Spin: A Review

I have just completed reading Spin , a science fiction novel by Robert Charles Wilson. From time to time SF authors come out with Really Big Concepts. When an author combines that with good fiction, then we have a winner, and Spin is just such a novel.

In this case, the Really Big Concept is that Earth is enclosed by unknown forces in a membrane (the Spin) that not only cuts off all sunlight (which is replaced by an apparently artifical sun) and starlight, but also radically alters how time passes on Earth. A specific example mentioned in the novel is that while five years have passed on the planet, 500 million years have passed in the rest of the universe, on the other side of the membrane. Now, if that's not a Big Concept, I don't know what is!

Into this Wilson gives us the stories of three persons: twins Jason and Diane Lawton, and Tyler Dupree, their friend. The novel starts with the night the the Spin is put in place. The Lawton twins and Tyler are respectively thirteen and twelve. The three of them are outside looking at stars while the twins parents are throwing a party when they suddenly realize they can no longer see any stars.

A crew of Russian cosmonauts who were in orbit when the Spin appeared spend a week unable to regain communications with anyone on the ground before they decide to risk a manual atmospheric reentry, but once they are safely on the ground they are told it is the same night the membrane appeared. Nobody believes their story of having spent as much time in orbit as they say.

But it is later discovered packages of instruments can be boosted through the membrane by rockets to record what is happening on the other side and then allowed to come back to Earth the same day. When their recorded data is examined, the realization of the changes in how time is passing occurs.

Through out this novel the author provides a exciting mix of ideas and good old fashioned science fiction. For instance, the successful terraforming and colonization of Mars occurs during the lifetimes of the three main characters thanks to the time passage differential.

All in all Spin is a very highly recommended work!

V for Vendetta: A Review

Image of Alan Moore via Wikipedia

I have become interested recently in graphic novels. The most powerful one of those that I have read so far is V for Vendetta by writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd.

The tale is set in England after a World War III that involved a limited exchange of nuclear weapons. This created a political power vacuum in England that was filled by a fascistic group.

The story starts with a 16-year old girl, Evey Hammond, who is desperate for money to survive on in the very bleak world the fascists have made of England and decides her only option is to prostitute herself. The first man she approaches turns out to be a policeman working a vice detail. Under the rules of the fascist state, police who catch someone in the act of soliciting for prositution can do whatever they want with her before summarily executing her on the spot. As the group of three police working the vice detail move in to start raping Evey, a masked figure comes out of nowhere and kills them. The masked figure takes Evey away to his hideout, where he tells her she will be safe.

The man tells Evey that he has no name, and to call him V. We quickly discover he always wears masks, and the mask he uses almost full time is of the face of Guy Fawkes, who is famous in England for his plan (never carried out) in the year 1605 to assassinate King James I and all the members of Parliament by blowing up the Houses of Parliament buildings while all of them were present there.

Soon after taking in Evey, V carries out part of Fawkes' plan and does blow up the Parliament buildings (which were abandoned when the fascists took control of the country).

As the story progresses we learn V is simultaneously carrying out a plan to bring down the fascists by driving England into anarchy (destroying the Parliament buildings being just one part of that plan) and murdering individuals from his past.

I won't get into more details of the story here. But I will note that during the story we are shown many details that reflect on the significance of "V" as both a letter and the Roman numeral for five - all of which enhances how fascinating the story is.

All together the combination of Moore's writing, Lloyd's art, and the themes they explore create an utterly amazing and haunting book.

License Plate Watch 7

Passed on the freeway what I think was a Mazda Miata that had the following plate:

"4HR FUN"

At first I was trying to make sense of "Four Hour Fun", then I realized what the real reading of the plate must be: "For Our Fun"

Oh joy. A scam.

Among the items in my mail today was an envelope that contained a "Notice of renewal/New order" for "Consumer Reports."

I do subscribe to "Consumer Reports" magazine, but I was immediately suspicious of this item because it looked nothing like renewal notices I have received in the past for it. So, I found the customer service phone number for the magazine, and they quickly confirmed it's bogus.

Before I started this entry, I looked up on Google the name of the firm that is on the return envelope: "Magazine Payment Services." The first page of results had several items from other publications that had similar stories, such as this.

So, immediately after I post this I'm walking to my shredder and running this so-called renewal notice through it.

That's something you don't see every day...

...or at least I haven't seen it before, that is. I'm just back from an exercise walking session, and while out I saw something like one of these being worn by the driver of a motorcycle that went past.

Yes, a motorcycle helmet that has a mohawk. That was rather startling, I must say.

(Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page I linked to, by the way.)

Creative license

There's a commercial for Kohler that has an architect walking a client couple through his office, during which he shows them photographs of his work. He then takes them to his office and he asks "Now, what can I do for you?" The woman pulls a (Kohler) faucet out of her purse, plunks it down on the architect's desk and says "Design a house around this."

That last bit is not what this entry is about.

When the architect is showing the photographs of his work, one of them he describes as "...headquarters in Kyoto."

BZZZT. Wrong! That is the very unique main library at the University of California at San Diego. Which is formally called the Geisel Library after Audrey and Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). (See the link for a UCSD page about the building and links to photos of it.)

That's an interesting bit of creative license Kohler's ad agency did.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Found a page on a UCSD alumni site that also takes note of this.

License Plate Watch 6

Seen while driving home from work today: "ODN GOD".

I did a Google search for "ODN" to see if that would give me a clue about the meaning of this plate, but didn't see anything that immediately made sense when used with "GOD".

So, another license plate mystery!