Vast Epic Interstellar Federations

[Joy Beeson]

When I returned _Penric's Progress_ to the library, I checked for
other Bujold. The computer turned up:

books I'd already read,

e-books (I can download a file all by *myself*, thank you very much),

audiobooks (I tried an audiobook novel once, and I'm eternally
grateful that I could go back and get the print version),

e-audiobooks, and

_Federations: Vast, Epic, Interstellar_.

I figured that if John Joseph Adams had chosen "Aftermaths", he must
have pretty good taste, so I took Federations.

At home, I sat down to read: the first story is an Orson Scott Card.
My first impulse was to skip it, but I gave it a chance and found that
it didn't have the usual OSC tics and tricks -- or maybe it's just
that it's been twenty or thirty years since I last read a Card and
didn't recognize them. "Mazer in Prison" is silly, but the silly is
sufficiently consistent and coherent that it was easy to take it
seriously for twenty-four pages.

My spouse, having run out of fiction, picked it up, found "Mazer"
unbearably boring, and skipped on to "Carthago Delenda Est". His
bookmark is three pages from the end, so I assume he hasn't formed an
opinion yet.

I just re-read the first paragraph of "Carthago", and hey! Now it
makes sense!

(I shall plow full speed ahead and damn the spoilers.)

"Carthago" is more of a puzzle than a story: you are supposed to
figure out what the situation is. Once figured out, it doesn't make a
lot of sense. Carthage is in our Oort cloud, and all the planets come
to us?

Or maybe they are all in our solar system, but there do seem to be
rather a lot of them, all at about the same stage of development. I
suppose a second reading might straighten it out, but once through
satisfies me.

The "planets" have been suckered into a four-hundred-year-truce -- the
message, to be so convincing, must have come from a god-like being --
and to keep the truce going, all these ambassadors are floating around
waiting for Godot. The ambassador cared for by the viewpoint
character is regularly "expired" and replaced by a clone. All the
other ambassadors come to a funeral party when an ambassador is
incinerated.

Another "planet" sent a generation ship with a disposable younger son
from the royal family; the story wasn't long enough to mention where
the royal ambassadors got royal wives.

Next story: "Life Suspension", L.E. Modesitt Jr. Spouse's bookmark
is well into this story; I haven't asked his opinion of "Carthago".

(The review took a while to write; Real Life (TM) etc.)



--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

[Charles Packer]

On Fri, 30 Jul 2021 20:28:04 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote:

> Another "planet" sent a generation ship with a disposable younger son
> from the royal family; the story wasn't long enough to mention where the
> royal ambassadors got royal wives.

This friendly sidelines observer wonders if the SF community is
generally, by default, monarchist.

[pete...@gmail.com]

The community isn't, afaik, but writers like simple governments. Democracies
are messy, and slow the plot.

Pt

[Robert Woodward]

In article <0802a335-891c-4695...@googlegroups.com>,

Also, a large number of stories are focused on the military, business
enterprises, and other organizations with one boss and any number of
subordinates.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robe...@drizzle.com

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <0802a335-891c-4695...@googlegroups.com>,
pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:

Which, sometimes, is what the writer wants to achieve. Short
novels don't sell any more.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

[Joy Beeson]

On Fri, 30 Jul 2021 20:28:04 -0400, Joy Beeson

<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

[snip]

> I figured that if John Joseph Adams had chosen "Aftermaths", he must
> have pretty good taste, so I took Federations.

[snip]

> Next story: "Life Suspension", L.E. Modesitt Jr.

I suspect that this story would have been much better if I had been
familiar with the myth that it is based on. Adequate for those who
have never heard of the Snow Queen.

"Terra-Exulta", S.L. Gilbow

A light-hearted and amusing take on an extremly-nasty situation, told
in first person by the nastiest perpetrator.

"Aftermaths", Lois McMaster Bujold

Exactly as good as I remembered it.

Next up: "Someone is Stealing the great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy",
Harry Turtldove

[Joy Beeson]

I made a point of asking Spouse. He liked Aftermaths.

On Thu, 05 Aug 2021 22:07:26 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

>
> Next up: "Someone is Stealing the great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy",
> Harry Turtldove

Friday, August 7, 2021

After digging and hauling my daily wheelbarrow of compost dirt, I
grabbed _Federations_ and a glass of tangerine seltzer, and sat down
on the porch to recover.

"Someone is Stealing the great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy" was
unrelentingly humorous.

Those who like this sort of thing will like it very much.

Next up: <strike> a bike ride to Sweet Dreams because I don't feel
like cooking</strike> "Prisons", Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason

[peterw...@hotmail.com]

On Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 3:14:20 PM UTC-5, Joy Beeson wrote:
> I made a point of asking Spouse. He liked Aftermaths.
> On Thu, 05 Aug 2021 22:07:26 -0400, Joy Beeson
> <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
> >
> > Next up: "Someone is Stealing the great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy",
> > Harry Turtldove
> Friday, August 7, 2021
>
> After digging and hauling my daily wheelbarrow of compost dirt, I
> grabbed _Federations_ and a glass of tangerine seltzer, and sat down
> on the porch to recover.
>
> "Someone is Stealing the great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy" was
> unrelentingly humorous.
>
> Those who like this sort of thing will like it very much.

Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

[Joy Beeson]

On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 15:17:28 -0700 (PDT), "peterw...@hotmail.com"
<peterw...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> > Those who like this sort of thing will like it very much.
>
> Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?

After a brief search of the web, I do remember reading Children of the
Atom, and the scene you refer to, but I was referring to a zillion
other reviews.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <9471bc46-2739-4e8b...@googlegroups.com>,

If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <9vp0hg1dphaq88ksb...@4ax.com>,

Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 15:17:28 -0700 (PDT), "peterw...@hotmail.com"
><peterw...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> > Those who like this sort of thing will like it very much.
>>
>> Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
>
>After a brief search of the web, I do remember reading Children of the
>Atom, and the scene you refer to, but I was referring to a zillion
>other reviews.
>

I still don't; would someone please remind me?

