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Kitchen Report: Pudding!
This Christmas, we had a traditional English Christmas Pudding for dessert after our dinner. What's a Christmas Pudding? It's . . . well, it's a lot more akin to a fruitcake than anything most Americans would describe as "pudding." I'll try to generate some suspense in this 'blog post by not revealing how it tasted…
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Christmas Menu
Menu for this year's Christmas dinner: Oyster Patties Cremant de Bourgogne Cold Poached Salmon Onion Soup Sourdough Rolls Roast Goose Chateau Les Grands Sillons 2010 Chestnut Rice Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad Christmas Pudding Apple Pie Ice Cream Overall it was quite delicious. The pudding will rate its own post soon. The…
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Last Thoughts on Dune
I finished re-reading Frank Herbert's epic novel Dune a few days ago, and had some final thoughts about the book. I asked myself "How would I have done it?" The book is about the desert planet first and foremost, and so I'd keep that. I'd keep the interstellar intrigue plot, as well. Reluctantly, I guess…
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Ecological SF
I've been re-reading Frank Herbert's Dune after seeing the stunning new film version by Denis Villeneuve, and I noticed something which I found hilarious, in my usual contrarian way. Consider the two factions struggling for control of the desert planet Arrakis: On one side you have the villainous Harkonnens, fortified in the spaceport city of…
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A Curious Omission
Dr. Kelly and I went to see Denis Villeneuve's new version of Dune a couple of weeks ago. It was good — the director has shown himself in the past to be a skilled and faithful adapter of science fiction stories to the screen. Good acting, beautiful visuals, a good score . . . But…
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Building A New World
My first foray into teaching worldbuilding went so well I'm doing it again — only more so. This Saturday (November 6) the Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop is offering the first of a two-part online course I'm teaching. It's called "Building the Iceberg," and is all about science fiction worldbuilding. In session 1 we'll be looking…
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Mysteries of the Bride
Last week a much-reduced Crack Team of moviegoers went to the endearingly ramshackle Greenfield Garden Cinema to watch a special showing of the original The Bride of Frankenstein. It's still my favorite of all the classic Universal black-and-white monster movies. Maybe The Invisible Man is in the same league, but the rest of the pack…
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Auction Action!
Today the Friends of Deerfield are launching an online auction to raise funds for Deerfield's 350th anniversary celebration in 2023. Items for sale include antiques, sports memorabilia, gift cards, and artworks. But my readers may be especially interested in the books. We've got signed collections of first editions by Western Massachusetts SF and fantasy authors:…
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The Day of Gold
Fall in New England is famous for its beauty. People come here from all over the country to go "leaf-peeping" in the countryside. In Deerfield we're ready for them with scented candles, artisanal baked goods, microbrews, maple candy, fossils, crafts, and restaurants. But when does Fall begin? On September 22 I heard a radio host…
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Captain Opposite
I've noticed an interesting approach to writing genre characters, one which also applies to roleplaying games and other media as well: take an iconic character and make up someone who is as opposite to that character as possible. When Michael Moorcock wanted to write a "sword and sorcery" epic, he didn't make his main character…
The Cambias Digression
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