The Cambias Digression

Notes and thoughts on everything from what I had for breakfast to the fate of the Universe.

  • The Zoo Hypothesis: Objections

    Recently the magisterial Centauri Dreams 'blog ran a post by Paul Gilster about the "Copernican Principle" and how it conflicts with the observed facts about life in the Universe. (Short version: the Copernican Principle says Earth should be an average world, but if that's the case, why don't we see more signs of life elsewhere?…

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  • Why I Didn’t Do It This Year

    Long-time readers of this blog (all three of you) may remember that in December I usually include a link to one of my favorite Web sites: the NORAD Santa Tracker. Why didn't I run it? Blame the Task & Purpose blog, a very interesting Web zine about military matters. This December they ran a very entertaining…

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  • Christmas Dinner Bragging

    The menu for this year's Christmas dinner (with photos when I remembered to take them): Smoked Whitefish    Pickled Herring in Sour Cream    Vermont Camembert Cremant de Loire Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp Braised Beef Brisket    Sauteed Potatoes    Roasted Brussels Sprouts Medoc Poached Salmon    Mixed Green Salad Christmas Pudding    Ice Cream

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  • Notes on Time Travel Stories

    Time travel has been a fixture of science fiction ever since a young Englishman named H.G. Wells wrote his first novel, The Time Machine. Wells wasn't the first person to write about time jumps — Mark Twain did it in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court — but before Wells it was always treated…

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  • PhilCon 2023!

    Once again I'm heading south to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, for the venerable PhilCon, the Philadelphia region's long-running science fiction convention. Naturally, I'm not just going as a paying attendee, but as a participant. Here's my schedule, and if you happen to be in southern New Jersey this weekend, swing by! Friday, November 17, 6:00…

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  • Some Notes on Alignment

    Get your tires rotated every six months. Oh, wait: I mean Dungeons & Dragons alignments. We all know the famous three-by-three grid, right? You've got Lawful Good in the upper left, with Lawful Neutral below it and Lawful Evil at the bottom. The middle column has Neutral Good at the top, True Neutral in the…

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  • Art and Storytelling

    Should the visual arts tell stories? Or strive for simple abstract beauty? The answer of course is "yes" to both. Just as music has room for both fugues and ballads. Here's a good essay by Aidan Harte — sculptor and animator — touching on the neglect of story in contemporary art, and how he's trying…

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  • The Subsurface Agency Wants YOU!

    Geoff Manaugh is an interesting writer — his book A Burglar's Guide to the City is something everyone should read — and he has a fascinating blog called BLDGBLOG. The most recent post (as of this writing) is about some ambitious projects to do large-scale surveys of the subsurface environment using ground-penetrating radar, sonar, and…

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  • New Paradigm Required

    Forgive the interruption in service. Regular blogging has resumed. I've noticed something about the way cities are portrayed in most comic books — and in the superhero movies based on those comics. What I noticed is how old-fashioned the cities are. Whether you're looking at Batman's decaying Gotham City, Superman's bright and thriving Metropolis, or…

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  • Save the Date!

    We're holding a "Fantasy & Science Fiction Festival" to benefit Deerfield's Tilton Library — and everyone's invited! When: October 8, 2023, from 3 to 5 p.m. Where: The Deerfield Community Center, at 16 Memorial Street in Old Deerfield. What: Meet local authors, watch a panel discussion about libraries in fiction and real life, listen to…

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The Worldbuilding Index