[Joy Beeson]

On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 23:36:21 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
wrote:

> >Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
>
> If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?

The boy was unhappy with Alice in Wonderland because the chess game
didn't make any sense, and wrote a story strictly reflecting the moves
of a real chess game, with characters and motivations and all the
stuff that makes a good story. The story didn't sell because the
intersection of chess players and fantasy readers is too small, and he
commented that that was a pity because those who did like it would
like it very much.

I found a copy of "In Hiding" on the Web, and read it when I should
have been doing something else.

And in response to one review I read, *every* story is allowed one
ridiculous assumption, provided that you use it to (for example) kick
the serf off the farm and start him on adventures (the intro to a
historical novel that I read many decades ago) and don't drag it in as
a deus ex machina at the end.

[Wolffan]

On 2021 Aug 09, Joy Beeson wrote
(in article<fbd1hgtb2m7valuvp...@4ax.com>):

> On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 23:36:21 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
> wrote:
>
> > > Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
> >
> > If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?
>
> The boy was unhappy with Alice in Wonderland because the chess game
> didn't make any sense, and wrote a story strictly reflecting the moves
> of a real chess game, with characters and motivations and all the
> stuff that makes a good story. The story didn't sell because the
> intersection of chess players and fantasy readers is too small, and he
> commented that that was a pity because those who did like it would
> like it very much.
>
> I found a copy of "In Hiding" on the Web, and read it when I should
> have been doing something else.
>
> And in response to one review I read, *every* story is allowed one
> ridiculous assumption, provided that you use it to (for example) kick
> the serf off the farm and start him on adventures (the intro to a
> historical novel that I read many decades ago)

Frank Yerby did that in The Saracen Blade. Our hero, whose name I forget
because its’s been a while since I read the book, and his new bride decamp
at max rate knots because the local lord wanted to exercise the droit du
seigneur, and they got warned by a priest who did NOT think that this was a
good idea. Our hero ends up quite prominent in assorted crusades and local
wars in Italy. Harry Turtledove did that, decades later, in The Tale of
Krispos sub-group of the Videssos books. Krispos is taxed off his farm... and
ends up as Emperor.

> and don't drag it in as
> a deus ex machina at the end.

oh, Turtledove in particular brought in a large variety of those... but
that’s because Videssos had working magic, and a God in whose name priests
could do all kinds of things, mostly of the ‘move the plot along’
variety.

[Jack Bohn]

Joy Beeson wrote:
> On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 23:36:21 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
> wrote:
> > >Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
> >
> > If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?
> The boy was unhappy with Alice in Wonderland because the chess game
> didn't make any sense, and wrote a story strictly reflecting the moves
> of a real chess game, with characters and motivations and all the
> stuff that makes a good story. The story didn't sell because the
> intersection of chess players and fantasy readers is too small, and he
> commented that that was a pity because those who did like it would
> like it very much.

OK, I've seen reviews along the lines of "If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you'll like," where it seems like cynical dismissal, or at best not understanding the popularity of a thing. This formulation gives it a more positive spin.

(Any body else find a bit of hopefulness in the saying, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to let you in."?)

--
-Jack

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <fbd1hgtb2m7valuvp...@4ax.com>,

Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 23:36:21 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>wrote:
>
>> >Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
>>
>> If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?
>
>The boy was unhappy with Alice in Wonderland because the chess game
>didn't make any sense, and wrote a story strictly reflecting the moves
>of a real chess game, with characters and motivations and all the
>stuff that makes a good story. The story didn't sell because the
>intersection of chess players and fantasy readers is too small, and he
>commented that that was a pity because those who did like it would
>like it very much.

Now I remember. "Chess players don't like fantasy, and nobody
else likes chess."

>
>I found a copy of "In Hiding" on the Web, and read it when I should
>have been doing something else.

Well, I have the entire _CotA_ in the fiction room, but cats....

>
>And in response to one review I read, *every* story is allowed one
>ridiculous assumption, provided that you use it to (for example) kick

>the serf off the farm and start him on adventures...

Yup, that's fairly ridiculous: serfs were _adscripti glebae_,
bound to the land. Unless you mean the *author* kicked the serf
off the land by having him run away. That happened from time to
time; if he could get away to a free city and stay there for a
year (maybe it was a year and a day), he'd be a free man and no
one could drag him back.

(the intro to a
>historical novel that I read many decades ago) and don't drag it in as
>a deus ex machina at the end.

Thanks!

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <e2565111-c2e5-4796...@googlegroups.com>,

"I should have called it
Something you somehow haven't to deserve."

[Robert Woodward]

In article <fbd1hgtb2m7valuvp...@4ax.com>,
Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 23:36:21 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
> wrote:
>
> > >Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
> >
> > If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?
>
> The boy was unhappy with Alice in Wonderland because the chess game
> didn't make any sense, and wrote a story strictly reflecting the moves
> of a real chess game, with characters and motivations and all the
> stuff that makes a good story. The story didn't sell because the
> intersection of chess players and fantasy readers is too small, and he
> commented that that was a pity because those who did like it would
> like it very much.

The chess game was in _Alice through the Looking Glass_. Several years
after "In Hiding" was published, Poul Anderson wrote "The Immortal Game"
which was a chess game (c. 1850, IIRC) translated into a fantasy short
story. BTW, Anthony Boucher's forward to this story's publication in
FA&SF (Feb 1954 issue) quotes Timothy's complaint in "In Hiding".

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.

