Observe The Banana

I have just finish reading The John Varley Reader by John Varley. This one took me a while to get through, through not fault of the book though. I have just been busy, and it contains so much. Having only recently discovered author John Varley, (through his excellent Red Thunder trilogy) this collection of short stories exposed me to a much greater cross section of his works. It also introduced me to his Eight Worlds theme which is carried in many of his books. In some unspecified time in the future, aliens invade the earth and the human race is forced to leave the planet and move to colonies on other worlds in the solar system. The stories in this book vary greatly in their theme, tone and length. I of course enjoyed some more than others, but overall it was journey (and that’s what it felt like) worth taking. It also offers an interesting insight into John Varley the man, as each story is preceded by a personal introduction where he shares some background about how the story came to be, or about what was happening in his life when he wrote it. It is interesting to connect his young adulthood in the 60’s alternative lifestyle scene in California as an influence on his vision of the future. Like Heinlein he envisions (or perhaps hopes for) a future where people have overcome many of the social taboos about nudity, love and sex. If you want to learn more about John Varley and be exposed to a nice cross section of his work, this book is worth a read.

This morning on the MPR morning show they played this fun song by Hypnotic Clambake called 500 Robots.

“I’ve got 500 robots in my house, they do the things that I can do without….”

It is a fun catchy tune that is stuck in my head and will my theme song for the day. It is from their Mayonnaise album.
I managed to find this live version on Internet Archive - Enjoy!

Hypnotic Clambake - 500 Robots Live MP3

Hypnotic Clambake Official Site

Lesson in parenting:
Do not show your child the video of the HAIR theme song, and tell him about the story of Samson and Delilah before trying to convince him he needs a haircut.
Me:”You need a haircut”
B: “Can you still see my eyes?”
Me: “You need a haircut”
B: “But then I will lose my strength!”

Remember parents, anything you say can and will be used against you in a later argument with your children!

My son B and I were trading creative insults the other day for laughs. We had some good ones like, “you are the little hole in the ground you don’t see until you twist your ankle”, or “you are that little piece of plastic wrap that you can’t throw away because the static cling keeps is stuck to your finger.” In the end he won hands down with “You lackluster automobile.” I may be a biased parent, but I think that was a brilliant way to sum up so many subtle ideas and feelings in two short words.

Some links, some stories, some interesting things, some observations of the world around me . . . all here for your enjoyment.