The Cambias Digression

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

  • The Barcelona Operation, Day 6

    Over the years we've learned a useful trick for trip planning: leave an extra day. Having a free day means you have some time for overflow — if something's closed on the day you planned to see it, you can go in on the extra day; or if you find something you hadn't known about,…

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  • The Barcelona Operation, Day 5

    Again we breakfasted in our flat on croissants from the local bakery, accompanied by what I thougt was orange juice but turned out to be an orange-soy "health" blend with the chalky taste of Tang.  Once all of us were dressed and ready, we sortied toward the Museum of the History of Barcelona, located just…

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  • The Barcelona Operation, Day 4

    By Thursday we were getting into the rhythms of the neighborhood. I got up at 7 and went out to buy breakfast. Seven o'clock on a weekday in Barcelona (at least in the old section) is like 6 a.m. in an American city: a handful of early workers are going to their jobs, delivery trucks…

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  • The Barcelona Operation, Day 3

    We ventured into Barcelona's Metro system for a trip to the park complex at Montjuic, at the southwest corner of the city. The subway is modern and efficient (though of course my sample size is very small). From the Metro we transferred to a cable car which runs up the side of Montjuic (it's actually…

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  • The Barcelona Operation, Day 2

    When we woke the air in the square below was full of swallows. Apparently they nest in the walls of the church and come out at dawn to snag bugs out of the air. We watched some of the neighbors playing with dogs down below. Barcelona has a lot of dogs, but no cats. I…

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  • The Barcelona Operation, Day 1

    Dr. Kelly had a science conference in Barcelona this summer, so the rest of us invited ourselves along. The plan was for the four of us to fly over together, spend a week being tourists, then the three non-scientists would come home together leaving her to devote her time to papers and networking during the…

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  • Movies I Want (Part 2)

    A while back I listed five classic science fiction novels that I'd like to see made into films. Here is a second list of five. I'm trying to limit myself to stories which could easily survive the Hollywood process and still retain some of their original appeal. • Ringworld, by Larry Niven. The story is…

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  • On Camping Out Indoors

    We got sick of the grubby linoleum, the decaying cabinets and counters, and the lack of a proper stove vent, so we're redoing the kitchen. Actually, that's not true: we're not doing much beyond writing checks. A professional contractor and various skilled subcontractors are redoing the kitchen. When they're finished (in another couple of weeks,…

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  • Work In Progress: Corsair (Part 4)

    Well, it's done. I beefed it up by nearly a third and sent it out to my agent. I hope it finds a home. One thing which expanding Corsair has allowed me to do is to give the minor characters more spotlight time. One of them — Anne Rogers — got promoted from a secondary…

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  • Movies I Want (Part 1)

    Science fiction has won the battle. Until the 1980s, big-budget science fiction films were few and far between. Now SF movies make up a significant fraction of the movies released by Hollywood. It's a safe, dependable genre, like romantic comedies or thrillers. Legions of effects creators, makeup artists, and prop builders can earn steady incomes…

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