-------------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robe...@drizzle.com

[David Duffy]

Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> In article <fbd1hgtb2m7valuvp...@4ax.com>,
> Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 23:36:21 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>> wrote:
>>
>> > >Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
>> >
>> > If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?
>>
>> The boy was unhappy with Alice in Wonderland because the chess game
>> didn't make any sense, and wrote a story strictly reflecting the moves
>> of a real chess game, with characters and motivations and all the
>> stuff that makes a good story. The story didn't sell because the
>> intersection of chess players and fantasy readers is too small, and he
>> commented that that was a pity because those who did like it would
>> like it very much.
>
> The chess game was in _Alice through the Looking Glass_. Several years
> after "In Hiding" was published, Poul Anderson wrote "The Immortal Game"
> which was a chess game (c. 1850, IIRC) translated into a fantasy short
> story. BTW, Anthony Boucher's forward to this story's publication in
> FA&SF (Feb 1954 issue) quotes Timothy's complaint in "In Hiding".
>

Dodgson wrote:

https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/26946/the-chess-game-in-through-the-looking-glass

"As the chess problem.. . has puzzled some of my readers, it may be
well to explain that it is very worked out, so far as the moves are
concerned. The alternation of Red and White is perhaps not so strictly
observed as it might be, and the 'castling' of the three Queens is
merely a way of saying that they entered the palace; but the 'check'
of the White King at move 6, the capture of the Red Knight at move 7,
and the final 'checkmate' of the Red King, will be found, by any one who
will take the trouble to set the pieces and play the moves as directed,
to be strictly in accordance with the laws of the game."

Usually Fairy Chess has different pieces or boards, but I think different
numbers of moves is quite in the spirit.

[William Hyde]

On Monday, August 9, 2021 at 10:56:02 AM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <fbd1hgtb2m7valuvp...@4ax.com>,
> Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
> >On Sun, 8 Aug 2021 23:36:21 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
> >wrote:
> >
> >> >Is this a reference to Wilmar Shiras's story _In Hiding_ ?
> >>
> >> If it is, I don't see it. Explain, please?
> >
> >The boy was unhappy with Alice in Wonderland because the chess game
> >didn't make any sense, and wrote a story strictly reflecting the moves
> >of a real chess game, with characters and motivations and all the
> >stuff that makes a good story. The story didn't sell because the
> >intersection of chess players and fantasy readers is too small, and he
> >commented that that was a pity because those who did like it would
> >like it very much.
> Now I remember. "Chess players don't like fantasy,

Judging by the books I used to see people reading at chess tournaments,
this is untrue. Judging by the fairly large number of chess players I know
personally, very untrue.

Good SF stories including a fair amount of chess include "The Chess players" by Harness,
the aforementioned Leiber stories, and "The Squares of the City" by Brunner.

When Asimov needed a chess game to show how much more intelligent Schwarz has
become in "Pebble in the Sky", he used a real game which was good enough to be included
in several chess books.

A chess master once wrote a story "Fischer vs Godzilla" but the less said of that the better.
De gustibus disputandum existit (with apologies to my high school Latin teacher).

and nobody
> else likes chess."

More or less by definition.

William Hyde

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <dc1226ec-82f8-4df3...@googlegroups.com>,

Actually, _erat_ would do better. That's the imperfect of
_esse_. And don't you want to say _non erat_?

[Kevrob]

"....take you in." IMS

There were times in my life where a friend or relative
taking me in kept me from sleeping rough.

Sister Evelyn had us read that as high school sophomores -

"The Death of the Hired Man" by Robert Frost

[quote]

He hates to see a boy the fool of books.

[/quote]

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44261/the-death-of-the-hired-man

We used to count the number of times in a class Sr said "uh."
1,2,3,4 strike-through makes 5, like a cartoon prisoner's cell wall.
The page would fill!

--
Kevin R

[Thomas Koenig]

Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> schrieb:

> And in response to one review I read, *every* story is allowed one
> ridiculous assumption, provided that you use it to (for example) kick
> the serf off the farm and start him on adventures (the intro to a
> historical novel that I read many decades ago) and don't drag it in as
> a deus ex machina at the end.

This pretty much describes "The Martian" - that storm wreaking that
much havoc is indeed ridiculous (as the author admitted).

[pete...@gmail.com]

There were other places where he fudged the numbers - his PV cells
would not have sufficient power to light his potato garden, for a start.

pt

[William Hyde]

It was so terrible an excuse for a story that in my view there is no question of taste. It was just
crap and should never have seen publication. The writer was stoned for much of that decade, certainly when he wrote the story.

I want to say that it is possible to dispute taste. As for myself, little Latin, less Greek (and the wrong
kind of Greek, too).

William Hyde

[Titus G]

On 12/08/21 4:40 am, Kevrob wrote:
> On Monday, August 9, 2021 at 10:21:16 AM UTC-4, jack....@gmail.com wrote:

snip

>>
>> (Any body else find a bit of hopefulness in the saying,
>> "Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
>> they have to let you in."?)
>>
>> --
>
> "....take you in." IMS
>

Since the onslaught of Covid-19, I have learnt that New Zealanders
living overseas have the right to be let in and those that have done so
were also taken in, in the sense they were given generous government
benefits for living expenses which would cease with employment.

[Joy Beeson]

On Mon, 09 Aug 2021 09:54:21 -0400, Wolffan <akwo...@zoho.com>
wrote:

> Frank Yerby did that in The Saracen Blade. Our hero, whose name I forget
> because its’s been a while since I read the book, and his new bride decamp

> at max rate knots because the local lord wanted to exercise the , and they got warned by a priest who did NOT think that this was a

> good idea. Our hero ends up quite prominent in assorted crusades and local
> wars in Italy.

That's the one! I remember it only because of the introduction saying
that the author knew quite well that droit du seigneur was a myth, but
without it, the story would have been boring.

