect the way we see the world, and that the current evolution of our language, away from specialized…
To be taught, if fortunate
Science fiction and fantasy author Becky Chambers gave a short talk at JPL last week. We were all expecting a fun conversation, probably accompanied by a powerpoint presentation, about what it’s like to be a science fiction writer. Instead she gave us so much more. Chambers’s talk was essentially a love letter letter to space…
At long last, here he was
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is perhaps the perfect pandemic book. I read it in the early months and finally bought a copy for my own shelves recently. The book follows the life of Count Alexander Rostov through 30 years under house arrest in the ornate Metropol Hotel in Moscow. Despite the tight…