Looking for Silk, Reading in the Key of Prose, and Finding Dope on Mars

Looks like I'm still on some sort of a schedule. Let's hope that it can stay that way. Alright, what do I have for you this week? It looks like another three short stories that you will be able to find online for free. I know, I know. It's a magical word, "free." But yes, it is true: You do not have to pay to read these stories. So, if your Monday is going a little slower than usual, be sure to check one or more of these out. The stories for you this week are "The Silk Merchant" by Ken Liu, "Requiem in the Key of Prose" by Jake Kerr, and "The Dope on Mars" by Jack Sharkey.

A Return to the Land of the Second Dimension

I finally got around to finishing off Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. I felt the middle section of the book started to drag a little bit, which may or may not be my reasoning for taking a small break from it. But I'm glad I pushed myself to finish it. The last third of this story is where the real action takes place.

A Love Machine, a Smart Vac, and an Escaping Prisoner

Finally, I'm back on some sort of schedule. Now the idea is to somehow stay on this schedule. I'll find a way to do that somehow or another. Let's just call these last couple of months a transitional period

Anyways, I have some fun stories for you. The two more recent stories deal with robotics: the first story with artificial intelligence and the second with smart technology (though not AI). Your stories for this week are Luke R. Pebler's "New Beau," Lee Hallison's "Taking Care of Ma," and "A World Is Born" by Leigh Douglass Brackett.

Stargate, Season 6

I recently finished watching the sixth season of Stargate. I don't know what it is about the show, but there is something about it that keeps sucking me in. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's a little campy and the show is able to make fun of itself.

The sixth season felt a little weird to me. And probably to everyone who has watched the series chronologically. The main reason? Daniel Jackson is no longer a part of the team. In fact, after Daniel ascends, Jonas Quinn, the scientist from the world in the fifth season where they were trying to develop something akin to the atom bomb, takes over his spot. It felt kind of wrong, but I understand why they did it. They needed someone who was "book smart " on the team, and he was able to fill that place.

Other than that, the season was pretty decent. It was pretty cool to see Daniel return in a couple of episodes, usually guiding his friends through some form of trouble or another. And the season finale where he battles Anubis is quite spectacular as well.

Soldiers, Watchmakers, and Kids on Mars

Hey folks. I'm still playing catch up. Here are a couple of short stories.

The Indestructible Blob

Whoa... Looks like I have a little pickup to play. I'll try to post a few things tonight before posting anything tomorrow. What do I need to get all caught up? It looks Like I will need a short stories post and one more after this one. Anyways...

I finished watching The Blob recently. It's a very campy sci-fi movie from the late 1950's, but it's still a lot of fun to watch.

Basically, a meteor, which carried the blob, falls to the Earth and begins to terrorize a small town. The only people to notice it at first, besides those who are taken by the blob, are hometown hero Steve and his girlfriend, the lovable Jane. They try to warn the townspeople, first going to the police as soon as they find suspicious activity at Doctor Hallen's house. Marking it up as a case of "kids being kids," the police don't believe them at first. It takes a little persistence on the part of Steve and Jane, but they talk a few of their friends into helping them. The kids end up waking up the entire town. At first the police feel that it's a case of "Peter calling 'wolf,'" but they soon learn that the threat is very real. It takes them a couple of tries but they finally discover that it doesn't like the cold. The police lead the rest of the town in freezing the blob and sending it off to the arctic, with a questionable ending to the movie.

While watching this, I thought it would be kind of cool to write a short from the blob's point of view. You know, what would it be like if the blob was only swallowing people in order to gain a collective knowledge of its new planet? What if the blob became those it swallowed What if it wanted to be peaceful? The peace would certainly not have lasted long. Especially with most people's initial reaction to it: "Kill it!"

I still might write that story sometime. If I ever find a little time and have enough energy, I might sit down and write that out.

Another Place Where Blood and Oil Cause Interstellar War

My apologies for posting this so late. But look at the good news: I'm finally on schedule! One post today, and one post tomorrow. Anyways, onto the stories. Today we have "Elsewhere" by Benjamin Rosenbaum, "Metal and Flesh" by Steven R. Stewart, and "Victory" by Lester del Rey. Dig in.

One Distant Scape

Along with watching Stargate, I've been trying to get myself into Farscape. It's an interesting show. And I will admit that it was a little hard to get into at first because of the puppets and the ridiculous costumes. However, the show is beginning to grow on me, ridiculous costumes and all. When you realize that the creators just wanted to have fun making the show rather than make something serious out of it, you begin to cave in a little bit and start to have fun along with it.

I'm not quite finished with the first season yet. So thus far there has not been much of an overall story line like in Stargate. But I suppose if I keep watching, one will pop up. Keep following me. I will try to post something up here as I finish/begin each season.