[Joy Beeson]

On Mon, 9 Aug 2021 07:21:14 -0700 (PDT), Jack Bohn
<jack....@gmail.com> wrote:

> OK, I've seen reviews along the lines of "If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you'll like," where it seems like cynical dismissal, or at best not understanding the popularity of a thing. This formulation gives it a more positive spin.

I meant it only to be less un-positive -- "I didn't like it, but I can
see why its fans do."

"Relentless humor" reminds me of a movie my German teacher took her
class to: the posters outside the theater said "Sie lachen ohne
pause." I *never* lachen ohne pause, and find the notion exhausting.
It was a pleasant-enough movie, though after more than sixty years all
I can remember is the running gag in which a pretentious housewife
rushed to turn the fountain on before answering the door, and
sometimes rushed to turn it off again after seeing who was at the
gate.

[Joy Beeson]

On Sat, 07 Aug 2021 16:14:14 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> Next up: "Prisons", Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason

I had to re-read the first paragraph to remember what the story was
about.

Lampshading the giant digging machines didn't help my WSOD all that
much. The characters rang true.

Thought drift: "Only one" sometimes applies also to ideas that aren't
ridiculous. Dune has two, count them, *two* drugs that cause changes
in color. One that turns the whites of your eyes blue, and one that
turns your skin orange, or maybe it was yellow. I'm sure the real
world has many, many color-changing drugs -- yet I was left with the
impression that *every* drug in this universe made the user turn a
bright primary color, and was surprised when I counted them.

But then, I'm universally unhappy with Herbert's handling of details,
so I may have been primed to see more than was there.

-----------

"Different Day", K. Tempest Bradford.

Again, I had to re-read the first paragraph to remember the story.
Also, the last paragraph to remember the premise. (Space aliens are
no more uniform than Earth aliens.)

Slight, but short in proportion.

-----------

"Twilight of the Gods", John C. Wright.

I was warned up front that I should read a summary of The Ring of the
Nibelung first. I didn't, and missed a lot, but there was quite a lot
of story I didn't miss.

-----------

Next up: "Warship", George R.R. Martin and George Guthridge

-----------

I may have to renew this book a second time. It doesn't help that I
can't read it by artificial light.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net

http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/`

[Jerry Brown]

Jacques Tati's "Mon Oncle"

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)

[Jonathan]

On 7/31/2021 2:54 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <0802a335-891c-4695...@googlegroups.com>,
> pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Saturday, July 31, 2021 at 3:58:01 AM UTC-4, Charles Packer wrote:
>>> On Fri, 30 Jul 2021 20:28:04 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote:
>>>
>>>> Another "planet" sent a generation ship with a disposable younger son
>>>> from the royal family; the story wasn't long enough to mention where the
>>>> royal ambassadors got royal wives.
>>> This friendly sidelines observer wonders if the SF community is
>>> generally, by default, monarchist.
>>
>> The community isn't, afaik, but writers like simple governments. Democracies
>> are messy, and slow the plot.
>
> Which, sometimes, is what the writer wants to achieve. Short
> novels don't sell any more.
>

But sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

I know this is an old often high schoolish idea
but compare these two pictures, what do you see.


A single neuron.

https://www.dana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how-brain-works-basics-2.jpg

A simulation showing the nearest 250 million...galaxies.
Not stars, galaxies.
https://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/galform/virgo/millennium/seqF_063a_half.jpg



We haven't even scratched the surface of how wonderful
this universe can be.



Introduction: The Millennium Simulation

The Millennium Run used more than 10 billion particles to trace
the evolution of the matter distribution in a cubic region
of the Universe over 2 billion light-years on a side.
It kept busy the principal supercomputer at the Max Planck
Society's Supercomputing Centre in Garching, Germany for
more than a month.
https://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/galform/virgo/millennium/






--
BIG LIE From Wiki - "The German expression was coined by Adolf Hitler
when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, to describe the use of a lie
so *colossal* that no one would believe that someone "could have the
impudence to distort the truth so infamously."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie

[Jonathan]

The movie at the link of the nearby universe is
well worth downloading, you might be surprised
at what you see. And remember each point of
light is a...galaxy, not a star.

Get this movie in different versions:

movie Fast flight [divx5, 60 MB, 1024x768]
movie Slow flight [divx5, 120 MB, 1024x768]

[J. Clarke]

On Sat, 21 Aug 2021 00:02:43 -0400, Joy Beeson

<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

>On Sat, 07 Aug 2021 16:14:14 -0400, Joy Beeson
><jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Next up: "Prisons", Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason
>
>I had to re-read the first paragraph to remember what the story was
>about.
>
>Lampshading the giant digging machines didn't help my WSOD all that
>much. The characters rang true.
>
>Thought drift: "Only one" sometimes applies also to ideas that aren't
>ridiculous. Dune has two, count them, *two* drugs that cause changes
>in color. One that turns the whites of your eyes blue, and one that
>turns your skin orange, or maybe it was yellow. I'm sure the real
>world has many, many color-changing drugs -- yet I was left with the
>impression that *every* drug in this universe made the user turn a
>bright primary color, and was surprised when I counted them.

Yellow? Orange? You're not talking about Sapho, which is popular
with Mentats and stains their lips red? I didn't think of that as a
"color-changing drug", more like something that leaves a colorful
residue, like beet juice.

[Robert Carnegie]

On Saturday, 21 August 2021 at 05:02:47 UTC+1, Joy Beeson wrote:
> On Sat, 07 Aug 2021 16:14:14 -0400, Joy Beeson
> <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
> > Next up: "Prisons", Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason
>
> I had to re-read the first paragraph to remember what the story was
> about.
>
> Lampshading the giant digging machines didn't help my WSOD all that
> much. The characters rang true.
>
> Thought drift: "Only one" sometimes applies also to ideas that aren't
> ridiculous. Dune has two, count them, *two* drugs that cause changes
> in color. One that turns the whites of your eyes blue, and one that
> turns your skin orange, or maybe it was yellow. I'm sure the real
> world has many, many color-changing drugs --

A few!

