The heart may be a lonely hunter, though it is, presumably, a sensible one. The mind, however, is quite another matter. I find myself rather baffled at an entry in my Inspirational Notebook that has to be less than an hour old: "Atomic Rockets - Dune".
The website 'Atomic Rockets' is a fabulous resource for anyone even remotely interested at the science in science-fiction (which I gleefully and maliciously abbreviate to "sci-fi" because I know it makes the forehead veins of the real fanboys throb with rage) and which I have been patronising this past week. I spent a couple of hours traversing it last night, at the expense of 'The Expanse' and 'Gaudy Night', of which more later.
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| An atomic rocket |
The sci-fi <hah! look at those veins throbbing!> novel "Dune" is a classic worthy of the name, featuring an exceedingly convincingly constructed world and denizens.
Here an aside. "Are You Being Served?" is not a classic. It was hideously unfunny when it came out. Now it is merely old. It should be put down, like a rabid polecat. Some buffoon at the Beeb, probably after snorting illegal substances from the unclad rear of a person hired for sexual congress, gave a green-light for a remake, which thankfully died a ghastly death.
Where was I?
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| You were at Dune, Conrad |
Oh yes. All I can really come up with is that my mind works, and I don't always know either how or why.
Here's an example. I had a dream wherein the world was over-run by The Infected, who appeared to be a species of zombies-with-intellect, able and determined to hunt down the hale and healthy of us in order to pass on their affliction. All pretty much as per trope. The twist in Conrad's dream is that the disease amps up these things metabolism for about 45 minutes, giving them superhuman stamina, speed and strength, after which they collapse into a soufflé for 24 hours. Not bad, eh?
Which has nothing to do with LITHIUM BATTERY DE - no, we've done that one already, haven't we? Okay, time to move on and propel the motley into the raging current without giving it any oars*.
"Gaudy Night" By Dorothy L. Sayers
Okay, okay, I shall add in the "L" because people were carping about it. Sheesh. With all there is to worry about in the world, people get their underwear in a torsion twist about a missing capital letter.
I did mention that this work was written 82 years ago, by the frightfully well-read and well-educated Dot, which means there are inevitably references that need a touch of interpretation. For example, what on earth is the "Tower of Lady Athaliah"?
I can fill you in a little. She was a queen in ancient Israel, and was a thoroughly bad lot, encouraging the worship of idols, killing off potential rivals and returning her library books late.
There is also an amusing typo, in the middle of a paragraph about literary revisions and corrections, which is ironic enough for me to take a photograph of it.
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| Spot the double dot |
First Bus
Still unable to tick all 3 boxes. On time - check. Double decker - check. Copy of The Metro (for the crossword, obviously, and definitely not the content) - Ah no, apparently they were all eaten by the Great Green Arkleseizure before they could be delivered to the depot, according to the First Bus spokesdemon.
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| Yep, still in black and white |
As if! I happen to know The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy pretty damn well, and that mysterious GGA has been taken directly from it.
Dog Buns! Not only are First Bus incompetent and inefficient, they plagiarise as well. Truly, is there nothing they will not stoop to**?
Free Fiction!
Wowsers***. The website that keeps on giving. It provided links to a story by Andre Norton, "All Cats Are Grey" which is long out of copyright (having been published in the Fifties, which makes me wonder about Dot and Lord Peter Wimsey) and so it can be read online for free. Free reading material - a win-win all round.
It also provided a link to a short story by Cyril Kornbluth, "His Share of Glory", which I remember from reading many decades ago. I have started to re-read it, and it repays the effort, being both satirical and funny.
* Don't worry, it's waterproof.
** No.
*** I know this is an hideous imported South Canadianism, but I like it, and it's MY blog.
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