To the Stars Through a Little Gate

For the last couple of months, I've been watching Stargate SG1. And within the last couple of days, I entered into season six. This means that I am now halfway through the series. What do I think of it? It's a fun show. It can be somewhat campy at times, but it never outweighs the fun.

An Immersion, an Origin, and One Big Shot

Here's the first of three posts for the day. It's another tardy short story post. Look for two more posts today. I will be very angry with myself if I do not get them up.

So, the stories. Let's make this quick and simple. We'll start off with Aliette de Bodard's "Immersion," followed by Ari Goelman's "Origin," and ending the post with "One Shot" by James Blish. Good stories. Hope you enjoy.

James Dean, a Dragon Queen, and a Bunch of Leadies

Where does all our time go? It's already Saturday, and I haven't had too much of a chance to write this out most of the week. Well, let's just get all of these tardy posts out of the way today. We might as well, right? There are three four late posts counting this one. I had planned to post all of them today, but I'm just getting this post up now, late on Saturday night. I'll get the other two three posts up for you tomorrow. I hope that sounds good for you. And then we'll start the week off fresh with a couple more posts from me for the new schedule. Wow, a lot more work than I expected. For me, right now, it's it's not being on time, but rather making sure that I get this stuff done and out. Then I can worry about being on time.

Back to main point of this post, the stories. There's three of them again. Just like always. This post, the stories include "The Cristóbal Effect" by Simon McCaffery, "Catastrophe Baker and the Dragon Queen" by Mike Resnick, and, last but definitely not least, "The Defenders" by Philip K. Dick. Here are your stories. Let your weekend of reading now commence.

The Land of the Second Diminsion

It's taken me quite a while, but over the last couple of months, I have been flipping, on and off, through the pages of Edwin A. Abbott's Flatland. And now I am just about two-thirds of the way through it. The story itself is quite interesting, and considering the date it was  written just adds to this story's intrigue.

Written before the turn of the century, this story plays with the idea of life existing in a two-dimensional universe. Something makes me want to say this story was definitely ahead of its time. Well, of what I have read so far, much of it is not a story, but rather full of descriptions of this two-dimensional universe and the beings which possess it.

Their society consists of a rigid class system, with isosceles triangles at the bottom and circles at the top. The main character, and our narrator, is a lawyer of the square class.

There are a few more rules and laws of the world that the main character discusses, but I will save that for another time. Perhaps next week, after i finish reading this fun story.

If you are interested in reading this story, it's available over at Project Gutenberg. Just follow this link.

* * * * *

Any of you who follow me may have noticed that I forgot to post what I said I would over the weekend. This is part of me trying to make up for that. Look for another post or two later tonight, and then another one or two tomorrow night. I really want to make up for my transgressions.

The Cosmic, Specter-Bombing Internet

Wow, I totally forgot about posting last week. And this is the weekend that I was going to do that big conversion. I guess being out of town over a weekend will sometimes do that to you. However, I do have the stories that I meant to post about last week ready and waiting to get posted now. So let's get those suckers up. I'll do my normal punishing of myself by posting another three stories tomorrow morning as well as another two posts tomorrow evening (one for last week and one actually for tomorrow night).

The stories I have for you tonight are pretty awesome. The first one comes from Technology Review's Science Fiction anthology. It's "Specter-Bombing the Beer Goggles" by Paul Di Filippo. The second story comes from the New Yorker's special sci-fi edition earlier this month. The story? "My Internet" by Jonathan Lethem. The classic story of science fiction this month, coming from the year 1930, is "Cosmic Express" by Jack Williamson. My apologies ahead of time for the lack of stories available online. But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. You'll be getting another handful of stories tomorrow.

Get Your Hands Off Me, You Damn, Dirty Ape!

You want to know what that idea I had to save for a rainy day? Well, here it is. A couple of weeks ago, I watched Planet of the Apes. Not the newer version with Mark Wahlberg. No, the original movie. The one starring Charlton Heston. Now, I'll grant that the movie is a little dated with its sets and dialogue, but otherwise it's a great movie.

Accountants, a Captain, Some Superheroes, and the Great Nothing Beyond

Hey everyone. Getting on here late as usual again. Let's see. It looks like I've managed to scrounge up four stories for you this week. Yes, you read that correctly. Four stories. Why the extra one? Well, it's the first of June and I've only just receive a couple of new magazine issues on my Kindle. Let's use up the rest of May if we can first. Next week I'll start to get you your stories from June. There will be three of them again. So don't get used to having four. I'm only spoiling you today. (This is where I would use an emoticon of a smiley face sticking out its tongue.)

Your four stories this week are "The Cross-Time Accountants Fail to Kill Hitler Because Chuck Berry Does the Twist" by C. C. Finlay, "Captain Quasar and the So-Called Emperor of the Universe" by Milo James Fowler, "The Non-Event" by Mike Carey, and "The Nothing Equation" by Tom Godwin. I could probably go on chit-chatting, but let's move on