> yet I was left with the
> impression that *every* drug in this universe made the user turn a
> bright primary color, and was surprised when I counted them.

You wouldn't have to think "Did I take my pills"...

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <c1996ba4-8689-4084...@googlegroups.com>,

I take eleven different drugs per day (a couple of them, twice a
day; and they're not all prescription: vitamins etc.). None of
them make me change color, which is just as well. I have one of
those arrays of seven pillboxes, each with four compartments. If
I don't remember whether I took some subcategory of pills, I need
only look in the apprpriate box.

I could use an array with seven boxes with *five* compartments,
but I don't think they make them. (There are pills I have to
take *before* breakfast, and others I have to take *after*
breakfast or else I'll throw them up.)

[Don]

Jonathan wrote:
> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> pete...@gmail.com wrote:

>>> Charles Packer wrote:
>>>> Joy Beeson wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Another "planet" sent a generation ship with a disposable younger son
>>>>> from the royal family; the story wasn't long enough to mention where the
>>>>> royal ambassadors got royal wives.
>>>> This friendly sidelines observer wonders if the SF community is
>>>> generally, by default, monarchist.
>>>
>>> The community isn't, afaik, but writers like simple governments. Democracies
>>> are messy, and slow the plot.
>>
>> Which, sometimes, is what the writer wants to achieve. Short
>> novels don't sell any more.
>
> But sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
>
> I know this is an old often high schoolish idea
> but compare these two pictures, what do you see.
>
>
> A single neuron.
>
> https://www.dana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how-brain-works-basics-2.jpg
>
> A simulation showing the nearest 250 million...galaxies.
> Not stars, galaxies.
> https://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/galform/virgo/millennium/seqF_063a_half.jpg

Giddyup Hasse!

I know now without doubt that this our planet, and other
planets revolving about the sun, are but electrons of an atom,
of which the sun is the nucleus. And our sun is but one of
millions of others, each with its allotted number of planets,
each system being an atom just as our own is in reality.

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'

[Michael F. Stemper]

On 21/08/2021 12.10, Don wrote:

> Jonathan wrote:

>> I know this is an old often high schoolish idea
>> but compare these two pictures, what do you see.
>>
>> A single neuron.
>>
>> https://www.dana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how-brain-works-basics-2.jpg
>>
>> A simulation showing the nearest 250 million...galaxies.
>> Not stars, galaxies.
>> https://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/galform/virgo/millennium/seqF_063a_half.jpg
>
> Giddyup Hasse!
>
> I know now without doubt that this our planet, and other
> planets revolving about the sun, are but electrons of an atom,

A plutonium atom, I hope!

<https://haruhianon300k.github.io/people/plutonium/wiki_AP.html>

> of which the sun is the nucleus. And our sun is but one of
> millions of others, each with its allotted number of planets,
> each system being an atom just as our own is in reality.
>
> Danke,

Bitte.


--
Michael F. Stemper
Psalm 82:1-4

[Chris Buckley]

On 2021-08-21, Dorothy J Heydt <djh...@kithrup.com> wrote:
> I take eleven different drugs per day (a couple of them, twice a
> day; and they're not all prescription: vitamins etc.). None of
> them make me change color, which is just as well. I have one of
> those arrays of seven pillboxes, each with four compartments. If
> I don't remember whether I took some subcategory of pills, I need
> only look in the apprpriate box.
>
> I could use an array with seven boxes with *five* compartments,
> but I don't think they make them. (There are pills I have to
> take *before* breakfast, and others I have to take *after*
> breakfast or else I'll throw them up.)
>

They exist, but are expensive. My son takes medications 6 times a day,
but he just fills one 1x7 box at the beginning of each day.
https://www.amazon.com/Pill-Large-Weekly-Pill-Organizer/dp/B082BFKNTR
is one and the page has pointers for others (up to 7x7).

Chris

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <slrnsi37v...@video.sabir.com>,

Thanks for the link; I've bookmarked it, but I don't think I need
it just yet. My "morning" box is able to hold four large before-
breakfast pille and three after-breakfast ones without bursting.
So far. If, however, yet another doctor prescribes me yet
another pill......

[Joy Beeson]

On Sat, 21 Aug 2021 09:09:52 -0400, J. Clarke
<jclarke...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Yellow? Orange? You're not talking about Sapho, which is popular
> with Mentats and stains their lips red? I didn't think of that as a
> "color-changing drug", more like something that leaves a colorful
> residue, like beet juice.

The one given to gladiators in the arena to make sure that they lose.

[J. Clarke]

On Sat, 21 Aug 2021 22:30:02 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

>On Sat, 21 Aug 2021 09:09:52 -0400, J. Clarke
><jclarke...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Yellow? Orange? You're not talking about Sapho, which is popular
>> with Mentats and stains their lips red? I didn't think of that as a
>> "color-changing drug", more like something that leaves a colorful
>> residue, like beet juice.
>
>The one given to gladiators in the arena to make sure that they lose.

I'd forgotten about that one.

[Paul S Person]

It is, of course, far too late to follow the elder Mrs Bush's advice
to Just Say No.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <b8s4igpuehrhh87ep...@4ax.com>,

Do you have a link to that action? Or can you remind me? I
seem to have missed it.

If her reason was "I'm dying anyway, more pills won't fix that,"
well, that was her decision. If it was "I don't believe in
Western medicine," well, that was still her decision. I'm
seventy-nine now and I could die any time, but I don't see it in
my immediate future.

