Octopus mittens

I just think these octopus mitten are pretty.

 

Recent books

The Complete Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper

I recently polished off Ian M. Banks‘ Consider Phlebas, about a changer named Horza; his Matter, a Culture novel about a shell world with multiple surfaces 1400 km apart; and his Transitions, which is not a book about the Culture but about hopping from one reality to another. I find his books a little hard to get into because it’s hard to care about what happens to the characters. I’ve read a couple of others and they seem very intellectual: Banks is a big-picture guy.

I read The Complete Fuzzy compendium of H. Beam Piper novels. The first is Little Fuzzy. The second is Fuzzy Sapiens. And the third is Fuzzies and Other People, which was discovered in manuscript many years after Piper’s unfortunate suicide.  They are old-fashioned space opera. Everyone smokes and drinks; women are called “girls” and work as secretaries. No one worries about alien diseases or incompatible biochemistry; but on the other hand, biochemistry and evolution are elements in the story. The stories also deal with greed and land grabs.  They were OK light reading and rather charming. They would also be suitable for young readers.

For fillers, I reread John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, an homage to Robert Heinlein but well done and not as obvious as Spider Robinson’s attempts, and Time Traps, a collection of time travel stories edited by Robert Silverberg, whose asides are full of himself as usual.

Finally, I read a couple of good science fiction cat stories from a big book of cat stories. The novella was Novice by James H. Schmitz, in which Telzey Amberdon first appears and makes telepathic contact with an alien species. The shorter story was “The Game of Rat and Dragon” by Cordwainer Smith (Paul Linebarger) from Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955.

There’s a wrenching difference between the convoluted and rarefied worlds of Iain M. Banks and the straightforward stories by the other authors.

Cartoonless cat cartoons

Here’s a novel concept: the Cat Cartoon without the Cartoon.

Dec. 26:

Santa appears to be at the North Pole, sleigh piled with gifts, elves standing in the background looking on. The jolly old elf is holding the reins, looking on at his team of coursers who, this time, are cats.

The cats are in all manner of poses: sleeping, sitting, fighting, and just ignoring their own situation.

The title to the cartoon is: Christmas was a little late this year.

Eyes Like Leaves by Charles de Lint

From io9, here’s a review about a new book from Charles de Lint, Eyes Like Leaves: “Trust Charles de Lint to understand the identity crises of shapeshifters.”

The book is described as “a rollicking epic quest fantasy” in which a motley crew try to save Summerland from never-ending winter. If you like fantasy, I think you’ll like Charles de Lint: he’s a good writer.

Walking Song by Kate and Anna McGarrigle

An ode to walking with one’s love:

 

Music of Elliott Carter

At age 103, Elliott Carter is still composing new works of Serious Modern Music—in other words, music without a tune but with some consideration for timing and rhythm. Each player marches to a different drummer:

The individuality of tempo and rhythm can make his music difficult to perform as each player unconsciously responds physically to the different rhythms he or she hears and yet tries to preserve his or her own system intact.

You can hear clips from a concert in New York at the article.