[Kevrob]

On Sunday, August 22, 2021 at 11:46:19 AM UTC-4, Paul S Person wrote:

[snip]

> It is, of course, far too late to follow the ....
> /e/l/d/e/r /M/r/s/ /B/u/s/h/'/s/......

second Mrs Reagan's .....

>.... advice to Just Say No.
> --

--
Kevin R

[J. Clarke]

On Sun, 22 Aug 2021 17:23:53 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J

I think he's being facetious.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Say_No>

[Robert Carnegie]

You could perhaps manage a very large number
of pills and occasions by using a second regular-issue
organiser to hold some, instead of one to hold all which
costs extra but you can play chess on it.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <a3a956d2-41b1-4532...@googlegroups.com>,

/snerk

I do not want to have two separate pillboxes, leaving me trying
to remember which box has which pills. I already have the one
pillbox matrix, plus a former makeup bag that *barely* holds all
the pill bottles. (Indeed, some of the OTC pills, such as
vitamins, come in great big bottles from Costco, and those live
in the bathroom cabinet. I had to refill my reasonable-sized
bottles of fish oil and glucosamine today, before getting ready
to refill the 28 cells of the matrix.) The matrix and the makeup
bag barely fit into the two little drawers of the small bedside
dresser atop which sits a 16" cube atop which sit my computer
tower, lamp, and the assorted Raspberry Pi gear.)

And I never learned to play chess anyway.

But doesn't a chessboard have 64 squares? Two pillbox matrices
would yield only 56.

[Jonathan]

A child can wave their hands and say 'it's all hooey'
but it's usually the realm of high-school dropouts.

And like these replies it doesn't mean a thing.


s

[Paul S Person]

On Sun, 22 Aug 2021 11:25:36 -0700 (PDT), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
wrote:

Thanks for the correction.

After 30-40 years, things /do/ get a little fuzzy sometimes.

[Paul S Person]

<insertion>
I would say "you could mark them", but you've already pre-empted that
with the space problems.
</insertion, original paragraph continues>

>I already have the one
>pillbox matrix, plus a former makeup bag that *barely* holds all
>the pill bottles. (Indeed, some of the OTC pills, such as
>vitamins, come in great big bottles from Costco, and those live
>in the bathroom cabinet. I had to refill my reasonable-sized
>bottles of fish oil and glucosamine today, before getting ready
>to refill the 28 cells of the matrix.) The matrix and the makeup
>bag barely fit into the two little drawers of the small bedside
>dresser atop which sits a 16" cube atop which sit my computer
>tower, lamp, and the assorted Raspberry Pi gear.)
>
>And I never learned to play chess anyway.

Pity.

>But doesn't a chessboard have 64 squares? Two pillbox matrices
>would yield only 56.

I suppose the other 8 would exist in hyperspace or something.

Or maybe the idea is that you could put the chessboard on top of the
pill box matrices.

BTW, if it would work for Chess, it would also work for Checkers.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <0bf7igt8rrqs4hsb9...@4ax.com>,

Paul S Person <pspe...@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:

Never learned that either. My experience with games played with
physical objects was limited to Canasta.

[William Hyde]

Well, you know more about the game than many artists.

It was long a complaint of chess master and author Edward Lasker that chessboards in art were almost never 8x8.

Among his artist friends only Marcel DuChamp agreed. But then he was a very strong chessplayer who competed internationally for France. Pity he never met Fritz Leiber.


William Hyde

[Joy Beeson]

On Sat, 21 Aug 2021 00:02:43 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> Next up: "Warship", George R.R. Martin and George Guthridge

Been a while since I checked in; I don't remember much about the
story. (What I do remember is a spoiler.)

It doesn't help that artificial light makes the print slightly out of
focus, so I can't skim for clues.

----------------

"Swanwatch", Yoon Ha Lee

The inmates of a prison where the aristocrats of a dreary universe
exact draconian revenge for petty slights turn it into what the
aristocrats pretend it is. Stone walls do not a prison make, nor
iron bars a cage . . .

----------------

"Spirey and the Queen", Alistair Reynolds

A gradual reveal of a strange yet inevitable future.

----------------

Next up: "Pardon our Conquest", Alan Dean Foster

----------------

This book is on its third renewal; I may not finish it.

Leafing ahead, I find two more stories that I've read before, and I
suspect that "Pardon our Conquest" would look familliar if I could
read a few paragraphs.

[Joy Beeson]

On Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:10:04 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> Next up: "Pardon our Conquest", Alan Dean Foster

Mildly-humorous wishful thinking.

Such people exist, but the teensiest trollish fly will stink up the
ointment.

---------------------

Next up: "Symbiont", Robert Silverberg

[Quadibloc]

On Monday, August 9, 2021 at 11:12:17 AM UTC-6, Robert Woodward wrote:

> The chess game was in _Alice through the Looking Glass_. Several years
> after "In Hiding" was published, Poul Anderson wrote "The Immortal Game"
> which was a chess game (c. 1850, IIRC)

Anderssen vs. Kiezeritzky, June 21, 1851, by any chance?

John Savard

[Quadibloc]

A quick Google lets me know that, yes, it was, and the story was originally
published in the February, 1954 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science
Fiction.

John Savard

[Titus G]

On 21/09/21 5:10 am, Joy Beeson wrote:

> "Swanwatch", Yoon Ha Lee
>
> The inmates of a prison where the aristocrats of a dreary universe
> exact draconian revenge for petty slights turn it into what the
> aristocrats pretend it is. Stone walls do not a prison make, nor
> iron bars a cage . . .
>
> ----------------
>
> "Spirey and the Queen", Alistair Reynolds
>
> A gradual reveal of a strange yet inevitable future.
>
> ----------------

Both these stories are available free online to read or download at:
https://www.freesfonline.net/Magazines4.html

[Joy Beeson]

On Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:18:06 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> Next up: "Symbiont", Robert Silverberg

For those who like horror stories . . .

Next up: The Ship Who Returned, Anne McCaffrey

This is one of the two that I've read before. If I recall correctly,
McCaffrey was hitting a little above her weight class when she wrote
this one.

(And the next one, "My She", ia the other. I remember that one as
worth re-reading.)

[Joy Beeson]

On Tue, 21 Sep 2021 16:49:20 -0400, Joy Beeson

<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> On Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:18:06 -0400, Joy Beeson
> <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
> > Next up: "Symbiont", Robert Silverberg
>
> For those who like horror stories . . .

The synsym is a horrible weapon that does nothing for the guys who
deploy it, but it's said to be revenge for the spores, rather than
strategy, and was probably cobbled up out of something already on
hand, the way a person unexpectedly engaged in a knife fight might
break a bottle.

The tactic of injecting a paralytic with a dart fired from a distance
to make it safe to get close enough to inject spores seems odd; why
not put the spores in the dart gun? Perhaps a more-careful reading
ould explain this, but I don't care to re-read.

Spoiler: (rot 13)

Vg vf haqrefgnaqnoyr gung gur cebgntbavfg jbhyq vafvfg ba pbasrffvat
gung ur jnf n pbjneq orsber gur ivpgvz jnf fnsryl fgenccrq vagb gur
pncfhyr, naq varivgnoyr gung gur tveysevraq jbhyq or vasrpgrq nf n
erfhyg, ohg gur cebgntbavfg qbrfa'g nccrne gb unir nal cnegvphyne
ernpgvba gb guvf.

Naq fubhyqa'g ur jbeel nobhg orvat gur bayl uhzna jub xabjf gung gur
flaflz pna, va rkgerzvf, rwrpg na vasrpgvba bagb gur arnerfg crefba?

>
> Next up: The Ship Who Returned, Anne McCaffrey
>
> This is one of the two that I've read before. If I recall correctly,
> McCaffrey was hitting a little above her weight class when she wrote
> this one.
>
> (And the next one, "My She", ia the other. I remember that one as
> worth re-reading.)

Monday, 4 October 2021

Reread only the end of The Ship Who Returned. It's the story of how
the ship who sang deals with grief, and also a character study of the
late lamented.

"My She", Mary Rosenblum

Well worth re-reading, and I'd forgotten most of the good stuff.

A character sketch of a society built on the principle of Omelas, told
from the viewpoint of a slave who realizes that the very special
humans he serves are the child in the well.

He helps his she walk away.



Next up:

"The Shoulders of Giants", Robert J. Sawyer

[Joy Beeson]

On Mon, 04 Oct 2021 22:23:04 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> Next up:
>

> "The Shoulders of Giants", Robert J. Sawyer

Friday, 6 October 2021

Sawyer tried really, really hard, but the opening's big reveal that
the character is waking up after an impressively-long distance and
time in preservation is, for me, a big yawn.

This *could* be due to many, many attempts to read the story by
artificial light. Yesterday evening, I even tried the high-intensity
light I use for threading needles, and no soap -- the type was just
too fuzzy.

Had daylight and some spare time this afternoon. The story picked up
when I got into it -- any details would be spoilers.

I was left with the impression that I'd read this story before.

Possibly with different characters and a different setting.

------------


"The Cultural Archivist", Jeremiah Tolbert

A surprisingly-upbeat account of a futile attempt to revert a few
cells of a truly nasty cultural cancer.

------------


"The Other Side of Jordan", Allen Steele

The protagonist in this story is there only to describe the setting,
but it is an interesting setting, and the tried-and-true plot bundles
it up neatly.

Some rogue spelling checker changed "compose" to "comprise" on a page
that had a *lot* of "compose"s. Very distracting.

------------

Saturday, 9 October 2021

Sunset, but enough time to read

"Like they always been free", Georgina Li

Weird; light dim and hard to read, but it focussed. I never have any
trouble focussing my needle under the high-intensity light.

Only two and a half pages, worlds a-plenty for a story like this. I
could see dragging me down into all those disgusting details if it
were a real situation that I could do something about, but as a
description of a made-up situation, it's just nasty for the sake of
being nasty. And the blue thread running through it only emphasizes
that there isn't any real escape -- which, I think, was intended.

------------

Next up: "Eskhara", Trent Hergenrader

[Joy Beeson]

On Sat, 09 Oct 2021 19:41:28 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> ------------
>
> Saturday, 9 October 2021
>
> Sunset, but enough time to read
>
> "Like they always been free", Georgina Li
>
> Weird; light dim and hard to read, but it focussed. I never have any
> trouble focussing my needle under the high-intensity light.

Dime dropped: I don't thread needles with the glasses I use for
reading

[snip}

> ------------
>
> Next up: "Eskhara", Trent Hergenrader

Wednesday, October 2021

The introduction says it was inspired by the occupation of Baghdad.
This is not promising.

***

Pleasant weather, comfortable chair on the porch, glass of water on
the three-leg table beside me -- I couldn't read past the first
paragraph of the second scene.

Same sensation I got when Mark Vorkosigian was posing as Admiral
Naismith so he could lead the Dendari Mercenaries into a futile
battle.

***

Ma&ntilde;ana; it's time to check on the baking squash, meat filling
in one half, butter, cinnamon, and maple syrup in the other.

***

The empire in this one seems only marginally better than the one int
"Cultural Archivist".

***

[Joy Beeson]

On Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:08:01 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> Ma&ntilde;ana; it's time to check on the baking squash, meat filling
> in one half, butter, cinnamon, and maple syrup in the other.

I never clicked "send" on this half-written post -- wha hoppen?

[Lynn McGuire]

On 10/13/2021 6:12 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:08:01 -0400, Joy Beeson
> <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Ma&ntilde;ana; it's time to check on the baking squash, meat filling
>> in one half, butter, cinnamon, and maple syrup in the other.
>
>
> I never clicked "send" on this half-written post -- wha hoppen?

You sent it ! Here is your header.

Path:
eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Vast Epic Interstellar Federations
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:08:01 -0400
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 51

Oops !

Lynn

[peterw...@hotmail.com]

On Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 6:41:32 PM UTC-5, Joy Beeson wrote:

-Sunset, but enough time to read

"Like they always been free", Georgina Li

-
- Weird; light dim and hard to read, but it focussed. I never have any
- trouble focussing my needle under the high-intensity light.

-Only two and a half pages, worlds a-plenty for a story like this. I
-could see dragging me down into all those disgusting details if it
- were a real situation that I could do something about, but as a
- description of a made-up situation, it's just nasty for the sake of -
-being nasty. And the blue thread running through it only emphasizes
- that there isn't any real escape -- which, I think, was intended.

Sounds like an example of the infamous _Cold Equations_ trope.

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

[Joy Beeson]

And it's missing from my "drafts" folder, present in my "sent" folder,
and, most of all, present in my inbox. I don't think I was tired
enough to click "send" by mistake for "save for further editing", but
that must have happened.

(There's been a lot going on in meatspace lately; today is the first
time that Usenet got to the front of the queue before bed time.)

[Joy Beeson]

On Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:08:01 -0400, Joy Beeson
<jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

> > Next up: "Eskhara", Trent Hergenrader

I managed to read the beginning, the last page, and a paragraph or two
in between.

"The One with the Interstellar Group Conciousness", James Alan Gardner

I don't know what to make of this one. I guess the introduction put
it accurately: "a romantic comedy of cosmic proportions".

---------------

"Golubash, or Wine-Blood-War-Elegy, Catherynne M. Valente


I suppose that six pages of wine-talk parody would be more amusing if
I ever read wine-talk. I'ma gonna start skimming.

***

I gave up skimming for skipping. The last paragraph reads as though I
would be very good, if I'd had the patience to read the story.

--------------------------------

Now I can park the book in my pannier, to be taken back to the library
the next time I go out, and I'm glad, glad, glad.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <hnf9ng9dq36evg19d...@4ax.com>,

Sorry to hear it. Go get some sleep.

[Kevrob]

On Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 11:07:48 PM UTC-4, Joy Beeson wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:08:01 -0400, Joy Beeson
> <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>
> > > Next up: "Eskhara", Trent Hergenrader
> I managed to read the beginning, the last page, and a paragraph or two
> in between.
>
> "The One with the Interstellar Group Conciousness", James Alan Gardner
>

A reference to the long-running "Friends" TV show?

> I don't know what to make of this one. I guess the introduction put
> it accurately: "a romantic comedy of cosmic proportions".
>
> ---------------
>
> "Golubash, or Wine-Blood-War-Elegy, Catherynne M. Valente
>
>
> I suppose that six pages of wine-talk parody would be more amusing if
> I ever read wine-talk. I'ma gonna start skimming.
>
> ***
>
> I gave up skimming for skipping. The last paragraph reads as though I
> would be very good, if I'd had the patience to read the story.
>
> --------------------------------
>
> Now I can park the book in my pannier, to be taken back to the library
> the next time I go out, and I'm glad, glad, glad.
> --

--
Kevin R

[Robert Carnegie]

On Sunday, 24 October 2021 at 22:36:27 UTC+1, Kevrob wrote:
> On Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 11:07:48 PM UTC-4, Joy Beeson wrote:
> > On Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:08:01 -0400, Joy Beeson
> > <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
> >
> > > > Next up: "Eskhara", Trent Hergenrader
> > I managed to read the beginning, the last page, and a paragraph or two
> > in between.
> >
> > "The One with the Interstellar Group Conciousness", James Alan Gardner
> >
> A reference to the long-running "Friends" TV show?

Perhaps? It's "Consciousnesses" by the way.

> > I don't know what to make of this one. I guess the introduction put
> > it accurately: "a romantic comedy of cosmic proportions".

Online here, legally or not.
<http://www.johnjosephadams.com/federations/free-stories/the-one-with-the-interstellar-group-consciousnesses-by-james-alan-gardner/>

Whether context besides "Friends" is necessary to see more
than one joke - for instance, an actual interstellar group
consciousness may /totally/ get it - I do not know.

<https://www.strange-loops.com/philhofstadter.html>
describes Douglas Hofstadter's metaphor of an intelligent
brain as like an anthill essentially consisting of ants which
individually have little intelligence. In that case, and perhaps
in the story, these living individuals are unaware of the
larger being in which they are parts.

Knowingly existing in a super-mind occurs in many stories,
including Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question" (1956) and
Theodore Sturgeon's "The Cosmic Rape" (!) (1958).
"The Eternals" in Marvel Comics unite ritually to form a
"Uni-Mind" to make important decisions.

In the real world, if humanity has a collective mind
then I think it isn't a very clever one, so why bother?

[Joy Beeson]

On Sun, 24 Oct 2021 04:14:05 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

> >(There's been a lot going on in meatspace lately; today is the first
> >time that Usenet got to the front of the queue before bed time.)
> >
> Sorry to hear it. Go get some sleep.

Today it was pickles that took up my Usenet time. I had a quart of
tiny green cherry tomatoes picked after a recent frost, and finally
had time and energy to preserve them this evening. It will be two
weeks before I find out whether they are fit to eat.

Dave pointed out that that is two days before thanksgiving, and we are
invited to a famiy pitch-in. My nephew bakes a turkey and the rest of
us bring side dishes. I've promised devilled eggs. I might take a
half pint of pickled garlic.

Tomorrow I plan to go shopping. Egad, I haven't made tea! (I have to
have very strong tea on days when I can't take a nap.)